Category: God

Pondering How Three Can Be One

Over the past few days I’ve been pondering the doctrine of the trinity and how three can be one. The Bible tells us that there is only one true God, so how then can our Father in Heaven be God, Jesus the Son be God, and the Holy Spirit be God, all at the same time? There are certainly monotheistic religions that reject the doctrine of the trinity because of this mystery. But I believe that the Bible and experience provide us ample evidence to support this central doctrine.

There are numerous scriptures in both the Old and New Testament that support the doctrine of the trinity, but I want to focus on just a few today, along with the train of thought that’s been going through my mind the past few days.

Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” You and I are created in the image or likeness of God. By looking at our nature, how we were made, we can learn something about God.

Each human being has a body, a mind, and a soul. Each of these components of the human being serves a different purpose. They are distinct, yet they are not separate.

The body is our physical representation. In the same way, Jesus is the physical representation of God. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (NIV).

The mind, though it cannot be seen, is where our thoughts and intelligence reside. In the same way, God the Father is where the thoughts and intelligence of God reside. In Isaiah 55:8, we read: “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD.”

The soul, also invisible, is the very essence of our life. In the same way, the Holy Spirit is the very essence of the life of God. It is the Spirit of God that was breathed into Adam to give him life, and it is the Spirit of God who gives new life to the believer. “The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Job 33:4 (NIV).

It is a wondrous mystery that each human being is composed of body, mind, and soul. We simply do not exist as a whole human being if even one of these components is missing.

It is an even more wondrous mystery that our God is composed of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To believe in only one of these components and reject the others is to strip God of His essential being.

God created us in His image, in His likeness, so that we might be in relationship with Him and understand who He is. Pondering how I am body, mind, and soul, but am still only one human being, helps me to understand the nature of the One true God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three truly can be One.

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Four Truths from God

I want to share four truths that I heard in church last Sunday. They are four truths that our youth minister heard a Christian speaker share at a conference earlier last week. But these four truths weren’t new with that speaker either. Their source is God and they are told to us in His Word.

For broken believers — those struggling with mental illness or substance abuse — these truths can be particularly difficult to fully grasp and internalize. We hear them and obtain a head knowledge of them, but to truly understand these truths they must make their way to our hearts. My prayer is that you who read this will allow God to settle these truths not only in your mind but in your heart as well.

  1. You are loved.

    But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. Ephesians 2:4-5a (NIV).

  2. You matter.

    “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV).

  3. You are chosen.

    But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV).

  4. You are not alone.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. John 14:16-18 (NIV).

So the next time you think no one loves you because you haven’t done anything to earn the love of others, refute that lie with the truth that God loves you. The next time you think you are too insignificant to matter to anyone, refute that lie with the truth that God has a plan for your life that is perfectly suited to how He made you. The next time you are feeling lost and alone, remember that you have been chosen by God to belong to Him and that He has sent His Holy Spirit to dwell in you so that you will never be alone.

 

Bryan’s Note: Please dear one, check out Linda’s home site at http://lindakruschke.wordpress.com/

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My Deliverer

My Deliverer

“So Jehoahaz pleaded with the Lord, and the Lord listened to him, for He saw the oppression of Israel, because the king of Syria oppressed them.”  2 Kings 13:4

“Then the Lord gave Israel a deliverer, so that they escaped from under the hand of the Syrians; and the children of Israel dwelt in their tents as before.”  2 Kings 13:5

I see this:
Our pleading + God’s listening = Our Deliverance

Lord, I’m pleading with You for deliverance of those who are being oppressed today.  And here’s a simple poem . . .

Pleading

The oppression is so great
they can but hardly pray

and so I’m pleading with You
to please take it away

lift the heaviness
that keeps pushing them down

let them see their Deliverer
has come to save them now.

Amen.

Deb’s Blog of Simple Poems and Faith

http://iftodaywehear.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/my-deliverer/

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Looking at the Flip Side of Love

 

The other day Pastor Bryan posted an article titled “Making Some Sense of a Deep and Kind Love: 1 Corinthians 13.” It reminded me of a poem I recently wrote on my own blog, Linda Kruschke’s Blog. So I decided to offer it up here for your consideration.

This poem was born as I was pondering 1 Corinthians 13, and it occurred to me that I might gain a better understanding of what love really is if I looked at it from the opposite side. Taking each description of love in this wonderful passage of scripture, I turned it on its head and saw what hate is. Afterall, hate is the opposite of love.

So here is my poem illustrating what the opposite of 1 Corinthians 13 looks like. (I don’t want to spoil anything, but the final line is my favorite.)

Hate Is . . .

Hate is impatient,
toe tapping, eye-rolling,
in a hurry for instant gratification

Hate is mean,
treating others unkindly,
bullying, and insulting

Hate is envious,
not happy for others’ prosperity,
wanting what others have,
and for them not to have it

Hate is boastful,
puffed up, pointing to self-accomplishments,
not recognizing contributions of others

Hate is not humble,
but is arrogant, filled with hubris
proudly thinking oneself better than all,
pretentious and vain, always vain

Hate is rude,
abusive and insulting, vulgar,
disrespectful, and never caring for others

Hate is self-seeking,
it’s-all-about-me attitude,
selfish and egotistical, self-important

Hate is easily angered,
irritated by the slightest mistake,
hot-headed, unwilling to forgive

Hate keeps a record of wrongs,
every little sin catalogued and indexed,
ready as part of its arsenal of hostility

Hate delights in evil,
revels in rebelling against authority,
is pleased to go its own way

Hate despises truth,
closes its ears to teaching,
refuses instruction and correction

Hate attacks,
harms loved ones and strangers alike,
injures all in its way without care

Hate distrusts,
lacks faith in God or anything,
doubts there is anything good

Hate despairs,
has no hope for a future,
lives in misery and sorrow

Hate gives up,
at the smallest obstacle it gives in,
is defeated by the tiniest tribulation

Hate never wins

Always remember that last line. Hate never wins. Satan never wins. And love never fails, ever! God’s love prevail for all of us on the cross.

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