Category Archives: “submission”

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Angels, Roses, & True Love Part 4 “Truest Love of All”

“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my love.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

These things I command you, that ye love one another. 

If the world hate you ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world,but I have CHOSEN you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”  John 15:9-18   

Love is the most misunderstood word in existence, and love in its truest sense is often left undiscovered.

When Jesus gave us these words, which he went on in verse twenty to remind us to, “REMEMBER the word that I have said unto you…” as He went on to warn them that we can never expect to be treated any differently than he was.

We are truly judged by the company we keep and often once you started keeping company, as our old Southern sayings go, with Jesus, you will find out pretty fast who your real friends are, which in most cases, will then mean were. 

So often all of us at one time or another have been hit with the old routine of “If you really loved me…” and you know that is the biggest trap the enemy has ever set.

People who really love you will NEVER play that game, they will NEVER use the love that they know you have for them as a tool against you, to manipulate and control you or to coerce you into to bending to their will and never caring at all about you or your feelings.

So that my friends is the state of the world, and just as Jesus said, the world, referring to those people, people who do not honor God or his teachings and sure do not want you to honor him, they will hate you. 

Being human will all need to feel love and we need acceptance and the enemy plays on those needs because he knows where our greatest weakness lies.

That it why it is imperative to cultivate a relationship with Jesus and of course if you have never accepted salvation, that is where you must start.

Think about that, just as he told us, there is NO GREATER LOVE, the love of God, the one who created you, just as He told the Prophet Jeremiah… “BEFORE, I formed thee in the belly  I knew thee”…  and he knew you, me, and every other person who was or ever will be created.

And His love, mercy, and grace will never fail.

He gives this freely, openly, honestly, no strings attached, no deals to be made.

He just gives all that He is and He gives from the moment He brings you into this world through all the ups, downs, of life until your golden years.

He gives us that hope, that choice, and that offer to open that door as He beckons for you to open your heart and as He also promises that even as time fades from us that He is there.

Isaiah 46:4: “And even to your old age I am he and even to your hoar hairs (gray hairs) will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.”

Now those are the words of God Himself promising us that even to the end of everything, He will carry us, deliver us, and as He also promised in scripture elsewhere, He will never leave us or forsake us.

THAT is Love.   

So, you see no matter where you are, where you have been, none of it matters.

God wants you right where you are, and maybe the enemy has lied to you, convincing you that God has already called too many times, or you have went too far or that your family, relationships, or circumstance disqualifies you from ever being able to serve God, again one of the biggest lies of all.

Jesus loves you and He died on the cross to save you, and it is  never too late until you take your last breath.

He will save you, all you have to do is ask him into your heart, because He will not just force you  accept him,  or force you to accept the greatest gift of all, His love the only true love, and a love that will never fail.

And as I leave you, I want to leave you with this question, Why spend life never knowing what you cannot know until you have accepted it?

I know that was a tongue twister, meaning this, never dismiss the thought of the existence of God or the relationship that is waiting for you, a relationship of peace and love, and truly knowing God, until you have at least sought Him.

Before I was saved I did not understand that either.

I always thought of God as just out in Heaven, we could pray to him and I believed in Him but never understood what it meant to know His presence, and no one can know that or understand that until they are saved.

This is how it works… you believe, you ask and then you know.

He is not in the business of proving Himself to us before we believe, we believe and then He reveals Himself to us. that is the part the world that he referred to is missing, and they do hate him or rather the belief in Him, because their hearts are so darkened and their minds so blinded that they do not believe in anything, they live in the moment, never believing that there is more.

Falsely thinking that this world, this life is all that there is, and as the Bible teaches us, if we only had hope in this life, and our only confidence was in the things of this world we would be miserable.

He proved how much He loves us, enough to die for us, and there is no greater nor will there ever be a greater love than that of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for reading, sorry that I was running so late with this series that was supposed to be for Valentine’s Day, but God knows everything and His timing is perfect so I hope in some way this will bless you TODAY!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2020/ Rev. Nina Brown Johnson REVISTED 02/16/2022 & 02/12/2023 

Series posts: Angels, Roses, & True Love/ Intro

Angels, Roses, & True Love : Part 2 “Angels”

Angels,Roses,& True Love/ part 3 “A rose by only one name”

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Angels, Roses, & True Love Part 4 “Truest Love of All”

“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my love.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

These things I command you, that ye love one another. 

If the world hate you ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world,but I have CHOSEN you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”  John 15:9-18   

Love is the most misunderstood word in existence, and love in its truest sense is often left undiscovered.

When Jesus gave us these words, which he went on in verse twenty to remind us to, “REMEMBER the word that I have said unto you…” as He went on to warn them that we can never expect to be treated any differently than he was.

We are truly judged by the company we keep and often once you started keeping company, as our old Southern sayings go, with Jesus, you will find out pretty fast who your real friends are, which in most cases, will then mean were. 

So often all of us at one time or another have been hit with the old routine of “If you really loved me…” and you know that is the biggest trap the enemy has ever set.

People who really love you will NEVER play that game, they will NEVER use the love that they know you have for them as a tool against you, to manipulate and control you or to coerce you into to bending to their will and never caring at all about you or your feelings.

So that my friends is the state of the world, and just as Jesus said, the world, referring to those people, people who do not honor God or his teachings and sure do not want you to honor him, they will hate you. 

Being human will all need to feel love and we need acceptance and the enemy plays on those needs because he knows where our greatest weakness lies.

That it why it is imperative to cultivate a relationship with Jesus and of course if you have never accepted salvation, that is where you must start.

Think about that, just as he told us, there is NO GREATER LOVE, the love of God, the one who created you, just as He told the Prophet Jeremiah… “BEFORE, I formed thee in the belly  I knew thee”…  and he knew you, me, and every other person who was or ever will be created.

And His love, mercy, and grace will never fail.

He gives this freely, openly, honestly, no strings attached, no deals to be made.

He just gives all that He is and He gives from the moment He brings you into this world through all the ups, downs, of life until your golden years.

He gives us that hope, that choice, and that offer to open that door as He beckons for you to open your heart and as He also promises that even as time fades from us that He is there.

Isaiah 46:4: “And even to your old age I am he and even to your hoar hairs (gray hairs) will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.”

Now those are the words of God Himself promising us that even to the end of everything, He will carry us, deliver us, and as He also promised in scripture elsewhere, He will never leave us or forsake us.

THAT is Love.   

So, you see no matter where you are, where you have been, none of it matters.

God wants you right where you are, and maybe the enemy has lied to you, convincing you that God has already called too many times, or you have went too far or that your family, relationships, or circumstance disqualifies you from ever being able to serve God, again one of the biggest lies of all.

Jesus loves you and He died on the cross to save you, and it is  never too late until you take your last breath.

He will save you, all you have to do is ask him into your heart, because He will not just force you  accept him,  or force you to accept the greatest gift of all, His love the only true love, and a love that will never fail.

And as I leave you, I want to leave you with this question, Why spend life never knowing what you cannot know until you have accepted it?

I know that was a tongue twister, meaning this, never dismiss the thought of the existence of God or the relationship that is waiting for you, a relationship of peace and love, and truly knowing God, until you have at least sought Him.

Before I was saved I did not understand that either.

I always thought of God as just out in Heaven, we could pray to him and I believed in Him but never understood what it meant to know His presence, and no one can know that or understand that until they are saved.

This is how it works… you believe, you ask and then you know.

He is not in the business of proving Himself to us before we believe, we believe and then He reveals Himself to us. that is the part the world that he referred to is missing, and they do hate him or rather the belief in Him, because their hearts are so darkened and their minds so blinded that they do not believe in anything, they live in the moment, never believing that there is more.

Falsely thinking that this world, this life is all that there is, and as the Bible teaches us, if we only had hope in this life, and our only confidence was in the things of this world we would be miserable.

He proved how much He loves us, enough to die for us, and there is no greater nor will there ever be a greater love than that of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for reading, sorry that I was running so late with this series that was supposed to be for Valentine’s Day, but God knows everything and His timing is perfect so I hope in some way this will bless you TODAY!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2020/ Rev. Nina Brown Johnson REVISTED 02/16/2022

Series posts: Angels, Roses, & True Love/ Intro

Angels, Roses, & True Love : Part 2 “Angels”

Angels,Roses,& True Love/ part 3 “A rose by only one name”

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“He’s got ya…”

“Then the eleven disciples went way into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted.

And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to all things whatsoever I have commanded you; 

And, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. A-men,”  Matthew 28:16-20  

I am sure that you are very familiar with those verses, and I have used them many times myself over the years.

And when my thoughts for this post were hitting, I had actually thought about a television commercial. And I know how strange that may sound, and it wasn’t about the product or service offered, it was about the support. 

A trainer is encouraging a person by telling her “I got you” and that has always just reminded me of how Jesus encourages us, that when storms that we had expected to cease somehow still swirl all around us and the battles that we have entered into full of hope, faith, and determination assured that victory will come and we can find ourselves doubting, questioning as that battle seems to go on endlessly in an exhausting dead heat. 

We often wonder and question, much like the disciples that found themselves doubting. just like Thomas when he had doubted that Jesus rose from the dead. And they found themselves in the place that he had destined them to be, the place they were told to go.

That is the deal with the doubt and uncertainty that comes at us when life goes upside down, the first thought the enemy brings to us is, “IF”, IF you were where you should be with the Lord, none of this would be happening.” 

Has that ever went through your mind?

I am sure, if we would be honest, this has went through many minds. Because that is how the enemy uses doubt and it is one of his more powerful weapons, and that is how you have to view, nothing more, nothing less. 

As I have “preached” many times in this little blog, reiterating Romans 8:38,39 NO ONE and NOTHING can ever separate us from God so the enemy uses doubt to cause us to separate ourselves from God through the false belief that somehow we are out of his will when nothing in our lives feels like it could possibly be his will. 

It causes us to THINK…RETHINK… and finally OVERTHINK  everything that we have been taught about the Word of God and about God and make us completely question our relationship with him. So don’t!

Try out a new weapon of your own. Change your battleplan.

Jesus promised us many things but it ultimately up us to believe those promises and sometimes we have to look at things differently, because how we view a situation or an expected outcome is not always how he views it and when those things go a way not of our choosing NEVER means that he does not love and NEVER means that he has suddenly changed his mind and DECIDED to go against his own word and forsake us. He will NEVER do that.

And once we understand that we can see truly step back away from  our battles and see the truth that we can’t fight life and we certainly can not fight death but we can have peace in knowing that he is the ONLY one who holds our tomorrow and the only reason we can get through today.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.

For as the rain cometh down, and snow from heaven, and returneth not thither (it does not go back up), but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void (empty, without fruit) but it shall ACCOPMLISH that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I send it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace…” Isaiah 55:8-11a 

Trust him, remember his promises and don’t let doubt steal that joy, joy that you need, joy that is your strength, the joy OF the Lord, joy not in this world but the joy in knowing that the God of the universe loves you! 

He’s “got” you and he is NEVER going to let you go and know that it is in that joy in him, joy in soul, not to be confused with being joyous in this world, it is hard to be cheerful when your heart is broken, so no, it is not cheerful joy, it is the joy in salvation and the promise of eternity.

And that is the joy that will bring you out of the wilderness and lead you forth out of that battle in his peace.

“RESTORE unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free (generous) spirit.” Psalm 51:12 

For something to be restored it had to have already be possessed, And when we start our journey with Jesus we are full of that joy, the joy that comes with the realization that his grace and mercy had spared our through our days of darkness and sin.  

Then as we mature in him and life comes as life does we find ourselves in that doubt… forgetting that joy.

He never changes, he accepts and loves us just as much as he did the day we accepted his salvation, the change lies within us. that why he tells us of his thoughts and our thoughts, and I have been very guilty of this myself, we have our thoughts of what should happen on earth but he gave us promises NOT of this earth an dour true hope and salvation are not of this earth.

Being human we want all the promises fulfilled here(and some are) but our hope is supposed to rest in the ETERNAL outcome. And that is your joy, that is your hope, that EVERY single morning while you are in this world, on this earth, HIS mercy is renewed every single morning and His mercy endures FOREVER. NOTHING will ever change that, nothing.  Get in your prayer closet and spend time with him in the Holy Ghost, let heaven bless earth remember those words that will NEVER return to him unfruitful… I AM WITH YOU ALWAY… 

And He’s got ya! He did not create you, love you, and save you, so that he could then just suddenly decide to throw you out to the wolves! Jesus does not work that way!

Have a blessed week! Love and peace till next time…  Praying it’ll be a blessing to you TODAY!!

Rev. Nina Brown Johnson / phlogizo360  2019   REVISITED 07/20/2021, Φλογιζω NBJ/2021

If you have never heard this, please check it out, (from YouTube)

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Valued Vulnerability

“Thus saith the lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him: and I will loose the loins (armour) of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates (double doors); and the gates shall not be shut; 

I will go before thee, and make the crooked way straight; I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder (half) the bars of iron;

I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I,the Lord, which call thee by thy name, AM the God of Israel, 

for Jacob my servant’s sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.

