Promises, Promises! - Part 2

In a previous article called Promises, Promises!, I talked about the God-given promises that are found in the Bible and in many other sources that are for all time. I said that in order for these promises to have meaning I have to claim the promises for myself i.e. believe in the promises and expect to experience them in my every day life.

I have observed three obstacles likely to keep one from claiming the promises.

The first obstacle is unbelief. First of all, in the absolute sense, there is no such thing as unbelief. I always believe in something. Even when I don't believe in something, I still believe in not believing. What I mean by "unbelief" in this sense is not having a belief in God or be at least open to that possibility. In other words, I can't expect to be open to God's eternal promises when I don't believe in God.

I am aware lots of people have a problem with the concept God as it has religious connotations. If you're not into religion, it can be off-putting. There was a time when I didn't believe in God, at least the religious idea, but I believed in the power of music. Music was my God and kept me sane. In other words, I still believed in an Intelligence behind the scenes, a greater power that uplifted me through music. When the Light within was revealed to me during meditation, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Source of true happiness is within me, though I still didn't call it God. Later I came to realise that it is the same Light that is revealing Itself in many different ways and known by so many different names such as God, Love, the Force, Spirit, Infinite Intelligence, the Wonder, the Mystery, the Creator, Source, Soul, the ONE, the All There Is, etc.

So to experience God's promises, you have to believe in or be open to believe in God or a Greater Power, otherwise, forget it.

The second obstacle is belief systems. Over the years, I have met Christians who have been puzzled how I could study the Bible and yet not be a Christian. I've been told by some that only those who are born again Christians i.e. accepted Jesus as their personal saviour are entitled to the promises in the Bible. Some have even said that I cannot know God except through Jesus Christ. Well, I beg to differ.

As I see it, instead of focusing in saviours and messiahs, I prefer to focus on the Timeless Omnipresent ONE. Omnipresence means that which exists in all realities whether it's in the "past", "present" or "future." Because of the ONE's omnipresent nature, He is in all religions. To the Buddhist, He is Buddha nature; to the Christians He is God or the Father; to the Muslims He is Allah; to the Sufis He is the Beloved; to the Hindus, He is the Self; and so on. While the ONE is in all religions, He does not favour any particular religion over another.

I have observed the ONE speaking through many different instruments and channels whether it's the Bible, Sutra, the Koran, films, music, art, nature, etc. In other words, Truth is still Truth in any reality. That's why I find inspiration elsewhere.

Back to the obstacle of belief systems, if your God is only limited to a particular time, place or people, then it's only natural that you're not going to be open to God being expressed in other times and people. The God I believe in is the same ONE in all time and in all people.

The third obstacle that prevents even believers in God from receiving the promises is trying to understand how things work. Imagine if I insisted that I will not write my articles until I'm able to understand how the computer works. I would be waiting for a very long time. I'm only interested in one thing: do I believe the computer can do what I want it to do? If I believe in it, I go ahead and use it. If I don't, I don't use it. I prefer to leave the intricacies of computer technology to those who are interested in that kind of thing.

A beloved friend was having an important meeting yesterday. I told him I would send him lots of love and would be holding his hand during the meeting. My friend doesn't care about how it works, he just believes in the power of good vibrations, which he sees as a good luck charm. He texted me later to thank me and tell me that the meeting had gone very well.

My point is instead of trying to understand how the promises of God work, I prefer to just believe that they work. When I believe God has already healed me, I receive the healing. That's all that matters to me. There are times when details about how things work have come as part of the package in the form of revelations, insights and realisations, which I share on my blogs. It makes perfect sense that I receive the "details" because part of my life's purpose is to share my realisations of God in writing. In other words, it is a role I have promised to play in this moment of Now.

To recap, I believe what stops people from receiving the God-given promises are unbelief, belief systems, and trying to figure things out. The easiest way to avoid obstacles is to simply believe in God and trust God to do what He's promised.

I believe in the promises of God which are for all time and can NEVER be broken.

Enocia

Related articles: Promises, Promises!; The Problem with Focus; The Dreamer; What's Up with the Weather?; Give and Take; The Power of Music; Truth or Fiction - Who Cares?; Halleluiah!; Love Conquers All; No Chance!; God is in the Details; Inspiration; Love is No Respecter of Persons; Light is All and in All; Some Thoughts on Meditation - Haha; The Gift of Unbelief; But the Emperor is Naked; The Way of No Way; How To Avoid Blocks