Posted by Dena on August 27, 2003, at 11:15:04
In reply to re: Manic Depression Article to Jim and Dena » Dena, posted by habbyshabit on August 26, 2003, at 23:26:54
[Note: This post contains my own beliefs. It is not my intention, nor my ability, nor my right, to force my beliefs onto anyone else. I only hope that whatever is true, right & good may positively affect anyone who reads it. I hope that whatever is false, wrong & harmful will be filtered out. May your own conscience be your guide.]
Dear Habby:Thank you for your generous acceptance of my attempt at reconciliation. Yes, I'd dearly love to call you my friend. May I be able to be a worthy friend to you.
I can understand your reaction to my hypothetical hypothesis. I once had the same reaction - how could I love & care about a God who would reject people? It would seem I did a poor job of projecting the nature & love of God. I assure you, He is the very substance of pure love. It was only once I understood the amazing sacrifice of allowing His only Son to be tortured & to die on our behalf, that I realized what He had given us so that we could be with Him forever.I heard an anologous story once... A man was a bridge-keeper on a trestle draw-bridge built for trains. His job was to man the controls for the drawbridge.
This man had one son, the joy of his life. A beautiful, loving, cheerful child. This boy liked nothing better than to spend time with his father while he worked on the bridge. His father taught him how to carefully walk across the bridge, keeping his balance so as not to fall. He learned well, successfully walking across the bridge, jumping into his father's open arms.
One day, as the son was making his usual way across the bridge toward his father, the father heard an unexpected sound... a train, an unscheduled train full of passengers, was rushing headlong toward the bridge. The father realized with a crushing anguish that he had to make a fast & horrible choice: if he raised the drawbridge in order to save his son, all the people on the train would perish. In order to save all of the people on the train, he must sacrifice his son. With a heart torn in two, he averted his gaze & allowed the train to destroy his only son so that all the others might live.
This is only a pale reflection of the sacrifice God made so that we, his people, might live with Him forever. It breaks His heart when we reject His sacrifice, & tell Him that it just wasn't good enough for us, that we prefer to choose our own way. Though He will continue to love us forever, He'll allow us to use our free will to turn against Him & His Son. The consequences are of our own choosing, not of His. His desire is that we might recognize His supreme act of sacrificial love & accept His priceless gift: His Son's life in exchange for ours.
We're not SENT by Him to perish, we choose it for ourselves by rejecting His sacrifice. He grieves when we make such a choice, but He never violates our free will.
There is nothing evil, sadistic or hypocritical about God. Don't attribute human tendencies to Him - He doesn't have any of our vices, & His ways are so far above ours that we can't even comprehend them. He is always loving, always kind, always faithful, always trustworthy, always good, always reaching out to us, even when we repeatedly reject Him.
He loves you, Habby. He considers you to be precious, priceless, and loves you so much that He allowed His own Son to die a horrible death so that you could live with Him forever. He's crazy about you.
I'm so glad you welcome my prayers for you. I by no means feel superior to you - every good thing that I am, & every good thing that I have comes from Him.
I pray that you'll come to His place of complete security, purpose, joy & peace! May His love penetrate your soul!
Shalom, Dena
poster:Dena
thread:251864
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20030530/msgs/254686.html