Monday, August 3, 2009
Continuing works by J.J.
Entry #7
Hello again. Good morning Shia, good morning Oprah, good morning readers; pleasant day to you all. I must say that I am really surprised that only two comments have been posted for me to give answer to. I would have thought that many of you would have asked several questions concerning the Christian faith. Come on; don’t be afraid to ask. If I can’t answer any question I’ll let you know.
It’s day seven, or I should say entry number seven and I’ve introduced “The Way” to you as you have probably determined to be the way of repentance.
It’s an interesting word. In the churches it is often taught to be a “confession” – “Father forgive me my sins, teach me your ways so that I may walk with you all the years of my life…”
That’s a confession folks, and just because it shows your desire to repent, in itself it is still a confession. And when the church leader reads from Isaiah 55:1-7 and attempts to tell you that turning away from your sin 180 degrees is repenting like you have accepted to do in your confession…well he’s right; “IF” you were repenting according to Isaiah, but you are not!
In the Old Testament that’s all they could do, turn away from sin, resist it and follow the Ten Commandments. They did not yet have the promise of receiving the Holy Spirit that could only be given in a new birth of spirit “AFTER” the death and resurrection of Jesus.
In the New Testament a new word is given for repentance, and it has a new meaning. The word is: Metanoeo. And it means: “to reconsider your sin from a divine viewpoint of thought, will, and emotion and choose to submit to the way of God.”
And if you will notice in I Cor. Chapter 2: 15-16 we are told to “put on the mind of Christ Jesus.” This in the Amplified bible is revealed as being: “the thought, will and emotion of Jesus!”
It’s not hard, if we continue looking under the reasons we do wrong for the love of God alternatives and continue choosing to submit to them we will in effect be “transformed” to knowing the mind of Christ since he and God The Father are one!
All that turning away from sin and doing the Ten Commandments is Old Testament stuff. We’re under New Testament rules of Grace.
If you repent as I have shown you the way how, you will grow even as you choose, increasingly of God’s Love; “For what ever commandment there may be, is summed up in love. For love does no harm to its neighbor.”
Understand me now! Yes, we are to resist sin, but only as we attempt to uncover the reasons for it and “see” the loving and truthful alternatives to submit to. Once we submit we no longer need to resist because we have learned to replace sin.
Resistance without an increase of knowledge, self-control (thru submission to the knowledge of God’s love and truth), perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love…then all you’ve done is exercise your will power and you will fall down.
Now you will fall down even as you walk in “The Way”, but then you will know to pick yourself up and keep on with your determination to repent. To ask yourself: “why do I do the wrong I do?” and find the way of love to do instead until you no longer need to do the sin.
There is a difference, which is why proverbs 24 says ‘a righteous man falls seven times, but an evil man falls into mischief.’
We can take a break. Listen, it’s not a hard thing to do, that what I share how to do with you; but perhaps you would like to read from a list of my articles, one that appeals to you. Such as: In Relation, The Way, error of Christianity; but also: Booze: the lure the cure, Spiritual Strength, Tips on effective prayer, The story of Barabbas, Love, The rebuttal to the two raptures, Jesus is coming soon, and many others. As mentioned in the earlier entry, you can get these stories and others from my book at Amazon.com. You can get the book at:
http://www.amazon.com/products/dp/1442145137/ Or you can get my earlier book: “God’s Prisoner” at: http://www.amazon.com/products/dp/144044031X
Again, I caution you on reading “God’s Prisoner” (even though it’s bound to become a classic), it is a HARD REALITY CHECK using the fictional character of a born-again ex-felon as the good guy. This book is not for the squeamish!
Till next time, take care. J.J.
5 comments:
I would like to extend an open invitation to anyone out there reading my blog a chance to have your pressing questions answered on matters of the Christian faith. So feel free to ask me that question that you have bugging you to no end and the churches can’t seem to answer to your satisfaction, and I will give it my best shot. Thank-you.
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Dear JJ: I really liked how you said that if you fall down with Christ, you can get right back up again and try again, and still be loved by Jesus. I'll read your blog everyday. Look for my questions and comments. Have a nice day! Love, Annie West
ReplyDeleteDear JJ: I love the pictures of Honey the Puppy. I would love to have one for my Husband and I. Only if the puppy is Free of Charge. Let us know! Love, Annie West
ReplyDeleteHi Annie, yes the puppies are cute and I thought they were a welcome addition to the blog, but remember the blog is what's important; learning to repent as you are meant, and not how the churches teach, is what will put you on the road to salvation where every day is a day you can work out your salvation. NOT to acquire it, but to grow in it.
ReplyDeleteWhen you fall down it just serves to notify you that you are either not looking intently into the perfect law of love for the alternatives for the reasons for your committing of sin, or you are indulging in sin willfully, or finally it could mean that you haven't yet "determined" to not give into the temptations but to submit to the ways of love and truth that you have already found.
In the book of Jude we read: "earnestly contend for the faith," which in the original Greek the words "earnestly contend" are one word: epagonizomai. which literally means: "to agonize in your determination to overcome your sin."
We see an example of this reflected in the book of Romans where Paul expresses his own personal agony when he says "the good I want to do I don't do but the bad I don't want to do I do, what a wretched man I am who will rescue me from this body of death?"
Yes, Jesus will rescue us if we are in fact true "Born-Again" christians, but we still must learn to overcome the sins while we are still at war with our flesh. We do this by growing in the knowledge of love and truth and by our determination to submit to the ways of love and truth that we found in our continuing act of worship which is our repentance.
To do this we are encouraged: "don't grow weary in doing good; don't lose your hope; add to your faith, knowledge; and to your knowledge, self-control; to self-control add perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love."
So when you fall down while walking "this" path of rightousness it is expected that you will get up and get it right the next time, or "you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood." This can be pictured as the person who is sick and tired of falling down and getting back up only to fall down again and in his frustration beats the wall with his fist...why? why? why?!
Why indeed? keep looking for the answer to your why's and the Holy spirit of God will "acknowledge" the way of love and truth from God and you will be able to exert "self-control" by submitting, and you will step closer to the road of freedom from your bondage to the sin in your life, with the final total freedom being given when you are given entrance into the kingdom of heaven when Jesus returns.
Do you have any reviews for any of your books?
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for asking about reviews for any of these books; as it is I do have an "unofficial" review. A Lady in England bought my book "God's Prisoner" and noting my e-mail address in the back decided to e-mail me the following "unofficial review" hope it encourages you to buy it and enjoy it as much as it seems she did....
ReplyDeleteI have started reading JJ's book and I think it is bloody brilliant!!!! I have read the first two chapters. I love the first person narrative...and it is a real page turner. (I wish the book had page numbers on it - it is not the greatest layout). I LOVE the illustrations. I think a screenplay should be written so it could be made into a movie. I am happy to do that for no charge or any piece of the profits (prophets?!!), but I won't be able to turn my hand to it until the spring. If JJ has the time to turn it into a screenplay, then he should do it. Otherwise, I am happy to do, or work with JJ on it. I kind of knew the book would be good, because JJ writes wonderful emails: a very strong voice comes through the book and the emails, and that is the most important part of writing. Finding that voice. I think he is very talented, and I will keep you up to date on where I am in the book. You can see that a glowing, positive review from me will be going up on Amazon. Congratulations, JJ!!!!!!!!! Start writing another book, and we can see if we can find a better self-publishing company that will give it a good layout. A good layout really attracts buyers...and again I love the illustrations. First Class. Well done.