Lockman - Bible questions and answers

Results 1 - 6 of 6
Results from: Notes Author: Beseder Ordered by Date
Results		Verse	Author	ID#
1	Why did God test Adam and Eve ?	Genesis	Beseder	153876
	Hi Swerv, I think my answer to your question would be that I believe G-d wants us, Jewish or Gentile, to be responsive to His Spirit. He says in Jeremiah 31 A New Covenant 31 "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah-- 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, *though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more." G-d says He will, through His Spirit, put His law in our minds and write them on our hearts. G-d does that in a progressive way with us as we walk along with Him... and He does this as it seems best to Him. Some of us are called to a Messianic lifestyle and live according to the Jewish calendar in order to reach out to the Jewish people and demonstrate that within our synagogue, a Jewish person can remain Jewish and follow the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua. If a person is Gentile, that person is also free to honor G-d by obeying any of the laws He puts in their hearts. For example, at my synagogue, we don't serve pork or shellfish or give them out as part of our food ministry. However, if individual members, whether Jewish or Gentile, choose to eat that treif ( sorry :) ), then that is between them and G-d, and we do not look down on each other. However, most of us eat in a biblically kosher way so as to be able to offer hospitality to each other. Others come to our synagogue because they have a personal conviction that they want to worship G-d on Shabbat (Saturday) and also to attend the Feasts that G-d invites believing people to come to. We see and celebrate Messiah Yeshua in all of the feasts. We honor and talk about the traditional meaning of each feast as well as how we see Yeshua in the feast. While we enjoy the beauty and rich meaning of the Feasts and wish that others in the Body of Messiah also were benefitting from the times G-d has set aside and invited people to meet with Him, we don't have a "Messianic chip" on our shoulders which says, "We have it all together and understand everything" because we don't. Rav Shaul (Paul) shows very clearly in Romans 14 that as far as G-d is concerned, obeying Him and honoring Him from the heart, according to one's best understanding, is most important and acceptable to Him. Please read Romans 14 again and again. The principle there is that it is not so much which day we worship G-d as that we worship Him on whatever day we believe He is asking us to. Rav Shaul says that we are not to find fault with each other in these matters because G-d has accepted us as His servants through Yeshua.. and we are responsible to Him for our service. Yeshua is the perfect atonement for every way in which we have fallen short of perfect obedience to G-d's requirements and commands. Yeshua is the offering for all time for all people. I personally love worshipping on Shabbat and attending the Feasts. I personally have a conviction about not buying stuff at the store on Saturday as my normal habit (although if there is a need for hospitality-- a "donkey to get out of the ditch"-- I might sometimes stop to meet the legitimate need of someone else.) But G-d does not love me more (or less) than any other member of the Body of Messiah. I am not any more or less righteous than any other member. I am just responding to what G-d has written on my heart about how to honor Him... and that is the highest call of all... to love Him with all my heart and to love my neighbor as myself. I do love His Torah (which Yeshua mentioned as including the Prophets and the Writings as well). I love how Rav Shaul said that everything written in the Bible is for our benefit... and I have found that by ignoring things in the Bible, I have caused hurt to myself and others. However, the freedom to follow G-d in the matter of personal conviction is important for us to extend to each other as believers... and not to play "Holy Spirit" and tell others what to do. Romans 14 remains the foundational chapter about how the believer is to be responsible to G-d about honoring Him with his best understanding as G-d continues to do what He promises in the New Covenant-- to write His laws on our hearts. Shalom to you and thank you for waiting patiently until I responded. Beseder
2	Why did God test Adam and Eve ?	Genesis	Beseder	153544
	I agree completely, Lionheart. I think Matthew 5:17 is an often over-looked verse that we should ponder. I read somewhere that Jewish people are taught to especially love the Torah while Christians are often taught to discount it. That surely could not have been G-d's intention for His children. All of His word is precious and valuable to us. Like Rav Shaul (Paul) says in Timothy, "All Scripture is inspired by G-d and profitable...." I love it that the Bible is the Word of G-d, and Yeshua is the Word made flesh. :) The word does not contradict itself. There is One Author, and everything He said is written for our benefit and edification. He is the Only Wise G-d. :) Shalom to you, Beseder
3	Why did God test Adam and Eve ?	Genesis	Beseder	153524
	Thank you, Doc... that's good advice. Thank you for your speedy and excellent reply. I am learning about the forum and the main viewpoints of its participants, so thank you for clarifying where you see that particular issue. It looked like there had been much discussion of that issue in the forum from what you had written, and so I wanted the "in a nutshell" response which you gave to me very concisely and effectively. :) May the Holy One bless you.. and may all your extended family be blessed with the knowledge of the Righteous One, Yeshua the Messiah. :) I did ask a specific question about Psalm 2 that I would love to read other people's opinions about. Thank you again, Beseder
4	Why did God test Adam and Eve ?	Genesis	Beseder	153522
	Hi Doc, I hope you are not assuming that anyone who is interested in honoring G-d by being responsive to His laws is automatically into "works-based stuff." I am saved by grace through faith, just as you are.. and also, along with the psalmist, His law is (still) my delight. It's true that I am called to be a witness to the Jewish people that Yeshua (Jesus) is the Messiah the prophets wrote about... so I may be more interested in this topic than you might be... but I just wanted to ask you not to assume that a person who values the Law (which Yeshua incidentally referred to as including the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings-- the entire Hebrew Bible) must be into some "works-based stuff." G-d bless you, Beseder
5	what color was jesus christ to look upon	Bible general Archive 2	Beseder	153515
	Yeshua (Jesus) did not come during the 21st century when we have movie cameras and Microsoft Image composers and celebrity interviews for some very good reasons. First, have you seen the pictures of President Bush dancing in ridiculous ways in animated pictures on the internet? Have you seen images which were cut and pasted and distorted beyond recognition? Did you see the Lord of the Rings movies or even Toy Story? Our technological ability to twist facts and to do special effects has enhanced our natural disbelief to a greater level. If Yeshua came to our earth to do miracles today, people would pooh-pooh His miracles or rising from the dead as just another special effects trick with a stunt double.... or the papparazi would chase Him and try to link him romantically with the latest midriff-flashing singer or jetsetter. Like Herod, we would try to get Him to do miracles for us, not because we wanted to confess our sins and turn to G-d, but because we wanted to be entertained out of our boredom. Cameras, audio, and the internet would allow people to distort Yeshua into whatever shapes their evil imaginations would allow. We would use our technology to "trample underfoot the Son of G-d" even more than we do now. Second, our media-crazed generation is much too fixated on the outer image. People vote for and idolize others based on their physical appearance. We idolize others who are beautiful, identifying ourselves with them, as if the beautiful ones are the most valuable. It doesn't matter how moral or immoral a person is: we assume that beauty equals virtue and beauty equals truth, when that is not the case at all. In sharp contrast to our society, G-d told Samuel when he was looking to see which of Jesse's sons to anoint, "Man looks out the outer appearance, but G-d looks at the heart." G-d did not send Yeshua physically in the 21st century or leave us accurate photographs or statues of Him partly because G-d wanted us to concentrate on Yeshua's message and to see His heart. If we had photographs, we would have focused on the wrong thing and would have tried to remake Him into an image that was more like Hollywood. Isaiah (NLT) 52 and 53 says this about the Messiah: The Lord's Suffering Servant 13 See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. 14 Many were amazed when they saw him-beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person. 15 And he will again startle many nations. Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not previously been told about; they will understand what they had not heard about. Who has believed our message? To whom will the Lord reveal his saving power? 2 My servant grew up in the Lord's presence like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. 3 He was despised and rejected-a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we did not care." Yeshua, the Scriptures say, had nothing beautiful or majestic about His appearance. That's a very good thing, because He didn't want just the rich and beautiful to flock to Him or to relate to Him. His love is real... and it is available for all of us, whether we have extremely white teeth or pimples or perfectly aligned bodies or not. He humbled Himself and did not appear in His glory to us very much. He became Someone who carried our sorrows and is approachable by anyone who recognizes the Living Water He offers. If Yeshua came during this century, we would critically evaluate His eyebrows or fashion sense and suggest a makeover for Him, instead of realizing that the makeover He offers for us is so much more important. Here is a poem by G.K. Chesterton which illustrates what I mean: "The Christ Child Lay On Mary's Lap" http://www.pegsplace.us/cjb.html Words: Gilbert Keith (G. K.) Chesterton (1874 - 1936) 1. The Christ-child lay on Mary's lap, His hair was like a light. (O weary, weary were the world, But here is all aright.) 2. The Christ-child lay on Mary's breast, His hair was like a star. (O stern and cunning are the kings, But here the true hearts are.) 3. The Christ-child lay on Mary's heart, His hair was like a fire. (O weary, weary is the world, But here the world's desire.) 4. The Christ-child stood at Mary's knee, His hair was like a crown. And all the flowers looked up at Him, And all the stars looked down." Unless a person looks at Yeshua with a heart to receive truth, that person will not see what G-d sees-- His Beloved Son. Anyone who will may come to Him because He humbled Himself to identify with all of us. He is the only wise G-d, the L-rd of glory, and one day our eyes will be opened to see it.
6	Short version is not possible. Thank You	Bible general Archive 2	Beseder	153512
	Ernie needs to stop asking for closure about this and allow the woman to change her mind. He's trying to hold on to the relationship and she doesn't want to. When the question is asked, "How important is it to gain forgivness from those you have wronged? ernie feels it important, as it is those you have hurt as wel as hurting God" we see that Ernie is the one who is choosing not to forgive and to hold something against her... she should have... she didn't... I would have.... Ernie needs to forgive her for what she did and for what she didn't do, for his sake and for Yeshua's (Jesus'). He may not see it now, but G-d intends good for them both, and He is the One that Ernie needs to look at and thank. G-d stepped between the two of them, and that was a mercy in some way. Ernie can't control her or be her Holy Spirit. He needs to make sure that he doesn't allow any bitterness or judgment towards her (or anyone else) remain in his heart. He should ask the L-rd what he himself needs to learn about his own actions in this case. In the end, that's all that he is responsible for. The Bible says, "As much as possible, live in peace with all men (and women)." She has told him how it is... and she doesn't wish to share more... and he can't make her... so he needs to bless her whenever he thinks of her and look at G-d and move on with courage to what G-d does have for him since this door is closed.

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