What I wish every Christian knew.......

[praise_yeshua]

1. Melchizedek was a descendent of Adam and Eve......

Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.

Notice "King of Salem" ..... Salem was the city later conquered by David and became the city of Jerusalem.
Psa 76:2 In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Zion.

Which established a priestly order and faith long before Abraham ever became faithful.
Heb 7:3 He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God he continues a priest forever.

Notice the appeal to "genealogy". Not that Melchizedek was not born from among the human race.....

 

[praise_yeshua]

2. Jesus loves ALL sinners.

Pharisees, homosexuals, lesbians, thieves, transgendered, liars, pastors, deacons, charter members, priests, popes, "master" of the lodge, "LDS prophet", president, senators, legislators, town council members, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, and children.

Jesus loves THEM ALL. ALL sinners. Such love..... frees humanity to KNOW God.....

Seek Him your entire life.....
Act 17:27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

Search for Him while he may be found.
Heb 4:11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.

Search for Him while is near.......
Isa 55:6 Seek the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

"Christians need to be saved too"......
1Co 15:34 Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

 

[praise_yeshua]

3. Peace......

Very few people have peace.

Peace is more than just a word. The "English" word peace appeals to an emotional connection to calmness and confidence.

If I asked you "are afraid today?", what would be your answer...

a. Peace is a "gift". Jesus spoke of "His peace"....
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Jesus spoke these words as He was about to leave his disciples. His disciples were soon to not hear His voice for some time as he faced the Cross. He gifted them peace to endure the lack of His presence.

b. Many people say they have "peace" when they have no meaningful emotional stability in their lives. It is easy to become "dead" to our emotions instead of "dealing with the pain". Peace can be replaced but it real or it isn't. Peace isn't become "numb". Many people are just "numb" and afraid to admit it.

c. Peace is a gift from God that is established through our continuing prayer life.

Php 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
Php 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

I've asked God for peace many times in my life. He gave it. Every time.......He gave it.

Remember, peace is a gift. You can't "work it up". You can't "talk yourself into it". You need the peace of God......as only He gives it.

d. Peace can't really be explained.

Notice how verse 7 above says "passeth all understanding"....Peace doesn't often make sense. The Peace of God calms and settles us when we shouldn't be calm and settled. When we shouldn't be comforted.......

I'll share a personal story in my life. I was in motorcycle accident many years ago. I was dating my wife and we had taken a drive through a very long winding mountain range. It was beautiful and we were enjoying every moment. We didn't know the road well and we got into a very flat switchback curve and we crashed. (wasn't speeding. Just lost control).....The crash knocked both of us out. My wife (girlfriend at the time) was "life flighted" to a level 1 trauma unit over a hundred miles away while I rode in an ambulance into a local mountain town. While I was laying on the examine table waiting for treatment I got back enough of my senses to realize just how "bad" a situation" this was for her. I remember praying and asking God " Please fix what I have broken.".... I can't explain the comfort and calmness I recieved at that very moment. Peace when I shouldn't have had peace. I could go into great detail about how God rescued us at every turn in that struggle and how my wife is a living miracle.... but we've been together now for many years and had children that we dearly love. God has blessed us and I praise His name for it. I don't matter. He does. I was "gifted" peace just simply because I asked HIM. You can't get it anywhere else. Not true, lasting peace. It only comes from God.

It is amazing how a simple pray "Please fix what I have broken....." works.....

Even when you don't get the answer you want, HE is our peace. When He is WITH us...... It is always more than enough.

Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Eph 2:14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility

 

[Rockson]

2. Jesus loves ALL sinners.

Pharisees, homosexuals, lesbians, thieves, transgendered, liars, pastors, deacons, charter members, priests, popes, "master" of the lodge, "LDS prophet", president, senators, legislators, town council members, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, and children.

Jesus loves THEM ALL. ALL sinners.

I even think Jesus loves Calvinists too. Not sure they think he loves me though.

 

[praise_yeshua]

4. The "Bible" is a collection of writings that are considered authoritative by the producer/translators. There is no such thing as "Divine Preservation" of a single "Bible" throughout endless generations of men.

I remember when I first began to study the very origins of what I believed to be true in the extant witnesses available to me at the time. I am a former KJVOist. I was trained by those who held the belief when I was a young Christian. As I tried to defend my position, I began to realize that what I had been told was nothing more than preference. Not fact. This lead me to seek and learn the Truth. I soon realized things that challenged the fabric of my very faith. Now, many years later, I have no fear whatsoever dealing with this subject. I've spent extensive time knowing the evidence. I can clearly state that the "Bible" is a collection relegated to individual choices made by men. There isn't a collection at any extant level that is perfect nor "superintendent" in any language in "perfection" to our current time. Such a "volume" doesn't exist. All choices must be made in the correct "copy"..... word by word and painfully matched to any and all witnesses.

Many will tell you that there isn't a doctrine affected at all within the "canonization/translation" processes of any edition and that is a extraordinarily reckless claim that cannot be established relative to the extant evidence.

Every collection varys in significant ways. (Even though there are fewer significant variants in some collections/translations relative to others).

For example, Calvinism references "Bible verses" with significant variants found in Proverbs 16:4 and Job 42:2. You will never get them to even acknowledge the variants much less get them to deal with the variants themselves. The possibility of these verses being nothing more than a preference is far too great for them to acknowledge.

 

[mikesw]

oh. this was added on April 1. I thought you were just kid.....

Nah. You make some good points here. I'm roughly doing the same task of writing out what I have come to know after umpteen years of being a Christian.