Change is on the way….

Hello Everyone…

First I’d like to thank each of you for visiting the site and for staying in contact over the past years as so many changes have taken place…

More are on the way as we come to the last month of the year, and embark upon a new year…many of us are also embarking upon a new life… a new way of living!

As we approach the new year and the ending of this one… I’d like to take the opportunity to encourage each of you to know what is within you…. to take the time each day to embrace the truth of who you are… what makes you you … and to enjoy it!

We are all unique individuals and that’s a great thing. We are each a unique piece of this puzzle we call life with each having a wonderful part in the whole and to thine own self be true!

Celebrate every day… celebrate everyone in your life that makes your heart sing… celebrate every thing… be thankful and grateful for all that you have… and for all the small things that are we all have going for us no matter where we are in the moment…remember your heart is still beating…your lungs still are taking in breath… be thankful!!

I’m thankful for each of you and wish you all the best. I will be sharing more with you in the upcoming weeks as I go through a lot of changes myself and have over the last while. I’m excited about what is ahead… and hope you are too!

Love to you all….
Denise

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Father’s Day…..

Today is known in many countries around our world as “Father’s Day”… the day we honor our fathers, those that are our fathers through biology, marriage, as well as those that have been a “father” to us, been there for us, yet are not related to us at all.

So today I take a moment to honor, and am thankful, as I am each day, to the fathers that have been a part of my life…. and to direct our appreciation, thanks, attention and awareness to The Father… Source, Universe, God, Spirit, I AM, All in All, etc.

There are no names or titles in any language, or the combination of all languages, that can truly or fully define or describe The Father…. that which is within each of us.

So join me today in honoring The Father… the Source, Universe, God, Spirit, I Am, All in All, that which is within YOU…

This day causes us to become “AWARE” of a time appointed for this ….  as a reminder to each of us to be THANKFUL each moment of every day for this precious and amazing thing we call LIFE and to whomever and whatever it is that we attribute having given it to us, made it possible for us!!

Thank you Father…

Much love…

Denise

 

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The “collective responsibility to build the church”… whose responsibility is it??

In a discussion this morning there was a comment shared regarding it being the “collective responsibility” of a “body of believers” to build the “church” …. and the words of Paul from the pages of the bible were cited.   (The question of why quote Paul on “building the church” Jesus refers to in the writings is another topic for another time)

What I’d like to share is what Jesus says on this point in the pages of the same collection of writings ….

When we carefully examine the writings we see that the ones that Jesus is speaking of in this passage (John 17) are those that the Father has given him that He is to bring…. that had been chosen out of the world, that came to follow Jesus when they heard His voice, and did not follow another…. becoming disciples of Jesus first…. before they were sent out by Jesus… and that is shown to have all taken place before this prayer is recorded.

So the “collective responsibility” was given to Jesus in “collecting” out of the world those that the Father has given him… that He says will hear His voice and come follow him… that will keep His sayings and not follow another… that He will manifest Himself to and He and the Father will come to and make their abode with.

As John also shares it is God that so loved the world …. it is God that is the one that sent Jesus.. it the Father that gave those to Jesus that Jesus said would hear His voice and come follow Him.

It is also Jesus in the writings that state He will build His church…. so it seems that the “collective responsibility” according to the writings was given by the Father to Jesus to bring those that were given to Him by the Father… and build His church as the Father has given Him to do.

“And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”- Jesus

“And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day.”- Jesus

“Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.”- Jesus

““All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.”- Jesus

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.”- Jesus

“The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice. Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them.” -Jesus

“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me,…”- Jesus

So again it seems that unless we’re going to discount/reject/refuse to consider the words of Jesus in those writings in the bible that are available to be read by “whosoever will”……

The “collective responsibility” was given to Jesus by the Father to bring His own sheep .. to call them out of the world… to lead them…. and keep them… and build His church Himself.

The Father gave him the sayings/ commandments that He spoke.  The Father gave Him those that were to come to Him when He called them.. that would hear His voice and come follow Him… not following another…. those that did so years ago have shared in those writings HIS SAYINGS now available to “whosoever will” ….  as He said.. those that have His sayings and keep them He will manifest Himself to them… call them out Himself… ONE Shepherd and ONE flock …and build His church Himself! ♥

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Atheism… what is the issue??

I’ve written on this topic before but since its been the topic of some of the discussions I’ve participated in recently… it seemed once again the time to share more on the topic here…

What has always been a bit interesting to me is the attack on Atheism in light of what we can read in the pages of the bible.

