Bible, sword of the Spirit to come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man

Posted on 2015/05/11 by Marcus Ampe

“(For the choir director. A Psalm of David.) The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” (Psalms 19:1 NAS)

“1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:1-3 NAS)

“thus says the Lord GOD, “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.” (Isaiah 7:7 NAS)

“Then the LORD stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the LORD said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth.” (Jeremiah 1:9 NAS)

“”Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.” (John 14:10 NAS)

“And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:17 NAS)

“He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.” (Exodus 3:6 NAS)

“And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” (1 John 5:20 NAS)

“”Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and were created.”” (Revelation 4:11 NAS)

“2 God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD; 3 and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but [by] My name, LORD, I did not make Myself known to them.” (Exodus 6:2-3 NAS)

“13 “And you say, ’What does God know? Can He judge through the thick darkness? 14 ’Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see; And He walks on the vault of heaven.’” (Job 22:13-14 NAS)

“5 Then the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, [and] Pethahiah, said, “Arise, bless the LORD your God forever and ever! O may Thy glorious name be blessed And exalted above all blessing and praise! 6 “Thou alone art the LORD. Thou hast made the heavens, The heaven of heavens with all their host, The earth and all that is on it, The seas and all that is in them. Thou dost give life to all of them And the heavenly host bows down before Thee. 7 “Thou art the LORD God, Who chose Abram And brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees, And gave him the name Abraham.” (Nehemiah 9:5-7 NAS)

“7 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you; I am God, your God. 8 “I do not reprove you for your sacrifices, And your burnt offerings are continually before Me. 9 “I shall take no young bull out of your house, Nor male goats out of your folds. 10 “For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. 11 “I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. 12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all it contains. 13 “Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of male goats? 14 “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High; 15 And call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.” 16 But to the wicked God says, “What right have you to tell of My statutes, And to take My covenant in your mouth? 17 “For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you.” (Psalms 50:7-17 NAS)

“11 And He gave some [as] apostles, and some [as] prophets, and some [as] evangelists, and some [as] pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming;” (Ephesians 4:11-14 NAS)

“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:1 NAS)

“9 but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND [which] HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.” 10 For to us God revealed [them] through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.” (1 Corinthians 2:9-10 NAS)

“14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. 16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE SHOULD INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 2:14-16 NAS)

“Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, Or as His counselor has informed Him?” (Isaiah 40:13 NAS)

“5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 [to be specific], that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel,” (Ephesians 3:5-6 NAS)

“that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and [attaining] to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, [resulting] in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, [that is,] Christ [Himself],” (Colossians 2:2 NAS)

“Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.” (Proverbs 23:9 NAS)

“1 Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse declares, And the man who was raised on high declares, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel, 2 “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.” (2 Samuel 23:1-2 NAS)

“”Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.” (Acts 1:16 NAS)

“And when they did not agree with one another, they [began] leaving after Paul had spoken one [parting] word, “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers,” (Acts 28:25 NAS)

“seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.” (1 Peter 1:11 NAS)

“20 But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is [a matter] of one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:20-21 NAS)

“”But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” (John 14:26 NAS)

“16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 NAS)

“And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted [it] not [as] the word of men, but [for] what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.” (1 Thessalonians 2:13 NAS)

“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4 NAS)

“Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” (1 Corinthians 10:11 NAS)

“49 Remember the word to Thy servant, In which Thou hast made me hope. 50 This is my comfort in my affliction, That Thy word has revived me.” (Psalms 119:49-50 NAS)

“7 “The beginning of wisdom [is:] Acquire wisdom; And with all your acquiring, get understanding. 8 “Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her. 9 “She will place on your head a garland of grace; She will present you with a crown of beauty.”” (Proverbs 4:7-9 NAS)

“The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on folly.” (Proverbs 15:14 NAS)

“”And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit, and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”” (Matthew 13:23 NAS)

“But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:14 NAS)

“And as for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every [branch of] literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all [kinds of] visions and dreams.” (Daniel 1:17 NAS)

“There is no wisdom and no understanding And no counsel against the LORD.” (Proverbs 21:30 NAS)

“Listen to counsel and accept discipline, That you may be wise the rest of your days.” (Proverbs 19:20 NAS)

“7 Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, 9 for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned. 10 For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus [and] with [it] eternal glory.” (2 Timothy 2:7-10 NAS)

“even as Thou gavest Him authority over all mankind, that to all whom Thou hast given Him, He may give eternal life.” (John 17:2 NAS)

“2 for kings and all who are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:2-4 NAS)

Comparative Study Bible NIV_KJV_NASB_AMP

Preceding articles:

Coming to understanding from sayings written long ago

Bibel, Schwert des Geistes, in die Einheit des Glaubens und der Erkenntnis des Sohnes Gottes

Bijbel, zwaard van de Geest in de eenheid van het geloof en van de kennis van de Zoon van God om tot een volkomen mens te komen

Bible, épée de l’Esprit à venir dans l’unité de la foi et de la connaissance du Fils de Dieu

Additional literature:

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“I will Guide Thee with Mine Eye” (Psalm 32:8) (theeyesoffaith.wordpress.com)
He is Risen! (fbcpolson.wordpress.com)
The Sixth Sunday of Easter – Coming in the back door to triune faith (The Epistle Passage) (asimpledesire.wordpress.com)
New Wine And New Wineskins (Mark 2) (answersfromthebook.org)
Scripture of the Day, 4/28 (sowegalive.com)
The Battle Prayer (gracesyllables.com)
Trusting the Guidance of God
I’ve been praying about this…
Master Teacher
Search for Truth: Brighter Days Ahead
The Bible Says
What the preacher should do when the sermon sucks — three tips for before heading to the pulpit
In order to hold fast to truth, one must understand the truth
The Bible: A Holy Resolution
God’s Word: A Sword for the Battle
God’s Word: The security of forever
God’s Word: The place to go to learn how to live
Verse of the Day
Not Just Words
Ratzinger on the Bible as the Word of God
Papyri, Catalysts, and The Book of Abraham
The Blessing of Scripture
Reasons to read the Old Testament #2
Why Should We Study The Word
The Power of Meditation On God’s Word

Can a scientist believe in God

Posted on 2015/03/20 by Guestspeaker

Once again some debates about science, beginning of the universe, evolution and who can believe in what, is being going on in several heated debates.

A composed satellite photograph of North America in orthographic projection. The observer is centered at (40° N, 95° W), at Moon distance above the Earth. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lots of North Americans seem to have a lot of difficulties with the way people want to look at the creation. For many of them it seems impossible to take the creation as having taken part in different phases others than a day of 24 hours. They seem to forget that God has a total different measuring than our present time system.

In the United States of America many science professors say they do not think it is possible that a scientist believes in God. In other countries we can find scientist who were atheist but by their scientific findings and getting to see what was written in the Bible did come to the Christian Faith.

Billy Graham, American religious figure. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Billy Graham in care of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association wrote about this question:

Over the years I’ve met many outstanding scientists who not only believed in God, but were also dedicated followers of Christ. Many, in fact, told me that they’d first become believers because of their scientific studies.

Why was this? One reason, they said, was because they came to see that it was more logical to believe in God than not believe in Him. No matter where you look — through the most powerful telescope or the strongest microscope — the complexity and the beauty of the universe point to an all-powerful Creator. In other words, believing that the universe “just happened” takes far more faith than believing in God! The Bible says,

“Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made” (Romans 1:20).

But my scientist friends also realized that science has its limits. Science can describe what the world is like, but it can’t answer the questions of why we’re here or where we’re going when we die. Only God can give us the answer to these spiritual questions, and He has answered them through Jesus Christ.

Don’t be put off by the unbelief of others. Instead, turn to Jesus Christ and open your heart and mind to His truth as it is revealed in the Bible.

…. Only in Christ, the Bible says,

“are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).

Additional literature:

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David Platt: Church Planting Is Key to Spreading the Gospel “In This Nation and to All Nations” (blackchristiannews.com)
With over 80 percent of people on our continent now living in metropolitan areas, the need for more biblically faithful churches in key urban centers is critical.Over the last year, I have had the privilege of visiting and preaching in many of the “Send” cities designated by the North American Mission Board. As I have interacted with church planting and revitalization teams, I have been deeply encouraged to see and hear about all the avenues God is blessing for the spread of the Gospel in North America.The rapidly shifting moral landscape of our culture, combined with the sobering reality that many of the most influential cities in North America are filled with lost people — yet are home to very few churches — beckons us to do more together to reach these cities.

God’s primary instrument for the spread of the Gospel here and around the world is the local church. We know from the New Testament that Christ is building His church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).
No Big Bang? Quantum equation predicts universe has no beginning (basedheisenberg.tumblr.com)
The universe may have existed forever, according to a new model that applies quantum correction terms to complement Einstein’s theory of general relativity. The model may also account for dark matter and dark energy, resolving multiple problems at once.
How we read the Bible (standupforthetruth.com)
Sanctification is a long process, and sometimes we can lose patience with one another. What is the biblical way to contend for the faith?
Abraham Kuyper: God Crowns Creation With Humanity (stream.org)
Read the article “Abraham Kuyper: God Crowns Creation With Humanity” here: http://blog.acton.org/archives/76377-kuyper-god-crowns-creation-with-humanity.html
Being a creationist conservative in Canada ‘gives your opponents a tremendous amount of ammunition’ (themoderatevoice.com)
Alberta premier Jim Prentice’s hand-picked education minister Gordon Dirks told forum attendees last weekend that he was an “Old Earth guy” – a reference to a doctrine of Creationism that generally rejects biological evolution.Mr. Dirks has declined to clarify his views. He’s also declined to comment on whether or not he accepts the scientifically accepted understanding of evolution when asked directly by the Post.
Subcrustal ocean roof found? – National creationism | Examiner.com (servehiminthewaiting.com)
This team could have found the roof of a now-drained subcrustal ocean. That same ocean, he says, broke confinement about fifty-three hundred years ago. We know that break-out as the Global Flood.
Gallup: U.S. Population Highly Militaristic (stateofglobe.com)
“Which country do you think is the greatest threat to peace in the world today?” the overwhelming winner had been the United States of America.
Old Earth creationists and other conservative Christians denying any evolution (christadelphianworld.blogspot.com)
conservative Christians gained terrain and could blown up the whole evolution thing in a ridiculous way. A big problem with the creationists is that they all undermine the normal Christian thinking and Christian concept of creation and the relationship of man versus the creation.

An anarchistic reading of the Bible—(1) Approaching the Bible

Posted on 2015/02/22 by Marcus Ampe

As human beings we do have to make a lot of choices in our life. the first one is who we want to follow and trust. First of all those we consider our parents, but next we can see many human persons asking for our attention. People have written loads of books, but none of them can really compete with a master-work which has different styles of literature bundled together to offer us a lot of knowledge and advice for life.

Many do ignore it and neglect what it can bring to them.

Believer or not a believer in the Most High Divine Creator of all things, that book which Christians consider to be the infallible Word of God, has a lot of knowledge, wisdom and idioms we should look at, in it.

The Bible actually presents itself as a very non-authoritarian collection of writings. It never pushes its ideas on others, contrary it tells itself that people are free to take it or leave it. It gives us one of those choices in life about which it speaks thoroughly. It let us see what happens if we go through life without seeing the many opportunities, without making use of the different choices laid in front of us.

The Best Seller of all times does not demand that we follow this or that rule or saying but it presents openly the different possibilities, the many choices we can make in our life and tells us also what the consequences are of our choices made freely or deliberately.

One of the difficulties of the Book of books is that in some way it can not be taken up passively. It is impossible to read or to go though it without having questions posed to yourself.
This amalgamation of works from the very old times is still accurate and actual, an authority that requires the participation of the reader — and, actually, the participation of many readers.

That it has certain powers can be seen throughout history. Many people tried to destroy it but never succeeded. Lots of people tried to break it down and bagatelle it, but did not succeed and even several negative people reversed their standpoint and became a believer in God, became Jew, Christian or Muslim.

This collection of books, as no other, can transform people. It has so much power, never seen by any other peace of literature or any written work of human beings.
Yes “Its power on its own terms—different from the power that comes from being expropriated by human authoritarian institutions — is power than empowers the reader. It is not power that lends itself to being concentrated in top-down structures but the power that enhances diversity and decentralization.”
The book of books breaths the Power of a much more higher Supreme Being, that surpasses all modern technology and human knowledge.

*

To look at:

How the Bible works as an authority is a complicated and contested issue.

approach Bible as source of absolute truths that simply need to be heard and followed

“the house of authority” => three authoritative presences:

Bible revealed truth from God, official doctrinal statements (creeds, confessions, etc.)

Bible actually presents itself as a very non-authoritarian collection of writings.

pick up Bible and read from it =>one will be struck by what we could call an epistemological humility.

Bible makes few claims for its own truthfulness.

gives us a bunch of stories that upon reading together, numerous times, does seem to have a kind of coherence

Bible’s message is invitational. The reader can choose to enter the story or not.

The characters in the Bible are quite human— sometimes strikingly so.

an on-going conversation within the Bible where different points of view challenge each other.

