(05/01/2016) A Dry Thirsty Land

Discussion of the need for sin to be personal is continued, today.  In an earlier blog (04/29/2016), my first thoughts were to say that sin must be personal, just as pleasure is personal, private, and an expression of ones own unique character, makeup, and substance.  However, reflecting upon what I posted, I realized again that sin must be known by discernment (i.e., operations of divine essence), not just by likes and dislikes, temporal phenomena, and the ever changing aspects of the flesh.  The revelation of GOD heightens and instills ones consciousness and sense of need for relationship with Deity.  To know sin only in “earthly” terms is not to know sin at all.  A person must be permanently changed, acquire an appetite for the things that nourish eternal life, and continually apply the peculiar gifts provided by Christ that include divine law, eternal purpose, and sacred practice.  So to speak, You don’t miss the water, until the well has run dry; and you have not truly craved it, until you’re dying from thirst.  There must be an overwhelming, unmet need for godly love, peace, and reconciliation.  Those who respond to Jesus Christ dying upon the cross become touched by both the blood and the water that gushed from his side.  Their thirst for righteousness that will permit them to appear before the Father in genuine repentance begins to be answered as they accept and acknowledge—even without their actually having committed such specific sins as adultery, blasphemy, murder, perjury, rape, slander, or torture—that the inescapable guilt, imperfection, infirmity, and shame from sin is their own.  Sinners have no basis or merit whereby their error and sin is justified; and their condition only may corrected and healed through the operations of GOD.  Sinners must know and feel with power that, unless they take deliberate action to respond to the Savior, their lives will totally slip away from dryness while standing on the shores of an ocean.  Readers are asked to consider the presentation below:


THE GOLDEN ARROW:  There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:  And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,  And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.  And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom:  the rich man also died, and was buried;  And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.  But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things:  but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.  And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed:  so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.  Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house:  For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.  Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.  And he said, Nay, father Abraham:  but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.  And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.  (Luke 16:  19-31, KJV)


THE DOUBLE DAGGER:  Filled With The Cross? (04/17/2016); Sin Also Made Incarnate? (04/25/2016); Accountability and Challenge, Not Blame (09/03/2015); ); My Soul Shall Be Satisfied (10/08/2014); Responsible for Sin? (05/30/2014); Choosing a Church? (05/31/2014)


THE BATTLE AXE:  Sin Must Be Personal (04/29/2016)—Where we think of zeal, we often think only of the energy and excitement believers display through their commitment, devotion, investment of themselves, and completeness of surrender to divinity.  However, zeal also should be understood as the level of pursuit that every sinner must bring to their opportunities as followers of Christ.  Saying this another way, “how much do they want it?”  The sinner must hunger for godly change, redemption, release, and salvation.  It is better to avoid saying “appetite”, “desire”, or “passion” because, those terms suggest that some process tied to having fixed form and bodies of flesh (e.g., circulation, cogitation, digestion, metabolism, pain, suffering) is the source of the necessary response that must be made by every created being and living creature to the revelation of Deity.  Rather than ones mind, bodily organs and tissues, ones endowment of spirit content imparted from GOD impels motion toward divinity, and response to the call of GOD.  The fundamental attraction as “a part” returning to “the whole it is missing from” must be in place as an imperative of continued existence.  With all their mind, heart, and being the beloved will embrace all the gifts, hopes, longings, promises, and visions provided from the GODhead.  Consider again how this is stated using language from the Bible where “water” is repeatedly spirit substance from GOD:

(1.)  Hebrews 10:  28-30, King James Version (KJV):  28 He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses:  29 Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?  30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.

(2.)  John 4:  14, KJV:  14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

(3.)  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.

(4.)  Ezekiel 37:  1-6, KJV:  1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,  2 And caused me to pass by them round about:  and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.  3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.  4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.  5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:  6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

(5.)  Ezekiel 37:  11-14, KJV:  11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel:  behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost:  we are cut off for our parts.  12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.  13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,  14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land:  then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

(6.)  Psalms 63:  1-5, KJV:  1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee:  my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;  2 To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary.  3 Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee.  4 Thus will I bless thee while I live:  I will lift up my hands in thy name.  5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips:

(7.)  Revelation 21:  1-5, KJV:  1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:  for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.  2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.  4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:  for the former things are passed away.

There is far more to be said, understood, and spiritually taken in.  (For example, (8.)  Revelation 22:  1-6, KJV:  1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.  2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month:  and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.  3 And there shall be no more curse:  but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:  4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.  5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light:  and they shall reign for ever and ever.  6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true:  and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.)  Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful.  Be it unto you according to your faith.

THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC

(10/13/2015) Spirit, Spirit Beings, Spirit Persons?

