scripture – James G. Owen, Author

Life and Culture in America—The Changing of Mindset

by James G. Owen

Life and culture were vastly different before the computer age came to America. As a boy I remember going to the variety store, the 5 & 10 stores where one can buy a different item needed for the home, and toys for the kids. I would buy the wind-up trucks and cars that were less than a dollar and play in the sand with them. Also, plastic soldiers were part of my younger days. The source of communication was by telephone, CB radio, HAM radio, church socials, or hanging out on the drag, meaning sitting and talking with your friends at a hamburger joint while other teenagers’ road the same streets that made a circle. Life then was listening to soft rock, the songs of Jim Croce, and my country music favorites.

As I got older, I began to see the first microwaves, calculators, and by the time I graduated college computers were coming into the colleges and universities to learn the Basic Code and programming. Typewriter’s were the keyboards of that day, and we had a lever to make the carriage return to the left of the page, now it is the enter key. Life was slower, and people knew one another better. That is the just a small peek into yesterday. There was more going on, but at a much slower pace.

The changing of America took place during the 1980s forward. Technology increased at a greater pace. This period in our history we saw the Radio Shack computers, Apple computers, cell phones, and later the internet. Information at your fingertips began to come, and the minds of Americans began to change, to be mesmerized by the screens of technology, and now we are consumed with everything digital. In the past we had our imaginations, told stories to one another, and dreamed. Today our minds are captured by the screens of computers, TV’s, cell phones, tablets, and pods. We are doing less critical thinking in our current times and believing what we are being told in the news, and all forms of media. Our imaginations have turned from cranial to virtual, and we are becoming less social and isolated with gadgets. Our minds have been captured. Our minds being filled with interests of the world with all forms of subjects, immorality, and games. Technology can change us without us realizing, and it shows up at the dinner table, restaurants, and in church gatherings where people are more interested in their phone screens than interfacing with real humans. Games that are violent are creating violent people who take what they encountered and reenact it. The articles, literature, books, magazines we read online influences us, and changes our moral and value system. These changes affect our spiritual lives, that is the area that should be the most surprising and we should come to realization. These worldly changes keep us from the word of God, our prayer life, and in the ministry of others. The change affects our righteous living because we are bombarded with immoral images, desensitizes us from life because of the influence and advocation of abortion. We should be concerned about moral values, and the sanctity of life, but we are more interested in pleasure and convenience. We tell ourselves we do not have the time for God, but the technology has become our god, an idol. We make time for the technology and what pleases us there on the screen. Do not get me wrong, technology is a great tool for us if we use them correctly and in balance, but what I see as well as others is an imbalance in life.

The enemy, Satan, wants our minds in carnality to keep our minds off God. Anything he can use to corrupt our minds he will use. Many of us do not realize we are in a battle of our minds. There is a tug of war between Satan and God, but I will tell you Satan will lose. He already has lost but he is working before his demise to take everybody he can with him to eternal separation. Paul in his New Testament letters tell us,

“For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

Romans 8: 5-6

To return us to balance would be to get our minds upon God through the reading of his scriptures and doing the good works of our faith. To work continually for the salvation of man by presenting the gospel to all. We are to get our minds off the world, off the pleasures of the flesh. It is the world that brings trouble, suffering, depression, stress, and anxiety, but it is being in the presence of God that brings peace to our spirits.

We are in a war, and that war is for our souls. The mind currently is being controlled through indoctrination of philosophies and ideologies, speech has been suppressed, and truth repressed. The war is to keep us separated from God, knowing his truth, and teaching his truth. Also, in the speaking of truth in history and current affairs. Since we are in a war, what does each side provide us? Satan’s side presents us with death, corruption, and the promise of mankind being his own god. That lie has been unabated since the garden of Eden. The promise of being our own god brings a person desiring power, and influence, and causes the mind and soul to be prideful. This characterization in man is against God the Father. All sin is against God. The war rages against our mind. Again, Paul reminds us of the war.

“But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

Romans 7:23

If Satan can keep our minds from serving and pleasing God through the pleasures of sin, then he has complete control of us. We do need God to help us out of this trap and ask him to help us overcome. The war of the mind would be from the partaking of addictive substances, images, pagan religions, Gnosticism, false doctrines, and fables. Satan wants to keep you blinded of things eternal, to prevent you from realizing your purpose in life and from attaining your destiny. Satan works to destroy all of God’s creation.

“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

2 Corinthians 4:4

What does God want for us? He wants us to obey him. The Father wants us to have life, joy, freedom in life and spiritual worship. He works as a parent for us so that we can see the purpose God created us to achieve so that we can be happy in our purpose while he gets glory out of us living a holy and balanced life. He wants us to see, to hear, and be beware of things that can defeat us. Most of all, God wants us to conform to his image and remain in him because he has so much to give us in return for obedience. To conform to his image, we can have a relationship with God, and will not be separated by the veil of sin. We must be the guardian of our minds, and our souls.

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Romans 12:2

How do we renew our minds? Our minds are renewed by continual and daily prayer asking God to purge the sin out of spirits every day, and every hour if needed. We must strive to please the Lord in our living, and in serving each other in meeting needs through good deeds. This is a testament of our faith and showing love to one another as he intended.

