Willa

Uh, I hope you remembered to put the lid on the basket................

A distant relative had a bear raid her tent while she was camping. It consumed a 50 pound sack of instant mashed potatoes, and then its tracks lead down to a lake for a long drink. I don't think either bear enjoyed the day after.

Hi! I have to agree that you have been buying the lies of the enemy, as you also are learning. He came to lie, steal and destroy, but Jesus came that you may have life and have it more abundantly. Don't let the enemy steal your joy. And don't let him beat you up over what you did or didn't do. God does not condemn you, as was quoted from Romans, and Jesus is praying for you. If God is for you, who can be against you? You are going through grief, and a lot of it. Sometimes a grief support group helps with some of this. I used to be a member of a local chaplaincy that offered support groups where people going through loss of loved ones could share their feelings. I have also lost a lot of family. But I look forward to seeing them in heaven. One thing that you have to be aware of is that saten doesn't fight fair. He hits you when you are down. But Christ gave him his death blow at the cross. Satan bruised His heal but Christ bruised his head--that means a slow but fatal concussion. In Revelations we are told that he was overcome by the Blood of Jesus and the testamony of the saints (believers). You simply don't have to listen to Satan's lies. Messages from God will fill you with the fruit of the Spirit, especially love, joy and peace. If he corrects us, even though we don't like it at the time, it is worth it all afterwards. Heb.12:5-6 But a bruised reed He will not break, and a smoking flax He will not quench--Matt 12 :20 NASV I have never known God to chasten anyone when they are going through what you are going through. God never said that bad stuff won't happen. He just said that He would walk through it with you and give you the strength you need. And He said He would send another Comforter, the Holy Spirit. God wants to comfort you.

John 1:12 But as many as receive 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 the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Other promises mention confessing the Lord Jesus and believing in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. Romans 10:9. I believe it is possible to ask Got to forgive us for being a sinner and to receive Jesus' forgiveness while driving down the road or where ever you feel like praying. It is possible to confess Him to your family or to friends. But I also believe that Baptism is a public testamony as to what has already been done in your life. Baptism can be a time of confessing Him before men. Many churches disagree on this doctrine, especially those that practice infant baptism. The biggest problem is that we all try to put God in a box, or in a doctrine. I am sure that the Spirit comes to indwell us in slightly different ways because God looks at our hearts and not as to whether we did a ritual. (Some people repeat a prayer or are baptized as a means of joining a church, which they think of like joining a lodge or the country club. That is why Jesus gave us verses like John 3:8.) The way we know that we have been born again is that there is a growing change in our lives. Sometimes we start feeling guilty about things that hadn't bothered us before. But there is some kind of change in our way of thinking. Most people find peace. We also are to cling to scriptures that promise salvation because the first thing satan does is accuse us of not being a christian because we blew it again. Not so. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 using NKJV

Father God called Isreal His wife just as the church is betrothed to Jesus Christ. We are told that our Father's wife left him and committed adultry, but He always took Her back. At one point he divorced her but He will again restore her to her land. The Koran teaches muslims to kill unbelievers in their land. Not all Muslims embrace this, but many do. This includes killing Americans as well as Isrealis. Those who are not converted are executed. So there is no chance of peace in the middle east as long as non Muslims live there. This applies to all far eastern hations that are mostly Muslim as well. In no way are we to hate people of other religions. We are to pray for them, and, one on one, we are to overcome evil with good. We are to extend the love of Christ to individuals. How else will they ever know there is a difference between our 2 faiths. "Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. Luke 6:27-28 NKJV I do not believe this applies to millitary intervenion, but only to those whom we encounter in our daily civillian lives.

Last night I heard Spike Psarris, formally an engineer in the US millitary space program, speak on "What You Aren't Being Told About ASTRONOMY ". He spoke on "Our Created Solar System", including a lot on Mars. You might be able to purchase it on WWW.CREATIONASTRONOMY.COM . He explained in detail why Mars cannot support life of any kind. If you really want to know, I urge you to buy the DVD. He entered the space program as an atheistic evolutionist and left it a Bible believeing Christian soley due to all the discoveries that totally contradicted eveolution but supported the Bible. He is a great speaker and funny as well.