I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me:  I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:

That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west (to its setting), that there is none beside me, I am the Lord, and there is none else.

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil (calamity); I the Lord do all these things.

Drop down (rain down),ye heavens, from above, and let the skies POUR down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord hath created it.” Isaiah 45:1-8

Proof positive that God does what he wants, when he wants, and most importantly, through who he wants. Notice it starts by pointing to the fact that Cyrus is his anointed, chosen to be used for a very specific purpose according to will of God. And he goes on to establish the fact that he will open up the “door” to accomplish that purpose, a very wide path,a s it is double doors, and that no would, no one, no power on earth or even, not of earth, would be able to stop the plan that God has laid out. And as he goes before, his wonder, his majesty, his anointing all will now from one end of earth to the other that the God of Israel, Jehovah God is the only true God.

And to make this even more thought  provoking to those who would be witness is this, as he referenced, though they had not known him, though they had certainly not, but yet they certainly would.

He outlines his plan in this, that they will know that it is he that creates light, dark, peace, and calamity, and that does not mean that God brings evil upon innocent people, satan is responsible for that, but God does bring judgment and calamity upon his enemies and those who try to destroy his children.

His purpose is that even though they had not known and had not believed that they would see and they would know and his righteousness would be poured down like rain from heaven itself.

Now for my big question, how much more is God speaking to those who already know him? Time for some vulnerability, mention of vulnerability, we don’t really need me to point this out, but as a refresher, I am totally going to point it out again, because talk about famous last words…

Revelation 18:7:”How much hath she gloried herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I SIT as a queen, am no widow, and shall see no sorrow,” 

We know this is The Great speaking, “Mystery, Babylon the Great” as “she” is referred to by Revelation 17:5, she is a not a woman, :she” is a country, and she is not just any country, she is a country that was founded for the glory of her “husband” but as some point those beautiful bridal veils started to be removed one by one in nothing that can be described other than a spiritual strip tease for all the world to see, as morals, reverence, purity, and above all holiness was auctioned off to the highest bidder, selling herself to the agenda that is willing to pay the most.

The spiritual wickedness in high places polluted even the queen’s sense of decency, love and compassion, as babies, who Babylon, in a sickening justification attempt, has now been renamed as “products of conception, that are an “inconvenience” to those who conceived them are simply disposed,murdered, period, even as they like to say “aborted”, sounds like a mission that one decided to forego, and let’s not forget RU486, the “symbolism” in the name itself is mind blowing, break this down, RU= “Are you”, 4= “for”, 86= To be removed, such as a restaurant item removed from a menu, it is “86ed”. but in this case, RU486 is to 86 the baby’s life.

Can’t make this stuff up, the dictionary is going to need updated every week to contain all the changes that society has made to words in an attempt to  take the stinging truth out of what they don’t want to hear, old cop shows used to end with “The names have been changed to protect the innocent” but now we know in real life the names are being changes to protect the guilty, but God is not going to give any free passes, if repentance does not come, he will call it exactly as it is.

So the Queen had alienated her mind, sold her soul and in her sin ridden sickness had the audacity to brag about her sin and to even laugh at her husband the King, as she praises herself, that she is Queen and boasts that she does not need him or care what he thinks and then goes on to arrogantly boast taht she will see no sorrow. Does this sound familiar? We also know another Queen who is referred to as The Great,  we also know the beautiful beginning, we know the sin,we know the current state  and unfortunately we can read how that story is going to end and Babylon the Great will not be spared BUT there is still a chance for those who will to be saved out of Babylon before the destruction, which you can read about in Revelation 18, It had written on it quite extensively in the past, but had pulled many of those posts while we were in  a season of reprieve and that season is now over and those forces have risen,a nd risen with a vengeance, and a hatred, and a desire to silence true voice of God, as the candy coats  will continue to be welcomed.

We also know that God is very merciful and gracious to forgive, we can be made new anytime, anyplace just for the asking. So you could ask why the destruction, it is one thing to sin, it’s one thing to have inhabitants that sin but the nation itself still honor God, but when the nation becomes polluted, the laws perverted and the prevalent desire is to remove God from the equation, then God will remove himself, and that includes his protection and that nation comes under judgment. It is important to be careful here and remember that God still cares for his people, think of the Hebrews having light while all of Egypt was in utter darkness and the death angel passing over the homes of those who had the blood applied.

God’s mercy and blessing were bestowed on those who humbly, vulnerably came to him, those who had been persecuted in their own land for their desire to worship him, as he gave then a new land, a new beginning, and blessing to become the greatest nation on earth.

Fast forward through time as little by little those veils were danced off until that has become vulnerable again, not to the hope of the mercy of God and his favor, but vulnerable to all the nations she has danced for, and all that have followed her in that dance.

Revelation 18:3:”For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies”

ALL the nations of the earth have made profit exporting to Babylon, the abundance of her delicacies meaning the inhabitants cane never get enough, never have enough , keeping a steady flow of imports coming to her shores.

ALL looked to Babylon as a standard for wealth and power and through that all were tainted, monkey see monkey do, and if your country can’t pay for their abortions, American taxpayers will foot that bill for you.

As she chose to turn “her” back on God and mock him, her vulnerability that once had been shielded under the hands of God has now become bare, for all the world to see, and as those “she” touted as friends watch as those veils fall, they will attack, because they weren’t real friends after all. “that she will realize once it’s too late are actually her enemies and she chose to ridicule and mock God, trusting in “herself”, her power, her strength, God will give her to these enemies but he will save those taht are his before destruction comes.

Revelation 18:4: “Come out of her, my people, be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have REACHED unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.”

A picture of the rapture, and I am sure it could be argued that this would mean to be  “seperated”, act right, to not do as they do, but no, this is when he is going to destroy it.

No one will have time to get saved, if your not committed to Christ when this happens you will not have a chance once it does, the destruction of Babylon is a separate judgment, it is in with the end time events but it’s destruction is sudden, so even though there will be those who are saved out of the end times, the inhabitants of Mystery, Babylon the Great will NOT have that luxury.

We’ll pick this up after the verse when she announced herself Queen.

“Therefore shall he plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she will be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who Judgeth her.

And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication (spiritual wickedness) and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her (weep for her),and lament when they see the smoke of of her burning,

Standing afar off for fear of her torment, saying, Alas, that great city Babylon, taht mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

And the merchants of the earth sha;; weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more.

The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple (dye), and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner of vessels of ivory, and all manner of precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble.

And cinnamon, and odours (incense), and ointments (fragrant oils and frankincense, andwine,and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts (cattle),and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men (human trafficking).

And the fruits that thy soul lusted after (longed for) are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty (are rich) and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.

The merchants of these things, which WERE made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!

For in one hour so great riches is come to nought (nothing). And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off.

And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning,saying, What city is like unto this great city!

And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping, and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness (wealth)! for in one hour is she made desolate (a wasteland).” Revelation 18:8-18

Going over that list you can certainly understand why all the exporters wail and cry, financial devastation but you can also see very clearly why it is said that she lived deliciously, it is said taht they are not crying over any of those who have perished at the destruction only at the loss of their income because the babylonians really like shopping and don’t care how made it, how it was made, they will buy anything and according this verse that includes people.

You know, I have studied this for years and I would always get stuck on taht part, and I’d be like, Lord we don’t do that anymore… boy, was I wrong, just hadn’t seen the horrors that have panned out and on that same note, those who have disputed the Queen’s identity or continue to dispute just had not or have not seen quite enough, but they will, the farther it goes the worse she becomes and don’t kill the messengers, they don’t always like the message but they still have to deliver it.

Mention of messengers, How are people going to be saved out of all this? By God’s messengers realizing the need for their own vulnerability in service to God.

Here’s’ the definition: Vulnerability: “the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally.”

No one like to feel vulnerable, no one wants to feel put on the spot, no one wants to be attacked or laughed at or whatever the fear may be, but in these last days we need God’s people to stand up and be willing to tell the whole world taht yes, they do believe and to share the Gospel with all God would allow them to and even more so to allow God to fill them with His spirit and use them in miraculous ways.

I think sometimes we become so self conscious that we can hinder the work God has for us and hinder the development of the gifts he has for us and more so hinder the use of those gifts for the kingdom, and make no mistake, without the Holy Spirit nothing will be effective, we could minster to a thousand people but without the anointing of God, it will fall on deaf ears and I feel that today, that someone, somewhere is wrestling with these things and you know the time and you see the signs and you know you have a call on your life, but you feel really vulnerable, I want to encourage you, be vulnerable, submit to God and all he has for your life and more importantly helping others on that path to salvation, no one knows the hour of Christ return but we have to be ready when he does, and we want everyone possible to be ready to.

So submit to God, submit to the Holy Ghost and do not ponder who will think what allow his POWER to fill you and guide you because it is his power taht changes all things and without it nothing will change.

Φλογιζω 2021 NBJ/ Reverend Nina Brown Johnson

 

 

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PREPARED Part 4… what you are really being prepared FOR

“And IF THE RIGHTEOUS SCARCELY BE SAVED, WHERE SHALL THE UNGODLY AND THE SINNER APPEAR?” 1 Peter 4:18

This verse should be the sound of the alarm bells ringing on that ticking clock of the return of Christ that should be a wake up call to all.

“Sinners or saints, young or old, black or white, meaning your views are dead set and you see no other “colors” in between.  Even green or grey,  just trying your best to find the way, meaning, whether we are newbies, “green” in the Gospel or have the “grey head” of wisdom from years in His service, we all should hear the terrifying WARNING of that verse. 

My sister and I have discussed this in great detail over the years. If you really dissect this verse, it really ASKS us to think long and hard about the very simple truth that IF the righteous, those who have exchanged the “filthy rags of their own righteousness” for the PERFECT covering of the righteousness of God himself stated  Isaiah 54:17(b) “…And their righteousness IS of me, saith the Lord.”

There is NO righteousness outside the righteousness of God. It is not possible for any human, or any other pagan belief system to offer righteousness to us. 

Our righteousness will only be found through the acceptance of Jesus Christ and in the washing of our souls in His blood. This verse tells us that bearing ALL that, if we do the VERY BEST we can do, we will still SCARCELY be saved, which means just barely making it in.

And yes, I do realize there is a whole doctrine of once in grace, always in grace. I realize even more painfully the current movement is “Repentance? What repentance?” 

What I personally believe this line to mean is this, even though we ARE saved and our salvation is ASSURED (Romans 8:35-39) BUT being human and subject to all things human, all the snares of trying to live “holy” in an incredibly unholy world.

A world that not only encourages every kind of imaginable sin, but CELEBRATES those sins and even alienates others for NOT participating in those sins. The deception IS so strong, just as Jesus warned us of the false Christs, and false prophets.

Matthew 24:24: “For there SHALL arise false Christs, and FALSE PROPHETS, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, they shall deceive the very elect.”

False teachers and false prophets that lie and deceive those who want a “commandment free” RELIGION and choose deception over true SALVATION. And he is warning us that this deception is so meticulously convincing that IF IT WERE NOT FOR HIS DIVINE INTERVENTION, HIS VERY CHOSEN WOULD BE DECEIVED! HE WILL NOT ALLOW US TO BE DECEIVED… UNLESS WE ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE.

Which also brings in two more verses. Matthew 16:24: ” Then said Jesus unto his disciples, IF any man will come after me, LET HIM DENY HIMSELF, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Notice the denial, denial of all the desires and whims of the flesh and of this world. Taking up that cross, having “crucified our flesh DAILY” through the renewing of our minds in his word, and following in HIS footsteps and HIS teachings and CHOOSE to be led by God, who does truly KNOW everything rather than a world who likes to think they KNOW more than even God, who CREATED it all, including them!

Forsaking ALL their high browed arguments against God, and against the very laws and commandments he himself designed FOR OUR OWN GOOD, and against the truth of his existence, trusting in their genetic frailty and decay because they simply REFUSE to acknowledge that their pompous minds could be wrong and that their souls could actually be subject unto a higher being, and that there could be a standard that they will be measured against.

And it is just easier for them to DENY his existence rather than to ADMIT their guilt.

Even though there is no “escape clause” in the Bible excusing us from the penalty of eternal hell and damnation because of our unbelief, quite the opposite, gotta have FAITH in him and in his existence. 

Hebrews 11:5: “But without faith it is impossible to please him;  for he that cometh to God MUST BELIEVE THAT HE IS, and that HE IS a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

These pressures and these forces that make it so hard for US, that we SCARCELY slide by their traps, the traps of the temptations to sin, the traps of false doctrines whispered in our ears and bombarding us by television and media.

I, for one, think we need to stay away from even listening to these lies, I know others may “study” other “religions” but in doing so, they are opening themselves up to the “doctrine of devils” and allowing those polluted thoughts inside their minds, we are told specifically that all these teachings are AGAINST God and this will get you on the wrong side of the boat, fast.

James 4:4: ” Ye adulterers, and adulteresses, know ye not that THE FRIENDSHIP OF (with) THE WORLD IS ENMITY WITH GOD? WHOSOEVER THEREFORE WILL (wants to) BE A FRIEND OF THE WORLD IS THE ENEMY OF GOD (makes himself the enemy of God).”

All the nonsense of learning each other and fellowship of “tolerance” is just more of Satan’s deceptions. God never said to hate others or mistreat them because of differences BUT his word tells us to STAY AWAY from all of it.

NONE of us EVER grow so much or climb so high that we are above temptation, snares and traps, as long as we are human and on this earth we can, do and will stumble, that is why we are told SCARCELY, but we repent, get up, go on and TRY it again!

One of the innumerable beauties of Christ is that HE IS faithful to forgive us, over and over, and over, when our hearts are sincere, his grace is endless. 

But for those who do err and teach sin and absolute contempt for his commandments and yet proclaim salvation to all whether they repent or accept Christ or not that somehow they are under a magical umbrella, teaching the complete OPPOSITE of repentance and salvation.

Matthew 15:8,9: “THIS PEOPLE DRAWETH NIGH UNTO ME WITH THEIR MOUTH, AND HONOURETH ME WITH THEIR LIPS; BUT THEIR HEARTS IS FAR FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN THEY DO WORSHIP ME, TEACHING FOR DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.” 

He warned us right there! We are warned many times of the deception, that they WILL use his name, they WILL shout to the whole world that he is great, all this comes from their lips but in their heart, remember, “as a man thinketh in his heart, so IS he”, so their HEART, the truth of their belief is far, far from God or the things of his kingdom.

I believe that the false teachers DO NOT even believe in his existence.

I truly do not think anyone could believe in him and not fear teaching the things they teach. They teach the things people want to hear, to give them a false sense of eternal security never converting them to that actual security, in order to gain financially and in popularity. 

Sometimes it is hard to win people to the Lord, but truthfully, I think some of the greatest words we will ever hear in doing so, is these “I don’t want to be a hypocrite”, when someone acknowledges that they are not interested in serving the Lord, and that they FEAR the Lord and do not want to allow others to believe that they are while still unrepentant, that PROVES that there is HOPE for that person!

As long as they BELIEVE that HE IS, there is hope, as Jesus also told us, John 3:18-20: “He that believeth on him is NOT condemned, BUT he that BELIEVETH NOT IS CONDEMNED ALREADY, BECAUSE HE HATH NOT BELIEVED IN THE NAME OF THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD.

And THIS IS THE CONDEMNATION, that light is come into the world, and MEN LOVED THE DARKNESS RATHER THAN THE LIGHT, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that DOETH EVIL HATETH THE LIGHT, NEITHER COMETH TO THE LIGHT, lest his deeds should be reproved (exposed).” 

This ANSWERS Peter’s question, WHERE will they stand at his coming? WHERE will the ungodly, those who deny, ridicule, and scoff at God, his statues, and his very existence?

WHERE will the sinners, I know everyone hates that word now, used to make people THINK, now just makes them angry, HOW dare anyone CALL THEM A SINNER?

That is a big one right there! Self-willed and prideful, lust of life, refusal to acknowledge that we could POSSIBLY do wrong!

We do not need to beat people over the head but when they are running the “reprobate risk” we need to give the a wake up call.

Sin is sin, and well, certain things ARE sin, you do those things, guess what, makes you a sinner! We have ALL been sinners! We ALL STRUGGLE AGAINST SIN!

That is part of SCARCELY! ME, you, EVERYONE fights sin! 

Again JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH, THE MESSIAH, said THIS, point-blank, period, no ifs, no ands, and no buts. THIS is THE LIST of those who will NOT be allowed in his kingdom.

Revelation 21:5-8: “And HE THAT SAT UPON THE THRONE said, Behold, I make ALL things new, and he said unto me, Write: FOR THESE WORDS ARE TRUE AND FAITHFUL.

And HE said unto me, It is done, I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE END. I will give unto him that is athirst of the  fountain of the water of life FREELY. 

He that OVERCOMETH shall inherit all things: I WILL BE HIS GOD, and he shall be my son.

BUT THE FEARFUL (cowards), AND THE UNBELIEVING, AND THE ABOMINABLE (despicable, obnoxious, etc.), AND MURDERERS, AND WHOREMONGERS (sexually immoral), AND SORCERERS, (psychics, witchcraft, etc.), AND IDOLATERS (putting EVERYTHING before God), AND ALL LIARS, SHALL HAVE THEIR PART IN THE LAKE WITH BURNETH WITH FIRE AND BRIMSTONE: WHICH IS THE SECOND DEATH.”

These are the words of Jesus, It is NOT written in red because John was writing to us what Jesus spoke to him, and we KNOW this is indeed Christ by His reference of Alpha and Omega.

Just to be so clear of WHOSE words these are, and the words of Christ are written in red, so Revelation 1:8: ” I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA, the beginning and the ending, SAITH THE LORD, which IS, and which WAS, and which IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY.” 

He reveals his complete identity in this verse, HE IS the beginning of all things, HE IS the end of all things, HE IS everything in between.

He WAS, John:1-17: In the beginning WAS the Word, the Word WAS with God, and THE WORD WAS GOD. 

The same was in the beginning with God. ALL things were MADE by him: and without him was not any thing made that was made.

IN HIM WAS LIFE; And the life WAS the light of men. AND THE LIGHT SHINETH INTO DARKNESS; AND THE DARKNESS COMPREHENDED IT NOT.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light. 

THAT WAS THE TRUE LIGHT, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

He WAS in the world, and the world WAS made by him, and the world knew him not.

He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, EVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE ON HIS NAME;

WHICH WERE BORN, NOT OF BLOOD, NOR OF THE WILL OF THE FLESH, NOR OF THE WILL OF MAN, BUT OF GOD.

AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, AND DWELT AMONG US, (and we beheld his glory, the glory, as the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This WAS he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me IS preferred BEFORE me; FOR HE WAS BEFORE ME.” 

All that Jesus had said of himself. 

Humans can not look on the face of God, when Jesus came here, he came AS the Son of God, HE IS the Son of God, HE IS the Word, which did truly dwell among us and at his resurrection we were given the gift of that resurrection power which allowed the death of our flesh and spiritual birth in him because he actually DWELLS in us through the Holy Ghost.

But HE IS also God, which is why he referred to himself as IS and IS YET TO COME, meaning his return to earth and his kingdom that will be very much ON earth, precisely in what is now Jerusalem, soon to be NEW Jerusalem.

And as far as his Word, which HE IS, he left us all we need to know in the pages of his Holy Word, The Bible.

STUDY it for yourself, or get the audio version of the King James and listen to it. DO NOT take others words as his word, we are in such a time of deception and there IS only one way to heaven and the return to New Jerusalem and assurance of eternal life, and that IS through Jesus Christ.

1 john 2:22-23: “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is an anti-Christ that denieth the Father and the Son.

Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath NOT the Father: [but] HE THAT HATH ACKNOWLEDETH THE SON HATH THE FATHER ALSO.”

We have to have Jesus and we have to have his salvation and his forgiveness, and we will not have to ask ourselves WHERE shall we appear, when this world hears something similar to those spoken by the Lord in the Book of Amos, when they are told to “prepare to meet thy God”.

He’s coming back, ready or not, and we better be prepared to meet him.

Love & peace to ya, till next time! Thanks for reading!

Φλογίζω Σαλπίζω NB 2018

Posts in this series: PREPARED Part #1

PREPARED Part#2

PREPARED Part #3

More of the deceptions being taught about hell: RESERVATIONS FOR HELL

Original post series 2018/ Revisited 08/14/2020

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“PREPARED” Part #1, Preparing for the wedding of a King

“And the Spirit and the bride say, COME. And LET him that HEARETH say, COME. And LET him that is athirst COME and take of the WATER OF LIFE freely.” Revelation 22:17 

This is quite an invitation and what I love about this verse, it that it IS an invitation.

This is a wedding that had not happened because although they ARE speaking as one they are named SEPERATELY so what am I even talking about? So glad you asked:)!

We all know that marriage in all cultures is considered a covenanted  process, a beautiful celebration with the families giving their very best to provide for that wedding, depending on your location and beliefs, either the grooms family or the brides family but either way, ALL cultures hold marriage with the same honor, reverence, and life long commitment. 

No shock that the enemy has chosen marriage, TRUE marriage as God intended between a male and a female as his hottest battle ground. If he can pervert the very DEFINITION of marriage, he can attempt to confuse and twist one of the MAJOR end time teachings of the New Testament.

As Paul said, the great MYSTERY that IS Christ, His bride, which IS the church and the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb, which the absolute culmination of ALL things that have ever been since He spoke everything into creation, ALL that has been and ALL that will EVER be will be merged into oneness at that wedding.

Just as he came to the garden and walked and talked with Adam, just as he came down and spoke with Abram, as he let Moses just glimpse his glory, just as he spoke through the prophets, giving each a little insight into his WORLD, his beauty and his majesty, that they could NEVER effectively put into words.

He came down as a baby and even in that humble beginning, His great glory and majesty could not be concealed. The angels HAD to worship, they had to ANNOUNCE the arrival. 

Offerings in the form of gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh HAD to be brought before him because ALL kings and ALL nations WILL bow before him. People of ALL nations, languages, and tribes WILL bring their offerings of praise before him in that day. In that day our WORLDS will become ONE.

Prophecy had been given since the dawn of time to ease humans into this, all the prophecies as they eagerly awaited his arrival on earth as Messiah. Thousands of years, with prophets FULFILLING the words of OTHER prophets, which tells us a little of what level of preparation was needed. Think of John the Baptist, who fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah and Malachi.

John 1:15-23:   “John bare witness of him and cried, saying, THIS IS HE OF WHOM I SPAKE, He that cometh after me is preferred before me. And of his fullness have ALL received, and grace FOR grace.

For the law was given by Moses, but GRACE AND TRUTH CAME BY JESUS CHRIST.

No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath DECLARED him.

And THIS is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am NOT the Christ.

And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elisas? {they knew the prophecy but Jesus said that John WAS the foretold voice fulfilling this prophecy} And he said, I am NOT. Art thou that prophet? And he answered and said, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? THAT WE MAY GIVE AN ANSWER TO THEM THAT SENT US, What sayest thou of thyself?

He said, I AM THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD, as SAID the prophet Esaias (Isaiah).” 

They could HEAR “the voice” that just did not want to “hear” they did not want to acknowledge the time they were entering, just as those today have “sent” their messengers in attempt to tear down the Gospel of Christ, hoping to silence THE VOICE that WILL NOT SILENCED, that VOICE shall bellow from the very mountain tops.

So just what DID Isaiah say? Isaiah 40:3-5:”  The VOICE of him that crieth in the wilderness, PREPARE YE THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE STRAIGHT IN THE DESERT A HIGHWAY FOR OUR GOD.

EVERY VALLEY SHALL BE EXALTED (lifted up)  AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL SHALL BE MADE LOW : AND THE CROOKED PLACES SHALL BE MADE STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH PLACES PLAIN  (smoothed out): 

AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD SHALL BE REVEALED, AND ALL FLESH SHALL SEE IT TOGETHER: FOR THE MOUTH OF THE LORD HATH SPOKEN IT.”

WHY? Why WAS and IS a preparation needed?

Well, think about those verses, this was to prepare people for an encounter with God.

In preparing for this preparation, EVEN the angel Gabriel was SENT to Zacharias, to proclaim that he and his aged wife would have a child, a chosen child and even that there were to name him John, which literally means “grace” and given John’s commission BEFORE he was even conceived in Elisabeth’s womb. 

And this was that commission, the words of the angel Gabriel as recorded in Luke 1:17: “AND HE SHALL GO FORTH IN THE SPIRIT AND POWER OF ELIAS, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS TO THE CHILDREN, AND THE DISOBEDIENT TO THE WISDOM OF THE JUST; TO MAKE READY A PEOPLE PREPARED FOR THE LORD.”

How do you prepare people to the fact that their worlds are about to be rocked by the arrival of one, who will have the ability to miraculously heal the sick, restore sight to the blind, cause those bound by paralysis to rise and not only walk, but run and leap because of the joy he also placed in their recovered souls.

One who will SPEAK to the storms and command them to cease. SPEAK to demons and they should fall at his feet and  tremble in terror of him.

That he would have the ability to look through us, into our very souls and perceive EVERY single thought of not only our conscious mind but also our soul and heart.

One who would have such a gentleness and absolute tenderness that he would verbally defend women against the spoken and unspoken hatred and judgment of others, healing them not with touch of his hand but with his LOVE, giving them access to his very heart.

One who cried in sorrow with those who grieved. One who would walk on water and be transfigured into his glorious light before the very eyes of a select few, as he spoke with Moses and Elijah.

