THE PROMISE

"Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise belongs to you and to your children and to all who are far off, to all whom the Lord our God will call to Himself.” With many other words he testified, and he urged them, “Be saved from this corrupt generation.” Acts 2:38-40
Peter says things in a certain order here, but elsewhere in the same book it is stated by Peter in the opposite order (Acts 10:44-47. The answer? You can be baptized in the Spirit before or after water baptism! I was baptized in Spirit before water baptism.
The point is, repent and receive the *HOLY SPIRIT* which will happen if we truly believe on Christ!
"Whoever believes in Me, just as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’” (He was speaking about the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. For the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.)" ~John 7:38, 39
"Turn to my reproof, Behold, I will pour out my Spirit on you; I will make my words known to you." Proverbs 1:23
"The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging Him on a tree. God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior, in order to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Acts 5:31-33
"obey" here is literally "persuaded" (Strong's G3980). We obey when we are persuaded by God. And we are persuaded and obey when we believe!
"If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" Luke 11:13
“So I say to you, keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep searching, and you will find. Keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Luke 11:9-10 (HCSB)
Dear God our Father and our Lord Jesus, open our ears, eyes and hearts to receive Your precious truths! Only through the righteousness, promises and mercy You provide through your Anointed Son, Jesus the Christos!
Amen, and amen!

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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

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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

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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


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

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


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The Greatest Commandments MUST be kept by His Spirit within us

Or we will NOT be allowed into heaven...

Your word I have hid in my heart, That I may not sin against You. Psalm 119:11


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There is "One Lord..." (Ephesians 4)

Unity in the Faith


Written July 31 2017


"Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel;" Philippians 1:27

In my last post I discussed the word "striving" (agónizomai - See Here).

In Philippians 1:27 (above) is another Greek word, "sunathleó", which adds "together" with the word "striving" translated into English as "striving [together]" (KJV 1x) and "laboured [with me]" (KJV 1x). Only 2 usages in the whole Bible. See here: http://biblehub.com/greek/4866.htm

Except this word sunathleó means "striving together". The Strong's concordance says, "I compete together with others, cooperate vigorously with."

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance:

labor with, strive together for.

From sun and athleo; to wrestle in company with, i.e. (figuratively) to seek jointly -- labour with, strive together for.

The second and only other usage in the whole Bible, also by Paul, says:

"Indeed, true companion, I ask you also to help these women who "have shared my struggle" (NASB) or "laboured" (KJV) (sunathleó) in the cause of the gospel, together with Clement also and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life." Philippians 4:3 NASB

See Paul was striving to unify the church in the Holy Spirit. Seeking to unify the church under Christ and God the Father. He says often throughout his writings how important this is. And he boldly called out those who were causing divisions. Paul called them "fleshly" (KJV- 1 Corinthians 1:10-17; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9)

"Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment." 1 Corinthians 1:10

This exhortation stands firm today. So why then are there so many divisions among professing followers of Christ?

Paul boldly says, "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all." Ephesians 4:1-6 http://biblehub.com/nasb/ephesians/4.htm

There is only ONE LORD. ONE FAITH, ONE CHRIST, ONE BAPTISM. Christ is not divided! And yet we are fractured beyond repair. Like the tower of babel. All speaking different things. Different teachings, different doctrines.

Jesus clearly warned us "a house divided against itself will fall." (Luke 11:17) What I am saying here from God's Word shows clearly that MANY professing followers of Christ are wrong. As they cannot ALL be right. And I by no means am saying for people to compromise sound doctrine. But those of us who have been born from above and fathered by God Almighty in Messiah, we have MUCH to pray about. We need to break through to God. And we need to pray to God and ask Him to present His people to this world. His true servants in a clear and powerful way. And one way this can be done is by signs and wonders being done at the hands of His servants. And I'm not talking about all these false signs done in their phony services on TV. I'm talking about verified and bonafide MIRACLES.

But this can only be done though those who are have truly humbled themselves before God and are seeking Him and are striving with Him for the cause of souls. I ask you to strive together with God's Spirit through Christ. To seek Him yourself and not depend on anyone else. WE must walk with Christ. We must be in fellowship with Him. He must be our Shepherd. And this He promises to do through His Spirit within us. Read and study John chapter 14.

I will end this message here but I ask you to strive together with me (sunathleó) in prayer to our LORD and ask Him to unify His church under HIS leadership. Just as Paul taught and teaches today by the words God spoke through him to the churches of Christ.

In Yeshua's Name Amen

Your brother in Christ, Thomas Richards

if you have never repented of your sins and been saved and feel the desire to do so now please say this prayer. This is how I was powerfully saved 20 years ago!


Say,


"My Lord and my God, Have mercy on my soul, a sinner, I believe Jesus the Messiah died on the cross and shed His precious blood for the forgiveness of all my sins. I believe God raised Jesus from the dead and Jesus is now on the right hand of God and can hear my prayer at this moment and wants to live through me and give me power to keep His Word. I open up the door of my heart and I invite You into my heart Lord Jesus. Please be my Lord and Savior in every aspect of my life. Thank you God for saving my soul and I vow to serve you with all my heart which is the first and greatest commandment. Amen"
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God requires our whole heart, our thoughts and our words

Many professing Bible believers seem to think that God isn't serious when He says He requires our whole heart, our thoughts and our words (Luke 10:27; 2 Corinthians 10:5; 1 Peter 4:11; Ephesians 4:29; Matthew 12:36). That means they are actively presuming He is double-minded. But it's actually US who are double-minded "and unstable in ALL [our] ways" if we doubt God's first and greatest commandment (Matthew 22:36-40). And because of this we cannot ask anything from God "in faith" (James 1:6). And God says if we are doubting Him/His Word then we are like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed around by the wind. "For that person must not suppose that he will receive ANYTHING from the Lord...." James 1.

As God instructs throughout His whole Word, our eye must be single (Matthew 6:22-23). We must sell all we have and buy that field or pearl of great price (Matthew 13:44-46). God requires we present ourselves as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1), we are not our own (1 Corinthians 6:19) but have been purchased with the precious blood of Christ (Galatians 3:13; 1 Peter 1:18, 19). We may know all these verses but have we received them into our spirit by revelation from the Holy Spirit. Can we, are we TRULY loving our neighbors as ourselves?

Is this too hard brothers and sisters? Does God ask too much? Did Jesus lie when He said His yoke is EASY and His burden light? And that we SHALL find REST unto our souls?

"Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. For the one who enters God’s rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. Thus we MUST MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO ENTER THAT REST, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience." Hebrews 4:9-11

Let our heart's cry be to enter into God's rest. And be made perfect in love. Let the truth afflict us and pierce our hearts and "Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom." James 4:9 And cry out to the living God for salvation. "He who endures to the end, the same shall be saved." (Matthew 24:13).

God requires ALL our heart, mind, soul and strength. And His yoke is easy (Greek word also means "pleasant"). These two go together like a hand and glove. Let us be honest with ourselves. Let us see ourselves for what we really are. Are we really serving God or seeking Him with all our heart?
Jesus said. “Do this and you will live.” Luke 10:28

Dear heavenly Father, I pray for all who read this. That You show us our hearts. And that You pinpoint the things that are holding us back from serving You. Father, I pray You put a burden in all of us to seek You more fervently. And that You cause us to accept the reproof in Your Word and apply it all intimately in our public and private lives. That we may abide in You and You in us so that we bear much fruit. So we will not be ashamed when we face you on that day. Father, we ask in the Name of Your Son. Jesus the Messiah. Amen.

Read more: http://spirituallysmart.com
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Observation: WHAT connects you to a cult makes a difference

INTRO: This blog pertains to my past involvement with Alamo Ministries. I lived on their properties a few short stretches but for the past 6 years I've supported their ministries from a far and over the Internet. It wasn't until I heard the testimony at Alamo's trial that I realized that he was a con artist. And WORSE. To find out more you can look through my older blog posts..

One connection I felt I had with Tony Alamo was the fact that he was the only "pastor" I ever heard preaching from 1st Proverbs (22-33)

God revealed Himself to me through those verses right before I got saved. 6 months before I ever heard of Alamo Ministries.

Just one small example as to why some people's connections to Alamo could be stronger or weaker.

I don't even want to continue down that road of speaking on these things (positive spiritual connections to Alamo). But people do make those kinds of connections. Then something you don't like happens, you concentrate on the positive spiritual connections you've made. Like when Tony would say something that didn't make sense or was flat out wrong I would think to the connections I've made and say to myself, "But he's the only one I know of that preaches one needs to fear God. And preaches 1st Proverbs" (That is just one example and did hold true for me).

Then these connections grow stronger and also multiply over the years. But what happens is you're put through so much from Tony in the church that you may become very familiar with running through the positive connections often. You do this to balance every thing out. I think after a while you don't have to think of these connections anymore because you're used to them persuading you. So then you begin to reject any critical thinking patterns that expose Alamo or whatever group you're a part of. And that's when these people become like a robot. They become resigned. They feel they could never leave the cult no matter what.

other connections can be,

"I have nowhere else to go"

"I have no job"

"I'm going to die on the streets if i leave"

Others have lead lonely lives and they like the other members of the group. They're very nice people and treat you kindly. That could be a strong connection. I know there are people like that at Alamo Ministries.

I think these connections is the key to each individual caught up in a cult. So the combination to the lock that would set them free could be different every time.

I think I see the spiritual ramifications in Alamo's cult have more of a hold. in other words. I think that if they have the spiritual connections to Alamo then it would be stronger than the carnal connections (such as he pays my rent and doctors bills). Once the carnal attachment is broken. Or the person leaves the church and get a job and are more secure they will no longer have any attachment. But Spiritual connections to Alamo like I had, carried me a lot further. Even to being a supporter of Alamo from outside the church for a while.

I know of people who were saved from reading Tony Alamo's literature and they were instantly delivered from addiction to crack. It was the Word of God that Tony placed in his gospel tract (pamphlet) that set this man free. Nevertheless it is a hold on that person now. That person feels that God used Alamo to save their soul. And that person talks about this event in their lives often. And so it affects others. This person's story affected me while I was there.

These are normal thought patterns though. People make connections like this in every area of their lives. My friends, loved ones, spouses, jobs, churches, whatever. So the reasons why people become connected to a cult isn't too hard to explain or understand.


More soon to come..

(Why do I call Alamo Ministries a "cult"? Because it is. It's manifested in several ways. The one that became clear to me was Tony's insistent preaching on polygamy and his embrace of Mormon doctrines and his embrace of other books like the book of Jasher. Which I enjoyed reading and thought there was some truths in there but didn't think it was really part of the "Word of God".)
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Photobucket Censors Their Censorship on

(Looks like blogger changed this url so it was broken on my facebook page. I figured out a work-around though so now that url points to another this post I had saved as a draft. I renamed the draft with the same title blogger changed my other url to so that the url would be good again. You would have to be a little tech savvy or have knowledge of blogger to understand what I'm saying.)

New Censorship Web Page with More examples of Internet companies censoring me.

Photobucket is another major internet company that wants to help the Vatican cover-up their war-crimes from WW2. I've been hosting my photos on photobucket since I first started building my web site (since around 2000). Suddenly they are deleting my pictures. Deleting even the banner to my Nazi Vatican Web Page. Now they actually deleted my screen-shot evidence of their censorship. Except I have back-ups. See below the pictures they deleted. Look to the right to see what they deleted.

Photobucket deleted my screenshots of their censorship. See my backup to the right Screenshots of photobucket censorship (which they ALSO censored by deletion!)

photobucket censors their censorship
This was the banner on my Nazi-Vatican expose' page Click image to View full size

This was my banner photobucket deleted. I re-uploaded it and they haven't deleted it yet but I have a backup as well. Click to view full size:

See above what it looked like after they removed the banner
photobucket nazi censorship
Click to View Full Size
photobucket deletions censorship cover-up ww2 vatican war crimesClick to view full size
photobucket covers up vatican catholic nazi war crimes and censors their censorship"Click to view full size

So you can see photobucket censored their censorship. They actually deleted my screenshots of their deletions. I'm just glad I've begun backing up my images as you cannot trust any online service anymore. Not even big web hosting services like GODADDY.COM

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