Today, points are shared on language used to speak of the soul and the spirit.  When a “living soul” dies the spirit from GOD is separated from the flesh.  Yet, an account in Scripture reports a dead man revived when he touched the bones of the Prophet Elisha (see 2nd Kings 10:  21, King James Version (KJV) ).  For this to happen, there had to be contact with the Spirit that earlier inhabited the prophet; and his bones (we say, relics) had to contain a residue of the anointing, spirit content, and power that worked through Elisha while he was living.  Consider again the following from the Bible, and the points appearing below:  John 4:  23-24, KJV:  23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth:  for the Father seeketh such to worship him.  24 God is a Spirit:  and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.  The writer at “Yahoo! Answers” using the ID “barajab” (Level 3 with 1,897 points, a member since April 05, 2010) posted the following:


Whats the differents between a spirit and soul?


THE GOLDEN ARROW:  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.  Because the carnal mind is enmity against God:  for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.  So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.  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.  And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  (Romans 8:  5-10, KJV)


THE DOUBLE DAGGER:  The Only Physical Being in Heaven? (06/17/2015); GOD Is A Spirit? (12/07/2014); The Mystery of His Appearing (12/08/2014); Destroying the Resurrected Body? (02/10/2014); For They Shall Be Ashes (02/11/2014); Why Blood? (04/13/2013); Time Before the Sun? (04/14/2013); “Soul” Food? (12/06/2012); Holiday Displays? (12/07/2012); The Spirit is Willing (10/20/2012); Spirit Matter (10/21/2012)


“barajab”, may I share some thoughts I’ve come to after many years thinking about “the soul” and “the spirit.”   The following points on spirit beings, spirit-filled beings, and Spirit persons (the GODhead) will give you some positive ideas to eliminate error and spiritual confusion:

(1.)  Usually, Christian believers rely upon the holy writings to explain the meanings for “spirit” and “soul” in a fixed and focused manner, because when using these terms, multiple subtleties (i.e., barely visible differences; hidden shifts in direction and value) are often introduced by ones intent.  Using “spirit”, existence may be understood as enduring, or having presence without measurable dimensions.  Conditions and frameworks need not be applied that describe carnal, material, physical, and social being, or mortality, space and time.

(2.)  Mankind was first fashioned as an object that was empty and void of divine spirit (we also say, breath, life essence, spark, word).  When divinity imparted aspects of the divine makeup into the lifeless form, “man became a living soul.”  It is in this sense that mankind is made in the image of GOD as well as that, through the imparted Spirit, men may perform sacred duties, share sacred knowledge, and fulfill eternal purpose.

(3.)  Divinity is made up of inseparable substances entirely spirit in their content including faith, holiness, purity, righteousness, truth, wisdom, and wrath against sin.  Faith is made up only of faith, holiness only of holiness, truth only of truth, etc.  The communication, exchanges and interactions between and among the aspects of full spirit content are manifested and revealed to finite living creatures as active presence, character, nature, person, and eternal purpose.  Divinity continues to exist having the human form used to appear in the earth as Jesus Christ.

(4.)  Many mistakenly speak of “the immortal soul,” however, only GOD is immortal.  Angels, demons, devils, the sacred beasts of heaven, and unclean spirits (we say, spirit beings) are created beings and living creatures whose makeup and substance is spirit.  While they may have been fashioned and given life long before the creation of the earth, they are neither mortal nor immortal.  Their duration is not determined by their form; rather, they continue by the dispensation of GOD (we say, grace), and divine prerogative.

(5.)  There is no “dead” soul; yet, at death ones spirit is separated from the physical body.  The spirit from a dead person does continue to exist, however, not within any frame of reference presently known in the experience of the living.  Death is spoken of as sleep, because sleep describes the suspension of awareness and self-will.  However, sleep is an action among the living.

(6.)  Living persons are said to be “dead in spirit” where they do not respond to the divine law, the imperatives of judgment and sacred truth, or the living will of GOD.  In effect, they lack the basic equipment for correct comprehension and response to utterances provided by divinity for continuous acknowledgment and contact (e.g., admonition, confession, fellowship with other believers, giving, guidance, obedience, offering, prayer, praise, promise, prophecy, sacrifice).

There is far more to be said, correctly applied, and spiritually apprehended.  (For example, (7.)  The followers of Jesus Christ are to be “spirit-filled beings” as they continue living in the earth, facing the same life challenges as everyone else.  Just as they are “born again” through baptism (death of ones inborn spirit; rebirth from divine DNA, so to speak) and operations by the Spirit of GOD, believers must “grow up again.”  All are to appear mature, “ripe” and ready to be harvested from the earth by Jesus Christ at his Advent (we say, Second Coming).  Their transformation to live as immortal and incorruptible will be completed at that time.)  Even so, I trust this fragment will be useful.  Be it unto you according to your faith.

THE BLACK PHOENIX
Washington, DC