Willa

Amen!

I agree with Shiloh that Christ is our sabbath rest. He abolished the law for Christians who walk in the Spirit. It is still in effect for Jews and for people who are not saved. Gal 4 19-25 clearly teaches that the law is our tutor that brings us to Christ, and that all are confined under sin by it,so that we may know we need Christ. No one can be good enough to go to heaven by keeping the law. Christ fulfilled the law on our behalf so that we can be set free from the law. He took our sinfulness to the cross and died on our behalf, but placed His righteousness on our accounts. So we are the righteousness of God in Christ. It is good for us to rest one day of the week. It is not necessary for salvation. Heb. 4:10 says For He who has entered His rest has ceased from his own works as God did from His. This is speaking of self effort as opposed to allowing Christ do His works in and through us. It includes walking in the Spirit in love, and ceasing from all self effort to be more pleasing to God which is walking in the flesh: this leads to self righteousness and no longer depending on the grace of God--falling from grace. Gal. 5:1-5 I worship God every day of the week but I also believe in meeting with others to worship on one or more days of the week for teaching and encouragement, and to also minister to the needs of others in my local body. It is my custom to do so on Sundays, The Lord's day of resurrection, and on Wednesdays. This does not mean that I stand in judgement of those who worship on Saturday. We are free to follow our consciences on this. But we are never to condemn those with a weaker conscience who think they must worship on Saturday, but we should encourage them to do as they think God is leading them. The same is true of dietary habits, clothing and music they prefer, or any outward thing. Neither should we allow them to condemn us for our freedom. But we who are stronger should not cause our brothers to stumble by imposing our freedom on them. Romans 14:12-23 1 Cor.10:23 Our complete dependance on Christ is all that matters. No Christian who walks in the Spirit can better himself in God's eyes by keeping any part of the law.

Lol! We know all too well what we are without Jesus; we are pretty average even with Him. Son carried a Navigators bookmark with the salvation scriptures. But it does take excellent Bible teaching and the watering of the Holy Spirit to give growth. Our pastor was a street kid in the hispanic slums of LA. He is always aware of his roots and is simply glad to be saved since he was also raised in new age free love household. He did turn down a full ride accademic scholarship to Harvard to follow God's calling to the ministry, as well as to plant our church. Our son rededicated His life to the Lord under his ministry over 20 years ago. We just have great dependance on the Holy Spirit and hungry hearts for God and His word. Feet of clay, every one of us. 2 Cor 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

???? Washington????? Yup, and I was speaking of BLM land. Even our national forests were destroy by allowing Boise Cascade to "clean up" after wildfires. They harvested every surviving tree and plowed the burnt brush into piles that do not protect seedlings or further regrowth. They also blocked all access with machinery and destroyed the 2 lane gravel road that gave access to private lands, so that no one can view their atrocities. Nothing has been restored. Western national parks and forests will never look like an English garden, the way easterners seem to believe they should. It destroys the natural cycle of regrowth to "clean up" this way. Most people don't realize that 2/3 of WA is composed of shrub/step and part of that is scablands, part is dry land pondorosa pine, black pine, juniper, and some spruce in the highest areas. Most is interspersed with some deciduous trees like cottonwood, brush like sumach & sage and bunch grass. The green part is on the west side of the crest of the Cascade Mountains. I live in sage/bunchgrass interspersed with desert sand, juniper, cactus and scaplands. But much is irrigated in the river basins and there is dry land farming of wheat. 8 generation of our family have lived in E. WA.

I wish the eastern half our our state could secede from the west which is more powerful and controlled by ultra liberal puppets. We need to become part of Idaho where our vote will be heard. Not that I am opinionated or anything. But I have seen land decimated by overgrazing of cattle. They even ate the sagebrush down to nubs on public lands leased out by the feds. There was no oversight. It became barren within a few years. Dead cattle were left to bloat and rot. It was disgusting. Land owners and responsible cattlemen would never do such a thing. They have too much invested. It makes me wonder if the cattle were obtained legally. More local control makes more sense.

