Stepping Stones on the Way to a Miracle
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II Kings 5:5 (KJV) Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the Lord had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper.
2 And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman’s wife.
3 And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy.
4 And one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel.
5 And the king of Syria said, Go to, go, and I will send a letter unto the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment.
6 And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, Now when this letter is come unto thee, behold, I have therewith sent Naaman my servant to thee, that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy.
7 And it came to pass, when the king of Israel had read the letter, that he rent his clothes, and said, Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man doth send unto me to recover a man of his leprosy? wherefore consider, I pray you, and see how he seeketh a quarrel against me.
8 And it was so, when Elisha the man of God had heard that the king of Israel had rent his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, Wherefore hast thou rent thy clothes? let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel.
9 So Naaman came with his horses and with his chariot, and stood at the door of the house of Elisha.
10 And Elisha sent a messenger unto him, saying, Go and wash in Jordan seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to thee, and thou shalt be clean.
11 But Naaman was wroth, and went away, and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place, and recover the leper.
12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.
13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
15 And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all the earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.
16 But he said, As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And he urged him to take it; but he refused.
17 And Naaman said, Shall there not then, I pray thee, be given to thy servant two mules’ burden of earth? for thy servant will henceforth offer neither burnt offering nor sacrifice unto other gods, but unto the Lord.
18 In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, that when my master goeth into the house of Rimmon to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon: when I bow down myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon thy servant in this thing.
19 And he said unto him, Go in peace. So he departed from him a little way.
This history about Naaman is instructive, because it shows various places he could have missed his miracle. If there had been failure at any of these points, the miracle would not have happened or it may have had to take a detour and come another way. This is instructive to us as to the importance of obedience to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit as part of the process to receiving answers to prayer.
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- What if the servant girl had been a servant in someone else’s household?
- What if the servant girl said nothing?
- What if the message had not gotten to the King of Syria by “one went in, and told his lord, saying, Thus and thus said the maid that is of the land of Israel”?
- What if the King of Syria had not given Naaman time off?
- What if the King of Israel had gone to war by misinterpreting the gifts?
- What if the King of Israel did not listen to Elisha and did not let Naaman come to visit?
- What if Naaman in his anger never did what Elisha said?
- What if Naaman’s servants weren’t able to talk Naaman into obeying?
- What if Naaman only dipped five times, or three times, or six times, instead of seven times?
But Naaman obeyed and was healed, Naaman received his miracle.
II Kings 5:14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
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Depending on the ministry, there may be online church services, YouTube videos, podcasts, radio programs, books, teaching, or more. You have to seek out what they have.
Good for Oklahoma
Repost from TheGatewayPundit:
‘The Left Lost Their Mind’: Plan to Add ‘Wokeism’ to Schoolbooks Bites Back
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A Good Samaritan – His (Her) Brother’s (Sister’s) Keeper
Repost from TheGatewayPundit:
Army Veteran Saves Pregnant Woman From Carjacking at Florida Starbucks Drive-Thru (VIDEO)
Luke 10:29 (KJV) But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36 Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37 And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Genesis 4:9 … Am I my brother’s keeper?
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Repost: The Heresy of Cessationism 4 (Have Tongues Ceased?) | Daniel Kolenda: Off The Record
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Repost: “Christ in Every Book in the Bible” – Oral Roberts with Ralph Carmichael
A blog post can only introduce a topic but not cover it in depth. For more study on various topics, click here for links to various Christian ministries.
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Repost: YouTuber Mr. Beast Accused of ‘Racism’ After He Builds 100 Wells Across Africa Providing Clean Water to Citizens
https://www.infowars.com/posts/youtuber-mr-beast-accused-of-racism-after-he-builds-100-wells-across-africa-providing-clean-water-to-citizens/
Matthew 5:10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
A blog post can only introduce a topic but not cover it in depth. For more study on various topics, click here for links to various Christian ministries.
Depending on the ministry, there may be online church services, YouTube videos, podcasts, radio programs, books, teaching, or more. You have to seek out what they have.
