Get the basic feed and notifications working first.  The other stuff is nice, but they don't matter if the basic feed doesn't work.  I do want both basic and  long form notes in my feed and need pictures.  The rest is gravy.


When I lived in South Florida, I went to a Jamaican restaurant that served curried goat.  It was quite good, but it had shards of bone mixed in with the meat.  I always imagined someone in the back beating a goat with a sledgehammer to soften and break up the bones.  I don't know how the shards of bone were made.


freeborn | ἐλεύθερος


This can't go on forever.  When are we going to see things fall apart?  I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet.


My husband was a delegate for Ron Paul and I was an alternate at the RNC convention for Ron Paul (2012?).  It was eye opening.  Ron Paul is amazing.  The RNC, is corrupt to the extreme.

freeborn | ἐλεύθερος


I did.  Thank you.  I tried to respond to it, but I guess it didn't go through.  I'll use the money to fund giving away books as a ministry to people.  So far, I've given away more than I've sold, but it is meant as a ministry, not a money making enterprise.  Of course it would be nice to break even instead of going in the hole.


I may go back.  I switched because I could copy and paste and not have to do any formatting to what I pasted because it carried over the formatting.  With Habla.news which I used first and the most, I had to redo most of the formatting and it wouldn't let me italicize or bold inside a quote.

Neither is perfect.  I just have to decide which features are most important to me and which anomalies are most irritating to me.


The King James is the most poetic version and it is pretty accurate.  I think the ESV and NASB are slightly more accurate because they are word for work translations that are based on older copies of the Bible.  That being said, I don't think there are any major errors in the KJV.

The NLT is a paraphrase, but is probably the most accurate paraphrase.  It makes it easier to understand, but can introduce misinterpretation errors.  My son has down syndrome and so the KJV, ESV, and NASB are hard for him to understand.  The NLT  seems to be the best compromise between staying true to the original texts and being understandable for him.  Generally I refuse to use any paraphrase Bibles.


I agree.


If you use the NIV, make sure you use the original NIV which was pretty good.  The new version went woke.


Using tags on our posts and training new users to search with tags, might help them find people that interest them and when they find interesting people and engage with them, then those people engage back.

Too often those of us who have been here a while, have curated our feeds to the stuff we like and don't regularly go looking for new users to follow.

People used to use the #grownostr  tag for non-bitcoin stuff and it helped people find content to follow.  Maybe we should get back in the habbit again.


One time my phone tried to install it without my permission.  I was raging mad.


It did it again today.


I'm betting if they stopped the illegals, most of the trash would disappear.


I just read a post about a company that is screening for supposed IQ.  They make 100 embryos, pick one or two and discard the rest.  That is so sad.


I used it mostly to stay in touch with my missionary friends around the world.  We even used facebook to coordinate relief supplies to Chile when they had the bad earthquake something like 15 years ago.  It worked well for that.  The algorithms weren't so bad back then.  Facebook is terrible now (or at least the last time I used it which was several years ago, probably sometime before covid).

I refused to have it on my phone, ever.


I haven't been on facebook for several years and before that, I would check in once on the weekend and search for particular international friends to see what's up.  Now most of my international missionary friends have come back to the states and I don't need it.


GM


Check out:

- [God Demonstrates His Power: ](https://trustjesus.substack.com/p/god-demonstrates-his-power)Part 1 (Egypt)

- [God Defends His Honor](https://trustjesus.substack.com/p/god-defends-his-honor): Part 2 (Phillistines)

- [The One True God:](https://trustjesus.substack.com/p/the-one-true-god) Part 3 (Who deserves worship)

In the Old Testament, God’s actions were primarily aimed at proving His existence, His power, and His holiness to Israel. He did many miracles before the Gentiles, but He definitely focused on His chosen people.

In the New Testament, God expands knowledge of Him starting with His chosen people. He also includes others in His promises and knowledge of Him. His miracles go beyond showing who He is. They go to the ultimate miracle — salvation from our sins.

## Incarnation

Jesus was God from the beginning. He is “*the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end*.” (Revelation 22:13) In the Gospels, the Bible tells us how the God and creator of the universe came down to earth and was born physically as a man — becoming the same flesh as His creation.

How an eternal, all-powerful being becomes a zygote in a woman’s womb and is born of a virgin is beyond what any of us can fully understand, but is one of God’s greatest miracles. This allowed our Creator to become our kinsmen redeemer and pay the price for our sins. This allowed our Creator to live a perfect, sinless human life, like we are unable to do, so He could become the ultimate once-for-all sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus’s incarnation, perfect life, and horrible death show us how much our Creator loves us and is willing to do to fix the relationship that we broke with Him.

## Miracles

While Jesus lived a perfect life to show us how we should live, he also performed many miracles to show everyone that He was not just a man, but was also God. His miracles included[1](https://trustjesus.substack.com/p/jesus-is-god#footnote-1-149741575)(footnote copied to bottom):

**Physical Healings**

- Healing Peter's mother-in-law of a fever

- Cleansing a man with leprosy

- Healing a centurion's paralyzed servant

- Healing a paralytic lowered through the roof

- Healing a man's withered hand

- Restoring sight to two blind men

- Healing a deaf mute

- Healing blind Bartimaeus

- Healing the bleeding woman

- Restoring a servant's severed ear

**Exorcisms**

- Driving out an evil spirit in Capernaum

- Healing a demon-possessed mute man

- Casting demons into a herd of pigs

- Healing the Syrophoenician woman's demon-possessed daughter

- Healing a boy possessed by a spirit

**Nature Miracles**

- Turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana

- Calming the storm on the sea

- Feeding the 5,000

- Walking on water

- Feeding the 4,000

- Causing the fig tree to wither

- Miraculous catch of fish

**Raising the Dead**

- Raising the widow's son at Nain

- Raising Jairus' daughter

- Raising Lazarus from the dead

**Other Miracles**

- Finding the coin in the fish's mouth

- Jesus' resurrection

Jesus did so many amazing miracles that nobody should doubt that He is the incarnate God.

Of course the most miraculous of His miracles was taking our sins upon Himself, dying on the cross, and then rising from the dead on the third day to prove He had conquered death and sin. This miracle was not primarily for the Jews in Israel. The good news, of what God had done, was witnessed to everyone “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8b)

This miracle wasn’t just for Israel. It wasn’t just for Israel’s enemies. It wasn’t just for the Middle East. This miracle was for the whole world. His faithful followers have been copying His word (Bibles) to keep the details of what He has done for us alive. His word has been translated, so those around the globe can read it in their own language. His followers have left their homes to share the good news with those from foreign lands.

God did a miraculous work to change the hearts of those who trust in Him and those people having been sharing what God did for them for almost 2,000 years.

Some have heard the gospel and rejoiced. Some have heard the gospel and rejected it. Even worse, some have tried to stop the spread of the gospel, but God does not allow His word to be stopped.

So far in history, some have seen God’s power, trusted Him, and followed Him in obedience. Others have rejected Him and continued in their error to the point of even trying to destroy His followers. A time is coming when all will see who God really is and they will all fall down in awe, wonder, fear, and worship. Anyone who waits till the end will be rejected and miss the blessings that God worked so hard to orchestrate through history. I’ll share more about God’s final show of power in my next post.

Trust Jesus.\
\
your sister in Christ,

Christy

Bible verses are NASB (New American Standard Bible) 1995 edition unless otherwise stated

1.
   I’ll admit I used perplexity.ai to list the miracles of Jesus to save time. I double checked the miracles listed from what I know of the Bible and it is accurate. I believe this link will give you all of the details and the links to the Bible references to the miracles. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/give-me-the-miracles-of-jesus-UGKDbkICTHKt96dn5.bkyQ\
   I’ll admit I used perplexity.ai to list the miracles of Jesus to save time. I double checked the miracles listed from what I know of the Bible and it is accurate. I believe this link will give you all of the details and the links to the Bible references to the miracles. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/give-me-the-miracles-of-jesus-UGKDbkICTHKt96dn5.bkyQ

God Makes Himself Known, Part 4 (Jews & Gentiles)


Do not  put your faith in king makers.


Yep, they think they know more than everyone else, but they are just more indoctrinated than everyone else.


I thought highlighter had stopped keeping the formatting when I copy articles from my substack to nostr.  It ends up, when I paste the article, it is pasting it once without any formatting and once with formatting, so all I have to do is delete the unformatted duplicate text at the beginning.  This was so weird.


This was ready and went out on substack on Wednesday, October 16, 2024, but I missed posting on nostsr.

Check out:

- [God Demonstrates His Power: ](https://trustjesus.substack.com/p/god-demonstrates-his-power)Part 1 (Egypt)

- [God Defends His Honor](https://trustjesus.substack.com/p/god-defends-his-honor): Part 2 (Phillistines)

Many people today talk as if there are many ways to God or that all religions really worship the same god. This is not true. It is a lie from Satan. There is only one true God. There is only one way to God—through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

Through this event in history, the God of the Bible made Himself known as the one true God, the God who answered with fire in an unfathomable way.

## Elijah vs Baal

It isn’t just foreign people that need to know the power of God; it is also God’s own people, Israel.

> Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him. It came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and **went to serve Baal and worshiped him. So he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria. Ahab also made the Asherah. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him**. (1 Kings 16:30-33) {emphasis mine}

Ahab and his foreign wife, Jezebel, “*did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him*.” They worshipped multiple false Gods and persecuted the believers in the one true God. Therefore God used Elijah to make clear who was really God.

> Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, surely there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” (1 Kings 17:1)

God’s first action was to stop the rain and cause a severe drought throughout the land. God provided for the needs of His servant and prophet Elijah. First He used Ravens to feed him. Then He used a Sidonian widow to provide for him. God also did a miracle to bring the Sidonian widow’s son back to life, but God had only begun to teach Ahab and the Israelites who the one, true God is.

> When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is this you, you troubler of Israel?” He said, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because **you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed the Baals. Now then send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah**, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” (1 Kings 18:17-19) {emphasis mine}

Ahab accused Elijah of being the troubler of Israel when, in fact, it was Ahab who was the troubler because he was the one leading Israel astray. Do we see this today? We constantly see the people, whose sins cause trouble, accusing others of the very sin that they are guilty of committing.

God was going to prove who was the real, true God. He was going to pit His single prophet, Elijah, against all 450 of the prophets of Baal.

> Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? **If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word**. (1 Kings 18:21) {emphasis mine}

Elijah challenged the people to follow their God (the one, true God), but they stayed silent and wouldn’t stand up for the truth. How often today do we see believers who are afraid to speak up for the truth? They would rather please the people around them than their creator God. Our sinful, human nature never changes.

> Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. **Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God**.” And all the people said, “That is a good idea.” (1 Kings 18:21) {emphasis mine}

I’m sure everyone, especially the prophets of Baal, were shocked when they were called upon to offer a sacrifice, but they had to rely on their god to provide the fire. They couldn’t light a fire themselves as they had always done. They all had to wait to see which god, if any, was powerful enough to create fire out of nothing, with no help from man.

Being dramatic, Elijah and God, had the prophets of Baal go first. These prophets of the false god, Baal, picked their ox and their altar and started chanting.

> Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “**O Baal, answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered**. And they leaped about the altar which they made. It came about at noon, that **Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.”** So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. When midday was past, they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; **but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.** (1 Kings 18:26-29) {emphasis mine}

This was a pathetic attempt to get a man-made idol to act. The prophets chanted; they cut themselves; they raved, “*but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention*.” There was nothing these people could do to make their false god do anything. With blood, sweat, and tears, they failed.

I’ll admit I so enjoy Elijah’s mocking, “*Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened*.” A god that needs rest isn’t much of a god and Elijah makes his point clear to the prophets, but even more to the people watching and waiting for a response.

By the end of the day, it says “*and no one paid attention*.” Which god to worship was everything, but back then, just as today, people lose interest quickly and don’t put the time and effort into important things like they should.

> Then **Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me**.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. **Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob**, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” So with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and **he made a trench around the altar**, large enough to hold two measures of seed. Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “**Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.**” And he said, “Do it **a second time**,” and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it **a third time**,” and they did it a third time. The **water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water**. (1 Kings 18:26-29) {emphasis mine}

When Elijah’s turn to call on God came, he was different. He called the people to come and pay attention. He rebuilt the altar of the Lord using 12 uncut stones for the 12 tribes of Israel as had been prescribed by God. Then, in order to make sure nobody could possibly believe anyone, except God, had brought fire, He poured four pitchers of water on the altar three times so the altar, the wood, and the sacrifice were sopping wet. It is unlikely any person could start a fire until this mess dried out, but a person didn’t need to start the fire. The omnipotent, creator God was going to bring fire and nothing could stop Him. When God acts, He acts in a big way.

> At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, **today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant** and I have done all these things at Your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.” Then **the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.** (1 Kings 18:36-38) {emphasis mine}

Elijah prayed that God would let the people know that there is a true God in Israel. Then “*the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench*.” The prophets of Baal had prayed, cried out, and cut themselves all day long with no hint of a response, but when Elijah gave a simple prayer asking God to reveal Himself fire instantly came down from heaven. It didn’t just light a fire; it didn’t just burn the offering; but the fire consumed the wood, offering, stones, dust, and water. God didn’t leave the option to not believe. He made His power immediately obvious to everyone in attendance.

> When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.” (1 Kings 18:36-38)

The people, who had been silent and not said a word, now fell on their faces and repeated, “*The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God*!” They realized their sinfulness and they realized God’s awesomeness, so they worshipped — real worship. There was no more nonchalance. There was no more waffling between gods. They knew who was God and they fell down in worship.

God was merciful to His people and displayed such power that they could do nothing except worship Him. For those who had led them astray, the prophets of Baal, there was no mercy and they were put to death.

Shortly after, Elijah prayed, and it rained a torrential rain that watered the parched land.

God once again led his chosen people back to Him. Unfortunately, they never stayed faithful. Even when one generation was mostly faithful, within a generation or two, they were back to worshipping false gods.

It might make you wonder why an all-knowing God would pick a people who were so consistently unfaithful. I think it was to show His own faithfulness. He was showing the world that His word is true.

