Monday, October 29, 2012

on Leave a Comment

Blaming God for Our Choices

“Either you are going to look to God and say, ‘Thy will be done in my life.’, or God will look to you and say, ‘Your will be done in your life.’ ” I heard Grant Jeffrey, a Bible prophecy teacher, make this simple and yet profound statement today. He was speaking to the point that God has given man free will to make his own choices from the very beginning. The one choice that has top priority in each person’s life is whose will are you and I going to choose to follow in our journey through life, remembering that life means not only here and now but on into eternity?

God meant man to have a direct and personal relationship with Him from the very beginning when He created the first man and woman. He gave them an environment of complete perfection in which to grow and thrive. Everything that He had created was handed over into the hands of mankind to exercise dominion over it, which meant to care for and direct the growth and development of everything down to even the smallest detail of naming everything. For a while Adam and Eve did just that. While doing so, they also had the ultimate personal relationship in that, besides having one another, they also ‘communed’ with God, visiting and talking with Him as they went about their daily lives. Remember how the Bible says that as God was in the process of creation, He would look at it and say, it was good? Because God had created it, all was good and without any seed of corruption. All was glorious and ‘good’ as it was meant to be.

When God gave man dominion over all the earth, He had first given them only one limitation. He told them NOT to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Had they remained obedient to God, they would have remained ‘good’ and without corruption. For a time, they lived according to God’s will without having to consider that there was any other possible choice. It would not have entered into their minds to do otherwise. Can you even imagine how glorious your life would be if you never had any thoughts or desires that were anything but good and righteous? They knew only how to be and do ‘good,’ and did not know what evil even was. It wasn’t until they chose to go against God’s will that they themselves opened the door for evil, sin, to enter, bringing corruption not only into themselves, but also over all the earth.

True ‘good’ is that which is totally righteous and there is no spot or blemish in it. True ‘good’ is that which is totally encompassed within the will of God. The moment that the knowledge of evil entered into mankind, he could never be totally ‘good’ and righteous again. The Bible says that, compared with the righteousness of God, any righteousness that we might think we have is as filthy rags before God because His ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours. In God’s eyes there is no such thing as just a little bit of corruption, just as there is no such thing as being just a little bit pregnant. Just like the picture that Jesus gave us of the leavened bread, once there is even a little leaven in the bread the whole loaf is made corrupt. From then on, no matter how he might try, mankind could not rid himself of that sinful nature. The term good then can only be applied to Jesus, for He alone is without sin. Man is not free of sin; therefore, the only point that may be arguable about us is to what degree, for or less, are we wicked, unrighteous.

God did not intend for us to know sin. He intended for us to only know that which is good and right, that which is acceptable in the sight of God. Once we had opened that door of knowledge of evil, we now made ourselves subject to the power of doing that which is evil, or wrong in the sight of God. None of us, not even the smallest baby is free of having the knowledge of evil. If one has that knowledge then one is forever plagued by the power that it has to entice us into its snare and make us its captive or servant to do that which is evil over and over again. That’s why, apart from God, man has no hope of redemption, purpose or value. We might as well be, like the Bible says, a blade a grass that sprouts up, withers and dies, except that, unlike a blade of grass, man has a spirit. That spirit, whether in a body or out of the body, has an eternal destination - Heaven or Hell.

We often hear statements like, “He is a good man,” or “I’ve done my best to be a good person.” The truth of such statements is dependent upon whose yardstick one is using to take the measure of a man. It’s this manner of thinking that leads to the erroneous belief that if I try my best to be a good person, following biblical morals, that I will then have earned my title of good; therefore, I will be deserving of going to Heaven. However, we would be far from right.

Many times I have puzzled over the meaning of the word wicked. On the surface, it seems to apply only to those who choose to live a life that is fraught with evil and horrendous misdeeds. Here again, we must consider what yardstick or rule is being used to make the comparison that would determine the concept of good and wicked. If I am only going to compare myself to another human being, perhaps I may be able to declare myself more or less wicked than someone else. But for the purpose of determining whether I am devoid of wickedness, sinfulness, and therefore all good and deserving of a place in heaven, if I am honest with myself, I would have to admit that what the Bible says of me is true, “All have sinned and fallen short of the mark.”

People will often single out persons like Gandhi as an example of a ‘good’ man. Making this assumption, because he appears ‘good’ in my eyes, he must also be good in the sight of God. This assumption would be leading us to an erroneous decision. Don’t miss the point here. I am not setting myself up as judge and jury to say that Gandhi is not in Heaven; God is the one that determines that. However, I am saying that God is the one who has set up the plan and requirements of who will or will not enter the Kingdom of God. That plan has never been based on what we consider to be right or fair, for our ideas change with every little whim that happens to float into a given person or society. Isn’t it a good thing then that God’s ways never change and that He remains the same yesterday, today, and forever? He is not a God of confusion; He doesn’t leave anything up to chance or happenstance. For that reason, we are able to put total trust in Him. We can have the assurance that what He says, He means, He does, and He does not waiver. His promises are never revoked, and His counsel will forever stand. We can depend upon Him to keep His word forever and ever. Isn’t it sad that some people will choose to reject God simply because they perceive their own opinions or ideas of what is right and wrong to be more ‘fair’ than God’s thoughts and ways as proclaimed in His word? God is not hampered with any ideas of what is fair, instead, He is focused on what is either right or wrong. There is no inconsistent thinking or behaving within Him. He doesn’t play around with ideas of ‘situational ethics’ or ‘values clarifications’ as man does. Man plays mind games in order to make the situation fit his own opinions.

We set ourselves up to be little gods when we think our ways and thoughts are higher than His. This is the root of true confusion and lawlessness in the world for our thoughts and ways can never reach the standard of God’s. The truth of this fact has been acted out time and time again in history, and yet we never seem to learn that lesson. Every time a society marginalizes God and His Word, the results have been tyranny, not freedom. “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”

If you and I are responsible for the choices that we alone have made, how then can we possibly blame God for a bad ending to the story? Yet that is what you hear time and time again. God has made a plan for us to escape eternal damnation in Hell, a place created for Satan and his demons, never intended for mankind. What did He require of us? Didn’t He say we must be born again, believe on Him, and we would have eternal life? Didn’t Jesus say that His Father’s house had many mansions and that He was going there to prepare a place for us that where He was we might be also? Doesn’t that make it clear that He wants us to be with Him to live forever and ever? It seems only reasonable that if I was given a free ticket to go home, but I refused to take it, I would have no one to blame but myself for the fact that I was lost, alone and without a home. If I was a child stuck in a room where a fire had begun, and I refused to take the hand of my father and follow him into safety, would it be reasonable for me to blame him for my death? Neither of those scenarios would make any since to a reasonable person. However, the statement that is often repeated is, “I can’t believe that a loving God would send anyone to Hell.”

That sin nature entered into all of mankind after the knowledge of evil entered the scene. Every man that is until the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, impregnating her with a seed that had no corruption from mankind in it. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who knew no sin, meaning that He was man but totally righteous, totally God filled, totally God personified. Once again, God was on earth and mankind could walk, talk, and commune with Him as Adam and Eve had done in the Garden of Eden before sin, the knowledge of evil, entered into the world. Remember, the angel of the Lord said about Jesus, His name shall be called Emmanuel, meaning God with us. Finally, Jesus, the Lamb of God, came into the world that through His sacrifice, our debt would be Paid in Full, so that we might once more be redeemed and made right with God. Though our righteousness is still as filthy rags, God has made it possible for us to be covered with His royal robe of righteousness through His shed blood that would wash away our sins. But in order to receive that royal robe, each individual must be willing to receive and wear it.

Being able to enter the Kingdom of God was never dependent on any level or idea of goodness that we ourselves could attain through good works or anything else that we might do. Our salvation has always depended upon what God has done for us, not what we have done for Him. He sent His only Son to be sacrificed as payment for our debts, a debt we could never repay. Jesus declared that debt as Paid in Full as He hung on the cross and declared “It is Finished!” There is no other name by which we can be saved. He is the only one that could pay the price. He is the only one that arose from the dead in a glorified, appearing to many over a period of forty days so they could witness for themselves that He had kept His Word and demonstrated that He truly was who He said He was – The Son of God. He is alive today and sits at the right hand of God the Father. Had he not risen from the dead, never to die again, He would have been no different than Gandhi, Mohammed, Buddha or any other false god. Believers would have no foundation for their belief and trust in Him.

God has made it clear that the only requirement that we must fulfill to become a child of His is to be reborn through faith in Jesus Christ; to acknowledge and believe on His Son as the only one through whom we can be saved. There are those that would proclaim there are many paths to God; but I direct our attention to God, who is the ultimate and only authority. Has He not said: (I John 5: 10 – 12) “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of His Son. And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and He that hath not the Son of God hath not life.”

As for those good works done by mankind, of what value are they? They may be of temporary short lived value for the here and now. However, apart from God they have no eternal value. We are not saved by our good works. Does this then mean that I can just have faith in Jesus and then live my life as though He did not exist? God forbid! If we love the Lord, we will have evidence of that love that we bear towards Him. If you love your earthly parents, don’t you want to show that love by doing things that you know would be pleasing to them and make them happy? The answer is, of course you would. Everything that we do, we are to do as if we were doing it for the Lord. Because He has first loved us so very much, isn’t it then reasonable that we should want to do good works, not to exalt ourselves, but rather to give all honor and glory unto Him? Does it mean that we will never sin, or do wrong again. No, we are still human and we do fight against that old sinful nature; however, it should mean that we will not purposely set out to practice to do those things that are not pleasing in His sight. If my life as a Christian looks no different than the non-Christian, I definitely need to examine my heart to determine if I am truly a follower of Christ, doing the will of God, or am I just a culture Christian, a Christian in name only and not in actions. None of us starts out our Christian life fully grown and mature, but there should be some evidence that we are being changed more and more into his image as we journey towards maturity in Him. That doesn’t happen by accident, but only as we subject ourselves to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit by the power of His Word. We can’t grow if we never spend time in His Word that we may learn how He thinks and then truly apply it to our lives. That’s what is meant by acquiring, or ‘having the mind of Christ.’ Becoming more Christ like is a daily process, and full maturity will not be reached until we see Him face to face and He has finished that good work that He has begun in us.

Just as Adam and Eve were given the choice to obey God, you and I are also presented with a choice that no one else can make for us. Each individual has to come to the point of decision in life – am I going to choose to surrender to God, repent, ask Him to come in to be Savior and Lord of my life, or am I going to choose to be lord of my own life? There is no in between. You and I are responsible for the consequences of what choice is made. I can choose to put my faith in Jesus the Son of God, receive the covering of His royal robe of righteousness, that I may be redeemed, resurrected into a new body as He was, and have eternal life in Heaven to be a part of the family of God for eternity. On the other hand, I can choose to make myself lord of my life; God gives me the freedom to do so. He never forces anyone to believe on Him. If I choose the latter, I have taken myself out of God’s will completely. What is God’s will for you and me? Doesn’t the Bible tell us that it is not the will of God that any should perish, but that whosoever would believe on the Son of God would have eternal life?

Finally, saying that a loving God would not send anyone to Hell is a true statement in that He is not the one that sends any person there. Consider the following choices that are given to us, that of going to a marvelous place or one filled with darkness and eternal torment. All provisions for going to the marvelous place have been provided for you and I as follows:

(1) You have been given an invitation to go to a special event.

(2) A gracious and merciful person paid the price for your ticket providing your safe passage to the event. He only asks that you receive the gift and that you believe in what he has done for you.

(3) Not only has he given you a special pass, but he has also provided a special cloak that will make you presentable and acceptable before the king.

(4) At the door, there is even a list with your name on it to confirm that you are welcomed.

(5) When you get there, your very own private accommodations have been prepared for you with much splendor.

(6) There are many loved ones there expecting your arrival with joyous anticipation.

The moment of decision has come. The choice is up to you; are you going to accept all that has been provided for you, or are you going to turn it down? Your name does not get blotted out of the book until, or unless, you don’t accept the gift that is being offered. Remember the alternative choice to go to the dark and tormenting place? If that’s your choice, you have to make all your own arrangements and provisions to go there. Since the choice was up to you all along, how can God possibly be blamed for the choice you made if it was for the latter destination? Yes, you can choose be lord of your own life and in so doing you will never have to be responsible to anyone or anything. Realizing that it was you, and only you that is responsible for making that choice, is it really God that has been unfair, or do you and I condemn our own selves? Is it not written: (John 3: 16 – 18) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but him that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in name of the only begotten Son of God.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>

Saturday, October 27, 2012

on Leave a Comment

The King James Bible


 

          The King James Version of the Bible is wholly believable, and Holy believable.  The New Age Versions are wholly unbelievable.  Anytime I refer to the Bible, it is the authorized King James Version as the authoritative depiction of Gods Word.  

          John 2:22 says anyone who says Jesus is not the Christ is a liar, and anyone who says this is antichrist.  The New Age Versions such as the New International Version, New American Standard Version, Good News for Modern Man, The Living Bible, The Message and New King James Version are antichrist bibles.  Some are so blatant as to put the sign of 666, on the front of the New King James Versions.
 
     

               This is a Mobius symbol used by the New Age people.  The real Bible says that uses of pagan symbols like these are forbidden. "On the cover of the Aquarian Conspiracy is a Mobius, it is really used by them as triple six (666). The emblem on the cover of the New King James Bible is said to be an ancient symbol of the Trinity. The old symbol had Gnostic origins. It was more Gnostic than Christian.”[1]

          The corruption of the Bible started with the Gnostic Christians and the Alexandrian texts. The King James Version has the research and vast majority of “original texts” agreeing with it.  The “Christian” translators have established the King James Version to be the authentic “Word of God”.  The “faux Christian” translators deviate from the intentions of the Holy Spirit of God.  Archeology continues to prove that the King James Version is the closest to the original writings of the men who followed the leading of the Holy Spirit: for instance, the Dead Sea scrolls show that the Old Testament in the King James Version is the same as it was 2000 years ago, while the New Age Versions deviate from them. 

          If the version you are reading has “Morning Star” instead of “Lucifer” in Isaiah 14:12-17, it is an attempt, by the New Age writers, to represent Jesus as the one who rebelled.  Jesus is the “Morning Star”[2], not Satan.   Luke 11:2-4, in the King James Version, says: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread. And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.  The New International Version says: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.  I personally prefer the King James Version in Matthew: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.  The New International version leaves out “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen

          Jeremiah 23:29-32 says: “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbor. Behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that use their tongues, and say, He saith. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.”

          Matthew 5:20 says: “That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”  Do you think that if you, as today’s scribe, alter the word of God, even to the point of the opposite meaning, you will be able to avoid Hell?

          Jesus said: “many will come in my name claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many ..... for many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Messiah”[3].   Paul said: But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well believe him.”[4]

          Everything spiritual is not of God.  There are two forces active in this world; the GOOD God and the EVIL Satan.  The New Age Bible translators as well as groups like the Freedom From Religion foundation are being lead by Satan whether they are aware of it, are mislead or simply knowledgeably fighting The Lord God Almighty.  New Agers are doing their best to bring about the ‘end time’ one world religion.  By watering down the Word of God and joining it to Satanism and other religious fervor, they hope to have the one world religion in place for the Antichrist.  A good example of this is Chrislam, which started in the 1980’s in Africa and tries to combine Islam with Christianity.

          The Lord knows everything; including the future.  He knew that man would turn away from Him, to his own lusts, on a regular basis. He prospers man: at the point when man is satisfied with his possessions and prosperity he will turn away from his need for God.  Focus on Prosperity brings about self love and sufficiency thinking.  The Hebrews did it on a regular basis, and our country is in the midst of it.[5]

          Today, more and more intelligent men and women are coming to the knowledge that the Authorized King James Version is the truest, if not the only, clear representation of the Word of God.  The New American Standard Version, by Philip Schaff, contains 30,000 deviations from the King James Version.

          The concept that God (Jehovah, YHWY) was only for the Jewish people is a lie, spread by the Devil.  The Jews were instructed to proselytize the world.  The fact that they did this is reported throughout the Bible.  Those who accepted the God of Israel were accepted in the community and those who did not were not accepted.  There were many who followed the Jewish God, who were not “Sons of Abraham”.  An example of this was the non-Jews who went out of Egypt with the Jews: they would be held to the covenant of the Lord.  Jesus was part of Gods plan from the beginning because God knew that neither Jew nor non-Jew would be able to live up to fulfillment of God’s law.  The anti God forces have been around since the beginning: Satan is the sponsor of them all.  The “other gospels” that Paul spoke about were those Jews who couldn’t give up the additions to the laws imposed by men and the “Gnostic Christians” who distorted the message of the gospel, among others. 

          Deut. 6:4 describes the trinity, Elohim = plural (Gods) while Jehovah = (echad) is one.  The proof text of the trinity is 1 John 5: 7-8, which is left out of the new versions.  

          Luke 20:46 says: “beware of the scribes”.  Kurt Koch said: “It is one of Satan’s specialties to hide under a Christian disguise”.[6]  One of the things Jesus griped about was the additions added to the law by the scribes and Pharisees.  Luke 5:21 says: “professing themselves to be wise…the scribes”.

Lewis Sperry Chafer said: “Such religious leaders may be highly educated…but if they are not born again their judgment in spiritual matters in worthless and misleading.”[7]  Matthew 23:14 says: Woe unto you Scribes…

          Why has the distortion of the word been so prevalent, even from the beginning?  It is because Satan has been against God from even before the beginning of the world. 

          Those who promote the New Age Versions are promoting the One World Religion of the end times.  As in the old adage: All it takes for evil to prosper, is for good men to do nothing, to not speak out about the “Apostate New Age Versions” is to do nothing. 

          Even some expositories, concordances, dictionaries, Bible handbooks, and commentaries are suspect because they use the New Age Versions as their authority.  Nearly all New Testament textural criticism, over the last hundred years, are based on the Westcott and Hort “New Greek” translations.  The “Authorized” or “King James Version” is based on the “Majority Text” or “Traditional Text”.  The newer versions are based on the less than one percent of old texts that disagree with the “Majority Text”.  The texts that disagree with the “Majority Text” even disagree with themselves.  The “Majority Text” otherwise known as the “Byzantine Text” is based on the texts from Greece, Constantinople, Asia Minor, Syria, Africa, southern Italy, England and Ireland.  The “Alexandrian” or Egyptian texts have been referred to as a revision rather than the original. 