Wiki says he was given a private buriel and a funeral attended by thousands, even the prime minister? He deserved a millitary buriel with honors befitting him. At least his killers were given maximum punishment. A death penelty would have made them martyrs. It would be nice to declare these crimes the work of the criminally insane so that they would not be seen as righteous avengers but as the deranged maniacs that they are.

My daughter in law's grandparents had never seen the inside of a church except when they were married; he rejected Christ. Her mom was hardened, but I always loved her. They all lived in my area. When God and prayer were kicked out of schools in the early 60s, a whole generation was raised only knowing about God from what they heard on secular TV shows. Bad guys wore crosses. All Christians were hipocrits and worse sinners than anyone else--even pastors. TV evangelists were greedy con artists with the exception of Billy Graham . Christianity was no longer fashionable. Bibles are no longer distributed freely in our area. Our son led his girlfriend to the Lord and then married her a year later. Now their son is dating a girl he met in and has been taking to church. She also is from a home of unblievers and came alone once she was able to drive. She is so hungry for the love of Christ. So not all have heard the Gospel and rejected Christ. All of us must be first called by God and have the blindness and deafness removed to hear that call. Then we can foolishly resist. Our daughter in law did not know that the Christmas Carols sang about Jesus till she was saved, but she had heard them for 19 years. Before her death, her Christian hating new age mother was also led to the Lord by our son while sitting in the pew of our church. She urgently poked him and stated that the wanted what that guy (the pastor) was talking about. She received Christ before the sermon was over. This happens often in our church. A grandmother had been attending the baptist church I had also attended before coming to church here. She received Christ the first day she came. But a successful Jewish scientist was saved there before they quit offering invitations to receive Christ.. God is still reaching and melting the hardened hearts of all ages.

Satan condemns us for our sins. It is destructive like being stabbed to kill us. He brings up the past and accuses us for a life long forgiven and forgotten by God. There is a difference between this and the "conviction" of the Holy Spirit. God points out our sin so that we can acknowledge it and have it removed from our lives. It is like surgery. It brings healing and wholeness. It brings relief like having an infected splinter or a painful boil removed. 1 John 1:8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. There are many sins in my life that I am completely oblivious to. The blood of Jesus continually cleanses me from all sin as I stay in fellowship with God and other Christians. As I am washed by the water of the Word, little by little God reveals them to remove them for my own well being. Yes I was forgiven at the cross once for all sinfulness as I turned from that life to Jesus as Savior. Yes God sanctified me to Himself and for His use. I have no need to try to be more righteous. The Holy Spirit conforms me to the likeness of Christ without my labor by changing the desires of my heart. And should I willfully commit a sin, there is also room for repentance and confession of that trangression. God restores me to fellowship as Jesus intercedes for me as my advocate. The blood of Jesus has assured me of that forgiveness. I inherit eternal life, I do not earn it. Should a person return to habitual sin and refuse to repent, or should they change religions so denying their Savior, there is fear of eternal judgement and doubt that the person was ever truely saved. God keeps His own and chastens those He loves to yield the peacable fruit of righteousness. So I also have to disagree that the Holy Spirit does not reveal to us a sin for its removal. We are supposed to examine and judge ourselves prior to communion so there will be no need of the Lord chastening us. We are to confess our tresspasses to one another and pray for one another that we should be healed. I agree that our true nature in Christ is a life of righteousness, and He shows us that by sinning we are being a hippocrit to our true nature. l also agree that He empowers us to live a godly life. We can enter the rest of the completed work of Christ and cease from our own works as God did from His. Heb. 4:10 We can allow Christ to live in us. AMENl We often used different words to arrive at the same idea.

