Tag: spiritual

2025- What’s Your Word Heading into this Year?

Continuing this “Tradition” that started a few years ago (in 2022) with a group of friends via a Bible Study, I’ll add my word for 2025 and add to my prior year’s words:

2025 Word: rûaḥ, רוּחַ (Hebrew)

I love what this word represents to me: “wind,” the freedom in Christ, when a person is guided by the Holy Spirit, we truly don’t know what comes next; it is the Holy Spirit who guides us:

“The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8

I don’t know what lies ahead, but knowing that the Holy Spirit will guide me is a true blessing and also promises somewhat of an adventure: navigating the unknown.

I found this word studying the Old Testament, it’s found (378 times– click this for the definition and all the verses) throughout the Old Testament (From Genesis to Malachi) and is the Breath of Life, the Holy Spirit, the “wind” from God. The New Testament word corresponding to this is pneuma (Strongs G4151). The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead can reside within us, when we surrender our will to God’s will.

This year ahead, I truly want to be led by the Holy Spirit, submitting to God’s will. And starting off this year, as it frequently seems to happen with me: “coincidences occur” – I have been praying for God (the Holy Spirit) to guide me for awhile now, since 2017 and it’s been a slow but steady “spiritually refining” process thinking about this in hindsight and knowing that there’s still more work to be done within me, but progress is happening, thankfully. My life has been changing. I chose this word for 2025 and ironically on New Year’s Eve, someone asked me: “What are your goals for 2025?” My response was “Ruah” and then I had to explain that. I think God makes these things happen! The person who asked me this question was someone I didn’t know, but he told me, he had recently given his life to Christ! Wow was my reaction to finding that out! Then another study group I joined in the Fall of 2024 chose “The Fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5) as the first study for 2025. See what I mean? God makes things happen, it’s not a coincidence and this is just the beginning, the first month of 2025!

These were my words for prior years:

2024 Word: Love

What gets thrown at us in life and happens in this world can make “doing everything out of love” challenging, but this is important for those who claim to be Christians. I’ll be honest, I feel like 2024 may be a rough year ahead. It would be wonderful if I’m wrong, and I hope I am! But if these bible prophecy events keep moving forward like they have been, that’s going to be the reality; we’re not going to stop what God has foretold. I also know that what we focus on becomes our reality so my focus this year is love. I wish I could fast forward and get to the end of this year right now, honestly if I could fast forward to 2026 that would be even better!

In hindsight: 2024 was a year of more change (which is rough): letting go of more in my life, turning it over to God and finding joy in new beginnings, evaluating what is “good” and how I need to spend my time and truly focusing on being loving towards others. “Do everything in love.“ 1 Corinthians 16:14.

In regards to Bible prophecy: current events still seem to be lining up with biblical prophecy, but maybe they have for sometime and I simply was unaware prior to 2020? Again, whatever is God’s will, will happen, so the most important part is to be led by the Holy Spirit, which maybe why I chose “Ruah” for 2025?

2023 Words: Trust and Obey

Many things in life “don’t make sense” to us, so this is when I need to “Trust and Obey” God. Ironically this was the first faith post I made: Trust and Obey –  I struggled/still struggle with this sometimes, but it’s getting easier! I guess God is making sure I comprehend this, because those words came back to me from 2017- 6 years later! Now, I trust God always, despite the circumstances, I know how it all will ultimately end, so I have peace in knowing what life holds in the future. We just need to get through the “tests and trials” until then. Often when I choose to obey (especially when I don’t want to), some “reward” seems to happen afterwards. I thank God for that when it happens because it is encouraging.

2022 Word: Joy

After the experiences of the prior years, I wanted Joy! I chose the word: ”Joy.” Looking back, God brought joy into my life through a supportive, Christ focused group of friends from this new Bible Study group that I unexpectedly joined in October of 2021. I think God may have had something to do with that too. I continued exploring God’s word through scripture and how it relates to living life (posts 39- 66). I often was inspired to write in the morning just as I wake up from a thought that didn’t seem to leave or from a prior conversation I had with someone. As much as I wanted “joy” to be my entire focus, I couldn’t ignore what I found through Bible Prophecy and it, weighed heavily on me. Too many world events were/are lining up with Bible Prophecy and many people (just like me) didn’t even have this “on the radar.” I didn’t come from a religion that focused on this, so this was all new to me, I only discovered it after reading the Bible. This is why it is so important to know what’s in the Bible: so we’re not blindsided by reality when it happens. There is nothing to fear (if we are “spiritually” prepared in advance- meaning “born again”).

2021 Word: Death

Even though I didn’t have a word for this year, in hindsight, this reflected reality: my 14 month old nephew suddenly died, the mother of my son’s best friend died suddenly, and my dog suddenly died within a span of 4 months. Not only that, but the closest person to me unexpectedly rejected me in a humiliating public way at the time when I needed support the most. (When it rains, it pours!) But only days later, I was asked to go with a friend to this Bible Study group (See what I mean? No coincidences, God provides.) It was a tough year. All the death made me question, what happens after death, for real? I realized I didn’t have a clear biblically based understanding- only what I had been told throughout life. I plan to write about this later because I think others might have this question too. Ironically- in hindsight, after all this “death” surrounded me, late summer when I was on my phone an email came through with something to the effect of “last notice to sign up for baptism”- I felt like it was time I committed and did this, so I signed up and was Baptized on September 12, 2021. Baptism is symbolic of the death of our sinful past and rebirth, a new life, “born again”- it was both symbolic and literal for me. I wrote (posts 22 – 38) during this year. I didn’t post about the dreams I started having the night of my Baptism, I was confused by them at the beginning, but the “name of Jesus” was featured heavily and sometimes verses from scripture and the dreams involved various people in my life: friends, family and former business colleagues. I know there is significance to these specific dreams because I would see something specific from my dream, that day, weeks or months later as I was going about the day- completely unexpected when it would occur, but I would immediately recall: I dreamt that! It still continues but I often don’t have the understanding of the symbolism until I see it happen. It’s hard to explain this to anyone, unless you experience this, you won’t understand, but it heavily contributed to the faith and belief I have in Jesus. Even though my word for 2021 would have been Death, it was changed to Life. Death is no longer permanent because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, death is a transition, a going to sleep because those who believe and turn away from sin will be changed and become immortal when Jesus returns. Jesus said that unless we are “born again” we will not see the kingdom of God. (John Chapter 3)

2020 Words: ”Wake Up”

2020 was a year of isolation for most of us in the world, and as a result, I had more time to explore the Bible. I had so many questions about life, I was seeking TRUTH, in January 2020, I wrote about Love, but abruptly by March 2020, I felt we were experiencing a “Wake Up Call” from God, collectively as the world, but also personally in my life, I reflected on many aspects of life this year (Posts #10-21) but what impacted me most was Bible Prophecy: facing judgement and end times/the last days prophecies.

2019 Words: ”Being Called” (Making God my Priority)

2019 was the year I decided to make God my priority (my last summary post for 2019) after reading the Bible for the first time. I didn’t have “a word” for that year but looking back, it would have been: “Being Called” – this was my 3rd “faith” related post on this website: see “Being Called” link in August 2019. 

I pray for all who read or share this with someone they care about: May God’s love for you be known and may you be led by the Holy Spirit this year! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

by Categories: bible prophecy, bible study, FAITH, FAMILY, Following Passions, FRIENDSHIP, GOALS, God, HAPPINESS, Healing, Improvement, Letting Go, Love, Make It Count, Parents, prayer, priorities, RELATIONSHIPS, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

2024- What’s Your Word Heading into this Year?

This “Tradition” started a couple years ago (in 2022) with a group of friends from a Bible Study group I unexpectedly joined in October 2021. I say “unexpectedly” because I wasn’t looking for a group to join, I only went to be supportive of a friend who wanted to check it out, at the last minute one evening. So I went and ended up joining the group. Reflecting on this and knowing who God is, this wasn’t a coincidence; I needed this in my life.

2019 Words: ”Being Called” (Making God my Priority)

2019 was the year I decided to make God my priority (my last summary post for 2019) after reading the Bible for the first time. I didn’t have “a word” for that year but looking back, it would have been: “Being Called” – this was my 3rd “faith” related post on this website: see “Being Called” link in August 2019. 

2020 Words: ”Wake Up”

2020 was a year of isolation for most of us in the world, and as a result, I had more time to explore the Bible. I had so many questions about life, I was seeking TRUTH, in January 2020, I wrote about Love, but abruptly by March 2020, I felt we were experiencing a “Wake Up Call” from God, collectively as the world, but also personally in my life, I reflected on many aspects of life this year (Posts #10-21) but what impacted me most was Bible Prophecy: facing judgement and end times/the last days prophecies.

2021 Word: Death

Even though I didn’t have a word for this year, in hindsight, this reflected reality: my 14 month old nephew suddenly died, the mother of my son’s best friend died suddenly, and my dog suddenly died within a span of 4 months. Not only that, but the closest person to me unexpectedly rejected me in a humiliating public way at the time when I needed support the most. (When it rains, it pours!) But only days later, I was asked to go with a friend to this Bible Study group (See what I mean? No coincidences, God provides.) It was a tough year. All the death made me question, what happens after death, for real? I realized I didn’t have a clear biblically based understanding- only what I had been told throughout life. I plan to write about this later because I think others might have this question too. Ironically- in hindsight, after all this “death” surrounded me, late summer when I was on my phone an email came through with something to the effect of “last notice to sign up for baptism”- I felt like it was time I committed and did this, so I signed up and was Baptized on September 12, 2021. Baptism is symbolic of the death of our sinful past and rebirth, a new life, “born again”- it was both symbolic and literal for me. I wrote (posts 22 – 38) during this year. I didn’t post about the dreams I started having the night of my Baptism, I was confused by them at the beginning, but the “name of Jesus” was featured heavily and sometimes verses from scripture and the dreams involved various people in my life: friends, family and former business colleagues. I know there is significance to these specific dreams because I would see something specific from my dream, that day, weeks or months later as I was going about the day- completely unexpected when it would occur, but I would immediately recall: I dreamt that! It still continues but I often don’t have the understanding of the symbolism until I see it happen. It’s hard to explain this to anyone, unless you experience this, you won’t understand, but it heavily contributed to the faith and belief I have in Jesus. Even though my word for 2021 would have been Death, it was changed to Life. Death is no longer permanent becauses of Jesus’ death and resurrection, death is a transition, a going to sleep because those who believe and turn away from sin will be changed and become immortal when Jesus returns. Jesus said that unless we are “born again” we will not see the kingdom of God. (John Chapter 3)

2022 Word: Joy

After the experiences of the prior years, I wanted Joy! I chose the word: ”Joy.” Looking back, God brought joy into my life through a supportive, Christ focused group of friends from this new Bible Study group that I unexpectedly joined in October of 2021. I think God may have had something to do with that too. I continued exploring God’s word through scripture and how it relates to living life (posts 39- 66). I often was inspired to write in the morning just as I wake up from a thought that didn’t seem to leave or from a prior conversation I had with someone. As much as I wanted “joy” to be my entire focus, I couldn’t ignore what I found through Bible Prophecy and it, weighed heavily on me. Too many world events were/are lining up with Bible Prophecy and many people (just like me) didn’t even have this “on the radar.” I didn’t come from a religion that focused on this, so this was all new to me, I only discovered it after reading the Bible. This is why it is so important to know what’s in the Bible: so we’re not blindsided by reality when it happens. There is nothing to fear (if we are “spiritually” prepared in advance- meaning “born again”).

2023 Words: Trust and Obey

Many things in life “don’t make sense” to us, so this is when I need to “Trust and Obey” God. Ironically this was the first faith post I made: Trust and Obey –  I struggled/still struggle with this sometimes, but it’s getting easier! I guess God is making sure I comprehend this, because those words came back to me from 2017- 6 years later! Now, I trust God always, despite the circumstances, I know how it all will ultimately end, so I have peace in knowing what life holds in the future. We just need to get through the “tests and trials” until then. Often when I choose to obey (especially when I don’t want to), some “reward” seems to happen afterwards. I thank God for that when it happens because it is encouraging.

2024 Word: Love

What gets thrown at us in life and happens in this world can make “doing everything out of love” challenging, but this is important for those who claim to be Christians. I’ll be honest, I feel like 2024 may be a rough year ahead. It would be wonderful if I’m wrong, and I hope I am! But if these bible prophecy events keep moving forward like they have been, that’s going to be the reality; we’re not going to stop what God has foretold. I also know that what we focus on becomes our reality so my focus this year is love. I wish I could fast forward and get to the end of this year right now, honestly if I could fast forward to 2026 that would be even better!

2023 New Year’s Eve (12/31/23)

As I often do, even though I knew I wanted my word for 2024 to be “love” (because I need to be more loving) I wanted guidance from God. I prayed and asked God to show me something in scripture, pertinent to 2024, so I thought I would open the bible to scripture in the front, middle and back part of the bible for a more comprehensive understanding, possibly a common theme, so I could understand better. These are the pages I opened to:

Front Part of the Bible: 1 Samuel 4:4 through 1 Samuel 6:4 (1 Samuel 4, 1 Samuel 5, 1 Samuel 6)

This seemed significant to me because of what’s happening in the middle east land right now. This scripture references: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. A battle is going on between the Israelites and the Philistines (the land of Gaza). While this is historic, not prophetic, we can learn from history: when God is with someone, they will not be defeated. God is just and will punish (in this scripture, tumors broke out on the Philistines because they stole the Ark of the Covenant and Eli died because his sons blasphemed God and no one restrained the sons). God is to be respected. He is not to be mocked. 

None of us know what will happen as a result of this current war happening, but we know from scripture that Israel will not cease to exist. I’m praying for all in the Middle East, that spiritual blindness is removed, that people turn away from sin and that many come to faith in Jesus Christ so they may truly have eternal life.

Middle Part of the Bible: Isaiah 59:5 through Isaiah 60:4 (Isaiah 59, Isaiah 60)

Isaiah 59’s summary is: Sin, Confession and Redemption- isn’t that interesting?! This is about the return of Jesus! (By the way, I do not believe Jesus is returning in 2024, but this is where our focus should be- getting prepared before he does return!)

Truth is nowhere to be found,
    and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.

The Lord looked and was displeased
    that there was no justice.
16 He saw that there was no one,
    he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
    and his own righteousness sustained him.
17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
    and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
    and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
18 According to what they have done,
    so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
    and retribution to his foes;
    he will repay the islands their due.
19 From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord,
    and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood
    that the breath of the Lord drives along.[a]

20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion,
    to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
declares the Lord.

21 “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord. “My Spirit, who is on you, will not depart from you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will always be on your lips, on the lips of your children and on the lips of their descendants—from this time on and forever,” says the Lord.

Isaiah 59:15-21

Then Isaiah 60 talks about the Millennium Reign of Jesus Christ and what it will be like, this is only an excerpt, but the link above is the entire chapter. Isaiah the prophet foretold this to the Israelites. Does this not inspire all of us to prepare spiritually?

No longer will violence be heard in your land,
    nor ruin or destruction within your borders,
but you will call your walls Salvation
    and your gates Praise.
19 The sun will no more be your light by day,
    nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
    and your God will be your glory.
20 Your sun will never set again,
    and your moon will wane no more;
the Lord will be your everlasting light,
    and your days of sorrow will end.
21 Then all your people will be righteous
    and they will possess the land forever.
They are the shoot I have planted,
    the work of my hands,
    for the display of my splendor.
22 The least of you will become a thousand,
    the smallest a mighty nation.
I am the Lord;
    in its time I will do this swiftly.”

Isaiah 60: 18-22

Back part of the Bible: Galatians 5:17 through Galatians 6:18 (Galatians 5 and Galatians 6)

Galatians 5 is summarized as “freedom in Christ” – does that not also suggest getting prepared?! Then it talks about living by the Spirit (this is how “born again” people live life) and to me personally, the word I chose for 2024 was “love” look at verse 22- and this is the page I opened to after prayer! I don’t believe in “coincidences” – God is in action always, sometimes we don’t understand, but later we will. God is doing something, we just need to be receptive to His plans for us, His communication with us!

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Galatians 5:16-26

And Galatians 6 ties all this together from the front part of the Bible verses (God is not mocked) to the middle verses (eternal life, new creation) and back verses (How we should prepare spiritually- becoming the new creation, born of the spirit!)

Doing Good to All

6 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. 2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 6 Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Not Circumcision but the New Creation

11 See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand!

12 Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. 14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. 16 Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to[b] the Israel of God.

17 From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.

Galatians 6

This prayer to God and the resulting verses made an impact on me, that is why I shared this. If you haven’t already been “born again” (turning from sin and receiving the Holy Spirit)- what is keeping you from this? You can do this right now. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, was born sinless because it was through the Holy Spirit that he was conceived, he died on the cross for our sins (to break the curse of death and give us life- the one and only, final sacrifice needed to make it possible for us to be in God’s future kingdom- here on earth, not up in the sky) then resurrected, ascended to Heaven where he lives until he returns to deliver justice, wrath and then reign as our king from Jerusalem in Israel. If we believe this and turn away from sin, Jesus will give us the Holy Spirit. Jesus was baptized and told his followers to baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, however the man next to him on the cross did not get baptized but Jesus told him he would be with him in paradise. Baptism is important because Jesus told his followers to do this: it’s an outward sign of belief and turning away from a sinful life, but God is mostly concerned about what’s happening inside us: Repentance (turning away from sin) and Receiving the Holy Spirit are necessary. I was baptized as an infant, but I wasn’t sure if that “counted” because that wasn’t my choice, that was my parents’ choice. So I was baptized as an adult in 2021 and I think I made the right choice because after that is when I started having spiritual dreams and seeing visions of things in the future- I have no other explanation, than this baptism must have been what made this happen. Our relationship with God is personal, our parents or no one else can force this or make it happen. It is a personal choice, and a very important one. Is 2024 your year to be “born again”?

I pray for all who read or share this with someone they care about: May God’s love for you be known! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

by Categories: bible prophecy, bible study, FAITH, FAMILY, Following Passions, FRIENDSHIP, God, HAPPINESS, Healing, Improvement, Love, Make It Count, Parents, prayer, priorities, RELATIONSHIPS, WellnessTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Is Satan the embodiment of Sin?

I woke up with this concept on my mind: “Is Satan the embodiment of sin?” Please give this some thought, does this make sense to you?

Mornings tend to be the most spiritual time for me. Some mornings, I wake up with a strong thought about something and I have no idea why that thought popped into my mind. Sometimes it’s a dream, sometimes it’s a clarity about something, sometimes it’s a “message” that I feel compelled to share. Often when it is the “message” type, later in the day I will see the same message, sometimes even the exact same sequence of words being spoken by another Christian, and sometimes numerous Christians in the same day will say the same thing. When that happens, I can’t help but think there was more to it. It wasn’t just “my thought”, it was God using various people to pass on the message. I don’t know if God is giving me clarity here about Sin and Satan?

Let’s think about when “sin” entered the world. It happened in the biblical story of Adam and Eve when the serpent deceived Eve and she disobeyed, then caused Adam to disobey the only command God gave them. Pay attention to this too: God was walking (and you can trace this back to the Hebrew word: Halak in scripture) in the garden when He called for Adam. My conclusion is that God was present with Adam and Eve. This concept works whether you believe the story of Adam and Eve is figurative or literal. God was present with mankind on earth at that point in time, before sin entered, but then the Bible doesn’t seem to describe the same possible “physical” presence after that: God remains omnipresent though, it just seems “differently described” after that. It seems (my opinion) that if God is present and a sinful person comes into His presence, the “sinful” person will die: an example is when God told Moses to keep the people away or they would die at Mt. Sinai when he revealed the 10 Commandments to Moses. And interestingly, the 10 Commandments were placed in the Ark of the Covenant and God appointed a specific group of people, the Levites, to be the ones to carry the Ark. The arc was known to be “holy” and there were many rules about being in the presence of the Ark. In fact, there was a story of men transporting the Ark and one of the men reached out and touched the Ark to save it from falling (which would be a “kind” action), but he instantly died. If the man was sinful (and all people are naturally) and the Ark is holy, that would make sense, follow the logic, explaining why he died instantly. Yes the bible tells us God caused that to happen, but was it because of the law (Sin leads to death and the sinful will die in the presence of God or what God defines as “Holy”)? There were also stories of people who stole the Ark and then had calamities happen to them and at one point there was a passing back and forth of the Ark (you take it, “no, you take it”) that I recall from reading the Bible too. This logic seems to make sense to me.

As I was writing this, I had more clarity about “sacrificing.” I wrote about this before and have always struggled with God requiring a “sacrifice.” Why would He ever do that? Why would God allow people to kill animals in the sinner’s place? I really struggled with these questions. However, I just recalled there are many entries in the bible where God states: “I am not happy with your sacrifices! They are worthless!” But yet God told the people specifically what they had to do. Think about this logically: if sin leads to death, then death is a consequence of sin. We know God places a high value on people and doesn’t want people to perish so if God made the law that Sin becomes Death, then if a person sins, according to God’s law, the person must die, but God didn’t want that, but in accordance with His law, there had to be a death as a penalty for sin. Therefore a life must be sacrificed or given up, so God allowed animals as a substitute for people during the Old Testament time. Of course I would not question God about that sacrifice not being proper, knowing who He is, I just didn’t understand this, I couldn’t accept it, but I knew there had to be a reason for it, I just didn’t understand. But throughout the Bible it states that God’s word will remain. Now I think I am beginning to understand: God didn’t want ANY OF THIS! Remember one of the 10 Commandments God gave us: Do not murder. (Does this have a slightly different definition than kill?) The living sacrifice only came about because of Sin and the law was the penalty of Sin is death. There had to be a resolution, an end to the killing, an end to the sacrificing. But it couldn’t stop unless the law was fulfilled, so God (the only one more powerful than all) took personal action, through Jesus, who became the final sacrifice that ended it. Jesus was the sacrifice that no one else could be, no one else has the value of Jesus, was sinless, without blemish, only Jesus. The Son of God is the only one who is worthy to be the substitute for all the sacrifices, and to be the sacrifice for our sin, Jesus was the final sacrifice. We should be thankful, Jesus ended this horrible act.

Getting back to Satan being the embodiment of Sin. The Bible tells us the life we are experiencing is more than what most of us realize: it is a spiritual war happening. Satan, and his followers, rebelled against God and are fighting against God still today. You may ask: Why doesn’t God simply kill Satan then? If He is all powerful, why doesn’t He just take care of it now? My opinion, from what I understand from the bible is that God gives everyone a choice to love and obey Him, but God has a timeline for each and every one of us already determined: a time to be born and a time to have a physical death and that time in between is our opportunity to choose God or reject God. We have numbered opportunities (so don’t waste them). If God did that for us, wouldn’t it be possible for God to do that for Satan too? If God is Love, that conclusion/opinion makes sense.

Here is another opinion/thought about the Bible: maybe God knew how confusing and tough this spiritual war would be for all of mankind to comprehend and experience, so in His love for us, He spoke through the authors and gave us this information (the scripture), so we would know there is a good ending (God wins): don’t give up!

The Bible reveals the last thing that Jesus conquers in this spiritual battle is DEATH. The Sin that leads to death is blasphemy of the Spirit. (Blasphemy: the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk.) All other sins can be forgiven by God, if a desired change in action occurs and one asks God for forgiveness, God is merciful and he forgives. Satan is cast into the lake of fire for eternity = Sin and Death are gone forever.

Think about this: God is Love. Satan is Sin. There is a spiritual battle happening and it is between God and Satan.

Sin separates us from God. Satan is sin. Satan wants to separate us from God; he seeks to kill and destroy. When we choose sin, we are allowing, permitting Satan spiritual access to our bodies, our mind, our being. Satan/Sin is powerful, appealing but deceiving, it’s manipulative, full of lies and people are influenced and drawn to it naturally (sin is an evil spiritual force). People are not more powerful than the spiritual beings, but God is. Who/whatever we give access to will influence and determine the outcome of our existence.

When we allow God access (by surrendering our life, or asking God to take over/guide our life) we then permit God spiritual access (through the Holy Spirit) to our bodies, our mind, our being.

God has always allowed “choice.” So what are you choosing?

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When the Obvious Isn’t.

How many times have we had this happen: something that puzzled us becomes known and then we think: “Wow, I should have seen that!”? Often it happens when we consider another person’s thoughts, another person’s perspective, someone who notices something we didn’t initially, until that person points it out. This is how each of us can help each other. So many people throughout my life have unknowingly influenced me; they unknowingly contributed to my direction in life: some were positive influences and others were negative influences, but both influenced change in me. This is also a reminder to “be thankful in all circumstances.” when that influence contributes to a positive change, and even if the circumstance is negative. But sometimes the change was negative: a great reminder to be intentional with friendships.

Those are examples of “small details” in life, the bigger picture in life is something that I gradually became aware of, through other people who pointed out very obvious details that I’ve passed over so many times throughout my entire life:

There is a literal Kingdom that has been and is forming right in front of us; it’s a “right in front of your face” “secret” formation (only because we are “blind” to it), so subtle that many don’t see it!

Thinking about a “Kingdom” in a literal sense is not something a US citizen would necessarily embrace, and many others may not either because of the mistrust and corruption we see every day. But this literally is happening right now, but not by force as many historical Kingdoms have formed in the past; with this one, each of us is allowed and encouraged to decide if we choose to live in this Kingdom which is currently forming.

Something finally connected with me this morning, many people might know the words to this prayer, but many of us may have simply memorized it, not thinking about each and every word. Here is the prayer, the prayer Jesus gave by example of how to pray to God:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,[a]
    but deliver us from the evil one.[b]’

This is what I see now, some of which I didn’t see before:

  1. Where is God? “in heaven“- a spiritual realm we can’t fully comprehend because we haven’t seen it, (click the links for supporting documentation).
  2. Hallowed: “greatly revered and honored”- God, and only God, is to be worshipped, nothing should be more important than God in our lives (the first 3 Commandments given by God, summarized here)
  3. your kingdom come: This is literal, I didn’t comprehend this until now! God’s Kingdom will be coming to us, to earth, a NEW earth with a NEW ruler (Jesus) pay attention to how many times Kingdom is referenced, Kingdom – of heaven, not only that but the bible references “heavens”, plural, not a single place where people will permanently be! There is a new literal place that is offered to those who accept God’s Kingdom and God’s commands/God’s Kingdom’s rules will live, a place so beautiful, so challenging to describe, so peaceful, without sickness or evil.
  4. your will be done: God’s plan will happen, but along the way people’s choices are allowed by God, but eventually His plan will prevail, Jesus was part of God’s plan, part of God’s plan from the very beginning, prophesized by Isaiah approximately 700 years before Jesus was born!
  5. on earth as it is in heaven -the Kingdom of heaven will be brought here, to earth, under Jesus as ruler (see prior links)
  6. Give us today our daily bread – if we seek God first, all that we need will be provided to us, Jesus said this.
  7. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors – Jesus explained how important it is for us to forgive others, it affects us if we don’t forgive.
  8. and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. This is where we see that those who are still controlled by the devil, do not recognize Jesus; it is our choice to break from and abandon that (be born again) and with the help and power of the Holy Spirit given to those who obey and ask God for help in Jesus’ name, we can overcome that slavery to sin.

It’s pretty amazing how much is within this simple prayer and referenced in other teachings Jesus gave us and throughout the Bible! There are a couple of videos I recommend on this subject, if you, or someone you know prefers to watch rather than read ?

Video 1: The Kingdom of God -AOC Network

Video 2: Walking in the Spirit – AOC Network

Video 2: The Millennial Reign of Christ – Pastor Daniel Batarseh

This is something I certainly look forward to! I love to travel, so I think about the beautiful places I’ve experienced (like driving the Na Pali Highway in Oahu, HI), or other places I’ve only seen through photos….and God created all that, but He has plans for something even better than that, something new- now THAT is VERY exciting to think about!!

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Sacrifice?

Here we go again! It’s early morning, on a holiday weekend, but does it feel like the ones from the past? Not to me. Real life experiences and early morning thoughts inspire what I often write. So how appropriate to all of us is the topic of sacrifice right now? I’m betting this topic’s relatable to most of us.

Some words get overused, so while the meaning is known, it’s original meaning is diluted, or no longer thought about. So here is the definition:

sac·ri·fice/ˈsakrəˌfīs/ sacrifice; plural noun: sacrifices

  1. an act of slaughtering an animal or person or surrendering a possession as an offering to God or to a divine or supernatural figure.”they offer sacrifices to the spirits”
  2. Similar: ritual
    • an animal, person, or object offered in a sacrifice.
    • an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy.”we must all be prepared to make sacrifices“

So the “sacrifice” concept is something that NEVER made sense to me in the Bible, until now. I seriously struggled with this, it didn’t make sense to me, but it does now. Anyone who truly believes there is a God, will understand this after I explain, but if you don’t believe in God, you’re going to have a hard time comprehending this. While reading the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, there is a lot of ugly, disgusting, repulsive stuff that happens and some of it, I don’t want to read again; it’s that bad. It’s historical “Netflix”, documented in the Bible, for real. At least on some of Netflix, a person can think: “it’s just a movie” or a “show” but this was real life and really happened.

I had so many questions: Why would God do this? Who made this “rule/ritual”? Why is “sacrifice” required? Why would God, who created everything and told us “not to kill” be okay with “sacrifice”? It certainly seemed to contradict the messages and made it confusing: “don’t kill”, then “slaughter this specific animal, in a certain process”…What? I think many of us who get that far, may stop and say…”Well I don’t believe in a God like that, so I’m going to ignore that. It doesn’t make sense.” I did that for awhile, but covering up your eyes and ears doesn’t make something go away. So then “why”?

First, let’s start with those who believe in God. If you truly believe in God, you believe in a spiritual being that you cannot see. Let that sink in. Sounds crazy, right? If you believe in God, you need to acknowledge that believing in God, to those who don’t, does sound primitive and crazy. And yes, I personally believe in God, but let’s be honest about it from the world’s view today. Then if you know the Bible, and even if you don’t, I’m telling you right now: The Bible is about a loving God, but a spiritual war that commenced with us in the middle shortly after God created people.

The Bible doesn’t explain, in detail, why this war started, it only tells us there was a dispute and Satan (the devil) was thrown, cast, hurled from Heaven down to earth.

So as I write this, I think, uh this sounds like a fictitious story we tell kids to make a point! I thought that for a long time. There is so much today that makes fun of those who bring up Satan, and maybe solidify or perpetuate the thought this is fictitious, like the “church lady,” which I personally find humorous, but disrespectful at the same time because it presents people who believe in a laughable way – and I’m one of those people, but I always thought we can’t be too serious all the time, it’s okay to laugh at ourselves, others might disagree with me about that? I disregard that comedy, just like it disregards Christians. But as soon as you realize the Bible lines up with history and historical events were predicted in the Bible by prophets and actually came true, and the people in the Bible are real people, with a documented lineage, ancestry; then that concept of “story-time” fails. You have to not only read the Bible, but study the Bible and compare to history books for this proof.

Anyway getting back to the explanation: Satan (the devil) is real, is part of that history and has a role/a place in the Bible from the beginning until the end. We need to acknowledge that, as weird as it sounds; it has a profound impact, back then and today. If you don’t comprehend that, you’re missing the warning for all of us given throughout the Bible. So this dispute between God and Satan occurred and I don’t know why God didn’t just immediately destroy Satan, but knowing God’s character from the Bible, it could be that He allowed Satan to continue in existence possibly because God is loving but just. He doesn’t act impulsively, He is patient, He gives people time, but in the end, God is just.

To put this into a modern day concept: think about a business leader/boss, who has a star performer employee and this star employee is phenomenal, but then pride takes over for the star employee and based on pride, selfishness, and love of money, the star employee starts thinking they are better than their leader – for this example, it is important to use the assumption here that the leader is a good one, a caring one, a fair person, honest, looks out for the employees, provides for them, etc. (because there are many leaders who don’t exhibit those qualities today) – but this star employee is no longer a team player, just out for their own personal benefit. So the star employee leaves and competes with the former employer to prove their superiority. The leader has been around a long time, with a loyal customer base and a proven business, so the leader just lets this former “star employee” have its own way. knowing eventually those character flaws/qualities of pride, selfishness and love of money will self destruct the former star employee. The leader doesn’t even need to fight it, the former star employee’s own motivation and actions will end up bringing the star employee to ruin. Haven’t we seen that today? Does it make more sense now? This leader is like God and Satan is like the star employee. Is fighting or immediate destruction even needed, for God to prove He is right? No. Also, knowing God’s character from the Bible, do you think maybe He loved Satan/Devil/Lucifer at one time? I do. Have you ever loved someone that turned on you? If you really loved them, then you wouldn’t want to destroy them, you’d be more hurt than anything.

Getting back to sacrifice. Sacrifice plain and simple is for atonement.

a·tone·ment/əˈtōnmənt/: atonement; plural noun: atonements

  1. reparation for a wrong or injury.”she wanted to make atonement for her husband’s behavior”
    • (in religious contexts) reparation or expiation for sin.”an annual ceremony of confession and atonement for sin”
    • CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY the reconciliation of God and humankind through Jesus Christ.noun: Atonement; noun: the Atonement

The presence of sin (starting in the Garden of Eden) caused death, pain and sacrifice. Sacrifice leads to atonement. Sin is also referred to as “death.” There is no death for God; he is eternal. Those who make it to heaven will also become immortal/eternal too. These are concepts given to us in the Bible through prophets and through Jesus. When people choose to sin, people are ultimately choosing death. Death is the experience for sin; sin separates people from God. Satan is competing with God. What better way to separate people from God, than to entice people through sin, separating people from God. Sin is deceptive: it might be fun (for the moment) but isn’t there a time when we look back on sin and realize maybe it wasn’t worth the consequence? If it were this clear to people, people wouldn’t choose sin. But Satan is also known as the ultimate deceiver and then the accuser. Has anyone ever deceived you before? You didn’t expect it, right? When someone is good at deceiving, it’s a surprise when we figure it out. If it’s something no one wants (death), wouldn’t you have to be deceitful to gain people, coax them into death? Then after you deceive someone into sinning…don’t let them turn back “repent” to repair their relationship …keep reminding them (accusing them) of their sin so they feel so worthless and like they can’t go back. (which is also a lie) That’s exactly how Satan operates with his ultimate goal of separating people from God. This was shown to us in the book of Job; Satan was using all he could to get Job to turn away from God!

I’m going to assume that most people would choose living over dying, because people are sad when someone dies. So what better way for Satan to separate people from God, than through death? A sacrifice is exactly that: death of something. Sacrifices started because of sin. God put an end to “living being sacrifices” through Jesus’ death on the cross. That was the ultimate sacrifice: “Jesus/God dying” and what Satan wanted from the beginning, “the ransom” as we understand from the Bible. But that wasn’t the end as we are told through the Bible by prophets and Jesus himself; there is more to come. (Read more about the future in this link).

In summary, God created the earth and everything on it out of love. He created people to love Him back. We all know that forced love is not real love, so God doesn’t force people; He lets people choose. We ended up in a spiritual warzone without knowing this when we were born, but at some point in life, we will figure this out. When we figure it out, then we have to make a choice. Satan is opposing God and working hard to separate as many people from God as possible through deceptive ways. God was not pleased with the living sacrifices and responded to that by offering Jesus as the ransom, the ultimate sacrifice for us, no one has the value Jesus has, so that is what made Jesus an acceptable sacrifice, more valuable than any of us. Jesus’ sacrifice saves those who want to be saved from eternal Hell. But we still have a choice. Do we believe in Jesus? Do we have faith in this? Do we accept this “gift” from God? If you said yes, you are “almost” saved. I felt strongly about making this clear to people, because I think there is a larger number of people who think when they answer this “I believe”, “they’re good to go!” but that is not the full truth based on what I found in the Bible, and I see many churches appeal to people in this way and it’s sad to me, because they are misleading people and possibly keeping them from heaven. It is true that by faith we are saved, but faith alone is death – Jesus’ brother James told us that in the Bible. We didn’t get “off the hook” that easily, there is something more required of us by God: we are required to be obedient to his commands. We can’t do enough good things to earn our way to heaven; that would cause pride and God hates a prideful person. So it is by faith, but proving our faith by our actions. Becoming obedient prepares people for living in eternity with God and shows God we mean what we say. How many people are good at “lip service,” telling us what we want to hear, but not supporting what they say by their actions? Well this is the same between us and God. Are we giving God “lip service” or are we proving it by our actions? The obedience part is probably the most challenging part for all of us. It is not natural for us to be obedient, but God requires it. Thankfully, God is forgiving, so it doesn’t matter what we’ve done; He promises forgiveness, but with forgiveness, He also requires us to change our future actions and not do whatever it was anymore. None of us will be perfect, even after we commit to changing our ways, because we are human, so making mistakes requires us to take personal responsibility for them immediately, apologize and change. If we don’t, then we are going against God, we are just giving God “lip service” and He’s not fooled. He knows our intentions; He created us! So not taking action is not going to be a “success story” for those who give God “lip service”. Sacrifice today is still required though not through the death of a living being, thank God for that, but it still requires painful decisions for us personally. It won’t be easy, change isn’t easy. We want the immediate reward “here and now,” but the reward God has planned is promised to be greater than what we sacrifice “here and now”. What do you chose?

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