Thursday, March 30, 2006

The meaning of love.

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God--for God is love.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us.

And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we are like Christ here in this world.

Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us. We love each other as a result of his loving us first.

If someone says, "I love God," but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen? And God himself has commanded that we must love not only him but our Christian brothers and sisters, too.

1 John 4 : 7-21

Such is the meaning of love. *ahem* I mean life.

posted by Marie-Hélène @ 8:18 PM 1 comments

Friday, March 17, 2006

Coming to believe

What is the belief system of the world? Find ways to better yourself, your mind, your body... How to feel good and be happier, more successful in life.

Do you ever think that the world, the universe, is bigger than our selfish selves? Ever wonder why the heck we're here, is there a God, why is the world so big and could it really be all for us and about us? Such huge questions seem to come up often in my thoughts lately. It's kind of exhausting really, my brain can't quite handle it.

One thing I've figured out, and I don't know where you're at, is that life on earth is basically pointless. Nothing will last after we die. Really, think about it. Once you're dead, you don't benefit from any money you've made or how successful you've been. As far as we know, whether we've been 'happy' or 'fulfilled' doesn't really figure once we're dead. So what's worth living for?

My favorite book of the Bible lately has been Ecclesiastes. (I highly recommend reading it)

All the author talks about is life being meaningless. Is there a end to this meaninglessness? (what a crazy word...) For 12 solid chapters the author rants about life having no point. He concludes by saying

"Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man."

What do you think of that?

To live for myself is pointless. Ultimately, whatever I gain here on earth will not last when I die. I don't understand eternity, or whatever comes once we're dead, but the only thing bigger than death and time and me is God. To live for God who is in eternity is so meaningful, even if I don't understand it because I can't see past my earthly life.
Wow this is deep and my brain hurts.

For me, to be able to live for God, I needed to figure out whether or not there was a God. You can't go very far without making a choice on that one! To me it's no longer a question as to whether or not God exists, it's now an established fact. Creation, fire, water, air, the eco-system, my self-healing, emotion-feeling and brain-thinking body have all served to confirm that there is indeed a God. After that I needed to plow through and figure out why I believe Jesus to be the Son of God; because of the Bible. Ok why do I believe the Bible to be Truth? Do I believe it to be full and absolute Truth in its entirety? Why? If I am here on earth, what is the reason in consequence of all this?

It's a long process, but I encourage you to dig even deeper than this. Figure out for yourself why you believe in God, do you want to live for Him and why, what is your purpose in life...? A good trick is to write everything down for future times when you doubt. These are all beliefs that need to be solid in your life before you can move on.

So much to think about.

posted by Marie-Hélène @ 10:09 PM 9 comments

Thursday, March 16, 2006

My first post!!


So here I am, having succumbed to the world of 'web-logs'. Not for any desire to spend more time on the computer, but rather to have personal contact with those with whom I would have more chance of conversing with through a blog, rather than in person over a cup of tea. I understand that internet is much more accessible than the far-away sticks of French village --->
So as we come together here, I hope that we'll be able to chat, ask and answer each other's questions, and encourage one another as we try to follow Christ every day. Hopefully something will get posted once a week.
Maybe I'll see you around, posting a comment here and there, but remember this is only virtual tea. Whenever we have the chance let's get together for some real tea. :)

posted by Marie-Hélène @ 8:37 AM 3 comments