THEOPHILUS (The.oph'i.lus, means "friend of God"), is the name of the entity to whom Luke addressed both in his Gospel and the Acts of Apostles. His being called "most excellent" indicate a high position of some kind. This entity has been informed orally about Jesus Christ and his mission. Luke's written statement served to assure him of the certainty of what he had learned previously by a sincere word of mouth.
Luke1 "Dear Teophilus: Many people have done their best to write a report of the things that have taken place among us. They wrote what we have been told by those who saw these things from the beginning and who proclaimed the message.
And so, Your Excellency, because I have carefully studied all these matters from their beginning, I thought it would be good to write an orderly account for you. I do this so that you will know the full truth about everything which you have been taught.
The name Luke appears three times in the New Testament, Col.4; 2Tim.4; Phlm24. He is identified as a companion of Paul, also as a fellow worker and as a missionary colleague.
Like the others New Testament Gospels, Luke and Acts are anonymous documents. Even when involved in first person narration, the writer identifies himself not as an individual with a name, but as one of a group.
Luke was with Paul at Troas on the apostle's second missionary tour and accompanied him from there to Philippi and remained there until Paul's return on his third missionary journey. Luke accompanied Paul to Palestine at the end of that missionary journey and, while the apostle was imprisoned for about two years in Caesarea, Luke wrote his account there. Then he accompanied Paul on his trip to Rome for trial, likely completing the Book of Acts in Rome, since it covers events down to that event but does not record the outcome of Paul's appeal to Caesar.
Luke joined Paul in sending greetings to believers at Colossae when Paul wrote to them from Rome and the apostle identified him as "the beloved physician."
Luke is one of those souls to whom inspired utterances were entrusted.
Thursday, 30 July 2015
THE SPIRIT NAMED "BLESSING."
A Blessing is a request of God for the bestowal of divine favor. In the Scriptures, the various forms of blessings occur about 400 times.
The spirit of the name "blessing" in his Hebrew form is found in the name of the Low Plain, lying between Bethlehem and Hebron, the Low Plain of Beracah.
It was here in the midst of this place that Jehoshaphat (God is Judge) and his people blessed the God of Israel. This Valley runs E-W, connecting the hill country of Judah with the wilderness area West of the Salt Sea.
Jehoshaphat maintained peace with the Northern Kingdom and formed a marriage alliance with Ahab after the marriage of his firstborn Jehoram to Ahab's daughter Athaliah. Later Jehoshaphat became partner to King Ahaziah, Ahab's successor, in shipbuilding enterprise at Ezion-geber on the Gulf of Aqabah. God, the God of Israel disapproval of this maritime alliance was shown with the ships' wreck.
Sometime after this, Jehoshaphat joined Ahaziah's successor, Jehoram, and the king of Edom in a military offensive to put down Moabite King Mesha's revolt against the ten-tribe kingdom. But the armies of the alliance became entrapped in a waterless wilderness. Only out of regard for Jehoshaphat (God is Judge) did the prophet Elisha seek divine inspiration and his subsequent advice saved the three kings and their armies from disaster. Also during his reign God delivered Judah and Jerusalem from the combined forces of Ammon (souls descended from Lot through his younger daughter), Moab (souls descended from Lot through his older daughter), and Edom (souls descended from Isaac through Esau).
Following the miraculous victory over the combined forces, Jehosshaphat then congregated the people at the Low Plain of Beracah ("blessing"), and there all of them blessed the God of Israel. Because through His Power the enemies got confused and ended up slaughtering one another. 2 Chron. 20.
Also, the name Beracah appears symbolically in the soul of one of the mighty men skilled in the use of the bow, from the tribe of Benjamin, who joined up with David at Ziklag. The place, as originally assigned, was a Simeonite enclave city in South Judah. Later Ziklag was under Philistine control. A
Achish king of Gath, gave it to the fugitive David as a place of residence ( and it thereafter became the possession of Judah's kings). The Amalekites (descendants from Amalek, the son of Esau's firstborn Eliphaz, by his concubine Timna. Esau's grandson Amalek, was one of the 14 sheiks of Edom) raided and burned the city, taking captives, including David's wives Ahinoam and Abigail. After defeating the marauders and recovering the captives and things taken, David, from Ziklag, sent some of the spoil of battle to his friends, older men of Judah in various cities. At this point, many armed mighty men, including Beracah ("blessing") joined David and there, at Ziklag, he received news of King Saul's death.
Another reason for man to bless God is the for the gift of salvation through his son Jesus Christ. Elizabeth (God is an oath), the God-fearing wife of the priest Zechariah, and she herself was of the priestly family of Aaron, and mother of John The Baptist, blessed Jesus' mother Mary and the yet unborn fruit of her womb.
Both Elizabeth and her husband were well along in years when the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah in the Holy of the temple and announced that, in answer to his supplications, she would give birth to a son who was to be called John. Upon becoming pregnant, Elizabeth kept herself secluded for 5 months. In the 6th month of her pregnancy she was visited by her relative Mary. On that occasion the unborn John leaped in his mother's womb, and Elizabeth filled with holy spirit, blessed Mary and the fruit of her womb, calling her "the mother of my Lord." Luke 1.
The spirit of the name "blessing" in his Hebrew form is found in the name of the Low Plain, lying between Bethlehem and Hebron, the Low Plain of Beracah.
It was here in the midst of this place that Jehoshaphat (God is Judge) and his people blessed the God of Israel. This Valley runs E-W, connecting the hill country of Judah with the wilderness area West of the Salt Sea.
Jehoshaphat maintained peace with the Northern Kingdom and formed a marriage alliance with Ahab after the marriage of his firstborn Jehoram to Ahab's daughter Athaliah. Later Jehoshaphat became partner to King Ahaziah, Ahab's successor, in shipbuilding enterprise at Ezion-geber on the Gulf of Aqabah. God, the God of Israel disapproval of this maritime alliance was shown with the ships' wreck.
Sometime after this, Jehoshaphat joined Ahaziah's successor, Jehoram, and the king of Edom in a military offensive to put down Moabite King Mesha's revolt against the ten-tribe kingdom. But the armies of the alliance became entrapped in a waterless wilderness. Only out of regard for Jehoshaphat (God is Judge) did the prophet Elisha seek divine inspiration and his subsequent advice saved the three kings and their armies from disaster. Also during his reign God delivered Judah and Jerusalem from the combined forces of Ammon (souls descended from Lot through his younger daughter), Moab (souls descended from Lot through his older daughter), and Edom (souls descended from Isaac through Esau).
Following the miraculous victory over the combined forces, Jehosshaphat then congregated the people at the Low Plain of Beracah ("blessing"), and there all of them blessed the God of Israel. Because through His Power the enemies got confused and ended up slaughtering one another. 2 Chron. 20.
Also, the name Beracah appears symbolically in the soul of one of the mighty men skilled in the use of the bow, from the tribe of Benjamin, who joined up with David at Ziklag. The place, as originally assigned, was a Simeonite enclave city in South Judah. Later Ziklag was under Philistine control. A
Achish king of Gath, gave it to the fugitive David as a place of residence ( and it thereafter became the possession of Judah's kings). The Amalekites (descendants from Amalek, the son of Esau's firstborn Eliphaz, by his concubine Timna. Esau's grandson Amalek, was one of the 14 sheiks of Edom) raided and burned the city, taking captives, including David's wives Ahinoam and Abigail. After defeating the marauders and recovering the captives and things taken, David, from Ziklag, sent some of the spoil of battle to his friends, older men of Judah in various cities. At this point, many armed mighty men, including Beracah ("blessing") joined David and there, at Ziklag, he received news of King Saul's death.
Another reason for man to bless God is the for the gift of salvation through his son Jesus Christ. Elizabeth (God is an oath), the God-fearing wife of the priest Zechariah, and she herself was of the priestly family of Aaron, and mother of John The Baptist, blessed Jesus' mother Mary and the yet unborn fruit of her womb.
Both Elizabeth and her husband were well along in years when the angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah in the Holy of the temple and announced that, in answer to his supplications, she would give birth to a son who was to be called John. Upon becoming pregnant, Elizabeth kept herself secluded for 5 months. In the 6th month of her pregnancy she was visited by her relative Mary. On that occasion the unborn John leaped in his mother's womb, and Elizabeth filled with holy spirit, blessed Mary and the fruit of her womb, calling her "the mother of my Lord." Luke 1.
Wednesday, 29 July 2015
THINGS UNSEEN ARE ETERNAL.
Paul says in 2 Cor.1: "... Boast in the testimony of our conscience (soul) that we have behaved in the world ... with holiness and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God...It is God who establishes us (in the spirit world) with you in Christ, and has commissioned us (for the job); he has put his seal upon us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee."
"Thanks be to God, who in Christ always lead us (our souls) in triumph, and through us spreads the (spiritual) fragrance of the knowledge of him (in our hearts) everywhere. For we (our souls) are the (spiritual) aroma of Christ to God among those (souls) who are being saved and among those who are perishing." 2 Cor. 14-16
"...Do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation (worldly ethics)...? You yourselves (your souls) are our letter of recommendation, written on your hearts, to be known and read by all men; and you (in your heart) show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 2 Cor. 3: 1-3.
Let us use an analogy to explain how these things work in the spirit world. Imagine the Ocean as a whole realm representing the souls; then imagine filling test tubes airtight and water tight being dropped into this vast ocean. The filled test tubes are part of a whole, and unless some outside force liberates them, they are unable to freed themselves from the vast ocean and will remain trapped in an effective prison. This same way the soul is placed in the human body.
Soul and Body can be destroyed as it is mentioned in Matthew 10:5 "These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, 'Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel... 10:16"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 10:17 Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the councils, and flog you in their synagogues, 10:18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear Testimony before them and the Gentiles. 10:19 When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; 10:20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ..."
10:26 So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 10:27 What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops. 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
The soul express also the desire of the heart. The one that fills him and then occupies him in achieving its goal. Proverbs 13:2, for example, says of those dealing treacherously that 'their very soul is violence' and become the personification of violence itself. Also Israel's false shepherds are called 'dogs strong in soul' (full desire), who have known no satisfaction. Prov.23:1; Habb.2:5.
"Thanks be to God, who in Christ always lead us (our souls) in triumph, and through us spreads the (spiritual) fragrance of the knowledge of him (in our hearts) everywhere. For we (our souls) are the (spiritual) aroma of Christ to God among those (souls) who are being saved and among those who are perishing." 2 Cor. 14-16
"...Do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation (worldly ethics)...? You yourselves (your souls) are our letter of recommendation, written on your hearts, to be known and read by all men; and you (in your heart) show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. 2 Cor. 3: 1-3.
Let us use an analogy to explain how these things work in the spirit world. Imagine the Ocean as a whole realm representing the souls; then imagine filling test tubes airtight and water tight being dropped into this vast ocean. The filled test tubes are part of a whole, and unless some outside force liberates them, they are unable to freed themselves from the vast ocean and will remain trapped in an effective prison. This same way the soul is placed in the human body.
Soul and Body can be destroyed as it is mentioned in Matthew 10:5 "These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, 'Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel... 10:16"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 10:17 Beware of men; for they will deliver you up to the councils, and flog you in their synagogues, 10:18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear Testimony before them and the Gentiles. 10:19 When they deliver you up, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour; 10:20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ..."
10:26 So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 10:27 What I tell you in the dark, utter in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim upon the housetops. 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
The soul express also the desire of the heart. The one that fills him and then occupies him in achieving its goal. Proverbs 13:2, for example, says of those dealing treacherously that 'their very soul is violence' and become the personification of violence itself. Also Israel's false shepherds are called 'dogs strong in soul' (full desire), who have known no satisfaction. Prov.23:1; Habb.2:5.
THE SPIRIT OF STUBBORNNESS.
The basic meaning that convey the spirit of this word in hardness, especially in a bad sense. In Biblical usage the spirit of this word is often use as a deliberately refusal to comply with God's will or commands. We can see in Psalms 78 how this spirit is at work:
"Give ear, O my people, to my teaching ... I will utter dark sayings from of old... tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders which he has wrought. He established a Testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children; that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn ... so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose SPIRIT WAS NOT FAITHFUL TO GOD."
The E'phraimites (meaning: "be fertil"; second son of Joseph in Egypt), armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle. They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.
In the sight of their fathers he wrought marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zo'an. He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light. He cleft rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down like rivers. Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, 'Can God spread a table in the wilderness? He smote the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread, or provide meat for his people?'
Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob (established spirit of testimony), his anger mounted against Israel (appointed law); because they had no faith in God, and did not trust his saving power.
Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven; and he rained down upon them manna to eat, and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance. He caused the East Wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the South Wind, he rained flesh upon them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas; he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their habitations. And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved, while the food was still in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them and he slew the strongest of them, and laid low the picked men of Israel.
In spite of all this they still sinned; despite his wonders they did not believe. So He made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror. ... Their heart was not steadfast toward Him; they were not true to his covenant. ... They flattered Him with their mouths; they lied to Him with their tongues.
In his dealings with humankind, the God of Israel has patiently allowed individuals and nations, although deserving of death, to continue in existence. Whereas some have responded favorably to this by putting themselves in line for receiving the spirit of mercy, others have hardened their hearts allowing the spirit of stubbornness to control them to an even greater degree against God and against his people. Since God does not prevent persons from becoming stubborn instead He is spoken of as "letting them become obstinate" or "making their hearts hard." When He finally does execute His wrath upon the stubborn ones, this results in a demonstration of His great power and causes His Name to be declared.
"Give ear, O my people, to my teaching ... I will utter dark sayings from of old... tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders which he has wrought. He established a Testimony in Jacob, and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children; that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn ... so that they should set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments; and that they should not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation whose heart was not steadfast, whose SPIRIT WAS NOT FAITHFUL TO GOD."
The E'phraimites (meaning: "be fertil"; second son of Joseph in Egypt), armed with the bow, turned back on the day of battle. They did not keep God's covenant, but refused to walk according to his law.
In the sight of their fathers he wrought marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zo'an. He divided the sea and let them pass through it, and made the waters stand like a heap. In the daytime he led them with a cloud, and all the night with a fiery light. He cleft rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down like rivers. Yet they sinned still more against him, rebelling against the Most High in the desert. They tested God in their heart by demanding the food they craved. They spoke against God, saying, 'Can God spread a table in the wilderness? He smote the rock so that water gushed out and streams overflowed. Can he also give bread, or provide meat for his people?'
Therefore, when the Lord heard, he was full of wrath; a fire was kindled against Jacob (established spirit of testimony), his anger mounted against Israel (appointed law); because they had no faith in God, and did not trust his saving power.
Yet he commanded the skies above, and opened the doors of heaven; and he rained down upon them manna to eat, and gave them the grain of heaven. Man ate of the bread of the angels; he sent them food in abundance. He caused the East Wind to blow in the heavens, and by his power he led out the South Wind, he rained flesh upon them like dust, winged birds like the sand of the seas; he let them fall in the midst of their camp, all around their habitations. And they ate and were well filled, for he gave them what they craved, while the food was still in their mouths, the anger of God rose against them and he slew the strongest of them, and laid low the picked men of Israel.
In spite of all this they still sinned; despite his wonders they did not believe. So He made their days vanish like a breath, and their years in terror. ... Their heart was not steadfast toward Him; they were not true to his covenant. ... They flattered Him with their mouths; they lied to Him with their tongues.
In his dealings with humankind, the God of Israel has patiently allowed individuals and nations, although deserving of death, to continue in existence. Whereas some have responded favorably to this by putting themselves in line for receiving the spirit of mercy, others have hardened their hearts allowing the spirit of stubbornness to control them to an even greater degree against God and against his people. Since God does not prevent persons from becoming stubborn instead He is spoken of as "letting them become obstinate" or "making their hearts hard." When He finally does execute His wrath upon the stubborn ones, this results in a demonstration of His great power and causes His Name to be declared.
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
THE BOTTOMLESS PIT.
Pits were recognized in the ancient world as a source of danger. They were used symbolically to describe the destruction awaiting those who turn to evil, those who concoct evil plots that, without realizing, they will fall into the very pit they have dug, by using their mouth as a tool or the pit created by divine judgment.
In biblical sources they are use to symbolizes the natural formation of evil in the heart of men and how it is tested through human action as a response to it. In Psalm 3, David describes it with vivid words, in this case David is the symbolization of the church being attack by the forces of evil using the wrongness of David's action in a moment of weakness:
"O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor chasten me in your wrath ...O Lord heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is sorely troubled ... Turn, O lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of You; in Sheol who can give you praise?
I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my coach with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief, it grows weak because of all my foes. Depart from me, all you workers of evil; for the lord has heard the sound of my weeping." Psalm 6: 1-8
When we win the battle then we are worthy to attain resurrection from the dead (bottomless pit) and never die again as it is said by Jesus in Luke 20: 34- 36: "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection."
The Bottomless Pit is a synonym for Sheol, the place of the dead, as David mention it in Psalm 15: 9-10: "Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also dwells secure. For You do not give me up to Sheol, or let your godly one see the Pit. You do show me the path of life; in Your presence there is fulness of joy, in your right hand are pleasures for evermore." Also in Proverbs 1:8-12 Solomon describe the actions that form the symbolic bottomless pit: "Hear, my son, your father's instruction (God as a spiritual Father), and reject not your mother's teaching (Jesus' teachings as a head of the church); for they are a fair garland for your head, and pendants for your neck. My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, 'Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood (heart, soul and body are vulnerable to evil forces), let us wantonly ambush the innocent; like Sheol let us swallow them alive and whole, like those who go down the Pit."
The Bottomless Pit is also used symbolically for the source of the destruction of the earth and the location of demons and the devil as we can see in the narrative in Revelation 9: 1-11 "And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key of the shaft of the Bottomless Pit; he opened the shaft of the Bottomless Pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun (fertility power) and the air (breath of life) were darkened with the smoke from the shaft."
"Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth; they were told not to harm the grass (Job 5:25 Eliphaz promises Job that his descendants would be as numerous as the grass of the earth) of the earth or any green growth (Gen.1:30 God gives every green plant for food to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air; and in Gen.9 God blessed Noah and delivered every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and everything that creeps on the ground into his hand, and every moving thing that lives as food, as the way He gave the green plants) or any tree (Gen.2:9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight) , but only those of mankind who have not the seal of God upon their foreheads; they (the scorpions) were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torture was like the torture of a scorpion, when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death will fly from them."
"In appearance the locusts were like horses arrayed for battle; on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. They have tails like scorpions, and stings, and their power of hurting men for five months lies in their tails. They have as king over them the angel of the Bottomless Pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apol'lyon. Rev. 9: 1-11.
In biblical sources they are use to symbolizes the natural formation of evil in the heart of men and how it is tested through human action as a response to it. In Psalm 3, David describes it with vivid words, in this case David is the symbolization of the church being attack by the forces of evil using the wrongness of David's action in a moment of weakness:
"O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor chasten me in your wrath ...O Lord heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is sorely troubled ... Turn, O lord, save my life; deliver me for the sake of your steadfast love. For in death there is no remembrance of You; in Sheol who can give you praise?
I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my coach with my weeping. My eye wastes away because of grief, it grows weak because of all my foes. Depart from me, all you workers of evil; for the lord has heard the sound of my weeping." Psalm 6: 1-8
When we win the battle then we are worthy to attain resurrection from the dead (bottomless pit) and never die again as it is said by Jesus in Luke 20: 34- 36: "The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection."
The Bottomless Pit is a synonym for Sheol, the place of the dead, as David mention it in Psalm 15: 9-10: "Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also dwells secure. For You do not give me up to Sheol, or let your godly one see the Pit. You do show me the path of life; in Your presence there is fulness of joy, in your right hand are pleasures for evermore." Also in Proverbs 1:8-12 Solomon describe the actions that form the symbolic bottomless pit: "Hear, my son, your father's instruction (God as a spiritual Father), and reject not your mother's teaching (Jesus' teachings as a head of the church); for they are a fair garland for your head, and pendants for your neck. My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, 'Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood (heart, soul and body are vulnerable to evil forces), let us wantonly ambush the innocent; like Sheol let us swallow them alive and whole, like those who go down the Pit."
The Bottomless Pit is also used symbolically for the source of the destruction of the earth and the location of demons and the devil as we can see in the narrative in Revelation 9: 1-11 "And the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth, and he was given the key of the shaft of the Bottomless Pit; he opened the shaft of the Bottomless Pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun (fertility power) and the air (breath of life) were darkened with the smoke from the shaft."
"Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth; they were told not to harm the grass (Job 5:25 Eliphaz promises Job that his descendants would be as numerous as the grass of the earth) of the earth or any green growth (Gen.1:30 God gives every green plant for food to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air; and in Gen.9 God blessed Noah and delivered every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and everything that creeps on the ground into his hand, and every moving thing that lives as food, as the way He gave the green plants) or any tree (Gen.2:9 And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight) , but only those of mankind who have not the seal of God upon their foreheads; they (the scorpions) were allowed to torture them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torture was like the torture of a scorpion, when it stings a man. And in those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will long to die, and death will fly from them."
"In appearance the locusts were like horses arrayed for battle; on their heads were what looked like crowns of gold; their faces were like human faces, their hair like women's hair, and their teeth like lions' teeth; they had scales like iron breastplates, and the noise of their wings was like the noise of many chariots with horses rushing into battle. They have tails like scorpions, and stings, and their power of hurting men for five months lies in their tails. They have as king over them the angel of the Bottomless Pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apol'lyon. Rev. 9: 1-11.
Monday, 27 July 2015
THE NATURE OF THE SOUL
What precisely is the soul? It designates the life force of living creatures. In Genesis 2:4 we have the description of how it started: "In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens 2:5 when no plant of the field was yet in the earth (no activity yet) and no herb of the field had yet sprang up -for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to till the ground; 2:6 but a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the ground- 2:7 then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being."
Far from referring simply to one aspect of a person, "soul" refers to the whole being. It is the seat of the emotions. The center of both the joy of life in God and the desire of evil in a wicked heart.
Genesis 2:8 And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the East; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it.
In the parable of the rich young fool in Luke 12:16-20 we see clearly how Jesus make a clear explanation of the life force.
Luke 12: 16"The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; 12:17 and he thought to himself, 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' 12:18 And he said, 'I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 12:19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be marry.' 12:20 But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?' 12:21 So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." 9:25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the world and loses or forfeits himself? 12:4 "I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. 12:5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed the body, has power to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear him!
As to the immortality of souls, the clearest biblical example is found in Revelation 20: 4-6 Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom judgment was committed. Also I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony to Jesus and for the word of God, and who had not worshipped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands.
YIN and YANG PHILOSOPHY.
Yin and Yang are the oppositional balancing forces. The interrelation and mutual dependence of Dark Yin and Light Yang are represented in all traditional chinese philosophy.
Yang energy, hard, strong, assertive, initiating male force, encompasses everything. The images of a bright fire, the sun, the exterior and the upper of these expanding Yang energy demonstrate the power that it compels. Yang makes all the strength and power of heaven available to you through your own initiative and spiritual progress. It helps you to lead, act, impel, move, in other words it means "to do."
Yin is the balancing principle to Yang. Yin represent water, moon, lower, inner, female, dark, soft, moist. It is the earth below heaven, darkness illuminated by light, an ear filled with talk.
Yin energy provides the fertile ground for the initiative impulses of the universe. It enables you to assist, to follow, to complete, to listen, to renounce agendas, and receive answers. Yin spreads your nurture, so power will come to your open arms, in other words it means "to be."
Based on the idea that the universe is dualistic by nature. Yin and Yang resonate together. When one of them is out of balance, clashes and conflicts arise.
The chinese philosophy holds that you can balance your Yin-Yang energy with the food you eat in terms of emotionally and physical background. The first step is to assess your own personal balance of Yin-Yang energy. Then you will find out which spiritual and physical foods you need to rebalance. Yin foods can cool you down and help you to relax. When you have too much watery Yin energy your body feels damp or depleted. In the other hand, when your body feel too warm, dry, or congested indicates excess of the fiery Yang energy.
In Psalm 69, written by David, he describes the lack of balance of his own nature by these words:
"Save me, O God! For the waters (Yin energy) have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.
More in numbers than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore?
Oh God, You know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. Let not those who hope in You be put to shame through me, O Lord of hosts; let not those who seek You be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel. Psalm 69: 1-6.
Yin and Yang as opposing forces keep the world in balance. The whole range of ingredients that nature provides promote the equilibrium and the holistic nourishment of mind body and spirit.
Yang energy, hard, strong, assertive, initiating male force, encompasses everything. The images of a bright fire, the sun, the exterior and the upper of these expanding Yang energy demonstrate the power that it compels. Yang makes all the strength and power of heaven available to you through your own initiative and spiritual progress. It helps you to lead, act, impel, move, in other words it means "to do."
Yin is the balancing principle to Yang. Yin represent water, moon, lower, inner, female, dark, soft, moist. It is the earth below heaven, darkness illuminated by light, an ear filled with talk.
Yin energy provides the fertile ground for the initiative impulses of the universe. It enables you to assist, to follow, to complete, to listen, to renounce agendas, and receive answers. Yin spreads your nurture, so power will come to your open arms, in other words it means "to be."
Based on the idea that the universe is dualistic by nature. Yin and Yang resonate together. When one of them is out of balance, clashes and conflicts arise.
The chinese philosophy holds that you can balance your Yin-Yang energy with the food you eat in terms of emotionally and physical background. The first step is to assess your own personal balance of Yin-Yang energy. Then you will find out which spiritual and physical foods you need to rebalance. Yin foods can cool you down and help you to relax. When you have too much watery Yin energy your body feels damp or depleted. In the other hand, when your body feel too warm, dry, or congested indicates excess of the fiery Yang energy.
In Psalm 69, written by David, he describes the lack of balance of his own nature by these words:
"Save me, O God! For the waters (Yin energy) have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.
More in numbers than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore?
Oh God, You know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. Let not those who hope in You be put to shame through me, O Lord of hosts; let not those who seek You be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel. Psalm 69: 1-6.
Yin and Yang as opposing forces keep the world in balance. The whole range of ingredients that nature provides promote the equilibrium and the holistic nourishment of mind body and spirit.
HARD CORE SUFFERING and the LOVE OF GOD.
Romans 5:4 We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that Suffering produce Endurance, and Endurance produce Character, and Character produce Hope, and Hope does not disappoint us.
Genesis 16:1 Now Sar'ai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian maid (symbol of the world's law) whose name was Hagar; and Sar'ai said to Abram, "Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my maid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her (law)." And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sar'ai. 16:3 So, after Abram had dwelt Ten Years in the Land of Canaan, Sar'ai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian (putting her [the law] under him), her maid, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 16:5 And Sar'ai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be on you!"
Isaiah 54:1 "Sing, O barren one, who did not bear (Sar'ai, Abram's wife did the opposite to it); break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in travail! For the children (of the law) of the desolate one will be more (without faith) than the children of her that is married, says the Lord."
