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049) Rom 14:5 . . One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. Common Christian holy days are The Lord's Day (Sunday), Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God, the Epiphany, Solemnity of Saint Joseph Husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Ascension Trinity Sunday, Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Good Friday, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, All Saints, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ash Wednesday, the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ (Christmas), Easter, and the Sabbath. If your denomination, or your church of choice, rules that days like the above are sacred, then for you they are. Whether God himself sees them as sacred is irrelevant. What matters is whether you are convinced in your own mind that He does because the focus of the 14th of Romans is upon matters of conscience rather than matters of fact. NOTE: The Jehovah's Witnesses' personal opinions about birthdays, holidays, and holy days are protected by the 14th chapter of Romans; and forbids debating with them about it. —

048) Rom 14:2-4 . . One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him. If there's a Christian out there sincerely believing in their own mind that fast food, GMO, high fructose corn syrup, non organic produce, processed foods, grain-fed beef, raw oysters, sushi, and/or anything fried in lard is sinful; well, more power to them: but God forbid they should criticize a fellow believer who disagrees. NOTE: Christians are exempt from Jewish dietary laws because their association with God is by means of a different covenant than the covenant that Moses' people entered into with God per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, a.k.a. The Law. —

● Rev 19:11-16 . . I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. . . . And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." * The winepress mentioned in that verse appears in Isa 63:1-6, and again in Rev 14:19-20. The fierce wrath of God is interesting. For example: ● Isa 13:9 . . Behold, the day of The Lord comes-- cruel; with both wrath and fierce anger The Hebrew word for "wrath" in that statement is pertains to an outburst of passion. In other words: the rider on the white horse won't be weeping big wet crocodile tears while it's slamming the world with the events depicted in Revelation; on the contrary, the damages will be administered with extreme prejudice. Webster's defines "fierce" as a behavior exhibited by humans and animals that inspires terror because of the wild and menacing aspect of fury in attack. Ferocity is an aspect commonly seen among carnivorous beasts savagely ripping prey. There's neither sportsmanship nor sympathy in ferocity; only sheer terror, brutality, and blood lust. "cruel" is defined as: disposed to inflict pain or suffering; viz: devoid of humane feelings. —

FAQ: Was Jesus born with normal blood or with divine blood? REPLY: Jesus was put on track to take David's throne. ● Luke 1:31-33 . .You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end. Candidates under consideration for David's throne have to be-- first and foremost --one of his natural descendants. ● Ps 132:11 . .The Lord has sworn in truth unto David; and He will not turn from it: "Of the fruit of your body will I set upon your throne" The New Testament verifies Jesus is the fruit of David's body spoken of in that oath. ● Acts 2:29-30 . . Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. ● Rom 1:3 . . . His son; descended from David according to the flesh The thing is: according to Lev 17:11, the life of the flesh is in the blood. So if the life in Jesus flesh had been due to God's blood instead of David's blood, then Jesus' flesh wouldn't have been David's flesh; and Jesus would've failed to qualify for David's throne. * One of the oldest creeds in Christianity states that Jesus is fully God and fully Man. Well that creed would be grossly mistaken if something other than natural blood was in Jesus' flesh. Plus: on numerous occasions Jesus referred to himself as "Son of Man" which, likewise, would be patently false were natural blood not in his flesh. FAQ: If true that Jesus' was virgin conceived, then from whence did he obtain a Y chromosome for his male gender if not from Joseph? REPLY: In the beginning, Eve's entire body-- inside and out, front to back, top to bottom, and side to side --was constructed with material taken from Adam's body. (Gen 2:21-22) So if God could construct an entire woman from material taken from a man's body, then it shouldn't be too difficult for Him to construct a teensy little chromosome from a woman's body. The beauty of it is that a Y chromosome constructed with material taken from Mary's body wouldn't be an alien substance created ex nihilo; but would be 100% natural, and easily traceable all the way back to Eve, and from thence to the very dust that was used to construct Adam's body. I sincerely believe that what I posit herein actually took place when the power of the Most High overshadowed Jesus' mom per Luke 1:35; and if my thoughts are true, then Jesus was thoroughly a Jew-- and not only David's and Abraham's natural descendant, but also a natural descendant of the Man that God created in the book of Genesis. The bottom line is Jesus came into the world not as a divine man, but instead he came as a Jewish man. In point of fact; it was absolutely essential for Jesus to come into the world as a Jewish man instead of a divine man. (Gen 49:10 & Rom 8:3) —

