Epitome EGroup

01/19/2024

02/03/2023

A simile is a figure of speech used to make comparisons using the words 'a's and 'like ' . These words occur nearly ninety times in the book of Proverbs. This book is filled with comparisons between wisdom and folly.one example - Proverbs 25:28 says 'Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls. "
Similes occur in the New Testament as well, especially when comparing our behavior to God's behavior. When it says that we should walk in love, Paul uses two similes to explain how. We are to forgive "as God in Christ forgave us". (Eph. 4:32) and we are to "walk in love as Christ also loved us (Eph. 5:2)
Love is not cheap, especially love of enemies.

12/24/2022

1 Corinthians 4:16 – “Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me.” (NASB)

Growing up I loved playing it; so when I became a father, I couldn’t wait to play it with my children. It was a simple game, no board, no pieces to move around, nothing but your voice. The game was called “Simon Says,” where the leader would say things to do like: “touch your nose” or “put your hands on your hips.” If the leader didn’t say “Simon Says” first, you didn’t have to do it, but if they did, you had to! The object was to be the last person standing. If you messed up, you were out! Today’s verse speaks of being exhorted by Paul, to be imitators of him - who was an imitator of Christ. And like the game of “Simon Says,” if we don’t follow His lead, we will be “out.” I know people struggle with that and say that all of us will go to heaven. Well, that’s not scriptural. We need to play by the rules. So, who are you imitating in your life?

12/24/2022

This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." - Matthew 6:9-10

Imagine that you have never driven a car. You are not aware of all the features of a car. Up to this point, you have had to walk everywhere you go. All you are told is that you are about to receive something that will get you anywhere you need to go. The day arrives and you are given a brand new car. You get in and drive the car. However, the emergency brake is on, preventing you from going faster than 20 miles per hour. No one tells you that you should unlock the brake. Regardless, you are excited because you no longer have to walk to your destination. You are not told that the car has lights, which would allow you to drive at night. Neither are you told about the many other wonderful features of the car. You just know you have a new car that will get you anywhere you want to go at 20 miles per hour. For the rest of your life, you drive this incredible car during the daytime only at 20 miles per hour.

Why would Jesus pray that things in earth would be like they are in Heaven if it were not possible? When Jesus came to earth, He came in order to pe*****te the very kingdom of darkness with light. He came to bring healing to sickness, replace sadness with joy, and fill meaninglessness with purpose. He came to change things for the better for a world that had no hope outside of God.

Using the illustration above, Jesus did not come to merely give us a ticket to Heaven (a car that you drive only in the daytime at 20 miles per hour). He came to bring us much more-the Kingdom of God on earth. Nowhere in the Bible will you find the term, gospel of salvation. The Church does not exist for Heaven, but for earth. If it existed only for Heaven, then each of us would immediately be taken to Heaven. There would be no reason for us to remain on earth. So why has God allowed us to receive this new birth and remain on earth? It is so that we might bring the Kingdom of God into our world-our families, our workplace, and our communities.

God wants you to bring the Kingdom of God into the territory He has given you so that His will can be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Your domain is your workplace, family, and community. Ask God to show you how He wants to pe*****te the darkness of your domain with His light. Then you will see and experience all the features of this gift that has been given to you.

12/22/2022

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.—James 1:2-4

From the trials and triumphs of Paul, we gather, too, that happiness is really not indispensable to a Christian. There are many ills worse than heartaches. It is scarcely too much to say that prolonged happiness may actually weaken us, especially if we insist upon being happy as the Jews insisted upon flesh in the wilderness. In so doing, we may try to avoid those spiritual responsibilities which would in the nature of them bring a certain measure of heaviness and affliction to the soul.

The best thing is neither to seek nor seek to avoid troubles but to follow Christ and take the bitter with the sweet as it may come. Whether we are happy or unhappy at any given time is not important. That we be in the will of God is all that matters. We may safely leave with Him the incident of heartache or happiness. He will know how much we need of either or both. (AW Tozer - We Travel an Appointed Way, p. 80)

12/22/2022

1 John 3:18 – “Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” (NASB)

Observation:

I remember back in high school taking a class on media and the different forms… newspapers, radio, and television and about subtle images. A subliminal message was sent back in the 70’s. Many of the so called “tricks of the trade” have been outlawed today, but we can see even greater things happening. As I watch television today, I look to see how men are portrayed. We no longer are the bread winners or the fixers of our homes. No, we are left to sit upon the couch watching TV, playing video games, spending more time with sports than our responsibilities as a man, and not much given to helping our families let alone our society. If we were to take a serious look at the reality of men in real life, we begin to find an amazing similarity. We have, through time, become exactly what has been subliminally sent our way. If you watch real close, you can begin to see things like homosexuality, adultery, laziness, gluttony, etc. being increased as OK. Well, that’s just not true. We are allowing the media to tell us what is right or acceptable, and we have spent more time learning that than God’s Word. If you were to ask a teenager to quote a scripture most would not be able to, but if you ask them who won American Idol last year, they would all know. Garbage in, garbage out!

12/20/2022

Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. - Deuteronomy 34:10

One of the great differences between Moses and any other character in the Bible is how God describes Moses. Moses was a friend of God, and he met God face to face. "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend" (Ex. 33:11a). So often, we view others for what they can do for us, instead of who they are. There is a difference between being a servant and being a friend. There is a difference between being an employee and being a son.

Do you seek God's face, or do you find that you spend more time seeking His hand? God wants us to seek Him for our every need. However, there is a higher calling for every believer. That is to seek God's face, and to see Him for His love and tenderness toward us as His children. He can provide for our physical needs, but when we see Him face to face, we are changed. We no longer see Him as one to be feared as much as one to know intimately. We no longer view Him for what He can give to us, but for what He already has given for us.

When we see Jesus face to face, we are no longer slaves, but friends. We do not fear Him as a slave fears his master. We have entered a new kind of relationship-a relationship that has mutual respect and care.

Today, Jesus is calling you to seek His face, not just His hand. When you seek His face, you will know His provision and His mercy in all aspects of life. Seek His face today and become a friend of God.

09/03/2022

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09/03/2022

When Christ died, He died for you individually just as much as if you'd been the only man in the world.

C. S. Lewis

09/03/2022

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08/11/2022

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06/06/2022

As we celebrate Pentecost Sunday and the birthday of the Church,we should be reminded of these powerful and remarkable truths about the book of Acts. Although the book is titled, The Acts of the Apostles, in truth, these documented acts were not the result of Apostolic calling – they were the product of vibrant personal relationships!

Each recorded “Act” – these miraculous events that accompanied the birthing of the first-generation church – is the marvelous account of outer-court evidence of a secret-place relationship! Throughout the Book of Acts, every “Act” of the Apostles, each remarkable, document-worthy event, was attached to a vertical encounter of some sort with God.

The adding of the 3000 was preceded by the “upper room” experience. The Philippi earthquake immediately followed Paul’s and Silas’ dungeon secret place. The “adding to the church daily” was the result of “continuing daily with one accord… and singleness of heart in the temple…” (The “singleness of heart” phrase is ‘worshiper-talk’ for a unified focus of the heart).

Just as there is no life without intimacy, God planned that any birthing in our lives be the result of an encounter – personally. …Any needed provision, any direction, any answer, be birthed from a face-to-face with His Presence! Furthermore, I don’t believe it is possible to pursue and truly encounter… and there not be a result, a birthing, a residue of the Presence that remains and empowers!

In truth, this isn’t just a record of the actions the specially called and anointed Apostles. It’s a documenting of the Acts of the Worshipers!