Do You Know?
Jerry Wilhite, author In the following pages we will cover the basics of life with and without God. Below you will read from other studies I have written; they are added for clarity. "Basics" is a study about the basics of salvation. Then "Life Starts Here" has opened the eyes of more than a million people to the truth about salvation, church, and body of Christ. Those studies helped them understand the three phases of a relationship with the Lord in ways they had not before. This study helps most understand there is a major difference between organized religion and "being of God". Some of what you are about to read can be done based on just the every day faith everyone has, but for it to really work faster and better it is best to use the faith combined with God and His word. Watch what otherwise may never happen or could take years to change, happen in months or even weeks. I am referring to health, finances, weight, relationships, etc. There is no area of your life that you can not improve on and the shame for most is they think to do so with God means giving up something they want to keep. For the most part what you have to give up with God is death, sickness, debt, lack, sadness, depression, etc. I doubt that anyone really wants to continue in those things. Look at the investment you made in school to improve your life as far as income. Think about the investment needed for a relationship to be cultivated or even to lose weight. God forbid you should wait until your health deteriorates before you seek God. Most have the wrong impression of God - what He is, who He is, and what He wants of us - due to what another man or woman says. Now, do you trust another man or woman to the point that if they say you need a heart transplant you wouldn't bother to get a second opinion? How about a car? Would you buy a car sight unseen based on just what someone else says? If you do not trust others as I asked above without seeking more information, then why would you do that when it comes to God? Why not find out for yourself? No, it does not require even a tenth of the time your schooling did, and in some cases as long as your health problems could last. God is not all you have been led to believe by others and until you find out for your self you will never know. If there is a God (and there is) and if He is loving, wanting to bless you (He does), and He can improve your life more than you can even imagine (He will), then is it not worth your time? Whatever television you watch will do none of this and all this requires is the time of one series a day, so 30 minutes a day is an investment of pure gold. How many of you would spend hours a day instead of watching television if you knew in time it paid off in just eliminating your debt and lack? Now add to that your health, relationships, etc, and what is 30 minutes a day for 3 months worth to you? If you read this study, and then for the next 3 months reread this study over and over, and do so with the Bible open reading all the verses around the ones used here in. Give some time to being quiet; listen for and to the voice of God and know at the end you will see positive results Will you do it? I did and can prove to anyone who wants to come to Humble, Texas and spend an hour or so with me to see for your self. In the pages to follow you will learn about verses, and scriptures we just have remembered wrong and in such not received all we could if we had remembered them right. We will cover some misunderstood scriptures and learn what the will of God is for us, the meaning of life and more. I will share one verse many have had understood wrong. Actually it is one word that their memory let them down on. This one word and this verse will show how one word can do so much damage. 1 Peter 2 24. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye are healed. We have all heard the above verse and it appears ok, right? Nope, I changed one word in it to match what I have found 99 out of 100 people remember it to be. 1 Peter 2 24. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. Did you see the word in question, the first time you read the very first one, it states "by whose stripes ye are healed."? "Are" means maybe, can happen, in the future, but when you read it the second time and look it up in your King James Version of the Bible (and most others as well) it is were healed, not are healed. So what's the big deal, were, are, don't they mean basically the same? Nope, "are" is future tense and a possibility where "were" means it is done, a done deal, already done for you in the past. So all you have to do is accept it. So why do so many not get their healing if it is a done deal? Hosea 4 6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. His (God's) people are destroyed due to a lack of knowledge. And before we dig any deeper the part about priests is referring to us. Revelation 1 6. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Remember Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy, and one of the areas of this study will show how he forces his thoughts on you. If you remember it close to the original and have not read it recently he knows he can use it against you. So here you are, believing for your healing, when it was already done for you at the cross, but since you are off in remembering of the verse, your way of standing for your healing is then showing doubt. Doubt always kills your healing, blessing or what ever you stand on scripture for. In the past I have had been told by my doctor that I had Pulmonary Hypertension (this deals with the heart) and diabetes, and once you have either of them, you have them for life. At least that is what my doctor told me. I told him first with the diabetes I was not diabetic, and we argued until about 9 months later when I went from what he thought was #2 diabetes to #1, from sugar of 400+ to 58. What he discovered was I was right. What took me so long was my faith was not working as it should due to a lack of knowledge of the actual scripture the difference between "are" and "were". But I gave it to the prayer warriors at godsgifttoyou.com to pray over, and then I stood on I Peter 5:7 1 Peter 5 7. Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. The word care in the above verse means "concerns, worries, problems, etc". I was a faith believer and knew that in Heb. 11:6 we are told it is impossible to please God without faith, and it took faith to give Him these problems and walk away. When my doctor got tired of arguing with me, well then it was my heart. My doctor hit the roof on this one; he had me in CCU and taking nitro, the whole bit. It was about a year after the heart condition and 2 years after the diabetes that I re-read I Peter 2:24. I noticed it said were not are, so I started standing on it, and within a year my doctor even believed I was cured of both and now when I say something about my health he agrees and no longer argues. About 2000, late in the year, I went to God about my weight, during all that had happened before I had back surgery and had been unable to exercise at all since 97, so I was over weight and knew I needed to lose some. So I prayed, and since then I do not eat, drink or put anything in my mouth I do not bless first. Within a year of asking I lost more than a fourth of my weight over 60 lbs., and I was still not exercising or eating right. Some of the weight loss was just faith and some was my faith working for me. I had noticed after a year I was eating the same meals, just less at each and more often and by doing this snacks disappeared as well. I had not made an effort on my part or at least one I noticed to change my way of eating, but since I gave it to God, He knew what I needed and did it for me. Three reasons people do not grow or are not growing. Before you get into offense over some of what you will read on the following pages, understand what I am saying in the following pages is very much human and humans make mistakes. I know some reading this will get into offense and miss the total blessing they could have. The first thing I teach (and should be the first thing taught to everyone born again) and I repeat very often is, "Do not believe me, seek God on what I say." I mean every single word, seek His guidance. I do not mean just reading the Bible, but actually hearing Him, hearing His voice, we are supposed to hear Him daily. Here are a few verses to verify this: John 14 26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 1 John 2 27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. Christ is a Greek word meaning in English anoint((ed)ing)). Luke 4 18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, We know Jesus is the Christ. Christ is not a name or title for Jesus, but what He is, and when someone becomes part of the church, the first thing they have revealed to them is Who Jesus is as the Christ. This will be covered more later on in "Life Starts Here". The anointing (Christ) is to have the Spirit of God on, in and through you as water is on, in, and through a sponge dripping with water. If we are not to hear from God as some say, then why did John tell us how to verify whom we are hearing from? To make sure it is God and not Satan? 1 John 4 1. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. I honestly believe what has happened is that our arrogance and pride have kept us in the dark. Satan has been here a long time. No matter if you believe in evolution or creation, Satan has been here for thousands of years. You might live 100+ years, and due to our arrogance we think we know more and can understand better than Satan or at least keep him at bay. What happened in the late 15th century was just the beginning, but by the late 16th century Satan had us divided so we did not grow, instead fought over points in the interpretation of the word. Imagine two people read the same book and come away with two different meanings. Then one day they meet the person who wrote the book and discover they were both wrong. This is what happens when we interpret the Bible instead of understand it, and understanding can only come via the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is required to explain and bring full understanding of the word of God. I myself understand nothing, but with the help of the Holy Spirit I can understand the word of God and so can you. There is a man who is very much revered by a lot of people and a lot of well-known teachers and leaders think that what he says is gospel. None would dare to verify what he says; they just accept it as gospel because he said it. Then one day in 1993 I learned something and found over the years to have a lot of walls up around me from others because what I was saying went against this person. I am not saying he is wrong in everything, he may have everything else right, but in the area I was learning he was as far off as one could get. So I started asking myself how much else might I be wrong about because I just accepted it because someone told me it was fact. From 1993 to 1995 I spent basically 24/7 with God listening to every word I could hear, and wrote it all down. From that I learned a lot, but I also learned that Satan has manipulated us since the beginning. Paul even saw the problem of division in the first century church. 1 Corinthians 1 11. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? Now let's look at how that verse might read today. 1 Corinthians 1 11. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 12. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Methodist; and I of Baptist; and I of Catholic; and I of Christ. 13. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? How much worse would the problem be today if it started 2000 years earlier? What I am trying to say is none of us know what is true and real unless we ask God and have Him verify it for us. Imagine it, no one can understand without the Holy Spirit, what does this say about Satan? He can not understand as well, but he does not care to as long as we do not understand. If we understand we can overcome him while we are here, so for Satan to understand he would have to have the Holy Spirit and then we would have no enemies. 2 Corinthians 10 4. (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5. Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; Casting down imaginations, also is casting down all thoughts that are not of God, this does not mean being perfect and holier than thou, but that we have two ways we receive our thoughts. God, as a gentleman and giving us a choice, offers us His thoughts, but we have to accept them. Satan, as a thief wanting to steal, kill and destroy, forces his thoughts on us. If you think you have an original thought, think again. Everything you have ever thought or will think has already been thought before. John 10 9. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. 10. The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 11. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. For those who want to grow in and with God, they have to hear from Him. To hear from God you need to spend time daily starting with at least 30 minutes a day quiet, listening for and to the voice of God. Do this daily until you hear His voice. When you do hear from Him increase the time daily with Him, as often as you can. Anti Faith, Anti Spirit, people who believe faith and the Spirit both ended in first century church or just is not for today.
1. They do not believe in God.
2. They do not listen to God.
3. They are caught up in the law.
Some of you are thinking I do that, I read His word. That is a starting point, not an end all. The Bible was meant to help us grow and like with anything that is of God, it requires multiple in-puts to grow. A plant can not grow unless it is planted in good ground, watered, and has sunlight.
Now some have not heard because as with faith and other areas of blessings from God they tried it. When it did not work they then justified the lack of time they gave it, as it was something of the first century church only and not for the present. For that to be true the following verses would not be correct, and no word of God is ever wrong or not correct.
