The theme of my blog is in the scripture verse in the picture, Jeremiah 33:3, mainly because I began waking up and looking at my digital bedside clock really often at 3:33. It didn’t matter if I was working days or nights. One day I told my Dad about it and said, “I wonder if God is trying to get my attention.” That thought made me look up all the 333 scriptures in the Bible. Jeremiah’s one seemed to jump off the page.
There is another 333 scripture though,
Deuteronomy 33:3 Yea, he loved the people; all his saints are in thy hand: and they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words.
That verse reminds me of Jesus’ response to Martha when she complained that Mary didn’t want to help her in the kitchen and only wanted to sit at Jesus’s feet and hear what HE had to say. “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
Searching the Word of God for all the 333 scriptures rebirth something I had lost after becoming a “Born Again with God’s Spirit” Christian, a love and hunger for the Word of God. Instead of relying on a pastor or teacher to explain it to me, I wanted to know and understand it’s application as God intended it for myself.
This morning before I opened the first scripture of the day or devotional reading I prayed a simple prayer that went something like this. “Lord I come to You to read and digest Your Word. I want to have communion with You through Your Word. I ask that you help me to understand You better through it and that You teach me how to apply it to my life that I would walk in a way that honors You and would not make my testimony of You a reproach to others.
Well almost to my amazement the first app I opened was YouVersion and it was this,
The sacrament of communion that Jesus taught us to keep is in eating His Body, The Word that became Flesh. As I gazed at that verse of the day and picture associated with it I thought of the picture and verse for the Torah Portions I follow and study every week,
My thought for a moment was, “did the Holy Spirit lead me to pray that prayer that way before starting my Bible study time?” I then drop it and tried to give my full attention to God’s Word as I read, looked up words in Strong’s Concordance and in commentaries. At the end of my study time, the last two verses in the MyDailyBible devotional reading were, DailyPlan : one-year-tract : 2020-04-17 #Bible https://www.mydailybible.org/dp/esv/one-year-tract/2020-04-17.htm
1 Timothy 6:20-21 O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” 21 for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you. (ESV)
In Paul’s letter to Timothy, he warns many, many times about guarding the “doctrine” entrusted to him. Paul warns many times of deception that is already in the 1st century church. I know sometimes the ESV may be easier to understand but lacks the resources to study the words used and connotations of them so I read the chapter in the KJV,
As I read the commentaries on these verses, I learned that even while Paul was still alive there were those that were polluting the “sound doctrine” Paul earnestly warned Timothy to keep. One commentary mentioned of the word “trust” as if Timothy had been handed a piece of gold from Paul. Paul was expecting Timothy not only to “keep” it so as to guard it but to see to it that it remained undefiled, untarnished, highly polished. Paul was saying, “Timothy, when the day comes that you had this treasure off into the next “keepers” care, see to it that it is in the same glorious condition that I gave it to you.”
The commentaries mentioned that “gnosticism” had already crept in at the birth of the church age. I’m not a Bible scholar, so I had to research what gnosticism is. It is complex in a way but in simple terms it’s and adding to, a perversion of the simple truth of the Word of God by seeking your own “divine revelation” from God.
Maybe you are thinking, “isn’t that what Tony described when he prayed then thought he received a revelation that his prayer was lead by the Spirit?” Well no it isn’t. I didn’t ask God to teach me something that would be “special, divine revelation” just for me. I asked to help me understand His Word and apply it in my life for His Glory. Not so I could be “puffed up” with an inside track on the thoughts of God, a self proclaimed prophet. I have said many many times that it is only after the fact, that a confirmation from God comes, that then I begin to realize that just maybe my thoughts had been influenced by God’s Holy Spirit. Isn’t that exactly what being “Lead of the Spirit” should mean.
The times I believe God clearly and loudly spoke thoughts into my mind and I recognized them as “not my own.” were warnings and rebukes. “If you open that door, you won’t be able to close it.” I told the Lord one time, “Lord I would continue my fast until the Day of Pentecost if I thought it would help bring revival. Instantly the thought came, “what makes you think you’re the only one, I have a remnant seeking revival.” Another time, when leaving church, I looked at the roof of a mobile home that was being used as a school room. It was rusting and needed paint. I told my wife, “someone needs to paint the roof on that trailer.” The next thought was, “why don’t you paint it.” Soon after that I made arrangements with the pastor for when I could paint it. I believed God spoke that thought to me and I wanted to obey and honor it. Those are some of the exceptions for me.
For someone to “seek” after their own “divine revelation” from God is getting into dangerous territory. Paul warns of this in 1 Timothy 6,
2 Teach and urge these things. 3 If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, 4 he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5 and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment,
Paul warns of those that add to the theology of God’s Word, “irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” the KJV says, “profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:”
Science – G1108 – knowing (the act) that is (by implication) knowledge:
I think Paul is saying these people read more into scripture than what’s there. They assume something and build a false doctrine on it. If it’s a dog, it will bark, that’s a pretty safe assumption. But what if the doctrine says, “I know I’ve been in the presence of an angel because I found a feather where there shouldn’t be one. Angels have feather so I must have been in the presence of an angel.” They totally disregard every Biblical account of when a human was in the presence of angels outside of heaven, only on our earth. NEVER is there a mention of the angel having wings or feathers. Actually the Book of Hebrews 13:2 tells us that, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Don’t you think that seeing hugh wings and feathers on a human like being would be a dead give away that it would be an angel. Do you think the men of Sodom were even that perverted to want to have sex with men having hugh wings and feathers? Think about it.
There are those that go to services and in prayer time that say they see “gold dust” on their skin or falling down and say it’s the “glory of God” being manifest. There is only one mention of “Gold Dust” in the Bible. It is NEVER used to represent the manifest presence of God’s Glory. It is in the account of rebellion to God when Aaron made a golden calf and committed great sin. Moses ground down the golden calf to dust,
Exodus 32:20 Then he took the calf which they had made, burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder; and he scattered it on the water and made the children of Israel drink it. Powder – H1854 – to crush crumble:- beat in pieces, make dust
Gnosticism’s definition also speaks of the practise of seeking spiritual ascension into the heavenly spiritual realm. It’s trying to have an astral projection experience which is NOT Biblical. It says there are certain prayers that have been formulated that will propel you into spiritual encounters. While the Bible does mention some who have had heavenly, spiritual encounters like the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel, NEVER are we told to seek to have one. Again the Apostle Paul sets an example of how such a thing, if it occurs, should be treated. When he describe his time in the “3rd heaven” he tells it from the 3rd person, “he knew a man.” Paul goes on to say,
2 Corinthians 12:2-4 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know how such a man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows— 4 was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak.
But today, when someone claims to have an “out of body” experience they blab it in great details, even making light of being in the presence of God. “hey bro, Jesus,” but Biblical accounts have men falling as dead men in the Glorious Presence of God, even the beloved John whom Jesus loved. Spiritual discernment should be screaming at us, “Something Isn’t Adding Up” when compared to scripture.
I very seldom, almost never wake up to see 3:33 on my beside clock anymore. God knows He has my almost undivided attention. I write this with tears in my eyes. It took me so long to see. I can be so blind. At times I pray and ask God to even draw me a picture if I’m missing what He wants me to understand. For awhile I took screen shots of everytime I looked at my phone or gps and 3:33 was the time I happened to look. I even thought, “God, what do you want me to notice.” It was nothing. 3:33 had served it’s purpose.
Exodus 3:4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
The “angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush” (verse 2) burning was Moses’ 3:33. Scripture NEVER Again speaks of Moses searching for or happening upon burning bushes. Moses easily observed that God wanted his attention by seeing the “Angel of the Lord” in the bush, encompassed by fire, yet not consumed.
It took me awhile to search the scriptures to find what 333 could maybe mean, finally I realizes God wanted my undivided attention and dedication. God truly lit a fire in me that I fan not to allow it to go out. Since then, God’s refining fire and washing power of His Word in me has been changing but not consuming me from glory to glory.
Lamentations 3:33 For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.
Lamentations 3:22-24 It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
This Covid 19 thing and social distancing has made me take an interest in baking our own bread. You can do alot of things with flour and come out with a lot of different looking things called bread. Even after it’s baked, there’s a lot that can be done to bread that will totally change it’s appearance, taste and intention. This is a bread loaf I wasn’t very satisfied with and some cinnamon rolls I made that turned out excellent. This morning I tried to spruce up my sorry bread loaf, a little like what some people are doing with the Word of God they think needs some “sprucing up” to make it palatable or relevant in our time.
It’s a dangerous thing to add to or take away from the Word of God,
Revelation 22:17-20
17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
Ask God to light His Holy Refining Fire in you too. You’ll NEVER regret it.
In The Word 