Isaiah 54:2 "Enlarge the place of your tent (spiritual mind), and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out (subconscious mind); hold not back (let it go freely), lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. 54:3 For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left (East and West in the invisible world), and your descendants will possess the nations and will people (strengthen in faith) the desolate cities."
Isaiah 54:4 "Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth (sin of the flesh), and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. 54:5 For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of (spiritual) Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called."
Isaiah 54:6 "For the Lord has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God."
Isaiah 54:7 "For a brief moment a forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you."54:8"In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer."
Genesis 3:17 And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife ... cursed is the ground because of you."
Romans 5:12 Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned 5:13 -sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
Genesis 6:1 When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, 6:2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took to wife such of them as they choose. 6:3 Then the Lord said, "My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years."6:5 The Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his hard was only evil continually. 6:6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 6:7 So the Lord said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Isaiah 54:9 "For this is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah (uncontrolled power of man's heart) should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you and will not rebuke you. 54:10 For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you."
Genesis 16:1 Now Sar'ai, Abram's wife, bore him no children. She had an Egyptian maid (symbol of the world's law) whose name was Hagar; and Sar'ai said to Abram, "Behold now, the Lord has prevented me from bearing children; go in to my maid; it may be that I shall obtain children by her (law)." And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sar'ai. 16:3 So, after Abram had dwelt Ten Years in the Land of Canaan, Sar'ai, Abram's wife, took Hagar the Egyptian (putting her [the law] under him), her maid, and gave her to Abram her husband as a wife. And he went in to Hagar, and she conceived, and when she saw that she had conceived, she looked with contempt on her mistress. 16:5 And Sar'ai said to Abram, "May the wrong done to me be on you!"
Isaiah 54:1 "Sing, O barren one, who did not bear (Sar'ai, Abram's wife did the opposite to it); break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in travail! For the children (of the law) of the desolate one will be more (without faith) than the children of her that is married, says the Lord."
Isaiah 54:2 "Enlarge the place of your tent (spiritual mind), and let the curtains of your habitations be stretched out (subconscious mind); hold not back (let it go freely), lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. 54:3 For you will spread abroad to the right and to the left (East and West in the invisible world), and your descendants will possess the nations and will people (strengthen in faith) the desolate cities."
Isaiah 54:4 "Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth (sin of the flesh), and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. 54:5 For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of (spiritual) Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called."
Isaiah 54:6 "For the Lord has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God."
Isaiah 54:7 "For a brief moment a forsook you, but with great compassion I will gather you."54:8"In overflowing wrath for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer."
Genesis 3:17 And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife ... cursed is the ground because of you."
Romans 5:12 Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned 5:13 -sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
Genesis 6:1 When men began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, 6:2 the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were fair, and they took to wife such of them as they choose. 6:3 Then the Lord said, "My spirit shall not abide in man for ever, for he is flesh, but his days shall be a hundred and twenty years."6:5 The Lord saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his hard was only evil continually. 6:6 And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart. 6:7 So the Lord said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the ground, man and beast and creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them." But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.
Isaiah 54:9 "For this is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah (uncontrolled power of man's heart) should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you and will not rebuke you. 54:10 For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you."
SIN, MAN, and GOD.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea (unconscious mind), and over the birds of the air (conscious mind), and over the cattle (flesh), and over all the earth (world's power), and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth (power of darkness upon the earth).
Romans 5:12 Therefore as sin came into the world through man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned 5:13 -sin indeed was in the world before the law (universal law) was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 5:14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
Romans 5:6 While we were helpless at the right time (God's specific time) Christ died for the ungodly. 5:15 But the free gift (salvation) is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift (salvation) in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
Romans 5:7 Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man -though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. 5:8 But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 5:16 And the free gift (salvation) is not like the effect of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation ("Because you have listened to the voice of your wife... cursed is the ground...") but the free gift (salvation) following many trespasses brings justification.
Romans 5:18 Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation ("cursed is the ground") for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous.
Romans 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 6:13 Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life... 6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. 6:10 The death Christ died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 6:11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Romans 5:12 Therefore as sin came into the world through man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned 5:13 -sin indeed was in the world before the law (universal law) was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 5:14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
Romans 5:6 While we were helpless at the right time (God's specific time) Christ died for the ungodly. 5:15 But the free gift (salvation) is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift (salvation) in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.
Romans 5:7 Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man -though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. 5:8 But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. 5:16 And the free gift (salvation) is not like the effect of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation ("Because you have listened to the voice of your wife... cursed is the ground...") but the free gift (salvation) following many trespasses brings justification.
Romans 5:18 Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation ("cursed is the ground") for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. 5:19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man's obedience many will be made righteous.
Romans 6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 6:12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 6:13 Do not yield your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but yield yourselves to God as men who have been brought from death to life... 6:14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. 6:10 The death Christ died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 6:11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Sunday, 19 July 2015
THE END AND THE BEGINNING, according to the Norses.
On the Day of Ragnarok, the powerful force of the cosmic energy (the fire giant Sturt) will set the Tree of Life (Yggdrasill) on fire (cosmic fire).
The axe-age, then the sword-age, the shields of everything will be gashed: there will be a Wind-age and a Wolf-age before the cosmic world is wrecked.
First of al, the middle world (Midgard), where the flaming bridge, the well of wisdom, the dwarfs, the elves, and the giants live, will be wrenched and racked by cosmic wars for three winters. Fathers will slaughter sons; brothers will be drenched in one another's blood. Mothers will desert their menfolk and seduce their own sons; brothers will bed with sisters. Then the cosmic winter of winters (Fimbulvert) will grip and throttle there. Three such cosmic winters will follow each other with no summers between them. Driving snow clouds will converge from the four corners of the cosmic world. There will be bitter frosts, biting winds, the shining sun will be helpless. So the end will begin.
Then a number of powerful cosmic entities, the children of the old giantess in Iron Wood will have their say: the Wolf Skoll will seize the sun between his jaws and swallow her. He will spatter the home of the gods (Asgard) with gore, and his brother Hati will catch the moon and mangle him. The stars will vanish from the sky. The earth will start to shudder then. Great trees (powers) will sway and topple, mountains (power different than the trees) will shake and rock, crushing the earth down. Fenrir, the serpent will run free.
The brothers Fenrir the Wolf, and Jormungand the Serpent, will move forward side by side. Fenrir's slavering mouth will gape wide open, so wide that his lower jaw scrapes against the ground and his upper jaw presses against the sky; it would gape still wider if there were more room. Flames will dance in Fenrir's eyes and leap from his nostrils. Meanwhile, Jormungand, with each breath will spew venom, and all the earth and the sky will be splashed and stained with his poison. The world will be in uproar.
