Willa

Right on, Paula. One of my favorite stories by Corrie tenBoom was about after her release from the concentration camp, she was asked to go back to Germany to share the Gospel. She found the people there very knowledgable of scripture and doctrine, but they were cold and unloving. So, having been served pieces of chocolate, she held up a piece, saying: You can tell me every ingredient of this candy. You can describe it in detail as to color, size, shape, and weight. But until you taste it, you do not know the delight that a piece of chocolate brings. We are to taste and see that the Lord is good. Until we surrender our live to Jesus Christ and receive His gift of salvation, we do not know the delight and peace of being indwelt by the Spirit of Christ. And then, to grow: Ephesisns 3:17-19 NKJV: That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is he width and length and depth and height---to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God!

Thank you so much for that glimpse of history. We are among the waning numbers who give thanks to God on Thanksgiving. We do not celebrate "Turkey Day", nor do we substitute Halloween for the opportunity to have a special day of gratitude, nor do we allow a "right jolly old elf" to take the place of Christ Incarnate. I find it distasteful that the god of materialism has been crowding out our sacred days. Each year the media has announced how much people spend on halloween and Christmas and how little they spend on Thanksgiving. How crass! So our progressive leadership wants the day of Thanksgiving to be taken from our rememberance and removed as a national holiday. Should we instead spend the day mobbing stores in greed and increase our credit card debt? Vanity. Fairy tail after fairy tail tells how someone stole Christmas. It is true. The enemy is blinding eyes so that people may not see the incarnate Christ, or hear the gospel in the words of the Christmas Carols. People today are becoming less and less thankful to anyone or for anything. We have been taught to demand our rights and entitlements because we have pride and should not feel indebted or inferior to anyone, especially to a "ficticious" God. So goes the great American tragedy. Pride is being substituted for thanksgiving. We need to be vigilant that we are not sucked into the frenzy with the rest of the world. It would be so easy to lose the sweetness of our holy days.

I believe that women need to feel loved, and men need to feel honored and respected. This is how we meet the emotional needs of the spouse. But for a home to be orderly, the husband should also be honored/respected by obedience. In the same way, a woman feels loved when she is protected and treated in a gentle, afectionate fashion. Just as Christ lay down His life for the church, so the husband is to lay down his life for his wife (and family). And women are to obey husbands as though they were obeying the Lord, just as Sarah called Abe Lord in respect when she obeyed him, even when he wasn't making the best decisions.

It seems to me that there are many references in the Bible about God giving instructions to Joshua, Hezakiah and others as to how to fight battles. They acknowledged God as their Commander in Chief and they found that sometimes He even fought their battles for them when they depended on Him. Perhaps our generals/president should do the same and pray for strategy before they engage the enemy with weapons. I would feel much better if I knew that they had prayed and had received God's wisdom before they had enganged any enemy at all.. While I don't doubt the evil of ISIL, we also get a lot of slanted news about any subject so I tend to distrust the propaganda we get from the major news agencies. (I do trust the info from George.)

I sayest that thou must thinketh that thy thoughts are more holy when thou speaketh in King James. Thy thoughts are amiss. Luke 9:54-56 And when His disciples James and John saw this, the said: "Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?" But He turned and rebuked them and said: "You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them." I seriously doubt that you are walking according to the Spirit of God. Jesus did not go about destroying those who opposed Him. He even rebuked Peter for cutting off the guy's ear when they came to the Garden to arrest Jesus. You are not serving the God and Father of my Lord Jesus Christ when you pray that evil comes to a person. What god do you suppose answered your prayer? I actually know people who say that they pray to God when they want something good and pray to satan when they want something bad to happen to a person. Is that what you did, knowingly or unknowingly?

