Vincent Paul DiMino

Jesus said "those who love me obey my commands".We are saved.We are thankful.We love our Savior,our Lord,and our God. We obey Him.

Miracle ! Jesus told us that "with God all things are possible".We receive His Grace,through faith.This faith itself is a gift of understanding that transcends all earthly knowledge,all things which can be perceived within the human condition,and is,in itself "evidence of that which can not be seen".How did God create the universe ? (by His Word).How can we,who are sinful, be conformed to the image of His perfection and holiness ? By His Word !

Jesus accomplished reconciliation between God and all his creation by obedience to the Father,Love for our God, and through that love,love for His creation.This was accomplished by sacrifice through pain and suffering of the "blood of His cross",and his very life,which no man could take from him,but he laid down of His own free will."The life is in the blood".And now,His life,by the power of his shed blood,is our life.Part of the purpose of this reconciliation,is our salvation,part is to glorify God,and part,is to make ready for the new Heaven and Earth.The complete fulfillment of the will of God is beyond our understanding,but by His Grace,will be within our ability to receive with joy and thanksgiving.We will be presented to our Lord Jesus,transformed in His likeness,by His Grace,in order that He may present us to the Father,as His own.

Great question ! An angel,about to destroy Balaam,has mercy on his faithful donkey,and allows her to speak,somewhat enlightening the greedy and worldly "wise man".An angel speaks with Joshua.Angels speak to shepherds about the birth of Jesus.An angel,about to destroy Jerusalem is spoken to by God,within hearing of king David...I'm afraid my answer isn't worthy of your question,but it is sending me to my bible for further research,and perhaps a better answer.Thanks for the question! vince

We struggle with unseen powers that seek their own wills.They are all subject to the will of God and have no power except that which He allows.They can not oppose Our Lord directly.They try to use us against our Lord,thereby destroying us in the process.We are mere tools and weapons to them.They seek to deceive us and turn us against our God,making us worthless,even in our own eyes.Their strength is illusion and deceit.Their habitation: darkness.Their fate: damnation.Our job: Love the Lord our God with all our heart,soul,spirit and mind;and give Him thanks !

"Firstborn" is used as a title,claim to authority and inheritance,and as a position in the order of all things.V16-17 reveals truths found in the Gospel of John confirming the supremacy,authority,and holiness of Jesus Christ as the Word of God made flesh.Through the person of Jesus Christ we can be transformed by His Grace through faith,and love,if we hold steadfast to the Truth revealed in Him,and keep His commands in our hearts.

We bought into a lie.The devil's first lie that we are told about in Genesis.The lie that "we can be like God through our own actions",devices,and literally,...theft(of that which is God's exclusive property,and not given to us,because we are not ready to use it responsibly)...or,...(simply) sin.We sold ourselves as slaves to sin.This is the truth behind our need to be ransomed;when, God,who made us,owns everything,and has complete and unlimited power...yet,he bought us,whom he had made, and given life,at great cost...paying for our sin.But, our sin went even deeper,sin is crime against God himself;requiring forgiveness,on the part of the Almighty,in addition to the cost of redemption.All of this is needed to allow the next step: transformation (I think we'll get to that in later lessons).

Part 2 Governing bodies:The light shines in the darkness but the darkness does not understand the nature of light.The governing body of the light is the unity in love of the kingdom of God.The governing body of darkness,which does not comprehend the light,which created it,consists of a conglomeration of principalities,rulers,authorities and lies themselves.It does not understand it's own nature,and can not rule,except by the very defiance of truth that defines it.There is a will that opposes the truth,and it is in some way attached to the sinful nature of humanity through the "dominion of darkness" which we struggle against.It is subtle and deceptive.It finds the weakest point(s) in our defense,plays us against each other, and attempts to establish a false order, to enlist us as it's agents,against the will of our Creator.It will use our very desire to "do well" or "advance" in "knowledge" without wisdom,to hear our own,pleasant sounding,words,applauded and praised by others, to distort and dilute the truth.It will fail,but it will lead many from the path of righteousness.Paul knew what he was fighting,so it must be possible for the light to comprehend,and reject, the darkness.

It appears that the energy remains available to those who ask for and continue to joyfully apply it.

Why does Paul use light and darkness,where we were and where we are to remind us (the Colossians)about the gift of slavation we have been given.He could have used freedom and oppression,love and hate,joy and resentment...but I think he did,by using the same analogy (light and darkness) that is repeated in scripture to help us "see" good as light and evil as darkness.Good as reveling,evil as hiding.Good as energetic.Evil as energy absorbing.(sorry folks,I answered too quickly...I'll get back with the second part in a later post).

Paul prays for the Colossians,and gives them the prayer,so they may pray for themselves and each other,with him.In this prayer he outlines the process of drawing nearer to God.He gives them goals,and hope of receiving the guidance and strength to reach these goals.The most important (in my mind)is to please Jesus.He offers a set of criteria we can use to know that we are "on the right path":know God's will (or some small part of it that we are presently involved with),gain spiritual wisdom and understanding(as opposed to mere knowledge),bear the fruit of good works (a tree is judged by it's fruit),know God,and be strengthened by God's power to endurance,patience,thanksgiving,and joy.This is complete and perfect in form.All these aspects are related and mutually supportive.To say one is less important would not serve any good purpose that I understand.When some are missing,we fall short of the glory of God (we all do!),and are blessed with his mercy,compassion,forgiveness,and the opportunity to renew of efforts and prayers.

