JustJeff

The similartity between adultery and **** is that they are both desires, one committed, the other a hunger. To God, our heart is who we are and whether we want to obtain a lustful desire or we actually do the intent, the result is the same, sin. It is why we have to take every thought and put it under subjection of the Holy Spirit and if evil, cast it down before it does us. The 10th Commandment is about covetnessess. **** is the same. It is about the wantoness of the flesh. Apparently the Lord does not want us to write down the 2nd word of the subject: Adultery, ****, and Coveting.

The whole of subject matter in Matthew 5:21-26 is about getting our hearts right, with God and then man. Evil thoughts and wicked imaginations have to go and be replaced with a pure heart that reflects the agape love of Jesus.

The Lord commands that whenever possible we are to live in peace with all of mankind. Settling a matter before it gets to Shappat (Hebrew: Judge) means that we have followed this order. It also means that we have demonstrated the second great command to love our neighbor as ourselves. Settling a matter requires meekness and humility. We should settle to be in shalom in our spirits, the offended party's spirit and, most of all, the Holy Spirit.

If Jesus commands us to do a thing and we do not do then we are in sin. If we are in sin, God cannot hear us therefore our worship is in vain. Whenever possible it is necessary to make amends before we offer our worship. I feel that we must go the mile and the twain to reconcile with a person that we have offended, even if that person will not receive it. As God discerns our hearts He knows when a sincere effort has been made on our part. If we are the offending party we should attempt reconciliation in any situation, if possible. If we can't resolve the issue at the very least, the Lord knows that we've tried our best.

It all comes down to intent. As a kid I had a sinus problem which gave me a prepetual runny nose. The result was a nickname that really hurt me and that was the intent. Same as driving a stake through my heart. The feeling was terrible and still pains me to remember until this day. When we think evil in our hearts we are spiritually committing the crime and I assure you, our very spritual heavenly Father knows it. Further, all sin is judged alike and evil thinking is sin so yes, you may as well murder the person. It's the same in God's eyes. If we take our relationship with the Lord seriously we'd better allign our thoughts about every situation with His or we could be in big trouble. Thanks be to His patience with us and praise Him for the Holy Spirit which gives us the ability to learn how to be like Him.

I have experienced a pastor who would preach that we are no longer under the Old Testament just the New and would discourage the study of it. At the same time, I've read pastors who rely on the Old Testament and the blessings to the Jews to start and defend a nation as a means to preach prosperity messages. So no, I don't think that there is an effort to abolish the Old Testament in Christianity. We're just confused because we don't wish to accept the whole truth that is the Word of God. In the church legalism stems to fleshly interpretations of the Word causing traditions established by men and new laws that cannot be followed. A church with no moral standards and no obedience to the Word of God is a false religion, not Christianity. Jesus calls these people who do many great works in His name workers of iniquity who do not know Him at all. They will be cast down before Him.

1. In verses 10-12 the Lord tells us to expect persecution for His name's sake. We are called by His name and identify with Him when we walk as He walked. This means walking and talking in His word which is truth. He was crucified for telling the truth by the religious people of His time and we should expect no less in our time. 2. When we are affraid to tell the truth we are hiding the light and there is no glory when we walk in darkness as Jesus, by His word, is the light of the world. He cannot be glorified if He isn't heard. 3. Suffering, sadly, was absolutely a necessary part of God's plan for His perfect sacrifice. Christ could not have been perfected had He not suffered. 4. Nor can we. 5. As we renew our minds by the word and commit our spirits to it's truth, we are changed. As we go from glory to glory we become increasingly uncomfortable in this world. We will suffer at the hands of the devil, the world and our flesh. By our suffering we come to understand the perfect will of God which will bring us to maturation. When we suffer with Him, we will reign with Him as this is our perfection process.

