All Discussion PAGE 226

DrCharlesSaw

You say"the third heaven is the dwelling of God'',but what does the Word of GOD say? Ps.148:4-Praise GOD,ye heavens of heavens(highest heavens),and ye waters that be above the heavens(peoples,and nations,and multitudes of all tongues; so,those which will be above the heavens are them which will be caught up out of the FIRE and be placed in the 3rd Heaven,for the 1st and 2nd heavens will be DISSOLVED- 2Peter 3:12-13,as follow:

12Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the Day of GOD(the LORD's Day),wherein the HEAVENS(the 1st and 2nd heavens-THE CELESTIAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS)being on FIRE shall be DISSOLVED,and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?How?Yes, how?It is revealed and explained in Isaiah 33:10-14 combined with Hebrews 12:29 and 10:27.Take a look.

13Nevertheless we,according to GOD's promise,look for New Heavens(the next is the 3rd heaven- Luke 20:35-36.Take a look) and a new earth(new Israel),wherein dwels righteousness.

As you know,the Word is GOD,self-executing. Romans 9:28-31:

-->28For GOD WILL FINISH the work(the finish of GOD's work is from now on according to the WRATH OF GOD described in Revelation 11:15-18),and He shall cut it short in RIGHTEOUSNESS: because a SHORT WORK will the Lord make upon the earth(even now, from now on, in the last week divided in two halfs of severe and terrible chastisements),as JESUS warned in Matthew 24:22,saying:"Except those days should be SHORTENED,there should no flesh be saved:but for the elect's sake those days shall be SHORTENED

Verse 29-And as Esaias said before,Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed,we had been as Sodoma(as is written in Luke 17:29-30),and been made like unto Gomorrha

30What shall we say then?That the Gentiles,which followed not after righteousness,have attained to righteousness,even the righteousness which is of faith

31But Israel,which followed after the Law of righteousness,has not attained to the law of righteousness

That said Get ready

Why does man not follow Yahweh's feast and celebrate his statues as he has commanded?

Rev 6 what do you think about the rider of the first white horse? Is he of the devil or is he our savior? Many will be deceived. Rev 19 is pretty

Hello Wkrimes.

Some interprete the 3 heavens as:

1. The 1st heaven is the atmosphere of the earth.

2. The 2nd heaven is the space outside the atmosphere, the universe, the galaxies.

3. The 3rd heaven is what exists outside of our universe, which is the place where God and the angels reside, where the heavenly Temple is, the Throne of the God, the Paradise etc. Paul went there, he saw the Paradise.

Now the Septuagint text unlike the Masoretic says heaven in both Genesis 1 and 2. And you should know that in both Hebrew and Greek heaven and sky is the same word.

Hi Wkrimes,

Genesis 1:1 The Hebrew word shamayim meaning heaven, heavens, sky, and lofty, is in the Bible over 400 times and it is masculine plural. The Hebrew word for water is mayim it is also masculine plural, due to ending in im. They are plural nouns but can be dual, as the names of people and places in the Bible end in im. Translating it into English would depend on the context.

Some translations have heavens, and some have heaven but what is Genesis 1:1 saying? Some say this includes all three heavens, some even put a gap between verses 1 and 2, but what beginning is this? The third heaven is where God's throne and the angelic beings are, they were already there. They were before this world and universe as we see in Job 38:4-7 so this is our beginning, not the beginning of all creation.

My understanding is this verse is the introduction to the creation of the things that can be seen that are temporal that one day will all be made new. What I see is God waved His hand and all that is in our universe and our world was created and it all was in darkness and chaos. Nothing was formed or brought forth into order, the light shined into the darkness, light was the first day, the beginning of order that we see take place in the following verses.

God bless,

RLW

Indeed and very confusing post from One Eighty. It is an intellectual honesty to give credit to whom credit is due. His post, and especially the line below, has been plagiarized, but no credit was given to the author.

"The expression "God is not mocked" is not a warning but a reassurance; God would be mocked if ANY of His creations lacked holiness. We cannot make ourselves unworthy because we are the treasure of God, and what He values IS valuable." Good that you cared to write, though.

Thanks for pointing that out Jesse! God bless you!

One Eighty,

Blessings in Christ. Please do not take this as an offense. I see that your post, though it looks lengthy and nice, does not address the request made by Stewart! It is very generic and confusing.

It is an intellectual honesty to give credit to whom credit is due. Your post, and especially the line below, has been plagiarized, but no credit was given to the author.

"The expression "God is not mocked" is not a warning but a reassurance; God would be mocked if ANY of His creations lacked holiness. We cannot make ourselves unworthy because we are the treasure of God, and what He values IS valuable." Good that you cared to write, though. God bless you!

Hi Wkrimes,

Good call on Genesis 1, "Heaven" in one translation and "Heavens" in another. To understand this, I'll contrast my French translation with the English one (I speak French primarily). The French translation said, "In the beginning, God created "Heavens" and earth. Paul later reveals to us that there are three heavens. The 1st heaven is the physical "out of space" limits our eyes can see. In this "heaven" resides the demons, principalities, powers, evil spirits, etc. Remember that the earth is covered with the powers of darkness. In the second heaven (purely spiritual place) lives Satan, the king of demons, where the kingdom of darkness is organized. In the book of Daniel, the angel said he was being held by the prince of "Persia," meaning the prince of this world.

Finally, the third heaven is the dwelling of God. The perfect place where we all long to go, where the saints are living. This is the place that Jesus referred to in John 14 when he said I'll go prepare a place for you. This is the New Jerusalem, where there is no sin, no pain, no sorrow.

To conclude, the first translation referred to the spiritual world as "Heaven," while the second translation preferred to distinguish between those three "Heavens". I hope that helps a bit. Thanks.

Blessings Jesse,

I can assure you that I have never taken a course on anything on any website my entire life as you are convinced that I have. Just using the KJV site is a stretch for me, as I'm not too fond of computers; not really my thing. I wouldn't begin to even know how to copy and paste anything. But you seem to know the truth as such.

Respectfully Jesse, do you have a crystal ball that has revealed this to you? Did you consult the Holy Spirit on this, and this is what He told you? If so, then He lied to you. Did you pray about it or even consider consulting Him, as it appears to me you are a mature Christian, and would be accustomed in doing so instead of jumping to conclusions regarding a brother in Christ, or anyone for that matter. This doesn't seem like you, based on past posts I've read of yours.

How long have YOU been reading or studying ACIM? I could be wrong, but it appears you are very familiar with it, having thoroughly read and studied it from cover to cover; perhaps even more than once, or you wouldn't be so confident as to making statements regarding heresy. Perhaps you can enlighten ME on it. Surely you wouldn't just take someone's word on it, as that wouldn't be characteristic of a Christian.

Now, if someone made similar statements regarding the Bible, wouldn't you suggest something along the lines about immersing their self in it,read it through and through, pray and meditate, etc., before jumping to conclusions.

How ironic: You question whether what I said to Stewart was helpful, while you made no effort to be helpful in your post addressed to HIM. Perhaps you can or should point out specifically anything in my post that was harmful, or said without love.

I always enjoy reading your posts, and perceive you as being respectful with good intentions. Be assured, I don't see your post as an attack. I'm grateful to you for your kindness and would never reject you as a brother.

Peace to you always

Thank you Jesus ,

Ju.20 "As One Man" (2 of 2)

"And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And theLordsaid, Judah shall go up first(v.18)". In v.21 we read that they were thrashed by the tribe of Benjamin.Third time God answers them. "And the children of Israel enquired of theLord, (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,/ And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days,) saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? And theLordsaid, Go up; for to morrow I will deliver them into thine hand(27-28).

But for 600 men of valor from the tribe of Benjamin who sought refuge in a cave others were killed and their towns were torched. "But six hundred men turned and fled to the wilderness unto the rock Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months./ And the men of Israel turned again upon the children of Benjamin, and smote them with the edge of the sword, as well the men of every city, as the beast, and all that came to hand: also they set on fire all the cities that they came to.(v.47-48)"

Heresies breed result of which are house of Ophrah, of Micah and the one set up by the tribe of Dan. These may be megachurches but not sanctioned by God. It is thus in the latter days. " Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is."(1 Co.3:13)".

