The connection line.

[RevZ62]

The rollercoaster of life, the daily ups and downs that test faith and when you pass the test you grow.
People talk of being closer to God, I can't get any closer but my faith can strengthen,
Matt, 8, Mark 4, Luke 8
O ye of little faith
Why is it you have no faith
How is it you have no faith.

What is the core of your belief? How do you connect with God/Jesus/Holy Ghost, faith is the connection line.

[newview]

Why is it a great scripture?
In what context?
In meaning or interpretation?
To explain what?
Why?
And more. Think.

It's great for proof that the Holy Ghost ain't Gabriel.
What does it say to you?

[Hezekiah Ben Israel]

You should have brought a little bit more of that chapter.

[newview]

Hi Hez,
You were given 2 scriptures as it relates to the Holy Spirit being God and not an angel.
What are your thoughts, Brother Hez?

[Hezekiah Ben Israel]

Matthew 1:18-25 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.


Luke 1:26-33 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Luke 1:41-42 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

Did not the angel say this to Mary?

This is the same situation as in Matthew 1, and you can see that the Holy ghost is the angel Gabriel. I am sure you will say that you don't see it, so I am going to set up a thread for it.

[newview]

Did not the angel say this to Mary?
This is the same situation as in Matthew 1, and you can see that the Holy ghost is the angel Gabriel. I am sure you will say that you don't see it, so I am going to set up a thread for it.

"Whahhh?
Please explain in great detail what the heck you are talking about.
Dont just quote the scriptures - help me understand what you see in those scriptures and why and where you see what you see as it relates to the Holy Ghost being an angel.

[Hezekiah Ben Israel]

Read where the angel Gabriel says to Mary you are favored, and then read where Elisabeth has the Holy ghost come over her and say the same thing. That shows you that the Holy ghost is Gabriel. These chapters in Matthew and Luke are of the same account.

[RevZ62]

That is a real leap of imagination.
First:
Angels or messengers are celestial being created by God. They are not a part of God except in the sense that we are.
Second:
Here this will confuse you more:
God sent God to infuse flesh and walk the earth in human form, conforming with the cultural bias of those God would be among, Jews. God took the evidence of that human form into heaven, knowing humans would exhume the body to study it.
The Spirit that is God returned to rejoin with God, yet it exist still among us as the Comforter.
Make sense?
NO!
Well I did not think you'd get it.

[RevZ62]

You are another who takes verses out of context to prove your argument.
It is not the verse fits into what you say but that what you say fits the words you have pulled from the bible.

You write a verse or verses and that says it???
NO! You have to voice your argument for what you quote to have meaning. Yes we all read and understand English, So if I say "Jesus wept." uh, duh, so what. He probably did it more than that verse implies but what am I talking about.
"Jesus wept"

AND.................

[RevZ62]

God is not three individuals but one entity or individual with three manifestations each one being a different method of contact with us.
God did one on one's as seen in the OT. The entity of Jesus allowed God in flesh (still God) to exist among us and experience the world as we do and then God decided not to leave us alone and as believers we can have God inhabit us as the Holy Spirit as we pray to God via Jesus (in the name of) and still call on God the Father as an ultimate but all are one and the One.

So yes, God and the Holy Spirit and Jesus are one.

[RevZ62]

God is not three individuals but one entity or individual with three manifestations each one being a different method of contact with us.
God did one on one's as seen in the OT. The entity of Jesus allowed God in flesh (still God) to exist among us and experience the world as we do and then God decided not to leave us alone and as believers we can have God inhabit us as the Holy Spirit as we pray to God via Jesus (in the name of) and still call on God the Father as an ultimate but all are one and the One.

So yes, God and the Holy Spirit and Jesus are one.

[RevZ62]

I have faith, I think?
I am going through a difficult time financially. I have been out of work, that is full time work for over a year. I am a professional. I am educated and skilled. I have been doing what I do for more than a quarter a century. I do not have a job. I am at the level of money called broke.
I have moments of worry and doubt. I have moments of highs and moments of lows. My high moments come when I get an interview and the possibility of qualified work and my low moments creep in when I go to the mail box and I find another bill I can not pay. Highs and lows are a part of life and I believe they are natural. Faith on the other hand is not natural. My mind has to wrap itself around a concept, “...the evidence of things not seen...”.
People are welded to their five senses and the evidence they present to the body. Most of our senses are tied to our heads, sight, hearing, smell, taste while touch is all over our body. The eyes and ears tend to link together in our processing center. Smell and taste are physically linked and one can heighten or fool the other as in the apple – pear test. Touch is tricky. From the top of your head to the bottom of your feet it varies in degree. Some areas of the body are more sensitive than others, yet those areas are not used in exploring the world for a variety of reasons pain being the biggest reason to not expose those areas to the world.
For reasons more than the word 'seen' implies we fail in faith. Actually all of our senses come into play at all times. Our sensorium is the areas of the brain that process and register incoming sensory information and make possible the conscious awareness of the world and when we are aware there is the tendency to deny any thing that is not processed through that area. That is my humble estimation is being human, it is what people do, automatically, without external influence. What people do not do is that which is learned. Faith is a learned behavior.
What we do with behaviors, is dependent on multiple factors some which we control and a few we do not. How well we learn is dependent on the educating procedure. It can be formal, informal or a mixture of both. Early Christianity was informal, education was by word of mouth and example.
Rom 10:8 But what does it say? The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart: that is, the word of faith of which we are the preachers:
The early Christians had no New Testament. Scripture is the Old Testament writings and the spoken words followed by the epistles that were written and shared. Their faith was created and grew by the evidence of things not seen as they were beyond the days of Jesus but they grew in faith as they looked about at the substance of things hoped for that appeared in their lives. They extended their trust.
Faith is implied trust, trust is allowing one's self to be manipulated in someway by one or more others. Faith implies that one expects no harm to ensue from the manipulation. Defining the untranslated Greek evidence is proof or conviction and it also gets translated as assurance.
It there evidence in my life of what God has done for me, to me, and with me of course there is. Can I turn and show others the proof of what has been done for me, is it part of my witness, my story. Can I with the conviction of my life show to anyone that with Jesus in my life I have a better life.
Faith is also “...the substance of things hoped for...” again in the Greek we find that it is a restatement of assurance. So we get the assurance and conviction of what is not seen but hoped for but one who has faith in Jesus. This whole exercise in verbal manipulation is so that maybe I can overcome my “humanness”. I had a person pass through my life who warned me not to be intellectual about scripture. Being intellectual is the nature of this beast. It is not that the thinking excludes feeling but is spiritual connection, that sentiment that leads to a reaction based on the impression given by the indwelling spirit. The greater the spiritual connection the greater the faith, yes?
It is hard for the human to just believe.

[Chaplain Pat Harris]

RevZ62,

Clap, Clap, Clap and Hallelujah.

Have you considered changing careers and pursue teaching biblical studies at least as an adjunct teacher?
You articulate so well and you keep it simple. I am confident that I could sit under your teaching and learn a great deal.

But, please advised; there are some on this site that live by the Torah. It is their belief that people should keep the Laws and Commandments. Unfortunately, your faith talk will go any further than your post where they are concern. They stand very strong in their belief just as most of the Christians stand firm in our beliefs.