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LESSON 365This Holy Instant Would I Give To You.Be You In Charge. For I Would Follow You,Certain That Your Direction Gives Me Peace.And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me. If I need a thought, that will He also give. And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him. He is in charge by my request. And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.EpilogueThis course is a beginning, not an end. Your Friend goes with you. You are not alone. No one who calls on Him can call in vain. Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has the answer, and will gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him. He will not withhold all answers that you need for anything that seems to trouble you. He knows the way to solve all problems, and resolve all doubts. His certainty is yours. You need but ask it of Him, and it will be given you.You are as certain of arriving home as is the pathway of the sun laid down before it rises, after it has set, and in the half-lit hours in between. Indeed, your pathway is more certain still. For it can not be possible to change the course of those whom God has called to Him. Therefore obey your will, and follow Him Whom you accepted as your voice, to speak of what you really want and really need. His is the Voice for God and also yours. And thus He speaks of freedom and of truth.No more specific lessons are assigned, for there is no more need of them. Henceforth, hear but the Voice for God and for your Self when you retire from the world, to seek reality instead. He will direct your efforts, telling you exactly what to do, how to direct your mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word. His is the Word that God has given you. His is the Word you chose to be your own.And now I place you in His hands, to be His faithful follower, with Him as Guide through every difficulty and all pain that you may think is real. Nor will He give you pleasures that will pass away, for He gives only the eternal and the good. Let Him prepare you further. He has earned your trust by speaking daily to you of your Father and your brother and your Self. He will continue. Now you walk with Him, as certain as is He of where you go; as sure as He of how you should proceed; as confident as He is of the goal, and of your safe arrival in the end.The end is certain, and the means as well. To this we say “Amen.” You will be told exactly what God wills for you each time there is a choice to make. And He will speak for God and for your Self, thus making sure that hell will claim you not, and that each choice you make brings Heaven nearer to your reach. And so we walk with Him from this time on, and turn to Him for guidance and for peace and sure direction. Joy attends our way. For we go homeward to an open door which God has held unclosed to welcome us.We trust our ways to Him and say “Amen.” In peace we will continue in His way, and trust all things to Him. In confidence we wait His answers, as we ask His Will in everything we do. He loves God's Son as we would love him. And He teaches us how to behold him through His eyes, and love him as He does. You do not walk alone. God's angels hover near and all about. His Love surrounds you, and of this be sure; that I will never leave you comfortless.- Jesus Christ in ACIM
LESSON 365This Holy Instant Would I Give To You.Be You In Charge. For I Would Follow You,Certain That Your Direction Gives Me Peace.And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me. If I need a thought, that will He also give. And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him. He is in charge by my request. And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.EpilogueThis course is a beginning, not an end. Your Friend goes with you. You are not alone. No one who calls on Him can call in vain. Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has the answer, and will gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him. He will not withhold all answers that you need for anything that seems to trouble you. He knows the way to solve all problems, and resolve all doubts. His certainty is yours. You need but ask it of Him, and it will be given you.You are as certain of arriving home as is the pathway of the sun laid down before it rises, after it has set, and in the half-lit hours in between. Indeed, your pathway is more certain still. For it can not be possible to change the course of those whom God has called to Him. Therefore obey your will, and follow Him Whom you accepted as your voice, to speak of what you really want and really need. His is the Voice for God and also yours. And thus He speaks of freedom and of truth.No more specific lessons are assigned, for there is no more need of them. Henceforth, hear but the Voice for God and for your Self when you retire from the world, to seek reality instead. He will direct your efforts, telling you exactly what to do, how to direct your mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word. His is the Word that God has given you. His is the Word you chose to be your own.And now I place you in His hands, to be His faithful follower, with Him as Guide through every difficulty and all pain that you may think is real. Nor will He give you pleasures that will pass away, for He gives only the eternal and the good. Let Him prepare you further. He has earned your trust by speaking daily to you of your Father and your brother and your Self. He will continue. Now you walk with Him, as certain as is He of where you go; as sure as He of how you should proceed; as confident as He is of the goal, and of your safe arrival in the end.The end is certain, and the means as well. To this we say “Amen.” You will be told exactly what God wills for you each time there is a choice to make. And He will speak for God and for your Self, thus making sure that hell will claim you not, and that each choice you make brings Heaven nearer to your reach. And so we walk with Him from this time on, and turn to Him for guidance and for peace and sure direction. Joy attends our way. For we go homeward to an open door which God has held unclosed to welcome us.We trust our ways to Him and say “Amen.” In peace we will continue in His way, and trust all things to Him. In confidence we wait His answers, as we ask His Will in everything we do. He loves God's Son as we would love him. And He teaches us how to behold him through His eyes, and love him as He does. You do not walk alone. God's angels hover near and all about. His Love surrounds you, and of this be sure; that I will never leave you comfortless.- Jesus Christ in ACIM
Are you looking for ways you can enter more deeply into Advent? Look no further! This Advent, Sr. Shawn Pauline from the Carmelites of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles will offer He Leadeth Me listeners a series of podcast episodes on the writings of St. Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. In this episode, Sr. Shawn Pauline begins the retreat by talking about the beginning stages of the journey into deeper prayer. Sr. Shawn Pauline and Jess discuss:Theresa's description of the Prayer of Recollection and the image of the well and the bucketHow can you tell the difference between consolations felt at this stage of prayer and the consolations experienced at deeper stages?What does God do in the soul at this stage and what should the person do to respond?Sr. Shawn Pauline is a religious sister in the community of the Carmelites of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus of Los Angeles.Check out Sr. Shawn Pauline's notes for this episode!Love's QuestOn my bed at night, I sought Him Whom my soul loves- I sought Him but did not find him. So I will rise and go through the city…to seek Him Whom my heart loves (Song 3:1-3)1st Water: Prayer of Recollection or SimplicityTeresa's Image: The Well and BucketCharacteristics of this prayer:The beginner works while The Lord gives the increase (11.5)The beginner must cultivate their garden on very barren soil, full of abominable weeds (11.6) With the help of God we must strive like good gardeners to get these plants to grow (11.6)His Majesty wants determination, and He is a friend of courageous souls if they walk in humility without trusting in self (13.2)Effects on the soul in this prayer:Greater detachment from outward things but mixed with many faultsIncreased desires for GodGreater self-masteryDivine love begins to be enkindledWork of the soul in this prayer:Perseverance, determination, courage Self-knowledge: the thought of one's sins (“our daily bread”)Growing in the virtues of humility and detachmentGod's assistance Meditate on the sacred life and Passion of Christ, hell, death, the power of God, the Love he bore us (13.13)Do not be distressed or afflicted over the dryness or noisy and distracting thoughts (11.17)Jesus is not concerned with our little inabilities (11.15)Occupy yourself in looking at Christ Who is looking at you
Revelation, Session Five Christ the Savior, Anderson SC Fr. Anthony Perkins Sources: The translation of the Apocalypse is from the Orthodox Study Bible. Lawrence R. Farley, The Apocalypse of St. John: A Revelation of Love and Power, The Orthodox Bible Study Companion (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2011), Bishop Averky, The Epistles and the Apocalypse (Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, Volume III. (Holy Trinity Seminary Press, 2018). Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011). Jack Norman Sparks, The Orthodox Study Bible: Notes (Thomas Nelson, 2008), 1712. Venerable Bede, The Explanation of the Apocalypse, trans. Edward Marshall (Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1878). William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005). Review – from the Orthodox Study Bible Introduction and Blessing 1:1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants – things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John. 2. Who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. [speaking of the Gospel of St. John] 3. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. Greeting to the Seven Churches 4. John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5. and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6. and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever. Amen. (OSB) 7. Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. 8. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord (God), who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11. saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.” And, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. 12-13. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. New Material – from the Orthodox Study Bible 14-20. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches. 1:14. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire OSB. Further, Christ is here described as God, His hair (v. 14) being that of Daniel's vision of God as the “Ancient of Days” (7:9; see also 1En 46:1). His eyes signify knowledge; His feet (v. 15), permanence and stability; His voice, authority or teaching; His right hand (v. 16), power; His two-edged sword, complete discernment. This imagery continues throughout Revelation to affirm the preexistence and eternal divinity of the Son of Man (see also Jn 1:1–18). Thus, in Christ man (v. 14) and God (vv. 15, 16) are united. St. Bede. 14. white. The antiquity and eternity of majesty are represented by whiteness on the head, to which all the chief ones adhere, as hairs, who, because of the sheep which are to be on the right hand are white, like wool, and because of the innumerable multitude of the white-robed and the elect, who come forth from heaven, are glistering like snow. eyes. The eyes of the Lord are preachers, who, with spiritual fire, bring light to the faithful, and to the unbelieving a consuming flame. Andrew of Caesarea. 1:14. His head and his hair were white as white wool, as snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire. For even though he is recent amidst us, nonetheless he is ancient; rather, he is before time. His white hair is a symbol of this. And his eyes are as a flame of fire, on the one hand, illuminating those who are holy and, on the other hand, burning the sacrilegious. 1:15. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; OSB. 1:15 Dan 2:31–44 indicates this mysterious metal foundation not only provides stability but has the ability to forcibly crush all opposition as well. These images are contrasted with the feet of clay found in Dan 2:33, 43: the kingdoms of this world are not permanent, nor ultimately triumphant. St. Andrew of Caesarea. 1:15a. And his feet were like glowing brass, red-hot as in a furnace. [21] The divine Gregory also understood that the feet meant the divine condescension through the flesh. For his feet by treading on the divinity achieved our salvation. The feet are also the foundations of the Church, like glowing brass, which physicians say is a sweet-smelling incense, which they call masculine incense. Or otherwise: On the one hand, meaning the human nature by the glowing brass, and on the other hand the divine nature by the incense, through both of which is also shown the sweetness of the faith and the unconfused union . Or the fine brass signifies the beautiful melody of the gospel proclamation, and the incense is the return of the nations by which the bride is summoned. And the feet of Christ are also the apostles, who have been tested by fire in the furnace of trials in imitation of their Teacher. 1:15b. And his voice like the sound of many waters. Naturally. His voice is in common with that of the Spirit, from which “rivers of living water flowed from the belly” of the faithful, and it made a penetrating sound over all the earth. St. Bede. 15. feet. By the “fiery feet” he means the Church of the last time, which is to be searched and proved by severe afflictions. For orichalcum is brass, which, by much fire and various ingredients, is brought to the colour of gold. Another translation, which renders it, “like orichalcum of Lebanon,” signifies that in Judæa, of which Lebanon is a mountain, the Church will be persecuted, and especially at the last. The temple also frequently received the name of Lebanon, as there is said to ito, “Open, O Lebanon, thy gates, and let the fire devour thy cedars.” voice. The voice of confession, and preaching, and praise does not resound in Judæa alone, but among many peoples. 1:16. He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. OSB: 1:16 The Lord holds the stars that represent the seven churches (1:20), and hence, the Church. For Christ is Lord of the Church. In His just judgment, the sword He wields is the Word of God, which cuts effortlessly to the very marrow and heart of humanity (see 2:16; 18:15; Is 11:4; 49:2; WSol 18:15; Eph 6:17; 2Th 2:9; Heb 4:12). The brilliance of His face recalls the Uncreated Light John saw radiating from the Savior at the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. Andrew of Caesarea. 1:16. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and coming out from his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword, and his appearance as the sun shines in its power. [22] Further down he says that the seven stars are the seven angels of the churches. The sharp, double-edged sword means his decision against the wicked, “sharper than any two-edged sword,” or the sword of the Spirit circumcising our inner man.38 Like the sun his face shines, not in a splendor to the senses, but to the intellect. For he is the “sun of righteousness,” shining with his own power and authority, not like the sensory sun, which as a created object by God-given power and divine command. St. Bede. 16. right hand. In the right hand of Christ is the spiritual Church. “On Thy right hand,” he says, “stood the queen in a vesture of gold.” And as it stands on His right hand, He saithq, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom.” mouth. He, the Judge of all things visible and invisible, “after He has killed, has power to cast into hell fire.” countenance. Such as the Lord appeared on the Mount, will He appear after the judgment to all the saints, for at the judgment the ungodly will behold Him Whom they pierced. But all this appearance of the Son of Man belongs also to the Church, for He Himself was made the Christ in the same nature with it, and He gives to it a sacerdotal dignity and a judicial power, and to “shine as the sun in the kingdom of His Father.” 1:17-18. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. OSB. 1:17, 18 Mortal humanity cannot bear the revelation of divine glory, a frequent biblical theme (see Ex 19:21; 33:20; Is 6:5). Just as he fell prostrate at Mount Tabor (Mt 17:6), so also does John here, in the presence of the glorified Savior (see Ezk 1:27; Dan 10:7–9; see also 1En 14:24). Do not be afraid is a revelatory formula from the OT. As a signal for the theophany, it was carried over into the NT (see the Annunciation, Lk 1:30; Jesus walking upon the water, Mt 14:27—“Fear not, I AM”; the Transfiguration, Mt 17:7). In the OT God was called “the first and the last” (Is 44:6; 48:12), and so, too, is the Messiah. Some early heresies (e.g. Docetism) held that Jesus only seemed to die. But the Lord Himself testified, I … was dead, affirming the authenticity of His death; alive forevermore, His Resurrection—the power of which effects His lordship over death and its realm. The Orthodox icon of the resurrected Christ depicts Him with these keys (v. 18) in hand, standing triumphantly on the open gates of Hades. Fr. John Farley. Like those receiving such theophanic appearances in Old Testament days (e.g. Ezek. 1:28; Dan. 8:17), John fell at His feet as if dead. Even though he had leaned in familiarity upon His breast at the Last Supper (John 13:23), yet such is the power of the Lord in His heavenly exaltation that even the beloved disciple is overwhelmed. The Lord restores him in preparation to write the things he has seen and will see. He tells John, “Do not be afraid,” and in this He tells all of John's churches not to fear. They need not fear death, martyrdom, or anything in all the world. Why? Because Christ has overcome the world, trampling down death by death. He became dead, but now He is alive to ages of ages. As such, He is the first and the last, sovereign over all (compare God as the Alpha and Omega in 1:8) and the Living One, the source of all life. He had authority over death and Hades by His Resurrection. Death cannot now separate us from Him, for He is Lord of both the living and the dead. St. Andrew of Caesarea. Christ revived the Apostle himself who had suffered through the weakness of human nature like Joshua son of Nun and Daniel, by saying to him, “Do not fear, for I have not come near to kill you, since I am beginningless and endless, having become dead for your sakes.” 1:18b. And I have the keys of Hades and of death. [23] Instead , he has authority over bodily and spiritual death. St. Bede. 17. I fell. As a man, he trembles at the spiritual vision, but his human fear is banished by the clemency of the Lord. the first. He is the first, because “by Him were all things made;” the last, because in Him are all things restoredu. 18. keys. Not only, He saith, have I conquered death by resurrection, but I have dominion also over death itself. And this He also bestowed upon the Church by breathing upon it the Holy Spirit, saying, “Whose sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them,” and the rest. 1:19. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. OSB. John's visions have to do with both the present (things which are) and the future. Fr. John Finlay. Then Christ gives John a command: he is to write the things which he has seen, and the things which are, and the things which are about to happen after these things and send them to the main churches under his care in Asia. (From these seven main locations, they could be sent out to other smaller church communities as well.) This gives a basic outline of the Book of Revelation as a whole: it relates what John has seen (the vision of Christ in ch. 1), the things which are (the present state of the churches, described in chs. 2–3), and the things which are about to happen in the future (the prophecies of chs. 4–22). St. Andrew of Caesarea. [nothing] St. Bede. Reveal to all the things which thou alone hast seen, that is, the various labours of the Church, and that the evil are to be mingled in it with the good unto the end of the world. 1:20. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches. OSB. The angels of the seven churches have been variously interpreted as being (1) the guardian angels of the church communities; (2) the pastoral leadership of these local churches; (3) a personification of the prevailing spirit of the given congregations; or (4) simply the messengers responsible for delivering the letters. The term “angel” (heavenly or earthly messenger) is used over 60 times in Revelation. Fr. John Farley. The introduction concludes with an explanation of the meaning of the seven stars in His hand and the seven lampstands among which He stands. The seven lampstands are the seven churches of Asia, and the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. This is a reference to what may be termed the individual corporate personality of each church community. Each local church is thus portrayed as having an angel, even as each person has his guardian angel. Just as a person's guardian angel resembles that person (see those who reacted to the announcement that Peter was standing unexpectedly at the door by suggesting that it was not Peter but his angel; Acts 12:15), so the church's angel sums up and embodies the local church. The angel of the church is an image of the strengths and weaknesses of each church. In writing to the angel of the church of Ephesus, the Lord actually speaks to the church of Ephesus in its corporate aspect. We see this today as well, in that church communities have corporate characteristics—some are loving, some judgmental, some zealous, some lax. The reference to each church's “angel” is a way of addressing each community as a community, using the language of the apocalyptic. St. Andrew of Caesarea. Since Christ is the “true light,” because of this, those abundant in his light are lamps as they shine in the night of this present life. Naturally, the churches are called lampstands, because, as the luminaries, they “have the word of life” according to the Apostle. The lamps and lampstands are gold because of the honor and purity of the faith in them. An angel has stood guard for each of these, just as the Lord says,44 and Gregory the Theologian had understood the present chapter: he figuratively called them “stars” because of the brightness and clarity of their nature. St. Bede. stars. That is, the rulers of the Church. For the priest, as Malachi says, is “the angel of the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 2:7. “for the lips of a priest should keep knowledge, and people should seek the law from his mouth, for he is the messenger (malakh/angel) of the Lord Almighty.”
