jackie d

What they believed about their writings is irrelivant. John the Baptist didn't realize he was the one refered to as Elijah, but he was. John the Baptist being refered to as Elijah didn't make him Elijah. actually Bibs it did make him Elijah.. Matthew 11 (KJV) 13For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. 15He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Matthew 11 (NKJV) 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. 14 and if you are willing to receive it, he IS Elijah who is to come 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

oh you misunderstood I think..I wasn't implying that you were I was simply stating that because quite often one sentence in a post can take the topic completely off it's origin and it can be impossible to retrieve... absolutely! and I couldn't agree more

That was rather the impression I had, too. But it goes beyond ministers and ministries - many Christians regard their faith as "what it does for me," rather than centering their lives around Jesus. (I think we are all guilty of this in our own way and need to guard our hearts against it.) And I agree, the message of the Gospel has veered away from "Christ and Him crucified." Thank-you for sharing Jackie! Yes Nebula that aspect is actually more of what I see than anything....I hear so much, people talking about themselves and their testimony and walk truly speak volumes saying "what about me, see me, look over here and notice me"...and I agree too that we are all guilty of this..hence John the Baptiste "I must decrease, so that He might increase".. I don't want us to veer away from this topic and turn it into what it is not, and yet with pondering the verses that I included esp Heb 5:12& 13, Heb 6:1&2 suggests softly to us all that as many of us who are no longer babes in Christ...perhaps we should move forward and beyond Christ crucified and concentrate on Christ resurrected and we with Him. Now Paul never suggests to any of us that we forget what He has done for us, neither do I. We must all make sure we remember from where we came, as Paul's examples continually speak. But our predecessor Paul, also continued forward from the cross to the resurrection and beyond to the ascension. As Paul's writings make clear through out, we have a higher calling as the priesthood, and the invitation of Him to learn of the deeper matters leaving the basic foundation in its place but not to return to them, as we then take on the characteristics of babes, who are dull of hearing and must be coddled and nurtured once again... Thank you Nebula for sharing your thoughts

I had a vision quite a while back that had not come to my mind until this evening as I was reading and studying Hebrews Chapters 4, 5, 6 & 7... in my vision I was looking up and all of a sudden I see Christ hanging on the Cross, there is blood running down His body, I can see the cut marks across His body from being beaten, His hair is matted with blood and stuck to His face. Then He spoke to me. He said that the word is being preached by many but there are only a small portion or percentage who stick with the Truth and keep it about Him, the rest it is all about themselves.....I stood there and looked at Him until the vision ended. What I am getting with having seen this vision again and having read these chapters in Hebrews I realize that Paul is telling us to let Christ down from that cross. He has come down from the cross and He through His sacrifice has perfected the law, there is no longer need for sacrifice and there is no need to continue to tell one another and ourselves that we must be seated at the foot of the cross in constant shame and confession of sins forgotten. He has come down from that old cross, why do we insist that is the only place we can feel comfortable with Him and how do we have a truthful and real relationship with One who is hanging and dying? It is time to grow up in Christ... Hbr 4:1 THEREFORE, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. Hbr 4:2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it. Hbr 4:3 For we who have believed do enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest,'"[fn1] although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Hbr 4:4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works";[fn2] Hbr 4:5 and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest."[fn3] Hbr 4:6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, Hbr 5:11 of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. Hbr 5:12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. Hbr 5:13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. Hbr 5:14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Hbr 6:1 THEREFORE, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, Hbr 6:2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. Hbr 7:26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; Hbr 7:27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. Hbr 7:28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.

Wouldn't that be rather salty? just like like the Great Salt Lake..

a friend of mine has 5 children and he has saved in bottles their tears. He does it in memory of the things about them that touched his heart. I'm not sure what God does when He sees our tears in the bottle...but my friends sweet sentiment made me cry.