Ju.20. "As One Man" (1 of 2)

Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man, from Dan even to Beersheba, with the land of Gilead, unto theLordin Mizpeh".

Horror of the Levite dividing his concubine and sending to every tribe brought them as one man. Similar horrors were waiting to recall their sin. In the first revelation young Samuel had we read thus,"And theLordsaid to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle(1 Sa.3:11-13)". Then God goes on to say,"In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end". This refers to the house of Eli as well as Israel as stated here,"For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever (v.13a)" (Notice the expression 'forever" referring to his Son who is the judge.)

In that day refers to the Day of judgment and it is solely left to the Son. Thus in the key verse the congregation coming together over punishing the people of Gibeah is with reference to the Son. What they deliberated would come up to him. He is the beginning and the Ending(Re.1:8).

The expression 'as one man' is repeated. The congregation hears from the Levite and they vow to punish the guilty."And all the people arose as one man, saying, We will not any of us go to his tent, neither will we any of us turn into his house (v.8)." We will not any of us go to his tent' until the crime has been thoroughly cleansed off the land. They arose as one man. But do they succeed? Without cleansing their own guilt and making peace with God going to Mispah shall prove fruitless.

Ju.19 "Bethlehem-Judah" (2 of 2)

Bethlehem-Judah is an indictment against the partisanship of tribes and against their tribal mentality where God delivered them out of the fiery furnace that was Egypt as 'a people' and not any particular tribe. Israel wad his first born because of his Son whom he would send to them in due time. 'In the fulness of time' speaks of his perfect will. By their disbelief they led events overtake them as with a flood.

Gideon's shrine at Ophrah set in motion, ravages of sin dividing tribes that shall result ultimately into the twin monarchial system. Abimelech made the men of Shechem his base and brought the present schism. This lesson is relevant for us. "Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour(Ec.10:1)": Even a holocaust cannot cure a nation's apostasy. Before they can be helped they need see themselves as they are. It is God who the Shepherd of souls who is in charge.

Ju.19 "Bethlehem-Judah" (1 of 2)

The Spirit in narrating the gruesome incident of the 'certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim' and his concubine serves us with an allegory on which we shall focus here. She like Israel went whoring after other gods."And his concubine played the whore against him(v.2)."

The Levite recalls God who commands Prophet Hosea, " Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from theLord.(Ho.1:2)". In v.11 the servant tells the Levite,"Come, I pray thee, and let us turn in into this city of the Jebusites, and lodge in it." He refuses to stay-over for the night in any other place,"We will not turn aside hither into the city of a stranger, that is not of the children of Israel; we will pass over to Gibeah(v.12)". Significant is the mention of the city of Jebusites that shall later on play a great role in the history of Israel as the city of King David.."And they passed on and went their way; and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gibeah, which belongeth to Benjamin."

The concubine was from Bethelehem-Judah geographically it is nonexistent but made up of two names.This is what we need examine closely in order understand the lesson the allegory holds for us.

The hyphenated Bethlehem-Judah recalls another name man-child referring to Jesus Christ. Thus the Spirit establishes a frame of reference to the unfolding of events where the concubine shall be cut up by the Levite ('he took a knife, and laid hold on his concubine, and divided her, together with her bones, into twelve pieces,') and in sending 12 parts to the 12 tribes the Spirit is instructing us that each tribe was equally guilty of departing from the commandments of God.. Also significant is the expression,'unto this day' in v.30 "There was no such deed done nor seen from the day that the children of Israel came up out of the land of Egypt unto this day."

Ju.19:22 "Sons of Belial" (2 of 2)

The Spirit introduces this chapter with this phrase,'And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel" Of three times we come across it, and the first time in context of the Levite we have the tag placed by the Spirit. He is a Levite coming from BethelhemmJudah, "In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes(17:.6). In this chapter we find mention associated with the place name BethelhemJudah. 'In those days' is obviously referring to Jesus Christ whose antecedents agree with both Bethelehem and Judah.

What these sons of Belial did here recalls the day God judged Sodom. It was in connection with Lot who had separated from Abraham. Lot was given preference but he chose the cities of the plains judging by the fertility of land. "Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.(Ge.13:10-NIV). It is similar to the manner prosperity theology gives the sons of Belial a reading and Lot chose the reward of here and now. "As the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward (Matt.6:2b)".

Ju.19:22 "Sons of Belial" (1 of 2)

"Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about, and beat at the door, and spake (v.22)"

Who are these sons of Belial? In the Book of Deuteronomy we are shown what they do. You shall know them by their fruits. They have certain zeal but not according to the knowledge as St Paul writes,"that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge(Ro.10:2)"."Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known;(De.13:13.)"

These men whose activism is to make others much more worthy of hell by their heretical mindset are sons of Belial. Jesus calls such who know the truth but would not live accordingly as hypocrites. "Hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves(Matt.23:15)". In short they hold their truth in unrighteousness. Their heart is without borders so when they handle serpents they shall not let another ask,'do you have to tempt God' they point to the verse from the gospel ( Mark 16:17) and conveniently ignore the call of Jesus,"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me( Luke 9:23)". 'Denying himself goes with taking up the cross daily which are only two legs for the one who wants to be part of the body of Christ. His eye must be ever on the way followed by Jesus, 'Not my will but thine'.

Sons of Belial are those who have no vision."Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he(Pr.29:18)".

Ju.18:17-21 "Ephod and teraphim" (2 of 2)

The house of Micah by Law of Gradation follows that of Gideon and at the end of this chapter Danites follow suit. The priest the Levite retained by Micah would set up a megachurch, no doubt of that, but the Spirit makes it clear in v.31. "And the children of Dan set up the graven image: and Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Manasseh, he and his sons were priests to the tribe of Dan until the day of the captivity of the land/ And they set them up Micah's graven image, which he made, all the time that the house of God was in Shiloh (vv.30-31).

Of what use was the house set up by the tribe of Dan when the house of God was in Shioh? Similarly in our times we hear another Christ being preached and in their gospel prosperity is sign of blessing. All scandals are permitted as long as it is contained within the members of the board? God is not mocked. The have brought in the eleventh commandment. "Believe what we say; but do not do what we do. No room for competition." So goes trying to be number one. Day of the Lord shall sweep them away. Maranatha.

Ju.18:17-21 "Ephod and Teraphim" (1 of 2)

What was the ephod and teraphim in the house of Micah but made out of 'the other man's riches'? Literally it belonged to his mother which she had consecrated for God's service. By adding one fifth of value of 200 shekels the Spirit is underlining the fact that it was trespass offering but was going instead into the making of idols. This in turn invites us to the idols which Gideon had made and it caused Israel to go astray. "And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house(8::27)". Gideon also was spending as the verses preceding would indicate the other man's riches(8:24-26). In short it belonged to mammon.

When God commanded "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth(Ex.20:4)"

In the light of the above whether the house of Micah was similar to the one Gideon set up in Orphah or not, it was heresy. Teraphim supposedly represent the cherubim above the mercy seat. Ephod refer to sacerdotal garments specified by God which Moses had to make and also was specified where it may be used. Where it was ignored what was beithElohimbut synonym for Beth-aven? Without the God-Man component tabernacle was nothing. It is thus we preach Gospel of God as Gospel of Christ but prove it by doing the will of God. No short cuts, our faith must follow with works so all glory is unto God alone. We must be conformed in the image of Christ. "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me ./If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself ( John 7:16-17)" Gideon erred which would give rise unfortunately to all that division.

prayer needed for me i have been away from the lord a long time ......

yes friend Placido Rosado is in Hospital was in good health became very ill is a servant of the chruch and always helping people asking for prayer for healing having blood problem and has had tranfussion having lots of health issue and stomach problems not known yet illness just happen last few weeks and now is very ill please pray for healing

Oseas:

Are you asking what these scriptures mean?

We are the house of God, and we are being judged by the words of God, so we must, by the spirit of truth, rightly divide his words.

We are either a beast of the field; which includes dogs, all these have not the knowledge of God.

All to be judged outside the city gates, on the cross of Christ, or we have come to truth we died on the cross of Christ, judged with Christ, by the wrath of God.

God's words declares unto us the condition we were in; dogs outside the city gates, before the cross, and they declare the condition we are in after the cross, in the bosom of Abraham.

Now, are you a dog eating the crumbs from the table, or, are you sitting at the banquet table prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

God BLESS YOU!

Wkrimes

You are confounding "Heavens" with Sky, for heavens are spiritual, sky is material. When Paul Apostle was caught to the third heaven, he did not make a travel to the space, to the sky, of course, as do the spaceman or the rockets. Your thinking is from a human perspective, a stumblingblock, not from GOD's perspective. By the way, when JESUS was born, He came from heaven, not from the Sky, from the space, understand? Furthermore, All things were made by my Lord JESUS; and without JESUS was not any thing made that was made.

Hebrews 1-2 and 11:3

1 - GOD, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

2 Hath in these last Days(last two Days or last 2000 years)spoken unto us by His Son,whom GOD hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also GOD made the worlds.

11:3 Through FAITH(not by sight, or even by the letter of the Scriptures,the letter kills)we UNDERSTAND that the WORLDS were framed/created by the Word of GOD-the Word is GOD-,self-executing-,so that things which are seen WERE NO MADE of things which do appear.

Isaiah 40:21-22

21Have ye not known?have ye not heard?hath it not been told you from the beginning?have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22It is He that sitteth upon the circle of the earth,and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers;that stretcheth out the HEAVENS as a curtain,and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.

Isaiah 51:14-17

14The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed,and that he should not die in the pit,nor that his bread should fail.

15But I am the Lord thy GOD,that divided the sea,whose waves roared:The Lord of hosts is His name.

16And I have put my WORD in thy mouth,and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand,that I MAY PLANT THE HEAVENS, and lay the foundations of the earth,and say unto Zion,Thou art my people.

17 Awake,awake,stand up,O Jerusalem,which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury...

GOD bless

Stewart,

You have the prayers of all who have responded here, including mine. Lee, GiGi, and Jordyn offered some great advice and encouragement.

GiGi,

I completely agree with you that Jema's words are encouraging. Her words seem to come from the heart.

One eighty,

No offense, but I find your post somewhat confusing to read and I wonder how the things you posted will help Stewart? I see that the words you posted were not your words but words that were copied and pasted from a website called A Course In Miracles, or acim.

This issue is not that we share things off the internet. There is no harm in doing so, but we should at least give credit to the website that we copied and pasted from.

That's not the issue. The issue is that the website you copied from is full of heretical teachings and things that are very unbiblical which can cause harm to someone like Stewart who is looking for help.

One eighty,

I'm sure you mean no harm. You usually have some good things to share and I appreciate your contributions to this forum. I would just encourage you to put the things being taught by acim to the test (using God's word).

Some thing being taught by acim are:

"We do not need a saviour. We are the sources of our own salvation."

"There is no sin, it is all an illusion"

These are just some of the heretical teachings of Helen Shucman and should be rejected, not shared.

Giannis,Jordyn,Jesse,S Spencer,and all readers

What matters and prevails is the Word of GOD,the Word is GOD,self-executing,understand?and the Word made flesh-JESUS-the Almighty,warned saying in Matthews 24:15:(whoso readeth,let him understand).

Isaiah 56:8-10

8 The Lord GOD,which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith,Yet will I gather others to him,beside those that are gathered unto him.

9 All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea,all ye beasts in the forest.

10 His watchmen are blind:they are all ignorant,they are all dumb DOGS,they cannot bark;sleeping,lying down,loving to slumber.

11 Yea,they are greedy DOGS which can never have enough,and they are shepherds that cannot understand:they all look to their own way,every one for his gain,from his quarter.

Even the Lord GOD revealed through Isaiah the watchmen of Israel are blind,they are all ignorant,they are all dumb DOGS, GREEDY DOGS,and THEY ARE SHEPHERDS(Is.56:10-11),yeah,the DOGS are shepherds,the Lord GOD said.

Paul said to the brothers of the Church of Galatia:Beware of DOGS,why?Because they are danger.GOD said by the prophet Jeremiah:Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!saith the Lord- Jeremiah 23:1.

JESUS also said to the multitude,and to His disciples too(Mat.23):The scribes and the Pharisees sat in Moses' seat,then all therefore should observe what they commanded,but they should not do according the works of them:for they did say,but they did not.

