Can God Fail?

God is love. God so loved the world, not just the Christians. Christ is the Savior of all! Hell is a mistranslation. God is capable of saving all of his creation. 

"Cute. I love your sentiments, but you are wrong. Isaiah 55:8-9 ESV says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

I appreciate your candor, but based on this scripture, God does not think like us. His ways are higher than ours. Therefore, hell is real."

Thank you for sharing that scripture. Note that it starts with "For my thoughts…"

I am not a Grammar virtuoso, but whenever there is a 'for' or 'therefore' in a sentence, it is never a beginning of a topic. We need to find what the 'for' or 'therefore' is there for. 

In this context, the topic starts at verse 6: "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

Isaiah was addressing the wicked or the unrighteous.

We are not living in the times of Isaiah. We have been made righteous (Romans 5:19). If righteousness is earned by our good works, then it would be called self-righteousness. If self-righteousness is the goal, then Christ died in vain (Galatians 2:21).

Fortunately, as common sense would agree, neither can God fail, nor does he tremble at human's supposed free-will.

If there is no Hell...

"If there is no hell, does that mean we live however way we want?"

Huh? 

So was Hell the only thing that prevented us from living "however way we want"?

Albert Einstein said it better - "If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed."

Jesus is the Reason for the Season?

Dear Christians, 

I love your zeal especially during the Christmas season, but please note that I was not born on the 25th of December. So please do not be worried about putting me in a celebration that is totally unconnected to me. If you have doubts, just google "Origin of Christmas". 

It's your call though. You are accepted no matter what! 

If you really, really want to express your love for me during this season, love that atheist who is upset with you. Surprise him or her with your kindness, with no strings attached. 

No pressure though; I love you no matter what, just like I love your neighbor who might be celebrating Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or simply holidays. ;)

Love,

Jesus

"The beginning of love is to let those we love be perfectly themselves, and not twist them to fit our own image. Otherwise we love only the reflection of ourselves we find in them."

- Thomas Merton

Why do we Receive and Give Grace?

Grace is about God's unconditional acceptance towards us, because all of us falls short at one time or the other. 

For example, Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

If we are honest with ourselves, none of us floats around in a bubble of love and grace all the time. 

This, therefore, puts all of us in the same boat. Grace levels the playing field.

So then, who is going to cast the first stone at whom? 

This is the mindset from which we receive and give grace.

Feelings

Religion is about what we must do. 

Grace is about what He has done. 

It is finished and we are complete in Him (Col 2:10), whether we feel it or not. 

While feelings are beautiful, they are not necessarily an accurate indicator of our identity. Right now it is 50 degrees Fahrenheit outside, and I am experiencing a comfortable 65 degrees inside. But my experience does not alter the fact that the actual temperature is 50 degrees right now.

Cease from Striving

I'm striving to please God."

Trying to "please God" is an OT concept, because in their minds, they were distant from God. Under the new covenant, we are accepted in the Beloved(Ephe 1:6 NKJV). 

"But what about good works? Because it is all 'grace' now, does that mean we are to ignore good works?"

We are masterpieces created in Christ for good works (Ephe 2:10), but the good works does not come as a result of us striving from our insecure need to 'please God'; it naturally manifests as a fruit, because it is God in us, who does the bearing (Jn 15:5, Phil 2:13).

In other words, relax. : )

The Mystics and the Analysts

I think there will always be a tension between the mystics and the analysts. "Why don't they just 'get' it?", says both the camps.

For a peaceful coexistence, I believe the trick is not to worry about anyone "getting it", because truths are discovered, not shoved down.

"The reason people awaken is because they have finally stopped agreeing to things that insult their soul."

- Unknown

"The entire law was based on the performance of man. The new covenant is based on the performance of one man, Christ." 

- Susan Woods Avello