Leaderboard

Read these verses this morning in a devotional (Daily Light) that I was struck with and thought to share. (underlines are mine) Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. Take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighted down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. The day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober. Matt. 25:13; Luke 21:34–36; 1 Thess. 5:2–6 There are conditions here . . . somethings to do, "that you may be counted worthy." (also see Rev 3:10)

The twenty-four elders are mentioned six times in Revelation; who are they? In Rev. 4:4, the first mention of these Elders is made, and these Elders suddenly appear out of nowhere. Revelation 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in Heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. [emphasis added] After this - after what? Directly after the future history of the churches spoken to by Jesus in chapters two and three. Revelation 1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; Chapters one, two, and three covered the past and present in John's Day. Chapter four begins the future (hereafter) in the apostle John’s Day (as well as our own). A door (dimension-gate-portal) was opened in Heaven, and John was commanded with the voice of a trumpet, come up hither. It sure resembles 1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Rev. 4:1 begins the heavenly throne room scene, and I believe it symbolizes the church has just been raptured. The 24 seats (thrones) are already there, and now they are occupied with "people" having white raiment and crowns. Revelation 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. SEATS ~ θρόνος thrónos, thron'-os (THRONES) From θράω thráō (to sit); a stately seat ("throne"); by implication, power or (concretely) a potentate:—seat, throne. Where in the Bible do we see any created heavenly beings sitting down, much less on a throne? White raiment is promised to the churches in Rev. 3:5 that overcome. These seven churches are the church age written in advance. Crowns of gold ~ Are promised to the churches in Rev. 3:11. The heavenly host is never spoken of as having any crowns or thrones. Crowns are reserved for those believers (church) who overcome and reward for service and dedication to Jesus. According to the New Testament, believers can receive five heavenly crowns: the imperishable crown, the crown of rejoicing, the crown of righteousness, the crown of glory, and the crown of life. These crowns symbolize rewards for faithful endurance and righteousness. The imperishable crown signifies heavenly rewards that do not decay like earthly treasures. The crown of rejoicing represents joy and blessings in the presence of the Lord. The crown of righteousness is obtained through Christ's righteousness and love for His return. The crown of glory reflects God's splendor and believers entering His kingdom. The crown of life is promised to those who endure sufferings and remain faithful to Jesus, symbolizing eternal life and love for God. Got Questions? Bible Questions Answered Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the Book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; This is a "new song" of redemption; Jesus has now redeemed us, and we are in glorified bodies in Heaven. Jesus redeemed "us" by His blood, not the angels or the heavenly host. The angelic host does not comprise kindreds, tongues, peoples, or nations. Therefore, this represents humanity, those who trust and believe in the Lord. Many believe the Book of Revelation is written in chronological order, the things that were, are, and will be (past-present-future) from the apostle John's time and perspective. Revelation chapters 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 are parenthetical. Take those chapters out, and the Book of Revelation is in chronological order. The sudden appearance of these Elders precedes the slain Lamb of God, receiving the seven-sealed scroll, the beginning of judgment, and the Tribulation. So, these Elders in Heaven are pretribulation saints. Some interpreters consider the 24 elders to represent God's people glorified: 12 patriarchs and 12 apostles = 24, signifying the union of God's people in the Old Testament and New Testament. John observes the 24 elders as having their crowns in this scene. We know from Luke 14:14 that the believers "will be repaid [crowned] at the resurrection of the