OzThoughts – Wednesday 6th May, 2009

OzThoughts – Wednesday 6th May, 2009

I often have conversations with people who struggle with the concept of God the Father, God the son and God the Holy Spirit being the Three-in-one (Triune) God or the Trinity as we call it. Now I know there are many ways of teaching this concept and many visual aids which have been used such as an egg (yolk, white, shell), water ( steam, water, ice) or a shamrock or three leafed clover.

I see one of the main difficulties is that we think of people and things in three dimensional terms. We see people and things in terms of being able to measure height, depth and width. Alternatively, we can weigh it. We relate to a world of things than can be measured in whole or in part with a tape measure or put on scales.

I begin to see the difference between God and us when I read that Paul wrote to the Philippians : (Ch 2: 5-8 ) “Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn't claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.”

When I just begin to see or to get it into my mind I hear clearly the words of Jesus to the woman of Samaria (John 4: 23-24 ) "It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."

So is Jesus saying here that you don’t have to explain God. It is who you are that counts and the way you live. Let your spiritual side respond to God in worship and in the pursuit of truth. Just be yourself before him.

John 12:44-50 (The Message)
44-46 Jesus summed it all up when he cried out, "Whoever believes in me, believes not just in me but in the One who sent me. Whoever looks at me is looking, in fact, at the One who sent me. I am Light that has come into the world so that all who believe in me won't have to stay any longer in the dark.
47-50 "If anyone hears what I am saying and doesn't take it seriously, I don't reject him. I didn't come to reject the world; I came to save the world. But you need to know that whoever puts me off, refusing to take in what I'm saying, is willfully choosing rejection. The Word, the Word-made-flesh that I have spoken and that I am, that Word and no other is the last word. I'm not making any of this up on my own. The Father who sent me gave me orders, told me what to say and how to say it. And I know exactly what his command produces: real and eternal life. That's all I have to say. What the Father told me, I tell you."

Prayer; (Using our Song Book as our Prayer Book):

[Listen: Hymn Tune – Aurelia: http://www.salvoaudio.com/audio/music/mus_2973.mp3 ]

O Father and Creator,
Thou God of perfect love,
Come now in all thy fulness,
Descending from above.
Thou gav'st thy Son to save me,
To die that I might live;
I humbly kneel before thee,
My all to thee I give.

O Christ, my soul's redeemer,
Who gave thine all for me,
Thy blood was freely given
That I might be set free.
Lord, teach me how to give thee
My body, mind and will;
Then come with grace and beauty
My emptied heart to fill.

O blessed Holy Spirit,
Revealer of the right,
I pray thee dwell within me,
Make of my weakness might.
Within thy light, now streaming,
The living way is shown;
Abide, O gentle Spirit,
Till all thy truth I own.
Author: Albert E. Chesham (1886-1971)
The Salvation Army Song Book: Song Number: 221
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