Blog of Bella Ann
www.jesuscentral.com/24130

 

January 15, 2008

Eternal life > our soul

Ordinary life > our body


By: Bella Ann - January 15, 2008 - Public
Category: Life Through the Son
Comment Helpful? Favorite Violation
January 13, 2008
Todays lesson helped me to think of a question to pose. We can probably all think of people who claim to be very religious and who follow many "rules" yes? Let's imagine that there is a woman like that at your work. She talks about Jesus a lot, plays Christian music in her office, yet is judgemental, she gossips, is not helpful, sometimes is lazy or tells white lies about work. Her expressions of faith seem self-glorifying. Yet, perhaps there is someone else at your work who is kind hearted, humble, modest, compassionate, loving, forgiving - someone who much more expresses that which Jesus wants us to be. Yet they do not follow all of the rules the 1st woman does, they are simply living a good, clean, loving life. It's not just at work, it's everywhere. It's like that movie the Fighting Temptations - there is a character in it who knows all of the church's rules and doctrines and by-laws. But my goodness, she's a mean ol' snake, lol. So my question is, have you encountered this in your life? Do you know people who follow the rules very well but do not seem to express Jesus in their nature? On the other hand, do you know people who better characterize the way Jesus wanted us to be without even realizing it? How can we help both of these types of people? I know we are all sinners. I am not judging the rule-follower type people, I just think that perhaps they get a bit lost in their humanity and lose focus.

By: Bella Ann - January 13, 2008 - Public
Category: The Healing at the Pool
(1) Comments
Comment Helpful? Favorite Violation
January 13, 2008

I enjoyed reading everyone's answers and agree with much.  I also think that sometimes religion includes man-made rules (and although we are all from God what I mean here is purely created from human conscious and not divinity).  Having said that, I think it is essential that we follow the direction of God, as given to us through the guidance of Jesus, and not try to find a higher level of goodness, of spirituality, by following sets of man-made doctrine and law.  Because if we do this it can sometimes become non-sensical following of dogma.  I think Jesus was showing him this.  The Sabbath-adhering persons had done nothing to help him did they"  They would have left him by the pool forever.  They sound smug in their correctness.  It reminds me of people who do religious things outwardly but who are not holy people.  Talking more about the non-sensical aspect of blind rule following in connection to this question, the man was able to leave Bethesda.  He had a mat with him.  Jesus healed him and so he told him to go.  And well, he ...he would have to carry the mat and anything else he had with him too.  To not do so in order to follow the man-made religious rules would be...silly and unnecessary. True faith and love of Jesus and God, well personally, I believe that it rises above many of the man-made and self-serving conventions of organized religion.  At the same time, I know that there are good things about organized religion too - letting other people who love God and Jesus come together to worship, which IS in the Bible.


By: Bella Ann - January 13, 2008 - Public
Category: The Healing at the Pool
(2) Comments
Comment Helpful? Favorite Violation
January 13, 2008
Why do some people need signs and wonders to believe in Jesus, and others do not?
I think it would be easy to give an answer that is judgemental and self-flattering.  But in an attempt to add something to the study, I wanted to step back and say that I think that those who want signs and wonders to believe are that way for different reasons.  Primarily, I think that some people's personalities are more analytical, objective and fact based.  They may be very good hearted people but they intellectually have a difficult time accepting things that they cannot see or touch.  The concept of faith is the opposite - it is believing in that which you cannot prove to be true or that you cannot touch and believing any way.  So I think that the idea of Faith is very difficult for some people when their nature, personalities or "wiring" are as I described.  Yet, I think it is all the more wonderful when they grow and change throughout their lives and come to accept the beauty and in a big way, freedom, that is having Faith in Jesus and in God.

By: Bella Ann - January 13, 2008 - Public
Category: Jesus Heals the Official`s Son
(1) Comments
Comment Helpful? Favorite Violation
January 13, 2008
Every Day is a Blessing

I feel that every day, when I wake up, my blessing is that I am alive and breathing.  Everything that happens after that, however joyous or trying, is shadowed by the fact that I received a blessing - a miracle - the minute I opened my eyes.  I try to keep everything in perspective this way, especially on trying days.  Trying days are special blessings - they give you a chance to test your faith and how grateful you really are.  They are a chance to weigh what is important and what is not, or maybe, if you have made a mistake, they are a chance to look at that mistake and learn from it, thereby making your future better. 

Today is the 12th blessing of this year.


By: Bella Ann - January 13, 2008 - Public
Category: My Blog
Comment Helpful? Favorite Violation