A Tale of Two Trees

A Tale of Two Trees

Gen 2:9 Two Trees are Introduced to man

Gen 2:17 God warns Adam not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil, and tells him that if he does he will surely die.

What did God mean, he would surely die?

God meant that right now, Adam is perfect, without sin, and could be friends with God, like a dad and a son are friends.

Being alive is to be without any sin at all. So, to die would be to sin.

Eating from this Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil would mean man will disobey God, and then know evil , which all he knows right now is good, perfect, and totally knowing that God is right there with him.

God then creates a woman for Adam, so he will not be alone.

Gen 3:1-7 the serpent (snake) lies to the woman and talks her into eating from the tree that God told them not to eat from. He tells her that she won’t die, but that she will be like God and know good and know what evil is. She eats from this tree, then shares it with Adam, now they have both sinned.

It wasn’t just the eating of the tree that was sin to God. WHEN they ate from this tree, they were able to know they difference between Good and Evil.


Remember what did we say it meant to be “alive?” to be alive is to be friends with God, like a dad is with his kids.

*if you have a friend that your parents don’t like, why would they not want you to be around them? Because when we are around other people, we tend to act like them, talk like them, dress like them…you want to be like them. But that is how man is, that is not how God is.

How can we be friends with God? God has a standard, and His standard is Perfection. Unlike us, when we are around someone, we pick up things that they do…God isn’t like playing in a mud hole…only God can’t be dirty, or less than perfect. But for someone to be in His presence that is imperfect, would be, well….it’s like wearing all white and

Now that man has sinned he is not God’s friend, they are his enemy & he is not allowed in the garden, which is a place where only perfect people can be.

Gen 3:24 God asks them what they have done and makes them leave the garden.
Adam was sad to leave, because he was Gods’ son. Because Adam sinned, he isn’t God’s son anymore, he is the son of the devil.

Gen 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

Rom 6:23
For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God [is] eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

But God created man to live forever! He created man NOT to die. Now man is dead. Remember that to be “alive” is to be SINLESS & FRIENDS with God.

But what if God could send a replacement? Someone who WAS perfect, someone that COULD obey God, one who COULD be friends with God because he had never ever sinned. And if someone could do that, could they trade with me? Could I give him my sin, and he’d give me his perfection. What He give me the power to obey God again, so that I could be God’s child again, and be friends with Him, like a dad and a son would be?

God DID do all that! He made that possible!

God sent His only Son from Heaven, his name is Jesus Christ Jesus was perfect, had never ever sinned. Jesus talked with God and heard from Him, like a Son would His Father. Jesus was friends with God like a dad and a son would be. Like we were SUPPOSED to be.

What if Jesus could, being Sinless & Perfect, A Friend of God, die for us, so that WE could live forever again and be with God forever?!

Well, that is what He did. He was taken, had done nothing wrong. Jesus was beaten, nailed to a tree (the Cross), and hung there until He died. THAT was OUR punishment that He took. He paid OUR PRICE for sin when He did that.

Not only did He die for us, but He rose again from the grave on the third day to live in our hearts. How do we receive what Jesus did for us so that we can be with God again? All we have to do is believe that God sent His only Perfect Son, that He died FOR US, that He rose again on the third day…to give us a Life with God FOREVER, which is called ETERNAL LIFE. We just need to ask Jesus to come live in our hearts. Let’s go to this scripture and read what God says about this:

Rom 10:9-10
That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and will believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou will be saved.


For with the heart man believes unto righteousness (just means a right standing with God, like, you are able to be with Him) ; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (meaning, because you believe it in your heart and have said admitted it out loud to God, you are saved).

Now we are able to come back into the Presence of God, through Jesus, and live with God forever and forever. So, it’s like Jesus took us back to the garden where man sinned and whipped away the sin and we are now eating from the Tree of Life. Jesus is the Tree of Life that we eat from now. For now, and into Eternity (forever and forever).

The only thing that we have to do, is continue to keep our faith in what Jesus Christ has done for us, ask Jesus to lead us in our lives. And Jesus leads us through His Holy Spirit. So when we go to do something that we shouldn’t be doing, God will speak to us through the Holy Spirit and tell us to do something or not to do something. This is something that will help us STAY with Jesus, and eat from His Tree of Life until we go to Heaven.

***anyhow, I hope that is clear enough to share with children. I think if children can understand it, than we definitely can. God has actually made this so easy that even a child CAN understand His Gospel. The problem is, not enough people out there preaching and teaching the true gospel of Christ anymore. ☺

The Cross and Self

i started out thinking i was going to be studying "doing the will of the Father," and it seems like God is slowly leading me there, but this was the next check point before reaching that destination. This seemed to be the most reasonable way to go in this quest for following the Spirit of the Lord, because we can't actually learn how to do the Will of the Father, until we understand the Cross of Christ and Self first.

Upon further research, i realize that this may have to be a sequel, seeing as i have much more information on this topic than one would think!

As i was taking my time of prayer with the Lord one day, walking down a nearby road, hot green tea in hand...the Lord whispered this scripture to me:

2 Tim 2:21, "...a vessel unto honour, sactified, & meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work."

meet: easy to make use of, useful

prepared: to make ready

we need to ask ourselves how we can be "meet for the master's use." And the answer to this is simple, and yet not easy to accomplish, nor is it pleasant to endure. The answer is to "Get out of the way!!!" LOL and yet we so struggle with this, why?

one of our biggest issues in our lives is not the devil, as we attempt to make this journey to Heaven. our big problem is the one we see when we look into the mirror. Self.

it is Self that stops and restricts God from accomplishing HIS WILL in our lives, it is SELF that acts up and is "ish...as in Selfish," it is self that demands the control and focus, and truly, is one of the greatest hindrances of the church today.

One of the problems that i see though, Christians have No desire to allow God to have His Way in their lives, but would rather do their own will and then stamp his name on it...thus, giving Christ a bad name when they fail...cause if it's God, you're NOT going to fail! Or the other problem is that they don't want to renounce self. 

The reader might be asking, what do you men by "renounce self" : to give up or put aside voluntarily.

synonyms for renounce: to abandon, reject, deny, forsake, give up, repudiate, reliquish, forgo, quit, cast off

So...take these synonmys and replace them with the word renounce. you would abandon self, reject self, deny self, forsake self, give up self, repudiate self, relinquish self, forgo self, quit self, & cast off self.

That's a heck of a statement to make, but even harder to actually DO!!!

The reason why, is that we are taught in this world to PRESERVE or SAVE self, helping ourselves and avoiding death to self. we DON'T want to die, in any way, shape, or form. if you think you are able to do so, go make yourself a bathtub of water and TRY to drown yourself, you CAN'T do it!!! the flesh WILL NOT kill itself. LOL, i know that seems like a crazy analogy, but very true about us, because the flesh doesn't want to die! even the most giving of folks are selfish and self preserving in every way. The issue is, our hearts are so stinking wicked, our heart will hide ITSELF from being able to see these truths and realities about human nature.

Then the church begins to get humanistic psychology involved where pastors like TD Jakes begin to tell people that they just need to be reformed..."buy my book and follow these 10 steps and you too will find your way to prosper." when that goes COMPLETELY against what the bible teaches! Jesus Himself told the young rich ruler that for him to inherit eternal life ...well, let's look at it for ourselves:

Mar 10:21 "Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me."

How does one take up his cross and follow after Christ then? (if you haven't read the teaching on Romans 6:4 on baptism, you NEED to read and study it! it will SO HELP you understand this next part much more easily.) If a Christian does NOT properly understand the true meaning and doctrinal teaching of what baptism IS, what ACTUALLY takes place as far as the part that the gospel, (the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ), then one is NOT truly ABLE to walk this walk in Victory that Christ intended for them to. So when we died with Christ, our old man is dead. that means not only the SIN NATURE was abolished by Perfection hanging from the cursed tree, but that we also died to the will of "Me." This is not a "natural" occurrence for people, that's why Christ went to the Cross and did it FOR us, because we Could Not!

Here is a scriptural example of what self preservation is:

Matt 16:21 Christ tells his disciples for the first time what God has sent him to do, that He will in fact suffer at the hands of the scribes, chief priests, be killed and raise again on the third day, (he's preaching the everlasting gospel here!) and Peter (v. 22) begins to rebuke Him and said, "let it be far from you Lord! This shall not be!"

Ha! Peter's reaction is the same as what ours would have been, because we don't WANT to die! and yet, even though Peter had a zeal for the Lord and told Him that he was willing even to die for His sake...he, in an instant denied the Lord thrice! Here's the thing, folks... for some reason, churches either have a problem telling people they are sinners, for fear that they are going to offend people...or they flip to the other side and try to make it seem as though there is something that WE can do, without Christ...neither will work. So...i've been rambling, but the reason i say all of this, is to better help people understand what the real problem is. The real problem with man is not just sin, it's that man will NOT admit that he does it, IS it, and is in need of a saviour! :)

ok, so the next place we would need to be, is to recall, remember that we are dead with Christ, to our sin, and also to our own selfish desires and abilities. That is called "renouncing self."

There are some things that i want to look at regarding the renouncing of self:

to truly "renounce self," is to abandon and relinquish our own:

*Goodness-realizing that there is NOTHING GOOD in US

*Wisdom-laying down our pride, becoming a teachable, leadable people.

*Will-always, moment to moment, yielding to Christ & allowing Him to work on us continually

*Lusts & Desires-desiring the things of God more than the things of THIS LIFE  we presently live.

I will attempt to explain more on these subjects and in more detail than this in times to come. 

***Personally, in seeking the Lord in what i believe He has been leading me to share...just as the disciples were given the loaves of bread to distribute to the hungry people, so do i have to receive the Word that God is trying to bring to His people. In order for ME to receive it, i am having to walk through some things, seek the Lord, and allow Him to share with me through my own life what He is doing. That is the only way i am able to share effectively what i am learning, in order to hopefully one day help others in their quest and travels up the road to Heaven.***

Please keep following these. i am writing them the best i can (in order), but if there are sequels, i will list them accordingly to make them easier to find and study later. (i know i always talk as though i am speaking to others out there in e-land, but the truth is, i keep writing these, hoping that 1. to help me when i go back and revisit the things the Lord has taught me and shared along the way, and 2. that it WILL reach someone else's heart and lead them to a closer walk with Christ as well.

Rom 6:7 (Freed)

I wanted to go ahead and study on the "war of the wills" so to speak, but the Lord wouldn't allow me to do that yet. Instead, He led me to study Rom 6:7 first. it's funny though, He always has His reasons in doing so. i found as i studied this scripture, that He was just adding to and leading up to "doing the Father's will" as sort of an inserted sequel...

ok, so here is the scripture:

"FOR HE THAT IS DEAD IS FREED FROM SIN."

http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=Jhn&c=10&v=1&t=KJV#top

seems like it's simple enough to understand, right? but, upon looking further and digging a bit in the Word, i found that the meaning in it is much more profound than meets the eye. :)

"For He that is dead..."
this is not referring to physical death, but rather the Believing sinner being identified w/ Christ in His Death on the Cross.

"dead" in the greek is one who DIED OFF once for all, OFF from the evil nature, this being separated from the sin nature. This work is complete, already done! There is no requirement on OUR part, other than that of Faith in Christ, and what He's done for us, and reckoning {considering ourselves dead unto sin (the sin nature having dominion or ruling over us in our lives.)} Christ DID everything else for us.

***I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH the importance of not just reading through this material, but studying it out for ourselves! knowledge alone will not save us from eternal hell, nor will it help us in the next trial we are faced with, it's is how much we UNDERSTAND. As we begin to study it ourselves, then the Holy Spirit is given the latitude to open up the Word and reveal to EACH of us His Word and what it really means. See, i am doing the work here, but i can't carry you into Heaven piggy back, YOU have to answer to God for YOUR time alone with Him and submission to His Word, not me. I am only responsible for what i have shared with you, but what you understand is a reflection of YOUR relationship with Christ. i've made some of the things available on the right hand sidebar of these blogs to aid and assist folks in THEIR endeavors to better understand the Holy Writ.***

ok, nuff said with that. :) ok, where was i, oh yeah, dead.

"dead" this being "dead" would mean that we are dead to a certain thing, in this case, this THING would be sin.

Even thought we are dead to sin, we must not assume that we are either walking in sinless perfection by our own emission, nor that we could never fall back into sin. These are two things that trip up a Christian in their walk, along with many many others, but these are some two main things that cause problems where "being freed from sin" and the understanding of this scripture are concerned.

it's simple to believe that because God has saved me, that i cannot fall into sin, (which if the Believer remains IN CHRIST) than they will be lead of the spirit to do the Will of our Heavenly Father, and not their own will. (i think i am getting ahead of myself here, let me take it back a notch).

Every Believing sinner MUST come to the realization that the ONLY acceptable way to God is through Jesus Christ and being baptized into Christ (again, NOT water, although that is neccessary...see teaching on Rom 6:4 for more on Baptism). There are NO EXCEPTIONS in God's book. in order to make it into the Book of Life, we must come by the Lamb...that is why this book is referred to as the "Lamb's Book of Life." Jesus said in John 10 (v.1) "He that enters not by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber" then Christ exclaims, (v.9) "I AM the DOOR."

so it is imperative that we remain "In Christ." The hardest thing for us as humans to realize is that we are in a constant weakened state without Christ.

Let's go on:

"is freed from sin," presents the Believer as being cut loose from the sin nature. "Freed" in the Greek is "dikaioo." and means "to Justify, to declare Righteous, to render or make Righteous, acquit of a charge charge, to absolve."

Here is the link to blueletter for an example to show you where i get this from:
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1344&t=KJV

this is the present result that he is in a state of permanent freedom from it, permanent in the sense that God has set him free permanently from it, and it is his responsibility to maintain that freedom from it moment by moment.

This is the part i've been waiting to get to here:

J.S. says this about maintaining the diconnection between the sin nature & the beilever.

"The Christian is exhorted to maintain that relationship of disconnection which God has brought about bwtween him and the indwelling sinful nature. However, God has not taken away the Christian's FREE WILL, and does not treat him as a machine. It is possible for the Christian by an act of his will to connect himself again with the evil nature, thus bringing sin back into his life."

He goes on to explain that since the Christian is now alive unto Christ, when sin actually DOES occur, the Christian does not actually live to sin, like before they were converted. Before conversion, we just naturally lived our lives for ourselves, and there was not acknowledgment of sin in our lives. when we sinned, we did it almost unknowingly. But once the believing sinner is united in baptism with Christ, the Divine Nature of God is imparted into the person's heart, giving them a sin consciousness, so much so that when sin takes place, the very presence of sin becomes unbearable in the heart of the believer. When an act of sin occurs in the Christian's life, they are so heavy and overburdened by this sin, that if repentance does not come immediately, the Christian becomes miserable and the situation becomes intolerable.

When the Christian has sinned, along with the need to repent, there is usually suffering or chastening that follows. This is what keeps us from being able to take advantage of Divine Grace, as many preachers have taught you can live life as you like and God will accept that. Not hardly, in fact, His word says that if He loves us, He will chasten us and correct us. if you have no God that chastens and corrects you, you have no God that loves you.

Next teaching, if the Lord will's, we're going to teach on "doing the will of the Father."

STUDY TOOLS (NEW)!!!

i have added to the side bar a link and some simple tips to help aid us in our study efforts.

This is a site that will search the bible and meanings of words in the bible. each word may have several meanings. it is important that if we don't know what a word means, or we want to have a better understanding of God's Word, to study these things out for ourselves.

When using Blueletter, here are some tips and things that i use and they help me greatly in my study time.

You can either type the phrase or key words to search in the top search box. once done, it will bring up a list of scriptures in the search. for example, type in the word, Comforter.

You will see a list of scriptures. above that list is a very small box and next to it, it says "strong's." check that, to select it. then you will see all of these numbers show up to the right of the words or phrases. click them, and what you will have is an in depth definition of what that word means in the Hebrew (old testament) or Greek (new testament).

I think you will find this helpful in your studies to use this tool. :D it's always enriched my understanding of the Word, greatly!!!

The Heart of Man ( JER 17:9)

This week i was in prayer and the Lord spoke a scripture to me, what seemed out of no where. i thought, "hmmm, i guess i better study that out."

We can never assume that we really know what a scripture means until we study it out ourselves. i never take the word of a pastor's about scripture, i go to church and take notes, only to come home and study it out myself to see if God reveals the same thing to me. the truth is, in doing so, it's pleasing to God, but it gives Him the opportunity to reveal truth to ME and MY HEART. i recommend that anyone that is reading these bible studies, be sure that you get your bible out and study these things YOURSELF to be sure that it is true, don't just take MY word for it, i could be lying to you. Your pastor could be lying to you!

The word says to, "study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman need not be ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH." 2 TIM 2:15 if it's really from God, when we sit down to study it, if it is truth, God will reveal it to us too.


ok, so...here's the scripture: "THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS, AND DESPERATELY WICKED: WHO CAN KNOW IT?"

that word "deceitful" means: sly, insidious, slippery
"desperately wicked" means: to be weak, sick, frail, to be incurable, & woeful, in need of help

"who can know it" to perceive, find out & discern, to distinguish

many people over the years have always told me to follow my heart, listen to my heart...that is BADDDDD advice! what i didn't know in following that advice, i have found that listening to my own heart has always lead me astray, down the wrong path...a "slippery one."

we can't know our own hearts. that is the simple truth. we are not "good," there is none good but God",(Mark 10:18) "none righteous, no not one," (Rom 3:10) and the Word of the Lord "is a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path," therefore we should put not our confidence in man, nor trust in the flesh, but rather in God. (Ps 118:8, Phil 3:4).

A well known theologian, Adam Clark states: "It even hides itself from itself; so that its owner does not know it. A corrupt heart is the worst enemy the fallen creature can have; it is full of evil devices,-of deceit, of folly, and abomination, and its owner knows not what is in him till it boils over, and is often past remedy before the evil is perceived. Therefore trust not in man, whose purposes are continually changing, and who is actuated only by motives of self-interest."

i thought that was an excellent explanation. let me give a pure example of it.

at the beginning of this week, i emailed a friend of mine to inquire upon what it was that the Lord was showing him lately. his reply was that he wasn't trying to be mean, but he wasn't going to reveal anything about his walk to me at this time. i was hurt, couldn't figure out why the attitude and tone?! i told him i understood, wasn't trying to pry, just was trying to share Christ with him. (the truth is, in my heart, i was wanting to show him what I KNOW about the WORD OF GOD...although i didn't want to admit that to myself at the time. but, pride comes before a fall) i got my feelings hurt a little by his response. then later that day, he emailed only to kindly tell me that he felt as though the past couple of times i had emailed him, i had offended him and belittled him in his walk. and he gave me the specific examples of what i had said. and i was rightfully accused! guilty. unfortunately, the Lord used this friend to show me something that the Lord was trying to illustrate to me about my heart. sometimes i can be a little overzealous, but God is teaching me. thankfully He is patient with me.

i had to see first hand how wicked my heart is. and i'm not the only one, all of us are guilty of the same! remember, there's none good but God, no not one!

Gen 6:5 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man [was] great in the earth, and [that] every imagination of the thoughts of his heart [was] only evil continually.
verse:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

those are some pretty strong statements! that our hearts are EVIL and CONTINUALLY WICKED!
we need to be able to openly admit what we are to God! if we are honest and can assess that we truly need His help.

1Jo 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."


I have some scriptures for the skeptical that believe that they are walking in sinless perfection. :D

1Cr 3:18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.

Pro 16:25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.

Pro 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.

God thought this one so important, He had King Solomon, the wisest man ever on earth to write it in here twice!

Gal 6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

Peter is a lovely example of this:

Mat 26:33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all [men] shall be offended because of thee, [yet] will I never be offended.

if we haven't read this story, we need to. Peter exclaims to Christ that he would not be offended by Him, that he would follow Him, even unto His death, and yet, when the time came, he did what all of us would have done...he deinied Him. because he didn't want to endure what Christ was enduring, we DON'T WANT TO DIE!!! not to ourselves, not in our own self wants...ahhh, let me get off of that, that is an entirely different study all in itself. :)

In the midst of this, i spent this week hurt by my own heart. I hate it when God shows me my own heart!! i really do, because i don't like to believe how evil and cunning i really can be. those that give a testimony of how they came to Christ and then try to make it seem as though they never do anything displeasing to the Lord, as thought they walk in sinless perfection...they are just hiding their sin better than some of us can, that's all. we are all sinners in need of a Savior, but there is good news! that is what Christ came to give, to give us victory over this nature.

So through this small affliction, i sought the Lord on what my real answer to give to this dilemma would be for myself, as well as to others. He gave it to me, but it will have to be in the next study for the sake of time. i leave you with this:

1Jo 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things [that are] in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that [is] in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

recently

i haven't posted anything recently because i've been taking some time to do some more in depth studying. gotta be sure to stay refueled. :) i'll have something new posted soon though.

Rom 6:6

"KNOWING THIS, THAT OUR OLD MAN IS CRUCIFIED WTH HIM, THAT THE BODY OF SIN MIGHT BE DESTROYED, THAT HENCEFORTH WE SHOULD NOT SERVE SIN."

the first part: "KNOWING THIS, THAT OUR OLD MAN IS CRUCIFIED WTH HIM..." is referencing the "old man" as the man we were before we were Saved. Put more specifically, the one that was totally morally depraved and in need of God's Life. Our corrupt nature, the Sin Nature (as we refer to it as here), is now dead with Christ.

"Old" here means: something that needs to be thrown away, it's useless and needs to be discarded altogether.

"THAT THE BODY OF SIN MIGHT BE DESTROYED"

Meaning, the power of the sin nature might be destroyed. Allow me to further expound on that thought...

Before we were converted, before we received Christ into our hearts, we had absolutely no knowledge of our sin. Our desires were what we sought to fulfill and had not thought of pleasing God. When we were Satan's spawn, we had NO DESIRE to even do what was right, and NO IDEA that we were sinning when we obeyed the lusts of our flesh and partook in the pride of life and the lusts of the eye. If we wanted it, we got it...if we wanted to do something, we did it. if you wanted what you saw, it was a done deal and we felt no remorse over partaking in that thing.

Jesus said it like this:

Jhn 8:44 "Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

Until we receive the blood of Christ as our total covering and remission of our sin, we belong to Satan, and he is the one that we obey, which is in our flesh. But when we come to God by Christ, our desires change. We may still fail and not have the ability to do what is right, but we do desire to do right and are painfully aware when we are living contrary to the Word of God.

Many that have not received Christ yet, are not even aware that they are sinning, and on their way to hell for that matter. The whole reason that John the Baptist was in the wilderness saying "Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand," to those that were being baptized, is because they needed to first renounce themselves and their actions. Until the Law of Moses (referred to as the Moral Law) was sent, man didn't even know that he was wrong when he stole. It took those 10 small commandments to show us that we have fallen short. None of which do we have the power to overcome in order to obey them, without the help of the Holy Spirit through the Blood of our Redeemer who Lives!

the word "destroyed" means that the Sin Nature has no dominion over the Believer anymore. "as a result, the Believer no longer renders a slave's obedience to the evil nature habitually as he did before God saved him. In other words, he's been set free from bondage."

So, imagine if you will a child being born and at a young age being chained and bound up all of their life. They become say, 30 years of age and suddenly meet someone that loses them from those bindings, loves them, and begins to show that person how to live a life that is free from the constraints that they once had. That in fact, is what happens to a Believer when they come to Christ. It takes time for them to realize that they are not bound anymore & time to learn how to live freely unto Christ.

Everyone of us has been bound in one fashion or another. to some it may have been drugs, to others it may have been a bondage to religious traditions of family and their denominational church, or it could be...well, you fill in the blank. we all need freedom from something.

Thank God for Jesus and a saving knowledge of His Grace in our lives! :)

i was wondering....

if anyone ACTUALLY reads these. it's always nice to have a little comments here and there. any interaction is better than none, ya know?! :P i wonder what other people study? what God is speaking to them. Like to see if there is anything anyone really wants to study, perhaps if suggestions are made, i will study some stuff that OTHERS like to know about too. :) let me know, k?

Rom 6:5 (With Him)

Before i get some crazy messages from folks about this image, first hear me out, as to why i am using it. I was browsing the internet this morning in search of a good Cross of Christ image and came across this one. I was actually appauled by it at first, and then when i thought about the scripture that i am currently studying, i thought, "ah! that actually IS a GREAT image for THIS!!!" (plus, it got my attention, so i figured it would probably do the same for other viewers as well).

"FOR IF WE HAVE BEEN PLANTED TOGETHER IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS DEATH, WE SHALL BE ALSO IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS RESURRECTION."

This word, "If," actually means "in view of the fact," or "since it is so," letting us know that there is no real question that Christ died, or that we are in His likeness.

Sometimes these guys would choose a word that was less desirable in meaning, but "sounds" better and means something like the word in translation, i think that is what happened in this instance. What i mean by this is, for example., the word Love has about 5 different meanings: "i love Dr. Pepper." "I love my Wife." But we don't love Dr. Pepper the same way that we love our spouse. We have a different types of love for different things. Anyway, not everybody understands the whole translation of scripture thing....moving on, (sigh). :)

I like what JS has to say about it, he gives a wonderful illustration for this: Take for instance, a pair of Siamese twins: their bodies are joined together at one point, and the bloodstream that flows, goes through both physical bodies, as though they are a normal one. That is what it is like when we receive Christ into our lives. We are connected to Him. When He died, we died, etc.

