Hope for the Kingdom of Love

    Hope for the Kingdom of love, which shall come. 
It is in this kingdom that all shall live in peace,
nor shall any put down any other.  No person will be
made to feel that they are less than any other person. 
And God's love will be there for all, for all are His
children. 
    Work for the Kingdom of love and let all people
know that God's love is there for them.  This is what
Christmas is all about, God's love made manifest,
walking among the people, showing all how they were
to live in peace. 
    Live as Christ did, loving all people, sharing
God's love with all, and the kingdom will come sooner. 
For the more we live in love and in Christ, the more
the kingdom is present in this world.  And let God's
love flow through us all out to the whole world, that
all the world will know God and His love.

Jesus : following Him?

Are we really following Jesus? Do we really know what was in His mind through all the layers of history?   Do we .know who Jesus was in that time?   Questions with no real answers.   Yet how  can we know much about the real Jesus  after all this time?   And would Jesus accept the religion that has grown up  in His name? What would He say about all of us?   Would He accept the religion and worship that has grown up around His name? 

I am not trying to be a rebel or a heretic here,  these are just questions that have occurred to me recently.   What I am doing is seeking a deeper understanding of and relationship with God and the man we know as Jesus. What did He really know  and think about Himself?  I   wonder what He would think of  our priests and preachers and our tendency to be follow those people who preach division instead of unity.  What would He think of all our religions?   And would  He even approve of what we do in His name?   It strikes me that there is too little love in some of the denominations of what we call Christianity.  Are we really following Jesus if we do not love all people?   And what does the personality we call God have to say about the way we treat others in our world?  I  find myself wondering about such things. 

Where do we go from here?   Can anyone find the answers to these and other questions people have about religion and Christianity?   I wait and wonder if our questions will ever be  answered.   And yet these questions need an answer.   The problem is, where do we find those  answers?  Can any answers even be found?   It has been too many years since  Jesus lived, so any answers will be suspect. 

Yet we live in faith, trusting that what we have been told over the years is the truth.   Faith is the only thing we have to rely on.    What else is there when we can't question the source, Jesus?  We can never be sure if we rely on our own thoughts,  even if we say the idea is an answer to a prayer.   There have been  too many cults set up  because someone said they had the answers are  to everything.   Too many people believe what the person says without thinking it over and doing a lot of research.  So where do we go  from here?   How do we find the answers to our questions?  If we  really want to follow Jesus, how do we get to know the man and what He believed? Are we ready for the answers to our questions? 

Are we following Jesus when we don't stop to help those we meet along the way?   What about not helping those who are different?   Do we know what Jesus wants of each of us?   Do we even follow the right path?  Does love rule our lives or are we selective about who we love?    Could any of us leave everything behind if that was our call?   Everything means family, friends and material goods.  Would we even hear that kind of call or  would we think it a false call?   Following Jesus does cost,  especially if the people we know and trust believe a different way and tell us we are crazy and will go to hell because we have come to believe different than they do. 

Come and learn with me who this Jesus is.   Let us study what we have and see if we can find the  truth about Him.   For example did Jesus intend to start another religion?   Or did  He just intend to  reform the religion He knew?   By the time Jesus was born,  there was much wrong with Judaism, and the religious leaders of that time didn't  seem to be going the way their own books taught.  Or at least that's what I read in our part of the Bible. 

Something else that has occurred to me, what if we are  all worshipping the same God in different ways,  ways that go with our culture? After all,  the basic principles of each of the major religions are very similar.  We are not as different from each other as we might think.  God is the creator of all,  why can't God be revealed to different people in different ways?   And if this is true,  we shouldn't be fighting each other.   Instead,  we should be gathering together, learning who each person is and how to live together in peace and love. 

The Promise

The Promise   

Psalm 27:1

Hear the promise of God:

I will be with you

To give you light.

Do not fear,

For I will always

Be near you

To give you strength

In time of need.

Isaiah  2:4

And in time,

If you will listen,

I will show you all

How to live together

In peace and love.

All war implements

Will be destroyed,

And you all will have

All that you need

For a better life.

Luke 1:78-79

And in that time,

I will turn your darkness

Into light

And show all of you

The path of peace.

My mercy and light

Will be there

For all of you,

For all of you are mine.