Fellow Xangans, Can anyone tell me why so many Russians are leaving footprints on one particular post of mine?

For several weeks I've noticed hundreds of visits from the Ukraine and the Russian Federation to one of my blog posts from August, 2011:

  http://www.jerusalemhill.org/754575276/a-recovering-legalist/. 

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(I asked myself, over and over, trying to let it go, and failing:   Why so sensitive, Jerry?  Why are you so bothered by it?  Such a simple, inconsequential  matter?  Does it really matter? Or, does He really matter!  Ah, that’s the question!  And that’s why you are so grieved in your spirit, Jerry.  That explains it.)

Recently another Christian writer on Xanga used the neutral gender of the personal pronoun singular, “it” when writing about the Holy Spirit of God.  I complimented him for an otherwise excellent post; but I added my objection to calling the Holy Spirit “it” in my comment.  Then I thought I was finished with that.  I tried to move on in my thinking to work on the next item in my own series of posts.  But “it” has been nagging at me now for days!   And “it” eventually changed Part Two of my series.  Our choice of words really does matter!  This is true whether we are speaking or writing them ourselves, or whether we are evaluating the choice made by another writer.

For example, let’s consider Luke’s first biblical reference to the person Jesus of Nazareth.

Luke 1: 35 in the New King James Version reads: "the angel answered and said to (Mary), Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.”  But the original King James Version reads: “that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.”  How much difference does it make if we consider Jesus as “that thing,” holy or not!

Jesus, the Messiah, is “the Son of God.”  The Holy Spirit would “come upon” Mary and she would become pregnant.  How much difference does it make if we accept the Holy Spirit as a thing, or an it!

Jesus said that “God is Spirit.”   Jesus is a Person.  His Father is a Person.  And, the Holy Spirit is also, a Person!  Not an it!  He is the Person of God with Whom we presently converse here on the earth.  He is our Comforter, Counselor, Helper and our Guide into All Truth.

I was grieved reading the Holy Spirit referred to as “it” because My Dearest Friend, the Holy Spirit of Jesus, was grieved within my heart.  I am embarassed that God had to remind me of this: There are still so many people who do not know their Creator and the Lover of their souls as a Person! They don't know Him to talk with and to ask question of, and to hear Him answer!  And some of these actually believe they are Christians! How tragic! 

Try to imagine how improbable it seemed to hear the voice of The Holy Spirit of God say: "I will make you a world-wide ambassador of my Kingdom!"

I was in prison for a crime I did NOT commit but which, by the despicable nature of the accusation, marked me for life in the minds of many people.  I still had some few lingering doubts about why God was allowing this outrage to happen to me.  Many people were telling me I had gone off the deep end of religion, carrying my New Testament everywhere I went and telling folks God was now calling me "Jerusalem" Hill.

BUT by then it was very clear to me that the LORD had answered my prayers that He send me to His "best Bible college!"  As a prisoner Bible colleges and seminaries had sent me many textbooks to study and courses to complete by correspondence.  I had completed the equivalent of a Bachelor's degree in Biblical Christianity and was studying at the Master's degree level in Christian Counseling.

By then I was actually comfortable in my personal conversations with the Holy Spirit of God.  By then I could say and write to my family without a blush that "the Lord Jesus Himself is now my best, closest personal friend.  I no longer feel alone and isolated."

By then I was ministering to other prisoners and even to some Corrections staff in a way "outsiders" simply cannot do.  I wrote letters for fellow inmates who couldn't write but who had come to trust me to keep their most intimate thoughts private and confidential.  I led men in nightly Bible studies and taught them to receive and to know Jesus -- the LIVING Jesus -- and to walk by faith in Him.  And I had the physical protection of angels, some of whom were men of fierce and criminal reputations.

Then, when I was released from prison in October, 2002 I began a period of Probation, Supervision and neighborly scrutiny to put it politely, which in a very large sense is still going on.  There were many restrictions in those earlier days.  But the only one still in effect today is a legal limitation to internet social networks which are largely visited by children.  And that one protects me!  (I often tell folks this truth: I am no danger to small children and have never been; but they actually are a danger to me.)  Beyond that, I am careful to avoid interaction with children whenever possible.  The LORD sent notable exceptions, for reasons which are now clear to everyone, good for them and good for me.

The LORD also sent other "misfits" to me -- in some cases parents of the exceptions I mentioned -- that they might receive His grace more fully, through me and my teaching and my counsel.  Most of these became true friends.   And I do not discount the importance of this ministry. But this was and is a small and local ministry, and it always will be.

