Heleadethme

Yes! Christ is the head of His body by His Spirit, not man. The simplicity that is in Christ is the new Way of the spirit. As opposed to the old way of a long checklist of do's and don'ts and prescribed formalities of worship and living. The early church were called "people of the Way." New way of life, new way of worship in the simplicity that Jesus demonstrated as He simply went around doing good and serving others without any formalities or special clothes, or officiousness.

Agree with the definition of heresies that you are bringing out. But see if you get a sense from this passage that Paul might have been exercising a bit of what I call old fashioned Jewish sarcasm there, to make a point: 1Co 11:17-19 Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. I get a sense that cliques/sects were forming when they gathered together as a church, and like all cliques they would have had ringleaders ("they which are approved" only by their followers or clique members, heh). We shouldn't divide and form cliques or sects over either petty disagreements or due to being 'respecters of persons'. ( Like where Paul corrected those who were dividing over leaders..."One says I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos, etc.)

I like them! Where do we see the word "sermon" in the bible? Or a thing called church "services" for that matter. What we see is simply...."When you come together..." or "wherever two or three are gathered in my my name." How quickly after the first century we turned the simplicity of Christ into something professional and formal that God didn't intend. That's the way of the world and flesh, not the way of Christ and the Spirit.

It seems from scripture that true unity can only really occur where there is maturity.....those who have crucified the flesh, which is always what gets in the way of everything....flesh in the way of things like understanding, unity, walking in the Spirit, etc. If we focus on growing and maturing in the spirit, unity would kind of eventually take care of itself. Except, here's a bit of a monkey wrench....what do we do when at whichever point the Lord is separating wheat from tares? That would appear not to be so unifying! I have wondered whether it is significant where it says the tares will be "bundled"....could that be alluding to denominations or churches that don't really see the Body of Christ as being just one church in spirit?

I'm not sure, but I wonder if God will create a new race of mankind.....and whether the meek "inheriting the earth" has to do with "ruling" it with Christ, much like how the Lord gave the task of ruling over different nations and cities etc, to angels in the past....though those ones fell. Eg, in Daniel 10 where an angel speaks of having to fight the "prince" of Persia. And Jesus talks about believers who will rule over cities in the parable of talents, in Luke. (Also Paul saying, "know ye not that ye shall judge angels?")

He already has begun to reign.....though for now is still the time of His longsuffering. It's in the end that He will root out of His kingdom all the wicked, them that do iniquity and all who rejected Him. Then as far I understand it, this old world will be destroyed or cleansed by fire and a new earth created or renewed. We will be "like the angels", as Yeshua said, serving God in the new earth much like the angels serve Him now mostly unseen, in this world.

He already did! the nations (of believers) have been flowing to heavenly Zion ever since the first century. The Jerusalem that is above is our mother....born of spirit, not of flesh. "this one that one were born in Zion"...heavenly Zion.

Wonderful how the whole bible prophesies and points to the coming of Messiah and His gospel and how it would go out to the nations. Because it is the mystery of God from the foundation of the world. And as scripture says, the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world......it's not easy to fully understand how God exists outside of time and that this was always His plan and the answer for not only Israel's intractable iniquity but for all of humanity's. And just think the things that happened with Israel under the old covenant were for ensamples to the body of Messiah that was to come. All flesh is the same....there seems to be a cycle of when we please God we are blessed by Him, then we tend to forget Him and fall away, then He has to send judgment/discipline in order to try to soften our hearts and get us to return to Him. That was Israel's pattern as well as what we're seeing with the western church in our time. Deceptiveness of wealth...when everything is going our way we are deceived to think we don't need the Lord and start to worship a false god made in our own image. We're no better than the Israelites. In the end it's always about a remnant....even Isaiah called out that though the number of Israelites be as numerous as the sand on the seashore only a remnant would be saved. And so it was. The majority rejected the Messiah when He came, sadly - led astray by their religious leaders. God gave them time to repent after Yeshua ascended to heaven but they waxed worse and worse until judgment came with finality in 70 AD. And so these things speak to the church as well. We as Messiah's body need to learn our lessons from the things that happened to Israel. As Solomon wrote, what has been will be again, there is nothing new under the sun.

What happens when the government and big pharma is telling the doctors what they are allowed and not allowed to do?

ok, maybe just think about it then.

Your reply is rather harsh. I meant no ill will. Hope people can disagree and discuss without resorting to insulting and demeaning one another. What is your answer to my question? Is the saving of lives always the highest principle?

