tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28543681325997595652024-03-05T16:15:24.576-05:00MILLERWRITESMillerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.comBlogger410125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-4414041429431555382024-02-06T11:07:00.001-05:002024-02-06T11:10:29.549-05:00EPAPHRAS: THE INTERVIEW NOW AVAILABLE IN AUDIOBOOK!<div>What a whirlwind! </div><div><br /></div><div>You may be surprised to learn, I know I was, that an author has a very hard time finding out how his or her book is selling! It might be different for self-publishers, but my publisher doesn't even keep track of sales until royalty time comes around twice per year. <br />I learned in January that 74 copies were sold between the time Epaphras: The Interview was released on September 23rd 2023 and the close of the tracking period at the end of that month. Now I wait for the middle of July to find out about sales from last October thru this March.<br /><br />In the meantime, I went ahead and hired a professional narrator to bring life to my characters in an audiobook. That item is also available on my page at Amazon.<br /><br />Also, Epaphras: The Appointment, which is a PREquel, is nearing completion! Not sure, yet, when that will be out.<br /><br />If you are reading about Epaphras and associated characters, I hope you find the series to be both interesting and encouraging. Please let me know if you are reading, or listening to, Epaphras: The Interview and let me know what you think.</div><div><br /></div><div>Thank you,</div><div>Mike</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Epaphras-The-Interview/dp/B0CTNMBCC3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=KYK4GTCMW1SZ&keywords=EPAPHRAS%3A+THE+INTERVIEW&qid=1707162934&sprefix=epaphras+the+interview%2Caps%2C72&sr=8-1">https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Epaphras-The-Interview/dp/B0CTNMBCC3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=KYK4GTCMW1SZ&keywords=EPAPHRAS%3A+THE+INTERVIEW&qid=1707162934&sprefix=epaphras+the+interview%2Caps%2C72&sr=8-1</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED.
Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-72118460950260399912023-09-19T11:13:00.006-05:002023-10-23T06:12:58.586-05:00FINALLY! I have finally written--AND PUBLISHED-- the book I introduced here in May of 2011!<div>"Hello? Hel-lo-o?" Knock knock! "Is anybody out there?"</div><div><br /></div><div>Well just in case anybody IS out there and reading this blog anymore, especially anyone from oh, over ten years ago, when we were all writing posts and participating in blog challenges and having fun with our writing, I am here today with some exciting news!<br /><br />In May of 2011 I wrote a series of articles for the May Z to A challenge which included a list of characters for a novel I had in mind. ( <a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2011/05/z-to-in-may-challenge-introduction.html" target="_blank">Z to A in May of 2011 Introduction</a> ) This year I finally wrote the novel and this week it is published and released and available on Amazon!</div><div><br /></div><div>(Here is the link to the book on Amazon: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Epaphras-Interview-Mike-Miller/dp/B0CC6TW2Z3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=MPE2L44C4Z95&keywords=epaphras%3A+the+interview&qid=1697902908&sprefix=epaphras+the+interview%2Caps%2C59&sr=8-1" target="_blank">EPAPHRAS: THE INTERVIEW.</a>)</div><div><br /></div><div>I know! I can't believe it either! The book is called EPAPHRAS (EH-puh-fras): The Interview by Mike Miller. It is the first in a series of four that will all feature a modern man named after an ancient Biblical character, who serves his church by leading a small time 'Men's Group.'</div><div><br /></div><div>A murder mystery and a love story are interwoven throughout the first book.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here is a link to my new Facebook page called "The Epaphras Series." I hope you check it out!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MillPages1/" target="_blank">The Epaphras Series</a></div><div><br /></div><div>Mike</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED.
Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-5421290194824432932021-07-31T20:41:00.001-05:002021-07-31T21:16:18.574-05:00REMEMBERING in HELL<div><br /><i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>What is a life without memory? "I forgot" is the kind of answer <i>I</i> would give to this question; you'll have to come up with something better than that! But truthfully the real answer is "not much." I say that because I have a memory like a steel...sieve! Some things are caught in it and retained, but so many other things that I thought would be too big to ever be forgotten have slipped through and are, sadly, forgotten. </div><div><br /></div><div>I only know this because once in a while my wife or one of our grown kids will bring up a noteworthy event that they are cherishing and I find myself wracking my brain and then maybe conjuring up the bare framework of a figment of a vague image and an obviously dubious "oh yeah" just so they don't think I don't care. How frustrating! More often I get to give out with an authentic "OH YEAH!" and I can rejoice in the shared memory as it comes back to me with corroborating fullness and more details from my perspective of the moment. Now THAT IS satisfying!</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course there are some days and actions and decisions and words and even periods that I would like to forget about, but that to my detriment. It's not always good to cast such memories away because I might also then discard the important lessons learned from those episodes. By forgetting it all I might lose the repentant heart or the vital course correction, or sacrifice the improved relationship that followed if my hurtful misstep lead to a growth in intimacy. (Without remembering the fights, then the highly esteemed make-up sex would only be remembered as regular-sex, after all!)</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Now I had better get to the subject before you remember that I talked about sex!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">So in life we either have the joy of remembering everything important and worthy (good and bad) or we suffer the debilitating burden of losing the visions of old as buildings are hidden in a rising fog. I have confidence that in heaven my memories will be perfectly restored just as my aging body will be back in its prime, and then some. The sad and bad memories will be seen under the bright lights of forgiveness and restoration, and God's grace in Jesus will be magnified. No problems there.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">But what of memory in hell? Those who reject God for whatever reason they may give would not want to be in His heaven so naturally they will not be forced to go there. They will live forever without Him, in hell. The first reaction to finding oneself in hell would probably be regret. It is not a fitting place to dwell for even the most anti-God zealot simply because it is everything opposite of God; opposite of good.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The regret would be intensified and magnified with every memory the person carries into hell with them. If every memory is restored to the mind of the recalcitrant, as I believe it will be in the eternal mind of the repentant, nothing but pain and sorrow will be brought to mind of those in hell. Their best times in life will now be remembered as obvious evidence of God's grace and the worse memories will only be seen as continual indicators of their own foolishness and sin.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>PSALM 34:16<br />
the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.<br />
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED.
Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-81176624097879669402017-04-20T00:30:00.000-05:002018-06-29T11:16:39.651-05:00QUIET in HELL<i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br />
<i style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></i> Jesus made this declarative statement about his Father, our God:<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Mathew 5:45</span><br />
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QUIET, it seems to me, is like rain and like sunshine. Is the sun good? Or bad? How about rain? Is rain good or bad? I think we can all think of times when both sun and rain can be a great blessing or a terrible curse. Either one can wreak havoc or be a critical life saver. QUIET too can be either/or.<br />
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"Getting away from it all" is often an important goal. People sometimes need a break from the business and turmoil of life; from the hubbub and racket of machines and traffic and, yes, people. So a nice quiet place with maybe only a bubbling brook and a little breeze in the trees offers the perfect background music for relaxation and recovery.<br />
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But then again, getting closed in alone in a muffled elevator with nothing to hear but the berating thoughts of a guilty conscience can be torturous. Or worse, lying in bed in a dead QUIET house, wide awake and only wishing for some distracting noise or even a mild uproar to stifle the drama going on in your head. (I wonder if studies would show that deaf people tend to keep short accounts with their friends, being sure to quell the voices of guilt and bitterness and jealousy that the rest of us can more readily counter with NOISE.)<br />
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In HELL, I suspect, the only QUIET times are of the bad kind. Absolute silence of an unknown duration that does nothing good, but only fosters those haranguing indictments that can not be denied. Not a stillness that lets one "rest in peace" (there will be NONE of that in HELL!) or a quiescent purposeful dormancy, but a bare boned exposure and amplification of every thought.<br />
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Out of respect for our standing as independent creatures, made in his image, God only speaks to us in hushed, beseeching tones, and hopes we will listen. He tells us of himself through the magnificence of the material world he created, and waits for the one logical response. He answers our deepest questions in the QUIET form of a book, and only invites us to read about his ways.<br />
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One day such quality QUIET times will be unavailable. After a terrible windstorm, an earthquake, and a raging fire, God finally got through to Elijah in a gentle whisper. We should keep our ears perked up for that small QUIET voice of God, for he wants to save us from the forever badgering voices of guilt and shame that will plague those in HELL forever.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">For he says,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">“In the time of my favor I heard you,</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">and in the day of salvation I helped you.”</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><b>I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"> 2 Corinthians 6:2</span></div>
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?</div>
Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-66985437744335750442017-04-19T00:30:00.000-05:002017-05-01T13:01:53.831-05:00PRIDE in HELL<br />
<i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br />
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<br />The number one sin. The first sin. The worst sin. And the polar opposite of perhaps the most foundational virtue, humility. Humility allows one to listen and to receive from God what he says is needed (forgiveness and salvation). PRIDE works in the antagonistic direction. It is diametrically opposed to any consideration of God's perspective. Like "the lust of the eyes" and the "lust of the flesh," the PRIDE OF LIFE originates with the world and only supplants God.<div>
<br /><br /><span style="color: #990000;">For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 1 John 2:16</span></div>
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Instead of the Lord's Prayer, here is PRIDE'S prayer:<br /><div>
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"Our imaginary friend, who really is nowhere, forgotten be your name. MY kingdom come! MY will be done; here in my house and everywhere I go. You can't give me anything, and I won't give you anything. I will never forgive you for anything, but hold your nonexistent self in contempt instead. Nothing is wrong, so there is no "temptation" to avoid, and I will deliver evil wherever I go."</div>
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And it is this spirit that speaks ever louder and more powerfully into the ear and out the mouth of those in HELL.</div>
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Psalm 36 speaks to our PRIDE.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #990000;">1 I have a message from God in my heart</span></div>
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concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:</div>
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There is no fear of God</div>
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before their eyes.</div>
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2 In their own eyes they flatter themselves</div>
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too much to detect or hate their sin.</div>
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3 The words of their mouths are wicked and deceitful;</div>
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they fail to act wisely or do good.</div>
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4 Even on their beds they plot evil;</div>
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they commit themselves to a sinful course</div>
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and do not reject what is wrong.</div>
</span><br /><br /><br />PS After further analysis, I have concluded that my milk pouring is not all I cracked it up to be.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED.
Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?</div>
</div>
Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-7535909284407032882017-04-18T09:21:00.000-05:002017-05-01T09:22:44.789-05:00OPINING in HELL<i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br />
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My biggest fear, in writing these posts on HELL, is that the ideas offered and the perspective given are merely an expression of another fallible and foibled person (me). Of course any time anyone opens his or her mouth, or puts ideas out by pen or keyboard, they are taking responsibility for what is expressed. And I do. That's why I am scared. I do not want to be responsible for any misleadings or false teachings or OPINIONS which might misrepresent the truth about God or his order.</div>
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Misrepresenting God by the pushing of faulty OPINIONS can readily cause someone to "stumble." Here we see that each of the 3 synoptic Gospel writers share what Jesus had to say about the seriousness of such a mistake.</div>
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<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+18:6&version=NIV">Matthew 18:6</a><br />
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.<br />
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<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+9:42&version=NIV">Mark 9:42</a><br />
“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.<br />
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<a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+17:2&version=NIV">Luke 17:2</a><br />
It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble.<br />
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Mathew went on in verse 7 to suggest stumbling would indeed happen, and to warn us to be careful with our assertions. <span style="color: #990000;">"Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come!"</span><br />
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This is why I try to reference a voice from The Bible in each post. Please call me out if a thought expressed here is not either backed up directly in Scripture, or easily inferred. Or if my inferences are flawed.<br />
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I think we suffer much from pushed OPINIONS. We have a new name for the phenomenon of mere OPINIONS being disguised as established fact: "Fake news." We stumble enough on our own without being mislead or encumbered with anything extra-factual.<br />
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But HELL, I think, will be filled only with untruth. Jesus said that he IS truth, so there will be only the opposite in HELL. Only OPINION. Which of course leads only to argument and dissension and bullying and hate. One aspect of HELL will be like being sucked into a Facebook comment thread where absolutely nobody can even present a fact and where no rules of logic can be used (they are too much based on truth). So yeah, like a Facebook comment thread!<br />
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What a horrible place to dwell in forever!<br />
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?</div>
Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-63357030243674616612017-04-17T08:37:00.000-05:002017-04-30T08:39:44.746-05:00NARCISSISM IN HELL<br />
<i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br />
<i style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></i> <i style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></i>
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<span style="text-align: center;">In case you think this post is "all about you," let me set you straight. It's all about ME! </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">You may be projecting a sarcastic voice into that last statement of mine, but alas, no. Too often--as in ALWAYS--I approach the day with that very ME-centric attitude. "How will the weather effect ME? today? Will anybody interfere with MY plans today? Nobody better have an accident and be lying there dying on the highway when I am trying to get to Walmart!" That last one may be a stretch (there is always another Walmart in a different direction), but you get the point.<br /><br />It's bad enough here and now to be so NARCISSISTIC, but can you imagine that tendency growing in power and strengthening in its particularly selfish focus FOREVER? I feel a certain relief when I put someone else over my considerations. But that will never come in HELL. There will be no pause in the self-torment. Like Gollum falling into the molten mountain with that precious ring in his hand, we would go into HELL obsessed with our own vain wishes. Wide-eyed with expectations and desire for self-fulfillment, but only and always being burned by the hot lava of reality engulfing.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">It will one day be too late to repent. TODAY is the day of Salvation. Now, let God empower the change from doomed sinner to forgiven and saved sinner with a promised eternity of celebrating Him, and of sharing a beautiful fellowship with the like-minded.</span><br />
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<br /><br /><span style="color: #990000;">"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves," Philippians 2:3</span><br /></div>
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-67786010183706955262017-04-15T13:28:00.000-05:002017-04-24T13:29:41.135-05:00MURDER in HELL<br />
<i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br />
<i style="text-align: center;"><u><br /></u></i>
<span style="text-align: center;">Who goes to HELL? The MURDERER or the MURDEREE? Sorry, but that's a trick question. The answer is maybe both or maybe neither. </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Our salvation, or lack thereof, does not depend on our actions. A MURDEREE who has never repented of his sins and found forgiveness in the saving work of Christ for his soul does not get a free pass--he is not redeemed-- by being MURDERED. We can not save ourselves by good works nor are we saved by being wronged (even extremely).</span><br />
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And one of us who commits MURDER may still repent, while he still lives, and be saved from HELL! Not that God our judge can ever be fooled by a "jailhouse confession." He looks into and reads our hearts; discerning the authentic from the contrived. This truth may seem objectionable to some who would cry "Unfair!" at the thought of a killer getting off Scot free, But they need to think about it from the other side. "If God can forgive a MURDERER, he can certainly forgive ME of my little sins!" This is truly good news!</div>
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A problem is that so many people think that God is fully obliged to punish MURDERERS, AND that he is then duty bound to let the rest of us non-MURDERERS into heaven. As if we could corner him like some high school teacher and convince him to grade us on a curve! While it is true that some sins are worse than others, and will be judged more harshly, it is also true that every sin is equally damaging to our relationship with God and egregious in his sight.<span style="color: #990000;"> "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23</span></div>
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NO sin will be allowed into heaven, and therefore must be confessed and repented of so the sinner can be cleansed of even the most trivial, but still very real, transgression. The verse above delivers very bad news to those who would claim immunity from sin, but it continues with very good news for those who can admit they "fall short" and would seek forgiveness: <span class="versenum" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"> </span><br />
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"and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." </div>
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Romans 3:24</div>
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But in HELL? A MURDERING spirit will live on and on. Though there will be no deliverance, for there is no death in HELL. Just as there are many people here and now that "live" in a perpetual state of having died to life, all those in HELL will go on, not so much as the "living dead" but more as the "dead living."</div>
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED.
Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-31887584708061275792017-04-14T09:00:00.000-05:002017-04-24T09:03:11.603-05:00LISTENING in HELL<i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br />
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LISTENING is one of those things we all try to do for our friends and loved ones, but is so often a struggle. "I HEARD you," he will say, but then she counters with "Yes, but were you LISTENING?" We are often reminded of this important distinction. LISTENING starts with hearing, but means so much more.<br />
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We do the same thing with God. Although with him, because he does not confront us face to face but rather in spirit, we go so far as to deny even the hearing part! We pretend we don't even believe he exists despite the fact that: <span style="color: #990000;">"what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them." Romans 1:19 </span><br />
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God speaks to us through our consciences, to start. Society may try to challenge us to prove what we say is right or wrong philosophically, but that is a mere distraction from the truth each of us can directly perceive. (Isn't any particular philosophy actually just the collected conclusion of someone else's conscience, anyway? Better to weigh and consider your own.) It IS enough to say "I know because I know that I know." Better to LISTEN to that voice now, and to follow its lead than to deny it and be forced to admit its validity in the end. Refusing to LISTEN is the sin that will lead many into HELL and leave them there with nothing to hear but their own delusions.<br />
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Paul went on in Romans 1 to explain what happens after denying God's message.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." Romans 1:21</span><br />
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But what will become of LISTENING for those who choose HELL? I hate to say it, but perhaps part of being in HELL will be an eternal obligation to LISTEN! If hope is the interval between a promise and its fulfillment, then HELLISH hope is just the vain wish for any promise other than the guarantee of continuous and worsening trouble. "My ears are burning." will be more than a clever metaphor, when people are longing to LISTEN, and futilely straining to even hear the tiniest sound of fellowship or contact or interaction. <br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">"Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance" Proverbs 1:5</span><br />
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED.
Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-54904138772322740912017-04-13T10:57:00.000-05:002017-04-24T15:58:19.116-05:00KILLING in HELL<i style="text-align: center;"> </i><br />
<i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">God's greatest understatement may very well be found in Romans 6:23 where He tells us that</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;"> "the wages of sin is death." </span></span></div>
<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></span><span style="text-align: center;">Perhaps there is much more expressed in this short verse than the brutally honest and absolute statement of finality we find on the surface. I wonder if </span><span style="text-align: center;">it also means that there is KILLING in HELL. Or to put it another way; HELL is KILLING. </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Think about all the things you know and love that can die. We typically lose our parents to death. Worse; we sometimes lose our children first. Our pets regularly die long before we are ready. We are stunned at times when a favorite celebrity passes away as if their fame should have made them invulnerable to the same ravages of sin and time that will bring each of us down in the end. And we are even double-stunned when two or three of them die in one week.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">But there are things even more precious to us than entertainers. And closer to our hearts than the mass of foreigners gunned down or bombed or caught up in some accident or natural disaster. Have you ever experienced the death of hope? It had always been there--sometimes weak and thready, but at least present--and then it was gone! Perhaps you are familiar with the KILLING of laughter. With no more humor in your life, whether banished from the outside or from within, you have suffered a terrible death.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">There is the KILLING of zeal and ambition, of plans and dreams, and of games and goals. Many suffer the KILLING of physical abilities: Death to sight or hearing or locomotion or even freedom from constant pain. </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">The end of a marriage for any reason brings a dearth of so many good things. It is like a KILLING of fellowship, of camaraderie, of sexual comfort, of partnering and even of sharing chores. No more doubling joys and halving burdens. </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Both in heaven and in hell, people will be living in glorified bodies that are perhaps more spirit than physical. But these bodies will be real and material enough to enjoy eternally the good fruits of heaven or to suffer the KILLING nature of HELL forever. There is no reason to think that hell will eventually bring an annihilation of the soul. It will endure forever in the KILLING FIELD known as HELL, where everything good that one has ever known and cherished will die in turn. In John 10:10 Jesus said<span style="color: #990000;">: "</span></span><span style="color: #990000;">The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."</span> <span style="text-align: center;"> Choose life in Him--ever growing and vibrant--or the process of death--forever and ever destructive.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Remember the verse from Romans we started out with? Yes, "the wages of sin is death" but this verse has a wonderful ending! </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000;">"The wages of sin is death, BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23</span></span><br />
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-77204054749088832902017-04-12T17:19:00.000-05:002017-04-21T08:28:08.903-05:00JESUS in HELL<i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br />
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I didn't see that title coming either. "Jesus? In HELL?" Well there is a Biblical suggestion that, at the time of his resurrection, Jesus "descended into hell" for the purpose of setting prisoners free. In the sense that there probably were, in <a href="https://www.gotquestions.org/sheol-hades-hell.html" target="_blank">hell</a> (or, Sheol--"the place of the dead" which is different from hell), some number of people who would have desired, and would have accepted the Good work of salvation accomplished on the cross, if only they had the option before death, then yes, Jesus would have made it possible for them. The "whosoever" offer of salvation referred to in John 3:16 is not just for you today but is a universal truth that covers every generation of mankind. (I quickly add that I am not suggesting people who decide they do not like hell can simply <u>opt out</u>! Only that the ones who God knows would have chosen repentance and belief in Jesus, do get delivered from the future eternity in HELL.)<br />
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But I am not writing about that mysterious episode. In fact, a more accurate title to this post would be "NO JESUS in HELL." If you are prone to resist JESUS; if you are sick of hearing the name; or if you would rather societies everywhere act to banish his memory, his followers, and even his spirit; then you will finally get your wish, in HELL.<br />
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Now before you start celebrating this fact and declare that at least HELL has one redeeming factor, remember the warning from the guy rescued from Dark Island in "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader:"<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;">“Fly! Fly! About with your ship and fly! Row, row, row for your lives away from this accursed shore. This is the Island where Dreams come true.”<br /><br />“That’s the island I’ve been looking for this long time,” said one of the sailors. “I reckon I’d find I was married to Nancy if we landed here.”<br /><br />“And I’d find Tom alive again,” said another.<br /><br />“Fools!” said the man, stamping his foot with rage. “That is the sort of talk that brought me here, and I’d better have been drowned or never born. Do you hear what I say? This is where dreams–dreams, do you understand–come to life, come real. Not daydreams: dreams.”<br /><br />There was about half a minute’s silence and then, with a great clatter of armor, the whole crew were tumbling down the main hatch as quick as they could and flinging themselves on the oars to row as they had never rowed before; and Drinian was swinging round the tiller, and the boatswain was giving out the quickest stroke that had ever been heard at sea. For it had taken everyone just that half-minute to remember certain dreams they had had–dreams that make you afraid of going to sleep again–and to realize what it would mean to land on a country where dreams come true."*</span><br />
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Considering that all things good, that any possible positive, that each joy and every delight was conceived, created and given by Him, then HELL is the strikingly opposite of JESUS. It's one thing for me to list off the excruciations of hell and warn of its perpetual active scourges, but the open question today is "Which is worse?" Perhaps the absence of all things simple and sweet, soft and kind, lit and lovely, gentle and good; (of all things JESUS) will be the heavier anguish to bear.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:3-5</span></div>
<span style="border: 0px; font-family: "georgia" , "bitstream charter" , serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br />*Read more: <a href="http://www.quotesquotations.com/narnia/the-voyage-of-the-dawn-treader-quotes.htm#ixzz4epTbQYWZ" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; color: #003399; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.quotesquotations.com/narnia/the-voyage-of-the-dawn-treader-quotes.htm#ixzz4epTbQYWZ</a></span><br />
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?</div>
Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-90611030879800798582017-04-11T00:30:00.000-05:002017-04-20T16:35:29.434-05:00IDOLATRY in HELL<br />
<i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Are you picturing the poor sap moving into his shabby, forlorn apartment in hell? He lets out a sigh as he stumbles in, tripping over those darn chains shackled to his ankles: "I'll have to get used to these things quickly!" he says aloud. and then begins to look around. Deciding to "make lemonade" out of this sour state of affairs, his first goal is to find just the right nook to set up the idol he brought with him; that dear friend he has loved and been devoted to all of his old earthly life. </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Not! In reality (as I imagine it) the idol will be there, but it will no longer be the complacent object or passive focus of attention it was content to be all of those years on Earth. Now in hell, the idol, or more to the point, the IDOLATRY, will aggressively act out its given position as the hell-dwellers god. Inasmuch as it was always given the place rightfully belonging to God, it now exerts the authority of God. Now the symbolism of the cardinal letter "G" is rightly applied to what was once only vying for a place in the spotlight of man's attention. The IDOL will have become a vicious tyrant. And instead of being posed and giving you a nice place to bow before it, it will spend eternity inventing ways to berate and depreciate you.</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">There have always been stone or wooden idols: Objects created by men who were eager to direct that inner knowledge of their own created nature away from that good understanding, toward the presumptuous illusion that they themselves were the creators! IDOLS were made and set up to take the place of the real God and to replace the real nature of man's need for humility and repentance. </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Modern man is not so honest. Instead of material objects, we prostrate our lives before ideas. Or we devote ourselves to programs and policies. We let the few years of our lives be digested by "entertainment" and "amusement." Ultimately, we set our own selves up to be IDOLS, and then continually bow down trying to slake our own self-made demands for gratification!</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Paul tells the Colossian believers that greed is IDOLATRY and he explains what must be done with such dangerous IDOLS. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature:sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Colossians 3:5</span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">They must die. If they are not killed here and now they will live on and on. We IDOLIZE some of those things listed above, hoping to be satisfied by them. But think about this: when the tables have turned, and your IDOL is finally given the place of the true and fully enabled GOD you only pretended it to be, the very sins you have chosen and elevated and IDOLIZED will be your uninhibited rulers.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"> 2 Cor 6:16</span></div>
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED.
Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-71803849640516690132017-04-10T12:43:00.000-05:002017-04-18T20:33:09.006-05:00HATE in HELL<i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">Don Adams, as Maxwell Smart, spoofed James Bond so well in the classic 1960s TV show "Get Smart." You just gotta love it! Which...is like the opposite of HATE. But HATE has its place. We need it to hate it, as the psychologist character in the video has just explained.</span><br />
<span style="text-align: center;"><br /></span> <span style="text-align: center;">I think we will agree that there are in fact</span><span style="text-align: center;"> plenty of things worth HATING. I hate when I drop my pizza on the ground...face down! I hate snow plows when they come by and leave a giant berm of snow across my driveway just when I have to leave for work! I hate misunderstandings, and I hate lies and I hate fake news. I hate the devil (My Mom once told me that was OK.), and his evil (HATEFUL) plots to distract us from a relationship with God.</span><br />
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Finally. I've hit upon the ultimate good purpose for that vile feeling. To HATE what is evil. All that is evil. All corruption and transgression and lawlessness are worth HATING. Proverbs 6 tells us of 7 things "the Lord HATES":</div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">There are six things the Lord hates,</span></div>
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a heart that devises wicked schemes,</div>
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feet that are quick to rush into evil,</div>
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a false witness who pours out lies</div>
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Do you feel the ire rising up within you at the thought of each of these activities? I do. As God does. We would all be better off without them, and one day, we can be. "Without them," that is. In heaven, there will be humility instead of haughtiness, truth instead of lies, no violence or scheming, no evil to rush into nor any reason to lie, and no possibility of stirring up conflict! Nothing to HATE.</div>
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In hell, on the other hand, there will be nothing to love! Everything said or done or felt or thought will only be always HATEABLE, as well as HATEFUL. And every act of HATE will be met and answered (and raised) with more HATE. Can you remember the one time (or the worst time) when you felt an overwhelming flood of HATE toward someone? Such a wrenching outpouring will be magnified over and over in hell until the HATE itself will be a combustible thing that may actually be the very fire of hell. It will flow both ways, and always be burning as much whether being given or being taken. People in hell are prisoners of torment, but they are also the perpetrators of hell's flames.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">Psalm 11:5 The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked, those who love violence, he hates with a passion.</span></div>
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?</div>
Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-74654828287317791862017-04-08T17:36:00.000-05:002017-04-10T17:37:43.818-05:00GUILT in HELL<i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br />
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"But of course," you say. If hell is really real, there will be guilt there. Yes, and nothing but guilt.</div>
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The general idea that people can earn salvation is widespread. Many otherwise "Christian" denominations even offer a kind of works-based way to heaven. They say that if we are more good than bad we are safe; if we perform a certain quota of sacraments, or meet the penance standard we will make it. Islam too teaches that if a man is at least 50% good then he <u>may</u> cross the line successfully. (Although they say Allah can still choose to to go with his impersonal whims. Even Muhammed, just before he died, was unsure if he had earned his way into paradise.)</div>
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But the GOOD NEWS is that our salvation is a free gift. Either we take it or we don't. We are all GUILTY and will suffer the consequences<span style="color: #990000;"> (The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23)</span> ...unless we take the free gift! This is the only "unless" available, but it's a doozy! There are no good deeds, good works, good looks or good vibes required. </div>
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Will you argue that admitting you are a sinner, confessing your sin, and then maybe nodding your head in agreement with God and declaring your willingness to...<i><b>choke</b></i>...receive the gift, are all a big pile of good works? If so, then I will admit defeat and you can say that you do in fact have to do a few things. After all, they may seem like minor or trivial things, and although they are not as outlandish as, say, the killing of infidels, these tokens of humility truly do represent a gargantuan sea change to a life otherwise known for sin. But please, just do them! </div>
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This is the only way for your GUILT to be removed. God will not abide any portion or strain of GUILT in his presence. When asked, he will cover it by the rich sacrifice offered on your behalf at the cross of Jesus Christ.</div>
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Let the GUILT go to hell where it belongs. The place where those who insist on keeping it will bear it forever and ever. Those who plead "GUILTY" may be exonerated or forgiven, but those who insist on declaring their innocence, denying all truth, will only be convicted.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">Exodus 23:7 Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for<b> I will not acquit the guilty.</b></span></div>
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-59840227298406431482017-04-07T12:11:00.000-05:002017-04-20T16:34:42.723-05:00FORNICATION in HELL<i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br />
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As if there will be anything like human interactions in hell! Anything like sexual fulfillment or even the unseemly and incommodious satisfaction of a conjugal visit! No. I do not believe there will be sexual pleasure in hell. Simply because sex is one of God's greatest ideas and one of his best gifts. None of which will exist in hell.</div>
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Mankind's perversions of sex, however, will abound. Shall I provide a list? Or do they readily spring to mind? They can all be broken down and recognized as evil spirits, I think, and these will thrive and infest hell. I do not mean to refer to "evil spirits" in hell which are actual demons. They will be suffering their own dire fates and not be gaining any satisfaction as tormenters. But I mean something far worse. The spirit by which one's sin is exercised and directed. For example, we talk about an element of our society called "rape culture." That brutal spirit of thievery and abuse; of overwhelming with raw power. That spirit will thrive and teem in hell. </div>
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There is a spirit of adultery. We know the violation as a grievous affront to one's marriage partner by one partner having sexual relations with someone else (Prohibited by a wise God in the 7th Commandment). Jesus taught that this technical definition did not really cover what God had in mind when he gave the prohibition. He said that if someone even looked at another with lust in his heart he was guilty of adultery. If a guy "would if he could," then he was in violation. (What wife doesn't recognize and agree with this truism?) </div>
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FORNICATION, though it does not violate any human marriage vows, stands as a trespass to the 7th (Do not commit adultery) Command because in the spirit of the order, is a message to us regarding the special nature of our sexual privilege. This gift is not meant to be spent recklessly nor selfishly. It is to be revered and reserved for that time and for that one person we are ready to commit to. In this sense, a transgression of such a commitment can occur either before or after the wedding.</div>
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But the infringement on God's plan of singular devotion will certainly play out and be extremely exacerbated in hell! Who in hell, who has already proven they have no allegiance or attachment to their creator, will care to hold fidelity to any other entity? People in hell do not become loyal followers of Satan, if for no other reason, than because "loyalty" or "fealty" represent another of God's good things that simply can not appear in hell. </div>
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No. There will be no gathering or "partying with friends" in hell, where no hint of friendship and no taste of fellowship or camaraderie will ever appear. Only a constant effort to dissociate from God and instead to bond with any other spirit (FORNICATION) will futilely occupy each soul in hell forever.</div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">Exodus 20:14 You shall not commit adultery</span>.</div>
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<i><span style="color: blue;">ENVY<br /><br />noun: a feeling of discontented or resentful longing aroused by someone else's possessions, qualities, or luck. <br /><br />verb: desire to have a quality, possession, or other desirable attribute belonging to (someone else).</span></i><br />
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It's hard to imagine a sin that will more likely abound in hell than ENVY. The longing for some relief, for something better than what is being experienced there, is only natural and obvious. And since those who go to hell are absolutely bound to bring their sin with them--unforgiven, uncovered and uninhibited--the "discontented and resentful longing" will flourish wildly.<br />
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Of course, God always expected us to grow and improve, to make gains and to advance. He told Adam and Eve to <span style="color: #990000;">"be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." </span>Sometimes people see these instructions and react strongly against them, but I think that is only because we know the sinfulness of mankind (because we know the sin in our own hearts). We know nothing of a world or a civilization without the impact of sin on its history or its relations or even its geography.<br />
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Without ENVY and its ilk, such as COVETOUSNESS, we would have been fully capable of "subduing" the earth and "ruling" over it without any undo or objectionable consequences. Look at this definition of COVET, which was actually prohibited emphatically in the 10th Commandment (Exodus 20:17).<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">COVET</span><br />
<i style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; text-align: left;"><span style="color: blue;"><br /></span></span></i> <span style="color: blue;">verb: to desire wrongfully, inordinately, or without due regard for the rights of others:</span></div>
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If only we could set out to grow and improve and prosper without being prompted to take unfair advantage, by the likes of ENVY! And if only those choosing hell could escape its ongoing ravages. But the spiteful and venomous fruit of ENVY will only "grow, and improve, and prosper" into eternity.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">Exodus 20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.</span></div>
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<br /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></span> <i style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "roboto" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-style: normal; text-align: left;"><br /></span></i> By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?</div>
Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-41545709753103126562017-04-05T00:30:00.000-05:002017-04-13T17:00:07.625-05:00DESPAIR in HELL<i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br />
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In the introduction to this series, I asked you to imagine that hell is real. Now I want to ask you to really stretch your imagination and try to picture something absolutely impossible. Try to picture the slightest trouble, in heaven. I know, right? Inconceivable! But let's try.<br />
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Heaven is better than earth, true? Of course. In fact, it is said that life on earth is both the believer's hell, and the heaven of the unbeliever. So the good things of earth will at least continue in heaven, though they are more likely to improve dramatically in wonder and beauty and goodness and joy etc. etc.. One of the good things that will continue for the believer in heaven is God's Word. Jesus said that his Word "will never pass away."<br />
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So if there WERE any trouble in heaven; any sad remembrances of our sinful past, any obstacles or traps, any pains or anxieties; we would be able to bring our concerns straight to Jesus, but of course, ever more directly than we do now when we are burdened with the like. Here are a few examples of casting cares upon the Lord from Psalm 25.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">"Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me for you are good, O Lord." Psalm 25:7</span> We can talk to God about anything, now and in heaven.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">"My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare." Psalm 25:15</span> We have nothing to dread, neither here or in heaven.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">"Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins." Psalm 25:18</span> If even now, while still habitually inclined to transgress God's standard, we can call upon him for relief of every worry, in heaven, we will forget all about <i>burdens</i> and just shrug our shoulders in confusion if such a word comes up in a game of Scrabble!<br />
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In hell, not so much. If Dante was right, and the inscription over the entry to hell does, in fact, say "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here," you might take it as a challenge to your self-reliance and thus endure for a few centuries without DESPAIR, but it will come. For every chance you have now or would have had if you had elected to repent and accept God's forgiveness, to talk freely with the Creator, you will then be regretting fully what was forsaken. The chance to bring any burden to the Father will be forfeit. There will be no going back, no return, no second chance, no possibility of parole, and no hope.<br />
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We think we know something of DESPAIR because sometimes the pizza is burned or the Internet crashes, or the car crashes, or a bomb explodes or a tornado strikes. These are just a tickle compared to the DESPAIR worn and carried and intimately enwrapped about those in hell.<br />
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-79955608927649907482017-04-04T16:06:00.000-05:002017-04-26T12:44:31.943-05:00COMPLAINING in HELL<br />
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<i style="text-align: center;"> Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i><br />
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Do you think you will COMPLAIN if you are refused entry into heaven and end up in hell? Not necessarily. But if you live a life full of COMPLAINING, if your friends and family find that there are very few other platforms from which you speak, then (IF you refuse the forgiveness offered in Jesus Christ!), yes, you will COMPLAIN in hell.<br />
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The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to the church in Philippi, and included in his good counsel is this gem: <span style="color: #990000;">"Do everything without grumbling or arguing..."</span> Would that today's church (and people everywhere) would heed this simple and sound advice! In heaven we will. Heed the advice, I mean. Because in heaven, all of our sinful ways will be left outside the gate. The struggle to obey will be done, and the victory over all corruption will be won!<br />
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But, if hell is the opposite of heaven we can assume that everything done in hell is done <b>with</b> grumbling or arguing. Not just the disparaging COMPLAINTS against God and his sovereign judgement (No VALID arguments against him will be made, by the way); not just faux "legal" arguments claiming innocence etc.; but EVERYTHING in hell will be done with grumbling!<br />
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Think of your most bitterly, constantly COMPLAINING friend who you can barely accompany to any event or non-event. It drives you nuts, and no amount of good news rebuttal gets anywhere with such a person. But multiply that habit by a million, set it aside where it will only grow and gain unmitigated power, and let eternity begin. The COMPLAINING spirit will be monstrous.<br />
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Hell is the place where the minor sins we sometimes laugh about, albeit with a cringe as we walk away relieved, become the very tools of torment we would suffer under.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">Number 14:27 </span><span style="color: #990000;">How long will this wicked community grumble against me?</span></div>
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Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-9788995139574368952017-04-03T07:29:00.000-05:002017-04-04T10:36:28.998-05:00BOASTING in HELL<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i style="text-align: center;">Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i></div>
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I was fixing myself a bowl of cereal this morning and as I poured the milk I realized that I very seldom have a drinkable remnant of milk to slurp up after the sodden flakes and banana slices are gone. Somewhere from the recesses of my mind (perhaps because I've been thinking about this posting, but not necessarily) came the thought: "I am pretty good at estimating the right amount of milk to put in the cereal." And then...."Who should I tell?" LOL! Of course, it was shame and embarrassment which followed next, but I was sadly impressed with how easily I slipped into BOASTING mode! (But pouring milk does just happen to be a big part of my skill set.)<br />
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By the way, the idea that someone saved from his sinfulness by the work done on the cross by Jesus Christ will never sin again is terribly incorrect. We are freed from the bondage to sin. From the slavery of sin. From the overwhelming proclivity to sin, but even being saved by grace and forgiven, we are still able to shun the right, and to choose the wrong. Thankfully, as God's Spirit led me to immediate acknowledgment and confession of my wrongful interest in BOASTING, he prompts us and nudges us and helps us to escape from the temptation to sin. And forgives us in Christ when we fail.<br />
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Back to the subject? Sure.<br />
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The Bible has a lot to say about BOASTING. And it's not all bad. I may BOAST in the love God has shown me but only in as much as He shows it to all of us because such "boasting" then reflects upon Him. I may BOAST in the character and accomplishments of my kids, as long as I am being truthful and encouraging, and I am not just trying to blow my own horn. Proverbs 27:2 says "Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips." So I may "OtherBoast" (praise), but not "SelfBoast."<br />
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We people have one major tendency to wrongful boasting that God was very determined to help us avoid. When someone recognizes their need for salvation, they often follow up by attempting to save themselves by setting out to perform some type of "good works" lifestyle. But if we could do that, can you imagine the swaggering approach we would make to those Pearly Gates? What a horrible heaven that would create! But we are saved by grace!<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, <b><i>so that no one can boast.</i></b> Ephesians 2:8,9</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span> I think BOASTING is one of those sins that we can readily detect, and despise, in other folks, but are less likely to find within ourselves. We don't want to because we know it is so wrong. In fact, Psalm 94, as well as James 4, tell us that BOASTING goes hand and hand with evil.<br />
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<span style="color: #990000;">They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers are full of boasting. Psalm 94:4</span><br />
<span style="color: #990000;">As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil. James 4:16</span><br />
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It may also be hard to imagine people walking into hell and still BOASTING. Perhaps we think someone who was determined to avoid humbling himself enough to be saved by the Cross will suddenly repent and regret that decision when facing hell, but I don't think so. The arrogance that refuses salvation by grace will only grow worse after conviction. Like the murderer who screams out from death row "I'll get you for this!," the BOASTER in hell will make some inane claim to fame. "I am more depraved and more deprived of anything good than the rest of you!" </div>
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Let us repent now. In the light. Choose grace and after spending the rest of our lives growing in Christ and growing little buds of good fruit, then let's move to heaven to spend eternity flowering and producing and enjoying unimagined blessings instead.<br />
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Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-17276220765951585912017-04-01T16:37:00.000-05:002017-04-04T07:32:57.375-05:00ANGER in HELL<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>Did you see the INTRODUCTION to this A to Z series? Check it out <u><a href="http://millerwrites.blogspot.com/2017/04/an-to-z-introduction-to-hell.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</u></i></div>
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I can just hear the response to this headline. "Of course there's ANGER in hell! Who wouldn't be angry if some cruel god threw them in there for no good reason?" But I'm not talking here about that anger, which will actually be more of a delusional self-justifying, fist-shaking-at-God hubris. We may get to that later in the month. I'm talking about the kind of anger you feel and express when the driver in front of you turns abruptly without signaling, or stops too quickly, or doesn't move fast enough, or turns into your path too suddenly.<br />
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Or the anger you feel when it starts pouring down rain just when you have to get out of the car. Or when your printer is out of ink. Or when you stub your toe or step on a lego. When you take a minor, innocent incident personally, and instantly claim that your right to go on unbothered has been unjustly violated!<br />
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If you're a person who can't accept the impact of nature or of nature's God or of others who, like yourself, are created in God's image but are fallen into imperfection, then you will reject God's offer of justification and forgiveness. You will never know the peace He has in store for you, and will not be able to allow others to enjoy such a treasure. In such a state, ANGER is truly guaranteed and unavoidable.<br />
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And it will be with you in hell, always.<br />
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If hell is a place without God, which it is, by definition, then there will be no sign of the good effect his spirit has on us here and now (when we allow it). No conscientious needling to lead us to back down from road rage into embarrassment; no meddlesome guilty remorse to keep us humble when our anger carries us down the wrong accusatory trail; and no eruptions of sorrow to reign us in when an outburst is more hurtful than intended. And that, because there will never be any limit to the intended hurt!<br />
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The point I want to make here has to do with the sad corollary of the old adage "Practice Makes Perfect." If persistent practicing of free-throws leads to a near 100% accomplishment on the court, what will an eternity of rehearsing totally uninhibited angry outbursts do to the soul? In as much as heaven is a place where the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5) are ever growing and multiplying in us, so hell is a place where the rotten fruit of our sinfulness is only putrifying and metastasizing forever and ever.<br />
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We can choose now whether we want to experience love, joy, peace, etc. and go on and on with these gifts developing more and more into such wonderful manifestations that can not be imagined now; or cling to our sins--rebuffing forgiveness!--and let them overpower and torment us increasingly and eternally.<br />
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<b><span style="color: red;">HOSEA 7:2 Their sins engulf them.</span></b></div>
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-40251007716183497922017-04-01T15:27:00.000-05:002017-04-07T16:16:14.701-05:00An A to Z Introduction to HELL<br />
Let's pretend you believe in hell. I don't need to pretend because I do believe in hell. The Bible talks about it; Jesus talked about it quite a bit. Plus, it makes sense. It doesn't make me feel good, but there are many real and nasty things out there which make me feel bad. If it's real it's real. To proceed with this discussion then, just pretend that you believe it exists.<br />
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So what's it like?<br />
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Let's never mind about the devil. Hell will indeed be his place, not to manage or operate or use for his sadistic delight; nor even for him to "dwell" in as some kind of suitable habitation for one of his ilk, but it will be a place for him to suffer in, with the ever-painful realization that he rejected his creator God. We know he will be thrown there. That part is settled. But what about you? Will you choose to go there?<br />
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I know that sounds funny. "Who would CHOOSE to go to hell?" you say. But when we die, we don't stand at the door and choose smoking or non-smoking (that used to be a thing), paper or plastic, red state or blue state. Rather, all the while we are making decisions like these in life, we are also in the process of deciding on heaven or hell. It may or may not show on the surface of your life--in your association with or without religion; in your words and deeds; or even in your thoughts. But down deep in your heart, where only God can truly look, your chosen "bent" is clearly seen.<br />
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Think about this question: If you found reasonable answers to all of your intellectual and cultural objections to trusting in God, would you? Or would that internal bend still refuse to lean toward Him? If you are not immediately responding with a "YES!" then the answer is "NO!" and you know it.<br />
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The A to Z posts this month will try to envision a life in hell. An ongoing, eternal and ever building process of "life" in that place without God, but full of you. The Bible says that right now if we struggle at all, we struggle against "the world, the flesh, and the devil." I propose that in hell, all three of these enemies will be rendered moot. There will not only be the incredible absence of God, as Jesus felt on the cross when he cried out "My God, my God! Why have you forsaken me?", but there will be no "world," no "flesh," and no "devil" to contend with. But worse. There will be the sinful you.<br />
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The series opens on Saturday April 1st with "ANGER in HELL."<br />
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED. Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-37838676105467740982016-09-03T20:04:00.000-05:002016-09-03T20:19:20.571-05:00The INDIGNANT Jesus!<br />
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A quick search for the word "indignant" in the Bible shows the word is used 8 times in the New Testament. The disciples were INDIGNANT with each other at times because of jealousy; the leader of the Synagogue was INDIGNANT when Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath; the chief priests and teachers of the law became INDIGNANT when people worshiped Jesus more than they reverenced their authority, or when Jesus was worshipped "too" extravagantly. But when Jesus Himself was INDIGN<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;">ANT on two different occasions He showed us that such a response should be reserved for those times when an obvious truth is violated.</span></div>
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<span class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: inherit;"><br />The time His disciples stopped a bunch of kids from jumping on Jesus' lap, Jesus became INDIGNANT and said “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."</span></div>
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<br />But an even more potent, yet subtle, message is given by Jesus' response to a man who was hoping to be healed of leprosy, as we read about in Mark 1:40,41<span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px;">. </span></div>
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<span class="text Mark-1-40" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: blue;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">A man with leprosy</span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 24px;">came to him and begged him on his knees,</span><span class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-24256AZ" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-24256AZ" title="See cross-reference AZ">AZ</a>)" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.625em; font-size: 0.625em; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;"></span><span style="line-height: 24px;"> “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;"><span class="text Mark-1-41" id="en-NIV-24257" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">Jesus was indignant.</span><span class="text Mark-1-41" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="line-height: 22px;"> </span></span><span style="line-height: 24px;">He reached out his hand and touched the man. </span><span class="woj" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">“I am willing,”</span><span style="line-height: 24px;"> he said. </span><span class="woj" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;">“Be clean!”</span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"> </span><span class="text Mark-1-42" id="en-NIV-24258" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span class="versenum" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22px; position: relative; top: 0px; vertical-align: top;">42 </span>Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed.</span></span></div>
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<br /><br />The man had faith in the POWER of Jesus, but not in His GOOD WILL, and Jesus was INDIGNANT at the idea that He might possibly not be willing to share His healing touch! Perhaps what made Him upset was the idea that the expectation the man had was based on the common perception of the religious leaders of the day. They did have some power to do good for folks, but were typically so selfish and disinterested in using it for the good of anyone.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This speaks volumes to me about the great love and mercy that God is not only able to bestow on us, but absolutely willing! Let's not doubt His authority over all of our ills. And let's not hesitate to ask Him for the help He so generously wants to give!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED.
Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-48825747394728965502016-04-09T11:07:00.000-05:002016-04-17T11:16:06.665-05:00H is for HEALTH and H is for HAMPERED<div>
People always say that the most important asset in life is their own good HEALTH. I beg to differ, but that is what they say. And the next thing? They do not want to be HAMPERED. Well, I've never ever heard anybody say that, but these are the "good" and "bad" H words for today's A to Z Challenge, so please just play along.<br />
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Do you want a great promise to hold close? Before you answer, consider the fact that it does come with a few conditions.</div>
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1) You can't "be wise in your own eyes."<br />
This might be tough for more than a few of us.</div>
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2) You will have to "fear the Lord."<br />
We have talked about this theme before but yes, to receive the promise mentioned above, you will have to give it a go.<br />
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3) You will have to do your best to "shun evil"!<br />
Another toughy, but here is the vital and coveted prize so valued by so many:</div>
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<span style="color: red;">Do not be wise in your own eyes;</span></div>
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fear the Lord and shun evil.</div>
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This will bring health to your body</div>
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and nourishment to your bones.</div>
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<span style="color: red;">Proverbs 3:7,8</span><br />
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Good health and strong bones are in the offing. Go for it!</div>
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The promises continue here in chapter four, but a couple of good things there are framed as a lack of bad things. These couple of bad things will be missing from the lives of those who "listen" to the Lord, and "hold on" to His instruction.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;</span></div>
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when you run, you will not stumble.</div>
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<span style="color: red;">Proverbs 4:12</span></div>
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We all have come to understand exactly how this works. We have been children under authority or we have been the authority (or both), so there is no big mystery. When a kid doesn't listen to his folks, trouble follows! Either they suffer the plain and natural consequences of not following some safekeeping instruction, or they are directly punished for the disobedience. But when they, or we, choose to obey instead, life seems to flow so much better, without stumbling, and without being HAMPERED.<br />
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"I know, Lord, how easy it is to think I am so wise, and to listen to my own voice telling my own self how smart and all knowing I myself am. Help me instead to recognize that YOU have the wisdom, and then to seek it!"<span class="indent-1" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "verdana" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px;"><span class="text Prov-4-12" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box; position: relative;"><br /></span></span>
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED.
Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?</div>
Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-74511462288943082022016-04-08T18:52:00.000-05:002016-04-11T18:54:22.823-05:00G is for GUARD and G is for GALLAm I saying that we should GUARD our GALL? I don't think so!<br />
But these are the two G words I found in the Bible's book of Proverbs for today's post in the April A to Z Challenge.<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Above all else, guard your heart,<br /> for everything you do flows from it.</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;">Proverbs 4:23</span></div>
<br /><br />How simple. And how profound. There is nothing else I can add to this verse to flesh it out. Except to say, don't bother to GUARD your GALL; GUARD your heart. <br /><br /><br /> <br /> When does something as sweet as honey become vile and bitter? No this is not a riddle, but the answer is found in the middle of the passage below.<div>
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<span style="color: red;">My son, pay attention to my wisdom,<br /> turn your ear to my words of insight,<br />that you may maintain discretion<br /> and your lips may preserve knowledge.<br />For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,<br /> and her speech is smoother than oil;<br />but in the end she is bitter as gall,<br /> sharp as a double-edged sword.<br />Her feet go down to death;<br /> her steps lead straight to the grave.<br />She gives no thought to the way of life;<br /> her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red;">Proverbs 5:1-6</span><br />
Quitting on God, or separating oneself from the good bonds of fellowship with one's Creator, will only lead to the worst form of sorrow and despair. There is no need to pound the podium and speak of fire and brimstone here; it is enough to warn of the simple tragedies.<br />
Consider having your mouth taste only bitterness. And to recline, but only on a sharp doubled-edged sword. Every step leads only toward death, and only after tangentially touching upon wayward and darkened attractions along the way. What a hell we must by default choose, if we deliberately forsake our God.<br />
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"Open the eyes of my heart Lord, that I may see you."</div>
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED.
Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?</div>
Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2854368132599759565.post-12850334530917452802016-04-07T09:57:00.000-05:002016-04-09T10:00:07.907-05:00F is for FEAR (of the Lord) and F is for FOOLThis is the first time both of my chosen letter words appear in the same verse! And there they are perfectly juxtaposed concepts. Too bad they might both be considered "trigger" words in today's culture.<br /><br />The FEAR OF THE LORD phrasing is often scoffed at by those who wish to resist God's influence in their daily lives.<br />
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"See?" they say. "What kind of a good god would want us to FEAR him?" They have entirely forgotten that as teenagers in trouble they absolutely "feared" their good loving parents because they knew their parents cared enough to impose necessary discipline on them. That they even felt sorry (at least internally) for the kids whose parents didn't care enough to come down on them, because they could see that those kids were going to end up either in jail or dead.<br />And they forget that as those same kids had kids of their own, they set out determined to be sure their own charges would respectfully FEAR them as well. Failing to foster such a FEAR directly leads to so much societal trauma today.<br />Please give the phrase FEAR OF THE LORD, the benefit of the doubt. God does not want us to feel terrorized by Him, as the Devil might (once he has beguiled us with loving lies, and we are under his malignant thumb). But He does want us to respect his authority and stature (as, you know, the Creator of the Universe and everything in it) and listen to His instruction, and that, just for our own good!<br />
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<span style="color: red;">The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,<br /> but fools despise wisdom and instruction.</span><div>
<span style="color: red;">Proverbs 1:7</span></div>
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Calling someone a FOOL is also questionable today, so I won't do it. But God can. The book of Proverbs is full of verses that compare those who seek WISDOM with those who do not. The latter group are labeled FOOLS, by God.<br />One might rephrase this verse to say that "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but the denying of God's authority is the beginning of FOOLishness. </div>
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You've been here before but can not figure out how you keep coming back to the same fork in the road: Once again you must decide if you will humble yourself just enough to acknowledge that you are not God, and that He is, or...claim with hubris and high self esteem that you really are "all that" and have no need of God's love, mercy, forgiveness, provision, direction or WISDOM.<br />Choose Him and discover the joy, or choose yourself and, for as long as you do live, expect Him to keep bringing you back to that fork for another chance to make the right choice.</div>
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"Thank you Father, for loving us so much that you do not coerce us to choose you, even though you know there is no other viable option. But by your grace you continually stand and wait for us to come home to you, where we will find every good thing we can ever want or need."</div>
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By the way...MILLERWRITES copy is COPYRIGHTED.
Why cut and paste when you can simply copy the link?</div>
Millerwriteshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00362226574347191886noreply@blogger.com0