Beyond the internal dynamics that humanize the Bible and present a non-authoritarian kind of authority, we need also to recognize that the humanness of the text for us is reinforced by the fact that what we have in our English Bibles are translations made by human beings from ancient languages that at best provide us with what has been called “dynamic equivalence” where the translators can do no better than approximate the meanings of the original.

authority of the Bible =anarchistic = requires participation of the reader

Its power on its own terms = empowers the reader = enhances diversity and decentralization.

reader of the Bible, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, may read the Bible and find direction from it for oneself

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Find additionally: Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #5 To meditate and Transform

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Related articles

Food for Thought-3 Things to Remember Before Starting a Lenten Bible Study (richardsfoodforthought.com)
The Bibles we use emerge from two distinct ancient communities. The Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) comes from the history, people, and traditions of ancient Israel. The text of the New Testament first originates in the early Christian church. When I say, “the Bible is the product of well-intentioned human beings”, I’m not denying the existence of God. Nor am I disputing the idea that God inspired humanity to do certain things then record those events for posterity. I am saying the Bible isn’t a divinely created product in the way Islam regards the Quran. The Bible is a collection of many different types of writing (politics, history, theology, poetry, genealogy) which tell the history of how people understood their relationship with God. Fallible people wrote our holy book. God didn’t write or dictate words to a scribe. There are contradictions and errors throughout the Bible. Once we realize that God works within our mistakes, we can read scripture with fresh eyes.

Think Einstein believed in God? You probably haven’t read this letter he wrote in 1954 (deadstate.org)
Some religious figureheads such as Ray Comfort claim that Einstein believed in some form of God and acknowledged a higher power’s presence.

“Although he clearly didn’t believe in a personal God [like the one in Christianity],” Ray Comfort says in his book Einstein, God, and the Bible.

“Einstein wrote that he wanted to know ‘His’ thoughts, referred to God as ‘He,’ and acknowledged that He revealed ‘Himself.’”

But in contrast, vocal atheist

Christianity book speaks ‘with conviction and eloquence’ (gospeak.org)
On their Facebook page, the Jundiaí School of the Bible wrote Feb. 10 about our new book, Cristianismo Original (=Original Christianity), by Joel Stephen Williams

Did Plato influence the Book of Genesis? (lionoftheblogosphere.wordpress.com)
Now the belief among Orthodox Jews is that the book of Genesis is very old, but as the web page points out, there are no outside historically dated references to the book of Genesis until the second century B.C., which is two hundred years after the founding of Plato’s Academy. This all fits in with a general pattern I’ve pointed out before that Judaism isn’t as old as people think it is.

Thus it’s likely that Genesis was not influenced by God dictating Genesis to Moses (who probably never existed as a real person), but rather by the scientific research and philosophy of Aristotle, Plato, and other ancient Greeks scholars.

A Unification of Creation and Evolution (robertjrgraham.com)
When people say that “god created the heavans and the earth in six days and on the seventh he rested”, who can say how long one of god’s days is. Why are we so egotistical as to believe that his day is the same as our’s. We don’t know god (Most of us who believe in god do so because we want to not because we have proof.) but if there is a god why can’t his, her or it’s day be a thousand or a million or even several billion of our years.

Chapter 2, verse 7 of the book of Genises states “then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” It does not state how long this took or what form the being we call man originally took. God’s image can be many things. We have no way of knowing. Additionally, although the bible is supposed to be the word of god, it was written by humans and therefore subject to human interpretation.

Big Brother has a lot to offer (georgehach.wordpress.com)
We all have a big brother who would like to help us have a better quality of life. His name is Jesus. He inspired 4 books in the Bible: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. They will give you great insight into how to live better.

A Conversation About The Nature of God (thehardincrowder.wordpress.com)
God doesn’t need us in any way, shape, or form. God would still be God if no human being ever worshiped Him.

I do, however, believe that human beings (and all of creation for that matter) were created to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. As John Piper would put it “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him.”

God cares about what we think about him because:

God is worthy of worship

God loves us and knows that there is no lasting joy, fulfillment, or life apart from Him.

God loves us and knows that apart from His love there is only wrath, destruction, and death.

Zionists Have Used Evangelical Christianity To Cheat Christianity (thetotalcollapse.com)
It’s no coincidence that the rise of Zionism, that is: the impulse of the Jews to seek a homeland for themselves, began not long before the Scofield Reference Bible was published. In the late 1800’s, England is where Zionism first found political support. England was already awash with the erroneous “Christian” doctrine of British-Israelism, wherein the British Christians were taught that they were of the lost tribes of Israel; therefore they should support the Zionist Jews venture to create a Jewish state: Israel.

Thinking Pacifism

Ted Grimsrud—January 25, 2015

[This post is a continuation of the conversation about anarchism that I have started in this blog in months past—the most recent post was “More thinking about an ‘anarchistic’ Christianity” on December 15, 2014. It’s an introduction to a series of seven or eight posts that give a quick survey of some anarchistically-inclined dynamics in the Bible.]

I have become motivated to pursue, as a thought experiment, an anarchistic reading of the Bible, for several reasons. For quite some time, probably going back to my discovery of Christian pacifism now nearly 40 years ago, I have found the Bible to be a great resource for thinking politically. However, it has been rather difficult to find connecting points between biblical politics and our current political landscape. I don’t find attempts to link biblical politics with liberal democracy all that attractive; likewise with Marxism. Yet, I also am…

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Marriage of Jesus 8 Wife of Yahweh

Posted on 2014/05/28 by Marcus Ampe

In the previous postings I talked about the torn, business card-size fragment which found instant fame when Harvard historian Karen King announced its discovery in September 2012, because it bears the startling line: “Jesus said to them, ‘My wife …'”

The manuscript written in Coptic, the language of early Christians living in Egypt, has the beginning and end of each line of the manuscript missing. It could be interpreted as a record of a conversation between Jesus and his disciples, in which the disciples tell Jesus: “Mary [Magdalene] is not worthy of it,” and Jesus responds that his wife — presumably Mary Magdalene — “will be able to be his disciple.”

Example Jesus

“Christ gave the example
Now you have been called to this, really, because Christ also suffered in our behalf, leaving you17 an example that you should follow in His footsteps: (22) who did not commit sin, neither was deceit found in His mouth; (23) who being reviled did not revile in return, suffering did not threaten but committed it to Him who judges righteously; (24) who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, so that we, having died to those sins,18 might live for the19 righteousness; by whose wound20 you were healed.” (1Pe 2:21-24 WPNT)

For many Christians Christ Jesus should give the good example. This means that a male of that age should have been married, so Jesus should have had a wife and normal sexual relationship. Most Christians take Jesus also to be god, forgetting he is the son of God and not god the son, he like the Father in heaven ‘Yahweh” would have a wife.

Essence of life belongs to only One

It is very well know that between the 10th century BCE and the beginning of their exile in 586 BCE, polytheism was normal throughout Israel. According to many scholars it was only after the exile that worship of Yahweh alone became established, and possibly only as late as the time of the Maccabees (2nd century BCE) that monotheism became universal among Jews. As a believer I do believe the Holy Scriptures and accept that there have always through history have been people honouring and worshipping the Only One True God, who later gave His Name to be known all over the world as “The I Am Who Is the Being, the Essence of Life”, the Elohim God of gods Hashem Jehovah.

Threat of false teachings

The false teachings of those who liked the plural gods soon entered the world of the followers of the Nazarene Jeshua (Jesus Christ). The apostles described already in the Acts of the apostles that their community was already under threat for this danger. The acts of Peter show more of those false teachings having been entered in the Christian faith.

Mother goddess

Asherah אֲשֵׁרָה Goddess of motherhood and fertility, Lady of the Sea

One of those teachings was that the god of heaven and earth had a counterpart or Dione, which like ‘Elat means “Goddess”. Before Christ Jesus the prophets, like Jeremiah, also warned people not to fall for such “Queen of Heaven” or a “Mother god”. In the Book of Jeremiah, written circa 628 BCE, where the people pray to ha asherah or Asherah ( ‘ṯrt; אֲשֵׁרָה‎, ʼAṯirat, Ashratum/Ashratu) the mother goddess or the Queen of Heaven Jehovah is provoked to anger. (Jeremiah 7:18 and 44:17–19, 25).

“Yahweh of Samaria and his Asherah” and “Yahweh of Teman and his Asherah.” are inscription been found. We should know that several polytheist also adhered Yahweh and even Romans kept a shrine for the God, Whose name they were not quite sure He had. (The unknown God of heaven and earth.)

Relation between Yahweh and other gods

Yahweh having had a temple in Samaria raises a question over the relationship between Yahweh and Kaus (Qaush, Kaush, Qaus, Kos, and Qaws), the national god of Edom. {Keel, Othmar; Uehlinger, Christoph (1998). Gods, Goddesses, And Images of God. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 228. ISBN 9780567085917. Retrieved 10 March 2014.}

It has been suggested that the Israelites might consider Asherah as a consort of Baal due to the anti-Asherah ideology which was influenced by the Deuteronomistic History at the later period of Monarchy. {Sung Jin Park, “The Cultic Identity of Asherah in Deuteronomistic Ideology of Israel,” Zeitschrift für die Alttestamentliche Wissenschaft 123/4 (2011): 553–564.}

Male or female god

For certain Christians The Hebrew God Yahweh or Elohim is conceived of biblically as a male deity, which is is of course not surprising in a patriarchal or male-ruled society. Lots of Christians seem to overlook that in the Bible is written that God the Elohim is not comparable to a human being and is an eternal Spirit and as such does not have a male or female site, no bones, no flesh with blood running through.

Susan Ackerman notes also that there are some feminizations of Yahweh in Isaiah (e.g., “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you” [66:13]; see also 42:14 and 49:15). But then Isaiah also refers to kings as “nursing fathers” (49:23) and to daughters who “shalt suck the breasts of kings” (60:16), words that cannot be taken literally. In any case, Yahweh outside of some Isaianic imagery is masculine in the Hebrew Bible. In the New Testament, “God” translates the Greek Theos, with God remaining a male deity. Thus Jesus regularly uses the word Father (Greek Pater, in Jesus’ Aramaic Abba) for God (e.g., Matthew 6:8-9; Mark 14:36; Luke 10:21; John 17:1; see also Paul’s use in Romans 8:15 and Galatians 4:6).

Masculine and feminine terms

God-Bearer, Lady of the Sign, temper on board, 19th c., Russia – Supraśl – Museum of Icons

In the previous chapters I spoke about those Gnostic gospels where we can find the thought of the divine in both masculine and feminine terms, with Jesus referring to the Holy Spirit as his Mother in the Gospel of Thomas and in the Gospel to the Hebrews, and with the Apocryphon of John describing the Trinity as Father, Mother, and Son. It is in that trinitarian thinking that most people adhere to the mother of god-idea, taking Miriam/Miryam or Saint Mary or Virgin Mary as “Blessed Virgin Mary” being the mother of Jesus Christ, the mother of God or even the Theotokos, literally “Bearer of God”.

Gerunds no personal figures

Man Satan and Lady Wisdom

Several Christians do like to give nouns, substantives or gerunds a personal figure, and as such make the word ‘satan’ which means the adversary a literal figure with the name Satan. Wisdom they make into God and as such find proof that God is also a Woman. This is than affirmed for them in the Apocrypha where ‘Lady Wisdom‘ is identified with the Torah or biblical law (Sirach 24:23; Baruch 4:1). Many Christians like in the same way to use the Greek word Logos as the person Jesus, where in the New Testament the preexistent Word (Greek: Logos) at the beginning of the Gospel of John is reminiscent of Wisdom and of being God and being Christ Jesus, as such them having to be one and the same person. When the apostle Paul later calls Christ “the wisdom of God” (Greek Theou Sophia) then the cat’s away the mice will play. (1 Corinthians 1:24)

Husband and wife metaphor

The metaphor of Yahweh and the Hebrew people as husband and wife is found first in the book of Hosea, and continues in the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. When there is spoken of a troubled marriage, for despite Yahweh’s “love toward the children of Israel,” they “look to other gods” it is not about a literal marriage.

“And Yahweh said to me, Go again, love a woman loved by a companion, but [is] an adulteress, even as Yahweh loves the sons of Israel, though they turn to other gods, and love cakes of raisins.” (Hosea 3:1 UPD)

Children of Israel

The Israelites, god’s chosen people more than once forgot what their Protector and Redeemer had done, and committed ‘adultery’ in the eyes of God.

Yahweh or Jehovah loving the sons is not love like many would like to imagine they having to love some one. The love of Yahweh/Jehovah has nothing to do with a sexual relationship. His love for the sons of Israel which will return (Hosea 3:5) has all to do with the People God made for himself. The wife and/or the bride of which the Bible speaks God has is a figurative ‘wife‘ or ‘spouse‘. The ones that seek Yahweh or Jehovah their God, and David their king, and will come with fear to the Only One True God and to His goodness in the latter days, He is willing to take unto Him like a man would take a wife unto him.

“For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: (5) Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek YHWH their Elohim, and David their king; and shall fear YHWH and his goodness in the latter days.” (Hosea 3:4-5 RNKJV)

Bride Israel

In several places in the Holy Scriptures we can find “The Wife” or “the bride” as a metaphor for the Israelite people, the “Chosen Ones” or the Jews, and later for the Jews and gentiles or converted heathen who wanted to follow the son of God.