> If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Timothy 2:13)

Trust Jesus.\
\
your sister in Christ,

Christy

Bible verses are NASB (New American Standard Bible) 1995 edition unless otherwise stated

God Makes Himself Known, Part 3 (Who deserves worship)


Under normal circumstances, I scoff at everyone calling each and every election "the most important election ever," but in this case, I think it is probably be true.  I'm concerned if the election goes the wrong way that we won't have elections, free speech, health freedom, or gun rights anymore.


Yikes!


Both countries seem to try to get people to either vote how they are told by the media or to vote for the person who says "nice" things.  Ability, principles, and trustability don't seem to be considered by so many.


I've definitely experienced this in many areas.  I used to be very into sports.  Now I couldn't care less about sports.  It seems so trivial and unimportant.  My poor husband thought he was marrying a sports fan and now I don't care even a tiny bit.

There are just so many things that no longer seem important.  My priorities have changed since marrying, running a business, having kids, and most of all getting closer to God.


Breaking the programming is painful, but definitely worth it.


On a related topic, I was listening to John Leake on the Courageous Discourse substack and he likened the way all views that oppose those in power (in general) and particularly die-hard Democrats, are treated as apostate for all opposing views as if they had broken religious mores.  He commented that it was almost like the world was regressing to a time before the enlightenment when those in authority controlled acceptable "truth" and all who opposed were destroyed.  It is almost like we are reentering the dark ages.

John Leake explained it better than I did, but I thought it was quite inciteful.


I haven't had trouble with them although I know why they could be considered snobby.  Americans are loud, obnoxious and expect everyone on the planet to speak English to them.  Most people can and do.  The French tend to make you work a little for it, especially older French people  (at least this was true 30ish years ago).  If Americans ask a question in English, they will frequently play dumb.  If you then make an attempt at speaking French, even if you do a terrible job, they will answer you in clear English.  It never upset me.  Us Americans do tend to be too America-centric and can't see beyond our own nation and our own language.

I wish I was better at  foreign languages.  I used to know a little of several languages (some very little), but I haven't used them in so long, there isn't much left of any of them. Now I only speak menu (meaning I can read a menu in multiple languages, but especially French and Spanish).


Your deep description of word meanings and helping to define thanks made me think of going to France with my family when I was in highschool.

My dad is very bad with languages.  We went into a French restaurant for dinner and a lady offered to take his coat.  My dad, making his best attempt, says in a loud American voice, "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy!"  They(the French) and we (my mom, my sister and I) all broke down laughing.  He was making his best attempt to say, "merci" (thank you), but it sounded like a cry for help.


I'm really enjoying listening to the Renewing Your Mind podcast, that is mostly R.C. Sproul sermons.  I've got his book, "Hard Sayings" in my Amazon cart to buy soon.  He really speaks God's truth and doesn't shy away from the hard sayings like so many pastors.


There have been many so called gods throughout the history of mankind. All but one have been created by man (or possibly fallen angels) and formed by man’s hands. Only the God of the Bible created man, formed man & breathed breath into him, and revealed Himself to mankind.

The God of the Bible does not need man to defend Him. (Believers are called to be “… *ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you* …”(1 Peter 3:15) and to stand up for the truth.) The God of the Bible is the only God who is able to fight for Himself and His honor with no help from His creation. This story from 1 Samuel is an inspiring and humorous story that shows God’s ability to defend Himself even when none of His “followers” are doing a good job of following.

The Philistines Eli’s son’s, Hophni and Phinehas, carried the Ark of the Covenant with the Israelite army into battle against the Philistines and Hophni & Phinehas were killed, the Israelite army was defeated, and the Ark of the Covenant was captured.

God had been disrespected by the Israelites in general and the priests in particular, so God allowed them to be defeated by their enemies. This however doesn’t mean that He allowed His name to be dishonored.

> Now the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon. When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, **Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord**. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again. (1 Samuel 5:1-3a) {emphasis mine}

When the Philistines put the Ark into the temple of their “god,” they put the Ark before Dagon as a sign of submission, but the one true God doesn’t need anyone to defend Him. When the people returned the next day, their “god” Dagon was face down, prostrate before the Earthly throne of God. The real God cast down the false god/idol in the ultimate position of submission and worship.

The Philistines, however, weren’t ready to submit to the real God yet.

> So they took Dagon and set him in his place again. But when they arose early the next morning, behold, **Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off** on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him. (1 Samuel 5:3b-4) {emphasis mine}

After the Philistines sat their “god” up again (because he couldn’t set himself up), the real God cast him face down again, but this time removed his head and his hands (his mind and his ability to act). You have to love God’s sense of humor showing them who was really God, but like most people, they were slow learners and didn’t want to change their worldview.

> Now the hand of the Lord was heavy on the Ashdodites, and He ravaged them and **smote them with tumors**, both Ashdod and its territories. When the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, “**The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is severe on us and on Dagon our god**.” So they sent and gathered all the lords of the Philistines to them and said, “**What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel**?” And they said, “**Let the ark of the God of Israel be brought around to Gath**.” And they brought the ark of the God of Israel around. (1 Samuel 5:6-8) {emphasis mine}

When the Philistines still wouldn’t listen, God attacked them personally by smiting “them with tumors.” Fear overcame them, so they sent the Ark to another Philistine city, Gath. They didn’t worship the one, true God. They didn’t return the Ark. They just passed the misery to another of their cities.

> After they had brought it around, the hand of the Lord was against the city with very great confusion; and **He smote the men of the city, both young and old, so that tumors broke out on them. So they sent the ark of God to Ekron**. And as the ark of God came to Ekron the **Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to us, to kill us and our people**.” (1 Samuel 5:6-8) {emphasis mine}

As the Ark arrived in Gath, the people of Gath had tumors break out, so the people of Gath sent the Ark on to Ekron. The Ekronites realized what was about to befall them and cried out saying, “*They have brought the ark of the God of Israel around to us, to kill us and our people*.” After seven months of various cities being ravaged by God, they finally called their diviners in order to try to figure out what to do to stop this plague.

> They said, “**If you send away the ark of the God of Israel, do not send it empty; but you shall surely return to Him a guilt offering**. Then you will be healed and it will be known to you why His hand is not removed from you.” Then they said, “What shall be the guilt offering which we shall return to Him?” And they said, “**Five golden tumors and five golden mice according to the number of the lords of the Philistines**, for one plague was on all of you and on your lords. So you shall make likenesses of your tumors and likenesses of your mice that ravage the land, and **you shall give glory to the God of Israel; perhaps He will ease His hand from you, your gods, and your land**. (1 Samuel 6:3-5) {emphasis mine}

God hates divination, but this was the first wise action taken by the Philistines. They started to show proper respect for the one true God, even if they didn’t really understand that He wasn’t just another god, but the one and only God. The one thing they did understand was that they should give a guilt offering to ask forgiveness for their sins against God.