How do we prove ourselves? By sanctification, and by the trials and troubles that challenge our faith that refines us. Sometimes the troubles and the sadness that life brings seem to be like we are in a fire, that life is overwhelming at times, but we are to welcome these times knowing it is improving us spiritually and helping us grow in maturity of our spirit so that we can help others who are in trouble and in spiritual need. It is the overcoming of these troubles and trials that brings us to perfection to righteousness.

Be on guard, for Satan comes as a wolf. He is a deceiver, and we must use discernment to be able to discern truth from a lie. We must be watchful, for evil is everywhere and tries to trap us in situations. We are to remain blameless, and to make sure that anything that causes us to spend time away from God could become an idol to us. The changing of life and culture creates a challenge to our minds and does affect our spiritual life. In the year of 2020, the world changed dramatically, and America changed. Change is still going on in America and seems to be changing at an exponential rate, not just in changes in technology, but in all areas of culture. Look for the positive things that will edify God and refuse the negative. Spend more life away from the screens and notice the difference in your thinking and decisions. America, look for a wave of the Holy Spirit in revival and respond to the Lord while we have time. The change spiritually will change the culture and the nation.

Notes:

All scripture is taken from the King James Version, Public Domain, BibleGateway.

God Exists—We See the Evidence of His Existence

by James G. Owen

God exists. The debate still rages on, and even in my younger days the debate was present. People presenting the same questions and answers, saying the evidence they resented were facts. Some even leaned to science to answer their questions, but science only disproved their theory of God’s nonexistence.

One of the questions is, does God really exist? The evidence that God exists is all around us. Look up into the skies and see the clouds, the sun, and in the night, the stars, and with the help of a telescope we can see planets from a far, galaxies, and stars being formed and more. In space, we see that creation is continual because we can see millions of miles into space and watch the creation of a star, planet, and monitor black holes. With a microscope we can see things we cannot see with our naked eye, but we can see into the smallest with an electron microscope, and with phase microscopes we can see life from bacteria, protozoans, shelled amoebas, diatoms, blue-green algae, the snail, and the Nautilus shell and so much more. We know God exists in the photosynthetic process of the exchange of light to create food for the plants, and the exchange of the cycle of oxygen to carbon dioxide, and the burning of carbon dioxide to oxygen. All life needs light! All life needs water! Life and water are symbolic of God’s Spirit! In Romans, Paul tells us we can see the largest of the creation, yet the smallest. It takes an intelligence to place creation into being and making of man because we are intricate and complicated, while harmony and order is set into creation. We see mathematical constants in creation, frequencies of different kinds, and the mathematical equation is used in different parts of creation we can see. The mathematical constant is the Fibonacci constant. We see it formed when a carpenter uses a plane to shave a wooden piece down to size. It comes from the plane as a spiral of thin wood. We see the spiral in hurricanes, dust devils, and even in the composition of art. We see it plainly in all types of creation. God shows his power and glory of order in his creation. The order within creation makes things cohesive and one.

“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”

Romans 1:20

Even after explaining God exists by seeing him in creation there are people who still will not believe. People who do not believe in God’s existence is not only denying his existence, but his power, and resist the existence of the supernatural, yet they will believe in angels and other supernatural beings. He clearly shows us his glory and power through his creation, and in his word. All we need to do is read the story of the exodus, and the ministry of Jesus and of Paul. Others deny the existence of God by claiming his word, the bible, is not inspired but written by man. Yes, he used men to write the bible, but his word is inspired because the men who inscribed the books, some of them were hundreds, if not thousands of years apart, yet all of God’s word meshes with other works. His word is historical, scientific, and is of wisdom and an excellent counsel to give strength and peace to man’s heart.

Another reason why some people do not believe in God is because of the behavior and actions of Christian people. Whether one realizes it or not, all of us are being watched by others. They watch our behavior to see if we are different than them. They compare us with others while looking at their lives. There are many reasons I suppose that people watch others. Some watch to confront us about our morality and values, while some are looking for a better life. So, people if you claim to be a Christian, then you should walk the walk, and talk the talk because you will be influencing others to eventually come to Jesus, or not. If you live for Jesus as his disciple, then let your light shine to them, and live righteously and holy. In this manner the unbeliever will see God in you, and know there is hope, and there is something better than what they are experiencing. Our lives in holiness are a witness unto those and the witness proves to them that God exists. God exists in your testimony of how he brought you out of sin, and delivered you from things like addiction, alcohol, and drugs.

The Christian behavior is a counter to the Devi’s behavior. The behavior, morals and value system are based on scripture in the Mosaic law, and in the behavior of Jesus. God’s morals and values give life to the soul and freedom, while the Devil’s behavioral system is of sin and death. His system is three-fold, that is to steal, kill, and destroy. Why would anyone want to live in that behavioral system since it brings physical and spiritual death? Yes, God exists and even the demon’s tremble.

“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”

James 2: 19

People say they do not believe in God because they do not believe in religion. They believe in man, his intelligence, and abilities. Their belief system includes philosophy, the sciences, and even fables. Some are connected to Christian churches, and I am glad they are, yet they deny the existence of God. Speaking about science, it does reveal good and usual things which turn into technology, medicine, and forms of travel, but science also denies God’s existence. All are the workings of man, so the unbeliever in God does participate in a religion, and that religion is humanism.

