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God’s Holidays-Part 1

“Jehovah, how do you want us to worship you?”

I asked God this question after thinking about all the different holidays people have around the world to celebrate our creator.  His answer?  “I already explained how I want to be worshiped.  It’s in the Bible.”

God showed us what he wanted for celebrations and worship through the nation of Israel.  There is deep meaning and symbolism in the festivals God put in place.  They were to remember good things that happened, have a fun time worshiping and celebrating, and had spiritual significance.

There are many festivals in the Bible.  I will only cover the three main festivals in this series.  (Exodus 23:14-17; 34:22-23; Deuteronomy 16:16; 2 Chronicles 8:13)  Jews now call them The Three Pilgrimage Festivals, in Hebrew, Shalosh Regalim (שלוש רגלים).  Jehovah asked everyone to go to Jerusalem to celebrate these three.  Some are celebrated in conjunction with other festivals.  I’ll list them together here.

  • The Festival of Unleavened Bread, Passover (Pesach)
  • The Festival of Weeks/Harvest, Pentecost (Shavuot)
  • The Festival of Tabernacles/Tents/Booths (Sukkot)

Let’s look at the original occasions when God established these three festivals, and see if they have meaning for us today.

In part one; we’ll discuss the first festival, Pesach.

Passover (Pesach) The Festival of Unleavened Bread

Jehovah told Abraham he would make his descendants into a nation to bless the whole earth, but he also prophesied they would be slaves for four hundred years. (Genesis 12:2-3; 15:13-14) On schedule, four hundred years after Israel had been enslaved by Egypt, Jehovah sent Moses to tell Pharaoh to let his people go.  God said, “I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 7:2-5)  What were these wonders?  The Ten Plagues.  Yes, you know the Ten Plagues from Exodus 7:14 – 12:40.  Jehovah brought them “out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror and with signs and wonders.” (Deuteronomy 26:8)

However, before the last plague, Jehovah did something different from the other plagues. He gave the Israelites instructions.  Exodus chapters 11 through 13 tell us what happened.  It was the first month of their year, Nisan (or Abib), in the spring.  He told the Israelites to pick a one-year-old, unblemished, male, lamb.  Then when Nisan 14 started at twilight (Israelite calendar days began at sundown instead of midnight), they were to kill the lamb.  The blood from the lamb was to be put on the two doorposts of the house where they would eat the lamb.  They had to roast it without breaking any of its bones, and eat it the same night with unleavened bread and bitter greens.  One more thing; they had to eat it fully dressed; even wearing their shoes.  God had them ready to go because this was the night he was going to set them free.

On that night, Nisan 14, an angel was sent throughout Egypt.  At midnight, he killed the firstborn of every family in Egypt, human and animal, that did not have the blood of the lamb on their doorpost. “The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 12:13)  That night, Pharaoh and the Egyptians told the Israelites to take all their things and go.  So they gathered up their dough, which didn’t have time to rise, and went out of Egypt.

Moses told the Israelites, “Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the Lord brought you out from this place. And nothing leavened shall be eaten.” (Exodus 13:3)  Every year on Nissan 10, the Israelites were to pick their one-year old, male lamb.  On Nissan 14, they were to slaughter it and roast it without breaking any bones.  Traditionally they slaughtered the lambs at the 9th hour of the day; that’s 3:00 PM our time.  This began Passover and the weeklong Festival of Unleavened Bread. They did not have any leaven the entire week to remember the way their ancestors were freed from slavery.

During Jesus’ last week, he went to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.  He entered the city on Nisan 10, and was greeted by a crowd. “Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him, and those who followed, were shouting, ‘Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!’” (Matthew 21:8-9)  All the city was stirred according to Matthew 21:10.  They might not have known it, but something of great spiritual significance was happening.  It was Nisan 10.  Israel was choosing the eternal Passover sacrifice.

“Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching. … Then came the first day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. … When the hour had come, He (Jesus) reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. And He said to them, ‘I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer;’ … And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’  And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.’”  (Luke 22:1, 7, 14-15, 19-20)

After his last supper, Jesus was taken into custody.  The next day was still Nisan 14 (until sundown).  “It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit  my spirit.’” (Luke 23:44-46)  Jesus gave up his life at the 9th hour.  That is the same the time the nation traditionally sacrificed their Passover lambs.  Even though those crucified with Jesus had their legs broken, none of Jesus’ bones were broken. (John 19:33) Jesus fulfilled Passover by being our blameless, sacrificial lamb.  Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” “with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless.” (John 1:29, 1 Peter 1:19)

Passover is about freedom from slavery.  Israel was physically enslaved to Egypt.  All of humanity was enslaved to sin.  We are all born in sin with no way out.  When our perfect messiah was killed as our sacrifice, he freed us from this bondage.  Romans 3:23-25 explains, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed.”

The purpose of Jesus being born on Earth was “to give His life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28)  If we believe in the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins, the blood of Jesus, our lamb, is applied to our lives.  God passes over our sins because we have been redeemed.  We are saved by the blood of Jesus, just as the Israelites were saved by the blood of the lamb.  Jesus is our sacrificial lamb.  “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

Jesus used leaven to represent sin in some of his illustrations. (Matthew 16:6)  Paul talks about Jesus cleansing us of sin in relation to the festival of Unleavened Bread in 1 Corinthians 5:7-8. He says, “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed. Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.”

“For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.” (Hebrews 10:1)  The Old Testament was a shadow.  Jesus is what casts the shadow.  He is the “form” or source of the shadow.  We needed a sacrifice to redeem us from sin.  The shadow was the animal sacrifices.  Now we do not have to give animal sacrifices for forgiveness of sins because the real sacrifice has been slain.  “Not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:12)  During the Festival of Unleavened Bread, we honor and glorify “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” because of what he did for us. (John 1:29)

In 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, Paul was talking to Christians when he said, “let us celebrate the feast.”  They were still celebrating this festival in the New Testament, and it says to us, “let us celebrate the feast.”

During our Lord’s Last Supper, Jesus instituted a new covenant with his followers.  In Matthew 26:28 Jesus said, “this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”  Earlier in his ministry Jesus said, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:54)  When Jesus did this, it was at Passover.  He was not starting something brand new that Christians were supposed to start doing.  He was completing Passover, and the purpose of the festival.  Jesus himself said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” (Matthew 5:17)

“For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’  In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in of Me.’  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)  “This bread” and “the cup” were the unleavened bread and the wine of Passover.  We are to use them to remember Jesus until he comes.

The celebration of Lord’s Last Supper is a celebration of the fulfillment of Passover. The full meaning of the holiday was given by the messiah, Jesus.  He died as the final Passover lamb, and freed us from slavery to sin.  “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2)  It is not just a Jewish holiday.  It is a world holiday; a celebration of freedom from the bondage of sin.  So “let us celebrate the feast.”

Through the centuries, the Jews have added meaningful customs and traditions to what was given in the law.  I think their traditions are fine, but I personally do not blindly follow what the Jews do today.  Examine the scriptures and follow what is necessary.  Some may celebrate with only unleavened bread and wine, some may have a full Seder meal.  Please pray and use your own judgment.

I believe the Lord’s Last Supper should be celebrated on the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.  Nisan 14 was originally always on the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.  Now the Jewish calendar is based on astronomical time instead of counting from new moon to new moon as directed in the Bible.  The current calendar dates are not always accurate.  You can look up the dates of the Spring Equinox, and the full moons over Jerusalem on the internet.  Happy Pesach!

 

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Can You Be Born Again?

I saw the heavens.  The entire existence of the heavenly kingdom was before me. I could not see it in detail, but I knew this was the dwelling place of God.  All the things described in the Bible, Revelations, Ezekiel, the throne of God, and all the heavenly hosts were there. It appeared to me in a massive misty cloud. Everyone was rejoicing in their activities in the beautiful, bustling Heavens.

Then I saw God’s hand. It was a huge hand that came from outside the heavens, and reached into the heavens.  He reached into the underside of the heavens where all I could see was a haze.  He grabbed a large handful and pulled out. When his hand turned over and opened, there the universe appeared in all of its splendor and expanded out of his hand. All the stars and galaxies, every constellation, and all of known creation now existed in beautiful wonder.

Next I saw Adam, the first man created in Genesis, our forefather, in the Garden of Eden.  I saw God’s hand again.  His hand reached into the side of Adam and pulled out part of Adam.  When his hand turned over and opened, there was a woman, Eve.  She was beautiful and feminine.

I saw that Eve had seeds in her; eggs we call them.  They were small, plain, round spheres.  There was a huge crowd of seeds multiplying from where Eve was. There were so many they went out into all the earth.  Some of these seeds gathered together and went to war against one another in the form of large armies.  Some moved around the earth and cultivated it.

While the seeds were on the earth, I saw what I would call a reservoir in heaven of something similar to the fleshly, earthly seeds.  The ones in Heaven were made of spirit instead of flesh.  They were floaty little wisps and were more shaped like teardrops.  I saw God move some of these teardrop seeds down to earth and they each went into a round seed.  When a spirit seed joined with a physical seed, they combined and suddenly looked like a person.  They were no longer just seeds.  I started to see happy people about God’s business on earth.

 

Heavenly Father, please tell me what this vision means, and confirm through your scriptures so I can share with others what you have shared with me.

 

God showed me that Eve being created from Adam, was like the natural or physical realm being created from the heavenly realm.  The same way woman was pulled out of man into existence, the physical world was pulled out of the spiritual into existence.  In this vision, God pulled the physical realm out of the spiritual realm just like he pulled the woman Eve from Adam’s side.  Hebrews 11:3 says this, “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.”

In the Bible, angelic creatures, or any heavenly beings for that matter, are always referred to as masculine.  Earthly things are often referred to in the feminine.  This vision likewise shows the spiritual realm represented by man, and the physical realm represented by woman.  The spiritual is masculine, and the physical is feminine. 

Reproduction takes place in the female.  The Bible says we have seeds.  It talks about the woman’s seed, and men’s seeds.  Examples are in Genesis 3:15, and Genesis 22:17 where God speaks of Eve’s seed as “her seed”, and talks about Abraham’s seed.  The masculine seed fertilizes the feminine seed to reproduce.  Men use their seed to fertilize women’s seeds, just like other animals and plants on earth.   The female receives the seed of the male and new life is created.  The female carries the child and nurtures it.  The female is the one who carries out the reproduction.

Since the physical realm is the feminine realm, we see reproduction taking place only in the physical.  The physical realm reproduces and has children, but the spiritual realm does not.  There is no reproduction in heaven.  Matthew 22:30 says, “For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.”  Marriage was created for reproduction.  When Jehovah created Eve, “God blessed them; and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it.’” (Genesis 1:28)  The feminine, physical realm is the one that brings forth new life.  Even microscopic organisms reproduce here.

Once, God told my husband, Marques, that Satan was jealous of humans because humans can reproduce.  We see evidence that some angels were jealous or wanted to mate because they “fell” and took women as wives and produced children with them.  The fallen angels all came as men, of course.  They were the masculine in the relationship, and took women as wives.

“Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”  (Genesis 6:1-2, 4)

When the Bible describes the earth’s relationship to God, earthly things are described in a feminine role.  In fact, Jehovah calls the nation of Israel his wife.  The covenant agreement between the nation of Israel and Jehovah is like a marriage agreement.  Worship is their relationship.  God says he is jealous over Israel, and they are not to worship other gods or it is considered adultery.  Even worshiping idols of wood and stone was adultery.  Their history, as recorded in the Bible, even shows a brief divorce after Israel “cheated” on Jehovah with other gods.

“For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the Lord of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.” (Isaiah 54:5)

“Go and proclaim in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord , “I remember concerning you the devotion of your youth, The love of your betrothals, Your following after Me in the wilderness, Through a land not sown.” (Jeremiah 2:2)

“I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, In lovingkindness and in compassion, And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the Lord.” (Hosea 2:19-20)

“Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 31:32)

“For they provoked Him with their high places And aroused His jealousy with their graven images.”  (Psalms 78:58)

“And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also.  Because of the lightness of her harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees.” (Jeremiah 3:8-9)

Jehovah loved Israel and protected her as his wife.  “For he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.” (Zechariah 2:8)  He formed Israel for himself from a barren couple, Abraham and Sarah.  There would have never been a child born to this couple unless Jehovah stepped in and performed a miracle.  The purpose of this relationship or marriage was to bring forth a savior for the world.  The first prophecy of the Bible was about a savior, a seed, in Genesis 3:15 where he says, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.”  When he chose Abraham to bring forth the Savior, he talked about “seed” again in Genesis 22:18.  “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

In reference to this vision, the Savior is the seed or child of God and his wife Israel.  Jesus’ birth was the purpose of their covenant relationship or marriage.  There was no reason to use Abraham and Sarah except to bring forth this promised seed.  There was no need to betroth Israel except to bring forth this promised seed.  Jesus was the reason for the marriage.

Revelation talks about Israel as a woman who had a child.  The child was Jesus. We know he was to rule all nations through God’s heavenly kingdom.

“A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; and she was with child; and she cried out, being in labor and in pain to give birth. … And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; and her child was caught up to God and to His throne. … So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 12:1-2, 5, 17)

If Jesus was the promised seed, the reason for Israel coming into existence, then who are “the rest of her children,” mentioned in verse 17?  The scripture gives the answer.  It is those “who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”  Those who hold to the testimony of Jesus are his followers.  Today we call them Christians.  The nation of Israel is referred to as a woman in the Bible, and Jesus and Christianity are her children.  We were birthed from the Israelite marriage to God.  We are children of the Jewish religion.  The Israelite/Jewish nation is the foundation of Christianity.  Christianity is based upon Judaism.  We are the children of mother Israel, the wife of God.  We are their offspring.

In the vision, I saw the physical earth, and I saw little round seeds or eggs start to appear and multiply on the earth.  I remembered that all the woman’s eggs are with her at birth.  She carries them around until she becomes of age where she is able to reproduce.  The eggs are released once a month during her menstrual cycle.  Each egg could become a person if fertilized.  If it is not fertilized and leaves the woman’s body still an egg, she does not mourn it.  It is a natural and normal occurrence for women.  If they are not fertilized, these eggs are never given life to live as humans, even though they were alive as human eggs.  They exist as eggs until their exit.  If they are fertilized to create new life with the seed of a man, it is a joyous occasion that everyone celebrates.

In this vision, the round eggs I saw were people.  They were multiplying and populating the earth.  Although these were humans and were alive, they were not fertilized.  When they died, they left the earth like a woman’s eggs leave during a menstrual cycle.  These people were unfertilized.  God loved each and every person, and wanted everyone to be fertilized, but they were only seeds.

When we are born as humans, we have a spirit.  (Psalms 104:29-30)  This vision shows us, humans, as the female’s unfertilized seeds.  The teardrop shaped spirit seeds were the masculine seed from heaven.  Heavenly seed came down and fertilized the human seeds.  Together they became something more.  They appeared to be a person instead of a seed.  “Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, ‘The two shall become one flesh.’  But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” (1 Corinthians 6:16-17)

When a man’s seed fertilizes the seed or egg of a woman, the seeds combine to form a new being.  The new being that is born is a combination of the two parents.  When the seed of the feminine physical realm, combines with the seed of the masculine spirit of God, they combine to form a new being.  The new being that is born is a combination of the two parents.  What is created belongs to both the physical and spiritual realms.  The physical seeds were born into the physical realm.  We are the seeds; born as humans.  When our spirit receives God’s spirit, we are born again into the spiritual realm, the kingdom of God.

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.’  Nicodemus said to Him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?’  Jesus answered, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.'” (John 3:3-7)

“For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” (1 Peter 1:23)

“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)

“And put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” (Ephesians 4:24)

“And that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;  it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” (1 Corinthians 15:37-44)

We are already God’s children because he created us.  When we allow God’s Holy Spirit to fill us, he releases his masculine reproductive spirit into us.  His spirit “fertilizes” our spirit.  Our spirits join and create a new, living spirit.  A totally new spirit being is born when the spirit of God joins and fertilizes the spirit of humans.  Apostle Paul said he was made new.  That’s why the Bible calls it being born again.  Our first birth is a physical creation.  Our mother’s physical egg is fertilized and our physical bodies are created.  Our second birth is is where our life is fertilized by God’s Holy Spirit and a new spiritual being is created.  “Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)

When we say we have God’s spirit in us, it doesn’t mean there is some piece of God that is separate from us hanging around inside of us.  The same way I have my father’s blood running through my veins, I have God’s spirit within me.  I am alive because my natural father’s DNA mixed with my mother’s and created me.  Their mixture of DNA made me.  Our heavenly father’s spirit mixes with our human lives, and makes us new.  We are newly created beings.  Yes, his Holy Spirit is with us, but it is more than that.  We are a reproduction of the physical and spiritual realms.  We are new and unique creations.

