IF WE BELIEVED WHAT THE BIBLE SAID - #5

If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person
(1 John 3:17)

In America more than 65% of the population believes they are “Born Again”. When Y’shua was talking to Nicodemus He said that one must be born of water and spirit. While Nicodemus was confused, this was a statement that he should have known well (John 3:7, 10).

Y’shua was relating an Old Testament teaching to the term Born Again. Y’shua was not talking about baptism. In fact, baptism is no where in the context of this conversation. He was relating to facts that Nicodemus should have known and is seen most clear in Ezekiel 36 because they are back to back just as Y’shua stated it. Read More…
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NINETY-NINE MINUS ONE

“ What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety- nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? 13 And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety- nine that did not go astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish
(Matthew 18:12-14 NKJV)

Undeniable truth - None of us are perfect and none know all. Read More…
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COMMANDMENTS REPLACE / GOING TO HEAVEN WHILE STILL KNOWINGLY SINNING

I was recently asked a question behind the wall. We've looked at these two subjects before but, since we have new people in our family, I'm going to post the response again.

Were the Ten Commandments replaced and will we still get to Heaven if we continue to sin but God see's the struggle?

Before the posted response, I told them that we are to work out our Salvation with fear and trembling. Whether one get's to Heaven is between a person and God; but here's what Holy Scripture says about the Ten Commandments and continuing in sin that we are aware of.
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BELIEVE

In a recent series on “Biblical Salvation verse the Salvation of Religion”, we looked at the Biblical definition of “believe”, “faith”, “grace”, and many other mis-taught, and mis-lived, Biblical principles.

The attached article is based on questions asked to young atheist's who came from christian homes. While they did not concentrate on the bulk of the answers given, they categorized it into a simple reasons of why the teen fell from Christ to atheist: those who profess it don’t actually believe. Once respondent said, "Christianity is something that if you really believed it, it would change your life and you would want to change [the lives] of others. I haven't seen too much of that." Read More…
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VENGEANCE IS MINE

"Vengeance is Mine, says the Lord" is a common phrase used by people who have been done wrong by someone else. I have two issues with this phrase: first, it's unBiblical in the manner used. We'll get to this in a moment. The second issue I have, in the manner used, it is vindictive. We, as Christ followers, should not wish the vengeance of God upon anyone. If we understood the power, we would understand this should not be wished. Yet, if we do good to those who persecute us (Matt 5:44; Romans 12:14), we then look for the opportunity, not for vengeance of God upon them, but for the Grace to be revealed to them (Romans 1:5).

So, what is the context of this statement?
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JUDGING BY GOD’S GRACE

I think back to when I was living for Satan: all those things I done wrong and I still see God’s grace that spared me from many things; including death.

When we look at the children of Israel; the example given when they were freed from Egypt, we see God protecting them and providing for them. He did so many good things for them; yet, was the Grace He shown them a sign of they're doing things right? Absolutely not.

I talk to many people, and they all seem to judge themselves by other people, or by the Grace God has shown them. They say, “The Lord is blessing me, I must be doing something right”. Once, when I had something big go my way, my employer said, “Your good living is paying off”. Because of YHWH sparing the life of a man, I heard someone say about him, “Try to tell him that what he is doing is wrong”.

2 Corinthians 10:12 (KJV) 12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.
One of the most dangerous things we can do is compare ourselves among ourselves, or with the Grace God has shown in His protection over or providing for us. In this Laodicea age, we think we are rich and don’t know that we are not (Rev 3:17). We think we are rich, because we judge ourselves based on the Grace God has given. We don’t know we are poor because we compare ourselves with those around us; who are also judging themselves on God Grace. The problem is, like the children of Israel during the Exodus from Egypt, and wandering in the desert, we are NOT doing it right: we are called a harlot of the whore for a reason (Rev 17:5).

Because we appear to be a blessed nation, because we appear to be blessed personally, because we see a few wondrous signs from God, we base our “richness” upon this Grace. Yet, understanding all the Grace which God provided Israel, I dare to say far more than we see in our lives, they still did not reach the promised land. Because of the murmuring, lack of faith, and all around rebellious attitude against what God had told them, they were kept from that glorious land. When I look at the condition of the church today, I see a direct parallel with Israel of then.

