oak

If your dealing with a person who has been abused as a child - goals are near impossible. Yes I believe structure is important and I believe in goal setting. The answers are many and all of them can be used. But I'm talking about it being a journey rather a one stop destination. I'm well aware of pleasures that are good for the soul. Another point is assistance is always needed - when do you stop asking Christ to guide you? In mentally / emotionally and addictive people it's building on coping skills till they become stronger than bad cravings and then you keep on building. The one's that are looking for an easier way miss the narrow path that leads to healing or salvation.

I hope you are back for a prolonged stay as well .I have found that there is a very large percentage of people who have an alcohol or drug addiction who are self medicating themselves because underneath that addiction is an illness.Have you found that? Yes, that is true. The addiction is a surface result of trying to numb emotional pain.

I am starting to work for the mentally and emotional ill and I found and interesting spiritual parallel at play. The key to this field or perhaps any field is to find patterns of behavior that either benefit or hurt a person. One of the most important ones is achievement. We have to grow and overcome those things that hold us back or reach for higher standards and responsibility. That’s pretty standard for any life. However, working with mentally emotionally struggling you see deceptive thinking that undermines their goal to get better. So my focus is how they see achievement and to my sadness, I find that people in general suffer from the same deception. How we see finish lines or progress whether they be graduations, financial goals or overcoming bad situations is a key to sound mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health. People who are ill want to get better for the most part very quickly and successfully. Unfortunately, for the most part whether it’s becoming OSAS, employed, married etc., it has to be done in a way that is accepting of it being a lifelong issue. Let me be more specific. What I hear is, “I got married and felt that everything would be made well…” or “I got a job and moved out and I felt nothing changed.” The comprehension of the award or goal is flawed because the expectations are too high and the discipline and responsible commitment to it are not evident. Once you achieve anything it takes a lot of nurturing to see growth and improvement. Finishing lines are great but what you do after is a more lasting concern. Let’s look at this spiritually. A person may find Christ as a Savior of his soul, but the experience is a beginning. This moment may come with great emotional joy but it’s only a beginning as well. The fact is you have to lose yourself to Christ, your ego, to gain Christ within yourself. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matt 11:39 This is a lifelong struggle. Don’t be fooled, even to heal an addiction or illness takes a lot of denying yourself “pleasures.” The more so with faith. , Oak P.S. I have been gone for over a year due to a family member who practices Satanism, trouble with identity theft and computer hacking. Hopefully, I'm back for a prolonged stay.

Oak stated Revised: Here on earth we are to strive for the acquisition of the Holy Spirit through the power of Christ. " And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit." (John 1:33) “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, (Luke 12:11) "...for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” Luke 12:12 " And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[a] his Spirit who lives in you." (Romans 8:11) Left as was stated: Yes, salvation is through Christ. But we have to be obedient to Christ. You just quoted me back. How do you read Acts? What does Christ want his disciples to do: "But you will receive "power" when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Acts 6:8 "Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit..." Acts 2:33Again, what is the purpose of Acts? What does Christ mean when he say's to his Apostles, " ...it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper, will not come to you." John 16:7 Who is the Restrainer here on Earth? How do the Apostles confirm Christ on the people in Epistles? Yes I am declaring what I was taught by faith. This is not my idea but I believe it to be true. The Trinity is one; God is one. By what power was Christ able to minister and teach on earth? Please answer at least one of my scripture quotes or show me my mistake? Oak Nebula stated: If the goal was to acquire the Holy Spirit, what was the goal after the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples (Acts 2)? Once you were filled with the Holy Spirit, is there a further acquisition that you are to strive for? And why strive for what is freely given? 2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith ? 3 Are you so foolish ? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh ? 4 Did you suffer so many things in vain -if indeed it was in vain ? 5 So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith ? (Gal. 3) Oak stated: I see your point and your feelings about me being foolish. Of course by my own exertions I can not receive faith - and thereby live in spirit - by works, law or flesh. But I feel that we need to be awake to our spiritual state. That is receiving the gift of Salvation from Christ, we should honestly look at how aligned we are with Christ's commandments. For I believe you can fall asleep in the faith and you can wrongly be living your life in addictions, putting worldly things above Christ etc. "Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves that is Jesus Christ is in you? -unless you indeed you fail to meet the test." 1 Cor. 13:5 We can pray to God for more faith, wisdom, and other good things. Further, the Galatians received the gift of the Holy Spirit but were reproached by Paul, "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the Grace of Christ are turning to a different gospel." Gal 1:6. By many peoples understanding neither the Galatians nor even Peter should be corrected after receiving the free Gift. The best thing that can be said is that Pastor Kevin and I are saying the same thing in different ways. However his article does not ring true to me, almost point by point. Oak

Revised: Here on earth we are to strive for the acquisition of the Holy Spirit through the power of Christ." And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit." (John 1:33) “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, (Luke 12:11) "...for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” Luke 12:12 " And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of[a] his Spirit who lives in you." (Romans 8:11) Left as was stated: Yes, salvation is through Christ. But we have to be obedient to Christ. You just quoted me back. How do you read Acts? What does Christ want his disciples to do: "But you will receive "power" when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Acts 6:8 "Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit..." Acts 2:33Again, what is the purpose of Acts? What does Christ mean when he say's to his Apostles, " ...it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper, will not come to you." John 16:7 Who is the Restrainer here on Earth? How do the Apostles confirm Christ on the people in Epistles? Yes I am declaring what I was taught by faith. This is not my idea but I believe it to be true. The Trinity is one; God is one. By what power was Christ able to minister and teach on earth? Please answer at least one of my scripture quotes or show me my mistake? Oak

I read the article by Pastor Kevin and though he does say things that I can agree with like Christ after His Resurrection is not a type of imaginary figure to be contemplated, in distant way. But I think Pastor Kevin does an injustice by ignoring The Holy Spirit and the importance of the Pentecost. Christ told his apostles: ...it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper, will not come to you." John 16:7 Further, "And they were all filled with Holy Spirit...." Acts 2:4 And so Pastor's quote of Wright, “Our task in the present… is to live as resurrection people in between Easter and the final day, with our Christian life, corporate and individual, in both worship and mission, as a sign of the first and a foretaste of the second.” This is not what I believe to be the task of a Christian at all. Here on earth we are to strive for the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. Pastor Kevin's ideas sound like a false doctrine to me. Oak

I'm sorry, gamnot, but I couldn't let this comment go by... I agree with most of what you have said except for you commenting on, "the people most vulnerable..." I would maintain that we all are vulnerable especially Christians who try to be obedient towards Christ. Here in Worthy I have witnessed people seeing demons, having terrible words and thoughts in their minds, led to a panic of the mind and heart. And I think, partially, what did they lead into their hearts, unknowingly? I have spoken to many when Worthy had a variety of chat rooms. It's difficult to calm them down but sometimes you are given grace.. .

It can't last much longer. God is going to leave it until it is in such a mess that only he can sort it out. He's trying to show us that we need him. I agree with you both but I would say that at looking at all this ""mess" and "news," my heart as those who are near me is feeling the effects. The most dastardly thing is that I see scripture under attack. I'm sure all Christians want to reassure the non-believers, we love them or are taught to love them. I'm sure priest and pastors would like to marry people without constraints, or pushing anyone away. But none of us are able to change God's word. We can take the stance of the recent Pope who said about homosexual's, something like, "who am I to judge?" Please correct me if I'm wrong because it came from an article and or conversation which I can't totally rely on. At one point we will have to make a stand for Christ and the Bible, saying, "we would love to do all that your asking but we have to be true to our beliefs." *This being said with a good faith and love in our hearts. * Added on for further clarification.

" ...and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many will wax cold." Matthew 24:12 These are Christ's words concerning the end of the world. The lawless. unjust and the unfair is all around us and it takes on many, many guises. And the question is to what degree does a person who is weighted down by misfortune, continue to love? And still in our nation it's still possible to take advantage of freedoms including religion. But there are signs all around us. For instance, seeing Boston shut down within a matter of hours by the new state security police without constitutional restraint is a very frightening circumstance. Yes, I know it's to control terror but I can see it used indiscriminately. Information collected can be used in many different ways as well; for example the conservative Tea Party IRS scandal. There so much more that can be mentioned where politics and religion are being targeted. Many ignore the news and stuff their personal tragedies back into their souls. The results are heart numbing. This scripture might still be in our distant future, but it's effects are certainly being felt. Oak . .

First they were not transformed, more correctly, they themselves chose evil. God's intent was for Lucifer,at the time, was to serve him by music. Also, pride or hubris is the greatest sin upon which all others are built. In regards to your hubris and fear oscillation, what comes to mind is keep God first. This is the first Commandment, for a reason. If we can keep it then we don't have to fear becoming "gods" or placing false "gods" in our path.

First, I was going to advise that he learn to pray for others. But that's no longer an issue. The issue with him now is salvation. I would say do everything to build up his trust in Christ. It's not an instant process, and encourage him on any and all aspects as he draws nearer to faith. Oak

I thought that with Abraham it was through blood lines. In fact the Epistles underline the spirit over flesh or law. See Romans 9:6-8 But I agree with the direction you've taken. ***Somehow, your text has changed or maybe I initially misread it. The only thing that I can add is through Jacob we are now saved in faith/spirit.