> Why then do you harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? When He had severely dealt with them, did they not allow the people to go, and they departed? (1 Samuel 6:6)

They also had seen God’s majesty and wrath with respect to the Egyptians and Pharaoh and didn’t want to suffer what Egypt suffered for refusing to obey God. They feared God, but they didn’t want to submit to Him and they really didn’t want to submit to the Israelites, so they decided to put God to a test:

> Now therefore, take and prepare a new cart and two milch cows on which there has never been a yoke; and hitch the cows to the cart and take their calves home, away from them. Take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you return to Him as a guilt offering in a box by its side. Then send it away that it may go. **Watch, if it goes up by the way of its own territory to Beth-shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we will know that it was not His hand that struck us; it happened to us by chance**.” (1 Samuel 6:7-9) {emphasis mine}

The Creator of the universe didn’t have any trouble with the Philistine’s test. The Philistines had two nursing cows yoked to a cart with the Ark on it. They wanted to see if these nursing cows would head home to their nursing calves as would be expected, or would they take the Ark home to Israel? What do you think happened? Of course, the cows took the Ark straight to Israel to the very city, Beth-shemesh, that the Philistines had specified. He proved without a shadow of a doubt that He was God.

If only the Israelites showed as much respect. Many of the residents of Beth-shemesh died because they disobeyed and looked into the Ark. The one true God is omnipotent, but He is also holy and must be treated as such.

God made sure His people and these pagan foreigners knew His power and He didn’t need any help.

Just as was shown in my last post, this historical event demonstrated God’s power to His people and to foreigners. When God’s chosen people refused to show Him proper reverence, He corrected them and corrected those surrounding them.

Trust Jesus.

your sister in Christ,

Christy

Bible verses are NASB (New American Standard Bible) 1995 edition unless otherwise stated

God Makes Himself Known, Part 2 (Phillistines)


Glad I can help.

It does look like DMSO also effects water because it binds to water more than water.

Yes, MSM is a metabolite and has some benefit as well.


Any excuse to kill off whites, males, Christians, and conservatives.

freeborn | ἐλεύθερος


freeborn | ἐλεύθερος


No but he could become the man behind the throne.  Sometimes that person effectively has more power without the responsibility.

Elon is such a mixed bag.  He'll do one thing that is wonderful.  He has talked about helping Trump cut the federal government by 80%.  That sounds wonderful, but he has done and said other things that show he likes government handouts and has some tyrannical tendencies.  I never know what to think about him.

Maybe Elon and Trump are made for each other.  They both have some really good traits and some really bad ones.


It is horrible that electric vehicle fires can burn your house down, but with the twisted way insurance works, if your house burns down, insurance pays for your house to be rebuilt.  If it gets flooded, insurance won't pay.  It could be worth renting electric vehicles and parking them in your garage when a bad storm is coming.  If the flooding gets high enough to cause major damage, your rental car will probably explode burning down the house and allowing you to claim fire damage rather than water damage.

We really have perverse incentives in our messed up system.

nostr:nevent1qqs2udhl80e6qs8j5s42tl4s6s6evakc9r25e5c745e9r4trsg2v26gpr4mhxue69uhkummnw3ezucnfw33k76twv4ezuum0vd5kzmp0qgspvjzhxgd8krn5q0sg7xl0szt84j5nshaaup9hrk3wgsqssg75dtgurdhnn


It is horrible that electric vehicle fires can burn your house down, but with the twisted way insurance works, if your house burns down, insurance pays for your house to be rebuilt.  If it gets flooded, insurance won't pay.  It could be worth renting electric vehicles and parking them in your garage when a bad storm is coming.  If the flooding gets high enough to cause major damage, your rental car will probably explode burning down the house and allowing you to claim fire damage rather than water damage.

We really have perverse incentives in our messed up system.


I've only gotten a single notification since 10/6, but when I go to Iris (although I find it much harder to navigate than coracle) I see lots of likes and comments.


Probably not.  I just figured it out and have been busy


We've been in Luke a lot lately.  My pastor is going through Luke right now and my son's Awana program is going through Luke and we are studying Luke 4 right now.


If I've missed responding to anyone, sorry.  I usually use coracle, but coracle won't show me any comments or likes since 10/6, so I was missing them.  I've been able to see a few on Iris, but I find Iris less user friendly.


Praying that you and your family will stay safe and that you will be a light for God in the storm to your neighbors.


Yes there were definitely Angels that came down and created children (It is the children that are the Nephilim) that were human/angel hybrids.  I believe that one of the big reasons for the global flood was because of this corruption of the human race, which was part of Satan's plan to so corrupt the human race that Jesus, the messiah couldn't come to redeem humanity.  If you read Genesis 6 you'll see the cause:

"5Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”

I always assumed that the only reason for the destruction was that "every intent of the thoughts of his [mankind's] heart was only evil continually."  I always missed the verses right before these:

"1Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land, and daughters were born to them, 2that the sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose. 3Then the Lord said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 4The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown."

This is the verses about the "sons of God" (angels) coming down to the "daughters of men" (human women) and having children with them.  God had to wipe out the corrupted semi-humans because he would only be kinsmen redeemer of the true, God created humans.

I also used to wonder why God had Israel wipe out every man, woman and child of certain groups in Canaan.  I thought it was solely so they wouldn't be led astray, but the groups they were told to destroy were peoples that included giants, especially the rephaim.  I now believe these people were also corrupted with fallen angel DNA and that is why there was no mercy on them.  This aligns with the Scripture and seems to better align with God's character as revealed in the rest of Scripture.

Jimmy Evans, who focuses on end times prophecy, has interviewed several guys with books on the nephilim (fallen angel/human hybrids).  I actually bought two of them.  One had too much repetition and I lost interest.  "On the Trail of the Nephilim: Giant Skeletons & Ancient Megalithic Structures" by L.A. Marzulli was fascinating.  It goes through old newspaper articles mentioning giant skeletons in North America, giant henges (circular megalithic mounds) in the NE US, and amazing megalithic structures and strange skulls in South America.  I'm unsure if I agree on all of his conclusions (don't agree or disagree), but the evidence he shows is amazing.  I couldn't put the book down.


*This series started out as one article, but turned into a 5 part series because it got so long.*

I know the God of the Bible is all powerful (Omnipotent), all knowing (omniscient), and always & everywhere present (omipresent). Sometimes I wonder why He allows His name to be disgraced so badly. As His creation, I will likely never know, until I reach Heaven, but I enjoy reading some of the history in the Bible that tells of times when He did make sure everyone knew He was God of the Universe and there are no other God’s besides Him.

God’s greatest miracles are described in Genesis 1-11 and include speaking everything into existence, His global flood judgement, and confusing the languages of the people at the tower of Babel. One thing the confusion of languages did was to cause the knowledge of God to start to fade because people could only tell about God to their small group that spoke their own language. The people could also no longer read their historical documents to learn about Him.

The story of God’s miraculous rescue of His chosen people, Israel, from Egypt is God making Himself known again to the people of the world.

## Egyptian Plagues

After the Israelites had been living in Egypt for 400 years, much of it in slavery, God called Moses to go to Pharaoh to demand the release of the Israelites. After a little argument by Moses, God allowed Moses’s brother, Aaron, to do most of the talking while Moses performed the miracles God had empowered him to perform. It didn’t take much to convince the Israelites, but it took a lot more to convince the Pharaoh.

> And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘**Let My people go** that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ” But **Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice** to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:1-2) {emphasis mine}

When Pharaoh was commanded by God, through Moses and Aaron, to let God’s people go, Pharaoh mocked God. He wasn’t used to being commanded to do anything. Pharaoh was used to being treated as not only a king, but a god. Instead of letting the Israelites go, he made their slave labor harder than it had been before causing the Israelites to complain against Moses and God, rather than Pharaoh.

> Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.” (Exodus 6:1)

God promised Moses and the Israelites to work great signs and to force Pharaoh to let them go.

> Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I make you as God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land. **But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart that I may multiply My signs and My wonders** in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 7:1-3) {emphasis mine}

God worked through His servants and hardened His enemies’ hearts, so that He might “*multiply My signs and My wonders*.” God was going to teach the Israelites, Egypt, and all of the nations around them that He is the all powerful God of all.

God’s miracles started small (turning a staff into a serpent), so at first it seemed like the priests of Egypt could duplicate God’s miracles, but then God really started to impress.

God produced a succession of miraculous judgments on Egypt and Pharaoh.

 1. “*By this you shall know that I am the Lord: behold, I will strike the **water that is in the Nile** with the staff that is in my hand, and it will be **turned to blood**. The fish that are in the Nile will die, and the Nile will become foul, and the Egyptians will find difficulty in drinking water from the Nile*.” (Exodus 7:17-18)

 2. “*Let My people go, that they may serve Me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs. The Nile will **swarm with frogs**, which will come up and go into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and on your people, and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls*.” (Exodus 8:1b-3)

 3. *Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were gnats on man and beast. All the **dust of the earth became gnats** through all the land of Egypt.* (Exodus 8:17)

 4. “*Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For if you do not let My people go, behold, I will send **swarms of flies on you and on your servants** and on your people and into your houses; and the houses of the Egyptians will be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground on which they dwell. But on that day I will **set apart the land of Goshen**, where My people are living, so that no swarms of flies will be there, in order that you may know that I, the Lord, am in the midst of the land.”* (Exodus 8:20b-22) NOTE: This plague only affected the Egyptians. The land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived, did not have the plague of the flies.

 5. “*Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For if you refuse to let them go and continue to hold them, behold, the hand of the Lord will come with a **very severe pestilence on your livestock** which are in the field, on the horses, on the donkeys, on the camels, on the herds, and on the flocks. But **the Lord will make a distinction between the livestock of Israel and the livestock of Egypt**, so that nothing will die of all that belongs to the sons of Israel*.”  (Exodus 9:1b-4)

 6. *So they took soot from a kiln, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses threw it toward the sky, and **it became boils breaking out with sores on man and beast**. The magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils, for the boils were on the magicians as well as on all the Egyptians.* (Exodus 9:10-11)

 7. *“Behold, about this time tomorrow, I will send **a very heavy hail**, such as has not been seen in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. Now therefore send, **bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety**. Every man and beast that is found in the field and is not brought home, when the hail comes down on them, will die.”* (Exodus 9:18-19) NOTE: God protected everyone, Israelite & Egyptian, who obeyed His command to bring everyone and everything in from the field. Those who refused to obey lost animal and human lives.

 8. “*Thus says the Lord, the God of the Hebrews, ‘How long will you refuse to humble yourself before Me? Let My people go, that they may serve Me. For if you refuse to let My people go, behold, tomorrow **I will bring locusts into your territory**. They shall cover the surface of the land, so that no one will be able to see the land. They will also eat the rest of what has escaped—what is left to you from the hail—and they will eat every tree which sprouts for you out of the field*.” (Exodus 10:3-5)

 9. *Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the sky, that there may be **darkness over the land of Egypt, even a darkness which may be felt.**” So Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for t**hree days**. **They did not see one another, nor did anyone rise from his place for three days, but all the sons of Israel had light in their dwellings**.* (Exodus 10:21-23)

10. “*Thus says the Lord, ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, and **all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die**, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well. Moreover, there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again. But against any of the sons of Israel a dog will not even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may understand how **the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel**.’ All these your servants will come down to me and bow themselves before me, saying, ‘Go out, you and all the people who follow you,’ and after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger*.” (Exodus 11:4-8)

After the loss of Pharaoh’s first born son and heir, he had had enough and was ready to comply with God’s command.

> Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead. Then he called for Moses and Aaron at night and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the sons of Israel; and go, worship the Lord, as you have said. Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and go, and bless me also.” (Exodus 12:30-32)

At the exact time that God had planned, Pharaoh acquiesced and let God’s people go. It took Pharaoh losing his son and his heir, but he finally submitted and let them all go, but God had one more major miracle to do in order to glorify His name and teach the Israelites to trust Him.

## Crossing the Red Sea

After mourning over their first born, Pharaoh and his officials realized that they had lost their slave labor. They chased after the Israelites. The Egyptians trapped the Israelites at the edge of the Red Sea and the Israelites, despite seeing all of God’s wonders, complained as they feared man more than they feared God.

> But Moses said to the people, “**Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord** which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.”
>
> Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. As for you, **lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land**. (Exodus 14:13-16) {emphasis mine}

God then put a cloud pillar between the Egyptians and the Israelites, so the Egyptians couldn’t see the Israelites and so there was light for the Israelites as they escaped the trap of the Egyptians.

> Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and **turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided. The sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left**. (Exodus 14:21-22) {emphasis mine}

God miraculously parted the waters, enabled the Israelites to cross on dry land, and then had the waters return drowning all of the Egyptian soldiers after His people had safely crossed the Red Sea. This event was such a big deal that other nations that met the Israelites were afraid because they had heard what God had done for His people.

## Purpose for Israel

God had made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to make them a great nation. God’s miraculous actions to free the Israelites and take them to the promised land was not only Him working to fulfill this promise, but it was making Himself known to Israel, so that they would know the God who worked for their good.

Sadly, after seeing all of these miracles, the Israelites continued to be unfaithful. God provided mana from heaven, but they complained about not having meat. God brought quail into their camp. They complained about not having water and God brought water out of a rock. God revealed Himself to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai and they were so fearful, they asked to not see Him, but to have Moses as their intercessor. When Moses went up on the mountain to get the Ten Commandments from God, they got tired of waiting and made a molten calf to worship saying, “*This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt*.” (Exodus 32:4)

Could it get any worse? Oh yes, it could. When God brought them to the land He was giving them, they got scared and refused to enter. When God told them they would have to spend forty years in the wilderness because of their disbelief and disobedience, they then tried to conquer the land without God’s help and were badly defeated. It is amazing how some people refuse to be faithful to their faithful God despite all of the miracles He does for them.

I also love that God made Himself known to the gentiles (those who were not descendants of Jacob). He made Himself known to the Egyptians to the point that there may have been a corrupted form of worship of the true God in Egypt for a generation or two because they changed from worshipping a pantheon of gods to worshipping a single God before going back to their old traditions.

When the Israelites got to the promised land, the people there knew what God had done to Egypt and for Israel. They were afraid, even when the Israelites returned after their forty years wandering in the wilderness.

God had made Himself known in a special way to his chosen people, but He had made Himself known to people of many nations.

Trust Jesus.\
\
your sister in Christ,

Christy

Bible verses are NASB (New American Standard Bible) 1995 edition unless otherwise stated


I agree.  I have some significant concerns with Trump, but I think the Democrats controlling the government will be the end of America as we know it, and like to think it is.


