A season of gifts

English: child Jesus with the virgin Mary, with the Holy Spirit (represented as a dove) and God the Father, with child john the Baptist and saint Elizabeth on the right (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

These days people are busy trying to get enough time to do their special shopping. Now they are more concerned buying things which are not always necessary. Often they want to break their brains to get to know what they could give to the persons they like. Best solution they think would be to buy those things which they would like themselves as well. By the years it comes more and more difficult because the other person seems to have everything already.

When people are getting older an increasing number of people on the gift list already have everything that they really want and need. This tends to make the season more stressful than delightful as the would-be giver struggles to find gifts that are more than just clutter.

In the shops there is enough material which is not worth to be produced, let stand to be sold. Everywhere you can find silly attributes and unnecessary gadgets. The world of consumption has lots to offer, good and bad things, useful and useless things.

The many decorations want people to give a glorious feeling for what they consider should be the happiest and busiest time of the year for millions of Christians and some non-Christians throughout the world. Songs, films, and TV programs promote a jolly and exciting holiday mood — the Christmas spirit.

When the day comes closer people send each other best wishes and call for peace on earth. But at the same time certain Christians keep calling on to the freedom of being able to buy guns and to use them as much as they like them.They want to learn their children how to defend themselves and think a gun or stronger fire arm is the best way to do that.
They do not seem to learn from all the drama's that occurred by people using such weapons to bring a lot of agony, killing many innocent people.

Everywhere in the world they keep fighting and arguing about silly things, and at the same time they proclaim to be lovers of God.

They perhaps better review their looks on God and check if they really appreciate the most precious gift the world received.

Jesus, or the Jew Jeshua, son of Mary/Miriam/Maria and Joseph/Jozef/Josef from the tribe of King David, born on the 17th of October -4 CE, is the person many say they are celebrating his birthday. Here-for they use the 25th of December, the birthday and celebration day of the goddess of light.
Within the Christian Church no such festival as Christmas was ever heard of till the third century, and that not till the fourth century was far advanced did it gain much observance.

It was not God himself or a godly being that became incarnated onto the world. In the Garden of Eden God promised already a solution for the sin of the first man. It took a long time before God found the time right and before there was a man who could totally keep to Gods commandments.

In Jesus we can find a human being who managed, though being tempted more than once (while God can not be tempted), to stay clean and without any sin (god can not sin but Jesus could if he wanted). Jesus loved His Father and knew that what He wanted more than anything else was for us, God His creation, to be reconciled to the Most High of all, the Only One God of gods.
Jesus also was prepared to give his body in the hands of his Father, trusting Him totally. Jesus died really (God is eternal, had no beginning and cannot die) and was taken out of death by his Father (not by himself) as an example to what can happen to all those who are willing to follow Jesus, the son of God, the promised Messiah.
Jesus is the best present of God the world can get.

In the West we do have the darkest days of the season, tomorrow being the shortest day of the year. Dark and cold, it is an ideal time to gather and to sit close to a source of warmth. Perhaps you put some extra lights on to have a nicer feeling. Bringing more time in the warm house it is also very nice to have some good warm meal to strengthen us to come through Winter.

So it is perhaps not a bad time to come together with the family and spend some time together, sharing all sorts of news and wishes for a better future. But do remember that whatever you do it should be in line with what you are believing and where you can stand for.
Question yourself if you can be connected to a heathen celebration or that you keep far away from heathen stories, symbols and activities.

Take time to look at the greatest gift the world received and try to offer that gift also to others.

“9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10 that ye might walk worthy of the Lord, in all pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; 12  giving thanks unto the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, 14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:9-14 KJ21)



Please do read:

1. Jesus begotten Son of God #1 Christmas and Christians
2. Jesus begotten Son of God #2 Christmas and pagan rites
3. Jesus begotten Son of God #3 Messiah or Anointed one
4. Jesus begotten Son of God #14 Beloved Preminent Son and Mediator originating in Mary
5. Religious Practices around the world
6. Not bounded by labels but liberated in Christ

In Dutch:

1. Een Groots Geschenk om te herinneren
2. Wat betreft Kerstfeest
3. Achtergrond Christelijk Kerstfeest

Related articles

• The Reason for the Season: You!
• Christmas in Bethlehem this Year: Guess Who's Missing?
• Merry Christmas? Happy Holidays? Seasons Greetings?
• Reclaiming Christmas with Grace
• Till I know what God will do for me
• Do Muslims Wish Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas?
• The Baby Jesus Loses the War on Christmas. A Good Thing
• 12 Christmas Traditions Even a Black-hearted Grinch of an Atheist Can Celebrate
• A Special Christmas Gift
• The Ten Commandments Of Christmas

A promise given in the Garden of Eden

A covenant of grace or the covenant of redemption.

In the Old Testament you will find God described as ‘the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’. God also speaks of Himself as ‘the God of Israel’, but in the New Testament we find ‘the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ’. This is in order to teach us that all the blessings that come to us come in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, and as a part of that covenant that was made in the Garden of Eden when God took care that the seed of the woman would be bruised.
God was able to tell Adam about that in the Garden of Eden when He told him that ‘the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head’.

So when people think to find that Jesus existed before Adam or already from the beginning they are confused with the Plan of God, which had existed. The Salvation had been planned before Jesus was born and before the majority of the population was born. Adam and Eve had not made any children yet, so therefore we can speak of the beginning of the world, because it still had to start.

God began to announce it there at the Garden of Eden.The Father gave a people to the Son, and the Son voluntarily made Himself responsible to God for them. He contracted to do certain things for them, and God the Father on His side contracted to do other things. God the Father said He would grant forgiveness and reconciliation and restoration and new life and a new nature to all who belonged to His Son.

Accuracy, Word-for-Word Translation Preferred by most Bible Readers

Survey: Bible Readers want Accuracy, Word-for-Word Translation

A new study from LifeWay Research reveals some key findings on what distinctives Bible readers desire for their Bible. A total of 2,000 Bible readers participated through a demographically representative online panel, but to qualify, participants had to read the Bible in a typical month either by themselves or as part of a family activity and not merely in a church or corporate group setting.

