Willa

Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Php 1:22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. Php 1:23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. Php 1:24 But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. These verses also speak of immediately being with Christ upon death, otherwise remaining in a rotting corpse is definitely not far better than remaining alive. Adventists also believe in soul sleep. They have no real hope. It is so sad. I have friends who are Christian Advent, who also don't believe we go immediately to be with the Lord. When I told them that my husband is in the Presence of God, he said Well, we hope so. He couldn't even encourage me in my time of grief! How sad that is, that he had no comfort to offer those who were suffering. Maybe its a hangover from the Catholic teaching them about purgatory.

This is the phrase that stands out to me. After we have done all the things instructed in these verses, including praying at all times in the Spirit, having done all, to stand. We are told often in Old Testament battles to stand and see the salvation of God. I especially like 11 Chron. 20 2Ch 20:12 O our God, will You not exercise judgment upon them? For we have no might to stand against this great company that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You. 2Ch 20:13 And all Judah stood before the Lord, with their children and their wives. 2Ch 20:14 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly. 2Ch 20:15 He said, Hearken, all Judah, you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you King Jehoshaphat. The Lord says this to you: Be not afraid or dismayed at this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's. After we have done all we know how to do, we keep our eyes on God, and we stand firm to see the salvation of God. His angels fight on our behalf. We need open our eyes of faith as Elisha said to see His armies that fight on our behalf. We are never alone. He is with us and will never leave us or forsake us.

I do vote for a platform.

Rom 8:5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. We should focus on Jesus and all He has done for us--our riches in heaven. When we focus on our sin we are more apt to do and think the things we don't want. When we focus on Jesus we become more like Him. So spending so much time focusing on all we have done wrong doesn't help us overcome our sin and do what is good. You should confess the ones that come to mind at the end of the day, the ones that most bother you, and trust God to remove them from your life. I say you because you are overly scrupulous. I confess them when I am aware of them because they have broken my fellowship with God. However, you don't seem to be able to discern which are those the Holy Spirit is pointing to. Sometimes self or even the enemy rubs our noses in everything, and some are even planted in our minds by the enemy and are unwanted thoughts. It would be best for you to focus in Jesus and His love for others, asking Him to live and forgive through you. Reach out to others to be a blessing to them and don't focus on yourself or your sins.

Soul Surfer is still one of my own favorites.

It is God's grace that sends the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin, righteousness and judgement. It is God's grace that allows our free will to resist His Spirit and refuse to repent or humble ourselves before Him and ask for help, allowing us to suffer in hell according to our wishes. Act 7:51 "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. It is God's grace that provided His Son to die for our sins, the perfect Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. 1Ti 4:10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe Eph 2:8 NKJV For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, Eph 2:9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Act 8:22 “Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 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. Repentance has been a part of the Gospel since day one. Perhaps repentance from wickedness is not the same word as sin, but it it will do.

1Co 14:2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 1Co 14:14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 1Co 14:15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. Eph 6:18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, Jud 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, Rom 8:26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Preterism has produced shameful fruit of bigotry and hatred of Jews. The fallacy that Revelation is typifying Rome as the new Jerusalem is laughable. While the Revelation does contain imagery, it should be interpreted as literally as possible. The reason the pope thinks he is god on earth and reigning in the New Jerusalem is due to Augustine's dreaming up this philosophy in The City of God. The Revelation says it reveals Jesus Christ, not Jerusalem or the pope. Nor does it teach we should hate the Jews. Instead Romans warns against becoming arrogant toward them. Jesus said we would know them by their fruit, and that goes for doctrine as well. If a doctrine produces bad fruit, it is a bad doctrine. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit.

Honor them and let Jesus love them through you. But that doesn't mean to let them walk all over you. Set limits and tell them that even though you treat them with respect, they are being very disrespectful toward you and are taking advantage of you. Tell them you expected better of them than to be treated so shamefully. Then continue to serve them as you would Jesus. Jesus died for them as well. He loves them. Allow Him to live in you to love them and forgive them even though they don't ask for it. It is not easy. While we were yet sinner Christ died for us as well. He wants you to learn how great His love is. Eph 3:14 For this cause, I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Eph 3:15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, Eph 3:16 that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, that you may be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inward man; Eph 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; to the end that you, being rooted and grounded in love, Eph 3:18 may be strengthened to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and height and depth, Eph 3:19 and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph 3:20 Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, Eph 3:21 to him be the glory in the assembly and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Usually when certain people anger me like that it is because God is trying to get my attention to remove the same type of sin from my life. You say you don't do those things. But do you take pride in the fact you don't? Spiritual pride and boasting can be the thing He wants you to see. Self righteousness may be part of it as well. We are all sinful and God is continually changing us to look more like Jesus. He is not through with us yet. God wouldn't do this if He didn't love you so much. He is refining you as gold. My biggest problem was lack of love. So first He drew my attention to the love passages. Then he placed me in a family of very unloving hate filled people. I couldn't love them and fell on my face confessing it to God. Then God started humbling me and removing my self righteousness that prevented me from loving them. I had to see how ugly my sin was in His eyes to be able to love the people who most infuriated me. When other Christians no longer bugged me He moved on to other sins of in my life that I had been blind to. We all have them. Blessings, Willa

I had to use one taken at a distance and cropped if that helps any. So I was very limited in my photo selection. All our cameras have high pixels. Welcome to Worthy, by the way.

God is no respecter of persons. Jesus died for all. Many people are very poor but are rich in faith. Jesus said it was harder for a rich man to go to heaven that for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. We need to seek for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Our true riches are those given by God that have eternal value and cannot be destroyed here on earth. They cannot be destroyed by hurricanes or financial crashes.

