Word of Life

Hebrews 2:1-4

New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

"Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. ..It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him, while God added his testimony, by signs and wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit, distributed according to his will."

1 John 1:1-4
King James Version (KJV)
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full."

Prophecies of Christ and Their Fulfillment

Prophecies of Christ and Their Fulfillment
This will be a work in progress. These (prophecies of Messiah) form a thread through the Bible.
Genesis 3:15 - Luke 22:53 (hour of darkness), Hebrews 2:14, 1 John 3:8
Genesis 12:3 - Acts 3:25-26, Gal 3:8 (all earth blessed through "the seed" Jesus)

Blessing and Cursing

My grand-daughter, early this morning as she was waiting for the school bus told me, basically, what she was being taught is the the United Nations (all the world?) is for peace but Israel refuses, saying "my God told me no". And that the six days war was a number of nations simply standing around Israel doing nothing (didn't mention their joyful communications they were saying to one another about what their plans were) but Israel said if we're going to win (survive?) we better attack now. (Well that last part's true. And they prayed.) And, she was told, Israel is keeping Palestine. [Israel has agreed to peace a number of times and it's always been broken, and they've given back land (people left to allow for the war when said nations were 'standing' surrounding Israel) and they get rocket fired upon from that land now.] ..Who's the 'good' guy? "..the tree is known by its fruit" Matthew 12:33. (An extremist Islamic beheading takes about 4 minutes of sawing.) "..the god of this world.." 2 Corinthians 4:4, is not the creator and father God. [Jacob/Israel, "cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee" Genesis 27:29.]
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(Will finish the prophecy formula (#s) after the New Year.)

Psalm 119 is Epic!

For years I have pretty much bypassed Psalm 119.. It's so long you know.. But now I see it is epic! Psalm 119 comes up at the end of November, because Psalms 110 to 119 is in my suggested readings schedule for November.
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Related: Is The Bible And Bible Prophecy Literal?

Is The Bible And Bible Prophecy Literal?

2 Timothy 2:15
Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Ephesians 6:17
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Hebrews 11:3
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.
2 Peter 3:5
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
1 John 2:14
I have written to you... ..because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the wicked one.
Revelation 6:4 (NKJ) "..a fiery red horse.. granted to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword" (Greek word "mega" sword, and fiery-red, Greek word "purros", from root word "pur").

Not Imminent but Important

It's not that I think the culmination described within the Book of Revelation of the Bible is imminent. It's that I think all of us, the people of God, should know the message and pass it on.

The World's Rejection of Christ

The Book of Revelation is the completion of the world's rejection of Jesus. The story of mankind and life as we know it, is a complete story. It's a drama written in flesh and blood. This story would have ended long ago, if God had not confused the languages at Babel Tower.
(To be continued..)

Exact Likeness Of The Unseen God

Some of the greatest verses! Yes? http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=colossians%201:15-20&version=KJV;CEV;NKJV;AMP;YLT

An Extremely Important Crossroads!!

The USA (and thus the world) is at a very important crossroads, many are praying. But we mustn't get complacent. For this spiritual war has new things every day. I pray "all" God's children are earnestly praying, daily seeking His face & repenting on behalf of this nation which has made a lot of offerings to Satan. Surely the Spirit of Elijah cries "turn back! turn back!" See Malachi 4:6, as we know, closing prophetic words of the Old Testament..

Man Will Exchange God and The Gods With Government

Mankind will replace God and The Gods with government. Don't you think? The mistake we'll make is the giving over of too much power. It'll be the gods all over again (when this happens) but this time they'll have arms and legs, the resources and computers.

