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Getting somewhere requires effort, it takes
faith to push on, it's easy to screw up,
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Friday, September 12, 2014
The trail of trials in life...The trail of trials in life
 “It is one thing to read the Scriptures and affirm their truth. But until you are in the trenches of trial, until you
are faced with life circumstances that test your faith, until you are pressed to the absolute limit of your physical and emotional
capacity, until you face the unrelenting stress of ongoing trauma, you never really know how you'll respond to what you may
have embraced so easily during a comfortable Bible study.” ~ Kevin Malarkey, The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven:
A Remarkable Account of Miracles, Angels, and Life Beyond This World
Trials help us know who we are.
It’s
so easy to be a Christian in comfortable easy circumstances.
Most of us in the West are so blessed as easy circumstances is almost
all we know.
Instead of having to work hard all day just to get enough food to survive, we can relax and argue about which songs
to put on the iPhone, or which is the best movie on circuit.
Let’s know that arguments about movies are not stress, neither
is finding we don’t have the latest in technology or the right car. These are blessings!
The fact that we can go to movies, have cars,
places to stay, ability to wash ourselves or shower each day, having food on our tables and a place to sleep that’s
not out in the open. These are blessings!
Yet sometimes we lose someone we love, we have periods of great self-doubt, inability to
choose between important options. These cause stress in every cultural setting. Western or not!
We are all tested
by trials.
The path we walk through the trials and the pattern that we adopt to decide how to move on
the path is what is important, isn’t it?
Sometimes we don’t pass the test. The way we deal with this is also important isn’t
it. We cannot win every day all the tiime. Sometime we just screw up and do the wrong thing. What do we do about it? How do
we deal with it?
Understanding where we are, what is right and what is wrong is the first step. This is where being a Christian helps significantly.
The bible describes what God sees as good for us and bad for us. It tells us to avoid the evil. By reading it, praying to
God, trusting Jesus and letting the Holy Spirit work in our life, we can know where we are in life.
Holy Spirit reveals God to us, Jesus said
14 He will glorify me because
it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine.
That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” John 16:14-15 (NIV)
Knowing where we are enables us to check where we are going. We need to start to move and we can know Jesus
as Holy Spirit is with us “I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
We need to walk slowly, but always forward, in Jesus light.
This is the message we have
heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have
fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in
the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all
sin. 1 John 1 NIV
The
trials will test our faith but to the extent that we obey God and allow Him to guide us they build us up, they don’t take us down.
Looking
at our circumstances can be depressing and droops our head. Then our eyes drop away from the prize, the objective that is a Godly life and Jesus at
work in it. The way external things look can take us down if we don’t keep focused on God’s objectives and His
purpose for our life. Trying to find our purpose and not His purpose for our life is often where misery starts.
We must rely on God. If we do our trials will help
us grow spiritually. Our faith will move us on and the potential that change can happen at any second will inspire us.
Growth
comes by negotiating trials, and then when we look back at the trail of trials we can see and respect what they have done to equip and build us up in our
lives.
Nobody in their right mind likes trials, but we all need them. However we also need to be with God, knowing Jesus love and walking
in the Light of Holy Spirit if we are to overcome.
Let’s pray today that we will have this courage, focus and faith!
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Is God hidden?Is God hidden?
 If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself. – George Orwell, 1984
Prove God exists! Show me him!
This
is the request of many non-Christians. When honestly asked, these are good requests. Some however use these as weapons to try and inflict some
sort of argument at those of us that love Jesus.
I find these interesting statements because I remember a time when I would be saying them myself, (not that it ever really bothered me one
way or the other before I met Jesus)
To answer them I think of a few comments in the bible that direct how we look at these questions.
The first is in Hebrew 11 where
it says “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not
see.”
This explains what faith is.
Then I think of what John says at the beginning of his first letter.
That which was from the beginning, which we
have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning
the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was
with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship
with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.