Now, here on Xanga and other blogging communities I am amazed at the feedback I get from all over the world!  The LORD prepared me and taught me and now leads me to respond to questions and requests for prayer world-wide, just has He declared to me that He would do!

There are so many things I am thankful for...  Eternally grateful for!  But now here and today I feel especially thankful for this realized and manifest promise of God!  May the LORD continue to bless all who may read my blogs and ask me spiritual things until the beautiful end which He has planned for me.

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And Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I have no [intimacy with any man as a] husband?

Then the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a shining cloud]; and so the holy (pure, sinless) Thing (Offspring) which shall be born of you will be called the Son of God.

For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

Can you say "Wow" with me now?

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I weigh 355#!!!  Up 155# from November, 2002 at my return to Parke County from Westville CC.  Since then I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, and chest pains have prohibited the kind of vigorous physical exercise which used to keep me fit in my younger days.

I am still taking Metformin and insulin injections for glucose control, Simvastatin for cholesterol control, Losartan for blood pressure control, Omeprazole (Prilosec) for Acid Reflux control, aspirin for all its benefits, sometimes Aleve for extra joint pain control and Cialis for sex life maintenance.  Even eating a healthy, 1800 calorie/day, mostly-vegetable diet hasn't kept my weight from increasing.

About a year ago Lasix diuretic was added to my medications list "for edema."  About three months ago I informed VA I had begun to self-increase the dosage from 40 mg daily up to 80 mg daily having noticed it was helping with frequent shortness of breath.  My new primary care provider corrected the prescription in agreement with a more- aggressive treatment of my coronary edema.  And I am now able to exercise more frequently and for longer durations with less shortness of breath and chest pains.  Of course this means I need to remain a short walking distance to a restroom.      This has also reduced the swelling in my feet, ankles and lower legs.  And I'm just feeling much better overall.

I decided to post this update because I noticed someone in the Russian Federation had visited my last update from 2008.  Hi, Juliya!

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 Teacher, what is the most important commandment in the Law?”

³⁷Jesus answered:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. ³⁸This is the first and most important commandment.  Likewise important is this one: Love others as much as you love yourself.

⁴⁰All the Law of Moses and the Books of the Prophets are based on these two commandments.

An expert in the Law of Moses had asked Jesus a question to see what he would say. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to have eternal life?”

²⁶Jesus answered, “What is written in the Scriptures? How do you understand them?”²⁷The man replied, “The Scriptures say, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind.’ They also say, ‘Love your neighbors as much as you love yourself.’”

²⁸Jesus said, “You have given the right answer. If you do this, you will have eternal life.”

The New Command

Jesus said to His disciples:  But I am giving you a new command. You must love each other, just as I have loved you. 

Jesus loved with God's love by the power of the Holy Spirit! Isn't that what He commands us to do? How should we expect other people to react when we succeed in loving as Jesus loved us?

How many laws and traditions did Jesus violate during His earthly ministry in order to love people? Didn't He practice “situation ethics?” Does it seem to you that Jesus went out of His way to offend the religious people; or was He simply going about, loving people the way He wants us to try to do? And how then was Jesus treated by people? By His followers? By the religious folks who did not comprehend who Jesus is? 

 Every situation begs the question: How would Jesus love in this particular situation?  And if we love in the way Jesus would, the religious folks will gripe about us and worse!

I am not Antinomian. I do not reject the proper application of Biblical, moral laws.

Antinomianism (Greek anti,"against"; nomos,"law") is the doctrine that faith in Christ frees the Christian from obligation to observe the moral law as set forth in the Old Testament. The insistence in the Epistles of St. Paul upon the inadequacy of the law to save, and upon salvation by faith without "works of the law" or "deeds of righteousness" (see Romans 3:20, 28; Ephesians 2:9; 2 Timothy 2:9; Titus 3:5) could easily be interpreted as a claim of freedom from all obligation to obey the moral law. Thus, righteous persons might well hold such a doctrine and behave in an exemplary way, not from compulsion but from a devotion higher than the law. (That describes me!  Notice though, that the Holy Spirit dictates what shall be exemplary, not other people!)

The word antinomian comes from the Greek anti (against) and nomos (law), and refers to the doctrine that it is not necessary for Christians to preach and / or obey the moral law of the Scriptures. There have been several different justifications for this view down through the centuries.

Some have taught that once persons are justified by faith in Christ, they no longer have any obligation toward the moral law because Jesus has freed them from it. A variant of this first position is that since Christ has raised believers above the positive precepts of the law, they need to be obedient only to the immediate guidance of the Holy Spirit, who will keep them from sin. My personal position embraces that last one, but recognizes the need for believers to “grow up” into such maturity, ie. progressive sanctification.  Paul speaks to "those of you who are spiritual," thus acknowledging that many are NOT "spiritual."

But neither am I a Legalist. I do not believe that every written instruction applies to every Christian in every circumstance! There are “mere babes” in Christ. And there are “still carnal” in Christ. And these do well to stay safely within the written moral codes of the New Testament Epistles. However, I believe that Christians should “grow up,” building upon the foundational Laws of Christ: 1. Love God with all your heart, soul and strength. 2. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. (Treat others as you desire to be treated.) And 3. Love your brother and sister as Christ has loved you! (Christ continuously sacrificed Himself for the greater good of you and me!) Christians can only successfully “grow up,” by seeking and learning to be led personally and intimately by the Living Spirit of Jesus, growing progressively more "spiritual," and less and less "carnal."

To understand Antinomianism, go to:

http://mb-soft.com/believe/txn/antinomi.htm,

from which I have borrowed heavily above.

And, to understand Legalism, go to:

http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-Christian-legalism.html.

The traditional "Lord's Prayer" was given for his followers as a model for their (our?) prayers.  But the actual Lord's Prayer, which He prayed to the Heavenly Father aloud for our benefit just shortly before He was taken into custody to be crucified, is recorded for us in John's gospel, chapter 17!  Anyone seeking to know the essence of Christianity should study it carefully, asking the Holy Spirit to guide him or her into all truth!

Here then is John 17 from the Amplified Bible plus my own clarifying remarks and underlines for emphasis:

 ¹WHEN JESUS had spoken these things (concerning the Holy Spirit Whom He would very soon send),  He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify and exalt and honor and magnify Your Son, so that Your Son may glorify and extol and honor and magnify You.

    ²[Just as] You have granted Him power and authority over all flesh (all humankind), [now glorify Him] so that He may give eternal life to all whom You have given Him.

    ³And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent.

    ⁴I have glorified You down here on the earth by completing the work that You gave Me to do.

    ⁵And now, Father, glorify Me along with Yourself and restore Me to such majesty and honor in Your presence as I had with You before the world existed.

    ⁶I have manifested Your Name [I have revealed Your very Self, Your real Self] to the people whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, and You gave them to Me, and they have obeyed and kept Your word.

    ⁷Now [at last] they know and understand that all You have given Me belongs to You [is really and truly Yours].

    ⁸For the [uttered] words that You gave Me I have given them; and they have received and accepted [them] and have come to know positively and in reality [to believe with absolute assurance] that I came forth from Your presence, and they have believed and are convinced that You did send Me.

    ⁹I am praying for them. I am not praying (requesting) for the world, but for those You have given Me, for they belong to You.

    ¹⁰All [things that are] Mine are Yours, and all [things that are] Yours belong to Me; and I am glorified in (through) them. [They have done Me honor; in them My glory is achieved.]

    ¹¹And [now] I am no more in the world, but these are [still] in the world, and I am coming to You. Holy Father, keep in Your Name [in the knowledge of Yourself] those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We [are one].

    ¹²While I was with them, I kept and preserved them in Your Name [in the knowledge and worship of You]. Those You have given Me I guarded and protected, and not one of them has perished or is lost except the son of perdition [Judas Iscariot--the one who is now doomed to destruction, destined to be lost], that the Scripture might be fulfilled.

    ¹³And now I am coming to You; I say these things while I am still in the world, so that My joy may be made full and complete and perfect in them [that they may experience My delight fulfilled in them, that My enjoyment may be perfected in their own souls, that they may have My gladness within them, filling their hearts].

    ¹⁴I have given and delivered to them Your word (message) and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world [do not belong to the world], just as I am not of the world.

    ¹⁵I do not ask that You will take them out of the world, but that You will keep and protect them from the evil one.

    ¹⁶They are not of the world (worldly, belonging to the world), [just] as I am not of the world.

    ¹⁷Sanctify them [purify, consecrate, separate them for Yourself, make them holy] by the Truth; Your Word is Truth.

    ¹⁸Just as You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.

    ¹⁹And so for their sake and on their behalf I sanctify (dedicate, consecrate) Myself, that they also may be sanctified (dedicated, consecrated, made holy) in the Truth.

    ²⁰Neither for these alone do I pray [it is not only for these present that I make this request], but also for all those who will ever come to believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Me through their word and teaching,

    ²¹That they all may be one, [just] as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe and be convinced that You have sent Me.

    ²²I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one [even] as We are one:

    ²³I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and [definitely] recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them [even] as You have loved Me.

    ²⁴Father, I desire that they also whom You have entrusted to Me [as Your gift to Me] may be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory, which You have given Me [Your love gift to Me]; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

    ²⁵O just and righteous Father, although the world has not known You and has failed to recognize You and has never acknowledged You, I have known You [continually]; and these men understand and know that You have sent Me.

    ²⁶I have made Your Name known to them and revealed Your character and Your very Self, and I will continue to make [You] known, that the love which You have bestowed upon Me may be in them [felt in their hearts] and that I [Myself] may be in them.

May I answer any questions any of you may have?  Ask them publicly in a comment or privately in a message.

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My parents named me Jerry Wayne Hill, but the Spirit of God renamed me “Jerusalem” Hill.  I am a disciple, worshiper, friend and minister of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I'm a sinner saved by grace continuously, totally unworthy of eternal life except for my new life in Him!  I grew up in Parke County Indiana, then saw much of the world in my professional adult life.  At last Jesus sent me back to Parke County, paradoxically calling me to be His  “foreign missionary” here.  Why?

Well, now I see the following truths demonstrated all around me here in Parke County but also in the whole world:

“It is very possible for an earnest Christian to be so poorly taught and to so misunderstand the truths of Christianity that he is unable to adequately practice the Christian life!”   (Victor Matthews, in Plant My Feet On Higher Ground, Emmaus Bible College)

And  "True Christianity is not the formal, powerless thing that so many have come to know.  Real fellowship with the living Christ, the Anointed One, results in the destruction of every bondage, the removal of every burden, and the fulfillment of every good desire.  There is no life so exciting as the victorious life that is true Christianity."  (Keith Moore, Moore Life Ministries)

"Jerusalem" Hill is a name the Lord Jesus gave me in 2001 when He revealed my calling to me more completely.  He answered my prayer for a public name which directs attention off of me and onto Jesus Christ and His finished work.. To test the spirit of it,  I asked Him for Scripture confirming it.  And I received "look at Revelation 3:12," which says  "He who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God.  Never again will he leave it.  I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem..."   Romans 4: 17 says that He calls things which are not yet true the truth as if they already were true.  On that day He told me that He had seen my obedience to Him in the face of great opposition and that He would continue to empower me to overcome the opposition!  He called me He who overcomes...  Jerusalem!  And He said I would teach others how to overcome the opposition too.  He said I would teach others about victorious living! 

"Jerusalem" isn't the only new name God has given me, just the latest one.  After I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, Jesus called me His "fellow servant!" And years ago when I finally began to realize that Jesus is not only my Redeemer and Savior but also my rightful Lord, fully entitled to my obedience and service,  He began to call me "Onesimus," which means useful.  ( See Philemon.)  Before that, He called me several other names which all pretty much meant ignorant, useless, but nonetheless beloved!

Using these nicknames, Jesus has called me ever deeper into friendship with Him.  The Bible tells about other people who had this experience with the Lord.  And, if you will listen for His voice, perhaps the Lord will deal with you in this way too. Have no doubt that He is seeking a deeper friendship with you, too!

After years of impatient waiting my new username became available to me here on Xanga.  It is the username the Lord Himself gave me to use a decade ago, but since then it seems to me demonic forces have tried to suppress that usage.  On various email accounts and blogging sites I've been left with iamjerusalemhill, gotojerusalemhill and other approximations.  Now the Lord has provided me with living faith to remove that particular mountain.  Now #onjerusalemhill has been changed to #JerusalemHill here on Xanga. (And I'm trying out hash tags for the first time too.)

The first update I made was to quote my friend Lance Ponder in a pulse:  "The thing is, it doesn’t matter what people do, it matters what Jesus did. He changed my life and he can change yours, too."  Jesus gave me my name, Jerusalem Hill, to make that very same point!  God's Son paid the price for my redemption from death and for my gift of eternal life by dying a cruel death on a cruel cross on a Jerusalem hill nearly 2000 years ago!  That day on that Jerusalem hill He opened the door to eternal life for all of us.  And all that is required to walk through that glorious door is to recognize Who He is and believe in Him and all that He accomplished on that Jerusalem Hill.

For those who don't know, the name I was given by my earthly parents is Jerry Hill.  God changed it to Jerusalem Hill in the same way He changed Abram's name to Abraham, Jacob's name to Israel and Simon's name to Peter.  New names given by God  have definite meanings.  In my case it means encouragement to overcome obstacles and, more importantly, to point to the work of Christ.

May all that I am and all that I say here as JerusalemHill point to Jesus and to His incredible Love for us!

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