Willa

it is not wise to contend with God. I believe all the Bible, including Paul's epistles, are inspired by God. It is my attitude that needs to be corrected at times, even though my words may be correct. I can be more diplomatic and not cause the other person to become defensive and dig in his heels. There is a time to fight and a time to teach. Blessings.

True. God's gifts are like power tools. You can do it by simple tools but power tools make it a lot easier. God gave them to us to do His work. The only one that is for strengthening ourselves is tongues. The rest are for strengthening the church, which is wonderful. There are times that our own faith needs to be built up such as this pandemic, and God gave us a tool to help us pray according to His will. I believe that this should be used in private and not in the church. I also realize that it has been misused. No one has to do this. It just helps. The Holy Spirit is our parcalate, our Helper, Comforter, Advocate.

:You are welcome here!

Often when I used to walk I would be praying and crying and even yelling at God. He has big shoulders and knew I needed to vent. The trite words "this too will pass" also helped me. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. Our God is faithful!. Heb 13:5 AMP Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have]; for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] [Jos 1:5]

2Co 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers [do not make mismated alliances with them or come under a different yoke with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership have right living and right standing with God with iniquity and lawlessness? Or how can light have fellowship with darkness? 2Co 6:15 What harmony can there be between Christ and Belial [the devil]? Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 2Co 6:16 What agreement [can there be between] a temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God; even as God said, I will dwell in and with and among them and will walk in and with and among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. [Exo 25:8; Exo 29:45; Lev 26:12; Jer 31:1; Eze 37:27] 2Co 6:17 So, come out from among [unbelievers], and separate (sever) yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not [any] unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor, [Isa 52:11] 2Co 6:18 And I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. [Isa 43:6; Hos 1:10] Forgive me for sounding so harsh. I disobeyed that verse for 9 years and fell away from God. No-one is more miserable than a back slidden Christian. When I came back to Him and wholly sought God with all my heart, I prayed day and night for him. Those years were absolutely miserable and heartbreaking for both of us. He had clients who would tell him about Jesus while he was out of town. He couldn't see how God was calling him till after he chose to follow God too and looked back. Then the change in him was dramatic. He became the kindest and gentlest person. That was 1974. He died in 2017. In the last years I realized that what I loved most about him was that he had become like Father God, and it was much the way you describe your partner. You see, God changes us over time as we read the Bible, to become more like Jesus and Father God. So what I loved most about him was that God's Spirit lived in him. Sure he still made mistakes. But I never stopped loving him. It was just heart breaking to see him in misery until he asked God to forgive him again and to ask God to help him. God chastens those he loves. The reason I have done well since his death is that many people are praying for me. I also never lost him completely because I still have God's Spirit living with me, comforting me and helping me find stuff I misplace, which hubby also did.. The order of men over women is not putting women down. God looks at us as equal. It is just social order. We are to conform to our husband. Together we become a whole person; sometime they call us their better half or their other half. We fill in where they lack. They are to have the last word, but that doesn't mean we can't respectfully offer ours. But this is in marriage. The Jews gave a lot of protective laws to women as well as to slaves. Christians gave even more They don't look like that to us because our society is much different than a middle eastern society 2100 years ago. Thankfully we don't have Shirea law. I have had many close friends who have claimed to have common law marriages; it may be true in some cases if they live in a common law state. Few are. They had always lived in states where that was illegal. If you have truly lived in a common law state I would recognized that as a legal marriage in your case, even though it is not a religious ceremony. However, in my heart I would never feel married by common law. Mine was very small with about 40 people, close friends and relatives. It was in a church with a short sermon. I made my husband listen to a copy of it on our 50th wedding anniversary because I am sure he didn't hear it the first time. It was a hot summer evening and all he could think of was the sweat trickling down his legs! I hear a lot of men claiming they are married just because they had sex and it makes me angry when they say that and claim to be Christians even though they have never lived in a common law state.. To me they are either trying to justify what they have done or they are lying to us and to themselves as well. Uh hum. I have always spoken up even when it is not popular, and what you see is who I am. Hubby was the diplomatic one, but I have tried to let his kindness rub off on me. God isn't through rubbing off my rough edges. Being a Christian is like being in a rock polishing tumbler. It is a wild ride with some bumps and bruises. It is adventurous and sometimes hurts. But you come out looking really beautiful and reflecting Christ's love. It is like no other religion because it is about God coming to us and seeking us out. It is about Him providing us with forgiveness when we have never deserved it and never will. That is what grace means. Again, please forgive me if I have sounded harsh or judgmental. What I was saying is counter cultural. Sin is considered normal in our society. It is offensive to God. Pride is also sin, but our culture praises it. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Our society considers humility to be weakness but God treasures it. I am praying for you. Please pray for me as well.

Jud 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit Jud 1:21 keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 1Co 14:4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. Rom 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." Rom 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Rom 8:27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Walking or exercise is the best way to control stress. It burns up the fight or flight hormones and helps to get your system back in balance. Some fear is normal. It helps us to take action from immediate danger. However, the terror you are experiencing is likely from the enemy, who roars a lot but his teath were removed at the cross. Jesus conquered our fear of death. When we realize that the enemy trying to steal our joy and peace with his toothless roar, he often runs and hides. Jesus said satan is the author of lies. We don't need to listen to the enemy. Heb 2:14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,Heb 2:15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery .1Pe 5:7 Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you. 1Pe 5:8 Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. 1Pe 5:9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world. 1Pe 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, and strengthen you. Praise God!! If you have any praise and worship CDs play them and sing along. Praising God in the middle of the attack is the best time to praise Him. It helps to remind me that God is not only with me, He is in control.

Many of us have personal relationships with God. They may differ according to our gifts, our level of maturity in Christ, and even according to our personalities. This is one of the situations were the knee cannot tell the hand that we have no need of it. Each of us is a treasure in God' economy.

Phl 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: Phl 3:10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; 2Co 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. That means that when Jesus went to the cross He took our sins upon Himself and gave us His perfect righteousness in exchange. This is another treasure in heaven that brings me to my knees.

Welcome, feminist. Do you understand that your are fornicating and there will be no fornicators in heaven? So you end in destroying him. That is not love which wants what's best for the other person.

Perhaps it is not Adonia Lord but instead is LORD meaning YHVH/Jehovah. Many translations including KJV explain in the preface that the YHVH is translated LORD in capitals. In Exodus 3 God explains that He is "I AM". Exo 3:14 NKJV And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' " Exo 3:15 Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.' Exo 3:14 Young's Literal Translation: And God saith unto Moses, 'I AM THAT WHICH I AM;' He saith also, 'Thus dost thou say to the sons of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.' Exo 3:15 And God saith again unto Moses, 'Thus dost thou say unto the sons of Israel, Jehovah, God of your fathers, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you; this is My name—to the age, and this My memorial, to generation—generation. LORD=YHVH=Jehovah, and they all may mean I AM. Jesus calls Himself I AM in John 8 when he said "Before Abraham was, I AM." I AM is the state of being verb conjugated: I am, you are, he she it is. So God is saying He just IS'. Much the same idea as Alpha and Omega, beginning and end, or eternal

Act 26:19 "Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, Act 26:20 but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance. Paul claimed that he also preached repentance.

As a nurse in the 60s-80s I practiced both protective isolation and other types of isolation. We wore masks, gloves, gowns, and practiced scrubbing our hands. In microbiology we learned that alcohol sanitized but not well. Scrubbing our hands together for several minutes did more good than alcohol unless it soaked for many minutes. The hospitals in our area that had the best reputations for lack of infections following hospital stays were the ones that put the most emphasis on good hand washing--3 minute or 5 minuet scrubs. The mask that I use is the industrial type with two hepa filters, testing and 99+ instead of the 95 that is required. I use it for smoke when we are in forest fire season. It seals around my face so that it sucks in when I inhale yet it is easy to breathe while I wear it. The normal mask does not seal around the face and needs to be replaced if you or anyone in the room coughs or sneezes because it is deemed ineffective afterwards. Liquid droplets transmit microbes. Jesus practiced the folk remedies of His day ( putting mud in the eye for blindness and washing in rivers) and also healed by His own power in obedience to Father. I also use man's methods as well as depending on God to keep me safe and to heal. Jehovah Rapha

Luk 21:36 “Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy[fn] to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

1Sa 16:14 Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. I only know what Scripture tells me. Luk 22:3 Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve;

Satan entered Judas before the betrayal. This is not the experience of a saved man, to betray God in flesh. Jesus knew who did not believe and who would betray him. Saul didn't obey God concerning wiping out the heathen or making treaty with them, and about not usurping the role of a priest and offering sacrifices. For these God took away his throne. An evil spirit entered him before he tried to kill David. This is not the the experience of a saved man.

When I read the statement of faith of the United Methodist church I remember it denied that the Bible is the word of God. They stated that the Bible only contains the word of God. That allows people to omit whatever they personally don't like. I know a number of people doing that. They don't like that Jesus said "I am the way, the truth and the life; no man comes to the Father but by Me" so they toss it out and claim that someone added that. They may also toss out the Old Testament, or Paul's epistles like Romans 1. Is that also your experience in the United Methodist Church?

It is the Holy Spirit Who spoke through men in the old testament and the New Testament. We who are spiritual recognize the same Spirit in both. In many cases Jesus quotes the Old Testament. That is why we believe the Bible is the Holy inspired Word Of God. The natural man doesn't have this discernment. Jhn 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Jhn 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Jhn 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: Jhn 16:7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. Joh 16:12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. Joh 16:13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. Joh 16:14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 1Co 2:9 But as it is written: "EYE HAS NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NOR HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN THE THINGS WHICH GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM." 1Co 2:10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 1Co 2:11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 1Co 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. 1Co 2:13 These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 1Co 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1Co 2:15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 1Co 2:16 For "WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD THAT HE MAY INSTRUCT HIM?" But we have the mind of Christ.

2Ti 3:16 NKJV All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and isprofitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 2Ti 3:17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Heb 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. We believe that the 66 books of the Canon, from Genesis to Revelation are the exhaustive, inerrant and inspired word of God.,

I know some who hadn't yet receive God's light on a subject so were in error on a subject. They repented and started teaching correctly. Act 18:24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. Act 18:25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. Act 18:26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

He is indeed!! Praise God!

Living in the north, I get that way during the winter when it is cloudy and icy for 2 months. At least we have had sunshine. Be thankful for our health and all God has provided.

Take a walk or jog outside. mow the lawn. Exercise helps. Just wear a mask. If you don't have one, use a bandana over your nose and mouth. Take a ride in the country if you are a are close enough.

Eph 2:12 ESV remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Eph 2:14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility Eph 2:15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, Eph 2:16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. Eph 2:17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. Eph 2:18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. Eph 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, Eph 2:20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, Eph 2:21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. Eph 2:22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Eph 3:6 This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. There are OT saints and NT saints, OT elect and NT elect. We have had the partition removed so that we gentiles and Jews alike make up the dwelling place for the Holy Spirit. He has made us one body. Elect/chosen and saints are used interchangeably.

I agree that the second death is the Great White Throne judgement. Those whose names are written in the the Lamb's Book of Life won't face that. We will have our sins remembered no more, but our works will be judged as to their quality and whether we give the glory to God for the things He does through us. Rev 20:12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Rev 20:14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. Rev 20:15 And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.