LightShinesInTheDarkness

(I certainly hope you are not sinning egregiously every day.) What you took from my post is incorrect; but given that that is what you took from it, I don't think it's worth explaining---based on my own experience with people who make responses like these. It is of no effect.

Joy in worship is only good when it is appropriate. As I said in my previous post, there is nothing joy-worthy about rebellion. God takes no pleasure in His saints rejoicing and praising Him while deliberately disobeying what they know He commands them. Praise is not a substitutional sacrifice for obedience; and there should be no joy in disobeying the Lord.

It is POTENTIAL preparation for everything: We have all that we need in Christ to do whatever God wills under any circumstances. But we also have free will to choose to obey Him and to avail ourselves of His grace in time of need. If you think you can enter the Trib in a state of rebellion against God (deliberately disobeying what you know He commands and know that He wants you to do or not do, and living impenitently in known sin of some kind) and that He is going to help you to overcome the temptations of that time, you are sorely mistaken. (And if you don't believe me, see what happened to the people of Israel when they were disobeying the Lord and went into battle against their enemies.) You'd better repent if you need to if you expect God to support you, and not assume that He's going to help you to be victorious no matter what you choose to do with your own free will: THAT, is a message straight out of hell.

Deliberately disobeying the Lord's commands for worship (like deliberately disobeying His commands for other things) is rebellion. Rebellion, if not repented of, brings judgment. (There is nothing humorous or light about this subject at all. Do you think God is laughing about it? How terribly inappropriate. Sober up.)

There is nothing joy-worthy about rebellion; nor will there be any joy in the retribution for it when God brings it. (For it is time for judgment to begin at His household.) Jesus did not tell the five apostate churches in Asia province that He rebuked to rejoice; He told them to repent---or else. Because He loved them, and didn't want them to incur the grave consequences of their disobedience. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you. (James 4:8-10 ESV) For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret... (2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV)

Yes, I know that you have it, and that you know (or could and should know) what it says---as does God. That's the point.

Is Your “Worship” Acceptable To God? ...Let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28,29 ESV) Let’s consult His Word (the Bible; remember that book?) and see what He has to say about it: I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness---with good works. (1 Timothy 2:8-10 ESV) Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. (1 Timothy 2:11-14 ESV) As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. (1 Corinthians 14:33-35 ESV) If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. (1 Corinthians 14:37,38 ESV) What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. (1 Corinthians 14:26-28 ESV) …An overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (Titus 1:7-9 ESV) I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people---not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler---not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.” (1 Corinthians 5:9-13 ESV) And now, let’s take a look at the Old Testament to see where the people of God who were before us went wrong, and consider for ourselves whether God has changed His feelings: “Everything that I command you, you shall be careful to do. You shall not add to it, or take from it.” (Deuteronomy 12:32 ESV) (So, He wasn’t okay with the people of Israel adding or taking away from what He had commanded them---but He doesn’t mind if Christians do this with what He has commanded them?) Jesus said: “’This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teachings as doctrines the commandments of men. You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” (Mark 7:6-8 ESV) (Is your church doing this?) Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the teaching of our God, you people of Gomorrah! “What to Me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs, or of goats. “When you come to appear before Me, who has required of you this trampling of My courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations--- I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. (Isaiah 1:10-13 ESV) “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD.’ “…Behold, you trust in deceptive words to no avail. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, make offerings to Baal, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered!’---only to go on doing all these abominations? …Go now to My place that was at Shiloh, where I made My name dwell at first, and see what I did to it because of the evil of my people Israel. And now, because you have done all these things, declares the LORD, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house that is called by My name, and in which you trust, and to the place that I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of My sight…” (Jeremiah 7:3,4,8-10, 12-15 ESV) Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censor and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD has said: ‘Among those who are near Me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” (Leviticus 10:1-3 ESV) "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry." (1 Samuel 15:22,23 ESV) '...Those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.' (1 Samuel 2:30 ESV) In Conclusion: See that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject Him who warns from heaven. …Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:25,28,29 ESV) “For I the LORD do not change…” (Malachi 3:6 ESV) Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 ESV) (Is the Master of the house knocking on the door of your church like He was knocking on the door of the church at Laodicea---who were about to be vomited out of His mouth---while you ‘worship’ Him inside?)

