Bless
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To speak well of. To reveal one's true identity as designed by
the Creator. Empowerment for success. To praise and honor one for
their real value.
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Condemnation
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Condemnation is closely related to shame and unworthiness.
Condemnation, contrary to many people's opinion, does not come
from God. It originates in the accuser of God's people, Satan.
Condemnation is counterfeit conviction. Jesus made it very clear
in John 3:17 that He did not come to condemn but to save.
Condemnation is rooted in fear and is designed to crush hope out
of our hearts and fill us with despair.
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Confession
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Confession is maybe one of the most misunderstood terms in
religion. It is important to understand what it is not as well as
what it is. It is not groveling in humiliation rehearsing all the
bad things one can think of about himself. It is not grudging
admission of guilt under duress. That may be a form of confession
but is not genuine confession marked by true repentance.
When understood from its original root confession is very
simple. It is simply agreeing, that's all. This is linked directly
with conviction. When the Holy Spirit impresses us with what is
real as opposed to what we believe or feel and we choose to agree
with God's view rather than our own we confess. That's all it
means – to agree.
That also makes it much easier to understand what it means to
confess Jesus before the world or when Jesus said He would confess
us before the Father. When we are in agreement with Jesus He can
confess (agree with) us before all of heaven. When we agree with
the truth about God and Jesus and ourselves that He shows us we
confess Him before men. (Matt. 10:32)
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Conversion
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Conviction
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True conviction from God is when you are impressed with what
really is, what is true about your condition. It is often
countered by excuses and diversions but it will still persist to
impress us with God's view of ourselves, our surroundings or what
is true about God. We can be convicted about something that is
wrong, about sin or lies or dysfunctional behavior. We can also be
convicted about what is true and beautiful, what is beyond us and
transcendent. Conviction of sin comes by contrasting truth with
what we are thinking or believing.
Conviction is strictly the work of the Spirit of God and not
something humans should attempt to do to someone else. There is a
lot of confusion on this point. But since humans cannot see what
is in another's heart they can never correctly create redeeming
conviction in another person. The closest we can come to
convicting another is by living fully under the influence of the
Spirit and allowing Him to speak through us when He indicates it
is the right time. Even then we must be very careful not to elicit
conviction in their heart but stand by while the Holy Spirit uses
all means at His disposal to awaken the conscience of the other
individual and bring them to accept repentance.
Conviction is based on love as its foundation. Sometimes when
we are so conditioned to only give our attention to what we fear
God will use fear to get our attention focused on Him. The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But conviction based
on fear is only a transition step to more mature convictions of
the beauty and glory of God's overwhelming passion and perfect
love for us.
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Covenant
|
This is a very large and important concept that would take much
more space to unpack than what is reasonable here. In short
though, a covenant is very different from a contract which is what
our Western minds are most familiar. A covenant is unilateral
rather than bilateral; a person entering into a covenant is bound
by their promises and obligation irregardless of whether the other
party in the covenant maintains their obligations. A Blood
Covenant is a commitment entered into for life and breaking of
that covenant elicits a consequence of death for the violator.
Witnesses to a covenant do not relate to the parties like
witnesses or lawyers would to a contract. Rather, witnesses for a
covenant are bound to make sure that either party maintains their
loyalty to the covenant itself; in other words, the witnesses are
looking out for the interest of the covenant, not the parties. As
such, the witnesses are bound to enforce the terms of the covenant
without bias for either party. They are to hold both parties to
the covenant accountable to fulfill the promises they originally
made when they entered into the covenant with the other party.
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Deserve
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Faith
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Faith springs up and thrives when we focus on the truth about
what God is really like, His character and how He really feels
about us. Faith is actually a state of mind that grows naturally
out of a healthy relationship with someone who is trustworthy. It
is not something that we have to work hard at producing, but is
the natural kind of trust that is evident in a small child toward
a loving, protective emotionally balanced parent.
Luke 17:5-10 is a blueprint for how to experience true faith.
Here the disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith and Jesus'
answer lays out the kind of relationship that will naturally
foster dynamic faith. In that context faith occurs – it is not
worked up.
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Faithful
|
Faith is a confident, positive belief in someone. Faithful is
to be full of faith. Faithful when applied to God means constancy,
reliability, hope and belief in our eventual response to His love
and His attractions. Faith on our part is a spontaneous response
in kind to the faith that God has in us combined with a growing
awareness of His trustworthiness. When we are faithful it shows
that we are filled with that responsive kind of faith reflective
of the faithfulness and goodness of God.
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Fear
|
This word can easily be confused with the kind of fear that we
associate with terror or distrust. However, when we are instructed
to fear the Lord, it means having a deep appreciation for His
awesomeness, majesty and power. Nearly every time God or angels
show up in Scripture to talk with someone, they have to be told
not to be afraid. God does not want any fear in our relationship
with Him, for fear distorts our perceptions about God. God is love
and perfect love expels all fear, for fear has to do with torment
and God is not into tormenting. (see 1 John 4)
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Forgiveness
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Forgiveness involves a transaction carried out in our heart and
mind. Whenever there is a perceived offense, forgiveness will be
needed. Offenses create a sense of debt which is usually linked
with pain. This pain can lodge deep in the heart and have roots in
a memory that will fester over time causing even more pain and
producing irritation in many relationships. Attempting to mask
over this problem with simplistic forgiveness does not resolve it
anymore than putting a band-aid over a deep splinter will cure the
wound.
Our hearts tend toward resentment and bitterness as our pain
lingers on and we might desire revenge, to inflict at least as
much pain if not more, back on the person that wronged us. We may
desire this secretly or openly, but it is a natural reaction of
human nature when we experience offenses.
Forgiveness involves a decision in the soul to face our inner
pain without avoiding or ignoring it. It involves truthfully
acknowledging the offense and how it affected us. Then forgiveness
moves to the next step – it takes full ownership of that inner
pain and lets go of blaming others or holding the offenders
responsible for our pain. It is not until one takes full
responsibility for their own feelings, decisions and reactions
that they can be free to take the steps necessary for healing. As
long as we blame others for our pain we are held hostage by it.
Unforgiveness empowers offenders with control to manipulate our
hearts and block our healing, even if they are long since dead and
gone.
When we choose to cease allowing offenders control over our
pain by accepting full responsibility for it ourselves, we then
can take that pain that and offer it to God, who alone has the
power and grace to exchange it for mercy, peace and healing love.
This process is the essence of forgiveness. Forgiveness is
letting go of all animosity toward an offender. It is releases all
rights for revenge. It takes ownership of our feelings and
empowers us to view reality from a new perspective. It is trusting
the God of perfect justice to settle all offenses in His way and
in His perfect timing.
One problem in understanding forgiveness is that it is
something of a catchall word in English for a number of very
different words in the original languages. When this is examined
carefully it is seen that God never holds an offense so He does
not need to forgive to let it go. His forgiveness as far as His
heart is concerned is always a present reality. However, another
aspect of forgiveness – the cleansing of our own hearts of the
shame, guilt and condemnation resulting from sin is in need of
grace from God. When we ask Him to forgive us, we are not asking
Him to change His mind about us but seeking Him to cleanse us from
our fears and guilt and confusion about Him and how He feels
towards us.
When both parties enter into forgiveness, reconciliation can
result. This creates a new dynamic in the relationship and healing
and bonding can take place.
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Glory
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This is an ever-expanding definition continually increasing and
expanding. Glory has to do mainly with character. When Moses asked
to see God's glory God focused almost exclusively on descriptions
of His character. However, intense exposure to such character has
the effect of producing physical exhibitions of light glowing from
the body as the Israelites complained about when Moses returned
from that experience. Jesus spoke much about glory, particularly
as reported by the disciple John. Glory involves love, the very
essence of God's nature. Glory is also intimately tied to the
perceived worth of something or someone. Worth is what produces
trust or faith which in turn can amplify glory or contribute to
it. In that sense glory is also defined as a person's reputation.
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Grace
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The word Grace for many has become so heavy with religious
weight and confusing emotional baggage and legal implications that
it may be easier to define it using the term graciousness. When we
think of a person who is extremely gracious, we think of someone
who is welcoming, polite, considerate, thoughtful, looking out for
the interests of everyone else, making sure people are taken care
of, their needs are met and their happiness is enhanced as much as
possible. The more we begin to see God in this light the closer we
come to perceiving the true meaning of His grace.
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Guilt
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At the most basic level of explanation, guilt is a
dis-congruity between the intellectual, information-based left
brain and the experience, emotion, spirit-based right brain. The
real problem can be on either side. If the heart simply knows
something has to be true but the intellectual belief system has
something contradictory on file that is not really true, the mind
will experience some level of discomfort and uneasiness that we
know as guilt. Similar feelings will result when our emotions or
experience does not align with what in our mind we know to be
true.
There are two kinds of guilt commonly known as real guilt and
false guilt. Real guilt occurs when we are not aligned or
synchronized with what is really true, with the unchangeable
principles the govern the universe. This guilt can prompt us to
accept conviction from the Holy Spirit and be reconciled or
realigned with reality.
False guilt usually occurs when our habits of thinking, feeling
or emotions are so ingrained by culture and conditioning that they
refuse to release us into peace when we choose to believe what is
real and true in spite of them. John referred to this problem
between our heart and mind in this passage.
We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure
our heart before Him in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is
greater than our heart and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart
does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. (1 John
3:19-21 NAS95) see condemnation
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Heart
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The heart is a very slippery, evasive part of our make up that
is very difficult to describe clearly in words since words involve
primarily a left brain function. The heart may reside mostly in
the right brain though it is most likely more extensive than that.
The heart is largely where our emotions reside along with many of
our deepest experiential beliefs and longings. It is the core of
our identity and uniqueness. It is the gem that lies at the center
around which God created all the rest of our being to protect,
contain and nurture. Since religion has for the most part evolved
into mostly an intellectual information oriented system of
beliefs, the heart has become eclipsed and mostly forgotten except
for a lot of loose but powerless jargon thrown around in religious
circles.
Teaching us to live transparently and honestly from our heart
is one of the primary goals of the gospel and the plan of
salvation. Many who have grown weary of the hypocrisy of those in
organized religion who profess to represent God but do not live
from their heart have left religion and rejected the church to
embrace lifestyles that more freely allow them to be honest about
what they feel on the inside. They are the ones that Jesus liked
to hang out with and was roundly criticized for doing so. But
Jesus connects easier to people who are real wherever they are
found than with those who have great pride in their piety but
refuse to acknowledge the emptiness and pain stuffed under many
layers of deception. Both groups need His healing love to restore
them to wholeness but the first group are more often likely to
respond to His grace than the second.
An almost completely unattended truth is the existence and
condition of God's heart. We are designed with hearts to
synchronize with God's heart and with each others. This is where
we find our greatest joy and satisfaction.
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Hell
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This word has been used to translate different original words
that mean different things. Sheol is the word in Hebrew that is
usually translated as Hell. In the Greek the two words, Ge-henna
and Hades are both used. Sheol and Hades both mean basically the
same thing and care must be taken that tradition should not unduly
influence the interpretation of these words. What they mean quite
simply is “the grave” or the place of death where all life and
consciousness cease.
Gehenna on the other hand was an actual place outside of
Jerusalem where people took their trash and garbage to burn very
much like our “landfills” today except they didn't take so
much pains to cover it with dirt like we often do today. They
simply kept fires burning continuously for years on end as they
added daily to the refuse to be burned. Of course, as one could
easily imagine, this created quite a revolting odor and created an
environment that was most unpleasant to linger near.
Given the radical difference between these two meanings one
must be very careful to know which original word lies behind the
reference to Hell in any particular text to properly understand
the meaning it is conveying to us. And contrary to the biases of
the translators, none of these carry the implication of a
time-eternal torturing of conscious souls of lost sinners by an
angry God. That is a doctrine straight from the wicked mind of
Satan himself and has been most successful in destroying the
reputation of the true God of love and compassion.
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Holy
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This is another one of the most misunderstood words in
religion. Leaving all preconceived notions of this aside, Holy
simply means completely dedicated to something or someone. An
excellent illustration is an analogy of a “dedicated”
telephone line for a fax machine. In the purest use of the word
Holy, that telephone line could be called holy.
Holy always must have an object toward which it is directed, it
does not stand alone. In the above analogy, the phone line is
dedicated for the exclusive use of of the fax machine and no other
uses. When men and women are “holy unto the Lord”, they are
completely and exclusively devoted to God for His use alone.
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Humble
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Not seeking to exalt one's self; preferring others
above one's self. Freedom from pride through having a secure sense
of value and identity from God. A secure sense of identity sets
one free from a need to draw attention to one's self. A humble
spirit is really a sign of freedom from emptiness, a sign of inner
satisfaction that only results from a vital connection with Jesus
that satisfies our cravings to be valued and loved.
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Humility
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Initially a sense of sin and unworthiness leading us to
repentance. It then takes on a new form as one senses their
immense worth in the eyes of Jesus freeing them from needing to
seek value and validity or affirmation from any other source.
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Iniquity
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Iniquity and sin are often spoken of together in the Bible.
Many people think they are more or less the same thing since it is
not commonly known what this word means. But iniquity is different
than sin in an important respect. Without going into a whole study
on the word which is outside of this venue, iniquity is the
internal “faults,” hidden predispositions (2 Cor. 4:2) that
are passed down generationally (Ex. 20:5) that cause inward
compulsions to particular types of sin. They are a false identity,
a belief in lies about ourself, that is passed down from our
fathers before we are born. They are dealt with in the soul by
choosing to forgive our fathers for passing them to us, taking
responsibility for them by confessing them (agreeing that they
exist within us), renouncing them before God and receiving
forgiveness and cleansing from Him.
Isaiah 53:5 defines two different 'penalties' that Jesus paid
for us on the cross – one for sin and another for iniquities.
The effects of sin produced wounds, an external thing. In bearing
our iniquities He was bruised, an internal, hidden wound that may
not be seen from the outside at all. Because of this He is able to
heal both problems in our lives because He took the consequences
upon Himself so we could be healed.
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Joy
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Joy and the need for joy is rooted into the deepest parts of
our brain and our heart. It is connected to our attachment
circuits and is actually now known to be the greatest craving of
every human being born into the world. Joy is the feeling the
heart and mind experiences when the person recognizes that he or
she is the sparkle in someone's eye, when they are the object of
someone's focused affections and interest. Joy is the experience
of being loved and accepted and cherished irregardless of
circumstances or history. Joy is when someone is genuinely glad to
be with you. Joy literally gives us strength, both
emotionally and physically.
Because joy is rooted in someone's gladness to be with me, I
can experience joy in any circumstance or emotion or condition if
someone is simply glad to be with me in those emotions and
circumstances. Joy is not always necessarily happiness. Joy can be
experienced during times of intense sorrow, shame or even anger.
When another person cares about me enough to enter into my emotion
with me and go through the experience with me as a caring friend,
I experience what joy is all about.
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Judgment
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Judgment is the revealing of our opinion about God, not God's
decision about us. Judgment is the exposing of what was previously
hidden, a revelation of what are the true motives, feelings,
thoughts and secrets hidden in the heart. In addition, the purpose
of judgment is for two things: to vindicate and to expose.
Revealing the real truth about God's motives, actions and
attitudes in contrast to the many insinuations and lies about Him
exposes the fraudulent nature of the charges against Him and
vindicates Him thus salvaging His reputation. In the process,
judgment also exposes just how evil, deceitful and and devious His
accuser has been. As the real truth about God is fully exposed in
judgment and the real truth about all those who have accused Him
is revealed plainly, all the affections and tolerance and sympathy
that has ever been felt for Satan or his ideas evaporates as it
becomes completely clear in the minds of all that God is always
fair, just, righteous, good and loving without exception. Thus
judgment is the process by which sin will be forever eradicated
from the universe never to recur because all will be completely
convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that God's ways are best and
are truly righteous.
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Justify
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Justify in one sense means to vindicate. The interesting thing
about justification is that to be effective it must always come
from another source. When one tries to justify themselves they
immediately come under suspicion further complicating their
dilemma. To be justified or vindicated one needs credible
witnesses and clear evidence to convince others about their
integrity. This requires humility restraining one from seeking to
justify themselves while relying on others to speak in their
behalf.
Another sense of justify means to 'set right' or restore to a
proper position or relationship. We justify this text when we
align it with the left margin. Likewise, when we are put into
proper alignment with God's righteous character we are justified
or set right with God, thus making us safe to live in His powerful
presence.
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Justice
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Biblical definitions of justice are in stark contrast to what
nearly everyone assumes this word means. Popular notions around
this word almost always involve punishment of abusers or violators
of the law. But a careful study of justice in the Bible reveals
that heaven's definition of justice focuses on setting things
right for those who are oppressed, setting captives free,
restoration to wholeness for victims. This is not a focus on
'getting even' or inflicting suffering on those who have done
wrong. Counterfeit ideas about justice involve human cravings for
vengeance which likewise is a greatly misunderstood concept. God's
justice is restoring fairness, not seeking retribution or
punishment against offenders. True justice is restoration.
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Kingdom of Heaven
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Know
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This is a word that opens up much deeper revelations about the
true nature of God's feelings for us and our potential
relationship with Him. Many times when the Bible uses the word
“know” what is really meant in the original language is a very
intimate kind of knowledge based on the most intimate possible
relationship. Genesis 4:1 is an example of this where it states
that Adam “knew” his wife Eve and she bore him a son. When
this view is applied to many other verses where we are instructed
to “know” God these verses take on a whole new dimension.
Jesus says that to know God and His Son is to have eternal life.
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Law
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In God's kingdom the concept of law is different than in the
kingdoms of this world. God's laws are all actually principles,
natural laws that we see in nature, science and every other aspect
of life. The kingdoms of this world operate on artificial,
imposed, arbitrary laws that require punishment imposed by
enforcers. This is foreign to the way heaven operates, for the
principle of heaven is the law of love alone.
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Legalism
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Insistence on remaining spiritual infants or children under the
rule of Law and denying – even defying – the need to grow up
into maturity. Legalism is an obsession with one's legal standing
while giving little care to issues more oriented toward social
relationship. Legalism is a focus on making sure that the right
formula is followed so that one's legal standing is correct.
Legalism views life from the standpoint that keeping rules are
more important than relationships and that breaking rules must
always be followed by arbitrary punishments. Legalism minimizes
the importance of relationships while elevating the importance of
behavior and all things external. Legalism thrives on fear, guilt,
shame and condemnation. Legalism is a strong diversion preventing
many from truly trusting the heart of God or coming to know the
real truth about Him.
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Love
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Love
is the out-pouring of one personality in fellowship with another
personality. (Chambers, Oswald: My Utmost for His
Highest December 12) Love is other-centeredness, an outward
focus on blessing others more than one's self. Love views others
as more important than self and is willing to pour out one's
resources to the point of even being willing to die if necessary
so that others may live.
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Lust
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“I want it now!” This can involve nearly anything, but
basically it is a demand to have something or someone immediately
instead of relying on God to supply and fulfill our deepest
longings.
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Meekness
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A willingness to refrain from justifying yourself when under
attack or false accusations. It is trusting God to vindicate you
instead of attempting to vindicate yourself. This does not
necessarily involve a need to change your position if it is
validated by God's Spirit. But meekness involves a trust in God's
ability to work things out in His ways and timing instead of
trying to protect and prop up our own reputation. Meekness is
closely linked with humility and both of them require a secure
sense of identity and value apart from what others think that is
rooted firmly in a reliance on the value God has for one. With a
secure sense of value based on what God thinks, one can have the
peace necessary to be meek and humble.
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Mercy
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The Hebrew word translated mercy comes from the root
word used for the womb. This conveys the idea of God being like a
mother whose gut feeling is that of tender love, compassion and
protectiveness toward her children. This would involve many
emotions including a sense of intimate nurturing along with
powerful and deep affections. When we say God is merciful in
essence we are saying God is 'wombish'.
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Mind
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The term mind is most often used in connection with what is now
known to be primarily left-brain functions. This is where we
process intellectual information, where we reason, analyze and
store retrievable information on demand. This is where we store
the libraries of information collected from books, teachers and
other resources of intellectual instruction. It is the base where
we store our opinions of what is right and wrong based on
analytical information.
However, it is now known that during periods of intense emotion
and stress that an “untrained” brain will literally shut down
this side of the brain and will revert to experiential memories to
guide in reactions until the crisis is over. At that point the
left brain will come back on line and openly wonder why the
previous actions or words occurred since they were completely
uncharacteristic with the beliefs and ideas stored in the
left-brain libraries.
The mind was given partly to be a screener and “virus
checker” for the right brain. The beliefs and concepts fed into
the mind need to be true according to how we were created to
function to synchronize the growth and nurture of the heart. When
false ideas are cherished in the mind the resultant dissonance
with the right brain causes uneasiness and guilt. But when the
heart and the mind are in full agreement on any issue they lock
into a state of harmony and synchronization that makes them
unchangeable through any and all circumstances.
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Name
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In Near-Eastern cultures the concept of a person's name is
always connected to a person's character and personality. It is
also very much linked to a person's reputation. So when we speak
of God's name, we are really referring to either His reputation,
His character or possibly both, depending on the context.
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Obedience
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All true obedience comes from the heart that is transformed by
the love of God. He does not value any forced obedience, for such
obedience always produces in the heart a spirit of rebellion. True
obedience is the loving response of cooperation from the person
who is coming to see God's character of love, compassion, goodness
and perfect righteousness.
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Overcome
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Patience
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Waiting for God's timing instead of insisting on our timing.
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Propitiation
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Literally it means the mercy seat, which was the covering on
the Ark of the Covenant which contained the Law of God inside. The
mercy seat had two covering cherubs or angels worshiping over the
Ark and it was where the visible presence of God was most evident.
This is where reconciliation takes place between estranged
parties; where mercy brings together sinners back into fellowship
with God. Another word is atonement, for on the day of Atonement
the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled on the mercy seat. The
true meaning of atonement means to reconcile, to bring into
at-one-ment those who were previously hostile to each other.
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Religious
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Human systems of belief in a supernatural being or power.
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Repentance
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Repentance is a word greatly misunderstood among most
Christians that varies widely with differing teachings and
beliefs. While the Bible instructs us to repent and be baptized,
it also teaches that repentance is a gift that has to be received
and exercised, not something that we can just work up and act on
whenever we decide to on our own. It is important to know that it
is the goodness, the kindness of God that leads us to repentance,
not fear or terror of impending punishments. (Rom. 2:4)
While it is true that the original root word in Greek for
repentance means to turn or to change direction, this term refers
to a change of mind, a change in our fundamental way of thinking.
This is something that is accomplished inside of us by God, not
something we can create on our own. Many people mistakenly believe
that repentance involves a great deal of effort to try to change
their bad habits and be good. But true repentance is a change of
heart performed by God's Spirit with the results being exhibited
in our choices from that point on. It is a heart-oriented
experience more than an external religious performance.
While repentance is something that must be performed by God
within us, it cannot happen without our choice to willingly
embrace it. And the purpose of repentance is to bring glory to
God, to vindicate His reputation. (Rev. 16:9)
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Righteousness
|
This is one of the most misunderstood and vague terms in all of
religion. It is usually thought of as related to “good”
behavior or treating people right. That idea is rooted largely in
the narrow legal view of religion from purely an external and
intellectual perspective.
The true understanding of righteousness is best perceived in
the character of God Himself. Jesus said that only God was
righteous. Righteousness is what God is and encompasses all that
God's character exhibits. Righteousness is wholeness, rightness,
goodness, fairness and everything associated with those things. It
is a description of an internal condition with external symptoms
flowing from that condition.
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Sacrifice
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Willingly giving for the benefit of others. Sacrifice involves
denial of self, letting go of something of value. Sacrifices in
the Old Testament usually pointed forward to the greatest
sacrifice, that of Jesus who gave up His life to reveal the real
truth about God. Sin produces death, and sacrifice absorbs that
death so that the life of God can come back into our lives.
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Salvation
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From both its root term and its usage throughout the New
Testament, salvation is best understood primarily as the idea of
salvaging or restoration. It is both the plan and the process
whereby God is restoring humans to their original function and
design in which He first created them to live. This involves
primarily restoring the proper function and role of the heart
to govern the way we live, think and relate.
When mankind entered the experience of sin their heart was
dis-enthroned from its proper place in the life and intellectual
head knowledge became dominant in artificial religion. In other
cases the baser passions become the dominant controlling force,
but either way the balance of the brain and humanity's
relationship to God was thrown all out of whack and something
called a “sinful nature” or “lower passions” became the
driving force in selfishness that has infected every human born
since that time. With the heart largely disconnected from the mind
and also perverted by lower passions that were never intended to
rule the life, humans came under the control of Satan and were
then helpless to extricate themselves from his abusive tyranny.
Salvation is God's amazing arrangement to bring back all humans
willing to cooperate with His provisions into proper alignment
both internally and externally so they can once again experience
wholeness (holiness), perfect peace, joy and perfect
synchronization with the rest of God's perfect creation.
Many religious people have gotten the notion that salvation is
primarily about getting themselves into heaven so they don't have
to live in pain or be bothered by people they don't like. Thus the
concept of salvation has become very ego-centric and selfish and
totally human oriented. They have largely lost sight of the real
issue in the great controversy taking place – namely that God
has been charged with cruelty, unfairness and even heinous crimes
and as a result His reputation is on trial.
In this context, salvation is not only about restoring humanity
to its original design but also restoring God's place in the
hearts and affections of all His created beings.
Salvation is closely linked from its root to the word salvage
and means very much the same thing. It conveys the added nuance of
rescuing from loss and destruction. It means to restore something
or someone to their original design and function and purpose.
Salvation for humanity is God's plans and methods for restoring us
to the purpose and function for which we were originally created.
But in Revelation we are also told that salvation belongs to our
God. God's reputation has also been terribly damaged and it too
needs to be restored. God is so incredibly wise and loving that He
is carefully guiding everything to eventually restore all of
creation back to not only its original design but to a state even
better that it was before. When the terrible experiment with sin
is finally resolved and settled, salvation will be complete in
restoring the humans who cooperated with God's plans back into a
condition and relationship with Him far more intimate and
inseparable than would have happened otherwise. And through the
process of redemption God's reputation will also be restored to a
condition more beautiful and awe-inspiring than it was previous to
the creation of this earth.
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Sanctify
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To narrow the attention and focus down to what is most
important. Jesus sanctified Himself by focusing on His mission and
would not allow any distractions to divert His attention away from
that one purpose. We are to be sanctified, dedicated, focused so
that nothing else will draw our attention or affections away from
what God has for us to do.
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Saved
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There are two concepts involved in this word, neither of which
is the common thinking among churches today. The first is the
aspect of healing as in a healing salve. God is in the process of
healing us from the disease of sin, saving us.
The second involves rescue. To be saved from having been taken
hostage involves rescuers risking their lives to intervene with
hostile forces to deliver us from the hand of our oppressors. Both
of these have to do with radical changes needed in our lives here
and now. God is seeking to save us now and here, not sometime off
in the distant future. Going to heaven is for those who have
already entered this process.
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Sin
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The Bible has definitions for sin that can be used but that
often have been abused and misused resulting in much confusion.
The most often quoted definition is found in 1 John 3:4 where it
states that “sin is the transgression of the law.”
Romans 14:23 is a less familiar but I believe more helpful
definition of sin. It states that whatever is not from faith is
sin. Taken together and understood in the context of the true
meaning of salvation, it can be seen that sin is a condition in
the heart, of being out of right relationship with God, the source
of all life. Because faith can occur naturally in a right
understanding and relationship with God, then it is easy to see
that sin will show up outside of that condition. Because the law
of God is a description of God's character, His identity, then
anything crosswise to God's ways and perfect character would be
sin. Transgression means to be crosswise.
Another misunderstanding about sin is the lack of
differentiating between the condition of sin and the resulting
symptoms of that condition acted out in our behavior and
relationships. Many identify sin as only the outward
manifestations of the condition of sin and believe that if the
symptoms can be eliminated then sin is under control in their
lives.
But sin is systemic in nature and cannot be eliminated or
overcome by treating the symptoms. Sin is rooted deeply in the
psyche of every human being born since Adam and Eve sinned in the
beginning. It is only by the implantation of a counter-nature by
the supernatural grace of God in conversion and complete trust in
the righteous merits of Jesus Christ alone for our redemption that
sin can be brought under control and curbed in our lives. It is by
the mysterious but very real choice of dying to our selfish
natures every day and allowing the Spirit of God to make us alive
in Christ that we can be free of the stranglehold of sin from
within us.
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Soul
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Spiritual
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Sulfur
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Tracing this word back to its roots in the original languages
one finds that it can mean 'flashes of divinity.' Sulfur burns
very hot and very brightly. Thus it has been used to describe
instances where the fire of God is encountered. But though it
refers to an element we have here on earth that does not imply
that it is a kind of physical fire that burns things like our
sulfur might do. The subject of fire is one that must be
diligently studied out to discern its true meaning in Scripture.
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Transgression
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Transgression is best understood by disassembling the word and
looking at the parts carefully and then putting them back
together. Trans means to go crosswise to, to cut across what is
normal or natural. Gress has to do with direction or movement as
in regress, progress, retrogress etc. So trans-gress means to move
in a way that is crosswise or out of harmony with something or
someone. Transgression is to be out of synchronization.
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Truth
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Wrath of God
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This most misunderstood term is covered much more extensively
by reading the various notes under the label of “Hell”. But
briefly and simply, if the Bible is allowed to supply its own
definitions this will ultimately be understood to be actually
God's very intense passion rather than the demonic type of anger
that humans are so familiar with. The original word that is
improperly translated “wrath” could more accurately be
translated passion and in fact in some instances is translated by
some versions as passion as in Rev. 14:8. If one were to replace
every instance of the word wrath with the word passion it would
reveal much more accurate revelations about the God that is in
charge of the universe.
Another even clearer understanding of the nature of God's wrath
is found in Romans 1 and several other places where this
definition appears. Romans 1:18 begins the rest of the chapter by
stating that the wrath of God is revealed. Then in verses 24, 26
and 28 it states that God gave them over to the natural results of
their evil choices. Other places this word translated 'hand them
over' is used to describe what God did with Jesus at the cross. He
was handed over for our transgressions to die as He became sin for
us. Thus we see that when God's wrath is displayed it is the last
thing He does – He lets go, He sadly releases those who have so
permanently rejected His attempts to save them that there is
nothing else He can do.
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