Jesus as the Rose of Sharon
The words “rose of Sharon” comes out of the Old Testament in the Song of Solomon. The verse reads:
“I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.” (Solomon 2:1)
Here are some facts about this verse and how it may be related to Jesus.
- Nowhere in the New Testament is Jesus actually referred to as the rose of Sharon. However, He is “symbolically” referred to as the rose of Sharon.
- You are right about Sharon being a place. Sharon is a plain – it is one of the largest valley-plains in all of Palestine. Back at the time of Solomon, it was considered a wild, fertile plain that had a lot of beautiful flowers in it. Sharon was supposed to have been known for its beauty and majesty back in those days.
- The person saying she is the “rose of Sharon” in the above verse was a Shulamite woman who apparently was Solomon’s bride.
- Here is the reason that I think people like to use the analogy of Jesus being the Rose of Sharon. The New Testament refers to Jesus as the Bridegroom and the Church as His Bride. This tells us right here that God is using the “lover” analogy to describe the relationship that He wants with us and that He also wants us to have with His Son.
However, in the above verse, the person saying she is the rose of Sharon is a woman, not a man. Jesus is obviously referred to as “male” since He is always referred to as “He” in the Bible. The rose is supposed to be considered the most “perfect” of all flowers. You will notice that Jesus is symbolically referred to as the rose of Sharon. Jesus is perfect in His God nature. He thus can be considered the “actual” rose of Sharon since He is totally perfect within His own nature – just like the rose is supposed to be considered the most “perfect” of all flowers.
Normally in a husband-wife or boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, it is the male who gives roses to the wife or girlfriend. Since Jesus is considered the Bridegroom in His relationship with His church, it would thus be Jesus coming to us to give us the flowers. However, in this case, God may be going one step further in allowing this analogy to be made of His Son.
I feel like God may be trying to tell us that Jesus will go one step further. Instead of Jesus being the one who would “give” us the flowers as we have in our normal human relationships, Jesus is actually referred to as the flower itself! And with the rose being the most perfect of all flowers, God is telling us that His Son Jesus is the Rose of Sharon rather than just having Him be the One to just give us this rose flower due to His perfect nature and perfect love that He has for all of us.
Women love flowers. They love the way they look and smell – especially roses. I feel God wants us to have realization of how special His Son Jesus is to us and He is using the rose flower to compare His Son with so we can truly appreciate the beauty and perfection of Jesus and the perfect love that He has for each and every one of us. Bottom line – Jesus is perfect love just as the rose is the most perfect of all flowers in its looks, beauty and smell.
By using the rose flower as a “visual symbolism” of Jesus’ love for us, we can better appreciate or “see” what God is trying to tell us in the personal love relationship that He wants to establish with each and every one of us. He wants us to realize how “special” His love is for us and that He wants more than anything to be able to enter into this personal love relationship with each one of us.
The above is my own personal opinion on what this analogy is referring to. I’ve always had a good witness that God the Father does approve of us using the Rose of Sharon to symbolize His Son’s love for us even though it is not actually stated per
in Scripture.
Article written by Michael Bradley of Bible Knowledge Ministries. Their website is a resource of Bible Knowledge, articles, commentary and teaching. They currently have over 100
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Word Study: Yom
The Hebrew word for “day” is the word “Yom.” Young earth creationists have always argued that the word used for the days of creation can only mean a 24-hour day. In this article, we will examine the uses of Yom in the Old Testament, and show that it can mean a wide variety of time periods. First, one must understand that the Hebrew language is not nearly is diverse as our English language. Whereas we have millions of words, the Hebrew source for the Old Testament only consists of slightly less than 8,700 words…and many of these could be considered duplicates with only slight differences. Thus, words which contain multiple meanings are common. Such is the case with the word Yom. Hebrew Dictionaries Let’s start with the possible meanings of Yom;
The Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (1980, Moody Press)
“It can denote: 1. the period of light (as contrasted with the period of darkness), 2. the period of twenty-four hours, 3. a general vague “time,” 4. a point of time, 5. a year (in the plural; I Sam 27:7; Ex 13:10, etc.).”
