I'm stopping adding Bible study posts for the foreseeable future as the spiritual warfare bogs me down and my poor health comes under constant attack. Over the past months we've gone over many sticky issues with our faith and come up on top. Enduring to the end should be easier for everyone now.
But if he is a bad servant, he will tell himself that his master will not come back for a long time... - Matthew 24:48
I hope this last(?) post finds everyone in our group safe, and peaceful in the heart. Having space to meet together and to share communion, ready to be baptised with the Spirit, and submit to His will, each one he knew before the foundation of the world. May God be with us.
Many Christians have handed-down laws but what does the Bible say about the Law itself and how much of it applies to us gentiles, -that law of sin and death. What does that mean: is the Law evil or just too good for our guts? The truth is right in front of our faces. Not something wisdom calculates, it is human nature which Christianity has glossed over all these centuries. Will you be good, better, or worse after you know good and evil? And do you admit that deep down you already know good from evil and already have a law?
I knew for many years about abstinence and purity but one day, circa 11 years of age, I broke it and enjoyed my first "happy time". It wasn't because of temptation but more so a need to remove yeasty deposits growing in my privates. I don't know to this day if I was right or wrong, just that I'm still a virgin and not a wife stealer. Probably not going to marry and have kids of my own. A safe mind station for gospel-seeking women.
We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose. - Romans 8:28
... After all, who is a real Jew, truly circumcised? It is not the man who is a Jew on the outside, whose circumcision is a physical thing. Rather, the real Jew is the person who is a Jew on the inside, that is, whose heart has been circumcised, and this is the work of God's Spirit, not of the written Law. Such a person receives praise from God, not from human beings. - Romans 2:28
There has been name calling going on as to which nation(s) constitute the beast whose name is 666. The beast out of the sea and the one out of the earth symbolises the Wiccan goddess as seen in the tarot card "the star" whose husband, the god is the dragon who gives it authority. The first beast is an agglomeration of spiritual powers while the second one is a world leader from a world-leading nation who is a false Christian. The number of his name could indeed be gematric but has other connotations as well. In Greek, 666 is XZÇ which stands for the unholy trinity. There will be 3 powers that elect the Antichrist.
Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads; on each of its horns there was a crown, and on each of its heads there was a name that was insulting to God. - Revelations 13:1
It is a common error to call out the beast as America, the Pope etc. because their hands will be dirty at that future time and they have already offended / misguided the masses. Also the theory of a past fulfilment might be true but not the whole truth.
Where is God? Why can't I have more of Him? It's enough reason to not wonder why some people became agnostic. Selfish motivation is the top reason average people, like you (maybe) and me, seek the "Father". But what does the law say about being self serving? Then suddenly, we feel there is no God. Not that we will never know if, but that surely, -there is none!
Now, concerning what you wrote about food offered to idols. It is true, of course, that "all of us have knowledge," as they say. Such knowledge, however, puffs a person up with pride; but love builds up. - 1 Corinthians 8:1
Paul wrote about knowledge or wisdom and how that leads us to destroy the weaker man's conscience. Not everyone can fathom the logic behind "God". Not everyone can partake readily of his love and free gift of salvation through Christ. But everyone can love one another and keep one another from falling into traps of the enemy. So what is "loving God"?
Whoever does what my Father in heaven wants is my brother, my sister, and my mother." - Matthew 12:50
Now we have knowledge that doesn't puff up.
Lately, I've been under the thumb of evil forces, literally pressed to the floor by oppressive emotional bullying. Unable to work on my projects. Choked by thorns. In such times, we who follow Christ restore our hearts / motivation by silencing the inner man, letting the Spirit take control.
...For if you live according to your human nature, you are going to die; but if by the Spirit you put to death your sinful actions, you will live...
For the Spirit that God has given you does not make you slaves and cause you to be afraid; instead, the Spirit makes you God's children, and by the Spirit's power we cry out to God, "Father! my Father!"
God's Spirit joins himself to our spirits to declare that we are God's children.
