Archive for Ephesians 1

Sabbatical Year/Shemitah, Part 3

Posted in #PaulthePoke with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 3, 2021 by paulthepoke

Deuteronomy 15:1-2 At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts. This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD’S remission has been proclaimed.

In today’s world, the verses above are radical financial and economic concepts. All debt, regardless of size, is forgiven at the end of every seventh year. Imagine, a clean financial slate.

Think about how these verses would influence lending and borrowing practices. Larger loans would occur early in the seven year cycle. Debt structure would not look like it does today. The 30 year mortgage would be toast. Loans would likely be much smaller. Personal savings would be promoted. People would be more inclined to live within their means.

Think of all the debt and credit offering practices: home mortgages, car loans, student loans, and credit cards just to mention a few. Debt is oppressive and restrictive to freedom. Consider how each of the above would be financed or paid if debt was forgiven at the end of every seven years. Consider the change in personal spending habits.

Creditors would be more careful how they loaned their money. There would be less loaning of money. Creditors would likely make less irresponsible loans to customers who do not have the means to pay. If implemented today, debt bubbles would be a thing of the past. At the end of every seven years, everyone would be debt free. If debt payments remained at the end of the cycle, it would be forgiven. Poverty would likely be diminished significantly.

Responsibility would be increased on both the lender and the borrower. These practices would significantly cut into corporate banking profits and affect their stock prices. We likely would not see these behemoth corporate banks that dominate our economic landscape today.

Deuteronomy 23:19-20 You shall not charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to possess.

Interest free lending would promote national unity and good will toward your fellow countryman. It is a matter of looking after your neighbor and brother. Financial collaboration would be an outcome. People would be more interested in the success of others.

God does not want us to take financial advantage of our fellow man. These loaning practices were built into society by God. He understands the capacity of greed demonstrated by humanity. Don’t shaft your neighbor.

These financial concepts are nowhere to be seen in today’s economic world. Most people are not aware these statutes exist. Would our lives be economically easier if this were in place today? What a concept, it is a universal blessing from God if one loans interest free to their countryman.

~

The ultimate example of God’s release or remission is in His Son. Jesus forgives us of our debt, sin. 

John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 

Our transgressions are forgiven as a matter of grace and mercy. Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. 

He has paid our debt without charging us. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

It is His payment that allows us to possess eternity in New Jerusalem (Revelation 21).

The Word, The Spirit, and The Glory… Rodna Epley

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Rodna Epley with tags , , , , , , , , , , on July 8, 2021 by paulthepoke

The author of a book I’m reading by David G. Bloesh “Holy Scripture” stated that “truth must be transmitted to humanity through the grace and power of Jesus Christ by means of the awakening of the Holy Spirit.” An awakening of the glory within us (if Christ is in us) is indeed what we need!

Some theologies are dependent upon science to confirm the Scriptures, or dependent upon the futility of human reasoning, which is devoid of the Spirit of God, to confirm them. But Scripture actually teaches there is nothing in man in his fallen nature that can know God or even recognize Him anywhere. While reasoning can certainly aid us if our spiritual eyes have been opened, without “eyes that see”, we are blind to the truth of Scripture. Human reasoning alone will make laws out of everything. It can arrive at a conclusion, but it will be a wrong one. It will bind and not loose.

It is the Father of glory who enlightens our eyes, but it is not apart from Scripture. He always confirms a revelation with the Word.

Ephesians 1:17-18 “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saint.”

While we should be able to see God everywhere, all of creation has been subjected to futility due to the bondage of corruption, so we cannot. Even though “the heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1), still man cannot recognize his Creator without direct intervention from God who opens the eyes and minds of the blind. The heart of man without the oneness of the glory of God is deceitful and desperately wicked. He cannot do good and he is utterly blind. Scripture is only black and white ink to him, but God could open His eyes as He is reading.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:19)

The Spirit of God is one with His Word and one with His Glory, the essence of the Trinity. The written word that we call Scripture is the framework of the living Word. While Scripture is not without error, the living Word is without error, and the Lord watches over His own Word to perform it. He works with His written Word. Truth is like a stream of pure glory running through the Word that cannot be broken, but it is invisible until He reveals it to us. He illuminates it to us as we read. If any part of the written Word is not from Him, then it will not be illumined by Him, so we do not have to worry about it.

“Then the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.” (Jeremiah 1:12, ESV)

As we read, we might find ourselves saying, “Wow! I never saw that before! That’s amazing Lord!” His presence accompanies revelation of the Word and perfect peace is present. It radiates on us in that moment.

There is no mistaking the presence of God once we encounter Him. Any revelation from Him will always be backed by Scripture. Otherwise, it is only us trying to make sense of something. Scripture apart from the Spirit does nothing for us, except bind us with a law. We walk away and forget immediately what manner of man we were (James 1:24).

But the Holy Spirit of glory reveals truth through His written Word as if He were just now giving it. It does not matter if it was written thousands of years ago; the Spirit of God is eternal; He is timeless; He exists outside of time. He is past, present, and future all at once and then some. The same Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures, also gives light to our eyes so we can know Him and be known by Him with even the same strength that Jesus knows Him.

Many times, I receive revelation from the Holy Spirit while not reading the Word and not listening to a preacher, but I have the Word hidden in my heart, and Scriptures come to my mind along with the revelation, so it is still being confirmed by the Word.

When we partake of communion, the body of Jesus is representative of not only His body broken for us, but also of His Word. We eat it and live forever. His Word is our home. We sup with Him and He with us. We even become the Word ourselves because we are becoming all that Christ is. His Word and His Spirit and His Glory are ONE. They all work together to give us the wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

Blessings to everyone!

Straight Talk… Understanding the Trinity, Rodna Epley

Posted in Rodna Epley with tags , , , , , , , on July 25, 2018 by paulthepoke

Rodna LightScripture reveals each member of the Trinity to a New Covenant believer in this same order. Jesus (Wisdom), the Holy Spirit (Revelation), then the Father (Knowledge of the Glory).

God is “One” because of His glory. It’s all the same glory. In the glory we too become one with Him.

John 17:5,22,23 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

The glory is the very image that we are being transformed.

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

trinity

Trying to understand the Trinity apart from the glory is impossible. But knowledge of the Father, who is the Glory, makes understanding easy. So revelation of the Trinity comes in this way: wisdom, revelation, knowledge of Him.

John 4:23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

John 6:44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him…

 

So the Father searches (the world over?) for someone who will worship Him in spirit and truth, then draws that person to Jesus, revealing His Son to the hearer. Jesus said the Father is the only One who knows the Son. In Matthew 16:17b when it was revealed to Peter that Jesus was the Christ, Son of the living God, Jesus responded with, “…flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”

So although the Father is always at work in the revelation of Himself to His creation, the knowledge of Him isn’t automatically revealed or understood. Jesus is revealed first, the Word, Wisdom from above. The Holy Spirit is revealed next…

John 16:13,14 when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me.

A personal relationship with the Holy Spirit begins.

 

The Father is the last to be revealed.

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

Matthew 11:27 …Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.

 

Jesus is the One who chooses when to reveal the Father. Revelation of the Father is having knowledge of the Glory. So God has chosen to reveal Himself to His creation using this same order: Wisdom, Revelation, Knowledge of the Glory.

Ephesians 1:15-20 Therefore I…do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places…

 

Veterans Day 2017

Posted in Paul Beverly, Trend Update with tags , , on November 10, 2017 by paulthepoke

US_VeteransDay

Be the first. The first to say hello. The first to say thank you. The first to say I’m sorry. The first to say you’re wrong. The first to help. The first to show kindness. The first to say I love you. The first to thank a veteran.

Thank you to those that served, past & present! We are able to live in the greatest country in the world because of your sacrifices!!

Ephesians 1:16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

Have a thankful Veterans Day my friends!!!

by Paul Beverly

Our Daily Bread…Featuring Paul Beverly

Posted in Gospel, Paul Beverly with tags , , , , , on November 5, 2017 by paulthepoke

SutherlandSpgsGot a much needed visit with a good friend last night & we were talking about how it can seem the world wants to keep knocking us down. It’s a fact that there are people that won’t want you to succeed. It’s a fact that at times we will feel broken & suffering. There were many that didn’t want to see Jesus succeed & our suffering is nothing like His. He paid the ultimate price & guest what? He succeeded. With all the hate he faced, he still showed nothing but love. He died for our sins so we would know God’s love. We are saved by the blood of Christ. No matter how bad it seems, we have a lot to be thankful for. We can’t control what others do against us, but we can control how we let it affect us. React with love & know God has great plans for you. Your reward is coming.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave his one & only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not parish but have eternal life.

Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.

Please pray for the body of Jesus Christ in Sutherland Springs, Texas. The church is located about 30 miles south east of San Antonio. This is the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs. Twenty six (26) people have been killed. Twenty four (24) others have been wounded by a gunman. The shooter is dead. For details of the tragedy, see the link below.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5052163/Up-27-shot-Texas-church-gunman-opens-fire.html

Straight Talk…A Loving God the Father, Rodna Epley

Posted in Gospel, Rodna Epley with tags , , , , , , on August 7, 2017 by paulthepoke

RodnaYour Father’s love for you is infinite. He’s so proud of you and isn’t disappointed in you. In fact, He’s so taken by you that, unlike an earthly father, He’s never been disappointed in you. Even before He created the universe, He already knew everything you would ever do…good and bad…and He still made you! He knows the end of the book. He orchestrated all the characters into position and made the ending turn out to where you win! So even though some pages and chapters of your life may not look pretty, He knows you are going to end up with Him forever. He is the Author. He is Sovereign. So how could He ever be disappointed by having an outcome different than what He foreknew?

Now the Father sees you through Jesus if you have placed your trust in Him. And you are perfect in His eyes. You can’t fix what you broke so stop trying. It’s too much for you. Simply let go of it. Let go of your old identity and learn who the “new you” is in Christ. You weren’t built to carry the weight of disappointment and regret. That’s why Jesus took them off your back. You were built to carry God’s love, joy, peace, laughter, confidence, self-control, and all of His wonderful attributes! You were made in His Image. You’re a mini-creator even! And the rest of your life can be the best of your life, no matter how much time you have left.

So this journey called life then becomes one of discovering and uncovering who you truly are in Christ. It is one of becoming Jesus’ disciple, learning of Him, taking up your cross and following Him, and agreeing to the process of being transformed into His image. This transformation of the mind into the Mind of Christ is a lifelong process and includes shedding all other identities and attachments to this world, to uncover the “new one” hiding deep inside – in Christ. “You are the light of the world” and you’re on a journey to uncover that light. Jesus teaches us to “be in the world, but not of it.” But don’t beat yourself up because you’re not there yet. None of us are! We’re all trying to excavate more of the “me” who is alive in Christ every day.

“In Love He predestined us to adoption as sons (and daughters) through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved (Jesus).” -Ephesians 1:5-7

“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called the children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” -1 John 3:1-2

“In Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.'” -Acts 17:28

Grace Defined…Featuring Phil Kulis

Posted in Gospel, Phil Kulis with tags , , , , on May 24, 2017 by paulthepoke

PhilKulis Pic

Lots of people talk about grace, yet very few bother to define it.

What is grace? Although there are many terms that define it, the simplest way to understand what grace is, is to recognize what it isn’t.

Grace is the opposite of disgrace.

Everyone knows right away what disgrace is. It’s a state of shame.

The grace of God is something that comes to you because Christ exchanged places with you. Without Christ you are in a state of disgrace. But in Christ the grace of God is upon you.

dove grace

Grace is the state of pleasing or attractive quality or endowment, a manifestation of unmerited favor, mercy, clemency, pardon.

All these are the characteristics of God that God bestows upon us because Christ took our disgrace upon Himself and our disgrace was punished, put to death and buried.

Grace is how God looks at us. Not because of our actions but because of what Christ accomplished.

When we realize the magnitude of our disgrace and the grace that is instead bestowed upon us, then we are humbled. We don’t want to be a disgrace anymore.

Grace is getting what you don’t deserve.
Mercy is not getting what you do deserve.

Keep this in mind when you encounter the word grace in the Bible.
Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

Pentecost, Shavuot, Feast of Weeks: Counting of the Omer

Posted in Gospel, Pentecost/Shavuot/Feast of Weeks, Prophecy with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 10, 2016 by paulthepoke

Leviticus 23:15-16 ‘You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord.

With the Mosaic Law, this 50 day period of time is known as the “counting of the omer”. So what is an “omer”? The Hebrew word for “sheaf” is omer. Per Strong’s Concordance, an omer is a sheaf or bundle of grain; or a dry measure. Exodus 16:36 (An omer is the tenth part of an ephah.) In a western culture, an omer is approximately 2.3 quarts (http://biblehub.com/weights-and-measures/).

During Temple worship, an omer of barley was brought to the Temple on the second day of Passover. This was a grain offering. This marked the first day of the count.

In Jewish culture, the counting of the omer (50 days) connects the Passover and Shavuot. The Passover is celebrated to remind the nation Israel of the Exodus out of Egypt. Shavuot or the Feast of Weeks is a memorial of God giving Moses and Israel the Torah. Hebraic belief is redemption from Egyptian slavery was not complete until they received the instruction or teaching.

http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayb.htm

The Law was given on Mount Sinai roughly 1,500 years before Christ. Nation Israel honored Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, every year. Fast forward to 33 AD. Nation Israel has been celebrating and living God’s Appointed Spring holidays.

Jesus Christ, the Passover Lamb, had been sacrificed. He was the buried Unleavened Bread. Christ is the First Fruits.

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. It is seven weeks after the death of the sacrificial lamb, Jesus. Shavuot or Pentecost is also the day God the Father gave the Holy Spirit. Because of this, Pentecost is considered the beginning or the birth of the church (believers in Jesus Christ).

Believers in Christ are cleansed of sin by the innocent blood of the Lamb. When that decision is made, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit. We are redeemed children of God, free of the bondage of sin.

Ephesians 1:13-14 In Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Shavuot, Feast of Weeks, and Pentecost are synonymous. Shavuot is often associated with God giving the Torah, the birth of Judaism. Pentecost is often associated with God giving the Holy Spirit, the birth of the church. God chose His appointed holiday to reveal aspects of who He is.

https://paulthepoke.com/2015/05/17/shavuotpentecost-part-1/

https://paulthepoke.com/2015/05/22/shavuotpentecost-part-2/

 

 

White Horseman of the Apocalypse, Who Is It?

Posted in Gospel, Prophecy with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 23, 2014 by paulthepoke

Revelation 6:1-2 Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, “Come.” I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.

Who is the rider on the white horse? This is a source of controversy. Some say it is Jesus. Some say it is the antichrist. The verses above show there are two people involved. One is the Lamb. The second is the rider of the white horse. Notice, the rider of the white horse is obedient to the command of the Lamb. The Lamb says “come” and the rider on the white horse is on his way.

The Lamb is the One who opens the seals to all four riders of the colored horses. The seals are opened in Heaven. Revelation 6:3 When He (Lamb) broke the second seal…

Revelation 6:5 When He (Lamb) broke the third seal…

Revelation 6:7 When the Lamb broke the fourth seal…

The Lamb is in Heaven the entire time the seals are being broken. The Lamb is the One breaking the seals. The rider of the white horse is sent to Earth.

Who is the Lamb? Scripture says it is none other than Jesus. The point of Revelation 5 is defining Jesus as the Lamb. Revelation 5:12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” John the Baptist called Jesus the Lamb of God. John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Jesus has been called the Lamb of God before the creation of the world. His death on the cross was planned before the Earth was formed. Believers in Christ were chosen before the world was made. Revelation 13:8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

1 Peter 1:20a For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world…

Ephesians 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love…

The rider of the white horse has a bow, but no arrows. The modern day equivalent would be having a gun but no bullets. Think of the symbolism of the white horse and the bow. He is a man of peace who gives conquest without war. We know initially in the tribulation there is no bloodshed because that comes with the next horseman in Revelation 6:3, the red horse. The wars and rumors of wars will initially be avoided. He will probably win the Nobel Peace Prize.

There is a hint in the type of crown the rider wears in Revelation 6:2. The rider of the white horse wears one crown. In the original Greek, the term is stephanos. Per Strong’s Concordance it is defined as: a mark of royal or (in general) exalted rank, the wreath or garland which was given as a prize to victors in public games, that which is an ornament and honor to one.

Compare this to the crowns (plural, as compared to single crown) worn by Christ in Revelation 19:12b …and on His head are many diadems. In the original Greek, the term is diadema. Per Strong’s Concordance it is defined as: the kingly ornament for the head, the crown. This type of crown is for a king.

Sabbatical Year/Shemitah, Part 3

Posted in Gospel, Prophecy with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on October 26, 2014 by paulthepoke

Deuteronomy 15:1-2 At the end of every seven years you shall grant a remission of debts. This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the LORD’S remission has been proclaimed.

In today’s world, the verses above are radical financial and economic concepts. All debt, regardless of size, is forgiven at the end of every seventh year. Imagine, a clean financial slate.

Think about how these verses would influence lending and borrowing practices. Larger loans would occur early in the seven year cycle. Debt structure would not look like it does today. The 30 year mortgage would be toast. Loans would likely be much smaller. Personal savings would be promoted. People would be more inclined to live within their means.

Think of all the debt practices: home mortgages, car loans, student loans, and credit cards just to mention a few. Debt is oppressive and restrictive to freedom. Consider how each of the above would be financed or paid if debt was forgiven at the end of every seven years. Consider the change in personal spending habits.

Creditors would be more careful how they loaned their money. There would be less loaning of money. Creditors would likely make less irresponsible loans to customers who do not have the means to pay. If implemented today, debt bubbles would be a thing of the past. At the end of every seven years, everyone would be debt free. If debt payments remained at the end of the cycle, it would be forgiven. Poverty would likely be diminished significantly.

Responsibility would be increased on both the lender and the borrower. These practices would significantly cut into corporate banking profits and affect their stock prices.

Deuteronomy 23:19-20 You shall not charge interest to your countrymen: interest on money, food, or anything that may be loaned at interest. You may charge interest to a foreigner, but to your countrymen you shall not charge interest, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all that you undertake in the land which you are about to enter to possess.

Interest free lending would promote national unity and good will toward your fellow countryman. It is a matter of looking after your neighbor and brother. Financial collaboration would be an outcome. People would be more interested in the success of others.

God does not want us to take financial advantage of our fellow man. These loaning practices were built into society by God. He understands the capacity of greed demonstrated by humanity. Don’t shaft your neighbor.

These financial concepts are nowhere to be seen in today’s economic world. Most people are not aware these statutes exist. Would our lives be economically easier if this were in place today? What a concept, it is a universal blessing from God if one loans interest free to their countryman.

The ultimate example of God’s release or remission is in His Son. Jesus forgives us of our debt, sin. John 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Our transgressions are forgiven as a matter of grace and mercy. Ephesians 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace. He has paid our debt without charging us. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. It is His payment that allows us to possess eternity in New Jerusalem (Revelation 21).

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