GOD CALLED A PEOPLE TO BE A WITNESS!

January 15, 2016 ~ GOD CALLED A PEOPLE TO BE A WITNESS!

God chose… called out… appointed a people before creation to reveal Himself to the world!

Most did not choose to believe…a few did, and were used by God to reveal His Person, Power and Presence!

God gave them only ONE instruction:  Believe and Receive a Love Relationship with Him…and in that relationship to be a "witness unto Him…that He is GOD"!  (Isaiah 43:12)

*The descendants of the Serpent were more influencing than the descendants of Eve (the Godly line leading to Redemption.  It began with Seth.)

God has always had a remnant of those who BELIEVE in Him.

At the appointed time GOD fulfilled His Promise to mankind to redeem them from the bondage of SIN…HE took on flesh and called Himself, JESUS!  (See Luke chapter 1)

John chapter 1 tells us how the world received Him (The Word of God) which is what Jesus is.  Those who believed and received became Children of God!

After JESUS fulfilled the Promise of God by becoming The Lamb of God that takes away the Sin of the World and shedding His Blood and dying on a cross; being buried and rising from the dead to New Life…He opened the Way for all those Children of God to have a New Life with Him in His Heavenly Home Forever!

Before He left to return to His Heavenly Home, and He Promised He would send The Holy Spirit of God to live within those Children of God helping them to finish the Redemptive Plan of telling those who don’t know they are redeemed that they are!

He gave ONE instruction:  “Love one another” and “be a witness unto Him”…that He is Emmanuel-GOD with us!  Acts 1:8

(Check your Concordance to see the many times He said “love one another.”)

THEME OF GENESIS ~ "WE ARE BLESSED!"

Impressions from Genesis

Tuesday, January 4, 2011 12:03 PM

As I have read Genesis, I titled it "We Are Blessed!"

# 1 ~ God created...then blessed - then He said:  "Be fruitful and multiply..." (vs. 1:27; 5:1; 9:1)  We are blessed to be "fruitful and multiply" in God's Image and likeness. (See John 15 & Romans 8:29) 

*[Ladies note who did the fruit bearing!  It began with ONE Woman!  After woman was created God said His Creation was "very good!" - woman is His crowning joy and she is His partner in giving life (birth of mankind.)  We are specially created and dear to God's heart!]
     ~ The unrighteous die in the Flood.  Verse 9:1 Righteous Noah is blessed and told "to be fruitful and multiply." [Now it begins again with 4 Women doing the fruit bearing...giving life!]

(For the curious-minded:   Scripture says Mrs. Noah had 3 sons, but it didn’t say anything about daughters that surely did come after the flood to help multiply!)

*Another note:  Being "fruitful and multiplying" was instructed before sin entered and after the world was cleansed of unrighteous.  God intended the fruit and multiplying to be in His Image.  Look at John 15 and the Vine life and see how we are to bear fruit...more fruit...much fruit.  The Vine is Jesus Christ.  The branches are Believers.  The Fruit is the Image of Christ The Vine!  ALL is to glorify (reveal the Person, Power and Presence of God) The Father!

#2 ~ GOD created in His Image; in His Own Likeness!

Verse 5:3 - Adam had a son in his image (in his own likeness.)  This was Seth.

(Abel had been killed by Cain and Cain had been banished.)  This tells us something about Adam and his relationship to God.  Seth began the redemptive line leading to Christ.
I challenge to watch the redemptive line and who comprises it as you read through The Word!

The teacher in me can't help studying instead of just reading.  I share to be "fruitful and multiply" for His glory!

I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR IMPRESSIONS AND INSIGHTS AS YOU READ AND STUDY THE WORD...SHARE WITH US!

"You are My witnesses, declares the Lord, that I am God." Isaiah 43:12

THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

December 5, 2015

AWESOME moment!  Revelation and profound understanding of ~

THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Thoughts provoked from study of Joseph in Genesis 41:38-40

“…can we find such a one as this, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?  …for as much as God has shown you all this, there is none so discreet and wise as you are.  You shall be over my house and…all my people.  Only in the throne will I be greater than you.”  ~Pharaoh

The Holy Spirit is GOD within us…with Jesus’ Promise:  “I will never leave you nor forsake you, so that, you can say ‘The Lord is my Helper’ I will not fear what man may do to me.”  Hebrews 13:5-6

My body is the Temple of The Holy Spirit – I am responsible for using what God has given to give Him glory.  

Example:  Everything in the Tabernacle and Temple was holy, set apart for God’s Glory.  It was made out of the best materials to provide an atmosphere of worship and prayer to God Almighty.

Illustration:  JOSEPH

EVERYTHING in Joseph’s life was for GOD…at all costs!  He simply trusted God and saw all situations as being from Him.  He acknowledged God in all situations and God directed His paths.  In every situation of injustice and unfairness, because of Joseph’s character and integrity, God favored him in the circumstances of his life: 

*Sold into slavery ending up in Potiphar’s house; he was favored because God blessed him and Potiphar saw that God was with him, and he gave Joseph control of all he owned.  Pursued by his wife, Joseph refused and ended up in prison.

*In prison the Chief Guard found favor in Joseph and put him in charge of the prison.  He used opportunity to glorify God with his gift of interpreting dreams, which lead him to Pharaoh.

*As a result of interpreting his dreams, Pharoah acknowledged that Joseph had the Spirit of God and found favor in giving Joseph control of his entire kingdom of Egypt with the exception of his throne.

We don’t see Joseph trying to get out of any of his situations;  he seemed to believe God was in EVERYTHING.

It would seem that back in his youth when he was favored by his father, Jacob, because of being the son of the wife he loved, and having two dreams:  one said he would rule over his brothers; and the second said his father, mother and brothers would bow down to him; that Joseph believed the dreams.  However, the brothers resented him for them and devised a way to get rid of him...from there we have the rest of the story.  It ended with Joseph telling his brothers that what they meant for evil, God meant for good…for this time, to preserve his family and make them into a nation.

EMMANUEL ~ GOD is with us! ~ The Holy Spirit of God promised by Jesus.

We are wrapped in His Presence-a Hug from God The Father;  a gift of Grace to give us power to Glorify GOD, The Father and Jesus Christ, His Son!  We are to be Holy as He is Holy – set apart only for His use (purpose; will). 

The Holy Spirit is given to help us to “work out our salvation” that God has placed within us. (Philippians 2:12)   He is our Companion/Confidant; Helper; Comforter; Teacher; Revealer of Truth; Guide; Power.  We MUST believe it is so and receive Him and release Him to do ALL He was given to do in us…which is to glorify The Son.  (John 16:7-15)

Our work (part) ~ Wrap each day with His Presence by:

     Acknowledging Him verbally

      Practicing His Presence – He is a Reality!

      Seek His plans from His Word – “He is the Way…He is the Life”

      Fellowship with Him in prayer – it should be a delight!

      Worship Him with praise – in words and song! 

      Love Him ~ by giving Him the very best

                        ~ by “loving one another” – we are His Body!

Lord, You have given me everything I need to be Your Temple, and I am responsible for using what You have given for the purpose of giving You glory – it is The Holy Spirit; He is given to us to give You back the Glory due to You.  “Whether we eat or drink or whatsoever we do, do ALL to the glory of God” for, “we can do nothing apart from Your Indwelling Presence ~ The Holy Spirit.  I am responsible for the activity of The Spirit by confidently trusting Him by working with Him and His plans.  You are the Life and You use mine to work with You! Be glorified!

WHAT TO PREACH...ACCORDING TO JESUS?

"Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures

and He said to them, Thus it is written, that Christ should suffer

and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance

and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name

to all nations..."   (Luke 24:45-49)

                                 

WHAT TO PREACH...ACCORDING TO JESUS?

     What is usually preached?  What we call the Gospel, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God  was born of a virgin, died on the cross shedding His blood, was buried and rose again to redeem the world from sin that separates them from God.

     That’s not all that Jesus said!  He said “...that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to  all nations…”       We hear very little about REPENTANCE.  Repentance is having a change of mind and turning to God.   More preaching emphasis is only believing in Jesus and being saved...but,  if  the life has not changed and turned away from sin to Christ… then, there is no salvation of sin!  You CANNOT go in both directions.  It you turn to God seeking forgiveness for sin, and receive salvation, remission, forgiveness of sin, you will NOT turn back away from God to the life you had before.

       John the Baptist preached repentance...Jesus preached repentance.  (See Matthew 3:2 & 4:17)   At Pentecost, Peter preached repentance. (See Acts 2:38)  Paul preached repentance. (See Acts 17:30)

       Christian America needs repentance!  So much emphasis has been on 2 Chronicles 7:14 to pray for God to heal our land.  There are 3 conditions for God to hear, forgive and heal the land.  They are pray, seek God’s face and turn from your wicked ways!  This would be (1)prayer of confession, (2)seeking God with your whole heart (Deuteronomy 4:29, Jeremiah 29:13) and (3)repenting (do whatever it takes to turn back to “One Nation under God.”)...THEN, God will hear!  We don’t have His attention yet—we haven’t even begun. 

CHRISTIANS, GOD’S PEOPLE, BORN AGAIN BELIEVERS

WE ARE CONVICTED AND GUILTY OF

NOT STANDING UP FOR GOD! 

How long before it will be too late?

        

“Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”

THE GLOVES

John 15:1-17

I have a pair of gloves that were given to me.

They are very special.

I was told that they were handmade;

…and probably out of organic material.

They were made in sizes to fit anyone;

…and mine were just my size.

They were made in lots of designs;

…and mine was chosen to match my personality.

My friend said they would do anything I wanted them to do.

That they would help me to do better work;

…and bring much delight to my life!

I couldn’t wait to try out this special gift.

I thought about all the things that could be done with these gloves.

So, I said: “Gloves, I need to go and visit my friend to thank her for giving you to me so that I can get a lot more things done. Would you wash the clothes, and prepare supper from the recipes on the counter, and while you’re cooking, would you make a loaf of bread and take it to my neighbor that has been sick and tell them that I send my love; and a batch of cookies for the children when they get home from school. Dear Gloves, thank you for helping make my life much more fruitful.”

When I returned from my pleasant visit with my friend, I noticed my special gloves right where I left them and nothing had been done that I requested. I was very disappointed and called my friend to tell her that the gift has not proven to be all that she said it would.

My friend lovingly said, “The gloves will only work when your hands are inserted, then they will do ANYTHING your hands will do!”

Recorded in John 15, Jesus said that He is The Vine of God The Father (The Holy Spirit) and everyone who belongs to Him will become a Branch of Him and produce fruit of His likeness. He said “if” the Branch remains living in Him, The Vine, then it would produce more fruit (because The Holy Spirit is now the life of the Branch.) He added that if the Branch remains living in Him, and His Words are living in them, then they would bear much fruit and bring glory to The Father who is the Gardener. If the branch does not produce any fruit of His likeness, it will be pruned, cutting off the useless branch so that it will bear fruit. If the branch still does not produce any fruit, because of unbelief in The Vine, it has no life and will die and be removed from The Vine. Verse 5 says if He is not living in the Branch it can do NOTHING. However, in verse 7 Jesus says, IF His Spirit and His words are living in the Branch, THEN the Branch can ask for ANYTHING and The Vine/Sprit will do it! That’s Almighty Power from God The Father, and The Branch becoming entirely HIS making the Person, Power and Presence of God known to the world!

Just like the gloves, The Branch (Believer/Disciple of Jesus) can do ANYTHING The Vine/Holy Spirit can do! THAT’S POWER that delights The Father!

…Do you believe it?

"THE SEED & THE FIRST FATHER"

June 21^st Father’s Day

FATHERS…and a day to remember them!

FATHERS are the HIGHEST rank in God’s Creation order!

ALL men were created with the SEED for procreation of Mankind…he is the NECESSARY requirement for human life!

*All the barren women in Scripture, whose wombs were opened, all had husbands with the seed that God used!  Think on that one for a bit…

***God’s genealogy order for the Jews was…”father to son” and they recorded and identified their birth and lineage through the father and son…See Genesis 5, 10 & 11 and Matthew 1.

PART 1 ~ INTERESTING FACTS about Adam, the First Father ~ Genesis 4

…he and Eve did not conceive until AFTER they left Eden!  They had intimacy but no conception.  Think about that one!  A child born BEFORE the sinful nature would have been PURE AND SINLESS just like Adam and Eve even though a child would have still had the nature to choose!  I think we can see why God prevented this from happening…Him knowing ALL THINGS and our choices!

***Back to the facts…it is supposed that the First Child was a son, named Cain. (I have a thought abut this to come back to.) 

Like Adam, Cain was a tiller of the ground.  Adam & Eve had a second son and he was named Abel.  He was a keeper of sheep.

***Obviously these two boys had to grow up and become old enough to work.  During these growing up years, Adam and Eve would have spent time telling them where they came from.  Wouldn’t you think it strange that there aren’t any others around?  They would have been told the creation story and how they disobeyed God, The Creator and that the penalty for disobeying was death.  However, God killed an animal and made them clothes from the skin to cover their sinfulness and to be made fit for God’s Presence.  And the process of death and dying began.  God had instituted the sin offering of atoning blood of an animal to be shed as a substitute sacrifice for man’s sin.  They were living east of the Garden of Eden that was protected by Cherubims and a flaming sword because the Tree of Life was still there.  The Eastern side of the Garden of Eden would have likely remained the place of worship with God where they would have come to bring their offerings. 

…So…one could imagine that Abel chose to be a keeper of sheep for the purpose of providing for sacrifices.  Scripture doesn’t say that this event in verse 3 was the first time Cain and Abel brought offerings to the Lord; but on this occasion Cain decided to bring an offering from the fruit of his labors; which would have been fine for a Thank Offering, but he was bringing for a sin offering and that’s why it was not acceptable.  Abel brought required sin offering and he made it the best of his sheep.  God did not accept Cain’s offering because it was not a blood offering and when he got angry God reminded him that there was no reason to be upset, just bring the acceptable offering or sin would lie at his door.  Cain’s chose to remain angry; and he became resentful of Abel.  Sin truly took hold of Cain and he shed blood but it was his brother’s; and then he lied to God.  His punishment should have been death, but instead God saved his life but it was not blessed…the ground would no longer respond to him because it had blood on it; he would be cast out and become a fugitive and a vagabond.  Cain protested to God that it was unfair punishment and that everyone would want to kill him.  God gave him a mark and said that vengeance would come on whoever killed him sevenfold.  He was sent out from the Presence of the Lord unto the land of Nod east of Eden.  He and his seed built a city and established a splendid material civilization, arts and industries; but no moral state.  That’s all we know about Cain because his lineage was destroyed in the Flood.

***When Adam and Eve were 130 years old they  had another son and he was named Seth.  Eve said God had appointed another seed instead of Abel…then began men to call upon the name of the Lord.

Chapter 5 gives us the generations of Adam and his seed Seth that will lead us to Godly men and finally Noah who found grace in the eyes of The Lord.

***Back to my thought about the First Child.  I think the first and perhaps several others before Cain were girls.  Eve said of Cain “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” Verse 1

Then we know that Adam is 130 years old when Seth is born.  So there was a lot of time between Cain & Abel and Seth to have those daughters that had to help be fruitful and multiply and provide a wife for Cain and all the other sons he had for 800 years after Seth.  I don’t even want to imagine how many children Eve actually gave birth to.  Remember “Adam called her Eve because she was the mother of all living.”  Gen. 3:20

PART 2 ~ INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT GOD THE FATHER ~ John 5:17-47

*** Genesis 3:8-15  ~ A woman with Seed!

…The miracle of Mary was that she was not barren, but she did NOT have the seed from a husband.  The SEED that produced her CHILD was from THE CREATOR…GOD …thus, why HE would be called FATHER!   *Up until the birth of JESUS, GOD was identified as I AM, CREATOR, THE ALMIGHTY and SPIRIT  OF GOD.

…when was The Son of God created?  Answer:  at conception…God became flesh!  Life always begins at conception!

…So, what kind of relationship does The Son of God have with His Father.  Let’s take a look at John 5:17-47.

***What do we need to learn from Jesus about how to respect and honor our fathers?

Death should not cause that respect and honor to cease…neither should marriage!

Thank You, Lord, for fathers...and for being our Forever Father to those who have been born again in Your Spirit!  May we give you both our Love, respect and honor.

ON THE ROAD TO NEW LIFE!

"We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death

in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead

 through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

Romans 6:4

I literally get on the road to New Life every day...

"Walk by faith, not by sight."

"In all your ways, acknowledge Him (the Lord your God) and He will direct your paths."

A gal on the radio was giving her testimony of being overweight all her life and trying to lose weight for boys, or cheerleading, for herself and never being able to keep it off...but she never had asked The Lord to help her to do it for Him!  She has lost 80 lbs.  She weighed 282! 

This hit me so targeted on my own battle with losing and keeping off pounds and giving God glory in it.

I have just taken a bold stand for my Lord and challenging myself to eat a plant-based diet like Daniel did to show that this is the way God designed our bodies and created for food and medicine.  I totally enjoyed doing this unto my Lord and boldly acknowledging Him and His Word to doctors who are Christians but believe that man's medicine is the only and best way to treat many diseases and sickness...in my case, the heart! 

Today on the way to New Life Baptist Church, where I work,  I realized this girl is so right.  I must continue to eat according to HIS WORD and boldly acknowledge The Creator with my body that is His Holy Place...so that He would be delighted and glorified.  My desire should be to eat, exercise, work, teach, influence and live to delight my Lord and Creator...Almighty God!  To become a Peculiar Pattern that others will want to follow as I follow His Pattern...every day on the road to "new life!"

"...so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus..."  Acts 20:24

JOY is the flag that is flown when The Master is at home! ~Ruth Harms Calkin

March 5, 2015

Betty Nunes