You must be an awesome lady Love, Steven Although I am periodicly compelled to remind my husband that I am his sweet innocent little ol' wifey, He will only agree to the old wife part. So I doubt that he would agree with you that I am as awesome as we all wish I were. But we can agree that we serve an awesome God!

enoob57, Your advice is very good. Listening to the Holy Spirit has kept me out of trouble for many years. I learned to hold fast to that which is good and leave the rest. (1 Thess. 5:21) We have stayed in 4 different churches of different denominations for about 15 years each, plus this last one for 9. There were always some doctrines I could not accept till we arrived at this last church. There was very little that I could agree with in the church I was raised in which was ultra liberal. It no longer requires members to believe that Jesus arose from the dead or was God in the flesh. Nor does it believe the Bible is the inspired Word of God and is to believed as litteraly as possible. I hesitate to even call it Christian. I found that the more Scripture I applied to my life, the more the Holy Spirit enabled me to understand. People who try to understand the Bible with their logic and intellect often get into more trouble. I don't mean that we should completely ignore those things. But the things of the Spirit are understood by the Spirit of God.1Cor. 2 10-12 Again, this is why I look for a good Bible teacher when I look for a church. And we also depend on the Holy Spirit to lead us to a good church. I was born again over 53 years ago and have walked in the Spirit for 42. Yet I am sure when I get to heaven I will have questions for the Lord, and will find out that my understanding was imperfect.

I could not be a Catholic becuse I could not bow down to images or pray to dead people. I could not pray to Mary whose tomb is in Jeruselum but its church has been boarded up for a century because of the heresy that she did not die but ascended into heaven like Jesus. We have one intercessor between God and man--Jesus Christ. Nor do I believe that the pope is without error, etc. But there are many Catholics who are born again, genuine believers who love the Lord. And we owe much to the early Catholic church for defending our faith against many gross errors about Who Jesus is and what He has done, and the Trinity, not to mention preserving the Bible. Not all Catholics, or even priests, are hippocrits. Bigotry is ugly in any form. My grandfather was in the KKK and burned crosses in the yards of Catholics. He did not claim to be a Christian. But hatred and bigotry are even worse when found in the hearts of those who claim to be Christians.

Back to the original topic. Yes, I believe there is a growing blindness coming over America. It is a judgement because American law has forsaken God's Word, enabling the proliferation of sin rather than curbing it as the law of this land was created to do by our founding fathers. Hollywood has made the public think that "everyone is doing it" and changed our mores. We have been taught by Harvard and other "higher education" that there is no black and white as Christ taught, but only shades of gray. We evangelical Christians are truly a minority in just 50 years. But this is not true of the whole world. In many nations where Christiaity is forbidden people are turning to Christ in great numbers. Campus Crusade has stated that the majority of those asking for literature, asking questions and making commitments are from Arab nations. Dalits in India are desperat for hope and are turning to Christ litterally by the thousands. One person who spoke there saw 7000 people receive Christ in one night!. So many people asked for prayer, and he had no idea what they were saying, that he just ask God to meet their need. People were physically healed, delivered from alcohol, marriages were healed and reported by those who drove them to the meeting and by local pastors. There is a great need for Bibles and teaching materials in these lands. There is also great persecution. Many of them may be first as we may be last in God's kingdom, since we who know more will be held accountable for more.

If we never saw them or watched them how would we know they are happening? That verse does NOT say don't watch or look. It actually means keep our eyes on Jesus and not on the 'things' in the sense that we do not have to become paranoid or overcome with fear We are told what will happen. We are not told to ignore it or pay no attention. How many people do you know who have read Revelation and not noticed that it is revealing the Person of Jesus Christ? Most people seem to focus on the horrifying things. That is why horrer movies sell so well. I agree that we are to be aware of the things that are going on around us as though in our peripheral vision, but our focus should be on Jesus Christ.

