Saturday, August 30, 2008

Consider the Trinity


Understanding the three in one

8-30-08


Matt 28:19-20;
Eph 1:3-14;
2Corinthians 13:14;
1 Thess5:23

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    Matt 28:19-20;

    19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
    20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always,
    even unto the end of the world. Amen.
    You know, sometimes it just pays to obey! Nothing complex, just obey!
    JUST DO IT!


    Sometimes I get bogged down in the process.
    How many things do we overlook; simply because they are not new, unusual, spectacular!
    One day someone said, it isn't having heard that produces faith, but Hearing! Rom 10:17.
    I can look at a scripture that I have seen since childhood, and one day get a burst of faith
    when I really hear the scripture in the present. Did you ever hear that before? It's that kind of thing!
    This very stumbling block has caused many to return slower to daily reading,
    or whatever schedule of scripture. reading they might have struggled with!
  • Jesus commands an action implying that whose name it is done "IN" affects the outcome. In this case: if Jesus links the name father, son, Holy Spiritthen they are each significant!. Such a small subset of all the things that could have been written were, we must conclude, that Jesus thought it made a difference. In the Greek, it was the awesome Spirit or presence!.The mere fact that He said no more about this issue at the time, an issue that has become such a dividing point for so many since, indicates:
      No one there had any "problem" with the idea of the "Holy Spirit!"
    • Few complain about baptizing in the name of the Father.
    • Whole denominations baptize in the name of "Jesus Only!"
    • No, It is this subject of the "Holy Spirit" that seems to cause the difficulty.
    • As we consider this topic; It is a little like the story of the six blind men trying to describe the Elephant.
      • They each saw a different part of the elephant
      • causing each to give
        a true but radically conflicting report of the experience

      • While we should never make theology to describe experiences,
      • only understanding and applying scripture,
      • we cannot overlook the fact that:
        It is personal experience that affects emotion,
        and belief in every day life.
        Much of what we really believer must be validated by personal life experience.

      • This is the very reason Jesus emphasized that "the Holy Spirit would walk with a person always.
      • When Jesus was resurrected, his promise to abide with you, me ,us forever must necessarily be in Spirit.

      • There is a more important facit to this passage as well.
        Verse 20 commends the making of disciples who would observe the teachings of Jesus.

        • While attempting to follow the 613 commandments of Torah all day everyday seemed impossible, the very best of the faithful might keep most of them, some of the time.
        • It was truly impossible to keep the rules and regulations outlined by Jesus in the sermon on the Mount.
        • Only the Holy Spirit working inside the heart of such a person could ever hope to live by these new understandings of Torah as outlined by Jesus.
        • If one understood the original reading of Torah He would know that was the first meaning of the commandments.
          Not only would a person not murder another, but every fiber of his being would be strained to give life, and prevent harm.
          The Hebrew "thou shall not" implied a command of the opposite.
          If placed on a graph where the moral imperative was placed on the infinite point to the right,
          the command was to stay on the infinite point to the Left.

      • So we have the last words Jesus spoke on the earth, to baptize
        in the name of the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit

      We can conclude there is a Holy Spirit, and that the three are equally important in this baptism process.
      Jesus here seems to believe in the Trinity, Can we do less?



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    Eph 1:3-14;


    3 ¶ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
    who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
    4 According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
    5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
    6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
    7 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
    8 Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
    9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure
    which he hath purposed in himself:
    10 That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
    both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
    11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose
    of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will:
    12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
    13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation:
    in whom also after that ye believed, you were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
    14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession,
    unto the praise of his glory.



This is the passage of scripture that I call the Next Step passage! If any one really wants to take the "Next step in their walk with the Lord, read and reread this passage. read it over and over again until it is in the reflex memory. At a certain point the passage becomes a prayer. I also pray it with the name of someone whom I think is important. Just like I write the name in John 3:16:. For God So loved Wes...
example:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who hath blessed ___ with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
According as he has chosen ___ in him before the foundation of the world,
that ___ should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Having predestinated ___ unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself,
according to the good pleasure of his will,To the praise of the glory of his grace,
wherein he hath made ___ accepted in the beloved.
7 In whom ___ has redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
8 Wherein he hath abounded toward ___ all wisdom and prudence;
9 Having made known unto ___ the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure
which he hath purposed in himself:
10 That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together ___ in one all things in Christ,
11 In whom also ___ have obtained an inheritance, ___ being predestinated according to the purpose
of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will:
12 That ___ should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
13 In whom ___ also trusted, after that ___ heard the word of truth, the gospel of ____'s salvation:
in whom also after that ___ believed, ___ was sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
14 Which is the earnest of ___'s inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession,
unto the praise of his glory.

15 ¶ Wherefore I also, after I heard of ____'s faith in the Lord Jesus, and ____ love unto all the saints,
16 Cease not to give thanks for you,____ making mention of you _____in my prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you ____the spirit of
wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: {in: or, for the acknowledgement}
18 The eyes of ___'s understanding being enlightened; that ____ may know what is the hope of ___

calling, and what the riches of the glory of ____ inheritance in the saints,


19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to ___ and all of us who believe, according to the
working of his mighty power in ____'s life, {his mighty power: Gr. the might of his power}
20 Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not
only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
22 And hath put all things under his and ____'s feet, and gave Him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is His body, the fullness of Him that fills all in all.
1 ¶ And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ____ 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:
3 Among whom also we all had our life style in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the
desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. {desires: Gr. wills}
4 ¶ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us and ___,
5 Even when _____ was dead in sins, hath quickened ____ together with Christ, (by grace ___ is saved;)
{by: or, by whose grace}
6 And hath raised ___ up together with al of us, and made ___ sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in his kindness toward ___ through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace is ___ saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For ___ is his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that ___ should walk in them. {ordained: or, prepared}



I continue in this fashion through Eph 2:10. When I am doing my job right, I pray this every day until I sense inside my spirit that it I have reached a conclusion. I may get a "sigh of relief" that the prayer is accomplished, or other times simply a sense that It is done. This may or may not be accompanied by a physical or emotional change that I can perceive. The person whose name I have placed in this blank line of the prayer may appear no different. (I can not remember a time when it took more than thirty days after the "testament" of faith was received that the results were begun in the person of interest!) When you pray the scripture you know that you are praying the
Will for God. We know that if we pray anything according to his will, we have that for which we have requested. If we have that knowing; then we have the answer. It matters not how long the process takes to see the answer. There are those that have prayed for years with no apparent results. This prayer specifically asks for "spiritual Blessings in heavenly places!" This then asks for Him to be chosen in Christ Jesus.Because there is no limitation of time in the Spiritual Realm. (A day is a thousand years and a thousand years is a day. He is the same yesterday today and forever.) Even after those years of praying for a person with no apparent change; praying this passage ( thirty to ninety days) dramatic results are recorded. In a short time, point of view changes. A sense of Mission is established. A sense of the purpose in the Body of Christ is understood. The word has never failed; we simply have failed to exercise the word. Sadly God gets blamed for not answering prayer when in truth we have not prayed the scripture or have not held out our conviction to the end. If faith could be turned on and off like a light switch, "Keep the switch of faith turned on!" The Hebrew word for prayer means "I am changed." In actuality it implies I meet with God and I am changed forever." This is also my experience in prayer. The "burden" that causes me to want to pry in the first place is lifted and the result of the prayer. makes me and everyone involved different. The persistence of daily (or more often like every time I worry about the subject/person) prayer with this name can be is like water dripping on the head of the Chinese Torture victim. Yet in this sense it isn't so bad. As the end result is desirable to all. The answer will work out to God's will. Because His will is singular what is His will for one is also His will for all others who might realties to Him.

This prayer covers many of the major issues in life. occasionally I also add some passages in Eph 3 to the end depending on what I sense is needed. Every addiction is in reality a form of idolotry.If a person uses a drug of choice to medicate a pain, this is an attempt to place that drug of choice into the place of healer, One of the names of Jesus "is My Healer!." Praying the lines of this passage covers this as well as other needs.


In Conclusion, there is no better testimony to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit than the example of his work in the lives of those (or yourself) that you care for. Sadly for many "out of sight is out of mind." So goes the life and work of the third person of the Trinity. Jesus instructed us to not pray to the Holy Spirit. I find it most preferable to not even speak of His working as this seems to postpone His work when I do. Maybe He is the type of person who likes not to have attention drawn to Him. He is, none the less, very powerful in the working of the Will of God.


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    2Corinthians 13:14

    4 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

    Have a nice day! Who hasn't heard or even said the same. Grace implies all that is good , smooth, easy, comfortable.
    In this way does Paul close all of his letters. He says "GOOD ON YOU!" But He doesn't just say "Have a nice day," he says so much more.
    Love implies the Acceptance of the Lord. So much evil in the world is the result of lacking that "sense", or "atmosphere" or as some say the "Spirit of Acceptance!" Unwarranted Criticism in particular leaves a person with a sense of non-acceptance. Every thing is perceived with a fearful expectation that all will not turn out well! This is exactly the Spirit that Paul is contrasting! He wants a communion (mutual exchange or interchange) with the "Spirit of Acceptance!" That would be the Holy Spirit! His incidental invoking of the Holy Spirit in this Blessing implies that it was of no question to him at all. The third member of the one who is Blessing, would have been the Holy Spirit!
    BE with you all. Same thought as God saying "Let there be Light"! ... and Light was! Paul says Grace be with you and where none had previously been, there was now Grace.

    This is so much more emphatic than simply "Have a nice Day!

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    2 Thess 5:23

    23 ¶ And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body
    be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
    In the image of God made he them! Gen 1:26 Made in His image (shadow or likeness or semblance)
    When you see man you would be reminded of God. How could that be, unless the man resembled the form and likeness of God.
    Paul exhorts his people to sanctify (separate unto God) all three parts: Spirit soul and Body to God.
    Can not do that without a Spirit, soul and Body. Many are so "body minded" that they seldom consider the other parts.
    The spirit (unseen part,) and the body are connected by the Soul. If the mind is thinking about the God part,
    that is two against one, a majority.
    It has the effect of sanctifying the whole man.
    If instead the thought life runs off in concert with the carnal body,
    that also makes a two to one majority, but in the favor of the carnality. Not Good!

    These scriptures clearly declare that There are three distinct elements too God.
    The term "Trinity" implies three in one. The only outstanding item is the word one. How many does one contain.

    We frequently allow the thought to describe a group who have similarthoughts goals or ideals. Nearly any number may be described as one.
    Under this thought ****** how hard is to describe God as one? In all of the numbers of significance, the most basic is three. The Trinity


    Our Goal in this blog is to create discourse and a foundation. This foundation supports correct faith, belief and thought. If possible,
    we give tools for success in daily life. Truly a life lived for God is the ultimate success.

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