You'll find out the truth about these things soon enough, when they begin to take place, if the Lord doesn't show you beforehand. (Even if I were to tell you, you probably wouldn't believe me.)

(Ay...) Hopefully you'll remember what I've said in the future. I'm praying for you.

(Evidence of the fire that will destroy the earth on the day of Christ's return: 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9; Isaiah 66:15,16; Malachi 4:1-3; 2 Peter 3:10-13.) The notes of mine provided in parentheses in my previous response to you were for explanation---which you can see for yourself is the meaning of those scriptures if you examine them in the greater context of all of the scriptures that speak about these things, and not my personal interpretation. The reason that these things seem impossible/absurd to you is that you have believed and been taught wrong, not only about the chronology of the events of the last days, but also about how God is and how He works---as many Christians have---instead of believing what the Scriptures say and show about Him and how He works: ALL of the Scriptures---not just the ones you like, or which may have been drummed into your head by pastors, out of context, misinterpreted, or overemphasized to the neglect of others...) You are making the mistake of trying to make God do and be what you think He should do and be, instead of understanding and accepting Him as He actually is. And you do not see things the way that He sees them as you ought---or you would know that all of the things that He is getting ready to do and to allow to happen to His saints is purposeful, perfectly justified, and indeed His plan. Instead of trying to make God be the way you think He should be or fit into what you have been taught about how He is, what He thinks, and how He works, find out the truth for yourself by reading what His word says about these things---without the tinted glasses of what you were taught in church, if possible, which may or may not be correct. P.S. The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament ARE THE SAME GOD. Different covenants; same God: Same attributes; same attitudes. (Now read Jeremiah; because the times in which you are living parallel his---whether you recognize it or not.)

The 'escape' that the Lord was referring to was the wrath of God that will consume the earth with fire on the day of His return, along with all those who are not in Christ (whether they ever were or not). Speaking to Christians (not unsaved people): "But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day (The Day Of The Lord) come upon you suddenly like a trap (because you are no longer in Christ). For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man." (Luke 21:34-36 ESV) He was not referring to Christians 'escaping' the persecution and trials of the Great Tribulation (which is for the testing of the faith of the saints, according to God's will and plan) by rapture. You can re-read the entire chapter of Luke 21 and see that that is not what He meant; besides all the other Scriptures which clearly show that the rapture takes place on the last day of the Tribulation when Christ returns, not before it. Which means that all Christians will go through the Tribulation. The wrath of God is what those who remain in Christ will be delivered ('escape') from, not the wrath of Satan. Jesus was addressing Christians, not unsaved people, in Luke 21:34-36. (See the Lord's warning to the church in Sardis for comparision: Revelation 3:1-6.) People who are not in Christ are the ones upon whom the Day of the Lord will come like a trap and a thief. The Lord's warning in Luke 21:34-36 is to Christians, not unsaved people, just like His rebuke to the church in Sardis. And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears we may have confidence and not shrink from Him in shame at His coming. (1 John 2:28 ESV) ("Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!") (Revelation 16:15 ESV) Only those who have already been awakened ("Awake O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." Eph 5:14) can stay awake. Only those who have garments (Matthew 22:11-14) can keep them on. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw---each one's work will become manifest, for the Day (of the Lord) will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire (the fire that will consume the world, and those who are not in Christ, when Jesus returns), and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved ('escape'), but only as through fire (only if he makes it through the fire; which, if he no longer has even the Foundation, he will not). (1 Corinthians 3:11-15 ESV)

Thank you. May the Lord bless your day and give you whatever you may need of Him today.

No, I was specifically addressing the practice of yoga and why it is unacceptable for Christians to practice it, as my posts clearly state. (You can go on about this if you wish, but this is my last reply to you about it.)

My replies were in response to/agreement with what Davida had posted in response to you. That's all I have to say to you about this.

