All Discussion PAGE 1777

Acts 16:31 is my "go to" since my Confirmation date in 1989 - it means everything to me plus it's clear and concise. When I'm 'down and out' I reflect on Act 16:31.

For service in the Kingdom of God-Paul, Justin, Joshua, Tyler -all have a calling on their life-

Please Pray, in the name of Jesus -Amen

Hi Jacgueline This is where God through His prophet Isaiah is saying with repetition have I told you what to to and how to do it and their priests were so spiritually gone they would not here it and rejected. Its also a figure of speech emphasizing a point. So another nation came in and took them captive again.

Chris Gods Word states in 2 Peter 1:20+21 that all scripture is prophecy so prophecy biblically is telling past present and future. Now then prophecy relating to future operating in the church is used to bless and protect believers. I witnessed a situation where someone was to go to this specific gathering with there son would be healed. Of course the person obeyed and he was . Also that is revelation or revealed information from God specific to a situation. Whats amazing to me is people tell me the spirit showed me or told me this or that but they don't believe God can work in this way. God is always talking to us if we have our spiritual ears open. 1 Corinthians 2:9 comes to mind, I'm convinced that because of a lot of corrupt examples and frankly no clear understanding or confusion in this biblical field it is not operating as effective as it could be spiritually. Prayerfully that helps.

Hello Jacqueline. Just to add further to GiGi's good comments on the Scripture's personal application, I look at the background of that situation there in Isaiah chapter 28. The first half of this chapter shows God denouncing Ephraim (the chief tribe of the Northern Kingdom of Israel). They sinned against the Lord in many ways (vv7,8) & will be taken into Assyrian captivity one day soon. So Isaiah kept on warning them with the Word often, even causing the leaders to become indignant with Isaiah for treating them like children with such constant repetition ("precept (command) upon precept, line (every detail) upon line) - they grew tired of Isaiah's continual warnings from the Word.

But God says that day of suffering will come upon them "For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people" (v11): God will use even their captors to speak in their language (unintelligible to Israel) to this disobedient people. But even with this warning, the leaders of Israel still reject Isaiah's warnings & make fun of him (v13). However, if they heeded the precepts & the lines therein, they may have ceased in their sins & averted the Judgement of God, but verse 15 says, "Because ye (Israel) have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves". By their own admission, they sealed their fate.

And yes, it's so important to understand & heed God's Words to us for therein is life & liberty, now through Jesus Christ our Saviour & not trust in our own ideas & efforts to gain God's approval. Israel forsook their God & so were judged by Him - and so judgement lies before all who mock the Holy One of Israel & despise His Word.

Hi Tony I agree with you about what you shared but Adam being body soul and spirit still had freedom of will like we who are born again either can walk by the spirit or walk by the flesh.

Hello Jode. Are you from Australia? I am. And what you have just stated is entirely false as I think you have picked up on such 'news' from doubtful sources. Let me assure you & others reading this thread, that no such thing that has been described, is occurring in Australia. There are on average about eighty percent of the population (partly or fully) vaccinated & there are some companies which deal with food products, the mining sector, health care, policing, etc. that are requiring their employees to be vaccinated by the end of the year. They are not forced to be vaccinated; if they refuse to abide by company policy, they can apply for another job that will permit them to remain unvaccinated. Australia is now opening up to its other States & even internationally & there will always be a small percentage who refuse vaccinations for their own reasons. If there's going to be any 'mark' given, it will be under the instigation of the Anti-Christ & it will be clear that whoever doesn't take the Mark will not be able to survive for very long. Maybe you could visit other more reputable news sources & learn what the current situation is in Australia & the World.

Dear "Serena". Please RUN! Away from him hi is not worth it. You are soo beautiful, move away right now. You deserve a man who love u in right conditions. A word ill read today may help u, in peace and love in Jesus holy name.

Matthew 13.41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;

42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

43 Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

Remember u are valuable.

Jordan Feliz is not a True Christian. Here is proof, he uses the word magical, not of God!

