WHAT'S IN A KISS - Kisses in the Bible have the power to cheer, the power to hurt, and the power to strengthen or to murder. They can sometimes signify death or symbolize life. The first recorded use of kisses in the Bible may have come when God gave consciousness to the first human being.

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Kisses in the Bible

What role do kisses play in the Bible?

The first recorded use of kisses in Scripture may have come when God (the member of the Godhead who became Jesus Christ) gave consciousness to the first human being.

“Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground (the name "Adam" means "made of red earth" or clay), and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7, HBFV throughout)

Kisses and Jewish Tradition

Jewish legend states based on Deuteronomy 34:5 that the death of Moses was accomplished through a kiss given by God.

Jewish tradition also states that when a person dies he is given last kisses before his eyes were closed and the body prepared for burial.

Tradition additionally infers, based upon a unique rabbinical interpretation of Psalm 62:12, that there were 903 ways of dying. The best and gentlest of these, compared to drawing a hair out of milk, was called 'death by a kiss.'

The Old Testament

The aging Isaac erroneously kissed Jacob, thinking it was his oldest son Esau, and gave him the birthright blessing (Genesis 27:24-27).

Jacob kissed his cousin and future wife Rachel the first time he met her (Genesis 29:11).

Despite earlier chicanery, Esau greeted his brother with this show of affection (Genesis 33:4).

Joseph greeted his brothers, who had sold him as a slave because they envied him, with this sign of forgiveness (Genesis 45:14-15).

Israel kisses his grandsons (through Joseph) before placing the family name upon them (Genesis 48:8-10).

When death came to Israel Joseph gave him this sign of love (Genesis 49:33-50:1).

Joab, King David's army commander, murdered rival general Amasa by pretending to give him this symbol of greeting on the cheek (2 Samuel 20:8-10).

What SPECIAL relationship does God want with us?

The New Testament

The New Testament records that Christians gave each other kisses as a sign of greeting and love (see Romans 16:16, 1 Corinthians 16:20, 2 Corinthians 13:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:26, 1 Peter 5:14).

There has been much speculation over the meaning of this practice (known as the "kiss of charity" in the KJV translation of 1 Peter 5:14), but it certainly was not a homosexual or lesbian-type show of affection.

The most famous of all kisses in the Bible, however, is the one Judas gave to Jesus (the kiss of betrayal or death). It was given in the Garden of Gethsemane, the place where Jesus and the disciples went to after they finished celebrating their last Passover together:

⁴⁸ Now the one who was betraying Him (Judas Iscariot) gave them (armed officers and other men provided by religious leaders who wanted to kill Christ) a sign, saying, "Whomever I shall kiss, He is the One. Arrest Him!" ⁴⁹ And as soon as he came to Jesus, he said, "Hail, Rabbi," and earnestly kissed Him. ⁵⁰ But Jesus said to him, "Friend, for what purpose have you come?" Then they came and laid their hands on Jesus, and arrested Him. (Matthew 26:48-50, Mark 14:43-46 and Luke 22:47-48)

Kisses of respect were not unusual during the time of Christ. In the first century, it was customary for a student to greet a teacher in such a manner.

Ironically, Judas’ feigned token of affection precipitated Jesus' last miracle before his death when he had to heal a servant's ear Peter impulsively chopped off in an attempt to protect Christ (Luke 22:49-51).

Kisses in the Bible have the power to cheer, the power to hurt, and the power to strengthen or to murder.

They can sometimes signify death or symbolize life.

The best one, however, is the one that says, "Thank you," or "You are special," or "I love you."

Would you want to have a deeper relationship with God?

God has made it possible for you to know Him and experience an amazing change in your own life by receiving His Son, Jesus Christ, and have eternal life.

Say the following prayer:

“Father God, I confess I am a sinner and my sins have separated me from You.

I am truly sorry. I now want to turn away from my past sinful life and live a new life pleasing to You.

Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again.

I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer.

I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Thank You that according to your Word, I am now born again.

Please send Your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. I promise to study Your Word – the Bible.

Please use me for Your glory.

In Jesus' Name I pray. Amen.”

http://www.biblestudy.org/bible-study-by-topic/kisses-in-the-bible.html

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UNEQUALLY YOKED - Dating an Unbeliever is Disobedience - Your body is the new Temple. As a follower of Christ, the Spirit of God dwells in you. This is why God calls us to “come out from among them, and separate.” He’s not telling us to be unloving – we are called to love unbelievers. God is calling us to love Him more than we love our own desire for a relationship. He’s calling us to be a place of worship.God cares about our relationships because He cares about us. He cares about our purity because that is what keeps us in a relationship with Him! Our holiness preaches the gospel louder than our words. Unequal yoking hinders our walk with God – the one thing we need more than anything else.

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Unequally Yoked

Dating an Unbeliever is Disobedience

Why Being Unequally Yoked Is More Dangerous Than You Think

Phylicia Masonheimer

phyliciamasonheimer.com

What does Unequally Yoked mean?

Is dating someone who doesn’t share your beliefs really such a big deal?

Actually, yes.

2 Corinthians 6:14 is the oft-cited verse calling believers to be “equally yoked.”

But many believers fail to see why this command from the Apostle Paul is so important. Others disregard it completely.

Being equally yoked is not meant to inhibit our dating lives. Rather, it is a command designed for protection and honor.

Being unequally yoked is more dangerous than you think – and waiting for someone with whom you share the same spiritual heritage is far more rewarding than many believe.

Dating an Unbeliever is Disobedience

I once received an e-mail from a reader. In it, she said she didn’t think God cared about who she dated or married – He had bigger things to worry about.

But this couldn’t be further from the truth. God has always cared about the unions His people make – as evidenced by His relationship with Israel.

In Deuteronomy 7, Moses is instructing the Israelites in their responsibilities as the people of God. They have been freed from slavery and are now free men, about to enter the Promised Land. But Moses gives a warning:

“You shall make no covenant with [the people of the land] and show no favor to them. Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them… for they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods…” (Deuteronomy 7:3-4)

Fast forward several hundred years, and we find Israel in direct rebellion against God’s command:

“The sons of Israel lived among the Canaanites…; and they took their daughters for themselves as wives, and gave their own daughters to their sons, and served their gods.” (Judges 3:5-6)

It probably didn’t seem so harmful at first.

Perhaps the Israelites felt like there weren’t enough women, or there weren’t enough men to go around.

However they rationalized it, the Israelites formed covenants between themselves and people who neither knew nor served God. In so doing, they were led astray.

Over and over in Scripture, we see this theme repeated.

Two are:

-  Samson, who repeatedly sought out unbelieving women, a choice which in the end destroyed him (Judges 14), and

-  Solomon, the wisest man in the world – until his many wives led him to worship other gods (1 Kings 11).

Uniting ourselves to people who do not love, follow, or submit to Christ is direct disobedience.

Intimacy is Impossible Without Spiritual Unity

If Christ is truly King of our lives, our most intimate selves should be submitted to His influence.

How then can we unite a Spirit-led soul to one in rebellion against God?

This rubs people the wrong way, because no matter how respectful, sweet, or “loving” an unbelieving partner is, he is at odds with Christ – he is in rebellion.

But if we call ourselves Christians, we’re saying we believe the Bible is our final authority.

The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that without Christ we are “[unresponsive] in our transgressions,” conformed to the world, “living by the cravings of our flesh” and “by nature, children of wrath.” (Ephesians 2:1-3)

This is who we are without Jesus.

This is who everyone is apart from Christ.

Therefore, those of us in Christ cannot be in a harmonious, God-pleasing relationship with an unbeliever. There is no fellowship between light and darkness! (2 Corinthians 7:14)

The Greek word for “fellowship” in this passage literally means contactor intimacy.

Through Paul’s inspired words, we learn that intimacy with unbelievers is not just discouraged – it’s impossible.

God knows this. It’s why he commanded the Israelites to marry within the household of faith, and it’s why He inspired Paul to issue the same command. This is for our spiritual protection!

Righteousness has nothing in common with a person who believes they are good enough apart from God:

“For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-15)

No relationship apart from Christ can be truly “good” (Mark 10:18).

No “love” apart from Christ is true love (1 John 4:16-17).

It may look like these things from the outside, but will never be unified within.

Your Body is a Sanctuary of Worship

Paul’s mandate to be “equally yoked” isn’t found in a list of commandments; it was written to the struggling church at Corinth, a group of people confused about how to live for Christ in a corrupt world.

That’s why he took the time to explain whyequal yoking is essential to the Christian walk:

“What agreement can exist between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

   ‘I will live with them
and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they will be My people.
Therefore come out from among them
and be separate, says the Lord.
Touch no unclean thing,
and I will receive you.’” (2 Corinhians 6:16-17)

Your body is the new Temple.

As a follower of Christ, the Spirit of God dwells in you. This is why God calls us to “come out from among them, and separate.”

He’s not telling us to be unloving – we are called to love unbelievers (1 Peter 2:12).

God is calling us to love Him more than we love our own desire for a relationship. He’s calling us to be a place of worship.

This is a call to reconsider your view of God and dating.

God cares about our relationships because He cares about us. 

He cares about our purity because that is what keeps us in a relationship with Him!

Our holiness preaches the gospel louder than our words. Unequal yoking hinders our walk with God – the one thing we need more than anything else.

If you are already married to an unbeliever, the Bible speaks to your next steps. Start by reading 1 Corinthians 7. Questions? Email Phylicia at phyliciadeltablog@gmail.com

Phylicia Masonheimer blogs at Phylicia Delta, where she teaches women how to preach the gospel with their lives: proclaiming Jesus in work, love, and home. Her eBook Christian Cosmo launches March 1st, 2017. 

https://www.crosswalk.com/family/singles/why-being-unequally-yoked-is-more-dangerous-than-you-think.html

 

EVERYTHING IS MEANINGLESS - “‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless’” Solomon had it all, and he had tried everything, but when he left God out of the equation, nothing satisfied him. There is purpose in life, and it is found in knowing God and keeping His commands.

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Meaningless

Meaningless

Everything is Meaningless

What does it mean that everything is meaningless?

The book of Ecclesiastes starts out with a startling exclamation:

“‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’
says the Teacher.
‘Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless’” (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

Other translations have the word vanity or futility in place of meaningless.

The point is the same: Solomon in his old age has found everything in this world to be empty and void of meaning. This lament becomes the theme of the whole book.

Saying that everything is meaningless sounds depressing, but we must keep Solomon’s point of view in mind.

This is found in Ecclesiastes 1:14: “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”

The key phrase is “under the sun,” which is repeated throughout the book.

Solomon is sharing an earth-bound perspective. He is only considering life “under the sun”; that is, a human life lived to the exclusion of any consideration of God.

From that godless perspective, everything is indeed “meaningless.”

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon discusses ten vanities — ten things that are “meaningless” when considered from the limited point of view of “under the sun.”

Without God,

- human wisdom is meaningless (Ecclesiastes 2:14–16);

- labor (Ecclesiastes 2:18–23);

- amassing things (Ecclesiastes 2:26);

- life itself (Ecclesiastes 3:18–22);

- competition (Ecclesiastes 4:4);

- selfish overwork (Ecclesiastes 4:7–8);

- power and authority (Ecclesiastes 4:16);

- greed (Ecclesiastes 5:10);

- wealth and accolades (Ecclesiastes 6:1–2); and

- perfunctory religion (Ecclesiastes 8:10–14).

When Solomon says, “Everything is meaningless,” he did not mean that everything in the world is of zero value.

Rather, his point is that all human efforts apart from God’s will are meaningless.

Solomon had it all, and he had tried everything, but when he left God out of the equation, nothing satisfied him.

There is purpose in life, and it is found in knowing God and keeping His commands.

That’s why Solomon ends his book this way:

 “Now all has been heard;
here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
for this is the duty of all mankind” (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

Are you struggling with a big decision or wondering how your eternal future will play out?

Why not talk to the God of the universe and let Him work in your behalf?

He says, “I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you" (Psalm 32:8).

Ask God to show you what to do. Pray the following prayer:

“Heavenly Father,

I admit that I am a sinner and my sins have separated me from You. I now want to turn away from my past sinful life and begin a new life with You.

Please forgive me. I now receive your Son, Jesus Christ as my Savior, my Master and my Lord. I believe and confess that Jesus Christ died for my sins, was buried, and rose from the dead.

I want to receive all that Jesus Christ has provided for me as my Savior. Your Word says, ‘Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved’ (Romans 10:13).

I believe and confess that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no man comes unto the Father, but by Him.

Lord Jesus, I pray and ask You, to come into my heart and be Lord of my life. I thank You that you have given me eternal life, and according to Your Word, I am born again.

Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit Who is in me now. I surrender my life to You. I promise to study Your Word – the Bible.

Use me for Your glory.

In Jesus’ Name. Amen.” 

https://www.gotquestions.org/everything-is-meaningless.html