Test The Spirits

Test The Spirits

Jesus frequently warned about false teachers and prophets, cautioning his followers to be discerning. Here are some key scriptures:

Matthew 7:15 – "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves."

Matthew 24:24 – "For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect."

Luke 6:26 – "Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets."

2 Peter 2:1 – "They will secretly introduce destructive heresies—even denying the Master who bought them."

1 John 4:1 – "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world."

Recognizing false teachings requires discernment and a strong foundation in biblical truth. Here are some key ways to identify them:

1. Distorted Scripture – False teachers often twist or misinterpret biblical passages to fit their own agenda rather than staying true to the intended meaning.
2. Appeal to Emotion Over Truth – They may prioritize emotional experiences or personal revelations over sound doctrine.
3. Self-Promotion – Instead of pointing people to Christ, false teachers often seek personal fame, wealth, or influence.
4. Contradicting Core Christian Beliefs – They may deny essential doctrines such as the divinity of Christ, salvation through grace, or the authority of Scripture
5. Encouraging Sin or Compromise – Rather than calling people to repentance, they may justify sinful behavior or water down biblical standards.
6. Lack of Accountability – They often resist correction and operate outside of biblical community and oversight.

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I've been thinking about something lately. Throughout time Lucifer, AKA Satan, the Devil, has tried to thwart Father God's plans of salvation and bringing all things back into himself; God becoming all in all. 

I have often wondered what happened in heaven. Why did Lucifer and the other angels fall away from Father God? 

Satan has always wanted to be like Father God. He tries to deceive people in ways to turn them away from Father God and to put roadblocks in God's plans. I kind of think there may be two main reasons for him doing it. He wants them to worship him instead of Father God. The second is so he can accuse us to Father God of being no better than himself. Satan is very cunning and often uses scripture to deceive. This is why it is important to not just trust everyone.

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Here is an example.

We often drive by a huge church on 59 North of Houston, Texas. It has a huge gold dome on top. We've noticed that the dome has gone through some changes over the last year or so. They redid the gold dome, and it now has a large gold symbol of some kind on top. 

For a long time, we didn't know what it was because we never saw any signs to identify it. My wife and I kept talking about it every time we drove by so my wife recently decided to do some investigating and found out that it is the Iglesia de La Luz del Mundo (Light of the World Church). There are a number of these large churches in more than 50 countries throughout the world. She found a documentary, and we found out that they have a dark history. 

From Wikipedia:

Controversies and criticism

La Luz del Mundo has been the subject of several controversies. Church leaders have been accused of creating a cult of personality, sexually abusing members, and have been criticized for amassing wealth, living a lavish lifestyle, and attempting to build entire cities. In 2022, the church director and self-proclaimed “Apostle of God” Naasón Joaquín García pled guilty to three charges related to sexually abusing children.[144] In December 2022, HBO and RAINN released an original documentary series titled Unveiled: Surviving La Luz Del Mundo, which tells the story of child sexual abuse within the church.[145]

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In these churches of deception, they use scriptures to manipulate the people so that they can get what they want. I thought about how the Devil tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness. He used scriptures and he offered him power, riches, control over all the nations. (Luke 4:1-13)

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Some things I have noticed with these churches of deception: Not only in churches but in governments. 

• The leaders are said to be chosen by god.
• This may be true, but I do not think it is by the one true God, Father God, the God of gods, the creator of all things.
• Because they are purported to be chosen by god, and people believe it, it makes it difficult to speak out when people have been wronged. This is the case in La Luz del Mundo church. The girls and boys who have been sexually abused feel helpless to say anything. Their own families won't believe them. Suicides are fairly common. 

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In contrast, here are God's ways, his character:

Jeremiah 9:24

New American Standard Bible 1995

24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

Christ Jesus, who is One with Father God, gave us examples of this when he was here on earth. All that he did exemplified lovingkindness to people. When Jesus was with his disciples, he demonstrated another example by washing their feet.

 

John 13:12-17

New American Standard Bible 1995

12 So when He had washed their feet, and taken His garments and reclined at the table again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? 13 You call Me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. 14 If I then, the Lord and the Teacher, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I gave you an example that you also should do as I did to you. 16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a slave is not greater than his master, nor is one who is sent greater than the one who sent him. 17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

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In God's kingdom, all become One in Christ Jesus, who is One with Father God. The Holy Spirit works to bring the people together, exercising lovingkindness to each other. It is like a marriage feast. 