righteous," and when the Chief Shepherd appears, they will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away (1 Peter 5:4). The elders lay their crowns at Christ's feet (Revelation 4:10–11). Others see the elders as heavenly counterparts of the earthly church. Still, other Bible students regard them, like the living creatures in the following verses, as a distinct class of heavenly beings rather than redeemed human beings because in the doxologies that follow they seem to be separate from, rather than a part of, the multitudes of redeemed saints. This latter view is thought to be least likely, as elders always represent humans everywhere else in the Bible.1 1 Halley, H. H. (2000). Halley's Bible handbook with the New International Version. (Completely rev. and expanded., p. 928). Zondervan Publishing House. For proof of these 24 Elders clearly being one and the same as the Church, one only needs to look at the contextual evidence. Observe such things as: The Timing of the 24 Elders. The Location of the 24 Elders. The Crowns of the 24 Elders. The Title of the 24 Elders. The Number of the 24 Elders. The Position of the 24 Elders. The Distinction of the 24 Elders. The Redemption of the 24 Elders. The Clothing of the 24 Elders.1 Crone, Billy. The Seals: A Panoramic View of the First Half of the Seven Year Tribulation (p. 32). Get A Life Ministries. Kindle Edition. In short, these Elders are men. Angels are never mentioned as wearing or promised crowns in the Bible, but, men are (James 1:12; 2 Tim 4:8; Rev 2:10). Men are promised to be both kings and priests (Rev 5:10). I prefer this view as opposed to the alternate view. We cannot say with certainty who the twenty-four elders are. They are variously understood as angelic beings, as the redeemed people of both the OT and NT, and as NT saints only. The fact that they are crowned and enthroned suggests that they are saints who have been judged and rewarded.11 MacDonald, W. (1995). Believer's Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments (A. Farstad, Ed.; pp. 2361–2362). Thomas Nelson. This "crown" is στέφᾰνος -ου, ὁ στέφω ⓐ crown, wreath, garland1 1 Montanari, F. (2015). In M. Goh & C. Schroeder (Eds.), The Brill Dictionary of Ancient Greek. Brill. Comparable to wreaths awarded to competitors in Rome (as Paul witnessed) for winning the race, unto the end. This is Daniel's foreview of the "Judgment Seat of Christ." While the "Thrones" were placed (ready for those who should be found worthy to occupy them) they were as yet unoccupied. Their occupancy awaited the outcome of the Judgment. Now as the "Thrones" that John saw were occupied by crowned Elders. Then those Elders must have passed the "fiery test" of the Judgment of Reward (2. Cor. 5:10, 1. Cor. 3:11–15), and received their crowns. Those Crowns are five in number. The "Incorruptible Crown." 1. Cor. 9:25–27. The "Crown of Life." Rev. 2:10. The "Crown of Glory." 1. Pet. 5:2–4. The "Crown of Righteousness." 2. Tim. 4:8. The "Crown of Rejoicing." 1. Thess. 2:19–20. That these "Elders" were REDEEMED MEN is further evidenced by the "Song" they sung. And they sung a NEW SONG, Saying, Thou art worthy to take the Book, and to open the Seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast REDEEMED US TO GOD BY THY BLOOD, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God KINGS and PRIESTS; and we shall reign on the earth." Rev. 5:9–10. Now this could not be said of angels, or any other created heavenly beings, for they have not been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb, nor are they to be "Kings" and "Priests" on the earth. While the "Elders" sit on Thrones and wear Crowns, they are not dressed in royal robes but in "white raiment," the garment of a Priest. They are the members of a "ROYAL PRIESTHOOD." 1. Pet. 2:9. That the time has not yet come for them to reign is clear, for they are engaged in Priestly duties, having "Golden Vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints," in their hands. Rev. 5:8. These saints are not the saints of the Church, but the Jewish saints on earth during the "Tribulation Period," whose prayers are so beautifully prewritten in the Psalms. That the "Elders" will be given the right of Judgment is clear. Writing to the Corinthians Paul says—"Do ye not know that the Saints shall JUDGE THE WORLD.… Know ye not that We shall JUDGE ANGELS." (The Fallen Angels.) 