The Love Exchange Programme !

Thiz is a unique programme to xchange the current currency that we use for love. The love we use now is a possessive love. The love we use now cries revenge when its thwarted. The love we use now burns our soul when we are hurt. The love we use now measures people according to their role and purpose in our life. The love we use now is the love of humans. As long as we are in possession of this corrupted artifice of love we can never truly BE a Christian. We need to seek the creator of Love and ask for an exchange. We need to seek and to ask for a complete exchange of this corrupt currency for the unique divine currency of love for which there is only one source. Only from this source can you avail an infilling of the incorruptible, genuine currency of love. Only then can you even begin to model yourself on Christ. All your rituals and prayers and sacrifices will not get you any closer to the heart of God if you do not seek and pursue this essential change.

"How can we who died to sin go on living in it?" asks St.Paul

Catholics have got one thing right. They realized that until man is as pure as God, he cannot see the face of the Father. So they invented purgatory - the post death purification chamber of the saved.
But what about our Protestant brothers? They dont believe in the existence of purgatory.
This is the Problem of the Partial Gospel.
The truth as revealed by the Spirit of truth is this - the presence of God can only be inhabited by souls so pure that God can see His reflection in. This is the undeniable truth.
And the only place we've got to attain that purity is here on earth (and purgatory for Catholics). But even for Catholics, purgatory is not a piece of cake. Souls in there are yearning incessantly for heavens quenching salve.
What then is the solution?

The Gospel/Good News needs to be preached in its entirety. The Spirit of Truth goes forth to increase understanding in the hearts of the Children of God.
Let those who have eyes see and those who have ears hear.

Romans 6:19 "I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification."

We need to be born from above and become true Sons of God. Our Christian journey does not stop at the cross, but merely begins there. From believing and receiving Jesus we start our rightful journey into the heart of the Father. Through our baptism in Christ we are made eligible to attain this divine sonship. But to partake in His divinity we need to present ourselves as slaves to righteousness for sanctification. This is the call of the Christian. It is only by becoming another Christ that we can share the Gospel--for the Gospel is the living word of God. God has invited us to be the living word of God. It is this sanctification that completes the Gospel.

This is the truth as revealed by the Spirit of Truth. This is the Fullness of the Gospel.
Let those who have eyes see and those who have ears hear.

Post Note: When I say Catholics invented purgatory its being said tongue in cheek and only to drive home a point. I totally understand Purgatory and its role but realise many of us Catholics look to it as a cop out. Either way, I'd rather be in heaven than in purgatory and wish the same for you - hence this blog.

Contd from Go set my people free Part 3 - A fuller understanding of Why Jesus came.

As the Lord gives greater insights and deepens His instruction I am compelled to share that with you.
My blog here largely reflects my spiritual journey and I share what God has been teaching my soul over time. Up until recently this instruction has been mostly of the personal revelation kind corroborated with scripture.
Last Tuesday My father in heaven felt fit that I find corroboration and solace from a different source. Corroboration - for the world needs to know that this is not the ramblings of an individuals' mind, solace - because I've been feeling very alone in my understanding, and that not many are getting what I say.
Last Tuesday I attended our Catholic small groups at Uni with Fr. Mannes - we were discussing the Incarnation of Christ and why Jesus came. After I suggested that Jesus came so that we can become like Him, Father actually alluded to the fact that Thomas Aquinas has quoted St Athanasius to say that we may become like God. I was surprised at first and then excited. But it was only today that I had the time to look into it, and when I did, I realised that it is true --there is indeed a well documented Catholic belief, recorded in none less than the Catechism of the Catholic Church about the ultimate 'end' of  the transformation that I have been banging on about in my previous blog articles. In actual fact the CCC does not expound on the process to get there but notes the 4 reasons for the incarnation as follows
1.  The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God
2. The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God's love:
3. The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness:
4. The Word became flesh to make us "partakers of the divine nature"

Point 4 goes on to read "For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God." "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God." "The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods."

I am sure that the first two points are those that the vast majority of Christians are familiar with and sometimes maybe even the third. But how often do we hear the fourth point even mentioned? 

I also came to realise that not only the CCC, but much earlier than that, several of the early church fathers like Irenaeus, St. Clement of Alexandria, Justin the martyr, Theophilus of Antioch, Hippolyticus and Athanasius of Alexandria held quite similar views.

St Athanasius clearly states  "Therefore He was not man, and then became God, but he was God, and then became man, and that to deify us" "For he was made man that we might be made God"
In Eastern Orthodox Theology, deification or Theosis is the goal of every Christian - it is possible for man to become God by grace. They also describe this transformation as having three stages - katharsis or purification, theoria or illumination, and theosis or deification (to becomes Gods by grace / reconciliation, union with God).

So yes indeed my dear friends - our goal in life is to attain this deification or God likeness. This is the condensed essence of the entire Gospel - to become as He is and was, to emulate His love for the creator Father, to be merciful as He is, be Holy as our Father in heaven is Holy. And none of this is possible without walking the path of relationship.

The word of the Lord came to me

Ezekiel 34 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them—to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. 4 You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.

7 Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As I live, says the Lord God, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 Thus says the Lord God, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them.