Creation is real, the earth is hung on nothing, nothing but gases, and the planets and moons are in perfect orbit. Even the atoms of life are mini universes. You see, there is a God who creates order by repetition, and within creation are laws and science have proven these laws through mathematics, physics, thermodynamics, logic, biogenesis, and chemistry. Creation is about uniformity, and balance. Creation is governed by the law of God. For creation to be within its uniformity and harmony, then man should believe in God’s son Jesus to restore the harmony within their life. Sin has caused an imbalance of nature, and sin entered creation by the disobedience of man. So, for creation to return to its original state then God had to send his son Jesus to be the sacrifice for man to have a new inheritance (Ephesians 1), a harmonious creation in which to live and continue the relationship between God and man as intended.

For our existence, we must acknowledge there is a God because of the evidence around us, and the evidence we find deep in biology, space, and other sciences. Our proof of the existence of God is also our spiritual relationship with him because he speaks to his creation and placed within our hearts an innate sense there is a power greater than anything we experience, and he has written his laws upon our hearts, our mind that holds our conscience. God exists.

“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Jeremiah 31:33

Notes:

All scripture used is taken from the King James Version, Public Domain, BibleGateway.

Website: answersingenesis.org, “God and Natural Law”.

Website: pewresearch.org, Facttank, 10 Facts about Atheists.

Website: thoughtcatalog, 12 Atheists Explain Why They Don’t Believe in God. Lorenzo Jensen III.

God’s Gift—Grace, Our Inheritance, and Redemption in Ephesians

By James G. Owen

Grace, a subject St. Paul talked about a great deal. Grace defined is unmerited favor, but could be love expressed by our Creator, and loved us so much that he created a plan of salvation before everything in creation was created—before the world began. God being the Father called us to be his children, and because of sin we were separated and that kept us from knowing him spiritually, a breach in our relationship between God and us. So, God in his wisdom extended grace to mankind before the world existed. Grace was part of his plan.

His plan of salvation expanded into atonement, a sacrifice, and redemption. The atonement was that a price had to be made, and a perfect man who was fathered by God to be the sacrifice, and to make sure the price was paid in full then the son of God would give his life on the Cross. This caused sin to be defeated, and death would be defeated by his resurrection. His plan of salvation also ushered in the last covenant, the new covenant of Jeremiah 33, called the better covenant. This covenant annulled the old covenant, and it was to give all of us life, both Jew and Gentile. The old covenant could not save people from sin because the blood spilt was from the blood of bulls and other animals, but the blood of Jesus the perfect man who lived a blameless life, his blood could save all of mankind. His plan God created wanted us to be blameless, to be free from sin.

In Ephesians 1, God predestined us to adoption, to make all of mankind his children. Predestination means he predetermined his plan, and what he wanted his creation to be and how to interact in creation and in man’s relationship to God. He wanted to invest himself into his creation, to be available should his creation need him, and it proves man would need him forever. He adopted us, he chose us to be in a relationship to him, just like an earthly father and mother would adopt an orphaned child so that the child would have a life, freedom, and to take care of the orphan’s needs. The orphan would grow in maturity and fulfill the purpose and destiny injected to him at conception.

What did God predetermine his creation, man, to be like? He wanted us to be like him, to conform to the image of Jesus, and we see what Jesus was like by reading the gospels about his character and spirituality. God wanted man to act with righteous morals, to be obedient, pure, having wisdom, and come to the knowledge of him, Jesus, and of course his Holy Spirit.

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.”

Romans 8: 29-30

How would I explain predestination further to make sure it is understood? Well, consider God the Father as an artist. The artist will have a format in which the person will follow. Not every artist will create the same, but I see God creating much the same as I would create. My process would be to conceive of an idea, plan his creation by sketching, taking note of the color palette, and whatever means he needs to execute his creation. God, as an artist I see would have much the same process but would decide what his creation will be and the extent of his creation, and foreordain the creation to possess order, beauty, and in his plan, he conceives of a rescue. That rescue was salvation. His creation would be perfect. Man’s creation would be imperfect. God’s creation would make a choice and fall into sin and would only have one way to salvation. Man’s creation may take several attempts, but is not guaranteed success, but the Father’s creation will have success as man stays within the boundaries of his grace, that he purges himself daily. God knew his creation would fail and that is the reason for salvation.

The Father calls man to salvation by the convicting of man’s heart by his Holy Spirit. Conviction by the Holy Spirit is the movement of the Spirit to cause the man to realize he had sinned through his conscience, and the thoughts of his sin will come to remembrance. The conviction will tell us we know we are not pure, and the Spirit is beckoning us to come to a decision for forgiveness. When a person decides to repent, to receive forgiveness justification will be enacted meaning he is pardoned of his sin, no longer held guilty.

