One With Him

Just wanted to say this is kind of an odd comment because the English language itself did not exist when the Bible was written. No words appeared in the English language at all until around 500 AD. Deliberation about English has nothing to do with what was proper Greek hundreds of years before, and you can't learn legacy Greek from English translations written many years later. I would encourage you to find a balance in your studies. Pursuit of legacy Greek can turn into legalism real fast. Yes the other extreme is to ignore linguistic studies and hope your spiritual discernment never fails, but both are extremes, and the answer is in the middle. That's what I am trying to find is a balance...? I thought that was clear.

God has always given us choice. To that end I don't think him creating light and dark was just physical. That is not to say that God is evil, on the contrary. God wants us to serve him because we want to not because we have to. We have a clear choice. Heaven or Hell. Light or dark. Eternity, smoking or non-smoking!

Got you answer with the first response. Nice!

This is right around the 6th seal. It is also around this point when John says that a group of people to great to number appear in heaven. I take this to mean this is part of the rapture when God's people will be taken to be with him along with unborn and newborn babies. People have argued this point for a very long time and we will not solve it here. But the Bible says seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. Ask God and you shall receive.

I used to have a bumper sticker that read: THOSE WHO THINK THEY KNOW IT ALL UPSET THOSE OF US WHO DO!. lol Do you know where I can get one of these for my wife?

Let me first say I love it! Second, I haven't read any of the other responses so i am sorry if I repeat anyone. Tradition breeds ignorance. The religous leaders of Christ day were just going through the motions. I think there is a lot of man made traditions in the church. The Bible says in Matthew 23:9 "And do not call anyone on earth father, for you have one Father and he is in heaven. (NIV) But churches have little things for father's day. Some church even have haunted houses for halloween. So yes I would say there is a great deal of man made tradition in church today. But getting rid of it is another thing all together. I think we put it in so we feel like we are contributing in some small way. Most would not think anything having father's day. God Bless

History shows that King James appointed 6 Companies to make a new Bible; First Westminster Company First Cambridge Company First Oxford Company Second Oxford Company Second Westminster Company Second Cambridge Company History also tells us that the original Greek, Geneva Bible, Tyndale’s Translation, Latin Vulgate and some other translations were used to help combine these many Bibles into the King James Bible. We also know that in some cases there are a few “manuscripts” in the original language for each book. We also know that since these manuscripts are hand written there are minor differences from one to the other. So when people sit and talk about the original Greek, how am I suppose to know who is right and who is wrong? The original text is God breathed. The King James as best I can tell is a translation of a translation of God breathed. I use the NIV and it has minor difference in its translation for example. KJV says Fornication NIV does not. Fornication didn’t even appear in the English language till around 1301 well after the books of the bible were written. So there was some leeway taken in the translation. So when does it become semantics and do we know if either side is wrong?

To explain my point a little better on people not having a deep abiding relationship with God. A sinner comes into church and gets saved. That person is welcomed into the family of God. They go home and read their Bible but it doesn't seem to make since. They pray and they know people say God hears your prayer but it doesn't seem like their prayers get past the rafters. This continues, some tuff it out just trying to muddle through and they pick things up by talking to other people. But most people don't get much of anything past the church services they go to. That is the churches fault. When Timothy was appointed Bishop by Paul, Timothy had been trained by Paul. Timothy was shown how to trust in God for everything. There was true descipelship back then. Jesus is big business, Jesus is a Billion dollar indrusty just in the US. Some people go the College to be a Doctor, some go to be an accountant and some go to college to be a pastor.