Revelation, Session Four Christ the Savior, Anderson SC Fr. Anthony Perkins Sources: The translation of the Apocalypse is from the Orthodox Study Bible. Lawrence R. Farley, The Apocalypse of St. John: A Revelation of Love and Power, The Orthodox Bible Study Companion (Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing, 2011), Bishop Averky, The Epistles and the Apocalypse (Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, Volume III. (Holy Trinity Seminary Press, 2018). Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011). Jack Norman Sparks, The Orthodox Study Bible: Notes (Thomas Nelson, 2008), 1712. Venerable Bede, The Explanation of the Apocalypse, trans. Edward Marshall (Oxford: James Parker and Co., 1878). William C. Weinrich, ed., Revelation, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2005). Review Introduction and Blessing 1:1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants – things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John. 2. Who bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. [speaking of the Gospel of St. John] 3. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. Greeting to the Seven Churches 4. John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5. and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6. and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever. Amen. (OSB) 7. Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. New Material 8. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord (God), who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Andrew of Caesarea. Christ is shown here both as God and as the Ruler of all things, both beginningless and at the same time endless, existing now and existing before and having no end, since he is coeternal with the Father, and on account of this he will render to each one the wages of deeds done. Ps 62(61):12; Prv 24:12; Wis 16:14; Rom 2:6; 1 Cor 5:10 St. Bede. Who is. He had said this same thing of the Father, for God the Father came, as He also is to come, in the Son. St. Augustine. The Lord himself said plainly in the Apocalypse, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first”—before whom is nobody—“the last”—after whom is nobody; he precedes all things and sets a term to all things. Do you want to gaze upon him as the first? “All things were made through him.”49 Do you seek him as the last? “For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified.” In order for you to live at some time or other, you had him as your creator. In order for you to live always, you have him as your redeemer. 9. I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. OSB. Patmos: A small rocky island 40 miles off the western coast of modern Turkey, fifty miles south of Ephesus, to which the Romans exiled criminals. John's preaching must have been considered a seditious threat to the public interest if he was indeed a prisoner there. Logos. According to a tradition preserved by Irenaeus, Eusebius, Jerome and others, John, the author of Revelation, was exiled there in the 14th year of the reign of Domitian and subsequently released to Ephesus under Nerva (96 ad). St. Andrew of Caesarea. “Inasmuch as your brother,” he says, “being also a co-participant in the tribulations on account of Christ, I naturally have acquired trustworthiness among you. Being condemned to live on the island of Patmos on account of the witness of Jesus, I will announce to you the mysteries seen by me on it.” 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, OSB. In the Spirit may mean John received the revelation in a visionary ecstasy (see Ezk 3:12 - Then the spirit took me up, and I heard behind me a voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place.), but more probably that he was in the worship (“in Spirit and in truth”) of the Lord. The Lord's Day is the earliest reference to the Christian name for Sunday. The Didache and St. Ignatius of Antioch show this name was used very early for the day when Christians gathered to celebrate the Resurrection in the Holy Eucharist. As a fulfillment of the first day of the week of the old creation, Sunday becomes the “eighth day,” the “first day of the new creation.” The term “eighth day” is seen in 2En 33:1 (“On the eighth day I likewise appointed, so that the 8th day might be the 1st, the first-created of my week, and that it should revolve in the revolution of 7000; ⟨|so that the 8000|⟩ might be in the beginning of a time not reckoned and unending, neither years, nor months, nor weeks, nor days, nor hours ⟨like the first day of the week, so also that the eighth day of the week might return continually”⟩. and inaugurates the first day of the timeless age to come. The loud voice, as of a trumpet is a traditional, eschatological, apocalyptic introduction describing an appearance of the Lord (see Ex 19:16, 19; Mt 24:31; 1Co 15:52; 1Th 4:16). Andrew of Caesarea. Having been possessed by the Holy Spirit and having a spiritual ear on the Lord's day, also would have been honored by him on account of the resurrection, he heard a voice that seemed like a trumpet because of the loud sound—“the sound of their voice went out to all the earth”—declaring the beginninglessness and endlessness of God signified by the Alpha and Omega. By it he was commanded to send out his visions to the seven churches, because of the aforementioned number seven applying to the Sabbath period of the future age. For this reason also the great Irenaeus had written that the seven heavens and seven angels leading the rest of them had been created by God first. 11. saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.” And, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. OSB. The glorified Christ introduces himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, thus identifying Himself with God the Father (v. 8; 22:13). His position amidst the seven lampstands signifies His presence in the Church (see Mt 5:14) St. Bede. Seven Churches. The Church of Christ was not at the time in these places alone, but all fulness is comprised in the number seven. Asia, which is interpreted elevation, denotes the proud exaltation of the world in which the Church is sojourning, and, as is the method of the divine mystery, the genus is contained in the species. For the Apostle Paul also writes to seven churches, but not to the same as St. John. And although these seven churches are a sevenfold figure of the whole Church, still the things which he blames, or praises, came to pass in them one by one. Apringius of Beja (Latin Father of the 6th Century). Ephesus means “my will” or “my plan.” He wills that we know that the whole reality of our faith and the dignity of the catholic church is not to be ascribed to human merit, but they are the will of God and the disposition of the divine purpose. Smyrna means “their song.” And what else is the song of the perfect if not the celestial doctrine and the preaching of the gospel and the advance of the Christian religion, or the melodious confession of the catholic church? Pergamum means “to him who divides their horns.” This refers either to the insolence of the powers of the air, or to the arrogance of the heretics. And he teaches that the pride of the powers is always to be separated and divided from the congregation of the church, for the horns are either power or arrogance. He writes to Thyatira, that is “enlightened.” This signifies that, after the expulsion of heretical pride and after the defeat of temptations from the powers of the air, the holy church is deserving of the light of righteousness. Sardis means the “beginning of beauty.” The church is seized by the sun of righteousness and is illumined by the light of truth, so that she might have the beginning of beauty, the Lord Jesus Christ, and might always shine in perpetual light. Philadelphia means “preserving devotion to the Lord.” After possessing the sun of righteousness, after the illumination of holiness, after the comeliness of holy beauty, the church rightly is devoted to the Lord and preserves herself by an inviolable observation of devotion. Laodicea means either “a tribe beloved of the Lord,” or, as some would have it, “a birth is expected.” Both are meaningful, for she who has merited the beauty of faith and the sun of righteousness and knows that through faith the Lord cleaves to her, might also be a tribe whom the Lord loves, who is both loved by the Lord and preserved by the Lord. Furthermore, the church might well await her own birth, either the regeneration of baptism or the glory of the resurrection, whenever she preserves herself by humility and patience. Pulpit Commentary (BibleHub). [This] is just the order in which St. John would visit the Churches in making an apostolic circuit as metropolitan. With the exception of what is told us in these chapters, the history of the Churches of Pergamum, Thyatira, and Sardis in the apostolic or sub-apostolic age is quite unknown. 12-13. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. St. Bede. Here the figure of the Church is beautifully represented, as holding forth the light of divine love in the brightness of a chaste breast, according to that which the Lord saith, “Let your loins be girt, and your lamps burning.” And he denotes its perfection within and without by the two parts of the number seven; and the individual members of it, consisting of the four qualities of the body, “love the Lord their God with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their strength.” 13. Son of Man. He means that he is like the Son of man when He had overcome death, and had ascended into heaven. For “Although we knew Christ after the flesh, yet henceforth know we Him no more.” And it is well said, “in the midst,” for “All,” he saysl, “who are round about Him shall offer gifts.” garment. “Poderis,” which is called in Latin, “tunica talaris,” and is a sacerdotal vestment, shews the priesthood of Christ, by which He offered Himself for us, as a victim to the Father, upon the altar of the cross. girdle. By the “paps” he here means the two Testaments, with which He feeds the body of the saints in communion with Himself. For the golden girdle is the choir of saints, which cleaves to the Lord in harmonious love, and embraces the Testaments, “keeping,” as the Apostle says, “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Andrew of Caesarea. That the voice was not sensory he signifies saying, I turned, not to hear it, but to see the voice, for spiritual hearing and seeing are the same. I turned, he says, and I saw seven lampstands—which he understood as representing the churches—and in their midst Christ, resembling a man—because he is also God and not a mere man—clothed in a long garment as a high priest of the things above, “according to the order of Melchizedek.” A golden belt was wrapped around him, not on the hip as other men in the era of hedonisms—the divine flesh is inaccessible to these —but on the chest by the breasts also how the boundless and righteous divine anger is restrained by love for humankind. The truth is shown in the girding of the Master's breasts, that is, the two Testaments, through which the faithful are nourished. The belt is gold on account of honor, purity, and genuineness. St. Jerome. In the law, John had a leather girdle because the Jews thought that to sin in act was the only sin.… In the Apocalypse of John, our Lord Jesus, who is seen in the middle of the seven lampstands, also wore a girdle, a golden girdle, not about his loins but about the breasts. The law is girdled about the loins, but Christ, that is, the gospel and the fortitude of the monks, binds not only wanton passion but also mind and heart. In the gospel, one is not even supposed to think anything evil; in the law, the fornicator is accused for judgment.… “It is written,” he says, “in the law, ‘You shall not commit adultery.' ” This is the leather girdle clinging about the loins. “I say to you, anyone who even looks with lust at a woman has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” This is the golden girdle that is wrapped around the mind and heart. OSB. One like the Son of Man recalls Daniel's messianic figure (Dan 7:13—repeated by Stephen at his martyrdom, Acts 7:56). Christ called Himself Son of Man (see especially Mt 24:30ff.), for He is the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy. Additional parallels may be seen in both the Old and New Testaments (Dan 10:6; Mt 17:2; Eph 6:17; Heb 4:12). We also see Him vested in high-priestly garments (see Ex 28:4; 29:5; Lv 16:4; WSol 18:24; Zec 3:4, 5). The gold with which He is girded is both royal (1Mc 10:89) and priestly. 14-16. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. [17a. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.] OSB. Further, Christ is here described as God, His hair (v. 14) being that of Daniel's vision of God as the “Ancient of Days” (7:9; see also 1En 46:1). His eyes signify knowledge; His feet (v. 15), permanence and stability; His voice, authority or teaching; His right hand (v. 16), power; His two-edged sword, complete discernment. This imagery continues throughout Revelation to affirm the preexistence and eternal divinity of the Son of Man (see also Jn 1:1–18). Thus, in Christ man (v. 14) and God (vv. 15, 16) are united. 1:15 Dan 2:31–44 indicates this mysterious metal foundation not only provides stability but has the ability to forcibly crush all opposition as well. These images are contrasted with the feet of clay found in Dan 2:33, 43: the kingdoms of this world are not permanent, nor ultimately triumphant. 1:16 The Lord holds the stars that represent the seven churches (1:20), and hence, the Church. For Christ is Lord of the Church. In His just judgment, the sword He wields is the Word of God, which cuts effortlessly to the very marrow and heart of humanity (see 2:16; 18:15; Is 11:4; 49:2; WSol 18:15; Eph 6:17; 2Th 2:9; Heb 4:12). The brilliance of His face recalls the Uncreated Light John saw radiating from the Savior at the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor. St. Bede. 14. white. The antiquity and eternity of majesty are represented by whiteness on the head, to which all the chief ones adhere, as hairs, who, because of the sheep which are to be on the right hand are white, like wool, and because of the innumerable multitude of the white-robed and the elect, who come forth from heaven, are glistering like snow. eyes. The eyes of the Lord are preachers, who, with spiritual fire, bring light to the faithful, and to the unbelieving a consuming flame. 15. feet. By the “fiery feet” he means the Church of the last time, which is to be searched and proved by severe afflictions. For orichalcum is brass, which, by much fire and various ingredients, is brought to the colour of gold. Another translation, which renders it, “like orichalcum of Lebanon,” signifies that in Judæa, of which Lebanon is a mountain, the Church will be persecuted, and especially at the last. The temple also frequently received the name of Lebanon, as there is said to ito, “Open, O Lebanon, thy gates, and let the fire devour thy cedars.” voice. The voice of confession, and preaching, and praise does not resound in Judæa alone, but among many peoples. 16. right hand. In the right hand of Christ is the spiritual Church. “On Thy right hand,” he says, “stood the queen in a vesture of gold.” And as it stands on His right hand, He saithq, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom.” mouth. He, the Judge of all things visible and invisible, “after He has killed, has power to cast into hell fire.” countenance. Such as the Lord appeared on the Mount, will He appear after the judgment to all the saints, for at the judgment the ungodly will behold Him Whom they pierced. But all this appearance of the Son of Man belongs also to the Church, for He Himself was made the Christ in the same nature with it, and He gives to it a sacerdotal dignity and a judicial power, and to “shine as the sun in the kingdom of His Father.” Andrew of Caesarea. 1:14. His head and his hair were white as white wool, as snow, and his eyes as a flame of fire. For even though he is recent amidst us, nonetheless he is ancient; rather, he is before time. His white hair is a symbol of this. And his eyes are as a flame of fire, on the one hand, illuminating those who are holy and, on the other hand, burning the sacrilegious. 1:15a. And his feet were like glowing brass, red-hot as in a furnace. [21] The divine Gregory also understood that the feet meant the divine condescension through the flesh. For his feet by treading on the divinity achieved our salvation. The feet are also the foundations of the Church, like glowing brass, which physicians say is a sweet-smelling incense, which they call masculine incense. Or otherwise: On the one hand, meaning the human nature by the glowing brass, and on the other hand the divine nature by the incense, through both of which is also shown the sweetness of the faith and the unconfused union . Or the fine brass signifies the beautiful melody of the gospel proclamation, and the incense is the return of the nations by which the bride is summoned.33 And the feet of Christ are also the apostles, who have been tested by fire in the furnace of trials in imitation of their Teacher.35 1:15b. And his voice like the sound of many waters. Naturally. His voice is in common with that of the Spirit, from which “rivers of living water flowed from the belly” of the faithful, and it made a penetrating sound over all the earth. 1:16. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and coming out from his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword, and his appearance as the sun shines in its power. [22] Further down he says that the seven stars are the seven angels of the churches. The sharp, double-edged sword means his decision against the wicked, “sharper than any two-edged sword,” or the sword of the Spirit circumcising our inner man.38 Like the sun his face shines, not in a splendor to the senses, but to the intellect. For he is the “sun of righteousness,” shining with his own power and authority, not like the sensory sun, which as a created object by God-given power and divine command.