The word, "LIKENESS," is the same as resemblance, which is almost the same identity.

We share His Death & Resurrection. Both deaths had to do with sin, but from different aspects. Jesus bearing the sin, which the sinner has given Him.

Adam Clark, a well known theologian mentions it's a "beautiful metaphor, taken from grafting, or making the scion grow together with a new stock." Now, i didn't know what a scion is, so i had to look it up. I also researched all synonyms for the word, "scion," and was amazed. they are: branch, child, graft, heir, offspring, progeny, successor. i love that, because Christ tells us that He is the Vine and we are the branches (Jn 15), we are the children of God and heirs to Salvation, (Heb 1:14, Rom 8:15, Gal 4:6), & we are His offspring and are grafted into Him (Rom 11:17).

When i read Barnes' notes, he said we are all like seeds of the same plant (Christ), planted and growing up in Him together, "as He rose from the grave, so shall we rise from sin. As He lived a new life, being raised up, so shall we live a New Life." And i loved the scripture that he gave for a reference here:

Jhn 14:19 "Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also."


"WE SHALL BE ALSO IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS RESURRECTION."

JS states that it's not a statement made of predictions made per say, but that of a logical fact. "Paul says in his Greek, 'For in a view of the fact that we have become those permanently united with Him with respect to the likeness of His death, certainly also (as a logical result), we shall become with Him with respect to the likeness of His Resurrection."

What does any of that have to do withe the pic? when i see this pic, on a daily basis, i am reminded that i have died to MY DESIRES, MY HOPES, MY WANTS, MY ATTENTION AND GLORIFICATIONS, MY OWN PRAISE AND SELF-WORSHIP, and now i live for Him, because He died for me...in my place, now i am giving Him my life. When i look at that pic, i see myself, i'm reminded of the benefits that i reap and the price that i did not pay. I'm not my own anymore.

1Cr 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

A Love Story

It's so funny! everytime i sit down to study something, the Lord is leading me from that place, which is the starting point, and He takes me some place else, but i love it. I am studying things that i never have, seeing things i have never seen. I'm so in love with my Saviour. Not only does He love me, not only did He give Himself for me, He take me on adventures and talks to me along the way. What an awesome Lover, He loves my soul. "Who is man that God would take notice of him?"

I was studying something in Rom 6:5 and came across yet another comment that Bro Swaggart spoke about us and our relationship with Christ, and as i began taking notes on this subject, the Lord seemed to lead me in a different direction. Before i knew it, i was jotting down things i hadn't imagined. Allow me to clarify:

We need to go back the the former studies we have been doing on the Lord's supper, the wine/blood, and the bread/flesh we have eaten and what it means to eat them. By taking communion and discerning the Body of Christ, we are saying the following:

Communion is to fellowship, association, intercourse and intimacy with Him. I thought about how separated we were from God because of sin. We don't understand how awesome it was for Adam and Eve to be One with God. The Word says that the voice of God walked and talked with Adam in the garden (Gen 3:8). This was perfection on earth as anyone could know it, and in ALL TRUTHFULNESS, not based on what one would "feel," He truly had everything back then! Oneness with God is so far from the Christian these days, we don't even know how to imagine such a thing.

When Adam sinned, He was instantaneously separated from God, thus rendering both his physical & spiritual man in a total state of depravity! His physical man and spiritual man were divided at that moment, Adam suddenly has to figure out how to feed his physical body now, and he has no way in which to feed himself spiritually. The Tree of Life in which fueled both physical & spiritual man is no longer made available to him. He is now cast out of the garden of Eden and God had to put Cheribums with swords of fire in order to keep Adam and Eve away from it, for the Tree of Life stands for perfection, Oneness with God, Communion with God, which they cannot eat of now, being in sin. So...from this moment, until Christ died on a tree (what started at a tree, ends at a tree), there was no Way for man to come to God and be in communion with Him.

So now you have God on one side, who is Perfection, Holy, Creator & unable to be in the presence of sin.

Then on the other side, you have man, in total depravity, in need of God, food, home, shelter, covering, apart from all of that, LIFE, because his spiritual man is now dead and his physical man is in a state of slow decay.

There is this huge gap between the two now. Hmmm, if only there were a bridge between the two, a mediator, one that could take away the veil or curtain that is between the two.

Let's just say that from the beginning, God being all knowing, knows the end from the beginning (is 46:10), set in motion a plan to do take away the veil. Veil means curtain or separation between two things. In the Tabernacle of Moses, there was a separation between the room where the candlestick, shewbread, & altar of incense...where the priest could see the Light of the World (candlestick) the shewbread to eat, (Bread of Life), and the Altar of Incense (Prayers & Conversations with God)...and the veil separated them from the Holy of Holies, which was where the actual Spirit of God would come down in the midst and dwell. Only One could go into this room, all others would die. The High Priest was given access one day a year to the presence of God in this place...and he was the only one that was separated enough to encounter God in this fashion (also...Christ is our High Priest...all things a foretelling of Christ and what He would do).

I think we can safely call Christ the Meeting Place for the two. God is a Spirit (Jn 4:24), so He had to take the form of something in order to actually come and dwell here. He chose to do so through the womb of a woman, just like us. Which is perfect, because what started with a man, ended with a man, the man Christ Jesus. It's awesome how it all just fits together!!!

So Christ in all His perfection comes and dwells with us, like us, in order to become ONE with us. He could identify with our humanity, having experienced it. People think that God is this diefied entity that is above all (which He most certainly is), but without compassion, and yet He loved us so much that He came down as we are, to our level. Took off His Perfect White Robe, laid it on the Throne, and Put on flesh, to heal us, to love us, to reach out and to listen, to teach us, to pray for us. (Heb 4:15) That doesn't sound like a disconnected or unconcerned God to me. what do you think?

Note: I know i keep repeating this message over and over again, but the fact is, it's THE message that Paul preached, all of the disciples did for that matter, and it is what JESUS preached, most importantly. In every way possible, He was trying to relay this simple message to His followers. In fact, it wasn't at all the messages that are being preached today. Not riches, He's not the christ that makes folks rich! he told the rich young man to sell all of his possessions, give it to the poor, having treasure in Heavenand follow after Him. (Matt 19:21-22) That tells me that following Christ won't make me rich in this world, but i'm rich in His Kingdom, because i have Eternal Life, and that is all we need when it is said and done. Proper Perspective is what we need. We're not be conformed to this world, but into Christ. (Rom 12:1-2)

How is this a love story? I'm about to tell you. what is it that a bride wears at a wedding? a veil, right? there's that word again, Veil. what did we say that a veil is, it's what separates the groom from his bride. what is the church said to be? the Bride of Christ. What is Christ, but the Groom. What separates us? the Veil, what is the veil a type of? sinful flesh. What are we trying to prepare for? the Marriage. What is the Marriage? Us, One with Christ Fully, in our new Home, the New Jerusalem. (Jhn 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.)

I think the reason that God refers to are being totally reunited as a marriage is because He genuinely is in love with us, and plans to be at One with His highest creation, man.

So, He had the Veil to be rent in twain, meaning: His flesh was afflicted in OUR place, therefore abolishing the sting of sin, which is death, that we may inherit eternal life and become One, in Communion, Intimate, with Him once again.

If you read Song of Solomon 5:1-16, you'll find a love story much like that of us. we are the ones seeking, He is the One to be found and in desperate need of Him. the reason we are found by the watchmen, smitten, wounded....we have been wounded by sin and the veil that is take from us is the proper covering we need. Think back the the garden, what did Adam and Eve do once they knew that they were naked? they didn't seek God to find out how to have a covering...they tried to cover it themselves in their own way, but through Christ, we have what is the proper covering...His Perfect Blood.

Not only did He allow His own Bloodshed, He hung there, being in the most excruciating pain, and plead with the Father, negotiating our forgiveness. Forgiveness means: to give up a debt, to permit what is not permitted, to not hinder, TO ALLOW. In fact, Jesus, was pleading that the Father would ALLOW US back into His presence, back into the garden. Look to the end of the book...Rev 2:7, He gives us to eat of the tree of Life once again.

Anyhow, I know it is a long Love story, but a good one.

The Bread (Scriptures)

Ok, still studying on these topics which are all tied together: The Bread/ The Flesh of Christ/ The Blood (Wine)--Basically, communion, and what Christ was referring to at the last supper when he spoke concerning his body and his blood.

Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return.

Something awesome about the Word of God, is that it is SO universal to itself, what i mean, is that it is so fitly framed and put together in such a way that all of the puzzle pieces just fit perfectly. In Gen 3:19, this is after the fall of man, when Adam and Eve have sinned and God is now giving them the consequences of "knowing Good and evil." Here is what is so interesting about this scripture:

Before Adam fell, he didn't have to work for anything. He didn't even eat bread, they ate from the trees in the garden of Eden. so, why would God tell them that they would have to work for, "by the sweat of his face," for bread? he is in fact restating this scripture and translating it when Jesus says in John 6:51 "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." He says this to them, because He is making reference to Gen 3:19. Before they fell, they already were eating Life, which was Christ, He IS THE TREE OF LIFE. His spiritual man and physical man were both on the same level together in the presence of God all of the time. When the fall occurred, man's spiritual man (so to speak) died, but his physical man stayed alive. Adam was so perfect before the fall, had experienced such magnificence of the Lord that it literally took his physical body 930 years to die, but his Spiritual Man fell when they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (i'm trying to make this as plain as i know how to, i hope it is making sense, if not it is because i am not a very good teacher.)

So, when Christ tells them that He is the Bread of Life, He is in fact saying, if i can translate in layman terms, what was undone is being made DONE through what i am about to do for you. If you will abide in me, receive what i am doing, and believe on Me, eat of Me, i will give you eternal life, i will feed your spiritual man forever. That is why he said (John 6:53): "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." He was saying that the food and drink that we take for our natural body, that body will perish. But we have a chance to become part of a body that will live forever in peace with God, if we will receive Him and what He has done for us.

Ok, then there is the scripture in Lev 6:16 that is rich as well.

Lev 6:16 And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it.

Let me expound further, so as to reveal the types and symbols here. Aaron and his sons are the priests of God...selected by God Himself. What are we also known as His Believers, (1Pe 2:9) "a royal priesthood," when He says that in His Word of us, He is not talking about just pastors, He is referring to those of us that love Him and His Word. The Unleavened Bread is a type of Christ as well. Leaven is seen as a symbol for sin, and He was without sin...hence, UNleavened Bread, He is the Bread without sin. The priests would eat the unleavened bread or shewbread in the tabernacle in the wilderness, it was simply a foreshadowing of Christ. God has always been attempting to relay this message to His people (death, burial, resurrection), it's not a new message, it's just been lost through time.

This is one that is great!

Exd 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; [and] with bitter [herbs] they shall eat it.

The flesh that they would eat is that of the lamb that the family would have taken to the temple to have sacrificed to God for an atonement (rolling away or back) of their sins. They were instructed that they had to eat the whole thing in that one night, not leave any for the next day. Just as, we have to take all of Jesus, and not just parts of Him, we can only serve Him as our master, not ourselves and Him. We would love ourselves and hate Him. Obviously, Jesus is the "Lamb of God," as spoken by John the Baptist in John 1:29. The "roasting with fire," is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ taking our punishment upon Himself. Fire is seen as a type of Judgment throughout the Word of God. He had not earned our judgment, but willingly took it for us, in our place. We just explained what the unleavened bread means, and the bitter herbs were a type of the bitterness of sin that He tasted, having never sinned Himself.

Awesome, huh? Who would have thought that the Word of God could be so rich, exciting, so tasty and meaty! The greatest part about this lesson here, is that i really intend to come back to it, go through it all again, and line by line study it out thoroughly...to chew on it and digest it so to speak. Because that is IN FACT what we are to do with the Word of God, being our DAILY BREAD...we should meditate on God's Word each and every day, asking Him to reveal Himself to us through it and in it. Amen? Ok, tomorrow, Rom 6:5!!! Yeah....

The Bread

It's funny how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. I decided that i may gave been getting off on a rabbit trail with my studies the past couple of days, and wanted to get back on track where i began studying. I went back to Rom 6, where i had original begun these studies and came across something that i ALSO wanted to get out about the Bread, since i had just studied the cup yesterday...talking about communion. Anyhow, i picked up my favorite commentary, that of Brother Swaggart's and began to read what he had to say about Rom 6:5, when, as i began to read....i began to see something about "The Bread" of Life that came in perfectly with what i was studying on communion. So...i took that as the leading of the Holy Spirit to go ahead and study this portion first, before we get back to Rom 6:5.

Brother Swaggart was talking about how baptism is a symbol for death. He spoke about how we are all members of His Body...and then i remembered something that i had read from a different commentator about a week and a half ago. This person stated that when we eat of the bread, it is as though we are eating from the same loaf. The "Loaf" would be Christ. But, (and i'm not sure if i am communicating this quite as clearly as I AM seeing it), if we consider what we are in fact saying by our actions if we are to partake of this ceremony (if you will), we are saying that we have fellowship with THIS GOD. Just like the heathens did, they communed with their pagan gods...at least they were making an open announcement that this was what they were a part of and were allowing all spiritual influences of this "god" into their lives. We in essence are doing the same when we partake of the Lord's Supper. We are openly making a visual announcement that we are having fellowship with, welcoming into our lives, becoming one with...this God that we are taking part of this "offering" so to speak, when we eat it.

Let me better illustrate this: when we "eat His flesh, we are in fact saying that we are dead, buried with Him in Baptism (being baptized into Christ, not water), and by the drinking of His blood, that we are His servant and He is OUR GOD.

(it'll get clearer as i write, hopefully). All of Christ's members (members of His Body)-are the sinners who have Faith in Him and have chosen to associate themselves with Him in that Baptism. In essence, WE DIED & WERE BURIED WITH HIM. This is like (again, the example of the wedding ring for marriage, is what baptism is to the Believer, between them and God). It's an outward symbol that reminds us & explains to us how we spiritually are partaking in what Christ PHYSICALLY experienced.

it's a metaphor respecting our Faith in His Atoning work.

The punishment Christ suffered was that of what a sinner/thief would receive....punishment of sin is death. WE didn't ACTUALLY suffer THAT HORRIFIC death. How do we experience it with Christ then, if we are dead with Him? How do we take part in this "death" then? We believe when we eat this bread that we are part of His Body. (The Perfect & Sinless Body that He is and we actually are not). When we eat, we show that we DIED WITH HIM & WERE BURIED. Meaning, our Sin Nature (which He took upon Himself, willingly), because of His innocent Perfect Bloodshed for US, is overcome, The Sinful Man is dead, murdered, killed, laid dormant if you will. To be BURIED WITH HIM: our sinful nature was done away with and made dormant (no longer in full dominance), by His Body being Broken for us.

By HIS BLOOD: When we drink the wine (grapejuice) we are drinking the blood of an innocent man. (Murderers are said to be "guilty of innocent blood" - which we ARE guilty of. His Blood was poured out because of Our Sin. so, when we drink, we are in fact saying that we are drinking of the "cup of salvation," because there is NO WAY we could drink from the cup of God's wrath, which is what Jesus endured & the reason for His Bloodshed.

The need for Resurrection: 1. God saves the sinner, He separates him from the dominant sin nature, so that the Believer is not compelled to sin anymore. We are PERMANENTLY delivered from it's power. But, the Lord also left the sin nature IN the Believer as a disciplinary measure. 2. At the same time, He imparted His Divine Nature which gives the Believer both the WILL (desire) & the power to DO God's will, and not our own. Hence, the reason that Jesus prayed in the garden and told the Father, "Not my will, but thine be done." He said that because he was giving us the ability through His sacrifice to do so, and THAT is why He chose to lay down His Life.

ok, i have some scriptural references that i want to make concerning this, but i feel as though i need to start a different blog, because they require a little bit of explanation in addition to them...

1 Cor 10:16 (The Cup)

I have become fascinated with communion now that i have been studying it out some. When receiving communion, what is it that we should experience and understand? I discovered something that i will remember the next time that i take it, causing me to fall in love with Jesus all over again. There is a song that i love a whole lot, and the chorus says this, "I wanna sit at your feet, drink from the cup in your hand, lay back against you and breath, feel your heartbeat. This love is so deep, it's more than i can stand, i melt in your peace, it's overwhelming." The cup that is spoken of in this song....hmmmm, The Cup!!!