Jesus is shown to have said that if one did not see evidence for himself of “works” that one was not to believe because of words.

Jesus said that no man knows the Father but the Son, the Son but the Father, and to whom He chooses to reveal Him…

Jesus said it is those that have His saying and keep them that He will manifest/reveal Himself to them… along with the passage that instructs that those that come in his name saying he’s Christ/Messiah will deceive many….

So why would the atheist who has not had a personal or direct experience with God sufficient by the evidence of the works for him/her to be convinced in whom they had heard/or seen…. be dong anything other than simply living according to the very words of Jesus we can read in the pages of the bible?

The idea that an Atheist or Atheism is attempting to prove a negative seems to be illogical when examined carefully. Atheism isn’t about attempting to prove a negative.. it’s about not excepting the words of another…. not accepting the claims of another because of words that lack evidence sufficient for themselves.

Its doing as Jesus said.. if you don’t see the evidence, believe it not because of the words.

So often it seems that people forget that it is the one that makes a claim about something that the burden of proof lies upon… when the one making the claim cannot and does not produce evidence sufficient for one to see for oneself… then one is left to take such because of the words… devoid of evidence… or to do as Jesus said in the matter… look for the evidence for oneself.. and believe not because of words.

The bible writings point out that it was God that appeared to each person whose wrote of in the writings… that the appearing took place in various ways, each in which the one that  had such an experience knew who it was…. without the words of any other about the matter.

There are only two or so accounts in all the writings where anyone mentions that they were not sure who they were hearing from… one is said to have tossed out a fleece to be provided sufficient evidence for himself…. another heard a voice calling to him and thought it was another only to go find out for himself the evidence that it wasn’t. The latter account was of a young boy who had not been taught or knew about God when the voice spoke to him calling his name.

So do we toss out the bible that shares with us that God revealed himself in whatever means or manner in which it was that God determined that one would have need of to know in whom they were hearing so as to be convinced by God… not man…. and that if God has not revealed himself to someone…. or made it known to them, with sufficient evidence… then one is not to believe because of words?

Isn’t the atheist, who has had no such personal experience to provide sufficient evidence that he/she can see for oneself ……. simply following the teachings of Jesus and the examples in the bible… by not believing because of words, devoid of personal and direct evidence for himself/herself??

Would it be considered logical to have Jesus say those things.. including that He calls His own by name.. they hear His voice and they follow Him.. when He calls to them… and that they will not follow another… in the writings in the bible we have.. people claiming to believe the bible to be the word of God… and Jesus to be God incarnate, the one God sent…. and then denounce or reject the clear instruction that one is not to believe because of words… or to speak against those that simply refuse to believe without evidence that they have seen or experienced for themselves???

So if refusing to believe because of the words of another in matters pertaining to God and Jesus in which one has not seen or experienced for himself/herself sufficient evidence (works) to convince and confirm for oneself (atheism) is “a fallacious construct that is intellectually vapid, as are most of its adherents” (as some have claimed) …. then isn’t the issue really the words and teachings of Jesus we find in the pages of the bible… and the adherents of his teachings that refer to themselves as “atheist”?

Jhn 14:23-24: Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.”

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“Out of Context” Reading of the Bible…

I’ve heard many times in discussions regarding the bible statements like this one…

“Out of context scripture can mean nothing- just like the word ” foundation” so many meanings only within context it is clear; You play on words….it’s pathetic how you distort the Bible.  Surely any theologian, Christian and Bible scholar knows this and should consider it – right ?”

However, what doesn’t seem to be taken into consideration in making a statement like this is what the writers of the various writings that make up the collection of writings we call the Bible today actually state within those very writings.

Let me share more with you on this by sharing my answer to the statement above …

How is it a play on words to post what Jesus said or what is in the book of Psalms as it is written??

Are those passages in the bible as I have posted them or not? The answer is simple.

Either they are or they are not…. anyone with the ability to read for themselves can do so…. and see whether what I have posted is as it is written in the pages of the bible or not.

I offered no “meaning” nor “context” nor explanation…. only posted what is written in the pages of the bible AS IT IS WRITTEN!

Where is your “context” statement in light of Adam.. where is it that you find in the writings that God told Adam to take into consideration the “context” of a bunch of writings before his time to know what it was that was being said to him??

Where do you find Noah having to concern himself with “context” when being told what the writers tell us that Noah said he was told?

