powered by SignMyGuestbook.com
Thanks for visiting my diary. I've been journaling since 1984 and have chosen to share some of my entries online. They are not all positive thoughts, but I hope that reading them might be a blessing to someone who needs encouragement.
If you are just coming to my diary for the first time, please read my introductory entry, where I share some background that is important if you plan to follow this diary regularly.
Please also visit my music page, where you can hear samples from my debut CD, I Believe, which features songs written based on experiences shared in this journal.
Eph 1:5-8, 18-19, 2:12-13 and 19, Rom 8:15-17
People use verses to justify predestination. We were all predestined to be saved. It is God's perfect will. Salvation is a gift, the ultimate expression of His love for us; and He created us specifically so that He could express His love. Free will is part of that design. Without free will, there is no such thing as unconditional love! Love risks being rejected and scorned so that it can be fully expressed. If I act motivated by fear of abandonment, rejection, or disapproval, I am not acting with love.
My response to grace is also part of God's perfect will. He created us with the capacity and purpose to love. Free will is also part of this plan. Without free will, I am not loving. I'm just going through the motions.
The work of the Holy Spirit in drawing people to Christ is also part of this plan. Without the Spirit's nudging, free will does not exist. A person cannot reject what he has not heard. And we cannot reject what our hearts are not open to consider. So our sharing the truth and the Spirit's work in people's hearts are part of God's plan.
God responds to our expression of love bu enabling us to remain in Christ and keep His commandments. Living in legalism stifles love, but living in deliberate love will never conflict with the law. Christ did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.
I am a member of Lighted Path, a directory of Christian diaries.
Read my profile. This is not a comprehensive introduction, but there is some fun information there.
Visit my official site to read more of my writing:
http://www.growingstrong.org
Did you enjoy reading my diary? Feel free to share it with other people you know. Tell your friends about my diary. If you have your own site, you can link to me using the URL: http://freeinjesus.diaryland.com.
Email me directly. This is the best way to get a message to me personally and privately.
Leave me a note here at Diaryland.
powered by SignMyGuestbook.com