Gigi: I have a monitor to check his sugar and seeing how he was just lying there and full of sweat got me fully concerned. so I grabbed my monitor and could not get any blood the first two trys then the third time I tried and discovered it to be that low. so immediately kept talking to him to see how alert he was if any but no movement, so I called the police, and they had the paramedics come and they inserted the sugar iv and brought his sugar up to 200 or more and I felt so relieved. I was crying but kept with them. kept feeding him turkey sandwich, orange juice, water as well as hugging him with a kiss on his forehead telling him, he scared me. so I cleaned him up after he started feeling better, I put him on the wheelchair and set him in the living room, so I could make the bedding and the sad part of pulling the bed apart was, a drug pipe fell out. so, I finished his bedding, hooked his phone to charge, then went to him and yelled at him. I told him, go ahead and yell at me, cuss at me, call me a b@#$, but I have devoted a lot to you, and you do this to me, why? he did not answer. he put his head down, no one single word. I told him, I told the Doctors and the nurses that his been drug free for a couple of months that I knew and now I do not know what to do? his disappointed me. I told them to allow him into my home, now I might end up losing it because of his addiction, I feel angry presently, forgetting that his almost gone in life. Gigi: now what should I do>?> the demon won this round, but God showed me, and Now I need to pray even harder, but I am losing it deeply. I guess I am not a good mom, I do not know how to give tough love. now what>
My best response to your question would be to suggest that you search online for explanations of this topic of God's eternal decree. You can look under such titles as:
God's Eternal Decree
God's Eternal Purpose
God's Eternal Covenant
There are many good articles that explain this well with biblical support.
As for now, I do not wish to get into a conversation on this topic right now but most likely will post about it in the future.
I have found over the 6+ decades of my life in Christ that unbelievers who know that I am a Christian expect me to act in a godly way even though they do not wish to be godly themselves and many will often speak of the hypocrisy of believers who act in ungodly ways on a regular basis and thus can dismiss the veracity of one's claim in Christ.
And, of course we should want to give glory to God in all we do. But doing what is right can cause some unbelievers to reconsider their unbelief or may admit that God is holy and they are not.
It is true that some who are hostile to God will revile Christians for being godly or not joining in on the sin they do openly, often to shock Christians. But I find that there are many unbelievers who are "yet to be believers" who look to how Christians they know behave as an encouragement to believe the gospel. This just shows that the Holy Spirit is at work in their lives drawing them to Christ. They may be tired of living sinfully and desire to change. When believers live godly lives before them they can see that it is possible to be changed by God through the gospel.
I am glad you asked for Scripture to support what I said. We just never know what is going on in the lives of unbelievers around us. Some may continue to be hostile to us and to Christ. But others may see how we are able to have victory over sin and realize that this could be possible for them to. Godly living can be what may cause them to ask one to tell them about one's hope in Christ, as 1 Peter 3:15 speaks about.
Matthew 5:14
14Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Dear Donna, you did the best thing by calling 911.
Are you able to check his blood sugar throughout the day? Does he have a blood glucose monitor? It sounds like he may need to have it checked often during the day and perhaps at night, too.
Can you talk to his doctor about this? Does he have insulin to take at home? Does he have other diabetes medications to take to regulate his blood sugar?
When blood sugars get that low, a person will most likely go into a type of diabetic coma and it is very dangerous. So the key is to recognize symptoms of low blood sugar when it drops below 70, which is considered low. When caught at this point, giving him some form of sugar is needed, so be sure to have something to give him. His doctor can give you better recommendations than I can. So go by what the doctor says, for sure.
Also, you could check with the doctor or case worker to see if there is any sort of diabetic caregiver support group or crisis line where you speak with someone who can give accurate and helpful information to you.
We are temporarily removing page navigation from the discussion pages to help alleviate slow page loads for Bible reading and other site functions. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Please pray for healing in my family. Have multiple sick family members and need help. Please pray they will all get better. Pray for me also that I can find comfort and peace, and calm my worries for my family. I find myself not being able to focus all the time for worrying so much about them. I appreciate you all.