The Bread and The Wine

Quiet reading, contemplation and prayer time is absolutely necessary if one is to make any progress in the spiritual/christian life. The spirit man/woman cannot grow without nourishment. And our nourishment is the Bread and the Wine. Jesus said it on the very evening before he was crucified (executed in our place, declaring and making us innocent). And remember Melchizedek? Giving Abraham bread and wine? Man/Woman "shall not live on bread alone, but upon every word from God".. And Jesus is our new wine for he gives us the Holy Spirit.. Fresh and new, not sour and old.. Human thoughts are like strands.. Like jumbled thoughts piled willy nilly atop one another.. Tangled questions and negatives left over from rushing hither and yon and helter skelter. Our "High Priest" is the only one who can untangle the knots. Quiet reading, contemplation and prayer time is how we draw close to God and attune ourselves to the peaceful quietness of His Spirit and Presence, so that we are in him, and he is in us. We have one rule to live by. Love God. Consciously loving God (praising, worshiping God) opens us up to the stream of God and His Spirit and Presence flowing into and through us. This is called "waiting upon God" and resting in his "finished work". This is the new covenant (contract) with God. And it is all received "by faith" from beginning to end. It's grace, and it's the only system that works. For it releases the POWER of God. "There's none good but God." Jesus said. That means all good, all transforming power, self improvement, comes only from God. No amount of human striving "to be good" will cut it. You see God is "all in all". He's Life and He's Perfection. Ultimately he's the only dimension, the only reality, and all will be an eternal un-breakable paradise. Anyone coming along and saying you must follow this rule, or follow that rule (usually having to do with foods and days of worship) "have fallen from grace"! "God is Love" - fill ourselves with Him - "Love works no ill" .."does no harm". If we fill ourselves with God, we will not cheat others, steal, hurt, etc, etc. Every day is a day of worship. He "is the vine, we are the branches". When we wait, by reading, contemplation and prayer, if he should seem to delay showing up, we simply continue expectant, unruffled and peaceful "waiting upon God". Fully expectant, and knowing.. Keep waiting. He will show up (become apparent to us). Absolutely guaranteed.

The Gnostics

Clement of Rome was the bishop of the Christian church at Rome from A.D. 90 to 99. Paul mentions a Clement in his epistle to the Philippians, in Philippians 4:3 - "These women have worked together with me and with Clement and with the others in spreading the good news. Their names are now written in the book of life."
- Clement, in approximately 95 A.D., wrote in a letter - “The apostles have preached the gospel to us from the Lord Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ has done so from God. Christ therefore was sent forth by God, and the apostles by Christ.”
- The earliest church accepted only the gospel accounts or testimonies, of only those who were, as Luke wrote in Acts (1:21,22) "a witness of His resurrection” and were present "all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us.. ..from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us".
- In the Book of Revelation's letters to the seven churches from Jesus, in the letter to the church at Ephesus, and the one to the church at Pergamum, says, "But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate" and "Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate" (Rev 2:6 and 15).
- Several of the early church fathers, including Irenaeus, Epiphanius, and Theodoret mentioned this group. Irenaeus identifies the Nicolaitans as a Gnostic sect and that "they lead lives of unrestrained indulgence."
- In the New Testament, both Paul and Peter warned about "false prophets and teachers" which had come into the churches and were taching false things, some even going so far as to say "Christ had not come in the flesh".
- The thing about Gnosticism, or "gnosis"/knowledge" was they were sects ranging from extreme asceticism to "unrestrained indulgence". The reason for such difference and range is based upon the gnostic idea that matter is evil. Therefor some branches were very strict in their eating, etc, as all matter and physical actions were evil. But other sects were anything but ascetic, being very immoral in their actions and lifestyle, considering that all life and actions were evil, so it made no difference how they behaved! Fornication was no worse than eating a meal. They asserted that God was light and only light, and mankind had fallen into matter which was evil. It was impossible to them, that Christ had come to the earth and lived in the flesh, seeing as all flesh was evil! And this was the sign, 1 John 4:2 "By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit" (or teaching) "that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God."