● Jonah 1:17 . . The Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and he was inside the fish three days and three nights FAQ: Was Jonah alive in the fish? REPLY: Yes. (Jonah 2:1) FAQ: The whole time? REPLY: No; at some point in his nautical adventure Jonah went to a place called sheol (Jonah 2:2) which is located at the roots of the mountains. (Jonah 2:6) Well; the roots of the mountains aren't anchored in the tummies of fish, nor are they anchored under the sea, rather: they're anchored underground deep in the Earth. So, the only way that Jonah could possibly be at the roots of the mountains while simultaneously in the belly of a fish was for the man and his body to part company and go their separate ways. This is not impossible because according to Matt 10:28 people can, and do, exist as disembodied souls. Also, the language of Jonah's prayer strongly suggests that his corpse was restored to life, i.e. resurrected. ● Jonah 2:6 . . I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But Thou hast brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God. The Hebrew word for "pit" basically pertains to holes in the ground, but sometimes speaks of putrefaction too, e.g. Ps 16:8-10 & Acts 2:25-31. In other words: had Jonah's body been left inside that fish's tummy for much longer, it would've been digested to oblivion. ● Matt 12:40 . . For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Now when you think about it; Jesus' remains weren't laid to rest in the heart of the Earth; and in point of fact they weren't even buried in the Earth's soil. They were laid to rest up on the surface of the earth, above the soil, in a rock tomb. So the only way that Jesus could be up on the surface of the Earth and down its interior simultaneously was for he and his body to part company and go their separate ways the same as Jonah's did. Also: it was essential to get Jesus back up on his feet again before a fourth day to prevent his body from being lost to rot. (John 11:39, Ps 16:8-10, Acts 2:25-31) NOTE: Jonah 2:5-7 strongly suggests the prophet was already deceased via drowning prior to the fish; which makes sense seeing as Jesus was deceased prior to the tomb, viz: neither man was buried alive. —

God's patience is long-suffering. However, He's wise enough to know when to say when and to stop throwing good money after bad, so to speak. For example: ● 2Thess 2:11-12 . . God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. In other words: there's coming a time when God's patience will reach its reasonable limits, and He will purposely, willfully, and deliberately make sure that a certain category of people during the Tribulation have no chance whatsoever to be spared the wrath of God. Back when Noah was preparing the ark, no doubt his neighbors all mocked and poked fun at him as if he were a deranged soul going around with a sandwich board that reads: Repent; The End Is Near! But when the rain started, I bet those very same neighbors panicked and tried to get Noah to open up and let them in. But even had Noah wanted to; he couldn't. The hatch of the ark was sealed from the outside; and God was the only one on earth who could open it-- He chose not to. ● Rev 1:18 . . I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. ● Rev 3:7 . .These are the words of him who is holy and true: who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. —

