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Author: Economides
Who and what to believe!
I am 15 years old, too young to be wise and knowledgeable as I appear to be!
The words and wisdom that you hear in my messages come from my father.
He is a dedicated child of God and has experienced much in his “adventurous” but “Christ-centred” life.
He became a child of God 49 years ago, and has been studying the Scriptures all by himself, daily 1 hour a day minimum.
He has sought to understand the bible the way God means us to understand it, studying it methodically and deeply in order to eliminate any human indoctrination in his theology.
He never reads other books of theology, in order to not confuse what men say with what God says!
He shares what he has learned with me, and I share them with you…
We decided not to belong to any particular church or denomination, so that our spirits may be free, free to see the Truth of God in his Word without being affected by the subtle but powerful and dangerous “religious indoctrinations” of today.
We study the Bible… only the bible.
Our home is filled with bibles: English bibles, French bibles, and most importantly Greek bibles, the most important one being the one that was written in the original language that the apostles used!
Reading the New Testament in its Greek original language, (Κοινή), we notice that a number of important Greek words have been wrongly understood by scholars, and therefore wrongly translated.
Wrong translations lead to wrong interpretations which hide some of the Truth of what God has revealed to his children:
Take for example the Greek word:
«Αδης», “Hades”.
The King James Version confuses this word with “γεένναν”, which is “Hell”!
“Hell” is the lake of eternal fire where the Devil, the two beasts of Revelation and all those who were not found written in the book of life will, one day, be thrown into it…It is the second death. (Rev 20:14-15)
No one is in Hell yet.
Hades, on the other hand, refers to the world of the dead, the “provisional world in fire” where men go when they die, awaiting judgement day, and where Jesus himself went and preached the Good News of salvation after his crucifixion (as it is written in 1 Peter 3:19-20).
According to Jesus, Hades is situated in the center of our earth (Matthew 12:40), where some live in the fire, and others, in Paradise… (Luke 16: 19- 31)
In Hades, the “Good News of Salvation” was preached by Jesus himself, and it follows that those who are in it can still be saved: Atheists, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, will see the founders of every religion there. Only Jesus Christ will be absent…
In Hades, everyone will know who the True God is, and those who will submit to him will be saved!
Knowing this, we, Christians, need not to be evasive anymore when asked:
“What about the billions of humans that have not been told about Jesus, the only person through whom they can be saved?
Will they be condemned to go to hell?”
The answer is:
“No! They will hear about Jesus, the Only Saviour, in the world of the dead, and those who accept him there as their Lord will be saved!”
Another word that is also wrongly translated in our bibles is the word «αιώνα».
“Aιώνα” is often translated as “forever, eternal” but should rather be translated as “era” or “age” (like in “ice age” or “stone age”), that is: “a period of time”. A long, (but possibly and usually), a limited period of time.
A good indication that this is so is found in Psalms 89:29-36-37, where God Himself promises that David’s throne will be as “endless” as the days of heaven, his kingdom will endure “forever”, just like the days of the sun, and as “eternal” as the moon.
It most certainly must not be confused with “Eternity” or “forever and ever” which come from the Greek words «αιώνες των αιώνων», as in Revelation 1:18 where it says:
“I am the living one. I died but look I am alive forever and ever” (Ειςτους αιώνες των αιώνων),
Or in Revelations 22:5 where it is written:
“The servants of God and of Jesus will …reign for ever and ever”.
Confusing these two words creates havoc in our theologies…
Become aware that whenever you meet the words “eternal or forever” in your bibles, the original word is “στον αιώνα” (for a particular era), except when it is referring to God himself, where it is: “Εις τους αιώνες των αιώνων”, for ever and ever!
Your theology then will become much clearer:
We will then come to understand, for instance, that the “eternal” Old Testament laws of Moses were valid only for the Old Testament “era”, (as the New Testament writers insist that they were!), and not for ever and ever. And that explains why the “eternal” laws of Moses are considered obsolete in the New Testament.
(Indeed, we are now freed from observing the “letter” of the Law, but are to keep the Spirit of the Law of Moses, that of loving above all God, and being loving to our fellow man!)
We may also realise that men may not be condemned to live in Hell for ever and ever…, but for a long period of time.
(Only Satan and his two “beasts” are said that they will remain in hell for ever and ever… it’s written in Revelation 20:10)
Let me mention another Greek word that could have been translated better: «θλίψη».
«θλίψη», is often translated as “hardships and trials”, but should be translated as “sorrows”, a state of being that many faithful children of God live in, and feel guilty about it, even though the bible tells us that we should expect all kind of “sorrows”, not merely “trials” in this life…
With this message, we have tried to correct some of the erroneous teachings that we see in today’s churches, due to the often wrongly translated versions they use.
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The 10 Virgins Without Oil
The virgins without enough oil in their lanterns…
Those of us who do read regularly the bible must have wondered what does the “oil” that is in the lanterns of the virgins symbolise!
Let me summarise the parable that is written in: (Matthew 25: 1 – 13)
In this parable of Jesus, the believers are likened to young girls that have believed a proclamation sent by the King himself saying that any of them who wishes to become part of the King’s family by marrying his Son, will be accepted, as long as they will live a life that is worthy of him!
Some of the virgins applied themselves at becoming as the King’s Son is.
They filled their lives with holy living, with love, faithfulness, selflessness and submission to his instructions, all these attributes being the oil, the fuel that would cause his light to shine through their lives in the dark world they lived in…
They persisted in this lifestyle even when the groom did not arrive when they expected him to.
They faithfully kept their lamps still shining, remaining Christ-like through the long waiting period that tested their faith to the proclamation they were given. They were determined to live a life that is acceptable to him no matter what!
Other virgins, however, allowed their light and enthusiasm to fade out with time, gradually giving up living the self-denying and righteous life they had at the beginning:
They thought that If the groom was to ever appear, he would surely understand that they had to take good care of themselves as well in this world…
When the King’s Son finally appeared, the ones that had lived a life pleasing to their Lord until then, were chosen and taken to be with him forever on.
The other ones were left behind.
They did not value enough the privilege of being married to the wonderful King’s Son , and were therefore not found to be worthy of him!
Let us all make sure, doubly sure, that our lives be shining in this dark world until the end, filled with the oil of holiness, faithfulness and loving actions.
And when Jesus our Lord will appear in the sky, we will be gathered up to be with him forever!
“For ” , Jesus said, “only those who remains faithful until the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13)
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The most precious possession
Imagine for a moment the following scenario:
You live in a most beautiful and pleasant place, surrounded by those whom you love and who love you.
Your happiness is complete, but you know that you will have to take a trip to a distant, dangerous and ugly world where people often get lost and usually remain lost forever…
So, you must decide what to take with you in your backpack.
Instinctively you may decide to take with you whatever will help you survive there, things that may make your life safer and less unpleasant there.
But, if you were wiser, you would say to yourself: “I know that I will never be happy there, away from my loved ones, my home…
What I really need, is to take with me whatever will help me find my way out of that terrible world and get me back home, to my family, for only there can I truly be happy…”
You would then opt to leave out of your backpack some of the survival items that you may need, and make room for some more precious items, like maps, compasses and most importantly an instruction book that will teach you how to use what you have in order to help you find your way back home.
Consider now our present existence on this earth.
We humans had to leave heaven (even though we don’t remember it) and were born into this ugly, nasty and evil world.
We all try to make our stay here as safe, comfortable and happy as possible, and some succeed…
They even end up liking their earthly imperfect existence, and don’t give a thought about their eternal one…
But others long to return to their former, perfect existence, near God, and are in great need of an instruction book, that points to them the true way to get there.
This most precious book is the Bible!
It is the most precious possession that you can ever have.
It is more precious than all the gold in the world!
Do you have a Bible?
Appreciate it for what it is and make good use of it.
Read it, study it daily!
It is the Only True Instruction Manual that will point you to Jesus, who is the “Way”, the Only One that can lead you to an Eternal Happiness in God’s Kingdom!
Stop busying yourself trying to get some “scraps of happiness” out of this world.
Be wise: Deny yourself in this world, as Jesus instructs us, and aim wholeheartedly for his Heavenly Kingdom!
Follow Jesus Christ, putting into practice everything he commands you in his Word:
The Bible.
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Sell Everything
Matthew 13: 44
Having found a unbelievable treasure…
It touches me much when I see a dog waving frantically his tail at the sight of his owner, or a cat clinging to its master…or, as in my case, when my favourite cock will neglect its hens and rather start gently pestering me so as to draw my attention…
They evidently love and appreciate their owner very much and are most happy when they are in his or her presence!
Well, I know that in heaven I will be much like them, seeking to be as close to God as I possibly can, for that is where perfect happiness is to be found.
We, humans, have been created in order to share a close and warm relationship with our Creator! Jesus is the embodiment of perfect.
Love, Kindness, Holiness, Faithfulness and any other admirable quality I want to have myself! He is the most beautiful and admirable being there is, and my soul thirsts for him! I want to become like him.
Jesus and his Word, the Bible, is the “treasure” that I am so pleased to have discovered early in my life, and that is referred in Matthew 13: 44 , where it is written: “A man unexpectedly discovered a treasure, and proceeded to sell everything he had in this world in order to buy the land where the treasure was hidden and make it his own!”
Jesus is my treasure, and so is his written Word, that I value more than everything, and I am willing to forsake everything there is in this life so as to be made as he instructs me, pleasing and acceptable to him.
Knowing that the more I will become like him, the more happy I will be in eternity.
I am determined to co-operate with his Spirit and bear whatever unpleasant training he may have to put me through in this life, whether sorrow, pain, disappointment, tragedy or downright misery, so as to become more like him, and closer to him.
I do not want to be like some of the pets that I loved and took them in my home, only to see them tearing the curtains, destroy the furniture, snatch food from the table and pooing everywhere…
In the end, I had to chase them out of our house… This must not happen to me: While here on earth I must make every effort to learn to be acceptable and pleasing to my God.
The reason why I am still here on earth, and was not “taken” to heaven when I became a follower of Jesus, is that I must first be made clean, be corrected, trained and tested under God’s hard and often unpleasant treatment so as to become more like Jesus, my role model, an approved companion of his that he will love to spend time with in eternity…
In other words, I am willing to accept the unpleasant and distressing events that I already bear in my life, the schooling that is necessary for me to become the best I can ever be for Jesus, who is my God, my Saviour, my “treasure”
Does your soul thirst, long to become the best you can possibly be, even if you may have to go through much suffering in this world for it?
Are you willing to give up every pleasure you may have in order to get hold of this treasure that you will enjoy fully in God’s heavenly kingdom? Jesus said that among those who will be with him after their resurrection there will be many who will be “guests”, but few that will be among the chosen ones, the elite…(Matthew 20:16)
I strive to be among the elite!
What about you?
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Salesman’s Talk
Christianity is presented by many happy clappy churches today, much like a “life insurance” policy, expedient for all to possess…
““Come to Jesus” they say, if you want to be protected from harm, sicknesses and disasters…
Come to Jesus if you want to have a happy healthy, and prosperous life here on earth!”
Beware: All this is just “Sales-man talk”.
Do not believe it.
If you approach “Christianity” with such motives and expectations, you will get disappointed and will never become a true child of God…
Prosperity, blessings, happiness and health are definitely not what the Jesus and the Bible promises.
It has not been my experience (for even though I am still a teenager, I have had a hard life so far), nor has it been my father’s experience who is 72 and has lived through many hardships and sorrows so far, during the 49 years he spent as a dedicated child of God.
In fact, it has not been the experience of the early Christians either, nor that of the apostles themselves. They wrote in (1 Corinthians 4:9- 13)
“We, God’s servant’s and apostles, are looked upon as fools in this society…
We are looked upon as weak and are treated with contempt by all.
Up to this very hour we are hungry and thirsty, ill-clad, knocked about and practically homeless…
Even though we spend every moment evangelizing others we still have to work for our living by manual labor.
Men curse us and make our lives miserable, but we take it patiently.
They ruin our reputations, but we go on… trying to win them for God.
We are considered as being society’s dropouts, the scum of the earth, yes, up to this very day.”
And in 1 Peter 4: (12-14)
“Do not be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, brethren, as if something strange were happening to you.
Be glad that you suffer, for Jesus himself suffered. When you suffer, just as he did, you are blessed, since it is an indication that the Spirit of God rests upon you.”
The apostle says in Acts 14:(22)
“Keep in mind that we, God’s children, must go through many sorrows in order to enter the Kingdom of God “
Jesus himself told us that:
“The road that leads to eternal life is full of sorrows, so much so that few are those who will persist in following it up to the end, for whoever wants to be my disciple must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me”. (Matthew 7:14, Matthew 16: 24)
So, it is clear: We do not become Christians in order to get something out of God in this life or even the next…
Whatever good we get here on earth from Him is a bonus!
We choose to follow Jesus Christ simply because we know that it is our solemn duty to live in a way that pleases God our Creator
And as we get to know Jesus, as we realize what he has done for us, we should want to become more like him, good, selfless and loving as he is!
Yes, I want to be good, holy, loving, humble and faithful to him. I must let nothing discourage me in following Jesus’ words faithfully.
Let us all have the same determination and brace ourselves to go through whatever life has in store for us in a way that pleases our God, whether it be joys or sorrows, riches or poverty, success or failures.
Let us love Jesus and one another.
Let us keep faithfully his Words that are written in the Bible.
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Dating
I ask myself:
“Does God approve us, Christian teenagers, to have romantic “boy-friends” or “girl-friends” relationships, just as everyone else does?”
Like all 16 years old teenagers I start having a growing desire to love (in a romantic sense) someone, and I find no clear advice in God’s Instruction Book, (the Bible), as to whether I should follow today’s trend of “innocently” having a boyfriend like everyone else does.
So, I asked my father, who has been a follower of Jesus from the age of 23.
He had girl friends and lovers before he believed, and after his conversion he struggled and suffered much because of the bad habits he then had.
His answer was a definite NO! And he explained:
We, God’s dedicated children, must keep ourselves well away from temptations, as Jesus implied in the Lord’s Prayer: “Do not allow us to be tempted…” (Matthew 6: 13)
Having a romantic relationship equals to diving into dangerous waters of temptation and sin!
We are all much weaker than think we are, and if we allow ourselves to approach the fire of temptation, we will surely fall into sin, sooner or later…
It is inevitable!
Sexual sins do a great damage to our soul, much more than we first realize.
We loose, our until then…“innocence” and our self worth, (all in one blow, and forever more), and we will always be plagued and tormented, from then on, with such kinds of temptation!
It is definitely not what God wants for us…
Also, if we allow ourselves to get prematurely romantically involved, and the relationship does not lead to marriage, we will most probably end up hurting deeply ourselves or the other person!
And God does not condone hurting other people in any way.
A failed love affair is very very hurtful, and should be avoided at all cost. We must not start something that we know will probably end up in tragedy!
Once we mature, when comes the time that we want to find our lifelong companion, (husband or wife), we, born-again believers must only consider to start such a relationship with a mature, born-again believer, who is also praying and trying to find his or her future partner in life.
The Bible says:
“Do not yoke yourselves with un-believers! For how well do you think light will be able to co-exist with darkness, or a holy person with a lawless one?” (2 Corinthians 6: 14 )
My father’s explanations made sense to me, and I intend to keep his advice.
What matters most to me is that I remain holy and pleasing to my Lord and God, in all circumstances, and pure… for my future husband.
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Restitution after Sinning
When we sin, we must make Restitution
Jesus said: (and I paraphrase for clarity)
“When you pray to God the Father and ask to be forgiven for your sins, ask yourself if you have done all that you can so as to be truly forgiven by those whom you have wronged in life…
Do it while it is still time, because if by Judgment Day you haven’t done so, the person that you have wronged may demand that justice be done, and you will be punished harshly for having sinned against him!
(Matthew 5:23-26)
In this passage, Jesus instructs us to put right whatever injustice and evil deed we may have done to others.
And he does not mean that we should merely admit our wrongdoing and say: “I am sorry, please forgive me”!
We must also do our best to “put right” the wrong that we have done to others, and make full restitution for the harm done, by paying some price, making some favour, and doing as much good as it is necessary for the one who was armed to truly forgive us from the heart!
Contrary to what most Christians believe today, the bible teaches us that we, the children of God, will be punished like everyone else for every sin that we have committed. Not to the extent that we deserve, for sure, but we will still be punished severely:
On Judgment Day, “Christians” and “non-Christians” will treated in the same way, Th he Scripturessay: they will be imprisoned or beaten for the evil they did. (. )
“For God shows no favouritism: Anyone who has done wrong will be punished for his wrongdoing!” (Colossians 3: 25)
So, God’s advice to his followers is:
“Work out your salvation with fear and trembling!” (Philippians 2: 12)
“A child of God will suffer punishment if, after having received the knowledge of the truth and having been washed with the precious blood of Jesus, he still sins willingly, and by doing that, offends God’s Spirit of Grace!
God will make justice, and it will be a fearful thing to fall into God’s hands to be judged by him!
(Hebrews 10: 26- 31)
God’s children will only receive grace and escape being thrown into hell only for not having rejected the Light and Truth of Christ, as the non- believers did!
The same Scriptures that tell us that “there is no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Jesus” (Romans 8: 1) also say:
“The servant who knows his master’s will and does not do it will be beaten with many or less blows, depending on the severity of his sin…” (Luke 12: 47- 48)
And:
“Be reconciled with those whom you have hurt otherwise they may demand for justice to be done, on Judgement Day, and you will then be thrown into prison, where you will stay until the sentence is fully executed.
(Matthew 5: 25 – 26).
If you cannot reconcile these apparently contradicting statements with Romans’ 8: 1, do not choose the one and reject the other!
All you need to know is that all of God’s Words will come to pass!
Let us fear God, therefore, and not sin, and let us demonstrate our repentance and need to be forgiven by our eagerness of putting right the wrong that we have done to others.
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Purifying Gold!
It is written in the Bible, Malachi 3: 2-3:
“The Lord…is like a blazing fire that refines silver and gold, burning all impurities from them.
Just like a goldsmith purifies gold, so does God sit and purifies his servants, in the fire…”
In order to purify gold or silver from all other metals it might contain, a goldsmith must melt the metals in the fire and increase its temperature so much, that all other metals will evaporate…
He must, however, be very careful not to allow the gold or silver itself to evaporate!
So, the goldsmith sits, and watches attentively: As the heat is raised, the gold, at one point, will start shining and the goldsmith will be able to see his own reflection in it. That is when he will know that it has been cleansed of all impurities.
So does our God: He constantly tests us and purifies us, puts us through fire, with the aim of seeing Jesus in us, in all circumstances.
Indeed, God refines those whom God loves and chooses to be his own, by means of all sorts of sorrows, trials, disappointments, and temptations until he sees his Son’s reflection in us!
For that, our hearts and lives will we have to be passed through the fire. There is no other way of purifying them! It hurts to be burned, but we have no choice:
If we refuse to bear our cross by escaping into the world’s ways and the diversions it offers…we are making it clear to all, ourselves included, that we do not belong to Jesus!
In (1 Peter 1: 6- 7) it is written:
“We have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials so that, (just like gold that is tested in fire), our faith may be proven to be genuine, and our lives will bring honour and praise to Jesus Christ”.
Amen
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Hammer than a Nail
Would I rather be a hammer than a nail, a sparrow than a snail?
God chooses to make nails and snails out of his children…
He chooses us to be trodden upon, rather than to rule and tread on others.
For now, he prefers us to be victims of the evil ones, rather than to rule over them with a heavy hand! For now!
He wants us to be sheep rather than wolves, poor rather than rich, crying rather than laughing, …
Jesus said so in his sermon on the mount, and his apostles wrote this in all of their letters.
Let me read to you what Jesus said when he first started teaching:
It is recorded in
Matthew chapter 5 and Luke chapter 6
Before I read it to you, I need to tell you that whenever I quote the Bible, my father and I scrutinize carefully the passages of the Bible in the original Greek text, for accuracy, and then we paraphrase them, (sometimes liberally), in our own words so that its meaning is brought out clearly to you.
So, Jesus said in his sermon on the mount in
(Luke 6: 20-26)
“Consider yourselves blessed by God when you end up in this world poor and hungry… crying endlessly, hated and despised and rejected by everyone.
Keep on clinging faithfully to his ways and teachings, and God will pay you back generously in heaven for it.”
That is what Jesus said!
Why, we ask? What is so good about suffering in poverty and sorrows?
The answer, that we often do not want to hear is this:
It is because sorrows and sufferings are an integral part of a godly life!
God uses them to test us and to help us become better people, more like Jesus!
“We, children of God, have to experience many sorrows in order to enter the Kingdom of God”,
wrote the apostle Paul in Acts 14: 22
Going back to what Jesus said in his sermon on the mount, he said:
“Do not consider yourselves blessed by God when you become rich, when you are happy and satisfied with your life, living it up, and laughing your way through it.
People will envy you and admire you, but in reality, you are not blessed by God, because you will have to taste the other side of the coin one day, after you depart from this life: tears, sorrows and sufferings while being humbled by God, in the after life.
It is only fair…We all need to experience good times and bad times! That is what Jesus wanted to convey to us when he told us what happened to the rich man and Lazarus, the beggar … Read it yourself in Luke 16: 19-31.
Jesus was against riches!
Why, we ask? What is wrong with being rich?
Doesn’t each one of us want (and strive) to be so?
The answer is subtle, and again we do not really want to hear it:
It is because, when we indulge in living happily and comfortably in this world, we prove ourselves to be very self-centered and un-loving, since there are so many of our brothers and sisters, that we are supposed to love, who live in misery, and badly need our help!
We prove ourselves to be very self-centered and un-loving…
Such people will definitely not be allowed to enter God’s dwelling place.
There is nothing wrong with being rich!
What is wrong is to close ourselves in a happy and blessed “bubble” when there are so many good people outside who are in need of our substantial help.
We need to share what we have with theirs!
We cannot be selfishly enjoying this life with our riches and blessings, and be at the same time good and pleasing to God! No!
Still on this subject, Jesus said, in another difficult to understand passage that:
“The wages given for a day’s work are very unjustly and un-fairly distributed in society, and those who earn much in this world for their work should help those who earn little for their hard work!
If they do this, they will have many grateful friends in this world and in eternity…”
This is what Jesus said in Luke 16: 9 (highly paraphrased, I admit, but correct).
Do we get the picture now?
We all consider riches (and the happiness it brings) as a blessing of God to those who possess them.
But, on the contrary, they are a curse, a curse in disguise; Same as beauty and success…
And that is because riches, beauty and achievement create pride, and excesses in the lives of those who possess them, and bring with them many temptations that we would better be without…
So, no! We should not choose to be a hammer rather than a nail.
Rather choose to be a nail, a lamb that does not harm others and is good!