All the answers are in His Word, check it out.
1. How can I know what religion is pleasing to God?
Religion is not pleasing to God. That’s why He sent Christ. Christ should be the end of religion. Because He is the beginning of a direct relationship with God, initiated by God, provided by God and maintained by God. Any religion that separates you from God and operates as the arbiter of your interaction with God is not of God.
So, how can you know Christ is pleasing to God? Well, quite simply because the Bible’s prophets, from Moses to Malachi were instructed to tell us the details of Christ (Messiah) in advance so we could know who He is. And what you find is that every detail of Jesus life and ministry are in fact detailed in the prophets well in advance. Even the day which He presented Himself as Messiah the Prince in Jerusalem was specifically prophesied.
No other character even contends for this role, in all of human history.
Jesus of Nazareth, son of Joseph and Mary, is the Messiah Prince, the Christ. Follow Him.
2. How do various Christians reconcile the idea of loving all people with scriptures that condemn homosexuality?
Scripture condemns all sin. Believe it or not, scripture has a lot to say about gossip and slander also.
Like all sin: Homosexuality is destructive. It destroys health, it destroys spirit, it destroys the mind. It is a rebellion against the creator and His design. To honestly and kindly warn our friends and neighbors against sin is to love them. Homosexuality is pernicious and always causes the pursuit of other victims. So, in love we call people to turn to God, through Christ, and turn away from sin.
I’m not talking about the kind of hostile ‘preaching’ that some do.
I’m talking about speaking the truth in love, as Jesus did. We do that by leading people to the Savior who frees those who are captive, who heals broken hearts and restores wounded minds.
Jesus saves. He heals. He restores. He rescues those who will accept His call to life.
3. What are some common misconceptions about the term “Immanuel” in relation to Jesus, and why isn’t this name used more often?
Every time we declare that Jesus is God incarnate, we are declaring Him to be “Immanuel”.
and
Every time we quote Isaiah 7:14, we are saying that Jesus of Nazareth was God incarnate, God in human flesh, God with us. (see John 1:1–14)
The Christian church has lived, thrived, and been martyred for this witness, for 2,000 years. Jesus bar Joseph of Nazareth, was the Everlasting God in Human flesh. God with us. Immanuel.
4 Is it blasphemy against the Holy Spirit if you call someone a false prophet who is claiming they are a prophet (she claims she’s one of the two witnesses, and claims that the two witnesses are actually the 144,000)?
It is not a sin to call someone a false prophet who IS a false prophet. In fact, it’s the responsibility of the church to reject false teachers, false prophets and false Gospels.
It WAS a sin to call Jesus that – because he clearly was NOT false. He fulfilled multitudes of prophecies, did powerful works of the Holy Spirit, was in full agreement with Moses and the Prophets, and was attested directly by God.
The blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is to reject His witness and His power, at work in the ministry of Jesus. Read up on John Ch 15 and 16 – you will see that is Holy Spirit’s mission and ministry today: bringing people into conviction of Jesus.
Why is that the unforgivable sin? Because if you reject Jesus you have no other means of sacrifice to cleanse you of your sin and make you right with God.
5. How do I know if I will ever find a partner that wants to have a covenant with me as Jesus did with the church?
“…as Jesus does with the Church.”
First, pray. Not just asking… but preparing.
a) Pray that you become the person who can be a covenant partner. Let the Father know this is on your heart. He likely is the one putting it there.
b) Pray for the person that God would bring into your life; that they are also desiring a covenant marriage. Pray for them to be a disciple, a discerner, a faithful spirit led person who is walking in the way of Jesus. God will lead, when your heart is given over to Him.
I know a man who did this. He even began to pray for the exact woman he believed he was uniquely prepared to be a covenant husband. You see, he had been a broken man, his life wrecked through substance abuse and had become homeless. He was delivered by the Lord Jesus, and was faithfully daily walking the way of Jesus and living successfully as an overcomer. And so he began to pray for a woman who’s heart was broken, who was struggling with substance abuse, who had been homeless and needed to know real Christ-filled love. He prayed daily for a woman he had never met to get saved and find her path with the Lord.
Just guess who he met. God led a woman from half way across the country to move to his town and seek help from his church. Over a process of less than two years, they met, fell in love and married. They have now been married in a covenant marriage for several years and are amazing disciples who love the Lord and each other, in a covenant marriage. They give their marriage to the Lord as an offering, serving Him in every way they can.
Ask the Lord. Seek His face. Knock on the door of His heart. You may find He’s already been knocking on yours.
