Category: Covenant


MY DAY OF DEATH

Filed under: Covenant, Messages from God — 5 Comments
October 31, 2022

This posting is the first of many that documents God’s involvement in my life. It is my Testimony for all to read and rejoice in His wonderful works. In case you have not already read about my childhood experiences, you can find them here: Introduction to Chapter 1 – From the Beginning.

My Day of Death 

It was November 7, 1986, a day I would prefer to forget but likely never will. My chronicle of this day and its aftermath will seem unimaginable to many. It was the day death came calling, and I crossed over into the spiritual reality of our human existence. When I look back at this experience, I understand that it was a period of change for me, an essential lesson in the truth about our reality, and an education on why we are here. I knew almost nothing about these things when they occurred.

It all began when, for some unknown reason, I stopped believing in the devil’s existence. Especially since I had a terrifying encounter with the devil as a child (documented in the section entitled, A Terrifying Memory.) In any event, this false belief left me a vulnerable victim of what started on that November day.

I was not feeling well that day, which was a bummer because I was very enthusiastic about going to a concert with friends that evening. As the day progressed, my condition unfortunately worsened. It was a condition that I had been experiencing, off and on, for many months. The symptoms included low energy, facial flushing, and high temperature after dinner or a couple of drinks. I had also gained over thirty pounds during this time. I had gone to the doctor about these conditions on two separate occasions, but they found nothing wrong.

Despite all this, I decided the concert was just too good an opportunity to pass on. So, that evening, I met my friends at a restaurant before the show for dinner and drinks. Even though I was not hungry, I had a Mexican dish and a beer. The aftereffect of this combination made my stomach feel overly full and backed up. 

We then left the restaurant, walked across the street to the concert hall, and took our seats just before the show started. The music and the performances were outstanding, and everyone was having a swell time, except for me. I was becoming nauseous and sick to my stomach. I tried to delay the inevitable but eventually had to go to the restroom to vomit. As I returned to my chair, I thought there may have been something wrong with the Mexican food. My illness worsened throughout the evening, and I had to depart to the restroom several more times before the concert ended. My friends all wanted to go out for drinks afterward but developing sharp abdominal pains, I declined their invitation and went home instead.

My abdominal pain had become exceptionally severe when I arrived home forty minutes later. As I exited my car, I found that I could not stand upright due to the stomach pain, but bowed down ninety degrees at the waist to minimize it. My wife and I called our family doctor, who recommended that I be taken to the emergency room immediately. Ironically, the hospital brought me within a few blocks or so of the concert hall I had left a couple of hours ago. 

Click the following link to read about my experience at the hospital: When You Disbelieve The Devil’s Existence…

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God Warns of Danger, Then Protects

Filed under: Covenant, ESP, Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — Leave a comment
July 22, 2014

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

THE ESP EXPERIENCES

After I entered elementary school, I started to encounter things that could not be explained by the laws of physics. Some would call these strange experiences ESP or extrasensory perception. For example, I would dream things that would come true and know things that were to happen before they occurred. The following story is one example of the kind of things that I experienced that are of this nature. 

Here is my story for today.

A BRICK WALL

When I was about ten years old, I had a dream in which I came to a red brick wall that blocked my path. In this dream, I became very frustrated searching for a way past the wall but not finding one. I started searching along the base of the wall to my left only to find a dead end. Then, I searched for a way around the right side of the wall only to find another dead end. I contemplated how I might be able to go over the wall, but it was just too tall, and there was nothing to grab on to, so I could not find a way over it either. 

Now if this were an isolated experience, it most likely would have been long forgotten, but I kept redreaming it nighty after night. As if I was in one big loop, continuously searching, for a way past the wall. For months this went on. Most often, the dream sequence would last most of the night, leaving me still trying to find a way to the other side when I awoke. 

This dream was a mystery to me as I had never seen a wall like this one, and I had no idea why it may be relevant to me. My innocents, however, was about to change.

One summer evening, I joined with a group of older neighborhood boys who were gathered just down the street from where I lived. Interestingly, some of these boys were the ones who had a great laugh on me in the boogeyman story. One of the boys had just acquired a used car. In the course of our conversation, he suggested that we all go down to Hastings Street.

I was by far the youngest one there and had no idea what Hastings Street was or why anyone might want to go there. If I had, I would not have gone with them. I found out years later that Hastings street was the black cultural centre of Detroit. It was famous for its bars and restaurants, and Jazz. It could be a dangerous place to be.

For some reason, all the boys all wanted to go, and I trusted their judgment and jumped in the car for what I thought would be a fun time. As we were in route, the driver started to take big gulps from a bottle of Orange Vodka that he had stashed under the driver’s seat. It seemed that in no time at all, he was quite drunk. In fact, by the time we got to Hastings Street, he was a sloppy, goofy drunk.

