Tiger,

 

Many religious souls tend to use the Bible and it's scriptures to bash others whom they believe to be inferior in their beliefs and understanding of God.

 

If God were truly contained within a bound book of pages we would therefore have millions of gods. I tell you and others that the Bible is merely a book and a church is just merely a building. There is not one thing or person alive in this world that has cornered the market on God and His knowledge. God's church in heaven won't be reading books nor will his praises be contained within 4 walls. God's chosen are not of this world, that means that God Himself is not of this world also. The book called the Bible is of this world because it pertains to things that have happened and will happen to this world and the followers of that world.

 

The Holy Spirit is our master, our master needs no roadmap to guide and teach us if we let Him. The Bible has become a master to many religious souls and it's up to each and everyone of us to decide who or what will be are master. We cannot serve 2 masters! Spirit wars against the flesh and this is just another example of that war.

Mae,

 

I must apologize profusely for letting my temper get the better of me... so please forgive me......and as I said before, one of my "steps" is to quickly admit when I'm wrong and try to make amends.

 

I went back and re-read what you wrote in Message #20 and at the bottom, you asked if after reading that sermon that I now believe that the Old Covenant was God's act of clothing Adam and Eve in animal skins....and no I don't believe that....

 

This is the whole section where I "found" my mistake so to speak.... "You may recall that when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, the Lord God made for them coats of skin to clothe them. See Genesis 3:21. Thus, the Lord took the life of some animal, perhaps a lamb, and out of it made a robe, a clothing for Adam and Eve. Why did God do this? Not alone to clothe them, but because sin had come into the human race, and the wages of sin is death. Adam and Eve must now see the results, experience the wages of sin. The Bible says that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission or forgiveness from sin.

Thus it was that in the Garden of Eden the Lord inaugurated the first blood sacrifice as a covering for the sins of Adam and Eve. Thus began a long line of blood sacrifices. God had made a covenant, as it were, with man. Even though man had sinned, he could, by the bringing of some blood offering, make atonement for his sins. And the covenant God had made promised that if man would bring the blood offering, God would keep His part of that covenant by forgiving man from his sin. This was known as the old covenant."

He used Genesis 3:21 to reference God clothing Adam and Eve, not to say anything about a covenant.... then he goes on to explain that first example of killing an animal to clothe them was to show them the results of sin was death and that this was the first blood sacrifice as a covering of sin in a long line of blood sacrifices.... and that the covenant was that if man would bring a blood offering to him that He would forgive the sins.......  THAT was the covenant that was basically initiated at Creation....

He goes on to say "Down through the ages of the Old Testament, we find how the faithful men brought their offerings of blood before God. Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, each in turn built altars and on them sacrificed the lives of innocent animals as a fulfillment of the provisions of the old covenant."

So it's my belief once and for all that the true and clear definition of the Old Covenant is: the bringing of a blood sacrifice before God to make atonement for your sins and in return God forgiving you those sins....

But that the fault in that first covenant is that the act of the offering of a blood sacrifice alone could not create true repentance in the persons heart... that requires the moving of the Holy Spirit which God offered freely to us after Jesus' death.

I really hope this is clear now on what I personally believe and I hope that I'm correct in this.... if not I will gladly take any further Scriptures to show me more light!!!

Thank you all for your input thus far and again, I sincerely apologize to ALL who had to see me lose my temper and allow satan to take over my emotions.  I ask that you all pray that I will gain a victory over this!!!

Your friend in Christ,
Jenny

Hero....

 

I just wanted to say that my personal belief is that the Bible is way more than just a book......  I believe that God gave us that book to use as direction for our lives and to show us what He went through and as an example for us to live by and to warn us of what was to come!!!

 

Just MY opinion.....

 

Tiger

Hi again Tiger,

Just saw your post #26, and I do appreciate your apology.  We've all been there:  we've  reacted and said things we regret. We all need grace and forgiveness; if not on this little posting board, then surely in other areas of our lives. 

One of the difficulties about communicating via posting boards is that it is impossible to truly get a sense of what the other person is saying, given that we can't see eachother's faces, hear eachother's voices, etc.  It is all too easy to make assumptions regarding the other person (often coloured by our own personal experiences)  that simply aren't true or applicable.

 For example, if you knew me, you would know that to knowingly or deliberately  treat another in an 'offensive and degrading' manner is absolutely and completely out of character for me. 

If the experience of participating in a posting forum such as this is to be enjoyable or  even beneficial, it is important for us all to understand that because it is ideas we are exchanging, those ideas will naturally be analyzed and sometimes closely examined or even challenged by the others.  That is to  be expected: and should in no way be interpreted as 'bashing' or 'attacking' the person expressing the idea. Again, if you knew me, you would know that I really  do  think about things.  I think alot, and cannot be satisfied with just hearing about God, I must know Him or myself. I lived most of my life listening to other people tell me what they thought God is like, but now I know Him for myself and   I really like it better this way.  You asked was I SDA:  well, both my maternal and paternal grandparents were SDA, my parents were SDA, I was baptized into the SDA church twice, and I married a man with my same denomonational pedigree.  Is that SDA enough?  The interesting thing is, that none of that helped me to really know God as my loving Father. But that's another story.........