Gigi, I don't understand why you say "Such living causes unbelievers to take notice of what we profess because our lifestyle agrees with what the Scriptures". Where in the Bible does it say God's children are supposed to live their lives in a manner that causes unbelievers to take notice?
1 Peter 2:12 KJVS says:
"Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation."
Based on that scripture, doesn't it seem like the purpose of living a Godly life to glorify God?
Yes, us Christian folks should judge other religions. We should judge it by the Bible, because we know and believe it to be true without a doubt. That way, we ourselves aren't deceived.
So, the folks in those other religions (JW, Catholic, Islam, etc.) have been deceived and as a Christian you have the truth. So, when you are judging these religions to be false, learn a little about why they are false. That way, if you have an opportunity to witness to a Catholic, or a JW, etc. You will be able to help explain and plant a seed for God to work. Often times those folks are born into their religion and haven't heard the truth of the gospel.
I tried to keep it short, I hope it helped. Have a good night.
Dear Lord Jesus, I am so grateful for all I have. I'm eternally grateful for Christian upbringing, parents and family. Thank you so much for my Aunt, Uncle and my Mom, all family here and now in Heaven. Please Lord protect us from the daily evil that is relentless on all of us. Please forgive me of all sins Lord and please help all on this forum seeking your grace, guidance and most important, your will to be done. Lord Jesus, the devil is constantly working so hard at creating grief and sorrow and depression. I'm feeling constantly under attack and need peace. I need to get done all the burdens on my back that need to be looked after. The demons are hard at work and I need help please from the Holy Spirit and your Angels to keep on that higher path and to feel peace. Lord please help with serious and out of control anger inside my head that is causing distress. The daily evil hits keeps coming and I'm so tired at trying to keep getting back up. The ongoing health concerns are causing severe and ongoing depression. Lord, there is so much more and I know you have the knowledge of all the burdens and concerns. Please Lord hear the cries of all your faithful flock here on earth and posting on this forum, all trying so hard to fight off the evil of the demons and Satan. I pray for all the humans, animals and mammals that are in distress and needing your help and protection of the Holy Spirit and your angels. I pray for all this and so much more and for your will that is to be done. I pray Jesus that you will supply for all the needs of every person who has posted on this forum. LORD PLEASE HELP. In Jesus precious name, AMEN
Dear lord Jehovah please keep us all safe and well. I hope you're keeping safe and well and thank you for taking the time to listen to our prayers. Amen.
I have always believed in some form of a God. Up until recent years I have prayed to 'GOD'. Now I pray to Jehovah. It just felt proper. My question is, Is prayer enough, too little, or should I be trying harder. I am 60 plus years of age and feel closer to a godly way than ever. Our world we are so lucky to have is governed by greed. If I were to be given the strength to change their outlooks on a better future. { we all exist to help each other create a utopian existence an Eden that once was. the second Eden to heal. I know these are just my thoughts and unlikely to come to fruition, however if my cherished belief in our lord will bring this to come I must at least share my idea of the future as should be. Amen.
GIGI: time-1:59pm afternoon. I just had a scary incident-Arthur's sugar was 35 and I freaked out crying my heart out as to where I could not talk. I called 911 and they came and inserted insulin it got the sugar back up to 237. oh gigi this is so scary for me; he was sweating cold sweat and non-response SCARED ME SO BAD. I wish I had someone to run to during this time such as this, gigi-what do I do? I am scared Help for him and me.
I am glad Arthur has you to care for him and advocate for services. I pray the conference call goes well today. I will pray that your other sons understand that Arthur needs more of you than they at this time. I pray that they will understand that you can only do so much with your time, strength, and energy considering your disability. We all have our limits and it is important that they come to understand that. They are all grown men and we can hope that they will have a mature attitude in all of this.
I am glad to hear that you are taking time to read the Bible! You will be blessed in doing so in many, many ways.