I was in the back seat between two of the other boys as we cruised very slowly down Hastings Street. I could see large numbers of people on the street, mostly just milling around. There were women in provocative clothes standing on street corners and under streetlights. I was so young that I didn’t know what this meant at the time either. We drove by bars that all had their doors propped open, and we could hear loud blues and jazz music as we slowly passed. I also remember that we passed a police car that had four officers inside. One of the boys said it was the big four, indicating that this part of town required Detroit’s toughest police.

The musician John Lee Hooker on Hasting Street

Then our intoxicated driver starts singing in a loud voice, “Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes.” Then, being very amused with his newly created song, he let go with a loud belly laugh. Then he rolled down his window, hung his head out and sang it again, “Don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes,” followed by another belly laugh. I remember being embarrassed at first, but after a while, I started to become quite fearful. This activity seemed to be very stupid for white boys to be doing in a black part of town. 

There seemed to be no way to stop him either. He just kept repeating this song and laughing over and over again even though the other boys were shouting at him to quit and telling him quite emphatically to shut up. When he did not, they threatened him with physical violence if he didn’t stop. 

The car came to a red light, and we stopped for what seemed to be a very long time for me. It was when the light changed, and we had entered the intersection I saw the red brick wall through the windshield. A chill ran down my spine as we attempted a u-turn in the road. The driver was having difficulty in making the turn because of the stick shifter. Halfway through the turning process, I could see men coming from buildings and out of the alleyways. As they came toward us, I could see that they had baseball bats, lumber, and tire irons in their hands. They were coming from several directions.

 

After completing the U-turn, our drunk driver stalled the car. He attempted to restart the vehicle, but it would not start even though it turned over just fine. But the engine began to turn at a slow rate, indicating the battery was getting week. I could see that the groups of angry men were getting closer. Then I thought that it was possible we could all die here, and no one would ever know what happened. Then the distinct smell of gas filled the car indicating that the engine flooded. We had the driver push the accelerator to the floor and listened as the engine turned progressively slower. Suddenly, the clicking sound of the solenoid is all we hear. Meanting the battery lacked power to turn the engine. I then thought that we would all die. But for some unknown reason, the engine suddenly turned one more turn and roared to a full-speed start. Our driver, now seemingly very sober, dropped the shifter down into first gear and we peeled away. 

The angry men were running alongside and behind the car and started slamming the vehicle with their weapons. The sounds of the weapons striking the metal of the car were quite horrific. The car finally started pulling away from the mob, and we drove away safely. 

I am sure that if we had been there just a few more seconds, our fate would have met an unpleasant end. In looking back at this incident, I know that the dream of the brick wall was another warning from God. Also, I believe that the one extra turn of the engine was help from God as well. I know that one isolated case like this one could be a coincidence, but it is not just one case. I was being warned and protected again and again. Just read my previous blogs and look for the ones to come, and you will come to see how God works. 

God bless you and keep you always.

6/21/2020

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Jesus, the Fulfilment of the Law

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August 13, 2013

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

Jesus, the Fulfillment of the Law

Jesus said:

17 “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. 18 For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

One has to ask the question, what does Jesus mean when He said: ‘to fulfill?’  A definition found in an online dictionary provides insight.

ful·fill also ful·fil  (fl-fl)

tr.v. ful·filled, ful·fill·ing, ful·fills also ful·fils

1. To bring into actuality; effect: fulfilled their promises.

2. To carry out (an order, for example).

3. To measure up to; satisfy. See Synonyms at perform, satisfy.

4. To bring to an end; complete.

So based on this definition we can see that Jesus is saying that the law and the prophets must bring their promises to actuality. Therefore, prophetic prophesy must become a reality and God’s intention for the law, (to make covenant with the people and to dwell with them on Earth) is realized.

The Fulfillment of the Prophetic Promise

What this means is that an order made to deliver something has to be carried out. So when the words of God are delivered by one of His prophets, the fulfillment comes when his statement becomes a reality.

In the case of the law, it is fulfilled when the purpose of the law is achieved. The purpose of the Ten Commandments was to change the behavior of Israel such that would enable them to enter into a covenant relationship with the Father, in which He would be able to dwell with them as He did in the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve in the Garden

Adam and Eve in the Garden

The Promises of God must be brought to an end by way of Competition

So, in these two cases, the fulfillment of God promises must come to pass. Therefore, the prophetic message has to become reality. The people’s promise to abide to the commandments delivered by Moses must be achieved.

Those things that once existed in the law for example, must be brought to an end.  Jesus is the fulfillment of the law as He was able to live in accord with the law. Because He lived a perfect life He was able to dwell on Earth with men, being God and therefore fulfilling the promise of the law and the Mosaic covenant.

Moses and the Ten Comandments

Moses and the Ten Comandments

For those who believe in Him He is the fulfillment of the Tabernacle’s function and purpose. He has fulfilled the rigid rules of the law by simply commanding us to love on another as He loved us. He has fulfilled the blood sacrifices for the forgiveness of sin with the blood sacrifice of His own body and blood. For those who believe in Him, He has fulfilled the Mosaic covenant with the New Covenant of His body and blood.

God gave Moses the specifications for building the Tabernacle and therefore it was built in accord with a heavenly model.

Jesus, Moses Discuss the Fulfilment of Tabernacle Prophesy

Jesus, Moses Discuss the Fulfillment of Tabernacle Prophesy

As such it has to also be fulfilled in the life and words of Jesus. In addition, the portion of the law that provided guidance for the priest who provided services at the Tabernacle who also have to be fulfilled as well. In fact, every component and every object found in the Tabernacle must have their promise fulfilled in the life of Jesus. In thinking about the Tabernacle in this way we see it as a prophetic blueprint for the future. This blueprint when fulfilled results in God dwelling with men in such a way that all of its functions, purpose, and attributes of it are realized. The good news is that Jesus fulfills all of these conditions and we therefore can validate that He is the Christ.

This web site goes into great detail demonstrating this truth by referencing scripture. Go to our home page (https://possessthevision.wordpress.com/) to access the index into our writings on these subjects.

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Jesus and the Covenant of Circumsision

Filed under: Christian Love, Covenant, Jesus, Spirituality — Leave a comment
September 10, 2012

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

In our last posting we took a look at the covenant God made with Abraham, a covenant that became the foundation of the three most prolific religions in the world. This covenant promised that Abraham would be the father of many nations and that the land of Canaan would be their possession.

However, all the men of Abraham’s family would have to be circumcised as a visible sign of the covenant. I have included the scriptures of Genesis 17 that communicate the essence of this message here for your review:

for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan (the Promised Land where there are many mansions) where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God. ” 9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant (the new covenant is a covenant of selfless love), you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised (symbolic of casting away one’s own flesh). 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you (as our love for one another is a sign to others that we follow Jesus.) 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant. ”

Now, one of the things we spoke of last time was that this covenant of circumcision was prophetic of Jesus in many ways. So today we are going to drill down a bit on this idea so that we can see the scriptural foundation for this statement.

Lets start with the act of circumcision itself. Circumcision is the act of cutting away the foreskin of the part of a man that defines him to be a man. God asks Abraham to do this to all the men in his family as a sign that he was in covenant with God. This seems peculiar to say the least and one has to wonder why this would be the case. We hope to address this as we tie the covenant of circumcision to the ministry of Jesus Christ.

As we alluded to in our prior posting, the very idea of circumcision seems outrageous on the surface and yet it contains a powerful message for all the generations that followed. The message is that we were not created as physical creatures but rather as spiritual creatures who were created in the image of God.

Genesis 1:27
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Since God is spirit,

John 4:24
God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

then we are also spiritual creatures, otherwise we could not have been created in Gods image. We took on our physical bodies when Adam and Eve chose to know evil. It was then that they discovered for the first time that they were naked and sought to cover themselves. This means that they took on the flesh of their physical bodies.

Adam and Eve in the Garden

It was at this time that God also told the woman that her childbearing would come with pain,

To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Gen 3:16

and so, what we see here is that mankind took on a major transformation because of our desire to know both good and evil. From that point on we were all born as spiritual creatures encapsulated in physical bodies.

Prior to the fall from the Garden there was never a report of Eve giving birth to children, only afterwards did she give birth to children. The point of all of this is that we are not our bodies!

Interestingly, science proves that we are not our bodies as well. Scientists have proven that each cell in our bodies is replaced every seven years. Therefore, we are not physically the same being that we were just seven years ago. We are not the baby that we were when we were born, nor are we the teenager that we were in our youth. Yet, there is a consistency that continues to be us despite the physical change in the bodies we inhabit, and that consistency is our spirit. This is the message of the covenant of circumcision: our flesh is irrelevant in seeking eternal life with God. This message is verified by the words of Jesus as reported by John the disciple:

John 6:63
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

Therefore, it is our spiritual nature that is important to God as we are to seek God in spirit.

Jesus came to us teaching us by way of parables and therefore one way to view covenant with Abraham is as a parable. This parable tells us that to be in covenant with God we must cast away our own flesh as worthless. In addition, it tells us that the people who we come in contact with must be able to determine that we are in covenant with God as a result of our interaction with them. They must be able to see a visible sign that we have turned our back on our own physical life in favor of a spiritual relationship with God.