Jesus Is Coming In Believers (2) David Eells – 3/24/24 (audio) He Wants Us All In Him Anonymous 2/12/24 (David's notes in red) I had been really battling with a deep-rooted fear of God rejecting me and self-rejection, self-hatred and self-condemnation. Although it was easy to see and feel God's love for others, it's been extremely difficult to accept His love for me (Jesus in me). (Your fiercest enemies are being removed. Father addresses the problem below.) I had this experience while I was still in my physical body. I could see and was fully aware of the physical realm but my spirit and soul were in a room in Heaven where the Father was sitting down and Jesus was standing to His right. There were others all around them and I knew or recognized Enoch and Noah. (A good sign - Both were escapees) There were so many others there that my spirit knew but those two were the ones I looked at. And everyone there was filled with God's Spirit in their individual vessel or soul. There was only purity and holiness there. It is so difficult to describe in words and physically what it looked like. The presence of His Holy Love was extremely strong and more than I felt I could bear. I was crying immensely in the natural because of His Love. I just never had experienced or accepted it although it has always been there. Being there in His presence, I had no choice but to accept His Love and it was all present. I went to look for fear, self-condemnation and self-rejection as they had been a comfort and safety mechanism my whole life. They were not there but I knew they were extremely far down, deep and low. They were deeper than underground or in a pit and their presence was so far from here. The Holy presence was greater words than I could describe but my crying was from the unfamiliarity of this overwhelming love and I begged God to take me back to normal. It seemed too much but He said He wouldn't ever make me experience more than I could handle even though it seemed so overwhelming. This place was up so high above everything and you could see everything not physically but spiritually. I could see all the truth and understand supernaturally what was and is going on around me. There was nothing hidden but everything was seen spiritually and I could see all this truth relating to myself. I saw how that I had been friends with self-condemnation and fear for so long that when they are taken away it does hurt even though it's what's best for me. Being in this wonderful place I could see the authority it had over all creation physically and spiritually and that everything in existence was under this place. It was all light and darkness was so very far away that you couldn't even feel the presence of it although you knew it existed. It literally couldn't touch you even if you wanted it to. You would have to leave this place to experience it. 1Jn 1:5 And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. It was as if I had been in this place the whole time but I wasn't aware of it but I was now aware of it. Fear, condemnation, self-hatred etc. had been separating me and stopping me from realizing or acknowledging being here. (This was accomplished at the cross but it needs to be realized.) Eph 2:5-6 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved), 6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus: The enemy throws everything at us every day and every moment to blind us from seeing where we really are. I understood that He desires this place to manifest through us while on earth and for us to be in this place constantly on earth. It was understood that we are all in Heaven in this place all of the time but we get distracted by anything that is other than holiness and can't see clearly. (We are saved, healed and delivered at the cross.) But when the lies and fear are removed, we see this place and connect with Him clearly. We then see Him and hear Him so closely as if one's own breath is His Spirit and He is closer than we can comprehend. I understood that He wants all of us to be constantly communing with Him as one in this place in Heaven while we are physically on earth. We are to be in this place with Him no matter what is going on in the physical. (We are seated with Him in heavenly places in Christ.) This place was more real than anything familiar to me and more real than anything in the physical. After this experience I was able to see back to this place the rest of the day no matter what I was doing in the physical. Even though the evil spirits were and are still moving around on the earth, I was able to be in this place with Him at the exact same time. He desires this closeness and oneness with us now and forever. We are to have this intimacy right now and for eternity. We are to accept His voice and love constantly and reject all other voices, thoughts, and spirits. We are to have His Spirit dwelling in our spirit and soul over our flesh for eternity. In this way He will manifest through our physical bodies for His Glory and praise. This will enable us to overcome while going through all our trials, the evil and judgements being poured out on earth. Our vessels are to be physically preserved by being completely aligned with His Spirit. I heard the other day when I was asking why I am experiencing so many new, crazy, unfamiliar things and I heard this word. Luk 21:26 men fainting for fear, and expectation of the things coming on the inhabited earth; for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. I knew He is preparing all our hearts and souls so that we will have faith and peace when witnessing all the evil things about to be manifested. He is preparing us to go through it all for His Glory. He wants to live in us and keep us stable. This stability will enable us to resist and reject everything the enemy says. The fallen angels don't want us to be in this Heavenly state manifesting Christ. Jesus has already paid the price for us to live in this place constantly while on earth. He has already paid the price and given us all grace to manifest Him fully. Jesus IS in the Mirror Prophecy of Gary Carpenter (David's notes in red) Reminder Note from David: {2Co.3:18} But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. ... {4:6} Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. {7} But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves. ... {10} always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body. {11} For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. {Gal.2:20} I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me: and that [life] which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, [the faith] which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. {Rom. 6:11} Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus. {12} Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof. None Diminished Now do you perceive My wisdom in providing you with the image of Him Who is to fill your hope? (This image is only seen in “the sum of thy words”, which is truth.) Allow no image provided by religion. (Which has always been wrong. The Sanhedrin, leaders of all their religions did not recognize the Image and so it is today.) Permit no image diminished by the reasonings of man. Receive the image I have provided for it is into that likeness that My Spirit shall conform you. "None diminished! None diminished!" is the word I am imparting to your spirit this day, says the Lord. "None diminished" is My plan. "None diminished" is My will. "None diminished" from the image I provided. That IS the plan of the Father. As you behold the glory of Him Whom I have sent, as you behold that image I have provided to fill your hope, you are changed into that same image, that same hope, that same likeness by the seed of Him Who was planted within you. "None diminished!" I say again, "None diminished!" This is My plan. This is My purpose. Receive not the counsel, nor the religion, nor the vain speaking of men who would oppose My will. (Do the dead religions conform to the pattern and image of the Book of Acts?) I counsel you this day to incorporate hope with all your speaking. Truly I have spoken unto you, "These things only come by the saying". But where there is no vision, My people shall surely perish. The saying apart from the vision is as futile as the vision apart from the saying. Both are required, says the Lord. (So read it, say it, and believe it.) I counsel you to step higher than religion. I counsel you to step higher than the ways of man. I counsel you to step above the darkened reasonings of those who speak as leaders of My people. I counsel you to receive the simple truth that I have sent in Jesus Christ. He IS the image provided for all men to be conformed to. I intend for them to be conformed to that image "none diminished, none diminished, none diminished" says the Spirit of your Father. His life, the life of Christ in fullness, is the "Land of Promise" which I have given unto My children. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread to appropriate that life in its fullness as your own, I will surely give it unto you. His life, in its fullness, IS your inheritance! Receive the abundance of this grace. Receive it as your own. Possess it as your land to be inherited. Receive the abundance of this grace which I have provided for My children. Receive the abundance of His righteousness for it is truly yours. All that I have given Him, the Holy Spirit shall show unto you as being your inheritance to possess. He will lead you step by step. He will go before you and drive your enemies out from before your face and you shall inherit the very life of Christ in fullness, says the Lord. This is My plan. For this purpose I provided the image that you are to be changed into. For this purpose I sent Him Who is the express image of Myself, that you may see the land before you and possess it as your own. For it is yours as a gift. It is yours by inheritance. It is yours to possess by My Spirit, says the Lord. By My Spirit, by My Spirit, it shall be yours! (The liars say it passed away with the Apostles.) For I have already given you this land. The work has already been accomplished in Him. The only thing remaining is for you to possess it by faith. But as I am teaching you in this day, first you must fill your hope with the image of Him Whom I have provided. Fill your hope with that image. Think it not impossible. Think no longer these things are impossible. Think no longer this is not My plan, for it is My plan. It is My plan to repopulate the earth with sons who walk as Him, talk as Him, act as Him, who have the same results He had. This IS My will, says the Spirit of your Father. You will learn, as did those of old, that the battle is not yours, but the Lord's. It is by My Spirit that the transformation is accomplished. For man's efforts are vain and futile to bring forth the life of Christ. The instructions I give are easy for man to do. First, son, fill your hope with the image of Him Whom I have provided. Your hope must become "possessive hope"! Hope that possesses as its own the life of Christ in its fullness. See, see that life in fullness in you. See it, son. This is My plan, it is My gift unto you. It is My gift to My children; His life imparted free by grace to you. I say again, have possessive hope. Hope that sees His life as your own, for without Him you can do nothing. His life has been given freely by My grace. I have imparted that same life into you. See it as your own. Every attribute of His, see it as your own. (2Pe 1:3-4 seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue; 4 whereby he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.) See yourself as beholding Him in a mirror of your own life. As you behold Him as in a mirror, the mystery of Christ in you is brought forward by the power of My Spirit and not your labor. Your labor is to see Him! To behold Him! To possess Him in your hope! To hold that image and not be swayed by religion nor the doctrines of men who claim these things are not My mind. See Him! Behold Him! Possess Him! Know Him! Love Him! Receive Him! He IS your life! His life IS your inheritance, in all of its fullness, says the Spirit of your Father. Then partake by saying. Be as Abraham of old who spoke what I said concerning himself and would not speak contrary to it. As you speak forth the words of faith, "As He is, so am I, in this world", coupling your words with Godly Hope which possesses the image, the transformation and the change into that image is wrought by My Spirit and not by the work of man. Enough! Enough! Enough, says the Lord. Enough of religion! Enough! It has been enough! It is past time to cast off the doctrines of men who would speak in the place of God. This very day My Spirit is circumcising from your heart the doctrine of men whose counsel has been darkened to say that the life of My Son is an image to be worshipped afar off and not to be appropriated by every believer who calls upon His name. They do not find such counsel in My Word. They have chosen according to man's ways and man's reasonings. They have chosen the path of religion which I cannot anoint with life. They have chosen that path which will never lead to dominion. They have chosen the path of religion instead of life. Hear them no more. Hearken to them no more, for their words are not the mind of the Father. As I have spoken unto you, wisdom is the image of Christ woven upon the tapestry of your spirit. The speaking of My word weaves that image upon your spirit. But by that method alone, the process of transformation is slow. I am instructing you this day to incorporate hope with all your speaking. (The scriptural word for hope means a firm expectation for the promises given to come to pass for us.) As you incorporate hope of the image with the speaking of My Word, the image of Him Whom I have provided is woven upon the tapestry of your spirit much more rapidly. You cannot possess a land that you cannot see. Neither can you possess a land that you see afar off if you deem it not part of your inheritance. Understand this day and never forget, says the Lord, that His life IS your inheritance! I desire that you possess that life to the full. (When we see Him in the mirror we are saying His life, holiness, deliverance, health, immunity, love, gifts, power, etc. are all in me.) Behold the land of His life that I have spread before you, says the Lord. Behold it with possessive hope that understands His life IS your inheritance. Possess the land by faith as you go forth seeing and beholding His life, saying "As He is, even so am I, in this world". Incorporate hope with all your saying, says the Spirit of Grace, and I will weave the image of Him Whom the Father has provided upon the tapestry of your heart in such rapid measure it shall astound you. This is the Father's plan. For this purpose I have been sent. Few have known His mind. Few have understood His purpose in re seeding the earth with LIFE! The Father is restoring all things according to His original intent and purpose. His intent and purpose is that all who name the name of Christ should walk as He walked, possessing in fullness His life, which is their inheritance. Why would you fill your hope with images provided by man when I have provided for you the image of life itself! He Who IS life has come in the flesh that you may behold that life. That you may receive that life into yourself and appropriate it as a land to be possessed, for I have surely given it unto you, says your Father. Have not I said thou shalt have no graven images before thee? A graven image is that which has the mark of man upon it. I have provided the image which has the mark of God upon it. Behold the image of life, Who IS Christ come in the flesh. Behold Him! Behold the image I have provided, says the Lord. Fill your hope with that image. Fill your mouth with My Word that says His life is yours and you shall surely possess the height and depth, the length and breadth of His life. For I have given you to have life in yourself as I gave to Him to have life in Himself. Possess the life of Christ for His life is your promised land to be inherited. His life is your land of inheritance to be possessed. My children have become so accustomed to affliction, to mourning, and to hopelessness that on those occasions when they have received the smallest measures of joy and peace from My Spirit, they have tended to camp there and set up monument stones by writing books giving testimony ...as though they had received the fullness of My measure of grace to them. How sad. How sad. How My heart grieves over the smallness of the heart of their Father in their sight. I intend for My children to possess continents of joy and oceans of peace. Did not My Son say that His joy was to be in you? Did not My Son say that His peace was to be your peace? The land of inheritance is vast, enormous, beyond the capacity of the carnal mind to comprehend. But I have set this life to be inherited before you in the image of My Son that you may behold His glory, and with possessive hope and words of faith, possess the land as My Spirit drives out every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. You shall possess this land, says the Lord, in a more rapid manner, as you learn to incorporate hope with all your speaking. I give you counsel and instruction this day, says the Spirit of Grace; "Slow down!" During your times of possession as you confess the Word, incorporate hope with all your speaking. I Myself, by the power resident within Myself, will move to restore the will of the Father in every realm of your life. The life in the image of Him Whom God has sent is yours for the possessing. It is the gift of grace. His life IS the gift of grace unto you, says the Father. Receive the abundance of this grace and the gift of righteousness and you shall reign in life by Him. The very life of My Son is My gift of grace unto you. His life is yours. His anointing is yours. His joy is yours. His peace is yours. It is a vast land of promise to be enjoyed by those who will take up the Sword of the Spirit and go forth in the name of Jesus to possess all that life which is your inheritance. Did I not say to Abram, "Lift up thine eyes", that he might see all the land that was spread before him? Did I not say, "All that you can see, I shall give unto thee and thy Seed"? I did not say, "Behold this land which thou shall not receive as an inheritance". No, I said "This land IS your inheritance". So I say to you this day, and so I say to all My children. I have spread before you the life of My Son, Jesus Christ, as a land to be possessed by inheritance. I have given this life unto you. It is not a life to be worshipped from afar without hope that it may be possessed. No, I have sent the image of life on purpose that you may behold that image and understand that this life is your land to be inherited. All that you can see, I will give unto you as your faith possesses it. (For this reason the Apostles were called Christians because they manifested Him.) You cannot possess that which you cannot see, says the Lord. See, behold