Invitation Essentials:

• • • Your Name is on the Invitation List.

    • Your Wedding Robe is Waiting for you.

    • Your Lamp is in need of Oil.

    • Your place has been reserved.

What decision will you make?

• • • Will you clear your schedule? 

    • Will you confirm & attend the Wedding?

    • Will you prepare yourself for a Royal Entrance?

    • Will you greet the Royal Family with Joy?

Whether you know this or not: God has put "the ball into your court."

The Great God of Heaven, is humbly waiting for your reply.  

The rest of this website will be devoted to sharing the  Revelation of God from His Word, from His perspective, concerning His Desire to Have YOU at His Heavenly Wedding Feast (and many details that will make that an exciting and infinitely life transforming event). 

It will also seek to unveil the many obstacles that can, and will try to get in your way, and keep you from that most important appointment. There are real forces at work, that seek to ultimately damage your veiwpoint and relationship with the One who has invited you. 

(Big Goal: Avoid every negative influence that will not be good:
for you, your family, friends, neighbors, and world.)

What you will discover here is that God has put forth HIS INVITATION. He has humbly carried all the costs of the preparation. He has sent out to you specifically, his heavenly invite, and is waiting for your response. Your name is on his guest list, but that does not insure that you will attend the Wedding, or be well received. There are specific honors that are waiting for you to fulfill. Are you ready to learn about them? 

Therefore, while God is waiting for your response, He has requested that you review the details of His Heavenly Invite, so that you can make a clear, clean, definitive decision, whether or not you should attend, after reveiwing all the facts, and weeding out all the lies, and separating the false information from the Truth, and then act according to your own personal, and family best interests, for both now, and long into the future.

You now have your invitation ... as of this very moment.

But God still needs your reply. Your Consent. Your Agreement. Your Desire to be a Part of His Great Wedding Celebration. To spurn, neglect, ignore, or de-legitamize his heavenly calling will have inevitable long range consequences.

And yes, there is a Royal Court Protocol. You must learn it. That's not an option. It is expected. After all: It is the Royal Court of Heaven. You have been invited to come into His Holy Home. Should we not enter His Home with the same respect & honor we want others to enter our home?

 It only makes sense that you would want to walk in honor into this Heavenly Home, Right?  (To get up to snuff on Wedding Protocols you can jump ahead ... SEE 3 Weddings.)

May the rest of your journey down this Amazing Prophetic Road  (that He has carefully laid out in specific detail) be full of His heavenly revelation, wisdom, and love, for your soul, and your eternal future. 

All of His Calling is for your ultimate benefit. Even though you will go through a sort of refining fire, a time of testing, a process of perfecting, as you learn about all that is involved in your simple consent to come to his Wedding. More on this subject Later. (If interested in this development, now, visit Abraham's Test.) 

By just saying Yes, to God's Invitation, you put a bulls-eye upon your back. That in itself, will cause you to be seen, and understood as different from those who continue to refuse, and even deride & abuse, those who have believed & received His Heaven Sent Wedding invitation. In many circles you will be degraded, and even condemned for even sharing this information: Especially, by those who refuse to accept that there even is such as place as Heaven, or such an event as His Royal Wedding Invitation & Celebration.

Therefore, you must understand this: There is an on going war, that is off a spiritual nature, that has been dividing souls into two camps for generations, and throughout history. This very real conflict is apparently completely unavoidable. That's just the raw fact.

 In this world you may be despised and rejected ... but

 In His Kingdom you will be honored and accepted ... for placing your hope and trust, and your entire LIFE into His capable Hands.

The closer you see it, the more you will: Believe it & benefit from it, and the many multiplied blessings, will be greatly worth it. 

If you have not yet examined the details of your calling, you are in for quite an adventure.

Shalom,

TPD

PS--Going forward in this adventure: We will be reviewing:  Matthew Chapter 22:1-14; (and will make connections to: Matthew 25; Daniel 2, 3, 5, 9; Matthew 5-7; Luke 14; Matthew 21, 24,  as well as, Revelation 2-3, 18-22; John 4, 6, 8, 10, and John 13-17; and a few other Marriage, and Deep Relationship concerning Bible Passages). If you have a chance to read of them, they will greatly increase your value as you proceed on this journey. I will never pretend that this is a short journey, and a quick study, that you read today, and forget tomorrow. This study only skims the surface a lifelong journey. 

This is just the trail head of a monumentally epic backpacking adventure. Every step is going to yield revelation, and fruit, and a transformed mind, that can only come down from Heaven--to the one whose eyes are opened, and soul is expectant.

Please note that: Matthew 22:1-14, is strongly connected to Matthew 25:1-13; (as well as Matthew 21:28-46; and Luke 14:7-35). 

It is highly recommended: To  read Matthew 22:1-14, (and highlight verses, and underline, and make notes as you read). This passage is critical to our genuine understanding of Our Heavenly invitation. And we read and grasp the Revelation being given here. This Bible passage is God's Gift to you.  it will change the Way we think and act upon the promises being offered here. May your understanding and wealth of learning grow in height and depth, as you progress through your own spiritual journey investigating this incredible Wedding Invitation.

God’s kingdom invitation is not a strategy for increasing His status.

The Heart Behind God’s Invitation

Jesus’ parables of the wedding feast and the great supper reveal the heart of God behind His invitation: He is not trying to gain status, admiration, or anything He lacks. God already possesses all glory, honor, and power. His invitation flows from generosity—He wants people to draw near Him, receive His grace, and share in the joy of His kingdom celebration.

In Matthew 22, a king prepares a wedding feast for his son. When the originally invited guests refuse to come, the king does not cancel the celebration. Instead, he sends his servants out into the roads to gather others, “both bad and good,” until the wedding hall is filled. In Luke 14, Jesus describes the invited guests being replaced by “the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.” The point is clear: God’s welcome is not reserved for the impressive, successful, wealthy, or socially important.

God’s kingdom works very differently from the world. People often invite others because they expect something in return—status, influence, repayment, or approval. But Jesus teaches His followers to show hospitality to those who cannot repay them. This reflects God’s own character: He gives freely to people who come with empty hands and in genuine need.

God does not need anything from us. Psalm 50 reminds us that everything already belongs to Him, and Acts 17 teaches that He is not served as though He needed anything. Therefore, His invitation is not a transaction. He does not call people because they can add to His reputation or repay His kindness. He calls because He is loving, merciful, and good.

The invitation is especially good news for those who feel weak, overlooked, sinful, wounded, lonely, or unworthy. Scripture repeatedly shows that God welcomes people the world may ignore. He calls the thirsty to come without money and without price; He receives those who come to Christ; and He places the lonely in families. His kingdom is a place of belonging, restoration, and grace.

This does not mean that wealth, education, ability, or social standing automatically exclude someone from God’s kingdom. Rather, no earthly advantage can earn a place at God’s table. Every person comes the same way: humbly receiving what the King has freely provided through His Son.

Matthew 22 also includes a serious warning: God’s invitation must not be treated lightly. The first guests rejected the king’s call because they valued other priorities more. Yet even in the face of rejection, God’s mercy continues to reach outward. His desire is not for an empty hall, but for His house to be filled with people who willingly receive His invitation.

Ultimately, this wedding feast points forward to the marriage supper of the Lamb described in Revelation 19. God is preparing an eternal celebration centered on the honor of His Son. Those who answer His call are not there to make Him look important; they are there because His mercy has welcomed, forgiven, and made them ready.

The heart behind the heavenly wedding invitation is this: God lovingly invites needy people into His family, not because He needs them, but because He desires to share His grace, joy, and eternal life with them.

As you reread Matthew 22 and Luke 14, what words or actions of the King most clearly reveal God’s heart to you?

The invited guests became “unworthy.”  Why? 

Was God’s invitation unclear or too unreasonable?  No. 

It was because the guests despised His invitation, rejected His messengers, refused His provision, and would not be made ready on His terms.

What Made the Invited Guests Unworthy?

In Matthew 22, the invited guests were not called “unworthy” because they were too sinful, poor, broken, or unimportant for the King. They became unworthy because they rejected the King’s invitation, treated His message lightly, and refused to honor His Son. The problem was not that there was no room at the feast or that the King had failed to provide what they needed. Everything was ready; they simply did not want to come on the King’s terms.

God invited his people to come into His joy, holiness, forgiveness, and eternal life. God wants to share His Glory, Majesty, and Divine Greatness & Generosity with those who have no knowledge of Him.

He does not delight in excluding people. Scripture says that He is patient and desires people to come to repentance, and Jesus portrays the King continuing to send invitations until the wedding hall is filled. The reason we are still waiting for the Wedding Feast to begin is that all the guests have not yet been invited. God has prepared the feast, made the way, and provided what is needed for His guests to be ready.

The Central Warning

What disqualifies a person from God’s kingdom is not a past that Christ cannot forgive. Christ came for sinners, and His grace offers cleansing, forgiveness, and a new life. The danger is a settled refusal to receive Him: rejecting His invitation, refusing repentance, clinging to sin, or trying to come before God on one’s own terms rather than receiving the righteousness He provides.

Matthew 22 gives two pictures of this refusal:

The first guests would not come. They allowed ordinary concerns—their land, business, and personal plans—to become excuses for rejecting the King’s invitation.

One guest entered without a wedding garment. He wanted the feast but refused the clothing required by the King. This pictures religious nearness without true surrender: wanting God’s blessings while rejecting His grace, cleansing, and the transformed life God provides. (Judas and all false religious followers fit into this category.)

The issue was not merely outward behavior. A person may use religious words, attend religious gatherings, or claim belief in God while still resisting His authority. Jesus warns that saying “Lord, Lord” is not the same as knowing Him and doing the Father’s will.

Grace Provides the Garment

The wedding garment represents what God provides for those who come to Him: forgiveness, righteousness through Christ, and a holy life that grows from genuine faith. 

No one earns a place at God’s table through good works, reputation, wealth, knowledge, or religious activity. The King supplies the invitation, the feast, the cleansing, and the garment.

Yet grace is not permission to remain unchanged.
God’s mercy calls people out of sin and into a new way of life. A believer may stumble and need forgiveness, but cannot treat sin as acceptable, defend it, or stubbornly embrace it, refusing God's cleansing power. True repentance means turning from sin toward God; true faith means trusting Christ rather than trusting oneself.

A helpful way to say it is: Holiness is not the price paid to enter the wedding feast; it is the evidence of having received the King’s invitation and garment. That evidence results in the work of divine purity, holiness, and the love of God and love of others.

Be Ready for the Bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-13)

Jesus also warns through the parable of the ten virgins that outward appearance is not the same as personal readiness. All had lamps and expected the bridegroom, but only five were prepared when he arrived. The central lesson is simple: do not delay responding to God or assume that religious association alone prepares a person for eternity.

God’s patience should never be mistaken for indifference toward sin. His patience is an opportunity to repent, receive His mercy, and be made ready. He does not force anyone to love Him or enter His kingdom, but His invitation is sincere and His provision is complete.

The invited guests became unworthy because they rejected the King’s mercy, dishonored His Son, and refused to come in the way He provided. But every person who repents, trusts Christ, receives His cleansing, and follows Him is welcomed at the King’s table.

Which part of this warning speaks most directly to the difference between merely knowing about Christ versus truly accepting & receiving His Royal Heavenly Wedding invitation?

What Lives insides us that Blocks Our Entrance Into Heaven?

Behind many sins, excuses, and outward choices are two deeper heart issues:
kingdom loyalty & kingdom identity. 

In simple terms, the questions are: 

• Who will rule my life? and

• Whose character is being formed in me?

The Bible presents two opposing patterns. 

• One is self-rule: pridefully insisting, “I will decide what is right, what is true, and how I will live.” 

• The other is Christ’s pattern: humble trust, love for the Father, and willing obedience. 

The issue is not whether a person has ever failed; every person needs mercy. 

The issue is whether a person receives the King’s authority and returns to Him in repentance, or continues to resist Him in core defiance to His Authority. Basically, denying and rejecting his Wholeness, and His Person.

Root Problem One: Refusing the King’s Rule

The first invited guests in Matthew 22 had fields, businesses, and personal responsibilities. Those things were not necessarily sinful. Their problem was that they treated their own priorities as more important than the King’s invitation and the honor of the King’s Son. Their excuses revealed a deeper loyalty problem: they wanted to remain in control. They cared nothing for the whole plan of Salvation and Redemption of God's History from God's Perspective.

Jesus warned that calling Him “Lord” is not enough by itself. If He is truly Lord, His will cannot be treated as optional. Genuine faith involves more than agreeing with facts about Jesus; it means receiving Him, trusting Him, and learning to live under His rule.

This does not mean believers never struggle, fail, or don't need forgiveness. It means that a follower of Christ does not make peace with rebellion. When sin is exposed, the response of faith is to repent, seek God’s mercy, and turn again toward obedience.

Root Problem Two: Rejecting God’s New Identity

The second root problem concerns identity: whose values, desires, and character are shaping a person’s life? Jesus spoke of two spiritual patterns—truth versus deception, love versus hatred, humility versus pride, life versus destruction. A person’s words, actions, and response to Christ gradually reveal which pattern they are following.

This is not meant to label every struggling person as hopeless or evil. Someone who sincerely comes to Christ is not rejected because of a broken past. The gospel offers a new identity: through repentance, faith, forgiveness, and the Spirit’s work, people who once lived in rebellion can become children of God and heirs with Christ.

The guest without a wedding garment illustrates this truth. He wanted to remain at the feast but refused the King’s required provision. In the same way, no one can enter God’s kingdom while insisting on remaining unchanged and refusing the righteousness, cleansing, and new life that God freely gives through Christ.

Christ Is the Contrast

The contrast is seen most clearly in Christ Himself. Pride says, “I will exalt myself.” Jesus humbled Himself, served, and obeyed the Father—even to death on the cross. One path seeks self-glory; the other receives life by trusting and following the Son.

The warning is serious, but it is also full of hope. No one is excluded from God’s kingdom because they are poor, wounded, uneducated, sinful, or formerly rebellious. The King invites people from the highways and offers them a place at His table. What blocks entrance is not weakness, but refusing the King’s mercy, authority, and transforming grace.

The two root problems are 

1. 1. 1. refusing God’s rule and 

      2. refusing the new identity He offers. 

But through Christ, rebellion can be forgiven, hearts can be changed, and people can become beloved children of God—ready for the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Which of the two root issues—resisting God’s rule or resisting the identity He offers—do you think is most clearly illustrated by the first invited guests in Matthew 22?

1. 1. 1.  Acceptance

      2.  Rejection

What is True for this Wedding/Guest Relationship is also true for all relationships.

Each response reproduces its own fruit: That will undeniably affect the relationship-- either positively or negatively. Those two options are unavoidable.

What Are Our Two Responses towards God?

When God extends His invitation, every person responds in one of two basic ways: acceptance or rejection. These are more than momentary feelings or words; they reveal the direction of the heart. They shape the kind of life a person builds. 

• Acceptance receives God’s truth, mercy, and leadership. 

• Rejection insists on self-rule and resists the life God offers.

This principle applies to every relationship. 

• Acceptance produces trust, love, faithfulness, and growth. 

• Rejection produces distance, conflict, distrust, and damage. 

Over time, each response bears fruit that becomes visible in a person’s character, choices, relationships, and priorities.

Acceptance Bears Spiritual Fruit

Acceptance of God’s invitation means receiving Christ with faith, repentance, humility, and a willingness to follow Him. It does not mean instant perfection. It means choosing to let God change the heart and teach a new way of living.

Galatians 5 describes the fruit that God’s Spirit produces in those who walk with Him: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These qualities do not earn a place in God’s kingdom; they are evidence that His Spirit is at work in a person’s life.

When these qualities seem weak or missing, the answer is not despair or pretending. Bring the struggle to God honestly:

• Seek God in prayer and Scripture.

• Ask Him to reveal the root of the problem.

• Confess specific sin, wounds, attitudes, or harmful habits.

• Receive His forgiveness and turn away from what is wrong.

• Replace destructive patterns with obedience, truth, and healthy fellowship.

• Continue growing in Christ and growing in His Word.

The narrow road is the path of humble discipleship. It may require sacrifice, self-denial, and perseverance, but it leads to life. It is the road of serving God and others rather than demanding that life revolve around oneself.

Rejection Produces Destructive Fruit

Rejection of God’s invitation is not always loud or openly hostile. It may appear as neglect, excuses, pride, ongoing unbelief, or a determination to live without God’s authority. A person can hear the message of Christ and still continually choose other priorities over Him.

Galatians 5 contrasts the Spirit’s fruit with the works of the flesh—such as sexual immorality, idolatry, hatred, jealousy, anger, selfish ambition, division, envy, drunkenness, and similar destructive patterns. These behaviors do not bring freedom. They eventually create bondage, damage relationships, and leave people further from the life God designed them to enjoy.

The warning is not that a person who sins has no hope. The gospel is for sinners. The danger is refusing to repent, defending what God calls destructive, and allowing sin to become the controlling pattern of life. Christ offers forgiveness and freedom, but He does not call people to remain enslaved to what destroys them.

Two Roads, Two Foundations

Jesus described these responses as two roads and two foundations. The wide road is easy because it follows the current of self-centered desires and requires little resistance. The narrow road requires faith, humility, obedience, and endurance—but it leads to life. (Matthew 7:13-14)

Jesus also compared obedience to building a house on rock. Storms come to every life. A life built on hearing and practicing Christ’s words has a foundation that can endure; a life built on ignoring them is like a house built on sand, vulnerable when hardship comes. (Matthew 7:24-26)

Acceptance says, “Lord, I receive Your invitation and want Your life to be formed in me.” 

Rejection says, “I will live on my own terms.” One response leads toward the fruit of the Spirit, a secure foundation, and life; the other leads toward spiritual emptiness, unstable foundations, and destruction.

What fruit—either life-giving or destructive—do you think most clearly reveals the path a person is currently walking?

_________________________________________

For you who want to make the change to draw near to God, and become his chosen, loving, blessed friends, and reliable companions, the path is open to you. Yes, it involves change. It involves faith. It involves mental clarity, and personal commitment.

Walking the narrow road of faith, begins with some very important and practical steps of faith. The heart and mind need to be renewed, the soul needs spiritual food to sustain it, and the Spirit needs direction for the feet to follow.  We get these ancient tools and maps, and food, from ancient spiritual disciplines that are often neglected in modern church fellowship.

Hiding God's Word in your heart:
It's like planting seeds in order to bear eternal fruit!

One of the best spiritual disciplines, a new believer can participate in to buildup the powerful life of accepting God's Kingdom in the heart of the believer, is the work of storing up the word of God as treasure, in the heart and soul of every believer. 

This creates a mental foundation for the environment of acceptance in God's Kingdom in the mind. It daily renews the heart, and consistently regenerates the work of obedience in the continual walk of the believer.

Here are three suggested Bible memory passages to get you started. Memorizing these verses will transform the life of a believer, who is wanting to immediately grow deeper and richer in the kingdom of God. 

[Note: it is recommended that we memorize English scripture in KJV Bible, because it does not change with our culture, nor does it compete for our attention like the other multitude of different translations, it is also free to copy, and open to use, without any illegal copyright violations.]

Psalms 119:11 (KJV) 

"Thy word have I hid in mine heart,
that I might not sin against thee."

Start with this one verse, but expand later encompass to the whole section (Ps. 119:9-16)

Psalms 1:1-3 (KJV) 

"Blessed is the man,
--that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
--nor standeth in the way of sinners,
--nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD;
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
--that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;
--his leaf also shall not wither;
--and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

 Start with this one verse, but expand later expand to the whole Psalm (Ps. 1:1-6)

Matthew 5:3-12 (KJV) 

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Start with one verse at a time, but expand later to include the whole Chapter, then the whole Sermon on the mount, which is virtually recognized as the highest moral, ethical, social, and spiritual teaching, the world has ever received. The sermon on the mount is recorded in the gospel of Matthew chapter five, six, and seven.

 By creating a daily walk of storing up God's Treasures in my heart, I receive the goodness of God, even though others around me are empty of if. But I also find out that others are hungry for his treasure as well. When I realize I have the King of Heaven guiding me daily through His Word--I will never alone. That is a great comfort. And through it, I can see the hand of God moving, all around me. Changing me on the inside, and often allowing my life to change the direction, and mindset of those around me. We all have a part to play in this divine theatre called Life, that we have been given for this short season, on this spinning ball called earth.

Soon it will be transformed completely, and so will we, if we will allow ourselves to be changed from the inside out--we will be ready for the most radical transformation, that we could possibly imagine.

According to God's Prophets: This Present World is going to be cleansed. It has been once cleansed with water. Soon it will be cleansed with Fire. These are the patterns of Salvation. First comes the cleansing of water in the waters of Baptism. Second comes the cleansing of Fire in the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire. If you have not experienced these in their truest sense, pray for and seek them. Eventually, you will find them, when you seek them with all of your heart (mind, soul, and spirit).

Jeremiah 29:13-14 (KJV)
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me,
when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
14 And I will be found of you, saith the LORD

Deuteronomy 4:29-31 (KJV)
29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul. 30 When thou art in tribulation, and all these things are come upon thee, even in the latter days, if thou turn to the LORD thy God, and shalt be obedient unto his voice; 31 (For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.

Below is recorded the fervent heat that is promised by God to come upon the whole earth, to give its final cleansing, to prepare the whole World for the Kingdom of God to Come in its fullness. 

Full acceptance of this understanding, will dramatically affect your ability to prepare for what is to come.

Those who have prepared themselves and accepted their calling will be ready for it.

2 Peter 3:10-16 (KJV)
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. 15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; 16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest [forcibly pull from a person's grasp], as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

On that day judgment, we will all be without excuse, for we have all been fairly warned. But not everyone has taken that warning, seriously. 

That is the main concern of this entire website. Those who have not prepared themselves for what is to come, will clearly not be ready. And they shall suffer a great loss. The loss that they suffer is completely avoidable. We all have the same necessary information to investigate, and authenticate in our own minds and hearts.

The problem is, there is a strong spirit of rebellion in the world that shapes the minds and hearts of those who believe not. They walk in the spirit of rejection. Because they walk in the footsteps of their master, they are not capable of understanding, that the kingdom of God is based on acceptance. Because of that there will be much cause for pain and suffering, the kind of which is almost unspeakable and beyond comprehension.

My prayer and hope, is that My Family, neighbors, community, and friends will all come to the knowledge of the truth. That Truth is hidden from the proud and arrogant, but is made freely available to the meek and humble.

May we all become meek and humble for:

Blessed are the meek [and humble]:
for they shall inherit the earth.

When is Ignoring God’s Plan Ever a Good Idea?
When has this strategy ever produced a long term heavenly good result?

Ignoring God’s wisdom is never harmless 

Problems that are neglected rarely disappear; they usually grow, spread, and become harder to correct. In both practical and spiritual matters, procrastination can allow small problems to become serious ones. Just as uncollected garbage attracts pests and disease, unaddressed sin, bitterness, irresponsibility, and false beliefs can damage individuals, families, and entire communities.

The lesson is not that every hardship is caused by one person’s sin or that suffering proves God is judging a particular individual. Rather,that following God’s commands will predictably protect life, relationships, and communities. When people reject God's Commandments & His truth, responsibility, compassion, and wise care for one another, the consequences can be severe.

Lessons From the Plague

The Black Death (Bubonic Plague) devastated Europe in the fourteenth century, killing roughly half the population. 

The rejection of God's Commands to keep the Community free from Garbage & Sewage (human waste) invited a plague of rats & fleas, that were the exact cause of the Great Bubonic Plague. 

But because of fake news, men who lived in ignorance: Fear, Lies, and dissemination of misinformation, darkness won the hour.

This led to the horrific persecution of Jewish communities*, who were falsely accused of causing the plague. Many Jewish people were murdered, expelled, burned alive, and/or driven from their homes, and their property was confiscated. Their scriptures were burned. Because the false beliefs of the herd wanted to blame the plague on the Jews.

Ironically, it was the lives and the scriptures of the People, that could have saved the CINO Christians* from the death that killed roughly one half everyone in Europe.

*CINO Christians: (Christians in Name Only). Choose to attack their Jewish Neighbors, murder them, and burned them alive, stealing their property, and forcing them out of western Europe. They rejected the very treasure God had given them, to protect them from the plague. 360 communities were destroyed in this fashion.

This history must be handled carefully. Jewish people did not cause the plague. Their persecution was a grave evil fueled by jealousy, fear, superstition, prejudice, greed, and scapegoating. It involved both a spiritual and political war of evil, causing a blight on the cause of Christ--by evil men who knew not Christ, nor lived his Life, yet ran the church and the communities into the darkness, they themselves chose to live in. 

In other words, worldly evil men, took up places of power in religion, and government. They were wolves in sheep's clothing, and spared not the flock. Just as Jesus and the apostles prophesied would happen.

Acts 20:29-30 - "For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them."

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 - False apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Titus 1:10-11, 16 - "For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers... Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses... They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him."

This made it virtually impossible for the gospel to reach the Jewish Communities across Europe for centuries.

Sadly many Jesus believing Messianic Jewish communities were destroyed. 

 It was completely contrary to Christ’s commands to love one’s neighbor, tell the truth, show mercy, and reject violence.

The lesson is not that one group is naturally better than another. The lesson is that ignorance combined with fear can become destructive when people refuse truth and seek someone else to blame. When societies abandon compassion and responsibility, innocent people often suffer first.

All of this happened, as a result of men following the path of their master:

John 8:44-45 (KJV) 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

A Different Christian Witness

During major epidemics in the Roman Empire, some early Christians became known for caring for sick and abandoned people, often at great personal cost. Their actions reflected Jesus’ command to love others sacrificially. Practical care—food, water, cleanliness, rest, and companionship—could improve a sick person’s chance of survival even before modern medicine was available.

This contrast helps clarify what Christian faith should produce. Faith should not lead to cruelty, panic, blame, or exploitation. It should lead to truthfulness, courage, compassion, practical service, and concern for those who are vulnerable. Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 25 emphasizes caring for the hungry, thirsty, stranger, sick, and imprisoned.

The Present-Day Warning

Every generation faces the same choice: ignore truth and responsibility, or respond humbly and wisely. It is easy to blame others for society’s problems, but Christ calls His followers first to examine their own hearts and actions. Repentance begins personally: removing the “trash” of sin, bitterness, dishonesty, pride, and neglect from one’s own life before trying to correct others.

God’s warning is also an invitation. He does not expose what is wrong merely to condemn people; He calls them to turn, receive mercy, and walk in a different way. The proper response to a broken world is not despair or hatred, but faithful obedience—loving neighbors, protecting the vulnerable, seeking truth, practicing wisdom, and serving others in Christ’s name.

Ignoring God’s plan does not remove the consequences of wrong choices. But when people turn to God’s truth, accept responsibility, and live out Christ’s love, they can become part of the healing rather than part of the harm.

What is one practical area—personal responsibility, truthful speech, compassion, or serving someone in need—where this lesson could shape a person’s actions today?

There is nothing new under the Sun.
What is happening now, has happened before, and will happen again.

The Big Change Factor is You & I.

• What will you allow? 

• What will you resist?

• How will you persist?
  
  

Everyone one of us is responsible to take out our own trash.
That's Physical & Spiritual Trash.
The longer we procrastinate the worse it will end up for us.

More Supporting Scripture that God Knew Evil men would enter into the Church and Try to destroy her from within:

• Jude 1:4 - "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men..."

• Matthew 23:1-33 - Jesus' condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees who sit in Moses' seat, who love the chief seats and devour widows' houses.

• 2 Peter 2:1-3 - "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies... And many shall follow their pernicious ways..."

• Philippians 3:18-19 - "For many walk, of whom I have told you often... that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things."

• Matthew 24:4-5, 11, 24 - Jesus: "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many... And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many."

• 2 Timothy 3:1-5, 13 - "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come... Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof... But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived."

• 2 Timothy 4:3-4 - "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears..."

• 1 Timothy 4:1-2 - "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy..."

• 2 Peter 2:1 and 1 John 2:18-19 - Both explicitly say false teachers and antichrists would arise from within the church.

• 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 - The falling away and the man of sin who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God.

Where AM I going to spend eternity?

No matter who you are: That's just a deeply important question to answer. 

In fact, it's arguably, the most important question that We ALL need to answer, long before we leave this planet. How we answer that question, will have a greater impact on our life, more than any other question we have ever asked, and answered.

If I have a choice, shouldn't I know what that choice is, and why it exists? 

What good does it do us to be ignorant of our God given choices? But yet, so many are ignorant today, just as the SINO Christians were so evil in their ignorance during the plagues in their Medieval Days of Darkness--When they did not teach the Word of God to their children.

Note: That is a pattern you will see repeating itself throughout History. Ignorance creates destruction. That pattern has been repeating itself in every generation, and is continuing to repeat itself in our generation. Both Jewish History, and Gentile history reveal full of examples of destruction Today. Just turn on the news, and you will see it.

Henceforth, this is an important and critical call.  Therefore, let us heed the Call:

Mark 8:38 (KJV)
Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me,
and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation;
of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed,
when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

So here's my critical challenge:

Where AM I going to spend eternity?

When we fully understand, what is at stake, making that choice, and solving that problem, becomes all the more time sensitive.

When we see this question from Heaven's Perspective: it gains a much higher life priority than we previously understood it to have.

The Transformation of Our Mind will not happen by accident. No. It will only happen as we take initiative. 

It will take personal investment, and diligent effort to seek to learn all that is in God's Inheritance.

That takes Guts! 

That takes Boldness & Courage. Grace & Truth. 

This culture, and its herd instinct has fallen asleep at the wheel. 

We have not done our duty. 

We have neglected our heritage.

We have turned our backs on God's Word. Just like the SINO Christians during the Bubonic Plague in Europe, and the Nazi Plague, and Now the American Plague.

If fact: We have been ashamed of God's Word.
But we have some time left to repair the damage that we have done.

Our Broken, Divisive, and Malicious World, is the result, of rejecting the Word of God.

Do you want to continue to follow the Path of "the Goats"? Continue to walk in ignorance? 

Or do you want to discover the path of "His Sheep"? 

How this all plays out will be exactly according to the decisions you are making today.

Where AM I going to spend eternity?

That choice has been left in yours and my hands, to decide today.

We cannot procrastinate any longer. We've been doing that since kindergarten.

What God offers, you and I, is His Covenant. 

What we decide will determine where we will end up.

My Theology is simple: I enter the narrow road. I stay on that road until I come to my final destination: Heaven.

It's like taking a train to New York. As long as I remain on that train, I will eventually arrive in New York. My chosen destination. BUT ... Should I ever choose to get off that train, and take another train, in a different direction, I will abort my original destination, and end up somewhere else. 

The truth be told: Once you enter the walk with Jesus, you will be offered many exits from the Narrow Road. Just like in Jesus' Day, so it is today. Many left Christ, just as Judas did. Sadly, their betrayal can become our betrayal if we follow the same path.

The Unknown Factor.

You and I may have turned our back on Keeping Jesus Commandments. We may have gone our own way. We may have joined a CINO Religion. But, if we are still breathing. There is still hope. 

But we must act soon. Even NOW. 

That's what this Website is preaching. 

"J-you can doo it!"

It can all start with a simple mental adjustment. A simple attitude transformation. The enlightening of the Eyes. The piercing of the Heart.

• Let the Word of God dwell in your richly. 

• Let it Lead You and Guide you and be your Rear Guard.

• Let it become a lamp unto your feet, and Light unto thy Way.

Once you make that decision, you need to open his book. Start devouring it. Let it become your daily bread. Your living water. Your food from heaven. Your feast for your eternal soul. 

You have been invited to come:

• Matthew 11:28-30 (KJV) 28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

• Isaiah 55:1-3 (KJV)  Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.  Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

You have been invited to the Great Wedding Feast.

• Matthew 22:4 (KJV) Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.

• Matthew 25:34 (KJV) Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

To IGNORE his invitation, is something we can do. We can easily & quickly reject all that He has done for us. Every costly & painful preparation God has made for us, can easily be despised & rejected. That basically describes all of human history (from the majority perspective) in a nutshell. 

(That history keeps repeating itself: Both in the Church, and outside it. Both in the Kingdom of Israel and outside of it. That is a continual theme from Genesis to Revelation. And not one word of superstition, can be found between the two book ends. What you will find are clearly stated, clearly reasoned, clearly accessible commandments of God, that if followed will protect and bless, if ignored or rebelled against will judge and condemn.)

We can easily ignore it all. Ignore all of God's Specific Directions. Then we can blame all our victimhood on someone else (even God), just like during the Bubonic Plague. And justify in our own minds doing unspeakable evil, like killing our own babies, or worse. But here's the question:

How will that help us at all? 

Here's one thing it will help us do. Our choices: will determine that we are not worthy of the Gifts that have been offered. Not worthy of the sacrifices that have been made. Not worthy of The Infinite Prices that have been Paid. Not worthy of the Relationship that will Bring us Eternal Life. 

When we have made our bed, we will lie in it.

So in one sense we have solved the problem of: Where we will spend eternity? That will be away from Jesus, The Father, The Spirit, the Angels, the Saints, and Heaven itself.

Sorry for all the negativity. But it is unavoidable. We will have to face it now. Or we will have to face it later. The main difference is this. That now we can choose, once we have personally and thoroughly investigated the facts: Choose to change the direction of our Lives. In that there is Hope.

That Open Door of Personal Investigation is a Door of Hope & Power, Grace & Truth. The sooner we open it, the sooner we will fully discover the treasures therein.

How is my physical life a mirror of my Spiritual Life?

Did you know, that your spiritual life, is much like a mirror of your physical life?

You are constantly reflecting, who you are--at all times of day and night. But not only to those around you, but to the angels in heaven, and also to the great cloud of witnesses (the saints) that have gone before you: And also to God himself. 

Your life is constantly reflecting your relationship with God, your attitude towards him, your love for him, your trust in him (or the opposite). 

And as much as you allow God to enter your Life: You give Him permission to reflect his reflection through you to the world around you. 

The more you become like him, the more you radiate his: goodness, kindness, generosity, patience, mercy, justice, virtue, and love towards others. 

These are simply the fruits of the Spirit that come with inviting God into your Life:

• Galatians 5:22-26 (KJV) 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

• Ephesians 5:8-14 (KJV) 8 For ye were sometimes darkness [in the past], but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. 14 Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

When I walk as the world walks, I reflect the thoughts, attitudes, the entertainments, and vises the world holds valuable. Also called the Fruits of the Flesh, and/or The Works of the Flesh: 

• Galatians 5:19-21 (KJV) 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

• Ephesians 5:3-7 (KJV) But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; 4 Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting (dirty joking), which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. 7 Be not ye therefore partakers with them.

When we receive the invitation to come to the Wedding Feast of God, and we realize that it is an eternal invitation, that one key factor, is designed to change and transform everything about our lives.

• Galatians 5:16-18 (KJV) 16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

• Ephesians 5:1-2 (KJV) 1 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; 2 And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
  
  

So Yes. It is ok, and actually good to admit that we once walked in darkness, and did enjoy those things that God hates.

• Ephesians 5:8-14 (KJV) 8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: 9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) 

But, we are not to boast about being dark. We are to judge it, confess it, condemn it, and permanently repent of it. 

• 1 John 1:5-10 (KJV) 5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Once we come into the Kingdom, as we accept our Wedding Invitation:
We are all called to prepare ourselves for the Wedding. That is when our lives begin to shine like the HEAVENS. That's when everything about us begins to change.

See  The  Marriage 

• Revelation 21:2-8 (KJV) 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying,
  
  Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

When we finally choose to submit our lives unto the King of Heaven, we no longer live like slaves to the ruler of this broken world. Fear is broken. Peer Pressure is Broken. Lies are broken. Habits are Broken! Sick and perverse Relationships are Broken. Addictions are Broken. Mental Illness, and the power of Physical maladies, and the victimhood that comes with them are broken.

We no longer reflect the darkness of this world. When we begin to memorize and store up God's Word in our Hearts, we become transformed from this inside out. And what is inside eventually will shine on the outside.

• Matthew 5:11-16 (KJV) Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

We literally break the bondage of sin, by simply memorizing God's Word:

• Psalms 119:11-12 (KJV)
  Thy word have I hid in mine heart,
  that I might not sin against thee.

Blessed art thou, O LORD:
teach me thy statutes.

When you literally walk with God in His Word. That is a beautiful thing. Others can see it. Others can feel it. They sense the Change often immediately. They will treat you differently.  That is part of your inheritance in the kingdom of God. 

That is part of your family lineage. When you serve another person without asking anything to return, you leave an indelible mark. Your love for others, and concern for them is constantly radiating out from your heart, mind body and soul 24/7, when you are abiding in Christ, and he is abiding you. 

Your willingness to diligently obey God, is reflected in your everyday decisions, in all of your relationships--past, present, and future. 

Who can see them all the time?

Apparently, we cannot see them, but they can see us.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (KJV)
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed [surrounded] about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Did you know that what is going on in your Spirit is reflected through your body? Check this out:

Luke 6:43-49 (KJV) 43 For a good tree [that's you hopefully] bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. 44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh ...

This is how you can tell if I am following Christ; or If  I am following the lord of this world. 

By the very words that come out of my mouth, you can identify and answer these 4 questions:

1. Who am I serving? 

2. Who am I following? 

3. Who is my spiritual father?

4. What kind of spiritual house am I building?

• Luke 6:46-49 (KJV) 46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? 47 Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:
  
  48 He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock. 49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great.

As you can see, my spiritual life is not only reflected in my body, my words, my actions, but also, it is reflected in the house & home that I am living in.

If I am following the ruler of this dark world, I will emanate his words, deeds, attitudes, insecurities, angers, frustrations, and much worse. 

The more I emanate his dark ideas, the more I become like him, and the less comfortable I feel around those who are not like him, nor like me. As a result, I build myself a personal echo chamber, engulfed in the darkness of this world. (More on this in a minute.)

That becomes my spiritual house, and that usually gets filled with all the idols I have that bind me to my worldly darkness. That now reflects upon my physical house, where all the idols of this world will likely be displayed. 

As we grow in our Kingdom Knowledge, we begin to see all the Kingdom Patterns that are being activated all around us. Even as Paul has taught us.

• 1 Corinthians 2:9-16 (KJV) 9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. 16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

We can't help but reflect who we really are, and who we really serve.

Jesus has this to say about that:

John 8:43-45 (KJV) 43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. 44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. 45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

That again addresses the desparate need to decide if we are going to follow steps 1 and 2 in maturing in our Relationship with God.

The sooner we address our internal spiritual needs, the sooner we can fix many of our external problems. 

All our questions, needs, and problems (even our own trash), can be handled quickly and orderly, when we enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with both feet. 

The sooner we can get our feet on the right track, and begin walking the Narrow Road, the sooner we can Live in a beautiful "new" clean home (mentally, emotionally, spiritually, & physically). 

The sooner we can identify, overcome, and remove all the unclean obstacles that are in the way (embedded in our trash). The sooner heavenly help will come to aid us in all our house cleaning & eternity building efforts.

Please Note: Our spiritual building plan begins the very day we invite Jesus to come in, and cleanse our house, and fill it with his kingdom values.

Since Heaven and Hell hang in the balance: The better informed we are, the better decisions we can make. So, Ignoring this dilemma will not make it go away. 

Remember whatever you have stored up inside of you is going to be reflected on the outside eventually. The sooner you and I clean our insides, the sooner we will shine for God on the outside.

Shalom,

TPD

The Truth be told we cannot experience the Truth, unless we commit ourselves to walk in the Truth. 

The Words Continue and Believe are equal to all the below.

Continuing = Doing = Keeping = Obeying = Believing = Following,
= Persevering = Enduring and = Overcoming in the Truth.

Continuing in Jesus' Commandments
Creates a clear line of Identity:

It identifies those who are truly following him, and those who are not.
This teaching basically separates "the haves" from "the have-nots."
Also Known as "His Sheep" from "the Goats."

Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on him,

1.   If ye continue in my word,

2.   Then are ye my disciples indeed;

3.   And [then] ye shall know The Truth,

4.   And [then] The Truth shall make you free.

--John 8:31-32 (KJV) 

Hopefully, as we read this passage clearly, we will see the logical sequence of events, and realize their implications. 

1) Without Continuing in Jesus's Word, (by Doing His Commandments), 

2) We will not become his disciples "Indeed." 

3) We will not know the Truth. 

4) We will not be Set Free--(from our own personal sin & self deception)

Many false teachers will only quote steps 3 & 4,
but disregard steps 1 & 2.
This actually distorts the teaching of Jesus, and leaves the student/seeker of God's kingdom vulnerable to deception. 

This revelation of Jesus will greatly help us, when identifying who is telling us the Truth, and who is not. 

A False Teacher will typically will typically do one of three things to distort the Truth, and therefore teach a lie.

1.  He will intentionally delete some part of The TRUTH.

2.  He will intentionally ADD Something to the TRUTH 

3.  He will specifically not Teach, nor Keep: The Commandments of Jesus.
   
   

Thus breaking Jesus' Foremost Comprehensive Commandment: 

Please Note: These are three things above easily identify the signs of a False Teacher.

If Ye Love Me,
Keep My Commandments.

John 14:15 (KJV)

= That is How We Prepare Ourselves 4 Heaven. =

We Keep Jesus' Commandments.

= There is more on this topic on Home Part 2. =

Disclaimer: You will encounter some redundancy of scriptures and ideas on this website. Part of that is intentional. The Word says we are to remind ourselves daily, of the things we have been taught. So repetition, is the mother of retention: And the servant of Redemption.

Please Note: the below trait of a false teacher:

--He will intentionally delete some part of The TRUTH ...

When a modern Bible Translation chooses to specifically delete, or side-line key scriptures in the Bible (and relegate them to footnotes--instead of authentic Scripture): What is the purpose being accomplished?

[Luke 4:4--deleted the second half of the verse. No explanation given.

Mark 16:9–20--deleted the great commission, made it a footnote.]

Is that not what the Serpent did in the Garden. 

1. Did God really say .... ??? 

2. The Serpent caused Eve to doubt in God's Word. 

3. Then, He led a direct assault upon God's Word, by twisting God's Word. 

4. Then, He attacked Eve directly, and Adam indirectly.

5. As a result, Adam and Eve disobeyed God's Commandment.

6. Then they saw animals slaughtered to cover their ingnorance and sin.

7. This is an age old pattern and problem repeating itself once again in our day.

That is how I see modern Translations that delete parts of the Word of God, and then use theological justifications, based fancy (hip) new textual critical theory statements to justify it. That is not good enough for me.  What if the "supposedly & alleged" older and better texts were from a corrupted chain of texts called the Alexandrian Texts that taught another gnostic gospel (Clement & Origen) where they mixed Greek Philosophy with New Testament Theology.

That is why I now, quote, read, and memorize, from the King James Bible.
For some that may seem old fashioned. It did to me at first. But the more I dug into the facts: The more the facts proved this move a solid decision.

The concern I have is not whether a text is older or better, but whether it has been corrupted or accurately preserved according to the original or not.

Shalom,

TPD

God has provided you an unlimited supply of oil

Do you know where to find it? 

God's Oil is strongly Connected to His Anointing,
which directly realtes to Your Anointing. (SEE BELOW)

• • • Which is strongly connected to your knowledge of God's Word.

    • Which is strongly connected to your being Born Again.

    • Which is strongly connected to your faithfulness in prayer.

    • Which is strongly connected to your receiving of the Holy Spirit. 

    • Which is strongly connected to your commission, to become a Fisher of men.

1 John 2:27 (KJV) 7 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

Why are we told to anoint the sick with oil?

James 5:13-16 (KJV) 13 Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms. 14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: 15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. 16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.

Why did Samuel anoint King Saul with oil?

1 Samuel 10:1 (KJV) 1 Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

Why did David talk about having his head anointed with oil?

Psalms 23:5 (KJV) 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

That image or picture of David's cup running over  bares weight in the parable of the 5 wise virgins, whose lamps of oil were full  and ready for the timing of the coming of the Wedding Party. (Matthew 25: 1-13)

1 Samuel 16:12-13 (KJV) And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward.

Here you can see the immediate result of the anointing oil. The Holy Spirit of God came upon David, from that day forward. Therefore, we can see a direct working of the oil and the result. These are things that also point to our very own time. Have you been anointed with Oil from Heaven? Has the Holy Spirit come you, and is He working through you from that day you were anointed until today? Do others see and testify to the working of the Spirit of God in your life?

If you have the oil of God working in and through your life you won't have any doubt about this. If you have a doubt, that would enter in, then that is the time to dig into your faith and settle any unresolved issues. You are the only one who can truly do that. And yes, that work, needs to be done. And you will be at risk until it is completed, established, an rightly authenticated.

The Kingdom of God is not a kingdom of "maybe's," "I think so's" nor of indefinites. It is a Kingdom of Certainties.

Below are more examples of Anointing Oil being used to anoint leaders in God's Kingdom.

2 Samuel 2:4 (KJV) And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah.

What about Solomon?

1 Kings 1:39-40 (KJV) 39 And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon. 40 And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.

What about Aaron and his Sons?

Exodus 29:7 (KJV) 7 Then shalt thou take the anointing oil, and pour it upon his head, and anoint him.

Leviticus 8:12 (KJV) And he poured of the anointing oil upon Aaron's head, and anointed him, to sanctify him.

What about you and I?

1 John 2:20-21 (KJV) 20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 21 I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

Below is one of the clearest pictures in the Bible, acknowledging how the anointing of God, the Holy Spirit, which is a symbol of oil, comes upon the people of God, to fulfill the promise of God, to dwell with his people, and have them dwell with him. 

Only in this case, this is the first time in the biblical record that God anoints a gentile population (community) with the oil of the Holy Spirit. This is truly amazing!!   See for yourself:

Acts 10:38-48 (KJV) 38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: 40 Him God raised up the third day, and shewed him openly; 41 Not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead. 43 To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins.

44 While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. 45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. 46 For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, 47 Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? 48 And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed they him to tarry certain days.

So you can see: Oil is a strong symbol used throughout both OT and NT Scriptures.  Primarily relating to the work of the Holy Spirit, to separate men and women unto God, for the work of service in the kingdom of God. Priests are anointed, kings are anointed, and believers are anointed, with the oil of the Holy Spirit coming upon them.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 (KJV) For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 21 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; 22 Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 

The Earnest above, (the anointing of the Holy Spirit of God) is like a dowry, a down payment in a marriage, a deposit, a taste of the gifting of the husband to his bride to be. It is the Mohar. The presented gift that speaks about a coming of a fullness in the future. The fullness of the marriage. The fullness of a new family. The fullness of a new generation. New life. New bonds of love. New possibilities of deep satisfaction, Kingdom Dwelling, and a mutual relationship based on faith, hope, truth, and love.

Right now, we are in the time of promise. We have been given a covenant to become the bride of God (The Ketubah). We have our down payment (The Mohar). The gift of the Holy Spirit. The oil of God. 

The oil of God brings, the oil of gladness, rightness, and fulfillment. Our anointing is to set right, the wrongs. To cleanse the wounds. To put oil of healing on the festering infected wounds from the battle. So that the arm can be strong again. The leg can walk again. The man can be made whole again. The son can fulfill his purpose, and his promise, and his calling. The child can become like the Father.

Hebrews 1:8-12 (KJV) 8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. 9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: 11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; 12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.

Above the author of Hebrews is quoting Psalm 45, which is a Messianic song proclaiming the coming of the Messiah, the anointed one, a.k.a. the Christ. 

It is clearly stating that it is the Christ, who laid the foundation of the Earth.
The heavens are the work of his hands. They shall perish, but the Messiah will remain forever. The Earth will wax old like a garment. But the Messiah will remain the same forever. He is the one we have chosen to serve. He is the one chosen by God. Anointed by God. Demonstrating the work of God. The humility of God. The restoration of God. The love of God. The call of God--in the glory of God. 

He is the one that gives us our salvation. Our forgiveness of sins. Our total and complete healing, in the death and resurrection of our bodies. In Him we put our whole hope. Our whole trust. Our whole lives. Man can abuse us. They can harm us. They can kill us. But only in this life. They become the losers. We are the winners. We have won our prize in Christ. Our focus, our calling is to overcome all obstacles in this world, just as Jesus himself has overcome this world.

John 16:31-33 (KJV) Do ye now believe? 32 Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. 33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Today, we live with Christ by faith. But in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, we will be transported. We shall leave this world. We shall be catapaulted into Heaven. "To be absent from the body, is to be present with the LORD"--our Messiah.

When we return we will rule with him, and reign with Him, as faithful servants in his government. Since we have been made alive with Christ, His is our one and only King. Our one and only LORD. Our one and only teacher. Our one and only commander and chief of the armies of the Lord. 

He is the one who commands tens of thousands of angels. The one who commands all authority in heaven and on earth. The one who rules with righteousness and truth. And in whom there is no injustice, and no partiality. In him there is purity. There is humility. There is kindness. 

But, in Christ, there is also justice. Jesus is anointed to bring Justice. There is righteous anger. There is retribution coming. There is the Wrath of God to be poured out on all who have rejected the Son as the One and Only rightful way to Heaven.

The Wrath of God will balance the Scales and set everything back into Heavenly Order. Heavenly Justice. This judgment is not yet. It is only waiting. That is mercy. For every hour of waiting, there is a possibility of more souls repenting.

But judgment will fall, on all who rejected His Offer of Amnesty. Who spurned His invitation of Forgiveness. Who laughed at, derided, and persecuted, and refused to receive, those who brought God's Humble message of Acceptance through the Blood of His Son.

 These will go away into Darkness, and be seen no more. The unjust, the unrepentant the wicked, tge selfish, the proud, the mighty, the carnal sinner: the arrogant, the self satisfied, self focused, self absorbed,  and the self obsessed. 

And for all those who deem themselves wise in their own eyes. Who believe they are smarter than God. Who will not bend the knee, nor bow the head of their own free will. They see no need. They have everything they want. They don't realize that it's all going to be burned up. It's all going to be taken away. What will they do then? No one will bring their bank account into heaven. It will be burned up.

How do we know all this? His Anointing Teaches us all things. And we receive them by the Holy Spirit. Those who have the Holy Spirit have LIFE. They have Him, Know Him, and He knows them. Those who do not have the Holy Spirit, do not know His LIFE. Those who do not live by the Holy Spirit, do not know Him, nor He them.

"But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."

This is serious ... See Below: 

"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God [in essence an enemy of God]; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God."

This happens to be a big problem we need to overcome, so here is the fuller passage with more information for our brains to grow into, as the God of Wisdom gives us understanding.

Romans 8:1-11 (KJV) There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

It is the anointing oil of God, the grace and powerful love of the Holy Spirit, that draws us into close and intimate fellowship with God. He is the One who saves us, heals us, and sets us free to serve Jesus with all our heart, mind, and strength. He is the one who gives us the Mind of Christ.

Ok, now the rubber meets the Road. The Anointing works with The Word. Without the Word, the mind is not transformed. It is a supernatural relationship between the Anointing and the Word.

Oil in the Lamp = Lights the Way. The Word is the Way. It is also The Truth. And Living out the Word on a daily basis is The Life.

John 14:6 (KJV) I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

His Oil connects us one to another, by His Word, and also connects us to Heaven, by His Word : 

Bringing Light (fueling our lamps) is equal to being in the Word, and In Christ, and In the Body of Christ, and being solidly and eternally connected to Heaven through our obdedience to Keep the Commandments of Jesus, and doing that on a daily basis, not just on Sunday, and Wednesday night.

When God is Revealing His Word to Us (shining Light on God's Word, even in the dark)
--We can see it, receive it, walk in it, even when it gets Dark. Even when others have no light, we have our lamps guiding us. Our Anointing is leading. We are following. Right into Heaven's Gates.

Can you Guess what
the Picture Represents
(the one with the multicolored arcs)?

 Just look at it for a minute or so.

It represents something very special, you could say totally unique, and the picture itself, stands as a testimony, and a clear refutation, of 99.99% of all arm chair philosophers, that become talking heads, repeating words like parrots, that they have taken at face value as being true, but are utterly, and completely based on lies, fraudulent designs, and men of low character, and even lower integrity that teach lies, without any personal honest and truthful investigation involved.

Sadly, there are literally armies of soldiers, spreading false ideas, false statements, and incredible deception that has no basis in reality. They hang in mid air. Not grounded to anything. But they are received as though they are irrefutable. 

So false teachers pass them out like candy to beggars, who swallow these lies by the bag load, because that's what everyone else is doing. 

Here's a warning we need to not ignore:

Matthew 24:11-14 (KJV) 11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

This is where step one and step two (and three and four), become vital, critical, and absolutely necessary. For without them, we will all continue to be the sponge, that soaks up any lie that gets poured upon us. 

We've all done this. At some point we have all been deceived. And, if we will admit it, we have all deceived others. We have been the sponge, and we have been the one pouring out the liquid lies upon the sponge. So... We all know how this works. We have all walked in our own echo chambers. And we have all protected ourselves with nonsense, so we wouldn't have to take the trash out of our house. Because we got lazy. 

And we all can began to get used to the trash. And we can got used to the smell. And and if we really work at it, we won't mind all the rodents and insects and bacteria, and disease that comes with them. That's how temptation, deceptions, confusions, perversions, lies, and divisions work. 

But the day will come, when we will have to stand at attention and tell exactly why we refused to take the trash out out of our house. And yes, I am talking about spiritual trash, and lies that come in diseased and defiled candy wrappers.

Believe me when I say, I understand that ... I've been there done that.

Overcoming being offended

So here's another problem we need to overcome. 

When we examine ourselves by the light of God's Word, we can easily get offended. 

In fact, it is by design for us to become offended. In fact, if we are not offended by the word of God, it is very possibly not doing its job properly: Or we are not reading it properly. 

What's true for you. Is true for me. And true for every single man, woman, and child that will: "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness ..." so that all his other things can be added unto us. But while we are seeking, we are sure to be offended. The disciples were. So shall we be.

The first thing God begins to do when we learn how to read his word, is he begins to convict us about the trash we have sitting in our living room. And yes. That is very offensive to those walking the wide Road that leads to Destruction.

OK, I admit it. That was a little preachy. I hope I didn't lose you already. But it needed to be said.

Now, have you figured out what the picture above is? 

It is super important to understand, and it is quite mind-boggling. If you give me just a moment, I will do my best to explain the picture and why it's important.

This picture will help to explain How Powerful God's Word is in a practical, logical, historical, literary, and yes, a Prophetic Sense.

Most people don't know this. But the Bible is written like your DNA in your body. It has its own error correcting code. (The picture above describes the paragraph below.)

There are approximately 63,779 cross references that confirm, validate, protect, balance, and substantiate almost every important statement made in the word of God.

Please note that the video below, and the computer model used to generate a new updated picture of the cross-references in the Bible is now over 340,000 references that are computer connected and correlated. For more on that subject watch the video that is provided below. It is well worth a few minutes it takes see how you're very own Bible is connected from beginning to end.

No other book is like it. None other has ever been recorded  like it in human history. (Note: There are only a total of 31,102 verses, in the King James Bible. As you can see on average: there are more than two cross-references for every single verse.) 

What does that tell us? It stands alone: The Bible is the best interpreter of itself. If you don't understand a passage in scripture, just go to the cross reference, and that will help you understand it so much better. 

For Example:

The Book of Daniel is used to interpret the Book of Revelation, and the Book of Revelation is used to interpret the Book of Daniel, they are like brother and sister Books. Why? Because they both cover a lot of the same territory of Prophetic Judgements that are soon to take place. 

The more you read, study, and meditate on one, the more you will deeply grasp and appreciate the other.

Ok, Here's another problem we must address:

But what will happen if I try to do my Bible study without the help, guidance, and love of God supporting me in my desire to study his Word? 

What if I study his word, for the sole/soul purpose to win an argument, or to make someone look stupid? And yes, this happens all the time. Check this out:

Here is the problem many scholars have when they read the Bible (and it is embarrassing to hear their lack of knowledge, when they try to denounce the Bible.)

1 Corinthians 2:12-14 (KJV)
Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Ok, much more needs to be said on this subject, but this answer to this question has gone a little too long. I never claimed to be a good author, just a believer in God's Word. 

I don't always say everything just right. But, when we stick to the Scriptures, it is hard to wander too far from the Truth. The better we connect there, the better all of us will become Ready, and Prepared 4 Heaven ... so that none of us will miss out on our Calling from Hearing His Voice, and Following after Him, unto the very end. Keeping His Commandments as He Keeps Teaching how to do them. We literally can't go wrong following the Pattern He has diligently laid out for us, without blemish, without spot, and without wrinkle.

May you get Connected.
May you stay Connected.
May you help others do the same.

I hope to see you someday and rejoice in what we shared together.
It's only going to get more exciting and more demanding as we go forward,
But it will all be worth the trials, and the trouble, when we stand side by side, in the Presence of God, and surrounded by all the Holy Angels, saying: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lamb.

Then we will be singing, the Song of Moses, and also the Song of the Lamb :

Revelation 15:3-4 (KJV) 3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 4 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

From John chapter 10, verse 27 we can glean much:

John 10:27 (KJV)
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

From this simple statement of Jesus, we can gain our marching orders.
To know God, and to make him known. May we do that with greater and greater effectiveness, Freedom, joy, love, and continue hope, that we will all spend eternity together, and not regret one minute of study, or preparation for that great transition. Amen.

Shalom,

TPD

161,346 views  Oct 7, 2026
#BibleFiles #DivineFacts #CrossReferences

CHAPTERS

0:00 Two first lines

0:47 What is a cross-reference?

1:14 A very old habit: from Eusebius to the KJV

2:05 The famous picture, and our own chart

2:55 What the map shows

3:58 Case file 1: the lamb

4:48 Case file 2: a psalm at the cross

5:43 The sceptic's case

6:49 The believer's case

7:24 What we actually know

7:53 The question

Here is the transcript:

Chapter 1: Two first lines

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. In the beginning was the Word.

Two books, written centuries apart, open with the same three words. A note that links two verses like these is called a cross-reference.

In 2007, two men drew every cross-reference they had, 63,779 of them, as a single picture.

And ever since, people have asked the same question.

How does a library written by dozens of authors, across many centuries, end up this connected? Coincidence, or design?

Let's open the file.

Chapter 2: What is a cross-reference?

A cross-reference is a simple idea: a note that says, compare this verse with that one.

Sometimes a later writer quotes an earlier one, word for word. Sometimes he borrows a picture: a lamb, a tree, a serpent on a pole.

Sometimes two passages tell the same event. None of these notes were in the original manuscripts. Readers added them, slowly, over many centuries.

Chapter 3: A very old habit: from Eusebius to the KJV

Early in the 300s, Eusebius of Caesarea drew up ten tables matching the parallel passages in the four Gospels.

For about a thousand years, scribes copied his tables into the front of Gospel books, often framed in painted arches.

But you can't point to a verse until verses have numbers. Chapters came in the early 1200s, from Stephen Langton in Paris.

New Testament verse numbers came in 1551, from the printer Robert Estienne.

The Geneva Bible of 1560 was the first complete English Bible with numbered verses.

The King James Bible of 1611 printed thousands of references in its margins, and later editions kept adding more.

And around 1830, the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge gathered hundreds of thousands into a single book.

Chapter 4: The famous picture, and our own chart

Then, in 2007, a computer science student, Chris Harrison, and a Lutheran pastor, Christoph Römhild, turned those notes into a picture.

Along the bottom, one bar for every chapter in the Bible, all 1,189 of them, each as long as its chapter.

And every cross-reference became an arc, joining the two chapters it connects.

Their data held 63,779 links, and the image went around the world.

That picture is theirs, so we built our own, from an open dataset published by OpenBible.info. And here is the first surprise.

It doesn't hold sixty-three thousand links. It holds 344,799.

Chapter 5: What the map shows

So what does the map actually show? Most links stay inside their own Testament: about four out of five.

But more than seventy-three thousand cross the line between the Old and the New. And two hundred and ten connect the very first book to the very last.

Genesis opens in a garden, with the tree of life also in the midst of the garden.

Revelation closes in a city, where on either side of the river, was there the tree of life. The busiest chapter of all is Psalm 119, with nearly three and a half thousand links. But it is also the longest chapter in the Bible, 176 verses. Long chapters collect more links.

That is worth remembering. And the single verse that the most links point to?

First Peter 2:9, with 176: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood.

Just behind it, with 171, Isaiah 9:6: For unto us a child is born.

Chapter 6: Case file 1: the lamb

Now follow a single thread, and you can see why so many people find this compelling.

On a mountain in Genesis, Isaac asks where the lamb is, and Abraham answers, God will provide himself a lamb.

In Exodus, every family in Israel takes a lamb for the Passover, and not one bone of it is to be broken.

In Isaiah, a suffering servant is brought as a lamb to the slaughter.

In John's Gospel, John the Baptist sees Jesus coming and says, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

And in Revelation, in the middle of heaven's throne room, stands a Lamb as it had been slain. Five books, written across many centuries.

Christians read this as one story, with one Author. Here is a second thread, and this time the writers drew it themselves.

Chapter 7: Case file 2: a psalm at the cross

Psalm 22 opens with a cry: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

In Matthew's Gospel, Jesus cries out those same words from the cross.

The psalm goes on: They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.

And John says the soldiers cast lots for Jesus' coat, that the scripture might be fulfilled. The open data holds sixty-seven links between this one psalm and the crucifixion chapters of the four Gospels.

Here the link is not a reader's note in a margin. The Gospel writers point to it themselves. A sceptic might say they told the story to fit the psalm.

A believer would say the psalm was written for this moment. Either way, the connection is deliberate.

Chapter 8: The sceptic's case

So is this network a sign of design? Let's be fair to both sides. Start with the number itself.

One count says 63,779. Another says 344,799.

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge was advertised with half a million, but a recount finds closer to 380,000.

The total depends on who is counting, and how loosely.

The OpenBible links were even ranked by readers' votes, and the most popular one joins Jeremiah 29:11 to Isaiah 55.

That tells us what readers love today, as much as what the writers meant. And many links are no coincidence at all.

Later writers knew the earlier books, and quoted them on purpose.

The New Testament quotes the Old directly more than three hundred times, and alludes to it more than two thousand times.

Scholars call this intertextuality, and it is found in other ancient writings too. So a sceptic would say: of course a library that quotes itself is connected.

Chapter 9: The believer's case

But a believer would say that is exactly the point. These writers were not just borrowing lines.

Through kings and exiles, empires and languages, they kept building one story, and its threads still meet.

The Bible even makes this claim about itself.

On the road to Emmaus, Luke says that Jesus, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

For Christians, the pattern is the fingerprint of one Author, working through many authors. So what does the evidence actually tell us?

Chapter 10: What we actually know

The network is real, and it is huge. Anyone can download the data and check it.

Its size depends on the method, so sixty-three thousand is a starting point, not a measurement. Much of it is deliberate: writers reading writers.

And whether that long conversation points to a divine Author is not something a chart can settle. That question is yours to weigh.

Chapter 11: The question

Maybe coincidence or design is the wrong question. Nobody thinks these links are accidents. The better question might be this.

How did dozens of writers, across so many centuries, end up telling what millions read as one story? Which link surprised you most?

Tell us in the comments. The dataset, and all our sources, are in the description.

Start a Cross Reference Study with These Popular Verses

Old Testament

1. Jeremiah 29:11

2. Proverbs 3:5

3. Proverbs 4:23

4. Proverbs 3:6

5. Psalm 37:4

6. Psalm 34:4

7. Psalm 118:24

8. Proverbs 16:3

9. Joshua 1:9

10. Proverbs 23:7

11. Proverbs 13:20

12. Psalm 46:10

13. Psalm 51:10

14. Proverbs 17:22

15. Isaiah 40:31

16. Isaiah 41:10

17. Psalm 34:18

18. Psalm 46:1

19. Psalm 27:14

20. Psalm 1:1

New Testament

1. Philippians 4:13

2. Romans 8:28

3. John 3:16

4. Hebrews 11:1

5. 2 Timothy 1:7

6. 1 Peter 5:7

7. 1 John 4:18

8. John 14:6

9. Romans 12:2

10. Romans 5:8

11. Galatians 6:9

12. 1 Corinthians 13:13

13. Philippians 4:6

14. Ephesians 2:8

15. Matthew 6:33

16. Galatians 5:22

17. Matthew 11:28

18. Ephesians 3:20

19. John 10:10

20. Matthew 16:16

SOURCES

• Cross-reference data: OpenBible.info (CC-BY), https://www.openbible.info/labs/cross... (downloaded October 2026). All counts in this video are computed from this file.

• Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild, Bible cross-reference visualization (2007): https://www.chrisharrison.net/index.p... (credited; their image is not reproduced)

• Christianity Today, "Reference Rainbow" (20 Nov 2008): https://www.christianitytoday.com/200...

• M. R. Crawford, The Eusebian Canon Tables (Oxford University Press, 2019)

• Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1830): https://scriptoriumdaily.com/what-was...

• Old Testament quotations in the New: S. Motyer, "Old Testament in the New Testament," Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology

• Michael Fishbane, Biblical Interpretation in Ancient Israel (Oxford, 1985); Richard B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (Yale, 1989)

Double mindedness is probably one of the most subtle and widespread problems in the church today. I personally struggle with this problem, saying one thing and doing another.

James 1:5-8 (KJV) 

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

James 4:7-10 (KJV) 

7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. 9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

1 John 1:8-10 (KJV) 

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. [That would make us double minded.]