Marriage strict bond between God and Israel

As marriage is a matter of a strict bond, Jehovah wants also to have a strict bond or covenant between the two parties, Him (the Creator) and the ones who want to be connected with Him, God His people, or “Israel“. The bed or couch God wants His people to take is with Him, who is the Maker of all. In the past Jehovah had to see more than ones that His people Israel choose to have their beds down with others. For that reason He also provided a new bond or a new marriage, with His son and those who wanted to recognise him as the son of God and as the Messiah, as presenter of the New Covenant.

“For thy Maker is thine husband; YHWH of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The Elohim of the whole earth shall he be called.” (Isaiah 54:5 RNKJV)

” Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed: even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. (8) Behind the doors also and the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me, and art gone up; thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them; thou lovedst their bed where thou sawest it.” (Isaiah 57:7-8 RNKJV)

“For as a youth marries a virgin, thus your sons marry you: and as the bridegroom joys over the bride, thus your Elohim rejoices over you. ” (Isaiah 62:5 ECB)

Israel showing no fidelity to marriage vows

The backsliding children (the Israelites) had neglected many times the pleas of the Most High, though He let them know that He was totally connected to them like man and wife are connected with their marriage vows. he always wanted to offer the honourable and honest the safest place where they could find rest in His bed. The Elohim, God of gods is the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, and His name is Holy, and everybody should come to know His Name: Jehovah; the One Who dwells in the high and holy place, even with the contrite and humble of spirit; to make live the spirit of the humble and to make live the heart of the contrite ones.

“(1.5) For thus said the High and Lofty One that inhabit 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. (16) For I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth: for the spirit would fail before Me, and the souls which I have made. (17) For the iniquity of his covetousness I was wroth, and smote him: I hid Me, and was wroth, and he went on forwardly in the way of his heart. ” (Isaiah 57:15-17 RHB)

“Jehovah also said to me in the days of Josiah the king, Have you seen what the apostate Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every green tree, and has fornicated there. (7) And after she had done all these, I said, She will return to Me; but she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. (8) And I watched. When for all the causes for which the apostate Israel committed adultery, I sent her away and I gave the writ of her divorce to her. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but she also went and fornicated. (9) And it happened, from the wantonness of her harlotry she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with pieces of wood. (10) And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, says Jehovah. (11) And Jehovah said to me, The apostate Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Judah. (12) Go and cry these words toward the north, and say, Return, O apostate Israel, says Jehovah. I will not cause My face to fall on you, for I am merciful, says Jehovah; I will not keep anger forever. (13) Only acknowledge your iniquity, that you have rebelled against Jehovah your God and have scattered your ways to the strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice, says Jehovah. (14) Return, O apostate sons, declares Jehovah; for I am Lord over you. And I will take you, one from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. (15) And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding. (16) And it will be, when you multiply and increase in the land in those days, says Jehovah, they will no longer say, The ark of the covenant of Jehovah! Nor shall it come to the heart, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they miss it, nor shall it be made any more. (17) At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah. And all nations shall be gathered to it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem. And they shall not walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil heart.” (Jeremiah 3:6-17 LITV)

The Bed of Jehovah

The bed of Jehovah and the throne of Jehovah, are the places where those who love God should come to. We like the children of Israel should remember:

” Turn O backsliding children, declares YHWH; because I am married to you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family and I will bring you to Zion:” (Jeremiah 3:14 UTV)

Broken bond

The marriage bond was broken by those people of Israel, because they committed ‘adultery‘. Ezekiel 23 allegorizes Samaria and Jerusalem, the Israelite and Judahite capitals, as two sisters with a host of foreign lovers while both are married to Yahweh and should have known the Will of this Most High Jehovah. It are such passages which deem to be very disturbing to feminist commentators when they look at what they call the brutal punishment of the women by God. Those women symbolize Israel’s unfaithfulness. As noted by Kathleen M. O’Connor, the portrayal of physical abuse by the divine in such passages implicitly condones such behaviour in humans.

Open Invitation to non-Israelites

Kinsmen Redeemer

In the Holy Scriptures we can find the invitation of the Divine Creator God to human beings to become His People and to come and sit down. For the daughter of Babylon (the unbelievers but also the spurious church) may sit on the ground; though they might say to be on the throne of Peter, there is no throne, because they will have lured many people in their base, but would find that at a certain time they would no more be called tender and delicate. We may even see that at such a time those in high position may become undressed. They shall be bare and many (not all) shall come to see their nakedness uncovered. In such way there might still be hope, because then her shame (of those institutions or the church) will be seen. But no way out, Jehovah will take vengeance and He says in the Book of Jeremiah that He will not meet them as a man. As for our kinsmen- redeemer, YHWH יהוה {Jehovah} of Hosts is his Name, the Holy One of Israel or better: the Set-apart One of Yisra’ĕl.

“Come down and sit upon the dust, thou virgin daughter of Babel, sit upon the earth: no throne, thou daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt not be added for them to call thee tender and delicate. (2) Take the two mill-stones and grind flour, and uncover thy veil; strip off the train, uncover the leg, pass through the rivers. (3) Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, also thy reproach shall be seen: I will take vengeance, I will not make peace with man. (4) Jehovah of armies redeemed us, his name the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 47:1-4 Julia)

Whore of Babylon (woman of Babylon) – Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472–1553)

Virgin daughter of Babylon

We may find it cruel that Jehovah strips “the virgin daughter of Babylon” in Isaiah 47:1-4, and helps the Babylonians rape Jerusalem in Jeremiah 13:26 and that He trods “the virgin” Jerusalem “as in a winepress” (Lamentations 1:15), and that He raises up their lovers against them as a jealous husband, stripping them out of their clothes.

“For this, O Aholibah, thus said the Lord Jehovah: Behold me raising up those loving thee, against thee, whom thy soul was rent away from them, and I brought them against thee from round about (23) The sons of Babel and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, all the sons of Amur with them: young men of desire, prefects and governors, all of them third men, and celebrated, riding horses all of them. (24) And they came against thee firm with chariot and wheel, and with a convocation of peoples, shield and buckler and helmet, they will set against thee round about: and I gave judgment before them, and they judged thee with their judgments. (25) And I gave my jealousy against thee, and they did with thee in wrath: thy nose and thine ears they shall take away; and thy posterity shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters, and thy posterity shall be consumed in fire. (26) And they stripped thee of thy garments, and they took the instrument of thy glory. (27) And I caused thy wickedness to cease from thee, and thy fornication from the land of Egypt: and thou shalt not lift up thine eyes to them, and thou shalt remember Egypt no more.” (Ezekiel 23:22-27 Julia)

Mutilated wife

The Adonay Yah Veh, Jehovah looks at His people like a man looks at his wife. But this does not have to mean that He was really married to a wife and certainly not to Asherah, the consort of El (“god”), the supreme god of Canaan and father of the popular Baal. Several Catholic theologians have written many books on Asherah as the wife of Yahweh. Some, not all, have overlooked these metaphors of Jehovah. For many of them the husband physically abusing his wife presents a challenge to modern biblical interpreters. Through such imagery “the Bible,” writes Sharon H. Ringe in The Women’s Bible Commentary,

“seems to bless the harm and abuse with which women live and sometimes die.”

The brutality seems hardly ameliorated by Yahweh’s assurances to his mutilated wife of a brighter tomorrow, for they make God sound like the stereotypical wife beater who minimizes what he has done and promises not to do it again:

“In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee… Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel,… and shalt go forth in the dances of them that make merry” (Isaiah 54:8; Jeremiah 31:4).

The French epigrapher Andre Lemaire looking at some graffiti, inscriptions dating from the eighth century BCE, found on walls and storage jars at two sites, Khirbet el-Kom and Kuntillet Ajrud, in Israel, declaring:

“I bless you by Yahweh of Samaria and by his asherah,” and “I bless you by Yahweh of Teiman and by his asherah.”

brings him wrongly to the conclusion that Jehovah should have a wife or woman goddess.

“Whatever an asherah is, Yahweh had one!”

he says.

Preceding articles:

Marriage of Jesus 1 Mary, John, Judas, Thomas and Brown

Marriage of Jesus 2 Standard writings about Jesus

Marriage of Jesus 3 Listening women

Marriage of Jesus 4 Place of the woman

Marriage of Jesus 5 Papyrus fragment in Egyptian Coptic

Marriage of Jesus 6 Jesus said to them “My wife”

Marriage of Jesus 7 Impaled

To be followed by:

Marriage of Jesus 9 Reason for a new marriage

Marriage of Jesus 10 Old and New Covenant

Words to inspire and to give wisdom

Posted on 2014/03/28 by Marcus Ampe

On the net we can find lots of words. They may have been written to inform us or to tell us stories. Lots of things are said on the internet. It is a world full of fantasies and full of things to bring people away from the truth.

Though in the wood of writings we are able to find also very interesting writings. Those we should use and not let them lay untouched. On this site we also want to offer words people could use to continue their life, perhaps in an other way. We do want to give inspiration and we would love to get people to think and reason.

The Aleppo Codex is a medieval manuscript of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), associated with Rabbi Aaron Ben Asher. The Masoretic scholars wrote it in the early 10th century, probably in Tiberias, Israel. It is in book form and contains the vowel points and grammar points (nikkudot) that specify the pronunciation of the ancient Hebrew letters to preserve the chanting tradition. It is perhaps the most historically important Hebrew manuscript in existence. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Those who believe in God and follow the Bible do know the importance of taking words at heart. They know that they should consider all things said. We have been instructed to search everything this world offers. For that reason we also do want to present on this site different ideas, even those which are not according to what we ourselves think. But we want to give “food for thought”.

A very wise man from the past said “Get insight” and talked a lot about how wisdom can also be something we can earn by doing our best to think and to listen to words and by using our words in the right way. “Laying hold” on words which can enrich us and give us wisdom. And that wisdom is a principal thing. Therefore we should try to acquire wisdom. Only by trying to use our brains to search everything we shall be able to get true knowledge, and with all our acquiring, get understanding. (Proverbs 4:7) Today lots of people are more interested to gain material wealth, but the spiritual wealth is so much more important.

“How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! Yea, to get understanding is rather to be chosen than silver.” (Proverbs 16:16 ASV)

Not only do we have the words which comes from people on this earth. We also do have words which comes from a Spirit, above this earth. That Spirit of Jehovah spoke by several people in the past, and His Word was upon many their tongue. (2 Samuel 23:2)

When we grow older we all can speak from our experience. Our parents and educators taught us many things and tried to give us wisdom. It was not by only presenting the pleasant ways and by spoiling us that they let us grow up and learn the necessary things. They made us bear the yoke in our youth, and now we should live to thank them for it.

There is a great temptation to spoil our only child or those we kindly love, a temptation which few are able to resist. Parents can deny themselves everything for their idol, except the pleasure of making the child a despot; they can endure any pain for their despot, except the pain of resisting him and instructing him. And accordingly they have sometimes to experience the shame and anguish of their children’s curses.

Good parents and educators are not those who spoil their children, but who are standing ready to help the children to grow up and to get more wisdom. It are those who want to share their wisdom with others and who want to tell them the tricky things and warn them for the dangers. It are not those who overprotect their children, but those who learn them where dangers looks around the corner. It are those who owes much to their parents and their previous educators, and give them honour. It are those who are eager to acknowledge what they owe.

God has no kinder gift to give us than a hallowed home, the memory of lessons from the lips of father and mother, the early impressions of virtue and wisdom, the sacred streams which rise from that fountainhead, and that alone, and run freshening and singing and broadening all through our lives. (Expositor Bible)

We learn to love, not because we are taught to love, but by some contagious influence of example or by some indescribable attraction of beauty. To come to the greater love we should get to know the Most Precious Giver of Love. He has given the most important Words which can give us the most important “Wisdom”. Those words written down in many books, a set apart or holy Library or Biblia of books we all can find in the bookshop and should get in on our bookshelf at home.

Words have a power all their own (Photo credit: Lynne Hand)

We should give ourselves to those Words of Wisdom, presented in the Bible or Holy Scriptures. We should offer ourselves to be willing to allow the Words of the Bible mould ourselves by heavenly wisdom, so that we shall be able to walk securely. Those Words shall enable us to look at matters of this world with the right eyes. They will give a certain trend to all our thoughts. A certain instinctive desire for righteousness will be engrafted in our nature; and an instinctive aversion will lead us to decline the way of the wicked. (Proverbs 4:14 )

Those Words shall help us to give ourselves, our children, and to those around us, an atmosphere to grow up in; to cultivate their affections, and set their hearts on the things eternal; to make them associate the ideas of wealth and honour, of beauty and glory, not with material possessions, but with the treasures and rewards of Wisdom.

Those who have become grown ups, should know that they still should feel and have the spirit of the child in them, eager to learn. We should keep the attitude of children in us.

First of all we should listen to God His Words. As we read God’s word we must have a child-like attitude to “hear” and then “accept” (the) words” we read and then “we will have treasure in heaven” Jesus told a ruler, adding, “and come,follow me.” [v.18,22] The very last chapter in the Bible, the final message of Jesus, tells us that, when Jesus returns, this treasure will be revealed, for I will be “bringing my reward (or recompense)with me to repay everyone for what he has done” (Revelation 22:12) {Bible Reading Thoughts for March 26th, Hear … Accept my words}

We“hear” by reading what God has caused to be written preserved and translated – the challenge to all of us is to read and then “accept” into our hearts what we read, so that they become a real influence on the principles by which we guide our lives..

