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Where Should We Turn For Answers?
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"The disciples said to Jesus, "We know
you will go away from us. Who will be our leader?" Jesus said, "Wherever you are
(whatever situation you find yourself in) go to
James the Just (blameless); heaven and earth came into being for him."
-Jesus, The Gospel of Thomas |
James says,
Chapter 1
"James, a slave of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the
twelve tribes...
(Humanity is the twelve
tribes. The twelve tribes are symbolized in astrology as the
twelve signs, and also as the twelve disciples who each had
the distinct characteristic of one of the twelve signs. He is
speaking to us all)
...in the Dispersion
(destruction, devastation), greetings:"
(We are all walking
towards our destruction from the moment we are born, unless we
develop a personal relationship with God,
and like Jesus, manage to keep our soul, spirit and body in
tact.
"May the God of peace
himself sanctify you absolutely whole, and may your spirit and
soul and body be kept sound..." - I Thessalonians 5:23)
"My brothers, count
(consider) it all joy when
you fall into various
temptations
(enticements/invitations/traps), knowing that the
proving (testing) of your
faith works patience. But let
patience (endurance/constancy) have it's perfect work, that you may be perfect and
complete, lacking nothing."
"But if any of you lacks
wisdom, let him ask from God (for wisdom, not from men), who (God) gives to all
freely
(unrestricted), and
with no reproach (criticism/blame),
and it (wisdom) will be given to
him. But let him ask in faith (undoubted
belief) doubting nothing (that he
hears as an answer from God). For the one who
doubts (rejects what he hears) is like a wave of the sea,
being driven by wind and
being tossed; for do not let that man
(the one who asks)
suppose (assume/speculate)
that he will receive anything from the Lord - he is a double-souled man, not dependable in
all his ways." (James is saying
you must have undoubting faith that you will/and have received
the wisdom you asked for... and do not doubt what you hear
from God by asking men for confirmation of what you
hear with your heart... or you will be tossed about by many opinions, all
trying to direct you.)
"But let the
lowly (inferior) brother
rejoice in his (own) lifting up (from the wisdom he received from God);
and the rich one (affluent
self-important person) rejoice in his
(own)
humiliation (embarrassment),
because he (the rich person) will
pass away like the flower in the grass. For the sun rose with
the hot wind and dried up the grass, and its flower fell out,
and the beauty of its appearance perished - so also the rich
one will fade away in his ways." (Those
rich in education and the wisdom of men should rejoice when he
is humbled by the God given wisdom of a man who is inferior in
worldly education, so that he will not perish. For all things
given of men will die.)
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Jesus said, "The
person advanced in days will not hesitate to ask an infant of
seven
(7 in numerology is the number of meditation and stillness
where you communicate with God) days about the place of
life, and that person will live. For many who are first will
be last and they will become a single one."
-Jesus, The Gospel of Thomas |
"Blessed
is the man who
endures (experiences)
temptation (enticement),
because having been
approved (established) he
will receive the crown of life which the Lord promised to the
ones loving Him. (It is our
experiences with temptation that cause us pain, and eventually
get us to turn to God in hopes of stopping it... It makes us
question our existence and ask "why me", which is the beginning of
seeking God. It is this journey that establishes us.)
"Let no one being tempted say, I am tempted from God.
For God
is not tempted by evils, and He tempts no one. But each one is
tempted by his lusts, having been drawn out, and having been
seduced by them. Then being conceived, lust brings forth sin.
And sin being fully formed brings forth death. Do not go
astray, my beloved brothers. Every act of giving good and
every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father
of lights, with whom is no change or shadow of turning. Having
purposed, He brought us forth by the word of truth, for us to
be a certain firstfruit of His creatures." (not slaves/beasts of burden to the
systems of man - see
idolatry and
mark of
the beast.)
"So that my beloved brothers' let every man be swift to hear,
slow to speak, slow to wrath.
For the wrath of man does not work out the righteousness of
God. On account of this, having put aside all filthiness
and overflowing of evil, in meekness receive the
implanted (deep rooted - built-in) word being able to save your souls."
"But become doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving
yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word, and
not a doer, this one is like a man studying his natural face
in a mirror, (his own history) for he studied himself, and has gone away, and immediately he
forgot of what kind he was (That he was
of God and not man). But the one looking into the
perfect law of liberty, and continuing in it, this one not
having become a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this
one will be blessed in his doing.
If anyone thinks to be religious among you, yet not bridling
his tongue, but deceiving his heart, this one's religion is in
vain."
"Pure and undefiled religion before God is this: to visit
orphans and widows in their afflictions, and to keep oneself
unspotted from the world."
Chapter 2
"My brothers, do not with partiality to persons have the faith
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a
gold-fingered man in splendid clothing comes into
your synagogue, and a poor one in shabby clothing also comes
in; and you look on the one wearing the splendid clothing, and
say to him, You sit hear comfortable; and to the poor one you
say, You stand there, or, Sit here under my footstool; did you
not also make a difference among yourselves and became judges
with evil thoughts? Hear, my beloved brothers, did not God
choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith, and heirs
of the kingdom which He promised to the ones loving Him? But
you dishonored the poor one. Do not the rich ones oppress you,
and they drag you to judgment seats? Do they not blaspheme the
good Name called on you? If you truly fulfill the royal law
according to the Scripture,
"You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do
well. But if you have partiality to persons, you work sin,
having been found guilty as transgressors by the law.
For
whoever shall keep ALL THE LAW, BUT STUMBLES IN ONE, HE HAS
BECOME GUILTY OF ALL. For He who said, "You shall not commit
adultery," also said, "You shall not murder." But if you do
not commit adultery, but commit murder, you have become a
transgressor of the law.
So speak and so do as being about to
be judged by the LAW OF LIBERTY. For judgment will be without
mercy to the one not doing mercy. And mercy rejoices over
judgment."
"My brothers, what is the gain if anyone says he has faith,
but he does not have works? Is faith able to save him? But if
a brother or a sister is naked and may be lacking in daily
food, and any one of you say to them, Go in peace; be warmed
and filled - but does not give them the things the body needs
- what gain is it? So also faith, if it does not have works,
is dead by itself. But someone will say, You have faith and I
have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I
will show you my faith by from my works. You believe that God
is one. You do well; even the demons believe and shudder.
But are you willing to know O vain man, that faith apart from
works is dead? Was not our father Abraham justified by works,
offering up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith
worked with his works, and by the works the faith was made
complete. And the scripture was fulfilled, saying, "And
Abraham believed God, and it was counted for righteousness to
him;" and he was called, "Friend of God." You see, then, that
a man is justified by works, and not by faith only. But in the
same way Rahab the harlot was also justified by works, having
received the messengers, and sending them out by another way.
For as the body is dead apart from the spirit, so also faith
is dead apart from works."
Chapter 3
"My
brothers, do not be MANY teachers, knowing that we
will receive greater judgment. For we ALL stumble in in many
ways. If anyone does not stumble in word, this one is a mature
man, able also to bridle the whole body. Behold, we put bits
in the mouths of the horses (a symbol for desire/will), for them to obey us; and we turn
about their whole body. Behold the ships also, being so great,
and being driven by violent winds, they are directed by a very
small rudder, where the impulse of the one steering purposes.
So also the tongue is a little member, and boasts great
things. Behold, how little a fire kindles how large a
forest! And the tongue is a FIRE, the world of INIQUITY. So
the tongue is set among our members, spotting all the body,
and inflaming the course of nature, and having been inflamed
by Hell. For every species of beasts, both indeed of birds, of
creeping things, and of sea animals, is tamed, and has been
tamed by the human species; but NO ONE OF MAN is able to tame
the tongue - it is an evil that cannot be restrained, full of
death-dealing poison. By this we bless God and the Father; and
by this we curse men having come into being according to the
image (likeness) of God (God
spoke the world into existence, and we are also creators, and
speak our desires with our mouths creating the world we live
in). Out of the same mouth comes
forth blessing and cursing. My brothers, it is not fitting for
these things to be so. Does the fountain of the same hole send
forth the sweet and the bitter? My brothers is a fig tree able
to produce olives, or a vine figs? So neither can a fountain
produce both salt and sweet water."
"Who is wise and knowing among you? Let him
show his works by his good behavior, in meekness of wisdom. But if you have
bitter
jealousy and
contention
(difference of opinion) in your heart, do not boast and lie
against truth. This is not the wisdom coming down from above, but is
earthly,
beastly, devilish. For where jealousy and
contention
(difference of opinion) are, there is
confusion and every foul deed. But
the wisdom from above is firstly truly pure (unadulterated), then
peaceable,
forbearing,
yielding, full of
mercy
and of good
fruits, not
partial and not
pretended. And the fruit of
righteousness is sown in peace for the ones making peace."
Chapter 4
"From where do wars and fighting's among
you come? Is it not from this, from your lusts warring in your
members? You desire and do not have. You murder, and are
jealous, and are not able to obtain. You fight and you war,
and you do not have because you do not ask God. You ask, and
do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order that you may
spend on your lusts. Adulterers and Adulteresses! Do you not
know that friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whoever
then, purposes to be a friend of the world is shown to be an
enemy of God."
"Or do you think that vainly the
Scripture says, "The spirit which has dwelt in us yearns with
envy"? But He gives greater grace. "Because of this it
says, "God sets Himself against proud ones; but He gives grace
to humble ones." Then be subject to God, and He will
draw near to you. Cleanse your hands sinners! And purify your
hearts, double-minded ones! Be distressed, and mourn, and
weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy
into shame. Be humbled before the Lord, and He will exalt you.
"Do not speak against one another,
brothers. He that speaks against a brother and is judging
a brother, he speaks against law, and judges law. But if you
judge law, you are not a doer of law, but a judge. One is the
Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you who
judges another?"
"Come now, those saying, Today or
tomorrow we will go into this city, and we will spend one year
there, and we will trade and will make a profit; who do not
know of the morrow. For what is your life? For it is mist,
which for a little while appears. Instead of you saying, If
the Lord wills, even we will live, and we will do this or
that; but now you boast in your
presumptions
(opinions). All such
boasting is evil. Therefore, to anyone knowing to do good, and
not doing it, it is sin to him."
Chapter 5
"Come now rich ones, weep, howling
over your hardships coming on. Your riches have rotted, and
your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and silver
have rusted over, and their poison will be a testimony to you,
and will eat your flesh as fire. You heaped
treasure in the last days
(considering man lives an average of 70 years, and works 40-50
years of his life trying to attain wealth and security, I
think it is fair to say that those are THE LAST DAYS for that
man... Every generation experiences their own last days.) Behold, the wages of the workmen
who have reaped your fields cry out, being kept back by you (I think it is also fair to say
we are all the "workmen" for our countries and governments,
who are rich) And the cries of
the ones who have reaped have entered into the ears of the
Lord of Hosts. You lived luxuriously on the earth, and lived
in self-gratification; you
nourished your hearts (own desires - we are all guilty
of this) as in a day of
slaughter; (we are all walking
towards dying as soon as we are born, all heading towards the
slaughter - to spend our short time working to build false
images 'idols' in
the world that will only perish is insanity, when we should
being working instead on our relationships with the Lord and
each other) you condemned; you
murdered the righteous (by distracting from
God, and forcing us to pursue worldly things to build false
images as beasts of burden so that we can buy and sell to
survive) he does not resist you." (We do not resist our countries
and governments, etc... if we do we will be put in prison or
killed.)
"Therefore brothers, be long-suffering
until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the
precious fruit of the earth, being long-suffering over it
until it may receive the earthly and the latter rain. You also
be long-suffering. Set your hearts firmly, because the coming
of the Lord has drawn near (It is
near for every man, as he lives but a short time).
Do not murmur against one another, brothers, that you not be
condemned. Behold, the Judge stands before the door (the heart)."
"My brothers, as an example of suffering
ill, and of long-suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the
name of the Lord. Behold, we call those blessed who endure.
You have heard of the patience of Job, and you saw the end of
the Lord, that the Lord is full of tender mercy and pity."
"But before all things brothers, do
not swear, neither by the heaven, nor by the earth, nor any
other oath. But let your yes be yes, and the no, no,
that you may not fall under judgment. Does anyone suffer
ill among you? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful, let him
praise. Is any among you sick, let him call the elders of the
church and let them pray over, anointing him with oil in the
name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will cure those
being sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he may have
committed sin, it will be forgiven him."
"Confess faults to one another
(not priests for absolution) and
pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a
righteous one has great strength, having been made effective.
Elijah was a man of like feeling to us, and he prayed in
prayer for it not to rain ; and it did not rain on the earth
three years and six months. And he prayed again and the heaven
gave rain, and the earth caused its fruit to sprout."
"If anyone among you go astray from the
truth, brothers, and anyone turns him back, know that the one
turning a sinner from the error of his way will save the soul
from death, and will hide a multitude of sins."
-The Interlinear Bible
A LITERAL translation
of The Bible
"recognize what is
in front of your face, and what is concealed
will be revealed to you. For there is nothing hidden
that will not be disclosed."
-Jesus Christ, The
Gospel of Thomas
ProphetsForPeace.com exists to expose False
Prophets, not by telling you what to believe,
but by encouraging you to FIND the truth for yourself!
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