While Jesus was alive on earth, He declared that the kingdom of God was at hand, meaning that it was available, within reach, and near. This the kingdom that was prophesied throughout the Old Testament, a kingdom that would never be destroyed (e.g., 1 Chron. 17:11-12). Two thousand years ago Jesus ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the Fahter. Jesus took His righful position on His throne.
Since the day Jesus sat down on His throne 2,000 years ago, the Father has been actively subduing enmies and establishing the reign of His Son.
Tuesday, January 04, 2011
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
In the volume of the Book it is written of ME
I have always had a difficult time reconciling the Jesus I have discovered in the Word with the church’s view of the end time, the second coming, the tribulation (pre, post or otherwise) death, resurrection, eternity, Heaven and Hell, the “rapture” and I how I am supposed to fit into the “end-time” plan.
When I hear people say how wonderful Heaven will be and when they sing songs like “ICan’t Wait to Get to Heaven” and “In the Sweet By and By” it leaves me totally unmoved. In fact, if the truth be told, it used to frighten me. Death frightened me, the rapture, the resurrection, the “great tribulation” and even Heaven as it was traditionally described…they all frightened me. But, the Bible teaches me that Jesus does not bring a spirit of fear.
The descriptions of Heaven I heard seemed far-fetched, unreal and they were NOT a present help in my times of trouble. I loved the world, God’s creation, all that He had given me to enjoy as He Himself seemed to “…for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son …”. Besides, all that it sounded like I would have to go through “hell” to get to Heaven , what with pre-tribulation, tribulation, post-tribulation, end-time disasters, the rapture (because no matter how cool they tried to make the rapture sound it still did not bring peace to my spirit) and of course….dum, dum, da, dum….the Final Judgement!
But, the Jesus I came to know refuted everything traditional religion had taught me. His love reaches to the Heavens, His faithfulness reaches to the skies, His righteousness is the like mighty mountains and His justice is like the great deep and He PRESERVES both man and beast. My God will redeem my life from the grave and will surely take me to Himself. My comfort is that His promise preserves my life. My Jesus told the Samaritan women that He had water to drink that she would never thirst again and it would even become in her a spring of water welling up to ETERNAL LIFE. He told the disciples EVEN NOW He harvest the crop for ETERNAL LIFE. I have come to believe that my body will wear out like a garment, but like a garment…in the twinkling of an eye …it will be changed. My old body will be discarded and I will put on the new.
2Cr 5:4 NKJV - For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
I do not wish to be unclothed! I just want to be FURTHER clothed. And I believe that is exactly what will take place. Not the dooms day account of most traditional theologians, not the dying, rising, rupturing, fighting account of main stream religion, but a complete metamorphous, totally swallowed up by life, over taken by Jesus and what He has already accomplished, because IT IS FINISHED.
I love to talk about spending eternity with Jesus – that moves me! But, I don’t believe that I have to die again to do that. I died when I accepted Christ as my savior and was baptized. My old sinful nature was buried (it was sown a natural body, it was raised a spiritual body.) I became a new creation in Christ and because of that I no longer need to fear the second death. In fact, I believe I will not die. I was guaranteed eternal life. Yes; this old mortal body may die to be perfected, but I don’t believe I have to GO anywhere to be with Jesus. And truth told, I believe as the scripture teaches there is coming a generation that will never taste death. And like the Samaritan woman who received before her time I too can receive whatever Heaven has to offer, before my time, as my faith allows.
Jesus is as real to me TODAY as any person I speak with in the flesh. In fact, He’s more real, more intimate, and more present because He is IN me. He’s as close as my breath and my next heartbeat – He IS my breath and my next heartbeat, He quickens my mortal body.
~
One of the greatest deceptions of the enemy (in my opinion) is the “rapture” doctrine. It is not scriptural. The most frequently used verses of scripture used to support this doctrine is 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
1Th 4:16 KJV - For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 KJV - Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
I don’t believe the end of time or the end of this age and the ushering in of the age to come will be much like our human minds have imagined – certainly not much like traditional religious minds have painted it for so long. I believe it will be a removal of the last vestige of the flesh that binds us to the world, an unveiling of the reality of the spiritual world that is, has always been and will continue to be eternally.