That he would not only raise the dead but that his own dead body would raise up (some symbolism in that, the resurrection his church NOW desperately needs).

HOW do you prepare people for that? Just as the Hebrews were  SCARED absolutely to death of him at Mount Sinai, they did not want to talk to him, they pleaded with Moses to be a go between.

As scared as they were, even SEEING his mercy, glory, and protection. How much more terrified would people have been had they NOT been prepared by these prophecies of what they should expect.

Now, as our scripture from Revelation tells us, those VOICES are to be heard and the first voice mentioned IS the voices speaking TOGETHER the SPIRIT and the bride speaking in complete unison.

God dealt with me several years ago, about the need for that surrender by his church a submission that would truly allow that merging, it is an old post, from 2014 and revised in 2015, but if you have a moment, please read it and it will help in understanding this one: Click here> merge,

I really believe that we have come into that unison, those who have sought have found and I also believe that the “invitations” are already being delivered.

I believe it is that close.

So I want you to look at a couple of things in that verse, okay, they are technically still separate, BUT they are speaking as ONE so that separation is merely location.

Remember with the Jewish grooms of the Old Testament, the groom RETURNS for his bride, there is NO question about their relationship ONLY the FINAL PREPARATIONS to be made so that she can join him.

So next time, I’ll get into our starter verse and we’ll look at that “wedding invitation” a little closer and decipher our “duties” in getting other PREPARED for the reign of Jesus Christ on this earth.

And no longer is it just an “invitation”, it is that they should be WASHED, clean,”clothed” and ready to enter into the doors.

And NOTHING will EVER fully prepare THIS WORLD to meet its maker, who will not be visiting for walks in the cool of the evening or teaching chosen disciples but WILL take his place AMONG his people and for that I am not sure they could ever be completely prepared.

Φλογίζω Σαλπιζω  NB 2018

Original post 2018 but more than ever we need to remember and be encouraged that there is so much greater ahead!

Other posts in this series:

Prepared Part #2 Oxygen to Fire

Prepared Part #3 Would-be wedding crashers washed inside out

PREPARED Part #4

 

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Angels, Roses, & True Love part 3 “Truest Love of All”

“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you; continue ye in my love.

If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

These things I command you, that ye love one another. 

If the world hate you ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world,but I have CHOSEN you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”  John 15:9-18   

Love is the most misunderstood word in existence, and love in its truest sense is often left undiscovered.

When Jesus gave us these words, which he went on in verse twenty to remind us to, “REMEMBER the word that I have said unto you…” as He went on to warn them that we can never expect to be treated any differently than he was.

We are truly judged by the company we keep and often once you starting keeping company, as our old Southern sayings go, with Jesus, you will find out pretty fast who your real friends are, which in most cases, will then mean were. 

So often all of us at one time or another have been hit with the old routine of  “If you really loved me…” and you know that is the biggest trap the enemy has ever set. People who really love you will NEVER play that game, they will NEVER use the love that they know you have for them as a tool against you, to manipulate and control you or to coerce you into to bending to their will never caring at all about you or your feelings.

So that my friends is the state of the world, and just as Jesus said, the world, referring to those people, people who do not honor God or his teachings and sure do not want you to honor him, they will hate you. 

Being human will all need to feel love and we need acceptance and the enemy plays on those needs because he knows where our greatest weakness lies. That it why it is imperative to cultivate a relationship with Jesus and of course if you have never excepted salvation, that is where you must start.

Think about that, just as he told us, there is NO GREATER LOVE, the love of God, the one who created you, just as He told the Prophet Jeremiah… “BEFORE, I formed thee in the belly  I knew thee”…  and he knew you, me, and ever other person who was or ever will be created.

And His love, mercy, and grace will never fail, and He gives this freely, openly, honestly, no strings attached, no deals to be made.

He just gives and he gives from the moment He brings you into this world through all the ups, downs, of life until your golden years, He gives that hope, that choice, and that offer to open that door as He beckons for you to open your heart and as He also promises that even as time fades from us that He is there.

Isaiah 46:4: “And even to your old age I am he and even to your hoar hairs (gray hairs) will I carry you; I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will deliver you.”

Now those are the words of God Himself promising us that even to the end of everything, He will carry us, deliver us, and as He also promised in scripture elsewhere, He will never leave us or forsake us. THAT is Love.   

So you see no matter where you are, where you have been, no of it matters, God wants you right where you are, and maybe the enemy has told you that God has called to many times, or you have went to far or that your family, relationship, or circumstance disqualifies you from ever being able to serve God, again one of the biggest lies of all.

Jesus loves you and He died on the cross to save you, and it is  never too late until you take your last breathe, He will save you, all you have to do is ask him into your heart, because He will not just force you  accept him,  or force you to accept the greatest gift of all, His love the only true love, and a love that will never fail.

And as I leave you, I want to leave you with this question why spend life never knowing what you can not know until you have accepted it?

I know that was a tongue twister, meaning this, never dismiss the thought of the existence of God or the relationship that is waiting for you, a relationship of peace and love, and truly knowing God, until you have at least sought Him.

Before I was saved I did not understand that either.

I always thought of God as just out in Heaven, we could pray to him and I believed in Him but never understood what it meant to know His presence and no one can know that or understand that until they are saved.

This is how it works… you believe, you ask and then you know.

He is not in the business of proving Himself to us before we believe, we believe and then He reveals Himself to us. that is the part the world that he referred to is missing, and they do hate him or rather the belief in Him, because their hearts are so darkened and their minds so blinded that they do not believe in anything, they live in the moment, never believing that there is more.

Falsely thinking that this world, this life is all that there is, and as the Bible teaches us, if we only had hope in this life, and our only confidence was in the things of this world we would be miserable.

He proved how much He loves us, enough to die for us, and there is no greater nor will there ever be a greater love than that of Jesus Christ.

Thanks for reading, sorry that I was running so late with this series that was supposed to be for Valentine’s Day, but God knows everything and His timing is perfect so I hope in some way this will bless you TODAY!

Φλογιζω NBJ 2020/ Rev. Nina Brown Johnson

Series posts: Angels, Roses, & True Love/ Intro

Angels, Roses, & True Love : Part 2 “Angels”

Angels,Roses,& True Love/ part 3 “A rose by only one name”

 

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“Kidron calling”

“And when Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron (Kidron) where there was a garden, into which he entered, he and his disciples. And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither (met there) with his disciples.” John 18:1,2 

Picking this to tie in with my last post. this scripture took place at the time of the arrest of Jesus, after he had given the disciples warning that they should watch and pray that they would not enter into temptation.

Now is a good time to point out that as Jesus went forth into this place, He was on His way to his arrest, torture, humiliation, and ultimate crucifixion.

ALL this laid just beyond the crossing over that brook BUT this was also the path of His divine purpose for coming to this earth, as He answered Pilate… To this end was I born, and for this cause I came into the world,  and the enemy, just like Judas in this passage, always knows where we go for comfort and just where to find us in a crisis, and that is when he hits us with all he has and it’s like that button, he knows how and exactly where to do the most damage.

But FIRST I really want to point out that Jesus is an exception to all the rules. He is God and when He came here in human form as a sacrifice for all of us, He did so completely sinless.

He NEVER committed sin or even thought a wrong thought, so it was NEVER a question of falling with Him, as it is for us. BUT as He also told us that The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. and we are to follow His lead in how He handled every situation and circumstance in life and even in the face of death.

And there is so much for us to learn in crossing over our own brook “Kidron” and if we are called, we are going to have to cross that brook.

We can a learn that from David’s story 2 Samuel chapters fifteen and sixteen, to give the background on it, this WAS due to David falling into temptation, because of his affair with Bathsheba and the essential “hit” he put on his own solider Uriah in an attempt to cover his tracks, he had been told that the sword would NEVER leave his house, so even though he had repented and reconciled to God he was still under that judgment and this story took place as he was fleeing from his son who WAS one of the evils that would arise from his own house against him.

If possible please read these chapters to get the jest of this story because I am just using a few verses to get to this point, but it is a story I have used many times to make many different points and so much can be learned on some many level from David’s ordeal.

I am starting scripture coming into the part of the story when most had turned against David and it actually says that Absolom “stole the hearts of the men of Israel” and as he prepared to overtake his father’s throne, David and those whose were faithful to him were forced to flee and this is where decisions were being made.

2 Samuel 15: 21-23 : “And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there shall thy servant be.

And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that was with him.

And ALL the country wept with a loud voice,and all the people passed over,the king himself passed over the brook Kidron (CALLED),and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.”

What really jumps out at me is the similarity between Ittai’s pledge of allegiance to David and Peter’s words to Jesus and one of the literal meanings given for Kidron is “CALLED” and as you go on with that story, David was hit so hard just in these few chapters, this ONE instance of a PERIOD in his life, he was chased, cursed, hated but he was learning something, and you got to remember WHO David was and what he had ALREADY learned from the Lord.

By this point in his life, he had been in battle after battle, fought Goliath, survived Saul’s hatred and had been anointed three times to be king and David knew what is was to be afraid and he knew what it was to desperately seek God, he knew what is was to  trust and he knew what is was to encourage himself when he felt a million miles away. But by the point this all came into play against him he had gotten a little out of practice keeping those things he had learned fresh in his mind and most importantly fresh in his heart.

As he and all his people passed over the brook and they all went toward the WAY of the wilderness, his flesh began to die, when he just accepted the things being thrown at him without cursing back or flying into a rage and wanting to retaliate, when he just kept on crossing the brook of the called his enemies were defeated and his throne rightfully restored.

Not to say that there wasn’t PAIN, serious, serious pain, as all these crossings were made with tears and sorrow.

Over the past few weeks I have thought so much about what Jesus told Peter, when He said The Spirit truly is ready but the flesh is weak  and I have come to believe of the many lessons we learn from that scripture that the biggest, hardest lesson to grasp is this, that our spirit, the part of us that loves God, longs for His presence and wants nothing more than to please Him and be in His will can BE completely given over to Him but our human side can still have a lot of catching up to do, it can be very weak and must be strengthened BEFORE we can enter into those places that He wants us to travel.

And when you think of it, imagine Peter and ALL the disciples, hanging out with Jesus day and night, being in the midst of Him and the miracles and Him giving them that authority over demons and diseases BUT He was right there with them or at least they knew He was close by and would come to the rescue just like He did when He rebuked their lack of faith and taught them the need for fasting and prayer when they could not cast the demon out of the young boy and the father had to bring him to Jesus Himself. (Matthew 17:14-21)

So how much harder would it be for them when they had to have the faith to believe for these and greater works in His name and believe for that power to come when they asked in His name when He would no longer be by their side on this earth?

He was not only their teacher, He was also their best friend and even though they knew who He was and is, and they saw with their own eyes miracles and resurrections of the dead, nothing could ever have prepared them for the transitions between heaven and earth that would take place.

Their spirits were ready, that is why He gave them the extra comfort of adding TRULY when He told them but the “flesh” part, the human side had to be strengthened or otherwise their minds could have never withstood the transition that they also would have to make on that journey with Him.

Think about that… ALL of this was new, it was new to EVERYONE and if you put yourself in their shoes at the time and ask how would they react when they would no longer see Him or touch Him in the physical realm but be aware of His invisible presence and would actually feel Him in their souls.

NOTHING could have ever prepared them for that, it is not a shock that they stood “gazing up” when He went back to heaven, they were trying to reason it all in their heads when it cannot be reasoned and they would have to learn how to navigate their lives and fulfilling His call on their lives in a way they could have never possibly imagined.

And when the pain, the sorrow and the persecution would come that flesh would have to be under submission to the spirit or else that flesh would cost callings and how that submission comes is in one word…acceptance… and I’ll leave that right there for now.

Thank you for reading and thanks for all your prayers!

God Bless you with a wonderful week!

Φλογιζω Σαλπιζω NBJ2018 / Original Post date: 10/13/2018  Repost 11/16/2019  ***And Revisited 11/06/2021, I am a tad under the weather, so forgive the repost, If you haven’t read it, I do pary it will be food for thought. Lord’s will, we’ll be back on the Apocalypse soon!

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“Grinding the ax” #4 “STRANGLE HOLD”

“Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest thy be discouraged.” Colossians 3:21

Our fathers, the first and foremost man in our formative years. And if you have a good one, that is great and will be a guaranteed blessing over your entire life. But what about the fathers who are warned in the verse above?

This verse is actually almost verbatim in Ephesians 6:4:” And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture (training) and admonition OF the Lord.”  

So we are being told what NOT to do and exactly what we should do. Children who are constantly “ridden” by their parents, who are made to feel whether intentionally or unintentionally that they are never quite good enough, or “perform” well enough to “earn” the love that they should have naturally received from that parent.

I do know this verse specifies fathers, but we know the damage mothers can do is equally as damaging.

And we could pull a truck load of stats on the completely dysfunctional mother/son relationships that are often prominent among serial killers.

So what I want to focus on the relationship of fathers to daughters and the relationships that are formed later in life.

I also want to bring into the mix the fact that often when women have had extremely dominating fathers and whether that consisted of physical abuse alongside the obvious emotional damage that is caused, that seems to put the pattern in place.

But testosterone is a funny thing and soul debilitating dominance lorded over women is not ALWAYS by their fathers. It can come later in life through a boyfriend, husband, or even male friends who can become quite the material for a medieval tale of when black knights begin to suffer from white knight syndrome .

When “friendship” leads to the need to control your life, and demand answers for your every move that is no longer friendship, that IS control. Male dominance has been and is still our toughest battle regardless of what role that male has in our life.

But for some, it is a short path from growing up with a horrid father to marrying an even worse husband.

So how did it start? People taking the word of God and their DISTORTED view of God and applying THEIR carnality to it. Just as God answered it in his word: 

Judges 21:25: “In those days there was no king in Israel: EVERY MAN DID THAT WHICH WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES.”

And things have certainly NOT been right and are still NOT right.

But with the revelation of Isaiah 33:22: “For the Lord IS our judge, the Lord IS our lawgiver, the Lord IS our king; HE WILL SAVE US.”

We know things can and must change. Cruelty and wickedness hiding behind the disguise of goodness and righteousness is nothing new.

The devil himself pretending through the serpent to be a friend to Eve, the wicked all through the Bible whispering into the ears of those who would hear, plans of how to destroy another and thereby having them also destroy themselves.

“Spare the rod, spoil the child” taken so far out of context and USED specifically as a Biblical justification for nothing more than truly sadistic people to senselessly beat children.

If you doubt me on that, web search a few cases of children being adopted and even born into supposedly christian families taken away, rescued out of horrendous abuse. People have even written books advocating these UNGODLY practices.

The old Testament ALSO had a law on stoning your son.. IF he were  a drunkard.. how many little kids drink again?

Listen what Jesus told the Pharisees when they were hassling him about the OT marriage laws.

Mark 10:3-5; “And he answered and said,unto them, What did Moses command you? and they said, Moses suffered (PERMITTED) to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. 

And Jesus answered and said unto them, (Because) For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.”

Meaning that they WERE given these severe laws because of their own hardness.

But God reveals His thoughts through His word, James 2:13: “For he SHALL have judgment WITHOUT mercy who hath shewed (shown) NO MERCY; and mercy rejoiceth against (TRIUMPHS OVER) judgment.” 

It is like this, just because we are technically allowed to do something DOES NOT mean that is what God desires for us to do it.

Micah 6:8:” He hath shewed thee, O man, ( all people), what IS good; and what doth (does) the Lord require of thee,  but to do justly and LOVE MERCY (loving kindness),and to walk humbly with thy God? 

So if all of this coupled with stories such as when the angel of the Lord put the smack down on Balaam and lined him out for hitting the donkey (Numbers 22:27-33),  doesn’t prove that God want us to ALL be kind toward each other and to also BE treated kindly, I don’t know what more could.

Just as treating children harshly came from the thoughts of people doing what they wanted.

We also got pulled into the “submission” trap. The Bible does truly say, “wives submit unto your own husbands” but again that is something that has been taken and RAN wild with, as if we were some sort of inferior creation that God placed here for men.

Oh I don’t think so.

Submission means to RESPECT your husband, to care about his feelings and not treat him like dirt, don’t make fun of him, and emotionally emasculate him by being that “brawling” woman spoken of in Proverbs.

God’s intentions for this was that the husband SHOULD be exactly what His word said for him to be.

And in this a husband was to be “submitted” to, as in a place of safety and a place of trust, such as that verse goes on to say “as unto the Lord”.

And I would love to hear the excuses that so many are going to try to give the Lord as to why they betrayed this TRUST that he had given them with their wives and children, and it’s not going to be a pretty picture!

So it DOES NOT mean we are subservient, or a lesser in God’s eyes.

It means that we SHOULD have that protective, nurturing, place if we ever need and at times we all do.

We covered His word in the last post of how He EXPECTS His daughters to be treated and seeing that even in a nation where women have many rights and “hold our own” we can all attest to our numbers of domestic violence, for all the strides we have made, in this area, we have gone backward!

We ARE more free. We HAVE more resources. We HAVE better laws and protection. So what went wrong? Why do we have these statistics that say we are NOT free by any stretch of imagination?

We are still trapped somewhere in our psyches by the lies of the past and the misogynistic teachings of generations before and we want to HIDE that pain and we are giving over to absolutely FALSE sense of shame by not speaking out.

That is what the enemy WANTS and just as he lied to Eve, he is lying to so many women about their past and keeping them in a “strangle hold” that prevents them from moving FORWARD.

Merriam-Webster definition two of the term “STRANGLE HOLD” is this: “A FORCE OR INFLUENCE THAT CHOKES OR SUPPRESSES FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT OR EXPRESSION.”  

If we have that past or are presently living with dominance, harshness, physical, or emotional abuse that is exactly what is happening to us.

The reason the devil has perfected it is because if you have had these experiences with men, especially fathers or husbands, HOW on earth can you “submit” to a being who is male?

When women are brainwashed into BELIEVING that they are subservient and God hates them, why would they seek Him?

The devil bagged and tagged on this one and we have to stop him!

We stop him by NOT taking anyone’s word for who we are or who God created us to be. Study God’s word and discover for yourself!

And when you reach the verses stating that “women are to be silent” and  “i suffer not a woman to teach…” STUDY the background with a good dictionary/history Bible and you will find that Paul was talking to a specific group of people AT THAT TIME. Because a group of women were “gunning” for him and trying to bring in false teachings and for that PERIOD IN TIME, he forbade them to speak so he could PROTECT the Gospel.

Need a little more reassurance, dig this, Galatians 3:23,28: “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith that should afterwards be revealed.

Wherefore  the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

But after THAT faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For YE ALL ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD by faith in Jesus Christ. 

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.  There is NEITHER Jew nor Greek,  there is NEITHER bond nor free, THERE IS NEITHER MALE NOR FEMALE; FOR YE ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST.”

That is a good verse to put to anyone who wants to argue Paul’s teachings with you…. he wrote that. He wrote the verses used to silence women and he wrote the verse that proved otherwise,  all true, but taken out of context by those who WANT to twist those verses to justify their own prejudices.

It’s time to separate God from the men who claim to represent him! If you are dealing with these issues or dealing with the past issues, PLEASE talk to Him, talk to Him just as if he were in the room sitting there.

I promise He does hear and tell Him how you feel, TRUTHFULLY how you feel, if you end up in tears and “I HATE…” starts coming out of your mouth, LET IT COME because the only way we recover is through submitting that to God and HE KNOWS how we feel and when you have been hurt and are trying to work past it.

God is not going to hold that against you, it is normal to feel that way and once you let it go, you will NO LONGER feel that.

But you have to get it out, ALL of it, at His feet, Hebrews 4:15: “For we have NOT an high priest which cannot be touched WITH THE FEELINGS OF OUR INFIRMITIES…” 

Which means Jesus suffered through all the things we do and HE DOES UNDERSTAND any possible thing you could tell Him and he understands with love, compassion, and gentleness toward you and He wants to take it away and give you peace and be those protective arms that hold you through your tears.

But first we must decide that we are slaves no more and no more will we live in the devil’s strangle hold.

There is NO shame in having been a victim and there is courage in admitting that you are a survivor. There is NO shame in needing out NOW and fear is perfectly normal when fighting for your freedom.

We just have to decide which we are WILLING to be. Think about these verses: Isaiah 53:4-6,11: ” Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither shall thou be confounded (disgraced); for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou SHALT FORGET the shame of thy youth, and SHALT NOT REMEMBER the reproach of thy widowhood any more. 

For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. 

For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused (suffered rejection) saith thy God.  

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, (tormented and battered by ‘storm”)  and NOT comforted. behold, I WILL lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy FOUNDATIONS with sapphires.”

He knows, and He alone can give us that comfort that we have not been given, He alone see the pain of every season we can go through.

And He alone can lay for us that beautiful foundation, built upon Him and His TRUTH. Trust Him, know Him and most of all, let Him know you!

Related posts: “Grinding the ax” 1 “acknowledgement”

“Grinding the ax” 2… “Real Love?”

“Grinding the ax” #3 “Anger Danger”

*Authors note* This series originally posted on “Alabaster Breaking”, my sister site, that no longer exists. I found it very difficult to maintain both sites and just transferred those most to this, my main site. Thank you

Εξυπνιζω NBJ 2017

Revisited post: 06/15/2019

 

 

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“Kidron calling”

“And when Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples over the brook Cedron (Kidron) where there was a garden, into which he entered, he and his disciples. And Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place: for Jesus ofttimes resorted thither (met there) with his disciples.” John 18:1,2 

Picking this to tie in with my last post. this scripture took place at the time of the arrest of Jesus, after he had given the disciples warning that they should watch and pray that they would not enter into temptation.

Now is a good time to point out that as Jesus went forth into this place, He was on His way to his arrest, torture, humiliation, and ultimate crucifixion.

ALL this laid just beyond the crossing over that brook BUT this was also the path of His divine purpose for coming to this earth, as He answered Pilate… To this end was I born, and for this cause I came into the world,  and the enemy, just like Judas in this passage, always knows where we go for comfort and just where to find us in a crisis, and that is when he hits us with all he has and it’s like that button, he knows how and exactly where to do the most damage.

But FIRST I really want to point out that Jesus is an exception to all the rules. He is God and when He came here in human form as a sacrifice for all of us, He did so completely sinless.

He NEVER committed sin or even thought a wrong thought, so it was NEVER a question of falling with Him, as it is for us. BUT as He also told us that The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. and we are to follow His lead in how He handled every situation and circumstance in life and even in the face of death.

And there is so much for us to learn in crossing over our own brook “Kidron” and if we are called, we are going to have to cross that brook.

We can a learn that from David’s story 2 Samuel chapters fifteen and sixteen, to give the background on it, this WAS due to David falling into temptation, because of his affair with Bathsheba and the essential “hit” he put on his own solider Uriah in an attempt to cover his tracks, he had been told that the sword would NEVER leave his house, so even though he had repented and reconciled to God he was still under that judgment and this story took place as he was fleeing from his son who WAS one of the evils that would arise from his own house against him.

If possible please read these chapters to get the jest of this story because I am just using a few verses to get to this point, but it is a story I have used many times to make many different points and so much can be learned on some many level from David’s ordeal.

I am starting scripture coming into the part of the story when most had turned against David and it actually says that Absalom “stole the hearts of the men of Israel” and as he prepared to overtake his father’s throne, David and those whose were faithful to him were forced to flee and this is where decisions were being made.

2 Samuel 15: 21-23 : “And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there shall thy servant be.

And David said to Ittai, Go and pass over. And Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones that was with him.

And ALL the country wept with a loud voice,and all the people passed over,the king himself passed over the brook Kidron (CALLED),and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.”

What really jumps out at me is the similarity between Ittai’s pledge of allegiance to David and Peter’s words to Jesus and one of the literal meanings given for Kidron is “CALLED” and as you go on with that story, David was hit so hard just in these few chapters, this ONE instance of a PERIOD in his life, he was chased, cursed, hated but he was learning something, and you got to remember WHO David was and what he had ALREADY learned from the Lord.

By this point in his life, he had been in battle after battle, fought Goliath, survived Saul’s hatred and had been anointed three times to be king and David knew what is was to be afraid and he knew what it was to desperately seek God, he knew what is was to  trust and he knew what is was to encourage himself when he felt a million miles away. But by the point this all came into play against him he had gotten a little out of practice keeping those things he had learned fresh in his mind and most importantly fresh in his heart.

As he and all his people passed over the brook and they all went toward the WAY of the wilderness, his flesh began to die, when he just accepted the things being thrown at him without cursing back or flying into a rage and wanting to retaliate, when he just kept on crossing the brook of the called his enemies were defeated and his throne rightfully restored.

Not to say that there wasn’t PAIN, serious, serious pain, as all these crossings were made with tears and sorrow.

Over the past few weeks I have thought so much about what Jesus told Peter, when He said The Spirit truly is ready but the flesh is weak  and I have come to believe of the many lessons we learn from that scripture that the biggest, hardest lesson to grasp is this, that our spirit, the part of us that loves God, longs for His presence and wants nothing more than to please Him and be in His will can BE completely given over to Him but our human side can still have a lot of catching up to do, it can be very weak and must be strengthened BEFORE we can enter into those places that He wants us to travel.

And when you think of it, imagine Peter and ALL the disciples, hanging out with Jesus day and night, being in the midst of Him and the miracles and Him giving them that authority over demons and diseases BUT He was right there with them or at least they knew He was close by and would come to the rescue just like He did when He rebuked their lack of faith and taught them the need for fasting and prayer when they could not cast the demon out of the young boy and the father had to bring him to Jesus Himself. (Matthew 17:14-21)

So how much harder would it be for them when they had to have the faith to believe for these and greater works in His name and believe for that power to come when they asked in His name when He would no longer be by their side on this earth?

He was not only their teacher, He was also their best friend and even though they knew who He was and is, and they saw with their own eyes miracles and resurrections of the dead, nothing could ever have prepared them for the transitions between heaven and earth that would take place.

Their spirits were ready, that is why He gave them the extra comfort of adding TRULY when He told them but the “flesh” part, the human side had to be strengthened or otherwise their minds could have never withstood the transition that they also would have to make on that journey with Him.

Think about that… ALL of this was new, it was new to EVERYONE and if you put yourself in their shoes at the time and ask how would they react when they would no longer see Him or touch Him in the physical realm but be aware of His invisible presence and would actually feel Him in their souls.

NOTHING could have ever prepared them for that, it is not a shock that they stood “gazing up” when He went back to heaven, they were trying to reason it all in their heads when it cannot be reasoned and they would have to learn how to navigate their lives and fulfilling His call on their lives in a way they could have never possibly imagined.

And when the pain, the sorrow and the persecution would come that flesh would have to be under submission to the spirit or else that flesh would cost callings and how that submission comes is in one word…acceptance… and I’ll leave that right there for now.

Thank you for reading and thanks for all your prayers!

God Bless you with a wonderful week!

Φλογιζω Σαλπιζω NBJ2018 /  Repost 11/16/2019

 

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“Waning under the weight of waiting”

Now that title is quite a mouthful, try saying it fast three times, could be a pretty good tongue twister 🙂 but I am hoping it’ll make for a much better thought provoker!

Hebrews 12:1a: “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us…”

Used this scripture before, we all have I am sure, but for the moment I want to concentrate on what a weight waiting can be.

Ever think about it? When people or even our own selves come up with every known imaginable reason why we can not serve God or why we can’t accomplish his will or why we can’t live for him… just now, maybe in the future but now we can’t because we are waiting, waiting on some magical, mystical desire to take place or we are waiting on someone else to “come in” then we’ll “get right” with the Lord.

How could ANYTHING of this world be more important than your soul?

How? Never mind the demons, and the spiritual world that surrounds our natural world every single day and if it were not for God’s divine protection do you think you would be so safe from all the traps and snare that are laid for your feet?

Never mind the lack of peace, never mind the constant struggles inside your mind because “to him that knoweth to do good and do it not, it is a sin” completely IGNORING all those things for a moment, how does anyone take the comfort that their eternal soul is secure out of the daily equation, in seemingly “never-minding” that we are never once promised that we have all the time in the world to WAIT while allowing the weight of all those earthly hindrances to steal day after day while we have no promise of the next day. 

It is ALL of the world, the world that scripture warns us and warns us to stay out of. The world can mean many different struggles for different people.

It is not always about money, but it all equates the same. ANYTHING we place above God or the service and ANYTHING that prevents us from following him with our whole hearts and lives completely surrendered to him.

That is why we are told that WE must LAY ASIDE all these weights.

God does not place that weight on us… the world does and we have to be willing to refuse to carry it and we can’t blame that one on God. 

This is one Jesus’ warnings on the subject.

Luke 12:15-20: ” And he said unto them, Take heed, and BEWARE of covetousness: for a man’s life consiseth not in the abundance of things he possesseth. 

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?”

And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow (store) all my fruits and my goods. and I will say unto my soul,  Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?”  

He went on to encourage us to lay up those treasures in heaven because the concerns and desires of this world that became as weights will drag us down. And this is also so clear in his parable of the sower and the seed, AGAIN warning us about this world and getting caught up in it rather that the things of God.

Matthew 13:3-9: “And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured  them up;

Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth; and forthwith they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth: and when the sun was up, they were scorched: and because they had no root, they withered away.

And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up and choked them:

But others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”  

Do you recognize all the different human conditions going on here?

Think about it, the way side, just going through life, not caring one way or another and those are absolutely devoured because no one is caring if they make it or not.

The stony places in hardened hearts and unrepentant, unyielding, stubborn, and prideful.

Too “shallow” to make the long haul, all for it until the going gets tough and then they gotta get going… their own way, AWAY from God. 

And the thorns of this world, the pain, the sorrow, the hurt, and injustice, all those things that prick, mar, and scar.

BUT Jesus told us this in his word, Song of Solomon 2:1,2: “I AM the rose of Sharon, and  the lily of the valleys. 

As the lily AMONG the thorns SO IS my love among the daughters.”

 For every single human condition there is a relief and cure in God’s word, IF we will seek it and have faith to believe it.

That faith and assurance, NOT in ourselves or our abilities but faith that He is and He will fulfil all his promises to us IF we do what his word tells us to do.

That is that good ground that he cultivates for his seed and to bring forth HIS fruit. And as he told us to “hear if we have ears to hear” meaning if our heart is set on him and our thoughts on things eternal to HEAR him.  

Continuing, Matthew 13:18-23: “Hear  ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one hearth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it  not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth (snatches) away that which WAS sown in his heart. This is which received seed by the way side. 

But he that received the seed into stony places,  the same is he that heareth the word, and anon (immediately) with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth (endures) for a while:  for when tribulation OR persecution ariseth BECAUSE of the word, by and by he is offended. 

He also that received seed among thorns is he that heareth the word : And the CARE OF THIS WORLD, and the deceitfulness of riches, CHOKE THE WORD,  and he becometh unfruitful. 

But he that received seed in the good ground IS he that heareth the word, and understandeth it;  which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”  Those “places” those weights. those are the things that prevent our growth, prevent us from bearing fruit and will certainly crush that precious seed planted by the Lord himself and eventually even crush us under them.

God never told us to wait on this world or to wait for things in this world to change.

We are to FOLLOW HIM and WAIT for him, not this world and we can never carry that weight. We were never meant to.

The only one who can is the only one who already holds it ALL in the middle of his nail scarred hand.

Φλογίζω Σαλπιζω  NB 2018

 

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PREPARED Part 4… what you are really being prepared FOR

“And IF THE RIGHTEOUS SCARCELY BE SAVED, WHERE SHALL THE UNGODLY AND THE SINNER APPEAR?” 1 Peter 4:18

This verse should be the sound of the alarm bells ringing on that ticking clock of the return of Christ that should be a wake up call to all.

“Sinners or saints, young or old, black or white, meaning your views are dead set and you see no other “colors” in between.  Even green or grey,  just trying your best to find the way, meaning, whether we are newbies, “green” in the Gospel or have the “grey head” of wisdom from years in His service, we all should hear the terrifying WARNING of that verse. 

My sister and I have discussed this in great detail over the years. If you really dissect this verse, it really ASKS us to think long and hard about the very simple truth that IF the righteous, those who have exchanged the “filthy rags of their own righteousness” for the PERFECT covering of the righteousness of God himself stated  Isaiah 54:17(b) “…And their righteousness IS of me, saith the Lord.”

There is NO righteousness outside the righteousness of God. It is not possible for any human, or any other pagan belief system to offer righteousness to us. 

Our righteousness will only be found through the acceptance of Jesus Christ and in the washing of our souls in His blood. This verse tells us that bearing ALL that, if we do the VERY BEST we can do, we will still SCARCELY be saved, which means just barely making it in.

And yes, I do realize there is a whole doctrine of once in grace, always in grace. I realize even more painfully the current movement is “Repentance? What repentance?” 

What I personally believe this line to mean is this, even though we ARE saved and our salvation is ASSURED (Romans 8:35-39) BUT being human and subject to all things human, all the snares of trying to live “holy” in an incredibly unholy world.

A world that not only encourages every kind of imaginable sin, but CELEBRATES those sins and even alienates others for NOT participating in those sins. The deception IS so strong, just as Jesus warned us of the false Christs, and false prophets.

Matthew 24:24: “For there SHALL arise false Christs, and FALSE PROPHETS, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, they shall deceive the very elect.”

False teachers and false prophets that lie and deceive those who want a “commandment free” RELIGION and choose deception over true SALVATION. And he is warning us that this deception is so meticulously convincing that IF IT WERE NOT FOR HIS DIVINE INTERVENTION, HIS VERY CHOSEN WOULD BE DECEIVED! HE WILL NOT ALLOW US TO BE DECEIVED… UNLESS WE ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE.

Which also brings in two more verses. Matthew 16:24: ” Then said Jesus unto his disciples, IF any man will come after me, LET HIM DENY HIMSELF, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

Notice the denial, denial of all the desires and whims of the flesh and of this world. Taking up that cross, having “crucified our flesh DAILY” through the renewing of our minds in his word, and following in HIS footsteps and HIS teachings and CHOOSE to be led by God, who does truly KNOW everything rather than a world who likes to think they KNOW more than even God, who CREATED it all, including them!

Forsaking ALL their high browed arguments against God, and against the very laws and commandments he himself designed FOR OUR OWN GOOD, and against the truth of his existence, trusting in their genetic frailty and decay because they simply REFUSE to acknowledge that their pompous minds could be wrong and that their souls could actually be subject unto a higher being, and that there could be a standard that they will be measured against.

And it is just easier for them to DENY his existence rather than to ADMIT their guilt.

Even though there is no “escape clause” in the Bible excusing us from the penalty of eternal hell and damnation because of our unbelief, quite the opposite, gotta have FAITH in him and in his existence. 

Hebrews 11:5: “But without faith it is impossible to please him;  for he that cometh to God MUST BELIEVE THAT HE IS, and that HE IS a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

These pressures and these forces that make it so hard for US, that we SCARCELY slide by their traps, the traps of the temptations to sin, the traps of false doctrines whispered in our ears and bombarding us by television and media.

I, for one, think we need to stay away from even listening to these lies, I know others may “study” other “religions” but in doing so, they are opening themselves up to the “doctrine of devils” and allowing those polluted thoughts inside their minds, we are told specifically that all these teachings are AGAINST God and this will get you on the wrong side of the boat, fast.

James 4:4: ” Ye adulterers, and adulteresses, know ye not that THE FRIENDSHIP OF (with) THE WORLD IS ENMITY WITH GOD? WHOSOEVER THEREFORE WILL (wants to) BE A FRIEND OF THE WORLD IS THE ENEMY OF GOD (makes himself the enemy of God).”

All the nonsense of learning each other and fellowship of “tolerance” is just more of Satan’s deceptions. God never said to hate others or mistreat them because of differences BUT his word tells us to STAY AWAY from all of it.

NONE of us EVER grow so much or climb so high that we are above temptation, snares and traps, as long as we are human and on this earth we can, do and will stumble, that is why we are told SCARCELY, but we repent, get up, go on and TRY it again!

One of the innumerable beauties of Christ is that HE IS faithful to forgive us, over and over, and over, when our hearts are sincere, his grace is endless. 

But for those who do err and teach sin and absolute contempt for his commandments and yet proclaim salvation to all whether they repent or accept Christ or not that somehow they are under a magical umbrella, teaching the complete OPPOSITE of repentance and salvation.

Matthew 15:8,9: “THIS PEOPLE DRAWETH NIGH UNTO ME WITH THEIR MOUTH, AND HONOURETH ME WITH THEIR LIPS; BUT THEIR HEARTS IS FAR FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN THEY DO WORSHIP ME, TEACHING FOR DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.” 

He warned us right there! We are warned many times of the deception, that they WILL use his name, they WILL shout to the whole world that he is great, all this comes from their lips but in their heart, remember, “as a man thinketh in his heart, so IS he”, so their HEART, the truth of their belief is far, far from God or the things of his kingdom.

I believe that the false teachers DO NOT even believe in his existence.

I truly do not think anyone could believe in him and not fear teaching the things they teach. They teach the things people want to hear, to give them a false sense of eternal security never converting them to that actual security, in order to gain financially and in popularity. 

Sometimes it is hard to win people to the Lord, but truthfully, I think some of the greatest words we will ever hear in doing so, is these “I don’t want to be a hypocrite”, when someone acknowledges that they are not interested in serving the Lord, and that they FEAR the Lord and do not want to allow others to believe that they are while still unrepentant, that PROVES that there is HOPE for that person!

As long as they BELIEVE that HE IS, there is hope, as Jesus also told us, John 3:18-20: “He that believeth on him is NOT condemned, BUT he that BELIEVETH NOT IS CONDEMNED ALREADY, BECAUSE HE HATH NOT BELIEVED IN THE NAME OF THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD.

And THIS IS THE CONDEMNATION, that light is come into the world, and MEN LOVED THE DARKNESS RATHER THAN THE LIGHT, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that DOETH EVIL HATETH THE LIGHT, NEITHER COMETH TO THE LIGHT, lest his deeds should be reproved (exposed).” 

This ANSWERS Peter’s question, WHERE will they stand at his coming? WHERE will the ungodly, those who deny, ridicule, and scoff at God, his statues, and his very existence?

WHERE will the sinners, I know everyone hates that word now, used to make people THINK, now just makes them angry, HOW dare anyone CALL THEM A SINNER?

