Standing as One - Strength in YHWH, not in numbers

Verse of the Week

                    For You are my Rock and my Fortress; therefore, for Your name's sake, lead me and

                    guide me.

                    (Psalms 31:3)

Thought for the Week

          For myself I find history fascinating, especially when it comes to the history of man and his dealings with YHWH. For over a thousand years the Catholic Church declared it a crime to possess or study the Bible, on pain of death. An organization declaring itself YHWH representative on Earth banned the reading of YHWH words! These minions of Satan declared that the study of YHWH words were too complicated for the average man to understand. Hmm, how hard is it to understand that He asks us to love Him above all else, to turn away from evil acts and thoughts, and to love our fellow man as ourselves? Is not the Gospel, reduced to its very core essence, reduced to that simple formula?  Did not Jesus himself say this was so (Matthew 22:37-40)?

          Granted Jesus did not mention repentance in those particular verses yet repentance was the subject of his first recorded words - the beginning of his ministry (see Matthew 4:17 and Mark 1:15). Did not John the Baptist also begin by preaching repentance (see Matthew 3:2)? When Jesus first sent his Apostles out to preach was not it repentance of which they spoke (Mark 6:12)? Did not Peter made repentance a precondition of receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38)? So how hard is it to understand that we are asked to repent - to turn away from evil?

          Among the beauties of the Gospel are its simplicity and clarity. This is not to say that all the Scriptures offer such attributes. Jesus made it clear that many of the words would only be clear to those who truly worship YHWH. Some prophecies about the end times were not to be sealed at all (Revelation 22:10), but, some prophecies were meant to be sealed until the end times (Daniel 12:4), and, some prophecies about the end times are completely sealed up and unwritten (Revelation 10:4). So how were we to learn the meaning of such things according to Jesus? Did he say men would come to teach us? No! He said the Holy Spirit would teach us all things (John 14:26). Again, Jesus said we would learn even these things (things to come) from the Spirit, not man (John 16:13). In fact he warned us of the men who would come (Matthew 7:15, 24:24, etc). The Apostle John repeated this warning of the danger posed by the teachings and claims of men to come (1 John 4:1). Satan started spreading lies as soon as he could and has not stopped since (Acts 13:6, 2 Peter 2:1, etc).

          I am not a teacher, a preacher, or a shepherd though I do strive to serve YHWH by passing along the thoughts I have been blessed with in the hope they may assist another in honoring YHWH (1 Peter 4:11). I cannot count the number of subjects I have started to write on and not posted them because I was not led to continue. I have often not started writing until a post was "due". I am not perfect but I do strive to follow a guide that is (Matthew 10:19/20). There is one thing I pray for continually and that is to never say, do, or write anything that is, can be, or will become, a stumbling block for another (Matthew 18:7).

          To know what is expected of us is not difficult (Matthew 11:30). What does our Lord say about being as a child (Matthew 18:4, Mark 10:15, etc)? Beware any man who claims to teach as if the knowledge he offers to share was learned by him because of his own efforts or abilities. The Word of YHWH contains no snares for His children. Such difficulties arise only in the minds of men who would ensnare children in the ways of man.

          Seek YHWH's guidance and follow no man - not Paul, or a pope, or Joseph Smith, or me. We should walk abreast each other in this life, not behind one another. If you follow another man his back will block the view of the only safe guides we have been given - YHWH's Holy Spirit and YHWH's Son Jesus the Christ. We, the children of YHWH, do not ask a loved one to walk behind us in subservience. We walk equally: hand in hand, arm in arm, in love and obedience, for His glory, towards His glory.

                    But you are not to be called Master, for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers.

                    (Matthew 23:8)

Quote of the Week

          One hundred religious persons knit into a unity by careful organizations do not constitute a church any more than eleven dead men make a football team. The first requisite is life, always.

-- Aiden Wilson Tozer

          Comment: Do you belong to a "church" or to YHWH? Are you "one" with the Lord? If the life you are living now is not with YHWH then why expect Him to give you a second life to ignore Him again?

 

Did You Know

The word "one" can be used as a noun, an adjective and a pronoun.

          The number 1 (one) was once considered prime by mathematicians (divisible only by one and itself); but, since this complicated the modern fundamental theorem of arithmetic mathematicians declared it (the number 1) as not being prime. Comment: As so often is the case in modern science (e.g. Theory of Evolution, global warming, etc) if the data does fit the theory ignore the data.

          Science tells us that the future of the universe is not yet proven, but according to the currently accepted ΛCDM (Lambda cold dark matter) or Lambda-CDM model it will continue expanding forever. Comment: This model has too many issues to get into!

               NY, Atlanta, Denver, and Minneapolis have all signed contracts to be members of the UN's Strong Cities Network. Comment: That means they can bypass the US Constitution and use UN troops to enforce "law & order". If the "thin blue line" of US law enforcement is not up to the task of enforcing tyranny the UN Blue Helmets will!