God didn't take a seat at the front of the bus for Rosa Parks, pray while Bishop Desmond Tutu kept his mouth shut, save Jews while Oscar Schindler hid and counted his money, go to the impoverished for Mother Theresa, or speak audibly for Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela while they remained silent. He didn't nail Luther's 95 Theses to the door at Wittenberg, nor does He desire to be "IN TOTAL CONTROL" of mankind...as some erroneously teach. During Jesus' 3.5 years of ministry as a man on Earth, The Father didn't just "Control Things" while Jesus sat around playing video games or just passively "said His prayers". Note: I understand the importance of prayer and like video games! God has given mankind DOMINION over the earth...and everything in it, besides each other. He had delegated His Authority in such a way as to do things WITH and THROUGH us...not INSTEAD of us! While we are not usually responsible for things like sunrises, sunsets, and keeping planets in their proper orbit, we cannot passively and lackadaisically allow our lives or planet Earth to run on autopilot while claiming that "God is in control!". To view "The Great Commission" and "The Great Commandment" as being separate from the initial, Divine Narrative of the "Eden Mandate" is folly! Genesis 1 26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Psalm 8 1 O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. 9 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! While our free will cannot over-ride His ultimate Sovereignty and plan for planet Earth, our character, words, and actions are nevertheless extremely weighty and consequential! Seventh Grade History students know that much! Blessings! ~Joe
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Religion charges regular installments (with loan shark interest rates and Mafia-like collections agents) for what is already ours and was paid-in-full, through the finished work of Christ. Religion bankrupts through insecurity and endless payments. Jesus isn't like that. He lovingly and joyously encourages us to withdraw from His eternal, infinite deposit of Himself within us! Only He gives true Joy, Rest, Satisfaction and the ability to function through an easy yoke, a light burden, an ongoing Revelation of our truest Identity, and a Living Way that accomplishes more through us than religion's endless payments and high interest rates ever could!
Shalom! ~Joe Trans-Gen-Er: Identifying with Adam instead of Christ.
While some folks are confused about which bathroom they should use, a much greater number are confused about their identity, origin, and to which covenant they belong. 1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; Shalom! ~Joe Any teaching which implies that Faith can be humanly manufactured or earned is not the Gospel. God is our Faith...Who works by God...Who is Love. We can discover, apply, and enjoy Faith...but we can't manufacture Faith...anymore than we can manufacture God.
Faith is only OUR Faith, because we have been made one with the Spirit of Faith. Your Faith is only YOURS because it was given to you by your loving, heavenly Father; just like we give gifts to our children...and they ...become "theirs" to use, enjoy, and develop ("build up") their skills through practical application. While Faith is DISCOVERED through the Word, Faith is never "EARNED" by reading, studying and meditating upon the Word. Those are things that we do...because Faith, working by Love, compels us to discover, apply, and enjoy Who Faith is...FOR, IN, and THROUGH us! Gal 2:20,21 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." Again... You can't manufacture Faith anymore than you can manufacture God. Jesus is the Substance of things hoped for and the Evidence of things not seen under the Old Covenant! Shalom! ~Joe |
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