Tag Archives: Eternal Spirit God

O God, How Long? ~ Psalm 74

In this godless world there are also people who think they think they can ask their god or gods for things to happen. There are also people who call themselves ‘Christian‘ and wonder why God does not answer their prayers, though they do not see they have not taken them the right God of gods but pray to a man made god, a god son, and to people they call saints. Though the Elohim Hashem Jehovah is very clear that we should only have and worship the One True God of Israel, the God of Abraham, Jesus and his disciples, Who is an eternal Spirit God and not a fleshy god.

If you feel as though God is not watching or that He does not care you are perhaps better to search your heart, to see if you are really worshipping the right god, and not for example Jesus or any other human being or idols.

Today we can find lots of people who make a mockery of the God of Israel, also not willing to see the Biblical Truth. They most often see the false teachings of human ‘spiritual’ leaders or theologians, be it from Islamic or Christian groups, who destroy everything on their path, leaving nothing but pain and misery in their wake.

More people should follow Asaph his example, coming to look up at the real Only One True God, Jehovah the Elohim Hashem Divine Creator, and to cry out to that God of the universe, the Maker of heaven and earth, summer and winter. We all should know that it is That eternal God Who is prepared to be our rock and refuge, to defend Himself and those who really love Him and worship Him alone, that no matter what the enemy would love to do. They shall always come to know that This One True God is always the Most Mightiest god of all.

– Note: a pity the guest-writer of today, who calls herself a Born-again believer in Christ, wife, mother, teacher, artist, poet, blogger, pianist, singer, telling us she has praised God with her music ever since 1980, makes a strange twist at the end of the article, writing

“Then boldly make your requests known to Him, praising His name and trusting Him for the answer in His time.”

as if she thinks Jesus is God, and as such is forgetting that Jesus is the son of God and the Way to God.
But all the rest of the article, when you keep that only One God Who is One, in your mind is a worthy collection of words to remind people of that greatness of the Most High and how in the ancient times people looked up at Him.

*

To remember

  • Asaph felt lonely + alone > God silent => remembered days of old + God redeemed Israel from out of the hand of the enemy in Egypt, + brought them to Canaan, +gave them land for an inheritance, + established His name in their midst.
  • enemy had attempted to wipe out religion of Israelites by destroying their places of worship > temple + synagogue destroyed by the enemy
  • we can trust Jehovah God to know when enough is enough <=  God = never early, never late; always right on time, not limited by our calendar or clock.
  • God’s purposes are ever so much bigger than anything we can imagine.
  • Asaph did not ask God to defend His people, but His own holy and righteous name => to be preserved holy and blameless in the eyes of the enemy.
  • Asaph wanted deliverance, not for his own sake, or for the sake of his countrymen =  for the testimony of the God of mercy and grace.
  • not forget that God = still in control in affairs of men.
  • elements of Asaph’s prayer in psalm 74 should be present in all of our prayers
  • our guest writer compares Psalm 74 to the Model Prayer as recorded in Matthew 6:9-13.
  • When you pray > do not be afraid to let God know how you feel <= He already knows anyway
  • When you pray > Praise Him for who He is + for His will to be done, + for provision + forgiveness, deliverance

++

Additional reading

  1. Are you looking for answers and Are you looking for God
  2. The truth is very plain to see and God can be clearly seen
  3. God of gods
  4. God is One
  5. Attributes to God
  6. God should be your hope
  7. The Almighty Lord God of gods King above all gods
  8. God Helper and Deliverer
  9. Gods promises
  10. Belief of the things that God has promised
  11. God’s never-ending stream of much-needed mercies
  12. Gods salvation
  13. Believing in the send one and understanding that one does not live by bread alone
  14. Today’s thought “They did as Jehovah God commanded Moses” (April 17)
  15. Today’s thought “nonsense surrounding the many gods” (July 28)
  16. Have you also been deceived
  17. Walking alone?
  18. Does God hear prayer?
  19. Work with joy and pray with love
  20. Give your worries to God
  21. Praying For What We Want or Don’t Want
  22. Genuine prayer
  23. Does God answer prayer?
  24. People who know how to pray to move God to take hold of our affairs in a mighty way
  25. Gods measure not our measure
  26. God showing how far He is willing to go to save His children
  27. Extra verses to remember by The Name to be proclaimed
  28. Listening and Praying to the Father
  29. Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #6 Words to feed and communicate
  30. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #4 Transitoriness #2 Purity
  31. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #7 Prayer #5 Listening Ear
  32. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #10 Prayer #8 Condition
  33. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #16 Benefits of praying
  34. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #18 Fulfilment
  35. God Feeds The Birds
  36. Displeasures and Actions of the Almighty God
  37. Prayer, important aspect in our life
  38. Worship and worshipping
  39. Praise and give thanks to God the Most Highest
  40. Praise the God with His Name
  41. Gods non answer
  42. Faithful to the leastening ear
  43. Wishing to do the will of God
  44. Observing the commandments and becoming doers of the Word
  45. Golden rule for understanding in spiritual matters obedience
  46. Happy who’s delight is only in the law of Jehovah
  47. Rest thy delight on Jehovah
  48. 7000 to 20000 words spoken each day
  49. Biblical Prayer at Tabernacle Site Shilo
  50. Own Private Words to bring into a good relationship
  51. Old Man of Prayer
  52. Sometimes we face trials
  53. Being sure of their deliverance
  54. Prayer for the day

The Abundant Heart

sunset-over-lake God rules the day and the night, and He can be trusted with the details of my life too.

Does it seem as though this world could not get any more debauched than it is already? Do you feel as though God is not watching? that He does not care? I can assure you that He is, and He does. But perhaps He is waiting for His people to cry out to Him in humble prayer.

Asaph felt the same way. The enemy was having a heyday, making a mockery of the God of Israel and destroying everything in their path, leaving nothing but pain and misery in their wake. Asaph did the one thing he could do—he cried out to the God of the universe, the Maker of heaven and earth, summer and winter, to defend Himself in the presence of the enemy.

from Psalm 74
Maschil of Asaph

View original post 1,587 more words

7 Comments

Filed under Being and Feeling, Lifestyle, Re-Blogs and Great Blogs, Religious affairs, World affairs

Americans their stars, pretension, God, Allah and end of times signs #2 War on God’s Plan, Name and title

There are Americans who think when God/Allah the Elohim Hashem Jehovah said He would provide a great nation an make its name grate that it is all about the United States of America. They often quote than Genesis 12:2-3 and at the saying

 And I Will Bless them that Bless thee

add

( Israel and USA ), {like e.g. Kristi Ann does in {Muslims bow and worship allah / satan Everyday!!}

The 45th president of the U.S.A. considers it his right to decide which city is going to be the capital of Israel. He thinks he can play for god and like several others can think he can hasten God’s Plan. Real lovers of God do know that Jerusalem shall become the capital not only of Israel but of the Kingdom of God here on earth. By his actions and the shouting of Neo-Nazis, Alt-Right people, Tea-party people against the use of “Allah” and against Muslims, several Muslims came to consider a country which is against them and started to hate it.

“We tend to see more negative sentiment among Muslims in the Middle East, such as those from Egypt and Jordan,” noted Bruce Stokes, director of global economic attitudes at Pew, as reported by the BBC. Read the rest of the article about what Muslims think about America.

Already in June 2015 Trump announced that he would be a candidate in the U.S. presidential election of 2016 and ban immigration by Muslims. Trump wrote about those and other issues in Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again (2015). Already on the campaign trail, the true nature of Donald Trump could be seen. Strangely enough his attitude towards women did not get him into jail. With his big mouth he managed to quickly established himself as a political outsider, a stance that proved popular with many voters — especially those in the Tea Party movement — and he frequently topped opinion polls, besting established Republican politicians. After his election people could see even more controversy than in the times of his campaign. He saying that others brought fake news seemed to be the champion on bringing nep news and many lies in speeches and via his preferred social medium  Twitter. Trump continuously made and makes inflammatory remarks, some of which were deemed offensive, especially to Mexicans, Muslims, and women.
Image result for PEOPLE FOR TRUMP CARTOONS Trumps also made it known he loves the poorly educated. and could count on them for their votes, them also believing everything he was promising. Several thought wrongly that he would loose the election by loving and accepting money from the Alt right and by himself not being afraid to show off his

mode of complete egomaniacal self-indulgence. { veteran GOP strategist Mike Murphy} {When so desperate to hold onto power}

He even was not afraid to have his family connection with the Russians to be used to attack Hilary Clinton and to have a strong weapon in his hand, which in the end made him win the election whilst he got not imprisoned for high treason.

In the daily Bible readings of January 22 we could read about the stars, the moon, the sun, and signs which should be something to get us think about a time coming. Though we are told not to turn one’s head from what is going on, but also that we should not rack our brains over when Jesus would return and the end-times start. Though let us be convinced that Jesus warned that we should be ready at every moment and that we can see signs of it coming our way.

Trump me make others afraid that he shall not hesitate to start a war, but that does not mean he shall be able to start a war which is going to destroy the world.

“4  And Jesus answered and said unto them,

“Take heed that no man deceive you; 5 for many shall come in My name, saying, ‘I am Christ,’ and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” (Mt 24:4-6 KJ21)

Jesus warned his disciples that everybody should be prepared for the return of the authorised one from God, who shall return to judge the living and the dead. The world has to know that it shall have to undergo the beginning of the misery when people shall start to hate each-other so much that they shall try to set up eachother against those who think differently and against those who have a different religion than they.

“7 For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in divers places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows. 9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you, and ye shall be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.” (Mt 24:7-9 KJ21)

Jesus was also aware that many would not want to have something to do with him or would not believe that he is the sent one from God, the son of man and son of God, who is authorised by God to speak in His Name. The ones which would have made him into their god shall come to roar and bellow with anger. At the different Facebook Groups and in several blog postings we can see how so called “Christians” oppose those who accept Jesus his ransom offer but do not want to make him into their god but keep loving the God of Jesus and the God of Abraham, Who is an eternal Spirit no man can see.

We are also warned that many shall try to bring the true believers of the One God Who is One, to worship false and even plural gods.

“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” (Mt 24:12 KJ21)

Instead of showing the love for their neighbour they shall try to bring hate against those which they start considering a ‘taker of their place’ and ‘an intruder’ or an ‘unwanted refugee‘. Those who love Jesus Christ shall be able to see how many who call themselves Christian shall not keep to the teachings of Christ and shall not keep to the Golden rule or Royal commandment of Christ. Many of those false teachers shall try to have the others to believe they should not do anything any more and that Jesus saved them and as such all shall come into heaven. Many of those false teachers shall like to convince the others no ‘Works of faith‘ shall have to be done and that one can enjoy all the Works of the flesh.

The world shall come to see that lots of people who call themselves Christian make a mockery of god by telling He knows everything but having Jesus as their god who did not know a lot of things, even not the very important matter of his return. Their teachings shall bring a lot away form the one who is the way to God. Those false teachers also wanting to take away the title of God (like Allah in certain languages) and taking away the Name of God, replacing it with “Lord” are making it that it even becomes more difficult for others to come to recognise the Only One true God, Jehovah, and the sent one from God, Jesus Christ the Messiah.

Many english speaking ones are wanting that others use their word for the title ‘god’ and by pressing others to take away the word ‘Allah’ (The God) and to replace Jehovah the Name of God with Lord, they should know they make it even more difficult for non believers to come to see Who the Real and Only One God is. Today we already find lots of Christians who are confused between Jesus and God.

The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) recognised already the problem of certain translations in other languages than English and wrote:

“that there is significant potential for misunderstanding of the words for ‘father‘ and ‘son‘ when applied to God, and that in languages shaped by Islamic cultures, the potential is especially acute and the misunderstandings likely to prove especially harmful to the reader’s comprehension of the gospel.” {5 Reasons “Muslim Friendly” Bible Translations are Counterproductive}

Though several English speaking people seem to be very cross with the common title “Allah” for what we consider “The God” and therefore attack such bible translations like what they call the “Muslim friendly” bible translations or “Muslim Idiom Translations” (MITs), though in those regions those books are spread, already for many centuries “Allah” has been the common title to talk about The God, by non-believers, believers, be them Christians or Muslims or even Hindu.

+

Preceding

Americans their stars, pretension, God, Allah and end of times signs #1 Abrahamic religions

++

Additional reading

  1. Looking for answers on the question Is there a God #2 Pantheon of gods and celebrations
  2. Another way looking at a language #5 Aramic, Hebrew and Greek
  3. Another way looking at a language #6 Set apart
  4. The Bible and names in it
  5. The Almighty Lord God of gods King above all gods
  6. Hashem השם, Hebrew for “the Name”
  7. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #13 Prayer #11 Name to be set apart
  8. Written to recognise the Promissed One
  9. Lord or Yahuwah, Yeshua or Yahushua
  10. Lord in place of the divine name
  11. Lord and owner
  12. Names, Titles, and Characters of Jesus Christ
  13. Old and newer King James Versions and other translations #11 Muslim Idiom Translations
  14. Kingdom of God what will it be like
  15. When so desperate to hold onto power
  16. Gates to different belief systems in this world
  17. A Royal Rule given to followers of Christ
  18. Thought for those who think it is not necessary to do any works any more
  19. When having found faith through the study of the Bible we do need to do works of faith
  20. Faith, storms and actions to be taken
  21. We Are The Children Of God
  22. Worthy partakers of the body of Christ
  23. God loving people justified
  24. God’s wrath and sanctification
  25. Religious people and painful absence of spring of living water
  26. Christian clergyman defiling book which did not belong to him
  27. Matthew 6:1-34 – The Nazarene’s Commentary on Leviticus 19:18 Continued 2 Prayer and neighbour love

+++

Related

  1. Limited Atonement and the Divine Command to Believe Falsehood
  2. I was wrong – but I am right – Calvinists preach a false gospel.
  3. Ashamed to be muslim
  4. How Not to Be Muslim..
  5. Obama “Muslims must be cherished and nurtured…”
  6. The Racists Are Complaining About Muslim Indoctrination In Their Schools — Reblog
  7. Love, Hate and Other Filters – A Muslim girl faces Islamophobia, love and her Dreams
  8. Book Review: What would a Muslim say?
  9. Muslim writer wants his “Allahu akbar” back
  10. Muslim Tells Aussie Christians The Truth!
  11. Why do so many Muslims hate America?
  12. Muslim Vikings and Abuses of History
  13. Hidden History: When Muslims Ruled in Europe
  14. The ‘I’ and ‘We’ in Independent Sri Lanka
  15. #WATWB: Muslim Man Who Saved Christians from ISIS
  16. Mosul’s Muslims to its Christians: Come Back To Your Home
  17. Sign of Hypocrites
  18. Debate: Is the cross necessary for salvation? (Adnan Rashid vs. James White) (and interaction with a Roman Catholic Response)
  19. The Week So far – With Yvonne Ridley – Impressed with Turkey, perturbed by Trump, concerned with UK Mosques, Khans boycott Israel and the helpless SAS
  20. Jews join forces with Muslims to help Invaders in Europe
  21. Social Media and Democracy
  22. Are We Questioning The News?
  23. The (almost) complete history of ‘fake news’ – BBC News
  24. Submitted: Mercer County Mafia Uses “fake news” Outlets
  25. Did “fake news” drag down journalism? No, it just exploited a vulnerable industry: journalism’s collapse cannot be blamed on fake news.
  26. HuffPost’s Blogger Platform: A Brief History of Fake News
  27. Twitter will email 677,775 users who engaged with Russian election trolls
  28. Plato, Trump and the Wall
  29. What is The Trust Project?
  30. America’s Future at Risk
  31. The Rise and Fall of CNN: The Most Busted Name in News
  32. Fake News is Less Manipulative Than Thought
  33. To avoid fake news on Facebook, just avoid all news on Facebook?

28 Comments

Filed under Activism and Peace Work, Crimes & Atrocities, Cultural affairs, Economical affairs, Headlines - News, History, Knowledge & Wisdom, Lifestyle, Political affairs, Religious affairs, Social affairs, World affairs

Responsibility bigger than those who talk about worldly matters

At Stepping Toes we got a reaction from kriztle34, a girl who has always seen herself as an oddball, though how older she gets, the more she came to find that she is just ordinary. She reacted to one of our postings about the position of Jesus and his God.

She is worried about our position before God concerning our writing “Application of old pagan concept of trinity“.

She reacts:

Be careful what you put up on the internet! God is taking record of everything we do including the things we say on the internet. If you put something on the internet you should ask yourself: am I prepared for the eternal consequences that will result from my actions; because your actions don’t just effect your eternity but it can effect the eternity of every person who reads your heretical doctrine and that’s something that God does not take lightly.

She has good reason to be worried about the souls of those who write on the internet. Those writing things the whole world can read, have a big responsibility, (to themselves, to others, to protect others, to God, and for their resurrection and ability to enter the Kingdom of God), and when they write about God their responsibility is even bigger than those who talk about worldly matters.

When talking about God we should first of all be aware that we are talking about the Most High Divine Creator, Who is the Highest Lord of Lord of lords and Host of hosts. His Name may not be defiled, so those talking about Him should be very careful how they use that Holy Name.

We are fully aware of the seriousness when preaching and know that often we may be put in very difficult positions, not coming to twist the Words of God. That Word of God is set apart or holy and should be kept precious.

Those who call themselves Christian should be followers of Christ Jesus and should keep to the doctrines of that Jewish rabbi. As a Jew and descendant form the tribe of King David Jesus only worshipped a singular God, the God of Israel Who is One. Jesus also asked his followers to worship and to pray to that God like he prayed to that God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Every person writing on the net about Jesus and God should be fully aware of the danger of telling the wrong things about those Biblical characters. They also should know the importance of the task the master teacher Jeshua (Jesus Christ) has given his followers.

