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| By Ianpassion |
We are now in a society that if we are not careful enough we will be swayed away.
A relativist says that what is true to you can be false to me and what is true to me can be false to you. This happens when the sole basis of our values is omitted, the absolute truth is replaced with reasons, and respect to multiculturalism and diversity at the expense of compromise and apostasy.
There is a need to examine your personal choice of truth. Your reaction to any line of interest, issues you are dealing with, relationships you are building, people's differences you are handling, all are shaped as you submitted to a particular belief system. You as an individual is a byproduct of the indoctrination on what you believed is the truth.
So one of the most important decisions you can make in this life is to settle on the ultimate source of authority over your life. There must be one truth and others can be facts. You have to decide that in spite of other truths existing around and what people claimed they have, you have the absolute one.
Decide that regardless of culture, tradition, reason, or emotion, you chose the Scripture as your final authority.
The Scripture is your navigation to rely for direction, the love letter from your loving Father, your meal for feeding your hungry soul, and your plumb line for making your life straight. The Scripture must always have the first and the last say of your life.
It is not enough that you can read the truth. It also important that you can hear and feel the truth. The truth is the voice of the Father. He speaks. But perhaps in some case you failed to recognize His voice because you are reading rather than listening, or busyness of life and pleasure of the world made you impaired that you can not hear His voice.
It is not enough that you can read the truth. It also important that you can hear and feel the truth. The truth is the voice of the Father. He speaks. But perhaps in some case you failed to recognize His voice because you are reading rather than listening, or busyness of life and pleasure of the world made you impaired that you can not hear His voice.
It was during our retreat with friends and family when the Father spoke to me. It was the voice of truth. At that time I remembered that I felt so alone and abandoned. I had lots of worries. I felt so heavy inside. I was hungry for true love.
I thought I could find it from people and doing my best, but I was wrong. I failed. So I came into that retreat with a black hole in my heart.
That was morning, we gathered in our room. It was my turned. He walked towards me and said, "You are my son, you are my beloved." then I found myself under his arms, hugging me tightly. I heard His heartbeat. The voice of truth of His love. I felt so secured, comforted, and cared. I was immersed. Baptized. I felt I was stubbed by a blazing sword right through my heart. I melted. My fears are gone. I did not feel abandoned and rejected anymore. He healed me. I am His child whom He is well pleased.
Studying the scripture, hearing the truth, and involving in ministries are useless if still you are still in bondage, still overwhelmed by all the pressures of life, expectation from people around, and still manipulated by people who are over you, all that you have learned can be worthless.
You will never get free if you are still under the control of fear. It happens when you failed to experience that you have a loving Father. Perhaps you are in a group or in a culture that fear seems normal. You do not choose it, but along the segment of this life, you fall into this predicament. You are trapped. You do not feel secure anymore. People around you can not be trusted. You are expected to observe certain precepts and traditions. Failing is an offense. Evaluation scares you because what if you have not done enough. Then performing will have no ending to gain your value and acceptance. As a result, you are always tired, stressful, unhappy, and always covering yourself.
However, the truth is, if you already opened your heart to Him then you are already his precious child. He had already forgiven you and adopted you in His family. He wanted you to feel at home. He did not rescue you to make you His servant. That is not His purpose, but if you believed then you are already deceived. The truth is, the Father wanted intimacy and not your performance. He expects a relationship than your production.
I paraphrased what Philip Yancy says,
Our Father wants you to live from Him instead of for Him. From Him because you are unconditionally loved by Him, and not for Him because you are not living in exchange for His love. He does not want anything from you. He only wants you to be His child and Him your Father, to enjoy His love and to honor Him.
Studying the scripture, hearing the truth, and involving in ministries are useless if still you are still in bondage, still overwhelmed by all the pressures of life, expectation from people around, and still manipulated by people who are over you, all that you have learned can be worthless.
Your identity is not from your denominational position or affiliation, but it is through your adoption.
(See Ephesians 1:5, Romans 8:13-17)
You will never get free if you are still under the control of fear. It happens when you failed to experience that you have a loving Father. Perhaps you are in a group or in a culture that fear seems normal. You do not choose it, but along the segment of this life, you fall into this predicament. You are trapped. You do not feel secure anymore. People around you can not be trusted. You are expected to observe certain precepts and traditions. Failing is an offense. Evaluation scares you because what if you have not done enough. Then performing will have no ending to gain your value and acceptance. As a result, you are always tired, stressful, unhappy, and always covering yourself.
However, the truth is, if you already opened your heart to Him then you are already his precious child. He had already forgiven you and adopted you in His family. He wanted you to feel at home. He did not rescue you to make you His servant. That is not His purpose, but if you believed then you are already deceived. The truth is, the Father wanted intimacy and not your performance. He expects a relationship than your production.
I paraphrased what Philip Yancy says,
"There is nothing you can do more to make our Father loves us more, and nothing you can do less to make the Father loves us less. Burn this revelation in your heart especially when you failed."
Our Father wants you to live from Him instead of for Him. From Him because you are unconditionally loved by Him, and not for Him because you are not living in exchange for His love. He does not want anything from you. He only wants you to be His child and Him your Father, to enjoy His love and to honor Him.
