In Isaiah 9:6, the Son is referred to as "mighty God" (gibbōwr êl) but the same exact phrase in plural form is translated as "mighty chiefs" or "mighty leaders" (ḡibbōwrîm êlê) in Ezekiel 32:21.

Why is the correct translation "mighty God" when "mighty chiefs" or "mighty leaders" is considered to be a valid translation as well?

Good morning my brothers and sisters in Christ,

I am not Catholic, I need to preface this with that for understanding on why I ask thus.

I read this article online that purports that Pope Francis unsealed some ancients scrolls the RCC has been in possession of for centuries. These scrolls claim to reveal the true name of God as revealed in Exodus 3:14-15.

Does any here know of the validity of these claims. I'd really like some feedback on this please, thank you!

Because when disinformation is your political platform, you need to protect it.

CNN —
Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, will plead guilty to three federal charges, the Justice Department said Tuesday in a court filing.

The plea deal will have immediate reverberations in the 2024 presidential election.

Hunter Biden will plead guilty to two federal tax misdemeanors and one charge tied to gun possession, according to the filing in a federal court in Delaware. He will appear in court to plead guilty to the charges at a future date.


This story is breaking and will be updated.

Here is an excellent video on shape-shifting dinosaurs by Jack Horner:

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He basically points out that what scientists think are different dinosaur species, are actually one and the same, but at different stages of age.

For example, if you skip to 08:45 and start watching, he points out that what scientists think are three different dinosaurs: dracorex, stygimoloch, and pachycephalosarus, are actually one and the same, but at different ages.

Hi,I'm not a bible person and I seek advice from my father who treats me like crap and beats me like a brute. My parents divorced in 2019 and I was glad I got rid of him.
I can't take it anymore he treated me like a slave and always forced me to do his bidding. From 2014 to 2018 I was beated in the bath,I was harassed by my school and highschool classmates,rejected by a classmate from highschool because he told me I don't belong there and was humiliated in a lot of ways.
He drinks a lot of alcohol and he is always drunk.
I haven't done anything to anyone and I don't understand why this happens to me. I am not pure of heart and I'm not holly but what have I done to God to deserve such awful parents?
I burned my own chest because of this situation.
I tried to go to the police but they didn't do anything to solve the problem with my father and they told me that this was a joke.
What kind of a human I am if I am harmed by my own parents?
My case is exactly like Saint Dymphna!

A group of Muslim residents led by local community leaders became angry and dispersed the prayer activity with Christians in South Tambun, Bekasi, Indonesia.

This local leader reasoned that Christians use the house as a place of worship. Several Christians were praying together at the house, and this angered some Muslim residents and community leaders.

Source: Viral, Warga Bubarkan Ibadah Umat Kristen di Tambun Selatan Bekasi

Have you heard of this case?

Hi everyone,

The Agape Festival in Mount Union, PA, USA is coming up on the 22nd, 2 days from now, we need to hold it up in prayer! Not long ago they announced that the Creation Festival was canceled permanently after 44 years, it was sad to see it go but there is still something going on at the same location, just under a different name! They are calling it the Agape Festival! Hopefully it will be a smash-hit and everyone who used to come to Creation will just go to that!

Lord God I Iift up the Agape Festival to You right now and I pray for Your hand of blessing to be upon the festival and for Your presence to be upon the grounds and also Your anointing to be on the musicians and speakers, I pray for salvation for everyone who comes that does not know You and also that everyone who comes that needs a healing would receive a healing touch from You! I pray for wisdom for the leadership and that You would show them exactly what to do. I pray that the operation of the festival would go smoothly! I also lift up the leadership of the Creation Festival to You and I pray for wisdom as to what You want them to do next year after Creation!

Psalms 50:16-18 ESV


First of all, before I get into what this passage is teaching, I want to state that “the wicked” are all who are living wickedly, regardless of whether or not they profess faith in Jesus Christ. The wicked are those who are doing evil, who are ungodly in practice, who are living immoral, sinful, and dishonest lives. But they can be those who profess faith in Jesus, which is what this passage actually indicates by stating that they were reciting God’s statutes and they were taking God’s covenant on their lips.

