jesus – Page 13

encouragement, flax, jesus, robe of righteousness

"It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”: All About Linen

Posted on September 21, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

and out of the sanctuary came the seven angels with the seven plagues, clothed in pure, bright linen, with golden sashes around their chests. (Revelation 15:6)

Flax, Linum usitatissimum, Wikipedia

Linen as a garment and flax workers as a commerce occurs throughout the bible. Did you ever wonder about linen? After all, we are going to be given linen to wear when we are finally glorified. The angels that appeared to men on earth were noted as wearing linen. What about this linen we read so much of?

It starts in Egypt. Linen is made from flax, an easily grown plant but one that is very difficult to extract the linen fibers from. Apparently, it was worth it. The ancient Egyptians called linen “woven moonlight”.

Flax working was a huge industry for agricultural workers along the banks of the Nile. It was a major, major industry in Egypt 4000-5000 years ago. There are even prophecies about the flax workers.

The workers in combed flax will be in despair, and the weavers of white cotton. (Isaiah 19:9)

Smith’s Bible Dictionary says of flax,

“cloth made from flax. Several different Hebrew words are rendered linen, which may denote different fabrics of linen or different modes of manufacture. Egypt was the great centre of the linen trade. Some linen, … a flax that grew on the banks of the Nile, was exceedingly soft and of dazzling whiteness. This linen has been sold for twice its weight in gold. Sir J.G. Wilkinson says of it, “The quality of the fine linen fully justifies all the praises of antiquity, and excites equal admiration at the present day, being to the touch comparable to silk, and not inferior in texture to our finest cambric.”

The Egyptians used it to wrap their mummies. The flax woven to soft linen was durable and so fine that when King Tut’s tomb was opened, the linen still looked fresh.

King Tut’s Linen. Source

In the bible, the finest of the woven linen was reserved for the priests.

“When they enter the gates of the inner court, they are to wear linen clothes; they must not wear any woolen garment while ministering at the gates of the inner court or inside the temple.” (Ezekiel 44:17)

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia says of fine linen,

Ancient Egypt was noted for its fine linen (Genesis 41:42 Isaiah 19:9). From it a large export trade was carried on with surrounding nations, including the Hebrews, who early learned the art of spinning from the Egyptians (Exodus 35:25) and continued to rely on them for the finest linen (Proverbs 7:16 Ezekiel 27:7). The culture of flax in Palestine probably antedated the conquest, for in Joshua 2:6 we read of the stalks of flax which Rahab had laid in order upon the roof. Among the Hebrews, as apparently among the Canaanites, the spinning and weaving of linen were carried on by the women (Proverbs 31:13, 19), among whom skill in this work was considered highly praiseworthy (Exodus 35:25). One family, the house of Ashbea, attained eminence as workers in linen (1 Chronicles 4:21 2 Chronicles 2:14).

Flax in the field

In religious services by others than priests, white linen was also preferred, as in the case of the infant Samuel (1 Samuel 2:18), the Levite singers in the temple (2 Chronicles 5:12), and even royal personages (2 Samuel 6:14 1 Chronicles 15:27). Accordingly, it was ascribed to angels (Ezekiel 9:2, 3, 11; Ezekiel 10:2, 6, 7 Daniel 10:5; Daniel 12:6, 7). Fine linen, white and pure, is the raiment assigned to the armies which are in heaven following Him who is called Faithful and True (Revelation 19:14). It is deemed a fitting symbol of the righteousness and purity of the saints (Revelation 19:8).

This site is excellent in recounting the history of flax, and linen-making, complete with a how-to.

Blue flowering flax

Linen is made from Flax

Linen is woven from the spun fibers of the flax plant, Linum usitatissimum. Flax grows wild in the region extending from Northern Africa to India and north to the Caucasus Mountains in Western Europe. Long before we lounged on sunny yacht decks on gauzy linen towels, prehistoric man was busy spinning these exceptionally-strong fibers into the simple thread that changed the world.

The Taming of the Flax

Intentional cultivation of the wild flax plant likely began sometime between 5,000-4,000 BCE in the regions of North Africa and the Fertile Crescent, and from the beginning, linen was holy.

In ancient Mesopotamian city-states like Babylon and Ur, linen fabric was rare and accounted for only 10% of textile production. While the flax plant is not difficult to grow and reaches maturity in about 100 days, it also leaches most of the nutrients from the soil such that the fields must be let lie fallow for several years after a harvest. The laborious process of linen-making then took an additional 130-150 work days. Because production was so labor-intensive, only members of the elite like priests and royal figures could afford clothing and other articles made of linen. Cuneiform sources tell of thrones and statues of deities draped in bolts of fine linen inside temples.

Across the Sinai Peninsula not too many years later, the fertile Nile river valley provided a much more agreeable ecology for flax cultivation. The annual flooding of the Nile brought alluvial deposits that replenished the nutrients in the soil that had been depleted by the flax plant. Coupled with the surplus of the same slave labor that built the pyramids, flax quickly became ancient Egypt’s number one non-foodstuffs crop.

An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. … She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. (Proverbs 31:10, 13)

The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:14)

Continuing with flax history,

Unlike the Mesopotamians, the Egyptians prized linen fabric for much more than its exclusiveness. Linen fabric is durable, lightweight and wicks moisture away from sweaty skin. Linen thus became the favored material for clothing under the scorching desert sun, from the coarse linen garb of the slaves to the intricately-woven finery of the high priests.

Linen is also resistant to insects and microbial growth, and has a smooth, lint-free surface. Egyptians were obsessed with hygiene, so for these qualities, linen was considered pure. The whiter the fabric, the purer Egyptians believed it to be. By far, the greatest demand for linen was for ritual purposes.

Priests were permitted to dress only in linen. “Chief Royal Bleacher” was an actual job title, though an unenviable one. Tomb paintings and models from across the region depict the repetitive process of washing the wet linen cloth, rubbing it with detergent, pounding it on a smooth stone with wooden clubs, rubbing the surface with balls of leather, rinsing, repeating, again and again; then finally laying it out to bleach dry in the hot sun.

In Revelation 18:12-13 robust trade from Babylon in luxuries is ongoing, including fine linens.

And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12cargo of gold, silver, jewels, pearls, fine linen, purple cloth, silk, scarlet cloth, all kinds of scented wood, all kinds of articles of ivory, all kinds of articles of costly wood, bronze, iron and marble…

So that is probably more than you wanted to know about linen. This link [ How Linen is Made: From Flax to Fabric ] describes the laborious process to make fine linen, and I recommend reading it. It is very interesting. But for the saints, we have to do nothing to be clothed in righteousness, for it was Jesus’ work on the cross that brought us to and through the cross of salvation where righteousness reigns. His righteousness is granted to us, energizes us, and empowers us to works of righteousness in His name.

“It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.” (Revelation 19:8)

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. (Isaiah 61:10)

Robe of Righteousness, Lars Justinen

discernment, doctrine, false teachers, jesus, teaching

If a teacher teaches some things wrongly, but the Gospel rightly, is it OK to follow them?

Posted on September 16, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

A lot of people wonder when it is reasonable to leave off following a teacher. What are the standards for giving loving benefit of the doubt, and banning them completely from your mind, your church, and your home? Both are called for in the bible.

There are these verses,

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. (Romans 15:7)

And then there are these verses,

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, (2 John 1:10)

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us (2 Thessalonians 3:6)

How do we know when to do which?

