Abby to Heavenletters:
Dear Gloria, I'm so glad that you get fulfillment by asking God our questions and receiving the answers! Because I already have another question! Several in fact.
All my love to you and the Heaven readers!
Abby to God:
Dear God, I just received Your answer to my latest question and it brought me so much joy and relief! Thank You! Thank You for everything!
I want to ask another question of You now.
Recently, I attended church with my roommate. She's a wonderful girl and also very religious. While I don't agree with all her beliefs, I respect them, and I'm glad for her that she is so happy with them.
After church, one of her friends invited me to join them in their Bible study. I said sure, I'd love to. I have always been curious about the Bible because I've never read it, and I feel that it would be a book worth reading. However, at this moment, I just want to read it as another book. I want to see what it's all about. I'm curious. But I'm not looking to change my life by it. Maybe it will change me. I hope it will. But I want to be open about it. Let things happen. Not force myself to believe every word of it without doubt.
These girls are telling me that I can't do that. I have to either take it or leave it, though they really hope I'll take it. They're being sweet about it, and it's clear to me that they truly believe what they're telling me. But I don't believe it. It really sounds very…human. I'm trying to explain to them what I already believe, but they say that I have to take the word of the Bible over all of that, like it or not.
I could tell them that I don't believe any of it, if I wanted to get them off my case, but that wouldn't be true. There are parts that really click with me.
Is there a way I can explain this to them without making them think I am a "condemned soul"? Or should I just ignore what they think?
Please give me some advice here. I only want them to respect my beliefs as I respect theirs, but I know I can't control them…Please help me out here.
I thank You for all that You have already done for me, and for all of the Heaven readers for their questions and comments.
God to Abby:
My dearest Abby, here you are open to your friends and respectful of their beliefs. But their beliefs are not your beliefs. They want you to believe on command. Can you do that even if you wanted to?
Can belief be ordained?
What is the value of belief?
Sometimes belief is a hat put on.
Sometimes people believe one thing and then they believe another.
Sometimes people hold on to one belief their whole lifetime. Hold on. Become attached to.
If you have to hold on to a belief, you know it is man-made. If you have to prove your position, your position is man-made. If you feel you have to convince others, your conviction is man-made.
You personally do not embrace the entire Bible. You also do not throw out the whole Bible.
What speaks to you speaks to you.
What does not speak to you does not.
Should you pretend?
For what reason?
It is best to discover for yourself.
And that is the only way you can come to Me.
Attention on the Bible brings attention to Me.
Any attention on Me is good.
Other peoples have a different Bible.
Is one Bible true and others untrue?
Am I a God of one people and not another?
Some of the Bible is directly from Me, and some is not. Is that so bad? But this is delicate for some.
The same Bible is interpreted in different ways.
Who has interpreted it?
Is someone else's interpretation better than yours?
An artist has one style of painting, and another artist has another. You may favor one over another, but is one better than another?
All you can do is express yourself. You cannot express another's being.
I, Myself, love to hear insights that some of My beautiful children have about the Bible. And you can learn from some of these insights. But you don't have to. And the Bible can be a departure point for a lighted insight.
All right, let us say for Our purposes here that I am the total Author of the Bible. You have a copy of it. And I am coming to town and you can meet with Me. Might you not put down the book in order to meet with Me in person? What is the book for but to introduce you to Me?
You hear My Word right now, Abby. It clicks with you. For some people, it doesn't click. Must it click for them? I don't say it must. I don't even say that I must click for them! But I do say the day will come when I do click for them.
If someone comes to Me through the Bible, I am glad.
If someone comes to Me through a sunset, I am glad.
The thing is to come to Me. What matters but that?
Let Us talk a moment about belief. Belief is man-made, Abby.
For so many years the earth was "believed" to be flat.
People operate according to their beliefs. Beliefs limit.
Beliefs can change. Truth does not.
Can someone from the outside change someone else's beliefs?
However a belief is changed, no matter what the outside influence, only the person himself can alter his belief. In the final analysis, something inside allows his belief to shift.
All people are entitled to their beliefs, but beliefs are not really all that much.
Belief is not the same as knowing.
Someone can tell you that water is wet.
And you can believe them.
When you come across water yourself, you touch it, and from then on you know water is wet. What does belief have to do with it?
And so with Me.
What does belief have to do with Me?
With your friends, Abby, radiate where you are. Love them. Do not try to persuade them. Be with them or not with them as you please, not as they please. You know your truth. And you know Mine. And you know Me.
My beloved Abby, what would you like to ask Me next?
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Nancy L. to Heavenletters:
Diane, congratulations on your proclamation! Finding God Workshops will be very successful. I am happy for you.
Thanks to Abby for her great questions and for Ruth for sharing her experience with us about her granddaughter's challenge and Ruth's guidance. Heavenletters help all of us a great deal. I am forever grateful.