See this is another of those points that don’t make any sense in light of what is in those writings.. for none of them mention a thing about having to refer to “context” of other writings or to look at the whole of a collection of writings to determine “context” of whatever words that it was that they say God spoke to them…. how much “context” to you suppose that Abraham had to take into consideration when hearing “go, depart and I’ll shew you the way”?

There is no where that I find Jesus saying to his followers….. “make sure to tell people to read the scriptures in context”… or go through the nation telling people that the scriptures out of context mean nothing??

What “context” does Jesus refer to in his time of temptation with the devil when he simply quoted “as it is written”?

Do you think that the devil had to go back and read all those passages around that one that Jesus quoted to know the “context” of what was being said to him???

So surely in light of what the writings actually state.. and no mention at all of anyone having to read writings before their time to know what was being said to them….. nor being directed to consider “context” ….nor anyone sharing in their writings that God told them that they knew that there were so many meanings to the words that God was speaking to them that they needed to study “context” to know what God said… then it would seem that the concept you’re putting forth here is not at all illustrated in the writings we have in the bible.

It is in fact a distortion of what is in those writings to say otherwise or to point to ‘context’ of writings to know whatever it is that God would have one to know or to understand from a simple sentence that God is supposedly to have said Himself.

I can assure you if there is any “explanation” or “context” that needs to be considered about what the writings say…. and one is interested in knowing whether God said any of those things to those people…. or what God meant by saying such…. or what one is to know about such…. one should ASK GOD… not theologians, Christians and bible scholars.  The instruction in the bible itself is “if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives to all men liberally…. ”

There is no mention in those writings that state that it is to be theologians, Christians, or Bible scholars that are to tell us what it is that God has said or meant by whatever it is that God is thought or considered to have said.

It would be distorting the writings in the bible and rejecting Jesus’ instruction and his own example to do so… wouldn’t it?

Let’s not forget that the opening pages of the book of Genesis shares with us all that read it that what God said, what God knows and what it is that God would have one to do coming from the mouth of another who is not GOD.. is what most claim to be the reason for the downfall of man… the separation of man from God… that Jesus was sent to redeem people from the consequences of….

So if that is the case… and that is what one believes… then why would you tell anyone today…. to ask a theologian, Christian or Bible scholar about anything regarding what God said or has not said.. or what God meant.. or whether God said anything that is in the pages of the bible…. or tell them that they have to lean on their own understanding of what is in the “context”??  Isn’t that rejecting the clearly stated instruction “if any man lacks wisdom, let him ask God” and Jesus’ words that man is to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God…. and Jesus and the Prophets saying “all shall be taught by God”??

I find no one in the writings recording God said “if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask a theologian, a Christian, or a Bible scholar” or for that matter anyone else.   Who better can answer for what God would have any of us to know about anything other than God??  ♥

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My Sheep Hear My voice and they follow me…..

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:  – Jesus (John 10:28)

“Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

“Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.”

We see several writings that share the parable and teaching by Jesus that state that His sheep hear His voice and follow him.  That those that are His, will by no means follow another…. they will flee from another.. for they do not know the voice of strangers.  Jesus goes on to say that those that came before…. the sheep did not hear them… yet is this what we are seeing going on today??

(Note to consider:  According to the book of Genesis… man hearkened to the voice of another in the beginning…. who was not God …and now we have Jesus saying that His sheep hear His voice and they follow him and will not hearken to the voice of another or follow another)

We’re to be looking, according to Jesus, for the evidence of the works…. if one doesn’t see the works… then one is not to believe because of words… right??

Jesus says very clear that those that are His… He calls them by name… He leads them… and they follow HIM.

Jesus says very clearly that those that are His …. know His voice and another they will not follow… that they will flee from another…. and yet in most writings, or “beliefs” that are referred to as “Christian” today… we see the words of another… we see quoted what another has said on so many points… not Jesus!!

So what is it that we’re seeing from the evidence of the works…..???

This morning I read an article where someone called themselves a “Christian” with Christian beliefs… but then when asked about the basis for their beliefs…. quoted another who is not Jesus Christ.

Do people not realize that we have the words of Jesus in the pages of the bible… billions of copies of them… in various languages distributed throughout the world today?

Do they not realize that we can read for ourselves that Jesus said that those that know HIM follow HIM… and will NOT follow another?

See when I read the words of Jesus from the pages of the bible for myself…. (I encourage everyone to do so for themselves)…. its not only that Jesus said that His own hear HIS voice and they FOLLOW HIM.. but also that those that know Him… will flee from the voice of a stranger.. who is not Jesus!!

When we read the writings in the bible… each writer clearly tells us in those details and specifics what they say Jesus said…. who Jesus said it to.. or about… as well as the details and specifics of OTHERS who are not JESUS said as well.  The voice of another…..

We have Jesus “voice” in the writings.. but we also have “another”… “strangers” in those writings…. yet  Jesus says that His hear HIS voice and follow HIM… and will not follow another.

If Jesus’ example was that one is to look to the evidence of what a person is doing… not believe because of words… then when a person today… says they are a Christian, (follower of Christ and His teachings) and are quoting the words of another… teaching others to follow ANOTHER who is not Jesus…. then do we go against Jesus’ words and believe they are Christian based on their words???

Wouldn’t doing so mean that one is himself/herself rejecting hearing Jesus’ “voice” and following another by doing so???  Believing because of words….. not evidence of action??

Do we take Jesus’ “voice” on this and see who it is by the evidence of their own actions… who it is that they follow… and see for ourselves if “another” is followed??

This was an eye opener for me in my own journey through “Christianity”…. and I can still remember it as if it was yesterday, even though it took place many many years ago now.

I had like most … been attending a church… been taught and had participated in the “traditional” aspects of church services… and doing as I had been instructed as part of the “belief” system…. and yet … right there in front of my face… in the words of Jesus… written in red, leaping from the pages of my own bible.. so as not to be missed or ignored were teachings in direct opposition to what I was doing and what was being done in that church service.

In the same collection of writings that so many said they believed to be the words of God… Jesus to be the one God sent.. the only person to have been identified by God to be His beloved Son in whom He was well pleased, commanding man to “hear him”… and there right in front of me… right before my very eyes.. were His words…. His voice… and I sat there realizing … my eyes were opened… I had been taught and had been trying to “follow another” …. as part of what was being called “Christianity”… when it was not to have been done from the beginning!!

I read where Jesus told those in his day that they were making claims of what people should be doing or not doing… and then they were the ones that were not lifting their own fingers to do so themselves…. they were putting heavy burdens on others… and yet were not doing as they said was to be done themselves…those are the ones that Jesus is shown to have referred to as “hypocrites, broods of vipers, a perverse generation”….

So as I sat there that day… all those years ago now… not only did I understand in that moment in time…. why there had been so many struggles in my own life trying to “conform” and “follow another”… but how much by almost “default” even before I read the bible or knew what Jesus said on these points.. that I and countless others… outside of Christianity … followed Him… and didn’t follow another!!   It was an eye opener… my blinded eyes had seen…

So what I’d like to encourage each of you reading this to do is to carefully examine the writings in the bible that are said to be those that Jesus said and taught.

See for yourself what they say… and what the writings share with us that a Christian (follower of Jesus’ teachings) is and how to know them by their fruits!!

Check yourself as well…. look to what Jesus is shown to have taught in those pages… and what you do and whose words you pattern your living after…. and know yourself…

Jesus said that one must get the plank out of one’s own eye first so that one can see clearly himself/herself..    so check yourself first.. then look around you….see what the evidence around you speaks to you and through you in light of Jesus’ words that we can all read for ourselves??  Is Christianity today following the words and teachings of another???

Check out whose words are being shared when the bible is quoted.  See whose words it is that is shared regarding the basis for their “beliefs”??  Are they those of Jesus.. written in red so as not to be missed or ignored… or are they words and teaching of another who is not Jesus???

Jesus said.. “ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free”…  My sheep hear my voice and follow me…. they will not follow another… no matter who they are….. they follow Me!

Luk 21:8

And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

He replied, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and saying, ‘The time has come!’ But don’t believe them.

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Perception is reality… or is it?

I read a comment this morning that stated “perception is reality” and immediately within me I heard.. “be ye not deceived”.  When we examine this carefully, and the words of Jesus in the pages of the bible.. we can see that this is what is meant by the “blind leading the blind”… “blinded eyes now seeing” and so many other passages that speak of understanding that perception is not reality… but let’s look at this a bit further to understand more about it.

When we understand the power of distinctions that are created in our minds… then believed to be true.. we see how perceptions blind us.. and do not reflect reality … as it is… or as it was from the beginning.  When we look to Jesus’ words in the bible, we see that often times he mentioned things not being so from the beginning… and yet do we consider that what we are seeing and what we perceive is not as it was from its beginning…..

When we look at what perception really is.. it is what each of us perceive of a person, thing or situation.. but where did the perception of such come from?  Isn’t it distinctions created in our own minds… or the rehashing or recycling in the mind of things that we’ve heard… or experienced…and the boxes that are built in our own mind as a result of having “hearkened to the voice of another” about so many things in our lives.