He does bring back the days when I would listen to the New Greater Harvest Baptist Church of Los Angeles CA. I would listen to it while lying in bed in 1960, except the choir would sing each phrase back responsively as it was preached. It was a lot of fun, but there was not the substance I longed for even as a babe in Christ I would not trade either service for the no frills hour of expository Bible teaching I get in my church now. The Holy Spirit keeps us rivited to the preaching and to the written Word. Pastor speaks simply and calmly without raising his voice or sounding oritorical, and no commotion is made. It is just full of the grace, conviction, and the inspired authority and power of the Holy Spirit. Joe, I so respect your maturity in the Lord and your love of the Word. So I also respect your appreciation of this service and I am glad that it blessed you so. But I also had never heard him preach this way. He sometimes had much venom for white or middle income people and some of his past comments were racist when heard in context. Being a rascist is evil either pro black or anti black. I agree with his compassion for the poor and downtrodden. But I had hoped for God to be glorified, not how Ali came to realize his own greatness. Had he used an incident from the life of Mehalia Jackson, whom he also knew and who was a Christian,, perhaps the point would have been better served. I just kept waiting for something more. He obviously knows the old hymns and choruses, having preached both as a pentacostal and as a baptist. So it sounded good but left me hungry for the Bread of Life; even the pure milk of the Word laying a foundation of the repentance of the thief was obscured when he spoke of Ali's self glorification. Blessings, and thank you for this much better glimpse of Sharpton's heart.

This comment is true. " But your are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy." 1 Pet.2:9-10 Ephesians 1 futher explains the true riches of those who are IN CHRIST. We inherit and have nothing apart from the spiritual blessings of being found in Him. Re-reading chapters 3 through 5, they were babes in Christ who thought of themselves more highly than they ought. They thought of themselves as sophisticated and tollarent of sin, of more learned than their teachers; they were divisive and boastful. They are in need of nothing like the church at Laodicea had become in Rev.3:14 Instead it my be a very sad commentary by Paul. These are the thoughts that come to my mind as I read your verses in context.

I have been told that my own testamony of how I relate to God is very immature and completely wrong. She told me that these scriptures were just metaphores and not to be believed litterally. I believe that since I have the Holy Spirit in me crying "Daddy", that I can come boldly to Father God's throne with faith as a little child. I can pour our my heart and He is concerned with the tiniest detail that concerns me just as He is concerned about each hair on my head; and that I can bubble over about the days' events and tell Him how much I love Him. Sometimes I relate to Daddy God that way. Sometimes it is with awe as an unapproachable Light. Sometimes it is with overwhelming thanksgiving and joy that I just sit in His Presence. At one time He severely chastened me as a daughter, but most often now all I must do is remember that time and I repent. Is my relationship sinful, wrong or very immature? My heart does not condemn me but rather blesses me in my relationshhip. Possibly it is immaturity--but I am asking you. I also sometimes think of Jesus as my big brother by adoption and the rightful heir as God's only begotten Son. He seems to treat me like a little sister; He often is lovingly speaking to me and encouraging me to trust Him to care for, guide and protect me. Some would say He is the Good Shepherd in that regard, but He speaks to me more as to a frightened little child, perhaps an adopted little sister, whom He is very fond of and loves deeply at those times, even though I am mindful that He is my Creator. [its is hard for me to relate to Him as a sheep since they are not something I am familiar with. But I have been told that they are dumb, they stink and the Shepherd would lay down His life for them; He knows them by name as He calls me by name, and that He searches for the lost sheep of Israel.] But I cannot relate to sheep because I have never been around them. God seems to relate to me by things I am familiar with. So He is also my dearest friend Who died for my sins, (my near kinsman Redeemer). He is closer than a brother. I am speaking of relationship, not doctrine. So it is possible for my relationship with God to be misguided, immature or completely wrong as this person admonished me. If it is, I certainly need to know. But I think each of our relationships as genuine believers and adopted children of God is very unique and personal. Just because she cannot relate to Him in that way, does it mean that my relationship with Him as part of His family by adoption is completely wrong? Certainly I think of other believers as my adopted brothers and sisters. Or Is it only a metaphore that the Holy Spirit in my heart cries out Abba Daddy and that through Christ we are adopted as sons and daughters? I testify that it is my experience. If is it only some pie in the sky metaphore then we are just figuratively His children as are all men; can the Holy Spirit lie to us?. Rom 8:15-17, Gal 4:5-7 Eph 1:5 Amp The thread was deleted in which I was rebuked and the other person told me in a PM that she wanted to address this in a forum since she was not allowed to teach me. I am open to scriptural reproof. Please tell me what you think as well. Blessings to all my brothers and sisters in Christ, And all praise to our Daddy God Who chose us for adoption in Him Who is His beloved Son and our dearest friend. Willa

