The Lampstand of the Beloved Disciple

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Psalm 34:7
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.

Christ Jesus’s Fruit is for our Edification, the Source and the Sustenance of Life. One of the keys of unfolding what He means to us as the Tree of Life is in seeing the continuation from the Gospel of John, to the Book of Hebrews and as it is picked up again in the Epistles of John.

In the Gospel of John the Lord is first seen as life (John 1:4), as the bread of life (John 6:35), as the water of life (John 4:14), and as the breath of life, the air (John 20:22).

In the book of Hebrews Christ Jesus is that fount of every blessing found at the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16) (Revelation 22:1).

In John’s Epistles we are shown how to approach the Divine Presence in the individual aspects of the Christian life.

The purpose of John’s Gospel is that believers might have life (John 20:31) while the purpose of his 1st Epistle is that those who have life may Know that they possess it. (1 John 5:13) The latter was written to compliment the former and was intended for genuine believers.

Branches that abide in Him have the ability to Trust in Him. They know that they can go boldly to the altar and reside there with Him. (Hebrews 6:17-18) Trust therefor in His love because He is unchangeable and faithful to give protection and safety. (Psalms 91:2) (Proverbs 3:5-6) (Philippians 1:6)

It’s not physical enemies that we’re battling against but spiritual ones lurking in the invisible realm. For that reason what is needed is to Wage the War in God’s domain, where God dwells in the praises of His people. (Psalms 22:3)

Prayer w/o ceasing is the NT equivalent to the OT meditating on the law both day and night. Remember that our mediator is just a prayer away from placing us out and away from satan’s war zone (Philippians 2:9-10) (Hebrews 9:15) (John 17:15) because the new creation is not intended to be on satan’s food chain. (1 Peter 5:8)

Never any that hoped in thee, were made ashamed of their hope; never any that sought thee, sought thee in vain. Blessings!

I was surprised to discover that pretty much all of the teachings of abiding with Christ are from the Gospel of John and 1st Epistle of John. The teaching comes first from Christ Himself:

John 14:17
The Spirit will show you what is true. The people of this world cannot accept the Spirit, because they don’t see or know him. But you know the Spirit, who is with you and will keep on living in you.
John 14:20
Then you will know that I am one with the Father. You will know that you are one with me, and I am one with you.
John 15:4
Stay joined to me, and I will stay joined to you. Just as a branch cannot produce fruit unless it stays joined to the vine, you cannot produce fruit unless you stay joined to me.
John 17:21
I want all of them to be one with each other, just as I am one with you and you are one with me. I also want them to be one with us. Then the people of this world will believe that you sent me.​

It’s interesting that the first words of John to Jesus were “Where do you abide?” It seems that this was the profound lesson that he never forgot and what John places as the centrality of Christ’s teaching, so that the world would believe because only Love can abide there.

1 John 2:5-6
We truly love God only when we obey him as we should, and then we know that we belong to him. If we say we are his, we must follow the example of Christ.
1 John 2:24
Keep thinking about the message you first heard, and you will always be one in your heart with the Son and with the Father.
1 John 2:27-28
But Christ has blessed you with the Holy Spirit. Now the Spirit stays in you, and you don’t need any teachers. The Spirit is truthful and teaches you everything. So stay one in your heart with Christ, just as the Spirit has taught you to do.
Children, stay one in your hearts with Christ. Then when he returns, we will have confidence and won’t have to hide in shame.
1 John 3:6
and people who stay one in their hearts with him won’t keep on sinning. If they do keep on sinning, they don’t know Christ, and they have never seen him.
1 John 3:24
If we obey God’s commandments, we will stay one in our hearts with him, and he will stay one with us. The Spirit that he has given us is proof that we are one with him.
1 John 4:4
Children, you belong to God, and you have defeated these enemies. God’s Spirit is in you and is more powerful than the one that is in the world.
1 John 4:12-13
No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is truly in our hearts. God has given us his Spirit. That is how we know that we are one with him, just as he is one with us.
1 John 4:15-16
God stays one with everyone who openly says that Jesus is the Son of God. That’s how we stay one with God and are sure that God loves us.
God is love. If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us.
1 John 5:20
We know that Jesus Christ the Son of God has come and has shown us the true God. And because of Jesus, we now belong to the true God who gives eternal life.​
 

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Acceptance of something that appeals to a higher calling, namely Love, turns us away from an inexhaustable need within that is impossible to fill and instead places trust in a hope and promise of greater things.