Take a minute to try something… look at a person walking down the street in front of you.  As you do.. pay careful attention to what your mind is doing… it is “gauging” the person… there are a lot of thoughts that are going through the mind… male, female, short, fat, tall, skinny, skin color, clothing, etc…. now ask yourself “who has told me this… ” about every one of those thoughts that came to your mind in that given moment of seeing another person.

Is the person you’re seeing in reality all of those things…. or are those simply the “perceptions” (distinctions created in our own minds) that are then overlaid upon the person or in other words the boxes that we try to fit them in??

Distinctions that are created in the mind… then believed to be true… that is what blinds us… that is what is perceptions that cause us to be blind to reality.  When we get so attached to those perception…. we begin to see every one in the same “box” or the same way… no matter who they are…. or the reality of who they are really.

Jesus in the bible said of himself… that if one didn’t see sufficient evidence in the things that he was doing….. to believe not because of words.  He directed people to look to the evidence of things that they could see for themselves… and to examine them based on what they were seeing… not what they had heard or been taught because of words.  Words are what create distinctions in the mind… that are then believed to be true… perceptions do the same thing… and they are not reality.

As a child can get a perception in their minds that there are monsters under the bed…the perception will be so strong to them that they will not want to be alone in the room…they will scream and run when trying to be put to bed… all because of the perception created in their own minds…. devoid of the reality of the situation.

We adults so often do the same things.  We say rehearsed or repetitive words… or listen to them… that then create perceptions in our minds …. and that blinds us to the reality of evidence that is right in front of us.  We will have an experience with one person…. and because of that one person… our perception about all others will be affected by it… and thus we will be blinded to the reality before us.

One of the beautiful lessons about this is shared in the bible when Peter who had been taught not to eat foods or associate with people from a different “belief” …had not done so.. not because it was something that he knew for himself… but because he had hearkened to the voice of another about such.

The writing in the bible tells us that Jesus instructed that man was to live by every word that proceeded from the mouth of God…. and that whatever it was that God spoke in the ear, that was to be shouted from the roof top… and then we have Peter… on a roof top… having a vision of a sheet from the sky… full of animals that he had been taught not to eat of.. and he had not… and now being told to “eat”.

Peter’s perception was solid …. the distinction in his mind was that they were unclean and not to be eaten of… and yet where did he get that idea??  Why would God now be telling him to eat something that he had never eaten of??  Peter declines… says no… and then God speaks to Peter… what is it that God says in the writing?  Does what is said speak to Peter only about what he is to eat or not?  No… it changed Peter’s entire perception.. it opened his eyes of understanding… for Peter realize that what he had done regarding food to eat or not… as well as people to associate with or not… all had been the result of his having “hearkened to the voice of another” who was not God about those things…. and had created a perception/distinction in his own mind, that he had believed to be true, and thus had patterned his living accordingly….

So what we can see in this is that so often it is the perception or the words or teachings of another that blind us … and keep us from living authentically based on whatever is given within each of us to know for ourselves….. but also how it is that we have the eyes of our understanding opened …. so that we don’t take what is our own personal perceptions of things….and people…. attach them to those things and people… believe them to be true.. and then act accordingly!!

We can learn to consider “who has told us this… ” about whatever thoughts that come to our own minds…. “bring every thought into captivity” for ourselves and see where it came from… is it recycled thinking or perceptions that another has told us… taught us… or mandated upon us in our living .. through traditions… cultures… or social mandates…. or is it coming from deep within each of us?

This is how we can “know the truth”.. know what is given within each of us… and know the power that perception can have upon each of us if we allow it.

Perception is not reality… reality is what we can see the evidence of in each and every experience that we have in our daily living…. as long as we don’t “group” them together and try to attach them to others…. and consider that our perception is reality… it isn’t.

As a man thinketh in his heart… (not his head)… so shall he be!!  When we try to live by perceptions/distinctions created in the mind…. we are moving away from and no longer living by what is going on within our hearts…. that which we can know and sense … without thoughts about them…. or the recycling of thoughts and words of another… no matter who they are…. or what its been said about!!

Our perceptions are not reality…. not for yourself… not for any other.   Remember that if we allow our minds to control us… it will.  If we allow perceptions of others to become affixed to them…. we will respond accordingly.   So we must “keep ourselves”… we must understand what perceptions are…. the power that they can have in our living… and consider the source of where they come from….for they will blind us.. and keep from us understanding that we are to have… wisdom… and knowledge as well…. if we consider them to be reality!!

Bring every thought into captivity… watch it… see where it came from… where does it go… don’t get attached to it… don’t believe it is reality just because it appears in your own mind… and be careful not to affix it to another… or to yourself… or the perceptions that another might have of you!!

Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free….. truth is based on evidence… not on thinking/perceptions/distinctions created in the mind….. then believed to be true!!

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Do we need preachers, teachers, pastors, etc today??

Q:  “Do we need preachers, teachers, pastors, evangelists, today??  I’ve heard this many times but I have also read in the pages of the bible that its God that writes on the heart and on the mind of each person himself.. so that they will not need to be taught one of another nor teachings one another about God… so do we need them today?”

A:  Denise shares…

First, let me say that we’ve heard a great deal from others about so many things even though when we read the bible for ourselves we see passages as you mentioned that state that one would not need to be taught one of another.. nor teachings one another…. or passages where the bible states if one lacks wisdom let him ask God who gives to all men liberally….

So let’s consider a few points about this question together….

1.  One should seek the answer to what one has need of or doesn’t from within oneself.  Whatever it is that I share here on the website, or share with you in person… it is always with the encouragement for you to seek the answer from within you… for you to ask God for yourself and trust what is given within you on those points.

2.  Yes, you are correct that the bible states that one is not to be taught one of another, nor teaching one another to know the Lord, for all will know him from the least to the greatest, for it will be the Lord that will write upon the heart and on the mind his laws himself.  The opening pages of the bible tell us that this was done by God from the beginning…. not only did God create it all, according to the writer, but blessed it and gave it instruction as to what it was to do himself.  No writings, no men, women, pastors, preachers, teachers etc in the mix.

3.  Next we have Jesus in the pages of the bible that states that His sheep hear His voice and another they will not follow.  He outlines much the same as was given to man from man’s beginning in the opening pages of the book of Genesis.. in that man was to know what is given within him… to follow it and be taught by God and only God… and not to hearken to the voice of any other or be fed/partake of the knowledge of good and evil from any other source in the garden.

4.  Jesus is also shown to have said that those that have his commandments, and keep them… that He will manifest/reveal himself to them… and that He and the Father will come and make their abode with the one that does so.

5.  We have in the writings in the bible record of two or more saying that they heard God identify Jesus as His only begotten Son, in whom He was well pleased, and commanded men to “hear him”.   There is no one else in the entire collection of writings that we have in the bible that is identified in this manner by God according to two or more people.

6.  We have the writings of two or more in the pages of the bible that share with us what they say Jesus said and taught… or in other words His commandments that He gave to His disciples…. the same ones that Jesus commanded His disciples to go into the nations “teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded ye”.  The same one that Jesus said that those that had them and kept them that He would manifest/reveal Himself to, and the Father and He would come and make their abode with.

7.  We have those writings … the words of Jesus… the one that God commanded man to “hear him”… that He said that His sheep would hear and another they would not follow…. they are found in most of our bibles written in red, leaping from the pages so as not to be missed or ignored….. and we have the ability to read them for ourselves, if we are drawn to them… as Jesus said.

8.  So given that we have billions of bibles …. containing the words of Jesus within their pages…. and the ability to read for ourselves….and Jesus said that all shall be taught by God…that if one lacks wisdom one is to ask God … and that man is to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God…. and that those that have his commandments and keep them He will reveal Himself to them… and make his abode with them…..

One would seriously have to question why it is today that so many say that we need preachers, teachers, pastors, or evangelists …. well unless they don’t know what Jesus said in the pages of the bible…. or they themselves are following another… who has not ever been identified by the mouth of two or more by God to have been His only begotten Son, in whom God was well pleased… and commanded man to “hear Him” and “not follow another”!!

If we didn’t have the words of Jesus… in the pages of the bible…then maybe?
If we didn’t know that Jesus said not to follow the words of any other… then maybe?
If we didn’t know that God said about only Jesus… “hear him”.. then maybe?If the writings in the bible that tell us what Jesus said are not accurate … then maybe?
If we are not able to read them for ourselves to know what Jesus said… then maybe?

If we have heard and learned from God from our beginning… and never hearkened to the voice of another…… then we would not have followed the tradition of Adam… therefore would know NOT to follow another…. and wouldn’t do so … no matter who they are or what they say… right?

