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Cultivating vintage faith

The world of today is a fast-paced world, where everything has been sped up and continues to be speeded up with each year that passes. You live in a fast-food world, a world where more and more emphasis is placed on acquiring things quickly, and there is less emphasis on the quality of things. People are becoming used to everything happening more quickly, taking much less time.

At the drop of a coin a machine spits out a drink, or at a fast-food counter a meal is served in minutes. Once upon a time, people spent a very long time building their houses and acquiring the money to do so, whereas in the world of today, houses are thrown up at a breakneck speed.

People expect to work less and to acquire more and have more leisure. People can instant message and send e-mail or large amounts of data around the world in seconds, or travel to the other side of the world in a matter of hours.

This speeding up of the pace of life has changed people’s expectations of what is normal or acceptable. It can lead to heightened expectations on the spiritual front as well—expectations for instant answers to prayer and spiritual manifestations to occur upon demand.

There are times when I do bring answers to prayer instantaneously, but there are also many times when I expect you to allow for the wine of your faith to mature and develop and to reach the fullness of its flavor.

Throughout the centuries My people of faith have been tested and tried through not receiving immediate answers to their prayers. They waited thousands of years for Me, their Messiah, and prayed and pleaded with God to send Me. Yet He could not send Me until the timing was exactly right‚ when all was aligned, world conditions were right, the hearts of men were prepared, the government of the world was what it needed to be in order for My Word to spread and My followers to survive. So many conditions had to be just right, even though so many clamored earnestly for years on end for My coming. Then, after I came, many of those same people rejected Me outright, because the answer to their prayer did not come in the packaging they had hoped for—that of a king of earthly Israel.

You have need of patience, that after you have performed My will, you might receive the promise.5 Patience is not an easy virtue to cultivate, and in fact, it goes entirely against the modern way of the world, which is all about speed, “right now,” and quick answers and instant results. But even though you live in the world, you are not of this world, and the spiritual dynamics have not changed—patience takes faith, and faith is the cornerstone of your lives for Me.

You will continue to experience answers to prayer when I know it is best. But you will also continue to experience the tests‚ trials, and challenges of life that arise when I appear to be in silent mode and My answers do not come immediately. And this trying of your faith will work patience, which is a very important facet of faith.

Faith isn’t manifested only when you receive immediate answers to prayer; it is also manifested in endurance, long suffering, and the patience to keep on persevering in the faith even when you don’t receive a response or see action as a result of your prayers. Let patience have her perfect work, so that your faith can be whole, and entire, wanting nothing.6

Remember, faith takes patience, and patience is the mark of a vintage faith‚ one that has been deepened and ripened and is mature, rich, and full-bodied.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy

5 Hebrews 10:36.

6 James 1:4.




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Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: John 11:25 KJV

By David Berg w/ Maria Fontaine 11/80

Souls going up to heaven after an earthquake

(Maria: Why do you suppose the Lord didn't wipe out the big wicked city of Naples in the Italian earthquake (1980 earthquake at Eboli) but instead dealt with all the little mountain towns around it?)

Well, sometimes "His ways are past finding out!" (Rom.11:33.) Well, what comes to me is that He usually deals more strictly with His Own children than He does with the World and the Godless. He deals more stringently with those that know better, "Who know to do good and do it not, to them it's sin." (Ja.4:17.)

The country folk and small town people usually have more of the truth and know it better and profess to follow it. They're more religious and churchy and usually more faithful to the old standards and religious teachings than are the godless or anti-God city people that God just sort of seems to let go their way sometimes until they crash themselves.

But He deals strictly with His own children and those who are the closest to the truth and know better. Like chastisement, "They that are without chastisement are not sons but bastards." (Heb.12:8.) So we're to thank God when we are chastised of the Lord, it's a sign that we are His sons.

No doubt those people are being chastened and chastised of the Lord for their sins, the things He lets city people get away with because they're not His children and godless and are totally destroying themselves. He doesn't have to chastise them, it wouldn't do any good.

He chastises the people that there are still some hopes for, and He punishes them and brings down judgments and chastisements on them to try to straighten them out and get them to repent. With the city people there's not much hopes of repentance, besides, He doesn't have to destroy them, they destroy themselves.

So that's about the way I see it, because I know God is righteous and God is just! God is fair and God is loving, so I know He knows what's best. If He slaughters thousands in earthquakes and so-called natural disasters which are obviously the judgments of God--"acts of God" even as they're called in insurance policies and laws--then we know that it's God's will and that God is doing it or allowing the Devil to do it for some reason, and that His reasons are good and fair and just and loving and even kind.

After all, even all of those who were killed are as the World would say the "lucky" ones or the blessed ones, because if they did know the Lord or they did have faith or believe, they've gone to a better World where they'll learn better. The ones left behind and suffering either pain or grief are the ones God is still trying to reach.
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Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?

O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. 1 Corinthians 15:51-58



TFI

Romans 8:18

For the others, the lesson is over and school is out and they've graduated to another realm to learn, possibly because they couldn't learn here. But the ones left behind are the ones to feel sorry for who are still suffering sorrow, grief, pain and deprivation. As someone has said, "the living dead," those who still must suffer in this World to learn their lessons before they're ready to go.

When God takes people it must be their time for some reason. Of course with some, as Jesus said of the Scribes and Pharisees, the most wicked of all, the self-righteous, the hypocrites, He said their time was always ready! (Jn.7:6.) And when they asked Him about the people upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, were they more wicked than others, the Lord gave a rather indirect answer. He said, "I tell you, Nay: but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish!" (Lk.13:4,5.)

He said of the self-righteous, hypocritical, cruel, selfish, demon-possessed Scribes and Pharisees, "Ye are of your father the Devil" and "the synagogue of Satan who say they are Jews but are not" (Jn.8:44; Rev.2:9), "Your time is always ready!" (Jn.7:6.) In other words, "You could go anytime because your cup of iniquity is full and you could be cut off any time and it would be due to you!"

Only God knows in his wisdom just exactly why he takes so many in a natural disaster, like I think 20,000 in Algeria recently (in 1980) and 2,000 in Italy, and hundreds other places, but it's apparently their time. It's a big subject and a big question that the World has wondered over for ages, even Christians and theologians and church leaders: Why does God destroy so many people?

Why did He destroy the whole world in a flood? Because they were so wicked He just couldn't let them continue! They were destroying souls, they were destroying the souls and the spirits and the lives and even the bodies of their own babies, so before they could destroy any more and destroy themselves and their children, God destroyed them all! He didn't even want them bringing any more wicked children into the World.

He deals more with the good people and the best people, the truly good people; He deals with them more strictly and chastises them as His children than He does with the totally Godless anti-God wicked.

The thing that people wonder about is why it so often seems to strike the poor and the needy and the helpless and children and the innocent. Well, when you realise there's a better World Hereafter and the afterlife is one to be anticipated and looked forward to, who else but those who are the most suffering and the most innocent need to be relieved of this life and will appreciate the next life more than ever? Who else deserves to go sooner?

As someone has said, "The good die young!" Well, this isn't always true, but it seems often true. Who better deserves to go on to a better World than the good? Yet most people say "they don't deserve to die"; well, that depends on where they're going! "To deserve to die" for us (believing born again Christians) means a promise and something far better than we have now.

To deserve to die means we have finished our job! "We have fought the good fight, we have kept the faith, and from henceforth is laid up for us a crown of righteousness!" (2Tim.4:7,8.) So we deserve now to die having finished our job. To us, death is literally a blessing and a relief and an exit from the horrors of this World!

So for the poor and the suffering and the starving and sick little children, for them to die is a blessing! It's the ones who are left behind that are to be pitied, the ones who don't die. But those, no doubt, God is trying to teach lessons to and prepare for the afterlife to get them ready to die--which they frequently do soon after their suffering and their sorrow.




DeepTruths TFI

I’m not a Christian and therefore not bound by their conventions. I don’t have to turn the other cheek. I criticize the Church from time to time and point my finger at Christians when I think is due but have never attacked their God, nor the God of any other religion.

What I saw yesterday surpassed all levels of decency; I thought we lived in a time of religious tolerance.

People who think that blasphemy is good fun, are sick.



Added after 156 comments
This is not about religion; it is about respect towards others and I'm deeply disappointed with the few people who approved of such behavior. Why does respect fly out the window when we get to religion.

The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:29, 30 ESV

Death is not a curse for little children and the innocent and ignorant and the poor and the suffering and the less responsible, less accountable. Death is not a curse for them, because they go to a better World and a better life and a relief from the evils of this horrible planet, and so death's a blessing.