Since we are his children, we will possess the blessings he keeps for his people, and we will also possess with Christ what God has kept for him; for if we share Christ's suffering, we will also share his glory. - Romans 8:12
It's truth what Paul wrote, but a bit too general to give a complete picture of what successful actions we are to take in the struggle / the good fight. But in it are clear indications: suffering-blessing, unsinful-life. Exploring further, do not shirk the burden of gospel but seek out any way to help bear in the true teaching. If the burden seems heavy, it is not from Spirit. Do not concern yourself with money and money will come. Money is a trinity of currency, liquidity and wealth / separation, gratification and status. 3 things to avoid lusting after and to pray on.
This Sabbath was spent being driven and bumped into my Christian friends. What is sin, that these rogues peddle before our eyes and ears? Sin is not getting along. It is a disrespect of another because of one's bodily obsessions. For example, fornication is something we cannot as yet fully tolerate, as is gay marriage, and open displays of emotion relating to pleasure-power. The fact is we are tenants in God's vineyard and we cannot do as we please all the time, as it would be possible in our own homes. Thus we feel the "air" itself or Mother Nature blames us.
...your immoral actions have defiled you. Although I tried to purify you, you remained defiled. You will not be pure again until you have felt the full force of my anger. - Ezekiel 24
Ezekiel and the pot of choice meat teaches us that sometimes we need a clean break with the past. Witches feasting on us and foreigners beating down our doors and walls. It can only come to a debacle of biblical proportions. There is no need to second guess the Lord, just feel His anger. It can be unbearable to those whom He hates.
The ongoing witchcraft crisis torture tested the mind and mettle of the smartest people on Earth. Up till today, there arose no good solution. Should one person at a time be sacrificed? One person -and all his friends?
Farmers don't constantly plow their fields and keep getting them ready for planting.
Once they have prepared the soil, they plant the seeds of herbs such as dill and cumin. They plant rows of wheat and barley, and at the edges of their fields they plant other grain.
They know how to do their work, because God has taught them.
They never use a heavy club to beat out dill seeds or cumin seeds; instead they use light sticks of the proper size.
They do not ruin the wheat by threshing it endlessly, and they know how to thresh it by driving a cart over it without bruising the grains. - Isaiah 28
The tragedy of not obeying gospel or at least good sense in the face of such an important threat as telepathic baby-snatching witches!
Recently, my relatives began persecuting me, as one of the few baptized Christians in our clan. Sharp pains to my head and body followed by a heart twist to anger me further, then the long burn in. It never occurred to me that what Jesus said would eventually come true in my own head and home.
Countries will fight each other; kingdoms will attack one another. There will be famines and earthquakes everywhere.
All these things are like the first pains of childbirth. "Then you will be arrested and handed over to be punished and be put to death. Everyone will hate you because of me.
Many will give up their faith at that time; they will betray one another and hate one another.
Then many false prophets will appear and fool many people.
Such will be the spread of evil that many people's love will grow cold.
But whoever holds out to the end will be saved. - Matthew 24
Seems like a very bleak future but why? Natural disasters / earth changes provoke war / stealing / magic arts. Christians singled out and blamed for not participating in ritual sin. Many thus cave and point out their friends as the cause. Then Satan attacks through corrupt teachings, crushing our spirit. The spirit that protects the faithful.
He will speak against the Supreme God and oppress God's people. He will try to change their religious laws and festivals, and God's people will be under his power for three and a half years. - Daniel 7:25
Everyone wants a better lot in life. Even the Antichrist! Most days, I come under oppression from future seers / manipulators who strike me with pain and fear, thereby "changing the future". Now here we see the little horn do 3 similar things: speak against God (propaganda / popularity), oppress Christians (show his power), and change the laws and times (corrupt and despoil). The future he is changing is of course the second coming of Christ. As usual the trials run for a time, times and the dividing of a time, meaning it's worrying initially, interminable later, then cut off before everything good is destroyed.
But anyone who denies this [he was a man] about Jesus does not have the Spirit from God. The spirit that he has is from the Enemy of Christ; you heard that it would come, and now it is here in the world already.
