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  • Thanks for our morning Bible readings

    John, 

    Thank you for all the time you have given to prepare these readings each morning.  I have been very blessed and humbled to go through the Old Testament and the Old Testament prophets (Going to Jesus.com – Bible Translations) especially, as amazingly quickly as we have.

    It’s been wonderful to go over these things together.  I have been extremely humbled especially to read the prophets over the past days because I am reminded (if I ever really knew it at all), just how much I DON’T understand about what these holy men got, and passed on, from Jehovah.  I don’t understand most of what they are talking about.  It has made me want to get still and learn more of God and the Spirit they had.  

    At one point these prophets, several at least, have said things like “woe to the shepherds who have abused and not taken care of the sheep, and have led them astray, etc.”  But we cannot say that John.  You have spent your life and much time teaching us truths that God has given to you, continually and faithfully.  Thank you for that, and for all that you do to get us ready for these readings and your teaching in general.  I feel renewed and  nourished, in being at these morning readings with everyone and I just wanted to take this moment to thank you.  It means a lot to my heart and I know of no better way to start each day than by what we’ve been doing.  I am thankful.

    Gary

    ===========

    Thank you, Gary.  I am so thankful for the us that Jesus has put together.  My hope is that Jesus is pleased with our work.  That is everything.

    jdc

     

  • Kind of life

    Good morning Pastor John,

    I am up reading in God Had a Son Before Mary Did 9 (Going to Jesus.com – God Had A Son Before Mary Did) about the different kinds of life, and something you wrote stopped me.  When you explained why the earth became so wicked after the flood — that angels lusted after the beautiful women on earth and abandoned the heavenly bodies with which they were created — it made me think about Matthew 22.  I’ve always thought that when we reach our eternal home, we will not be male or female.  But Matthew 22 doesn’t actually say that.  It only says that in the resurrection there will be no marriage, and that they are like the angels of God. That made me slow down and really read Galatians 3, but that is about us all being one in Christ.  It is striking that angels wanted to mate with women when that was not part of their created kind of life.  My question is this: Does the Bible say anywhere else that we will not be male or female in heaven?

     Matthew 22

    1. Then Jesus answered and said to them, “You are deceived, knowing neither the scriptures nor the power of God.
    2. In the resurrection, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but they are like the angels of God in heaven.

    Galatians 3

    1. There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor freeman, nor male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

    Beth

    ==========

    Jesus is the one who revealed that there will be no marriages in the life to come.  I assume that means that the glorified bodies God’s saints will receive after the resurrection will be neither male nor female.  Spiritually, it is true now that in Christ, there is neither male nor female, as Paul said, but life in the Spirit now is a foretaste, or “earnest”, of what the next life will be like.  Paul taught that, too (2Cor, 1:22; 5:5).

    Pastor John

     

  • Time to Let It Go

    Click to teach Gmail this conversation is important

    Good Morning Pastor John,

    It seems like there is always something in our week lately that goes right with the meeting.  I really love what Donna said about familiar things that trigger a response in you, and letting go.

    Last weekend, Alex put brakes on his car.  As we know, almost nothing like that ever goes as planned.  Some issues came up with extra parts needing replaced.  As the job went on, there were things Alex needed my help with, which I was happy to do.  However, there was this thing in me that started peeking its head.  My entire life, I had always been yelled at by a man in a garage, whether it was my Daddy or others.  Just very verbal and hostile situations.  This was my first time helping Alex with a garage project, and I could feel the trigger rising.  I started getting anxious and could feel my eyes filling with tears.  It was frustrating because I trust Alex, and he has never said one cross word to me.  But there it was, the nag of the past.  I knew Alex was picking up on it.  He gently hugged me, and I said, “This is something I have got to let go of; it is not you.”  In the moment I was telling Jesus I did not want that anymore. Alex hugged me tighter, and it was like Jesus hugging me saying, “It is okay; just give it to me now.”  After that, I never felt it again.  I was free to help and have peace.  We finally shut the garage around 11pm that night, and we just giggled going to bed.  No one had ugly things to apologize for or had gotten out of the way with each other.  Just the sweet feeling of Jesus doing what he does best, and a good day’s work. 

    A few nights later, we were cleaning up dinner.  Allison and I were wiping things, while Alex washed a few straggling dishes.  I had placed his water cup on the counter and loosened the lid.  However, I did not tell him about the lid not being tight.  As Allison and I were still cleaning, he grabs the cup (full of water) and it spills on the counter and floor.  This would have at one point, just like a garage, been a huge deal.  Alex did not miss a beat.  No hurry or anything.  He just grabbed a towel and he and Allison peacefully cleaned up and moved on.  Afterward, I thought to myself, “Wow, I did not go to that place of panic!”  The trigger was gone.  And Alex’s knee-jerk reaction was no reaction at all.  It made me so thankful that Allison gets to grow up this way.  That I get to live this way, where the reactions are not volatile, or there just is not one at all.