Crisis Intervention for the LBGTQ+ Community
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
While doing other work, I noticed a request for a person for crisis intervention for the LBGTQ+ community.
Why would there need to be a counselor for “crisis intervention”? Why are there problems?
When looking for answers, it is good to go to the root cause. It’s called peeling back the layers of the onion to get back to the original problem. That makes the problem easier to understand and solve.
The root cause stems from an attempt to defy what is written in Genesis. In the beginning, God made man and woman.
Genesis 1:27 (KJV) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Today’s world tries to say there are multiple varieties of humans.
Before continuing with the topic at hand, here is one reason why people might want 57+ varieties. At work, if a person wants to be promoted, that person can pull out an “equal opportunity” card. In other words, just as there cannot be discrimination on race, age, nationality, etc., there is an implication that there cannot be discrimination on “variety”. Therefore, a person can be promoted ahead of others simply on the basis of being a new “variety”. A corporation may work on percentages in order to avoid lawsuits.
Therefore, LBGTQ+ becomes an equal opportunity option for a small minority that might not get promoted any other way. In the same way, a man competing in women’s sports might win against women, but he would not win against other men.
But back to intervention and why there is a need for intervention. When there is an attempt to walk contrary to God’s plan and purpose, that never works out well. God made mankind and knows how best for mankind to function.
Jeremiah 7:23 But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.
24 But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.
It really all comes down to the fact as to whether a person, or society, believes that a Creator created mankind with certain parameters to walk in for an optimal life.
It’s not that hard to understand. We understand this in simple natural things. You put gas in the vehicle’s gas tank if you expect it to run. You don’t use Kool Aid. You put diesel in diesel vehicles and unleaded in unleaded vehicles. If these rules are followed, things work well. If they are not followed, things do not work well.
Yet when it comes to life, and God stating clearly that there are two options, male and female, somehow when the word “God” or “Creator” is attached to the topic, it becomes a matter of wild speculation of whether or not the obvious is really obvious.
If a Ted Talk told you that there was only male and female would you believe it? By what authority?
The Bible is the only book where the Author proved the validity of his authority by prophetically proclaiming his visit to earth, why he came, what he would accomplish, how he would die, his resurrection, ascension, and his manifestation as alive to believers then and now.
Since all that has proved to be true, shouldn’t the rest be accepted as being as true as well? If not, why not? The author resurrected from the dead. No other religious or political figure has done that. If you start pulling out threads from a garment, pretty soon there is no garment.
Don’t be surprised if at some point there is an attempt for an AI “resurrection” in order to counter the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That’s how they use AIs, they want to create a world without God. It’s not that hard to create a realistic looking AI, pull the power, let it “die”, and then resurrect it, and then try to convince people to worship the AI “god”, whatever form that AI may appear in, for example, in the form of a politician.
There is a group of atheists that worship satan that want the riches and power of the world to flow to them. They pretend they are for the common man, but they are not. This has been going on a long time. They tried to gain complete control through Covid and other means, but as regular, everyday people are educated, they fight back and resist. It is becoming obvious that the intentions for humanity of these rulers is not good, and humanity is saying “no”. Ultimately, there will have to be an international tribunal to try these criminals. Until then, they need to be resisted in every form in which they appear. At least in the United States, which has a representative form of government, these people need to be fired by being removed from office, and if they steal elections, they need to be tried for election theft.
But back to the question of how do we know the right way? What should we think? What should we believe? What should we follow? Everything really comes down to this verse.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
God’s mind, God’s thoughts are in the Bible. And again, the Bible proves itself through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 55:6 Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Here is another quote from the Apostle John, who wrote the book of John, I II III John, and the book of Revelation.
John 20:30 And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book:
31 But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
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Depending on the ministry, there may be online church services, YouTube videos, podcasts, radio programs, books, teaching, or more. You have to seek out what they have.
Vote by State – Check With Your State for Voting Dates
https://ivoterguide.com/
Duty is ours, results are God’s. John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams, short biography
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Repost: Repost from the Babylon Bee: Family Makes Tough Decision To Put Aging Grandpa In US Senate
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Found Wanting
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Daniel 5:1 Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
2 Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein.
3 Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them.
4 They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.
5 In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.
6 Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
7 The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. And the king spake, and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.
8 Then came in all the king’s wise men: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof.
9 Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied.
10 Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: and the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed:
11 There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, I say, thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;
12 Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.
13 Then was Daniel brought in before the king. And the king spake and said unto Daniel, Art thou that Daniel, which art of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry?
14 I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.
15 And now the wise men, the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing:
16 And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and have a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom.
17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation.
18 O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour:
19 And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down.
20 But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:
21 And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will.
22 And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this;
23 But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified:
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24 Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written.
25 And this is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.
26 This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
27 Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
28 Peres; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
29 Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.
30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.
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Marcus Tullius Cicero Quote
“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself.” Marcus Tullius Cicero
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Impressive Fast-Thinking
An inspiration, acted upon, brought results.
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The Reason Behind the Reason
https://sputnikglobe.com/20231103/ex-cia-analyst-biden-needs-israel-and-ukraine-conflicts-to-avoid-jail-time-1114695522.html
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Why You Need a non-AI Pastor or Teacher or Church
David James Henry, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
I was doing a little research and happened to notice this incorrect fact.
It might be one of those AI things. From time-to-time I’ve mentioned the problem with relying on AI information.
The link above states that there are 15 or 16 different authors of the New Testament. This is incorrect.
The New Testament consists of the four gospels, the book of Acts, the epistles, and the book of Revelation.
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote the four gospels. 4 authors
Luke also wrote the book of Acts.
The Epistles were written by Paul (the majority of the epistles), John (several, John also wrote the gospel of John and the book of Revelation), Peter (two) James (one) and Jude (one). Since John wrote one of the gospels and the book of Revelation and is already mentioned, that makes 4 additional authors.
4 + 4 = 8.
How did the system come up with 15 or 16?
Here’s a guess. Perhaps it assumed that the “named” epistles were written by the “named” individuals, however, they were also written by Paul.
Philemon, Timothy, Titus (3 “named individual” epistles, however also written by Paul) 8 + 3 = 11
The book of Hebrews people say is an unknown author, but many, myself included, believe Paul wrote it. It has his literary signature. 11 + 1 = 12
It’s anyone’s guess where the other 3 – 4 come from, unless I, II, and III (1st, 2nd and 3rd) John were counted as three different authors. They are not. They were written by one author, the same one who wrote the gospel of John and the book of Revelation.
The point is, unless you have a human teacher, you don’t know whether what you are reading is correct or incorrect unless someone who had a human teacher can see the error. And if this is one simple error, how many other errors are within the document?
AIs just pull information, dump it together, and come up with an article. Whether the article is accurate or not is another question.
In actuality, articles written by AIs need to be edited by humans for accuracy (whether they are or not, or are sufficiently edited, is another question). Incidentally, this is why at the end of some articles you might see some disclaimer to the effect that “if you notice an inaccuracy, let us know”. In other words, you become the unpaid beta reader.
Beware of AI schooling. It may have inaccuracies and you will never know unless it is a subject with which you already have sufficient familiarity to notice. And even then, those facts that are new to you might be inaccurate and you might miss a beat simply because you don’t know enough about the new information.
This is why you need to find human instructors and professionals that you trust for the information that you need.
Beware of AIs.
A blog post can only introduce a topic but not cover it in depth. For more study on various topics, click here for links to various Christian ministries.
Depending on the ministry, there may be online church services, YouTube videos, podcasts, radio programs, books, teaching, or more. You have to seek out what they have.
Good for Speaker Johnson
Repost from Fox News:
Read this and other great quotes in the article:
“The Daily Beast is furious that @SpeakerJohnson isn’t rich, corrupt or rich from being corrupt. He doesn’t have shady business deals. He doesn’t trade stocks as a congressman,” Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., posted on X. “Cry more, I guess?” Source
A blog post can only introduce a topic but not cover it in depth. For more study on various topics, click here for links to various Christian ministries.
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