But you belong to God, my children, and have defeated the false prophets, because the Spirit who is in you is more powerful than the spirit in those who belong to the world. - 1 John 4:4
These verses come from John's exhortation to "test the spirits" because of the increasing Antichrist activity in the world. John supposes that those who deify Jesus are false and those who do not are true. The latter also possessing power over the former. What this points to is the nature of Antichrist. He will be weak but command a huge following only by deceiving God's people.
This week: we all face the same 3 big questions: worship, prayer, and atonement. Remaining essentially unchanged since the time of Adam, Abraham and Jesus. When Christians deny themselves for God, it is through a passion for worship, prayer and atonement. It does not mean we practise a religion of abstinence or many many burdensome laws.
...Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world.
Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him. Because of his love
God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his children-this was his pleasure and purpose.
Let us praise God for his glorious grace, for the free gift he gave us in his dear Son!
For by the blood of Christ we are set free, that is, our sins are forgiven. How great is the grace of God... - Ephesians 1:3...
4 verses: worship "let us give thanks...", then prayer "...his pleasure and purpose", finally atonement: "for by the blood...". It would be hard to find a person more in passion with Jesus than Paul despite him once being a Pharisee!
Peter's vision of the sheet of animals:
...Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Get up, Peter; kill and eat!" - Acts 11:7
The above verse is of course symbolic. Furthermore it happened 3 times over, during which the Lord declared that He had made the gentiles clean. Things seem to happen 3 times for Peter. The "I do not know Him" denials, the "do you truly love me" dialogue with Christ, and now the sheet of animals. Strong's definitions reveal "kill" as sacrifice by burning and "eat" as in eating of communion. In other words, God accepts the "sacrifices" offered by gentiles and their brotherhood with the Jews. Why 3 times? Simply, Peter did not understand exactly what he was told. He did with help, however know what to do. In a future post we'll get into these pains, giving up, and bearing that all Christians have to do.
...At that time the great angel Michael, who guards your people, will appear (begin to work). Then there will be a time of troubles, the worst since nations first came into existence. When that time comes, all the people of your nation whose names are written in God's book will be saved... - Daniel 11-12
Reading the once-sealed book of Daniel, specifically on the Assyria-Egypt wars prophecy. In ancient times, Damascus and Egypt were the cradles of the Atlantean gods' / satan's teachings. In modern times, both are Moslem governed and somewhat anti-Christian, teetering on being called "failed states" same as with neighbouring Persia / Iraq. Seems like archangel Michael did his dirty work. And we read later, a "female tightness" would come over the world a.k.a troubles which precede the popularly-termed rapture. We all know who's proverbial adulterous vagina that is and her telepathic modus operandi.
Mental wellness a.k.a. forgiveness for sins which are simply perversions of our mind-body function. I'll dig up some bible verses on pride and regret.
David? Who is he? I've never heard of him! The country is full of runaway slaves nowadays! I'm not going to take my bread and water, and the animals ... and give them to people who come from I don't know where!" ...this is how he pays me back for the help I gave him! May God strike me dead if I don't kill every last one of those men before morning! -1Samuel 25
...I am in great trouble! The Philistines are at war with me, and God has abandoned me. He doesn't answer me any more, either by prophets or by dreams... - 1Samuel 28:15
The telepathy / witchcraft crisis nears a close. It isn't unlike the 3 cornered fight in 1Samuel between Saul, David, and the Philistines. In that book, pride and regret put together was the downfall of Nabal the sheep farmer. It was also the end of Saul. David was saved from it by Abigail whom he later married. She in turn was saved by a wise servant. Pride and regret come together to water the fruit of sin or sinful times i.e. guilt. We should all listen to the Lord.
Killing his servants is one way to lose His support which in turn leads to falling to temptation / suffering. Seducing spirits say give up the Lord's people, -one at a time when actually they should be obeyed as prophets, less He strike out with a curse. Thus Nabal died of a paralysing stroke and the will of the divine one.