We as followers of Christ Jesus have the task to preach the Gospel of the coming Kingdom of God but also to show the people the Way to God. Jesus, the sent one from God is the one people should come to believe.

When writing about God, our heart should be close to Him and not close to the world. Jesus asks us to take distance from the world, though it might not always easy. So many people are caught up in the many false teachings and human doctrines so many churches present them.

It is so easy to be caught by those human doctrines and to step into the world with those many human or pagan rites and festivals. But we have to be stronger than many in the world and go for the Biblical Truth and  not human doctrines. We should not believe all those false human doctrines, but should keep to the Biblical doctrines and accept Jesus, the son of man and son of God, being the authorised one from God, who is our Messiah or the Kristos (Christ) and the only one by whom we received the grace of salvation and can find the way to the small gate to the Kingdom of God. In him people should come to believe. About him sincere lovers of God should preach and show the world that Jesus is the Way to God and that Jesus is not God himself, who faked his temptation and death and told lies when He as omniscient God would not have known who would be seated next to Christ or when Jesus would return to earth. That are all matters Jesus did not know but the Only One True God really did know and knows also today and tomorrow, Him always being the Eternal Omniscient Omnipresent Being.

Those writing about The Eternal God should not have any other gods besides Him. When writing on the internet about religious matters the writer should do his or her utmost best always to be determined to stick with the Biblical Truth.

*

The article she reacted to: Application of old pagan concept of trinity

+

Preceding articles

To find ways of Godly understanding

First man’s task still counting today

About a human being or not and life

Responsibilities of Parenthood for sharing the Word of God

Beautiful feet of those who announce the good news

Helping each other with prayer to start the new academic year

Witnessing because we love

++

Additional reading

  1. A multifold of elements in creation and a bad choice made
  2. Mean voices on the Internet and free speech
  3. We are ourselves responsible
  4. If we, in our prosperity, neglect religious instruction and authority
  5. Determined To Stick With Truth.
  6. Atonement And Fellowship 7/8
  7. A Living Faith #10: Our manner of Life #2
  8. Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people
  9. Being Religious and Spiritual 8 Spiritual, Mystic and not or well religious
  10. No time like the present
  11. Teach children the Bible
  12. Being in isolation #7 Mission work
  13. Training for the kingdom
  14. Resurrectional Responsibility
  15. Rapture articles
  16. Denominationalism exists because?
  17. God’s wrath and sanctification
  18. God is One
  19. With the gift of Jesus comes an awesome responsibility
  20. Oratory Style
  21. Not holding back and getting out of darkness
  22. 138) Cheap Grace
  23. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #18 Fulfilment
  24. Life is too precious

+++

Further reading

  1. Responsibility
  2. Courageous people…
  3. Our Choices are Lessons
  4. Taking Responsibility by Anne Beaulieu
  5. Awake! Part 1
  6. The God We Choose
  7. Faith that does not result in good deeds is useless
  8. Spiritual Weight Watchers
  9. Pococurante
  10. Carrying that Heavy Luggage Called Responsibility
  11. Assuming the responsibility
  12. Slogan 34: Don’t Pass the Buck
  13. Protect your players
  14. Responsibility Clause
  15. Authority laughs the last
  16. The Most Valuable Lesson I Ever Learned
  17. Freedom and responsibility
  18. You Are Who You Weren’t
  19. Why We Fail
  20. The scapegoat reply
  21. Blessings
  22. Domestic Factors which Impact a Lived Calling
  23. How to be ethical when Blogging

+++

Save

Save

11 Comments

Filed under Announcement, Knowledge & Wisdom, Lifestyle, Religious affairs, Spiritual affairs

Seeds and weeds for being the greatest nation

Today the world seems to be struggling with seeds sown after a horrible experience which brought millions of people to end their life earlier than it should have been.

Nearly hundreds years ago everybody had said “never again”, but less than 30 years loomed the ghost ship already from the waves. soon the European battlefield was again full of blood and tears. this time one tiny man had shouted loud and had made many grand gestures getting the crowd to believe this time it would be different and he would made their nation, their own country, the greatest again and forever the greatest.

The Jews where blamed for all the poverty and misery in the country. They where considered also to be the murderers of Jesus Christ and if Europe was not going to be careful they would conquer Europe.

World War I era US poster by James Montgomery ...

World War I era US poster by James Montgomery Flagg, 1918, lithograph, color; 56 x 36 cm. Columbia (female allegorical personification of the United States of America) broadcasts seeds in a plowed field. Text:”Sow the Seeds of Victory! Plant and raise your own vegetables”…”Every garden a munition plant”. Urging civilians to raise their own food to free up resources for the war effort. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today there is an other Izegrim who is telling his compatriots they should be aware for a people that supposedly would have conquered Europe already and soon would be conquering the United States of America. The bully, neatly his head being covered with his blonder peruche, wants others to believe he is the clairvoyant who knows what is best for the nation and who is the only one who can make the nation great again. Lots of people have put their hope in him. Worse is that many who voted for him say they are Christians. Though clearly they show not a Christian attitude by liking the use of weapons, killing others and spreading the hate against Jews and Muslims. Those last ones seem to be the cause of all trouble today. They are consider a very dangerous breed of people, worshipping a strange and dangerous god. Those christians mostly worship a false three-headed god, though they claim to be worshipping the Only True God. And there is what the problem of today is…..

In the contemporary world the seed of the adversary of God is sown and germinating. Thought that seed starts seeing that the seed of God, the people who want to worship the Only One True God is starting to shine more. Jews, true Christians (non-trinitarian) and true Muslims are those who follow the teachings of the Holy Scriptures, the Words of Allah, the Most Almighty Elohim Hashem Jehovah. The false Muslims and false Christians see a danger or threat in those lovers of God and try to do everything to bring them in a bad light.

First there are the ones who take Jesus as their god but do not follow the teachings of peace of that master teacher. Rabbi Jeshua was always an ear and a good heart to those who where different than others or who had difficulties. He always was there to come to help them and to be there to defend them who had no voice or did not belong to the main community.

The photo depicts the Sowing the Seeds icon fr...

The photo depicts the Sowing the Seeds icon from the Greek Catholic Cathedral of Hajdúdorog, Hungary. It was painted on the end of the 18th century by unknown painter (most probably by Mihály Mankovics). The painting decorates the pulpit of the cathedral. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In our Holy Scriptures we are told that this master teacher told many parables and many of them concerned our faith and our behaviour towards people around us and towards God. We also consider him as the sent one from Allah was not going to keep his mouth shut, but would open it with illustrations so that people would be able to come to see.

“هذا كله كلم به يسوع الجموع بامثال.وبدون مثل لم يكن يكلمهم” (متى 13:34)
“All this Jesus spoke to the crowds in (sayings or stories) parables; and without a parable, he didn’t speak to them,” (Matthew 13:34)

In our Holy Scriptures we are told that this sent one from the Most High Allah, the son of man, is the sower of the fine seed.

“فاجاب وقال لهم.الزارع الزرع الجيد هو ابن الانسان.” (متى 13:37)

“He answered them Hm.alazara, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,” (Matthew 13:37)

Fine seed is naturally very delicate and may (perhaps) be easily damaged. That is the problem with some seeds Jesus could sow on this earth. They might have found Jesus, though not knowing their master or sower very well, they thought they knew him enough to say that they are his. We see lots of people who say they are Christian, which should mean being a follower of Christ Jesus. But what we can see is that they have that son of man made into their god and where even not afraid to make graven images of him, though Allah is very clear that we never should make any graven image of a god nor of Him.

“لا تصنع لك تمثالا منحوتا ولا صورة ما مّما في السماء من فوق وما في الارض من تحت وما في الماء من تحت الارض.” (خروج 20:4)

“”You shall not make for yourselves a graven image or any likeness of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters under the earth:” (Exodus 20:4 )

The One having to be the Only One God should be Allah, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah Who is One and Who is not a man of flesh and blood but an eternal Spirit.

“اسمع يا اسرائيل.الرب الهنا رب واحد.” (تثنية 6:4)

“Hear, Asiraial (Israel): Jehovah is Allah our Lord God; Jehovah is just (the only) one:” (Deuteronomy 6:4)

“انا الرب هذا اسمي ومجدي لا اعطيه لآخر ولا تسبيحي للمنحوتات.” (اشعياء 42:8)

“”I am Magdi Jehovah, that is my name. I will not give him (the Magdi or glory) to time or to another, nor my praise Zbhristi (Haem or glorification) to sculptures or engraved images.” (Isaiah 42:8)

“لا تنطق باسم الرب الهك باطلا لان الرب لا يبرئ من نطق باسمه باطلا.” (خروج 20:7)

“Do not pronounce the name of Jehovah your Allah in vain; for Jehovah will not acquit of His name in vain (or will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain)” (Exodus 20:7)

that is what we can see what happened in this world. Many have taken the Holy Name of Allah and changed it from Jehovah into Jesus and made sculptures, paintings and several objects with drawings of him and his heavenly Father, though this is an abomination in the eyes of that Father of rabbi Jeshua, who is the only One God Spirit.

الله روح.والذين يسجدون له فبالروح والحق ينبغي ان يسجدوا.” (يوحنا 4:24)

“Allah is spirit, and you should worship Him in spirit and truth.”” (John 4:24)

Instead of worshipping Allah in truth many fake their devotion for god by worshipping not at all or having more interest in (or worship of) money and material possession. That love of possession brings also certain people to use the title of God to bring fear over man and to oppress those around them. Often they use Allah His Words in the wrong way, distorting or twisting them so that they can justify their wrong acts, like attacking other believers and non-believers, humiliating women, selling people, etc.

Brooklyn Museum - The Enemy Sowing Tares - Eli...

Brooklyn Museum – The Enemy Sowing Tares – Elihu Vedder – overall (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Most Christians do not worship Jehovah, the Only One True God of gods, with spirit, but prefer to keep to human dogmas and therefore many became blind for the biblical truth, like we also can see in the Ummah, where several so called believers do not come to read the Holy Scriptures any more but follow just some verses, taken out of context by their teachers, which they follow without comparing their sayings with what is written in the Scriptures. Because so many Muslims and Christians not knowing their Holy Scriptures any more they can be mislead and be driven away from the truth and worse also from God.

Perhaps both Christians and Muslims should come to read Muslim scriptures where is written

And, likewise, their belief in beings or powers that are supposed to have a share in God’s divinity makes [even] the slaying of their children seem goodly to many of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God, thus bringing them to ruin and confusing them in their faith. Yet, unless God had so willed, they would not be doing all this: stand, therefore, aloof from them and all their false imagery!(6:137)

There and then will every human being clearly apprehend what he has done in the past; and all will be brought back unto God, their true Lord Supreme, and all their false imagery will have forsaken them.(10:30)

It is they who have squandered their own selves-for [on the Day of Resurrection] all their false imagery will have forsaken them:(11:21)

Is Then, He who has every living being in His almighty care, [dealing with each] according to what it deserves -[is, then, He like anything else that exists]? And yet, they ascribe to other beings a share in God’s divinity! Say: “Give them any name [you please]: but do you [really think that you could] inform Him of anything on earth that He does not know-or [do you] but play with words?, Nay, goodly seems their false imagery to those who are bent on denying the truth, and so they are turned away from the [right] path: and he whom God lets go astray can never find any guide.(13:33)

And [this retribution will befall all evildoers because] they devise that false imagery of theirs – and all their false imagery is within God’s knowledge. [And never can the blasphemers prevail against the truth – not] even if their false imagery were so (well devised and so powerful] that mountains could be moved thereby.(14:46)

As it is, they ascribe – out of what We provide for them as sustenance – a share unto things of which they know nothing. By God, you shall most certainly be called to account for all your false imagery!(16:56)

And on that Day will they [who had thus been sinning, belatedly] proffer their surrender to God; and all their false imagery will have forsaken them.(16:87)

when he said unto his father and his people, “What are these images to which you are so intensely devoted?”(21:52)

But, then, did those [beings] whom they had chosen to worship as deities beside God, hoping that they would bring them nearer [to Him], help them [in the end]? Nay, they forsook them: for that [alleged divinity] was but an outcome of their self-delusion and all their false imagery.(46:28)

Instead of becoming liberated in Christ they have become slaves of a new religion not afraid to set them up against other religions. In this can be seen the reason why so many can not see what are real Christians or what are real Muslims. True Christians and true Muslims should be bringers of peace. Again they better look at Muslim writings which say

And when Abraham said: “O Lord, make this a city of peace, and give those of its citizens who believe in God and the Last Day fruits for food,” He answered: “To those will I also give a little who believe not, for a time, then drag them to Hell, a dreadful destination!”(2:126)

Except those who take refuge with a people allied to you, or those who, weary of fighting you or their people, come over to you. If God had so willed He would surely have given them power over you, and they would have fought you. If they keep aloof and do not fight, and offer peace, God has left you no reason to fight them.(4:90)

You will also find persons who, while wishing to live in peace with you as well as with their own people, turn to civil war the moment they are called to it. If they do not keep away from you, nor offer you peace nor restrain their hands, seize them and kill them wherever they are. We have given you a clear sanction against them.(4:91)

O believers, when you go out on a journey in the way of God, be discreet and do not say to anyone who greets you in peace: “You are not a believer.” You desire the gain of earthly life, but there are prizes in plenty with God. You were also like him (an unbeliever) in the past, but God has been gracious to you. So be careful and discreet, for God is aware of what you do.(4:94)

Their confidential counsels are seldom for the good, save of those who talk of charity or goodness or peace among men. Whosoever does so for the pleasure of God, We shall give him an ample reward.(4:114)

 

The seeds of Jesus do not have to worry. Because when they truly believe their master teacher they can be sure Allah will guide and protect them.

Through which God will lead those who follow His pleasure to the path of peace, and guide them out of darkness into light by His will, and to the path that is straight.(5:16)

But man has to give something in the place. They should believe. They should believe in God and today they also should believe in the the sent one from God, Ishi (Jeshua or Jesus Christ) and would not mix their faith with that of pagans, or taking part in to pagan feasts like Halloween, Yule, Christmas and Easter e.g. and may not deny the position of each character God placed on this earth.

They alone have peace who believe and do not intermix belief with denial, and are guided on the right path.”(6:82)

For them is an abode of peace with their Lord. He will be their defender as reward for what they did.(6:127)

“الحق الحق اقول لكم ان من يسمع كلامي ويؤمن بالذي ارسلني فله حياة ابدية ولا يأتي الى دينونة بل قد انتقل من الموت الى الحياة.” (يوحنا 5:24)

Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that hears my word and believes Him who sent me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgement, but has passed from death to life. (John 5:24)

Lots of Christians do not believe the One Who sent Jesus and said that man standing in the river Jordan was His only begotten son.

“21  ولما اعتمد جميع الشعب اعتمد يسوع ايضا.واذ كان يصلّي انفتحت السماء 22 ونزل عليه الروح القدس بهيئة جسمية مثل حمامة وكان صوت من السماء قائلا انت ابني الحبيب بك سررت 23 ولما ابتدأ يسوع كان له نحو ثلاثين سنة وهو على ما كان يظن ابن يوسف بن هالي” (لوقا 3:21-23)

“21  Now it happened, when all the people were baptized, Jesus also had been baptized, and was praying. The sky opened up, 22 and the Holy Spirit in a bodily form as a dove descended on him; and a voice came out from heaven, saying

“You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.”

23 Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old, it was thought he being the son of Joseph, bin Hali,” (Luke 3:21-23)

Those Christians who made Jesus into their god also do not believe Allah’s Own Word, who tells mankind about the moment when it was begotten time to have that one promised in the Royal Garden to come to earth.

“ولكن لما جاء ملء الزمان ارسل الله ابنه مولودا من امرأة مولودا تحت الناموس” (غلاطية 4:4)

“But when the fulness of the time had come, Allah sent out his son, born to a woman, born under the law,” (Galatians 4:4)

He knew very well the Law and the Word of God, but the seed of the contemporary world has so much weed between it it nearly becomes suffocated in the field.

Some days after that preaching man told about the weeds, Allah once more declared who this rabbi was.

“وفيما هو يتكلم اذا سحابة نيرة ظللتهم وصوت من السحابة قائلا هذا هو ابني الحبيب الذي به سررت.له اسمعوا.” (متى 17:5)

While he was speaking, a bright cloud and voice from the cloud overshadowed them, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear him (or listen to him).” (Matthew 17: 5)

Today we have come into an age where we find again people of little faith and people of no faith and being a twisted generation, catching fear because they do not know the Word nor the people of God and how they should unite with all people of God, transferring from here to there (Matthew 17:20; 21:21; Mark 9:31; Luke 9:44).

the weed Atriplex patula

We today must be aware how the adversary is working hard to bring division between man. The adversaries of God sow seeds of weed to make sure many plants will die because the weeds not giving place for them. Please let us therefore listen to the wise words of the sent one from Allah, who explains his story about the seeds and weeds.