Never forget Yeshua (Jesus). Never forget Father God. Jesus' great sacrifice for us, his love for us, Father God's love for us, is what made this all possible.

Hypocrisy

When I woke up this morning, I was thinking about hypocrisy.

Bible verses on hypocrisy:

1 John 4:20

New International Version

20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.

1 Peter 2:16

New International Version

16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.

Galatians 6:3

New International Version

3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.

Jeremiah 23:11

New International Version

11 “Both prophet and priest are godless;

    even in my temple I find their wickedness,”

declares the Lord.

Luke 6:46

New International Version

The Wise and Foolish Builders

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

Luke 12:2

New International Version

2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.

Mark 7:6

New International Version

6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,

    but their hearts are far from me.

Matthew 6:1

New International Version

Giving to the Needy

6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Romans 10:3

New International Version

3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.

Titus 1:16

New International Version

16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

Matthew 23:27-28

New International Version

27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

Luke 20:46-47

New International Version

46 “Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets. 47 They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. These men will be punished most severely.”

James 1:22-23

New International Version

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23 Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror

Matthew 6:16-18

New International Version

Fasting

16 “When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 7:21-23

New International Version

True and False Disciples

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

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I am writing about this because there are some in congress who want to change the way the United States of America operates. They want our laws and the way the country is run based on their interpretation of the Bible. God is perfect, man is not. If those who create our laws are not willing to obey them themselves, then they are hypocrites. 

Propaganda

Propaganda – The tools used by all the rulers, authorities, forces of cosmic darkness, and spiritual powers of evil in the heavens.

'Illusory truth effect - Biases & Heuristics | The Decision Lab’

I want to take you back in time to the 1930s. Hitler wrote a book “Mein Kampf” and in a section of the book, he wrote about the use of propaganda. In Volume 1; Chapter 6, he wrote, “all effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare essentials and those must be expressed as far as possible in stereotyped formulas. These slogans should be persistently repeated until the very last individual has come to grasp the idea that has been put forward.” Since Hitler wrote about it, you would expect that he used this propaganda.

Christianity in Germany

In 1933 when Hitler and the Nazis gained power, there were approximately 45 million Protestants and 22 million Catholic Christians in Germany. Why didn’t the Christians stop Hitler and the Nazis? Why didn’t the Christians talk out against imprisoning and killing political opponents of Hitler? Why didn’t the Christians stop the Holocaust before millions were slaughtered? They not only didn't stop it, but many participated willingly because they chose to believe the lies. That it was right and good for the country. You were a good patriot if you helped in the cause. Think about this: Most Germans were “professing Christians”; approximately 63% Protestant and 33% Catholic, while the Jewish population was less than 1%. Why didn’t the Christians stop the insanity? Why did many participate? I strongly believe that it was because of the propaganda. Propaganda that produced the illusion of truth. The same kind of propaganda that caused the January 6, ^2021, insurrection (attempted coup) on our US capitol to overturn our election.

Donald J. Trump has been using propaganda to try and gain control of our country. With him being President and having all of the social media platforms at his disposal he's been in the perfect place to spread the lies. Go back and look at all his talks, his speeches, tweets, instagrams, and see how often he repeats things.

His latest big lie is that the election was stolen. He is still repeating the big lie.

There have been countless investigations, law suites, and even offering large sums of money to people who can bring proof of fraud. Nothing, no evidence, but he’s certainly got quite a number of people to believe that there was.

The reason why I am bringing this up right now during Christmas is because Trump is traveling the country and continuing to spread the big lie. There is a strong belief that another uprising like the January 6th insanity on the Capital will happen again. The January 6th incident did not involve the military but there are fears that the next one might with many of the military siding with the insurrectionists.

Wars have been started by the lies told by the leaders. Those who spread the lies rarely if ever participate in the fighting. The ones who do the fighting are the ones who believe the lies or are forced to fight. Most of the ones who die are the unfortunate souls who get stuck in the middle.

It would be best for all of us to treat what we hear from leaders and politicians as lies. Make them provide the proof, credible evidence. In the US court of law, a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty. It would be good for us to use this same principle when trying to determine what is true. Pay attention how often something is repeated. Those who repeat things over and over again are most likely using this propaganda tool. When you find people repeating the lies over and over again, it would be wise to do like the sailors had to do to stay safe in the Siren story; stay away, cover your ears, and don’t listen. People who listen end up doing things that they regret doing afterwards, as is the case for many of those who participated in the January 6th, 2021 insurrection (attempted coup).

A wise man once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

I believe it was James Comey who said in an interview shortly after he was fired that he noticed that Republicans had changed. They were no longer the people he knew or believed he knew. I also posted once that listening to Trump was like listening to the mythical creature Siren Siren | Definition, Legend, & History | Britannica.

Understanding how this kind of propaganda works I can see how it can change people in very bad ways; change congressmen to no longer look after the interests of the people but for the interests of the few. Change German Christians in the 1930s and 40s so that the Holocaust happened.

I want to bring up something that I just remembered. Trump was elected in the 2016 elections mostly by Christians because of a prophecy. The prophecy that was widely circulated among Christians was that god chose Trump to be president. There was even a movie produced and circulated in churches about the prophecy which I did not know existed until just recently. Back then when I kept hearing from my Christian friends that god chose Trump to be president, I was taken back by this and after much thought on the subject, I wrote a piece “Are Christians being deceived?”. For some reason my wife found “The Trump Prophecy” movie the other day and we decided to watch it. It was difficult to ascertain exactly how the prophecy came to the fireman. Satan appears to him many times and an angle of light only once. The Bible says that Satan himself can disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).

Ephesians 6:10-18

Lexham English Bible

Spiritual Warfare

10 Finally, become strong in the Lord and in the might of his strength. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the stratagems of the devil, 12 because our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Because of this, take up the full armor of God, in order that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, girding your waist with truth, and putting on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and binding shoes under your feet with the preparation of the good news of peace, 16 in everything taking up the shield of faith, with which you are able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one, 17 and receive the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 with all prayer and supplication praying at all times in the Spirit, and to this end being alert with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints,

This is what happens when people listen to the propaganda, lies that are repeated over and over again!

2021 United States Capitol attack

January 6^th, 2021, insurrection (attempted coup) to overthrow the election.

Some of the not quite so disturbing pictures taken during the Holocaust. There are others much worse.

The Holocaust Explained

Is There A Cancer Growing?

From Homework Help website
"The quote “"Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it”" is attributed to the American philosopher George Santayana and it can be accurately quoted as "“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”" as stated in his work, The Life of Reason: Reason in Common Sense."

Why did I bring up this quote you ask? It is because I believe that we have forgotten the horrors that happened in World War II and how that cancer grew. Are we repeating history? I believe we are. The cancer is hiding and growing.

Our American forefathers came from countries that at some period of time had tyrants in control of their countries. When they came to this new land, they wanted to protect future generations from tyranny so they formulated our constitution. We were to have three branches of government; Legislative (Congress), Executive (President), and Judicial (Federal court system). These three branches were to stay separated to provide us with some checks and balances. If one of them strayed, hopefully the others would bring it back into compliance.

You can find out more about it at the following link:
America's Founding Documents

Let's go back to the 1930s as Hitler and the Nazis gained power of Germany. We need to understand how they did it so that we can identify similar things that are happening today and expose it, bring it out for all to see. Genocide happens because people become complacent and don't speak out about what they see. 

Here is one article I found in my research:
Hitler at home: how the Nazi PR machine remade the Führer’s domestic image and duped the world

I have seriously thought about what is going on in America right now with Donald Trump as president and I am deeply concerned. I have watch some interviews with James Comey and he is saying the same things about President Trump that I feel and see about him and am concerned about. Trump's thoughts are turned inward on self and not on the interests of Americans and defending our Constitution. America has been evolving into something better with the melding of all kinds of people. Trump is wanting to take us back into the past. I personally do not want to go there. There are things about our past that we should all be ashamed about. All you have to do is look. As Santayana said it best, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.

I don't think Trump understands what he has gotten himself into if indeed he is in bed with Putin. It would be better for him, his family, and for all of us Americans for the truth to come out if there really is something going on between him and Putin.

In closing, I would like to tell you about what is going on with me. My PSA numbers are going up which means I might have prostrate cancer; one of the leading causes of death among men. The only way to tell if I have cancer or not is to do a biopsy of my prostate. I could just forget about it and let things happen as they will or I can go ahead and get the biopsy test done (what I have decided to do.). If it turns out that I do have cancer, it may be early enough to do something about it before it goes beyond the point that nothing can be done.

