I love you, so I'm going to tell you some hard truth, as it is written "Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. (Leviticus 19:17, KJV)"
My profile was getting crowded with much of this, so I'm putting it here instead for those who are truly seeking, who are really searching for G-d's Will. I don't know everything. Far from it. But this I do know: Most professing Christians are not going to make it. Sadly.
As I'm entering this, one of the random women suggestions above, which CDfF.com has delivered, is a picture not of a woman, but of a black square instead, which contains the words "ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE ME". How appropriate. Indeed, this is the prevailing attitude of this wicked generation, who thinks they can live however they like without incurring His Judgment. Most of us will not hear the Truth. The sad fact is that GOD WILL JUDGE YOU if you refuse to repent of your sin. You are supposed to work out your salvation with FEAR and TREMBLING (Philippians 2:12).
Personally, I'm not looking for a Christian woman, at least not what is common among 'Christianity'. I'm looking for a follower of G-d's Messiah, whose priority is truly following Him rather than men; following Christ Jesus by the Spirit of Christ and in accordance with what is written... not a denomination, not a pastor, not the latest teaching, nor your feelings, nor your friends, and certainly not the majority of professing Christians. Christianity is plagued with traditions of men that nullify the commandment of G-d, which Christ Jesus HATES (See Mark 7:7-9). "But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. (Matthew 15:13, KJV)" To have a hope, we must give Him our lives, and if you've given Him your life, it's no longer yours to do with as you please. It's His.
Most people I come across who profess to be Christians are not really following Christ Jesus. To someone who is really in Messiah, it is very obvious. When you truly step out of the world, it is shocking to see how a part of the world the overwhelming majority of professing Christians are in the world; integral. Unfortunately, though not surprisingly, most professing Christians don't even realize they are not actually following Christ, but the sad truth of the matter is that most professing Christians follow man, and, sadly, are headed straight for destruction as a result. It very well could be that you are just such a person, even likely, so let this be a warning to you if you hear His voice as you read this. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10).
The Master says, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (ANOMIA; LAWLESSNESS!). (Matthew 7:21-23, KJV)" Not all believers are "saved," despite what man will tell you. As James says, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? (James 2:19-20, KJV)"
"Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all [ye] workers of ANOMIA. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you [yourselves] thrust out. (Luke 13:23-28, KJV)"
The Master says, "If any will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow ME. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. (Luke 9:23-24, KJV)" If you really follow him, frankly, you will hardly fit in anywhere. As He says, "Because ANOMIA will abound, the love of many will wax cold. (Matthew 24:12)" "My sheep respond to my voice, and I know who they are. (John 10:27, KJV)" If your goal is to fit in with most Christians and have a nice cozy life --- if your goal is to fit in at the average church --- sorry, you're not really following the Master. It's time to wake up people.
So what's the difference between the real believer and the imposter? We should be in the world, not of the world, set apart by His Spirit, WHOLLY OBEDIENT TO HIS COMMANDMENT. We do not pick and choose which commandments to obey. The soul that abides in sin shall die (Ezekiel 18:20). Unfortunately, most Christians fail to understand what, precisely, sin is. Sin is transgression of the Law (1 John 3:4), as given to Israel by G-d through His humble servant Moses. And it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before G-d, but the doers of the Law will be justified (Romans 2:13). Being Jewish doesn't matter, nor being Gentile; what matters is that you become a new creation in Messiah, who keeps the commandment of G-d (Galatians 6:15, 1 Corinthians 7:19)! The LORD changes not!
Fellowship and worship on the first day of the week if you like, but don't reject the G-d-given 7th day Sabbath, nor His feasts, and stop eating what is not food, stop celebrating pagan festivals. Wives, be reconciled to your husbands or remain alone. Stop believing the lie that G-d's grace means it's okay to sin, or that you cannot sin in Messiah even though you do! Don't be absurd. This passage in John's epistle means you are not in Messiah if you abide in sin! If you are truly in Messiah, you cannot abide sin just as HE CANNOT ABIDE SIN! He who says he abides in Messiah and lives in sin is a liar and the truth is not in him (1 John 2:4)! Don't be deceived. Unless you repent, you will perish (Luke 13:3,5).
Some follow Rome, some follow Luther, some John Calvin... some THINK they follow Paul, but 'Is Christ divided?' as Paul so aptly said (1 Corinthians 1:10-15). Blessed are they, rather, who hear the Word of God and obey (Luke 11:28). Traditions are unacceptable if they nullify the Law of God in any way. THAT is the test. As He said: I have not come to destroy the Law. Whoever breaks one of the least of these instructions will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven, and unless your righteousness in these matters exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you certainly will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:17-20)! But hey, believe what you will. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD (Joshua 24:15).
So let's love Him every day with all our hearts, souls, minds, resources, and love our neighbours as ourselves. Interestingly, those two instructions are not found in the Ten Commandments, but elsewhere in the Law; in Deuteronomy and in Leviticus respectively! That fact should speak volumes to you about the accuracy of the common understanding of the words of Jesus ('We must keep the Ten Commandments...'). It's true, but not the way most people mean to say. As it is written, 'The commandment is a lamp and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. (Prov. 6:23)' Do you have one without the other? Or have you not then turned the lamp off??!
So what did Jesus mean when he said the most important commandment of all is 'HEAR O Israel' (Mk. 12). Most professing Christians prefer to quote this occurrence as it appears in Matthew, which leaves this critical demand out. Most, I find, tend to say '...as long as I love God and love my neighbour, it's all good, even if I choose not to live entirely by the Word,' but WHAT IS LOVE? How do we know whether or not we love? The word translated in Mark 12 as HEAR (SHEMA, see Deut. 6, which means HEAR/LISTEN/OBEY) is the key to love. As John says, 'the love of God is that we keep His commandment, and his commandment are not grievous. (1 John 5:3)' And likewise, 'By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandment. (1 John 5:2)'
How do we know, then, that a husband loves his wife, and a wife her husband? What about their children? A son his parents? Parents their children? Hopefully you guessed it hopefully... So don't forget SHEMA! When we SHEMA to the best of our ability, we THEREFORE love God and love our neighbour; and you can then know, therefore, that you will love your husband or wife as yourself. If this sounds insane to you, then you haven't yet really met Jesus. Search for him. Search for him with all your heart and you will find him.
And stop following men! Follow Jesus! Meditate on the Scriptures, seeking the illumination that only the Word of G-d can provide by His Spirit, and act on it! Stop paying heed to your frivolous feelings, attributed to the Holy Spirit, that are not consistent with Scripture ('I feel like the Spirit is telling me it is okay to not obey this time...'). The heart is deceitful above all and desparately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). Test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1).
Feel free to message me if you have any questions. G-d willing, He will give me the wisdom to respond appropriately. But please, the above is Scripture. If you don't agree, take it up with Jesus.
P.S. To the divorced on here, I'm curious what you think:
How do you interpret the words of Jesus? ...maybe no one has brought your attention to these words before:
In Luke 16:18 and Matthew 5:32 (see also Mark 10:10), Jesus is recorded as saying he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. (ESV)
Likewise, in 1 Corinthians 7:11, Jesus says through the Apostle Paul "To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, she should remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband), and the husband should not divorce his wife."
Just prior to that, Paul writes the following:
"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral....will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
I'm just doing the math here. It seems pretty logical to me, but maybe I'm missing something... The LORD says marrying a divorced woman is committing adultery, which is sexual immorality, and Paul warns us that the sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of God.
You are missing the point entirely. The point is rejecting G-d's written instruction DOES REJECT the Grace and Mercy of G-d, and sin is transgression of the law (1 John 3:4), and
"He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer [shall be] abomination."
- Proverbs 28:9, KJV
I have judged no one. I have warned you, and you are defending lawlessness. The words of Jesus is what will judge men in the last day. My authority to say that most professing Christians are not going to make it is the WORD OF G-D, WHO SAID
13Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
14Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
And He says,
21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
THEY THINK THEY KNOW HIM. THEY CALL HIM LORD. But He knows them NOT.
As He says,
"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"
And again He says,
"17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven."
Where is your authority for your defense of LAWLESSNESS? There is none provided in the NT in context.
I am bullying no one. If you love sin, you hate G-d, and you will perish. If you love G-d, you will obey His instructions, and you will live.
Divorce law of the state is not necessarily consistent with the Law of G-d. Your remarks in this regard are extremely ignorant.
As for your case, it is indeed between you and G-d. I am simply asking the question so that if you are unsure about your course and its consistency with Scripture, you will look into it.
If you are indeed in the right, then that is good, but you cannot speak for anyone and everyone who is divorced on this site, and frankly it is an INSANE number of people, who largely do not seem to understand how serious a matter this is.
You could learn from Jesus' humility. He was SO humble, he had the following to say:
6He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
8For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
9And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
10For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death:
11But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother, It is Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; he shall be free.
12And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his mother;
13Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
Jesus was so humble before His Father, and the commandment of G-d, that he was willing to obey, and called those who reject the commandment of G-d for their own tradition HYPOCRITES. Notice carefully, he included "Whoso curseth father or mother, let him die the death", which you will not find in the 10 Commandments but elsewhere in the Law of G-d, so he wasn't just referring to the 10 Commandments. As he says, LOVE G-D (Deuteronomy 6:4), and LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR (Leviticus 19:18). And yet somehow you fail to understand that this applies to you also. It is precisely this that I am saying.
"Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. (Leviticus 19:17)"
I love you. Stop defending lawlessness. Turn from sin and you will live.
If you read what I have written with a open mind or being Spirit led you would see....yes you would see....That never once did I deny that repentance is essential, but make the point, that what is paramount; is what we turn "to" not what we turn "from" in repenting. In the context of the Gospel, it is more important to turn to Jesus than to turn from sin. If one truly turns to Jesus he will deal with their sin. If one only turns from sin they are a better person, but still dead.
Anyone can copy and paste scriptures, but it takes the Holy Spirit and study to open them up.
You're wrong. I'm sorry. You are not turning to G-d if you refuse to turn from your sin. And sin is transgression of the Law. You are sadly deceived if you believe that you have turned to G-d while you refuse to turn from your sin. I, too, was once deceived in this regard.
I am quoting Scripture because it says this in no uncertain terms, in context. It is plainly written for us. It is man's traditions that are the problem, so yes I quote what Scripture says.
Your focus is to answer the written words of people who haven't viewed this thread in days while you have a live person here willing to discuss the topic with you.
Just like you focus on the commandments instead of Jesus, You focus on what has been given instead of the giver. You focus on what has been given instead of what is given now.
"Your focus is to answer the written words of people who haven't viewed this thread in days while you have a live person here willing to discuss the topic with you."
I simply started at the top and have responded to each of the comments one by one. Sorry to have kept you waiting.
And you're wrong again. I focus on Jesus and I follow His instructions because I love Him and He truly is my LORD.
"Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23, KJV)"
"He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. (John 14:24, KJV)"
You better believe that you reject Jesus if you reject G-d's Law.
I think you are THE ONLY ONE who needed time to figure out that what I was writing WAS that divorce laws were "lawful, but not necessary," and that there are consequences to divorcing.
How condescendingly noble you are to state that my divorce is between me and my Lord.
I would never claim I was in "the right." Where I am is in the Light!
I do not believe I "speak" for anyone. I believe I wrote that for most of us who love the Lord and claim Him as our Savior are well aware of what divorce entails. (Uhhh, yup! That's what I wrote.)
Bully: to treat abusively, to use browbeating language or behavior.
Browbeat: to intimidate or disconcert by a stern manner or arrogant speech.
And many false prophets will rise up and deceive and lead many into error. Matt 24:11
For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and they will show great signs and wonders so as to deceive and lead astray...Matt 24:24
You have specifically rejected the notion that repenting even includes turning from sin by your own admission. Those are your words, not mine. You are defending sin. And now you are lying about me also. I have made mention of my Master's name numerous times, and I have quoted His words numerous times. If you were paying closer attention, you would be well aware of this.