Him, behold the glory of that life. See it as in a mirror. Possess that life as your own. By My Spirit, I will give it unto you in fullness, says the Lord your God. Remember the Word I spoke to you saying, "Four hours spent developing godly hope is more productive than four years of mindless confession where there is no hope". That ratio is correct. Those numbers are accurate. (When you read scripture of the life of Christ begin to say, this is mine and that is mine and let your imagination take hold of these things.) I gave them not by chance unto you, says the Spirit of Grace. That IS the measure by which the rate of transformation shall be increased as you learn to incorporate hope with all your speaking. I am able to do a quick work in those whose hope stands as an image in full measure for faith to give substance to. Learn to incorporate hope, Godly Hope, with all your speaking. Forget not the course that He has set for you, My son. Incorporate hope with your speaking regarding the Gifts of the Spirit. You shall arrive at that clearing more rapidly than you ever thought. Let hope and faith join together that I may manifest the life of Christ in you. From glory to glory, you shall be changed into that same image. Incorporate hope with all your saying, says the Spirit of Grace. Our Dominion Through the Last Adam David Eells 1Co 15:22 As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. Rom 5:17 For if by the trespass of the one death reigned through the one much more shall they that receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one even Jesus Christ. The first Adam and his children were given dominion over the earth, but he gave it away through sin. The second Adam and His children were given dominion over the earth, too, but He didn't give it away; it is just that a lot of His children are not receiving by faith this dominion that the Lord has given us. The Lord ordained that His people would reign in life. It is not because of our great ability, or power, or wisdom, or even sinlessness, but through what Jesus did at the cross that we have this authority to reign in life. It is a wonderful thing to realize, and I don't think that any of us yet realize the extent of the dominion that God has really given us over this earth, and we never will realize it unless we reach out, stretch out our faith, and begin to exercise faith and really see things change. We have this authority that Jesus had to exercise power. The bible says in Rev 5:10 And he madeth them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests and they reign upon the earth. This isn't in the next life, or even after the tribulation. The bible says, “...they reign upon the earth.” We have the authority to reign as Jesus reigned because He lives in us through the Word that we put in our heart. The more of His word you accept, the more He can live through you because He is the Word. Jesus exercised dominion in His kingdom. Not the kind of dominion that some people want. Actually some people would like to have the kind of dominion that the Pharisees had. The kind that glorifies man. Jesus exercised dominion over God's creation. He didn't exercise dominion over people who wanted to put to death His flesh. We go through many things in order to put to death our flesh. That is what the world was created for, to bring us into sanctification. The world is putting to death the old man, the flesh, the carnal nature. Even while the world around us is spiritually putting us on our cross, we have to exercise dominion. Jesus exercised the dominion but He resisted not the evil, and turned the other cheek. While the world was crucifying Him, even before He came to the cross, His spiritual man was exercising dominion and delivering this old world from the curse. He went everywhere delivering this world from the curse. So, you can get mixed upon when to exercise this dominion and when not. We don't want authority to let the old man live, we don't want to keep our old life; we want our new life. Jesus said that unless you lose your life you wouldn't gain your life, so this dominion that God has given us is the same type of dominion that Jesus had. This dominion is not to get rich in this world to live the high life, but it is to have all we need to do God's will. God gave me my house and car free in order to do His will. “My God shall supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Phl 4:19). Some people say that Jesus had this dominion just because He was the Son of God, but that is not what Jesus Himself said, as we shall see. It is true that Jesus was the Son of God (spiritual man) dwelling in, and empowering the Son of man (natural man - Rom.1:3). I'm going to show you why Jesus always called Himself the Son of man. They did not have the New Testament when Jesus was administering God's salvation, they had the Old Testament. Jesus always did things to fulfill the Old Testament. “...so the scripture might be fulfilled”, He called Himself “the son of man.” I'm sure the Jews caught on to what He was saying, because they heard that phrase, “the son of man” in the Old Testament. Jesus said of Himself in Joh 5:27, “and he gave him the authority to execute judgment because he is a son of man.” Jesus didn't have authority to execute judgment because He was the son of God; He had authority to execute judgment because He is the son of man. You say, “what is he talking about?” First of all, God gave authority to execute judgment on this earth to man. The bible says so. Not only did Jesus turn to His disciples and say to them things like, “what you bind on earth is bound in heaven and what you loose on earth is loose in heaven”; and “I give you authority over all the power of the enemy”; and “all things whatsoever you ask in prayer believing you shall receive”; and “whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be thou taken up and cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart ...he shall have it.” This is the kind of authority that Jesus passed on to His disciples. But it is not because they are sons of God that they have the authority to exercise God's power, it was because they were the sons of man. Why is that? Because that is who God gave His authority too. Turn to Heb 2:5 “For not unto angels did he subject the inhabited earth.” The Greek says, “the inhabited earth.” He didn't put the inhabited earth under the authority of the angels. Who did He put it under? He put it under Adam. The bible says He gave this authority unto Adam, not the angels. I want to point out to you that Adam was given this authority, and one of the angels, the Devil tried to usurp that authority. Gen 1:26 says, “...and god said, “Let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds in the heaves, of the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. And God blessed them and God said unto them “be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it,” (that means to have dominion over it). Adam and his children were to have dominion over all the earth. Adam lost that dominion for himself and his children. He actually gave it away. Rom 6:16 says, “...know you not that to whom you present yourself as servants unto obedience his servants you are whom you obey.” That is what happened to Adam. He obeyed the Devil through Eve and gave him his own lordship. He obeyed and became the servant of unrighteousness, the servant of sin, and the servant of the Devil. The Devil ruled over him, the curse ruled over him, and the Devil through the curse ruled over him. So the first Adam failed but the second Adam didn't. Heb 2:6 says “...but one has somewhere testified saying “what is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man that thou visiteth him?” Now this is a quote from Psalm 8. When Jesus kept relating to the Jews that He was the son of man, I'm sure that a few of them caught on. Actually when He was saying this, He was applying Psalm 8 to Himself. 1Cor 15:45-47 tells us that He was the second man, the last Adam. Psalm 8 was spoken of both Adam and the second Adam. Notice that the Lord didn't give authority to just Adam, He gave authority to His children. Man and the son of man are mentioned here. Gen 1:26 says, ...Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion. Adam lost it for himself and his children, when he fell under the dominion of the devil. The second Adam overcame and took back dominion. “...What is man that thou art mindful of him or the son of man that thou art visiteth him…” This is talking about Jesus and His children just as much as it's talking about Adam and his children. Everybody thinks that Jesus did His great wondrous works because He was the Son of God. God gave this authority to the son of man. Jesus passed on His same authority to His disciples, who were sons of man and sons of God. They were not born sons of God, they had to be “reborn sons” of God. They were sons of men and that's why He passed it on to them, because God gave dominion over the earth to the sons of men. “Thou madest him a little lower than the angels, thou crownedst him with glory and honor and didst set him over the works of thy hands, “Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet,” which clearly means that man was meant to be a king on this earth and rule for God over His creation. The works of God's hands here means the elements, not just things that occur in nature. Even the things that man makes are made of God's elements. By God's grace I have commanded cars, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, microwaves, boat motors, lawn mowers, etc. etc. to be repaired and seen it happen. Jesus came down here and took on the likeness of sinful flesh and any angel in heaven had power and ability not limited by flesh. Jesus was limited by flesh. The bible says He got tired, He hungered, and He thirsted. He was “tempted in all points, like as we”, but didn't give into sin. The reason Jesus had to come in the likeness of sinful flesh and become a man is because God wanted Him to have this dominion and to pass it on to His spiritual children. The bible says in 1Co 15:21 “...as in Adam all died, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” When Adam died all the seed of mankind was in him and they died too. When Jesus died and was resurrected, all the seed of the sons of God were in Him because He was the Word of God, and the Word of God was the Seed that the Sower went forth and sowed. The word seed there in the Greek is sperma. So the seed of all His children was in Him when He was resurrected. “...As in Adam all died, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” Everybody who abides in Christ is resurrected above sin to die no more. What we are finding out is who it is that was chosen in Him before the foundation of the world. His children are His seed, the word. They are the word in flesh. Heb 2:6-8 But one hath somewhere testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Notice everything was put under the feet of the sons of men, including Jesus who was a son of man. 7 Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; Thou crownedst him with glory and honor, And didst set him over the works of thy hands: 8 Thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he subjected all things unto him, he left nothing that is not subject to him. But now we see not yet all things subjected to him. Because men are ignorant of this authority. There are people of God that have learned to exercise dominion over many and various things. What is going to happen in the end time is that God's people are going to enter into more dominion. He says, “...they reign upon the earth.” Jesus didn't give us an example of what the Son of God could do; He gave us an example of what man was sent to do with God's word in him. He gave us an example of exercising dominion over the earth. He gave us that authority. If we don't know it and we don't believe it, we'll never stretch out our faith to enter into it. Jesus didn't tell His disciples to “ask Me to do this”, He sent His disciples and gave them authority to do it. “...As the father sent me, so send I you.” “Go ye therefore and make disciples.” “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons, freely you have received, freely give.” He just gave them this authority. Jesus in Mat 28:19 told His disciples to teach disciples to “observe all things whatsoever I commanded you.” Notice, we have to obey all these commands that Jesus gave the first disciples. That is our authority from the Lord. The great commission has been passed on to us from the Lord. If we understand our authority and begin to exercise it over the curse, we'll see things happen. We are not seeing this great dominion that God gave manifested except in small ways. If people begin to exercise the authority that God gave them, and exercise their dominion that they were crowned with, we are going to see this dominion exercised more and more. Soon people will begin to take this seriously and begin to stretch their faith for things that they have never done. Down the road a wilderness experience is going to thrust many people into a position of need. Not only that but it's going to thrust them into a position where they are going to be fellowshipping with disciples with different experiences. This is the place where God is going to destroy religion, He is going to bring people into close fellowship with people who have exercised their faith in other areas. This dominion is going to come forth because the need is going to be so great. People are going to put their trust in God, but we don't have to wait! It said He didn't leave anything that was not subject to man. The dominion is already given. God wants you to exercise your dominion over everything. God is giving you this dominion and He wants you to use it to glorify Him. Joh 15:7,8 says, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much fruit, and so shall ye be my disciples.” Remember from the first verse we read in Romans chapter five, it's not because you are perfect, it is because you are a disciple of Christ. No one who begins to exercise this dominion is perfect. We are sons of God through God the Father, and we are sons of man through Adam. God gave dominion to Adam, who then gave it to the devil. Then Jesus took it from the devil and gave it to us. Begin to exercise it now for everything. We don't have any authority outside of God; our authority comes through Jesus Christ. Psa 8:2 says “...Out of the mouths of the babes and sucklings have thou established strength. Because of thine adversaries that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” It's amazing because God can use little children to do this. Not just physical little children, but children in the Lord. This was spoken about Adam, and his children. So He put everything under the feet of Adam and his children. They lost this dominion because Adam sinned, but our sins were taken away. Look in Rom 6:14, “for sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace.” And He goes on to say that you are the servants of those that you obey. In verse 17 He said that “you are made free from sin.” In Colossians chapter 1 He said that He “delivered you out of the power of darkness.” All the things that the bible says about the curse as in Deu 28, we have been delivered of, if you believe it. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe it… (Rom 1:16) But we have to know that we have this dominion, not because we have manifested perfection, but because of what Jesus did. Exercise faith and go out and do it. Exercise dominion over sickness, demons, and all forms of the curse. You'll be rejoicing if you stand in faith and do it because you're going to see that what God says is true. There are Christians all over the world who have exercised dominion in so many different ways. We exercise dominion not by prayer but by command as Jesus and His disciples did. Did you ever notice that they did not ask God to heal, deliver, etc. They commanded these things because they knew these things were guaranteed by God to His covenant people. “And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phl 4:19). You may say, “David these things only happen for people with gifts of healings or miracles or faith.” No, Mar 11:23 says, “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it.” Notice that it is whosoever commands without doubt shall have it. By the grace of God I have commanded eyes restored, broken bones mended, cancers gone, diseases gone, bleeding stopped, blood pressure normal, demons out, dead resurrected, those in comas to come out, water pumps to stop leaking, alternators to have new bearings, smoking engines to be rebuilt, hurricanes to stop or change directions, property protected, storms to stop and back up, moles to get out of my yard, mole crickets to die, gas in my tank, engines to start, etc. Yet it was not I but Christ living in me through the word. Jesus came to restore our dominion. Jesus was promoted “...far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this world but in the world that is to come” (Eph 1: 21). That's total authority, and that's what Jesus has. …All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth. (Mat 28:18). Our spiritual Father has this authority and He has passed it on to His children. Verse 22 says, “and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and he gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him which filleth all and in all.” So you know He's talking about His body here. Not His physical body, but His corporate body. God gave all things to be in subjection under the Body of Jesus and He gave Him to be the head. In this case you can see that even if you are the lowest member of the body, the feet, you have dominion. This dominion is when you are abiding in the body. It is being in the body that gives you this dominion. Joh 15:7,8 says, “If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so shall ye be my disciples.” Disciples are those who bear fruit in the area of answered prayer because the word abides in them. Rebellious Christians and those who have not yet come into the body of the resurrected Christ, lost their dominion when the first Adam lost his. They still don't have that dominion. We have to be educated into the understanding that we have this dominion because the Word must abide in you. This dominion starts here but continues for eternity. It starts over the earth; the earth is just the training ground for this dominion. It is here where the Lord teaches us how to be kings over His creation. In the next world or in the age to come, we are still going to have this dominion. 