I was recently reading Judges and I saw the story in a whole new way.  I saw it as an example of ungodly male role models.  I am going to start with the familiar story of Samson and his obvious mistakes and ungodly actions, but then trace them back to his father and how lesser sins may have led to Samson’s very unwise actions.

### Samson - Ungodly Son

Samson was a judge of Israel.  He was supposed to lead the people of Israel in faithfully following God, but failed miserably at being faithful himself.  Obviously his biggest problem was his obsession with ungodly women.

> Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons.  (Deuteronomy 7:3)

Samson ignored this command given to the Israelites right before they entered the land of Canaan before it became Israel.  Samson saw a nice looking Philistine woman and asked for her to be his wife.

>  So he came back and told his father and mother, “**I saw a woman** in Timnah, one of the daughters **of the Philistines**; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.” Then his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” But Samson said to his father, “**Get her for me, for she looks good to me**.”   (Judges 14:2-3)  {emphasis mine}

Samson picked his wife based solely on looks.  He said, “*she looks good to me*.”  He didn’t seek a godly wife.  He didn’t even seek an Israelite wife.  He just chased after what looked good to him.  Just as is repeated in Judges, “*everyone did what was right in his own eyes*,” Samson “*did what was right in his own eyes*.”  When we seek what looks good to us instead of what God tells us is good for us, we always make a huge mistake.

Choosing a Philistine woman as wife was sinful, but like always, God used it for good and for His purpose.

On the way to making arrangements for this ungodly woman to become his wife, Samson was attacked by a lion and killed it.  Later, when going to see his wife, he saw the carcass and bees had made honey in the lion’s carcass.  Samson helped himself to the honey in the lion’s carcass.  To me, that sounds gross.  By this time the lion’s carcass should’ve been putrid, but this was much more awful for Samson.  Samson was a Nazarite to God from conception and by the command of God, Himself.

> Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb;”   (Judges 13:4-5a)

Based on Numbers 6, a Nazarite vow required 3 things:  no alcohol or things made from grapes, no haircuts, and no touching dead/unclean things.  A lion carcass was definitely one of those dead/unclean things and to eat from it would be even worse.  Samson was set apart with a Nazarite vow, but he didn’t care.  He didn’t take it seriously.  He wasn’t faithful to God.

After a riddle that went bad and caused hardship with his wife, Samson’s father-in-law gave his wife to another leading to Samson killing many Philistines.  This destruction of Philistines was God’s will, but Samson did it out of spite, not to honor God.  After being turned over to the Philistines for killing 30 Philistines, Samson then killed a bunch more Philistines.  What did Samson choose as a weapon?  He chose a donkey’s jaw bone.  Both with the killing and with handling the bone of a dead animal, he broke his Nazarite vow again.

Then, since Samson had lost his wife, he went in to a prostitute.

> Now Samson went to Gaza and saw a harlot there, and went in to her. (Judges 16:1)

God had been very clear about adultery and harlotry and it was clearly forbidden, but Samson didn’t even obey God’s 10 commandments.

> ‘You shall not commit adultery.  (Deuteronomy 5:18)

After spending time sinning with this Philistine harlot, he was attacked by the Philistines, but his God given physical strength allowed him to not pay the consequences of his actions, so he didn’t learn.

Once again, his lust led him astray.

> After this it came about that **he loved a woman** in the valley of Sorek, **whose name was Delilah**.  The lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Entice him, and see where his great strength lies and how we may overpower him that we may bind him to afflict him.  Then we will each give you eleven hundred pieces of silver.”  So Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me where your great strength is and how you may be bound to afflict you.” (Judges 16:4-6)  {emphasis mine}

Once again he became infatuated with a woman with whom he was forbidden to have relations.  His infatuation blinded him.  His ability to get away with evil actions made him not careful.  His God given strength made him trust in himself.

I’ve always thought what follows was a sign that Samson was the dumbest person in the Bible, but maybe it is just what happens when someone gets away with doing wrong repeatedly with no consequences.

Multiple times Delilah says, “*Please tell me where your great strength is and how you may be bound to afflict you*.”  Samson lies multiple times about how his strength can be conquered.  Each time Delilah does what Samson tells her and the Philistines show up to try to overcome him.  Each time Samson conquers his attackers and foolishly returns back to this evil woman who repeatedly betrays him.

Finally Delilah extracts his secret:

> Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have deceived me these three times and have not told me where your great strength is.”  It came about when she pressed him daily with her words and urged him, that his soul was annoyed to death.  So he told her all that was in his heart and said to her, “A razor has never come on my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother’s womb. If I am shaved, then my strength will leave me and I will become weak and be like any other man.” (Judges 16:15-17)

Why did he share the secret of his strength?  He did it because “*his soul was annoyed to death*.”  Why would he stay with this woman who repeatedly betrayed him and who annoyed him to death?  I think it was pure lust.  There was nothing uplifting in this relationship.  There was nothing honoring to God.  Samson was led by lust and it cost him his life.

When Samson finally shared his secret, she shaved his head, brought in Philistines to capture him, and they put out both his eyes and threw him in prison.  Samson was finally punished for his repeated sins, but God used this one last time for His plan and when the Philistines tried to parade Samson before a large crowd in their temple to Dagon, Samson prayed to God, leaned on the pillars in the middle of the temple, and pushed them down killing himself and around 3,000 Philistines.

Yes, Samson destroyed many of the oppressors of Israel as Israel’s judge, but he was an ungodly judge and an awful example to the people.  Samson’s story is sad and has an even sadder ending.  Everyone who lives an ungodly life will end badly.

### Manoah - Failed Spiritual Leadership

I never noticed before, but I’d argue that Samson’s father was not a good spiritual leader either, but had less obvious faults.

> There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son. … Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome.”   (Judges 13:2-3,6a)

When Manoah’s wife came to him to tell him she’d been told they would have a son, he was good and prayed: “*O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born*.” (Judges 13:8b)

When God answered his prayer, he came to his wife.  Why?  Could it be that his wife was the spiritual leader in his household?

> God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.  So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me.”  Then **Manoah arose and followed his wife**,   (Judges 13:9-11a)  {emphasis mine}

 Do you notice what is said?  “Then Manoah arose and followed his wife.”  Yes, it is possible that this was just her showing him where she had seen the angel of God, but lets read on.

> Manoah said, “Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy’s mode of life and his vocation?” So the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Let the woman pay attention to all that I said. She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded.”  (Judges 13:12-14)

Manoah did seek direction from the Lord and the Lord gave Manoah directions on how he should lead his wife regarding their son.  Manoah did try to do right when faced with the Angel of the Lord.

> Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.” The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?” But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on.  For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground.    (Judges 13:15-20)

The question is, did Manoah lead when he was no longer face to face with the pre-incarnate Christ?

> So Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, for we have seen God.”  (Judges 13:22)

No, he did not.  Manoah was afraid and didn’t seem to know what to do.

> But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”  (Judges 13:23)

Manoah’s wife taught Manoah a right view of God and His direction.  His wife led them in what they should do.

Although Manoah wasn’t a bad man and he didn’t act out in blatant error, he didn’t lead spiritually.  He wasn’t the one leading following God.  He wasn’t the one demonstrating faith in God.  He wasn’t the one speaking God’s word as an assurance.

### Lack of Leadership Leads to Unfaithful Son

Did Manoah’s lack of leadership contribute to Samson’s lack of respect for God and God’s law?  Was it Manoah’s lack of leadership on what was right and good that contributed to Samson ignoring the nazarite vow and other commands from God?  Was Samson taught God’s law as a child?  Did Manoah insist that his family obey and live out God’s commands?  I’m thinking he didn’t.

Let’s return to Samson’s first time being misled by a woman.

> Then Samson went down to Timnah and saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines.  So he came back and told his father and mother, “I saw a woman in Timnah, one of the daughters of the Philistines; now therefore, get her for me as a wife.”  Then his father and his mother said to him, “Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines?” (Judges 14:1-3)

At this time, marriages were setup as contracts by the parents.  People didn’t just marry as they wished, so Samson commanded his father to “*get her for me as a wife.*”

There are two problems here.  The first is Samson ordering his father to do something.  This was totally contrary to God’s design and command, but you have to think that Samson was used to getting his way and that his father regularly let him get away with things like this.  Most kids, today and in the past, would not talk to their parents this way.

Second, Manoah knew that this was wrong, but instead of speaking God’s word and refusing, he asked submissively, “*Is there no woman among the daughters of your relatives, or among all our people, that you go to take a wife from the uncircumcised Philistines*?”  When Samson insisted on marrying this forbidden woman, his father gave in to his son.

> Then Samson went down to Timnah with his father and mother, and came as far as the vineyards of Timnah … (Judges 14:5a)

How often do we, as parents, give our kids something that isn’t good for them because they really want it and we want to please them now?  How often do we get busy and miss teaching our kids our knowledge, especially our knowledge of God and His word?  Men, how often do you not step up and lead spiritually because it is easier to let your wife do it?

Most of us are like Manoah.  We aren’t that bad.  We try to honor God.  We try to do what we should, but we don’t necessarily put a lot of effort into our walk with God.  When we don’t fulfill the roles and responsibilities ordained by God, it isn’t only us that suffers.  It frequently is our children that pay the price for our failures.

I beg all of you, but especially men, to study the Bible and step up in the role and responsibility given to you by God.  Lead your family and your children in faithfully following Jesus.  Even when you are tired, lead your family in prayer and Bible reading.  Even when it makes your kids mad at you, stand up for the truth and enforce what is best for them.  Make the time to be there for your family and to do what is for their best.  It not only helps your family, but also helps you grow closer to God.  We are never happier than when we are following God’s plan.

Trust Jesus.\
\
your sister in Christ,

Christy

Bible verses are NASB (New American Standard Bible) 1995 edition unless otherwise stated

Samson: Everyone did what was right in his sight.


I don't read Hebrew, but that is cool.


Great picture.


I've found it baffling that the Biden/Harris administration has not even pretended to care about the destruction and death of people by Hurricane Helene.  They should want to look like they care right before an election, even if they don't actually care.  The fact that they have been so nonchalant and have actually been hindering rescue efforts makes me think that they think they have fixed the election.

 They may have fixed election machines and counters.  They may have an "October Surprise", like another pandemic or war which will allow them to either suspend elections or go to 100% mail-in ballots that can easily be miscounted.  I don't have any evidence , but I've never seen a whole party show such disdain and lack of empathy towards  voters right before an election.

You are likely right that people will finally stand up if there is an obvious fix like 100% mail-in ballots or suspended elections.

For what it is worth, they did just have a bird flu event just like they had Event 201 right before the covid "pandemic".


I don't approve of the unions holding the country hostage in the best of situations, but holding the country hostage, when there are Americans in their area who have lost everything and may die if help and supplies doesn't reach them soon, is horrible.


I expected useless from the government, but they've gone from useless and incompetent, to causing massive harm and preventing individuals and organizations from helping the poor victims of the storm.  It's time to start abolishing departments until the whole behemoth is gone.


It looks like my book, "Why I Need Jesus" is now available in paperback at least on Barnes & Noble.  It is listed on Amazon, but shows unavailable.

I think my paperback was being  rejected because it wasn't linked to my ebook that was already released.

Here is the Barnes & Noble link:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/why-i-need-jesus-christy-kroeker/1145993313?ean=9798227999313

As it becomes available on other sites, this link should show you where you can get ebook and paperback copies.
https://books2read.com/u/3GJ1xr


I tend to think that the cheating will be absolutely massive because those in charge have broken so many laws, if their cheating is exposed they will be ruined, so they will do worse than they have done before.  I also think that Trump will get way more real votes.  What I have no idea about is whether Trump can win by enough extra votes, so that the cheating can be overcome.  Sadly, I have my doubts.

I've also always laughed at every election being called "The most important election ever."  I actually think this is the election that determines whether or not we have any freedom or not (not that we have much left) and whether votes matter at all going forward or whether we become like Venezuela and Iran, where they hold "elections", but the results are predetermined.

I admit that Americans are usually given two choices, that are acceptable to those in power, to vote for.  Even though I think Trump has some major faults, I don't think he is one of those "acceptable" choices and has messed up their system.

We'll see.


Jason Ansley | Fractional COO | $GUARD WDWP#31 $BTC


Cherry picking verses and parts of verses, especially out of context, is definitely very bad, but these days I see people trying to make spiritual arguments based on how they feel and not referencing Scripture at all.  That is even worse.


Praying for your child.

Sometimes stuff like that is digestive problems that can be fixed easily by adding digestive enzymes and/or Betaine HCl.  I take both with every meal.  Both are cheap and non-toxic, so can't hurt.  Digestive enzymes can be found in chewables, but I think the Betaine HCl is only available as a capsule which might not work for a 6 year old.


When you get your blood sugar more in line, you won't need the caffeine so much.  A lot of people need caffeine to raise them out of a blood sugar crash.


Most western governments no longer care about the law.  They will do anything to silence opposing viewpoints and to stay in power.  The law doesn't have any effect in restraining their actions.


I've finally joined the ranks of the GMs.  It felt so awkward to me because there are so many people in distant time zones that I never knew when to say GM.  I'm saying GN when they're saying GM and that just messed me up.


very nice.


For basic web client, I've tried several, but always end up going back to coracle.

I use highligher.com and habla.news for posting long form notes.  I originally used Habla exclusively, but I've now found Highlighter more convenient because I compose and publish on substack and then I copy and paste into Highlighter.  With Habla, I always had to reformat numerous things and it wouldn't allow me to have bold inside offset quotes.  With Highlighter, now, I can just paste and post with no additional work.  If I was going to compose inside the app, I think I would prefer Habla, but the way apps are continually updated, I'm not sure.


Try sharing in longform note.  I've tried and usually use either Habla.news or Highlighter.com .  Both allow you to use some formatting, so they make the notes more readable.  For me, it is easier to copy already formatted text into Highlighter to post to nostr, but it is easier to write and format text into Habla.


freeborn | ἐλεύθερος


I'll admit that I used to hate reading Revelation.  It seemed so confusing.  I couldn't tell what was literal and what was figurative.  I felt like I didn't get much out of reading it (although I still did because I read the whole Bible).  Now I am a bit obsessed with it.  I am realizing more and more of it is literal.  Things that didn't make any sense or seemed impossible are now so possible.  World alliances are lining up.  Technology is enabling the things described.  Things that John didn't have words to explain now exist and are in use.  I'm so interested in Revelation now.  It is my new obsession (previously Genesis).

Jesus is the Alpha and Omega.  I've put a little extra effort into studying the Alpha (Genesis which is the foundation of the Scriptures) and the Omega (Revolution is the conclusion and goal).


I think the right picture should be a picture of a bunch of yuppies hanging out drinking coffee at Starbucks.  It isn't just that the government is unorganized and incompetent, but they are all talk and don't really do much that is useful.


I don't like government handouts for anyone, but if we are going to have them, I'd much prefer they go to the poor people who were devastated by Helene than to the illegals and criminals.  Those of western NC especially need help because it wasn't reasonable to expect them to be prepared for a hurricane, especially a gulf hurricane, to destroy them like this.  I feel a little less empathy for those who buy houses on the barrier islands on the coast where hurricane damage is to be expected.


Unfortunately, I think there are a lot of Democrats and government bureaucrats who are rejoicing at the destruction in areas that lean towards Trump.  They don't want to help because they don't want these people voting and if these people have to die to stop their votes, those in power are OK with that.

Of course it is never a good idea to wait and depend on the government.  It always lets you down because realistically they only care about their power.


The GitCitadel team is a group who has joined forces to make some more reliable software for nostr and to make nostr do some additional things.  All of the members have other jobs, so aren't full time, but they are doing great work.  They also will listen to your suggestions.  They are good people doing good work out of love for people and freedom.


From the instant of conception, there is a living cell by every definition of life in every biology textbook.  At that same moment, this life has unique, human DNA.  Therefore it is human.  Therefore a human life begins at conception.  Scientifically, it really is that simple.

The only other argument that I have heard that has even a hint of logic is human life beginning when there is a heartbeat, since someone is normally declared dead when their heart stops.  I'd argue that is a false equivalent, though.  My old parts manager was working in his yard and had a heart attack.  His heart stopped beating.  Luckily a neighbor saw him drop to the ground, called 911, and an ambulance happened to be a block away and got there and restarted his heart.  He lived many more years, but moved away a bunch of years ago, so I have no idea if he is still alive.

If he had dropped "dead" when his heart stopped and I had walked up and shot him in the head permanently "killing" him before the ambulance got there to revive him, would I be guilty of murder?  Yes, I would.  In the same way, anyone killing a person from the moment of conception to natural death is guilty of murder.

FYI, most contraceptives, like the pill, prevent implantation and therefore kill the baby just like a mother withholding milk from a newborn.


When you get it all figured out, you can write a nice long form note on how to do this kind of optimization for us old fogies who don't understand half of it and don't have the time to learn.


Great stuff.  I have it on autoship.  I not only use it to cook with, but use it to make a body cream for moisturizing.


There is a lot of harsh persecution of Christians around the globe, but the worst that American Christians have only been dealing with, is people saying mean things or being shadow banned on social media.

I was recently reading that the US government and DOJ are keeping track of everyone who buys a Bible or Christian literature and storing it in a criminal database.  I think American Christians are about to start experiencing the same kinds of persecution that many of their international brothers and sisters in Christ have been experiencing for a long time and they are going to be shocked.  Sadly, I think a lot of Americans, who consider themselves Christians, are going to drift away when the going gets rough.  We will see.


I like being challenged.  Sometimes I change my mind.  Sometimes I tweak my beliefs.  Sometimes I strengthen my beliefs because I better understand why I believe what I believe.


Like most people.  Trump has his strengths and weakness, his good points and his bad points.  He isn't nearly as bad as his enemies accuse him of being and he isn't nearly as good as his die-hard supporters think he is.

The only thing I can say is that he looks good when put against Kamala Harris or Joe Biden, but that is more because of how bad they are.


Hope you feel better.


I'm rarely dogmatic about "conspiracy theories", but there are not too many that I say, "No, that can't be true."  I don't know if they can do that, but if they can, I would expect them to do so.

freeborn | ἐλεύθερος


Thanks for what you are doing and trying to do for the people of NC.  I know none of us individually can make a big dent in that kind of destruction, but every little help can make a person's day or save a life and that matters immensely.


I enjoyed reading Matt Taibi's speech.  Probably my favorite quote was this one about the bureaucrats and self appointed disinformation police:

"They’re simultaneously illiterate and pretentious, which is very hard to pull off."

This is so true.  It seems impossible to pull off, but somehow they managed.

This was another great line:

"The end game is not controlling speech. They’re already doing that. The endgame is getting us to forget we ever had anything to say."

It is worth reading the entire speech.

nostr: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


I agree that it is crazy how much the US supports Israel, but it is also crazy how Israel is attacked, (They have also had drones and rockets shot at them every day since October 8th).  Living like that is horrible.  I don't necessarily think they have done everything right, but I get upset at how the Muslims get a pass for all of their crimes and Israel is attacked as the world's worst terrorist for responding and defending their people against those who desire to wipe them off the map.

If people were fair in their criticism of both sides, I'd keep silent, because I don't think Israel is perfect.  I also think it is insane that after a terrorist attack on Israeli citizens, that they are told to compromise and give up territory.  Every nation throughout history (with the exception of Israel) has absolutely refused to negotiate with terrorists.  Giving up territory would just encourage more terrorist attacks.  Israel has given up territory multiple time in the past and every time (except maybe giving the Sinai back to Egypt), that territory was used to attack them.  When they have taken territory (except when the world's nations gifted them territory by treaty after WWII), it has been taking territory from those who attacked them first and taking it to prevent being destroyed.

There are people in Israel who have done horrible things, but I guess I feel some compassion because they live with their lives in the balance, surrounded by nations that want to destroy them and constantly under terrorist attacks, suicide bomber attacks, drone attacks, and rocket attacks.  Living in that situation can cause those that don't have the peace of God to become hard hearted and to begin to use the tactics of their enemies against them.  It isn't right, but it is understandable.

I catch myself defending Israel, even though I don't agree with everything they do, because the international complaints are often untrue and almost always unfair (when compared to the response to others, especially their opponents).  Just as I end up defending Trump, even though he does a lot of things I disagree with, or as I defended Kavanaugh, even though I didn't want him on the Supreme Court, I end up defending Israel because the attacks are unbalanced and misleading.


I woke up to the first freeze of the Fall, 26 F.  Thirty minutes later, men arrived to fix my A/C that had been broken for the majority of summer.

I can't say the timing was good, but at least things will be good to go next summer.


freeborn | ἐλεύθερος


When my son was between 8-10 years old, he went to visit his grandparents on his own.  He went to a parade and got candy and then was selling it to employees at my parent's business.  When he got home he told me he thought he had made a mistake.  His dollars were depreciating and he should have asked for payment in gold or silver.

I don't think he would've gotten anyone to buy a candy bar with gold or silver, but it still made my heart swell with pride.


Those who cry, "Democracy!" are the least democratic.
Those who cry out against fascism are the most fascist.
Those who decry racism are the most racist.

Obviously there are exceptions, but this is usually the case.


I started when they were young.  I'm sure it is harder to do for the first time when they are over a year old.