The Shoulder wound of Christ

Dear friends and readers,
Before I wrote my last blog here a few days ago, I was shown the strong muscular shoulder of Jesus. Thus the mention of it in the second sentence of that blog. But today I feel that the Lord is trying to tell me or teach me something more. It has happened like this in the past. One thing that leads to another and slowly the entire picture of what God wants to teach or reveal becomes clear.
This is what happened today. I opened facebook as I usually do and immediately came across a post shared by a friend that can be found here. I went on to click the link and read it. What caught my attention most was not that Padre Pio revealed this particular stigmata to Karol Wojtyla, but, more importantly that he had had a shoulder wound at all! We have all heard of stigmata appearing on the hands, feet and even side - but never of the shoulder!
This led me to think that if Padre Pio had been given the wound on his shoulder then surely Christ too must have had it but in my entire lifetime of reading I have never ever heard even a mention of it. What puzzled me more was it was just a few of days ago that the Lord gave me a vision of his shoulder, which I thought was unusual in itself. It was a view from the back - of a strong muscular left shoulder. Now I don't know if anybody would carry a cross on the left shoulder or even if Christ did we would not know.

So, this is what I did a few minutes ago--I typed 'shoulder wound of Christ' into Google and learnt something new.  Apparently St. Bernard, a twelfth century monk of the Cistercian order, related  a conversation he’d had with Our Lord.  He had prayed, asking Jesus which was His greatest unrecorded suffering and the Lord answered him saying:

“I had on My Shoulder while I bore My Cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound which was more painful than the others, and which is not recorded by men.  Honor this Wound with thy devotion, and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through its virtue and merit.  And in regard to all those who shall venerate this Wound, I will remit to them all their venial sins, and will no longer remember their mortal sins.”

Why is it that my Lord is drawing my attention to His shoulder I wonder? Time will tell. Meanwhile I request that you will all keep praying for me.

In love of Christ
Jacqueline 

Go set my people free Part 3

An incomplete understanding of faith is turning out to be more detrimental to society than no faith.

Jesus Christ, is called both Son of God and Son of Man, and He is. His shoulders were strong and muscular -not from going to the gym, but from the hard graft of daily work. We often think of the physical pain he endured on His way to Calvary and crucifixion. His soul searing anguish was greater. We often spout platitudes such as God is love - but Jesus was the wellspring of that love. Like the vine branches that groweth when attached to the vine, like the electrical appliances that work when plugged into the mains, so too are we attached to the greatest wellspring of love in Christ.

What did Christ say of the vine branches that does not bear fruit?
We dogooder Christians know what the word says. But what is the good fruit He expects of us? Just like the electrical appliances plugged into the mains, if we are plugged in properly to this eternal wellspring of love we will be transformed into little wellsprings of our own---wellsprings of love, wellsprings of unselfish love.
As Christ says what use is it if we do good to those who does good to us ? We are all good Christians, working hard for the betterment of our particular denomination or church, engaged in all social and religious activities, living 'holy' lives largely engrossed in selfishness. I know that saying this will not make me popular or get me many readers. But I beg you dear brothers and sisters, to take one moment to step back and think. Is there anything that we do that is not out of selfishness? We study, work, build, create, and give for our family--sometimes even sacrificing our lives and wellbeing in that process. Ourselves, our husbands/wives, children, parents, siblings etc are our dearest and raison d'être - the reason for our existence. Next comes our church, sect/denomination, cultural identity, and so on. We often believe that by serving all these other interests in our life that we are serving God? Is it so? Does God need such service from us? Then there are the better among us who even give charity and do  charitable social work.

There IS good in all of these --no doubt. A lot of good and love like this has helped oil the mechanics of life to this day and age.

BUT it is good to also think if any of this will hold good either in this life or on the day of reckoning.
Jesus did not come to make a nation of do-gooders, he did not come to increase our material wealth and help us save for our retirement --He said that His Father in heaven knows to provide for His children and He asked us to become children of God. He asked us to plug into Him, with good sturdy wires and become charged and empowered to become as a son or daughter of God. HE called for total transformation. A transformation that changes and charges our internals, where we begin to look outward with the eyes of God and not with the eyes of man.

If you are still reading this, please take a moment to close your eyes and to look around your home and society with the eyes of God. What do you see? When you look are you overwhelmed with love? When you look does it bring a love drenched smile to your face? When you look, can you see the laughter as well as the pain of the society around you? Can you see the individual people around you - the winners, the losers, the drug addicts, the homeless, the beautiful, the ugly, the smart and the not so smart? Can you see them through the filter of Gods love flowing through you? Are you overcome with love and compassion and does this love equal or exceed the love you have for your spouse, children and parents?
If you do, then you are truly a child of God.
If you cant come anywhere close, then that is the measure of the Christian you are - not your faith, not your works, not your acts, not your ancestral heritage.
THERE IS NO OTHER MEASURE THAN LOVE IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. AND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS WITHIN YOU WHEN YOU LOVE AS GOD DOES

This is what the Christ meant when he said   --   leave your family and follow me.

Please use the comments section to share your thoughts. 

Grief

Grief is a strange thing. You cant quantify it nor express it. It just stays with you until it's done. Sometimes it overwhelms, sometimes it just leaves you numb. Grief stems from love, from remembered memories. Grief flows, grief purges, grief liberates?
In love may your memories be held, in love may you rest in peace.