Its difficult to have the words of Jesus in the pages of the bible…. have them telling us  that Jesus said that My sheep hear my voice and another they will NOT follow… know what happened in the beginning when Adam hearkened to the voice of another and followed another…. and then have people today telling us that we need to hearken to the voice of another such as preachers, teachers, pastors, evangelists… telling us what it is that God said, God knows, or God would have us to do…..

We have a bible and the words of the ONLY one that God is shown in those pages to have said “HEAR HIM” and “His own will hear His voice and another they will not follow”….. to go against them.. reject those very words and follow another… no matter who they are.. or what they try to tell us…. isn’t it??

So let’s look carefully at the picture that is illustrated in the opening pages of the bible…
God created, blessed and spoke to all things giving them instruction themselves.

Lord God created a man from the dust of the ground… told the man formed from the dust of the ground… not to partake of the knowledge of good and evil from another…. the Lord God put another voice in the garden with the man…..the man didn’t keep that commandment.

Others followed in that same tradition… hearkening to the voice of another about what God said or what God wanted done.

God sent prophets to tell the people to stop doing so and turn back to hearing from God and living by whatever God told each.

Then God sent Jesus.

God thundered from heaven this is “my beloved son in whom I am well pleased, hear him”.  Never said that about another in those writings…. and Jesus said that He spoke only what the Father gave him to speak.

Jesus said that if one wanted to know if the words he spoke was from God… to do them and find out for oneself.  If you love me keep my commandments.

Jesus said My sheep hear my voice and another they will NOT follow…

Another voice is in the collection after Jesus’ words…. in the same collection of writings…  put there none the less by the Lord God… as was done in the beginning….the garden in the beginning of Genesis

Yet man’s commandment from God/Jesus was the same.. unchanged… NOT to follow another…. so what is it that one should do today??

Follow another…. hearken to the voice of another… be taught of another…. or not??  Seems pretty evident when we take it all into consideration.. doesn’t it??  ♥

Posted in Bible, Christian, FAQ, From the Beginning, God, Jesus, The "Gospel", Unity | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Do most really believe that Adam’s sin changed the nature of human beings???

Q:  “When Adam and Eve sinned the nature of sin came into man. Do you have to teach a child how to sin. No. This is what the Bible means is that we are born with the nature of sin ”

A:  Denise shares… first off I know that a lot of people say this sort of thing.. but since Jesus said not believed because of words, to look to the evidence… let’s do this for a moment….

I have a question for you about this point… what if there were never any writings about Adam and Eve… what if there had been no one to define what sin is…or tell you about it or left behind writings that tell us about what someone else says is a sin…. do you think that we’d claim such a nature?

When you look at your child, and see your child doing something that you perceive to be wrong or harmful to another… is it because of Adam that you correct the child… or do you correct the child because the child’s actions?

Do you say to the child, it is not your fault or your responsibility, this is the nature you were born with now that someone that the Lord God created from the dust of the ground a very long time ago did something wrong that changed your nature?

Do we really have to have anyone telling us about Adam and Eve, or sin at all for us to know within ourselves whatever it is that we are to do or not to do??

Do we see everyone in this manner because of the actions of one in the writings in the bible?

Do we consider if the Lord God created this one being that would have such an eternal affect on all of mankind to be able to alter it from the nature that is given within it… then isn’t it the Lord God that did so the one that we should be concerned about the actions of?

If this same Lord God is the one that allowed my very nature to be changed to the point that I cannot do as is given within me to do… because someone else well before my time did so…. then should I have any trust or faith in such a Lord God being able to correct what wasn’t able to be preserved or sustained from the beginning?

What if this same Lord God who allowed that to happen, gave a remedy for it, and yet left all of mankind still with the ability to alter the nature of all those that would come after him/her because of their one single action?

Do you see what an insult that could be to a Creator for his creation to have the ability to alter the entire rest of his creation by a single act?

Wouldn’t that give much to be considered about this Lord God??

Consider this point as well… if this Lord God did allow one man’s action.. Adam to alter the entire nature of the rest of his creation… for all times… then sent Jesus to redeem all from the consequences of that first man’s actions…. wouldn’t that mean that Jesus altered the nature of man back to the way it was to be from the beginning?  How can one be restored, and still be in the same nature as you say that Adam caused… unless you’re saying that Jesus never came…. or that Jesus’ actions didn’t have the same ability that Adam’s did?

Now here’s another point to consider… if one man can alter the nature of all of God’s creation… Jesus can change it back… then wouldn’t that likewise mean that one man coming after Jesus did the “restoration” could change everyone again back??  Wouldn’t that mean that man has more power to alter the nature of the creation of God then God does to sustain it and keep it??  What reason would there be for Jesus if there was no change in the nature of man… man would continue on sinning no matter what…. right??

