The Fruit - Galatians 5:22-23

Galatians 5:22-23 ESV 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Ephesians 5:8-10

for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.

The fruit of the Spirit should have been the fruit eaten by Adam and Eve, this coming from the tree of life. 

They chose the forbidden fruit instead. That led to the pain and sorrow of disobedience. The need for the law which would begin to define good and evil was established. The law would provide the knowledge of good and evil. It would illuminate the frailty of man. Then the fruit from the tree of life would be appealing to the eye and seen as food for the knowledge and wisdom of God. This the fruit they should have chosen. It is the fruit we should choose. 

Made For Man - Mark 2:27

Mark 2:27 ESV 

Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.

Creation was made for man just as the Sabbath was made for man. The glory of man to the glory of God is the will of God. 

True Sabbath is not a religious ritual, but a state of being, a state of life, a state of rest.

Darkness Was Over - Genesis 1:2

Genesis 1:2 ESV 

The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

Without God, the natural state of the world is darkness. This is the way He began. It is into this darkness that God spoke His light into creation. He is injecting Himself to fill the emptiness and formless shape of a world without the light of God. 

History is the unfolding of that light in the context of time. The light itself is timeless as God is timeless, and therefore the beginning and the end. 

In the end the earth will be full of His light and creation will be complete. 

So Loved - John 3:16

John 3:16 ESV 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

When did God begin loving the world? Always!

Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world. This is the ultimate demonstration of his love, The ultimate demonstration of love.

He loved us from the beginning and will love us until the end. He is always there. This is our destiny, for those who answer his call.

Some Do Not Believe - John 6:63-64

John 6:63-64

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

God knowing who will believe and who will not in no way negates or abrogates our free will. He is God Who knows the end from the beginning. He is present in every moment since time began, and this will be case at the end of time. He knows. He is all-knowing. 

It is the Spirit that gives life. The Lord is the Spirit. We join and are joined in that Spirit. 

Receive The Holy Spirit - John 20:21-23

John 20:21-23 ESV 

So Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

The story of God breathing on Adam the gift of life is repeated with Jesus breathing on the disciples. 

The disciples hold a special place within the church and with their relation to Christ. They received the breath of God in a unique fashion. They were were the first to receive what everyone in the body of Christ is destined to receive, and that is the Holy Spirit. This Spirit unites with our spirits, joining us to God and each other. 

The Holy Spirit enables the discernment and judgement of sin. The Spirit descended upon Christ and the fullness of the Father was pleased to dwell in the Son. Just as Christ breathed the Spirit upon these disciples, so He breathes the breath of life on all who call on His name. To receive Christ is to receive the Holy Spirit, for they are the same in the mystery of the Trinity. He alone will judge all hearts. As we grow in the mind of Christ so we will be able to perceive and understand in the way of the Spirit. 

It is Jesus Who sends us into the world to shed His light. We are children of that light. We have become sons of God. This happens when we receive the Holy Spirit. 

In The Beginning - Genesis 1:1

Genesis 1:1 ESV   

The Creation of the World

​ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Matthew 1:1

The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

​ The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

The Greek word translated here as "genealogy" could have been translated as the beginning. The transliterated word is "genesis" which is appropriate for the new creation that would come through Christ. Another beginning is before us. 

Adam, son of God, would fall only to be lifted up by the Son of Man, Jesus Christ. 

Both were children of God, both given life through the Holy Spirit. Adam was given life with the breath of God filling his lungs. That same Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and gave life to Jesus, the second Adam. Through both, light and life will fill the earth. 

Revelation 3:14

To the Church in Laodicea

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

Revelation 22:13

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

God was the beginning. 

Jesus says He is the beginning, who is, was, and is to come. 

God is Jesus is Spirit. 

The transliteration of the Hebrew for God is "'Elohim". It is "plural in form but singular in meaning". Three in One. 

The end will be the same as  the beginning.

God

ʼelōhîm 2,602x God (plural of majesty: plural in form but singular in meaning, with a focus on great power); (Mounce's Complete Exposition)

The Hole - Psalms 7:14-15

Psalms 7:14-15

Behold, the wicked man conceives evil

and is pregnant with mischief

and gives birth to lies.

He makes a pit, digging it out,

and falls into the hole that he has made.

We dug a hole in the earth and entered that darkness. We are diggers by nature. 

Jesus jumped in the hole after us. He took our place, then rose up into heaven by the power of God. The tomb became empty. Earth could not hold Him. 

We stand on His shoulders, by His power, and are able to climb out. We will follow. The hole becomes empty, we are no longer bound in its grip. 

There are many such holes that remain filled with imprisoned souls. Speak to that darkness. 

Crown Of Thorns - Matthew 27:29

Matt. 27:29 and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

The crown of thorns may remind us of the curse on the earth as the result of Adam's sin. In pain and sorrow he would till the earth by the sweat of his brow. Christ took upon His head the crown of our judgement in exchange for the crown of life. 

Calling Him the "King of the Jews", they inadvertently utter the truth the Jews would not accept. He is that and so much more. 

Scarlet Robe - Matthew 27:27-28

Matt. 27:27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole battalion before him.

Matt. 27:28 And they stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him,

The Jews brought Jesus to the governor for execution. The Gentiles gather around Him to display their complete rejection of the Holy One of God. In this scene we see the hostility of all the world to the word of God. 

They mock Him as the King of the Jews when He is in fact the King of Kings. The scarlet robe might be seen as representing His blood that would be spilled to free us from sin, or our tainted blood was poured out on His back in exchange for His innocent blood. Either way, His blood covered us for all time, ever cleansing us before the Father. 

Though they put on the scarlet robe for mockery, it gave witness to the truth. He is King indeed!

Dwell In The Land - Ezekiel 36:26-28

Ezekiel 36:26-28 ESV 

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Our flesh, or body, is not a bad thing. God made it and it was good. It is this fallen flesh that has deviated from God that is at issue. 

God will restore our hearts as intended to be from the beginning. 

The promise handed down to Israel has always been tied to the land promised to their fathers so long ago. This will at last be fulfilled. 

Judged Already - John 3:17-19

John 3:17-19 ESV 

For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.

Everyone will face the word. It will save or condemn. 

The word is the light of the world. He came into the world and shines upon the world. Some receive the light while others cling to the darkness. 

We are judged by the word and our words. When we agree with we are able to walk together. 

We stand condemned already by the word that came before. 

We receive salvation by the word of the good news, the gospel. Both are from God. It is the same word. 

We will appear before His throne to give an account. Some will speak for the last time. 

The Cross - Galatians 6:14-15

Galatians 6:14-15 NIV 

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation.

The cross is how we get to the other side. 

As You Say - Matthew 27:11

Matthew 27:11 NASB 

Jesus before Pilate

Now Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor questioned Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And Jesus said to him, “It is as you say.”

The answer Jesus gave Pilate could imply something more than simple agreement. He could have just said yes. He could have said "I Am".

It could point us to the reality that it is we who choose to believe that He is the King of Kings. That He is The Lord is not up for debate. What we think does not alter that He is our Creator, but what we think does determine our life. 

Here Pilate asks the question. The reply he receives implies the freedom we have to believe or not. He says to all of us, "It is as you say".

What we say is the most important thing we will do. 

By Itself - James 2:17

James 2:17 ESV 

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Works without faith is dead. 

Faith without works is dead. 

Life comes from faith working in and through love. 

Faith first is like being given the breath of life that allows a man to open his eyes, to rise from the earth and stand up, and to begin moving in the wonder of life. 

It is through our works that the light of God is held out to the world, through the fruit of the Spirit. The Spirit no longer hovers over the waters, but abides in our hearts. 

We are alive!

Breastplates - Revelation 9:17

Revelation 9:17 ESV 

And this is how I saw the horses in my vision and those who rode them: they wore breastplates the color of fire and of sapphire and of sulfur, and the heads of the horses were like lions' heads, and fire and smoke and sulfur came out of their mouths.

by Shoebat Foundation on August 11, 2014 in Featured, General

By Walid Shoebat (Shoebat Exclusive)

As we predicted. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has won the presidential election with 52 percent of the vote, according to early results. Thus, Erdogan has become the country’s first popularly-elected head of state. He appears triumphant with the crowds of millions carrying fiery red, hyacinth blue, and sulfur yellow flags. (Revelation 19:17)

Be aware and prepare. 

Water In The Wilderness - Genesis 16:7

Genesis 16:7 ESV 

The angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur.

The angel, Jesus, appears to Hagar after she flees from Sarai, Abraham's wife. The Hebrew word for "spring" carries the meaning of fountain and is derived from a primitive word the literally means eye. "Shur" means to perceive or to regard. (Strong's)

Jesus is the fountain of living water which appears in our wilderness and opens our eyes to the presence of The Lord. He is our comfort and strength in time of trouble. His eye is on the sparrow and certainly on us as He holds us in His hand. 

He does for us as He did for Hagar. He is our joy and worthy of praise. 

And He Ate - Genesis 3:6

Gen. 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

There is a symmetry, or connection, between the first and second Adam, the re-enforcement of repetition often found in Scripture to convey a truth of God. 

The first Adam took the forbidden fruit from the hand of Eve. She was not left alone in her sin. He took it willingly. No words are recorded of Adam's reaction. He suffered the consequences with her. 

The second Adam would not let man remain alone in our sin. He took it willingly, receiving the cup of judgement filled with the bitter fruit of disobedience. In silence He stood accused for us. He suffered the consequence of our sin, taking our burden of judgement from our hands willingly, bringing us back before the tree of life. We can choose its fruit if we like and we can eat.

Betrothed

Jesus never married because he was betrothed to the church. He is the groom and we are the bride. Though yet to be consummated it is no less real in being a marriage.

We become one with his flesh. From his side we are fashioned into creatures of the new creation.

Manifest - 1 Corinthians 3:11-15

1Co 3:11-15 ESV 

For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. 

The Greek word translated as "manifest" comes from the root for "shining". How appropriate to describe the bringing to light all that has been done. The fire of God's gaze and judgement of our lives will be felt by all. The work of believing and acting on that belief will be in full view. 

We are responsible to give an account for what we have received. Anything built on any foundation other than Jesus will burn away. The only things that have eternal significance will remain. We risk being thrown out into the darkness if we arrive at the wedding feast without the proper attire. Find out your part in preparing your wardrobe and begin working while there is still time. 

It will be better to arrive in heaven a little scorched than to burn in hell. Even better to hear our Savior say: " Well done!"

Rom 8:38-39

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I Walk Through The Valley - Palms 23:4

Psalms 23:4 ESV 

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil,for you are with me;your rod and your staff,they comfort me.

We share the same wilderness journey that Jesus experienced. The Holy Spirit is with us just as He was with Christ. The body of Christ journeys through this world just as Jesus made His way in the wilderness. 

Forty days can point us to the forty years of Israel's journey through the wilderness, a generation's passing. We spend our lives in faith before we will see the promised land. 

One enters the wilderness only when leaving the world behind and entering the kingdom of God. Awakened into life, we find ourselves a stranger in a strange land. The world grows dim as we begin to see the darkness for what it is. It is the light of Christ that makes this possible. 

The Holy Spirit drives us all into the wilderness. There we face our own temptations in the wilderness of the world. It is the word that provides us the answers that we need to endure to the end as we walk in this land where the shadow of death has sway. We are tested as he was tested. He is with us. His word is with us. The Lord is the Spirit. 

"I will fear no evil". 

Many Such Things - Mark 7:6-8

Mark 7:6-8 ESV 

And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,“‘This people honors me with their lips,but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me,teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

Mark 7:13

thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

The word of God brings us close to Him and enables us to hear His words. These are the words of life. 

We are prone to wander and add our own word to the word of God. Our own words often sound good in our own ears and can begin to be regarded as equal with the word of God, or even supersede them. Slowly over time we can stray from the path of God into the fields of man's tradition.  Time can add weight to the most foolish of notions, and there is no question of the sincerity of the believer, even if they believe the wrong things. 

"And many such things you do"

Scripture is the divine authority. The Holy Spirit inhabits those words and is measure for all things. It is profitable for salvation and making us holy. 

The Righteousness Of God - Romans 3:21

Romans 3:21

The Righteousness of God Through Faith 

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—

Is it possible to be righteous before God? How could this be so, for keeping His law is impossible for us?

The law showed us what is necessary. The word was given on stone tablets which were clear, but only served to expose the weakness of our flesh. 

This prepared the way for the word taking on our flesh so that we might have the word in our flesh, that we might become part of the word. 

Our joy comes not only in confessing the work of Christ, but to accept and claim our new life in Christ. That new life brings us into His righteousness. We thus come fully into the light of the world and become part of that light. 

How more righteous can we be if we have the righteousness of God?

Another Cup - Matthew 26:38-44

Mat 26:38-44 ESV 

Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again.

Jesus faces three temptations as He did in the wilderness by Satan, except this setting is in a garden, which points us back to the Garden of Eden and He is addressing His Father. Still it's about temptation. He wrestles with the enormous consequence of obeying the will of the Father. Again He has the choice that faces all flesh. He alone is able to overcome the weakness of flesh and chooses to follow His Father's will. He was able to go little farther and stay awake in contrast to his disciples.

Notice the progression of His prayer. The first prayer references the cup only. The next two times the act of drinking from the cup is added. Remember Him telling His disciples that He would not drink from the cup of the covenant until he came into His kingdom. There was another cup He had to drink first.

Destroyed By Fire - 2 Peter 3:10

2 Peter 3:10 NIV 

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

The earth, man, is undergoing a refining process. All that is dross will melt away by the heat of truth which has been poured out by the word of Christ. It is the fire of The Lord. 

The Greek word here for elements includes the idea of a previous way of thinking. The first understanding gives way to another. We are being transformed into new creatures, leaving behind the old man and his muddled thinking. 

When I was a child I thought like a child. Then I began to put my childish things away. I came to grow into the mind of Jesus when I entered the body of Christ. 

Luke 12:49

 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

Acts 2:3-4

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

1 Corinthians 3:13-15

their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.