Our personal relationship with Christ

[frienduff thaylorde]

2 hours ago, Heleadethme said:

Amen.......we need discernment........and how we have it is by having the truth established in our hearts by His word.  His word, which He magnifies above all His name.  If we love Him we will love His word and love the truth.  We will never do without His word because His word will NEVER PASS AWAY, and we will forever be plumbing the depths of it and marvelling.

Now sister that was so beautiful it had to get said again . 

[Not me]

12 hours ago, frienduff thaylorde said:

Herein is the problem.   Reread what you said about you never used the word AWAKENING and then said to watch and pray for you know not when your LORD does come .

THE THING IS ,    He as in CHRIST did not say HE was coming back to awaken his church.  WHEN HE COMES back WHOEVER IS NOT READY IN HIM

ITS TOO LATE .    ITS TOO LATE.    so long as you all keep pointing to some end time awakening and NOT TO GET READY NOW your not helping as you should.

The message to the seven churches was REPENT NOW OR I will come on you as a theif, OR I will put your candle out .   the early church knew,

that the second coming of CHRIST was a one time event.  AND that if people were NOT READY...............IT WOULD BE TOO LATE .    But I don't see that in yalls message

GET IT BACK IN YOUR MESSAGE and FAST. 

My dearest brother in Christ; 

I believe there’s been a misunderstanding.  When I said I never used the word “awakenings” it was in reference to my first post. My posting of the scripture “watch and pray was in response to your stating something about an “awakening”. I thought you were talking about the end times when you stated; 

“Guess we waiting for some end time revelation that just will save the church .” 

So not really understanding how that applied to my OP I thought I encourage you with a scripture that encourages believers to “watch and pray” which I can’t help but think is a good thing. Than you started  saying things that you believe I believe about “how Christ is going to come back to awaken His Church”

I believe what you are trying to say is, what you think the truth that Gideon is trying to share. “That Christ’s bride will make themselves ready for Him” Which is very scriptural. All Gideon is trying to say is that the body of Christ is as it sits today, is not without “spot or blemish” so one of two things must happen. Either Christ will lower His standard. ( which we know will not happen) or the Body of Christ will start to walk in victory over the world the flesh and the devil. So if Christ’s body continues as it is today with all the bitting and devouring one another. Doesn’t it seem that something is wrong in the Body of Christ? All Gideon is saying is,  because the scriptures promise, that the Church will be ready for the Bridegroom. He feels as I do, that it is the understanding of what it means to be “dead in Christ” that will make Christ’s Church ready. For it is this truth alone that frees a person from their fallen nature so that they might walk in victory and newness of life. For scripture does say Christ is coming back for a Body that is spotless and blameless. And we know all scriptures will be fullfilled.  But thank you for responding and I hope this clear some things up. 

Much love in Christ, Not me. 

Edited April 21, 2018 by Not me

[Not me]

9 hours ago, Heleadethme said:

According to scripture, Christianity is actually a Way.  It is a walk on that Way with Him, as we are being discipled by Him who IS the Way, and the Life and the Truth.  That is why Christianity is called the Way and Christians are people of the Way.  As long as we understand it is not an equal relationship between peers.  He is our Master and Teacher............and Father and Almighty God!

I agree about integrity of heart........and "Let love from a pure heart be our goal."  Amen....as long as we are talking about love as demonstrated and taught by the Word of God.  As long as we understand that this love that the bible talks about is not the love of fallen humanity,  which is little more than fleshly emotions and possessiveness.   Biblical love is a love that puts God first before all.....it is a love that is from Him, and through Him, and to Him.   It is a love that cares, a love that feels....but also a love that chastises, rebukes, and disciplines according as He deems necessary.   It is His love, not of our own, that no man can boast.  Of the Spirit in other words, not our flesh.  It's not the kind of love that the world and worldly churches talk about.....which is a humanistic, man-centred, self-righteous, and new age kind of love.

My much beloved Brother; 

What you say is true. When Christianity first started it was called “the way” than they started calling them “Christian” at Athens I believe. But are not  these two words just describing that the same thing? Are they not just words that are describing what it was that Christ by His death bought for mankind? And what was it that Christ bought for mankind was it not a open Heaven whereby fellowship was restored between the creature and His Creator? If it was the restoration of the fellowship between the two. Would it not make the words “having  a personal relationship with Christ” just another  way of saying the same thing? 

I believe, when the scripture was wrote “love from a pure heart” they did have in mind “agape love” Gods love. Thanks for responding, blessing to you. 

Much love in Christ, Not me

Edited April 21, 2018 by Not me

[Not me]

8 hours ago, Heleadethme said:

It's dangerous to go by whatever our hearts are telling us...........but we have to TEST whatever our hearts are telling us, and every source of what we learn and believe.  Be sure everything lines up with and agrees with the word of God.  A pilot flying a plane NEEDS the instruments, otherwise if he just flies by the seat of his pants, he'll end up crash-landing upside down in a treetop in the middle of nowhere.

True the details of our lives differ, and God may use different scriptures to speak specifically into the lives of each one, but we all should agree on the fundamentals....and be on the same highway and course to arrive at the same point in the end.

Blessing to you my Brother in Christ; 

You are correct. The scripture does say “our hearts are desperately wicked” it also says “let the peace of Christ rule (arbitrate) in your hearts”

Meaning that, even  though our hearts be desperately wicked, His peace is still in there. And as long as we let His peace rule in our hearts we will know which way to turn. I have learned that if something upsets the “peace of Christ in my heart” to do something different. Doesn’t matter what just so long as it doesn’t upset the peace of Christ in my Heart. That way my fellowship with Him remains unbroken. Thanks for your response, 

much love in Christ, Not me

Edited April 21, 2018 by Not me

[Gideon]

On 4/19/2018 at 9:42 PM, frienduff thaylorde said:

You do realize that the way you speak on this is not even close to how paul , james and others would have been towards error or walking in it.

Guess we waiting for some end time revelation that just will save the church .    THIS is the problem .  

Preaching about some big end time awakening ,  but the CHURCHES are DYING NOW .   Just pray on that for a bit .   

Brother, both Notme and I have gone to great efforts to try to explain to you what we are talking about when we say “awakening”. Yet you seem bent on continuing on your quest to ignore our explanations and rail against the concept.

Let’s talk about a single Christian. We will call him Bill. Bill loves the Lord but struggles with anger and no matter how hard he tries to quit, it always seems to get the better of him. He hates it, but the pull of his fleshly appetite is so great that the thing he wants to avoid, he simply cannot. 

Shall he just go out and spread the gospel and have sound  Bible doctrine and ignore the sin that is  crushing him on the inside? Do you believe that someone who is bound by a sin, held captive against his will, can be a Christian? 

 Does he not need some sort of awakening that will get him off the road of self effort and defeat and onto the highway of holiness, where he finds to his relief and eternal thankfulness that there really is a way to walk in victory over the world, the flesh and the devil? He does indeed! Can you deny that? All we are saying is that the church as a whole is full of people who have no idea how to walk in real victory, when it has been clearly promised to us! And praise God, before He returns, He will make sure everyone who is of the elect will experience that freedom from oppression to sin. And this is to be warned against?? 

God will indeed awaken every single person who loves the Lord and longs to be free indeed as Jesus defined it.... free from committing sins. And how and why would you object to this? I for the life of me am not getting why you continue every chance you get to disparage what we share. Do you want people to walk in real freedom? Is it possible in this life? You have asked many questions of me. It is fair that I ask these of you, amen? I await your answer. 

blessings,

Gideon

[Heleadethme]

7 hours ago, Not me said:

My much beloved Brother; 

What you say is true. When Christianity first started it was called “the way” than they started calling them “Christian” at Athens I believe. But are not  these two words just describing that the same thing? Are they not just words that are describing what it was that Christ by His death bought for mankind? And what was it that Christ bought for mankind was it not a open Heaven whereby fellowship was restored between the creature and His Creator? If it was the restoration of the fellowship between the two. Would it not make the words “having  a personal relationship with Christ” just another  way of saying the same thing? 

I believe, when the scripture was wrote “love from a pure heart” they did have in mind “agape love” Gods love. Thanks for responding, blessing to you. 

Much love in Christ, Not me

Words matter a lot....I think it's okay to think in a limited way in some terms as a way to help bridge our understanding, but not to stand on  (or teach) terminology that is actually not taught in the bible.  We can have relationship with all kinds of people in all kinds of ways, so the term "relationship" does not shed any light on the nature of our relationship to God, or encompass the scope of what the gospel has done.  It leaves the door wide open to subjective interpretation in terms of how anyone wants to interpret the nature of that relationship.  If we are describing Christianity, we should not go beyond or fall short of what the bible says it is.  It is more that we have been reconciled to God through His Son, and brought near to Him, and now walk on that way.  Wouldn't it be more fruitful and effective to sharpen our swords and use them.......His word is a sharp two-edged sword that divides between bone and marrow.......and in this way we leave no place for the devil and flesh to insert ideas and concepts of various shades that start to veer off the mark.  I  know nothing of your background, etc, but I can say from observing for many years that churches that started to emphasize "relationship" with God are now badly infected with new age.  You might be hearing things in a way that you have not heard before, because there is so much that has been lost to the church.....but I hope you will prayerfully consider these things.  God's words are so much better than ours, and powerful to keep us from straying from the safety of the sheepfold of His truth.......remember how the devil is such a subtle foe, he doesn't come at us head-on, but slowly and gradually introduces false concepts and ideas.  God's word is not defective or lacking in any way, we can trust it, and need to.  Jesus was the Word made flesh......and God magnifies His word above His name.  We just cannot do better than what He has seen fit to give us.

(I'm a sister by the way.)

[Heleadethme]

8 hours ago, Not me said:

Blessing to you my Brother in Christ; 

You are correct. The scripture does say “our hearts are desperately wicked” it also says “let the peace of Christ rule (arbitrate) in your hearts”

Meaning that, even  though our hearts be desperately wicked, His peace is still in there. And as long as we let His peace rule in our hearts we will know which way to turn. I have learned that if something upsets the “peace of Christ in my heart” to do something different. Doesn’t matter what just so long as it doesn’t upset the peace of Christ in my Heart. That way my fellowship with Him remains unbroken. Thanks for your response, 

much love in Christ, Not me

I agree.......BUT......peace is only one way of testing......we must even test that peace against the Word.....because there is a false peace.  The bible says "by peace he will destroy many".....so it depends on what we are standing on that gives us a peace, whether what we are standing on is the truth of God's word, or a false concept that is just making our flesh feel better when it shouldn't.  The battle is only heating up in the last days, not subsiding, so we need to be sober and alert and make sure our swords (of His word) are good and sharp, that His word is established in our heart and mind.

[Heleadethme]

7 hours ago, Oseas Ramos de Siqueira said:

God is Spirit. What is Spirit? JESUS, that is God incarnated, explains saying: "the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit, and they are Life".  OK, Word is Spirit. Word is God, yea, the Word is God. What a mistery! Word is God.

God is not a name, but a title. Who is God? God is the express Word, yes, the express Word is God. God (God is a title) speaks by His Word, i.e. The Word speaks for Itself, the Word is God. But there is a problem, because, expressly, the Word is only and only letters, and the letter kills, but the Spirit (God, the Word) gives Life.

If one has only letters of the Word in his heart, he is died, because the letters kill. But if one has the Spirit of the Word, then he has Life, and is saved and free from the death.  Death is a powerful enemy, this satanic enemy fights against you through the letter of the Word. How can you fight against this powerful enemy, but through the Spirit of the Word?  But with the letters of the Word only, you will never defeate your powerful enemy that is death, by the contrary, you die on the hands of the enemy, Satan, because you think can fight against him by the letters of the Word, that is the same you can think to overcome your mighty enemy with his own weapon, the letter of the Word, in this way fighting against Satan you die as Adam and Eve died before Satan.  God is the Word , the Word is God.  God is Spirit (God is a title), the Word is God, yea, the express Word is God.  

No, not by the letter of the word......I dont' want to seem to be better than I am, I still have lots of sharpening to do......but I can say that it is BY HIS SPIRIT that He opens HIS WORD to our understanding, and engraves it on our hearts and puts it in our mouths.  We cannot afford to play fast and loose with our own ideas and spirits in the last days.....we better be sure what we believe and bring is of the Lord and not the voice/words of one who looks like a lamb but speaks like a serpent.  Because we are not going to win the battle with a dull sword, either........or no sword.......or a deceptive sword.

Edited April 21, 2018 by Heleadethme

[Not me]

20 minutes ago, Heleadethme said:

Words matter a lot....I think it's okay to think in a limited way in some terms as a way to help bridge our understanding, but not to stand on  (or teach) terminology that is actually not taught in the bible.  We can have relationship with all kinds of people in all kinds of ways, so the term "relationship" does not shed any light on the nature of our relationship to God, or encompass the scope of what the gospel has done.  It leaves the door wide open to subjective interpretation in terms of how anyone wants to interpret the nature of that relationship.  If we are describing Christianity, we should not go beyond or fall short of what the bible says it is.  It is more that we have been reconciled to God through His Son, and brought near to Him, and now walk on that way.  Wouldn't it be more fruitful and effective to sharpen our swords and use them.......His word is a sharp two-edged sword that divides between bone and marrow.......and in this way we leave no place for the devil and flesh to insert ideas and concepts of various shades that start to veer off the mark.  I  know nothing of your background, etc, but I can say from observing for many years that churches that started to emphasize "relationship" with God are now badly infected with new age.  You might be hearing things in a way that you have not heard before, because there is so much that has been lost to the church.....but I hope you will prayerfully consider these things.  God's words are so much better than ours, and powerful to keep us from straying from the safety of the sheepfold of His truth.......remember how the devil is such a subtle foe, he doesn't come at us head-on, but slowly and gradually introduces false concepts and ideas.  God's word is not defective or lacking in any way, we can trust it, and need to.  Jesus was the Word made flesh......and God magnifies His word above His name.  We just cannot do better than what He has seen fit to give us.

(I'm a sister by the way.)

My apologies Sister, no offense was intended. If you don’t want to call what you have with Christ “a relationship” that’s fine. I can tell you have a “walk with God” So blessings to you and may your heart be filled with Himself in a new and awesome way. 

Much love in Christ, Not me

[Heleadethme]

18 minutes ago, Not me said:

My apologies Sister, no offense was intended. If you don’t want to call what you have with Christ “a relationship” that’s fine. I can tell you have a “walk with God” So blessings to you and may your heart be filled with Himself in a new and awesome way. 

Much love in Christ, Not me

I'm not offended.  Just trying to help is all.  We do have a living relationship with a living God.  BUT it depends entirely on how one understands the nature of that relationship.  It's far too vague and subjective to use that word to try and encompass the entire gospel in it....it leaves the door wide open for error.  I've seen it......and souls are at stake, where they will end up for eternity, so it is not a light matter.