|
Jesus taught during his entire ministry that we are to live free ...
free of the past ... free of fear ... free of limits and lack.
"It is the Father's Good pleasure to give you the kingdom," He
stated. And at another time He stated, "resist not
evil." In other words we can have the kingdom if we depend on
God ... instead of trying to obtain it through struggle, manipulation,
intimidation and coercion.
But for most of the
people I have observed the greater numbers are those who go through life
feeling manipulated, intimidated and coerced ... I don't hear much from
those on the other side of the coin. Why do so many people allow
themselves to be manipulated, intimidated and coerced? There are
many reasons, but I believe the "root cause" is religion ...
and the Master Mind Jesus obviously believed this also ... and that is
what got Him into so much trouble. He did not want to live
according to the prevailing rules and regulations of the religious
authorities of His time. Anything that binds us or diminishes the
ability of our Spirit to be free ... denies God, Infinite Spirit.
The "Spirit" of us must be free to fully experience Life ...
to be free to open our mind to Infinite possibilities. But as we
are taught right and wrong by our religions ... we are taught to live in
bondage.
Our freedom is taken away in subtle
ways by religion ... we are taught to live a certain way ... even if
that way is repressive. We are taught that we must "obey
God" ... when in reality we are being taught to "obey
man-made" rules and regulations for living. This past week
someone told me that according to their religion they were forbidden to
use the word reverend ... now I know people have various ideas about
reverends but it is not a 4-letter word. Who made up this rule?
.... not God ... this was made up by people. The same is true of
churches that obligate people to do service by calling it "sacred
service" ... in reality it is work without pay ... and that is the
Truth. Doing service for a church is nice ... and generous ... but
it is no more sacred than doing service for the Heart Foundation or the
Girl Scouts. Churches have obligated and manipulated people to
this idea that many people feel guilty that they don't do some type of
voluntary service to their church. Do I do service to a church?
Yes, I do ... but I also do service and make donations to other
organizations as well. Then there are those churches who have
rules that you cannot be a member of any other church if you want to be
a member of their church ... why? I was told by two different
churches that people can only be members of one church because otherwise
their support (financial) for the church will be less ... nonsense!
If we make a decision to support more than one church we are free to do
so ... and as far as financial support goes ... many people with a
prosperous consciousness give 20% and more of their income to religious
and charitable organizations ... because they do not limit themselves in
either their giving or receiving.
Easter is a time to celebrate
"freedom" ... freedom from ideas and rules that create lack
and limitation in our lives. The Radical Rabbi Jesus gave us the
greatest demonstration of freedom ... even though His physical life was
crucified ... His Spirit remained free and powerful. This was His
greatest lesson ... nothing can bind us ... nothing or no one has power
over us unless we "give" it or them power over us.
Often, it is the very people who will tell us that Jesus is "our
Savior" or that Jesus died for "our sins" who will
contradict His most basic teachings and turn instead to the
"teachings of the world" to tell us why we must do this or do
that ... scare the "heaven" out of us with stories of
hell-fire and damnation ... and instead of teaching us to be free ... to
love and be loved ... they make a mockery out of the Teachings of Jesus
by telling us we are born in sin ... and sinners we will be until and
unless we are "saved."
If we study the Teachings of Jesus we
will find that He was telling us to forget this nonsense ... stop being
manipulated and intimidated by those who are "clueless about
Life" ... be willing to "be in the world but not of the
world." Let go of the idea that we must have someone's
approval ... be willing to not be intimidated by someone's title ... or
by our religions, our churches and temples ... and our religious leaders
... refuse to be "bound" ... make a demand upon your
consciousness to live in freedom ... and BE
FREE ... CELEBRATE EASTER BY CHOOSING TO CELEBRATE THE FREEDOM OF THE
SPIRIT WITHIN YOU ... the same Spirit that was within the Radical
Rabbi Jesus ... MAKE A DECISION TO LET THIS SPIRIT WITHIN YOU LIVE
WITHOUT LIMITS ... WITHOUT RESTRICTIONS ... WITHOUT RULES THAT LIMIT YOU
... LIVE THE LIFE THAT YOU CHOOSE TO LIVE ... AND YOU WILL BE HONORING
THE LESSON THAT EASTER IS ALL ABOUT!
And
So It Is!
Maximum Love,
Rev.
Hank Bates
|