I neither said or implied in my posts that stretching was evil. (Re-read?) My point about yoga was made clear enough in my previous posts that those with discernment will understand what I said.

You're missing the point; but as this has already been explained to you, explaining it again wouldn't make any difference. (Bear in mind that what one man perceives as worthless counsel may be precious wisdom to another. Let those to whom it is wisdom receive it as such, and let others speak for themselves.)

That's the key: If people enjoy doing something and want to do it, they find a way to justify doing it. That's the real issue. That's not holy thinking but selfish thinking; and God knows what's what: they may be fooling themselves, but they aren't fooling Him. The person's heart is set on him or herself in the matter, and until that changes, they will not see the light they need to see to do what is pleasing to Him---because the person truthfully does not want to know the truth or do what is pleasing to God. A heart like that is prone to demonic deception, and evil in God's sight. Whether it's celebrating Christmas or practicing yoga, people find a way to justify doing what they want to do. It's not for God, but for themselves. The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked.

Yoga is part of a religion and there's a whole religious philosophy and chants that go with it. Basketball and football aren't. There are other ways to get exercise or stretch besides doing yoga. Yoga was created for a religious purpose and is a part of a religion and a philosophy, just like tai chi or quigong and the whirling dance of the dervishes. Ignoring the religious aspect of these practices doesn't change the fact of what they were created for. Besides the fact that the Bible says to avoid the appearance of evil, and a Christian participating in a practice created for another god or religion is giving the appearance of evil, whatever his or her intentions may be. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He? So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. (1 Corinthians 10:18-22,31-33)

Fasting isn't compulsory for Christians, and if you're fasting by compulsion because you think you have to to be a good Christian, you're fasting for the wrong reason. Fasting should always be voluntary, because the person believes it will help him or her to focus on prayer. But if that's not the result it produces, it's better not to fast. I'm one of those Christians who doesn't do fasting. I have in the past, but it never produced anything worthwhile for me---just distracted thoughts and hunger pangs, feeling sick, and irritability because I was hungry. It didn't help me to focus more, and was more of a competition with myself to see if I could endure it, to prove that I could, which isn't the point of fasting. So, knowing what the purpose of fasting is, and realizing that my body didn't cope well with fasting, and that I was able to concentrate better when I didn't have the burden or distraction of hunger on my mind, I stopped doing it. (And the Lord was not at all displeased.) I don't fast for the reason others do fast. It's the intention and the product that matters.

Is yoga evil? Yes. It comes from the demonic Hindu religion which is about idols and worshiping different gods. You can't "Christianize" yoga anymore than you can "Christianize" Saturnalia.

That is not a promise of any such thing. It was for the church in Philadelphia, not for Christians in general. The wrath of God is not the persecution of Christians during the Tribulation, but the judgments that He will be pouring out on the unsaved during the same time--culminating in the destruction of the earth by fire---as well as the lake of fire (the second death). The persecution of the saints is according to God's plan and is NOT His wrath, but the wrath of Satan; nor will we be spared it. Believing that you're not going enter the Tribulation (if it is God's will for you to live through that time) will make the reality devastating to you. Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, "Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, but do not measure the court outside the temple (God's worshipers on earth); leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months." (Revelation 11:1,2 ESV) If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he goes; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. (Revelation 13:10 ESV)

Here is God's last days remnant among the Jews during the Tribulation: And the woman (Heavenly Jerusalem, the mother of all of Abraham's offspring, who is representative here of the 144,000 male Jews from the 12 tribes of Israel who will be saved/"sealed" just before the Tribulation begins) fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. ...And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle (God) so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time...Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring (the rest of the Christians on earth), on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. (Revelation 12:6, 13,14,17 ESV) Lest you be wise in your own conceits, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles (all of God's elect among the Gentiles) has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved... (Romans 11:25,26 ESV) For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named. This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise (God's elect) are counted as offspring...And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved..." (Romans 9:6-8,27 ESV)