Ephesians 4:32 NKJV And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ Jesus forgave you. Colossians 3:13 NKJV Bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. Forgiveness and love are attributes of God. When His Spirit lives in us, it is also becomes our nature to forgive. We are to be living epistles, demonstrating God's love and forgiveness. Jesus forgave even those who were crucifying Him while He was hanging on that cross. He in us also forgives. Holding unforgiveness turns into hatred and bitterness. These can destroy us. It is as much for our own mental health that we must forgive. This does not mean that we are to put ourselves or our loved ones in harms way. We should forgive but we should not be stupid. Some people are simply evil and should be avoided.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C4%81ori_people#/image/File:TukukinoLindauer.jpg Tats and piercings? These may have been much like the tats that were banned. They were cuttings done with shells. While I really like the art and designs, they still mar the beauty of God's creation. So I prefer that such design be done on wood or paper, not on flesh. So perhaps we should just not tell some people about the clothing we wear and our tats and piercings, since they offend the morals of our weaker brethern. I personally don't care for tats, but they only offend my aesthetic preferances, not my morals. However, probably the majority of women in the USA have pierced ears. Some of us lived in the day when they clamped gold onto our ears with inhumane painful vice grips, and it was more merciful to get the pain done with once and for all. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C4%81_moko#/image/File:TamatiWakaNene1870s.jpg

Have to agree with Shiloh on this one because the Bible in 1Tim.2:13-14 squarely puts the blame on Adam. But if you want to talk about passing the buck, notice that in the Garden when God confronted Adam with his sin, he replies with "This woman that YOU gave me"! Now, it seems to me that blaming God for his transgression would also be a big no no. It makes me duck my head every time I read it. When my kids pulled stuff like that my eyes would be blazing, so I can imagine the eyes of God in that instance.

The best churches are the ones that teach the Bible for a sermon and help you to understand how to apply it to your life. If the church doesn't believe that the Bible IS God's word, it is not a good one to attend. Be sure that they only base their beliefs on the Bible and not on traditions or other books that they think are sacred. Cults add other books like the book of Mormon. Some churches say the Bible only contains God's word but not all of it is inspired by God. Stay away from those. Find a Bible centered church. There are many good churches in many denominations and non denominations. But find one that makes you feel welcome. Finding a church is not nearly as importand as finding Jesus as your Savior. As stated, pray and talk to God every day and read your Bible every day, starting in the Gospel of John. Blessings, Willa

No man can ever be good enough to go to heaven and be in God's presence. Jesus is the only person Who lived a sinless life. When he took our sin on the cross and suffered the most extreme penelty for sin--the death penelty, He assured every person, even those who would die as murderers, that they would be forgiven should they come to trust in Him and receive His free gift of forgiveness. It is free to us, but it cost Jesus everything. God worked out an exchange. When He placed our sin upon Jesus, He placed Jesus goodness on our account ledger. His blood paid for our sins. "Without the shedding of blood there is no remission." Hebrews 9:22 It is only by Christ's blood that we can be cleansed of sin and enter into heaven. It is because of His blood that Father God will even hear our prayers. By it we come boldly to the throne of grace.

Amen, MsWright. Sometimes we have been so hurt in this area that we can't joke about our frailities. I am dyslexic and have never been able to spell well, and I also make a lot of typos. In high school I would get an A on a compositions but get an F on spelling, so she would give me a D- on the paper. That didn't seem fair, but oh, well. Jesus still values us because He chose us to be His own. Luke 14:21b Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind. 1 Cor. 1:20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? We can rejoice that Jesus went to the highways and hedges to invite "whosover will" to come to His table. I feel so honored to be one among His motley crew of peculiar people who is not only invited to His feast but is adopted into His family. He loves us just as we are, MsWright. And He loves those of us that are nit pickers, too. lol

I nominate KPaulG to be our grammer/spelling policeman, since he so often corrects mine as well as my typos. Of course I need all the help I can get. But while we are off the subject, why is it that those who pronouce foyer fwa ya' act so superior to those of us who pronouce it foi' er?