047) Rom 14:1 . . Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. A strong faith consists of the elements of knowledge, confidence, assurance, and conviction. A weak faith can be defined as vacillating; viz: one that's not all that sure whether something is wrong for a Christian; or even that something is right. In other words: a weak faith lacks the elements of knowledge, confidence, assurance, and conviction. Disputable matters are matters of opinion rather than matters of fact. Opinions are often subjective, biased, and arbitrary, rather than objective, unbiased, and by-the book. Opinions inevitably invite perpetual debating that never really gets to the bottom of anything; which, in matters of spiritual significance is strictly forbidden within the context of the 14th chapter of Romans; because debatable matters are not matters of doctrine; but rather; matters of conscience. We're not talking about black and white doctrines and principles here. Those are not open to debate. We're talking about gray areas. "Thou shalt not commit adultery" is black and white; while issues like video games, music, fashions, foods, cosmetics, movies, self defense, gambling, swim suits, politics, alcohol, tobacco, firearms, fasting, religious art, crucifixes, couture, and holy days of obligation are debatable. In regards to those areas; let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind rather than somebody else's mind. Those are things about which each has to decide for themselves according to the dictates of their own conscience; and God forbid they should impose their personal dictates upon others and thus become dictatorial because that's playing God and usurping Christ's sovereign prerogative to make the rules for his own church. —

046) Rom 13:14 . . .Clothe yourselves with The Lord Jesus Christ Clothing one's self with a personage was a figure of speech many years ago which would correspond in our day to "emulation" which Webster's defines as trying to be like someone or something you admire. They say that imitation is the highest flattery. Well; if you'd like to flatter Christ; then adopt his integrity, his principles, and his core values. But don't guess at them; learn them, by instruction, from someone that The Lord has empowered for teaching his ways. (Eph 4:11-15) —

How're you holding up? —

● Rev 19:19-21 . .Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against the rider on the horse and his army. But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who had performed the miraculous signs on his behalf. With these signs he had deluded those who had received the mark of the beast and worshiped his image. . . .The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. The rest of them were killed with the sword that came out of the mouth of the rider on the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh. The potent weapon proceeding from that person's mouth is speech; which causes me to wonder why more people weren't afraid of Jesus back in his day because if by speech he could cure leprosy then by speech he could've caused someone to come down with leprosy; and if by speech he could energize a crippled man's legs, then by speech he could've put somebody in a wheel chair; and if by speech he could restore someone's corpse to life, then by speech he could've made people drop dead to the floor; and if by speech he could cure blindness, then by speech he could've put people's eyes out; and if by speech he could multiply loaves and fishes, then by speech he could've caused famine; and if by speech he could calm a storm, then by speech he could've caused a hurricane, a typhoon, and/or a tornado. David's combat with Goliath was an encounter that was possible for David to win; but I see no chance of anybody's success in a fight with Christ when he has at his disposal all the miraculous abilities of the supreme being who, according to the book of Genesis, created a fully functioning cosmos-- all its forms of life, matter, and energy --by nothing more than speech. —

17 ● Job 14:14 . . If a man dies, will he live again? It's believed by some that when people die, they cease to exist; sort of like road kill. In contrast; Christian death is depicted as a nap, i.e. sleep. ● Dan 12:2 . . Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. For example: ● Matt 9:18-25 . . A ruler came and knelt before him and said: My daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live. Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples. . . .When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, he said: Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep. After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. Also: ● John 11:11-44 . . He went on to tell them: Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up. Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly: Lazarus is dead. . . . So they took away the stone and Jesus called in a loud voice: Lazarus, come out! The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them: Take off the grave clothes and let him go. Christianity calls death "sleep" because it's not a permanent condition, rather, it's temporary because folks who've undergone death don't cease to exist-- they're merely on hold, sort of like the silence that musicians and singers observe when they encounter a rest symbol in their sheet music, viz: the symbol doesn't indicate the piece is over; its progress is merely paused for a specified moment and then the performers pick up where they left off and continue. —

