No 1403 of Living Life Series 1
A calm sea always follow a storm. No storm will last forever. This Bo Tien 武 天 reminds us regardless of what religion we profess.
Do not expect life will be smooth sailing and that is the problem when we believe too much on grace.
Grace brings hope and there is no doubt about that. This is good. But belief in God or saint cannot be the end-all and the everything in life.
We will then think that what we want, we just pray and wait. Everything will go our way. We are the chosen ones.
We may even think that others are the losers if they do not believe in the way we do. We will make others envy us and give the impression that they are left out by God and think that their religion or sect is not of God.
This is not good as this will create ill-will and create conflicts. It is good to believe, but belief should not be over placed.
What happens if things don't turn out as we prayed? We will feel lost and lose our cool and confidence. We will become depressed and ask ourselves why has God forsaken us and left us. What have we done wrong? Is God angry with us? Well, in reality grace is a double edge sword. It cuts both ways.
What has Bo Tien 武 天 to say on this? He says that those who seek God or saint, God or saint will come to them. It is good to have faith.
God or saint will answer prayers. Issues will be no issues. Some issues if big will end up as small issues.
But there is the element of fate. We reap what we sow. We have to face this. But he reminds us that storms in life will not last forever and there will be calm seas.
But during a storm, God or saint will hold our hands and shelter us. This will be reassuring and gives us more faith. We can better weather a storm that way.
But faith and divine grace are two different issues. We do not get blessings in life by grace alone.
We have to bless ourselves. We have to work for what we want in life. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we fail. This is the reality in life. There will always be the ups and downs in life.
But Bo Tien 武 天 adds that we must have fellowship. Others with us can bless us by helping us. We can help one another and bless one another that way.
Do not depend solely on God and saints and think that grace is everything in life. Faith and grace are two different aspects of devotion.
Life depends on faith for many of us. But belief in divine grace is another matter. Life cannot be run based on grace of God and saints.
Good to hold on to faith but not grace. Belief in faith will not let us down but belief in grace can mislead and disappoint us - even shake our faith.
Depend not on grace but faith, and more importantly what God wants us to do. God wants us to know the God knowledge - how to be good and be at peace come what may. The Word is God.
Good work alone is not good enough if we do not know and live in the Word. Many do good to get acclaim for themselves. Some just want to get and bribe God for a place above or to be in his good books. That is far from good though of some good. We need to know and not just know but live in the Word. Then any good work is really good
What is the Word that is common and underlies all religions? This is the Word.
We must be pure and have love for life. We must favor not the self or others and sacrificing self or others - condemning and damning self or others. We must be at peace with self and others even those far from our initial liking. We must have no foes. We must have love and compassion for all including self. We must be at peace even in storms, be it in the mind or in life we are in. Storms do not last forever and calm seas will return.
What works is Faith and the Word, not Grace. This is the message of this post. Good works without living in the Word is not good enough. Have faith and live in the Word common to all religions. Bo Tien 武 天 refers to this as the Inner Truth - the way to inner peace.
Do not expect life will be smooth sailing and that is the problem when we believe too much on grace.
Grace brings hope and there is no doubt about that. This is good. But belief in God or saint cannot be the end-all and the everything in life.
We will then think that what we want, we just pray and wait. Everything will go our way. We are the chosen ones.
We may even think that others are the losers if they do not believe in the way we do. We will make others envy us and give the impression that they are left out by God and think that their religion or sect is not of God.
This is not good as this will create ill-will and create conflicts. It is good to believe, but belief should not be over placed.
What happens if things don't turn out as we prayed? We will feel lost and lose our cool and confidence. We will become depressed and ask ourselves why has God forsaken us and left us. What have we done wrong? Is God angry with us? Well, in reality grace is a double edge sword. It cuts both ways.
What has Bo Tien 武 天 to say on this? He says that those who seek God or saint, God or saint will come to them. It is good to have faith.
God or saint will answer prayers. Issues will be no issues. Some issues if big will end up as small issues.
But there is the element of fate. We reap what we sow. We have to face this. But he reminds us that storms in life will not last forever and there will be calm seas.
But during a storm, God or saint will hold our hands and shelter us. This will be reassuring and gives us more faith. We can better weather a storm that way.
But faith and divine grace are two different issues. We do not get blessings in life by grace alone.
We have to bless ourselves. We have to work for what we want in life. Sometimes we succeed. Sometimes we fail. This is the reality in life. There will always be the ups and downs in life.
But Bo Tien 武 天 adds that we must have fellowship. Others with us can bless us by helping us. We can help one another and bless one another that way.
Do not depend solely on God and saints and think that grace is everything in life. Faith and grace are two different aspects of devotion.
Life depends on faith for many of us. But belief in divine grace is another matter. Life cannot be run based on grace of God and saints.
Good to hold on to faith but not grace. Belief in faith will not let us down but belief in grace can mislead and disappoint us - even shake our faith.
Depend not on grace but faith, and more importantly what God wants us to do. God wants us to know the God knowledge - how to be good and be at peace come what may. The Word is God.
Good work alone is not good enough if we do not know and live in the Word. Many do good to get acclaim for themselves. Some just want to get and bribe God for a place above or to be in his good books. That is far from good though of some good. We need to know and not just know but live in the Word. Then any good work is really good
What is the Word that is common and underlies all religions? This is the Word.
We must be pure and have love for life. We must favor not the self or others and sacrificing self or others - condemning and damning self or others. We must be at peace with self and others even those far from our initial liking. We must have no foes. We must have love and compassion for all including self. We must be at peace even in storms, be it in the mind or in life we are in. Storms do not last forever and calm seas will return.
What works is Faith and the Word, not Grace. This is the message of this post. Good works without living in the Word is not good enough. Have faith and live in the Word common to all religions. Bo Tien 武 天 refers to this as the Inner Truth - the way to inner peace.
