Sannhetseeker

“Stuff”. We’ve got “stuff” all over the place at our house. We’re trying to get rid of a lot of it by having a garage sale soon, but it got me thinking last night as I looked through this “stuff”. This is probably nothing new to many, but it seems to me that every single time we buy something that we don’t need to survive, we are purchasing a piece of “land” that is just a little bit farther away from “paradise”. This “land” that we buy is another purchase of the continuing reality that we have... Sign in to see full entry.

One finds compassion mentioned many times in the New Testament (six times in Matthew alone). But the most striking example is Luke 6:36. Unfortunately, some Bibles interpret the Hebrew word found in this verse “rachuwm” or “racham” to mean mercy. And it does, but its first definition, at least in Strong’s Concordance, is compassion. So in reading the KJV version, the verse reads, “Be merciful as God has been merciful.” But as Marcus Borg points out in his book Meeting Jesus Again for the First... Sign in to see full entry.

We are children of "God". We are Divine. Does everyone understand what this means? We have the ability to change the world! We have the ability to end all wars. We have the ability to end poverty for all. We have the ability halt diseases in their tracks. It?s our responsibility. So why don't we? One word. Fear. Fear is what keeps us from being what we truly are - divine progeny of "God". But I don't think it is fear of the things we normally are told is fearful - changing jobs, changing habits,... Sign in to see full entry.

"Love your enemies" - Matt. 5:44, Luke 6:27. This is the problem, isn't it? This is why so many Christians see "God" as a judgemental, strict, demanding "God". Because so many of us don't, no, can't love ourselves. And since we can't love ourselves, we project onto others the only things we can feel for ourselves: anger, contempt, shame, jealousy, envy. Why is this? Why is it so hard for us to love ourselves? We are children of "God". We are the heirs to the divine spiritual realm. We are loved... Sign in to see full entry.

Having just finished the Q Gospel by Marcus Borg, one thing is perfectly clear for me. Jesus/Yeshua’s message is one of love, forgiveness and seeking the Truth. These sayings of Yeshua/Jesus’ found in the Q Gospel are believed by the vast majority of Christian scholars to be from documents used by both Matthew and Luke in writing their Gospels, along with the Gospel of Mark. In the Q Gospel, I find no example of Jesus/Yeshua as anything but full of Spirit, full of Love and telling everyone to... Sign in to see full entry.

God Doesn't Let Evil Happen! God Doesn't Let Good Happen! God is not all-powerful. God is not without power. God does not judge. God is not without judgment. God is not all-knowing. God is not without knowledge. God is not forgiving. God is not without forgiveness. God is not a being. God is Love. And in this dualistic world, you can’t have love without hate, you can't have good without evil. Sign in to see full entry.

Continuing the previous post about the idea that the Kingdom (spiritual realm) is within, one finds in the Gospel of Thomas (and other places, including the Bible) the concept that the Kingdom or spiritual realm is really a state of altered consciousness. In her book The Gnostic Gospels, Elaine Pagels points to a series of verses (37:20-35) to show this. Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to his disciples, “These infants being suckled are like those who enter the Kingdom.” They said to... Sign in to see full entry.

As mentioned in the previous post, knowing one’s self only happens by going within and examining one’s being. It is also necessary to reach the “Kingdom”. Yeshua/Jesus said as much and those words were recorded in different places. One such place is in the Gospel of Thomas, one of the Apocrypha books. As a matter of fact, in one particular section of the Gospel, he somewhat mocked those who thought the Kingdom was an actual place: “If those who lead you say to you, ‘Look, the Kingdom is in the... Sign in to see full entry.

In yesterday’s post, the concept of trusting one’s self was looked at. In order to trust one’s self, one must know one’s self. Self-knowledge, true self-knowledge is critical; one must look within and understand what one finds in order to move forward spiritually. In the Gospel of Thomas, one of the books of the Apocrypha not included in the New Testament but widely read and respected by ancient Christians leaders and laypeople, Jesus/Yeshua is pretty specific about this: “If you bring forth... Sign in to see full entry.

A lot of posts lately have mentioned trust and faith as necessary components of a religious or spiritual being: one must “trust the Lord” or “have faith in God”. Well, I don’t agree. I don’t need to have faith or trust in “God”. I know that “God” exists. I see it every day when I see people committing acts of love. I feel it when I think of my wife or parents. Where I think we need trust and faith is in dealing with ourselves. I stumble on a daily basis because I don’t always trust myself. I... Sign in to see full entry.