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Accordance

“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. Matthew 18:19 (NASB)

And in verse (20) it continues as follows: For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.”

How is this to be understood again now?

Does this now mean that you are simply looking for a second person who perhaps has the same interests as you and God the Father is fulfilling your request for both of you? I think the probability that something like this could work is quite small.

So the prerequisite is that two people (in a certain matter) Become one.

Already here the different Bible translations differ from each other. There it says for example:

If two of you are in accordance or,

when two of you agree on earth.

(Become one), stands for fusion. Becoming one happens on the level of the heart. (accordance) could stand for the fact that after a controversial discussion, a compromise was found. (Agreement) means that two or more parties (persons) have reached an agreement.

So we see, what sounds so similar isn't the same. So the question arises, why is this important statement of Jesus translated so differently?

I think the greatest difficulty for the Bible interpreters was the following verse 20. This is specifically about the formulation: ... "are gathered together in my name". Here again everyone agrees that this is something that can only take place within the congregation. From this point of view it becomes understandable that one had searched for formulations that go beyond a normal request to God.

This would then enable a church leadership, for example, to conclude a binding contract with God with reference to Matthew 18:19. I am convinced that something like this has already been tried. I suspect that the chances of success for something like this must not have been very high.

For myself, I prefer the phrase: "To become one (in a certain matter)".

Becoming one is something that does not necessarily have to take place in the church. I rather suspect that this "becoming one" is a state that is only possible between very familiar people. I am thinking here of the wife, perhaps children or a longtime prayer partner. A Christian marriage can only function on this basis. It is the same principle: (husband, wife together with Jesus Christ). But the decisive thing, for this form of asking God, quasi the formula for success, is that the common prayer goal must be an affair of the heart. If, on the other hand, I look at the reality in our prayer groups or house groups, it is usually like this; a certain prayer theme is given, for example: peace in the country. Ten people sit there, one prays in front, the rest nods their heads and says Amen at the end. But at least nine of them would much rather have prayed through their own prayer themes. What do you think, can this work?

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The Rock Destroyer

And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you. Matthew 17: 20

The amazing effectiveness of the mustard plant

I don't think any seed has been the subject of a sermon as often as the tiny mustard seed. Most of these sermons are aimed at our ability to believe and thus even represent an indirect accusation against us believers. Hey, you don't even have as much faith as that little mustard seed. Then often a small bag of mustard seeds is waved around. "Look closely, Jesus already criticized this with you!"

What nonsense!

Because God assigned to each one exactly the measure of faith that he needs for his service in the vineyard of the Lord. So this is something we don't have to worry about.

But now back to the mustard plant. What did Jesus mean in his example with the mustard seed?

Back then, 2000 years ago, everyone in Israel knew what Jesus meant when he told the example of the mustard seed. This has to do with the Romans, respectively with one of their most capable engineers. The Romans had a big technical problem in Israel at that time. The ports in Israel were all in catastrophic condition and had to be urgently renovated and partly even completely rebuilt. However, the Romans lacked the necessary money and building materials. The Roman construction manager was confronted with an almost unsolvable problem, but he was an extraordinarily intelligent man who had an excellent power of observation. Galilee was or is extremely mountainous and has huge limestone rock formations. The Roman engineer had noticed that plants actually grew on these bare rocks.

How could that be? What extraordinary plants were they that were able to grow roots in massive limestone?

It was the mustard plant. When the Romans examined the plants more closely, they made the amazing discovery that the plant extracted lime from the rock via its roots to absorb nutrients. The clever Romans drew the right conclusions from this and immediately began to sow as much mustard seed as possible in the limestone mountains.   The equation worked. The planted mustard plants did their job excellently (up to the present day, by the way). They pulled the lime out of the rock until the rock became fragile and cracked and collapsed by itself.

This was perfect for the Romans, who all at once own organic quarries without any dynamite. All they had to do was load the urgently needed building material onto carts and use it to build their port facilities.

The mustard plant had done the job well and removed whole mountains without even a single worker being needed.

This is also the kind of faith that Jesus meant when he spoke of the mustard seed. The faith that God has already placed in our hearts, in the hearts of His children, and that, like the mustard seed, has done its work quietly and unobtrusively until whole mountains have crumbled completely.

Lord I believe, help my unbelief! Faith, is like the mustard seed, only works in the heart. Unbelief, on the other hand, arises in the world of our thoughts. So Unbelief is a thing that only happens in the mind. We have to balance that out, every day over and over again. (The head says no, the heart says yes, so of course it is yes).

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Delivered from the curse (also delivered from our diseases)

Jesus Christ has delivered us from the curse of the law (Torah). This is what Paul writes in his Epistle to the Galatians:

Christ purchased our freedom and redeemed us from the curse of the Law and its condemnation by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs [crucified] on a tree (cross)” Galatians 3:13 (AMP)

The Old Testament curses of God are all connected with his law or with the transgression of his law and statutes. In Genesis 28, God clearly tells us that all plagues and diseases are the result of such transgressions.

In Deuteronomy 28:15,59, 60,61 God also speaks of the plagues and diseases as a result of the transgressions.

Consequences of Disobedience

(15) “But it shall come about, if you do not obey the Lord your God, to observe to do all His commandments and His statutes with which I charge you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

(59) then the Lord will bring extraordinary plagues on you and your descendants, even severe and lasting plagues, and miserable and chronic sicknesses.

(60) He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt of which you were afraid, and they will cling to you.

(61) Also every sickness and every plague which, not written in the book of this law, the Lord will bring on you until you are destroyed.

This is the peculiarity of curses that they not only meet the transgressors (sinners) themselves, but also his descendants (seeds) over the generation bloodline.

The good news is: Jesus Christ has delivered us from the curse of the law! So Jesus does not have to redeem us from curses first, because he has already redeemed us.

Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:24 ... by his stripes (wounds) you have been healed. Please note, it does not say here ... you will be healed, but it says here quite clearly: "You have been healed".*** The Greek word that Peter uses for " healthy " is: iaomai (Strong G2390) which means: to make sb. (definitively) healthy (from sickness and suffering).

This formulation was also not an oversight by Peter, because he literally refers to Isaiah 53:4-5.

God makes it clear to us that He not only laid our sins and transgressions on Jesus Christ, but also our diseases and infirmities (Isaiah 53:4-5). By accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we have become children of God and the shed blood of Jesus works for us. So we no longer have to carry diseases, because Jesus already carried them for us. But as we have already read, curses in families and generation lines are long-lived by their nature. So it is quite possible that causes of illness, which already lie 3-4 generations back, even with Christians, can lead today still to most serious, life-threatening illnesses.

Does that mean that in these cases, the blood of Jesus has no effect?

No, definitely not. Again, we stand before God, washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ, covered by God's Word and love, clothed in white garments of righteousness before Him (God). And then (there, in faith) standing before God, we break these curses.

And how are curses broken? Yes, how do you actually break curses?

Exactly by repenting. On the basis of the cross and the wounds of Jesus Christ, we confess before God our own sins and iniquities as well as those of our ancestors (on our father's and mother's side) retroactively until into the 3rd and 4th generations. We forgive all, even with effect on the past, who have ever been guilty of us or our family. We receive and accept forgiveness for ourselves for our own sins or iniquities and for those of our ancestors. Then we ask God to judge our plague or illness as unlawful and unjust. With this the curse is broken.

The rest is then simple, we claim our healing according to God's law. Then we only have to cast out a few demons if they have not already fled by themselves. And our healing will progress very quickly.

Many will probably say now, oh, that's far too easy. That cannot possibly work. Yes, it sounds pretty simple to us, but in the spiritual world we start a war with it and our body is the battlefield. I'll give you a small example: Let's imagine that at night, in a deserted place, we are all alone facing a gang of sinister thugs. Each almost 7 feet tall and weighing 265 lb, dressed in black leather and tattooed from top to bottom. You get scared and just run away. So now the same situation, only now three huge angels stand behind you, each at least 90 feet tall, and with a 32 feet long flaming sword in their hands. Then you won't run anymore, but the boys in the leather clothes will run away now.

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Solution from 29.10.2019

Those who worship vain idols give up their source of mercy; Yonah (Jon 2:9) CJB

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24 KJV

Is Mammon an idol? For sure! Is Mammon a demon? Just as sure! Is money bad? Certainly not. Money is a means of exchange, just as people used to exchange animal skins for wheat and vegetables. In our modern society, this barter trade takes place only indirectly, through state-regulated means of payment (money). Jesus and the disciples used (Roman) coinage to pay, just as we know it. So if the daily handling of money wasn't a problem for Jesus, then it shouldn't be a problem for us either.

So where does mammon come in, then?

The word comes from Aramaic and stands for possession and wealth. Jesus speaks in Matthew 6:24 of two masters. The term "masters" here is clearly related to rule and dominion. Jesus explains to us that it is our decision whose dominion we submit to. Either the dominion of God (JHWH JIREH The Lord my provider, by faith) or we submit to the satanic yoke of a terrible demon (Mammon). Of course, both are mutually exclusive, you cannot serve two Masters.

Whenever possession or wealth, both of which are legitimate in themselves, no longer serve the purpose of pure provision, Mammon has already sneaked into the finances like a snake.  Wouldn't it then be better to live in poverty? On the contrary, God's blessing makes us rich and that is God's plan for his people. Nobody should have to live in poverty (that would not be a blessing, but a curse).

It becomes dangerous when everything in your life is all about profit and wealth.Here they are already unconsciously closing a pact with mammon. So the devil finds wide open doors with you.

Is that idolatry already? Absolutely 100% sure! That's idolatry.

It is no longer possible for you to realize that your greed for more and more is only at the expense of others. Greed becomes the main driving force of your life. Your conscience has already ceased to exist. You don't understand, greed is just another word for this demonic ruler Mammon.

In the Old Testament passage (Jonah 2:9), Jonah describes the consequences of idolatry. "The worshippers of vain idols leave their grace," i.e., they fall out of all the blessings God had destined for His people, including their salvation.

Why did Jona know that so well?

Because he himself had just fallen out of God's grace. Fled from God and God's mission for his life. He was thrown into the raging sea by anxious sailors in the middle of a storm and spent three days and three nights in the belly of a fish.  During this time Jonah had the abyss before his eyes. Only in this terrible place in the belly of the fish, in the face of certain death did Jonah come to his senses again. In his despair he had cried out to God, this place, in the belly of the fish, was the turning point for Jonah. It was here that Jonah was turned back to God and saved. Many a greedy man possessed of power has also fallen at some point in his life. Crashed from the high flight of his success, hit the low point of life and  be shattered to pieces and lie broken on the ground. Such an experience inside the fish could also be a last chance given by God. But the sad thing is, Jonah is unfortunately right with his statement: "The worshippers of vain idols leave  (lost) their grace". ...and that's final.

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Solution from 26.10.2019

(2) For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

Deuteronomy 14:2 (NASB)

30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one.

Romans 3:30 (NASB)

In the passage of Genesis 5:14:2, God confirms to his covenant people Israel that they are a holy people. At the same time HE (God) explained to us humans how the term "holy or holiness" is to be understood at all.

In Christian usage we constantly use the word holy. It has become so self-evident to us that we no longer even think about what it actually means. In Genesis 5:14,2 God declares with reference to Israel that holiness here is to be understood to mean that HE (God) has chosen them (people of Israel) and separated them out as His property.

Paul writes in his Epistle to the Romans (Romans 3:30) that this applies not only to Jews, but also to us Gentiles, through faith in Jesus Christ.

As I understand it, there is no difference here between Jews and Christians. Ultimately, in both cases holiness arises from faith.

The choice of Israel as a Holy People because Abraham believed God and trusted Him in everything (e.g. the promise of a son Isaac and God's request to sacrifice Isaac). Just like our being chosen as Christians because we accepted Jesus Christ in faith and trust Him in absolutely everything.

Of course, we must not under any circumstances understand this in such a way that we Christians, quasi parallel to Israel, would have been chosen as a second holy people; on the contrary, we must understand it in such a way that God had added us

A nice example: in Jerusalem you sometimes see Christians in T-shirts with the bilingual imprint (Hebrew and English): "Your God is our God". But Orthodox Jews don't like this at all. Too bad, they are unfortunately not so far yet.

Holiness, in the biblical sense, on the other hand, is exclusively related to God and his being, holiness there describes God's unique personality.

Who is equal to you among the gods, O Lord? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, terrifying in glory deeds, performing miracles? (Exodus 15:11)

What does it mean to us now?

You do not attain holiness through your own efforts. Holiness always comes from God, because he is holy. So holiness is everything that God has separated to his property.

Justification: Sanctification in creation happens through God who is holy (Isaiah 6:3) and who makes holy (Ezekiel 37:28). A person, thing or time becomes holy only when God takes it into His possession and sanctifies it thereby. It is not man who creates holiness, but holiness comes from God; because he is holy, we should also be holy (Exodus 11:44 and 19:2).

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Solution from 23.10.2019

People of Jacob, you must return to your God. You must hold on to love and do what is fair. You must trust in your God always. Hosea 12:7 (NIRV)

So get rid of everything that is dirty and sinful. Get rid of the evil that is all around us. Don't be too proud to accept the word that is planted in you. It can save you. James 1:21 (NIRV)

The Old Testament text deals with the return to God and his principles of love and justice. Israel had turned away from this. In the following (verse 8) we read that Israel behaves like a trader who cheats by working with false weights. He loves to deceive others. Israel had become prosperous through deceit and dishonest dealings and they even believed they had nothing to blame. God intervenes at this point through the prophet Hosea and exhorts them to return to him (God) like their progenitor Jacob. What is meant here is Jacob's persistent attitude of prayer, which brought him favour (grace) from God.

And now comes the actually prophetic statement in Hosea 12:7, God says here: "That is why you should come back to your God." Prophetic because Jacob, by his conversion to God, had created the prerequisite for this. But Israel has not yet returned. This return of Israel to God has not yet taken place.

I must admit that it was arduous for me to harmonize James 1:21 with our passage in Hosea today.

The Letter of James is a New Testament teaching letter, but it was written by Jews to Jews, as is clear from its preamble (1 James, servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in scattering: "Greet!)

For a European Christian living under grace, this letter raises more questions than it provides practical answers. The difference lies in the starting position. Messianic Jews at that time still lived as covenant people of God under the law and strictly according to their religious traditions. However, with the difference that they had accepted Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah. For us Christians, the Jewish traditions are usually foreign. Seen in this light, the Letter from James is a pretty tough nut for our Western thinking. At the time of James, people did not have a New Testament as we know it. Grace was still a foreign word to most people at that time. If there was impurity and sin in them, then they went out and sacrificed. I think this is what James meant when he wrote: "willingly respond to the message that has been planted in your heart and that has the power to save you". Sacrifices were no longer necessary because Jesus Himself offered the sacrifice in His body for all time.

On the spiritual (heavenly) level they already stood before God, cleansed with (white) garments of righteousness. Likewise there they have already returned to God (Hosea 12:7). This is true not only for Messianic Jews but for all of us who have become believers in Jesus Christ. Here on earth we all still have to struggle with certain impurities. James defines this in the verses before:

19 My dear brothers and sisters, pay attention to what I say. Everyone should be quick to listen. But they should be slow to speak. They should be slow to get angry. 20 A man's anger doesn't produce the kind of life God wants. 21 So get rid of everything that is dirty and sinful. Get rid of the evil that is all around us. Don't be too proud to accept the word that is planted in you. It can save you.

We cannot do that ourselves, because it is our flesh (not our spirit), unfortunately our fallen, sinful nature.

But the Word of God implanted in us by the Holy Spirit enables us to recognize every time our human action is not guided by love and righteousness. To cast off is to loose oneself from it (you know, we have the right to bind and to loose in the heavens). To stand before God and say to Him: I have known my condition which you have shown me through YOUR Spirit. I realize and have become aware that I do not act in love and justice and that my clothes are soiled by it. And although I don't want it anymore, I can't get rid of it myself. Then the Word of God works to save us. For thanks be to God that the blood of Jesus Christ continually cleanses us from every guilt and sin, right now and right here on earth.

That would be such an example of binding and loosening.

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Solutions from 18.10.2019

He who earnestly seeks after andcraves righteousness, mercy, andloving-kindness will find life in addition to righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God) and honor. Proverbs 21:21 (AMPC)

[After all] the kingdom of God is not a matter of [getting the] food and drink [one likes], but instead it is righteousness (that state which makes a person acceptable to God) and [heart] peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Roman 14:17 (AMPC)

Solomon speaks to us today in Proverbs 21:21 about two very important things in our lives. I would like to start with the end of the Bible verse. Solomon defines a life goal for us in it. Actually there are even three life goals.

Classified according to value:

1. life (health, blessed age, strength, healing and restoration)

2. righteousness (through faith, sincerity and right standing with God)

3. honor (through recognition in our personal environment, reputation)

When I think about it, these goals actually include everything we expect from life. Most people are willing to do (invest) a lot to achieve these goals.

Solomon will now explain to us how to do it.

It is a matter of developing a lifestyle that is geared towards being just and gracious in all things. In the Swiss Schlachter translation it says: Who eagerly strives for it ...

This already gives us an indication that we cannot achieve this on our own. But it is enough if we eagerly strive for it or, as it is also said in other translations, that we should pursue such a lifestyle.

Here again the biblical law of sowing and reaping takes hold.

In the New Testament passage (Romans 14:17) Paul gives us a further explanation. Although this is primarily about eating and drinking (dietary rules), he then says at the end of the verse that it is the Holy Spirit who brings about justice, peace and joy in us. We are made righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ, shed for our sins and transgressions. This was the basic condition for God to give us His Spirit, the Holy Spirit. And it is the Holy Spirit living in us that changes our heart. So we cannot ever become righteous and gracious on our own, for these are the attributes of God. But the Spirit of God in our hearts can do it, because He is righteous and He is gracious.

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Solution from 14.10.2019

And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. Ezekiel 36:29

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

Today we have a very special topic again. Impurity, is actually a provocative topic. Impurity is the opposite of purity. Already when we read it we are overcome with discomfort. At the mere thought of it, this subject could also concern us, discomfort overcomes us. But the impurity we are talking about here has nothing to do with our outer appearance. Rather, it is about our inner state.

In ancient Israel there were and still are certain cleaning and eating rules. Among Jews one eats kosher food. This means that certain foods are stored separately from each other. The consumption of other food is not allowed to the believer Jews for example pork. These things are still taken very seriously in Israel today. No Jew would think of ordering a pork cutlet in a restaurant. So in Israel and in Judaism in general, these cleaning instructions are scrupulously adhered to.

Nevertheless, in Ezekiel God says to them that they are unclean, otherwise He (God) would not have to deliver them from their uncleanness.

Jesus defines uncleanness as follows: (Matthew 15:17-20)

17 "Do ye not then understand that all that is taken in by the mouth is taken into the stomach and is then excreted?

18 But what comes out of the mouth comes out of the heart, and it is these things that make men unclean.

19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, falsehood, slander.

20 This is what makes man unclean; ...

Here again the key is the heart.

Until God gives us a new heart, we are and remain unclean. This was true for Jews in Ezekiel's time, it is true for Jews in our time today and of course it is also true for all of us.

There is also no way to cleanse ourselves from impurity. Neither the observance of feast day nor food regulations is able to do this.

So now of course we can say that we have the law (Old Testament), so we should at least try.

No, unfortunately it doesn't work that way. It is because of our heart, our old rebellious heart, that evil thoughts (evil behaviour) are produced in us. For this reason we need a new heart from God. For this we need the Spirit of God who dwells in it and it is the blood of Jesus that continually cleanses us.

This means nothing more than that we need Jesus, who did all this on the cross for each one of us. Any attempt that we make to cleanse ourselves cannot succeed. When we look at our hearts and realize how much garbage and slag has accumulated in them over the course of our lives, the unfortunate, bitter roots of all the hurts we have suffered, we realize that a complete healing is needed. With all the wild growth in our hearts, we need an experienced gardener to turn the thicket back into a flowering garden. But we cannot do this ourselves, not even a therapist, for this we need God and His Holy Spirit dwelling in us.

With this we have also this time managed to bridge the gap to the New Testament passage: "So now there is no damnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

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Find peace

I have noticed that in churches and church services there is a lot being preached about sin right now. This is certainly an important topic, because it is true that sin separates us from God. That calling one's sin by name is right, that we confess our sins is important, that we declare forgiveness and accept forgiveness is vital. From such church services we usually go home with a very bad feeling in the stomach area. I feel the same way as you do. We came as sinners, the raised finger of the pastor or priest made us feel really bad. It is precisely this situation that Jesus describes to us in a parable:

Lucas 18:10 to 14 (Amplified Bible)

10 Two men went up into the temple [enclosure] to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

11 The Pharisee stood [ostentatiously] and began praying to himself [in a self-righteous way, saying]: ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the rest of men—swindlers, unjust (dishonest), adulterers—or even like this tax collector.

12 I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’

13 But the tax collector, standing at a distance, would not even raise his eyes toward heaven, but was striking his chest [in humility and repentance], saying, ‘God, be merciful and gracious to me, the [especially wicked] sinner [that I am]!’

14 I tell you, this man went to his home justified [forgiven of the guilt of sin and placed in right standing with God] rather than the other man; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself [forsaking self-righteous pride] will be exalted.”

Basically we could already stop at this point, Jesus has already said everything to us sinners through his parable.

But I would like to say a few more points. I want our souls to find rest and we don't have to go home from church with this bad feeling in our stomachs.

Here Jesus is talking about these two very different men. Both are sinners, both go to the temple on Shabbat and both step before God. I do not want to write about the hypocritical Pharisee today, I am primarily interested in the  tax collector. In those days the  tax collector was the synonym for the sinner par excellence. It was their job for the Roman occupying power to plunder the population. Most of them were exactly what the Pharisee had boasted before God not to be. They were robbers, deceivers, and adulterers. But the crucial thing for the text today is that the  tax collectordid not go home from the temple and suddenly changed his life through his prayer. No, on Sunday, after the Shabbat, he came back to his ministry just as he had done the whole time before. But still Jesus says that this tax collector, justified by God, went home again. And even more remarkable is the fact that this parable came from a time when Jesus had not yet paid for our sins and guilt with his life on the cross.

So this today is the word for us sinners.

God knows each one of us. He knows about our inner struggles he knows the dark swamps and abysses of our lives. He knows our hearts and works permanently on them. God hates sin but he loves the sinner and is willing to forgive us again and again and again and again. We only have to do two things:

1 We ourselves must forgive others. Without exception to all (e.g. parents, relatives, teachers, superiors, neighbours, our spouses and all those who are guilty of us in any other way.

2 We must do it like this tax collector. We must come before our God and confess our sins (no matter how embarrassing they may be to us). This is a case between God and us.

We remember the tax collector didn't say: I stole from so many people, I cheated on so many, or I broke my marriage or sinned sexually so many times. No, he had confessed God:  ‘God, be merciful and gracious to me, the [especially wicked] sinner [that I am]!’

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Romans 8:11

(11) And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you.

Can what Paul writes to the Romans here also be applied to diseases?

I think so. What Paul writes to us here in the Epistle to the Romans is the explanation for a reliable spiritual principle. In order to be able to apply this correctly, we have to take a few points into consideration:

Jesus Christ was a mortal man here on earth. He had a natural human body, just as we do.

Jesus Christ was cruelly tortured (almost beaten to death) then finally killed on the cross by the Roman occupying power.

Jesus Christ had definitely died, the body was buried in a rock tomb according to Jewish tradition.

God Himself brought the body of His Son back to life on the third day after these events.

And this is exactly where Paul's explanation in the passage Romans 8:11 comes in.

Paul explains to the assembly of believers in Rome how God brought his dead son Jesus Christ back to life.

"...he will also make your mortal body alive by his Spirit, by the Spirit that dwells in you."

It was the Spirit of God who had made the deceased body of Jesus Christ alive again. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was not the first time such a thing had happened. The Bible describes to us a whole series of such events, both in the Old and New Testaments, where the dead were brought back to life through the immediate action of God. The most famous case is probably the resurrection of Lazarus.

But what does this bring us for our life?

Paul explains two things here.

First, that in all those who have chosen to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and invited Him to come into their lives, God Himself dwells in them through His Holy Spirit.

And on the other hand, that this is the same Spirit who raised Jesus Christ from the dead.

Paul means that when he writes of "your mortal bodies", not our future resurrection life (after death). On the contrary, Paul talks of our present, of our everyday life (we are mortal but not dead). Again, because this is important: Our mortal bodies are mortal because they have not yet died but are alive. So the Spirit of God (the same Spirit who raised Jesus Christ from the dead) already now dwells in our living bodies. And right now we need the Spirit of God to work in us and keep us alive.

But it is only one of the numerous tasks of the Holy Spirit to heal us from diseases that are constantly trying to attack us and our existence.

Healing is therefore part of God's provision for us, His children. It is the prerogative of every Christian, as a covenant right, based on our new covenant with God, that Jesus Christ has already paid the full price for healing all our diseases and plagues in his own body.

For, so says the Word of God, "...by whose wounds you have been healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5)

But that is a right that we must also claim from our enemy, the devil, for ourselves and our families. In other words, if a disease has you under control, it is not God's will for our life, but in this case the adversary (the devil) holds you in his stranglehold.

What do we do in such a case?

Exactly, we dare and step before God. We claim our right based on Romans 8:11, Isaiah 53:4-5 and Matthew 8:16-17.

By stepping before God to assert our biblically justified claims. In this case we call upon God in his function as judge. And just as before an earthly judgment, we ask God for his judgment. That he may condemn the disease that has overpowered us and judge it as unjust and unlawful. We ask our plaintiff to call the devil all that he still has to put forward in old rights (in this place, even the devil must tell the truth). This is just the right moment to put these things in order before God. So what do we do, we are not ashamed and confess to God all that the devil has put forward against us. We ask God for forgiveness, repent and release ourselves from all these things. We joyfully receive the judgment of God which is in acquittal and in which our diseases and plagues have been judged. This also means that there is no longer any obstacle to the Spirit of God completely healing our mortal bodies, completely restoring them to their original condition, and as a result quickly restoring our health.

[btalkthings]

John 14:13

... and all that you ask in my name, I will do so that through the Son the glory of the Father may be revealed.

...  Anything you ask in my name.

Today I have again chosen the New Geneva Translation (NGÜ) for us, because I find that it most clearly reflects this great statement of Jesus.

So, Jesus is in heaven and no longer here among us. He is now sitting on the heavenly throne at the right hand of the Father and because that is so, and so that we may not stand here on earth without anything in our hands, both the Father and the Son (Jesus) had provided us with important tools for our ministry on earth.

Our heavenly Father has sent us the Holy Spirit who now lives in us. But Jesus also gave us something very decisive, His name.

Already in the Old Testament Isaiah had written about the divine attributes of this name of Jesus. We remember that it says: "His miraculous name is called: Counsellor of the heroic God, Father of victory, Prince of peace". (Isaiah 9:5) ... And these are only his heavenly attributes. But because Jesus died on the cross, representing for us and our sins, his righteousness is now added and all the associated benefits (healings, liberation from demonic pressures, and kingdom authority) associated with it. All this is connected with the name of Jesus. And this one, His name (Jesus), He has made available to us as children of God. In other words, the name Jesus enables us to do all that Jesus has always done on earth.

Isn't it great!

Only why doesn't it always work that way in our lives? I mean, we do have the name Jesus and if that is so, then in principle every one of our requests would have to be fulfilled automatically. Now, of course, some theologians say ... you know that not every request from us also glorifies the Father in heaven?

Is that true? I personally do not believe. When we ask for something in the name of Jesus, God is always glorified, because He is the giver of all good gifts.

But I find an interesting question.

I thought about it this morning. Maybe the whole thing is subject to certain conditions? When I thought about it, I had to think about my cell phone. A little ingenious technical miracle. In order for such a cell phone to work at all and for me to be able to make my phone calls with it, three prerequisites must be fulfilled.

1. I need a cell phone (hardware) for this.

2. I need a SIM card.

3. I need a charged battery (power supply).

The promise from John 14:13 is similar. Also here three conditions must be fulfilled.

The hardware, that is ourselves (the human being, our physical existence).

The SIM card, that is the name Jesus. The use of the name Jesus allows us access to the divine network.

These two points are fulfilled by most Christians. But only with the hardware and the SIM card alone, our cell phone is not functional. So we also urgently need the third component to make this promise of Jesus effective in our lives.

Exactly we need a well charged battery.

And now we have to ask ourselves, what would this battery be? This is where most sermons stop, if they go that far at all.

I dare to go a bit further today. My answer to this question is: the battery consists of two parts.

The first is the battery, which is the Word of God (Scripture). And on the other hand from the electric charge, that is our faith.

Jesus himself said it again and again during his ministry on earth: "But he said to her, Be of good courage, my daughter! Your faith has saved you; go in peace". (Luke 8:48) or another known passage: "Then Jesus answered and said to her, "Woman, your faith is great. Be it done to thee as thou wilt! And her daughter was healed at the same hour." (Matthew 15:28).

And why does the two belong together? This is explained to us by Paul in Romans 10:17, where it says: "Faith therefore comes from hearing the gospel and proclamation from the word of Christ". This all sounds very theoretical, but it has a deep foundation. Faith, then, comes from hearing the Word of God. So if you want to get your battery full in order to use the full power of your cell phone, you have to charge it at the power supply. That is, the more you have the opportunity to hear the word of God (the Bible) out loud, the fuller your battery becomes and the greater your faith develops.

I know people who have compiled entire catalogues of biblical promises. Not only do they constantly proclaim these promises loudly, but they even record what they read for themselves as a sound file. They burn the whole thing onto a data disc and listen to it again and again, for example in a car. Believe me, they develop a really strong faith and don't ask me how well their mental cell phone works in the meantime.

[btalkthings]

Definition of faith

For truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will be done, it will be to him, whatever he says.

Mark 11:23 (VW-Edition Bible 2010)

Interesting, also here you can find this tripartite division.

Note: That what is written in Mark 11:23 comes directly from the mouth of Jesus (Jesus himself said so).

1. if someone (any person) says (speaks) to this mountain here.

"Exactly this mountain" is meant, we stand directly before it, we see it in all its splendour and size directly before our nose.

2. ... And if he does not doubt in his heart, but believes

3. ... that what he says will happen, it will happen.

With this explanation is now really quite simple, isn't it? In front of you there is a two-thousand-metre peak, snow-covered and vertical into the sky. So you stand like this in front of the mountain massif and let off a loud cry: "Hey you mountain, exactly you are meant, lift yourself up and throw yourself into the sea!"

But let's just try to imagine that. So that we can succeed in this at all (imagine the mental), I have put us below a picture of the famous Swiss Matterhorn. And now we'll just play it through in our minds. So we speak to this enormous jag in the Alps and tell him: "lift yourself up", what could happen? Does the mountain (Matterhorn) perhaps break out of the rock formation from below (like a dentist pulling a tooth)? Or do Swiss pioneer soldiers suddenly appear and try to blow up the mountain? You can already see what I'm trying to get at. Already at this point our human imagination leaves us. If you can't imagine something then doubts automatically arise. And doubt is a counterforce that blocks every belief. But how do we solve our problem now, that the Matterhorn hasn't moved a millimeter yet, but at least our Swiss neighbours will be grateful to us.

So now of course there is here as everywhere a theological explanation and - of course there is also the divine explanation. The theologian will tell us, yes, we must not take all this literally, Jesus refers here only to a spiritual principle? The theologian means that we can scare away spiritual obstacles, but not natural ones? The divine explanation, on the other hand, was given to us by Jesus, precisely in the passage about this today (Mark 11:23). When Jesus says this, there is nothing more to add. And Jesus demonstrated to his disciples that our words also work in our spatial world using the example of the fig tree.

But what does this actually help us now?

Our lack of imagination creates doubt and blocks our faith. Last time I wrote something about the faith of God. The faith of God is a creative faith that has created the whole universe through its word alone.  God said, "Let there be light". And it became light. So again, the whole universe was created only by the faith of God and his spoken word of God. By comparison, the Matterhorn is only a ridiculous little hill. So you see how the faith of God works and Jesus wants us as his children to participate in it. So let's start with our faith, perhaps to apply it to something smaller than the Matterhorn. Maybe on the Buddah idols in the café opposite or against the drug trade at the local bus station, with such a thing we could or better we should start. The Matterhörner of this world still have some time.

[btalkthings]

Solution from 14.10.2019

And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. Ezekiel 36:29

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

Today we have a very special topic again. Impurity, is actually a provocative topic. Impurity is the opposite of purity. Already when we read it we are overcome with discomfort. At the mere thought of it, this subject could also concern us, discomfort overcomes us. But the impurity we are talking about here has nothing to do with our outer appearance. Rather, it is about our inner state.

In ancient Israel there were and still are certain cleaning and eating rules. Among Jews one eats kosher food. This means that certain foods are stored separately from each other. The consumption of other food is not allowed to the believer Jews for example pork. These things are still taken very seriously in Israel today. No Jew would think of ordering a pork cutlet in a restaurant. So in Israel and in Judaism in general, these cleaning instructions are scrupulously adhered to.

Nevertheless, in Ezekiel God says to them that they are unclean, otherwise He (God) would not have to deliver them from their uncleanness.

Jesus defines uncleanness as follows: (Matthew 15:17-20)

17 "Do ye not then understand that all that is taken in by the mouth is taken into the stomach and is then excreted?

18 But what comes out of the mouth comes out of the heart, and it is these things that make men unclean.

19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, fornication, theft, falsehood, slander.

20 This is what makes man unclean; ...

Here again the key is the heart.

Until God gives us a new heart, we are and remain unclean. This was true for Jews in Ezekiel's time, it is true for Jews in our time today and of course it is also true for all of us.

There is also no way to cleanse ourselves from impurity. Neither the observance of feast day nor food regulations is able to do this.

So now of course we can say that we have the law (Old Testament), so we should at least try.

No, unfortunately it doesn't work that way. It is because of our heart, our old rebellious heart, that evil thoughts (evil behaviour) are produced in us. For this reason we need a new heart from God. For this we need the Spirit of God who dwells in it and it is the blood of Jesus that continually cleanses us.

This means nothing more than that we need Jesus, who did all this on the cross for each one of us. Any attempt that we make to cleanse ourselves cannot succeed. When we look at our hearts and realize how much garbage and slag has accumulated in them over the course of our lives, the unfortunate, bitter roots of all the hurts we have suffered, we realize that a complete healing is needed. With all the wild growth in our hearts, we need an experienced gardener to turn the thicket back into a flowering garden. But we cannot do this ourselves, not even a therapist, for this we need God and His Holy Spirit dwelling in us.

With this we have also this time managed to bridge the gap to the New Testament passage: "So now there is no damnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1

[btalkthings]

Solutions 16.07.2019

Where many dreams and breeze of wind and much chatter, there you fear God Ecclesiastes 5.6

If any of you lack wisdom, he asks God, who gives everyone gladly and without reproach. James 1:5

Solomon the Ecclesiastes is always not easy to understand. I made the experience, one should read, if one approaches "the Ecclesiastes", not only a text passage for itself alone, but always also something around it. Then it often becomes clearer what is actually meant. So for example, here in verse 2 “For a dream cometh with a multitude of business, and a fool's voice with a multitude of words.”

Dreams, wind breeze and a lot of gossip, we all know it. Could be a description of our Parliament. If we think in this direction, we probably are not so wrong. From verse 7 we continue with the oppression of the poor and robbery in the name of justice and righteousness.

How does Solomon (after all himself as king) classify this. With dreams I think, in this case probably not our nocturnal experiences are meant. In verse 2 Solomon becomes quite concrete about this. He describes this kind of dreams as "breeze of wind", i.e. foolish fantasies that arise as a result of "bustle", i.e. from dishonest business interests (see verse 7ff) and are sold to people with a lot of stupid gossip. What is the advice of the king here: "there you fear God"?

Of course, now you will say that this could certainly be understood quite differently. Of course, that also makes the Ecclesiastes so difficult to understand. But let us come back very briefly to verse 2. Solomon speaks here of the fool. The characteristic of such a person is on the one hand his complete unteachability and in addition the inability to open himself to any form of wisdom.

This brings us back to the New Testament passage. So do not be a fool! Ask God for wisdom, he will gladly give it to you. Solomon had done just that. The only thing he had asked God for was wisdom. All the other riches he had received as an encore.

[btalkthings]

Solution for Thursday 18.7.2019

English Translation

The LORD is patient and of great power, but he leaves no one unpunished. Nahum 1,3

Consider the patience of our Lord for your salvation. 2 Peter 3:15

Today's about patience. If we read the Old Testament scriptural passage in Nahum 1:3, we might get a little scared. In another translation it even says: "The Lord is patient, but mighty in strength; the Lord leaves no guilty one unpunished.. What exactly are we speaking of here? This is about a big city (Nineveh). Nahum the Prophet speaks here about the metropolis of the ancient kingdom of Assyria. To anticipate it now, Ninive was finally completely destroyed, but not immediately. In ancient times Ninive was a megacity with up to 600,000 inhabitants in its heyday. The location of Ninive is also interesting. This big city was located on today's territory of Iraq, in the immediate vicinity of Mosul, a city that appears in the news from time to time in connection with war events. So if we now know the historical and geographical background of Nahum's prophecy, then it is easier for us to deal with the three described qualities of God's work in relation to Nineveh.

Patience 1: The ruler of the Assyrian kingdom with the inhabitants of his capital (Nineveh) were not friends of God. Rather, Nineveh could be seen symbolically as a mirror of our modern Western society. At that time nobody had asked for God, nowadays nobody does (apart from a few exceptions).Nevertheless, the quality of God was and is, in behavior toward his haters, he is patient.  He sent not only a prophet (Nahum), but also a second one (Jonah) to this giant city. I am sure, not because of their ruler, but because of the many people who lived there.

2. power: the verse in Nahum 1:3 goes on like this: In storm and weather he walks, clouds are the dust of his feet.

Punishment 3: This is the way it goes when God goes out against his enemies into the field. Woe to him who is still in Nineveh. We actually only know such descriptions from nuclear catastrophes. There is nothing left at the so-called Ground Zero, except a huge cloud of radioactively contaminated dust.

In the New Testament passage (2 Peter 3:15) Peter presupposes this knowledge, at least in the early Christian congregation. He says that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. Verse 10 says: 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; then the heavens will melt with a great noise; but the elements will melt with heat, and the earth and the works that are upon it will no longer be found. Just as we did in Nineveh, we are still in the phase where God's patience has not yet been completely consumed. This is an incredibly precious time, in which everyone still has the opportunity to make a decision for his very own salvation. A decision for the Saviour, Jesus Christ, on whom God had already laid all our punishment on Golgotha. We remember what Nahum wrote down in connection with the fate of Nineveh: "But he leaves no one unpunished". Now it is only our decision either to be punished by God or to decide in time for the way and salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.