Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,

and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Matthew 22:37-40 (KJV)

The winter snows melt as the sun rises higher in the sky. There is warmth and it is time for new growth. It is time when a tightly clasped bud on a tree wakes up and unfurls a tender green leaf. It is when a tree is again adorned with a robe of protection with fruit soon to come. The rivulets flow from the icy mountainside, the streams swell with new water fresh from its state of frozen confine. All tiny streams join into one larger, a new level, to nourish. All trees send roots to seek this nourishment. This is renewal:

The water of the melting snow

is in perfect harmony, feeding the thirsty 

waking to a warming glow.

I experienced this time. It was my springtime waking from a cold, dreary winter. The darkness of the dungeon of captivity was slowly disintegrating. The light was replacing darkness. All was being renewed and all was being refreshed. I made a decision to agree with God: hate darkness. [a]

A heart of the world is a desperate heart. It is held captive by darkness, stale thought, and argumentive emotion. As we desire a change, there is a time of awakening in our awareness when we feel new shifts in our thought. But what is in our mind, this time, is fed from our heart now longing for a rebirth process in agreement with God. It begins with a decision to follow Jesus Christ.  It is a circuitous path. The mind makes a conscious decision and the heart agrees, then mind thinks differently. It is fed by a fresh, new stream. What is this shift of personal thought? For me it was being born again in Jesus Christ. For He says:

Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

John 3:3

I sat by myself and listened as He spoke,

Jesus is Love and my heart awoke.

We love God today and all others too 

and our hearts are transformed as we are born anew.

 I am saved by Jesus Christ.  

It is more than a new philosophy, it is integral transformation. Philosophy is the ramblings of man and is empty-in the bigger picture. Through God is a completing change of all we are. I sought and I received. I kept looking for God in persevering fervor and He fed me a drink of nourishing, fresh water at the right time. I accepted Jesus and was born again. My flesh withered and died, as leaves fall dead to the ground. Then miraculously I too unfurled as a fresh tender green leaf.  It was the time of my rebirth in Jesus Christ. A miracle happened and to my surprise it was centered on something other than my ‘self’. It was centered on Jesus and God smiled. For my ‘self’ cowered and pride fell quiet. The reins of my life were now in the hands of God.

My thinking began to change as I was now Christ-centered. Yes it is a total change in all parts of our being. “Can the world be a bad place if all love is for God and for each other? No! It is good with God. Real love is possible but only through Jesus and through real love will come real peace and through real peace, true harmony…” This is the way and the truth and the life! [b] I was enveloped into this truth that God now exposed day-by-day. His word, His mystery, His wisdom: All pouring from Scripture via the Spirit who was now a personal Helper! This was the end of discontent and the beginning of a new enlightenment and awareness. How Eastern this sounds, as I read. But in truth, Eastern thought failed me like a door locked with no key available. Did I really want what was behind the door? More words with no eternity. Not really for me now as I can see we need more than words. Why strive to seek words when God freely gives liberty, wisdom, and love through Jesus.

The springtime is a wonderful time. It is cool mornings and warm afternoons. It is walking by a running stream with God, talking, listening, confessing, hearing. Repenting. Yes, declaring change into a submission to Jesus Christ who died so that we may really live. Live now and forever.

So, now the winter snow

melts in the warmth of a springtime glow,

and I turn solely to God to see

the reflection of His beautiful image He made in me.  

 Rick Stassi

June 10, 2012