Solomon writes (Proverbs ch. 4) “Let your heart hold fast my words” – this is the vital next stage after we accept them. The first verse tells us that these are “a father’s instruction” on what the acceptance of his words should lead to – “Keep my commandments and live” [v.4] “and whatever you get, get insight” [v.7] We must develop inward vision so that we can reflect on what we have accepted, comparing scripture with scripture so that our understanding becomes increasingly greater.

After saying, “Get insight” Solomon adds, “Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honour you, if you embrace her. She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown” [v.8,9] ” {Bible Reading Thoughts for March 26th, Hear … Accept my words}

We should know how important it is to keep learning, to keep advancing in thought. As a tree tries to get all the ‘juice of live giving water’ we should know where or Whom is the right Source.

Wisdom is a tree of life to those who lay hold upon her. ”Lay hold” lit means to be strong, to hold fast, and when we consider the tree of life looking forward to eternal life, our minds are taken to Paul’s words, which show this being strong is not passive but active: {Bible Reading Thoughts for March 26th, Hear … Accept my words}

“Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on the life eternal, whereunto thou wast called, and didst confess the good confession in the sight of many witnesses.” (1 Timothy 6:12 ASV)

We all have to run hard and fast in this world but even better in the faith. We better seize the eternal life, the life we were called to, the life we so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. We should be running after one that’s gold eternally. (1 Corinthians 9:25) taking the Words of the Supreme Being at heart we should become fearless in our struggle, holding faith and a good conscience. We should lay hold on that for which also we were laid hold on by Christ Jesus, laying up in store for ourselves a good foundation against the time to come, that we may lay hold on the life which is “life” indeed. (Philippians 3:12; 1 Timothy 6:19)

We all should better listen to Solomon and other wise men who wrote in the Book of books. Solomon goes on to write advice to his son,

“Hear, my son, accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her; for she is your life” (Proverbs 4:10-13).

But Solomon’s son Rehoboam, did not listen so as to remember his father’s words, they did not stay in his heart and we read of the tragedy of his lack of wisdom when he succeeded his father in 2 Chronicles 10:8-13 in rejecting wise counsel. This is reflected in Proverbs 1:25,26

“because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you …”.

We see these words as also having a final application in our days as the whole world ignores God’s counsel, despite his word being available in every language! {Today’s thought “My father … he taught me” (March 26)}

Solomon writes in chapter 15,

“3 The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, Keeping watch upon the evil and the good. 4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life; But perverseness therein is a breaking of the spirit. 5 A fool despiseth his father’s correction; But he that regardeth reproof getteth prudence.” (Proverbs 15:3-5 ASV)

Let us heed God’s word!

Words of the Most High. – Page of a rare black-letter Bible, 1497, printed in Strasbourg by Johann Grüninger. The coloured chapter initials were handwritten after printing (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Title page to the ASV (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

+++

Devotional on Proverbs 8 (Wisdom) (365devotionals.wordpress.com)
Wisdom is talked about many times in the bible but today we don’t really honour or celebrate wisdom so much. Rather the people who have the most power, most money, who are the most beautiful and talented are celebrated and honoured.Rather than seeking wisdom many seek riches and i also seek and desire riches more than wisdom sometimes. It is constantly in my face, through advertisement and just living in the world in general. But wisdom has this to say “I love all who love me. Those who search for me will surely find me.”
Several quotes about wisdom. (closetoeighty.wordpress.com)
The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom. ~Isaac Asimov
Secrets of Wisdom (peterdavid28.wordpress.com)
Secrets of wisdom have been collected and preserved for you. Solomon, the rich and wise king of Israel, son of beloved David, will teach you to be great in the sight of God and men (Pr 3:1-4; 10:1; 25:1).You stand before an open door of knowledge, prudence, honor, riches, and life, among many other blessings. These are not the mere words of a pagan thinker, whose sayings have long ago been proven false. These are the inspired words of God as learned, proven, and written down by the world’s greatest analyst and philosopher (Eccl 1:12-18; 2:1-12).
March 27: Wisdom= Generosity (pastorpekari.wordpress.com)
Want to know how you’ll use a billion (with a b) dollars? Just take a look at how you use $100, and you’ll know.
Wisdom: Cue Sound Effects! (pastorpekari.wordpress.com)
We usually think of wisdom connected to the mind, but a reading of wisdom literature in the Bible shows that wisdom might not be as much about getting the right answer as it is about living the right way at the right time.
Wisdom by A Schoonbee (christianmotivations.weebly.com)
The bible says that those who walk in wisdom will be successful and live long lives. they will be happy and be blessed. See Proverbs 3:1-18
Wisdom From Above (theresaboudreau.wordpress.com)
Life is a journey that can be difficult at times, as you try to navigate your next steps. In some cases, there are no black & white solutions to your problems or straightforward answers to your questions. You may travel hard roads and encounter gray and foggy days on your venture. What you need is wisdom from above to make the choices and decisions that will ultimately move you forward in the right direction. Wisdom from above is wisdom that can only come from God in Heaven.
Thursday Thoughts: Pattern of a Wise Woman (keeponswimmingblog.wordpress.com)
The Proverbs 31 woman is one example of a woman who feared the Lord and applied that wisdom in everyday life. Just as with many examples, we can learn from them without feeling the pressure to conform to every practical application of the wisdom principles behind each application. Clearly some applications, like her speech being characterized by kindness, is echoed in the New Testament as descriptors of a believer in Jesus Christ.
The Value of Wisdom (2-23-2014) (worshipwithheart.wordpress.com)
Solomon asks for wisdom. Even God acknowledged to Solomon how rare it was for such a request. Would I have made such a request? Or would have I asked for the other things God named that most people would ask for? (Possessions, wealth, honor, a long life.)
A Fool (inspirationalchristiansfortoday.com)
A fool is a person lacking wisdom and common sense. They act imprudently and are easily tricked or deceived. If you wish to avoid the label of simpleton, dunce, blockhead, or imbecile I encourage you to seek out and find someone wise and sit at his or her feet for a while. Soak in their knowledge and try to apply it to your life.

King Solomon had many faults but he did appreciate the value of wisdom and understanding. He had the common sense to ask God for wisdom in order to lead the children of Israel. God blessed this son of King David with a wisdom so great it was known around the world. A fool leading a nation is dangerous and both King Solomon and God wanted a wise and competent ruler.

People Seeking for God 7 The Lord and lords

Posted on 2014/03/10 by Christadelphians

With purpose in the previous article People Seeking for God 6 Strategy we used a few times the words LORD and Lord. We can ask if everybody could clearly know about whom we where talking. When people read certain New Testaments in their language they can find often written ‘Lord’ or ‘lord’, but for sure it is not clear about whom it is been talking. Several people also use the title “Lord” to indicate God, but at the same time they use is it also to denote Jesus Christ (‘hail Zeus the Anointed”), whose name is really Jeshua in full Jehosjhua or Jehosjoea (“Salvation or Help from Jehovah”).

John Tenniel’s “Our New ‘First Lord’ at Sea” for the 13 October 1877 issue (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Though the Most High Elohim is certainly the Master or owner of everything it may be very confusing to only keep calling Him”Lord”. In the Bible or Holy Scriptures we do find several times that there is somebody speaking who says about Himself He is the “Sovereign Lord Jehovah“. The “Sovran” or sovrin or supreme ruler or head and lord (lörd) master or feudal superior, the proprietor or owner and a dominant person. It could be a titled nobleman, a duke marquess, earl, viscount or baron, a peer. But than we face the other lord also, who could be by courtesy the son of a duke or marquis, or the eldest son of an earl.

Today many do take it when they speak about the ‘lord’, they mean Jesus but also God. so by always saying Lord they do not see the difference any-more about which lord is been spoken, either the Father or the son. In this instance also a special son, namely, the eldest of the New Covenant. Because after God had created the first Adam, that first son revolted against his Father, the Divine Creator, and God promised He would take care that an other son would come onto the earth to bring Salvation to all the descendants of the first Adam. The Divine Creator created an other human being to be the first of God His New Creation. That second and last Adam became as such the oldest son of the “Lord of the New Creation“. The second Adam as oldest son could as such be called “Lord” and was going to be called also “Lord of lords” by many, the master of many people who would be master of others or would be a ‘bishop’, a member of the House of Lords, a judge of the Court of Session and would be appointed by his Father in heaven as a mediator between God and man but also as the High Judge of this world, placed above all human judges this world would produce.

Title page of Parables (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This second Adam as such would not be a lordling (a little lord) but the lordship appointed by the Most High Lord of the Universe. With his lord-ship that second Adam, would receive a state or condition of being a lord receiving the territory of a lord by his heavenly Father, Jehovah God.

People would come to speak about the Lord’s Prayer and the Lord’s Supper, having for the first speaking about the prayer Jesus gave to his followers to talk to his Father, Who also should be “Our Father” (Matthew 6:9-13). When talking about the Lord’s table people would speak about the communion table, where holy communion took and takes place, remembering Jesus Christ who took the bread, broke it and gave it to his disciples saying tit was the sign of the New Covenant. It is used for the table where people gather around to remember the one lord who gave his flesh, blood and his whole soul (his whole being) only willing to do the wish of his heavenly Father and not his will. (Luke 22:42).

This second Adam told all those around him, he did not come into this world to do his will, but to do the will of his Father, who is must more mightier than him, and without Him he could do nothing. We should not look to do just the will of this lord Jesus, but should seek to do the Will of the Father of Jesus (John 5:30). Jesus recognised Who was the Only One Rightful Lord or Master of everything. Without this Master of the Universe Jesus could do nothing. He was only a creation of that Divine Creator who was given the possibility to handle in the name of the Most High Elohim, “Lord of Lords”. He might have been the only begotten son of God, but in case God did not gave him the power he was just nothing or like anybody else.

Joh 5:19-32 The Scriptures 1998+ (19) Therefore יהושע {Jeshua} responded and said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son is able to do none at all by Himself, but only that which He sees the Father doing, because whatever He does, the Son also likewise does. (20) “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all that He Himself does. And greater works than these He is going to show Him, in order that you marvel. (21) “For as the Father raises the dead and makes alive, even so the Son makes alive whom He wishes. (22) “For the Father judges no one, but has given all the judgment to the Son, (23) that all should value the Son even as they value the Father. He who does not value the Son does not value the Father who sent Him. (24) “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me possesses everlasting life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. (25) “Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of Elohim. And those having heard shall live. (26) “For as the Father possesses life in Himself, so He gave also to the Son to possess life in Himself, (27) and He has given Him authority also to do judgment, because He is the Son of Aḏam. (28) “Do not marvel at this, because the hour is coming in which all those in the tombs shall hear His voice, (29) and shall come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have practised evil matters, to a resurrection of judgment. (30) “Of Myself I am unable to do any matter. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own desire, but the desire of the Father who sent Me. (31) “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. (32) “There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.

Jesus could only become lord or judge by the allowance of his Father in heaven, to Whom he came to sit at His right hand to judge the living and the dead. Already early in time it was said Jehovah would raise up judges (Judges 2:16) but knowing that a man of flesh and blood would be the best person to know what is in the heart of an other person of flesh and blood, god has given the power to judge to His only begotten son, Jeshua (Jesus Christ). In that son people should be able to come to see Who God really was. Nobody would be able to bring an excuse because God had given His Word to the World in the Holy Writings brought into many different manuscripts by many men of the world who offered themselves to be men of God. The many promises made in hat Word became reality by the birth of that man Christ Jesus, and as such the Word became flesh (John 1:1-5)

Yah Chanan (John 1:1-3): In the beginning the Word having been and the Word having been unto God and God having been the Word he having been, in the beginning, unto God all through his hand became: and without him not even one being whatever became. (Aramaic New Covenant; ANCJ Released: 1996 Contents: New Testament Source Used: Exegeses Bibles (1996) Location: Tyndale House, Cambridge, United Kingdom)

It was the Most High Lord, Allah, the God or “Lord of heaven and earth“, Who took care that His Word could be brought to many, and that the world would come to understand the Word He provided. Jesus came to explain the Words of his Father, and made many things clear, which lots of people did not understand from the Hebrew Scriptures.

In this man Jesus people got to see an important person and as such called him also ‘sir’ or ‘lord’, which we would do when we encounter a man by which we do have no relation or whom we want to give esteem. As such we should consider the title ‘lord’ given to Jeshua a title of respect or courtesy. Some wrongly consider it a title giving proof of the godhead or divinity of Jesus. But would they consider the lords of this world also than to be the God, though several of them may be called gods as well. Already in Scripture we do find such lords also receiving a title of being a ‘god’ but that did not make them The God. Many love to bring John 1:1 to say Jesus was God because they would love to see it that way. But the phrase gives us to understand that the writer wanted to have his book written like the Genesis of the Hebrew Scriptures, but now the Genesis of the New Covenant or the “New Testament” (hence the name of the assembly of the Greek books).