The Human Story

Revelation, or its Greek name, “Apocalypse”, is the story of the consummation of good and evil. Adam and Eve, placed in and of the GARDEN PARADISE had eaten of the forbidden tree of the KNOWLEDGE of both good and evil, which fruit we are still chewing on to this day. (Once thinking ability, thus choice, was endowed, a whole new world, or tree, of possibilities ‘came to be’.) In this final book of the Bible, the FRUIT OF THE EARTH is fully ripe, both goodness, and wickedness. John was a very old man, when Roman authorities banished him to an uninhabited island called “Patmos”.
     While he was there, the Lord Jesus showed him a great vision of how man’s world would end up. The visions of this book are especially poignant. Believers are urged to read, listen to, and hear, the words of this little book – after the mighty crash of all things false and the last great war of nations, Armageddon (with environmental woes as a precursor to these things) and after a 1,000 year Kingdom of our Lord's long second advent of rebuilding paradise upon Earth, the New Jerusalem (the new capital of the planet) comes down from heaven, onto the earth.
     It shines of jewels and gold, and the pure sparkling river of the water of life flows through it, to all the world, with trees of life on either side, which leaves and fruit will be for the total healing, and continued health of the nations. No eye will again cry from sorrow, there will be no sickness, suffering or death. The question of good and evil, right and wrong, what is life as opposed to what is death, has been answered for all time, and all citizens have it engraved deeply upon their very hearts and minds for all eternity and ages. To stray from Perfection/Life/God, is to stray away from the very “breath of life” and can only ever end in a self destructive puff of smoke... and dust and ashes.
     Elsewhere we are told "eye has not seen, nor ear conceived, nor heart ever been able to fully imagine, all the good things God has created for those who love Him."

Some Remarkable Things

I'm watching a movie called "Acts" put out by "The Visual Bible". I bought it at a Goodwill store for $1.99, as you can see, a veRy good deal! It's word for word the Book of Acts from the New International Version. I was watching the part which was on the Day of Pentecost, forty nine days after Jesus rose. The day the Baptism of the Holy Spirit came.. And then Peter got up and was speaking to the crowd that had gathered, and said some remarkable things, being of course, that they had seen Jesus risen from the grave, had even felt that he was flesh and bone.. These same disciples of Jesus, all went on saying this for the rest of their lives, and then all but one (who went on to write the Book of Revelation in his old age) were executed for refusing to stop doing so. What are we to make of such behavior?!

Is The Book Of Revelation Merely Metaphor?

The Book of Revelation of the Bible is very accurately true! When I wanted to know more about it, I prayed and it seemed to come back to me "what are the strongest forces at work upon mankind today?" Emphasis on "today".
- There's at least two locks in the Book.. the first (after the announcement, etc) is in chapter six, it's important to realize the seven seals are described here as a blend of what they are when first "opened" and also what they are in their full blown maturity at the 'end'. Thus, things which happen very late upon the planet, are described here so very early in the narrative. These seven seals are the dominant elements at work in the 'latter' age of mankind, the years of our Lord A.D.
- The second lock is to realize that chapters 12,13, and most of 14 are inserts like the creation account of Genesis two is an insert to the one of Genesis one, providing more detail, like a magazine or history book will have inserts to elaborate.
- Chapter 13 is TWO beasts - 1-10 and 11-18, the 1st being a big or world beast/body and the 2nd being a 'man' or closer yet a two horned office, the one which brought/opened new fire (bringing it down upon men) #13:13. This is also the 6th seal of chapter 6. It seems obvious the 'little' beast will step into the head seat of the world beast/governing. Many think these two beasts are the same, and that they are also the false prophet/teacher/teaching. But the false prophet began as a man, but also developed the capability of rev 13:13, which the two horned office was the 1st to "open" - note at the end of this seal, seal 6, there is a pause.. until it manifests again.. "angels holding back the wind".. The false prophet prepared the way and has and is thoroughly changing western civilization.
- The other main character is $ity BabbleOn (of today not yesteryear) of chapters 17 and 18. She has seduced and enchanted all the world (seven continents/hills). The Greek word for her, translated "harlot" is "pornos" and "to sell". Capitalism embraced "pornos" and therefor in one hour it will crash. "Fallen fallen" is Babylon the Great who holds a golden cup of her side effects, the murders, perversion, abortions, slave trade, dissolution of the family, etc.. The merchants made wealthy by her wares will weep when they see her burning "in one day". The ten kings in bed with her/10horns/10toes of the final hour will devour and burn her, yes, socialism will finally devour capitalism, and they/he will institute the 666 apparatus, also technology provided by the false prophet, that white smocked wizard.
- Babble On's forehead/psyche is Mystery Babble, every untruth and lie, and Mystery Babble is responsible for all blood spilled upon Earth, past, present, future "since Cain killed Abel".

For The Most Part

[For the most part] I think of the vision of the left (western world left) as a very good ideal but as 'unenforceable' and that you cannot trust human government with enough power to bring it to pass. Not that we can't strain toward it but just can't bring it to pass as quickly as some would like. We do not see the danger because power and reach is given in small increments.
- Each party views their own motives as beneficial to the people and society while viewing the other party's motives as self serving and suspect. Their interaction with each other, which strongly affects the country and people, along with history of course, demonstrates human governing should be limited.
- Every one in the world should want to see poorer nations and people lifted up.. wells dug, food/bounty shared. But before you can send good things their way you have to get rid of the dictators. How would you do it?
- I (and likely many others) am so caught up in seeing visions of the future I forget to "pray earnestly" concerning all these things, and for all those I am traveling through this life with.

But There Is A Counting Backwards II

"Tribulation Ten Days"

"..ye shall have tribulation ten days.." - Revelation 2:10 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
from Matthew 24:29-31 - King James Version (KJV)
 . . . . . . "Immediately 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.. ..they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and, He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

But There Is A Counting Backwards

"Look master at this beautiful Temple, buildings and walls.."
  - - - - "I tell you not-one-stone shall remain upon another.."
Daniel 12:11,12 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)
"...and from the time of the turning aside of the" (place of) "perpetual [sacrifice], and to the giving out of the desolating" (666) "abomination, [are] days a thousand, two hundred, and ninety" (that is, three and one half Hebrew years) "O the blessedness of him who is waiting earnestly, and doth come to" (45 days later) "the days, a thousand, three hundred, thirty and five."
...."God will bless everyone who patiently waits until one thousand three hundred thirty-five days have gone by." - Contemporary English Version (CEV)
. . . . "Blessed, happy, fortunate, spiritually prosperous, and to be envied is he who waits expectantly and earnestly [who endures without wavering beyond the period of tribulation] and comes to the 1,335 days!" - Amplified Bible (AMP)
"..ye shall have tribulation ten days.." - Revelation 2:10 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

A GREAT Sign In The Heavens!!

[Adapted from Revelation chapter 12 with cross references referenced.]
~ A GREAT sign in the heavens!! A woman with a crown of twelve stars, in agony to give birth to a son, a child of mankind who will rule and shatter all nations with iron law (Ps 2:9) and His Kingdom will be a Kingdom that never ends..
     A fiery red dragon stands in readiness to devour the child! King Herod killing every boy child in Bethlehem!
.....Rachel is weeping.. weeping for her children and cannot be consoled.. But the child is caught up to heaven and the right hand of God's throne and in rage the dragon pursues the woman, razing the old, and the new woman runs..
. . . There's war in heaven, Michael and his angels against the dragon and his one third of the angels.. Now restricted from the heavens, in great wrath he pursues and inquisitions the woman.. She's given the two wings of a great eagle that she may sail fast to a new land.. where for three and a half modern divisions of time she is kept safe from the fierce face of the dragon, but then the serpent guise of the dragon spews a flood and proliferation after the woman to wash her away from the face of the earth, so that the eagle may lose its wings, but if they crucify who they did in a green leaf, what will they do in a dry???
. . . Then the dragon's armies will surround the other children of the woman who have the commandments of God, and by now, have the testimony of Jesus..
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks! You'll not see me again until you say "blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD"!

Soon

There's going to come a time very soon when we're going to have to put down our pens.. get our fingers off the keys.. and get on our knees and on our faces before God. Because it's coming down the tubes and it coming down fast..