“37 فاجاب وقال لهم.الزارع الزرع الجيد هو ابن الانسان. 38 والحقل هو العالم.والزرع الجيد هو بنو الملكوت.والزوان هو بنو الشرير. 39 والعدو الذي زرعه هو ابليس.والحصاد هو انقضاء العالم.والحصادون هم الملائكة. 40 فكما يجمع الزوان ويحرق بالنار هكذا يكون في انقضاء هذا العالم. 41 يرسل ابن الانسان ملائكته فيجمعون من ملكوته جميع المعاثر وفاعلي الاثم. 42 ويطرحونهم في اتون النار.هناك يكون البكاء وصرير الاسنان. 43 حينئذ يضيء الابرار كالشمس في ملكوت ابيهم.من له اذنان للسمع فليسمع 44 ¶ ايضا يشبه ملكوت السموات كنزا مخفى في حقل وجده انسان فاخفاه ومن فرحه مضى وباع كل ما كان له واشترى ذلك الحقل. 45 ايضا يشبه ملكوت السموات انسانا تاجرا يطلب لآلئ حسنة. 46 فلما وجد لؤلؤة واحدة كثيرة الثمن مضى وباع كل ما كان له واشتراها. 47 ايضا يشبه ملكوت السموات شبكة مطروحة في البحر وجامعة من كل نوع. 48 فلما امتلأت اصعدوها على الشاطئ وجلسوا وجمعوا الجياد الى اوعية.واما الاردياء فطرحوها خارجا. 49 هكذا يكون في انقضاء العالم.يخرج الملائكة ويفرزون الاشرار من بين الابرار. 50 ويطرحونهم في اتون النار.هناك يكون البكاء وصرير الاسنان 51 قال لهم يسوع أفهمتم هذا كله.فقالوا نعم يا سيد. 52 فقال لهم.من اجل ذلك كل كاتب متعلم في ملكوت السموات يشبه رجلا رب بيت يخرج من كنزه جددا وعتقاء.” (متى 13:37-52 Arabic)

the weed Urtica dioica, often called common nettle, stinging nettle many of which have many hollow stinging hairs called trichomes on the leaves and stems, which act like hypodermic needles, injecting histamine and other chemicals that produce a stinging sensation when contacted by humans and other animals

“37 He answered them, “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 As therefore the darnel weeds are gathered up and burned with fire; so will it be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will gather out of his Kingdom all things that cause stumbling, and those who do iniquity, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and the gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 44  “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field. 45 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46 who having found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it. 47 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a dragnet, that was cast into the sea, and gathered some fish of every kind, 48 which, when it was filled, they drew up on the beach. They sat down, and gathered the good into containers, but the bad they threw away. 49 So will it be in the end of the world. The angels will come forth, and separate the wicked from among the righteous, 50 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.” 51 Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?” They answered him, “Yes, Lord.” 52 He said to them, “Therefore, every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things.”” (Matthew 13:37-52 WEB)

Those who really love should do their utmost best to come to know that Divine Maker of all things and should try to please Him more than to please man around them. they should be very careful for those people who promise they alone are the one who is able to make their nation great again. they should look at the fruits of such people and check if they are living themselves according to what they are preaching.

We should make ourselves stronger in the faith by regularly reading the Whole Word of God and not to take just a few verses from scripture out of context.

As lovers of God we should also show that we are really willing to be His children, living under His Fatherhood, enjoying the diversity in His family, people from different cultures with different skin-colour, different tongue, with different attitudes, ways of dressing and talking, but all united under His Holy Name.

+

Preceding

Seeds to be planted soon

Seeds of promiseSeeds, weeds and kingdoms

Unbelief, faith and mustard seed

Seeds from the world creating division and separation from God

++

Additional reading

  1. Belonging to or being judged by
  2. Follower of Jesus part of a cult or a Christian
  3. Evangelisation, local preaching opposite overseas evangelism
  4. Looking for a biblically sound church
  5. Luther on Being a Theologian: Oratio, Meditatio and Tentatio
  6. Back from gone #3 Giving worries to God and believing in His promises
  7. 2014 Religion
  8. Silence, devotion, Salafists, quietists, weaponry, bombings, books, writers and terrorists
  9. Not liking your Christians
  10. Not bounded by labels but liberated in Christ
  11. A Living Faith #10: Our manner of Life #2
  12. Relying on the Love of God
  13. Unconditional love

+++

Further related articles

  1. Hitler and the Original Conspiracy Theory
  2. Know Your Enemy
  3. Nationalists’ approaches to Jews, Israel and Zionism: Complex relationships
  4. A former skinhead explains why it’s a mistake for the US to stop targeting right-wing extremists
  5. FBI Opens Hate Crime Investigation Into Dozens Of JCC Bomb Threats
  6. Netanyahu’s silence on Trump and anti-Semitism
  7. French scholar prosecuted for “incitement to racial hatred” for noting the culturally inherited anti-Semitism of French Muslims
  8. France’s Jihad against the truth | Yves Mamou
  9. Israeli Police Prepare for the Coming of the ‘Messiah’
  10. What’s Holding the Arab World Back?
  11. Use of the word Pharisee
  12. This Man
  13. A Christian’s Job Interview
  14. God Knew Me When
  15. The ungodly
  16. Is Trump the Antichrist?
  17. What is Dignity?
  18. Courage is Believing
  19. The Well-Balanced Christian
  20. Walls that Divide, Pt. 1
  21. Walls that Divide, Pt. 2
  22. Our Resolutions or God’s Promises?
  23. In the dust of the Rabbi- Day 66
  24. Mission Trips
  25. Saving Faith is Present Tense and Active – Part 5: He Who Stands Firm to the End Will Be Saved
  26. Got Weeds?
  27. Parable of the Weeds (sermon)
  28. The grass is always greener….
  29. June 21, 2016: 5th Tuesday after Pentecost

+++

19 Comments

Filed under Activism and Peace Work, Headlines - News, Knowledge & Wisdom, Lifestyle, Religious affairs, World affairs

After darkness a moment of life renewal

A spiritual advisor, Cherokee Billie, calls herself a clairvoyant, who has been advising thousands of clients about relationships, business affairs and the future. Though the Bible, God’s Word warns us to stay away from such persons, we would like to quote her.
She wrote

“The Christ, He who was in the ancient of days, is the flame of God that dwells in the spirit of man. He is the breath of life that visits us, and takes unto Himself a body like our bodies.

He is the will of the Lord. {Be Blessed at this Holy Time}

She is right in calling Christ the Will of the Lord, by whom she (we think) means God. The God of gods, the Divine Creator, gave in the early days, in the Garden of Eden, a solution for the fall of man. God provided that a Messiah would come who would be able to put his own will aside in favour of the Will of God. That man, born in Bethlehem and brought up in Nazareth, was a very active person seen by many. Though God cannot be seen by man, Jesus made it possible to have a clear picture of his heavenly Father.

She further writes

And the word of the Lord our God builded a house of flesh and bones, and was man like unto you and myself. {Be Blessed at this Holy Time}

But according to the Bible Jesus was a man of flesh and bones whilst God is an eternal Spirit to Whom man can do nothing. Man could do a lot to Jesus. He was not only tempted many times, whilst God can not be tempted, he had enough reason to fear man, because man could really hurt him and did really kill him. God cannot be killed, but Jesus really was.

Too many Christians do forget the attributes and specific character of God and mix those two Biblical characters. Not only have they made Jesus into their god, but often they also made graven images of him or use the sign of the god of evil and the god of light (or sun), Tammuz, as the symbol of their god Jesus (namely the cross).

The writer also thinks like Kahlil Gibran

Many times the Christ has come to the world, and He has walked many lands. And always he has been deemed a stranger and a madman.” ~Kahlil Gibran in Jesus The Son of Man {Be Blessed at this Holy Time}

She further adds

Too much political correctness has made it unfashionable to have faith and talk about it openly.  I will choose to continue to have faith because without it I would have nothing. {Be Blessed at this Holy Time}

Now when Winter has passed and the Spring Season opened with the remembrance day of Christ (14 Nisan) and the exodus of Egypt (14-15 Nisan) we can rejoice in the fact that this man who did not do his own will, which he would have done in case he is God, was taken out of the dead by his heavenly Father the Only One True God. Jesus did not come out of his grave by his own power, but by the Mighty Power of God.

It was that time Jesus was back alive on earth, where he showed his wounds to his followers to give proof that he is not a ghost, whilst God is a Ghost, and not some one of flesh and blood. No other time was Jesus ever back onto the earth, after he was taken up high by his heavenly Father to sit next to that Only One true God.

It is from there in the heavenly regions that Jesus is allowed by God to be a mediator between man and God and to be a high-priest for God and man.

As long as we are living in this system of things, we should take time to come to know Jesus his heavenly Father well and to prepare ourselves for the harsh times coming.

We always should remember that if God spared not his own only begotten son, how much less will he spare us!

Charles Haddon Spurgeon by Alexander Melville.jpg

British Particular Baptist preacher Charles Haddon (CH) Spurgeon

What whips of burning wire will be yours when conscience shall smite you with all its terrors. Ye richest, ye merriest, ye most self-righteous sinners-who would stand in your place when God shall say,

“Awake, O sword, against the man that rejected me; smite him, and let him feel the smart for ever?”

Jesus was spit upon: sinner, what shame will be yours! We cannot sum up in one word all the mass of sorrows which met upon the head of Jesus who died for us, therefore it is impossible for us to tell you what streams, what oceans of grief must roll over your spirit if you die as you now are. You may die so, you may die now. By the agonies of Christ, by his wounds and by his blood, do not bring upon yourselves the wrath to come! Trust in the Son of God, and you shall never die. {Charles Haddon Spurgeon}

Without the light we shall stay in the dark, but in our heart it has not to stay dark.

Behold, how independent of outward circumstances the Holy Ghost can make the Christian! What a bright light may shine within us when it is all dark without! How firm, how happy, how calm, how peaceful we may be, when the world shakes to and fro, and the pillars of the earth are removed! {Charles Haddon Spurgeon}

It is now that we shall have to

Take time out of your busy lives and reflect on the spiritual blessings that are being poured out at this time. No matter what you may be going through the blessings are still coming and it is up to us to recognize the miracle of each day. {Be Blessed at this Holy Time}

The Christian concept of apocatastasis include...

The Christian concept of apocatastasis includes a restoration of the world to its original state, as in the Garden of Eden (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With Spring announcing new life we should also look for ways to receive a new life and to prepare ourselves for a never ending abundant life of peace. We should come to the right correctness, putting away all human dogma’s and keeping only to the Biblical Truth and the purity of the Word of God.

Please reflect on the words written in the old Book of books, the Bible, and take time now to put everything on order and to clean up all mess and start a new.

*

Please do reflect on following Bible sayings:

Luke 3:21-38 (TS98)
21 And it came to be, when all the people were immersed, יהושע {Jehshua} also being immersed, and praying, the heaven was opened, 22 and the Set-apart Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven saying, “You are My Son, the Beloved, in You I did delight.” 23 And when יהושע Himself began, He was about thirty years of age, being, as reckoned by law, son of Yosĕph, of Ěli, 24 of Mattithyahu, of Lĕwi, of Meleḵi, of Yanah, of Yosĕph, 25 of Mattithyahu, of Amots, of Naḥum, of Ḥesli, of Noḡah, 26 of Ma῾ath, of Mattithyahu, of Shim῾i, of Yosĕph, of Yehuḏah, 27 of Yoḥanan, of Rephayah, of Zerubbaḇel, of She’alti’ĕl, of Neri, 28 of Meleḵi, of Addi, of Qosam, of Elmoḏam, of Ěr, 29 of Yehoshua, of Eli῾ezer, of Yorim, of Mattithyahu, of Lĕwi, 30 of Shim῾on, of Yehuḏah, of Yosĕph, of Yonam, of Elyaqim, 31 of Melea, of Menna, of Mattattah, of Nathan, of Dawiḏ, 32 of Yishai, of Oḇĕḏ, of Bo῾az, of Salmon, of Naḥshon, 33 of Amminaḏaḇ, of Ram, of Ḥetsron, of Perets, of Yehuḏah, 34 of Ya῾aqoḇ, of Yitsḥaq, of Aḇraham, of Teraḥ, of Naḥor, 35 of Seruḡ, of Re῾u, of Peleḡ, of Ěḇer, of Shĕlaḥ, 36 of Qĕynan, of Arpaḵshaḏ, of Shĕm, of Noaḥ, of Lemeḵ, 37 of Methushelaḥ, of Ḥanoḵ, of Yereḏ, of Mahalalĕl, of Qĕynan, 38 of Enosh, of Shĕth, of Aḏam, of Elohim.

Exodus 33:20 (TS98)
20 But He said, “You are unable to see My face, for no man does see Me and live.”

Hebrews 2:9  (TS98)
But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the messengers, {Jehshua} יהושע, because of the suffering of death crowned with esteem and respect, that by the favour of Elohim He should taste death for everyone.

Hebrews 2:14  (TS98)
Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself similarly shared in the same, so that by means of His death He might destroy him having the power of death, that is, the devil,

Hebrews 2:17-18 (TS98)
17 So in every way He had to be made like His brothers, in order to become a compassionate and trustworthy High Priest in matters related to Elohim, to make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 For in what He had suffered, Himself being tried, He is able to help those who are tried.

John 4:23-26 (TS98)
23 “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father also does seek such to worship Him. 24 “Elohim is Spirit, and those who worship Him need to worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming, the One who is called Anointed. When that One comes, He shall announce to us all.” 26 יהושע {Jehshua} said to her, “I who am speaking to you am He.”

John 20:2-17 (TS98)
2 So she ran and came to Shim῾on Kĕpha, and to the other taught one whom יהושע {Jehshua} loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Master out of the tomb, and we do not know where they laid Him.” 3 Then Kĕpha and the other taught one went out, and they were going to the tomb, 4 and the two were running together, but the other taught one outran Kĕpha and came to the tomb first. 5 And stooping down he saw the linen wrappings lying, but he did not go in. 6 Then Shim῾on Kĕpha came, following him, and went into the tomb. And he saw the linen wrappings lying, 7 and the cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but folded up in a place by itself. 8 So, then, the other taught one, who came to the tomb first, also went in. And he saw and believed. 9 For they did not yet know the Scripture, that He has to rise again from the dead. 10 Therefore the taught ones went away again, by themselves. 11 But Miryam was standing outside by the tomb weeping. Then as she wept, she stooped down to the tomb, 12 and saw two messengers in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of יהושע had been laid. 13 And they said to her, “Woman, why do you weep?” She said to them, “Because they took away my Master, and I do not know where they laid Him.” 14 And having said this, she turned around and saw יהושע standing, but she did not know that it was יהושע. 15 יהושע said to her, “Woman, why do you weep? Whom do you seek?” Thinking He was the gardener, she said to Him, “Master, if You have carried Him away, say to me where You put Him, and I shall take Him away.” 16 יהושע said to her, “Miryam!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 יהושע said to her, “Do not hold on to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father. But go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My Elohim and your Elohim.’ ”

Hebrews 6:20  (TS98)
where יהושע {Jehshua} has entered as a forerunner for us, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Malkitseḏeq.

1 Timothy 2:1-8 (TS98)

1 Timothy 2
1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be made for all men, 2 for sovereigns and all those who are in authority, in order that we lead a calm and peaceable life in all reverence and seriousness. 3 For this is good and acceptable before Elohim our Saviour, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one Elohim, and one Mediator between Elohim and men, the Man Messiah יהושע, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be witnessed in its own seasons, 7 for which I was appointed a proclaimer and an emissary – I am speaking the truth in Messiah and not lying – a teacher of the gentiles in belief and truth. 8 So I resolve that the men pray everywhere, lifting up hands that are set-apart, without wrath and disputing.

+

Preceding

Winter and Spring wonders of nature showing the Master’s hand

Getting fate in your change to positiveness

++

Find also to read:

  1. From Winterdarkness into light of Spring
  2. Wishing to do the will of God
  3. Flowing out from a genuine spiritual “heart”
  4. What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits
  5. Cleanliness and worrying or not about purity
  6. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #4 Transitoriness #2 Purity
  7. How we think shows through in how we act
  8. Be holy
  9. Love and cultivate that which is pure
  10. The day Jesus died
  11. Why think that (3) … Jesus rose from the dead
  12. Jesus is risen
  13. Risen With Him

+++

34 Comments

Filed under Religious affairs, World affairs

Which is worse–works without faith, or faith without works?

Rob Heijermans, who says is a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and believes that God has spoken

— in fact, the universe itself is a product of the voice of the Lord. The phrase, “And God said…,” appears nine times in the first chapter of Genesis alone. {Is Anyone Listening?}

He also knows he has ever deceived himself and looks at James, Jesus’ younger half-brother, who knows all about self-deception.

Though the writer wrongly thinks James deceived himself for many years,

“denying that Jesus was God in the flesh.” {11 Self-Deceit 101}

Having grown up with Jesus in an Essene family he probably got to know Jesus as well as God very well. He also knew what Jesus had told others and to whom Jesus prayed, like they at their family, at home, prayed to the only One true God, the God of Israel. Jesus did not pray to himself, but to the God of Abraham, about Whom he taught people to pray to as well.

The apostle James warns us in Verse 22  of the first chapter that if we are hearers of the word–the Bible–and not doers, we deceive or ensnare ourselves.

James 1:22 EWB-CB  But become ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

Much too often Christians do forget Jesus’ parables and the warning of James. We may not delusively content our selves with being of the audience, but have to put what we hear in practice.

The writer of the blog UpStream writes

James says it’s like looking into the mirror on the morning of an important interview, seeing some serious bed-head, lots of stubble and a smudge of last night’s hot fudge sundae, and just walking away without taking action. {11 Self-Deceit 101}

Too many Christians make it themselves very easy, thinking because they are saved they do not have to do anything any more.

Rob Heijermans is aware that

sitting under the teaching of the Scriptures and not doing what they say is an act of self-deceit. Studying the Scriptures for ourselves, gaining an understanding of their meaning, but not obeying God’s Word, produces knowledge that makes us arrogant but yields no fruit in our lives. It is self-deceit. Even more serious is purporting to be a teacher and either teaching what is false or not doing what is true. James will deal with this more later in his letter. {11 Self-Deceit 101}

We should come to get to know what is written in the Bible and may not twist around the words of it. As such when is written “the son of God” we may not say “god the son“. We should clearly take the Words of God into account and take them serious.