“In a beginning was the Word, and the Word was with the God, and a god was the Word.” (Emphatic Diaglott – interlineary side)

Many want to take the Word like Wisdom, which where personified in the writings to be really a person, but it was a description by which word was masculine and wisdom feminine, but not having like so many think a man god and a woman god, and therefore speaking of Elohim or the “Mighty Ones”, in the plural so more than one person. They forget that for higher persons always the Pluralis Majestatis was used. A singular person speaking with the term “we” but only appointing to himself as the higher placed one.

There where also may people in the world who tried to get people away from God and they did everything to obscure the Name of God and to confuse people. In the previous century, from the 1960ies onward they tried to erase the name of God from the Bible itself. Several new translations replaced the Name of God with the word Lord. At first they still used LORD and Lord, so that people still could see the difference between The God and the lord Jesus. Though for the trinitarians it was more useful to have not such distinction and to have people just to read ‘lord’ so that they could not see any more the difference between the Lord God and the Lord Jesus.

Those looking for God and wanting to get to know God better, their quest was made more difficult. But if they still tried to listen what was rally written in the Books they still could find the Only One God. It would have not been so easy when they could have found the Name of the One God, wherever it was originally written. Bbut God protected His Word and everywhere in the world could have been found proper translations where the Name of God was till placed there where the Tetragammaton (according to the syllables) or the Name of God was really originally written.

We may be pleased to see a tendency of change, coming back into the world, more people finding it important again to use Bibles with the Name of God where it was in the original writings. Several Restored Names, Holy Name Bible or Sacred Names Bible and Hebrew Roots Bible translations could see the light around the turn of the previous century.

To our shame lovers of God have to agree that in lots of the modern Bible translations including the later King James Bible versions, that our Heavenly Father’s personal name Jehovah/Yahweh has been taken out and replaced with titles and even names of pagan deities more than 10,000 times.
Literal translations were not much liked and lots of people were encouraged by their churches to read paraphrased Bile translations. Not many where eager to take a Bible translation close to the original language that was written thousands of years ago – the Bible as it was! The Old Testament from the original Hebrew manuscripts and the New Testament from the original Aramaic and Greek texts.

We should take it at heart that the Divine Creator wanted us to know Him and come into close realtionship with Him, having all the world for the many generations knowing His Name.

Exo 3:13-15 The Scriptures 1998+ (13) And Mosheh said to Elohim, “See, when I come to the children of Yisra’ĕl and say to them, ‘The Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His Name?’ what shall I say to them?” (14) And Elohim said to Mosheh, “I am that which I am.”1 And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Yisra’ĕll, ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” Footnote: 1The Heḇrew text reads: ’eyeh ’asher ’eyeh, the word ’eyeh being derived from hayah which means to be, to exist, but the Aramaic text here in v. 14 reads: ayah ashar ayah. This is not His Name, but it is an explanation that leads up to the revelation of His Name in v. 15, namely: יהוה {Jehovah}. (15) And Elohim said further to Mosheh, “Thus you are to say to the children of Yisra’ĕl, ‘יהוה {Jehovvah} Elohim of your fathers, the Elohim of Aḇraham, the Elohim of Yitsḥaq, and the Elohim of Yaʽaqob, has sent me to you. This is My Name forever, and this is My remembrance to all generations.’

Looking at Exodus 20:7 concerning the use of the Divine Creator His Name, we should be warned not to make His Name worthless: “Lo tisah et Shem YHVH Eloheicha l’shav.”

Exo 20:7 The Scriptures 1998+ (7) “You do not bring1 the Name of יהוה {Jehovah} your Elohim to naught, for יהוה {Jehovah} does not leave the one unpunished who brings His Name to naught. {Footnote: 1Or lift up, or take}.

By withholding the proclamation of His Name, we may well be guilty of “making His Name worthless.” Those who just use ‘Lord” do they not use lightly the name of the Adonai? Will Allah, the God of heaven and earth not leave those unpunished who uses His name lightly. Therefore it is important that we also show the outside world our relationship we do want to have with the Creator of heaven and earth.

In older American movies you might find children calling their father “sir”, but would you when you really love your father call him “sir” or “lord? Would you not speak to him by using the words “Father” and using His name when he himself asked you to call him by his name? God explained Who He was and is, and Who He wants to be know by the Whole world, and How important He does find it to have His name be hallowed. When we do know that our Father wants His Name to be praised and to be considered holy or set apart, would we than not place His Name apart and make it special?

By calling God “Lord” we are not making Him very special and do not use His Name but only a title, which also can be used by other people. The Name of God can not be used by other people in the same way. It is so special, so sacred, we also should give it an extra place and have others to know it.

The Torah and Tanach or Tanakh (‘Old’ Testament) clearly records how Hebraic Patriarchs and Prophets actually proclaimed and pronounced the Sacred Name as a Testimony to non-Jews and non-believers and how His followers will come to know His Name and call upon Him, using this Name!

When you keep using the title “LORD” or “Lord” you keep refraining from using the Sacred Name of God. by not using the name of the God of Adam, the God of Abraham, the God of Jacob, who was also the God of Jesus and the God of the apostles, you do not show the love for the Father of Christ, nor the love for the son of the Father who taught his followers the importance of the Name of God and learned them to pray that the Name of God shall be placed separate or be made holy.

As followers of Christ it is our task to do what Jesus demanded and to have the Name of his Father resound all over the world. We should go out into the world and get that Name sound everywhere where we can. We should not be afraid to use that Name, though it frightens a lot of people and lots of people shall let us know they do not like to hear that Name “Jehovah”. But we should not fear those human people but should more fear that “Jehovah” Himself, Who is the Most Mighty Lord over all lords.

Let us therefore be careful looking sincerely about whom is spoken and using the right person spoken of.

For example let us see in Acts 2 whose name we should call on.

Acts 2: 21 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD,( Jehovah Joel 2:31,32 ) shall be saved.

Acts 2: 39 or the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD,( Jehovah Joel 2:32 ) our God shall call.

“And thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”(Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luk 10:27 )

Let us declare the love of God by using His Name not in vain but with respect and holiness.

The substitution of the Names of יהוה (YHWH = Jehovah) and יהושע (Yehushua = Jeshua) by the names of the pagan deities of the nations has brought immeasurable harm. Such names as Lord, God, Jesus (hail Zeus), and Christ in no way represent the meaning of the Name revealed by the Most High to Moses and the ancient Hebrew leaders. By employing these names the people unknowingly turn the worship of יהוה (YHWH = Jehovah) into that of idols and actually ascribe the benevolent characteristics of the Mighty One of Israel to the pagan deities (Hosea 2:8).

When we are looking for God, seeking Him with an honest heart, we shall be able to find Him easier by using a Bible translation which uses His Name there where God has given His Name in His Word.

We should at all times use the proper titles and proper name of the God of gods, the “El-Shaddai”, “Eternal” or “Everliving One”, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah.

Preceding articles:

Corruption in our translations !

Finding God amid all the religious externals

Seeing or not seeing and willingness to find God

People Seeking for God 1 Looking for answers

People Seeking for God 2 Human interpretations

People Seeking for God 3 Laws and directions

People Seeking for God 4 Biblical terms

People Seeking for God 5 Bread of life

People Seeking for God 6 Strategy

Note:

For those who swear that only the King James Bible is the right translation they should consider very well wich version they are using and which version they think is the good translation. Most of those who claim we should only use the King James version do themselves not use the original King James version where Jehovah is used and a ‘v’ is presented by a ‘u’, plus using very old language. They very often use a later more ‘contemporary’ version where God His name is taken away and replaced with ‘Lord’

Please do find The Divine Name Jehovah Restored 6972 Times in the divine Name King James Bible.

The Divine Name King James Bible is

the unrevised 1769 edition of the Authorized King James Version
with the wonderful restoration of God’s personal and unique name Jehovah in over 6970 rightful places.

We also would like to remind people that there is no singular organisation which has the sole right to use the Name of God.

It is a misconception that JWs have a monopoly on the name Jehovah. The Sacred Name Bible Movement is not affiliated with Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Please also do find to read:

Additional reading:

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Who is God? (richlewis3.wordpress.com)
El Shaddai means God Almighty, God of the mountains.
Sabbath Lord… (beardedhac.wordpress.com)
Open our eyes to see You more clearly, open our minds to know You more deeply and open our spirits to worship You more sincerely.
When Fear comes Knocking (tricklesoftruth.wordpress.com)
Where Rabshakeh and the king of Assyria failed was in counting the Lord God as like unto the gods of wood and stone.
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There are times when we are faced with similar circumstances in our lives. We face giants and situations that are far greater than we are in the natural. They blaspheme or mock our God and expect that we should bow to them. Our very lives or livelihood may be at stake. What will we do? Will we bow in fear to the enemies’ demands or will we throw ourselves before the Lord and plead our case before Him as Hezekiah did?
“The God of Of Salvation, The Lord Of Death” (settledinheaven.wordpress.com)
The God that we can call our own, is “the God of salvation” or, in other words, He is “the Mighty One that controls the deliverance of His people.” Here, once again we can see a physical and spiritual aspect to this text…
Carissimi; Today’s Mass: Monday Lent I (frjeromeosjv.wordpress.com)
O almighty and eternal God, who hast dominion over both the living and the dead, and hast mercy on all whom Thou forekowest shall be Thine by faith and good works : we humbly beseech Thee that all for whom we have resolved to make supplication whether the present world still holds them in the flesh or the world to come has already received them out of the body, may, through the intercession of all Thy saints, obtain of Thy goodness and clemency pardon for all their sins. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Who livest and reignest, with God the Father, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God For ever and ever.
In the article Holding Fast the Name of Jesus (jlue.wordpress.com) we can clearly see how easily the persons are mixed with each other when a person uses a bible translation with omitting the name of God, having it replaced with ‘Lord’.
It is also not because salvation comes by a man that it means that that man is the Most High God. the text of the New testament speaks about calling on the Name of God and not on the name of Jesus:
Rom 10:13 ToY+ Whoever calls on YHVH’s name will Live!
SIH’s Think On These Things: Ephesians 3:17a (settledinheaven.wordpress.com)
Many times, the alignment of the believer’s desires to the will of God is an ongoing process. As the believer grows in faith and knowledge of the Word, they find their heart (desires) gradually becoming more aligned with God’s will (1 Peter 2:1-3, Colossians 1:9-10)
A laborer for the LORD. (eunasp.wordpress.com)
We are each blessed with a gift we could share with others, like singing, praying for others, preaching, evangelizing, acting, leadership….the gifts are many. There are people we could approach and strike up a conversation with and tell them about God and others are not so open to listening. Silently praying comes in handy in such a situation.
Lord (bloomlotus.wordpress.com)
We are in awe of your blessings and your magic threads you tug and tie among us. We are striving, God, to make you proud and to grow into the best versions of ourselves for you.
Praise The Lord (phillipbrande.wordpress.com)
When I was lost He found me, Before I needed Him, before I was enslaved, before I took my first breath, He provided a way of salvation, a way of freedom through His Son Jesus.
Devotional 05.02.2014 (thelifeofastrangercalledme.wordpress.com)
Jehovah, God of Heaven and Earth, Creator of the entire world, He alone is God! His powers are so great “very great, exceeding great; so great that it cannot be said, nor even conceived how great they are, what a display of wisdom, power, and goodness is in them; they are wonderful beyond expression and conception;

People Seeking for God 6 Strategy

Posted on 2014/03/08 by Christadelphians

Seeking the Most High Creator, our God is a process that is pivotal in our daily lives. When we look for God we should know that it is not a one day occasion. It will take more time to find God. Seeking God must not be seasonal fling. It also can not just be based on a mood of the day or a one time feeling.

Many times in history the Divine Creator had been all but forgotten like a distant memory fading into obscurity. We also can see this in our society, people do not know of the Power, the grace and the majesty of the Elohim, Jehovah our God. Not only the younger ones but also the more settles ones are interested in the temporary things of this world, not so much in the beautiful things of nature, but more the electronic gadgets. The material things they look for are like the flowers of the field, charming for a time, but eventually wither and fade away. Yet hope remained for the people of Israel and hope remains for us too.

Jhva Elohim Meth… The Revival (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sometimes people start looking for a god or church because of peer pressure, but those intentions are mostly not serious and integer enough. Determined by circumstances a person also can come into a stadium where he or she wants seriously to receive more answers. Whatever triggers the search for God, the quest had to be undertaken seriously.

When it is only to have eternal life our reason of seeking God is not the right one and probably would not encounter so easily the expected answers.

We should aim to come into the presence of God. Some would say “it is the crucible where we learn to see eye to eye with God, feel His pulse and get primed to move by His Spirit“.

There should be various things you do to affirm your seeker-of-God status (praying, reading the bible, fasting, listening to truth messages), as you pursue the goal of being changed from glory to glory as you behold the Son of God.

The word ‘seek’ (in the Hebrew ‘dârash’) means to ‘tread’ or ‘frequent’ and this builds the image of seeking or treading a path to the Most High Elohim. It is the willingness to undertake the trip on a path which can lead to the Higher Being. Like Josiah in the past that one looking for God should begin to tread out a path to the Supreme Being, to understand and know how to seek Him.

