Thou Shalt Love the LORD

 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:   And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (Deut 6:4-5)

How do I love You, Father? What does it look like? I know man's answers, or some of them. They become work. How do You answer?

Galatians 3 To Bring Us to Christ

There are 39 books in the Old Testament.

A person could be beaten with not more than 40 lashes, and it came to be 40 stripes minus 1 (=39).

Deu 25:2  And it shall be, if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number. Deu 25:3  Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee. 

2Co 11:24  Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 

The law (OT) is our tutor to bring us to Christ.

Gal 3:24  Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 

One way we learn is by chastisement

Chastisement=stripes

Heb 12:5  And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: Heb 12:6  For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Heb 12:7  If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Heb 12:8  But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 

So, it seems that the 39 books of the Old Testament are the "stripes" which chastise us and bring us to Christ...

Matthew 24:26 Go Not Forth

*Note that all emphasis in these scriptures is mine.*

Mat 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25 Behold, I have told you before. 26 Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.

I have had an education in the application of this passage recently!

From time to time there have been "outpourings" of "the Holy Spirit" in various places, and people have flocked to see and experience them. But in this passage Jesus tells us not to do that, and many who have disregarded this instruction have found themselves in league with satan, deceived, thinking they were serving Jesus when they were not. Aside from not doing what Jesus said, which is always wrong, there are at least two errors in this.

The first error is a misunderstanding of the Holy Spirit and His function: the Holy Spirit does not seek to put Himself forward, but ALWAYS points to Jesus, the Son of God:

John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

The Holy Spirit is pictured as the helper, the comforter, the teacher, the guide. He does not make a show of Himself by scattering gold dust or feathers. He does not cause loss of self control in any way. These things are deceptions.

The second error is thinking that God is some PLACE. He created everything and is not constrained by locality or time. Going SOMEWHERE to be near Him is, at best, a waste of time and money. If you seek Him, He will be found by you, wherever you are:

Deuteronomy 4:29 But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.

Psalms 119:151 Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth.

Acts 17:24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

So, you who want to know God, He is near you. You have only to go to Him in prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to show the way, and read what He has said in the Bible. Seek Him in these ways, and He will be found by you without your going anywhere.