Quote from Eagle Vision Ministries

WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES OF HEART MATURITY?

Maturity is when you stop trying to change others, instead changing yourself.

Maturity is when you accept and enjoy other people as they are, at their level of understanding.

Maturity is when you understand that your ideas  are not always the best.

Maturity is when you learn to forgive , forget and "let go".

Maturity is when you understand whatever you do, you do them for unity and for peace.

Maturity is when you stop proving to the world, how intelligent you are.

Maturity is appropriating others opinions.

Maturity is when you seek approval from God.

Maturity is when you stop comparing with others.

Maturity is when you are at peace with yourself AND friends.

Maturity is when you understand that you cannot and shouldn't always do/get what you want.

You gain Maturity when you stop attaching "happiness" to material things.

Maturity is when you are content and satisfied with your life.

Message from Eagle Visions Ministries-0246262131

Loyalty to Time, Place and Subject in Bible-Prophecy

It's important not to overlook the geophysical, ethnic and chronological components in Bible-Prophecies and their fulfilment.

Certainly, history can be taken as type.

Certainly Israel's promised-blessing was experienced only by believing-Israelites.

Certainly Israel's blessing was then extended to include believing-Gentiles, as prophesied.

Certainly the remainder of Israelites were never barred from any more opportunity to repent and believe.

Certainly all believers then comprised a new identity together, called the Church, which is Christ's Body.

Certainly there were ongoing provisions, ramifications and fruition from all that.

Certainly there is a consummation-phase still to come, at Christ's Second Coming.

And certainly there are daily, personal applications that can be made from fulfilled-prophecies.

But none of that could be true, without there having first been the fulfilment of Israel's promises - on the ground in Israel, in history, on time, already, for/in/and through ethnic Israelites, all as prophesied.

Can you think of reasons why that's important?

Post by Claudia Rivera

If you could love the wrong one that much, just imagine how much more you could love the right one ~❤️~

Locating and Dating the Relevance of the Book of Revelation

A number of details in the Book of Revelation may date the relevance (of those part of the Revelation at least) to a time now already past.

For example:

1. The Roman currency Denarius is mentioned (in 6:6). As John Wesley said, that seems to date its relevance to a place and time when that currency was in use - that is, in the Roman Empire.

2. John was told that one of the horns, a king, "...now is..." That is, that he was a contemporary of John's, in the first century AD, perhaps.

3. The city of Jerusalem was identified, as a location for some of the predicted events, when it said, "...where also our Lord was crucified..." Jerusalem was destroyed around AD70, so does that mean the events had to have happened around then?

4. It also mentions 12,000 people from each tribe of Israel. Since Jewish genealogies proving a person's tribe were lost as a result of the destruction of the city and Temple around AD70, does that also date the fulfilment of that part of the Revelation to around that time?

It's also interesting that in Turkey, where John's letters were addressed to, a large network of underground cities exists, built by early Christians to survive waves of persecution, persecutions possibly beginning around the time of Nero, through Domitian, into subsequent centuries - and persecutions still hasn't stopped.

Maybe, just maybe. Just wondering.

Messiah

I had the privilege together with two Palestinian friends, of talking with a former captain of the Israeli military.

I jumped into the conversation while one of my acquaintances was already asking him whether he believes in the Messiah.

He answered that he finds it difficult to accept the Christian concept of the Messiah.

What part? my acquaintance asked.

The Trinity, he said.

So my acquaintance asked him what he thinks Messiah should look like.

First up, he must be a son of David, he said.

He also added that there's no mention of the Messiah in the Torah, only later in the Prophets; and said the detail - such as whether or not Messiah was to be divine - is unclear.

My acquaintance mentioned the verse in Genesis where Eve was told that her seed would crush the head of the serpent, and the serpent would bruise his heel - as an example of the Messiah being mentioned [early] in the Torah.

The Jewish former captain answered that he's familiar with the verse but the verse could be taken a number of ways.

On the Trinity, I mentioned the verse in the Psalms where David said:

"My lord said to my lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool".

We argued that it indicates plurality within the Godhead.

But he again answered that it can be taken a number of ways - and added that we may never know which way is right.

My friend mentioned the likelihood that plurality was also intended in Genesis, where God said:

"Let us make man in our image..."

But the former Captain answered that while it might be able to be taken as plural, it needn't necessarily be, he felt.

Whether or not the Name Elohim has inherent grammatical plurality, was also discussed.

I knew we wouldn't have much time with him, so I asked him whether logic alone can tell us which way is right.

He said, Probably not.

So we mentioned experiences. But he said an experience could have another explanation; and in any case, a person can't impose his experience onto someone else.

No, you've got to have your own experience, I said. We agreed.

And then something was said about our heart and sincerity being what is important no matter which way we take the Scriptures. And he said he thinks that's what God accepts.

But my friend mentioned that God promises [in the Jews' own Scriptures] to grant better clarity than that:

"...and you shall seek me, and you shall find me when you seek for me with all your heart".

I said that in the Law, God instilled the principle that without trusting in shed blood, there can be no forgiveness of sins. Would God all of a sudden just end that principle, for 2000 years, without any explanation? Or did He first provide a sacrifice which summed it all up.

That's a very good point, he said.

He wasn't given much more time with us. So I quickly suggested a way whereby we might be able to know what is truth. He listened:

Love, I said - whichever ideology or philosophy is most effective at producing love in a person - that might be a good litmus test for truth.

He nodded, thoughtfully.

It was a robust but friendly conversation.

We parted thanking him, with love in our hearts.

"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again" (II Cor.5:14,15).

ooo00O00ooo

Relevant thoughts:

Love

Among Christians the world over, all down through history, in every nation, there are so many testimonies of changed lives who suddenly became inspired to love. To love God, and love not only their friends, but also their enemies - from the heart.

Love comes from God, and someone who loves knows God, because God is love.

All the Law and Prophets hang on the twin commandments to love God and your neighbour. So someone who loves, fulfils the intent of the Law and Prophets.

Therefore love can be a good litmus test of truth.

And I think Christianity's effectiveness at achieving that has been without parallel in any other religion or philosophy.

Son of David

As for Messiah being the son of David. If someone in future claims to be Messiah, he won't be able to prove his descent from David in the same way someone could prove it up until the end of the second Temple period or soon afterwards when the genealogies were lost.

So the only way to be certain of Messiah's identity, with genealogical attestation as required in the Jewish Scriptures themselves, is if He came in the second Temple period while the genealogies still existed.

And it would also have to have been late in the second Temple period - because Daniel prophesied that Messiah would appear within 70 'sevens' (or 490 years) from the date when the building of that Temple would be decreed. That places us approximately in Jesus' generation, not in our future.

Messiah in the Torah

Also, for another reference to the Messiah in the Torah.

In Genesis Abraham was promised that in his seed - seed singular, not seed plural - all families of the earth would be blessed.

Someone in future can't claim to be the seed of Abraham as assuredly as someone could up until the end of the second Temple period, because of the loss of genealogies.

So in order to discern who is Messiah, we ought to be looking for someone who:

• appeared late in the second Temple period
• was a genealogically attested son of David and of Abraham
• someone in whom all nations of the earth have subsequently experienced blessing, justification, salvation

I think there's only one person of whom all that can ever possibly be said, along with other Messianic descriptions and requirements - and that's Jesus of Nazareth.

Law in the Bible

The word 'law' doesn't always refer to the same thing, in the Bible.

Sometimes it refers to the entire Old Testament canon.

Another time it refers to the first five books only.

Another time, to the complete system of Law which Moses gave to Israel - as a unit, the composite whole, the overall contract.

Another time, to the Ten Commandments only.

Other times, to an individual point of law in Moses' Law.

Still other times, to ethics which all human beings should instinctively know - distinct from Moses' system of Law, a 'law' which existed before and after it, regardless of whether or not they knew Moses' written Law.

Another time, it refers simply to a spiritual principle or dynamic.

Then again, it can refer to the godly ethics which we live as believers in Jesus even though we're not obligated to Moses' Law as the composite religious system that it was.

That's why it's correct to say both that we're not under the law, and that we're under the law to Christ - because it all depends on us understanding the sense in which the Bible meant it.

7 Reasons Ezekiel's Temple May Be Already Fulfilled

1. Because Ezekiel was told to write to the Jews during the captivity with instructions about the Temple so they could carry it out. How could they carry out the instructions regarding the Temple if the Temple is still for a future time?

2. Because the instructions included Levites offering sacrifices for sin. That's irrelevant this side of the cross; and impossible due to the loss of the Levitical genealogies after AD70

3. Because we know both from history and from the Bible that a Temple was rebuilt

4. Because if it wasn't about a Temple which the Jews of the captivity could have built at that time, that would leave big gaps in history unaccounted for in the Bible; it would have left the Jews of the captivity without a word, and yet having them think they had a word

5. Because if it's still future, then Jesus was too early to be Messiah - because Messianic prophecies depicted Messiah coming to the Temple

6. Because not everything Ezekiel wrote about the Temple was literally instructive: much of it was him describing a vision, writing in the apocalyptic genre not in literal prose.

7. Because the shadow came before the substance. Although the true temple is spiritual, heavenly and connected directly with Christ and the Church, the shadow came first - that means a physical, earthly temple had to be built in history first - then came the true, the spiritual. 

Ezekiel's Temple is Past

Ezekiel 43 says the instructions about the Temple, which Ezekiel was to write for Israel, were for Israel to carry out.

How could they carry it out if it's still to come in our future?

Therefore his vision of the Temple was not about some still-future Temple, but was about that Temple with which the Jews were concerned during that time of captivity. 

Admittedly some descriptions of the Temple were too grandiose to have been carried out literally at that time - but that's explainable by the fact that not all Ezekiel's writings about the Temple were intended as literally instructive - some were simply descriptions of visions, and were written not in prose but in the apocalyptic genre.

Gold Dust

Anyone know someone who saw gold dust, gemstones, feathers, oil or gold fillings occur supernaturally during a revival-type meeting, who might be willing to answer some questions about what they saw?

Creation

Substance didn't become the idea - the idea became substance.

By Us In Him

We're not trying to be like the Law - the Law was 'trying' to be like us.

How to Pray About Finances

One day I heard a preacher talk about how God taught him about finances. He said instead of begging God for money, we should instead claim the amount we need, command the devil to take his hands off our money, and by faith see the angel of the Lord going out and causing the money to come in.

I decided to try it. I figured that the amount I needed was more than $100 but not more than 110. So I said:

"Father, in Jesus' Name, I claim an amount more than $100 but not more than 110. I command the devil to take his hand off my finances." By faith I imagined the angel of the Lord going out and causing the money to come in. And I told no-one.

That night I went out to a meeting. When I arrived, someone told me that our usual meeting-leader was away, and asked if I would lead the meeting. During the meeting an offering was collected as usual. It was placed in an envelope and the amount was written on the envelope. $107. I wondered whether it might be given to me as an honorarium for having led the meeting, but it wasn't.

Afterwards a few of us went out to a cafe. And then after that, we were standing in a carpark saying goodbye, when one of my friends said to me:

"I think I feel led to give you a certain amount of money, but I'm not sure whether I have that much in my wallet - let me see".

He pulled out his wallet, then handed me $100.

Straightaway another friend said, "I'm going to add $10 on top of that!" and placed a ten-dollar note in my hand on top of the $100.

So, if you claim an amount between 100 and $110, $107 won't cut it - God will give you 110! because that's the kind of Father we have.

1. So, claim the amount you need

2. Command the devil to take his hands off your finances

3. Then by faith see the angel of the Lord go out and cause the money to come in

And you shall have it!

MARK 11:22-24

"And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.

For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them".

Ezekiel's Vision

I think much if not all of it may have happened already. And the Bible records the history. In Ezra. Nehemiah. Esther. It was phenomenal!

Remember Ezekiel was describing a vision, which included symbols, and he was writing in the apocalyptic genre - unlike Moses who wrote in prose and whose instructions for the construction of the tabernacle were therefore taken literally by the builders. But Ezekiel's description of his vision was never understood as instruction for builders to take literally. Not then. Not now.

Moses gave plain instruction. Ezekiel described a vision. Ezekiel's purpose was to lift the courage of Jews in captivity. To strengthen their hands. The superlative imagery was to cause their spirits to soar against the winds of adversity from Israel's enemies. And it worked! I think we really underestimate the magnitude of what was achieved by Israel's resettlement and rebuilding of their land, city and temple. We also tend to overlook what God also did among the nations and among the Jews' enemies at that time. It was second only to the Exodus in magnitude!

If Ezekiel's vision was instead about our future, then the Jews of his time were mistaken in thinking it was meant to encourage their repatriation to their land, mistaken in thinking his prophecy authorised the rebuilding of their Temple.

It would mean God had nothing much at all to say to them, at that crucial phase in their nation's history when they most needed a word from God.

In fact, it would have been misleading. For Ezekiel to prophesy things which sounded like what they most needed to hear, when they most needed to hear it, and yet it had nothing at all to do with them there then.

And most importantly, if it's still future, then Jesus was too early in history to be Messiah (because Messianic prophecies described Messiah coming to Israel in circumstances where the temple had to be already in existence and the Levitical system already functioning again). Our faith would be in vain.

It would imply the necessity of a return to Judaism in future - and yet the rug has been pulled on the possibility of that happening legitimately. So if it's future, even Orthodox Judaism is a vain hope.

It would make the word of God a failure. And that would mean both Christianity and Judaism are just air-castles with no undeniable foundation in Scripture or history.

I'm sure there's still more to Ezekiel's prophecy than we've discussed so far. Some future, spiritual and eternal implications, perhaps. But I do think it's most likely that most of his physical, Levitical, geographical predictions  have seen their fulfilment already. And that historical fact forms a foundation for our faith and for anything else God has planned for the future.

That's the Apostles' doctrine, I think.

Today

The seasonal feasts were appointed for Jews while the Old Covenant still stood. But once the New Covenant came,  everyday is simply Today. You don't have to observe the ancient Jewish religious calendar. It doesn't matter when you hold your youth camp or church conference - any time of the year - God will be present and the Holy Spirit will manifest. Only believe!