Home / reading / teaching-articles /nature_god /

RELATED MATERIALS

Download Audio Teaching

Watch TV Broadcast

CD Album

DVD Album

Book

The True Nature Of God

By Andrew Wammack

Recently the Lord woke me up at 3:30 a.m. with the words, “I have raised you up to change people’s opinion of Me. That will change their lives, and then they will change the world.” Wow! That pretty much sums it up.

If people realized how good God actually is, they would love Him and live for Him. That in turn would solve all the problems of the world. But God has been so slandered that most people don’t know Him as the good God He really is.

Why is that?
One of the biggest problems is religion’s misuse of the Law. This has done tremendous damage to God’s image. The Law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ (John 1:17). The Law wasn’t inaccurate but incomplete. And if it is not properly applied, it gives a wrong representation of God.

Jesus was the perfect representation of God (Heb. 1:3).
 He said if we have seen Him, then we have seen the Father (John 14:9).
He did exactly what He saw His Father do (John 5:19). Jesus showed us that God is love (1 John 4:8). Yet He was constantly accused of breaking the Law.
Of course, Jesus didn’t break the Law.
 He’s the only One who ever truly kept the Law.
But the mercy and grace Jesus extended toward people was radically different from the “eye for eye” and “tooth for tooth” of the Old Testament Law.

Jesus forgave a woman whom the Law condemned to death (John 8:1-11).
Jesus ate and fellow shipped with publicans and sinners, which the legalistic Jews of His day wouldn’t do (Matt. 9:11).
 Jesus touched the untouchable (Matt. 8:3) and loved the unlovable (Luke 8:2).
He showed us grace and mercy, which the Old Testament Law didn’t do.

A wrong understanding of the purpose of the Old Testament Law leads to a misunderstanding of the nature of God. Most people believe God gave the Law to show us what we needed to do to obtain relationship with Him.
 But the Law was never intended to bring us into relationship with our heavenly Father. It was intended to show us our sin and our need for God.
 It was given to show us how unholy we were so we would despair of trying to earn salvation and just receive it as a gift by faith. It was to turn us from self-righteousness to a faith-righteousness that could only come through a Savior (Rom. 10:3-4).

Consider some of the things the Scripture says about the Law:
• The Law strengthened sin (1 Cor. 15:56).
• The Law was a ministry of death and condemnation (2 Cor. 3:7 and 9).
• The Law gave guilt and knowledge of sin, not salvation (Rom. 3:19-20).
• The Law made sin come alive, and killed us (Rom. 7:9).
• The Law magnified sin and produced hopelessness (Rom. 7:13-25).

Why would God give us something with all these negative effects?
 It was because we were already beaten by sin and didn’t know it.
 Before we could be motivated to receive God’s gift of salvation by grace through faith in a Savior, we needed to be convinced that we couldn’t save ourselves.
So, the Lord revealed His standard of holiness (the Law), which was infinitely higher than any of us could ever attain. We had to come to the end of ourselves before we could begin to find God. The Law was perfectly suited to do that.
It shut us up to faith so the only way we could look was up  (Gal. 3:23).

When the Law is used for that purpose, then it is good (1 Tim. 1:8).

But when people are taught that God’s blessings are dependent upon our performance, that kills faith in what Jesus did for us.
Religion has taught that we have to fulfill the demands of the Law in order for God to love us or use us. That’s totally wrong!

For 2,000 years, after Adam’s fall, God dealt with mankind through mercy and grace, which wasn’t evident when the Law came. For instance, God protected the first murderer (Gen. 4:15) instead of killing him as the Law later prescribed (Lev. 24:17).
Abraham married his half-sister, which the Law said was punishable by death (Lev. 18:9).
 Jacob married two women who were sisters, which the Law condemned to death (Lev. 18:18).
 Yet Abraham and Jacob became two great patriarchs of the Old Testament because God wasn’t imputing man’s sins unto him at that time (Rom. 5:13).
But when the Law came, God’s wrath was released against sin (Rom. 4:15),
and we got caught in the middle. God smote people with leprosy (Num. 12:10 and 2 Chr. 26:19 20) and all manner of plagues  (Deut. 28:15-68) because of sin.

Yet this wasn’t God’s original reaction to sin, as can be seen by the fact that it was 2,000 years after Adam’s sin when He gave the Law and released His wrath. He wasn’t imputing man’s sin unto him until the Law was given.

However, the Law made sin come alive, and it killed us (Rom. 7:9).
 The Law released God’s wrath (Rom. 4:15).
This served two main purposes.

 First, God’s display of His wrath against sin forever changed the way man thought of sin. Now he had graphic evidence of how much God hated sin, so this served as a deterrent to sin.

Second, and more importantly, the Law gave such a perfect standard of performance that those who understood it clearly saw that they could never be good enough to receive anything from God.

 It took away any deception that God owed us anything, and it made us throw ourselves on God for mercy. That’s BIG, and that’s what the Law was intended to do.

A proper use of the Law drives us to God for mercy and not away from God in guilt and condemnation.

 Once we come to Jesus and receive salvation as a gift (Rom. 6:23),
we are no longer under the Law but under grace (Rom. 6:14).

God always wanted to relate to us by grace, but He couldn’t just look the other way and ignore sin. The sin debt had to be paid. That’s why Jesus came. He suffered all of God’s wrath against all the sin of all of mankind (John 12:32). Those who receive God’s grace by accepting salvation as a gift by faith in Jesus don’t have anymore wrath against them. The Lord will never be angry with us or rebuke us (Is. 54:9). Hallelujah!

Our sin debt has been paid. Not only that, but we have become the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor. 5:21). This is the great exchange. He not only took away our sin but gave us His righteousness. We are now as clean and holy in our spirits as Jesus is (1 John 4:17).
That’s powerful. If people could understand what I’ve shared in this letter, it would change everything.

