All Discussion PAGE 2950

Thanks, Chris. I will try to do the best I can in keeping strong faith in God and what he is working on doing. And as well as his plans. But sometimes I feel that it just isn't fair sometimes. My great-grandma when she was alive swore up and down that my family was cursed. And I am okay telling anyone that sometimes I feel that she was right. She died in 2012 then a year and one day later my mother died. And then three years and 27 days later my great-grandpa passed away. And then add on top of that what my family is dealing with the family members of mine. It is hard sometimes but I love God, I still remember the day I got saved and baptized, something that I will never forget. But Thank You so much for all of your help I appreciate it.

As well as anyone else that commented or gave me advice thank you so much and I appreciate all of you that went out of your day to help me.

DaLanie

More clarification on the verse for study

Robert Marino, That is exactly right. You shed much needed light on this matter. Many will be waiting for a coming that won't happen. And people will mock us and say, where is your God. Didn't you say He was coming. Isn't that a familiar sound in Scripture?

The message from Christ is not just for a little bit of worthless information, if we won't be here. It is a serious warning to Prepare. Be ready Spiritually, socially and politically. ISIS was no joke to those living in Iraq and Syria. And Christians died brutal deaths under their control. Were they prepared? Did they know ISIS would be such brutal animals? We have an opportunity to prepare for much worse. Will we heed the warning?

Your analogy of the Oil is spot on. We see it now. We see how persecution of Christians and Jews is increasing worldwide. That includes in the US and European Union. A Muslim is now given rights governors and mayors are taking away from Christians and Jews. A Christian stands to preach in a public square and is arrested. Jews gather for a funeral and are hosed down and arrested.

Good thing its that in those last days God will pour out His Spirit on Believers, for strength and authority. Some trust in chariots, but we trust in the Lord Jesus.

I will look for your site on YouTube. Thank you.

Page 2.

And who is the Tree of Life? None other than Christ.

Yes, there is an element of symbolism, allegory and metaphor in Genesis 1-3. And the 2 Trees were representative of something other than trees. Likewise, the 24 hour a day creation is also misunderstood. Days are Phases, Stages of creation, not literal 24 hours. If all God did was say, let there be light, and poof, everything came into being, what did He do with the rest of the 23 hours, 59 minutes and 59 seconds? The element of literal hyperbole is indisputable. But most Christians are afraid to admit it. Read Heb 3-4 for a better understanding of the duration of the 7th Day.

With respect to the 7th Day, Heb 3-4 says God designated a time called 'Today' during which we have the opportunity to enter into God's Rest. And what is God's Rest? On the 7th Day God rested from His creative activity. Now it stands to reason, that if we are able to enter God's rest, He has not resumed His creative activity. But once Christ returns, that will be the end of God's rest. At that time, God will destroy the earth with fire, 1 Peter, and He will create a new heaven and a new earth.

So, if we are still in the 'Today' of the 7th Day, is the 7th Day a 24 hour period? Clearly not if God had resumed work on the 8th Day, since His rest would have been over. But God has designated this 'Today' a long today, so that He can Save as many as are written in the Book of Life. He is not willing that any should perish and for Christ to enter the world to accomplish that Purpose.

But if the 7th Day can be 6,000 years long, is it inconceivable that Day 1 could be 1, 2, 3 Billion years old. And the others? How long did it take for animals to procreate and trees to grow and streams to flow and the dry land to appear? How long between Adam and Eve? How long did they walk in the Garden with God? Symbolism in the Genesis account, doesn't mean Genesis is untrustworthy. It means God told the story using allegory and metaphor.

Pls pray ealing in my marriage. We fight

a lot! Need emotional healing from yrs. Of sexual & mental abuse. Sexual & mental abuse is from childhood. Mental abuse from current husband.Physical Healing my nerves from broken neck and veins are expanding becoming more prominent ALL OVER my body, skin is red but not a rash. Hi blood pressure, post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, sleeplessness. Urgent, need relief.

Husband, Jake, currently in hospital,needs healing of his heart and water retention, sleeplessness .

Our church we pastor needs a song leader, musicians, finances , newer better bigger building.

Wisdom and hear from God for need for church to grow. Why isnt our church growing?? God's leading.

Hi Carlos,

Just so you know you have to click the Reply button to actually reply to someone and notify them, otherwise they may not see your post.

You mentioned: "The fact is that there is an element of allegory and metaphor in the Genesis creation account."

