Gideon Posted June 15, 2018 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 14 Topic Count: 79 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 1,177 Content Per Day: 0.31 Reputation: 826 Days Won: 1 Joined: 10/04/2013 Status: Offline Share Posted June 15, 2018 (edited) “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13 Tree of the knowledge of hood and evil vs. tree of life This is an important post, and twice now, with the post almost written, my computer has shut off. Grrrr. Please be patient and when it is finished, I pray you read it prayerfully. Thanks, all. Gids Edited June 15, 2018 by Gideon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not me Posted June 16, 2018 Group: Royal Member Followers: 14 Topic Count: 512 Topics Per Day: 0.23 Content Count: 3,187 Content Per Day: 1.44 Reputation: 3,350 Days Won: 1 Joined: 04/06/2018 Status: Offline Share Posted June 16, 2018 (edited) 5 hours ago, Gideon said: “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13 Tree of the knowledge of good and evil vs. tree of life This is an important post, and twice now, with the post almost written, my computer has shut off. Grrrr. Please be patient and when it is finished, I pray you read it prayerfully. Thanks, all. Gids Last time I asked God for patience, He told me to wait. But I really want to know about this tree of “good and evil,” is it seedless? (I’m such a brat) much love in Christ, looking forward to your next post, Not me. Edited June 16, 2018 by Not me 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon Posted June 16, 2018 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 14 Topic Count: 79 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 1,177 Content Per Day: 0.31 Reputation: 826 Days Won: 1 Joined: 10/04/2013 Status: Offline Author Share Posted June 16, 2018 (edited) Lol, patience is a virtue. And this tree is not seedless. It is very prolific. But if we have our axes handy, it might be a good time to sharpen them. Yousee what you have done now? I cannot go back and correct my typo, for future readers would wonder what in the world yuo were talking about. My concern is purely that you do not look bad here. I hope you believe that. Gids P.S. Looks like it will be tomorrow that I finish this. Edited June 16, 2018 by Gideon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not me Posted June 16, 2018 Group: Royal Member Followers: 14 Topic Count: 512 Topics Per Day: 0.23 Content Count: 3,187 Content Per Day: 1.44 Reputation: 3,350 Days Won: 1 Joined: 04/06/2018 Status: Offline Share Posted June 16, 2018 (edited) 42 minutes ago, Gideon said: Lol, patience is a virtue. And this tree is not seedless. It is very prolific. But if we have our axes handy, it might be a good time to sharpen them. You see what you have done now? I cannot go back and correct my typo, for future readers would wonder what in the world you were talking about. My concern is purely that you do not look bad here. I hope you believe that. Gids P.S. Looks like it will be tomorrow that I finish this. No worries, I have a edit button, see fixed. much love in Christ, Not me Edited June 16, 2018 by Not me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heleadethme Posted June 16, 2018 Group: Royal Member Followers: 15 Topic Count: 13 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 3,371 Content Per Day: 1.36 Reputation: 3,267 Days Won: 5 Joined: 07/10/2017 Status: Offline Share Posted June 16, 2018 20 hours ago, Gideon said: “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13 Tree of the knowledge of hood and evil vs. tree of life This is an important post, and twice now, with the post almost written, my computer has shut off. Grrrr. Please be patient and when it is finished, I pray you read it prayerfully. Thanks, all. Gids This is a subject in itself....look forward to discussing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon Posted June 16, 2018 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 14 Topic Count: 79 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 1,177 Content Per Day: 0.31 Reputation: 826 Days Won: 1 Joined: 10/04/2013 Status: Offline Author Share Posted June 16, 2018 4 hours ago, Heleadethme said: This is a subject in itself....look forward to discussing it. In the scripture I listed in the OP in Jeremiah, God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah that His people, and that is us, have seriously erred, and not just once but twice. And what are those errors that we have made? 1) First, He tells us that we have forsaken Him, the river of life, the fountain of living waters. And how have we done this? We have, as His people, lost sight of the real purpose of our being saved....true intimacy with God. We talk about having a personal relationship with God, but it has gotten to the point that our walks are so far from this, that even on this site, we have heard such a thing as a “personal relationship” with our God mocked, and those espousing it being mystics or Gnostics. They argue as if somehow, Christ is supposed to actually live inside us. Sadly, that is exactly what God has in mind when He saved us. He wants to abide in us and us in Him. It is this truth that powered the early church to the heights it has never seen again up till this very day. All that is about to change. Yes, we have been forgiven, and yes, our names have been written in the Lamb’s book of Life, but we have forgotten, or never truly understood, that our salvation was ultimately meant to bring us back into intimate relationship with Him through Jesus living inside us. Yes, forgiveness is important. But the reason it is so is that without it, we cannot come back into tender, loving fellowship with Him. Sadly, we have thought that the entirety of Christianity is just about forgiveness. It is not. That is simply the doorway back into living all day every day, in His presence. Sadly, we have become like the prodigal son, looking for what the Father can offer us, and walk fully content away from the intimacy of a Father/son or Father/daughter relationship. Our Lord gave up His life to buy us back out of the hand of the one who hated us, so we could abide in Him, all day, every day in rich fellowship. But just as the prodigal did, we too have lived our lives far, far from the closeness He longs for us to enjoy with Him, and we have reduced Christianity to “get, saved, go to church, read your Bible, go to Heaven.” How many of us have been like Martha, mindful of many things, albeit necessary things, even, good things, but neglecting the real benefit of our salvation….. abiding in the presence of the Lord, worshiping Him. Mary understood this. We, however, do not. And how do I know this to be true? Simply examiney our own prayer lives. It was said of the apostle Thomas…. good old doubting Thomas…. That when he died, his knees looked like camel’s feet, from long hours of worship and intercession for the saints in his care and for the lost to come to the place of intimacy he himself enjoyed. I hear some hear talk of “Paul’s gospel”. But do we realize that this man, after a divine intervention, after being caught up into the third Heaven, after being given words that would comprise almost half of the New Testament itself, said that his one goal was that he might know Him better. Everything else to Him was dung. He knew what we do not, at least yet. Abiding in Him is everything, Knowing Him is far better than knowing about Him. 2) But we have not stopped there.We have not only been content to walk out our lives as Christians with shallow, almost non-existent relationships with the one we say we love, but we have created a pacifier that eases our consciences. What is this that makes us feel good about ourselves and allows Satan to continue to rob us of abiding in Christ, being filled with joy and bearing fruit for the world to see and marvel at? This is going to upset some here but it must be said. It is doctrine. Ouch, huh? Listen, doctrine is important. I stand on that statement. But the question needs to be asked- WHY is it important? And the answer? Because correct doctrine, properly understood, will lead us to not commit the first evil listed above. Correct doctrine leads us into intimacy with the Lord Himself. And here is the clincher. Our doctrine has not done so. We have become in many instances like modern day Pharisees, defending every jot and tiddle of the gospel as we understand it. We fight over it. We defend it as if we are champions for God. The only problem is, we do not have a hunger to know Him or to become like Him , or to spend time with Him. We are religious, but not righteous. We have a million religious leaves, but precious little spiritual fruits. And the worst part is that it does not even bother us. That is how far we have drifted from the truth. I will continue this and discuss what God has shown me what the fly in our precious ointment is. Our problem is critical, but the answer is there for us if we are willing to cry out to Him for the answer. Blessings to all, and sorry for the delay… Gideon . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon Posted June 16, 2018 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 14 Topic Count: 79 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 1,177 Content Per Day: 0.31 Reputation: 826 Days Won: 1 Joined: 10/04/2013 Status: Offline Author Share Posted June 16, 2018 (edited) One additional thought. This is in no way intended as an attack on any specific posters here. This is a universal issue in the church. Whether it be pre-trib, post trib, water baptism necessary for salvation, OSAS vs. conditional salvation, faith or faith plus works, it is all broken cisterns on both sides of the coin if we think Christianity is simply getting all our doctrines lined up correctly. We have gone