The old nature's inherant longing makes an ideological shift that places the void in the hands of God to fulfill.

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust" (Psalms 91:1-2).​

John the beloved disciple, like his former teacher John the Baptist, was very sure of who he was and who he was not. The Baptist knew he was a voice and that he was not the Messiah. He, the Baptist, had been there to point the way to Christ and that’s exactly what he did for John. He turned out to be a man worth following precisely because they followed him straight to Christ.

John the disciple knew that he was there to share with fellow believers the joy of fellowship that he had been such a close witness to. John 1:1-21

Fellowship means here and always in the NT “partnership”. In many respects it’s the highest privilege of Christian attainment at the present time. The fellowship that was seen in Eden can be spiritually restored in this present age.

1 John 1:3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.)​

‘With us’ in partnership means joint participation in all that grace brings to living in union and communion with others who belong to Christ. That’s from the human standpoint. From the aspect of Who the fellowship is with it includes access to His Presence, love and enjoyment of truth from the Father and the Son as Jesus (human) Christ (divine)

Fellowship is the source and guarantee of joy. 1 John 1:4 which is independent of outer circumstances yet spiritually in tune with the Father’s pardon, teaching, love, power, protection and the Son’s redemptive work unto resurrection, His blessed Spirit and glorious coming … these are the things that produce joy.

John uses the phrase “your joy may be full” 6 x in his writings. All put together John demonstrates the secret to fullness of joy. Consecration John 3:29, obedience John 15:10, prayer John 16:24, protection John 17:13, fellowship 1 John 1:3-4, and fraternal love 2 John 12

Fellowship is the foundation laid for us in Christ, the divine purpose for the believer = fellowship with God and others (sum of the law and prophets) brings to this fellowship the fullness of joy.

Where there is a foundation it follows that there is a building. As Eve was built from the first Adam so also the church is built from the last Adam, our Saviour and Lord.

John was himself a master builder in his own right. John differed from Paul in the building in that he didn’t use any materials that relate to temporary things that we now know have passed away but instead John got right to that which is of the spiritual life. 1 John 2:16-17

I love that John was part of the inner circle councillors that saw and attended to the King face to face. And how he has graciously built on that fact to bring new generations into that intimate fellowship that His eyewitnesses had enjoyed. To where spiritual eyes can now see Him face to face.

To us John brings the light of genuine fellowship… of the Father that is felt but is not seen … of the Son that is seen in God’s Word … of the Holy Spirit whose Presence is revealed by the effects.

In proportion that Christ is real and true can we be sure of possessing the Holy Spirit.
 
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In asking ‘What is Christ to me?” we can learn much from ‘as He’ was to John. Inwardly and outwardly John had done much thought on this. Christ must be the standard of our relationship to God because we need Christ to cleanse us in our walk much the same as He cleansed the feet of them at the last supper. 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:6

Christ must be the standard in relationship to ourselves too and this we can gauge by our obedience to Him in the practise of righteousness. 1 John 2:3, 1 John 3:7

And Christ must be our standard in relationship to others. because His command is to love one another, perfected to produce boldness in the face of judgement. 1 John 3:23, 1 John 4:17

In all of this the Lord will bless and keep us, graciously shining His face on us, to lift us up and give us peace. Numbers 6:24-26

But our edification really needs to come from God, the new incorruptible seed being nourished from the life-source within. Regeneration has given us an added dimension in the form of our spirit (the new element) from His Spirit (John 3:6) and from which obedience is to Him alone (1 John 2:27) (John 9:34) (Psalms 108:12) Blessings from the Father requires our worship in order for Him to dwell therein. (John 4:23-24)