No! Love your enemies and do good to them; lend and expect nothing back. You will then have a great reward, and you will be children of the Most High God. For he is good to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful just as your Father is merciful. - Luke 6:36
Luck is with me again, or should we say Spirit. I recalled the old "turn the other cheek" bible chapter which applies to those offended and hurt by the Liew telepathy / revenge machine. It's a bit hard to understand until you read Jesus' words in Revelation 22:11 about good / evil going on doing good / evil. Then it starts to become clearer like an algebra equation. It's like being the captain of a mutinous ship, on a voyage to discover India.
The telepathy going out of control is partially the fault of Christians' inability to explain the gospel. With some help, I gave out a new teaching:
What you do with your mind and body is your own business. What you do with your heart is everyone's concern.
I think it speaks for itself but I'll try to dig up some supporting evidence from the bible later on. I used to say, being right and doing right are not the same. And often people choose between the two and wind up with sin, instead of using both in a feedback loop and winding up with a windfall!
Thanks be to God, who does this through our Lord Jesus Christ! This, then, is my condition: on my own I can serve God's law only with my mind, while my human nature serves the law of sin. - Romans 7:25
The whole of Romans 7 talks about the Christian condition. Law-mind-body-sin-salvation, and is worth a re-read before judging others or ourselves.
...On each side of the river was the tree of life, which bears fruit twelve times a year, once each month; and its leaves are for the healing of the nations. - Revelations 22:2
Wolves and lambs will eat together; lions will eat straw, as cattle do, and snakes will no longer be dangerous. On Zion, my sacred hill, there will be nothing harmful or evil. - Isaiah 65:25
On the topic of fruit and eating, and telepathic predators, God promises us respite from the natural instincts of type As versus type Cs, passive-aggressives versus manic-depressives, after He returns to claim the Earth with Jesus. There will still be nations, as we read later in Rev. that they will be tempted by the Dragon after the millennial rule. The question then is: what do we do about evil now?
...We must wear faith and love as a breastplate, and our hope of salvation as a helmet. God did not choose us to suffer his anger, but to possess salvation... - 1 Thessalonians 5:8
Faith and love are an alignment to God's will displayed by the Spirit in all those who care for Him. To reach for it is simply to descend lower into one's chest so that one's awareness (head) is just below the heart, then to pray and ask for peace. Hope of salvation is two things together: hope itself, and divine knowledge. Hope is taking your awareness further away from your heart. Divine knowledge is what you know or believe of God that sunk into your heart. This may seem like a strange teaching but a little work on your feelings can save you the agony of juggling metaphysical spiritual concepts versus life's daily concerns.
Have a hunch that diseases are mainly caused by sin and the sins of loved ones whom we bear. Interesting topic for tonight's bible study.
...But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received. All of us were like sheep that were lost, each of us going his own way. But the LORD made the punishment fall on him, the punishment all of us deserved.
"He was treated harshly, but endured it humbly; he never said a word. Like a lamb about to be slaughtered, like a sheep about to be sheared, he never said a word. He was arrested and sentenced and led off to die, and no one cared about his fate. He was put to death for the sins of our people. He was placed in a grave with those who are evil, he was buried with the rich, even though he had never committed a crime or ever told a lie."
The LORD says, "It was my will that he should suffer; his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness. And so he will see his descendants; he will live a long life, and through him my purpose will succeed... - Isaiah 53:5
Alcohol is for people who are dying, for those who are in misery. Let them drink and forget their poverty and unhappiness. - Proverbs 31:6
I've been ruminating on 2 things. One is the Mobius Strip, and the other is "being happy".
A straight line is one dimensional. A curved line is 2 dimensional. A Mobius Strip therefore, is considered 3 dimensional, since it is a folded 2D object. Folding being the 3D equivalent of 2D bending. More useful to consider, is the Math of folding a 2D object. Time creates 1D from zero, perception creates 2D from 1D, Self-actuation / motivation folds 3D from 2D. Similarly, happiness is time-perception-motivation.
I'm in love with the shape of you... -Ed Sheeran
Lots of things I started and have yet to finish. Master Paul Ng's FengShui advice for us 1976-born "dragons": take it slow this crazy year.
Your hard work would award you well. Most tasks may begin with hardship before they ease off. Hence be patient and take your time. - Master Paul Ng
There will be the shout of command, the archangel's voice, the sound of God's trumpet, and the Lord himself will come down from heaven. Those who have died believing in Christ will rise to life first; then we who are living at that time will be gathered up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. -1Thessalonians 4:16
The above is the teaching of St. Paul and is actually inaccurate, in that it supposes a perfect response. It's dangerous to tell people of a coming supernatural event. Jesus' Olivet Discourse was carefully worded to avoid Paul's effusion of love, carried down the generations, to a church wallowing in sin or sinners' concerns, i.e. the end times / Tribulation. Let the reader beware of the spiritual loose canon he was!
I assure you: it will be very hard for rich people to enter the Kingdom of heaven - Matthew 19:23
I assure you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it. - Mark 10:15
The above bible verses refer to the changes deep in our hearts due to the wickedness and money-mindedness of the world we live in.
...I entrust to you this command, which is in accordance with the words of prophecy spoken in the past about you. Use those words as weapons in order to fight well... -1Timothy 1:18
Guess my number is being called, to participate in the final battle before the Tribulation. Meanwhile, the British and Americans are in conflict.
Nor did they repent of their murders, their magic, their sexual immorality, or their stealing. - Revelations 9:21
I can almost see why.
Yesterday was the start of the Dragon Boat festival, or the time of year when we Chinese eat zhang / rice dumplings, in honour of the maligned, innocent hero. Sounds like what's been happening to me.
The Dragon Boat Festival falls on the fifth day of the fifth month on the lunisolar calendar and commemorates the death of Chinese poet and politician Chu Yuan. Yang Teng-kei, a folk custom expert and the founding chairman of the Taichung Numerology Education Association, says the festival occurs when yang energy is nearing its peak. -excerpt from www.taiwannews.com.tw
Astrology and other nature science-religions may not be able to save one from the fire, but they can be our guides through life and its seasons, and provide means by which many simple thinkers are controlled.
We know that the Law is good if it is used as it should be used. It must be remembered, of course, that laws are made, not for good people... - 1Timothy 1:8
Good people are of course, profitable investors in other people, life, living and the art of it. So live triumphantly, let that be your watchword. The times now are full of evil cowards. Come out of her, the harlot, which is Babylon the Great.
A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages. But do not damage the olive trees and the vineyards! - Revelations 6:6
Back to Revelations, that a'cursed book. Some quick research, barley isn't usually milled and is used mainly for animal feed, wheat is milled and used for our daily bread.
The olive is one of three core food plants in Mediterranean cuisine; the other two are wheat and grapes -Wikipedia
What of the rest of the world? Rumours of medicine and food hoarding here in Malaysia. I'm convinced that the Liew kids are commandeering the world economy through a web of petty sin. At least something is moving for all of us rich enough, who are suffering them. Jail me with lies
Do not accuse anyone falsely. - Exodus 20:16
Or in old English, do not bear false witness. Wonder why it's in the 10 commandments instead of plain "lying" or "cheating"? We agreed that many of man's conflicts have to do with clamouring for God's love and our heavenly reward, even though we may not know it, or believe in a god!
What is schizophrenia? The bible has some verses on this otherwise unexplained mind phenomenon, some if which I came across when re-reading the opening chapter of the book of Job.
He was a good man, careful not to do anything evil.
...he thought that one of them [his dependants] might have sinned by insulting God unintentionally .
"There is no one on earth as faithful and good as he is."
"suppose you take away everything he has -he will curse you to your face!"
"All right," the LORD said to Satan, "everything he has is in your power, but you must not hurt Job himself." -Job 1:x
Sounds familiar to fathers of schizophrenics, I'll bet, and to their caregivers / spouses.
We have to all do mind work for the whole of our lives, and live triumphantly despite the press and prodding of curious onlookers.
