Three is One but still Three

This week I finished reading the book Crossroads by WM Paul Young. He also wrote The Shack. I found it fascinating how he imagines the Holy Spirit to be a woman and it got me thinking about understanding the Holy Trinity namely being The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. I know many people have also tried to explain it but I thought I would give it a go too.

We are always told that the Holy Trinity is three people but are actually one. Thinking about this made me think about what the Bible says about marriage where two become one. Now, we don't seem to have a problem understanding this concept so......how much does it change adding one more?

Marriage is when two people are unified with God's blessing and therefore become one. Yet, they still operate as two individuals. As a couple we become so in tuned with each other, that we start viewing the two as one. They start being unified by thinking alike, spending time doing different things together and even talking alike. Spending most of our time with our spouse also helps in creating the unification. However, they are also able to operate as their own person. To me, this means that their spirits are combined yet still has the ability to operate individually.  The bond is intimately intertwined with emotion. They are connected yet separate.

                                                              

So...let's tackle the concept of three. As I am writing this, it's starting to make sense. The Holy Trinity, as mentioned before, consists of The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. The Father being God is our creator, our ruler, our saviour. If you drew a triangle, God would be on top. He is the one sitting on top of the mountain overseeing everything on earth. The Son is the man God sent down to earth to forgive and save us from sin. He is the one God sent to teach us. However, God's spirit connects Jesus to God and such they operate as one. The Holy Spirit is the person God sends to live in all of us. The Holy Spirit is also known as our Helper who helps us stop doing wrong, helps us to feel peace and love and helps us live the way God intended. The Holy Spirit also comes from God and has the Lord's spirit coursing through Him which in turn courses through us which connects the Holy Spirit to Jesus and God and as before, they operate as one while still being individual.

Going back to the triangle concept - a triangle can be drawn with a one continuous line yet it has three corners. As per my explanation above, God would be place on top as He is the Overseer of all things. At one corner we would have Jesus, the son as He is our Saviour and at the other corner we would have The Holy Spirit as He lives in us and as you can see are all joined to form One.

           GOD

HOLY SPIRIT JESUS

As per the marriage the Holy Trinity is also (to me) an intimate bond, a unification of three and full of emotion.

 

Have I got it right or completely wrong? 

Did it help you understand better or confuse you more? 

Stand Strong

Today, we keep telling each other to "stand strong", to "not give up", to "find strength" in our life. Do we really know what that means? How do we stay strong when we are overwhelmed with life?

In the Bible, strength is a theme that appears regularly. 2 Corinthians 12: 10 tells that through hard times, insults, weaknesses, suffering and all kinds of troubles we can still be happy. We can be happy through our strength. This verse also tells us that when we are weak, we are truly strong. This means that every time and every day, we get up after having people beat us down, we are showing our strength and our ability to see the happiness during the hard times. God's power in our life gives us the strength to walk and work through whatever issues we are facing. Happiness shows our strength which helps us to focus on God's power in our life.

Psalm 18: 1 teaches us that God is our rock when times are tough. We don't need an earthly person to lean on when we feel weak and defeated. We have God to lean on and He is always there, non-judging and loving unconditionally. We don't need to make an appointment to speak to Him when we need a boost of strength. We can approach Him and talk to Him any time, any where, no matter what's going on. He is always listening and watching.

So, how do we keep staying strong when we know life is making us weak? By focusing on God and He keeps us strong and all His asks in return is for us to love Him with all our hearts, all our souls and all our strength (Deuteronomy 6: 5). Sometimes to me, this seems like a daunting goal to achieve. It makes my issues seem easier to deal with than trying to do this but it is a lot easier than it sounds. All God is asking us is to make Him the center of our universe. He wants us to always acknowledge Him, stay in a personal relationship with Him and listen to Him and in return, He will hold our hand and walk the path He has set out for us, even if we don't always understand. God grows our strength through our love for Him.

We can see God's gift of strength all around us. Strength is when a child walks miles to school because he wants to learn. Strength is when an aged tree withstands the storm. Strength is when an abused women won't give up in leaving her abuser and making life better. Strength is when a blossoming flower won't whither when a breeze blows. Strength is as simple as asking for help when we are ashamed of our circumstances. Strength is our ability to face our trials and issues head on, holding God's hand knowing He is teaching us, guiding us and leading us to the life He promised.

Finally, strength is not when we achieved the goals we have set for ourselves, it is the journey we endured to get there.

......STAND STRONG..........

Galations 5: 1