Do you mean more subtle, gradual and less messy means? Which also happens to result in some people making a huge lot of money at the same time? Call me a cynic, but that wouldn't surprise me these days....actually nothing surprises me these days now. Well here's me just spouting off some thoughts, and honestly don't know what to believe about everything that is said on the internet, nor can I hope to keep up with it all, but one thing I don't doubt and that is the depth of corruption and evil possible in this lost and fallen world. We must not be naive. The days of trusting that those with power and money have the best interests of the little people at heart, are over. We're not in Kansas anymore...ie, Christianity doesn't hold sway the way it used to - it seems that what used to restrain evil in our society is being, or has been, taken away. It's not in our best interests to relax our guard. I even seem to see certain folks are counting on the masses being in denial and ignorance to further their ends...they are banking on it and factoring that into their strategies and what they say and do. Jesus said the love of money is the root of all evil. I believe Him. Do we really think big pharma cares about helping people, or do they exist only to make money and lots of it for themselves and their big investors. Common knowledge how they were caught red-handed hiding information about how addictive Fentanyl is, which has resulted in so much unconscionable misery and loss of life, so by that alone we can know they are not to be trusted.. And I saw one scientist who had worked on developing mRNA vaccine technology who said the drug companies were hiding things about the covid vax from the CDC and FDA, ie, free floating spike proteins in the blood. We shouldn't be surprised at these things given how even our own elected governments routinely lie through their teeth to us when it's convenient for them. Lying used to be considered dishonourable and demeaning...now it's considered to be clever (which it actually isn't). In my opinion, the more money there is to be had, the greater the likelihood of corruption and the worse that corruption is likely to be. And goodness, there seems to be an awful lot of money to be had these days. America's forefathers were wiser to the fallen nature of man than we are today....they at least did their best to try and build a lot of safeguards against it into their constitution. In the end though, only the gospel can truly safeguard against fallen human nature. Only the Godly will want to uphold that constitution in the USA and if they become a voting minority, then what. Hope I'm not rambling too much, thanks for listening.

Is saving lives always the highest goal ? People are willing to die for important principles, such as freedom and civil and human rights. Funny how those who are worried about population control seem so strenuously keen to "save lives" when it suits them. Maybe they are deceived and don't see their own contradiction though, I'm not sure.

We do need to be wary of false teachers. But this man's statement here by itself is not true. We can be led astray by false teachers, true, but false teaching is not the only reason we may be unclear on things or hold to wrong understanding. For one example, Jesus said the truth has been hid from the wise and learned but revealed to little children, so it can be our own flesh and heart attitude that prevents us from understanding. Another reason is that understanding is something we grow in....things we didn't understand in the beginning we might have gleaned more light and understanding about years down the road. Another is that God Himself sometimes veils things in scripture...eg, to hide his strategy from the enemy, eg, where the bible says "if the devil had known, he wouldn't have crucified the Lord of glory." Etc. The flesh of man likes everything to be cut and dried, wrapped up and tied with a bow, because that puts us in control, whereas the bible itself says we only see through a glass darkly. So we need the LORD at all times and to learn to depend on Him, His Spirit. He is the one who leads us and navigates us through the pitfalls of this life and opens His word to our understanding, and rescues us if we get lost or stuck in the mud at some points along the way, and that is one reason we will lay our crowns at His feet.

Sister, the Lord has been gracious to teach me that the bible isn't like a history or geography textbook conveying literal facts, it's a spiritual book written by a God who is spirit, conveying spiritual truth. Understanding that the "Word made flesh" speaks to us in parables/similitudes/allegories/figures/ensamples is an important key to understanding His word. And we need the Holy Spirit to help open this truth and all scripture to us...as Jesus said, the Spirit would teach us and lead us into all truth. Scripture says no one knows the mind of God but His Spirit, just as no-one knows the mind of a man but his spirit within him. We can learn from vessels that the Lord is using for that purpose, but our reliance needs to be on Him, not on vessels (man). It is the Shepherd's voice we need to be listening for. The bible instructs and warns us not to trust in man. Hos 12:10 I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the ministry of the prophets. 1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Mat 13:34-35 All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. Heb 9:9 Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Heb 11:18-19 Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. 1Pe 3:20-21 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.

I do not condone sexual abuse of anyone for one second, and neither does the Lord. (I know what it is to be subjected to such.) We don't know what the emotions were of Lot or the Levite, since the bible doesn't record that......God's word tends to steer clear of emotionalism in order to focus on teaching spiritual lessons. |I take it that Lot was between a rock and a hard place......and the Lord rescued both him and his daughters from their terrible predicament and then rained down His wrath on Sodom (since evidently the sin there had blossomed to its full).

God called Abraham out for his lack of faith in that instance. But we have to understand that the rules of hospitality in Lot's place and time were such that the host was responsible for the safety and well being of any guests under his roof....which superseded his own interests or the interests of his household. Also it would have been a less egregious sin for men to abuse females than to have sex with other men. I believe we could take it that Lot made a heart wrenching decision to offer to sacrifice his daughters for the sake of fending off what was considered to be worse offences. As others have mentioned Lot was considered righteous by God and that's why He rescued him out of Sodom before judgment came.

