Chess Miracle

First time I was ever given a miracle (God working it in me) was sat with a friend now a respected scientist married to the daughter of one of the world top highly awarded scientists and he saw what I saw and knew the fear I knew. We had just been discussing Einstein's theories of relativity and Genesis, age of Universe, light from stars, etc What he and I saw that made us fear was direct evidence of God. Telling it might not be enough to be evidence for you to make you fear so you might despise it and wonder why it would make myself and an intelligent budding scientist fear. It was quite simple and I probably related it in the thread about heaven so you might have already had the details so no need to give them all. I hope my friend will not object as I have not given enough to identify him. The voice (I never told anyone for years and never told my friend lest people think me some kind of sorcerer and judge me but now other events have assured me it was divine like Holy Spirit and not magic) the voice told me to choose something when we were doing that thing you do when playing chrss to determine who is white and plays first. It said 'choose the hand that looks whitest' when my friend held the white pawn out in one closed hand and the black pawn out in the other after shuffling them behind his back so even he... evn he didn't know which was white. I did this thirty two times in a row and every time I chose the white pawn. We stopped because enough was enough and it proved to us there is a hidden God. The outcomes were clearly being determined by God who alone can determine such things, I realise now. At the time I was more ignorant than today (!) and was scared to tell in case this was seen as magic but niw I have more confidence only God can work in chance to determine an outcome so it was God working in me to show us His power as we considered what to believe about science and creation. It was in no way planned by me that this would happen. It was out of the blue - literally.

Speaking in Tongues

If the gift of tongues or xenoglossia has been a sign in times past of judgment by God, it makes you wonder then, regarding sign of judgment, what judgment it tells of now because it does indeed happen today. God is wise in ways we cannot fully understand. He was wise when His Son whom He loved was put by His will up on a cross of wood to cure the believers of the effects of sin and guilt of sin and power of sin but can we fathom that wisdom? No. It seems foolish. Yet love for us prompted it in God. Why a cross? Why such a cure? Why the similar snake on a pole in the desert with Moses? Why Jacob setting up poles with stripes in by his sheep where they drank and so increasing his share of sheep with stripes? All weird and wonderful but wisdom from God. So too is tongues weird and wonderful and wisdom unfathomable. A sign yes but a sign that God will have us speak even to those who cannot believe. "Mene mene teckel upharsim" If judgment has started with Israel and with the house of God what then will it be when it comes to all the world. "Weighed in the balance and found wanting" For unbelievers it is a sign their unbelief is sin. We need to think about the judgment implicit in tongues. It warns us that God could harden us and others as an extreme punishment. If He speaks incomprehensibly we would get hardened in our hearts unless He gave interpretation, like Moses' Pharaoh was herdened by God as a deliberate act of wrath by God. We would end up ever hearing but never understanding and would harden our own hearts against God. This gift is like a message at gunpoint. You have reminded of this. If God withdraws it with a people and speaks clearly or if He always includes interpretation it is like Him putting away the wrath and only showing the mercy. But the wrath is still there as a reminder to listen while we can.

True or False

How to discern true or false when someone claims to be a prophet or presents what they say as it being as if God Himself had spoken it. If God Himself speaks we need signs to know it is Him speaking else we probably would doubt it is God Himself. This is natural and how we are conditioned. Our defense mechanisms. So we have difficulty telling when someone speaks whether it is their own thoughts they speak or whether God Himself or Christ or the Holy Spirit has spoken to them and they are passing it on. The voice of God or Christ or the Holy Spirit always comes to me with a sign. Ask for signs but beware your inner greed and selfish ambitions might make you tend to label them false or true without faith being given prominence. The eye, said Jesus, can be misleading and give false light to you when it is bad and corrupted by greed and other evils. Be sure your light within is good when you want to use that light to discern another. Even how we use scripture can get corrupted by our selfishness and greed. The Pharisees were experts in scripture but still being lovers of money and human praise they labelled Jesus false. The sign can be important as part of a message of prophecy. A manger was the sign for the shepherds at Jesus' birth and pondering it I would think of a lamb (especially being a shepherd) that this baby is a lamb - the lamb for sacrifice for the temple. A  false prophet might try to trump a sign, like one did with Jeremiah's yoke by breaking it. The profundity of God's wisdom is found by pondering a true sign, as the spirit within finds the sign life-giving. I never really doubt true signs given me because they speak to me so well and show how wise God is. The sign of the manger given the shepherds about baby Jesus shows God knew exactly what He was doing when He provided Jesus' birth as His lamb, and in announcing it to shepherds. They say the main business of shepherds in Bethlehem so near Jerusalem was lambs for sacrifice.

Healing Human Nature

The cross of Christ brought healing "he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes healing was provided for us." but indeed the message of the cross brings healing too. Just as pharmaceutical companies do the work to create medicines but it still needs that doctors administer those nedicines else the work would not benefit the sick. The Holy Spirit testifies, yes, but "You also must testify". Christ builds the temple but the Holy Spirit commands in Jesus Christ's name "Build the temple". We can build and heal by preaching prophecies of the word of God and especially the word through Christ that "Christ died for all, the just for the unjust to bring you to God". This heals people of the sickness of the human condition and mortaility. But yes, God willing for Christ to be put up high on a cross where He bled died so all can consider Him there and live - this brings the healing. God raising Him from the dead brings life hope to all too. 

The Cure

Jesus Christ taught that our greatest enemy from which we need saving is our own sin or as the apostle Paul put it, deeds of our own human nature. The cure God sent is the Lord Jesus Christ born a human and even having John the Baptist baptise Him to show His willingness to follow the teachings John was preaching. He was made human so He could be put up on a cross of wood and bleed and die and those who look to Him now are saved from their greatest enemy, that human form Jesus had taken. Receiving this new way of life is about holding to what Jesus taught as God His Father gave Him to teach and being given knowledge of truth and a Holy Spirit to live by, safe from the tyranny of our own human nature.
The prophet Isaiah wrote, centuries before Christ came,  "He is despised and rejected among men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with weakness; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our sicknesses and suffered our pain: and we considered him stricken, smitten of God, and cast down. But he was wounded for our rebellions; he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his stripes healing was provided for us."

Bible Translation Choices

What is the best Bible translation to read? If you read the 'Koine' Greek of Revelation it is so coloqial it is unlikely any translation will ever do it justice. There are barely sentences used but rather a few words which evoke tremendous meaning. You would need to have Koine Greek as a first or second language to grasp the full meaning. Best to read it in Koine and try to learn it if you can. Same with other books of John. Look at that last sentence I wrote - grammar missing but the meaning is clear if my coloquial English is well understood. I should have worded it 'it is best to read it...' This skipping of grammar and leaning on how words are combined to evoke meaning is how Revelation seems to be worded. I therefore think you are best reading scriptures in 'Interlinear' because translating into sentences results in words being added to introduce grammar which isn't really there. If you rely on translations into grammatically correct sentences you risk taking to heart words added for grammar that are not in the 'original'. On the other hand I learned a lesson from the Holy Spirit Himself (I believe it was Him) about Bible versions that means I take whatever translation is at hand (but wary to put over reliance on words and grammar). My lesson was that during some meditation on a verse pondering its relevance to my situation but needing assurance, the still small voice gave me a Bible reference. Just book and chapter. Sure it was the Spirit I hurried to the other room where a Bible was open which was given me not too long before by a church and this Bible not a version I have heard about before. I leafed to the chapter and could not see the relevance but I persevered and saw a word related to the verse I had pondered. There in the margin was a cross reference to that very verse. So I was sure the Spirit knew this very Bible had that reference and was showing me this. Plus the cross reference itself had the assurance I needed of how it applied to me. I now recognise the Spirit will use whatever is at hand. It seems traditions of doctrinal positions exagerated can distort whatever version we read so once we are sure of a good understanding of a text we should cling to what it teaches us rather than cling to the translation of words. The letter kills. If we cling to the faith and certainty rather than the letter of the text the Holy Spirit can confirm our faith and so strengthen it. So I find to be true anyway. Not to detract from the supreme importance of keeping, say, the words of Jesus in our hearts. They do a mighty job within us to transform us. Yet as I let the words and teachings and sayings do their work as I live my life they do it no matter what version I ponder. It isn't the text I ponder but the spirit in the words. This is what kicks me the way I need kicking inside. This is their power, not the text of the words but the spirit of them - their affect and influence within me. To prepare the heart for these effective spirit words it is important to have understanding and for that the translations can help. To understand that Jesus is the Christ I found the Septuagint a big help because in its rendering of Daniel's vision of the weeks it uses the word Christ and this woke me up to see it actually does prove Jesus to be the Christ. http://www.linkedin.com/redir/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fstudybible%2Einfo%2Finterlinear%2FDaniel%25209%3A25-26 . Here the fact it is the Septuagint is very important because it predates the coming of Jesus. Other OT texts are from centuries following Jesus' coming. 

To Save Me From Myself

Thousands of years ago when the new Israelite people were leaving Egypt they were at one point afflicted with a deadly plague of snakes while camping on their journey through desert lands. It was so deadly it might have wiped them out had their leader, the famous Moses, pleaded with God their God for their salvation. The God to save them commanded Moses to have bronze snake crafted and put on a pole and held high for all afflicted with snake bites to look at and this healed them and saved them from the deadly snakes. Over a thousand years later a great teacher, Jesus Christ, came and taught that our one greatest enemy from which we need saving is our own sin or as the apostle Paul put it alter, our own human nature. The cure God sent is the Lord Jesus Christ born a human and being so human as to even have John the Baptist baptise Him to show His willingness to follow the teachings John was preaching. He was made human so He could be put up, not on a pole, but on a cross of wood and those who look to Him now are to be saved from their greatest enemy, that human form Jesus had taken. Receiving this new way of life is about holding to what Jesus taught as God His Father gave Him to teach and being given knowledge of truth and a Holy Spirit to live by to save from the tyranny of the human nature we all share.

