Don't worry...I'm not working on Luke In The Now yet (I'll have MITN XII posted ASAP), but I did this passage for Christmas. It's one of my favorites in the Bible. Also, I think that these different artists' interpretations of The Anunciation are very interesting.
26. In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth
27. to a little teen-age girl who was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, who was a descendent of king David. The young girl was a virgin, and her name was Mary.
28. The angel just went right into her house and said to her, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29. Mary was not only startled by his appearance, she was also troubled by his declarative words and wondered what he meant by his greeting.
30. But Gabriel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, I am here because you have found favor with God.
31. “You are going to conceive today, and in a few months will give birth to a Son, and you are to name and call Him Jesus.
32. “And your baby will become great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David,
33. and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end…it will exist in the eternal now.”
34. After collecting herself and gaining her composure, Mary asked the angel, “How can I conceive a child today? I am engaged to a man, but I am a virgin; I have not slept with my fiancé or any other man, nor do I plan to!”35. But the angel answered, “You are about to have an unprecedented encounter with the Holy Spirit that is going to affect your natural body and, when that happens, the power of the Most High will literally overshadow you and permeate your entire being. This encounter will cause you to conceive, so that the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God!
36. “And your cousin Elizabeth is also going to have a child, even in her old age. She has never been able to conceive throughout her whole life, but she is already sixth months pregnant!
37. “I know that this seems impossible to you…and, in fact, it is biologically and naturally impossible. But, with God, nothing in any realm is or ever will be impossible!”
38. Then Mary said, “You must understand that I can't even begin to comprehend or process all this with my mind, but in my spirit I say ‘Here I am, may it be to me, not according to logic or reason, but according to your word! I submit myself to the eternal, now Word of God that makes all things possible!' And when Mary said that, the angel left her.
Luke 1:26-38
59 comments:
Come they told me
Pa rum pum pum pum
A new born King to see,
Pa rum pum pum pum
Our finest gifts we bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
To lay before the King
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
So to honor Him
Pa rum pum pum pum,
When we come.
Little Baby
Pa rum pum pum pum
I am a poor boy too,
Pa rum pum pum pum
I have no gift to bring
Pa rum pum pum pum
That's fit to give our King
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Shall I play for you!
Pa rum pum pum
On my drum.
Mary nodded
Pa rum pum pum pum
The ox and lamb kept time
Pa rum pum pum pum
I played my drum for Him
Pa rum pum pum
I played my best for Him
Pa rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Rum pum pum pum
Then He smiled at me
Pa rum pum pum pum
Me and my drum.
Luke 1:33/....His kingdom will never end…it will exist in the eternal now.”
Right Now..this very moment is my favorite verse!!
LQQKing 4ward 2 Christmas Eve service.
~Peace & Love~
Happy Hanukkah! To our Jewish brothers and sisters in the Universe.
Shalom
I have always loved this verse, so full of wonderment and acceptance but what always struck me was Mary's quiet acceptance of what was suddenly going to happen to her. She didn't say NO, not me I'm not worthy, and she really didn't even have time to mull it over, the angel came, said what was going to happen and the next thing she knew, she was pregnant, talk about a SUDDENLY...
Bish, I have thought alot about last Sunday's message where you said that Jesus had alot of his mother in him. That statement is so profound. And, your right, no one is the result of one parent, they are a mix of both. WOW, what a concept.
Merry Christmas
Linda
Hi Bishop! Nice Ta See Ya! I Wanted To Tell You That I WILL Come To Church On Christmas Eve! So God Bless You!
Love,
Zachary
Luke In The Now"
Pic 1 - "Gabriel" - curious! I wonder what you see. This a prophetic painting?
Why are the two outside of the house? Mary, in front of a door and Gabriel beside a darkened window. Why is the adolescent as tall as God's messenger?
Love how her feet are positioned on a straw WELCOME mat.
Was she in Orpah's Book Club? What was she reading? A love story? A mystery? Chemistry? Physics? Alchemy? The occult? Humanities? Civics? Botany? Agriculture? Fiberoptics? Genealogy? Foreign languages? Weaving? An issue from Pottery Barn? Hannah Bethlehema?
Gabriel had been sent before to convey understanding. Wonder what direction the angel materialized. Look how the folds of his robe and Mary's dress are windswept.
Since Gabriel stands in the presence of GodLight, what happens when rhema converges with earth's atmosphere? I like how Gabriel's appearance is mottled like his surroundings. The potted lilies cast a shadow but Mary and Gabriel do not.
Peace rests in the neighborhood; see the dove on the roof?
Bishop,
When I got home from the service Zachary had drawn out a story of about 10 or so pages with Santa choosing a CAT with a red nose to drive his sleigh...
because one of the reindeer had gotten sick.
I'm thinking maybe the Holy Spirit was at work here because it does not seem like a coincidence. He heard me telling Natasha what the last part of the sermon was about and I might remind him again today.
Bishop,
I love the pictures today...
My favorite from Luke in the Now....
But the angel answered, “You are about to have an unprecedented encounter with the Holy Spirit that is going to affect your natural body and, when that happens, the power of the Most High will literally overshadow you and permeate your entire being. This encounter will cause you to conceive, so that the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God! WOW
IN HIM WE LIVE AND MOVE AND HAVE OUR BEING!!!
Overshadow us Holy Spirit!
Think I like the 2nd pic best. Mary actually does look startled, and the halo around her suggests her favor. Although, somewhere in my mind, I'm thinking #3 is more likely how it went down.
Awesome service yesterday, I could totally relate to “everything” you said Bishop.
I am amazed by how our lives growing up and on into adulthood synchronize harmonize with the exact same events, emotions, results, and object lessons, though in different families and locations. Although, and I hope you don’t begrudge me for this; but I have to admit I did have a creepy crawler set and I loved it! I can even still remember how they smelled when they were taken out of the mold, amazing!
We are truly one family under God, and all brothers and sisters in the spirit.
Rudolph, yes, I think when I was growing up, next to Charlie Brown, I could identify with Rudolph the most. And I will still be glad when someone recognizes this nose for what it really is. One thing in this song that I had never seen that you brought out yesterday was “and THEN how the reindeer loved him” you said “oh yeah now they love him” and that is absolutely right about human nature. I just always thought that it was great that he finally “got in”.
SOZ, thank you for your kind words about my latest video. It made me feel good to hear that the point I meant to say came through. You “got it” in other words. That is a much misunderstood passage and I wanted to cover all the bases for anyone who would question my interpretation.
I love this story in Luke. When my children were small I used to take this passage from Luke and the ones in the other Gospels about the birth of Jesus and put them together chronologically and read it to them on Christmas Eve.
Love the explanatory LITN language. It makes it very interesting and enjoyable to read.
Peace on Earth, Good will toward mankind,
Dennis
Bish,
With what you've done with the books of John, Matthew and this glimpse of Luke, the term "be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" is becoming fresher and more accomplished, day by day. Write on!
The artist in pic#1 was bringing the story into the now but it was a couple of decades ago now. It looks familiar to me in a way similar to my memory of pictures shown to me by a distant relative who was a Jehova's witness. The book was filled with pictures like this. I was about twelve at the time and kids in my neighborhood wore saddle oxfords and lived in houses with little gable fronts like the one in the background.
I really like the artists use of flowers in three of them especially number four. That one is the most appealing to me in my present place in this journey.
I agree with Elle that number three is the most realistic from the view of imagining what that time period may have looked like.
Izumi's got a good point about what the little girl was reading in number one and if it was today the book might have been Hannah Bethlehema.
Bishop, your words yesterday were as electrifying as ever. The drummer boy analogy brought tears to many eyes including my own and I don't think that I have ever heard a better Rudolph story in my life. Yes we do make a difference and at various times our unique lives are utilized by Christ to promote the truth in very effective ways.
Your rendering of the annunciation here is once again bringing improved understanding to all who read it. I especially recieved encouragement from the thought of not trying to understand by reason when interacting with the Holy Ghost. Just trust what is being said and done. One can not apply the reasoning of all the great thinkers in the world and grasp what occurred through the miracle of the Word entering our dimension. Theses types of miracles are as far outside our ability to rationalize as God is great beyond our ability to describe.
It is for me a high form of worship to use what reasoning I have to see how we are being brought into conformity with God through the renewing of our minds in Christ. I also love the challenge of using the power of my spoken word to add synergy to the accomplishment of peace and good will.
I agree with and repeat that with God all things are possible.
JB
"These types of miracles are as far outside our ability to rationalize as God is great beyond our ability to describe."
Priceless, JB...
Okay, I've gotta stop popping in here. I really need to get things done today!
BTW, where the heck is Iris, lately? Have you gone anon on us? And I don't think I've seen Crown Jewel in awhile either...
new pic
Just Passing Thru...
new pic passed thru and is gone...
maybe to another dimemsion...
Anon, the new pic was an attempt at advertising the Walk By Faith on Jan 3...
remember the just passin' thru posters of the 70's. speaking of memories.
...and "Keep on Truckin'"
KEWL!!
Awesome stuff Bishop!
The low tonight in Atlanta will be 25. It will be a great night to sit in an outdoor hot tube, get your body temp good and warm and then take a jump in the pool.
Up north, they sit in a sauna, get good and sweaty, then jump into a hole cut in the ice of a lake, or pool.
If you've never spoken Scandinavian, when you come up for air in the pool, you will!
Have fun!
What's a hot tube?
Hi Bishop,
My husband and I began attending CITN about 4 months ago and we are loving it. We both were so moved by Sunday's message.You know you are anointed when you can break Rudolph down like that. Thank you! You are one of the first pastors we have heard minister in such a relevant way. We so relate to your mininstry style. God bless you and Pastor Deb!
hot tub - sorry - my bad
Hello all you happy bloggers,
Since I'm new to this blog I'm going to be talking about sevices
from a while back to get caught up.
First I would like to talk about a particular Wednesday night service
that took place on September 24, 2006. I think it was titled "Finding all the Possibilities Within Yourself",
or something like that. There are a couple of things that I would like to talk about message. First of all when Bishop talked about what the T and the second I in his acronym of the word WITHINU stands for, which are Talent and Imagination, which for me go hand in hand. The reason I say hand in hand is because my Talent is the use of my Imagination to come up with and create ideas, mainly
my idea for a tv show which defies
a genre description, which I consider my pride and joy for my
Talent and Imagination. Oh, and while I'm the subject of my TV
show idea, I would also like to thank you Bishop for what you've said in a couple of the last services about holding on to
what you conceive in your spirit, which really helped reinvigorate my passion for my show idea which
I consider to be my baby. Second of all I would like to talk about
what the U in bishop's acronym stands for, which stands for Uniqueness. On that subject I would just like to quote one of
my favorite rappers, Tech N9ne,
"I am my own kind." Finally I would just say to Bishop, the sermons since June of this year
have been the best things I've
ever heard. And I would just like to say if I don't blog for the next couple days, have a Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Thanks, JR...if you haven't checked out my other blog yet, go to the top of the BLOGINTHENOW page and click on the address (A Word for Winners)...from your comment, I think you would like that site a lot, especially today's post...Merry Christmas to all of you there in Iowa...
And thank you, Anon@5:44...your comment is greatly appreciated...
Verse 30 makes me wonder what Mary thought about Gabriel's declaration.
Did she think, "Why me?" And, what would have happened if she said, "Lemme pray about this." Or, "I have to ask my mom & dad, first."
31. “You are going to conceive today." Just like that! No slumber parties, no toe-nail painting, no hanging out on Friday nights at the kibbutz with her girlfriends. No pomegranate smoothies; no falafel and pita chips.
God had Mary on His speed dial! Wow!
What if she backed away and said, "Uh uh. I'm not s'posed to talk to strangers, let alone shiny, flying ones!"
What made Mary different from every girl child on the planet?
Pic 2 looks almost clinical to me.
It has a surreal quality about it, though. Maybe Mary's shoulder is intentionally obscured. Being overshadowed, she's partially out of this world & enveloped by another.
Look how Gabriel's robe hem is aglow in gold flames. I like wondering if he's explaining to Mary about how Joseph was a descendant of King David. Solomon, his son, furnished God's house with vessels and flowers. Was that a foreshadow of The Anunciation?
Remember the Jacob teaching, earlier this year? (rods set before the flocks so they'd conceive)? Fascinating, how it appears that Gabriel's presenting lilies.
Like, Elle & JB, I'm also drawn to pic 3. It reminds me of Jesus' resurrection before His conception. I like the artist's attention to detail. The rug buckles towards Mary, like it's being pushed back by the Light's advancing rays.
I like the contrast in textures, too. The rug could be camel, goat or sheep hair, atop a cold, stone floor. Light bathes everything in warmth.
* JB - Mary in pic 1 might be reading The Jonas Brothers, Chronicles of Ninevah.
Also, the first painting is entitled "The Annunciation" by John Collier, and his intention was that Mary, who encounters Gabriel in the setting of suburbia, is reading from Isaiah about the Virgin who conceives and bears a son...but art is subjective and open to interpretation, so she could be reading whatever was discussed here earlier...
Izumi, I hadn't read your last comment when I posted that...again, art is subjective...but the Jonas Brothers? OK, whatever...
I guess if I'm going to post a pic of the Mother of Jesus in saddle oxfords, I have to accept whatever interpretations may come...
Dear Bishop Grinch,
I haven't eaten, since 10:30 this morning. I've fought the good Christmas crowd fight (and prevailed!) to drag home & peek what everybody else scribbled on today's Etch-A-Sketch under the tree.
Suburbia, saddle shoes, c'mon - I worked realllly hard (googling) something timely like the Jonas brothers. (sniffle)
It's all good...your comments are approved...go eat something...
MISSED yall bunches & bunches!!! ...been takin continuing ed courses for the insurance and real estate and it is a MIRACLE truly but I completed it all today! Whew....such a relief!
I love it all but especially...with God, nothing in any realm is or ever will be impossible!”!!!!!! ...it is amazing but this is the same verses that my pastor taught from this past Sunday! I am just seeing them in a whole new light! AMAZING!
GLORY to God in the Highest and GREAT Joy to all!
...love the Christmas pic Bishop, of you, P. Debye & Sofia!
Merriest Christmas my blog fam & lotsa, lotsa love!
Sanctuary much! Grilled cheese and tomato soup - yum!
Gotta pull into the Eternal Flow to see the end from the beginning...ahhhh!...that's better!
God, give me sight!
...still, my soul doth magnify the Lord...
word ver: OBIRI- "OBIRI Wan Kanobiri"
...my bad...
Bro Lar
its been a busy day for me but I had to write to say Bishop you will never know the impact your message has had on our family. We talked about it so much at our family christmas dinner that my oldest daughter who goes to a " Church of Christ" church has agreed to come to church with me on Wed. I can't believe it since they can't come to churches outside their little belief system but I think the rudolph story must have gotten her thinking. You never know who will be impacted by your words once we run and tell what we have heard to others.
What a fine day it's been so far.
I've been Christmas shopping, now I've got a nice fire going in the fireplace and I'm about to turn on the jazz music from the other blog and turn all the lights out except for the Christmas tree and enjoy being here by myself.
hey, while looking through piles of stuff on my desk, I found something that will drive you nuts if the crowds in at walmart haven't already. I like to carry small index cards in my pocket to take notes on through the day. you never know what will come to you as you look for God in all things. anyway, I found this card, I don't know if I came up with this or if I read it or heard it and wrote it down.
here goes, take an index card and write on one side of it .
"the inscription on the other side is not true"
turn it over and write.
"the inscription on the other side is true"
that's all it said.
which one is true or right?
maybe this is an example of how something can be right and wrong at the same time???
I don't know, it is driving me nuts.
Peace,
Dennis
Hello beautifuls of all beautifuls, especially our host Bishop, and Our Host, The Creator of all Beauty.
Thank you Bishop, Karl, SOZ, Donald, Avatar, and everyone else for the birthday wishes.
I have been travelling since Thanksgiving and also ‘travelling’ , sometimes when that happens, time changes, but the dreams are really fun.
The postings, especially the MITN have had such depth and dimension it is more fun to swim in it than write, all of them, --- recently the MITN XI, I had to break the swim a little on that one, and write, couldn’t keep swimming without saying. JITN 1:14 always fabulous.
The selection of the pics today touching across lines, the suburban Mary with Gabriel, the modern version of the classic Byzantine (pic2_), the detail and realism in pic 3, and the Eastern Dali Mary of pic 4. Excellent.
We are all highly favored by God to share in This.
Bishop, Sunday’s message – borderless and beautiful weave-- Connection between Merry Men, Joy, Drumming our gift, and wrapping it with Rudolph – God is in all song. We are always in God’s court, in God’s House – nothing else exists.
This is the church with the most gracefully clear depth ever.
Dennis,
That all depends on if you're a relativist, a subjectivist, or a realist...where do you want to begin? Of course, MLBZ can also help you with that...I'm sure he's drafting a retort in his mind now...go with the flow!
Loved the service!
Loved the service!
Loved the service!
It was one of those...OMG! Moments for me...I so got it that it nearly had me.
Hey to all SOZ...thanks for the words to one of my fave Christmas carols (Bishop mentioned nearly all of them in service--my all time faves are Do You Hear What I Hear, What Child Is This, and the one I heard Bishop practicing...but I won't let that one out yet.
2008 been a WONDERFUL YEAR but 2009 is gonna leave it behind! Let today be today until it is tomorrow...then enjoy tomorrow as it is given to us.
Have a great nite y'all and I hope to see you all Wednesday night!
Blessings Blog Fam!
Erik, How did I miss you? Trying to get through all the post at the end of the day I guess.
Happy belated birthday Eric.....
when you get my age you will want them to forget. Or at least let the birthday be late.
Peace,
Dennis
Ver word "theare" = I AM
Right and wrong at the same time……. Pastor Dennis that is a question I might know a teency bit about. Ultimately, everything is right the Alpha and Omega. However, in the manifestation process, right and wrong are palpable, even though that dissolves with the washing water.
The Good News is, that both sides are ‘right’ . Sometimes, like King David, we all have ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ in us and around us, and yet we have revelation, insight, and are people after God’s own heart – Go figure. But God knows what S/He is doing. That is where I find Peace, sometimes a Red Nose is wrong, and sometimes it is right, but it is the same nose.
I've stared and stared at these pictures throughout the day...I like them as a collection for many of the individual reasons that have been shared, that they each evoke a different emotion and "speak" from a different perspective...but it is the whole that is created that I've enjoyed the most.
Like putting together the comments of the blind men who describe the part of an elephant that they "see", the sense of the whole picture comes into view when you have them all...and the purity lillies [even though #3 doesn't have any] seem to tie them into a whole too.
#1 I first thought studying Hebrew, but Collier says reading Isaiah...even better!...he's really captured the look of serendipity [shout out to AW4W] that he intended. "I wasn't looking for this...but how interesting that I was just reading about the Virgin." He's captured a sense of the perfect timing and connections that many of us bloggers point out that God is still doing today.
#2 Gabriel says with the lillies "you are pure" and Mary's face says "but will Joseph believe that?"
#3 Gabriel has changed [in the progression from #2...] offering more light? and Mary's face says, "okay, I trust you".
#4 and finally, acceptance. "Be it done unto me."
That's all I can get out of my spirit for now...very cool collection, Bishop.
no possible way!...final word ver is "misal"
Thanks Pastor Dennis, I posted my 1156 PM before I refreshed and saw your 1147.
Actually, I am not that far behind you in years (50, right?) but, I try to suggest to people my birth'month', not just one day, -- we have not because we ask not. I figure, it can't hurt :)
Donald, that sounds like some really nice, smooth moments.
I remember as a teenager turning out all the lights in my room and just watching the glow of the lights on my stereo, while listening to Vangelis. Some music just seems to take you into the universe somewhere and calms you.
I'm pondering angelic visitation and thinking-since angels are spirits, I guess they can appear any size, like from children up to 14 feet or so. Weren't the representations on the mercy seat around 12 or 14 feet?-or on the temple curtains?
Something that large would probably frighten me at first, too, until they say "don't be afraid!"
Those dreams that we have when we "fly", you know the ones I'm talkin' about, maybe it's just because somehow we are meant to fly as part of our destiny, I don't know. I'm never afraid of heights in those dreams, I'm either hovering or flying like a rocket inbetween buildings and things. Love the velocity in those, they're really cool!
Who knows, maybe one day God will give us an option for wings if we want.
I found the following off of beliefnet;
What comes to mind when you think of an angel? A towering blond figure with wings and flowing robes protecting two children crossing a rickety bridge? A chubby Victorian cherub? Michael Landon in Highway to Heaven, or Clarence in the classic film It's a Wonderful Life? What do angels look like, according to those who have experienced them and the records in the Bible?
Usually angels are unseen. This is not surprising, because angels are spirit beings: minds without physical bodies. The Bible indicates that angels constantly carry out God's bidding in caring for people, yet most people are not aware of ever seeing an angel.
In Numbers 22 Baalam finds his donkey leaving the road. Baalam is puzzled until later, when he learns that the maneuvers of the donkey were owing to an angel that he did not see. Today most of us don't ride donkeys, but if you bring up the subject of angels and automobiles, many people will tell of what seemed to be a miraculous escape from an accident. Often no angel was seen, but they are convinced there is no other explanation for the events except that an angel was present and at work. Others have sensed an angelic presence without seeing a form. Many people, in looking back, become aware that what appeared to be coincidence at the time may have been the work of unseen angels.
When angels do appear, most often they take on familiar human form in order to do their work without frightening us. The Bible does not explain how spirit beings can assume bodies. It simply teaches that they do and that we do not recognize them as angels because they look like ordinary people. The angels who appeared to Abraham and Lot in the book of Genesis looked like and were dressed as ordinary people. How often do angels come in human form? Probably more often than we realize. "Do not forget to entertain strangers," Hebrews 13:2 admonishes us, "for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." The passage suggests that at any time it is possible that we may have encountered angels without our being conscious of their supernatural nature.
One reason for this phenomenon is that when angels do appear, most often they come in a human form most characteristic of those living in that area. Abraham's angels dressed and looked like people of his day. In the accounts included in A Rustle of Angels, a missionary to the Andes saw an angel that looked like a national from Ecuador; a Mexican family saw two angels who looked like Mexicans; in Haiti the angels were very black; white Americans saw angels who resembled their neigh¬bors; black persons saw black angels. This is to be expected. Being inconspicuous is often a part of the angel's ministry.
At times there are exceptions. The Good Samaritan-type angel sometimes appears as a person of another race or culture. God is good at breaking down walls of prejudice.
Some report seeing angels that are awesome. Many times God's hosts have appeared as warrior angels, tremendously tall and powerful. Others have seen angels as beautiful beings with wings. There may be times when a person's faith is bolstered if an angel appears in a more traditional form.
Others report the angelic presence as light. In Exodus 3:2 the angel of the Lord appears to Moses as flames in the burning bush. In Psalm 104:4 angels are a flaming fire. Many have told us that they have seen an angel appear as light. At times it begins as a faint glow that grows until the room is filled with brilliance. At other times it is as though there is a figure unseen, because it is bathed in light. Some are able to describe what the angel was wearing but could not see the features of his face because it was bathed in a bright light. Could this be where our idea of a halo originated? Many observers tell of a pure white light, brighter than any whiteness they have ever seen1 others describe different colors. For several it was pink; others found it to be iridescent like mother-of-pearl; two described it as cobalt blue, while many said it was indescribable, completely different from anything they had ever seen.
Sometimes the form is seen, but the facial features are hidden in a heavenly aura. A number of people describe a ball of light that sometimes passes right through the wall of a building.
Many who have been present at the death of a loved one tell of a light that entered the room in the final moments of life, then gently rose as though escorting the unseen spirit of the dying person into the presence of God.
Angel-visited people have described the eyes of these spirits more than any other feature. They were struck by the depth of love and compassion in the angels' eyes, which left them with a deep sense of peace.
What do angels look like? Angels are unseen spirits. If it is helpful as they do their ministry, they may take on a form that we humans see. This is only a temporary accommodation—not what angels really look like but only the form in which an angel has chosen to appear temporarily.
After death, when we are given a spiritual body, will we see angels as spirits? No doubt. What will they look like? Completely different from anything our physical eyes have seen. The hints that the Bible gives us indicate that angels are awesome, glorious, and beautiful beyond description.
Thank you to Clark Kent for the posting on angels.
In the travels of my journey there have been several encounters with spiritual beings that were either messengers or powers of intervention.
I learned early that we as humans have the authority to command angels. I have also learned by trial and error that commanding these powers is not incidental to my faith alone.
I bought a new bed for my wife several years ago, it was one that she had picked out and asked for. It is made of bronzed ironwork with castings of figurines atop various vertical risings and has castings of flowers atop eight posts. The Holy Spirit strongly impressed me to anoint the the flowers with oil and pray over the bed as I assymbled it. There was no hesitation in my obedience to do this and in the course of prayer, both in tongues and understanding, I commanded angels of protection to be connected with the bed.
A few years later my wife experienced sudden cardiac arrest in that bed around four am. I am a sound sleeper and had my good ear on the pillow but was awakened to respond to her distress. While performing CPR for the duration of time it took to get the interventions of the paramedics involved, I was reminded of the previous prayer and began to talk to her unconscious body evoking the name of Jesus on behalf of her return to wholeness. Long story short, she is a whole person today after that event and the following bleak prognosis of doctors, who continue to remark about her case being an enigma to this day.
There are also other commandings of angels that have been made for protection over people that are connected to me where I have been made aware of the work of those powers to both protect and involve me in the intervention process.
These commandings are usually connected with areas of my life and its journey according to skills and knowledge that I personally posses. It is as though I am a part of the completion process to the work of spiritual powers that respond to both God's Love and my own. It is Love that initiates the thought that I respond to that evokes the angelic powers that intervene and then involve me in the process of completing from the workings of both my faith and my hands. This has happened so many times in my life that it is a natural part of who I am.
I have now commanded angelic powers from my own paradigm and in agreement with those that are connected to me according to what I can see in their faith journey that is synergistic with the accomplishment of the good news of God's Love being made known to all humankind.
This is all a part of the divine direction that has joined me, and those in my family who have obeyed the call, to the ministry of Bishop Swilley and the other obedient ministers of CITN.
This has returned many good tidings of great joy to me.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good light.
JB
Great job, Erik. (Pastor D...he's a subjectivist--most of the time :)
Isn't it interesting that we were all typing at the same time? Another one of those things that make you go hmmm...isn't it great to be part of this BODY?! WooHoo! Another reason I LOVE this place and all of you!
JB...I just have to say...thank you for that and we pray it returns to you as well. Tell your beautiful wife I send her blessings.
Blessings Blog Fam!
Bish, I hope you leave this topic open just a little while longer. Still much to do, here.
(Stay right back!)
Great posts, everybody!
Hey Eric,
Good answer, I guess that makes it all good (right), don't it!
Yep, pretty close, I am 51 but I have a birthday coming in march.....
Thanks again for your insight for the card. Maybe I will sleep better tonight...
Peace,
Dennis
mystic, I dont even know what those words mean. they wont allow them to cross the state line into Arkansas.....
Ahhh... back again. Thanks for waiting.
Verse 38 - "I submit myself to the eternal, now Word of God that makes all things possible!"
There's so much to consider. In the previous verse, Gabriel informed Mary that her cousin was already pregnant. The story lacks so many details, it's amazing that Mary complied. But, even more astonishing is the line, "And when Mary said that, the angel left her."
While she was communicating with the angel, was the "overshadowing" taking place?
Pastor Dennis,
It's all good...I don't know either...I just repeat what Erik says in different words (I would try for Bishop, but that's setting my sights a little high right now...j/k Stremke...lol) and I find that it usually sounds pretty good that way! :P
(I forgot to tell ya Pastor Dennis...I used my top-secret sociologist to English dictionary to write that...I'll have to send you the decoder ring...hehehe :D )
Blessings Blog Fam!
I loved this, Donald..."I've got a nice fire going in the fireplace and I'm about to turn on the jazz music from the other blog and turn all the lights out except for the Christmas tree and enjoy being here by myself.
It made me happy to know that you were enjoying the playlist...
Izumi, I kept it open a while longer, but I'm closing up shop now. Break it up, people...you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here...
Oh, and I liked your art retrospective, Avatar...
Great stuff, everyone.
Oh, and thanks, Zachary...I think you're our youngest blogger...
Thanks again, bloggers...
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