בית ביסוד המעלה (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are so many things around to distract our attention, although there are nevertheless good things to look at. The beauties of God’s creation are wonderful sights for us to look at. The marvellous designs of the flowers; the birds we see flying around; the busy lives led by the insects; snow-capped mountains or a beautiful sunset. To come to look for God we should first be willing to see the things around us. We should come to see the incredible structures of all those things. Looking at nature, seeing its beauty, this will help to come to see the Maker of all that.

If we seek or tread a path to God frequently, the path will become clear and visible to us.

We read in Psalm 123:2

“(2) See, as the eyes of servants Are toward the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a female servant Are toward the hand of her mistress, So are our eyes toward יהוה {Jehovah} our Elohim, Until He shows favour to us.” (Psalm 123:2 The Scriptures 1998+)

The person willing to find God does have to take on the right attitude, willing to have his eyes waiting on Jehovah our God. In the psalm we may find the loyal slave’s attitude of watchfulness toward his/her master (Proverbs 27:18). Laziness or inattentiveness are not the right requisites to look for God. We do have to open our mind and be willing to read and think about the Word of God, as given in the Holy Scriptures, the Bible.

Excerpts from Raymond Martin’s (Lat. Raymundus Martini, appointed by the Pope to dig up the passages of the Jewish Talmud objectionable to Roman Catholics) Pugio Fidei adversus Mauros et Judaeos of 1270 CE (page 559). The Latin form “Jehova” of the Tetragrammaton is seen. This edition is published in Leipzig, 1687, now is found in the New York City Public Library. Also, see online at Google books here. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Those words we can find in that Book of books we do have to consider and take them at heart. It should be as reading a love letter, from our most beloved. The Bible should give you that fire to come into a close relationship with the Writer. That Speaker wanted to give his Voice to the whole world. His Voice is calling everybody to come into a good relationship with Him, His son and His beloved children who are willing to follow Him. We too can develop a close and personal relationship with our heavenly Father; however, it requires a diligent and zealous mind set on our part. But what a magnificent reward there is! To be able to worship and serve the Creator of everything around us, the one who has provided a great hope of salvation, so that unlike the temporary things of this life we can look beyond to a time of peace and equity, where

‘there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain’.

It is not a bad strategy to look also at Jeshua, the Nazarene Jew and son of Joseph and Miriam (Mary). This man had learned from his parents who God is and what He had done for them. Already at a young age Jesus was more concerned of looking for God than for what his parents would say or feel. Jesus as he actively sought out his Father, when he was twelve years old, remained in the temple for three days. After three days looking for their son, they found Jesus in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both hearing them and questioning them.When Mary and Joseph voiced their concerns about the location of Jesus, we see his sense of duty towards the Only One God. When his mother asked him why he had done so to them, who became greatly distressed, he
said to them:

(49) … “Why were you seeking Me? Did you not know that I had to be in the matters of My Father?” (50) But they did not understand the word which He spoke to them. (51) And He went down with them and came to Natsareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these matters in her heart. (52) And יהושע {Jeshua} increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with Elohim and men. (Luke 2:49-52 The Scriptures 1998+)

revealed in verse 49

‘I must be about my Father’s business.’

Even at the tender age of twelve Jesus provides us with a poignant example, seeking out the Most High LORD was absolutely essential for Jesus, despite the fact that he had to leave the comfort of his family in what was a very busy city. Towards the end of the chapter we see the result of Jesus’ actions, as we read in verse 52,

‘And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.’

This verse provides us with a wonderful motivation by seeking out the LORD of Lord of lords, Who is the Divine Creator God, we can increase our Godly wisdom, so we can learn how to worship and serve this LORD, the Elohim Hashem Jehovah. Instead of seeking out the God in the temple in Jerusalem we must seek out the ‘LORD’, Allah, God, by reading His Word and praying for His Guidance in our lives. Although both Josiah and the Lord Jesus provide us with a two wonderful examples of seeking the LORD from an early age, however, this is a process that both of them continued throughout their lives. We must also spend our time and energy throughout our lives in seeking the LORD of Lord of lords, the Almighty God.

Do our eyes wait upon the Lord our God? Or do our eyes feast on other things? For what proportion of the day do our eyes look on the word of God or writings in connection with the Scriptures?

“Jehovah” at Exodus 6:3 (1611 King James Version) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So in times of happiness or distress on our walk throughout life we can follow the path and easily seek the God of gods. However, this must be an active process, just as it was with Josiah; we must keep this path clear of the debris that life can bring upon us. To seek or frequent the LORD does not mean just to want to know more about God, it requires us to do something about it. This seeking of the LORD is an active process involving prayerful reading of God’s word. By looking for God we also should come to get Him so well that we also get His Name right. We have the wonderful consequence of seeking the Divine Creator laid out for us in Matthew 7:7, that if we do seek the LORD, we ‘shall find’ Him. God is waiting for us to actively seek Him out so that we can develop our relationship with Him as dutiful servants. when we read the Holy Scriptures and take the words for what they are we shall see the difference between the people and shall not have to speak about a lord, a Lord or The LORD, but shall come to know whom the lord Jesus is and Who is Father is. We shall also get their names right and shall recognise Jeshua (Jesus Christ) as the son of God, being the long awaited Messiah. We also shall come to see and understand why the creator had so much patience and wants the whole world to get to know His Name, Jehovah. It is up to us to come to know our heavenly Father and to get others to know Him, Who should be our Only One God.

Preceding articles:

Finding God amid all the religious externals

Seeing or not seeing and willingness to find God

People Seeking for God 1 Looking for answers

People Seeking for God 2 Human interpretations

People Seeking for God 3 Laws and directions

People Seeking for God 4 Biblical terms

People Seeking for God 5 Bread of life

Find also:

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Additional reading:

Treasure Hunters
Imagine that you were just handed a treasure map that leads to Blackbeard’s Lost Treasure. Now take that map, put it in a frame, and hang it on the wall for all to see. Makes sense right? Of course not! You would take that map, follow it exactly step by step. No questions asked because you knew that this map would lead to Blackbeard’s Lost Treasure. Just like any quest , along the way you may encounter obstacles, people may call you names for following the map, and you might even want to give because it is just to hard. But instead of giving up, you continue with the treasure hunt and find it, and knowing all the trials and hardships you had to endure just makes finding the treasure even sweeter. Sounds like the plot to a movie right, but it’s not. It’s the the story of our lives.
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The Bible was written by man but inspired by God to teach us and instruct us in our everyday lives ( 2 Timothy 3:16) but if we just sit it on a shelf and let it collect dust, how are we suppose to know what it is God whats us to do? If we don’t use God’s map and seek Him out, it is us that is missing out. God’s love is our treasure and just like any other treasure that is buried, it hasn’t moved. It is in the same place it has been for years but we must seek it in order to have that treasure and just like any other treasure, it is meant to be shared with everybody, so they can inherit God’s kingdom and feel this unending love of God. Lets start using our maps and seek God not just when we are going through struggles and storms, but in our everyday life.

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Seven, looking past the just a number (faithgracetorah.net)
Our heavenly Father hides the deep wisdom like treasure hidden in a field. We are to guard our hearts. When we find wisdom, our hearts have joy. With wisdom, insight, understanding, knowledge and a pure love for YHWH apart from our own wicked selfish desires will keep our path straight.
Ahnsahnghong’s teachings – Elohim of plural form means God’s Omnipotence and Majesty? [WMSCOG] (ahnsahnghongtruthorfalse.wordpress.com)
World Mission Society Church of God believes in God of the Elohim (plural form of God), and the existence of God the Mother/Heavenly Mother.However, the opposers do not agree at all.

They claim that in Hebrew, the masculine suffix is “-im” and the feminine suffix is “-oth”.

That is why the word “Elohim” is the plural masculine form of “El” or “Eloah.”

They also claim that the plural elohim is used to show omnipotence and majesty of God’s character.
The Genesis 1:1-4 and John 1:1-5 Connection (thejewishinstitute.wordpress.com)
The question that seems to always get raised within the Christian faith is, “How does John 1:1-5 connect or have any relation to Genesis 1:1-4?” I will answer this question not from a Christian point of view but from a Jewish one. We must first understand what Genesis 1:1-4, Bereshit in Hebrew, has to say regarding the Messiah. If there is relation between Genesis 1:1-4 and the Messiah then John 1:1-5 would make more sense from a Hebrew perspective and not a Greek one. Let us begin by reading Genesis 1:1-4 and see what it has to say and what the ancient sages understood about it.
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“Jehovah, Elohaynu, Jehovah. There are three steps to accept the mystery from above. In the beginning God created. In the beginning is the first mystery from where all else spreads…The name takes three forms and from there the name is interpreted in several ways… Rabbi Bechai explained: Elohim is El Haym. These are gods. Remember your creators (Ecclesiastes 12:1). The wise will understand.” (The Jerusalem Edition of the Zohar)
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“Elohim is composed of two words, El and Haym. These are God. That Elohim is plural, though there is only one God, is truth. Eliezer sat before his father. We have learned that to him is justice. How is it that wherever we meet Adonai Elohim [yod, hay, vav, hay, the letters of Jehovah’s name], it means mercy? (the Zohar)
Praise the Lord With Me and Oriki Song (thepraisesofgod.wordpress.com)
How extra-ordinary must your beauty be O God? / It definitely is beyond and above all range of normal human imagination / I see you high and lifted up far beyond the starry sky / Above principalities and powers / Above rulers of darkness of this world / Above spiritual wickedness in high places / Above powers and dominions / Above everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.
The God to Whom I Pray (prayerfromtheheart.net)
God, you are the great I AM. You are all knowing, all sufficient, ever-present and above all perfect love.
God when I think of Jesus, my Lord and Savior, I know you are my caring shepherd, my Jehovah-rahh.
Lord when I am anxious and worried you are Jehovah-jireh, the Lord who provides.
When I am, overcome with anxiety, worries and cares, when the challenges of this life are too great for me to bear, I know you as Jehovah-shalom, the Lord of peace.
When my body and emotions are weak or sick I come to you as Jehovah-rophe, the Lord who heals me.
Was The Name Jesus Christ Given To The Saviour By Heaven Or By Mankind? (spyghana.com)
For many salvation seekers of Christian persuasion, the question posed in this caption may seem unimportant since almost all of them will readily give “yes” as answer to the first part and “no” to the second.
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The original writers of the Hebrew version of the Holy Scriptures were inspired by the Most High One, and were under His direct supervision, as they wrote these scriptures on scrolls of parchment long ago (Second Timothy 3:16 and Second Peter 1:21). These writers could, therefore, never have made even the minutest of errors in their writings in this language since one could say they wrote with the finger of the Most High One.
In the article The Names of God (shareaverse.wordpress.com) is given the proof how many mix the names of people and do not see the difference between titles and names. the writer also goes astray by naming a description of an action as a name and as such takes the sign god gave to the virgin as a name of god whilst it is the name of the son of God, who is not god the son but the son of Mary and Joseph from the tribe of king David. By doing this he want to give direction to people getting them to believe that the Immanuel or God with us means that Jesus is God.
To the God I pray, & Intercessions for all men (twiyesudowo.wordpress.com)
I know You as Jehovah-Shammah, The Lord is Present.
Why I Keep the Seventh Day Sabbath (christinachronicles.com)
For those who are believers in His Son? He came to do the Father’s will…

“{Yeshua} יהושע said to them, “My food is to do the desire {will} of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.” ~ John 4:34

Philosophy hand in hand with spirituality

Posted on 2014/01/03 by Marcus Ampe

Experiences and Interest in philosophy and spirituality

I think it is wrong to think philosophy can not go together with spirituality. I also think it is wrong to assume that when a person is interested in philosophy, he would not be interested in the spiritual or the religious.

Expérience (Photo credit: Saturne)

The world itself presents itself in a succession of pure experiences which we should see. We can either ignore what is going on in the world or look at it question the what and why’s and how’s. Often the human beings can not qualify these experiences in a way by which all would agree with.

Should we not recognise that those things which come along our way are always felt and undergone by our own self, which was constructed by previous experiences and learnings. In a way this may give us always the way of the subjective choice and subjective sense or experience. Each is simply a pure impression that is made upon us at some point in our life, where we do have a certain education or development which shall obey the laws of our state at the moment.

Experiences and Impressions

Reality appears to us first as an unqualified multitude of original impressions that cannot be compared or ordered in anyway without our previous learnings. Is our experience not mere juxtaposition in space and succession in time; an aggregate of utterly disconnected particulars?
Living in this world we can not do without seeing what is happening around us. We can not merely observe the things, and not bring them into thought-relationships.

The things which happen in our lives shall give us our experiences. Those experiences will create senses and shall be our best teacher, experience being the mother of wisdom. To take on any qualities or relationships whatsoever thought or reason must act upon them. It is the process of thought that attributes qualities to pure experiences and relates some experiences to others to build an understanding of the world.

Conscious or unconscious direction with second nature

Our way of thinking or the process of thought should proceed through certain ways be it our conscious or unconscious direction. Our brain should go on working, considering what happened and analysing everything. Probably it shall order everything, classify it. This using some organic laws of interconnection. These laws are part of the world of thought itself and not completely within our control. Pure experience presents itself in a spontaneously emerging stream and thoughts grow out of that experience making it distinguishable to us and situating it in relationship to the rest of experience.