  I cannot be satisfied with reading His Word, but mechanically taking other people's explanations about what it means: I must know for myself what He is saying, and what it means for me today. So yes,  I question the things I hear or read, and I judge them according to what God has said in His Word.  I have to.  The Scripture tells us to 'examine everything and hold fast to that which is true".  One prayer I have always found the Holy Spirit to answer immediately, is when I ask Him to explain His Word to me. 

You misunderstand me if you think I do not value anointed preachers and teachers of the Word of God.  I have been personally blessed by so many of them.  

Anyway, that's just a bit of insight into who I am. 

God bless you Tiger,

Mae

 

Hi Hero

In post 25 you do some strange logic gymnastics. You make a personal supposition and then state an erroneous conclusion. �?Example:

.

“If God were truly contained within a bound book of pages we would therefore have millions of gods�?/P>

That makes no sense. Within those pages, (of the Bible) we come to know there is only one God, the God of the Bible. Lol. Tell me how would you know if there was an Adam, Noah, Abraham ect. if it wasn’t recorded for you in the Bible? You claim to be under the “Noah/ gentile covenant�? How do you know there was a Noah?

How do you know there is a Holy Spirit?

I agree in part with some things you say. God is not denominational. Heaven will be made up with many people like the thief on the cross. But the fact is the Word without the Holy Spirit is dead. But the Dove has 2 wings, and the Holy Spirit uses the Word, He Himself inspired, and also uses His fresh (rhema) Spoken Word . We need the balance of both. The Bible without the Spirit is dead. But the Spirit without the discipline of scripture as Jesus Himself used to fight the devil, usually creates people who soon feel superior to those who rely on scripture alone. Both camps soon become out of step because they are trying to fly with one wing.

I had this very discussion before with a person we used to know as Gwen. I would almost ‘bet the farm�?that I am talking to Gwen in this post . Other times, “Hero�?speaks identical to one we use to know as “Voice�? I think the 2 share the nic “Hero of God�? If I am wrong I don’t really care, Lol, but Hero, even if I am wrong about these identities, you do share the same spirit with them both.

Where is the Joy of the Lord in your life? You seem so bitter and weighed down.

I Bless you, and pray for the Supernatural Joy of the Holy Spirit to invade your Life.

Love-n-Grace

Grace,

 

You have clearly validated the point that I put before all. You wrote,"That makes no sense. Within those pages, (of the Bible) we come to know there is only one God, the God of the Bible." Every individual comes to know their God in their own way, therefore it can be concluded that millions of people know a God totally different and individually from the next person. So in effect there are millions of versions of God distinctly known on a personal basis all together different than the one you know. In that vein the God you know isn't superior to God that every other individual knows in his own way. In this way of religious belief wasn't part of God's plan and it certainly won't be that way in Heaven. Again I will stress that perfection doesn't not come to fruition while in this fleshly vessel because of mankind's corruptible tendencies. What you think and believe might be giving you solice but what if your Faith is based on error on your part? Many lights burn bright until they begin to run out of oil and there are many light that will burn continuously because fresh oil continues to flow into their reservior. There is only so much that can be extracted from a book so where does that fresh oil come from? We can't continue to look backwards to move forward. Many are content in becoming idle in their Faith but then there are those who the Spirit of Prophesy continues to feed and not by written word. I am neither condemned or justified by the words you write toward me because of the simple fact you don't have that authority. Only one comes to Judge and He is far greater than you or I. Because of the fact that perfection will never be attained in this vessel the worldly church will never be of one mind and spirit. Because the Lord knows this fact that is why we are all called to come out of this harlot church upon His return. Why is this command given by the Lord? Because He knows that His Word has become corrupted by man over the centuries. If that wasn't fact then why do we have thousands of denominations of belief systems? Again the reasoning for there being millions of God's each distinct to the individual reader of the book called the Bible and other related books of different names common to each denomination and set of beliefs.

 

It's nice to know that others have had this same dicussion with you it's evidence that fresh oil is being poured out and a few are recieving of it. It is also evident and factual that Jesus had new oil and like in His day, He to was persecuted and ridiculed. So one should be mindful of our example that being Jesus and how religious zealots tried and finally succeeded in destroying the Truth and the Light of this world. I often wonder would Jesus still be alive to this day had it not been for religious zealots. I believe wholeheartedly that the church would be one united church if He were still with us today physically.  

Hi Hero

It is obvious you have lapsed into "new age" philosophy. At least “new age �?people are spiritually hungry, but their source of power is off.

No, I did not validate you in any way, and there were no others with “fresh oil�?

We are saved by Jesus�?Blood alone. There are not millions of Gods.

