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3 Views On The Word “Create”

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It’s not surprising that I have felt a tug in my heart to focus on this one specific word “consecrate.” But wait isn’t this post about the word “create” yes it is but before we get into that let’s go through a little update about the motive behind this explanation.

Consecrate:

To consecrate is to be set apart, to be in total commitment for God and His purposes. This is the definition that I came up with because of my past experiences of how this word meant in my personal life. It is common in our lives to be comfortable, acceptable about certain habits and attitudes, and forget our focus on the kingdom, and learning to navigate the life that God has called us to live by.

I am currently going through the Pentateuch as a personal study through the first five books of the Bible. Currently, in my University classes, I am taking the Torah which is the Hebrew Term for Law. It wasn’t until I came to this explanation of what “create” means, opened up a whole new meaning in my personal life. Let’s go ahead and dive in.

To Create Is To Separate:

We can look throughout the Genesis Story that God decides to separate things when creation was happening. From darkness between light, water between sky, and water between ground. (Genesis 1:1-9)

I am reminded of the scripture regarding David to “create a clean heart”

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalms 51:10

To have a clean heart, God must separate our hearts which are wicked to bring renewal and restoration as you could see that this impacts us to have the right spirit as our attitudes and actions are being changed but separation is the key.

My question is what is something you need to allow God to separate in your life for creation to personally take place? In order for God to create there must be separation.

To Create Is To Give Life:

As you go on regarding the creation story we see an element of life-giving when it comes with the terms of “produce, make, give,” those are life-giving terms to illustrate creation. (Genesis 1:24-31)

This is the most common view that people have. Which makes sense because our main purpose is to create things that are good in our lives. Through Christ scripture states that:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17

How is this new creation becoming? It is becoming due to the giving life to the new. The newness is what is developed in the process of creation. From the beginning God created through life-giving terms we have confidence that our new creation is life-giving.

Jesus states His purpose on why He came according to the gospel of John.

“The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” John 10:10 NLT

Other translations focus on the word “have” which you can’t have something without it being created.

To have newness and life we must separate and then allow life to begin but even before life can start to express this is the most important aspect that we tend to forget.

To Create Is To Let Things Die:

While we know that God created life, Humans because they decided to be disobedient towards God allowed Sin to come into the world to provide death. This was not God’s design because out of God’s protection He wanted to protect us from this state for not even being close to the tree of Life. While Death was used as a curse, God can use this to provide a way for creation to be purified. (Genesis 3)

It was the death of Jesus that provided life and reconciliation for us to have a relationship with God. What was once a consequence of sin from the fall is now the solution for salvation in our lives.

We are commanded to “put to death” of our earthly nature according to Paul.

5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: Colossians 3:5

Death is good in this reasoning because if we do not do our part of putting things to death, the new cannot be cultivated through the Holy Spirit. Do you remember that this should be done daily as Christians?

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23

We are no longer living for ourselves because we put our desires to death and now we are living for Christ as living sacrifices to seek the Will of God. The purpose of creation to is to be in the Will of God!

Creation in essence is a process of separation, life giving, and death.

What are certain things you need to allow God to separate?

What are certain things you must say no and put to death In order for God to renew, restore, and give life in your life?

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Educational Journey

The Causes of Sin: Going Stray

We all have a destination in life. Maybe you go on your GPS to find your favorite coffee shop, maybe you go to work, or maybe you head to school. Now, there have been moments in my life where I would miss the turn which caused a delay on the expected time that I would make it to my destination. Of course, I would be mad at myself and start going astray. The only way for us to head back to the right track is to redirect ourselves back to our destination.

Sin takes a similar effect on the individual’s efforts to remain in Christ or an unbeliever who will keep avoiding the truth of the Gospel. The cause of sin is the compromise of choosing yourself over Christ and what He expects us to do.

We will go through a few a scriptures that will help us paint the picture of what it means to be going astray.

Biblical Support:

Isaiah 53:6

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,(A)
each of us has turned to our own way;(B)
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity(C) of us all

The verse in Isaiah specifically mentions we have turned to our own way. We have “gone astray.”

Ezekiel 34:6

6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

The verse of Ezekiel demonstrates the examples of “scattered” and the consequences of that are not being reachable and experiencing loneliness.

Psalms 119:176

176 I have strayed like a lost sheep.(A)
Seek your servant,
for I have not forgotten(B) your commands.

In Psalms, we see the word strayed and lost. And the answer to redirect is not forgetting commands.

