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12-23-18 – JOY TO YOUR WORLD – Part IVB
METRON Combined Service with SPIRIT and TRUTH SANCTUARY, featuring Bishop Jim and Pastor D.E.Paulk
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12-16-18 – JOY TO YOUR WORLD: Unleashing the Power of the Word Made Flesh, Part III
Today’s Notes:
I – “The Voice was and is God. This celestial Word remained ever present with the Creator; His speech shaped the entire cosmos. Immersed in the practice of creating,all things that exist were birthed in Him. His breath filled all things with a living, breathing light— A light that thrives in the depths of darkness, blazes through murky bottoms. It cannot and will not be quenched….The Voice took on flesh and became human and chose to live alongside us…”
(John 1:1-5, 14 – The Voice)
II – “In the very beginning the Living Expression was already there. And the Living Expression was with God, yet fully God. They were together—face-to-face, in the very beginning. And through his creative inspiration, this Living Expression made all things, for nothing has existence apart from him! Life came into being because of him, for his life is light for all humanity. And this Living Expression is the Light that bursts through gloom[i]— the Light that darkness could not diminish! …And so the Living Expression became a man and lived among us!…”
(John 1:1-5, 14 – TPT)
III – “All things are legitimate [permissible—and we are free to do anything we please], but not all things are helpful (expedient, profitable, and wholesome). All things are legitimate, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life].”
(1 Corinthians 10:23 AMPC)
IV – “Accumulating orthodoxy makes it harder year-by-year to be a Christian than it was in Jesus’ day.” ― Brian D. McLaren
V – “My belief is that, morally, God and Satan are vaguely on the same page. According to the common understanding of Satan’s origins, ‘holiness’ is, metaphorically, frozen stiff in his veins: and at that a corrupted formula – i.e. legalism. The vital difference is that God is willing to offer grace for our sins; he delights in grace. God is the one and only holy and just punisher of sin, yes, but that is partly so because punishment for the sake of punishment is not something he loves. Whereas Satan, as the accuser, and as it is written, actually seeks God’s permission to punish; he, being a seasoned legalist, delights in finding wrongs and will defy his own morality just to expose immorality. This is why both the anti-religious soul and the violently religious soul are, whether consciously or unconsciously, and sadly enough, glorifying their biggest hater: Satan is not only a lawless lover of punishing lawlessness, but also the sharpest theologian of us all. He loves wickedness, but only because he loves punishing wickedness.”
― Criss Jami
VI – “Our cultural conditioning is so ingrained in us that we often see these customs and taboos as inherent to the fabric of the cosmos. We spiritualize them. Legalize them. And when someone else doesn’t follow them, it can feel to us like an attack on our very personhood. This kind of cultural blindness affects how we order creation.” ― Michael Gungor
VII – “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
(John 6:51 – NKJV)
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12-9-18 – JOY TO YOUR WORLD: Unleashing the Power of the Word Made Flesh, Part II
Today’s Notes:
I – “And the eternal Word morphed into flesh – into a manifested incarnation with human attributes and authority in the natural world – so that He could live with and among us human beings. And He did live with us here in our world, limiting Himself to the constraints of the human condition without reservation, but we could still plainly see His eternal, divine glory. It was obvious that He shined with the glorious light of a unique, firstborn son who was miraculously like His Father who had sent Him. The illumination from that glory revealed that He was literally filled with grace and that He overflowed with absolute truth.”
(John 1:14 – John In The Now)
II – “‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.’ – We could all learn something from this well-known Bible verse. Looking beyond the religious overtones, there is a message to be found in this for everyone. Everything begins with a word. Words consist of vibration and sound. It is these vibrations that create the very reality that surrounds us. Words are the creator; the creator of our universe, our lives, our reality. Without words, a thought can never become a reality. This is something that we have been taught throughout history, as far back as the Bible, which writes of ‘God’ – whatever that word may mean to you – saying ‘let there be light’ and as a result creating light. So what can we learn from this? If our words and thoughts are the very tools with which we create our reality, then surely they are our most powerful tool yet? Surely we should only pick the very best words in order to create our very best reality?”
– Katherine Hurst
III – “O holy night the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth”
– Adolphe Adam
IV – “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He]takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.”
(John 15:1-3 – NKJV)
V – “…already you are clean because you have heard My voice.”
(John 15:3 – The Voice)
VI – “The words I have spoken over you have already cleansed you.”
(John 15:3 – TPT)
VII – “If we understood the power of our thoughts, we would guard them more closely. If we understood the awesome power of our words, we would prefer silence to almost anything negative. In our thoughts and words we create our own weaknesses and our own strengths. Our limitations and joys begin in our hearts. We can always replace negative with positive.” – Betty Eadie
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12-2-18 – JOY TO YOUR WORLD: Unleashing the Power of the Word Made Flesh – Part I
Today’s Scripture:
1. Now when the man Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem of Judea during the reign of Herod the king, astrologers from the East came to Jerusalem to inquire about Him. These astrologers, or “Magi” originated from a religious caste among the Persians who were devoted to divination (or the practice of the magic arts) and to the interpretation of dreams. They came from Southern Arabia, where they had long maintained a tradition of Israelite Messianic expectation that had survived in the region since the days of the Queen of Sheba; and this tradition survived alongside their practice of astrology.
2. When they came to Jerusalem, they began to ask around, “Where is He Who has been born King of the Jews? For we have charted His star in the East through our understanding of the zodiac and have come to worship Him.”
3. But when the news about these Arabic magicians got to Herod, it worried him greatly and, in fact, troubled all of Jerusalem with him.
4. So he called together all the people who were experts in the law, and in Messianic prophecy, and asked them where the Messiah was supposed to be born.
5. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” the learned men replied, “for this is what the prophet Micah has written:
6. ‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not in any way the least among Judah’s rulers: for out of you will come a ruler who will be the Shepherd of my people Israel.’”
7. Then Herod called for a secret meeting with the Magi in an attempt to find out if what they knew from their astrological charts lined up with what the Scriptures had predicted.
8. But these magicians had no knowledge of the prophetic Scriptures, so he said to them, “Go to Bethlehem and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you locate him, report back to me so that I may go and worship Him.”
9. After they conferred with the king, they went on their way and could actually see the star ahead of them. It literally seemed to move, guiding them to Bethlehem until it appeared to stop over the place where the child was.
10. When they saw the star that they had anticipated for so long, they were absolutely overjoyed. Of all the signs and wonders that they had seen and performed, this was different…this was the most spectacular! And this was proof that the heavens really do declare the glory of God, as David had said, and that even those who were not of the seed of Abraham could see it, even without a knowledge of the Scriptures.
11. On entering the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary and instinctively bowed down and worshipped Him. While everyone else in Israel was oblivious, these Persian magicians were the very first to recognize and worship the King! Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, providing Him and His family with enough wealth to last a lifetime.
(Matthew 2:1-11, MATTHEW IN THE NOW)