Many gods or ONE?

A friend of mine just returned from her spiritual pilgrimage to New Delhi, India. 

She told me of her journey of pain up to four different

 high places to appease four different gods.

 At one point she hiked 18 miles.

She said that some carry others up the steep

 inclines piggy-back style;

some are carried in chairs,

but most climb on their own. 

 “The point is to suffer,” she said.

 “I was one of the few that made it to the top of all four.”

 She was proud of her accomplishment,

 and I was touched that she felt

 comfortable enough to share her experience with me.

 We have been friends for a few years, and we learned long ago to

 respect each others religious beliefs. I learn from her and she learns from me.

We rejoice in our commonalities, and discuss our differences.

 I am a passionate follower of Jesus Christ and

believe He alone is the door to salvation. 

 She believes all gods are doors

 that take you to the same destination.

 We respect each other’s right to follow their

own belief and so our friendship remains.

 But her suffering and climbing mountains to

appease various gods made me so sad.

If only she knew Jesus. How much He loves her.

How He is the one who created her.

 And that He would never, ever ask

 her to suffer just to appease his anger.

 I almost told her so today when we spoke,

 but I don’t think she’s ready to hear

 me say those words to her yet.

 So until then, I will keep praying to Jesus for her.

And I will ask Him to prepare her heart

 and mind to receive the truths

of His unconditional love and mercy.

 Jesus says:

"Come unto me, all ye that labour

and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

 In fact, Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice when

He allowed himself to be crucified on the cross so

 that the rest of us could have freedom and forgiveness

 for all the wrong things we have done. (Read Hebrews 9:21-23)

 And if we as Christ followers do suffer or have

 hard times in our lives we are promised

by Jesus that He will never allow

us to go through more than we can handle

(I Corinthians 10:13)

and that everything –

 even the bad things will work towards

 a good outcome for us. (Romans 8:28)  

 “No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond

the course of what others have had to face.

All you need to remember is that God will never

let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your

 limit; he'll always be there to help you

come through it.”(I Corinthians 10:13, The Message)

 ^“Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting,

God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along.

 If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter.

He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out

of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.

He knows us far better than we know ourselves,

knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us

 present before God. That's why we can be

so sure that every detail in our lives of love for

God is worked into something good.”

(Romans 8:28 The Message)

 The Holy Bible tells us that the prophet Elijah

lived in a time when many people served other gods.

Elijah wanted to prove to them that Jehovah was the

only true and most powerful God so he challenged the prophets

of Baal to a showdown. You can read the full Biblical account in

1 Kings 18:24-39. Here is how The Message

translation explains what happened:

“Then Elijah said,

"I'm the only prophet of God left in Israel;

and there are 450 prophets of Baal.

Let the Baal prophets bring up two oxen;

 let them pick one, butcher it, and lay it out

on an altar on firewood—but don't ignite it.

I'll take the other ox, cut it up, and lay it on t

he wood. But neither will I light the fire.

Then you pray to your gods and I'll pray to God.

The god who answers with fire will prove to be, in fact, God."

All the people agreed: "A good plan—do it!"

Elijah told the Baal prophets,

"Choose your ox and prepare it.

You go first, you're the majority.

Then pray to your god, but don't light the fire."

So they took the ox he had given them,

prepared it for the altar, then prayed to Baal.

They prayed all morning long, "O Baal, answer us!"

But nothing happened—

not so much as a whisper of breeze.

Desperate, they jumped and stomped on the altar they had made.

By noon, Elijah had started making fun of them, taunting,

"Call a little louder—he is a god, after all.

Maybe he's off meditating somewhere or other,

or maybe he's gotten involved in a project,

or maybe he's on vacation. You don't suppose

he's overslept, do you, and needs to be waked up?"

They prayed louder and louder,

cutting themselves with swords and knives

—a ritual common to them—

until they were covered with blood.

This went on until well past noon.

They used every religious trick and strategy they knew to

 make something happen on the altar, but nothing happened

—not so much as a whisper, not a flicker of response.

Then Elijah told the people, "Enough of that

—it's my turn. Gather around." And they gathered.

 He then put the altar back together for by

now it was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones,

one for each of the tribes of Jacob, the same

Jacob to whom God had said,

"From now on yourname is Israel."

He built the stones into the altar in honor of God.

Then Elijah dug a fairly wide trench around the altar.

He laid firewood on the altar, cut up the ox,

 put it on the wood,and said,

"Fill four buckets with water and drench

 both the ox and the firewood."

Then he said, "Do it again,"

and they did it. Then he said,

"Do it a third time,"

and they did it a third time.

The altar was drenched and the trench was filled with water.

When it was time for the sacrifice to be offered,

Elijah the prophet came up and prayed,

 "O God, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel,

make it known right now that you are God in Israel,

that I am your servant, and that I'm doing what

I'm doing under your orders.

Answer me, God;

O answer me and reveal to this

people that you are God,

the true God, and that you are giving

these people another chance at repentance."

Immediately the fire of God fell and burned

up the offering, the wood, the stones,

the dirt, and even the water in the trench.

All the people saw it happen and fell on their faces

in awed worship, exclaiming,

"God is the true God! God is the true God!"

What about you?

Do you believe in Jehovah God whose name is Jesus?

Do you serve another god, or perhaps no god at all?

What role do your religious beliefs play in your life?

Do you have friends of other faiths? How do you interact with them?

Let's talk.

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