Our temps have been hovering around 10 degrees F. at night and at noon it is still only 21 degrees and overcast. It is so dry here that for many days we had no frost or fog. Now we have fog in the mornings but it condenses as frozen fog or ice on the roads. There are still traces of snow in shaded areas. It is a bit dreary out. How I appreaciate the blessing of a warm house. The homeless shelters are nearly full. Some people refuse them because they can't bring their pets there. Sometimes these creatures mean so much to us.

Words like zombie and conjure come from the occult. To use them would offend many Christian, who would prefer the term resurrected. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NKJV For I delivered to you that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again according to the scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas (Peter) and then by the twelve, after that He was seen by over 500 brethern at once,--- Romans 10: 9-10 NKJV That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. John 1:1-4, 12, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God He was in the beginning with God All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made. In Him was life --. 12. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were BORN, not of blood nor of flesh, nor of the will of man, but OF GOD. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as ìf the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Philippians 2:5-11 Let this mind be in you which was also in CHRIST JESUS, WHO BEING IN THE FORM OF GOD, did not count it robbery to be EQUAL WITH GOD, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservent (slave), and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in the appearance of a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even the death on the cross. Therefore God has exalted Him and given Him the name that is above every name, the at that name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Colossians 1:13-16 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for BY HIM ALL THINGS WERE CREATED THAT ARE IN HEAVEN AND THAT ARE ON EARTH, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. Col. 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead, bodily; John 3:3 Jesus answered him and said: most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born again He cannot see the Kingdom of God. If you have ever had any dealings with the occult, spiritism, ouiji boards and the like, you must repent and turn away from such practices, ask God to forgive you, and receive the forgiveness from Christ which was purchased by His death on the cross. There is no way that you can mix the occult with Christianity. If this is what you are trying to do, you are right; you cannot call yourself a Christian. But if you are just using human terms to discribe your beliefs, there would not be as much friction if you used bibical terms.

Amen!

Psalms 25:1-3 NKJV To You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You, let me not be ashamed, let not my enemies triumph over me. Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. Numbers 10:35 So it was, whenever the arc set out, that Moses said: Rise up, O Lord! Let YOUR enemies be scattered, and let those who hate You flee before You. Psm 18:46-49 NKJV The Lord lives! Blessed be my Rock! Let the God of my salvation be exalted. It is God Who avenges me, and subdues the people under me; He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man. Therefore I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and sing praises to Your name. Perhaps it might be better to pray that God deal with HIS enemies according to His wisdom, and protect us. I remember the words of the rabbi in The Fiddler On the Roof--May the Lord bless and keep the czar, far away from us! 0

Lol. My bad. The only place that I found Gabriel listed as an archangel in my bible was in my concordance of my Thompson Chain Referance. The book of Enoch which is part of the Apochrapha called him an archangel. In Luke he is only mentioned as being sent by God, and "who stands before God's Presence" in Luke 1:19.

God's answer will not contradict Scripture. It will not be ungodly. God's answer can be confirmed by the prophets, a voice from heaven and the Holy Spirit, as these witnessed Jesus baptism. This might be represented by verses from the Bible, the still small voice within us, and from godly mature Christians such as a pastor. So I agree with the 3 witnesses. When we pray earnestly asking that God's will be done, not ours, we can receive answers of yes, no, or wait. But we are also told that we have not because we ask not. So if we have a genuine need, we are told to ask of God. We are also told to cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for us. We should not pray amiss, to spend upon our pleasures. James 4:3 Should we receive and answer that makes us very uneasy, or has taken away the peace that God gives us, it is likely not from God. We are told to let the Peace of God rule (act as an umpire) in our hearts. Col.3:15. Hope this helps, Willa

Jeff, this is somewhat the way our pastor teaches the Revelation as well. I think that we occasionally have a glimpse of what is going on in heaven while other things are happening on earth. We are told that this book is the revelation of Jesus Christ. While it prepares us for things that must take place, it is given to reveal our Savior, the Lamb that was slain, in all His glory and power. I see that the wars of the great trib are separated from the bowls of the wrath of God poured out on unbelievers in the 6th seal and the trumpets of Rev. 8., the bowls of 16. I also see that some of the plagues echoed the plagues visited upon Egypt, and that the song of Moses was sang. But beyond that it is still pretty confusing. So I am interested in your insights.

Any of us can pray and ask God to heal. That does not mean that we have the gift. I know one person who is used of God in this way, but he does not pray for people unless God points a person out to him that he should lay hands on and pray for him. He does it in obedience to God. It is not faith that heals. God heals. People don't heal and our prayers don't heal. God heals. YHWH Rapha, Ex 15:26 For I AM the LORD Who heals you. Blessings Willa

So many pastors and godly men have fallen. I have to agree that we are to follow the Man Jesus, not the man who represents Him. It is so easy to get out eyes on people, but none is impervious to temptation. He needs our prayers that he will come to repentance.

I have known too many born again Christians who believe that seperation of church and state means that they are not to apply their Christian conviction to their politics. Jesus is somehow not allowed to be Lord of that area of their lives. They compartmentalize their faith. While I find this to be outrageous, it is the way that many were raised. When you try to reason with them they insist that you can't legislate morality. So they don't pray about who they should vote for or what state initiatives they should vote for. I am sure that legislators can be guilty of this as well. I am sure that the athiests and buddhists will ask for equal time in the cathredral.. But I still don't think the building is what makes it a sanctuary even though it had been dedicated to the worship of God. Christ dwells in believers, not in a building. Then again, judgement begins with the house of God. I am more concerned about the breakdown of our political system by a president stalling the legislative process and taking on dictatorial functions. It is very frustrating till I remember that our God reigns. Is. 40:23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. Dan. 5:20,21 God reminds Belshazzar that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses. That is when Bel was desecrating the temple bowls that had been sanctified to God, and then he saw the handwriting on the wall. Sorry if I am rambling tonight and my thoughts are a bit disjointed.

Some say she is Jerusalem. Some say she is Rome. But until I am convinced otherwise I still tend to think that Babylon is Babylon. Time will tell. Jerusalem has certainly been a strong option.

I so agree with Kwik. I am drawn to the place where the word of God is expounded upon. This is the kind of teaching that goes through a whole book of the Bible and may take 18 months to accomplish this. It covers background information as well as personal application, and many cross references to other parts of the Bible where the same idea is mentioned. Normally a new church made me feel like I was wandering in the wilderness. I avoided churches that were solomn, cold and dead, though. My new church felt immediately like home only once, and that was a place where I went through a lot of mistreatment by people, so I really needed that confirmation along with others that this is where God wanted me to serve Him for a time--14 years. Like Kwik, I am there to study, grow, and to worship. Sometimes growing means growing in patient endurance, enduring the insults and injuries of other christians and responding to them in a Christ like Way. This requires a death of self and a determination to treat them the way I would want to be treated. Like Kwik, I raise my arms and my face to the heavens and sing praises to God in worship. Now, I really don't care if other people are clapping their hands or even singing a traditional hymn by rote while they are texting. When I am singing to God in worship and praise my heart is abandoned to Him and I don't notice what others are doing. When my kids were having trouble making friends in a new school I would tell them to be a friend to someone. Since you are working it may be harder to attend smaller womens groups to get acquainted, but often a mid week service would do as well, depending on your schedual. But it does take some effort to get acquainted more than a hand shake. It takes risk to open yourself to people. Some churches encourage people to keep up a "front" of cheerfulness. I don't practice that. It reminds me of the Brittish sitcom, "Keeping Up Appearances".

Archangel is a specific title that means more than just messenger (angel). Jesus can act as a messenger of God but archangel is used of Michael and Gabriel specificly.