Spiritcode

A LIVING HOPE  1Corinthians 13:13 So now faith, hope, and love abide (remain, continue eternally), these three; but the greatest of these is love. The greatest of these is love – beginning with God’s love for us, because it causes the faith and the hope to exist. God’s love is the beginning and end of all things. That is the source of the hope that we can live in at all times. That is the reality of a living hope. Everybody needs some kind of hope Everybody on the planet goes through difficult circumstances and situations of uncertainty and danger and loss, and some people make it through better than others. Those who do best in coming through these experiences are those who have clung on to some kind of hope.  So where do people generally find this regular kind of hope?  The answer is they find something or someone, perhaps even themselves, to believe in, and our natural skills and experience can give us hope or confidence, for a while at least. And in this world there are many random things on offer to beli

Commandment Two  Paul OSullivan and Scott Kardash  uncreated.podbean.com Is idolatry a rare occurrence these days or does it abound prolifically in today’s world? Do idols have supernatural power? Does everyone have a self image? How does a person develop a self image? What does it mean that God is a jealous God? Exodus 20:4 `You shall not make for yourself any carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, The Lord your God am a jealous God  For Israel the golden calf was a confused concept of what Israel thought to be God Himself. It was a substantial thing made of wood and gold plated because they had to relate to something tangible that they could make themselves. Their concept was shaped by their past experience. Our working model self image is an outcome of what is reflected back to us by others throughout our life - of -who -we -are, which has a mixture of either h

JUSTICE AND MERCY  Micah 6:8 ‘He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?’ The prophet Micah had a burden for justice to be seen amongst God’s people Israel. In chapter three Micah opposes two groups in Jerusalem, the spiritual and the secular authorities. First, he opposes some of the other prophets, because they were misleading the people and unjustly using their position and power for their own advantage. He said the prophets ‘lead my people astray’ (Micah 3:5). The second group against which Micah speaks are the political leaders and rulers in Jerusalem ‘because they eat the flesh of my people’, that is, financial extortion and oppressive control over the people. In all these passages it is clear that what motivates Micah is concern for this unjust use of power against his own people. JUSTICE Jesus also had a burden to see God’s justice amongst his own people, Israel, and like Micah, Jesus confronted the re

  FIRST COMMANDMENT – Putting God First.  Paul O’Sullivan – Go to http://uncreated.podbean.com/  to view complete series Is it logical to say that if people would have obeyed the First Commandment there would be no need for any other Commandments?   This commandment is actually the be-all and end-all of the commandments. It tells us that we should look to no other person or thing than God Himself for our ultimate meaning, purpose, and fulfillment.   Are the Ten Commandments actually a Biblical course in character growth?   the first commandment begins a logical sequence of challenges to faith and obedience that produce a process of spiritual and emotional growth to maturity.  The next commandment, which deals with the making of images, only becomes relevant when a person has not remained dependent upon God as the source and means and end of his life, and so builds for himself or looks to some other source, or finds some other means of strength that becomes a 'god' to him.   How does emotional pain and abuse a

THE KINGDOM WITHIN   Paul OSullivan    spiritcode.podbean.com When Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested by the temple guards, he was then tried by the Jewish High Priest and the council of elders and then handed over to Pontius Pilate the Roman Governor of Judea. When Pilate questioned Jesus about being King of the Jews he asked him why he had been tried by his own people and why they had brought him to a Roman Governor for trial. He asked Jesus what he had done, and why was he claiming he was their king. Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting for me and not allowing me to even be put on trial. But my kingdom is not of this world.”- John 18:36 Jesus did not ever urge his disciples to protest against Roman authority or consider any hostility towards Roman rule, even though that is what they expected would happen, They were all convinced that the Kingdom would be an outward Kingdom ruled over by Jesus, and that the Roman Empir

YIELDED PRAYER Our acceptance and patience and trust in God as our Father in times of adversity is the measure of our growth in faith. We do not grow in faith if we think faith is getting what we want simply because we pray for it and think it should happen.  God allows contrary and painful circumstances to confront us. These things challenge our trust and faith in him as a good and loving Father who wants the best for us.  Our response needs to be to believe that his motive is to do us good and bring us closer to his heart.  The examples of faith in the lives of the gallery of heroes from chapter 11 such as Noah and Abraham and Sarah and Moses reveal how they accepted and embraced the circumstances of their lives, believing that God was at work in the unseen world, doing his will through them, and they left the results to God. Hebrews 11:39 And all of these, though they won divine approval by means of their faith, did not receive the fulfillment of what was promised, Hebrews 12:1. The faith lives of this gal

CITIZENS OF HEAVEN When Paul wrote to the church in Philippi they had been living under Roman rule for a couple of generations. They had a proud cultural and philosophical heritage and a fierce sense of citizenship going back to the first Greek culture in Athens five centuries before which was the first ever democracy, and all the citizens of Athens had the opportunity to vote. They had a proud cultural and philosophical heritage that aspired for excellence in diverse areas of life. The two prominent ideological philosophies were the Stoics and the Epicureans.  The Stoics cared about virtuous behaviour and living according to principles of discipline, while Epicureans were connoisseurs of good food and good wine and cared about avoiding pain and seeking comfort and pleasure. Philippi was the most significant Roman colony in Europe, the gateway city that joined Europe to the Middle East, and it was the first European city where Paul preached the gospel and established a church. It was also the place where in M

After their meeting with Herod the Wise Men followed the star which remained bright in the sky and were guided to the house where Joseph and Mary and the child Jesus were still staying. When the men were invited to see the child they went down on their knees and worshipped him. They then presented him with gifts; gold, frankincense, and myrrh. These peculiar gifts have a spiritual message for us today who understand what it means to live a life shared with God. Gold speaks to us of the nature of God. Frankincense speaks to us of prayer and worship. Myrrh speaks to us of the suffering of grief and loss. For Jesus these were not just fancy Christmas presents to be put away as keepsakes and forgotten about. Rather, these were for Jesus, symbols of the realities of an ever present consciousness of sharing his life with an ever-present God every level of experience. We will take the gifts one by one and apply them to how to live an every-day life in the conscious awareness of sharing life with God. GOLD  Gold spea

Relationship is the key value in the whole theme of the commandments, because God wants us to be fulfilled in life through relationships, both with Himself, and with one another. We find then that the first four commandments deal with our relationship with God, and that the next six deal with our relationships with one another. That is why the New Covenant had a promise that the law would be written in our hearts by The Holy Spirit, a person, who can indwell us and make alive the spirit of the law, and the standards of God's wisdom for our relationships. This can now be done on the powerful basis of love and grace, instead of legalism. God has designed the Commandments as a sequence of steps where success in any one commandment leads to an understanding of the next. Obedience to the first commandment gives understanding of the second commandment, and in the same way, failure in say, the sixth commandment means a lack of understanding in the fifth. The fifth commandment says ‘Honour your father and your mother

AN ERA OF PEACE  A prophet called Micah made an amazing prophecy that foretold the birthplace of Jesus over seven hundred years before Jesus was born. This verse also tells us that he would be our peace. Micah 5:2. "O Bethlehem, you are but a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of my King who is alive from everlasting ages past!" God will allow the conflict and disorder to remain until she who is to give birth has her son. And he shall feed his flock in the strength of the Lord… and he will be greatly honoured throughout the world.  He will be our Peace. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph had to bring Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to be dedicated. The prescribed time for dedication and purification was forty days according to Jewish Law.  A man named Simeon was also in the Temple, The Holy Spirit having prompted him to go to the Temple that day. The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not die until he had seen Jesus, God's anointed King, which was Simeon’s lifelon

GOD WITH US The appointed time finally came to heal the earth. It was twisted and torn and it could not heal itself. There were many religions apart from Judaism, and all the rituals, the pomp and ceremony, had only allowed that gap between God and man to remain. God was about to give humanity the perfect answer, not a religion, but Himself. The Divine Being, Jesus God, was to make his transition from eternity into time, from heaven to earth, from pure Spirit existence to human flesh existence. Father had always planned that a new species was to be born into the earth. He had planned for his son to begin this new species of being, a Spirit species, a Spiritual species in the earth. Humanity has been known as ‘Homo Sapiens’ (Mankind +knowledge) – one who has knowledge and knows. But I believe that this new species that came into being at this time is ‘homo Divinicus’ (Mankind +God) – God with us. Now was the time for Jesus to go to earth as The Father’s Son, to become the pain of what human life had become, an

PROPHETIC PAUSE  We are looking at the message of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament. It is a prophecy about preparing the way for Messiah to come to his Temple people, and turning their hearts back to God as their loving Father. It is a message for us in these days, as his people, his Temple. Malachi was the last prophet to speak in the Old Testament. He was speaking to the people who had returned from their seventy year exile in Babylon. They went into bondage in Babylon after their temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the king of Babylon. When they came back to Jerusalem they spent quite a few years rebuilding the temple under Zerubbabel their priestly ruler. Then twelve years after they had completed the temple Malachi prophesied that The Messiah would return to their temple. Here is the key verse;  Malachi 3:1 I will send my messenger to prepare the way before me. And the Lord (Messiah) whom you seek will come to his temple, the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight is coming, says the L

GETTING YOUR BEARINGS.  To be able to go in a direction that will make us sure that we reach the goal or destination we are meant to arrive at in life we need to know the answer to three questions; Who am I? What is happening to me? And What am I meant to do? We need to know who we are so that we can understand what is happening to us, and we need to know what is happening to us so that we can know what we are meant to do. Who am I?   In other words –How do you see yourself? If you weren’t sure you could look in a mirror and see your reflection! You see an image. But to know who we are in our inner self we have to get in touch with the self image we have of ourselves – reflected back to us by the ideas of other people that have shaped us and formed us.… we don’t do self-analysis as child – work out how to maximise our potential for a great future. We take on board what we are told we are – the positive - approved, encouraged, loved unconditionally -  or negative - criticised, discouraged or ignored, and we en

CHRIST OF THE COSMOS I’ve been sharing what is happening on the ground in society these troubled times and also what is happening regarding the spiritual darkness in the heavens. Now I want to talk about the God of the heavens and the earth, the God of the Bible, Christ of the Cosmos. Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16. For through him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.  17. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  18. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn (prototokos) from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.  19. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,  20. and through him to reconcile to himself all things together whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you who were once hostile a

IMAGE MAKERS  How do we become who we are - how do we see ourselves as that person that we think we are. That is an image – that is an idea in our head – where did it come from? A person does not make up an image all by themselves. The image we have of who we are is an already formed idea of what gets reflected back to us through our life that we accept and act out from.  The image of who we are comes originally from God’s idea of who we are, Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… Then came the devil’s idea – his idea of who we are was fist proclaimed by Satan when he said to Adam and Eve ‘God has told you not to eat of that tree because he knows that when you do you will become like Him and God does not want you to have that experience.’ So they believed him, and rebelled against God and were deceived into believing that it was too tempting to throw that short cut of being like God away. They had accepted the idea of darkness which was the actual image that the devil h

UNSEEN ARMY 2Kings 7:1 There is a story in the Old Testament about the prophet Elisha and how the unseen world of spiritual light and spiritual darkness operates. It is the story of Elisha and the four lepers of Samaria. This is a story of the limited power of darkness when it faces up to the unlimited power and purpose of God and his goodness. The spiritual world is an unseen world, the real world of God’s activity, the world dominated by light and faith, and alas, darkness inhabits this realm also but with faith we learn to withstand it and overcome. The king od Israel was ruling over a fortress city in the high region of Samaria. The city was put under siege by the king of Syria, and because there was a great famine in the region, the people of the city were starving, and the Syians had cut off any food supply lines that might have existed from down in the more fertile region of the Jordan. It got to the point that after a time even a donkey's head sold for fifty dollars and a cup of dove's dung brought th

WAR IN HEAVEN The distress and confusion and uncertainty that people are experiencing everywhere in the earth at this time is not just because of our own limited and vulnerable humanity. And it’s not totally because we are in the midst of a global calamity – a pandemic that is getting worse by the day. We are also in the midst of a global spiritual battle. There are spiritual forces that are active in the heavens that have been operating for thousands of years upon the human soul to oppress and deceive and provoke people into reactions of fear and anger and despair, and greed and resentment and malice – imprinted onto the soul of humanity for the first time – then Cain and Abel. In this current world crisis the spiritual activity of the dark powers is ramping up. These powers seek to blind peoples’ minds from believing in an all loving and all- powerful God and to influence them in their minds and will and emotions. These powers intensify the sense of conflict and hostility we are seeing acted out on our str

AGE OF INNOCENCE  We were chosen by God to live our lives in a state of innocence before him. Ephesians 1:4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be set apart for him (holy) and blameless before him, In love. Our English word ‘innocence’ comes from the Latin word IN-NOCERE – not to harm, blameless, and also means not harmed or violated – a sort of spotlessness.  There is also the Biblical Greek word akeraios; of pure motivation – KJV blameless and harmless also 'unharmed,'. 'Intact,' 'innocent. Where do we find this innocence? In our natural lives it is our early childhood experience. And today I will discuss the spiritual reality of our innocence in the eyes of God. Let us look at those years of early childhood, up to about the age of seven. Here is where it is required that we receive unconditional attention and love from our parents, but we must keep in mind that there are no perfect parents.   This is the requirement because we have not yet learned to manage our way

JERICHO  Today we are looking at the story of Joshua leading Israel in the defeat of the city of Jericho, where a miracle of God caused the walls of the city to fall down so that Israel could begin their actual entrance into the Promised Land after crossing the river Jordan. This city was the first of many that Israel was to occupy in their conquest and possession of the Promised Land.   We saw how God brought Israel through the Jordan into the Land of Promise through the miracle of holding back the waters of the flooding Jordan River. The miracle came about through the ark being carried into the water by the twelve priests. The ark represented the presence of God - and the twelve priests, one for each tribe represented ALL the people. This also represents ALL of us as humanity, entering into a new way of life through Jesus (our Joshua) It could have seemed at the time of the crossing of the Jordan that Israel had arrived at last and were now IN the Land, and in one sense they had arrived and were IN the Land

MINDFULNESS AND COLLECTIVE SUFFERING God’s mindfulness towards us is a two way thing -  God starts the process of mindfulness towards us and invites us to respond. And right there begins a divine process of inner wholeness and transformation. (Romans 12:2 -  being transformed by the renewing of the mind). So What becomes transformed? – it is more than just behaviour - it is the consciousness of who we really are in union with God through Jesus. This consciousness is what captures the present moment and It fills the now with its fulness and focus. It is not simply hanging around in the background somewhere – It is front and centre in the mind. It becomes the eternal Now of our existence – always active.  We develop in the growth of mindfulness with God through the challenges of life. We each have different personal situations to contend with; relational, financial, self-worth, general fears and anxieties. But the greatest challenge is not what the actual external situation is but the fear on the inside that ne