For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. 1Corinthians 13:12 As we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses our conscience. It began in Genesis, “God said, let there be light.” “The greater light ruled the day, the lesser light ruled the night. “See Genesis 1. In the book of Exodus, God led the children of Israel with fire by night, and a cloud by day. God himself adjusted the daylight with a cloud, and the night light with a fire. Next, in Exodus 25, oil was needed for the lamp inside of the Tabernacle. Indeed, oil was burned continually. producing the light, and pictures for us the precious Holy Spirit. The spirit…
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A man ventured to sail solo on a trip which would take him completely around the world. It was a contest and the feat had not yet been accomplished in the known world. The rules put him in a sailing vessel alone and he was never to touch land until the entire voyage was over. Others were making the attempt simultaneously; the first returning would receive a great amount of cash. This man was a novice at seafaring challenges, yet proceeded at seeking financial backing to build an ocean-worthy vessel. The money came and he built his one-man sail boat. However the financing of others pressured him to sail at the earliest possible time so as to insure victory. He agreed to a time but it was premature, he would have to abandon certain desired features in order to insure enough time to compete and win. He was leaving behind…
“Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?” Galatians 4:21 The Apostle, Paul, hoping to show the Galatian Christians their error in desiring to place themselves under the Law, reaches for the allegorical picture of Isaac and Ishmael from Genesis 16-18. Born of Hagar, Ishmael was the result of a vain attempt of Abraham to produce a promised child with Hagar, who was the servant of Sarah. In Genesis 16:2, Sarai had offered Hagar to Abraham saying, ” it may be that I may obtain children by her. ” In Paul’s illustration in Galatians 4, Ishmael is said to be born after the “flesh,” or of natural means. “And Sarai said to Abram, “Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children. Go in to my servant; it may be that I shall obtain children by her.” And Abram listened…
“And one of them smote the servant of the high priest, and cut off his right ear. And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him. Luke 22:50 -51 Simon Peter reacted in defense of Jesus,. But, his timing was ill-advised because Jesus followed with words to the mob who sought to kill Him, “this is your hour, and the power of darkness.” Peter was full of righteous anger and mistakenly cut off an ear while aiming for a head. Jesus, without rebuke simply fixed the problem with a total restoration of both the victim, Malchus, physically: and Peter the antagonist, spiritually. Jesus demonstrated the propitious (favorable) heart of His Father just prior to His display of justice for sin. Men, not knowing what they do, (Luke 23:34), would carry out this terrible act of justice which also pleased the Father (Isaiah 53:10) — the…
‘A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.’ Proverbs 17:17 “A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.” Proverbs 18:24 ” Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.” Proverbs 27:6 A man’s self-righteous dignity must be wounded in order for him to receive God’s love unashamedly. The love which comes of Christ alone, functions toward a sinner, toward a strengthless one, toward an enemy; all in the same way. A person may feel they have a right to be loved, or no right to be loved. Man’s rights play no part in God’s love for Men. There is none good, no not one. But, we have “been made fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” See Colossians 1:12 We qualify under the…
Job 42:10 “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.” Psalm 126:1 “. When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream.” My first visit to an African nation was almost surreal. I had only imagined such places and found their reality to be much different than my imaginings. It was the same for Europe and for that matter, Prescott Arizona. Locations differ, but also conditions, such as Job’s trial. A long experience in certain conditions creates a kind of reality and when released from it, seems a dream. Israel had been exiled for 70 years. Release was breathtaking for those participating in it. Both Job and Israel had been in captivity. Perhaps you have had a long battle with sickness, with cancer, with financial issues,…
The story is found in Exodus 7:9 -14: “and given that Paroh will speak to you saying, give for you a wonder, and you will say to Aharon, take your branch and throw it out to the face of Paroh, he will exist as a crocodile. And Mosheh came, and Aharon, to Paroh, and they did so, just as YHWH directed, and Aharon threw out his branch to the face of Paroh and to the face of his servants, and he existed as a crocodile. and Paroh also called out to the skilled ones and to the sorcerers, and they, the magicians of Mits’rayim, also did so with their blazings, ( The word “BLAZING” is the same word used for the sword of the Keruv (cherub in most other translations, Genesis 3:24) and each threw out his branch and they existed as crocodiles, and the branch of Aharon swallowed their…
The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the Ephesians. In that letter he exhorts them: “That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another.” Ephesians 4:22-25 And to the Romans: “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:13-14 Brothers and sisters, “do not go on presenting your members to sin…
Take heed that no man deceive you! Keep your eyes open, lest some one may or may not deceive you at any point in time. So taught Jesus in Matthew 24:10 “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. ” He was referring to the same last time. 2 Timothy 3:13, “Adam and Eve were in a perfect environment, but Eve was deceived because, as a responder, she didn’t abide under her covering—and she didn’t receive doctrine from God.” Dr. Carl H. Stevens See Genesis 3:4 “the serpent deceived her by saying, “You will not surely die as you have been told” Iniquity is the emotions of Lucifer influencing the emotions of the woman. Notice, the serpent didn’t tackleAdam; he deceived Eve. ” CHS In Revelation we see the fate of the deceiver. “And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that…
” Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. ” John 15:3 The Galatian Christians had fallen from grace, and the Hebrew Christians were warned about failing the grace of God. What action or what failure caused the fall or fail? Well some Galatians took on circumcision as a prerequisite for salvation. This practice eliminated simple grace as the only means of attaining salvation. Receiving this salvation is through simply believing. The Hebrew Christians interpreted their persecution as a rejection by God, rather than seeing it as a chastening from Father. They excluded themselves from grace. In both cases, conditions were attached to the free gift, though their salvation was intact. See Roman’s 6:23, 3:23 etc. So, Paul tells the Thessalonian Christians you are “not in darkness” — not in darkness of understanding (that is, spiritual ignorance) or of the moral nature (that is, a state…