For it is not enough for us to just give lip service to our Lord. We must actually be those who are walking in holiness and in righteousness, and not in sin, and who are obeying the Lord, in practice. Otherwise, what right do we have to profess him as Lord when he is not Lord of our lives? And this is certainly not teaching that all who are of genuine faith must live in absolute sinless perfection (see 1 John 2:1-2). But all throughout the New Testament we are taught that if sin is what we practice, we are not of God.

There are many people today claiming Jesus as Lord, though, who are living wickedly. They hate discipline, and they certainly do cast the words of the Lord behind them, for they completely ignore God’s words in order to do what they want to do. And then they will claim ignorance as though they did not know they were doing wrong, or as though they don’t know how to do what is right, but they do know. We all know right from wrong. And yet sin is still what they practice, and some of them are thieves and adulterers.

Psalms 50:19-21 ESV


Now these are also people who speak what is evil, in practice. They are those who are gossipers and slanderers who even turn against their own family members. And they will speak against other people’s evil deeds while some of their own evil deeds may be a whole lot worse, or even the same. So, they are also hypocrites. And yet they will not change how they are living, but they expect others to change. So this is like the one who has a log in his own eye trying to take the speck out of his brother’s eye.

Now it will appear that God is being silent when he allows those who profess his name to live in sin and he does nothing, it appears, to stop them from doing evil. And when this happens, the evildoers can get the wrong idea that God is not concerned over their sin or that he can’t even see when they sin, and so they may get overconfident and think that they can continue in sin and that God will continue to do nothing about it. And they may have minds which are full of pride thinking that they cannot be touched.

And much of this today comes from this idea that God is like us, for that is how God/Christ is being portrayed much today. For the character of God/Christ has been altered and made to be more like humans so that he is more acceptable and appealing to human flesh. And we see this a lot in these modern day movies about Jesus, and we hear it a lot in people’s sermons where they characterize God/Christ in ways that are not biblical, and so many people are assuming God will not judge them, but he will.

Psalms 50:22-23 ESV


Those who forget God in this way are those who are, at least, somewhat acquainted with him, who at least are giving lip service to him, who have made a profession of faith in him, and at least have given the outward appearance that they are Christians and that they are living Christian lives. And they are people who are reciting the Lord’s statutes, so they may also be people who are teachers of the Scriptures or who speak as though how they are living is biblical, in a pure sense.

But God is saying to them that it is not the one who gives lip service to him who is honored in God’s sight, but it is those who offer thanksgiving to God as their sacrifice to God. And this is not about mouthing empty words of praise. For we show true thanksgiving to God for what he has done for us by submitting to him as Lord, by forsaking our lives of sin, by obeying his commandments (New Covenant), and by living holy and godly lives pleasing to him, in his power and strength and wisdom.

Those who live this way are those who have salvation from sin and the hope of eternal life with God. And no, this is not “works salvation”. This is the gospel of salvation that is taught us in the New Testament by Jesus and by his NT apostles. We don’t live holy lives to earn our salvation for we can’t even live holy lives until we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives. But as those who are of genuine faith in Jesus Christ, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin so we live in sin no longer and so we now walk in holiness and in righteousness in the power of God, to the praise of God.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Seek the Lord

An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Based off Isaiah 55

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,
And your soul will delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and you will live.
I have made an eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons him.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,”
declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return to Me unfulfilled.
My word will accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal I intend.
You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees clap their hands.”

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What do you think about Bob Segers lyrics of IN YOUR TIME?

"In Your Time" lyrics​

Bob Seger Lyrics​

"In Your Time"

In your time
The innocence will fall away
In your time
The mission bells will toll
All along
The corridors and river beds
There'll be sign
In your time

Towering waves
Will crash across your southern capes
Massive storms
Will reach your eastern shores
Fields of green

Will tumble through your summer days
By design
In your time

Feel the wind
And set yourself the bolder course
Keep your heart
As open as a shrine
You'll sail the perfect line

And after all
The dead ends and the lessons learned
After all
The stars have turned to stone
There'll be peace
Across the great unbroken void
All benign
In your time
You'll be fine
In your time

I would love any church history book recommendations - Orthodox, Protestant or Catholic would all be good. Thanks!

I will know on either Thursday or Wednesday if my place of work will stay open so please pray that I can keep my job. Thank you.

Hi everyone,

Just recently backed a new game on Kickstarter called gate zero. It's a Bible exploration game. I wanted to share it here in case others are interested. I hope this leads to more Christian based games. If I place it in the wrong section please move. Also wanted to share the link below Incase others wanted to back or share.

Many people are now advocating for the "Day After Pill" aka "Plan B" is permissible to be taken because it takes 6+ days for conception to occur. Is this true. I was under the impression that as soon (or maybe a few minutes later?) after sex that the egg would be fertilized. They use the 6+ days as a way to promote taking the pill and to say it is not killing a pre-born child, because a new human being has not been formed.
Is this true?

I filed my IRS and state taxes with TurboTax as usual. There was no problem that I could detect.

However, it has been over two months, and I have not gotten my refund from IRS, nor any communication back from them.

In addition, I got a letter from my state, saying that I hadn’t paid any taxes, when as Turbo Tax showed, and, as my online account shows, I actually paid over $2000. So they are charging me a late fee.

It’s like they didn’t even see what was sent to them from
Turbo Tax.

I have had a hard time actually speaking to a live person when I try to discuss these tax issues.

Please pray for me to be guided as to what to do on my end, and for people to do what they are supposed to do on their ends. And that these issues will be resolved swiftly.

A baby deer was rescued and reunited with its mother this month after it disappeared into a storm drain along a suburban street.

Homeowners near Baltimore, Maryland, said they spotted a distressed adult deer circling the storm drain, and called emergency services after they heard the cries of the fawn trapped below.

After prying open the grate atop the drain, one Owings Mills firefighter climbed down and emerged with the baby deer in his arms.

Continued below.

Since the Trinity doctrine rejects the Son is the Father, why is the Son called "everlasting Father" in the verse below?

Isaiah 9:6
6For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

I posted about my situation a few months back and I've been in therapy since but really I can't figure out if the choice to stay or leave is me making excuses because I don't want to make the hard decision to leave or if I'm feeling God tell me to hold on a little longer.

Premises:
-He's not a Christian, but he doesn't fight me on Christianity. He goes to church with me and is all for raising our 2 little girls in faith.
-we met when I was backslidden and far from God. Met in 2008. Married in 2015.
-I started back to church when we had our first child in 2017.

Issues:
-Extremely verbally abusive when we get in arguments. Calls me fat, a fat B%#$, a C....etc.
-He never ever apologizes after a fight. We stop talking for a few days bc I shut down when he starts name calling. He doesnt want to talk about arguments when he's cooled off bc "he's over it".
-Fights are the really hard times for me, but the in between times don't make things better:
-we have zero sex. Every now and then he'll want something but its never sex.
-he drinks practically every night, so he goes to bed much later than me, so he sleeps in another room.
-I cant approach him about any of my feelings, whether its him or someone else. If its him, he immediately gets defensive and says I'm just trying to start a fight. Like this morning, he drank last night and per usual, I got up with the kids, got them breakfast, lunches, ready for the day and off to daycare. The whole time, he just stayed in bed. We both work full time jobs, but he picks and chooses when he wants to "help" around the house. But I didn't even tell him I wasn't happy about me doing it all this morning, bc he'd blame me for "always having something to complain about." If its regarding my issues with someone else, he tells me to cut them off. That is his go-to.
-Leads me to the next thing. He cut his family off bc they didnt attend our daughters 1st bday bc of Covid. His mom is declining very quickly and has ended up in the hospital twice in the past month. I've gone to see her and he acts so indifferent when I tell him whats going on with her. He cuts anyone off that he doesnt like or cant do anything beneficial for him. He is extremely rude to my family. Got mad (just in private to me) that my dad asked if he could help him move a few things into his new apartment...literally 2 miles down the street from us. The next closest family member is about an hour away. So he hates his family and mine.
-He acts like he hates life. Hates his job. Drinks every night bc he says life is boring, but wont go out and do anything.
-No community. Has one friend and I wouldnt even call it a good friend.
-He doesn't show emotion, other than anger or talk about things. Told me he wouldn't cry anyone died other than our girls...including me, his parents...etc. That is really hard for me to process.
-I'm not scared of him physically, but I do find myself holding back ALOT, including just being myself around him, bc I worry that he'll make fun of me or say something to hurt me.