Faith itself is a gift from Our Lord.His presence in our lives is the real blessing.The struggles that engage our minds are mostly illusion,but when a solution to those problems comes as inspiration,the difficulty becomes part of the path to His Glory.For some of us,anger and frustration,are part of the path,and appear as signs of a lack of faith.Are they ?We may not know.A calm and dedicated appearance,on the surface,might not represent the Truth beneath.Why did Jesus curse the fig tree when it had no fruit ?

We are each on a journey.We know where we started: "I knew you before you were in your mother's womb".We know where we want to go: our permanent home.We know the way to get there:"I am The Way, The Truth, and The Light."...We've been known to stop to smell the roses,and loose sight of the journey,but the bloom is short,and the path is narrow.Thank You Jesus,for showing us the way.

Hebrews 11:3."By faith we understood..."More than we can read and assimilate the written information into our conscious minds,we know,by faith,that as it was the Word of God that formed the "worlds" or the ages,or the "times of man",Our God wrote in the heart of Jacob.By the struggle that defines him as Israel,he was refined,that the trial of his faith,(and ours)be "more precious than than gold" (1Peter 1:7).I am encouraged by others,who have been inspired by Our Lord,and yet I fear...(In the background I can hear the movie Elmer Gantry)...I fear myself...that I am influenced by the flesh,by my own mind,by my own inner search to claim as my own, that which belongs only to God...and I trust,that when my days of trial are over,that My Savior will have led me through the trials of my own iniquity into the light of His Glory,and that through His Grace,those very trials that I resist (I too, kick against the goads)will have burnt away all the chaff that pollutes that which God has made in me.I trust that He will not abandon me to my rebellion,when I resist.I trust that when he breaks my leg,he will carry me until I heal.I pray that the Lord allow me the pleasure of sharing what I've learned from y'all in this study,with those he brings to me.

"In all things,give thanks." Would we recognize peace as a blessing,even if it served to weaken us,divert us from the Truth,and lull us into a false sense of security based on material prosperity and lack of conflict ? A father who does not discipline his children, hates them.We ask,in prayer,for things we want,for things we believe we do not want to be without,we do not want to be without the Love, Discipline, Correction,and Guidance, that are given to us as blessings from Our Heavenly Father.

Psalms 2:4.Picture Joseph,carefully considering...,Normally,he would stand with his older son on his right,but,from the mirror image point of view of the person he was about to face,the younger son would be on the right,so,he reversed them...now the bible doesn't say that Jacob made the assumption that the boys position,relative to their earthly father needed to be reversed with respect to the mirror imaging effect,nor that such offerings had a protocol,in fact,we get the impression that Jacob received his grandsons,in his own words,"as sons",and received them,in his heart, from the hands of Our God.Was the prophesy he spoke known to him previously,or did he receive it,as he himself spoke the words ?

The answer may depend on a person's understanding of location: physical,spiritual,emotional;or,belonging,having a share in,ownership,domain,...power,influence,...so that pilgrim spirit can be the fruit of humility,obedience and love.Having no power and influence or illusions therof,when coupled with obedience, as the fruit of love, for Our Savior,can lead to faith that our home is with Him.In that case,a pilgrim on this earth is a joyous soul.When we forget that,and begin to attach a sense of belonging to anything in this temporal plane,we loose some of our focus on belonging to Christ. We're advised to store up our treasures in heaven,so that our hearts,bound to our treasures,will be with Him.Anything less would be hopelessly sad.It can get much worse.Imagine loosing the gift of humility by believing in the power and influence of one's personal domain in this life, and missing out entirely. I think this is worthy of prayer,that we are not deceived.

Joesph's faith and advancement in righteousness are part of Jacob's blessing; as Israel,he has experienced the blessings that were given through Joseph, to the "community of Nations" that are to come from him, and through God's Word, we are transformed.The contact with his favorite son,whose righteousness was communicated in Truth,indirectly, through Joseph's conscious interaction with his other sons,served Our Lord's purpose, in blessing Israel.Israel mourned,and was comforted.Was his mourning,at his loss ? Or,was his mourning an intense focus on the continuing sin within his own house,and his accountability for that sin ? Does he have to know why he's mourning to be comforted ? OR,Is knowing why he was mourning revealed to him only in the comfort he received ?

If we find that our Heavenly Father tells us that he loves Israel,and blesses all who bless Israel and curses all who curse Israel,does that make us love Israel,as we love our Lord,and so be blessed ourselves,or does envy cause us to curse the object of divine love, and thereby curse ourselves? It appears to me that Jacob's hope for the future was in his son Joseph.It doesn't seem that he believed that the promise he received was as real to him as the son he loved.With hope for Joseph gone,he appears to have lost hope itself. It may be, that we have to loose our faith in everything we can verify by our senses,in order to fully receive the divine gift of real faith in God.