Changed"

Let me tell you all my friends

About this joy I'm living in

Let me take the mic, go on and testify

How I was dead and then I came to life

No more living in the dark of night

Now everything's alright

I've been changed

I've been saved

Brand new day

I've been changed, I've been changed

Tell me why would I turn back now

There's no end to the love I found

Future's bright and there ain't no doubt

I've been changed, I've been changed

All my heartbreak fades away

Like a book when you turn the page

Let me take the mic, go on and testify

How I was dead and then I came to life

No more living in the dark of night

Now everything's alright

I've been changed

I've been saved

Brand new day

I've been changed, I've been changed

Tell me why would I turn back now

There's no end to the love I've found

Future's bright and there ain't no doubt

I've been changed, I've been changed

I've been changed

I put my hands in the air

'Cause I know You're there

(Your love did something magical)

I put my hands in the air

'Cause You heard my prayer

(A transformation, radical)

I put my hands in the air

'Cause I know You're there

(I know it's supernatural)

I put my hands in the air

'Cause You heard my prayer

I've been changed

I've been saved (I can feel it now)

Brand new day (I believe it)

I've been changed (Oh I believe it)

Tell me why would I turn back now (I can feel it now)

There's no end to the love I've found

Future's bright and there ain't no doubt

I've been changed, I've been changed

Let me tell you now

I've been changed

What are the benefits of a positive attitude?

Hello James. Another perspective. God has always required 'life to be given for life'. This was true in His original Commandments to Israel ( Deuteronomy 19:21): if one wilfully took another's life, then the punishment was to be the death of the perpetrator. And so it was for the destroying the body parts of the innocent as well (v21). It may seem harsh or barbaric to do such things in response to such crimes, but in the Divine Judgement, if in a lawful legal system where witnesses to such crimes were present, then that punishment was to be carried out (not only as punishment to the guilty but that others might learn from this, v20). However, if the witnesses gave false evidence, then they suffered similar punishment as well, vv18,19.

Having said that & to answer your question: "How did the concept of sacrifice for atonement begin?", the rule of 'life for life' was always in God's Mind & issued as part of His Laws to Israel. So, when sin entered into man, every human who committed sin was under the penalty of death ( Genesis 2:16,17; Romans 6:23) - none of us can escape it. But here we have a problem: the death that God speaks about is more than what He required of man's justice system to mete out. In the human system, only the life of man could be exterminated, but in God's System, He can remove him physically as well as positionally. True, Adam & Eve died physically because they sinned by disobeying God, but if God was to prevent them & us from also being separated from Him (i.e. into the place reserved for the Devil & his angels), then there must be a judicial means for God to use to overcome that.

God instituted a sacrificial system for Israel, where a pure animal was sacrificed in substitute for the sinner. The sacrifice couldn't remove the sin but it looked forward when God's Own Lamb would be sent as the Sacrifice for not only Israel, but for all mankind. "Without shedding of blood is no remission" ( Hebrews 9:22): God's requirement for justice & atonement.

Hello Michael,

To answer your question, no once saved always saved that Baptist are taught to believe is not correct, a person who receives Christ into their heart still have free will to forfeit their salvation in Christ. Here are a list of scriptures to help you along your journey with Christ about this topic.

Ezekiel 18:24

"But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die."

Ezekiel 18:26

"When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die."

Hebrews 10:26

"For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,"

Hebrews 10:27

"But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."

Read the whole book of Revelation also chapters 2 and 3 pertaining to this topic.

Some excellent suggestions there, teacher GiGi, for Scripture memorization. Though your mention of practising memorization in cadence with the rocking motion of a rocker, had me bemused & a little concerned. Am I, are we, already having a rocking chair in view for these remaining days on Earth, I wondered? Your suggestion of "if you like swinging" caught my attention, until you suggested 'a swing'. But yet, all very helpful to those seeking such help.

No True Christ follower should ever celebrate old years night. The true meaning of Halloween has no negative connotation behind it. If you look up the root word on etymology online, the word Hallow (a verb) means to make holy, to consecrate, and the noun version means holy person, Saint. Ween means to hope for, expect, and or believe. Halloween together means to be set apart ( consecrated) for God's service and to highly esteem one another in the Lord by building one another up in the faith, and hope and believe one day Jesus Christ will return one day soon to gather up His chosen people, the Body of Christ.

old year's night (all lower case on purpose) is the night for all witches. A lot of people around the world do not celebrate the true meaning of Halloween; instead, there are those who celebrate witches, wizards, frankensteins, vampires, chuckie, and so forth. Isaiah 5:20 states, "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"

2 Corinthians 6:14

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?"

2 Corinthians 6:15

"And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?"

2 Corinthians 6:16

"And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people."

2 Corinthians 6:17

"Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,"

Thank you for those thoughts, GiGi. I too have been blessed by your writings. I can't seem to get away from the fact that Paul spoke of Jesus as the "last Adam" ( 1 Corinthians 15:45).

There is so much to learn & absorb in that tiny verse & so excuse my few thoughts here. In that phrase, 'last Adam', we see that Jesus was brought forth wholly from God Almighty without human contribution:

1. The first Adam was made from the dust of the Earth by God, the last Adam was begotten from the Essence of God by God. Not created, but begotten.

2. The first was pure & then fell into deception & sin instead of standing on the spoken Word of God to him; the second was also pure but resisted all the thrusts of Satan, using the Word of God against him, even by His Own Authority.

3. The first received the sin nature as a result of disobedience & fall, & passed that corruption to all his progeny; the second had no sin nature that Satan could call upon to commit sin but that Satan had to use every deceivable means to make Jesus succumb to become like the first Adam, who earned sin's nature & separation from God.

4. The first could never provide the righteous example or extend Grace for his descendants to receive & live by; the second gave us both His Example & Salvation's Grace to change us inwardly & live forever in His Presence.

5. Of necessity or probability, the first's coming necessitated the coming of another; but by giving & naming Jesus 'the last', there can be no other after Him. This being our Heavenly Father's only & perfect solution to bring sinful man back to Himself - if this Sacrifice failed in life or at the Cross, God had no other option for our redemption.

Can we even comprehend the great worth & incalculable extent of God's love for us to give us so great salvation?

Please pray for The Lord's presence, His protection, grace, hope, love, grace, mercy, help, blessing, favor, anointing, deliverance, complete healing , salvation, peace, comfort, provision, increased finances, promotions, good health, success, acceptance from others, respect & agape love from others, safety and God's rescue and hedge of protection and Warring Angels around me, my children, my grandkids, our homes, cars, jobs, churches, health, minds, lives relationships, marriages, businesses & for God to right now and forever protect and save all my children and grandchildren and me and fight all our battles and for God to bless me with a house to own that is big enough to accommodate me, and the desires of my heart being fulfilled, prayers for peace at my job against management and employers persecuting me w/o a cause. Prayer for God to fight my battles with employers telling me to stop saying Praise The Lord, I can't help saying or giving God praise. Prayer for my neighbors to stop smoking crack and fighting each other and banging or talking towards me through the wall that divides our home. When I wake up, I can say Thank You Jesus for waking me and they will hit the wall. Prayer for Gods peace because I am a doer of Gods Word. Prayer for us to find a good Bible based church with true leaders of God, a new job that pays more to work from home and treats people the way they want to be treated for God to protect us and give us all peace in Jesus Name.

Thank you brother! May the Lord Bless you and Grace. Thank you for praying with me!

Thanks, Chris.

I will study it a bit more and maybe Docetism, as you suggested. I don't think I am called at this time to dig deeper into this heresy, just wanted to follow up on the heads up given me by the Holy Spirit, who has blessed me with a discerning heart. We are in deceptive times, and so many people are just not well grounded spiritually and are easily led into dubious practices and experiences that are a mimicry as well as a mockery of the work that the Holy Spirit actually does in the life of believers as well as some truly unbiblical things that involve the occult and pagan idolaterous practices. I don't want to have anything to do with such things. I don't seek after spiritual experiences, but am open to the work of the Spirit in ways that align with Scripture, which they always will if they are of the Spirit. Gnostics seek after hidden knowledge thinking they are going deeper into the things of God, but, like the Jewish rabbis who use the Talmud or Kabbalah books and practices to find hidden meaning in each and every word, letter, jot and tittle of the Torah, they are practicing divination and reaching into the spirit world in dangerous ways. Those who pursue hidden knowledge even in Scripture end up missing the truth about Jesus in the Word and can make this pursuit and idol.

Thank you so much sister! Thank you for lifting my father in prayer to the Lord.

Re: GiGi

I will add you and your request to my prayer list. May the Lord bring your sons back into His grace and mercies. God bless your aching heart and give you comfort in His name.

The LORD shine His face upon you and your family and be gracious unto you. The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. The LORD bless you and keep you. Numbers 6: 24-26

I will say of the LORD, You are my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him will I trust. Psalms 91:2

May you rest comfortably in the arms of the LORD this evening and days to come.

Yes GiGi, now that will be a very enlightening subject for you to study: Gnosticsm. As you know, the word has its root in 'Gnosis' = knowledge (especially on spiritual matters/insight). It was running rampant in the early Church (through false teachers) & very evident today in all religions & sadly, Christianity. The apostles had to deal with it (see 1 John as being specifically written to believers to warn them & being his exposition on this subject & its entrance into Christianity). While you're at it, have a look at Docetism, an off-shoot of Gnosticsm.

A blessed brother from a previous Fellowship I attended, actually spent several years researching this subject & published a very thick book of over 700 pages, entitled: "Many will be deceived: An Urgent Message to Christians". In it he writes of 'Satan's chronology of deception, through: Greek philosopy, Gnosticsm, False eschatologies, Replacement Theology, Spiritual Elitism, Church liberalism, Darwinism, Communism, Nazism, etc.' Just sharing this if you wanted to dig deeper into the subject, available on Kindle as well. The book is very heavy-going; taking me over a year to work through. Blessings.

Your body is the Temple of God if you have His Holy Spirit , therefore injecting vaccines is not something you should be doing if at all possible . They have hurt and even killed people , thats a fact .

Brother Rick, I was just interested to know what people refer to when they say that their Church was blessed with a prophecy today. My understanding of prophecy is a prophetical utterance received from God for events still in the future, not published previously. Of course, Israel & Judah received many prophecies over different periods by different prophets, but as reminders of what God would do to them (both good & bad) in respect to their behaviour & His Promises. But if today's Church believes that prophecies can be, for example, 'The Lord has spoken that Mrs. Jones will be healed of cancer by early next year' or 'Mr. Smith will secure that job that seems impossible to get', I don't connect this to biblical prophecy - a Word from God, yes - but I would think that many believers already get clear Words or spiritual impressions from the Spirit to say or do certain things. Is this prophecy, is my question?

Yes GiGi, now that will be a very enlightening subject for you to study: Gnosticsm. As you know, the word has its root in 'Gnosis' = knowledge (especially with spiritual matters/insight). It was running rampant in the early Church (through false teachers) & very evident today in all religions & sadly, Christianity. The apostles had to deal with it (see 1 John as being specifically written to believers to warn them & being his exposition on this subject & its entrance into Christianity). While you're at it, have a look at Docetism, an off-shoot of Gnosticsm.

A blessed brother from a previous Fellowship I attended, actually spent several years researching this subject & published a very thick book of over 700 pages, entitled: "Many will be deceived: An Urgent Message to Christians". In it he writes of 'Satan's chronology of deception, through: Greek philosopy, Gnosticsm, False eschatologies, Replacement Theology, Spiritual Elitism, Church liberalism, Darwinism, Communism, Nazism, etc.' Just sharing this if you wanted to dig deeper into the subject, available on Kindle as well. The book is very heavy-going; taking me over a year to work through. Blessings.

Nash, seek the Lord to see if he wants you to share other aspects of your encounter, dreams, etc. It may be that these are just for you to have privately, but if they are disturbing you, maybe seeking counsel with a pastor or mature Christian friend would be helpful. I see no need to reveal things on this site just because people are curious.

Isaiah 52:14,

I am so glad the Lord reached out to you in an amazing way. He knew that that visitation was exactly what you needed to become freed from the bondage of Islam. My son just married a Muslim woman a few months ago from Asia. I hope you will agree in prayer for her to have a hunger for the truth like you had and bring her to salvation soon. Thank you.

Liz

I partner with you in prayer today for the salvation of your husband and for wellness for your child. My three sons each went through times of repetitive illness, sometimes all three at the same time over months and months in their early years. It was to the point where our doctor jokingly said that we were seeing way too much of each other. It was frustrating, but as they grew past infancy and preschool years, their health improved.

I am glad you recognized the problems with the churches you were drawn into because of your needs. May you be built up in the most holy faith, be given discernment to recognize error easily, and be made steadfast in sound doctrine. I ask all of this for you in Jesus' name for every knee in heaven and earth will bow and attest that Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Mari,

It saddens me to hear that your suffered so much abuse as a young one. I am so glad someone took you to church! And mostly, that you believed what was preached. I am glad that God worked so powerfully in your life, ending the abuse, and turning you life around while still in the abusive environment. Praise the Lord for His mercy and grace showered on you!

I agree in prayer with you. I pray for my sons to come back to Jesus everyday for 20 years now. I don't understand how it happened that their faith was cast aside, but I kind of think that Satan stripped them of it at a fragile time in their teen years. I pray that God will restore what the devil stole from them. They need him, but do not know it at this time. They will never be at peace deep within without Jesus.

I understand that many people "need" to go out and try on what the world offers, either in fleshly matters or spiritual matters, but I also know that this is never good for them. I pray for God to deliver them from evil and to renew their first love for Him that they had as children. This world is such a pull on youth, especially. So many people in its grasp, we pray for God to send the right person to share the gospel (even again) with these people and that those of us who speak of Christ, live a life that honors him and gives no reason for someone to reject Jesus because we are obviously hypocritical. We are sinners, yes, but repentant sinners, not delighting in our sinful choices or excusing them away, but admitting to them humbly and attesting to the forgiveness we have in Christ when we confess them and believe He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And then we get up the next day, wash and repeat, so to speak. Martin Luther said, "I die daily" referring to sinning, but also refers to the truth that we rise daily in the forgiveness of Christ. He was emphasizing that we cannot go one day without sinning, but every day we can confess our sins and forgiven and renewed in the life of Christ.