First, it’s helpful to understand the difference between brethren and teachers. All Christians are brethren, including teachers. But the standards for becoming a Christian and the standard for teachers are different.

Pure

All brethren stand on the same, equalizing blood-soaked ground. None are qualified to do so, except by the grace of Jesus and faith alone. This standard includes teachers.

But once in the Lord’s kingdom through salvation, the Spirit bestows different gifts. The gift of teaching is given to some, not many, and for those, there are different standards of behavior and of scrutiny. In James 3:1-2 we read,

“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.”

Not many of you. This indicates the seriousness of the calling. The verse also indicates the extreme fallibility in all of us. So teachers should be especially wary, because they handle the word of God, and are in a position to cause more damage and harm in Jesus’ name. That is why they are judged more strictly.

So already we know that the first standard of teaching is that it is given by gift of the Spirit. It’s not something that can be taught, adopted, or decided upon, and certainly not entered into casually.

The second thing we learn from that one verse alone is that it is a serious calling, and a stricter standard is given for the Christian’s performance in it.

Thirdly we already know that ‘not many’ are given the gift.

So what are the standards for teachers from there? There are moral/behavioral standards, and there are doctrinal standards for teachers.

BEHAVIOR

Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. (Titus 2:7-8)

not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:3)

Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. (Titus 2:3

Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, (Titus 2:3)

DOCTRINE

If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. (1 Timothy 4:6)

So what IS good doctrine? Well, we know that there are teachings of demons (1 Timothy 4:1). And likewise, there are teachings of God. Theologians generally categorize doctrine into ten major headings: (source MacArthur Study Bible)

Holy Scriptures
God the Father
God the Son
God the Holy Spirit
Man
Sin
Salvation
the Church
Angels
Last Things

All good teachers will teach any and all ten doctrines rightly. But what about the Gospel? If a teacher teaches The Gospel rightly but some of the other doctrines wrongly, it still OK to follow that teacher?

Well, let’s look at exactly what The Gospel is.

Here is 9Marks listing of the elements of the Gospel.

The one and only God, who is holy, made us in his image to know him (Gen. 1:26-28).
But we sinned and cut ourselves off from him (Gen. 3; Rom. 3:23).
In his great love, God sent his Son Jesus to come as king and rescue his people from their enemies—most significantly their own sin (Ps. 2; Luke 1:67-79).
Jesus established his kingdom by acting as both a mediating priest and a priestly sacrifice—he live a perfect life and died on the cross, thus fulfilling the law himself and taking on himself the punishment for the sins of many (Mark 10:45; John 1:14; Heb. 7:26; Rom. 3:21-26, 5:12-21); then he rose again from the dead, showing that God accepted his sacrifice and that God’s wrath against us had been exhausted (Acts 2:24, Rom. 4:25).
He now calls us to repent of our sins and trust in Christ alone for our forgiveness (Acts 17:30, John 1:12). If we repent of our sins and trust in Christ, we are born again into a new life, an eternal life with God (John 3:16).

If you compare the Gospel to the ten doctrines, you find the doctrines permeate the Gospel and the Gospel permeates the doctrines. A teacher must know holiness, speak of and understand how exalted God is. He or she must have a true understanding of sin. So many false teachers teach sin is just a mistake, or can be controlled, or is not our fault due to generational bondage, or any number of reasons that distance ourselves from responsibility for our sins.

A teacher must have a proper understanding of who Jesus is. There’s ‘this same Jesus’ who will return (Acts 1:11) and ‘a different Jesus’ preached and taught falsely. (2 Corinthians 11:4).

A flawed teaching on the law vs. grace, of the cross, of the resurrection, or of sanctification affects the Gospel relating to those elements. Not understanding what God’s wrath affects the doctrine of Last Things.

So you see, if a teacher teaches “the Gospel”, they are really teaching ‘the good doctrine’ (1 Timothy 4:6)

In addition, if you still want to follow a teacher who seems to be teaching some things well and others poorly, remember the demon possessed slave girl.

As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” (Acts 16:17)

Is there anything inaccurate about what she said? No. Then why didn’t Paul like the free advertising? Because nothing pure can come from a deceitful heart. Because her father is the father of lies. Who needs satan to advertise the Gospel when we have the pure word and holy servants to do so?

Matthew Henry commentary says of the slave girl verse,

Satan, though the father of lies, will declare the most important truths, when he can thereby serve his purposes. But much mischief is done to the real servants of Christ, by unholy and false preachers of the gospel, who are confounded with them by careless observers.

Mixing lies and truth is what satan did to Eve. And look what happened.

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. (Galatians 5:9 cf 1 Corinthians 5:6)

If a teacher is teaching wrongly have nothing to do with him or her.

That’s not to say that a true teacher must teach all doctrines perfectly. We are imperfect individuals. But as I said in a previous essay, the Holy Spirit who is inside us will never allow a true teacher to remain in a false understanding. The Spirit always testifies of Jesus and points to Him, who is Truth. That’s why discernment means being alert, and watchful and patient. A teacher should always be growing in Christ-likeness. A false teacher is always growing away from Christ.

1 Timothy 6:3 says that good teaching is sound doctrine according with godliness. An overseer’s primary job is to “hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.”

Jesus IS Truth. Seek Him and don’t compromise for anything less.

billy graham, false christians, franklin graham, jesus

Franklin Graham part of "a new evangelization" partnering with Catholics, Graham’s Three Rivers Festival hosts Catholic Bishop Zubik

Posted on August 26, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

As many already know. Billy Graham is an ecumenical religionist who preaches an aberrant, unsaving doctrine. [Read also “When Did Graham’s Compromise Begin?]

The elder Graham has been a friend of Rome for a long time, partnering with Popes and priests in various ecumenical endeavors as if the Catholic religion was true.

Occasionally people have asked me if the son, Franklin Graham, believes the same about Rome. There is an oft-repeated quote from a newspaper article from 1999 which seemed to indicate the younger Graham does. Franklin Graham told the Indianapolis Star (6/3/99) that his father’s longstanding ecumenical alliance with the Catholic Church and all other denominations, “was one of the smartest things his father ever did.”

But was one quote enough? Not to me. I waited and watched to see what would come out later. Would the fruit be thorns, or grapes? It didn’t seem likely that Graham the Younger raised in such an environment as Graham the elder’s, would emerge with beliefs that were true, but in any case, I was in wait and see attitude.

Meanwhile, in 2011 I saw a very interesting article from Maryland. It’s obvious that Rome’s doctrines are not saving doctrines and that the Roman Catholic Church is false. Yet astoundingly,

“An Episcopal church has decided to convert, en masse, to Catholicism. The parishioners, along with the pastor, wants to be under the authority of the Roman Catholic Church and its pope. Why? “[C]hurch members said, they were satisfying their longing for a clear religious authority by welcoming the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI. … they decided that the Reformation was a mistake. “It feels fantastic,” Delaney said. “It’s like correcting 500 years of history.””

I was flabbergasted that they would choose such obvious falsity. However, that little trickle was an example of what by now has become a broken dam. Falsity of all sorts of Catholic mischief has flooded into the faith. Lighthouse Trails has a good rundown of the examples of formerly evangelical leaders embracing various aspects of Catholic ritual. (Labyrinths, Contemplative Prayer, Lectio Divina, ecumenical partnerships, acceptance of Catholic dogma etc.) Just this month, I wrote about the infiltration of the Protestant use of Catholic prayer bead rosaries.

Since my first awakening notice of Catholic-Protestant unification in 2011, I’ve seen that Catholicism has become all the rage in Protestantism. The avalanche since 2011 in Catholicism entering Protestantism has been veritably sweeping away many individuals and whole churches. The acceptance of and promotion by top Protestant evangelical leaders is furthering this cause.

Jasmine Goldband Photography

Case in point- Franklin Graham. In August at the Three Rivers Festival (Franklin refuses to call the gatherings “Crusades” like his father,) the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association hosted a Catholic Bishop on stage, partnered with the city’s Catholic church as part of the “evangelistic outreach.” Bishop David Zubik was the Catholic representative, and he was invited to give the opening prayer. Worse, seekers were encouraged to come to the Catholic church for counseling, since they were ‘right next door.’ Here are the Bishop’s words. This is from the August 10 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Bishop David Zubik said the festival dovetails with calls by recent popes to a ”new evangelization,“ bringing back cradle Catholics who drifted or became estranged from the faith.

“We felt as long as there was a Catholic component to this particular crusade, we wanted to be a part of it,“ Bishop Zubik said. Those who respond to Rev. Graham’s invitation to make a decision for Christ, and who identify as Catholic, will be given the opportunity to go to Epiphany Church — adjacent to the Consol Energy Center — for the sacrament of reconciliation, or confession. ”We’re right next door,“ Bishop Zubik said.

Franklin Graham and Billy Graham will have to answer to our Holy Savior for their part in decades of consigning babes to darkness. They are false apostles, workers of darkness making sons of hell twice as worse as they are (Matthew 23:15, Luke 13:27). Their end will be as they deserve.

And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds. (2 Corinthians 11:15)

Did you know that Bob Jones Sr. called the elder Graham a “limb of satan”? We must call evil what it is. Denny Burk wrote a good essay the other day, “We must call evil, “evil.” He was referring to Islam, but I apply his concept here to Catholicism. Just because Islam is ferocious and obviously false doesn’t make it more evil than Catholicism, which sort of looks partly Christian and acts kind of nice. They’re both evil, because both religions and its adherents are doing evil against Jesus.

Bishop David Zubik said the [Franklin Graham Three Rivers] festival dovetails with calls by recent popes to a ”new evangelization,“ bringing back cradle Catholics who drifted or became estranged from the faith.
I’m very sad that I must call the younger Franklin a false teacher, a false worker, but the evidence is clear. It gives me no pleasure to say it nor to see it. I do grieve for the many people who come to his ‘festivals’ (of darkness) and are brought full circle back to their unsaved state. If anything comes from this essay let it be two concepts that stay with you:

1. We must see evil what it is; and after prayer and evidence, call it out (Jude 1:3,) and marking those who cause divisions (Romans 16:17)
2. We must be vigilant. These are dangerous times (2 Timothy 3:1).

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The original "humblebrag". Can you guess who humblebragged first?

Posted on August 25, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Humblebrag: Urban Dictionary

Subtly letting others know about how fantastic your life is while undercutting it with a bit of self-effacing humor or “woe is me” gloss.
Uggggh just ate about fifteen piece of chocolate gotta learn to control myself when flying first class or they’ll cancel my modelling contract LOL

The New York Times has a good article about the emergence of humblebrags.

“Bah, Humblebrag!”
By HENRY ALFORD
Published: November 30, 2012

SOMETIMES when I crave a powerful dose of humility — the kind of humility that can come only from fully apprehending the lot of those less fortunate than me — I turn my attention to the plight of the former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer. He experiences an exquisite kind of pain. As he lamented on Twitter earlier this year: “They just announced my flight at LaGuardia is number 15 for takeoff. I miss Air Force One!!”

When my stores of sympathy have not been fully depleted by contemplating the indignities heaped on Mr. Fleischer, I’ll then go on and immerse myself in the ennobling humility of the comedian Dane Cook. Mr. Cook, who has nearly three million Twitter followers, once tweeted: “Being famous and having a fender bender is weird. You want to be upset but the other drivers just thrilled & giddy that it’s you.” Finally, on those days when my humanity is fathomless, I turn to the selfless tweets of Deepak Chopra. Like: “Hope & despair are born of imagination. I am free of both.”

There’s nothing new about false modesty, nor its designation as a form of bad manners. But the prevalence of social media has given us many more canvases on which to paint our faux humility — making us, in turn, increasingly sophisticated braggers.

Enter the self-deprecating boast known as the “humblebrag,” a term devised by the comedian Harris Wittels, a writer for the NBC series “Parks and Recreation,” who collects hundreds of these cockeyed chestnuts on his Twitter feed and in his new book, both called “Humblebrag.” Whether it be the publicist Jenny Marie Miranda asking, “Why do men hit on me more when I’m in sweat pants?” or Dina Manzo, one of the “Real Housewives,” stating, “I obsess over the welfare of old people & animals on hot days like today. OBSESS #thereissomethingwrongwithme,” a humblebrag is an opportunity for the attention-starved to stake a claim on our sympathy.

The term humblebrag is new. The humblebrag itself is not new. It’s just getting more exposure due to social media. However, there is one media that has been with us for two thousand years: the New Testament. In it, there is an epic humblebrag. This humblebrag has garnered more page views, more re-tweets, more social media exposure than any other epic humblebrag, Deepak Chopra’s tranquil state of mind notwithstanding.

Here it is: introducing first…. from the red corner, weighing 175 pounds… he hails from Jerusalem, Israel, and was rated by many, as the best pound for best Pharisee of the last decade. With 52 sacrifices, a full tenth of his tithe, 38 of them coming by the way of knockout in the synagogue, 21 successful fasts, and 0 defeats. He is, the former Pharisaical champion, former super junior Pharisee spelling bee champion, HEAVYWEIGHT HUMBLEBRAGGER OF THE WORLD, Pharisee ‘Boom Boom’ Liebowitz!!

The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.” (Luke 18:11)

Annnnnnnnd, in the blue corner, introducing next…. weighing 135 pounds… he hails from Bethphage Israel, and was rated by many, as the worst personnnnin the worrrrrrrld, pound for worst human being of the last decade. With 52 losses, 38 of them coming by the way of bribery, and 412 defeats. He is, the former middleweight tax collector, former super middle weight toll taker, former light heavyweight extortioner, and former HEAVYWEIGHT CRETIN OF THE WORLD, Tax ‘Money Snatcher’ Collector!

But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ (Luke 18:13)

Now that is a real humble with no brag.

The NY Times again:

Indeed, this may be why false modesty is no less discomfiting to its audience (and is sometimes more so) than outright bragging. Outright bragging expects to be met with awe, but humblebragging wants to met with awe and sympathy. It asks for two reactions from its audience, and in so doing makes fools of its beholders twice over.

The moral of the story is simple. Don’t humblebrag.

battle, discernment, jesus

Is your Christianity a Cruise Ship or a Battleship?

Posted on August 19, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Some Christians think that once they’re saved, life will be like a cruise ship. False prosperity teachers tell us that too. All will be well, just sit back, enjoy the ride, it’s the Love Boat.

source

On a cruise ship, it’s all about you. The cruise is for YOU. You will be served at every moment. Need something? Want something? Our friendly staff will seek to fulfill your every dream. You deserve this cruise! Your Captain is the genial Joel Osteen, the ship is directed by the friendly Joyce Meyer. The ship was designed by corporate-model, seeker-sensitive guru Rick Warren, so you can be sure that the best minds thought ahead to what all your felt needs might be, and aboard this cruise, they will be fulfilled. You’ll enjoy smooth waters, and clear skies- Gloria Copeland guarantees it. Aboard the Cruise Ship, Every Day Is a Friday!

Relax, lay back, sunny skies and a pleasant trip awaits. Come aboard, all you need to do is want it enough and your dream Christianity Cruise will be yours!

[Note small print, Captain Joel Osteen was taught by Costa Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino on how to abandon the sheep to their fates and save himself. No worries though, because if the ship hits a reef and sinks, no one will come to harm, because as a Christian Cruiser, you already have enough faith on the inside of you to overcome any obstacle.]

Love, exciting and new
Come Aboard.

We’re expecting you.

And Love, life’s sweetest reward.

Let it flow, it floats back to you.

Love Boat soon will be making another run

The Love Boat promises something for everyone

Set a course for adventure, Your mind on a new romance.

And Love won’t hurt anymore

It’s an open smile on a friendly shore.

Yes LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!

source

Meanwhile, sailing on the same oceans, was the Christian Battleship. No one is allowed aboard this ship through enlistment. Only by conscription can a person board. The Captain, Jehovah Nissi (The Lord My Banner), will hone His crew into a sleek fighting machine. The waters are infested with enemies seeking to sink the ship. Your Captain is the Lord Who Sees (Genesis 16:13) and He knows where each enemy legion lies in wait. This ship is the safest of all the ships plying all the waters of all the earth.

Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! (Psalm 24:8)

USS Missouri (post refit)

Captain Jehovah, The Shepherd and Bishop of Souls, (1 Peter 2:25) cares for each and every one of His draftees. He will care for them in battle or in between battles. He will never abandon them nor forsake them. When the enemy strikes, He knows where to station each crew member for maximum effectiveness. In between battles, there are lectures to show how to polish the draftees’ armor, (Ephesians 6:10-18), army manual study time (bible) and special tutoring sessions for new draftees (Acts 8:30).

USS Eisenhower

The song the Christians sing on this ship is:

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,

With the cross of Jesus going on before.

Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe;

Forward into battle see His banners go!

Refrain

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war,

With the cross of Jesus going on before.

This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, 19keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. (1 Timothy 1:18-19)

Source

jesus, miracle, signs

Back to Basics: What is a miracle?

Posted on August 1, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Helix Nebula, Creative Commons photo

Miracle is one of those words that gets overused and then its meaning it diluted, like “awesome”.

“This ice cream is awesome!”
“God is awesome!”

The dramatic rise in people accepting and even seeking the charismatic gifts means that more people believe that people are performing miracles, and believing that God is doing miracles left and right. Healings, gold fillings, gold dust falling, a wind coming up at just the right time, a financial windfall…all are claimed as miracles. But are they? What exactly are miracles, according to the bible? And does God do miracles today?

While cessationists like me by no means deny that God has always had the power and will to do a miracle, and does them today, they are much less frequent than we suppose, IF in fact, perhaps nonexistent. But nowadays, everyone is claiming a miracle.

Today, we hear an awful lot of talk about miracles, somebody says, “I had a financial need and a miracle happened. The mailman came and in the mail was a check for just the amount of money I needed. It was a miracle.” Or you hear someone say, “I went to the mall and there was a parking place right by the entrance. It was a miracle.” Or a mother might sense something wrong in an adjoining room and investigate just in time to stop her little toddler from putting a paper clip into an electrical outlet, and say, “It’s a miracle.” Or maybe you were thinking and praying for somebody and just seemingly at the time you were doing that, the phone rang and it was the very person you were thinking about, and they were right there to be encouraged and you say, “That was a miracle.” Well, we call those things miracles, but they’re not miracles. A miracle is a supernatural event which has no human explanation. More than that, a miracle is a supernatural event which suspends natural law. (Source)

A miracle gives full warrant that it is from God.
~Augustus Strong
The popular African charismatic evangelist Angus Buchan, of the movie Faith Like Potatoes, planted potatoes and said it was a miracle that they grew. To be sure, the soil in his field was not conducive to bumper crops of potatoes, and he had been warned if a high probability of failure, but he attributed the fact that potatoes grew to a supernatural, direct and divine miracle.

Christian Apologetics and Resource Ministries defines miracle as

A miracle is an out-of-the-ordinary direct and divine intervention in the world. Examples would be the parting of the Red Sea, Jesus walking on water, the resurrection of Lazarus, etc. Some hold that it is a violation of the natural order of physical laws. Others maintain that there is no such violation upon God’s part but only a natural manifestation of His work.

They are also known as powers and signs (Mark 9:39; Acts 2:22, 19:11) and mighty works (John 10:25-28). They are a manifestation of the power of God over nature (Joshua 10:12-14), animals (Num. 22:28), people (Gen. 19:26), and illness (2 Kings 5:10-14). They are produced by God’s power (Acts 15:12), Christ’s power (Matt. 10:1), and the Holy Spirit’s power (Matt. 12:28).

I like Augustus Strong‘s definition,

A miracle is an event in nature so extraordinary in itself and so coinciding with the prophecy or command of a religious teacher or leader as fully to warrant the conviction on the part of those who witness it, that God has wrought it with the design of certifying that this teacher or leader has been commissioned by him.

Why are there miracles?

Strong again:

Miracles are the natural accompaniments and attestations of new communications from God. The great epochs of miracles—represented by Moses, the prophets, the first and second comings of Christ—are coincident with the great epochs of revelation. Miracles serve to draw attention to new truth, and cease when this truth has gained currency and foothold.

Some of the miracles in the Incarnation of Jesus’ time were making the blind to see. Do you realize there was no other recorded healing of this type in the Old Testament or the New, until Jesus did it? John 9:1-7 records Jesus performing a miracle of making an adult man born blind to see.

This is an amazing case, because Jesus didn’t cure a temporary condition recently onset, he reversed a biological, genetic defect.

The case of Lazarus was also a bona fide miracle, because Jesus raised a man who had been dead so long. Once again, He reversed biology by renewing the man’s very cells at the same time He gave Lazarus life again.

Finding a parking space in the front row, by comparison, is not a miracle.

Easton’s Bible Dictionary defines miracle as:

An event in the external world brought about by the immediate agency or the simple volition of God, operating without the use of means capable of being discerned by the senses, and designed to authenticate the divine commission of a religious teacher and the truth of his message (John 2:18; Matthew 12:38).

The Apostles performed bona fide miracles also. They healed, raised the dead. Philip was whisked in a lateral ‘rapture’ or snatching away from one place to another. (Acts 8:39-40). That was a miracle. I’m hoping that in the New Jerusalem we can all travel that way 😉

Wisps, CC, by The Mighty Tim Iconnu

To look at what a miracle is, let’s look at why they exist. S. Lewis Johnson said in his sermon “Divine Providence, or What About Miracles?” (Matthew 12:25-30),

Now you can see from just these passages that in our Lord’s mind, the miracles were not done simply to give evidence of the power of God, but they were given and performed by him with reference to a particular Messianic purpose. That is, the ultimate coming of the Messianic kingdom.

As for the apostles, the reason they were given power to do signs, is as Dr Johnson explains in the same sermon,

2 Corinthians 12:12, “Truly, the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience in signs, wonders and mighty deeds.” Now notice here the expression, “The signs of an apostle.” And he goes on to say that the signs of the apostles are signs, wonders and mighty deeds. Miracles were the signs of the relationship of the apostles to our Lord. They were the signs that they were apostles, and they also were signs that in their ministry there was a connection between what they were saying and the kingdom of God that would come upon the earth.

Miracle of the Fishes, 1874 Alexander Bida

We don’t need people to perform a miracle any more because the bible now tells us about the Kingdom. We were not alive to hear Jesus in His incarnation, but the Spirit recorded the words through men, and we can read them and hear them. The signifying events are no longer necessary.

Miracles were done in in Moses’ day; in Elijah and Elisha’ day; in the day of our Lord and the apostles. He performed the miracles Himself or through men so as to accomplish His redemptive purposes. The miracles were signs of the accomplishment of his purpose of salvation. He will perform miracles again, Himself, via angels, and through men during the times prophesied in Revelation.

Here is a list of all the miracles, according to ATS Bible Dictionary,

The creation of all things, Genesis 1:1-31.
The deluge, comprising many miracles, Genesis 6:1-22.

Moses &the Burning Bush, illustration from 1890 Holman Bible

The destruction of Sodom, etc., Genesis 19:1-38.
The healing of Abimelech, Genesis 20:17,18.
The burning bush, Exodus 3:2-4.
Moses’ rod made a serpent, and restored, Exodus 4:3-4 7:10.
Moses’ hand made leprous, and healed, Ex 4…6-7.
Water turned into blood, Exodus 4:9,30.
The Nile turned to blood, Exodus 7:20.
Frogs brought and removed, Exodus 8:6,13.
Lice brought, Exodus 8:17.
Flies brought, and removed, Exodus 8:21-31.
Murrain of beasts, Exodus 9:3-6.
Boils and blains brought, Exodus 9:10,11.
Hail brought, and removed, Exodus 9:23,33.
Locusts brought, and removed, Exodus 10:13,19.
Darkness brought, Exodus 10:22.
First-born destroyed, Exodus 10:29.
The Red Sea divided, Exodus 14:21-22.
Egyptians overwhelmed, Exodus 14:26-28.
Waters of Marah sweetened, Exodus 15:27.
Quails and manna sent, Exodus 16:1-36.
Water from the rock, in Horeb, Exodus 17:6.
Amalek vanquished, Exodus 17:11-13.
Pillar of cloud and fire, Numbers 9:15-23.
Leprosy of Miriam, Numbers 12:10.
Destruction of Korah, etc., Numbers 16:28-35,46-50.
Aaron’s rod budding, Numbers 17:8.
Water from the rock, in Kadesh, Numbers 20:11.
Healing by the brazen serpent, Numbers 21:8,9.
Balaam’s ass speaks, Numbers 22:28.
Plague in the desert, Numbers 25:1,9.
Water of Jordan divided, Joshua 3:10-17.
Jordan restored to its course, Joshua 4:18.
Jericho taken, Joshua 6:6-20.
Achan discovered, Joshua 7:14-21.
Sun and moon stand still, Joshua 10:12-14.
Gideon’s fleece wet, Jud 6:36-40.
Midianites destroyed, Jud 7:16-22.
Exploits of Samson, Jud 14:1-16:31.
House of Dagon destroyed, Jud 16:30.
Dagon falls before the ark, etc., 1 Samuel 5:1-12.
Return of the ark, 1 Samuel 6:12.
Thunder and rain in harvest, 1 Samuel 12:18.
Jeroboam’s hand withered, etc., 1 Kings 13:4,6.
The altar rent, 1 Kings 13:5.
Drought caused, 1 Kings 17:6.
Elijah fed by ravens, 1 Kings 17:6. Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—(Galatians 3:5).
Meal and oil supplied, 1 Kings 17:14-16.
Child restored to life, 1 Kings 17:22-23.
Sacrifice consumed by fire, 1 Kings 18:36,38.
Rain brought, 1 Kings 18:41-45.
Men destroyed by fire, 2 Kings 1:10-12.
Waters of Jordan divided, 2 Kings 2:14.
Oil supplied, 2 Kings 4:1-7.
Child restored to life, 2 Kings 4:32-35.
Naaman healed, 2 Kings 5:10,14.
Gehazi’s leprosy, 2 Kings 5:27.
Iron caused to swim, 2 Kings 6:6.
Syrians smitten blind, etc., 2 Kings 19:35.
Hezekiah healed, 2 Kings 20:7.
Shadow put back, 2 Kings 20:11.
Pestilence in Israel, 1 Chronicles 21:14.
Jonah preserved by a fish, Jonah 1:17 2:10.

New Testament Miracles.
The star in the east, Matthew 2:3.
The Spirit like a dove, Matthew 3:16.
Christ’s fast and temptations, Matthew 4:1-11.
Many miracles of Christ, Matthew 4:23-24 8:16 14:14,36 15:30 Mark 1:34 Luke 6:17-19.
Lepers cleansed, Matthew 8:3-4 Luke 17:14.
Centurion’s servant healed, Matthew 8:5-13.
Peter’s wife’s mother healed, Matthew 8:14.
Tempests stilled, Matthew 8:23-26 14:32.
Devils cast out, Matthew 8:28-32 9:32-33 15:22-28 17:14-18.
Paralytics healed, Matthew 9:2-6 Mark 2:3-12.
Issue of blood healed, Matthew 9:20-22.
Jairus’ daughter raised to life, Matthew 9:18,25.
Sight given to the blind, Matthew 9:27-30 20:34 Mark 8:22-25 John 9:17.
The dumb restored, Matthew 9:32-33 12:22 Mark 7:33-35.
Miracles by the disciples, Matthew 10:1-8.
Multitudes fed, Matthew 14:15-21 15:35-38.
Christ walking on the sea, Matthew 14:25-27.
Peter walking on the sea, Matthew 14:29.
Christ’s transfiguration, etc., Matthew 17:1-8.
Tribute from a fish’s mouth, Matthew 17:27.
The fig tree withered, Matthew 21:19.
Miracles at the crucifixion, Matthew 27:51-53.
Miracles at the resurrection, Matthew 28:1-7 Luke 24:6.
Draught of fishes, Luke 5:4-6 John 21:6.
Widow’s son raised to life, Luke 7:14,15.
Miracles before John’s messengers, Luke 7:21-22.
Miracles by the seventy, Luke 10:9,17.
Woman healed of infirmity, Luke 13:11-13.
Dropsy cured, Luke 14:2-4.
Malchus’ ear restored, Luke 22:50-51.
Water turned to wine, John 2:6-10.
Nobleman’s son healed, John 4:46-53.
Impotent man healed, John 5:5-9.
Sudden crossing of the sea, John 6:21.
Lazarus raised from the dead, John 11:43-44.
Christ’s coming to his disciples, John 20:19,26.
Wonders at the Pentecost, Acts 2:1-11.
Miracles by the apostles, Acts 2:43 5:12.
Lame man cured, Acts 3:7.
Death of Ananias and Sapphira, Acts 5:5,10.
Many sick healed, Acts 5:15-16. God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Hebrews 2:4).
Apostles delivered from prison, Acts 5:19.
Miracles by Stephen, Acts 6:8.
Miracles by Philip, Acts 8:6,7,13.
Eneas made whole, Acts 9:34.
Dorcas restored to life, Acts 9:40.
Peter delivered from prison, Acts 12:6-10.
Elymas struck blind, Acts 13:11.
Miracles by Paul and Barnabas, Acts 14:3.
Lame man cured, Acts 14:10.
Unclean spirit cast out, Acts 16:18.
Paul and Silas delivered, Acts 16:25-26.
Special miracles, Acts 19:11-12.
Eutchus restored to life, Acts 20:10-12.
Viper’s bite made harmless, Acts 28:5.
Father of Publius, etc., healed, Acts 28:8,9

It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me. (Daniel 4:2)

But in no way were miracles themselves proof of faith. Miracles confirm already existing faith, but rarely if ever catalyzed a person to faith. As A. Strong describes:

Miracles alone could not produce conviction. The Pharisees ascribed them to Beelzebub. Though Jesus had done so many signs, yet they believed not…. Though miracles were frequently wrought, they were rarely appealed to as evidence of the truth of the gospel. They are simply signs of God’s presence in his world. By itself a miracle had no evidential force.

Depiction of the Holy Spirit dove
(ceiling fresco in St. Charles’s Church,
Vienna, 1700’s)

There are interior miracles, and external miracles. An interior miracle would be prophecy, as the LORD gave words to the mind of the prophets and as the Spirit inspired the New Testament writers. Another interior miracle is the breaking of sin’s hold on a newly regenerated person. Justification is an internal miracle. We can’t see the actual breaking of bonds or the new heart, but we can see the effects of this interior miracle, the fruit of the Spirit.

The Spirit indwelling men is an internal miracle. The growth of a person in sanctification is another internal miracle. These are miracles because they are done by God without an intermediate instrument directly upon a person’s soul, heart, mind, and body. It truly IS a miracle when we are saved!! These are the miracles in works of grace.

An external miracle are all the others I posted above in the ATS Dictionary list. Consistently, the word for miracle in the bible is “sign”. A sign points to something. In the case of a miracle, the sign points to God.

John MacArthur said in his sermon, Does God Do Miracles Today?

And the types of miracles that are being claimed today are absolutely nothing like New Testament miracles, absolutely nothing like them. In fact, the types of miracles today could be distinctly seen as different than New Testament miracles. Jesus and the apostles instantly and completely healed people born blind, a paralytic, a man with a withered arm. All obvious and disputable miracles, even Jesus’ enemies didn’t challenge the reality of His miracles that He had the people there to verify them. He raised the dead, of course, as we well know. They never did a miracle that was slow, they never did a miracle that took time, they never did a miracle that was less than permanent. By contrast, most modern miracles are partial, gradual, temporary, sometimes reversed, and almost impossible to verify.

So before we go around claiming this or that miracle, let’s honor the Holy Spirit, our High priest

The Gathering of the Manna, c1470

Jesus, and Father God by pausing a moment to decide if we need to use different terminology. The miracles in the Old Testament and the New signify of God. There were miracles of creation, where He used no instrument but by the power of His word, created. Genesis 1:1 is an example of that. So was the coin in the fish’s mouth and the appearance of manna. There are miracles of healing, of triumphs over demons, of demonstration of power over nature, such as calming the storm at Galilee or shriveling the fig tree or causing rain or stopping the rain. There were miracles over animals, such as making Balaam’s donkey speak or the animals passively migrate to the ark or instructing the ravens to feed Elijah.

Miracles are a tremendous thing to ponder in scripture and to reverentially ascribe to God’s power, love, and creative artistry. Let’s not willy-nilly diminish that awe and reverence by calling mundane things miracles or ascribing to God what He has not done.

For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. (Mark 13:22)

A final word. Providence. Readers of this blog know I speak of it often and I’m fascinated by it. In my opinion, one of the reasons I love God’s Providence is because it is a complicated and wonderful miracle. It is certainly a tremendous thing to part the Red Sea. But how much more tremendous to providentially direct each and every step of both Mary’s and Joseph’s ancestors’ lives since the time of Adam and Eve, so that the two would meet at the perfectly correct time, and produce the babe Jesus?

Orchestrating each and every molecule of all material matter at every moment so that God’s plan for His Son come to pass is such a miracle that my mind cannot comprehend a God who does this so easily and by the power of His word and His will. Our God is not to be trifled with, loving as He is. Miracles are done every day in sustaining this world alive, and all the people on it. Let’s not diminish that by rejoicing over a parking space at the mall. Convenient, yes. Miracle? No.

great commission, jesus, missions, peru

Mission: Peru

Posted on July 28, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)

We just prayed over and sent our 12-member mission team off to Lima, Peru. May God bless their steps and carry their words on the wind of the Spirit. Lord, may You loosen their tongues so they boldly speak of the Savior. May angels minister to them, and smooth their way. Prepare divine appointments and receptive hearts. May You keep them in Your hand as they go out and share the Gospel to the ends of the world.

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Historic Centre of Lima, Peru. Wiki CC. Photo by Martin St-Amant

bride, jesus, prophecy, symbol, wife, woman clothed with the sun

The Four Women of Revelation

Posted on July 22, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Our church is sending a mission team to Peru next week. They will distribute items and tracts to the homeless, work in an orphanage, and street witness. (Prayers please?)

Because the country is heavily Catholic, I was asked to put together some lists of verses and other material to use in witnessing to Catholics to give to the team leader in order to help them understand the keys to witnessing to lost Catholic people. As I was studying about the origin of the Mary worship, and the plethora of art and statuary depicting her as the queen of heaven with 12 stars encircling her head, I re-read Revelation 12.

Gotquestions.org offers an introductory paragraph regarding this highly symbolic yet also highly literal book. It, along with Genesis, are two of my favorite books of the bible.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ was given to John by God “to show his servants what must soon take place.” This book is filled with mysteries about things to come. It is the final warning that the world will surely end and judgment will be certain. It gives us a tiny glimpse of heaven and all of the glories awaiting those who keep their robes white. Revelation takes us through the great tribulation with all its woes and the final fire that all unbelievers will face for eternity. The book reiterates the fall of Satan and the doom he and his angels are bound for. We are shown the duties of all creatures and angels of heaven and the promises of the saints that will live forever with Jesus in the New Jerusalem. Like John, we find it hard to describe what we read in the book of Revelation.

I have the ESV MacArthur study bible. I read the note for the verse 1-2, the woman with twelve stars. The note was interesting. It said there are four women mentioned in Revelation.

1. Jezebel. This woman represents the pagan church. This isn’t the actual queen Jezebel who once actually lived. (1 Kings, 2 Kings). This Jezebel mentioned in Revelation 2:20 was more likely a Jezebel type. She was a woman who actually was living and harming the church at Thyatira, but was called by Jesus “Jezebel.” This was not a compliment.

Virgin of Quito: Catholic representation
of the woman clothed with the sun &
having 12 stars being Mary. CC

But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead.

2. Woman clothed with the sun. This woman represents Israel.

And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. (Revelation 12:1-2)

MacArthur’s note reads:

Not an actual woman, but a symbolic representation of Israel, pictured in the OT as the wife of God. (Isa. 54:5-6; Jer. 3:6-8, 31:32; Ezek. 16:32; Hos 2:16). … That this woman does not represent the church is clear from the context. ‘clothed with the sun, …moon under her feet…twelve stars…Cf., Gen 37:9-11. Being clothed with the sun speaks of the glory, dignity, and exalted status of Israel, the people of promise who will be saved, and given a kingdom. The picture of the moon under her feet possibly describes God’s covenant relationship with Israel, since new moons were associated with worship (1 Chron 23:21; 2 Chron 2:4, 8:13; Ezra 3:5; Ps 81:3. The 12 stars represent the twelve tribes of Israel.

3. The Scarlet Woman. This woman represents the apostate church.

And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast

EPrata photo of the Virgin of Quito

that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. (Revelation 17:3-6).

The bible note says,

Purple and scarlet…the colors of royalty, nobility and wealth. The woman is portrayed as a prostitute who has successfully plied her trade and become extremely wealthy. Adorned…Prostitutes often dress in fine clothes and precious stones to allure their victims. (cf. Prov 7:10). The religious harlot Babylon is no different, adorning herself to lure the nations into her grasp.

4. Wife of the Lamb This woman represents the true church.

[ The New Jerusalem ] Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, (Revelation 21:9-10)

The New Jerusalem takes on the character of its inhabitants, the redeemed.

So you have heard of the four horsemen of the Apocalypse…now you know of the four women of Revelation! 🙂

Read Revelation. It promises a blessing for those who do! (Revelation 22:7). It also has another promise.

Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Revelation 22:12-13)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I found an old note with life goals on it. Have they come true?

Posted on July 22, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

Wikimedia Commons

I don’t write about much that is personal. I feel that people ought to know Jesus, not me. But sometimes a personal post is warranted. I think this one is.

I came to the Lord in January 2004.

At the end of 2004 I sat down to write my goals for the upcoming year. I write a lot but I’ve never been big on journals. Introspection is not my suit and so journaling is wasted on me. Even re-reading my marine navigation logs and my travel journals, they are filled with data and facts, not what I thought or felt at the time.

So the other month I was cleaning out and re-organizing my bookshelves. I found some old papers. You don’t throw out old papers without going through them, there could be something irreplaceable in there.

Imagine my surprise when I saw an index card with a list of annual goals on it. I don’t think I’d ever written down goals, I usually just remember them.

When we pray to Jesus we ask for things. “Give us this day our daily bread…” “Forgive us our sins”,

Crosses in Gipuzkoa, Hernio, Basque autonomous region. CC

“Lead us not into temptation…” We know He is listening. We know He will fulfill them as long as they are consistent with His will. “Thy will be done.” We also know that He answers our prayers in ways we can never have imagined at the time, but in looking back we see that He did it perfectly for who we are or what the situation needed.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. (Proverbs 21:5)

The most obvious example of what I’m trying to say is that we pray for healing for a loved one, and then they die. Jesus has healed them- just not in the way we expected.

For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? (Luke 14:28)

So in that December I knew that the upcoming year was going to be a big year. I knew huge changes in my life were afoot. I could feel it.

To give a little context, I’d started a weekly newspaper in town in 2001. There was only one paper there at the time and I felt that a more balanced view should be given to the people. Let’s just say that their multi-decade monopoly had warped their view and it was seriously detrimental to the townspeople. I’m very committed to Constitutional ideals, good government, and the citizen’s democratic responsibility as free individuals enjoying liberty in the greatest nation on earth. I thought my newspaper could exhort, educate, encourage, and inform in the face of these ideals and goals. Apathy is anathema to Democracy.

Here were my goals:

1. Serve the greater good
2. Other newspaper go out of business
3. Sell my newspaper to a good company
4. Place in FL/Lubec
5. Earn $ from creative endeavor
6. Relationship

Looking back, Jesus answered each one.

But none in the way I expected.

The ones He fulfilled most literally were #2 and #3. Indeed the other newspaper went out of business. A larger newspaper absorbed it, “coincidentally” the same week I sold mine. When the job is done, it’s done. So #2 and #3 were checked off.

Lubec ME, taken from New Brunswick Canada. EPrata photo

As for #4, finding a home in a more conducive town with the proceeds from selling my business, I’d
intended to move to a more forgiving climate (FL) and/or a place that was God-made for artists, (Lubec ME). I had vacationed in Florida numerous times since I was 18 years old when my father had bought a condo in Palm Beach. As an adult I’d visited Disney World, rented houses in Naples, stayed in hostels, camped, gone on an archaeological expedition to central FL, sailed in it, from it, and around it, motorboated up it; in other words, spent time in Florida in every county and in every vehicle possible.

There was one thing I’d overlooked. I had done all those during the winter months. I’d never been in Florida between April and November. Living that far south would have been a killer for me who hates the heat and humidity. Just when you think you have it all figured out, God knows best (and shows you your flaws in your thinking, too).

Bundled up in blankets in Lubec watching the 4th of July parade!

The same goes for Lubec. I’d spent less time there, discovering the little town at the end of the world (at the tip of a peninsula looking at Canada) late in life. I’d vacationed there in July about 6 or 7 times and driven up for day trips a few more times. The natural beauty is astounding, and the remoteness and sparse population seemed perfect for a hermit like me. But the key word is “July”. Once I drove up in October for a weekend with a friend. That’s it. The average high temp in Lubec in July is 74 degrees. You can imagine what the rest of the year is like, me who hates the cold AND the dark.

Yes, I have a narrow tolerable range for light and temp. My husband and I made a global search and discovered Quito Ecuador. The weather page for Ecuador’s capital says “Over the course of a year, the temperature typically varies from 48°F to 69°F and is rarely below 45°F or above 72°F.” The bonus is that there are few flying insects over 5000 feet and Quito is nearly 10,000. So Quito fit my “livable” range for light and temp but there’s no air that high. You can’t have everything.

God in His wisdom led me to north Georgia. He knew what I needed and this bucolic haven of red dirt roads and a church on every corner was exactly what I needed. I did not need the bustle of Florida, nor the heat. I’d wilt. I did not need the dark of remote Lubec, which is extremely economically depressed. I needed sheep and goats and horses and cows and chickens and pastures and green. I needed a place where the manners were high and the values were in large part aligned with God’s. My general theme of #4 was getting at moving to a nicer place, the specifics notwithstanding. God perfectly fulfilled #4, in His timing and in His way.

Quito Ecuador. EPrata photo

As for #5, earning money from a creative endeavor, He fulfilled that too, but in His typical manner, a bit different than I’d imagined. In Georgia, right away in God’s grace I found a job working for a daily newspaper writing features and taking photos. I did it for about a year and I discovered that making money from a creative endeavor does two things: increases stress because it’s freelance and the $$ are not steady. And second, it takes the fun out of the creative endeavor. God perfectly fulfilled my desire, and in so doing showed me that it wasn’t such a great desire anyway. I’d desired the desire, not the reality of it.

What He knew is #5 encapsulated the gist of what I wanted: time to be creative. A life structured in such a way so as to not be exhausted from work and have the time and energy to write, photograph, and craft. What I really needed was a regular schedule, fulfilling work that sustained me self-sufficiently, time off to be creative, and to be with children again. I’d formerly been a classroom teacher and unbeknownst to me, I missed kids in my life. A lot. God knew.

He installed me in the local public school system as a substitute and then shortly after I got a job as a para-professional, AKA teacher’s aide. He made it so that I get to work with kids, (fulfilled) have a regular routine, (safety net for an Aspergers), summers off to be creative (life of the mind), with a paycheck that comes year round, (self-sufficient). God is perfect in the way He knows His children and gives them what HE knows they want and need. Check off #5.

Ministering to Prisoners by Michael Sweerts, c. 1649

As far as #1 and #6, serving the greater good and a relationship…as a baby Christian, I had a vague notion of “service”. As I looked to the coming year I wanted to activate that, accelerate it, immerse in it. The “greater good” I’d yearned for prior to salvation was crystallized in sanctified service to Jesus in a way that exalts Him and witnesses to fellow man. When I moved to Georgia I joined a church and began ministering through the gifts the Holy Spirit had delivered to me. My work in the school system also serves the greater good, in my opinion, by supporting children educationally and emotionally. Children are near and dear to Jesus.

As far as ‘relationship’ went, that is the item on my list He fulfilled most metaphorically- but He definitely fulfilled. It is not for me to marry again. I understand that now. (1 Corinthians 7:8). But instead, the relationship I’d wanted became one with Jesus, a relationship I’d never have dreamed would be so fulfilling and wonderful.

As far as making life goals goes, I think that is a good thing to do. I don’t believe in ‘let go and let God.’ That is passive. We are to be active in pursuing holiness and actively pursuing a deepening relationship with our Savior. I also believe it is wise to have life goals, for the near term and the far term. We enroll in higher education to attain a higher employment goal, we plan for retirement, we save money for a house. All those are goals. We have goals because we’re human and we need them.

However, if you make a list of goals, don’t allow the goal to become the object of your desire, rather, allow Jesus room to move in your goals and fulfill them in ways you’d have never dreamed of. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He has known each of us who are saved since before the foundation of the world, (Ephesians 1:4). He formed us in the womb. (Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13).

Each of the goals I’d listed was attended to by Jesus, in marvelous and holy ways. Holy because HE instilled them in me, and in my clumsy way I’d written them down in crude generalities, but all the while, He was working in them to show me His providence and His Hand upon me. Jesus is always working (John 5:17).

The concept of Divine Providence is not explicitly stated but IS the theme of the Book of Esther. shows the providential care of one appointed to a life fulfilling in ways a person at the time would never have dreamed of Esther’s life goals as a young woman, if she had jotted them down on an index card, were in all likelihood to marry, to be near her uncle Mordecai, to do some good in her sphere, to remain faithful to Yahweh, and to grow in obedience and submission to her husband and her God.

A traveller puts his head under the edge of the firmament
in the original (1888) printing of the Flammarion engraving.
Notice the wheel within a wheel, the machinery of heaven,
perhaps also known as, Divine Providence

God’s name is not mentioned in it, not once. Yet that book

And she did, just not in ways she ever would have thought at the outset.

As a Pharisee, did Saul want to study theology, write and speak great sermons, mentor the brightest minds of his generation, and serve God? He did. Just not in ways that the man who became Apostle Paul ever would have thought at the time.

The Providence of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit were working in my life since the day I was born, and before. It was working all the days of my life.It was the road my feet trod all the way to meeting the resurrected Savior of the Cross, and beyond. Providence is what it means when we recite this verse:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Matthew Henry on the verse:

That is good for the saints which does their souls good. Every providence tends to the spiritual good of those that love God; in breaking them off from sin, bringing them nearer to God, weaning them from the world, and fitting them for heaven. When the saints act out of character, corrections will be employed to bring them back again.

Pulpit Commentary on the verse:

A still further reason for endurance. Not only do these inspired groanings strengthen our hope of deliverance; nay, also we know (whether from God’s Word, or inspired conviction, or experience of their effects) that these very trials that seem to hinder us are so overruled as to further the consummation to them that love God.

My hope of deliverance is strengthened when I believe God’s word when it says Jesus is working in our life. When I have inspired conviction of the same. And this essay shows my experience with the effects. Our Jesus loves us so much.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Every white flag represents a body part"

Posted on July 20, 2014May 9, 2016 by elizabethprata

The facts of the terrible tragedy of the downed Malaysian flight #17, a civilian airliner allegedly destroyed by a Ukrainian/Russian missile, are still coming public. But the cleanup and the investigation has quickly begun. And just as quickly, the Ukrainian rebels have disallowed entry to the area, and are doing all they can to stall and impede.

Nonetheless, here is an ABC photo by Kirit Radia. I saw it on Twitter. He wrote: “Every white flag represents a body part”

Source

It reminds me of a time when, unbelievably, there will be worse tragedies. Ezekiel 39 records it. An alliance of nations will form, including Russia and the Baltics, to come against Israel. Israel will be dwelling peacefully in the land at that future time, and this attack will be a total surprise. (Ezekiel 38:14). Without the LORD’S direct, supernatural intervention, Israel would be obliterated. God does this for the singular purpose of letting the world know He is the LORD. (Ezekiel 38:16 & 23). He will vindicate His holiness before the eyes of those who dwell on the earth.

Ezekiel 39 spends time giving the specifics of the battle and its outcome. All who come against Israel in that day, Russia, Turkey, the Baltics, Armenia, and the rest, like a cloud covering the land, hordes of them, five-sixths of them will be smote.

Fire will be sent, earthquakes will happen, missiles will be duds, and every plane will fall out of the sky. (Ezekiel 39:1-6).

Two hundred and ninety-eight people fell from the sly when Malaysia flight 17 went down. What will it be like when hundreds of planes fall? There will be so many! Like clouds covering the land! It will take seven months of constant cleansing to bury these hordes. And they will start with flags.

Normandy being supplied, Wikipedia historic photo

“On that day I will give to Gog a place for burial in Israel, the Valley of the Travelers, east of the sea. It will block the travelers, for there Gog and all his multitude will be buried. It will be called the Valley of Hamon-gog. For seven months the house of Israel will be burying them, in order to cleanse the land. All the people of the land will bury them, and it will bring them renown on the day that I show my glory, declares the Lord God. They will set apart men to travel through the land regularly and bury those travelers remaining on the face of the land, so as to cleanse it. At the end of seven months they will make their search. And when these travel through the land and anyone sees a human bone, then he shall set up a sign by it, till the buriers have buried it in the Valley of Hamon-gog. (Hamonahe is also the name of the city.) Thus shall they cleanse the land. (Ezekiel 39:11-16).

There will be so many they have to mass bury them in a place whose name translates to “Multitude”. Imagine how many flags. Each one represents a soul gone down to Hades. On that day, Hades will swell with souls flooding in.

Normandy invasion aftermath, Wikipedia historic photo

I try to bring the specificity into it regarding the flags so people will KNOW what the Tribulation will be like. Soft and Easy Christians following their Jesus and talking of love refuse to gain biblical knowledge about God’s other attributes: His vindication, His wrath, His judgment. It isn’t pretty- for those who rebel. It is bloody and awful and destructive. The soft and easy Christians think they will go through the Tribulation (which they will but not because it is a post-tribulation event, but because many of them aren’t saved. Matthew 7:21). They think their love for Jesus will float them through. They haven’t a clue.

Other Christians, sad to say, are saved but don’t spend time looking ahead. They don’t study prophecy, for whatever reason. Many pastors weren’t taught it in seminary so they don’t preach it in church. Other Christians think they are superfluous doctrines, not for edification or practical application to today.

The fact is, the Tribulation will be gross and horrific and bloody and terrifying. The Holy Spirit will not be restraining sin any more! (2 Thessalonians 2:6). Jesus said it will be the worst time there shall ever be, from the beginning of the world to the end, and will ever be again. (Mt 24:21).

Knowing these things in such detail helps us

–be grateful for His grace in rapturing His Bride before these things happen
–be urgent about pursuing holiness as a result of our gratitude
–witness in word and in deed to the lost, who, unless they repent first, WILL go through it.

In the ABC News photo by Kirit Radia I counted three flags. In the Valley of Hamon Gog, there will be untold thousands, perhaps millions.

I long for the Day when God vindicates His holiness before the world. I mourn that day too, for many will perish. Living with the joy of anticipation and the heartache of certain death for many is bittersweet. It is joy mixed with pain and regret; regret that they didn’t do the one thing required: repent of their sins and make Jesus Lord.

Yes it is that simple. Difficult, but simple.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

Repent while there is time, Jesus is the way.