Yeah, appreciate your prayers (and Jesus' too).
Wow, what an honour to be able to
hang with him. God help me to follow through.
To grow up, as you planned, to be like you.
Yeshua of Nazareth, started walking this Earth in the skin & bones of a human body roughly 2,022 years ago. …For his followers 2,022 years later (of which I am one), there are special issues that need to be dealt with in the wake of his call, and then the advent of Christendom's re-interpretation of it to be just more of the same ol' story of humans trying to gain and show their ascendancy over the inanimate world, the biological world, and other humans. A simple story of conquest, and power-mongering, for the sake of "getting our own way", "getting what we want", "fulfilling our desires"; quite a different story to the multidimensional one he stars in, where he ends up praying, while sweating blood, the night before he is hanging on a Roman cross, "Please take this "cup" from me. But nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done."
It seems like we have to hear carefully what he said and meant by his words, and actions, and carefully distinguish these from our default understandings arrived at through Christendom's help in re-interpreting…
The disclosive & predictive words, parables, actions, & interpretations of the Hebrew Bible (& Greek translation of it) and the prophets of God who helped recall it, display & disclose it, & interpret it to God's people. (e.g. Luke 24:44-47 GNTD, Hosea ( 1:6-10); as back-ground that Paul (Romans 9:24-26) & Peter call on to explain God's present actions, Isaiah that Phillip (to the Ethiopian official, Acts 8:29-36) & Paul (Romans 9:27-33) calls on to explain Messiah, and his people etc.
The stories of the four (Greek language) gospels, each told to a different audience with honesty, pathos, intentionality, and skill. His (words and) actions of accepting (and facilitating) hospitality, bringing healing, fraternizing, story-telling, and basically wasting his life on ordinary (cursed) people, and standing against demonic influences, ,& standing against, hiding from, and keeping out of the reach of the human leaders; until his time came to let them show their hands, in torturing and killing him, (as with all the line of previous prophets) for their own purposes, while all the time demonstrating simple yet profound trust in the greater creater. (See the first 5 scrolls of the N.T. & Peter's & John's explanations (e.g. "..God will bless you for this, if you endure the pain of undeserved suffering because you are conscious of his will. It was to this that God called you, for Christ himself suffered for you and left you an example, so that you would follow in his steps. … when he suffered, he did not threaten, but placed his hopes in God, the righteous Judge."1 Peter 2:23, "..if we say that we remain in union with God, we should live just as Jesus Christ did." 1 John 2:6, & 1 John 2:24; 1 John 3:16-18)
"Come & see" which Jesus said to two of John's disciples who were already (physically) following him(, & which Phillip then said to Nathaniel too).
"Follow me". By which I take Jesus to mean "Start where you are at, I will come near. Then, physically join my travelling team, be provided for by me, and my ways of trusting God, and being open to his provision through many means. But more than that learn from me, my words, my understanding and meanings, my approach to life, my motivations, methods, and means. Make me your model."
“Sell all your belongings and give the money to the poor." Luke 12:33 GNTD & Peter's interpretation of what Jesus was calling his followers to:
"Since Christ suffered physically, you too must strengthen yourselves with the same way of thinking that he had; because whoever suffers physically is no longer involved with sin. From now on, then, you must live the rest of your earthly lives controlled by God's will and not by human desires." 1 Peter 4:1-2 GNTD
Take on "suffering" rather than comfort, knowing that all your real needs will be provided for.
"Announce my evangel to all creation", & testify to what you really do know and have seen of God's work in, and through Jesus, and in annointing Jesus, & out of Jesus's spirit's motivation of love, persuade them to join you in a response of changing their life-direction to do the will of God (rather than to just fulfill their own desires), and trust his leadership, that offers forgiveness and hope for a real future (Mark 13:10, Mark 16:10, Mark 16:15, 20; Luke 24:47, Acts 1:4-5, 8), & "appropriately and in a timely fashion throw out demonic influences that array (against, or for, it)." (Jesus to apostles Mark 3:14-15; Mark 6:7, 12-13; & Paul with demonized fortune teller lady).
“..I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20, which I understand to mean: "Make disciples of all the nations, by going, teaching them to obey my commands, and the symbolizing of their death to that old way of living (for our desires) and being raised up to the life of God's new creation, filled with the personality, or spirit, or personal presence of Jesus.
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