"WISDOM"

"WISDOM"
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
and the knowledge of the Holy One is the beginning
of understanding. Proverbs 9:10-11

   There is fear that paralyzes and is unhealthy. We have fears of

shame, danger of  physical harm,  serious illness,  financial loss, 

loss of  relationships and  death...There is, however;  fear leding

to reverence for all things Holy.  That fear is rooted in the know-
ledge of our God, Jehovah (YAWEH).  Knowledge of  God leads  

us on a course to know Him, personally.  I am convinced we may 

only know the Lord God as we get to know the Word of God and

this Word, is not just a book, but a person of whom it is said:

   "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we

   we beheld His glory;  the glory as of  the only begotten of  the 

    Father,) full of grace and truth."  John 1: 14
   This "Word," is God the Son, Yeshua, Jesus Christ.  The Lord
God is kown as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy
Spirit.  One Person,  who is known to us as Jesus Christ, and is
co-equal with the Father.  The three persons are One and  their
various functions are the factors  identifying each.  The Father,
Son and Holy Spirit have been in existence eternally, without a
beginning or end. This "Person" has all power, but is willing to
delegate his power to anyone who receives the Son as Savior.
The Spirit is the one who empowers these individuals to act on
behalf of the Lord God, and the Son is He with whom we inter-
act.  Our prayers are directed to God the Father, but are prayed
in the name of the Son, Yeshua. (Read chapter one of the Gospel
recorded by the Apostle John, for a substantive explanation.)
     There is more to establishing a relationship with the Lord
that a mere belief in Him.  In Romans 10: 8,9-10, we find this:
"...The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart that
is the Word of faith which we preach:  that if you confess with
your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God
has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the
heart man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth 
confession is made unto salvation."  (ETERNAL LIFE) 
   13. "For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be 
         saved..." (NKJV)                     
                                                                                donporter,sr.

     There are many believers who have found some 

passages from the book of Romans to be quite effec-

tive in presenting the Gospel to persons who do not 

have a relationship with our Lord.  These passages 

taken  together are a coherent guide for presenting 

the saving message of Jesus Christ as follows:

    Romans 1: 16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel 

    of Christ,  for it is the power of  God to salvation to 

    everyone  who  believes,  for the Jew first  and also  

    for the  Greek."

     Romans 3:  10-12.  "As it is written:  There is none 

       righteous, no,not one:  There is none who seeks 

       after God.

       They have all turned aside:  They have together 

        become unprofitable: There is none who does 

       good,  no not one."

        Romans 4: 1-3, "What then shall we say that 

         Abraham our father has found according to 

          the flesh?  For if Abraham was justified by 

         works, he has something to boast about, but

        not before God.  For what does the Scripture

          say?  Abraham believed God, and it was 

       accounted to him for righteousness."

   There is nothing you or I might do to qualify for the

salvation available in Christ Jesus.  He has done it all

and it is finished...  We must call on the Father in his 

 name, Jesus  Christ, in confession of our need of him

   and in the belief  the He was raised from death by

God the Father and learn He is with the Father making

intercession on our behalf.  

donporter,sr 12.15.19
       

      

AFRAID?

                Most of us have experienced fear in certain life
                                      circumstances:

            Some have  found encouragement , but others 
                   bear the torment of their fear alone.

     The greatest source of encouragement comes from the Lord.
He gave  the following words  of  encouragement  to some very
troubled Disciples many years ago  --  "Peace I leave with you,
my  peace I  give  unto  you:  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled, 
neither let it be afraid."  John 14: 27

     "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe
also in me.  In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were
not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you to Myself that where I am you may be also.  And
where I go you know, and the way you know."  John 14: 1 - 4

     
     One  may have  peace with God   by faith  in the  Lord Jesus
Christ as one's Lord and Savior.  The battle between the indivi-
dual sinner and God is over when that individual repents of sin
and openly confesses faith in Christ as Lord and Savior --

  "Therefore  being justified  by faith  we have  peace with  God
through  our Lord Jesus Christ."  (Romans 5:1)

"..The word of faith is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thine
heart: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved.  For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation."   Romans 10: 8-10 (kjv)

This allows one to face the reality of death without the fear of
facing death; without fear of being turned into hell.


       (This post was taken from a piece by Rev. Paul King, 
      Piedmont, S. C.) I have added John 14: 1-4 as well as
       the passage from Romans 10:8-10 with minor edits.)

donporter,sr 8.08.19

"GOD IS..."

"GOD IS LOVE..." 
"Lead me Lord.  Lead me in thy righteousness.
Make thy way plain before my face.  
For it is Thou Lord, Thou Lord, only that makest
me dwell in safety."  (Samuel S. Wesley)

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
these are the sons of God."  Romans 8:14

    "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and every-  one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He who does not love does not know God,  for God is love.  In this  the love of  God was manifested toward us, that God has sent his only begotten Son  into the world,  that we might  live  through him."   I John 4: 7 - 9  

    "This then  is the  message which  we have  heard of  him, and 
      declare unto you, that God is light and in him is no darkness
      at all."                                                                     I John 1: 5

      "Jesus saith unto him:  I am the way, the truth and  the life. 
         no man  cometh to the Father, but by me."      John 14: 6

       "And the house that I build is great: for great is our God 
        above all Gods."                                    I Chronicles 2: 5

     "Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar?
Did not your father eat and drink, and do justice and righteous-
ness?  Then it was well with him.  He judged the cause of the
poor and needy:  Then it was well.  Was not this knowing me?
says the Lord.  Yet your eyes and your heart are for nothing but
your coveteousness."  (Jeremiah 22: 15-17)  It is surprizing to 
me to realize in my seventy-nine years I do not recall this prin-
ciple read in the assembly, nor has my reading of it produced
understanding.  If my reasoning is correct, then one knows the
Lord God as  he considers the  cause or condition of  the poor.
This new understanding should bring me to be more careful to
help others, and consider the "poor and needy,"  before myself. 

(Read Matthew 12: 22-32)

In the passage above we find our Lord restoring 

sight and speech to a blind man who was mute.

Our Lord Jesus Christ was then accused of casting

out "demons" by the power of Satan.  (If a kingdom

is divided against itself, it cannot stand) vs. 26

The view taken by the Pharisees (enemies of Christ)

was refuted by our Lord when he said, "And  if I

by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your

children cast them out?  But if I cast out devils by 
the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God

is come unto you."

     "Pure  and undefiled religion before God and the Father is
this, to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep
oneself unspotted from the world."  (James 1: 27) 

       Our motivation is: "...The Love of Christ contraineth us..."
     (2 Corinthians 2: 14)  Read the whole of Chapter 5.) 
     There is also this, in the book of Proberbs 9 we find much
    to do with wisdom and it's attainment.  In verses 10 thru 11,
    "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the
    knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.  For by me
    your days will be multiplied."

10/04/19  donporter,sr







    
          

  

HEBREWS; an introduction...

     The book of Hebrews shows changes in the Law of God,
that came to pass because of the birth, life, death and resu-
rection of  the Lord God, Jesus Christ.   An important prin-
ciple is; the law was annulled or changed because of weak-
ness of the flesh and not for any shortcoming of the Law as
recorded in the Old Testament, or covenant.  Since not one
of the Patriarchs kept the law perfectly, there must be ano-
ther person who had the ability within  himself to keep per-
fectly, the Law of God.  He  was the author of the Law and 
is He who is also named  the "Word of God."   In Scripture
we find this; "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among
us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begot-
ten of the Father,  full of grace and truth."  John 1:14, This
came to pass to establish change in the covenant, since the 
old covenant with God's Chosen People,  did not make per-
fect the people as in Hebrews 8:7-9, "For if that first cove-
nant  had  been faultless,  then should no  place have  been 
sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith
Behold, the days come,  saith the Lord,  when I will make a
new covenant with the house of Is'ra-el and  with the house
of Ju'dah:  Not according to the covenant  that I made with
their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out
of the land of Egypt;because they continued not in my cove-
nant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. 

This post is an  unfinished work in progress...

     In the mean  time there is  a comment to be made concer- 
ning the people of Is'ra-el, God's chosen, and the church of
Jesus Christ,  "God the Son."  First,  the Lord God  has not,
in any sense, deserted his people, Is'ra-el. They are yet, His
Chosen people.  The followers of, believers in,Yeshua, have
been  grafted into the tree that is God's people , but the fol-
lowers of the Law of  Moses, see Exodus chapter 20 for the
commandments in the Law,  are still God's chosen.  They're
in unbelief in their Messiah, and are not in "fellowship with
God, the Father, nor God, the Son. They will regain fellow-
ship,  and be grafted back into their natural and inevitable 
return to faith in their God, when  they recognize, and sub-
mit to God the Son, Yeshua, Jesus Christ.

     Followers of Jesus are sometimes accused of being poly-
thiest, and regarded as having three Gods.  The followers of
Jesus believe God is a Spirit.  The Holy Spirit and the Lord,
Jesus Christ emanates from God the Father. since God is in
no way confined to  a body, "God is a Spirit,"  He is present
everywhere as God the Son, God the Holy Spirit or Spirit of
God.   These are terms identifying the three persons of God,
one God, sometimes referred to as Triune, of Trinity. Those
two terms do not appear in Scripture. 


donporter,sr 3.15.19 (9:55 pm)  ed, 3.25.19 (8:12 am)  

 

COMMANDMENT IN PERPETUITY

Exodus 20: 7  

  “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord 

will not hold him guiltless who taketh his name in vain.”  Exodus 20: 7 

     While I am convinced there are two shades of meaning to this Com-

mand  from our Lord to Moses at Sinai, one is overlooked, in  my expe-

rience.  The initial interpretation regarded by persons in my sphere of  

knowledge, me included,  had to do  with the use of  “His” name in a

casual conversation without due reverence , or using his Holy name in

slang, even profanity.  Another possible interpretation, in my view, has 

to do with assuming the name to myself as the badge of a child of God, 

or Christian, while failing, miserably, to live life reflecting the life our 

Lord requires of his followers. While there is no assumption on my part, 

about persons outside my circle of  knowledge having  taken that same 

view, I am  just, not aware of it.  You may be  privy to such  knowledge.  

       Send any information you might have on this subject to me at,   
   "jlrsbnch@msn.com."   If you would prefer, make your comment(s) 
 for use as part of this post.  Thanks for looking.   donporter,sr...9/16/19

  

BORN AGAIN?

     From Scripture, there is information we need on the

"New Birth," that is, given Spiritual Life from the Lord.

It may also be  described as "Born of the Spirit,"  to be 

"In Christ," and others, describing our condition  after 

we  receive Jesus Christ as Savior and  Lord.  There is

also debate on whether one may have Christ as Savior

without him being Lord of Life.  (It is inconceivable to

me that he will be Savior and not Lord of Life.)  In the

following  we will see from the Scripture how one may

be "Saved," and briefly discuss how to be sure of one's

Salvation. 

     The new birth,  Spiritual  life from the Lord God,  is

also described as "Born of the Spirit," to be "In Christ,"

to be "Saved," and other terms. There is also the debate

as to whether one may be "in Christ," but fail to accept

Jesus as Lord of life.  (I,  for one,  have difficulty belie-

ving one who does not have Jesus Christ as Lord of his

life, can be sure of Salvation.  There is also a method

called "The Roman Road," showing a seeker how to 

come to know God the Son as Savior and Lord. Scrip-
ture references are taken from the Apostle Pauls epis-

tle to believers in Rome aptly called "Romans."  Go to 

Romans, the New Testament, chapter 10:9-10 and 13 

and follow the clear instruction.  It plainly states in 

verse 9, "...if you confess with  your mouth  the Lord 

Jesus , and believe in  your heart that God has raised  

Him from the dead, you will be saved." Here, one is to

confess before others, a belief  in Jesus Christ  is Lord, 

in response to your "heart felt" belief that God  raised

him from the dead.  The term "heart," does not  refer

to a bodily organ, of course, but to your innermost 

being, or consciousness. 

     What about the prospect of doubting Salvation? 

The passage referenced has the solution for this con-

dition, as  well.  If one comes to  doubt his Salvation,

he  must return to Scripture and find how it happens.

If we openly profess to be a believer,  but fail to fol-

low  Jesus Christ as Savior and  Lord, we have  then,

taken  that  "Holy"  name  in vain,  and  Scripture  is
clear.   Exodus 20: 7, Thou shalt not take the name 

of the Lord thy God in vain: for the  Lord  will not

hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."   If
there is anything accounted as 'taking his name is 

vain, it would be claiming to be a disciple and fail-

ing to follow up on that profession by serving Him

in the proclaimation of the message of Scripture. 

     Returning to self-doubt;  the solution for doubt is
the  same as  receiving Jesus Christ  as Savior and 
Lord.  We must confess our healtfelt belief in Him 
to a person or persons.  In so doing we have again,
fulfilled the basic  step to the "New Birth" in Jesus

Christ and restored confidence in our relationship

with him.  Again, however; we must follow him in
order to  make  our confession an "Election sure."
by regularly reading Scripture, applying it to our
lives and assembling rdegularly with other belie-
vers in Christ. This must be coupled with  consis- 

tent prayer life. One may learn the form and sub-
stance of prayer in the Gospel recorded according
to  the Apostle Matthew in  chapter 6: 9-13.  The
explanation at close of the prayer, verse 14 - 15
is critical and must be followed for a continued
walk with God.  For if ye forgive men their tres-
passes, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
But if ye forgive not men their traspasses, neither
will your Father forgive your trespasses."

    The "Roman Road" has variations as to which
passages in Scripture are used tdo bring others to
Christ.  Here is the long list, giving options to use
as a situation suggests.

Romans 3: 10

Romans 3: 23

Romans 4: 3

Romans 5: 6-8

Romans 5: 12

Romans 5: 19-20

Romans 6: 1-2

Romans 6: 14-15

Romans 6: 23

Romans 8: 1

Romans 8:14-16

Romans 10: 8-10, 13 

May the Lord God bless your efforts on behalf of

mankind as led by His Spirit.  donporter,sr 1.30.19