Re: Are you having a hard time trying to FIND God?

I believe that ALL 'serious'/sincere Christians would have the same ambition to have a "walk" like Enoch, but we must remember, our "walk" must be of OUR OWN heart and soul (our walk must be PERSONAL)..

The second message in scripture (the deeper one...DEPTHS of God) teaches us HOW to become MORE FULLY HUMAN (a "SELF"...a SON OF "in His image" MAN...as before the fall).....The Lord warns us against "self abasement" (belittlement of who we are, Colossians 2:18 and 23) so that we do not DISQUALIFY ourselves from our "walk" with "I am who I am" (Exodus 3:14, The Father of Jesus says "FOREVER" in verse 15).

You see, we have to be COMPLETELY WHO WE ARE in order to relate to and identify with "I am who I am" (so much for man's lie of 'self-denial, satan has ALWAYS tried many ways to sabotage our walk).....how can we give The Lord our true heart if we lose our identity?...the "STRONG delusion" always existed (it's NOT a FUTURE event). The Lord was explaining that to Ezekiel in reference to Israel's behavior....

Ezekiel 14:3
"Son of man, these men have taken their idols into their hearts, and set the stumbling block of their iniquity before their faces; should I let myself be inquired of AT ALL by them?"....

...this is what The Lord was speaking about in 2 Thess. 2....

2 Thessalonians 2:10...and 11
"and with all wicked deception for those who are to perish, because they refused to love the truth AND SO BE SAVED...

verse 11
"Therefore God sends upon them a strong delusion, to make them believe what is false".

Now we see dimly, so I might have not found the right words for a better, more precise explanation.....

The term "son of man"...
.....(Jesus never said that HE is "lord of the sabbath", a SON OF MAN is a lord/ruler in the spiritual world...ruler EVEN of the sabbath).

Psalm 82:6
"I say, "You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you".

Since God's thoughts are not ours and our thoughts are not His, understanding Godliness requires a paradigm shift in thinking (different reference point)....

Romans 12:2
"...be transformed by the renewal of your mind".

In this world, we only have EXISTENCE (unless we are INside JESUS/s body, John 14:6), not genuine LIFE (the TRUE realization of who you are has no 'insecurities',...strong and sure...SELF is also ETERNAL)....we need not fear satan either, he is being restrained. God doesn't teach weakness and fear, He teaches STRENGTH and COURAGE.

2 Thessalonians 2:6
"And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time".

2 Timothy 1:7
"God did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control".

God wants us to think in terms of "principles" ('yes or no' PRINCIPLES so that the change from one quality to the other will have no middle ground...."no shadow or variation").

James 1:17
"no shadow or variation".

....this is the DISCERNING ('distinguishing' between good and evil...the knowledge wrongly chosen and misused since Eden) "SWORD" of the spirit taught by God when He speaks to those who will listen for His word (instead of READ for it).

Ephesians 6:17
"sword of the spirit".

The Athenians were philosophers. They possessed an objective and insightful wisdom,....Paul spoke to them accordingly and to the point because he knew they could fully understand...(no partisan beating around the bush as with the commoners in Jerusalem)....

Acts 17:24
"The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man".

The crowds in Jerusalem and other locations were UNCIVILIZED (they had slaves) and were PAGANS (they were accustomed to worshipping idols...and Paul often addressed their pagan habits/rituals in his letters to the congregations), but the 'philosopher culture' in Athens could be addressed as TRUE HUMAN BEINGS not knowing the savior....


If a person does decide to find true life by spiritually living inside Jesus's body as an INNER temple (belonging to the OUTER TEMPLE....JESUS), then they will indeed do as Paul said to the Athenians......

Acts 17:28
" 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your poets have said, 'For we are indeed his offspring'".

......spirits inside Jesus (new creation) have no gender,....NOR are they Jews,...so of course there are no NON-Jews (Gentiles/"greeks")....

Galatians 3:28
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (ONE...INTEGRAL with Jesus).

So, yes, there is more to be known than we were taught, but solid food is not for those who are satisfied remaining "babes in Christ"....

You have dared to be a philosopher and do what is contrary to the status quo (a 'maverick', you're approval is not from man, but from God). Let GOD be your spiritual teacher, not man, and you will HEAR God speak (in your conscience) instead of READ what He said two thousand years ago and more, for we should not live by every word that HAS PROCEEDED from God's mouth thousands of years ago, but what He speaks to each and everyone of us today.

SAUL persecuted all who were devoted to Jesus (members of "the way").

Acts 9:2
"so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem".

.....(SAUL persecuted "THE WAY").

Acts 18:25
"He had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, [even] though he knew only the baptism of John".

"The way" is not built on the baptism OF JOHN (with H2O), it is built around the baptism/consecration performed by God's spirit (Acts 1:5, John 7:38, 1 John 5:6) so that we "neither thirst" (Revelation 7:16).

Acts 19:9
"but when some were stubborn and disbelieved, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation,...".

Acts 19:23
"About that time there arose no little stir concerning the Way".

Acts 24:14
"But this I admit to you, that according to the Way,...".

Acts 24:22
"But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the Way,...".

Acts 25:3
"asking as a favor to have the man sent to Jerusalem, planning an ambush to kill them...".

...yes, SAUL killed followers of THE WAY, but when SAUL became PAUL, he had a devotion to Jesus because he joined THE WAY,...NOT "Christianity" (Christianity is THE CHURCH OF MAN).

Jesus never used the word "Christian", "Christianity", etc., only the disciple that denied Jesus 3 times and did other worldly deeds (killing Ananias and wife, glorifying himself instead of God, gaining followers by FEAR...EVEN THOUGH he was filled with the spirit, Acts 5....TRUE Godly people are hard to find) used that secular name.

John 2:19...in..
"three days" JESUS became the outer temple...WE each are the inner temple 1 Corinthians 3:16 and 6:19). There should be NO BUILDINGS or worship centers.

Romans 14:22
"The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God".

Matthew 6:6
"But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you".

Our relationship should personal and PRIVATE/"secret" (a lover's affair)...for He "yearns jealously"...

James 4:5
"He yearns jealously over the spirit which he has made to dwell in us".

....well, you do seek whom your SOUL loves, don't you?

Song of Songs 3:2
"I seek whom my SOUL loves".

Satan has been attacking very boldly in modern times (you might think there would be more of a warning these days from the mainstream scholars, pastors, etc., but no, even the most well meaning ministers have forsaken their vows to God to protect their congregations)....Let SELF be strong in LOVE/GOD....TRUST GOD ONLY!

http://www.puritanboard.com/f63/missing-verses-esv-other-bibles-46080/


http://www.av1611.org/nkjv.html


http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Bible/NLT/nlt_exposed.htm

I use the RSV.

Don't hijack or commandeer what belongs to God only (fruits of His spirit), have the fruit of light....

Ephesians 5:8
"for once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light".....(God is light).
http://www.blueletterbible.org/search/translationResults.cfm?Criteria=walk+as...

Use blueletterbible to look up verses or any word. Gateway.com is good also. Tweet