The Secret of Life

Not only heeding the teachings of God through Jesus (and the Apostles) but firmly holding to them all our lives sets us on the road to complete freedom from the tyranny of the human nature and keeps us on a road to life of longlasting fruitfulness to achieve our greatest potential to the glory of God. We might not understand or be able to accept all their teachings but we should accept what we can and hold to it. To heed these teachings should be easy now Christ has died for sins as God's sacrificial lamb so we know God is love. Love towards God who loves us so much should smooth the process of accepting Christ's teachings. It should be a simple matter to love God in obedience to what Christ calls the greatest commandment. You might merely be uncertain that the death He died was for you personally and just need assurance of it. Then it will be a change of things as you let yourself be assured that is was for you as well as for others that He died. Then the teachings may be so much more acceptable and comprehensible. Gifted gospel preaching with genuine faith may be all it takes to give you the assurance you need that it is for you that Christ died. Then a simple seeking of His teachings can set you firmly on the path to the best way to live. So given this need of personal assurance, is there a message to meet the need? Fortunately there is a teaching of Christ which points to such a teaching: That it is 'as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness' that the Son of Man was to be lifted up. This applies the crucifixion of Christ as widely to individuals as when Moses lifted up a bronze snake on a pole for anyone who was bitten by a snake like the lifted one to look at it to be healed. A peculiar wisdom of God easily mistaken for folly unless we have better faith in God. Jesus Christ taught too that our greatest enemy from which we need saving is our own sin or as the apostle Paul put it, deeds of our own human nature. The cure God sent is the Lord Jesus Christ born a human and even having John the Baptist baptise Him to show His willingness to follow the teachings John was preaching. He was made human so He could be put up on a cross of wood and bleed and die and those who look to Him now are saved. The Lord Jesus, the Son of Man made human and mortal, was on that cross as God's cure from deeds done according to human nature which lead to mortality and death. Both the sinful tendency of human nature and death itself are lifted up on that cross as emblem and sacrifice provided by God in His love for whoever will look to Christ crucified and believe.

Is it your Time?

The apostle accounts of Jesus' work report a miracle at a wedding party in Canaan, Galilee where Jesus turned large quantities of water into wine and very good wine at that: It was the best wine the master of the banquet had tasted all evening. The time, though, Jesus had said, was not even the right time for Him to do His first great miracle; Mary His mother made Him do it, really, despite His objections. In our lives we can do all we can over years to keep the sayings of Jesus and the Apostles and we can be baptised and attend church yet never see let alone do a miracle. The time has to come for us because miracles are works of God The Father who is the Lord of Times. Yet it can be forced. Mary forced it and only got a mild rebuke for that. When the time is not full for it to happen it can still be urged to happen by loving fellow humans, apart from divine plans and actions. It is OK. But if we wait for God's fullness of time it is better.

God's Son

Once, when trying to be a lay gospel preacher, twenty or so years ago, I earnestly asked in prayer to see God and to see the Son of God and to witness the Holy Spirit so I could preach what I really knew. In showing me over the following months what was granting me the answer to my prayer, God was very effectively acknowledging to me that Jesus is His Son. The sign Jesus did was commendation of Him to me as His Son by God the Father. The coming to me in church of the Holy Spirit soon after confirms it. So now to know that God commended Jesus as His Son those days when two thousand years back Jesus mnistered in Judea and Galilee and to know that God showed Enoch more than four or maybe five thiusand years ago that Jesus known then as the Son of Man is His chosen designated Son by preincarnate Jesus' righteousness and faith, knowing all this makes for a poignant meditation on truth. Having witnessed Jesus myself I know it to be true that Jesus truly is God's own real Son.

The Humbling and Exaltation of The Christ

Why did Jesus, the Christ, die in the manner of execution by crucifixion? Why was He baptised by John the Baptist's baptism? Born an ordinary baby and placed in a manger in a stable? Why such identification with the commonest of human beings? This Jesus is what was known to ancient Sumerian prophet Enoch, long before pyramids were built, at the end of the Stone Age, as the Son of Man who the prophet saw beside the God who is Lord over all spirits. This Son of Man is the One this God over all gods called His very own Son. The sacrifice was more than death of His Son for you and I to pay our past sin's price when we repent and believe in Jesus the Christ, it was for this Son of Man in status and very nature second only to God, it was, I believe surely that He become like the very least and unworthiest of us sinners by being first born a humble birth then being obediently baptised a repentant sinner's baptism then dying a worst of sinners' death. So that worst of us could be atoned for. The sacrifice was a sacrifice of His heavenly glory and status to the very fullest extent in having only the life of a sinner in baptism under John the Baptist and sentencing under Pontius Pilate and death by crucifixion. All heavenly honour and status removed. All for us. So it was such loss that is now so fully been repaid to Him by God whom He so pleased and now He is truly made Lord over all and Christ for all to look up to. Exalted to the highest degree. Placed on a seat beside God Himself. Soon to come as King of kings over all. This is the true righteousness and faith of Jesus the only worthy sacrificial lamb of God. Years ago I got to have a great answer to prayer when asking to know by experience the God who is The Father, The Son of God and The Holy Spirit. God granted it over the following months so this proved to me that He Himself still acknowledges and commends trithfully the Jesus who died and rose as His very own Son. Having witnessed Jesus myself I know it to be true that Jesus truly is God's own real Son. The fact God sent the Holy Spirit who is, I know myself, a spirit of only truthfulness, and witnessing first hand this Spirit in a local church within weeks of these visitations to me, this confirmed it all the more that it is Jesus as written of in scripture who is Son of God. So I have to testify of it and this is the right thing to do from what God has given me to know. For me it took a message in tongues (xenoglossia) in one church and a prayer by someone in another church to lead me to realise that before all things (all the Universe, not just this planet) Jesus was with God and is completely like God so the sonship of Jesus to God goes back to the very start of things.