Perhaps I have difficulty with threads like this because I am looking at it from an African perspective, and from my church's perspective, and not a more worldly USA one? There must be, there are, very good bible based, spirit lead church's in the US, but all I hear is negative stuff. (not just this post, many, many posts). Why, what has gone wrong in America that it has become a nation of false churches (which is what a new member reading these posts would gain inference from). There is a new show out. It's called Preachers of LA. It is about 4 or 5 pastors of Mega churches in Los Angeles, California. It is about the money and the bling. The life style of these pastors. One pastor on the show even said he will not speak at a church unless they can pay him a certain about. You walk into some churches and it really does feel like a performance. There are some churches that you go into and it feels fake. I know there are good churches out there. But most people don't have a deep abiding relationship with God. They think there relationship is build around the four walls they sit in every Sunday. I think part of the problem with America is people don't have to trust God. They have money that can help them work it out. They have doctors they can go to that are right down the street. But as you know probably more then most, is there are a lot of places in the world that don't have the riches the US has. There are people in parts of the world that only have God to turn to. They only have Jesus to depend on, because they have nothing else. I think the other problem is Christians in America have sat back and allowed people of other religions to take God out of our public lives. America has changed. I don't think that America as a nation wants to be seen as a Christian nation.

The Bible says that God is the same yesturday, today and forever. God has spoken to people since the beginning of time. "My sheep know my voice" Jesus loves you and wants you to know that he is there with you. God talks to his people some are afraid to say they talk to God becasue they are afraid they will be called Crazy. Or that they are making it up. Other people just don't believe God does that anymore. Most of the time when God speaks to me it is that still small voice, or I get reminded of a verse out of know where. But there was this one time, and it has only happened once. I was going through a hard time, I was really having problems with secret sin. I had convenced myself the only way to fix the problem was to go up infront of the entire church and confess everything. As I was walking to the front of the church after service on the day I had decided I just need to confess everything. The sound came from the center of my chest. It was so loud my ribs vibrated. But Jesus wasn't yelling. It was a loving but powerfull voice. And he simply said. "My Love doesn't Humiliate!" Now people can say what they want. i know I heard straight from the Son of the Living God that day. Jesus Loves you more then you know. With everything the devil is throwing at you Jesus wants you to know that you are not gonig through it alone. Christ Be With You

God has led me to the simple fact that today's church is no different than the one Jesus preached against. There are a lot of people in our churches that are hungry for God, but no one to feed them. Churches have become a place of dependance. Churches don't teach people how to build their relationship with God to the point that they get their "mana" straight from the source. A relationship with God is like any other relationship. If you want Jesus to be your best friend he needs to be the one you spend the most time with. I think it's sad that alot of church leaders today try and hook people into feeling like they need the church. There is coming a day when you will get arrested or worse just for trying to go to church. What then? If people have not been shown how to get in touch with God on their own then how many will fall by the way side? I'm not saying the church doesn't have it's place, becuase it does. But that place has shifted from the intended purpose to something it was not ment to be. Much like the difference from the Law and Aaron's work in the early history of Israel. Then look where it ended up, everything was for show. It was about the High Priest getting his ego stroked. People need to be shown how to get in touch with God. There is nothing I as a man can tell you about God that he himself can't say 1000 time better.

I would like to thank everyone for responding. I guess the answer I am trying to find is if you are a child of God and you get tempted why do you choose to follow the temptation as aposed to doing what you know God wants you to do? I know that human nature is to sin. That is our default setting if you will. But is there a way to over ride the default setting to walk "in the spirit" so the way of God is louder then the way of sin?

That's a good way of looking at it. But that is the nature of temptation and in some cases says more about the person being tempted than it says about the temptation, itself. I treat temptation like spam in my E-mail inbox. When you receive spam, you just delete it, if you're smart. Temptation is the same way. The "whisper" gets louder the longer you entertain it. So, if you "delete" temptation immediately by asking the Holy Spirit to remove that impure thought or wrong motive from your heart and mind. He does it automatically. It is important to note that while one falls into temptation, he or she chooses to sin. It is not a sin to be tempted, but it is a sin to entertain it. Thank you. I had not thought of it like that. Spam? I love it!

When you look at the Love you have for Christ the Love you have for other things should seem like hate. "Love your neigbor as yourself" But, "seek ye first the Kingdom of God"

At the beginning of Rev. Paul writes 7 letters to Seven Churches. Of the Seven, 2 or 3 were not found to have fault. Paul tried to fix this problem in Corinth when he wrote what we call 1 Corinthians. The people in the church at Corinth were doing things wrong. They were bringing their traditions into the church. They were bringing their customs into the church. In the moodern church the power of God as been replaced by big screen TV's, You watch some of the TV preachers and you feel like you just walked into a show on broadway. Their is sin in the church. There are many people in church who just want to be closer to God with all their hearts, and I would like to think that those good hearted people out weigh those that have other ideas. Also remember we will be judged by God, but we will be judged under Grace.

I can remember being in Alaska when I was a boy.(My dad was in the Airforce) Before school everyday, someone would come over the intercom and say the pledge and a prayer. You don't get that today. God has been removed from the Schools and he is slowly being removed from other parts of everyday life. The US Military is now not wanting Christians to not share their faith. God is not wanted by part of the people in this country and the ones that do want God in this country need to start making some noise about it.

Preach it!

Why is the whisper in my ear louder then the one in my heart? Could it be the whisper in my ear is the one my heart wants to listen to?

When Paul wrote his first letter to the Church at Corinth he wrote it because of sexual sin in the church. (among other reasons) But Paul continued to treat them as brothers and sisters in Christ. Also we judge actions. We judge people based on what they say and do. God judges people on the content of their hearts. People often tell themselves things so they can feel better about themselves. People like this will not respond to harsh words, but love is the way to the heart. I will be praying that God will open the blinded eyes of this women. Jesus Loves you.

Jesus asked Peter "whom do men say that I am"? After Peter responded Jesus asked " but whom do you say that I am"? Peter's response, " The son of the living God". Jesus points out that only God could have revealed this to Peter. We Also know that John said it best of all in Chapter 3 verse 16; For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that who so ever BELIEVES in him will not parish but will have eternal life." However the 12 also had unblief or a lack of faith when they could not cast the demon out of the man. "Why do you still not believe"? "How long will I suffer you"? Beliefe is a key part of every thing. If we do not believe then how can we or anyone else be saved? Known of us would believe in God if it was not for God. But with some people God has hardened their hearts because of the sin in their hearts. So yes we must believe to be saved. We are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. Jesus Loves You.

On October 26, 2013 we lost my Mother-in-law. She had a long battle with Alzheimer's, around a 7 year battle. Three weeks before her death we found out that she had stage 4 bladder cancer. God is so merciful. We look at the cancer a mixed blessing. I sat down shortly after she pasted and wrote this regarding how I was feeling at the time; Inside It’s raining and dark. I’m cold and afraid. Hope seems like such a distant dream that only some people have. The rain is heaviest right now, here at the end. “The end” the end of what, to say it is the end implies something is about to start. Promises, some may call them dreams. What are the dreams? Are dreams things you wish for just to take you away from your place in life? Are dreams something to give you a since of hope where none seems to abide. Promises seem to be different then dreams but when a promise is made you expect that promise to be carried out, depending of course on who made the promise. As I look past the promises or dreams or promises of a dream, I see a window. I can’t tell if the window is painted black or if the inside is dark making it appear as if the window is black? I can see lust, greed, backstabbing, coveting. I see all these dark things. I see a movie playing, a high light real of every bad thing done, a reminder of a past and a present hanging over my head as if it was a guillotine ready to drop down on my life and destroy everything. I see pain, a loved one snatched away but the loved one was taken a bit at a time. Was it drawn out to make those in love with this sweet person suffer more? How can death cause such pain and happiness? Pain from missing the person lost but happiness because they are not suffering anymore. They are not forgetting anything anymore. They know the names of their children, and grandchildren. Off in the distance I can see light. It’s small, but it is a light. The darkness runs from it. The past fades away as if scared of it. Darkness can’t survive in this light. Shadows don’t have a place to hide in this light. I see this light and it is getting brighter. The chains binding the soul to the past are breaking. The light is coming closer, the light is bright as the brightest sun. I see the shape of a man. The light is coming from him. He has nail prints in his hands. No dark thing can live when he is around. As the light gets brighter I awaken. Was it a dream? It’s raining and dark and I’m cold and afraid. The end