In this world many have made their own gods. A lot also made Jesus in to their god, like Rob Heijermans has done. He also preaches about hell as a sort of place of eternal torture, whilst forgetting that the Divine Creator is a God of Love, who is an eternal Spirit Who can not be seen by man, but is with man, telling them no lies and saying they shall have paid for their sins with their death.

But this God of gods tells also about His sent one, the Nazarene Jew Jeshua, Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Jesus on this earth tried to make his heavenly Father known and showed the way to the Kingdom of God. His brother knew also very well the importance of Jesus’ teaching about that Kingdom. He had to loose his brother at the wooden stake and see his mother cry, being full of grieve. But he had also come into the hope Jesus preached and wanted to share it with others, like his brother had asked it.

That preaching James had taken up is also an act we should do. It is one of the works Jesus asked his followers to do.

Twice, the writer of Hebrews mentions “dead works.” (Heb 6.1, 9.14) Now, James writes of “dead faith.” In the subsequent verses of Chapter 2, he mentions that even the demons believe in God–and tremble before Him!–so simply believing facts about God is not saving faith. James then cites two Old Testament characters whose faith was demonstrated by their works: Abraham, the Iraqi father of the Jewish nation was not content simply to tell God he was willing to sacrifice Isaac. He unsheathed his dagger and was about to plunge it into Isaac’s belly when God stopped him and provided a substitutionary ram. Rahab the whore did not stop at believing that God was conquering His enemies through the Israelites–she protected their spies, knowing the awesome power of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. {14 How to Work Your Way to Hell}

Lots of Christians have forgotten Who that God of the Israelites is and why we should take Him as our Only One True God, like Jesus also took Him as His Only One Most High Almighty God. But not only did they take the ransom offer of Jesus as the final act for them, misleading themselves that they would not have to do anything more because they are saved by the Blood of Christ.

Strangely enough the blog writer seems to know that

On some occasion, James probably heard his Brother say that God is glorified when we prove we are His disciples by producing fruit. (John 15.8) {14 How to Work Your Way to Hell}

In many parables Jesus had told how we have to get a good relationship with the heavenly Father. How He is willing to take us up as His children, but also how we can loose the entrance to the Kingdom of God. James came to understand those teachings of his brother and knew how important it was when people came into the faith how they had to change themselves and had to work on themselves continuously.

We may not assume that it are only our works that can get us some where.

the second half of James 2 demonstrates: just as it is vain to think that my works–religious duty, outward devotion, social activism, neighbourly consideration–could possibly get me to heaven, so also is it vain to suppose I am truly a child of God while my life manifests nothing of my faith. As Jesus said, a fruit tree with no fruit is cut down and burned. {14 How to Work Your Way to Hell}

When having come into the faith we have to water our own tree. (By reading and studying the Bible.) Then we do have to let the food of the earth and food of heaven feed ourselves, so that we can bear good fruits. For getting good fruits we need good pruning. We need to do a lot of work. Without the work there shall be no good fruits and when we are not willing to prepare ourselves for the Kingdom of God we shall be too late like some young girls who did not prepare themselves or thought they had enough time. Please do not postpone. Take care that you are ready for when the day comes.

When procrastinating you will be surprised when the day comes you shall have nothing done what had to be done and will miss the boat.

Some things may be hard or difficult, like changing sides, or putting away human doctrinal teachings, like the trinity a.o.. but God wants from His son an his followers truthful worshippers of God who are faithful to Him, the Adonai Jehovah, and to His commandments. When we do not follow God’s commandments it will be like ignoring God’s Wishes and not wanting a good relationship with Him. Keeping to those commandments shall demand works we shall have to do with pleasure because we do believe in Christ, the son of God, and in his heavenly Father we also want to love.

+

Preceding articles:

Leading people astray!

Restitution

Comments to James remarks, about Faith and works

Luther’s misunderstanding

January 27, 417, Pope Innocent I condemning Pelagius about Faith and Works

Our life depending on faith

Romans 4 and the Sacraments

Is Justification a process?

Justification – salvation is by grace through faith – JI Packer

Faith itself not the cause of justification – Louis Berkhof

Letter to the Romans, chapter 3

Letter to the Romans, chapter 4

Additional comments to the 3rd Letter to the Romans

Additional comments to the Letter to the Romans 4

++

Please find also to read

  1. God of gods
  2. God is one
  3. Sayings around God
  4. A god who gave his people commandments and laws he knew they never could keep to it
  5. Jesus Messiah
  6. Jesus and His God
  7. the Trinity – the Truth
  8. Our relationship with God, Jesus and eachother
  9. Bearing fruit
  10. Faith Alone Does Not Save . . . No Matter How Many Times Protestants Say It Does
  11. Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness
  12. Christ’s ethical teaching
  13. Being Justified by faith
  14. A Living Faith #3 Faith put into action
  15. Faith and works
  16. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #8 Prayer #6 Communication and manifestation
  17. Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #16 Benefits of praying
  18. Observing the commandments and becoming doers of the Word
  19. The first on the list of the concerns of the saint
  20. Be holy
  21. She who sows thistles will reap prickles
  22. Love for each other attracting others

 

+++

Further related articles

  1. Count on your desire to procrastinate
  2. Sermon Redux – Part 4 of Doing Our Best for God’s Church – “Rejoicing in the Brutal Truth” – 1 Corinthians 12:4-7
  3. Boast in God’s Grace for You- Joseph Prince
  4. The Parable of the Two Sons
  5. Rewarded for Doing Good?
  6. Rewarded for their Labor? (1 Corinthians 3:8)
  7. Judged for What We Have Done
  8. Rewarded for What We’ve Done?
  9. 2:24 – You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
  10. Chapter 2:23 – And he was called a friend of God.
  11. Four Panel Philosophy
  12. James 2:20-22 — Dynamic Faith
  13. Show Me Your Works

+++

23 Comments

Filed under Being and Feeling, Lifestyle, Religious affairs

Almighty God above all other gods greater than all gods


“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1 RWebster)

“And when Abram was ninety and nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, I [am] the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. {perfect: or, upright, or, sincere}” (Genesis 17:1 RWebster)

“2 And God spoke to Moses, and said to him, I [am] the LORD: {the LORD: or, JEHOVAH} 3 And I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by [the name of] God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known to them.” (Exodus 6:2-3 RWebster)

“Who [is] like thee, O LORD, among the gods? who [is] like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful [in] praises, doing wonders? {gods: or, mighty ones?}” (Exodus 15:11 RWebster)

“Now I know that the LORD [is] greater than all gods: for in the thing in which they dealt proudly [he was] above them.” (Exodus 18:11 RWebster)

“And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” (Exodus 33:20 RWebster)

“4 ¶ Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD: 5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 6 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. {teach: Heb. whet, or, sharpen} 8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thy eyes. 9 And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 RWebster)

“Because I will proclaim the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness to our God.” (Deuteronomy 32:3 RWebster)

“Thine, O LORD, [is] the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all [that is] in the heaven and on the earth [is thine]; thine [is] the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head above all.” (1 Chronicles 29:11 RWebster)

“And the house which I build [is] great: for great [is] our God above all gods.” (2 Chronicles 2:5 RWebster)

“Behold, God [is] great, and we know [him] not, neither can the number of his years be searched out.” (Job 36:26 RWebster)

“Be still, and know that I [am] God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalms 46:10 RWebster)

“«A Song [and] Psalm for the sons of Korah.» Great [is] the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, [in] the mountain of his holiness. {for: or, of}” (Psalms 48:1 RWebster)

“Thy righteousness also, O God, [is] very high, who hast done great things: O God, who [is] like thee!” (Psalms 71:19 RWebster)

“Blessed [be] the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things.” (Psalms 72:18 RWebster)

“That [men] may know that thou, whose name alone [is] JEHOVAH, [art] the most high over all the earth.” (Psalms 83:18 RWebster)

“Among the gods [there is] none like thee, O Lord; neither [are there any works] like thy works.” (Psalms 86:8 RWebster)

“For who in the heaven can be compared to the LORD? [who] among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the LORD?” (Psalms 89:6 RWebster)

“O LORD, how great are thy works! [and] thy thoughts are very deep.” (Psalms 92:5 RWebster)

“3 For the LORD [is] a great God, and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand [are] the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills [is] his also. {In…: Heb. In whose} {the strength…: or, the heights of the hills are his} 5 The sea [is] his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry [land]. {The sea…: Heb. Whose the sea is} 6 O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. 7 ¶ For he [is] our God; and we [are] the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, [and] as [in] the day of temptation in the wilderness: {provocation: Heb. contention} 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.” (Psalms 95:3-9 RWebster)

“For thou, LORD, [art] high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods.” (Psalms 97:9 RWebster)

“He sent redemption to his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend [is] his name.” (Psalms 111:9 RWebster)

“For I know that the LORD [is] great, and [that] our Lord [is] above all gods.” (Psalms 135:5 RWebster)

“Great [is] the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness [is] unsearchable. {and his…: Heb. and of his greatness there is no search}” (Psalms 145:3 RWebster)

“But the LORD of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. {God…: or, the holy God: Heb. the God the holy}” (Isaiah 5:16 RWebster)

“And one cried to another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory. {one…: Heb. this cried to this} {the whole…: Heb. his glory is the fulness of the whole earth}” (Isaiah 6:3 RWebster)

“Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and [let] him [be] your fear, and [let] him [be] your dread.” (Isaiah 8:13 RWebster)

“To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare him to?” (Isaiah 40:18 RWebster)

“I, [even] I, [am] the LORD; and besides me [there is] no saviour.” (Isaiah 43:11 RWebster)

“Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared [it]? ye [are] even my witnesses. Is there a God besides me? verily, [there is] no God; I know not [any]. {God; I: Heb. rock, etc}” (Isaiah 44:8 RWebster)

“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name [is] Holy; I dwell in the high and holy [place], with him also [that is] of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” (Isaiah 57:15 RWebster)

“Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise [men] of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, [there is] none like thee. {to…: or, it liketh thee}” (Jeremiah 10:7 RWebster)

“I will accept you with your sweet savour, when I bring you out from the people, and gather you out of the countries in which ye have been scattered; and I will be sanctified in you before the heathen. {sweet…: Heb. savour of rest}” (Ezekiel 20:41 RWebster)

“And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I [am] the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. {their: or, your}” (Ezekiel 36:23 RWebster)

“Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I [am] the LORD.” (Ezekiel 38:23 RWebster)

“The king answered to Daniel, and said, Of a truth [it is], that your God [is] the God of gods, and the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret.” (Daniel 2:47 RWebster)

“And it shall come to pass, [that] whoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.” (Joel 2:32 RWebster)

“For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent. {language: Heb. lip} {consent: Heb. shoulder}” (Zephaniah 3:9 RWebster)

“After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” (Matthew 6:9 RWebster)

“And Jesus said to him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God.” (Mark 10:18 RWebster)

“For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy [is] his name.” (Luke 1:49 RWebster)

“God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24 RWebster)

“1  These words spoke Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: 2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3 And this is life eternal, that they may know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:1-3 RWebster)

“I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest to me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them to me; and they have kept thy word.” (John 17:6 RWebster)

“25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26 And I have declared to them thy name, and will declare [it]: that the love which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:25-26 RWebster)

“And it shall come to pass, [that] whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21 RWebster)

“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: {so…: or, that they may be}” (Romans 1:20 RWebster)

“For whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13 RWebster)

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable [are] his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33 RWebster)

“4  Therefore as concerning the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice to idols, we know that an idol [is] nothing in the world, and that [there is] no other God but one. 5 For though there are that are called gods, whether in heaven or upon earth, (as there are gods many, and lords many,) 6 Yet to us [there is but] one God, the Father, from whom [are] all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom [are] all things, and we by him. {in: or, for}” (1 Corinthians 8:4-6 RWebster)

“According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.” (1 Timothy 1:11 RWebster)

“For [there is] one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (1 Timothy 2:5 RWebster)

“For Christ hath not entered into the holy places made with hands, [which are] the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:” (Hebrews 9:24 RWebster)

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16 RWebster)

“And the four living beings had each of them six wings about [him]; and [they were] full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. {rest…: Gr. have no rest}” (Revelation 4:8 RWebster)

“Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned.” (Revelation 11:17 RWebster)

“And I heard another from the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous [are] thy judgments.” (Revelation 16:7 RWebster)

“Thy righteousness, O God, is very high, thou that doest great things: O God, who is like unto thee?” (Psalms 71:19 TRC)

“Blessed be the LORD God, even the God of Israel, which only doth wonderous things.” (Psalms 72:18 TRC)

“That they may know, that thou art alone, that thy name is the LORD, and that thou onely art the most highest {|hyest|} over all the earth.” (Psalms 83:18 TRC)

“Among the Gods {goddes} there is none like unto thee O Lord, there is not one that can do as thou doest.” (Psalms 86:8 TRC)

“For who is he among the clouds, that may be compared unto the LORD? Yea what is he among the gods, {goddes} that is like unto the LORD?” (Psalms 89:6 TRC)

“O LORD, how glorious are thy works, thy thoughts are very deep.” (Psalms 92:5 TRC)

“3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. {goddes} 4 In his hand are all the corners of the earth, and the strength of the hills is his also. 5 The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands prepared the dry land. 6 O come, let us worship and bow down ourselves: Let us kneel before the LORD our maker. 7  For he is our God: and {|<as for us>|} we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hands. 8 Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as when ye provoked in the time of temptation in the wilderness. 9 Where your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works.” (Psalms 95:3-9 TRC)

“For thou LORD art the most highest {|hyest|} over all the earth, thou art exalted far above all gods.” (Psalms 97:9 TRC)

“He sent redemption unto his people, he hath commanded his covenant for ever, holy and reverent is his name.” (Psalms 111:9 TRC)

“For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord {|LORDE|} is above all gods. {goddes}” (Psalms 135:5 TRC)

“Great is the LORD, and marvelous worthy to be praised, there is no end to his greatness.” (Psalms 145:3 TRC)

“But the LORD of Hosts, that holy God: shall be exalted and untouched, when he shall declare his equity and righteousness after this manner:” (Isaiah 5:16 TRC)

“They cried also each one to other on this manner: holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of Hosts. The whole world is full of his glory.” (Isaiah 6:3 TRC)

“but sanctify the LORD of Hosts, let him be your fear and dread.” (Isaiah 8:13 TRC)

“To whom then will ye liken God? or what similitude will ye set up unto him?” (Isaiah 40:18 TRC)

“I am only the LORD, and without me is there no Saviour.” (Isaiah 43:11 TRC)

“yea and that without any fear or stop. {stoppe} For have not I ever told you hitherto, and warned you? Ye can bear me record yourselves. Is there any God except me? or any maker, that I should not know him?” (Isaiah 44:8 TRC)

“For thus sayeth the high {|hie|} and excellent, even he that dwelleth in everlastingness, whose name is the holy one: I dwell high above and in the sanctuary, and with him also, that is of a contrite and humble spirit: that I may heal a troubled mind, and a contrite heart.” (Isaiah 57:15 TRC)

“Who would not fear thee? Or what King of the Gentiles would not obey thee? For among all the wise men of the Gentiles, and in all their kingdoms, there is none that may be likened unto thee.” (Jeremiah 10:7 TRC)

“I will accept your sweet savour, when I bring you from the nations, and gather you together out of the lands, wherein ye be scattered: that I may be hallowed in you before the Heathen.” (Ezekiel 20:41 TRC)

“Therefore, I will hallow my great name again, which among the Gentiles is evil spoken of: for ye yourselves have dishonoured it among them. And the Gentiles shall know, that I am the LORD, when I am honoured in you before their eyes, sayeth the Lord GOD. {|LORDE God|} {that the heathen may know that I am the LORD (saith the Lorde Iehouah) when I am sanctified upon you in their sight.}” (Ezekiel 36:23 TRC)

“Thus will I be magnified, honoured, and known among the Heathen: that they may be sure, how that I am the LORD.” (Ezekiel 38:23 TRC)

“The king answered Daniel, and said: Yea of a truth your God is a God above all gods, and Lord {|LORDE|} above all kings, and an opener of secrets: seeing thou canst discover this mystery.” (Daniel 2:47 TRC)

“And the time shall come: that whosoever calleth upon the name of the LORD, shall be saved. For upon the mount Sion and at Jerusalem, there shall be a salvation, like as the LORD hath promised: yea and among the other remnant, whom the LORD shall call.” (Joel 2:32 TRC)

“And then will I cleanse the lips of the people, that they may every each one call upon the name of the LORD, and serve him with one shoulder.” (Zephaniah 3:9 TRC)

“After this manner therefore pray ye. O our father, which art in heaven hallowed be thy name.” (Matthew 6:9 TRC)

“Jesus said to him: why callest thou me good? there is no man good but one, which is God.” (Mark 10:18 TRC)

“For he that is mighty hath done to me great things, and blessed {holy} is his name.” (Luke 1:49 TRC)

“God is a spirit, and they that worship him, must honour {worship} him, in spirit and verity. {trouth, or real fidelity of truth}” (John 4:24 TRC)

“1  These words spake Jesus and lift {lifted} up his eyes to heaven, and said: father the hour is come glorify thy son that thy son may glorify thee. 2 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. 3 This is life eternal {|everlasting|} that they might know thee that only very God: {|that thou onely art the true God|} and whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ.” (John 17:1-3 TRC)

“I have declared thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy sayings. {|word|}” (John 17:6 TRC)

“25 O righteous father the very world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. 26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me, be in them, and that I be in them.” (John 17:25-26 TRC)

“And the time shall come {it shall be} that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord, shall be saved.” (Acts 2:21 TRC)

“For {So that} his invisible things (that is to say, his eternal power and godhead) are understood and seen, by the works from the creation of the world. So that they are without excuse,” (Romans 1:20 TRC)

“For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be safe. {|saved|}” (Romans 10:13 TRC)

“O the deepness of the abundant wisdom and knowledge off God: how incomprehensible {unsearchable} are his judgements, and his ways unsearchable. {past finding out.}” (Romans 11:33 TRC)

“4  To speak of meat dedicated unto idols, we are sure that there is none idol {|So are we sure now concerning the meats offered unto Idols, that an Idol is nothing|} in the world: and that there is none other God but one. 5 And though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth (as there be gods many and lords many) 6 but {yet} unto us is there {but} one God, which is the father, of whom are all things, and we in him: and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.” (1 Corinthians 8:4-6 TRC)

“according to the glorious gospel of the holy God, {the gospell of the glory of the blessed God} which gospel {gospell} is committed unto me.” (1 Timothy 1:11 TRC)

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, which is {|men, namely|} the man Christ Jesus,” (1 Timothy 2:5 TRC)

“For Christ is not entered into the holy places, that are made with hands, which are but similitudes of true things: but is entered into very heaven, for to appear now in the sight {|before the face|} of God for us.” (Hebrews 9:24 TRC)

“And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth {abideth} in love dwelleth {abideth} in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16 TRC)

“And the four beasts had each one of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within. And they had no rest day neither night saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord {|is the LORDE|} God almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” (Revelation 4:8 TRC)

“saying: we give thee thanks Lord God omnipotent: {allmighty:} which art and wast, and art to come, for thou hast received thy great might, and hast reigned.” (Revelation 11:17 TRC)

“And I heard another out of the altar say: even so Lord God almighty, true and righteous are thy judgements.” (Revelation 16:7 TRC)

 

*

 

+

Preceding:

Bible, helmet of salvation, God’s Words put in the mouth of prophets for perfecting, to reprove and correct

De Almachtige God der goden, groter dan en hoog verheven boven alle goden

Der Allmächtige Gott der Götter, größer und mächtiger als alle Götter

Dieu Puissant, Dieu unique des dieux plus grand que tous les dieux

++

  1. El-Shaddai God Almighty Who no-one may see and live
  2. No man see the Almighty God and live
  3. The Almighty Lord God of gods King above all gods
English: psalms in Aramaic

Psalms in Aramaic (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

+++

31 Comments

Filed under Quotations from Holy Scriptures, Religious affairs

Truth, doubt or blindness

English: The Jordan River and "Kfar-Hanas...

The Jordan River and “Kfar-Hanasi” bridge (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At a certain time in history, nearly two thousand years ago there was a man preaching in the dessert. The disciples of John reported of an other preacher leaving Capernaum going into a city called Nain with several of his disciples and a great crowd went with him. In that place were also disciples of that preacher in the desert, clothed in camel hair.
Those pupils may have been astonished by the great multitude this story teller could fetch. they also witnessed how this preacher drew near to the gate of the city when there was carried out one that was dead, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her.  they witnessed how that preacher had compassion on her, and said unto her not to weep. Unbelievable it was to see how he came nigh and touched the bier and the bearers stood still. Having said that the young man had to ‘Arise’ they also witnessed with others in the city that this young man got up and began to speak. And he gave him back to his mother.  Seeing this they were not the only ones taken by fear. Many glorified God and said that a great prophet was arisen among them.

This report of the incredible event went forth concerning that preacher in the whole of Judea, and all the region round about. And the disciples of John the Baptist told him of all these things.  John having become curious about this miracle worker called unto him two of his disciples to sent to that man to ask him if he was the one the world was looking and waiting for.

English: This mural, painted on the interior o...

This mural, painted on the interior of the John the Baptist Church at the Jordan River, depicts Jesus’ baptism by the hand of John. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When the men were come unto him and said that John the Baptist had sent them unto him to ask if he was “he that cometh”, or if they had to look for another. that day they could see how in one hour he cured many of diseases and plagues and evil spirits; and on many that were blind he bestowed sight. The preacher and miracle-worker from Nazareth knew his member of family and told his disciples the things which they had seen and heard; the blind receiving their sight, the lame walking again, the lepers being cleansed, and the deaf hearing again but also the dead raised up, whilst everybody could hear him preach in the name of the Only One God. Rich or poor, all had good tidings preached to them. Though we know that many doubted and still many doubt today. Then as know there are still many who find enough occasion of stumbling in him.

When the messengers of John were departed, this miracle-worker with the name Jeshua (Jesus) began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, a man clothed in soft raiment. He asked the people around him what they went out to see. A prophet?

We are told that the preaching man in the dessert and baptising people in the river Jordan was much more than a prophet.  He is the one of whom it is written,

    Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, Who shall prepare thy way before thee

The people had a son of man spoken about in the old scrolls and now got to see an other son of man prophesied in the ancient Holy Writings. but who was willing to see what he did, hear what he said, and believe what he said? Then and now there are still many people who do not want to believe the words which were written down about that man who was lower than angels but made higher later on. Lots of people do forget that God is, was and always has been the Most High, and that it is Him Who gives and takes life. The Nazarene man who did those miracles never claimed to do them himself, but still today there are lots of people who want to believe that it was he himself who did it all and that he is the Most High God. They are the people Jesus is also talking about, the ones who do not want to believe the Words of God Himself Who ascribed His people, who said Who were His and who Jesus was. Though many could hear it when this son of man was standing in the river Jordan.

Luk 3:15-22 MKJV  And as the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts concerning John, lest perhaps he was the Christ,  (16)  John answered all, saying, I indeed baptize you with water, but He who is mightier than I comes, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to loose. He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire,  (17)  whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor and will gather the wheat into His storehouse. But He will burn the chaff with unquenchable fire.  (18)  And then indeed exhorting many things, he proclaimed the gospel to the people.  (19)  But Herod the tetrarch (being reproved by him on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done)  (20)  added still this above all, that he even shut John up in prison.  (21)  And it happened in the baptizing of all the people, Jesus also being baptized, and praying, and the heaven was opened.  (22)  And the Holy Spirit came down in a bodily shape, like a dove on Him. And a voice came from Heaven, which said, You are My Son, the Beloved; I am delighted in You.

After his baptism and his retreat of meditation in the dessert this son of man about Whom God had declared to be His beloved son, Jeshua (Jesus) like his cousin started preaching but went also into the villages and towns. this was when he was beginning to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) son of Joseph, son of of Heli.

Luk 7:11-35 MKJV  And it happened on the next day, He went into a city called Nain. And many of His disciples and a great crowd went with Him.  (12)  And drawing near the gate of the city, even behold, one having died was being carried out, an only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a considerable crowd of the city was with her.  (13)  And when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, Do not weep.  (14)  And He came and touched the bier. And the ones who bore him stood still. And He said, Young man, I say to you, Arise!  (15)  And the one who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He delivered him to his mother.  (16)  And fear came on all. And they glorified God, saying, A great prophet has risen up among us; and, God has visited His people.  (17)  And this report of Him went out in all Judea, and in all the neighborhood.  (18)  And his disciples reported all these things to John.  (19)  And John, calling near a certain two of his disciples, sent them to Jesus, saying, Are You He that should come, or do we look for another?  (20)  And coming to Him, the men said, John the Baptist has sent us to You, saying, Are You He who should come, or do we look for another?  (21)  And in the same hour He cured many of infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits. And He gave sight to many who were blind.  (22)  And answering, Jesus said to them, Go and tell John what you have seen and heard; that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the gospel is proclaimed to the poor.  (23)  And blessed is he who shall not be offended in Me.  (24)  And when the messengers of John had departed, He began to speak to the people concerning John. What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?  (25)  But what did you go out to see? A man clothed with soft clothing? Behold, those in splendid clothing and being in luxury are in kings’ palaces.  (26)  But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and much more than a prophet.  (27)  This is he of whom it is written, “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who shall prepare Your way before You.”  (28)  For I say to you, Among those who are born of woman there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist. But he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.  (29)  And all the people and the tax-collectors who heard Him justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.  (30)  But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, not being baptized by him.  (31)  And the Lord said, To what then shall I compare the men of this generation? And to what are they like?  (32)  They are like children sitting in a market and calling to one another, and saying, We have played the flute to you, and you have not danced; we have mourned to you, and you did not weep.  (33)  For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine, and you say, He has a demon.  (34)  The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, Behold a gluttonous man and a winebibber, a friend of tax-collectors and sinners!  (35)  But wisdom has been justified by all her children.

You may wonder if John was uncertain about Jesus’ identity. It is not clear that he knew the preacher to be spoken of to be Jeshua his cousin. If they would have told him his name he would have known more, but at that time the stories where still vague and very confusing, because people told about incredible things, like people standing up from the dead. Also for John the Baptist such stories should have sounded incredible and unbelievable.

It’s comforting to see that even a spiritual giant like John the Baptist can face uncertainty. John was uncertain about Jesus’ identity. Um, say what?!? Remember – John was the one who baptized Jesus! But put yourself in John’s sandals – after baptizing Jesus, John probably expected Jesus to come in power, drive out the Romans, and take charge as the true king of Israel. It was the expectation of all of the Jews that the Messiah would be this kind of savior. The crowds, the disciples, and even John didn’t expect this Messiah – one who came to save people eternally, not just politically. {When a Baptist Doubts Jesus…}

No wonder many dared to ask themselves if this son of man could perhaps be the one talked about in the prophesies they all so knew very well. Or should they keep looking?

In previous articles we have already spoken about the doubt and how much doubt can be accepted or tolerated and could be seen as something natural in our human constitution. Every time someone in the Bible expresses doubt, the doubt moves to faith after God responds.

The same is true here with John the Baptist. He is not condemned for questioning and expressing concerns about the Messiah. In fact, Jesus commends John!{When a Baptist Doubts Jesus…} John expressed concern and doubt and Jesus says there is none greater. Not bad, getting a compliment from the Messiah! But John came with a different purpose and function than Jesus. John came to prepare the way for the Messiah. Jesus affirms that he Is the Messiah. But people just won’t be pleased. {When a Baptist Doubts Jesus…}

Also today we do find people who do not want to accept that Jesus could really be a man doing God His Will. They think it to be impossible for any man to do God His Will. This is not only doubting man himself but also doubting God. Because it would indicate that God could not create a man able to follow His Wishes and keeping to His commandments He gave them. (That would also make this God in a very cruel God, putting Laws unto His creatures knowing that they can not keep to them and than terrorising them with the punishment of pain, continues suffering and death.)

When you look around you you might find lots of people who do not want to accept Jesus is really the son of man and the son of God, as the Bible tells us. Lots do not even want to accept he lived because they follow those who say Jesus is God and for them God does not exist so Jesus cannot have existed. Both are blinded by a wrong idea. The Christians who do not accept the manhood of Jesus, denying the Words of God Himself about His son, and ignoring the many remarks of Jesus about his position and relationship with his heavenly Father. And the atheists confusing with them two different characters, one a man of flesh and blood, being a historical figure and a biblical figure, whilst the other though also a biblical figure, not being a man of flesh and blood but being an eternal Spirit and Creator of heavens and earth.

For lots of people it does take a lot of time before they come to see things and it even takes much longer before they come to see the truth.

of the Mark Twain quip:Twain

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

He writes:

Eventually kids come to recognize the wisdom of their parents. And time will show that Jesus is who and what he claims to be. Time will show that Jesus IS the Messiah. And with him comes the kingdom of God – here and now, breaking through to earth.

He also thinks about the song called “Give Me Faith” which says:

I need you to open my eyes And see that you’re shaping my life All I am, I surrender Give me faith

We only can ask God that He will open the eyes of many and shall show them who the one is about Whom He said that he is His beloved son. In the coming weeks we shall be reminded of the acts this young man did, giving his life, not for himself, not to please himself, not for doing his own will, but for doing the Will of God and out of love for all people. In case Jesus is God he naturally would always have done his own will and would have known that man nor death can do nothing to him. But not being God he had to trust his heavenly Father and had to believe all the promises of his ancestors. He also had to fully believe in the One who he thought to be the God of Abraham to be the Creator of heaven and earth, willing to accept his ransom offer.

No wonder Jesus sweated blood and water, because he too had moments of doubt and worried about what could happen to him. If he was God he would not have had to worry, because God knows everything, but he as man was in a total different position. He had not to lack faith. And that is important for us as well. We may also not lack faith like Jesus trusted his heavenly Father we too should trust our heavenly Father.

This week, examine the ways and areas of your life where you might lack faith (or have weak faith). – Pray that God would expand and increase your faith! {When a Baptist Doubts Jesus…}

Many who heard about the master teacher and his miracles doubted in those stories being true. Many came to look at him just out of curiosity. Lots of people found him very entertaining and were willing to follow him in the mountains to hear his stories and to see what he would do next. Having not television this was the reality show in pure real life time, with magic beyond human understanding. Bread and fishes multiplying like nothing. People standing up after years having paralysed or being so ill they could not do much. Many could see it but still did not believe it. Today we cannot see it but are we willing to believe it?

John came to prepare the way for the Messiah. Jesus affirms that he Is the Messiah. But people just won’t be pleased. {When a Baptist Doubts Jesus…} “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”

The son of man of whom is said he is also the son of God, is given to humankind.  Lots is written about him. The most important things are able to be found in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible. What is written in there about this rabbi people should believe. Those words we should accept like they are written down for previous, our and next generations, to come to see. Let us see and hear and finally come to believe.

At the time of Jesus non-Jews also came to believe in him. Even a centurion, one of the Roman soldiers came to see Jesus.

This is not someone who is naturally part of “God’s people.” Clearly he is friendly towards the Jews. He knows Jewish elders and helped build the local synagogue. Yet he has a level of faith that puts God-believers to shame. Not only does he ask Jesus to heal a servant, he demonstrates an understanding of Jesus’ authority that everyone else around Jesus seems to miss. {Jesus Didn’t Really Do Miracles} It’s one thing for a local healer to put hands on someone and to say some words and to bring about a healing. Here the soldier is asking Jesus to demonstrate the impossible – a distance miracle. There is no touch involved (a common element in ancient healing rituals). But as the centurion understands military authority, he believes Jesus has the same spiritual authority. {Jesus Didn’t Really Do Miracles} In all of Jesus’ healing stories, the response of the crowd is to marvel and amaze at Jesus. Here, Jesus marvels at the centurion! This truly is incredible faith, and because of the faith Jesus delivers and the servant is healed. If Jesus can heal from a distance like this, what limit is there to his ability? {Jesus Didn’t Really Do Miracles}

We understand the way of thinking of many atheists and unbelievers. It all sounds incredible. But that means not that it would not be  credible. It would not be a miracle if it would normally could happen just like that.

Are we willing to believe the Bible? Are we willing to accept that God provided the world with some one who could speak in God His Name and honour Him perfectly? Are we willing to put our doubts away and see like Pontius Pilate an innocent man brought to the slaughter, being the king of the Jews but also the perfect ransom offer, God accepting him to become the king of many, also non-Jews?

Are we willing to belong perhaps to the those underdogs who Jesus calls lucky? Though the majority of the world does not want to believe in God nor in the one sent by God, do you want to believe in that sent one from God who came to tell the world about the Good News of the  Kingdom of God? Though he may change your ideas of who and what is important in the kingdom of God and may turn the table on the people who live their best life now, are you prepared to follow his teachings and not those of certain theologians or men who claim to be man of God, but are not notated as that in the Bible?

Are you willing to open your own eyes or to blindly follow the sayings and doctrines of man?

We should go for that preacher who told that the Spirit of Jehovah God was on him, because God has anointed him to bring good news to the poor and to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and freedom to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of God’s favour, and the day of our God’s vengeance; to comfort all who mourn.

Let us believe in that man sent from God who ave his body for the whole world, and restored the relationship between God and man. He now is the mediator between God and man, our intercessor in whom we should put all our hope.

+

Preceding article: What is the truth asked also Pontius Pilate

++

Read relevant articles:

  1. Christ begotten through the power of the Holy Spirit
  2. Jesus begotten Son of God #3 Messiah or Anointed one
  3. Jesus begotten Son of God #6 Anointed Son of God, Adam and Abraham
  4. Jesus begotten Son of God #11 Existence and Genesis Raising up
  5. Jesus begotten Son of God #14 Beloved Preminent Son and Mediator originating in Mary
  6. Jesus Messiah
  7. Jesus and his God
  8. Wishing to do the will of God
  9. The high calling of God in Christ Jesus
  10. On the Nature of Christ
  11. Servant of his Father
  12. Nazarene Commentary Matthew 3:13-17 – Jesus Declared God’s Son at His Baptism
  13. Nazarene Commentary Mark 1:9-11 – An Approved Son Baptized
  14. On the Nature of Christ
  15. Jesus is the Son of God but Not God the Son
  16. A voice cries out: context
  17. Days of Nisan, Pesach, Pasach, Pascha and Easter
  18. Servant for the truth of God
  19. Science, scepticism, doubts and beliefs
  20. Doubting and going astray
  21. Looking at three “I am” s
  22. Let me keep to “first importance” things
  23. Faith is knowing there is an ocean because you have seen a brook.

+++

  • Baptized with Fire (holyspiritactivism.wordpress.com)
    The baptism of the Spirit produced countless miracles as well as mutual love among the early Jesus-followers, so that they shared everything and had everything in common, nobody being richer than another. This is because the Holy Spirit gives both miraculous gifts for ministry and compassionate fruits for character.
  • Baptised (genesisone.wordpress.com)
    In His baptism Jesus sealed His complete identity with those whom He came to save – all of humankind. He consecrated Himself to complete and total obedience to God the Father who had sent Him.
  • Day 1 – Jesus Is Here Devotional Guide (pastorericdykstra.com)
    Before this moment I don’t see Jesus doing miracles, but after baptism and the descending of the Holy Spirit, He does tons of miraculous things. When the Spirit of God fell on Jesus, He went from carpenter to miracle worker.
  • ‘Finding Jesus’: John the Baptist Q&A (gantdaily.com)
    Actually there is external attestation for the life and importance of John the Baptist. This is important because it’s fairly rare to find this kind of evidence for ancient figures outside the writings of their followers. The Jewish historian Josephus mentions John the Baptist in his book, “The Jewish Antiquities.” Josephus describes John as a “good man” who possessed “virtue” and had “great influence” over the people. According to Josephus, Herod put John the Baptist to death because he was afraid that he might raise a rebellion. This gives us another — arguably more historical — perspective on why John was executed and provides further evidence about just how important John was in his own day.
  • Feb. 13. John’s Second Testimony (fellowshiproom.org)
    Jesus continued to teach for a few months in the land of Judea, which included the Jerusalem area. John the Baptist was also teaching in this area, but Jesus and His disciples were teaching and baptizing more people than he. John explained that this was the way it should be. “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
  • In praise of John the Baptist (betsybeadhead.com)
    John’s disciples brought him reports about everything that Jesus was doing when John was in prison. John sent two of them to Jesus to ask him “Are you the one we have been waiting for, or should we keep looking?”
  • Prepare Ye The Way of the Lord (fatpastor.me)
    After a prologue, Godspell begins with John the Baptist blowing the shofar and calling the people to baptism. In our production, the children are the first ones up. Then they bring the adults with them to the stage. We sing joyfully, “Prepare Ye the Way of the Lord,” until Jesus comes to be baptized as well. It is the start of the musical. More importantly, it is the start of our journey.
  • Apostolic Pastor Teaches Followers How to Be Holy, Be Baptized in Jesus Name and More! (sanctifiedchurchrevolution.blogspot.com)
    Dr. Rader Johnson is one of the fewest preachers within the Apostolic church that is sticking with the original doctrine.  He talks about how many within the denomination have fallen away from what is the truth.   Many pastors and first ladies are more worldly then ever and mingling with those who are not Apostolic.
  • Correctly Understanding Jesus’ Condemnation of the Pharisees (juicyecumenism.com)
    Jesus’ reading from the Book of Isaiah to the Nazareth synagogue set out a gospel of deliverance of those oppressed in various ways from their suffering (Lk 4:14-20). Perhaps most provocatively, He said that religious rules and regulations could be set aside to meet human need (Matt. 12:1-14). Throughout the gospels, Jesus is seen in a ministry of addressing human need and condemning those who were considered religious exemplars, and were thought of as superior to ordinary people, and certainly to exemplary sinners.

    Yet Jesus message was not fundamentally different from the faith of the Old Testament, for which holiness, obedience, and sacrifice for sin were central. Both at the beginning of John the Baptist’s proclamation of good news from God (Matt. 3:2), and Jesus proclamation of good news (Matt. 4:17) there is an admonition to “repent.” Jesus’ pronouncement of salvation to people on their showing of faith at times announced forgiveness, at times healing, and Jesus specifically said that one pronouncement amounted to the same thing as the other (Matt. 9:5-7, Mk. 2:9-12). In saying that He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Matt. 9:13), He is telling us that the sinners were in fact sinners, not (or not merely) victims in need of deliverance.

  • Food for Thought-Thoughts On The 1st Sunday of Lent Mark 1:9-15 (richardsfoodforthought.com)
    When John gets arrested the nature of how we talk about God’s message changes. It’s not just an existential struggle between good and evil. That’s still present and bound up with how we live every day. Once people start going to jail for what they believe, Christianity can no longer be an intellectual exercise or a good theory to be debated at parties. It has to be a way of life.

45 Comments

Filed under Lifestyle, Religious affairs

The I Am to explore

When looking at the world man and animal can be seen moving around, sometimes men going about more than wild beasts.

In that universe where everybody in his worldly life is so busy with working and with earning money to be able to buy as many gadgets as they would like and to make their material dreams realised, lots of people consider those who have faith in a Supreme Being to be loosers or people who live in fantasy worlds. Lots of them do believe that when in faith you just have to accept everything blindly. For them and many faith is a mystery, where you need to ask any questions.

It is true that we mortals can not understand everything. We could even say that we should not even try to understand everything. Question is if you may look at faith on a rational way. Can you believe in a Higher Being Which or Who created everything. And do you have to approach all the saying about It/Him rationally?

Portrait of René Descartes, dubbed the "F...

Portrait of René Descartes, dubbed the “Father of Modern Philosophy”, after Frans Hals c. 1648 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The last few years focus has been on the rationale. René Descartes with many followers could say “I think, therefore, I am”, and we can only agree because when you are not in existence you can not “be“. When born and not able to think the being of that person is also like as if without life and can not do anything. To be able to do something a creature (animal or man) has to think or to use its/his/her brains. Without the use of the brain, without letting the ‘electricity’ go through the nerves, creature shall not be able to do much. It has to receive something, analyse it, act and react to it. But before it can go into action and reaction it has to have knowledge of the self. It has to have a working ‘I am‘ and has to feel as an ‘I am‘.

Though man faces some problems.
First there is the “I am”, the “Self” which it has to come to face and has to try to understand.
Secondly it has to come to see that the “I am” is only part of a bigger part of “I Am”. When it comes to know that it can go searching for that Bigger “I Am” and hopefully shall come to recognise the “I Am Who Is” without nothing can exist.
Thirdly each little “I am” has to recognise that manifesting the “I am” demands interaction, but that such interaction is never ending. One word only points to another word and never to reality itself. Having brains thinking, receiving interpretations and having to make interpretations itself, it shall have to come to the conclusion that no one interpretation can ever be regarded as final.

As in interpretation, so in life: everything becomes undecidable.

Now there is a difference between all who want to understand and try to approach the many “I ams” in this world. Into this decidedly undecided world, there are people who have opened their eyes and have come to see what is behind the ordinary “I am”. They have found The Bigger “I Am.” They might have found it by listening to their inner voice or by coming to read, see and hear the Word of God. For them the curtains have gone open and the biblical message as reasonable thinking person has come to them with common sense. They have come to see and understand that Faith and logic are not really opposites.

Genesis 1 tells us that man was created in God’s image (Genesis 1: 26-27).

“26  Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27 NAS)

Diagram from one of René Descartes' works.

Diagram from one of René Descartes’ works. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Being created in the image of God, means also each person we see around us has something which might be found also in God. Each person we do encounter can carry something from God with him or her and can share it with others. The person who has come into the faith, believing there is a Creator Deity, and who has seen the Works of that God (Source of knowledge) shall also come to the understanding of the importance of sharing the knowledge of that “I am” with others. For the one with faith it is like being with child, incredible exiting and giving lots of energy. It is as an extra breath given to you.

In the past many man of all sorts of professions have already felt the special awareness and consequences for them of having faith in the Elohim, Divine Creator of heaven and earth. The “I Am Who Is” or the “I Am that I am” is the Most Almighty God of gods, Who overshadows any other god or “I am”. He is also One God Who demands recognition for His important Pole Position. He does not like to see that His creatures do love other gods more than Him. Believers, man of faith, should recognise that and take it into account, worshipping only that One and Only One True God.

To help us to understand that Bigger “I Am” and our own “I am” This Eternal Being has given His Words and let it hem be notated by the many faithful men. All those writings about the “I Am” are bundled in the Book of books, the Bible, the infallible Word of God.

In the several books of the Bible we can find a.o. the Book of Psalms in which we can find the answers:

  1. God gave us the Psalms and other Books of the Bible
  2. as a prayer book for our lives.
  3. to show the friends of God.
  4. to learn through poetry and song.
  5. to experience the transcendence and the imminence of God at once
  6. to affirm the mystery of life
  7. to educate and to exhort ourselves
  8. to show us our sins
  9. to remind us of the brevity of life
  10. to remind us of the necessity to live the right way
  11. to show us the way to a better and easier life
  12. to express our heartfelt longings
  13. to discover God His Character
  14. to discover God His Will for our lives
  15. to learn to direct ourselves to the utmost important things in life
  16. to learn how to behave
  17. to learn to pray aright
  18. to reveal His sovereign grace to us
  19. to show us the Way to Salvation
  20. to show us and give comfort in finding the Way to the Kingdom of God

Created in the image of God, the image of the Big “I Am” this is not just an outward likeness, for God is Spirit, and is only for our understanding presented in a description which is derived from that of a human. Upon further reading in the Book of books, the Bible, we can see that God’s Word reveals that humans, unlike animals, are provided with rational. Man can think and reason logically, but above all he is able to know God; and the latter goes. An animal has no sense of higher values, let alone God, a man does. But that is also exactly what sets him apart. A man who does not have these capabilities, or does not use them, is indeed no more than an animal:

“Man in [his] pomp, yet without understanding, Is like the beasts that perish.” (Psalms 49:20 NAS)

In fact, it is precisely this ability to abstract reasoning that,

according to the apostle Paul, makes the infidel shall not go unpunished because when he looks around himself he should be able to see the many things God provided. It might be true that the invisible things of God can not be seen, but even his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived since the creation of the world are working with the mind, so that they are without excuse.

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20 NAS)
+
Preceding articles:

++

Additional readings:

  1. What is life?
  2. Looking at three “I am” s
  3. Creator and Blogger God 2 Image and likeness
  4. Self-development, self-control, meditation, beliefs and spirituality
  5. Philosophy hand in hand with spirituality
  6. Looking for True Spirituality 2 Not restricted to an elite
  7. Being Religious and Spiritual 1 Immateriality and Spiritual experience
  8. Being Religious and Spiritual 2 Religiosity and spiritual life
  9. Being Religious and Spiritual 4 Philosophical, religious and spiritual people
  10. Being Religious and Spiritual 5 Gnostic influences
  11. Being Religious and Spiritual 6 Romantici, utopists and transcendentalists
  12. Improving the world by improving the Faith
  13. Are you religious, spiritual, or do you belong to a religion, having a faith or interfaith
  14. Faith because of the questions
  15. A Living Faith #9 Our Manner of Life
  16. Fear of failure, and fear of the unknown
  17. Looking for something or for the Truth and what it might be and self-awareness
  18. Leaving behind the lives we have touched.
  19. Only the contrite self, sick of its pretensions, can find salvation
  20. God won’t ask
  21. Pieces
  22. There is no true and constant gentleness without humility
  23. For those who make other choices
  24. Do you believe in One god?
  25. Revelation 1:8 – Who is Speaking?
  26. Use of /Gebruik van Jehovah or/of Yahweh in Bible Translations/Bijbel vertalingen
  27. Without God no purpose, no goal, no hope
  28. Only worhsip Creator of all things
  29. A great man does not lose his self-possession when he is afflicted

    +++

  • Love: Reuniting the objective and subjective… (thosecatholicmen.com)
    The modern world has fallen into a dualism of body and soul in many ways. Descartes, a founding father of modern philosophy described the soul as a “ghost in a machine.” It is only too easy to focus on the body in an animalistic fashion, focused on pleasure and gratification. The opposite extreme is to fall into emotionalism or even a spiritualism that sees no compelling connection to the body.
  • Descartes and the Begining of Modern Philosophy (joshpcb.wordpress.com)

    n the 17th and 18th century Western philosophy was in strife – split between British empiricism (figures such as Locke and Bacon) and continental rationalism (such proponents as Leibniz and Spinoza), both camps disagreed with one another on the topic of epistemology and metaphysics.

    Important to add to the context is that in this time, scholasticism was the most prestigious method of education; it entailed Aristotelian values with a significant religion input. Scholasticism used logical methodology to deduce and then resolve contradictions. It was also qualitative, looking at objects and people and how they worked behaved, i.e., their qualities, and it was this manner in which Descartes was educated

  • Last lecture of the semester: Foucault and Derrida on Madness (foucaultnews.com)
    We need a history of that other trick that madness plays—that other trick through which men, in the gesture of sovereign reason that locks up their neighbor, communicate and recognize each other in the merciless language of non-madness; we need to identify this moment of that expulsion before it was definitely established in the reign of truth, before it was brought back to life by the lyricism of protestation. To try to recapture, in history, this degree zero of the history of madness, when it was undifferentiated experience, the still undivided experience of the division [of madness and reason] itself. To describe…[what] allows Reason and Madness to fall away, like things henceforth foreign to each other, deaf to any exchange, almost dead to each other. (my emphases)

25 Comments

Filed under Health affairs, Knowledge & Wisdom, Lifestyle, Religious affairs, Spiritual affairs, Welfare matters, World affairs

A bird’s eye and reflecting from within

Can you imagine flying birds travelling for miles and miles, crossing habitat regions and places where nearly no human being tramples on the ground.

metropolis

metropolis (Photo credit: jonfeinstein)

From high above those birds can see how those earthlings destroy their own habitat. They see them wanting to live in their own dirt.

Those birds look down at those creatures who so often dream about what they can do and worry so much about the day of tomorrow. They do not imagine the life those people want, though many of them might imagine wonderful things.
Those beings down there spent lots of their time focusing on gathering all sorts of material gadgets. Their world seems to turn more around money than on getting food. Though we must be honest lots of them also focus their intention toward realizing their deepest desires and dreams.

How many of those people dare to go up in the sky and go forward to that one goal, thousands of miles away?

How many would begin to believe those dreams, aims and goals were possible?

A Soul Talk questions:

If you gave your attention to those things in your mind that spoke of your great beauty and talent, would you start to believe and have confidence in yourself again?  If life all around you is simply a reflection of those thoughts you most focus on, wouldn’t you be more careful of what you repeated over and over again to yourself?

When we look in nature we do see that the seasons decide what shall going to happen. The animals do not doubt. They are not going to wait and see if it will be worthwhile to take off or to settle down.

The birds can often see man as a fish which fails to see the water it swims in. They have a brain but use it strangely and are so often more concerned about figuring things out. they all think they are able to make and control their own world. Most of them want to play for God. Everything they do becomes calculated. Modern mind has become more and more calculating.

The calculative exactness of practical life which the money economy has brought about corresponds to the ideal of natural science: to transform the world into an arithmetic problem, to fix every part of the world by mathematical formulas. Only money economy has filled the days of so many people with weighing, calculating, with numerical determinations, with a reduction of qualitative values to quantitative ones. (“The Metropolis and Mental Life” p.412)

They all look for consistent and reliable formulas to how life works. For them formulas are re-assuring, such as

“be a banker/lawyer/accountant/doctor, because these jobs translate into big numbers, and these big numbers mean success”.

Success is something which they can count and measure. They have their eyes focused on those pieces of papers with heads and figures on it, but do not see where they are flying at.

Eddie Tay on Hong Kong lucida writes:

Of course, there are many successful bankers/lawyers/accountants/doctors who lead meaningful lives and who enjoy their jobs. I’m only arguing against the confusion between quality and quantity. Quality cannot be easily quantified. Sometimes we play this soundtrack too readily. {The Metropolis and Mental Life}

English: Hong Kong Kowloon Panorama Victoria P...

Hong Kong Kowloon Panorama Victoria Peak 2011 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

For the birds it may look like life for man is oh so infinitely easy, and everything seems to lie at their fingertips. They have their big nests,  buildings which want to compete with the trees and air around, hoping to be the tallest one. They have their educational institutions, in the wonders and comforts of space-conquering technology, in the formations of community life, and in the visible institutions of the state. They offer themselves fantasies and create fro themselves an overwhelming fullness of crystallized and impersonalized spirit that the personality, so to speak, cannot maintain itself under its impact. From all sides they allow ideas coming up to them, in the hope they can become a personality like by the others. From the others they want to receive stimulations and interests. They all are consumed by time.

They carry the person as if in a stream, and one needs hardly to swim for oneself. On the other hand, however, life is composed more and more of these impersonal contents and offerings which tend to displace the genuine personal colorations and incomparabilities. This results in the individual’s summoning the utmost in uniqueness and particularization, in order to preserve his most personal core. He has to exaggerate this personal element in order to remain audible even to himself.  (“The Metropolis and Mental Life” p. 422)

Eddie Tay finds this to be rather depressing.

The modern concern with the uniqueness of our personality emerges out of an anxiety. Now that everything is for sale, we’re compelled to be “unique”, “autonomous” and “individual” so as to differentiate ourselves from other cogs in the giant capitalist machine. “Look at me I’m so unique and interesting,” I tell myself and others, knowing that there are tens of thousands of people around me (and many with blogs like this) saying precisely the same thing. {The Metropolis and Mental Life}

Many more people should be aware that

We are surrounded by things we buy with numbers. And these things, whether tangible or intangible, which we buy and sell, turn us into who we are. {The Metropolis and Mental Life}

http://hongkonglucida.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/img_20140327_0045-640.jpg

Photo from Eddie Tay, Honk Kong lucida

We make ourselves, by what we consume for our mind and for our mind. Stomach and brain take up the food what we present it, we can either make it healthy or poison it. When you look at certain markets, it seems that people can not get enough of material, but also are drowning themselves by it. Too many people forget what impact all those things around them can have on their life.

We all should better take a moment to transfer ourselves in a bird and look at ourselves from way up there in the sky. We should take some distance, now and then, from what we do and want to do, and reflect on what we did, want to do and on what we would like to succeed and which goal we would like to make.

With Spring time we should not only do our Spring cleaning but we could take a new start. You too, can start today to believe that you can impact your external world by placing your focus on images of love, kindness, and joy and you will truly be surprised by what you attract to yourself.

Start today to live in consciousness as to what is happening within you, you will then have the grand opportunity to create what is happening around you in a more remarkable and enjoyable way. {Simply a reflection from within!}

The mother of Soul talk has learned her lesson from the wise song of her toddler which continues to ring true- in the face of adversity “Never give up never never give up!”.

Keep the faith and you shall persevere- I have learned this very difficult lesson recently and can tell you your only choice is to keep the faith and move forward-the alternative is not so appealing- I can promise you that-your biggest break can be just around the corner and if you did not move towards it you would never know. {Never give up!}

Every year again the birds make their nest. They never seem to be tired to do it over and over again. We should also continue trying to do the things we really want to do.

There are millions of people who do not know they have a security key in their own hands. They themselves have been given, by birth, the key to knowledge and inner peace. All being created in the image of the Divine Creator we do have elements from this Eternal Spirit. He acknowledges our being, but we ourselves are not willing to see our own being in relationship with Him. There lies the biggest problem of humankind.

In case we would accept the Creator of our being, and accept that He has to be the Most High Master, than we could find fulfilment and guidance by following His instructions which He has given to the whole world.

In the Garden of Eden He has given man the right to take care of the world himself. But He always was prepared to help those who wanted Him next to them. Those who want His Guidance He is willing to give.

As adults, we build upon the hopes of our parents and the fertile imaginations of our youth. We continue to foster the dreams that were born in our hearts on our first day of life, yet now have the tools to bring those dreams forth into our realities. {With courage, our dreams become reality!}

That is not bad. We all should have dreams and continue to make dreams. We should try to build up our life by dreams coming through. We have to foster our dreams and have to build up courage to see them through.

The courage to step beyond our fears of failure. The courage to meet doubt head on.  The courage to pursue the ideas that were born in us, given to us, to be discovered by us to enjoy the fantastic world that begs for us to explore. The courage to make all our dreams come true. {With courage, our dreams become reality!}

In case we would accept the Guiding Hand of the Creator and dare to ask Him to help us, He will be there for us.

If we ask, believe, and have the courage to act, and begin to receive, the life we have imagined can be the life we are living.  When we start to believe and have faith in all that is possible for us, then we align with the hopes of our parents, the child within who dared to be whomever she wanted to be, and the adult whose courageous acts of faith allow those dreams to become a reality. {With courage, our dreams become reality!}

We often forget just to take some time to be with that Mightier Being. We mostly trust to much those who are of this earth, instead of counting on the one in heaven.

Why not trying to take a turning point? Why not simply taking the time each day to focus on those positive attributes and intentions that give you great happiness? Putting on the right mind shall help us but also those around us, on the right track and bring them in the right mood. When we do take a positive attitude we may rest assured that people and things will start to show up in your life that will greatly add to your happiness.

Let it be said that a person who feels good on the inside will experience that good on the outside.  A person who looks at life with a glass half full mentality, will eventually have their cup runneth over.  Your world is but a mirror of what is happening inside of you. So before you start your day, promise yourself that you will take a moment or two to reflect on what you are grateful for to charge those positive emotions, then set out to experience your own something wonderful  when you start from that joyous place within. If your world is simply a reflection from within, wouldn’t it be in you best interest to make it the best reflection of a well lived life that you could ever imagine!   {Simply a reflection from within!}

+

Preceding articles:

Birds, Birds Everywhere

Birds’ Eye

Food for Thought-Birds of Caution

++

Additional reading:

  1. Searching for fulfilment and meaning through own efforts, facing unsatisfaction and depression
  2. The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places
  3. Some one or something to fear #2 Attitude and Reactions
  4. God Feeds The Birds
  5. Food as a Therapeutic Aid
  6. Men as God
  7. People Seeking for God 5 Bread of life
  8. People Seeking for God 6 Strategy
  9. Religions and Mainliners
  10. The truth is very plain to see and God can be clearly seen
  11. A Living Faith #2 State of your faith
  12. A Living Faith #3 Faith put into action
  13. A Living Faith #10: Our manner of Life #2
  14. A Living Faith #12 The Love for Jesus
  15. Some one or something to fear #7 Not afraid for Gods Name
  16. Texts, writers, accessibility and willingness
  17. Rest thy delight on Jehovah
  18. Without God no purpose, no goal, no hope
  19. A goal is a dream with a plan
  20. A treasure which can give me everything I need
  21. Opportunity!
  22. Count your blessings
  23. By counting our blessings we not only feel good, but we multiply our good
  24. Set free from any form of mental torment or self-condemnation
  25. A good idea to halt all activity for one hour some day
  26. We should use the Bible every day
  27. Come ye yourselves apart … and rest awhile (Mark 6:31)
  28. God does not change
  29. See the conquest and believe that we can gain the victory
  30. Not holding back and getting out of darkness
  31. A New Perspective
  32. The Paradigm of Instinct, Intuition and Intention
  33. Being Religious and Spiritual 7 Transcendence to become one
  34. Looking for True Spirituality 2 Not restricted to an elite
  35. Looking for True Spirituality 8 Measuring Up
  36. How long to wait before bringing religiousness and spirituality in practice
  37. Points to remember of philosophy versus spirituality and religion
  38. Our relationship with God, Jesus and eachother
  39. Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal
  40. Try driving forward instead of backwards
  41. Life is like a ten-speed bike.
  42. Suffering produces perseverance

+++

  • Chris Packham: Malta is a bird hell (theguardian.com)
    When Chris Packham announced he was heading to Malta to report on the island’s annual spring bird shoot as if he was a war correspondent covering a conflict, even his admirers probably thought he was guilty of hyperbole.But after a week in which the naturalist has detained by police for five hours, shoved to the ground by gunmen and witnessed the illegal killing of dozens of endangered birds, his mission to raise awareness of the annual slaughter of migratory birds has been more like a battle than he imagined.
  • Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (gardenwalkgardentalk.com)
    Since Earth Day just passed, I was thinking why can’t everyday be Earth Day? You visit places like this and wonder why can’t there be more wild spaces to enjoy. After all, without these wild and natural spaces, we would not have much of a world.
  • Birds Slam Into Windows, Leave Long Island Couple Lying Awake (newyork.cbslocal.com)
    It has been a full week of rude awakenings for a Long Island couple, who said their home has been under siege by a group of birds slamming into their windows over and over again.As CBS 2’s Elise Finch reported Monday, the problem that Peter and Lisa Kersich of Holbrook have been experiencing is common at this time of year.The loud thumps have been waking them up morning after morning.
  • Fly like a bird (lovingmefirstblog.wordpress.com)
    1) how do we know the bird hasn’t flown (are we worried about other’s achievements more than our own and we view this bird as a solitary soul who hasn’t taken the leap of faith?)
    2) what if the bird has flown but it feels most comfortable where it sits now? (maybe the world isn’t as amazing as we think it is)
    3) what if the bird is hurt, alone, lost or perhaps needs a push?
  • Dream-Like Song Created From Birds Perched On Electric Wires Proves Nature Is Perfect (fromthetrenchesworldreport.com)
    “Reading the newspaper one morning, I saw this picture of birds on the electric wires,” says video creator Jarbas Agnelli.”I cut out the photo and decided to make a song, using the exact location of the birds as notes. I was just curious to hear what melody the birds were creating.”
  • Garden Birds – Indigo Bunting (roadsendnaturalist.wordpress.com)
    If, as Thoreau says, the bluebird carries the sky on its back, the Indigo Bunting may sometimes be carrying storm clouds. These common open space birds are now arriving back in NC from their tropical winter homes and the males have dressed for the occasion.
    +
    I see them every year along the power line corridor, but I hope to spend a little more time this summer listening for their distinctive calls (the male sings all day, even in the heat of summer) and enjoying their brilliant blue attire.
    +
    Garden Birds – Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
    I often describe these active birds as looking and behaving like a tiny mockingbird. They are always fun to watch as they hop through the branches, or hover beneath one, snatching an insect meal. And their small size, white eye ring, blue-gray coloration, and exaggerated tail, make them easy to identify.
  • Not Just Sparrows and Pigeons: Cities Harbor 20 Percent of World’s Bird Species (allaboutbirds.org)
    Rock Pigeons, House Sparrows, and European Starlings are widely known as “city birds,” and with good reason. These three species (plus Barn Swallow) occur in more than 80 percent of cities according to the first-ever global study of biodiversity in urban areas, published earlier this year in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. But there’s more to cities than this narrow cast of avian urbanites: cities also retain more of their region’s native diversity than previously thought, according to the study’s analyses of bird and plant census data. So take heart, your next city stroll has much more to offer than just a few ubiquitous species.In fact, at least 2,041 species—20 percent of all known bird species—live in the world’s cities, according to the research. Unlike previous studies, which have focused on single cities or regions, this study spanned six continents, compiling data on birds from 54 cities and plants from 110 cities. The researchers themselves hailed from North America, Europe, Australia, and South Africa.
  • Look to the skies to spot the bounty of birds returning to Saskatchewan (metronews.ca)
    This is likely the most exciting time to cast our eyes upward and behold some of the beauty we take for granted in the skies.The birds that soar above are not here by chance. Indeed, it is of their own will that they come back to Saskatchewan.
  • Two Birds 114/365 Side A (theyearofdreamingdangerouslymardilinane2014.wordpress.com)
    two birds / floated over / the canyon / floated in circles
  • 10 Incredible Bird Photography Tips for Beginners (digital-photography-school.com)
    What is the most important factor in getting your bird photographs noticed by a large audience? Is it the camera or the lens or the bird?

15 Comments

Filed under Being and Feeling, Economical affairs, Knowledge & Wisdom, Lifestyle, Social affairs, Spiritual affairs

Days of Nisan, Pesach, Pasach, Pascha and Easter

End of Winter, new beginning

When Winter let us see its last breath 1st Nisan brings a New Year.
At the appearance of the first “new moon” of Spring, that is, when the waxing crescent of the moon is first sighted we come to celebrate the Biblical New Years Day.

After the dark months we look forward to a time of more light. We are also confronted with what happened many thousand years ago. There was an event in history which was going to influence the coarse of history up to today. In Egypt a people felt restricted and threatened by how they where treated. Nisan brings the start of their big journey. It is the start of the month of the Exodus from Egypt and the beginning of Jewish national history. It is also the first month used for counting the festivals (mo’edim) of the Hebrew Calendar and for reckoning the years of reign of the Kings of Israel.

Head of the months

English: Israel's Escape from Egypt, illustrat...

Israel’s Escape from Egypt, illustration from a Bible card published 1907 by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Rosh Chodashim (ראשׁ חֳדָשִׁים), “the head of the months,” and its observance is considered the very first commandment given to Israel before the great Exodus from Egypt took place. For the world now got days they should remember for ever.

“This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.” (Exodus 12:2 ASV)

“3 And Moses said unto the people, Remember this day, in which ye came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Jehovah brought you out from this place: there shall no leavened bread be eaten. 4 This day ye go forth in the month Abib.” (Exodus 13:3-4 ASV)

“The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep: seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month Abib (for in it thou camest out from Egypt); and none shall appear before me empty:” (Exodus 23:15 ASV)

“The feast of unleavened bread shalt thou keep. Seven days thou shalt eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, at the time appointed in the month Abib; for in the month Abib thou camest out from Egypt.” (Exodus 34:18 ASV)

“Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto Jehovah thy God; for in the month of Abib Jehovah thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.” (Deuteronomy 16:1 ASV)

Commemorating miracles the Creator performed

Creation in itself is already something special about many people may have many theories. Still people are not sure how everything came into existence. They still continue to have many debates about how the world came into existence. By wondering and concentrating on the theories of man they do not see the first miracle nor the other miracles God did in this universe which still hides a lot for our small eyes.

The Ramban (Nachmanides) wrote:

“By counting every month from Nisan, we constantly commemorate the miracle that God performed when He took us out of slavery.”

Month for the Redeemed

Since the redemption from Egypt took place during the month of Nisan you also could call it

“the month of the redemption.” [Chodesh HaGeulah (חדֶשׁ הַגְּאֻלָּה)]

The Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Rosh Hashanah 11a) states:

“In Nisan our forefathers were redeemed from Egypt and in Nisan we will be redeemed.”

Not only for Jews it is an important month; Also for Christians it should be the most important month of the year. It should be a period where we remember how the Divine Creator has chosen Him a people, Israel, the Jews. But also because it is the month of the New Creation. The God of gods not only in that month took care that His own people got liberated from the slavery in Egypt. Many years later God also took care that all people got liberated from a bigger and worse slavery, namely the slavery of sin. Therefore not only for the Jews, also for Christians and Muslims, but also for those who do not (yet) believe in the True God, Nisan is also Chodesh ha-Yeshuah (חדֶשׁ הַיְשׁוּעָה), the “month of the salvation,” both in terms of the physical deliverance from Egypt, but more profoundly in terms of the spiritual salvation given at Zion/Moriah through the Messiah.  The Month of Jeshua has brought a change for the whole world, Jews and gentiles or to believers and non-believers or non-religious.

When you take Nisan to come from nissim (נִסִּים, “miracles”) or from the word nitzan (נִצָּן, “bud”) we got presented the greatest miracles in humankind.

Coming into new life

When the flowers are come on the earth; the time of cutting the vines is come, and the voice of the dove is sounding in our land, when the fruit-trees put out their green fruit and the vines with their young fruit give a good smell, we should get up and go into the world bringing the Good News of Salvation. (Song of Solomon 2:12-13) We should be thankful that the Creator not only redeemed His own people but also gave a solution for the sin of us all.

The 1st of Nisan is counted as the new year for the purpose of counting the reign of kings of Israel (in Exodus 12:2, the word lakhem (לָכֶם), “to you,” can be rearranged to form the word melekh (מֶלֶךְ), “a king.”). For instance, if a king ascended the throne just a week before the new moon of Nisan, that week would be reckoned as a year in the chronicles of Israel’s kings.

Last king and High-priest assigned to the throne

On the 14th of Nisan, about 1985 years ago a new and the last king for God was put next to the throne of God. A Jewish man from the lineage of king David was chosen to become the major High Priest in the Temple of God and to be the mediator between God and man, sitting at the right hand of God.

“55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56 and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:55-56 ASV)

Jesus from Nazareth was the man God called “his only begotten beloved son“. He was the chosen one, the one God had already spoken of in the Garden of Eden. As such God His Word, His promise made in the Garden of Eden, had become flesh in 4BCE. When this son of man who was also called son of David and son of God, became 12 years of age he went already in the temple to talk about his heavenly Father. When he was thirty he got baptised by John the Baptist, after which God declared in front of many at the river Jordan, that the man standing there in the water was ‘his beloved son“.

“16 And Jesus when he was baptized, went up straightway from the water: and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him; 17 and lo, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17 ASV)

For those who would have doubted God repeated His saying:

“33 And it came to pass, as they were parting from him, Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah: not knowing what he said. 34 And while he said these things, there came a cloud, and overshadowed them: and they feared as they entered into the cloud. 35 And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my Son, my chosen: hear ye him. 36 And when the voice came, Jesus was found alone. And they held their peace, and told no man in those days any of the things which they had seen.” (Luke 9:33-36 ASV)

After the man had died God provided a Comforter, Who gave Jesus his disciples the courage to go out in the world and to tell about the miracles that man had done and of what importance that man was and did works in the name of his Father, the Holy Righteous One God, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah.

Day of breaking the bread

Deutsch: Brot- und Backwaren

Bread to be broken as a symbol (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

On the 14th of Nisan they had seen that man taking bread and wine, presenting them as if it was his own body, saying it was given to them and the world for their sins, and the action of that coming together and “Breaking of the Bread” they had to repeat until he would come back.

According to Jewish tradition the month of Nisan is also assigned to the royal tribe of Judah (יְהוּדָה), in whose merit both the Holy Temple was built and from whom the Messiah Jeshua (Jesus Christ) would descend. When we look at the name Judah (יְהוּדָה) we can see that it includes the Name YHVH or YHWH (יהוה) {Jehovha} with the insertion of the letter Dalet (ד), suggesting that Judah would be the “door” or “gate” into the presence of God. This Only One God had kept His promise made in the Garden of Eden. His Word had become flesh. (John 1:1) The man of flesh, blood and bones had only done the Will of his Father (and not his own will) and was killed for it and for being an nuisance for the leaders at that time.  They could not bear it that this man dared to say he was doing all this miracles in the name of his heavenly Father. If he would told the people he was doing it himself they would perhaps not have bothered so much, but now he called to God for what he did. That was considered blasphemy and therefore he had to be killed.

A preparation for salvation by the full ransom

After Jesus had let his disciples prepare for 15 Nisan, the Passover he on the 14th of Nisan enjoyed his last supper on the 14th of Nisan and asked his disciples to remember that day. All followers of Christ therefore should remember that special day when Jesus installed the New Covenant. The same day he was taken prisoner and impaled to find his death. He was put in a grave and according to the Holy Scriptures was three day under the dead, being in sheol or gehenna (the hell) or what we commonly call the grave. {Those who call the hell a place of torture should wonder why Jesus had to be in it for three days.}

Door Knob

The Door to find and to open

Jeshua or Jesus Christ was from the tribe of Judah and had spoken many times of his Father and about his role in this world-system.  He also knew we all have to live in this world, but warned us not to be of this world and to look at him to get to know his Father and to see the light leading up to the gate of the Kingdom of God. Many times Jesus described himself as ha-sha’ar (הַשַּׁעַר) “the gate”(John 10:9). The arrangement of the tribes placed Judah directly in front of the door into the Mishkan (Numery 2:3).