Please know that you are representing Jesus to Arthur and your sons. When they see the love and sacrifice you are making on behalf of your sons the Lord may use this to soften their hearts to respond positively to the gospel and desire to be reconciled to God. Every person ever born needs to be reconciled to God to be truly happy and blessed. Many are called, but few are chosen, as to elected by God to salvation before the creation. Those of us who have been reconciled are truly the "called out" ones from this crazy, sinful, world.
gaining understanding in what we possess now of the riches we receive in Christ and what we will receive after our resurrection in our glorification.
We are to grow in godly character and endeavor to live godly lives privately and publicly. Such living causes unbelievers to take notice of what we profess because our lifestyle agrees with what the Scriptures, believers, and most unbelievers reveal about the lifestyle of those who believe in Jesus. We also need to set godly examples before our children in our home and any children we come to know or are present in a situation. This is a very important part of being mature because we are careful how we present ourselves in the presence of others so as not to cause any to fall into sin by our example or to accuse us of hypocrisy and therefore reject our testimony.
When we walk with the Holy Spirit daily we will learn to be more mature as time passes.
Getting back to you question. The more we know of the truths of Scripture the better we are at identifying false teachings and also the better we can present the truths of Scriptures to those who believe false doctrines or are involved in non-Christian religions. The Holy Spirit will help us in all of this if we yield to Him and pray with him.
I think we are to judge the teachings (doctrines) of what others profess in their religion against the Bible to see if these doctrines are true or false. We are to reject false doctrines whether they are professed by one who professes to be Christian or of any other religion. We can do this privately, making note not to follow these teachings or the religion or sect that teaches false doctrines contrary to what the Bible teaches us. And, at times we may be called by the Holy Spirit to reject false teachings openly such as in a discussion or forum for debate.
Therefore, it is vital for every Christian to go on to maturity as Paul exhorts in these verses:
Ephesians 4:14-15 - That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Hebrews 5:12-13 - For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Hebrews 6:1-3 - Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Ephesians 4:13 - Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
By maturity, Paul is certainly speaking of going deeper into the truths taught to the church by the apostles of which we have laid out for us in the NT. It involves thinking seriously and thoroughly on the doctrines one has learned and seek to understand them to a greater degree to strengthen our faith and knowledge of God in Jesus Christ, His work of salvation, how God has worked over the course of history to bring to fullness His eternal plan and purpose, see pt. 2
Discernment and investigation is needed to know the truth and if a church is following the truth. Judge is a general word that can have more than one meaning, like the word love.
Matthew 12:33 "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit."
Matthew 19:16 "And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?"
Matthew 19:17 "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."
Exodus 20:8-11 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Praying for us to be strengthened in the Lord, for strong protection and deliverance, healing, salvation for us and all in need. Praying for a powerful anointing on our prayer gathering Friday and the Lord to take complete control of important decisions to be made at our church. Thank you.
Gigi: thank you for all the prayers you are extending out for Arthur. (means a lot to me) well we keep getting mail from Washington and it sad that they keep intact with Dening him of service, but they would not help him when I would practically beg them to assist him. So frustrating for me to read those letters to him and explain to him of the denial.
Well, he continues to tell me, please let me stay with you mom. Your all I have. no one cares but you do. and I reply, why? do you feel I am going to give up, I haven't and will not. his got a bed, his got a washer/dryer. room to move freely without getting stuck in trying to use the bathroom, I prepare his meals. I consistently talk to him, honestly I do not know if I am making sense and doing the good feed to him with words. today at two they the Disability is going to do a phone conversation to him, and I am including me in the meeting, but with his approval. Arthur is scared they will take his income (ssi) away since they took his food stamp/his medical insurances etc. I feel a bit responsible, fearing I had damaged his future with what is left. Today I had convinced him to shower, and it was a struggle. I have a walk-in shower, and it was a hardship, he ended on the floor of it but it worked, he was enjoying the water, but getting off the floor of the shower was a big one. So I called the ambulance to assist as a non-emergency and the did. Arthur was contended and it wore him out as to going to sleep after I had bandaged his deep wounds and clothed him. I just kiss his forehead and tell him, I LOVE YOU. his stress is going into silently moods and its worries me. You know GiGi, I was really happy I read, or I thought of it in a good way: Mathews 24:5 and usually take the trivia test and I passed them all. Well, easter is coming and I am extra sad. I pushed my oldest son away for not assisting with Arthur when Arthur asked for help. I am so sorry. I love all three of my son's. but right now, it is Arthur.
I place a prayer with you a few minutes ago and i hot a reply that i had already requested a prayer.Well that not true unless it was over a year ago This is 2025 and this is the fy time I have asked for prayer this. So please tell how often can one put in a prayer with your organization. Yhank grom Mary Murphy
asking for prayers for my daughter she srever pain in her left leg and foot her swells if she sot for long time .She works from a computer which cause her to sit ip long periods. Then her foot turns bllace or blue after swallowing. She has been to doctors after doctors they keep giving her shots but the shots don't help they can't say what's the cause because they don't know or say it may be this or something else not giving a straight answer.This been hoing on for 3 years or more . Very sad
I am keeping you and Arthur in prayer with the hope that the state will begin to offer reasonable services for Arthur soon.
I live in Washington state and I am concerned that you have not been helped much so far.
I pray that you and Arther will grow your relationship in these months ahead and make progress towards mutual respect, love, and openness in sharing the ups and downs of daily life with both of you being disabled but trying to meet needs that you face. I do hope that you will get a care giver to come to your home for some days of the week to help Arthur.
In my time I went through what you are now going through. Trust is what you need. The sorrow, pain inflicted by others and bad choices belong to a make-believe world but faith and your trust is serving you as well the word of God: I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. His grace shall guide you. May God bless you ever more, with greetings,
How joyful it must have been to receive this daughter back from the dead! And how grateful the family must have been. Did this demonstration of Jesus' divine power help them to believe unto salvation? We don't know, but I kind of think we will see them in heaven.
Some people are given the gospel message over and over again until they either are born again or perish in death. And others, hear it once and believe. God has His reasons for such disparity. But we should always be ready to give an answer to those who ask about our hope in Jesus Christ and not give up on others, even if we have prayed and prayed and witnessed repeatedly.
And we can also need to realize that we may not be the one who leads one we love to Christ, but another was called to do so. We can be thankful that our prayers were answered and rejoice that now both people can enjoy the fellowship of this new believer.
John the Baptist, imprisoned and knowing he will be killed needed assurance and encouragement that what he thought about Jesus and his own mission was not in vain. He was doubting, perhaps due to not necessarily knowing all about the Messiah's ministry, life, death, and resurrection.
Jesus sent back a messenger to John who did not scold John for his weakness of faith or for his lack of knowledge.
Jesus had the messenger quote from Isaiah about the lame walking, the blind seeing, etc. to show John that Jesus was the Messiah truly because He was fulfilling prophecies that John knew about from his training as the son of a priest.
How gracious of Jesus. I am sure that John was strengthened, but more importantly, he knew that he was chosen by God not only for his work as one calling in the wilderness, but as one who was God's own. He died knowing where he would end up and that was not in the punishment side of sheol. He died a violent horrific death, but most likely died in peace.
Concerning Judas Iscariot, Jesus did indeed know who Judas was and what He would do because He was there with the Father and the Holy Spirit in eternity past before creation when the Godhead agreed to the eternal decree that would fulfill God's purpose in creation to be accomplished through the electing of those who would be saved (vessels of mercy) and non-electing those who will be judged according to God's justice and wrath (vessels of wrath).
At the moment this decree was thought and willed, it was set in place to sovereignly come to pass without the input of any creature God would create in time. So, at that point in eternity Jesus knew all things from eternity past through time and throughout eternity future without exception and all would come to pass according to this divine decree immutably.
Jesus knew if Judas was elected to salvation or not. He knew Judas' character and every moment of His life from beginning to His last. He knew Judas was appointed to betray Him not just because it was prophesied to occur, but because, as the divine Son, Jesus all of Judas eternally.
So from a human perspective, none of us would choose Judas as our companion in ministry if we knew beforehand what he was like. But Jesus was not like us in this way. He was always obedient to the Father and did all things according to this eternal divine decree that was put into effect before creation when He assented to be the Savior of God's chosen elect, being slain from before the creation of the world.
An awesome doctrinal truth to consider with humility and reverence, for sure.
Thanks for this well balanced post about witnessing to the unsaved and what is most needed in individual circumstances. We definitely should go forth in the fear of the Lord in such a way that we ask the Holy Spirit to help us present the gospel for the sake of the person we witness to not for our own pride or to score a "win" for Christ. Everyone who comes to believe the gospel does so because God has foreordained them as one of those elected to salvation before the creation of anything. So, we should keep this in mind and agree to submit to God in witnessing as He works out His purpose for the person we witness to, for our own sanctification, and for the very situation and circumstances that brough about the opportunity according to God's sovereign will and purpose.
I especially love the verse you quoted about honoring Jesus, the Son of God, in the same way as we honor the Father.
When people reject the clear teaching of Scripture about the Son existing from everlasting to everlasting as stated in Micah Micah and that He is God with us-Emmanuel, Mighty God, as stated in Isaiah who incarnated in human flesh and nature to be fully God and fully Man, these people dishonor the Father and the Son in their rejection of these doctrine.
As believers, we should be careful that we do not resist what the Holy Spirit has revealed in Scripture concerning Jesus' revelation of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in one unified being. We should take into consideration ALL of what Scriptures teach about these topics and not bring up only Scriptures that speak to His perfect humanity in order to negate the Scriptures that speak to His eternal deity and oneness with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
@Bennymkje.....I really like the reading of Psalm 73....I am walking through a trial at the moment both personally and psychologically.....meaning faults that I have and faults of others that affect my being.....However I do not want it to affect my judgements towards man because only Our Heavenly Father should be the Judge of All. Thank you for sharing this reading
I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying the study of 1&2 Timothy. I agree that much of the teachings are relevant in our day. I'm close to being done with 2 Timothy and then on to Titus. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel here. You have stuck with this study from the beginning and that means a lot to me so thank you for that.
My best response to your question would be to suggest that you search online for explanations of this topic of God's eternal decree. You can look under such titles as:
God's Eternal Decree
God's Eternal Purpose
God's Eternal Covenant
There are many good articles that explain this well with biblical support.
As for now, I do not wish to get into a conversation on this topic right now but most likely will post about it in the future.
I was thinking of this verse in my post.
I have found over the 6+ decades of my life in Christ that unbelievers who know that I am a Christian expect me to act in a godly way even though they do not wish to be godly themselves and many will often speak of the hypocrisy of believers who act in ungodly ways on a regular basis and thus can dismiss the veracity of one's claim in Christ.
And, of course we should want to give glory to God in all we do. But doing what is right can cause some unbelievers to reconsider their unbelief or may admit that God is holy and they are not.
It is true that some who are hostile to God will revile Christians for being godly or not joining in on the sin they do openly, often to shock Christians. But I find that there are many unbelievers who are "yet to be believers" who look to how Christians they know behave as an encouragement to believe the gospel. This just shows that the Holy Spirit is at work in their lives drawing them to Christ. They may be tired of living sinfully and desire to change. When believers live godly lives before them they can see that it is possible to be changed by God through the gospel.
I am glad you asked for Scripture to support what I said. We just never know what is going on in the lives of unbelievers around us. Some may continue to be hostile to us and to Christ. But others may see how we are able to have victory over sin and realize that this could be possible for them to. Godly living can be what may cause them to ask one to tell them about one's hope in Christ, as 1 Peter 3:15 speaks about.
Matthew 5:14
14Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Are you able to check his blood sugar throughout the day? Does he have a blood glucose monitor? It sounds like he may need to have it checked often during the day and perhaps at night, too.
Can you talk to his doctor about this? Does he have insulin to take at home? Does he have other diabetes medications to take to regulate his blood sugar?
When blood sugars get that low, a person will most likely go into a type of diabetic coma and it is very dangerous. So the key is to recognize symptoms of low blood sugar when it drops below 70, which is considered low. When caught at this point, giving him some form of sugar is needed, so be sure to have something to give him. His doctor can give you better recommendations than I can. So go by what the doctor says, for sure.
Also, you could check with the doctor or case worker to see if there is any sort of diabetic caregiver support group or crisis line where you speak with someone who can give accurate and helpful information to you.
I am glad you caught his low blood sugar.
We are temporarily removing page navigation from the discussion pages to help alleviate slow page loads for Bible reading and other site functions. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
God bless!
KJBO
1 Peter 2:12 KJVS says:
"Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation."
Based on that scripture, doesn't it seem like the purpose of living a Godly life to glorify God?
Yes, us Christian folks should judge other religions. We should judge it by the Bible, because we know and believe it to be true without a doubt. That way, we ourselves aren't deceived.
So, the folks in those other religions (JW, Catholic, Islam, etc.) have been deceived and as a Christian you have the truth. So, when you are judging these religions to be false, learn a little about why they are false. That way, if you have an opportunity to witness to a Catholic, or a JW, etc. You will be able to help explain and plant a seed for God to work. Often times those folks are born into their religion and haven't heard the truth of the gospel.
I tried to keep it short, I hope it helped. Have a good night.
I am glad Arthur has you to care for him and advocate for services. I pray the conference call goes well today. I will pray that your other sons understand that Arthur needs more of you than they at this time. I pray that they will understand that you can only do so much with your time, strength, and energy considering your disability. We all have our limits and it is important that they come to understand that. They are all grown men and we can hope that they will have a mature attitude in all of this.
I am glad to hear that you are taking time to read the Bible! You will be blessed in doing so in many, many ways.
Please know that you are representing Jesus to Arthur and your sons. When they see the love and sacrifice you are making on behalf of your sons the Lord may use this to soften their hearts to respond positively to the gospel and desire to be reconciled to God. Every person ever born needs to be reconciled to God to be truly happy and blessed. Many are called, but few are chosen, as to elected by God to salvation before the creation. Those of us who have been reconciled are truly the "called out" ones from this crazy, sinful, world.
Pt. 2
gaining understanding in what we possess now of the riches we receive in Christ and what we will receive after our resurrection in our glorification.
We are to grow in godly character and endeavor to live godly lives privately and publicly. Such living causes unbelievers to take notice of what we profess because our lifestyle agrees with what the Scriptures, believers, and most unbelievers reveal about the lifestyle of those who believe in Jesus. We also need to set godly examples before our children in our home and any children we come to know or are present in a situation. This is a very important part of being mature because we are careful how we present ourselves in the presence of others so as not to cause any to fall into sin by our example or to accuse us of hypocrisy and therefore reject our testimony.
When we walk with the Holy Spirit daily we will learn to be more mature as time passes.
Getting back to you question. The more we know of the truths of Scripture the better we are at identifying false teachings and also the better we can present the truths of Scriptures to those who believe false doctrines or are involved in non-Christian religions. The Holy Spirit will help us in all of this if we yield to Him and pray with him.
I think we are to judge the teachings (doctrines) of what others profess in their religion against the Bible to see if these doctrines are true or false. We are to reject false doctrines whether they are professed by one who professes to be Christian or of any other religion. We can do this privately, making note not to follow these teachings or the religion or sect that teaches false doctrines contrary to what the Bible teaches us. And, at times we may be called by the Holy Spirit to reject false teachings openly such as in a discussion or forum for debate.
Therefore, it is vital for every Christian to go on to maturity as Paul exhorts in these verses:
Ephesians 4:14-15 - That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Hebrews 5:12-13 - For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Hebrews 6:1-3 - Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
Ephesians 4:13 - Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
By maturity, Paul is certainly speaking of going deeper into the truths taught to the church by the apostles of which we have laid out for us in the NT. It involves thinking seriously and thoroughly on the doctrines one has learned and seek to understand them to a greater degree to strengthen our faith and knowledge of God in Jesus Christ, His work of salvation, how God has worked over the course of history to bring to fullness His eternal plan and purpose, see pt. 2
Matthew 12:33 "Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit."
Matthew 19:16 "And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?"
Matthew 19:17 "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."
Exodus 20:8-11 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
Well, he continues to tell me, please let me stay with you mom. Your all I have. no one cares but you do. and I reply, why? do you feel I am going to give up, I haven't and will not. his got a bed, his got a washer/dryer. room to move freely without getting stuck in trying to use the bathroom, I prepare his meals. I consistently talk to him, honestly I do not know if I am making sense and doing the good feed to him with words. today at two they the Disability is going to do a phone conversation to him, and I am including me in the meeting, but with his approval. Arthur is scared they will take his income (ssi) away since they took his food stamp/his medical insurances etc. I feel a bit responsible, fearing I had damaged his future with what is left. Today I had convinced him to shower, and it was a struggle. I have a walk-in shower, and it was a hardship, he ended on the floor of it but it worked, he was enjoying the water, but getting off the floor of the shower was a big one. So I called the ambulance to assist as a non-emergency and the did. Arthur was contended and it wore him out as to going to sleep after I had bandaged his deep wounds and clothed him. I just kiss his forehead and tell him, I LOVE YOU. his stress is going into silently moods and its worries me. You know GiGi, I was really happy I read, or I thought of it in a good way: Mathews 24:5 and usually take the trivia test and I passed them all. Well, easter is coming and I am extra sad. I pushed my oldest son away for not assisting with Arthur when Arthur asked for help. I am so sorry. I love all three of my son's. but right now, it is Arthur.
I am keeping you and Arthur in prayer with the hope that the state will begin to offer reasonable services for Arthur soon.
I live in Washington state and I am concerned that you have not been helped much so far.
I pray that you and Arther will grow your relationship in these months ahead and make progress towards mutual respect, love, and openness in sharing the ups and downs of daily life with both of you being disabled but trying to meet needs that you face. I do hope that you will get a care giver to come to your home for some days of the week to help Arthur.
In my time I went through what you are now going through. Trust is what you need. The sorrow, pain inflicted by others and bad choices belong to a make-believe world but faith and your trust is serving you as well the word of God: I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. His grace shall guide you. May God bless you ever more, with greetings,
Some people are given the gospel message over and over again until they either are born again or perish in death. And others, hear it once and believe. God has His reasons for such disparity. But we should always be ready to give an answer to those who ask about our hope in Jesus Christ and not give up on others, even if we have prayed and prayed and witnessed repeatedly.
And we can also need to realize that we may not be the one who leads one we love to Christ, but another was called to do so. We can be thankful that our prayers were answered and rejoice that now both people can enjoy the fellowship of this new believer.
Heb. 3:15
Oh, that people would not harden their hearts when they hear the voice of God in the gospel message and the work of the Holy Spirit in that moment.
Better to come to Christ early than later. Fewer regrets and more days living in Christ!
Otherwise, with every delay in coming to Him is but "wasted days and wasted nights".
here is 3 cultivating tips to help ensure a healthy yield
1st is no cussing,crazy thoughts, etc.
its not what goes into a person that defiles, its what comes out
2nd tip is help anyone in need,you can, thru out lifes journey
3rd is Do Not Work on Sundays, means alot to God
no ground maintenance, self gain etc.perfectly fine to feed family pets livestock etc
or some one in special position
guaranteed results with these 3 simple growing techniques
John the Baptist, imprisoned and knowing he will be killed needed assurance and encouragement that what he thought about Jesus and his own mission was not in vain. He was doubting, perhaps due to not necessarily knowing all about the Messiah's ministry, life, death, and resurrection.
Jesus sent back a messenger to John who did not scold John for his weakness of faith or for his lack of knowledge.
Jesus had the messenger quote from Isaiah about the lame walking, the blind seeing, etc. to show John that Jesus was the Messiah truly because He was fulfilling prophecies that John knew about from his training as the son of a priest.
How gracious of Jesus. I am sure that John was strengthened, but more importantly, he knew that he was chosen by God not only for his work as one calling in the wilderness, but as one who was God's own. He died knowing where he would end up and that was not in the punishment side of sheol. He died a violent horrific death, but most likely died in peace.
Concerning Judas Iscariot, Jesus did indeed know who Judas was and what He would do because He was there with the Father and the Holy Spirit in eternity past before creation when the Godhead agreed to the eternal decree that would fulfill God's purpose in creation to be accomplished through the electing of those who would be saved (vessels of mercy) and non-electing those who will be judged according to God's justice and wrath (vessels of wrath).
At the moment this decree was thought and willed, it was set in place to sovereignly come to pass without the input of any creature God would create in time. So, at that point in eternity Jesus knew all things from eternity past through time and throughout eternity future without exception and all would come to pass according to this divine decree immutably.
Jesus knew if Judas was elected to salvation or not. He knew Judas' character and every moment of His life from beginning to His last. He knew Judas was appointed to betray Him not just because it was prophesied to occur, but because, as the divine Son, Jesus all of Judas eternally.
So from a human perspective, none of us would choose Judas as our companion in ministry if we knew beforehand what he was like. But Jesus was not like us in this way. He was always obedient to the Father and did all things according to this eternal divine decree that was put into effect before creation when He assented to be the Savior of God's chosen elect, being slain from before the creation of the world.
An awesome doctrinal truth to consider with humility and reverence, for sure.
Thanks for this well balanced post about witnessing to the unsaved and what is most needed in individual circumstances. We definitely should go forth in the fear of the Lord in such a way that we ask the Holy Spirit to help us present the gospel for the sake of the person we witness to not for our own pride or to score a "win" for Christ. Everyone who comes to believe the gospel does so because God has foreordained them as one of those elected to salvation before the creation of anything. So, we should keep this in mind and agree to submit to God in witnessing as He works out His purpose for the person we witness to, for our own sanctification, and for the very situation and circumstances that brough about the opportunity according to God's sovereign will and purpose.
I especially love the verse you quoted about honoring Jesus, the Son of God, in the same way as we honor the Father.
When people reject the clear teaching of Scripture about the Son existing from everlasting to everlasting as stated in Micah Micah and that He is God with us-Emmanuel, Mighty God, as stated in Isaiah who incarnated in human flesh and nature to be fully God and fully Man, these people dishonor the Father and the Son in their rejection of these doctrine.
As believers, we should be careful that we do not resist what the Holy Spirit has revealed in Scripture concerning Jesus' revelation of God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in one unified being. We should take into consideration ALL of what Scriptures teach about these topics and not bring up only Scriptures that speak to His perfect humanity in order to negate the Scriptures that speak to His eternal deity and oneness with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
I've copied all of them and created a folder.
These lessons have been a enhancement!
Thanks and God bless.
I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying the study of 1&2 Timothy. I agree that much of the teachings are relevant in our day. I'm close to being done with 2 Timothy and then on to Titus. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel here. You have stuck with this study from the beginning and that means a lot to me so thank you for that.
Blessings to you also. The Lord is good!
I believe Hebrews 10:22-31 sums up much of what you stated when referring to a believer.
Blessings
Great lessons in 1st and 2nd Timothy! Very relevant in these days.
Blessings.
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