Some do consider the process of thinking not a human activity. We may say that thoughts emerge out of pure earlier experiences and are dependent on our upbringing or rearing and the language we learned, both becoming a second nature.

Out of body experience (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Our religious thinking and being should also become such a second nature. From the Bible we can learn that the ‘soul‘ is not an external element in our being. Many Christians and Muslims imagine there are a good and a bad angel sitting on our shoulders and talking to a soul which can go out of our body when we die. For them this human soul is to be a phantom-like inner being that contains our conscience and moral fibre. It is the element which can let us do good or let us do bad, under influence of other spirits called either angels, for the good ones, and devils, like Satan and Lucifer, for the bad ones.

Breath given by Creator

Those people forget that it was God Who blew his breath in the nostrils of the first man and woman, to bring them to life. The Pneuma or spirit in those first human beings was not something separate from them. It was their breathing, their being itself.

The soul is not a specific element as such but the transcription of the inner being and the thinking which happens by ‘electronic actions’ in our brain and by breathing. Without breathing we shall not be able to give oxygen to our brains by which they will not be able to work, and with a non-working brain we are as good as dead.

You could say that the soul is our “background of our being”. This ‘being’ has to be fed to stay alive. And because it is not a material element it has to find its food in the immaterial. therefore we as human beings should also give food to the immaterial elements of our being, our “body and soul”.

God gave breath to all creation, but the difference between man and the other living organisms is that god has given more power to man. He has received the power to think, to make choices, to make decisions, to give names and to handle like he wishes to do. But all his actions will create experiences, be it nice or bad ones. He shall have the choice to learn from them or to continue his life without learning more from those things that overcame him.

Material and immaterial being and understanding

Like the soul in an immaterial thing, our thinking its coming to understand something is an abstract element. Understanding is “an abstraction which the human mind forms by reflecting on its own thoughts and forms of thinking.” This knowing is a natural product of the process of mind and it is bound up in, and limited by, language. {Coleridge}

Coleridge asserted that it is a process that requires no “self” to enact. It is a natural process of the lawful interaction of mental elements, a simple unfolding of the characteristics of the mind in nature. But I do think we do have a responsibility and we do have the choice and power to have the self to come to understanding.

I believe when we do open our mind to different thoughts we can enable ourselves to learn more. I also believe this is one of the tasks God has given His creation in the Garden of Eden. We can only give the plants and animals name and classify them in groups when we do have the knowledge and skill to do so. This would not require that we all have the same certificate of proficiency or that we may excuse ourselves when it is not in our domain.

Given brains and reason

An illustration of the Cartesian theater, where a homonculus sits in a person’s head seeing and hearing everything that he experiences. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Because God has given us brains to use, we should use them. So we should think about matters and question things. This questioning things may fall under philosophy. Today many may say “Reason is a direct product of the reasoning faculty.”, but that is not taking the Creator in mind. He had a reason to place human beings on this earth having a brain to reason. Reason is a direct product of the power of creation, Who Himself is Spirit. God is not a man of flesh and blood, but a Spirit without a beginning and without an end. His breath gave us spirit, making us capable to reason, to become reasonable figures in that Created World.

It is not an “accident” that reason comes to us. Reason is breathed into us by the Creator. Though many may think it is just something what happens accidentally, it is something which is in-breath in our human constitution. It may appear spontaneously without warning or precursor, but it is grounded or part of a growing seed, which can only come into existence when the person is willing to use his brain. It is from all the previous experiences, the teachings a person got, that he or she shall be able to think. Though this would not be possible without the Power of the Most High, the Spirit God. Without Him we are nothing. It is the Holy Spirit Who can give us ‘spirit’ to think about matters and to come to reason. God has implanted ethic thoughts in us. He has created us all in His image, so we all do have certain elements of the Supreme High Being. We do not all have the same elements, but somehow we all received enough elements to become full human being who can think properly and who should be able to find God. The Reason as such becomes Spontaneous Knowing. We all have received the power to get to Knowing. Some may think it is not an understanding that is constructed through any thought process, but they should remember the Creator who build in His creations the possibility to think and to come to conclusions. In our inner being we do have the key to come to understanding. It is the direct and self-authenticating recognition of truth.

Different ways to go giving different opinions

From the beginning of the world mankind questioned the Spirit God and for that reason Jehovah God gave man the possibility to work it out himself. Woman would bear children in pain and would find they all could be different, going their own way or helping each other. All had to make their own decisions and could think their own way. God allowed it to be so.

Because we all went different ways on the paths which lay in front of man, different opinions came into the world, and people could choose between many theses or postulates.

The direct knowing of truth is build in by the Creator and could happen spontaneously and also compulsively. The reasoning faculty is ‘knowing’ itself. It is not a process that leads to knowing. This implies that there is some part of us that simply knows the truth and cannot help but know it. But we are stubborn beings, though we do not want to admit it. We have direct sense impressions – smells, tastes, sensations, sounds and sights – which simply appear in awareness. We don’t call them into being and we cannot alter or avoid the way they present themselves. Ideas and intuitions also – upon their initial appearance – share the same unalterable immediacy of presence.

With this awareness of things, matters and background knowledge, we can hear others and see what others do or create. Seeing what happens in the world we can not ignore the inner language of thought. We can only deny our interpretation of experience, not the fact of having it.

Trying to perceive more knowledge

So we may experience a lot of things in our life, encounter lots of publications and thoughts. By tackling our taste to get more knowledge,we are not going against God His wishes. The opposite I would say. We should learn and we should try to get more knowledge.

With philosophy we may come into the domain of the seekers who search to get more wisdom, knowledge and understanding about reality. Did or do not many philosophers try to get to answers about life and about why and how things are? They do like to offer an explanation of the way things are where spirituality is a description of a position that we as a human being should take in relationship to the way things are.

Trying to become one with self and environment

Experience (Photo credit: Kaptain Kobold)

In the action of Spirituality a person tries to become One. Bring mind, soul, thinking in unison with his being, material body. By the spiritual action we do want to go to the source from which everything else originates, whilst by the philosophy we want to come to an understanding why and how human being went away from its source and how it can come back to this source again.

While Philosophy is generally in the mental state of consciousness, the mind taking efforts to know, the spiritual would love to come to that Source of knowledge, believing that there exist something more than the material being its consciousness that exist above the mental ranges.

Trying to transcend domain of rationale and intellect

Moral philosophy

Both the philosopher and the spiritualist may be willing to come to knowledge which transcends domain of rationale and intellect. The philosopher not so much concerned by the own individu or individual, person, character, his identity, but preferring to give objective pictures of reality without telling us explicitly (although often they do implicitly) how we should be in relationship to that picture. Even in moral philosophy generally what we get is an explanation of why certain things are right and others wrong. What we don’t get is someone telling us that we should do the right thing. What we do with morality is left in our own hands.

Spirituality resides in higher regions and has much more to do with the own subjective personality. From the subjective point of view the spiritualist tries to go deeper into himself, looking for the realm of truth there and not as such by others. He knows that the soul is in each of us and is inseparable joined together with flesh and blood. In that casing of human flesh there is our way of breathing and thinking, spirit and moral judgment.

Trying to Relate things

We may be interested to see how we can relate to things, and therefore we can look what philosophers do have to say about that. Spirituality wants to go a step further than just knowing how things are related with each other. It tells us how we should be in relationship to the way things are. It can show us how we should react and by knowing what actions we do have to take we also shall be able to choose if we are willing to use such a knowledge to take on an attitude and to build up a religious field. Spiritualities always include philosophical explanations of the world, but those philosophical aspects are the backdrop for the main event which is direct instruction about how to live.

Door to transcendence

Understanding, intellect and the mind is one door to transcendence. From philosophers we can learn a lot, and we should take the opportunity to learn from their writings. But they will never be able to give the full answer. They mostly do not look for The Divine Source. In our normal consciousness people are so caught up with their emotions, sensations and thoughts and their own mind, they get full of themselves in the emptiness of the world. They become so active that there is no room for the Divine. There the spiritual person wants to go against. He wants to have his wondering not taking him to put Him in the chains of life.

No reason to be afraid of philosophy

To see clear

Man thinking on a train journey. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Christians should not be afraid that the philosophy would carry people away from the Divine. When this would happen it is because the person is not prepared to sincerely look for the Divine. Often the person going away from religion is because he does not see clear the difference between philosophy, religion, religiousness and spirituality.

The philosopher may have the love and intellectual search for wisdom. The spiritual minded person knows or believes there is something extra in our life than just the knowledge of the material world. The spiritual person does want to find knowledge to come to wisdom, but understands that wisdom is more that putting all facts together. To come to spirituality there must be more than the willingness to come to understand the own being. Besides the willingness to come to get to know the inner-self there is the love and opening of their hearts for the wisdom and the willingness to have it taking part in the relationship with others.

Sister and brother

We should understand that the religious person may like to look into philosophy and at the same time may look into spirituality. The two approaches can marvelously be like sister (heart) and brother (brain) in the process of coming to the point of Being part of the One on one side and then Becoming part of the big thing on the other side – in being active in life.

Relationship of unity and Oneness

So, I would say, do not mind letting philosophy going hand in hand with spirituality and making a person to become religious in the good sense of the word, finding and loving the Only One Who is One and wants us to be one and worshiping the Right One in a relationship of unity and Oneness.

The only thing a Christian should be careful for is that he does not get carried away with human thinking, but keeps himself concentrated on the sacral and spiritual matters, looking for the Most Important Being making our self being possible to be a being, the Only One God, the Adonai Elohim Hashem Jehovah.

Preceding articles:

Looking for True Spirituality 1 Intro

Looking for True Spirituality 2 Not restricted to an elite

Looking for True Spirituality 3 Mind of Christ

Looking for True Spirituality 4 Getting to Know the Mind of Christ

Looking for True Spirituality 5 Fruitage of the Spirit

Looking for True Spirituality 6 Spirituality and Prayer

Looking for True Spirituality 7 Preaching of the Good News

Looking for True Spirituality 8 Measuring Up

Fruits of the spirit will prevent you from being either inactive or unfruitful

How long to wait before bringing religiousness and spirituality in practice

Additional reading:

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Do You Expect God’s Answer

Posted on 2013/12/05 by Marcus Ampe

Though Rick Warren is a Trinitarian we may assume and do hope, he talks in his article about the Only One God, who is the Father of Jesus and of us.

It is in the name of Christ we can ask lots of things but we do have to be willing to believe in Jesus, being the son of God (and not god the son, like many made him), and in his Father Who also is our Father, in Him we should trust.

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In this article:

Wanting to know what God really wants you to do

When you don’t ask in faith

Expectancy for a solid answer

God wanting to direct you in life

Things need to line up

Asking the right person, God

Asking with the right attitude — in faith, expecting an answer.

Why you didn’t get what you asked for

We having to start to work.

God His promises and wisdom

Ability to make decisions the way God makes decisions.

God never making a bad decision or a mistake.

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Only One God

God is One

One God the Father, a compendium of essays

God of gods

Attributes to God, titles ascribed to Him or Names given to JHWH, the God of gods.

Full authority belongs to God

God Helper and Deliverer

Praise the God with His Name

The Divine name of the Creator

Hashem השם, Hebrew for “the Name”

I Will Cause Your Name To Be Remembered

Jehovah Yahweh Gods Name

Lord or Yahuwah, Yeshua or Yahushua

Fearing the right person

Jesus Messiah

Christ begotten through the power of the Holy Spirit

Jesus spitting image of his father

The Trinity – the Truth

The wrong hero

Promise of Comforter

God’s promises

God’s promises to us in suffering

The Immeasurable Grace bestowed on humanity

Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #6 Words to feed and communicate

Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #5 Prayer #3 Callers upon God

Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #7 Prayer #5 Listening Ear

Try driving forward instead of backwards

Preventing us from going window-shopping in prayer

He who kneels before God can stand before anyone!

Aim High: Examples of Godly Characters to follow

Bible a guide – Bijbel als gids

Testify of the things heard

Get up in the morning and pray for the Lord’s blessings

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Related articles

Strengthen Yourself In Your God (shawnethomas.com)
As Isaiah 40:31 says, “those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength.” Because he strengthened himself in God, David was able to rally himself and his men to go and recover their families and their possessions.

Why Jesus Being the ‘Son of God’ Doesn’t Mean What You Think it Means (bensmart92.wordpress.com)
Since we’re in the season of Advent, now is a great time to be thinking about Jesus – who he is, why he came, and all that good stuff. So for this post I want to think about a term that seems to be the source of a lot of confusion for us as we think about Jesus – “son of God.”

The Will of God for Your Life (counselofafriend.wordpress.com)
How many of us have heard about the importance of finding the will of God? God is not playing hide-and-go-seek with His will.
+God did not save you just to give you a ticket to Heaven. He wants you to serve Him. It is just like when the children of Israel were set free from Egyptian bondage; the LORD said, “Let my people go that they may serve me in the wilderness.”

You should be in a good, Bible-preaching, Bible-preaching church. In that church serve the Lord. Do not just be ministered to; seek to minister!

