Saint_Dude

Thank you for your kind, encouraging words! And blessings to you as well!

“Seraphim” means “burning ones”. Seraphim are the closest angels to God in the throne room. And they are always on fire! It’s simple thermodynamics — the closer you get to Jesus, the more you burn for Him. This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. It doesn’t have to be a time of mere remembrance. It can be a time of IGNITION. COME HOLY SPIRIT! MAKE US BURNING ONES FOR JESUS!!!

This coming Sunday (June 8, 2025) is Pentecost Sunday, a celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Church. This is a video I made based on the 2nd chapter of Acts (verses 1-21). I pray it blesses you!

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. (Genesis 1:31)

Here’s a short video I made about the beauty of God’s creation — specifically the ocean. The sea is His, for it was He who made it; (Psalm 95:5)

Hahaha! Well said!

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. (Romans 12:11) fervor /fûr′vər/ noun Great warmth and intensity of emotion. synonym: passion.

passion /păsh′ən/ noun 1. Strong or powerful emotion. If we have a holy passion for God, it is good. If we are passionate for sinful things, it is bad. And love is not just an emotion, but it definitely includes emotion. Emotion is not, in and of itself, a sin. God created us as beings who have emotions. God has emotions. Another word for passion is zeal: zeal /zēl/ noun Enthusiastic devotion to a cause, ideal, or goal. synonym: passion. Passionate ardor in the pursuit of anything; You said: You talk about `passionate love` in regard to a bride. Did you know that there are `Jesus my boyfriend` songs around. Think how it would affect someone who had been a homosexual who is now told they can have those feelings but `spiritual.` Just because the world has taken relationships in a bad direction doesn’t negate the truth of Scripture. The rainbow has been hijacked by the world, but it doesn’t change the significance and beauty of the rainbow God showed after the flood. Many people use the name of Jesus as an expletive, but I intend to continue to proclaim His name anyway. Many fathers abuse or abandon their children, but we still proclaim God as father. But of course, as with any interaction with anyone, you have to be led by the Spirit as to what you say and when. And regarding other things that you said: as I said earlier, I am no longer going to debate with you regarding the Church being the Bride of Christ. May we all have more and more zeal for Jesus! Have a blessed day!

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)

You said: Good we agree that the blessings for us are His Holy Spirit and being justified through faith. Israel, however has more blessings that we do not partake in - the land (of Israel) and rulership over the nations on the earth. I never said they didn’t. I used the Galatians 3 text to show exactly which blessings were passed down to the Church through Abraham. -------------------------------------------------------- You said: So what does God`s word say the meaning is of the Bride for Christ? Ephesians 5:25-33: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a glorious church, without stain or wrinkle or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church. For we are members of His body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, but I am speaking about Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. I will let these verses from Ephesians 5 speak for themselves. --------------------------------------------------- You said: You seem to think it means `one.` `He did this to create in Himself one New Man out of the two.` But we see the Lord is referring to the New Man. That is not male or female but the New Man, a coming together of male and female natures. The main purpose I mentioned this about the bride was just to point out that when you talk to a man about being the bride, you are not saying that he himself is the singular bride of Jesus, but that he is one small part of the bride which is also the church. --------------------------------------------------- And getting back to what you said earlier: “Rev. 19: 7 refers to the `wife.` (KJ) And that is Israel.” Revelation 19:7: “Let’s rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has prepared herself.” (NASB version) In this verse, Jesus is called the Lamb. John the Baptist said of Jesus: The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) Jesus is called the Lamb because of His sacrifice. And the Lamb’s sacrifice is for the whole world, not just Israel, and so, in context, in Revelation 19:7, because Jesus is called the Lamb, the bride is clearly not Israel but it is everyone in the world who will be saved. If His bride in this verse was Israel, Jesus would not be called the Lamb. -------------------------------------------------- As I mentioned before, the reason I began this thread is that I wanted to present holiness as not just purity, but also as passionate love. But if you continue to want to present your case to me that the Lamb’s bride is Israel, thinking that I will change my mind, that is not going to happen, and I think we should just agree to disagree.

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14) Today is the first day of the rest of your life…really. There is magnificent Grace in the Blood of Jesus and in His indwelling Spirit, to deliver us from the ghosts and regrets of the past. All that nasty stuff from the past is BEHIND you, so LOSE it!!! May we all, by faith, take advantage of that Grace today — to forget what is behind and to go further up and further in. And I believe there are a few helpful, practical keys to attaining this victory: (1) Truly understanding and walking in the victory Jesus has won for us by His victory on the Cross. (2) Knowing Jesus personally and tangibly experiencing His Presence. (3) Being baptized/filled with the Holy Spirit. (4) Walking in the callings and purpose He has for our lives. These things will make the disappointments and regrets and hurts and distractions of the past disappear faster!

As far as us receiving the blessings of Abraham: So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Galatians 3:5-9) I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Genesis 12:3) You said: "And are you going to say to a young man you are witnessing to - `Come to Jesus and be His bride.` ???" It is clear from the New Testament that the Church as a whole (and not just as one person), is the Bride of Christ. In Galatians 3 it says: For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace and reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He put to death their hostility. This is another example of a group of individuals being called one. I would have no problem, at some point, telling a man that he can be part of the Bride of Christ anymore than I would have a problem telling a woman that she can be part of the "one new man". (Although the issue here is not how or when this might be communicated, but whether or not it is true) (Also, you [incorrectly, in my opinion] said Rev. 19:7 refers to Israel being the wife of God. But if you have no problem telling an Israelite man that he is part of the "wife" of God, then you should have no problem telling a man that he can be part of the Bride of Christ)

Hi Marilyn, actually, I believe, in context, that when Paul refers to the Olive Tree and branches being torn off and the root, that, yes, I believe the Root is God, and you're right -- in the context of Romans 11, that the Olive tree is not Israel (although Jeremiah refers to Israel as an olive tree). I would have been more accurate to say that, in context, the tree is the blessings God gave Israel (mainly the blessings He gave Israel through the Abrahamic Covenant, and which are ultimately fulfilled in Christ), and which they thought were only for them, but Paul is saying that these blessings are for non-Jewish believers as well. You said "Rev. 19: 7 refers to the `wife.` (KJ) And that is Israel." I'm afraid you are in the minority on this. Just one source (among many) that disagrees with you is Bible Hub: https://biblehub.com/revelation/19-7.htm#commentary And I never said that Paul was taking the place of Jesus (2 Cor. 11: 2), I merely quoted the scripture, and let it speak for itself. Whatever Paul meant when he said "so that I might present you as a pure virgin to Him", (and of course, he didn't mean he was taking the place of Christ), you'll have to take that up with Paul. I was just using the scripture to point out the kind of wonderful love relationship that Jesus has with His bride. The whole purpose of my post was not in any way to usurp the place or purpose of Jesus (and I don't believe my post does usurp the place or purpose of Jesus). It was to point out that holiness is more than just purity, but is also the passionate love of the Bridegroom for the bride and (by the grace of the Holy Spirit) the love of the bride for the Bridegroom.

And yes, we are holy because we are in Christ by the Holy Spirit. And by His grace, we are passionate, exclusive lovers of Jesus (Holiness means to be "set apart"). All I was saying is that holiness is about true love and how love manifests in a relationship -- it is not mere purity, which is an outworking of Love and grace.