back to the tree to the knowledge of good and evil thinking we become pleasing to God when we know more than the next guy. But at least in my perspective, no matter who we are, if we are found digging in our heels over specific doctrines but those that we hold to be true have not led us to become more loving, more humble, greater servants, softer and more approachable, we are nothing but clanging cymbals to God. We have all missed the mark, my fellow brothers and sisters, myself included. God has a solution for us, but until we can examine our walks with real honesty, and admit to Him that this “double evils”shoe fits us far to comfortably than we would like to admit, Heaven will remain brass, and He will leave us here, running more seven day laps in the wilderness, battling back and forth thinking our God must be pleased as punch with us because we are defending Him and His truth so well. Can I let you in on a secret? He is weeping over His children and their pride that refuses to admit their errors. Why? Because He longs to be truly known of us, and love us like we long for down deep in our heart of hearts. Real Christianity is nothing less than the very life of God indwelling is as a flowing river, as it flows out of us and onto all who come in contact with us. Only then will people come up to us and ask us what we have that they do not. Take heart, that day IS approaching. Those who hunger for Him AND His righteousness will be filled.... and yes, in this life. Blessings, Gids Edited June 16, 2018 by Gideon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heleadethme Posted June 16, 2018 Group: Royal Member Followers: 15 Topic Count: 13 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 3,371 Content Per Day: 1.36 Reputation: 3,267 Days Won: 5 Joined: 07/10/2017 Status: Offline Share Posted June 16, 2018 29 minutes ago, Gideon said: We talk about having a personal relationship with God, but it has gotten to the point that our walks are so far from this, that even on this site, we have heard such a thing as a “personal relationship” with our God mocked, and those espousing it being mystics or Gnostics. Gideon, this is a different start to the topic than I was expecting, I must say. I only came here in good faith to talk about a subject that happens to be of particular interest to me right now. But that's ok brother, let me just say this, and then get on with the overall topic. My response to what you said here is that it depends on what a person means by "personal relationship with Christ" (how they view the nature of that relationship) and whether relationship is overemphasized at the expense of other truths. It is not right for example to just accept everything that another person says/believes because of assuming that must be what their "relationship with Christ is teaching" the person. Either the person is speaking the truth or not. If they are wrong in their thinking, then surely it can't be their relationship with Christ that is teaching them to believe something that is wrong....? And if we don't agree with what the person is saying, should we not care enough to engage them rather than dismissing their error as being what their personal relationship with Christ is teaching them...? To assure a person that their personal relationship in Christ must be teaching them just fine, when we know or believe they are in error, surely can't be the right approach....? Anyway I just wanted to try and clarify my thoughts on that. As well as to mention that I have mocked no-one, in case that was in reference to me, and in case any of my posts in the past regarding that had been misunderstood. I have been in places where "personal relationship" with Christ was overemphasized and seen how it led them right to blatant new age thinking and practices. I have cared enough about people to try and caution or help when I feel they might be in danger concerning that, not to mock them, but to try and bring salt and light for their sake. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heleadethme Posted June 16, 2018 Group: Royal Member Followers: 15 Topic Count: 13 Topics Per Day: 0.01 Content Count: 3,371 Content Per Day: 1.36 Reputation: 3,267 Days Won: 5 Joined: 07/10/2017 Status: Offline Share Posted June 16, 2018 On 6/15/2018 at 3:59 PM, Gideon said: “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Jeremiah 2:13 Tree of the knowledge of good and evil vs. tree of life Amen, I agree that this is the fundamental difference between the fountain of living waters and the cisterns. It should not be about collecting carnal knowledge of scripture, but about faith and love through the Spirit of life. Something else in the bible that is a picture of the same...............is the lesson about manna in the wilderness, how it was to be collected fresh and new every morning, and not stored up and hoarded....that would only lead to rot. That takes faith and