Jesus said, “in the volume of the book it is written of ME.” Genesis through Malachi is an overview of this physical world - sin and it’s results – Jesus and His solution. Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ (1.1), His testimony (1.2). It is an overview of the spiritual world – The Kingdom of Heaven and it’s principles – Jesus Christ and His reign. Since Jesus is the eternal Alpha and Omega, The Revelation of Jesus would be His testimony from the beginning to the end of time, or this age and beyond.
In my opinion, the best explanation of the “end of the age” is given by Jesus Christ Himself in Matthew 13. He first tells His followers and His disciples a parable about a sower and his field. After everyone else had left His disciples came to Him and asked Him to explain the parable to them.
Mat 13:37 KJV - He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
Mat 13:38 KJV - The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one];
Mat 13:39 KJV - The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
Mat 13:40 KJV - As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
Mat 13:41 KJV - The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Mat 13:42 KJV - And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 13:43 KJV - Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
So let’s see; This world (His Kingdom) is full of the children of the Kingdom as well as the children of the wicked one. At “the end of the world” (= age, a human lifetime, life itself, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity) the angels of God will gather from this world (His Kingdom) “all things leading to sin and the ones doing lawlessness …then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in their Father’s Kingdom (original Greek). ” Now THAT sounds like Heaven to me.
Luke 17:20-21 says, “Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God does not come visible, nor will people say, ‘Here it is’, or ‘there it is’, because The Kingdom of God is within you.”
Our bodies are the temple of the living God – The Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus lives within us and rules and reigns from His throne – our heart. We are the spiritual Jerusalem. (Eph. 3:17, 1 Cor. 6:19) Jesus is the Kingdom of Heaven. In His presence is fullness of joy. In His presence there is no sin, no hatred, no pain and no sorrow. In His presence is paradise. When we become completely consumed by the presence of God in our lives, when He becomes more real to us than anything in this physical world we will begin to be swallowed up by life! The revelation of Jesus will have completely overtaken us and like Elijah’s servant we will see with our spiritual eyes the reality of the age to come.
Rev 3:12 NKJV - "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
1Jo 5:4 NKJV - For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith.
1Jo 5:5 NKJV - Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
I am an overcomer, because I have been born again of God, by faith I am overcoming the world, because I believe that Jesus is son of God. Therefore, I am a pillar in the temple of My God. His name is written on my heart, The New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God.
Scripture teaches us that God will finish what He has begun. He began a work when He created this world, the Garden of Eden, Paradise, He intended that we should live there in perfect harmony with God and nature. He knew there would be a breach in that relationship from the beginning and He provided a solution to repair the breach, to finish what He had begun. We are being perfected by His grace and restored to our former relationship in Him.
Zec 14:6 NKJV - It shall come to pass in that day That there will be no light; The lights will diminish.
Zec 14:7 NKJV - It shall be one day Which is known to the LORD Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen That it will be light.
Zec 14:8 NKJV - And in that day it shall be That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur.
Zec 14:9 NKJV - And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be "The LORD is one," And His name one.
Zec 14:10 NKJV - All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin's Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.
Zec 14:11 NKJV - The people shall dwell in it; And no longer shall there be utter destruction, But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
Rev 22:1 NKJV - And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Rev 22:2 NKJV - In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rev 22:3 NKJV - And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.
Rev 22:4 NKJV - They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.
Rev 22:5 NKJV - There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
Jesus was, is and will be King over the whole Earth. His was, is and will be One God, and His name is The ONLY name, above every other name! The King !
When I hear people say how wonderful Heaven will be and when they sing songs like “ICan’t Wait to Get to Heaven” and “In the Sweet By and By” it leaves me totally unmoved. In fact, if the truth be told, it used to frighten me. Death frightened me, the rapture, the resurrection, the “great tribulation” and even Heaven as it was traditionally described…they all frightened me. But, the Bible teaches me that Jesus does not bring a spirit of fear.
The descriptions of Heaven I heard seemed far-fetched, unreal and they were NOT a present help in my times of trouble. I loved the world, God’s creation, all that He had given me to enjoy as He Himself seemed to “…for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son …”. Besides, all that it sounded like I would have to go through “hell” to get to Heaven , what with pre-tribulation, tribulation, post-tribulation, end-time disasters, the rapture (because no matter how cool they tried to make the rapture sound it still did not bring peace to my spirit) and of course….dum, dum, da, dum….the Final Judgement!
But, the Jesus I came to know refuted everything traditional religion had taught me. His love reaches to the Heavens, His faithfulness reaches to the skies, His righteousness is the like mighty mountains and His justice is like the great deep and He PRESERVES both man and beast. My God will redeem my life from the grave and will surely take me to Himself. My comfort is that His promise preserves my life. My Jesus told the Samaritan women that He had water to drink that she would never thirst again and it would even become in her a spring of water welling up to ETERNAL LIFE. He told the disciples EVEN NOW He harvest the crop for ETERNAL LIFE. I have come to believe that my body will wear out like a garment, but like a garment…in the twinkling of an eye …it will be changed. My old body will be discarded and I will put on the new.
2Cr 5:4 NKJV - For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
I do not wish to be unclothed! I just want to be FURTHER clothed. And I believe that is exactly what will take place. Not the dooms day account of most traditional theologians, not the dying, rising, rupturing, fighting account of main stream religion, but a complete metamorphous, totally swallowed up by life, over taken by Jesus and what He has already accomplished, because IT IS FINISHED.
I love to talk about spending eternity with Jesus – that moves me! But, I don’t believe that I have to die again to do that. I died when I accepted Christ as my savior and was baptized. My old sinful nature was buried (it was sown a natural body, it was raised a spiritual body.) I became a new creation in Christ and because of that I no longer need to fear the second death. In fact, I believe I will not die. I was guaranteed eternal life. Yes; this old mortal body may die to be perfected, but I don’t believe I have to GO anywhere to be with Jesus. And truth told, I believe as the scripture teaches there is coming a generation that will never taste death. And like the Samaritan woman who received before her time I too can receive whatever Heaven has to offer, before my time, as my faith allows.
Jesus is as real to me TODAY as any person I speak with in the flesh. In fact, He’s more real, more intimate, and more present because He is IN me. He’s as close as my breath and my next heartbeat – He IS my breath and my next heartbeat, He quickens my mortal body.
~
One of the greatest deceptions of the enemy (in my opinion) is the “rapture” doctrine. It is not scriptural. The most frequently used verses of scripture used to support this doctrine is 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.
1Th 4:16 KJV - For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 KJV - Then we which are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
I don’t believe the end of time or the end of this age and the ushering in of the age to come will be much like our human minds have imagined – certainly not much like traditional religious minds have painted it for so long. I believe it will be a removal of the last vestige of the flesh that binds us to the world, an unveiling of the reality of the spiritual world that is, has always been and will continue to be eternally.
Jesus said, “in the volume of the book it is written of ME.” Genesis through Malachi is an overview of this physical world - sin and it’s results – Jesus and His solution. Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ (1.1), His testimony (1.2). It is an overview of the spiritual world – The Kingdom of Heaven and it’s principles – Jesus Christ and His reign. Since Jesus is the eternal Alpha and Omega, The Revelation of Jesus would be His testimony from the beginning to the end of time, or this age and beyond.
In my opinion, the best explanation of the “end of the age” is given by Jesus Christ Himself in Matthew 13. He first tells His followers and His disciples a parable about a sower and his field. After everyone else had left His disciples came to Him and asked Him to explain the parable to them.
Mat 13:37 KJV - He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
Mat 13:38 KJV - The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked [one];
Mat 13:39 KJV - The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
Mat 13:40 KJV - As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
Mat 13:41 KJV - The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
Mat 13:42 KJV - And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Mat 13:43 KJV - Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
So let’s see; This world (His Kingdom) is full of the children of the Kingdom as well as the children of the wicked one. At “the end of the world” (= age, a human lifetime, life itself, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity) the angels of God will gather from this world (His Kingdom) “all things leading to sin and the ones doing lawlessness …then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in their Father’s Kingdom (original Greek). ” Now THAT sounds like Heaven to me.
Luke 17:20-21 says, “Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the Kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God does not come visible, nor will people say, ‘Here it is’, or ‘there it is’, because The Kingdom of God is within you.”
Our bodies are the temple of the living God – The Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus lives within us and rules and reigns from His throne – our heart. We are the spiritual Jerusalem. (Eph. 3:17, 1 Cor. 6:19) Jesus is the Kingdom of Heaven. In His presence is fullness of joy. In His presence there is no sin, no hatred, no pain and no sorrow. In His presence is paradise. When we become completely consumed by the presence of God in our lives, when He becomes more real to us than anything in this physical world we will begin to be swallowed up by life! The revelation of Jesus will have completely overtaken us and like Elijah’s servant we will see with our spiritual eyes the reality of the age to come.
