teddwebb

I do not believe in ALL of the dogmas of Christianity because my sensibilities that
God has given me tell me so, and because The Holy Spirit guides me so, in order
to be able to separate the meddling of Man from the Holy Word of God. I am neither
Catholic, nor Methodist, nor Eastern Orthodox, nor do I drink poison and handle
snakes. Actually, there are around 39,000 DIFFERENT Christian Denominations throughout
the world. …39,000 DIFFERENT “doctrines” or interpretations of the Bible and what
it means to be a Christian and how to live as a Christian.

However, I have been praying a great deal lately. And reading and comparing scriptures
from three different versions of the Bible and a Commentary and God has blessed
me and has sent The Holy Spirit to lead and guide me through my journey of study.
Thank You God. Amen. I can finally look through the fog of Man-made religions and
Mans dogmatic interjections into “faith requirements” and focus on what has been
the most important thing all along, from the very beginning actually, and that is
the Love of God and the relationship between God and Man. If you boil the entire
Bible down, look at it from a high level, from Genesis to Revelations, the entire
Bible is about the relationship between God and Man.

Like any relationship, it is based upon Love and Trust. When that Trust is broken
and the Love wanes, the relationship weakens, often breaks and falls apart, and
many people are not interested in that relationship at all, just as some people
are not interested in building relationships with other people. However, God is
Most Gracious, Most Merciful, oft Forgiving, and is the Most Easy “person” to get
along with, and best of all, is always there ready to rejoin the relationship whenever
you are ready.

If you tell a funny joke about one of your friends behind their back and it hurts
their feelings and the relationship is broken and it falls apart, does not one party
approach the other party and apologize and make amends to fix the relationship?
Does not the wrongdoer admit the wrongs they have done, say that they are sorry,
and ask to be forgiven to the person they hurt in order to repair, rebuild, and
move forward in their relationship?

Well, God is much, MUCH more than just your friend. He is the DEVINE CREATOR OF
THE UNIVERSE (lightning bolts strike all around and there is a loud thunder). When
you wrong God by sinning, by wronging yourself, by hurting yourself, or by simply
separating yourself from God, He is always there with open arms and an open heart
ready to give you a Big Old Bear Hug of Forgiveness when your heart is truly repentant
or more simply put, you are truly sorry for what you did and are ready to start
working on the relationship again.

Acknowledging your wrongdoings, admitting your sins from your heart to God, confessing
to God, telling God that you are sorry for what you did, apologizing for your wrongdoings,
asking for strength to not do it again, handing the pain in your heart over to God’s
hands and telling God that this is too big for you and that you need God’s Help,
that you need God’s Forgiveness in your life, that you need God’s Love in your life,
that you need God in your life, and then accepting the Forgiveness that God was
holding out to you all this time, but that all the sin and the pain in your heart
was not letting in, and accepting God’s Love, this is repenting. THAT is what I
call, “Repenting.” There is no magic formula for it. God’s Forgiveness won’t fit
it your heart until your heart makes room. People are stubborn. It is very humbling
to bow before the Almighty Creator, The Cherisher and Sustainer of all the Worlds,
The Master of the Day of Judgment, and truly, honestly admit that you were wrong
and in your heart by doing so you are asking and inviting God’s Forgiveness and
Presence into your life, willingly, with open arms FINALLY ACCEPTING the Forgiveness
that God has been reaching out to you all this time.