John understood that, while he had walked around with Jesus,
in some way Jesus was here from the beginning of time.
Yet, John walked, talked and touched Jesus. Jesus was a man on this earth about 2000
years ago. Yet John also says Jesus is the key to life. Jesus lived as a man. This is a fact not folk law. Jesus said he had
come from father God and John believed it.
John wanted us to know it’s true.
Why believe John?
Probably because it’s not just John who wanted this known.
The New Testament
writings are full of description of Jesus and what he did.
The
places he went to are accurately depicted and we can visit many of them today.
This content of the writings appears to be accurate
and true.
Probably more so than many other
journalistic writings in newspapers today because so much investigation has gone into scrutinizing them for truth.
Okay so
that was then.
What about now?
Even at that time people doubted
Jesus lived after crucifixion. Dead people
don’t normally walk around again do they?
Well, Thomas who knew Jesus before he died was once.
Here is how he encountered Jesus after death.
Then he said to Thomas, “Put
your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My
Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not
seen and yet have believed.”
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded
in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and
that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20 NIV
Thomas met Jesus and Jesus told him to make sure by touching him.
Jesus lived again.
Yet Jesus also knew others would doubt who would not see him.
That’s why he said “blessed
are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Belief is a faith thing. We don’t prove God exists, we accept Him by faith. Yet once we accept Jesus
exists and start to talk to this God of our universe, we find things changing in and around us.
The secret of Jesus is unveiled
and he starts a great miraculous change in our life.
We start to see the design of our Universe. We respond with joy and love to our
creator. We understand that following god’s guidelines for our life is critical not just important and do so with a
joy that is indescribable. God floods our life with purpose and we start to gain knowledge that is spiritual not just mental.
God is within us.
That’s how we know God exists. Asking if he does is like a person at work asking if my wife exists. I can say with certainty this is
true, point to others that have met he, but to that worker who never has, they have to accept it by faith.
Jesus is real is one secret we want to let ourselves know. Let's undo the chains holding us in disbelief, let Jesus
set us and lets set those around us free!
Thu, September 11, 2014 | link
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Who is “Hiram” in the bible? Who is “Hiram” in the bible?
Sometimes it is important to review a name in the bible to see what it is about and
where it is used.
This is particularly true when the name has been abused by the general populace and construed
to provide truths that are not deniable to the structures where it is used.
Hiram is just such a name! While the average Christian would hardly
pause to review the name in passing while reading the biblical sacred writings, there are others who would not only take this
name as important, but would expand on biblical truth to make the name mean more than it ever did in the biblical
texts.
Who was King Hiram?
King Hiram according to the bible was a Phonecian king of Tyre a walled city which originated around 2750BC and is known
from ten Armana letters written to the Egyptian pharaoh, Akenaten.
King Hiram reigned from 980 to 957BC. His Father was Abibaal and the King that
followed him was his son Baal-Eber I. Josephus a jewish historian to the Romans is the source that enables us to date Hiram
as he refers to 143 years passing from the start of construction of Solomons temple to the founding of Carthage and says that
Hirams reign started 155 years and 8 months prior to that date.
Hiram grew the kingdom of Tyre until it was equal in strength to David’s
kingdom mentioned in the bible.
What does the bible say about Hiram?
Samuel a prophet of God has the following to say
2 Samuel 5 says “Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built
a palace for David.”
The book of 1 Kings chapter 5 adds details describing how cedars were cut and sent to Israel.
So Hiram
sent word to Solomon:
“I have received the
message you sent me and will do all you want in providing the cedar and juniper logs. My men will haul them down from Lebanon
to the Mediterranean Sea, and I will float them as rafts by sea to the place you specify. There I will separate them and you
can take them away. And you are to grant my wish by providing food for my royal household.”
In no place does it say Hiram actual did any of the work himself, he simply organized
for help to be provided. Then in chapter 9 it continues, explaining…
At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon built
these two buildings—the temple of the Lord and the royal palace—King Solomon gave twenty towns in Galilee to Hiram
king of Tyre, because Hiram had supplied him with all the cedar and juniper and gold he wanted. But when Hiram went from Tyre
to see the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them. “What kind of towns are these you have given
me, my brother?” he asked. And he called them the Land of Kabul, a name they have to this day. Now Hiram had sent to
the king 120 talents of gold.
This shows Hiram had a relatively close relationship with Solomon, David’s son but they didn’t always agree.
Hiram was a family friend of the Davidic household for a long time.
This shows in the next references in chapter 9 and 10, showing that Hiram was also
around when the Queen of Sheba was around …
King Solomon also built ships at Ezion Geber, which is near Elath in Edom, on the shore
of the Red Sea. And Hiram sent his men—sailors who knew the sea—to serve in the fleet with Solomon’s men.
They sailed to Ophir and brought back 420 talents of gold, which they delivered to King Solomon.
…
(Hiram’s ships brought gold from Ophir;
and from there they brought great cargoes of almugwood and precious stones. The king used the almugwood to make supports for
the temple of the Lord and for the royal palace, and to make harps and lyres for the musicians. So much almugwood has never
been imported or seen since that day.) King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba all she desired and asked
for…
The other
biblical references are in 2 Chronicles and they merely support the same information forum in 1 Kings.
Solomon sent this message
to Hiram king of Tyre: “Send me cedar logs as you did for my father David when you sent him cedar to build a palace
to live in.
…
Hiram king
of Tyre replied by letter to Solomon: “Because the Lord loves his people, he has made you their king. And Hiram added: “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth! He
has given King David a wise son, endowed with intelligence and discernment, who will build a temple for the Lord and a palace
for himself.
There
is a reference that Hiram also gave Solomon some villages
Solomon rebuilt the villages that Hiram had given him, and settled Israelites in them.
The references to Hiram helping Solomon get riches related to
the Queen of Sheba is repeated…
And Hiram sent him ships commanded by his own men, sailors who knew the sea. These, with
Solomon’s men, sailed to Ophir and brought back four hundred and fifty talents of gold, which they delivered to King
Solomon.
…
The servants
of Hiram and the servants of Solomon brought gold from Ophir; they also brought algumwood and precious stones.
…
The king had a fleet of trading
ships manned by Hiram’s servants. Once every three years it returned, carrying gold, silver and ivory, and apes and
baboons.
These references
all refer to a king, not a craftsman of any kind.
I say this because there is a fundamental lie told in masonic lodges that Hiram Abiff was the master
craftsman building the holy of holies of Solomon’s temple and that it is supported by the bible.
It is not!
Nowhere is a man of this name
even mentioned.
It is simply a lie!
As Christians we need to research and make sure of things told to us. Many have not and are deceived.
Let’s also be very careful
of feeling superior if this is not one of our mistakes.
We all get led by Satan into lies that we think are truths at one time or another.
Let’s
pray today that we will be exposed to truth and able to ask forgiveness for those lies.
Let’s also pray for those that are deluded
by mistruths.May God our father,
through Jesus who died to give us the privilege of forgiveness and Holy Spirit who lives within us help us to discover and
pray for truth today.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Can a Freemason be a Christian?Can a Freemason
be a Christian?
 “You shall have no other gods before me.
“You shall not make for yourself an image
in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. …
“You shall not misuse
the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.” ~ Exodus 20, (Extract
form the Ten Commandments)
Is Freemasonry okay for Christians?
This is a question often asked and seldom answered or
even dealt with.
Why?
Because
of the influence of Freemasons is not only in human power and influence terms, but because of their demonic influence in this
world.
Can
I ask as a Christian if you subscribe to those parts of the Ten commandments above?
Do you also agree when Jesus says…
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”
quoted from John 14 ?
And how about the statement…
“It is by the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
Salvation is found in no one else, for there
is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4
As Christians we need to subscribe 100% to these statements found in our
sacred writings.
Can a Christian worship Jesus in the same assembly as a Druid, a Buddhist, a Moslem by praying to the same god
as them?
Your answer should
be "NO!"
That is against all these scripture excerpts mentioned, aren't they?.
We need to understand what is being addressed here is that
the Freemasons join with, or
have joined with other Freemasons, who worship and who are part of Druid, Buddhist and Moslem groups.
The Freemasons call this god the "Great Architect" and they all believe they are worshiping THE
SAME god.
They are
worshipping the same god!
It’s just the god is not Jesus.
This person according
to Masonic folklore, was the chief architect at the building of King Solomon's Temple.
This is what they teach…
“According to the Masonic
legend, Hiram Abiff was a man of Tyre, the son of a widow, and the chief architect of the Temple built by King Solomon. He
was the central character in the building of the Temple and one of three leading characters along with King Solomon and Hiram,
King of Tyre.
Hiram
Abiff, Masonry teaches, was the only one on Earth who knew "the secrets of a Master Mason," including the most important
secret of all, the "Grand Masonic Word," the name of God (the "ineffable name"). In the Occult,
knowing the name of a spirit is a key to having its power, there was a very great power in knowing this word.
Knowing
the other "secrets of a Master Mason" would enable the masons/workmen working on the Temple project to go out on
their own, working as Master Masons and earning Master Mason's wages."
Hiram Abiff had promised to reveal the "secrets of a Master
Mason," including the name of God ("Grand Masonic Word"), upon completion of the Temple, and to make the workmen
Master Masons, enabling them to go out on their own as masters (instead of "fellowcraft" Masons).
One day Hiram went, as was his custom, into the unfinished Holy of Holies at noon ("High Twelve") to worship and
to draw up the work plans (on his "trestleboard") for the workmen to follow the next day. The workmen were outside
the Temple for their lunch break ("…the craft were called from labor to refreshment…").
As Hiram was leaving the Temple he was accosted
by three men in succession, who demanded that they be given the secrets immediately (without waiting for the Temple to be
completed). He was handled roughly by the first man (Jubela), but escaped. Accosted and handled roughly by the second man
(Jubelo), he again refused to divulge the secrets and again escaped. The third man (Jubelum) then accosted him and, when Hiram
again refused to divulge the secrets, the man killed him with a blow to the forehead with a setting maul.
The body was then concealed under some rubbish
in the Temple until midnight ("low twelve") when it was taken out to the a hill and buried. The
grave was marked by an Acacia branch, and the three men then tried to leave the country. They couldn't
get passage on a ship so they retreated into the hills to hide.
King Solomon was notified that these 3 men were missing in addition
to Hiram Abiff who was also missing. Two searches were conducted. The temple was searched
(presumably at the King's request) and none of the men were found. At this point 12 "fellowcrafts"
reported to the King that they and three others had conspired to extort the secrets of Hiram Abiff from him but they had repented
and refused to go through with the plan. They informed the King of the three men that murdered Hiram Abiff and King Solomon
then sent out a second search party to look everywhere they could and find the body of Hiram Abiff.” …
It is unclear at this point
how the search party ended up at the proper grave, but apparently, the sea captain who refused to take the three men onboard
had some information that could be used. In either case, the search party finally discovered the grave with the Acacia branch
at the head. They dug up the body and sent word back to King Solomon. It is then stated that King Solomon
sent an "Entered Apprentice" to attempt to dig up the body, but because the body had already begun to decompose,
they could not raise it..
King Solomon reportedly then sent a Fellowcraft to attempt to raise the body. This too failed since
the "Grip" of the Entered Apprentice and the "Grip" of the Fellowcraft were inadequate for the job.
The story then continues that King Solomon himself went to the grave and raised the body up with
the grip of a Master Mason, (the "Strong Grip of a Lion's Paw.)"
It is then stated that Hiram was not only brought up out of the
grave, but restored to life.
The first word he spoke was the replacement for the "Grand Masonic Word" lost at his
death and that word is the one passed down to Master Masons to this day.
Most Blue Lodge Masons believe that this story of Hiram Abiff
is a factual, scriptural and historical account.” ~http://www.elijahproject.net/abiff.html
This
is a central story. There is NO factual evidence of this despite what Freemasons are taught. Some mild reference
to a "Hiram" in the bible cannot confer truth to this made up legend. That would be about the same as making up
a story of Obalma's birth in the depths of Africa and saying it's true because his name was used in other documents. Ludicrous!
Perhaps because of his skin color people could be taken in, but their belief it is true does not make it so.
Similarly,
neither does the Mason's belief's in Hiram Abiff make him true.
Freemasons are entwined in half truths to the point they don’t know
fact from fiction. Instead of clarity and open truth like Christianity offers, Freemason is hidden, secret, with
veiled threats of death and secrets others must not know.
Their lodges are demonic playground. Do they
help the community? Yes!
Does helping a community make it true that the spirits are from God? No!
Let's
not get confused between social and spiritual.
Here we are discussing the spiritual!
Can Christians be freemasons?
Yes,
but they are stunted Christians influenced by demons and limited in their true spiritual walk.
Those that come out of it are
best to explain it’s dangers. Here are two references that can help…
http://www.emfj.org/answers.htm
http://www.truthmagazine.com/archives/volume31/GOT031237.html
Now let’s
be clear! Understand that God wants us to love our brothers in Christ who are deluded by these mis-truths.
We need
to pray that they would be released from their bondages.
We also must not underestimate the demonic power in the lodges and
should be very careful of coming under their spells as we do our work. If we do, we need to repent of our sins and ask Jesus
to enfold us in the love of God as Holy Spirit keeps us safe and away from this evil.
How about you join me today in praying for the recovery of souls from
Satan's playground that is the Masonic lodges in this world?
Tue, September 9, 2014 | link
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Rift in Evil
By Ken
X Briggs - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size:
6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. |
Credit cards are acceptable on sites having Ken's books: 
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| Ken's book covers are displayed below. . . | |  This
suspense thriller centers on Kiara, a beautiful young woman pursued by a murderous group of people, who relentlessly and ruthlessly
hunt her and her sisters. Kiara has no idea why she is being targeted! When Kiara and her family turn to the law for help,
this fails. Her pursuers’ powers reach deeply into the political and law enforcement world. Family support for her dwindles
when they too have to flee her pursuers. Can Kiara escape the clutches of both the law and dishonest big business? With the
media broadcasting that Kiara and friends are dangerous and subversive, can Kiara clear her name and bring her pursuers to
justice?
| | | | | To purchase Kiara's Pursuer ebook
@ $1.99 kindle version click here, To contact the author contact Author@KenXBriggs.com | | | | | | | | The town of Zinaville is dropped into a spiral of evil causing a young man and a beautiful but abused woman
to launch into an investigation that unveils an evil conspiracy. A horrific mining accident results in Joshua
Robyn's father being killed. Joshua struggles both with himself and his townsfolk as he tries to make sense of an incomprehensible
situation. Is it an accident or a murder? Why is there a seeming link to evil? Why is his work environment suddenly threatening?
What is the conspiracy about and what are they trying to do? As action moves dramatically from exotic African grasslands to
the heart of North America's cities, the plot unfolds and the pace quickens. Will there be time? Why is a beautiful abused
young woman in the center of this plot? Evil tendrils tighten on their lives and the interplay between the visible
and invisible world shows opposing forces at work. Will there be a rift in evil? Will they be able to stop the
evil in time? | | - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect
Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size: 6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available
from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. Chapters | | | | |
| Frugal Eating Advice |
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| Good advice for students living on limited $'s. Click on the image! |
May you be blessed today!
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