Praying for you. Apologies for the lengthy reply, it was on my heart to say these things in response and I’m doing so in obedience to what God may have asked me to do.

Blessings to you! May the God who made all of creation, and all that is in it, work powerfully in your life! May He draw you close to Himself, may He bless you and all those You love, may He glorify Himself in and through you, may He keep you in His perfect peace as you stay focused on Him, may He provide for your every need, protect you from all evil, by the riches of His grace in our Lord, Christ, Jesus; in who’s name I pray for you. Amen.

The thought that it is wrong in some way to read your paper Bible, and not listen to the DAB, is a thought from the enemy. The enemy seeks to divide us from God, and from one another, to cause division in every way possible and to foster thoughts of ‘differences’ rather than commonalities. The enemy is so subtle, and none of us are able to spot his work on our own because we are all ‘under’ a spiritual level of control; we are under the the spiritual level of darkness, and that is under the spiritual level of God. It requires God’s power to ‘punch through’ the spiritual level of darkness to ourselves for everything ‘of God’ because we are unable to ‘overcome’ the power of spiritual darkness under which we all exist.

Don’t embrace the thought that reading scripture, apart from the DAB or any other platform, is wrong; in fact it is superior! Why? Because with each ‘element’ of seperation we allow to be introduced between ourselves and God the enemy has an opportunity to work. Which is authoritive, the DAB and/or what a human being has to say ABOUT scripture or scripture itself? Every human being should be viewed as suspect as we are all fallen and sucseptible to deception, it doesn’t matter what position or ‘seat’ someone occupies, what degree or credentials someone has, what platform they speak from; all fall short of the glory of God and it is God Himself that we look to for our teaching. Who is the best teacher, is it not God who created all teachers; who is the best musician, is it not God who created all musicians; who is the best scientist, is it not God who created all scientists, who is the best anything / everything, is it not God who created all things visible and invisible; is it not the Lord of lords, King of kings, God of gods!? Indeed, it surely is. And He has sacrificed His Son, perfectly Holy and without spot or blemmish, to allow for a DIRECT relationship with each and every one of us! He has paid a price far greater than anything we can imagine or comprehend to be a DIRECT participant, helper, teacher, leader, etc. to all who choose to accept His offer. And does scripture not tell us that as we draw closer to God He draws closer to us? He is a jealous God, desiring to be intimately involved with every aspect and detail of our lives; why would we desire for, or allow, something to step between ourselves and God? Only ‘bad’ can result.

You do not need to wait for an opportunity to confess, I’m guessing this would be a priest or something to whom you feel the need to confess rather than God Himself. Again, the work of the enemy placing something between ourselves and God which we always need to be mindful of and eliminate when God allows us to become aware of such things. God is there, waiting, all the time; He does not sleep or eat, He is not distracted, He does not slumber or daydream; Jesus tells us to pray continually, that’s without ceasing! How I fall so short on this; work, cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, driving, entertainment! all distract me and are things that seperate me from the closeness I, and God, desire. Don’t look to a human being, for teaching, for leadership, for confession! but rather look to, and for, God in all things whether it be a teacher, leader, the DAB, anything and everything as it is what He wants us to do and it is for our own good. I testify that the more I look for Him, the more He shows Himself! Praise God! Beware, though, the more God works in our lives the more the enemy shows up too.

When to start being obedient? Immediately, of course. Remember, though, that none of us – not a single human being – are obedient. Anyone who claims to be obedient is either deceived or a liar; DO NOT allow anyone to put you under the law, and be very careful with this as MANY try. Look closely, in scripture, where is it that anyone – other than Jesus Himself – is pure? Is it in the flesh? No, it is in the heart. All we can do is attempt, to try, to be obedient but it is the flesh that wars against our members. If I agree that the law is good, but break it, it is no longer I that sin but sin living in me. I do the things I do not wish to do, and do not do the things I wish to do, etc. It’s a process, one that is NEVER completed this side of eternity. Allow your / our guilt to become love and adoration, respect and honor, indeed .. AWE! of the One who HAS lived perfectly on our behalf, and remember that the goal, the end-game, is to become like Him so we search scripture and seek God attempting to identify how we may please Him (for His will for us and how we are to be) and try in our own actions and minds, without striving, with prayer! (and this is the real key here, prayer) to transform – be transformed – by the renewing of our minds by the power of God. No human being can do anything, again spiritual levels of control, apart from the power of God, it is all God; who shows up / works in us, etc. as we apply ourselves to His will and work.

Get rid of every element, anything & everything, in between God and ourselves. Go directly to Him with prayer, confession, requests, thoughts, everything from the smallest to the largest things, from the most insignificant to the most significant, as this is what He wants and indeed has paid an unimaginable price for, literally infinite! as God IS infinite. Anything in life that is positioned between us and God needs to go. We can seek God in Bible studies, sermons presented by a human being, teachings, books, whatever, with the knowledge that all of it is highly suspect – no matter who it is – and must be scrutinized / tested by the Word of God, scripture, and prayer about said scripture, as we serve and seek a living God who is able to answer, to ‘speak’ into our lives in ways that only He can. Discerning who is ‘speaking’ is the next challenge as our adversary disguises himself as an angel of light and uses scripture itself as a weapon against us, twisting and distorting the true meanings into false doctrines and interpretations .. which are unfortunately incredibly prevelant and rampant. Hence, the absolute critical importance of a DIRECT relationship and ongoing interaction with God Himself.

May the Lord guide you as you seek His face, indeed may the Lord guide us all as we seek His face. Amen.

Let me post this question to you? Are we sinners from birth? What do the scriptures say? Galatians 3:22) Romans 3:23 – for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God 2 Chronicles 6:36 – “there is no one who does not sin” Isaiah 53:6 – All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way Micah 7:2-4 – The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net. Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together. The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. Romans 3:9-12 – What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Psalm 14:1-3, 53:1-3) 1 John 1:8-10 – If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and his word is not in us. Mark 10:18/Luke 18:19 – And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” Romans 5:12,19 – sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned… by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners Mark 4:15 “And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts. Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in SIN MY MOTHER CONCEIVED ME. Psalm 119:155 Salvation is far from the wicked, For they do not seek Your statutes. Psalms 82:5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.” Romans 5:16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Titus 1:15-16 – to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled. Ecclesiastes 9:3 – Also, the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead. Romans 1:28-31 – And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were… foolish! Ephesians 4:17-18 – you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. Jeremiah 10:7-8,14 – among all the wise ones of the nations and in all their kingdoms there is none like you. They are both stupid and foolish… Every man is stupid and without knowledge. Matthew 15:19 – “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” Mark 7:21-23) Genesis 6:5 & 8:21 – The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually… from his youth. Proverbs 10:20 – the heart of the wicked is of little worth. Proverbs 28:26 – Whoever trusts in his own heart is a fool. Romans 5:18 Therefore, as ONE trespass led to condemnation for ALL men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for ALL men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the MANY will be made righteous. Hebrews 4:12 For the WORD of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged SWORD, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and ABLE TO JUDGE the THOUGHTS and INTENTIONS of the HEART. MALACHI 3:10 says, “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the TEST, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” Romans 3:10-18 As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. PSALMS 14:2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one 1 Corinthians 15:22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. The scriptures have much to say about sin! About our sin and spiritual alienation from God!