I am almost half-way through Friendship With God and a few things have caught my eye. I ran across the following quotes from "God" in the book. "God's" words are in red.
(I put "God" in quotes for the moment, because I am not yet addressing the validity of Walsch's conversations. We'll get to that later.)
Regarding God's will vs. ours:
“…I have no agenda for you, other than the agenda you set for yourself.”
God setting stuff in place for us to achieve our goals, or to direct us toward those goals:
“Yes, I will place the tools in your hands…You may choose to use those tool, or not to use them.”
Regarding is God's inspiration still "ours" and using tools:
“..I cannot tell you how many people to whom I have given wonderful words to write, who have never written them…songs to sing, who have never sung them…If {using your gifts that have been given} isn’t something to be thrilled about, I don’t know what is.”
In regards to folks who believe/feel “no-credit-is-to-come-to-me” or “I-am-not-to-feel-good-about-myself”:
“The trick is not to do what you do FOR acknowledgment but rather as an expression of Who You Are.”
As for if it's okay to declare ourselves and our gifts:
“Jesus announced himself and declared himself unequivocally to all who could hear.”
...and:
“In this (creating the best YOU you can envision) will I be glorified, for the glory of God is the glory of you, expressed wondrously indeed.”
Certainly something to think about. I can't say that I disagree. Deep down, I do believe God wants nothing but for us to express ourselves and to be ourselves and to help others do the same - yes, all the while still helping and loving others.
But, as I think I stated before in another post, we can't truly love others until we start to love ourselves.
Do you think Jesus thought ill of himself? Jesus could freely and openly love others without reservations, hesitation, or limitation because he fully loved himself (and God) as well.
DO NOT confuse this with ego. Or one thinking they are better than others.
I did come across some other stuff, which I believe Walsch got some flack about. I will get to those in another post.
All thoughts are welcome...
I think he makes some interesting points. I do believe that God wants us to reflect his glory - in whatever way we choose or path we take. I think he provides us with a number of tools from which we can select as we seek to make ourselves a reflection of Him to the world.
ReplyDeleteSome people choose a path of complete & direct service to others - like Mother Teresa. Others may choose a more contemplative role - like monks. But both are reflections of God. I think of it as a perfect expression of our personality glorifying God.