Fiery Pit in the OT?

Posted on February 10, 2012 by A Whisper, Screamed

I think I was searching around for a detail article about Jesus’ anger and frustration. After discovering a good one here, I perused other parts of the site. As always, I find leaven polluting a whole lot of truth, which is why I trust nothing from man, no matter how godly s/he may be. I skimmed over his article about hell not being literal and remarked to myself the upswing of the Universal Salvation idea lately. The main argument used is the fact that hell is not mentioned in the OT. I did a quick “Lord, what is up with that?” and moved on to something else.

While pondering and praying about Him and the Kingdom in bed (yes, prayer in bed is in Bible; see Psalms), I decided to grab my Book and see if He had a word in it for me. Upon opening, my eyes hit Isaiah 66. I read some of it and thought about reading the chapter prior, but chose to finish it. The last verse of the chapter was also the last one of that book:

And they shall go forth, and look on the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring to all flesh.

O…K.  Then I noticed that the verse number, 24; the digits added up to 6. 666…LOL! The following day, I just had to look up verse 6:

A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the LORD that renders recompense to his enemies.

then verse 15:

For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.

Very funny, Abba… I love His sense of humor. Be warned: if you hold any superstitions or symbols precious, He will use them against you to shatter their grip on you. A great example of this is Ehud, the left-handed hero in Judges 3:12-30, mocking the ancient belief that using the left hand was evil.

As always, take everything to the Lord in prayer.

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Now!

Posted on February 9, 2012 by A Whisper, Screamed

Is the Lord Yeshua alive?
Act like it!

Is He Lord over your life?
Think like it!

Are you confident in the Gospel?
Talk like it!

Do you love His Spirit within you?
Shout like it!

Does sin chase after you?
Flee from it!

Does His Bread make you hungry?
Eat like it!

Do you want His guidance?
Pray like it!

Do you mortify your flesh?
Fast like it!

Do you take His correction?
Praise like it!

Embrace it!
Just do it!

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Whistling Past the Graveyard

Posted on February 8, 2012 by A Whisper, Screamed

This is sad. Many very important topics baby believers need to digest are mostly ignored. Why is this? The first things that comes to mind are money and power. For others, they believe we should stay under a man’s leadership until the day we die (stay on spiritual milk, little solid food), which promotes shoehorning the Evangel into our lives (instead of the other way around) and doctrine that is not in the Bible, or twists it. This is why judgment always comes to the Body first (Jeremiah 25:29, Jeremiah 49:12, Amos 3:2, 1 Peter 4:17).

Here is an example: the most popular topics on Sermon Audio contain over 500 sermons. The ones that should be touched on often are mostly ignored. I managed to dredge up a few by its search engine:

Self-esteem (the problem of) – 18 files

Spiritual Adultery – 13 files

Sacrifice Self – 7files

Self Sacrifice – 18 files

Death to Self – 5 files

Self Death – 4 files

Dying Daily – 2 files

Dying to Self – 5 files

Die to Self – 5 files

Self Die – 1 file

Die Daily – 2 files

Death Flesh – 5 files

Flesh Death – 3 files

Take up – 76 files

Take up Your Cross – 21 files

Taking up the Cross – 10 files

Deny Self – 32 files

Self Deny – 6 files

Denying Self – 65 files

Maturity – 257 files

Mature – 132 files

Mature Believers – 13 files

Refine – 42 files

Refining – 15 files

Knowledge and Wisdom – 5 files

Gifts of the Spirit – 118 files

Word of the Lord – 70 files

Kingdom of God – 491 files

Apostles Today – 5 files

Gift of Prophecy – 27 files

Fidelity – 22 files (more than half about spiritual fidelity)

Loyalty – 70 files

Priesthood – 231 files

Priest unto – 4 files (Preist – 3 files…LOL!)

Bind Strong Man – 9 files

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The Distraction Called Expectation

Posted on February 7, 2012 by A Whisper, Screamed

Years ago, I was involved in a discussion about human behavior. I had mentioned that I had no expectation for anyone’s actions and preferred to be pleasantly surprised at positive outcomes. A good friend there told me that was no way to live, unhealthy in fact.

Huh?

I replied, “How can it be unhealthy? If I have no expectations, I have less heartache and drama. Life is hard enough.”

