An acquaintance of mine wrote about his relationship with his fiance. It was REALLY cool. A rare example of staying pure until marriage and doing things the way God would have it be done, no matter what other people think you should do.
A part of one of my favorite paragraphs goes like this, "Be true, be noble, aim high... and God will bless you with His best." I think that's just what Isaiah and Karin did.
It's o.k. to do things differently. It's o.k. to be set apart from the rest of the world. After all we're aliens down here. Relationships are bound to be unusual as well. Read the post on Isaiah's blog: Fairytale Love... Forever.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Doggy Prayers
My friend, Hannah, showed me this really cute video of the man who taught his dog to pray. :) So adorable!
Friday, May 9, 2014
Tips From BW
I absolutely love the Calvin & Hobbs comic strips. I think Bill Watterson is really incredible for retiring in his prime, and not letting his work go wild (and by that I mean letting people destroy it with movies, t-shirts and other paraphernalia). His artwork is priceless, his humor is classic and his wit is just so genius... A rare find in a world that normally looks for fame and fortune.
"My advice has always been to draw cartoons for the love of it, and concentrate on the quality and be true to yourself. Also try to remember that people have better things to do than read your work. So for heaven's sake, try to entice them with some beauty and fun." - Bill Watterson
"My advice has always been to draw cartoons for the love of it, and concentrate on the quality and be true to yourself. Also try to remember that people have better things to do than read your work. So for heaven's sake, try to entice them with some beauty and fun." - Bill Watterson
Thursday, May 8, 2014
The Kingdom of God - Part 3
In the beginning God created man, "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..."
(Gen. 1:26). The key word here is "our" because as mankind we have a
triune makeup like God: spirit, soul and body. At the fall when Adam and
Eve sinned their spirits died and we know this because they did not
physically die when they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil (Gen. 2:17, Rom. 5:12). They did become wise to good and evil (Rom.
1:20-21), but their spirits were separated from God. Before someone is
saved they have a body, a soul, and a dead spirit. When a person becomes
saved their spirit is "quickened" (Eph. 2:1) or made alive and God
instantly performs a spiritual operation/circumcision where he separates
their flesh from their soul and spirit (Col. 2:10-15). That's why we
can still sin and grace will abound even though it is not expedient or
helpful for our walk with the Lord in this life (Rom. 6 and 1 Cor.
10:23). When the rapture comes (1 Thess. 4:14-18) we get new,
uncorrupted, heavenly bodies. Read 1 Corinthians 15:38-58... It is very
helpful to get the context but verse 50 is the especially important, "Now
this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
of God..." So we have two personalities during this life: that of the
flesh and that of the Spirit. This is evident in Romans 7:22-25 and Romans chapter 6.
Corinthians 3:13-15 "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall
be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
When we sin those sins won't be held against us in eternity but we won't have anything to show for those parts of our life. Of course the neat part is that when we do good works that are worthy of reward they are really thanks to God working in us: Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
The glory is always to God!
Corinthians 3:13-15 "Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall
be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire."
When we sin those sins won't be held against us in eternity but we won't have anything to show for those parts of our life. Of course the neat part is that when we do good works that are worthy of reward they are really thanks to God working in us: Galatians 2:20 "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me."
The glory is always to God!
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
The Kingdom of God - Part 2
Here are the verses from Paul's
epistles, if you want to look them up for yourself:
Rom. 14:17, 1 Cor. 4:20, 1 Cor. 6:9-10, 1 Cor. 15:24 and 48-58, Gal. 5:19-21, Eph. 5:5, Col.1:13, Col. 4:11, 1 Thess. 2:12, 2 Thess. 1:5, 2 Tim. 4:1, 2 Tim. 4:18
What is the kingdom of God? Here are a few things that I noted while reading through some of the verses listed above. ...I may have missed some? If you read through them and notice more attributes of the kingdom of God please let me know.
The kingdom of God is....
- righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
- in power
- heavenly
- not flesh and blood
- incorruption
- immortal
- light
Rom. 14:17, 1 Cor. 4:20, 1 Cor. 6:9-10, 1 Cor. 15:24 and 48-58, Gal. 5:19-21, Eph. 5:5, Col.1:13, Col. 4:11, 1 Thess. 2:12, 2 Thess. 1:5, 2 Tim. 4:1, 2 Tim. 4:18
What is the kingdom of God? Here are a few things that I noted while reading through some of the verses listed above. ...I may have missed some? If you read through them and notice more attributes of the kingdom of God please let me know.
The kingdom of God is....
- righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
- in power
- heavenly
- not flesh and blood
- incorruption
- immortal
- light
Saturday, May 3, 2014
The Kingdom of God - Part 1
Growing up understanding that there are different dispensations in the Bible has really helped me avoid confusion and be confident with who I am in Christ. However there were a few verses that I couldn't really explain and seemed to contradict the idea of eternal security.
1. I understood that Jews were a part of the Kingdom program and that today Jews and Gentiles alike are a part of the Body of Christ/ the Grace program.
2. I understood that a Jew had to lead a righteous life and follow the law in order to go to heaven (e.i. faith and works), whereas today we are saved by faith and not by works.
