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#1 Tkulp

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Posted 11 January 2017 - 01:07 AM

Have you allowed viruses and trojans to penetrate your hard drive and corrupt 'your' operating system?

 

Is is possible that viruses and trojans have entered through your eyes and your ears, setting up residence in your heart, influencing your reasoning powers, destroying your soul.

When you, as one who calls themselves a Christian, feed your mind on anything that does not have eternal value, your life becomes full of vanity (worthlessness). It will really scramble the operating system!

Our society, even that which is called the church, is being spiritually destroyed as it feeds on worthless electronic social media. These influences feed the flesh, the sin nature, that is supposed to be DEAD! In fact it is dead, in the lives of all TRUE Christians!

What is the new Covenant? Is it not that the Law is to be written on our hearts, our spiritual hard drives. The fulfillment of the Law, according to Jesus, is to bring our hearts and minds under the control of the Holy Spirit, making Jesus really Lord, by obeying Him, in all that we meditate on and spend our time with.

In God’s eyes, it is no longer what we ‘do’ that condemns us, but the ‘thoughts’ that we allow to play and ‘make their home’ in our minds, which will lead to sinful actions and the braking of the law.

Tozer’s Devotional for Monday, January 09, 2017, lays this gospel concept out, very well!

                         -------------------------------------------------------------------------

                                              Heart-Matters

It will probably be found at last that there is no sin except sin of the mind. It is the carnal mind that is enmity against God, that is not subject to the law of God, neither can be. It should, however, be remembered that when the Bible speaks of the mind it does not refer to the intellect alone. The whole personality is included in the concept; the bent of the will, the moral responses, the sympathies and antipathies are there also, as well as the intellect.

When God saw the wickedness of man, that it was great in the earth, He saw what could not be seen from the outside, that, as it is rendered in one place, the whole imagination, with the purposes and desires of the heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5).

From this passage alone we may properly gather that sin has its seat deep within the mind where it pollutes the emotions (desires), the intellect (imaginations) and the will (purposes). These taken together constitute what the Bible and popular theology call the heart.
Verse

But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man unclean. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
Matthew 15:18-19

            Thought
What we are in heart at times explodes and at other times quietly leaks out through our mouths as well as our gestures, expressions and actions. That is why it is imperative that our hearts be clean and that there Christ be enthroned.

              Prayer
Examine my heart, Lord, expose it. I want my heart to be Your throne.

                                  ---------------------------------------------------------------

The Word of God says that the purpose of the Gospel is “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to the Almighty, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanc­tified by faithfulness which is toward Me.’”
Acts 26:18  http://www.torahtime.../acts/book.html

Jesus said, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” Matthew 6:22-23

“For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Matthew 13:15

John said, “He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.” John 12:40

And again the writer of Acts says, “For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Acts 28:27

The eyes, the ears, and their relationship to the heart are very critical to experiencing a delivered life here and now. The eyes and the ears and  how they influence the heart determines whether or not you experience real salvation(deliverance) in this life as well as eternal deliverance and rescue in the future.

The best way to remove viruses and trojans is to reformat the hard drive. Destroy all the old corrupted information. Wipe it clean by regeneration provided by the sacrifice of Jesus and living repentance.

Then fill your hard drive with a new operating system found in the Word of God. The Bible says, “we have the mind of Christ” and that we, as Jesus did are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind..”

The safest way to keep your hard drive safe from any future infections is to disconnect it from the ‘World’ Wide “Web”. Come out from among [unbelievers], and separate (sever) yourselves from them, says the Lord, and touch not [any] unclean thing; then I will receive you kindly and treat you with favor, 2Co. 6:16-17 [Isa. 52:11] “For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” 2Pe_2:20

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” ““Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do what I tell you?” “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”

If you must be in the World use the best Antivirus you can find. Daily “present your bodies as a sacrifice — alive, holy, and pleasing to God — which is your reasonable service.   Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God — what is good and well-pleasing and perfect. ...sanctify ...by cleansing ....with the washing of the water by the word, so that he may present the church to himself as glorious — not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. Romans 12  Ephesians 5



#2 Tony Davison

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Posted 11 January 2017 - 04:58 AM

I love the references to a computer I am always saying I am running out of RAM memory (forgetfulness ). Lately I have been dropping more and more Social network things, people ask why I am not on Facebook. I tell them if they want to talk to me, they can phone me.