A bud of uncomfortable silence had sprung up, but someone else quickly countered it. Come to find out much later it was what Jesus did and expected us to follow that example. Good grief, things like that make me feel like I am from another planet or reading a different Bible. We are called to be peculiar (holy or set apart) to the world (Exodus 19:5-6, Deuteronomy 7:6, Deuteronomy 14:2, Deuteronomy 26:18, Malachi 3:17, Titus 2:14, 1 Peter 2:9), so it comes with the territory.

To be honest, the only expectation I have is God working on, around, and through me for refinement, the positive and negative. My husband could keel over dead or lose his mind; others will come and go out of my life; society at large could have a major paradigm shift; I could end up crippled or gravely ill; a intense thunderstorm or fire might destroy everything I own…in an instant, life changes. Change is the only constant in life. To not worry about or rely on things or people in this existence is such a relief.

Does this make for an emotion-free drone? Hardly…I get to feel more His joy and pain for His creation. My mind keeps flowing during stressful situations. My trust in Him increases and He reveals more of Himself and His will for me. The joy and freedom of serving the Lord ends up being the result of letting go of what this world conditions us to focus on, good or bad.

Galatians 5:1 Stand therefore in that liberty with which The Messiah has set us free, and do not be yoked again in a yoke of bondage.

2 Peter 2:19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

James 1:25 But whoever looks into the perfect law of liberty, and continues in it, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

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Finally, a Good Prophecy I Pray Comes to Pass

Posted on February 6, 2012 by A Whisper, Screamed

God’s Purpose for Islam

At a point in the near future, a group of Christians are going to stop about twenty miles outside of Mecca. They are going to ask for a meeting with the leaders there out in the desert. There will be a contest like the one on Mount Carmel except on a much larger scale, where the leaders of Islam will pray, then the Christians will pray. A large number of those on Hajj (approximately 300,000) will come out to see the contest. The Lord will display His power and the entire population of Mecca will accept Jesus as Lord.

The Gospel of John will be read from the Minarets in Mecca. Muslims all over the world will shortly thereafter turn to Christianity, and Islam will disappear in a day. The Lord allowed Islam to spread for the sole purpose of displaying His power. The fervent Muslims will become the most fervent Christian evangelists that the world has ever seen, and it will be those who complete the great commission. The thousand and a half years the enemy spent planning will all be undone in a day. The Lord allowed it to go on to show that He is God. And He used the enemy to spread people throughout the world that the Lord will use to be the most effective evangelists that the world has ever seen. ~Jeffrey Stewart

Oh Father, please let this be true! Let this be true! Oh, the glory and honor to You displayed will amaze the entire world. Please, let this be true!

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Possible Altar Symbolism?

Posted on February 5, 2012 by A Whisper, Screamed

I think I got it!

The altar = the earth, the tangible

The wood = the trees of life and the knowledge of good and evil

The fire = The Holy Spirit, the Word of God, His power

The sacrificed animal = the old self

The burning of the carcass = total destruction of the old self, the influence of the flesh

Pouring of the blood around the back of the altar = the old life, the world’s influence

The removal and burning of the “fat” off the innards = destruction of the soul’s influence, the hopes, wishes, dreams, knowledge, human logic, etc.

The salt = the fear of the Lord = faith in Who He is = His Will/obedience = lose the savor (flavor), and it (faith) is worthless

I want to expand upon this, but I need to know whether I am on the right path or not.

Lord, I wonder, did the sprinkling of blood on the mercy seat quiet the cries of innocent animal blood shed for Your people’s sake? Or, perhaps the continuous fire did?

There were twelve different sacrifice, twelve being the number of God’s Government.

They kept the fire on the altar burning day and night = this is a continuous process

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Puzzling Passages Made Plain: Tossed to the Depraved

Posted on February 4, 2012 by A Whisper, Screamed

Genesis 19:8 and Judges 19:23-28 explained by Jim Brown:He also explains the importance of the threshold and “step on the crack, you break your mother’s back.”

These two passages always had my head tipping sideways going “What? Why, Lord?” Of course, the surface answer is culture, but the spiritual one does not compute other than woman, in biblical symbolism, represents a group of worshipers or a religious order.

Could Lot’s daughters represent physical (seed of Abraham) and spiritual (seed of Jesus) Israel? If so, then the concubine represents physical Israel’s predicament while the young woman still inside shows the protection currently over spiritual Israel?

Now that spiritual Israel is larger than the physical one, could the tale of Oholah and Oholibah (Ezekiel 23:2-49) foreshadow the judgment (or refinement) of each one during the end of the age?

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Thought Splatters (Duck!)

Posted on February 4, 2012 by A Whisper, Screamed

I don’t think the so-called Protestant Revolution went far enough. Jesus came to encourage us to go directly to Our Father and set the example, but I see man’s knowledge and beliefs getting in the way.

There is no perfect translation of the Bible into English, some better than others. Studying the original Greek text and the history of the times is a must. Where am I going to find an assembly that does this?

Although the adversary cannot read our minds, he can read our habits and hear our spoken prayers. His attacks increase as we grow closer to Our Father, another tool for our refinement.

Maybe the focus should be on whether we are on the narrow path with the Holy Spirit as our Guide. I am not worried about losing salvation; I am trying to get my spirit purified, a daily fight.

Every time the ones who speak the truth receives criticizes, the criticism assists in purifying them. This is yet another reason to take everything to the Father.

For a pastor to call himself the head is in fact not scriptural at all. At most they are caretakers of their fellow sheep (think sheep dogs) but for some reason what Jesus taught about the greatest among us being the servant of all, seems to have slipped by for the worldly wisdom and reward of the greatest being the most obeyed and honored.

People need to understand the difference between setting one’s self apart from the world and self-righteousness. People need to hand over their sensitivity to words to His Spirit or they will not endure the trouble creeping upon the world.

Jesus is my rest from this crazy world. In Him, I give up all desires for this place, for it is not my home. Thank you for breaking the chains that anchored me to the illusions of dirt.

Images are a distraction, made important in corporal men’s minds. All experience of our senses is dirt and dust, easily erased in an eye blink. The only image we should worry about is the spiritual one Jesus painted for us. Nothing has changed.

I have heard too many stories about people, who have contributed to their churches faithfully for years, being turned down for a little financial help. Maybe these institutions need to break up into small, more manageable groups to spread the Evangel. I cannot wait for Jesus to break apart this system so His children turn solely to Him and Him alone.

The problem is not with heavenly-minded people, but the religious-minded ones. One group wants to do the will of Our Father and stay in contact with Him in order to do it. The other, focuses on church, morality, and the appearance of godliness—the physical stuff alone—in the belief that is what Our Father wants.

OK, so the ultimate goal of out lives: to do the job we were created to do before we go home while being spiritually refined. If that is the case, then why is there so much focus on the here-and-now?

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Pray Like This

Posted on February 2, 2012 by A Whisper, Screamed

Nathan Leal’s audio series, Meat in Due Season, currently is dishing up some savory treats on the Lord’s Prayer, along with timely information concerning the world at large.

Matthew 6:9-13 (and partially in Luke 11:2-4) contains the model prayer of Jesus gave his disciples. Although it is a beautiful prayer, He used it as an example, listing everything that should be in our prayers to the Father: praise, giving glory, and asking for guidance, wisdom, and knowledge.

Six Principles of Prayer Taken from the Model Prayer of Jesus
1. Acknowledge God’s importance in your life.
2. Express your affection for the kingdom.
3. Affirm both submission to, and dependence on God.
4. What should you confess and what should you forgive.
5. Verbally express your need for His power.
6. Express worship to your Heavenly Father.

Using the same structure, I wrote a few as a fun exercise:

    Version #1

Heavenly Father, full of power and grace
May Your Name be precious in our minds.
Your Kingdom is here,
Your desires fulfilled,
In the natural as in spirit.
Feed us the Unleavened Bread of Your Knowledge
And the pure Living Water of Your Wisdom.
As we turn away and avoid sin,
Grant us the mercy we need towards others.
Keep us on the straight, narrow path
And prod us away from the wide one.
You are the Almighty Word, full of logic contrary to this world.
All praise to You forever for that!
Amen.

    Version #2

Dear Abba, we fall on our faces before Your throne.
Many are the names of Your nature.
The Kingdom dwells among Your children
The strength of Your Spirit moves us
Angel and man alike.
We hunger for Your Word Everlasting
And thirst for Your Holy Spirit.
Repentance, death, and renewal cause humility.
Generosity, forgiveness, and truth cause joy and freedom.
Though we need Your chastising,
May it be minimal as we grow in spirit.
We honor You by becoming living sacrifices, purified and tested by You.
Rejoice in His authority for all times.
Amen.

    Version #3

We tremble in Your Presence, Oh Lord of creation!
Believer or not, Your Holy authority directs us all.
To shape us to Your plan
On both the physical and spiritual planes.
Please help us meet our basic needs and overcome sin
As we forgive the sins against us.
May we become Your leaven in the world while resisting the adversary’s pollution.
From Your footstool, we give You all worship, praise, and glory!
Amen.

    Version #4

To the mighty and wise Builder and Maintainer of the earth,
Your name shall be praise above all others.
Your Rule covers the world,
Who can come against it?
All in the spiritual and natural existence combined cannot match the power in one blink of Your eye.
Bless the nourishment we take into our bodies for Your sake.
You suffer so much for our iniquities.
To be like Your Son, we must suffer others as well.
Your Law kills the flesh, freeing the spirit;
Please keep Your desire written in our hearts to repel the enemy.
Almighty Father, Lord Jesus, we raise shouts of glory to You, not for favor, but joy and awe of Your everlasting agape and majesty.
Give glory to His name, always.
Amen.

    Version #5

Abba, we are not worthy to stand in Your throne room.
Your Holy Righteousness brings us to tears.
Obedience is better than sacrifice.
May all Your creation bowed low before Your glory.
Everything we have comes from You, good and bad, as You refine us into the image of Your Son.
We recognize Your loving patience as we learn to be patient ourselves.
Prod us into repentance, Oh Sheppard, that we may drink Your still, cool waters.
You are the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, Who reigns beyond the end of time for You are timeless.
Glory be to God, the true Emperor of all!
Amen.

    Version #6

In comparison to Your great power and nature, we are specks of dust.
As dry clay dampened by Your Son’s blood, You reshape our very existence.
Your angels look upon and rejoice at Your work.
We empty ourselves, starving for Your Living Word.
You fill the void and we become strong in spirit, power, and faith.
The flesh will make mistakes, lessening in time,
But our reformation by Your Spirit endures until the end.
To You in esteem, we give thanks and supplication, Glorious God, You deserve it!
Amen.

    Version #7

The power of life and death rests in Your Hands, Oh Lord of Hosts.
Our prognostications do not hold a candle to Your Holy words.
The rule of man over man fails every time.
By the blessing of faith and truth can we mere mortals ever understand?
Your love and word are more valuable than bread and pleasure.
Break the curses cast over us
As we issue blessings upon our enemies.
Give a foul, sour taste on our impulses while we savor the fruits of obedience to You.
Halleluyah! Shout and cheer for His grace and His Holy Guide; magnify His Kingdom forevermore.
Amen.

    Version #8

Lord Yeshua, Holy One, Wonderful Counselor, we are not good enough to behold Your countenance.
We kiss the floor and speak to You through our souls instead of our filthy mouths, spewing discharge.
Have You found us worthy enough to partake of Your Meal of Bread and Wine?
Are our garments, soaked with Your blood, cleaner than they were before?
Do we demonstrate enough of Your heart?
Does the adversary still have power over us?
Are we under deception or malice?
May we stay humble and observe Your will manifested in Your children, the oil-filled lamps on Your Mountain.
Amen.

Discover the Very Jewish Lord’s Prayer
The Lord’s Prayer and the Amidah: A Comparative Analysis

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The Best Biblical Resource on the Net

Posted on February 1, 2012 by A Whisper, Screamed

Also known as http://bible.cc/, it is the most comprehensive, yet easy-to-use site about the Bible I have ever seen. You can have the Bible in nearly any language or version, an interactive Strong’s Concordance, biblical commentary from various authors over the centuries, and it supports itself by selling books (no donation button to be found). The only thing I ding them on is having the Apocrypha (historical but not spiritual, IMO) but excluding the Books of Enoch, Jubilees, Jasher (I like all three), and others.

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