THAT WHICH COST ME NOTHING
Look what I found while studying the word "Threshingfloor". It is absolutely amazing what can be found when one is not looking for it.
Without boring you with the details of how the discovery was made, let me simply say that the story starts back in the book of Genesis. Let me quote it to you-- Genesis 22:2 And he said, Take now thy son, thine only [son] Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
The word to focus on is "Moriah". It is used only twice in the entire bible. We know that the Temple of Solomon was built on Mount Moriah. It would appear that God Himself picked the spot centuries before, when He commanded Abram to sacrifice his son Isaac there. It was at that site that the Lord "provided the lamb" for Abram nearly 2000 years before Jesus was born.
Abram could have just as well made the sacrifice at any other site, but God specifically told him to go to Moriah. Have there been times in your life when you could not make sense out of what God was impressing you to do? Rest assured that God does not waste time with unnecessary motions. Your life is important to Him.
In the time of King David, a man named Araunah owned the site, and had a threshingfloor there. This was roughly a thousand years before Jesus was born. David had angered the Lord by numbering his armies, as though strength would come from military might, rather than from his God. The Lord let David choose what his punishment should be, but David had hope in the Mercy of God, and asked that he should not fall into the hands of man.
God can, and does often, use our mistakes to bring about a portion of His Divine Plan. Accept God's punishment for your mistakes and blunders. There might be a hidden reason for his "spankings."
Plague came, and many thousands of people died as the angel of death passed over the land. The angel hesitated at the threshingfloor, and David was commanded to build an altar there and make a sacrifice. The site was hallowed once again by the Lord.
Though David did not know the end from the beginning, as the Lord does, he was forced to buy the land from the Jebusite who owned it.
II Samuel 24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy [it] of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
Sacrifices SHOULD cost us something. David knew this, and was very careful to "get it right the first time." It could be a lesson to us.
David now owns the place where Abram sacrificed Isaac, but what good is it? Never mind-- the steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord. God knew what He was doing when He ordered David to sacrifice on the floor.
Now turn with me to II Chronicles 3:1 Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where [the Lord] appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Thus, the site for the Temple of Solomon was chosen many centuries before the temple was actually erected.
How marvelously God works through the years to accomplish what He wants to do.
Have you ever wondered just where YOU fit into the PLANS OF GOD?
I have--- many times. Rest assured-- we are not derelicts on the sea of time.
God Bless!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
THE END OF THE WORLD
THE END OF THE WORLD
Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of THE END OF THE WORLD?
Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, BUT THE END IS NOT YET.
I have capitalized two portions of the above scripture selection in order to emphasize the point I want to show you about the teachings of Jesus to His disciples that day on the Mount of Olives.
The term END OF THE WORLD is not the same as THE END IS NOT YET. They are two different subjects, and are IN NO WAY CONNECTED.
The two phrases show how the disciples asked one question, and Jesus answered it in a different way than they had expected Him to.
I would like to add right here, that MUCH OF THE BIBLE is written the same way. I believe it was intentional on the part of the Lord. If the Word of God could be figured out with the MINDS OF MEN, then the smartest of them could all know the secrets of God. But, "The secret of the Lord is with those that FEAR HIM." He has hidden them from the wise and the prudent, and revealed them unto Babes.
One reason for the Church world being in such a state of confusion is because men have built doctrines on the best understanding the human mind can have of a Book that was written by the SPIRIT of God. "No Comprende" is the ONLY response our human understanding can give to the WORD OF GOD.
If the SPIRIT does not interpret the Word for us, we grope in darkness. And we are BOUND TO MAKE MISTAKES if we do not seek for, and get, the INTERPRETATION OF THE SPIRIT.
Have you ever had the experience of hearing the Bible explained by others, and something within you tells you it is not correct? I have, many times. Those times have caused me to go before the Lord and ask Him to reveal the TRUTH to me. Each time, when I have sought Him diligently enough, He causes His LIGHT to shine into my spirit. When He does, I know what the TRUTH of the matter is.
The disciples asked about the END OF THE WORLD. The Old Testament, especially the book of Isaiah, has much to say about the subject. They, no doubt, thought that Jesus was talking about that when He told them about the DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE IN 70 AD.
BUT THOSE ARE TWO DIFFERENT SUBJECTS ALTOGETHER.