 

Still we have to live in this world so we have to be able to communicate to the world in the language they understand, so we can win them to the LORD. We don't have to be of the world (or like them ).    



#3 Tkulp

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Posted 26 January 2017 - 07:29 PM

Thanks Tony for your comments!

The more that I thought about the parallels between man’s creation and God’s Super Computer Design within our mind, heart, soul, spirit, etc., the more my eyes were opened to additional spiritual parallels between the two. I was making an effort at keeping the post short. I did not altogether succeed! Anyhow, the Holy Spirit will add the comparisons/parallels, to each heart, which each individual personally needs to comprehend, as a child of a loving Father training us, in order to fulfill His purposes in each particular life.

I would like to comment on your last statement, though.

“Still we have to live in this world so we have to be able to communicate to the world in the language they understand, so we can win them to the LORD. We don’t have to be of the world (or like them ).”

I am not commenting to change or criticize your beliefs.  I believe that we can have different ideas as we have different levels of faith and relationship, as we grow (learning to hear and obey the Holy Spirit,) toward maturity in the character and likeness of Jesus, our example.

Your comment reminded me of my younger days when the four spiritual laws were created and Christianity was being compared to a business; the same business, advertising methods were being adopted by churches, to get people into the church and get them ‘saved’ as were being used to sell worldly commodities. A quote from Paul was used to explain the correctness of these changes and why people were encouraged to become more involved in worldly activities. 1 Corinthians 9:22  “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

I can remember when it was considered a sin to go to a pool hall, play cards, go to dances or movies, etc. My church (A CMA church that was following the teachings of Simpson and Tozer, and the Word of God) believed that it was critical for Christians to be a peculiar, special people; different from the World; separated.

The Billy Graham Association was, as I recall, the first to bring their ‘Christian’ movies into the theaters. It really felt strange, the first time I walked into a theater! Christians were being encouraged to go to theaters, as a church group, to support the theater and encourage a change in what was being shown on their screens.

I was told, in those days, that I did not understand people’s problems and any solutions, because I did not live in the ‘real world’, not worldly enough. I was excited about Jesus and too spiritual. I had moved my family from a big city culture to an Arkansas wilderness, farm environment. My kids were home schooled; they were different; they did not do drugs or hang out with the popular crowd. They did not talk like the world or even understand the double talk of the world.  

The results... thirty years later; my kids are still different. In just one area, they are all still married to their original spouses and we have almost 40 grandchildren.

In comparison, one of the individuals that would not accept my wife and my way of raising a Godly family, had three children. All of them have been drug users, one of them killed himself while intentionally disobeying the laws of the land for the thrill of getting a vehicle airborne. The other two have had sleep-in girl friends or been married and divorced. They have been or still are a part of the worst that the world has to offer. They all have believed that they are ‘saved’ and going to heaven. Read Tozer’s devotional, ‘Misunderstood Salt’; January 18 < https://www.cmallian...evotions/tozer>

I did not tell my children, as my parents told me, that it was a sin to go to movies. The result was that some of my children, for special occasions, still go the theater. They, understandably, see no difference between the television and the theater. The reality is that today you can view the worst of the worst in the privacy of your car or home; you do not need to support a theater to be influenced by Satan’s Kingdom.

Sin and the pleasures of the world have been in all generations! To me, the difference with this generation is that years ago people felt guilty for participating in certain activities. Today, there is little conscience or conviction for participating in worldly activities, even within the church. Most people believe that they are ‘Christians’ and are going to a place called heaven. They do not study or even read the Bible, as there is no hunger or need. The Bible is not easy to understand and a preacher can tell them all they need to know on the occasional visits to a ‘church’. There is little desire or need to know or gain understanding of a Holy, Just, Heavenly Father. Why would a person need to have a relationship with or have a Holy Spirit living within them, teaching them the ways of holiness, when most believe that no one can be Holy? Those that do believe in receiving the Holy Spirit appear to emphasize the emotions or feelings, tongues, words of knowledge, etc, instead of the “Fruit of the Spirit”; holiness. Hebrews 12:14  Strive to live in peace with everybody and pursue that consecration and holiness without which no one will [ever] see the Lord.

I was taught that innoculations were not the best, and in all health issues to pray first, then obey the guidance of the Spirit. My siblings and I did not receive polio vaccine, during the polio epidemic. One brother had the symptoms, but all went away. There were some in their school classes that took the vaccine and contracted crippling polio.

