Post by Susan Peabody on Jul 31, 2022 21:50:06 GMT
My friend Shirley asked me to explain my faith. I was an agnostic until 1982 when I had my first spiritual awakening. Then I believed in God and service. In 2015, I had another spiritual experience and came to believe in Jesus Christ. Both experiences filled me with joy but coming to Jesus also ushered years of pain and sacrifice. Here is my explanation to Shirley of my current beliefs.
God & Jesus
Susan Peabody
Dear Shirley:
I do not know a lot about God and Jesus, but here is what I believe as of this day. God keeps revealing more and more of himself each day.
God is everywhere. He takes the form of energy that we call the Holy Spirit. This energy is like electricity. Unless you understand physics, energy is more observed that understood. By this I mean that electricity is invisible, but you can see the result. You turn on the switch and the room lights up.
Over two thousand years ago, God was unhappy with human beings, and he infused himself into a human being we call Jesus. He filled Jesus with the Holy Spirit. Jesus became God by way of the Holy Spirit more than any human being before or since. We can all become infused with the Holy Spirit but not to the degree that Jesus was.
God did this for his own reasons, but mostly to spread his gospel of love throughout the world and to sacrifice himself on the cross for the sins of mankind. By this I mean, to compensate the concept of cause and effect. For every cause there must be an effect. This is how nature becomes balanced. So instead of us dying for our own sins Jesus stood in as a proxy. He died for us and now we are free from the “wages of sin,” which is death.
The gospel (good news) is found in the pages of the Bible. It is summed up in the scripture, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:27
The rest of the Bible elaborates on the gospel of love and is interpreted in many ways by the various religions of the world.
Christians celebrate the gospel of love and the life of Jesus. We believe that after he was crucified, he was resurrected for a time as a man and then his body returned to the state of the Holy Spirit. His energy then returned to what we call heaven, which is not a place per se, but more like another dimension.
If you want to be infused with the Holy Spirit like Jesus, then you can begin by reading the scriptures about him. Then love your neighbor as yourself. Then wait for the love of God to come to you in what AA calls a “spiritual awakening.” You will know when this happens because you will be filled with joy, love and happiness. Your fears will leave you. You will now have confidence that God is alive and working in your life.
The next question is what to do with your faith other than enjoy it. Most of us act on our love and worship God and spread the gospel of love. Some people do that quietly through serving mankind and others do it by preaching the word—both the words in the Bible and the words that come directly to you through the Holy Spirit. You are now energy, so light up the world in your own simple way.
Susan