Welcome to Christ Church, Middletown

the Episcopal parish in Middletown since 1702

90 Kings Highway

Middletown, NJ  07748

732-671-2524

christchurchmiddletown@verizon.net

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   November, 2008

Back to School. Back to Basics: "Free-Will" 

(Note: this is the third of what might be a series on "basics of Christian living." Let's continue with "will:" what is mine? Let me know topics you'd like a refresher on the"basics." Send me a note, use e-mail if you have it: cc-rector@verizon.net. -Dean) 

God has a will. Human's have one too. God's will trumps ours! 

Our story of the beginning of life found in the Bible -the book of Genesis- paints a very clear picture of God's intended relationship between creation and Creator. God deliberately and intentionally, along with all the rest of creation, created humans-it was his "will" to do so. Furthermore, God intended his human creation to conform their "wills" to his! In other words, He expected them to obey his will as commanded. Our beginnings-story painfully reminds us that we did not! Re-read the story of Adam and Eve, our faith-parents, in the second and third chapters of Genesis and see what happened when we (Adam and Eve) substituted our will for God's. We, again through Adam and Eve, got into BIG trouble by disobedience and set the pattern of all human trouble and misery right up to today. When our God-given free-will, modeled on God's own will, attempts to override God's will, we suffer until we are brought back into alignment with God's will. That's the long-and-the-short of the Bible's story of all human suffering-it's the consequence of trying to override God's will. It just doesn't do us any good, rather does us great harm! And the moral of the story: find out what God's will is and then do it! Just do it. And so, live happily. 

Father does know best. Especially when He's your Heavenly Father 

Our Christian faith and the Bible insists that if we don't know any better, if we don't understand where our misery so often comes from, if we proceed through life seeking what we want over what God wants for us, then we will suffer and struggle mightily. We can believe "our Heavenly Father knows best," and then still pray to Him as if we know what's best for us. Jesus has some words we need to hear in this case: 

"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this: 

Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are. Set the world right; Do what's best- as above, so below. Keep us alive with three square meals. Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others. Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil. You're in charge! You can do anything you want! You're ablaze in beauty! Yes. Yes. Yes. (Matthew 6:7-13) 

God's will uniting with Mine: Peace follows 

Want to know how to "thrive?" Let your will unite with God's! All this means is coming to what's in your best interest: God has a will, it's best for me, I will seek to align mine with His. That's happiness, peace too. This will take a little bit of work, a lot of prayer, a willingness to obey Christ and follow in His Way. Hal M. Helms in his meditations book Echoes of Eternity sums up God's plea to us this way: 

"Stress grows from your vain attempt to control your future. It comes from believing that you know the way you should go. O foolish one! I am the Way and I know the way. To surrender is to give in to My way over yours. Since My way is life and peace, does it not make sense to choose it? Great peace have they who love My way." We can make a life of finding out what God wants us to do and be by watching what Jesus Christ does and is, and then do and be likewise! If we, Christ Church, put our heads together and hold one another up, we can make a very good life of it and live happily ever after. Our will's are free to make His will ours'! 

Freely seeking His will,