When the disciples asked Him about the matter He had introduced at the Temple site, He continued to explain about the OVERTHROW OF JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE, instead of answering their misguided question about the END OF THE WORLD.
Most of the Church World is still as lacking in understanding as the disciples were on that day so long ago. We have "lumped" several subjects together, and crammed them all into a "last seven years", and given it a name that doesn't fit at all-- "The GREAT TRIBULATION" (AKA THE REIGN OF ANTICHRIST).
Jesus had told the disciples plainly that the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple would be the time of THE GREAT TRIBULATION. Nothing worse BEFORE it. Nothing worse AFTER it. What can be more precise than that?
But, people ask, "What about Mat 24:6 And ye SHALL HEAR OF WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, BUT THE END IS NOT YET.
Are we not seeing this unfold right before our very eyes?"
The answer is, "Yes these events are taking place, BUT THEY ARE NOT the events Jesus was talking about.” Jesus was referring to events which would happen immediately before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.
THE EVENTS WE ARE WITNESSING NOW ARE A DIFFERENT SUBJECT ALTOGETHER.
Here is where a look into history can be of great benefit. During the last five or six years before 70 AD. there were several "earth shaking" events occurred in the Roman Empire that had a profound effect on their relationship to Jerusalem and the Jews.
One historical account reads like this: Which wars, the gloss says, will be between the nations of the world, and Israel. Here wars may mean the commotions, insurrections, and seditions, against the Romans, and their governors; and the INTESTINE SLAUGHTERS COMMITTED AMONG THEM, some time before the siege of Jerusalem, and the destruction of it. Under Cureanus the Roman governor, a sedition was raised on the day of the passover, in which twenty thousand perished; after that, in another tumult, TEN THOUSAND WERE DESTROYED BY CUT-THROATS: in Ascalon two thousand more, in Ptolemais two thousand, at Alexandria fifty thousand, at Damascus ten thousand, and elsewhere in great numbers. The Jews were also put into great consternation, upon hearing the design of the Roman emperor, to put up his image in their temple:
Another historical note reads: Mat 24:6-7 -
Ye shall hear of wars. The Jewish war began in A. D. 66, and ended five years after. During this period all the Roman empire was filled with commotion. Nero, the emperor, was overthrown by Galba; six months after, Galba was overthrown by Otho; a few months after, Otho was overthrown by Vitelius; a little later, he was overthrown by Vespasian. All of these but the last, who ascended the throne shortly before Jerusalem was destroyed, died violent deaths.
Here is what one commentator gives about the months just prior to the overthrow.
see that ye be not troubled; so as to leave the land of Judea as yet, and quit the preaching of the Gospel there, as if the final destruction was just at hand;
for all these things must come to pass; these wars and the reports of them and the panic on account of them; these commotions and slaughters, and terrible devastations by the sword must be; being determined by God, predicted by Christ, and brought upon the Jews by their own wickedness; and suffered in righteous judgment, for their sin:
but the end is not yet; meaning not the end of the world, but the end of Jerusalem, and the temple, the end of the Jewish state; which were to continue, and did continue after these disturbances in it.
But the armies of Titus did accomplish the desolation of Jerusalem and the Temple in August of 70 AD. Not one stone was left on top of another. They were torn apart to retrieve the gold which had melted and ran down from the roof when it burned.
Dan 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Luk 13:35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Mat 24:3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of THE END OF THE WORLD?
Mat 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, BUT THE END IS NOT YET.
I have capitalized two portions of the above scripture selection in order to emphasize the point I want to show you about the teachings of Jesus to His disciples that day on the Mount of Olives.
The term END OF THE WORLD is not the same as THE END IS NOT YET. They are two different subjects, and are IN NO WAY CONNECTED.
The two phrases show how the disciples asked one question, and Jesus answered it in a different way than they had expected Him to.
I would like to add right here, that MUCH OF THE BIBLE is written the same way. I believe it was intentional on the part of the Lord. If the Word of God could be figured out with the MINDS OF MEN, then the smartest of them could all know the secrets of God. But, "The secret of the Lord is with those that FEAR HIM." He has hidden them from the wise and the prudent, and revealed them unto Babes.
