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Saturday, August 14 2010
The Spirit Of God enlightens people to His Word ("ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation") and thereby conceives a new potential child of God (the reason that God is called our Father). Those called then await being truly "born again" ("that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption," see also the Fact Finder question below):
"1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ [see also Trust]. 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:12-14 KJV)
"That Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption"
Genuine Christians all have one Father, through conception by His Spirit. Living a Christian life (see Christian Living) means living toward the time when The Father's children will be born, from the true Church of God:
"4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4:4 There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling [see The Process Of Conversion]; 4:5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 4:6 One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 4:7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." (Ephesians 4:2-7 KJV)
Also in the mean time, various responsibilities of service are given - not as a pompous "ranking," but merely as different means of effectively being Examples To The Flock.
"4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive [see False Christs and False Prophets]; 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ [see The Messiah's Triumphal Entry Into The Temple]: 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." (Ephesians 4:11-16 KJV)
The Holy Spirit provides the means to overcome, but effort is required to overcome.
"4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. 4:30 And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. 4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: 4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." (Ephesians 4:29-32 KJV)
Fact Finder: What is going to happen to those who fall away from the offering of eternal life that God has given to them?
See What Believers Will Be In The Lake Of Fire?
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This Day In History, August 14
405 BC: The Battle of Aegospotami, a naval victory of Sparta over Athens, the final battle of the Peloponnesian War. The Athenian commander, Conon, lost 160 of his 180 ships and the 4,000 of his troops that were captured were all executed.
410: Alaric sacked Rome.
1385: The Battle of Aljubartota. A decisive engagement in which Portuguese forces stopped the Spanish invasion of Portugal led by John I, king of Castile. The victory assured Portugal's independence.
1551: Turkish forces captured Tripoli.
1559: Spanish explorer de Luna enters Pensacola Bay, Florida.
1733: The War of the Polish Succession began.
1784: The first Russian colony in Alaska was founded on Kodiak Island.
1900: The Boxer Rebellion in China ended.
1941: The Atlantic Charter, a joint declaration issued during the Second World War by Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt (the U.S. at the time still not in the war) after 5 days of conferences aboard warships in the North Atlantic.
1945: Japan formally surrendered at the end of the Second World War. The war's death toll: 15,000,000 military and 38,000,000 civilian dead.
1947: Pakistan was founded when British rule over the region ended and the Asian subcontinent was partitioned into Islamic Pakistan and predominantly Hindu India. Pakistan comprised two portions, West and East, which later became independent Bangladesh.
1973: The "secret" U.S. bombing in Cambodia ended, marking the end of 12 years of U.S. involvement in Indochina.