In the Duality of the Dark Side, I am showing you that our perceptions of God being a duality can and does lead to disaster but my concern is also for people barraged by evil who unwittingly let it enter their hearts. We have films, and stars, heroes that produce evil and let their adoring, admiring fans, hearts brush up against the dragon's wing. The results can make you have a great spiritual warfare waging inside your soul. From observation it is the very sensitive soul's who are evil's juiciest target. If we look at the dark side's understanding of "god," we not only see a thirst to undermine everything that is good but a very real need for duality. You don't need a satanic or occult book to gain this information, just living in these times is enough. My admiration of the Beatles exposed me, involuntary to a modern day satanist who burned children as a sacrifice, Aliester Crowley. "It was 20 years ago today, Sergeant Pepper taught the band to play," the Beatles sang in 1967; "coincidently" Crowley died in 1947. This guy didn't start evil but his corrupt influence on these times are considerable in this earthly realm. He corrupts the Sovereignty of God, in just one sentence that starts one of his books. "Do what thou whilst, is the whole of the law." Therefore people are "gods" able to choose how we understand God or do anything we please because our will be done. Also, Crowley had a fondness for Indian mysticism which spawns dual gods. An example of A.C's devotees can be read in Bugloisi's "Helter Skelter. Bugliosi in his research of the Manson murders finds a satanic cult who dealt with Manson; he said, "the cult's leader and himself were one." This satanic group believed in the duality of God, that is Christ who forgave Satan is now working with Satan to bring about the end of the world. God using or creating evil for a greater good - where did I hear that before? This group on the evidence of a book called "Ultimate Evil" influenced and supported the "son of sam" killings in NY in the 70' s. You see Christ is on the same side as evil, and it takes a great deal of love to kill people but they're doing God's will. To top it off, I saw a clip on YouTube having "good" witches differentiate themselves from bad witches; they state that the evil "witches" are fanning the flames of the entertainment's agenda to destroy the family unit as well as supporting the destructive rise of the homosexual and pedophile agendas - that further destroy the family. Junior comes home to Daddy and Father. The duality of evil is kept by the "good" witches," themselves; the "good" witches acknowledge Christ but believe in Mother Nature. In conclusion, you may take extra caution on what you deem as good and let into your heart. That includes your favorite talk show host. Also, accepting good and bad from God is a sign of humility. However don't you think our God is powerful enough to create Lucifer and keep him apart from Himself when he chose to fall? Oak

I tried to simplify the post but then again that may be offensive to some people.

The discussions taking place about God's Soverign nature has specific roots in Romans 10-24, the scriptures point to us being pottery made by God, some shaped for dishonor (the damned) some for honor (the saved). With this in mind, we are reminded that if we're not happy with ourselves according to God's election (being just pottery), we have no right to talk back because this is the will of the all knowing God. These scriptures may indicate that we have no free will, that everything is done by God. Lets take a look: Romans 9:10-24 (ESV) 10 And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls— 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion,[a] but on God, who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” 18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. 19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” 20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? Many Bibles now have "Center (or perhaps differently in your Bible) Column Cross Reference System" for most every verse. These are for the most part additional scriptures cited by Bible scholars (Oxford and Cambridge Universities - in the Bible I use) from many years ago, to actively expand on the meaning of a verse. They remind us that the Bible is linked together as a whole, complete work that can prompt you to go into even a deeper search for yourself. It's a magnificient work. Let's use this aid to further our understanding together. I put in bold certain verses for two purposes: 1) I don't want to make this a term paper 2) You can continue the search without me. Also, I used Italic when commenting on the reference scripture: Verse 14: Deuteronomy 32:4: "He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he." 2 Chronicles 19:7: Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the Lord our God, or partiality or taking bribes.” Job 8:3: Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right? Job 34:10: "So listen to me, you men of understanding. Far be it from God to do evil, from the Almighty to do wrong. Psalm 92:15 "to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. Perhaps you may disagree, but the reference verses underline the fact that God is not evil nor does He use evil for His purposes. Verse 19: 2 Chronicles 20:6: "...and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Job 9:12 12 Behold, he snatches away; who can turn him back? Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ *Daniel 4:35: all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” Very important point for someone taking note of the sum of the verses. God is speaking to kings: Jacob who is the spiritual king and Pharaoh, an earthly king. But in a larger sense to all human kings (in the Bible the only king who was not assigned kingship is the anti-Christ), who presently have turned their attention to destroying the family unit and Christianity, by legislating things like homosexuality, pedophilia, etc. As much as they may think their actions are independent of God, they will have to answer to Him on that account. *Daniel 4:35, is King Nebuchadnezzar's words to God, when his sanity was restored. Also, this speaks to people in terms of dealing with their own authority (children, jobs, etc.) and human authority over all. Verse 20: Job 33:13 - Why do you contend against him, saying, ‘He will answer none of man's words’? Isaiah 29:16 - "You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, “He did not make me”; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, “He has no understanding”? Isaiah 45:9 9 “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’? I declare what is right." These verses bring to light words like "contend, no understanding, strives." We all have questions that contend, do not understand, strive to protest the Word of God. Why were the chosen people rejected? Why are millions perishing from abortions? These are often asked in the spirit of rebellion. More deeply, we all have questions within ourselves that prevent us to fully come to Christ. Why was I humiliated, abused or suffer the loss of limb, eyesight, calm spirit and on and on. Striving and contending will never work, stop! You have to make peace within yourself though it's very hard. I still cry out, "why me?" I have done nothing to deserve this punishment. Acceptance can be a very hard path. Please pray for yourselves and others. Love, Oak