Thinking Aloud

  There are many among us who find it difficult to prevail long in prayers or to “pray at all times”; they think not all can become men and women of prayer, that it is a sacred communion which only a privileged few are expected to perform. They shy away from prayers and are happy to leave prayer to trained workers and leaders. This is just an excuse for laziness and for difficulty in concentration. We must remember that in the   New Testament all believers are declared priests of God.         1 Peter 2:9 says we are a chosen people, royal priests , a holy nation, and God’s very own possession. Consider carefully the following Scriptures: ·       Ephesians 6:18, “And   pray in the Spirit on all occasions   with all kinds of prayers and requests.” ·       1 Thessalonians 5:17 , “Pray without ceasing.” In other words, “Pray at all times” or “Pray continually.” ·   ...

  Isaiah 55:8 “ For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways," declares the LORD . God is the personal Spirit, perfectly good, who in holy love creates, sustains, and orders all. He is the absolute personality--an object of worship. There can be no definition of the idea of God, because we can have no idea of Him, no knowledge, in the strict sense of knowing. No one can know His mind, St. Paul says in Romans 11:34 . If it were not for the fact that God reveals His thoughts to us, we would know nothing about them. God, however, does reveal to us some of His thoughts, sometimes. He is under no obligation to reveal the fullness of what He knows to us. While nothing is more certain than that God exists, His being is to human thought utterly mysterious and inscrutable. Any attempt by philosophers to bring clarity into the matter of God’s personality results in only confusing the matter further! As humans, we often attempt to apply human logic to God and fai...

  1John 5:6, 8 This is the one who came by water and blood--Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies because the Spirit is the truth. The Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. Crucifixion was usually intended to provide a death that was particularly slow, painful, gruesome, humiliating, and public.   The victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden beam and left to hang, perhaps for several days, until eventual death from exhaustion and  asphyxiation . The victim was stripped naked and put on public display while they were slowly tortured to death so that they would serve as a  spectacle and an example . It was used to punish  slaves ,  pirates , and enemies of the state. Victims were sometimes left on display even after death as a warning to any other potential criminals. Often crucifixion was preceded by scourging , in order to hasten impending death. T...