Rev 3:12 NKJV - "He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
1Jo 5:4 NKJV - For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith.
1Jo 5:5 NKJV - Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
I am an overcomer, because I have been born again of God, by faith I am overcoming the world, because I believe that Jesus is son of God. Therefore, I am a pillar in the temple of My God. His name is written on my heart, The New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God.
Scripture teaches us that God will finish what He has begun. He began a work when He created this world, the Garden of Eden, Paradise, He intended that we should live there in perfect harmony with God and nature. He knew there would be a breach in that relationship from the beginning and He provided a solution to repair the breach, to finish what He had begun. We are being perfected by His grace and restored to our former relationship in Him.
Zec 14:6 NKJV - It shall come to pass in that day That there will be no light; The lights will diminish.
Zec 14:7 NKJV - It shall be one day Which is known to the LORD Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen That it will be light.
Zec 14:8 NKJV - And in that day it shall be That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur.
Zec 14:9 NKJV - And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be "The LORD is one," And His name one.
Zec 14:10 NKJV - All the land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. Jerusalem shall be raised up and inhabited in her place from Benjamin's Gate to the place of the First Gate and the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king's winepresses.
Zec 14:11 NKJV - The people shall dwell in it; And no longer shall there be utter destruction, But Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
Rev 22:1 NKJV - And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
Rev 22:2 NKJV - In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
Rev 22:3 NKJV - And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.
Rev 22:4 NKJV - They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.
Rev 22:5 NKJV - There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
Jesus was, is and will be King over the whole Earth. His was, is and will be One God, and His name is The ONLY name, above every other name! The King !
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
I do not know you
When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,'
then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.'
But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.' (Luke 13: 25-27)
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: (John 1:12)
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. (John 15:16)
Jesus said, "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We [are].
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare [it], that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17: 6, 11, 12, 26)
let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:10 & 12)
To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins." (Acts 10:43)
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,and [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:9-11)
The name!! It is THE only name under heaven by which man can be saved...it is THE ONLY narrow way, the only door into heaven. And when that day comes that the Father shuts that way, closes that door, removes that name...there will be no chance left for mankind. And if a man comes to God by any other name...He will say depart from I never knew you...no matter that he may have followed God even to death, no matter that he lived out his life in the temple God, followed every letter of the law of God...unless He knew by THAT NAME...Jesus Christ...not Jehovah, not Muhammad, not Buddha, no other name will gain mankind access to heaven.
If Christians want to see people saved, the church revived, sin quenched, the world changed...they MUST begin to manifest THAT NAME!!! All their scare tactics, good deeds, programs and projects will not SAVE anyone.
then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.'
But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.' (Luke 13: 25-27)
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: (John 1:12)
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and [that] your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. (John 15:16)
Jesus said, "I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word.
Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We [are].
While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare [it], that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them." (John 17: 6, 11, 12, 26)
let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:10 & 12)
To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins." (Acts 10:43)
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,and [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:9-11)
The name!! It is THE only name under heaven by which man can be saved...it is THE ONLY narrow way, the only door into heaven. And when that day comes that the Father shuts that way, closes that door, removes that name...there will be no chance left for mankind. And if a man comes to God by any other name...He will say depart from I never knew you...no matter that he may have followed God even to death, no matter that he lived out his life in the temple God, followed every letter of the law of God...unless He knew by THAT NAME...Jesus Christ...not Jehovah, not Muhammad, not Buddha, no other name will gain mankind access to heaven.
If Christians want to see people saved, the church revived, sin quenched, the world changed...they MUST begin to manifest THAT NAME!!! All their scare tactics, good deeds, programs and projects will not SAVE anyone.
Monday, May 31, 2010
What The World Needs Now Is...
A greater revelation of Jesus Christ!!
First sign of trouble: "...Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God..."
Then Cain caused himself much grief and he "...went out from the presence of the Lord..." and dwelt outside of paradise.
Then we don't read of the presence of the Lord again until 1 Chronicles & it is trees that recognize His presence and sing out as He comes to judge the world.
