Lots of people do want to divide God in different entities and different characters, and then so called have a figure which is beyond human comprehension.
But the God of gods is a God of clarity and order, who ordered everything, giving it a place, having it to become ordered by the end of the present times, coming into its coming to entirety at the end of times.
We should be happy that God continues to work at His Plan, which in the end shall come to be finished like He wants it to be, whatever man might do. Until then He is patient and lets human beings try out things and lets them bungle, in the hope man would learn form their mistakes and shall try not to blunder over God’s creation.
God has given His message of love to the world, now its time for the world to do something with that message of hope.
*
To remember:
read Bible long enough => begin to see patterns ><<= biblical gematria
certain themes keep repeating themselves
an archetype or instance found in Tanach will repeat itself much later in the life of Jeshua or his apostles
== fractal aspect to Scripture = Seemingly divergent and disconnected parts resemble each other, and a part resembles the whole
Scripture = fractal. Nature = fractal.
Genesis 1:2 “tohuva’bohu” = “without form and void” or “waste and welter” > presents some interesting questions as to the cosmology described in Genesis 1.
Genesis 1 plausible translation by Robert Alter:
“When God began to create heaven and earth, and the earth then was welter and waste and darkness over the deep and God’s breath hovering over the waters, God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light.”
> story mysteriously starting with the world in the state of mess and ruin.
God in Bereshith is taking this Tohu va’bohu and reforming it into something very good.
In same sense Hashem brings humanity out of the waste and welter of the primordial chaos he brings Israel out of Rameses and Egypt and us out of the chaotic world system.
==> Creation is our exodus from oblivion
+++
Related articles
The Origins Of Human Beings According To Ancient Sumerian (thecontroversialfiles.net)
When in the height heaven was not named, And the earth beneath did not yet bear a name, And the primeval Apsu, who begat them, And chaos, Tiamut, the mother of them both Their waters were mingled together, And no field was formed, no marsh was to be seen; When of the gods none had been called into being, And none bore a name, and no destinies were ordained; Then were created the gods in the midst of heaven, Lahmu and Lahamu were called into being…
Sumerian mythology claims that, in the beginning, human-like gods ruled over Earth. When they came to the Earth, there was much work to be done and these gods toiled the soil, digging to make it habitable and mining its minerals. The texts mention that at some point the gods mutinied against their labour.
One of the ‘secrets’ being discussed in my new book… (docjp.wordpress.com)
How careful we are on the Earth to keep our records private, when everything we do is public knowledge on the Astral region. Just one more thing most people do not realize about the Reality of Life. But perhaps more people should be aware of this… what do you think?
Why are we on earth? (meditationscatholiques.wordpress.com)
To be a human being means to come from God and to go to God. Our origin goes back farther than our parents. We come from God, in whom all the happiness of heaven and earth is at home, and we are expected in his everlasting, infinite blessedness. Meanwhile we live on this earth. Sometimes we feel that our Creator is near; often we feel nothing at all. So that we might find the way home, God sent us his Son, who freed us from sin, delivers us from all evil, and leads us unerringly into true life. He is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6).
Passover: Liberty & Freedom are the Inalienable Rights of Every Human Being (blogs.timesofisrael.com)
I have been blessed with many different seder experiences that exemplify this notion of “liberty” and “freedom”. Not long after Glasnost and Perestroika, I went to the Former Soviet Union for two years with congregants during Pesach. We brought in much needed medical supplies, taught about Pesach and led Pesach seders in Minsk, Vitebsk, Gomel and Mogilev (all in Belarus). After the first seder, one woman approached us with tears streaming down her face, “I am 40 years old and this is my first Pesach seder. Thank you!” Up until then, the Jewish community had not been allowed to celebrate, and there was no one who knew the rituals.
Bible lesson # 17: There are male shrine prostitutes who promote idols (ivarfjeld.com)
Men like to brand prostitution like trade in sexual favors. Buying and selling of sex. But God of the Bibles have a different view on this, and explains to us that prostitution is much more than buying and selling of unlawful sex. The Bible speaks about Spiritual prostitution. This kind of adultery towards God starts with making an image or an idol. The moment you brand such production as anything but sin, you have become a member of a prostitution racket.
