God and the Great Void

By Laurie Nerat Stodola

Enter inbefore time existed. Be with God and imagine. Travel through the heavens into the great void and back again, from eternity into time. All life that God created was good; then evil entered in. How could God choose to create something that he knew would go bad and love creatures who are so painfully sinful? We must understand why God would want to create such a world in the first place. Read about a god who can love beyond torture and death, then consider if you can agree with the reasons why.

God and the Great Void offers a prevalent theme of spiritual guidance to seek a profound understanding of the works of God from the birth of existence and journeys through the many experiences in the Bible. This book has an appealing writing style that makes it an enjoyable read (From the foreword by Tamika Boone, PhD).

Laurie Nerat Stodola has great insights in spiritual warfare. Her description of the evil one during the crucifixion is well done! (Barb Colvin, Crown Point, Indiana).

Laurie has taken her deepest understanding of the gifts of light and its complexities to share with others in simple terms. Believers and nonbelievers will benefit from Lauries thought provoking and spiritual insight (Bonnie J. Edwards, author of Mama Said, adjunct instructorContinuing Education).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543484977

Laurie Nerat Stodola

Laurie Nerat Stodola spent nearly six years studying at the Felician Motherhouse Convent in Chicago, IL. After receiving her Bachelors Degree in Education, she earned the Certificate of Accreditation for Advanced Recognition in Religious Studies from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Laurie has been involved in Religious Education programs, served on parish councils, facilitated retreats, and conducted Bible studies. She was also the pastoral leader of a Charismatic Prayer Group where she delivered several theological teachings. Laurie has been on music teams for liturgical services and the charismatic prayer meetings for more than forty years. She presently lives in Oak Creek, WI with her husband John. They have three children - Kristen, Phil, Angela, and one newborn grandchild, Brooklyn Marie. Laurie teaches Basic Skills Math and Communications at MATC in Milwaukee. She enjoys baking, solving puzzles, playing guitar, crafting, and participating in craft fairs.

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 by Laurie Nerat Stodola.

God and the Great Void

Written by Laurie Nerat Stodola

Foreword by Tamika Boone, PH.D.

Edited by Kristen Nowak, MA, LPC

Library of Congress Control Number:      2018901932

ISBN:      Hardcover            978-1-5434-8445-8

              Softcover                978-1-5434-8444-1

                   eBook                978-1-5434-8497-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition© 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C. and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 05/10/2018

Xlibris

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

774776

CONTENTS

Foreword

Introduction

IN THE BEGINNING

1. The Origin

2. The Light

3. The Word

JESUS: WORD OF GOD

4. Jesus Who?

5. One God

THE ANGELS: GOOD AND BAD

6. Spoken Word

7. The Fall

8. Great Void

CREATION OPTIONS

9. Two Worlds

10. Creative Artist

11. A Universe

WHERE ARE WE?

12. Earth’s Universe

13. Our Reality

14. Inevitable Fate

ANSWERS AND SCHEMES

15. Two Questions

16. Two Plans

17. Tempting Words

GAMES VERSUS TRUTH

18. Holy Beginnings

19. Ministry Battle 1

20. Ministry Battle 2

GOD IS IN CONTROL

21. Lucifer’s Puppets

22. Ultimate Sacrifice

23. The Victory

Footnotes and References:

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my brother Marty,

who always knew how to put laughter into my heart,

who always loved me no matter what,

who would do anything for me because of that love,

and who was always a friend and a brother to me.

I felt deeply urged to write down my innermost

thoughts soon after Marty had passed away in 2015.

Those thoughts became the pages of this book. This

is for my dear friend and beloved brother Marty,

whom I miss dearly, and

whose laughter will live always in my heart.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and most importantly, all my gratitude and praise belong to the God of this universe. I thank God for everything, especially for the opportunity that enables me to share His words in this book. God has always been a crucial part of my life. Without God, writing this book would have been impossible.

I thank my parents Martin Sr. and Theresa Nerat, who have passed their faith in God onto me when I was very young. Those seeds of faith and knowledge of God have grown to inspire this endeavor.

I want to thank my older brother Marty, for always supporting me. He would have been so proud of me and this endeavor. I believe his death inspired me to begin writing my most cherished thoughts; those thoughts became this blessing.

I also want to thank my younger brothers, Scott and Randy, who when they were young would ask me, their big sister in the convent, questions about God. Some of their curiosities would tend to make me rethink the What about God questions and answers that I had never considered before.

Thanks goes to my dear husband John, who was the first to see the scribblings in my journal and urged me to continue. He was behind me every step of the way to reassure my efforts. I also thank him immensely for encouraging me to get my manuscript published into a book.

Many thanks go to my daughter Angela, who always stood by me and supported me in every way possible. Her ability to use her God-given talents helped me write an important part in this book. Her successes in life, and always doing the best job possible, no matter what the task, inspired me to do the same with this project.

