Just a reminder :)

More from Boundaries

Just a few more notes i took from the book boundaries:

Satan is the great distorter of reality.

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There is always safety in the truth.

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Physically removing yourself from a situation will help maintain boundaries.

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What worry really says about you

Worry means you don't really trust God. You don't trust him to keep his word and take care of you. You don't trust that he is able. You don't trust that he is loving. You don't trust God so you are basically saying "I don't believe you" "I'm on my own in everything" "No one will take care of me but me" In a sense you are saying God's not really there..

Or maybe you are questioning God in general. How can you trust someone you don't really know? This is where I have been at. I knew God. Then I lost my footing because of verses that suddenly troubled me. But look outside. Look at the sun and the moon and the stars. See how small you are on this earth. This earth is actually only a speck in the universe. There are multitudes of Galaxies. Endless. We are so small, just created human beings. Our bodies and our souls.. they were created and belong to God. I was reminded of this and became humbled. 

There are verses that say God is a loving merciful God. No you cant save yourself in your own power because you don't have power in and of yourself. You cant will yourself to be saved. It must be God's mercy. His mercy saves you. Through the blood of Jesus. Faith in him is the requirement. If you are struggling, pray with a humble heart. Ask him to reveal himself to you. But remember you are not God. Learn who he is. 

Then you can begin to trust him.

Then you can let worry go.

* Thanks to my boyfriend, Jeff Dul, for this picture

1 Peter 1:15-16

But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16.because it is written, "Be holy, for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15-16

vs. 15,Greek:

Alla: but, except

Kata:  down from, against, according to, at

Ton: the

Kalesanta: call, invite, name, caller

Hymas: you, over you, upon you

Hagion: set apart, holy, sacred

Kai: and, even, also

Autoi: he, she, it, they, them, these, they

Hagioi: set apart, holy, sacred, saints

En: in, on, among

Pase: all, the whole, every kind of

Anastrophe: behavior, manner of life

Genethete: come into being, born, let there be

But, as the caller of you is holy, also these be holy in all behavior.

Dictionary:

Call: ask or invite to come, cry out with a loud voice

Caller: person or thing that calls

Holy: devoted to God, Godly, pure, sacred

Behavior: manner of behaving

Behave: to act in a particular way, to act properly

The verse after looking at the meaning of words:

But, as the one who invites you is pure and sacred, also be pure and sacred in all your actions.

** I noticed as I looked up the word for "Called" it means to invite or summon. The definition of call also means to invite. Being called doesn't necessarily mean you have no choice because you have been called. It doesn't mean you were specifically picked. Because other verses in the bible say God does not want anyone to perish but that all would repent. God invites us to come to him. He has compassion on us in our condition and invites us to come to him because of his mercy. But it also says we must be holy in all our behavior. That's an action on our part. That would indicate we have a will in addition to God having a will. I'm not an expert in analyzing text or in the Greek but the subject of predestination has greatly upset me. I have looked up endless articles on the subject. I want to believe that God is good and loving. I want to believe he wouldn't create someone with no power to do good and then send them to hell because he didn't "call" them. That's not the God I have always prayed to. Predestination in that sense has made me depressed. I don't believe that could be from God. But the Greek to English is right there. Called also means invited. Does god invite a select few? I don't like to believe so **

Let the good in..

More from Boundaries: Don't wall yourself in and refuse to accept help. That's keeeping the bad in and the good out. Abused people often do that.

Bible History

I have been finding it very interesting to look into early Christianity. I just recently found as I was searching it up that Catholics have a different bible than Protestants. Orthodox Christians have a different bible as well.
As I searched more I found that the earliest of christian manuscripts were not universal in what what considered "canon." Canon literally means "measuring stick" but the word canon is used to describe divinely inspired scripture. 

The Eastern Orthodox Church:
The Old Testament-

• The pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)
• The history (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther) Also included in history: Prayer of Manassah, 1 Esdras, Additions to Esther, Tobit, Judith, 1 2 & 3 Maccabees. 4 Ezra and 4 Maccabees are included by the Georgian Orthodox Church
• The Wisdom (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs) Also included in wisdom: Psalm 151, Sirach &Wisdom
• The Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel) Also included in the major prophets: Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah &Additions to Daniel
• The Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi)

The New Testament-

• The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
• Acts
• Paul's Letters (Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Phillipians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon)
• General Letters (Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1 2 & 3 John, Jude)
• Revelation

The Catholic Church:

• Almost the same as orthodox except it excludes several books : Prayer of Mannassah, 1 & 2 Esdras, 3 & 4 Maccabees and Psalm 151

The Protestant Church:

• The protestant church excludes all the extras that the catholic and orthodox add in. The basis of that is that the Jews do not use the Apocrypha in their bible. 

I have always identified with protestant churches and therefore never considered the bibles of the other churches. I disagreed with beliefs of catholic and orthodox churches. I was unware their bible was different from mine. It makes me realize that we tend to believe most what we were first taught. But let's say you were first taught hinduism. That doesnt make it right. I want to look more into this. 

Romans 9:22-23 Continued

Verse 23 in Greek:
Kai: and, even, also, namely
Hina: in order that, so that, for the purpose that
Gnorise: make known, declare, know, come to know, realize
Ton: the
Plouton: riches, wealth, abundance
Tes: the
Doxes: honor, renown, glory, splendor, what evokes good opinion
Autou: self
Epi: on, to, against, on the basis of, upon
Skeue: a vessel, goods
Eleous: pity, mercy, compassion
Ha: who, which, what, that
Proetoimasen: prepare beforehand, made ready in advance, to make ready before
Eis: in, into, among, till, for
Doxan: honor, renown, glory, splendor, what evokes good opinion

Also, for the purpose that he would make known the abundance of honor of himself, upon the vessels of compassion, who were made ready in advance in honor.

Dictionary:
purpose: the reason which something exists
vessels: a person who receives something
compassion: deep sympathy for someone stricken by misfortune

Also, for the purpose that he would make the abundance of his honor known, upon the people he felt deep sympathy for, who were made ready in advance in honor.

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 I don't know really how to analyze this. It says that he wanted them to know the abundance (how much) good opinion (honor) he had. I think this might mean God has a lot of good opinions towards the vessels of mercy. a vessel is just someone that receives something and mercy or compassion means to have a deep sympathy for someone struggling. So God thinks honorably toward those people. Those people he had made ready in advance and in honor.

The greek words used for "prepared" in both verses are different. The ones deserving wrath it says he fit together or made it what it ought to be. The ones deserving honor it says he made ready in advance.

I mean God is God the creator of everything, so he can pick specific people and get them ready for honor. and he can "mend" or tweak those deserving wrath.

He could make us all puppets if he wanted. He's God. But the bible says he is a God of love. So would a loving God create people on the earth and control their every move and and tweak them to how ever he wants them to be? Would God really want to tweak someone till they were destroyed? I am still so lost on this subject.

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