The faith that justified Abraham

Genesis 22

New International Version (NIV)

Abraham Tested

22 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.
² Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”
³ Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”
⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”
“Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.
“The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”
⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.
⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
¹² “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram^[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
¹⁵ The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶ and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and through your offspring^[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,^[c] because you have obeyed me.”
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I had to go back to this story to try and understand what it was in Abraham's faith that justified him. I heard this quoted to me again yesterday (Jul 8, 2013) at the talks / Bible study my cousin and I have.

I believe that the faith that justified him was his trusting that the One True God, the Creator of all things, knew what He was doing.

We see that Abraham told his servants that both he and Isaac would return and he told his son on the way up the mountain that God himself would provide the lamb. This indeed happened but I have to wonder if he actually believed then that they both would return. He couldn't very well have told his servants the truth that he was going to sacrifice his son. That would have horrified the servants and his son. Again, he couldn't tell his son that he would be the sacrifice when asked where was the lamb. Even if he did believe they both would return, he had to have questioned that belief when he took his knife to kill his son.

Now, what did God say; the One who knows all things, the one who would have known Abraham's heart? He said. “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

So, it looks to me like Abraham had in his mind to obey God and actually sacrifice his son.

Paul said this in Romans:

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Romans 4

New International Version (NIV)

Abraham Justified by Faith

4 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? ² If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. ³ What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”^[a]

 

⁴ Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. ⁵ However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. ⁶ David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

⁷ “Blessed are those
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
⁸ Blessed is the one
whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”^[b]

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What I am saying is, it is my faith in God in all things, that justifies me; He is in control and I will trust Him in whatever the outcome.

Right now I am having some health issues. One of my problems is lower back pain which affects my desire to do certain work. People have prayed for me and twice now have laid hands on me for healing. My pain eases at times but it is still there. If I am healed completely or not, I still believe God is in control and I trust Him for whatever the outcome. I believe that God has a reason for not healing me right now so I will wait on Him.

I was thinking about the initial fall of man and what happened that day that Adam and Eve disobeyed and ate of the fruit that God said not to eat.
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Genesis 2:16-17

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; ¹⁷ but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

 

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God said that they would die on the day that they ate of it. God was not talking about a kind of death that you and I know, at least not completely, because He said they would die on that day and yet Adam lived 930 years (Genesis 5:5).

 

I believe that God was talking about them becoming gods and removing themselves from trusting Him in all things.

 

The Bible says that God is light and there is no darkness at all in Him (1 John 1:5.) Light and life are synonymous and darkness and death are also synonymous. What this is saying is that God is life, eternal life. By us becoming gods, we have removed ourselves from the light (life) and gone into the darkness (death.)

 

So, how can we return to God, to life? Under our own power it is imposable. The Bible says that we don't even have the desire to do so nor do we see the need.

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Romans 3:9-18

New International Version (NIV)

No One Is Righteous

⁹ What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. ¹⁰ As it is written:

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
¹¹ there is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
¹² All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.”^[a]
13 “Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit.”^[b]
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”^[c]
14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”^[d]
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
¹⁶ ruin and misery mark their ways,
¹⁷ and the way of peace they do not know.”^[e]
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”^[f]

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Jesus was essentially saying the same thing in His parables, that it is impossible for us to return to God the Father by our own power. After one of His parables, His disciples even asked Him how was it possible for anyone to be saved.

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Matthew 19:24-26

New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

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Jesus said that it is only through Him to be able to return to the Father.
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John 14:6

New International Version (NIV)

⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

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He also said this:

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John 6:53-58

New International Version (NIV)

⁵³ Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. ⁵⁴ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

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We've all heard the quote, "You are what you eat." Well, I believe Jesus is saying this same thing. I have to take Him in; invite Him into my life and allow Him to be Master and to take control.

We've seen that we don't see or recognize our need to return to God the Father. I believe that this too has to come from God. He has to do something in my life for me to recognize that my life is no good under my control.

In 1 Corinthians it says that we don't see our true nature right now but some day we will.
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1 Corinthians 13:12

American Standard Version (ASV)

¹² For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known.

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I believe that this is when we will all see our wretched selves that we are; as Paul said:
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Romans 7:24-25

New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

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This one will be emotionally tough to get through.

This is going to be extremely difficult for you to get through but if you can make it through to the end, you will understand.

 

Bring to memory that person you hate and can never forgive for what they did………………………………………………………………………………………

 

 

I want to take you up to heaven now. Wow, there are so many people. People you recognize and others you’ve never seen before. You see so many of the loved ones who have gone out of your life. Oh, it is so good to see them. They look so very happy; involved in joyous conversations; laughing; such a pleasant thing to see. Everywhere you look, there are groups of people talking and enjoying their time together. Keep looking………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

 

Wait a minute! There’s that person you hate. The one you can’t forgive. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

Take in your feelings you have right now; take it all in. What is your feeling towards God right now? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

I’m going to bring you back to the present now. You probably hate me right now for making you remember, but I see no other way to help you understand.

 

Try to get rid of your anger now. I know; it is so hard.

Stop reading; don’t continue on until you are at a state of mind where you can evaluate every person by their present character. When you are ready, continue. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

I’m going to bring you back to heaven now to that last scene where you saw that person. Look at him and listen as he’s involved in the group conversation. He’s laughing and the others around him are laughing too. You scan each person in the group to see if any are showing an uneasiness; maybe someone knows him like you knew him…………………… No, everyone looks to be legitimately happy. From the conversation, you can even tell that they know each other intimately. …………… What has happened to this person? He isn’t at all like you remembered him. You can see yourself almost liking him now. Why couldn’t he have been this way when you knew him? …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

 

I’m bringing you back to the present.

Someday God is going to cause something to happen with everyone, even those who have passed on. He is going to let all of us see ourselves through the eyes of those who hate us for what we did to them. He loves us so much that He is waiting for just the right time to do this; when everything is in place. When we experience this, we will have such shame that, like Peter, we will weep bitterly. I will turn to God, our Father, and ask, “How can you possibly forgive me for what I’ve done; I can’t even forgive myself.” His eyes turn toward His Son, Jesus, and say, “I can forgive you because of what He has done. He has paid your punishment and taken your shame.”

 

Jesus wasn’t chastised and condemned by God or by those who did not know Him. All that He suffered was from those who knew Him. He had crossed paths with them all. All the things that was done to Him are the things that those who hate us, want to do to us. The next time you read the story of His crucifixion, picture yourself in His place. He took that for you: for me.

 

 

Remember where the Bible says that every knee shall bow to Jesus? We will all gladly bow to Him!

 

God wants us to forgive and seek forgiveness. I think you can see now why it’s important to do this.

Shame

I’ve been talking about how I believe that shame could actually be identified as hell. Let me see if I can explain my reasoning and what I believe God is revealing to me.

First, God, the Creator, designed us with emotions. So, if He built us with emotions, there must be a reason for each one.

There are a lot more emotions than what I first thought, however Wikipedia lists only six primary emotions; Love, Joy, Surprise, Anger, Sadness, and Fear. For reasons of trying to explain things here, I want to talk about the last two, the Shame part of Sadness and Fear.

Wikipedia breaks down the primaries further.

Primary emotion	Secondary emotion	Tertiary emotion
Sadness	Suffering	Agony · Anguish · Hurt
	Sadness	Depression · Despair · Gloom · Glumness · Unhappy · Grief · Sorrow · Woe · Misery · Melancholy'
	Disappointment	Dismay · Displeasure
	Shame	Guilt · Regret · Remorse
	Neglect	Alienation · Defeatism · Dejection · Embarrassment · Homesickness · Humiliation · Insecurity · Insult · Isolation · Loneliness · Rejection
	Sympathy	Pity · Sympathy
Fear	Horror	Alarm · Shock · Fear · Fright · Horror · Terror · Panic · Hysteria · Mortification
	Nervousness	Anxiety · Suspense · Uneasiness · Apprehension (fear) · Worry · Distress · Dread

Shame is the only emotion having to do with sin where you regret ever doing it and wished you could take it back; live that part of life over and don’t do that on your second try.

In the book of Genesis of the Bible, it says this about Adam and Eve:

Genesis 2:25

New International Version (NIV)

²⁵ Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.

They had no shame before their fall. I wondered if they experienced shame afterwards but I don’t see that they did.

Genesis 3

New International Version (NIV)

The Fall

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

I see no evidence of them having shame; they were afraid but didn’t seem to have shame. Instead of accepting their guilt and repenting of it, they blamed the other.

When I looked at the story of Cain and Abel, I saw no shame in Cain either; for killing his brother. Even after the Lord told Cain that Abel’s blood cried out to Him from the ground and the Lord announced the curse, he still had no shame. He was concerned about his well being and said the punishment was more than he could bear.

Throughout the Old Testament, there are many references of God reducing the wicked to shame and keeping shame from those who trusted in Him.

Shame seems to lead to repentance. I have also noticed that those who were shamed leading to repentance wore sackcloth and ashes. Doing this was the same as saying, “I am shamed to the point of death;” or “I am as good as dead.” We also see references of going down to the pit. I believe the pit is another word that is used for grave or death. Sometimes it’s used in a way as saying, “I am so bogged down in my sins;” like being in quicksand.

In the New Testament, there are many warnings for the believer to stay in Christ and Christ in the believer; to avoid being put to shame at judgment time.

Why is it that so many people of today that do such terrible things don’t seem to experience shame? It looks to me like shame has to come from God. God has to open the eyes of our heart to see the sin and how depraved we’ve become.

When I was very young, my family went to visit the family of one of my cousins. My cousin and I were playing along in one of the bedrooms. I had this desire to see what a girl looked like down where we boys don’t get to see. I made up a game called PDP and convinced her to play. We went into the bedroom closet where she pulled down her paints and I got to see her. We weren’t caught in the act but somehow both our parents found out what we did. I was questioned repeatedly if we did that and every time I denied it. I think I went so far as to call my cousin a liar. (I just recently asked forgiveness of those I lied to, the ones still alive.)

I was afraid, probably like Adam was when God asked him. I really don’t know exactly what I was afraid of; I guess it was afraid of being found out. I wasn’t ashamed; I was afraid. Shame didn’t come until many years later after repenting of my sins and asking Jesus to come into my life and take control. I finally felt the need to go to my cousin and ask for her forgiveness. She didn’t remember anything about it but she offered her forgiveness because I asked.

This brings me to another point. When Jesus was with His disciples, He asked them who the people say He was; they gave Him many answers. Then He asked the disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Peter was the only one to speak up and he said. “You are the Christ; the Son of the Living God.” Jesus told him that no flesh and blood had revealed that to him. In other words, it was God who had revealed it. Jesus goes on to call Peter a rock and He said. “Upon this rock I will build my church.”

This was also the time when Jesus explained to His disciples what was about to happen; that He would suffer much and be put to death but would rise to life again on the third day. He also said that they would all run away and desert Him. Peter was puffed up with pride and said that the others might all run away but he would never leave Jesus’ side. Jesus revealed to Peter that before the cock crowed he was going to deny even knowing Jesus three times.

Peter tried to be strong. As Jesus was being lead away as prisoner, Peter followed at a distance but never close by. Three times someone in the various groups he sat with recognized him as being with Jesus and all three times he denied it. After his third denial, he heard the cock crow and remembered what Jesus revealed to him. The Bible says that Peter’s shame was so great that he went outside and wept bitterly.

What Jesus is revealing to us is that it is God who reveals sin to us in such a way as to bring shame which leads to repentance; this is how Jesus’ church is being built.

I would like to say something to you who belong to God’s church. None of us are exempt from sinning once we are a member. There is a daily battle going on but we now have help to overcome it. All sin starts with a thought. God sees that thought just as soon as it enters your mind. I have found that just as soon as I have a wrong thought, I tell the Lord, “I know you see this too and it is not a good thought. Please take this thought away and clean up my thinking so I don’t get these kinds of thoughts so easily.” The faster you can get rid of the thought the better.

What should you believe?

My cousin and I have been getting together for Bible study for quite a while now; once a week if we can. We've been meeting on Mondays lately and since this is Monday, we just finished up a little while ago. We agreed to work in the book of John but we haven't been able to make much progress. Before my vision, the one I explained in my post "My beliefs have changed," we probably would be in great harmony in our beliefs and therefore been able to sail right through John and be done with it, not saying that John is the problem; it's been my sidetracks.

I used to fit into the "Once saved always saved" group, I guess you might say. If you had to fit my cousin into a group, I believe He would agree that he fits this group right now because of his present beliefs.

I hate to try and get into a discussion of trying to define this group because there are variations within this set of beliefs too. I guess, in a nutshell it is a belief that once you are in God's grace, you can't get out of it.

Most faiths are looking to some sort of life or maybe I should say an existence in one of two places after this one is over. Some of us will go to heaven and some will go to hell. Either place is a place that will never end and there is no way out once you get there. It is a matter of our choice, in a manner of speaking, where you go. It will be determined by what you do in this life; how you live it. "God doesn't make robots"; as we so often hear........... I used to believe this too; in two separate places.

The Bible talks about hell being a place of great torment. I used to not like to think about hell much and I certainly didn't want to go there. I had all kinds of visions of this place called hell and none of them good. Even though I could not believe that God of Love could have such a place, I was willing to accept it; to the reasoning of there are just some things beyond my understanding.

Well, because of that vision I spoke of, I now had to deal with this concept of hell, after all my vision put me there in it. At first, I tried to search scriptures and see what others had to say about it. I came to realize that what I was getting from others was just what they believed and when I searched the scriptures, I was seeing different things and getting confused.

Remembering the scripture that says that we have but one teacher, and that is Jesus, I resolved myself to God's word and much prayer. I've had to keep asking Father God to paint the picture of my understanding in my mind clearer. I am the type of person; if I can't picture something in my mind, I can't understand it. Little by little He is painting my picture clearer.

I no longer believe in that place of hell that I used to believe in. I believe it will be the shame I will feel for my unreconciled sin when the veil is lifted and He writes His laws upon my mind and upon my heart. I will either see Jesus taking that punishment of shame in my place or I will have to experience the shame myself.

God has made every effort to keep me from that shame. It is up to me to let Jesus take my punishment or not.

All I've said in this blog are what I believe God has revealed to me. Are they God's truth? I believe they are but doesn't all faiths believe theirs to be the right one. What I can tell you with certainty, is that whatever is in God's plan (His will) that is what will come true.

I believe that God Jesus is the only one who can reveal the truth to you through the work of the Holy Spirit, so please do not just accept these things I've said. Ask God!

I hope some day my cousin and I will again come into agreement in our beliefs. I love him and do so enjoy our talks even if we don't see eye to eye on things. We'll just have to wait upon the Lord; in one way or the another, if you know what I mean.

Where's God?

Do you ever think about or wonder if God is around only when you ask Him to be and steps away to leave you on your own at other times? Or, that He only reacts after the fact; like He knows only after something happens? I’ve wondered about this.

 

I believe that God is at work all the time doing his will and doing it not only in the lives of believers but in non-believers lives as well. What I’m saying is that everything that happens, happens within God’s will.

 

So often we can’t understand why bad things happen; how can that be in God’s will? I don’t believe things happen for our harm or that God wants to get back at us for not shaping up into the character He wants, or for doing something He didn’t like, or not doing something He wanted us to do.

 

All of our lives’ stories have already been played out for God. In His for-knowledge of our stories, I believe God makes, actually has already made, tweaks along our paths to yield the best for each of us; How could that person just happen to be there to give you food when you were so hungry, or give you a place to stay when you had no where to go, or give you money when you most needed it? How did that special person come into your life when he/she lives so far away? How come that book showed up in your life just when you needed it? How do you explain when things happen that you think were bad at the time but latter see how it was actually for your good?

Isaiah 25

New International Version (NIV)

Praise to the Lord

25 Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you and praise your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
you have done wonderful things,
things planned long ago.
² You have made the city a heap of rubble,
the fortified town a ruin,
the foreigners’ stronghold a city no more;
it will never be rebuilt.
³ Therefore strong peoples will honor you;
cities of ruthless nations will revere you.
⁴ You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
is like a storm driving against a wall
⁵ and like the heat of the desert.
You silence the uproar of foreigners;
as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud,
so the song of the ruthless is stilled.

⁶ On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine—
the best of meats and the finest of wines.
⁷ On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
⁸ he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.

⁹ In that day they will say,

“Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him;
let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

My beliefs have changed.

I mentioned in one of my earlier posts about having a vision. This was not in a dream. It was during my talk with Jesus. As I was talking to Him, in my mind as I most often do, I felt as though Jesus and the Holy Spirit just got up and left my presence without saying a word. To help you understand the feeling I had; imagine yourself in front of a group of people talking to them and without a word, they all just stand up and leave. It took me some time to digest what had just happened. How could Jesus do that, just get up and leave me and not tell me why or say anything at all? I knew that there was no use in talking any longer because there was no one there. The next thing I felt was me standing in a completely desolate lonely place. To give you an idea of this place, imagine a place that’s totally void of everything except for what looked like sand to stand on and light for vision (to see that there was nothing.) There was absolutely nothing of God’s creation, not even God was there. I was totally alone. I wanted to cry out to Him but knew there was no use. I started thinking about the Bible saying that hell was everlasting and I thought, “Oh my God, is this the place I will go when I die?”

 

It took me a while to get past the initial shock of the moment. I first tried to reason things out; was this real or some sort of figment of my imagination? I had no answer. Then I thought, “Can I talk to God now;” Just moments ago I didn’t feel I could; can I now? I slowly started talking to God. I asked many questions; was this real; what does it mean; is this where I will end up, forever? So, so many questions. Even though I wasn’t getting any answers and it frightened me to think of going to a place like that for eternity, I still felt God listening and a kind of peace about it. I noticed a change in my talks with God. My talks with Jesus before seemed close by, as two friends would talk. Now they seem farther off as though I’m now talking to Father God.

 

Sense that day, I’ve asked Father God questions about many things that I don’t believe I would have even thought to ask before my vision: Can one loose his salvation; what is hell; what is salvation; what did Jesus do for me; who are God’s children; are those who God chooses the only ones who go to heaven and the rest go to hell, what happens to those who’s hearts are hardened by God; what is heaven, do we go to heaven or do we go to the new earth when He creates the new heaven and earth? I’m sure I’ve not named all my questions but you can see how these questions stemmed from having that vision.

 

My beliefs have changed since that day, little by little, and they are still being molded as Father God answers my questions.

 

I believe we are all God’s children. We are made by Him; He owns us; we all are His; we will all return to Him once our oneness is complete through Jesus and peace is restored. I believe the chosen or elect who God gives the power to become the children of God are a different kind of God’s children. They are the ones to show the rest of us, Almighty God, the Great I AM; they are the true priests; the lights unto the world; the ones who have their true nature revealed to them and know their need for a savior and a Lord and have entered a marriage agreement with Jesus to teach them the way and help them stay the course; they are the first fruits.

 

No one has seen Father God. We see evidence that He exists through His creation; but because our eyes haven’t seen Him, we create gods for ourselves; gods who we give credit to for our well being.

 

In the Old Testament, the people's gods were in some sort of an idol form with a name. They worshiped these man-made things for the purpose to have many children, to have success in battles, to have good crops, to get rain, to cure their sicknesses, to put curses on people they didn’t like, and so on.

 

God wanted to show them that these man-made things weren’t gods at all. They were just something they could see but other than just take up space they did nothing more. So, to show them this, He chose the Israelites. Were the Israelites special? Well, in some ways they were; after all He chose them. He had to choose someone to show the world that He is the One True God, so He picked the Israelites. Because He chose them and because they would go through much suffering throughout the ages, He gives them special privileges and rewards. The same holds true to those He’s chosen since His Son came into the world. They too will receive special privileges and rewards because of the sufferings they experience, just like Christ did. But in both cases, it was the only way to show us Himself.

 

Today, we don’t usually have idles anymore but we still have our man-made gods. Now they are in the form of our wealth, our good jobs, our beauty, our health, our smarts, our good education, or whatever. They become our gods when we depend on them for our well being and believe that they come from our own power. Through God’s elect or chosen of today, hopefully we will come to see that all of what we thought was important to us is meaningless; and we come to know that it all comes from God’s good will to us.

 

I believe hell is grief, sorrow, remorse, regret, and shame, for unreconciled sin. There are so many references in the Bible talking about shame that to me sounds like what hell is. Instead of listing them all, here is a link: 

 

Shame

http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=shame&searchtype=all&version1=31&language1=en&spanbegin=1&spanend=73

 

We are all called to repentance and believing. Repenting means to take ownership of sins committed; be truly sorry for doing them, asking God to forgive you and to help you to sin no more. God knows our hearts. He knows if I am really sorry for all my sins or if I’m holding something back because I’m not ready to give it up to Christ. I believe that Christ Jesus bore our grief and sorrow: He took our punishment. But, it is only for the sins we truly regret doing. If I don’t regret a sin enough to repent of it, there is nothing about that sin for Christ to bear; I have no sorrow, at the moment, so Christ doesn’t need to take it away or pay for it. Jesus doesn’t really take away the sin; He takes away the grief and sorrow; He takes our punishment.

Isaiah 53:4-6

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

 

Exodus 33:19

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

I’ve wondered a lot about this verse; what is the difference between mercy and compassion. I couldn’t see a difference until this morning. In His Son, Christ Jesus, God gives us both compassion and mercy. In His compassion for us, He sent His Son into the world to take our punishment. His mercy comes through our repenting. Let me explain this in another way. Say, you are a parent with two children of completely different personalities. You know them very well. You tell them both that they are not to do something and what the punishment will be if they do. With one, you know that when he does something wrong and is sorry for it; he means he is truly sorry and won’t do it again. So, you show him mercy and not punish him even though he deserved to be. Now your other child is a different story. You know that with him, even if he says he’s sorry and won’t do it again that he will, so you punish him. We, as a parent might want to give up on that child but I believe God never does. Think about it, He is the Creator. He knows what best to do.  

 

What does the Bible say about our Lord Jesus Christ?

Isaiah 9:6

New International Version (NIV)

⁶ For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 

Now about when God hardens someone’s heart as He did with Pharaoh. It seemed to me that it was mean of God to do that, but I think I understand now the why. In every case, God did this to show that God was the cause. There was no way to explain it away to any other reason except that God and only God was the one who did it. So what happens to that person? Well, I came across an interesting passage.

Isaiah 40:10

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.

The word recompense means:

a: to give something to by way of compensation (as for a service rendered or damage incurred)

b: to pay for

 

The scripture verse says “his recompense.” I believe that God will compensate that person somehow for hardening his heart. You can even find this in His laws. For example:

Exodus 21:26

New International Version (NIV)

²⁶ “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye.

 

 

Awe struck

I was awed (I know, not a word) today by something my wife told me. Her mother, my mother-in-law, broke her left ankle in an auto accident about three weeks ago. Yesterday they took off the splints and put on the cast. The surgeon who worked on her mom’s ankle explained to my wife and her mother how the bones in our body have polarities similar to magnets. When a bone breaks, the polarities at the break shift so now there is an attraction instead of what would normally be a repelling motion. This shift lasts for about three months and then the polarities shift back to normal. Since the discovery of this phenomena, they have found a way to prolong that shift before shifting back to normal. This stretches out the healing process which is sometimes needed for older people or people who need that extra time.

 

When I think about how God has put together our bodies, it awes me (I wished I could find better words but I just cannot find any words good enough to describe my thoughts of God.) He has thought of everything.

 

I’ve been talking about a marriage with God. Here's some scripture to think about:

 

 Isaiah 62:4-5

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ No longer will they call you Deserted,
or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah,^[a]
and your land Beulah^[b];
for the Lord will take delight in you,
and your land will be married.
⁵ As a young man marries a young woman,
so will your Builder marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you.

Footnotes:

1. Isaiah 62:4 Hephzibah means my delight is in her.
2. Isaiah 62:4 Beulah means married.

Matthew 23:8-10

New International Version (NIV)

⁸ “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. ¹⁰ Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah.

Who is better to teach than the bridegroom, Christ Jesus!

God's way.

God gave us, humans, through Moses, the laws. I believe that this is God saying to us, “OK, you want to control your own lives, without ME, so then follow these laws. Remember, there are consequences for disobeying them. If you don’t follow these laws and you don’t take care of disobedience, you will never have peace.” And so, we have no peace because something inside us (our sin nature) makes it hard to keep the laws God gave us.