One reason for the Church world being in such a state of confusion is because men have built doctrines on the best understanding the human mind can have of a Book that was written by the SPIRIT of God. "No Comprende" is the ONLY response our human understanding can give to the WORD OF GOD.
If the SPIRIT does not interpret the Word for us, we grope in darkness. And we are BOUND TO MAKE MISTAKES if we do not seek for, and get, the INTERPRETATION OF THE SPIRIT.
Have you ever had the experience of hearing the Bible explained by others, and something within you tells you it is not correct? I have, many times. Those times have caused me to go before the Lord and ask Him to reveal the TRUTH to me. Each time, when I have sought Him diligently enough, He causes His LIGHT to shine into my spirit. When He does, I know what the TRUTH of the matter is.
The disciples asked about the END OF THE WORLD. The Old Testament, especially the book of Isaiah, has much to say about the subject. They, no doubt, thought that Jesus was talking about that when He told them about the DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE IN 70 AD.
BUT THOSE ARE TWO DIFFERENT SUBJECTS ALTOGETHER.
When the disciples asked Him about the matter He had introduced at the Temple site, He continued to explain about the OVERTHROW OF JERUSALEM AND THE TEMPLE, instead of answering their misguided question about the END OF THE WORLD.
Most of the Church World is still as lacking in understanding as the disciples were on that day so long ago. We have "lumped" several subjects together, and crammed them all into a "last seven years", and given it a name that doesn't fit at all-- "The GREAT TRIBULATION" (AKA THE REIGN OF ANTICHRIST).
Jesus had told the disciples plainly that the time of the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple would be the time of THE GREAT TRIBULATION. Nothing worse BEFORE it. Nothing worse AFTER it. What can be more precise than that?
But, people ask, "What about Mat 24:6 And ye SHALL HEAR OF WARS AND RUMORS OF WARS: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, BUT THE END IS NOT YET.
Are we not seeing this unfold right before our very eyes?"
The answer is, "Yes these events are taking place, BUT THEY ARE NOT the events Jesus was talking about.” Jesus was referring to events which would happen immediately before the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.
THE EVENTS WE ARE WITNESSING NOW ARE A DIFFERENT SUBJECT ALTOGETHER.
Here is where a look into history can be of great benefit. During the last five or six years before 70 AD. there were several "earth shaking" events occurred in the Roman Empire that had a profound effect on their relationship to Jerusalem and the Jews.
One historical account reads like this: Which wars, the gloss says, will be between the nations of the world, and Israel. Here wars may mean the commotions, insurrections, and seditions, against the Romans, and their governors; and the INTESTINE SLAUGHTERS COMMITTED AMONG THEM, some time before the siege of Jerusalem, and the destruction of it. Under Cureanus the Roman governor, a sedition was raised on the day of the passover, in which twenty thousand perished; after that, in another tumult, TEN THOUSAND WERE DESTROYED BY CUT-THROATS: in Ascalon two thousand more, in Ptolemais two thousand, at Alexandria fifty thousand, at Damascus ten thousand, and elsewhere in great numbers. The Jews were also put into great consternation, upon hearing the design of the Roman emperor, to put up his image in their temple:
Another historical note reads: Mat 24:6-7 -
Ye shall hear of wars. The Jewish war began in A. D. 66, and ended five years after. During this period all the Roman empire was filled with commotion. Nero, the emperor, was overthrown by Galba; six months after, Galba was overthrown by Otho; a few months after, Otho was overthrown by Vitelius; a little later, he was overthrown by Vespasian. All of these but the last, who ascended the throne shortly before Jerusalem was destroyed, died violent deaths.
Here is what one commentator gives about the months just prior to the overthrow.
see that ye be not troubled; so as to leave the land of Judea as yet, and quit the preaching of the Gospel there, as if the final destruction was just at hand;
for all these things must come to pass; these wars and the reports of them and the panic on account of them; these commotions and slaughters, and terrible devastations by the sword must be; being determined by God, predicted by Christ, and brought upon the Jews by their own wickedness; and suffered in righteous judgment, for their sin:
but the end is not yet; meaning not the end of the world, but the end of Jerusalem, and the temple, the end of the Jewish state; which were to continue, and did continue after these disturbances in it.