Let us travel back to the garden of Gathsemane for a minute. Remember before He is offered up, Jesus goes and prays three times, asking The Father to "let this cup pass from me." What cup is He talking about? it is the cup of the wrath of God. How do we know that? (You can find it in Rev 14:10 & Rev 16:19), when God's wrath is poured out upon those in the last day that will not choose Christ. God is loving, He is also Just. I am recalling the lesson before this and the story of Cain and Abel and why God accepted Abel's offering...it was a blood offering which is a type of Christ. We can ONLY come to God through the blood of Christ.

So, is the cup of wrath the one that the girl is singing about in my song? No. but we first have to understand what we have been spared from, before we appreciate what we have been given. Now that we know that we have escaped the wrath of God, we can accept the cup of blessing that is spoken about it 1 Cor 10:16. Christ didn't have to lay down His life, but He did, for us...not for Him, He didn't need redemption, we did. He hung there up on the Cross and when He cried out, "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?" He was receiving upon Himself the Judgment of God for our sins. He was spiritually feeling the total and complete withdrawal of the Holy Spirit from His life...No presence of God, The Father had turned His back on Christ at that time. And it pleased the Father to bruise Him, so that WE could receive what He came to give us.

I meditated on this cup f wine that Christ held in His hand the night of the last supper. He held it up, and said that it was His blood, given for us, to DRINK IT, and do it in remembrance of Him. WHAT does that MEAN?! He said that if we do not, we don't have eternal life, we have "no life in us." I thought then, what can we not live without as humans? There are basically three things that are body cannot go without for an extended period of time or we will die and they are: Water, Blood, & Spirit. 70% of our body make up consists of water, we have got to have blood...an incredible loss of it will kill us, and if we do not have a spirit, we are not actually alive. Have you ever been with someone when they died, I have...you know when they are gone. it's as though you can tell it, their spirit is GONE! hard to describe, but truly amazing to notice.

How is it that the cup of wine would be like Water, like the Blood of Christ, like the Spirit of God? i looked up the word, drink in the greek, it means: "to drink, figuratively to receive into the soul what serves to refresh, strengthen, nourish it, unto eternal life." Water is a refreshing drink when you are thirsty. Remember how David said, "As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after thee, Lord." The Holy Spirit is a refresher, it brings peace, overwhelms you, fills you up when you are dry and empty, it's how God communes or communicates to us, through the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. So how is the wine figuratively His blood and what does it have to do with the aforementioned? When we realize the cup that has passed from us, when we understand the cup in which we drink of because of Christ, which is blessing and not cursing, it's Life and not death, we are fully able to grasp the meaning that is in this phrase He uses, to drink His blood. Knowledge of the atonement of Christ is refreshing to my soul!!!

David said it like this in Psa 116:13 "will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD."


i know that i am not using much Word here to explain here, but bear with me, i still have some things to share. There are times we have to seek the Spirit of God to reveal things to us, and there is need for an explanation....

i decided to look up the word, "communion" in my strong's concordance. it means "fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse." That says a whole lot to me!

This is the scripture that comes to mind when i think about communion:

Rom 14:17 "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

---His righteousness that i receive, His peace given freely to me, His joy because i have none of my own.---

So when i looked at Rom 14:17, i began to think again about the wine. what is it that wine is known for doing? it makes you feel peace, relaxed, happy, carefree, it makes you want to be intimate with you Lover and then Rest. That is the way that this cup should be to us as well. To realize that through what Christ has done for us, we can relax, have joy, be intimate with our God, & Rest in Him.

We should be SO overwhelmed with Joy in this revelation, that we do what? i looked up the phrase, "sacrifice of praise," wondering what real significance it has to my walk.

In Jer 33:11, it says, "The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD [is] good; for his mercy [endureth] for ever: [and] of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD."

This word sacrifice means to confess, praise, give thanksgiving to give a thank offering

THIS IS WHAT THAT IS TALKING ABOUT!!! What He has done and what we should do. it shouldn't be predicated upon our feelings at the moment, it's not something that we are forced or expected to do, and yet, for any child of God that knows what God has delivered them from (and i am not talking about smoking, drinking, sex outside of marriage, porn addiction, etc.) what i am referring to is the bigger picture and the GREAT deliverance, if you will, and that is Hell and Eternal Damnation and Judgment that we have escaped...freely!

There is so much further that i could still go with this, but i am so long winded, i fear no one will desire to attempt to read my blogs anymore if i continue to write so much in each one......

1 Cor 10:21 (The Real Thing)

So, on the last study, we realized that there is this tradition that man has had of partaking of drinks and meats offered to idols. My entire point in bringing this up, is that when Christ came, He spent much time addressing people's traditions of men, He is always trying to get us to think outside of our normal parameters. We like to think "comfortable," and the Lord is always trying to "grow us" in our thinking so to speak.

What i saw as i began to study this out, "drinking from the cup of the Lord, vs the cup of devils," and finding out about the customs of offering unto heavenistic gods, i saw Christ there alone with His closest followers, taking food and drink. He offered up bread and stated that it was His Body, which was broken for us and the remission of our sins. The cup of wine, He said we were to drink it, that it was His Blood, given for us, to do this in remembrance of Him.

I have never fully understood this. Everytime i have been at church and partook of the Lord's Supper, or Communion...what does all of this mean? am i the ONLY one that has posed this question? yes, i know He was foretelling the events to come with His sacrificial death, that part i understand. yet, i have always seemed to be intrigued by the thought that there is more underlying meaning in this than just that. now, i could get into the Jewish Feast of Passover and explain how what they do and eat and say is all a type and shadow pointing to Christ and What He would do for us, but it hardly seems relevant in the form that i am seeking to find this answer. So for the essence of time, i'll refrain from going into that, (although perhaps one day i can share those things, it is truly awesome what God has shown His chosen people, Israel, with their feasts and how they pertain to Gods' timeclock and the gospel of Christ.

What i find most important to address here is the need to understand the scripture and what Jesus is saying as He lifts these items up and calls them His body and blood...saying we are to eat and drink, for we do this to remember Him. Has anyone ever taken communion and heard that scripture at that time about discerning the Lord's body? (wow, id didn't know that we were going here, ok Lord...) Let's look at the scripture:

1 Cor 11:27-29 "WHEREFORE WHOSOEVER SHALL EAT THIS BREAD, AND DRINK THIS CUP OF THE LORD, UNWORTHILY, SHALL BE GUILTY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD. BUT LET A MAN EXAMINE HIMSELF, AND SO LET HIM EAT OF THAT BREAD, AND DRINK OF THAT CUP. FOR HE THAT EATETH AND DRINKETH UNWORTHILY, EATETH AND DRINKETH DAMNATION TO HIMSELF, NOT DISCERNING THE LORD'S BODY."

This is SO STINKIN' AWESOME! I feel the Holy Ghost leading me with this study! LOL yeahhhh!

ok, what this scripture is saying is CRUCIAL to the reader's walk with Christ! Why, I'll tell you. The greatest thing that the church has lost in it's message of the gospel, is the message of the Cross. I say this because we have multi-million member churches that folks are attending every single day and they are not leave one bit changed. they are coming in and receiving a message that is not the true gospel. the gospel is not just "the good news," which is what gospel means in the greek. there is more to it than that. every ask why it is the good news? the gospel that they preach is either money (for you and for them) making these preachers rich and yet their congregations are still going to hell because they don't know the truth, there's the holiness group that tell people that they can work their way into heaven, the government of 12 group state that there is a 12 step program like they have for addicts, which is man's formula and will never work. there is the word of faith doctrine which says that we are little gods and there is power in the words that we speak, that we can create a new and better situation for ourselves, therefore leaving them in complete bondage to what they do or lack in professing, but denying the power that really can be possessed which is Christ.

I rant and say all of that to say this...let me give an example, a word picture if you will:

i used to be a banker, a teller to be exact. i worked with money for nearly 15 years. after working with money for so long, i got pretty good at being able to catch the counterfeit bills that came through my deposits. they look about the same, but they feel different, there are subtle differences, things that you can check on the bill to see if it is authentic or not. sometimes you have to check for little blue and red threads in the bill, the watermark has to be even the same. i actually encountered a counterfeit bill that was so good, and the makers so deviant that they actually made Benjamin Franklin in the watermark wink! His image's eye, winked...like, HA HA, i got ya! False bills usually feel a little different. But if you had never worked with real bills for such a long time, it's very hard to distinguish what is real and what is not. It takes time and experience. The same it true with the Word of God folks! The church has been so ignorant of what the Word REALLY says, who the REAL Christ really is...that we are overwhelmed, eating any spiritual junk food that is handed to us...which it may have come originally from God, like corn from the stalk, but once it has been tainted and manipulated, it's no longer recognized as corn, nor is it good for us when we eat it. I'm referring to the Word we receive from preachers that they, themselves have not either discerned the Body of Christ, or have rejected the power thereof.

Let me explain further, i feel i am confusing some. Let's use some scripture to make it more clear what i am poorly attempting to communicate here:

2Cr 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or [if] ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with [him].

Now, why would Paul say this? He KNEW that there would be others that would have some sort of twist to the truth, therefore making it NOT the truth anymore. Here is what the scripture is meaning when it says that we are not discerning the Lord's Body, therefore eating and drinking unto ourselves damnation.

My Jesus is the one that was born of a virgin. (Is 7:14, Lk 1) He is the One that was God made manifest in the flesh. (John 1:14). He was perfect and without flaw (Num 19:2, Jn 1:29) (Lk 23:4, Jn 19:6) He was punished for my death (Is 53:5, 10-11, Mt 27)) READ THESE, it'll help. He was risen on the third day and sent the Holy Ghost to illuminate those who would ask to receive it. He overcame sin, death, hell and the grave through this sacrifice. Because of what He did for me, i am like Barabus, i am set free without deserving it! (that's the typology of setting Barabus free and killing Christ, it is a picture of what He did for us!!!)


He is the Real Thing! Not a sinner like me. So, let me get back to this scripture:

1 Cor 11:27-29 "WHEREFORE WHOSOEVER SHALL EAT THIS BREAD, AND DRINK THIS CUP OF THE LORD, UNWORTHILY, SHALL BE GUILTY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD. BUT LET A MAN EXAMINE HIMSELF, AND SO LET HIM EAT OF THAT BREAD, AND DRINK OF THAT CUP. FOR HE THAT EATETH AND DRINKETH UNWORTHILY, EATETH AND DRINKETH DAMNATION TO HIMSELF, NOT DISCERNING THE LORD'S BODY."

So, how can we not discern the Lord's Body? What Paul is saying here is this, if you do not receive the One that died for You, if you do not receive the Christ that died, was perfect, poured out His life to cover my worthless life, the One who traded death for life, the One that was the only acceptable Sacrifice that God could accept for sin, and you just take communion without in your heart admitting to God, "i am a sinner, i needed a savior, and Jesus Christ, you are HIM, I need You, I receive You everyday of my life, I yield my life, my dreams, my hopes, my desires...to You and Your will," if you are not realizing what this ceremony is about and Who this is attributed to, for you and your benefit, (not money, not your personal wants, but the biggest prize, which is eternal life and forgiveness for your sinful selfish ways and nature,) than you are in fact eating and drinking damnation to yourself.

What does THAT mean? Unworthily means: to not make disctinction. why am i receiving damnation? i looked it up, damnation in the greek means: "condemnation of wrong, JUDGMENT." Do you know who is going to hell? is it you? is it me? it is those who will not receive God's only acceptable WAY to Him which is Jesus Christ.

Another example:

In Gen 4, there is the story of Cain and Abel. Those of us that have been in church a while, we know the story. Both brought a sacrifice to God, Cain's was the best of his fruit/plants. Abel's was the best out of his flock he kept. Does anyone know why this story is here? it is to show us the only acceptable sacrifice to God. Cain's offering was no doubt the very best, unblemished crops. he didn't bring his worst or his leftovers to God, with every effort he had within himself, he gave God his very very best. but why was that not good enough for God, but that of Abel's was? we assume that God loved Abel more than Cain. or Cain was just born evil and Abel had not a mean bone in his body, right? here is the reason: the only acceptable offering to God is that that consists of blood. it had to be a blood sacrifice! no other would do, because God was trying to line out there, this early on, that He had a plan of redemption for man, but by no other means can we come to him. the reason that Cain got angry and murdered Abel, is because he felt rejected by God not accepting his way, rather than obeying God's way.

God will not conform to us, we MUST conform to Him, and His Way states that He requires the Perfect Blood of Christ. That is why Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." No man can come to the Father, but by Him, being the Door. Remember the blood over the doors of the children of Israel, ever wonder why the blood of a lamb? why they had to EAT the lamb that night?! (another beautiful picture of our AWESOME, GRACIOUS SAVIOR that gave Himself for us). I could go on and on about the types and shadows that are lined out in the old and new for us to see.

Just remember, the old test points forward to the Cross of Christ. The new test. points back the Cross of Christ, but everything revolves around Jesus Christ and what He did for us. Anything other than that is a skewed and perverted doctrine.

This is getting lengthy, so i will conclude for this lesson, but i have more coming on this topic! so much more to the Lord's supper than what we are being taught in churches today....

1 Cor 10:21 (Traditions of Men)

I was spending some time in prayer one morning last week and the Lord spoke a scripture to me during that time. I didn't know what He was referring to, nor what it really truly meant, so i decided to study it out. I know I bounce around here and there, but I try to follow after the Spirit of the Lord and what He would be trying to say to me, and the church (since I am sharing these blogs with others as well).

My findings have really lead me into a place in the Word that I wasn't really anticipating, although it has been exciting what the Lord has shared with me.

Here is the scripture that I heard the other morning, "YE CANNOT DRINK THE CUP OF THE LORD, AND THE CUP OF DEVILS: YE CANNOT BE PARTAKERS OF THE LORD;S TABLE, AND OF THE TABLE OF DEVILS." (1 Cor 10:21)

I decided to go check out what all of my friendly commentators have said. (By the way, not all of them follow after the Spirit of God, we have to use discernment in reading other people's writings, as you should as i write my findings on studying the Word. Don't just take at face value what i say to be ultimate truth, because NO ONE has ultimate truth, and we can all be wrong! I always try to urge friends of mine to study things out themselves and ask God to reveal these things to them, so that they know that they are not being deceived.)

There are really so many things that the Lord has been showing me in this study, it may take me a few different blogs to get it all out, since our eyes tire of lengthy reading at times.

TRADITIONS OF MEN:

Something that i did not realize, (which is a tradition at weddings here in the US), was what the origins of a wedding tradition was. Let me better explain. As i studied, i found several (at least 3) different commentators make reference to our wedding toast traditions. What i didn't know was that this was something that heathens (meaning those that had strange gods, not believing in the One True God, Jehovah of the Hebrews, but Jesus Christ, the God Man), in an act of worship, people would take a food and drink offering and offer it to their heathen gods. when they had a guest partaking, they would first offer the drink or meat to the god or idol, and then to the guest of the celebration. they would pronounce some sort of toast or prayer, if you will to that idol, giving honor to it. this is paganistic worship. but what is it that we have always seen done at weddings? there is a toast made by close friends or relatives to the couple, in honor of them, and some sort of blessing or wish spoken as well.

I am not saying that if you have toasted folks at their wedding, than you are performing heathenistic practices, but i do feel that it is important that we begin to question all of the traditions of men that we willing engage in without ever giving thought to or asking questions about the reasons why we do it and the origin of the tradition. i have a point with bringing this up though, and it leads to my next portion of comments i will share.

some of my commentators explain this much more profoundly than i am able, so i will share what i read:

John Gill states, "They (meaning those that partake of the Lord's cup and the Devil's cup), could not truly drink the cup of wine in the Lord's supper,l in the true faith of Christ's bloodshed and his sacrifice offered for them, in remembrance of his love, and to the honor of his name; and also the cup of wine of libations offered to heathen dieties, these things are utterly inconsistent; no man can serve two masters, God & mammon, or God & Baal, Christ & Belial, or agreement between the temple of God & idols."

Barnes' notes said this: "the custom of drinking of toasts at feasts and celebrations arise from this practice of pouring out wine, or drinking in honour of the heathen gods; and is a practice that partakes still of the nature of heathenism. the toast or sentiment which now usually accompanies the drinking of a glass in this manner, if it means anything, is now also a prayer: but to whom?" And he goes on to state that if our partaking is not of that of Christ, it is actually offering ourselves and yielding ourselves as friends or having fellowship with idols or false gods.

all of which is true. a few years ago, i went to pick up some chinese food that my aunt had ordered down the road from where we lived. i walked into this resteraunt, having never been in there before, was shocked to see a budda statue down at my feet at the counter. what they had done was built a little shrine to this statue, and laying at the feet of this smiling piece of tin formed with man's own hands, was what appeared to be a drink and meat offering to him. i was utterly amazed at the stupidity of such action! (nothing against them, i'm sure they do it in faith...but, could it be a chinese tradition of men? could it be that they are not aware that they are only partaking in the foolish relics of men that will only end in death and not life eternally?) some believe that all gods are the One God, and i have to totally disagree! budda did not know me when i was not even formed in my mother's womb, nor is he intimate with me, he doesn't bring me blessing, and he didn't die for me, therefore, i find him to be a mere stature, a god or idol made by man's hands and nothing more.

in 1 Kings 18:21 we could read the story about this very same thing back then, nothing new under the sun, what has been shall be! I'm not going to make quotes, nor refer much to it, just making mention of the story for those who may either already know it, or are interested in checking it out, it's a good and exciting read. Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal. He tells them that their god is not real and challenges them to offer up a bullock to their god, and he would his as well, they would each build a fire, and lay their offering upon the altar that they built. they each built and offered alike, they called on their god, while he mocked their foolishness. but what they were looking for was the god that would answer by fire, and whosever god answered by fire, was the real True God. of course, we know that Elijah's God, our God, answered by fire. they fell down and worshipped our God, it made them believers. Oh, if we had that kind of tanicity and boldness these days!

