1 Cor.
{2:5} That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
{2:6} Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
{2:7} But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom,] which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
{2:8} Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known [it,] they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
{2:9} But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men.
What does that mean exactly? Men have their own wisdom, God another.
wisdom (wîz´dem) noun
1. Understanding of what is true, right, or lasting; insight
2. Common sense; good judgment
3. a. The sum of scholarly learning through the ages; knowledge b. Wise teachings of the ancient sages.
4. A wise outlook, plan, or course of action.
5. Wisdom. Bible. Wisdom of Solomon.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
'The sum of scholarly learning through the ages, knowledge.' Our faith is not explained in all the knowledge of the world in a logical way. Faith itself defies logic to those thinking only in facts, only in the wisdom of men.
'{2:5} That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.'
The power of God gives us faith. We can't concern ourselves with anything that would tear down our faith no matter what it might be. Not the most logical reasoning should rip the faith from us. We can't let faith rest on the wisdom man possesses, it has to rest on the power of God alone.
1 Cor. {2:6} Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
{2:7} But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom,] which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
{2:8} Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known [it,] they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
We speak wisdom among them that are perfect- NOT wisdom of this world.
The princes of this world might have great wisdom but it's not the wisdom that matters a bit.
The wisdom of God is a mystery, hidden wisdom- a wisdom that produced our salvation for God ordained before the world this glory. Yet all the wise of the world, those holding high positions in wisdom as the world knows it, all of the didn't know, couldn't comprehend such a mystery, such wisdom of God.
1 Cor. {2:9} But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
This statement says so incredibly much, doesn't it? Seriously, the things God has prepared for us go way beyond our comprehension, way beyond our imaginations. The greatest thing we can imagine that is in store for us who love God, falls far short of what ways for us.
Eye hasn't seen!
Ears haven't heard!
Our hearts are clueless.
God's love is way beyond our own.
May we grasp hold of our Lord and Savior and never let go of Him, letting our faith, a faith given and helped by Him, please Him. May His wisdom be real to us, He's all wise, all knowing.
The power of God is that faith. The power of God is all things.
By His grace and mercy, by His love now and forever!
Amen.
8/7/10
After leaving her young son, Samuel, with the High Priest Eli at the Holy Temple, knowing she'd be leaving him there for the rest of His life never to have him in her home again, Hannah prayed this prayer…
1Sa 2:1 And Hannah prayed, and said,
My heart rejoiceth in the LORD,
mine horn is exalted in the LORD
my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies
because I rejoice in thy salvation.
Her heart rejoiced! There was NO sadness! Her heart rejoiced! Imagine it, your heart's desire was a child and you have that child and then have to give the child up, can you imagine rejoicing? The thing here is Hannah didn't *HAVE* to give up Samuel. Hannah chose to lend Him to the Lord. There was honor and the need of rejoicing in such a miraculous gift and being able to hold true to your vow to the Lord. This was a blessing. Hannah wasn't dooming Samuel to a life of horror, but gifting Him with the life of service to the Lord. The Lord who answered Hannah's prayer would surely be trustworthy and Hannah knew this, she was giving Samuel a gift by lending Him to the Lord. Hannah was rejoicing in the salvation of the Lord. She knew the power of the Lord firsthand, she understood that salvation was found in the Lord and no where else. Her life was exalted, she was able to praise God and give glory to Him and no one could take this from her, no enemy could destroy this bonding Hannah had with the Lord God. Her prayer continues...
1Sa 2:2 There is none holy as the LORD
for there is none beside thee:
neither is there any rock like our God.
Such amazing praise and truth! People might think there are things or others that are holy as the Lord but there is nothing and no one as Holy as our God. God is a surety beyond all sureties. Satan would have us believe God defaults on His promises, that all of life's heartaches are allowed by God to bring us pain and misery. Satan wants us to believe that all our suffering is from God, that there is no surety with the Lord, no goodness, nothing holy only that which is contemptible. God holds our eternal life in His hands as a precious gift He's proven to be more than willing to give to us, it's our eternal life which matters more than anything we suffer here on earth right now. Satan would have us only focus on this world and our short life that we are to live within it. As long as we only focus on this world Satan will have us lose the very thing he longs for and will never, ever have-- eternal life. Hannah spoke true… neither is there any rock like our God.
1Sa 2:3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly
let not arrogancy come out of your mouth
for the LORD is a God of knowledge
and by him actions are weighed.
By the Lord our actions are weighed. We cannot profess to have all understanding. We cannot presume to place ourselves on the level God. God alone has all knowledge, God alone is worthy of being honored and glorified. Any pride, any arrogance we possess should be silenced. Hannah knew this, because Hannah was blessed by the Lord and the words she spoke in her prayer were from the Lord. The full circle that took at least four maybe six years -including the time Hannah became pregnant- brought Hannah to the culmination of a miracle granted to her. As Hannah fulfilled her vow God blessed her with amazing insight.
1Sa 2:4 The bows of the mighty men are broken
and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
1Sa 2:5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread
and they that were hungry ceased
so that the barren hath born seven
and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
The mighty- broken
The stumbling- strengthened
The full- hungered
The hungry-filled
The barren- bares seven
The fruitful womb- feebled
1Sa 2:6
The LORD killeth,
and maketh alive:
he bringeth down to the grave,
and bringeth up.
1Sa 2:7
The LORD maketh poor,
and maketh rich:
he bringeth low,
and lifteth up.
1Sa 2:8
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,
and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill,
to set them among princes,
and to make them inherit the throne of glory:
for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S,
and he hath set the world upon them.
1Sa 2:9
He will keep the feet of his saints,
and the wicked shall be silent in darkness;
for by strength shall no man prevail.
FOR BY STRENGTH SHALL NO MAN PREVAIL! It's not be strength we gain eternal life, it's not by being strong on our own we can get through life and it's heartaches- only through the LORD do we prevail. It is the strength of the Lord that brings victory. Separated from the Lord we are NOTHING. We may think we are all that and then some, but we are but living dust without the Lord.
1Sa 2:10
The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces
out of heaven shall he thunder upon them
the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth
and he shall give strength unto his king,
and exalt the horn of his anointed.
PRAISE and GLORY all HONOR to our LORD! Hannah prayed and prophesized of the Lord's king, the Lord's anointed, our Savior! So beautiful, so wondrous this prayer of Hannah's. There is such depth in this prayer that there is no doubt that the Lord gave Hannah a blessing for her kept vow.
Reading on...
Hannah went home and time passed--
1Sa 2:18 But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.
1Sa 2:19 Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
Every year Hannah made her first born son a coat. Once a year Hannah would see Samuel. Imagine the joy of watching Him grow in knowledge and love of the Lord.
1Sa 2:20 And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD. And they went unto their own home.
1Sa 2:21 And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD.
Eli was thankful for Hannah's and her husband's gift to the Lord, the loan of their son. How well behaved Samuel had to have been. How respectful, how subservient, and attentive he was because he had Eli, the High Priest blessing his parents. Samuel had been raised properly and was a blessing to his parents. The blessing Eli gave to Samuel's parents was the gift of more children. Hannah went from being barren to receiving a blessing in Samuel. She raised Samuel for three to five years then loaned him to the Lord and then she visited Him every year… let's suppose 3 years maybe more, maybe less, but let's just imagine it was a few years and during all this time from the time of Samuel's birth until 7-8 years later Hannah was barren once more but found no sadness in her barren state. She'd been blessed and rejoiced in that blessing, it was enough. No more sad countenance, no more despair, no more heart ache longing for a child, that was all gone even though she didn't have possession of her child any longer. The Lord blessed her and Hannah wasn't presumptuous in that blessing, she was grateful eternally so. Then she was bless by Eli who asked the Lord to continue to bless her with children. The LORD visited Hannah, not once but six times! The LORD visited her and she was able to conceive. Without the Lord's blessing, without having the favor of the Lord, without having been obedient to the Lord, the Lord would not have continued to bless Hannah's barren womb. Hannah didn't miraculously become fertile after having Samuel, she remained barren until she was blessed again, and again with five more children. While Hannah was blessed with these children Samuel was growing before the Lord.
Amazing, all of this is so incredibly amazing and it's good for us to study, to glean the miraculous wonders, the truths that God has for us in all He does. May God continue to bless us as we seek Him, may we have understanding in Him of all we need to understand so that we may serve Him, that we may love Him as He would have us do.
God's will be done now and forever.
In His miraculous mercy and grace!
Amen.
8/7/11
Our last prophecy
study left off with the realization of the gradual, insidious merging of pure
Christianity with Paganism through the political realm of an emperor. The
emperor merged pagan customs with religious, by taking religious events never
meant to be made into festivals. In fact the Bible had many, many events take
place that were NEVER turned into events for yearly recognition. Most of the
events the Bible had pointed towards our Savior. When our Savior came He did
not institute a bunch of new events. He did not tell us to create holy days in
His name and in those events put a lot of pagan rituals.
Yet today that is what we have. We've been given a legacy of pagan
rituals draped in a covering of religion and told this is good.
As this
perversion of Christianity was underway we spoke before of a rising little horn
power-remember? Before that power
three other horns would fall and we proved in history how that happened. Now as
we have been brought up to this point again we should notice a bit more detail
on that situation.
The Roman Empire
was falling apart slowly but surely.
Clovis (c.
466–511) (Ch-)Leuthwig (Ludwig, Louis) was the first King of the Franks to unite
all the Frankish tribes under one ruler. He was also the first Catholic King to
rule over Gaul (France).
The
small church in which he was baptized is now named Saint-Remi, and a statue of
him being baptized by Saint Remigius can be seen there. Clovis and his wife
Clotilde are buried in the St. Genevieve church (St. Pierre) in Paris.
An important part
of Clovis' legacy is that he reduced the power of the Romans in 486 by beating
the Roman ruler Syagrius in the battle of Soissons.[2]
Clovis was
converted to Catholicism, as opposed to the Arian Christianity common among the
Goths who ruled most of Gaul at the time, at the instigation of his wife,
Clotilde, a Burgundian Gothic princess who was a Catholic in spite of the
Arianism which surrounded her at court. He was baptized in a small church which
was on or near the site of the Cathedral of Rheims, where most future French
kings would be crowned.
This act was of
immense importance in the subsequent history of Western and Central Europe in
general, for Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of the old Roman
province of Gaul (roughly modern France). He is considered the founder of the
Merovingian dynasty which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries.
Pasted
from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_I>
*
Note how relevant
the fact Clovis converted to Catholicism is to history, as opposed to the
fighting Christian faction opposed to Catholic beliefs- Arian Christianity.
*
Christian
king
Clovis had
previously married the Christian Burgundian princess Clotilde (later canonized
as St. Clotilde), and, according to Gregory of Tours, as a result of his
victory at Tolbiac (traditionally set in 496), he converted to her Catholic
faith. Conversion to Trinitarian Christianity set Clovis apart from the other
Germanic kings of his time, such as those of the Visigoths and the Vandals, who
had converted from pagan beliefs to Arian Christianity. It also ensured him of
the support of the Catholic Gallo-Roman aristocracy in his later campaign
against the Visigoths, which drove them from southern Gaul (507). According to
legend, it was only by invoking the God of his Christian wife, Clotilde, that
he defeated his enemy. Clotilde was almost certainly instrumental in Clovis'
conversion to Catholic faith.
Clovis was
baptised at Rheims on Christmas 496, 498 or 506 by Saint Remigius.[5] The
conversion of Clovis to Catholic Christianity, the religion of the majority of
his subjects, strengthened the bonds between his Roman subjects, led by their
Catholic bishops, and their Germanic conquerors. Nevertheless, Bernard Bachrach
has argued that this conversion from his Frankish paganism alienated many of the
other Frankish sub-kings and weakened his military position over the next few
years. William Daly, in order more directly to assess Clovis's allegedly
barbaric and pagan origins,[6] was obliged to ignore the bishop Saint Gregory of
Tours and base his account on the scant earlier sources, a sixth-century "vita"
of Saint Genevieve and letters to or concerning Clovis from bishops and
Theodoric.
In the
"interpretatio romana", Gregory of Tours gave the Germanic gods that Clovis
abandoned the names of roughly equivalent Roman gods, such as Jupiter and
Mercury.[7] Taken literally, such usage would suggest a strong affinity of early
Frankish rulers for the prestige of Roman culture, which they may have embraced
as allies and federates of the Empire during the previous century.[citation
needed]
Though he fought
a battle at Dijon in the year 500, Clovis did not successfully subdue the
Burgundian kingdom. It appears that he somehow gained the support of the
Arvernians in the following years, for they assisted him in his defeat of the
Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in the Battle of Vouillé (507) which eliminated
Visigothic power in Gaul and confined the Visigoths to Hispania and Septimania;
the battle added most of Aquitaine to Clovis's kingdom.[4] He then established
Paris as his capital,[4] and established an abbey dedicated to Saints Peter and
Paul on the south bank of the Seine. Later it was renamed Sainte-Geneviève
Abbey, in honor of the patron saint of Paris.[8]
According to
Gregory of Tours, following the Battle of Vouillé, the Byzantine Emperor
Anastasius I, granted Clovis the title of consul. Since Clovis's name does not
appear in the consular lists, it is likely he was granted a suffect
consulship.
Pasted
from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_I>
To say ARMS shall
stand on his part- the part of the pagan/Christian perverted rulership- would
hold true. The Papacy used
it's influence to gain arms to fight on its behalf defeating what they
considered to be false Christians- the Arians. To be sure the sanctuary of strength
was grossly polluted by all the politics, all the paganism that infiltrated into
Christianity. There is NO doubt here that this has all happened as predicted, no
doubt at all!
As the Papacy was
rising up becoming stronger and stronger it replaced MANY truths with
falsehoods, keeping just enough truth in them to make them appear to be of
God.
Dan 11:31 And arms shall stand on his part,
and
they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength,
and
shall take away the daily sacrifice,
and they shall
place the abomination that maketh desolate.
More tomorrow on
this because I really need to study more of this myself, much more deeply. By the grace and mercy of our God, all
through HIS love, HIS righteousness, because I have no righteousness of my own,
none.
Please Lord, help
us to understand, help us have open eyes, open hearts.
In His amazing
love always!
Amen.
{2:5} That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
{2:6} Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
{2:7} But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom,] which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
{2:8} Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known [it,] they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
{2:9} But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men.
What does that mean exactly? Men have their own wisdom, God another.
wisdom (wîz´dem) noun
1. Understanding of what is true, right, or lasting; insight
2. Common sense; good judgment
3. a. The sum of scholarly learning through the ages; knowledge b. Wise teachings of the ancient sages.
4. A wise outlook, plan, or course of action.
5. Wisdom. Bible. Wisdom of Solomon.
Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary
'The sum of scholarly learning through the ages, knowledge.' Our faith is not explained in all the knowledge of the world in a logical way. Faith itself defies logic to those thinking only in facts, only in the wisdom of men.
'{2:5} That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.'
The power of God gives us faith. We can't concern ourselves with anything that would tear down our faith no matter what it might be. Not the most logical reasoning should rip the faith from us. We can't let faith rest on the wisdom man possesses, it has to rest on the power of God alone.
1 Cor. {2:6} Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:
{2:7} But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom,] which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
{2:8} Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known [it,] they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
We speak wisdom among them that are perfect- NOT wisdom of this world.
The princes of this world might have great wisdom but it's not the wisdom that matters a bit.
The wisdom of God is a mystery, hidden wisdom- a wisdom that produced our salvation for God ordained before the world this glory. Yet all the wise of the world, those holding high positions in wisdom as the world knows it, all of the didn't know, couldn't comprehend such a mystery, such wisdom of God.
1 Cor. {2:9} But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
This statement says so incredibly much, doesn't it? Seriously, the things God has prepared for us go way beyond our comprehension, way beyond our imaginations. The greatest thing we can imagine that is in store for us who love God, falls far short of what ways for us.
Eye hasn't seen!
Ears haven't heard!
Our hearts are clueless.
God's love is way beyond our own.
May we grasp hold of our Lord and Savior and never let go of Him, letting our faith, a faith given and helped by Him, please Him. May His wisdom be real to us, He's all wise, all knowing.
The power of God is that faith. The power of God is all things.
By His grace and mercy, by His love now and forever!
Amen.
8/7/10
After leaving her young son, Samuel, with the High Priest Eli at the Holy Temple, knowing she'd be leaving him there for the rest of His life never to have him in her home again, Hannah prayed this prayer…
1Sa 2:1 And Hannah prayed, and said,
My heart rejoiceth in the LORD,
mine horn is exalted in the LORD
my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies
because I rejoice in thy salvation.
Her heart rejoiced! There was NO sadness! Her heart rejoiced! Imagine it, your heart's desire was a child and you have that child and then have to give the child up, can you imagine rejoicing? The thing here is Hannah didn't *HAVE* to give up Samuel. Hannah chose to lend Him to the Lord. There was honor and the need of rejoicing in such a miraculous gift and being able to hold true to your vow to the Lord. This was a blessing. Hannah wasn't dooming Samuel to a life of horror, but gifting Him with the life of service to the Lord. The Lord who answered Hannah's prayer would surely be trustworthy and Hannah knew this, she was giving Samuel a gift by lending Him to the Lord. Hannah was rejoicing in the salvation of the Lord. She knew the power of the Lord firsthand, she understood that salvation was found in the Lord and no where else. Her life was exalted, she was able to praise God and give glory to Him and no one could take this from her, no enemy could destroy this bonding Hannah had with the Lord God. Her prayer continues...
1Sa 2:2 There is none holy as the LORD
for there is none beside thee:
neither is there any rock like our God.
Such amazing praise and truth! People might think there are things or others that are holy as the Lord but there is nothing and no one as Holy as our God. God is a surety beyond all sureties. Satan would have us believe God defaults on His promises, that all of life's heartaches are allowed by God to bring us pain and misery. Satan wants us to believe that all our suffering is from God, that there is no surety with the Lord, no goodness, nothing holy only that which is contemptible. God holds our eternal life in His hands as a precious gift He's proven to be more than willing to give to us, it's our eternal life which matters more than anything we suffer here on earth right now. Satan would have us only focus on this world and our short life that we are to live within it. As long as we only focus on this world Satan will have us lose the very thing he longs for and will never, ever have-- eternal life. Hannah spoke true… neither is there any rock like our God.
1Sa 2:3 Talk no more so exceeding proudly
let not arrogancy come out of your mouth
for the LORD is a God of knowledge
and by him actions are weighed.
By the Lord our actions are weighed. We cannot profess to have all understanding. We cannot presume to place ourselves on the level God. God alone has all knowledge, God alone is worthy of being honored and glorified. Any pride, any arrogance we possess should be silenced. Hannah knew this, because Hannah was blessed by the Lord and the words she spoke in her prayer were from the Lord. The full circle that took at least four maybe six years -including the time Hannah became pregnant- brought Hannah to the culmination of a miracle granted to her. As Hannah fulfilled her vow God blessed her with amazing insight.
1Sa 2:4 The bows of the mighty men are broken
and they that stumbled are girded with strength.
1Sa 2:5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread
and they that were hungry ceased
so that the barren hath born seven
and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.
The mighty- broken
The stumbling- strengthened
The full- hungered
The hungry-filled
The barren- bares seven
The fruitful womb- feebled
1Sa 2:6
The LORD killeth,
and maketh alive:
he bringeth down to the grave,
and bringeth up.
1Sa 2:7
The LORD maketh poor,
and maketh rich:
he bringeth low,
and lifteth up.
1Sa 2:8
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust,
and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill,
to set them among princes,
and to make them inherit the throne of glory:
for the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S,
and he hath set the world upon them.
1Sa 2:9
He will keep the feet of his saints,
and the wicked shall be silent in darkness;
for by strength shall no man prevail.
FOR BY STRENGTH SHALL NO MAN PREVAIL! It's not be strength we gain eternal life, it's not by being strong on our own we can get through life and it's heartaches- only through the LORD do we prevail. It is the strength of the Lord that brings victory. Separated from the Lord we are NOTHING. We may think we are all that and then some, but we are but living dust without the Lord.
1Sa 2:10
The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces
out of heaven shall he thunder upon them
the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth
and he shall give strength unto his king,
and exalt the horn of his anointed.
PRAISE and GLORY all HONOR to our LORD! Hannah prayed and prophesized of the Lord's king, the Lord's anointed, our Savior! So beautiful, so wondrous this prayer of Hannah's. There is such depth in this prayer that there is no doubt that the Lord gave Hannah a blessing for her kept vow.
Reading on...
Hannah went home and time passed--
1Sa 2:18 But Samuel ministered before the LORD, being a child, girded with a linen ephod.
1Sa 2:19 Moreover his mother made him a little coat, and brought it to him from year to year, when she came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.
Every year Hannah made her first born son a coat. Once a year Hannah would see Samuel. Imagine the joy of watching Him grow in knowledge and love of the Lord.
1Sa 2:20 And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, The LORD give thee seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD. And they went unto their own home.
1Sa 2:21 And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD.
Eli was thankful for Hannah's and her husband's gift to the Lord, the loan of their son. How well behaved Samuel had to have been. How respectful, how subservient, and attentive he was because he had Eli, the High Priest blessing his parents. Samuel had been raised properly and was a blessing to his parents. The blessing Eli gave to Samuel's parents was the gift of more children. Hannah went from being barren to receiving a blessing in Samuel. She raised Samuel for three to five years then loaned him to the Lord and then she visited Him every year… let's suppose 3 years maybe more, maybe less, but let's just imagine it was a few years and during all this time from the time of Samuel's birth until 7-8 years later Hannah was barren once more but found no sadness in her barren state. She'd been blessed and rejoiced in that blessing, it was enough. No more sad countenance, no more despair, no more heart ache longing for a child, that was all gone even though she didn't have possession of her child any longer. The Lord blessed her and Hannah wasn't presumptuous in that blessing, she was grateful eternally so. Then she was bless by Eli who asked the Lord to continue to bless her with children. The LORD visited Hannah, not once but six times! The LORD visited her and she was able to conceive. Without the Lord's blessing, without having the favor of the Lord, without having been obedient to the Lord, the Lord would not have continued to bless Hannah's barren womb. Hannah didn't miraculously become fertile after having Samuel, she remained barren until she was blessed again, and again with five more children. While Hannah was blessed with these children Samuel was growing before the Lord.
Amazing, all of this is so incredibly amazing and it's good for us to study, to glean the miraculous wonders, the truths that God has for us in all He does. May God continue to bless us as we seek Him, may we have understanding in Him of all we need to understand so that we may serve Him, that we may love Him as He would have us do.
God's will be done now and forever.
In His miraculous mercy and grace!
Amen.
8/7/11
Our last prophecy
study left off with the realization of the gradual, insidious merging of pure
Christianity with Paganism through the political realm of an emperor. The
emperor merged pagan customs with religious, by taking religious events never
meant to be made into festivals. In fact the Bible had many, many events take
place that were NEVER turned into events for yearly recognition. Most of the
events the Bible had pointed towards our Savior. When our Savior came He did
not institute a bunch of new events. He did not tell us to create holy days in
His name and in those events put a lot of pagan rituals.
Yet today that is what we have. We've been given a legacy of pagan
rituals draped in a covering of religion and told this is good.
As this
perversion of Christianity was underway we spoke before of a rising little horn
power-remember? Before that power
three other horns would fall and we proved in history how that happened. Now as
we have been brought up to this point again we should notice a bit more detail
on that situation.
The Roman Empire
was falling apart slowly but surely.
Clovis (c.
466–511) (Ch-)Leuthwig (Ludwig, Louis) was the first King of the Franks to unite
all the Frankish tribes under one ruler. He was also the first Catholic King to
rule over Gaul (France).
The
small church in which he was baptized is now named Saint-Remi, and a statue of
him being baptized by Saint Remigius can be seen there. Clovis and his wife
Clotilde are buried in the St. Genevieve church (St. Pierre) in Paris.
An important part
of Clovis' legacy is that he reduced the power of the Romans in 486 by beating
the Roman ruler Syagrius in the battle of Soissons.[2]
Clovis was
converted to Catholicism, as opposed to the Arian Christianity common among the
Goths who ruled most of Gaul at the time, at the instigation of his wife,
Clotilde, a Burgundian Gothic princess who was a Catholic in spite of the
Arianism which surrounded her at court. He was baptized in a small church which
was on or near the site of the Cathedral of Rheims, where most future French
kings would be crowned.
This act was of
immense importance in the subsequent history of Western and Central Europe in
general, for Clovis expanded his dominion over almost all of the old Roman
province of Gaul (roughly modern France). He is considered the founder of the
Merovingian dynasty which ruled the Franks for the next two centuries.
Pasted
from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_I>
*
Note how relevant
the fact Clovis converted to Catholicism is to history, as opposed to the
fighting Christian faction opposed to Catholic beliefs- Arian Christianity.
*
Christian
king
Clovis had
previously married the Christian Burgundian princess Clotilde (later canonized
as St. Clotilde), and, according to Gregory of Tours, as a result of his
victory at Tolbiac (traditionally set in 496), he converted to her Catholic
faith. Conversion to Trinitarian Christianity set Clovis apart from the other
Germanic kings of his time, such as those of the Visigoths and the Vandals, who
had converted from pagan beliefs to Arian Christianity. It also ensured him of
the support of the Catholic Gallo-Roman aristocracy in his later campaign
against the Visigoths, which drove them from southern Gaul (507). According to
legend, it was only by invoking the God of his Christian wife, Clotilde, that
he defeated his enemy. Clotilde was almost certainly instrumental in Clovis'
conversion to Catholic faith.
Clovis was
baptised at Rheims on Christmas 496, 498 or 506 by Saint Remigius.[5] The
conversion of Clovis to Catholic Christianity, the religion of the majority of
his subjects, strengthened the bonds between his Roman subjects, led by their
Catholic bishops, and their Germanic conquerors. Nevertheless, Bernard Bachrach
has argued that this conversion from his Frankish paganism alienated many of the
other Frankish sub-kings and weakened his military position over the next few
years. William Daly, in order more directly to assess Clovis's allegedly
barbaric and pagan origins,[6] was obliged to ignore the bishop Saint Gregory of
Tours and base his account on the scant earlier sources, a sixth-century "vita"
of Saint Genevieve and letters to or concerning Clovis from bishops and
Theodoric.
In the
"interpretatio romana", Gregory of Tours gave the Germanic gods that Clovis
abandoned the names of roughly equivalent Roman gods, such as Jupiter and
Mercury.[7] Taken literally, such usage would suggest a strong affinity of early
Frankish rulers for the prestige of Roman culture, which they may have embraced
as allies and federates of the Empire during the previous century.[citation
needed]
Though he fought
a battle at Dijon in the year 500, Clovis did not successfully subdue the
Burgundian kingdom. It appears that he somehow gained the support of the
Arvernians in the following years, for they assisted him in his defeat of the
Visigothic kingdom of Toulouse in the Battle of Vouillé (507) which eliminated
Visigothic power in Gaul and confined the Visigoths to Hispania and Septimania;
the battle added most of Aquitaine to Clovis's kingdom.[4] He then established
Paris as his capital,[4] and established an abbey dedicated to Saints Peter and
Paul on the south bank of the Seine. Later it was renamed Sainte-Geneviève
Abbey, in honor of the patron saint of Paris.[8]
According to
Gregory of Tours, following the Battle of Vouillé, the Byzantine Emperor
Anastasius I, granted Clovis the title of consul. Since Clovis's name does not
appear in the consular lists, it is likely he was granted a suffect
consulship.
Pasted
from <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clovis_I>
To say ARMS shall
stand on his part- the part of the pagan/Christian perverted rulership- would
hold true. The Papacy used
it's influence to gain arms to fight on its behalf defeating what they
considered to be false Christians- the Arians. To be sure the sanctuary of strength
was grossly polluted by all the politics, all the paganism that infiltrated into
Christianity. There is NO doubt here that this has all happened as predicted, no
doubt at all!
As the Papacy was
rising up becoming stronger and stronger it replaced MANY truths with
falsehoods, keeping just enough truth in them to make them appear to be of
God.
Dan 11:31 And arms shall stand on his part,
and
they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength,
and
shall take away the daily sacrifice,
and they shall
place the abomination that maketh desolate.
More tomorrow on
this because I really need to study more of this myself, much more deeply. By the grace and mercy of our God, all
through HIS love, HIS righteousness, because I have no righteousness of my own,
none.
Please Lord, help
us to understand, help us have open eyes, open hearts.
In His amazing
love always!
Amen.