Celebrations and the Day after

English: "Christ risen from His tomb"...

“Christ risen from His tomb”, fresco ; cathedral of Spoleto, Italy; (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These days when so many have celebrations being it for Passover or being it called Easter, they should see the first New Year which marks the month of the redemption of the Jewish people see the redemption Jeshua brought when he was sacrificed upon the wooden stake at Moriah to redeem us from our sins. The second marks the month of Israels’ corporate salvation that will be fulfilled in the End of Days.  Oddly enough for most Christians, “New Years Day” should be really celebrated in the spring, certainly not in “January.

After three days in the grave, something incredible happened. It goes beyond any human conception. Though we should grasp a clear understanding of the event. Because of the Passover celebration the loved ones of Christ had no time to properly prepare the body for burial with spices and ointments according to Jewish customs. No work could be done on the Holy Sabbath of Sabbaths, so that task had to wait until the day after.

When in the morning, Mary Magdalene and several other women went to the tomb with the spices they had prepared and arrived at the sealed tomb, guarded by Roman soldiers, so that nobody could do something with the body of that rebel Jesus, they found the tomb had been opened and nobody around the tomb. When they went in, they did not find Jesus’ body, and they wondered what had happened.

Suddenly, two angels in dazzling white clothes were there. The women were terrified, but the angels said to them,

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you that He would be turned over to sinful men, be crucified, and rise again on the third day!”

The women ran back to tell Jesus’ apostles what they had seen. Peter and one other apostle went to the tomb to see for themselves. They looked in and saw the linen cloths that Jesus’ body had been wrapped in but nothing else. Then they went home, amazed and confused.

Not stolen, not mislaid

The Risen Christ

The Risen Christ, the one who showed his wounds to proof he was not a ghost or spirit (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You can imagine how terrified they must have been. Who had stolen the body of their most beloved rabbi (master teacher)?

When Peter and the other apostle went home, Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb crying. Suddenly she saw Jesus standing there, but she did not recognize him at first. Jesus said to her:

“Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”

Mary thought He must be the gardener and said:

“Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where, and I will take him!”

Can you imagine what would have gone through this lady when Jesus said, “Mary!” and she then recognized him and exclaimed, “Master!”?

All the disciples like Mary Magdalene knew Jesus was the son of God, who had done everything for his Father and who had spoken of the possibility of people going to the reign of his Father, him being there. But Jesus affirmed her that he was not yet by his Father in heaven. It is not by dying that something would go up into heaven or hell. Like every human being, plant or animal, Jesus died and we will die. Normally once death, all thinking and handling will be finished. We shall not be able to do anything any more. Mary Magdalene was aware of the dead not being able to do anything, but now she got to see Jesus. Also others, later, got to see Jesus. To them he also proofed he was not a ghost or a spirit, like his Father is a Spirit. He was a man of flesh and blood who showed his wounds to proof that it was him they were seeing know, after he had died. Incomprehensible!

Not yet in heaven, Still to ascend

Jesus said:

“Don’t hold on to me, because I have not yet returned to the Father. But go to my disciples and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'”

Then Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples

“I have seen the lord!”

and she told them everything that had happened.

Many could not believe what had happened. Several got to see Christ Jesus, and saw that he was really risen. They could see and believe.
We can not see that Jesus is rise. For us it is more difficult to believe, because there are no witnesses alive any more. We have to go on the books, the stories told. Most of all we have to go on our faith were we believe what has been told in the Old Books of the Old Testament, where the promises of God are told to all who want to know. In those books are also the signs given to recognise the promised Messiah. Putting everything together, we should have no doubt who the Messiah is and what God has done with him and for us.

Tool to get out of the slavery of sin and its curse, the death

Having the month where God helped His chosen people to get out of slavery by man, we also have the month where God gave mankind a tool to get out of the slavery of sin and its curse, the death. As such this is the Month of Hope and the Month of Salvation.

Instead of being wondering which presents or gifts we should buy for Easter, we should use Easter time to remember the Exodus form Egypt , the Last Supper, Jesus installing the New Covenant, Jesus being impaled for the sins of the world, and Jesus taken out of the dead by his heavenly Father. A resurrection bringing us hope, because in it, we can see what shall be able to happen to us in the future, after Jesus has returned.

All more the reason to look out for the return of Christ and to put our hopes in that man who was the beloved son of God. We should trust in him and his Father and follow his teachings, being thankful for the restored relationship between God and man.

Dominion of sin and Death has been conquered

In Christ Jesus, Jeshua, death has been conquered. He paid the ransom by giving his body to his Father. If Jesus is God, because God can not die and is an eternal Spirit. Than Jesus could not be taken out of the dead and his body raised to be the body showing wounds. Without dying there could be no he resurrection. And if there is no resurrection, then we have no hope.

Christ Resurrected  47

Christ Resurrected (Photo credit: Waiting For The Word)

If Jesus wasn’t raised, if the tomb was not empty or when Jesus his body would have been stolen out of the grave, than there would be nothing to hold on to accept Jesus was risen. Several people saw Jesus after he had died. They were convinced they had really seen him.  Many were willing to die for what had happened, because they were convinced “death now could be reversed”. Now they could believe sin shall not have dominion over them nor us who believe, because from that day onwards we have come under grace. (Romans 6:14)
In case Jesus’ death didn’t pay our penalty for sin, then we “are still in our sins.” And when Jesus was not taken out of death by his Father, meaning that there did not took place a resurrection, then all those who have died before us … no matter what they did …shall have had nothing in their hope.

Isaiah promised that the dead would live (Isaiah 26:19) and Job knew that there would come a moment that he should not hide any more in Sheol. Abraham Isaac and Jesus believed in a God of the dead but also in the God of the living.

“31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 32 I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not [the God] of the dead, but of the living.” (Matthew 22:31-32 ASV)

The one man who did all the time the will of his Father told the people about the hope they could have when he would be gone. If he would not be taken out of the dead, what reason would there be to believe what he said?

“39 And this is the will of him that sent me, that of all that which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son, and believeth on him, should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:39-40 ASV)

“22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; then they that are Christ’s, at his coming.” (1 Corinthians 15:22-23 ASV)

We should know that a great quality is been given to the life of man that cannot be matched by any other soul.

“And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, wherein we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 ASV)

“3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received: that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; 4 and that he was buried; and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures; 5 and that he appeared to Cephas; then to the twelve; 6 then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some are fallen asleep; 7 then he appeared to James; then to all the apostles; 8 and last of all, as to the [child] untimely born, he appeared to me also.” (1 Corinthians 15:3-8 ASV)

“20  But now hath Christ been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them that are asleep. 21 For since by man [came] death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-21 ASV)

By Jesus Christ assurance given

Through Jesus Christ we now have the assurance that we may fall asleep (die), but there shall come a moment, after he returned, that we shall be taken out of the graves and shall come to see what it means to receive the gift of God which is eternal life.

“For the wages of sin is death; but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 ASV)

“It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” (Hebrews 9:23 ASV)

“And without faith it is impossible to be well-pleasing [unto him]; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that seek after him.” (Hebrews 11:6 ASV)

In the resurrection of Christ Jesus our faith in him is of incredible value. Let us therefore recognise who that man was and is and follow his teachings and worship his Father, the Only One True God, Who gives life.

+

Please find also to read:

  1. God’s promises
  2. Belief of the things that God has promised
  3. Israel God’s people
  4. Tu B’Shvat, the holiday of the trees
  5. Passover and Liberation Theology
  6. Commemorating the escape from slavery
  7. Being sure of their deliverance
  8. Deliverance and establishement of a theocracy
  9. Do not be afraid. Good news because a Saviour has been born
  10. Bringing Good News into the world
  11. God’s salvation
  12. Waiting for God’s Salvation
  13. Ember and light the ransomed of Jehovah
  14. Jesus Messiah
  15. Jesus Christ, Jeshua, Messiah, Jahushua
  16. Seeing Jesus
  17. Jesus begotten Son of God #4 Promised Prophet and Saviour
  18. Jesus begotten Son of God #10 Coming down spirit or flesh seed of Eve
  19. Jesus begotten Son of God #5 Apsotle, High Priest and King
  20. Jesus begotten Son of God #14 Beloved Preminent Son and Mediator originating in Mary
  21. Jesus begotten Son of God #18 Believing in inhuman or human person
  22. Anointing of Christ as Prophetic Rehearsal of the Burial rites
  23. Day of remembrance coming near
  24. 14 Nisan a day to remember #1 Inception
  25. 14 Nisan a day to remember #2 Time of Jesus
  26. 14 Nisan a day to remember #3 Before the Passover-feast
  27. 14 Nisan a day to remember #4 A Lamb slain
  28. 14 Nisan a day to remember #5 The Day to celebrate
  29. 14-15 Nisan and Easter
  30. Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
  31. Shabbat Pesach service reading 1/2
  32. The son of David and the first day of the feast of unleavened bread
  33. A Jewish Theocracy
  34. Observance of a day to Remember
  35. Around the feast of Unleavened Bread
  36. Observance of a day to Remember
  37. Pesach and solidarity 
  38. A Holy week in remembrance of the Blood of life
  39. Seven days of Passover
  40. On the first day for matzah
  41. Servant for the truth of God
  42. The Anointed One and the first day of No Fermentation
  43. How is it that Christ pleased God so perfectly?
  44. Wishing to do the will of God
  45. For the Will of Him who is greater than Jesus
  46. Self inflicted misery #3 A man given to suffer for us
  47. The Seed Of The Woman Bruised
  48. The redemption of man by Christ Jesus
  49. Imprisonment and execution of Jesus Christ
  50. Death of Christ on the day of preparation
  51. A Messiah to die
  52. Swedish theologian finds historical proof Jesus did not die on a cross
  53. Impaled until death overtook him
  54. Why 20 Nations Are Defending the Crucifix in Europe
  55. Jesus three days in hell
  56. Christ having glory
  57. Salvation, trust and action in Jesus #3 as a Christian
  58. Your Sins Are Forgiven
  59. A Great Gift commemorated
  60. High Holidays not only for Israel
  61. Festival of Freedom and persecutions
  62. After the Sabbath after Passover, the resurrection of Jesus Christ
  63. Proclaiming shalom, bringing good news of good things, announcing salvation
  64. Jesus is risen
  65. Risen With Him
  66. Easter: Origins in a pagan Christ
  67. Eostre, Easter, White god, chocolate eggs, Easter bunnies and metaphorical resurrection
  68. Peter Cottontail and a Bunny laying Eastereggs
  69. Altered to fit a Trinity or Ishtar the fertility goddess
  70. Who Celebrates Easter as Religious Holiday

++

Other interesting articles:

  1. Welcome to Easter 2014
  2. Walk with Jesus: Matthew 27 He who overcame
  3. Gethsemane
  4. Yeshua thanks his father through prayer
  5. Pesach
  6. Good Friday or Passover?
  7. What’s Good about Good Friday?
  8. When Was Jesus Crucified?
  9. Jesus Died
  10. “Christ Is Our Passover Lamb” / The Message of the High Sabbath beginning the eve of March 25, 2013
  11. Ransom for allom
  12. Holy Trifecta: Good Friday, Passover, Resurrection Sunday
  13. Thoughts About Easter
  14. It Did Not End In the Grave
  15. Tree of Jesus Life, the Risen Christ, (a)
  16. On Easter and The Resurrection of Jesus
  17. Easter Questions and Answers
  18. What Happened on Easter?
  19. The Truth About Easter
  20. The Easter Story of the Resurrection
  21. Jesus is alive, the tomb is empty.
  22. The Empty Tomb
  23. He is Risen! What Christians Believe About Easter, and Why
  24. The Significance of the Resurrection – Jesus Arose Where He Died
  25. The Glory of Easter Part 1 + The Glory of Easter Part 2
  26. “The Resurrection”
  27. The Resurrection of Jesus X 4
  28. Even Resurrection Pauses For Sabbath Rest
  29. The Power of His Resurrection
  30. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
  31. The Resurrection is Believable
  32. He is not here, He is risen, just as He said
  33. When Nothing Meant All
  34. Pass Over Now
  35. Does Christianity Have Pagan Roots? (Part 1) How Did “Easter” Originate? | god from the machine
  36. Does Christianity Have Pagan Roots? (Part 2) The Pagan Myth Myth… No, I’m Not Stuttering

+++

  • Today is the beginning of the biblical new year (biblethingsinbibleways.wordpress.com)
    Happy New Year!!!! Biblically speaking of course.
    Even though January 1st is celebrated as the beginning of the year over the world, as Christians, we need to consider that the Biblical New Year is far more important to us, than a day that was picked by the Romans.
    +
    The month of Abib/Aviv does not coincide with a month in the standard western calendar in any way. This means that the 1st day of the Biblical Year could fall on any day in the season of March/April. The biblical calendar is not one which is set in paper, but which is set in the heavens. When our Creator made the Sun, Moon & Stars, He proclaimed “let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years”.
  • Understanding Passover (wqad.com)
    Passover, also called Pesach, is the Jewish festival celebrating the exodus of the Israelites from Egyptian slavery in 1200s B.C.The word Passover comes from the idea that God passed over the houses of the Israelites, who had marked their doorposts to signify that they were children of God.
  • Feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread (Deut 16:1-16:8) (efinne1540.wordpress.com)
    Abib is often called Nisan and usually refers to our April. Here the Passover is to be celebrated at ‘the place that Yahweh will choose as a dwelling for his name.’ It will not be in the towns that Yahweh is giving to them. The 7 day unleavened bread feast is called the ‘bread of affliction.’ No leftover meat may be eaten the next day. Sunset was the time of the meal because you left Egypt at sunset. There was to be a solemn assembly on the 7th day with no work done.
  • Chag Pesach Kasher v’Sameach : חַג כָשֵׁר וְשָׂמֵחַ (jewsdownunder.wordpress.com)
    The journey initiated during Pesach, that of a nation of slaves racing towards freedom, reaches its climax with the festival of Shavuot, without a rendezvous with God at Mt. Sinai. Here the Jews’ new-found freedom finds its purpose.The agricultural significance of Pesach is that it marks the start of the early harvest period in the land of Israel. The harvesting of the barley grain was marked by a special offering of the Omer commencing on the second day of Pesachand continuing for forty-nine days, concluding at Shavuot.
  • Rosh Chodesh Nisan (glehrer.wordpress.com)
    We learned that Dayenu in hebrew means “enough” and when we sing the song Dayenu at the end of our seder it is because we are thanking God for our freedom, shabbat, the torah, and the miracles he performed to get us out of Egypt when we were slaves. The story taught us about getting ready for the seder, and just when you think you’ve done enough to prepare for Pesach, there is usually at least one more thing you can do to make your seder even more special.
  • Nisan: The Month of Redemption; Adar: a leap year, i.e., to add an extra month, Such a year that has 13 (lunar) months is called a “pregnant year” (שנה מעוברת), indicating a state of being from which a new reality, specifically, the next month – the mont (guapotg.wordpress.com)
    In the Torah, the month of Nisan is referred to as “the month of spring.” From the verse, “Guard the month of spring and make Pesach for HaShem your G-d,” the sages learn of the mitzvah to make a leap year, i.e., to add an extra month (a second month of Adar) when necessary, to ensure that the holiday of Pesach always falls in the season of spring.
  • Passover Guide for the Perplexed, 2014 (algemeiner.com)
    The Passover legacy constitutes the foundation of Judaism, and is therefore included in most Jewish blessings (“in memory of the Exodus”). Passover symbolizes the rejuvenation of nature and mankind, spiritually and physically, individually and collectively/nationally.  Passover stipulates that human rejuvenation – just like the rejuvenation of nature – must be driven by memory/history/roots.
  • The Evolution Of Passover – Past To Present (jewishengagement.wordpress.com)
    The first Passover’s preparation and celebration is described in Exodus 12:1-28. In a nutshell, the Israelites were commanded to take an unblemished lamb, watch over it and then slaughter it on the 14th day of Nisan marking the doorposts and lintels of their homes with its blood. They were instructed to roast it over a fire in its entirety and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They were to eat hurriedly with their clothes on, sandals on their feet and staff in their hands within the confines of their homes.
  • Being Filled (mymorningmeditations.com)
    We celebrated Easter this year with our community of Christian and Jewish interfaith families. Our minister started off by pointing out that Easter is not in the Bible, and that our holiday traditions make reference to ancient goddesses, and the fertility rites of spring. She then gathered the children together and talked to them about the Buddhist metaphor of a cup of tea representing the comforting memories of life after the tea bag (or body) is gone. She’s not your typical minister.Next, our rabbi gave an adult sermon about the themes of intimacy, transcendence and unity in the story of the resurrection of Jesus. Somehow, the idea of life beyond death, of renewal and regeneration, seemed completely universal to me as he spoke. As a Jew, I do not feel I need to believe in a messiah or a personal savior in order to celebrate these Easter messages. Our rabbi spent his career at Georgetown, knows his gospels, and has been called a “closet Catholic” by Catholic friends. And yet, he’s an erudite, dedicated and deeply spiritual Jew. He’s not your typical rabbi.
  • The April 15th Blood Moon Eclipse Coincides with The Exact Date & Hours of The Crucifixion (banoosh.com)
    When it mentions here that darkness covers the land, is that a reference to a Solar Eclipse that occurred at the exact hour of the Crucifixion?
Enhanced by Zemanta

49 Comments

Filed under History, Religious affairs, World affairs