Celebrating Birthdays and 'The Book of Life'

[Mike Jeshurun]

What does celebrating birthdays have to do with the Book of Life? Read on.

Firstly, should a Christian celebrate Birthdays? What saith the Scripture?

There is no law which forbids a Christian from celebrating Birthdays. But then if all that happened unto the Old Testament Jews are for ensamples: and are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. [1Cor 10:11] and if the Most High has commanded us not to learn the way of the heathen, for the customs of the people are vain. [Jer 10:2,3] then we cannot justify Birthday celebrations from Scripture.

Only three recorded birthday celebrations in Scripture and two are marked with murder and the third with revelry ending in destruction!

The first account is in Genesis. Pharaoh, the Egyptian king, celebrated his birthday by executing his chief baker [Gen. 40:1-23]. In the second account, the New Testament figure Herod the tetrarch reluctantly ordered the beheading of John the Baptist [Matt. 14:3-11]. The final account is found in the book of Job. The Bible says that Job

[Botz]

Hi Mike....found the 'birthday stuff' a bit on the heavy side (hope no poor kid looking forward to a good time with their friends takes it on board), but the things written about the Books very interesting and thought provoking.

[Matthitjah]

Mike,

I agree with you completely. Understand that you, like myself are SPIRITUALLY MINDED (you think SPIRITUALLY,....uncommon among "Christians"). The reason I put "christians" in quotes is because it is not the real name of DEVOTION TO JESUS (don't start questioning my sanity, IT IS SCRIPTURAL.....and I welcome all arguements to the contrary...FROM ANYBODY).

Acts 9:2

"if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem"......(SAUL persecuted the followers of Jesus).

Act 18:25

"He had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John"........

......(the baptism of the Holy Spirit into Jesus's body was not known until Jesus was glorified, John 7:39....Jesus and Holy Spirit were given TOGETHER...package deal).

Act 19:9

"but when some were stubborn and disbelieved, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples with him, and argued daily in the hall of Tyran'nus".

Act 19:23

"About that time there arose no little stir concerning the Way".

Act 24:14

"But this I admit to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law or written in the prophets"....

...the "Incident at Antioch" (wikipedia has good explanation for Acts 11:26) was that Peter chose to lead the pharisees who insisted on continuing MOSAIC LAW as Jesus worshippers, but Jesus summed up what kind of person Peter was...."you are not on the side of God, but of men" Matthew 16:23.

Act 24:22

"But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way".

....Jesus said "I am THE WAY....".....John 14:6).

God is generic (a cosmic/"heavenly" reality), He is NOT PARTISAN (as in a 'rule making/observing social club with protocol/procedure). The real name of The Father that He wants to be known as forever is "I am who I am" (Exodus 3:14 and 15)......read carefully what I write,....you will be able to understand it because of your spiriitual eyes and ears.

The STRONG delusion is not a future event, it has been around for centuries and God sent it with ALL, ALL, "wicked deception" (2 Thessalonians 2:10). God has seen fit to show you past all of that, Mike, (that's because you love Him AND HIS WAYS very much)....yes, He chose US, but it's also that YOU CHOSE HIM.

"I am who I am" sent His Son to make us free human beings so that we could have REAL life (of course it's everlasting, but it's also so we won't just SIMPLY 'EXIST' right now) and so that we could be SONS OF "in His image" man....(as before the fall).

God explained to Ezekiel how that He would turn His face from those who have "idols" of this world in their hearts....

Ezekiel 13:4

"Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces; should I let myself be inquired of AT ALL by them?".......("AT ALL"....STRONG delusion with ALL wicked deception).

A "son of man" is a lord/ruler in the spiritual world (yes, a lord EVEN of the sabbath)....

"so the Son of man is lord even of the sabbath." (Mark 2:28).

New testament scripture (gospel, the JESUS DOCTRINE) is the "doctrine of Christ" and is meant for those who have moved on (gone "ahead") to a mature devotion (LOVE devotion) because so many lies and wrong attitudes have been taught in the 'church of man', but when you choose GOD to be your teacher and His Spirit to be your trainer instead of the text, The Lord will ensure that you will avoid the grip of the strong delusion. We should no longer perform deeds of righteousness in order to have a FOUNDATION OF "repentance" as we did when we were "babes in Christ" being fed "milk", and neither should we simply have a 'belief'/faith that God exists, we should have a "faith for faith" that God is a rewarder, not a punisher....(He is a GOOD GOD of loving kindness, peace and truth).

"the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith"....Romans 1:17.

" For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists......AND that he rewards those who seek him".

Hebrews 6:1

"Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God".

The doctrine of Christ must remain with us AS A REFERENCE text, but God's SPIRIT must become our trainer instead of scripture.

2 John 1:9

"Any one who goes ahead and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God; he who abides in the doctrine has both the Father and the Son".