He will be a sign from God which many people will speak against and so reveal their secret thoughts. And sorrow, like a sharp sword, will break your own heart. -Luke 2:34
Coincidence maybe, -all of us will receive signs, personal ones, given time, so we'll mesh like clockwork. This was God's promise to me.
...do not be troubled. Such things must happen. -Matthew 24:6
By not being troubled, Jesus means, to be level-headed. Make good decisions and take care not to make mistakes. Do your utmost good, that God prepared for you to do from the beginning. By that, we mean, he foreknew us. By that we mean, we are currently, and always, a part of his love. Don't look any further.
God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do. -Ephesians 2:10
I have a couple of family members to care for in my waning years. Be strong, is the best advice I have. Stick to your guiding principles. Mark Hamill said: believe in yourself, work hard.
No one can break into a strong man's house and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house. -Matthew 12:29
The bible verse above is related to the Spirit we all have, part of us that comes from God, and to the demons that tempt, whether living among us, or from beyond. Ultimately, to our unshakable allegiance to the power of good, and towards salvation through understanding and submission to Him. Straightforward words from Jesus / YeShu, that make our heads spin, who are (naturally) dirty with worldly concerns, some far more than others.
What if there are forces we don't yet know of? Force theory proposes, what we have so far seen is pretty much it, or representative of "it". It's just that the full range of forces created by interacting matter and energies can't be felt or measured yet.
For example, a rock and a pebble both fall to the ground from the same height, at the same time but the pebble would just sting your head while the rock would kill you. For that reason, light can be a photon, a wavelength, or an electromagnetic field, same as gravity, and electricity. A bow, firing an arrow converts between energies more than we think. Obviously, it builds up and stores potential energy, converting it into kinetic energy, but it also has inertial energy, chemical energy, and electrical energy. This is the reason, in slow motion, an arrow's flight is wobbly. By recognising additional forces, we can explain Einstein's special theory of relativity without much Math: time and space change when things are very big or go very fast. That becomes an "off course" statement. Slowing down the arrow!
The Kingdom of God does not come in such a way as to be seen. No one will say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!'; because the Kingdom of God is within you. -Luke 17:20
I think it's a good time for some soul searching and basic common sense?
You cannot be a slave of two masters; you will hate one and love the other; you will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money -Matthew 6:24
We were talking about money lately. Money is the body's engine oil. Money is not necessarily something rare or hard to produce, like gold and cowrie shells, or Yap island stone wheels, but what is universally agreed on, for reasons that it is backed up by kept promises and future results. So for many years, the gold standard was at best inaccurate and Wall Street and the Fed were manufacturing true wealth. Gold coins with the image of Caesar were less so money than stock in Apple Computer. Currently, exchange rates are floating dangerously due to some countries making empty promises and others having no foreseeable path to financial progress. That's when smart people thought of... new forms of coining the same money! Back to Babylon, back to serving 2 masters. Rather love God and he will provide a saviour.
Wolves on sheep's clothing. Perhaps they've accepted the deficit in their souls while voices, in the heart, from lives they destroyed, accuse them incessantly.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 6:23
Under cover of interconnected sin that they engineer through spying on multitudes. Where religion, even Wicca ultimately failed.
"The things of this world" and how they are a guide for those spiritually seeking. For example: sunglasses, watches, pens, and computers. All have ancient times counterparts and are tools as much as vanity objects, therefore subtle moral compasses. What in a "stuff" category do you like best and do you know a dozen reasons why?
For example, I like my watch, a vintage Tenor-Dorly on Shagreen best because, empirically:
This means, I have big dreams but a responsibility towards service for others first, and I don't need anybody's help to succeed in life. Quite a lot to deduce from a watch, when others would simply label you a fool. Actually, I'm spiritually mature and involved in God's work. When I wear this watch, is when good things should happen. Asking me to wear / not wear it so things can change is a mistake in logic, playing God, and involves lying to masses of people.
You do not believe me when I tell you about the things of this world; how will you ever believe me, then, when I tell you about the things of heaven? -John 3:12
FreeLunch.my, C. K. Yap, yapchenkuang@outlook.com