Matthew 18:12-14

12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

The most common verse of the lost sheep demonstrates being “wandered off” and this is speaking about the effect of sin. This is talking about looking for the sheep who are lost in sin, who went their way, away from Jesus Christ Himself.

1 Peter 2:25

25 For “you were like sheep going astray,”[a](A)but now you have returned to the Shepherd(B)and Overseer of your souls.(C)

Peter states that Jesus is the Overseer of our souls. The goal for those who have strayed away is to return to the Shepherd.

Conclusion:

We must remember that straying away happens in our lives because we make choices of our own. We are in a destination to become more like Jesus daily in our lives and by following His directions. If we do sin, stray away and go on our own way, we must return back to Christ Himself to be back on track towards our destination to glorify Him and to become like Him.

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Educational Journey

The Causes of Sin: Ignorance

The Importance of this Study

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I remember one of the many implications that I have learned regarding sin is the meaning of missing the mark. Which for an introductory of the terminology, it makes logical sense when it comes to us missing the mark of God’s holy standard. Sin seems to be a subject that due to the lack of in-depth study people are simply going to just understand it based on actions performed. That explanation isn’t a bad one but to truly understand the terminology of sin it goes way deeper than just “missing the mark”, Which is why I will be doing these Educational Journals to record the insights that I am receiving. Most of the information will be taken by the Course “Man and Sin” by Simon Chan.

Causes:

It is important to note the importance of what sin causes in the life of an individual. This includes that sin is not just an action but an effect. It makes an impact on an individuals core and how they function as those who are made in the Image of God. Knowing these types of causes can help us see the scope of the individuals and their struggle with sin and how it hinders their acceptance and relationship with God.

1.) Ignorance

Learning to interpret the bible it is suggested to not only look into modern dictionaries but also the context on which the term is being used. Ignorance in the modern sense means uninformed. You tend to be uninformed of a situation or issue when it comes to conflict resolution, you could put up a flag of ignorance to state your reasoning for not knowing.

He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he himself is subject to weakness.

Hebrews 5:2

Paul in His encounter with the Athenians that God overlooked some ignorance as they worshipped the “Unknown God”.

“In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”

Acts 17:10

Peter gives us a command to not live out our old sinful desires due to our ignorance, but to live as obedient children.

As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.

1 Peter 1:14

Paul acted in Ignorance but God showed him mercy.

Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

1 Timothy 1:13

While this is the modern usage of the term of Ignorance let’s go ahead and look at the biblical usage when it comes to the point of sinfulness.

When it comes to the context of biblical usage it provides a different
meaning which is a hardness of heart. While the modern usage isn’t sinful due to just not knowing because of unawareness. The biblical usage states that it is sinful due to the hardness of the heart of denying the truth.

“They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their darkness of heart.”

Ephesians 4:18

We can see the word ignorance within the context connects with understanding and being apart from the Life of God. The darkness of the heart stems towards that they are in denial with their understanding of the truth. This concludes that this is the type of ignorance that is caused by an individual’s lack of belief and acceptance of God. The following verse states that outcome of remaining in this and something that should be avoided.

Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

Ephesians 4:19

While the individual is purposely denying the truth it ends up with a loss of all sensitivity. This is a scary place to be due to the forceful numbness that can happen with the individual. This encourages and motivates them to pursue sinful actions because they are not allowing the truth to convict them of their need to acknowledge the truth of the Gospel.

While Paul was writing to the church of Corinth, He was explaining a few things about prophets or those who claimed to be Spirit-Filled that they should believe Paul’s credibility due to God’s command. While the Scripture doesn’t state “Ignorance” It does state that in some manuscripts.

If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. 38 But if anyone ignores (ignorant) this, they will themselves be ignored (ignorant).

1 Corinthians 14:37-38

In conclusion, it is important to understand that sin causes Ignorance towards individuals who are in denial of the Gospel which cultivates harden hearts to lose sensitivity. We must be praying for those who are struggling in this cause of sin that we were able to examine and discuss about.

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Educational Journey

Revelation Study: Revelation 2:18 (Thyatira Part 1)

While going through some research and investigating the seven churches that are mentioned in the Book of Revelation, I will be going through each book talking about different aspects and ways we could reflect within our own lives for Christian Living.

Background Information about Thyatira:

It is an inland city that has a long military history with an agricultural area. This was of major importance for the industrial center, which produced purple dye which was supported by the purple cloth industry and was under control by organized trade guilds. It lacked major religious and political centers and was not heavy on emperor worship in this timeframe.

Someone named Lydia was converted under Paul’s ministry who sold purple goods (Acts 16:14).

When looking into passages, it’s important to go through historical background and facts regarding what is being studied. It guides the individual to interpret Scripture with the context in hand.

Let’s look at three characteristics about Jesus in verse 18.

18 “To the angel of the church in Thyatira write: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. 

1.) Son of God:

  • This is the only place in the book of Revelation that He is called the Son of God.

It is our privilege to worship Him because of who He is. He is the one who came down to earth to live among us to pay the penalty of our sins at the cross and resurrected to provide us a Promised Hope of our resurrection in the last days (1 Corinthians 15).

2.) Blazing Fire:

Fire is symbolic and has two meanings. For example, The Baptism of the Holy Spirit mentioned throughout the ministry of John The Baptist was confirmed at the Day of Pentecost in the book of Acts, which talks about the importance of fire (Matthew 3:11, Acts 2:1-4)! The fire terminology is purified; Jesus came to baptize us with Fire to bring purity in our lives and live holy lives because the Holy Spirit is dwelling within us to give us the power to witness the world around us. Then there is the other terminology that focuses on judgment. We see fire being associated with judgment throughout Scripture (Genesis 18:24, 2 Peter 3:7).

“His eyes that are like blazing fire” could mean two different things:

  • He can see beyond our outward appearance into our hearts.
  • They can also flash with anger at flagrant sin.

Jesus wants us to pursue holiness and wants us to repent from our sins (Matthew 5:48, John 5:14). Since God is holy and can’t tolerate sin, His judgment and wrath is the consequence. Because we are believers in Christ and living this walk with Him, His sacrifice removes our sin and we are living under His righteousness and expressing that through living holy lives (2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Thessalonians 4:1).

3.) Feet are like Burnished Bronze:

His feet of brass will trample on all His enemies. While Jesus demonstrated Love and Truth throughout His ministry, He is also Justice, and throughout the Book of Revelation, He is ready to trample on His enemies in the last days. Even in our timeframe which is currently the “Church Age“, *Because of different points of views on how this book is, I interpreted this is my point of view* God will repay justice and the consequences of sin are part of the judgment that the individual deserves (John 3:6, Romans 2:6, James 1:14-15). While God wants us to repent of our sins, we must remember that sin has an impact on ourselves and individuals. These consequences will be nothing compared to the judgment and wrath of God that will be played out in Revelation.

It is important to know these facts about Jesus in our lives so we can remind ourselves that while He is loving and willing to give grace, He is also Justice and will do what is right according to God’s standards, not our own opinions.

I hope you enjoyed the context of Thyatira and about Jesus in this first section!

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Educational Journey

3 Specific Callings God Gives to Individuals

The Ministry Call:

            The Calling that comes from God has been demonstrated in the biblical accounts of both the Old and New Testaments. There are different variety of different callings that we can see the evidences in these accounts. There is the call of the salvation that God has called us to him to become a believer because of Jesus’s work on the cross that gave forgiveness of our sins for fellowship and reconciliation to God. (Romans 3:23–24) There is also the call for service which Is active when believers gather together and active gifts of the Holy Spirit is expressed and edifies the Body. (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11) Lastly, there are the offices as the call for ministry, which is for those who are set apart to build up the rest of the body of Christ for the ministry. (Ephesians 4:7–16)

The Call of The Believer:

Because of our sinful state, we are enemies to God and won’t be able to notice our need for a savior unless a messenger comes with the gospel and explains to us the ways of Salvation. God calls people and gives the opportunity for people to know Jesus and to receive the salvation given to us by the sacrifice Jesus provided at the cross. We see two examples throughout the Book of Acts where people got called by God to share the good news of Jesus. First, We see in the book of Acts that Philip had an opportunity to present the good news to the eunuch. (Acts 8:35) Because of his obedience to the Holy Spirit regarding this opportunity, there was a messenger that brought the good news to an individual which brought salvation. Second, we can see in the Book of Acts regarding Paul’s being put in prison and encounters the Philippian Jailer. There was a shift within the jail cell that God was letting Paul escape from prison causing earthquakes to the point that even scared the jailer. He was about the kill himself but Paul intervene and the Jailer asked Paul how He can be saved. (Acts 16:30) God planed this out due to Paul being the messenger to represent the good news caused even the jailer’s family to be saved. This is a call that awakens us our need for the good news and knowing what Jesus has done. Without this call, we won’t be able to go through the additional calls that God may use His people.

The Call of the Service:

We as individuals who gather together for the purpose to worship God have an active role. Each of us has been given a gift from God to be able to express His Glory in our lives through those abilities and talents. (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11) There are both administrative gifts and spiritual gifts that each believer can express when it comes to gatherings and services. (Romans 12:3–8, 1  Corinthians 12:28) We must have this mindset that God has called us each to do a function, Timothy had struggles with His own gift that He received from ordination. (2 Timothy 1:6) I believe what Paul is saying to Timothy could benefit us as well when it comes to our gifts and talents when it comes to the call of service. Paul tells Timothy to fan the flame which means to actually use His gift. We service each other when we function together as a Body, which is important why God designed us with gifts.

The Call of the Offices:

The next calling that God offers is those who are chosen for this specific task. These are people who are called to equip those who are gathered for ministry. Certain movements call them offices or the terminology called “Five-Fold Ministry” when I come to these specific tasks. (Ephesians 4:7–16) They are found in the Book of Ephesians and emphasizes on the Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher. People vary on the interpretations regarding these callings as some believe that Apostles and Prophets are obsolete. While some of the Charismatic and Pentecostal movements recognize those offices are valid for today. We see Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher to be the main focus when it comes to those who do not believe the following others have positions like pastor, professor, or someone who preaches at different churches. While the other side of the belief of Apostle and Prophets are those who are overseers of different churches and Prophets who are the messenger that God speaks regarding the future. Whatever belief you tend to follow about the ceasing of the Apostolic Gifts or if you believe in all the function: They all need to know the Counsel of God, Following the biblical standards of the overseers and deacon and set an example for others to follow.(2 Timothy 2:15, 1 Timothy 3:1-13, Titus 1:5-9) This is why I believe in Ordination as a universal function for whichever office the person is trying to pursue because they have gone through testing and examination regarding theology, doctrine, and practice.

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Educational Journey

Ministry Philosophy of Paul (Part 1)

1 Timothy 1:1-2 New International Version (NIV)
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 2 To Timothy my true son in the faith. Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul’s View of Ministry:

We can notice a few things within the beginning letters of Paul towards Timothy regarding his philosophy of ministry. We can see that in verse 1 the word command indicates that this is not something Paul decided to do one day. This was a calling that God has chosen him to be apart of. Let’s not forget that Paul was persecuting Christians and Jesus decided to redirect his life for the sake of the gospel. (Acts 9:1-19) This should relate to us as ministers of the gospel. That this was not something that we decided to do one day and thought it would be a great idea. This is something God has called us to do, commanded us to do, which gives us the desire to do it.

To figure out whether we are called by God to minister in whichever area we must recognize if there must be a command to do it. Do you have a deep feeling that this is something you must do? Do you know and know and know and know that this is 100 percent what God has called to pursue? If you are called into the ministry then you are obligated to do the work of the ministry. Whichever path is presented will come when you commit yourself by reading the Word, prayer, and fasting.

Why do we need this validation from God?

We need to know this is from God because ministry is not as easy as it seems, nor it is as amazing as you would imagine. Let me break your bubble for a minute… I remember my calling by in high school and my goal was to become an intern at my church, during this time frame the church faced division and there was no internship after that. Afterward, I stayed persistent to serve and somehow if i would get to be in full-time ministry throughout those years. While God hasn’t made provision for that yet I believe that I need to go back to my specific first step and be apart of an internship or be trained under someone. Throughout serving the ministry there will be hard times and it is those hard times that God’s calling must guide us to stay committed to the cause. Paul did not have an easy journey throughout his ministry and we can expect struggles and challenges that will test our calling. I’ve struggled, wanted to quit, and simply believe that I’m not good enough but God… reminded me of my calling. This is the obligation that Paul was sensing while talking to Timothy.

Don’t forget your calling:

There are many people who quit the ministry simply because of the intensive expectations placed on them by people, the workload of establishing the church, and fighting against temptations. We must be reminded that God is equipping and preparing you daily if you allow Him to. If God has called you then he had all the pieces together to accomplish the tasks. We are created to do good works that God already planned for in advance. (Ephesians 2:10) Don’t forget that when we get tired and weary that Jesus is willing to help with our burdens. (Matthew 11:28-29) Lastly, Let’s keep our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2)