choices

Who is God?✨

I watched a great podcast yesterday. Lex Fridman interviewed Bishop Barron. It’s nice to hear about physics from a religious perspective. I really got a lot out of it. Bishop Barron says “God is the substitent act of ‘to be’ itself.” That makes perfect sense to me. God says, “I am who I am.” He is God. He doesn’t need to prove himself.

“God IS the reason there is a more contingent being at all!”

“God is not an entity; people think of God as a big being,” Bishop Barron continues to say. God is beyond being. However, I do believe he is a “being” in heaven. I believe his size spans the earth and is probably even much bigger than that. Colton Burpo, in the book, “Heaven Is For Real” says that God looks like a much bigger version of the angel, Gabrielle. I believe that Colton said he wears a yellow/golden sash. If I remember correctly.

For me, I am a believer in God and always have been. I have believed in Jesus for as long as I can remember, from a very young age, I didn’t need “proof or evidence.” I didn’t need to see him or experience him with my five senses. I feel God. I feel him there with me every day.

And he speaks to me in the silence and in nature, in love through others, in friendships, and much more. God speaks to me when I’m listening to the Bible, for example, after I’ve just put it down or listened by audio, I get the clearest messages ever.

God’s very nature is to be, again. He is holding us together. Gravity is what keeps your feet to the ground. God made gravity, which keeps our feet to the ground and also keeps planets in their orbits! The universe(s), planets, galaxies, and billions upon billions and billions of stars are all held together by God.

Real faith is believing even when it’s dark, even when you can’t see, and even when you’re taught not to believe. It’s like an author to a book. The author may not seem to be in the book, but he is the writer. HE IS THE AUTHOR AND THE FINISHER. HE IS GOD.

Furthermore, God becomes one of us. God becomes a human (Jesus). Jesus makes humanity radiant and beautiful. He is the redeemer of all reality, Bishop Barron continues. “Jesus came to pay a debt that he didn’t owe because we owed a debt we couldn’t pay,” is another way to put it. The Bible tells us: “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all” (Romans 11:32).

The greatest physicts in the world talk about free will (some of them think it is non existent) and that everything is in a cosmic or what I like to call a “divine” order. But we have choices. The world renowned pastor and NY Times bestselling author, Greg Boyd, says that God sees every choice we can make, every route we can go. Even when we make the wrong ones he is there to pick us up.

God foresaw that we would all need him. God knew we would all fall short. God is love; God is light. God is omnipresent, and he can be everywhere at once. God is all knowing and all kind.♥️

Here is the podcast link to Bishop Barron’s interview with the popular host, Lex Fridman.

And here is the other podcast I mentioned, with Todd and Colton Burpo, from the NY Times bestselling book (and movie): Heaven Is For Real.

About Zina

Zina Hermez has authored the best-selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. She’s recently been featured on the Intuitive Edge podcast! She’s also been on ESPN’s “Solutions from the Huddle” broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World! Zina’s written several hundred articles and has taught thousands of students of all ages from many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog, and the Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She also writes on health and diet and loves to help others. Her latest book, Not Without God: Hope In the Storm is live and for sale! You can order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Not-Without-God-Hope-Storm-ebook/dp/B09P9T2DLT

Cut Yourself from the Illusion of Self

How are we brought to consciousness? Why is it we are aware, more aware than animals are, for example? As humans, we are capable of more than other creatures. We can write symphonies, win the Nobel Prize, make a difference, start a non profit, have a family, and fulfill our lives to the best of our abilities.

But who is really in control? Did you ever think that there may be a higher power setting the precedent for our lives? Did you ever think of God as being the greatest computer designer that has ever lived? Yesterday I began watching this 3 hour podcast interview done by Lex Fridman. Here he is interviewing the great, Sam Harris. Sam is a world renowned neuroscientist and philosopher.

He believes that there is no such thing as free will, or that there is an illusion of free will. We feel like we are the captain of our own ships and like our decisions affect our outomes. Sometimes they do, but not all the time. At times things happen to us that we don’t choose. Things appear. We are not always happy with what we see, hear, or experience.

This is when we should take it with a grain of salt. Meaning, don’t get caught up in emotions or stuck in frustration or anger. There is an “author of our existence.” It is God. Ultimately, he is in control. You don’t know what you’re going to think next, what you are going to attend to or your next action. Everything arises and comes to you through an electrical impulse (neurons, axons, and messages from the outside environment).

“The script could already be written,” Sam Harris says. The sense of self is not an illusion. But free will he thinks is an illusion. Your existence could be compatible with an absense of free will. Sam says that “Some evil genious in the next room could be typing in code into your existence.” Lol It may feel that way when we fall short. We get upset, throw a fit, and get caught up in our feelings.

But what Sam is teaching here is very encouraging. Sam says to not get stuck in patterns of thought that are a hindrance to your well being. We are all agents, by products of the Big Bang, or Big Event, that happened 13.8 billion years ago. It’s incredibly freeing to recognize that the mind is not entirely ruled by you. Everything is under a Cosmic Order. We are under the Laws of Physics.

We have a king, Jesus, and Holy Father, God. They are the creators of our existence. We have to remember all they’ve done for us and always come back to love. Jesus died for our sins so that we may be free and live (forever) with him. “…for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body [and mind]” (1 Cor. 6:20).

Here is the amazing podcast interview. Please watch it. It is life changing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dC_nRYIDZU

About Zina

God Is One of Order✨⚛️🙏

It’s true. He is the reason for my existence and the reason why I move. ‘Without God I am nothing’ does not mean I don’t recognize my individuality it just means that I acknowledge the fact that he has made me! The greatest philosophers debate about where consciousness comes from and verify that our thoughts come from ‘somewhere!’ Although it seems like we choose our thoughts and actions that is not necessarily the case. What I mean is, we have a cortex (the outer surface of the brain) that is constantly trying to appease our body (limbic system). It sends messages to our body through neurons all day. It takes outside information from the environment and processes it. Our behaviors, actions, and thoughts seem to be our own, but if you think about it experiences ‘just appear,’ according to Sam Harris, an American philosopher and neuroscientist. You see everything is in cosmic✨ order. The greatest physicists in the world, such as Brian Greene, have even debated about whether or not we really have free will. Brian says there is an order of things. We are ‘actors’ in this universe🪐 in alignment with that divine order. However, to say we don’t have choices would not be fair. Science has also discovered that an electron or ‘particle’ can appear in different parts of a wave🌊 while doing the ‘double split experiment.’ This has taught us that the fact that the electron can come up in different parts of the wave means we also have ‘different routes’ we can take! in physics, we are technically a ’particle.’ God has a plan for everything though. Even for when we mess up. Whether we are moving here through complete divine order or a combination of our choices and intuition, God is in the drivers seat no matter what. Frankly, I wouldn’t have it any other way! 🔮⚛️✝️💖✨🪐🙏

About Zina

Zina Hermez authored the best selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. Recently she was featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast and on Grace and Truth Radio World. Zina’s written hundreds of articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog and Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. She has recently launched food services and is a major foodie! She loves to help others. You can connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, Linked In, or Twitter.

If it’s meant to be, it will happen💕

This is true. The greatest physicists have debated whether or not free will exists. I believe it does to some extent. But maybe not as much as we think it does. Everything is in cosmic order. I believe we are moving here through our imagination, but God ordains certain things to happen and certain people to be sent. Through our choices, we bring our destiny to fruition. That is why I do believe we have free will because there are choices we can make and different routes we can take. However, we can’t control everything. We can’t control when there is a hurricane, for example. We can’t control the way certain things turn out. However, we can be coworkers with God to make the best out of life and to make the right decisions. He gives us that ability, even if our choices are predetermined, it feels like they aren’t. We just have to trust that God is always in the driver’s seat and even when we fail or suffer loss, he has a plan. “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all (2 Cor. 4:17).✨💫🙏

About Zina

Zina Hermez authored the best selling book, Not Without God: A Story of Survival. She’s been featured in numerous articles, guest posts, podcasts, websites, newsletters, and magazines. Recently she was featured on ESPN’s ‘Solutions from the Huddle’ broadcast. Zina’s written hundreds of articles and has taught thousands of students from all over the world spanning many different backgrounds and cultures. She’s appeared in Christianity Today, the Suite T blog and Southern Writers magazine among other places. She writes on faith, science, and overcoming adversity. Her goal is to help others. You can connect with her on Instagram, Facebook, Linked In, or Twitter.

Choices

I love this quote so much because it’s true. God repairs the broken road when we allow him to. Realize this. Nothing is wasted. Life is full of lessons, paths that are crooked, roads that are rocky, and not always smooth. Life is a learning experience. But in the end things will work out as they should if we only have faith. “I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight” (Isaiah 45:2).

“Sometimes we crave major change in the midst of pain because we’re desperate for something to give, but so often the choices we make from that place of hurt aren’t actually good for us” is a beautiful passage I read in a blog post of one of my most favorite authors in the world. His name is Benjamin L. Corey, and here is a link to his full article: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/formerlyfundie/5-things-wounded-christians-should-probably-avoid/

So try not to stress about what is happening now, about your past, something you said, or could have done different makes no difference anymore. Realize it’s never too late for a second chance. That is the beauty in all of this! We hope for many things. But God’s timing is better than our own. Trust is one of life’s great lessons. He’s the reason for our hope.

About Zina

Zina Hermez authored the book Not Without God: A Story of Survival and created the Spinal Cord Injury Solutions! online website. Zina works as an English Language Instructor, and has been an educator for fifteen years. Her thousands of students have been from many parts of the world, and she’s worked with all ages.

Zina writes articles on faith and overcoming disability, and her stories have been featured in Christianity Today, Spinal Cord Injury Zone, SCI Access, newsletters, and medical journals among many other various publications. To learn more about Zina visit http://zinahermez.com.