Hebrew authorities attest to the fact that the word Yom is used for anywhere from 12 hours up to a year, and even a vague “time period” of unspecified length.
Other Uses of Yom
Day is not the only translation for the word Yom. Here are some other uses.
Time
It is interesting to note that in 67 verses in the Old Testament, the word Yom is translated into the English word “time.” For instance, in Genesis 4:3, it says “And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.” In this instance, Yom refers to a growing season, probably several months. In Deuteronomy 10:10, it refers to forty days. In I Kings 11:42, it refers to 40 years.
In Isaiah 30:8, it says “Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever.” In this case, Yom is equal to “forever.”
Year
Four times in the Old Testament Yom is translated “year.” In I Kings 1:1, “David was old and stricken in years…” In 2 Chronicles 21:19, “after the end of two years” and in the very next verse “Thirty and two years old.” Finally, in Amos 4:4, “…and your tithes after three years.” In each case, Yom represents years, not days.
Other Meanings for Yom
Age meaning old age (Genesis 18:11 and 24:1; Joshua 23:1 and 23:2) Ago 1 Samuel 9:20 Always (Deuteronomy 5:29, 6:24, 14:23, 2 Chronicles 18:7) Season (Genesis 40:4, Joshua 24:7, 2 Chronicles 15:3) Chronicles (27 times) Continually (11 times).
Ever (Deuteronomy 19:9; eighteen other times. The old testament uses “for ever” instead of the word forever. In sixteen cases of use of the word ever, for is placed before it, indicating a infinite period of time (Last word of Psalm 23:6) Evermore (Deuteronomy 28:29)
Word Usage in the Old Testament
As you can see, Yom is used in a wide variety of situations related to the concept of time. Yom is not just for days…it is for time in general. How it is translated depends on the context of its use with other words.
Yom in the Creation Account
Even within the creation account, Yom is used to represent four different time periods. Genesis 1:5 “And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night.” Here, Moses uses Yom to indicate a 12-hour period
Genesis 1:14 “And God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years.” Here, Moses uses Yom to indicate 24-hour days
Genesis 2:4 “…in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” Here, Moses uses Yom to indicate the entire creative week.
The fourth usage of Yom in the creation account is in the summary for each of the six creation days, “and there was morning and evening the first day”. Yom is used to represent a finite, long period of time, usually either millions or billions of years. To show support for this, consider the uses of Yom by Moses.
Moses Other Uses of Yom
Moses, the author of the first five books of the Bible, and of Psalm 90, used Yom in many different ways.
Genesis 4:3 “And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.” In this instance, Yom refers to a growing season, probably several months. Genesis 43:9 “…then let me bear the blame for ever.” Here, Moses uses Yom to represent eternity Genesis 44:32 “…then I shall bear the blame to my father for ever.” Again, Moses uses Yom to represent eternity
Deuteronomy 4:40 “…that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth the, for ever.” Here Yom represents a physical lifetime
Deuteronomy 10:10, “Now I stayed on the mountain forty days and nights, as I did the first time,…”
Here, Yom is a “time” equal to forty days.
Deuteronomy 18:5 “…to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever.”
Again, Yom is translated as eternity
Deuteronomy 19:9 “…to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in His ways…” Here, Yom represents a lifetime. As long as we live we are to walk in his ways
As you can see, Moses used the word Yom to represent 12-hours, 24 hours, the creative week, forty days, several months, a lifetime, and eternity.
Common Young Earth Arguments
To get around the obvious conclusion that Yom in Genesis 1 can mean millions of years, young earth theorists have come up with several arguments, none of which is supported by common Hebrew grammatical rules according to Hebrew experts. These rules were created by Hebrew language experts who are young earth creationists, thus their viewpoint is obviously biased. They have a specific agenda they are trying to prove, and thus cannot be objective.
Ordinals/Cardinals
Whenever Yom is used with an ordinal or cardinal number (1st, 2nd, 1,2, etc) that it always represents a 24 hour day. However, this is not true. In Zechariah 14:7-9, the “one day” refers to a period of time when the Lord shall be king over the earth. In other places, some say that Isaiah and Hosea have numbers with the word day which are figurative (External Link). 1 Hebrew scholars do not recognize this fabricated rule.2
What is important in the Hebrew language is the intentions of the author. We should not create rules that support our own agendas, but should strive to understand the author’s intended meaning outside of rules.