I recall a movie called the "Music Box". The box contained a light that represented the Holy Spirit. The man who owned this music box wanted to keep it all to himself so he hid it under his bed. When he opened the box a band of angels would appear to him and sing, bringing him great joy. Eventually he became convicted and realized that this gift was not his to keep for himself but to share with the world. So it is. The Holy Spirit is meant to light the whole world and when we do not share it we are doing our part to keep the world in darkness.

1. A Christian that has lost his/her saltiness is simply another person in the world. 2. If I, as a Christian, lose my saltiness it would probably be easy to detect but with human pride, easier still to deny. 3. Secular people will not notice a de-salted Christian at all because that person is just like them. 4. I would hope and pray that other Christians would see me as an old salt and tell me if they see any slippage. 5. All things are possible with God and great things are done with repentence, prayer and fasting so yes, one can be re-salted.

As a presevative salt will allow the user to store meat for long periods of time without fear of decay. We Christians, by our faith, can hold on to our salvation by living a righteous lifestyle. By accomplishing this we will not allow the planet to fall into total moral decay and secularism, giving our Lord a reason to continue His longsuffering toward the sin of the world. In this way perhaps one more person might be saved. We are preserving redemption. Jesus, being a Jew would know about "koshering" meat. Take a nice plump turkey thawed, and soak it in water for an hour. Remove it and season it it completely, within and without with Kosher salt. Let it stand for a couple of hours. Then wash it thoroughly. Season and bake as normal. You will taste a turkey that you could die for! I give you this example because we, as the salt of the earth add flavor to life by our faith. We are a standard of righteousness that the whole world can follow and find joy like they might never know. A full flavored, robust life that is a sweet smelling savour to the Lord.

The answer to the first two parts of this question are the same. God is wholely holy and without holiness no one can see Him. Those who seek Him with all their heart, a pure heart will find Him. Simply put, those who live in sin cannot have a relationship with the Lord. Those that truly want Him will cease from sin. Again, a pure heart comes to those who honestly want to walk the walk, as led by the Holy Spirit.

Rigtheousness and the world are an oxymoron. The world is immoral and corrupt while those living righteously in Christ strive to be the complete opposite. When Jesus speaks of righteousness He speaks of good virtues, living in accordance with the Word of God. Righteous people are those who are pleasing to God. Our promise is to receive the full blessing of complete righteousness surrounded forever with brothers and sisters just like us, the Lord by our side.

Christian meekness requires a lot of guts. We must be able to walk away and forgive, no matter how great the wrong done to us. While the world interprets this for weakness it is truly great strength. I favor the old saying: "When the going gets tough the tough go to Jesus." This is humbling ourselves to the Master, knowing with full assurance that He is our Sword and Shield and it is He who will fight our battles. Christ submitted Himself to the Father though greatly wronged by His people. He humbled Himself to the obedience of the cross. How much more humble shall we be? This is the humility that is required which will set us on His holy hill when He calls us home.

Unless we are able to identify that which is lacking, namely the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we will never fully comprehend the necessity of becoming a Christian. We will search and never come to the full knowledge of the truth. To become a Christian we must mourn our separation from God. We are dead to Him because of sin and must repent of our wicked ways, be baptized in the water and the fire. As Christians we must mourn the sinful nature of our world and the pandemic denial of the only true God, Jesus Christ. Apostasy rates are appalling, false prophets and followers sickening.

The two parts of each of the Beatitudes are: 1) the qualification to receive the blessing and; 2) the promised blessing. Jesus used a paradox in this and other teachings to keep those who truly wanted a relationship with Him to seek. He would later reward them for their diligence. There is no record that anyone truly understood the spitirual matters that Jesus was teaching, that is until after they received the power of the Holy Ghost. Once the Holy Spirit entered in all things that they were taught by the Master became clear to them and, in Galatians 5:22-23, the fruits of the Spirit became manifest to Paul and, he recorded them for all to gather from the Holy Spirit, now residing in all born again believers. Not coincidently, they are what we need to walk in to receive the promises of the Beatitudes.

All of the referenced scriptures refer to God having all nations come to Him and His glory. We, as one, will worship and adore Him, Jew and Goyim alike. While other possibilities exist, it is assumed that the Magi were Gentiles. This being the case the example put forth is that we are to come and bow down to the Lord of Lords, offering Him our best, whether we are Jew or Gentile.

The Magi brought gifts to honor the King of Kings, the child of God who would become the ruler of all the world. They knew this child to be thus and when you think about it, all three items were necessary elements of the temple and the appointments that Yahweh ordered; fragrant incense, annointing oil and gold to cover the adornments. These gifts, from the heart, are what we must bring to the Lord. The best that we have, from our hearts, us. Merry Christmas everyone!

In submitting themselves to the baby Jesus we see the Magi as an example of the lesser acknowledging the greater. For this purpose they had traveled long and hard. It is in this manner that we must submit ourselves to the Lord for we too have been on a long journey apart from Him and must now acknowledge Him as our Messiah, the One who is far above and greater than all.

The Old Testament prophecy in Numbers 24:17 would have been significant to those close to the word of God through the Torah. Since there is no certainty as to the identity of the Magi it is feasible that they could have indeed come from Babylon (Iraq) or Persian (Iran) where the Hebrews had been taken in captivity. If that be the case, it is also possible that these three men could have been of Jewish lineage themselves or, have been scholars and astrologers that were severly influenced by the Word. In any case, their appearing was a confirmation of the Word in Numbers 24:17 and caused a chain of events that helped to identify Jesus Christ as the Messiah.

Great joy, praise, curiosity, amazement, telling others, thoughtful meditation are all present in my life and are reflected in my character and nature with increasing vitality as I grow in Christ.

The three titles given to Jesus by the angels announcing His birth are: Savior = Deliverer, Christ = Anointed, Lord = Master. As our Savior Jesus saves us from our sin, the Anointed One has been chosen by God for this purpose and the Lord is our Master, at who's feet we sit at to teach us and guide us home. In the name Jesus alone, which is Yeshua, which is Yahweh saves, we find God Himself, further defined by the three names above.

I truly believe that God works best through those who know, or are quickly willing to learn, that they need Him to survive. Rarely, by His word, does this apply to the rich and famous. Rather, it is the least of us who grab Him when He extends His arm to us. In reading the book of Acts it is noted in chapters 2 and 4 that the church grew mightily when all of the possessions of the congregation were pooled together and given equally to all in need. Similarly, during the conversion of Rome, it was the church to whom the poor came for assistance, as the government did not have social services. The results were revival. By coming as He did, our humble Servant came like those, the poor and the needy. Not only did this demonstrate His nature and character but, He gave us the example of humility that is needed to be accepted of Him. So too did Jesus bring to Him those He came to save, as He states in Luke 4:18-19.

Mary's trip to Bethlehem might have been difficult for her in many ways. Late term pregnancy, unknown future, new city, a husband, carrying God's child. A lot to bear for a mere child. God blesses us in many ways and I have had many pleasurable blessings, too many to enumerate. Being as the Lord; "the same yesterday, today and forever" will bring hardships. Crucifying the flesh is not easy. It requires great sacrifice and suffering. Without a battle we cannot claim the victory.

Luke, that wise physician, knew that the doubters and unbelievers would seek to destroy the evidence of the birth of the Messiah. He knew too, that as time goes by, this would be easier to do. By establishing the time and place of the events of Jesus' birth in naming names of people who the world would mark down as historical figures, Luke anchored our Lord's place as well.

By accepting Mary to be his wife Joseph was one faithful and courageous dude. The Messiah had to come from the line of David in order for the prophecies to be fulfilled and the Messiah is God Himself. In naming the child Jesus and accepting Him as his own Joseph became the vehicle by which God was able to do as He has foretold.