But the armies of Titus did accomplish the desolation of Jerusalem and the Temple in August of 70 AD. Not one stone was left on top of another. They were torn apart to retrieve the gold which had melted and ran down from the roof when it burned.
Dan 9:26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
Luk 13:35 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate: and verily I say unto you, Ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU
THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU
Most of us think of a 1000 year dispensation when the Kingdom of God is mentioned. There is probably not too much wrong with that approach, except that it may notbe exactly correct.
Fact is, if we were to ask a hundred people about the Kingdom of God we would possibly get over 90 different explanations. That would be OK, for it is almost impossible for us to understand things of the Spirit with our natural minds.
Let’s look at a few scriptures that MIGHT help us to come to a better understanding of the subject.
When Jesus had a night visitor (Nicodemus) He cut the question short by saying : Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be BORN AGAIN, he cannot see the KINGDOM OF GOD.
Jesus used the word that is translated “from above” six times, as opposed to “born again” three times. Most of the translations I have used the term “from above”.
We have to remember that the Jewish religion was “Works-based”, which made it very difficult for a person to relate to a new method of approach to God and Salvation.
Jesus WAS introducing a new relationship to God, whether the people were ready for it or not. The history of the human race is that they have NEVER been ready for what the Lord was going to do. I seriously doubt that WE will be “ready” for what God will do the next time.
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Let’s not be too hard on Nicodemus, for our LACK OF UNDERSTANDING may be as bad or worse than his was.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
We have many good people today who preach and teach that Jesus was telling the ruler in Israel that he would have to be baptized in water and receive the Holy Ghost before he could be saved.
The name of that teaching is “WATER AND SPIRIT”.
That interpretation is fatally flawed because it has been MADE TO SAY something that it DOES NOT SAY.
Jesus told Nicodemus plainly what it meant, but many of us prefer to believe it the wrong way. It fits OUR DOCTRINE BETTER.
Joh 3:6 That which is BORN OF THE FLESH IS FLESH; AND THAT WHICH IS BORN OF THE SPIRIT IS SPIRIT.
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (from above)
Baptism in water has NOT been used to denote a birth, but it HAS BEEN likened to a burial. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO.
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
I am NOT saying that Baptism in water has no place in our relationship to Jesus—simply denying that it is an integral part of making our initial contact with the Saviour.
Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
The two experiences are basically separate events. One can be pursuant to the other.
1Pe 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
The Catholics, and maybe others, practice infant baptism to “drive the devil out” of the infant, because they have been “born in sin”. It is the doctrine known as BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. I reject it in all its forms.
If my understanding is correct, Jesus defined the nature of the New Birth in His conversation with Nicodemus.
It is identified more by its EFFECT than anything else.
Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Sometimes, the most discernable effect of the Spirit Birth is the CHANGE that is wrought by its presence in the life of the believer… It is impossible for others to observe all that God is doing in our individual lives, except for that out-working of the Spirit of Holiness
Salation is absolutely FREE, with NO STRINGS ATTACHED. It requires ONLY that we CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD, asking Him to save our soul from what awaits after death. That is our STARTING POINT in our relationship with Him. BUT IT IS ONLY A STARTING POINT. There is much more to follow, and it can become difficult.
Luk 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
After a person has established a relationship with Jesus, he has become eligible to participate in the quest for the rank of SONSHIP, or citizenship in the KINGDOM OF GOD.
That can, and often does, entail “blood, sweat and tears”, for it strikes squarely at the root principle of our human lives—the very NATURE we were born with—the NATURE OF SON. (the axe is laid to the ROOT of the tree). It can be a quite violent process—causing great pain and anguish in our lives. The process is controlled entirely by the individual, in ratio to our co-operation with the Spirit of God. When He touches an aspect of our life, if we respond favorably, the process continues. One “NO” from us, and the process stops.
Several names are put on the process, such as “SONSHIP”, “MATURITY”, “OVERCOMING”, and others that I don’t think of right now. It invariably takes place within the inmost confines of the heart of the individual believer, and is observable ONLY by the resultant adjustment of the life.
It is WORTH STRIVING FOR. IT IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO BELIEVERS AFTER THEY have established a relationship with Jesus at the Cross, by His Blood and Mercy.
You can be a Christian (Salvation) WITHOUT progressing on to attain to the kingdom of god STATURE. But “WHY?.
It will be worth it all, in the end.!