Your Body, your Health, your Responsibility (reve-pavilion.co.uk)
We are informed that the average length of people’s life is getting longer. The main factors that account for the fact that the average age to which people live has increased since Victorian times are also multiple. Many more babies survive thanks to medical improvements than used to be the case. Improved living conditions, housing, safer working conditions, clean water, better management of waste and improved diets have played a good part.
Will God judge America for gay marriage and abortion? And if He does, when will God do it? Fundamentalist, evangelicals and conservatives on the religious right are quick to tell us that “God will judge America for gay marriage and abortion”. Apparently they believe God loves fertilized human female eggs more than God loves many of the “little bastards” after they are born and become real living human beings.
But if God decides to judge America for gay marriage and abortion, isn’t there a longer list of atrocities and abominations for which God might judge America before God gets around to judging America for gay marriage and abortion?
The grain of wheat must die to bear fruit the human being is always already beyond (manilatimes.net)
The ancient Filipinos have a saying: Madali maging tao, mahirap magpakatao – It is easy to be born, it is difficult to become human. To struggle to become oneself is the struggle to free oneself from various forms of alienation which seek to annihilate the self, make one conform to everybody else, to betray oneself, and to be destroyed spiritually.
There is always the consciousness of incompleteness in us – we are not only what we are, we are also that which we are not, everything that we still lack. And so we strive to fill the realm of possibilities we find before ourselves.
What does the Bible say about racism, prejudice, and discrimination? (don-overton.newsvine.com)
The first thing to understand in this discussion is that there is only one race—the human race. Caucasians, Africans, Asians, Indians, Arabs, and Jews are not different races. Rather, they are different ethnicities of the human race. All human beings have the same physical characteristics (with minor variations, of course). More importantly, all human beings are equally created in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26-27). God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus to lay down His life for us (John 3:16). The “world” obviously includes all ethnic groups.
A look at some articles on WordPress gives us an idea what people think about the reasons why God placed a Tree of knowledge of good and evil:
The Mystery Revealed who writes:
The reason why He placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the middle of the garden is because He wanted an honest and healthy relationship with Adam and Eve. He did not want to hide anything from them. He wanted them to know that in life they have a choice. God made Adam and Eve aware that they had a freewill to choose to believe God or eat the fruit.
The universe as we said in the previous articles has contrasts, like darkness and light, tranquillity and movement, to some activities it may look bad but is not really so bad, like the showers of God can be a blessing, though now not always felt as a blessing. At first those contrasts did not hinder or were not felt as something bad.
Man did not have to know what was evil or bad, but the elements had to be there, having braking chaos into order, and making elements into being. We do not think God ever intended for us to know evil.
A “revert” to the Catholic Church remarks:
There is nothing in tradition that claims the “tree of good and evil” was evil. In fact it wasn’t evil, it was good. The tree symbolized that it held the knowledge of what is good and evil. God told Adam and Eve not to acquire this knowledge of good and evil. The command was, “refrain from the experiential knowledge of good and evil.” {Did God Create Evil}
There are too many people who want to see the bad thing about such an element of knowledge, be it a book or a tree. We can have a library full of knowledge and in all those books can be hidden treasures, all sorts of stories, nice ones but also horror stories. Good and bad in a big collection.
Adam and Eve had already all goodness in front of them. They had no reason to go looking for the badness.
writes Exchanged Life Ministries which thinks like us that originally God intended for us to know and experience ‘good’ and to enjoy the beauty of the creation.
Because the fullness of God’s presence was on them, their souls were completely satisfied.
Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil עברית: חטא עץ הדעת – ד”ר לידיה קוזניצקי (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
God gave us free will and allowed us to choose. Esther’s Crown does find a problem in this given liberty.
We think we can “choose” good from bad. We elevate ourselves above YHVH who has already defined Good from evil. {The Tree of Life}
That was the original problem, not the free choice, but the willing to be on the same line as God or even to be higher than the Divine Maker, willing to control everything oneself, not under the guidance of God.