You're exhausted, and that is going to affect your outlook to begin with, so try not to think too hard or take anything too seriously right now, because this too shall pass. My advice is to try to focus on the bottom line for now....what I heard is that what you mainly need right now is to get an extra hour's sleep on Sunday mornings. First pray about how you're feeling and coping and ask the Lord for His help....cast your burden on Him for He cares for you. Then when the time is right and you both are in a good frame of mind, communicate to your husband that you're struggling and feeling desperate, and ask him nicely if there's any way he could see to the kids for that one hour Sunday mornings, and emphasize this would be temporary. He might need to curtail his Saturday night activities for this time period and let him know you appreciate that. Maybe you can offer to take over later in the day while he has an hour to himself for a nap in the afternoon on Sunday or Saturday, if he needs to. Assuming there's no medical issue, it sounds like he could be tired just from burning the candle at both ends, trying to have a family life and keep up with the same level of social life that he had before marriage & family, at the same time.....that and just the fact that he isn't 18 years old any more. (His tiredness will affect his outlook too.....good to be aware that you both might be feeling a bit testy just from being tired.) Some men aren't always too good at looking after themselves in a way....but it's what makes them good soldiers when that need arises. I wish you and your family well in the Lord, God bless you.

Yeshua has perfectly fulfilled the old covenant (Law of Moses).....forever. His fulfilling of it is on behalf of all who receive Him. Everyone else will be judged by the Law on the day of judgment and sadly will find themselves wanting. The Law stands forever as a kind of beacon of righteousness, setting forth God's standard of righteousness in His word and it is written forever on the hearts of all who believe in Messiah Yeshua. Yeshua comes to reveal the Father to our hearts....He comes to reconcile us to God. Read Jeremiah 31:31-33 in your own bible where he prophesies of another covenant coming that will not be like the Mosaic covenant, but it will be inward righteousness of the Law written on our hearts, not just a matter of improving our outward behaviour. Yeshua gives us a new heart...a soft heart of "flesh" that replaces our heart of stone....He changes us inwardly. The Law is good but cannot give us a new heart...it doesn't change us inwardly. Yeshua gives us His holy spirit, inwardly...by which we are sanctified, cleansed, and made holy inwardly. Remember Job who had only heard of the Lord by the hearing of the ear.......that is how it is with most. He lived and walked righteously but hadn't yet "seen" the Lord face to face, ie, the Lord hadn't yet been shown/revealed to him until he repented of being righteous in his own eyes. (All our righteousness is as filthy rags...says God in His word....we need something more than just to change our outward behaviour.) Encourage you to read that book prayerfully, especially the end.

Sadly, as scripture teaches, not everyone is appointed to eternal life, so many Jews remain spiritually blinded. God has mercy on who He has mercy and hardens who He will. (I'm not Jewish but I'm so thankful He miraculously opened my blind eyes and revealed Himself to me!) They will not come to Jeshua through the intellect as such, but they really need a demonstration of His Ruach Hakodesh and for the Father to draw them. A soul can only be saved through the power of God, because it's a matter of the heart (inner man of the spirit) rather than the carnal mind.

Amen. Really like what you just said there. I was only talking about creation in the beginning.

The point is a changed heart. If you've received a new heart/spirit you will have ceased from your own works (sin - disobedience to God's commands) and obeyed the Sabbath command by entering it.

Hebrews 4 teaches us how to enter the sabbath rest of God. It's by faith now, the new way of the spirit....not the old way of the letter. Even God's works before He rested from them were only called "good", not "perfect". It's "good" to keep Shabbat, if that is your conscience, but that's not what the Lord is really after....He's aiming higher...for the 'perfection' that only comes by the Spirit, not by the elements of the world such as foods, days, months. Notice the Israelites could not enter the sabbath rest (promised land) because of a lack of the faith needed to enter it.

Well, at least his policies were better for the country than globalist and Democratic options. And who knows maybe his one redeeming quality is that he doesn't pretend to be something he's not (as far I can tell). I think God hates hypocrisy more than anything else and most politicians on both sides of the aisle have that in spades. Ultimately it's God who will either bless or curse the nation regardless. So we need to be praying for our nations to turn back to Him and stop the horrendous sinning that is going on. Hedonistic debauchery is becoming mainstream like in ancient Rome and other pagan empires and look what happened to them, they disappeared from history.......polluting the land with fornications is not going to attract God's favour and blessing. Especially a nation that is or was called by His name.

Amen....as I think these scriptures also prove: Rev 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. Rev 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. If the church wasn't here to be persecuted (beheaded) by the beast and to have victory over the beast and his mark, these scriptures wouldn't make sense.