1Co 6:1 says, “...dare any of you having a matter against a neighbor go to law before the unrighteous and not the saints for know you not that the saints shall judge the world. And if the world is judged by you are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters, know you not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life if than ye have to judge things pertaining to this life, do you set them to judge who are of no account in the church? I say this to move you to shame...” If we have authority to judge angels in the next life, how much more do we have authority to judge things in this life? Jesus taught His disciples to pray like this, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The Lord pointed out to me one time that this is a command. Our work here is to bring God's kingdom down, to manifest His kingdom in the earth. At the last trump it says, “that the kingdom of this world has become the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior.” (Rev 11:15) Who did God do that thru? The bible gives credit to the saints. For instance, in Dan 7:26,27, “The judgment shall be set and they (the saints) shall take away his (the Beast) dominion to consume and destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom, and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given unto the people of the saints of the most high,” God's people are going to be running around here destroying the devil's kingdom! As the last Adam Jesus passed on His authority in promises such as Mat 18:18 Verily I say unto you, what things soever ye shall bind (forbid) on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose (permit) on earth shall be loosed (permitted) in heaven. Mat 21:22 And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Could God have given such authority unto men? Isn't that dangerous? Not at all. Lost men and most Christians have not put enough word in their heart to believe these promises. “Faith cometh of hearing and hearing by the word.” A person has to have a renewed mind to believe this. If he has the renewed mind of Christ he is totally dependable. Joh 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you. When I was a baby Christian I loved the word and I was convinced it was all true. Before any religious folks got to me to tell me you couldn't believe these things I started exercising them. When these people did speak to me it was too late. I had discovered the power. So you do not have to be in the Lord for years to exercise faith. You just have to be convinced that what you read once is the Word of a totally faithful God. Also stay away from those who have “been in the Lord”, so called, for years and still don't believe these verses. 2Ti 3:5 holding a form of godliness, but having denied the power thereof, from these also turn away. I have seen many who will not obey this verse stay double minded all their life. That spiritual dominion that Jesus exercised and passed on to His disciples to exercise is going to become even greater at the end of time. The reason being is because we are going to come into secular dominion too. The Pharisees had dominion over the people of God. Jesus commanded the people not to do what they do, but obey them because they sit in the seat of Moses. He gave the Pharisees secular dominion over the people. He exercised dominion over the curse, over the devil's kingdom, and He was destroying the works of the devil everywhere He went. They had no kind of authority like that. They had only physical, secular authority like in the churches today but He had spiritual authority. In the end of time we are going to take personal authority even over the secular matters as only the government does now. They are not going to retain that authority; their kingdom is going to fall. We are going to have all authority in Christ. We are going to reign and rule with Christ for 1,000 years, just for a beginning! The dominion that God currently permits the world to have, and the devil as the god of this world to have through the governments, we are going to get. Right now we have to be satisfied to exercise dominion over these governments by dominating principalities and powers. There is a dominion coming that is both secular and spiritual. Remember I told you that we don't have dominion to not go to the cross. Jesus exercised dominion while He was going to the cross over His flesh when He said, “Not my will but thine be done.” He gave them authority to crucify His flesh. He had been given authority to destroy the devil's kingdom. Our flesh (the carnal man) is part of the devil's kingdom. In Esther, Haman had been given authority by Ahasuerus (who represents the King of kings, the Lord) to destroy the people of God. Esther, who is a type of the Bride, had been given authority to save the people of God, at the same time. One authority had not been taken away when the other had been given. They were both given that authority at the same time. The king's authority could not be annulled in anything. This of course puts us in a trial with the forces of darkness but through faith we win. We are coming to the end when all authority is going to be given to us. Authority has been restored through Jesus Christ that was lost by Adam, over all the works of God's hands. We are going to ultimately see this over everything that God created. Right now we need to start exercising that authority because all the way up to the end we are going to see it manifest more and more, until we see total dominion. So we have been given our number one job here, to lose our life. If you don't lose your life, you don't gain your life. Well the world is in total cooperation with that. They are there to help us to lose our life. They are our enemies to nail us to our crosses. Jesus didn't resist men who took physical authority over Him, until He died. I believe that is a sign of when we die and give our life over to God. There is going to come a time in the tribulation period when God is going to take authority and grace away from the wicked. He is going to permit Christians at that time to exercise their authority over these people like the two witnesses did. Fire went forth from the Witnesses' mouths destroying their enemies, smiting the Earth with every plague and stopping the rain for three and a half years are examples of that (Rev.11:5,6). They exercise dominion over people, to destroy the kingdom of the Beast. However they will not “wrestle” with the flesh and blood but it will be by the power of God. From here to the end we are going to see the spiritual authority and the physical authority manifested more and more until this world becomes God's Kingdom and He personally takes control. Personal control is different from control by proxy. God still runs everything, but He puts somebody on that throne that is a pagan and He is going to use him to test and purify the righteous. Then his purpose is over. God is running this world by proxy; in other words through evil vessels. We are coming to the time when He's not going to do that anymore. He is going to personally take control through His sons and daughters. He has always had control, but He is going to personally take control. That is the only difference in the authority. Look at Mic 4:6, “...In that day, sayeth the Lord,” I will assemble that which is lame, gather that which is driven away and that which I have afflicted, and I will make that which was lame a remnant and that which was cast off a strong nation.” He is talking about a spiritual nation here. “And the Lord will reign over them in the Mount Zion and henceforth forever. (This is the mount Zion that is forever, not that one over in the Middle East) ...and thou oh tower of the flock the hill of the daughter of Zion, under these shall it come yeah the former dominion shall come the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem.” You see just as at one time Jerusalem ruled the known world, this New Jerusalem is going to rule the known world. The former dominion is going to come. Paul says in Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. God is going to rule through His people that live in spiritual Zion. Mic 4:9 goes on to say, “Now why doth thou cry aloud? Is there no king in thee? Is thy counselor perished that pangs hath taken hold of thee as a woman in travail.” Obviously the people of God are not living up to their stature that's been given to them. Verse 10 says “...Be in pain and labor to bring forth oh daughter of Zion like a woman in travail for now shalt thou go forth out of the city and shall dwell in the field and shall come even unto Babylon.” Even though dominion had been given to Zion they lost it and were taken to Babylon just like God's apostate people of today. The Christians have been taken captive to apostate religion, that's Babylon. “There shalt thou be rescued.” See God is going to do this, and at the point in history that we are in. God is about to rescue His people out of Babylon, out of the hands of religious apostasy. “…there will the Lord redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.” See how God is going to do that? The next beast came and delivered God's people out of Babylon's world persecution. “And now many nations are assembled against thee that say let her be defiled. let our eyes see our desire upon Zion, but they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel. For he hath gathered them as the sheave to the threshing floor. Arise and thresh oh daughter of Zion, for I will make thy horn iron and I will make thy hoofs brass. And thou shalt beat in pieces many peoples and I will devote their gain unto the Lord and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth.” Do you see something? God is going to gather the beast against Zion and then command the people of God to destroy the beast kingdom. That is when full dominion will be exercised. It has already been given. The Beast kingdom is not a man; the Beast kingdom is all the people on the face of the earth whose spirit doesn't confess according to 1John chapter 4, that Jesus Christ is come in the(ir) flesh. Who is going to destroy that kingdom? It is a mighty kingdom, but there are only two kingdoms in the earth. The Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the Beast. Jesus said there are only two men in the field (world), and that is Christ and Anti-Christ. There are only two corporate men in all the earth. What the Lord is telling us is that Zion is going to exercise God's dominion and destroy all the nations that come against it. Do you believe it? We need to start exercising that dominion now! That is what the Lord wants to teach us right now. He wants to show us that even though we aren't manifestly perfect, we have been given this right and this authority. Adam wasn't a perfect man; he was a natural man the bible says. He was very ignorant concerning many things. He walked around naked, not that it was sin in those days because he was in a dispensation of innocence and he didn't have the knowledge of the tree of good and evil. But he was innocent and God gave him this dominion over the beasts. Do you realize that you can be innocent in God if you are doing what you know to do? Even as a baby in God, not knowing a lot of knowledge of good and evil and yet this dominion is yours! Don't let the devil deceive you into thinking that you have to manifest perfection before you can exercise this dominion. That is not true! Sin always hinders this because you have no boldness toward God if you have sin in your life. So 1Jn tells us, “If we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I think that Sampson was a really good example. Look at Judges chapter 16. Sampson had dominion. He was ignorant of a lot of things and he made big mistakes even while he was exercising his dominion? But God gave him this dominion. He ultimately lost this dominion because he lost his submission to God. What was the secret of Sampson's power? The bible tells us that the secret was his long hair, and as soon as he lost his long hair he lost his power. Sampson was not a big musclebound man. Judges 16:17 says that if he shaved his head he would be like any other man. They wanted to know the secret of his power because it was not obvious. They were not saying, “How did you get such big muscles?” They knew that was not the reason for his power. Sampson was given dominion. When he lost his submission to God is when he ultimately lost his dominion. In 1Corinthians chapter 11, the long hair was given unto the woman as a sign of submission. That is how we know that this is talking about submission. The long hair is given to the woman as a sign of her submission to her husband. The Lord is our Husband. He sowed the seed of the Word in the womb of our heart in Mat 13. But Sampson had long hair as a Nazarite. One who took the Nazarite vow couldn't cut their hair. But it was a sign of power. Like I said, He used this as a type and a shadow in the Old Testament. We don't bring types and shadows over literally into the New Testament. We have to see what it's a type and shadow of. It's a parable and you have to discern the parable. The point is that this great dominion was given to Sampson from the Lord and he ultimately lost it because he lost his submission to the Lord. What happened to Adam? The same thing. Samson laid his head or mind in the lap of the Jezebel, Delilah, and lost his submission and dominion. The moral of that story is don't let the wicked have your mind or you will have no power. The religious systems of man, or Babylon have deprived God's people of their power. If you have been there and decide to repent God will restore your dominion. In bondage to the Philistines Samson repented and his hair began to grow. As you know his dominion returned and he smote the Philistines with a greater slaughter. Few who exercised dominion in the earth for God were perfect including Sampson. But he refused the dominion of the Lord over himself and he ultimately lost the dominion that he had over the earth. “To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” The baby Christian has little knowledge of good and evil, but is innocent in God's eyes if he is doing what he knows to do. That baby has this authority. All authority comes from exercising faith. Zec 10:3 says, “...Mine anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the he-goats, for the Lord of host hath visiteth this flock.” Did you notice that here He has a flock of sheep and there is a goat leading them? This happened in Jesus' day and in ours. Pharaoh's army is coming after God's people to restore them under his dominion much like the DS is. God's people under Moses, a type of Jesus became the rulers. God's people ruled at the Red Sea didn't they? Especially through Moses they ruled. Now I will grant you that some of God's people are like the northern ten tribes, they are worshiping the golden calf, they just don't realize it. They call him, the Lord but he is not for he has no power or holiness. Their submission is to a false Lord. If you come into your dominion you are His vessel but this dominion has been given to all the people of God. It is really easy for us to just depend upon the world and the world's way of doing things, but it not discipleship, meaning learning and following in the steps of the Lord. It is necessary to reach out and exercise our faith. “The righteous shall live by faith,” which is a radical departure from the normal everyday Christian life. We should learn to do things with our faith for no other reason than to grow in the authority of the Lord as a disciple walking in His steps doing His works. 1Jn 2: 5 but whoso keepeth his word, in him verily hath the love of God been perfected. Hereby we know that we are in him: 6 he that saith he abideth in him ought himself also to walk even as he walked. It is clear that Jesus walked in the power of God to save heal and deliver the people of God. According to this, If one is not doing this they do not abide in him. Joh 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto the Father. If we do not His works but rather those works of man and his ways of flesh we do not abide in Him who has spoken from the beginning. 1Jn 2:24 As for you, let that abide in you which ye heard from the beginning. If that which ye heard from the beginning abide in you, ye also shall abide in the Son, and in the Father. So if we were a disciple of Jesus “in the beginning” we would walk as His disciples did, in authority and power. If we do not abide in Jesus' words “from the beginning” we are not abiding in the Son and we will not bear His fruit. 2Jn 1:9 Whosoever goeth onward and abideth not in the teaching of Christ, hath not God: he that abideth in the teaching, the same hath both the Father and the Son. Paul said that he would not dare to speak a powerless gospel that could not be demonstrated. Rom 15:18-19 ASV For I will not dare to speak of any things save those which Christ wrought through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed, 19 in the power of signs and wonders, in the power of the Holy Spirit; so that from Jerusalem, and round about even unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ; 1Co 2:4-5 And my speech and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Jesus didn't take away these promises of power and authority. But in the falling away from these truths through false shepherds they no longer had boldness to do His works. 1Jn 3:21 “Beloved if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness towards God, and whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.” You see if you do not serve God, your own heart will condemn you so you will have no faith to exercise dominion. He is still not talking to perfect people here, but He does expect us to be disciples. Jesus said, “...He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne.” The throne is a place of dominion by authority. Spiritually speaking, a person that has authority is sitting down on that throne with Jesus, like a queen sits next to her King. We have that authority that Jesus has given us to rule, for “…they reign upon the earth.” Where Do We Start? Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. If you have not received power you have not received the Holy Spirit. The most common evidence of when someone received the Holy Spirit in the book of acts is it is accompanied with gifts, especially tongues and prophecy, Mar 16:17 And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 they shall take up serpents (demons), and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. … 20 And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.
EPILOGUEThis course is a beginning, not an end. Your Friend goes with you. You are not alone. No one who calls on Him can call in vain. Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has the answer, and will gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him. He will not withhold all answers that you need for anything that seems to trouble you. He knows the way to solve all problems, and resolve all doubts. His certainty is yours. You need but ask it of Him, and it will be given you. You are as certain of arriving home as is the pathway of the sun laid down before it rises, after it has set, and in the half-lit hours in between. Indeed, your pathway is more certain still. For it can not be possible to change the course of those whom God has called to Him. Therefore obey your will, and follow Him Whom you accepted as your voice, to speak of what you really want and really need. His is the Voice for God and also yours. And thus He speaks of freedom and of truth. No more specific lessons are assigned, for there is no more need of them. Henceforth, hear but the Voice for God and for your Self when you retire from the world, to seek reality instead. He will direct your efforts, telling you exactly what to do, how to direct your mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word. His is the Word that God has given you. His is the Word you chose to be your own. And now I place you in His hands, to be His faithful follower, with Him as Guide through every difficulty and all pain that you may think is real. Nor will He give you pleasures that will pass away, for He gives only the eternal and the good. Let Him prepare you further. He has earned your trust by speaking daily to you of your Father and your brother and your Self. He will continue. Now you walk with Him, as certain as is He of where you go; as sure as He of how you should proceed; as confident as He is of the goal, and of your safe arrival in the end. The end is certain, and the means as well. To this we say "Amen." You will be told exactly what God wills for you each time there is a choice to make. And He will speak for God and for your Self, thus making sure that hell will claim you not, and that each choice you make brings Heaven nearer to your reach. And so we walk with Him from this time on, and turn to Him for guidance and for peace and sure direction. Joy attends our way. For we go homeward to an open door which God has held unclosed to welcome us. We trust our ways to Him and say "Amen." In peace we will continue in His way, and trust all things to Him. In confidence we wait His answers, as we ask His Will in everything we do. He loves God's Son as we would love him. And He teaches us how to behold him through His eyes, and love him as He does. You do not walk alone. God's angels hover near and all about. His Love surrounds you, and of this be sure; that I will never leave you comfortless.- Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracleshttps://themasterteacher.tv/articles/the-divine-ordeal-of-illuminate-body-realization
Within our souls we must seek to hear God speak. He speaks in the silence and in the depths. He speaks, first, an invitation. He speaks an invitation to know Him and to encounter The Divine Mercy flowing from His Heart. The invitation is only that: an invitation. Jesus' Mercy is not imposed or forced. For that reason, the invitation requires a response and our response will determine the depth of Mercy we open ourselves up to receive. The response must be that of loving and holy obedience to Him Whom we hear speaking (See Diary #7).Ponder two things: 1) Do I hear the invitation from Jesus to receive His Mercy? Hearing is the first step. Without hearing we cannot respond. 2) How do I respond to that invitation when I hear it? Am I willing to accept it on the deep and all-consuming level that it was offered? If so, it will change your life.Lord, I know You constantly speak to me in the silent depths of my soul. Help me to be attentive to Your voice amidst the noise of this world. And as I hear You speak, help me to be generous in my response accepting Your gift of unlimited Mercy and grace. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2023 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, certain that Your direction gives me peace. And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me. If I need a thought, that will He also give. And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him. He is in charge by my request. And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son. EPILOGUE This course is a beginning, not an end. Your Friend goes with you. You are not alone. No one who calls on Him can call in vain. Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has the answer, and will gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him. He will not withhold all answers that you need for anything that seems to trouble you. He knows the way to solve all problems, and resolve all doubts. His certainty is yours. You need but ask it of Him, and it will be given you. You are as certain of arriving home as is the pathway of the sun laid down before it rises, after it has set, and in the half-lit hours in between. Indeed, your pathway is more certain still. For it can not be possible to change the course of those whom God has called to Him. Therefore obey your will, and follow Him Whom you accepted as your voice, to speak of what you really want and really need. His is the Voice for God and also yours. And thus He speaks of freedom and of truth. No more specific lessons are assigned, for there is no more need of them. Henceforth, hear but the Voice for God and for your Self when you retire from the world, to seek reality instead. He will direct your efforts, telling you exactly what to do, how to direct your mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word. His is the Word that God has given you. His is the Word you chose to be your own. And now I place you in His hands, to be His faithful follower, with Him as Guide through every difficulty and all pain that you may think is real. Nor will He give you pleasures that will pass away, for He gives only the eternal and the good. Let Him prepare you further. He has earned your trust by speaking daily to you of your Father and your brother and your Self. He will continue. Now you walk with Him, as certain as is He of where you go; as sure as He of how you should proceed; as confident as He is of the goal, and of your safe arrival in the end. The end is certain, and the means as well. To this we say "Amen." You will be told exactly what God wills for you each time there is a choice to make. And He will speak for God and for your Self, thus making sure that hell will claim you not, and that each choice you make brings Heaven nearer to your reach. And so we walk with Him from this time on, and turn to Him for guidance and for peace and sure direction. Joy attends our way. For we go homeward to an open door which God has held unclosed to welcome us. We trust our ways to Him and say "Amen." In peace we will continue in His way, and trust all things to Him. In confidence we wait His answers, as we ask His Will in everything we do. He loves God's Son as we would love him. And He teaches us how to behold him through His eyes, and love him as He does. You do not walk alone. God's angels hover near and all about. His Love surrounds you, and of this be sure; that I will never leave you comfortless.- Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles- Lesson 365- Epilogue
Mark 16:16-18Amplified Bible, Classic Edition16 He who believes [who adheres to and trusts in and relies on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] and is baptized will be saved [[a]from the penalty of eternal death]; but he who does not believe [who does not adhere to and trust in and rely on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] will be condemned.17 And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages;18 They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well.
Reflection 13: An Invitation Within the SilenceWithin our souls we must seek to hear God speak. He speaks in the silence and in the depths. He speaks, first, an invitation. He speaks an invitation to know Him and to encounter The Divine Mercy flowing from His Heart. The invitation is only that: an invitation. Jesus' Mercy is not imposed or forced. For that reason, the invitation requires a response and our response will determine the depth of Mercy we open ourselves up to receive. The response must be that of loving and holy obedience to Him Whom we hear speaking (See Diary #7).Ponder two things: 1) Do I hear the invitation from Jesus to receive His Mercy? Hearing is the first step. Without hearing we cannot respond. 2) How do I respond to that invitation when I hear it? Am I willing to accept it on the deep and all-consuming level that it was offered? If so, it will change your life.Lord, I know You constantly speak to me in the silent depths of my soul. Help me to be attentive to Your voice amidst the noise of this world. And as I hear You speak, help me to be generous in my response accepting Your gift of unlimited Mercy and grace. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2022 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
FINAL LESSONS Introduction Our final lessons will be left as free of words as possible. We use them but at the beginning of our practicing, and only to remind us that we seek to go beyond them. Let us turn to Him Who leads the way and makes our footsteps sure. To Him we leave these lessons, as to Him we give our lives henceforth. For we would not return again to the belief in sin that made the world seem ugly and unsafe, attacking and destroying, dangerous in all its ways, and treacherous beyond the hope of trust and the escape from pain. His is the only way to find the peace that God has given us. It is His way that everyone must travel in the end, because it is this ending God Himself appointed. In the dream of time it seems to be far off. And yet, in truth, it is already here; already serving us as gracious guidance in the way to go. Let us together follow in the way that truth points out to us. And let us be the leaders of our many brothers who are seeking for the way, but find it not. And to this purpose let us dedicate our minds, directing all our thoughts to serve the function of salvation. Unto us the aim is given to forgive the world. It is the goal that God has given us. It is His ending to the dream we seek, and not our own. For all that we forgive we will not fail to recognize as part of God Himself. And thus His memory is given back, completely and complete. It is our function to remember Him on earth, as it is given us to be His Own completion in reality. So let us not forget our goal is shared, for it is that remembrance which contains the memory of God, and points the way to Him and to the Heaven of His peace. And shall we not forgive our brother, who can offer this to us? He is the way, the truth and life that shows the way to us. In him resides salvation, offered us through our forgiveness, given unto him. We will not end this year without the gift our Father promised to His holy Son. We are forgiven now. And we are saved from all the wrath we thought belonged to God, and found it was a dream. We are restored to sanity, in which we understand that anger is insane, attack is mad, and vengeance merely foolish fantasy. We have been saved from wrath because we learned we were mistaken. Nothing more than that. And is a father angry at his son because he failed to understand the truth? We come in honesty to God and say we did not understand, and ask Him to help us to learn His lessons, through the Voice of His Own Teacher. Would He hurt His Son? Or would He rush to answer him, and say, "This is My Son, and all I have is his"? Be certain He will answer thus, for these are His Own Words to you. And more than that can no one ever have, for in these Words is all there is, and all that there will be throughout all time and in eternity. This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, Certain that Your direction gives me peace. And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me. If I need a thought, that will He also give. And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him. He is in charge by my request. And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.EPILOGUE This course is a beginning, not an end. Your Friend goes with you. You are not alone. No one who calls on Him can call in vain. Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has the answer, and will gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him. He will not withhold all answers that you need for anything that seems to trouble you. He knows the way to solve all problems, and resolve all doubts. His certainty is yours. You need but ask it of Him, and it will be given you. You are as certain of arriving home as is the pathway of the sun laid down before it rises, after it has set, and in the half-lit hours in between. Indeed, your pathway is more certain still. For it can not be possible to change the course of those whom God has called to Him. Therefore obey your will, and follow Him Whom you accepted as your voice, to speak of what you really want and really need. His is the Voice for God and also yours. And thus He speaks of freedom and of truth. No more specific lessons are assigned, for there is no more need of them. Henceforth, hear but the Voice for God and for your Self when you retire from the world, to seek reality instead. He will direct your efforts, telling you exactly what to do, how to direct your mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word. His is the Word that God has given you. His is the Word you chose to be your own. And now I place you in His hands, to be His faithful follower, with Him as Guide through every difficulty and all pain that you may think is real. Nor will He give you pleasures that will pass away, for He gives only the eternal and the good. Let Him prepare you further. He has earned your trust by speaking daily to you of your Father and your brother and your Self. He will continue. Now you walk with Him, as certain as is He of where you go; as sure as He of how you should proceed; as confident as He is of the goal, and of your safe arrival in the end. The end is certain, and the means as well. To this we say "Amen." You will be told exactly what God wills for you each time there is a choice to make. And He will speak for God and for your Self, thus making sure that hell will claim you not, and that each choice you make brings Heaven nearer to your reach. And so we walk with Him from this time on, and turn to Him for guidance and for peace and sure direction. Joy attends our way. For we go homeward to an open door which God has held unclosed to welcome us. We trust our ways to Him and say "Amen." In peace we will continue in His way, and trust all things to Him. In confidence we wait His answers, as we ask His Will in everything we do. He loves God's Son as we would love him. And He teaches us how to behold him through His eyes, and love him as He does. You do not walk alone. God's angels hover near and all about. His Love surrounds you, and of this be sure; that I will never leave you comfortless.- Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles,- Workbook Part II, Final lessons - Introduction- Lesson 361- Epilogue
FINAL LESSONS Introduction Our final lessons will be left as free of words as possible. We use them but at the beginning of our practicing, and only to remind us that we seek to go beyond them. Let us turn to Him Who leads the way and makes our footsteps sure. To Him we leave these lessons, as to Him we give our lives henceforth. For we would not return again to the belief in sin that made the world seem ugly and unsafe, attacking and destroying, dangerous in all its ways, and treacherous beyond the hope of trust and the escape from pain. His is the only way to find the peace that God has given us. It is His way that everyone must travel in the end, because it is this ending God Himself appointed. In the dream of time it seems to be far off. And yet, in truth, it is already here; already serving us as gracious guidance in the way to go. Let us together follow in the way that truth points out to us. And let us be the leaders of our many brothers who are seeking for the way, but find it not. And to this purpose let us dedicate our minds, directing all our thoughts to serve the function of salvation. Unto us the aim is given to forgive the world. It is the goal that God has given us. It is His ending to the dream we seek, and not our own. For all that we forgive we will not fail to recognize as part of God Himself. And thus His memory is given back, completely and complete. It is our function to remember Him on earth, as it is given us to be His Own completion in reality. So let us not forget our goal is shared, for it is that remembrance which contains the memory of God, and points the way to Him and to the Heaven of His peace. And shall we not forgive our brother, who can offer this to us? He is the way, the truth and life that shows the way to us. In him resides salvation, offered us through our forgiveness, given unto him. We will not end this year without the gift our Father promised to His holy Son. We are forgiven now. And we are saved from all the wrath we thought belonged to God, and found it was a dream. We are restored to sanity, in which we understand that anger is insane, attack is mad, and vengeance merely foolish fantasy. We have been saved from wrath because we learned we were mistaken. Nothing more than that. And is a father angry at his son because he failed to understand the truth? We come in honesty to God and say we did not understand, and ask Him to help us to learn His lessons, through the Voice of His Own Teacher. Would He hurt His Son? Or would He rush to answer him, and say, "This is My Son, and all I have is his"? Be certain He will answer thus, for these are His Own Words to you. And more than that can no one ever have, for in these Words is all there is, and all that there will be throughout all time and in eternity. This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, Certain that Your direction gives me peace. And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me. If I need a thought, that will He also give. And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him. He is in charge by my request. And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.EPILOGUE This course is a beginning, not an end. Your Friend goes with you. You are not alone. No one who calls on Him can call in vain. Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has the answer, and will gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him. He will not withhold all answers that you need for anything that seems to trouble you. He knows the way to solve all problems, and resolve all doubts. His certainty is yours. You need but ask it of Him, and it will be given you. You are as certain of arriving home as is the pathway of the sun laid down before it rises, after it has set, and in the half-lit hours in between. Indeed, your pathway is more certain still. For it can not be possible to change the course of those whom God has called to Him. Therefore obey your will, and follow Him Whom you accepted as your voice, to speak of what you really want and really need. His is the Voice for God and also yours. And thus He speaks of freedom and of truth. No more specific lessons are assigned, for there is no more need of them. Henceforth, hear but the Voice for God and for your Self when you retire from the world, to seek reality instead. He will direct your efforts, telling you exactly what to do, how to direct your mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word. His is the Word that God has given you. His is the Word you chose to be your own. And now I place you in His hands, to be His faithful follower, with Him as Guide through every difficulty and all pain that you may think is real. Nor will He give you pleasures that will pass away, for He gives only the eternal and the good. Let Him prepare you further. He has earned your trust by speaking daily to you of your Father and your brother and your Self. He will continue. Now you walk with Him, as certain as is He of where you go; as sure as He of how you should proceed; as confident as He is of the goal, and of your safe arrival in the end. The end is certain, and the means as well. To this we say "Amen." You will be told exactly what God wills for you each time there is a choice to make. And He will speak for God and for your Self, thus making sure that hell will claim you not, and that each choice you make brings Heaven nearer to your reach. And so we walk with Him from this time on, and turn to Him for guidance and for peace and sure direction. Joy attends our way. For we go homeward to an open door which God has held unclosed to welcome us. We trust our ways to Him and say "Amen." In peace we will continue in His way, and trust all things to Him. In confidence we wait His answers, as we ask His Will in everything we do. He loves God's Son as we would love him. And He teaches us how to behold him through His eyes, and love him as He does. You do not walk alone. God's angels hover near and all about. His Love surrounds you, and of this be sure; that I will never leave you comfortless.- Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles,- Workbook Part II, Final lessons - Introduction- Lesson 361- Epilogue
The Book of God is wide open, and His Word is summoning mankind unto Him. No more than a mere handful, however, hath been found willing to cleave to His Cause, or to become the instruments for its promotion. These few have been endued with the Divine Elixir that can, alone, transmute into purest gold the dross of the world, and have been empowered to administer the infallible remedy for all the ills that afflict the children of men. No man can obtain everlasting life, unless he embraceth the truth of this inestimable, this wondrous, and sublime Revelation. Incline your ears, O friends of God, to the voice of Him Whom the world hath wronged, and hold fast unto whatsoever will exalt His Cause. He, verily, guideth whomsoever He pleaseth unto His straight Path. This is a Revelation that infuseth strength into the feeble, and crowneth with wealth the destitute. With the utmost friendliness and in a spirit of perfect fellowship take ye counsel together, and dedicate the precious days of your lives to the betterment of the world and the promotion of the Cause of Him Who is the Ancient and Sovereign Lord of all. He, verily, enjoineth upon all men what is right, and forbiddeth whatsoever degradeth their station Check out our new blog, Outdoor Oasis: https://bahaioasis.wixsite.com/outdooroasis Email: bahaioasis@gmail.com Instagram and Twitter: @bahaioasis Join our Amino group: http://aminoapps.com/c/Bahai --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bahaioasis/message
“The faithful will always be in the minority.” - Dr. Tony Evans. “Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation. The Scripture says, No man who believes in Him [who adheres to, relies on, and trusts in Him] will [ever] be put to shame or be disappointed. [Ps. 34:22; Isa. 28:16; 49:23; Jer. 17:7.] [No one] for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. The same Lord is Lord over all [of us] and He generously bestows His riches upon all who call upon Him [in faith]. For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord [invoking Him as Lord] will be saved. [Joel 2:32.] But how are people to call upon Him Whom they have not believed [in Whom they have no faith, on Whom they have no reliance]? And how are they to believe in Him [adhere to, trust in, and rely upon Him] of Whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men [be expected to] preach unless they are sent? As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings! [How welcome is the coming of those who preach the good news of His good things!] [Isa. 52:7.] But they have not all heeded the Gospel; for Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed (had faith in) what he has heard from us? [Isa. 53:1.] So faith comes by hearing [what is told], and what is heard comes by the preaching [of the message that came from the lips] of Christ (the Messiah Himself).” Romans 10:9-17 AMPC --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/danielle-c9/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/danielle-c9/support
Within our souls we must seek to hear God speak. He speaks in the silence and in the depths. He speaks, first, an invitation. He speaks an invitation to know Him and to encounter The Divine Mercy flowing from His Heart. The invitation is only that: an invitation. Jesus’ Mercy is not imposed or forced. For that reason, the invitation requires a response and our response will determine the depth of Mercy we open ourselves up to receive. The response must be that of loving and holy obedience to Him Whom we hear speaking (See Diary #7).Ponder two things: 1) Do I hear the invitation from Jesus to receive His Mercy? Hearing is the first step. Without hearing we cannot respond. 2) How do I respond to that invitation when I hear it? Am I willing to accept it on the deep and all-consuming level that it was offered? If so, it will change your life.Lord, I know You constantly speak to me in the silent depths of my soul. Help me to be attentive to Your voice amidst the noise of this world. And as I hear You speak, help me to be generous in my response accepting Your gift of unlimited Mercy and grace. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2021 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.
FINAL LESSONS Introduction Our final lessons will be left as free of words as possible. We use them but at the beginning of our practicing, and only to remind us that we seek to go beyond them. Let us turn to Him Who leads the way and makes our footsteps sure. To Him we leave these lessons, as to Him we give our lives henceforth. For we would not return again to the belief in sin that made the world seem ugly and unsafe, attacking and destroying, dangerous in all its ways, and treacherous beyond the hope of trust and the escape from pain. His is the only way to find the peace that God has given us. It is His way that everyone must travel in the end, because it is this ending God Himself appointed. In the dream of time it seems to be far off. And yet, in truth, it is already here; already serving us as gracious guidance in the way to go. Let us together follow in the way that truth points out to us. And let us be the leaders of our many brothers who are seeking for the way, but find it not. And to this purpose let us dedicate our minds, directing all our thoughts to serve the function of salvation. Unto us the aim is given to forgive the world. It is the goal that God has given us. It is His ending to the dream we seek, and not our own. For all that we forgive we will not fail to recognize as part of God Himself. And thus His memory is given back, completely and complete. It is our function to remember Him on earth, as it is given us to be His Own completion in reality. So let us not forget our goal is shared, for it is that remembrance which contains the memory of God, and points the way to Him and to the Heaven of His peace. And shall we not forgive our brother, who can offer this to us? He is the way, the truth and life that shows the way to us. In him resides salvation, offered us through our forgiveness, given unto him. We will not end this year without the gift our Father promised to His holy Son. We are forgiven now. And we are saved from all the wrath we thought belonged to God, and found it was a dream. We are restored to sanity, in which we understand that anger is insane, attack is mad, and vengeance merely foolish fantasy. We have been saved from wrath because we learned we were mistaken. Nothing more than that. And is a father angry at his son because he failed to understand the truth? We come in honesty to God and say we did not understand, and ask Him to help us to learn His lessons, through the Voice of His Own Teacher. Would He hurt His Son? Or would He rush to answer him, and say, "This is My Son, and all I have is his"? Be certain He will answer thus, for these are His Own Words to you. And more than that can no one ever have, for in these Words is all there is, and all that there will be throughout all time and in eternity.This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, Certain that Your direction gives me peace. And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me. If I need a thought, that will He also give. And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him. He is in charge by my request. And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son. EPILOGUE This course is a beginning, not an end. Your Friend goes with you. You are not alone. No one who calls on Him can call in vain. Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has the answer, and will gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him. He will not withhold all answers that you need for anything that seems to trouble you. He knows the way to solve all problems, and resolve all doubts. His certainty is yours. You need but ask it of Him, and it will be given you. You are as certain of arriving home as is the pathway of the sun laid down before it rises, after it has set, and in the half-lit hours in between. Indeed, your pathway is more certain still. For it can not be possible to change the course of those whom God has called to Him. Therefore obey your will, and follow Him Whom you accepted as your voice, to speak of what you really want and really need. His is the Voice for God and also yours. And thus He speaks of freedom and of truth. No more specific lessons are assigned, for there is no more need of them. Henceforth, hear but the Voice for God and for your Self when you retire from the world, to seek reality instead. He will direct your efforts, telling you exactly what to do, how to direct your mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word. His is the Word that God has given you. His is the Word you chose to be your own. And now I place you in His hands, to be His faithful follower, with Him as Guide through every difficulty and all pain that you may think is real. Nor will He give you pleasures that will pass away, for He gives only the eternal and the good. Let Him prepare you further. He has earned your trust by speaking daily to you of your Father and your brother and your Self. He will continue. Now you walk with Him, as certain as is He of where you go; as sure as He of how you should proceed; as confident as He is of the goal, and of your safe arrival in the end. The end is certain, and the means as well. To this we say "Amen." You will be told exactly what God wills for you each time there is a choice to make. And He will speak for God and for your Self, thus making sure that hell will claim you not, and that each choice you make brings Heaven nearer to your reach. And so we walk with Him from this time on, and turn to Him for guidance and for peace and sure direction. Joy attends our way. For we go homeward to an open door which God has held unclosed to welcome us. We trust our ways to Him and say "Amen." In peace we will continue in His way, and trust all things to Him. In confidence we wait His answers, as we ask His Will in everything we do. He loves God's Son as we would love him. And He teaches us how to behold him through His eyes, and love him as He does. You do not walk alone. God's angels hover near and all about. His Love surrounds you, and of this be sure; that I will never leave you comfortless.- Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles, Final lessons - Introduction- Lesson 361- Epilogue
One night after evangelistic meetings, Ralph Hudson asked Mrs. Clara Williams to write a poem to include in his upcoming hymn publication. That same night, she sat down and wrote "Satisfied." In the morning, she gave it to Mr. Hudson, who took the poem and made it a hymn by composing the music. "Hallelujah, I have found Him Whom my soul so long has craved. Jesus satisfies my longings, through His blood I now I am saved."https://womenofchristianity.com/satisfied-by-clara-tear-williams-hymn-story/
“XCII: The Book of God is wide open, and His… The Book of God is wide open, and His Word is summoning mankind unto Him. No more than a mere handful, however, hath been found willing to cleave to His Cause, or to become the instruments for its promotion. These few have been endued with the Divine Elixir that can, alone, transmute into purest gold the dross of the world, and have been empowered to administer the infallible remedy for all the ills that afflict the children of men. No man can obtain everlasting life, unless he embraceth the truth of this inestimable, this wondrous, and sublime Revelation. Incline your ears, O friends of God, to the voice of Him Whom the world hath wronged, and hold fast unto whatsoever will exalt His Cause. He, verily, guideth whomsoever He pleaseth unto His straight 184 Path. This is a Revelation that infuseth strength into the feeble, and crowneth with wealth the destitute. With the utmost friendliness and in a spirit of perfect fellowship take ye counsel together, and dedicate the precious days of your lives to the betterment of the world and the promotion of the Cause of Him Who is the Ancient and Sovereign Lord of all. He, verily, enjoineth upon all men what is right, and forbiddeth whatsoever degradeth their station.” ~ Bahá'u'lláh --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bahaioasis/message
"Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short." -Revelation 12:12 NIV"Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives." - 2 Peter 3:11 NIV"As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” - Matthew 24:3 NIV Jesus is coming back. In this series, we will be explaining and bringing understanding the details of the End Times so you can see things through the eyes of the Bible. As a church and as christians, we need to be prepared. We will discuss signs, the rapture, tribulation, and revelation in the upcoming weeks. Today, we begin to break down the different signs that we will experience when the End Times are near. 1.) Reunification of Israel"The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign Lord, you alone know.” Then he said to me: “Son of man, these bones are the people of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone; we are cut off.' Therefore prophesy and say to them: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel." -Ezekiel 37:1-3, 11-12 NIV 2.) Relativism and Deception Increases"Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,' and will deceive many." - Matthew 24:4-5 NIV3.) Restlessness Worldwide"You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains." - Matthew 24:6-8 NIV 4.) Renounce Sound Doctrine"At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other" - Matthew 24:10 NIV"And then many will be offended and repelled and will begin to distrust and desert [Him Whom they ought to trust and obey] and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred." - Matthew 24:10 Amplified Version"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy." -Acts 2:17-18 NIV We need to be people of the Spirit. When we're people of the Spirit, we are filled with the Spirit and full of His Word. The End Times are near, but we don't have to live in fear because we serve a God we can trust and look to in times of trial and tribulation. Join us in the upcoming weeks as we navigate the End Times and how we can be examples of Christ in this time, as well as grow in our relationship and trust with Him.