My children have not had ‘their shots’. My children’s children, for the most part, have not followed this medical norm. Where I stood pure, my children have tended to stay pure.

The reason for ‘shots as a preventative’ is that you should get a little of the bad so that you will build immunities or resistance to the evil.

I do not support that reasoning, physically or spiritually. I want to build my immune systems with ‘good, in order that the good will destroy the bad’. I do not want to ‘experience a little bad so I will hopefully learn or my body will hopefully learn not to become extremely bad’.

I would rather be an Enoch or a Job, than chance becoming a Saul.

My wife and I have never had flu shots, since we have been married. This year is the first in a long time that we have not had any kind of a cold or lasting flu symptoms; while people that we associate with have had various sicknesses in spite of the shots. Is it because we are super spiritual? NO!! The Lord has been prompting me for years to eat healthy; and eliminate processed foods and sugar. Is that easy? NO!!! This year I have done the best, that I can remember, in doing consistantly what the Lord lays on my spirit. The answer, therefore, for me, physically and spiritually is, “obedience”. Faithful death to selfishness and catering to the senses, the flesh; that is what brings lasting spiritual and physical health; it resists evil; it conquers evil.

So, Tony, I said all of that to say this... for me and my family, I will trust the verses in, Luke 12:11-12  “But when they bring you before the synagogues, the rulers, and the authorities, do not worry about how you should make your defense or what you should say,  for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you must say.” My responsibility and pleasure is to daily fill myself with His Words as guided by the Holy Spirit, trusting His recall and wisdom when needed, for His purposes.

I am finding a growing life with the Holy Spirit, as I, in the last few years, have put more time with the Word than I ever have in my life. I now exceed the time that I used to spend with movies and internet, alone with the Lord and His Word. Movies and TV are out of our home. I think that even my time on the internet might be  less time now, than the time I used to spend with my Bible.

I do not want to experience any influences from the world “in order to learn any of their ways”, even to think that I can minister to them. I know too much of the world already and am trying to forget it; clean it out of my life. I can not save or deliver anyone, I can only allow the Holy Spirit living in me to influence them and draw them to Himself, His purity and holiness. The Holy Spirit, then, working in their hearts, is the only way anyone can be delivered (saved).

“I am the Vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for apart from Me ye can do nothing.”-- John 15:5  Devotional that applies <http://www.youdevoti...alk/january/19>

In conclusion, I believe Tozer’s devotional, ‘Misunderstood Salt’; January 18 < https://www.cmallian...evotions/tozer>, says it the best!

Tim

P.S. Maybe the Language that the world needs to hear from Christians is not a spoken language but a ‘living’ communication from our lives; that which comes out of us when we are being squeezed or chrushed.

Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,
Gal 5:23  Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].
Gal 5:24  And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless human nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.
Gal 5:25  If we live by the [Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.]
Gal 5:26  Let us not become vainglorious and self-conceited, competitive and challenging and provoking and irritating to one another, envying and being jealous of one another.



#4 Charles Miles

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Posted 07 February 2017 - 09:14 AM

I have been a member of this forum for several years although recently have been "off the boards" due to various reasons. I have always enjoyed reading the posts and seeing how the Lord is active in the lives of his people, and I consider many people who frequently post here to be brothers and
sisters in Christ. I have never said anything here that was judgmental (as I can recall) because I am not the judge nor the final authority. So, all that said...here goes....

"Love one another even as I have loved you"....Jesus could not be more clear. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"...another clear precise directive. Now, at the risk of causing some discussion, can I speak about some public health issues? We no longer see epidemics of typhoid, smallpox, typhus, yellow fever, scarlet fever, measles, mumps, polio, and many other diseases that have caused thousands and thousands of deaths here in the US and around the world. God gave men and women the knowledge to create vaccines that (for the most part) keep these killer diseases in check. Every once in a while we hear of a small outbreak but no massive epidemics. Here in the South, 1 out of 3 children never lived to age 8! Think of all the prayers of parents in the early 1800s holding their sick babies who had one of these terrible diseases. Wonder if they prayed for an end to those killing diseases?

Now we don`t have to be concerned with such epidemics.....or do we? I`m certainly not one for government mandating vaccination, but I am for education. How many of us would want to send our child to a school where a child with smallpox was attending class? A teacher who was a typhoid carrier was instructing? How about to a college dorm where one or two students had meningitis? One may "home school" children to keep them from being exposed to these diseases, but unless they are kept locked in the house 100% of the time, they do have exposure with and to the public. How about after they leave home as a young adult? Not many people can live like the "boy in the bubble" all their lives.

