Willa

I think it was an illustration from Streams in the Desert that has been burnt into my mind. There is a Robin sitting on a nest. It is built on a branch that overhangs a roaring waterfall. Occasionaly spray blows over the nest and the branch sways and bobs. But the Robin is serenely secure on that nest. She has perfect peace as she steadfastly keeps her eggs warm and dry, protected from all that goes on around them. And so are we, under the shadow of His wings. Psalms 36:5-9 Your mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgements are a great deep; O Lord, you preserve man and beast. How precious is your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings. They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the rivers of Your pleasures, For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.

Amen. You mods make us feel safe here. Thank you.

We are seeing sunshine breaking through the clouds today for the first time in weeks of socked in fog and low clouds. But there is plenty of time for another arctic front to drop down here. I am just enjoying being able to see a shadow and feel some warmth. Our cold days are coming earlier in Nov. and Dec. For the last few years our Januarys have become a little milder. It is interesting. I still think that ash heavy volcano eruptions have an impact, as does the enlarging of the Sahara, do to wars and destruction of the land, impact the hurricanes.

Christ in you, the hope of glory. It took a long time for me to learn to allow Christ to love people through me. I am incapable of loving the unlovable, but Jesus hung on that cross loving and forgiving all. And His Spirit lives in me. So I had always pointed 1 John 4:20 at my father in law. He was Archie Bunker on steroids since he hated and had a name for everyone, including Christians. And if you say you love God but hate your brother, you are a liar. One day at a Bible Study, God pointed that verse at me. I couldn't love my father in law. I knew that moment that I was totally lost without God's grace. Someone told me to ask God to love him through me. I did, but I never did love him as God does. The guy kept me on my knees, since I would no sooner get my heart right toward him than he would say something or do something else that was offensive to the core. Eventually I learned to pity him as God did, but God used all of this to teach me to rely on Him and His life within me. I can't live the Christian life. Only Christ in me can. Anything else produces self righteousness. It gives new meaning to Ephesians 2:8. "For by GRACE we have been saved through faith; and that not of ourselves. It is a GIFT of God, NOT OF WORKS, lest anyone should boast." We can no sooner merit salvation than we can live the Christian life. It is all a work of God living in us. " 3:19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Comprehending the extent of that love takes a life time. Blessings, Willa

I often mention Fenelon, archbishop to the court of Louis the 14th. A small devotional book, Let Go, contains a series of His letters to true believers in the court who were trying to live the life in worldly circumstances. He promotes the crucified life and dying to self with such titles as "Our Knowledge is the Greatest Hinderance to our Becoming Wise", and "Only Imperfection is Intollarent of Imperfection", and "Sensitivity to Reproof is the Surest Sign that We Need It". The book never fails to make me wince since the sword tip used by the Holy Spirit really pricks at the fleshly or carnal life.. He was the cousin and close friend of Madame Guyon, who inspired many reformers as well as Watchman Nee.

I wish we would return to the Jewish traditions at least in part. Pesach is what Jesus was celebrating. So the Messanic versions make more sense to me, even if we did so in a more abbreviated way. It would be nice to remember the Passover and the deliverance from Egypt, since we who are IN Christ can remember His heritage as partly our own, even if we are not Jewish. I would rather remember Jewish holidays so as to at least explain their signifcance, than Valentines day, halloween or May Day, which are a lot of silliness at best. Besides, someone gave me an easter bunny when I was 3, which my parents promptly sent to a friends small farm. But the next year it was returned as our Easter dinner. To a 4 year old, eating the easter bunny was somehow a sacrilege.

Lady C, I am not in the habit of praying before meals either. I don't say rote printed prayers or vain repititions. So I talk to God, and no one wants me to pray before a meal because the food gets cold. That doesn't mean I am not thankful for all God has provided us. Most Christians do pray but we were not raised in homes where this was done and are not it the habit of doing so.