You might do a study of angels in the first chapter of Hebrews, and the second chapter to verse 10. Write down each verse that speaks of them and then those that speak of Christ. I believe that some of their duties have now been taken over by the Holy Spirit to teach us and guide us. The only two named in the Bible are Michael, the archangel who watches over Israel, and Gabriel the messenger. But even after the coming of the Holy Spirit they were being sent to speak to Cornelius in a dream in acts 10, then an unbeliever who would come to believe, and to release Peter from prison in Acts 12:7. So it is clear that they are ministering servents of all those chosen by God to believe. Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all MINISTERING SPIRITS SENT FORTH TO MINISTER FOR THOSE WHO WILL INHERIT SALVATION? NKJV I know many Christians who say they should have been killed in an accident but they are sure an angel intervened. Angels ministered to Jesus and restored Him to health after his fasting and temptations. Even Jesus in His humanity was made a little lower than the angels that He should die, but was put over all created things when He was raised, ascended and glorified. So certainly we are now lower than the angels in authority but will also be raised and become like Jesus now is in nature, and be made to judge the angels. But it is only those who live IN Christ who are heirs, as the first chapter of Ephesians repeats over and over. Angels of God refuse to be worshipped but lead us to worship God. Satan and his angels demand satan to be worshipped. Satan himself is a created being, a cherub made to minister to God, who rebelled. He is not equal to God but apparently is superior in rank to Michael the archangel who would not rebuke him but asked God to do so. God will judge satan and the highest ranks of heavenly beings. Since my understanding of such beings is limited, I tend to call all of God's angels, angels or angelic beings, as opposed to earthly beings like ouselves. Satans fallen angels are things that we have been given AUTHORITY over when we live IN Christ. His Holy Spirit is God Himself and is greater in power and authority than any demon. That is why greater is He Who is in us, than he that is in the world. Christ in us, and His love in us, is greater and more powerful than any evil. Blessed be His Name!

Zombies= the living dead. All who are not born again are the living dead and are caught up in a swift current heading for hell. Twilight Zone= the surreal dream world that fades in and out of reality, marked by fear. A nightmare where there are only shadows and shades of gray.

In all the religions of the world the only more deceptive, savage, compassionless, barbarian and loathsome is voodoo or the worship of demons and satan himself.

Matt. 5:33-37 NKJV Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord. But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne;; nor by earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your yes by yes and your no, no. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one. The footnote in James for judgement is that it also means hypocricy. For what it is worth.

Most men can't undertand one woman. So wanting to multiply their problems is not normal. Mostly it is lust. Abe was told by his wife to take a concubine. Personally, I think she was tired of the old guy trying for a boy child and wanted some peace. Jacob wanted the love of his life but, surprise at sunrise! Uncle had got him drunk and slipped her weak eyed sister into the bedroom instead. So Jake was a slave for 7 more years to get the one he wanted. David may have inheritied some of his harum when he took over the throne, but he added a few through sin. Michael had been promised to him by Saul, who took her back. You would have thought he might have learned. They were told by God not to collect horses and wives. It certainly isn't the logical thing to do. So you have to chalk it up to the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. tisk tisk

Our pastor has lead many to the Lord on their death beds. And I have seen the terror in the eyes of a man when he told he has only days to live. His kidneys had shut down and he was full of cancer. I have also known a man who saw hell while he was clinically dead--his heart and breathing had stopped. But he was revived and was saved. He had been sort of a Christian but was proud and believed he was an apostle over the churches and not a servent. He may have even thought of God as his servent . Jesus showed him where he was going and he repented. But people who have rejected Christ over and over often reject their last chance because their hearts are so hardened. So when I pray for people to be saved I pray that God soften their hearts, open their ears and eyes to the Gospel, and set them up as only He can. Our God is in the saving business. He desires all to come to repentance. Blessings, sweetie tigger, Willa

