Pastor Vic's Nuggets of Truth

By Dr. Vic Torres

Nuggets of Truth about Christ, Christians, and Christianity... more

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July 08, 2019 014 The Grace of Jesus Christ
Our God is a gift-giving God.
We are continuing in the theme of the Grace of God. In the last post, we mentioned the Trinity and that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are One. All three parts of the Godhead share the same nature and that is the nature of Grace. God’s grace can be described as salvation, mercy, compassion, favor, and kindness. All of these are given by God not because we have earned or deserved grace, but because God’s grace is a gift. God’s grace is the evidence of His love for us. Show More
The Gift of the Father.
The gift or grace of Father God is that He provided a way to restore the broken relationship which began in the Garden of Eden, between mankind and Himself. The Father did this by providing a “Seed” [check out my last episode], a Savior, a Messiah in Hebrew, a Christ in Greek, in any language- Jesus.
The Gift of the Son.
The gift or grace of Jesus Christ is revealed in the Gift of the Holy Spirit to the believer. The Holy Spirit who empowers us to live the Christian life in grace and power.
When Jesus walked the earth, His followers had the benefit of His physical presence. They felt His love, experienced His fellowship, witnessed His signs and wonders that only God could produce. Jesus came to the earth to live as a human being for approximately 33½ years. Jesus made it very clear that when He departed, He would leave us “another like Himself” a “comforter” or a “Helper”, but this time instead of a physical person the Helper would come in the spirit, the Holy Spirit.
Jesus in the flesh could only be in one place at one time, but in the spirit, He could live in every believer. 1 Corinthians 6:19 says, that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and that He lives in us.
In Acts 1:4 Jesus appeared to His disciples and commanded them to stay in Jerusalem where they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit. They were to wait in Jerusalem for the Promise of the Father, of which Jesus had already told them before He was crucified. Listen to what Jesus said in, John 16:7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you”. In Acts 1:8 Jesus assures his disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. Then in Acts 2, the Christian Church was started in Holy Spirit power!
Power to do what you might ask? Power to live the Christian life and to be a bold witness in words and actions of the Gospel or Good News of Jesus Christ.
You see, Jesus had to leave or ascend to heaven, in order to send the Holy Spirit to us. In the gospel of John 14:16 Jesus says the following, “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you”.
The word “Helper” means intercessor, advocate, or one who is alongside you through thick and thin. Jesus calls Him another Helper, in other words, one like Himself. God will never leave you or abandon you. How wonderful it is to know that although Jesus in the flesh is not here, His Spirit lives in us. The Holy Spirit provides the love, the fellowship, the signs and wonders that only God could produce, but now through us!
An important function of the Helper is to guide you into doing what Jesus would do. Jesus says in John 14:25, “These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
The Work of the Holy Spirit.
Let’s take a look at some of the areas of life that the Holy Spirit is involved in.
1. The Holy Spirit conf
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17min
June 26, 2019 013 – The Gifts of God!
In the previous episode, we examined the keywords in Ephesians 2:8-9. The words were grace, saved, faith, gift, works, and boast. Today we will examine Grace and Faith as they relate to each other and how they relate to God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Show More
The Word Grace in the Greek is “Charis” from which we get “Charisma” which means spiritual gift. The word grace is used throughout the New Testament and speaks to the character and nature of God. God is a gift-giving God! James 1:17 says the following, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights…”.
Trinity
In order to see the fullness of the word Grace in the new testament we really need to take a moment and try to understand the doctrine of the Trinity. As New Testament Christians, we believe in the mystery of the Trinity; Three persons in one God. Not three gods!
The doctrine of the Trinity is often misunderstood by some groups of people to mean that Christians believe in three separate gods, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
I read recently that groups of religious Jews in Israel oppose the building of Christian churches in Israel because they believe that Christians believe in three Gods. This is in direct opposition to Judaism which believes in One God, Jehovah or Yahweh. Of course, those who believe that New Testament Christians believe in three separate gods are mistaken.
Nontrinitarians
There are also some Christian groups that do not believe in the Trinity. They are called nontrinitarians. The largest nontrinitarian Christian denominations are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints otherwise known as Mormons, Oneness Pentecostals, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The Trinity is a spiritual concept of truth.
It is impossible to understand the Trinity in physical terms. The physical world we live in is four-dimensional and the law of physics apply. Our world has length, width, depth these three can be defined as space and the fourth dimension is time. Whether we are talking about massive mountains or sub-atomic particles everything can be physically measured. You probably learned in school that, “two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time”. That is true because we live in a four-dimensional world!