    I love how Jesus brings up things along the way to relieve of us them.  That kind of healing, many people spend their whole lives in therapy for, and still are never free.  It touches me that Jesus really does want us free from those old ways.  Whether it is a behavior in us or our reaction.  That thing has been a burden to me.  And Alex has been so kind and patient when it had arisen.  BUT Jesus said, “No more.  Time to kick it to the curb.”

    Thankful to be learning and growing even in the small things.

    Love you,

    Margo

     

  • Question: Deuteronomy 33:2

    Love it!  What a great and instructional answer.

    Gary

    ==========

    Pastor John,

    I am reading in Deuteronomy 33:2.  Can you help me understand “he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them.”  What does this scripture mean?  It’s confusing me because it makes me think of when the law was given to Moses, but when it talks about ten thousands of his saints it’s like the end time.

    Sandra

    ==========

    Thank you for the question, Sandra.  You are right with both those thoughts.  Here is our translation of Deuteronomy 33:1–3:

    1. This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death
    2. when he said, “Jehovah came from Sinai and appeared to them from Seir; He shone forth from Mount Paran.  From His right hand came the Holy One with myriads; fire was his mandate.
    3. Yea, O beloved One of nations, in your hands are all His saints, and they follow in your steps, each one raised up through your words.”

    Many times in the Old Testament, God’s prophets were moved to speak of an event in Israel’s history which was a figure of something which the Son of God, hidden during Old Testament time, would do in the future.  This is one of those prophecies with a dual meaning.  First, Moses led Israel from Mount Sinai toward Canaan’s land, coming up from the south (Seir).  But the Spirit was also speaking through Moses of the future, for at some point after Jesus returns in power to reign a thousand years, with myriads of God’s saints with him (Rev. 19), he will destroy the Beast and the armies of the earth with flaming fire.  At some point during all that, Jesus and his army of saints will go south from Israel to do something (we are not told what), and then he will return to Israel from that direction.  Those verses from Deuteronomy are a reference to his coming from the south.

    Here is an excerpt from my book, Revelation: (Going to Jesus.com – Revelation)

    From the South

    At some point in this brief battle, for reasons unknown to us, Jesus will go toward the south, but then return (Zech. 9:14).  His return northward is mentioned a few times by the prophets: “God came from Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran.  His majesty covered the heavens, and his praise filled the earth, and his brightness was like the dawn.  Before him went a plague, and a flame went before his feet.  He stood still and shook the earth; he looked and dispersed the nations” (Hab. 3:3–4a, 5–6a).  And in the book of Deuteronomy, we find this prophecy from Moses: “The Lord came from Sinai, and appeared to them from Seir.  He shone forth from Mount Paran.  From His right hand came the Holy One with myriads; fire was his mandate” (Dt. 33:2).

    The Father will then playfully give Jesus an opportunity to boast of his triumph by asking His Son, “Who is this coming from Edom, from Bozrah in red-stained garments, this man glorious in his apparel, marching in his mighty strength?” (Isa. 63:1a).

    To which Jesus will gleefully respond, “It is I, who speaks in righteousness, mighty to save!” (Isa. 63:1b).

    The Father, again: “How is it that there is red on your apparel, like a treader in a winepress?” (Isa. 63:2).

    Jesus: “I have trodden the winepress.  I trod them down in my anger and trampled them in my rage; their lifeblood spattered on my garments, and all my raiment was sullied. For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed ones had come.  I trampled down the nations in my anger; I made them drunk with my rage, and I brought down their lifeblood to the earth” (Isa. 63:3a, 4, 6).

    Then the Father and the Son will probably laugh together.

    Deuteronomy 33:3 speaks of God’s people following Moses toward Canaan’s land.  They were the ones God had raised up from slavery.  But it is at the same time a prophecy of the saints who will be following Jesus after the resurrection; they are those whom God will have raised from the dead.  The book of Jude mentions this:

    Jude 1

    1. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these men, saying, “Behold!  The Lord is coming with ten thousands of his saints
    2. to execute judgment upon all, and to punish all the ungodly for all their ungodly deeds that they have performed in ungodliness, and for all the harsh things that the ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

    I hope that clears things up a little.  Deuteronomy 33:1–3 is just one of those prophetic scriptures with two very real meanings. 

    Pastor John

     

     

  • God Had a Son Before Mary Did book

    John,

        I felt I had to write to you and try to express how I have really, really enjoyed, and love, the book: God Had a Son Before Mary Did.*

        I feel so thankful and excited.  Just the way you so smoothly waltz the heart right into the true Gospel of God!!  I have never heard it put altogether like this.  It is so pure, true, and SWEET.  I love it! 

        It is so exciting.  Thank you very much, John!!

    Jimmy T.

    Going to Jesus.com – God Had A Son Before Mary Did

  • Being the Light

    Hey Pastor John,

         I really loved the meeting tonight.  What really touched me the most was when you were talking about being a light and letting it shine for others to see.  Main reason for this is because of an experience from yesterday.  Margo, Allison, and I went to the driving range to practice, since both Margo and Allison have an interest in golf.  A guy was walking past after I had changed out of my work clothes.  He said, “You had the same idea, too!”  We shared a quick laugh, and I went on about our plan for the night.  Well, what I didn’t know was that he was watching and observing Margo and me interacting while practicing.  As well as me helping give her tips and pointers, which also at same time allowing her to learn on her own.  When we were leaving, he pulls up next to me and says, “Hey, I really enjoyed watching you and your wife tonight.  The way you interacted, and let her do her thing as well, was really nice to see.  I wish my wife could be more like yours.”  His name is Tommy, and we chatted for several minutes.  I really appreciated him saying that to me because I have felt like my light was going dim.  It gave me a confidence boost that Jesus knew I needed.  I am very thankful Jesus used a man to tell me to keep shining. 

         Just goes to show that somebody is always watching and paying attention to how we carry ourselves, even when we don’t notice it.  I just love how Jesus puts us in the right place at the right time because that little piece of light could be encouragement for someone to want to ask questions, and really get that desire to seek the truth.

    Good bye for now.

    Alex 

     

     

  • Living in the Spirit

    Good morning Pastor John, 

    I was listening to a fireside chats from December today and heard something I have missed until today.  The people caught a man gathering sticks on a Sabbath.   Not knowing what to do with him they brought him to Moses who went to the Lord for guidance.  The Lord said for all the people to stone him with stones.  I believe there is a big lesson in this story.  Just because we may not have been told not to do something we are supposed to feel what is right in the sight of the Lord and do that.  The people had not been told not to do that explicitly yet he was stoned.  He should have been able to know not to do that from the law he did know.  With us having His Spirit how much more we are expected to know what is right in the eyes of the Lord.  It is a fearful thing when hearing this story.  But the other side is so much joy in His Spirit.

    I just wanted to share that while I remembered it.  Now back to the pumps.

    Mark W. 

  • 1Peter 3 – Jesus’ preaching in hell?

    Good morning,

    I have a question about when Jesus descended into hell and preached to the spirits in hell.  Am I remembering correctly that Jesus preached to those in hell who lived before the law and gave them the chance to be saved?

    Lyn

    ==========

    Hi Lyn!

    Yes, that is what Peter said in 1Peter 3:

    1. Christ also suffered for sins once for all, a righteous man for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
    2. by the which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison,

        20a. who once were unbelieving, when in the days of Noah the long-suffering of God waited while the ark was being prepared. . . .

    Thank you for the question.

    Pastor John

     

  • John 19:30 “It is finished.”

    Pastor John,

    I hope I didn’t get too wordy here.  I was feeling something from the Isaiah readings and tried to express it.

    In the morning reading of Isaiah several days ago, Damien mentioned how men often quote the following verse from the Gospel of John, emphasizing Jesus’s words, “It is finished,”  in an effort to (erroneously) show how no spiritual work is required of men when it comes to the saving of their souls (salvation):

    1. And then, when Jesus received the wine vinegar, he said, “It is finished.” And bowing his head, he gave up the spirit. (PJV John 19:30)

    You then added, “Everything depended on the Father in Heaven saying ‘OK’.  Everything depended on that, and that didn’t happen until the day of Pentecost [when God’s Spirit was poured out on the faithful disciples waiting in the upper room.]”

    I thought about that verse and how it was “finished.” Jesus’s work was finished, just as Jesus said, but men’s work had just begun (or soon would begin when the Spirit was poured out on men at Pentecost).

    That way of thinking, that nothing is required of men by God, seems to be foundational to the religious system of Christianity. It seems that message is included in every mainstream Christian teaching. Yet, that error is what Isaiah was talking about. It is the absence of men’s work, the absence of man’s response to God, that is the whole point of the book of Isaiah that we are reading right now. God used Isaiah to tell his people that all their calamities resulted from their sin and from their failure to respond to God when He chastened them for sin.  Isaiah was only talking to Israelites… so, being God’s children (Israelites) was not enough. God required that His children obey His word.

    You taught us decades ago (and the lesson continues) that God is always the actor (the one who acts first), and we are merely the reactors in our relationship with God.  A proper response to God is really the only thing we have to offer God.  We know nothing of Him until He acts first and reveals Himself and His will to us.  So, what a strange thing it is for religious men to try to persuade their flock that nothing is required of mankind in response to God.  The entire Bible is a collection of stories and testimonies of God revealing himself to men and them being blessed if they properly responded (obeyed), or cursed if they did not.

    Jerry

     

  • The Yoke in Isaiah 58

    John,

         This past Saturday, I had Faith on my mind, like we all did!  I was thinking about how Luis was fasting and praying for Faith.  The verse, “this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting,” came to mind, so I went and read in Matthew 17 where that verse is found.  It is the story where Jesus casts the demon out of the epileptic man after the disciples were unable to do it.

        This morning, I was led to read the Thought for the Morning (3-30) which was a question, “How is the fasting that Jesus accepts?” (https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_thoughts.html?tname=tfm03-30)  You responded that fasting is in the Spirit, and when fasting is done physically, oftentimes, it is for show or purely in the flesh.  In the response, you also referenced the story that I mentioned above in Matthew 17.  You also mentioned that the kind of fasting that Jesus accepts is in Isaiah 58.

        After reading the Thought for the Morning about fasting, I went on to read Isaiah 58.  I knew that you always taught us that is where the true fast is described.  I began to read Isaiah 58 and started to read it as a checklist.  What is it that we haven’t done that could help bring about Faith’s healing?  I know that we have asked that question as a body, “God, what is it that you want us to do? or change? or not do?”   After describing the true fast in verse 8, it says “Then shall your light break forth as the dawn, and your healing shall spring forth quickly…”  And in verse 9, “Then you shall call and Jehovah will answer.  You shall cry for help, and He will say, ‘Here I am!’ – if you do these things: put away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, provide freely for the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul.”

        Many times throughout this chapter, it speaks of the “yoke”.  I see that as something that is oppressive, correct?  For example, the ceremonies that you would find in Christianity.  I feel like we have “put away” those yokes from the midst of us.  What other things are considered “yokes”?

        I don’t know what else it is that I am asking, except to tell you the rabbit holes that Jesus has led me through the past couple of days.  I just felt that it was the right thing to write my thoughts and questions to you.  I know that we all have been searching for answers concerning Faith’s healing.  We all want her made completely whole!

    Love,

    Carrie

    ==========

    Hi Carrie,

         The yoke to which Isaiah refers is one’s will, which self-willed people would place around the necks of others so that they do what they want those folk to do.  Part of the true fast is to refrain from doing that.  Some people are accomplished at manipulating others to do their will, and they are miserable if others do not do what they want them to do.  But if you maintain peace in your soul even when others, especially those you love, do not do as you know that God wants – and you want – them to do, then you are fasting from something God wants you to fast from: self-will.

         Those who walk in the Spirit allow others the same liberty that Christ allows us all: the liberty to choose to be wrong and to do wrong if that is what we want (but there will be consequences).  Jesus said his yoke was easy and his burden, light, and he invites us to put that precious yoke around our necks.  He does not force us to do so, but if we do take that yoke upon us, he gives us his peace and makes us happy.

        I hope that answers your question.

    Pastor John

    ==========

        Yes, this was helpful!  Thank you!  The way that the Bible verses and Thought for the Morning lined up, I could feel there was gold in this.  I needed your help to find it! 

        I loved what you said this morning, too, about how this also applies to our relationship between God and us.  Do we want our way more than we want God’s way?  Can we stay happy and have peace if things don’t go the way that we think they should go?  Can we trust God that He has our best in mind?  It is all for our good!

        I also loved what you said about having an attitude of a servant.  The servant’s only concern is what the master wants or thinks.  We can’t even squabble with other servants about what they think.  It is ALL about the Master.

    Carrie

    ==========

    Pastor John

        I love this so much.  Jesus and I have been talking about this recently.  I had to stop the other day and wonder out loud to him why I feel such peace right now.  I almost feel lifted out of myself.  Jesus told me it’s because I trust him now.

        I actually had to pause and think about whether that was true when he said it.  I told Jesus I didn’t even know when that happened.  And I also know he did it.  Somewhere in the middle of me worrying myself to death, Jesus fixed something in me that has been broken since childhood — and I didn’t even know he did it.

        I don’t know what Jesus is going to do for Jerry, for Faith, or for any of us, but I do know this: I have an incredible peace inside, and I trust Him.  I trust Jesus with all of it.

     Love,

     Beth

     

     

     

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