Study of GOD for Cursillo
I gave this talk in May 2010 at our Cursillo 3day Weekend it is on the following:
STUDY
Study is the second leg of the tripod, the first (1) is Piety, with the heart, it means to love God and Study, with the intellect, it means to know God.
It is to know the ideal of Christianity, to live life boldly, and fulfil the potential that God has given each and every one of us. A study life means you should be constantly searching for God and seeking his wisdom.
Now let us begin with my study of our omnipresent GOD:
For example, the Universe, and it’s ever-expanding force in the infinite decree, some scientists believe it was formed from a big bang the creation of atoms moving at a rapid speed creating what is called dark matter, which is the Holy Spirit.
The same dark light referred to in the Torah and the Bible in the Old Testament, was Moses was led to the burning bush and a pillow of cloud covered the bush, I do know that it is referred to as the cloud that GOD, known as EL, chose to dwell in when leading the Israelites, not like Fathers Shekinah Glory - HIS BRILLIANT GLORY?
It is the same BRILLIANT GLORY that JESUS received after ascending to Heaven to greet his Father. “The light of the Lord will light the Holy City”.
The scientists have concluded that dirt, rocks, ice and other matter, to name a few materials this leaves me with the question. How did these materials ever begin to exist in the first place?
The scientist believes all these materials swirled around in space, either in a clockwise or anticlockwise motion and supposedly gravity pulled them together to form large masses that would collide together forming planets.
I have to ask myself how can, “a mess of materials”, such as mentioned, form to be planets, in all cases perfectly round, this is pointing to me to be more of an act of creation rather than a freak of happenings such as the big bang theory.
All these materials became what we see at night and through enormous telescopes – stars (which are blazing suns), planets, galaxies, moons, meteors, comets, constellations, black holes of emptiness, supernovas of vast and wonderful colours and light and not to mention our own beautiful blue and green planet that supports not only us human beings as a species but so many other wonderful animals and plant life.
Science has discovered planets out in the Universe of great mass and proportion so large that such as one (1) named Sirius it would take a 747 jet aircraft travelling at 900 km/hr, 1100 years to fly around.
That means 21,600 km/day then 7,884,000 km/year equates to the planet being 8.6724 Billion km in circumference and there are even bigger planets than Sirius.
God knows everything about us, we can understand this from the book of Psalms, number 139, I quote, “You may not know me, but I know everything about you. I know when you sit down and when you rise up. I’m familiar with all your ways”.
THE CREATOR:
His Way, scripture, this brings me to the second book of the Bible - Exodus - Moses was chosen by God to go to Pharaoh of Egypt to lead the Israelites out of bondage and slavery this great power of our creator GOD, EL, formed many miracles such as blood in the Nile, swarms of locusts and the parting of the Red Sea with a great wind to dry the seabed, wide enough, for the twelve tribes of Israel and one other to cross side by side.
In my understanding perhaps if Pharaoh didn’t have such a hard heart toward Moses pleas, there would have been a lot less suffering for his people not too mention the death of the Egyptian peoples at the Red Sea.
Pharaoh would not give in because he would have no one to build his Pyramid so he could go into the Heaven they believed to be with his servants.
Thinking this would be almost suggesting that God is not only a compassionate God but a vengeful God? When you consider the suffering situation the ISRAELITE people were placed in. I personally would like to believe that God wasn’t vengeful however he does say so in the book of Nahum that he will be avenging and be vengeful.
From the book of Matthew 7:7-11 , fathers can relate to this, Jesus says what our heavenly father is like with the words, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him”.
His Truth, Pharaoh refused ten (10) times to listen to Moses which was instructed by God to tell Pharaoh what his intention was and ten (10) times Pharaoh refused to acknowledge the word of Moses – Gods – Truth. The Egyptians paid a high price for not heeding the warning and more suffered and died at the Red Sea.
To add a little more too, His Way, Moses received The Ten Commandments, a clear and precise way to live the Israelite life which has been adopted and believed by good wholesome Christians throughout the centuries.
Following the formation of the Church and the mass production of the Holy Bible, this has made it possible for us people of the world who can read to understand a little bit of the mind and the way of God.
His Life, In my understanding of the scriptures referring to the early books of the Bible they are more about, his way, for example uncleanness about the body, what you eat and the way you should live and how your body operates and acts through everyday living, burnt offerings, sin offering, offerings for restitution, instructions concerning sacrifices, unclean animals, the priesthood for the sacrifices and the lamentations for doing things wrong feeling sorrow and remorse.
I couldn’t referrer to His Life, meaning that which is God, you see God has not lived a full life on Earth as a pure physical yet spiritual man, he doesn’t need too, sure he has instructed, whether by voice or via spiritual gifts through many an ArchAngel, Angel, Prophet, Disciple, Martyrs, Apostle, Saint or Lay Person.
You see God made it quite clear in Genesis at the beginning that he was or in his words, I AM, there is no other before me and there is no other after me. I exist, I created, I blessed, I am the Lord your God.
From the book of Psalms, number 46:10-11, I quote, “Be still, and know that I am God! I AM exalted among the nations; I AM exalted in the Earth”. Thus meaning the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
Why would God in all his infinite wisdom and knowledge not to mention his glory and holiness want to become a mere mortal and suffer the daily torment that we as human beings experience, you see quite simply God already knows.
There is only one (1) recorded instance that I can recall when God walked the earth as a man in physical form, it is the book of Genesis, when God walked with two (2) of his ArcAngel’s Gabriel and Raphael to Abraham at the Oaks, of Mam’re, at the entrance to Abrahams tent, this is when God promised a son to Abraham & Sarah
“Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swearest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever”.
The only person that existed in our world for a meaning or example of His Life, our God, is our Saviour Jesus Christ who lived amongst us as a MAN he was Baptised in the Jordan by John then the Greater Power of the Holy Spirit descended from the Heaven’s and the voice of God said, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased to listen to him”.
Up to and following this point in time Jesus lived the perfect life free from mortal sin full of the scriptures with the blessing of his Father our God.
There isn’t much mentioned or written about the early life of Jesus but, from the moment of the wedding feast, Jesus, became an example for us in the way we should live, this has been no doubt a direct influence from his Father our creator.
Jesus was compassionate, forgiving, understanding, merciful, prayer full, innocent, he performed acts of kindness, a worker of many extraordinary miracles, loving at the cross and toward his fellow human beings; these are just some of the qualities that make up the very being of the creator.
The most extraordinary gift Jesus received from our Father was the rising from the dead and thus being made into the Glory of the Father.
Necessity for study
The necessity for the study of the scriptures is in my mind a personal belief installed by God as a direct result from an awaking of my conscience and the understanding of the Father’s Son’s life and personal sacrifice for me.
Not only to give us life but to save us through Jesus sacrifice and rising, meaning that we who believe in the son the saviour will have a full life, a rich life in spirit and the ways and means to reach Heaven, saving our souls. John 10:10 confirms this it states; “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full”.
Jesus gives us incredible insight into what it means to be human and find the true path of happiness in the Beatitudes, to quote a few, blessed are the poor, blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful, blessed are pure of heart and blessed are the peacemakers. Your rewards are the kingdom of heaven, the inheritance of the earth, the receiving of mercy; you will see God and be called a child of God.
Christ Jesus is our great mediator to the Father he intercedes for us he is the high priest it is through Jesus we learn to be forgiving and understanding we can reflect on Jesus life to apply it to our own lives in somewhat of a relevant and mere mortal form. I mean relevant because we are important to Jesus.
Object of our study
The scriptures, they are not only a free fulfilling gift but it should be a personal desire for you to want to know God to reflect on his existence and try to understand his ways.
The best way for me to understand is through the Bible and the way of life and teachings of Jesus and the prophets; they include the Old and New Testament writings.
We should be trying to reach a heartfelt peace not only of body but of mind and spirit, even more so, when you consider the way the world has been in the past and the way we live life today, there are Christian persecutions, we are combated with news of money worries, loss of life, violence towards others, terrorism, destruction and atrocities committed in wartime.
We shouldn’t take these things to heart, we certainly shouldn’t conduct ourselves in the same manner but you should pray about them and if necessary ask for understanding about why the world is the way it is, if it’s any consolation and to put it simply, it is because sin came into the world the fall.
Jesus said, “take up my yoke for my yoke is easy and my burden light”, to me this means don’t let the burdens of daily life get you down don’t try to carry the weight of the world upon your shoulders, you see he, Jesus has already done that for us by living his life and dying for us.
The desire for personal peace in our communities no matter what religion is something that is growing stronger in all of us today the same can be said for people that don’t belong to a Religion but are still good in some ways.
Study as a means
By way of the scriptures, I choose to learn from the Bible or through associated books, CDs, programs, lectures, seminars, courses, prayer groups (such as Cursillo & menALIVE) also videos all from people with a Holy Trinity inspired, that is to say the Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit filled, intention, influence or guidance, we should all be trying to reach for a better and peaceful way of life.
When God made us we were the pinnacle of his creation he was well pleased and placed us in a garden of perfect wonder and beauty we should all be trying to get back to our grassroots of his creation, spiritual literature is the way and the means to do so no matter what your background.
You should always be aware of your personal sin that you commit daily whether directly or indirectly whether intended or unintended remembering that a heartfelt lamentation of oneself is important.
In Conclusion
To me personally one should try to reach a sense of Holiness, in my experience the best way is to have the presence of God himself or Jesus touch you and the Holy Spirit in you.
This happens at Baptism via the Holy Water that God sanctified from the very beginning of creation, you see water is the most essential substance on Earth for all things great and small.
I have at times in my life been shown, told and felt the Holy presence although I sometimes cannot maintain the presence or at times recognise it.
It has always found me in daily routine, during prayer and personal sacrifice at church or at a monastery I frequent yearly.
The Grace of God is something that we should try to achieve and receive, it is the free unmerited favour of God shown toward man, to me the best way is committing oneself to prayer and worship and peacefully trying to do Gods will.
Christ is our author and perfecter of the faith, for me, the best way for a Christian to reach a little piece of cleanliness and holiness is at a Mass ceremony, Holy Communion, when we partake of the Eucharist, the offering of the body and blood of our Lord Jesus, his sacrifice.
The Eucharist is the receiving and remembering of Christ’s sacrificial offering, up to, and during the crucifixion; it is in the Spirit that we receive this blessing.
In summing up, I would like to strengthen your Faith, believe that the Catholic Church is the true church it is the bride of Christ, yet there are many branches, that is to say other denominations, it is best explained in the book of 1 Corinthians 12:20 "But now indeed there are many members, yet on the body."
Happy Moments, Praise God
Difficult Moments, Seek God
Quiet Moments, Worship God
Painful Moments, Trust God
Every Moment, Thank God
A BROTHER & FRIEND in CHRIST JESUS and FATHER GOD.
DeColores
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