We are not Jews, they were baptized into MOSES, and they also had/involved ONLY THE FATHER in their worship (even though the Messiah was promised), we are baptized into Jesus (and IN JESUS there are no Jews or non-Jews).....

1 Corinthians 10:2......"and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea".

Because we live spiritually inside Jesus's body as a "new creation" (a spirit creation has no gender), we are spiritually neither male nor female, nor is there either "Jew" or non-Jew (all people back then were of the Greek civilization, even Romans).

"There is neither Jew nor Greek,.............there is neither male nor female" (Galatians 3:28,....different versions say "Gentile" instead of "Greek").......

.....666 is not the number of a "new creation", it is the number of 'a sixth day creation' (a secular/mortal man...Revelation 13:18) that has always chosen to "understand" the THREE manifestations/dispensations of God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) as though it is MAN (the 6th day creation) that should be glorified instead of God.

It is our mortal ways and thinking ("the flesh") that limit our understanding of God's REAL truth (objective truth). God constructed scripture so that we could learn the folly (foolishness) of the world's chosen bias (SUBJECTIVE TRUTH) when He had Pilate say "What is truth?" (Pilate was not a philosopher, neither was this answered, but nobody cares to notice...limited by "the flesh" AND heartlessness to God and humanity). Scripture was not given to "christianity" or any group, it was given to ALL of HUMANITY and meant to teach us PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE (peace and harmony)....

Romans 12:16

"Live in harmony with one another".

Romans 15:5

"live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus".

Colossians 3:14....."And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony".

It's very important to care about what Pilate said because...

"because they refused to love the truth AND SO BE SAVED" (2 Thessalonians 2:10).

We have nothing to fear from satan, satan cannot CAUSE evil (he can only TEMPT, he needs OUR HELP in order to ACCOMPLISH wrongdoings). Satan is being RESTRAINED for now (2 Thessalonians 2), but the modern day moneychangers want us to remain in fear so they can continue to get our money.

The FEAR OF GOD was only the BEGINNING of "wisdom" before we knew God, but when we come to know Him, our love should become perfect and cast out fear (1 John 4:18). The modern day moneychangers teach us to have FEAR in order to keep us in line (control), limit our understanding, convince us to continuously gain their favor and protection from a 'TYRANT GOD' "master" instead of "Abba Father"...DEAR Father, Romans 8:15) and routinely be in fear so that we remain weak instead of be bold and empowered in Christ ("rote" attitude).

Isaiah 29:13

"while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment of men learned by rote".

.....but the real spirit is that we should be bold and strong.....(NO FEAR)....

2 Timothy 1:7 "for God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power...".

I've written all of this just to show that there is alot to know about God's TRUTH ("the DEPTHS of God", 1 Corinthians 2:10) so we can have a devotion based on "the GREATEST of these" (1 Corinthians 13:13) and that you have it exactly right.......WE HAVE BEEN TAUGHT THE WAY OF THE HEATHEN.

Psalm 82:6

"I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you".

We have been taught to think of 'this world' as our heritage and that it is everything we should be thankful for, but GOD is our true heritage (if each person chooses a HEAVENLY heritage, we each decide...BORN OF GOD or 'born of man'.......neither is the "nation of Israel" our heritage/origin).

If we choose/realize GOD Himself to be our heritage, then we will find the seed He left inside of us (the "anointing" seed, Godly common sense will guide us)........

1 John 2:27

"the anointing which you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that any one should teach you; as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie".

When we choose to make someone a 'celebrity' to us, they become an ICON to us (a "flesh"/mortal idol in our heart/mind). When we are grateful to receive the things of this world, our spiritual insight is reduced because we are 'looking in the wrong direction'. We need to become BOLD AND TRUE,....STRONG in knowing who we are and be confident in who we are (a "master of himself", Titus 1:8) so that we TRULY can relate to and identify with "I am who I am".

Many people give good GIFTS, but they give them IMPERIALISTICALLY expecting something in return, few give a GIFT graciously not expecting ANYTHING AT ALL in return (the way The Lord gave us salvation...GRACIOUSLY as a FREE GIFT).

........Be a "SELF" and be 'ungrateful to this world'...(don't feed the mortal flesh by being grateful to this mortal world).

Luke 6:35

"He is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish".

The Lord is now "shaking" His church ("the heaven", Hebrews 12:27) and wants us to be conformed to the "image of His son" so that we can each become firstborns of many new brethren (brethren of the truth).

Romans 8:29

"to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first-born among many brethren".......(yes there is a second message in scripture....FOR GODLOVERS).

All verses are from the RSV.

http://www.bluelette...+God&t=RSV&sf=5

...look up the words "christian" (notice the believer that used that word denied Christ 3 times and killed Ananias and wife), "christianity", and "christians" plural.

Grace to you,

Ever heard the saying, "He's so spiritually minded that he's no worldly good?"

Yet, even Jesus Christ came down from heaven and joined the human race. He was in the world and He lived a very human life. He was even baptized in John's Baptism even though it wasn't neccesary for Him. You ought to look into that sometime.

There was a commonality about His Spirituality that speaks of us.

Regardless, God Loves every bit of our humanity. He became it so as to Save it and He was, is, and will remain human. He did very human and common things like living a life as a carpenters son.

I heard in a sermon on the radio yesterday that he might even as a child have stood in His human Father's shop working a Yoke to place on the neck of an Oxen that He Created. Simply Marvelous! This spoke of His humility and unless we humble ourselves we shall not be like Him.

Let's not be so spiritually minded that we might even miss out Savior. We know that there were folks who were guilty of this very thing recorded in the annals of Scripture.

Peace,

Dave

[Guest]

.... if the child of God wants to rejoice and celebrate his Birthday, let him do so....

Thanks For The Permissions Dear Mike

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Merry Christmas!

Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. 2 Corinthians 9:15

Christmas?

[nebula]

...look up the words "christian" (notice the believer that used that word denied Christ 3 times and killed Ananias and wife), "christianity", and "christians" plural.

I fail to see your point here.

And Peter did not kill Ananias and Sapphira. The Holy Spirit took their breath away from them.

[nebula]

Sir, I was addressing a point you made that had shocked me.

Responding to one sentence or one point within a long post is a common occurrence on message boards. Should you not be able to handle that with grace and wisdom?

Edited November 5, 2010 by nebula

[Guest]

My post was not short, it contained EXPLANATION. When I write, I am not ignorant of the need for "explanation". My post was LONG and provided much explanation (it is SELF-EXPLANATORY, don't tell me it isn't)....

Dear Mike

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. James 3:17

To Make Up Rules

We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 2 Peter 1:19-21

To Belittle A Mother For Celebrating Her Baby's Birth

Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Romans 12:15-16

Is Unkind If Not Just Plain Cruel

Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man. Psalms 71:4

And Strange Behavior

To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men. Titus 3:2

For Godly Men

And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 2 Timothy 2:24

You Think

>>>>>()<<<<<

Be Blessed Beloved Of The KING

Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers. Proverbs 17:6

Love, Your Brother Joe

[Joshua-777]

[RebekahDavid]

blessings,

God's Word refudiates this comment:

"was characterized by Jesus as being on the side of man.

Luke 22: 31And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:

32But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

love your sister in Christ,

Rebekah David

[Joshua-777]

Nebula,

My post was not short, it contained EXPLANATION. When I write, I am not ignorant of the need for "explanation". My post was LONG and provided much explanation (it is SELF-EXPLANATORY, don't tell me it isn't).

Your reply of "I fail to see your point here" is not uncommon for those whose fame depends on being a 'bookmaster' scholar of the status quo (their comfort zone), it is one of the standard replies of "OPPOSITION" made when people have no reasoning to to refute what I write. Christians have simply become a 'walking book' and have surrendered the ability to REASON. God doesn't say "Come, let us memorize a book and be conformed to it", God says....

"Come now, let us reason together..." (Isaiah 1:18).

You took my whole post and everything I wrote (explanations AND VERSES) and wrote a BLANK STATEMENT because you have no way of refuting anything I wrote.....yet you did seem to understand what I wrote about Ananias and his wife...which of course you disagree with, but you don't disagree that Peter denied Christ 3 times and was the only believer to have used the word "Christian" and was characterized by Jesus as being on the side of man.

Okay, forget about the one thing that you disagree with (the statement about Ananias). If you ever decide to show me the courtesy of addressing everything else in my post either 'pro or con' (for or against), then there will be something we can debate/discuss, but a simple expression of OPPOSITION and uncomfortability about REAL truth simply means that your 'empire' of pride and "SELF" are threatened (yes. I said REAL truth, it is shown in the verses I cited).

Remember, we must LEARN to "love the truth AND SO BE SAVED",....but it is your choice.

So you are saying that the word Christian is not valid because Peter denied Christ 3 times? Did Jesus deny Peter? Jesus used Peter to carry His gospel to the gentiles, Jesus was with Peter, and used Him in powerful ways.

Jesus also asked Peter to feed his lambs.

John 21:15 So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

Also Peter did not kill anyone, He gave His own life for the Lord. The Holy Spirit killed Ananias and his wife, Because "They have not lied unto man, but unto God"

Peter also wasn't the only one who called believers Christians.

Acts 11:25 Then Barnabas departed for Tarsus to seek Saul. 26 And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people. And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch

Acts 26:28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

One thing I have learned, we must rely on the Holy Spirit and the bible, with the bible we can test is it's from God or not, it is easy to be lead astray.

Remember, we must LEARN to "love the truth AND SO BE SAVED",....but it is your choice.

We must learn also to love each other.

1 John 3:23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

1 Corinthians 13:4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;