Jesus spoke the following words:

Matthew 16:25
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

So how do we do this? The casting away of our own flesh is the giving of our life toward loving one another. This love is not self centered but rather others centered.

John 15:12
 This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.

It is a love that is enacted by following the lead of the Holy Spirit of God. When we walk in the Spirit of God we will be led into spiritual warfare where the dominions of power and evil are brought down. It is then that we truly enter into the ministry of Jesus Christ. The reason for this is because at this point we begin to do the things that Jesus did.

John 14:11-13
Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. 12 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. 13 Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

The Holy Spirit

In this regard Jesus confirms the covenant of circumcision by giving up His own body so that He would receive the punishment that we otherwise would justly deserve. He took on the wiping, the spitting, the beating, the thorns in His head, the nails in His hands and feet, the taunting and humiliation of being hung on the cross so that all of us could achieve forgiveness of our sins and live under the new and better covenant that He earned for us.

This is the degree of love that He showed us as He suffered on the Cross, giving up his flesh willingly for us. This is the example that Jesus gave us. It is proof that the flesh profits us nothing as Jesus was resurrected from the dead and then ascended into heaven to be with the Father once again. This is the example that he left us. This is how He wants us to love one another. To love others like He loved us!

Jesus at the Tomb

Jesus also said that we should do the works that He did in His ministry. That means that we should see answers to our prayers. We should see people healed, demons cast out and people raised from the dead. These things come from the Spirit of God. They are acts of love. To tap into this our spirit must become one with the Holy Spirit of God.

John 17:20-23
 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

This is what is required. We must become one with God in spirit and this in turn means that we have to turn our backs on our own flesh. This is exactly what Abraham and Jesus did. It is what the apostles of Jesus did as they all died marters for the Gospel of Jesus. Truly, it is the narrow path that leads to God.

The Power of Prayer

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God’s Promise is the Basis of Our Relationship

Filed under: Covenant, Faith, Jesus, Spirituality — Leave a comment
August 23, 2012

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

​This posting is the third in a series of communications that look at God’s deliberate actions to reunite with His people. In our first posting we established that it is God’s desire to once again dwell with His people as He did with Adam and Eve in the Garden. Our second posting provided a generalized outline that demonstrated God’s repeated efforts to reunite with us. Today, we will look at one of God’s most influential covenants, one that became the foundation for the three most prevalent religions of the world today.

So, lets find out more about this covenant by looking at the 17th chapter of the Book of Genesis. As many portions of this scripture are prophetic of Jesus, I have inserted notes to identify them. I hope to be drilling down into them in future postings.

A Meeting Of Abraham And Melchizedek

The Covenant of Circumcision

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless (as Jesus walked before the Father and was blameless). 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers (as Jesus made a new covenant with us and greatly increased the numbers of those who walk before the Father and are blameless because of the shed blood of Jesus).”

3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations (as Jesus is the Father of all Christianity). 5 No longer will you be called Abram (Jesus); your name will be Abraham (the Christ), for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan (the Promised Land where there are many mansions) where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God. ”

9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant (the new covenant is a covenant of selfless love), you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised (symbolic of casting away ones own flesh). 11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you (as our love for one another is a sign to others that we follow Jesus.) 12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant. ” 15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” 17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac.

I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. 23 On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him. 24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised, 25 and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day.

27 And every male in Abraham’s household , including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him.

What does the Covenant of Circumcision Mean to us?

Now while this seems like a nice story on the surface, it is very profound when you start to think about what happened here. God communicates with a 100-year-old man whose wife is barren and tells him that he is going to be the father of many generations. How many 100-year-old men do you know that have fathered a child? Most people would say that such a thing is highly improbable. Then God tells Him that His barren 90-year-old wife is to be the one who is going to give birth to his male child. I believe that this is an even more unlikely possibility. So we have a situation here that is doubly improbable, and even impossible to most people I know. Certainly, it would take an act of God to make these promises a reality and we find that Abraham has so much faith that he immediately follow His direction.

From my point of view the act of circumcision that Abraham performed is so contrary to the basic nature of man that I would also believe them impossible. Most men would most likely say something like, “What, are you kidding?” To cut the flesh off the tip of the organ that represents manhood, and throw it away as worthless is counter intuitive from my point of view. To start with, just think of the pain associated with this procedure. I might be able to believe that Abraham would be willing to circumcise himself, but then how did he convince the other members of his family to do so as well? Let’s internalize this for a moment. Visualize in your mind a situation where a member of your family comes to you and proclaims that they have heard from God and that all the men in their family were required to have a portion of their sexual organ cut off as a result. What would you say? Most likely you would say, “you are as crazy as a loon.” So once again we see a circumstance that appears quite impossible, but despite this Abraham does not even question the point with God, but rather simply complies and get’s his family to do so as well. How great a faith is that? For this reason, several of the New Testament scriptures proclaim that Abraham was deemed righteous based of his faith alone.

So when we look at this from a standpoint of God’s promise being the basis of our relationship, what we see is just another example of God directing His people in a way that leads them back into a relationship with Him. God trying to lead us back into a relationship like He had with Adam and Eve in the Garden.

Adam and Eve in the Garden

In this scripture we find God leading Abraham toward the promised land (Canna), where He planned to dwell with his people from inside the Tabernacle that would be built later by Moses. As we have reported several times, the actions reported in these stories are physical in their nature. They are in fact parables or stories that are told to communicate a spiritual message (one that we can not easily understand), by using analogies taken from the physical world that we understand very well. So for example, God’s directing Abraham to the promised land is simply a parable to communicate that there is a spiritual promised land (heaven or the Garden), that we can aspire toward inhabiting. Jesus reaffirmed this concept on several occasions when he spoke about the kingdom of heaven. Just prior to the ascension of Jesus into heaven He told the apostles that he was leaving to prepare a place for them, one that had many mansions.

The Ascension of Jesus

The bottom line here is that the actions of Abraham to God’s message are prophetic of the life, word and actions of Jesus Christ in every way.

So for example, the act of circumcision, or the cutting away of a man’s flesh serves several points. First, it points to our spiritual nature and tells us that the flesh profits us nothing (like Jesus told us). It also tells us that a sacrifice of the flesh is necessary to live in covenant with God, and this makes it easier for us to understand why Jesus had to sacrifice His life on the cross so that we could live under the new covenant, a spiritual covenant.

It tells us that there is nothing that is impossible for God and that it is in times like these, when things seem hopeless that God comes through. It teaches us that no matter how crazy the things of God may seem to the rest of the world, we must keep our faith and follow His direction. It also communicates that we must display a visible sign so that the world will know that we belong to God. In Abaraham’s day the sign was circumcision and today it is our love for one another. Therefore it is critical that people can tell that we are followers of Jesus by simply being with them.

But all of this is contingent upon us being able to hear from God directly and being sure that we can recognise His voice. So let’s take a look at this and all the other items identified here in greater detail. We will start this communication in our next postings.

Untill then, may all of God’s blessing be upon you.

Papa Joe Gordon

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An Introduction to the Journey of God’s People

Filed under: Covenant, spirtual warfare, The Ark Of The Covenant — 3 Comments
July 8, 2012

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

An Introduction to the Journey of God’s People

This posting is the second in a series of communications that look at God’s deliberate actions to reunite with His people. In our previous posting we established that it is God’s desire to once again dwell with His people. In this regard, we see that God originally created the Garden of Eden expressly to be with us.

Adam and Eve in the Garden

His first attempt at reunification came when He instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle (as a place where God would dwell with his people on earth.) However, when the people choose to break the covenant of God’s law, God had to find another way. So He sent HIs Son to walk and dwelt with us on earth as a man. His Son was Jesus and He gave us a new pathway to the Father. His life was an example for all of to emulate because His actions and words reveal the heart of the Father. This pathway to the Father’s heart was sealed in a new covenant that included a promise that those who believe in the Son will dwell with God forever in paradise.

The Last Supper

All who can keep the covenant of love established by Jesus will see the Garden of Eden re-established once again. So, what we have established here is that it is God’s desire to dwell with us and that this is a proven fact, because God has repeatability worked toward this objective in the past.

We initiate this new section because we believe that the actions of God and the response of God’s people to His direction are prophetic of the walk of the Christian nation today. Therefore, we believe that they are prophetic messages are applicable to every church, ministry and individual seeking to carry on the ministry of Jesus. We believe that this is true because of our work in contrasting the Tabernacle built by Moses, its attributes and functionality, to the life, words and works of Jesus Christ. What we found was that in every respect that the Tabernacle was prophetic of Jesus. Every purpose of every object is prophetic of Jesus.

For anyone unfamiliar with our work on the Tabernacle and Jesus can find a wealth of information here on this site (the-tabernacle-is-prophetic-of-jesus). We believe that this study is of paramount importance because it literally proved that Jesus is the Christ. In our study of this subject matter we found ourselves understanding the nature and attributes of Jesus in  a much deeper and intimate manner. We found that the physical structure of the Tabernacle gives us a clear pathway to the Father, one that truly clarifies what Jesus meant when He said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” It leads us to understand what true baptism is. It teaches us that conforming our nature and life attributes to His will lead us into positions of empowerment and even covenant with God. Well, if you’re interested we have about 50 postings on this subject. An index into them can be found on our homepage: https://possessthevision.wordpress.com/. In these postings we reveal great insights into the kingdom of God that truly have value to every Christian, ministry and Church. It is because of them that we have great faith that looking into the circumstances that surround them that many more great insights will be revealed to God’s people.

With all of this said, our future postings will look at the Bible passages that record God’s promises to the people of Israel, namely, that they will live in peace in the promised land, a land flowing with milk and honey. We will follow the travels of the patriarchs to the promised land and then into Egypt, where they eventually become enslaved for 400 years. We will look at the life of Moses who is asked by God to set His people free.

Moses before the Burning Bush

We will investigate the confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh, who only consents to the release of God’s people after suffer from a barrage of plages that culminate in the loss of all the firstborn of Egypt. We will see how the battle between God’s people and the evil powers of the world ends with Israel departing with all the riches of Egypt.

Crossing the Red Sea

We will study all of the actions that take Israel from this point, to the time they take the Promised Land. We will look at their flight into the wilderness. We will study how Moses goes up to the holy mountain and is given the Ten Commandments of the Covenant with Israel. We will look at the Ark of the Covenant that became instrumental in leading the nation into the promised land.

The Walls of Jerico fall Befor the Ark

We will also see how the nation refused to enter into the land and as a result they were forced to wander in the wilderness for 40 years until all the men who had refused to enter died off. We will see how God chooses a new leader, Joshua, to lead the people into the battle for the Promised Land and how the Ark of the Covenant was used to lead the Nation of Israel to defeat all its enemies.

Most importantly, we will correlate these passages with the life and words of Jesus and look for revelations of the future walk of the Christian nation.

God bless you,

Papa Joe

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God Wants to Dwell with us!

Filed under: Covenant, Jesus, Spirituality — Leave a comment
June 29, 2012

 

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

God Wants to Dwell with us!

This posting is the first of a series of communications that look at the actions of God that have repeatedly resulted in the creation of opportunities for Him to dwell with His people. In this regard we see that He created the Garden of Eden expressly for this purpose.

The Garden Of Eden

Later, He instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle to bring His people into closer relationship with Him.

The Glory Cloud Covers the Tabernacle

God then sent His Son who lived with us on earth. He established a new covenant that included a promise that we all have the opportunity to dwell with Him forever in paradise.

Jesus Arises to Heaven

Jesus Arises to Heaven – Mansions in the Background

We initiate this new section because we believe that the actions of God reveal His love for us. The actions of God’s people to His direction are prophetic of the walk of the Christian nation today. We believe that the prior actions of God and His people are often predictors of what is to come. Therefore, we believe that they are prophetic messages are applicable to every church, ministry and individual seeking to carry on the ministry of Jesus. We hope to be able to demonstrate this as we move forward.

Today we start at the beginning in the book of Genesis with the creation of the Garden of Eden, (a place where God could dwell with His people.) I have attached Genesis: 2 (from biblegateway.com) to allow the reader to see what God created for man:

2 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created [a] and made.

4 [b] This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven. 5  Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to [c]cultivate the ground. 6 But a [d]mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole[e]surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living [f]being. 8 The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. 9 Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10 Now a river [g]flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four[h]rivers. 11 The name of the first is Pishon; it [i]flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it [j]flows around the whole land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is [k] Tigris; it [l]flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the [m] Euphrates.

15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not [n]eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper[o]suitable for him.” 19  Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the [p]sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the [q]sky, and to every beast of the field, but for [r]Adam there was not found a helper[s] suitable for him. 21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. 22 The Lord God [t]fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said,

“ This is now bone of my bones,

And flesh of my flesh;

[u]She shall be called [v]Woman,

Because [w]she was taken out of [x]Man.”

24  For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25  And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

 
From all of this we can say that it was God’s desire to have a place for us to live that was filled with all the good things that man needed. A place where God the Father could dwell with us and develop a relationship with us. God gave us a purpose and gave us dominion over everything in the garden. It is obvious from all of this that God loves us and wants to dwell with us forever in this paradise. This scripture tells us that this paradise is the end result that God wants for all of us. Even now, He is leading us to choose the Tree of Life (His Son Jesus) so that we can obtain this destiny.

The Ascension of Jesus

Further proof of God’s desire to restore the the Garden of Eden for us is found in the 21st chapter of the book of The Revelations of Jesus Christ:

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will [a] dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them[b], 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

Therefore, this current environment that we live in pass away and God will once again create a new place for us to dwell with Him, exactly like it was in the beginning. People who take up their cross for Jesus can become a part of the New Jerusalem that comes down from heaven as a bride. Jesus is the Tabernacle of God (see the-tabernacle-is-prophetic-of-jesus) who then dwells among men.

So, as we stated in the beginning, the scriptures taken from Genesis are prophetic of the actions predicted in the book of Revelations. We can believe that this is true because of the other  attempts to do this are recorded in the Bible. Certainly, the Tabernacle was built to be a place where God could dwell on earth with man (the-tabernacle-is-prophetic-of-jesus.) Ultimately, Jesus came and dwelt with us on Earth. Therefore, the prophetic value of the scriptures pertaining to God’s desire to be with us is confirmed. As a result, we can have confidence that the promises of God’s continued efforts will be in our future.

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Jesus and the Tabernacle

Filed under: Covenant, Jesus, Ministry, Spirituality, Tabernacle — 1 Comment
August 17, 2011

Jesus the Alpha and the Omega

 Jesus and the Tabernacle

It all started with my decision to learn everything I could about Jesus. The motivating force was a genuine desire to develop a more intimate relationship with Him. I wanted to know everything that I could know so that I could better understand who He is, so that I could model my life after His in every way possible. 

My search to know Jesus started with an examination of the bible. I read the bible and then prayed and meditated about what I read. I did this for an hour a day for more than ten years. During that time I read the bible cover to cover twice. I also read the new testament more than five times, and individual the books that really talked to me, even more. Through this practice God gave me insight into so many things about the spiritual realm and Jesus. My heart yearned for the truth and God revealed the truth to me.  

However, after I was about half way through this ten-year exercise I encountered a mystery. There were two statements that Jesus made that I was puzzled over. The first statements is:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6

Jesus is the Light of the Wordl

This statement was an attempt to communicate to His disciples who He was and what His attributes were. While there were some clues in the passage to reveal what Jesus meant, I felt that the answers were vague. The way to where exactly? The truth about what? What life was He talking about? These are generalities and wanted to drill down and know the details. I wanted to know more as this verse certainly hinted that there was more to learn about Jesus.

In second scripture that wanted to drill down on was as follows:

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” Luke 24:44

The Transfigured Jesus With Moses

The Transfigured Jesus With Moses

Again, I wanted to drill down to find more details about Jesus. The problem was that I could not recall reading any comments about Jesus in the books of Moses. So, thinking that I missed them somehow, I decided to read the five books of the bible that are attributed to Moses again. This time however I would examine every line with the sole purpose of identifying the prophetic things that Moses wrote about Jesus. incredibly, reading these books provided no additional insight.  I knew that this could not be but was not quite sure how I could have missed something as large as this.

After praying about this for quite some time the truth finally came to me. Jesus was the fulfilment of the Tabernacle of Moses and the laws concerning the royal priesthood of Aaron. Now it all made sense! The Tabernacle was the way through which God would dwell with His people here on earth. It was God’s covenant promise to the people of Israel, who in turn promised to obey the Ten Comandments. So when Jesus stated that everything that was written about Him in the books of Moses must be fulfilled, he was claiming to be the fulfilment of the Tabernacle, the place where God would dwell with His people on earth. He was proclaiming the dawning of a new covenant, one that was a far superior to the old covenant in every way.

With this new revelation I started to put all of the pieces information together. I then remembered that a deacon from our church once told us that the names of the Tabernacle doors were; the Way, the Truth and the Life. I wondered why I had not made that connection before. Once again, Jesus was proclaiming to be the fulfillment of the Tabernacle when He stated that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. So these two statements were tied together in this way.

Jesus, Moses and the Tabernacle

This discovery was the start of a wonderful journey as I set my sights on Jesus and the Tabernacle, and what I learned was monumental. For example, I learned that the attributes and functions of each and every artifact in the Tabernacle was fulfilled in the life of Jesus. This fact is supported by the words Jesus spoke about Himself and the actions that Jesus demonstrated.  More importantly, these words and actions were reinforced by the miracles that directly supported what Jesus did and said.  The conclusion to all of this is that Jesus is the promised one of God and He is the Christ because He is the perfect fulfilment of the Tabernacle. He fulfills the prophesy of the Tabernacle in that He supplants each and every object inside the Tabernacle. This proof is very complex and lengthy indeed, and so we will put it off to another time. What we will focus on in this document is the second discovery attributed to all this research and prayer.  Something that I have never heard discussed in any Christian church that I ever attended.

This discovery is that there are three levels of relationship that man may have with God, and these levels of relationship will determine how effective your individual ministry will be on earth as well as your final resting place in heaven. Paul once spoke about the third heaven and in doing so revealed that he had achieved the closest of all possible relationships with God. There is much to say about all of this and so I am going to put all of this proof untill the next time.

God bless,

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PREMONITION OF AN AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT

Filed under: Covenant, ESP, Faith, Ministry, Possess the Vision, Spirituality, spirtual warfare, the Holy Spirit — 5 Comments
June 4, 2010

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

PREMONITION OF AN AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT

In my previous posting (Possess-the-Vision) I communicated that I was going to present the spiritual experiences of my life that led to the creation of the Possess the Vision Mission Statement (PTV Mission-Statement.)

The experience I am about to communicate to you took place while I was in grade school. It will prove to be quite unbelievable to most people, and to be perfectly honest, would have been disregarded by me as well if it were not for all of the other unexplained spiritual experiences of my life. It is the story of a warning that comes from God in the form of a dream and then is followed up by an intervention from God.

My mom and dad would take us to visit my aunt’s family from time to time. We looked forward to these trips because we got to play with cousins our age.

Their house was about an hour’s drive across town and we were driving home late one night after one of our visits. I was tired and was trying to get some sleep in the back seat of our car. I had my head propped up against the interior wall on the driver’s side when I started to doze off. Then suddenly, I quickly awoke with a start sensing that another car was about to crash into us at the precise point where my head was resting.

Thinking about my feeling for a moment brought me to the conclusion that I was just imagining things and so I ignored the sensation and tried to get back to sleep.

But when I did I found that the experienced just kept happening over and over again and so I told my mother about it. She reaffirmed that I was in fact just imagining things and recommended that I dismiss these thoughts from my mind and try to go back to sleep.


So, I made another attempt to suppress my fear and get some sleep but the fact was that the sensation of an impending crash became very strong again and I could not help but pull my head away from the side of the car. This time the result was different however, as an auto came crashing into our car exactly at the point where my head had been resting just a second before. The accident turned out to be minor, and thankfully no one was hurt.

Still, I had to wonder about what the outcome may have been if I had not pulled my head away at the last second. The jolt of the collision was substantial so who knows what had been avoided. I suppose I could have sustained major injury to my head or neck, or perhaps even worse.

In this case, I heeded the warning and made the right choice. Still, at the time I can remember about wondering about where these warnings were coming from and why.

Just to make things clear, I now know that these were warnings from God who was protecting me from harm. I know that each of us is born with a purpose and that the devil will try to abort that purpose in any one of a multitude of ways. So please pay attention to these messages from God and act on them. Your immortal life may depend on it.

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TAKE A LEAP OF FAITH

Filed under: Covenant, Faith, Jesus, Ministry, Spirituality, spirtual warfare — 3 Comments
May 4, 2010

The Morning Star Rising on the First Day

TAKE A LEAP OF FAITH

In my previous posting (Possess-the-Vision) I communicated that I was going to present the spiritual experiences of my life that led to the creation of the Possess the Vision Mission Statement (PTV Mission-Statement.)

My story of my first leap of faith is very unusual and yet it contains a spiritual message foundational to the PTV Mission. Like the prior posting (Dad-Comes-Home,) I recommend looking at this story as a parable, which is a story told in earthly terms but designed to communicate a heavenly message. The message is that we have a heavenly Father that wants us to step out in our faith for Him. When we do so He will support our initiative and protect us from harm. With that said, here is my story:

One day not long after my father’s arrival home my dad was taking care of me while I ate lunch in my high chair. Having had enough lunch and not liking to sit still for very long I squeezed out of my seat and stood up on the high chair tray. My dad was all the way on the other side of the kitchen when he noticed what I had done. I was very excited about achieving this feat and started jumping up and down on the tray of the chair. My dad’s first reaction was to freeze, not wanting to do anything that might make me fall. While he was looking straight at me I grinned and jumped once more just for fun. He said, “Don’t you dare.” For some reason, I thought it would be great amusement to jump and have my dad catch me as there was no doubt in my mind that he would. So, I jumped from the tray as if it were a game and when I did my dad took several quick steps before diving into a slide on the floor, catching me just in time to keep me from being seriously injured. It would seem that I had a natural trust in my father’s ability from the very beginning.

This story communicates that God wants us to act on the faith that He has given us. He wants us to take action on the desires that He has placed in our heart. Most importantly, He wants us to know that He will be there for us if things don’t always work out as planned. I offer the story about Peter walking on water as support for this message. Here is that story.

Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.” Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!” Matt 14: (22-33)

 

 

Jesus Pulls Peter From the Water

 

So, the moral of this story is do not doubt. Get out of the boat and do what God has put into your heart. Pay no attention to all the evil winds that will blow around you, but rather have perfect faith in your Father in heaven, knowing full well that even if your faith fails that your loving Father will be there to rescue you.

 

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