That is a big one right there! Self-willed and prideful, lust of life, refusal to acknowledge that we could POSSIBLY do wrong!

We do not need to beat people over the head but when they are running the “reprobate risk” we need to give the a wake up call.

Sin is sin, and well, certain things ARE sin, you do those things, guess what, makes you a sinner! We have ALL been sinners! We ALL STRUGGLE AGAINST SIN!

That is part of SCARCELY! ME, you, EVERYONE fights sin! 

Again JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH, THE MESSIAH, said THIS, point-blank, period, no ifs, no ands, and no buts. THIS is THE LIST of those who will NOT be allowed in his kingdom.

Revelation 21:5-8: “And HE THAT SAT UPON THE THRONE said, Behold, I make ALL things new, and he said unto me, Write: FOR THESE WORDS ARE TRUE AND FAITHFUL.

And HE said unto me, It is done, I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE BEGINNING AND THE END. I will give unto him that is athirst of the  fountain of the water of life FREELY. 

He that OVERCOMETH shall inherit all things: I WILL BE HIS GOD, and he shall be my son.

BUT THE FEARFUL (cowards), AND THE UNBELIEVING, AND THE ABOMINABLE (despicable, obnoxious, etc.), AND MURDERERS, AND WHOREMONGERS (sexually immoral), AND SORCERERS, (psychics, witchcraft, etc.), AND IDOLATERS (putting EVERYTHING before God), AND ALL LIARS, SHALL HAVE THEIR PART IN THE LAKE WITH BURNETH WITH FIRE AND BRIMSTONE: WHICH IS THE SECOND DEATH.”

These are the words of Jesus, It is NOT written in red because John was writing to us what Jesus spoke to him, and we KNOW this is indeed Christ by His reference of Alpha and Omega.

Just to be so clear of WHOSE words these are, and the words of Christ are written in red, so Revelation 1:8: ” I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA, the beginning and the ending, SAITH THE LORD, which IS, and which WAS, and which IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY.” 

He reveals his complete identity in this verse, HE IS the beginning of all things, HE IS the end of all things, HE IS everything in between.

He WAS, John:1-17: In the beginning WAS the Word, the Word WAS with God, and THE WORD WAS GOD. 

The same was in the beginning with God. ALL things were MADE by him: and without him was not any thing made that was made.

IN HIM WAS LIFE; And the life WAS the light of men. AND THE LIGHT SHINETH INTO DARKNESS; AND THE DARKNESS COMPREHENDED IT NOT.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light. 

THAT WAS THE TRUE LIGHT, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

He WAS in the world, and the world WAS made by him, and the world knew him not.

He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, EVEN TO THEM THAT BELIEVE ON HIS NAME;

WHICH WERE BORN, NOT OF BLOOD, NOR OF THE WILL OF THE FLESH, NOR OF THE WILL OF MAN, BUT OF GOD.

AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, AND DWELT AMONG US, (and we beheld his glory, the glory, as the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This WAS he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me IS preferred BEFORE me; FOR HE WAS BEFORE ME.” 

All that Jesus had said of himself. 

Humans can not look on the face of God, when Jesus came here, he came AS the Son of God, HE IS the Son of God, HE IS the Word, which did truly dwell among us and at his resurrection we were given the gift of that resurrection power which allowed the death of our flesh and spiritual birth in him because he actually DWELLS in us through the Holy Ghost.

But HE IS also God, which is why he referred to himself as IS and IS YET TO COME, meaning his return to earth and his kingdom that will be very much ON earth, precisely in what is now Jerusalem, soon to be NEW Jerusalem.

And as far as his Word, which HE IS, he left us all we need to know in the pages of his Holy Word, The Bible.

STUDY it for yourself, or get the audio version of the King James and listen to it. DO NOT take others words as his word, we are in such a time of deception and there IS only one way to heaven and the return to New Jerusalem and assurance of eternal life, and that IS through Jesus Christ.

1 john 2:22-23: “Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is an anti-Christ that denieth the Father and the Son.

Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath NOT the Father: [but] HE THAT HATH ACKNOWLEDETH THE SON HATH THE FATHER ALSO.”

We have to have Jesus and we have to have his salvation and his forgiveness, and we will not have to ask ourselves WHERE shall we appear, when this world hears something similar to those spoken by the Lord in the Book of Amos, when they are told to “prepare to meet thy God”.

He’s coming back, ready or not, and we better be prepared to meet him.

Love & peace to ya, till next time! Thanks for reading!

Φλογίζω Σαλπίζω NB 2018

Posts in this series: PREPARED Part #1

PREPARED Part#2

PREPARED Part #3

More of the deception of hell: RESERVATIONS FOR HELL

Original post series 2018/ Revisited 08/14/2020

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“PREPARED” Part #1, Preparing for the wedding of a King

“And the Spirit and the bride say, COME. And LET him that HEARETH say, COME. And LET him that is athirst COME and take of the WATER OF LIFE freely.” Revelation 22:17 

This is quite an invitation and what I love about this verse, it that it IS an invitation.

This is a wedding that had not happened because although they ARE speaking as one they are named SEPERATELY so what am I even talking about? So glad you asked:)!

We all know that marriage in all cultures is considered a covenanted  process, a beautiful celebration with the families giving their very best to provide for that wedding, depending on your location and beliefs, either the grooms family or the brides family but either way, ALL cultures hold marriage with the same honor, reverence, and life long commitment. 

No shock that the enemy has chosen marriage, TRUE marriage as God intended between a male and a female as his hottest battle ground. If he can pervert the very DEFINITION of marriage, he can attempt to confuse and twist one of the MAJOR end time teachings of the New Testament.

As Paul said, the great MYSTERY that IS Christ, His bride, which IS the church and the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb, which the absolute culmination of ALL things that have ever been since He spoke everything into creation, ALL that has been and ALL that will EVER be will be merged into oneness at that wedding.

Just as he came to the garden and walked and talked with Adam, just as he came down and spoke with Abram, as he let Moses just glimpse his glory, just as he spoke through the prophets, giving each a little insight into his WORLD, his beauty and his majesty, that they could NEVER effectively put into words.

He came down as a baby and even in that humble beginning, His great glory and majesty could not be concealed. The angels HAD to worship, they had to ANNOUNCE the arrival. 

Offerings in the form of gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh HAD to be brought before him because ALL kings and ALL nations WILL bow before him. People of ALL nations, languages, and tribes WILL bring their offerings of praise before him in that day. In that day our WORLDS will become ONE.

Prophecy had been given since the dawn of time to ease humans into this, all the prophecies as they eagerly awaited his arrival on earth as Messiah. Thousands of years, with prophets FULFILLING the words of OTHER prophets, which tells us a little of what level of preparation was needed. Think of John the Baptist, who fulfilled the words of the prophet Isaiah and Malachi.

John 1:15-23:   “John bare witness of him and cried, saying, THIS IS HE OF WHOM I SPAKE, He that cometh after me is preferred before me. And of his fullness have ALL received, and grace FOR grace.

For the law was given by Moses, but GRACE AND TRUTH CAME BY JESUS CHRIST.

No man hath seen God at any time: the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath DECLARED him.

And THIS is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am NOT the Christ.

And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elisas? {they knew the prophecy but Jesus said that John WAS the foretold voice fulfilling this prophecy} And he said, I am NOT. Art thou that prophet? And he answered and said, No. Then said they unto him, Who art thou? THAT WE MAY GIVE AN ANSWER TO THEM THAT SENT US, What sayest thou of thyself?

He said, I AM THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, MAKE STRAIGHT THE WAY OF THE LORD, as SAID the prophet Esaias (Isaiah).” 

They could HEAR “the voice” that just did not want to “hear” they did not want to acknowledge the time they were entering, just as those today have “sent” their messengers in attempt to tear down the Gospel of Christ, hoping to silence THE VOICE that WILL NOT SILENCED, that VOICE shall bellow from the very mountain tops.

So just what DID Isaiah say? Isaiah 40:3-5:”  The VOICE of him that crieth in the wilderness, PREPARE YE THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE STRAIGHT IN THE DESERT A HIGHWAY FOR OUR GOD.

EVERY VALLEY SHALL BE EXALTED (lifted up)  AND EVERY MOUNTAIN AND HILL SHALL BE MADE LOW : AND THE CROOKED PLACES SHALL BE MADE STRAIGHT, AND THE ROUGH PLACES PLAIN  (smoothed out): 

AND THE GLORY OF THE LORD SHALL BE REVEALED, AND ALL FLESH SHALL SEE IT TOGETHER: FOR THE MOUTH OF THE LORD HATH SPOKEN IT.”

WHY? Why WAS and IS a preparation needed?

Well, think about those verses, this was to prepare people for an encounter with God.

In preparing for this preparation, EVEN the angel Gabriel was SENT to Zacharias, to proclaim that he and his aged wife would have a child, a chosen child and even that there were to name him John, which literally means “grace” and given John’s commission BEFORE he was even conceived in Elisabeth’s womb. 

And this was that commission, the words of the angel Gabriel as recorded in Luke 1:17: “AND HE SHALL GO FORTH IN THE SPIRIT AND POWER OF ELIAS, TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS TO THE CHILDREN, AND THE DISOBEDIENT TO THE WISDOM OF THE JUST; TO MAKE READY A PEOPLE PREPARED FOR THE LORD.”

How do you prepare people to the fact that their worlds are about to be rocked by the arrival of one, who will have the ability to miraculously heal the sick, restore sight to the blind, cause those bound by paralysis to rise and not only walk, but run and leap because of the joy he also placed in their recovered souls.

One who will SPEAK to the storms and command them to cease. SPEAK to demons and they should fall at his feet and  tremble in terror of him.

That he would have the ability to look through us, into our very souls and perceive EVERY single thought of not only our conscious mind but also our soul and heart.

One who would have such a gentleness and absolute tenderness that he would verbally defend women against the spoken and unspoken hatred and judgment of others, healing them not with touch of his hand but with his LOVE, giving them access to his very heart.

One who cried in sorrow with those who grieved. One who would walk on water and be transfigured into his glorious light before the very eyes of a select few, as he spoke with Moses and Elijah.

That he would not only raise the dead but that his own dead body would raise up (some symbolism in that, the resurrection his church NOW desperately needs).

HOW do you prepare people for that? Just as the Hebrews were  SCARED absolutely to death of him at Mount Sinai, they did not want to talk to him, they pleaded with Moses to be a go between.

As scared as they were, even SEEING his mercy, glory, and protection. How much more terrified would people have been had they NOT been prepared by these prophecies of what they should expect.

Now, as our scripture from Revelation tells us, those VOICES are to be heard and the first voice mentioned IS the voices speaking TOGETHER the SPIRIT and the bride speaking in complete unison.

God dealt with me several years ago, about the need for that surrender by his church a submission that would truly allow that merging, it is an old post, from 2014 and revised in 2015, but if you have a moment, please read it and it will help in understanding this one: Click here> merge,

I really believe that we have come into that unison, those who have sought have found and I also believe that the “invitations” are already being delivered.

I believe it is that close.

So I want you to look at a couple of things in that verse, okay, they are technically still separate, BUT they are speaking as ONE so that separation is merely location.

Remember with the Jewish grooms of the Old Testament, the groom RETURNS for his bride, there is NO question about their relationship ONLY the FINAL PREPARATIONS to be made so that she can join him.

So next time, I’ll get into our starter verse and we’ll look at that “wedding invitation” a little closer and decipher our “duties” in getting other PREPARED for the reign of Jesus Christ on this earth.

And no longer is it just an “invitation”, it is that they should be WASHED, clean,”clothed” and ready to enter into the doors.

And NOTHING will EVER fully prepare THIS WORLD to meet its maker, who will not be visiting for walks in the cool of the evening or teaching chosen disciples but WILL take his place AMONG his people and for that I am not sure they could ever be completely prepared.

Φλογίζω Σαλπιζω  NB 2018

Original post 2018 but more than ever we need to remember and be encouraged that there is so much greater ahead!

Other posts in this series:

Prepared Part #2 Oxygen to Fire

Prepared Part #3 Would-be wedding crashers washed inside out

PREPARED Part #4

 

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“Grinding the ax” #4 “STRANGLE HOLD”

“Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest thy be discouraged.” Colossians 3:21

Our fathers, the first and foremost man in our formative years. And if you have a good one, that is great and will be a guaranteed blessing over your entire life. But what about the fathers who are warned in the verse above?

This verse is actually almost verbatim in Ephesians 6:4:” And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in the nurture (training) and admonition OF the Lord.”  

So we are being told what NOT to do and exactly what we should do. Children who are constantly “ridden” by their parents, who are made to feel whether intentionally or unintentionally that they are never quite good enough, or “perform” well enough to “earn” the love that they should have naturally received from that parent.

I do know this verse specifies fathers, but we know the damage mothers can do is equally as damaging.

And we could pull a truck load of stats on the completely dysfunctional mother/son relationships that are often prominent among serial killers.

So what I want to focus on the relationship of fathers to daughters and the relationships that are formed later in life.

I also want to bring into the mix the fact that often when women have had extremely dominating fathers and whether that consisted of physical abuse alongside the obvious emotional damage that is caused, that seems to put the pattern in place.

But testosterone is a funny thing and soul debilitating dominance lorded over women is not ALWAYS by their fathers. It can come later in life through a boyfriend, husband, or even male friends who can become quite the material for a medieval tale of when black knights begin to suffer from white knight syndrome .

When “friendship” leads to the need to control your life, and demand answers for your every move that is no longer friendship, that IS control. Male dominance has been and is still our toughest battle regardless of what role that male has in our life.

But for some, it is a short path from growing up with a horrid father to marrying an even worse husband.

So how did it start? People taking the word of God and their DISTORTED view of God and applying THEIR carnality to it. Just as God answered it in his word: 

Judges 21:25: “In those days there was no king in Israel: EVERY MAN DID THAT WHICH WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES.”

And things have certainly NOT been right and are still NOT right.

But with the revelation of Isaiah 33:22: “For the Lord IS our judge, the Lord IS our lawgiver, the Lord IS our king; HE WILL SAVE US.”

We know things can and must change. Cruelty and wickedness hiding behind the disguise of goodness and righteousness is nothing new.

The devil himself pretending through the serpent to be a friend to Eve, the wicked all through the Bible whispering into the ears of those who would hear, plans of how to destroy another and thereby having them also destroy themselves.

“Spare the rod, spoil the child” taken so far out of context and USED specifically as a Biblical justification for nothing more than truly sadistic people to senselessly beat children.

If you doubt me on that, web search a few cases of children being adopted and even born into supposedly christian families taken away, rescued out of horrendous abuse. People have even written books advocating these UNGODLY practices.

The old Testament ALSO had a law on stoning your son.. IF he were  a drunkard.. how many little kids drink again?

Listen what Jesus told the Pharisees when they were hassling him about the OT marriage laws.

Mark 10:3-5; “And he answered and said,unto them, What did Moses command you? and they said, Moses suffered (PERMITTED) to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. 

And Jesus answered and said unto them, (Because) For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.”

Meaning that they WERE given these severe laws because of their own hardness.

But God reveals His thoughts through His word, James 2:13: “For he SHALL have judgment WITHOUT mercy who hath shewed (shown) NO MERCY; and mercy rejoiceth against (TRIUMPHS OVER) judgment.” 

It is like this, just because we are technically allowed to do something DOES NOT mean that is what God desires for us to do it.

Micah 6:8:” He hath shewed thee, O man, ( all people), what IS good; and what doth (does) the Lord require of thee,  but to do justly and LOVE MERCY (loving kindness),and to walk humbly with thy God? 

So if all of this coupled with stories such as when the angel of the Lord put the smack down on Balaam and lined him out for hitting the donkey (Numbers 22:27-33),  doesn’t prove that God want us to ALL be kind toward each other and to also BE treated kindly, I don’t know what more could.

Just as treating children harshly came from the thoughts of people doing what they wanted.

We also got pulled into the “submission” trap. The Bible does truly say, “wives submit unto your own husbands” but again that is something that has been taken and RAN wild with, as if we were some sort of inferior creation that God placed here for men.

Oh I don’t think so.

Submission means to RESPECT your husband, to care about his feelings and not treat him like dirt, don’t make fun of him, and emotionally emasculate him by being that “brawling” woman spoken of in Proverbs.

God’s intentions for this was that the husband SHOULD be exactly what His word said for him to be.

And in this a husband was to be “submitted” to, as in a place of safety and a place of trust, such as that verse goes on to say “as unto the Lord”.

And I would love to hear the excuses that so many are going to try to give the Lord as to why they betrayed this TRUST that he had given them with their wives and children, and it’s not going to be a pretty picture!

So it DOES NOT mean we are subservient, or a lesser in God’s eyes.

It means that we SHOULD have that protective, nurturing, place if we ever need and at times we all do.

We covered His word in the last post of how He EXPECTS His daughters to be treated and seeing that even in a nation where women have many rights and “hold our own” we can all attest to our numbers of domestic violence, for all the strides we have made, in this area, we have gone backward!

We ARE more free. We HAVE more resources. We HAVE better laws and protection. So what went wrong? Why do we have these statistics that say we are NOT free by any stretch of imagination?

We are still trapped somewhere in our psyches by the lies of the past and the misogynistic teachings of generations before and we want to HIDE that pain and we are giving over to absolutely FALSE sense of shame by not speaking out.

That is what the enemy WANTS and just as he lied to Eve, he is lying to so many women about their past and keeping them in a “strangle hold” that prevents them from moving FORWARD.

Merriam-Webster definition two of the term “STRANGLE HOLD” is this: “A FORCE OR INFLUENCE THAT CHOKES OR SUPPRESSES FREEDOM OF MOVEMENT OR EXPRESSION.”  

If we have that past or are presently living with dominance, harshness, physical, or emotional abuse that is exactly what is happening to us.

The reason the devil has perfected it is because if you have had these experiences with men, especially fathers or husbands, HOW on earth can you “submit” to a being who is male?

When women are brainwashed into BELIEVING that they are subservient and God hates them, why would they seek Him?

The devil bagged and tagged on this one and we have to stop him!

We stop him by NOT taking anyone’s word for who we are or who God created us to be. Study God’s word and discover for yourself!

And when you reach the verses stating that “women are to be silent” and  “i suffer not a woman to teach…” STUDY the background with a good dictionary/history Bible and you will find that Paul was talking to a specific group of people AT THAT TIME. Because a group of women were “gunning” for him and trying to bring in false teachings and for that PERIOD IN TIME, he forbade them to speak so he could PROTECT the Gospel.

Need a little more reassurance, dig this, Galatians 3:23,28: “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith that should afterwards be revealed.

Wherefore  the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

But after THAT faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For YE ALL ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD by faith in Jesus Christ. 

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.  There is NEITHER Jew nor Greek,  there is NEITHER bond nor free, THERE IS NEITHER MALE NOR FEMALE; FOR YE ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST.”

That is a good verse to put to anyone who wants to argue Paul’s teachings with you…. he wrote that. He wrote the verses used to silence women and he wrote the verse that proved otherwise,  all true, but taken out of context by those who WANT to twist those verses to justify their own prejudices.

It’s time to separate God from the men who claim to represent him! If you are dealing with these issues or dealing with the past issues, PLEASE talk to Him, talk to Him just as if he were in the room sitting there.

I promise He does hear and tell Him how you feel, TRUTHFULLY how you feel, if you end up in tears and “I HATE…” starts coming out of your mouth, LET IT COME because the only way we recover is through submitting that to God and HE KNOWS how we feel and when you have been hurt and are trying to work past it.

God is not going to hold that against you, it is normal to feel that way and once you let it go, you will NO LONGER feel that.

But you have to get it out, ALL of it, at His feet, Hebrews 4:15: “For we have NOT an high priest which cannot be touched WITH THE FEELINGS OF OUR INFIRMITIES…” 

Which means Jesus suffered through all the things we do and HE DOES UNDERSTAND any possible thing you could tell Him and he understands with love, compassion, and gentleness toward you and He wants to take it away and give you peace and be those protective arms that hold you through your tears.

But first we must decide that we are slaves no more and no more will we live in the devil’s strangle hold.

There is NO shame in having been a victim and there is courage in admitting that you are a survivor. There is NO shame in needing out NOW and fear is perfectly normal when fighting for your freedom.

We just have to decide which we are WILLING to be. Think about these verses: Isaiah 53:4-6,11: ” Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither shall thou be confounded (disgraced); for thou shalt not be put to shame; for thou SHALT FORGET the shame of thy youth, and SHALT NOT REMEMBER the reproach of thy widowhood any more. 

For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. 

For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused (suffered rejection) saith thy God.  

O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, (tormented and battered by ‘storm”)  and NOT comforted. behold, I WILL lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy FOUNDATIONS with sapphires.”

He knows, and He alone can give us that comfort that we have not been given, He alone see the pain of every season we can go through.

And He alone can lay for us that beautiful foundation, built upon Him and His TRUTH. Trust Him, know Him and most of all, let Him know you!

Related posts: “Grinding the ax” 1 “acknowledgement”

“Grinding the ax” 2… “Real Love?”

“Grinding the ax” #3 “Anger Danger”

*Authors note* This series originally posted on “Alabaster Breaking”, my sister site, that no longer exists. I found it very difficult to maintain both sites and just transferred those most to this, my main site. Thank you

Εξυπνιζω NBJ 2017

Revisited post: 06/15/2019

 

 

by

MERGE

* Original post date:01/27/2014*
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage supper of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.”
                            Revelation 19:7
The striking aspect of the verse is this, SHE made herself ready, the groom did not come and do it for her, she had complete discretion as to HOW she would present herself before him.
The question begs asked, how should we, the collective church of Christ prepare to present ourselves before our soon coming King?
And considering the bride price that he has already paid in his own blood, what could we ever ask as a wedding gift?
Let’s look at two ladies, both with the exact same opportunity with the exact same King, but with two very different outcomes to their stories.

The book of Esther chapter one tells the story of beautiful, beautiful Queen Vashti, she had been GIVEN EVERYTHING, riches, power, and her own place of feasting and banquets in the house of the King.
But with this great beauty, wealth, and power came a really big attitude and trusting in her beauty and her position, she made a tragic mistake that would in effect COST HER THE KINGDOM.
When King Ahasuerus called her to join his party and welcome his guests, she scoffed at his invitation and responded with a big “Vasthi-tude”
Which is reflected in the church of Laodiceans, (the lukewarm church) that the Lord refers to here:
Revelation 3:14-18 : “BECAUSE thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked.”
Comparing her to the Mother of it all, Queen Babylon. 
Revelation 18:8 “How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she hath said in her heart, I SIT A QUEEN, AND AM NO WIDOW, and shall see no sorrow.”
You can clearly read and understand that by her statement that she “sits a Queen” that she is the wife of a King.
Her statement “Am no widow” showing that she is in fact mocking her husband and bragging that his is very much alive and well.
Just as with Queen Vashti, no King could ever condone this kind of disrespect and complete contempt.
Vashti would soon find herself without a Kingdom, without a throne, and most certainly without a husband.
Esther chapter two tells us of a young, orphan girl.
Very humble whom had been chosen as one of those who would be presented before the King.
As part of the agreement, she could ask for whatever she wanted or needed to help prepare for this meeting.

To prepare she purified herself for a year, six months of which she bathed in myrrh (symbolic of dying to her flesh), “leaning not unto her own understanding” she chose to be advised and through divine intervention and her willingness to humble herself and submission, she soon indeed become Queen.
Esther 2:17 “And the King loved Esther above all women, and she obtained grace and favor in his sight more than all the virgins; so her set the royal crown upon her head, and made her Queen instead of Vashti.”
It goes on tell the amazing story of how God used the position he had placed her and her willingness to submit to this position, to save all her people from the sword of the enemy.
Now to get back to the Bride to end all Brides.
Revelation 22:17: And the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.”
This HAS to come and WILL ONLY come as a complete surrender by the church, (individuals, one mind-set, one purpose) into such a submission into the Spirit of God, that we will no longer know where we end and he begins.
THIS VOICE is spoken in complete unison.
This requires both parties on such a level that it is the true, holy merging between the church and Jesus.
I believe with everything in me that is what he wants.
A Bride, as scripture states “that will not grieve his Holy Spirit”.
A Bride whose mercy, compassion, humility, and love mirror his and is a complete reflection of him.
A Bride who will not be like Vashti, who refused to welcome or “waste her time” with HIS guests.
( We do this through our nasty little holier than thou attitudes) but a bride like Esther, who when offered anything, even to half the Kingdom, she chose, not for herself BUT the lives of her people.

Maybe we will be offered such, and we can ask for this half  of the Kingdom:
THOSE WHO ARE NOT SAVED AND READY TO FALL UNDER THE ABSOLUTE UNBRIDLED WRATH OF THE LAMB.

Be ready, strive through closet prayer, communion, and seeking his face above all.
Welcome HIS guests as HE invites them and welcome them without judgment and malice, and with forgiveness, and forgetfulness (as to their past sins) JUST AS HE HAS WELCOMED US.

 

POST NOTE: This is an older one, but I feel it needs revisited, our purpose is not to fear these things which are happening in our world but to be certain that our “wedding garments” of his righteousness are pressed and spotless, as the wedding feast of the Lamb approaches.

We are now in the last day outpouring, (yes, this did indeed start with the disciples, but the end time harvest is yet to be completed) as you feel the move of the Spirit, give yourself to Him, and let him have His work in you.
Φλογίζω/NBJ 2015 All right reserved.

This song is one of my all time favorites and if you listen closely, there are TWO voices, she starts, his voice joins in and after just a moment you can not differentiate between the two, blended in complete UNISON. That is what HE wants for his church!