Hebrews 13
8. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.
Hebrews 11
6. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Romans 1
17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
Romans 10
17. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Romans 10
17. So then faith cometh by hearing, and understanding(hearing (Mark 4:12-25)) by the Jesus (word(John 1:14)) of God.
Belief without doubt is faith.
I have visited sites that are so down on faith they list all who are and portray them as evil and that anyone who is of faith as misled. I wonder, do you think they ever read the Bible? Some are this way because (as so many do) they waited to try their faith and seek God when their back was against a wall with some problem. They may have lost everything they owned or a loved one, and not to take responsibility for it themselfs they blame God or believe faith is no more. Then there are those who believe the Spirit was for the first century church only (I guess they never read Acts 10:34).
Romans 8
1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
4. That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Romans 8
11. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Romans 8
15. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
"Abba" means "daddy", the loving caring side of God. "Father" refers to the authoritative and discipline side of God.
The point being in the verses above if you are not walking fully in the Spirit of God you are missing the blessings, like the fruit of the Spirit for one:
Galatians 5
22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Knowledge is Power; Lack of Knowledge is destruction
In the next few pages we will debunk a lot of misunderstanding and wrong teaching.
I am not saying that churches and ministries are deliberately misleading people or teaching wrong. Yes, there are those with their own agenda (it is just human nature), but hopefully they are a very small minority. The problem is as follows:
Hosea 4
6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
His (God's) people are destroyed due to a lack of knowledge. And before we dig any deeper the part about priests is referring to us.
Revelation 1
6. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
What is God's Will for Us?
Look at this part of the Lord's prayer.
Matthew 6
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Ask yourself this; in heaven is they're any:
Sickness
Injury
Poverty
Debt
Lack
Sadness
Depression
Crime
Hate
Jealousy
I could go on and on, but the point is, there is not one of the above in heaven so it is not God's will for us to have any of this here either. It is God's will (as it is with most good fathers) that His children are blessed and do not suffer at all.
Does God Test Us?
Most, if not all, religions, denominations and non-denominations use Job 1:8 to prove God tests us. Why this verse? Mainly because it is the only one they can find, or at least until now.
Before showing you the problem with this verse you need some basic facts.
All but the Literal Bible are written based off of the King James version, either directly or indirectly.
The King James is accurate, but the problem is it was written in 1612 AD and between 1612 and now the English language has changed or at least how we read it and understand it as well as our slang has changed.
Then add to that the difference between English in the UK and the US and you will see the problem.
Here are a few examples of the difference between the two.
In the UK
"post" is "mail" in the US
"Solicitor" is "attorney"
"lift" is "elevator"
"bonnet" is a car's "hood"
Job 1
8. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
As you can see in the King James Version of Job 1:8 above it appears that God is pointing Job out to Satan so Satan can test him, but below in the Literal version you will see that God was asking Satan a question. God was questioning Satan about what he was thinking about doing to Job. Then after reading the Literal below re-read the KJV above and add a question Mark and you can see how in 1612 they read it as it is stated below.
Job 1
8.
|0559| And said
|3068| Yahweh
|0000| to
|7854| Satan,
|7760| Have you set
|3824| your heart
|5650| on My servant
|0347| Job?
|3588| For
|0369| not is {any}
|0000| like him
|0776| in the earth,
|0376| a man
|8535| perfect
|3477| and upright,
|3373| revering
|0430| God
|5186| and turning away
|7451| from evil.
What is the importance of knowing about Job 1:8? If you understand God does not want to test you and wants you to have a blessed life you get a totally different outlook on God. The problem is that most learn at a school to become a teacher or pastor and learn based on what someone else learned.
If you track most of our learning back, you will find yourself in the late 1400's and with Martin Luther. Martin Luther was a Catholic priest who (as was all except the upper 1% of the religion at that time) was not allowed to read two books in the New Testament, Romans and Hebrews.
When he read these two he wrote a letter to the pope accusing him of being an anti-Christ. Not the Anti-Christ, but one of many anti-Christ's. Luther was excomunicated and taught all he could, but by the late 1500's there were divisions. From those divisions came the different denominations we have today.
The word "Denomination" itself means to divide.
Pastors, teachers, priests of denominations spend at least 4 years going to school to lead a church/ministry. In that 4 years about 10% is spent in the word of God. The rest is money management, people management, counseling, etc. All the things one would need to run a business.
Non-denominational pastors, leaders, etc spend 50-70% in the word during their 4 years, but again if anyone whom they learn from learned from someone who was a little off in their understanding, then all who subsequently learn from them would be as well. This problem is very basic. What I am talking about is the fact that when someone we respect and think highly of says something we just accept it as gospel and do not Mattempt to verify it, to be sure it is the truth.
Baptism
There are some who believe that the Baptist religion came from John the Baptist. The Baptists started in late 15th century due to a disagreement. There were two groups; one that believed in total imersion (Baptism) and those who believed in sprinkling. Those who did not believe you had to be totally imersed in water to be baptized took those who did and placed them on what would look like a see saw and dunked them in a pond until they changed their mind. So either from this dunking or just their belief in total imersion the Baptist Denomination was born.