What are your examples?

I've noticed other comments from you and agree with many of your points and thought they were well thought out, but the one below I don't believe.

>Christians are afraid to admit that because they think it diminishes the account and credibility of the Bible as a whole."

Why assume if someone takes the Bible literally then they must be 'afraid'? Is this really true for all Christians? Have you prayed to God about this and did you hear any confirmation from him? It would seem like dangerous ground to pluck parts the Bible and claim they're untrue. What if the opposite was true that maybe you're the one uncomfortable with Genesis being literal so you claim that it isn't then try to discredit other Christians for believing it?

For me: (1) I'm a Christian, and (2) I believe the Genesis creation is literal and not a metaphor, and (3) I'm not afraid, but feel confident and have total trust in God's Word.

An ABC poll showed 61% most Christians believe Genesis creation is literal.

So, how can your statement be true? Should statements like this be posted publicly to other Christians to try to create distrust in the Bible? Does this come from God?

Hello Irene..yes Acts 2:38 is the New

Testament salvation thru faith & obeying the gospel. How are you doing sis Irene?

That was me in above name Mark B. I just realized that misspelled letter) Be strong in Christ.

Hi Carlos, I agree. God allows himself to change his mind, like Genesis 18:32, Jonah 3:10, Amos 7:3. It's a little confusing to reconcile this with 1 Samuel 15:29.

Page 1. Chris, don't take things to the extreme. First, how many days (24 hours) did it take God to create the universe and man? How long did God rest? How long was the 7th Day? How long did it take for the trees to grow in the Garden? See Gen 2:1-9. What did God do on the day after the 7th Day?

The fact is that there is an element of allegory and metaphor in the Genesis creation account. Christians are afraid to admit that because they think it diminishes the account and credibility of the Bible as a whole. But a realistic approach to Genesis 1-3 does no such thing. From Gen 2, for example, we see that it took time for vegetation to grow and cover the Garden. Adam could not have identified and named every animal in the world Gen 2:19-20. That is a stretch. Six days doesn't begin to explain the 13 Billion years old universe we live in. Careful examination of Genesis shows that God does things in an orderly and deliberate manner, in time. If God didn't work that way, why is it taking so long for God to rescue us from sin? Why not just say, 'let there be no sin' and poof, sin disappears?

Now, I covered the matter of the 2 Trees in the Garden before. When God expelled Adam from the Garden He set pillars of fire to guard the Tree of Life. Is that to be taken literally? And what happened? Did the fire run out? Where are those pillars? Clearly the imagery is metaphorical. From Revelation 22 and we know what the 2 Trees represented. They were not 2 physical Trees. The fruit was not a physical fruit. And eating the fruit was a metaphor for taking part in something they should not have been doing. Psalm 1:3. Read all of Ezek 31 to see a full picture of the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Who is that Tree? It is non other than the devil.

And who is the Tree of Life? None other than Christ

Yes, there is an element of symbolism, allegory and metaphor in Genesis 1-3. And the 2 Trees were representative of something other than trees. Continued in page 2.

The Bride gets a gift at engagement. Other than that I have not run across it.

Tommy,

First look at Verse 21, the phrase "suffer me first to go bury my father." As soon as a person says "me first" in the same sentence that he says Lord, there's a problem. It's never "Lord, me first." Jesus said you come now. That's true discipleship!

He says, I have to go bury my father. Either his father had just died and he had to go bury him, or his father was sick and hadn't died yet. In the Orient today, they still use this exact phrase for a person who's working with his father at his business. He can't get away until the father dies, and everybody divides up the inheritance. After that, they are free to do whatever they want to do.

He's saying I'm committed to this business, and if I walk away now, I am going to lose my inheritance. So allow me first to go take care of business, and then I will follow you.

Jesus made what seems to be a very harsh and cruel statement. He says "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead." What Jesus is saying is "Let the spiritually dead people bury the dead relatives."

Satan doesn't play fair. He knows our weaknesses. When we make a commitment to Jesus Christ, Satan will use the closest people to us to draw us away from Christ. The first two chapters of Job tell us that Satan scouts God's people. He knows what our weaknesses and strong points are. He tempts us according to our weaknesses. When we're faced with commitments, we make them, but the Lord challenges our commitments. He looks right through the commitment and He challenges it. Jesus says, are you sure you want to go with me wherever I go? "Let me first go bury.." No! It is now, you come now!

It seems cruel and harsh, but the Lord is applying a spiritual principle here. He is basically saying that Satan has got you all wrapped up and you have to make a decision between your earthly responsibilities and to follow Christ. And Satan uses earthly things to draw us away from our commitment to Jesus to be His disciple?

Oil in the Bible usually represents the Holy Spirit or the anointing of the Holy Spirit.. ... You know, a lamp that runs out of oil can no longer give light, and is useless in that condition.

The center column in the Bible references to 2 Timothy 3:5 (or 2 Tim: 1-7) which begins with "This know also, in the last days perilous times shall come"

Verse 5:Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away.

In Jewish weddings the Bridegroom goes to the Brides home and picks her up to go to the Wedding. She's supposed to be ready to go THEN. Not be wrangling with foolish virgins who failed to go to Walmart before it closed.

We are to be wise virgins. Have our lamps full, all the wedding gear, and awaiting for a knock on the door. Listening intently.

Why would we make ourselves miss the knock, chasing around with scatterbrained virgins?

******************

Mishael was on my birth certificate by mistake ? when I was born. It was corrected to something else that means the same thing: WHO!!! is like God.

I. Love. This. Scripture cousin has always been true in my life does one where Davis said a psalms I think 56 For this I know when I cry out to God my in in me shall turn back in the gate and that has always works for my life when I break down and cry out to God he has heard my cry and he has show me the answer wait upon the Lord and you will see he will answer here

Francisca,

A eunuch is somebody who is unable to produce children. That is just a general definition without getting into it. Matthew 19:12 says, But there are some eunuchs, first of all: which were so born from their mother's womb. They were born with a physical defect and are not able to produce children.

And there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: That is, people take them and they castrate them, which is what they did for the guards that had to guard the harems for the various royalty and kings. They were castrated so that they would not have a desire for a woman.

And there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. That's personal. It's a calling, and it is self-discipline!

In first Corinthians Chapter 7, Paul answered the question, and this is the area of marriage and divorce, and remarriage for the Gentiles. But Paul says it is best if everybody is just a like I am.

Paul says that he is single, and it is best if you stay like I am. And if you have the grace to do it, stay single. That is 1 Corinthians 7:8.

But, he says in 1 Corinthians 7:9 that if you cannot contain yourself, and you are burning with passion, then it is better to get married.

Those are the three kinds of people, people born with the physical defect, people who have been castrated, or a personal calling that God is giving you the grace to be single. And if God hasn't given you the grace to be single, and you are burning with passion, Paul says it is best to get married.

I need help in my marriage, wife Elaine, unsaved, she's stubborn and sometimes mean!

we have to love each others with all your heart , all your soul and all your mind

love your neighbor as yourself

you need to have charity in your life in order to move on

show love bc what God wants and it is the greatest

Chris, I find Scripture doesn't support the notion that God knows ahead of time what is going to happen, let's it happen then reacts to it. But you have misunderstood my description of events.

From my limited perspective and to simplify,

1. God determined to create, Gen 1:26

2. In His Omniscient understanding of Himself, He knew that all things He created, to include Angels, would be eventually afflicted with Cancer (corruption, moral and corporal - an indisputable fact given corruption has affected creation)

3. He developed a Plan of creation, which of necessity included Christ (Bible says all things were created for Christ - which can only mean for His incarnation, death, resurrection, through which He would accomplish His Purpose for Creation)

4. He created Angels, who eventually became corrupt (Jesus said, one of you is a devil and identified him. He knew Lucifer would be the one)

5. God created Lucifer, who is the one who corrupted (God did not cause His corruption)

6. He created mankind and a group of people He called Jews so Christ could be born through them

7. He placed Adam and Eve in the Garden and decreed the first Law, Do Not Eat (It was Appointed for men to die once, Heb 9:26-28)

8. Because God loves us and His creation, He implemented His Plan of Redemption through Christ, to Save as many as Believe, Titus 1:2

8. Christ came to rid creation of corruption and establish eternal perfection (a fact expressed through the Bible, summarized in Dan 9:24)

9. The rest is history, Rom 8-10



The Genesis account of Creation is clear. God created with a Plan. The Universe was created in stages in a well-organized, purposeful manner. God created with a Goal. That Goal, we are told in Rom 8:28-30, is Christ.

The fact remains, the Bible is clear on the sequence of and the reason for which everything is as it is. Do we understand it? No. Do we like it? No. But Christ is the All in everything, 1 Cor 15:28, Col 3:11.