The gods, meanwhile, will not iddle. The great horn will sound such a blast that it will be heard throughout the nine worlds : In the Fist Level, Asgard (home of the gods), Vanaheim (home of the Vanir), Alfheim (home of the light elves); in the middle level, Midgard (middle world/garden), Nidavellir (home of the dwarfs), Jotunheim (home of the giants), Svaltarheim (home of the dark elves); in the third level, Hel (realm of the dead), Niflheim (world of the dead). All the gods will wake and at once meet in council. Then the all father god (Odin) will mount his horse (Sleipnir) and gallop to the spring of wisdom and take advice from Mimir there.
The Tree of Life (Yggdrasill), the cosmic ash that always was and waves over all that is, that holds the nine worlds, itself will moan, its leaves will tremble, its limbs shiver and shake, only two humans will take refuge deep within it. Everything in heaven and in earth and hell will quiver. It will be a long struggle. The age-old enemies Loki and Heimdall will meet once more and each will be the cause of the other's death. Thor, son of earth, and gaping Jormungand have met before too; they are well matched. At Vigrid the god will kill the serpent but he will only be able to stagger back nine steps before he falls dead himself, poisoned by the venom Jormungand spews over him. In the end, the Wolf will seize all father between his jaws and swallow him. That will be the death of Odin.
At once his son (Vidar) will stride forward and press one foot on Fenrir's bottom jaw, and the shoe he will wear has been wore for a very long time in the making of everything. It consists of all the strips and bits of leather pared off the heels and toes of new shoes in a cosmic cycle since time began, and all the leftovers of those sacred shoes, thrown away as gifts for the god. The son of the god (Vidar) will take hold of Fenrir's other jaw and tear the Wolf, so avenging his father. Cosmic fire will fling in every direction. Asgard and Midgard and Jotunheim and Niflheim will become furnaces, places of ranging flame, swirling smoke, ashes, only cosmic ashes. But the earth will rise again out of the water, fair and green. There is where the new rulers will live at peace with themselves and each other. Then there will be those who have a taste for it. Good men will live in this new earth. They will have children, their children will bear children. There will be a new life. That was the end; and this is the beginning.
The axe-age, then the sword-age, the shields of everything will be gashed: there will be a Wind-age and a Wolf-age before the cosmic world is wrecked.
First of al, the middle world (Midgard), where the flaming bridge, the well of wisdom, the dwarfs, the elves, and the giants live, will be wrenched and racked by cosmic wars for three winters. Fathers will slaughter sons; brothers will be drenched in one another's blood. Mothers will desert their menfolk and seduce their own sons; brothers will bed with sisters. Then the cosmic winter of winters (Fimbulvert) will grip and throttle there. Three such cosmic winters will follow each other with no summers between them. Driving snow clouds will converge from the four corners of the cosmic world. There will be bitter frosts, biting winds, the shining sun will be helpless. So the end will begin.
Then a number of powerful cosmic entities, the children of the old giantess in Iron Wood will have their say: the Wolf Skoll will seize the sun between his jaws and swallow her. He will spatter the home of the gods (Asgard) with gore, and his brother Hati will catch the moon and mangle him. The stars will vanish from the sky. The earth will start to shudder then. Great trees (powers) will sway and topple, mountains (power different than the trees) will shake and rock, crushing the earth down. Fenrir, the serpent will run free.
The brothers Fenrir the Wolf, and Jormungand the Serpent, will move forward side by side. Fenrir's slavering mouth will gape wide open, so wide that his lower jaw scrapes against the ground and his upper jaw presses against the sky; it would gape still wider if there were more room. Flames will dance in Fenrir's eyes and leap from his nostrils. Meanwhile, Jormungand, with each breath will spew venom, and all the earth and the sky will be splashed and stained with his poison. The world will be in uproar.
The gods, meanwhile, will not iddle. The great horn will sound such a blast that it will be heard throughout the nine worlds : In the Fist Level, Asgard (home of the gods), Vanaheim (home of the Vanir), Alfheim (home of the light elves); in the middle level, Midgard (middle world/garden), Nidavellir (home of the dwarfs), Jotunheim (home of the giants), Svaltarheim (home of the dark elves); in the third level, Hel (realm of the dead), Niflheim (world of the dead). All the gods will wake and at once meet in council. Then the all father god (Odin) will mount his horse (Sleipnir) and gallop to the spring of wisdom and take advice from Mimir there.
The Tree of Life (Yggdrasill), the cosmic ash that always was and waves over all that is, that holds the nine worlds, itself will moan, its leaves will tremble, its limbs shiver and shake, only two humans will take refuge deep within it. Everything in heaven and in earth and hell will quiver. It will be a long struggle. The age-old enemies Loki and Heimdall will meet once more and each will be the cause of the other's death. Thor, son of earth, and gaping Jormungand have met before too; they are well matched. At Vigrid the god will kill the serpent but he will only be able to stagger back nine steps before he falls dead himself, poisoned by the venom Jormungand spews over him. In the end, the Wolf will seize all father between his jaws and swallow him. That will be the death of Odin.
At once his son (Vidar) will stride forward and press one foot on Fenrir's bottom jaw, and the shoe he will wear has been wore for a very long time in the making of everything. It consists of all the strips and bits of leather pared off the heels and toes of new shoes in a cosmic cycle since time began, and all the leftovers of those sacred shoes, thrown away as gifts for the god. The son of the god (Vidar) will take hold of Fenrir's other jaw and tear the Wolf, so avenging his father. Cosmic fire will fling in every direction. Asgard and Midgard and Jotunheim and Niflheim will become furnaces, places of ranging flame, swirling smoke, ashes, only cosmic ashes. But the earth will rise again out of the water, fair and green. There is where the new rulers will live at peace with themselves and each other. Then there will be those who have a taste for it. Good men will live in this new earth. They will have children, their children will bear children. There will be a new life. That was the end; and this is the beginning.
Tuesday, 14 July 2015
HOW THE SERPENT DECEIVED EVE?
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 11: ...I feel a divine jealousy for you (the church of Christ), for I betrothed you to Christ to present you as a pure bride to her one husband. But I am afraid that AS THE SERPENT DECEIVED EVE by HIS cunning, your THOUGHTS will be led ASTRAY FROM A SINCERE AND PURE DEVOTION TO CHRIST. 11: 2-3.
...IF you receive a DIFFERENT SPIRIT from the one you received, or if you accept DIFFERENT GOSPEL from the one you accepted, YOU SUBMIT TO IT readily enough. 11: 4.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God made.
The serpent and the woman were created by God to share the creation in a totally different way. The woman was the complement of man in the task that God designed for him.
Genesis 1: 26-28 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea (spirits dwelling in the cosmological ocean), and over the birds of the air (spirits dwelling in the cosmic air), and over the cattle (powers in cosmic energies), and over all the earth (all cosmic matter). So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth (cosmic matter) and subdue it (conquer it); and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."
The living things that moved upon the earth were all the spirits that were placed in any kind of matter.
The serpent belonged to this range of creation, he was created in the universe to dwell in a specific place and that was in the region of the living things that moved upon the earth (cosmic matter) only.
When he (masculine force living over cosmic matter) approached the woman (feminine force complement to the man's force with the dominion of the entire universe) the serpent noticed that the woman was not following clearly the man's path through the response she gave to him about what God commanded them to do, changing the words of God to the way in which the serpent noticed her lack of understanding. God did not say "neither shall you touch it."
Man and woman did not need arms or legs to follow the will of God, they have God's power in them and God was the one who acted in them. When the serpent noticed that the woman was being filled with more materialistic thoughts just using the word "touch"he took the opportunity to deceive her.
...IF you receive a DIFFERENT SPIRIT from the one you received, or if you accept DIFFERENT GOSPEL from the one you accepted, YOU SUBMIT TO IT readily enough. 11: 4.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any other wild creature that the Lord God made.
The serpent and the woman were created by God to share the creation in a totally different way. The woman was the complement of man in the task that God designed for him.
Genesis 1: 26-28 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea (spirits dwelling in the cosmological ocean), and over the birds of the air (spirits dwelling in the cosmic air), and over the cattle (powers in cosmic energies), and over all the earth (all cosmic matter). So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth (cosmic matter) and subdue it (conquer it); and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth."
The living things that moved upon the earth were all the spirits that were placed in any kind of matter.
The serpent belonged to this range of creation, he was created in the universe to dwell in a specific place and that was in the region of the living things that moved upon the earth (cosmic matter) only.
When he (masculine force living over cosmic matter) approached the woman (feminine force complement to the man's force with the dominion of the entire universe) the serpent noticed that the woman was not following clearly the man's path through the response she gave to him about what God commanded them to do, changing the words of God to the way in which the serpent noticed her lack of understanding. God did not say "neither shall you touch it."
Man and woman did not need arms or legs to follow the will of God, they have God's power in them and God was the one who acted in them. When the serpent noticed that the woman was being filled with more materialistic thoughts just using the word "touch"he took the opportunity to deceive her.
Wednesday, 8 July 2015
PREDESTINATION, what it means to you?
In ancient civilizations the world was thought to be inhabited by supernatural forces ready to act in favor or against the live of mortals. Observation and the outcome of the observation of the behavior of them meant to this mortals the predestination of future events based on the signs revealed by them.
It was as foretelling a conditional future, rather than one that was irrevocable.
These supernatural forces were governed by an assembly of gods that convened to decide their use on the course of worldly affairs and the fate of its population. Their decisions were then passed on to human beings in the form of predictions, auspicious ones as a signs of consent, and inauspicious ones as warnings of impending disaster.
These decisions were not irrevocable, one's future could be changed through the performance of ritual measures together with their sincere disposition of hearts to make an appeal to the gods on behalf of the person affected by the ill prediction, in the hope that his/her fate may be changed.
Predestination in its theological definition is the affirmation that God has planned or decreed either the final salvation or the final reprobation of each mortal.
It finds its biblical roots in a variety of Old Testament and new Testament texts. God corporately calls the people of Israel to be the (spiritual) covenant people (Deut.7) and individually calls persons (Ex.3, Moses; Judges 2, judges; Jer.1, Jeremiah). Several Psalms also express the confidence, comfort, and wonder of God's election and foreknowledge (Ps.139; 115). In the New testament the several Greek words translated as "predestine," "decree," "foreordain," or "foresee" indicate a wide range of God's activity which centers on Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation and includes mortals in this saving plan. The classic texts include Rom.8; Gal.1; Eph.1; 2Thess.2. In these texts the background of predestination is the disobedience of the mortals and the consequent rebellion against God; mortals thus earns God's rightful condemnation.
However, God does not leave mortals bereft. The will of God is manifested in the election of his people. The implications of election, for mortals, are gratitude and service to God.
Election or reprobation is contingent on God's foreseeing how each mortal would freely respond to the Gospel. Each person gets what he or she deserves.
It was as foretelling a conditional future, rather than one that was irrevocable.
These supernatural forces were governed by an assembly of gods that convened to decide their use on the course of worldly affairs and the fate of its population. Their decisions were then passed on to human beings in the form of predictions, auspicious ones as a signs of consent, and inauspicious ones as warnings of impending disaster.
These decisions were not irrevocable, one's future could be changed through the performance of ritual measures together with their sincere disposition of hearts to make an appeal to the gods on behalf of the person affected by the ill prediction, in the hope that his/her fate may be changed.
Predestination in its theological definition is the affirmation that God has planned or decreed either the final salvation or the final reprobation of each mortal.
It finds its biblical roots in a variety of Old Testament and new Testament texts. God corporately calls the people of Israel to be the (spiritual) covenant people (Deut.7) and individually calls persons (Ex.3, Moses; Judges 2, judges; Jer.1, Jeremiah). Several Psalms also express the confidence, comfort, and wonder of God's election and foreknowledge (Ps.139; 115). In the New testament the several Greek words translated as "predestine," "decree," "foreordain," or "foresee" indicate a wide range of God's activity which centers on Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation and includes mortals in this saving plan. The classic texts include Rom.8; Gal.1; Eph.1; 2Thess.2. In these texts the background of predestination is the disobedience of the mortals and the consequent rebellion against God; mortals thus earns God's rightful condemnation.
However, God does not leave mortals bereft. The will of God is manifested in the election of his people. The implications of election, for mortals, are gratitude and service to God.
Election or reprobation is contingent on God's foreseeing how each mortal would freely respond to the Gospel. Each person gets what he or she deserves.
Friday, 3 July 2015
THE LAW OF SPIRITUAL RECIPROCITY.
Luke 6:38 "Give, and it will be given to you." 2 Cor. 9:6-7"Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for GOD loves a cheerful giver.
Why these words were written and to whom? They were written during a difficult period in which the spiritual relationship between man and church was at its lowest point. Some of them had made wicked accusations against Paul, the apostle of the gentiles. He publicly showed his deep longing for reconciliation.
Gal. 6:7 "Do not be deceived: GOD cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."
Gal. 6:8 "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life."
These words were written in order to bring back the Christians who were being misled by false teachings from the true Faith and Practice. It is by Faith alone that Christians are put right with GOD and their conduct will flow naturally from the sincere Love that results from this Faith acting in Christ.
Hebrews 12: 11"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
These words were written to those Christians who were weak in their spiritual lives and dangerously were falling into darkness because of their reluctancy in following the truth in Jesus Christ as the final revelation of GOD.
The writer appeals to the spirit of these Christians to remain faithful and urges to continue faithful to the end, with their spiritual eye fixed on Jesus, and to endure whatever suffering and persecution coming to them. In doing this the writer emphasizes three truths:
1) Jesus is the eternal Son of God, who learned true obedience to the Father through the suffering that he endured. As the Son of God, Jesus is superior to the prophets of the Old Testament, to the angels, and to Moses himself.
2) Jesus has been declared by God to be an eternal priest, superior to the priests of the Old Testament.
3) Through Jesus the sincere believer is saved from sin, fear, and death; and Jesus, as High Priest, provides the true salvation, which was only foreshadowed by the rituals and animal sacrifices of the Hebrew religion.
