Thursday, February 22, 2018

The "Name of God" ....



People get too caught up with the "name of God" topic. Jesus simply referred to Him as "Father" and told us to do the same (Matthew 6:9). Jesus, His name is the Greek translation of Joshua (or Yahoshua. Yeshua, Yohoshua). And He is the "Anointed" or "Christos" (in Greek). In Hebrew it's Mashiach or Messiah. And Jesus is Lord or Master (of all things). Simple!

On Pentecost when the disciples first received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the power from on high and the promise of the Father (all are synonymous), representatives of all the surrounding nations were present and "heard these people speaking IN OUR OWN LANGUAGES about the wonderful things God has done!" Acts 2:11

Right there, GOD ordained the TRANSLATION of His Word into ALL languages (caps for emphasis only). This translation also includes the names and titles of God and our Lord Yeshua!

Languages change over time. Meanings of words change over time. So it is important for us to study the original words underneath the translations (by studying CONTEXT) so we can get a better and clearer picture of what God is saying to us through His written Word. Over the past 200+ years there have been incredible works provided for us to do just that. Strong's concordance is one of those works. However, there are Lexicons that also show HOW each and every Greek and Hebrew word was used in context throughout ALL ancient writings. Scripture and secular. Some Greek words are only used once in the entire Word of God. The ancient philosophers and poets (professional writers) give us more of an insight of what that word meant in the context they used it. Fascinating field of study. Nothing is more fascinating in my opinion than the study of God's Word.

My point is, EVERYONE can verify a translation by studying the Greek and Hebrew text underneath the English translation. For 20 or so years I didn't understand how to do this and was intimidated to look at other versions of the Bible beside the King James Version. (If you already know what I am saying, you are blessed. Do not take this knowledge for granted! ) Finally, about 15 months ago I experienced a break-through in my walk with God. And that was the ability to study the Greek so I can verify ALL the English translations MYSELF! And now I am studying the Septuagint as well and it is wonderful. I know a lot of professing believers attack the validity of the Septuagint and I find that very unfortunate. Please study the Septuagint for yourself. You will see exact phrases taken from the Septuagint and spoken by Jesus the Christ and His servants throughout the whole New Covenant. Verbatim quotes from the Old Covenant Greek in the New Covenant Greek. This has increased my faith and edified me greatly. The Greek Orthodox church still uses the Septuagint. The western church broke off from doing so for perhaps insidious reasons. But Charles Thomson, who was a friend of George Washington and member of the continental congress even translated the Septuagint into English in the early 1800s and was a popular translation! You can read it online. I personally love the Apostolic Bible (Septuagint) translated by Charles Van der Pool. He is the very first one to provide Strong's numbers with the Old Covenant Greek Septuagint. A truly epic work! That is online as well, but I recommend you buy a physical copy from his website. And my other favorite online Bible tools I use all the time are studybible.info, biblehub.com, studylight.org, lumina.bible.org, and blueletterbible.org. These tools are invaluable. And I would even venture to say that God allowed the internet to exist so we could study His word using these tools!

Let me cut this short here and just praise our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ and His Father for giving us His word and allowing us to deeply study it in Greek which may be the most incredible language ever! Amen. And may God the Father bless you all in Yeshua the Anointed One!

See more here: https://spirituallysmart.com/strongtower.html

Forgiveness



Forgiving someone who has wronged us is for our own benefit. It has nothing to do with them, but everything to do with our walk with God. If we understand how WE have all wronged God, partook in the death of His Son Jesus the Christ on the cross, and yet God forgave us in such a powerfully profound way, then it should be easy for us to forgive and even pray for that soul. In most cases, what someone has done to us does not deserve them suffering an eternity in hell for instance.

And forgiving someone doesn't mean we have to subject ourselves to their abuse either. I have forgiven people I will probably never talk to again. Because they are poisonous to my well being. However, I had to forgive them because I know I needed forgiveness from God for all my shortcomings. And EVERYONE has these shortcomings to where we NEED forgiveness from God. Staying angry at someone takes energy. That energy is supposed to be used on serving the Lord. The unforgiveness turns into an idol. Because according to God's word we can't have God AND unforgiveness in our hearts. If we are seeking God with all our heart, there will be no room for unforgiveness anyway. It only hurts ourselves. It only causes anger and bitterness and the works of the flesh. Our eye must be "single" Jesus said. When our eye is "single" then "your whole body also is full of light;" (Luke 11:34, 35) That means all our focus on Jesus and His Word. Just pray to Jesus and tell Him you forgive everyone and ask the Father to forgive you. And just forget about them and focus on God's word and our own growth and need for forgiveness on a daily basis. The forgiving others "their trespasses" is part of what is often called "The Lord's Prayer" and is a fundamental part of serving God! This is part of walking in the light as 1 John 1:7 says, "if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." And we NEED this. Not doing this only hurts ourselves.

This may sound hard. Well, we are in a fight. And this is definitely part of that fight. If we fall short in any way, don't give up. Keep fighting and keep asking God for power and grace to overcome and grow into the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ (Ephesians 4:13). Print out the verses you need the most as hang them where you will see them everyday. Knowledge is one thing, we may all know the Word of God. But walking in that knowledge is love. And can be done only by God's holy Spirit within us which He promises to give us freely if we ask....

May God the Father bless you all in the wonderful name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Anointed One. Amen

More messages on this subject:
 
 
 
 
 
 

Unity in the FAITH




This is something that is urgently needed among believers today. UNITY. And I'm talking about under the guidance of the ONE Jesus the Christ and ONE God the Father by the ONE Holy Spirit. Paul spent a lot of time talking about Christ's ONE body being perfectly united with ONE mind in Christ Jesus. This isn't about compromising. It's about NOT compromising God's holy Word and following Him with ALL our heart. You know about Paul right? The apostle? Everything he did and everything he suffered? Well do you know Paul called everything he did a "light affliction" compared to the glory that was to come (2 Corinthians 4:17). He was a SOLDIER for Christ. And he exhorted US (true believers) to emulate him as he emulated Christ. We need some FIRE to get everyone going here and get together and "strive together" for the cause of CHRIST and the souls He DIED for, Amen? Please read this message for more and share if you are inclined to do so. May God the Father and the Lord Christ Yeshua bless you all! Amen

read full message here: https://spirituallysmart.com/unity.html


Good commentary on Romans chapter 9 from the Wycliffe Bible Commentary.

Fruits of the Spirit and the definition of love (agape)


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