Neil on Deuteronomy 30

Re " thou and thy seed"

Hi Neil,

Not so,

God is the only one that has the power to create, we are but dust, ( Psalms 103:14-15). It's true, in Genesis 1, God spoke, and divided the firmaments, then He created man in His own image, to have fellowship with him ( 1 Corinthians 1:9), not to be petty gods.

According to Biblegateway

The two types of predominate seeds are for food/plants and natural/human/generational, though God still speak through His people today, it's Him who speaks through us, because we have no power or capability in ourselves.

This train doesn't carry backsliders! Must sill check oneself and repent and ask for forgiveness on bended knees.

When did god restore the wearing of jewelry to his

people isreal?

I know what race Jesus was and I read it in my bible I was just making a point I love those of all races and refuse to be called racist thank u very much

Thank you.

Hi there...

I came across this page recently, and have been inspired by the different prayer requests. I pray that God will answer each prayer, and as these prayers get answered, that His kingdom can be increased.

It takes a certain amount of courage to put in a prayer request (for some more than for others), and this morning I would like to put out a message to those, if there is anyone who would like to put in a prayer request, but finding it kinda hard to do - we pray for you too! Maybe you're shy; maybe you feel your darkness and fear is too great; whatever it might be... Do not feel like you are in the fight alone. Even if we humans don't know about your struggles, be assured God does, and He loves you and wants to help you and your situation as much as anyone else! God bless you all!

comment by Alex on Dan. 2. The head of gold is the written word as Jesus said there in no eternal life in the scriptures per se. My words are spirit and life not paper and ink All the body parts answer to Modern day christianity even Paul says we know in part we prophecy in parts we see in parts etc but when that which is perfect is come that which is done in parts ( THE IMAGE )shall be done away with ya remember th tares the chaff that is cast away, everything became as the chaff of the summer threshing floor the harvest. Evangelists,teachers pastors preachers implies parts God does not wants his kingdom in parts,unless you receive the kingdom as a lil Child etc.Its the MANCHILD which is the H.G. THAT IS GONNA RULE ALL NATIONS. iT WAS THE STONE CUT WITHOUT HANDS THAT RULED ALL THE WORLD.That stone is the living Word of God that is gonna displace all these manmade churches n TV PREACHERS as the MOST HI GOD DOES NOT DWELL IN TEMPLES MADE WITH HANDS. What the law cd not do in that it was WEAK THRU THE FLESH the 10 toes were weak simply b/c of the th flesh, mans carnal mind is not subject to the laws of God and neither indeed can be.Our carnal minds cannot bond with the Law.The iron cd not bond with the clay the flesh our carnal minds etc. Our Adamic nature cannot bond with the spirit of the Law. Note there was not life in this image even tho the head was of Gold, Th bible precious as it is. Eternal life in only in the living Word not the bible ( ONLY BY HIS BLOOD ) If eternal life cd have come via the bible Jesus shed his blood in vain and the cross was just foolishness. The image answers to what Paul is saying, When that which is perfect is come that which is done in PARTS the Image in Dan 2 shall be done away with,The image was done away with.

What is the meaning of eunuchs in the bible?

I have a Question of sort could someone explain what Jesus meant when In Matt 8:22 He says Follw me and let the dead bury the Dead.. thanks in advance

God is total love!! he is there for you in these times of stressful days. worse then we ever felt before. everything we had before will come to attack us now because of the evil days we have come into. we are now starting the birth pains as the bible warned us before the second coming of our lord. the battle has started in the heavens above. fight we must. the control is only a start for us. prepare by reading the bible-- and praying as you never prayed before. we have to battle not only for ourselves but for our families, no matter what. do not give up. you have a mighty god who lives for you- and will fight with you. who has the strength of all his creations that surround you. go be with them. walk by them. pray as you never prayed before. love the lord when his light from the brightness of the sun shines into your very heart. talk to him. he will one day come down with all his glory. so magnificent and powerful that it will knock you off your feet.

stay close...fight the evil that tries and get near you. fight i say...fight!!!! but first-- ask your god to stand close in your battle...dont give up....fight harder!!! i know to be true. i fight for others and myself daily. for my dreams of the lord come strong. i have seen my god. after death...believe me when i say.. everything is truth.....

Ann - I respectfully hold a totally different view believing that John, the apostle, is the person referred to - not John Mark. Neither of us is likely to change the others view, but I feel sure we can agree on Jesus Christ as our Savior.

All the references to "the disciple whom Jesus loved" are in the book of John. While the Gospel of John does not specifically identify its author, and "the disciple whom Jesus loved" is nowhere explicitly named in Scripture, early Christians universally recognized John, the apostle, as the author of the Gospel and "the disciple whom Jesus loved." This is consistent with internal evidence in the Gospel of John

John and brother, James were called to be disciples of Christ while they were fishing with their father, Zebedee. They immediately left to become members of Jesus' original group of the twelve.

James, John, and Peter seemed to be the most intimate of Jesus' apostles accompanying Jesus on special occasions. Matthew 17:1 says, ... and led them up a high mountain by themselves. Because of their favored relationship with Jesus, James and John sought special position in what they erroneously assumed to be Jesus earthly kingdom in Mark 10:37-38: "They replied, 'Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.'

James eventually died as a martyr for Christ and John died a natural death after living in exile on the Isle of Patmos.

One of the most reflective statements of the closeness between Jesus and John was in the last moments of Jesus' life when Jesus asked Jesus asked John to care for his mother after His death. John 19:26-27

John, as an apostle of Jesus, not only wrote his eye-witness account of experiences with Christ which were recorded in his gospel, but also wrote the books of 1 John, 2 John, 3 John and the book of Revelation.

Carlos, just to keep my response brief: I fully agree with your interpretation of Acts 2:23, that God foreknew that Christ would be delivered & slain. In fact, I would even say that it was God's Plan since it was part of His complete Redemptive Work. That Esau would serve Jacob, I agree that was God's Plan. That Herod, Pilate & the Gentiles were also part of God's Plan, I concur. Sorry, I can't remember making reference to the '1000 years is as one day'.

So with all that agreement with you (as above), where then is my problem? I think it is essentially in the days of Creation & in the workings of Satan. To restate: Adam & Eve were not created in corruption, rather they were created perfect, had a free will but chose wrongly. Was this in God's Plan? No. Was this in God's Knowledge? Yes. Did their sinning catch God by surprise? No. Did he plan for Satan to be there & entice them? No. Did God know that Satan would do this & succeed? Yes. Did God's future Plan to deal with Satan & corrupted man part of His Plan? Yes. So, what I'm saying here is that God doesn't cause or Plan for people to sin. Why? simply that a Holy God cannot have a part in someone's sin; to sin is the choice of the sinner, not of God. Yet God knew they would sin. Did God cause Satan to test Job's faith in God? No, it was Satan who prompted the test with a caveat from God. Did He cause Satan & the angels who followed him to sin? No, they chose to do so.

So I've given some examples of where we could differ; you could probably give more to learn my response. So, I don't believe He causes anyone to sin because it is in 'His Plan' to do so. Each one is responsible for their own choices. But God knew who would sin, both human & angel alike, & then had His Plan ready for whatever He deemed correct. So, am I saying that a Plan was created after the act? No, God already knows what will happen but not the instigator of a sinful act just to fulfil His Plan. So, I think it is on this point that we differ.

The mystery was revealed throughout the whole Old Testament when God spoke through the prophets of the Gentiles being saved. As a matter of fact Abraham was a Gentile. Gentiles have always been grafted in even under the old covenant from the time of Egypt at the very beginning, to the time of Esther when many converted to following the God fo the Jews, and many other passages. Always been ONE people. Only difference is they had to wait for the new covenant to begin IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME. Abraham was of Syrian descent as he was a close cousin of "Laban the Syrian".

Was not Jesus revealed tot he Jews FIRST thus fulfilling over 300 prophecies? To fulfill 8 prophecies is a mathematical improbability according tot he mathematicians would be like picking the right atom out of the entire universe and when you bump that up to 9 it most likely doubles. We are talking 300 to 330 fulfilled prophecies.



Jews have been being saved and been preached to for 2,000 years. Always ONE people.

In Romans Paul says only a remnant will be saved when he quotes Isaiah and Revelation 11 confirms that only a remnant give glory to God at the time of the 7th trumpet. It doesn't say they got saved but only that they give glory to God. That is who I think will repopulate the planet for the 1,000 year reign of Christ. The modern Sanhedrin are pushing the noah hide laws right now upon all the Gentiles and they are the only people that will be exempt from having to abide by them. They are talmudic laws and not Biblical at all.

If the Bible says to preach to Jerusalem and Judea first, how do you interpret Matthew 21:43?