The Cloud and The Line.

I have been struggling to decide what to blog about lately. I desperately want my blogs to be uplifting and encouraging to my readers. I want my words to inspire those who read them. I want my conversations with God to challenge those who have stopped talking. I want people to understand why I do what I do. 

So I have decided to do a blog series on a Pais teaching known as the Kingdom Principles. They say that to teach is to learn twice so I am hoping that as I explain what I know to be God's heart for these principles I hope to learn about them even more so that I can write them on my heart over and over again.

Before I start with the first Kingdom Principle I have to first explain about the Cloud and the Line. This is something that has challenged my thinking so much over the past 2 years.  So many "christians" believe that they are living in the cloud, however when you take away all the sunday fancy dress and rehearsed prayers you realize that most of our "christian" world is living on the line. Let me explain what I mean.

First you have the line. There are two extremes to the line. On one side you have the "bad" things. People that live on this part of the line ask questions or make comments like...
  • How far can I go with my boyfriend before I get in trouble?
  • You can't watch any R rated movies...only PG13.
  • Are you working on the sabbath????
The problem with this kind of thinking is you are acting like a Pharisee. It is all about the rules and not God's heart. When you realize that the Passion of the Christ is rated R and there are some PG13 movies that you should not be watching, you figure out quickly that this thinking is flawed. 

The other extreme of the line is thinking of all the "good" things you do. People that live on this part of the line ask questions or make comments like...
  • If I give my 10% tithe every week God has to bless me. 
  • If I do all these good deeds then God has to bless me. 
  • How many good things do I need to do so that God will forgive me or won't be mad at me? 
This thinking is just wrong. God does not operate like this. You can not manipulate God. You can not say "if I do this, God will do this." That is not how our relationship works. Which leads me to the cloud.

The cloud is God's heart. That is where you find things like grace, forgiveness, guidance, love ect. This is what I love about God. He sees us silly humans trying to live on the line and He offers us a way out. He offers us His heart. That is where we will find our guidance to tough decisions like the whole boyfriend situation. Instead of someone asking "how far can I go" people get to ask "what is God's heart for my relationship" or "where does God want this relationship to go?" We get the chance to explore God's heart. He has not hidden things from us but He has hidden things for us and if we just spend time with Him and get to know His heart then we will find those things that He wants to give us. 

So many times I see people stuck in a rut and they think that it is all God's fault. These are the people that live on the line. These are the people that think "why hasn't God blessed me?" What we don't realize is that we are tremendously blessed. We are alive and we have been given permission to have an intimate relationship with the one who created us.

As I sit here writing this I am given the image of a brand new mother. When she is first holding her precious baby in her arms she looks on them with adoration and unconditional love. I am then given the image of God the father doing this as He carefully formed us in our mother's womb. I am reminded about what is says in Psalm 139:13-16, 18


I can't help but get emotional when I read these words. These words tell me how much my Father loves me. They tell me to stop living on the line. They tell me to just seek the heart of my Father and get to know Him. 

My question for you is are you living on the line or are you living in the cloud? Do you know the heart of God? Do you have an intimate relationship with your Creator?

There are people in the world today being killed for their faith. If this were happening in the US today would you be one that would not waver when asked to deny God or die? 

Just something to think about...



CONVERSATION

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