One of my best friends lived your life, but I am so thankful for her because she helped me to understand my husband. While he was not sexually abused he was abandoned by his mother at a young age, beaten severely by his father, and rejected by his step mother. So when I couldn't understand why he reacted to things the way he did, she would understand and help me to understand. It has taken him a long time to start to trust people. Deep scars. But he is finally making good friends, healthy friendships. 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4 talks about how we will be able to comfort others during their trouble with the same comfort we received from the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. But you must open this area of your life up to Him so He can pour soothing oil onto your wounds and comfort you. He has promised to make all things work together for good for them that love the Lord and are called according to His purpose.. Romans 8. That means He can even use the ugliness in our lives for His glory. I surrendered my life to God by giving Him the areas of my life I was having trouble with so He could fix them. I knew He always made it better so I wanted to give Him all, but that is where I started. I gave him what was most messed up.

I understand that keeping the sabboth is the only commandment not repeated in the New Testament. On the other hand, probably that is one that was meant only for Judism, as it is one of the things connected with the Mosaic covenant along with circumcision. But we are Christians and under the new covenant. Galatians 2:16, 3:1-3 & 10-13, 5:4-6 are all very hard on those who would return to trying to keep the law , even saying they are cursed and fallen from grace! So I really don't think it matters what day that you worship on but that you not become entanged in legalism. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Sabboth. When we enter into His rest we cease from our own good works and stuggles to keep the law and rest in Christ's completed work. He kept the law perfectly and shed His blood so that we can enter heaven. Some peoples jobs keep them from worshipping on Sunday so they worship on Saturday night or Wednesday night. I celebrate the resurrection on Sunday, the first day of the week, as well as Wednesday, and less formally all week . That does not make me any more or less spiritual.

When you see these things begin to happen, look up and lift up you heads, for your redemption draws near. Luke 21:28 NKJV We are not supposed to be watching all these things. We are supposed to be keeping our eyes on Jesus and watching for His appearing.

When we return to living in sin we resist the reproof of the Holy Spirit. In doing so we harden our hearts, and we are in danger of continuing to harden our hearts the longer we resist God. He will continue to pursue us until we repent or die. It is never too late to repent. But it often gets harder as time goes on. The only thing that stands in our way is our pride. People who do repent late in life usually regret the "lost" years when they didn't live for the Lord. Those works will be burned but they will be saved.

I agree with what you posted from McDonald, but I do hope this is not the subject of a latest book, unless he should give it away at cost. It is also the time that churches should be depending on the Holy Spirit to lead them and not the latest book!

When I changed churches it was because it was no longer possible for me to attend there. I was allergic to their air fresheners. We had tried to stick it out for some time. At that time we were invited to visit another church. Always God seemed to close and open doors for us to step through. We looked for a pastor who taught through a book of the Bible and explained the customs or related it to other passages. A good Bible teacher is what we have looked for, I want the Holy Spirit to make it come alive for me and apply it to my life. The church we attend now we have been in for 9 years. I have to say that I agree with all their doctrine, and we had never before been able to say that. It all comes straight from the Bible and doesn't ignore or explain away verses that seem to contradict.