And JESUS said to the Scribes and Pharisees:Woe unto you,scribes and Pharisees,hypocrites!Ye blind guides,which strain at a gnat,and swallow a camel.Woe unto you,scribes and Pharisees!Ye serpents,ye generation of vipers(according Jn.8:44-45),how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

1Pe.4:17-18

17For the time is come that Judgment must begin at the house of God:and if it first begin at us,what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of GOD?

18And if the

I pray God gives you His spiritual understanding and not that of our own. May he give you His wisdom and guide you in His ways, I pray these things in Jesus name.

Stewart, keep reading the scripture. The more you read the more you learn, the more you learn the more you grow. Don't ever give up and don't ever lose faith. May the Lord God guide you always. Amen.

My main question is why does it say in Genesis 1:1 " In the beginning, God created the [Heaven] and the Earth" when in many older Bibles it says " [Heavens] and Earth" Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth/ 1:1/ The "heavens and earth" refer to the universe as we know it (i.e., the sky above with all that is in it and the earth below). There is no one word in Hebrew for "universe." This is a figure of speech (merism) for totality; God created everything. The translators often rendered the Hebrew word 'eres (earth) as "land." By translating it this way we can see that Moses wanted his readers to realize that God created and therefore owned all land (cf. 12:7 and all subsequent references to the Promised Land; Ps. 24:1).[24]

Hello Oseas

Just because some things in the Old Testament are symbolic for some things in the New Testament, doesn't mean that everything in life is symbolic for something else. Do not take such a path. You'll get lost in your thoughts.

Hello Zaphnathpaneah.

" Where did darkness come from? Where did the deep come from? Where did the waters come from AND why was it all void AND empty?". One can not know what God has not revealed, only guesses.

Genesis was written in a manner that all people since the begining can have a very general knowledge of how God created everything. It is not a detailed scientific account of creation, that was not God's aim. It was written with simple words that ancient or primitive people can also understand as well as us today, So don't look for detailed scientific expanations.

Also God always talks to people according to the knowledge humanity has in every age. So in Joshua He said that he stopped the sun from moving in the sky, because at that time people believed that the sun orbits the earth which is wrong and we know today that He definitely stopped the earth not the sun. God's aim is not to teach science but to give a message using the knowledge we have aquired so far. So people like Paul talk about the 3rd heaven, others talk about 7 heavens, because it was what they believed at that time. Today knowing what the universe consists from we would say that Paul went outside the material universe where God and the angels are living or something similar.

Dear JGrove, I am happy to pray for you. I am praying the same for my middle son. My oldest and youngest have just recently married in the past 2 years after many years of my prayers for their wives to come to them.

Dear Heavenly Father, we come before You today in the name of Jesus, Who made the way for us to come before your throne and ask of You all that is on our hearts. How great and merciful You are!. We are asking for your grace in bringing together Jgrove and his future wife and also the same for our son Rob. Both have been waiting so long to finally meet the person You select for them to marry. May You answer their needs soon. In the mean time, prepare these women and these men for the marriage you are willing for them to enter and live all their lives with in godliness, love, and fruitfulness. We ask that You bring each person into a deep relationship with You and Your Son, filling each with Your Spirit and bestowing salvation on all. We ask that You will teach each one how to love deeply and sacrificially as Jesus loved. Teach each one to put You first and their spouse next in adoration and commitment. Teach each one to desire to walk in Your ways unwaveringly like Abraham did by faith. We ask that You cause their meeting to occur and for them to know in their hearts that they have met that special one chosen by You for them. We ask and thank You for all of these things today because we believe that You are happy to grant the prayers that align with Your will. Amen.

Dear Stewart,

Like One-eighty and Jema, I encourage you to keep studying God's word to us. It is for us as spiritual food and we need it every day to be spiritually nourished and healthy.

All of us are learning from Scripture and each other as we share with one another on here. I am sure that you will be given wisdom and understanding to share with others here and for yourself to be built up in Christ to the full measure of maturity.

Approach the Scriptures with confidence that the Holy Spirit is in You and will illuminate in Scripture what is important for you to learn each day