People who believe in, trust in and rely upon Jesus Christ as their Lord and Master will be born again and have their names written in His book of life. They will be with Christ when they die. Those who refuse to humble themselves to His rule over their lives and trust in His word will not see everlasting life in heaven. Hell is a real place of fire and brimstone awaiting satan unbelievers who remain in his kingdom.

Many people have been saved by seeing God first in nature. My dad was one. He later received Christ as Savior and Lord about a year before he died. I first saw God there in 1957 and received Christ about a year later.

Psa 61:1 To the Chief Musician. On A Stringed Instrument. A Psalm of David. Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer. Psa 61:2 From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. Psa 61:3 For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. Psa 61:4 I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah Sometimes when I have felt overwhelmed it was actually and attack of the enemy. When God opened my eyes to His truth the feeling immediately melted away.

There were lions, wolves and other dangerous animals to defend oneself from in the middle east and mediterranean countries in those days. Jesus was emphasizing the magnitude of the dangers they would face, whereas in the past they spread the Gospel in relative peace. When Jesus left them He also promised another Comforter would come. He was not leaving them alone but would come back to dwell within them and give them the power and wisdom to face that which was to come.

I want to add that not all congregations have removed the person and work of the Holy Spirit even within a denomination that had taken ungodly unscriptural positions. We can't be bigoted toward churches but each will be judged by God individually. And all are invited to return to God--all people and all congregations. We need to pray for them and never condemn.

These letters are addressed to churches. Many churches are luke warm. They are not on fire for God. They aren't atheistic and opposed to God. They are sort of happy with a Sunday ritual and go through the motions. "They honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me" is the verse that comes to mind. So Christ has been kicked out of the church. They no longer trust in Him or trust in His word. They may even do good works like helping people displaced by natural disasters. But He stands at the door of the church knocking to come back in. This verse has also been applied to individuals, since we as individuals make up the church, and revival begins with a single person. 2Ti 3:1 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. 2Ti 3:2For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 2Ti 3:3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 2Ti 3:4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 2Ti 3:5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. The power being spoken of here is the power to do God's will as given by the Holy Spirit. These so called Christians deny the work of the Holy Spirit, so they have in effect kicked God out of the church. He comes first to convict of sin, righteousness and judgement. He calls people to return to Him in repentance of sin and turning to Christ for forgiveness. He draws us to read and apply the Scriptures, enabling us to understand them. Genuine Christians love and trust in God's word. They Have Christ residing in them. 2Ch 7:14 if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

In the past the disciples were treated with Jewish hospitality and were welcomed. After the death of Christ the disciples would be outcasts to the Jews, declared rebels and no longer a Jewish movement so also persecuted by Rome. In the dispersion they would encounter less civilized peoples as well, as they went out to all nations to preach the Gospel. They would no longer be going on short journeys within Israel, but would be traveling to the ends of the earth to spread the Gospel so they must prepare for long journeys. Christ was warning them of difficulties to come such as Paul encountered.

1. It's nobody's business. That is why we have secret ballots. 2. I am so sick of politics and the pathetic conduct of the progressives that I avoid the subject. Not good for blood pressure. 3. Tired of solicitation for republican campaign which come several times a day in spite of call block, so I am fed up with the lot of them. Satan, the father of lies, has been hard at work.

We have had snow in Eastern Washington for most of the month, which is unusual. It usually doesn't stay more than a week. No snow in December or January which also in unusual. We often even get some in November but it only rained for months, which is also unusual. The temps have been in the mid 30s in the PM for the last week, which has melted quite a bit. We have about 8" to a foot now. It is supposed to snow for the next 4 days and have cooler temperatures again, back to staying in the 20s. Surely March will bring the 55 degree normal temperatures back to us.

God does want the best for us. Those who are poor in the world's estimation are often rich in spiritual blessings such as faith, peace, love and joy. Look at Jesus--nowhere to lay His head. So be careful about the things you hope for. Just ask that God's will be done in your life, and that your heart be change to see life as He sees it.

Every half truth is a lie. Satan told Jesus half truths. So it is that every apocryphal book containing error is not cannon. We cannot base teaching (Cannon) on half truths. So people who believe portions of those books should keep it to themselves lest they be seen as false teacher. Before I joined Worthy I hadn't dreamed there were so many false, corrupt authorities that we might be directed to. So may lies are presented for serious debate, and when we step back I wonder how anyone can take them seriously. 2Th 2:9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 2Th 2:10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 2Th 2:11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 2Th 2:12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. The bottom line is that the evil one took 1/3 of the angels with him when he was kicked out of heaven, and those are the deceivers we have to deal with today. They are heading for the lake of fire with all that follow them. That is my consolation.

Sometime between 1500 and 1800 there was a "mini ice age" when temperatures were averaging much colder than today. In fact the year the pilgrims landed was supposed to be much colder which caused their supply ships to fail to come, I have been told. Our planet goes through cycles. There was a slight shift in the poles which cause the area where plankton normally feeds sea creatures and fry to start breeding a bit farther south, I saw on TV. It caused a failure in the normal plankton producing area around the Gulf of Alaska. Artifacts of the Vikings are being discovered under melting glaciers, which means that the climate was once much warmer in that area. It is all very interesting how our planet is in constant change. Things that don't adapt well will lose out. That includes those of us that have some difficulty with new fangled electronic contraptions as well. Just keep those delivery drones from peeking in my windows!

Personally, I got rid of anything that had to do with other religions or the occult shortly after I started walking with God. My grandfather was not a Christian but had practiced the occult, and I wanted to serve only the Living God and wanted nothing to do with other religions. That is what I felt I needed to do to express my single love for God. However, that is not something everyone has to do. If you were once involved in the occult or other religions then you might consider getting rid of those symbols etc. Otherwise I have to agree with Other One.