Even Paul, who received the Gospel taught by the Holy Spirit in the wilderness for several years, went back to the elders at Jeruselem to make sure that he was preaching the same Gospel that they preached. He passed the test and was sent back to the Gentiles with the blessing of the Jeruselem church. I am acquainted with the child of a man who claimed to be taught by the Holy Spirit in Africa with no Bible. His followers formed a cult like movement based on his writings. Dozens were ordained as part of their "ministerial associations" and a few even admitted that they had done it for tax deduction purposes. The teaching of this sect did not always match the Bible and where they differed the guy's writings were held as superior. Weird stuff happens when we don't stay grounded in God's word. I do believe that the things of the Spirit can only be revealed by the Spirit. as in 1 Cor 2:9-16. But I limit this to the revelation which is contained in Scripture. I also believe that Scripture interprets Scripture better than any of man's commentaries. As to interpretaions. I don't find the Authorized KJV of 1769 to be easy to read. I am dyslexic and lose my place a lot as well as the train of thought. So I never got much out of stumbling through thee and thou and all the eths on words. I stick to NKJV and NASB which also put the words in italics that have been supplied by the interpreters. For instance, in the book of John Jesus repeatedly answers those who ask "who do you say that you are" by answering I AM he. Jesus is claiming to be the I Am who Moses spoke with in the burning bush. The translators did not make this connection so thought they had to supply the he for it to make sense. So I X out the he in my Bible. Jesus did say that not one jot or title would not be fulfilled, and we are warned not to add to or take away from the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Most of the New Testament was written as a series of letters to churches and individuals for the purpose of being passed around and read in the churches. They were all inspired verbally, plenery, using each mans abilites and personalities to create a perfect revelation from God in the original Greek and Aramaic. Our interpretaions are limited to the limitations of the language being used, as our sister from Guam has said. I remember one Wickcliff ?sp? interpreter said one island had no source of fresh running water. They drank from the dew. So to interpret "rivers of living water" they had to used the word for a blow hole. It was the closest they could come to something these people could comprehend. So Selene and I will pray for your understanding, too. So, you lovers of KJV, please don't think that you have to pray in church in King James to be spiritual like they did in the church in which I grew up. They sounded more like the Pharasees. While the guy who couldn't speak so eloquently wouldn't even use a mike as he muttered a few words of a humble prayer. Of course, he could have been a Catholic priest praying in Latin for all we knew. But I somehow felt that his heart was reaching God's throne.

I remember Corrie tenBoom's story about the prison guard who beat her sister came to her years later asking for forgiveness. He had been saved! The bitterness welled up in Corrie as she remembered. But she knew she had to forgive. As she extender her hand to him in obedience God gave her the feelings of lovingforgiveness. I also remember that Paul warned the disciples about Alexander the coppersmith who had done him great harm. 2 Tim. 4:14-16. There are some people who are dangerous and evil. We need to pray for them. We never repay them with evil nor do we continue to have a relationship with them. We don't have to be stupid about it. We don't trust that person until they show the fruit of repentance. The Christians around Jeruselem were distrusting of Paul for many years because of his former persecution of them. However, for our own sakes we should forgive quickly. Be angry but do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath. When that pain and wrath are kept within us it turns into bitterness and destroys us. Sometimes we have to deal with these memories over and over till we can leave it all in God's hands. Sometimes we can pray that God fill us with HIS forgiving love for that person and have real compassion on them who are so misled or corrupted by sin hatred and bigotry. Sometimes we ask God to extend His loving forgiveness through us when we can't love and forgive in our own power. God has promised us the power of His Spirit to do His will.

I have been used by God in several different gifts to build up the Body of Christ, often depending on the place where I was being used. When I served on a missions board God gave me instant wisdom as to what course we should take. Sometimes He has given me a prophecy to encourage or once to warn people to repent. And He gave me discernment of spirits so as to warn some people that some TV evangelists were not on the up and up. I never saw anything weird. I could just see something in their eyes, mannarisms, their facial expressions that told me all is not genuine. On the other hand I can usually recognize genuine Christians and feel a oneness with them. When God gave me prophecy, often He would give me a phrase to speak, and as I did so I would envision and discribe the rest of the message. An elderly lady in the church said I was a seer--whatever! Once or twice I have prayed for people to be healed and they were healed. It is always very scary to go out on a limb and obey in a spiritual gift. You risk embarrassment if it doesn't pan out. That is why it is done according to our faith. And I never really felt that I had a gift. I just stepped out in obedience and God met a need. This all has occurred over a course of 40 years. It is not something that happens every week or every day. There are those of you who believe that the gifts of the Spirit ended with the apostles. They are a great blessing when used correctly. But nothing is as miraculous as the salvation of a soul. And the gifts pale in importance to Gods' word or the preaching and teaching of God's word. It is too easy to get sidetracked by gifts and angels, for that matter, and stop focusing on Christ and Him crucified.

I have to agree with Lisa Marie saved by grace. It is not a sin. But if you really want my very opinionated personal opinion, I really hate them. I think they are disfiguring and ugly--even colorful artistic Christian emblims. So pray about it. This is personal. And God will probably surround me with hundreds of tatooed believers when I get to heaven to get me to repent of my bigotry.