Placing ourselves in the “choosing” business creates confusion because all we are really looking at are the “good and evil” choices before us from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. But, in reality, there is only one choice we are intended to make – choose obedience, choose life! Eat from the Tree of Life. Yeshua is Life. He is the Living Torah. It’s not about choice, it’s about obedience. If we obey Torah (YHVH’s instructions for Life) we don’t have to stress over “right from wrong” and there is no place for confusion in our lives. He has already defined it for us. A simple example is how He defines what was given for food in Leviticus 11. Just because something is “edible” does not mean it was meant for food, nourishing our bodies without harming it. {The Tree of Life}
We are easily distracted with trying to choose between good and evil. Much time and energy is wasted pursuing the “quest” and finding ways to justify our desires. {The Tree of Life}
We ourselves can not make the choice to eat or not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, (like she gives the impression), but we can ‘eat’ from the Tree of life. Those fruits are prepared for us. Jeshua did not cut the tree of knowledge of good and evil, neither did he cut the tree of the Law. Jeshua grew onto the tree of the Law and his fruit frees us from the original consequences of sin, which is death, but brings us back to the original Law of the Garden of Eden, God’s Garden with God’s commandments. Those commandments are there to be respected by those who come under Christ Jesus.
Our response should be to get away from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and run toward the Tree of Life. Torah teaches us what the fruit of the Tree of Life looks like. Don’t look to the right nor to the left. Stay focused on the Living Torah, Yeshua Messiah! He did not end that which He gave as instructions for life – He clarified its proper application. His sacrifice restores a right relationship with the Creator and brings us into eternal life. His resurrection empowers us to walk in life, not death. But, He defines what is right, healthful living, not us. {The Tree of Life}
Already very fast after the death of Jeshua (Jesus Christ) those in power wanted to nail the teachings of the Nazarene Jew Jeshua on the cross, the symbol of the god of evil Tammuz and get the people back on track of the Greco-Roman gods, with a plurality of gods and elements being worshipped.
Constantine and the early Church Fathers rejected the Torah and anything that resembled of Judaism. They cut off the Tree of Life from the people and planted the Church upon the roots of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Man now determined what is good and what is evil. They mixed and mingled it with pagan beliefs and traditions, mixing Biblical truth with false beliefs and idolatry, but calling it all good by putting a “spiritual” twist on it so we can feel good about the belief or action. {The Tree of Life}
We do not agree with her that
Perhaps the original intent was intended for good, using a cultural concept as a means to redirect thinking toward a Biblical truth, but sadly, the end result is always the same – a belief system built on partial truth. {The Tree of Life}
It was, according us, intentionally done and still preferred so,because than they would have the people on their hand and everybody could keep up to the pagan traditions, without feeling guilty or feeling on their own because of not joining in the pagan celebrations. But it is just there where we have to make choices today. It is there were it is all about being of this world or of being of Christ.
The ‘Divine spark within in us’ allows us to know right from wrong and the ability to choose between them, but not like the Presbyterian RevJanice believes we would be nothing more than puppets on a string or animals that have to follow their instincts. We , like the animals have an instinct or inner feeling, but God gave us extra brains and abilities to do more than animals and plants. God gave the humans the right to order that flora and fauna. the reverend thinks
being given the ability to make choices has meant an immense amount of heartache for the world, because all too often we make the wrong choices. But oh how wonderful it is when we make the right ones. I know when I have made the right ones, because that is when I feel God’s presence wrapped around me like a warm blanket fresh out of the drier. {Knowledge and Life}
At a certain moment it was like Adam and Eve lost the presence of God in their midst and let their ideas wonder away from their Maker, tasting their own lust.
God had breathed the breath of life into the beginning of mankind and when the 1° Adam felt lonely He gave him a companion and helper that was needed.
In the creation of the woman, God’s replication of His image and likeness was made complete. In the creation of the woman, marriage was born. {Genesis 3:1-22 – Marriage}
With that action we can understand that God has an eye on the relationship between the elements in His creation.
Two become one in mind, body, and spirit. The connection between a husband and wife is unlike anything else. God is all about relationships, so we find strong and significant connections with many people in our lives. {Genesis 3:1-22 – Marriage}
Though god was there in the garden, they did not want to take notice of Him, but preferred to listen to their own voice, the temptation from within, the creeping serpent by which evil came unto man.
Their failure to trust God and His love for them, led to their rebellious choice to eat of the tree’s fruit.
As a result, we are all keenly aware of evil as well as the great enemy: SELF.
