Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
When I think of God, I think of the creator of heaven and earth and all that is therein.
And the creation was created by God... by God speaking THE WORD. "Let there be light" ... and light appeared.
The things created were not created from other things that already existed. They were "a new creation", created by "The Word" God spoke.
Genesis 1 ... 1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3 And God said, Let there be light:and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good:and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Heb. 11 ... Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
Every living thing was created by THE WORD.
God spoke, it was done.
We, as "new creations", born again, changed from the old man we once were, are created a new creation by God speaking directly to us... and when this happens, we are changed instantly, born again, a new creation ... And God puts HIS LAWS into our hearts and our minds so we can know HIM. (New Covenant: Heb. 8 & Heb. 10)
We are now children born of God, born of HIS Spirit. As earthly children follow their earthly fathers and copy their parents doing what they see the parents do, we copy our heavenly Father because the Spirit in us which is now from God reveals God to us so that we can know what God wants.
Once we served ourselves, our own preferences and our own desires.
After we are born again, God is in us and we are changed. We no longer seek after those things we did before. We are new creations now.
The old man is dead ... we are resurrected into the image of Christ, THE WORD.
And as we live on this earth, we are changed over and over into the image of Christ as we encounter various situations of this life and choose the way that pleases God, the Father. As that little child copies his earthly father, we now copy our heavenly Father, doing HIS will.
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Recently I saw a portion of a TV series created by Ken Burns concerning the National Parks in USA.
They showed many breathtaking pictures of mountains and valleys and rivers and animals.
As I watched this, I rejoiced in that which God has made.
Some people worship the created object.
But I thought of God, the creator of these mountains.
Romans 1 ... 20 For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
We look at the sun, at the sky, at the stars, at the moon ... We see the creator as we look. We marvel in the works God made.
The God we worship is the God who created the heavens and the earth by HIS Word. It was not hard for God to do. He just spoke and it appeared. (Is anything too hard for God?)
And this God we worship is the Father of Jesus Christ, THE WORD, who at one point was made flesh and dwelt among us for a time in the flesh.
But Jesus has no beginning and no end. Jesus was with God before the world was created. And God created the world by HIM, by the Word.
Things I believe:
- Our God is the Father of Jesus, The Word ... and the Father of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Paul and this is God who created the heavens and the earth and all living things.
- Our God raised Jesus from the dead.
- Our God will raise us who belong to HIM from the dead.
- This present heaven and earth will be destroyed and the new Jerusalem wherein dwelleth righteousness will appear and there will be no evil thing in the new Jerusalem... all there will be pure as God is pure.
And I see all my beliefs confirmed when I read the Bible. These beliefs were put into my heart by God HIMSELF and are confirmed to me by Bible. But the beliefs are in my heart even before I read Bible. Because God puts HIS "laws" into our minds and writes them on our hearts.
Heb. 8 ... Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts:and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord:for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
Heb. 10 ... 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
God simply changes us. We don't do anything to earn this change nor to be worthy. God simply has mercy on us and at a point in time recreates us putting his laws into our hearts and minds causing us to have HIS Spirit, making us into a new creation.
Many people are taught by preachers. Some are changed by God as preachers speak. But some are changed without any preaching. God just changes them.
Each changed person is given, by God, HIS laws. God simply puts HIS laws into their hearts without any teaching at all. We are the children of the promise when that happens.
Romans 9 ... 15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.