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A universal personal God
Joseph Lee L'Heureux
for South Peace News
“Rejoice! Rejoice!
Again I say Rejoice
always,” says
St. Paul in the book of
Philippians 4:4.
Why? A universal,
personal God is seeking
you out for a personal
relationship!
Here we are in a recession
that seems to
be getting worse. Businesses
are closing, the
market has taken a
beating, unemployment
is up and every time
there is surge of recovery
something else happens
to knock it down
again.
To place everything
in perspective, let’s remember
this, too, shall
pass. We have no final
destination but our
hope is in a truly universal,
personal God
who loves us and gave
us His Son, Jesus, to be
our personal Saviour,
companion and provider.
He will come
again to bring us all
home personally, if we
let Him.
What brought this
on? Well, just before
Christmas I ran into an
old friend from my teen
years. He is an educated,
knowledgeable
person who seems to
have lost his faith. In
our conversation he
used the Lord’s name
in vain, a violation of the
Second Commandment.
I interjected with, “Be
careful, that’s a personal
friend of mine you
are abusing.”
My personal friend
the Holy Spirit was
quick to quote him the
scripture, “Your much
learning has made you
mad!” which was what
Festus said to St. Paul,
when St. Paul recounted
his experience
with Jesus, in a “blinding
light and a voice” on
the road to Damascus.
(Acts 26)
This brought on a
burst of scoffing about
us “Christians who
claim to hear from this
would be God”. He
claimed he personally
knew “a shaman who
while out on the cold
tundra had heard the
universe speak.” His
reasoning was that if
the universe speaks to
us there is no such
thing as ‘personal God’
but a self-created universe,
The Big Bang
Theory or Darwin’s theory
of evolution.
While working with
the homeless, many
came to me with the experience
of being called
by name out of the blue.
I would direct them to
chapter three of the
book of 1 Samuel (Samuel’s
calling). I then encouraged
them to read
many other personal
encounters in the Bible.
I, too, had experienced
that personal calling,
thereby experiencing
the name change from
Leandre or Lee to Joseph.
While most of us
agree that the universe
tells us about God or
confirms that there is a
God, the Bible points
out that God or Jesus
does speak to us
through the Holy Spirit.
If God does speak to us,
and we have no faith or
belief in God, we will attribute
the speaking
voice to the universe, or
whatever is close by.
Sometimes we create a
God or something sacred
out of our experience
as in the case of
our Hindu brothers.
When God spoke to
Moses out of a burning
bush it was to develop a
personal relationship
and give him an assignment,
the deliverance of
Israel from slavery in
Egypt. (Exodus 3:24)
When Gabriel, the angel
of God, spoke to
Mary it was to make an
announcement of Jesus’
conception and
birth, and as a confirmation
He sent her to
Elizabeth, also an assignment.
(Luke
1:26-37)
He was also sending
Jesus as a personal
Saviour to the world
and his Mother Mary as
a personal witness of
the event. John the
Baptist, Elizabeth’s
baby in her womb, was
also to be a witness of
Jesus’ coming.
When Jesus spoke to
St. Paul (then called
Saul) knocking him
from his horse with a
light (Acts 9:3-12) it was
to convert him to Christianity
and send him on
assignment to us Gentiles.
Why was this necessary?
St. Paul was
persecuting and killing
Christians.
When Charles Darwin
was writing his theory
of the evolution of
man from apes in ‘Origin
of Species’ in 1859,
the Virgin Mary, calling
herself ‘the Immaculate
Conception’ appeared
to an unschooled
13-year old girl, Bernadette
Soubirous, 18
times at Lourdes,
France in 1858.
Why? Maybe to state
that both Jesus and
Mary, are ‘Immaculate
Conceptions’, creations
and not an extension
and natural progression
from apes. Also to remind
us there is a God
and to confirm the
Church’s doctrine of the
Immaculate Conception
declared in 1854.
God was also reminding
us of our esteemed
position in His Kingdom
and His promise to us,
of eternal life.
Since the time of
Adam’s creation the
kingdom of darkness
has tripped and tricked
mankind to a fallen
state. Jesus Christ, by
the sacrifice of His crucifixion
and resurrection
from the dead,
changed all of that for
those of us who believe.
So who would want to
convince us there is no
God?
For almost 30 years
Mother Mary has appeared
daily to mankind
through six visionaries
in Medjugorje, Croatia,
reaffirming to all the
gift of eternal life. Mary
continues to encourage
us to develop a personal
relationship with her
Son Jesus through
prayer and meditation.
This is the good news,
so rejoice!
This only comes from
admitting there is a
higher power, discovering
and submitting to
His Commandments,
especially “thou shall
not kill”. Overlooking
our rights to abort our
unborn, euthanize our
aged and bomb or kill
our neighbours.
You might want to
consider a personal relationship
with Jesus.
God bless!
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