Lord, please fill Jony with Your Holy Spirit and with power. You turned cowardly Peter who denied Christ three times into the mouthpiece of God on the day of Pentecost. He preached a sermon by which you saved 3000 people. He became a leader of the early church. So I ask that you do the same for Jony and fill him to overflowing with Your love for all people. In Jesus' Name, Amen

http://www.studytoanswer.net/bibleversions/gnostic.html I always think of the verse that says a fool says in his heart that there is no God. Young's literal translation reads empty fellow for raca, and rebel for moros. Alt3 reads empty headed fool for raca, and worthless fool for moros. The complete Word Study Dictionary say that raca is referring to the intellect like when I yell (to my shame) you stupid idiot! to a driver who cuts me off, driving recklessly while texting. Perhaps thoughtless is a good word for their act. But mora refers to the person's moral character and heart as being worthless. It is standing in judgement of their value as human beings (which is forbidden), not their actions. So I, too, am guilty of slander every few years, and we all must rely on God's grace both for our salvation and for overcoming bad habits. NASV is most accurate to the text it uses. Many of us feel that text was corrupted by the gnostics whose stronghold was in Alexandria Egypt. The text that they call the oldest and best, alexandrinus, was from Alexandria and shows many changes that correspond to gnostic beliefs. The texts used previously to translate the ASV of 1901 were from the same family but translators did not leave out portions and change the meaning of others, but adhered to more conserviative renderings. The text for KJV, textus receptus, was drawn from both the Byzantine (held by the Greek church), and Vaticanus + Siniaticus, the texts used for the latin vulgate and ASV. So many of us reject that the newer translations are most accurate which have chosen renderings that are not supported by the majority of early church fathers as well as early texts; instead we consider them slightly corrupted. If read with that in mind, they can still be edifying but we consider them less reliable. Many adhere only to Textus Receptus or to KJV. I like the byzantine (majority) texts and am less trustful of the Alexandrian texts, which were not used for good reasons by most of the early church.

I agree that God is always in the present, and that He exists outside of time because He created everything, including time. He is omnipresent. While on earth Jesus experienced some limitations. For instance, He said only the Father knew the day and the hour of His return. But now that He has been restored to His position at the right hand of the Father, I don't believe He has the same limitations as He had on earth. All things have been placed under His feet and He is over all, the eternally blessed God.

A lot of contempt for those in error came with me until God showed me that I needed to rely on Him--Christ in me-- as my source of love and forgiveness. My intellectual quibbling and questioning God was the last thing I surrendered to Him. Self is still on the alter and is dying a slow and painful death till only Christ can be seen in me. Blessings, Willa

Jesus did claim to be I AM when He said before Abraham was, I AM. This refers to the name God gave Himself when He spoke from the burning bush. John 8:58, EX 3:14-16. It is also why they tried to stone Him. He is not the Father and He prayed to the Father. We do not subscribe to the "oneness" doctrine but worship God in Trinity on this forum.

I agree with Walla.. It is not my job to judge. God knows all the circumtances and knows their faith and hearts. He keeps His own.

Jesus said we must be born again. I don't know if we are really born again till we repent and surrender to Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the I Am, and Creator God revealed as the YHWH LORD of the Jews. It is a surrender of the heart, knowing that we are lost without His grace. Even if we don't completely understand, God sees our hearts and He alone determins who is born again of the Holy Spirit. But those who have only an intellectual knowledge of Jesus do not have the relationship of repentance and dependance on Jesus as Savior and Lord God. They do not depend on His blood to pay the penalty for their sin. They lack saving faith (reliance) on Christ.

I have found very little in my church that I have disagreed with, having been in several denominations over my 70 some years. I have leaned on the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and here I have found others that have done the same. But any questions are answered from Scripture, often showing other references that don't always seem to agree. I have found the teaching to be very balanced. Other laymans courses have been taken here in church history, hermaneutics, lay counseling using the Bible, Great Doctrines of the Bible by William Evens, and Greek. This type of foundation is another reason I go to church.

I can't stand long either so I ususally sit during the service. Hubby has the same problem but it also touches his pride so he tries to stand and is miserable. His squirming to aleve the pain calls more attention than if he sat. The cell phone users may be looking at photos. They call other peoples' attentions to their phones and disrupt, giggling over what they are looking at etc. So I need to give them some special friendship and love, and try to get to know them. A lot of people use their phones for web bibles, as you have noted.

I also love corporate worship, whether hymns, contemporary or Christian rock. God inhabits the praises of His people. I also go to pray for the salvation of those who have not given their lives to the Lord. We may have 10 to 20 percent there that are not saved or who need to rededicate their lives. I also pray for those who are in leadership--for their inspiration, protection and that souls would receive the message. I am nearly always rivited to the sermon, which is an expository Bible teaching going through a whole book verse by verse. People take notes, and I make a lot of notes in my Bible. It is also on U tube so we can review it. I pray for all of us to have ears that hear what God is saying to us. Since our pastor leans heavily on the Lord for inspiriation, we know that the Spirit is speaking to the churches here. So God usually speaks to my heart about something. Often it is encouragement to reach out to people I encounter to sew seeds that turn their attention to God. We are encouraged to do our own community outreach, but sometimes it develops into a church supported effort as well. This is also true of foreign missions. It starts with one of our own going overseas and starting a missions outreach. Touching bases with others needs we have prayed for and getting updates also occurs after church as we visit. It is not gossip. It is compassion. Hugs are genuine. Yes, God is also dealing with my attitudes, especially towards our new worship leader who often can't hit his notes, and toward those who text each other or check facebook while in church. So I am still growing in patience and forbearance, and I need to make an effort to specificly reach out to these people.

I agree with this as it has also been my experience. But I have never been able to chalk suffering up as joy. I really hate to suffer and always told the Lord that if He really wants to be glorified, He might choose another way to do it in my case because I don't suffer well at all. He told me to stop complaining and reminded me of the children of Israel complaining in the wilderness. Suffering is a purifying process. The fire of affliction burns away the dross. Often I endured suffering to keep me humble and closely relying on Him. It is so much my nature to say Oh, I can handle this, and do it all in my own strength. He wants me relying on His wisdom and strength. He wants to remove the I, the self life, the selfishness till only He can be seen in me. So it looks like more suffering is in the future because the I is very much alive, well and kicking. As for Fez's comment. God cares about each sparrow that falls. But EZ 18:32 does say that He has no pleasure in the death of one who dies, therefore turn and live. So He wills that all men come to repentance. He says do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him that is able to destroy both the body and soul in hell. Matt. 10:28 NKJV He goes on to say that not one sparrow falls to the ground apart from your Father's will , and don't fear because we are of more value than many sparrows. I don't think we fully grasp how that when we are born again, we have truly passed from death into eternal life. Our lives are now hid in Christ.. It is hard to comprehend that this life is being swallowed up by immortality, and that we are the eternal soul. Our bodies are just a hinderance to fully being a part of eternity. Reading 1 Cor 15:35 to the end of the chapter is referring to this. We are so connected to what we see in the mirror that we fail to see what God sees. He does not see the outward appearance but our hearts or our souls. 1 Sam. 16:7 So right now my body is very week. Sometimes it is difficult to think cohesively. I am supposed to be strong in Christ, but I don't even feel that amid the bouts of severe coughing that causes my face to break out with burst blood vessels. OnceDaddy God asked me what I feared--was it dying? That would be like falling backwards into Daddy God's arms. There are several here on Worthy who look forward to being enfolded in Daddy God's arms. Graduation Day.

John 10:9, 26-28. NKJV I am the door, if any man enter by Me he shall be saved, and will go in and out, and will find pasture. But you do not believe because you are not my sheep, as I said to you, My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. The church is not the door--Jesus Christ is. You don't trust in a church for your salvation. You trust in Christ's sacrefice on the cross for your sins. He purchased you and redeemed you with His blood. When you begin to recognize His voice and follow Him, walking in the Spirit, you will know you are saved. When you have His Holy Spirit in you crying Abba, Daddy, you will know you are saved. When your first desire is His Kingdom and His righteousness, you will know. It is all about your daily relationship with God. This is noourished in most evangelical churches. But anywhere the Word of God is read and preached you can find truth. And reading God's Word at home on a regular basis is also helpful to growing more like Jesus. Eph. 5:26 Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for Her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word. All who have truly turned away from their sinful lives and turned to Christ for forgiveness are born again. Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is a GIFT of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Getting acquainted with God and His Word is the best way to learn if a church is teaching the truth. However, the truth is harder to find in churches that hide it in a lot of stuff that is not in the Bible. For that reason I would avoid the Catholic church and cults like Jehovah's withnesses and Mormons, which add to and twist God's word with their own books and traditions. Jesus Himself is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

You need to break off the relationship with the married man completely. If he was abusive and an adulteror, he is not much of a Christian. The bible tells us to have nothing to do with people who call themselves Christians and do these things. Put God first in your life over any person. Make Him most important and your relationship with Him most important. That means forsaking sex with any person you are not married to. Once you repent and turn away from the sin in your life, and seek after Jesus, the rest will start to fall into place. Jesus told the woman caught in adultry, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more." So read your new testament and pray every day. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Read Psalms 37 God calls to Himself a lot of people who have been abused. You are hardly alone. What you do with your life starting today is what counts. Ask God to fill you with His Power to do what is right and lead a godly life.. Put a stop to being a victim! Blessings, Willa Seeking fleshly things leads to death. Seeking things of the Holy Spirit leads to life. Read Romans 8.

I agree, Blue Moon. But I am content with NKJV and use Amplified, Wuest's Expanded Translation, ALT3, and NASV as references. I haven't done much with ESV. But I would rather refer to Young's literal translation than KJV. Wuest, and to some extent ALT3, try to translate Greek verb tenses that do not fully translate directly into English because we have nothing comparable. The latter is based on the Greek Byzantine text as was Textus Receptus. Wuest does not leave out verses, but is based on the ASV before the texts were corrupted by the gnostic influenced Alexandrianus found in Alexandria Egypt (and is called the "oldest and best" by modern scholars). Amp. was the first New Testament I ever read and I still love it. It also does not leave out verses. It's translations are footnoted as from Tyndale, Wycliffe, Vincent's Word Studies, etc. It and ALT3 plainly shows which words are added by translators and which were part of the literal text. WUEST: 1 John 1:10 ET If we say that we have not sinned and are now in a state where we do not sin, a liar we are making Him, and His word is not in us.---- This shows how well Wuest's ET (expanded translation) handles verb tenses. This is not meant to bash other transations as much to show why I prefer these. Since you asked.

LadyKay, I don't know the age of your mil, but some of us older folk can get ridiculous and you can't reason with them. I became acquainted with a friend of my grandma's some years ago. They went to the same church. But she hated Jewish people! I tried to remind her gently that her Savior was Jewish. She replied that he was not, because Ruth was a Moabite! So all we can do is just throw up our hands and pray for people like this, that they may come to know the Love of their Savior for themselves and others.

Aw Fez, it is the USA pro football playoffs. This year OUR Seattle Seahawks are playing an eastern team of little interest. lol. It is a fun time much like a new years eve celebration and a good time for churches to offer a non alcoholic party to watch the game on TV.

God is opportunistic. A not so godly man came and preached a sermon to another church, and I still remember it because it was God's word. The Holy Spirit used it in my life. It was 40 years ago and he preached on the little foxes spoiling the vine. Sometimes it is the little things that eat at us and spoil our testamony. I don't condone ungodly people as pastors. They should be examples in love and grace to others. But I don't limit God. Where ever the Word is preached, God's Spirit can move. Men in adultry and other grevious sin should be removed from the pulpit. These men can be given other jobs by the churches should they repent but should not be placed back in the pulpit as a senior pastor. A child molester should not be placed near children again. A thief should not be made the church treasurer, etc. They must prove themselves worthy of trust in their new position. Should they continue in sin they face removal from fellowship. Just my opinion. The Corinthians were upbraided for being tollerant of sin in there midst, not even their leadership. 1 Cor. 5:11 But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or and idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner---not even to eat with such a person.

These are unmarried men of literal Hebrew descent who are sealed by God, likely as we are by the Holy Spirit, who must endure the wrath of God. God will keep them unharmed and protect them. They would have already been sealed had they come from prior centuries. These are a living remnant. I also agree that there are overlaps of portions of Revelations just as there are in Genesis.. It is the style of writing that takes a closer look at portions of Scripture.