It's the same thing with the Russian investigation. Until Mueller completes his investigation and is able to present us with what he found out, we don't know.

Are Christians being deceived?

I have heard from a number of Christians that god chose Trump. They support and defend Trump no mater what his character proves to be because "god chose him." I've wondered a lot about this. How do they know God, the creator of all things, the God of gods, the God of love, chose him? Did maybe the god of this world ( Satan) choose him instead?

Have Christians forgotten their first love? Jesus said that if you love Him then obey His commandments, love God (the One True God who exercises loving kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth, not the god of this world) and love your neighbor; do to him what you wished he would do to you.

Joel 2:13 Lexham English Bible (LEB)

¹³     Rend your hearts^[a] and not your garments,
and return to Yahweh your God,
    because he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger^[b] and great in loyal love,
    and relenting from harm.

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When you look at others, do you see people of color? I always remember a woman in our Sunday School class who told us a story about her granddaughter. Her granddaughter who is white has a best friend who is black. They are together all the time and have just the best time. I don't remember exactly how this grandmother came to this conclusion but she said that those two little girls don't see color. This conclusion was quite evident to her because of a conversation she had with her granddaughter.

I am 70 years old now and I still remember blacks having to ride at the back of the buss, they couldn't drink from public fountains where whites drank from, and they couldn't use public restrooms. I remember that seeing this bothered me but I accepted it because I was very young then. I am NOT saying that because whites treated blacks so badly that now it is time for blacks to do the same to whites. What I am saying is that these times should be remembered so that we do not repeat them. America is better than that.

I am sad to say this but my parents used the "N" word whenever they got mad at a black person. I don't remember them saying it directly to their face but still it was wrong. I never understood it but there seemed like there was something in their DNA that made them feel the way they felt towards blacks. It didn't matter how much my brother, my sister, and I would talk to them about this. They just could not see the wrong. What I am saying here not only pertains to blacks and whites. It has to do with how we treat any person who is not like us.

I can't say that I don't see color on first appearance. I think I still judge people by their looks when I first see them. I try not to. If I can find a way to converse with them then my judgement of them quickly changes and then I no longer see color so to speak. Wouldn't it be great if we all could be like those two little girls where we no longer see color?

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Trump certainly does not exude a Christ like character. Trump from time to time slips up to show his hatred of the blacks. You can tell he does not like Obama and has tried to dismantle, kill everything with Obama's name associated with it no matter if it's bad or good. In an immigration meeting, Trump referred to predominantly black countries, Africa and Haiti, as "shithole" countries. Since becoming president, many Nazis like white supremacy groups have come out of the woodwork and Trump says nothing about them to put them down.

Hitler was very successful in swaying the Germans to trust him and the Nazis by using propaganda and we know what happened when they came to power (upwards of 20 million people were killed without trial by a jury of their peers, just gathered up and killed by guns, gas, starvation, whatever method, NO TRIAL). He wrote a book called "Mein Kampf" that tells how to do it, use propaganda. The following is from Wikipedia's Propaganda in Nazis Germany.

"Mein Kampf contains the blueprint of later Nazi propaganda efforts. Assessing his audience, Hitler writes in chapter VI:

"Propaganda must always address itself to the broad masses of the people. (...) All propaganda must be presented in a popular form and must fix its intellectual level so as not to be above the heads of the least intellectual of those to whom it is directed. (...) The art of propaganda consists precisely in being able to awaken the imagination of the public through an appeal to their feelings, in finding the appropriate psychological form that will arrest the attention and appeal to the hearts of the national masses. The broad masses of the people are not made up of diplomats or professors of public jurisprudence nor simply of persons who are able to form reasoned judgment in given cases, but a vacillating crowd of human children who are constantly wavering between one idea and another. (...) The great majority of a nation is so feminine in its character and outlook that its thought and conduct are ruled by sentiment rather than by sober reasoning. This sentiment, however, is not complex, but simple and consistent. It is not highly differentiated, but has only the negative and positive notions of love and hatred, right and wrong, truth and falsehood."^[5]

As to the methods to be employed, he explains:

"Propaganda must not investigate the truth objectively and, in so far as it is favourable to the other side, present it according to the theoretical rules of justice; yet it must present only that aspect of the truth which is favourable to its own side. (...) The receptive powers of the masses are very restricted, and their understanding is feeble. On the other hand, they quickly forget. Such being the case, all effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare essentials and those must be expressed as far as possible in stereotyped formulas. These slogans should be persistently repeated until the very last individual has come to grasp the idea that has been put forward. (...) Every change that is made in the subject of a propagandist message must always emphasize the same conclusion. The leading slogan must of course be illustrated in many ways and from several angles, but in the end one must always return to the assertion of the same formula."

President Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again." has no single meaning. They are just words that have different meanings to different people. I've wondered about this statement. I ask, "When in the past was America great and what did that look like? If he wants to make America great AGAIN, then that is saying that some time in the past it was great. If I had to guess, what Trump means is "Make America White Again."

Troubled

I am troubled by many things that are happening here in the United States. Mostly because of the Russian meddling in our elections and in our very lives. We call it RUSSIAN but it stems back to Putin and Russian oligarchs. It is ongoing, believed that they will also work to affect our 2018 congressional elections. They are not only working to affect our elections but the elections' in many other countries of the world. I have to ask," What are they trying to do?" If I had to guess, it is to dominate the world.

Many of us believe that the meddling was for the purpose to get Trump elected. Trump has been asked if he has ever communicated with Putin before the elections and he repeatedly says he has not. I came across various interviews with Trump in 2013, the year he had the Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow Russia and he said then that he had talked with Putin both "directly and indirectly" in the interviews. Trump has at least twice met up with and talked with Putin since becoming president. It seems to me that these meetings happen when it's starting to look bad for him.

Trump is a pathological liar. I do not trust anything he says. Before he was elected, he said he would release his tax records once the audit was finished. As president, he says he will not release his tax records. He said that Mexico would pay for the wall. Now, we the tax payers are going to have to pay for it. Walls are not only for keeping people out but they also keep people in.

There are many ties between the Trump organization and Russia that I believe Robert Mueller is finding out but I am wondering if he will ever get a chance to present the evidence. Trump fired James Comey, the first FBI investigator, and information just surfaced that he wanted Mueller fired too. Now there is a push to discredit Mueller, his investigating team, and the whole FBI.

In WW2 when Hitler and the Nazis were in power, there were an estimated 15 to 20 million people killed because of Nazis policies. We really don't know the exact number. It wasn't just the Jews in the holocaust, but many other undesirables and unwanted. Here is a link to a website with information about the holocaust: Holocaust Encyclopedia

Could a Nazis like regime happen again? Yes it can. A regime with enough powerful people can follow how Hitler and the Nazis came to power using pervasive propaganda.
Propaganda in Nazi Germany

To those who kill for their god

What I am about to say is not to put down the Muslim faith at all. I know that there are many groups within all faiths who interpret their Holy book differently. To those of you who believe that your Allah desires you to go and kill people, I wonder if you are serving the One True God? I can’t understand the killing of people just because they are Jews or Christians or Muslims or Palestinians or Americans or blacks or whites or whoever it is that you justify killing. This post is for all people who believe killing others is the answer to the world's problems.

You can't force others to believe what you believe. Many convert out of fear. When you gain a convert to your way of thinking, it doesn't stop there. Soon you start to suspect those converts and make up tests to see if they really have converted. When you decide someone has failed your test and that they really have not converted, you will kill them; that is if they are lucky. History has shown that just killing is not enough. One thing leads to something more gruesome. This has happened even in the Christian faiths. Early Christians have been known to burn people alive and torture someone to get them to confess to something they believed them to be guilty of.

I call myself a Christian but I believe that the One True Living God is the God of peace and love. He gave us laws knowing beforehand we wouldn't obey them. Then instead of enforcing them or even pardon us, He did something beyond comprehension. His Son took our punishment willingly; He took our place. Jesus knew the horrible pain and suffering He would go through but He went through with it anyway. He didn't have to do that. Father God could have enforced His laws and all of us would be destroyed.   

This I believe with all my heart. If this killing you do, is for the One True God, then you will receive blessings. But if not, curses. This is in this life, not the next one. Are you willing to waste this life believing someone who tells you that your next life will be better?

It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God ((Hebrews 10:30-31, Devarim (Deuteronomy) 32:35-36)).

I look forward to God’s Day of Judgment. I see no other way to fix things. Everyone will see the truth about themselves; just as Father God sees each one of us. The Bible talks about receiving crowns for the good things we do but when we look at ourselves as a whole, those crowns will look small in comparison ((Yeshayah (Isaiah) 64:6))

I had something odd happen with my grape harvest this year. At first, here were full clusters of green grapes but as they ripened, most went from beautiful green grapes to dried up things yielding nothing for me this year. The ones that did make were very good and sweet.

This years’ grape harvest is the way I view how Judgment will be. There are some of us who have become good fruit, but so many more of us have become noting but shriveled up things.

The thing I would like you to realize is this. Even though you or I are that shriveled up thing, the seed is still there. If that seed goes into good ground, it will produce a vine; in other words, this is not the end.

Malachi 3 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

3 “Look! I am sending my messenger
to clear the way before me;
and the Lord, whom you seek,
will suddenly come to his temple.
Yes, the messenger of the covenant,
in whom you take such delight —
look! Here he comes,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
² But who can endure the day when he comes?
Who can stand when he appears?
For he will be like a refiner’s fire,
like the soapmaker’s lye.
³ He will sit, testing and purifying the silver;
he will purify the sons of Levi,
refining them like gold and silver,
so that they can bring offerings to Adonai uprightly.
⁴ Then the offering of Y’hudah and Yerushalayim
will be pleasing to Adonai,
as it was in the days of old,
as in years gone by.
⁵ “Then I will approach you for judgment;
and I will be quick to witness
against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers;
against those who take advantage
of wage-earners, widows and orphans;
against those who rob the foreigner of his rights
and don’t fear me,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.

⁶ “But because I, Adonai, do not change,
you sons of Ya‘akov will not be destroyed.
⁷ Since the days of your forefathers
you have turned from my laws and have not kept them.
Return to me, and I will return to you,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
“But you ask, ‘In respect to what
are we supposed to return?’
⁸ Can a person rob God?
Yet you rob me.
But you ask, ‘How have we robbed you?’
In tenths and voluntary contributions.
⁹ A curse is on you, on your whole nation,
because you rob me.
¹⁰ Bring the whole tenth into the storehouse,
so that there will be food in my house,
and put me to the test,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
“See if I won’t open for you
the floodgates of heaven
and pour out for you a blessing
far beyond your needs.
¹¹ For your sakes I will forbid the devourer
to destroy the yield from your soil;
and your vine will not lose its fruit
before harvest-time,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
¹² “All nations will call you happy,
for you will be a land of delights,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.

¹³ “You have spoken strongly against me,” says Adonai.
“Yet you say, ‘How have we spoken against you?’
¹⁴ By saying, ‘There is no point in serving God.
What good is it to obey his orders
or to walk about as mourners
before Adonai-Tzva’ot?
¹⁵ We consider the arrogant happy;
also evildoers prosper;
they put God to the test;
nevertheless, they escape.’”
¹⁶ Then those who feared Adonai spoke together;
and Adonai listened and heard.
A record book was written in his presence
for those who feared Adonai
and had respect for his name.
¹⁷ “They will be mine,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot,
“on the day when I compose my own special treasure.
I will spare them as a man spares
his own son who serves him.
¹⁸ Then once again you will see the difference
between the righteous and the wicked,
between the person who serves God
and one that doesn’t serve him.
^19 (4:1) For the day is coming, burning like a furnace,
when all the proud and evildoers will be stubble;
the day that is coming will set them ablaze,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot,
“and leave them neither root nor branch.
^20 (4:2) But to you who fear my name,
the sun of righteousness will rise
with healing in its wings;
and you will break out leaping,
like calves released from the stall.
^21 (4:3) You will trample the wicked,
they will be ashes under the soles of your feet
on the day when I take action,”
says Adonai-Tzva’ot.
^22 (4:4) “Remember the Torah of Moshe my servant,
which I enjoined on him at Horev,
laws and rulings for all Isra’el.
^23 (4:5) Look, I will send to you
Eliyahu the prophet
before the coming of the great
and terrible Day of Adonai.
^24 (4:6) He will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children
and the hearts of the children to their fathers;
otherwise I will come and strike the land
with complete destruction.”

[Look, I will send to you
Eliyahu the prophet
before the coming of the great
and terrible Day of Adonai.]