I have asked God how he could know us from the foundation of the world.  “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”  (Romans 8:29)  Many things happen throughout history that were against his will that in time led to us being born when we were.  He told me it was not my physical self that he knew from the foundation of the world, was my spiritual self that he knew.  He creates our spiritual beings when we are born again.  He knew who would be created.  He knew from the beginning of creation.

“According to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:2-4)

“Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, … the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:3-5,10-14)

Another thing I wondered about were the nations destroyed the Old Testament.  I know God loves all humans.  2 Peter 3:9 says, “The Lord … is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”  However, he commanded the Israelites to destroy other nations.  From this vision, it seems people who are not born again into the kingdom of heaven, are just unfertilized seed in relation to the kingdom of heaven.  They are natural people, but not spiritual.  They have a spirit, but it is unfertilized.  Their spirit never formed into a spirit being.  Once you are born into the kingdom of heaven, you are alive in a new way.

When we are born again, it doesn’t just mean we’re saved.  We are a new creature that has never existed before.  Jesus was called the first born.  He was the first of what we are meant to be.  We’re not just sons because we have accepted his promise.  We are literally his son’s because we were born of his spirit.  So we are heirs to the throne, siblings of Jesus, and have all the rights of any other son of Heaven. (Romans 8:16-17)  Many Bible translations use the word “adoption” in the verses on this subject.  The original Greek means to place as a son or make a son.  The best English word for this is “adopt,” but we are not adopted in the sense that he is not our real father.  We, that is our spirits, are newly born as his real children.

“However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption [or a spirit that makes us] as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” (Romans 8:9, 14-17) Bracketed text was added.

“For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption [or to be made] as sons, the redemption of our body.” (Romans 8:22, 23) Bracketed text was added.

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”  (John 14:18)

Jesus said we must be baptized with water and spirit to enter the kingdom of heaven.  (John 3:3)  If we are not baptized or filled by holy spirit, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.  He did not say this as a threat, or to be exclusive.  This was a warning or a plea. We must be spirit beings to enter the spiritual kingdom.  We cannot enter as unfertilized seed.  We MUST be born again.  “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” (1 Corinthians 15:50)

If you are not sure if you have been “fertilized” by the spirit of God.  All you have to do is ask him to do so.  Ask him to fill you with his spirit.  You will become a son or daughter of God.  It will transform your life, and you can experience what Paul describes as being a “new creature.”  God’s children have blessings uncountable.  If you have any doubt, ask for his spirit and he will meet with you.  It is not something you can lose, or undo.  You can’t be unborn in the natural, and you can’t be unborn in the spirit.

“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  … If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:9, 13)

I pray that we all continue to search and seek after God all the days of our lives.  I pray that God surprises us with the marvelous blessings he has in store for us.  I pray that we spread the kingdom message and that everyone may be “fertilized” by God’s spirit and be born again.  We don’t want anyone to pass on as just a human seed.  Let’s follow Christ’s command, and spread the good news unashamed.

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'” (Matthew 28:18-20)

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The Gushing of the Gashing

Just the other week, I had been around people with bad colds. I applied my faith to knowing that illness is just a lie from the devil, and didn’t worry about catching anything. See “Why Do We Get Sick?” I felt a few little fake symptoms. I sneezed, started getting a sore throat, etc. The symptoms were very slight and I could tell it was just the enemy trying to get me to believe I was catching the cold. I almost believed it and almost forgot to fight against it, but then sanity kicked in and I started speaking against it. I said out loud, “I’m not getting sick. I know this is a lie from the kingdom of darkness. I bind every spirit of infirmity. I know I’m healed by the blood of Jesus.”

Did I feel better? No, I started feeling worse. This happens a lot. When sickness tries to sneak its way in and I really put my faith to work not to believe it, I get attacked with a barrage of symptoms. It’s like the devil sees he’s losing the battle and just starts hurling everything at me to see if something sticks. My stomach started hurting. I felt slight nausea, slight feeling of diarrhea, migraine headache, body aches, fatigue, etc. None of these symptoms has anything to do with the cold. That’s how you know it was just a lie. I almost couldn’t get my things together to go home from work. That evening at home I didn’t feel any better. I took a nap.

When I woke up, I realized that this is the same attack that happens almost every time. This is still just the enemy. I AM HEALED. Despite how horrible I felt, I knew I was healed and was not going to accept any lie from the devil. I went to the bathroom and was just fed up with it. I started speaking to the devil and was telling him that I was not going to believe his lies, to stop trying to attack me, I do not believe him, etc. Then I realized I was addressing my comments directly to Satan. I don’t do that. I don’t talk to any evil spirits, because I do not want them talking back to me. I speak against them, but I do not act like I’m carrying on a conversation, even if I am denouncing actions. In the middle of me telling him I was not sick, I stopped addressing him. Instead of saying, “I am not sick,” I pointed upward to my heavenly father and asked, “Am I sick?”

Like a parent rushing to defend a child, I felt the magnificence of God standing over me. With a mighty response he replied to Satan for me, “No! She is healed by the …” What he said next, is not translatable into English. What I saw when he spoke the next word was the skin and muscles on Jesus’ back being gashed open as he took the stripes for me. Blood spirted out as his back was ripped open. The word described the act of the blood gushing out as he was gashed when he was beaten just before he died. The best translation I have is “the gushing of the gashing.” We don’t have a word that encompasses all that he said. I asked him what the word was, and he responded as if I would not be able to repeat it.

The next morning I felt better that I do on any normal morning. No sickness, no symptoms of anything, just healed. Thank you father for coming to my rescue!

We do not understand all that Jesus did for us. We cannot even say the words that describe it. Who are we to have received such a gift, such a privilege, such an honor, such a sacrifice as Jesus? Jesus, I am determined not to let your sacrifice go in vain on my account.

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The Submissive Ones

I was freed when I had this revelation.  It all started with a conversation with my mom.  We were talking about my son.  He’s only a few months old, and is all about beating, tearing and ripping everything apart.  She said I was nothing like that.  Although I was tomboyish, I was very nurturing at his age.  Girls must be naturally more loving and nurturing.  No one taught me to be gentle and caring.  No one taught him to see how strong he was against everything he can hold.  That must be a part of nature.

From that one conversation I went on a mental journey thinking different things about boys and girls.  I ended up at the scriptures that tell wives to be in submission to their husbands.  Many women cringe at those scriptures.  You know the Bible tells both husbands and wives to be in submission to each other.  “Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21)  So why are there separate scriptures pointing to women specifically?  Let’s read them.

Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.  Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.

~ Colossians 3:18-19

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord.  For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.  But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, … Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must  see to it  that she respects her husband.

~ Ephesians 5:22-25, 33

What did it tell these scriptures tell the husbands to do?  It told them to love their wives.  Who loves others more easily, men or women?  Women.  Just like my mom comparing me as an infant to my son, girls are the loving, nurturing, caring ones.  So that’s why the Apostle Paul tells men to love their wives.  This is not what comes naturally to them.  They need to be reminded of this, because they could let that slip.  So that means, what he tells the wives is NOT what comes naturally to THEM.  He tells wives to submit.  We are not the naturally submissive ones!  What?!

Think about it.  When a new couple gets married, who chooses the wedding colors?  The bride.  Why?  If you ask the groom what colors, styles, etc. he usually answers, “Whatever you want, honey, as long as you’re happy.”  When they go out to eat, and the wife asks the husband where he wants to go, he normally says something like, “It doesn’t matter, where ever you want to go.”  Not always, but many times the wife names the kids, decorates the house, plans dinners, entertainment for the family, etc.  Husbands easily yield these decisions over to their wives.  Wives don’t yield, or submit so easily.  We’re the ones that have a problem with submission.  It is not that we are supposed to submit more than the husbands, we just have a problem with it!

I was so freed when I understood this.  My whole life I thought it was supposed to be my nature to submit because I was a girl.  I struggled with trying to be submissive because that was becoming for a woman.  I felt guilty because it was not easy.  It’s not supposed to be easy!  Yes, we need to work on being submissive in all things, but I shouldn’t feel guilty when it is not easy.  It’s easier for men to submit than for women.  We need the reminder because we can let that slip.

Be free ladies.  Submission is something for you to work on like all other things, not something that comes natural.

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How much can you bear?

Have you ever been struggling with something and heard, “He’ll never give you more than you can bear?”  If that’s true, you think to yourself, “I must be able to handle this.”  Then you try to pull it together to get through that tough situation in your life.  That quote gives you confidence that you can do it.  You should be able to handle any problem that comes your way, because God is letting you go through it, right?

If you still felt discouraged after hearing that quote, and wished God wouldn’t think you could handle so much, take courage.  That’s not what the Bible says.  The first part is misquoted, and people never get to the end of the verse.  The full message of 1 Corinthians 10:13,

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.

(Underline added)

The point of the scripture is that he will provide a way out.  He is the way out.  We are supposed to always rely on God for everything.  He is the rock, the way of escape, our refuge, the one who directs our steps, the light to our path. (Psalm 18:2, Psalm 91:2, Jeremiah 10:23, Psalm 119:105) We were made to rely on him because it is all too much for us to bear alone.

I think our enemy twisted the words of that verse to separate us from our father. When we go through a tough time, we are supposed to look to God.  Psalms 55:22 and 1 Peter 5:7 tell us to cast all our cares on God.

Thank you Jehovah for being my refuge.  Thank you for remembering that I am mere dust.  I will lean on you instead of my own understanding.  You are my way of escape from any problem.  You are my answer.  I cannot bear anything alone.  With you, I can bear all things.

 

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Why do we get sick?

If Jesus heals, why do Christians get sick?

 

and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.

~ 1 Peter 2:24

Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

~ Isaiah 53:4-5

When Jesus was on earth he healed everyone he met.  We are supposed to be his body, doing more than he did.  At the least, I would expect his “body,” Christians, to be healed if they’re not healing everyone else like he did.  I was sitting in my room thinking about Christians I knew.  So many of us are sick.  We get colds, the flu, have allergies, high blood pressure, paralysis, cancer, etc.  The scripture said we ARE healed.  Not were, not will be, are.  That’s not what I see.

I asked Jehovah, “If the Bible says we are healed, why are we sick?”  He answered my question, with a question:

 Which one is the lie?

Continue reading “Why do we get sick?”

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The Fisherman

I was confessing to God in prayer that I didn’t want to rely on him for my food and clothing as the scriptures tell us to.  I said to him, “I don’t want to rely on you for my food and for my needs!  I don’t want to be in need, I don’t want to feel like I’m dependent.  I want to be able to provide for myself.  I want to feel certain that I will have what I need, and being dependent means being uncertain and needy.”

I could hear the voice of the Lord in my spirit speak to me.  He asked me a simple question.  “Why would you rather rely on the thing created rather than the one who created it?  Why are you more comfortable possessing a cow than possessing the one who created and owns all the cows?”

He said to me:  “You feel this way because you do not understand the degree that you are depending on me at all times.  You are always dependent on me.  ‘What do you have that you did not receive?  Why then do you boast as if you did not receive.’  ‘Unless Jehovah Himself builds the house, it is in vain that the workers have worked all day.’  Without my aid, you would have nothing.”

I felt that I understood what God was saying; a spirit of joy and gratefulness filled me.  I said, “Father, I understand what you are telling me.  Can you give me an illustration or a story to tell what I have just learned.

He said:  “It is like a family who is taken care of by a wise fisherman.  Every year the fisherman would visit the family and bring a year’s worth of fish in a very sophisticated ice box.  Each day the box would thaw a day’s worth of fish for the family.   Well, before the year was over the fisherman would come and bring the family another year’s supply of fish so that the family was always well taken care of.

At the end of one year the fisherman told the family, “From this point forward I will bring you fish every six months.”  This made the family a bit more uncomfortable, because they were more dependent upon the fisherman.  However, just as the fisherman was faithful to come every year, he came every six months faithfully.  However, after some time the fisherman said to the family, “I will now come once a month.”

This made the family very worried.  After all they had nothing worthwhile to give to the fisherman.  Perhaps it would be too much of a hassle for him to come monthly.  Perhaps he would forget about them.

After a few years of coming once a month the fisherman informed them he would only come once a week.  The family became very nervous.  They begin to wonder if it would be better for them to have backup plan just in case the fisherman didn’t come.  However before they could put any plans into action the fisherman told them he would now bring them food only once a day.

Finally this was too much for the family, and they told the fisherman about their worries.  They told him they appreciated all he had done for them for so many years, but they were afraid to rely on him for food.  What if he forgot about them, or became angry with them, or if he ran out of fish at some point.  They were afraid to rely on him on a day to day basis.

At this point in the story God spoke to me saying, “The concerns of the family may seem to make sense until they learned the truth about the fisherman.  First they needed to know that the fisherman bringing them food is immortal, he will never die.  He was the one who seeded those waters with fish before the family was ever there.  He put the fish there for the purpose of feeding the family.  He had many lifetimes of fish stored up for the family and on any day that he went fishing he could catch more fish than they could eat in a month.  Most importantly they should understand that the first box that contained a year’s supply of fish required him to check it remotely every hour in order to work properly.  They should know that all the years they felt comfortable relying on the box of fish, they were really relying on the fisherman.  They were always dependent on him, only now they were more aware of the truth.”

After receiving the illustration I marveled.  God finished with this:

I love my children more than anything! I showed this with the ransom of my Son.  The ransom proves my love for you.  When you put faith in my love for you, you will not be afraid to rely on my love for you.  Put absolute faith in my ransom, thus put absolute faith in my love for you, then you will have faith to rely on me for everything you need.

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Talk about God as if he is real, because he is!

I was frustrated one day about people not believing in God.  He does so many miraculous things all the time, including having in-depth relationships with his people.  How is it that people we see every day don’t know him?  Why doesn’t the unbelieving guy in the next cubicle know about God healing your aunt, delivering your friend, warning you about the accident so you would go home another way?  God showed me that if Christians talk about their relationship with him at all, it is normally only with other believing Christians.  Some of us don’t even do that.  We don’t talk about him to unbelievers because they wouldn’t understand, or they would think that was strange.

People don’t desire a relationship with God, and don’t even believe he exists because his children don’t talk about him.  He told me directly, “Talk about me like I’m real, because I am.”  Talk about what God said to you last night.  Talk about what he did last week.  Talk about what you plan to discuss with him tonight.  Be a witness to what he is doing.  If he is your father, your best friend, the wonderful God you say he is, then he should be a big part of your life and what you talk about all the time.  Talking about him like a real person you see every day will only encourage believers, and witness to unbelievers.

Talk about God as if he is real, because he is!

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Water and Lightening

One night, I had a visions as I was praying.  I saw a rushing flow of water coming from God’s hands like a waterfall.  His hands were pouring the water out on the earth as they moved to and fro. I realized his hands were coming towards me.  I knew I was about to be overwhelmed by this waterfall when he told me to hold my arms away from my body pointing downwards.  The water rushed over me and flowed out in the direction of my arms.  My arms directed the water as if they were the mouth to a pitcher.  I could turn to the right or to the left and move my arms to control where the water flowed.

God’s hands remained over me pouring this rushing rapid of a waterfall.  As I walked and moved, I could control where the water went around me.  It seemed like I was walking the path of my life.  The water nourished everything it touched.  Because it was pouring over and around me, lush green grass and flowers grew everywhere I walked.  It reminded me of the leaky, bucket story.

I was told to bend my arms inward.  This stopped the water from flowing freely through me.  It backed up and went back into the river coming from God.  When the water stopped flowing through me, he moved away from me and poured his water somewhere else.  There was a little water pooling over me because I was still in a shallow part of the river, but it almost became still.  I was told to open my arms back up.  The water began to slowly flow over me again, then gradually began to rush causing a wide and mighty rapid.

Then I looked back to where I first saw the water coming.  There God was coming again, but this time with lightening.  I was firmly directed to make sure I kept my hands out and to the sides like I did with the water.  The lightening came and flowed through me like the water had before.  It was like I was a lightening rod.  I could see the streaks of light flowing out from me and streaking everywhere.

Continue reading “Water and Lightening”