What Is Life? Where Are We From? Where Are We Going?

As for me, I have always had a very strong desire to know truth, utter truth, and nothing but the truth. What is life? Where do we come from? Or did come from? ..what is life? and also where, if anywhere, are we headed? So I started my search at a bunch of very good libraries all around Denver, Colorado (USA) where I was living at the time. I studied some on the world religions, meditation and astrology. Astrology, as to co-incidental figurations in the stars, planets and sun and moon at the time of certain occurrences in the world, or in this case, in my life.. I could go into those and a couple are very, very striking! But that might be another story.. I was learning how to meditate which in this case was how to still one's mind quiet enough one could 'hear' God's voice. The main way of doing that, for me, was to hold an image in my mind, with eyes closed, of an eight pointed radiant star, representing to me all that I had been studying, and I later learned it is the star most shown at Christmas as the Bethlehem star.. basically a star of light which rays are a cross and an x.
 - One day I was in the beautiful foothills of the Rocky Mountains sitting at the side of a hill on a sunny day, when all of a sudden, it seemed as though I could 'see' a thought drift across the very blue sky and hit me in the head! Yes, it hit me in the head. And what the thought said was "you've been studying about different forces at work in the universe, what of the force which created the universe and what if that thought has consciousness?" Then it was like a bright light dawned (like a light bulb turning on as they say when you realize something or put something together) and I exclaimed "God!" and it seemed as though I could feel a strong presence, but one I realized I had always known..
- My life completely changed after that day. It got to be when I was in the foothills or nature, I was happy, could feel His Presence, but anywhere else and He was absent! Which made me feel incomplete and out of sorts, til one day I found a Bible tract at my local post office (I met the lady later who was in the habit of leaving them around town). The tract was titled in large letters "God's Great Plan of Salvation".
 - Well, I'll tell ya, I read that thing 4 times and just could not get a handle on it! Something about being imperfect, which leads to death, aka nonlife. I've later learned God himself is Life and Perfection, but endowed thinking ability which includes being able to make choices, but any move away from what God thinks or does, is to become imperfect, the opposite of life. (If you get my drift..?)
- The tract said if I asked Jesus into my heart I would be "saved" (rescued, my journey toward nonlife checked) by Jesus paying the price of my death for me (and everyone else's).
- It was very unusual, but I was home alone that day, so four times I came out of my room where I had knelt at the side of my bed and said that salvation prayer, but came away sort of unbelieving, not that necessarily I didn't believe its message, but could it be true for me? So that's what I asked. And then the sun was setting over the mountains in the west and the sunlight from it came streaming through an inch of open curtain and shone across the room filling the off tv screen with a radiant eight pointed star. As miracles go, it may be small, but ever since then I've had no doubt.
- That was 33 years ago. And 17 years ago my son asked me two questions, which I answered but I wasn't at all happy with my answers so I prayed for the answers, and they came back to me "boom! boom! boom!" and knocked my socks off! And my socks are still knocked off! The questions were "why did God put the tree of good and evil in the garden" (the tree of knowing good and evil) and "isn't it nice we get to be an ant farm?" (So Cynical for one only 16 at the time!)
 - What I found out was that's the whole thing, we're not an ant farm! The whole 'packet' or 'cloud'(?) of information ended with a question to me! "Why did God wait such a very long time, and only create the universe and man and woman, not only after the first bound to occur rebel thought had occurred (as it did in Lucifer high angel) but after it had fully matured into outright sedition and trickery?"
 - So now I keep a blog where I go into these things I learned, mainly that God is Life and is Perfect and Perfection makes no mistakes, therefor the 'end' result of all this can only be the best one possible.. think of it, God being life, lives through, experiences, and suffers, all sufferings which ever occur! Why would He put Himself through all that? Because He's not creating an ant farm, or robots, but His family and an eternally un-breakable paradise, un-breakable, for all will fully understand good from evil / life from death / true from untrue.