Hello Caleb. I'm unsure in what manner the evil one is bringing confusions to you, but for me, if there is something that comes to my mind that I know is debatable or wrong, then I resort to the 3 S's.
SEARCH: SEARCH the Word of God to find the Scripture related to your concern. Entering a specific word in the Search Box on this Site or in a Concordance, might throw up several options for you to look at.
STUDY: STUDY that verse, also the verses around it & the reason for that inclusion in the Bible, to make sure you are understanding it & applying it correctly to you concern.
STAND: After you satisfy yourself that God's Word has given you the answer you seek, then believe it, STAND firmly upon it, & when that sly fox tests or tempts you again, hit him with the pure Word of God. That should scare him away.
I too believe that scripture plainly says Jesus is God in John 1:1. However, we are expressing our opinions and if that was banned then our opinions would be silenced also. Usually when someone wants censorship they usually just mean the opinions they disagree with, and don't want to be silenced themselves.
God wants to be sought. This involves effort. I think some things are meant to not be clear or understood immediately, and some things never. In Job, he questioned God why He did that to him, and instead of a direct answer he got an earful of how He was God and Job wasn't. The way I interpret it is like: how dare you question me with your tiny limited brain.
There are other places basically suggesting our capacity to comprehend everything is currently limited. There are mysteries and maybe more will be revealed in the afterlife.
Hebrews 11:3
Mark 4:11
Matt 13:11
Matt 6:33
Isaiah 40:4-5 - glory of the Lord will be revealed (in the future)
1 Tim 3:16
2 Thessalonians 2:11-13 - a 'strong delusion' will be sent. Judging by all the lies in the media it seems a delusion is happening now.
I really hope you people who openly write your opinions STOP!! Because yes in fact JESUS is saying before Abraham I AM , the same I AM that told Moses in the Old Testament. Isaiah 9:6 says it best who JESUS is and if you need New Testament to back up who HE is 1st Timothy 3:16 but this one clearly nails it John 1:10,11 He was in the world and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and his own received Him not.)HALLELUJAH GLORY BE TO GOD, JESUS is GOD Manifested in the flesh as 1st Timothy 3:16 and ISAIAH 9:6 so clearly and plainly put it!! Why do you think we are to be baptized in His Name ? ACTS 2:38 , because JESUS himself was Water baptized as an example to us as to what HE expects EVERYONE who WANTS SALVATION to do as HE Stated to Nicodemus in JOHN3:5 Verily, verily, I say unto thee .Except a man be born of the Water and of the Spirit , he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ( Peter Preached on the day of Pentecost in the book of ACTS 2:38 to Repent and be baptized in Jesus Name filled with the Holy Ghost. EPHESIANS 4:5 says One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism . ( John 1:1 through 5) in the beginning was the Word , and the Word was with God , and the Word was God . The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. ( Same as some people today ) In Jesus Name I Bid you Peace
As God spake to Ezekiel in Ezekiel 36:27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Jesus Christ expands on this in Matthew 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Doing the Will of our Father in Heaven is the most important thing to Him. Being obedient to His way rather than the ways of man. Surpassing any ability of speaking in tongues, or casting our devils, or working miracles. That is not what saves us in the end.
Thank you Gregg for putting that question out here. I have also had the same question weighing on me. Thank you Jesse and Richard for your responses and guidance. God Bless my brothers in Christ.
The seed was sowed whether they were interested or not. Just like in the Parable of the Sower, only one out of the four actually was able to bear the fruit of salvation!
So very true Jesse. Just as you, right after I was saved all I wanted to do was tell others about Jesus Christ. Pretty much every person I knew, previous work, friends, family, I told. Though only a very few were interested. Also just a different way to state what you said. Let the Lord guide your ways. Proverbs 3:5-6. Amen.
As I can only tell you how "witnessing" came about with me. As God has different plans and functions for every member in the body of Christ.
I have found that keeping focused on reading the Word in the Holy Bible will help you in witnessing to others. It seems , to me, that just reading the Word over and over, taking notes of verses, marking verses and pages, book marks, in your Bible to help you find the ones that touch your heart.
Then it seems to just come naturally, by the Holy Ghost, as when maybe just talking with someone. They may say something that corrects directly to the Bible, a verse you know, and now you have a chance to bring that up that it is in the Word of God and not just made up or whatnot. As you are able to plant some seeds or water a little for the Lord.
I hope that will help you a little. May the Lord Bless you on your journey in spreading the Word of God.
The way we conduct ourselves as believers is a witness and testimony in and of itself. Others should be able to see Christ through us. Now that doesn't relieve us of any responsibility to witness Christ and His gospel message to others.
But here are my thoughts on witnessing:
When God first saves us, it is in that infant stage of our salvation that we are "On fire" for the Lord. We want to get out there immediately and witness right away so others can experience and have what we have.
The problem with that is we're not ready to witness to others yet. We have to first be mended by God through His word before we get out there. It's like you mentioned, it can be overwhelming.
I can tell you from my own personal experience when I first received Christ, I wasted no time telling others and trying to convince them that they needed Christ. But when they asked tough questions, and trust me, questions will be asked, I was not ready to answer all those questions. I had not been taught yet.
We all should desire to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. But we have to first be taught before we can get out there and share with others.
One other thing I've learned over the years is that we should never go out and witness because we feel obligated to do so, or out of our own human ambition. We should witness Christ only when He leads us to do so. In other words, if His Spirit is persuading me to go, then I will go.
God is not going to bless anything I do that He is not a part of. It has to be Him leading me to witness. If He doesn't lead me, I stay put!
I'm doing a study on witnessing and how we should witness, have a desire to witness, how to witness without being overwhelmed or trying to memorize too much scripture. Would love to hear some others input, scripture reference. testimony, etc... anything you feel might be helpful in teaching others about witnessing.
Have you considered Jer:17:13 the reason Jesus wrote on the earth? O Lord, the hope of Israel, All who forsake You shall be ashamed. " Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth. Because they have forsaken the Lord, "The fountain of living waters".
No the good samaritan is someone from he region of samaria in northern israel who did a good deed.. samaritan is his nationality i would be like saying the good american. its definitely not jesus since jesus called a samaritan woman a dog matthew 15:21-28
Most people even today are not free and they certainly were not in those days. In fact they are constantly in some kind of bondage about money, sex, various fears, death in particular and relationships with others. A sad and classic case was Howard Hughes who was very rich and an attractive man and yet our adversary got a hold of him and proceeded to turn him into a social cripple; further phobias were successively added by our enemy which wrecked his health and finally killed him. All this could have been avoided if he had known our Lord Jesus Christ because the bondages which I mention above all become irrelevant once we really know Him.
John 8:58 is clearly NOT referring to the I AM of Ex 3:14. The authors used the Septuagint Greek translation of Exodus where the I AM that Moses is told to say has sent him is not Ego Eimi (I am) but rather O on(The Eternal one). Jesus is not claiming nor has he ever claimed to be YHWH who was THE I AM sending Moses.
SEARCH: SEARCH the Word of God to find the Scripture related to your concern. Entering a specific word in the Search Box on this Site or in a Concordance, might throw up several options for you to look at.
STUDY: STUDY that verse, also the verses around it & the reason for that inclusion in the Bible, to make sure you are understanding it & applying it correctly to you concern.
STAND: After you satisfy yourself that God's Word has given you the answer you seek, then believe it, STAND firmly upon it, & when that sly fox tests or tempts you again, hit him with the pure Word of God. That should scare him away.
God wants to be sought. This involves effort. I think some things are meant to not be clear or understood immediately, and some things never. In Job, he questioned God why He did that to him, and instead of a direct answer he got an earful of how He was God and Job wasn't. The way I interpret it is like: how dare you question me with your tiny limited brain.
There are other places basically suggesting our capacity to comprehend everything is currently limited. There are mysteries and maybe more will be revealed in the afterlife.
Hebrews 11:3
Mark 4:11
Matt 13:11
Matt 6:33
Isaiah 40:4-5 - glory of the Lord will be revealed (in the future)
1 Tim 3:16
2 Thessalonians 2:11-13 - a 'strong delusion' will be sent. Judging by all the lies in the media it seems a delusion is happening now.
How else would anyone take that verse! Apparently the Jews new exactly what he meant, they tried to stone him.
jesus said unto them, verily, verily, before abraham was i am.
And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Jesus Christ expands on this in Matthew 7:21-23 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Doing the Will of our Father in Heaven is the most important thing to Him. Being obedient to His way rather than the ways of man. Surpassing any ability of speaking in tongues, or casting our devils, or working miracles. That is not what saves us in the end.
Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life!
God Bless.
Jesus plainly says that His witness and the fathers witness are 2 not 1 . Two separate identities.
The seed was sowed whether they were interested or not. Just like in the Parable of the Sower, only one out of the four actually was able to bear the fruit of salvation!
Remain strong in Christ who is our strength!
As I can only tell you how "witnessing" came about with me. As God has different plans and functions for every member in the body of Christ.
I have found that keeping focused on reading the Word in the Holy Bible will help you in witnessing to others. It seems , to me, that just reading the Word over and over, taking notes of verses, marking verses and pages, book marks, in your Bible to help you find the ones that touch your heart.
Then it seems to just come naturally, by the Holy Ghost, as when maybe just talking with someone. They may say something that corrects directly to the Bible, a verse you know, and now you have a chance to bring that up that it is in the Word of God and not just made up or whatnot. As you are able to plant some seeds or water a little for the Lord.
I hope that will help you a little. May the Lord Bless you on your journey in spreading the Word of God.
The way we conduct ourselves as believers is a witness and testimony in and of itself. Others should be able to see Christ through us. Now that doesn't relieve us of any responsibility to witness Christ and His gospel message to others.
But here are my thoughts on witnessing:
When God first saves us, it is in that infant stage of our salvation that we are "On fire" for the Lord. We want to get out there immediately and witness right away so others can experience and have what we have.
The problem with that is we're not ready to witness to others yet. We have to first be mended by God through His word before we get out there. It's like you mentioned, it can be overwhelming.
I can tell you from my own personal experience when I first received Christ, I wasted no time telling others and trying to convince them that they needed Christ. But when they asked tough questions, and trust me, questions will be asked, I was not ready to answer all those questions. I had not been taught yet.
We all should desire to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. But we have to first be taught before we can get out there and share with others.
One other thing I've learned over the years is that we should never go out and witness because we feel obligated to do so, or out of our own human ambition. We should witness Christ only when He leads us to do so. In other words, if His Spirit is persuading me to go, then I will go.
God is not going to bless anything I do that He is not a part of. It has to be Him leading me to witness. If He doesn't lead me, I stay put!
Just my thoughts!
No human being could have torn it that way.
That was the Son of God, victorious, showing all people's that the Covenant of the Old Testament was finished. Nothing else was left to fulfill.
The sacrifice had been made, the Blood of the Savior.... the LAMB of God, had been sprinkled.
The NEW COVENANT had been RATIFIED, judged acceptable by GOD, and the New Covenant was now, IN FORCE.
A heartbeat that will be until the moment Jesus appears in the clouds, and the end of this time we live in now, is ANNOUNCED, by the Father (GOD).
Mishael