John 1:4 says that Christ is life and that life is the light of mankind. 1 John 1:5 begins to elaborate on, ‘this is the message’, to what that means to usward. ‘From Him’ is the source of the message. The tense in Greek ‘heard’ refers to still hearing from Christ (Romans 10:17) ‘Declare to you’ is like a message that could not be kept to himself. (Jeremiah 20:9)

John 1:4
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
1 John 1:5
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.​

Obedience, therefore, means to hear, understand and do that which has been revealed. (Job 42:5) God’s faithfulness is all about our seeing, knowing and therefor trusting (and easily obeying) Him. God is light just means that God, in His own nature, (now shared in that seed) is the perfect idea of what we understand by light. ‘Revelation’ is that understanding. Obviously John had that in spades considering his further writings entrusted to him.
 
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John describes God as Spirit (John 4:24) God is light (1 John 1:5) God is love (1 John 4:8) all which has been made visible in Christ. God is the cause, Christ the effect, and assures us of God’s essential nature as light that He necessarily reveals Himself as light to others. Because of that light certain effects follow also into human life. …..

Obedience and love always go hand in hand and I guess that’s why John has given them as the great tests of defining discipleship that obtains to communion and fellowship with God. The gateway has always been thru loving-kindness and tender-mercies when learning from the humble and meek Jesus of Nazareth.

Submission to the Heart of God

God’s holy standards can only be found in Christ. The proper use of the human spirit is the vehicle to the heart of the matter. What had formerly been written on stone we now find being carved into our hearts of flesh. Love is the key that opens the gate. Obedience the other key that allows us to walk in.

The Hebrew word for breath in Genesis 2:7 is neshamah, which translated is “human spirit” in Proverbs 20:27. The breath of God has become to our human spirit His lamp to contain Himself, our oil and light. Zechariah 12:1; Job 32:8; Romans 8:16; 2 Timothy 4:22

Conscience cleansed at the throne of grace brings our thoughts captive to Christ in prayerful communion with Him, receiving mercy to proceed with Him, giving the freedom of conscience that guides the freewill of Christians. Romans 2:15; 2 Corinthians 5:11, 1 Timothy 1:5; 1 Timothy3:9; John 8:9

To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

The Lord is the light unto my path. Praise God.
 
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I think what John endeavours to teach us is that faith has to be based on love. He knew that God never changes and that His love would never forsake. What I so often forget is the something that John never forgot. John clasped tightly with both hands the things that Jesus had left.

He had seen with his own eyes the law and prophets sent to console and instruct at His exodus. Yet John knew that when all was said, done and heard that the Father had insisted that the Son was the point of devout attention. Hebrews 1:1-4

He had heard with his own ears the departing speech of Jesus that gave the command to love one another as the sign of discipleship and John was ever faithful to never stop teaching that. John 13:34-35; John 15:12,17; 1 John 3:1,11,23; 1 John 4:7,11-12; 2 John 1:15 (don’t know why 2nd John never highlights?)

He had touched with his hands the Risen Lord, touched the Promise to come and John believed it to be where Love was leading those who love to. Romans 13:8; Galatians 5:13

The apostle shows that there are 3 results of walking in the light:

Knowledge (1 John 2:3) is always more than intellectual. What John knew he continued to know. His personal experience was brought to the level of spiritual perception. To John knowledge and faith were always in the form of a verb, intellectual observation, personal experience and spiritual certainty.

Union (1 John 2:5) involving the actual oneness of the soul with Christ thru justification and sanctification within the life of each believer.

Abiding (1 John 2:6) is the further progression of the soul. (John 15) the staying point of mind, heart and will.

John laid great stress upon the perils of error and the consequent need of protection. Sadly the greatest dangers that he warned against were due to perverted christianity rather than gross violations of moral laws. “These things I have written to you against those who would lead you astray” lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, lust for the vain-glory of life. In opposition to the love of the world is the love of the Father, being in the world but not of the world. “The world passes away and the lusts thereof” “He that doeth the will of God abideth forever”
 
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About John and Paul

One thing about Paul was that he was constantly proving what he believed by referring to the OT as proof. In doing so he would argue his truth and compare that to his experience. Whereas John the disciple was more deductive that what he saw, others could see also.

John’s message was that of love, as the natural outflow of God toward the salvation of the world that He loved so dearly. Sin is seen as darkness, the absence of sin is seen as light. Simply, walking in the light is fellowship with God. Dwelling with God is John’s point of highest achievement and that hasn’t changed.

Both deal with the work of Christ, John’s being less theological but still inclusive of the results of death to produce new life. Paul emphasied righteousness thru justification. Sin is in the flesh and needs to be overcome by the spirit. John says very much the same. Rather than justification and righteousness John says birth from God to Life.

Paul argues from Jewish legalism while John seems to have already relinquished the thought of things past. The saving power of faith is in the acceptance of Christ, as our Lord, Saviour, and mediator of the new creation, which is seen in both messengers of the New Testament covenant with Christ.

Edit to add:
Not surprisingly there are also two other unique attributes to John’s gospel. The first is His “I am” statements and the second is the absence of parables. ~ (Matthew 13:10-17)
  1. And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).
  2. Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12).
  3. “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture” (John 10:9).
  4. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (John 10:11).
  5. Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live” (John 11:25).
  6. Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
  7. “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser” (John 15:1).
  8. John 8:48-59 The eighth “I am” statement is found here in (John 8:58), and is the most profound of the bunch.
 
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Likeness of Gold; Inlays of Silver

Jesus Is Our High Priest

Hebrews 4:14

Since we have a great high priest, Jesus the Son of God,

who has gone into heaven, let us hold on to the faith we have.

Hebrews 12:22

You have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.

You have come to thousands of angels gathered together with joy.

Genesis 28:12

Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder resting on the earth and reaching up into heaven,

and he saw angels of God going up and coming down the ladder

Daniel 7:13

"In my vision at night I saw in front of me someone who looked like a human being coming on the clouds in the sky. He came near God, who has been alive forever, and he was led to God.

John 1:51

And Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and 'angels of God going up and coming down' on the Son of Man."

Song of Songs 1:11

We will make you chains of gold, inlaid with silver. Matthew 13:52

And Jesus said to them,

"Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven

is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old."

Song of Songs 7:13

The mandrakes send out their fragrance, and at our door is every delicacy, both new and old, that I have stored up for you, my lover.

Matthew 12:35

The good person brings good things out of the good stored up in them,

and the evil person brings evil things out of the evil stored up in them.

Colossians 2:2

I want them to be strengthened and joined together with love

so that they may be rich in their understanding.

This leads to their knowing fully God's secret, that is, Christ himself.

Hebrews 1:4

The Son became much greater than the angels, and God gave him a name

that is much greater than theirs.

1 Peter 2:5

5 You also are like living stones, so let yourselves be used to build a spiritual temple—

to be holy priests who offer spiritual sacrifices to God.

He will accept those sacrifices through Jesus Christ.

John 1:42-45

42 Then Andrew took Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas."

("Cephas" means "Peter."

43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him,

"Follow me."

44 Philip was from the town of Bethsaida, where Andrew and Peter lived.

45 Philip found Nathanael and told him,

"We have found the man that Moses wrote about in the law,

and the prophets also wrote about him.

He is Jesus, the son of Joseph, from Nazareth."

Acts of the Apostles 5:19

But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and led the apostles outside.

Acts of the Apostles 12:7

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord stood there, and a light shined in the cell.

The angel struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Hurry! Get up!" the angel said.

And the chains fell off Peter's hands.

1 Peter 1:18-19

You know that in the past you were living in a worthless way,

a way passed down from the people who lived before you.

But you were saved from that useless life.

You were bought, not with something that ruins like gold or silver,

19 but with the precious blood of Christ, who was like a pure and perfect lamb.

Revelation 3:21

"Those who win the victory will sit with me on my throne in the same way that

I won the victory and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Philippians 2:5-10

Be Unselfish Like Christ

5 In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus.

6 Christ himself was like God in everything.

But he did not think that being equal with God was something to be used for his own benefit.

7 But he gave up his place with God and made himself nothing.

He was born as a man

and became like a servant.

8 And when he was living as a man,

he humbled himself and was fully obedient to God,

even when that caused his death—death on a cross.

9 So God raised him to the highest place.

God made his name greater than every other name

10 so that every knee will bow to the name of Jesus—

everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.

Zechariah 13:9

The third that is left I will test with fire,

purifying them like silver,

testing them like gold.

Then they will call on me,

and I will answer them.

I will say, 'You are my people,'

and they will say, 'The Lord is our God.' "


The title 'Likeness of Gold; Inlays of Silver'

as you've probably guessed is from the Song of Songs 1:11.

To me they represent PATTERNS because they are only likenesses

of gold while silver isn't used in the building of the New Jerusalem.

The gold of the original God's people are the people of the old Israel

that the foundation was built on.

And the silver is the pattern of the literal New Testement

that made new inroads into understanding.

Neither should be used anymore because they are just patterns

and not the reality of the teaching.

Jesus Christ our Risen Lord is the reality

and His people are the nation of priests that God had originally

taken out of the world before the worship of the golden calf.

They are the nation that Peter speaks of.

Jesus IS able to speak to us Himself.

He is the Head so therefor the voice that speaks.

When analogies aren't being used the masses can understand plainly


1 Corinthians 12:14-18


The patterns acted as as governs and guardians appointed for the Bride while she was yet a little child with the law as that given by angels. When she is fullgrown she is led by God.


"Until the fullness of the time should come, and God should send His Son

made of a woman, made under law, and that He should lead her who was once

under guardians to recieve the kissess of His mouth from the WORD OF GOD.


A second time I can see that enacted out by the Catholic and Protestants.

They are another set of two witnessess that have filled the role of likeness

of gold and inlays of silver besides that of the angels in establishing them.


The Words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried with fire.


Psalms 11:7

The Lord does what is right, and he loves justice,

so honest people will see his face.


both have made unfaithful marraige covenents with the world


1 Corinthians 2:6-8

God's Wisdom

However, I speak a wisdom to those who are mature. But this wisdom is not from this world

or from the rulers of this world, who are losing their power.

I speak God's secret wisdom, which he has kept hidden.

Before the world began, God planned this wisdom for our glory

None of the rulers of this world understood it.

If they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.


1 Corinthians 1:24

But Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God to those people God has called Jews and Greeks.


1 Corinthians 1:30

Because of God you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God.

In Christ we are put right with God, and have been made holy, and have been set free from sin.


John 1:1-5

Jesus the Son Reveals the Father

Christ Comes to the World

In the beginning there was the Word.

The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

All things were made by him, and nothing was made without him.

In him there was life, and that life was the light of all people.

The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overpowered it.


John 1:14

The Word became a human and lived among us. We saw his glory, the glory that belongs to the only Son of the Father;and he was full of grace and truth.


Colossians 1:15-17

The Importance of Christ

No one can see God, but Jesus Christ is exactly like him.

He ranks higher than everything that has been made.

Through his power all things were made things in heaven and on earth,

things seen and unseen, all powers, authorities, lords, and rulers.

All things were made through Christ and for Christ.

He was there before anything was made, and all things continue because of him.


Ephesians 3:9-11

And God gave me the work of telling all people about the plan for his secret,

which has been hidden in him since the beginning of time.

He is the One who created everything.

His purpose was that through the church all the rulers and

powers in the heavenly world

will now know God's wisdom, which has so many forms.

This agrees with the purpose God had since the beginning of time, and

he carried out his plan through Christ Jesus our Lord.


James 3:13-17

True Wisdom

Are there those among you who are truly wise and understanding?

Then they should show it by living right and doing good things with

a gentleness that comes from wisdom.

But if you are selfish and have bitter jealousy in your hearts, do not brag.

Your bragging is a lie that hides the truth.

That kind of "wisdom" does not come from God but from the world. It is not spiritual;

it is from the devil.

Where jealousy and selfishness are, there will be confusion and every kind of evil.

But the wisdom that comes from God is first of all pure,

then peaceful, gentle, and easy to please.

This wisdom is always ready to help those who are troubled and to do good for others.

It is always fair and honest.


Mark 1:14-20

Jesus Chooses Some Followers

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, preaching the Good News from God.

He said, "The right time has come. The kingdom of God is near.

Change your hearts and lives and believe the Good News!"

When Jesus was walking by Lake Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew

throwing a net into the lake because they were fishermen.

Jesus said to them, "Come follow me, and I will make you fish for people."

So Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed him.

19 Going a little farther, Jesus saw two more brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee.

They were in a boat, mending their nets.

Jesus immediately called them,

and they left their father in the boat

with the hired workers and followed Jesus.





Hark! I hear Him calling … musnt tarry
 
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Joshua 15, Judges 1
When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you desire?” 19“Give me a blessing,” she answered. “Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me springs of water as well.” So Caleb gave her both the upper and lower springs.

11So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

6Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. 7Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.…

13So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

God likens Himself to us as our Father and all believers as God’s children … therefore family life is an environment where we encounter God in our dealings with our own children and God’s dealing with us.

Prayer is the path forward to the Father’s blessing because it’s going to Him where He dwells

3Yet You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.

17that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him. 18I ask that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know the hope of His calling, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints,…​

Achsah, Caleb’s daughter, had considered well her request before confiding her desire to her father. Herself and her husband had received land from him, but water was scarce. While gratefully acknowledging the gift she persevered for more “Give me also springs of water.” Much as Hannah brought her desires to the God and God used her desires to fulfill His also. “Our Father, which art in heaven.”

“What wilt thou?” the father asked his daughter for he perceived that she was on a mission. Boldly before the throne of Grace do we also bring our requests. “All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” “Give me a blessing.”

“Give me a blessing: for thou hast given me a south land.” “Give me also springs of water.” We can be planted in any setting but bloom we must in the place of planting. Send me former and latter rains as the season dictates, but give unto me those springs of living water, bubbling up

14But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.” 15The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will not get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”…​

The woman at the well, many centuries after Caleb’s daughter, ran to tell others who would also come to believe, and she left her vessel behind. Like Peter who could be in the Father’s Presence within His vessel one moment and occupied with devilish thoughts the next, it’s holding on to belief that the Father is strong and faithful to His children that brings about the desires fulfilled in the Family of God. your Father in heaven wills to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

“If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?”

ETA link Petals unfold
 
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Citizen of the Kingdom

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~ A few principles laying at the heart of Christianity.~

Foundational things or elementary things? Principle or precept?

The foundation of the church which is the body of Christ is based on the character of Christ revealed in His reading of the Isaiah scripts. There is no other foundation.
* * * *

Witnessing to our position:

To God ~ Seated in the heavenlies Ephesians 2:6
To mankind ~ Walk in the world with Christ Ephesians 4:1
To evil powers ~ Stand with Christ against the principalities and powers Ephesians 6:11

Falling short of one or all of God’s requirements always leads to an improper adjustment of perspective of one or all of them. For each is “ a sphere in which God would express ‘the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the ‘’beloved’’

Being seated with Christ is the beginning, being comfortable in communion with Him. There, like Isaac, all is provided.

God (was) rested on the 7th day, then Jesus (is) rested from the redemptive work at the cross and there is a rest to come. That is entering into the value of His completed work at the place where He redeems, at the cross.

From faith in the cross and the belief of resurrection comes the reckoning of our own ascension to be seated with Him. But don’t leave there unarmed. The only effective weapon we have is the sword of the word of God. But that’s the only sword we need. Goliath the Serpent’s whole aim is to disarm the Christian.
14
So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate, 15 and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace. 16 At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One. 17 And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you. 18 Do all this in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God's people.​

With the double-edged Sword is the procession, as it began, based on the finished work of Another.
 
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The reason that God is so insistent on doing things only through and of Him can be seen in Hezekiah. Building not according to God is vanity at the extreme.

2 Chronicles 32:5
Then he worked hard repairing all the broken sections of the wall and building towers on it. He built another wall outside that one and reinforced the terraces of the City of David. He also made large numbers of weapons and shields.
Isaiah 22:10
You counted the houses of Jerusalem, and you broke down the houses to fortify the wall.


