What the Bible says about Jesus

The True Light "In him, (the Lord Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world,…the world didn’t recognize him." John 1:4,9.
The Good Seed and the Weeds The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seeds in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. Matthew 13:24,25.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Hope from the Word of God

Hope for 2014 from the Word of God.
Abiding faith, hope and love   
Written and posted by Jean-Louis.
 
Abiding Faith 1 John 2:24-29
Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
25 And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
26 These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
28 And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
29 If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

Hope 1 John 3:1-3
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

Romans 15:12,13  
Again Isaiah says,
There shall come the root of Jesse,
And He who arises to rule over the Gentiles,
In Him shall the Gentiles hope.”

13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.


This hope that the Bible talks about belongs only to those who have believed in and received Jesus-Christ as Lord and Savior. 

If you do not know the Lord Jesus, have not experienced his love, mercy and grace, I invite you, I plead with you now to make your peace with the God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and receive his Salvation through His Son Jesus-Christ. 

We all know what the conditions of the world have been in 2014. You know your personal situation. Money won´t save you, politicians won´t save you, guns won´t save you, running and hiding somewhere else thinking you are out of danger won´t save you, belief in any religion, in your own human goodness and performing good works wont´save you, belief in reincarnation and acquiring good karma won´t save you. I am talking about your immortal soul.  

When we die, and nobody knows the hour, we all have to give an account about our lives. The Bible says: It is given for man to die once and then comes the judgment
The ones that have accepted the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to pay for the just punishment for their sins and put their trust in Jesus-Christ will live eternally in resurrected spiritual glorious bodies in the presence of God whom they love, worship and serve.

The others who have rejected the offer of salvation from a loving but just God available to all will be resurrected also but will suffer eternal separation from God and eternal conscious torment in hell (the lake of fire) in the presence of satan and his demons. They have brought it upon themselves because of their own choice to rebel against their loving Creator who has demonstrated his love for his creation from the beginning of time.

From all we can see in the world today and from the Bible prophecies that have never failed concerning the near future, we can only expect the world in which we live to spin out of greater control if not for divine intervention. 

God has already intervened on your behalf 2000 years ago and provided the way to be reconciled with your Creator. 

If you feel hopeless in this dying world and want to know the way to be reconciled with God, this is what Jesus the Son of God said in the Gospel of John 3
  
Jesus Teaches Nicodemus
1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.[a]
“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’ The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”[d]
“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 “You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? 11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.[e] 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,[f] 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”[g]

Love   
John 3:16 reads:
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 1This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

John 1:1-13 speaking about Jesus the Son of God, the Word of God, the Light of the world, the giver of life abundant and eternal,the Savior of mankind:
 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 14:6;  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

I am praying for you who read this and are overburdened and feeling condemned by the weight of your sins without any hope of finding a way out of your predicament, whatever it is, that you would seriously and sincerely consider the above Scriptures and humbly ask the LORD God to help you, to come to your rescue, to reveal to you the Truth of his Word and to let him transform your heart, your mind and give you an abundant life that satisfies in the now and the hereafter. 

Isaiah 57:15 reads: For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Click here Psalm 51. A broken and Contrite Heart  and  HERE  to read my own testimony as the result of God´s intervention in rescuing me from the New Age Movement.

For a more thorough explanation of the Gospel "the good news" of the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life click HERE  and for how to be born again HERE      

What does Faith without Works Mean?


 

Q. Please explain the meaning of this biblical verse: “Faith without works is dead”

A. This quote comes from James 2:17 which says, “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. “
One of my early mentors used to say, “If what you say you believe does not result in action, you probably don’t really believe it.”

One of the results of our faith in the Lord Jesus is a changed life. We’re no longer slaves to sin, no longer held captive to the things of this world, and we want to express our gratitude for being given the gift of salvation that set us free. This creates a desire to do nice things for others, showing our love for them as a reflection of the love the Lord showed for us. We don’t have to force this, it just happens.  It’s faith in action.

Some people use this idea in the wrong way.  They want to see evidence of our salvation in the things we do that proves we’re really saved. This defeats the whole purpose.  If I have to do good things to prove to you that I’ve been saved, then I’m not doing these things voluntarily as an expression of my gratitude for what Jesus did for me.  I’m doing them out of fear that you’ll think I’m not saved.  Instead of being free, I’m right back in slavery.
We don’t have to prove we’ve been saved to anyone.  Our voluntary acts of kindness prove it to us, and the Lord who knows what’s in our heart doesn’t need any proof.  No one else matters.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Who is this Jesus?


Written and posted by Jean-Louis 

Who is this “He” the scriptures talk about?

Let us look at the claims the Man Jesus made concerning Himself in John´s Gospel to gain insight as to His identity.

These claims were confirmed and verified by Old Testament prophecies, His birth, His miracles, His sinless life, His death on the cross, His resurrection from the dead and His ascending to Heaven, all being the essence of the Gospel.

On several occasions Jesus identified himself using these characteristics inherent to His divine nature:

John 6:51: "I AM the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever;"
John 8:23: And He said to them, "You are from beneath; I AM from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world.
John 8:12: Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I AM the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."
John 8:58 Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."
John 10:9: "I AM the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."
John 10:11: "I AM the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
John 10:36: "do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?
John 11:25: Jesus said to her, "I AM the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
John 14:6: Jesus said to him, "I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father r except through Me.
John 15:1: "I AM the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
John 19:2: Therefore the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, "Do not write, 'The King of the Jews,' but, 'He said, "I AM the King of the Jews."


 We would do well to heed these words uttered by Jesus-Christ and not attempt to usurp His authority and power by declaring with the breath that God grants us every morning to praise Him, submit to Him and bow down to the only God and King who alone is worthy of our adoration.

If we choose to believe the lies of Satan  and walk on a spiritual path that leads to blindness, and destruction, we will reap the consequences of our choices and actions, exactly what we have sown (divine retributive justice, not Karma), for God is a loving God who loves His creation, but also a Holy and Just God who will execute Divine judgment.


[a]Praise [b]the Lord!
Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty [c]expanse.
Praise Him for His mighty deeds;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.

Praise Him with trumpet sound;
Praise Him with harp and lyre.
Praise Him with timbrel and dancing;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise [d]the Lord. [e]Praise [f]the Lord!

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Psychology and The End-Times Mysticism

Psychology and the End-Times Mysticism ~FBIS News Service

The following is an excerpt from our new The God of End-Times Mysticism, available as a free eBook from www.wayoflife.org.

Psychology has been permeated with mysticism since its inception in the 19th century.

Carl Jung
Carl Jung (1875-1961), the founder of analytical psychology, has been called “the psychologist of the 21st century” (Merill Berger, The Wisdom of the Dreams, front cover.” Jung (pronounced Young) has been influential, not only in society at large, but also in the New Age movement and within almost all aspects of Christianity. Jung has influenced both modernists and evangelicals. His writings are influential within the contemplative movement. He has been promoted by Paul Tillich, Morton Kelsey, John Sanford, Thomas Moore, Joseph Campbell, John Spong, Richard Foster, Agnes Sanford, and Gary Thomas, to name a few. Jung’s psychological typing provides the underpinning for the Personality Profiling part of Rick Warren’s SHAPE program, which is used by countless churches and institutions.

Jeffrey Satinover says:
“Jung’s direct and indirect impact on mainstream Christianity–and thus on Western culture–has been incalculable. It is no exaggeration to say that the theological positions of most mainstream denominations in their approach to pastoral care, as well as in their doctrines and liturgy–have become more or less identical with Jung’s psychological/symbolic theology” (Homosexuality and the Politics of Truth, p. 240, quoted from Ed Hird, “Carl Jung, Neo-Gnosticism,” March 18, 1998).

To read the whole article click on this link: Psychology and The End-Times Mysticism
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Notes from The Light Seed author:

Further resources: Here is an excellent site I highly recommend: PsychoHeresy Awareness Ministry whose sites contents are posted below. Reading their full size books was really helpful when trying to make sense of what happened to me for 16 years spent in the Occult, Eastern Mysticism and New Age Movement.

My second year in college, at 23 years old, I was turned on to Jung by my English teacher of World Literature.
Then, my diet consisted of many books by authors cited in the articles, plus a number of novelists mainly the ones like Hermann Hesse´s and the existential philosophers from the required reading list in Philosophy and French Existentialist literature of the 20th. Cent. I also took a graduate course for extra credit at the U of Kentucky on the French Symbolist poets. All these authors greatly influenced me at a time of vulnerability and fed my curiosity for the wisdom promised by Satan to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.
Read my study on The New-Age Movement

With such an introduction to the "Dark side of Evil" I was just a step away from full blown involvement in the Occult that lasted 14 more years. During that time, from 1970 to 1985, I lived in Washington, DC, France and Southern California.
Now my steady diet was picked from a smorgesbord of Theosophy, Hinduism, Transcendental Meditation, Taoism, Tai Chi, Astrology, Hatha Yoga, Kriya Yoga with Self-Realization Fellowship  Hindu Guru Paramahansa Yogananda, Channeling sessions and Spiritual Healing. 

The Lord Jesus graciously rescued me from the grips of deceptive and destructive New Age teachings. It took a long period of reprogramming my mind to understand the depth and extent of the poisonous demonic teachings that deceived and blinded me and resulted in  my family and me paying dearlly the consequences of straying away from the Truth of the Word of God. Sadly, the more churches I attended and the more Christians friends I made especially in Faith/Word, Pentecostal/Charismatic and even Evangelical, the more my suspicions grew that the Christian church and so called Christian psychology and counseling had been invaded by Gnosticism, Eastern Mysticism thought and practices. 

My 30 years of experience in different denominations and movements within the Christian church confirm what the author of the above research and accurate analysis article  describe in details. The alarm has been sounded more than 60 or 70 years ago when nobody but a few were paying attention. Now the rising evil tide only confirms the Word of God through the prophecies for these end-times.

13 But all things become visible when they are [a]exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. 14 For this reason [b]it says,
“Awake, sleeper,
And arise from the dead,
And Christ will shine on you.”
15 Therefore [c]be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise. Ephesians 5:13-15.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
  
 PsychoHeresy Awareness Ministries
Exposing psychoheresy and its increasing stranglehold on the Church

FREE
Study Materials
Martin & Deidre Bobgan, Editors

Ad by CM
 NEWEST BOOK
PsychoHeresy Awareness Letter Online 
March - April 2014
PsychoHeresy: The Psychological Seduction of Christianity
Revised & Expanded
STOP Counseling! START Ministering!
Person to Person Ministry: Soul Care in the Body of Christ
PsychoHeresy: The Psychological Seduction of Christianity
Competent to Minister: The Biblical Care of Souls
Christ-Centered Ministry versus Problem-Centered Counseling
The End of "Christian Psychology"
12 Steps to Destruction: Codependency Recovery Heresies
Four Temperaments, Astrology & Personality Testing
 Hypnosis: Medical, Scientific, or Occultic?
 Against "Biblical Counseling": For the Bible
Larry Crabb's Gospel
James Dobson's Gospel of Self-Esteem & Psychology
Missions & Psychoheresy
CRI Guilty of PsychoHeresy?
TheoPhostic Counseling
We are not filling book orders at this time.
All of the Bobgan books are posted as free PDF








Good Morning, Lord. A Commentary On Psalm 19

Good-Morning-Lord
Reblogged from Grace Thru Faith
A Bible Study by Jack Kelley
Psalm 19 is one of the best daily prayers I’ve ever found. Commit it to memory and use it in your prayers each morning. Just like your daily bath or shower makes you physically clean, praying Psalm 19 makes you spiritually clean.  It’s a great way to fulfill 1 John 1:9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Let’s go through Psalm 19 and I’ll show you why I believe it’s such a good one to know by heart.
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
(Psalm 19:1-4)


These verses refer to the Hebrew Mazzaroth, later corrupted into Babylonian Astrology. Hebrew tradition holds that Adam, Seth, and Enoch picked 12 constellations of stars, each with a major star and 3 minor ones (called decans) and named them in such a way as to tell the gospel story.  Being a nomadic people who slept in the open with their flocks, generations of fathers could point out these constellations to their sons at night and use them to teach the redemption story. This was to give hope to the sons, who had heard stories of the fall of Man and his expulsion from the Garden. It taught them that one day God would send His Son to redeem them. Their faith in God’s promise, written in the stars, is what saved them from their sins.

Evidence shows that the Sphinx in Egypt is a monument to the Mazzaroth with the head of a woman (Virgo) and the body of a lion (Leo) combining the 1st and 12th signs and completing the circle of redemption. Some experts contend that the particular kind of erosion the sphinx has experienced could only have occurred if it had spent a period of time under water. If so, it’s a pre-flood memorial to the Gospel in the Stars.

In ancient Babylon, the 12 constellations were given different names, most of which bore no resemblance to the original Hebrew, and the 12 signs of the Zodiac were born taking God completely out of the picture. The Babylonian names survive to this day and are the basis for the false religion we call astrology.  This was one of the enemy’s early attempts to deprive mankind of the Gospel story.  There is speculation among archeologists and astrologers alike that the Tower of Babel may have been dedicated to the study of astrology.  Signs of the Zodiac have been found in the ruins of similar ancient towers.  In Israel the study of Astrology was a sin punishable by death (Deut. 18:9-12 KJV).
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion, like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other; nothing is hidden from its heat.
(Psalm 19:5-6)


The rising and setting of the Sun each day also give evidence of God’s creative powers in providing the light and warmth necessary to sustain our lives day in and day out. How could this happen by chance?
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward
(Psalm 19:7-11)

God’s Laws, while impossible to keep in their entirety, are the standard for behavior that He requires of us.  Neither arbitrary nor oppressive, they are perfect as He is perfect, and making them part of your life is the sure path to prosperity and success (Joshua 1:8).  Even people who don’t believe in the Creator who ordained them are blessed by incorporating His laws into their lifestyle.
Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgression.
(Psalm 19:12-13)

But even the best of us falls pitifully short of achieving the standards God’s law sets forth.  Our behavior is so contaminated by our sin nature we don’t even realize the extent to which we violate them.  So David’s prayer was not just for God’s help in preventing him from consciously sinning, but also for forgiveness for the sins he wasn’t even aware of committing.

In Old Testament times, the evening and morning burnt offerings temporarily set aside the unintentional sins of the nation. From the time of the Exodus to the coming of the Messiah these offerings were part of their daily lives.  The evening offering was kept burning all night to atone for the sins they committed during the night and the morning offering covered them all through the day.  Two lambs gave their life every day to show the people the extent to which sin had permeated their lives, literally causing them to violate God’s laws day and night.

As the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29) Jesus replaced these twice daily burnt offerings with His once-for-all-time sacrifice (Hebrews 10:11-14). And it covered conscious as well as unconscious sin.  Since He has already paid the penalty due us, we need only confess to be forgiven.  Some dispute this, arguing that our original confession should be sufficient for life.  However John the Apostle reminded us that if we think we’re without sin we’re liars, fooling ourselves. But if we confess our sins, as David did, including even those that are so much a part of our behavior that we’re not even aware of them, God Who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8-10)  Our original confession saved us forever, but maintaining an intimate relationship with God in the here and now requires confession whenever we sin.
May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

God, Who judges the motives of our heart knows the difference between the sincere confession of a humble and contrite sinner and the mindless mouthing of words we’ve learned to say without feeling. David closed his prayer with the hope that God would count him sincere as he offered his confession, and judge his motives favorably. Good advice for us too.

Today, when there’s so much emphasis on self, it’s easy to forget that we’re created beings who’ve been given incredible talent and ability to use as we see fit, and a guide to living that will assure success beyond our wildest imagination.  Beginning each day by declaring the glory of our Creator, acknowledging and confessing our sins, and protecting our relationship with the One who is the author of all our victories is a great antidote for the self-centeredness that can so easily overtake us.

In the days ahead our way of life will be challenged in ways we would never have imagined just a few years ago.  It’s more important now than ever before that we stay close to our Lord and Savior, to avail ourselves of His blessing and His protection.  Knowing and praying Psalm 19 will help us do that. Selah 10-30-10

A Short Single Sentence that Saved my Life

The Head of the Snake | Jerusalem Dateline - April 30, 2024

Most Visited