Faithful Writers

What was originally a word describing a group of people who followed Christ gathering together became a building to attend. Valiant Made The word “c hurch ” bugs me to no end, not churches themselves per se, just the word because people have no idea what they're missing out on and just how badly it’s messed things up. Some time ago, there was a word edit during a translation and “ congregation” formally became “ church.” What was originally a word describing a group of people who followed Christ gathering together became a building to attend. What I’ve seen because of this word choice. I personally don’t like my worship being scripted, I want the freedom to talk, ask questions, get excited, and feel the Holy Spirit. Not have to look at the church pamphlet to know when I’m allowed to sing praises, say hello to my pew partner or when I’m expected to stand next. Worship shouldn’t be hard-core scripted; it cripples our growth. This doesn’t mean I’m opposed to an order of events to have it go smoothly, just that in a lot of my experiences with different churches I saw and felt a weight because of the rigid timetable set up for attendees. It felt more like a performance, with everyone stifling yawns and checking their watches because they wanted to get out of there, pastors included. How is the Holy Spirit supposed to work with that? I believe when the word “ ekklésia ” was formally instituted as “ church” instead of “ congregation” everything changed. A new definition started to take hold and our perspective of what it meant to gather followers together was altered into what we have now. Kings and their authority issues. You can ultimately blame King James for being the one who put this in motion. It started with his version of the Bible in 1611. Sorry ahead of time for those who are KJV-only readers, but the proof is in the pudding. Edict #3 King James clamped down hard on that word; he needed it to support what he was doing and wanted to continue to do, and that was to keep his authority over the Church of England. He created this edict because he had no authority or jurisdiction over a congregation ( assembly of people ) . His authority was only over buildings, hence the need for the word tweaked to “ church .” He wanted people in those buildings for control, he didn’t want them holding praise and prayer meetings in their homes. By forcing the word “ church ” into his translation and pushing his definition of it on the masses, he redefined what it meant to gather and worship in His name. Paul’s letters are the best example of what gathering together with others used to mean. Mentally, many are stuck on how “ church” is defined now. We need to step back in time before there were thick walls and lines of pews standing in the way of worship. People used to meet in homes during Paul’s time, usually around a table with food and fellowship. People would bring prayers and songs to share with everyone, and people sat around a table enjoying good food and fellowship face-to-face with each other. It's that friendship, open acceptance despite class or color, and excitement of gathering that the Holy Spirit could really do some amazing things with. They moved around, and they went out into the world and spread the Gospel. They weren’t held in place by brick walls; the Holy Spirit can do a lot when people aren’t afraid to leave the safety of their pews. Some think I’m always harping churches, and well, yes, I kind of do, but only because I’m tired of what I see going on. It doesn’t mean that I believe people shouldn’t go to church or look for Bible studies or that all churches are “bad” for lack of a better term. I just think most could be doing a whole lot better than they are now. When I have gone to as many churches as I have and only found one that hits the mark of what my article is about, there’s a problem. I can’t help but wonder what would happen to the Christian faith if more understood the difference between “church” and “congregation.” Just imagine the possibilities. © Jane Isley First published in Never Stop Writing on Medium. Thank you for taking the time to read, and please consider  supporting my work . Your gift helps keep this work going, blesses others, and means the world to me. You can visit me at Faithful Writers  on Medium, where other Christian writers have joined me in sharing the word of God. You can also find me on   Tumblr  and   Facebook.

My experiences with this and no your faith is not flawed, and your salvation is not on the line. Dev Asangbam “ You must not have real faith in God, or He’d have fixed you by now.” I used to secretly worry about this and doubt myself all the time. Was I truly not “ faithful enough, ” or did I not “ pray enough ” because I still had intrusive thoughts? I’m here to tell you that’s BS. It's about the biggest pile you could find. For those unsure of what the complexity of intrusive thoughts are I recommend reading this first, Advancing Health . I have dealt with intrusive thoughts since I was a child, it straight-up sucks. What's even more exhausting is the judgment I’ve gotten from people over the years, and to be completely honest — it’s one thing to get ignorant comments from a nonbeliever, but it’s a completely different story getting ignorant comments of any kind from a Christian when you too are a Christian. Here’s the truth. You are, in fact, still a Christian , and your faith and trust are not in question by me or God because you have intrusive thoughts or struggle with any mental health condition. Your faith is not flawed, and your salvation is not on the line. It took me years of self-sabotage and misery to realize that sometimes, people should just keep their opinions to themselves. Well-meaning Christians or not, they should not be passing any judgment on your mental health. I want you to think of it this way: Would they say, “Well, you're just not praying enough” if you had diabetes? There’s a pretty good chance the answer is going to be no. (Minus the few fringe Christians who would say yes, but we’re going to ignore those.) Don’t let their voices become more intrusive thoughts. We already have enough to deal with when we get hit out of nowhere, we don’t need their voices mingled in there. We only need two voices, ours and God’s. (I'd better clarify this right away — if you're on meds, stay on them. If you need help, go and get help. God gave us medicine for a reason, there’s nothing wrong with medication for our mental health. I am on medication, and it doesn’t diminish my faith or demonstrate a lack of faith because I’m taking something. ) Back to two voices. Now that I clarified that, let’s get back to the only voices that should matter when mental health things are happening to you because no one has the right to subtitle your relationship with God. I debated how to approach this next part. Basic suggestions or I could be real. I’m going with real. We already know it's exhausting when our brain literally isn’t working right. But don’t sit there and pick apart where your faith “went wrong.” You have done nothing wrong; it’s something you have, not something you did. It’s how you handle it that’s the key. By the way, I use these strategies not just for when I get hit with intrusive thoughts but also for my anxiety, PTSD, and when I’m overwhelmed. Acknowledge that it's happening, and don’t try and hide it from yourself or others. If you have safe people you can talk to about what’s going on. Most people will “ mask ,” to some degree. I’m guilty of this myself, I just learned over time not to have that mask on so tight that God couldn’t come in. This can be both the easiest and the hardest thing to do next, talk to Jesus. He is our counselor , literally , that is one of His roles for us. Notice how I say “talk to Him” and not pray; there is a reason for that. While prayer is a must in our lives, it was a game-changer for me when I realized out that I could just talk to Him like I'd talk to you in person. (Which is also prayer btw if your wondering, it's the mental shift that's key in certain situations.) It took me from praying for something to having this two-way conversation where I felt cared for and secure and could express myself in ways I had never done before. If you haven’t tried this yet, I would highly suggest it. When I am struggling, I absolutely need to get what’s in my head out of there. I have to talk through those thoughts and talk them out of me, if I don’t, things get worse. Jesus offers this outlet to us with no judgment, rejection, or hourly fee. I take as much time as I need and just talk to Jesus. Sometimes out loud, sometimes in my head, but either way, I open up and start clearing the clutter out, and I don’t hold back. He knows that we all need to talk sometimes and that keeping things in without a release valve is not good; we all know this. He is willingly offering His ear and heart to us for this reason. If all of us who struggle weren’t “faithful” enough, then why would one of God’s descriptions for His son be “ Wonderful Counselor ?” It’s an honest question to ask of those who would use the Bible in such a way against anyone who deals with any mental health diagnosis, It is also something to consider if you struggle in secret and doubt yourself. God does not love us any less if we are struggling, and it absolutely does not mean our faith is lacking in any way. Even if you have never received the type of criticism I and others have received and simply internally wonder and doubt yourself, you are not at fault for something you did not ask for. It takes more strength and grit to go to God in your worst moments and demonstrate your faith than you realize. If you are up to reading something else, please read 6 People in the Bible Who Struggled With Their Mental Health . I want to emphasize that I am not against therapy, doctors, treatments, or medication ever. I do/have done all three willingly. I am not directing anyone to stop any treatments. I encourage you to reach out and get help if you are struggling. You don’t have to do this alone and without help. I’m just sharing what I experienced and learned to do when I’m in a period of struggle and want to pass it on. © Jane Isley First published in Know Thyself, Heal Thyself on Medium. Thank you for taking the time to read, and please consider  supporting my work . Your gift helps keep this work going, blesses others, and means the world to me. You can visit me at Faithful Writers  on Medium, where other Christian writers have joined me in sharing the word of God. You can also find me on   Tumblr  and   Facebook.

