"Creed Index"
An "index" of the author's spiritual understanding, and beliefs.
Click HERE to see CREED Index, PART II
Selected from the on-going INTERNET BOOK, "The Doctor's Terrific Tablets"
( http://www.terrific-tabs.com )
by John N. Todd III, M. D. (link)
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"Doctored": 11/00; 7/01; 8/01; 11/01; 12/01; 2/02; 4/02; 5/02; 6/02; 7/02; 11/02; 2/03; 5/03; 8/03; 3/04; 10/04; 2/05; 3/05; 5/05;7/21/06
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What is your "creed"? What do you really believe.... about life, and death -- and about God, and "religion"; and about the Holy Bible? Are you actually aware of, or do you really know, or have you ever "decided", your true beliefs (link) -- your firm "religious" convictions? Where did your beliefs come from? Do you simply "recite" something that someone else claims to be spiritually correct? Do you accept as "true" only what you were taught in your parents' church -- or in some other "church" of your own choosing? Do you simply "fall into line", and say "amen" to whatever your local preacher puts out as "the gospel"?
Do you consider your own "spiritual" beliefs to be of profound importance -- or is it your opinion that your personal "faith" is not of particular significance -- or that your understanding of God and "ultimate reality" do not really matter? Have you simply accepted a "batch" of ancient rules and creeds and rituals from the "world's great religions", as your personal tenets, and "doctrine"? Or, have you casually "invented" an ethical "philosophy", which you hope will be acceptable to God.... a "contingency plan".... just in case there is "something" to all this "religious stuff"?
Did you ever attempt to record (to "document" in writing), or to tell someone else -- exactly how you really feel about the "church"; or about your "denomination", or about "Christianity", or about other "religious" (spiritual) subjects?
In this section I will outline, perhaps mainly for myself, but also for others who may be interested, a portion of my own basic spiritual beliefs, which I genuinely "accept", and truly believe -- a personal spiritual "creed". I will use this "creed" to be my "index" of certain main points that I want to extrapolate (and "link"), in later "tablets" (chapters) of this on-going INTERNET BOOK.
(I must add, here, that my understanding of God and the Bible has "evolved" over a period of many years.... and continues to grow. Even today [7/21/06], I learn more, and perceive more.... as time passes.... so that my today's "beliefs" have become more deeply rooted, and more "sophisticated".... as I have been led and awakened by Almighty God.)
My "creed" -- my genuine spiritual beliefs -- are based on my acceptance of, and belief in, the truth of God's Holy Bible. (See link The Gold Standard of Spiritual Truth.) If the Bible is wrong, or only partially true, in describing how God was (and is) in dealing with His own accepted individuals -- then all of this (my) composition is in vain. If God's Word is true, though, then there is nothing more important in my life -- or anyone's life -- than to try to learn and understand all that we humans can possibly know about God -- as portrayed in the Bible.
Consider what follows, below. This is written in an "open" style, not intended to be like "poetry"; but "opened" -- for emphasis of certain points -- and hopefully for clarity. I prefer that you read this part out loud, so that you may not only "see", but also "hear", what is being stated.
I believe in God,
One God,
One "Supreme Being"....
THE Sovereign God -- designer and builder of the world,
Creator of the universe.
I believe that God Himself
Designed and created EACH individual human-being --
Each for God's own plan and purpose....
God's intention.
I believe that God knows His own creatures --
His "chosen" people,
Individually;
( See link: God's Individuation )
And I believe that God loves His people, and accepts them --
Each and every one -- "Just as they are" --
Each one -- created exactly as God intended.
I believe that God created me,
Precisely as He wanted me to be;
And that He placed me in all of my surroundings,
And my circumstances,
For His own reasons, and for His satisfaction.
I know that I did not design or produce myself.
Everything about me is from God.
Everything I possess is from God;
And already belongs to Him.
(See link: What do YOU POSSESS that you did not receive as a gift?)
I was created for God's purposes.