Understanding that the Old Testament is an example of where we are now, should we really be judging ourselves based on Grace? Do we dare think that God will put up with our rebellious behavior all the way to Heaven? OR, should we judge ourselves based on Scripture, for it’s the Word, the warning from God on what He desires from us? It is by the Word we are judged, it’s the Word of God which must stand; and it tells us how to live for and how to respond to God.
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DEATH PENALTY FOR BREAKING SABBATH?

Numbers 15:32, 35 “32 And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.
35 And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death:”

There is much confusion about the differences in the Old Testament period and the period in which we live. People mock the Holy Bible, saying we should not teach from it; because of the extreme recourses that was required by God during that time. Read More…
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DEFINING MOMENT

Happy Sabbath everyone. I would like to show you an interesting fact based around two definitions and the importance of it.

1 The definition of discipline is:

the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior
the controlled behavior resulting from such training
activity or experience that provides mental or physical training
a system of rules of conduct
a branch of knowledge, typically one studied in higher education

The root word of discipline comes from the Latin word “discipulus” Read More…
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NEW RELIGION

One day, my wife was listening to a large syndicated christian radio station called “FISH”. A caller called in with a dilemma: they had a previous promise made to their church, to attend and assist in a possible soul winning event; but, they also had tickets to a big playoff game for the same day. They really did not want to miss the game and did not know how to get out of their commitment at church. The host’s at FISH said to go to the game, “God will understand”.

Attached is an interesting article. In it, it talks about how sports is a new religion. We know we can not serve two masters, but professing christians would dare not miss a game of jr’s or of a big team; while happily missing time spent with Adonai. Read More…
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LIKE A CHILD

Have you ever sat back and reviewed and wondered about the fading light from initial dedication to where you are now? What I mean is, when a person first comes to Y’shua, I mean really comes, their life is on fire; you may even see Elohim perform many wonders through this babe in Christ. Then, as time goes, that fire fades, and with it so does YHWH’s show of power. What happened: where did it go?

The foundation is “FAITH”; yet, most people think faith is just believing, but faith is far more than that (James 2:19-20). When we read the context of Holy Scripture, we understand “FAITH” is the act of believing so much that you will do something that, in human logic, is stupid. Noah built an ark on dry land, Abraham packed up and moved without knowing where to go, Abraham also believed in having a child then set to sacrifice the very child that was suppose to make him the father of many nations (Heb 11). These are actions which are stupid, by human logic: that is “FAITH”

When one is brought to the truth of, and starts a walk in, Christ, they have full faith; though that faith is not much, they walk in what they have. I’ve heard it said, “The problem is when they get ‘religion’”. That’s true, but the surface answer to the problem.

“Religion” was passed down from the “mother whore” and right into protestantism. The “son of perdition” was revealed in 538 AD; which means the falling away started then: it’s in full bloom now. The problem comes into the “light”. If they read their Bible, as a babe grows they are fed both “light” and “religion”. When they question religion based on the light, they are told it’s wrong. Once we start refusing the light for religion or our own desires, that light starts to fade. When we refuse the light, which guides us to righteousness, YHWH will allow us to believe a lie (2 Thes 2:9-12). When we refuse to follow the light we loose faith, in not following Y’shua, even if it’s humanly stupid; we walk in darkness and know not where we go (John 12:35-36); we believe a lie, we walk in unrighteousness, it becomes rebellion. Y’shua can not work through rebellion.

Some of this light may be big Biblical truths as we are to stop sinning (John 5:14). Some light may be little beams; but, if we can not be trusted with little, how can He give us more (Luke 16:10-13)? I’ve talked to people who know the truth on the food we eat (Isaiah 66:15-17), yet continue to eat that which we were told not to. I’ve talked to MANY pastors who say they know the truth about Sabbath (Heb 4:8-10, 4), yet teach the wrong day because they worry about repercussion. This is rebellion; and, when purposely teaching incorrect doctrine of God’s Word, it’s a premeditated teaching in contradiction, in opposition, to the Holy Scriptures and the Words of YHWH: He can not work with this, it is a lukewarm condition.

While everyone will have error, let that error be just that... error. When we know the truth, we are required to live in and teach that truth; otherwise, we are teaching the teachings of anti-christ (1 Tim 6:3-5; 2 Cor 11:4; 2 John 1:7-10).
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LESSON LEARNED

Tuesday (4/2/13) was the last day of the Feast’s of Unleavened Bread. I would like to share what I learned from keeping this holiday.

This is the first time I went into this holiday planning on keeping it. While I knew of this holiday in the past, I saw it as a “Jewish” thing and really didn’t take it serious. YHWH showed me, just in time, the symbolism of leaven, thus I wanted to keep this holiday as a symbol of what He desires from His people.

We read in scripture that leaven symbolizes sin (Matt 16:6, 12; Mark 8:15; Luke 12:1; 1 Cor 5:6-8), so I went into this looking at leaven as sin: I was looking at how I treated it. For the better part, I did a pretty good job; but, that’s comparing my actions against my past (2 Cor 10:12). I like to compare with what God looks at.

I made some errors because there was leaven in things I never would have dreamed of, and didn’t even look. I cooked an organic TV dinner and ate it: I never looked. A couple days later, I cooked one at the house. While I was cooking it, my wife looks at the ingredients and says there yeast in it. The first time I “sinned”, it was out of ignorance: YHWH has Grace for a “sin” we don’t know of. Even though I knew the meal had yeast in it the second time, I still ate it: I did not want to throw it out. This is a rebellion, and for rebellion, there is no Grace given; not until we repent of that rebellion and stop doing the “sin”. Sometimes we mess up, we error if we look at it and say, “Might as well go all the way now, already messed up anyway”. This is not a good position. Once we understand the “sin” is there, we need to stop. I actually made this mistake twice. There is a really good example in the Holy Scriptures about sin by ignorance vs sin by rebellion, but for the sake of time, I’ll save that story for a near future writing.

I was in my truck and found a loaf of bread in a cubby. I didn’t investigate to see if it was bad, I just grabbed it and threw it away. This is the way we need to treat sin. We do not need to examine the sin, try to reason the sin, try to justify the sin, we need to just get rid of the sin (1 Jn 2:1; 5:18; 1 Cor 15:34; Acts 3:26; Titus 2:14; Rom 6:3-6, 12-13; Jn 3:36; Heb 5:9).

I heard of a person who ate some item with yeast in it. Their excuse was, “There can’t be much in there”. I believe this is the main issue in the church today, it’s only a little sin (Matt 13:33; 1 Cor 5:6-8; Matt 5:21-22, 27-28, 37). Yet we are warned not to be lukewarm (Rev 3:15-17): we are to remove the sin from our lives.

The Jew’s often give their leaven to a gentile friend, or sell it to them for a dollar, only to buy / get it back after the holiday. This would equal a repentance, but then turning back to the sin (Prov 26:11; 2 Peter 2:22; Luke 9:26). We should be willing to drop it, and leave it.

When I look at how I treated the yeast, and look at my life, I found a parallel. The way I treated the yeast is the way I treat sin in my life. It showed me what I needed to correct. My desire is to please my Adonai, and draw closer to Him (James 4:8). When I look at the way my wife treated the yeast, even though she knew it was in the food, as she found it, she ate it because I ate it. I see this as relative in her life, in the way she handled sin. When we were in the world, she would do something that was wrong, just because I wanted to do it. She is a strong woman, and when she points out sin, she needs to stand no matter what anyone else does. I’m sure the person who saw the yeast as just a little bit has an issue with looking at “little white lies” and the such. It’s up to them to examine their life and make corrections where it be; but, I wanted to point out these examples as it is very evident on the reasoning of why YHWH wanted us to keep this forever (Ex 12:14).

The way we deal with sin starts with our attitude about sin (Matt 15:19-20). There are some who, while knowing this holiday was happening and the symbolism it provides, absolutely refuse to follow the day: they refused to remove the leaven. Next to the little sin issue, this is the next big problem in professing christians today: they refuse to remove the sin from their lives and they don’t want to make any moves towards a better learning and closer walk with God. The unpardonable sin, is the sin one refuses to let go of.

There were some tasty foods that I ate, using unleavened bread. I made a really good pizza, which was only around 600 calories for a 10 inch square. I used it with cheese dip and it was just as good, if not better, than crackers I usually use. I spread peanut butter on it, just as tasty. Fact is, I may use unleavened bread more often. We often think that life just will not be as fulfilling unless there’s a little sin in it. After all, sin is fun right? Not really, a few moments of pleasure can bring hours of guilt; at the very least. I can have just as much fun without sin, as I THOUGHT I was having with sin. I just changed my priorities and learned some new delicacies in life. When you receive the new heart from Elohim, the new rational thought He gives, and you have that desire to walk after the example Y’shua gave, you find that sin no longer taste good.

I’m not sure if any other readers did this, but maybe you may think about doing it next year. I learned a great bit from it and didn’t miss the yeast a bit.
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THE HARLOT OF MOM

Revelation 17:5 “And upon her forehead was a name written, ‘Mystery, Babylon the great, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS and abominations of the Earth.’”
In Rev 17, we see a church (Ezk. 16:15-58; Hos. 2:5) riding a beast with seven heads. We know the seven heads represent the seven hills in which the city sits (Rev 17:9) which is Rome (city of seven hills). Therefore this church both sits in the city and controls the city; as the woman is riding (controlling) the beast.

There’s no secret to who this church is: what we are concentrating on is the “harlots”. We read this church in Rome is the “mother of harlots”: understanding this phrase, the harlots were birthed from the church in Rome. As obvious as it is on which church in Rome this passage is talking, it’s just as obvious on who the harlots are. Read More…
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RULES TO FREEDOM

A couple had a small child who started riding a bike. They wanted the best for him; for him not to be hurt, and be able to prosper as he got older being: healthy, wise, all limbs intact, and no struggles with things he done. They installed a fence around their yard, to keep him in, and gave him many rules.

One day, the child was sitting on his bike; looking at the fence and thinking of the rules, and he said, “My parents are mean! They create a bunch of restrictions; their controlling. They should be more loving, and let me make my own decisions.” So he opened the gate and took off on his bicycle. Read More…
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FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!

Many see God as a vengeful God of anger and punishment. They miss the fact that He gave His Son to die for us so we could live forever with Him; they miss this love.

On the same note, many professing the faith see God as one who does not care if we spend more time in the world than in His service, being witnessing and the likes. They have problems with rejection and ridicule, and the likes from fellow humans, not seeing this was promised to us. They too miss the love of God. For God came and was ridiculed and rejected by His creation so that, as many as will accept is proposal, they would be able to live eternally. They miss the heart of love that He does not one to perish. They know this fact, they’ve learned it, but they continue in the things of this world. Therefore, they have a form of godliness but they have not come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:5,7). The knowledge is not of the love of man in how we treat them, but more-so the love of man desiring that they can have eternal life. What good is it if we treat a man good in this world, yet let him perish without ever showing Him the truth of salvation? Is that love? I think not. If we are missing this love, we are missing the Heart of our God.
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BUILDING ON A ROCK VS. BUILDING ON THE SAND

(Matt 7:24-27; Luke 6:47-49)

In both Matthew and Luke, we see that Christ was talking about the fruits which we produce. Matthew expands on what Christ was talking in relation to false prophets that will come to us and also not all who cry Lord, Lord will be saved.

On a flight from NYC to England, the pilot of the Boeing 757 comes over the speaker and says, "The co-pilot and I have been talking. He believes that this plane could also double as a submarine. I was not so sure, but he is completely sincere in his belief that it will work. Because of his sincerity, we would like to give it a try." Read More…
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UNRAVELED

Matthew 19:24 (KJV) 24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
I’ve always heard the explanation that the eye of the needle is an opening in the main gate of a city, and we must unpack our good’s to God to get through that needle. While this sounds all fine and dandy, we are missing what is being said because of a mistranslation in scripture and a reasoning to make it make sense.

In this passage, needle from the Greek is "rhaphis" which is an actual needle you sew with; NOT an entry way in a gate. This makes it sound like rich people are not going to heaven because it’s impossible to get a camel through an eye of a sewing needle. The reasoning happens by trying to make the events, prior to this saying, based around money. Read More…
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WHEN WE ARE CONVERTED

In the book of Acts is the church to which Christ intended, yet we don't see that today. Those thing were a witness of the signs in which we should have following us who believe, but they are not following us in this Laodicean age. Laodicea has two problems: they think they are rich, which is to say rich in the things of God, being salvation from destruction and of knowledge of the things that are of the Kingdom of Adonai. The other problem is that they don't know. They don't know that they are wretched, which is to say, they don't compare themselves with the light of Christ but rather with each other; as Paul had said, "O wretched man that I am". They don't know they are naked, which is the sign of sinfulness. They don't know they are poor, which is to say they are not "saved" and do not have the knowledge of God. Read More…
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WHAT IS SIN?

Have you ever tried to define what sin is? I often had problems and simply would repeat 1 John 3:4 that says sin is transgression of the law; which is the Ten Commandments. Does the Bible give any other definitions of sin?

There are two types of sin, sin of commission which is that which we do against what we’ve been told not to (1 John 2:15-16) and a sin of omission which we are suppose to do but fail to do it (Matt 25:31-46). So, what does the Bible list as sin?

Breaking the Ten Commandments (1 John 3:4)
Not believing in Jesus (John 16:9)
Not doing what your conscience says is right (Romans 14:23)
All unrighteousness (1 John 5:17)
Bad thoughts and scorner (Prov 24:9)
Presumptuous sin (Psalms 19:13); which is failing to observe the limits of what is permitted or appropriate.
Sin in ignorance (Num 15:28); which is a good reason to include all things I am not aware of.
Those who know to do good but doesn’t (James 4:17)
Pride, gluten of food, idleness (or laziness (modern term couch potato)) (Ezek 16:49)
And Paul defines in 1 Cor 6:9-11 and Gal 5:19-21
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EATING OUR OWN

Don't just read the headline and make a judgement of the story there, read the story. I think for most of the professing christians, who spent their fair share of time in the world, have forgotten what issues they had with "christianity"; I know I, being raised in church, in a pastors home, seeing and hearing of the junk that goes on in the church, I saw all "christians" as hypocrites. The very reason you will see me put "christian" in quotes today, and uncapitalized, is because most professing "christians" are not Christian at all, they are not saved. That is not a judgement by me, but based on the Word of God to which we were given for knowledge. We are suppose to read it, and study it, then make corrections in OUR lives according to what it says, but people read two words... "believe" and "grace" and that is all they know, yet think they know enough; they refuse the words that are mentioned, in one way or another, more that those... "love" and "change".

The "christian" looks worse over time. Maybe it's because of the garbage food we are feeding our spirits, like reality shows, murder mysteries, court dramas, soap operas (both TV, and facebook), and the likes. Remember that, " you are what you eat" is a Biblical teaching on spiritual growth and development.

Article:
Going To Hell with Ted Haggard
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STANDING UPON

If we eat junk food, fast food, and unclean food, we cannot stand on a promise of health. We must first stand on the instruction of good eating according to Gods Word.

If we covet many things, buy things not needed (or bigger and more expensive than needed), and buy things we don't need (or which are nicer than we need) on credit, we can't stand on a promise of our finances. We must first stand on the instruction of the way to handle ourselves and our money according to Gods Word.

How can we stand in prayer for our marriage if we are not willing to correct our behavior and provide good works for the marriage.

Likewise, many make the same principles when it comes to salvation. They stand on a "five point prayer" for their salvation while completely ignoring the good works required for salvation; because we love Yeshua.

You come as you are, but then we are to put on a new man (col 3:10, Eph 4:24). If one thinks good works are not required, I suggest, for eternity sake, you put down the remote, put down the video game, put down the computer, and put down the doctrine of false salvation preached by so many and pick up the Word of God; the parables of how Gods people are told to live is a good place to start.
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I KNOW YOUR WORKS

What is saved by grace?

For the grace of God that BRINGS SALVATION hath appeared to all men, TEACHING US that, DENY UNGODLINESS and WORLDY LUST, we should LIVE SOBERLY, RIGHTEOUSLY, and GODLY, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
Titus 2:11-13 (KJV)

Your not just “saved by grace” but brought to salvation by grace by the teaching of living righteously and godly.

Some think that we are judged by works only for our reward, but what does the Bible say? Read More…
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SAVED BY GRACE

“8 For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Eph 2:8-9

What is “saved by grace”? Read More…
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