Most American Bible readers prefer word-for-word translations of the original Greek and Hebrew over thought-for-thought translations and value accuracy over readability.
That is the finding of a new LifeWay Research study of a total of 2,000 Bible readers who participated through a demographically representative online panel. To qualify, participants had to read the Bible in a typical month either by themselves or as part of a family activity and not merely in a church or corporate group setting.
When asked whether they prefer “word-for-word translations, where the original words are translated as exactly as possible” or “thought-for-thought translations, where the translators attempt to reproduce the intent of the original thought rather than translating the exact words,” 61 percent chose word-for-word.
That includes 33 percent who strongly prefer word-for-word translation and 28 percent who somewhat prefer it. In contrast, 20 percent prefer thought-for-thought, including 6 percent with a strong preference and 14 percent who somewhat prefer it. Fourteen percent say both translation philosophies are equally fine, and 5 percent are not sure.
Regarding accuracy, respondents were asked, “In general, what is more important to you in a Bible: total accuracy to the original words, or easy readability?” Three out of four (75 percent) opt for total accuracy, with 43 percent saying accuracy is much more important and 32 percent saying it is somewhat more important.
Fourteen percent say easy readability is somewhat more important, and 8 percent say it is much more important. Three percent are not sure.
“It is interesting to note that Bible sales do not necessarily follow these preferences,” said Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research. “Those reading the Bible each month represent only a portion of all Bible purchasers.
“Bible readers can share their preferences for different translation principles but may not be aware of which characteristics are present in specific translations – even the ones that they own. Without specific instruction most readers will not notice when a translation moves away from a literal or word-for-word translation.”
Respondents hold a variety of opinions regarding the style of language they prefer in a Bible translation for personal reading. Among them:
– 68 percent want language to be simpler to understand while 7 percent want it to be more difficult to understand.
– 81 percent say it should be more enjoyable to read while 4 percent prefer it to be more of a chore to read.
– 27 percent favor contemporary language while 46 percent want traditional language.
– 36 percent want more modern language while 37 percent favor more old-fashioned language.
– 19 percent feel understanding the language should require a higher level of education while 49 percent say it should not require a higher level of education.
– 63 percent believe it should be simple for anyone to understand while 14 percent say the language should be meant more for people who have a lot of experience with the Bible.
– 40 percent prefer more formal language while 26 percent say should be more informal.
– 22 percent want language more for casual reading while 44 percent say it should be designed more for in-depth study.
“In the same way drivers want big, powerful, fuel-efficient vehicles, Bible readers want word-for-word translations that are easy to understand,” said McConnell. “As translators try to cross the globe and two millennia, fully accomplishing both is not always possible.”
The survey also asked about translation of God’s name. Though many Bible versions translate God’s name in the Old Testament as “the LORD,” others prefer using what is believed to be the original pronunciation, “Yahweh.”
Nearly eight in 10 Bible readers (79 percent) prefer the traditional translation “the LORD” over the original pronunciation “Yahweh.” That includes 51 percent who strongly prefer “the LORD” and 27 percent who somewhat prefer it. Seven percent somewhat prefer “Yahweh” while 6 percent strongly prefer it. Eight percent are not sure which they favor.
The vast majority of Bible readers do not prefer gender-inclusive translation approaches. A full 82 percent prefer a literal translation of masculine words that describe people in general rather than a more inclusive translation like “humankind” or “person.”
Study participants were told: “Bible translators have to make choices regarding gender issues. For example, the original Greek and Hebrew often uses masculine words such as those literally meaning ‘man’ to describe people in general. Some translators think these should be translated literally as ‘man’ while others think they should be translated into gender-inclusive terms such as ‘humankind,’ ‘human being,’ ‘person’ or ‘one.’ Which do you prefer?”
A majority (53 percent) strongly prefer literal translation while 29 percent somewhat prefer the literal rendering. Only 9 percent somewhat prefer gender-inclusive translation, and 3 percent strongly prefer it. Six percent are not sure.
Bible readers are even more adamant about not making references to God gender-inclusive.
They were told, “Another issue Bible translators face relates to references to God as ‘father’ in the Greek and Hebrew. Some translators think these should be translated literally as ‘father’ while others think they should be translated into gender-inclusive terms such as ‘parent.’ Do you prefer the literal or more gender-inclusive?”
In response, 89 percent want a literal translation of gender-specific references to God, including 68 percent who strongly prefer literal translation and 21 percent who somewhat prefer literal translation. Five percent somewhat prefer gender-inclusive translation, and 2 percent strongly prefer gender-inclusive translation. Four percent are not sure.
“The places in the Bible in which the inspired writers used masculine words for God, a large majority of Bible readers want translators to use masculine words as well,” noted McConnell. “This is true regardless of whether the reader describes their own spiritual beliefs as liberal or conservative.”
Methodology: The LifeWay Research survey was conducted in August 2011 via online panel. A representative sample of U.S. adult population was invited to participate. Two thousand people who read the Bible once a month or more qualified for the study. Only people who read the Bible personally (outside of group activities) or as part of a family activity were included. The sample of 2,000 provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed + 2.2 percent.
- Nashville, Tenn. - PRWEB -  October 03, 2011

Preexistence in the Divine purpose and Trinity

There is one God, the Father (1 Cor. 8:6), the one God of the creed of Israel affirmed by Jesus Christ (Mark 12:28ff).There is one Lord Messiah, Jesus (1 Cor. 8:6), who was supernaturally conceived as the Son of God (Luke 1:35), and foreordained from the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:20).

Many Christians are unaware that philosophical, mystical ideas invaded the church from the second century onwards via the "Church Fathers," who were steeped in pagan philosophy and laid the foundation of the creeds now called "orthodox." In several articles you from the Belgian Biblestudents you shall be able to read more about it. There and on a.o. the writing of Anthony Buzzard you shall be able to find that 'The seed of Trinitarian doctrine' was planted in the thinking of Justin Martyr, the second century Christian apologist who "found in Platonism the nearest approach to Christianity and felt that no break was required with its spirit and principles to pass into the greater light of Christian revelation."

The New Testament never suggests that the phrase ‘Son of God’ just means ‘God.’ [Yet evangelicalism and certain major groups insists on that equation if one is to be considered a Christian!]

But in the world we do find lots of serious lovers of God who accept the Nazarene Jew Yeshua or Jesus as the promissed Saviour. For them however he is the "man Messiah," the one Mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). As for the apostle Paul those believers in only One God take it that "To us Christians there is one God, the Father, and one Lord Messiah" (1 Cor. 8:4-6). (Note carefully Paul’s definition of the One God.)

Human beings in Hebrew thought do not exist consciously before they are born.  In the Holy Scriptures we do also find no preexistence of souls. The notion that Jesus was really alive and conscious before his birth in Bethlehem is also a very unJewish idea.

As you could already find in our other writings on the understanding of Hebrew writings, we do have to take that language as our guide and not our modern thinking or the Greek philosophy. E.C. Dewick rightly notes in his Primitive Christian Eschatology, The Hulsean Prize Essay for 1908, Cambridge University Press, 1912: "When the Jew said something was ‘predestined,’ he thought of it as already ‘existing’ in a higher sphere of life. The world’s history is thus predestined because it is already, in a sense, preexisting and consequently fixed. This typically Jewish conception of predestination may be distinguished from the Greek idea of preexistence by the predominance of the thought of ‘preexistence’ in the Divine purpose."

All is foreordained in God’s great Plan and so did God created the opportunity to get a Saviour out of the tribe of David. It is not becaus God knows everything already before hand that because  Jesus who came up in the thought of God before the world was created, that Jesus actually really came into existence before everything was created. The Messiah himself was foreknown, not just his death for our sins but the person Messiah himself (1 Pet. 1:20). Peter uses the same word to describe the "existence" of the Son of God in God’s plan as he did to describe the "existence" of the Christian church (v. 2).

All Jews who looked forward to the Messiah expected a human person, not an angel, much less God Himself! Though the Jews had not understood that the Messiah was to be born supernaturally, even this miraculous begetting was in fact predicted (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23). A "pre-human" Messiah, however, is nowhere suggested. The Son of God "came into existence" from a woman and from the seed of David (Rom. 1:4; Gal. 4:4).(Note that for Arians and Trinitarians, who think that Jesus was begotten in eternity long before his conception/begetting in Mary, that would have been a second begetting.)

Read more about Foreordination Rather than Literal Preexistence : The Nature of Preexistence in the New Testament by Anthony Buzzard

Colossians 1:15-20: Preexistence or Preeminence? by William WachtelThe Nature of Preexistence in the New Testament  or Preexistensens natur i Nya testamentet (Swedish)Who Is Jesus? God, or Unique Man? or Wie is Jesus? God, of Unieke Mens? (Afrikaans)

Exceeding Great and Precious Promise

Exceeding Great and Precious Promise
"For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matt. 6:32,33
Let us seek the Kingdom as the preeminent matter of our lives. . . . If seeking the Kingdom seems to hinder some of our earthy prospects, so much the better. The Master said it must cost us our all. R5048:c2,p5 If the Kingdom was made first, all their earthly needs would be supplied. R5917:c2,p4

Related articles

• Lord, Teach Us to Pray - Week 10
• The Secret Place
• Walk before Me and be thou Perfect. Genesis 17:1
• The Catch

Commitment to Christian unity

When the pope, at Westminster Abbey in London where he participated in an ecumenical celebration of Vespers on September 17, said:   "Our commitment to Christian unity is born of nothing less than our faith in Christ. ... It is the reality of Christ's person, His saving work and above all the historical fact of His resurrection, which is the content of the apostolic 'kerygma' and those credal formulas which, beginning in the New Testament itself, have guaranteed the integrity of its transmission. The Church's unity, in a word, can never be other than a unity in the apostolic faith, in the faith entrusted to each new member of the Body of Christ during the rite of Baptism. It is this faith which unites us to the Lord". did he wanted all around to believe that the Roman Catholic Church is the only apostolic church?

Speaking for a trinitarian public he could further say: "I come here today as a pilgrim from Rome, to pray before the tomb of St. Edward the Confessor and to join you in imploring the gift of Christian unity. May these moments of prayer and friendship confirm us in love for Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, and in common witness to the enduring power of the Gospel to illumine the future of this great nation". Because we think he would not like to see the non-trinitarian Christians in unity with their church.

Important to remember is: "Here we cannot help but be reminded of how greatly the Christian faith shaped the unity and culture of Europe and the heart and spirit of the English people. Here too, we are forcibly reminded that what we share, in Christ, is greater than what continues to divide us".
Benedict XVI recalled how this year marks the centenary of the modern ecumenical movement which "began with the Edinburgh Conference's appeal for Christian unity as the prerequisite for a credible and convincing witness to the Gospel in our time. In commemorating this anniversary, we must give thanks for the remarkable progress made towards this noble goal through the efforts of committed Christians of every denomination. At the same time, however, we remain conscious of how much yet remains to be done. In a world marked by growing interdependence and solidarity, we are challenged to proclaim with renewed conviction the reality of our reconciliation and liberation in Christ, and to propose the truth of the Gospel as the key to authentic and integral human development".

You can wounder what the Church's unity should be. Is a unity in the apostolic faith not to believe what the apostles themseves believed? And would this not mean that all Christians should keep to the first centuries believe of those who really  knew Jesus from first hand? But more important should Christians not go back to their leader they are proclaiming to follow?

Normally we all should strive to Christian unity, but we should be following all that Jesus asked us to do. We should keep to the tasks he gave to his disciples. In case Trinitarian Christians would like to their idea that Jesus is also God they should also accept those who keep to the words of Jesus and his Holy Father. In the Holy Scriptures their relationship is clearly described.

The Vatican see themselves as the “mother” church. The universal church. The word Catholic means “universal”. They see other Christian churches as wayward daughters that need to be brought back under her wings. The Pope’s ambition therefore is to become head of all Christian religion. But do we not have to look at what the Scriptures gave as warning to the next generations? Revelation 17:2 says that the “kings of the earth” have committed fornication with the harlot woman of Rome.

What happened yesterday is important for Christians to see in the light of the Bible.
As the Anglicans and Catholics all sang together in London (latter day Tyre) we heard not joyful words but the singing of “an harlot” as prophesied in Isaiah 23. “Tyre shall sing as an harlot”. The singing which began in 1996/7 is reaching a crescendo. The judgement of latter day Tyre will soon come. The next chapter says “the noise of them that rejoice endeth…” Isaiah 24:8

Get to know more in the  Weekly World Watch 12th - 18th Sept 2010‏

Prayer for the day

For several prayers you can find at the bottom of the page a reference to the 'Tags'.  If you click on the English tag 'prayers' you will become connected to the pages in opposite order, namely the last firstly.
  We wish you inspired reading.

Dear God, heavenly Father, let this day be constructive for my further life.
Grateful for the offering of your son I also want to take up my cross this day and perform my tasks to very best possibilities.
 All the works of this day I dedicate toYou, forYour honor and Your glory, until salvation of my soul.  Lord bless me and keep me of all badness and let me join shortly in Your Kingdom .
  That I ask You in Jesus name, Amen.  

You can find other prayers, as for example:
Share your faith
Let us be in a state of grace
Not being proud
As I grow older, I think I would rather be known as
Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark
Preventing us from going window-shopping in prayer
Courage is fear that has said its prayers
God let my compassionate affection be tolerant and kind
Every day holds the possibility of a miracle
Nothing else matters
He who kneels before God can stand before anyone!
etc.

You also look for some more prayers at our sistergroup Bijbelonderzoekers.multiply.com

like:
Gift sugestions
Better Things
a.o.


Or find in Dutch some prayers under the tag 'gebeden':

Of vind Nederlandstalige gebeden op dit platform onder de verwijzings- 'tag' 'gebeden'
zoals o.a.
Ik ben die ben tegenover Ik ben die zal Zijn #8
Gebed om zegeningen #1B waarschuwing
Verlossing #3
Gebed voor de ledematen van de Kerk
Doen wij alles zoals Jehovah het ons beveelt
Problemen zien als gouden kansen
Welk doel voor ogen
Laat de vrede met jou zijn
e.a.

Of vindt de Nederlandstalige gebeden in de Nederlandstalige versie op ons zusterplatform Bijbelonderzoekers.multiply.com
met o.a.
Gebed voor vandaag
Chaos uit het verleden
Gebed als Verzoek tot verbinding
Langzaam groeien
God breng mij in staat van genade
Laat Gods beloften schijnen op jouw problemen
Laat ons bidden alsof wij het reeds verkregen hebben

Bevrijd mij van excessen van dit leven
God bewees ons zijn liefde
Ellende leidt tot volharding
God laat mijn meedogende genegenheid tolerant zijn en vriendelijk
Gelukkig de man die zijn vreugde vindt in het Woord van God
Onze tijd is slechts één maal
Een schat die mij alles kan geven wat ik nodig heb
etc.


maar ook andere zoals:
Keltisch Zegengebede
Gebed ter witwassing
Gebed als Verzoek tot verbinding
Langzaam groeien
Gebed voor sterke benen
Laat mij anderen van harte dienen
enz.

+

2013 update:

Please do find to read:

1. Walking in love by faith, not by sight
2. Jesus and his God
3. How is it that Christ pleased God so perfectly?
4. Our relationship with God, Jesus and each other
5. The high calling of God in Christ Jesus
6. God receives us on the basis of our faith
7. A Living Faith #1 Substance of things hoped for
8. A Living Faith #2 State of your faith
9. A Living Faith #3 Faith put into action
10. A Living Faith #7 Prayer
11. Praise and give thanks to God the Most Highest
12. Some one or something to fear #6 Faith in the Most High
13. Listening and Praying to the Father
14. The LORD protects those of childlike faith
15. God is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him
16. Feed Your Faith Daily
17. People who know how to pray to move God to take hold of our affairs in a mighty way
18. Give your worries to God
19. Does God hear prayer?
20. Does God answer prayer?
21. Prayer, important aspect in our life
22. Communion and day of worship
23. If you think you’re too small to be effective
24. Sometimes we pray and pray and it seems like nothing happens.
25. Prayer has the power to change mountains into highways

+

1. The Bible and names in it
2. Creator of heaven and earth and everything aroundיהוה The Only One Elohim who creates and gives all
3. Does He exists?
4. The wrong hero
5. A god between many gods
6. God of gods
7. Only one God
8. Attributes to God
9. Jehovah Yahweh Gods Name
10. God about His name “יהוה“
11. יהוה , YHWH and Love: Four-letter words
12. Titles of God beginning with the Aleph in Hebrew
13. Archeological Findings the name of God YHWH
14. I am that I am Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh אהיה אשר אהיה
15. Hashem השם, Hebrew for “the Name”
16. The Divine name of the Creator
17. I Will Cause Your Name To Be Remembered
18. Some one or something to fear #1 Many sorts of fear
19. Some one or something to fear #2 Attitude and Reactions
20. Some one or something to fear #3 Cases, folks and outing
21. Some one or something to fear #4 Families and Competition
22. Some one or something to fear #5 Not afraid
23. Some one or something to fear #6 Faith in the Most High
24. Some one or something to fear #7 Not afraid for Gods Name
25. For Jehovah is greatly to be praised
26. Praise the God with His Name
27. Lord or Yahuwah, Yeshua or Yahushua
28. Prophets making excuses
29. Another way looking at a language #5 Aramic, Hebrew and Greek
30. The NIV and the Name of God
31. Use of /Gebruik van Jehovah or/of Yahweh in Bible Translations/Bijbel vertalingen
32. Without God no purpose, no goal, no hope
33. Developing new energy
34. Praise and give thanks to God the Most Highest
35. Listening and Praying to the Father

+++

A learning process for each of us

To believe and to be a Christian is a learning process is. In a learning process there is always space to go wrong. If you cannot go wrong , you learn nothing! But by God, Jehovah, and by Jesus, Jeshua it goes about, our inclination, if we really want to learn. That is with an earthly father and an earthly teacher also. A good father expects no more  of its child then where it is regarding to which it is  able according to its age. A good school master does not become angry for the errors which a student makes as long as he has the inclination to learn.

Jesus is considered by scholars such as Weber to be an example of a charismatic religious leader. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

God is a good father and Jesus is a good teacher. They give us all space to learn with falling and standing  up. As long as our inclination is well. And we receive that good inclination by the new treaty, Jesus New Covenant.

+++
2013 update: 

Related articles

• Praise be to God
• Ember and light the ransomed of Jehovah
• The Foundations: An Introduction to Intentional Discipleship
• The Foundations: An Introduction to Intentional Discipleship
• The Amazing Race of God
• Jesus the Christ
• "I Only Believe The Red Letters!" (Part 2)

How do trinitarians equate divine nature

2 Peter 1:4: 

⁴For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent ^(A)promises, so that by them you may become ^(B)partakers of the divine nature, having ^(C)escaped the ^(D)corruption that is in ^(E)the world by lust.   (NASB)

The conservative Evangelical definition of the Trinity is the standard, the
orthodox doctrine. They are:

a.. Separate in person
b.. Equal in nature
c.. Submissive in duty
Nicene Creed of 325, which basically teaches that:

* the Son (Jesus) is God
* the Father is God
* the Holy Spirit is God -

yet -

* the Son (Jesus) is not the Father
* the Father is not the Holy Spirit
* the Holy Spirit is not the Son

All three persons distinct individuals, yet all equally God. They are of the
same substance (homoousia).

They are separate persons, all holding the position of being God, but one being.
There are three persons in one being.
There is also the Oneness trinity - which says that Jesus is God, and that Jesus
is also the Father. There are no distinct personages in the Oneness version.
Jesus is everything in that version.

The mistaken view is that there are three persons, but one person, for this
would be self-contradictory.
If Peter says that those with the heavely hope aquire such divine nature, does that mean that these individuals will be part of the godhead? How do trinitarians equate this scripture in relation to the godhead once those in heaven aquire this divine nature?

He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass

He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass!
- Scott Nicholson

” Who is without sin cast the first stone”
-Jesus from Nazareth

“So shall ye say to Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren,
and their sin; for they did to thee evil: and now, we pray thee,
forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father.
And Joseph wept when they spoke to him.” (Ge 50:1)


“Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith to him, I say not to thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.” (Mt 18:21-22)

“And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” (Mt 6:12)
“For, if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:” (Mt 6:14)

Jehovah give me the strength to overcome my bad feelings and let me be forgiving to others.
So whenever I stand up to pray, that I first forgive anyone who has harmed me.
For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in loving kindness unto all them that call upon you.
Then hear you in heaven your dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart you know; for you, even you only, know the hearts of all the children of men.

Dutch version / Nederlands > Hij die niet kan vergeven breekt de brug af, die hij zelf moet passeren

Cover of Seventy Times Seven

+++

2013 update:

Related articles

• God Wants to Forgive You
• Thankful Heart: Day 20 - Forgiveness
• Seeking Forgiveness in 2013.
• Isaiah 53:12, Luke 23:34, 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 Forgive Them Father
• Prayer....Access to the Source of Power!
• Strength To Forgive
• Did Jesus come to help humanity break free from the cycle of mimetic desire that is marked by violence?
• How Oft Shall I Forgive
• New Year's Resolve: Day 10!

Give your tears to God

"We can give our tears to God because He is our COMFORTER
Our disappointments because He is our CONFIDENCE
Our pains because He is our HEALER
Our stress because He is our PEACE
Our heaviness because He is our JOY"
- Roy Lessin

"Sorrow may bring us to the earth, and death may bring us to the grave,
but lower we cannot sink, and out of the lowest of all we shall arise to the highest of all."
- C.H. Spurgeon

"Often the clouds of sorrow
reveal the sunshine of His face."
- Hilys Jasper

"Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy.
He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him."
Psalm 126:5-6

"The steps of a man are established by the LORD, And He delights in his way.
When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the LORD is the One who holds his hand."
Psalms 37:23-24

"Therefore, having been justified by FAITH,
We have PEACE with God through our Lord Jesus Christ…
And REJOICE in the HOPE of the GLORY of GOD."
Romans 5:1-2

Comfort me, heal me, give me strength and confidence.
Give that I grow everyday and come closer to you,
finding peace and joy,
in Jesus name, Amen..

Dutch version / Nederlands > Geef je tranen aan God
+++
2013 update:

Related articles

• Fruit of the Spirit
• Psalm 119: Thy Word is a Lamp unto My Feet
• God Will Provide
• Psalm 37:4
• Saved by God's Grace. It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!
• The Secret Place of the Most High : The Veil and the Holy of Holies (Holy Place) - Prayer
• "Where do you put your trust?" by Pastor Johanna Mukhavhuli, Wednesday Service, the 23rd of January 2013.