There are millions of people in a loving/ personal relationship with one God.

Blessings

Love-n-Grace

Hi there Hero,

You've been listening to Oprah Winfrey and her New Age guru, haven't you, LOL. For those who aren't familiar with Oprah and her latest spiritual adviser Echart Tolle, they  teach junk very similar to the airy fairy notions you seem to be promoting, which  sort of go something like, I know god, you know god, the pedophile taxi driver knows god, the kid down the street who's stoned and broke into my house knows god, my cat knows god, and hey, the apple tree in my yard knows god, and we all have our own perception of who god is, and that really means we all are god and my version of god is just as good as your version of god etc. etc.

All of which would attempt to render the real person of the Living God down into some kind of conceptual soup comprised of people's ramblings about what they think He might be like, based mostly on their own life experiences. These are all hypothetical and actually completely irrelevant because He is a living Person.   And because He is a living Person, He speaks from time to time.  His canonical written word is contained in what we know as the Bible: and furthermore because He has never stopped speaking, we also have His 'rhema' word, otherwise known as prophetic utterances expressed through those upon whom He moves.  This process is described in His written Word.  He Himself has abundantly and clearly told us who He is, what He does, and how He thinks and feels regarding this world and its inhabitants.

The words of God are "living and sharper than any two-edged sword" and able to "divide asunder soul and spirit". The enemy of God, the fallen angel known as satan, does not want people to believe that, so he works hard to destroy people's faith that the Bible was inspired and in effect dictated by God the Holy Spirit as He moved on Holy men of God. 

People like Oprah, Echart Tolle, Marianne Williamson (another of Oprah's spiritual teachers) help him (the devil) out alot, with their varied teachings. They, and others like them, have absolutely not a single clue as to the massive power inherent in the Word of God: each and every Word He has ever spoken. And sadly, Hero, you sound so much like them. Why ever would you want to do that?

Hebrews 11:3 states a fact: "By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared y the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible". NAS

What this statement is saying is that the physical manifestation of the planet we live on, the air we breathe, the light and sunshine we experience which sustains our lives, and on and on.......were in fact literally spoken into existence by God Himself.

That's what you and others don't seem to get.  His Word is alive, and it is power.

Listen. God is one God. He is not millions of gods. He is not  'millions of versions of God, or embodied as inumerable concepts  conjured up by the imaginations of anyone who fantasizes, 'god is this, god is that', and on and on. He is a Person.  He is Who He is.

And one day Hero, He will open the spiritual eyes of every person who lives or who ever lived, and they/we will see Him. We'll see Him just as clearly we see our computers screens right now. And, depending on whether or not we have believed He is Who He said He is, we will be either filled with joy unspeakable, or the most dread fear ever imagined.

It' very simple, really. Every person has a certain amount of influence in their sphere, whether on the scale of Oprah Winfrey and Echart Tolle, or little old me and you.

It really is like the Bob Dylan song says: "You're gonna have to serve somebody. It may be the devil, it may be the Lord". But you're gonna have to serve somebody".

Well, I've decided. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

How about you, Hero? Who are you gonna serve?

Mae

Hey Seek...

 

Here is the link you requested....

 

 

I would have created a new discussion to post this but I wanted to make sure you got it!!

And just a suggestion to the managers of this website, I think you should find a way that members can leave messages for each other personally instead of general discussions for all to see........ :)~

e-mail works too.

   How to Understand the Bible      

2. 2 Timothy 2:15.  Correct study is essential to right understanding.  How should we study the Bible?  Paul tells us to rightly divide 9compare, interpret ) the word of truth.2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

3. Isaiah 28:9,10.  Comparing scripture with scripture puts truth together like a puzzle--line upon line, here a little and there a little--to form a comprehensive picture of God's truth.

Isaiah 28:9 9 �?Whom will he teach knowledge?
      And whom will he make to understand the message?
      Those just weaned from milk?
      Those just drawn from the breasts?
       10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept,
      Line upon line, line upon line,
      Here a little, there a little.�?

• We search the Bible individually for ourselves.
• We ask God for the guidance of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:13, 14).
• We build on the study of godly Christian preachers and teachers--going to the Bible to compare their teachings with God's Word (cf. Acts 8:30,31,33).

45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

 

9. 2 Peter 1:19-21.  Brilliant men with high IQ;s did not think up these wonderful Spirit-designed truths.  They originated with the moving of the Holy Spirit upon the hearts and minds of holy men of God.  The Bible is its own best interpreter.

2 Peter 1:19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

 

10. John 5:39, 40.  To be a Bible "whiz" is not enough.  We can search the Bible to accumulate knowledge, but unless we come to know the Christ of the Bible it is of little value.

John 5:39 You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. 40 But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.

• cf. Luke 11:28; John 7:17.

11. Jeremiah 15:16.  Joy results from following God's Word.

Jeremiah 15:16 Your words were found, and I ate them,
      And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
      For I am called by Your name,
      O LORD God of hosts.