Why these words were written and to whom? They were written during a difficult period in which the spiritual relationship between man and church was at its lowest point. Some of them had made wicked accusations against Paul, the apostle of the gentiles. He publicly showed his deep longing for reconciliation.
Gal. 6:7 "Do not be deceived: GOD cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."
Gal. 6:8 "The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the spirit, from the spirit will reap eternal life."
These words were written in order to bring back the Christians who were being misled by false teachings from the true Faith and Practice. It is by Faith alone that Christians are put right with GOD and their conduct will flow naturally from the sincere Love that results from this Faith acting in Christ.
Hebrews 12: 11"No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
These words were written to those Christians who were weak in their spiritual lives and dangerously were falling into darkness because of their reluctancy in following the truth in Jesus Christ as the final revelation of GOD.
The writer appeals to the spirit of these Christians to remain faithful and urges to continue faithful to the end, with their spiritual eye fixed on Jesus, and to endure whatever suffering and persecution coming to them. In doing this the writer emphasizes three truths:
1) Jesus is the eternal Son of God, who learned true obedience to the Father through the suffering that he endured. As the Son of God, Jesus is superior to the prophets of the Old Testament, to the angels, and to Moses himself.
2) Jesus has been declared by God to be an eternal priest, superior to the priests of the Old Testament.
3) Through Jesus the sincere believer is saved from sin, fear, and death; and Jesus, as High Priest, provides the true salvation, which was only foreshadowed by the rituals and animal sacrifices of the Hebrew religion.
MONEY AND POWER IS ONLY AN ILLUSION.
We live in a world in which most of the population enjoy competition. They wake up every day after dreaming about a secure and very comfortable financial independence and the first thing that appear in their minds is the elaboration of strategic maneuverings concerning money and power.
They are captured by the false hope of Lady Luck that is an ever-present influence of risk that creates tension; and the apparent success or failure of certain moves that will create the never ending feelings of disappointment or elation, satisfaction or frustration. Silently, they cheer, and the hold of their breaths is something occult to the naked eye.
Think about how many athletes make million-dollar salaries in the National Football League or in Major League Basketball without having any previous experience and notable success.
To succeed consistently, we must have an understanding of the competition and strategic maneuvering concerning the goals to which we want to reach. We must learn the concepts that will give the freedom and power to make decisions profitably. We can't play in the real world of investments unless we know the rules of engagement. If you we to ignore them, simply we may be fined or penalized.
We will find a good advice os succeeding in our goals from famous and some not-so-famous people, that through their own experiences will give us tips on where to go for more information. They will present insights that might alter or expand our perceptions in tough situations. They highlight the risky path they encounter, that, if navigated properly, could lead to greater rewards.
Always surround yourself with information that will give you a "heads up" to the laws and procedures that will help in the understanding to what we must abide by. With this understanding we will be able to identify easily or being tipped off to the ones who are playing in the opposite side without any experience in the field because they will use techniques or words or body language inappropriately to the situation they are facing together with us.
Learn definitions and examples of idiomatic or customary usage in the marketplace of any discipline. We won't collect winning points every time we learn a new meaning of the things that work together in the real life, but we could loose many times winning points if we misunderstand or misuse a language or a word in an important negotiation or in signing a contract. Reviewing these experiences is a great way to do a quick warm-up before heading into the next step. If anything sounds unfamiliar to the way we are familiar with, just go back to the reviewing step. In the real world, the playing field is not clear or simple, not even quite so neat. If we understand what is the difference from city or suburb, then we do know when the boundaries of one ends to let the other play their rules. To the ones that are not familiar with it, then it is hard to tell where one neighborhood ends and another begins.
We have the tendency of going into great ventures completely blinded because we do not ask for senior advice. Ask always for senior advice. Surround your environment with people that can detect errors in anything that we are pursuing because they have already collected experiences from errors and mistakes that they themselves encounter in their younger years.
Many things in life are determined by the readiness, willingness and availability a person has. It is all about laws. The law moves slowly. The more unconventional the investment, the greater the financial and comfort-level risks.
Investments have almost as much diversity as the animal kingdom have. Questions about the legal availability of it is what keeps thousands of lawyers busy. Be careful to check all the legal procedures of everything you put yourself into to avoid any legal mistakes.
Success in the real world is often built on familiarity. Always Think Before Act.
They are captured by the false hope of Lady Luck that is an ever-present influence of risk that creates tension; and the apparent success or failure of certain moves that will create the never ending feelings of disappointment or elation, satisfaction or frustration. Silently, they cheer, and the hold of their breaths is something occult to the naked eye.
Think about how many athletes make million-dollar salaries in the National Football League or in Major League Basketball without having any previous experience and notable success.
To succeed consistently, we must have an understanding of the competition and strategic maneuvering concerning the goals to which we want to reach. We must learn the concepts that will give the freedom and power to make decisions profitably. We can't play in the real world of investments unless we know the rules of engagement. If you we to ignore them, simply we may be fined or penalized.
We will find a good advice os succeeding in our goals from famous and some not-so-famous people, that through their own experiences will give us tips on where to go for more information. They will present insights that might alter or expand our perceptions in tough situations. They highlight the risky path they encounter, that, if navigated properly, could lead to greater rewards.
Always surround yourself with information that will give you a "heads up" to the laws and procedures that will help in the understanding to what we must abide by. With this understanding we will be able to identify easily or being tipped off to the ones who are playing in the opposite side without any experience in the field because they will use techniques or words or body language inappropriately to the situation they are facing together with us.
Learn definitions and examples of idiomatic or customary usage in the marketplace of any discipline. We won't collect winning points every time we learn a new meaning of the things that work together in the real life, but we could loose many times winning points if we misunderstand or misuse a language or a word in an important negotiation or in signing a contract. Reviewing these experiences is a great way to do a quick warm-up before heading into the next step. If anything sounds unfamiliar to the way we are familiar with, just go back to the reviewing step. In the real world, the playing field is not clear or simple, not even quite so neat. If we understand what is the difference from city or suburb, then we do know when the boundaries of one ends to let the other play their rules. To the ones that are not familiar with it, then it is hard to tell where one neighborhood ends and another begins.
We have the tendency of going into great ventures completely blinded because we do not ask for senior advice. Ask always for senior advice. Surround your environment with people that can detect errors in anything that we are pursuing because they have already collected experiences from errors and mistakes that they themselves encounter in their younger years.
Many things in life are determined by the readiness, willingness and availability a person has. It is all about laws. The law moves slowly. The more unconventional the investment, the greater the financial and comfort-level risks.
Investments have almost as much diversity as the animal kingdom have. Questions about the legal availability of it is what keeps thousands of lawyers busy. Be careful to check all the legal procedures of everything you put yourself into to avoid any legal mistakes.
Success in the real world is often built on familiarity. Always Think Before Act.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)