That’s why I produced the teaching entitled The True Nature of God. This teaching harmonizes the wrath and punishment of the Old Testament Law with the grace and mercy of the New Testament. You can’t have a good relationship with someone you don’t really know.
 This teaching reveals our loving heavenly Father in a way that enables you to receive His love as never before. I encourage you to get my book, CDs, or DVDs on this topic.

I wish you could see what the Lord is doing at Charis Bible College.
 People are coming alive as they learn the truths I’ve shared in this letter. They truly are getting their opinions of God changed, and this message is changing them. I hear it every day. And I fully expect them to go and change the world. Thank You, Jesus!

Thank you, to all of you who are helping us develop a world-class Bible college where thousands of world-changers are being raised up to carry this good-news Gospel to the ends of the earth. The Gospel is the power of God, and we are seeing it set people free.
Thanks for all you do to make this possible.
We couldn’t do it without you.

If you haven’t yet joined with us, please consider doing so. There are many things that vie for our money, but changing people’s lives who, in turn, will change the world has to be a priority. Please consider being a part of this life-changing ministry.

Post navigation

Previous Post     Spirit, Soul, And Body

Discipleship Evangelism Lesson - 4 of 48

The most important thing to remember in any relationship is how do you interface with this person?  

 For many it is just a one way street of getting personal gain and using others...   If this is your Modus Operandi then you have failed in your relationship!   
Modus operandi (plural modi operandi) is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "method of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations. In English, it is often shortened to M.O.

The real key question is how do you relate to the Lord Almighty God your Eternal Heavenly Father?


   Until you come to love and trust the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and and strength - you will fail to find the real purpose of your earthly existence!

****************************************************************************** LEVEL 1 LESSON 4 RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD By Andrew Wommack One of the most important things about relationship is to come to understand the person with whom you’re going to have relationship, and that also applies specifically to God.  You need to understand the basic nature and character of God in order to have a healthy relationship with Him.      Misunderstanding His character and nature is one of the reasons many people don’t have a positive relationship with Him. This is exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent. They entered into temptation, ultimately disobeyed God, and plunged the whole human race into sin. Their lack of understanding God’s nature was actually a part of the temptation. The story in Genesis 3:1-5 is familiar to most people: “Now the serpent was most {subtle} cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods [God], knowing good and evil” (brackets mine). There is a subtle statement by Satan here that God is really not a good God… that He was trying to withhold something from Adam and Eve…that He didn’t want them to reach their full potential…that He didn’t want them to be like Himself…and that the reason He made the rule about not eating of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was to hinder or hurt them.  In a sense, Satan came against the very nature and character of God when he maligned Him by saying God did not want the best for them. The same thing is exactly what’s happening to people today. Satan tells them, “If you follow God and don’t experiment with all these things that are contrary to His Word, you’ll never experience true happiness. Life will be boring…dead.” The sad fact is that people experience after the fact that the drugs, alcohol, sex, rebellion, indulgence of self, success in jobs, and all the other things they tried didn’t satisfy them. By the time they realize it, they’ve already destroyed their lives, their families, and their health. The truth is that God is a good God, and His will for us is only good. But Satan uses the same temptations on us today that came against Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, basically implying that God is not a good God.  Those who have only a little understanding of the Bible could get that impression because there are instances in the Word where He treated people in harsh, cruel ways. In Numbers 15:32-36, a man picked up sticks on the Sabbath Day and was stoned to death for failing to observe the Sabbath. That sounds harsh, but there was a purpose behind such punishments, though it’s not obvious to most people in a casual reading of Scripture.  Careful study reveals that Old Testament Law was given to make the sin that we’ve committed become exceedingly sinful, as Paul says in Romans 7:13. The purpose was that people didn’t realize how deadly their transgressions were and that they were an offense against God. They made the mistake of comparing among themselves and measuring their actions by what other people were doing. If someone committed a sin and wasn’t struck dead, they thought sin must not be so bad, and they lowered their standards. They had lost the true perspective on what right and wrong was.  God had to bring mankind back to a plumb line, a proper standard of what right living was, so they would reject the devil and his temptations and recognize what the end result of wrong choices would be. Then when He did that, He had to enforce the Law He gave. God did not give the Old Testament commandments for the purpose of saying, “Until you do all these things, I can’t accept you or love you.” That is not His nature or character. Rather, He gave them to make our sense of right and wrong more acute and to bring us back to the fact that we need a Savior. The problem has been that people thought God was demanding perfection before He could love them, which led to the attitude many have that His love for them is directly proportional to their performance. They feel that until they try to do everything exactly right, they will not be accepted by God, and that is not the message of the Bible. God’s heart is to reconcile mankind to Himself not to judge them…not to impute their sins…not to hold their sins against them. That’s the heart of God for people in the Bible and also His heart for you today.  You need to understand His real heart, that “God is love” (1 John 4:8). He seeks to take away your sins and anything that would separate you from Him. He’s already done it through Jesus, and He’s offering you relationship today, not based on your performance but on your faith and acceptance of Jesus bearing your sins. You can have relationship with God today regardless of the failures in your life. All He asks is that you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 1. Read Genesis 3:1. What question did Satan ask Eve? GENESIS 3:1 – Now the serpent was more sutil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2. Read Genesis 2:17 and 3:3. What word or words did Eve add to what God actually said to Adam? GENESIS 2:17 – But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. GENESIS 3:3 – But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 3. Read Genesis 3:6. Once Satan was able to instill doubt into Eve’s mind regarding the Word of God, what did she do in this verse? GENESIS 3:6 – And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 4. Read Genesis 3:9-10. After Adam and Eve sinned, did God still communicate and pursue a relationship with them? GENESIS 3:9-10 – And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? [10] And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself. 5. Read Genesis 3:22-24. Why did God drive Adam and Eve from the Garden? GENESIS 3:22-24 – And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: [23] Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. [24] So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim s, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. 6. Can you see that this was an act of mercy by God rather than a punishment? 7. Read Romans 5:17. How do we attain God’s abundance of grace and gift of righteousness? A. Buy it B. Earn it C. Receive it   ROMANS 5:17 – For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. 8. Read Romans 6:23. What do we really deserve if we sin? ROMANS 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 9. By grace, what does God give us instead? 10. Read Romans 10:3. If we try to establish our own righteousness before God, what do we fail to do? ROMANS 10:3 – For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 11. Read 1 John 1:9 and Romans 4:3. What does God promise to do with ALL our sins and iniquities against Him if we would only believe?  1 JOHN 1:9 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.   ROMANS 4:3 – For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. 12. What does this tell you about the character of God? ------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Read Genesis 3:1. What question did Satan ask Eve? “Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden?” 2. Read Genesis 2:17 and Genesis 3:3. What word or words did Eve add to what God actually said to Adam? That they shouldn’t touch it 3. Read Genesis 3:6. Once Satan was able to instill doubt into Eve’s mind regarding the Word of God, what did she do in this verse? Took and ate of the Tree 4. Read Genesis 3:9-10. After Adam and Eve sinned, did God still communicate and pursue a relationship with them? Yes 5. Read Genesis 3:22-24. Why did God drive Adam and Eve from the Garden? So they wouldn’t eat from the tree of life and live forever in a sinful state 6. Can you see that this was an act of mercy by God rather than a punishment? Yes 7. Read Romans 5:17. How do we attain God’s abundance of grace and gift of righteousness? C. Receive it 8. Read Romans 6:23. What do we really deserve if we sin? Death 9. By grace, what does God give us instead? Eternal life in Jesus 10. Read Romans 10:3. If we try to establish our own righteousness before God, what do we fail to do? Submit to Jesus as our righteousness 11. Read 1 John 1:9 and Romans 4:3. What does God promise to do with ALL our sins and iniquities against Him if we would only believe? Remove them, forget them, and forgive them 12. What does this tell you about the character of God? That He is merciful and loving Amen! Copyright © 2012, Andrew Wommack Permission is granted to duplicate or reproduce for discipleship purposes on the condition that it is distributed free of charge.

Ship fire off Key West

 Refer to previous post  " Ship fire - Texas  "

Witnessed this same type scenario off - Key West in 1962 while serving aboard a Navy Destroyer -
one afternoon;  we broke off an Anti - Sub operations, once we saw that a North bound Freighter had smoke coming out of  it's forward holds!

We went along side to offer a fire suppression team with foam  -  they denied our boarding and
they stated that they would just try to contain the fire on board by keeping the hatches closed and ventilation off... 

Then they sailed  off into the evening sunset as the ship continued to burned out of control!

** They were very fortunate that the cargo fire aboard was only cotton which just smolders!

Then later we saw that ship had not sunk but had been become disabled and was towed and into the quarantine area with all the paint burned off the hull in Port Everglades, FL ...

Sad - when help was offered they chose to play the money game and lost everything!

BTW: The key things that every Navy Ship must control is to maintain the water tight integrity of the ship and the suppression all on board fires...  Then ensure that all ship's control systems are operational and able to function!  

We all were trained in ship board fire prevention and suppression in Boot camp!

Ship fire - Texas

Over Sixty  years ago, on June 10, 1952, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a previous decision in the case of Elizabeth Dalehite, et al. v. United States, finding that the United States maintained the right to exercise its own "discretion" in vital national matters.

Two years prior to this decision, on April 13, 1950, the district court had found that the United States was responsible for a litany of negligent acts of omission and commission by 168 named agencies and their representatives in the manufacture, packaging, and labeling of ammonium nitrate, further compounded by errors in transport, storage, loading, fire prevention and fire suppression, all of which led to the explosions and the subsequent carnage.

The Port of Texas City is a busy deep-water port on Texas' Gulf Coast, as well as a petroleum refining and petrochemical manufacturing center. During, and immediately after World War II many fires would erupt on the ships there. As a result it was a cheap form of entertainment for local residents to walk to the wharf's and watch the fires.

The morning of April 16, 1947 dawned clear and crisp, cooled by a brisk north wind.
Just before 8 a.m., longshoremen removed the hatch covers on Hold 4 of the French Liberty ship Grandcamp as they prepared to load the remainder of a consignment of ammonium nitrate fertilizer.
Some 2,300 tons were already on-board, 880 of which were in the lower part of Hold 4.
 The remainder of the ship's cargo consisted of large balls of sisal twine, peanuts, drilling equipment, tobacco, cotton, and a few cases of small caliber ammunition.
No special safety precautions were in force at the time.

Several longshoremen descended into the hold and waited for the first pallets holding the 100-pound packages to be hoisted from dockside. It wasn't long before someone smelled smoke. A plume of smoke was observed rising between the cargo holds and the ship's hull, apparently about seven or eight layers of sacks down.

Neither a gallon jug of drinking water nor the contents of two fire extinguishers supplied by crew members seemed to do much good. As the fire continued to grow, someone lowered a fire hose, but the water was not turned on. Since the area was filling fast with smoke, the longshoremen were ordered out of the hold.

While Leonard Boswell, the gang foreman, and Peter Suderman, superintendent of stevedores, discussed what action to take, the master, or captain, of the Grandcamp appeared and stated in intelligible English that he did not want to put out the fire with water because it would ruin the cargo. Instead, he elected to suppress the flames by having the hatches battened and covered with tarpaulins, the ventilators closed, and the steam system turned on. At the master's request, stevedores started removing cases of small arms ammunition from Hold 5 as a precautionary measure.

As the fire grew, the increased heat forced the stevedores and some crew members to leave the ship. The Grandcamp's whistle sounded an alarm that was quickly echoed by the siren of the Texas City Terminal Railway Company. Despite a strike by the telephone workers, Suderman, seriously concerned by now, managed to reach the Fire Department and then called Galveston for a fire boat.
The ammonium nitrate on board the Grandcamp detonated at 9:12 a.m., rupturing the ship and sending the cargo of peanuts, tobacco, twine, bunker oil and the remaining bags of ammonium nitrate 2,000 to 3,000 feet into the air. Fireballs streaked across the sky and could be seen for miles across Galveston Bay as molten ship fragments erupted out of the pier.

The blast caused a 15-foot tidal wave that crashed onto the dock and flooded the surrounding area. Windows were shattered in Houston, 40 miles to the north, and people in Louisiana felt the shock 250 miles away. Most of the buildings closest to the blast were flattened, and there were many more that had doors and roofs blown off. The Monsanto plant, only 300 feet away, was destroyed by the blast.

Probably the exact number of people killed will never be known, although the ship's anchor monument records 576 persons known dead, 398 were identified, and 178 listed as missing. All records of personnel and payrolls of the Monsanto Company were destroyed, and many of the dock workers were itinerants and thus difficult to identify.

Almost all persons in the dock area-firemen, ships' crews, and spectators-were killed, and most of the bodies were never recovered; 63 bodies were buried unidentified. The number of injured ranged in the thousands, and loss of property totaled about $67 million.

The SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States) affirmed that decision (346 U.S. 15, June 8, 1953), in a 4-to-3 opinion, noting that the district court had no jurisdiction under the federal statute to find the U.S. government liable for "negligent planning decisions" which were properly delegated to various departments and agencies. In short, the FTCA (Federal Tort Claims Act) clearly exempts "failure to exercise or perform a discretionary function or duty", and the court found that all of the alleged acts in this case were discretionary in nature.

The Dalehite decision was eventually "appealed" to Congress, where relief was granted by means of legislation (Public Law 378, 69 Stat. 707 (1955)). When the last claim had been processed in 1957, 1,394 awards, totaling nearly $17 million, had been made.

A very special thanks is given to Keith Downs for providing material for research for this article. Keith's grandfather worked on the cleanup and restoration after the disaster.

Doc Halliday is an author, columnist and consultant who resides in Marshall, Texas. He may be contacted by mail at: P. O. Box 1551, Marshall, TX 75671; or by email at: w_halliday@yahoo.com

SHARE

1000 year flood?

 

A "1000 year" flood has just occurred on the East Coast and a "1200 year" drought continues to worsen rapidly on the West Coast. In fact record shattering floods and droughts are rapidly accelerating all around the globe. "Official sources", of course, tell the American public that unprecedented weather events are just "natural" and the vast majority unfortunately accept this lie without so much as a second thought. Though countless anthropogenic (human) activities have done immense damage to the climate system, the ongoing global climate engineering (weather warfare) insanity is the greatest single disrupting factor of all. "100 year" disasters are now occurring every 100 days or less.

 

The images at the link below should be carefully examined. The flow of moisture from hurricane Joaquin was manipulated between a clockwise spinning high pressure zone to the north of Joaquin and a counterclockwise spinning low pressure zone to the west of Joaquin. There were at least 8 meteorological factors that all had to come together in order to create the fire hose effect that just devastated South Carolina. Even more astounding consideration is that these factors generally remained in place for three consecutive days.

 

Hurricane Joaquin was essentially a water pump for the geoengineers and the immense moisture from this source was profoundly focused on a specific region, South Carolina.

 

In a rapidly warming world deluge events would be expected to increase. But it is the intentional manipulation of the climate system that is making some events so concentrated and deadly. 

 

Hurricane Joaquin was initially forecasted to make US landfall, in fact, it initially showed many similarities to the initial stages of hurricane "Sandy".  Then, literally overnight, all the "forecasts" changed. Meteorologists stated on the record that hurricane Joaquin was very hard to predict. How can the weather be predicted when the climate is being completely manipulated by multiple global powers? Yet, the geoengineering elephant in the room remains a taboo subject in the meteorological and mainstream media communities. Meteorologists are paid to explain away the completely engineered weather as "natural", they are covering the tracks for the geoengineers. As of October 5, 2015, the path of "Joaquin" was being heavily sprayed with aerosols by jet aircraft as the satellite photos at the link below clearly show.

 

Click here for the full article and pics >>

 

Dane Wigington
geoengineeringwatch.org

 

http://www.geoengineeringwatch.org/engineering-1000-year-weather-catastrophes-the-reality-of-weather-warfare/

preoccupied with quantity of ministry instead of quality of ministry?

Matthew 25:14 "For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods."

The parable of the talents continues the theme of being ready for the Lord's return, but it also makes a strong point that we are accountable to the Lord for the gifts which He has given us.

The Lord intends us to use these gifts to further His kingdom - not keep them hidden.

This parable also shows the Lord dealing with His servants according to their own individual gifts and abilities. The servants who doubled their Lord's money were praised equally, even though one had produced two and one-half times as much revenue for His Lord than the other.

Every man's work shall be judged as to what sort it is - not what size it is.

Most people in the Christian Churches today are more preoccupied with quantity of ministry instead of quality of ministry. 

The Lord is going to reward us based on how well we did, not on how much we did. Those who are not governed by the Holy Spirit in their actions will see all their good works burned up on the day we stand before the Lord and He tries our works.

Those who acted only under the guidance of the Holy Spirit will find that their works will endure the test and they will receive a reward.

Many people choose to do good things thinking that God will be pleased.

 

It is our positive response to God's direction (faith) that pleases God...

(Heb. 11:6). We were created with a purpose and every individual has a God-given plan for his life.

Unless our actions are in agreement with God's plan for our life, they will not abide the test of God's fire.

Discipleship Evangelism Lesson - 3 of 48

The reason for Righteousness by Grace -
Do you understand that the Lord Jesus Christ { Yeshua ha Mashiach } did for us what we could never do for our self!
One way of interpreting that passage is to consider what it means to be born again by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives life to our spirits and He teaches us all things and He knows the deep things of God.

So when we worship God in truth, we worship Him as He truly is and not according to some man made construct or religious form that we have been taught. We worship Him through our spirit that have come alive by the regeneration of his Holy Spirit.

We can't worship Him by performing mechanical religious rituals or thinking that by going through the motions we are pleasing a distant "god" who only cares about the external things which people can see but not about what is really going on in our hearts and minds.  Amen!

   =======================================

 LEVEL 1
LESSON 3
RIGHTEOUSNESS BY GRACE
By Don Krow

Today we are going to look at the subject of righteousness by grace.

 Romans 3:21-23 (KJV) says, 

“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested [made known], being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference [distinction]: For all have sinned, and come [fall] short of the glory of God” (brackets mine).

Righteousness Through Faith (NIV) 

²¹ But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²² This righteousness is given through faith in   Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, ²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Notice that this scripture says,
“But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested.” I once asked a man,
 “What do you think you have to do in order to go to heaven?”
He responded that he should keep the Ten Commandments, be faithful to his wife, live a moral
life, plus a number of other things.
I said, “Do you realize what you must to do in order to go to heaven, to be in God’s presence or in His kingdom?

 Then added  " You would have to have a righteousness that equals God’s righteousness."
” He said, “I beg your pardon?

There is no one who can have a righteousness that equals God’s.
Only one man who had such righteousness, and that was Jesus Christ!”

 I said, “You get the point!   That is exactly right!"

None of us in our own selves have ever kept the Law or commandments perfectly, outwardly or inwardly, but we need a righteousness that equals God’s in order to be acceptable before Him.”

That is exactly what is said in verses 21-22, “But now the righteousness of God
without the law is manifested…even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus
Christ unto all and upon all them that believe.

” The kind of righteousness that God offers you and me is a righteousness that is -
“through faith in Jesus Christ,” and it’s unto all and upon all who believe. 

There are two kinds of righteousness :  the righteousness of humans and the righteousness of God.
 The righteousness of a person’s very best behavior and the good works they do, yet that can’t make you acceptable before God. You need a righteousness that equals God’s, and He is offering it to you;  the righteousness of God that is without the law.

 RIGHTEOUSNESS BY LAW:


In the Greek, there is no definite article, which means that this text is really saying
God is offering His own righteousness without Law.
 A righteousness that is according to Law is a righteousness of doing, earning, and achieving in order to be accepted before God.
All the world religions today think you have to do, earn, and achieve in order for God to accept
you.
 The word “Gospel” means “good news,” and the good news of the Gospel is that God is
offering His very own righteousness and acceptance to all who will believe in what Jesus Christ
provided.

His death on the cross for our sins, imputing to us the righteousness that equals the 
Law. This is the righteousness of God that is apart from the Law, without us doing, earning, and
achieving; and it comes through faith in Jesus Christ.

Notice in verse 22, that it is the righteousness of God that is through faith in Jesus Christ
unto all and upon all.    So why is God offering His righteousness to everyone?

 “For there is no difference [no distinction]: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (brackets mine). You have sinned, I have sinned, and we all come short of God’s standard or perfection.

Because of our sin, the greatest thing we need is acceptance, right relationship, and right
standing with God…and God has offered this not through the works of the Law but through
faith in Jesus Christ. The righteousness of God doesn’t come by your working, your trying, your
earning, or your attempts to achieve; it comes through faith, dependence, and reliance upon the
Lord Jesus Christ.

How was Abraham (the Jewish forefather) saved?
The Bible says he believed God and believed the promise God gave him and then righteousness was imputed to his account. The fact that Abraham was declared righteous before God through his faith was not just for him alone.

We read in Romans 3:21-22 that a man is declared righteous through his faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible says that because of the payment Christ made on the cross when He shed His blood for our sin, righteousness (right standing) will be imputed to any person’s account who simply believes upon Christ.

Romans 5:17 says, “For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more that
which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ” (emphasis mine).

God is offering you a gift of righteousness, a gift of right standing before Him. A gift does cost something but not to the person who receives it.

 If you gave me a gift and asked me to pay for it, it wouldn’t be a gift, but it did cost you something. God made righteousness available to you and me as a gift, and this gift of righteousness, acquittal, and right standing before God comes through faith in Jesus Christ.



1. Read Titus 3:5. Is the righteousness that we need a
righteousness that we can produce?

TITUS 3:5 – Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.


2. Read 2 Corinthians 5:21. What kind of righteousness
do we need?

2 CORINTHIANS 5:21 – For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin;
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.



3. Read Romans 3:22. How do we receive this righteousness?

ROMANS 3:22 – Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all
and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.

4. Read Philippians 3:9. What is the righteousness of the Law?

PHILIPPIANS 3:9 – And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is
of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God
by faith.


5. Read Galatians 2:21. How could we frustrate God’s grace?

GALATIANS 2:21 – I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law,
then Christ is dead in vain.

6. Read Romans 5:17. The righteousness of God is
received as what?


ROMANS 5:17 – For if by one man’s offense death reigned by one; much more
that which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life
by one, Jesus Christ.

  --------------------------------------------


1. Read Titus 3:5. Is the righteousness that we need a righteousness that we can produce?
No

2. Read 2 Corinthians 5:21. What kind of righteousness do we need?
The righteousness of God (that comes through Christ)

3. Read Romans 3:22. How do we receive this righteousness?
Through faith in Jesus Christ

4. Read Philippians 3:9. What is the righteousness of the Law?
A righteousness belonging to me—a works righteousness that I can produce

5. Read Galatians 2:21. How could we frustrate God’s grace?
We could frustrate God’s grace by trying to be saved by our own good works instead of
trusting Christ and His death for us for our salvation

6. Read Romans 5:17. The righteousness of God is received as what?
A gift


Copyright © 2012, Andrew Wommack
Permission is granted to duplicate or reproduce for discipleship purposes on the
condition that it is distributed free of charge.

Nature's Cancer Prevention - Vitamin B17 - 1

Here is more truth! 
  Nature's Cancer Prevention - Vitamin B17
Have you ever heard of vitamin B17? Maybe you have heard of its other name - Laetrile.
Americans cannot access vitamin B17 because the FDA took it off the market in the 1970s, and removed it from the B-Complex vitamins. It is unlawful for any health practitioner to administer this vitamin to patients. Apricot seeds are the best source for B17, but they have also been removed from the shelves of every health food store and natural market throughout the USA. Limited research has been conducted on vitamin B17 since 1977. Once it was banned, it was forgotten.

According to research from years ago, provided by nutritionists and medical scientists, vitamin B17 is a natural cyanide-containing compound that gives up its cyanide content only in the presence of a particular enzyme group called beta glucosidase or glucuronidase. Miraculously, this enzyme group is found almost exclusively in cancer cells. If found elsewhere in the body, it is accompanied by greater quantities of another enzyme, rhodanese, which has the ability to disable the cyanide and convert it into completely harmless substances. Cancer tissues do not have this protecting enzyme.

So, according to past scientific knowledge, cancer cells are faced with a double threat: the presence of one enzyme exposing them to cyanide, while the absence of another enzyme found in all other normal cells results in the cancer's failure to detoxify itself. Leave it to nature to provide a form of cyanide that can naturally destroy a cancer cell. The cancer cells that are unable to withstand the cyanide are destroyed, while the non-cancerous cells are not threatened by the cyanide, and, therefore, remain unharmed. Never underestimate the body's potential!

Vitamin B17 is found naturally in many foods. If you eat foods containing vitamin B17, your body will know what to do next. All other animals in nature instinctively do this. Consider it nature's cancer prevention. If only modern medicine would allow it.
San Francisco's Ernst T. Krebs, Sr., M.D. discovered the healing qualities of vitamin B17 in 1923. His sons, Ernst T. Krebs, Jr., PhD., and Byron Krebs, M.D. continued their father's research in 1952, refining Laetrile's (B17) nutritional qualities.

From their research, the Krebs believed cancer was not caused by an outside invading force but rather by malfunctions of the normal mechanics within the body itself. They identified cancer as a "deficiency disease." The body's malfunctions, according to their research, were the result of a deficiency of certain chemicals found in food, a deficiency of chemicals they specifically identified as vitamin B17, as well as a deficiency of enzymes known as trypsins produced in the pancreas.
The Krebs had discovered a natural, drugless method to help prevent cancer. But their discovery wasn't original. Years prior to any of the Drs. Krebs' works, Drs. George B. Wood and Franklin Bache, M.D. published a reference volume in 1833 in which they described amygdalin, derived from B17, as a common treatment for a wide range of diseases and disorders.

Vitamin B17 is also referred to as a nitriloside, which is the foundation for Laetrile, amygdalin, and prunasin. Together with the pancreatic enzyme trypsin, these can form a natural barrier against cancer growth. If foods containing any of the nitrilosides are eaten regularly, the body's own immune mechanisms can naturally battle cancer-forming cells. But if foods containing these critical vitamins are not regularly consumed (or manufactured), nature's mechanisms can't work as effectively against the buildup of factors at the root of cancer and the countless number of degenerative diseases.
This is happening to human beings today. Not only are advanced societies environmentally polluted to dangerous levels, but also more and more foods are being altered from their natural state by man's own doing. Modern freeze-dried, fat-free, sugar-free, calorie-free, weight-watchful, microwavable artificial food substitutes don't contain nitrilosides. Most food manufacturers don't even know what nitrilosides are. Never in human history have artificial foods saturated with preservatives and unhealthy chemicals dominated the food supply to the degree they do today. Modern nourishment is no longer nourishing.

In the late 1970's, Dr. Harold W. Manner, PhD., Chairman of the Biology Department at Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois, studied the overall value of Laetrile (B17). His work was well respected and considered among the first unbiased studies since the Krebs' in the 1920s. He reported Laetrile as being virtually non-toxic.

When Dr. Manner used Laetrile in his medical research, along with vitamin A and digestive enzymes, he discovered the production of antibodies was stimulated against spontaneous breast tumors in his laboratory mice. He studied the results of complete regression in 76 percent of the treated mice with mammary gland cancers.

Dr. Manner believed Laetrile received its best results when used in conjunction with digestive enzymes, a traditional balanced diet, and with vitamin A.

No physician has had more clinical experience with Laetrile than Ernesto Contreras, Sr., M.D. of the Contreras Hospital in Tijuana, Mexico, formerly The Oasis Of Hope Hospital. Dr. Contreras has clinically used Laetrile for more than forty years on thousands of terminally diagnosed patients, and has received impressive results.

One of Dr. Contreras' patients was a man suffering from severe colon cancer. Using Laetrile treatments in conjunction with detoxification protocols and proper vitamin supplementation, Contreras was able to arrest the progression of his patient's cancer. The man lived more than fifteen years beyond his predicted death.

The following is a list of foods rich in vitamin B17:
- Watercress
- Spinach
- Bamboo sprouts
- Alfalfa sprouts
- Lentil sprouts
- Whole nuts
- Mung bean sprouts
- Ground nuts
- Garbanzo sprouts
- Apple seeds
- Apricot seeds
Contact AwesomeOrder.com for more information on B17 and B17 products.
For more information about cancer prevention, please visit Dr. Hull's Richardson Cancer Prevention Diet.

Posted June 2006 | Permanent Link

Visit Dr. Hull's Websites Testing

• Discover hidden toxins in your body
• Create a customized nutrition program
• Restore your health

Learn more about Dr. Hull's Hair Analysis Program

Mal Tari - Like a Mighty Wind

Like a Mighty Wind

by Cliff Dudley Author · Mel Tari Author  "When we believe the Bible as it is, we will see the power of God move in our lives and in our community as it did centuries ago in Bible times."

-Mel Tari
Translated into dozens of languages, with millions of copies sold, Like a Mighty Wind remains a beloved classic from global evangelist Mel Tari. Recounting the incredible story of revival on the island of Timor during 1965 in the midst of political turmoil, the book is an amazing testament to the power of faith and the reality of God's power to work miracles in modern times.

Like a Mighty Wind

by Mel Tari, 1971

From the publisher’s notes:

Water turned into wine...Men raised from the dead...The ability to eat poison and not be harmed; to walk across a river 30 feet deep...
Miracles like these, performed in Biblical times, have often been written off for the 1970’s. But they are happening today (1971) as men, women and children simply believe God and act on His promises.
The place? Indonesia—a network of islands in the Pacific now in the midst of what may be the greatest revival of the 20th century.
The Indonesian Bible Society which tries to chart the results has found it impossible to keep up with the statistics. Churches in Central Java, for example, which reported 30,000 members in 1961 now number more than 100,000—almost doubling annually.
Revival began in the city of Soe on the island of Timor in the Lesser Sunda group and is continuing through the work of evangelistic teams.
One of the men who is going out is Melchoir Tari, better known as Mel, who was 18 when the revival started. Mel has now crisscrossed the United States and Europe, depending only on God to supply his needs. —Publisher's note, 1971
By 2005, the revival of those days had long since died out. There were however, still Christians in that part of the world who reported miraculous deliverance from the massive tsunami that hit that region.
Although the events related by Mel Tari happened over 30 years ago, they stand as a witness that God still works wonders — even in modern times.

The Spirit of God that swept across the island "like a mighty wind" continues today throughout Indonesia although persecution of Christians is all too common. The story of God's powerful revival in this region remains a testament to the truth of God's Word, and serves as a reminder to all believers that the Spirit of God manifests in our world now as it did in the earliest days of the Church.

 Publication Details  Publisher:

New Leaf Publishing Group, Inc.

Imprint:

New Leaf Press

Publication Date:

1997   Cliff Dudley (Author) Cliff Dudley founded New Leaf Press, Inc. in 1975 after serving as sales manager at Moody Press in the late 1960s and founding Creation House in 1971. He had a very strong belief in the power of the printed page to move people toward Christ..
More about Cliff Dudley

Like a Mighty Wind

Discipleship Evangelism Lesson - 2 of 48

** Pride and greed {both based upon Selfishness}are two key elements in life which separate people from the righteousness of God in their lives...
Without the Righteousness of Christ in our lives;  we have no standing in the Kingdom of God!

=====================================================


LEVEL 1
LESSON 2
SALVATION BY GRACE
By Don Krow

Jesus many times used parables, stories which illustrated spiritual truths.
 Luke 18:9-14 begins, “And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others.” Jesus was targeting a certain audience: those who trusted that they were righteous and automatically despised and looked down on everyone else. He told this parable to these people who trusted in the things they did.

We would call them self-righteous, which is what Jesus was speaking about when He said they looked down on everyone else saying, “I am better than you!”

In verse 10, Jesus says, “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee,
and the other a publican.” We would say in modern language that they went to the church to
pray, and one was a Pharisee. A Pharisee was a very religious person. The word actually means
“separated one,” someone who was so religious that in a sense they would say, “Don’t defile me!
Don’t get too close to me. I’m not like other men! I am better than everyone else!” The other
man Jesus mentioned was a publican. Publicans were tax collectors and were known to be very
evil, sinful people who cheated and defrauded. They collected taxes by any means they could,
stuck a lot of the money in their pockets, and gave some of it to the Roman government, so they
were not looked upon favorably by their peers.

The story continues in verse 11, “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God,
I thank thee, that I am not like other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this
publican.” I want you to notice that. Who was he praying to?
He was actually praying to himself even though he was saying “God” and using the right words. God was not acknowledging his prayer, and we’ll see later why that was so. Notice that he prayed, “God, I thank You I am not like other men.” This Pharisee, this religious man, said, “I am not like other men. I am not sinful. I am not an extortioner, not unjust, not an adulterer, and I am not like this publican right here who came to pray.” You see, he despised and looked down on others because he thought he was better than them.

In verse 12, the Pharisee said, “I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.”
He was saying, “Notice what I do?” Do you know what it means to fast? It actually means
to go without food. He also gave money to the church. He was one of those people who say,
“Don’t bother me! I live a good life! I give to charity! I give money down at the church!”

Then we come to the tax collector in verse 13: “And the publican, standing afar off, would
not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to
me a sinner.” Notice his body language: “standing afar off.” He didn’t even go all the way into the
church. He was so ashamed of his life and the things that he had done that he stood afar off and
wouldn’t even look up, wouldn’t lift his eyes to heaven, but smote his breast.
When the Bible talks of smiting the breasts in the Old Testament, many times they also tore their garments, which was a way of saying, “I am sorry, God, for what I have done!” It was a sign of repentance, a contrite heart, and a broken spirit, which God would not despise. This tax collector, sinful man that he was, cried out to God and prayed, “God be merciful to me, I am a sinner!”

Verse 14 says, “I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other:
for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”
The publican went home justified, declared righteous before God, in right standing with God,
forgiven by God. Why was he forgiven? Why did he go to his home in right standing before God
and not the religious Pharisee?
It was because the Pharisee exalted himself, saying “I am better than other people! I am not sinful! I am not like other men,” while the tax collector knew he had no standing before God, nothing he could offer Him. He was a sinful person. The Bible says Jesus didn’t come to save righteous people but sinners, and we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. This tax collector humbled himself and found forgiveness and pardon.

We’re talking about salvation by grace. Grace is a wonderful word, and I am going to
give you an accepted definition of what it means, but grace means much more. In the Greek
language in which the New Testament was written, grace is the word charis. An accepted
definition of grace is this: the free, unmerited favor of God toward people who don’t deserve
it. This tax collector didn’t deserve anything from God, but he found God’s favor because he
humbled himself. There is another word in the Greek, charisma, which is charis with the suffix
-ma on the end. It means a specific manifestation or form of God’s grace, and this tax collector
found justification, right standing, before God as a gift.

Romans 5:17 says, “They which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.” God offers you and me right standing before Him as a
gift and, according to our passage, the tax collector found that gift of justification, that gift of
righteousness that only comes through Jesus Christ. The Bible says in John 1:17, “For the law
was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” This grace is only offered to one
kind of person—those who humble themselves and know they have no standing before God,
who cry for God’s mercy. These people will find God’s mercy and pardon.


SALVATION BY GRACE

1. Read Luke 18:9. What is a parable?

2. Read Luke 18:9. To whom did Jesus direct this parable?

3. Read Luke 18:9 (the last part of the verse). People that
are self-righteous always reveal an attitude toward
others. According to Luke 18:9, what is that attitude?

A. They like others.
B. They despise others or look down on others.
C. They love others.

4. Read Luke 18:10. Two people went to pray; in modern
language, where did they go to pray?

5. Read Luke 18:10. Who were these people?
6. Read Luke 18:11. What was the Pharisee’s prayer?
7. Read Luke 18:12. What does fasting mean?


 Read Luke 18:12. What does it mean to give tithes?


LUKE 18:9-12 – And he spake this parable unto certain
which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and
despised others.
 [10] Two men went up into the temple to
pray; the one a Pharisee and the other a publican.
 [11] The
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee,
that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers,
or even this publican.
[12] I fast twice in the week, I give
tithes of all that I possess.



9. Read Luke 18:13. Where was the tax collector standing? Why?

10. Read Luke 18:13. Why did the tax collector hang down
his head and not look up?

11. Read Luke 18:13. What was this tax collector’s prayer?

12. Read Luke 18:14. Which one of these men was declared
righteous before God when he went to his home?

13. Read Luke 18:14. Why was the tax collector declared
righteous and not the Pharisee?

14. Read Luke 18:14. Did God forgive this tax collector?

LUKE 18:13-14 – And the publican, standing afar off,
would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote
upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
 [14] I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather
than the other: for every one that exalts himself shall be
abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.


15. Read Romans 10:13. If you right now got down on
your knees and cried out to God from your heart
“God be merciful to me, a sinner,” would God treat
you the same way as He treated the tax collector?


ROMANS 10:13 – For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

1 JOHN 1:8-9 –  8 -  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
 [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness.

-------------------------------------------------------------


1. Read Luke 18:9. What is a parable?
A biblical parable is a story that illustrates spiritual truth

2. Read Luke 18:9. To whom did Jesus direct this parable?
To those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous; that is, they were
self-righteous

3. Read Luke 18:9 (the last part of the verse). People that are self-righteous always reveal
an attitude toward others. According to Luke 18:9, what is that attitude?
B. They despise other or look down on others

4. Read Luke 18:10. Two people went to pray; in modern language, where did they go to pray?
To the church

5. Read Luke 18:10. Who were these people?
A Pharisee and a publican/tax collector

6. Read Luke 18:11. What was the Pharisee’s prayer?
God, I thank you I am not like other men (I’m not a sinner). I’m not a swindler, unjust,
an adulterer, or even like this tax collector

7. Read Luke 18:12. What does fasting mean?
To go without food or other physical pleasures

8. Read Luke 18:12. What does it mean to give tithes?
To give a tenth of one’s income or donation in either time or material things.

9. Read Luke 18:13. Where was the tax collector standing?
Afar off   -  Why?
He was ashamed to go into the church (or temple) because he was such a terrible sinner,
so he stayed outside

10. Read Luke 18:13. Why did the tax collector hang down his head and not look up?
He was ashamed 
Have you ever done something wrong and would not look a person in the face?

11. Read Luke 18:13. What was this tax collector’s prayer?
God be merciful to me—I am a sinner!

12. Read Luke 18:14. Which one of these men was declared righteous before God when he
went to his home?
The tax collector


13. Read Luke 18:14. Why was the tax collector declared righteous and not the Pharisee?
Because he humbled himself before God. The Pharisee was full of pride; he didn’t think
he needed a Savior

14. Read Luke 18:14. Did God forgive this tax collector?
Yes

15. Read Romans 10:13. If you right now got down on your knees and cried out to God
from your heart “God be merciful to me, a sinner,” would God treat you the same way
He treated the tax collector?
Yes, He would. He would forgive me and cleanse me from all unrighteousness
{ Because without Christ's righteousness we have none!}

** See 1 John 1:8-9  (NIV)
⁸ If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  
⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.



Copyright © 2012, Andrew Wommack
Permission is granted to duplicate or reproduce for discipleship purposes on the
condition that it is distributed free of charge.