There's more for me to cover, so for the sake of people's eyes, i will make another one available in the morning for reading, as i am still studying and have more findings to share. yeahhhhh! i love the Word of God. :D

Rom 4:2 (works)

Here is what i have been WAITING TO SHARE!!! i have had many many occasions that i have talked with other Christians and run into the subject of works and not had this info to help me. i found it last night and go so exhilirated! i feel liberated in knowing these things. i don't like to argue about the Word, in fact, fighting about it isn't even Godly, but there are times that i will find folks struggling in their walk. At my old church, they taught a whole lot of good things, that helped my walk with the Lord in mighty ways, and others that hindered my walk...and through much tribulation, failings, and the leading of the Holy Ghost to set me straight again, i am able to see when others are bound in "works-based religion." There IS a difference!

We were taught of the importance of fasting, prayer, worship and studying the Word, which are all great things and essential in the Christian walk. You almost can't have an effective walk with the Lord and continue to grow without practicing these basic principles, along with love, tithing and many others. the issue, is that many Christians believed that if they do not do these things, God will not bless them, He will not work in their lives, that He will simply withdraw His hand from them if they are not doing these things on a daily basis. that is "works!" again, they are essentials in our walks with the Lord, i do not believe that you will experience ALL you could in the Lord if you don't do these things, but God knows are frame and that we are dust. He knows that if we could overcome our flesh on our own, we wouldn't need what He did at Calvary for us!

My husband and i have a lot of friends that we talk to on a regular basis that are down on themselves in their relationship with Christ because they feel like God is not blessing them because of their lack of ...you fill in the blank. condemnation is not from God, His Spirit exhorts. in all things the Lord desires for us to want more of Him...HIM, HIM, not anything else but HIM. So, in our lack, we need HIM to fulfill, in our sadness, we need HIS JOY...we have none of our own. is this making sense? But He does NOT leave our lives completely in OUR hands and just sit back and watch to see if we will choose right or wrong. He is personal, He said that He would send the Comforter which is the Holy Spirit to lead us. Honestly, when we evidence Faith in Christ and what He has done for us...knowing that everything was "finished and accomplished" on that tree He hung on, and trust in the leading of the Holy Spirit to show us what to do and where to go...we give Him permission to have full reign in our lives. And that is pleasing to God! That is His way, not ours! His will, not our own.


Ok, this is the part wanted to share about works, it's helped me, perhaps it will help others as well.

There is an argument that comes up in Christiandom about "works," for those that are Word Lovers. There are two scriptures that SEEM to conflict with one another and always cause those that are "works oriented" to use against those that are not. (EPH 2:8-9 & JAMES 2) I was reading a commentary by John Gill last night on Rom 4:2 and this is what he stated about these two scriptures:

He compares: "Paul speaks of the justification before God, James of justification before men.

Paul speaks of a justification of the person, (before God), James of the justification of a man's cause (before men). Paul speaks of works as the causes of justification, James of them as the effects and evidence of faith.

Paul was dealing with the self-righteous, who trusted in their own works as justification before God, James with the Gnostics, who slighted and neglected the performance of them.

They are actually found to agree, once we understand all of this."

What does this mean? they are both speaking to two different audiences. Paul to those that think they are pleasing to God by what they do, and James to those who think that they are pleasing to God even though they don't do any of them.

Again, all of these things: fastings, prayer, word studies, worship, tithing...are absolute musts in the Christian walk, but none of these activities should be viewed as though it is the means by which we earn anything from God or in His sight. All of these things should be done in effort to intimately know our Creator (like Adam KNEW Eve, intimately), and to show trust in the Lord for His Fulfilling us in our every need.

In effort to prove that these are some essentials for the Christian walk, i have scriptures to prove such:

FAST, PRAY: Matt 6:6-7 He says, "WHEN YOU.... WHEN YOU..." not IF YOU...!!!
TITHING: MAL 3:8

Again, we should do these things in effort to fain RELATIONSHIP with Christ, not a BETTER STANDING.

Ahhhh, i love the Word! :) i know, i know...WORD GEEK! and proud of it!! LOL

Prelude & Rom 4:2

I just feel led to put a few things out there, my hopes are that at some point we can progress in this study to some of THESE books, because they are completely essential to the Christian walk and are some of the most misunderstood and most overlooked books in the New Testament.

We've just ended Rom 3 and yesterday covered the first verse of Rom 4, where the word, "flesh" was mentioned. There are many different books in the New Testament that mention the word "flesh" or some derivative of the word. Rom 7 gives us an idea of our frailty as human flesh, probably better than most passages. Many mistake this book to be Paul's writings and reference to his life and struggles BEFORE conversion, not so. This entire chapter deals with his life after conversion to Christ, by attempting to gain the victory over the flesh by the FLESH, (which will always end in severe failure.)

Rom 7:15 Here, he tells us how he hates his sin. Most Christians will not even so much as come to the place where they HATE their sin, thus, leaving them in bondage, that is until they are able to have a repenttive attitude in this regard. That word Repent means "to turn." We have got to desire Gods' way and not our own sinful fleshly desires. By admitting this to the Lord, and putting our faith and trust in Him and what He has done for us, we are able to effectively overcome in our lives, but NOT without His Holy Spirit leading in these situations. So, Romans 7 talks about the struggles of the flesh and the endless efforts that we try to produce our own righteousness by means of "works based" religion, rather than reliance and full surrender to the Holy Ghost. It is absolutely no mistake that Paul put THIS CHAPTER in the middle of 6 & 8.

Gal 5:16-26, the word, "flesh" should be translated as "sin nature," and would actually give a greater understanding if replaced when reading in these chapters. Through these chapters, Paul describes how the flesh is aroused and motivated by desires that find expression in a variety of ways: sexual immorality, etc.

1 Cor 3:1-4 Describes the word "carnal," in the Greek, "fleshly," or doing things that are contrary to the Word of God, because of one's yielding to the sin nature, (of which we all do at times).

The reason i bring up "flesh," is because we were just discussing Rom 4:1, "WHAT SHALL WE SAY THEN THAT ABRAHAM OUR FATHER, AS PERTAINING TO THE FLESH, HATH FOUND?"

So...we already discussed that scripture, now onto verse 2: "FOR IF ABRAHAM WERE JUSTIFIED BY WORKS, HE HATH WHEREOF TO GLORY; BUT NOT BEFORE GOD."

Matthew Henry (a well known bible commentator) says regarding this: "external priveliges and performaces? Now what did he get by these? was he justified by them? was it the merit of his works that recommended him to God's acceptance? No, by no means." and he makes a reference to a scripture that i think is brilliant here, concerning us glorying (or boasting) in our flesh:

Phil 3:3 "For WE ARE the CIRCUMCISION, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have NO CONFIDENCE in the flesh."

The "3 guys" commentary i use say "if works were the ground of Abraham's justification, he would have matter for boasting; but as it is perfectly certain that he hath none in the sight of God, it follows that Abraham could have been justified by works."

Translation: works were not Abraham's justification, it wasn't because he was circumcised, it wasn't because he was righteous in himself, it was because of the faith that he had that God would have a plan to justify him through the blessing that he would send on his seed, and that was Jesus Christ. Christ Himself even told the religious Jews, "Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it." He was giving reference to Abraham offering up his promised son, Isaac, which was a type and shadow of the One and Only Son of God to be offered up to Heaven for us...Jesus Christ is the Ram that God provided for Himself. (nice, huh...this is why i love the Word of God...everything in old and new point to Christ!!!)

So, if Abraham had his own righteousness, or works that he could present to God, he would have no need to be justified by God as Righteous instead of being seen as what he was, and we all are...a sinner in need of a savior.

And that is SO correct, our total reliance should be on the Lord and the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives.