The Only Thread You'll Ever Need...

[ticker]

Never mind..."seeking"...just saw it.

 

[ticker]

Yeah...I've come to seek Christ in most everything I do. Didn't always used to....He changed that in me.

As I explained to the other poster...

As He expresses His Life in us, we learn to let go of our own self-sufficiency and our own fleshly wants and ambitions....and as He expresses His life through us, we learn to become willing and gracious participants in His divine work.

I don't see seeking Christ, though, as us making efforts to be righteous...I just see it as something I have come to desire to rest in so Christ can express that righteousness through me. It's always Him, never me.

Peace

 

[Saera]

Btw anyone have thoughts on "Cremation"?

I was thinking about that myself.........Although Christians have never universally condemned cremation, burial has long been their accepted practice -- as it has been for Jews. The Jews neither burned nor embalmed the bodies of their dead. In their practice, bodies were washed ( Acts 9:37 ), anointed with aromatic spices ( 2 Chronicles 16:14 ; Mark 16:1 ), wrapped ( Mark 15:26 ; John 11:44 ), and entombed within a period of 24 hours ( Genesis 23:4 ; Deuteronomy 21:23 ; Matthew 27:57-60 ; John 11:17,39 ).
Perhaps the main reason cremation was not customary among Jews and Christians was its connection to pagan ritual. Further, the belief in resurrection held by Christians and orthodox Jews may have led to some superstitious dread of destroying the body. (Obviously, resurrection wouldn't depend on the condition of the body after death.) It appears, however, that cremating a body was not viewed as a denial of belief in a bodily resurrection. Bodies were cremated during war or plague due to the danger of disease and contamination. The men of Jabesh Gilead burned the bodies of Saul and his sons, and then buried the bones ( 1 Samuel 31:12 ), possibly because they had begun to decompose after having been hung on a city wall by the Philistines. This example alone provides a clear indication that cremation is not an issue of ultimate spiritual importance. (Jonathan, whose body was burned along with Saul's other sons, was one of the most remarkable and morally upright Old Testament figures.)
The reason that the treatment of the human body after death is such a sensitive issue for both Christians and Jews hinges on the significance of human life. Human beings are a little lower than the angels ( Psalm 8:4-5 ) but created in the image of God ( Genesis 1:27 ). Today we possess a body that is both a corruptible "shell" ( 1 Corinthians 15:42-49 ) and the temple of the Holy Spirit ( 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19 ) which serves as the medium for the expression of our personal identity in this life. We are destined to live forever in real resurrection bodies that carry over our identity from the one we leave at death ( 1 Corinthians 15:50-55 ).
It follows that Christians believe that the body should be treated with appropriate dignity. A decision to have one's body cremated should not be made lightly. Agreement among family and loved ones should be sought by the persons responsible for the decision. If carried out without adequate preparation and forethought, cremation could have serious emotional complications for loved ones.

 

[simonthezealot]

?

1Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd. 4So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way. 5When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today." 6So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7All the people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a 'sinner.' "
8But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount."
9Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

 

[Fixation On God]

Does Isaiah 65:17 imply that people in heaven will have no recollection of earthly events?

 

[2 King]

Does Isaiah 65:17 imply that people in heaven will have no recollection of earthly events?

Isaiah 65:17 (ESV) states: “I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.” What are the “former things” that “shall not be remembered or come into mind”? 1 Corinthians 13 tells us that in glory we will no longer see “as through a glass darkly” but we will “know as we are known.”

“For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:9-12 NIV).

When the resurrected Christ in His glorified body appeared to Thomas, Jesus still bore the marks of the Roman nails and spear (John 20:24-29). If in heaven we were unable to remember our lives here—including our sins—we would neither have a clear understanding of who we had been, nor an awareness of the worth of our redemption.

In heaven, our perspective will no longer be dominated by “former things.” Knowledge of past sins or earthly suffering will not cause the same kind of suffering and emotional anguish in heaven that it does now. We will see how God’s grace has healed all of the scars that sin left on our mortal lives. We will see how God’s grace could even use our repented sins to bring about His good purposes.
While there is so much we don’t know about the happiness of heaven, for now we can probably safely assume that, at the very least, “no knowledge of former things” means that we will not be dominated by memories of those things that are so painful and destructive now. As implied by Isaiah 65:17, the transformation that will occur in the new heavens and new earth will be so complete that our perspective will be utterly changed. Our earlier, fallen perspective will “not be remembered or come into mind.” The dark and tragic aspects of our past lives will be transformed by the light of a glorious new reality, filled with gratitude and joy.

 

[PT Calvinist]

When the resurrected Christ in His glorified body appeared to Thomas, Jesus still bore the marks of the Roman nails and spear (John 20:24-29). If in heaven we were unable to remember our lives here—including our sins—we would neither have a clear understanding of who we had been, nor an awareness of the worth of our redemption.

That is great stuff!
Interesting views and I like how you blened it in just right
Maybe you can also go into more detail about 1Corinthians 13:9

 

[2 King]

That is great stuff!
Interesting views and I like how you blened it in just right
Maybe you can also go into more detail about 1Corinthians 13:9

"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."- 1 Corinthians 13:12

Using a Strong's reference and a Greek parallel, one can gather from 1 Corinthians 14:12, this:

"through a glass"--that is, in a mirror; the reflection seeming to the eye to be behind the mirror, so that we see it through the mirror. Ancient mirrors were made of polished brass or other metals. The contrast is between the inadequate knowledge of an object gained by seeing it reflected in a dim mirror (such as ancient mirrors were), compared with the perfect idea we have of it by seeing itself directly.

"darkly"--literally, "in enigma." As a "mirror" conveys an image to the eye, so an "enigma" to the ear. But neither "eye nor ear" can fully represent (though the believer's soul gets a small revelation now of) "the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him" (1Corinthians 2:9). Paul alludes to Numbers 12:8, "not in dark speeches"; the Septuagint, "not in enigmas." Compared with the visions and dreams vouchsafed to other prophets, God's communications with Moses were "not in enigmas." But compared with the intuitive and direct vision of God hereafter, even the revealed word now is "a dark discourse," or a shadowing forth by enigma of God's reflected likeness. Compare 2Peter 1:19, where the "light" or candle in a dark place stands in contrast with the "day" dawning. God's word is called a glass or mirror also in 2Corinthians 3:18.

then--"when that which is perfect is come" (1Corinthians 13:10).

face to face--not merely "mouth to mouth" (Numbers 12:8). Genesis 32:30 was a type (John 1:50, 51).
know . . . known--rather as Greek, "fully know . . . fully known." Now we are known by, rather than know, God (1Corinthians 8:3; Galatians 4:9).

 

[Saera]

What about Philippians 4:8?

 

[2 King]

What about Philippians 4:8?

are you serious?!? That is very easy to discern!

"And now, dear brothers and sisters, let me say one more thing as I close this letter. Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." - Philippians 4:8 NLT

What we put into our mind determines what comes out in our words and actions. Examine what you are putting into your mind through television, books, movies, and magazines. Replace harmful input with wholesome material. Above all, read God's Word and pray. Ask him to help you focus your mind on what is good and pure.

 

[2 King]

Maybe you need a little refresher...

Check the 3rd post on this link http://www.christianforums.com/t7377789/

 

[2 King]

Maybe you can also go into more detail about 1Corinthians 13:9

Sorry I totally ignored your statement..
This may be enlightening I hope

"For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. " 1cor 13:9


"For we know in part"
We have here but little knowledge even of earthly, and much less of heavenly, things. He that knows most knows little in comparison of what is known by angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect. And as we know so very little, how deficient must we be if we have not much love! Angels may wonder at the imperfection of our knowledge; and separate spirits may wonder at the perfection of their own, having obtained so much more in consequence of being separated from the body, than they could conceive to be possible while in that body. When Sir Isaac Newton had made such astonishing discoveries in the laws of nature, far surpassing any thing that had been done by all his predecessors in science from the days of Solomon; one of our poets, considering the scantiness of human knowledge when compared with that which is possessed by the inhabitants of heaven, reduced his meditations on the subject to the following nervous and expressive epigram:--

Superior beings, when of late they saw A mortal man explain all nature's law, Admired such wisdom in an earthly shape, And show'd our NEWTON as we show an ape. These fine lines are a paraphrase from a saying of Plato, from whom our poet borrows without acknowledging the debt. The words are these: ανθρωπονοσοφωτατοςπροςθεονπιθηκοςφανειται. "The wisest of mortals will appear but an ape in the estimation of God."

"We prophesy in part"
Even the sublimest prophets have been able to say but little of the heavenly state; and the best preachers have left the Spirit of God very much to supply. And had we no more religious knowledge than we can derive from men and books, and had we no farther instruction in the knowledge of God and ourselves than we derive from preaching, our religious experience would be low indeed. Yet it is our duty to acquire all the knowledge we possibly can; and as preaching is the ordinary means by which God is pleased to instruct and convert the soul, we should diligently and thankfully use it. For we have neither reason nor Scripture to suppose that God will give us that immediately from himself which he has promised to convey only by the use of means. Even this his blessing makes effectual; and, after all, his Spirit supplies much that man cannot teach. Every preacher should take care to inculcate this on the hearts of his hearers. When you have learned all you can from your ministers, remember you have much to learn from God; and for this you should diligently wait on him by the reading of his word, and by incessant prayer.

 

[PT Calvinist]

great interpretation!

We need LLOJ to pull out Interlinears and parallels along with Strong's references

 

[PT Calvinist]

maybe you could help me in interpreting Ephesians 3:5?

"Long ago men did not know these things. But now they have been shown to His missionaries and to the early preachers by the Holy Spirit."- New Life Bible

"In the past, this mystery was not known by people as it is now. The Spirit has now revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets."- GOD'S WORD Translation

"Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;"- KJV

 

[Fixation On God]

maybe you could help me in interpreting Ephesians 3:5?

"Long ago men did not know these things. But now they have been shown to His missionaries and to the early preachers by the Holy Spirit."- New Life Bible

"In the past, this mystery was not known by people as it is now. The Spirit has now revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets."- GOD'S WORD Translation

"Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;"- KJV

"Which in other ages was not made known" KJV
That the calling of the Gentiles was made known by the prophets in different ages of the Jewish Church is exceedingly clear; but it certainly was not made known in that clear and precise manner in which it was now revealed by the Spirit unto the ministers of the New Testament: nor was it made known unto them at all, that the Gentiles should find salvation without coming under the yoke of the Mosaic law, and that the Jews themselves should be freed from that yoke of bondage; these were discoveries totally new, and now revealed for the first time by the Spirit of God.

 

[Fixation On God]

Which in other ages. The great purposes of God in regard to the salvation of mankind were not revealed.
And prophets. Those who exercised the office of a prophet or inspired teacher in the Christian church.
By the Spirit. This proves that those who exercised the office of prophet in the Christian church were inspired. They were persons endowed in this manner for the purpose of imparting to the newly-formed churches the doctrines of the Christian system. There is no evidence that this was designed to be a permanent order of men in the church. They were necessary for settling the church on a permanent basis, in the absence of a full written revelation, and when the apostles were away. When the volume of revelation was finished, and the doctrines of the gospel were fully understood, the functions of the office ceased.

 

[Saera]

maybe you could help me in interpreting Ephesians 3:5?

"Long ago men did not know these things. But now they have been shown to His missionaries and to the early preachers by the Holy Spirit."- New Life Bible

"In the past, this mystery was not known by people as it is now. The Spirit has now revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets."- GOD'S WORD Translation

"Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;"- KJV

"Which in other ages was not made known unto, the sons of
men…"
That is, which mystery of Christ, and of the Gospel, was not made known to men in general, nor so clearly as under the Gospel dispensation. Some hints were given of it to Adam, immediately after his fall; and the Gospel was before preached to Abraham, Moses, and David, and others knew something of it; and it was still more fully dispensed in the times of the prophet Isaiah, and other following prophets: but then the knowledge of it was not so extensive, nor so clear as now; it lay hid in types and shadows, in obscure prophecies and short hints. Moreover, this may have respect particularly to the calling of the Gentiles, as appears from the following words; this was, in some measure, made known, as that in Christ all the nations of the earth should be blessed; that when Shiloh came, to him should the gathering of the people be; that the Messiah should be an ensign of the people, and to him should the Gentiles seek; that he should be the covenant of the people, and a leader and a commander of them; and that there should be great flockings to him; but then this was not known to many, and the time, mode, and circumstances of it were but little understood, and comparatively speaking, it was not known: however, it was not so known,
"as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the
spirit."
The apostles and prophets were the superior officers in the Gospel dispensation; the former design the twelve apostles of Christ, and the latter such who had the gift of interpreting the prophecies of the Old Testament, and of foretelling things to come, having received gifts from Christ to fit them for such offices, some apostles, some prophets; and to these a revelation was made of the mystery of the Gospel in general, and of the calling of the Gentiles in particular, by the Spirit, who searches the deep things of God, and reveals them, and leads into all truth; and who, by falling upon the Gentiles, as upon Cornelius and his family, and by the success which he gave to the Gospel in the Gentile world, made their calling clear and manifest. The Complutensian edition reads, "by the Holy Spirit"; and so the Arabic and Ethiopic versions.

 

[2 King]

That's actually really good for an 18 year old

in other ages--Greek, "generations."

not made known--He does not say, "has not been revealed." Making known by revelation is the source of making known by preaching. The former was vouchsafed only to the prophets, in order that they might make known the truth so revealed to men in general.

unto the sons of men--men in their state by birth, as contrasted with those illuminated "by the Spirit" (Greek, "IN the Spirit," compare Revelation 1:10), Matthew16:17.

as--The mystery of the call of the Gentiles (of which Paul speaks here) was not unknown to the Old Testament prophets (Isaiah 56:6, 7; 49:6). But they did not know it with the same explicit distinctness "As" it has been now known (Acts 10:19, 20; 11:18-21). They probably did not know that the Gentiles were to be admitted without circumcision or that they were to be on a level with the Jews in partaking of the grace of God. The gift of "the Spirit" in its fulness was reserved for the New Testament that Christ might thereby be glorified. The epithet, "holy," marks the special consecration of the New Testament "prophets" (who are here meant) by the Spirit, compared with which even the Old Testament prophets were but "sons of men" (Ezekiel 2:3, and elsewhere).

 

[Saera]

Did God create evil?

 

[Fixation On God]

Did God create evil?

How convienient that you asked that question. Because 2K recently answered it in the following link http://www.christianforums.com/t7378777/