YOU must be ready for God, for only your own heart can feel truly repentant, truly
sorry for what you did, willing to try to not do it again, truly wanting and Willing
to ACCEPT God’s Forgiveness. When you repent, you are not asking God to forgive
you. When you repent, you are admitting to God all of the hurtful things that you
did to screw up your relationship with God, taking ownership for all your wrongdoings,
getting them off of your chest and turning them over into God’s hands, apologizing
for your mistakes, and then you are willing to ACCEPT God’s Forgiveness because
God is Most Gracious, Most Merciful, oft Forgiving. God does not make you beg him
for forgiveness, dangling it like a carrot on a stick in front of you. God, like
any good friend, just wants you to earnestly say, “I’m sorry” and then to accept
forgiveness, feel all warm and fuzzy and your relationship is all good then and
restored. …and then to not keep nagging on and on with, “I’m sorry dude…man,
I’m sorry dude…I suck man…will you forgive me dude…I’m so sorry dude…” God
is “Just Shut Up Man and leave me alone! I already said we were cool and it’s all
groovy now, and I forgave you, and we’re past it, so shut up with that shit man!”
God has Forgiven you and you have accepted his Forgiveness so let it go and move
forward with rebuilding your relationship and not rehashing the past.

No, God offers Forgiveness to the accepting heart and to the soul crying out. God
does not dangle His Forgiveness in front of you on the condition of repentance.
His Forgiveness is and has always been there for you to accept. However, in order
for your heart to be able to accept God’s Forgiveness, your heart must be willing
to turn it all over into God’s hands, and that is done by repenting. They go hand-in-hand.
God is a Loving God and his Forgiveness is unconditional. Man’s ability to accept
God’s Forgiveness, however IS conditional, and that is conditional upon Man’s ability
to Trust in God, to Trust in God by admitting his sins and wrongdoings, being truly
sorry, and being truly able to turn it over into God’s hands. THAT is upon where
the “conditionality” of Repentance versus Forgiveness rests.

God does not impose the condition of repentance before Forgiveness. It is the very
heart of Man that requires Man to repent before his heart can ACCEPT God’s Forgiveness!
God is perfect. God is all-loving. God would never do anything to hurt anyone; otherwise,
God would not be a Perfect God. God does not make you repent before you are forgiven.
Your own heart makes you repent before you can accept God’s freely given Forgiveness!!!

For me, I have found that when I repent, when I confess my sins, when I ask for
strength to not repeat those same mistakes, when I Trust God and turn it over into
his hands, one of the most difficult parts for me personally, is then to ACCEPT
God’s Forgiveness! When I used to pray, I used to start out with, “Forgive me Father
for I have sinned…” but I have found that after repenting, I feel The Holy Spirit
more powerfully when I tell God that I am ready and willing to ACCEPT His Forgiveness
and then I Truly, Earnestly, with all my might, turn it all over into God’s hands,
and I receive Forgiveness. It is one of the Most Spirit-Filled Moments of prayer
that I have (and a humbling one, like kneeling before God), but it is also one of
the most difficult parts of prayer too! It is harder to ACCEPT forgiveness than
it is to confess your sins, but accept you must nonetheless. It is easy for me to
confess to God and to apologize to God and to ask God for strength and to ask God
for Forgiveness. It is hard for me to move my own ego aside and forgive myself,
and allow God’s Forgiveness to overrule any self-ego, my own “beat me up inside
because God may have forgiven Tedd but Tedd can’t forgive himself machine.” God
does not hold grudges; Man does. You have been forgiven, and you can Trust in God’s
Forgiveness. God does not take his Forgiveness back just because you start feeling
guilty over the past. Remember to turn it ALL over into God’s Hands – Trust God.

And once you have repented and accepted His Forgiveness, it is in the past. God
has forgiven you and you only continue to hurt yourself if you continue to hold
on to the past. God has let it go and so should you. God wants to rebuild your relationship
and move forward. The Love part of the relationship is taken care of once you have
repented freely, accepted His Forgiveness, and allowed Him back into your heart. Now
comes the Trust part. You must continue to Trust in God and Trust in your Relationship
with God and move forward, not linger in the past. Trust in God. Relationships are
based upon Love and Trust. Stop thinking so much and Feel more because Trust also
comes from the heart. Why do you think your heart hurts when your Trust is broken?
Your Relationship with God is and always will be based upon Love AND Trust.

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