Wealth

Is wealth a good goal in life? Lord Jesus told someone to go sell or cash in all their wealth and give it to the poor so they would have treasure in Heaven before following Him. If we treasure Him surely we will respect the way of life He taught. Jesus teaches that the deceitfulness of wealth can weigh our hearts down so we do not bear fruit and get cast aside. This is seen in the parable of the sower but Jesus also mentioned it at other times. Jesus did say many things like this with a little variety each time so we should niot focus on the letter of His words but on the spirit of them and the understanding they give. The letter kills but the spirit gives life. So we should note as we attempt any exegesis that there is a danger of killing the power of life in the sayings by focussing on meanings of words and losing their power to inspire faith. The truth behind the words should be learned and then obeyed and lived by. The truth here in the testimony is that wealth and desire for wealth maginfies greed and envy and these blind the 'light of the soul' which Jesus said is the eye. 'If your eye is good then your whole soul/body will be full of light'. The brother of Jesus, James brought more to this topic in his epistle by reminding that wealthy people often get that wealth by not fully enough recompensing their workers so they lose concern for the rights of the poor. Jesus taught it, hence James writing of it (the Holy Spirit bearing witness in the words of James) - wealth and desire for wealth gives a conflict of interest with righteousness that as Jesus put it blnds or corrupts the eye so it prevents the soul receiving good light. In the story of Lazarus and the rich man Jesus testified importantly that the result of this can have implcations beyond this life - dire ones. 'What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world but lose his soul and what can he give in exchange for his soul'. So Jesus did the rich young ruler a great act of guidance by stearing him - attempting to - away from this wealth trap into a path of blessing and life. The wealth of the man steered him away from this path of life into the trap of darkness. His heart was overcome. Here are further examples of Jesus' sayings from what is recorded in scripture on this topic. 'He who wants to keep his life will lose it but he who loses his life for My sake will keep it to eternal life' Jesus was not just meaning life of body but life of lifestyle and means too - from the contexts in which He said it. We might hold too tightly to things we have and luxury pleasures we 'hold dear' but losing them deliberately is how to gain life in Jesus. 'Whoever loves his life more than me is not worthy of me' is the kind of thing we know He said often in various ways. Loving things too much makes way for trying to find a way to avoid obedience to His teachings. It is tough. Victory needs to continue throughout life too - each time we let things now matter too much. Treasure comes as well from persecution and rich believers persecute us if we tell it as it is so here too we can get blessed with treasure in Heaven that reduces tte allure of here-and-now wealth. It is far more important to give to the poor, He said, than the common practices of washing-up dishes and washing hands - 'first give what is inside to the poor then what is outside will be clean'. Justice for the poor should be more our concern than whether we are ceremonially clean or whether we tithe and give enough to religious purposes. Giving if wealth in genuine care of the poor Jesus puts above giving tithes and staying religiously outwardly clean and ritually corect. Perhaps it even applies to hygiene and washing dishes. So there are indeed commands here to be obeyed. There is the word of truth from the Father behind these sayings of Jesus to be obeyed. A key word is 'first'. 'First give what is inside to the poor', 'you should first practice justice for the poor and love for the poor then do not neglect tithing to God' and 'first sell all you have and give to the poor then come follow me'. It gets wealth out of the way where it can contaminate the heart with love of it. 'Use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourself so when it is gone you will have friends to welcome you into Heavenly homes' - I guess we can take it with us to some extent if we do this with it. Or store up treasure in Heaven by giving to the poor and letting wealth be snatched by evildoers knowing we have such treasure instead. 'Do not work for food that spoils but for food that endures to eternal life which the Son of Man gives' Jesus' counsels in Revelation 'buy from Me gold refined in the fire' and I think it amounts to letting go of debts and opportunities to be rich and the profits of dubious means and let Him in turn provide opportunities to do as the Good Samaritan did and provide the attitude of heart and freedom from fear, greed and selfishness to do such things when the opportunity comes. I mean letting go of debt collecting, releasing people who owe you and haven't or won't pay. Of course scripture says we are to pay others what we owe them, not leaving it outstanding. Wealth gotten by not paying our debts when we could pay is illgotten gain. If you are journeying to Heaven then send your cases on ahead before you travel rather than trying to take them onboard and risking losing them on the journey. You might be too worried not to be wealthy in that you might not have enough to protect yourself from evil actions or troubles by legal means or insurance or surplus, well going the way Jesus teaches of faith in God instead and kindness to all especially believers will be about prayer to God for justice instead of taking legal action and so you can 'put your hope in God instead of uncertain wealth'. God meters out justice far better than expensive lawyers when we ask Him in faith - and faith is given more richly to us when we are poor. God (Jesus taught) said to the man whose salary increased so he invested all the increase in property "you foolish man, this very day your soul will be required of you so where will your riches go now" and Jesus said 'this is how it will be to anyone who stores up riches for themselves but is not rich towards God'. Against this backdrop we have even more pertinent the words of Jesus to a very successful person who was obeying the ten commandment "if you want to be perfect, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven, then come follow Me". Later to believers in Him Jesus said "if you hold to My teachings you are really my disciples, then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free". Selling excess wealth and giving to poor can besides providing day to day needs of the needy perhaps even now and then make someone's day with a big gift. Yet do it secretly lest you lose your treasure in Heaven. 'Don't even let your left hand know what your right hand is doing'. 'in everything do unto others as you would have others do unto you' if you were poor wouldn't you long for someone to make your day just once in a while. Your wealth can do that if you obey God in Christ with it. When Jesus the Christ taught all this it was God speaking through His Only Begotten Son. Each of us could set out hearts on possessing wealth and items of beauty or we can give to the poor what we have and set our minds and hearts on treasures in Heaven. Righteousness is about the latter. While looking at crystal pieces of ornamental fashion and how exquisite some works of craftsmen are today, it makes me remember the crystals of the throne of God and the walls of the antechamber of God's throne chamber and with the tremendous light and heat coming from God Himself it must all be such an exquisite marvel. From such a home God and His Son reach out over and over down ages with astounding grace in truthfulness of their revelations to us mortals and before them our humble prayers are made to ascend to their attention as they oversee the government and development of all things. Set you minds on things above and not on earthly things. Do not try to acquire mortal man's creations of treasure but let go and think of what treasures there are at the right hand of God where Christ is now. So Jesus said "if you aren't faithful with worldly wealth who will trust you with heavenly wealth".

Shining Glory

It is mysterious to me what is the glory of God. The ability to hide and reveal glory was once witnessed while Jesus miniatered in Galilee in Judea when on a mountain top in front of three witnesses His appearance changed and He shone very brightly. Such changes of appearance in saintly disciples has been seen from time to time and I believe I saw it once in a fanous preacher too. Another beside me said they saw it while I saw it and thought maybe the man was a real angel. This angelic appearance can come upon people. Moses had it happen to him after meeting with God. Yet it is so clearly a matter of varying degrees of glory given people because it happened to Jrsus on that mountain top such that His appearance was extremely broght and it happened to Him so much more when He rose from the dead and returned to God. Not all the time because He was mistaken for a gardener after His resurrection but when He showed Saul of Tarsus (who is known now as Apostle Paul) His glory on the road to Damascas from Judea it was so bright Saul was blinded. One time at least a prophet saw the same sort of glory in a vision of God and it was like fire from the waist up and fire from the waist down. The prophet and great Sumerian leader Enoch saw and recorded in writing close up in body this appearance but it was the heat too accompanying God's glorious appearance which is notable such that Enoch had to be specially treated so he would not burn up. Yet these people can have ordinary appearance too so we would think they are very ordinary just by looking at them and Jesus Christ lived all His childhood and early adulthood before His ministry such that many even family members did not think Him more than a regular chap and were slow to believe He is the Son of Man who created and ruled even angels before He was made an embyo and baby by God His Father.

Called and Commanded

Called and commanded. Jesus Christ used to tell people to stop sinning. This is not just a command but also a calling. It is a calling to be a person who is free from constant tendency to sin over and over. This we term a saint. It is a calling to be a saint. Stop sinning. If you do it will be far better for you. If you don't things can go from bad to worse. To stop it might take the freeing of a person from compulsion. This comes when truth from Jesus sets you free from slavish sinfulness. What He meant by sin was lying, hating murderously, lusting immorally. Freedom leads to a better life of speaking truthfully to others in this same calling. Loving such people dearly because of the brotherliness this calling brings. Keeping eachother out of immorality and praying for those who fall into it. The times have changed since Lord Jesus said these things. He died by crucifixion and was held up dead on a cross for all to see. This gave life to many by the death of the perfect man. He rose again but left to return to glory He had before He came together with the God who sent Him. God sent a spitit in Jesus' stead and this is the Holy Spirit. This Spirit teaches still the main lessons of this calling to saintly cessation of sin - turning people to truthfulnrss with cessation of lies. Offering fellowship friendship and partnership with Jesus and Himself to those who obey this teaching. The end of this was foretold to Jesus by God who showed Him a vision recorded in Revelation of the final judgment when all who practice lies and falsehood are thrown into an eternal lake of fire like magma or larva. The ones who fulfil the saintly calling to be fully freed permanently from lying and murderous hating and paganism and immorality and brought together into a new eternal city of God. All through this calling the trachings are preserved in the hearts of those who truly follow these things so they will become the fruit bearers who bring lasting glory to God.

To be a Pilgrim

If a person ever hopes to enter the new city of God when it comes they will have to accept the need for certain changes in behaviour and accept some hardship. A worthy goal demands a worthy life. The quicker we can adapt to it permanently the better but it does take time for some of us to change our ways and learn God's ways so best to start early. Best to start understanding it now and not putting off change of lifestyle too long. "Sinner get ready there's a train coming..." The inner change we need comes, in my experience and understanding at least, with the powerful preaching of the cross of Christ, the inner cutting to the core of the words of that message when God opens your heart to it, the confession to a real believer that we have a new awareness of our sin and need to change our ways and the prayers of such a believer, then the powerful cleansing as the spirit wells up within in God-given spirit power. For me the message sinks home well about Christ's own example of suffering when God gives me dreams. I learn more in dreams than I ever learn in what people tell me. Nobody can say what Christ endured except the God and Christ and Spirit who witnessed it. They can make it known in their way. Sometimes they use dreams and visions that cut us enough to make us willing to share in those sufferings. It means repent, but it takes faith that certain acts are really bad and others are really good and it takes faith that God does the good but Satan does the bad. Jesus said these things (John 8) but the welling up spirit that is the Holy Spirit given to believers makes it real. I can tell a child it is bad to something but they might not really believe me. Showing us things in our inner being is what the Spirit does and this is grace and truth like Christ had. Notice how no matter how much Christ said openly He still had to deal with people individually and do things to show them what words alone could not fully do. He healed to do this. God acted in Christ and God's actions are what teach our inner being the way we need it most. We need grace. We need action by God and by The Spirit God sends in Christ's name. Power. Not just words. This teaches the way we need to be taught. For  Jesus' message to be on one hand that it is up to you and I as individuals to stop sinning and the onus is very much on us to repent but then to say we need Him to set us free to be able to repent and we need to keep a constant permanent hold on His words for Him to do this; It does sound like a change of message. It is not inconsistent. It is just that life does not work like sentences of simple logic that all form one aet of consistent rules, easy to understand. We have to trust it makes sense to Him before it males sense to us. Truth sets free but it remains true even after truth sets free that the onus is still on us. We still have to do the stopping. 'Stop sinning' is still the command even though a lot happens to stop us sinning when the spirit wells up inside and teaches truth to us. We get faith that truth is good and the truthfulness we find in the Spirit is good so we want to imitate it but the message still holds that we have to stop lying too. Tell truth AND stop lying. This kind of repentence I'm speaking of is a partnership with Jesus. Unless you believe that 'He is' the partnership part will not happen and all you are left with is the repentence part. John the Baptist advocated the repentence part in his baptism for forgiveness but told people at the time to look for Jesus to provide this better righteousness partnership. So without it you could find you repent but then go back to sin. Jesus promises freedom from that in partnership with Himself but only if you really believe 'He is'. As as I write these things I only have the work of waiter in a restuarant working with the Chef, Jesus being Chef and the Holy Spirit bringing the food to me the waiter so I can take it to you the customer. I rely on Him and only in God The Father's timing and say-so as manager of the restuarant and owner does this work. So it is partnership. So this means it only works because Jesus ever lives and is ever Lord and Christ and source of righteousness being served to us. He says repent but only in partnership with Him by holding to His teachings and believing that _He is_ can we hope to be perpetually repentant and persist in putting off the old ways of Satan and putting on the new ways of Christ Jesus. Putting off evil lies and putting on truthful conversation and speaking. Putting off evil hatred of believers and loving one another as brothers in Him. This Christ for ages past had been The Righteous Elect One beside the Father but now He has perfected what it is to be righteous as a fully human person and can pass the fruits of this on to us, ever living to do so. And we know it was in His crucifixion that He perfected fully human righteousness. Hence God raised Him to be forever immortal as The Resurrection and the Life. By raising Him, God shows satisfaction that this sacrificial death fully pays for our sins. So now we are to live as free people and live in freedom God's way in Christ. And so achieve perfection and fullest potential forever. Which is of course, He said, to His Father's glory. He is joyful in being glorified in us just as The Father's name is glorified in Him. God is invested in us and we in Him, hence partnership mediated by Christ. It makes baptism into the name of Christ so glorious and so too the gospel which saves us. 

God and Time

What is truly great about the God is how small He can be and how He can dwell within time and even within this tiny world we live in. In Christ He has been the tiniest single cell of the incarnate Christ as well as at the same time being Lord over all the Universe and the mightiest of angels so great we cannot imagine them. He makes Himself our size. He makes Himself in our timescale to speak as He did through an angel in the sky at Christ's baptism and when He said in answer to Christ asking Him to glorify His Name, from the sky, "I have glorified it and I will glorify it again". He made Himself known in time and space to the embrionic nation of Israelites by telling them to look into the sky on a certain day at a certain time in a certain direction and there His glory appeared to them in a cloud as a light like the Sun. God can be embrionic in size so too He can be like us in our time. Yet His timescales span beyond the age of all things. So when the time ordained by God for the Word to become flesh arrived there was nothing could stop the right person for that time, Mary, having agreed as God foreknee, finding herself with child though a virgin and so the Word become but a tiny cell and this is what happened. God is what He is and does what He does and both time and His way of expressiion of Himself to us is part of that Sovereignty.

The Bottom Line

I most relate to the message of Jesus before the last supper (some will know I keep going back to John chapter 8). The liars and killers who pervade our society and who we ourselves some of us at least actually are too before we repent, these cannot be called children of God even if they believe. We, they, may go to church and even lead churches and religious groups but while liars and while we, they happily endorse outright murderous acts and sentiments we are in fact in Lord Jesus' eyes and God's teaching children of Satan. So we really do have to repent. We don't want to be caught in that state when He comes to judge. Luckily these are exactly the sort of people He calls to become saints by saying to us all "Stop sinning". After saying it as John 8 records He went to a cross and died for us. Praise God.

Thinking of God

When we think of God it helps to have reliable revelations He has given of Himself. But we have to be ready to bring together revelations spanning thousands of years so we need a reliable guide and criterion to help. This is where we can accept the grace we can find in Christ and the Apostles and prophets and religious teachers and gifted people and if you are from Islamic regions it might be The Prophet Mohammed who is your source of help. There are few scientifically researched facts and findings to help with spirit matters regarding God but some do exist. There is a wealth of knowledge that comes from science and geography and history and plenty of literature with various levels of inspiration. But few have ever matched in light and helpfulness regarding God the Book of Enoch, in my opinion. It presents the God who is accompanied by The Son of Man who He makes known as a true Son to Him. Anthropomorphic and residing somewhere real and He is extremely hot and bright in actuality.

His Joy

When He took those steps with the soldiers of The Temple who arrested Him and did not seek the freedom from death any more that God The Father could have given Him, Jesus was stepping into a future of shame that would always have Him associated for all time with the sacrifice He would become and even now He is alive again we know Him as The Lamb Slain. The shame of His association forever with the crucifixion He endured is worth it to Him from that time in Gethsemane when He told God The Father "Not my will but Yours be done" for one reason we are told of in Scripture: For the joy set before Him. It is an eternal joy that is now His own very great reward from The Father. The joy of being the Christ and the Head of the Church He bought with His blood, the Body that is to be His Bride. Those who are washed in His Holy Blood to be His own. Believe in Him and be part of His eternal supreme joy that makes His sacrifice worth while to this Lord Jesus the Christ.

Fellowship by Christ Jesus' Sacrifice of His Body and Blood

Such is the effect of Jesus shedding His holy blood that it facilitates actual fellowship even with The Father. And fellowship with Jesus is fellowship (being on good terms and in partnership) with the man who lives always who is devoid of sin and always has been. It is quite something! Even those who confess to sin and live by truth but have yet to know in their spirit the spirit of Jesus which reaches out to His fellows, these can still be on good terms with those who have this fellowship with Lord Jesus and can still be in touch with the Holy Spirit who is all about truth and honesty. We can all have some share in this love if we all confess we have missed perfection at times and we love and hold to Jesus Christ's teachings and truth. His blood enables this. 

The Future

From Revelation ch 20 "They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who takes part in the first resurrection. Over these the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years." There is death coming to most of us soon but a second death we would hope in Christ to survive (especially by being in the first resurrection) - because the second death is the future Lake of Fire. The city that comes when the second death comes as alternative to it will be the reason we purify ourselves right now. No false or idolatrous people ever will enter it. If we want to ready ourselves to enter it we cleanse ourselves by putting false practices and idolatry away from our behaviour. We focus on honesty and true worship and throw off the alternatives to truth as evil and like Satan's own ways. We repent as we see that city being a reality of the future, as events clarify and confirm prophecy.

The Sacrifice that Frees

The sacrifice Jesus Christ has provided of His own blood shed on a terrible cross has made it so that as soon as the penny drops and we realise He really does say 'Stop sinning', calling us to live as people who do not sin any more (saints) then the blood deals with the burden of past sin and frees us from that burden so we can concentrate on eradicating sin from our lives and going forward. At this point God's provision of the Holy Spirit can mean He recognises our belief and intention to put away sin like lying and He comes to us as a sign and hopefully to lead us forward in this way of living and learning to live without sins like lying and murderous hating. It bothers me that many do not get this properly taught to them and they do not realise they have to obey the call Christ Jesus gives (by God His Father's word) to actually stop lying, hating murderously, cheating on partners, lusting sinfully, etc. The blood He shed is supposed to free us to live without sinning (and so be 'saints' in the true sense). The lies, the love of others being harmed, the immorality - it all has to be something we stop doing. That is why He died. To prove it God who told Jesus to tell people 'Stop sinning' raised Jesus from the dead after Jesus died on the cross as our sin offering sacrifice to God. The giving of the Holy Spirit shows we who believe this are accepted by God, so vindicating us. Then we follow this Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth. Some who have started along this road may not yet have received this Holy Spirit and so may need to ask God to be given this Holy Spirit to help and lead them. They may need to be prayed for by others too in this respect.

Isaiah the Prophet's Name

Isaiah is the anglicised name of the prophet Yeshayah. In Isaiah 8:18 the very name of Yeshayah or Isaiah is a sign of the name they would give the Messiah.
Isaiah (Yeshayah) 8:18 in the Orthodox Jewish Bible reads
“Hinei, I and the yeladim whom Hashem hath given me are for otot and for mofetim in Yisroel from Hashem Tzva’os, which dwelleth in Mt Tziyon.” and anglicised this reads:
“See, I and the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.” They called His Name ‘Isa’ or ‘Yeshua’ or ‘Jesus’ and this harkens back to the name of ‘Isaiah’ or ‘Yeshayah’ fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah 8:18. The names of the children of Isaiah were signs but so was the name of Isaiah himself. Isaiah (Yeshayah) 8:18 ‘Yeshua’ so much like ‘Yeshayah'. Isaiah was saying in chapter 8 that the names he was commanded to give his children were themselves signs and prophesies but not only his children but he too was being made such a sign. So the signs were that despite all the upheavals and troubles there would come a sure certain salvation from The LORD. The name Isaiah is itself a sign of this like the names of his children. The name given Yeshua is showing the fulfilment and that indeed this promised salvation had now come. Islamic name for Yeshua is Isa. The fact if is like the name Isaiah is no coincidence but a sign, like Yeshua is like Yeshayah. Unfortunately the anglicised name Isaiah hides this by being so dissimilar to the anglicised name Jesus. So this salvation is sent as Jesus the Messiah and the way it works is that by what the Messiah did in giving more spirit-filled teaching and dying as a sacrifice for sin, rising and leaving this Messiah opened the way for the Holy Spirit to be sent to each person individually, as Joel prophesied, and this allows a more powerful converting force than the Law which creates saints as each one who receives all this actually does stop sinning.

Having a Healthy Heart

The heart is a set of muscles so absolutely vital to the body. It is also a metaphor for something almost spiritual in nature about our inner being. There is something a bit like a muscle within our psyche which drives our actions. We can talk about it but sometimes we find it hard to agree on words. It is that part of you and I which when faced with a poor stranger such as a beggar and having a bit of money we can give decides to give and not to be hard 'hearted'. That same attitude of heart is vital to faith. With the same muscle we use to decide to help a poor stranger we can decide that Christ's honour is worthy of our support. The honour and the authority of teachings are responded to with a healthy heart by putting such store by this name of Christ Jesus that we would allow ourselves to act or speak to support this honour and authoritative set of teachings and name. This is what we call faith. Such an attitude can result in miracles. If we are supporting this honour of Christ we can tell Nature what to do and it will be that God will make it so.

Freedom to Stop Sinning

Freedom to stop sinning is a wonderful thing. Staying in that freedom requires holding still to the teachings God gave Jesus to give to us. But it was the blood Lord Jesus shed on that cross that made it possible and makes it possible still. What He accomplished by taking such a cup and drinking it all!

The Nomos

If we live by Jesus' teachings and name we can invoke the name of Jesus to ask God to uphold the honour of Jesus' promises to us. It is our road to receiving help and power from God to overcome any evil around us.

Magma

Comparison with the miracles of Jesus Christ (Isa al-Masih) means this is pretty certainly the true Word of God from the Book of Revelation: Rev 21:6 onwards '6 He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the spring of the water of life to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.[c] 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the abominable, the murderers, the sexually immoral, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars shall have their portion in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. This is the second death.”' So we see there will be a lake of fire in the future. Enoch said the same (Book of Enoch chapter 89) adding that it will appear for the final judgment. It looks like God will use magma chambers again but this time not void and this time connected to Earth's surface. Why 'magma'? - because it looks to me that God uses magma chambers underground not connected to the surface but empty as housing for spirits of dead and for His Throne Room and its antechamber. This I read in the Book of Enoch which I believe is given by inspiration of God. Many would fervently disagree, I know, but it looks like Jude agreed. This mentions the places where are held the dead but the righteous separate from the evildoers and the victims of murder separate again (one ancient manuscript adds a fourth place it seems). Then the place of God's throne is similar but more maginficent. Yet it looks like the description Enoch received in an inspired dream vision of the end time judgment lake of fire follows on as magma chamber but this one connecting to the surface at a particular place. It appears when needed for judgment at the end. It fits with the Revelation 21 Lake of Fire. 

Repent

The kind of repentance God seeks today is like we see in the prophecy of the Bible Book of Hosea. There you have Judah in the South behaving as God intended while Samaria in the North had become disloyal to God and focussed on earthly worship of false gods and were even calling God Himself 'Baal' in confusion and disloyalty. God wants people like the old time Samaritans to become like those of Judah. I see two groups today like those two groups of old with one manifestation being in how people pray and women in particular in one of the two cultures pray with heads uncovered while women in the other risk persecution to deliberately resist such ungodly practices and always cover their heads no matter what. Some are in between and cover mainly in places of worship and services. It must have counterparts among the men but not so easily noticed. God knows there are the loyal obedient religious people but also the disloyal flouters. He wants all to be like Judah, according to what He said through Hosea and says today.

The Crystal Throne

We could set out hearts on possessing wealth and items of beauty or we can give to the poor what we have and set our minds and hearts on treasures in Heaven. Righteousness is about the latter. While looking at crystal pieces of ornamental fashion and how exquisite some works of craftsmen are today, it makes me remember the crystals of the throne of God and the walls of the antechamber of God's throne chamber and with the tremendous light and heat coming from God Himself it must all be such an exquisite marvel. From such a home God and His Son reach out over and over down ages with astounding grace in truthfulness of their revelations to us mortals and before them our humble prayers are made to ascend to their attention as they oversee the government and development of all things. Set you minds on things above and not on earthly things. Do not try to acquire mortal man's creations of treasure but let go and think of what treasures there are at the right hand of God where Christ is now.

Outcomes Determined By God

A little demo God gave me. Try a normally random event like a coin flip or in my case choosing a chess pawn from another's two hands. A still small voice whispers 'Choose the whitest looking hand' and I do so thirty times in a row and it turns up white pawn (the other hand having black pawn and even my friend shuffling the pawns behind his back doesn't know which is white and does not know about the whisper). After thirty two times getting it right we borh get scared and stop. The lesson was learned. God might not throw dice but He sure can determine the outcome over and over again. Quantum scientist take note. He surely can create using such determinations and I reckon that might be how He has done it as Christ worked with Him from before all things and from the time He made Christ firstborn over all Creation.

God's Concern About Sin

We have to remember that God is just as much concerned about sin now as He was when He inspired the prophets of old; concerned with the sins of those He would call His own. 'Love God' is the command Christ gave first priority out of all God's commands. If we obey this command and do love God who first loved us we will want to be done with sin - first our own then, once we are children of God, praying for others like us to be freed from their sins too.

Time and Chance

It is easy to understand chance in terms of random events expressible in terms of probability and statistics which mathematics can express and calculate. Yet life events are not governed by chance only but by what is called time. This is time, not as a dimension, but time as in 'your time has come' and the saying 'every dog has his day'. Not everyone lives a random life. There are times ordained. We can perform a supposedly random activity over and over like a gambling game or a sport or a pastime without ever having success while others who science says are as likely to succeed as us keep succeeding over and over. The chances seem so unlikely if it were chance alone at work but surprisingly and debatably yet profoundly it is not only chance at work but time and chance. Your time has not yet come. It will come because there is hidden justice in the Lord over time and chance who determines chance outcomes and gives a time to everyone. Lucky the one whose time will be not so much in this life but in the next.

Living the Eternal Life

Christ did say to stop sinning: He said if anyone doesn't do so they are still a slave and not a child of God yet. To be a child of God it has to be you or I stop sinning and stay that way. The truth wil allow us to do it once we know it by holding to all this teaching. The blood of Jesus brings about a covenant whereby God through Christ sends liberation if we get stuck again in sin as long as we confess our sin and in answer to payers of brothers and sisters in Christ. This stops us becomng slaves completely again and keeps us free and keeps us therefore childen of God - who only has permanently free children. So we are to put off sin (fruit of flesh) and keep putting it off while putting on the Spirit-led opposites of sin like truthful speech instead of lies.

Resurrection Body of Lord Jesus and Spirit Power of God

 It is not always understood that before Jesus went back to where He was from He was made into a resurrected physical flesh and blood human and life-giving spirit. The spirit endures death, it seems. Yet Jesus became more than spirit alone - not a mere ghost. He became a spirit with a flesh and blood body and to prove it He ate physical food in front of His disciples. So He returned in that body and must surely have it now, we can believe, though we do not see it. So the place He lives now is suitable for flesh and blood Jesus who is spirit and all powerful by God's power and can communicate, I found, with us here and now in our normal places of living. The place is suitable for spirits that are angelic and spirits that are divine like the Father we call God and the Holy Spirit who comes to us from there. The angelic spirits can go to and fro and take messages and service to us. The Father who we call God has a real actual throne there Enoch described as either crystal or the like. When Enoch in ancient times saw the Son of Man (Jesus before He came) it was one like a human he described. How do I believe Jesus took flesh and blood resurrection body before going back to God after the crucifixion? All my life people said it to me so I followed what they said and prayed along those lines and followed new testament scriptures including the account of John the Apostle and it led to fulfilment of all the things spoken in that account. So I believe it must also be true what John wrote of Jesus physically dying, like Jesus and scriptures foretold, and rising a resurrected human. The power seems to be beyond energy. Like power of humans as we see in politics or when a human can command service as an employer of a company or ruler of a company. Influence is a better fit than energy. A star can influence other stars and exert influence over stellar dust, as we see with the nebulae like those that look very ghostly as telescopes like Hubble show us. God must surely influence and have power over the natural things like a spirit can influence the dust and stars of a nebula but also God can influence the events of our lives like a monarch or employer or politician or business mogul can so it is not just energy involved but authority and what many cultures call honor or 'nomos'. I called on Jesus' 'nomos' to calm a bus I was on just now so I could write. God calmed it. 

Spirits Exist

There I was considering that spirits exist which protected me many times. I thought it tied in with a scripture. I didn't know the reference of chapter and verse but I knew the words: I repeated the words to myself. Suddenly out of the blue words clearly came to mind I never thought myself "Daniel 3". I hurried to a particular Bible open in my living room. I looked up Daniel chapter 3. No it didn't have those words I had been thinking about spirits. Agh. Why this reference? I kept reading that chapter and near the end in verse 28 there is mention of 'Angel'. I has a little 'a' next to it. A note referenced in the margin. I looked at the margin reference. It says Ps 34:7-8. Only this Bible version probably has that reference and I haven't read this version much at all (gift from a house church I attended). I looked it up and there was the verse I had been thinking about. Clever way this spirit had to show me it is real and sees all things and even my thoughts. QED. 

Against God-Denial

Champions of God-denial have used the argument that you can look everywhere in space with modern technology and not find God. God is a spirit and it seems from the ancient Book of Enoch He is enthroned in immense chambers deep in the heart of a very high mountain, so it is acceptable to say He is 'on high' physically and spiritually. It seems He is not out somewhere in space (except when He goes there), so looking into space will not find Him. Yes His throne is visible physical crystal (from Enoch's description) hidden from sight in a void magma chamber and inaccessible to normal humans without spirit help to get to it.  Instead of trying to tamper with truth to make it fit our thoughts we need to change - renew - our thoughts to make them fit truth. Quantum physics requires physicists to change their thoughts to fit facts, why cannot the creator of quantum laws of Nature require the same of those of us He created and sustains. I recommend deniers of God read and take to heart scriptural passages like John 8:20-32 and Quran 3:45 and the verses around those references (always good to keep the context too). In fact I recommend it to all. We all need to be free in our minds to have truth and light within us to guide us. The first passage there is relevant where Jesus says He will go where others cannot come. He was going back to God to where God is. It is an actual place, it seems to me from what Enoch wrote.  The thing is that Jesus, Isa al-Masih, did come from somewhere as well as coming sent by some One (sent as the Christ, al-Mashir). He did return there to that Someone. He is there now. 

True Freedom

It is wonderful how the hold telling lies and ill-managing anger has on us gets broken when the truth of the blood of Jesus having been shed for us finds a place in our hearts by believing. It has to be permanent release to be rebirth because God the Father only has permanent children. We got to keep on living in the light of the blood of Jesus and not just believe in truthfulness and love but renounce the opposite and keep lies and hatefulness and lust out of our lives long term. Then the Lord gives us the Holy Spirit as a sign. So the very news of the shed blood of Christ is liberating. The deeper power of liberation is in the way the Lord Jesus took the care on Himself before He died of those who would believe in Him through the apostles' testimony (such as in the gospels and epistles and in the preaching of this testimony ever since) and prayed for all these at the last supper. So when He died we were in His thoughts and He died for us too there on that cross and mysteriously we were there 'in' Him as He died so we too died. This directed the life His death and blood gives to us and blesses us all our lives with God giving grace upon grace to help us be cleansed of sin and keep being cleansed as we confess our sins.

Live by the Spirit

Believers in Christ Jesus need to understand that it is by God mysteriously putting a spirit of holiness in their minds that they are to become what God wants them to be. They should know that this spirit teaches by powerful action and not words alone, and that the lesson taught is the way to live to please God. Such lessons are moments not easily erased by time. How is this spirit given? By receiving with faith the message of Christ dying on the cross for you and Christ having risen to live forever, then by prayer. Then sometimes there needs to be prayer by a gospel servant and sometimes even 'laying on of hands' by one designated by God to perform this ministry.

Groups Set Aside For God

Some treat assemblies of God as though they were like any other establishment and as if they were secular organisations but although they are human entities they are set apart for God and need God's ways to be applied to them. What is right for secular groups is not necessarily right for holy groups. Those who disregard the holiness of a holy group, a group set aside for God or for the Christ of God, and try to apply unholy or secular principles to such groups are liable to God's judgment. Better not to judge than judge wrongly and receieve judgment for it from God.

Hidden Son of Man

What a mystery that God hid away the Son of Man all those centuries since He revealed Him to Stone  Age ruler Enoch and mentioned Him to Iron Age prophet Isaiah but did not let the many see Him till He sent Him as a baby to be named Isa, Jesus, at the appointed time. Now known as Jesus Christ who died on a cross and rose again, He is hidden again except seen by a few now and then over centuries but will come to be seen by many when soon He raises the sleeping faithful. Blessed Som of Man; son of the Blessed  Almighty Father. Surely the Father has been making His Son an all time message now a coherent sentence that says Jesus the Christ who was with Him from the beginning was dead, crucified for us each one, and, see, is alive forever and has obeyed His Father and His God even to the laying down of His life in this way. Hiding Him has shone the spotlight on these moments in His life story and highlighted His true righteousness, faithfulness, obedience and unique worthiness. God has taken all hman history to reveal this message to us.

Sin and Sin Lists

When the Law and Prophets written as scripture were guides to Israel before Christ came the concept of sin seems to have revolved around Law. So a list of laws would equate to a list of sins as breaches of those laws. When Christ came and when the words of God were delivered with more certainty by the testimony of Christ the emphasis seems to shift to sin as being likeness to the behaviour of Satan so even without law breaking there can still be sin. Hence 'vile' joins the list in Revelation chapters 21 and 22. So whereas the list of sins as breaches of laws applied before Christ the list is, now Christ has come and established the new covenant in His blood, a list of what Christ testified that God has personally said He regards as characteristics of Satan. These mean a person like Satan is seen by God and Christ as child of Satan and therefore heading for the same judgment as Satan, the future Lake of Fire. John 8, Revelation 21, 22.

For our Day

Book of Enoch 
LXXXVIII.
 ...table, with every impure and unclean kind of bread upon it. 115. Moreover also all the sheep were blind, and could not see; as were the shepherds likewise. 116. Thus were they delivered up to the shepherds for a great destruction, who trod them under foot, and devoured them. 117. Yet was their Lord silent, until all the sheep in the field were destroyed. The shepherds and the sheep were all mixed together; but they did not save them from the power of the beasts. 118. Then he who wrote the book ascended, exhibited it, and read it at the residence of the Lord of the sheep. He petitioned him for them, and prayed, pointing out every act of the shepherds, and testifying before him against them all. Then taking the book, he deposited it with him, and departed. LXXXIX. 1. And I observed during the time, that thus thirty-seven shepherds were overlooking, all of whom finished in their respective periods as the first. Others then received them into their hands, that they might overlook them in their respective periods, every shepherd in his own period. 2. Afterwards I saw in the vision, that all the birds of heaven arrived; eagles, the avest, kites and ravens. The eagle instructed them all. 3. They began to devour the sheep, to peck out their eyes, and to eat up their bodies. 4. The sheep then cried out; for their bodies were devoured by the birds. 5. I also cried out, and groaned in my sleep against that shepherd which overlooked the flock. 6. And I looked, while the sheep were eaten up by the dogs, by the eagles, and by the kites. They neither left them their body, nor their skin, nor their muscles, until their bones alone remained; until their bones fell upon the ground. And the sheep became diminished. 7. I observed likewise during the time, that twenty-three shepherds were overlooking; who completed in their respective periods fifty-eight periods. 8. Then were small lambs born of those white sheep; who began to open their eyes and to see, crying out to the sheep. 9. The sheep, however, cried not out to them, neither did they hear what they uttered to them; but were deaf, blind, and obdurate in the greatest degrees. 10. I saw in the vision that ravens flew down upon those lambs; 11. That they seized one of them; and that tearing the sheep in pieces, they devoured them. 12. I saw also, that horns grew upon those lambs; and that the ravens lighted down upon their horns. 13. I saw, too, that a large horn sprouted out on an animal among the sheep, and that their eyes were opened. 14. He looked at them. Their eyes were wide open; and he cried out to them. 15. Then the dabela saw him; all of whom ran to him. 16. And besides this, all the eagles, the avest, the ravens and the kites, were still carrying off the sheep, flying down upon them, and devouring them.... The sheep were silent, but the dabela lamented and cried out. 17. Then the ravens contended, and struggled with them. 18. They wished among them to break his horn; but they prevailed not over him. 19. I looked on them, until the shepherds, the eagles, the avest, and the kites came. 20. Who cried out to the ravens to break the horn of the dabela; to contend with him; and to kill him. But he struggled with them, and cried out, that help might come to him. 21. Then I perceived that the man came who had written down the names of the shepherds, and who ascended up before the Lord of the sheep. 22. He brought assistance, and caused every one to see him descending to the help of the dabela. 23. I perceived likewise that the Lord of the sheep came to them in wrath, while all those who saw him fled away; all fell down in his tabernacle before his face; while all the eagles, the avest, ravens, and kites assembled, and brought with them all the sheep of the field. 24. All came together, and strove to break the horn of the dabela. 25. Then I saw, that the man, who wrote the book at the word of the Lord, opened the book of destruction, of that destruction which the last twelve shepherds wrought; and pointed out before the Lord of the sheep, that they destroyed more than those who preceded them.

The Straight and Narrow

 Picking up the cross and following daily is a narrow path that requires ongoing permanent adherence to what God has said and what Jesus and the Holy Spirit and apostles and prophets teach and teachers should teach it too if they know it well enough. This kind of discipleship is more powerful than just reading scripture and transforms our lives of water into lives of wine. Here is where the tough choice to turn from sin and change our ways comes into effect. A pity many churches leave it out of the read and pray curriculum and ignore the fact it is the way to becoming a permanent child of God once the power of the Spirit takes effect. Why a matter of picking up a cross? Because the way has side-effects including persecution and even death at evil hands but it is worth it. What could be worth death? Soul salvation and knowing God and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

The Greatest Mystery of True Permanence

The permanence of the Son of Man is seen in the effects of His authority and law and customs associated with the name of this Son of Man over Nature which has kept Nature functioning. This association between His name and all of Nature, including stars and planets and life, is a factor tying Jesus, the Son of Man, in with the history of Nature back to its very beginning. So for this Son of Man to become mortal flesh and blood is so mysterious in the design of God who determined it should be. Then it appears that design broke when the soldiers led Jesus to His crucifixion. It meant something broke in the design. This mortal life up until that point had been protected by sovereign power of The Father and angelic forces The Father gave to guard Him in His ways. Yet now this seemed to malfunction and crash. The body so precious of the very Master of all things and all people became a victim and even died. How did this serve God's will? It was the breaking of a body to the good of the friends of Jesus to give them the permanence Jesus had always had with God. Yet this permanence of the Son of Man was not destroyed by His death because God can raise the dead and Jesus was and is God's firstborn son, the only Son begotten by God as distinct from those whom God adopts to be His children, So in fatherly love God raised this Son of Man back to physical life by giving the body that had been mortal a brand new kind of immortality never known before in all creations of God, making Jesus the firstborn from the dead. The permanence of the Son of Man was preserved at this weakest point in His entire history - the point of death - and will therefore ever be preserved by the love and power of God His true Father. This God is thus Father to all those He adopts whose life eternal comes to them through His Son, Jesus the Christ, Isa al-Mashir.

Permanence in the Christ

Permanence is never fully seen until you see it in Jesus the Christ, Messiah, Isa al-Masih. First the Book of Enoch showed the Son of Man with God in ancient times to be the Jesus Christ who said of Himself that He is the Son of Man. Then Jesus says of Himself "Before Abraham was I am". Then the Spirit says in us now what He said in Enoch, then in John with the first chapter of his gospel book, that the life of the Universe is obeying constantlt the name, authority, customs and laws, teachings, commands of the Lordship of Jesus. So it must have been always doing so since it started. Then the stars and planets in orbits do the same so this goes back to the beginning a the permanence of Jesus likewise. Then He says in Revelation through John "I was dead and behold I am alive forever" so this is the greatest permanence you ever knew. And Jesus says God only takes permanent household members. So freedom from wrongdoing must be permanently granted as God bathes us in truth to make it so - the true and permanent words from God the Father's mouth.

God and His Growing Family

The real nature of God, and Jesus Christ preached this constantly it seems during His earthly ministry, is fatherliness. Jesus before being slain for the will of God and because of His truthful testimony, explained that The Father, called by many God, brings children into His family as permanent children only. Really God adopts but He does not foster. He does have children and they live amongst us and He wants them noticed and cared for and loved but He brings in more and more children as brothers and sisters for the one son He begot and did not adopt, Jesus. As the family grows it means those brought into it are saved from the doom outside it. They are washed and made pure by the words God has spoken that identify the wrongs in us and the work of Jesus and The Holy Spirit now sent among us is to purefy us from these wrongs. From deception and hateful killing or desire to kill, from immorality and paganism and most of all from hatred of God that distrusts and lovelessly fears to follow His word. God saves by His spoken words of truth applied by Son and Spirit and now by each other too as we learn to wash each other's feet.

Cleansing from Sin According to Christ's Teachings

There is an ordered approach to cleansing from sin: 1. Cleanse away unbelief and loveless fear that rejects Jesus' teachings; 2. Cleanse away distrust of truthfulness and practice of lying; 3. cleanse away hatred and sinfully bad anger management and love of killing and murder; (here love and recognition of the other believers must come into the picture) 4. cleanse away sexual immorality in various forms and this can be a matter of assembly or other group discipline; 5. cleanse away all paganism such as idolatry and magic (Wikka being one modern aspect but there are others and it might be a local matter depending where you are). Ref John 8, Eph 4-5, Rev 21-22. Note, though, the first apostles spoke and wrote by the Holy Spirit and did not merely present an ordered list of sins to repent of and leave it at that. They agreed on these sins as being typical sins to be cleansed away (in Galatians Paul didn't call them sins so much as fruit of the flesh) in sanctification by the Spirit and the words of God.
If we can then we should break away from the sins listed as particularly evil and do what is the alternative good - so if we tend to lie we can focus on telling the truth so we get less room for lying and if we get hateful when angry we can focus on filling our prayers with intercession for those who anger us and try to do good to them and all the more to believers. But the whole thing about sins is that they enslave so focusing always on all of Christ's teachings or as much as we can remember and understand of them and likewise on teachings and leadings of the Holy Spirit and Christ's workers is how to engage the promise of receiving truth from Christ that sets us free from such slavery. Then keeping on with this even after freedom comes is how to stay 'in Christ' and 'bear fruit'.

Better to fear God than fear Religion

Ancient Sumerian Enoch saw The Son of Man, a humanlike spirit always there with God The Lord of Spirits and we have knowledge of this Son of Man since He came as flesh and blood human and they named Him Jesus and recognised Him as the foretold Christ. This Jesus taught to fear God as one with power over each one after death.

Despise Not Prophesying

Do not despise prophesying. There is a fear amongst Christians of prayer and spoken or written acclamations about God which do not mention Jesus. God is the Father in and of Himself and when praise is addressed to Him it is no less true than praise or acclamation that includes Christ the Son of God too. Some even go as far as to exclude mention of God the Father in praise and prayer but if you praise Jesus you should praise the God and Father of Jesus who sent Him. God has His special number seven and His days of the week make the work days six and the rest day the seventh. Do not despise the number thirteen though because this is a special number for the Son of God whose Apostles numbered twelve and He their Master the thirteenth. Some despised things amongst Christians should not be despised. Prophecy is a gift given to many believers and not to be despised by Christians or by Muslims. Just because there were past prophets does not mean there cannot be present and future prophets too. Likewise apostles.

Six Plus One Equals Seven

With time and teaching by spirit given by the Pantocrat, Almighty God, The Father, it can be discerned, if God is feared while learning, that six plus one to make seven is a kind of hallmark or signature in many important matters of spirit to show that God is behind it. Pleides constellation called Seven Sisters has awesome celestial complexities where seven bright light sources are formed in how the component stars and associated stellar clouds are grouped and can be seen by telescopes like Hubble to have such eerie spirit-like appearance especially one light source IC349, the Reflection Nebula. That turns out to be because these are spirits influencing the stellar material and especially the main light source which looks as spiritual as it is. There is a danger of becoming spirit seeking star gazers here so beware but the Book of Enoch does seem to say much about what is behind the phenomenon. The six plus one appears in our week of six days of human work plus one day of godly rest. There are groups of volcanoes where six is grouped with one as a sign (I think those around Cotopaxi are shown to be sigbificant in this way). Seven hills of Rome mark it for special judgment. The six of the seven number is significant in that in the case of the week it is the human element. The seventh belongs to God but the six to man as man's part. This is a component of the mysterious 666 sign in Lord Jesus' own Revelation book. All this is spiritually understood and needs faith to appreciate. Most of all there are seven spirits that flow like a sevenfold star or a seven stem light stand from the throne and there churches are depicted as sevenfold too.

Acknowledgments with gratitude: http://bibeltemplet.net/enoch-southpole.html

Whether, Who, What, Where God is

Some are certain whether God is. Some can be certain who God is. Some can be certain to some extent what God is. If God enabled them there are some who can be certain where God is. It all depends on God. Really it all actually depends on His Son, Jesus, because the certainty and real knowledge of all this comes about because of what The Christ, The Lord, Jesus says and does. That is if you are after real certainty about all this. Then the hug, the smile, all something precious and God-given. God taught it and He practices what He preaches. Still He wants us to know Him and apparently to know where He lives or at least have a good idea where He lives because He gave a strong hint of it very early on in mankind's history.

Jesus Judges by Truth

Jesus judges people by truth. He judged one individual by prophetically detailing their sins. This was to give them life by showing what was their true liability for judgment that might come unless they changed. He judged the faith of the masses by measuring their faith against the faith of a Gentile. In both cases He declared the truth about people. He highlighted sin and falling short, especially showing that some outsiders put normally religiously respected to shame. He was highlighting truth over and above moral reputation and status given by society because society exalts people unfairly with bias compared to truth of God. He was not condoing sin but putting into true perspective and bringing hidden truth about people into the light. There would be a fair start under His auspices and judgment based on truth. This is not to condone wrong doing and failings but to put truth first before prejudice. Then judgment that follows is after a fair chance to put things right in the light of that truth before time is called. Once that chance is exceeded and mercy extended there is judgment to follow if the wrong remains unchanged. To change there is hope of liberating power to change when truth is known from the truthful witness Lord Jesus the Christ.
In John 8 we have a full account of how Jesus said to a woman caught in adultery that He did not at this point condemn her but that she must remember and obey the command He gave her to go and leave her life of sin. On the whole it seems many who heard Him did do so. To one man Jesus healed it says Jesus told him to stop sinning or something worse would happen to him than what he was healed of. First there is truth given. This comes with extended time for change (grace). The change must come or else there is judgment. The need exists to live according to truth once we have true knowledge from Jesus of the truth that applies to us. You can probably find within you reason enough to believe that Jesus of Nazareth is who He is, and He was and He will be, and you just need to allow your mind to rest on sensible belief and not let yourself lose that balanced viewpoint. It is like a spinning top - if spun well it might topple but it comes back to being upright and stable all the time it spins. If spun so badly it topples too much it will go out of equilibrium so far it falls and does not recover. Moving towards and reaching that equilibrium from which you stay upright is a picture of the kind of faith Jesus described as recorded in John 8.
So, first be sure in your own mind that Jesus really is the Christ. It might take a while to find that certainty so just be sure you are sure and take time about it. The important thing is to have real permanent certainty and not waver in it so it needs time to understand. For me it helped to seek the spiritual certainty that is almost mystical in its own right so it helps if you know about spirit inspired teachings, just that you need to understand this teaching is spirit in the sense of coming from the highest spirit of all. The spiritual teaching is that Jesus existed as a powerfull spirit called the Son of Man over all spirits except the most high spirit before He came in flesh and blood. You need to seek certainty and understanding about this above all other understanding. As you foster such belief start to hold to the teachings He gave as coming from this Son of Man and from the most high spirit who sent Him. Let this take precedence over any other understanding. Keep at it. The big main thing is possibly a common teaching across the board with many religions and this is to get to know the most high spirit. The person who makes that happen is the only firstborn son of the most high spirit. Mainly by what He taught and accomplished or so I find as these are what made knowing this most high God within reach for me.

Why Believe?

Why believe there is an immense deep underground void magma chamber within the heart of a mountain or dormant volcano on Earth housing the most powerful spirits in the Universe including the most powerful of all, The Father, and His flesh and blood Son, Jesus the Christ? Because thousands of years ago these spirits showed all this to a human Sumerian ruler Enmendurana and since two thousand years ago until this day the Holy Spirit from the Throne in this place has revealed similar things to believers. The exaltation of the name of this Son of Man whose father is The Father, most high of all spirits, is continuing around the world to this day, promoted by this Holy Spirit. Soon He the Christ will fill the Earth with the knowledge of His glory and fight all rulers for the supremacy that is His, that His Father gives Him because He obediently died on that cross and let God then on the third day raise Him up from death, the Resurrection to live forever who leads many into the way of doing what is right.

Enoch's Visions of Attacks from the Sky

The Book of Enoch seems even more relevant to our times as events unfold today and drones are used more and more in attacks. The dreams of Enoch show such things happening more and more up until the coming of Jesus Christ for His intervention. Sheep are the depiction of the disciples and victims of such attacks while birds of prey depict the attacking forces. Eventually sheep grow horns though and one sheep in particular grows a horn the attacking forces try in vain to prevent it growing. A strong wespon against attacks is developed too - a strong sword. Christ will take over the use of this sword. As time cones toward a final judgment the horns of the sheep becone prominent and the tables turn and Christ brings a mighty judgment in which a lake of magma opens up in the Earth for the Lake of Fire judgment and a new house takes prominence as replacement for the old house and the home of righteousness nearly overflows with righteous saints. Up to this end time a leader prevails over eagle and hawk (drone) attacks who cannot be suppressed by them before the Christ comes in His second coming. While the eagles and ravens struggle with this leader the Christ will come, helping him.

Ref:  The Book of Enoch chapter 89:19-22 "I looked on them, until the shepherds, the eagles, the avest, and the kites came. Who cried out to the ravens to break the horn of the dabela; to contend with him; and to kill him. But he struggled with them, and cried out, that help might come to him. Then I perceived that the man came who had written down the names of the shepherds, and who ascended up before the Lord of the sheep. He brought assistance, and caused every one to see him descending to the help of the dabela."

Xudan Îsa

Li pelên darê ji binêrin. Darên ku mezin dibin, sêvik. Ew mezin dibin, sêvik, ji ber ku bi navê Xudan Îsa, Mesîh.

Inactive Volcano Magma Chambers?

Inactive Volcano Magma Chambers?

Enoch chapter 14 verses 8 and following  "8. And the vision was shown to me thus: Behold, in the vision clouds invited me and a mist summoned me, and the course of the stars and the lightnings sped and hastened me, and the winds in the vision caused me to fly and lifted me upward, and bore me into heaven. 9. And I went in till I drew nigh to a wall which is built of crystals and surrounded by tongues of fire: and it began to affright me. And I went into the tongues of fire and drew nigh to a large house which was built of crystals: and the walls of the house were like a tesselated floor (made) of crystals, and its groundwork was of crystal. 11. Its ceiling was like the path of the stars and the lightnings, and between them were fiery cherubim, and their heaven was (clear as) water. 12. A flaming fire surrounded the walls, and its portals blazed with fire. 13. And I entered into that house, and it was hot as fire and cold as ice: there were no delights of life therein: fear covered me, and trembling got hold upon me. 14. And as I quaked and trembled, I fell upon my face. 15. And I beheld a vision, And lo! there was a second house, greater than the former, and the entire portal stood open before me, and it was built of flames of fire. 16. And in every respect it so excelled in splendour and magnificence and extent that I cannot describe to you its splendour and its extent. 17. And its floor was of fire, and above it were lightnings and the path of the stars, and its ceiling also was flaming fire. 18. And I looked and saw ⌈⌈therein⌉⌉ a lofty throne: its appearance was as crystal, and the wheels thereof as the shining sun, and there was the vision of cherubim. 19. And from underneath the throne came streams of flaming fire so that I could not look thereon. 20. And the Great Glory sat thereon, and His raiment shone more brightly than the sun and was whiter than any snow. 21. None of the angels could enter and could behold His face by reason of the magnificence and glory and no flesh could behold Him. 22. The flaming fire was round about Him, and a great fire stood before Him, and none around could draw nigh Him: ten thousand times ten thousand (stood) before Him, yet He needed no counselor. 23. And the most holy ones who were nigh to Him did not leave by night nor depart from Him. 24. And until then I had been prostrate on my face, trembling: and the Lord called me with His own mouth, and said to me: 'Come hither, Enoch, and hear my word.' 25. ⌈And one of the holy ones came to me and waked me⌉, and He made me rise up and approach the door: and I bowed my face downwards."

More Than an All-seeing Eye

To many, God is just the One who sees all they do, watching from afar, ensuring wrong actions and thoughts and words are punished. The world around us is for some people full of cameras to watch us because of wrong doing. What a pity when God is so much more as a father is so much more potentially than a punisher and supervisor. God can be a fellow and a shielder. He can be a next door neighbour. He can give comfort and wise counsel like no other. He has a precious beloved Son who He raised from the dead having sent Him to provide us with a sacrifice to seal a new covenant. His Son can mediate between us and God and between God and us to provide partnership in life with God and the promise of visits from time to time of the Holy Spirit from God who establishes us as a family or household of God with true permanence. This is if we put our wrong doing aside and grow to love God more and more and love those He sends.

Reality in Rome

Just spending a vacation in Rome and how it helps focus the mind on the certainties of what I have all  my life read in new testament scriptures about Peter and Paul having finished their earthly days in this life in Rome before being killed here for their testimony about Jesus Christ. Here we find the buried bones of Peter's body. Here too the place of execution of Paul. The games here were place of  execution of many such early believers like them. It all aids the mind to realise that this was very real history and the resurection of Jesus Christ must have taken place for these Apostles to have come here to Rome two thousand years ago. Some of their writings written here survived as scripture in the Bible. All reality. Thanks God who too is real.

Struggling

The good struggle versus the bad struggle. The struggle is against believing. This is hopefully a losing battle. Then when that battle gets lost the struggle is against Him making us holy. Hopefully a losing battle. We start to lose this battle too and the struggle is to be holy and stay holy as others kick against it. Knowing Him helps this struggle. The unwillngness to spoil His holiness He eventually produces in us becomes a struggle against the world that tries to bring us down and make us unholy again. The Angel of the Lord surrounds in this struggle those who fear Him. When His Angel encamps around us, when we have been victorious in the struggle against the world which tries to turn us from God, when we fear only God enough that His command overrides all worldly commands to the contrary, then we might prove it to all that Daniel 3:29 is true that there is no other God who can deliver us the way God The Father delivers us.

The Father

God is so fatherly. Scary at times when we do wrong but so consistently loving. Amazing that Father God and Lord Jesus are still preaching today the same things they preached thousands of years ago. Israel in ancient times got to know God's fatherly consistent love and sterner side as we see in this passage from Hosea but God gives grace that lets even Gentiles too now know His same true self today: from Hosea chapter 6
"Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him, and he will respond to us as surely as the coming of dawn or the rain of early spring.’”
"O Ephraim and Judah, what shall I do with you? For your love vanishes like morning clouds, and disappears like dew. I sent my prophets to warn you of your doom; I have slain you with the words of my mouth, threatening you with death. Suddenly, without warning, my judgment will strike you as surely as day follows night."
"I don’t want your sacrifices—I want your love; I don’t want your offerings—I want you to know me."

See the Goodness of God

What we might think of as a challenge to the belief that God is good is sometimes just the result of people not loving Him as they should. Here is scripture from Hosea 8 (Living Bible)
"Sound the alarm! They are coming! Like a vulture, the enemy descends upon the people of God because they have broken my treaty and revolted against my laws. Now Israel pleads with me and says, ‘Help us, for you are our God!’ But it is too late! Israel has thrown away her chance with contempt, and now her enemies will chase her. She has appointed kings and princes, but not with my consent. They have cut themselves off from my help by worshiping the idols that they made from their silver and gold."
We can choose to love God as individuals so we have the promises of Jesus - love Him with a pure heart and keep away from idols like manmade objects of obsession and worship and ritual and then we will see God and see for ourselves that He is good. We can also love God as a people so He makes us His people and then as a people turn from idols and put God first and involve God in chosing our leaders and again we will find He is good and recieve grace from Him. Putting God alongside idols as either individuals in folly or as people all fools together and we find God is not just good but jealous and idols hide the goodness and reveal God as a jealous God and as we forget God in chosing leaders He shows us what it is like when He turns away and we see the evils come near as leaders are attacked in the streets with weapons and plagues come. Choose. Love God and turn from idols and see the goodness of God.
I didn't know how real the prophecies were such as those in the Hebrew scripture book of Hosea except that I had an experience of almost identical prophecy coming to me once as I meditated about what to say that day at church. It was like a announcement in a TV News program, unexpected and out of the blue. I didn't even realise it was so much like Hosea 8 at the time because I didn't have any familiarity with that scripture. God is really the same God who spoke those prophecies and evidently can say the same sort of thing today: He has not changed at all.

Turning Water into Wine

God acts on nature at such a level that He can determine or predetermine the outcome of anything that is subject to chance so anything can happen the way He wants it to happen in the natural world at that level. Hence water into wine. Given this it is clear our hearts could stop or we could cease to exist physically speaking if He determined it but it is in His goodness He maintains things as they are so we have peace in our minds. Only in exceptional occassions does He disrupt the natural order He has created. When He does so it is seen as a miracle but it is also revealing things about God in a special way and is a message from God Himself to all who can discern it: Like water into wine.

East and West and South but also Heaven

There will always be three parts to this world no matter how strong one part becomes - West, South and East. The secret is to embrace a fourth - that is Heaven - not far from you because it is in amongst the three. Obey your rulers but also find room first to love and obey the God of Heaven.