I am His child -- His student -- His servant......
And I am God's hands --
To those individuals who have been given to me --
Those whom God has placed into my life.
I believe in Jesus, the Christ --
Jesus -- a human being, in whom God chose to dwell,
To "embody" -- totally and fully.
And I believe, because the Bible tells me so,
That Jesus was, and is, God;
And that God is Jesus, the Messiah.
I also believe, as Jesus said of Himself:
"When a man believes in me,
He believes not in me,
But in Him who sent me."
And, as Jesus also said:
"He who sees me, sees Him who sent me."
And:
"My Father and I are one."
And:
"Whoever receives me, receives not me,
But Him who sent me."
And:
"No one knows the Father except the Son,
And those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him"
I believe that the Holy Spirit of God --
God's essence within each of His people, individually,
Has always been imparted to men and women,
Of God's choice --
In the past, and now;
And I believe that the Spirit of God is
The Holy Spirit,
The Holy Ghost,
The Comforter,
The Spirit of Truth,
The Advocate,
The Spirit of the Messiah Jesus,
And the Spirit of the Christ, resurrected.
I believe the Bible.
I accept as true, everything in the Holy Bible of God;
And I believe that the Bible is truly from God,
"Dictated" by God -- inspired by Him;
And compiled in its present variations
By human beings, under command of God.
I believe and accept the "inerrancy" of the Bible.
I do not understand everything in the Bible --
No one does!
But I do "believe" every word of the Bible.
I do not accept as "inerrant"
All of the countless interpretations of the Bible
That I have seen and heard and read --
Regardless of whose interpretation it may be.
But, again, I do accept the "inerrancy" of the Bible, itself.
The Bible -- God's Word, His picture of Himself --
His description of Himself --
His outline of His ways.
And -- as for those statements of the Bible
That no one yet clearly understands,
I believe and accept them also,
Even where I do not understand.
And, yes,
Because the Bible says it:
I believe in the Virgin Birth;
The Resurrection; and
Life after worldly death --
For those whom God has chosen.
And, of course, I believe in angels,
"Creatures of might that do God's bidding".
And, I believe, because the Bible tells me so:
That not all human-beings are loved and claimed by God.
I must accept that only certain individuals are
Chosen by God --
And that "God knew His own before ever they were";
And that God created the "inmost being" of His "children";
And formed them in their mothers' wombs.
And I believe, as the Bible tells me,
That God's "chosen" ones are
"Marked out", before the beginning of time (link),
To be God's own -- to be His children,
The offspring of God Himself --
The earthly "brothers" of the Lord Jesus.
And I believe, because the Bible says it,
That it is not an individual's "will or effort",
Nor "the will of man, nor the will of the flesh,
But the will of God", that causes a person --
A human-being --
To become "accepted" by God --
To become a "child of God".
God "knows" His own people -- God's people (link)
God's own people know Him.
God's people "hear" God's voice --
And recognize it.
God's people understand His language (link),
And they follow Him, and respond (link) to Him.
The Word of God (The Bible) tells me,
And I accept it --
That not everyone is the same in the eyes of God,
That each of us is different from every other human,
And that we come to God
In different ways, and from different places,
And under different circumstances;
And that "Each has his own special gift from God --
One has this gift; and another has that."
And that everyone must "Lead the life which
The Lord assigned to him, and in which
God has called him."
God's Word also tells me, so I believe --
That my faith -- my sincere beliefs --
(Not "pretend faith", or simply saying "Lord, Lord") --
My faith is a GIFT from God (link) -- and that
"Apart from faith, it is impossible to satisfy God."
And I believe -- as I am told in the Bible --
That my faith, and my belief in God, make me "righteous"
And "justified", and blameless --
In the eyes of God.....
"Righteousness" imputed to me.....
Righteousness that comes from God (linked).
End of PART I of "Creed Index"
Click HERE for "A Spiritual Creed Index, Part II"
7/21/06