So perhaps this is why the Lord allows so many of the poor and the young to die, those who are suffering just almost beyond endurance in this life. Therefore the Lord takes them out of their suffering and out of their poverty and out of their pain and out of their starvation, and blesses them with death--which to those upon whom He has such mercy is a mere gateway, a doorway, an entrance to a better life in which they'll be relieved of all this.

So perhaps that's why the Lord allows so many of the poor country people and villagers to die in some of these great disasters, because they're the ones who are struggling and starving and suffering and poor and poverty-stricken and oppressed and in pain and oppression almost beyond endurance, so God mercifully relieves them from this life. (Maria: And from the suffering brought on by the Devil and his workings, instead of the Lord like most people try to say.) Yes.

So often the Devil brings on suffering to some people without killing them, hoping they will blame it on God and turn against God and "curse God and die" as Job's wife advised him to do, and as Jews so often do. (Job 2:9.) They blame God for all their troubles and curse Him for them, because they are of their father the Devil and of the Synagogue of Satan and are not Jews but pretend to be what they're not!

So the Lord allows the enemy to test people to see if they're going to endure in faith and trust God anyway and say, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!" (Job 13:15.) And when they express that kind of faith, either He rewards them with relief and new life, or death and new life, one or the other.

The whole thing is, people have difficulty getting over this habit of considering death a complete curse, that to die is horrible and it's awful that all these tens of thousands of people should be killed in great disasters, etc. Well, that's not awful and horrible! The more people that get out of this World, the better off they are, much better off! They should be thankful, and they probably are!

Except the very wicked, who God seems to almost ignore until the very end, and then He just completely wipes'm out just to get rid of'm!--No doubt send them to Hell to learn the lessons there that they refused to learn here. (Maria: But the moderately sinful won't go to Hell at all?) Everybody will be rewarded according to his works and according to his sins or whatever they are.

He says that they which did things deserving punishment, stripes, having known their Master's Will and still did those things, shall be beaten with many stripes--they will receive severe punishment. But those who knew not their Master's will and yet did things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with very few stripes. (Lk.12:47,48.)

Their punishment will be very light, corrective, no doubt of the chastisement nature, and they'll undoubtedly then repent and be forgiven and given a new life completely--not the same as those who are saved, not the same as those who serve the Lord faithfully here and repented here and now before death, but there are going to be plenty of people repenting after death, that's obvious.




DeepTruths TFI

Jesus went and preached to the spirits in prison, and there wouldn't have been any point in preaching to them if it hadn't been possible for them to repent and be sorry for their sins and to receive some kind of opportunity thereby to get forgiveness and to find a better life, to be delivered from their imprisonment in the heart of the Earth. Whatever it was or what it was like is not clear, but if it's spoken of as a prison, that's bad enough! (Mt.12:40; 1Pet.3:19; 4:6; Eph.4:9.)

But for Jesus to come and preach to them, it was obviously to give them an opportunity to believe and receive which they had not had, and to be released or saved. That's obvious, you don't even have to argue about it. Theologians argue about it because it doesn't fit their particular doctrine, but it's right there in the Bible plain as day! Why else would Jesus have gone to the trouble to preach to them unless there was a second chance in some way--really their first chance--and an opportunity for them to be sorry and repent and be forgiven and released?

God probably has as varied terms and means of punishment and correction in the afterlife as there are in this life under the System and its laws, etc. He's probably got a great and wide variety to show people how wrong they were and give them an opportunity of repentance and change--as has been manifested in many near-death experiences or of people who have had death experiences.

God actually let them leave this life temporarily to show them their mistakes when they couldn't learn any other way; to actually come face to face with the Judgement Angel and be told and showed and taught where they were making their mistakes and what they were doing wrong, with the opportunity to correct their life and even allowed to go back and live again in order to change!

Well, if God will do that for the living, then why not also for the dead? If there's no further opportunity or possibility of them learning and repenting in this life, then He takes them on the other side permanently to show them and teach them--and there's no point in showing them unless there's opportunity of repentance and some chance that they'll be able to change.

And if there's a chance to repent and change not only here but there, then there must be some opportunity for forgiveness and release from punishment and from chastening and such purging as Purgatory. Purgatory, as the Catholics call it. I'm a firm believer in Purgatory, but not necessarily their kind of Purgatory, whether it's Hellfire, Lake of Fire or whatever, it's a purging.

It seems from all I can gather from the scripture, that the lake of fire is pretty bad punishment for the very worst! To be cast in the Lake of Fire you've got to be a pretty wicked sinner who has been really defiant of God and every opportunity God has given you to repent, and have really done a lot of damage and hurt a lot of people; like Hitler and some others, someone who has turned many astray.

So that's the kind of people the lake of fire is reserved for--including the Devil and the False Prophet and the Antichrist and all his crowd! That's very plain in the Scripture. (Rev.14:11; 19:20; 20:10,14-15; 21:8.) The very worst and the ultimately wicked who just are horrible and have slaughtered millions and destroyed nations and killed babies and innocent women and children, Hell could hardly be bad enough for some of those people, and it'll be plenty bad!

These folks, they not only didn't know it was their Master's will, they didn't even know there was a Master, possibly! But if they didn't know their Master's will and did things worthy of stripes, they're still worthy of some punishment. Because the Lord Himself in His Word says "This is the Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the World!" (Jn.1:9.) Everybody is given some light.
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Rev.12:10



DeepTruths

First, let’s start with some definitions for a better understanding of the topic, so no one will get confused.

Key terms and their meanings giving more insight into the what Jesus is speaking about.

Fast: The Greek word here is, nesteuo: It means the same as in English, which is to voluntarily abstain totally, or sparingly from eating all foods or certain foods, or to eat prescribed kinds of foods; and/or from drinking of certain drinks or no drinks for a set period of time as a religion duty for a particular purpose or cause..

Hypocrites: Greek word here is hupokrites: An individual (s) who pretend to be other than who they really are, they are actors, counterfeits, phonies, great pretenders who falsely gives an impression of virtue or sincerity; having a phony front in character and feelings of qualities they do not possess with deceitful assumption of being praiseworthy.

Somber: Greek word is skuthropos: To be sad and discouraged; to have a gloomy or sad countenance (look on face) or a serious appearance; to look deprived of light or to be melancholy depressed face of sorrow.

Many people “fast” for many different reasons, some restrict their diets for medical reasons, or to loses weight and trim down to fit into clothes they haven’t worn in 30 years … But for many Christian believers who fast, it for a spiritual purpose and cause although God does not require of us to fast, but IF, and WHEN we do fast, it is our choice to do or not to do… this pleases Him... and there are times He will/does call us into a fast for His purposes and His glory.

Some believers in Christ, fast to hear from God in a certain matters and for Him to move on their behalf; some fast as a part of their daily, weekly, or monthly worship to the Lord, by giving a few hours in prayer and fasting, or one or two days in prayer and praise before him; others fast to seek more spiritual power and anointing from God; and some Christians fast every three or four months or once a year doing as God has called in Isaiah chapter 58, to pray for the poor, brokenhearted, and downcast, as this is the proper fast that pleases God, and we receive the blessings He has promised.

Isaiah 58:“Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens,To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

Regardless of the reason a Christian believer decides to fast, it is a form of worship before the Lord, because a spiritual fast for whatever reason, MUST include purpose and prayer, which lead us to a life of worship, discipline and good stewardship before the Lord.

Excerpts from my Bible Study teaching...continues below..

It is utterly false and cruelly arbitrary to put all the play and learning into childhood, all the work into middle age, and all the regrets into old age. Margret Mead

A compilation JANUARY 20, 2015

Let your conversation be without covetousness [love of money]; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.—Hebrews 13:5 (1)

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And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”—Luke 12:15 (2)

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Everyone is laying up treasure in some way. It may not be expressed in our assets or bank accounts, but there is something which gives us reason to get up in the morning. Whatever controls our heart is our treasure, and it’s either earthly or heavenly. The reality is we straddle both spheres, and no matter how heavenly our interests may be, we live on earth and are subject to its demands and values.

What begins as our treasure, whether earthly or heavenly, is something which serves us and furthers our interests. In the pursuit of it, our treasure becomes our vision, and in time what began as our treasure and grew into our vision becomes our master. The free will we are given is actually limited to one thing … who is our master? From there on, everything we do is a logical explanation of what is the mastering principle of our lives. It’s either temporal or it’s eternal, self-centered or God-centered, earthly or heavenly, but it cannot be both.

Society today holds to the belief that a person’s status and success is directly related to reputation and material wealth, but society has it backwards. We cannot put the pursuit of money, prestige and power before the pursuit of God. Jesus says we cannot serve both God and money. (3)

The features that characterize heavenly treasures are the exact opposite of earthly treasures. Instead of temporary and troublesome, they are permanent and peaceful. To store up treasure in heaven is to live on earth with heaven in mind. The issues which govern our values, goals and behaviours should not be confined to this life only and played out ‘before men’. They should have eternal issues at heart, and be played out before God. The very same possessions, bank balances, occupations, living standards can either be storing up treasure in heaven or on earth. It is not the substance of our possessions that is the issue, but the audience before whom we live.

Materialism does not relate to how much we actually possess, but our attitude towards what we possess. Everything that we lose when we die should be given appropriate status now, and that which holds its currency beyond death is what we should invest in now. Once we have settled the issues of storing up our real treasure in heaven, our vision is good, and our master is God.—Charles Price

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Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.—Matthew 6:19–21 (4)

1 KJV.
2 ESV.
3 Matthew 6:24.
4 NASB.

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SPEND YOUR LIFE LOSING YOUR LIFE FOR OTHERS.--THAT'S THE SECRET OF SAVING IT!

Jesus said, "He that saveth his life shall lose it, but he that loseth his life for My sake and the Gospel's, the same shall save it!" (Mk.8:35). "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God!" (Mat.6:33). And what is His Kingdom? His Kingdom is souls! His Kingdom is missionary work! His Kingdom is reaching the lost with the Gospel! Jesus didn't commission us to save ourselves, He commissioned us and called us into His army to save others!





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One day Abraham Lincoln was walking down the street with two small boys who were both crying loudly. A neighbor passing by inquired, “What’s the matter, Abe? Why all the fuss?” Lincoln responded, “The trouble with these lads is what’s wrong with the world; one has a nut and the other wants it!” This is an old story and a little humorous, but it humorously illustrates a big problem and the oldest one known to man—greed.

The tragic irony is that the serpent tempted the woman with something that was already true—made in God’s image, she already was like Him! She already radiated His majesty and glory; she already existed in perfection. But it was not enough. It was not enough to have His light pulsating through her; she wanted to be the light itself.—Hannah Anderson

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We are growing in our character every day. The question is in which direction are we growing? Are we growing toward godly character or ungodly character? Are we growing in love or selfishness; in harshness or patience; in greed or generosity; in honesty or dishonesty; in purity or impurity? Every day we train ourselves in one direction or another by the thoughts we think, the words we say, the actions we take, the deeds we do.—Jerry Bridges

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Money is plainly not intrinsic treasure; love is, goodness is, joy is. A beloved disciple, in a moment of inspiration, announced the profound truth that love is “of God.” Men wrongly divide love into two types, “human love” and “divine love,” but in reality there is only love. Wherever love has become the nature of the soul and it has become “natural” now to forget self for others, to seek to give rather than to get, to share rather than to possess, to be impoverished in order that some loved one may abound, there a divine and godlike spirit has been formed. And we now come upon a new kind of wealth, a kind that accumulates with use, because it is a law that the more the spirit of love is exercised, the more the soul spends itself in love, so much the more love it has, the richer it grows, the diviner its nature becomes.—Rufus M. Jones
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JOHN 3:36 ENDS ALL OUR WORRIES! "HE THAT HATH THE SON HATH EVERLASTING LIFE!"

You don't have to wait till you die to find out if you're saved! Once you've received Jesus Christ & you have Him in your heart, & you love Him & you know Him & you believe on Him as your Saviour, there are no if's, and's, or but's about it! You are a saved child of God! You have eternal life right NOW!--And you are the Lord's FOREVER! (Jn.1:12; 6:37; 10:28,29)

You already have Salvation! You don't need to worry about whether or not you are going to lose it, or how you are going to manage to STAY saved, because Eternal Salvation by Grace means ONCE saved, ALWAYS saved!--Besides, YOU can't keep yourself saved any more than you could save yourself in the first place! Only JESUS can do it! (Phi.1:6; 1Pet.1:5) So even though you're not perfect, & you're bound to make mistakes, God is going to save you anyway! Once you've received Jesus, you are completely purified & redeemed in the eyes of God by the sacrifice of CHRIST on Calvary!--That's the amazing Love of Jesus Christ & the Mercy of God! You're saved right now because God has promised it & God's Word is true!

Salvation is FOREVER! He's ALREADY given it to you & He's not going to take it back! It's YOURS! Praise the Lord!




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