trust in God that more will be supplied as needed. The water stored and collected in a cistern also goes bad.......whereas in letting the fountain run freely, it likewise takes faith and trust that the fresh water will keep coming. There is a scripture that says, "If we think we know we do not yet know as we ought." which also alludes to the same thing. There is a way that we need to hold what we think we know in spirit, and not let it get set in the cement of our carnal minds. It's no wonder there is so much head butting going on, concrete hitting concrete, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon Posted June 16, 2018 Group: Diamond Member Followers: 14 Topic Count: 79 Topics Per Day: 0.02 Content Count: 1,177 Content Per Day: 0.31 Reputation: 826 Days Won: 1 Joined: 10/04/2013 Status: Offline Author Share Posted June 16, 2018 51 minutes ago, Heleadethme said: Gideon, this is a different start to the topic than I was expecting, I must say. I only came here in good faith to talk about a subject that happens to be of particular interest to me right now. But that's ok brother, let me just say this, and then get on with the overall topic. My response to what you said here is that it depends on what a person means by "personal relationship with Christ" (how they view the nature of that relationship) and whether relationship is overemphasized at the expense of other truths. It is not right for example to just accept everything that another person says/believes because of assuming that must be what their "relationship with Christ is teaching" the person. Either the person is speaking the truth or not. If they are wrong in their thinking, then surely it can't be their relationship with Christ that is teaching them to believe something that is wrong....? And if we don't agree with what the person is saying, should we not care enough to engage them rather than dismissing their error as being what their personal relationship with Christ is teaching them...? To assure a person that their personal relationship in Christ must be teaching them just fine, when we know or believe they are in error, surely can't be the right approach....? Anyway I just wanted to try and clarify my thoughts on that. As well as to mention that I have mocked no-one, in case that was in reference to me, and in case any of my posts in the past regarding that had been misunderstood. I have been in places where "personal relationship" with Christ was overemphasized and seen how it led them right to blatant new age thinking and practices. I have cared enough about people to try and caution or help when I feel they might be in danger concerning that, not to mock them, but to try and bring salt and light for their sake. Brother, I have not thought a bad thought about you since the day I arrived here. And I fully agree that it is doctrine that keeps us aligned with truth so that we do not go astray. But doctrine is not life... Jesus is. I see doctrine as the skeleton on which the life of Christ is hung. Without that skeleton of truth to give us form and direction, we will be like spiritual jello, and giving the world an untrue representation of Jesus. Those who simply want the life without the truth can be easily led astray into all sorts of error. But likewise, and far more prevalent in many churches today, we have erred by being content with a form of Godliness but denying the power of it in our walks.... Christ in us. We are told in Ezekiel 36 that the world will know that He is the Lord not by our great theological understandings, nor our nice and tidy doctrines, but by how those truths transferred the nature of Christ into our lives. “And the heathen shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall be sanctified in you, before their very eyes.” Ezekiel 36: 23 It is no coincidence that Ezekiel continues on immediately thereafter in Ezekiel 37 with his vision of the valley of dry lifeless bones. I hope all realize that the words of my post are aimed as much or more so at me than envy here. We have all been raised on doctrinal truths (or errors, for that matter LOL) but have lacked the close joy filled walk of simply abiding in the vine, where walking without slipping is assured and with His character imprinted on our lives. But in the last days to come, the church will not be left in this mess of as you so accurately portrayed it, concrete versus concrete. It is no wonder most in the world do not want what we display to them as accurate representations of Jesus in how we interact with one another. We will go out with joyful praise and love filled hearts. Yes, our “skeletons” will be rightly assembled, and our doctrines will be correct, but on them will be the beauty of holiness in the form of the life of Christ flowing through our veins. Blessings to you, Gids Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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