Main Idea of The Voice in the Wilderness

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In ourselves we are incapable of doing any good thing; but that which we cannot do will be wrought by the power of God in every submissive and believing soul.

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I've often wondered why some individuals in the Bible were visited by angels, while others received dreams. Moses' face glowed with light after his encounters with Jehovah, and so did Zacharias' after his angelic encounter. Since each of us has a spirit within, just like Jesus did, I'm thinking that this light phenomena was Zac's spirit's response to the angel's presence.

Maybe this spirit just resides within our heads, but can access the rest of our bodies for healing purposes. Or maybe it's just it's face that glows, too. When Jesus was transfigured in the same way, this could have happened to his disciples, but they had fallen asleep. The ancient Egyptians believed humans had a spiritual double, called either the "ba" or "ka", (I can't remember at this moment).

In fact, the Holy Spirit IS the Creative/Healing force of the universe that creates life and repairs human bodies. The Spirit of God was there during Creation, and it was there in every instance of healing in the Bible, including Jesus' "miracles". Jesus asked God to heal someone, and God told the Spirit to do it. Even long-distance healing was no problem, since individual's spirits were all connected with the Spirit of God. The Spirit is somehow able to manipulate atoms, molecules, and DNA, and capable of rapid-growth technology. Somehow, healing is connected with belief, too. Perhaps healing must be visualized in order to make it possible.

If we look backward and downward at the trail of garbage we have left behind, we do not believe and limit our connection to our spirit, but if we look forward and upward, then we believe, are filled with the power of God, and can finally do something good.

For a moment, Zac looked backwards, thinking how old both he and his wife were. His weakness ended up proving to others that he did indeed have an encounter with a Messenger from God. It was an easy matter for his spirit within to make him deaf and dumb (speechless), and amazed them when he was restored and prophesied. "He had a stroke," they might have thought, otherwise.

I've often looked at stroke victim's and wondered, if I touched them, then they could be healed. I actually put my hands on a dying woman, not really intending for her to be restored, but just to see what would happen. My whole body tingled for a few seconds. I don't know if this was purely psychological, or if something else was involved. This was the woman who said, "This life is a test," and, "There here in the room. There's two of them." She was, of course, delirious by that time.

John's conception was, I believe, accomplished in the normal manner of human conception. His birth was predicted many centuries before as "the Voice of one crying in the wilderness" by Isaiah.

How can one prophesy an event so far into the future? Either time travel is involved or, some other way to view the future is possible. God, who is, who was, and who will be could be the time traveler, exist simultanneously in past, present, and future, or, it could be the Spirit of God may exist in another dimension where time is irrevelant. It's possible that God saw the future and arranged everything to work out, or saw what needed to be done so that ultimately, evil was destroyed. The plan had to be followed exactly, or the future would have changed and the restoration of humankind would have failed.

Jesus, on the other hand, was conceived by extraordinary means. The Spirit of God, the creative/healing power of God, formed the little embryo in-utero by forces we do not understand. His life was already planned out, and he had to follow the plan or risk losing everything. He would have had to return to his father a failure and lost the opportunity to be the ruler of Earth.

It's puzzling that Jesus was quiet for 18 years until after John began his work. That meant John was quiet for almost that length of time, also. There must be a real advantage in raising children in a low-population area, too. Maybe it's the negative influences of having many peers in high-population areas. Both John and Jesus sought solitude. They must have studied a lot, too, people and scriptures.

Is that something we should seek, too, solitude?

My apologies to the readers. I look at passages in DA and all of these thoughts rush out. I forget some of them because I can't type fast enough. I'll try to back it off in the future...

WHY? We like your thoughts.

Thank you, Nico. You're a true friend. I needed to hear that. I just don't want to run anyone off by being overzealous or creating a monopoly. This is such a profound book. It has the power to change people when they see more of what Jesus was like. Church services have their place, but nothing's more important than experiencing Jesus. That's what we all really need to change out of our old skins and put new ones on.

I was thinking the past several days about the solitide that JTB and Jesus both experienced. I don't think they would have gone off alone if it weren't somehow important for their missions. I don't know if you can find solitude in DC or St. Louis or any other city, but if we can shut out civilization and clear our heads, we should grow closer to God by experiencing nature, asking forgivenss for our evil thoughts and actions, asking for direction in blessing other's lives, and asking for the Holy Spirit to suppress our flawed behaviors and give us newer, unselfish ones.

By looking forward and up, the garbage of the world behind us fades and becomes irrelevant, and the path ahead becomes clearer, even if it's only a few feet at a time. I think that's it, the solitude enabled John and Jesus to focus on their missions. They studied the prophecies and the HS enabled them to understand their parts.

We need solitude, too, so God can speak to us when we can hear him.

Nico,

This solitude in nature, it's also an opportunity to develop self-control, self-dicipline, simplicity, and self-denial. In order for John and Jesus to wake the people up, they had to be able to control their appetites and passions. They also had to develop an immunity to other's opinions, actions, and the circumstances surrounding them.

When Elijah's message for our time shakes up the established religions, its bearers will have done this.

Solitude with God is also the first step in our recovery process. Solitude in nature is a time when God can speak to us and heal our wounded spirits. Most of us have to work backwards to undo the damage that we and our parents have done to ourselves...

When we're alone, far from the noise and crowds we can:

Seek Forgiveness for Ourselves and Confess our Wrongs
Seek Healing for our Wounded Spirits
Forgive others for Harming Us
Seek Self-Control
Seek to Resist Selfishness and Cultivate Simplicity
Seek Kindness in all Situations, even if Insulted or Wronged
Seek to Bless Others by Frequent Random Acts of Kindness
Seek the Power to Resist Temptation to Do or Think Evil
Develop an Immunity to Other's Opinions and Actions, and Surrounding Circumstances


Only by baring our souls to God, telling him everything on our hearts, can we be healed and start moving on. Without spiritual healing, we'll only be sharing our garbage with others, not sharing a vision of a New Life in the Kingdom of the Stars. After we are spiritually healed, then we can share something worthwhile with those who want what we have.

God knows us all. He knows our pain, our sorrows, our hopes. He is connected to us by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives life to everything living. The Holy Spirit will heal us, and more, but only if we ask and believe and never give up until we have won the victory over our evil-infected human natures.

Don't give up.

Nothing on this garbage can of a world is worth missing out on the beauty and wonder of what's in store for the overcomers. Like John the Baptist and Jesus, let's seek God in solitude, now, before it's too late.

Elijah's message will shake the world. May God turn us all into Elijah's to bring the people back to Him. It's not impossible, once we get rid of the garbage...

GT

(Thoughts after spending an hour at a nearby lake reading DA, Ch. 10)

Gary,

There is an excellent schema for working through some of those things you mentioned, i.e., the negative events, traumas, and patterns of negative interactions we have experienced, whether as children or as adults. What you refer to as "the damage done to us." I learned it at a small private clinic run by SDAs back in 1994 where I went to get some therapeutic healing for mind and spirit.

It involves charting out these things and what they have done to us based on Biblical principles. I don't remember all the Bible verses used to validate this so forgive me on that count -- but it starts with listing those things (traumatic events, negative patterns) along with who the perpetrator(s) was/were, then listing all the emotions you felt associated with these at the time, then listing the judgments you passed on those persons as a result of these things, the vows you made to yourself as a result, and the false beliefs you formed as a result. The judgments are to be repented of, the vows are to be dissolved (God breaks our false covenants with hell and death) because they are impossible to keep by very nature, and the false beliefs are to be replaced by truth. Finally, one encounters Jesus Christ in prayer with a loving community supporting them in prayer, and receives precisely what one needed when the original bad stuff was going on. You would not believe the deep levels of true healing that can take place through this simple system. I was AMAZED. I went there with 29 years of horrible, oppressive baggage and came home with all of it cleared up and GONE. Even though I've experienced some bad stuff since then that has bruised me, I have never had to take up all that junk I was carrying up until 1994 again. It was truly amazing.

It is possible this scheme could be worked in solitude, but I doubt it. The presence of a loving, if imperfect, community working the same work with you is as indispensible as AA meetings are to the AA system. Because it is important that we not be left alone with our own misgivings and doubts and fears about God's acceptance and love in those moments, but can receive the love of God uniquely through the loving hearts and prayers of human beings who are believers like ourselves struggling to get to that place of healing.

Just thought I'd share that.

Too bad the clinic doesn't exist anymore. I could use a refresher course.

Nico

You're so right, Nico. I appreciate your unexpected perspectives and feedback.

Although some of our work is one-on-one with God, requiring blood, sweat, and tears on our own, some people will need guidance to help them out of their emotional prisons. People are different, and they will need different plans to become spiritually whole. Some of us are dragging little garbage cans behind us, some of us are dragging huge, reeking, overflowing dumpsters.

Those who have been able to experience spiritual healing can move on to help others experience healing of their wounded spirits. In fact, that's the mission of Christians, first prepare themselves, then search for wounded, bleeding souls and show them what the Great Healer can do for them. First, everyone needs to have hope, then they can be healed.

Back to the chapter, John the Baptist and Jesus first had to awaken the people to their danger from sin. Church attendance and ancestry alone couldn't save them.

That's the first step, the Awakening. The next steps would be Repentance, Forgiveness, Healing, and a New Direction, beginning to live a life that would bless others. Those who claim to be Christians but aren't kind or honest, who are selfish and greedy, who don't try to help the poor and the low-lifers, they're like chaff waiting for the fire.

Nico and friends, have you ever thought of putting together some tracts, written by yourselves from your perspectives and experiences? I know all of you can write, I've seen it. Anyone capable of posting their ideas in these forums could write a tract.

All of my life, even when I didn't believe there was a God, I picked little tracts up and read them whenever I saw one. The ones with attractive art and short stories were much more interesting than the seven spiritual laws ones.

Christine had an interesting idea about a little lost lamb that had never been shorn. It would be so amazing if even one person turned to God after reading one your tracts, which would be, in effect, little sermons.

The tracts would be like little seeds, waiting for some water and sunshine before sprouting. We could be the seeders, looking for seedees, while we're seeding.

Gary

Gary, that's an interesting idea. I once had a notion to write a tract about the real blood pact, the one made by Christ (instead of with the devil or other spirits). I did, in fact, once write one called "The true initiation" which was directed toward ceremonial magickians and mystery schools. I still have it somewhere. But these are, of course, specialty audiences, not anything the common man would relate to. I would like to be able to write more universally than that.

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Christine had an interesting idea about a little lost lamb that had never been shorn. It would be so amazing if even one person turned to God after reading one your tracts, which would be, in effect, little sermons.

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Gary, just realized I didn't finish this "story".



This is a picture of a sheep that was found wandering somewhere (sorry I can't remember the details of the actual news item--lucky I found the picture!). It hadn't been shorn, as the rest of the same flock of sheep for over a year (could've been more, as I say, can't remember the details).

The made up story goes something like this:

There is a sheep named Fluffy. She wanders away from her sheperd and her family. Thinking life would be so much better off if she could just be alone to explore it for herself.

She leaves the fold and isn't to be seen again for a year. Over time, she finds the shelter that she needs; she finds a nice, cool stream of running water; she finds plenty of grasses to eat. All seems to go well and she thinks to herself, "What need have I of a sheperd? What need have I to stay in the fold and obey his rules? Silly rules, anyway. Never have time to just lie back and enjoy life."

Her carefree life continues this way. Day after day. She grows, gets stronger and more bold in her thinking. She wanders further and further from the fold and from the shelter she'd found on her own.

One evening a thunderstorm happens and she is caught in the rain. Her coat begins to weigh her down and is finally so heavy, she cannot move. She must spend the evening out in the cold.

In the morning, she wakes to find that her coat is no longer wet, but it is covered in damp mud. She still is too heavy to move.

Days go by. She's hungry. She's alone. She's tired of bleating. She's tired of crying. She thinks of her family, of the warmth of the fold. She remembers how kind the sheperd had been to her when she needed help.

Oh! How she wished she could return.

The sheperd, of course, had never forgotten about Fluffy. He'd been searching for her for such a long time. He'd even caused his fold to venture further and further from home several times over the course of the year.

He hadn't given up hope.

The spring had finally arrived--thunderstorms were proof of the change in weather. The sheep had been shorn and were ready to begin their new spring activities. The extra daylight gave the sheperd more time to search for his lost lamb.

After searching into the long night, he finally finds her!

Her bleating beckoned him closer. She couldn't come to him, but he came to her. He picked her up carefully and carried her back to the fold.

She was shorn immediately and her burden of muddy wool was taken from her. She was free. Finally free!

She no longer had the desire to wander from home. She realized that while there were things she could provide for herself, there were heavier burdens she could never carry alone. She needed her sheperd. She loved him now, more than ever.

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Did a search on Club Adventist. Here's the real story:
Photo Highlight
Shrek the 9-year-old merino wether is photographed before he has his fleece shorn at the Golden Gate Lodge in Cromwell, New Zealand, Wednesday, April 28, 2004. Shrek's fleece is believed to be 6 years old after the animal was found on the Bendigo Station hilltops during a muster on April 15. (AP Photo/FOTOPRESS, Ross Land)
Wed Apr 28, 4:05 AM ET

Christine,

Your little lost lamb story brought tears to my eyes. It's a REALLY GOOD idea. With a little touch-up work it could be published as a children's story, and with some information about how a person can meet the Good Shepherd, it could be made into a flyer or handout.

Nico,

If you can locate your true initiation paper, drop it in here, if it's not too complex, or email it to me. You must realize by now that I'm not exactly an intellectual. I've been reading the Bible, and lately DA, and these ideas pop up that amaze me.

I have to work hard to unscramble these and put them into a more or less logical order. Next to me is a basket half-filled with scraps of paper with my thoughts scribbled on them. During the day I get these ideas and have to write them down at the moment, otherwise they're gone forever. Later, I sort through the scraps to review them.

I'm hoping we can find a way to help other's find their way. I'm getting very uncomfortable doing nothing.

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I feel more comfortable "doing things" like giving the hurting a shoulder, giving the needy some clothing, giving the poor some food.

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I just got a fundraising newsletter from the Salvation Army. I'll probably send some money, but it seems so impersonal. Where can I find those who need clothes, food, shelter, etc and deal with them one-on-one? I could live under a bridge or in a cardboard box, sharing life with the homeless in a big city, but I don't believe my wife would appreciate that much.

First the basic needs of the underprivileged must be met, then they can listen to spiritual concepts. We would have to become involved in other's lives, and have something we strongly believe in, in order to share the thing we believe in with them.

Just the act of feeding, clothing, and sharing with others would tend to reinforce one's faith and enable them to better practice what they preach, because of the responsibility and accountability. Somehow, we have to become friends with those we want to help or have already helped. All talk and no action would tend to produce jaded, faithless church attendees. Big talk, little do, no faith.

There are others, like us, out there who have more food and things than they need, except they lack spiritual interest or awareness. Somehow they must be awakened from their sleep...perhaps when this country's democratic government is destroyed and mere survial becomes the only challenge.

Maybe for some, all it will take is the message of JTB and Jesus: Repent, for the Kingdom of the Stars is coming. Soon, we must all face our life's record, and either be accepted or rejected for membership according to what we have done in this life.

I checked out CUC and Andrews U for info on becoming a Chaplain via the Bachelor's Degree in Religion. The distance learning program administered by Griggs U, part of Home Study International, charges $200 per semester hour. That's about all I can say about that program.

What's your dream, Nico?

To Dream or Not to Dream.

None of us asked to be born, but here we are, thrown into a world where chaos dominates. Without a dream, we're earthbound, marooned on a dying planet, trapped in our own diseased thinking.

If we can just dream big enough, we can see beyond the pollution we've created for ourselves to another world, our future world, where nothing of the evil we're familiar with will exist.

JTB had a dream that he would meet the Anointed One. Jesus had a dream that he would save from destruction all of the humans who did what he asked. The 144,000 will all have the same dream, a dream that will empower them to remain free of evil, enduring chaos and destruction and fear and temptation to doubt their dream, until the spectacular return of Jesus.

We all need to have a dream, a dream of what we could become if we made everything right with God and asked him to clear our life records of past evil thoughts and actions. That would give us power to move on into a new way of thinking, to have a dream of hope, with the past forgiven and forgotten. That's what John's baptism symbolized, I just now realized.

Maybe what we should be doing is sharing our friendship, sharing a dream of hope, not spewing doctrine, not "Since my life is better than yours, do what I do, think what I think" Pharisee preaching. Thank you, Nico, for the great idea. I've been trying to figure out what I'm supposed to think, say, and do. I hope I don't sound too much like a preacher.

Both JTB and Jesus were telepaths. Perhaps they had to find solitude to escape the selfish, misguided, depressing thoughts of those around them.

I think originally humans were telepaths, but lost the ability. Today it's more or less 1-sided: we call it prayer. The Spirit of God in our minds reveals our thoughts to Him. The Spirit can also input thoughts into our brains, usually unbeknownst to us, though.

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Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? O you of little faith! If you remain in me and my words remain in you, you shall ask for whatever you want, and it shall be done for you. All things, whatever you ask for in prayer, believing, you shall receive. If you have faith, nothing shall be impossible to you.

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And when you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues (churches) and on the street corners (television) so they may be seen by men. When you pray, go to your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father in secret. For your Father knows what things you need before you ask him.

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Solitude can be used for meditation, prayer, and a time-out from the cares of this life. We should be careful not to doubt. If we doubt the words of Jesus, we're at risk of losing our place in the Restored Kingdom of the New Earth. Nothing on this crummy, trash-can-of-a world is worth missing that, the ultimate trip.

If we dream big and think big, perhaps it will save us from the pit, yawning open behind us, waiting for us to slide back in. It's a little slippery along the edges, too. If I can just get far enough away, everything will be OK...

Thank you for sharing your dream of evangelism, Nico. I must apologize to you. Sometimes I blurt out my thoughts, then later realize they could be taken personally. You're never a target in my scatter-shot attempts at defining my beliefs and thoughts.

Even some atheists can be closer to God and kinder to their fellowmen than church-goers. It would be cause for a great celebration if they can be a part of the Restored Kingdom of New Earth. God knows who's safe to allow into the Kingdom. Left to humans, there would be many grave mistakes.

Fluffy was a happy young lamb, and she always liked to go out with the shepherd and the rest of the sheep to find the best grass in the green hills above her fold. She had a fiercely independent spirit and would often run ahead, then hide, until the shepherd and the rest of the sheep slowly caught up. Late in the afternoon, the shepherd would call the sheep together to begin the return journey back to the sheep fold. When she heard the shepherd’s voice, she would jump out of her hiding place and join the rest of the sheep.


One fateful day, Fluffy ran so far ahead to hide that she no longer recognized where she was. That didn’t bother her, because she knew that when she heard the shepherd’s voice, she could find her way back. The sun was getting quite low in the sky when she realized she hadn’t heard the shepherd calling.


She wasn’t concerned, though, because this outing was turning into a grand adventure. She found a little stream and followed it until she found a nice place to spend the night. Underneath a bush near the stream was some tall, soft grass. She rolled around until she was comfortable, then sighed. She was free at last. No more rules. No more bosses. No more crowded sheep fold. Fluffy decided to stay here forever and never go back home. She never wondered about the dangers of living in the hills, alone.


Fluffy liked her new life of solitude. The next day, upstream, she found a little cave, just her size. “This is where I will spend the rainy season,” she thought. Over the years, Fluffy, the Solitary Lamb, grew into Fluffy, the Solitary Sheep. She never heard the shepherd calling out her name every day. She couldn’t. There was no one to shear her every year. Her wooly coat had grown so thick and matted, that it covered her ears and blocked her vision. Fluffy was a ridiculous, big fur ball, waddling around the countryside, not realizing she should have been shorn, years ago.


One afternoon, she found a trail that looked strangely familiar, when suddenly, a thunderstorm appeared out of nowhere. “I have to get back to my cave, and soon,” she thought. But it was too late. The trail was now too slippery for the fat Fluffy to climb. “I’m in big trouble,” she thought. She started waddling downhill, following the trail, hoping to find some shelter ahead.


The farther she waddled, the heavier it rained, and the more slippery the trail became. Her wool was like a big sponge, soaking up all the rain falling on her. It was getting dark, and now she could hardly see. Several times she slipped and landed with a squish. Each time she fell, she got up a little more slowly. Fluffy was getting weaker and colder. She started shivering as a biting wind blew her down, again and again.


“I’m in serious trouble,” she whimpered in the darkness. “Please, oh Please, she bleated for the first time in her life. “I can’t go any farther. Please come to me, shepherd, and save me,” she cried. Finally, she slipped and fell for the last time. Unable to get back up, she lay there, a soaking wet, muddy pile of wool, waiting to die.


Suddenly, through the mist, a ghostly light appeared. “I’m dead,” Fluffy thought, “and the spirits are coming for me.” Then she heard a familiar voice, one like no other. The voice was calling her name. It was the voice of her shepherd, who heard her cries for help. He was carrying a lantern. Fluffy was only a few hundred feet from the sheep fold. Fluffy had come home.


The shepherd easily picked up the waterlogged, muddy sheep and carried her into her old home. There, he built a large fire and put Fluffy nearby so her wool could dry. Now warm and comfortable, Fluffy dreamed she was a little lamb again in a beautiful place that was all green and golden. The shepherd was there, too. When he spoke to her, his voice sounded like beautiful music.


She awoke the next morning with a start. Standing over her was the shepherd, holding a pair of shears. “You’ll feel much better after this,” the shepherd said. Although she couldn’t see much because of the wool over her eyes, she shut them anyway and waited until the job was finished. Those big shears scared her.


“It’s over, Fluffy,” the shepherd finally said. When she opened her eyes, she was nearly blinded by the bright light coming from the sky. Carefully, she got up and took a few steps. Suddenly, she began to run and jump and bleat, just like a little lamb. After the joyous celebration of freedom from her wooly prison, she turned to thank the shepherd. She crept up to him, all the while looking down. “I’ve been a really bad sheep,” she thought.

Then she noticed the shepherd’s feet. She looked up into his kind face and asked, “How did you get those scars on your feet?” Unknown to her, the shepherd had often searched for her while he left the other sheep grazing safely together. Over the long years, the shepherd never stopped looking for Fluffy, until finally, one day, as she lay in peril, he heard her cry and saved her.

Yeah. That's it.

You're welcome, ND.

I think our First Parents had the ability to connect with other living things, via the Spirit of God, the creative/life sustaining/healing power of the universe. They either looked at or touched a plant or animal, and could then understand how it functioned.

Our spirits do have the potential to connect with one another, but how to make it happen, many would like to know. Perhaps some people's abilities are just accidents of nature in the space/time continuum, or, a genetic throwback to our First Parents. Otherwise, God would have to give us the ability to read other's thoughts for his purposes.

Our mind-spirits can be accessed by good angels, or evil ones, depending on the general focus of our thoughts, I suppose. If we think good thoughts, the good angels can give us more good thoughts, and vice versa, with the evil ones. I don't know why evil spirits would afflict children, though, causing seizures and convulsions. What could children do to invite evil angels to overwhelm their thoughts?

I think understanding this concept of a neutral "spirit" within our minds will protect many from Satan's advanced technology/healing/prophetic wonders when he appears in the future as an extraterrestrial coming to save the world. Memories of the dead that have been accessed by evil angels while they were still living can be shared with "mediums" who repeat the words and thoughts of the dead, along with a few lies intended to lead everyone down the wrong path.



I read ch. 11 on the return flight from Texas yesterday. Will wait for Christine to start it. It's related to this discussion.

With that, I will go ahead!

(But, really, there's no need to wait for me!)

You're our light, Chrys, we are waitin' for you to shine, for you to shiiiiiiine (*smile*)