Thank you to my son Phil, the greatest entrepreneur I know, who pushed me to publish my work before I even finished the first draft. His own life examples of driving himself to be the best person he can be, and his determination to accomplish his goals have truly helped me to move forward in this process.

My deepest gratitude goes to my daughter Kristen, who proofread and edited these pages. Her expertise and honest remarks challenged me to say what I really wanted to say and to make corrections that enhanced the contents of these pages. Her own desire to do everything in a professional manner, along with her knowledge of Scripture and God, made her the best possible editor for this book.

Special thanks to my colleague, Dr. Tamika Boone, who read the manuscript and was very supportive and encouraging towards me. At first, I had asked Tamika to write a short endorsement, and she found that she could not stop at writing something so simplistic. She kept writing and her words became the Foreword for this book.

Thank you to Father Lou, who informally taught me about spiritual warfare. His wisdom on this subject enlightened me and gave me the perspective of the eternal hierarchy that is shown in this book. God is creator and above all creatures, therefore, God always has the victory!

Thank you to Father Tom, who when I was in grade school, came to teach our class about God. His words of wisdom were some of the seeds that I held deep in my heart. Those seeds grew into beautiful flowering blossoms that enrich this book.

Countless thanks go to my cherished friends, Barb, Annette, and Carol for the early morning coffee breaks, the shared special events, and the delightful luncheons at Panera. These very meaningful and valued meetings challenged me to have a deeper relationship with God. Knowing each of them made my knowledge about God more profound and vibrant.

I am also very grateful for my first granddaughter Brooklyn Marie. Her birth was timed perfectly; it was the confirmation from God that I needed to start the process of publishing this book. Thank you, Brooklyn, for being a very special blessing and gift from God.

Laurie Nerat Stodola

FOREWORD

Most people never understand that hearing the word of God is not a skill one can master but a gift that God gives to ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Therefore, people forfeit life’s valuable gratification––intimacy with our Creator. However, Laurie Nerat Stodola has demonstrated that she has this gift from God by sharing His words in God and the Great Void. Stodola empowers her readers to seek the gift of hearing and listening to the voice of God by reflecting on His words and recognizing the voice of faith. God and the Great Void offers a prevalent theme of spiritual guidance to seek a profound understanding of the works of God: from the birth of existence and journeys through the many experiences in the Bible. This book has an open and appealing writing style that makes it an enjoyable read. God and the Great Void is a practical guide for individuals who struggle with and question the existence of God and His plan. The author provides numerous illustrations of the planned work of God and emphasizes the unique relationship between God and Jesus. Laurie has written this book in a conversational style, which encourages the reader to address cavernous questions and embrace the labor of God.

In the first chapter of God and the Great Void, Stodola gets the readers to imagine the origin of the world by challenging them to envision what existence is like before anything. She does this by having the reader undertake a mind shut down of the world, only to visualize being surrounded by nothing; however, this manifestation substantiates how we are limited to do such a task for we are limited beings. This challenge leads the reader to invite God into the picture of existence. This forces the reader to disclose his or her thoughts, feelings and experiences to become passionately involved in understanding The Origin, The Light, and The Word of God by emptying oneself completely and licensing God to fuel the reader up within. Stodola starts the challenge of understanding the existence before existence with the reader by introducing Psalm 90:2: "Before the mountains were begotten and the earth and world were brought forth, from everlasting to everlasting You are God. The reader is guided through the darkness of the existences into The Light."

As the reader journeys through the darkness of existence, to The Light of God, a description of the qualities of God is presented to the reader. The theme that is continuously repeated in this section is the revelation of God. Exodus 3:14: God replied "I Am Who Am. The author explains the extensive presumptions behind this deep and mysterious statement of how God exists beyond our comprehension." Once the author has established the existence of God in the mind of the reader, she travels the reader to the word of God.

In The Word of God, the author provides meaning for the Written Word, the Word of God-Jesus, and the Spoken Word. Stodola provides a testimony of the relationships between human and the Divine. This section emphasized the necessity of God’s desire to develop relationships and how He chooses people to execute His important tasks.

This book is not written for a specified religious denomination, but for anyone who is seeking answers to the most paramount questions the human mind can manufacture. This book is comprehensible to individuals who may not have knowledge about the Bible and provides a precise theologically and biblically informed message. This book is a valuable tool for a serious-minded child of God who is hungry and thirsty to know God and the Great Void!

Tamika Boone, Ph.D.

Doctor of Philosophy

INTRODUCTION

Enter in––before time existed, before anything existed. God in His Radiance is alone in all eternity, and God does not need for anyone or anything. But in His Wisdom, God breathes His Word; the heavens and the host of angels come into being. At some point, pride and arrogance consume several of the angels who then become vile and hideously abominable