When the answer is harder than the question (staceyweeks.wordpress.com)
What happens when God fails to live up to my expectations or when He says no? It’s a heavy thought. Why doesn’t God fix things?
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Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego declared before entering the furnace that even if God didn’t save their physical lives they would obey Him. God’s possible inaction in no way implied He was unable. They understood what many of us potentially miss, just because God doesn’t answer the way we expect, doesn’t mean He is not acting.

Was It Lack of Faith That Caused Him to Die? (lordiofferyoumylife.wordpress.com)We yearn so desperately for answers to why the horrible things happen, but God doesn’t come down and explain. Could it be sin standing in the way of our prayers? Could it be a lack of faith? Or could it just be God’s will, which we often don’t fully comprehend? We simply won’t always know why certain things have to happen in our life – until the end of time when God wipes the tears from every eye and makes all things new. Then and only then will we know the answers, and fairness will reign.
Until that day we must trust in God that He knows best. Have faith that God can heal, and does heal. But trust Him when He doesn’t answer your prayers the way you prayed.

Free Gift (thehillbillygranny.wordpress.com)
God has offered each one of us the free gift of Salvation. It is our choice whether we accept or reject this gift.
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it is God’s will that all come to repentance
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The Bible states that “there is no one righteous, not even one” (Rom. 3:9-10). This shows God knows our sinful nature and wants to give us a righteous gift. It doesn’t matter how nice, smart, popular, the Bible states Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not of works, so that no one can boast. God wants to save us to give us eternal life.

William Taylor moves from ‘Trinitarianism’ to the truth of the One God and His Son, Jesus the Messiah (agetocome.wordpress.com)
Is Jesus God ? The Bible Says, ” No “
Part 2) God is not a Trinity
Truly The Son Of God

The Trinity – The Great Christian Idol

Joseph Priestley To the Point (mindingthetruth.com)
Below is an excerpt from Joseph Priestley’s (1733 – 1804) pamphlet “A General View of the Arguments for the Unity of God,” published in 1794. The excerpt comes from the pamphlet’s third section which enumerates arguments from the Scriptures against the trinitarian doctrine.

Aid to Hearing

“If you want to know what God really wants you to do, ask him … but if you don’t ask in faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.” (James 1:5-6 TLB)

God wants to direct you in life, but two things need to line up: You have to ask the right person, God, and you have to ask with the right attitude — in faith, expecting an answer.

Have you ever asked God for something and didn’t expect to get it? That’s why you didn’t get it. God works in our lives according to faith. So many times we say, “God, please guide me!” and we walk away not even waiting for guidance. We just immediately start to work. We say, “God, I want you to give me wisdom; help me make the right decision.” But we don’t really expect him to do that. We think…

View original post 74 more words

Thomas Aquinas on Wisdom by Robert M. Woods

Posted on 2013/11/18 by Belgian Biblestudents - Belgische Bijbelstudenten

In which way has philosophy blended the theoretical and the practical many may wonder. In the early times there may have been the reflection and the proper moral action people wanted to take, but they were always bounded to their own limited thinking and their understanding of the world at that time.

‘Yesteryear’ as today we can find enough people who would love to think about what is going on in the world and how we can find solutions for our living better than today. There are many who would love to see more mutual understanding, love and wisdom.

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For many philosophers to reason, reflect, imagine, conjecture, was part of what it meant to act faithfully in accordance with being in the image of God. Where the world went wrong is that many started not only to consider themselves to be in the image of God, but that many started looking at themselves as being part of God or even worse being God themselves. Though having God in you does not mean yet that you become God, though many take Jesus to be God because he had God in him. They forget that we also should try to receive God in us, to be like Christ Jesus, and to show others how we have God in us. But that does not make us God, like it did not with Christ, who was first lower than the angels, but than was made higher by his Father and was taken at His right hand to become a mediator between God and us.

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God has given the world His instructions, but He has given the humans the liberty to accept and follow them or to ignore them and to go their own way. The majority of the world has chosen to go their own way and to ignore God. So they have to bear the consequences of their choice.

There are not enough people who would like to take the time to look at them selves, how they are doing it in this universe, and contemplating which role they have to play in this universe. Lots of people are busy with thinking about themselves in a egocentric way but not in the relation of themselves with the others around them. Many might try to get wisdom, but often it is only to enrich themselves and not others. It seems that they do not come to see that wisdom is an understanding of the final cause. Like the writer of the article says “Sadly, this has all but been lost in science and philosophy today.”

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Preceding articles:

Where is the edge

The mythical conflict of science and Scripture (1)

The mythical conflict of science and Scripture (2)

Science and the Bible—Do They Really Contradict Each Other?

Sharing thoughts and philosophical writings

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Additional reading:

The business of this life

Created to live in relation with God

Trusting, Faith, calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #3 Voice of God #5 To meditate and Transform

Trusting, Faith, Calling and Ascribing to Jehovah #4 Transitoriness #3 Rejoicing in the insistence

Missional hermeneutics 2/5

Golden rule for understanding in spiritual matters obedience

Truth never plays false roles of any kind, which is why people are so surprised when meeting it

Wisdom lies deep

Growth in character

Preparedness to change

Statutes given unto us

Thirst for happiness and meaning

A person is limited only by the thoughts that he chooses

It is a free will choice

Your life the sum total of all your choices

Leaving behind the lives we have touched.

Words in the world

Trust God to shelter, safety and security

God is my refuge and my fortress in Him I will trust

Gaining Christ, trusting Jehovah + Gain Christ, trusting Jehovah

That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us

Fragments from the Book of Job #1: chapters 1-12

Fragments from the Book of Job #3: chapters 21-26

Fragments from the Book of Job #4: chapters 27-31

Fragments from the Book of Job #6: chapters 38-42

Happy who’s delight is only in the law of Jehovah

Being one in Jesus, Jesus in us and God in Jesus

Morality, values and Developing right choices

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Related articles

God + World ≠ 2 (afkimel.wordpress.com)
“God” permeates our conversation. Each year hundreds of books are published about God.
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if one engages in theological conversation long enough, whether with Christians or with non-Christians, one begins to wonder whether everyone means the same thing by the word.
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The unity of divinity and the all other beings is most clearly presented in popular pagan religion. The gods of Olympian religion clearly belong to the world. They represent the necessities and natural forces that we confront in our daily lives and which we ignore only at great risk.
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With the emergence of Greek philosophy the gods came to be seen as projection of worldly necessities. “The necessities,” Sokolowski explains, “became simply the way things were born to be; they became that which is ‘by nature,’ as opposed to that which is because of human making or because of human choice” (p. 15). The philosophers did not deny the divine, but it was now relegated “to those forms of being that were taken to be the independent, ruling substances in the world. The divine was part, the best and governing part, of nature, but its direct involvement with human affairs was no longer acknowledged nor was it feared” (p. 15). In Aristotle divinity is located in the highest and first substances: it functions as the cause of motion and development of beings in the world. In Plato divinity becomes the “motive and the object of the exercise of reason” (p. 17). Unlike Aristotle it does not function as the prime mover but reaches beyond substance; yet even still “it is taken as ‘part’ of what is: it is the One by being a one over, for, and in many, never by being One only alone by itself” (p. 18). Divinity in Greek philosophy is monistic—it cannot be conceived apart from the non-divine beings in the world.

Does Morality Inhibit Freedom? (Aquinas vs. Ockham) (insightscoop.typepad.com)
Some people seem to think that expressing a clearly defined morality is locking them up in some kind of invisible prison that is constricting their freedom. They may equate moral standards with self-righteous hypocrisy. They don’t want to be “moral machines” following a “hard cold legalism.”

5 Ways To Logically Prove The Existence of God (delightfuloak.wordpress.com)
Everything that exists is contingent upon something that existed before it did. For example, a child is contingent upon the mother and father for it’s existence. Since things exists, it is impossible for a world where nothing exists because we would still have nothing. Since we have things, then there must be an original thing that exists by its own power and does not rely on other things to exist.
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There is something that is more being than all the rest of us. “Therefore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness, and every other perfection; and this we call God.”-Thomas Aquinas
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There must be a creator with a plan for the unintelligent things. “Therefore some intelligent being exists by whom all natural things are directed to their end; and this being we call God.” -Thomas Aquinas

Aquinas’ Catena Aurea on Luke 20:27-40 (stjoeofoblog.wordpress.com)
There were two heresies among the Jews, one of the Pharisees, who boasted in the righteousness of their traditions, and hence they were called by the people, “separated;” the other of the Sadducees, whose name signified “righteous,” claiming to themselves that which they were not. When the former went away, the latter came to tempt Him.

Unified Truth: Faith and Reason (str.typepad.com)
Aquinas felt comfortable undertaking such incorporation because, as he said, “All truth is one.” He argued that what we learn from the natural world through science and philosophy, provided it is unquestionably true, can never contradict that which we learn from revelation, that is, directly from God. He compared Scripture and reason to two books, “the book of revelation” and “the book of nature,” which were both “written” by God and consequently compatible.

Leo Strauss’s Objections to Thomism (sancrucensis.wordpress.com)
Leo Strauss’s critique of modernity was very penetrating, and there is much to be learned from it. But what are we to think of his idea that modernity was (at least in part) a reaction against St. Thomas Aquinas’s distortion of Aristotelian philosophy, and that thus a true return to the ancients much dis-engage them from their Thomistic mis-reading?

Existential-Phenomenology (philosophicalhealing.com)
Existential-Phenomenological Theory has been an important model in the field of counseling and therapy for quite some time, and it continues to increase in popularity with new counselors entering the field. The practice of Existential-Phenomenology is a blending of centuries-old wisdom applied to modern day problems.
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The goal of an Existential-Phenomenological counselor is to help clients make-meaning of their lives, and so it is reasonable to assume that counselors using this theory must also do the same work.

Philosophy is a Dead Language – RIP (brainmoleculermarketing.com)
Fundamentally, philo is merely another example of magical thinking. The core claim of magical thinking is “Mind over matter.” Philo, like econ, etc, falsely promises that word/language-behavior (thinking, talking, etc) can both accurately describe the “matter” of human physiology and actions — or effect it. Clearly a lie. But before brain science, the best we could do. Now, obsolete.

Summa Economica: The morality of economic action (catholicpopcultureblog.wordpress.com) > Summa Parsimonia: The morality of economic action
like the Summa Theologica, the Summa Parsimonia will take its influence from Aristotle and the teachings of Church Fathers such as St. Augustine, in addition to present Catholic Social Teaching and economists such as Adam Smith and so forth. It will critique the given sources if need be

Thomas Aquinasâs Works and Philosophies As an Italian philosopher and (bestessaycheap.wordpress.com)
Like Aristotle, Aquinas believed that aroundthing could be learned from all author, so he also looked towards the beginners of Neo-Platonism, such as: Augustine Boethius, Psuedo- Dionysuis, and Proclus. opposite ideas came from Muslim scholars; such as, Avveroes and Avvcenna. In addition to the Jewish thinkers: Maimonides, and Solomn ben Yehua ibn Gabril. His eclecticist ragbag was later called Thomistic philosophy because it cannot be significantly characterized by anything shared with earlier writers and thinkers. Because of critics of the time, it is said that not a oneness work of Aquinass reveals his entire philosophies (Bartleby).

Thomas Aquinas vs The New Atheists
[T]he new atheists hold that God is some being in the world, the maximum instance, if you want, of the category of “being.” But this is precisely what Aquinas and serious thinkers in all of the great theistic traditions hold that God is not. Thomas explicitly states that God is not in any genus, including that most generic genus of all, namely being. He is not one thing or individual — however supreme — among many. Rather, God is, in Aquinas’s pithy Latin phrase, esse ipsum subsistens, the sheer act of being itself.

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Thomas Aquinas on Wisdom

by Robert M. Woods

On occasion, but it should be with great frequency, within the context of a class discussion or even a lesson at Church, the topic of wisdom is discussed. Frequently, but it should be on occasion, the definition is put forth as practical or applied learning. It is at times like these I desired that Thomas Aquinas’s definition of wisdom had won the day in Western civilization. In truth, the Liberal Arts would have done much better through the ages if his definition had been the one people lived by and taught.

For Thomas, and most Philosophers until the modern world, Philosophy was essentially the “love of wisdom.” To engage in the the practice of philosophy was the faithful pursuit of wisdom wherever it might be found. The primary understanding of truth was saying of a thing what was and not saying of…

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Example Jesus

Essence of life belongs to only One

Threat of false teachings

Mother goddess

Relation between Yahweh and other gods

Male or female god

Masculine and feminine terms

Gerunds no personal figures

Man Satan and Lady Wisdom

Husband and wife metaphor

Children of Israel

Bride Israel

Marriage strict bond between God and Israel

Israel showing no fidelity to marriage vows

The Bed of Jehovah

Broken bond

Open Invitation to non-Israelites

Kinsmen Redeemer

Virgin daughter of Babylon

Mutilated wife

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Experiences and Interest in philosophy and spirituality

Experiences and Impressions

Conscious or unconscious direction with second nature

Breath given by Creator

Material and immaterial being and understanding

Given brains and reason

Different ways to go giving different opinions

Trying to perceive more knowledge

Trying to become one with self and environment

Trying to transcend domain of rationale and intellect

Moral philosophy

Trying to Relate things

Door to transcendence

No reason to be afraid of philosophy

To see clear

Sister and brother

Relationship of unity and Oneness

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