 

God, in His infinite wisdom and His great compassion, became a human in the person of Jesus or Yeshua, as the Jews call Him. He obeyed all those laws that He Himself gave us to obey, the ones we cannot. He became that spotless (without sin) lamb who the Jews used to sacrifice during Passover. He took our punishment upon Himself and was put to death in our place. The amazing thing was, He didn’t stay in the grave; only God can accomplish such a thing. On the third day after he was crucified, He came out of the grave, alive. Many people witnessed seeing Him and the wounds on His hands and feet and side; before He disappeared in the clouds, about 40 days after He arose from the dead.

 

I believe our religions too often, become like the laws are to the Jews. Right now, I’m thinking about just Christian religions like Catholic, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Pentecostal, and on and on, but this analogy probably holds true to other non-Christian religions as well. I said in the previous post that religion is like our way of coming up with a recipe for life. You must be baptized some say; some say dunking is the only way, some say sprinkling. Some say you must go to church or synagogue every Sunday or Saturday whichever the case. Some say you must be able to speak in tongues. Study the Bible, feed the poor, tithe to the church, visit the sick, the orphans, the widows, and on and on. I hope you can see how, in a way, this is like making a recipe for life.

 

I’m not saying that these things in our recipes are wrong. They are what we should be doing. The problem is that they are something we try to follow just like we would try to follow a recipe or instructions to make a cake, or build a house, or assemble a bike, or whatever. They don’t give us what we hoped for or what we would have liked to have.

 

God, through the person of Christ Jesus, says, “Marry with me. Through our marriage and the power of the Holy Spirit, we will become as one. You won’t have to try and do things on you own accord anymore. We will do them together. Those things you’ve tried so hard to do will become more natural to you as we become as one in our marriage.”

 

God becomes our husband and we become His wives, in submission to Him. His way is so much easier and is as it should be! Who knows better than God, the creator?

Why so many religions?

Have you ever wondered why we have so many faiths or religions; I have? There is but one God who created all things seen and unseen. You may ask about or have contemplated why the Bible talks about the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as though there are three? ............. Maybe this is the only way we humans can begin to understand Him. God has to bring knowledge down to a level we can understand.

 

Have you looked at His creation lately? What I mean is look beyond the surface. Take a moment to ponder just one thing God has made; a tree, a flower, a butterfly, a cloud, an animal………… Pretty awesome isn’t it? Now pull your mind out of that one thing and look at all the other things He’s created; and this is just what we see. How can we possibly begin to comprehend God?

 

Before I go on, have you taken a close look at us humans? The next time you are in a large group of people, look around at each one of them; all look different unless you happen to see identical twins. But even identical twins are different inside. We are all uniquely made. There are no duplicates. Some may look the same but their characters are different. Can you imagine, that there are an estimated 7 billion people in the world today, all uniquely made and God is able to see and know each one of us personally; like each of us has our own god? Isn’t that absolutely mind-boggling? Our very thoughts He hears as though we speak them out loud to Him. He knows why we do things when we do not. God knows us better than we know ourselves.

 

When I think about 7 billion of us in the world today all uniquely made, it’s no wonder we can’t get along with each other. It seems to me that the only way possible to have peace is for us all to marry God; become God’s bride. Think about it. We’ve all seen that the longer couples are married, the more they become as one.

 

Earlier, I said that seeing God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, may be the only way for us to begin to understand Him. I’ve been studying the book of John.

John 1:1-5

New International Version (NIV)

The Word Became Flesh

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome^[a] it.

He is talking about Jesus as "the Word". What I believe he is saying here is that Jesus is the part of God we can see, touch, communicate with; the part of God we can marry. The Holy Spirit is the part of God that binds us together.

 

Back to why so many religions. I believe this is our way of creating a recipe or instructions for life. Something we can follow to have what we believe to be the way to have a good life.

 

Have you ever tried to make something from a recipe? You see something with a picture of a food that looks scrumptious. It has a recipe and so you try to make it. You follow the recipe to the letter but your end product looks nothing like the picture you saw or may not taste as good as you thought it would. Maybe you have something you like so much that you want to share it with others. You meticulously create a recipe or instructions for someone to be able to make the same thing but when they try to make it, they somehow misinterpret your instructions and end up with something different.

Well, I believe that is what religion also does for us. We try to follow the teachings of our faith only to eventually find the results not to be what we expected.

 

You see what I’m trying to say? It is only through the marriage with God, Christ Jesus, whereby we can have that peaceful life we are all searching for.