~This side of the 'glass'~

[Bingo]

(On the Web Jan. 29, 1996)

The answer to all your problems of SURVIVAL is not religion but SPIRITUALITY

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RELIGION AND SPIRITUALITY IS QUITE SIMPLE.

Religions are POLITICAL ENTITYS of MIND CONTROL for those folks who want an easier softer way, who are afraid of going to hell because of their lack of Spiritual Honesty, who are afraid to confront themselves and their ego, who insist that they have a Satan as a scapegoat for their refusal to submit to God's will and who refuse to accept responsibility for their own actions and the condition in which they find themselves, who want someone or something else to do it for them.

That is the HELL of it.
SPIRITUALITY is for those of us who have been to hell and back, who are willing to SURRENDER our ego, our will and our lives to the WILL of OUR CREATOR and pick up Our Own Responsibilities to ourselves and to all of humanity, because we know we will not survive if we don't SURRENDER!

I have absolutely no intent to tell you how or what you must or must not believe, because I don't know how the Creator will reveal himself to you! I just know that he will if you seek him, and in that is your salvation and your survival.

("From a friend to a friend...R.I.P.")

 

[Bingo]

A Grandfather Teaching
A Warrior.......
Listen to me carefully and remember every word.

A warrior is not a soldier.
A soldier is trained to fight and follow orders.
A warrior is trained to think for himself and fight only as a last resort.
A warrior is the first to begin and the last to quit.
He laughs the hardest and loves the best.
Stand your ground in all things and only give ground out of kindness.

A warrior is not a follower, nor is he a leader except at great need.
A warrior learns from the animals, the hills, and the rivers.
He respects all things of the earth as if they were his own heart.
All men and all spirits are equals.

A warrior never begs or pleads, nor does he give in to hopelessness and despair.
Whether the warrior is successful or tries valiantly only to have failed, he thanks the Great Spirit for the opportunity and the

lessons.

A warrior cares for the weakest and least of his brothers, humbling himself in their service.
He seeks wisdom in all things and learns from even the dullest, for all are his teachers.
A warrior leaves judgment of his brothers and sisters to the Great Spirit, but does not tolerate disrespectful behavior in his

presence.

Love and Peace,
'Windwalker'.


(Great wisdom within the American Indian circle)

 

[Bingo]

The voice of the Living God spoke to a teacher of God many years ago. He was on his knees praying for his people. He was questioning God on why so many of the people were ill and infirm, for among his people there was always someone praying for a healing.

The Voice said to him. "Go to the Law."

For the sake of brevity, the problem lay in human nature and how it influenced the human body. Think of these ten words as ten drugs secreted into our anatomy whenever we activate one of these human drives. These drives may be said to be for:

1. Preeminence: the fact of surpassing all others; superiority:
2. Idolatry: the worship of idols.
3. Clannishness: tending to associate only with a select group of similar background or status a clannish community.
4. Activity: the condition in which things are happening or being done
5. Rebellion: the action or process of resisting authority, control, or convention:
6. Murder: the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another:
7. Adultery: voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse:
8. Stealing: the action or offense of taking another person's property without permission or legal right and without intending to return it; theft:
9. Lying: to make a false statement with the intention to deceive
10. Covetousness: having or showing a great desire to possess something belonging to someone else:

These are the factors of the sum total of human activity. Everything that evil (error) can do can be seen in these words. Every time one of these drives is activated, it causes a different hormone to be secreted into the bloodstream. After years bearing the bombardment, the body finally succumbs to permanent disease, then death. Three score and ten, and by strength four score are allotted.

('Intended solely as informative and subjects of 'Reflections of Life'...'This side of the glass')

 

[Bingo]

"And in times of disarray also being a time to reflect on truth."

https://christianchat.com/threads/this-side-of-the-glass.182929/post-4887098

 

[Bingo]

"Perhaps it would be more feasible for an in-depth study and analyzes of certain words in
correlation to scripture that would eliminate the worldly man-mind from erroneous 'thinking'
which brings cause of scripture mutilation."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Parable is a figure of speech, which presents a short story, typically with a moral lesson at the end.