FAQ: Why was Jesus' crucified dead body restored to life so soon? Why not leave him deceased four, five, or even six days instead of only three? REPLY: It was predicted that Jesus' dead body wouldn't undergo putrefaction. (Ps 16:8-10 & Acts 2:25-31) Had he remained deceased more than three days, Jesus' corpse would've started to rot. (John 11:39) BTW: A preponderance of evidence testifies that Jesus' crucified dead body was restored to life during the third day rather than after the third was all over and done with. Matt 17:22-23 Matt 20:18-19 Mark 9:31 Luke 9:22 Luke 18:33 Luke 24:5-8 Luke 24:21-23 Luke 24:46 John 2:19 Acts 10:40 1Cor 15:4 FAQ: What about Matt 27:63 and Mark 8:31? They say "after" the third day rather than during the third. REPLY: To begin with, those verses are outnumbered 11÷2. Plus; the Greek word translated "after" is somewhat ambiguous. It can indicate moments following the conclusion of an event, but it can also indicate moments within an event. I suggest letting the 11÷2 majority decide how best to interpret the intent of Matt 27:63 and Mark 8:31. FAQ: Luke 24:21-23 says the morning that women came to the cemetery was the third day. How can that be true when the Sun wasn't up yet when they arrived? REPLY: This is a mite confusing due to a natural day following close on the heels of a liturgical day. Whereas liturgical days were twenty-four hour amalgams of daytime and nighttime; natural days consisted of only twelve hours of daytime. (John 11:9-10) The day preceding the first day of the week was a sabbath (Matt 28:1) which began at sunset Friday and ended at sunset Saturday. So that in accord with liturgy; the first day of the week began with sunset Saturday, whereas in accord with nature it began with sunrise Sunday. FAQ: Can the hours of darkness during Jesus' crucifixion be counted as one of the three nights? REPLY: Jesus survived those hours-- Matt 12:40 requires that he be dead and buried. —

045) Rom 13:13 . . Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and envy. "in the day" could be construed to mean "in that day" which would indicate life and society as it will be in the kingdom God. Well; needless to say, people then probably won't be acting like they do now, so maybe we should start preparing for that day by putting these instructions into enough practice to make them become a habit. The Greek word translated "carousing" speaks of the naughty things that unmarried folk do with each other in private behind closed doors. The Greek word for "envy" is somewhat ambiguous. It includes-- along with envy --jealousy, indignation, and outrage. The Greek word for "strife" is somewhat ambiguous too. It includes-- along with strife --quarreling, wrangling, contention, debate, and a whole other bunch of ugly stuff associated with variance, e.g. recriminations, toxic rejoinders, and caustic sarcasm. —

044) Rom 13:12 . . Put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. In the first chapter of Genesis, God made a distinct difference between light and darkness. I think it is very notable that God labeled the light "good" but He didn't label darkness good. I believe that chapter set the stage; in other words: from that point on in the Bible, darkness typically represents something harmful, distasteful, and/or unbecoming; while light always represents something tasteful, becoming, and/or beneficial. So then we could label the deeds of darkness as deeds inappropriate for Christ's followers, and we could label the armor of light as deeds befitting his followers. In other words: deeds befitting Christ's followers are their first line of defense in a world gone mad with evil. ● 1Pet 3:10-12 . .Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. —

● Rev 19:11-16 . . I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war. And His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems; and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. And He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. . . . And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, "King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." * The winepress mentioned in that verse appears in Isa 63:1-6, and again in Rev 14:19-20. The fierce wrath of God is interesting. For example: ● Isa 13:9 . . Behold, the day of The Lord comes-- cruel; with both wrath and fierce anger The Hebrew word for "wrath" in that statement is pertains to an outburst of passion. In other words: the rider on the white horse won't be weeping big wet crocodile tears while it's slamming the world with the events depicted in Revelation; on the contrary, the damages will be administered with extreme prejudice. Webster's defines "fierce" as a behavior exhibited by humans and animals that inspires terror because of the wild and menacing aspect of fury in attack. Ferocity is an aspect commonly seen among carnivorous beasts savagely ripping prey. There's neither sportsmanship nor sympathy in ferocity; only sheer terror, brutality, and blood lust. "cruel" is defined as: disposed to inflict pain or suffering; viz: devoid of humane feelings. —