Bottom line is all of this makes me feel very isolated, lonely and hopeless and as a person, I have lost absolutely all respect for him. He is a great dad the majority of the time to our girls. I am not ok with his name calling in front of them...or obviously at all. I've asked for us to work on our relationship and he says he's fine. Dates are stupid and a waste of money. I worry about how we are teaching our girls what a relationship looks like. I pray for him to come to faith and am weary at this point. Feels so hopeless. I am living unloved and when I think about how the rest of my life could look like this, I really panic. I can't do it, but I'd also do anything to keep my girls from being hurt. Right now its fine bc he doesnt talk to them the way he does me but they are 5 and 3. I worry he will name call them as they get older. I worry that my girls will marry someone like him. I know marriages aren't supposed to be fairytales and take work, but he has no desire to put any work into ours. He's 100% complacent with where we are. I feel disconnected, lonely and unloved. If I tell him this, he'll tell me its a me problem and that he's good. He refuses counseling, so I go myself. When I picture not being with him, I feel lighter and free. Just at a loss with whether I hold on any longer.

“Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.”
— Romans 4:8

To some, this may be an obvious answer. I am curious, however, if there are any disagreements.

The blessed man is the one who has their sins forgiven. What day you?

Humanity can’t change…..

This truth, that humanity can’t change of itself, offers humanity two choices… One, humanity can accept the state humanity finds itself in, or two, look away from itself to something or Someone who has the ability to effect the desired change…

This latter choice is the salvation offered in Christ, a constant looking away from all that one finds oneself to be to Him that has promised to effect the said change….

This is the faith that all those that would be perfected in Christ Jesus must lay hold of…. For nothing else is given to man to secure its salvation, but faith in Someone else…. For here is the maturity in Christ; would one want to be saved from the consequences of sin or from sin itself… The former is a babe in Christ , the latter the babe is growing into a mature man in Christ, one that would be made free from the sin one finds in oneself…. This is that one that is becoming a full man in Christ and being established in the faith, and the one that will receive the oil of gladness the more…..

This faith that is being spoken of is a believing in what scripture says Christ did on the cross to secure man’s salvation…. And that is that He took every man to death with Him when He died on the cross that He might make everyone who has faith in Him into a new creation, one that sins no more…. For it is a most certain and real truth, that to the degree one has been made free from sin to that degree has the new creation been formed in one….

Be blessed in that new forming….


A fellow follower, Not me

So I asked ChatGPT to write a sample anaphora based on Syriac liturgical patterns, which tend to be loose ans highly flexible, and then I had the output formatted into traditional Ecclesiastical English. The results are interesting, although the Sursum Corda looks weird (but then again, in the Syriac liturgies occasionally one encounters unexpected paraphrasing, which this was). Likewise the lack of the Words of Institution is not uncommon wirh Syriac liturgies, as the Syriac Orthodox liturgies often paraphrase them and they are not included in a discrete form in the oldest extant Syriac anaphora, that of Saints Addai and Mari, which is estimated to be around the age of the oldest liturgy still in use, and indeed the oldest complete liturgy (since the Communion Prayer in the Didache is extremely short and feels like a suggestion or outline), the Divine Liturgy of St. Mark, also known as the Divine Liturgy of St. Cyril by the Coptic Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox.

The main mistake it made was to put the preface for the Sanctus in front of the Lord’s Prayer, which is the kind of mistake ChatGPT tends to make, but still, that is an easy fix, and given that all of this was generated using just two short prompt commands each just a few words in length, I am delighted.

That being said if someone on starts debating us in a verbose and repetitive manner, I will increasingly suspect they are using ChatGPT or another Large Language Model. The copy-pasta trolls are bad enough; debating with HAL-9000 by proxy is a dreadful thought, but increasingly I try to avoid debates on ChristianForums and focus purely on more intellectually stimulating conversations such aa those Traditional Theology is known for.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Thou, the one true God.

Priest: O Lord, Almighty and Eternal God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we lift up our hearts and voices to offer unto Thee this anaphora of worship and praise. O Creator of the universe, Thou art clothed in glory and majesty, surrounded by the heavenly hosts. With joy and reverence, we enter into the holy sanctuary to partake in the sacred mysteries of Thy divine presence.

People: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.