God, on the other hand, is spiritual and therefore is not constrained by the laws of physics. God exists in more than four dimensions. This fact is hard to understand because we have no experience that would help us to comprehend it. In the physical world, we live in 1+1+1=3, but in the spirit realm 1+1+1=1!
Analogies
The best we can do is try to use analogies to describe the Trinity.
Water H2O can exist as ice, water or steam; three in one. A man can be a son to his mother, a husband to his wife and a father to his child, but he is still only one person. How about the three-leaf clover example, three leaves but one plant.
These examples don’t do justice to the reality of the Trinity because the Trinity is called a Mystery of Faith. Let’s look at the two words mystery and faith.
The word mystery in a biblical sense means something hidden until the right time to be revealed by God. Now, faith is defined as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen”, that is Hebrews 11:1. The mystery of the Trinity is revealed by Faith!
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association makes the following statement about the Trinity.
“The Bible shows very clearly that there is only one God, and yet that there are three personal distinctions in His complex nature, traditionally referred to as “three Persons in the Godhead”—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Each is distinct from the others but never acts independently. They are one in nature and purpose. This mystery is called the doctrine of the Tri
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16min
June 20, 2019 012 – Grace, Faith and Salvation
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast”.
This brief statement in Ephesians 2:8-9 is the message of the Gospel or the “Good News” in a nutshell! Upon this statement hinges your salvation and life in Christ. Today we are going to examine this statement more closely especially the six words; grace, saved, faith, gift, works, and boast. Show More
This is “Pastor Vic’s Nuggets of Truth”, podcasting from Historic Hyde Park, NY. I’m your host Dr. Vic Torres. My focus will be on the love, forgiveness and acceptance found in Jesus Christ which enables us to live the victorious life. For more information go to www.PastorVicsNuggerts.com
Grace – “For by grace you have been saved through faith”
Now, what is this thing that we see in Ephesians called Grace? Grace in the biblical sense is the highest expression of love. The Greek word for Grace is “Charis” and is most often defined as an “unconditional gift”.
We could spend a lifetime trying to figure out what this magnificent thing called God’s grace is. Grace is so awesome, so unexpected and so undeserved. God’s grace in the area of salvation is that if we put our faith in Jesus, we are forgiven of all our sins and receive the guarantee that we will go to Heaven and spend eternity with Him. In other words, Heaven is actually a free gift to those whose faith is in Jesus!
To truly understand God’s Grace, you must understand God’s kind of love. In the New Testament there are three important words that are translated from the Greek into the word “Love”. This means that every time you see the word “love” in the New Testament it could be one of these three words.
Storge: This is the type of love signifies the natural affection between family members. Siblings, relatives, parents. We all know that kind of love.Phileo: This Greek word for love signifies, to be a friend to…fond of an individual or object; having affection for; an or feeling.Agape: This Greek word for love appears most frequently in the New Testament. It is most often understood in the Bible as “unconditional love”, or a decision to love. Agape love is a love that is the outcome of a moral principle, rather than a feeling of liking or affection such as Phileo love. As a result, Agape love means to love the undeserving, despite disappointment and rejection. But, at the same time it does not mean to love as a duty or a cold religious obligation.
Parents of children can appreciate this kind of Agape love. You know that no matter what your children do, no matter how they may disappoint you or even hurt you… you still love them and want the best for them. That is the kind of love God has for you. No matter what you have done, no matter what kind of person you have become… God sent Jesus just for you, because He loves you!
Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates His own love (agape) toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. Jesus paid the price for sin and the result, because we trust in what Jesus did, we are forgiven and cleansed of all of our sins.
God’s nature is Agape love, 1 John 4:8 tells us that, “He who does not love (agape) does not know God, for God is love (agape)”. This doesn’t mean that God is capable of love, it is more than that. He is the embodiment of Love! Everything He does is from the perspective and motivation of Agape love. God loves His creation even when that same creation rejects Him. This kind of love is quite foreign to our life’s experience. Honestly, most of us have experienced a performance type of love. If we are “good” we experience love. If we are not “good”: we are punished or rejected.
Saved – “you have been saved through faith”
The Greek word here is the word Sozo, which means to be healed, delivered, made safe, or rescue
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17min
June 06, 2019 011 What is True Faith?
Since faith is essential in our relationship with Jesus Christ it is so important to understand what faith is, and what it is not. Show More
Faith in the original Greek is “pistis” and a Bible Dictionary defines faith as; persuasion, credence, moral conviction, assurance, belief or, fidelity.
Faith is Spiritual
In our last post we looked at the definition given by Hebrews 11:1, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. So, faith for a Christian is believing in the spiritual or unseen. You put your faith in Jesus and your hope in His promises. Again, it is not faith in faith or even faith in the promises found in the Bible, but faith in the one who made the promises in the Bible.
So, faith is not wishing, hoping or wanting something to be. Instead, it is the confidence and assurance that because of the love of God He will not leave you or abandon you to your circumstances. The Apostle Paul says in:
Romans 8:38-39, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Do you believe that… that nothing can separate you from God’s Love?
It is your faith in the Lord that causes you to behave or act in a manner that shows you have already received that for which you are believing. Now that was a mouthful! The world says, “Show me and then I will believe!” God says, “Believe in Me and then I will show you!” Genuine faith released God’s promises.
Abraham of the Old Testament is called the “Father of Faith” because he acted on what God said even before there was physical proof. God spoke to Abraham that he would be the “father of many nations” even before he had any children of his own.
Abraham received the promise of a son when he was 75 years old and was reminded of that promise when he was 90, but it wasn’t until he was 100 years old that the promise was fulfilled. During all that time Abraham believed in what God said. Listen to what Genesis 5:19-22 says about Abraham:
“And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
You see faith is believing that you have it before it comes to pass. When you believe that way you are in a righteous position with God.
An Acrobat, A Wheelbarrow, and a Challenge of Faith
Taken from: Creativebiblestudy.com
The story of Charles Blondin is a great illustration of faith! Not only was he a fascinating man, but the story of his pushing a wheelbarrow across Niagara Falls is one that all can identify with in seeing the difference between mere belief (head knowledge) and true faith (belief in action; heart knowledge).
Can you imagine a tightrope stretched over a quarter of a mile and spanning the breadth of Niagara Falls? The thundering sound of the pounding water drowning out all other sounds as you watch a man step onto the rope and walk across!
This stunning feat made Charles Blondin famous in the summer of 1859. He walked 160 feet above the falls several times back and forth between Canada and the United States as huge crowds on both sides looked on with shock and awe. Once he crossed in a sack, once on stilts, another time on a bicycle, and once he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet!
On July 15, Blondin walked backward across the tightrope to Canada and returned pushing a wheelbarrow. The Blondin story is told that it was after pushing a wheelbarrow across while blindfolded that Blondin asked for so
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16min
May 30, 2019 010 What is Faith?
Over the last several episodes we have been talking about the different ways in which we can hear from God. The Holy Spirit of God is able to reveal Himself in the following ways: Show More
Through the illumination of the Word – this is when the Holy Spirit “lights up” a passage of scripture to you and makes it understandable and relevant for you.Through personal revelation that is when the Holy Spirit reveals a truth about Jesus and the Word of God.Through the Rhema Word, the Holy Spirit brings back to memory a scripture that is relevant for a decision or direction to follow in.Through circumstances and opportunities, God can open and close doors as a means of directing your path.Through the “still quiet voice” when God speaks to you either audibly or in your mind giving you direction for or encouragement.
Hearing God, then what?
As God reveals His will or plan to us, what are we to do with what we know? The simple answer is to “just do it”! In the late ’80s and early ’90s, a well-known slogan for Nike Sneakers was used to almost triple their sales for Nike sneakers. It was, “JUST DO IT!”. In other words, don’t just think about it or talk about it… Just Do It!
When it comes to the things of God many people live in the place of “let’s think about this and see if it really makes sense! If you are waiting for things to make sense you are missing the point of what Faith is! Because faith is spiritual, faith will not necessarily make intellectual sense or make sense in our minds. You see, God is able to see the whole picture you can only see a part. The central issue of faith is, “do you trust God to do what He says He will do”!
Faith is one of those seemingly simple words that gets “thrown around” by Christians. Statements like a measure of faith, get more faith, faith moves mountains, faith as a mustard seed, and finally, faith pleases God. All these statements are scriptural and therefore true and yet it is important that we understand that faith isn’t something you can generate or muster-up in an emergency or on-demand! Faith is an outcome of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
To understand faith fully we need to recognize that faith has deep spiritual roots into spiritual terms like righteousness, justification, works, and grace!
When you made your commitment to Jesus Christ there were two spiritual transactions that took place.
You believed that Jesus died for your sins and you are now totally forgiven of ALL your sins, most importantly the “sin” of not believing in Jesus, to begin with.You also believed that although Jesus died on the cross, He rose again and sits at the right hand of the Father in Heaven.
At the moment you believed you were “Justified” and therefore made “righteous”. Justified in simple terms means that there is no charge against you. You have been found innocent in God’s eyes. Let me explain, as a result of this justification, which by the way is the opposite of condemnation. Before Christ you were condemned now you’ve been justified. The Holy Spirit came to live in you. The third person of the Godhead is called the “Holy” Spirit because since He is God, He is holy, pure and undefiled. Because of this fact He is able to live in you because you are now a holy place a temple of God.
Let me express this a different way. Justification is a legal term and means that as far as God is concerned it is as if you never sinned at all. (“Just-if-ied” never sinned). This state of justification means that you are “righteous”. This righteousness, or being right before God, is not of your own effort, but God’s. The moment you believed Grace was in operation, which means that your salvation is a gift of God and that’s what grace means… it is a gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8-10. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of
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20min
May 21, 2019 009- God’s Circumstances and Opportunities
In previous episodes, I have been concentrating on the different ways God is able to communicate with us. Another way that the Holy Spirit can communicate God’s plan is by ordering the circumstances in our lives. These circumstances are often opportunities to fulfill God’s plan for your life! Show More
Thomas A. Edison said, “The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work”. The challenges that God puts before us will often seem greater than we can accomplish. It is important to remember God doesn’t call the capable He calls the available. If He has “called” you then He will enable and empower you to do His will.
Realize that some of our important opportunities have a time–line. If we delay a decision, the opportunity may be gone forever. Sometimes our doubts and fears keep us from making a choice that involves change. therefore, the opportunity may be missed.
I want to remind you of the wisdom found in Proverbs 3:5-12. This is a paraphrase from the Message Bible:
“Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track. Don’t assume that you know it all.
Run to God! Run from evil! Your body will glow with health, your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own; give him the first and the best. Your barns will burst, your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline; don’t sulk under his loving correction. It’s the child he loves that God corrects; a father’s delight is behind all this”.
The bottom line is that God loves you and wants the best for you. His best will lead to meaning and purpose in your life and honor Him.
Some might be surprised that God has a plan or call for your life!
Yes, He has a plan for you! In Psalms 139:16 the psalmist says, “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed, and in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them”. You see God knew you even before you were born and even then, had a plan established for you.
Then of course there is Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope”.
What is so important to realize is that God is for you and not against you. He wants you to prosper in all that you do, because when you follow Jesus Christ it glorifies Father God.
Hearing God and Faith
So, the key to a blessed life is that you must know His plan for you. Because God is spiritual or unseen 2 Cor 5:7 tells us that we must learn to walk by faith and not by sight. Now, what do I mean by walking by Faith? First of all, to walk by faith means that you know God’s plan and purpose for your life, for as someone once said, “Faith is impossible unless the will of God is known”! That’s why hearing from God is so important to success in life.
The second point is, what are you to have faith in? Your faith should not be in “faith”, meaning that you can’t will your faith into being. You can’t just grit your teeth, clench your fist and make faith a reality. Your faith must be in Jesus Christ and Him alone. Jesus is the one who died for you, cleansed you of your sin, accepted you into the family of God and has given you a purpose for life. Your faith will grow as you continue in your relationship with Him. Your relationship involves prayer, learning to hear Him, spending time in the Word, and fellowshipping with other believers.
Faith and the scriptures
You may be encouraged by the scriptures, but your faith cannot be in the words on a page… your faith must be in Jesus and Him alone. There is an interesting episode in John 5:39,
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15min
May 14, 2019 008 Is Prophecy for Today?
What is Prophecy?
Prophecy is found throughout the Bible from Genesis, the first book of the Bible to the Book of Revelation the last book of the Bible.
One of the ways in which God speaks to us is prophecy. When God uses prophecy to speak to us He uses an individual to speak for Him. Those that are called to do this are called prophets. Prophecy is another way in which God makes His will known to mankind. Show More
What Prophecy is not.
Prophecy is one of those terms in Christianity that is often misunderstood. There are at least two incorrect concepts about prophecy.
The first is that it is a type of “fortune telling” or looking into the future for answers. We are influenced by the media (movies, TV, and books) to believe that it is real and ok. Prophecy is not “fortune telling” as much as “forth-telling”. Fortune telling is predicting what may happen based on spiritual insight or “gifting”. Prophecy, on the other hand, is stating what God says will happen. The difference may seem slight and the origins may be spiritual in nature for both, BUT and a big but is that fortune telling, is not from God- it is actually demonic.
The second issue is that we often take the model of a prophet from the Old Testament. God always wants communication with His people, the covenant of the Old Testament was with the Jews. God chooses certain individuals to be His voice among His people. It is clear that the prophets of old did not have the Holy Spirit living in them, but the Holy Spirit of God was “upon” or “on” them. People of the Old Testament went to Prophets and Priest to hear from God.
The primary message a Prophet brings.
Another important point is that Old Testament Prophets were primarily used by God to give direction to the rulers or kings of the Old Covenant. Here are some examples of those Prophets, Eli, Samuel, and Nathan?
Prophecy and Prophets were very important to Israel. The evidence of their importance is in the fact that 17 of the Old Testament books (Major and Minor Prophets) were inspired and written by Prophets. The primary function of these prophets was to warn the people of Israel to the consequences of walking away from Him and worshipping other gods.
New Covenant Prophets and Prophecy.
As New Covenant believers we don’t see the same emphasis on prophets as in the Old Testament. This can be understood by the fact that as believers in Jesus Christ His Holy Spirit lives continuously in us, not simply upon or onus on certain occasions.
God has chosen to speak to us directly about His plans. I am not saying that prophecy is unimportant today, but it has a different function and that is primarily to confirm what God has already said.
It appears that prophecy has two functions in the new testament:
to confirm what God has saidto build up an individual. 1 Corinthians 14:3 “But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men”.
Prophecy can be for an individual (1 Cor 12) as well as for a group of believers as in the local church.
I need to be careful here, I am not saying that New Testament prophecy is only personal prophecy, God can and does use the prophetic gift to speak to the Church in general.
The New Testament makes it clear that prophecy is a spiritual gift and part of God’s plan to communicate with us:
Romans 12:6 “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith”. 1 Corinthians 12:10, “to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills”.1 Corinthians 14:1 “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especi
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16min
April 25, 2019 007 Personal Revelation
God has made it abundantly clear that He wants and has enabled two-way communication between Himself and His creation, mankind. As a matter of fact, Jesus Himself said that He knows His own and His people hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:7-21). Show More
Then the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2,
9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But (and a very big but) God has revealed them to us through His Spirit…
Then in verse 12
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
Verse 14
But the natural man (not born-again) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
And finally, in verse 16
For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
Can you see it now, everything God wants us to know He reveals to us through His Holy Spirit, who lives in us!
Illumination and Rhema
Now recently we have been talking about how God speaks to us. In Episode 5 we introduced the idea of the Illumination of scripture by the Holy Spirit. In Episode 6 we talked about the power of “recalled” scriptures as we discussed the difference between the Logos word and the Rhema Word.
Personal Revelation
There is a third way in which Jesus reveals, through His Holy Spirit, His truths to us and it is called Personal Revelation. Personal revelation is when you have a sudden insight into a truth that you could not have figured out yourself.
It is not intellectual understanding, but it is an “ah-ha” moment when you see the truth and the truth sets you free from lies or untruths that have kept you blinded or in bondage. This revelation is divine in nature, that means it come from God. Jesus said to those who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” John 8:31.
I’ve chosen three examples or cases of divine personal revelation to help give us insight into what it is.
Case 1, Revelations of Paul in Galatians
Paul’s history:
born after the crucifixion of Jesus, originally called Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee, converted on the road to Damascus, Syria (Acts 9), now known as Paul. Wrote 13 of the books or Epistles of the New Testament.New Testament 27 books, 4 gospels, 1 rev, 22 epistles, 13 by PaulApparently by Personal Revelation as we will see.
Galatians 1:
11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. 14 And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 20 (Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie.)
21 Afterward I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea which were in Chr
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19min
April 18, 2019 006: No Logos Word, No Rhema.
God Loves Us
It is clear from the Bible that God loves us,
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”.
God’s love is demonstrated for us, not by words, but by the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our sins. It was our sins that separated us from God, now through Jesus that separation has been removed. God’s love for us is so unique that it is said that God is love,
1John 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love”.
In other words, He doesn’t just love, He is love! This love He has for us is not a sentimental or emotional kind of love. His kind of love is unconditional, in the Greek it is called Agape. This kind of love is unearned and undeserved. His love is a gift of Grace.
I’ve said all of this to make this point- interpersonal love involves communication. For instance, in a human love relationship, the deepest communication is an exchange of ideas about living your lives for each other’s good. This loving communication is a dialogue, which means that as one speaks the other listens and then the other speaks as the other listens. This is genuine communication it is a dialogue between two, not a monologue.
It is reasonable then to believe that God wants to communicate with us. As He speaks to us, we should be listening, when we speak to Him, He is listening. Because God is Spirit and we have a spirit our communication with God is Spiritual.
Gospel of John 4:24 “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
When we hear the word worship most people think of music as in worship music, but in truth, worship of God means to surrender or submit to Him and His direction for your life.
Rom 12:1 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (worship)”.
God knows what you need!
Because God is omniscient or all-knowing and He loves us we understand that God knows best what we need in order to live the abundant victorious life. As we mature in Christ, we begin to recognize what pleases God and what displeases Him. We begin to understand that God is at work, through His Holy Spirit, to make us more and more like Jesus in character. After all, Jesus is God with flesh on. Jesus represents God for us, and Jesus has given his life as an example of unconditional love. He has also given us His words which are found in the Bible so that we might have a handbook, so to speak, for Godly living.
Faith opens the door to spiritual life
We learn that the Bible is filled with God’s promises to us and that we receive those promises by faith. Now faith is not just believing with your mind, faith is acting or doing what you believe has been done in the spirit realm! Listen to the definition of faith found in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.
An appropriate question here is, how do I get that kind of faith? Well good news, the Bible shows us the way.
Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word (Rhema) of God”.
Hopefully, you now can see how important the Bible is.
It contains the message of the Gospel, or salvation.It gives us “objective” direction for life. In other words the teaches what pleases God for everyone.It reveals what God has promised us. Some say over 5000 promises are found in the Word of God.It shows us that the only way to please God is by faith and then He tells you how to get faith.Finally, God can use it to “speak” to you, subjectively, for your situation or circumstances.
Remember faith is the key to the spiritual realm.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith
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18min
April 11, 2019005: Hearing God’s Voice
I want to repeat a little of what I said in episode 0 regarding the process of going from knowledge to wisdom about God. It will help in establishing a foundation for understanding what it means to hear the voice of God.
Wisdom in a general sense is that quality of making sound judgments that, on a personal level, lead to peace, harmony and a better quality of life or outcome. You can gain wisdom by trial and error or you can trust in the wisdom that comes from God’s word, the Bible. Show More
Wisdom from the Bible
The Bible teaches that there is a process of gaining wisdom. The steps to gaining wisdom are most often described in this sequence:
get knowledge,
gain understanding,
obtain wisdom.
Knowledge – The Building Blocks of Wisdom
Knowledge represents a person’s acquired truths or facts about life. This accumulation of knowledge can happen in several ways. Through personal experience, thought or learning from the experiences of others.
The greatest truths that a person can possess with the mind or learn through experience are, of course, truths about God.
True knowledge about God cannot be gained by human reason alone. It is only fully acquired as God shows Himself to a person through His Word, aided by the Holy Spirit.
The Process of Gaining Knowledge
Most of us begin our life in Christ with virtually no knowledge of the Bible. We have no background to build upon, so gaining knowledge requires a great amount of work. This also means that we may have many things to unlearn; wrong understandings, bad habits, worldly mindsets.

Slowly but surely, as we study God’s Word, we accumulate facts and information; the names of the books of the Bible, bible characters, biblical events, and stories. We are collecting the building materialneeded to build a structure that will help us to stand firm in this life.
As born-again believers, we also have the assistance of a great Helper. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, the Holy Spirit reveals the truth about God as we study the Bible. Prior to receiving Christ as our Savior, we read the Bible only with our natural minds. But now we are spiritual, and we have been given the mind of Christ.
The Holy Spirit enlightens our eyes and mind to passages in the Scriptures that are relevant to our situation and circumstances. We begin to see and understand scripture passages that we may not have noticed before. We recognize the life and power that accompanies the Word of God. Our passion for God and His Word begins to burn with greater fervor.
Rhema And Logos
The Bible refers to itself as “The Word”. “Word” in the New Testament is derived from two Greek words, logosand rhema. The word logosmeans “written word”, or an expression of thought. The word rhemameans “spoken word”, or a word uttered in speech or writing. Both terms, rhema, andlogosare used throughout the New Testament. I will have more to say about this in the next episode.

The Bible reveals that its own words are living and able to discern both the thoughts of our mind and the motives of our heart. God is able to speak to us through the Bible, His living Word. God can speak to us about general principles for life. And He can speak to us about personal matters or circumstances. That is the reason why it is so important for us to daily read the written Word for it is the building material for our foundation in Christ.&n
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19min

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