(04/08/2019) Make Me A Servant

Lyrics for the hymn, Make Me A Servant by Kelley Willard (© 1982 Maranatha Music, Willing Heart Music and CCCM Music (ASCAP)(admin. by Music Services); see image reference above)

Today, reply is on the sacred excellence of Christian servitude. All Christian believers are to respond to one another as though always acting in obedience to, and presenting the presence of Jesus Christ. In this way courtesy, empathy, impartiality, and respect continually appear among the members of the body, the church. When unselfish service is properly practiced at every level—no matter how menial or small ones assignments and tasks may be within the household of faith—those who are cheerful and dutiful earn merit, and add great value on the basis of their bestowal of affection, loyalty, respect, and trust; by their ability to secure confidences, mysteries, and secrets as well as through their maintenance of discretion, humility, integrity, and self-government under acknowledged authority. One of the fighters in the “Yahoo! Answers” public forum on Religion and Spirituality who uses the ID “Anonymous” (no profile information shown) posted the following:

What do you do when a guy calls you a bastard in church?

My first visiting a church was a food offering that was happening and my friend invited me to come. The guy who was serving tea because he made the tea was angry at people taking too much cups and my friend and I were standing in front of him and he looked at me taking cups and said 'bastard."

What the f? why the hell would you come to church in the first place if your in an angry place? I hope Hell is guaranteed for someone like you. I have been visiting the church to see that bastard again so I can call him the same way he called me bastard to his face

Update: I NEVER call anybody bastard in the first place. I was in peace enjoying my food. Bastard originally means you have no father. My father died and is in heaven, Thank God for that because he is saved from this horrible world full of angry people calling people names for no reason.

THE GOLDEN ARROW: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. (Romans 14: 17-19, King James Version, KJV)

THE DOUBLE DAGGER: Rendering Our Reasonable Service (06/15/2018); The Relationship As Servant (06/03/2018); Being A Good Samaritan (02/18/2018); Mankind’s Priesthood in Heaven (02/16/2018); The Servitude of Angels (08/28/2017); Divine and Unconditional Love (09/18/2016); Covetousness, Slavery and Sin (09/16/2016); Called To Be Servants? (11/25/2015)

“Anonymous”, sinners who choose to come to GOD through Jesus Christ eventually are to become anointed and ordained as priests, kings and joint-heirs with the Son of the Highest by receiving a fresh endowment of spirit substance from the makeup of divinity. Included are Christ-likeness, faith, holiness, longsuffering, lovingkindness, personhood, righteousness, wisdom, and wrath against sin. Water baptism depicts the death, burial, and rebirth of ones inborn spirit; and those who become born-again also are to “grow up again” to become mature/ripe for harvest by the Lord at his appearing (we also say, the Advent; the Rapture; the Second Coming).

The transformation to become one of those who will meet the Lord in the air is completed in the twinkling of an eye; however, permanent changes in ones lifestyle and daily routine begin with the decision to acknowledge Christ as Savior. Only by operations of the Holy Spirit are the character, makeup, and spirit content of GOD imparted to the followers of Christ. Believers are edified and nourished through such life experiences as acknowledging correction, discovery, “growing pains,” enduring hardship, gradual growth, sacrifice, unselfish service, study of the holy writings, and suffering.

Before any believer may receive a crown of life, they will have learned and practiced the meaning and value of forgiveness, giving, ministry, oneness without sameness, respect, restraint that displays love, and service. Consider again the following that uses language from the Bible:

1. Matthew 20: 20-29, King James Version (KJV): 20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. 21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. 22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able. 23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father. 24 And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren. 25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. 26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: 28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. 29 And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.

2. Luke 17: 7-10, KJV: 7 But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? 8 And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? 9 Doth he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. 10 So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do.

There is far more that should be said, correctly examined, and spiritually apprehended. (For example, 3. Hebrews 12: 3-9, KJV: 3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?) Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful. Be it unto you according to your faith.

Downloaded 5:00 PM, April 07, 2019 @ https://i.ytimg.com/vi/VELtxf6HMfs/hqdefault.jpg

AN AFTERTHOUGHT: When Samuel the Prophet anointed David, the son of Jesse, to be the divinely appointed ruler over all Israel, David was yet within the household of King Saul as the king’s adopted son; the Champion of Israel, a chief warrior, and a commander over one thousand troops; the king’s exorcist, music minister, and personal physician; and the kings son-in-law by marriage to his daughter Michal. It would be an entire generation (40 years) before David would finally wear the crown, and receive the allegiance and fealty from all the 12 tribes. David endured a period as a fugitive, a nomad, and a vagabond that provided growth, practical knowledge, and testing to establish lasting strength. David was required to serve in many lesser roles before he would be acknowledged as Judge, King, Priest, and Prophet. In the same way, before developing Christians may judge, officiate, reign, or rule within the kingdom of heaven they must become refined and tempered within the fire of service. It is written: 1^st Peter 1: 3-9, King James Version (KJV): 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: 7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

THE BLACK PHOENIX

Washington, DC

(09/11/2017) Gratitude Appears By Grace

Today, reply is made on why people are thanking GOD following “divinely caused” disastrous weather events.  The fighter at “Yahoo! Answers” who uses the ID “SupaStar” (Level 5 with 8,173 points, a member since August 07, 2014) posted the following:


Religiously Speaking, having just come through Hurricane Irma here in Tampa Bay, why are people "thanking god" for saving their lives...?

...but not blaming that bastard for sending the killer storm in the first place?

How is this different from thanking someone when they stop hitting you on the head with a hammer?


THE GOLDEN ARROW:  Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;  Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.  For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ.  (2nd Corinthians 1:  3-5, King James Version, KJV)


THE DOUBLE DAGGER:  Storms to Punish America? (09/08/2017); Testing and Divine Process (06/12/2017); Endurance, Humility and Obedience? (06/04/2017); Divine Delay and Prayer? (03/22/2017); What Does Divinity Want? (03/13/2017); Accepting the Divine Will? (12/06/2016); Unless You Repent (03/05/2013); The Childhood of Jesus? (03/06/2013); Faith for Facing Tragedy? (06/04/2013); Words Spoken By GOD? (06/05/2013)


“SupaStar”, the basis for correct relationship with GOD is receiving and containing divine spirit.  Mature Christian believers understand that gratitude, thankfulness, and works that acknowledge the grace of GOD appear in created beings and living creatures as provisions from divinity like life essence, “the spark of life,” breath, word, and “sacred utterance” through the Holy Spirit.  A very different framework for understanding must be used that is not carnal, material, secular, and social—that includes no bastards—and that center on spirit substance without relying on time or space.  The power of emotion (e.g., anger, fear, sorrow) must be suspended along with that of appetite (e.g., hunger, thirst, sexual craving) and sensation (e.g., hearing, seeing, tasting, touching).  Gratitude will only appear as part of what and who your are in Christ, a new creation that is established in part through rebirth, gradual development, growing pains, and suffering.  In the same way, some continually display a character and makeup that is bitter, destructive, or suicidal, and have no control or willpower to permanently change themselves, sinners who yield their lives and personalities become vessels of sacred substance (we say, offspring, sons and daughters of GOD) through operations of the Holy Spirit, not of their own self-will.  Consider again the following that I’m sure you have seen before:

(1.)  Hebrews 12:  7-9, King James Version (KJV):  7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?  8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.  9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence:  shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

(2.)  1st Corinthians 12:  3, KJV:  3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed:  and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

(3.)  John 1:  11-13, KJV:  11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.  12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:  13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

There is far more to be said, correctly examined, and spiritually apprehended.  (For example, (4.)  Romans 8:  5-9, KJV:  5 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.  6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.  7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:  for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.)  Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful.  Be it unto you according to your faith.

THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC

(06/15/2015) Why the Jews Were Called Out?

Scripture points are shared, today, on why the Jews were called out from the world to serve divinity.  The writer at “Yahoo! Answers” using the ID “blonde” (Level 2 with 318 points, a member since June 09, 2015) posted the following:


Christians why did God choose the Jews as his chosen people out of all other ethnic group in the world?


THE GOLDEN ARROW:  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.  I speak that which I have seen with my Father:  and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.  They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham.  But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God:  this did not Abraham.  Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.  Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me:  for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own:  for he is a liar, and the father of it.  And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.  (John 8:  36-45, KJV)


THE DOUBLE DAGGER:  Correctly Knowing Israel? (03/01/2015); A Guarantee of Heaven? (03/22/2014); The Bible is Unchanging? (03/23/2014); Why Jesus Must Be A Jew (03/18/2014); The Benefit of Grace (03/19/2014); The Bible and Genealogy (09/10/2013); Why GOD Does Not Tell All (09/11/2013); “Authorized Personnel Only”? (03/13/2013); Before Abraham Was… (03/14/2013)


“blonde”, the Jews were not called into their service to divinity on the basis of their ethnicity, the aspects of their own inborn nature, or their peculiar customs, characteristics, and traditions.  Those who left Egypt with Moses were elect on the basis of sacred commitments, grace, divine prerogative, and multiple aspects of the divine nature.  Their three-fold status as heirs (to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) made them the best candidate group through whom divine covenants, promises and prophecies could be continued, completed and fulfilled as well as a group that could be used to make known and visible the active presence and operations of GOD.  Consider the following:

(1.)  Chosen on the basis of their need.  Deuteronomy 7:  6-8, King James Version (KJV):  6 For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God:  the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.  7 The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people:  8 But because the LORD loved you, and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, hath the LORD brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

(2.)  Chosen as an instrument to express divine wrath against sin (we say, judgment).  Deuteronomy 7:  1-5, KJV:  1 When the LORD thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou;  2 And when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them:  3 Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.  4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods:  so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.  5 But thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire.

(3.)  Chosen on the basis of meekness (we say, willingness to be led and taught by the Holy Spirit).  Genesis 18:  16-19, KJV:  16 And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom:  and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.  17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;  18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?  19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

(4.)  Chosen to demonstrate intimate relationship with Deity. Hebrews 12:  6-9, KJV:  6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.  7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?  8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.  9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence:  shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?

There is far more to be said, correctly understood, and spiritually taken into account.  (For example, (5.)  A collection of tribes becomes a unified nation through divine law and revelation.  Deuteronomy 4:  32-36, KJV:  32 For ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?  33 Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as thou hast heard, and live?  34 Or hath God assayed to go and take him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?  35 Unto thee it was shewed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him.  36 Out of heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might instruct thee:  and upon earth he shewed thee his great fire; and thou heardest his words out of the midst of the fire.)  Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful.  Be it unto you according to your faith and spiritual maturity.

THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC

(09/10/2013) The Bible and Genealogy

Why genealogy and records of family connection appear in the holy writings, and more on origins for the idea of GOD are topics, today.  The “Yahoo! Answers” writer using ID “vmcm” (Level 2 with 278 points, a member since November 2011) posted the following:


Other than Jesus' Genealogy as the Messiah, why are genealogies so important in the Old Testament?

(I'm a Born-again Christian.)


THE BATTLE AXE:  A Start for the Idea of GOD? (09/09/2013)—(5.)  Many attribute Christian belief to a commonly held understanding that all humans have a peculiar desire (not a need) for a “god”.  Men want to be, want to come under, and expect a controlling force, an exalted power, or a supreme being of some kind to have place over their lives.  Most often such thinking is a mix of philosophy, superstition, and cultural tradition that is more in line with imagination than with ones actual experience of spirit presence.  While awareness of spirit truth must be discovered and experienced within ones own consciousness, and cannot be most correctly known through the actions and speeches of others, the holy writings provide various definitions, depictions, and descriptions that clarify spirit phenomena, prepare one for spiritual encounter, promote spiritual growth, and remove spiritual confusion.  Reading the Bible with its explanations of origins supplies every Christian with a clear, complete, comprehensive, and systematic account for the beginnings, critical changes, the endings, and the perpetual continuations for all being and existence.  See Deuteronomy 29:  29, James 1:  5-8 and 2nd Peter 2:  2-11, KJV.


THE GOLDEN ARROW:  If brethren dwell together, and one of them die, and have no child, the wife of the dead shall not marry without unto a stranger:  her husband’s brother shall go in unto her, and take her to him to wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her.  And it shall be, that the firstborn which she beareth shall succeed in the name of his brother which is dead, that his name be not put out of Israel.  And if the man like not to take his brother’s wife, then let his brother’s wife go up to the gate unto the elders, and say, My husband’s brother refuseth to raise up unto his brother a name in Israel, he will not perform the duty of my husband’s brother.  Then the elders of his city shall call him, and speak unto him:  and if he stand to it, and say, I like not to take her;  Then shall his brother’s wife come unto him in the presence of the elders, and loose his shoe from off his foot, and spit in his face, and shall answer and say, So shall it be done unto that man that will not build up his brother’s house.  And his name shall be called in Israel, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed.  (Deuteronomy 25:  5-10, KJV)


THE DOUBLE DAGGER:  My Brother’s Keeper (04/05/2013); Issues for Children’s Church? (04/06/2013); A Family Affair? (04/01/2013); Emotional Appeal? (04/02/2013); Vows and Covenants? (12/17/2012); The Firstborn, Higher Than Kings? (12/18/2012)


“vmcm”, here are a few simple points you should find useful in further understanding the operation of GOD among mankind:

(1)  Mortal beings are continued in life and unbroken relationship with eternal GOD through various devices.  Included are family, dynasty, inheritance, memorial, prayer, promise, and prophecy.

(2)  The holy writings document divine distribution of the Promised Land as a blessing from GOD, and as divine judgment (i.e., the resolution of conflict; the settlement of dispute).  The historical founding and maintenance of the covenant nation are described along with its boundaries; ownership records; procedures for claiming, purchasing, selling, transferring and recovering ones inheritance; and the rules whereby inheritance may be canceled, lost, and made void.

(3)  Practices of multiple marriage were often employed as necessary in response to loss of population through epidemic disease, famine, war, etc.  Birth order and birth rights could only be protected through law and public records.  Consider again the 70 sons of Gideon, the decimation of Benjamin as a tribe, and the 700 wives of Solomon (Judges 8-9 and 20-21, 1st Kings 11, KJV).  In effect, bastards and children born out of wedlock had no part as full citizens in Israel.

There is far more to be said, correctly applied, and spiritually understood.  For example, (4)  The priesthood bestowed upon Adam was to be maintained as the inheritance to the son of GOD upon the earth that was modeled after the priesthood in heaven.  In the same way the inheritance of Jesus is acknowledged as the kingdom and throne of David, Jesus was revealed as the son of Man, and heir to Adam (we say, the second Adam).)  Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful.  Be it unto you according to your faith.


THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC