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.
Great teaching!...but you are still very young...wait 10 or 15 years from now and surely you will have different views then. The scriptures doesn't change, I believe it is our understanding that changes with time. Like what the Holy Spirit is telling one about it today at age 27 will be different at age 40 or 45 or 50... There are passages which are very strict yet like what Jesus said, the Sabbath was made for man not man for Sabbath.
I really believe based on observation that man is more strict than my God. I believe everything happens for a reason. It is God's idea it is not good for a man or woman to be alone that he made a companion. To remain single is exception to the rule. For me it is about harmonious companionship not just all about ...
My age has nothing to do with it. May it never be that I grow disobedient as I age as you suggest, but only the more obedient to all of G-d's righteous instruction. May the same be true for you by the Grace of G-d in Christ Jesus.
From the beginning the Sabbath has been a test of obedience: "Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no. (Exodus 16:4, KJV)"
"The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Yes, Jesus said this, but what did He mean? Did He mean it doesn't matter either way if you keep the Sabbath? Is the Son's instruction different from the Father's? If it were, Jesus would not have been the Messiah foretold, He would have been a textbook false prophet according to Deuteronomy 13:1-5 (KJV):
"If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn [you] away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee."
But the Law was made known to Moses by the Word of G-d to begin with, so what did Jesus mean? He is saying that it is not right that the physical NEEDS of man go unattended because of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for the purpose of ensuring rest for man. But how does the man who needs medical attention rest if he dies without it? How do the hungry rest without food? Let them eat, and let the sick receive the attention they need. But aside from the exceptions He specifically teaches, remember the Sabbath to keep it Holy, as it is written. This is what the Master teaches. As He said, He did not come to destroy the Law, he came to cause the instruction there to be OBEYED AS IT SHOULD BE (http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G4137&t=KJV), and anyone who breaks even the least of these instructions and teaches others to do the same, until heaven and earth pass, will be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven. And unless your righteousness in these matters exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees, you certainly will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:17-20). Stop twisting the Master's words to your own destruction and teaching others to do the same.
If you believe that Jesus is LORD, the very Word of G-d, then understand now that it was HE Who said of the man who was gathering sticks on the Sabbath,"The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. (Numbers 15:35, KJV)" The same LORD who condemned that man will judge each man according to his works.
He does not teach us that it does not matter either way if we keep His Sabbaths, but that saving a life is more important.
Husband is Catholic, wife is backsliding Christian then. Husband beats wife for four years after which wife gave up, run away and hide to preserve her life and sanity. Wife as single mother raised their 2 children without support typical in our society here. No husband support nor government support. Now after 18 years of single parenthood, the God fearing children she raised by herself are ready to start their own family. She is now ready to start thinking of her own life, if not, soon she will be meddling with her children�s. Is she doomed to be alone the rest of her life because 22 years ago she married a wife batterer? That for the first four years she�s been forgiving, not a week will pass without the physical and emotional abuses? On top of that she was the breadwinner as her husband was irresponsible, into gambling, and drinking, a professional but good for nothing. What is your advice? What if she is your sister, what can you say? Reconcile?
Jesus is the fulliment of the Sabbath. To try to achieve righteousness through keeping the law is to desecrate the Sabbath. To keep the Sabbath is to rest from your own works.
ps, Hebrews is a good read....'the shadows of the realities that came'
The fulfillment of the prophetic aspects of the instruction of G-d by G-d's Messiah does not nullify that instruction in any way. Jesus says this plainly.
Jesus says that your righteousness in your obedience to ALL of the instruction of G-d contained in the Law and the Prophets, even down to the least of the instruction, UNTIL HEAVEN AND EARTH PASS, must exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees or you certainly will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. See Matthew 5:17-20.
Obeying the one you claim to follow is not earning your salvation my confused neighbour. The love of G-d is that you keep his commandment, and his commandment is not burdensome (1 John 5:3).
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him (John 14:21).
Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him (1 John 3:6). Sin is transgression of the Law (1 John 3:4). Unless you turn from sin, you will perish (Luke 13:3,5).
The Sabbath being a shadow of the good things to come is a positive statement. As in KEEP IT, it is a shadow of the good things to come. Hebrews is an interesting, and difficult, book; one you have not understood.
Your objection is not with me. It is with Almighty G-d.
"And unto the married I command, [yet] not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from [her] husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to [her] husband: and let not the husband put away [his] wife. (1 Corinthians 7:10-11, KJV)"
Take the Master's yoke on you and learn from Him. He is gentle and humble in heart. And you will find rest for your soul.
I was raised by a single mom of four because my dad was physically and emotionally abusive. I know very well how hard this is. It has been a long, difficult road. The narrow way often is. We can do all things in Messiah who strengthens us.
Today, my dad is a different man, who fears G-d...
Got to thinking you may not have understood my last post : I used the word, "fulfilled", you based your entire rebuttal on the word, "nullify" which leads me to believe you either mis-read my post or do not understand the difference between the two words.
