Pastor John,

I keep thinking about that wonderful verse from Isaiah 9:7 that we read Sunday morning: “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end…”

It’s the same reason that God cannot lie.  When He speaks, He creates anew, so there is no end to anything He does.  It’s not possible to see the end of what God can do!  Whether it be new government, new feelings, new thoughts, new experiences…it’s the only thing with infinite, eternal possibilities because He is the ONLY one that can create anything.  It’s so exciting!

Wendy S.

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Pastor John,

You know what is really incredible and overwhelming to me? Between reading the Remembers (F&S Remembers, 29) for the Father and Son book and reading the Synthesis book, Jesus was still willing to die for the few that will be saved in the end, despite knowing that many more people would successfully dilute the vitality of the Spirit with ceremony/false doctrines. 

Jesus really is good to us. He was good to us, even before our time here on earth—and after, if we obey Him.

Wendy 

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That’s a good observation, Wendy.  The whole story, rightly seen, shows the love of God for His chosen people.

Pastor John

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Yes!  And I was thinking two things after coffee this morning:

1. What Damien said about how it’s different when you’re dealing with people who have received the Spirit but there’s nothing to talk about. When people have the Spirit and have chosen to walk in the flesh, they have rejected God AND his children who still have fellowship with Him.  So, that’s why it’s so difficult to be around them.  We’re supposed to have conversations based on fellowship, but it’s severed. 

2. God and Jesus don’t want to be alone in Heaven. There’s no way for that to happen without fellowship with God’s sons and daughters.  They don’t want to be alone, they want us there!  They want us to be together with them, here and ultimately in heaven. 

It is really all about the love of God for us. 

Wendy

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https://youtu.be/7vidtmSn5-4?si=97J8WfcrTdrzollU

Aw Pastor John, I do not know who could not love you after seeing this!  Your children are very blessed to have such a sweet daddy! 

Beth

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Pastor John,

This morning, I was thinking how, when I was a young person, I was taught that living right was a matter of being good versus being bad—being a good person who behaves godly versus being a bad person who behaves like Satan.

But that is not it – not in the kingdom of God on Earth.  

The warfare for God’s people is the warfare of being good, as the flesh sees it, versus being holy, as God sees it.  Or being a self-willed person who does what humans consider to be good things versus being a person divested of self and doing the will of God as the Spirit of God inside them leads.

In Matthew 19:21 (KJV), Jesus told the young man, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”

The internet commentary for that verse says: “In this verse, Jesus is telling a rich young ruler to let go of his possessions and give to the poor in order to be justified and inherit eternal life.”

But that is not the point of the verse.  That explanation is based on the flesh’s idea of what is good.  Giving to the poor is a good deed, but it doesn’t buy justification in God’s sight or eternal life.  The man could have sold all he had and given it to the poor and had treasure in heaven, but if he didn’t follow Jesus as Jesus commanded, he never would have seen that treasure.

Jesus wanted the money to be out of the young man’s way so he could be free to follow HIM!  The point wasn’t the money.  Ungodly men give millions to charity and are on their way to hell right now.  It is the “following Jesus” part that must be accomplished in this life, and that can only be done by putting ourselves on the altar with Jesus and being filled with his Spirit so it can live through us and lead us home.

Jerry

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Morning Pastor John,

I have my coffee in my hand and my mind on Jesus!  I have slowly soaked up the verses on faith, and I am sad there are only 225 of them.  I don’t want them to end.  The last 25 made me sing, “Amen!”

And I am loving Hebrews 11! 

Heb. 11:1 Now, faith is the certainty of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Heb. 11:3 By faith, we understand that the worlds were created by an utterance from God, so that things that are seen were not made from visible things.

I love that! Things that were seen were not made from visible things but by an utterance from God!

Heb. 11:4 By faith, Abel offered a better sacrifice to God than did Cain, by which he was borne witness that he was righteous, God bearing witness to his gifts, and by it, he, being dead, still spoke.

Heb. 11:5 By faith, Enoch was translated so that he did not see death, and he was not found because God had translated him, for before his translation, he was borne witness that he pleased God.

Heb. 11:6 But without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Heb. 11:7 By faith, Noah, having been warned of things not yet seen, moved with fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that is by faith.

Heb. 11:8 By faith, Abraham, when he was called, obediently went out toward the place which he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out, not knowing where he was going.

Heb. 11:9 By faith, he lived in the land of promise as a stranger in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, joint-heirs of the same promise,

Heb. 11:11 By faith also, Sarah herself, though past the age, received strength to conceive seed and gave birth, for she considered Him faithful who made the promise.

Heb. 11:13¶ These all died in faith, not having received the promises; however, they saw them far away, and welcomed them, and confessed that they were foreigners and pilgrims on the earth.

Heb. 11:17¶ By faith, when Abraham was tried, he offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his uniquely begotten son

Heb. 11:20 By faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

Heb. 11:21 By faith, Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and he worshipped, leaning on the head of his staff.

Heb. 11:22 By faith, Joseph, nearing the end, made mention of the exodus of the children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones.

Heb. 11:23 By faith, Moses was hidden for three months by his parents after he was born because they saw he was a beautiful child, and they were not afraid of the king’s decree.

Heb. 11:24 By faith, Moses, when he was grown, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,

Heb. 11:27 By faith, he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he persevered as though he saw Him who cannot be seen.

Heb. 11:28 By faith, he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest the one destroying the firstborn should touch them.

Heb. 11:29 By faith, they passed through the Red Sea as if on dry land, which the Egyptians attempting to do were drowned.

Heb. 11:30 By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down, after being encircled seven days.

Heb. 11:31 By faith, Rahab the harlot did not perish with the disobedient after she had peaceably welcomed the spies.

Heb. 11:33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions,

Heb. 11:39 And these all, given a good testimony because of their faith, did not receive the promise,

Heb. 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him, endured a cross, despised the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Heb. 13:7¶ Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God; imitate their faith, considering the end result of their manner of life.

Reading all those verse, I could feel a surge of …I don’t know, just a surge!  It feels wonderful, so I thought you would want to read them with me.

Love,

Beth!

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Pastor John,

I will soon finish translating the Broadcaster titled “Martin Luther: The Midwife”, (https://x.com/WitnessofSpirit/status/1852381046345490599) and this sentence towards the end really hit me:

“It is the distinctive family trait of Christianity to lure men (…) to join the church.”

It has brought to my remembrance something that happened to me 24 years ago. I had a powerful experience, a dream that basically turned me from an atheist into a believer overnight. When I woke up from that glorious dream, first of all I knew it was more than just a dream. I knew something very real had just happened to me. Secondly, from that moment on I knew in my heart that God was real. So what I did is I wrote a letter to a Christian lady (American) who, a couple of years earlier, was my English teacher in high school, and whom I trusted more than anyone else I knew at the time. I let her know what had happened to me, and she wrote back to me, encouraging me, telling me about Jesus, etc. She also told another former English teacher (also from the U.S.) about my experience, and this other former English teacher had friends in a church in Budapest that she used to attend.  She wrote to someone at that church, and a few weeks later I got an e-mail from this person, who invited me to one of their meetings.

What came to my mind, while reading and translating this Broadcaster, is what my initial reaction was to her invitation.  I remember I wrote something along the lines of “I want to seek God for myself.  I don’t necessarily want to go to any church.”. The point being, I had just had a real touch from the real God, I wasn’t yet influenced by any religious traditions or doctrines, and it seems that in my innocence I probably felt that something was off about the idea of “going to church”.  I also remember that one of the arguments I was told (perhaps by this lady, too, but surely by others later, as I was being introduced to Christianity) why it was important for me to belong to a church, is that if I stay by myself, my “fire” will eventually die out and I won’t have any protection from the evil influences of this world and, I guess, Satan.  What I just now realized is that these well-meaning people were instilling fear into my heart, teaching me that NOT going to church is one of the most dangerous things that could happen to me as a new believer.  I was being lured, by fear (and other things for sure), to join the church. 

It is fascinating that as you learn the truth and keep walking in it, you start to see even your past experiences in a new light, for what they really were. Thank God for allowing me to see the things I now see, and for giving me the chance to walk in the light. 
May I be a wise virgin and take advantage of this unmatched opportunity. Praise Jesus!

Zoli

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Pastor John

I just reread “The Keys of the Kingdom”. (https://goingtojesus.com/gtj_tracts.html?tname=tract-027-keys)I remember you telling me that one was a favorite of yours because your father taught you that.  All I got to say is wow.  I never realized that Peter was the holder of the Keys. For some reason or another, I thought it would’ve been John, only because he was shown a Revelation he never knew, when God showed him His plans for the second coming to Earth.

I really enjoyed listening to that tract again.  There’s something about it that sticks out to me; I just don’t quite know what it is.  I’ll definitely get back to you about that.  I’ll have to do another listen.

Alex Sims 

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Hey Pastor John,

Last night I was reading some scriptures on the love of God.  I came to Ephesians 2:6

“He raised us up together and set us down together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”

But then I  read in verse 7 the reason why and it touched me.

“That He might show throughout the coming ages, the overflowing richness of His grace by the kindness bestowed upon us in Christ Jesus.”

Wow, Pastor John, He has done that for us!

Michelle 

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I LOVE your answer to Wendy’s question!

(https://pastorjohnshouse.com/mailbag/15219/thousand-year-reign/) It reminds me of the answer you gave me about two years ago to a question I had about God’s Son and Mary’s son (https://pastorjohnshouse.com/mailbag/13454/zoli-gods-son-and-marys-son/).

What touched me about that answer was your openness and genuine humility about what you still do not understand and, thus, cannot explain. That letter, back then, did something to me. It revealed something about the kind of man you are, and I remember after I finished reading it, my first thought was: “I don’t need to be afraid to follow this man.” 

We are blessed to have you.

Zoli

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