1. Cor. 6:2–3. The time when this right of Judgment is conferred on the "Elders" (Saints) is given by John as after the binding of Satan, and just before the Millennium—"I saw THRONES, and they (the First Resurrection Saints—THE ELDERS) sat upon them, and JUDGMENT was given unto them." Rev. 20:4. The word "Elder" in the majority of places where it is used in the Scriptures means the representative head of a city, family, tribe or nation, so the "Four and Twenty Elders" are representative of the redeemed human race. But why 24 Elders? Twenty-four is the number of the Priestly Courses as given in 1. Chron. 24:1–19. When David distributed the Priests into "Courses" he found there were 24 Heads of the Priestly families, and these 24 Heads he made representative of the WHOLE PRIESTHOOD. As the "Elders" are representative of both the Old and New Testament Saints, and the Old Testament Saints are represented by the Twelve Tribes of Israel, and the New Testament Saints by the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb, they together make up 24 representative characters. This distinction is clearly brought out in the description of the New Jerusalem, where the 12 Foundation Stones are named after the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb, and the 12 Gates after the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Rev. 21:10–14. While the Four and Twenty Elders are representative of the Old and New Testament Saints, they do not, as a whole, represent the Church, for the Church is composed only of New Testament Saints. The Old Testament saints are merely the Friends of the Bridegroom. But the fact that the New Testament Saints, as represented by the Twelve Apostles, are required to make up the 24 representative characters (Elders), is additional evidence that the Rapture of the Church takes place before the Tribulation.1 1 Larkin, Clarence. The Book of Revelation: A Study of the Last Prophetic Book of Holy Scripture. Philadelphia, PA: Rev. Clarence Larkin Estate, 1919. Print. ALTERNATE VIEW TWENTY-FOUR ELDERS ARE GATHERED AROUND THE THRONE (4:4) In one sense, chapters 4 and 5 are built around a series of concentric circles of heavenly officials surrounding God's throne. The rainbow is "around" the throne, then the four living creatures, then the 24 elders surround the throne in 4:4, and finally the entire heavenly host encircle the throne in 5:11. This is the imperial court of God, rendering all human royalty paltry in comparison. The point for John's original audience is that God and not Caesar is worthy of worship. There is debate over the identity of these elders. The key is their twofold description: "dressed in white," with "crowns of gold on their heads." Many believe these are human beings, probably the 12 tribes plus the 12 apostles (= the whole community of saints), because angels are not called elders and do not wear white or gold crowns in Revelation. Others believe these are indeed angelic figures, for in Psalm 89:27; 1 Kings 22:19, and Job 15:8, God sits in a council of angels. Angels are "thrones … authorities" in Colossians 1:16 and wear white in Matthew 28:3 and John 20:12. The gold crowns would then refer to their royal function under God. In short, the 24 elders/angels form the council of Heaven. Moreover, there are no human figures in this throne room scene, and throughout the Book, the elders with the living creatures are the worship band of Heaven. In 5:8 the elders hold golden bowls with the prayers of the saints; in 7:13–14 they are angelic interpreters explaining the symbols; in 14:3 the 144,000 sing a "new song" before the living creatures and elders. The most likely option is that these are heavenly beings who reign with God and are part of the heavenly retinue standing before his throne. Wearing white means they share the purity and holiness of God, and the gold crowns indicate they play a ruling function in Heaven. The number 24 would allude, then, to the 24 orders of the priesthood in 1 Chronicles 24:4–5 and signifies their priestly ministry in Heaven. They are the priests of Heaven: leaders of heavenly worship (4:10–11; 5:8), heavenly mediators and interpreters (7:13–14), and those who present the prayers of the saints to God (8:3–4). They serve God "day and night" (4:8) in Heaven. The elders are a ruling class of heavenly beings who encircle the throne and lead heavenly praise, thus exhibiting a priestly role.1 1 Osborne, G. R. (2016). Revelation: Verse by Verse (pp. 100–101). Lexham Press.

Faith comes by --- Without faith it is impossible to -- 2 Timothy 4:5 New King James Version But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

I think you mean "do something to reciprocate His love." Yes?

Yes indeed my brother, I might add in another cross reference, in Rev . 1:6 and in Rev. 5:9-10 we see these men mentioned as being Kings and Priests unto God. In 1 Chronicles 24 we are given the 24 Orders of the Priesthood. I think the 24 Elders is a semi veiled reference unto the 24 Orders of the Priesthood, and its showing the raptured Church in heaven as being Kings and Priests unto God. I also think Rev. 4:4 has three reference points back to the church age, Rev. 2:10 CROWNS (along with Rev. 3:11) Rev. 3:5 (White Raiment/Robes) and Rev. 3:21 (we will sit on Thrones). Its very obvious God is telling us the Rapture of the church happens, which ends the Church Age (Rev. 2 & 3) in Rev. 4:1 and everything after this is the Hereafter (70th week on). The problem is people have agendas and they get in the way of the facts.

This is VERY EASY, because nothing you do makes you Worthy in God's eyes, He only sees Jesus' blood. However Jesus' blood is what cleanses you and I and THEN God places a NEW HEART in us, not a CHANGED HEART, which is born of the Spirit, not of the Flesh.

Our government has never been with God. Not our God, anyway. During all our travels across the Nation since 2009, I would disagree that the majority of our "Citizens" have really left God. We met a lot more people who at least knew Jesus than we did of the devil. But I would agree that our government and media need some help in that endeavor. Where I live, people don't seem to have turned against Jesus. We just returned from a 4-day Christian camp in southern Oklahoma for adults, and we have them off and on all summer for different age groups and areas. I would be kneeling right beside you in prayer for our physical security, because our evil government and media can and will if not stopped destroy this great nation that the morals and work ethic of its general citizenry built.

Thank you for the information and link. It is important as to how and where we spend our time and efforts. I am deeply interested in how unseen universal forces effect our earth and climate. Our earth "seems" to get smaller and smaller with each passing day.

Shalom, Neighbor. There are SEVERAL supporters of the Demcratic president that were SHOCKED by the sham trial that Trump received. Many of these people are switching to Trump supporters! The trial BACKFIRED! Trump has more support than EVER!

He is Singaporean actually. His wife is Thai though

@SIC Thanks for your participation in the poll vote.

I personally hate piercings of any kind...

Oh yes. My muay thai coach had his entire body covered in tats. I personally don't like it and I probably would not date a girl with visible tats... But that's just me

Indeed. Amen

Well, here's another Psalm verse: "I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. " (Psalm 16.8)

Hi @SIC Keep up the Bible verse posting! :)

Psalm 150 1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens![a] 2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!

I've not had much interaction in person with LGBTQ+ folks, but I've had some online. My one time, admittedly anecdotal experience, taught me that I was conversing with others (professing believers . . .mostly) who had come under a serious blinding because of the homosexual sin they were practicing. You can say that any sin is blinding, but this seemed to be a particularly strong darkness - clear verses on the subject of homosexuality were twisted into completely different meanings, etc. (i.e, totally favoring the practice). Then the conversation devolved more and more until wild accusations were taking place - saying that those just presenting scripture were intolerant haters. (The idea I, and others were making, is that it is an error/off-the-mark, much like other sins of the flesh - these ones could not see it was off the mark at all, but rather something God purposed!) Through this I began to see a level of irrationality that was quite exceeding and "wild." Bottom-line: things got exceptionally weird and my spirit became really distressed and sad for those guys . . . the Anointing was telling me it was time to break off any communication with this ones. Again, this was my anecdotal evidence, based on just that particular experience (which took place over a few months). I've heard similar things from other believers trying to lovingly confront LGBTQ+.

I believe Isa_64:6 is greatly misunderstood, and I do not mean to take away from the truth that "all have sinned and come short of of the glory of God. However, the filthy rag is literally a menstrual cloth who purpose was to catch the expelled blood from the uterus. This cycle for a woman is for the dischargement of an accumulation of blood for the washing out of an unfertilized egg. Thus, if a women and her husband had relations and yet the sperm failed to penetrate the egg, both thee egg and the "seed" was purged. Thus, if a married woman had a cycle after relations with husband, both it and her menstrual cloth became a testimony to the failure of the seed bring forth life in the womb. With this in mind, what Isaiah was addressing was the state of the Jews at that time, that they were performing ceremonies and rituals to justify themselves, yet rejecting the word of God that was lead them to life, for God desires obedience over sacrifice. 1 Peter 1:23 - Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever. 1 John 3:9 - Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for His seed remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. Rev. 3:4 - For you have a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.

First, "not by works" is speaking of the performance of the mandates of the Mosaic and Levitical law which was but prophetic types and shadows of Christ suffering for our atonement, and secondly, “not by works” is not speaking of an active living faith/belief in God as a holy Sovereign whose will is to be acknowledge with obedience. Faith, being alive and active, works, and it works by love and gratitude, and it alone can enable a person to both come to God and please Him. The law, however, had a weakness in that it could only define righteousness and sin, but it could not within itself bring life to the transgressor. Yet, a sacrifice was always required to be offer on behalf of the sinner to be offered with a confession of sin. The purpose therefore of the Old Covenant was to be a forward pointing to Christ’s coming, whose death alone could establish a new testament which could indeed have power to offer life to the condemned. Justification therefore is founded upon the work of Christ alone and His fulfilling the law, and being the only acceptable sacrifice for sin, all sin. However, "working out your salvation" is a willful co-working with God in the completion of your sanctification, for "it is God who works in us both to will and to do His good pleasure," which is our purposeful "walking in the light as He is in the light." Sanctification is also the process of maturing as a believer, a “putting on Christ” and a progressive transformation of one into the “fullness of the measure and stature of Christ.” Ephesians 4:12 - For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. These are not “works” or a working for justification. Rather they are the workings of an active faith and love, the acknowledging of one’s indebtedness to God for their redemption and regeneration purchase by Christ. It is through Christ atonement alone that a person can be forgiven, illuminated to the will of God, and empowered by His Spirit to do it. Thus the "works" of faith is our purposeful coming to Him in Jesus’s name, and the pleasing of Him through our humble and loving acknowledgment of His undeserved mercies and grace, for such is the spirit of faith.

Things I've read said his defense didn't really go after the right things.

Naturally your not finding it...it's not a surprise. With the amount of censorship going on these days, like you mentioned it would be something the right would jump all over it. So it would make sense the news agencies either took it down, or Google buried the results so they couldn't be found. With that said a lot of trumps followers, are so biased and blinded by their belief in trump that they can't be bothered to do any research and a once off article would easily be overlooked. I know I'm not dreaming though as I have several liberal friends, who not only hate trump, and who not only agree with the verdict, who saw the article and agreed with the judge and said that the judge was justified in his comments. So I know I'm not the only one who saw it. In any case, I know what I saw. I know it to be true. But, I cannot prove it right now, and I know how that looks, and that I can't convince you without said article, so I'm not going to, and will now out of this conversation until such time as I find it. Have a good day.

A load is a great word for supposed evidence for the first lifeform. Not the tiniest shred of evidence actually. Offer some and find out. In other words if you totally disbelieve and mutilate Genesis you can pretend that you still believe some of it. We get it. The thing is you cannot do that with actual bible believers. That tells us who your target audience is here. The weak. The uninformed. The confused. Those who have not yet come to a knowledge of the lord and belief. (or those who rejected it)

The sentence construction and grammar of the first two verses of the Bible indicate that God created all things in good order. The literal translation of Genesis 1 verse 2 is 2 BUT the earth BECAME a chaos, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. Now, not only is God not the author of chaos, but darkness and a covering of water are sure indicators of His judgment. Something bad happened to a perfectly good earth - something so ugly that God was moved to cover the earth with water and switch off the lights. Bible students argue over this, but Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 both address a Principality that could not have been a man on earth. The theory is that Lucifer, an angel or cherub of light, was the first governor of the earth. Initially he was a good governor, but he overturned God's order (or tried to), and this ended in ruin and chaos. But God could not ever look on ruin and chaos and somebody had inhabited the earth, for God says in Isaiah 45; 18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited*: I am the LORD; and there is none else. It could be that one of the reasons why God man was made was to fill, or replenish the earth. the same words were said to Noah when there were just eight people left on earth. If you are interested, one of the most well known students of prophecy, G. H. Pember, wrote a book with the full argument called "Earth's Earliest Ages". It's been reprinted lately. It is very compelling. * The grammar is clear, but there is another element sometimes missed by students of the Bible. The word "created" in the Hebrew means "made out of nothing". The word "made" in the Hebrew means "made out of existing materials". And the word "formed" in the Hebrew means "formed like a potter forms his wet clay". The word "created" is only used twice in Genesis Chapter 1 - (i) the creation of the heaven and the earth, and (ii) the creation of the living things. Every other time God "made" something, it was with existing materials. This means that all the materials in Genesis 1, after verse 1, except for the souls of man and the animals, were already there. And when God talks about it being "inhabited", He does not say; "I created it to be inhabited". He says I "FORMED" it to be inhabited. That means that the work of six days was a restoration, not a creation. The word "formed" indicates that things were a certain way and the potter changed the "form". Unfortunately for our curiosity, when God wants to wipe out the old, He does such a good job of it that the evidence is just not there. That is why evolutionists seem to hit a wall at about 2,500 BC. It is the date of Noah's flood and all record of the past is gone. Just enough remains to say that the earth was in existence and the fossils hint at life before this flood. So also the immersion in Genesis 1:2. It just wiped out history. A universal flood is likened, in 1st Peter 3:18-21 to wiping the conscience clear.

I heard that it meant her own husband, that she shouldn't play the boss over him. Control is always bad. A preacher from Bogota with a huge church, Cesar Castellanos said to his wife: Iron my suit! And she refused, so he complained to God that she had become rebellious and God said that he shouldn't be so controlling.

Tomato tomato....34 counts of falsifying records concerning paying off a porn star...it's actually pretty petty compared to all the things they have accused him of. It's akin to spending years accusing a man of murder, only to convict him of jaywalking once no evidence of murder could be found. Reeks of desperation.

No. It has very little energy, relative to the thermal energy driving weather and climate. Warmer oceans make weather more unpredictable. What's alarming is the level of thermal energy in the Atlantic this spring. This chart of ocean temperatures should really scare you The Atlantic Ocean is unusually warm right now. Here’s why scientists say that’s “deeply troubling.” https://www.vox.com/climate/2024/2/28/24085691/atlantic-ocean-warming-climate-change-hurricanes-coral-reefs-bleaching This, if it continues, will likely give us a somewhat more interesting hurricane season than usual.

Faithfull-prophet4040: In future posts please identify scriptures that you are discussing. I believe that you are referring to what seems to many to be a contradiction between Romans 3 and 4 where Paul is talking about a righteous standing with God does not result from “works of law”; and, where James is counseling that “…faith by itself, without works, is dead.”-James 2:14-17. I was confused also. Paul and James are counseling on two different points: Paul is referring to the Law of Moses. The stubborn Jewish leaders and some early Christian where having difficulty in accepting that the Mosaic Law and its requirements of adherence (works) had been done away with. (Romans 3:22, 22, 28). A righteous standing with God does not now result from “…works of law.” It comes from faith. What James discussed are not the “works of law.” James is referring to the works, or activities that Christians do in their daily life. “Works,” in this reference, will show if a Christian has genuine faith in God or not. Is their faith corresponding to works or actions? Faith, if it is not supported by actions, is useless. In others words, if we claim to have faith, but our personal conduct or thinking is not aligned then out faith is worthless.

Good one!

Jesus mentions a cup too: Mat. 20:22-23 Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” A cup of wrath from the god of this world attempting to, and temporarily succeeding in killing Him and His disciples. And us also spiritually perhaps, and for some, depending where in the world, it will be literally.

Psalm 92: 12-15 amplified The righteous will flourish like the palm tree . ( long- lived and upright ) They will grow like the cedars in Lebanon . ( strong deep roots and magestic) Planted in the house of the LORD , they will flourish in the courts of our God. ( Growing in grace ), they will still bear fruit and prosper in old age. They will be fat and flourishing. ( They are living memorials ) to declare that the LORD is upright and faithful ( to His promises). He is my rock and there is no unrighteousness in Him

Psalm 94 17 If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. 18 When I thought, “My foot slips,” your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.