I used to ask a lot of those questions too...I used to use crack real heavy and wanted to die and there was no hope, none. I asked the Lord over and over to take me out of this terrible place and He wouldn't and I was so mad at Him for making me remain, even when I did try to kill myself He wouldn't let me die...but somehow, He brought me out of the shame and the pain and the losses of all three of my children and He taught me how to love Him and to love others and feel their pain and care about them. I have finally figured out why I AM here. It is to be able to open my heart to another who is in real need and in real pain, I can feel them and know that there is hope and there is a way. I'm not going to give you a bunch of writ answers like you need to read your bible more or you need to get right with God and pray more...I'm not going to tell you any of those things. But I will tell you that with each passing day, the pain will ease and one day you will feel like life is worth sticking around for. PM me anytime you need to I'll always talk with you and I promise I will never get religious on you...and in the meantime, I'll send a little request to the heavenlies and ask the Lord Jesus to help you.. love and blessings

the only questions I can answer OC is that no they are NOT condemned by God and yes they are still a saint. I learned a long time ago while a Christian and continually falling off the wagon that God never left me, He NEVER condemned me and I never lost my place in His house...don't let anyone convince you or anyone else otherwise. blessings

Personally, I think it is perhaps the most beautiful thing a person could say in prayer... amen

Alright now LadyC, them there's fightin' words meet ya out back with a big stick in my hand! My thread...leave Starbucks out of it! my stick is big enough to beat ya both up with!!! **runs and hides behind my husband handing HIM the stick...

no offense intended

Ain't that a hoot? Hoot Hoot beneficial!!

no but you've got mustard on your tie!! at least I think that's mustard

how about a blind fold David? ....then you could enjoy the eats and your eyes would not cause you to sin disclaimer: in case anyone takes offense, that was a joke

Shalom David, Actually, we pray about things and see what G-D says about them. We really don't live our lives by what other people say, but rather what G-d says. It's only "questionable" to those who have a problem with it. It's not "questionable" to everyone. AND, as I have said before, if I know that someone is offended by something that I am doing, even if I am not convinced that it is wrong, I WILL lay it down rather than offend someone, or cause them to stumble. There are people who refuse to do even that with other things, yet condemn lotteries. I believe we as Christians should lay down our convictions concerning freedom that causes a brother to stumble, otherwise that thing could be an idol. That includes drinking alcohol, playing Lotto, women wearing pants , etc.

yep!

good question and if it is for THE WORD, I will die for the TRUTH of it everytime!

Vickilynn Said: having a drink and getting drunk are two different things...but there is speak of such in the word of God telling us that to become it is a sin and therefore we must be watchful of those things that can lead to emotional, spiritual, economical and physical death.. Eph 5:15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, Eph 5:16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Eph 5:17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Eph 5:18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, dis

Key word = "some". What about MOST? What about the one? It is a snare...a trap...for those seeking a quick buck. But, alcohol is a snare...a trap...for those seeking a quick high, for those seeking to hide from the problems in life. Does that make it a sin for me to drink occasionally? [not like I do, blah, but if I could stand the taste...] nope, the sin in drinking comes from the attempt to hide from life and the fact that it opens the doors for the enemy and other sinful behaviors while intoxicated.

trouble with things that cause addiction...no one knows when they will be chosen to suffer them and no one is exempt. shaky ground to walk on, like quick sand, one minute you are standing on the ground the next you are swallowed up into a pit of suffocating death causing material...

Key word = "some". What about MOST? What about the one? It is a snare...a trap...for those seeking a quick buck.

Smalcald said: amen the thing too that I forgot to mention is that most of the people I know who have gambling problems today, started with doing something very innocent like buying lottery tickets or scratch tickets. And those who don't end up with a problem, good for them...but gambling has it's attractions and we just like rats love those things that are shiny and sparkling. I used to be a contestant with pulisher clearinghouse sweepstakes online...do you know that the minute I put in my name and registered, every kind of gambling advertisement started flooding into my email box? I couldn't stop them and had to finally close that email account and open another just to get it too....there can be a trap in all of it.

Axxman said: you are kidding? Right??

I do agree with you Smalcald in every aspect and it has nothing to do with judging the heart of others it has everything to do with seeing what gambling does to people's lives who do it. Not only can gambling become very harmful addiction to the ones who have the problem it ruins entire families and leaves people destitute.... Personally I hate gambling facilities, lotteries and scratch tickets. I live in an area where there are many casinos, nearly every convenient store sells lottery tickets and scratch tickets. The casinos advertise by television showing how they will get rich quick and give the message that the love of money is a good thing. I have seen many people go from doing alright financially to completely broke including having a broken family. A few of my own family members find themselves drawn to the activity of the casinos, I have gone a few times but loathe the places...a couple of these family members beat themselves everytime they return home because they spent too much money are no longer able to pay their bills the way the could have before they went to the den's of iniquity. And I'll contnue to speak out against gambling and it's evils as being a very real stumbling block for the mature and the babe as Christians are not exempt from falling into these traps of the enemy....