Why would God test unsaved people? What for? He's going to send them a strong delusion so that they believe the lie that the antichrist is God as judgment for their rejection of the gospel, and rain judgments down on them. It's not testing; it's judgment. The other scriptures that speak about the saints on earth during the Tribulation confirm that the testing is for His own people---God's worshipers on earth---the outer court of the heavenly temple. There won't be any saints raptured away from the Tribulation; if they leave this world before the last day when Jesus returns it will be through martyrdom. The saints who are in heaven now are the ones who have conquered the dragon---Satan--not the antichrist, by the power of the blood of the Lamb and loving not their lives unto death. (Romans 8:35-37) They are mentioned as an example for those who are to follow in their footsteps during the Tribulation, who will also have to conquer the dragon (Satan, who will be inhabiting the person of the antichrist during that time) just as the saints in heaven conquered Satan during their time. Much of the confusion about who is in heaven and who is on earth during the Tribulation and how they got there results from both a belief in a pre-Tribulation rapture (which is a false teaching/myth/lie) and a misunderstanding of the time and place of the thousand-year reign of the saints with Christ. But comparing scripture with scripture, with God-given discernment, can clear this up. Without His help, I don't know that it can be done; He must enable us to understand the meaning of the scriptures and bring them together for us.

Speaking from personal experience, sometimes it requires God to truly deliver a person from an eating disorder, when that disorder is truly an addiction, because it is more than just a personal choice; it is a demonic affliction. When you really want to stop doing something and can't no matter how hard you try, and it's not a chemical addiction---like cigarettes, alcohol, or addictive drugs---it's demonic. I don't really know much about Christian eating disorder programs (I never went to one personally, just secular ones), so I don't know whether they address this aspect of eating disorders. It would be a pity if they didn't. Like the demoniac(s) of the Gadarenes/Gerasenes who Jesus delivered and restored to his right mind, demons can attack or even possess people and "drive" them to do deviant and harmful things, strongly influencing the thoughts of their minds. In my own experience, I was 'compelled' to act on my eating disorder, and I felt I had no control over my mind. Abstaining from it made me feel like I was going to go crazy---it was unbearable---to the point of actually asking my mother once to handcuff me to my bed to keep me from doing it. Seriously. (She refused.) No matter what I tried, I could not recover. I cycled in and out of treatment centers and programs for years, and tried to take my life on more than one occasion in despair---nearly succeeding the first time. Everyone's case is unique, of course; not every eating disorder is the result of demonic affliction, just like not every case of mental or physical illness is a result of demonic affliction. Taking a black and white approach is not beneficial; every individual case has to be examined and treated as such. The problem with secular eating disorder programs is that they don't acknowledge or address the possibility of demonic affliction being the cause, since they don't believe in demons. A Christian program, on the other hand, might attribute all cases to demonic affliction, which they may or may not be. What ended my battle with orthorexia and bulimarexia, as well as with chronic depression and anxiety, was that I got saved; and at the moment Jesus saved me, all of it went out of me like a candle being snuffed out, never to return. And I knew I was well, just like that woman who had been bleeding for twelve years who touched Jesus' garment. What years of eating disorder treatments and medication had been helpless to do, He did in an instant. I've never been troubled by any of those things since, and that was nearly twelve years ago. After I was saved, my loathing for my body became appreciation for it as the temple of the Lord, and I wanted to honor Him with it, and take care of it. Jesus became the worth and the reason that I didn't have before I was saved, which was part of the reason I couldn't maintain my recovery. I had no desire to harm myself anymore, and I no longer felt the need for control and power that the eating disorder had given me a feeling of, even though I hated it. The things that used to trigger eating disordered thoughts and compulsions ceased to affect me, and over time, with the Lord's help, I learned to eat normally again---as I had long been out of the practice of doing. And it felt absolutely wonderful. Every time I ate I thanked Him for giving me the health to enjoy it. People who have never had an eating disorder don't realize what a blessing it is to just be able to eat normally and enjoy food: Eating---like sleeping and breathing---is such a normal activity that most people take it for granted; but there are people for whom normal things like these are not natural and easy. I just thought I'd share my own experience with this, in case any of it is applicable to your own situation. Every case is unique, of course, as I said. There's no addiction that God is not able to deliver a person from.