Evening/Morning Construction
In Genesis 1 Moses says “and there was evening and morning the xx day”. Does the use of evening and morning indicate a sunrise and sunset for each creative day? First, let’s look at what evening and morning are not. They are not actual evening and mornings, as this requires a sunrise and sunset. According to young earth theory, the Sun was not created until Day Four, thus there could be no sunrise or sunset for the first three days of creation. However, God uses the terms evening and morning for those first three days. Therefore, they cannot be actual evenings and mornings.
We are left with only one option. The words for Evening and Morning can only represent the beginning and ending of the creative period, and not actual sunrise and sunsets. Scripture itself sets this pattern for us. Morning and evening are used figuratively in Psalm 30:5, Psalm 49:14,15, Psalm 90:6. Thus, the evening and morning of creation can mean the start and end of the creative process that is attributed to that creation period.
Literal/Figurative Argument
This argument says that you cannot use a word figuratively until after you have used it literally. Is this rule valid? I see no reason to suppose that it is. You have to be careful with young earth claims about biblical interpretation methods. Again, they will invent rules that support their cause, when there is no basis for their rule in Hebrew.
In this case, it makes no difference which order the word Yom appears in, i.e. literal before figurative or vice versa. Yes, these are the first words of the Bible, but they are not the first words of mankind. All the time from Adam to Moses, men were speaking in their own languages, thus the literal interpretation via spoken language would already have been established. There was no need to suppose a literal/figurative structure.
If God’s Creation Was Billions of Years Old…
If God’s creation was billions of years old, how would He have written the creation account in Genesis? One thing is certain…God is good at telling us exactly what we need to know.
When God refers to a large number, He uses picture stories, such as Abraham’s descendants being as numerous as the sand. Why does He do this? If God had said, “You will have millions of descendants,” Abraham would have asked, “What is a million?”
When considering the creation, if we broke it down into days, that would be 5,000,500,000,000 days, or roughly 13.7 billion years. Do we need an account for each day of creation…of course not. God in His infinite wisdom, saw fit to tell us the creation story by breaking it down into creative segments, each of which was attributed to a specific creative act or acts. We need to give the early Hebrews of Genesis a break…they didn’t have calculators like we do!
One must also consider that time with God has no meaning. To Him, 10 billion years is like a day. Thus, it is no problem for God to put billions of years into one of His days. Dr. Hugh Ross puts it best in his determination that the frame of reference for creation is the surface of the earth. Genesis 1:2 puts the witness of creation on the surface. But who is witnessing these events? It is God himself. During the first 5.99 days of creation, God is the only one present. Thus, human time does not matter…no humans were there to witness the passage of time. What matters is how God sees time! Thus, a billion year day is only a passing moment in God’s eyes.
The creation account is written in such a manner for all people to understand it. The issue is not how long creation took…the issue is that God did it, and that’s all that matters in the end.
Conclusion
With such a wide usage of the word Yom for many different time periods, it cannot be claimed that Yom in the Old Testament only represents a 24-hour period. During the creation account alone, Yom represents four different time periods. Rules of Hebrew, created by young earth Hebrew scholars, are invalid. Because of their biased position, they are trying to prove their own agenda.
Since humans did not witness creation, our own concept of a 24-hour day does not apply. The only thing that matters is God’s concept of time. Thus, the only evidence we have to accurately assess the age of creation is the creation itself. Since the rocks and stars say we are billions of years old, that must be the truth. This fits perfectly with a literal interpretation of Genesis, and an inerrant Bible, and does not impact any other Biblical doctrines.
1 http://www.ibri.org/40genda y.htm 2 Television Show and Transcript, “Are the Genesis Creation Days 24 Hours or Long Periods of Time,” The John Ankerberg Show, 2005.
This article comes from the Answers In Creation website (http://www.answersincreatio n.org). The source article is located at http://w ww.answersincreation.org/word_study_yom.htm.
Using The Negative in a Positive Way – God Does it all the Time
So much hullabaloo is created about not saying anything negative especially among Christians, is this reasonable? It would seem that there must be a place in the whole scheme of things for the negative, but just where is that?
I loved Norman Vincent Peale’s, Power of Positive Thinking as much as any book I have ever read. I have read Napoleon Hill’s books and I am an ardent believer in almost everything Dale Carnegie ever wrote. I have notes scribbled on the back pages of my Bible from Carnegie’s…How to Win Friends and Influence people, albeit I refused to read it at first thinking the title was too corny. For years now I have both pondered and studied the effects of positive thinking and talking, as against negative thinking. I have agonizingly and carefully begun to approach something that might at last qualify for a conclusion.
The sum of my conclusions could be found in one single verse of the Bible. And we know that all things work together for good to them who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 KJV The key words in this passage being “all Things.” That is understood to mean the negative and the positive.
Few believers would not agree that difficulties and problems are part of the building of our faith and character. But in today’s world of positive thinking buffs it would be a weakness, an admission of defeat or even an act of faithlessness to even make mention of our problems. God has warned us that we will have tribulation in this world so who are these believers who seem to think that just to mention them would be faithless or negative. Since Jesus said it is enough that we be like the master (Mt. 10:25) then mentioning our troubles is no different than what our Master did. Jesus also said that we should be of “good cheer” when we were beset with troubles. The Apostle Peter said we should “count it all joy” when our faith was tried. It would seem that God is looking not for people who deny problems but face them differently than anyone else. The negative kept, silent or spoken openly has much less effect on our future than you imagine. Conversely, how you handle these matters has a more profound effect than you can imagine. God, it would seem, is watching the latter more than the former because after all this life is more of a battle ground than a playground according to the Bible.
Can the painful moaning of a dying soldier be thought of as complaints? Can that same moaning take anything away from the debt of gratitude a nation may feel for his sacrifice? A little show of pain isn’t an alliance with the negative forces of the universe it is merely a show of our humanity and our vulnerability. But today there are those who would rebuke us for even the slightest hint that we are undergoing pain, a problem or a negative outcome of any kind.
I was amazed to see that when Christianity Today reviewed Joel Osteen’s, Your Best Life Now, that they were not squeamish about saying that his emphasis on being positive became a negative. I couldn’t have agreed more. I see negative and positive together in this world but above that I see the will of God unfolding through it all. When I put my key in the ignition of my car as I prepare to drive to a crowded interstate highway, I see that as positive. I don’t think I will die in a huge accident, but just before I take off I do a very negative thing, I buckle up! God forbid I had to explain why I was doing that to a pathological positive thinker. To speak out loud that I may get in an accident after all would be the grand no-no.
The outcome of wars is often accurately predicted by military analysts that delve into the negative. That is they take the worst case scenario and make provision for that occurrence and thereby are prepared for such with contingencies. It Works, ask Norman Swartzkoff. Dale Carnegie advised many people to do this in order to take away the nagging power of doubt. The banana grower who was afraid that the trains might stop running before the crop could make it to market was told to envision that very thing. He made contingency plans, perhaps two or three of them and then he got on with the business of growing bananas without any further worry. He was told to see and plan for the negative to clear the path for a positive experience. Are you paying attention?
By now someone is saying, but God spoke the worlds into existence so we must recognize the power of the spoken word. Yes, and I do, his word not mine or yours. For your words and mine I would tone down their importance in the light of one very important verse of scripture. Jesus said…But let your communication be, yea yea; nay, nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. Mt 5:37 KJV
Leaflet Promotion a Efficient Way to Promote Your Business during the Credit Crunch. How to Survive the Gloom
Doing leaflet distribution services are one of the easiest means to get upper hand over your contenders. How? Direct Mailing is the answer. By employing a unremitting leaflet distribution advertisment you can achieve maximum
exposure via the letterbox. Its a very over looked promotion strategy which works very well, that is ofcourse is using leafleting
If your product is fashioned to appeal to a nationwide market and you want to focus on a very special field, door to door promotion is a good, dirt cheap way of hitting your target market place.