          The Greek philosophers are influential in the Heresy of the “New Age Translations”.  The corruption of the Bible was extensively done in the Alexandrian texts which were perverted by Origen.  These texts are the basis of the New Age Versions.  They were purposely altered to pervert the true Word of God in the “Majority Text”.  Constantine furthered the cause of these texts throughout the Roman Empire.  Westcott and Hort further expanded these texts into our generation in their “New Greek Translation” which is the basis of most of the “New Age Versions”.  The New Age Versions are a compilation of the Bible, and the philosophies of Plato, Origen and some apocryphal books.  The two Alexandrian texts, the Sinaiticus (Aleph) and Vaticanus (B), contain many deviations from the Majority Text.  “1. Metzger says that the Sinaiticus and Vaticanus do not agree with the majority of manuscripts. 2. Not only do they disagree with the Majority of manuscripts, but they do not agree with each other.  The 8000 changes in B and the 9000 changes in Aleph are not the same changes. When their changes are added together, they alter the Majority text in about 13,000 places. This is two changes for every verse.  Together they omit 4000 words, add 2000, transpose 3500, and modify 2000. 3. They disagree with each other a dozen times on every page. 4. Colwell says they disagree 70% of the time and in almost every verse in the gospels. Burgon says, It is easier to find two consecutive verses in which these manuscripts differ than two in which they agree.”[8]

          One of the reasons for the promotion of the New Age versions is financial.  The King James Version is beyond copyright laws.

          Over the ages, devils have influenced man by insinuating in their minds their diabolical thoughts that are anti God.  Channeling is another way of getting to the unsuspecting through their willing participation.  Angels (messengers of God), have always been direct in their messages, as is the method of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit and God’s Angels will always agree with the Word of God.  The naïve and unsuspecting Christian is subject to all sorts of deception: all sponsored by Satan.  The New Agers have referred to Fundamentalists and Evangelical Christians as dangerous, perverted, unsound and confused. If that is the case, I am proud to be a Fundamentalist Evangelical.  Progressives always use personal attacks against those with whom they disagree, in place of producing evidence.  The word fundamentalist comes from a document in the 1920’s called the ‘Five Fundamentals of the Faith’.  These five fundamentals are:

1. The inerrancy and full authority of the Bible

2. The literal second coming of Jesus Christ

3. The Virgin Birth and full deity of Christ

4. The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

5. The substitutionary atonement of Christ on the cross for the sins of the world

Evangelical Christians de-emphasize ritual and emphasize the piety of the individual, requiring him or her to meet certain active commitments, including:

1. The need for personal conversion, or being "born again"

2. A high regard for biblical authority

3. An emphasis on teachings that proclaim the saving death and resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ

4. Actively expressing and sharing the gospel[9]

          All of the following are part and parcel of Satan and his New Age movement: Spiritism, Pantheism, necromancy, divination, witchcraft, psychics, evolution theory, the occult, parapsychology, mediums, observer of times, enchanters, charmers, telepathy, clairvoyance, channeling, sorcery, wizards, familiar spirits, enchantments, astrology, mesmerism, hypnotism, to name a few.  All of these things are anti biblical.  Necromancy is sometimes referred to as “communion of spirits”.

          Deception by imitation is Satan’s stock in trade.  Why do you think the Bible is so maligned and distorted while the writings of other religions are not?  We can see that only the true Word of God is subjected to such undertakings.  Satan knows the scriptures are come to us from God; his immortal enemy.  Before there can be a counterfeit, there has to be an original.  By Satan’s power of distortion, he hopes to divert man from the true to the false.  The real shame is that he has been so successful. 

          Two of the world’s fastest growing religions were started by devils in the disguise of angles, approaching susceptible men, to fill them with false doctrine.  Both of these men failed to verify, through the Word of God, what they had been given.  Dr. Ivan Panin was a devout atheist who set out to prove the Bible was a hoax.  He was a scholar in Greek and Hebrew as well as a doctor of pure mathematics. He found uniformity, through comparison of hundreds of ancient biblical manuscripts.  This uniformity led to the discovery of some amazing numerical facts about Biblical structure.  In no other writings are these attributes manifest as in the Bible.  Dr. Panin came to know the Lord Jesus, as well as others did, through his work.”[10]

          In recent past, as early as President F. D. Roosevelt, who put “New World Order” on our dollar bills (in Latin), we can see the subtlety of the New World enthusiasts.  Only recently has this become more blatant.  President George H .W. Bush, proclaiming to be a Christian, referred to his “dream of a new world order”.  President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Tony Blair are joined in an effort to mislead our school children by equating that all religions are all the same.  President George W. Bush, proclaiming to be a Christian, has said there is more than one way to Heaven.  President Barack Obama has proved to be the most anti Christian/pro Moslem president in history.  Pope John Paul II said: “Everything must change.  Tolerance is the alpha and omega of a new world order.”[11] Talk about your slippery slope!

          Most people today don’t see what’s happening around them.  It’s as though there were a swarm of invisible flies, buzzing around their heads chipping away at their sanity.  Through the misconception of “if it feels good do it” society, we see the development of the “if it sounds right do it”, regardless of the unintended consequences.  As Satan tickles their ears, men become unaware of the danger.  The United Nations sounded like a good idea, but we see what a horror story that has become.  The coming together of the religions of the world, for peace and harmony, sounds like a good idea (if you don’t know the real God).  The Bible says not to join with them, entertain them in you home or wish them well on their way.  The forces of false religion and Socialism are joining together to form the New World Order.   The ruling of the masses, by the elite enlightened ones, has always been Satan’s plan: with himself at the center.  The figure of the antichrist will be the servant of Satan as will also be the false prophet.  The New International Version changes Hebrews 9:10 from “until the time of reformation” to “until the time of the new order”.

          Who tells us to watch out for those who call themselves Christian yet teach false doctrine?  Jesus, Paul, Peter, and John all give us this warning.  Faux Christians may be the most dangerous people in the world.  They not only lead themselves into hell, but also keep others from finding the Christ.    Matthew 10:28 says:  "Don’t fear them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."  There are no atheists in Hell; not because they went to Heaven, but, that at the moment of death they are shown the truth.  Everyone who dies WILL see God, and every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  Post death acceptance is not acceptable for salvation, but rather is part of the punishment.  Everyone who has ever lived is alive today.  Their place of residence is the question.  The spirit of a man cannot vanish, it lives forever. 

          God only knows what the antichrist bible conspirators will leave out, change, and/or distort in versions yet to be unleashed.  “Satan is using demons to promote the New Age gospel to soften up humanity for the arrival of the Antichrist whom millions will believe is Christ because of the propaganda now being spread by their lying spirits.”[12]

          I recommend five books as follow up to this writing –

1. The Authorized King James Version of the Bible

2. “New Age Versions of the Bible”, by G. A. Riplinger

3. “Harbinger”, by Jonathan Cahn

4. “An Understandable History of The Bible”, by Rev. Samuel C. Gipp, Th.D.

5. “Indefensible”, by Sam Kastensmidt

If you will read these books you won’t be depending on me for your sole authority.

 
          We can see, from all the evidence, that God has protected and maintained the validity of His Word.  The newer versions attempt to nullify and or diminish the power of God, the divinity of Jesus, the trinity, the virgin birth, Jesus as the Christ, the indwelling Holy Spirit, the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, salvation through Jesus, the reality of Satan, the Creation and the second coming of Jesus Christ.  We are instructed to keep looking up, in anticipation of the return of the Lord Jesus.  The Jesus we are to be looking for is the Jesus of the King James Bible: not the diluted Jesus of the New Age Bible Versions.  Everything should be viewed through the light of the Bible God has preserved to guide us.  2 Timothy 2:15 says: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Asking God for wisdom and discernment are valuable keys to prevent deception.



[1] Constance Cumbey, author of The Hidden Dangers of the Rainbow
[2] Revelation 22:16
[3] Mark 13:6, Matthew 24:5, Luke 21:8
[4] 2 Corinthians 11:4
[5] Deuteronomy 31:20,
[6] “Dark secrets of the New Age” page 258
[7] Satan (Philadelphia, PA: Sunday School Times Co. 1932) p.73
[8] New age Bible Versions, by G. A. Riplinger, pg. 554
[9] Wikipedia
[10] Frederick M. Rahn, Jr., Numbers In The Word of God, 1983
[11] 1990 speech in San Francisco, CA, USA
[12] Tex Marrs, http://www.texemarrs.com/ 
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>
on Leave a Comment

The Gift Of Faith

I, Virginia Annelie Fason Rahn, was born Oct. 23, 1942, the fourth of five children to Jim and Susan Fason. I was the baby of the family for ten years, and then we were blessed with the birth of our brother David. There was not a time in my memory that God was not real to me. Mama and Daddy always took us to Sunday school, Church, Vacation Bible School and many a revival. Daddy would place Gail on one side of him and me on the other. This was for the express purpose of being able to give us a quick, but painful, pinch should either of us choose to behave in a disrespectful way. At such times, one might see a severe grimace on our faces, but we knew we had better not make one outward sound of pain. Our Daddy did not play around, and arousing his temper or disapproval is not something that either one of us would want to do. There was no “children’s” church then. Kids were expected to accompany their parents, and mind their manners while everyone listened to the preacher’s sermon. Listening and learning, not playing and goofing off, was to be the intent of our presence. I can remember being at a revival when I was no more than four or five, and being absolutely amazed at the visual picture of the reality of choosing God and Heaven, or Satan and Hell. There was never a doubt in my heart or mind that the two places were very real, and it would be my own choice that would determine my final destination.

Before I could even read, I remember a Bible Stories Book that I had been given. It was a blue hard-back covered book with the most amazing stories and beautiful pictures that made the life and times of Jesus and His followers so very real to me. It remained my favorite book for years until it was lost during one of our many moves. One picture that I loved to sit and stare at was Jesus standing in front of a door, knocking, and waiting to be invited in. That gave me a mental vision that would, later in life, symbolize that Jesus was standing at the door of my heart, waiting for me to ask Him in to be my personal Lord and Savior.

To illustrate how real God was made to me, part of my play time when I was entertaining myself, I would imagine being able to see family members, that I had never met, as they walked along with Jesus in Heaven. I would think of how wonderful it would be when I too could be there with them. I would carry on all kinds of conversations, and it would give me such a wonderful feeling to think of my final home with them. It was out of the realm of my imagination that anyone would not believe in God. Jesus was just as real to me as one of my sisters and brothers. I know now that this does not happen just by accident. As a family, we may not have sat around talking about Jesus and the Bible, but because my parents brought me up in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord” from the very beginning, the seeds of faith were planted and nourished to take root and grow within me.

Jimmy, Phyllis, Gail, and I grew up in very different times than David. When we went to school, every morning was started with the pledge of allegiance and the Lord’s Prayer. Most of our friends and teachers were Christians also. One time, when I was in second grade, I was writing a sentence on the board and wrote Xmas instead of Christmas. My teacher quietly whispered in my ear that only those who wanted to take Christ out of Christmas wrote the word like that. That shot like a bullet to my heart for I knew I did not want to take Christ out of anything. I never did that again. For me, belief in Christ was an integral part of our lives and following the Judeo-Christian ethics was just a normal way of thinking. The teachings of Jesus were a vital part of our everyday lives. I don’t mean to say that anything was rammed down our throats. But we were blessed to live in a time when God was included, not excluded, from our daily lives at home and school.

I remember some evenings at bedtime, especially on cold winter nights like Christmas Eve, having a special time with our Daddy. Gail and I, still being the little ones, could snuggle under the covers with our Daddy. We would lie on our sides and fit into the curve of each other in the form of a chair. Or Daddy would rub down the sheets to get them warm, and then tuck the covers, or “kivers” as he would sometimes say, under our chins and along our sides. Then he would say prayers with us and say, as he walked out the room, “Sleep tight, and don’t let the bedbugs bite.” We were taught to always say prayers before going to sleep. “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord, my soul to take. God bless Mamma, Daddy, and so on down the whole list, in Jesus name I pray. Amen.”

Families actually had a regular dinnertime, all seated together around the table. This was always begun with a prayer before we ate. Daddy usually said the blessing, or we would all pray, “God is good, God is great. Let us thank Him for our food. By His hand we all are fed, give us Oh Lord our daily bread. Amen.” Dinnertime was also a time for sharing the events of the day, talking and making jokes. It was a good and enjoyable time. Jimmy, at times would provide entertainment by doing something silly like putting celery in his nose or carrots in his ears. Those were precious times when laughter filled the air and our souls.

There was no TV then, so we all huddled around the radio and listened to stories that filled our heads with all kinds of imaginations. We would also have times to listen to a good preacher, or Christian music. Mama didn’t sing very much, but she loved to hear all of us sing. Daddy would lead us in songs like “I come to the garden alone…. And I talk with Him, and I walk with Him, and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.” Of course, we would sing the contemporary secular songs also such as “By the light of the silvery moon, I want to spoon, with my honey I’ll croon loves tune…” Families had more quality time to just spend together. That in itself was a blessing from God.

When I was in sixth grade and Gail in the eighth, we lived on the top of Signal Mt. This is one of two mountains around the city of Chattanooga, TN. Not only did we say the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Lord’s Prayer, but also a little lady would come in at least once a month to give us a lesson from the Bible. David turned one year old while we lived there. Jimmy had been at college for several years, and Phyllis was a senior in high school. That was her last year to live at home. She and Mike were married just a few days after her graduation, and they moved to Savannah, GA. Through this time, we had had a pretty solid family life. She and Mike were both believers in the Lord and continued strong in their belief and found a wonderful and supportive church family. We went to stay several weeks during each summer with Phyllis and Mike. They helped to add to my faith by their example and by taking us to be a part of their church while we were there. They had a close relationship with their minister, and he sure gave some good sermons. You always came away having learned something about the Lord.

Things were beginning to change, even in the church. It seemed as though some preachers were more interested in telling nice little social lessons instead of really teaching lessons from the Bible that would help the people really apply God’s ways to their everyday lives. It seemed that for the most part the actual reading of the scriptures was becoming less and less a part of the service. The congregation was no longer encouraged to bring their own Bibles to read aloud along with the pastor. This was the beginning of Biblical illiteracy and a diminishing in the belief in the Bible as the inspired word of God.
Scoffers were becoming more prevalent and the Bible was beginning to be viewed more as mythology instead of truth. This was only the beginning what has become a more secular and Godless culture.

By the time I was in eighth grade, Gail, Dave and I were the only kids left at home. Destructive things were coming into our family life that would tear at the fiber of every part of our lives. The Church wasn’t being the strong moral leader that it once had been. We still went to church, though now we did not always go as a family every Sunday as we once had. Jesus was still just as real to me, but I did not spend as much quality time learning of Him or just thinking about Him. He was always there and never left me, though I often set Him aside. I read a statement recently that is so very true. “We are always either drawing nearer to God or falling away. There is no holding pattern.” (book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala, pg.163)

I do thank the Lord that my parents had planted the seeds of faith within me at such an early age. They taught me to respect them. If we respect our earthly Mom and Dad, whom we can see, it makes it easier to respect and trust in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, whom we cannot see. You know our parents aren’t always going to be around to guide and protect us from harm. Yet, if we have God within us, He will always be there to guide, lead, and protect us from ourselves, others, Satan and all of his demons. Of course, we are not robots. We have a free will. How much influence God has in our lives depends upon whether we listen and yield to Him. When we choose to go our own way, we open the door for danger to walk right through the door. I don’t mean that bad things don’t happen to even the strongest of Christians. After all, we live in a corrupt world, and God has already told us that there will be trials and tribulations. But at least He will always be there to help us through the good and bad times of life.

I was a very naïve teenager and could have been very easily led astray. You know how peer pressure is, “everybody’s doing it, so why not go along with the crowd.” However, my faith had instilled within me the knowledge that I could never run away from myself or from God. Nothing is really hidden by darkness. Whatever you sow, you are going to reap whether anyone else knows what you did or not. Of course, if you keep ignoring that voice of the Lord within you, wrong (sin) will eventually seem right, making it easier and easier to accept in your life. That’s what it means when the word says, “A man’s ways are right in his own eyes.” Whenever I have put my own opinion above God’s Word is when I have strayed further and further from His will and blessings in my life. When we subject our selves to the ways of the world, we become less sensitive, or desensitized, to the truth of just what is right or wrong. We begin to live our lives as if there are no absolutes, and that everything is relative and subject to change. That’s when we become “pickers” instead of doers. What do I mean by that? Well, I simply “pick” a part of God’s Word that no longer seems to fit in my lifestyle and either ignore it entirely or pervert it to suit myself. I don’t know about you, but when I fall into that trap is just the time that I myself have opened the door for sin to walk right in and enslave me to the very thing that I should have run away from. “Give no place to devil.” “Give no appearance of evil.” “God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.” He and His word never change or become old fashioned or out dated.

When I was a junior in high school, I began to date Rick, who would become my husband seven years later. He had not been brought up to believe in Jesus. His parents’ attitude was “We don’t want to warp the minds of our children. When they grow up they can make their own decisions about that.”

However, he did have loving grandparents that did believe. He was very close to them, especially his Granddaddy. Then too, a few friends along the way invited him to go to church with them and the seeds were planted. Thank you Lord!! He and I would talk about Jesus every now and then, but nothing really in depth. He would later tell me, that though he did not know Jesus as his Savior, he had always talked to God. I have always said the purpose of all the other guys that I dated was to create within me a greater appreciation for Rick. My Lord, thank you for blessing me with such a wonderful husband and father for my children!!!

I left home to go to college when I was eighteen. This was probably one of the times when I was not spending much time drawing near to the Lord, and therefore falling away. But even then, God would send His Holy Spirit, often in the form of his earthly messengers, to keep wooing me back to the love of the Lord. One such messenger was a student who came to invite me to a Christian Student gathering. I did not go to the meetings simply because I felt shy and had no one to go with. But because of her visit, I was drawn back to the Word for a time. One weekend shortly after that, I was babysitting Gail and Phil’s first son. While he was napping, I was reflecting back upon my conversation with that girl, and the vision of the picture in my childhood storybook came before me. I saw in my spirit the Lord Jesus standing at the door of my heart. I was reminded of my need to repent and ask the Lord to forgive me, and invite Him to come into my heart to be my personal Lord and Savior. I knew I had always believed in Him, and that He had died on the cross to pay for my sins. I knew that He was the Son of God and was resurrected from the dead, and went back to heaven and would come back one day. I got down on my knees and confessed my sins and asked Him to come into my heart to be my personal Lord and Savior. That is when I know I was born again. However, I stayed a babe and did not grow very much more in the Lord for quite some time. Again, I thank the Lord for the seeds that had been planted and for the good work that He had begun in me from such an early age and the work He was continuing. I may have walked away from Him, but again He had never left me. He wasn’t through with me then or now.

For a part of the time I was in college, I dated a guy who definitely did not believe in God. I was not very selective in the type of person with whom I was keeping company. Sometimes, I tried to talk to him about Jesus. It always came down to the fact that he believed that Jesus may have been a very good man, but nothing more. In reality, even then, his god was money. I think I was always trying to change or “save” him. Only God can do that. He always said, “One day I will make so much money that I wont have to kiss anyone’s a_ _.” Several years later after Rick and I were married, he called me on the phone. He had two daughters and was in the midst of getting a divorce. During the conversation, he made the same comment about money, and said that he had reached that goal. I felt so very sorry for him. I thanked the Lord that I had been saved from a godless life with him.

My brother Jimmy and his wife Joy have always been very strong Christians. Thank the Lord; they did not live very far from the University of GA, where I went to college. After my Daddy gave me a car, I was able to leave school some weekends to go visit them. Oh, the blessing of having believing brothers and sisters. I would often take my questions and doubts to them. They would fill me with good counsel from the Lord. They were helping to equip me with the armor of God to withstand all the fiery darts of the enemy. Look again and see how our loving God does provide our needs. I often feel as if I am a pitcher, and the Lord just continues to bless and fill me up. All He asks is that we have a willing heart and seek His face and He will welcome us into His Kingdom. AHHH, the wonder of being grafted into the vine to be a part of the family of God! I never did anything to deserve it. Thank God that He loved me first and bestowed His mercy and grace upon me.

Society itself was changing. Madeline Murray, an atheist, brought a case to the Supreme Court that would further facilitate America’s plunge down into the slippery slope of secular humanism. In 1963, as a result of the Murray v. Curlett case, the Supreme Court ruling ended the practice of daily prayer in American schools. God and the Bible were now, slowly but surely, being removed from a position of prominence intended by the founding fathers of our nation. Little did we known then just what a dire effect this would have upon the moral fiber of our entire nation. At the time of this writing, 2008, Christians themselves are mocked and ridiculed. The Bible foretold that all of this would happen. It is just so sad as we watch the unfolding of the fall from grace of our great country. But I must not despair for the Lord tells us not to be downhearted as we see theses things come about. We are exhorted to trust in the Lord and look up for our redemption draweth nigh.

In 1964 Rick asked me to marry him, and we became engaged that Christmas. I was a teacher and he worked as a milkman at first. Then, after we were married, he got a job as a lineman for the telephone company. We were married Sept.26, 1965. He was drafted into the army just four months later in 1966 and was eventually sent to Germany. I quit teaching in October of 1967 and was able to join him. The Lord provided again, and I was given a job teaching reading to GIs. Rick was sent into the “field” every third month for “war games.” Several years after we had gotten out of the army and returned home, I learned that during those times in the field he had been sent for covert action in Cambodia. These were very dangerous assignments, which involved hand-to-hand combat with the enemy during the Vietnam War. Had anything happened to him, I would never have been told the truth about his demise. Thank the Lord; he did return safely each time. His name came down on the roster to be sent to fight in Vietnam three different times while we were in Germany. Each time Rick would tell me that his major had removed him from the list. I was very thankful and just thought that the major must really like Rick.

I became pregnant shortly after arriving in Germany. It was my second pregnancy and miscarriage since we had been married. While Rick was away, during one of my visits to the infirmary, a Lieutenant’s wife sitting next to me struck up a conversation. As a result, she asked me to go to church the next Sunday with her and her husband. I hesitated at first, but then accepted her invitation. We did not have a car so they were going to pick me up. When I got back to our apartment, old Satan started trying to do a number on me. I began to waver and think that maybe I should not go until Rick would be home and hopefully go with me. I was bombarded with thoughts like: “Remember, God said He would change your life? Maybe, He will change it so much that you will lose Rick? Maybe you should not go if Rick won’t go with you.” I did not know it, but I was in a battle with the devil. Thank goodness, though we may loose some skirmishes, the battle is the Lord’s and He has already won it! I know it was the power of the Holy Spirit within that told me not to listen to that voice and to trust in the Lord.

I started going to church with that loving couple. When Rick returned from the field, he even went a couple of times with me. Then he announced that he did not want to go any more because he did not feel comfortable there. Of course, I got very upset. I would go to church and then come home and behave very Christ-like by slamming doors and drawers and talking like a very loving (?) shrew. Oh yes, that was certainly the way to win over my husband! I could not understand why he would not go with me, sit there, and hold my hand just to be with me. I was getting more and more upset each Sunday after returning back home. Finally, one Sunday, I went to our pastor and told him about the problem. Boy, did the Lord give him the right words to speak to me! He said, “Ginger, I’ve met Rick. He seems like a very nice young man. I don’t think he would ever tell you that you could not go to church. But if it came to that, remember that the Lord created marriage before he created the church.”

What a load was lifted from my shoulders. No longer did I have to carry the guilt of trying to control my husband. Controlling others is NOT of the Lord. No longer was it my responsibility to “change” him. Yes, I still longed for Rick to be with me. But no longer did I fear that the Lord was going to do anything to divide us. Instead, I could now go to church, fellowship with others, draw closer to the Lord, and go back home to my husband with peace in my heart. Some time later I would read the scripture that tells believers that if they are unequally yoked to an unbeliever in marriage, not to leave him, but to stay and trust that he/she may see the Lord in you and be drawn to Him. Of course, this does not mean to shrink from actively seeking the Lord in your life for fear that you may offend your spouse. If we deny the Lord before man, He will deny us before His Father, and we will not enter the kingdom of heaven. If I had chosen not to go to church and draw near to the Lord that year, I know without a doubt that our lives would have taken quite a different path. In making the right choice for myself, I allowed the Lord to work His will in both of our lives.

Sometime later that summer, our church had a revival. Wonder of wonders, Rick said he had never been to a revival. He actually wanted to go with me. I was so excited; I could hardly stand it. The first night, I just kept looking at Rick out of the corner of my eye and wondering if anything was getting through to him. I just kept praying for him, but never asked or pushed him in any way. The next night was more of the same. The third night, we were headed to the car and Rick said, “Wait here. I want to go back and ask the pastor something.” I stood there in wonderment and just said, “OK.” Shortly thereafter, he came out and said, “We have to go right home. Both of the preachers are coming to our house.” All I could say was, “They are?” But I did not question any further. Now, if you know me that is a miracle in itself. Usually, I fill the air with one question after another, but not that night. My first thought was, “Oh my gosh, our apartment is a complete mess.” But then my next thought was, “Who cares?” I was filled with hope and apprehension that something good was going to come of this. Shortly thereafter, both pastors arrived, and before I knew it they were asking Rick questions like:
“Do you believe that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary and that He is the Son of God? Do you believe He was crucified on the cross to pay for your sins? Do you believe that He arose from the dead and is now in heaven with our Heavenly Father? Do you repent of your sins?” After each question, Rick responded with a simple “yes.” They continued, “Then do you want to pray right now and ask Him to come into your heart to be your personal Savior?” Rick’s answer again was a quiet, but resounding, yes. We all bowed our heads, and they lead him in the prayer for salvation. I just stood there, watching and listening, realizing I was witnessing the miracle of my husband entering into the family of God. I was so overwhelmed with the simplicity, and yet awesomeness, of the whole process. Still to this day, every time I reflect upon watching the “rebirth” of my husband in Christ, I am filled with an overflowing love and thankfulness to our Almighty Living God for all that He is, has done, and continues to do. Finally, my husband and I were made one, not only in the flesh, but also in the spirit. What a mighty God we serve!

At a later time, Rick would share with me what had happened to him that night. When he went back to talk with the preachers, all he got out was, “Sometime when you have a minute, I would like to talk with…” It was as if they knew exactly what he was going to ask before he got the rest of it out. They told him they would come right to his home to talk with him. To this day he does not really remember what either of the preachers had talked about during their sermons. Rather, all of a sudden, a realization came over him and he thought to himself, “Oh, that’s who you are Jesus, and that’s whom I’ve been talking to all these years.”

Rick and I both went forward in that same little church to make our public declaration of our faith in Jesus. We were also baptized to follow the example set by Jesus when John the Baptist baptized him. For us, it truly marked our birth as new creations in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. As wonderful as that was, it was only the beginning of our lives in Christ. He asks us to come to Him in faith just as we are. Thank the Lord; He changes us more and more each day into His image as we learn to yield ourselves to His Holy Spirit. He promises to continue that good work within us until we meet Him face to face. He has given us His Word to be our instruction book for our daily lives.

I cannot impress upon the reader, how important it is to seek the Lord in your life now. Do Not Delay! Everyday that we do not heed the call is time lost. The kingdom of God is not some pie in the sky promise; it begins in the here and now when we receive His Holy Spirit within us. None of us is guaranteed a tomorrow. My sister, Phyllis, lost her first husband in an automobile accident when he was only about forty- five. Thank the Lord, Mike did know Jesus as his Savior, and we will see him in heaven with the Lord one day. The Lord does not wish that any should perish, but that all would be saved through faith in His Son Jesus. As long as we have breath, we have the choice to receive Him or reject Him. If we continue to be rebellious and reject Him, our hearts become more and more hardened towards Him just like the Egyptian Pharaoh did when Moses asked him to set his people free. We all know what happened to that man.

Some years later, Rick’s Mom would make the accusation that it was my fault, and my family’s, that he had become this “warped” person. She of course meant that to be a detrimental comment. We only laughed and chose to receive it as a great complement. We do thank the Lord for my family and all that each of them have meant to our growth in the Lord. I know that each of them have uplifted us in prayer throughout our lives. “The effectual prayers of a righteous man availeth much.” By prayer and example, each one of them has done their part in service to the Lord to help us grow. Rick and I have always spent our vacations traveling from one family member to another. Each time we came home feeling as if we had been large pitchers that were being filled more and more as we went from one loved
one to the next. It really makes this verse come alive for us. “Know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit?” These experiences only further exemplified what it means to “be being filled daily with the Holy Spirit.”

When Rick and I were married we thought it impossible to be able to love one another more than we did then. Now, forty-three years later, we realize that our love for one another has grown stronger and deeper than we ever could have imagined. Because God first loved us, we have also grown in our love toward Him. He surprises us daily with all that He does in our lives. We would not want to even imagine what life would be without Him. Life is a bumpy road. But the fear (reverential respect and awe) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and without Him there is no right thinking. Without the Lord, all would be in vain. Upon one occasion, I was feeling guilty for saying that I loved God more than my husband. I knew in my heart that it was the way I was supposed to feel. But at the same time, it made me feel like I was being unfaithful to my husband in a way. But then I realized that it is my love for God that enables me to love my husband far more than I ever could without putting the Lord first in my heart and life. Thank you Lord for promising never to leave us or forsake us. Thank you for showing me daily the true meaning of “for me to live is Christ, but for me to die is but gain.” Help me Lord to die more and more to myself that you may live within me more abundantly. Thank you for blessing my life. May I be a blessing unto you, and forever give you all the glory and honor. You alone are worthy to be praised. “Now FAITH is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”(Hebrews 11:1) Thank you for the gift of faith in my life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Virginia Fason Annilee Rahn
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE >>