A New Creature. . . an Apostolic Pentecostal blog

  Continuing on my reading of the book of Acts.  I am developing my own list of the names of Jesus.  I'm focused on the scriptures differently than I usually am, and I am amazed at what I'm finding. Acts 10:36  The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: ( he is Lord of all :) Lord of all. . .  Loud echoes from the Old Testament: Joshua 3:11-13 KJV  Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth passeth over before you into Jordan.  12  Now therefore take you twelve men out of the tribes of Israel, out of every tribe a man.  13  And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests that bear the ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan shall be cut off from the waters that come down from above; and they shall stand upon an heap. The Hebrew people after 40 years in the wilderness, now passing ove...

A week or so ago, I wanted to develop a graphic with the names of Jesus.  We've all seen the posters with dozens of names for Him, but I don't like using the product of people's work as my own, so I decided to develop my own list, so that I could have my own product. I've gone through the gospels, and the graphic below is the result. It's always rewarding to study the Word of God.  This was very enjoyable to do. . . on to the Book of Acts. . . Thank You for Your Word God. . .  I love You my Lord. . .  ❤ Dave

I spent some time in my wood shop this morning, on something a little different.  It's been a couple of years since I've made anything on my  lathe. Last Sunday our church had communion.  A few years ago, I made a communion cup and plate for some dear friends.  Sunday, they used my little cup and plate.  I realized that I had never made Jackie and I one, so that was my next project. Here's a short video of how it turned out.  The little communion plate will be next on my agenda. I love You my God. . . ❤ Dave

I'm doing a study on the many names of Jesus, when I ran across this verse: Mark 5:7 KJV   And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God,  that thou torment me not. Jesus came to the Gadarenes, and saw a man living among the tombs who was possessed by an unclean spirit.  The unclean spirit recognizes Jesus, and addresses Him as 'thou Son of the most high God.' The unclean spirit saw Jesus for who He was, but not for what He was.  Even the unclean spirits recognize Jesus as the Son of God, but He was not, is not their LORD.   Just knowing who Jesus is, is not enough.  Until you submit to Him, and obey His will, He is not your LORD and Saviour.   The man was delivered of, what turned out to be his multitude of unclean spirits.  Jesus cast them out, and they departed the man into a great herd of swine.  The swine in their terror at being overcome by t...

  6 Things I have against Abraham’s nephew Lot 1. Abram was not supposed to take family with him Genesis 12:1 KJV Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2. When Abram offered, Lot chose the well watered plain. If you offer me a choice of apples, I will always take the one with the bad spot, or the smaller one with blemishes. If you offer me a choice of two cookies, I will take the one that’s slightly burnt. Abram, to whom Lot owed so much when given a choice took the better choice, the well watered plain for himself. Genesis 13:10-11 KJV And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the ...

  Another chiasm discovery. . .  Chiasm Genesis 11:1-9, another of the structure of: A B C X C B A With 'X' being the important central point. Verse 11:6 -   And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. What an important principle, that I never recognized until studying this chiasm and having the central verse highlighted by the ABCXCBA structure. . . The people of the land of Shinar, in the land of Babylon, were unified, but of a wrong purpose, therefore God frustrated their purpose, and destroyed their unity. God's words:  When the people is one, and they all have one language, nothing will be restrained from them. How crucial. . . how utterly necessary, therefore for us to be ONE. . . to be absolutely united in the body of Christ . . . to be of one language. . .  When we are united, when we speak with one language. . ....

  I am so energized. . . A few days ago, I read a post by Pastor Jay Jones , showing his analysis of a chiasm in the book of Revelation. 'Chiasm' was a new word to me. . . a new concept I had not heard of before. Looking into it, it is a Hebrew writing technique. From a Google search: Chiasm in Hebrew writing is a literary technique, also called inverted parallelism, where ideas or words are presented in a sequence (A, B, C) and then repeated in reverse order (C', B', A'), creating a mirror-like, X-shaped pattern (from Greek chi) for emphasis and cohesion, often highlighting the central point (C). It's common in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) and other ancient texts, providing deeper meaning beyond simple parallel repetition. A chiasm is a symmetrical presentation: Concept 'A' Concept 'B' Concept 'C' Concept 'C' mirrored Concept 'B' mirrored Concept 'A' mirrored It can also take the format: Concept 'A' Concept...

  I have recently become aware of a Hebrew writing technique, called a chiasm. Here is an explanation from Google AI overview: Chiasm is a Hebrew writing technique, from the Greek letter Chi (X), that structures text in a mirrored, inverted pattern (ABBA or ABXBA), where ideas or words in the first half are repeated in reverse order in the second half, creating emphasis, memorability, and deeper meaning, common in the Hebrew Bible for structuring verses, paragraphs, and even entire books, often highlighting a central point (the "X"). It uses parallelism and repetition to convey complex ideas in a way that aids teaching and oral tradition, making the core message clear through symmetry.  How it works: ABBA Structure: The simplest form, where idea A is followed by idea B, then B' (similar to B) and A' (similar to A). Example: "When the going gets tough, the tough get going" (A=going, B=tough). ABXBA Structure: Includes a central point (X) that carries the main...

When I bake I pray.  I give continual thanks to God,  for making me in His image and allowing me to also be a creator. . . Genesis 2:6-7 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.  (7)  And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Where was the Lord's kitchen?  What specific spot did he choose for the creation of man?  What thoughts went through our Lord's mind as He made his preparations?  The word translated as 'dust' might equally be read as clay or mud.  We are told of the mist watering the whole face of the ground.  This was not dry dust.  This was no arid and sterile powder in danger of being blown away by the wind, but this was moist and malleable clay in the hands of a master. I gather my ingredients, liquids first and then the dry, adding the flour bit by bit until the texture is perfect.  ...

  My hands have so many scars, where I've injured myself over the years. I don't remember all of them, but I do remember a few. The one I've highlighted below with the arrow, occurred when I was six years old. My Mom gave me a little pocket knife for my birthday. I remember taking it out in the field behind our house and getting a stick, and whittling it. . . Why do boys whittle sticks? I don't really know. . . something to do I guess. . . I'm left handed, and when whittling that first day of my pocket knife ownership, I cut my right hand. I'm not sure how well it shows up in the picture, but I can clearly see it on my hand. I have what is called left/right confusion. It's only been in the past few years, where I could confidently tell you which is my left or right hand without looking at that scar on my thumb. . . That day some 65 years ago, I wrapped my hand in my pocket handkerchief. . . years ago moms made kids carry handkerchiefs. . . I wrapped my...

Genesis 2:16-17 (KJV) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Adam was given the first commandment of God.  God created a perfect garden for mankind, but it was not a walled prison.  Within it was a doorway of escape.  A forbidding, which Adam could choose of his own free will.   Adam certainly did not understand the consequences of his choosing this path. . . None of us ever do see the paths that sin will lead us on, but God tried to warn Adam. The passage closes with a repetition of the Hebrew word ‘mooth’ Strong's H4191, which means death.  This is a common Hebrew construct to repeat a word for emphasis.  The English translators have chosen across many translations, as ‘thou shalt SURELY die.’ . . . but, what if God was speaking literally?  What if G...

Lord God The word ‘God’ (elohim) occurs 31 times in the first 34 verses of Genesis.  This includes the entire first chapter, and the first three verses of Genesis chapter 2.  God is very active.  Here is a list of what did: God created - 3 God moved - 1 God said - 9 God saw - 5 God called - 3 God made - 6 God set - 1 God blessed - 3 God ended His work - 1 God sanctified - 1 God rested - 1 11 different verbs for God’s actions in 34 verses.  In all these verses the word for God is Elohim.  This is not the most common word for God.  It occurs 2601 times in the Old Testament. Immediately after verse 4 of the second chapter of Genesis: Genesis 2:4 KJV  These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens, We are now given a new title for God. . . LORD God in English, Jehovah Elohim in Hebrew. Why at this point?  Why was it just God, Elohim, all through creation, an...

  As I've written many times before, I love doing word studies in the Bible.  Reading in other than the original languages is always a compromise.  It is impossible to perfectly translate a text from one language to another. Today I was taking my lunchtime walk of 1.8 miles, while listening to my audio Bible, when I heard this verse: Genesis 6:9 KJV  These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect (Strong's H8549) in his generations, and Noah walked with God. From my recent studies in the book of Job, I knew that God called Job 'perfect': Job 1:8 KJV  And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect  (Strong's H8535) and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? I wanted to know more about what God called perfect.  So I did a search for the instances of 'perfect' in the Old Testament, and then I did another search for the Hebrew words themselves, wh...