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Drawing near to God.

M

MatthewG

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Drawing near to God.

As a person who is a Christian one should know that because of everything the Lord Yeshua Christ had done on behalf of the world. With faith and belief on the Lord, he becomes the mediator between yourself, and Yahweh. Yeshua, was the messiah who was sent to reconcile the world to be able to have access to the Good News, which is now available for the most part to all people in which is called the Apostolic Record (New Testament).

In reading the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John there are many things you will learn in which can be seen as principles that one can learn from the Lord Yeshua and also the stories from the lives of those who spent time, even had seen and witnessed speaking to him, and living amongst him. Not only do we have these accounts to look at, there is also the Old Testament accounts to look at.

1 Samuel 14: Is a place in where one can see a scripture verse 36; which talks about drawing near to God, it is good to read the whole chapter. There is alot to say about it.

The Israelites had struck down the Philistines, from Mikmash to Aijalon, they were exhausted, and Saul had told the Israelites to not eat that day, and Jonathan the son of Saul. Jonathan beforehand had ate some honey by the use of his staff, after his father had told the army that was with him to not eat, and anyone who does would be cursed. After the Israelites that same day had struck down the Israelites, they took on the plunder, and taking sheep, cattle, and calves, they butchered them on the ground and ate them, together with blood.

Someone said to Saul look, the men are sinning against the Lord, by eating meat that has blood in it. In which lead to Saul inquiring an stone to be moved to his location, and saying that the people have broken the faith. He told them as it was inquired in the law to bring forth cattle, and sheep and to slaughter them there, which would be cooked without blood in it, and also would be a sacrifice for sins ( I think ). It was the first time Saul had built an alter, having become the king of Israel for the moment in time before his rejection.

After everyone had ate, Saul persisted to Go on to purse the philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive, and they all replied whatever is best for you, do.

But priest there among them said "Let us draw near hither unto God"

Which promoted Saul to ask God "Shall I go down and pursue the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel hand? But God did not answer him that day. Then Saul gathers every one, who are leaders of the army, and let us find out what sin has been committed today. As surely as the LORD who rescues Israel, even if the guilt lies with my son Jonathan, he must die."

But not one of them said a word. This is interesting because earlier they seen Jonathan eat some of the honey by the end of his staff. Therefore no one telling on him for doing so thus far. So upon further asking of God, Saul decides to just cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonthan and Johnathan was taken. And Jonathan had confessed what he had done (which he never heard the oath admittedly given to the army with Saul). "I tasted a little honey with the end of my staff, and now I must die!

Saul said May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Johnathan. The people gathered around stood up for Jonathan, and he was not put to death. Saul went back to his own land and stopped chasing the philistines, and continued to fight their enemies on every side. In all the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service.

Now, to you, you may differ but Saul was fixing to be rejected by the LORD as King after this chapter.

It seems to me that the flesh can be very strong and resilient even against things of God, and perhaps this is why God did not answer Saul when he asked, and Saul decided to do a material determination with the casting of lots.

With all this what does this mean for us today?

When you are living your life, in whatever way are doing it, also remember that it is important to draw near to Yahweh, first, rather than what our flesh may tell you to do. To learn from Yahweh, and seek out Him in Faith. For He will lead down the right path way, in which our flesh can lead us down a path of destruction full of pride, and arrogance, Saul would have killed his own son if it was not for the men of the army stepping in to save Jonathan. Is that not interesting, to learn from this story and how the fleshly response is. The priest was the only one who said anything about going to God first, before anything else should be done.

So remember in your life, that because of Yeshua Christ you have the ability to freely go to Yahweh in prayer, to pray for your friends, and families, enemies, ask God to help you by the spirit, to help you be patient, long-suffering, and all the things of the spirit (Galatians 5), in turn your flesh will become less aggressive to the plights of the world and all it gives (1 John).

God bless you and thank you for reading.
 
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God loves honesty, - be honest with everything going on in your heart and mind, and give everything to him, in and through Christ Jesus who forgives us of sins, and when we fall short. God does care about you in your struggles and frustrating situations, and he will hear your prayers, and you will find relief maybe not materially, but you will spiritually even in the roughest and darkest parts of your lives. Remember the light of Yeshua Christ, in which God had sent into the world for all of us, and he paid for our sins we have committed.

Because of Yeshua, we have access to God because of his righteousness.

God bless all of you and families.
 
Drawing near to God.
Good topic.
How do we draw near to God?
We do that by getting His teachings and doing what He says to do.
As a person who is a Christian one should know that because of everything the Lord Yeshua Christ had done on behalf of the world. With faith and belief on the Lord,
...and OBEDIENCE...
With all this what does this mean for us today?
The message is the same in the old and the new testament, obey God.
 
hupakoé: obedience
Original Word: ὑπακοή, ῆς, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: hupakoé
Phonetic Spelling: (hoop-ak-o-ay')
Definition: obedience
Usage: obedience, submissiveness, compliance.
HELPS Word-studies
5218 hypakoḗ (from191 /akoúō, "to hear" and 5259 /hypó, "beneath") – i.e. obedience – literally, "submission to what is heard" (WS, 695), i.e. obedience as the response to someone speaking. This refers both to an earthly voice and the Lord's voice (see 2 Cor 10:5; 1 Pet 1:2).
 
hupakoé: obedience
Original Word: ὑπακοή, ῆς, ἡ
Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine
Transliteration: hupakoé
Phonetic Spelling: (hoop-ak-o-ay')
Definition: obedience
Usage: obedience, submissiveness, compliance.
HELPS Word-studies
5218 hypakoḗ (from191 /akoúō, "to hear" and 5259 /hypó, "beneath") – i.e. obedience – literally, "submission to what is heard" (WS, 695), i.e. obedience as the response to someone speaking. This refers both to an earthly voice and the Lord's voice (see 2 Cor 10:5; 1 Pet 1:2).
What is that supposed to be?
Speak and write in English.
It is not impressive to speak in another language.
God brings His Truth to us in our languages.
 
Greek, how the english bible came into existence was from Greek/Hebrew texts from older forms of the bible, via founded scrolls and what not.
 
Greek, how the english bible came into existence was from Greek/Hebrew texts from older forms of the bible, via founded scrolls and what not.
We have Bibles translated into our language. Nowhere anywhere does God say we have to learn another language to know His Truth.
The Bible has already been translated.
No one needs to look up the English words in their Bible and then look up the Greek word for it.
 
We have Bibles translated into our language. Nowhere anywhere does God say we have to learn another language to know His Truth.
The Bible has already been translated.
No one needs to look up the English words in their Bible and then look up the Greek word for it.
You don't need to, but thank God for people who do it for you.
 
What is that supposed to be?
Speak and write in English.
It is not impressive to speak in another language.
God brings His Truth to us in our languages.

When I was working in Africa I very often had to rely on a translator. One day I was giving a lecture in Kenya to an audience which spoke Swahili. I don’t speak that language so a native Kenyan who does was assigned to translate my lecture to the audience. I was introduced to the man moments before the lecture began.

As I spoke, I noticed that the translator was struggling at times to convey what I was saying to the audience. I slowed down my delivery to give him more time. From time to time he would turn to me and ask for clarification on something I had said. All in all, I thought it went pretty well.

I was speaking with the translator after the lecture concluded. He spoke English with a distinct British accent. He told me that his native language was Swahili and that he had learned English in school. He went on to say, “I’ve translated for many English speakers…” then he paused briefly and, with a delightful smile on his face continued, “… what the bloody hell do you call the language that you speak?”

We both spoke English. Our accents were different, and that was the primary cause for his struggle in translating what I was saying. But it wasn’t the only cause of the difficulty. I was using words and phrases in my delivery which are easily understood in my culture but foreign to British and Kenyan culture. Something of what I said was lost in translation.

Shortly after returning to Atlanta, I attended a lecture that was given by a professor who was born and raised in England. He was addressing a Korean audience and using a Korean translator. The two men were co-workers and friends. They knew each other very well.

At one point in the lecture, the professor said something which took him only a couple of seconds to speak. The translator relayed the message to the audience - but it took him several minutes. The lecturer laughed and asked the translator why it took him several minutes to say what it had taken him only seconds to speak. The translator replied that what the professor had said contained a concept that was foreign to Koreans. The translator had to explain the concept to the audience or what the professor said would have been completely meaningless to the audience.

The same is true with writing. Accent isn’t an issue but concepts and meanings are.

Lost in translation. It’s a real thing.

***

“I’m mad about my flat,” the exasperated man said.

“What’s wrong with your apartment?” a concerned woman asked.

“What? Nothing is wrong with my apartment. The air has gone out of one of my tires.”

***

Lost in translation. Something to be mindful of when translating from one language and culture to another.

Throw into the mix translator bias, which is also a real thing.
 
“Drawing near to God.”

Sounds good to me. Probably sounds good to the reader.

Which “God” exactly would that be?

Experience has taught me that we may or may not be thinking of the same “God”.
 
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