Before you get your feathers in a ruffle over what is to come understand I believe everyone should be totally imersed in water TO SHOW THEIR FAITH. I do not believe anyone can be saved by baptism of water. If so then Jesus did not have to die for us. The idea of water imersion did start with John the Baptist, but as a form of repentance of sins.
Romans 3
24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
What did Jesus say about Baptism?
Acts 1
5. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
Did you know that not all of the Apostles were baptized of water, but they were all Baptized of the Spirit of God, (Acts 2:3, Acts 9:1-10)
What did John the Baptist say about the true Baptism?
Matthew 3
11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
I am not against water Baptism. I just do not and will not believe it saves us, or that without being Baptized of water someone will go to Hell. What about in Matthew 28:18 when Jesus said Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost?
Matthew 28
19. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Jesus was telling us to imerse or submerge all into the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. What does Christ mean? Anoint, to be totally saturate in the Spirit of God. Who sent us the Holy Spirit? God did in the name of Jesus (John 14:26)
Matthew 28
19.
|4198| Having gone,
|3767| then,
|3100| disciple
|3956| all
|3588| the
|1484| ethnics,
|0907| imersing
|0846| them
|1519| into
|3588| the
|3686| name
|3588| of the
|3962| Father
|2532| and
|3588| of the
|5207| Son
|2532| and
|3588| of the
|0040| Holy
|4151| Spirit,
Remember Satan has done his job very well keeping us divided. A divided kingdom will fall. So by getting us to fight over anything he could get us to fight over caused division and kept the Spirit of God at bay.
Acts 2
1. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
It was not until the Apostles were in "one accord", meaning "in agreement" or "of one mind" that the Spirit of God came unto them. So why has it taken so long to happen again? Peter in Acts 2 refers to Joel about the latter and earlier rain, referring to the Spirit of God falling on man. The first being in Acts 2 and the latter appears to have happened in the past few decades at most and at least the past decade.
Non-denominations formed by people who were being affected by the Spirit could not see the movement of God in the denomination they were a part of, so they left. Now we can go back and find individuals who were affected for longer than a century, but as far as everyone in general, the growth curve for knowledge via the Spirit has only been in the past decade or so as far as the general population of believers. This does not mean there were not people under the anointing and growing before this. It just shows the latter rain started about a decade ago. Before you think I am stating the end is here, do not. I am not about to put myself in that position as others have. The point is not when tribulation will start or the end will come, what is the only thing that should be of importance is our relationship with God.
What is Grace, this is the last Generation
Remember the people that followed Jesus thought (based on His words) they would see the end.
Matthew 24
34. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Mark 13
30. Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.
Mark 8
12. And he sighed deeply in his spirit, and saith, Why doth this generation seek after a sign?
verily I say unto you, There shall no sign be given unto this generation.
Some will use these verses to show the Bible is not always correct, but it is. A generation is a span of time - 40 years. Now Jesus lived 33 years; tribulation is 7 years, 33+7=40 years. Everything in between is Grace. If a bill you have is due on the 1st, but they do not count it late until the 5th, this is a period of grace or grace period. That is what we are in - Grace - and when tribulation starts it will be the beginning of the last 7 years of the generation Jesus spoke of.
Also look at what Jesus called that generation and look at what those of tribulation are, they are one and the same.
Matthew 24
34. O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
Matthew 24
39. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:
In verse 39 He is referring to Him self-being dead 3 days of course, as Jonas was in the whale 3 days. Tribulation is two 3.5 years segments, the first is mankind ruled by man without God, and the second is mankind ruled by Satan without God.
Remember what the word tribulation means, a time of trial. It is God's last ditch effort to save as many of the lost that He can before it all ends. Think of an old Missouri mule that is so stubborn that it takes a 2x4 between its eyes to get its attention. God is doing something like that. He is allowing mankind to see what it is like without God, first under man's rule and then under Satan's.
Matthew 24
21. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
Most believe God pours out His wrath during tribulation, He does not, because then it would revenge or wrath and not tribulation. Plus even Jesus told us this in Matthew 24
Matthew 24
29. Imediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
Imediately after the tribulation (not during or before) does wrath of God fall on the earth?
Here is what happens, 3.5 years of man ruling man with God, then 3.5 years of Satan ruling man without God. Then in 1-hour the wrath of God falls on all with the Mark of the beast. They will die and all with God's Mark will survive. Then for 1000 years Jesus will rule here on earth and mankind will continue as before as far as marrying, living, working, etc. Then Satan is released one last time to tempt any he can. This is a way of sifting out the ones not true to God and then judgment day.
I truly believe when we die we step out of time.
Time is meant for those with a beginning and end.
After this life it is eternal torment or with God.
When we step out of time it is judgment day - we just jump over time to that day.
One of the problems (from interpretation) is some get caught up in the law, and become legalistic. This happens because these usually never were baptized of the Spirit of God.
Romans 2
29. But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.
Basics
The basics are actually for all of us; something we should always review once a year or so.
The first part is for those who are not of Christ, not saved or born again. First I will explain a few words so when they are used on this site or elsewhere you will at least understand what they are talking about.
"Saved" - those who have accepted Jesus in their life.
Romans 10
9. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
"Born again" is another way of saying being saved.
John 3
3. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
4. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
What are we saved or from? We are saved from death, hell, and the grave just to name a few.
Adam sinned and due to his sin we are all of sin; being descendants of Adam we inherited it.
So Jesus did what we could not; He paid the price we could not.
You see God did not want us separated from Him, but since He gave us free will, we have the choice. It is the same as when a person passes down to their children problems inherent to their physical makeup (genetic). We know we have problems and we know there is a chance that we can cause problems in our children, but that does not stop us from having children. God could have done the same thing and stopped after Adam and given up, but He did not. That is most likely why we do not either. Instead He started putting His word in the earth until He could find one that would have enough faith from His word to agree with Him and have Jesus.
The way a person can know they are saved, and have it so deep in them it can never be taken away is by hearing God call us His children. Romans 8:16.
Luke 1
35. And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.
37. For with God nothing shall be impossible.
38. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Now this started our actual salvation, but up until this time He would use anyone who would let Him get things prepared for Jesus, but at the same time get His Word both by faith and in the physical as well.
John 1
14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Now you should see that we have a way of salvation via Jesus. You can say that this is a bunch of garbage or the truth, but before you decide ask yourself this, what is the worst that could happen? If I am right you get blessings here and life eternal. If I am wrong well, then nothing will happen and this life is all there is. At least as a believer you would have spent your life loving instead of hating.
I can testify to the FACT that not only is this true, but you even know there is something missing in you. What is missing is what was there at the beginning with man and that is the Spirit of God. I ask you to take some time and make sure the choice you make is the right one. What I have been shocked at the most is how many people (once they do have the level of relationship I am talking about with God) always say the same thing. That is, "Why did I not do this sooner?"
Now the level I am talking about is much higher than just being saved. You see there are 3 levels in the kingdom on earth.
Salvation - the name "Jesus" it self means salvation. By calling upon the name of Jesus we start our learning.
Next is becoming part of the church. No, you are not part of the church because you are saved. In Matthew 16:15-18 we are told that one becomes a piece of the church when God REVEALS to us who Jesus is as the Christ and the true Son of God. The word Peter in these verses is Petros in Greek and means "a piece of the rock".
The last level will be an on going learning level. It is when you become a part of the Body of Christ. No, someone saved and/or part of the church is not necessarily of Christ. This is something we have to ask for. Many call it being "in-filled" with the Spirit of God. The word "Christ" means "anointing" in English. To understand better imagine a bowl of water and a dry sponge placed into it. What happens is the sponge absorbs the water, in, on and through it. That is what happens when we are of Christ; we have the Spirit of God in, on and through us. Yes, when we are saved we have the Spirit of God in us, but only in us, not on, and through us as well.
Luke 4
18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Isaiah 10
27. And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. (KJV only)
1 Corinthians 1
24. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
As you have read the anointing or Christ is referred to alone, not with church or salvation. Read the first 4 chapters of Revelation you will notice Jesus writes to the churches only, not to the body of Christ. The reason is because the body is removed. It has to be because in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-9 the Bible talks about the power that restrains the antichrist from being revealed, and this power is in the Body of Christ only.
There are some very basic and simple things you can do to grow and be blessed.
Tithe (Malachi 3:10-12) is something, if understood and followed, that can take a person from living paycheck to paycheck to extra.
Farmers already do Sowing and Reaping; they sow corn and they reap corn. The same can be done with clothes, cars, and money.
So between the tithe and sowing and reaping you can live a lot better.
Next is your health.
I Peter 2
24. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Jesus, being sin free, could not die or get sick; so for Him to pay our price He had to allow all sin to come on Him. Right before He did that He was whipped with a cat of 9 tails. This whip had many strings on each of which was a claw and the when the claw connected it would take a large chunk of skin out of Him. Then they struck him with it 39 times. Each stripe stood for one of each of the sicknesses we could have. Meaning cancer may have many different forms and names but they are all cancer.
So far we have come to learn that:
an (Adam) sinned and due to that sin cut us off from God, then God started working to fix the problem.
Through Jesus we have a way back to God, but it is our choice.
God is our one and only true Father, and He loves us more than we can ever imagine.
Due to being of God and growing in His kingdom on earth we can be blessed in our health, finances, and relationships as well.
All we have to do is accept Jesus as our Lord and savior.
In turn we are heirs to the entire kingdom of God.
We are saved from sin, death, hell and the grave.
The more we grow the better our relationship with God grows, and the better we will do in relationships, health, finances and more.
Now to hear God's voice it takes time daily. I suggest 15 minutes a day for 2 weeks and then add 15 minutes every 3-4 weeks until you hear His voice. Then, when you hear His voice, spend as much time as you can while at the same time verifying who it is you are listening to. If it is God, then listen and be obedient.
1 John 4
1. Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
2. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
3. And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.
Some of you will read this and say, "This is old stuff." It is, but it is also something that is good to be sure you follow. Read it annually to be sure you have not slipped any.
3 Steps to Life - What is Salvation, Church, and the Body of Christ. Most important how are they different.
As you understand that there are 3 elements to God - Father, Son, Spirit or Soul, Body, Spirit also understand that we have 3 elements as well - body, soul, and spirit. The number 3 in the Bible means unity.
We go through 3 lives:
We grow in the womb where it is decided whether we are male or female.
We grow in this life where we decide whether we are born again or not.
Then finally we are in eternity, either with God or without.
In the womb our universe is small - about the size of a basketball. In this life it seems that the universe is huge - it is so much larger than the last, but infinitely smaller than the next.
Our life spans:
|
Size of Our Universe |
Life - |
Outcome |
|
1st Womb about the size of a basketball |
9 months |
Male or female |
|
2nd Present universe seems unlimited |
120 yrs |
Born again or not |
|
3rd Next life with or without God |
Eternal |
Heaven or Hell |
Step 1 - Salvation
In this life there are 3 steps as well, that is if we are born again.
But what is born again?
John 3
3. Jesus answered and said unto him,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.4.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?5. Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
6.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.7.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.8.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
10. Jesus answered and said unto him,
Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?11.
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.12.
If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?13.
And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.14.
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:15.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.16.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.17.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.18.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.So, once you are born again you are saved, but you are not of the church or the body of Christ yet.
Before you get your tail feathers ruffled over what I just said, take a moment to open your mind and read what I have to show from scripture. Then take it to God and ask Him. If ever you hear anything that God says is not true, do not walk away, but run away from the source of the lie. Do not try to change them by debate, email, etc, but take it to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to handle it. He is much more capable to do this than we, plus He will not make mistakes, but we can. In making a mistake we may push a person even further the wrong way.
So before you do anything you MUST be hearing from God. Yes, that is right, YOU MUST be hearing from God. In the Old Testament there were men and women of God that the majority would go to, to learn the truth. Now we are ALL to be men and women of God.
John 2
21. But he spake of the temple of his body.
I Corinthians 3
16. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
So understand that when you are saved you have the Spirit of God in you (you are a temple of God) but you do not have the Spirit on, and through you yet.
The name Jesus in Hebrew means salvation, and through the name of Jesus you are saved.
Romans 10
9. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
This is necessary for all to grow and become so solid in salvation to the point nothing can ever take it from you or confuse you or make you doubt it.
Romans 8
16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
You can only hear this when you are hearing the voice of God. That comes from your taking the time to listen and hear His voice.
Now imagine if you wanted to learn to read and write but you did not want to invest any time in it. It just would not happen. How much more is the blessing that comes from knowing God on a one on one basis. From this one on one relationship with God you will be blessed with all the fruit of God.
Galatians 5
22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
23. Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
24. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
25. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Jesus even said we would be known by the our fruit
Matthew 7
20.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.21.
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.22.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?23.
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.So many take "faith without works is dead" as meaning they have to go out and work, but the actual truth is that when faith works IT goes out and works. When we do it, it is not faith, but us that is at work.
Hebrews 11
1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2. For by it the elders obtained a good report.
3. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
4.By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
Both offerings in appearance would have been good, but only one was of faith, something that only God could see.
5. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
6. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
How does faith come?
Romans 10
17. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
For more on faith, Click HereNow as you grow, from the moment of your salvation to the revealed knowledge of Who Jesus is as the Christ and true Son of God, your growth is into being a part of the church.
A church is not buildings, or people, but individuals with personal relationships with God. A relationship that He reveals unto all and first who we are and who Jesus is.
Romans 8
16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
Step 2 - Church
Matthew 16
15.
He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
16. And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.17.
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.In verse 16 the name Peter in Greek is Petros. Petros means Peter, but mostly they both mean a "piece of the rock". The word rock is Petras or bedrock. In verse 15 Jesus tells Peter it was REVEALED knowledge of the Father about Who Jesus is as the Christ and Son of God that made him petros. So when God reveals to you Who Jesus is as the Christ and The Son of God you are then a piece of the rock or church.
Now you have gone two steps in your growth here, 1st salvation through Jesus, 2nd becoming a part of the church via revealed knowledge. Remember Hosea 4:6 God said His children are destroyed due to a lack of knowledge. Are you starting to understand the importance of knowledge?
Step 3 - Body Of Christ
"Christ" is a Greek word that means "The Anointed One and His Anointing". Anointed means being rubbed in and on. Jesus told us that being anointed was having the Spirit of the Lord upon Him. Another way to look at it is think of a dry sponge placed in a bowl of water. We would be the dry sponge and the anointing is the water.
Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the LORD {is} upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the good news (gospel) to {the} poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to {the} captives "
And in I Cor. 1:24 "but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, The Anointed One and His Anointing (Christ) the power of God and the wisdom of God." we are told that Christ, or the Anointed One and his Anointing is the power and wisdom of God. In Is. 10:27 (KJV) we are told that the anointing removes burdens and destroys yokes. A yoke is anything that weighs you down, like sin, sickness, debt, etc... All through the old testament times the Jews were told of a coming of the Anointed, and how, when the Anointing came, it would bring yoke destroying, burden removing power. Remember what I Cor. 1:24 says, "Christ (The Anointed) the power and wisdom of God." Who else could destroy yokes? God, of course! So the Jews were
looking for the Messiah which is Hebrew for the "Anointed One". The Jews admit Jesus was a prophet and a teacher and that He did great works; they just don't admit He was the Christ (the Anointed One).
So what do we know so far?
Christ (Greek) and Messiah (Hebrew) in English mean The Anointed One.
To anoint is to rub on and in, so Anointed is already rubbed in and
on. The Spirit of God comes to us from and through His Spirit
(Anointing). What it brings are the power and wisdom of God. So
Jesus did what He did via the Holy Spirit because He was anointed
(rubbed in and on) with God's Spirit (power and wisdom of God).
Some call the anointing being "in-filled" with the Spirit of God, but the anointing comes after one is saved, of the church and asks for it, but they have to be hearing from God on a one on one basis to be anointed.
I John 2:20-27
20. But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
21. I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
23. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: [but] he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
24. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
25. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
26. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
John 14
26.
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.Jesus is the word become flesh John 1:14, God is the soul (mind, will and emotions) of the trinity. Christ was the manifestation of God on Jesus. If we are of Christ we are of the manifestation of God on, in, and through us.
Understand your growth in the kingdom of God is based on the time you put in. The more time now, the sooner you will be blessed in all ways.
Below I have scripture to show you just how blessed you can be.
Mark 11
22. And Jesus answering saith unto them,
Have faith in God.23.
For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.24.
Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.25.
And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.26.
But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.Mark 5
24. And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.
25. And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26. And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
27. When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
28. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
29. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30. And Jesus, imediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said
, Who touched my clothes?31.
And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?32. And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
33. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
34. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
As stated in I Cor. 1:24 the power of God is in Christ, and it states in the same verses that those of Christ are of the power and wisdom of God. Not the church, not those of Jesus (salvation) but of Christ only.
As above, Mark 5:24-34 Jesus felt power leave, and the power is that of Christ. The same power is in, on and through those of Christ. Even though someone calls upon Jesus and is saved and does have the Spirit of God in them and connected in them to their spirit, they do not have the Spirit in, on and through as in Christ.
There are many verses dealing with the power in Christ, and as Jesus name means salvation, and professing as it is stated in Romans 10:9--10. As shown in Matthew 18:15-19 we become part of the church when God the Father reveals to us who Jesus is as the Christ and the true Son of God.
1 Corinthians 1
24. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.
To start understand you need to replace judging (Matthew 7:1-5) with forgiveness. If you have truly forgiven then you have also forgotten what was needed to be forgiven.
The following verse means that God is for all, not just Jews as some think that Jesus came for the Jews only and that the gentiles were an after thought.
Acts 10
34. Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
Meaning of Life
Please read this last, do not jump here and read first. This is desert not dinner.
Before you start, take a few minutes to open your mind and for the sake of argument read with a totally open mind.
I need to ask one question of all who have children or want children, Why? Why do you want children or have children?
We have children because we want something of our own flesh; we want to have a family. Without a spouse and children it gets lonely and there is nothing more fulfilling than having a family.
God created the angels as servants, but He wanted more; He wanted His own family, so He created mankind.
This is a question we all wonder about the older we get.
There is an answer but before I give you the answer you must understand a few truths.
Is there a God, or is this all there is?
Is God as He appears based on what we see from people who believe in God?
What is the purpose of God even wanting us or giving any time to us?
I must state that if you do not believe in a Supreme Being as God then you must have a very empty life. I say this because if this is all there is then what is it all worth? A few things that in 100 years will not even are here any longer? Things that do not last but cost us many hours of our life dedicated to making enough money to pay for them?
Think about what you have and what it really is worth. I have met people who are rich that would give it all up for their sick child to be healed, and then others who spend their entire life for things that really do not matter. Money, cars, furniture, trips, homes, etc, are they worth your entire life spent paying for them? In a lot of cases they are never truly enjoyed because of the time spent paying for them. I have seen people working 2 jobs to pay for their sports car, and when they get it paid off it is not worth much at all. Why should we spend 20,40, 60 years working for things that will not last? Can you see the lie in all of this?
Evolution is the biggest joke yet. I have met archeologists who spent 20 years or more trying to prove evolution and disprove God. At the end they have all come to believe in God and realize they wasted their lives. There are more holes in evolution than Swiss cheese. To help you understand a little better some of the truth you may not have heard yet, read on.
God created Adam mature. He could have created Adam at any age, but decided to create him mature. The same is true for the earth and the universe. In creating the earth and the universe mature it gives the appearance they are much older. He did this because since He created Adam mature, He needed the earth and the universe to be mature as well. It would have been hard for Adam to exist when the earth was first being formed or for much of its first 200 million years.
You may have heard of the idea that Satan was cast down in Genesis 1 or before. That is based on Genesis 1:28 and the word replenish. Unfortunately it started with a man that was well respected and basically considered to be right, so if he said it, it must be true. Before the computer people reading and researching the Bible would have to have a couple of Bibles, the Strong's Concordance and Dictionary to do so. Due to how long this would take on each and every word, some were not totally researched, as they should have been. If there had been a few wrong teachings today, it would be different.
Replenish in Genesis 1:28 in the original language of the Old Testament (Hebrew) meant to fill. Not to re-fill as so many believe.
Most teach we are tested by God based on Job 1:8. Basically it says that God asked Satan "Have you considered my servant Job." So it would appear to be that God did point out Job to Satan. So Satan would test him, and if God did this to one whom meant so much to Him, how much more would we be tested. The truth is in Hebrew it says, "God said to Satan, What do you have in your heart against my servant Job?" As you can see God did not point Job out to Satan, but in turn asked Satan what he was doing or going to do to Job. Satan found a way in to mess with Job. God, not being a liar, had to allow him to do so, but God did limit what Satan could do. At the end of Job we learn Job could have spent one day instead of 9 months if he had not listened to everyone else. We do the same today; we listen to everyone except who we should.
I could cover much more, but I think you get the point. Unfortunately as Jesus even predicted in Matthew 7 there are many false leaders. Some do not even realize they are false; they think they are correct. Where do I get off saying this? For one thing Jesus said it would happen and for another all you have to do is look and you will see what I mean.
In the days Jesus walked the earth, people went to listen to a man of God once a week. They gave of their tithes and resources, how much different is it today?
Paul even saw in the first century church a division.
1 Corinthians 1
11. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
12. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
13. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
In verse 12 replace Paul, Apollos, and Cephas with Methodist, Catholic or what ever church you attend. If you think this is not true, understand the word denomination means to "divide". If it was starting in the first century how much worse would it be 2,000 years later.
So far it may seem that I am bashing people, but I am not, I am showing some simple truths that are over looked or just ignored today.
The meaning of life is very simple, and I will answer it right after these next few verses.
Are we to listen to and follow man?
1 John 2
27. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Understand that Christ is not the last name or title of Jesus. Christ is from a Greek word "Christos" which means to anoint or be anointed.
Luke 4
18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
As Jesus said he was anointed with the Spirit of the Lord. The best way to understand anoint is to imagine a bowl of water and a dry sponge imersed in the water. When you lift the sponge out of the water it is dripping with water. It has water on it, in it, and through it. Well if we are of Christ we are anointed with the Spirit of God, or dripping the Spirit of God, in, on and through us.
Notice John said that we are NOT TO BE TAUGHT OF MAN, but of the ANOINTING.
Jesus even stated it as well.
John 14
26. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
He said He would send the Spirit to teach all. Not man, but the Spirit of God.
Why are we not taught this? For two reasons and both are pretty weak.
Lack of Knowledge of those in leadership.
Fear those in leadership would loose their jobs, prestige, etc.
The fear of loss by those in leadership is the same as it was 2,000 year ago and they crucified the Lord.
Lack of Knowledge is told to us that due to the lack we would be destroyed.
Hosea 4
6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.
In Revelation 1:6 we are told we are priests, so yes the above verse relates to us all.
God created the angels as servants, but He wanted more, He wanted His own family, so He created mankind.
The meaning of life is 3 stages.
First we are in the womb, and their it is decided if we are male or female. The womb is a universe all of it's own. And a child in the womb is growing just as it does when it leaves the womb. A child does not start talking or walking or even able to relate to certain things until 6 months, a year, or longer. Just because it does none of this at first, that does not mean it is not alive or growing as some want to say about in the womb.
Next we spend 60, 80, or more years here growing and deciding where we will spend the real life - eternity.
Last is with God in the new earth or in Hell in the lake of fire.
So the meaning of life is growth, growth to where we will spend eternity. Out of the 3 parts of life only one is forever. The other two are limited in many ways, and if you sit back and think about it you will realize I am right.
Remember God is nothing like what you see here through others. The best of us is not even close to what God is. All God wants is to be part of your life. He wants to bless you and love you, as any good father would want. If any of you are parents or have been parents think about your children and you will understand God as our Father and the relationship He want for us.
Also many have said it is ok to talk to God as long as you do not hear from Him. This is a lie straight from Hell. He wants a relationship that allows us to listen to and hear from God daily.
Read Malachi 3:11 and Mark 4:12-20 and compare. Malachi "rebuke the devourer of the ground", Mark sow into the ground and Satan steals it. There are four different types of ground or groups in Mark 4:12-20. Some will not grow, some peoduce 30 fold (second group), some 60 fold (third group), and some 100 fold (fourth group).
Read John 14:26, I John 2:27, Mali chi 3:10-12, Mark 4:1-25 & I John 4:1-3
God Bless You as you hear His words and follow His leading.
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