Then the people prepared a house for God's name & recognized His presence dwelt there because of that name & that if they stood in that presence because of that name and cried out He would hear them and save them. (II Chrons. 20:9) God exalted Jesus giving Him that name which is above every name. (Phil. 2:9)
The next time we see someone in the presence of the Lord it is Satan! ( Job 1:12; 2:7)
But in the psalms, David (a man after God's own heart) understood the presence of God and He had a revelation of Jesus Christ. "Surely the righteous shall give thanks unto thy name: the upright shall dwell in thy presence." (Ps. 140:13.)
Then the prophets began to speak of the presence of The Lord as God revealed His plan.
"Hold thy peace at the presence of the Lord GOD: for the day of the LORD [is] at hand: for the LORD hath prepared a sacrifice, he hath bid his guests." (Zep 1:7)
No mention of the presence of God in the gospels, because He was made flesh and dwelt among us....a greater revelation.
"For Christ is 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)
Where does Christ dwell...within us...in that holy place not made with human hands...we are the temple of the living God. We are the presence of the Lord God on earth today. But, how can we reveal Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world when we have not had a greater revelation of Him ourselves.
Jesus asked Peter, 'who do you say that I am?' What is your revelation of me Peter? And Peter said, "You are the Christ (messiah), the son of the living God!" And Jesus told Peter he was blessed because man had not revealed that to him, but the Heavenly Father had and that it would be upon this revelation of Christ that He would build HIS church! Who's church are we attending? If we are not having a greater and greater revelation of Christ...
He warned them that many would come saying they were Christ and deceive many & people would say there He is or He is over there, but don't believe them.
The coming of the son of man will be obvious as He is revealed in His people, from His Holy Temple...when people begin to have a greater revelation of Jesus Christ they will see what has always been from before the foundation of world and will always be forever...
Paul had a greater revelation of Jesus Christ. He knew who Jesus was and only when man truly knows who Jesus is can he begin to fully understand who he is and then walk in his greatest potential. Paul walked on a higher ground. He lived above his circumstances. He lived in the very center of grace.
Not everyone has the same calling or purpose, but whatever it is you will know it because you will have God's grace to fulfill it and deep satisfaction in doing so. And in fulfilling it you will be the head and not the tail. You will abound in every good work. You will have to give. You will know the blessing and the favor of God and you will continually have a greater revelation of Jesus Christ.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
The Knowledge of Good and Evil
Proverbs 2.
The quest for the knowledge of God is like none other.
99% of Americans today, if asked, “Do you know God?” Would answer in the affirmative, but if they were asked to list His characteristics, His nature, His history most could not and those that did would most likely be speaking from hearsay or tradition not from any personal experience of their own or revelation from God.
To say that you know God and not know any of His word is a fallacy. To know The Word is to know the creator. For in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So while you can be aware of the fact that there is a God from his creation and you can even feel God at work in your life, you cannot truly know God lest you seek Him in His Word.
There is the knowledge of man and there is the knowledge of God. One can be learned the other can only be received by revelation.
Paul said that we should walk by faith and not by sight. What does it mean to “walk by sight”? To me walking by sight is living your life based on knowledge – the knowledge of man. The knowledge of man is lateral and one-dimensional. It cannot see tomorrow clearly or even remember yesterday unbiased. The knowledge of God is all encompassing for He is all and He is in all.
Knowledge did not have a very auspicious beginning in the Garden of Eden with the tree of the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil. This is the Hebrew word “da’ath” and it means “perception, skill, discernment, understanding or wisdom”.
It is not that God did not wish for his creation to have knowledge but rather that it was that they reached out and took what was only God’s to give. Because later God said, “And I have filled him with the spirit of God; in wisdom, and in understanding, and in KNOWLEDGE, and in all manner of workmanship”, When knowledge comes from the spirit it is “good” when knowledge comes from flesh it is “evil”.
The Hebrew word “yada” means “to know, learn to know, to perceive, to see, find out and discern, to discriminate, distinguish, to know by experience, to recognize, admit, acknowledge, confess, to consider, to be acquainted with, to know a person carnally, to know how, to be skillful in, to be made known, acquaintance, declare, reveal oneself”
It was the Hebrew children that had NO knowledge between good and evil that would go into the promise land and possess it. Because the generation that was supposed to possess the land walked by SIGHT and from what they had LEARNED and what they PRECIEVED, they CONSIDERED it too dangerous to go forth. They chose what they considered to be good over evil. In their human minds their children would be ‘prey’ to the giants of that land. (Deuteronomy 1). Because humans make decisions based on experience, perception, logic and emotion. God alone bases His decision on perfection, because God alone has all the data.
When Balaam prophesied of the coming of the Messiah in Numbers 24 he saw into that far future by the KNOWLEDGE of God – oh so different from the knowledge of man.
Even intelligence can be sought from God, like Solomon (the wisest of all men) did. That Hebrew word is “madda” and it means “knowledge, thought, place of knowledge, or thought.” Solomon specifically asked for the “knowledge” to rule the people and judge them and God granted him that and more.
The “good knowledge of God” according to 2 Chronicles 30:22 is what the Levites taught during the The Feast of Unleavend bread. This Hebrew word “sekel” means “prudence, good sense, insight, understanding, cunning, craft”.
Then there is a knowledge that belongs only to God and it is “too wonderful for me; it is high and I cannot attain it” said the psalmist.
But, in Proverbs we learn that the fear or reverence of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and a fool despises wisdom. For the foolish hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord and would have none of the counsel of God but despised His reproof and when they will call on Him He will not answer, they will seek him but not find him. Proverbs 1.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and those that do His commandments have a good understanding.
If you seek wisdom like it is silver and search for it like a treasure that is hidden, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. The Lord gives wisdom and out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. Then you will you understand righteousness, and judgment and equity and yes every good path. When wisdom enters into your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul discretion will save you and understanding will keep you.
There is an “understanding” that is necessary for true knowledge from God. Proverbs 14 says that a scorner seeks wisdom and never finds it, but knowledge comes easy to him that UNDERSTANDS.
Luke states that one must have his “understanding” opened in order to understand the scriptures. And in Ephesians Paul said that the “eyes” of your understanding need enlightened in order to know what is the hope of God’s calling and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance and when our understanding is darkened we are alienated from the life of God through ignorance and the blindness of our heart. Paul said he continually prayed that the church would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
This is a spiritual knowledge and understanding that can only come from God. The scriptures say that there is a “spirit of wisdom” and revelation - it is the Holy Spirit and without it you cannot have understanding and without understanding there can be no true knowledge. Paul said God gives by His spirit the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge. The psalmist said that through the meditation of your heart comes understanding. When we are filled with the spirit of wisdom we can meditate upon that and receive understanding. . The Lord gives wisdom and out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. Paul said he didn’t use the words that man’s wisdom teaches but what the Holy Ghost teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
The wisdom of God vs. the wisdom of man is easily distinguished. God’s wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle easily entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partially or hypocrisy, (James 3:17) while the wisdom of man is earthly, sensual, devilish, covetous, strifeful, confusing and evil. (James 3:15)
But, the promise of God is that if any lack wisdom let them ask and God will give liberally.
Solomon said that wisdom is a defense like money is a defense, but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom shields and preserves the life of him who has it.
God said that his people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because they have rejected knowledge. But knowledge without God creates pride. Paul taught us to cast down our imaginations, and everything of pride that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
He said to have unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God is to be a perfect (or complete) man and to have reached your capacity of the fullness of Christ in you – the hope of glory. Because in Christ are hid all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge. And when we are born again our new man is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created us.
So Eve reached out to take for herself knowledge – of good and evil - when it was never hers to take. But, in the end when we receive the holy spirit of Christ in humility and ask of the Father he will give us knowledge and as we take this teaching to heart partaking of this “strong meat” we come into maturity and using the senses of our spirit we are now able to discern both good and evil.
The quest for the knowledge of God is like none other.
99% of Americans today, if asked, “Do you know God?” Would answer in the affirmative, but if they were asked to list His characteristics, His nature, His history most could not and those that did would most likely be speaking from hearsay or tradition not from any personal experience of their own or revelation from God.
To say that you know God and not know any of His word is a fallacy. To know The Word is to know the creator. For in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. So while you can be aware of the fact that there is a God from his creation and you can even feel God at work in your life, you cannot truly know God lest you seek Him in His Word.
There is the knowledge of man and there is the knowledge of God. One can be learned the other can only be received by revelation.
Paul said that we should walk by faith and not by sight. What does it mean to “walk by sight”? To me walking by sight is living your life based on knowledge – the knowledge of man. The knowledge of man is lateral and one-dimensional. It cannot see tomorrow clearly or even remember yesterday unbiased. The knowledge of God is all encompassing for He is all and He is in all.
Knowledge did not have a very auspicious beginning in the Garden of Eden with the tree of the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil. This is the Hebrew word “da’ath” and it means “perception, skill, discernment, understanding or wisdom”.
It is not that God did not wish for his creation to have knowledge but rather that it was that they reached out and took what was only God’s to give. Because later God said, “And I have filled him with the spirit of God; in wisdom, and in understanding, and in KNOWLEDGE, and in all manner of workmanship”, When knowledge comes from the spirit it is “good” when knowledge comes from flesh it is “evil”.
The Hebrew word “yada” means “to know, learn to know, to perceive, to see, find out and discern, to discriminate, distinguish, to know by experience, to recognize, admit, acknowledge, confess, to consider, to be acquainted with, to know a person carnally, to know how, to be skillful in, to be made known, acquaintance, declare, reveal oneself”
It was the Hebrew children that had NO knowledge between good and evil that would go into the promise land and possess it. Because the generation that was supposed to possess the land walked by SIGHT and from what they had LEARNED and what they PRECIEVED, they CONSIDERED it too dangerous to go forth. They chose what they considered to be good over evil. In their human minds their children would be ‘prey’ to the giants of that land. (Deuteronomy 1). Because humans make decisions based on experience, perception, logic and emotion. God alone bases His decision on perfection, because God alone has all the data.
When Balaam prophesied of the coming of the Messiah in Numbers 24 he saw into that far future by the KNOWLEDGE of God – oh so different from the knowledge of man.
Even intelligence can be sought from God, like Solomon (the wisest of all men) did. That Hebrew word is “madda” and it means “knowledge, thought, place of knowledge, or thought.” Solomon specifically asked for the “knowledge” to rule the people and judge them and God granted him that and more.
The “good knowledge of God” according to 2 Chronicles 30:22 is what the Levites taught during the The Feast of Unleavend bread. This Hebrew word “sekel” means “prudence, good sense, insight, understanding, cunning, craft”.
Then there is a knowledge that belongs only to God and it is “too wonderful for me; it is high and I cannot attain it” said the psalmist.
But, in Proverbs we learn that the fear or reverence of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and a fool despises wisdom. For the foolish hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord and would have none of the counsel of God but despised His reproof and when they will call on Him He will not answer, they will seek him but not find him. Proverbs 1.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and those that do His commandments have a good understanding.
If you seek wisdom like it is silver and search for it like a treasure that is hidden, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. The Lord gives wisdom and out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. Then you will you understand righteousness, and judgment and equity and yes every good path. When wisdom enters into your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul discretion will save you and understanding will keep you.
There is an “understanding” that is necessary for true knowledge from God. Proverbs 14 says that a scorner seeks wisdom and never finds it, but knowledge comes easy to him that UNDERSTANDS.
Luke states that one must have his “understanding” opened in order to understand the scriptures. And in Ephesians Paul said that the “eyes” of your understanding need enlightened in order to know what is the hope of God’s calling and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance and when our understanding is darkened we are alienated from the life of God through ignorance and the blindness of our heart. Paul said he continually prayed that the church would be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
This is a spiritual knowledge and understanding that can only come from God. The scriptures say that there is a “spirit of wisdom” and revelation - it is the Holy Spirit and without it you cannot have understanding and without understanding there can be no true knowledge. Paul said God gives by His spirit the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge. The psalmist said that through the meditation of your heart comes understanding. When we are filled with the spirit of wisdom we can meditate upon that and receive understanding. . The Lord gives wisdom and out of his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. Paul said he didn’t use the words that man’s wisdom teaches but what the Holy Ghost teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
The wisdom of God vs. the wisdom of man is easily distinguished. God’s wisdom is pure, peaceable, gentle easily entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partially or hypocrisy, (James 3:17) while the wisdom of man is earthly, sensual, devilish, covetous, strifeful, confusing and evil. (James 3:15)
But, the promise of God is that if any lack wisdom let them ask and God will give liberally.
Solomon said that wisdom is a defense like money is a defense, but the excellency of knowledge is that wisdom shields and preserves the life of him who has it.
God said that his people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because they have rejected knowledge. But knowledge without God creates pride. Paul taught us to cast down our imaginations, and everything of pride that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
He said to have unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God is to be a perfect (or complete) man and to have reached your capacity of the fullness of Christ in you – the hope of glory. Because in Christ are hid all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge. And when we are born again our new man is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created us.
So Eve reached out to take for herself knowledge – of good and evil - when it was never hers to take. But, in the end when we receive the holy spirit of Christ in humility and ask of the Father he will give us knowledge and as we take this teaching to heart partaking of this “strong meat” we come into maturity and using the senses of our spirit we are now able to discern both good and evil.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Revelation is not (as some translations have added) ‘the revelation of St. John the divine’. This not the revelation of the ‘end of the world’. This not the revelation of the ‘apocalypse’ (that would be redundant). This is not the revelation of the ‘anti-christ’. This not the revelation of the ‘rapture’. This not the revelation of the ‘great tribulation’ (place, time and people).
This IS (according to Rev. 1:1) The Revelation of Jesus Christ! The testimony of Jesus (1:2).
The word ‘revelation’ is the Greek word ‘apokulupsis’ and it means ‘appearing, coming, lighten, manifestation, be revealed, revelation’ and it comes from the root word ‘apokalupto’ which means ‘take off the cover, disclose, reveal.’ This is the ‘apocalypse’ of Jesus Christ. This is the appearing of Jesus, the coming of Jesus, the enlightenment, the manifestation; this is Jesus Christ revealed. This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ!
This revelation (according to 1:1) was given by God to show His servants things, which will happen QUICKLY the Greek says ‘to occur with speed’ – in other words – ‘in the twinkling of an eye’.
He sent this revelation to His servant John via an angel and John bore witness to the word of God and His testimony by what he saw.
In verse 3 it says that the one who reads AND hears AND keeps the words of this prophecy is blessed!
This is NOT a ‘doomsday’ prophecy to be feared and dreaded. This prophecy is a blessing to be kept! The word ‘keep’ used here is the Greek word ‘teros’ and it means ‘ to watch, guard, maintain, hold fast, preserve’, i.e. ‘will you keep my son for me while I go to the store?’
Read it! Hear it! Keep it! In doing so you receive the blessing that lies therein…the revelation of Jesus Christ!
‘For the time is near.’ What time is near? The time of the unveiling, the time of the manifestation, the time of the coming, the time of the ‘apocalypse’, the time of the revelation of Jesus Christ!
The first three verses then are the prologue, the preface, and the introduction to the prophecy to come. They set the tone. They give an overview, a behind the scenes view; they give details and explanations. Everything else that is read in the rest of this book must line up with these first three verses of Revelation.
http://www.theapocalypseis.com
This IS (according to Rev. 1:1) The Revelation of Jesus Christ! The testimony of Jesus (1:2).
The word ‘revelation’ is the Greek word ‘apokulupsis’ and it means ‘appearing, coming, lighten, manifestation, be revealed, revelation’ and it comes from the root word ‘apokalupto’ which means ‘take off the cover, disclose, reveal.’ This is the ‘apocalypse’ of Jesus Christ. This is the appearing of Jesus, the coming of Jesus, the enlightenment, the manifestation; this is Jesus Christ revealed. This is the Revelation of Jesus Christ!
This revelation (according to 1:1) was given by God to show His servants things, which will happen QUICKLY the Greek says ‘to occur with speed’ – in other words – ‘in the twinkling of an eye’.
He sent this revelation to His servant John via an angel and John bore witness to the word of God and His testimony by what he saw.
In verse 3 it says that the one who reads AND hears AND keeps the words of this prophecy is blessed!
This is NOT a ‘doomsday’ prophecy to be feared and dreaded. This prophecy is a blessing to be kept! The word ‘keep’ used here is the Greek word ‘teros’ and it means ‘ to watch, guard, maintain, hold fast, preserve’, i.e. ‘will you keep my son for me while I go to the store?’
Read it! Hear it! Keep it! In doing so you receive the blessing that lies therein…the revelation of Jesus Christ!
‘For the time is near.’ What time is near? The time of the unveiling, the time of the manifestation, the time of the coming, the time of the ‘apocalypse’, the time of the revelation of Jesus Christ!
The first three verses then are the prologue, the preface, and the introduction to the prophecy to come. They set the tone. They give an overview, a behind the scenes view; they give details and explanations. Everything else that is read in the rest of this book must line up with these first three verses of Revelation.
http://www.theapocalypseis.com
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