Further into Ephesians 1 we see Paul writing about redemption. Redemption comes to us by his saving grace. We are saved by God’s grace, that he loved us so much he would provide a way out of sin so that we would not be condemned to eternal death by choosing his Son Jesus. Why did he give us grace? Because of our innocence and not having knowledge of what sin would cause, and never having the experience of evil. Redemption gave us access to God through faith. When he made man, he planted a grain of faith within his being, and we have been taught to enact that faith, meaning believing whatever we conceive will be done as long it is within, he will of God and his word.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”

Ephesians 2:8

What else would redemption bring to man? The redemption of man would be his inheritance. The inheritance would be eternal life, and to live in the New Earth that God would create for his children. This inheritance is guaranteed if we live in obedience, growing in wisdom, knowledge, and trusting in God. As we spend time with God you learn more about him, his personality, and his ways. Spending time reading the bible, in prayer, and the interaction of the Holy Ghost within us is how we learn to know and learn of him. As we get to know God, we will see his glory more as time goes by, and we understand the inheritance he has chosen for us. Those who have accepted Jesus are his chosen ones. As we interact with God in prayer, and the reading of his word he constantly reveals himself and his works. He shows us his full power in his works of the Holy Spirit through us and from us ministering to others.

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.”

Ephesians 1: 13-14

The inheritance is given to us as soon as we give our life to Jesus, and this inheritance was also assured by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and by the fulfilling of the new covenant. The cross gave us the victory over death, and through Jesus resurrection he ascended to heaven to sit on David’s throne and to administer the kingdom to bring things to an end. He is there sitting by the right hand of God reigning until his return to earth.

We see in Ephesians 1 that God has set Jesus above all creation giving him all authority as the head of the Church and the kingdom, and that God is Israel (God prevails). His Church is his body, his temple where the Holy Spirit dwells. In administering his covenants God has brought all the major covenants to fulfillment. His Church is prevailing in the last covenant sharing the gospel to the world so that all men will have the chance to salvation that was predestined before the beginning of creation. Grace, faith, salvation, and redemption were in place waiting for the time to come to being to bring men out of sin and to bring in the New Earth, which is Eden and the inheritance.

God deals with man through his covenants written in his word, and dispensation (administration) to cause man to stewardship (relationship) with him giving him deliverance and restoration. Can you see the love of God in all his actions? Why would God go to such lengths if he did not love us? The fact is his action is the ultimate love anyone would express. Wouldn’t a parent on earth not do the same? Your hope that Paul writes about in his letter is within God’s grace, and your hope is the resurrection that conquers death for eternity. Let me ask you this. Are you willing to change to live a righteous life to achieve eternal life? To assure your place in a beautiful, perfect place for eternity? To live and not die. Are you willing to place all things on the altar so you can break from the bondage of sin and your habits? Are you tired of sin? Tired of uncertainty? If so, make your decision so that you will assure your place in God’s record of life.

Notes:

From the website messie2vie.fr Strong’s Hebrew 3478, Yisrael.

All scripture given is taken from the King James Version, Pubic Domain, BibleGateway.

The Keys of Your Mind and Heart: Why Give Them to Satan?

by James G. Owen

The bible tells us we all have sinned and come short. We have lost the perfection we were created in while our parents Adam and Eve lived in the garden of Eden, and the relationship between God and man was lost. Sin had caused a veil to come between us. So, God put in place his plan of salvation to bring back the perfection, and to remove the veil of those who want and choose a relationship with him. That relationship is one between a child and a father because that is who we are, his creation and his children.

Adam and Eve held the keys to their mind and heart that God gave them, and they would forever keep the keys if they obeyed him, but scripture tells us Eve was beguiled and deceived by the serpent who told her they would become like gods if they ate of the tree of Good and Evil. The serpent lie was told to them and Satan wanted to destroy God’s creation because he is angry at God for dispelling him from heaven because of the sin of pride and causing an insurrection in heaven with one-third of the angels behind his lead. There was a coup de tat in heaven. He was thrown from heaven along with his rebellious angels, and that is how we find his presence in the garden. He took their innocence by theft, and death came sweeping into creation. The presence of death because of a deception now defiled earth and all that is in creation. That is the reason for physical death and spiritual death.

At the confession of our sins and becoming a new creation, a Christian, and truly following Jesus and God’s word, our responsibility of deciding to live for Jesus does not stop here. It is our responsibility to continue living a righteous life, reading our bibles, and spending time in prayer. We are to find our “prayer closet” and spend time with God. My prayer closet has composed of my treks to work, and returning home, and my home is my closet. The responsibility is to keep our “houses” clean, for we are the temple of God, and we are to provide security at the “door” of our souls, meaning we are to be watchful what we see and hear, and are to filter the input. We are to control our thoughts, action, and our eyes, for it is the eyes that are the windows to the soul.

It is natural to dream, and to fantasize, but the dreaming and fantasizing needs to be in holiness as well. It is here, our thoughts that the keys of our mind and heart are given over to the devil. When our thoughts are sinful, we give the house keys to the devil and these thoughts become more frequent. The thoughts may come through temptations, or by intention. Since we have given Satan the house keys, we may have given him keys to other areas in our lives and these sins are acted out physically.

Once he gains entry, other thoughts come into the mind, and if not taken care of by speaking our authority in Jesus’s name then these will take hold and will be hard to repress. A person who thinks on the past, and entertain temptations is double minded. We should get our minds on God and his purpose and destiny for us. For us to think in righteousness. There are times we will have carnal thoughts in our lives, but we are to control them.

“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

James 1:8

What is happening to us in the spiritual realm is that our physical bodies are warring with the spiritual. The trials, tribulations, sin, and temptations are the result of the old man trying to come back up and bring the new man down. If we give the keys of the house to Satan, the spiritual battle will become more intense, and what we need to do is call for help from Jesus! There are things we cannot do by ourselves, and we should learn to take authority over all negative matters by telling the devil to flee from us in Jesus’s name. We have the right to command him to leave us alone.

“But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”

Romans 7:23

The key to the entry doors of your house need to be kept in a safe place. When we give the devil entry he will go through the house and learning every sin that your brain has recorded of your past. It can be more than the sin of your past. Your past may include addictions to alcohol, drugs, smoking, or any other substance. Giving him the run of your house, you may discover yourself back into the position you were freed from, and now you will need deliverance by the Holy Spirit to escape.

In conclusion, be strong and blunt telling Satan to flee from you. You have that authority as a disciple of Jesus to use his name to make the demons flee. Tell them you are not a puppet and will not let them pull your strings. It is up to you and your decision. Do not bargain with Satan, nor have a conversation with him. Resist the devil, make him flee! James, the brother of Jesus gives us his thoughts in the manner in what we must do in his letter.

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded

James 4:7-8

Notes:

All scripture used is taken from the King James Version, Public Domain, BibleGateway.

A Dianoetic Process: Seeking an Answer That Evades a Profound Question About Healing

By James G. Owen

The question that evades or flummoxes a biblical scholar or an average person when asked. Why does God heal one person, but another person does not get healed? Can this question that bewilders the people queried be answered? In my opinion, there is an answer, but we must investigate the scriptures for the answer.

In seeking an answer for this question lets discuss healing from a scriptural point of view, and how it is received.

Healing in scripture begins in the Old Testament. The first healing experience that comes to my mind is the brazen serpent (nahash nehoshet) in Numbers 21:8-9. Here, the people were being bitten by fiery serpents. Some had died because of the bite. It was the Lord God, Jehovah that told Moses to construct a serpent on a pole. So, Moses had a fiery serpent and pole constructed and informed the people to go before the brazen serpent and look up on it and those bitten would live.

There is symbolism here of the serpent being placed on a pole. The pole is the symbolism of the cross that Jesus was sacrificed upon at his crucifixion. This portion of scripture causes me to think of the promise in the book of Genesis of a promised Messiah and his actions.

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

Genesis 3:15

By placing the serpent on the pole shows the beginning of the defeat of Satan. It is the Messiah who will bruise the head of the serpent and the serpent to bruise his heel. So, when the people went before the brazen serpent and looked up on it, they were acknowledging Satan’s defeat and the presence of the Lord who heals, and a gain in salvation because they were spared from the effects of the poisonous venom of the serpent. What was the action of healing in the scripture in Numbers 21? The action of the smitten people was they “looked upon” as they went before the brazen serpent on the pole. When we go to get healing, whether we present ourselves at the altar, or in another manner, we are coming before the one who was crucified and the sacrifice that provides for our healing as prophesied in Isaiah. Here in the action of looking upon an acknowledgment of God is made known and we present ourselves to him. In this presentation of ourselves we are asking for grace.

“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

Isaiah 53:5

Here in this prophetic scripture the provision of salvation was promised by the atoning blood of Jesus because he was the Son of God shedding his blood for our sins. He was the perfect sacrifice because he had the DNA of God the Father within him as well as the DNA of mankind. By providing for our salvation, he also provided for the healing of people so that they would be able to perform the spreading of the gospel to the world by destiny and purpose.

What happens when a person is healed? In an unbeliever coming to God for healing, two things should occur, that is the salvation of the person being forgiven of their sins after asking for forgiveness which is a witness that God work within their lives, but also a witness to others in the congregation, or gathering group of changes taken place. Changes in the spirit of the person from spiritual death to life, and the physical healing of the person’s body.

What other things will facilitate healing? First is belief in God. Healing is facilitated by believing that God is the only God and that he is all powerful, and that he provides grace sufficient for every need. How do we come to believe in God? We come to believe in God and who he is by reading the bible and encountering people who know him through the experience of his saving power, salvation, and by their own testimony. The child of God can point you to scripture of how to know God and his Son Jesus. It is through believing that God’s word is true, and that he is present in his creation, and by faith we come to believe. Second is grace. We are saved by grace through faith. After receiving salvation, it is our responsibility to keep ourselves purged of sin daily through sanctification through prayer. Living a righteous life before him our grace increases along with our faith and knowledge because we are spending time searching and reading the scriptures in the bible. We are growing and becoming greater by our increased affection for God and the blessings he has given us, the provision he brings, and by the fruits and proof of our newfound morality. Grace comes by obedience and gratitude.

Healing came to the people following Jesus because they had seen others healed. Those healed believed what Jesus taught and trusted him fully. They knew by his works that he was from God because no man could perform such miracles that they witnessed. The people believed because of the wisdom and the fruits of his life that he remained sinless. He could not be tested and fail or deceived because Jesus was part God because he was born of a virgin and his father was Almighty God, the Great I AM. To be clear he was tested by Satan after his baptism by John the Baptist, but he was victorious! So, his healing comes to us as a promise and through the fulfilling of the new covenant.

So, what is the answer to the perplexing question that people ask? Why some are healed instantly, and others are put on hold, so to speak? This is my answer while working the dianoetic process. Those who are healed instantly are ones who are needing salvation. Those who are saved have a purpose that God wants them to fulfill by working in the kingdom of God and it is his will, and desire for them to be instantly healed to continue to serve. Those who are not healed instantly should make sure they are obedient in their spiritual walk and growing in the knowledge of Jesus, and that their walk shows the fruits of the Spirit. While conducting my study for this article those who are disciples, he wants us to persist. Make sure our hearts are right and all in in order. Work your faith by believing, keeping your petition before God, and placing full trust in him. We must also realize that he may not heal because we may not remember him, and in the example of Paul may use this as a thorn to keep our minds upon him, never giving up while we are continuously working for the kingdom. It is through the pain of trials, sicknesses, tribulations, and the experiences of living that he refines us.

“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.”

1 Peter 5:10-11

“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.”

Zechariah 13:9

“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”

2 Peter 3:18

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

In conclusion, there may be other solutions to this profound question. I do believe that any other answer will be shown in the scriptures of the bible and by revelation through prayer or a word from the Lord. So, we must keep searching the scriptures for answers while placing our faith totally in him knowing that everything is done according to his will and mercy. He has a purpose for everything. Keep searching.

Notes

https://www.abarim-publications.com/Meaning/Nehushtan.html

https://www.biblehub.com/greek/5485.htm

Grace, the Greek definitions for grow G 837 and grace G5485. Tecarta Bible.

All scripture used is from the King James Version, Public Domain, BibleGateway.

The Devil, Disease, and Deliverance: Origins of Illness in New Testament Thought, CPT Press Cleveland, Tennessee, by John Christopher Thomas, 2010.

THE PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONAL CHURCHES COME TOGETHER IN UNITY

by James G. Owen

There are more denominations than choices of fishing tackle. Since the Protestant Reformation the Protestant Movement has grown in number of denominations. Churches split over various reason, but one reason is doctrine.

The denominations have different views for:

Water baptism.
Different millennial positions, such as Premillennialism, Amillennialism, and Postmillennialism.
Pretribulation, Mid-tribulational, and Post-tribulation.
Trinitarian or non-Trinitarian
Eternal Security
Predestination differences
Dispensational vs Non-Dispensational
Belief in the Speaking of Tongues and Baptism of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

There are more differences in the denominations than the list I created I think, but we will carry on to making my point of unity. In today’s world, a bizarre year has unfolded, and there is an attack on the Christian Church—Christianity. The churches are not united in doctrine, nor united in spirit and the spiritual battle we are facing globally, and especially here in the United States must be defeated. This means that all differences in doctrine and of any kind must cease and find common ground in fighting this battle together. In numbers we will have victory, being split we are defeated.

The Protestant churches should respect one another and come to the basic of doctrines in scripture, and that is to preach Jesus born of a virgin, ministered, taught, healed, delivered, and raised the dead as spoken in the Gospels of the New Testament. We are called to make disciples of men. We are not to bicker over eschatological opinions and views, or for any other doctrine. Lay these differences down and preach Jesus as the Messiah the only way to salvation and eternal life. This is my point for unity. There may be other avenues for unity among the Protestants and Evangelicals, but we must stand together to fight the spiritual battle we are in globally. We are in a battle for the very soul of the nation of the United States of America. What happens here in this year of 2020 will determine the outcome for the whole world. In the last few months, I have seen reports of using a virus to bring global change, and that change has a name—the Great Reset. A name that I believe has changed from the original term I saw earlier in the year, and that was Tikkun Olam, meaning to fix the world.

To fix the world from the globalist view is to reconstruct the economy, set new rules for environmental issues such as climate change. I see an attack on the Christian churches of shutdown, and the outlawing of bibles. I am aware of the vaccines being produced that have been fast tracked and not taking the usual number of years to develop. For years I have been watching for a new world government to arise, and a new world religion, all set to become a One World System, and I believe I have seen the fundamentals being established using a virus to attain their goals.

So, I am making a clarion call to all Protestant Churches to assemble and to unite in a battle of good versus evil, a spiritual battle that will affect all mankind. Push back the differences and put on the Ephesians 6: 11-18 armor.

“Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;”

Centuries ago, there was a Dark Age and there were differences of doctrine and beliefs. Martin Luther came to the forefront of the Reformation Movement and wrote his 95 Theses. Today, we are seeing a New Dark Age coming now being called a Dark Winter, and I have heard this term from a presidential Democratic candidate. The result is the same, but I believe we are into a more difficult time, an indignation because of a political ideology that was not present in the current form we have witnessed in my lifetime.

So, concluding let all Christians who love Jesus project, teach, preach, and evangelize Jesus. Fulfill the evangelical call and go into all the world and preach the gospel.

Notes: All scripture used was taken from the King James Version, Public Domain, BibleGateway.

God’s Glory in Light

We all have seen light in different forms. As we look into the sunlight, we know its bright and our blinded eyes will feel the effect, yet that light can be filtered to soft light and by its angle in the early morning as it rises upon the horizon. God’s light I imagine is bright, so bright that man would not be able to stand in his presence because of our corruptibility, but one day we will see Jesus, and our spirits will be fixed so that we can see God in his fullness. In this devotional I have given different ways of God’s glory in Light. Read on and enjoy.

First, God’s glory and the description of his glory is vast and deep. In 1 John 1:5, we read this about God’s glory.

“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.”

There is no darkness in him because darkness in death. In his light there is light, hope, strength, love, confidence, mercy, grace, and faith. All of these are given to man if we are in communion with the Father.

God’s glory came to three of the disciples, James, Peter, and John, who were with Jesus upon the Mount of Configuration when Jesus was being strengthened before his death on the Cross. God came to them in a bright cloud and a voice came from the cloud. In Matthew 17:5 we read this from scripture.

“While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”

God’s glory came to the shepherds and encapsulated them. His glory was all around them, and they were able to see and sense his glory, the reason they were afraid. His glory came in the form of an angel. Sitting here in my chair I am thinking God’s glory was working through the angel in order to be seen. I am thinking of Moses who could not see God’s face and live in the moment, and this is the reason for my thought. In Luke 2:9 tells this:

“And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.”

God’s glory was seen upon Mount Sinai, also known as Mount Horeb, and people could hear the voice of God. They looked up and could see his fire. Deuteronomy 5;24 gives evidence of this scene.

^“And ye said, Behold, the Lord our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth.”

Lastly for this devotional, God’s glory is seen through his Son Jesus. Jesus is the light sent to this earth to redeem man, and to provide salvation for man’s soul. Also, Jesus is the image of God. Some of the attributes of God seen in Jesus that I will give here to furtherance his image of God are light, holiness, anointing, and perfection. In 2 Corinthians 4:4

“In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Jesus, the light of the world came to us, spent time with man, and he shared his word with his disciples so that his ministry and gospel would go on so that all men may hear, many to be drawn to his presence and experience his glory. Jesus was God coming to man giving hope to all that were downtrodden. When you think of God’s glory you will be thinking of Jesus.

Notes:

All scripture used is from the King James Version, Public Domain, Biblegateway

The Glory Shield

In the year 2019 in about the early Fall I believe, my pastor prophesied over me that God wanted me to write a book on the Glory of God. Soon after this prophesy, I began the study on the glory of God. My studies went into the hundreds of scriptures seems like and I sat and listened to God’s voice. I have several pages in my diary type notebook on this subject. Since I have done the study, I have not started on a book but began on other studies. As we are currently in a pandemic, I thought I would begin to share my thoughts, what I believe God has laid on my heart. I will do my best to relate to you these thoughts and lay out my heart to you. Now more than ever this study is needed to impart to the people. As devotionals go, they are small chunks of study in scripture. Small chunks that we can chew on during the day as we work, stay at home doing chores, or whatever we want to fill our days. I will give two chunks to think on and I do suggest and invite you to investigate the scripture I will give, and to think for yourself. To think as we read scripture is vital and then stopping to meditate and reflect on what we read because during this time God may lay something on your heart that is pertinent to your personal life.

First, let’s investigate Psalm 104:1-3.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.

Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:

His glory is described in these three verses as honor, majesty, and light. To expound on these three aspects of his glory would be to define them. Honor is seen has having a good name. God in his attribute’s integrity is what comes to mind, and purity. His manner and ways show perfection as well. In majesty he is sovereign, supreme, and has dominion over everything. His sovereignty is stated in his name, and that name is I AM. The I AM is described many times in the book of John and is his son Jesus. There is no other God. He is all there is, and he was at the beginning and will be at the end. He is everlasting. He is light, and this is the way glory has been taught from the pulpits. His light radiates and permeates everything, and he is everywhere at the same time. Our God is awesome and a big God. He controls everything and his glory is seen everywhere we look on earth. In this scripture his light reflects from the surface of the water. Even his light was seen through his son Jesus. His glory is everywhere!

Secondly, his glory is a shield. In Psalm 84:11 this is what he says to all men.

“For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”

In his shield of glory is light. He imparts his light through his grace, in unmerited favor to us, and he provided salvation to us through a man that was promised to us as a messiah in Genesis 3:15. This salvation came to us as a messiah for all mankind to believe upon him that he is able to forgive sin, and to conquer death. Death being the result of sin. He gave us grace and salvation because of his love for us.

He is a shield for those who know him, who know his son Jesus. A protector in time of trouble just as Psalm 3:3 says,

“But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.”

Through his wisdom, and glory he imparts to us knowledge of a shield of faith. It is in Ephesians 6 that we come to the knowledge of the shield of faith and the armor that we must put on everyday to fight life’s spiritual battles. During my study I looked at the Greek word for faith. Pistis which is found in Strong’s Greek lexicon as SG 4102 defining it as persuasion, to come to trust, having confidence, a guarantee, a revelation, and a reflection of the redeemed. What do you think when you read this definition? God tells us to enact our faith and that through his son Jesus’s name that we defeat the plans of Satan because we believe and have the confidence that what we spoke will come to pass. It is a demonstration that we have placed our trust in God. Sometimes when we enact our faith we will prophesy, give exhortations to encourage others, and having faith shows that we are his children.

As I studied on this last year, this is the thought that came to me on a Sunday morning. That thought is that his shield that we pick up is part of his glory. I saw this shield as a diamond shape with four points. At the top was his name, that is Jesus. To the right was power, to the bottom of the diamond I saw His light which incurs life, knowledge, wisdom, and these four aspects gave us the courage and strength to stand, to endure, knowing that the battles we face the victory has been assured because of our trust and faith in him. On the left part of the diamond I saw authority, and in my notes, I have 2 Corinthians 1:24, which is:

“Not for that we have dominion over your faith but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand.”

It is by our faith we find the courage, strength, and trust to endure anything that we will face now in the times we are living and in the future.

In conclusion, I have given you a lot to think on. Sit and read. Pray and let all this sink in and let God speak to your heart. Tell him what you need. Tell him your heart. Ask him to give you everything you need to pick up the shield of faith and glory. Ask him to protect you and walk with you. He will go before you.

Notes:

All scripture used was taken from the King James Version, Public Domain, Biblegateway.

Strong’s Lexicon of Hebrew and Greek.

Troubles and Trials Shall Come, but there is Rest from the Storm

As I have spent my day listening to videos and taking care of needful things, my spirit hears the psalmist who wrote the 23rd Psalm. Who was this psalmist? He is a boy who defeated a giant, and grew to become king.

My thoughts on this psalm is how good God—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has been good to me. I have had many troubles, trials, temptations, and the stress that life brings, but I am still here on Earth to testify that God gives peace and rest from all life’s storms.

God is my shepherd. One I can count on to come to me when I am in trouble, and always hears my cries. He is a father to me, and I am his child. He hears my distress in my voice, turns his ear, and says, “what is it my child?” I know I can trust God and tell him all my troubles because I have done so before, and he has always brought me through. God encompasses about me, protects me each day because I live in his covenant as a tithing, born again disciple. He is with me when I need and ask for knowledge, understanding, and wisdom so that I can mature and grow spiritually.

Jehovah is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures;
He leadeth me beside ^[a]still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
He guideth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Psalm 23: 1-3 ASV

God, my father and I have a special place we can go, a quiet place of my choosing, whether it be in the woods, my bedroom, or under my tallit. A place to listen to him after I have emptied my heart before him, and in this place I can find peace, and rest from the stress, the trouble that the devil has put me through, and also the distress I placed on myself.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of
he shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; for thou art with me;
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Psalm 23: 4 ASV

He provides for me in every way, forgives, and restores me. He sets my feet again on the path of righteousness when I make a mistake, or sin, and I ask him to forgive me once again. There are times I find myself in darkness because of the sin when I stumble.

Trials come, and trials go, and I have learned to keep my eyes forward so that soon the trial will cease. These trials are learning periods of hard knocks which gives me the experience to teach others, and to steer them away from the path I sorrowfully took, so that these students will not go the path I once traveled.

He sets before me a table to dine, with fine linen cloth and tableware and treating me as royalty showing me grace, mercy, and love. My enemies observes his goodness and kindness by the actions of my living, and my light shines before men.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
Thou hast anointed my head with oil;
My cup runneth over.
Psalm 23:5 ASV

Surely goodness and lovingkindness shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I shall dwell in the house of Jehovah ^[d]for ever.
Psalm 23:6 ASV

His love is forever, and I have favor as long as I stay in his covenant, revere, and respect him by obedience in keeping his covenant. Jehovah is my Lord, my Savior, and his son is the Messiah. Forever will I trust, love, and praise his name for the peace of knowing I will reach heaven.

Notes:

All scripture given has been taken from the American Standard Version, Public Domain, Biblegateway.

The Watchman On the Wall

Sin is in the world. The curse of sin has been upon man as a curse since the fall of Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden, and the curse has been sent down through the generations spiritually.

I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence,
Isaiah 62:6 KJV

We experience sin every day by our actions and others. We turn on the TV’s and see in the news broadcasts of trouble, strife, regrets, mental distress, disease, hatred, and more. All of this is caused by our choice of actions and sin.

What are we to do? Repent is the first action. When we have our heart straight with God, then our next action is to read the Bible and learn his commandments, and what he expects of us so that we can live righteously working toward our goal, which is eternal life. We are to pray, purge our sins daily, and ask God to help us overcome our weakness so that we may avoid the temptations when they come, and they will come. We are to watch to make sure we don’t fall into sin. Sin comes unexpectedly, meaning we did not mean to sin, meaning unintentional. Yet, there are times we see it coming and make a choice, and that choice of sin is intentional because we let that sin overtake us. When intentional sin happens we must take inventory to learn why we participated in the sin. My thought is that the intentional sinner has their thoughts on the past, and the “fun” so to speak that we think it held, but there will come a time in our lives when we wake up and see we are not happy. That is the time we must realize that sin is not “fun” and dangerous to our life after death. We have the choice of living in eternal life and enjoying all that God has created after the physical death, or we will make the choice of eternal torture. When we realize that we are tired of sinning and want to make a change, then that mindset will set us on a path to learn more about the God the Father, His son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Luke 21:36 KJV

We must make the choice to become the watchman on the wall for not only ourselves, but also for others. To be that watchman is to tell others about the dangers of sin, warn them, and to tell the gospel of Jesus, and be able to understand the stories of the bible, it’s concepts and law, so that we may be able to responsibly teach scripture to others.

Notes: All scripture is taken from the King James Version Public Domain, Biblegateway.