My dual point of view answer that some did not care for. A recent discussion I was involved in where my answer confused and angered some people because my answer is a dual one for this question: Does God request us to repent, obey and believe or does He command it? (paraphrasing) Believe me, my answer did not go down well with some people. My thoughts on the matter: Why can’t it be both? Maybe I’m wrong, I don’t know yet, but here is my reasoning. First, we are not puppets, we have free will to choose to believe, obey and follow. God lets us know exactly what he wants done, and if we do it, it shows our love and commitment to Him and we receive His grace and ultimately Heaven in the end. But it is still a choice even with it being a command. We have to make this choice, this is on us to do and sadly some don’t, and that's a simple fact. When we choose to believe, follow and obey - like really fully follow Him and want to be more Christ-like in our lives, we begin the process of learning and following His commandments. I describe it as a “pull;" we feel pulled to be more Christ-like. I believe it is both a request directed to us, asked of us, then Him also telling us this is a command that we has placed before all of us. A request and a demand are two different things but they can go hand in hand with each other. To me, it is ok and makes sense for this topic to have dual understanding and meaning at the same time. Remember, we are given the commandments to follow; commandments are not forced upon us. It is still a choice; therefore that’s why I believe it is a dual answer. He is requesting and demanding that we repent and believe at the same time. © Jane Isley Thank you for taking the time to read, and please consider  supporting my work . Your gift helps keep this work going, blesses others, and means the world to me. You can visit me at Faithful Writers  on Medium, where other Christian writers have joined me in sharing the word of God. You can also find me on   Tumblr  and   Facebook.

To answer your question, yup,  the word  unicorn is most definitely still used in some Bible translations. All nine verses below are from the 21st Century King James Version. “the strength of a unicorn.” Num 23:22 “the strength of a unicorn.” Num 24:8 “and his horns are like the horns of unicorns.” Dt 33:17 “Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib?” Job 39:9 “Canst thou bind the unicorn with his band to the furrow?” Job 39:10 “for Thou hast heard Me from the horns of the unicorns.” Ps 22:21 “like a young unicorn.” Ps 29:6  “But my horn shalt Thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn;” Ps 92:10 “And the unicorns shall come down with them,” Isa 34:7 ChatGPT So, does that make this mythological creature true? Well, I’ve discovered a yes and no answer here; the yes part is actually pretty awesome, so stick around. First, here’s the short history lesson on how the word unicorn landed in the Bible in the first place.  The Hebrew word translated into unicorn is re’em, then the Greeks came along with the Septuagint and took re’em  and translated that to monokeros,  which means single horn (unicorn) . Then the Vulgate kept that literal translation and used the word unicorn   and finally came along the King James translation, and they kept to that literal Latin word, and voila — you get unicorn, and they just might have gotten it right, in a weird way.  Now to the fun stuff. The animal used in these Biblical descriptions doesn’t fit the mythical unicorns we hear about from mythology. This animal is used to describe great strength, and Ps 29:6 indicates a calf, not a foal or colt.  Meaning not horse-like in appearance.  Trust me, they knew the difference, Zechariah 9:9 . So, I got curious and found two things.  The first thing is where the traditional, as we know it, unicorn myth got its start. A dude named Ctesias from 4th century BCE spotted something in India and this is what he said about it “fleet of foot, having a horn a cubit and a half in length, and coloured white, red and black” (1)  but then he goes on to describe another animal with similar makings, with kinda rules his first description, then a few other key people added more over time.  Honestly, check out the article, it’s fun and right to the point (1).  It’ll go through everything on the mythology side of things. I've got something cooler I want to show you. ChatGPT bbc.com The Siberian Unicorn ( Elasmotherium sibiricum) And yup, he was real and he was a rhino (extinct now),  so those who translate that animal into rhinoceros may also be very correct, because the Siberian Unicorn was a hairy rhino.  Here’s what they know about this big guy. “were likely vegetarians, have been described as weighing up to four tons and standing two meters tall by nearly five meters long” (2) “despite its massive size and prominent shoulder hump, it is thought that the Siberian unicorn was actually adapted to running at speed.” (3) “roamed the grasslands of Eurasia ” (4) “ recent discovery of a well-preserved skull in Kazakhstan.” (2)  “may have eventually died out because it was such a picky eater.” (4) It’s a wee tricky to see, but the blue dots were the Siberian Unicorns (Elasmotherium sibiricum) roaming areas, for lack of a better term. wikipedia.com I’m zeroing in on Ps 26:9 because David specifically used the word calf, not colt or foal. So somewhere along the line, David knew about these animals.  I decided to use Google Maps and see how far Lebanon (where they believe he was when he wrote Ps 29:6) was from Kazakhstan. googlemaps.com According to Google Maps, he was only 999 (walking) hours   away from where this recent finding of a not quite as long extinct as thought Siberian Unicorn. If you’re wondering, that's only 42 walking days away, well, 41.625 to be exact. We know Jesus as His disciples walked a lot more than that, plus they had camels, donkeys, and horses to travel on. So 42 days was nothing to them, and easy enough for travelers to go around talking about these big guys as well. My conclusion? How cool is this? A lot of people use the unicorn translation to discredit Bible translations, and others use it to say it’s all made up because there are verses that talk about the fabled mythical unicorn. Maybe the writers of the Bible weren’t wrong after all, and we just had a different vision of what we think a unicorn should look like? Either way, I think this is a very neat piece of the pie that some might have fun learning about. Hope you enjoyed! 🦄 Have something you’ve wondered about? It’ll get answered with my flare, and you never know what it could lead to. Click here to ask. © Jane Isley Sources: (1) St. Neots Museum: Unicorns — a brief history (2) The Times of Israel; Humans, ‘unicorns’ may have walked Earth together. (3) Natural History Museum ; The Siberian unicorn lived at the same time as modern humans. (4) BBC ; ‘Siberian unicorn’ walked Earth with humans. Biblehub.com ; What does the Bible say about unicorns?

ChatGPT It’s easy to assume pastors, preachers, and priests are always right. They look polished, confident, and are well-versed in Scripture. They’ve immersed themselves in countless hours of study and claim to seek God’s will. But here’s a terrifying reality: many aren’t teaching the Word of God anymore. They’re teaching a version of Christ they created, a version that satisfies something within their nature, and this should scare you.  More and more leaders act like they’re God’s mouthpiece on Earth, untouchable and unquestionable. But the blame doesn’t land solely on the leadership. It rests on their congregations, too. I’ve sat in pews and watched in horror as congregations went along with whatever the leader (s)  decided or demanded, no matter how clearly off-course it was. I’ve spoken up, I’ve challenged unbiblical teachings and behavior.  Those were crushing days for me, when God whispered, No more, it’s time to go. I had said what needed to be said, called out the false teaching, but my words weren’t meant to break through hardened hearts that day. They were seeds. My Unique Experience What many don’t realize is that I’ve attended A LOT of churches across all denominations, including many sub-denominations, and in a few states. For years, I couldn’t understand why God kept bouncing me around, and this isn’t a brag about how many churches I’ve attended; it’s simply a fact that proves very useful at times. And it’s starting to make sense now. I have seen it all, the good, the twisted, and everything in between. I’ve witnessed the rare beauty of genuine faith, and I’ve also seen the dark underbelly of churches. A Mob In Place Of Congregation Have you ever looked up the terms “ mob mentality ” or “herd mentality” by chance? Well, I did one day. I’ll pass on some of what I learned. “the tendency of the people in a group to think and behave in ways that conform with others in the group rather than as individuals” (1) “ Herd mentality, also known as mob mentality or crowd mentality, refers to the phenomenon where individuals in a group often adopt behaviors and attitudes that differ significantly from their own personal beliefs or morals.” (2) Starting to sound familiar? There’s so, so much more to learn about this psychology, but I won’t blow this up with quotes. To read more, check out the links I’ll include at the end. The Domino effect Ever be chilling with your friends when one of them just goes completely unhinged? They start tossing out stupid ideas, say mean stuff about someone behind their back, or just straight-up lie through their teeth? You know  it’s wrong. You feel  it in your gut. But you   stay  silent. And because you don’t speak up, the next person doesn’t either, then the next one follows suit etc. etc. etc. And, bam, just like that, you have a whole bunch of grown adults folding like lawn chairs, because none of them have a backbone and are weak-minded. That’s what I like to call the domino effect. From where I’m standing, churches are starting to look like a trail of fallen dominoes, one goes down, then another, and so on. Leaders push the boundaries of what they can get away with, and the congregation lets it happen. Meanwhile, congregations spend more time reading the room than reading the Bible, trying to fit in instead of trying to be Christlike, and that energy circles back and empowers the leader even more. It’s a closed loop of delusion dressed up in church clothes, all wrapped up pretty in church language, religious rituals, and holier-than-thou attitudes. Domino effect, hamster wheel, snowballing. Whatever metaphor you want to use, it’s happening, and it’s happening fast. Why? Because leaders are no longer bowing to God, and neither are their congregations. They’re bowing to public opinion, politics, personal feelings, and DEI talking points. We are now drowning in “Christian” churches that have zero to do with Christ. Zero. Mob/Herd mentality isn’t some rare psychological phenomenon only talked about in medical schools or a therapist's office; it’s alive and well in many churches.  We’ve Been Warned And they would know this if they spent time with their noses in their Bible and not anywhere else. “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” 2 Timothy 4:3 © Jane Isley Sources & those recommended reads. (1) Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Herd Mentality (2) EBSCO Research Starters: Herd mentality (mob mentality) Phil Cooke: The Internet and the Rise of Christian Mobs Psychology Today: The Psychology of Mob Mentality WebMD: What Is Mob Mentality? Thank you for taking the time to read, and please consider  supporting my work . Your gift helps keep this work going, blesses others, and means the world to me. You can visit me at Faithful Writers  on Medium, where other Christian writers have joined me in sharing the word of God. You can also find me on   Tumblr  and   Facebook.

unsplash.com Questions like this are what make the Bible so gloriously fun to me. While digging for an answer, you end up learning all sorts of unexpected things along the way. There’s definitely more going on here than just clean  versus unclean  animals. It all begins in Genesis, but let’s start in Leviticus. It all starts in Genesis, but we’ll begin in Leviticus first. If you have ever read Leviticus 11 , it can be overwhelming at first, and I’m definitely not going to quote the whole thing here or every single animal. I’m just shooting for the specifications and examples. Clean “divided hoof and that chews the cud.” “you may eat any that have fins and scales.” “some flying insects that walk on all fours that you may eat: those that have jointed legs for hopping on the ground.” And birds, we get by process of elimination. Unclean Here, I’m shooting for a basic list: Pigs, Camels, Thumper, Tom and Jerry, Dogs, Horses, Felines, Shellfish, Lizards, Bear, Squidward, Monkeys, Vultures, believe me, I could go on for quite a bit. The obvious question: Just why were some animals off limits? What unclean animals have in common is their questionable eating habits. Such as eating already dead animals, eating decayed matter, hunting the weakest (usually the sickest or weakest)  of the herd, meat eaters in general, or even yummier to think about are the ones that eat poo, whether their own or others. The common theme is that the stuff being eaten would make a human sick. A fun nugget to check out This is a great educational point if a nonbeliever tries to use this to prove the Bible is in error. (Had this happen to me years ago, got caught with my drawers down and completely blew it, so now you’ll be made wiser because of my mistake) Verse 6 — Rabbits  “The rabbit, though it chews the cud, does not have a divided hoof; it is unclean for you.” It’s not that “divided hoof”  part that gets attention.   It’s the “chews the cud”  part that gets zeroed in on, because technically , they don’t chew cud like a cow, so therefore it's a full-blown Bible error according to nonbelievers, and yes, unfortunately, some will die on that hill. Without turning this into a 30-minute article.  Have you ever watched a rabbit eat and then watched, say, a cow eat? Looks just like chewing cud, especially if they haven’t recently just finished a meal, but you see them doing it,  that’ll make sense in a minute. So while they don’t have the same internal mechanics that a cow does, they do have to re-ingest partially digested food for the same process, the digestion of food. Basically, they eat one of two types of their own poo to finish their meal.  Also, remember that Leviticus was written in Hebrew, not English. There’s more nuance in the original wording than a surface reading in translation might suggest. You can read about it here  at Got Questions, because they nailed that. Back to unclean animals and Genesis At the start of this article, I mentioned this all started back in Genesis. I know that probably doesn’t make sense, but there's a really neat layer going on here. “Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal , a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal , a male and its mate,” Genesis 7:2 Noah was pre-Leviticus, yet clean and unclean animals were already established. Think about that for a second. Then consider this: Cain and Abel also both knew about sacrifices, way before Noah. “Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil  as an offering to the Lord. And Abel also brought an offering —  fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. ” Genesis 4:3–4 Now, while yes, both are acceptable as offerings to God, and we know God didn’t care for Cain’s, but that’s not my point here. My point is that they both knew  what was acceptable and what was not.  For a detailed understanding of why Cain’s offering was rejected, I recommend reading A Closer Look At The Bible’s Most Misunderstood Villain  by   Dan Foster . There has always been some contention among people that God just sorta left people to figure things out on their own after Eden’s doors were closed, and that’s why things went so bad.  But both Cain and Abel’s sacrifices, then Abel’s being described as “ fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock,” (which is very specific) along with Noah’s instructions from God and then his sacrifice of some clean animals and birds right after the flood, disprove that and prove a very direct interaction with mankind from the beginning. God has always told people what was what from the beginning. He didn’t just drop and walk on anyone. The world pre-flood was absolutely communicated with and made aware of what was acceptable to God and what was not.  Giant leap to the New Testament now After Jesus died, all sorts of amazing stuff happened, and one of those was a very surprised Peter. Imagine over 400 years of dietary restrictions being lifted all of a sudden.  There were practical and symbolic reasons for the restrictions.  On the practical side, it was to keep the Israelites/Jews healthy; on the symbolic side, it was meant to set them apart from the rest of the world for a greater purpose. Mind you, that’s just a basic gist for the purposes of this article. So, back to Peter, in Acts 10 , we get to see God basically set up one heck of a cool scenario. First, He blows Peter's complete sense of what is acceptable and not right out the window, and then, being brilliant as He is, God already had a plan in motion for Peter to go to a Gentile's place where he ate with them. There’s a bit more to that whole situation, where Peter got called out by Paul for being a hypocrite because he stopped out of fear of getting in trouble with other Jews. You can read Galatians 2  for that full story. My point with all this is, Jesus declared everything clean.  “It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”  and “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” Acts 10:12,15 Then Peter made a powerful connection.  “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism,” Acts 10:34 The message wasn’t just about food, it was about people, everything was made clean so all could come to God’s table and eat. “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28 © Jane Isley Hope you enjoyed! Sources & Recommended reads: Genesis 4 , Genesis 7 , Acts 10 , Galatians 2 A Closer Look At The Bible’s Most Misunderstood Villain

unsplash.com It’s very common for people who have either walked away from God in the past or have always known He’s there but never quite reached out to take His hand to feel as though when they finally want that connection, they aren’t deserving of it. They question, or even fully believe, that they are beyond God’s reach because they didn’t say yes  at first. That's where flesh and spirit collide. That’s your flesh doing that to you, and that's satan getting right up in there, wreaking havoc, and taking advantage of those fears and doubts. He thrives on that conflict. I could quote you a ton of verses (and I will eventually include a few key ones at the end) , but sometimes you just need to hear from another Christian that they, too, have battled those same thoughts, fears, and demons. See, I wasn’t born a Christian; in fact, I was born completely human. Glorious flaws and all. But here’s the thing: God knew about all that, my flaws, my choices, and even my stupidity, long before I did anything. I walked away at one point, I’ve token practiced my faith, and just basically been a full-blown human that has messed up countless times.  Yet…..Here I am, worthy, forgiven, loved, and a valued child of Christ. Think about that for a moment, I'm a sinner, yet beloved. We are all given the breath of life, a precious and beautiful gift that no one else can even come close to giving us. He was the first to ever love us. Sometimes it’s almost impossible for us to comprehend (or even believe)  that there is such a thing as unconditional love, automatic worth, and forgiveness for everyone.  It’s a us problem going on. It’s how we perceive the world that can get in the way of believing and feeling His unconditional love, and just how worthy and valuable we are to Him.  We do that, and satan loves to take that for one hell of a roller coaster ride on us, especially if we are in the midst of this battle. That’s spiritual warfare at its worst.  Satan is going to fight tooth and nail to keep you doubting your worth, your value, and God’s forgiveness. He’ll use whatever is out there in the world to keep spreading that and infecting your mind with even more doubts. Here’s something you may never have been told, but need to hear. We don’t see what God sees; we see through human eyes, not divine eyes. Because we can’t fathom the intensity of his unconditional love, the most profound way God demonstrates that for us is that we are all  born with  free will. To be given the gift to choose of our volition is the truest form of love, respect, and worth that God can show us. That free will is an open invitation to come back to Him at any time. You can come home no matter your past. Satan is always going to be there, sometimes in the background waiting to pounce or right up in your face, “love” bombing you. Tell him to shut it and flee from you.  If you are having doubts that He will welcome you back, that doesn’t disqualify you from anything. I have battled that doubt, and I have had satan swamp me with intrusions and nastiest out there in the world to try to take me down and away from God. Stop having conversations with satan.  When you feel those doubts coming on, you turn them around and control them.  Start talking to God instead.  Stand there in the middle of your living room if you must, and open your mouth and talk to God. Tell Him what you are doubting, fearing, or worrying about. There is absolutely nothing you can say that He hasn’t heard. Want to know what to do with satan when he’s throwing everything at you? You resist. And he will flee from you in Jesus’ name, because even if you are having doubts, those doubts do not disqualify you from the armor of God and the strength you have in Him. Nothing in your past will ever close that door to God. “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;” Acts 3:19 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our wrongdoings, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),” Ephesians 2:4–5 “And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 © Jane Isley Thank you for taking the time to read, and please consider  supporting my work . Your gift helps keep this work going, blesses others, and means the world to me. You can visit me at Faithful Writers  on Medium, where other Christian writers have joined me in sharing the word of God. You can also find me on   Tumblr  and   Facebook.

unslpash.com This is the second of those three sayings I live by that I mentioned in Music Is My Melody .  How do I know Joy supersedes all situations? Because I have been there. But first, I want to point out how joy and happiness are related, but can have profoundly different meanings to a believer. Happiness is a good thing, but it can often be a fleeting emotion. One moment you can be happy and the next mad, upset, hurt, annoyed ect… Joy is something else; it is deeper, it is anchored to your soul, not your heart. Joy allows a person to feel intense contentment and long-lasting happiness, no matter the situation they are in in life. I regularly describe Joy as a state of being in the soul. You can meet people battling some of humanity's worst storms, but they have joy, and it shines; they are a lamp unto this world fueled by Joy. That is a state of being, to be in a place of Joy when happiness is hard to find, that is a heart in line with the Father, and that goes beyond mere happiness.  The two are rooted together, but Joy. That is something else altogether. I have gone through many storms where I barely kept my feet on the ground, but I had Joy in my heart, and I held onto the Joy that only God could give me.  That Joy became my strength, then became my smile, then my laughter, my thankfulness, and finally my strength that I needed. Joy can stop your mind from racing out of control, it can stop satan at the threshold, it can help you see God in everything, even the mundane. You become thankful.  With thanksgiving in your heart, you see the Lord in everything, and no matter your storm or situation, you can surrender with Joy that God has you, He has a plan, and you can joyfully follow His lead. “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” Philippians 4:4 © Jane Isley Thank you for taking the time to read, and please consider  supporting my work . Your gift helps keep this work going, blesses others, and means the world to me. You can visit me at Faithful Writers  on Medium, where other Christian writers have joined me in sharing the word of God. You can also find me on   Tumblr  and   Facebook.

Interesting question, let’s see. Do I believe this question directly impacts our salvation? No. Do I think it’s a good and fun question to ask to help our understanding? Absolutely!  So let’s see what the Bible tells us. First, I’ve decided to use the terms “being” and “angel,” because there are different created entities mentioned in the Bible.  So what we know from Scripture is that angels can look human, and even more fascinating is this: “Do not neglect hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Heb 13:2 Talk about keeping you on your toes. At least that's what I read from this verse. Who’s to say how many of us have hosted or come across an angel unknowingly?  Think about this one for a moment, how would you defend yourself to God on judgment day when asked why you turned away a stranger in need or treated someone poorly when in fact it was an angel? Just food for thought. Anyway, angels and wings. The Bible does not explicitly state that angels have wings, and I also don’t believe that references to wings for other beings are purely symbolic, especially considering the numerous physical descriptions of Cherubim in the Bible. This honestly makes sense to me because every kind that God created has unique differences and roles within that kind. The beings we commonly know about from Scripture. First up is Gabriel, who is only thought  to have wings, based on the passage from Dan 9:21 , “Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight.” He is described as a human in appearance, but no literal mention of wings in any verses he is in, not referred to as an archangel, and scared the poo out of Daniel because of his appearance when he saw him. ( Mary and Zechariah, too.) Not a clue exactly what kind he is because we are never told that explicitly, we just know he is referred to as an angel , and delivers a lot of messages. Then we have Michael, the   only  archangel mentioned in the Bible, btw, and he is never said to have wings either. But he is a warrior and protector angelic being; words such as “ one of the chief princes” and  “great prince who protects your people” are used to describe him. (3)  Here are three fun nuggets. Here is when we learn that Michael is not the only “ chief prince,”  but he must be a pretty awesome baddy because he has already taken satan on once about Moses' body (4)  and will again when he leads his army against him in the future.  (5) Michael only says four words in the whole Bible. “The Lord rebuke you!” (well, in Greek  it was actually three words) And Michael and Gabriel are the only two named angelic beings in the whole Bible, except Abaddon, from the book of Revelation, but that is also a title, not just a name, and a whole different conversation. Anyway, back to wings. We see many other divine messengers of God throughout the Bible who looked human, didn’t have wings, and delivered messages to people, but weren’t named like Gabriel and Michael; instead were simply called angels (messengers). For example, in Gen 19:1 “The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening,” the Hebrew word is “ malak ”, which literally means “angel, messengers, messenger” but they didn’t have wings. And in Acts, we have an angel   (same meaning as malak, just in Greek),  no wings, committing some B&E and getting Peter and his disciples out of jail.  ChatGPT So, what does have wings, then, for sure? We know for certain that the Seraphim have six wings, which are their own distinct kind (1), and Cherubim, also a distinct kind, have four wings. (And four faces, but we’re just chatting about their wings today, not trying to sort that one out toda y. ( 2) Remember, church tradition and Jewish tradition consider the Cherubim and Seraphim as types of angels, not the Bible per se. Wrapping things up. The question I asked is: Do all angels have wings?  Well, that’s actually a loaded question because you have to ask the question with the right word first.  Angel (Messenger), Seraphim, Cherubim, or Archangel. Angels are the messengers of God (literally, that is the definition), and the winged beings are their own class of something, but are never called angels in the Bible. Michael and Gabriel are never specified as having wings, but are called angels, not Cherubim or Seraphim, with Michael being the only Archangel. Winging it. The wing culture comes from a blending of the verse, “ came to me in swift flight,” the Cheribum and Seraphim descriptions, what angels are capable of doing, and artwork over the centuries that kept it going. Could they all have wings, and somehow the angels are able to keep theirs invisible?   Sure, why not?  These are beings who can pack of heck of a spiritual punch, and God loves to give us mysteries to ponder on, but at the same time, we are told which beings do have wings. Like I said in the beginning. Does this affect your salvation if you believe angels have wings? No, but it is fun, fascinating, and helps a person see the Bible, not tradition. Hope you enjoyed! Sources: And yup, they’re out of order in the article. (1) Isaiah 6:2 (2) Ezekiel 10:21 (3) Biblestudytools: Archangel Michael in the Bible . (4) Jude 1:9 , (5) Revelation 12: 7–9 (6) Acts 5:17–22 Biblestudytools: Bible Verses about Cherubim Cherub | hak-kə-ru-ḇîm | kerub Seraphim | śə-rā-p̄îm | saraph

I don’t know, but let’s do the math. 1 Samuel 17:4  tells us:  “A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.” Awesome.👍 So, how tall was Goliath in American terms then? I’d love to tell you it is one simple answer, but I learned it wasn’t quite that simple. So, typically, a cubit was the length between the elbow and the tip of the middle finger. But there are other sources that say it can also be an elbow to the little finger and an elbow to the outstretched thumb. Then I discovered that there were two types of cubit lengths in the Bible.  Now, Goliath wasn’t measured using the “cubit of the sanctuary”  (1) measurement, which is the longer one. I just wanted to throw that little nugget in there because I didn’t even realize there was a difference till Ezekiel popped up in my searching. Putting all that aside, and not wanting to conduct an extensive hair-pulling analysis, let’s try to clarify the general consensus on what a cubit and span are. According to Britannica.com  a cubit is “generally taken as equal to 18 inches” and “In some ancient cultures it was as long as 21 inches.”  We’ll be conservative and go with 18”. Then we have a “span,” and that is considered to be from the tip of the little finger and the thumb when you fully extend your hand. From sources, it is generally 8” — 10”, but I’m going with one source’s conservative decision because hand sizes can vary. We’ll go with 6" for a span. So 18” and 6” — where does that put us? 6 x 18” = 108”, then we’ll add another 6” for span, and we come to 114". Doesn’t sound like a lot, but for a visual comparison, I’m 69” (5’9”) and my husband is 75” (6’3”), we are both tall for our genders according to our national average standards and worldwide average standards. Goliath trumps both of us. Using the conservative numbers, Goliath comes in at a whopping 9’ 5”. (at minimum I would say, in my personal opinion) www.heightcomparison.com Yeah. He really was a big, big guy, who got taken out by a young kid. Never underestimate the power of God when He sets you to a task; there is no mountain or person who can stand in His way. Hope you enjoyed! © Jane Isley Thank you for taking the time to read, and please consider  supporting my work . Your gift helps keep this work going, blesses others, and means the world to me. You can visit me at Faithful Writers  on Medium, where other Christian writers have joined me in sharing the word of God. You can also find me on   Tumblr  and   Facebook. Sources and References: (1) The Cubit: A History and Measurement Commentary thegaurdian.com ; How long is a biblical cubit? Goliath’s Spear: What is a Cubit?