Self is insatiable; it always wants something more or new and different.
Lust takes over and brings about sin, which brings about death.
When they got to deep into their own thoughts of wanting to become as knowledgeable as God they lost their innocence and got cursed by their choice to go astray, not obeying God, who knows best for man.
From the beginning of times there has been made an hierarchy by the divine Creator, bringing division in the chaos. God spoke and it came into being and was placed in the phases of evolution (day 1-6) Between the elements and all the living beings there was a relation. There is also one between God, man, and nature.
Before the Fall of man, Adam and Eve were in a very close relationship with God. Adam was basically God’s right hand man. God told Adam to name all of the animals. Adam was the middle man. He represented God to nature, and represented nature to God. {Hierarchy of God, Man, and Nature}
The relationship between Eve and God might have been different than between God and Adam. Eve was made out of Adam, and therefore part of Adam, but if she was not to blame we would not say.
After the fall, Adam lost his position of being God’s representative. He would have to instead work for nature. Eve, would now be blamed for the bad things she did, also having to endure childbirth. {Hierarchy of God, Man, and Nature}
The relationship between man, plants and animals also changed when the relationship of man with their Maker got damaged so much that God had to take action and set an example. God was not giving up His position but was well aware that man doubted His position, so He did not mind giving them even more possibilities to govern the world. By casting them out of the Garden they where placed in a world were they would be able to arrange everything themselves, but had to feel the consequences of their actions.
Though god still wanted to get the relationship in good order and provided therefore a solution with the seed of the woman. But everybody had to know that the Most High Maker always shall be the Most High divine to be recognised and respected as the Ruler of everything.
It was because of our foolish act that we do not get to enjoy the wonderful times that Adam and Eve did with God. {Hierarchy of God, Man, and Nature}
writes Perissa, but she should know that we still can go to that marvellous relationship between God and us, and between God and the world.Now we are stuck with the many choices which pull us from one to the other site. Nobody can escape temptation. Like it was important how Eve was to deal with it and how Adam had to respond, so it is also important for us to make the right choice and choose the right way to deal with it.
We all deal with it in our own ways, but we all have it. Temptation in and of itself is not a sin, but all too often it quickly turns into sin through our indulgence. Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire, when that desire is allowed to continue it gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death (James 1:14-15). We all have desires in our hearts that lead us down different paths. Unfortunately those desires are wrapped in flesh and if we are not careful they can lead us straight to sin. Have heart though because if you are with Christ you died with Him when you entered into the watery grave and we believe also that we live with Him upon being risen from the water, just as Christ rose from the grave (Romans 6:8). When Christ died he died to sin once and for all and we must also consider ourselves dead to sin and alive in Christ. We must not let sin rule in our body by obeying its passions, for sin no longer has control over us (6:10-14). {Temptations are common}
We all have the 2° Adam taken up his position so that we could be liberated. Everything been given to the world makes us living elements in that world to choose either to be of that world or to make the best of it living in it but like Jesus doing not his own will but doing the Will of his and our heavenly Father. We have to choose in which direction we want to go, either that of the world or that of followers of Jesus Christ and lovers of God, looking forward to a restored relationship with God. In any case we have the best mediator between God and man, Jeshua, Jesus Christ the Messiah.
Still the message from the Old Times is going, we having to be the mirror image of God, requested to be also ‘imitators’ of the divine.
It wasn’t God’s fault for putting the tree there. It wasn’t God’s fault for warning them. It was Adam’s fault and Eve’s fault for being disobedient.
And giving in to sin is still our fault today. If you went to see Fifty Shades of Grey, it’s not God’s fault for allowing the movie to exist. It’s not some Christian blogger’s fault for making you aware of the movie or warning you not to see it. It’s your fault. You were tempted. You gave in to sin. (The good news is that if you will repent, God will graciously forgive you.)
As Christians we are to be imitators of God. “Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” (1 John 2:6) That means that when we see sin that could easily ensnare our brothers and sisters, we don’t turn our heads. We don’t mind our own business. We don’t keep our mouths shut to be polite. We do the same thing God did time after time in the Bible. We run into the fray to rescue those we love. {The “Forbidden Fruit” Fallacy}
We would not say or agree with us
not to blame if there are those who choose to charge headlong into sin rather than heed the alarm we sound. {The “Forbidden Fruit” Fallacy}
We should try to open the eyes of others, getting them back on track. We should help others to see the direction signs or road signs to the Right Way again. And that Way is Jeshua the Messiah.
Rena of Esther’s Crown’s Blog gives us good advice:
I encourage you to consider the doctrines you allow to guide your faith. Shake them through the sieve of Biblical truth from Genesis to Revelation. Just try assuming for the test that Torah still applies to our walk and see how many Scriptures now make sense, and how many doctrinal issues fall through the holes of the sieve. Look to how Yeshua taught Torah was to be applied. He did not redefine or reject Torah. Instead, He rebuked how the Pharisees had redefined Torah and made it a burden for the people.
Matthew 5:17-19 “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from [Torah], till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
When we look at different myths about creation we can see that in several of them that though details may differ the essential lines of the stories or the elements of the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same. For people it was found important to tell what happened in the past and by the years the stories grew. Having continents getting out of each other, spacing out by sees in-between people got estranged from each other and stories went their own way.
The Hubble Ultra Deep Field, is an image of a small region of space in the constellation Fornax, composited from Hubble Space Telescope data accumulated over a period from September 3, 2003 through January 16, 2004. The patch of sky in which the galaxies reside was chosen because it had a low density of bright stars in the near-field. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Those who want to analyse the beginning of the world will always come to a point where there shall be something which they are not able to place. Some of them may think that there is nothing that exists that they cannot analyse under the rules of science, say the Big Bang theory can only be explained by other theories that sound like faith. Honest and maybe agnostic scientist should come to realise that in the previous centuries it where humans who did not want to see what was really explained in the Bible being close to the theories they scientifically could find. Man has to agree that the Bible said it all a long time before science got there.
That the Big Bang theory proposes that the universe started from a singularity – a dense wad of matter that for reasons not yet known suddenly exploded outward in an immense pulse of energy and light, is in a way not contradiction with the void spoken of in the Holy Scriptures. Scientific consensus has pretty much decided that is how the universe we currently live in started, but they still cannot explain more or say what made the mass to have a black hole or an action taking place somewhere in time.
That time could be placed under the name of day or phase, but at the start there was not such an indication because light and darkness were the elements to be forming the differences in time. The book of Genesis wants to give the synopsis of Creation in a few sentences, saying it took six periods or phases of coming into existence. In the later books of the Bible it is indicated that people do have no idea about the space and about the time in God’s eyes. Time for God is totally different than for the creatures who can find darkness and light as elements dividing the space in countable or measurable units to give an indication of the now, before and after. The indication of that time also changed in the course of history, bringing it to seconds, minutes and hours, days, weeks, months and years which may be divided differently or follow another calendar. Man should know, according Scriptures, that for the eternal Creator our time indications are like nothing to hold on, because what is a day to an eternalBeing when there was no sun to calculate a time period and when there is no beginning and no end to Its existence.
Book of Genesis, Ningpo Bible. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The gods we may find in all the different myths are not self consistent and are not exactly creators of all elements. Though the God presented in the Scriptures and presented by the Israelites, the people of God or People of Jehovah, is One God Who was before everything and Who is responsible Himself for everything. The oral tradition brought the history of mankind and the Word of God from one person to the other. That it was penned later than other stories of the beginning of the world does not make it less believable or untrue. The way the story was presented had to bring understanding to all, educated and non- educated and it should have been able to tell it from one generation to another. Short lines were the easiest to get it recounted; told over and over again, making sure it got through time with the same lines. That not everything is exactly the same in the genesis stories we can find by the different cultures takes not away that we can see the ‘grosso mode similar line’. The perspective by which is looked at the beginning of the elements says a lot of the people but also can give an indication of the connection of the people with that Creator, having the Israelites having kept their relationship on good terms and seeing human being as major part of creation and as the only elements being in the image of that Creator, placing them more in the centre than in other cultures. For them it was also more important to know what their function is in this creation and where they stand opposite the Creator.
In the God’s People version of the beginnings of the universe the Elohim as Most HighAll-knowingSupreme Being wanted Him to be known and supplied a description of Who He is, who man is and why man existed and then allowed the people of that era to cast it into terms that they could understand rather than in terms that we would readily recognize in the 21st century.
Einstein’s theory not only describes our universe, from the Big Bang to black holes; it has also taught physicists the relevance of geometry and symmetry – lessons that spread from particle physics to crystallography. But, despite the similarities that Einstein’s theory has with other theories in physics, it stands apart by its refusal to fit together with quantum mechanics, the theory that explains the dominant behavior of matter at the atomic and subatomic scale.
Today’s Scrip-Bit 2 March 2015 Psalm 27:10 (randyobrien50.wordpress.com)
Can you imagine too that we’re already into March, and it seems like only yesterday we were singing Old Lang Syne, and wishing each other a Happy New Year. It’s already been a couple of weeks too since we were singing: ‘Mas in yuh mas! Play mas!’
+
And all of that was just to say my people that time is swiftly moving by and who knows what will happen, or when, so it is essential that we get our house in order, just in case…just in case Jesus returns unexpectedly and we’re not ready. The same way we’re seldom ready for Monday mornings. The big difference though is that we have something to counteract our Monday morning blues – our Monday Morning Battle Hymn.
1 Samuel 13 (asorensen.wordpress.com)
The people of Israel see they are in trouble, and cry out to God. Saul is waiting for Samuel to show up and seek the Lord about the situation. When he doesn’t come as quickly as Saul expects, Saul takes things into his own hands and offers a burnt offering to the Lord on his own.
The Word (carolynwebbrussell.wordpress.com)
Secular scientists suggest that Big Bang Theory is different than creation that they are two different things. I’m not going to even bring up evolution because Darwin himself just thought it was a theory and didn’t even believe it.
+
I feel that if in the book of Genesis it is written that God spoke everything into existence. The sound of His voice, brought form to this world, hung the stars and called them each by name all in 7 days. All throughout the Bible it talks about how powerful God’s voice is. We read that it can make mountains tremble and so much more. So…what if when God spoke everything into motion at that moment that is when the “Big Bang Theory” happened. God created even that theory that scientists have come up with in trying to figure out all He created. As I study the voice and essential oils through science it keeps pointing me back to the fact that God is so much bigger than “science” because He created it all because He loves us so much.
There are well recognized parallels between Genesis 1 and 2 and other ancient Near Eastern creation myths. Archeologists tell us that the Mesopotamian and Egyptian myths predate the Biblical account.
Oh, my! I’ve been wrong about this faith thing all this time! Thank you for setting me straight!
No, seriously – my faith does not rest on scientific or archeological research. I find the study of these things interesting, but the study of creation should never take precedence of the Creator.
Before the mid-19th century it was possible to read the Old Testament in isolation and marvel at the creation stories in Genesis, to believe without equivocation that they were a unique special perfect revelation delivered to Moses during the sojourn in the wilderness.
Multitudinous discoveries over the last two centuries have challenged this view in deep and profound ways. Tablets were found dating from the mid-7th century…
The man Jeshua, Christ Jesus, who offered himself as a servant for God and man, praying in Gethsemane – Christus in Gethsemane, oil painting by Heinrich Ferdinand Hofmann (Heinrich Hofmann). The original is at the Riverside Church (Riverside Church, New York City). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Prayer for Christian Unity (carolpenner.typepad.com)
Thank you for churches in Belgium, Botswana, Bolivia, Bulgaria and Burma…
Christians praising the name of Jesus
in cathedrals, basilicas and small church buildings,
in open air services and house churches.
Thank you for our place in the whole body of Christ.
Forgive us, God, for our short sightedness,
our parochialism, our obliviousness to the richness of your body,
Listen: The Lord’s Prayer: A Practical Guide, Part 1 (Praying Through the Bible #124 with Daniel Whyte III) (blackchristiannews.com)
1. Prayer should be a regular, everyday activity.
2. Prayer ought not to be done for the purpose of being seen by others.
3. Those who pray in a hypocritical manner — that is to be seen by men — will get their reward: they will be heard by men, and receive their praise from men, but they will not have their prayers answered by God.
4. Most prayer ought to be carried out faithfully in private before God alone.
5. Those who pray in secret before God will be heard by God and rewarded openly.
6. We should not use vain repetition in our prayers.
7. We ought to acknowledge God’s sovereignty and omniscience in our prayers.
8. We ought to follow the Lord’s Prayer as a model in our prayer life.
9. Our prayers do not have to be long in order to be effective.
10. Our prayers ought to encompass the six essential parts contained in the Lord’s Prayer.
The Lord’s Prayer-Remix (cutpaste.typepad.com)
As a rule, people approached God at best as one would a king; they came as a subject, not as a son or daughter. And the tendency was to multiply titles ascribing greatness to God.
+
When we pray, we are coming to a loving Father who knows our needs and wants to give good things to us. Jesus made this clear.
+ Never think that you are kneeling or standing alone, rather think that the whole of Christendom, all devout Christians, are standing there beside you and you are standing among them in a common, united petition which God cannot disdain.
You are not alone when you pray (pastorjonev.typepad.com) The Spirit of God, the Helper, “helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Romans 8:26) He knows what we want to pray for, but can’t; what we should pray for, but don’t.
The Son of God, Jesus Christ, “is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.” (Romans 8:34). He is our Savior and His name ensures that we will receive everything according to God’s will.
Thank God for the Hands (adventuresinfollowing.wordpress.com)
Freedom. Deliverance. For whatever reason, at some point in the prior weeks I began studying out of fear, but now I was studying from a place of liberty and joy. I was studying because these are the very things I want written on my heart. I want to know these things about God so well, that they just start dripping off my lips without my even thinking about it. I want to know this God revealed in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, His grace that goes before us, grace that justifies us, grace that transforms us and liberates us to know love, be loved, and to love.
A Morning Prayer (bministry.org)
There is an amazing connection between God’s word and prayer and it is this: God talks to man through His Word and man talks to God through prayer. The two go hand in hand. They are synonymous.
Prayer and Fasting Season (ourgraceforthemoment.wordpress.com)
The year 2015 will be our best year so far when we truthfully decide to dedicate the first month of the year to God. A heart that is humbled and fully surrendered before God is a heart worth blessing. More than the prayer requests made, prayer and fasting draw us closer to our Creator. It deepens our love and longing for His presence in our lives.
When we get serious in seeking Him, we will surely find Him. The scriptures say in Jeremiah 29:13, if you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. See, our living God wants to be found! He wants us to know His character, identify His presence and enjoy His company. God wants to be with us and around us. Seeking Him first above all else brings joy in His heart. What a joy it will be when we bring a smile to our Heavenly Father’s face.
Matthew 14:23 – After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. (church4u2.wordpress.com)
Jesus was always connecting to his heavenly Father in prayer. The gospel accounts record that he would often be found in a lonely place praying. The pattern is pretty clear—Jesus found renewal in prayer. As Christians, why would we think any differently? We are quick to do bible studies—even studies on prayer—but do we pray? To walk in the ways of Jesus is to seek God in prayer.
A Prayer For Marriages – Friends And Our Own (via Scotty Smith) (garyware.me)
Free us to forbear with each other, and forgive each other, as you so generously relate to us in Jesus. Until the day you take one of us home, help us to encourage one another and build each other up. Help us to outdo one another in kindness. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus merciful and mighty name.
5110 and Prayer (andreswashere.wordpress.com)
Prayer is our communication to God. This is where I am also thankful. Through the Lord Jesus Christ, God made it possible for us to be connected and be in right relationship with God.
+
We are on a journey in life. God as our loving Father, wants us to be always connected to Him. He made sure that it would be a sure, uninterrupted, constant, solid and loving communication. As such communication came with a high cost through radical sacrifice of His Son, the Lord Jesus. He is our direct line to the Heavenly Father.
I cried out to you and you answered me. You called me your own and as I sat at your feet you lovingly showed me the way to go. You allow me to serve you but oh how my heart aches with desire for you and how I long to go still deeper in you, and to serve you more. Lord, show me the way. Amen
There is nothing in tradition that claims the “tree of good and evil” was evil. In fact it wasn’t evil, it was good. The tree symbolized that it held the knowledge of what is good and evil. God told Adam and Eve not to acquire this knowledge of good and evil. The command was, “refrain from the experiential knowledge of good and evil.” {
Oh, my! I’ve been wrong about this faith thing all this time! Thank you for setting me straight!
Messiah For All 