Tag Archives: faith

Gender XYZ (Page 3 of 4)

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Flesh vs. Spirit

“For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”
(Galatians 5:17 NIV)

On the following page we will study the subject of spiritual warfare, but before that, let’s look at how the spirit and flesh are two separate bodies. The physical body is visible while the spiritual body is unseen. The physical body is temporary, and the spiritual body is eternal. The spiritual body is created in God’s image. God is Spirit. (God made Himself visible in temporary flesh over 2,000 years ago to be the final priest and final atonement sacrifice so that we can have direct access to God for covenant restoration conversation.)

Parents don’t need to teach the physical body how to grow. They can guide nutritional eating and healthy lifestyle habits, but they are not involved in choosing the physical attributes of their offspring. Parents can however aid in the spiritual growth of their children. They can encourage spiritual connection to God and be an example by listening to God in prayer, studying the Bible, and living in obedience to the will of God. They can display the fruit of the Spirit that is evident when walking with the Spirit of God and under His anointing.  But, if instead, a child is raised to prefer worldly ideas to God’s will, they will not mature spiritually and will likely abandon any connection to God.

“Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:5-8 NIV)

Invisible Spirit (God’s Image)

•“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24 NIV)

•“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image…’” (Genesis 1:26 NIV)

•“and the dust returns to the ground it came from, and the spirit returns to the God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7 NIV)

•“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV)

•“So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44 NIV)

Breath of Life Scriptures: (from adjacent page)
Genesis 1:30, 2:7, 6:17, 7:15, 7:22; Job 12:10, Job 27:3, 33:4, Isaiah 42:5; John 20:22

“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you.  And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.” (Romans 8:9 NIV)

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Gender XYZ (Page 2 of 4)

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The Gender Reveal:
God knits together the physical body in the mother’s womb using the parents’ DNA. The decision of male or female gender is exclusively God’s to make as He creates the child in the mother’s womb. God sovereignly chooses the key identity characteristics of each person. It’s not by chance. It’s by design.

“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” (Psalm 139:16 NIV)

With sonogram and blood testing technologies available, expectant parents can know the sex of their unborn child even before the baby is fully formed. However, the gender of the child is never a surprise to God. God chooses the physical and spiritual body of every individual. He doesn’t make mistakes nor is He ever unsure of His plans.

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.” (Psalm 139:13-15 NIV)

Flesh Versus … :
“See now that I myself am he! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.” (Deuteronomy 32:39 NIV)

God is sovereign over life and death, both physical and spiritual. Let’s look at the physical body first where male and female characteristics are most obvious. The physical body is created by God in our parents’ likeness while the spiritual body is created in God’s image. God is Spirit. The spiritual being will either go to Heaven or Hell (as determined by God) when the physical body dies.

God breathes the “breath of life” or the spiritual being (created in God’s image) at birth. The spiritual being is separate from the physical being and is not part of the reproduction process. The physical body dies but the spiritual body is eternal.

•“The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” (Job 33:4 NIV)

•“This is what God the LORD says—the Creator of the heavens, who stretches them out, who spreads out the earth with all that springs from it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it:” (Isaiah 42:5 NIV)

•“But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them.” (Rev. 11:11 NIV)

•“And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’”. (John 20:22 NIV)

“Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7 NIV)

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Why Catholics Are Not Christian

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*Christians would never bow down to Mary or dead saints. We are expressly told to bow to only God. (Please don’t try to tell me that Catholics aren’t actually bowing to Mary when they pray to her. They are actually talking with the dead when they ask her or other dead saints to intercede.)

*Christians confess their sins to God and receive forgiveness from Him. Catholics get absolution from priests. Completely the opposite of going to God directly as afforded by the cross.

*Christians do not call pastors “Father”. Catholics call their priests “Father”. I can only imagine how that offends God.

*Christians do not participate in Ash Wednesday rituals. There is no mention in the Bible about that cultish practice.

*Christians do not believe that the communion emblems actually become the body and blood of Christ. All of the bread/cracker or juice/wine elements are bought (can you say “Walmart”?) not handed down from Heaven. Yet, the Catholic church and the denominations founded from it, believe that a priest must bless the emblems and personally feed it to the congregants. Christians believe that the emblems are symbolic and take Communion as memorial pieces to the price paid to give us direct access to God.

*Even the Christian Bible is different from the Catholic Bible.

*The Catholic cross still has Christ hanging on it while the Christian cross depicts Christ’s resurrection with an empty cross.

Let’s add to this. What other differences are there between Christianity and Catholicism?

Would God Harden That Heart?

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The words “But the LORD hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go”* are devastating. Is that saying what I think it’s saying? Why would God purposely harden the heart of our adversary when we’re trying to escape captivity? Was God also wanting to change a captive heart from apathetic to motivated?

In my own life, just as I was learning to hear God’s voice and obey, it seemed that God hardened the hearts of many key players around me. I didn’t know it at the time but I was living as a captive. God hardened those hearts against me to force me to rise up and learn to walk free. Certainly there were no visible chains holding me, but the mental chains were real. If the church said that God doesn’t speak, then who was I to dispute their lies? If the church said that women weren’t anointed by God to lead, wasn’t I supposed to just shut up and sit pretty? Seriously, how dare I think that God had chosen for me to escape the captivity of bogus church traditions and false doctrine?

In hindsight, I can thank the Lord for making me a fighter through those hideous hardened hearts of my betrayers. I can tell you with confidence that God has chosen me to dispute the false teachings in the church and to boldly proclaim that women can receive every anointing from God as He decides.

I’m ok with that hardened heart of the opposition because God is on my side preparing the escape plan even now. Remember that He used ten plagues against Egypt when they tried to hold His people captive. Perhaps God is a bit of a show off in hardening their hearts. Rise up beloved and follow God to the promised land.

*Exodus 10:27 NIV

Identity Proud!

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I proudly identify as an American. I’m not ashamed of my country’s heritage. This nation was formed for God’s purpose of freedom from religious persecution. The pilgrims were a small group of Christians who settled on largely uninhabited land. Rewritten history is being sold to our children and causing them to be ashamed of their homeland.

There are over 2 billion acres of land in the United States of America and over 6 billion acres on the North American continent. When the pilgrims first settled here there were about 60,000 indigenous people. There were only about 100 pilgrims in the first settlers. I can do the math, if you can’t. So please stop believing that our Christian ancestors came over here and stole from the Indians. There is absolutely no reason that on 2 billion acres of land that they could not have peacefully coexisted. There are bad apples in every tribe and people group. The devil and spiritual forces of evil are real. Spiritual war is real. We cannot discount that many of the settlers and indigenous people were friendly and worked together to form a more perfect nation.

God chose for me to be an American. I choose to honor Him by having pride in His choice. He chose for me to be born a female. I honor His choice. He chose for me to be “white”. I honor His choice. He chose for me to be this age. I honor His choice. He chose who my parents and siblings would be. I honor His choice. He chose the number of children that would be born to me. I honor His choice.

God chose for Christian pilgrims to arrive in America. Will you honor His choice? God chose for this nation to be a place free from religious persecution. Will you honor His choice? God chose to accept leadership in forming the Constitution of the United States of America. Will you honor His choice?

I’m not god, nor are you … honor God’s choices! In God We Trust!

Hindered Vision

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Yes, ignorance can be bliss, but also sometimes knowing more can be useful or powerful. I had a learning experience this weekend that put previous experiences in a different perspective. Listen, this learning experience didn’t come easy and I really should let you have to endure a similar one without giving you the final lesson plan, but maybe I learned it for both of us. So here goes …

I started the Spring Break weekend with back pain. It was that obnoxious lower back ache that dulls the desire to do anything useful. However, an earlier lesson with back pain resulted in me learning to use a tennis ball to self-massage the trouble spot. But it only seemed to dislodge what in hindsight was likely a kidney stone or stones. It was uncomfortable in the back but much more severe when it moved to the front. I spent the weekend with moist heat and Tylenol as my only friends. I watched way too much useless television and napped more than should be permissible.

So where’s the lesson? The lesson was revealed to me upon awaking this morning. The stones have seemingly passed and I was able to accomplish a few tasks, including laundry, yesterday. When I was going through the pain and suffering, I asked the Lord what was the purpose for it. I admit that I asked every question possible and only the Lord could have the patience needed to deal with me. The Lord said that I had done exactly His will and that this was not punishment. Forgive me for not believing that answer. But that was His answer. Big bully is what I really thought! He was patient in my affliction.

The lesson came in our early morning conversation today. He reminded me of the five senses: sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. If I was without one of the five senses the other senses would be heightened to make up for the diminished sense. For example, if I were without sight, my hearing would likely become more aware. It’s like when we were youngins. New sights, sounds, and tastes were exciting and developed our discernment for color, texture, pitch etc. Alternately, as we age, our senses diminish gradually with impaired vision, hearing, taste, and more, also affecting our perspective. We don’t need to dwell on that because that’s not the central focus of this lesson (says the aging lady writing this).

So what in the world does that have to do with kidney stones or any other trial that we go through? I often equate hardship with discipline or punishment from God and sometimes let’s face it, that’s true. Ask Noah about everyone who got wiped off the planet in his day. But, God said of this particular hardship that it was not discipline or punishment. Some trials are to better position us or to equip us. That doesn’t make them more fun as we’re going through them, but at least there isn’t a punishment event going on. God was being rather quiet about all of it until this morning when He reminded me of the heightened senses. So why kidney stones?

The kidney stones forced me to be inside and alone. They forced me to not accomplish the to-do list in my head. They forced me to question my relationship with God. (Thankfully, that was in a good place.) The kidney stones forced me to see that I can take a day or two off without significant consequences. Maybe I can actually stop and smell the roses. I can’t take good health for granted. God has been pretty good at keeping me safe and healthy — when He wants to. I think that I gained insight about perspectives. When we are cut off from one perspective, we gain another.

I’m not sure that I described this well or even if I understand it fully. Maybe new wisdom will come as I mull this over in the days ahead. If you understand this from a different perspective, please share your thoughts. Maybe writing this will help us all.

Are You Spiritually Deaf, or is God Mute?

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It amazes me the number of Christians that I’ve talked to who don’t expect God to communicate with comprehendible words. They expect Him to communicate either through texts in the Bible, signs, promptings, or through another person. What is that all about? God knew how to speak words that were understood by the patriarchs and prophets. When did He forget how to speak to us?

A Christian should hear God speak to them in prayer every time that they pray. We should hear His voice each day, not once a week, month or year, but daily and throughout the day.

If you’re not hearing God routinely, something needs to be fixed in your relationship with Him. Are you seeking Him? Are you in covenant with Him as your one and only God? Does He trust your character and integrity?

I’m willing to teach you how to hear God’s voice in prayer, how to create a covenant relationship or restore a broken covenant oath. We must build God’s army if we are going to defeat the lies of the enemy. Please decide are you going to hear God or are you going to ignore Him. Of course, He already knows.

A Nation In Decline

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 Words delivered from God’s prophet, Tammie Edwards, on 1/21/2024. It’s between you and God what you do with this. Each numbered item was a separate post in sequence, delivered real-time on Truth Social.

1) If revival is going to happen, we must be risk-taking truth-tellers. We cannot accept the herd mentality that is so prominent in churches today. We cannot sit back and accept false teaching for the sake of maintaining a fake unity. God expects us to stand against the devil’s schemes, not to accept them in a feigned peace-keeping bravado. Have courage to speak God’s truth even if it hurts. That’s revival!

2) Hear God, speak truth, fight for justice, war against evil, expose lies, walk in the Spirit, don’t blend in. The devil wants to weaponize your compassion into accepting less. Isn’t that why revival doesn’t happen? Status quo isn’t cutting it! Stand in the destiny calling that God ordained for you. RISE UP!

3) Who wants the falsely accused and wrongly imprisoned January 6 hostages to be freed? I do! Will you and I use our voices to defend America and her patriots? Or will we sit back, blend in, and let someone else speak up? Have we been trained to shut up and accept less?

4) If you want to send shoe boxes full of dollar store toys over to other countries more than you want to free the January 6 hostages held by our own fake-elected government, then you’re not a justice and truth warrior. You’re a country club Christian. Wear that label. It suits you well!

5) Three years! They’ve been sitting in a jail cell waiting for patriot Christians to rescue them. The fake government threatens to arrest thousands more people who traveled to protest a fraudulent election. Meanwhile evil protesters can vilify Israel for defending herself on the same streets. They’re mocking you and threatening you to not rise up for freedom and integrity. Oh church how have you sat back and celebrated your own defeat?

6) Oh church, you’re pathetic. You choose to ignore injustice while you fast and pray for selfish wants. You don’t deserve to live in a nation where freedom reigns. You want captivity as long as it affords you comfort. You know that you have picked out your favorite seat in the aisle where you can smile affectionately at the pastor as though there is no injustice or evil. Yep, sit down and shut up. It suits you, ignorant fool!

7) They’re raping this nation, destroying her beauty and majesty, while the church sits idly by refusing to seek God. I want to vomit when I see your religious games and foolishness. You want to fast, then do it. You fat, lazy, ineffective captives. Take a selfie!

Isaiah 58:1-10 NIV: “Shout it aloud, do not hold back. Raise your voice like a trumpet. Declare to my people their rebellion and to the descendants of Jacob their sins. 2 For day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, as if they were a nation that does what is right and has not forsaken the commands of its God. They ask me for just decisions and seem eager for God to come near them. 3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you have not noticed?’ “Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers. 4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife, and in striking each other with wicked fists. You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high. 5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen, only a day for people to humble themselves? Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed and for lying in sackcloth and ashes? Is that what you call a fast, a day acceptable to the LORD? 6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter— when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.”