My goal is to not post a lot of "personal posts/thoughts", but rather true Study/Fact/Info on/from God's Word, The Bible. From time to time; however, I will interject the occasional personal tidbit. This being one such post ;-)
I haven't posted in the past few weeks for several reasons with the two main reasons being: 1) A long time boundaryless relationship with a couple of self-absorbed and judgmental individuals with no room for other's opinions in their blindness to God's Word. They firmly place their loyalty to church institution before God and their resulting celebrations of Man's Traditions of Easter Bunny/Eggs before Christ's Sacrifice and God's Word. The situations stemming from the one-side dynamic of this relationship caused me to pause, reflect, and pray before moving forward. I neither want to confuse or become a stumbling block for anyone, so before posting anything further, I wanted to make sure my direction is clear and the guidance is from above. What anyone does in their walk with God is their business...it becomes my business when they continually insert their views in my life when asked to refrain. & 2) An extreme 3 week allergic reaction followed by a 3 week post-op infection as a result of surgical staff's disregard to my known/listed and verbally stated allergies :-( rough road, but such is life!
Before I continue: Note that I fully realize the tone of this post and I do not intend to adversely ruffle feathers as it were, but sometimes a little bluntness is necessary just as salt is necessary for savor. We are all responsible for our actions and thoughts and ultimately we all answer for ourselves and the choices we made, the actions we did or did not take, and whether we took God's Word or man's word as the directions we followed. Only God is the judge of any of this and any one....walk your walk and I'll walk mine. I am not judging anyone for what they do in their own lives, but I also won't accept forced judgment on my walk from anyone either!
Colossians 4:2-6 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds; that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
To those like the couple mentioned above, if you read all of my previous posts on Passover/Easter and misconstrued that I believe and celebrate each year the first passover when the Israelites escaped Egypt, then reread the posts as that is not the case. The 2nd passover, the one in which Christ died on the Cross and became our end all, be all Savior and Passover is the one in which I and my family celebrate and rejoice in each year! We are Christians! I believe in Christ. I follow Christ and God's Word before anything fallible man has created or constructed or deemed a part and diluted form of said remembrance of His Great Sacrifice for our Sins! Period and end of story! If, like the parables that Christ spoke while on the earth in the flesh is beyond your eyes to see and ears to hear at this time, ask God for guidance and direction as He will always provide! James 1:5
True, man has created several representations that the churches put forth as to why eggs represent Christ's empty tomb, etc., but here is the thing....it's neither Scriptural nor is it historical. Historically, both the eggs and the bunnies are pagan and have nothing what-so-ever to do with Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross. True, I personally could overlook all of this and just "go along to get along" and not cause any waves for folks...after all, most have no clue about the history of all of this nor the many Scriptures of God speaking against these very same pagan rituals....and are in their hearts celebrating Christ's Sacrifice, however misinformed and misguided. The problem lies in the fact that I do know the history and the Scriptures. If you know better, you are supposed to do better. I can explain it like this: If I had a bowl of candy on the kitchen table and told my youngest child that under no circumstances is she to touch or eat any of that candy until I give her some after dinner, but had not instructed my oldest child of such since he was in school. Then later that afternoon both of my children are in the kitchen eating fist fulls of the candy. Who am I going to be most upset with? Yes, my youngest because she knew and understood better. I will still be upset and disappointed with my oldest because he does know to ask first, but I won't be as upset with him as I will my youngest who was just that afternoon instructed otherwise. God our Father is no different in that He has provided us His Word as His instruction to us. It is both His love letter to us as is His rule book as is His direction for us to follow. Us being too busy to read and follow it is not something I as a parent would accept from my children nor as God's child do I want to use as a reason when I face Him on Judgment Day.
It seems folks can get so tied to their church denominations that they forget they are supposed to be Christians first and foremost. We are supposed to be founded in God's Word, not man's word and traditions. In fact Paul taught in Corinthians against the forming of denominations. Certainly, I believe such man made divisions and derisions from God's Word would be more than frowned upon as they are practiced these days....albeit there is nothing "new under the sun" and these times and practices are repeats of the same in Judges, Kings, Chronicles, etc., all documented for our instruction.
I Corinthians 1:9-20 God is faithful, by Whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, "I am Paul"; and "I of Apollos"; and "I of Cephas"; and "I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
And then there is this: Forgive To Be Forgiven
Moving on to the misfortunes that happen to us in the flesh here and there as we are on this earth. Usually when I hunker down in Bible Study or planting seeds or spreading the Volume of the Book, I also tend to have a little misfortune fall upon me. We all have power over Satan and his evildoers and the flesh through Jesus Christ. We just have to remember to use it! Whether it's a big or little tribulation, through Christ we can overcome anything!
Luke 10:17-20 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, "Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name." And He said unto them, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."
May God Bless You In Study and Practice!
I haven't posted in the past few weeks for several reasons with the two main reasons being: 1) A long time boundaryless relationship with a couple of self-absorbed and judgmental individuals with no room for other's opinions in their blindness to God's Word. They firmly place their loyalty to church institution before God and their resulting celebrations of Man's Traditions of Easter Bunny/Eggs before Christ's Sacrifice and God's Word. The situations stemming from the one-side dynamic of this relationship caused me to pause, reflect, and pray before moving forward. I neither want to confuse or become a stumbling block for anyone, so before posting anything further, I wanted to make sure my direction is clear and the guidance is from above. What anyone does in their walk with God is their business...it becomes my business when they continually insert their views in my life when asked to refrain. & 2) An extreme 3 week allergic reaction followed by a 3 week post-op infection as a result of surgical staff's disregard to my known/listed and verbally stated allergies :-( rough road, but such is life!
Before I continue: Note that I fully realize the tone of this post and I do not intend to adversely ruffle feathers as it were, but sometimes a little bluntness is necessary just as salt is necessary for savor. We are all responsible for our actions and thoughts and ultimately we all answer for ourselves and the choices we made, the actions we did or did not take, and whether we took God's Word or man's word as the directions we followed. Only God is the judge of any of this and any one....walk your walk and I'll walk mine. I am not judging anyone for what they do in their own lives, but I also won't accept forced judgment on my walk from anyone either!
Colossians 4:2-6 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds; that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
To those like the couple mentioned above, if you read all of my previous posts on Passover/Easter and misconstrued that I believe and celebrate each year the first passover when the Israelites escaped Egypt, then reread the posts as that is not the case. The 2nd passover, the one in which Christ died on the Cross and became our end all, be all Savior and Passover is the one in which I and my family celebrate and rejoice in each year! We are Christians! I believe in Christ. I follow Christ and God's Word before anything fallible man has created or constructed or deemed a part and diluted form of said remembrance of His Great Sacrifice for our Sins! Period and end of story! If, like the parables that Christ spoke while on the earth in the flesh is beyond your eyes to see and ears to hear at this time, ask God for guidance and direction as He will always provide! James 1:5
True, man has created several representations that the churches put forth as to why eggs represent Christ's empty tomb, etc., but here is the thing....it's neither Scriptural nor is it historical. Historically, both the eggs and the bunnies are pagan and have nothing what-so-ever to do with Christ's Sacrifice on the Cross. True, I personally could overlook all of this and just "go along to get along" and not cause any waves for folks...after all, most have no clue about the history of all of this nor the many Scriptures of God speaking against these very same pagan rituals....and are in their hearts celebrating Christ's Sacrifice, however misinformed and misguided. The problem lies in the fact that I do know the history and the Scriptures. If you know better, you are supposed to do better. I can explain it like this: If I had a bowl of candy on the kitchen table and told my youngest child that under no circumstances is she to touch or eat any of that candy until I give her some after dinner, but had not instructed my oldest child of such since he was in school. Then later that afternoon both of my children are in the kitchen eating fist fulls of the candy. Who am I going to be most upset with? Yes, my youngest because she knew and understood better. I will still be upset and disappointed with my oldest because he does know to ask first, but I won't be as upset with him as I will my youngest who was just that afternoon instructed otherwise. God our Father is no different in that He has provided us His Word as His instruction to us. It is both His love letter to us as is His rule book as is His direction for us to follow. Us being too busy to read and follow it is not something I as a parent would accept from my children nor as God's child do I want to use as a reason when I face Him on Judgment Day.
It seems folks can get so tied to their church denominations that they forget they are supposed to be Christians first and foremost. We are supposed to be founded in God's Word, not man's word and traditions. In fact Paul taught in Corinthians against the forming of denominations. Certainly, I believe such man made divisions and derisions from God's Word would be more than frowned upon as they are practiced these days....albeit there is nothing "new under the sun" and these times and practices are repeats of the same in Judges, Kings, Chronicles, etc., all documented for our instruction.
I Corinthians 1:9-20 God is faithful, by Whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, "I am Paul"; and "I of Apollos"; and "I of Cephas"; and "I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and Gaius; Lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas: besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
And then there is this: Forgive To Be Forgiven
Moving on to the misfortunes that happen to us in the flesh here and there as we are on this earth. Usually when I hunker down in Bible Study or planting seeds or spreading the Volume of the Book, I also tend to have a little misfortune fall upon me. We all have power over Satan and his evildoers and the flesh through Jesus Christ. We just have to remember to use it! Whether it's a big or little tribulation, through Christ we can overcome anything!
Luke 10:17-20 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, "Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through Thy name." And He said unto them, "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven."
May God Bless You In Study and Practice!
1 comment:
To those of you who read this Post yesterday, I have made some "edits" in deference to the "offenders" so as not to "call them out" so to speak. I further added my sentiment about each walk being one's own with no judgment from me because that is truly how I feel. This site's purpose is not to berate anyone for what they believe yesterday, today, or tomorrow as that is none of my business. I simply wish to share what I have learned and dug out of the Bible for your consideration and hopefully will drive you further into God's Word for you to find out as much as you possibly can for own edification. Truly in God Service to share His Word...not mine! ~Christina
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