With many such parables He was speaking the word to them, so far as they were able to hear it; All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable. Therefore, I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

Taking “Literally” Literally
Let’s start with a definition. According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, the word “literal” means “taking words in their usual or most basic sense without metaphor or allegory, free from exaggeration or distortion.” Why do people balk at this common-sense notion when it comes to the Bible or, more precisely, certain passages in the Bible?

‘literally’ means in a plain language, using expressions in their exact or direct sense:

Metaphor being a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable:
a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, especially something abstract:

Allegory A popular form of literature in which a story points to a hidden or symbolic parallel meaning. Certain elements, such as people, things, and happenings in the story, point to corresponding elements in another realm or level of meaning.

Symbolic is something that stands for or suggests something else; it represents something beyond literal meaning. In literature, a symbol can be a word, object, action, character, or concept that embodies and evokes a range of additional meaning and significance.

Symbols are a path to revelation. A Bible Symbol is a word in the Bible that has a deeper alternative meaning that is in addition to the plain, and obvious meaning. The alternative meaning is the “Symbolic Meaning” or “Symbolic Definition”. God's influence being designed to give some texts a deeper, alternative meaning.

(Be sure to do your own careful 'inventory' before taking action based on anything you find in this content.
Intended solely as informative and subjects of 'Reflections of Life'...'This side of the glass')

 

[Bingo]

https://christianchat.com/threads/subtle-warnings.198616/post-4849336

 

[Bingo]

"Disturbing when our greatest asset is not being utilized."

 

[Bingo]

A little while later, as mankind reckons time, another man had this to say when questioned about the law: ©

And one of them, a legal expert, put him to the test:
"Teacher, which commandment in the Law is the greatest?"
He replied to him, " 'You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your energy.'

This commandment is first and foremost. And the second is like it:
'You are to love your neighbor as yourself.'

On these two commandments hangs everything in the Law and the Prophets.' "

Our neighbor is everyone on the face of this earth who recognizes the Truth and abides by these two commandments. Unless we
abide by these, even the Creator cannot and will not protect us from ourselves.



Bottom Line -- I have drawn a line across my path against ALL who would attempt to pervert the Eternal Truths, and will defend
that line with all means available.

The above is a synthesis of discussions and emails between BB, MB and JR


('Articles in this thread are compiled from various governmental
and other public domain sources.'
(Intended solely as informative and subjects to reflect on.)

 

[Bingo]

From the earliest times mankind has been aware of the transcendental power which governs and sustains the Universe. From the beginning mankind has hungered for knowledge of this Power and has longed for understanding. It is an innate need of all mankind. Development of the Idea of God through the centuries has brought forth a variety of creeds. When the world's great religions are examined, we discover that all the various religions and creeds have more or less the same idea of God - though God, the Creative Power is called by many different names throughout the world, and the attributes of God are viewed from many different perspectives.

All religions have, with one voice, ascribed three fundamental qualities of God ---
They are: Omnipotence - all powerful; Omniscience - all knowing; and Omnipresence - presence in all things.

The primary tenet of all religions is that God is the perfect embodiment of Love, Grace and Compassion; is absolute perfection; and is the source of all creation. All creatures are God's children. That is the central truth of all the world's great religions. God is One, though the various religions personify and speak of God in many ways. Each religion is a revelation in its own way of this great truth, the Oneness of All Creation. GOD is not the monopoly of any particular creed or religion, as all share in this Oneness. In fact, GOD is not religion at all, GOD simply IS!

From this perspective, without God's Grace and Love nothing can exist and without God's Power nothing is done in this Creation. All the different religions, large and small, are various paths leading to the same goal -- an understanding of the morality and ethics of successful life, our relationship as individuals to God, and the afterlife when the physical body returns whence it came.
The central message of all religion is that in the diminishment of our Self-centeredness, our sense of Self-righteousness and Self-importance, our egocentricity, in service to our fellow man, we become less fearful of living and of dying. We become more loving and less defensive as we lift our eyes off ourselves and to the Creator and are truly able to recognize and love our brothers as ourselves, experiencing a deeper sustained happiness and connectedness with the Creator and the details of life. We begin to understand the great Truth, "Life without the death of Self has no meaning.", and we find Life more Abundant.

(Be sure to do your own careful 'inventory' before taking action based on anything you find in this content.
Intended solely as informative and subjects of 'Reflections of Life'...'This side of the glass')

 

[Bingo]

Men of varied culture and history penned the words, men translated the words from language to language, and men deliberated, disagreed, and decided which ancient writings to include in what we call the Bible. Understandably, therefore, there are hundreds of problems when we attempt to see the words as handed down directly from God.

It is understood and respectfully being the need for some to yell "heresy" about now! I speculate a twofold reason for this passion: 1) The human need for God to be tangible, thus the equating of the Bible with God. (With our physical bodies we can’t touch, see, or hear God, but we can touch, see, and hear the Bible.) 2) The fear that if any discrepancy is found in the Bible that would mean God was not real or that the Bible was not Holy. Well, I hope to dispel both of these ideas here. The Bible does contain hundreds of discrepancies. Yet God is very real, and the Scripture is Holy.

The Bible is inspired by God. It amazingly records and preserves the Hebrew/Jewish people's history with God, the life and
teachings of Jesus, and the beginnings of the Christian Church. Inspired, yes. There is, however, a critical difference between
spiritual revelation and human words. Have you ever tried to put a spiritual revelation into words? One does not fit perfectly into the other, but words are all we have with which to communicate. The words of the Bible were mostly penned by writers who lived in close relationship to God and were under some level of the power of the Holy Spirit as they wrote, but nowhere do we read that they were immaculately conceived, or that they were transfigured as they wrote. They were not perfect or omniscient people. Many of them made judgments in their lives for which they would be arrested today, and maybe even given the death penalty. They included adulterers, murderers, a former persecutor of Christians, . . . Despite their humanness, however, the writings they left us are the most valuable and precious tangible gift from God to us. An awe-inspiring set of writings that have revolutionized our world for many centuries. The all-time best-selling book worldwide, and with good reason!

(Be sure to do your own careful 'inventory' before taking action based on anything you find in this content.
Intended solely as informative and subjects of 'Reflections of Life'...'This side of the glass')

'Human reality, being complex and layered, can only be conceived imaginatively and not through analytical methods of history.'

 

[Bingo]

New Agers... (1970s and 1980s) create their own reality. They believe they can create reality by what they believe, and, by changing what they believe, they can change reality. All moral boundaries have been erased. There are no absolutes because there is no distinction between good and evil. Nothing has reality until one says that it is reality or says that it is truth. If finite man can create truth, we are in desperate trouble in our society. Unless there are eternal absolutes from the eternal God, man will eventually be his own destruction.

'The New Age movement is not seen as a religion but a new way to think and understand reality. It’s very attractive to the natural man who has become disillusioned with organized religion and Western rationalism. He desires spiritual reality but doesn’t want to give up materialism, deal with his moral problems, or come under authority.'

'Progress is change though change may also bring cause of 'reality of falling away from God, spiritually."

(Be sure to do your own careful 'inventory' before taking action based on anything you find in this content.
Intended solely as informative and subjects of 'Reflections of Life'...'This side of the glass')

 

[Bingo]

Unless we can be true to ourselves first, we cannot be true to others.

'To thine own self be true .... how profound. How many of us have a hard time being true to ourselves? Those of us that have given our life to another at the cost of losing who we are in the process will have a hard time being true to ourselves. Allowing someone or something else to define who we are, we lose our ability to discover and grow inwardly. We no longer are able to discern a truth from a lie. For many of us, we have accepted lies for so long, that finding out what is true takes time. Having done this very thing, I know how difficult the journey to self-discovery can be.

'Truth…. truth is a word that brings out such negative reactions to many of us. You see, truth is really an action word. You cannot accept truth without change. Accepting truth about ourselves is difficult, especially to those of us who have been abused, or have abused others. But truth does set one free if we will allow it to; it is a crucial part of healing. It gives us the freedom to be who we are. We are able to come to terms with our weakness (without condemnation) and appreciate our strength. Truth gives strength; it naturally builds healthy boundaries. Truth is open; it is honest even at the risk of being vulnerable again. Truth is light and brings forth life. When we walk in truth, we walk in light, and when we walk in light, we live a healthy life.

'Truth is also love. The greatest act of love towards another is living a life that is truthful. For those of us who find it difficult to love ourselves, we will find it will come more easily when we walk in truth about who we are. If we walk in truth, we walk in perfect love, and if we walk in perfect love, then we do not walk in fear because perfect love casts out fear. Because we have been honest with ourselves, we are able to love ourselves with all of our imperfections, knowing that we are in “process” and therefore need not have others' approval. This is freedom indeed.

'The second part of this verse is a natural occurrence if we hold true to the first part of the verse. So, when in doubt as to our motives of not being truthful with someone .... look inside, are we being less than truthful to ourselves, have we slighted the steps in some manner?

” This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.”
- Shakespeare - Hamlet -

 

[Bingo]

The controversy of the Bible, the sacred text of one of the world’s great religions, dating back approximately 6000 years. The Bible is a compilation of 66 books, written by 40 different authors, over more than 2200 years, in 3 different languages, on 3 different continents, with 1 consistent divinely inspired theme of love and redemption for all mankind. But the Bible is different than any other holy book because it claims to be divinely inspired by God.

Modern-day Christians may have created a problem for themselves by being so adaptive, cosmopolitan, and worldly in their behavior, lifestyle, and worship that it is easy to forget that the venerable Christian religion is really thousands of years old. Whenever they act in a way that is popular in current society but against the teaching of the Bible, they are accused of being hypocritical, which might be true. Whenever they act in a way that is in accord with the teaching of the Bible but is not popular in current society, they are accused of being religious zealots, which might be true. It depends on the motive.

Modern-day Christians did not write the Bible and they should not pick and choose what is in the Bible. Some religious groups do not like what is in the Bible, so they have written their own interpretations or translations of the Bible for their adherents to use. Some religious groups do not like what is in the Bible, so they have written additional books that they consider to be of greater than or equal importance to the Bible. Some religious groups do not like what is in the Bible, so they have elevated their own traditions to be of greater or equal importance to the written word of the Bible.


("This content is for informational use and is not a substitute for 'Spiritual' advice.
Be sure to do your own careful 'inventory' before taking action based on anything you find in this content."
Intended solely as informative and subjects to reflect on.)

 

[Bingo]

"Come to know this and know it well, here in the now."
"Praise God"

 

[Bingo]

“The Bible is God’s divine revelation of basic needed knowledge that mankind is not capable of otherwise finding out. It is the starting point,” Be assured, “No tools or instruments of science can tell you whether you have a soul, whether you are a soul, whether there is life after death, what the purpose is for being alive, where you are going, or the way to a happy, abundant life and universal peace. Our scientists—our world leaders and statesmen—have failed utterly to tell us these answers or to lead us into the universally desired peace and happiness,” And this being a fact. “But God Almighty did not hide from human minds the all-important answers.”

“All of the Bible ‘is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. The whole Bible is useful for the purpose of reproving and correcting us! Yet how many people today are willing to be corrected even when proven they are wrong? Very few! “That is why it is so hard for so many people to understand the Bible and to agree on just what it says. The Bible is God’s great spiritual mirror. It shows up every flaw in our thinking and reveals every spot on our characters. It pictures us as we really are—as God sees us, not as we like to think we are or to have other men look upon us. This is a statement we all need to think deeply about."

The number one flaw in human nature is our unwillingness to admit error. Admitting error is impossible without God’s help. God is willing to help anyone who truly desires His help. He offers His help mainly through the Bible. Read Hebrews 4:12. The Bible is a living and powerful book that, “opens up and lays bare the inner man.” No human being naturally wants to experience that. Yet that is precisely what we need most to be a success spiritually.

“Too often men have applied some different meaning to the scriptures that reproved them. They have passed right over some scriptures that have corrected and rebuked them. Instead, they studied diligently to find some other scripture into which they could read a meaning that would justify their course of action,” This is a fact of man’s history with the Bible. What is the result? The mind-numbing confusion we see in religion today.

“Today we have hundreds of interpretations of the Bible. But you never hear of hundreds of interpretations of a biology textbook. Why? Because biology textbooks do not rebuke and correct men. The Bible should be seen as the most important textbook in human history and then study it—not question it.

There is an important spiritual dimension of this issue that we must remember. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “The natural man [speaking of the natural-born, unconverted mind] receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” God’s truth is revealed by God’s Spirit. It requires the Holy Spirit to open up a human mind to understanding God’s revelation (John 16:13).

“When we receive the Holy Spirit—when the mind becomes Spirit-led—then through this supernatural process of God, spiritual knowledge is revealed, and the spiritual mind can begin to understand. And the conditions in the Bible for receiving God’s Holy Spirit are two: Repent and believe. But repent means more than being sorry. It means a complete yielding to the will of God expressed in His Word. It is a complete willingness to accept and to do what it teaches, no matter what the cost, the persecution, the sacrifice or the effort.”

Are you confused about the Bible, what it means and how it applies to your life? You can clear up the confusion. “First surrender to God and the authority of His Word. Forsake your ways, your thoughts and those of the society in this world.


(Be sure to do your own careful 'inventory' before taking action based on anything you find in this content.
Intended solely as informative and subjects of 'Reflections of Life'...'This side of the glass')

 

[Bingo]

Jul 21, 2022 (Archive that needs reminded of)
#481
'Among the mature, however, we speak a message of wisdom—but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are
coming to nothing. No, we speak of the mysterious and hidden wisdom of God, which He destined for our glory before time began.
None of the rulers of this age understood it. For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Rather, as it is written:

“No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no heart has imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

But God has revealed it to us by the Spirit.
'The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of man except his own spirit
within him? So too, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world, but the
Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by
human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

'The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot
understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man judges all things, but he himself is not subject to anyone’s
judgment. “For who has known the mind of the Lord, so as to instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

~Words of Spiritual wisdom influenced through the power of Spiritual inspiration through a Higher Power. ~


(Be sure to do your own careful 'inventory' before taking action based on anything you find in this content.
Intended solely as informative and subjects of 'Reflections of Life'...'This side of the glass')

 

[Bingo]

"And I leave it at that."

 

[Bingo]

"Spiritual discernment is the ability to recognize and use God’s truth and authority to
guide our life."

 

[Bingo]

"A much-needed refresher reminders, as delusional worldly 'thinking' continues
to erode the necessity of spiritual awareness."

https://christianchat.com/threads/subtle-warnings.198616/post-4540952

https://christianchat.com/threads/subtle-warnings.198616/post-4541475

https://christianchat.com/threads/subtle-warnings.198616/post-4546540

https://christianchat.com/threads/subtle-warnings.198616/post-4546713

https://christianchat.com/threads/subtle-warnings.198616/post-4547299

https://christianchat.com/threads/subtle-warnings.198616/post-4548999

 

[Bingo]

https://christianchat.com/threads/i-saw-the-light.182858/post-3846298

https://christianchat.com/threads/i-saw-the-light.182858/post-3846303

"Praise God"