1 John 5:13 I write these things to you who believe in the Name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Romans 10:13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Prov 18:10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it & is safe. Phil 2:10 At the name of Jesus every knee should bow. — There is Power in His Name! There is Hope in the Name! There is strength in the Name! There is Victory in the Name! —John 14:12-13 Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes in Me will also do the works that I am doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. & I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. —Because Of Him we are called Children of God! Whatever we do in His Name brings glory to the Father! Love Mel
1 Samuel 17: David and Goliath
1 Sam 17:37 David added, “The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion & of the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”… Dan 3:17 If the God whom we serve exists, then He is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace & from your hand, O king. Dan 6:16 So the king gave the order, & they brought Daniel & threw him into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you. 2Cor1:9-10 Indeed, we felt we were under the sentence of death, in order that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead. 10He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, & He will deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us. Isaiah 43:1-3 Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; & through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, & the flame shall not consume you. For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. —Our God Delivers! Love Mel
Cat and Dog Theology Part 2
From Bill- Cat & Dog Theology continued. What is our purpose? Isaiah 43:7 (NKJV) 7 Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” Our purpose is to glorify God! Psalm 100:2-3 says: “Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, & we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture. Psalm 139 says: For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” —Sometimes we wonder if God still cares about us when things don’t go our way or we cannot clearly discern the purpose of God in our current circumstances. But then we should remind ourselves “it’s not about us”. Whew!! Our circumstances are not a judgment of God upon us. He promises to bring good from what the enemy means for our bad! And He will use us when he needs us– we just need to be available. Q: Is God being glorified today? His spirit is working everywhere & pastors, preachers & missionaries are spreading the word throughout the world. We can Participate daily with our prayers, time, giving, & as He leads. He is being glorified, & that is that & should be sufficient to give us great joy as His children. Let us rejoice. Love Mel
Matthew 13 The Parable of the Sower
Matt 13:3-9 He told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. & as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, & the birds came & devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, & immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, but when the sun rose they were scorched. & since they had no root, they withered away. Other seeds fell among thorns, & the thorns grew up & choked them. Other seeds fell on good soil & produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear. — Spring is here & it is planting season! This parable can be used to examine what we are doing with His words! Are they becoming bird food? How about that hardened heart! What about all the thorns (idols) in life? His words need good ground, adequately cultivated, fertilized, & watered. To produce a vital harvest, we need to focus on what is taking root in our lives! The more we are yielding to Him, the greater the fruits of our labor! He even tells us the laborers are few! Let’s choose to be part of the few! Willing to yield to His plow! If we have ears, then open up to hearing so that we will produce a great harvest! Love Mel
The Doctrines of Men
Matthew 15:9: “And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
Be careful to seek out the truth from Scripture. The Bible is true as written, but religious systems have intervened over the years to add to or subtract from true doctrine.
For example, in Judaism there are those who adhere only to what is written in the Torah, the first five books of Moses. These are called Karaite Jews. However, some
Rabbinic Jews also adhere to the oral Torah, or Talmud, which at times is contradictory and far more extensive.
Christ warned His followers not to follow the doctrines of some of these men (Pharisees), who in some cases laid heavy burdens on people too difficult to bear that were beyond those required in the Torah. Early Jewish converts followed large portions of the Torah,
primarily since they had no other scriptures, and they accepted Christ as Messiah. The only scripture they had was “Old Testament” scripture such as Moses and the prophets.
Gentile Christian converts were given relatively few requirements. In Acts 15:18–21, Paul points out: “Known to God from eternity are all His works. Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. For Moses has had throughout many generations those
who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”
Paul makes it clear in his writings that the Christian is not required to follow the Mosaic Law unto salvation. However, in Christendom, the church has over the years essentially discouraged or forbidden most of the Torah from the practices of Christianity. The
festivals (Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles), the dietary laws, the Paleo-Hebrew language, and the Sabbath, to name a few, were all discouraged or eliminated for a variety of reasons. In place of these, however, we have acquired many more traditions of men: Christmas, Easter, Sunday Sabbath, the seat of the church outside of Jerusalem.
The Bible tells us that in the New Covenant, the Law is to be written on our hearts. The Law, of course, is the law of God and is found initially in the Torah. We should not, therefore, be averse to its contents, even though we know our salvation is assured by faith in
our Messiah, who forgives all of our sins. People should not fear or be ashamed of any higher level of obedience, but they should fear putting themselves under bondage to the Law, thinking perfect adherence, were that possible, guarantees salvation. There is a
huge difference.
Many modern-day Christians are at least partially Torah observant, because the Torah says so much about what God likes and dislikes. They celebrate the festivals to some degree, follow the dietary laws, for health reasons primarily, and observe the Sabbath
on Saturday. They essentially follow as much of the Torah as they feel is applicable today. The reason people seem to avoid most of Torah is because it is, in its entirety, impossible to follow to the degree Christ Biblical Principles for Successful Living outlined especially, and some aspects do not seem applicable today. But there are many parts that are quite easy to follow, very applicable, and offer us an opportunity to know and do what pleases God.
This must not be done as the means unto salvation, however. That would be a serious — perhaps fatal — mistake. It must be done, rather, from a heart of love toward God.
A Christian should accept the mercy and grace of God in Christ and live as much as possible as Christ lived. Remember that Christ followed the Torah but not all
Rabbinic Judaism. He summarized the law in two precepts: that we should love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. In doing so, we fulfill all the Law and the Prophets.
Some feel the New Testament actually begins with the book of Acts because Jesus preached and lived under the Law to the Jews. Other scriptures say that we, as Christians, should walk as He walked (1 John 2). And we know Paul and the Council of Jerusalem put very few requirements on Gentile believers but seem to have left the door
open for those who choose to read and obey more of God’s law, as he knew God would lead them to do over time. If the Bible does not mention Christmas and Easter, but does mention the eternal celebrations of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles — and their
fulfillment in Christ — should we not at least acknowledge these in some way? See, for instance, Leviticus 23.
Even so, let’s keep in mind that the Mosaic Covenant was a temporary covenant. A number of its requirements are upheld and restated in the New Testament — for instance, nine of the Ten Commandments. The fourth, which begins with “Remember the Sabbath day” (see Exodus 20:8–11), is the one not repeated in the New Testament — though Jesus and Paul are noted in Scripture as observing the Sabbath, and having a day of rest is highly encouraged for everyone.
Jews who have accepted Christ as the Messiah are called Messianic Jews. They follow Jewish customs and accept Jesus (Yeshua) as their Messiah. Likewise, there are Christians who choose to follow some of the Torah. The challenge for them is in determining which parts of the Torah are applicable now to Christians today. Some may not be.
You can figure this one out for yourself. However, let me reiterate that, according to the New Testament, salvation is by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone. We should walk as He walked. Rewards are merit-based in the Kingdom of Heaven. We are wise to
avoid the doctrines of men and do only what the Bible says as much as possible. Stick to what it says.