Matthew 24:10-12 AMPC And then many will be offended and repelled and will begin to distrust and desert Him Whom they ought to trust and obey and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred. 11 And many false prophets will rise up and deceive and lead […]
Scriptures for reference: “And then many will be offended and repelled and will begin to distrust and desert [Him Whom they ought to trust and obey] and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred.” Matthew 24:10 AMPC “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds [curing their pains and their sorrows]. Psalm 147:3 AMPC “O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him. [I Pet. 2:2, 3.]” Psalm 34:8 AMPC “For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service].” Psalm 91:11 AMPC “You number and record my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle–are they not in Your book?” Psalm 56:8 AMPC “And it shall be that before they call I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear. [Isa. 30:19; 58:9; Matt. 6:8.]” Isaiah 65:24 AMPC https://www.bible.com/8/isa.65.24.ampc
Within our souls we must seek to hear God speak. He speaks in the silence and in the depths. He speaks, first, an invitation. He speaks an invitation to know Him and to encounter The Divine Mercy flowing from His Heart. The invitation is only that: an invitation. Jesus’ Mercy is not imposed or forced. For that reason, the invitation requires a response and our response will determine the depth of Mercy we open ourselves up to receive. The response must be that of loving and holy obedience to Him Whom we hear speaking (See Diary #7).Ponder two things: 1) Do I hear the invitation from Jesus to receive His Mercy? Hearing is the first step. Without hearing we cannot respond. 2) How do I respond to that invitation when I hear it? Am I willing to accept it on the deep and all-consuming level that it was offered? If so, it will change your life.Lord, I know You constantly speak to me in the silent depths of my soul. Help me to be attentive to Your voice amidst the noise of this world. And as I hear You speak, help me to be generous in my response accepting Your gift of unlimited Mercy and grace. Jesus, I trust in You.
This holy instant would I give to You. Be You in charge. For I would follow You, Certain that Your direction gives me peace. And if I need a word to help me, He will give it to me. If I need a thought, that will He also give. And if I need but stillness and a tranquil, open mind, these are the gifts I will receive of Him. He is in charge by my request. And He will hear and answer me, because He speaks for God my Father and His holy Son.EpilogueThis course is a beginning, not an end. Your Friend goes with you. You are not alone. No one who calls on Him can call in vain. Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has the answer, and will gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him. He will not withhold all answers that you need for anything that seems to trouble you. He knows the way to solve all problems, and resolve all doubts. His certainty is yours. You need but ask it of Him, and it will be given you.You are as certain of arriving home as is the pathway of the sun laid down before it rises, after it has set, and in the half-lit hours in between. Indeed, your pathway is more certain still. For it can not be possible to change the course of those whom God has called to Him. Therefore obey your will, and follow Him Whom you accepted as your voice, to speak of what you really want and really need. His is the Voice for God and also yours. And thus He speaks of freedom and of truth.No more specific lessons are assigned, for there is no more need of them. Henceforth, hear but the Voice for God and for your Self when you retire from the world, to seek reality instead. He will direct your efforts, telling you exactly what to do, how to direct your mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word. His is the Word that God has given you. His is the Word you chose to be your own.And now I place you in His hands, to be His faithful follower, with Him as Guide through every difficulty and all pain that you may think is real. Nor will He give you pleasures that will pass away, for He gives only the eternal and the good. Let Him prepare you further. He has earned your trust by speaking daily to you of your Father and your brother and your Self. He will continue. Now you walk with Him, as certain as is He of where you go; as sure as He of how you should proceed; as confident as He is of the goal, and of your safe arrival in the end.The end is certain, and the means as well. To this we say “Amen.” You will be told exactly what God wills for you each time there is a choice to make. And He will speak for God and for your Self, thus making sure that hell will claim you not, and that each choice you make brings Heaven nearer to your reach. And so we walk with Him from this time on, and turn to Him for guidance and for peace and sure direction. Joy attends our way. For we go homeward to an open door which God has held unclosed to welcome us.We trust our ways to Him and say “Amen.” In peace we will continue in His way, and trust all things to Him. In confidence we wait His answers, as we ask His Will in everything we do. He loves God’s Son as we would love him. And He teaches us how to behold him through His eyes, and love him as He does. You do not walk alone. God’s angels hover near and all about. His Love surrounds you, and of this be sure; that I will never leave you comfortless.- Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles, Lesson 365, Epilogue
Speaker or Performer: Bob Petersen Date of Delivery: June 2, 2019 Has God Failed Me?“I love you Jesus, but I have a low grade hesitation in my spirit now that’s an unperceived offense.” - Mike BickleGenesis 4:1-8 NASNow the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord. Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell. Then the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it. Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.♦ When we do stuff FOR Godinstead of WITH God,we set ourselves upto be offended ♦Matthew 11:4-6 NKJV Jesus answered and said to them, 'Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.'Proverbs 3:5-6 NKJVTrust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.Matthew 24:10 AMPAnd then many will be offended and repelled and will begin to distrust and desert [Him Whom they ought to trust and obey] and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred.How to resolve offense in our lives:Set God is good all the time as a core value.Be responsible for your part in your failed results. Be thankful to God for what is going on in your life right now.“In all your ways acknowledge Him”.Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.
" This course is a beginning, not an end. Your Friend goes with you. You are not alone. No one who calls on Him can call in vain. Whatever troubles you, be certain that He has the answer, and will gladly give it to you, if you simply turn to Him and ask it of Him. He will not withhold all answers that you need for anything that seems to trouble you. He knows the way to solve all problems, and resolve all doubts. His certainty is yours. You need but ask it of Him, and it will be given you. You are as certain of arriving home as is the pathway of the sun laid down before it rises, after it has set, and in the half-lit hours in between. Indeed, your pathway is more certain still. For it can not be possible to change the course of those whom God has called to Him. Therefore obey your will, and follow Him Whom you accepted as your voice, to speak of what you really want and really need. His is the Voice for God and also yours. And thus He speaks of freedom and of truth. No more specific lessons are assigned, for there is no more need of them. Henceforth, hear but the Voice for God and for your Self when you retire from the world, to seek reality instead. He will direct your efforts, telling you exactly what to do, how to direct your mind, and when to come to Him in silence, asking for His sure direction and His certain Word. His is the Word that God has given you. His is the Word you chose to be your own. And now I place you in His hands, to be His faithful follower, with Him as Guide through every difficulty and all pain that you may think is real. Nor will He give you pleasures that will pass away, for He gives only the eternal and the good. Let Him prepare you further. He has earned your trust by speaking daily to you of your Father and your brother and your Self. He will continue. Now you walk with Him, as certain as is He of where you go; as sure as He of how you should proceed; as confident as He is of the goal, and of your safe arrival in the end. The end is certain, and the means as well. To this we say "Amen." You will be told exactly what God wills for you each time there is a choice to make. And He will speak for God and for your Self, thus making sure that hell will claim you not, and that each choice you make brings Heaven nearer to your reach. And so we walk with Him from this time on, and turn to Him for guidance and for peace and sure direction. Joy attends our way. For we go homeward to an open door which God has held unclosed to welcome us. We trust our ways to Him and say "Amen." In peace we will continue in His way, and trust all things to Him. In confidence we wait His answers, as we ask His Will in everything we do. He loves God's Son as we would love him. And He teaches us how to behold him through His eyes, and love him as He does. You do not walk alone. God's angels hover near and all about. His Love surrounds you, and of this be sure; that I will never leave you comfortless. "- Jesus Christ in A Course in Miracles, Epilogue
The Bible reveals many fascinating names and titles for God that can yield rich insights that build you up as a child of God.. One of the things that I found is that when studying the Names of God, It is helpful to realize that the Names of God in the ancient world in which the Bible was written often function differently than they do today.This is particularly true when it comes to the various Names and Titles of God Revealed in Scripture. When You Know the Meaning of His Name; You Will Cry out to Him claiming His Help and Protection, His Provision and Direction with Greater Confidence.You Discovered Many Surprising Connections between the Old Testament and New Testament, Revealing God in a Deeper Experience of His Goodness and Love.Hebrew Name for God - Adonai The Hebrew word for Lord is adon, which means the roof, the owner, the master, and the one who's in charge. So Adon is the Name of God As Lord of the Universe. He is the Owner, Master of All His Creation.When You Add a Small Mark at the End of the Word, Now Is the Name of God – Adonai. The difference is Adon mains Lord, like in the LORD God of Israel (e.g., Exodus 34:23). God is called the "Lord of lords"(Deuteronomy 10:17) and Psalm 8:1 that mentions God as "YHVH our Lord." In the Old Testament the First Use Is in Genesis 15:2.But the Name of God – Adonai means “my Lord”, which is God's Specific and Sacred Name. So Every Time You Utter the Name Adonai you are saying “my Lord”. This means that the only way you can know God is to know him personally, to know Him as your personal God.Adonai is not just the plural of Adon, meaning "Lord, Lord, LORD, master, or owner" the one One Who Rules, but also The One Who rules over me and you. Adonia is a Name That Implies Relationship. For the word Adon can mean "lord" or "father". So Adonia means not only "my Lord", but Also "my Father." Adonia is One in charge of your life. Him Whom you submit your life, your will and your heart. When you call God by the Name Adonia – "my Lord" or "my Father” it means you follow what He in-births in you, His Divine Persuasion and follow His Direction, purpose and plan, above your own.And yet there is more to Adonia, to say "my Lord" in Hebrew, is Adoni with and I at the end of the Name. However, God says his name is Adonia, with an a.What is the difference? Literally to say Adonia is to say: "My Lords" within a at the end of Lords. The Name Adonia is so Great That the Name Itself Cannot Contain It. So Adonia means "My Lords". The One you follow and Submit to with all your heart, and soul. The Significance and Glory of Adonia is this: My Lord Is so Amazing, that saying this Name for God Includes All the Godhead – God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. – My Lords (plural).When you say the Name Adonia, it cannot even begin to describe Who He is.So let your heart learn the true meaning of this Name for God. Then live in the light of it.So pray to Adonia "My Father", Tell Him You Want to Surrender Every Aspect of Your Life to Him. Then Ask Him to Make His Grace Abound toward You to Become the child, he chose you to be in Christ Jesus. Then Remember my father God is all effectively at work in you giving you the power and desire both to will and to do his good pleasure. (Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 2:13)I ask My Father That the Word of God dwells in me rich. And that You Who began a good work in me will complete it until the day of Christ. (Colossians 3:16, Philippians 1:6)
Mark 16:16 "He who believes [who adheres to and trusts in and relies on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] and is baptized will be saved [[f]from the penalty of eternal death]; but he who does not believe [who does not adhere to and trust in and rely on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] will be condemned. 17And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; 18They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well. 19So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and He sat down at the right hand of God. 20And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]. Amen (so be it)."
Mark 16:16 "He who believes [who adheres to and trusts in and relies on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] and is baptized will be saved [[f]from the penalty of eternal death]; but he who does not believe [who does not adhere to and trust in and rely on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] will be condemned. 17And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; 18They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well. 19So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and He sat down at the right hand of God. 20And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]. Amen (so be it)."
Mark 16:16 "He who believes [who adheres to and trusts in and relies on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] and is baptized will be saved [[f]from the penalty of eternal death]; but he who does not believe [who does not adhere to and trust in and rely on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] will be condemned. 17And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; 18They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well. 19So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and He sat down at the right hand of God. 20And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]. Amen (so be it)."
Mark 16:16 "He who believes [who adheres to and trusts in and relies on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] and is baptized will be saved [[f]from the penalty of eternal death]; but he who does not believe [who does not adhere to and trust in and rely on the Gospel and Him Whom it sets forth] will be condemned. 17And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; 18They will pick up serpents; and [even] if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well. 19So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and He sat down at the right hand of God. 20And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied [it]. Amen (so be it)."