Man i miss the old days, just come in to look for something in lowyat.net but couldn't find what i'm looking for though

im around. tag me if you need my input from time to time...

appreciate your good work.

Yes! gashout, you are needed, feel free to contribute.

tough man

i have zero desire like i have zero desire to take a cold bath at night

but i try yes keep on trying

what is our spirit exactly?

spirit is different from soul

i believe soul is our conscience, character, emotions, intellect

Jesus said to worship God in spirit not in soul.

an unbleiver has a dead spirit

Spirit is the non-physical part of the person. It's you without your body basically.

Soul are your emotions, etc. correct.

Yes because God is spirit therefore we commune, worship God also from our spirit.

When we pray, that is also from our spirit, never from our body.

Our body is just a temporal housing. To house our spirit.

There is this question why we can't see God with our natural eye? Answer is because God is spirit.

This is beyond the limit of time and space. Only spirit can see spirit.

This is why when we pass away, we immediately can see in the spiritual realm and thus can also see God.

Atheist can never understand this and yet ignorantly insist, we have to prove God with evidence.

This post has been edited by unknown warrior: Mar 14 2023, 02:43 PM

God is able to save completely!

Hebrews 7:24 - 25 (NIV) - but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Today devotion is to let you know that you have can faith God himself will save you completely. The word completely in the Greek "pantelés" means; complete, entire, perfect, through all time.

God's saving work in your life is complete, leaving zero trace of doubt!

This devotion is to address in case some of us may wonder, how will I be like at the end of my journey? Will I be complete in being saved? Answer is yes.

How come? Well according Hebrews 7, there is a comparison of the old covenant high priest. The high priest function is to represent people to God. Meaning they are one who represents, standing on behalf of the sinner to God. And in old covenant they need to atone for their own sin and the sin of the people by animal sacrifice in order for God to forgive.

Only the High Priest is allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, which no one else could because it was where the presence of God is. Before he could enter, he had to atone for his own sins. A rope with a bell is tied to the high priest, so that if he did not atone properly and dropped dead from being unclean in the presence of God, his body could be removed.

In addition to that, human priest are also subjected to death of old age or circumstance. Whichever it is, Bible says death prevented them from continuing in office, IE continuing to represent to atone. But doesn't it continue to the next appointed high priest? Well the process as you can see are not that simple. They had to atone properly, any mistakes they are done for. So in this sense there is a weakness.

Well compare to Jesus Christ on basis of the power of an indestructible life, one who never dies, by his once sacrifice, made perfect has become a permanent High Priest! I don't know if you can even begun to fathom what that mean?

Bible is very clear here.

Jesus Christ has a permanent priesthood not in order of Levi but Melchizedek! A divine order not of human origin.
And God swore an oath. God doesn't have to swear. What He say is enough! His word alone brings forth into existence anything God wants but yet God Swore! So that you can be assured! If God swore, then it is Iron-clad unbreakable guarantee! Can you even understand this? I get so awed by this revelation!

God swore, Jesus is the guarantor of a better covenant. Because Jesus cannot die, therefore your Salvation is secure and complete!

Jesus Christ isn't like the Old Covenant High Priest. If Christ were to enter the Holy of Holies, with certainty He would not die because He is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. The Bible has recorded with certainty, God the Father has accepted this divine mediator.

This is why the Bible endeavours to tell us to keep our eyes on Jesus Christ as the reason for our Salvation, never ourselves.

Believers of Christ, because God swore, Jesus will always be THE High Priest and because Jesus can never die again, your Salvation is secure if not complete!

I know the phrase has been repeated few times but it is to your benefit this revelation sinks into your spirit to quash the powers of hell.

God Bless.

This is the New Covenant

Hebrews 8: 7-13 (NIV) -

7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said:

“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.

9 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.

10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.

11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.

12 For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”

13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

The power and promises of the New Covenant that God cuts with his people; all hangs on verse 12.

You must accept that God has forgiven you and will not remember your sins anymore. As Christians, we need to live with the mindset (repented) that everyday you live and breath without any sins imputed to you.

Yes we are not perfect along the way but the work of sin removal is from Jesus, not you. Word of God says Christ has remove it once and for all, that it what it means. In your journey, the status of you being cleaned is held by God Himself. Your old self no longer live, your old self identity has died. You now lived, Christ representing you. Always keep this in mind.

In the past there was the teaching that we need to be conscious of our sins daily. That being sin-conscious was suppose to be something we bear everyday. Friend that is an error!
This is a fight the devil will never let you go easily. The devil wants you to be sin-conscious so that you remain defeated.

The word of God tells otherwise. Jesus came to set you free from that.
If anyone is in Christ He/She is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come. Until you hold this truth 24/7, All the "I will of God" does not come into your life.

Do you know how powerful the clause in verse 10 is? The Phrase " I will be their God and they will be my people" basically means the devil will have a hard time in destroying you. The Devil cannot if God is not willing! You may encounter set-backs but remember God got your back regardless! This clause also means when you are in need, God will provide. The Holy Spirit works repentance in you 24/7, in this same clause by guiding you in the Word.

Take note, you need to let go of the Old Covenant, because

1. There is fault in the old covenant, fault in the people as well.
2. Old Covenant "has" been made obsolete for God's people.

Old Covenant is about you performing before God and presupposes in your strength. The Old Covenant was meant to knock you down, forcing you to admit you cannot come to God via your performances (ie your efforts). That design remains true even until after conversion.

Obedience to God is very important but the devil also know he can use that to make it into works-based Salvation. This is where we need to be very careful. We obey God because rightfully so God deserve obedience. Never obey God to make it as an insurance-indicator for Salvation. IE that you know you are saved because you obeyed that is very dangerous ground. God would not have it. Why? Because God only accepts the work of Jesus Christ for removal of sins and imputation of righteousness to whoever believes.

Dear Friend;

When God says "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” it is a very powerful statement. It's a matter of life and death for the believer. Yes it is that severe!

There is nothing for you to do to deserve this. Just receive it in Jesus's Name.

God Bless.

In times of challenges and troubles, run to Jesus

Colossians 1:17 (NIV) - He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

God has the power to hold your life together.

Other than Colossians 1:7, Hebrews 1:3 tells us, Jesus who is the exact express image of God, sustains all things by the power of his word.

The word sustain is the same as hold. Hebrews 1:3 also teaches us God sustains all things.

Sometimes things can get crazy.

If it does, come to God in prayer and in communion. Pray to God to hold your world together that it will not fall apart.

Whether it's relationship, marriage, children, work, whatever. God can hold your world together so that you will not fall apart.

If you need any of us to pray with you, feel free to leave a message.

God Bless.

What does walk in the light means?

1 John 1:17 (NIV) - But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

There is a debate with regards to 1 John 1, where theologians argue this letter was written to believers and there is another argument it's for non-believers. What is the implication on this?

It has to do with Salvation and forgiveness of sin.

I personally think it make sense to state, this letter for written for the church where there are believers and non believers in the same setting. Some verses in there are meant for believers and some verse were meant for the non believing crowd, especially verse 8 in particular. In reading the bible, we can ask God for spiritual wisdom and even spiritual intelligence to understand. Otherwise, our reading will be made understood from natural mind leading to all sorts of baseless assumptions.

For the believers of Christ, we already accepted we have sin and thus confess the need for savior, likewise believers already accepted the apostles were chosen by the Lord and that they were with the Lord physically, hence there is no need to be convinced of this. Those verses were meant for the docetism / gnostic crowd.

During the time of apostle John, docetism was a sectarian doctrine that crept into the Church, it was part of Gnostic doctrine where they believe Christ did not have a real or natural body, that Salvation was achieved not by being freed from sin but by special knowledge (gnostic). Hence to counter this heresy, John stated Christ came in the physical body and we all have sin. Apostle John was using a third perspective language by reference of "we". It is not necessary in reference to believers because as mentioned earlier, believers already acknowledge sin. This "we" was addressed to the gnostic crowd. It's how we communicate with words sometime, " If we want to be taken care of in old age, please contribute to EPF ". Doesn't mean everyone in the word "we" are not contributors.

Anyway, moving on, I want to bring to attention on 1 John 1:17.

What does walking the light means? There is a powerful revelation in there.

There is an error and misuse of interpretation to indicate it means obedience / performances. I beg to differ. The verse does not say If we walk according to the light. Because if it refers to performances then it makes absolutely no sense at all. If you are already walking in the light (obedient performances) then why do you still need the blood of Jesus to be purified of all sins? You are doing no wrong, there is no need for purification of sin, do you see this?

To fully understand 1 John 1:17, you need to see verse 5 and then verse 6. The key lies in the truth, God is light, in him there is no darkness at all. This is about revelation perspective. If God is light and in him there is no darkness, and you have relationship with God, if you see yourself still in darkness, then you are not being truthful. Try digest this from eyes of faith in Christ. Don't see this from negative perspective.

But if you walk in the light with the same perspective that God is in the light, IE meaning, you see yourself being in the same light, then the promise happens! Christ blood purifies you from all sins. All means all, not one iota of sins is left unpunished at the cross. This cleansing is in the present continuous tense. You are being kept there 24/7.

This is very encouraging indeed as we are all imperfect human beings living in a fallen corruptible body. Bear in mind, just because you live in a corruptible body doesn't mean your spirit is corrupted, No. Your Spirit has been made right with God once and for all. (Hebrews 10:10). Always keep this bible truth in mind.

Anyway in conclusion, 1 John 1:17 is about revelation truth, IE perspective and we are called to live in that truth by faith. You are in the light, act like one!

God Bless!

This post has been edited by unknown warrior: Mar 28 2023, 12:37 PM

dude, that is 1 john 1:7

Anyway, that pretty unconventional interpretation of said verse. Let see what mainstream intepretation is:-

1 John 1:7
by Grant Richison | Feb 12, 2001 | 1 John | 10 comments

Read Introduction to 1 John


“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”



Verse 7 introduces the counter-claim to the false claim in verse 6 of walking in fellowship with God.

But if we walk in the light

Believers who want to walk with God must walk in the light. We fellowship with God on God’s terms and not on our terms. We conform to God; God does not conform to us.

Eph 5:8-14, 8 “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light… 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says:

‘Awake, you who sleep,

Arise from the dead,

And Christ will give you light.’”

Co 1:12-14, 12 “…giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.”

as He is in the light,

The basis of fellowship with God is God Himself. When we walk in the light, we walk according to the light. God is in the light. He exists in the sphere of truth and righteousness.

1 Ti 6:16, “…who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.”

we have fellowship with one another,

“Fellowship with one another” is not fellowship with other Christians but fellowship with God. When we walk according to the character of God, we can fellowship with God. Genuine fellowship with God can only occur if we live in the sphere of God’s character (light).

We can fellowship with God because we hold something in common with Him. Christians have continuity of fellowship with Him because the blood of Christ resolves the sin issue. We can walk in the light because of Christ, not because of human merit.

PRINCIPLE:

God determines our fellowship with Him on His character, not our character.

APPLICATION:

Walking in darkness is walking out of phase with God, not in accordance with the truth. Darkness is the absence of light. When we step out of phase with God, we walk in darkness. We turn our volition away from the truth of God concerning our lives. This makes us susceptible not to examine ourselves honestly. If we do not examine ourselves, we will not apply the truth to experience. We then walk in delusion.

Eph 5:11, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.”

When we walk in the light, we become easier to live with. We are more compassionate and gracious. We walk without pretense before others. We are transparent and genuine with others. We are transparent with God.

1 Pe 2:9, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light…

The nearer we get to God, the more terrible our sin seems to us. Living in fellowship with God means that we do not demonstrate our anger as often as we used to do. We live according to our claim to walk with the God of light. We are not as critical and negative as we used to be.

This post has been edited by desmond2020: Mar 29 2023, 10:08 AM

Well like I said, and you can think this with spiritual wisdom.

If you are already walking in the light, why is there a need for the blood of Christ to cleanse from all sins/unrighteousness?

give it a thought.

==============

PS: Anyway and you can check in all the translations, scripture clearly records Walk in the Light and not according to Light. There is a difference in there. If it's walk according then what Grant Richison mentioned would be right but as it is, it's walk in the light, meaning a reminder to the Christians they have been saved.

This post has been edited by unknown warrior: Mar 30 2023, 11:01 AM

Exposition on 1 John 1

1 John 1:9 (NIV) - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Before I began, i just want to state the intention of all the devotions shared is to get the believer close to our Heavenly Father via Jesus Christ and to get the believer out of the cycle of sin. <=== There is no other reason other than this one.

I know, there are believers from various denominations and the devotions written may seemingly be unconventional or that it's not what you've been traditional taught. But I appeal for your patience to digest first before responding.
You have the Holy Spirit in you to guide you in all things.

John 14:26
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.


1 John 2:27 (NIV)
As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

While this is not stated in the Bible but it is generally agreed one of the many reasons why Jesus Christ came is to remove the spirit of legalism / religion (IE seeing God as hard task master) and to establish relationship with God. The reason for my devotion is to be inline with this objective.

Christianity is really nothing more than relationship with a loving Father who is God. And unless the stigma of sin consciousness is removed, the fruits of the holy spirit is hindered.

With all that being said, I'll start by saying 1 John 1:9 is primarily a salvation verse. All that was written 1 John 1 was to counter Gnostic heresy. Gnostic does not believe Jesus came in physical body and they also don't believe in sin as how it's explained in the Bible. It is generally understood, gnosticism share same root in Neoplatonism and Buddhism.

Why is it a Salvation verse? Well because of 2 strong reasons. The word sin in 1 John 1:9, on both occasion is not a verb but a noun. You can check this in the Greek.

A sin noun is hamartia whereas a sin verb is hamartano. Both of them are noun. They are hamartia. What is the point for this? It has to do with forgiveness of sins.

There is a difference between 1 John 1 and 1 John 2. In 1 John 2, this epistle, clearly shown was written for the believers; if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ. So God knew, even after conversion, believers can still sin. But the key point to note is that we have an advocate. Advocate in this context is like a lawyer defending us but on his own expense (blood). This advocate according to bible is victorious because His blood payment is well accepted by the Judge. And in this chapter, the word sin is a noun, harmatano, meaning action.

And the reason why apostle John wrote 1 John 2 is found in verse 12.

QUOTE

*12 I am writing to you, dear children,

because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.

"Have been forgiven".

What is the point in all of these? Well, don't allow anyone to use scripture against you, IE to put doubt on your salvation. When you first prayed your Salvation prayer (the sinner's prayer), do you state every single one of them you have commited in order to be saved? I can tell you with 100% certainty, nobody does that because it's virtually impossible. You wouldn't remember all of them from birth anyway. Majority of the time, we ask God to forgive all of our past sins without being specific in order to be saved. If that is true in the Salvation prayer then it also holds true after conversion for sins committed after.

Am I saying you don't need to confess sins as believer? No. Please do by all means. But do it in the revelation of verse 12*, understand you have an advocate in heaven in case there are sins you have forgotten about.

Don't doubt on the Salvation given to you that came with a great price which you can do nothing to merit or pay but only to receive with gladness and humility.

Always remember, 1 John 1:9 is primarily a salvation verse.

God Bless

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
Matthew 5:13 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.5.13.NLT

Let's discuss this... Chemistry term.. under wat circumstances salt will lost it flavor.. mayb we HV some misconceptions bout this verse

Interestingly salt cannot lose its saltiness in it's natural form not unless there is mixture or contamination with other ingredient.

I see that as an encouragement when one is united with Christ, it's very hard if not almost impossible to lose whatever that is implied in losing.

Salt will lose its saltiness once it's exposed to heat for extended period of time. Thereafter, it's thrown out just like what it's written in Sacred Scriptures.

And this is explained again in Luke 14. Verse 34 talks about salt and I believe it's tied to all the preceding verses above.

It has to do with coming to the end of one self and submit to God in surrender devoid of own strength for God's empowerment to flow through.

Interestingly Christ use the narrative if one consider himself as a king and you are coming against another King who has stronger arsenal. (Verse 31 to 32 talks about whether the believer is strong enough but interestingly Christ pit the strength of the believer against a greater King (i believe refer to God)

Many ppl missed out we cannot live Christian life in own strength. I guess by doing that, you can lose the saltiness.

So to remain as "Salt" so to speak, I believe what Jesus Christ wants us to do, is to come the end of ourselves (from verse 25 to 31 <--refer to your bible) and as verse 32 says it, be at peace with our God King in union. Then we can an effective witness to the world.

This post has been edited by unknown warrior: Apr 1 2023, 09:51 AM

The way to fight the devil

James 4:7 (NIV) - Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

The way to fight is not to fight directly against the devil. We are not that powerful. But God is.

First sentence of James 4:7 is submit. When you submit to God, that is telling the devil you belong to God and that is all that is needed to
the message to this enemy, you are under God's protection and care. To submit to God is to be humble before God. (James 4:6) There will be God's grace (Favor) on you when you do this.

The next step is then to resist the devil, meaning to take a firm stand against, refusing to be moved (push back). It's akin to making a stand against something you completely disagree with it. (This stand is against the devil ya, not against your love ones, or any people)

Last step is to come close to God, let go whatever that is troubling you to God, believe the blood of Christ washes you and take a firm stand on faith.

Doing these things, by power of God's word, the devil will flee from you.

We all need this in times of attack from the enemy.

Believers, whatever attack you are going through right now, this word is for you to take a stand.

God bless.

This post has been edited by unknown warrior: Apr 1 2023, 09:52 AM

Has anyone heard of the chosen ones? what i've been experiencing since a few years ago matches the signs, i'm not even christian

What do you mean chosen ones?