But aware in the formulation of your leaflet distribution campaigns as this is essential if you are to make the best of your investment.
Leaflet distribution allows you to generate specified answer from targeted groups of customers. It’s a specially
useful tool for small business organisations because it lets you to concentrate reasonable resources where they are most likely to develop result and quantify the success of promotions accurately by analysing replies. Just remember that the outcomes of leaflet distributoin aren’t guaranteed. A badly projected or aimed adverting campaign will be a waste of cash
There are a number of several methods in which leaflet distribution has been used in a policy-making way. Several of these reasons are as follows. One of the most frequent uses of brochure distribution is to provide individuals with info to counter info that has been distributed by the opponent. The booklets can also be used to threaten people with an assault. This is particularly likely in differences of opinion in which armies can inform foe parades that they will invade if no action is made. The leaflets in war situations are often used to encourage the opposition to surrender and if how to go about surrendering without facilitating a retaliation.
If you have determined that a leaflet distribution will be a easy form of advertising in order to bring in some much needed future work, then you need to set about the job of choosing the most acceptable company to conduct the distribution for you.
On That Poin there are alot of factors to be thought when doing this, these are crucial in getting the best results from your promotion.
You need to study where you are going to target your material and the coverage and penetration that you want to attain. If you are just considering of a decreased promotion in the localised region, it may be prudent to pick out a smaller local business who just handle the small-scale promotions in one region. They are quite probably to be cost effective, and have lower lead times. Accountability may be a problem if matters do not go according to plan, so this needs to be counted against the quantity of financial expenditure.
Christian Music That Fills You With More Than Just Old Time Rock n’ Roll
Christian Music That Fills You With More Than Just Old Time Rock n’ Roll
Some of the earliest Christian music was about the new testament and most were simple hymns. Some of these Christian musical hymns can still be heard today, including “Awake, awake O sleeper” on the occasion of someone’s baptism.
Jesus and his disciples very likely would have sung psalms from their time which by the very nature makes them Christian music. Early Christians continued to sing the psalms much as they were sung then. The gospels of Matthew (26:30) and Mark (14:26) state that Jesus sang a hymn with his disciples immediately before his betrayal. The apostle Paul in the book of Ephesians (5:19) exhorted the church at Ephesus to speak to each other “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”. Recent Christian Music
The most recent common form of Christian music is contemporary Christian music. This draws some of its influence from secular music of the last century and is the most popular kind of Christian music in the Western world today. Although there are many Christian music artists in the mainstream music industry, the term contemporary Christian music usually refers specifically to artists within the Christian music industry that are played on Christian music radio. Christian Music Touches You Where You Are. But through it all, Christian music, with or without lyrics, has been used by Christian music singers and musicians to honor God, inspire his people, challenge the wayward and brighten a stormy day for thousands of years.
Most of us especially within the past several years have read about the politically correct rantings of secularists that want to do away with anything dealing with Christianity and also as it applies to Christian music. There are many people who are against all forms of contemporary Christian music and Christian Rock. They have tried to judge its source and determine it is just another form of rock n roll. That there is no Christian message to it that matters spiritually so it should just be grouped into the rock n roll or contemporary music categories.
So the question has been asked is there ministry to Christian music? Does the message within this Christian music mean anything more than any other average rock song or contemporary listening music today? The current Christian music business has the obligation to prove that giving Christian music the title of ministry is deserved.
One Christian music artist that is doing just that is Tim Kaufman. He brings praise to the Lord in his songs. He rejoices to the fact that his Christian music has helped minister to listeners that were unaware that it would bring the Lord into their life, sometimes at unknown and unsuspecting times that has caused joyous victory for The Lord.
One such time that drives Tim’s direction for his ministry comes from letters like this one were his Christian music has touched lives:
“Tim…My wife and I drove our van out to the woods and were planning our suicide. We noticed one of your tapes on the floor, put it in and began to weep as the Lord brought a renewed hope to our hurting hearts. We thank you and our kids thank you. Keep the Christian music coming.” J. & K. D., Florida
When you hear the victories for The Lord like that being sent into Tim Kaufman Ministries it sure tells you everything you need to know about whether there is ministry in his Christian music. Letters like these also tell you that true Christian music fills you with more than just old time rock n’ roll. You can receive a free weekly devotional from Tim Kaufman Ministries and also listen to free samples of his Christian music. This article is sponsored by Tim Kaufman Ministries. Tim Kaufman Ministries is a source for online Christian music, spiritual guidance and Christian ministry charities. For questions regarding any of his Christian music products or his ministry, please contact him at Tim Kaufman Ministries .
Please share the content of this article with your friends, family and Christian music fellowship. Reprint rights granted. All reprints must include a link to Tim Kaufman Ministries . Content may not be altered and articles must be as distributed by Tim Kaufman Ministries .
Copyright Tim Kaufman Ministries 2005
Christmas
If the Lord’s return is a bit different than we thought (flying out of here in the literal isn’t exactly what He meant) we would be ashamed for Him to return at Christmas; seeing us celebrate His birth the same way pagans do. Christmas would/should never be the same again.
When we consider giving gifts of love, do we think of pretty packages to go under the tree or do we consider what Jesus would give; things like sharing the gift of salvation, meeting a need of the heart, reaching lost sheep? And, didn’t He say that there would always be poor among us?
So, if it is Jesus’ birth we’re celebrating, shouldn’t our gifts be to Jesus or on behalf of Jesus? If such a needed gift would come in a package, so be it. But, with Jesus present, there would never be a Christmas gathering to show off ‘our’ service.
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 1 Peter 1:18-19
It was God who first showed me how He felt about the way we celebrate Christmas when I attended a church Christmas program wherein Santa was welcomed, but there was no mention of Jesus. My stomach ached and churned, and, soon, I thought I was going to puke … feeling literally ill from head to toe.
Symptoms subsided as soon as I got out of that building. But, the memory has never left. And, for whatever other medical explanation there could be, I ‘knew’ it was God, as He was showing me the program the way He saw it.
After hearing every possibly viable explanation there is as to why it is acceptable to lie to children about Santa Claus, God led me to the dictionary. Webster’s New World Dictionary says, “Nick (nik), n. the Devil: usually Old Nick,” as well as others referring to goblin and demon.
For those who don’t credit ‘Santa Claus’, did our Christmases ever really change or was it just the names we call him?
However God leads you to spend your Christmas is certainly between you and Him. Though, inviting Jesus to His own party would be a good place to start.
© 2002 by Joyce C. Lock http://my.homewithgod.com/blessingsandlessons/ This writing may be used in its entirety, with credits in tact, for non-profit ministering purposes.
Is World’s End Near?
The recent calamities have caused many to wonder if they are signs of the world’s end. Mother nature has been on a rampage lately. The 2004 tsunami in the Indian ocean was estimated to kill 170 to 275 thousand. Hurricanes destroyed New Orleans and other cities on the gulf coast and there was record number of hurricanes in 2005. Tornadoes and heavy snow storms seem to be getting worse.
Are all of these things signs the world is coming to an end? Many think they are. Prophecy buffs point to verses in the Bible that speak of signs of the end of days. It should be pointed out, however, that people have been predicting the end of the world for years. Days are picked that they claim will be the end. None have proved true so far.
The Bible does state the end is coming, and we have been living in what is called the last days since the times of the New Testament. Jesus said that only his Father knows the time he will return to take believers to heaven (MT 24:36). Most of the signs given in this chapter are about the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70. The Christians remembered them and fled to the mountains when they saw the armies coming. As far as we know, none were lost.
In the verse’s following in chapter 24, Jesus says that when he comes it will be like it was in the days of Noah. People will be eating and drinking and getting married. In Noah’s days they didn’t know what was happening until the flood came. They didn’t believe Noah when he warned them, because they had never seen it rain. Up to this time streams came up from the ground to water the earth(GE 2:6). HE WILL COME WHEN HE IS NOT EXPECTED (MT 24:44).
IT WILL NOT BE ANNOUNCED THAT THE LORD IS COMING! First Thessalonians 5:2 and Second Peter 3:10 both plainly state that JESUS WILL COME LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT. A thief does not give signs that he is coming and neither will our Lord!
The recent calamities do not necessarily mean the world’s end is near. We can’t rule it out either. We don’t have any way of knowing when it will be. We have to keep watch as Jesus told us. It is not any thing to worry about if you are living according to Biblical instructions. It is a time to help others to know and obey the gospel so they will be ready.
The Bible wasn’t written to tell the future but to instruct how to live holy lives. We are to live by faith and not by sight. Second Peter 1:20 explains that no prophecy is of any private interpretation. The prophets didn’t understand what they were speaking and neither can we. When New Testament verses point out they are fulfilling something predicated in the Old Testament, we know what they mean. This is the only way we can know for sure what they are about. We are told about death, and the judgement, but the times are not given.
Weather comes in cycles. We have mild winters and summers and we have severe ones. Global warming may be true and it may be imagination. Our God has always taken care of this world and he will continue until he is ready to put a stop to it. Global warming will not end the world unless the Creator chooses this method to destroy it. The end will not come one minute sooner than he intends. We can be sure of that! The Lord designed and built it, and is capable of maintaining it.
Permission is granted to publish this article if the resource box is left intact.
The author of this article also wrote, “Climbing the Heavenly Stairs.” Be free from worry about the end times. Live life to the full as you go on to maturity. Get the feel of your faith and set priorities to be ready when Jesus comes. Lead others to the truth. Read more about it by clicking on the following link. http://www.thelynnbradleybook.com. You can also use the title of the book in your browser window for a different website.
Psychic – Concentrate On Wealth
It was never intended that man should be poor. When wealth is
obtained under the proper conditions it broadens the life.
Everything has its value. Everything has a good use and a bad
use. The forces of mind like wealth can be directed either for
good or evil. A little rest will re-create forces. Too much rest
degenerates into laziness, and brainless, dreamy longings.
If you acquire wealth unjustly from others, you are misusing your
forces; but if your wealth comes through the right sources you
will be blessed. Through wealth we can do things to uplift
ourselves and humanity.
Wealth is many persons’ goal. It therefore stimulates their
endeavor. They long for it in order to dress and live in such a
way as to attract friends. Without friends they would not be so
particular of their surroundings. The fact is the more attractive
we make ourselves and our surroundings the more inspiring are
their influences. It is not conducive to proper thought to be
surrounded by conditions that are uncongenial and unpleasant.
So the first step toward acquiring wealth is to surround yourself
with helpful influences; to claim for yourself an environment of
culture, place yourself in it and be molded by its influences.
Most great men of all ages have been comparatively rich. They
have made or inherited money. Without money they could not have
accomplished what they did. The man engaged in physical drudgery
is not likely to have the same high ideals as the man that can
command comparative leisure.
Wealth is usually the fruit of achievement. It is not, however,
altogether the result of being industrious. Thousands of persons
work hard who never grow wealthy. Others with much less effort
acquire wealth. Seeing possibilities is another step toward
acquiring wealth. A man may be as industrious as he can possibly
be, but if he does not use his mental forces he will be a
laborer, to be directed by the man that uses to good advantage
his mental forces.
No one can become wealthy in an ordinary lifetime, by mere
savings from earnings. Many scrimp and economize all their lives;
but by so doing waste all their vitality and energy. For example,
I know a man that used to walk to work. It took him an hour to go
and an hour to return. He could have taken a car and gone in
twenty minutes. He saved ten cents a day but wasted an hour and a
half. It was not a very profitable investment unless the time
spent in physical exercise yielded him large returns in the way
of health.
The same amount of time spent in concentrated effort to overcome
his unfavorable business environment might have firmly planted
his feet in the path of prosperity.
One of the big mistakes made by many persons of the present
generation is that they associate with those who fail to call out
or develop the best that is in them. When the social side of life
is developed too exclusively, as it often is, and recreation or
entertainment becomes the leading motive of a person’s life, he
acquires habits of extravagance instead of economy; habits of
wasting his resources, physical, mental, moral and spiritual,
instead of conserving them. He is, in consequence, lacking in
proper motivation, his God-given powers and forces are
undeveloped and he inevitably brings poor judgment to bear upon
all the higher relationships of life, while, as to his financial
fortunes, he is ever the leaner; often a parasite, and always, if
opportunity affords, as heavy a consumer as he is a poor
producer.
It seems a part of the tragedy of life that these persons have to
be taught such painful lessons before they can understand the
forces and laws that regulate life. Few profit by the mistakes of
others. They must experience them for themselves and then apply
the knowledge so gained in reconstructing their lives.
Any man that has ever amounted to anything has never done a great
deal of detail work for long periods at any given time. He needs
his time to reflect. He does not do his duties today in the same
way as yesterday, but as the result of deliberate and
concentrated effort, constantly tries to improve his methods.
The other day I attended a lecture on Prosperity. I knew the
lecturer had been practically broke for ten years. I wanted to
hear what he had to say. He spoke very well. He no doubt
benefited some of his hearers, but he had not profited by his own
teachings. I introduced myself and asked him if he believed in
his maxims. He said he did. I asked him if they had made him
prosperous. He said not exactly. I asked him why. He answered
that he thought he was fated not to experience prosperity.
In half an hour I showed that man why poverty had always been his
companion. He had dressed poorly. He held his lectures in poor
surroundings. By his actions and beliefs he attracted poverty. He
did not realize that his thoughts and his surroundings exercised
an unfavorable influence. I said: “Thoughts are moving forces;
great powers. Thoughts of wealth attract wealth. Therefore, if
you desire wealth you must attract the forces that will help you
to secure it. Your thoughts attract a similar kind of thoughts.
If you hold thoughts of poverty you attract poverty. If you make
up your mind you are going to be wealthy, you will instil this
thought into all your mental forces, and you will at the same
time use every external condition to help you.”
Many persons are of the opinion that if you have money it is easy
to make more money. But this is not necessarily true. Ninety per
cent of the men that start in business fail. Money will not
enable one to accumulate much more, unless he is trained to seek
and use good opportunities for its investment. If he inherits
money the chances are that he will lose it. While, if he has made
it, he not only knows its value, but has developed the power to
use it as well as to make more if he loses it.
Business success today depends on foresight, good judgment, grit,
firm resolution and settled purpose. But never forget that
thought is as real a force as electricity. Let your thoughts be
such, that you will send out as good as you receive; if you do
not, you are not enriching others, and therefore deserve not to
be enriched.
The man that tries to get all he can from others for nothing
becomes so selfish and mean that he does not even enjoy his
acquisitions. We see examples of this every day. What we take
from others, will in turn, be taken from us. All obligations have
to be met fairly and squarely. We cannot reach perfection until
we discharge every obligation of our lives. We all realize this,
so why not willingly give a fair exchange for all that we
receive?
Again I repeat that the first as well as the last step in
acquiring wealth is to surround yourself with good
influences–good thought, good health, good home and business
environment and successful business associates. Cultivate, by
every legitimate means, the acquaintance of men of big caliber.
Bring your thought vibrations in regard to business into harmony
with theirs. This will make your society not only agreeable, but
sought after, and, when you have formed intimate friendships with
clean, reputable men of wealth, entrust to them, for investment,
your surplus earnings, however small, until you have developed
the initiative and business acumen to successfully manage your
own investments. By this time you will, through such
associations, have found your place in life which, if you have
rightly concentrated upon and used your opportunities, will not
be among men of small parts. With a competence secured, you will
take pleasure in using a part of it in making the road you
traveled in reaching your position easier for those who follow
you.
There is somewhere in every brain the energy that will get you
out of that rut and put you far up on the mountain of success if
you can only use the energy.
You know that gasoline in the engine of an automobile doesn’t
move the car until the spark comes to explode the gasoline.
So it is with the mind of man. We are not speaking now of men of
great genius, but of average, able citizens.
Each one of them has in his brain the capacity to climb over the
word impossible and get into the successful country beyond.
And hope, self-confidence and the determination to do something
supply the spark that makes the energy work.
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