3. I understood that even if we sin we will not go to hell if we have accepted Jesus Christ's payment for our sins.
I didn't understand why Paul would refer to "the Kingdom of God" in verses like Gal. 5:21 and Eph. 5:5 and say that people that do the sins mentioned will not inherit the kingdom of God. Though a lot of Christians strive to be righteous, godly people there is no one that is perfect and I would dare to say that all Christians struggle or have struggled with one of the sins mentioned below.
Galatians 5:19-21
"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
Ephesians 5:3-5
"But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."
I wondered, what did these verses mean? Wasn't "the kingdom" a Jewish term?! Did they state that if you do any of these evil things you weren't going to heaven? That idea didn't line up with scripture so I'd always explain it away or just read through the verse without dwelling on that part of the scripture. I was glad to know what the works of the flesh were but I could explain the "shall not inherit the kingdom of God" part so I would just ignore it.
....but what did these verses mean?
The question burned quietly in the back of my mind begging to be answered. Finally, a couple months ago, a friend asked me the same questions and so I knew it was time to study it out.
I took my dad's copy of Strong's Concordance of the Bible.
As Wikipedia says about the concordance, "Unlike other Biblical reference books, the purpose of Strong's Concordance is not to provide content or commentary about the Bible, but to provide an index to the Bible. This allows the reader to find words where they appear in the Bible. This index allows a student of the Bible to re-find a phrase or passage previously studied. It also lets the reader directly compare how the same word may be used elsewhere in the Bible. In this way Strong's Notes provides an independent check against translations, and offers an opportunity for greater, and more technically accurate understanding of text."
I looked up the word "kingdom." The phrase "kingdom of heaven" is found throughout the old testament but never in Paul's epistles. The phrase "kingdom of God" however is found throughout the Bible.That excluded "the kingdom of God" from being just a dispensational/grace term or from only being in Paul's epistles.
After this discovery I went to the next step and just read all of the verses and the context of the verses. The verses outside of Paul's epistles were definitely different from the Pauline verses. That is they were obviously written for and about different programs.
Here is a summary of what I learned:
The kingdom of heaven is when God will set up His earthly kingdom and it is where the Jews will spend eternity. The kingdom of God is more of a broad term meaning that if you are a part of God's plan period (whether it be through Israel's program or through the Body of Christ/the dispensation of grace), you are a part of "the kingdom of God." One friend of mine described it simply like this, "The kingdom of heaven pertaining to Israel and the kingdom of God being universal."
1. I understood that Jews were a part of the Kingdom program and that today Jews and Gentiles alike are a part of the Body of Christ/ the Grace program.
2. I understood that a Jew had to lead a righteous life and follow the law in order to go to heaven (e.i. faith and works), whereas today we are saved by faith and not by works.
3. I understood that even if we sin we will not go to hell if we have accepted Jesus Christ's payment for our sins.
I didn't understand why Paul would refer to "the Kingdom of God" in verses like Gal. 5:21 and Eph. 5:5 and say that people that do the sins mentioned will not inherit the kingdom of God. Though a lot of Christians strive to be righteous, godly people there is no one that is perfect and I would dare to say that all Christians struggle or have struggled with one of the sins mentioned below.
Galatians 5:19-21
"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
Ephesians 5:3-5
"But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."
I wondered, what did these verses mean? Wasn't "the kingdom" a Jewish term?! Did they state that if you do any of these evil things you weren't going to heaven? That idea didn't line up with scripture so I'd always explain it away or just read through the verse without dwelling on that part of the scripture. I was glad to know what the works of the flesh were but I could explain the "shall not inherit the kingdom of God" part so I would just ignore it.
....but what did these verses mean?
The question burned quietly in the back of my mind begging to be answered. Finally, a couple months ago, a friend asked me the same questions and so I knew it was time to study it out.
I took my dad's copy of Strong's Concordance of the Bible.
As Wikipedia says about the concordance, "Unlike other Biblical reference books, the purpose of Strong's Concordance is not to provide content or commentary about the Bible, but to provide an index to the Bible. This allows the reader to find words where they appear in the Bible. This index allows a student of the Bible to re-find a phrase or passage previously studied. It also lets the reader directly compare how the same word may be used elsewhere in the Bible. In this way Strong's Notes provides an independent check against translations, and offers an opportunity for greater, and more technically accurate understanding of text."
I looked up the word "kingdom." The phrase "kingdom of heaven" is found throughout the old testament but never in Paul's epistles. The phrase "kingdom of God" however is found throughout the Bible.That excluded "the kingdom of God" from being just a dispensational/grace term or from only being in Paul's epistles.
After this discovery I went to the next step and just read all of the verses and the context of the verses. The verses outside of Paul's epistles were definitely different from the Pauline verses. That is they were obviously written for and about different programs.
Here is a summary of what I learned:
The kingdom of heaven is when God will set up His earthly kingdom and it is where the Jews will spend eternity. The kingdom of God is more of a broad term meaning that if you are a part of God's plan period (whether it be through Israel's program or through the Body of Christ/the dispensation of grace), you are a part of "the kingdom of God." One friend of mine described it simply like this, "The kingdom of heaven pertaining to Israel and the kingdom of God being universal."
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