Are all vaccines 100% effective? No. Are all vaccines safe all the time? No. The death rate from smallpox vaccine....0.00001%. The death rate from smallpox...very significant.
So again, what was it Jesus said? "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". Sending unvaccinated children into the public where they can become infected or infect just doesn`t sound compatible with what Jesus said. No, Jesus did not say to vaccinate your children, but he did say "Love one another even as I have loved you".

You brother in Christ,

Charlie
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#5 Tkulp

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Posted 08 February 2017 - 12:55 AM

Thank you very much for your post Charlie, and welcome back to the ‘Deeper Life Forum”. I am anxious to hear a bit more of what you are thinking!

As I have meditated on what you have posted and what you might believe about God and His Nature, as reveled to us through Jesus and what He taught, I would like to ask you a couple of questions.

Do you believe that the nature of God has changed in the last 6000 years? Do you have scripture to support your beliefs? If so would you mind sharing the verse or verses with me?

Looking forward to your thoughts and Scripture!!

Tim



#6 Charles Miles

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Posted 09 February 2017 - 01:25 PM

Well, let me shift gears a bit from vaccination and public health, to what I know about God. I know only that God is, was, and always will be....we can`t even define eternity, but really that is not necessary because God lives outside of time anyway. What I do know about God is what he has said about himself, so let`s call those things "attributes". There are many, many things God has told us about who he is, but maybe we can focus on just a few here.

God is, by his own words, certainly not mine...Self-existent, Transcendent, Eternal, Omnipotent, Immutable, Omniscient, Wise, Sovereign, Faithful, Loving, Infinite, Just, Merciful, Immanent, Holy, and Perfect. I think that will about cover it for the question posed here. Here`s the good part... He knows my name!!! He knew it before I was born!!! He loves me and cares about me!!

So, has the "nature" of God changed? That answer would have to be NO. For ANY change to occur, the question would then be...changed from what to what? God`s nature would have to change from bad to good, or from good to bad. All God`s attributes are not simply parts of God, they are WHO he is. God is not made of parts, he is one in himself.

We do need to know as much about God as we can, but the human mind is simply not capable of understanding God in his entirety. This is where belief and faith step in. My definition of "faith" is to believe God is trustworthy and will do exactly what he says he will do. That would mean that God is exactly who he says he is. He will not lie! He will not contradict himself!

When God says he is "immutable", then he can`t change, has not changed, and will not ever change. "I am the Lord, your God, I change not". If we believe God is Omniscient, Immutable, Just, and Perfect, then one would have to ask what would change, why would there need to be change, and what would the change be to? If God`s "nature"(whatever we are talking about here) has changed, then either God was not perfect to begin with, or he is not perfect now. Either way, that would make him untruthful....and that simply isn`t MY God. If God isn`t truthful about himself, why would he be truthful with me? And that puts me in a bad place because I have trusted him with my eternal soul.
"Who is man that you are mindful of him?" "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, any that believe on him should not perish, but have everlasting life".

Please excuse the long post. God does not need defending but I just get excited when my mind tries to grasp, even for a second or so, just what a majestic God we have.

Your brother in Christ Jesus,

Charlie
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#7 Tkulp

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Posted 16 February 2017 - 11:35 AM

Hey Charlie,

 

Thank you very much for the very prompt and more than complete, answer to my questions!!

 

Ok, so you definitely believe that God has not and does not change! That brings a few questions to mind on your subject of health, public and other wise. Please take your mind back to the OT. Can you list any of the ways that God blessed or disciplined His children, as well as other nations in the Middle East?

 

I want to make it easy for you... so all you have to do is read and confirm that this is really what the Bible says.

 

The God of Moses!

Exodus 15:26  He said, “If you will diligently obey the LORD your God, and do what is right in his sight, and pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, then all the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians I will not bring on you, for I, the LORD, am your healer.”

 

Exodus 23:25  You must serve the LORD your God, and he will bless your bread and your water, and I will remove sickness from your midst.

 

The God of Solomon!

1 Kings 8:33-40

  When your people Israel are struck down before the enemy because they have sinned against You, and they turn again to You, confess Your name (Your revelation of Yourself), and pray, beseeching You in this house, Then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel and return them to the land You gave to their fathers.

When heaven is shut up and no rain falls because they have sinned against You, if they pray in [or toward] this place and confess Your name (Your revelation of Yourself) and turn from their sin when You afflict them, Then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of Your servants, Your people Israel, when You teach them the good way in which they should walk. And give rain upon Your land which You have given to Your people as an inheritance.

 

If there is famine in the land or pestilence, blight, mildew, locust, or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is,  Whatever prayer or supplication is made by any or all of Your people Israel--each man knowing the affliction of his own heart, and spreading forth his hands toward this house [and its pledge of Your presence]--

1 Kings 8:39  Then hear in heaven, Your dwelling place, and forgive and act and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart You know, for You and You only know the hearts of all the children of men,

1 Kings 8:40  That they may fear and revere You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers.

The God of Elijah!

2 Chronicles 21:12-19  And there came a letter to Jehoram from Elijah the prophet, saying, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father [forefather]: Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father.... But have walked in the ways of Israel’s kings, and made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem play the harlot like the [spiritual] harlotry of Ahab’s house, and also have slain your brothers of your father’s house, who were better than you, Behold, the Lord will smite your people, and your children, your wives, and all your possessions with a great plague. And you yourself shall have a severe illness because of an intestinal disease, until your bowels fall out because of the sickness, day after day. .....

....And after all this, the Lord smote [Jehoram] with an incurable intestinal disease.  In process of time, after two years, his bowels fell out because of his disease. So he died in severe distress.

 

David’s thoughts on the matter!

Psalms 38:3  My whole body is sick because of your judgment; I am deprived of health because of my sin.

 

Jesus on the subject of sin and sickness!

Matthew 9:5  Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say, ‘Stand up and walk’?

 

So this kind of sums up the thoughts of quite a few individuals on the subject of sin and sickness. The way that I read it, when God’s people walked in sin they could expect to be punished, and one of the forms of punishment was sickness.

 

Having established this part of God’s nature I would like to go back to your comments on the subject of vaccines. You say, God gave men and women the knowledge to create vaccines that (for the most part) keep these killer diseases in check.”

 

Why would God give men and women this knowledge if he was punishing those that had the killer diseases?

The nature of God that I see is that He wants people to love Him with everything that they are and have, and those neighbors that are around us; we are to care for them as much as we care for ourselves; if we live that out ‘His way,’ not ‘our way’, of love and righteousness, I get the impression that we will not need any kind of vaccines, drugs or herbs.

 

Is it possible that the medical field of drugs, vaccines, etc. is really a way of avoiding our responsibility to have a proper relationship to God, who says that He is our Healer? If that is true, then could it be possible that God considers those that do not seek Him and His way of righteousness to be seeking false gods to relieve them from discipline?

 

Pease note that before you get all bent our of shape because I might have touched on something that is sacred to you, I am just asking questions that I do not have firm answers for. If I did have firm answers, I would be giving you the Truth, not asking questions. I know that Luke was considered a physician, but it never talks about him using or recommending any medicine or herbs. I know that we live in a fallen world, but... is God still “God”? ...the Lord our Healer? ...or has man become a god for himself?? ...does science know better than God? Thus the “critical” question, “Is God the same God of Creation, or has He changed?” You do not have to look very hard on the Internet to find a lot of people that have major problems with our modern, government controlled medical system! Where there is smoke, you generally find fire! Is it possible that God is trying to get man’s attention? Does mankind need to come back to God, instead of going to man, for healing?

 

Jesus on two occasions told those that he healed or forgave that they should not sin anymore, lest something worse would come their way. The blind man, Jesus clearly said that it was not because of sin that he was blind, but for God’s honor that he was to be healed. In our blindness I believe that we want to avoid the concept of sin being related to sickness or punishment. I am sorry but if God is the same as He was at creation, He is our creator and our Healer, most people do not believe in Him, to the point that He is the first One turned to or called in any emergency.

 

So Charlie, I ask you honestly, according to what you write, is God really the same? If He really is the same as you have said that He is, then you may need to rethink some of your beliefs.

 

For sure, you need to refrain from giving a medical history lesson to those that are attempting to come out of darkness into the Light  and Truth of who God says He is!

 

Once again, as for me and my family, I want to serve God as my Lord, Healer, and Deliverer; and not turn to man even when God’s answers seem to tarry! So you know, living the real, Scriptural way, is not the easy way that you talk about. The Bible says so, and I know from over 60 years of experience.

 

No reflection on you, but I thought it was rather amazing when I read AB Simpson’s devotional for today. <https://www.cmallian...pson?mmdd=0209>His statement is correct, but, just because things are not going smoothly, or people do not agree with us, does not mean that we are on the path of Truth.

 

Satan wants nothing more than to keep people in bondage to sin and the flesh, the world, deception, etc. He does that by using confusion, half truths, man’s doctrines, pride, greed, busyness, false angels of light, etc. All of it being Spiritual Darkness.

 

John 3:19-21  Now this is the basis for judging: that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.

 

If a person passionately wants Light, he must first have a ‘living trust’ in what the writer of Hebrews 11:6 says,

 

“But without faith (this is really faithfulness, a living constancy in what you believe to be truth)

 it is impossible to please him: ( the word please comes from a root word that means - fully agreeable; please used here means - to gratify entirely)

for he that cometh to God must believe that he is,(the word believe comes from the concept of faithfulness and means to have faith; what I consider a living active trust)

 and that he is a rewarder (remunerator - to pay an equivalent to for any service, loss, expense or other sacrifice)

 of them that diligently seek him.”(to search out, that is, (figuratively) investigate, crave, demand)

 

As you draw nigh to God(light), leaving the world and all that is in the world(darkness), God(light) will draw nigh to you. As we bring our lives of darkness into the presence of light, the Light will expose all the works of darkness. When those areas of darkness are reveled to us in our spirits, we must put all of those areas to death or remove them from our lives.

When you walk in obedience to the Holy Spirit and the revelations of that Light, the Holy Spirit will be the ruling power of your life, like a spiritual immune system. When darkness tries to infect the body, the Holy Spirit ‘yielded to’ and in ‘total’ control, will immediately kill the thought or element of darkness.

 

Psalms 1

    How blessed is the one who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or sit in the assembly of scoffers!  Instead he finds pleasure in obeying the LORD’s commands; he meditates on his commands day and night.

     He is like a tree planted by flowing streams; it yields its fruit at the proper time, and its leaves never fall off. He succeeds in everything he attempts.

     Not so with the wicked! Instead they are like wind-driven chaff. For this reason the wicked cannot withstand judgment, nor can sinners join the assembly of the godly.

     Certainly the LORD guards the way of the godly, but the way of the wicked ends in destruction.

 

Thanks again for your comments,

 

Tim

 

PS God created the body to protect and heal itself, if a person will stop abusing it, spiritually, mentally, physically and feeding it bad diets. Repentance is the key, followed by knowledge of God’s Word, through an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit and Obedience.



#8 Charles Miles

Charles Miles

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Posted 16 February 2017 - 06:06 PM

Tim, I`ll make this post short because it needs to be. What I personally believe about something is not the point and makes absolutely no difference. In fact, I don`t have an opinion about whether or not God has changed. But God has an opinion! I`ll just stand on His. People get themselves in all kinds of situations when they give their "opinion" on a matter when their opinion means nothing. "I am the Lord your God, I change not". That`s it for me. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Lord of Lords, King of Kings, and I have a relationship with Him that is based on His love for me and His promise for me. He simply does not lie!

Us physicians just can`t help the medical history part though. Having treated people for 40 years or so, I can truthfully say that I have NEVER healed ANYONE. I have managed to make some of their symptoms better while they were healing and maybe relieved a bit of pain now and again. Yes, I have read the OT.....and the NT. They are the same story of God`s love for His "man". And no, you won`t get me "bent out of shape" by questioning my faith or belief in my God. That has been settled for a long, long time.

May God grant you peace. He will, because He said He would, and He will not change His mind.

Charlie
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#9 Tkulp

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Posted 17 February 2017 - 04:27 PM

Thanks again Charlie,

 

I appreciate your posts!

 

You are able to do something that just does not work for me!   Write SHORT posts!

 

Your concern with disease and its spreading, is quite all right! Now I understand completely your attention to vaccinations. LOL   No problem!!   I had a sister-in-law that was an RN. She struggled with all the medical knowledge that she had, and relating it, in her life, to Biblical Faith.

 

You are correct that it is not what you believe or say, that counts, it is what you live in obedience to what God says!! Jesus said that at the end of what is called the Sermon on the Mount, “Mat 7:21  “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of heaven — only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.”

 

The seed of my faith was planted by my parents, especially my mother. She taught me, when I was in trouble, to pray immediately, and do, obey, what God put on my heart. Wherever we lived she would try to find a Christian Doctor that knew he could not heal, but used his wisdom and skills to aid the 'God created' natural healing, without a lot of drugs.

 

I have taken that foundation of who Jesus is (as AB Simpson taught, He is all that we need), according to the entire Word of God. I do not want opinion to be the base of my life. I want to know, intimately the Truth of the Scriptures, and my Healer and Deliverer.

 

I had to look up opinion before I would feel at easy replying to you about it. I found it to be a bit different than what I had thought. It is really amazing how word meanings change; people try to excuse themselves with word meanings and totally avoid truth.

 

It is worthless to go to the word of God with opinions as your foundation, I believe you can support most any belief you want, with a particular translation and pulling verses out of context.

 

Word Web number one definition of opinion is, “A personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty.”  Wow, that is what I am trying to deal with in the minds of people that call themselves ‘Christians’; without their life looking anything like Jesus’ life.

 

Their ‘Christianity is not based on the Truth of the Bible. They do not have the fruit of a life led by the Holy Spirit. The fruit, their speech and actions, is not a lot different than any other person in the world. They only have a surface knowledge of the Bible, that they consider ‘light’ enough the show them the way to heaven. It is so sad to hear them talking about all their stumbling about; believing that there really is no other way, but to stumble. Everyone stumbles, so it is correct and normal to stumble, they believe. It is almost impossible to get them to see that the reason for stumbling is because they do not have enough light to see all the rocks, holes, and tree stumps that are in their path. If only they would invest in pure oil, that burns bright, so they could walk in the 'Light'; being able to see and avoid all the stumbling blocks.

 

Thank you for sharing Malachi 3:6a. God’s Word is not opinion and Chapter 3 deals with the criticalness of living a pure life, full of the "Light".

 

Malachi 3:2-6 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years. And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

 

Thanks for your continued sharing!!

 

Tim

 

PS Two devotionals were really encouraging today in dying to self and selfishness, then presenting yourself, pure and holy, as a living sacrifice.

 

https://www.cmallian...ns/tozer?id=725

 

 

Our Daily Walk

 

February 17

Serving The Lord

Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice – alive, holy, and pleasing to God – which is your reasonable service. — Rom 12:1 NET

The first thing for all of us to do is to present ourselves to God as alive from the dead, and our bodies as living sacrifices. The path of blessedness can be entered by no other gate. It is only as we refuse to be conformed to this world, and yield ourselves to be transformed by the free entrance of the Holy Spirit into our minds, that we can learn all that God will do for us. We are nothing; He is all. And He is prepared to be and do all things in us, if only we will be open to Him as the land lies open to the summer sun.

Those who really live the yielded life, do not need to ascertain God’s Will by signs. They recognize it by the whisper of His voice and the touch of His hand. It is as we refuse to be molded by the world, and give ourselves up to the transfiguring Spirit of God, that we prove what is His good, acceptable, and perfect will. But more than that, we begin to live for others, and draw by faith from the fullness of God, that we may minister to them aright.

First, we understand what the Will of God is; then we present our bodies that it may fulfill itself through us; then we discover that it means goodwill to men, and we become the happy channels of heavenly ministry to those around us in one of the spheres enumerated in Rom 12:6-8 of this chapter. It is impossible to cherish jealousy, because the Head may use this member or that; it is equally impossible to be proud, because we have nothing that we have not received. Let us always remember that each has a special ministry to fulfill, and that we shall find in our daily lot the opportunity of fulfilling it. How many resemble the landowner of the Eastern story, who sold his property in order to go in search of diamonds, and lo! the man who purchased his property found it full of diamonds. Indeed it was the famous Golconda region. In the daily drudgery of life you will find your heavenly opportunity. How many who are pining for a great mission, will never be permitted to enter it, because they despise the low and narrow door of humble service to those in their immediate neighborhood.

But we can never realize these divine ideals of service merely by an external obedience. We must be constrained by a holy love to our Lord and to one another. What a despair these ideals would be apart from the Holy Spirit. That holy love comes from Him.

 

Prayer

O God work in me, not only to will but to do of Thy good pleasure; and may I work out in daily life what Thou dost work in. Amen.

 

 

Jermiah 17:5-14  Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.  For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.

 

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

 

I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.  As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

 

A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.  O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.

 

Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise.