We are spiritual beings

Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. 

Before we were formed in the womb God knew us. Knowing someone is a two way commitment, therefore we must have known God before we were formed. How is that possible? Because we are part of God's spirit. Every single person who has ever lived, breathed or come into being is made in the image and likeness of God, molded from His spirit.    

Job 33:4 The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life. 

The spirit of God has made us. We come from the very heart of God. We were made by Him and for Him.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepare beforehand, that we shall walk in them. 

We are here by God's grace. 

Psalm 139:13 For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 

Our human bodies house His spirit. 

1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in you? 

Do we need more evidence?

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

We are spiritual beings.

John 17:23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.  

Our journey in life is to become reconnected with our God who made us. With His Spirit. To walk from the sinful world that we are born into, and to join with God's Spirit so that we can return from whence we came. 

Ecclesiastes 12:7 and the dust returns to earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

God has called us to return to Him, to His Spiritual Realm. He longs for our return. Our journey here on this earth is just a flicker to God, as Eternity knows no time. It is just a breath away since we left God's Kingdom. He is waiting with open arms to accept our spirit back into the fold. We may be bothered by time and situations but God sees only the celebration of our return. 

Ephesians 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call. 

Sinner or saint?

Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. 

So there you have it in a nutshell. God is calling everyone of us as we are all sinners. Every church is full of sinners, there is not one righteous person within its walls. We are all sinners on the road to sainthood.

Why then do we look and judge the other people in our church? Thinking they should not be there. We all should be there, we are all in need of hearing God's word and forgiveness. 

No sin is too big for a church, well it shouldn't be if we are following in the Father's footsteps of mercy and compassion. So why are we judging who ought or ought not to be at church or indeed the wider term of a christian? 

God calls sinners into his arms. That means everyone. Romans 3:23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard.  

Isaiah 64:4 We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags. Like autumn leaves, we wither and fall, and our sins sweep us away like the wind.

Church and prayer is where we confess our sins to God, so we ought to be used to seeing sinners in the seats, pews, or standing at the entrance unsure of entering. How sad that a person can be on the periphery believing that they may not be welcome in God's house because they are a sinner.

Are we going to that person with arms outstretched and a smile on our face saying, welcome, we are all sinners here, take a seat, you are among friends? 

Jesus had only sinners for friends. He taught them to be compassionate and merciful towards his creation. He wanted them to go out to mankind to tell them about God, the God of love who has prepared a place for them in His Kingdom. 

Jesus knew that that commission would be a life long one, for his disciples and all who they converted precisely because we are sinners on the road to sainthood. He knew we would fall and need to be picked up again and again and again. So why do we point the finger when one of His creation falls. Surely we ought to put out our hand and help them up and encourage them to try and try again. If our God can forgive us over and over again, then our lead must be from our Creator. He is judge of our hearts and intentions. 

When Jesus told the adulteress (John 8:1-11) to go and sin no more, he knew that that would be a life long struggle that needed God's hand upon it. In our lives we need people who will encourage us to keep on the road towards sainthood. That means our churches, house groups, gatherings etc need open arms and open hearts to the sinners in them. As Jesus did not judge the adulteress then neither must we condemn her in whatever form she/he turns up in at our services. 

God wants all of us with him in Heaven, our responsibility is not to drive sinners away from the church, but to embrace them and help them with their journey. 

The meaning of life continued....

The meaning of life as I said before is Love. God's love for us and our response in returning that love. 

So often we take time with questions that really are not that important. For example did God create the universe or did it begin with a big bang? When we explore the meaning of life in the context of God's love this question just is not at the top of the list of questions that we need to ask. 

So what is at the top of the list?

Well we already know that God wanted us in His world, that is why he created us. So it doesn't matter the where or whys of how this came about.

We know that God's love for us gave us a second chance when we disobeyed him and had to leave His paradise.  

Therefore, one question that comes to my mind is, what kind of love is capable of seeing only amazing goodness in a species that persecutes, destroys and kills its own kind as well as everything else on the planet? 

That Love could only come from a Heart that radiates its own love and allows it to pulsate in the hearts of His creation. That Love alone could recognize His own love no matter how minuet its manifestation in its creation, overlooking all the darkness, and embracing only goodness. Only that Love could embody His son in a human form and allow mankind a glimpse into the almighty love that is hungering for us. 

So perhaps the question at the top of list, ought to be, how do we connect with this awesome power of Love? 

Of course we have the Bible, the Word of God, that tells us constantly of God's love. But there is more and this is experienced through the accounts of the transfiguration, the power that Jesus felt drawn from him by the touch of a human hand. The miracles, the eyes being opened on the road to Emmaus and the heart burning as Jesus spoke. This connection with the all powerful Love. This is available today, in our lives, in our hearts, that can draw us into unity with the one perfect Love that exists and created us to be transmitters of His Love. 

We have been made to draw others into this amazing Love, to experience this incredible Love, to give of this Love. When we meet with God's heart our heart will be transformed, the meaning of our life will be apparent as it will be united in love, united with the One who made us. There is no greater achievement than to be united with our Creator, with the Love that only sees love in everything.    

The meaning of life

Its oh so simple. The answer is Love. 

The meaning of life that we all want to know the answer to is LOVE. Plain and simple.

Nothing else matters only love.

The word love appears 310 times in the Kings James translation, 348 times in the New International Version, and 538 in the New Revised Standard version. It is all down to the translation as to how many times Love is written. 

So are we getting the message. God is Love, the meaning of life is Love, we are here to love, to show expressions of the True Love.

Nothing else matters. 

Only love. 

God's message to us is Love, He is crazy about us. Are we crazy about Him? Do we live totally consumed with the knowledge that Love is all that matters? 

The answer to our worries - Love 

The answer to our life - Love

The answer to the world's problems - Love

If everyone loved there would be no wars, no poverty, no hunger, no inequality, no abuse of human rights. God sent Jesus to show us the way, to show us the answer. Have we listened? Have we learned? Do we follow in His footsteps? Do we empower everyone we meet with love, with His love? Do we burn with His Love? 

The meaning of life is LOVE. Pure and simple. Nothing more, nothing less. This is our mission. We need to accept it, live it and generously hand it out. Just as our Teacher did and our God does.

Nothing is more important than this. The world needs it. We need it. God wants it.

Have you ever had a "Jesus hug",
Do you know what one feels like?
If you've never had a "Jesus hug",
I pray one day you might.A "Jesus hug" is different,
As far as hugging goes;
It’s a little taste of Heaven,

Here on earth below.

Only those who love the Lord,

Can give a "Jesus hug";

It conveys God’s grace and mercy,

And unconditional love.

Those who give out "Jesus hugs"

Always seem to somehow know

Just when you’re in need of one

To make your spirit glow.

And if you ever need one

I hope that I will see,

So I can give you a "Jesus hug";

Just like someone did for me.

By Jan McIntosh