Priest: We thank Thee, O Lord, for Thy abundant mercy and grace poured out upon us. Thou hast called us into communion with Thee, inviting us to share in Thy divine life. As we gather around this holy altar, we remember Thy saving acts throughout history and Thy ultimate sacrifice on the cross for the salvation of humanity.

People: Amen.

Priest: O Lord, accept our humble offering as we present to Thee this bread and wine. By the power of Thy Holy Spirit, sanctify and transform them into the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we partake in this sacred meal, grant us the forgiveness of sins, the healing of our souls and bodies, and the strengthening of our faith.

People: Amen.

Priest: O Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us. O Bread of Life, grant us the nourishment of Thy eternal love. O Cup of Salvation, quench our spiritual thirst and fill us with Thy grace. May this divine union unite us with Thee and with one another as we strive to live in holiness and love.

People: Amen.

Priest: Remember, O Lord, Thy holy Church, spread throughout the world. Strengthen and protect her from all evil. Grant peace and unity among her members. Bless our spiritual fathers, the bishops and priests, and guide them in shepherding Thy flock. Pour out Thy Spirit upon all believers, that we may be a living witness to Thy love and truth.

People: Amen.

Priest: O Lord, we also remember the faithful departed who have gone before us, marked with the sign of faith. Grant them rest in Thy heavenly kingdom, where there is no pain or sorrow but everlasting joy in Thy presence. May we, together with them, attain the fullness of Thy eternal glory.

People: Amen.

Priest: O Lord, accept our humble offering and prayers, as we join our voices with the angels and saints, proclaiming:

People: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name...

Click to expand...

I apologize about the clickbaity title, but it is accurate to the subject. So anyways...

I worked with a fella who had a 3 year old child with severe health issues. The child could not see, talk, barely move (not enough to even roll over), nor eat or breathe without machines. The doctors said this child will never leave the hospital and his condition will never substantially improve. Since this takes place in the U.S.A. which has medicaid with (now?) unlimited lifetime benefit, the child has incurred 5 million dollars worth of medical bills over his short life.

To me there is quite an ethical dilemma in this situation, that is to put (crudely) 'how much is a human life worth in dollars?' If it takes $5 to save someone's life, no questions asked we should do it, but what if it was 5 trillion? Resources are limited, such is the universe, and if immense resource goes to saving that one life, that means it would have to be redirected from other things which could save countless more lives (medical research, addiction treatment, agricultural science, etc.). If you have 5 million dollars and the choice to use it to save 1 life or lift 100 people out of poverty, which do you do? Which should we collectively as a society do? As medical science improves, cases like this will undoubtedly become more and more common, so it's something that begs planning in accordance towards.

What do folks here think about the issue? Interested in hearing from both secular and Christian perspectives.

Good Monday morning everyone,

First off I'd like to apologize to the group. I started this thread on Galatians and doing a study on it and I haven't updated it in quite some time. I have been under some pretty heavy spiritual attack for several weeks now. No excuse, just want everyone to know I haven't forgotten about that and I appreciate everyone who has contributed in some way to it.

Secondly, tied to my first statement, please say a prayer for me. I have been under some condemnation for a while now about my walk with the Lord, and it's just dragging. Full exposure here, when I read accounts of sharing the gospel, I just get this cold and dead feeling inside. Really hard to explain, but it is 100% apathy. Doing some self-examination has lead me to just throw myself upon the grace of God for an answer. I know in my heart there are things about my walk with the Lord He is not super thrilled about, I can lean pretty easily upon a legalistic view of the gospel. Probably why I felt lead to Galatians honestly. I just need some wisdom and revelation and am currently seeking Him on this. So if you would please pray for me about this.

I will continue with that study soon, if any are still interested. Even if not I will finish it just to complete what has started.

Philippians 2:3-8 ESV


So, what is the example that Jesus set before us that we are to follow? Well, the first one is that he humbled himself and he became a servant to others, regardless of how they treated him in return. Now he did not serve others as their servant/slave, obeying their commands, for he is God, and God does not bow to us humans. But he served us with his life by humbly giving of his life and reputation to share with us the truth of God’s Word for our freedom from slavery to sin so that we will now serve him with our lives.

For when Jesus walked this earth he was not thinking about selfish human desires and how he could fulfill them. His mind was on God, and his concern for us was mainly for our salvation, but not just for that. For he did heal people’s afflictions and their diseases, and he miraculously fed the hungry with real food, and he delivered people from demons, and he raised the dead, and he comforted the sorrowful, and he performed miracle after miracle to show that he was indeed their Messiah (Savior, Lord).

But the main reason he came was, not only to be our sacrificial lamb for us on that cross, but it was to spread the truth of the gospel of our salvation to the people who then were to spread the gospel to other people once they had personally trusted in him to be their Lord and Messiah. He taught much on what it means to be one of his followers. And to believe in Jesus is to follow him with our lives, not just so we can go to heaven when we die. For he died that we might die to sin and live to his righteousness (1 Peter 2:24).

So, what was the message of the gospel that Jesus taught?

He taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily, and follow him. And what did it mean for Jesus to take up his cross? It definitely meant death to his life and it meant putting our sins to death with him on that cross. So, if we are to take up our cross daily, I believe that means that we are to die daily to sin and to self, and then we are to follow him in obedience (see Luke 9:23-26; c.f. Romans 6:1-23).

But that wasn’t all. And I am going to paraphrase this, but he, in essence, taught that if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self (if we save our lives), we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we die with him daily to sin and to self, and if we follow him in obedience to his commands (if we lose our lives), then we will live with him for eternity. For if we are ashamed of him and his Word in this life, then when he returns he will be ashamed of us (he will deny us) for we denied him (see Luke 9:23-26).

See also: [Matthew 10:32-33; Matthew 15:7-9; Luke 9:26; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Titus 1:15-16; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Jude 1:3-4]

Jesus also taught that not everyone who says to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father. For many will stand before Jesus one day, calling him “Lord,” and claiming all the things they believe they did in his name, but he is going to say to them, “I never knew you! Depart from me you workers of lawlessness.” And they are lawless because they refuse to obey the Lord’s commands (New Covenant), and they will not bow to him in submission to his will (see Matthew 7:21-23).

See too: [Matt 4:17; Matt 7:21-23; Matt 11:20-21; Matt 12:41; Matt 21:28-31; Mk 1:14-15; Lu 5:32; Lu 9:23-26; Lu 13:1-5; Lu 15:2-7; Lu 24:45-47; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 8:31-32,51; Jn 10:27-30; Jn 14:15-24; Jn 15:1-11]

But then what happened to Jesus when he taught the people these things? Many turned against him who had been following him, and many hated him and were resentful of him and his ministry, and so they hounded him continually to try to find ways to trip him up with his words so that they would have cause to accuse him of wrongdoing. And then they called for his crucifixion, and they put him to death on a cross, although he had done no wrong but only good.

So, this is the example that we are to follow. This is what the Christian life should look like, although none of us will be perfect like Jesus was. But lack of perfection is never to be used as an excuse for continued and willful and deliberate sin against God and against other humans. But we should be those whose lives are dedicated to serving our Lord and to serving other humans in the same way that Jesus did, which is in showing them love, and which is in sharing with them the truth of the gospel.

But Jesus said that if we follow him with our lives that we will be persecuted in much the same ways in which he was persecuted. For not everyone is going to rejoice over what we are sharing with them. Not everyone is going to receive our words with joy. Many will turn away and will go their own way and will stop up their ears and harden their hearts and they will refuse to bow to Jesus as Lord, for they are lord of their own lives, and that is where they want to remain.

Jesus saying we will be treated like he was treated: [Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-17; Jn 15:18-21]

But if we have obeyed the Lord, then all is well. We can rest in knowing that we did what we could, in God’s strength, according to his will, but they still made their own choice, and it was not to receive the truth of God’s word.

No Less

An Original Work / March 19, 2012

I can do no less than praise You,
Lord, for all You’ve done for me.
You died for my sins to save me,
So I would be set free.
I adore You! Lord, I praise You!
Jesus, Savior, King of kings!
You provided my redemption.
Your grace has pardoned me.

I can do no less than serve You.
Lord, Your witness I would be,
Telling others of Your love,
And why You died on that tree.
Tell of how You gave of Your life,
So from sin we’d be set free,
So we could worship You forever,
And live eternally.

I can do no less than love You,
Lord, for You have first loved me.
You gave of Your life so willing,
Because You cared for me.
Turn from my sin! Obey freely!
Live for You each passing day.
Read Your word, and follow Your lead,
Lord, as I humbly pray.

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