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Titus 3:1-11 explains how God's family is to be.
1 Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work,
2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,
6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.
9 But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless.
10 Reject a divisive man after the first and second admonition,
11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinning, being self-condemned.
Always keep in mind, we
as the born again, are actually
of a different Kingdom and no part of the world. In fact, our King is even different from the
one who runs the world. Our Kingdom therefore has
a different culture that seems strange, "and is", to Adam. Thanks to Eve,
Adam is the
fruit of the tree of good and evil. They
do things their way, based on the
nature of their father. We do things the
Kingdom way, as we are
taught by our Father. To express the way we interact in God's Kingdom to the world of Adam, is asking for arguments. Even their outlook on
scripture is understood through the thinking of
the wrong tree so their
church doctrines are built on lies and the traditions of man. The Word of God cannot be properly taught and understood through the world's
intellectual thinking as truth is wisdom recorded from the Tree of Life, and comprehended only through our
matured regenerated spirit man after baptism.
I Corinthians 2:6-7
6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age (the tree of good and evil), nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. (Remember the evil angels taught man before the flood.)
7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, (from the Tree of Life)
As small as we might be, we
have our own leadership that is quite different from leaders chosen by people that are operating through thinking from the tree of good and evil.
Our government is set in place by God. The leadership over different groups is not selected by their people either, but again,
chosen and appointed by the Lord. Will intellect understand this appointment? No more than the armies of Israel understood how young David, a shepherd boy, slew an enemy they were scared to death of. God had anointed and appointed him through the prophet Samuel earlier, he was God's choice and therefore anointed to do the job. Didn't make sense because, God's ways were not man's way, so it is today. If
not born again and taught to separate from the tree of good and evil's logic, there is no way to comprehend reasoning from the Tree of Life. The
language of God is foreign, the
reasoning of God seems foolish, the actions of His people,
His family makes no "sense" at all, as it comes from a source unfamiliar to the world's people. Sad to say, many
will not listen to the children of God at all. They
ridicule and persecute them, because they don't "think" like them. So you see, it is useless to discuss Kingdom ways with
those not born again. Jesus, the scripture tells us, is the
way, the
truth and
life, but when we
talk about His ways, the world laughs. When we speak
truth, they mock. When we suggest there is eternal
life, a
time that we will be changed from being mortals to becoming immortal, they make fun of us saying "we are just afraid to grow old and die". Yet whether they understand or not, we know scripture declares this truth in I Corinthians 15:51-54.
I Corinthians 15:51-54
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."
Mark 4:11-12
11 And He said to them, "To you (God's children) it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,
12 so that 'Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.'"
Revelation 12:7-9
7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Genesis 2:16-17
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;
17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
His next greatest accomplishment was
the destruction of man's home and the animal kingdom. The earth was
created by God for man as a pleasant home for him and all life on the planet to live. Satan has successfully corrupted this home, and in fact,
all of creation is plagued by corruption, by simply
introducing sin. Therefore,
death and decay has permeated the whole earth and most of humanity has
willingly been assimilated into it. Seems hopeless doesn't it? But, you know what, nothing is impossible with God's help. If we will look back to
about 167 BCE, we will see a time when God's people were
under a foreign power even as the world is now under Satan. When they
cried out for help, God intervened and came to their rescue. God's people
celebrate this miracle victory today in the feast of Hanukkah, or in English, the Feast of Dedication. A study of this feast will give us great hope and confidence in our God and a brighter outlook on tomorrow. I invite you to
read about this miraculous feast and its joyous symbolism for today.