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Hi Mel, WOW you could be more definitive next time! Firstly, I think & believe that God is Love, all his other attributes stem from that main fact. His omniscience, omnipotence etc. & all the other facets which make up his attributes are seen in the light of his love. His truth & justice stems from love & his ability to be impartial & have no favourites all stem from that. Although we may interpret them in our own way, God does not treat us the way we deserve, why should we treat each other any differently, therefore it is not for me to judge, unless I wish to be judged by the same rules & precepts that I apply. Sometimes I find this difficult, but after a while the Holy Spirit points me in the right direction, of loving my neighbour. This part of God's imputed love to me is most important, I should show my neighbour the same love as God as given & shown to me. As for the Sabbath, I have no difficulty in understanding those who have to work, doctors transport, & emergency services, what I do not like to see are those who would deny believers the chance to worship on the sabbath & encourage others to be absent from worship through selfish actions. It is not an easy path but I find it becomes second nature (First Nature) to do what is right. Good habits are as easy to form as bad ones. After all that, I now say that I am tempted sometimes, & somtimes I give in to that temptation. I have found it is what I do next which builds me up & helps me to grow, in my weakness God is my strength. I turn to him & talk to him about my actions, I have access to God through the work of Christ on the cross at Calvary. It has taken me a long time to understand, hopefully I will understand more as I mature in Him. I have tried to keep away from direct scriptural quotes, here but have alluded to the essence of my understanding of His teachings. We all are different on the outside, & come from different backgrounds, from different inbuilt precepts, different outlooks & different expectations. God in his infinite wisdom is bringing us together that we might speak as one voice, unity in diversity. I believe that this will culminate in every believer bending the knee & confessing that "Jesus is Lord to the Glory of the Father". Oh that the day will come, Mel thank you for allowing me to ramble on, these are my beliefs & I do not expect every one to agree with me, some day we will all bend the knee. That my brother WILL BE AWESOME Love in His Name Stuart 2006-05-19 03:19:22 Posted by Stuart (stuart@sadrankin.com)

Stuart, Your ramblings are more than welcome. I am more long winded than you I think, so I would have no room to judge on that. (this is a disputable matter, I hope!) Anyways, I think the world of your opinion, and thank you for expressing it. Going for some rest, In God's Good Grace, Mel 2006-05-19 03:29:38 Posted by Mel ()

Hi Mel! Great post. On my last post I spoke of what a person's back-pack might be filled with, don't know if you had a look. Along these same lines, I sometimes think the "wise" and "holy" of the church often load back-packs for other people. EXPLANATION: We call sinners to come in and be saved. We tell them how Christ will free them, deliver them, and release them from their burdens. Then, as soon as they get in and empty their "back-packs" of all the world's burdens, we load them down with our burdens. They must follow a rigorous set of guidelines for prayer and study, they must dress a particular way, they must lose the earrings(guys),cut their hair(guys), lighten up on the make-up(girls), etc.,etc. Then, once they get all of this in line we will begin to lay our convictions upon them in deeper matters. My niece was condemned for marrying outside her race and this condemnation was backed up biblically, though the bible gives no specific instructions on these matters. "Just as I am, without one plea and before we're done, you'll look just like me" One way or another, if we were to allow it, our back-packs would be loaded down because if we empty them out, there is always someone willing to fill it back up for us. Thanks Mel, for the message. In His Service, 2006-05-19 05:17:59 Posted by Teri ()

Wow, Mel, what a post! I pray it wasn't motivated by someone trying to fill your backpack with unnecessary legalistic rocks. Good comments from Stuart and Teri, too. I agree with Stuart's view of all God's attributes and characteristics stemming from His love, and I agree with what Teri has to say about us sometimes getting too focused on the cosmetic stuff (hair length, dress, etc.) and forgetting to make disciples of the Gospel of Jesus. We just have to remember that we're supposed to carry the yoke and burden that Jesus gives us, not anything the world would try to put on us or that we'd try to put on ourselves. Thanks for the reminder, y'all! 2006-05-19 10:19:29 Posted by Traci ()

Traci, No, I am a little too far along for people to willy nilly through things on my back, which is what made my conscious clear on speaking on the matter. I do test my motivations. I struggle. I fail. And I still have room for much growth, but in this matter, I have personal understanding that keeps me from being easily burdened by the human strictures of others. I might be a bit rebellious at times, still, and require more persuading on matters of doctrine, but his grace gives me understanding beyond what others may wish to put upon me (or others) even with the best of intentions. Thanks. I think Jon made a comment upon the yoke of Christ, but I amy not remember correctly... Teri, Yes, I saw that post. I still have enough that the Lord needs me to get rid of. Thank you for your kind words. In Christ, now and always, Mel 2006-05-19 11:02:30 Posted by Mel ()

The charisteristic that best describes God to me is His own statement to Moses in Exodus... He is the "Great I Am"... which means to me that He is everything that He says HE is... trustworthy... loving... forgiving... merciful... full of grace... and that He will do everything that HE says He will do for us and with us and to us! Because He is the Great I Am... I can trust Him and place my faith in all that He tells me He is and all that He tells me He will do. ><> 2006-05-19 11:49:41 Posted by Bob ()

Great post! Great comments! Bless you 2006-05-21 08:38:29 Posted by james ()

Ok, maybe a bit way off the mark, but reading this, I was under the impression that you are seeking wisdom about the "Day of Rest". The rest of the stuff seemed to fade away into mere comments. You have now sparked something off in my head that maybe needs addressing : 10for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. 11Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience. This scripture jumped out at me. We need to enter God's rest by making every effort. Correct me if I am wrong, but this does not seem like just a normal day of rest where no work is done. This to me is a specific thing that we need to choose to do. This seems to be time specific for me as I am soon to start a new job which requires work on a Sunday. I am however determined not to work on the Sunday, but rather to change the way the industry works. Why do i feel that way? Simply because we are commanded to keep the Sabbath holy, but perhaps now is the time I obtain a deeper understanding of this. I will reflect and will let you know what I find. I do not condemn those that work on a Sunday, as many of us are not in the position to be able to have Sunday to ourselves to rest in God's glory. HOWEVER, I would always recommend to people that if you are convicted of the Sabbath, ask God to change your circumstances or if need pray for another job. Ultimately God knows and understands everything and He will change either situations or mindsets (whatever it may be) if needed. Perhaps clarity on this for me will assist me in what lies ahead. Believe in what you believe and trust that God is either content with your thoughts, or He will change them IN HIS TIME. Thanks for the food God Bless 2006-05-22 08:23:19 Posted by Lee ()

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