This & That: The Reflections of Allfoak

[allfoak]

May it be as it is spoken.

Gospel of the Nazirenes
Chap 37

1.Jesus sat in the porch of the temple, and some came to learn His doctrine, and one said to Him, "Master, what do you teach concerning life?"

2.And He said to them, "Blessed are they who suffer many experiences, for they will be made perfect through suffering; they will be as the angels of God in heaven and will die no more. Neither will they be born any more, for death and birth have no more dominion over them."

3."They who have suffered and have overcome will be made pillars of the temple of my God, and they will go out no more. I say to you, except you be born again of water and of fire, you cannot see the kingdom of God."

4.And a certain Rabbi, Nicodemus, came to Him by night for fear of the Jews, and said to Him, "How can a man be born again when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born again?"

5.Jesus answered "Except a man be born again of flesh and of spirit, he can not enter into the kingdom of God. The wind blows where it lists, and you hear the sound of it, but can not tell from where it comes or to where it goes."

6."The light shines from the East even to the West; out of the darkness. The sun rises and sets into darkness again; so is it with man, from the ages to the ages."

7."When it cometh from the darkness, it is that he has lived before, and when it goes down again into darkness, it is that he may rest for a little, and there after again exist."

8."So through many changes must you be made perfect, as it is written in the book of Job, 'I am a wanderer, changing place after place and house after house, until I come into the city and mansion which is eternal.'"

9.And Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" And Jesus answered , "You are a teacher in Israel, and do not understand these things? Truly, we speak that which we know, and bear witness to that which we have seen, and you do not receive our witness."


10."If I tell you of earthly things, and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you of heavenly things? No one ascends into heaven, unless they descended out of heaven, even the son or daughter of man which is in Heaven."

Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fool’s gold mouthpiece the hollow horn
Plays wasted words, proves to warn
That he not busy being born is busy dying

Read more: It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) | The Official Bob Dylan Site

 

[allfoak]

Cloud Atlas (2012) - IMDb

We are on a journey.

 

[George-ananda]

Wow, this Gospel of the Nazarines sounds fascinating to me. It seems to bridge eastern and western religious thought (as Truth can only be One). Many teachers I respect tell how Jesus spent many of His missing years in the Himalayan region studying with other masters and adepts.

I'm wondering if it's a shame that Christianity got made into something too narrow. This narrow traditional Christianity is not so slowly dying in the 21st century. I for one had to turn to advaita Hinduism for comfort instead of my own family's Catholic tradition.

 

[allfoak]

I would agree, although i would call it a missing link.
One that has been sitting right in front of us now for many years.

 

[George-ananda]

One that has been sitting right in front of us now for many years.

Problem is ten million things are sitting right in front of us.

 

[allfoak]

Indeed, the age old conundrum, who's right and who's wrong.
We believe one and exclude the rest.
Hardly seems to make sense.

Where is the truth?
Know thyself is the answer to that.

We all have a guide within, and when we are listening and following that guide, we feel good about ourselves.
When we feel better about ourselves, we treat others better.
Our emotional state is our way of knowing if we are on the right path.

 

[allfoak]

 

[allfoak]

If we would just turn and look at ourselves.

 

[allfoak]

You are all there is to be..
Just be You.

 

[allfoak]

The Parable of the Sower Lk. 8: 1-8; 15
4 And when a great crowd came together and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell along the path, and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And some fell on the rock; and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns grew with it and choked it. 8 And some fell into good soil and grew, and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said this, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

15 And as for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bring forth fruit with patience.

 

[allfoak]

Romans 5: 2-5 (ESV)
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

We all suffer.
Love one another.

 

[allfoak]

John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

 

[allfoak]

Hebrews 11 King James Version (KJV)
11 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.

3 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.

5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

 

[allfoak]

Enoch

 

[allfoak]

Thankfulness is a reminder of where the fall harvest comes from.

Just in time for the first winter snow.

 

[allfoak]

Salvation?
What is it?
Where does it come from?
Where is the kingdom of heaven?

Salvation:
This is something that can only be accomplished by God since it is God who subjected creation to futility.

Romans 8:

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

How it is that God is accomplishing this salvation of creation is where we come in.

The Epistles of Clement
Chapter XII

Let us expect, therefore, hour by hour, the kingdom of God in love and righteousness, since we know not the day of the appearing of God. For the Lord Himself, being asked by one when His kingdom would come, replied, “When two shall be one, that which is without as that which is within, and the male with the female, neither male nor female.” 4389 Now, two are one when we speak the truth one to another, and there is unfeignedly one soul in two bodies. And “that which is without as” that which is within meaneth this: He calls the soul “that which is within,” and the body “that which is without.” As, then, thy body is visible to sight, so also let thy soul be manifest by good works. And “the male, with the female, neither male nor female,” this 4390 He saith, that brother seeing sister may have no thought concerning her as female, and that she may have no thought concerning him as male. “If ye do these things,” saith He, “the kingdom of my Father shall come.” 4391

The Gospel of Thomas
Saying 3

(3) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty."

Luke 17:21
"The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, 'Lo, here it is!' or 'There!' for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you."

It is us that are to unite heaven and earth by ourselves entering into the kingdom of heaven which is inside of us.
In this way salvation will be brought to all creation.

Isaiah 55:11 King James Version (KJV)
11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

So salvation is something that will occur as creation unfolds from the Alpha to the Omega.

The Gospels are loosely based on the historical Jesus who was the first of the human race to fulfill the Law.
They never said anything about Jesus being worshiped as a God.
The purpose of the writing of the gospels was to bring new light, the first man had returned to the Father.

Salvation is for everyone.
God figured out the problem for us.

A Dictionary of Early Christian Biography
Ebionism and Ebionites

They even quoted the words of Jesus (Mat_10:24-25) as their warrant and affirmed their motto to be: "We also would be imitators of Christ" (Origen quoted by Schliemann). Jesus they asserted "was justified by fulfilling the Law. He was the Christ of God since not one of the rest of mankind had observed the Law completely. Had any one else fulfilled the commandments of the Law he would have been the Christ." Hence "when Ebionites thus fulfil the law they are able to become Christs" (Hippolytus Refut. Omn. Haer. vii. 34).

Ebionism and Ebionites - A Dictionary of Early Christian Biography - Bible Dictionary - StudyLight.org

 

[allfoak]

 

[allfoak]

My Eternal Soul :
Job ii. 9:
"And I am a wanderer, changing place after place and house after house."
Fragments of a Faith Forgotten: The Gnosis According to its Foes: The Docetæ

This is the theory of the Zohar, which says: "All souls are subject to transmigration; and men do not know the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He! They do not know that they are brought before the tribunal both before they enter into this world and after they leave it; they are ignorant of the many transmigrations and secret probations which they have to undergo, and of the number of souls and spirits which enter into this world and which do not return to the palace of the Heavenly King. Men do not know how the souls revolve like a stone which is thrown from a sling. But the time is at hand when these mysteries will be disclosed" (Zohar, ii. 99b).
TRANSMIGRATION OF SOULS - JewishEncyclopedia.com

My Eternal Soul Is the offspring of Mother/Father God.

 

[allfoak]

 

[allfoak]