וְאֶת-בָּתֵּי יְרוּשָׁלִַם סְפַרְתֶּם וַתִּתְצוּ הַבָּתִּים לְבַצֵּר הַחוֹמָה​
The original Hebrew text of this verse contains a whimsical play on words: Hezekiah (יְחִזְקִיָּהוּ), whose name means “God is strong”, both “worked hard” (וַיִּתְחַזַּק) and “reinforced” (וַיְחַזֵּק). Two verses later the king instructs the inhabitants of the city “be strong and have courage” (חִזְקוּ וְאִמְצוּ). All these words are based on the same three-letter Hebrew root: חזק (hazak), which means “strong”.

Isaiah was highly critical of Hezekiah’s plan to prepare for the Assyrian attack. The king chose to build this wall in the Transversal Valley (גיא צולב), a small east-west wadi to the north of the main portion of the city. Hezekiah felt that this was the most logical place to erect fortifications, even if it meant destroying the homes of his own citizens. Isaiah believed that the king should rely on God’s protection rather than unjustly destroying people’s homes to build a futile wall which the enemy would easily breach.

The original Hebrew text of Isaiah uses the word נתץ (nataz), which does not just mean “to break down”, but “to utterly demolish” or “to flatten”.

Deuteronomy 12:2-3
Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down (נִתַּצְתֶּם) their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places.


Strong’s 5422 nathats: to pull down, break down
Original Word:
נָתַץ
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: nathats
Phonetic Spelling: (naw-thats')
Definition: to pull down, break down

beat down, break down out, cast down, destroy, overthrow, pull down, throw down
A primitive root; to tear down -- beat down, break down (out), cast down, destroy, overthrow, pull down, throw down.

Acts 8:20
19“Give me this power as well,” he said, “so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20But Peter replied, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21You have no part or share in our ministry, because your heart is not right before God​

The word perish there is to no longer exist. Strong’s 1510 ..1. to exist;
a. passages in which the idea of the verb preponderates, and some person or thing is said to exist by way of distinction from things non-existent: ἐστιν ὁ Θεός, Hebrews 11:6 without faith it is impossible to please God, for whoever would approach him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. Revelation 17:8 is also an example of the term.

b. so as to indicate continuance in any act or state (Buttmann, 310f (266) to signify that one is in the act of doing something: ἦν ἐρχόμενον was in the act of coming, John 1:9 (cf. Meyer edition Weiss at the passage); ἦν ὑποστρέφων, Acts 8:28.

Strong's Concordance 1510
eimi: I exist, I am
Original Word: εἰμί
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: eimi
Phonetic Spelling: (i-mee')
Definition: I exist, I am
Usage: I am, exist.

Jesus' breaking of the Sabbath caused the religious Pharisees to believe that He was destroying God's covenant. The breaking of the Sabbath was the only "legitimate" charge against Him. But what was actually established out of that was the only legitimate Way to come to Him in the new covenant.

His blood enacted the new covenant. The Lord shed His blood, God enacted the new covenant and the cup is given to Christians as our portion. Luke 22:20 The blood was the price, the covenant is the title deed and the cup is the portion. His blood instituted a better covenant that no one can tear down.
Hebrews 8:6-13 But Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted through better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one. 8 God finds fault with them when he says:“The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; 9 not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; for they did not continue in my covenant, and so I had no concern for them, says the Lord. 10 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach one another or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” 13 In speaking of “a new covenant,” he has made the first one obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear.​
4413 prṓtos (an adjective, derived from 4253 /pró, "before, forward") – first (foremost). a. absolutely (i. e. without a noun) and substantively; α. with the article: ὁ πρῶτος καί ὁ ἔσχατος,

Hebrews 10:9; τά πρῶτα, opposed to τά ἔσχατα, one's first state, Matthew 12:45; Luke 11:26; 2 Peter 2:20; the first order of things, Revelation 21:4.

Our hope is anchored on the sure foundation that is built without hands but held in our hands of faith, increasing, as you see the miracle being wrought within and the weight of glory that will be revealed when He presents His bride in us. Prometheus tale this is not.
 
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