Abdicate's Blog

Psalms 1:2-3 (KJV) But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

One who meditates on the word of God day and night is one who occupies their mind on God instead of the what-ifs of life. So if you hear sermons and even memorize the Scriptures, but you don’t meditate, you’ll become like what Jesus said:

Mark 4:18-19 (KJV) And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

So if you meditate (mutter, whisper – הגה – hagah) the word of God throughout the day, you’ll be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. To meditate on this part, you realize that trees live long lives, those with deep roots weather the storms of life. The tree is planted, meaning it’s not just “there” but specifically planted and if planted, then tended. Moreover, there are rivers, plural, for one tree, meaning God’s abundance is more than you’ll ever need. Now this tree will bring about fruit in his season. Before there is fruit, the tree brings about flowers. But a flower cannot bring fruit, but only when a bee pollenates it. The word for bee is דבורה – deborah – and the root of this word is דבר – debar – meaning word, thing, speak, matter, object, pest, message, commandment and guide. The bee is the word of God. This is why you can hear a message and it speaks to you, but someone else hears the same words and it does nothing – the bee (God’s word) did not come to them. When you share God’s word (preach) through the Spirit you are acting like the bee, pollinating people; planting the seed in them, to grow and eventually produce fruit, continuing the cycle. Furthermore, the bee produces honey which in Hebrew is דבש – devash.

Deuteronomy 30:14 (KJV) But the word (debar) is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.

Romans 10:8 (KJV) But what saith it? The word (rhema) is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

Paul quote Deuteronomy and the word in Hebrew is debar, and in Romans it is rhema, meaning utterance.

Jesus used this word rhema in this verse:

Matthew 4:4 (KJV) But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word (rhema) that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

And Paul uses it here:

Romans 10:17 (KJV) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word (rhema) of God.

But how can they hear:

Romans 10:14 (KJV) How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

Now you understand why the Lord says to mutter His word – you are allowing the Holy Spirit to pollinate you!

To continue, the leaf shall not wither. Leaves are green. Trees whose leaves are green year-round are called evergreen. Green in vernacular means new or young – he’s green. Green is also a primary color and most pleasing to the eyes. A leaf brought hope to Noah (Gen 8:11) and fear to the enemy (Lev 26:36) and shall bring forth medicine (Eze 47:12, Rev 22:2) – healing to the nations by bringing the word of God!

Finally – whatsoever he doeth shall prosper! The best idiom is “garbage in, garbage out“. If you focus on the junk of the world, you’ll be filled with the junk of the world. But if you mutter the word of God then you will be able to prosper in life because of the goodness of His word will fill you. Goodness in, goodness out. This is the bread of which Jesus spoke.

The following is recommended reading for Christians who find themselves weak in Spirit. George Mueller opened 117 schools and hosted over 120,000 kids in orphanages. While having never received government support and only accepting unsolicited gifts, his organisation received and disbursed £1,381,171 (£90million in today’s money). Read what he said was the most important act a Christian can do – and it’s not prayer.

Soul Nourishment First

A Booklet by George Mueller

May 9, 1841

It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost, for more than fourteen years.

The point is this:

I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. For I might seek to set the truth before the unconverted, I might seek to benefit believers, I might seek to relieve the distressed, I might in other ways seek to behave myself as it becomes a child of God in this world; and yet, not being happy in the Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit.

Before this time my practice had been, at least for ten years previously, as an habitual thing, to give myself to prayer, after having dressed myself in the morning. Now, I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God, and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, by means of the Word of God, while meditating on it, my heart might be brought into experiential communion with the Lord.

I began therefore to meditate on the New Testament from the beginning, early in the morning. The first thing I did, after having asked in a few words the Lord’s blessing upon his precious Word, was, to begin to meditate on the Word of God, searching as it were into every verse, to get blessing out of it; not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word, not for the sake of preaching on what I had meditated upon, but for the sake of obtaining food for my own soul.

The result I have found to be almost invariably this, that after a very few minutes my soul has been led to confession, or to thanksgiving, or to intercession, or to supplication; so that, though I did not, as it were, give myself to prayer, but to meditation, yet it turned almost immediately more or less into prayer. When thus I have been for a while making confession or intercession, or supplication, or have given thanks, I go to the next words or verse, turning all, as I go on, into prayer for myself or others, as the Word may lead to it, but still continually keeping before me that food for my own soul is the object of my meditation. The result of this is, that there is always a good deal of confession, thanksgiving, supplication, or intercession mingled with my meditation, and then my inner man almost invariably is even sensibly nourished and strengthened, and that by breakfast time, with rare exceptions, I am in a peaceful if not happy state of heart. Thus also the Lord is pleased to communicate unto me that which, either very soon after or at a later time, I have found to become food for other believers, though it was not for the sake of the public ministry of the Word that I gave myself to meditation, but for the profit of my own inner man.

The difference, then, between my former practice and my present one is this:

Formerly, when I rose, I began to pray as soon as possible, and generally spent all my time till breakfast in prayer, or almost all the time. At all events I almost invariably began with prayer, except when I felt my soul to be more than usually barren, in which case I read the Word of God for food, or for refreshment, or for a revival and renewal of my inner man, before I gave myself to prayer.

But what was the result? I often spent a quarter of an hour, or half an hour, or even an hour, on my knees, before being conscious to myself of having derived comfort, encouragement, humbling of soul, etc., and often, after having suffered much from wandering of mind for the first ten minutes, or a quarter of an hour, or even half an hour, I only then began really to pray. I scarcely ever suffer now in this way. For my heart, first being nourished by the truth, being brought into experiential fellowship with God, I then speak to my Father and to my Friend, (vile though I am, and unworthy of it), about the things that He has brought before me in His precious Word.

It often now astonishes me that I did not sooner see this point. In no book did I ever read about it. No public ministry ever brought the matter before me. No private intercourse with a brother stirred me up to this matter. And yet, now, since God has taught me this point, it is as plain to me as anything, that the first thing the child of God has to do morning by morning is, to obtain food for his inner man. As the outward man is not fit for work for any length of time except we take food, and as this is one of the first things we do in the morning, so it should be with the inner man. We should take food for that, as every one must allow.

Now, what is the food for the inner man? Not prayer, but the Word of God; and here again, not the simple reading of the Word of God, so that it only passes through our minds, just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what we read, pondering over it, and applying it to our hearts. When we pray, we speak to God. Now, prayer, in order to be continued for any length of time in any other than a formal manner, requires, generally speaking, a measure of strength or godly desire, and the season, therefore, when this exercise of the soul can be most effectually performed is after the inner man has been nourished by meditation on the Word of God, where we find our Father speaking to us, to encourage us, to comfort us, to instruct us, to humble us, to reprove us. We may therefore profitably meditate, with God’s blessing, though we are ever so weak spiritually; nay, the weaker we are, the more we need meditation for the strengthening of our inner man.

Thus there is far less to be feared from wandering of mind than if we give ourselves to prayer without having had time previously for meditation. I dwell so particularly on this point because of the immense spiritual profit and refreshment I am conscious of having derived from it myself, and I affectionately and solemnly beseech all my fellow believers to ponder this matter. By the blessing of God, I ascribe to this mode the help and strength which I have had from God to pass in peace through deeper trials, in various ways, than I had ever had before; and after having now above fourteen years tried this way, I can most fully, in the fear of God, commend it.

In addition to this I generally read, after family prayer, larger portions of the Word of God, when I still pursue my practice of reading regularly onward in the Holy Scriptures, sometimes in the New Testament, and sometimes in the Old, and for more than twenty-six years I have proved the blessedness of it. I take, also, either then or at other parts of the day, time more especially for prayer. How different, when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what it is when without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day come upon one.

This is what his friend said about George Muller:

Further Recollections Of Mr. Müller

MR. PERRY furnishes also the following reminiscences:

As George Müller was engaged in free, homely conversation with his friends on a Sunday afternoon within about three weeks of his departure to be with the Lord, he referred to two visits he had made during the previous week to two old and beloved friends. He had fully appreciated that, though they were about ten years younger than himself, his power to walk, and specially his power to continue his service for his Lord, was far greater than theirs. So that he playfully said, with a bright smile:

“I came away from both these beloved brethren feeling that I was quite young by comparison as to strength, though so much older,”

and then at once followed an ascription of praise to God for His goodness to him:

“Oh, how very kind and good my heavenly Father has been to me! I have no aches or pains, no rheumatism, and now in my ninety-third year I can do a day’s work at the orphan houses with as much ease and comfort to myself as ever.”

One sentence aptly sets forth a striking feature in his Christian character, viz.:

George Müller, nothing. The Lord Jesus, everything. In himself worse than nothing. By grace, in Christ, the son of the King.

And as such he lived; for all those who knew and loved this beloved and honoured servant of Christ best would testify that his habitual attitude towards the Lord was to treat Him as an ever-present, almighty, loving Friend, whose love was far greater to him than he could ever return, and who delighted in having his entire confidence about everything, and was not only ready at hand to listen to his prayers and praises about great and important matters, but nothing was too small to speak to Him about. So real was this that it was almost impossible to be enjoying the privilege of private, confidential intercourse with him without being conscious that at least to him the Lord was really present. One to whom he turned for counsel, in prayer, or in praise, as freely as most men would to a third person present; and again and again marked answers to prayer have been received in response to petitions thus unitedly presented to the Lord altogether apart from his own special work.

His leaf never faded, he was ever-green!!!

Now see how Jeremiah puts it:

Jeremiah 17:7-8 (KJV) Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

America is clearly born of the Lord just as Israel was and we were used for such a thing. Case in point:

Isaiah 31:4-5 “For thus hath the LORD spoken unto me, Like as the lion and the young lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor abase himself for the noise of them: so shall the LORD of hosts come down to fight for mount Zion, and for the hill thereof. As birds flying, so will the LORD of hosts defend Jerusalem; defending also he will deliver it; and passing over he will preserve it.”

Everyone is familiar with the Wright Brothers’ obsession with flight. They made their first successful flight on 17 December 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. However, not many understand their required failures to fulfill the Lord’s will. For example, when they tried to get the Congress of the United States to purchase their “flyer”, Congress rejected the idea in January 1905. Undaunted, the Wright Brothers turned to Europe and by 1908 had wowed the French. Ironically, due to the threat of the German Zeppelins, both England and France were eager to put “flyers” into the air. When the time came to fight the Ottoman Empire (because they sided with the Germans in World Word I) Britain had airplanes that were unopposed in Egypt and successfully defended the Suez Canal in 1914. When tasked to take Palestine, as the story goes, that while reading his bible, he read the verse in Isaiah. Being a British subject, he knew that the symbol of the Empire is a lion from King Richard the Lion Heart. General Allenby, due to bad weather, flew a lone plane to scout out Jerusalem. Tossing a note to the awestruck Turks (having never seen a plane), told them to surrender. When they saw the signature Allenby, they read it as Allah Nebi, meaning “Prophet of God”! In 1917, not 14 years after the world’s first flight, General Allenby took the city of Jerusalem without firing a shot and walked into Jerusalem on 11 December 1917, the first day of Hanukkah, and on the same day, the Maccabee brothers entered Jerusalem in 165 BC. Clearly, Allenby’s actions of passing over Jerusalem, preserved it!! The Lord used Allenby to fulfill Isaiah 31:4-5!!! Glory to God!!

King Saud wanted assurance that the U.S. would not recognize a Jewish State. In Roosevelt’s own words dated 5 April 1945: President F. Roosevelt said to King Faisal al Suad

Your Majesty will recall that on previous occasions I communicated to you the attitude of the American Government toward Palestine and made clear our desire that no decision be taken with respect to the basic situation in that country without full consultation with both Arabs and Jews. Your Majesty will also doubtless recall that during our recent conversation I assured you that I would take no action, in my capacity as Chief of the Executive Branch of this Government, which might prove hostile to the Arab people.It gives me pleasure to renew to Your Majesty the assurances which you have previously received regarding the attitude of my Government and my own, as Chief Executive, with regard to the question of Palestine and to inform you that the policy of this Government in this respect is unchanged.

Truman’s Declaration of the State of Israel

Exactly a week later, Roosevelt was dead (January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945). God had the last word on this issue. His Vice President was Harry Truman a Baptist Christian who, within six minutes of the declaration of a Jewish state in 1948, recognized the “State of Israel”, writing the name in his own handwriting.

Just as Great Britain was used by God to spread the Gospel throughout the world, the USA was used to give birth to Israel. Shame both have rejected their God! Believe and trust in the Lord and He’ll take care of you.

Call those thing which be not as though they were. Roman 4:17b

What does it mean to call thing that be not as though they were? Prophesy your future. How do you prophesy your future?

1.   Speaking positive things in your life.

2.   Believe what you speak.

3.   Trust in God.

Remember that the Scriptures says, Proverbs 18:21 (KJV) “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. ”

Either you can speak good things upon yourself or you can speak bad things upon yourself.

Whatever you speak believe what you say. Make the Scripture work for you through Jesus Christ:

1.    Philippians 4:13 (KJV) I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

2.    Romans 8:28 (KJV) “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

3.    Isaiah 54:17 (KJV) “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.”

4.    I am a positive encourage. I edify and build up; I never tear down or destroy.  (Romans 15:2)

5.    I am a believer— not a doubter! ( Mark 5:36 )

6.    I love all people, and I am loved by all people (1John 3:14)

7.    I am a responsible person. I enjoy responsibility, and I rise to every responsibility in Christ Jesus. ( 2 Cor. 11:28 ; Phil 4:13 )

8.    I do not speak negative things. ( Eph. 4:29 )

9.    I am an obedient wife (child) and no rebellion operates in me. ( Eph . 5:22,24 1 Sam.15:23 )

10.     I am very prosperity. I prosper in everything I put my hand to do. I have prosperity in all arrears of my life- spiritual, financial, mental, and social. ( Gen. 39:3; Josh 1:18; 3 John 2 )

Isaiah 55:6-13 (KJV) “Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

The Word of God is a vision to those that speak it!!!

Ephesians 3:20a (KJV) “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, …”

Proverbs 15:4 (KJV) “A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.”

The word “wholesome” is מַרפֵּא which literally means “healing” or “cure”. Remove the mem (מ) (meaning “from” or “of”) and you get רפֵּא which means “to cure” or “to heal” or “to make whole” or “restore”. This is the meaning of the name Raphael (רָפֵּאל) “God Heals” (רָפֵּא אל)

Mem’s pictograph is waters. So one could say Proverbs 15:4a can read: “a healing tongue, by the flowing waters from the Holy Spirit, is a tree of life”. Joseph Prince says רפֵּא is “relax” so if we relax in the Spirit, we will be healed.

Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”

John 7:38 (KJV) “He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.”

Proverbs 14:30 (KJV) “A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.”

The word “sound” here is again מַרפֵּא whereas “envy” is like cancer to the bones. JP says that more often than not, arthritis is cause from bitterness. He also says that it’s not what we’re eating, but what’s eating us: anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, worry for tomorrow, to the point we worry when everything’s great!

You could say that a peaceful, tranquil heart is life to the body! A relaxed mind is life to the body.

Philippians 4:6 (KJV) “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

The word “be careful” is the same as “anxious”, to “worry”.

II Timothy 1:7 (KJV) “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

Fear leads to hate…fear births hatred. If you fear God beyond His due respect and awe it’s the wrong kind of fear. If you wrongfully fear your boss, or mother-in-law, you will learn to hate them! In this verse “power” in Greek is dunamis which is the miraculous power – the power that flowed out of Jesus and healed them all and is the word Jesus used when He said who has “touched me: for I perceive dunamis is gone out of me” (Luke 8:46 KJV)! Dunamis is where we get the word dynamite! Love is agape – not just affectionate love, but benevolent understanding love. The love that is I Corinthians 13 love – agape – Godly love. Finally the word for “sound mind” is sophronismos which is translated in all kinds of ways, but the real meaning is “even keeled” “balanced”. One version says that it is “safe and sound in mind and emotions; in proper control of one’s faculties of thoughts and emotions.” Or as JP says  “no stress” and at peace.

Now read II Timothy 1:6 (KJV) “Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.”

“Stir up” is to re-kindle and the “gift” is charisma – which is the gift FROM the Holy Spirit, not the gift (doma) OF the Holy Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit (healing, miracles, prophecies, etc) are charisma! So what charisma is Paul telling Timothy to re-kindle? So lets see what happened when Paul laid his hands on Timothy:

Acts 19:6 (KJV) “And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”

Tongues – the only gift we can call by our will.

Satan is already defeated, so if he comes, don’t “try” and defeat him, he’s already defeated.

It’s one thing pray FOR victory, it’s another to pray FROM victory. It’s one thing to fight FOR victory, it’s another thing to fight FROM victory. One is from a point of view from defeat the other from rest. It’s one thing to TRY to get healed, it’s another to know you are healed, experiencing the symptoms of lies. You are the healed in Christ. Our place is a given, a place of rest in Christ.

Proverbs 16:3 (KJV) “Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established.”

We are not sinners because we sin; we’re sinners because we’re born sinners. I will not white-wash the truth. Here it is. For many years I was very angry at any little thing. Finally, when I stopped and asked God what the deal was, He responded, “You say and do not do. You do not obey Me, you do not trust me that your life is Mine. Trust and Obey.” Peace comes from God so that no matter what happens to us, we shall not be moved. The answer to the question of sin is Repent! Change your mind – change your thinking – literally in the Greek. That means cease from your disobedience and when you do, God shall restore peace to you. Confess every fault with your mouth and He will be faithful to hear you. Cease your unrighteousness and He will restore you. That’s what I had to learn.

Philippians 2:12-13 (KJV)  Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

Romans 8:1-2 (KJV)  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

It is hard work, but doable only through the guidance of the Holy Spirit. First you must captivate every thought and put it in its place, either put it out, or store it for meditation. Here’s the scripture:

Romans 12:1-2 (KJV)  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

What is the knowledge of God? Scripture. How do we do this capture? By being aware what goes on in our thoughts. It will take hard work to not have a lazy passive mind. Then what? So you captivate your thoughts, then what do you think about? Whatsoever things are pure…here are some verses:

Philippians 4:6-8 (KJV)  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Romans 10:17 (KJV) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Now that you have your thoughts under control and your faith grows so will your trust in God in being in control over your life.

I John 2:24-29 (KJV) Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

Without faith it is impossible to please Him and you will not have peace until then. The need for faith arises from issues in our lives.

 James 1:3-4 (KJV) Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

1Peter 4:17-19 (KJV) For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Surrender your past and start new, even today. His mercies are new every morning.

 Lamentations 3:21-26 (KJV) This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD.

I Peter 1:6-9 (KJV) Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

Blessings on your journey.

Someone asked:

Why does God need people to make his arguments for him? Why can’t he just reveal his true self, clearly and unequivocally, and settle the question once and for all? If God existed, why wouldn’t it just be obvious?

In a word: faith. True biblical Christianity requires faith. There is absolutely nothing we can do to please God except to have faith and trust in Him and Him alone. All religions except biblical Christianity require you to DO something to earn whatever. We can do NOTHING to get to heaven except to have faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross. No more, no less. We are sinners not because we sin, but because we are born that way. No hope except what Jesus did. He Who had no sin, gave us who have no righteousness, innocence. It’s called grace – unmerited favor. Faith.

I’m no judge, nor do I judge you. We are all taught/learn however the information is presented. As with any organization – business, church, government – they are run by people and they’ll ruin it. They can’t help it. If you wish to put a label on me, think of it this way: I’m a road sign on the road of your life – heed it, don’t heed it. You won’t know if that sign was accurate until you get to the destination. If I say the bridge is out ahead and you ignore me you suffer the consequences. I would rather believe in God and be wrong, than to find out there is a God and not having accepted His free gift. God never wants anyone to go to hell, but our destination is completely every mans choice.

In all my writings I warn everyone to do their own homework and not take my word for it. However I find people with deep convictions suffer from cognitive dissonance, the same condition some suffer when a crisis occurs called normalcy bias and can’t understand even if they study the subject in question. Even the Scriptures point this out: “If our good news is hid, it is hid to them that are lost.” Vain philosophies explain away the truth. 1+1=2, but philosophy says 1+1=1: 1 fox + 1 chicken = 1 satisfied fox. They say, using this formula, that truth then is relative. Yet truth has no agenda. Pilot asked Jesus, “What is truth?” Communist Russia named their paper Pravda – truth – but did they reveal the truth. So let’s turn to mathematics. The Greek mathematician Pythagoras declared that numbers were the basic elements of the universe. Plato said that numbers and mathematical laws are ethereal ideals, existing outside of space and time in a realm beyond the reach of humankind. The physicist Eugene Wigner once said the failure to explain rationally the “unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics, an enormous gap in human understanding.” So how smart does one need to become to write one verse, the very first verse, of the bible into an amazing mathematical enigma? If you understand math, then you’ll see it for yourself here http://www.whatabeginning.com/Misc/Wonders/P.htm

Finally, the single most proof of God’s existence beyond the math is prophecy. Don’t confuse fortune telling with prophecy. Prophecy can only come from God and will NEVER EVER be wrong. 150 years before Israel’s captivity to Babylon, Isaiah named the leader who would let them go home – Cyrus. When he was shown this, he let them go. You could call it a manipulation of the fact, but they were only in captivity 70 years – which was also prophesied by Isaiah. They were free to leave in the 70th year of their captivity. There is no denying that Israel ceased to exist (70 AD) and its population scattered to the four winds (~135 AD). Yet even before they were scattered they were told they would be born in a day. The first nation elected into existence by the world was Israel in a U.N. vote on May 14, 1948. In the OT the shekel was used as a measure of weight, yet the bible says in the last days they would use the shekel as money. Just last month they renamed their currency to “Shekel” from “New Israeli Shekel”. The bible also says that Jerusalem would be divided and one day the west part of the city would be united to the east. From its founding to 1948 it was united, then split in the war of independence, and reunited in 1967. So you say “those are all coincidences” so here’s one yet to be fulfilled: Troubles at night and by morning Damascus will cease to be a city. Written some 3500 years ago, Damascus is one of, if not the oldest inhabited city in the world – conquered yes, but still a city. Here’s another: a temple will be built in Jerusalem without the outer court and the sacrifices will resume (having been stopped in 70AD) and run for only 1150 days and be stopped.

Here’s a mathematical impossibility: God told Israel through Moses that the 9th of Av (Jewish month) would be a continual time of mourning for them.

• The first (29 July 587 BC) and second (4 Aug 70 AD) temples were destroyed on 9 Av;
• Jerusalem was plowed under with salt on 9 Av (25 July 71 AD);
• the last resistance of Israel to the Romans was destroyed on 9 Av (5 Aug 135 AD);
• Pope Urban II began the teaching evil towards the Jews igniting the first Crusades in the month of Av throughout France;
• England expelled the Jews on 9 Av (18 July 1290 AD);
• France expelled the Jews on 10 Av (22 July 1306 AD);
• Spain expelled the Jews on 8 Av (31 July 1492);
• World War I France to Germany and Germany to Russia declared war on 9 Av (1 August 1914);
• three days earlier Russia expelled the Jews on 6 Av (29 July 1914 remember “Fiddler on the Roof”);
• the Germans began a systematic liquidation of the Ghetto on 8 Av (22 July 1942);
• In response to their treatment, a revolt occur in the Ghetto and on 9 Av (10 August 1943) the Germans “cleansed” the Ghetto – no more Jews in Warsaw…

You can ignore these facts, but you cannot deny God’s promise to a people whose calendar is only unique to them and yet the world acts wrongly towards them on that day.

While here on earth Jesus only did what the Holy Spirit told Him to do. That very same Spirit lives within us and we too are to walk in His shoes. He had to learn obedience and didn’t know when He’d return.

Hebrews 5:8-10 (KJV) Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.

Mark 13:32 (KJV) But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

So, just as Jesus is, so are we, today, now, here on earth:

1 John 4:17 (KJV) Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

John 7:38-39 (KJV) He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Ever wonder why the Spirit couldn’t be given? Because Jesus hadn’t yet died for our sins. He presented Himself as our Holy Sacrifice when He ascended to the Father. Once that happened the Holy Spirit was given to us – He cannot exist in an unholy temple, of which we are now righteous by His blood and the temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore we have the ability to live like Jesus did, be guided by the Holy Spirit like Jesus did, and through His power we glorify God with our lives, which is why “as He is, so are we in this world”, and what is that? Righteous!