My friend became a nature lover when she was saved and couldn't kill anything--even the black widows that came into her house. So when I found a terrantula on my door step I called her and told her I had found a friend of hers. She paniced and called poison control, which told her to check with the hospital. So she had me call the hospital at 1 AM. Only the emergency room was open and they asked me to bring the spider in to the ER. So I called my friend back and told her she was going with me since i was feeling stupid about bringing a terrantula to the emergency room. It turned out that a doctor's son collected them. And it wasn't a terrantula. It was a giant trap door spider up in our northern state. Ugggg. Still don't like them, and my friend's black widows were much more poisonous anyhow.

Aah, yes, the perfect beep from the perfect beeper. Maybe that is what drove the coyote to destroy roadrunner at all costs!

An older terrier, around 12 years old, also came from behind and took a hunk out of my leg when I was walking by. They are prone to brain tumors around that age the vet said. Our poor friendly Lhasa Apso also was attacked by a huge cat when he tried to sniff noses. It rode his back. He became afraid of cats after that. Cujo (the dog) wasn't the smartest in the litter but he was such a sweet dog and was so devoted to our Boston Terrier. Cujo would run in the direction he wanted us to throw a ball and then was bewildered when it didn't come flying over his head in the directection he was pointing. He just couldn't train us. Nor was he good at problem solving. If the ball disappeared in tall grass it was gone forever. Out of sight, out of mind.

How I wish that were true in our state. We had always had a rally round the flag on the national day of prayer that was student led and consisted of students praying for our nation's leadership as we are encouraged to do in Scripture. Even that was not allowed since our current administration. Any gathering of students for prayer must be done off campus, and only the mormons are allowed to leave campus for their activities. But I have heard of Christians in other counties gathering together. Perhaps it is just our district.

Yet students are not allowed to pray voluntarily on public school property? Nor do they allow Gideons to hand out Bibles there anymore. Even student organized baccalauriet services had to find a building separate from school property. There is no consistancy. The Bible once served as a primer used to teach children to read. Nothing is more traditional in our country than that.

God allowed Pharoah to harden his heart 7 times, them God hardened his heart 7 times. That may be happening now. But I believe that as we pray for peoples' salvation, God will continue to give them opportunities to repent till they die. Hubby once forced me to promise not to pray for him. After he was saved I asked him to forgive me for breaking that promise. I prayed constantly for him, and he was very hardened, hostile, angry. Once a pastor visited our house. He only talked about sports, but then told him he was welcome to come to our son's baptism. He raved for months about how the pastor preached at him. He hated that church because of the visit. People do become warpped in their perceptions, as though they were out of touch with reality. It is so funny because after he asked Christ into his life, one of the first things he said was that he wondered why he hadn't done it a long time ago.

Lol! So true, Kwik. We are not old fashioned but new fashioned. What is more, I am politically incorrect. Did you ever see the bumper sticker of the school of fish, and one poor little fish is trying to swim up stream against the current and through the school headed in the opposit way? That is a picture of the church. I don't see that we are going to change the world. Only the return of Christ will do that. We are supposed to let our lights shine, but when we do it reveals all the garbage, worms and corruption around us, which is not pretty and stinks as well. Since we are now glo worms, they think they have to kill us to put out the light. It just doesn't work. Christ in us glows with love and light, and the more we die the brighter He shines. So I enjoy being old fashioned, politically incorrect, and letting them think they are superior and with it. I just smile at them lovingly. Been there, done that, repented of the nightmare. They know deep within that we are right, which just makes them angry. Once in a while one asks me to pray for them when they are in trouble. I do. But usually they avoid me when their lives go twisted and perverted. They accuse me of not approving of things I know nothing about. So it is the Holy Ghost miserables working on them. Aint He great???

There is nothing new under the sun. Why, we have been reading about these things in comic books and watching them on TV for decades!!! lol,