Following Jesus Better

In John 16:33 in context, Jesus outlines his dis-stress management commitment to each of His Followers. gfp (2012-02-16)

Jusus blows His first Disciples minds by telling them CLEARLY that He is God!

Jesus shares an seemingly impossible truth with His first disciples and through them with us, that all His Followers will do "greater things" than He Himself had done. In the following verses here, He explais how that mystery will occur through the power of His name and the truth that He will live forever in them and us! Hallelujah!

It's all about God in us ...NOT about us or what we seem to be doing!

"Not judged" here is used in the judicial, judgement by a court of law sence of set free from any penalty. "Judged already" is used in the same judicial way and means "separation from God in Hell, forever and without escape". This is clarified in numerous other Scriptures throughout the Bible in words used by Yeshua (Jesus) and His Apostles.

The King James Version (KJV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB) here and also some other modern translations of the Bible use the older English word "begotten" in this verse. The past tense of the verb "begat" in all these translations is best defined as "one and only". It does NOT mean in this context procreation by sexual intercourse as it does when referring to humans and animals.

Please don't miss that the qualification for the promise of verse 17b, noted in verses 17a and 18, are about the parent not your child or granchildren. As Jesus promises you in John 10:22-30 at http://diigo.com/0jv8q, He'll never let you or your kids go! So, trust him! Claim His promises! And relax while you continue to pray for your kids and their proginy ...whether born yet or not.

Psalm 40:4 in context contains a powerful promise for God's people whether Old Covenant Jews or Followers of Yeshua (Jesus)! gfp (2012-02-04)

Regrettably, Christians and Jews seem to prefer to forget that Adam and Eve were each created naked by our God and walked together in public unashamed. It clearly says this here in Genesis 2:25. Obviously, we know better what's good for us than God because our first parents immediately went into the fashion business as noted in Genesis 3:7 at http://diigo.com/0m7tx . We also like to ignore how the Old Testament, for example, portrays Isaiah, the major prophet ignored or ridiculed by God's people, the Jews, as he wandered unclothed and unshod for three years under the power of God ...and not as a punishment. Maybe this helps to expalin why nudity in a textile social setting is often tied to lunacy in most situations of 21st Century society. Nudity and sexuality are often linked, but they don't necessarily have to be. In fact, most Christian naturists believe that it's clothes that make a body sexual. To put it simply: if you see someone in the naked all the time, you begin not to notice it anymore. It becomes normal and you no longer feel "urges" toward that person. However, if that person is normally clothed, due to the curiosity of the unknown and the "forbidden," when they remove their clothing, it is more likely to become a sexualized experience. Most anti-nudity views are originally politically-based, not rooted in religion historical research proves. I'm also unable to find a New or Old Covenant prescription against being naked in public. (Yes I know the OC story of the daugters and their father, but that's all it is, an Old Covenant story ...not a command to clothe ourselves. Might the more healthy attitude to how God created us, as advocated by Christian naturists, also help resolve the "body image problem" that is increasingly plaguing both women and men in our society. In a 2009 follow-up to a 1984 survey about female body image, Glamour at http://is.gd/D4IJbv found that for twenty-five years, body dissatisfaction has remained steady across eras at 40 perce

Genesis 2:23-25 causes me to wonder if the so-called shame about being naked in public, weather permitting, is not simply habitual, cultural and learned behaviour! Is it really God's will for us as so often taught? Might it instead be a punishment visited on us by Satan's con game of 'shame' given Who made the first garments? In this context, while not a Christian, Kahil Gibran makes an interesting observation in "The Prophet" in his section on "Clothes": "Some of you say, 'It is the north wind who has woven the clothes we wear.' And I say, Ay, it was the north wind, But shame was his loom, and the softening of the sinews was his thread. And when his work was done he laughed in the forest. Forget not that modesty is for a shield against the eye of the unclean. And when the unclean shall be no more, what were modesty but a fetter and a fouling of the mind? And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair." (p.35-36) gfp (2012-01-04)

Too many Christian men and their preachers do not want to acknowledge the truth that Holy Spirit designed Ephesian 5:21-28 to be read as a set. His intent was NOT to halve off verse 21 from 22 by an unscriptural footnote as in many modern paper Bibles. Some men love to ignore verse 21 and only emphasize verse 22 to the detriment of women in the traditional, western church. gfp (2012-01-28)