GOD'S PLANS

 

GotQuestions.org: "Does God have a plan for me?"

  Many of God’s plans are detailed throughout the Bible. He has plans for nations, for people groups, and for individuals. Isaiah 46:10–11 summarizes what God wants us to know about His plans: “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do.” It’s one thing to recognize that God has an overarching plan for the world; it is quite another to acknowledge that God has a specific life plan for each person.
  Many places in Scripture indicate that God does have a specific plan for each human being. It starts before we are conceived. The Lord told Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). God’s plan was not reactive, a response to Jeremiah’s conception. It was preemptive, implying that God specially formed this male child to accomplish His plan. David underscores this truth: “You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). Unborn children are not accidents. They are being formed by their Creator for His purposes. That is one reason abortion is wrong. We have no right to disrespect God’s plan and violate God’s workmanship by killing a child He is in the process of forming.
  God’s plan for every human being is that each one comes to know Him and accept His offer of salvation (2 Peter 3:9). He created us for fellowship with Him, and, when we reject the reconciliation He offers, we live at cross purposes with His plan for us. Beyond salvation, God also designed good works for each of us according to our gifts, strengths, and opportunities (Ephesians 2:10). He orchestrated the location and time into which each of us is born (Acts 27:6; Psalm 139:16). If He knows the number of hairs on our heads, then He knows us better than we know ourselves (Luke 12:7). He knows the gifts, talents, strengths, and weaknesses He gave us, and He knows how we could best use them to make an eternal impact. He gives us opportunities to store up treasure in heaven so that, for all eternity, we can enjoy His reward (Mark 9:41; Matthew 10:41–42).
  God’s plan for each person is generally stated in Micah 6:8: “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” His plan is for relationship over duties. When we walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 25), enjoying a loving relationship with the Lord, our actions indicate that closeness. Pleasing Him is our delight. His plan unfolds naturally as we grow in faith, mature in knowledge, and practice obedience with all we understand. As we obey His general plan for His children, we discover His uniquely designed plan for us individually.
  We know God’s plan for those who know Him includes reaching others with the good news of salvation (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 5:20). His plan is for His children to be conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). He wants us to grow in grace and knowledge (2 Peter 3:18). He wants us to love other Christians the way He loves us (John 13:34). As we follow His Word, we will discover our own spiritual gifts and abilities that specially suit us to serve Him in unique ways (2 Corinthians 12:4–11). God’s plan unfolds in our lives as we use all we have for His glory (1 Corinthians 10:31).
  We often become impatient in wondering what God’s plan is for our lives. But it is not as complicated as we make it out to be. God’s plan for us is revealed a little at a time as we follow Him, and His plan may look different in different seasons of life. A young woman may ask God to direct her to His plan and believes college is part of that plan. But halfway through college, she falls ill and must spend the next two years in a convalescent home. Is she now out of God’s plan? Not if her heart is set to obey Him. In that convalescent home, she meets a young man who becomes her husband. They both love the Lord and desire to serve Him and believe that His plan for them is the mission field. They begin preparation, but halfway through the training, she becomes pregnant with a high-risk pregnancy. Did they miss God’s plan? Has the Lord abandoned them? Not at all. Because of their experience caring for a child with special needs, they are able to minister to other families with similar needs. Their mission field looks much different from the one they had envisioned, but it is God’s plan for them. They are able to look back and see His hand in every turn along the way.
  God’s plan is rarely a straight shot to a visible goal. His plan requires of us a journey, illustrated so well in Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, and that journey may be filled with detours, sudden stops, and confusing turns. But if our hearts are set to obey Him in all that we know to do, then we will be in the center of His will every step of the way.

 

PS. I agree with all of the above. However, we as individuals and/or groups choose to live or not live according to God’s plan(s). We are not puppets, nor does God or Satan treat us as such. Beginning with Adam and Eve we see this throughout Scripture. We see it here and now in our own lives. Refusing to live in joyful compliance does not however alter His overarching plans. Esther chapter 4 is an example. She having the choice of being the one “for such a time as this”, or not.  Consider the nation of Israel. Peter is an example of this. The Apostle Paul’s life exemplified this truth. And what of 2Chronicles 7:14? A large example of this is 2Peter 3:9 plainly stating God’s loving plan. He being “not willing that any should perish” but individuals do. (This verse also destroys the incorrect interpretation of predestination.) EBB4

THE MANDELA EFFECT

 

GotQuestions.org: "What is the Mandela Effect?"

  The Mandela Effect is the phenomenon of people’s collective misremembering of specific facts or events. It is what happens when someone has a clear “memory” of something that never actually happened. The Mandela Effect is often linked to bizarre conspiracy theories involving parallel universes, colliding alternate realities, and time travel. One tenet of these theories is that history is actually being changed, which explains why we remember something but history doesn’t record it. Others go so far as to say changes are being made in the Holy Scriptures, too.
  The term Mandela Effect was coined by Fiona Broome, a writer and paranormal consultant, in 2010. Ms. Broome explains the Mandela Effect on her website: “Many of us—mostly total strangers—remember the exact same events with the exact same details. However, our memories are different from what’s in the history books, newspaper archives, and so on.” The term is a reference to South African leader Nelson Mandela. It seems that a group of people had a false memory of Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s (he actually died in December 2013). Conspiracy theorists hypothesize that, whenever a significant number of people share a similar false memory, then the event is related to “alternate history” or “parallel realities.” In the case of Mandela, the theorists would say he did die in the 1980s (in one universe), and he did die in 2013 (in another universe). People have memories of both because they’ve been “sliding” back and forth between the two realities without knowing it. As ridiculous as these theories may sound, Ms. Broome has gained a solid following online, writing articles and books and giving speeches on related subjects.
  The Mandela Effect and its resulting conspiracy theory gained traction when boxing legend Muhammad Ali died in June of 2016 at age 74. Many people said they remembered his having died several years earlier. There are other examples of the Mandela Effect, such as the belief that Hurricane Katrina did not strike the Gulf Coast in August 2005 but rather four months earlier.
  Another common example of the Mandela Effect involves the “Tank Man”—the iconic image of a young man blocking a tank at Tiananmen Square in China in 1989. Many people today claim the protester who stood in front of the tanks was run over by the tanks. They say they were taught this in school, read it in their textbooks, watched the footage, and can still visualize it perfectly according to their memory. In reality, the man was never run over.

Here are some other, less dramatic examples of the Mandela Effect:

– Most of us remember the evil queen in Disney’s version of Snow White saying, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” In reality, the queen says, “Magic mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”

– The imperative “Play it again, Sam” is never spoken in the classic film Casablanca, although that movie “quote” is a familiar one in most people’s minds.

– In The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader doesn’t say, “Luke, I am your father,” as many of us recall. Actually, he says, “No, I am your father.”

– The Statue of Liberty is not and never has been on Ellis Island.

  Psychiatrists have offered an explanation for the Mandela Effect—the misinformation effect. Citing a 30-year study on the malleability of the memory, an article in the scientific journal Learning and Memory attributes what others call the Mandela Effect to “the impairment in memory for the past that arises after exposure to misleading information” (Loftus, E. F. “Planting Misinformation in the Human Mind: A 30-year Investigation of the Malleability of Memory.” Learning and Memory. 2005; 12:361–366). If you haven’t paid close attention to something, the details of it can become blurred in your mind at the suggestion of others. In some cases, the misinformation can actually overwrite your original memory, especially if it’s presented in a way that makes it seem more plausible.
  In examining the Mandela Effect, we must remember that information passed on by others, whether it’s seen, read, or heard, isn’t always factual. If we are exposed to intrusive or contradictory information over time, our memories can change or become distorted. Repeat a lie often enough, and people will believe it. This “misinformation effect” is one reason why courtroom workers try to preserve the integrity of a witness’s testimony and seek jurors who are not influenced by outside reports and speculation.
  Instances of the Mandela Effect are proof that humans spread misinformation and that we all have faulty memories. The Mandela Effect has nothing to do with a multiverse or parallel realities. The truth is that some people would rather believe the entire universe to be flawed than admit themselves at fault.
  We live in an age of “fake news” as incorrect information is widely circulated and shared by unsuspecting (or maybe not-so-innocent) people. Of course, being human, we will at times inadvertently misperceive, misread, misinterpret, or misunderstand things. We need discernment and true biblical wisdom to inhibit the effects of the daily bombardment of distortions and half-truths. Followers of Jesus are to be “wise as serpents” (Matthew 10:16).
  Remarkably enough, there are some who cite the Mandela Effect theory to claim that changes are being made to the Bible. For example, many people will think they recognize the statement “The lion will lie down with the lamb” as being from Scripture, but it’s not. Isaiah 11:6 actually says, “The wolf will live with the lamb, / the leopard will lie down with the goat, / the calf and the lion and the yearling together.” Some claim that the Bible used to describe the lion lying down with the lamb, but someone changed it—either that, or we slipped into an alternate universe. A better explanation is that people don’t know the Bible as well as they think they do and they have allowed artwork and other people’s misquotations to color their memories. There is no reason to believe the Bible is being altered by a nefarious time-traveler or that we are slipping between parallel realities.
  Christians should dispense with the far-fetched theories based on the Mandela Effect along with anything else that “promote[s] controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith” (1 Timothy 1:4).

FORGIVE and FORGET

 

FORGIVE and FORGET   

Hebrews 8:12-13

  I’ve often heard people say, “Well, I’ll forgive them, but I won’t forget.” I’ve even heard it said that we never really forget anything; that somewhere in our brain it is stored and if stimulated we remember. I’m glad that God doesn’t just forget His children’s sins for a little while, but “… will remember them no more.”

Leslie Nivens (12/12/1928-3/1/2020)

FORTUNATE CHILDREN

 

FORTUNATE CHILDREN

  Psalm [MKJV] 32:8-9 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you, My eye shall be on you. Be not like the horse, or like the mule, who have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, so that they do not come near you. [For good reason as a novice I chose these as my life verses.]

  1Corinthians [ESV] 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 

  Ephesians (KJV) 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

  … whom the Lord loves He chastens, and He scourges every son whom He receives." If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons, for what son is he whom the father does not chasten? But if you are without chastisement, of which all are partakers, then you are bastards and not sons. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh who corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? … (MKJV Hebrews chapter 12)

Chastise is in 10 KJV verses.

Chastisement is in 5 KJV verses.

Chastised is in 5 KJV verses.

All 3 Scriptural words present the same wonderful meaning: tutorage, education or training by disciplinary correction; instruction, nurture.

  I was a fortunate child. Though at the time I thought the parental actions punishments, in maturity I realized they were chastisements with my family’s goal being character building for the better.  God’s John 1:12 children are fortunate in that we are chastised by All-wise Jehovah, our Father. Resting in this knowledge provides worshipful peaceful character that pleases Him. (Rom.12:1-3) And is the delightful way to walk upright instead of uptight!

EBB4

 

PS. For those desiring further study on the topic I suggest searching out “rest” in Hebrews. Then prayerfully considering in context and cross referencing.

"SAVED"?

 

“SAVED”?

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.G4982 

 

  What are the most popular religious answers to the question “What does saved mean to you?”

  I don’t know how to answer the “most” part of the question. I will however tell what response I’ve heard often in my recent 58 years; the same answers I gave before I began studies that include resources like Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries.

  My novice answer was a concise “Going to heaven. Not going to hell.”

  After study, my answer became and remains the Greek truth: G4982; σώζω; sōzō

sode'-zo. From a primary word σῶς sōs̄ (contraction for the obsolete σάος saos, “safe”); to save, that is, deliver or protect (literally or figuratively): - heal, preserve, save (self), do well, be (make) whole.

Total KJV occurrences: 110

  Trusting Jesus we are not only delivered from damnation and heaven bound. We are here and now well preserved and made whole! Knowing and accepting this, if prior ignorant of, is renewal extraordinary: … He has made you alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience; among whom we also had our way of life in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which He loved us (even when we were dead in sins [Rom.5:8]) has made us alive together with Christ … (MKJV Ephesians chapter 2)

EBB4

EVIDENTIALLY CONSTITUTING EVIDENCE

EVIDENTIALLY CONSTITUTING EVIDENCE

2Timothy (MKJV) 2:15-16; 3:16-17 Study earnestly to present yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. But shun profane, vain babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. … All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished to every good work.

  I’m sure you grammar wonks immediately took note that today’s DT title is redundant. I chose to do so to make the point that so is God’s Holy Scripture with repeated layers of overwhelming proof of authenticity that it is exactly what it is. The Word of God.

  God does not fear investigation of the validity of the who He is or what He says. To the contrary He invites and delights in man’s examination . . . and takes no pleasure in the lack thereof. (Isa.5:13-17)

  I pray for people to walk the workman’s path of available provenance, looking up Bible references, vocabulary words new to you, asking questions, prayerfully thoughtfully pondering all that they see, and sharing the Truth that they discover.  

EBB4

JESUS MINISTRY BEFORE AND AFTER

JESUS MINISTRY BEFORE AND AFTER

2Timothy [TS2009] 2:15 Do your utmost to present yourself approved to Elohim, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of Truth. 

  Please do discount publishers’ incorrect “THE NEW TESTAMENT” preceding Matthew 1:1. The New Testament did not begin with the John 1:1 recorded incarnation of God.

  Jesus was born and ministered during the Old testament era. (Gal.4:4-5) This He explained during the last supper. (Lk.22:20) The penman of the epistle to the Hebrews reiterated this fact. (9:16-17)

  Jesus, “born under the law”, ministered to those living under the law!

  During that time Jesus confirmed the futility of all efforts to live by the law. A futility for far too many professing Christians since; they having been told that which is contrary to God’s Truth. Jesus served preparing people for life under “the perfect law of liberty”; grace. (Jn. Chapters 15 & 16; Eph.2:1-10; Jam.1:25; 2:12)

  Did Jesus intend what Andrew Farley, in his Twisted Scripture, calls an upgraded “Moses 2.0 Law-Based Gospel”? A two-tiered blended olio? NO! NEVER!

  But knowing this truth, what differences should it make in our lives? And what, if anything, does it have to do with Romans 12:1-3? Is there truly a before and after living for us?

EBB4

PS. The O.T. didn’t begin until the event recorded in Exodus 24:8.