Most of us think of a 1000 year dispensation when the Kingdom of God is mentioned. There is probably not too much wrong with that approach, except that it may notbe exactly correct.
Fact is, if we were to ask a hundred people about the Kingdom of God we would possibly get over 90 different explanations. That would be OK, for it is almost impossible for us to understand things of the Spirit with our natural minds.
Let’s look at a few scriptures that MIGHT help us to come to a better understanding of the subject.
When Jesus had a night visitor (Nicodemus) He cut the question short by saying : Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be BORN AGAIN, he cannot see the KINGDOM OF GOD.
Jesus used the word that is translated “from above” six times, as opposed to “born again” three times. Most of the translations I have used the term “from above”.
We have to remember that the Jewish religion was “Works-based”, which made it very difficult for a person to relate to a new method of approach to God and Salvation.
Jesus WAS introducing a new relationship to God, whether the people were ready for it or not. The history of the human race is that they have NEVER been ready for what the Lord was going to do. I seriously doubt that WE will be “ready” for what God will do the next time.
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Joh 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Joh 3:4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Let’s not be too hard on Nicodemus, for our LACK OF UNDERSTANDING may be as bad or worse than his was.
Joh 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
We have many good people today who preach and teach that Jesus was telling the ruler in Israel that he would have to be baptized in water and receive the Holy Ghost before he could be saved.
The name of that teaching is “WATER AND SPIRIT”.
That interpretation is fatally flawed because it has been MADE TO SAY something that it DOES NOT SAY.
Jesus told Nicodemus plainly what it meant, but many of us prefer to believe it the wrong way. It fits OUR DOCTRINE BETTER.
Joh 3:6 That which is BORN OF THE FLESH IS FLESH; AND THAT WHICH IS BORN OF THE SPIRIT IS SPIRIT.
Joh 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (from above)
Baptism in water has NOT been used to denote a birth, but it HAS BEEN likened to a burial. There is a BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO.
Rom 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
Col 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
I am NOT saying that Baptism in water has no place in our relationship to Jesus—simply denying that it is an integral part of making our initial contact with the Saviour.
Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
The two experiences are basically separate events. One can be pursuant to the other.
1Pe 3:21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
The Catholics, and maybe others, practice infant baptism to “drive the devil out” of the infant, because they have been “born in sin”. It is the doctrine known as BAPTISMAL REGENERATION. I reject it in all its forms.
If my understanding is correct, Jesus defined the nature of the New Birth in His conversation with Nicodemus.
It is identified more by its EFFECT than anything else.
Joh 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Sometimes, the most discernable effect of the Spirit Birth is the CHANGE that is wrought by its presence in the life of the believer… It is impossible for others to observe all that God is doing in our individual lives, except for that out-working of the Spirit of Holiness
Salation is absolutely FREE, with NO STRINGS ATTACHED. It requires ONLY that we CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD, asking Him to save our soul from what awaits after death. That is our STARTING POINT in our relationship with Him. BUT IT IS ONLY A STARTING POINT. There is much more to follow, and it can become difficult.
Luk 13:24 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
After a person has established a relationship with Jesus, he has become eligible to participate in the quest for the rank of SONSHIP, or citizenship in the KINGDOM OF GOD.
That can, and often does, entail “blood, sweat and tears”, for it strikes squarely at the root principle of our human lives—the very NATURE we were born with—the NATURE OF SON. (the axe is laid to the ROOT of the tree). It can be a quite violent process—causing great pain and anguish in our lives. The process is controlled entirely by the individual, in ratio to our co-operation with the Spirit of God. When He touches an aspect of our life, if we respond favorably, the process continues. One “NO” from us, and the process stops.
Several names are put on the process, such as “SONSHIP”, “MATURITY”, “OVERCOMING”, and others that I don’t think of right now. It invariably takes place within the inmost confines of the heart of the individual believer, and is observable ONLY by the resultant adjustment of the life.
It is WORTH STRIVING FOR. IT IS AVAILABLE ONLY TO BELIEVERS AFTER THEY have established a relationship with Jesus at the Cross, by His Blood and Mercy.
You can be a Christian (Salvation) WITHOUT progressing on to attain to the kingdom of god STATURE. But “WHY?.
It will be worth it all, in the end.!
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