#bible insights

[mindfulldsliving]

Daily Cross-Bearing: Living True Discipleship Today

Discipleship is a journey woven deeply into the fabric of Christian faith. It beckons us to follow in the footsteps of Christ, embodying His teachings day by day.

Understanding Discipleship: Taking Up Your Cross in 3 Nephi 12:30 and Matthew 16:24-26 When we consider the words of Jesus in 3 Nephi 12:30 and Matthew 16:24-26, we find a call that pierces the heart of true discipleship: “Take up your cross.” These teachings challenge us to weigh the essence of following Christ against the pull of worldly gain. Christ urges us to deny ourselves and embrace the…

[thepersonalwords]

The Bible is a fountain of life, an instruction on how God want you to live a life on earth.

Lailah Gifty Akita, The Alphabets of Success: Passion Driven Life

[eesirachs]

What should we do when we have wronged someone and can’t fix it? What do we do with the guilt? Biblically?

you atone until you can't bear it any longer. and then you let god take it—the guilt, the repentance, the sacrifice—and he will do the atoning for you, from now on. there are no poetics here: this is biblical. lev 16 gives you the sacrificial rite you want (yet this is sacrifice without blood; enough has been spilled)

[non-conventionnel]

How did the first concept of God originate?

Who was Yahweh and who was Moses? Where did the Ten Commandments originate from?

Who was Jesus Christ, and what do the Gospels which were left out of the New Testament say?

Who was St Paul, and which was the first Church before the Roman Catholic one?

How did the papal pontificate originate, and what were the repercussions of the false document which was supposedly left to the Church by Emperor Constantine the Great in order to cling to power?

Was there a different scenario to how things could have unfolded? This book, backed by the discoveries which have occurred in the last centuries, will tackle these questions unearthing new ones in the process.

"In this book, author Anton Sammut undertakes a challenging task in a race to uncover various aspects affecting the development of religion in relation to culture. This task is considered delicate and for some even dangerous. Delicate because it requires meticulous research and gathering of information; dangerous because it ventures far beyond the borders of religion which we normally restrict ourselves to because they offer security and certainty. In this respect, this book will appeal hugely to those who are not satisfied with what they have been instructed but are interested in exploring how the information arrived to them."

- Rev. Dr René Camilleri

"The laborious and careful exercise carried out by Mr Sammut, both on the Bible as well as on the History of the Church, is intended to assist the reader to view both of them from an angle which we are not accustomed to. This type of mental exercise is always useful, especially when the thoroughly researched and examined subject is not easy, not necessarily understood in one way, and is more complex than the human brain can handle."

- Rev. Prof. Peter Serracino Inglott

Anton Sammut's Fb Page

Goodreads

[pinestripe37]

"For dust you are, And to dust you shall return."

Meditating and praying about this Scripture on Ash Wednesday, and God has blessed me with beautiful insight on the Creation, the fall, and the Salvation of man.

Originally, God created man out of dust:

"The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." ~ Genesis 2:7

God beautifully lovingly shaped us out of dust in His Own Image and breathed His own breath of life into us.

And yet we forsook God's Righteous Image in stooping into sin, and despised that blessed breath of life by choosing death (for God warned them, in the day that you eat of the forbidden fruit you shall surely die, the wages of sin is death.)

And God was grieved to say:

"In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” ~ Genesis 3:19

In death brought through sin, man returned to dust.

Yet in His Grace God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

I believe there is a calling on the Gospel, calling us to have faith that the very God who created us from dust is able and gracious to make us again. And that's the Good News! God does this through the Gospel. How merciful He is to return us from the dust to which we had returned in sin.

Jesus came down to the dust of our death: spending three days in the grave to defeat it. Through His Resurrection He brought us up, out from the dust of our death, and made us anew.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." ~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

Rescued from dust (saved from death) in Christ we are a new creation, refined and revived.

Once more God breathes the breath of life into us. In John 20:22: (Jesus) breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit."

How graciously God breathed life back into us! Filled with the Holy Spirit, man becomes a living being once more, cleansed and washed from sin.

Shaped through the process of Salvation by being conformed to Christ, we are returned to God's Beautiful Image.

I'm realizing that the Gospel is God forming us out of the dust anew through Christ's Sacrifice and Salvation.

It truly inspires repentance: that we forsook God, leaving our Creator to return to dust through sin; and yet, in our sin, God never forsook us but gave His Own Son to rescue us and form us out of the dust again. May we be careful not to return to the dust of our sin: not to return to the former sins Christ saved us from but to walk in the Newness of Life in His Salvation.

How Mercifully God Loves me! After I'd fallen into sin, crumbled into dust, the very Hands that made me (whose design I had betrayed) lovingly collected that dust and shaped me back again in the Love of Jesus.

[sentimentalslut]

can I ask a genuine question? No criticism intended whatsoever but why are you familiar with bible verses if you're not that religious? Especially the old testament? Again, no hate. I'm just curious.

hi!! thank you for asking this quesiton so kindly.

first -- i am in the process of converting to greek orthodoxy (cultural reasons), and i was raised in a christian household. BUT that christianity was the church of unity, which is a new thought church. so i was exposed to some of the bible growing up, though -- like ur ask says -- mostly the new testament, and a few other limited sections of the old testament like the great flood, the parting of the red sea, jonah and the whale, etc. definitely wasnt reading ezekiel in sunday school tho. which is probably good.

so as an adult, i read the bible not primarily for spiritual purposes (there is a lot i disagree with -- im in the 'the bible was written by man, with man's biases and hatred inherent to it' camp) but because its a fascinating anthropological and historical work. the contents of the old testament, in particular, is one of the most re-told mythologies in the modern era. (for the record -- all religious texts and stories are mythologies by definition. that doesnt reflect on whether or not they are true.) i think it tells us a lot about ourselves as a species and does, in fact, recount so many historical events.

if you have it in you -- and can bring yourself to slog through a lot of tariffs and archaic language -- i acyually recommend reading it -- not necessarily for its moral or religious techings, but for the perspective it gives on humanity.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Patience is a Virtue

The wisdom of a man hath deferred his anger, And his glory [is] to pass over transgression. — Proverbs 19:11 | Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible is in the public domain. Cross References: 2 Kings 5:12; Proverbs 11:13; Proverbs 14:29; Proverbs 16:32; Matthew 5:44; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13

Read full chapter

Notes: This verses teaches that wise people are patient when others act offensively towards them. They don't act or speak without thinking first. It doesn't mean they accept what is contrary to their values and beliefs. It means they take time to evaluate the situation and act accordingly with patience and integrity.

[quotelr]

The Bible is the greatest book of all times.

Lailah Gifty Akita

[allastoredeer]

#as of right now im still not including the 9 Rings in my world building because they make no sense

Aww, that's too bad, but i get it. The 9 circles have a lot of fun story potential, but I can understand not wanting to try to incorporate something into your world building if it doesn't make sense to you. At the end of the day, you're the writer of these fics. So if something doesn't make sense to YOU, that's going to make it harder for you to convey it to your readers. Writing is hard, so you should do what you have to to make it less so while still being fun on your end.

But may I make a suggestion? How about you put a pin in this whole Circle thing and set it aside to mull over again later? I think I recall you mentioning that chapter three is going to go over Pentagram City world building stuff, so i can see why you might want to have some of this information hashed-out. But unless locations like Imp City are absolutely VITAL for this upcoming chapter, maybe put that off for later? Save that info for a future installment? Maybe all you need for everything to click into place is for another little lore tidbit to come your way, like with Andrealphus' palace?

I know I tend to get stuck on world building stuff too (ive tried my hand at DMing for my dnd group, believe me i know exactly how easy it is to get stuck on tiny world building details) The best thing to do when that happens to me is to step back for a bit and come back later with fresh eyes. Perhaps that'll help here too? If not, again, your the writer. Do what's right by you😁👍

The thing about world-building is that it is subject to change based on what fic I'm writing or what I need it to be. Even if I'm not including the 9 Circles in my base Hellaverse World Building, it's definitely something I'm keeping on the back-burner in case I do ever decide to incorporate it in a fic.

I'm not opposed to the 9 Circles being a thing, I just have a hard time making sense of it. There are a lot of ways to make it work, but so far, none of them work in a way that satisfies me. Fic 5 of Just Kiss Already will be the first deep-dive into the world-building I've concocted for the series, but most of that will be surrounding Cannibal Town and a specific punishment I came up for all the cannibals. It is Hell, afterall. It's meant to punish the wicked, and I like the idea that that comes with specific punishments for specific Sinners that's utilized in a way that punishes ALL Sinners.

I'm debating on whether I should make the world-building post for Cannibal Town now or wait until Fic 5 drops. It's one of my favorite headcanons because it explains how Hell kept the population under control until the Exterminations began (in somewhat recent years) and it gives me a lot of Alastor angst to work with, which is always a top my top priority.

[astrillicxo]

Are you excluded from society? Are you trying to find your way to light? Are you lonely and need somewhere?

JOIN SW.COM!

We're a big happy family, and we will never be complete unless we have you! You are the missing piece to our home!

Our home is provided by Lord Shiloh, she cares for us and wants the best!

[twopercentboy]

I think the cats and dogs and deer had it right

Because affection only works when it's rubbed off on someone

Lord I ask you give me time to show him what his words do to me

Lord how he warms me

He's a heat rock

And I, a stupid, foul, cold-blooded creature cursed to crawl on my belly

for the rest of my days

Lord I'd crawl to him till the end of days

PoetAnon

me when religious imagery in poetry

if ur cursed to crawl on ur belly does that make me Eve?

[bbg100]

I can't be weird about fandoms online cause people are into fandoms without being freaks now. It's so accessible that it can be a mild hobby instead of an obsession or dedication. Which don't get me wrong- love that, excited to see how this culture shift settles as we move forward. However that does mean to be insane about characters in a proper nerd way I have to enter a comic store.

[fandfnews]

Wikipedia Co-Founder Larry Sanger Shares Journey from Atheism to Christianity

In a candid interview, Larry Sanger, co-founder of Wikipedia and a lifelong skeptic, revealed his transformative journey from atheism to Christianity—a shift rooted in intellectual rigor, personal relationships, and a deep dive into scripture. Sanger, who holds a PhD in philosophy, spent 35 years questioning faith before embracing Christianity in his 50s. His story challenges stereotypes about…

[non-conventionnel]

[pinestripe37]

"The Lord is my Shepherd. I shall not want." ~ Psalm 23:1

What more could we ever want;

when belonging to a Gracious God?

[iamentertainmentclub-blog]

Proverbs Daily Reflection – January 25, 2025

Bless the Lord, O' my soul and all that is within me! Praise his holy name! #josephmekaelpageministries

Proverbs 25:21-22 (KJV) “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee.” Heaping Coals of Fire: A Deeper Understanding The phrase “heap coals of fire upon his head” is a beautiful metaphor that many may not fully understand. It refers to bringing about conviction,…