There is a lot to consider when making statements like you have…. including that there is a lack of evidence in the interactions we have with our children even when claiming to have such beliefs.  We don’t tell our children that they are okay to sin or do things that will harm another because God allowed Adam, his first man, to change their nature from God’s design for them… so harm all they want to …. that’s not what happens.  So the evidence is that we punish our discipline our children because of their own actions…. and that in itself shows us that we don’t really believe that Adam did such… for why would you fault a child or punish them for something they had no control over in the first place?  They do… we are all responsible for our own actions.. regardless of what we so often times claim as “beliefs”.

Another point to consider in closing is this….  I have to ask where in nature to do we see this happening? Does the one action of a dog make all dogs vicious? Does one act done by a bird change the nature of all birds??

These are not questions for anyone to answer personally or directly… unless you’d like… but isn’t all of this things that we should be open to consider and discuss.. and answer within ourselves and for ourselves??

Posted in Bible, Christian, Compassion, FAQ, Free Will, From the Beginning, God, Knowing, Unity | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Christianity says…… Adam’s sin???

Q:  “Christianity says that you being a sinner is not a question of what you do/ you are born a sinner. It is not a question of whether you do some sin or not; no, you are a born sinner. Man is born in sin. Adam, the first man, committed the sin, and you are descendants. The sin has been committed, nothing can be done. Now it cannot be undone, and you are born into sin – Adam’s sin.  Is this what you see?”

A:  Denise shares….

Yet again I ask.. why would anyone knowing what the opening pages of the bible has to say about “not to partake of the knowledge of good and evil” from another… about “hearkening to the voice of another” in matters pertaining to God, what God knows or what God would have one to do or not to do from any other….. then take the words of Christianity or anyone else for that matter on such points about themselves or the view that God has of them or doesn’t?

It seems to do so would be then to repeat what Adam is shown to have done as well as go against those very teachings the bible shares with anyone reading it… rather than see that it wasn’t to be done by man from man’s beginning.

So think about it like this.. if we had no one telling us such things… and we were not “hearkening to their voices” on such matters.. would we then be in need of someone telling us the opposite of those things?   Do I need to tell you that you’re not a sinner… or simply to remind you to “consider the source” as to “who has told you this”… for you to see that for yourself?

If we are listening to the first  … then we might have need of listening to the second in an effort to get us “free” from the affects or impacts on our living that the “hearkening to the first” has created…

If we simply listen to the second … without understanding that without having “hearkened” to the first… their would have been no reason for the second.. haven’t we in essence missed the understanding of how it all started, thus will then be  “tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine” as the bible also speaks about??

Could it be that we are to understand that it is given within each of us, as with all things, whatever it is that we are to have need of for us to become whatever it is that we are to be… and that when we “hearken to the voice of another” is how and when these distinctions are created in the mind, that we then believe to be true and thus will pattern our living based on what it is that we’ve taken into ourselves by the words and actions of another… rather than what has been given within each of us from our own beginning??

I don’t find any reason to have to tell the trees in the forest that they are to love themselves… or the birds in the air that they are to love themselves… no more than I find reason to have to tell them that they shouldn’t.

It matters little to them what my view or opinion of them is or what others say about them in the “sight of God”…. or the animals that fill the forest, or swim in the oceans as well.

It seems to only be man that values and patterns his living based on the views of another and the opinions that others have of him… even going as far as to convince him regarding his/her relationship with his/her God as well.

Where would Adam have been in his life had he not hearkened to the voice of another about what it was that he was to do or to be?  What if he had simply stood on what he knew within himself … and didn’t allow himself to be “fed’ the knowledge of good and evil from another in the garden with him??

The question to consider might be why do we human’s put more value and importance in the view and opinions of others about ourselves… and hearken to their voice about such things …. especially when we see so much in nature live in harmony and for many years longer at it than us humans have… and yet don’t do so among themselves or among the other species that share this earth with them??

Is there any other species other than humans that speak for God regarding “sin” or being a “sinner” to others of its own species… or other species that share this planet with them?  Does the plant try to convince the sun that it is a sinner in need of a Savior in the eyes of God??   Surely this should make a point to us why Jesus in the bible reminded his followers that the kingdom of God was within them… and directed their focus on the birds of the air, the lilies of the field, the seeds, and other aspects of nature… ♥

Posted in Christian, Christianity, Compassion, FAQ, From the Beginning, God, Knowing, Unity | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment