To God be The glory, Amen

For Thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: Thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation; and uphold me with Thy free spirit. Psalm 51:16, 17,12

Are there ‘forces’ beyond our grasp? There are! We can figure that out through a prayer prayed thousands of years ago:

He prayed, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in all of heaven and earth. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion.”

– 2 Chronicles 6:14

It is awesome that ‘existence’ began somewhere. All we experience started somewhere. Even if we are to give ‘evolutionists’ a tad leeway. The world was created (or I should say Earth) a certain distance from the sun so that everything required for life was ‘perfect.’ We have discussed the exact position of Earth in distance from the sun, the center of the solar system.

A lively question arises “Are there other creations?” This question must be asked. Why are we the only ‘beings’ in the Universe. It would be ‘selfish’ to think we were the only ‘beings’ hence our search for other ‘civilizations’, but  remember we are made in His image, little examples of what we will experience. I encourage exploration, but first determine where you are going. This is of utmost importance.

Giving the toehold to ‘evolutionists’, from primitive man we have come. What about dinosaurs? In Exodus, all was created first then man. This encircled the ‘evolutionist’ theory. Chance is a huge aspect  of the ‘ theory.’ How all came to be. Let me be ‘cheeky’ and ask a question. In evolution, where do dinosaurs fit? We in no way are from dinosaurs. We can then step back a bit, dinosaurs existed before the existence of man. The universe was created well before the existence of man.

To understand this we have to look up the original description of ‘day’ which in Genesis is written. The bible was not written in English originally. A day was a period. In the seventh period God rested. His job at creation was complete. All God created was left to exist.

An aura of mystery surrounds the dinosaurs. Where did they come from? Did they evolve? Did they really live millions of years ago? What happened to them? Are there any living today? Has any human being ever seen a live dinosaur?

Children and adults alike are absolutely fascinated by these mysterious monsters. Numerous books and movies have been produced to satisfy a seemingly insatiable hunger for information on these puzzling creatures. The truth of the matter, however, is that there are no real mysteries at all, once you have key information that is not generally known and is withheld from the public.

Come with me as we take a walk through history and uncover some amazing facts that will answer many of your questions about these “terrible lizards.”

Did Dinosaurs Really Exist?

Dinosaurs certainly did roam the Earth in the ancient past! Fossils of dinosaurs have been found all over the world, and their bones are displayed in museums for all to see. Scientists have been able to reconstruct many of their skeletons, so we know much about how they may have looked.

When Were Dinosaurs Found?

The story of their discovery began back in the 1820s, when Gideon Mantell, an English doctor, found some unusual teeth and bones in a quarry. Dr Mantell realized there was something very different about these animal remains, and believed that he had found an entirely new group of reptiles. By 1841, about nine types of these different reptiles had been uncovered, including two called Megalosaurus and Iguanodon.

At this time, a famous British scientist, Dr Richard Owen, coined the name “Dinosauria,” meaning “terrible lizard,” for this is what the huge bones made him think of.

https://answersingenesis.org/dinosaurs/dinosaurs-and-the-bible/

To further examine this feel free to consult:

http://www.bibleinfo.com/en/questions/are-dinosaurs-mentioned-bible

http://www.icr.org/article/how-do-dinosaurs-fit-in

https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/where-do-the-dinosaurs-fit

Even we currently know that the fossilized bones and remains have been found in certain places. Possibly not accessible by the Ark. Thinking of space, would be incredibly impossible to fit them in. More so, we are forced to think of the location of the ark. Remember the creator had ‘tired’ of Earth and behavior of Man that was to be created as caretakers of the world. We have discussed the desire of God to end it all.

We can see that the dinosaurs inhabited certain areas. Man did migrate to these areas. So much needs to be figured out, which it will be. But as we said our existence is paramount.

To further explore being made in His image we were created to be as the Heavenly host. Explains why we have Spirits within which are our true essence. We pointed out Male and Female with different attributes. If we return to the ‘holistic’ view, it is in “function” that the real difference lies.

Here, I will tread lightly on the topic of homosexuality. A big “no go arena.” People were created as they are. As pointed out, there is no difference in Heaven. Things just are, think of this; the definition of Love: non judgemental, believing all things, hoping in all things. First, I will state “judge not!” Why??? That thou be judgestth not. Think about it, it is in the ‘judgement’ role we exist when we view something as wrong. Do these individuals “want” to be ‘anti-culture’? To go against the fabric of society? It is being changed in society. People are what they are. Feel as they feel and do as they do.

Let me ask a question and then leave this well alone. “Are there homosexuals that Love the Lord?” Again as I said, I will politely side step the whole topic. I will end by saying if two individuals have care and dare I say Love for one another and they Love and trust God and pray to Him. Can they be wrong??? I am done.

In realizing what we have. Hold your hands up to The LORD and give him glory!

Alleluia! Amen. We read so much and realize That in all we are blessed, Amen. We have attempted discourse on blessings. Let us read this prayer and be led and blessed (given tons of goodness till we spill over. We shall be known as ‘ the blessed’ by the blessed!)

Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me: for my soul trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. I will cry unto God most high; unto God that performeth all things for me. He shall send from Heaven, and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up. Selah. God shall send forth His mercy and His truth. Amen

Psalm 57:1-3

Was led again to ‘consume’ The Word. We have pointed out that it spills forth with goodness, awarding a plentious harvest to them that glean on the fruit of the vine. We are a family of awesomely blessed ones in Jesus’ name.

Father Lord, You are The King of kings and the Lord of lords. None holds a candle to Your Glory. It shines through in the dark and lightens my way. Lord, thank You for Your plans for me. I rest in You. Father all I have is Yours. Bless me Father, that I may in word, action, thought, prayer and meditation bring GLORY and Honor to Your name. In Your presence I am nought, You Love me! Lord, I do not deserve You, Your goodness or blessings. Father take control of my entire being, living and Life in Jesus’ name, Amen

Just to share:

_✍Quote for the day✍_

_Coffee never knew it will taste nice and sweet, before it met sugar and milk. We are good as individuals but become better when we blend with the right people. The world is full of nice people, if you can’t find one, be one._

I will offer unto Thee a sacrifice of thanksging, I will offer Thee a sacrifice of praise. We bring a sacrifice of praise unto the House of The LORD, we bring a sacrifice of praise!

Any takers? We remember this? Or should I ask; “Have you sung this before?” I was going to see how to ‘play’ it for you, more importantly does anyone know where this was derived? I know I have made call for ‘musicians’ among us…For now, I will leave that well alone.

I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. Psalm 116:17

We have shared that the ‘Children of God’ (Hmmm! Where were the adults of God??? Just kidding, hopefully that brought a smile to your face.)

And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now4 are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 1 John 2:17,18

Many things are at an end. As we walk, let us walk upright and keep our eyes on Jesus, the Author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2

And we will describe the attributes of what stands against the cross, our salvation. Just want to whet your appetite.

“O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage. Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my body is in agony. I am sick at heart. How long, O Lord, until you restore me? Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love. For the dead do not remember you. Who can praise you from the grave? I am worn out from sobbing. Every night my tears drench my bed; my pillow is wet from weeping.” — Psalm 6: 1- 6 (NLT)

Our pleas to God- our Father are unheard and unknown by any. Turn your face fully to Him that you may be made whole. Repent of what you may have withheld. He Loves you. By His mercies and grace are you made whole. Your success is all His.

When in ‘incompleteness’ you find yourself, examine completely and leave no stone unturned, God knows all. Even your lack. Lay it all before Him in faith.

It goes further to teach and tells us just as things are and will be. We read in 1 John 2,

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 1 John 2:15-17

In humility, “I want, I want, I want…” Is not of the LORD. More so, realization of “I am blessed, boy! I am blessed, by God’s grace it even spills off me.” Is more in line with the LODS plan for our lives.

When times are shaky, especially on unstable ground-turn to The LORD, The LORD is always there. He is worthy of praise!

Times may seem rough and you feel like giving up. Hang in there, keep praying. It came to me that even if you cannot yet speak in ‘tonues’, pray in whatever tongue you have been blessed with. We have pointed out that God knows all. And by this I mean all. Our expression comes from within, we say spend time with The LORD. “Among other people?” You may ask. “Yes!” is my answer. “Why???” You may ask. They are His creations too.

Quietly much is attained, find it in you to freely communicate with your creator.

At times we communicate in words as well as deeds. God who created you knows exactly what you are going through and just waits for you to throw open the doors and receive God and His blessings.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Curse words, unseemly expression of our frustrations are voiced. Learn to always place them before The Lord, before for any reason they get out of hand. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Just what He went through for us is unimaginable. The most fit Person to fall under the weight of the crossbeam of a cross. It is certain that He did not want to experience the events or the actual crucifixion itself (Luke 22:42). In the way He was, we should be too.

Ephesians 4:29-32

Let us start off with a prayer, then get down to it:

“O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but You. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to You and wait expectantly.” — Psalm 5:1-3 (NLT)

The waiting is in The Word, rather than go over each location in The Word of one verse after another and prolong this discussion, I will refer you to: http://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/patience-bible-verses/

But to focus on the main reason is that we have so many needs. I will point out that our needs are provided for according to God’s endless riches in Glory, Phil 4:19. Is it possible that our example-Moses, could not behold the brilliance of God’s endless Glory?

We have definitions. In economics, the idea of survival is real, meaning someone would die without their needs being met. This includes things like food, water, and shelter. A want, in economics, is one step up in the order from needs and is simply something that people desire to have, that they may, or may not, be able to obtain. Sl

So, being believers or being Loved by Love Itself, our needs are provided for by The Creator. What about ‘want’, in the bible they essentially mean or refer to the same thing, I say this because we all habe read Psalm 23, right: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. —Psalm 23:1-3

When David wrote in his famous psalm, “I shall not want,” it was the summary of the result of having the Lord as his shepherd. What does it mean not to want? First, it means we will not lack the basic needs of life—the big three: food, shelter, clothing. You don’t need to be anxious about those things. God promises over and over He will meet those needs in our lives.

So we will focus on ‘desire’ which is uniquely different from want/need/have.

The word “desire” covers a wide range of human wants, emotions, and cravings. It can describe natural desires, which include hunger for food, sexual longings, and desire for God. It can also describe unnatural desires or cravings, which include such things as greed and lust. On a few occasions desires are ascribed to God. Most of the time they are ascribed to man, and these desires come under the scrutiny of God.

The Old Testament. There are twenty-seven Hebrew words translated “desire” (this includes root words and their derivatives).

Kasap [@;s’K] means to yearn for or to long after. Hapes [ep’j] has a basic meaning of feeling great favor toward something, and is found seventy-one times in the Old Testament, being translated “delight” or “pleasure” the majority of the time, and “desire” nine times. Baqas [v;q’B] speaks of a person’s earnest seeking of something or someone. It is usually translated “to seek, ” “require, ” or “desire.”

The idea of “be attached to” and “love” comes from hasaq [q;v’j]. This root may denote the strong desire of a man toward a beautiful woman, as in Genesis 34:8. Hamad [d;m’j] is translated “delight in” and also “desire.” The desire can be positive as in Exodus 34:24; job 20:20; Psalm 68:16; and Isaiah 53:2. It can also be negative, in the form of “covet” or “lust after, ” as seen in Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21; 7:25; Joshua 7:21; Proverbs 6:25; 12:12; and Micah 2:2. Hamad [d;m’j] describes both God’s “pleasant” (desirable) trees in Eden ( Gen 2:9 ) and the tree forbidden to Adam, which became sinful when “desired” to make one wise ( Gen 3:6 ).

One of the most frequently used words in the Old Testament to indicate desire is awa [h”w’a] and its derivatives, which can be found almost fifty times. Often the subject of this verb is nephes [v,p,n], meaning self, soul, or appetite. The term is translated as “desire, ” “lust, ” “will, ” “pleasant, ” “greed, ” “dainty, ” and “desirable.”

One final word of importance is the root shwq [qWv] and its derivative tesuqa [h’qWv.T]. It is translated as “desire” or “longing.” This term is found only three times in the Old Testament: Genesis 3:16, 4:7, and Song of Solomon 7:10. In Genesis 3:16 the term is negative in nature, occurring in a context of sin and judgment. In Genesis 4:7 sin itself is described as desiring to have Cain. God describes sin “like a crouching beast, ” hungering and preying on Cain. In the Song of Solomon the term is positive in nature, in the context of joy and love, referring to the bridegroom’s desire for his bride.

The New Testament. Matthew 9:13 (quoting Hosea 6:6 ) is the first instance of desire in the New Testament. The Greek term used is thelo [qevlw], which can be translated will, be willing, want, or desire. This term is found 208 times in the New Testament. Most of the time it is translated as “willing, ” but it is translated as “desire” in the two Matthean passages, Luke 20:46, and Hebrews 10:5, 8.

The verb epithymeo [ejpiqumevw] and its derivatives are found scattered seventy-three times throughout the New Testament. Epithymeo [ejpiqumevw] is found sixteen times. Both it and the noun epithymia are derived from thymos, which means wrath, fierceness, indignation, and then passion, heat, or passionate desire. Epithymeo [ejpiqumevw] most often has an ambivalent sense, meaning simply desire, strive for, long to have/do/be something. Only in a few instances is the word used for (forbidden) desire. For example, 1 Corinthians 10:6 refers to godless desire.

The noun epithymia [ejpiqumiva] is used in a neutral or good sense in Luke 22:15; Philippians 1:23; 1 Thessalonians 2:17; and Revelation 18:14. All other uses of the noun are in the bad sense, usually with the translation of the word being “lust.”

Zeloute [zhlwthv”], derived from zeloo [zhlovw], designates a passionate commitment to a person or cause. Five passages in the New Testament use this term ( 1 Col 12:31 ; 1 Corinthians 14:1 1 Corinthians 14:39 ; Galatia

We will take a look at the learning that is contained in these two verses. When led, do what is said, I would encourage that no matter what your personality is. It is best to do as led and not as we feel.

The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.  I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Exodus 17:5-6

This was done as The LORD instruslcted and led. We will see the next verse where the same thing was done, though Moses was directed otherwise.

Moses and Aaron went from the assembly to the entrance to the tent of meeting and fell facedown, and the glory of the Lord appeared to them. The Lord said to Moses, “Take the staff, and you and your brother Aaron gather the assembly together. Speak to that rock before their eyes and it will pour out its water. You will bring water out of the rock for the community so they and their livestock can drink.”

So Moses took the staff from the Lord’s presence, just as he commanded him. He and Aaron gathered the assembly together in front of the rock and Moses said to them, “Listen, you rebels, must we bring you water out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his arm and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gushed out, and the community and their livestock drank.

But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

These were the waters of Meribah,a where the Israelites quarreled with the Lord and where he was proved holy among them.

Numbers 20:6-13

The Word is our guide. All is in faith! For the most part we have not directly experienced The LORD. Yes, when our eyes are opened we see just what The LORD does. To show exactly what faith is, let us examine the testimony of one who truly served The LORD, but allowed doubt to pass in and through his Spirit.

In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.  Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.  But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.

Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside.

Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. 20 And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple.  When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.

When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.

Luke 1: 5-24

Again, there is so much to be pointed out here. We could literally be at it for hours. Doubt changed the course of events in the life of someone who serves The LORD. Who was being blessed for his service; one tiny thing came into play-disbelief. I will not call it outright doubt, but a “what if…” We so many times might be faced with just this attitude… “How can?”, “What if…?”, “Is it possible?”

As we mentioned, The Creator of Heaven and Earth, what is ‘difficult’ for Him to do? O would have said ‘impossible’, but that concept does not exist outside this Earth. A ln individual who pleased The LORD, doubted Him? He was ‘touched’ for his doubt. Struck mute, when he came out of the tent he was mute, unable to speak.

We may serve The LORD as we should in almost every aspect. We realize that we must trust Him 100%, leaving it all in His hands. For a moment let us examine just what faith is. The ability to see what is, before it exists. That is deep, give it a moment to sink in. To know what is not yet, but understand that it is done, because you believed it. In summary, you believe it into being, into existence.

Read that again, slow and easy, let it sink in. And be blessed wholly by it. We live a life hard to understand by unbelievers; “Look at her/him… Can you believe… I wouldn’t do that… The way they think…,

Think, do, believe! We are in another realm in The Spirit. Much different from the physical realm, loads different.

So far, we have looked at quite a bit: Moses and his ‘disobedience’, which in effect was ‘doing what he had done before, but was not to do again’. He was asked to touch the rock and he struck it. Let me point something that is right underneath the surface. Moses was chosen by God before his birth. Hence, his mother’s keeping him as opposed to let him explain by the Egyptians.

For this diatribe, we will keep it simple. How was Moses ‘temper’ while being raised in the palace? How was his demeanour? These things go mostly unsaid; but I point out if his temper was so great that he killed an Egyptian ‘guard’ who was unjustly dealing with the Isrealites. What would his temper have been like? We see that he is called “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” Numbers 12:3

It is said how things were. How was he prior? We can look back at the burning bush when he was first spoken to by The Spirit of God. He who saw a ‘bush’ burning and sought to extinguish the fire, heard a voice and was asked to remove his shoes. Again, he at this point had not ‘experienced’ God. But, God who knows all was watching and knew exactly what The plan was in Moses life.

For this we have to go back and see for what period the Isrealites in Egypt sought the face of The Lord in prayer and supplication. It is hard for us at times to “Wait on The LORD.” Check this out, from the time of Joseph they became a ‘wanted’ addition, but at his passing they grew more numerous. We read:

“Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for 400 years.” (Genesis 15:13)

The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:40–41)

And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them 400 years. (Acts 7:6)

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. This is what I mean: the law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void (Galatians 3:16–17)”

https://answersingenesis.org/bible-questions/how-long-were-the-israelites-in-egypt/

Here we look at time, once again time is something that only exists here. We look at so many things dinosaurs, ‘cavemen’, evolution. These bring many questions. Not trying to answer them all at this time. The ‘cavemen’ could draw? I meanbpaibt pictures of what they experienced? We have more likely seen this in museums or on travels. We have discussed the latter- dinosaurs.

To skim over this, the Earth was made. ‘Man’ was the last of God’s creations. As discussed we were placed here was caretakers.

We have evidence that the world existed for eons before man was placed upon it. In the semblance of those who existed prior. All that was created, did not have a caretaker! It just was amazing. In effect the Heavenly beings had a zoo. They observed from afar, and finally said (most likely in the type of gathering that is described in Job 1:6,7 (Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.

And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.)

This of course was after Lucifer was cast from Heaven. We have touched on this a few times. He was ‘allowed’ to be on Earth, he was cast into a place with no Godly presence. We all of a sudden can explain why it is a darkness beyond all darkness. One thing that is very difficult for me to understand is that you have a chance to decide where to be! Make the decision; feel free to take as much tim

Memorise:

And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

Genesis 2:21-22

From experience, we know of a truth that God answers prayers. lt is also common knowledge among those who walk with God that on several occasions, despite consistent prayers, God may take His time before intervening in a given situation. In fact, in some cases, He may allow the situation to deteriorate to its extreme limits before He steps in. This was the experience of Mary and Martha, sisters to Lazarus (John 11:1-6). Why would God wait until you are completely helpless before He turns things around? It could be because He does not want you to tamper with what He is about to do. When a doctor wants to perform an operation, he puts his patient to sleep. When God was about to form Eve out of Adam, He put him into a deep sleep. Genesis 2:21 says,

“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof.”

Do you know that God still likes to do some great things without any contribution or interference from us? Sometimes, He may allow us to get to a point of helplessness before He moves in to begin His work. He wants you to be absolutely surrendered to Him so that when He begins to do what He wants to do, you will not consider your own ideas. If you are ever so self-willed, you may need to visit the bus stop of helplessness repeatedly, but if you are completely yielded to Him, this may not occur too often in your life. How submissive are you to God?

Similarly, God may take His time before coming to your aid because it is in those extreme moments that prayers are said from the depth of the soul (1 Samuel 1:15). When you are totally helpless, you will pray from your heart and not from your head. In Matthew 15:21-28, when the woman whose daughter was grievously tormented of the devil came to Jesus asking for help, the Lord ignored her, and the disciples asked that she be sent away because she was too noisy. The woman simply said, “You haven’t heard any noise yet. Whether you like it or not, I am not leaving here without my miracle.” Then the Lord said to her, I cannot give the children’s bread to dogs.” She said, “Fine, l agree l am a dog, but this dog is going to get her miracle today.” Since she had no alternative, she knew she had reached her last bus stop, and she refused to give up. People who are totally helpless pray a different kind of prayer compared to those who have alternatives. Whatever your needs may be today, as you ask God, He will answer you in Jesus’ Name. Have you reached your flnal bus stop? ls Jesus Christ your last hope, or do you have other alternatives?

Action Point:

Some delays are in your best interest. Ask God to make every delay to work in your favor.

We have a way to pray, to receive things, to be grateful. So without saying more, let us pray:

I pray that out of his glorious that are endless and He has filled the World with its goodness and riches. May strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in Love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the Love of Christ, and to know this Love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure and spill over in all the fullness of God. Exalt Him our hosannah- the reason we have Joe and fulfillment.  Lord we magnify Your holy name, Your essence blinds in its eternal glory. Blind us Lord, bind us together with chords that cannot be broken. Lord, You are our all. We worship you in Jesus’ name, Amen

Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen

And we pray: God I ask You in Jesus name bless me with the desires of my heart that are in the will of God.   Bless me to prosper, supply all my needs according to Your riches in outstanding, everlasting glory.  Cause me to walk in excellent health (spiritually, physically, emotionally, and mentally).  God cause my soul to prosper in Your Word continually all the days of my life.   God bless me with the spirit of obedience and the strength to obey Your Word and will for my life.  Bless me to be a success in Christ Jesus for Your glory.   Bless me with a heart after Your own heart, the mind of Christ Jesus, and a relentless perpetual God Solution Focused Mind, Heart, and Attitude.   Every day, no matter what, bless me with a heart of praise, gratitude, and thanksgiving unto You Lord.  God let everything that I go through draw me closer to You.  Cover me Lord Jesus.  Protect me from all dangers seen and unseen.  Let no weapon ever formed against me prosper.  God all that I have asked of You in this prayer please do the same for all those I love, care about, and the writer of this prayer.  Honor this prayer over each of our lives today and for always.  God Thank You. Amen, so be it in Jesus’ name.

Words should flow in prayet. We have the Lord’s prayer, we can and should use this as the baseline of all we do and say. Thank You Lord for our ability to speak with You. You know the desires of our hearts even before we speak them. Lord teach me to ask so that I thank You in the always. You know my needs, be with me, in me and go by me, before me so that You are constantly in my true senses. Lord, you alone are holy, be blessed Father, Alleluia. In Jesus’ name.

So many times, we are challenged with an inability to ‘do’, we are ‘frustrated’ by what exactly we encounter. Our every day becomes a struggle. I find that expressing your innermost desires takes the will to do and be better by and through His will. We may have doctors, therapists, psychiatrists even. Frankly, we are at a point of no return, there are promises, so I am careful not to say “no promise”, but we are doing well in and through Him. There are a few words we can say, pray them with me.

God, you know me so well. You created me. You know the number of hairs on my head, and you even know the thoughts conceived in my heart before I ever vocalize them. You’ve told us to come to you and ask for every need of life. You are Jehovah-Rapha, the God who heals, and You have the final word on my destiny, the number of years I’ll live and serve you on earth.

I’m coming to You today as Your child, longing to hear from You and asking for Your divine healing. There’s so much I don’t understand about life. But I do know that with one touch, one word, You can make me whole. Please forgive me of my sins, cleanse me of my unrighteousness, and begin Your healing from the inside out.

I don’t always know what Your will is Lord, especially in times like now, when I desperately seek Your face. I offer you no promises, no bargains, no deals to exchange for my health. I simply bow my heart before You to tell you the desire of my heart: that I want to spend as many years as I can loving You here, loving others, and wanting to become more like You. However You choose to accomplish that is up to You—and okay with me. If You use doctors to provide healing, give them wisdom to know what to do. Regardless of how You accomplish it, the healing You give is always miraculous. And You deserve all the praise.

I absolutely believe You have the power to heal. You demonstrated that on earth, and You still heal in miraculous ways today. Even when my faith is weak, You say it is enough, and my love for You is strong. And I know You already hold my heart and life in Your hands. It’s up to You. If I can bring You more glory through healing, then that’s what I ask for. That’s what I desire.

But if Your answer is no, or not now, I know that Your grace is sufficient for me. Ultimately, I want Your will to be my will. I look forward to spending an eternity with You. But Lord, if You have planned still more for me to do here on this earth, I not only need and want Your physical healing, Lord, but a thorough, deep-down cleansing and strengthening—a whole-hearted renewal of all that I am. Because all that I am is Yours. Use this trial to strengthen me from a “what-if” faith to a “no-matter-what” faith. And no matter what, I choose to honor You and give You glory.

Let Go Of Your Past

‘Do not call to mind the…past. Behold, I will do something new.’

Isaiah 43:18–19

Comedian Jerry Lewis joked that his best wedding gift was a film of the ceremony—because when things got really bad in his marriage he could go into a room by himself, run the film backwards, and walk out a free man! We smile, but you can’t go back and rewrite history any more than you can unscramble an egg. When you dwell on the past it’s always at the expense of the future, but when you learn from the past it has the potential to make your future better.

Whenever you find yourself saying, ‘If I knew then what I know now,’ remind yourself that unless you grow you’ll be saying the same thing ten or twenty years from now. You say, ‘If only I’d been willing to forgive my spouse instead of doling out punishment, maybe I could have kept my marriage together and built a great relationship.’ Maybe you struggle with the memory of an abortion, wondering about the child who might have been and the joy he or she might have brought. Perhaps you’re a good person who did a bad thing and ended up with a criminal record; now you’re saying, ‘If only…’

Well, here’s what God says:

(1) ‘Your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.’ (1 John 2:12 NLT)

(2) ‘I… will blot out your sins for My own sake and will never think of them again.’ (Isaiah 43:25 NLT)

(3) ‘Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth…’ The word for you today is: let go of your past.

We have touched on this topic previously: 2 Peter 3:8—‘one day is like a thousand years’ and one thousand years but a day. We remember the days of Methuselah. How old was he? In effec, he almost was around for a ‘day’ in the eyes of God. It is awesomely amazing. There are so many questions, but if we were to examine this and learn that we ‘could’ be around for ‘that’ year, would we not. Ok, ok, ok friends, family all that comes to mind. We want to be where they are.

Now this raises a point. We were all made in His image. The image of Heavenly tribes. Not in terms of ‘physical’ attributes, but on who we are. What, how, when we were created. This comes a bit clearer as I discuss it. The creation of earth was in ‘steps’, and God saw that His steps were good. Finally, God said, ‘Let us make ‘man’ in our image…’ And He did. We are not physically as our Father, but Spiritually. Yes, being on earth does require certain attributes. Reproduction, nutrition, sleep etc.

Let us start somewhere. We can understand the need to rest. In my ‘dream’ though months long (to me it felt like a few minutes in my sleep) I rose to think it had truly been weeks. But we have needs, sleep, eating, drinking. One thing that is a bit ‘difficult’ to understand, but I can. If in my ‘drean’ I was offered something to drink. I know that I have developed insight. I did not know I had passed here on Earth. But, that drink would in and of itself have explained so much, but I realize that if I had realized I was ‘gone’ as I have stated, I would have desired to stay there.

To have experienced it goes to say so much! I do everything I can now to ensure that I will in the name of Jesus be there again for eternity. I am keen aware that it is hard to explain. Having been given a peek over the fence, I can say that there is no comparison to the beauty and peace. In truth you can experience that now, look to God and your ways will be made straight and as you are with Him you will have a peace that passes all understanding.

We started off this lesson with letting go of your past. Let us do it…let go!

I keep coming back to this “For He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” Psalm 91:11

We need to focus on the latter part of this. Let me ask “What does the Angel assigned to you do?” I will state it, not only to have charge over you protection, fellowship, deliverance of blessings… But, I noted what had passed me by in reading this quite a few times. “To keep Thee in all thy ways.” There is a bit more than fellowship here. We are assigned a companion. Just like we may not like being told what to do by others. I realized that many a time in my Spirit, I felt not to do a particular thing. Even if I did, there was a price to pay; regret, disappointment, stress… It is right to keep prayerful and focused on what is being communicated to and with our Spirit.

We are “Kept in our way.” Is It in Love? Definitely yes! Our Angel assigned to us was assigned by Love in love of who we are and markedly who we are going to be. Alleluia! Our view of life is somewhat hampered by our view of life from a worldly perspective.

Lord, we thank You this day for our ways, Your Love, Lord the Angel You have assigned to me. Let me listen in my Spirit when You direct. I appreciate my Angel. Thank You Lord for the testimony of Your Love in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen

God’s testimon in my life is undeniable. To go from ‘pronounced’ to “I cannot pronounce your name.” Is a HUGE blessing! In addition, the Love of family knows no bounds. My big Sister had a place for me to stay when my parents took a much needed and deserved trip. My brother came and flew me across country (NYC to LAX), my you get sister has always loaned a caring ear, a Loving hand. I try to stay off these topics, but they are fact.

To further look at fact; support came from sources I would be hard pressed to expect it. While former colleagues were ‘busy’ with their careers. One person put theirs on hold despite the many times I will admit I didn’t quite understand what and or why I was doing the things I was doing. Have to be honest, I do not think that I would have had the patience, wherewithal or such desire to make such a positive difference in the ‘needy life’s of another. Yes, I made a significant amount of positivity in Surgery. But, it is the depth of bones heart that matters.

If and when I would have had valid ‘excuses’ to avoid church, I was taken. I could go on, but I state this to point out that you should look around; your corner has a person or people who have your back. Say a well meant and intended “thank you!”, and more importantly-keep them in prayer.

The other day, I was meditating on The Word. I happened to think “Just why do we as Christians say ‘In Jesus’ name’?” It was a serious question and as always, I took to The Word. Jesus came and changed His-story. To realize that am accept it means so very much. I wanted to know even more, so I dug deeper still:

“At that time you won’t need to ask me for anything. I tell you the truth, you will ask the Father directly, and he will grant your request because you use my name.”

John 16: 23

That about captures it. It says it all! We live in and under a new dispensation, all old things have passed away. The language, the habits, the common ‘slip ups’… All to the glory of God.

So, we can pray in The name of Jesus to God The Father, just as He met with Moses, that is our promise- He meets with us. Now, that brings many things to bear; Are you truly ready to meet God? Really? Your heart, your mind, your thoughts are ‘ in-line ‘? I just have to ask. Here I would say “Let us step back in ‘time’ and see what the example Moses did.”

Exodus 19 says so much, I will let you open that and study it. Also a link that I was on is leading: http://m.lifeway.com/Article/sermon-prepare-to-meet-your-god-moses-exodus-19

In essence, we see just what was required and is still required of us.

To keep in the ways of God, as He wills. It was pointed out (in prayer) that some of your decision came from a personal will to ‘run’. Staying where you are (and looking for new blessings) God will be glorified, in Jesus name, amen. Staying in God and with God as your #1 means there will NEVER be another complaint that will stick IJN. Oh! I am sure they will come hot and heavy, but trust God through all. With God as our focus we cannot go wrong

I mean in the bible look at all the people in His-story that we will call prophets, anointed ones, prophets…what did they go through??? Look at Abraham-the father of many nations, did it come easy? He had to wait for a LONG time to have God’s promise come to light, even then he was asked to ‘offer’ him. You and I would have thought we had a nightmare, but he took him up and just before he did the unthinkable, there was a sound from Heaven that made him stop and there was a ram in the brush. So many things might be in our way. Keep your eyes on Jesus-straight ahead. When we are New OR by trials take them ALL to The LORD in prayer. It is sometimes difficult to imagine this.

Lets go ahead and say a word of prayer.

Lord, Heavenly Father, we come before You today. Alleluia, Your Word brims and spills over with promise. We praise You for this day, our present; all the trials and tribulations. In our lives Lord be glorified. We state that it is not easy being where we are; Father, use it to Your glory. We decree that those around us will hear us giving You all Glory. Thank You for the awesome blessings we have coming to be topped by being with you. Alleluia! In Jesus name, Amen

So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision – you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.  Stick with me, friends. Keep track of those you see running this same course, headed for this same goal. There are many out there taking other paths, choosing other goals, and trying to get you to go along with them. I’ve warned you of them many times; sadly, I’m having to do it again. All they want is easy street. They hate Christ’s Cross. But easy street is a dead-end street. Those who live there make their bellies their gods; belches are their praise; all they can think of is their appetites. But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him.

We can read this; and we are left speechless.  By the word of the LORD were the Heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

Psalm 33:6-9

Our God in His heart desire and He speaks it, it is. God spoke and we were! Hard to grasp this, Angels that serve Him were spoken into being, each with their individual purpose. Once again, I state that you are here for a purpose, pray on it.

The world around us contains wonders, mysteries, testimonies. A kernel of corn produces a stalk that has myriad kernels. Will that corn stalk ‘go’ share its testimony with other corn stalks? We have a family of believers, we should be shouting His praise each second we are able. We are given ability! Look around you and realize you are blessed. Walking? There are some who desire to, but at this time are unable. Dancing? Dance unto The Lord! Hallelujah! There are no rules. Did King David not dance in praise till his gown slid down? 2 Samuel 6:14

To take a ‘shortcut’ here Micah held him in contempt. We can go over this, my challenge is read it and let it speak to you.

Couples, Alleluia! Praising The LORD requires no preparation. Are you filled with joy? Praise Him! There are ushers in places of worship to ‘cover’ those who are ‘lost in the Spirit.’ I will actually say “found in the Spirit.” A way to be blessed. Mind you, I was going to say a way ‘ to he’s blessed. But, I say to be in The Spirit is to Hallelujah! Be on/in another plane.

It is no competition, let each person approach the throne as they would. Some are singers, some dancers, some quiet, others yell! Alleluia! All to the glory of God! There are no rules, no lines. Experience God’s overwhelming power as He gives you the ability to feel waves of The Spirit hit you.

So many times, I have been in silent judgement. Another person’s way of experiencing The LORD is their way. I will ask with a straight face. “What is yours?”

Rather than ask, let us pray and allow The Spirit to take over.

Lord Hallelujah! For Your Word. For this day, for the now. At this time I approach Your throne in honor of Your Majesty. Lord You created all, that which I am mesmerized by, made silent with. Lord, You are all!  Thank You Father. At this time I thank You for Your Spirit. Lord Alleluia for the day of Pentecost, each heard his language when The Spirit touched upon and in the hearts of the apostles. Lord, bless me at this time with the gift to communicate with you in The Spirit. Lord, I know the tongue I speak, what my Spirit wishes to express to you, let it flow in Jesus’ name. Father, baptize me anew with the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name. Father, you said I should ask and I will receive. Lord You spoke me into being for a cause in which my ‘strengths’ are. Lord teach me to pursue in the Spirit that which I was created for, I ask in the name of Jesus, Amen. Thank You for Your Word  Father, thank You for Your Spirit in Jesus’ name, Amen

http://www.allaboutworldview.org/why-are-we-here.htm

https://www.crossway.org/articles/if-we-were-created-for-gods-glory-is-god-merely-using-us/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gotquestions.org/amp/why-did-God-create-us.html

Again, we could go on, but it is so very important that we all realize that we are here for a reason. In essence, there are no mistakes; each has a purpose and as has been encouraged along the way- pray on it! Wouldn’t it give a sense of peace, a fullness to realize that we are fulfilling what we were sent her for? It blows the mind! Let me state it this way “There is purpose to your life.”

I think on so many things. Let us go apologetically down the ‘suicide’ route. Again, I do this with apologies and care for those who have experienced this in their lives. The biggest question is “Why???” There are so many possibilities and we will not try to answer them all here. But, a sense of “not belonging”, “not being worth anything”, “Depression”…. I could go on. If we think that is just what we would focus on if we were talking to the individual contemplating this act. One main thing I point out is that we are created for a purpose. It is a definite, we may think that it was not meant to be, but we are all here for a purpose.

If a person does do the unthinkable; possibly there are many left behind that would disagree. They leave a hole where they once were. Wow! A space??? So, they occupied a space in the hearts of those who loves them. I point this out gingerly knowing that both parties at this point are touched differently.

For those non-suicidal; have you taken the time from your overwhelmingly busy schedule to simply say how much they mean? There are so many things that aren’t said. Let me point out fact. We are made in God’s image. We talk! Yes there is communication among species, but the use of language is specific to Man. We can point out how many things can be passed unsaid (with actions). But, when push comes to shove we open our mouths and speak or at least act. So, in His image we are made.

Look at prayer for one. Speaking to God, The Father. We might need something, be in gratitude for what we have received, but we communicate these emotions. Let us take a moment to think of a ‘pet’. They can show emotion, hunger, boredom, excitement but do they ‘speak’. Yes there are different ways of communication there is sign language for the deaf, touch for those who are affected with both sight and sound. As Humans we have a distinct was of communication.

So, to communicate with others all we have to do is show our emotions. I will use a pet who does not speak as an example. They can and so show emotion. Are we less? We are more! We are made in the image of God! All through the period of creation, many things came to be, yet the crowning achievement was the creation of ‘Living’ beings like Him. I say ‘living’ for a purpose. Being created here on Earth, we had the same ‘life-force’ that all were created with. Remember, there was and is a tree that some seek to find-the tree of Life.

With the fruit of this tree existence becomes ‘the norm’. Think on this, God divided Himself with and for a purpose, Angels were created with a purpose. We are extremely limited in our view of the Universe. What we imagine is limited to the solar system and perhaps beyond, this is but a portion of what is truly out there. Let me point out that our perception in based on ‘places’ that are tangible or imagined in our sphere. Is there another sphere? Parallel to this sphere? Yes and yes.

As pointed out, we exist in and on the stage of Life. Once again I will point something out. If and when we act, think, want…it is known. Our sphere is parallel. We have spoken about the angels who ‘crossed over’ to name one that each person is (or should be aware of) when Jesus was born to Mary. Angels celebrated to announce that Life was about to change. Some again might ask “when?” My, my, my… What a question. It took a full thirty years for Jesus to be prepared for His ministry, what which He was sent here for. I will state that again- 30 years!!! Again in Heaven time does not exist. Those ‘years’ would have been ‘time’. There is so much reason to point out. If as a child Jesus ‘spoke’ and it was done, healed and it was fact. There is not one who would deny that He was sent from the parallel plain.

It took a full preperationbtime for Him to be ready. We have shared that in the temple at age 12, he astounded individuals who had studied the Torah for eons. I will once again point out that when the words were spoken He was a part of The Word. We might ask what happened between age 12 and when he was led to fast the 40 days and nights. There is not much written, but we can imagine that for those in His family, neighbours, those close by. It was a blessing. 30 years to be ready? We will leave that as an open question. Then what?

Well, He was led to be baptized by John. This story again shows the Glory of God. John was born to Elizabeth a relative to Mary. In her ‘older’ years she had no offspring. Though one or more were wanted and her spouse who was in service of God was visited by an angel. His unbelief struck him unable to speak, But Elizabeth went and had a son.

Having gone over this earlier, we go through it again on purpose. To point out that everything is planned, the decisions are ours to implement. We can see so many big names in The Bible came from nought. Hannah, wife of Elkanah who went and wept bitterly before The LORD so that even the man chosen to serve The LORD thought she was ‘drunk’. Sarah, mother of Isaac are and half sister of Abram who laughed when told she would give birth. Her times were very much past. Far be it from me to ‘see’ how two ‘older’ individuals would ‘kick-it’s, but they did and God’s will came to be. The examples given here are but a tiny example of what is documented. There is a reason for all. A reason for you being here.

One thing I would Love to see is people coming together to pray, share and be as they will be, by God’s grace for ever. We have stated that we are here to learn. Learning how to be with your brothers and sisters, distant relatives, parents, next door neighbours and those at work is an awesome example of the way things are to be. Start now!

Back to the unthinkable. Again I state “Just what would ‘drive’ someone to that decision?” I habe a thing to share, if it is thought that ‘things could be no worse on the ‘other’ side.’ I ask “Other side of what?” As stated, decisions, decisions, decisions. I have played the role of the ignoramus prior and do it again.

The individual to commit suicide is person B, the voice (or whatever it is, is something we will all face.)

Peson A: Do you know where you are?

Person B: (Must be dreaming, these ‘drugs’ sure

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Any takers? Where can this prayer that we have all heard at least once before be found? Yes, it’s trivia time again. So???

Rather than make you wait, I will share 2 Corinthians 13:14. I bring this up because most of us quote and quote and if an ‘innocent’ person comes up and asks “Where can that be found?” We are belittled and tend to carry a look of bewilderment. The most important thing is to know what The Word says! More so, it is important to know where so that if someone innocently asks or we need to follow up, we know!

So let us go forth and keep in mind where exactly the promises can be found. Yes! The Bible, but again if I asked where you could find a specific verse, would you be able to ‘quote’ it? Let me ask what does Phillipians 4:13 say? Can you do all things? Point made. We can remember The Word through The LORD who strengthens us.

Let us touch on agreement, where two or three are gathered in Jesus’ name, He is there in our midst. And if in one heart, one mind we agree as touching any matter, it is done!!! Hallelujah!!!

Just thought I’d share, a main thing that comes to mind is ‘thoughts’. Just how far should or do we go? Yes, most of us will deny, but I am not asking for’public’ acceptance, but rather in the calm of your heart.

First, I was like “did the apostle Paul ever do this?” I was led to look at his life. Busy, busu, then in prison? Then killed? We see a true person who led by example. What happened specifically in the years after he met Jesus on the way to Damascus is anyone’s guess. We can assume a lot happened. To make it clear another thing we wonder about is did he see Christ again? Again, we do not know. What he shared is shared, there is much Learning to be had. Let us take an in-depth look at just what is in the act itself.

At first glance, the question “Can you masturbate without lusting?” might sound like an odd question. For those who feel no guilt or shame about the matter, the question sounds ridiculous. For those who are utterly opposed to all masturbation, regardless of the internal dynamics that drive it, the question sounds irrelevant.

But for those whom lust is their primary concern when it comes to masturbation, the question is of immense importance.

In his book Sex, Men, and God, Doug Weiss says there are three types of men in the world (and, I assume, this goes for women, too):

1. Men who have never masturbated (Type A) – Weiss believes this group of men is the smallest camp of men in the Western world. After years of speaking at men’s conferences, he’s only met 14 men who claim to have never masturbated. In other cultures, Weiss adds, masturbation simply isn’t a cultural norm and is relatively uncommon.

2. Men who do not fantasize or lust during masturbation (Type B) – This type of person stays “connected” to himself during masturbation—they don’t escape into fantasy. For this person, the act is merely performing a bodily function. As such, there is little emotion attached to the experience, and typically no sense of guilt or shame.

3. Men who lust during masturbation (Type C) – These men are “disconnected” during the act of masturbation: their focus is on a mental image, an actual image, or an object.

Why the distinction matters

In his book, Weiss asks what happens when a Type B masturbator grows up and becomes a pastor, Christian counselor, or Bible teacher. If he universalizes his own experience, this man is likely to think there is nothing wrong with masturbation at all. If Type C men listen to a teacher like this, they either become very confused, or they are encouraged to believe that their lifestyle of fantasy-filled masturbation is okay.

Similarly, if a Type C masturbator becomes a spiritual leader he will be likely to say that all masturbation is sinful. Type B people are likely to hear this and either get defensive or start feeling a sense of false guilt and shame.

Is Type B Better?

In one sense, because Type B masturbation involves no lust, it would be easy to assume it involves no sin. This is true. But there is another critical question to ask.

What habits are you creating by repeated Type B masturbation? Are you becoming mastered by this habit (see 1 Corinthians 6:12)? If so, you might be reinforcing a false belief that your body is simply your own. Your body is for the Lord (6:13)—and your wife if you are married. “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (6:19b-20).

Can you change how you masturbate?

Weiss says, in his 20+ years of professional experience counseling men around issues of sexual sin, Type C masturbators rarely ever become Type B masturbators. He welcomes men to attempt the change, but warns, “Be careful not to deceive yourself.”

What if you are married?

Weiss also reminds married men that when they took a vow of marriage, their sexuality became intimately tied to another person. He reminds men of the solemn command of 1 Corinthians 7:4, “The husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.” Regardless of your motive for masturbation, your wife has authority over your sexuality. “God is the first, your wife is the second and you are the third owner of your penis,” writes Weiss.

For Weiss, the issue of married men masturbating is about honesty. Does your wife know you do it and does she approve? He writes, “If you can’t be honest with your wife about your total sexual expression, then you probably need to evaluate the reason for your ongoing lies to your wife.” If you don’t talk to your wife about it, why? Are you still holding on to the belief that your sexuality is “me-sex” vs. “we-sex”?

As always, I give credit where credit is due

http://www.covenanteyes.com/2013/01/14/masturbate-without-lusting/

We can read more and learn therein. What the main ‘sharing’ is, is that truly busy with the work of the LORD, there is little to no time for ‘trivial’ matters.

This means so very much. Let us read and dissect. Though I am sure my dissection is ‘superficial’, you are encouraged to go deeper!

“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,

a son of man that you care for him?

You made them a littlea lower than the angels;

you crowned them with glory and honor

and put everything under their feet.”

In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.

Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. He says,

“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing your praises.”

And again, “I will put my trust in God.”

And again he says,

“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

Where do I start? Let us start from the ending and move back through The Word. We were held in slavery by the fear of death. Many have been given a peek into what is coming. A part of me goes to the victims in the early church where brethren were given in ‘sacrifice’ to hungry lions for the ‘enteetainment’ of citizens of Roman heritage. We might have seen the production, they were filled with fear, there was a part that submitted for the ‘hope’ of what was coming next. Personally, I am ‘drained’ by what happened, but realize where they went after they exited this world.

I give a testimony of being ‘between’ two worlds and sharing my experience. It is possible that it was a dream, but I am at ease to know that in believing, in trusting in Him. Having Hope we can make it through myriads of circumstances by the ultimate absolute grace of God.

We were prior to the coming of our Lord and Savior, dedicated to an existence in a place that belies definition. To briefly address this, when Jesus was crucified prior to His being raised from the land of the dead, he was in the place of death. This was for three days! What do you think happened? There are people who were affected by being excluded from being the children of God from time immemorial. Just what did Jesus do?

Never was there a Savior. Jesus came and changed the World, life and His-story. It is quite a bit to ‘mull’ over the events in those three days. But Jesus was not in Heaven, we read that in The Bible. Let us read a summary of the time that Jesus was not here, nor in Heaven.

Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. (Mark 15:46)

We all know that Jesus died. “‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last” (Luke 23:46). But what happened after he died? We know that his body was laid in Joseph’s tomb, but what about his human soul?

Reflecting on this question not only sheds light on the Bible’s teaching about death and the afterlife, but it also is a great encouragement to us, who must face death and seek to do so without fear.

We are made in God’s image: “God made human beings to be embodied souls and ensouled bodies. Death rips this union asunder.”

Psalm 16:10 gives us a window into the biblical teaching.

You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

This passage directs us to the normal account of what happened when a human being died prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus. The soul was abandoned “to Sheol,” and the body saw corruption or decayed.

In Acts 2:29–31, Peter tells us that David, in writing this psalm, foresaw the resurrection of Christ, “that he was not abandoned to Hades [that is, his soul wasn’t], nor did his flesh see corruption” (notice that Peter reads the second line as a reference to Jesus’s body or flesh). Thus, prior to Jesus, at death, souls normally went to Sheol (or Hades), and bodies (flesh) decayed. We’re all familiar with the latter, but the former is more opaque.

Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. (Mark 15:46)

We all know that Jesus died. “‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last” (Luke 23:46). But what happened after he died? We know that his body was laid in Joseph’s tomb, but what about his human soul?

Reflecting on this question not only sheds light on the Bible’s teaching about death and the afterlife, but it also is a great encouragement to us, who must face death and seek to do so without fear.

What Is Death?

First of all, what exactly is death? Death is separation, a dividing of things that ought to be united. Fundamentally, it is separation from God. Paul suggests as much in Ephesians 2:1–2, “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.” To walk in sin is to be dead, to be enslaved to dark powers, to be separated from God, to be children of his wrath. This type of separation is an estrangement, a hostility, an alienation from the life and hope of the living God. In this sense, all of us, by nature, are born dead, and it is this death that Jesus endured in his suffering on the cross.

“God made human beings to be embodied souls and ensouled bodies. Death rips this union asunder.” Tweet Share on Facebook

But of course, death is more than just separation from God. Death also marks the separation of the soul from the body. God made human beings to be embodied souls and ensouled bodies, and death rips this union asunder. But what happens to these two parts after they’re separated? Psalm 16:10 gives us a window into the biblical teaching.

          You will not abandon my soul to Sheol,

                    or let your holy one see corruption.

This passage directs us to the normal account of what happened when a human being died prior to the death and resurrection of Jesus. The soul was abandoned “to Sheol,” and the body saw corruption or decayed.

In Acts 2:29–31, Peter tells us that David, in writing this psalm, foresaw the resurrection of Christ, “that he was not abandoned to Hades [that is, his soul wasn’t], nor did his flesh see corruption” (notice that Peter reads the second line as a reference to Jesus’s body or flesh). Thus, prior to Jesus, at death, souls normally went to Sheol (or Hades), and bodies (flesh) decayed. We’re all familiar with the latter, but the former is more opaque. A quick Bible study will show us why Peter thinks that David’s prophecy in Psalm 16 is such good news.

What Is Sheol?

In the Old Testament, Sheol is the place of the souls of the dead, both the righteous (like Jacob, Genesis 37:35, and Samuel, 1 Samuel 28:13–14) and the wicked (Psalm 31:17). In the New Testament, the Hebrew word Sheol is translated as Hades, and the description of Sheol in the Old and New Testaments bears some resemblance to the Hades of Greek mythology. It is under the earth (Numbers 16:30–33), and it is like a city with gates (Isaiah 38:10) and bars (Job 17:16). It is a land of darkness — a place where shades, the shadowy souls of men, dwell (Isaiah 14:9; 26:14). It is the land of forgetfulness (Psalm 88:12), where no work is done and no wisdom exists (Ecclesiastes 9:10). Most significantly, Sheol is a place where no one praises God (Psalm 6:5; 88:10–11; 115:17; Isaiah 38:18).

In the New Testament, the most extended depiction of the afterlife is found in Luke 16:19–31. There we learn that, like the Hades of Greek mythology, the biblical Sheol has two compartments: Hades proper (where the rich man is sent, Luke 16:23) and “Abraham’s bosom” (where the angels carry Lazarus, Luke 16:22). Hades proper is a place of torment, where fire causes anguish to the souls imprisoned there. Abraham’s bosom, on the other hand, while within shouting distance of Hades, is separated from it by “a great chasm” (Luke 16:26) and is, like the Greek Elysium, a place of comfort and rest.

This is factual. I for one did not in my ‘dream’ see any edifices but rather, there was no passage of time. I was there and there I was. I am aware that there were things I did, but I had no idea of the passage of time.

To answer the question that set us down this path; “Following his death for sin, Jesus journeys to Hades, to the City of Death, and rips its gates off the hinges.”

Luke 23:43 doesn’t say that Jesus would be in the presence of God; it says he would be in the presence of the thief (“Today you will be with me in paradise”), and based on the Old Testament and Luke 16, it seems likely that the now-repentant thief would be at Abraham’s side, a place of comfort and rest for the righteous dead, which Jesus here calls “paradise.”

Again, this is a little ‘much’, but stick with me and let us tred through this topic.

Following his death for sin, then, Jesus journeys to Hades, to the City of Death, and rips its gates off the hinges. He liberates Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, John the Baptist, and the rest of the Old Testament faithful, ransoming them from the power of Sheol (Psalm 49:15; 86:13; 89:48). They had waited there for so long, not having received what was promised, so that their spirits would be made perfect along with the saints of the new covenant (Hebrews 11:39–40; 12:23).

It was after His resurrection and time

Let us ‘try’ and get this straight. Is there anything in The Word that calls individuals a “liar”? To go over the 10 commandments and the Law given to The Isrealites and to us. I am convinced that seldom is it used. Yes, Satan is called the father of all lies (we can have a separate teaching on this.) More poignant, is there in The new Testament a point that touches on ‘untruth’? Better believe it!

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

1 John 4:20

Yes! We feel Him in our everyday, have come to know Him! But, is there any doubt as to His existence? How can we Love or say that we Love- an Entity we have not seen? Again, we feel Him, all you have to do is look around-the seasons, the sun rise, the stars, who and where we are! BUT, how can we say we Love Him, if the people right there; we cannot Love?

Ok, to simplify this- Let us again 1 Corinthians 13 it:

1. Love suffers long having patience with imperfect people.

2. Love is kind active in doing good

3. Love does not envy non possessive and non competitive, it wants other people to

get ahead

4. Love does not parade itself has a self effacing quality; it is not ostentatious

5. Love is not puffed up treating others arrogantly

6. Love does not behave rudely but displays good manners and courtesy

7. Love does not seek its own insisting on its own rights and demanding precedence; it’s

unselfish

8. Love is not provoked not irritable or touchy, rough or hostile, but is graceful under

pressure

9. Love thinks no evil does not keep an account of wrongs done to it; instead, it

erases resentments

10. Love does not rejoice in iniquity finding satisfaction in the shortcomings of others and

spreading an evil report

11. Love rejoices in the truth aggressively advertising the good

12. Love bears all things defending and holding other people up

13. Love believes all things believes the best of others, credits them with good intentions,

and is not suspicious

14. Love hopes all things never giving up on people, but affirming their future

15. Love endures all things persevering and remaining loyal to the end

16 Love never fails Love always wins

https://bible.org/seriespage/lesson-5-what-love-looks-1-corinthians-134-7

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biblegateway.com/passage/%3Fsearch%3D1%2BCorinthians%2B13%253A4-7%26version%3DNIV%26interface%3Damp

https://www.google.com/amp/s/davidworcester.net/2014/09/02/16-characteristics-of-biblical-love-1-corinthians-13/amp/

We speak of The ‘Love’ verses. I was blessed to see how they link with the ‘Spirit’ verse, let us take a closer look at Galatians 5:22 and follow through:

But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. And we are aware that against such things there is no law.

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Let us check that these have truly been discarded.) Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step (time and rhythm) with the Spirit.

Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

I added in more ‘studying’. But again, we see and feel, hence we know there is a God. But, how can we say from our hearts that we do not ‘like’ or ‘love’ those we see, if we profess Love for that which is as of yet unseen?

I was chanced to read a testimony about a Sister in one of the Russian concentration camps for housing and protecting believers. She was speaking at a church and after the talk a man came to meet her and asked for her forgiveness for being a guard at one of the Nazi concentration camps. She admitted an inability to forgive and let go, and right there and then she prayed and God- The lover of man showed her His Love and she was able to reach out and touch his outatretched hand.

This is quite a testimony! Even when we cannot in our hearts find it possible to Love those around us. Take it to God and He through you will affect and effect His own Love; that does is 1 Corinthians 13.

NAILS IN THE WALL

Make sure you read all the way down to the last sentence.

(Most importantly the last sentence)

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper.

His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper,he must hammer a nail into the back of the wall.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the wall.

Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down.

He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the wall.

Finally the day came when the boy didn’t lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his

temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the wall.

He said, ‘You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the wall.

The wall will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one.

Once you hurt your loved ones It won’t matter how many times you say I’m sorry, the wound will still be there.

A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one.

Remember that friends are very rare jewels indeed.

They make you smile and encourage you to succeed;

They lend an ear, they share words of praise and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care.

Amazingly, at times it is the things done in anger that remain the longest. We in ignorance, blind pain, or a lack of foresight can do much harm. It is more important to realize that we build rather than tear down.

I got this as a forward and decided to send it with a ‘little’ difference. A challenge (yup! You must have known it was coming up 😉) Can you for one of the things that really gets your ‘goat’, look at the person and tell them (I know, I know…it is hard), figure out what positive things they have done, and d rather than be mad, be grateful for what they have done in the past and tell them “thank you for what you did, makes me appreciate you!” We might realize that the anger, the temper is ‘released’. Usually, I am Mr. Verse. This time I am simply pointing out how we can make our environment a better place, and believe it or not make the world a better place!

I delight greatly in the Lord;

    my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation

    and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,

    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Isaiah 61:10

Wow! We can ‘wear’ The LORD? Yes, we can. To be adorned with Glory, not just with Glory, but contentment and satisfaction. I am aware that I tend to use words like “Wow” and “Awesome”, but those are words of our time.

To God be the glory, great things he has done. This song means so much Let us concentrate on the words and be blessed:

To God be the glory, great things He hath done,

So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,

Who yielded His life our redemption to win,

And opened the life-gate that all may go in.

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

  Let the earth hear His voice;

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,

  Let the people rejoice;

Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,

  And give Him the glory; great things He hath done.

Oh, perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,

To every believer the promise of God;

The vilest offender who truly believes,

That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.

Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,

And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;

But purer, and higher, and greater will be

Our wonder, our transport when Jesus we see.

We have spoken about ‘forgivesess’, the vilest of sinners? We have spoken about an ex-officer at the concentration camps is USSR, meeting a Christian who had been imprisoned for her aide to Christians, she was approached during a talk she was giving and was ‘apologized to’, at first she could not find it within herself to forgive or even acknowledge him, but she placed it before The LORD and He through her demonstrated exactly what we share above. Let us go to the Word And see exactly what it says: And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

John 20:21-23

I was going to leave out the latter part, But was led to leave it as is. Why? There are some whose sins against us are so grievous that we are left ‘feeling’ unable to forgive. But, we have the greatest example of all time-Jesus. In human form, He was The example of perfection. He was tortured and crucified for our sins, we will admit that it is nothing He did. To go through what He did! And to boot, He was sent. He could have ended it all before it occurred, even in the human form, He had access to Angels with power and strength to do almost all, God being able to do all. We are thus moved to forgive othersas we ourselves have been forgiven.

Let us pray.

At a time of loss, for those who are yet to commit their ways. We have a huge promise.

The Lord’s prayer:

Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts/trespasses, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen

We at times may add: “For Thine is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever and ever, Amen” When Reformers set out to translate the King James Bible, they assumed that a Greek manuscript they possessed was ancient and therefore adopted this phrase.

Let us start breaking down The Lord’s prayer. The “Our Father” prayer as it is called, is knows by most, it can be recited for the most part- verbatim. Do we keep this and practice it and take it to heart?

I will start by challenging you, in Your life isn’t there one person out ‘there’, who has your ‘goat’ and you just can’t let their action(s) go? This I mean seriously, think and think deep, long and truthfully about this, if there is one person that you are bitter/hurt about for whatever reason, take care of it! We pray: “Forgive us, as we/I  forgive others.

Again, I state “Forgive me my trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us…” This brings a lot to mind and a trove to Spirit.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done here on Earth as it is in Heaven. What do we grasp from this??? Any takers?

Forgive us AS we forgive those who trespass against us… Really? We are quick to ask for forgiveness and expect it! Our God is a God of Love. A part of Him l was here as we are taught and have come to believe that we should ask that as we do, He does. Again, really? We are to act as examples to ourselves for what we expect to be done to and for us.

Remember The Bible teaches the same thing elsewhere, as we have come to understand it is all one. Jesus taught and said in Matthew 5:23-24 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”

It also notes in verse 25:

“Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court…” It goes on, but todays focus is on The LORDs prayer. As we have pointed out, The Word is ALL one and runs from one book to another-all connected.

So, as we expect to be forgiven, forgive! And in truth let by-gones be let go. Just as in Our lives we cannot ‘do’ yesterday again, we must try to leave yesterdays where they are.

We learn also that we are blessed, there are promises galore! Look at those who trust in and follow God, the Law and His will. In no way are they wanting. Phil 4:19 says “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in Glory!” The source of glory is The LORD, Our Hosanna is to the King of kings and Lord of lords. Do we know what that means? There are kings and lords. In our times presidents and rulers, God was not elected! He made all-kings, rulers, leaders, heads…I could go on.

We must come to realize that we are under Him and are here on Earth to do His will. Sometimes we get lost and He gently calls and with His Spirit redirects, have we felt that ‘inner voice’, gently urgingvuscto do or not do? We hear, but do answerin is the question. For real, do we???

We learn from Isrealites of old. There are promises galore but a way to get them clearly marked out in His Word. We read the example:

I am the Lord your God,

    who brought you up out of Egypt.

Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

“But my people would not listen to me;

    Israel would not submit to me.

So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts

    to follow their own devices.

Psalm 81:10-12

We are in a special place, we may choose to follow the rules/leading/guiding or choose to live without.

Each day we pray that ALL our needs are supplied by Him whose Glory is without end, so we find that each day our ‘hunger’ is satisfied by His grace.

Hallowed be Thy name, this is self explanatory. We have in gathering together experienced kneeling, hands raised, people ‘fall-out’ when struck be His glory and grace- He is HOLY! Hallelujah! His name which Moses his servant asked is “I am Who I am.” Father, we refer to Him  as for He created us, we refer to our Father as AWESOMENESS defined.

YHWH is God has been known as, also haShem. Some sects refer to God as The Light. Another term used is King of kings or Lord of lords and Lord of the hosts.

The name “LORD of hosts” occurs some 261 times in the Old Testament Scriptures. God is first called the “LORD of hosts” in 1 Samuel 1:3. The word LORD, capitalized, refers to Yahweh, the self-existent, redemptive God. The word hosts is a translation of the Hebrew word sabaoth, meaning “armies”—a reference to the angelic armies of heaven. Thus, another way of saying “LORD of hosts” is “God of the armies of heaven.” The NIV translates YHWH saboath as “LORD Almighty.”

Other names used by Christians include Ancient of Days, Father/Abba, “Most High” and the Hebrew names Elohim, El-Shaddai, Yahweh, Jehovah and Adonai.

And we move on to a challenge-our will and activity.

We can go on with the ‘NAMEs’ of our Father, a totally different teaching.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/misc/name_god.cfm

http://www.allaboutgod.com/names-of-god.htm

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gotquestions.org/amp/names-of-God.html

https://bible.org/article/names-god

To name but a few references, I hopefully have raised a desire, a hunger to know more about our Creator. More so, we shall in our existence come to stand before Him, each in their own turn.

Lord Father, we thank you for yesterday, all You have done and in Love continue to do for us. In Your word it says. “We should so here on Earth as it is done in Your Kingdom- Heaven.” We have come to understand that each was created with a purpose that they fulfill as He wills. It is a HUGE lesson to learn that when it is not so, the ‘offending’ party, or parties as described are removed and are ‘apart’ from Heaven. That is a lofty goal, but by Your grace Father, give us the hunger and drive, in Your grace, lead us to do as You will and we pray that by and through Your Love we have temptation pass us.

We have learned through the example You sent, our LORD and Savior- Jesus.

Father in our each moment, cause us to be more like Him; in thought, feeling and words; Father- in our being. Our every day, our every moment is Yours. By Your grace cause us to fill it with Your will, as we are blessed with Your presence in Your Spirit that resides in and with us. Allow Your will, Your power and might to be reflected in all we do, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen

Once again, life was created in stages. We go over this in Genesis.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gotquestions.org/amp/creation-days.html

http://www.ligonier.org/blog/did-god-create-then-step-out/

https://bibleview.org/en/bible/genesis/7days/

http://creation.mobi/creation-how-did-god-do-it

There is a hunger to ‘understand’ life. We have astronauts that go into space. To grasp what this is, we are placed in a parallel existannce here on Earth. We can explore the far reaches of the Universe and come up with ‘nothing’, yes there are planets; but just as God created this Universe, His dwelling is unattainable in the ‘natural’ sense. We are aware that Heaven and it’s beings are called ‘Super-natural’.

We can start here in understanding what this implies:

su·per·nat·u·ral

ˌso͞opərˈnaCH(ə)rəl/

adjective

1. (Of a manifestation or event) attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature.

“a supernatural being”

synonyms:paranormal, psychic, magic, magical, occult, mystic, mystical, superhuman, supernormal; More

noun

2. Manifestations or events considered to be of supernatural origin, such as ghosts Irvin the Christian ‘knowledge’ – Spirits.

We have mentioned it before; David, though at an in His weakest, he sinned. He was promised, God keeps His promises. What God had said is. We note that David is a predecessor in the line of the human family of the Spiritual. We have been amazed by his comlntinuance, no?

David said about Him:

“‘I saw the Lord always before me.

Because he is at my right hand,

I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body also will rest in hope,

because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,

you will not let your holy one see decay.

You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’

Acts 2:25-28

The New Testament provides two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and another in the Gospel of Luke. Matthew’s starts with Abraham, while Luke begins with Adam. The lists are identical between Abraham and David, but differ radically from that point. Traditional Christian scholars (starting with the historian Eusebius[1]) have put forward various theories that seek to explain why the lineages are so different,[2] such as that Matthew’s account follows the lineage of Joseph, while Luke’s follows the lineage of Mary. Some modern biblical scholars such as Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan see both genealogies as inventions, to bring the Messianic claims into conformity with Jewish criteria.[3]

But in all the lineage is not as important as Jesus being here. We are blessed secondary to His presence. Throght Him we receive salvation. In and through no-one or nothing else. We are truly forgiven and have Salvation from all He went through. If we were to endure a fragment of all He endured for us… There are no words to define what He went through for us. It goes beyond what words can express.

When we are blessed to realize this, the historical realm from which He rooted in Humanity is not important. He is The SON of God. Again, if He had come in The Spirit form, we would have nothing to do, but believe. The doubters are many; questions range from “where was He from?”, to attempts to make Him in human form appear Caucasian. Even going Home, The body of Jesus rose at the ascension, just what will we encounter. My belief is God is Spirit; we are in the form of the Heavenly host. We of course have ‘adjustments’ so we can exist on Earth. Additions, so we can procreate. In Heaven, there is no Male/Female there are Spirits, I want to say Amen. But it is so.

Our 3:16 challenge continued. I am aware that it has been a ‘while’ since we instituted this. Let me ask “What does Acts 3:16 say?” Any takers? It is a definition of faith. To quickly touch on this and ‘allow’ for our day to progress “”Through faith in the name of Jesus, this man was healed — and you know how crippled he was before. Faith in Jesus’ name has healed him before your very eyes.””

– Acts 3:16

Faith in The Name Jesus! No fanfare or histrionics. We can see just why in our sharing. Jesus was sent to change the World order, we have seen in a new world order for 20+ centuries! Not only our existence here, but far beyond.

To delve even deeper (for a minute). For the 3 days after His crucifixion, where was He and why there? This should bring an extensive yearning to know. That is the ‘tidbit’ I will leave you with now.

Amazingly, I was meditating today; you know what I realized? There are so many things that the enemy uses to get us down. Mind you, being in Christ Jesus, we have Angels that minister to us. I shared a tiny portion of my testimony. To raise it again, I lost control of the motorcycle, was knocked unconscious on a bridge! plummeted into the water below, breaking a bone in my left forearm in the fall. So many things are brought to mind, I will list them;

1. The fall alone should have finished me and my existence in this plane (we have touched on this; there being a definite plane-they run parallel. The existence of life here on Earth and The Host in Heaven.) Think on this, we each as believers have Angels assigned to us.

God knows all; thoughts, desires, actions and by His grace refusal to act. This world exists in a parallel phase. Angels surround us. Think! In the garden of Eden, the thought and actions of Eve were known, and thus she was tempted. I could state if Adam was there, would she have eaten of the tree? We at this point can and will not know.

In thinking about this, perhaps she was ‘easing’ herself. Adam knowing he would be of no help was elsewhere in the garden. Again thiscpoints to the parallel existence of phases; the Heavenly phase and the human phase. At that particular moment, seeing that there was one individual of the two ‘watchers’ of the garden, the temptation came. I Again point out the existence of parallel phases.

Eve thought “If I eat this fruit, I will know right from wrong.” What could be wrong with that? However, God had said of every tree you may eat but that one there. His commands, amazingly there were not many ‘commandments’ then. The 10 commandments came much later. Essentially, there was just one thing they were not to do-eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Is it tempting? Yes, ‘Now I will know what I should do, and not do…’ Thoughts filled her mind. How exactly did the serpent wile her to do this? After a lot of prayer, think! The serpent was the most wily of all the creatures on the phase of the earth. The temptation came not by ‘speech’, but by doing! What is Wily?

wil·y

ˈwīlē/

adjective

skilled at gaining an advantage, especially deceitfully.

“his wily opponents”

synonyms:shrewd, clever, sharp, sharp-witted, astute, canny, smart; crafty, cunning, artful, sly, scheming, calculating, devious; informalclueful, tricky, foxy; archaicsubtle

“a wily old rascal”

The serpent more likely had eaten of this tree. All that needed doing was to ensure that Adam and Eve were momentarily apart and… All the serpent needed to do was ‘eat’ of the fruit of this tree, and a temptation came to be. “That is SO interesting, the serpent eats of that tree and does not wither away…What will happen if I eat of it?” Again, the thought would have filled her mind.

I take a short break here to point out Lucifers original sin. He thought! God had adorned him and placed him above all else with a will of his own! When I meditate on the Heavenly host. Each has its function. We can go over ad into examine function of angels:

http://www.allaboutgod.com/purpose-of-angels-faq.htm

https://faithinthenews.com/4-important-roles-angels-bible/

http://www.beliefnet.com/inspiration/angels/galleries/5-important-roles-of-angels.aspx

https://bible.org/article/angels-god’s-ministering-spirits

To spare us time, I have listed a few locations to aide our understanding of the function. Amazingly, Heaven is limitless in area. Our Universe is but a minuscule fragment of the extremes. Lucifer knowing this thought “I have been given power and authority, let me go to a different level and rule…” This was what affected the Sanctum of God. My belief is that chances were given. To understand this better, in the garden was the tree of Life. Eat of it and you exist forever. Age is just a number, so much so that a million years which is unfathomable to us is a ‘period’. Just as we discussed the creation of the earth and separation of The Earth and Heaven. Again a thin girl was placed between the two. We have limits, few have glimpsed the other side of the ‘curtain’. But our side is constantly visible to our allies and foes on the other side of the curtain.

Eve ate, she did not die. So, she took it to Adam and He ate seeing that this death did not result from eating of the tree. But, EVERYTHING changed! Knowledge! Think long and deep. Animals have not eaten of the fruit, do we see them ‘rushing’ to cover themselves? Frankly, it was the beginning of the complex knowledge of good and evil. Man then went and tried to cover up. If we think, there was no difference between them then and the way they had been prior. In fact, I am led to think they did not just hide from the presence of God for their nakedness sake. God knows all, sees all andcdoea awesomely great things as He wills.

They had broken the 1 key rule. “Do not eat of the fruit of that tree.” We have discussed that the tree of Life was also in the garden, amazingly just as man had no understanding of what this entailed, it was not touched. There was and still is so much learning to be done! So to avoid their eating of the fruit of the tree of life, they were cast out and banned from the garden. This we have discussed,  but I simply wanted to redefine some things.

The reason for this share is simple. We will again point out facts: In Job 1:6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan[b] also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

We see that in his reply he states what he felt was obvious:

“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied.  “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and h

The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

The reason I point this out is that as children of God, we might be tested. However, the tester is given a stay on execution, to end our existence on The Earth. So many things still to be shared, and we will.

To complete this sharing, do you know we are Spirit’s living in this shell of a body? We have shared, but what is stunning is that handicapped people laugh, smile, cry and are affected much the same as we are. This points out something! We are all the same inside. The awesome thing is that when this life is over, we get to live as our true selves. Devoid of this shell. No handicaps, no restrictions, no sickness, no sad days. This I know sounds surreal, in the absence of ‘time’, so many things become “the way of existing”. There, I used to think Mansions were awaiting, there is no limit to ‘area’. Look at the solar system. This was created by One who knows all.

We discussed the limitless ‘area’ of Heaven. More so, we discussed the thin impassable veil between Earth and Heavenly dominion. We are seen and known in all. We discussed having guardian Angels about us. They are here! We can’t see them but The Word says they are there. It makes my consider that if and when we do ‘wrong’ it is seen and known. Seen by the ‘beings’ who exist parallel but with us.

So much teaching on this point as discussed earlier. We slowly will discuss this full by God’s grace. I am going to share a verse that struck me as salient to share here:

A cheerful heart is good medicine,

    but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

I share this because it points directly to what we just shared. We are Spirit living in this temporary habitus. A crushed ‘ who and what we really are.’ Is a hurtful thing, it does and says so much. Let us learn to always smile and be careful. I have learned:

Happiness) is anyone who becomes wise – who comes to have understanding. (Proverbs 3:13)

Wisdom can make your life pleasant and lead you safely through it. Those who become wise (have happiness); wisdom will give them life. (Proverbs 3:17 – 18)

He who handles a matter wisely shall find good, and whoever trusts in the LORD (Proverbs 16:20)

Wise children make their fathers proud of them; foolish ones bring their mothers grief. (Proverbs 10:1)

The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectation of the wicked comes to nothing. (Proverbs 10:28)

Deceit is in the heart of those who imagine evil, but to counselors of peace there is joy. (Proverbs 12:20)

Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but a good word makes it glad. (Proverbs 12:25)

The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not share its joy. (Proverbs 14:10)

Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, and the end of joy may be grief. (Proverbs 14:13)

A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, but when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken. (Proverbs 15:13)

One thing I noted is the word “Pro” is short for ‘Professional’, and a verb is a ‘doing’ word or activity. Pro-verb stands for Professional doing, so there is so much to be learned from this.

Why, when we pray do we pray in The name of Jesus? There is ‘fanfare’ about this, and often it is missing in our requests, our prayers, our wants and needs. Why??? Something is pointed out-

“There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under Heaven by which we must be saved.”

– Acts 4:12

Saving, having, being blessed are all intimately connected. Often when we have shared I say “Be blessed.” Perhaps it would be…actually thinking about it, there is no more powerful way to bless a person than to bless them in The name of Jesus. It becomes a prayer and it is beautiful! I guess we will start sayingcwith our hearts “Remain blessed in Jesus’ name.” This in itself means so very much.

Do we ‘share’? We have and aim to have even more. But, do we share? I will admit that at a time what I had was ‘mine.” Yes, I gave tithes and generously. IF I wanted to be positive I chose what was to be given/shared. What a long way we have come since…

All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.

Acts 4: 32

This speaks (as always I will state ‘droves’) but more so, it is a lesson. I had, I shared (and if The LORD came by, He would ask “Why don’t you give more?” A lot of excuses come to mind. To touch on one; I’d say “I worked for it, I earned it…” True that, but think what advantages dis and do you have that others do not and did not have?

Do you want me to tingle your spine? We have ‘unbels’ (short for unbelievers) who doubt so much. The most important thing (truly) is where and how we stand-

My feet stand on level ground;

in the great congregation I will praise the Lord.

Psalm 26:12

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,

out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand.

Psalm 40:2

We can and do say “You have shown me the way of life, and You will fill me with the joy of Your presence.”

Acts 2:28

Foregiveness for FOREGIVENESS! It should be pointed out that IF we keep a ‘gudge’, we could ask and ask. What is against us will stand squarely in the way of blessings poured out for us.  Difficult to explain but as has been taught: “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.”

Matthew 5:23,24

To stir this ‘pot’ a bit more, what we do in “sin” is much worse than is done/has been done to us. It is a quid pro quo-forgive that you may be forgiven.

To make the term more understandable and its use a definite:

kwid ˌprō ˈkwō

a favor or advantage granted or expected in return for something.

“the pardon was a quid pro quo for their help in releasing hostages”

synonyms:exchange, trade, trade-off, swap, switch, barter, substitute, reciprocation, return; amends, compensation, recompense, restitution, reparation.

All of a sudden (especially for the ‘buisness’ minded among us) we are at the bargaining table! Yes, it is to give an offering; but we see in The Word Hannah (Hannah (Hebrew חַנָּה Ḥannāh; pronounced in English as /ˈhænə/)- The mother of Samuel approached the presence of God with grevious tears, so much so that she was thought to be drunk. She was allowed to be barren for a mighty cause. She met God and in His presence ensured that she was ‘right’ with God.

In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”

As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”

“Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”

1 Samuel 1:10-16

Before we are granted what we have coming, we are asked to ensure that what we are asking for- forgiveness, has been done by us.

Rather than stay in The Word, let us pray.

Father Lord, there are many things that stand in The way of our blessings. Lord, from you they pour forth. I see it in the lives of others. Father, I want to be ‘right’ with You. I ask for Your cleansing grace, realizing that it is Your will that as I ask You to do, You have asked me to do first.

And for those without access to a PC, we are made to sleep, if you think about it, all living things sleep. So for sanity there is a need for sleep. This is not the case after you pass. You are first in a place where ‘time’ does not exist. It is a creation in this realm. God separated the day from the night and saw that it was good. We have shared that everything came before Man. Things had to be ‘tested’ out and given ‘time’ to watch and see the successes and ‘fall-outs’. As we have shared, finally-Man, the Heavenly appointed keeper of God’s creation was formed.

It is a wonder that of the substance of the Earth was Man made. Both secular science and the Scriptures state that man was formed from dust. The big bang theory, more or less, holds that planet earth and all its life forms developed from stardust, while the biblical account states that man was formed by God from the dust of the earth, which he also created (and woman from the rib of Adam). And in yet another similarity, both worldviews state that man returns to dust. What is the difference, and why is it important?

In Isaiah 40:12, centuries before the physical sciences even conceived of these phenomena, Isaiah said that God “has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens by the span, and calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills in a pair of scales” (emphasis added).

Genesis 1–2 tells us that living things, human beings included, were made of dust of the ground. “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). And out of the ground,God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man (Genesis 2:19). After the fall of man through sin (Genesis 3:17), the Lord God sent man out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken (Genesis 3:23).

https://answersingenesis.org/human-body/from-dust-to-dust/

We can read accounts of this concept, being ‘treated’ and brought back.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3437192/People-believe-ve-experienced-death-explain-REALLY-feels-like.html

https://www.google.com/amp/www.today.com/amp/health/i-crossed-over-survivors-near-death-experiences-share-afterlife-stories-t12841

From my experience, I have sought to find other accounts. To step aside for a second, the first Moon landing was by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldridge, not to tout anything that was said and/or done; the second set of footprints on the Moon can be seen at: https://www.guideposts.org/better-living/life-advice/finding-life-purpose/guideposts-classics-buzz-aldrin-on-communion-in-space

Again, I do not push or pull either way. But, can and so we see how even the ‘religious’ aspect of science is made obsolete? There ‘time’ in space shows or suggests many concepts. For a second we will go ‘scientific’. How is it that the only place with conditions perfect for Human life is earth? I know we have suggested it, but think. There is a galaxy out there. There also (we have spoken about) another plane outside of the ‘physical’, we know this as the Spiritual plane.

We have seen and or read some of the accounts above. I am not coming down on either side. Simply stating the facts as we know them. It would be amazing if every individual had the same cocktail of drugs and despite being from all planes of life had the same or similar experiences. What I take from this is that there is another plane. Unknown and not seen by many. There are the few that have seen this and know it to be true or factual.

As a Christian I have to say that most of the claims, be they Christian or not have the same qualities. Feel free to go over them carefully. This brings to light the fact that this is a temporary phase. The next phase as stated is the permanent phase. At a pool, the warm up is stretching, applying all the critical point a of warming up and then the plunge. Kind of a poor example because you do come out of the water. Actually in this case the water in the pool is life, here on Earth. Coming out we are struck by the similarities and yet, differences.

We have feet on the ground, we exist doing things that the water either makes easier or harder depending on your perspective. We learn a new way of being. Rather than stay on this poor example. I will state the actual reality.

We have pointed out that each was created with and for a reason. We have shared that it is best and important for you to know your reason and to start fulfilling it. I can start from the ‘lowest’ to the ‘highest’; each has his/her part and will by God’s grace perform it.

My reason for bringing this up is in the afterlife, there are things to be done! Hard for me to say exactly what. Here we step off the beaten grid, most are questions- much as we have:

https://www.exploregod.com/what-the-bible-says-about-the-afterlife-paper

What is the ‘learning stage’ foe these things. Again, I point out that in that realm, there is not the concept of ‘space and/or time.’

While there is no verse that says “a third of the angels fell from heaven,” some verses, when put together, lead us to that conclusion. Sometime after their creation, and most certainly after the sixth day when everything was declared “very good” (Genesis 1:31), Satan rebelled and was cast out of heaven. “How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!” (Isaiah 14:12). Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18), and in the book of the Revelation Satan is seen as “a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth” (Revelation 9:1).

We are also told that one third of an “innumerable company of angels” (Hebrews 12:22) chose to rebel with him. John saw this great wonder in heaven, “…an enormous red dragon…His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth…the great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him” (Revelation 12:3–9).

Since Satan is referred to as a star which fell or was cast down to earth, and Revelation 12:4 says a third of the stars were cast out with him, then the conclusion is that the stars in Revelation 12 refer to fallen angels, fully one third of the heavenly host. If the one-third number is in fact accurate, what assurance that is! Two thirds of the angels are still on God’s side, and for followers of Christ, they are on our side as well.

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/what-awaits-us-in-the-afterlife-20150611-ghlhch.html

http://www.allaboutgod.com/story-of-lucifer.htm

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_angel

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Heaven

There is so much to share, it at times is a challenge to sequester it all. I have given some examples above to read and come to some understanding.

We started out talking about ‘time’ in Heaven and understand there is no such concept. Again I bring up in Human terms what ‘periods’ are in Heaven.

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

2 Peter 3:8

This is made simple to understand for it is a known fact from our studies that no ‘time’ elapsed. God has stepped out to let life go on and says: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

Revelations 3:20

The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade.

But no one else dared to join them, even though all the people had high regard for them.

Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women.

As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by.

Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil* spirits, and they were all healed.

The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.

They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them,

“Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!”

So at daybreak the apostles entered the Temple, as they were told, and immediately began teaching.

When the high priest and his officials arrived, they convened the high council*—the full assembly of the elders of Israel. Then they sent for the apostles to be brought from the jail for trial.

Acts 5:1-20

As part of this sharing, let us read whay was said, and we see that it was. And should I ask “Is it still this way?,

And Jesus said: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

John 14:12

Peter’s shadow? He would pass by and even his shadow would command healing in those who came out. We shared Paul’s speaking and a young man falling asleep and to his death below, Paul going down and asking the bearers of the body to set it down and we saw what happened. Read Acts 20:7-12.

Are we doing? It was given in encouragement that we can all in faith do even grander things to God’s Glory! All we have to do is believe. There are so many more examples to share. http://stronginfaith.org/article.php?page=114

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gotquestions.org/amp/raised-from-the-dead.html

So, as opposed to writing it out, we share the locations. When I was younger, we did not have the internet, no web pages-just books and word of mouth. It is a blessing to have such. I actually then think of the early church

The apostles all wrote their accounts of what happened with Jesus. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make up a two-part work, Luke–Acts, by the same anonymous author, usually dated to around 80–90 AD. The first part, the Gospel of Luke, tells how God fulfilled his plan for the world’s salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the promised Messiah.

<a href=”http://overviewbible.com/author-wrote-most-bible/”><img src=”http://overviewbible.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/bible-author-wrote-most.png” alt=”Authors of the Bible: who wrote most?”

border=”0″/></a></p>

Awesome that we are able to share. I have thought about the early days of the church. In the letters of St. Paul to the churches, they had a knowledge of Jesus and His works, we just mentioned how faith would settle many an issue. In essence, they did not have a Bible, but rather the works of evangelists and apostles to go by. Think, how were the letter ‘shared’ in gatherings? Word of mouth and by faith.

We sharted this about two individuals who conspired to “rob” The Church of their own ‘donation’ and lie about it, and paid for it dearly.

To review:  In the King James Version we read:

“But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,

And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.

And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.”

Acts 5:1-11

The Holy Spirit lays things in our hearts, throw open the doors and hear The Spirit in your heart. Greater works than Jesus did shall we do; in faith as we bless others and are blessed.

As always, I will add a little tidbit: “Are you filled with the Holy Spirit?” I ask this because a sister I had never met, asked me to agree with her to have evidence of The Spirit. And, Yes I did believe with her and God’s grace fulfilled many things. Hallelujah! I point out again the very salient teaching; “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in Heaven.”

In fact, those few verses are a boiling, seething example in faith and blessing.

Let us share them: “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will bee bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will bef loosed in Heaven.

“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Matthew 18:18-20

The Word is full of pointers, all are rich in  blessings.

I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

Psalm 86:12-13

hell

hel/

noun

1. A place regarded in various religions as a spiritual realm of evil and suffering, often traditionally depicted as a place of perpetual fire beneath the earth where the wicked are punished after death for eternity.

synonyms:the netherworld, the Inferno, the infernal regions, the abyss; eternal damnation, perdition; hellfire, fire and brimstone; Hades, Sheol, Acheron, Gehenna, Tophet; literarythe pit

“they feared hell.”

I am aware that we have not fully discussed this. Imagine as ‘seeing’ individuals, a place without light-a blindness of a kind. A place lacking the presence of God, even from afar. There darkness reigns supreme. Here on Earth we have the sun, stars, the moon. There there is a lack of even the merest definition of existence. There are Spirits there, but spirits that had time to turn to Him. We are all given the choice and chance of what to choose, where to stand.

I recall a very instrumental verse in our desire to make the ‘right’ choice in this Life.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13

Not some things. But to His glory and as a testimony to the blessings daily showered on us all things, as long as they fall squarely in the path that we have set before us. This verse is power filled! Let me state again; not ‘some’ things-but ‘all’ things. Ever stood or gotten caught in a rain downpour? Quite frustrating, no? We cannot help but think about being dry. Really? Let me ask a simple question. Being ‘trapped’ or covered in a ‘storm’ of sorts,  I can point out where we would stand over-joyed by the blessings poured out on us!

The Lord will open the Heavens, the storehouse of His bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.

The Lord will make you the head, not the tail. If you pay attention to the commands of the Lord your God…and carefully follow them, you will always be at the top, never at the bottom.

Deuteronomy 28:12,13

Amazing no? We can feel, read and see what awaits us when we stand and walk where we are directed to be.

To restate where we started “For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.” Who wrote this? Or I should ask who was led to write this and what were the conditions therein?

The Psalms were written by none other than king David- The shepherd (learning to care for sheep.):  “But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear…”

1 Samuel 17:34-36a

When did he find time? We know he had the stirrings of The Spirit within him. He must have spent so much time writing/penning components in the book of Psalms.

Seventy-three of the 150 psalms in the Hebrew Bible are attributed to King David. One of the Dead Sea Scrolls (11QPsa) attributes 3600 tehilim (songs of praise) plus other compositions to him.

http://www.fbbc.com/messages/hyles_psalms.htm

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gotquestions.org/amp/Psalms-David.html

https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/parallel/paral18.cfm

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=/amp/s/www.gotquestions.org/amp/Psalms-authors.html&ved=0ahUKEwj9uunoh8rUAhVHFj4KHXsOB6YQFghYMBA&usg=AFQjCNEMtaJ_k6qN_eoMUwkJMk6-EXd6xQ&sig2=w_x32UCjUAJXUgZdtoTnEg

We have spoken about Moses, an example he was and still is. Walking with God, we cannot even count the occurences. Just imagine this; for flirty years The Isrealites walked and journeyed through the desert-like conditions. Hunger, thirst… So much so, that some actually longed for the slavery they had left. So many times people complained and threatened to go back. Hold on! To back??? To be killed perhaps, or worked to death. These Egyptians had been the source of labor. We have gone over how they came to be in the nation of Egypt-Joseph who well before his time, he dreamt dreams and His Spirit received what was to be. So much So that his brothers and even his father were a little tired of hearing of his dreams.

When his brothers saw that their father “loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.”

Genesis 37:4

Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”

His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.

Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.

Genesis 37:5-11

Well before it was to happen he dreamt. Many times we may have dreams and find ourselves ‘timing’ them. If and where have dreams or a vision of things to come, keep it to heart and pray. Commiting all, our dreams, hopes, visions and desires to God. We can quote so many verses that stress this:

Psalm 37:5; Provers 16:3; Psalm 37:5,6.

How can and do we commit our ways unto The LORD???

Commit your work to the LORD, / and your plans will be established” (ESV). This wonderful verse speaks of our responsibility to serve God and the result of discharging our duty faithfully.

The first verb, commit, is a word that, in Hebrew, literally means “to roll.” Other passages such as Genesis 29:3 and Psalm 22:8–9 likewise use the idea of “rolling” something to the Lord. The idea is that we completely give something over to God in dependence upon Him. When we “commit” our work to the Lord, we offer everything we do completely to Him.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gotquestions.org/amp/commit-work-plans-established.html

Just why did we share this? Read on:

No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Joshua 1:5

We are keen to know what the scripture says. When we read the new testament, we see exactly where what was promised is told us, and God’s promises roll on! Once again to His GLORY, The Word is one! As you read, more just what is said, for our understanding it is repeated over and over to His GLORY! The above verse is carried to Hebrews 13:5 “Let your manner of living be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have. For He hath said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee””

I smile because this re-states what we just shared as per ‘sharing’; like I said The Word is one, Hallelujah!

🈷I will call upon the Lord

Who is worthy to be praised

So shall I be saved from my enemies

The Lord Reigneth and blessed be the Rock

And let the God of my salvation be exalted.

Do we recollect this song? To give credit, it is Words and music by Michael O’Shields.

As we have shared there is a musician in each and every one of us. We have The Word, essentially the songs have been written. We put sound to them. Our schedules usually hinder responsibilities, children, jobs, our days. What is your favorite verse? Put it to music, sing it! Its yours.

Here it is, right where we said it’d be, it is in Psalm 18.

“I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.” v.3

And we go on in speaking to The LORD “The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.”

Psalm 18:3-7

If and when we are overtaken by the burdens of life, the door is wide open to The Throne. He (our God) sits there, Jesus on His right. We can approach him through Jesus, our savior. Through Him, we have hope. A faith that passes all understanding. “This is how things are, by His grace- This is how things will be.” Amen and Amen.

It is amazing! When we walk on the correct path that we are lead on by the shepherd our all is known. In fact I complicate it. In our existence where we will be, what the effects are, are known!

The apostle Paul (Saul at the time) could not hold his breath to stop fussing, groaning and complaining about the early church. Follow me! He held the cloaks of those who stoned Stephen to death about his beliefs (the challenge is to look that up.) He went around arresting and jailing those in the early church; and even on his way to Damascus…”Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.”

Do we have a God who sits idly by? Yes He allows things to run their course

1. “God allows evil, but does not cause it.”

God always had the opportunity to say, “I refuse to create mankind, because it will result in the creation of evil and suffering.” By choosing to create us, God chose to create suffering where none previously existed. An all-good God should’ve chosen not to create us, since this would allow him to keep the amount of suffering in the Universe at absolute zero, and our uncreated souls would’ve been none the wiser.

2. “The natural world is under the curse of sin.”

In order to excuse God from the suffering he created, we sometimes try to place all the blame on man or Satan, saying, “It’s not God’s fault man sinned and let evil into the world!” But who defines the limits of mankind’s punishment? God! So why didn’t God just design a punishment that didn’t involve punishing innocent children?

why not just kick Adam and Eve out of Eden and allow their sinless children to remain? Or allow Adam and Eve to stay, but punish them in the afterlife (instead of punishing them in this life and the next)? Or why not give children a greater level of protection outside of Eden? Or not allow them to feel serious pain until they’re older, or after they’ve sinned?

“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

— Luke 11:13

Even we who are evil recognize that children should not be punished for sins they didn’t commit. And yet… they are.

3. “If God did not allow evil, then he would have to destroy everything that is evil.”

This all-or-nothing fallacy says that either all evil must exist, or it all must be destroyed — but surely there must be some middle ground.

You can read this more in-depth at https://www.google.com/amp/s/500questions.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/17-why-does-god-allow-children-to-suffer-and-die/amp/

Which specifically addresses why children die. But, it was an excellent lead in to why sin? And why life?

So, as we were discussing God allows life to be, that is how He created Earth. He has made a clear path to Him. Some are takers, others not so much so. We can look at the lives of those Saul locked up

Why??? The BIG question lies in our hearts. God was preparing one of the greatest apostles to live in the present era of “Christianity.”

Judy as we discussed above, children die, why??? An explanation is offered. To each their own. Your temptation/trial will be different from others. The importance is how you respond.

We can go on and examine the life of Paul. He was sent to another place of imprisonment: Paul sails for Rome:

When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. Acts 27:1

Our key point is upcoming, on that trip he was he had a vision on that journey where He was ignored as he told them to stay till the weather was clear. We read: “After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.”

Acts 28:21-25

We are approaching the key note in this share. He was visited in his sleep by an Angel who told him what would happen. As we discussed above, our paths are all known. Even when others on the same path make decisions that belittle our conclusions. They did abandon ship and as the Angel said, all were safe. The key point is that life happens, because God allows it to happen.

When they were all safely ashore, they were welcomed by the islanders who built them a fire and…Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god. Acts 28:3-6

Now, many things could have happened. Being a man of faith and in faith he just shook it off. He must have been thanking God, which underlines our push to keep gratitude in our lives and voices. So once again we must ask “if Paul was truly visited by an Angel who foresaw everything that would happen, why wasn’t he warned about the serpent?” We can ask, we do not know. Paul penned the letters to the churches and had given account of this trip. It is possible that he was told a serpent would bite him and just what to do. But, I point out that something that was most likely unexpected occurred and the Glory to God was!

Let me start today’s sharing off with a word of encouragement. “Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak!” — Matthew 26:41 (NLT)

We are besot by so much fanfare. At times I will admit it is difficult to keep your eyes focused on our inspiration-Christ. We are encouraged to “Pray without ceasing.” I would add a very credible alternative to that phrase: “Pray without season”. Just what does that mean? “Time to pray!” Might mean morning, night or cat fellowship with brethren. There is no season for praying, it should become a key part of our day.

I am sure we have heard “Pray always/continually!” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Pray continually??? How is this possible? If something positive occurs, a “Thank you Jesus.” Should follow. Want to do a work/job/make a decision? “Lord, I commit this into Your hands, direct me, show me, Lord in my all be glorified.” Get the idea? A word of prayer with each decision, act or word becomes a constant habit in every situation.

I will pause here. Have an awesome day, festooned in Christ.

fes·toon

feˈsto͞on/

verb

past tense: festooned; past participle: festooned

adorn (a place) with ribbons, garlands, or other decorations.

“the room was festooned with balloons and streamers”

I will be the first to say trials are a test of faith! To believe God is easy in blessings. “There is a God!!!” We exclaim. In trials, doubt creeps in; we say “Can it really be”, it ranges from “Why me?” to “Is it possible?”, “I can’t believe that…” That what???

There are times when all seems impossible. All! Is there prayer? “I have been trying! What am I doing wrong?” Questions come a mile a minute, doubt creeps in. Shrug it off! No matter the trial it will be over. We hear so many things from elders and people at church. Why can’t I have??? The question arises.

We had shared on Job, he was so distraught with trials that his only remaining ‘friends’ asked him to speak ill of The LORD and pass. Wait!!! Hold up!!! Wait a minute! Do what??? In that case, he had done all that he did in the past. When his children would celebrate a feast he would offer sacrifices to ensure they were in the right stand with The LORD. Do you think Satan can’t and does not kill? He sent a storm that collapsed the house where they celebrated and done they were.

Why the story of Job you ask. It stands as someone who did right. The LORD, Our heavenly Father spoke with pride concerning his ways, His hand which was around Job was accounted for his success. So, God removed his stay around him and he suffered much.

We read that he even spoke ill of The day he was born. Once again I refer to https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Job_(biblical_figure)

To get a fuller sense of the exact occurences in his life.

We learn of his; IF plagued with such, would we truly speak highly of our Creator? Let me point out that when times were good, Job did what he had always done, leave everything at the feet of God and thank Him always. This rid not change with his trials.

In our cases, decisions play a HUGE part in what we do. Did we make the right decision? Were we presented with choices? Are we living the way we should be? Many things come to mind; it is important to ensure that our lives, our acts are as will bring God’s blessing.

Will God speak highly of you? In the presence of His court. There are quite a few people here who are doing wonders for Him. Remember, in that realm there is no ‘time’. In Daniel 10:12,13 we read what many of us do not realize “Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.”

Here on Earth, there is ‘time’ and the Angel explained it in terms that would be understood. We will go over the entities discussed here.

“prince of the Persian kingdom”- Most likely, the prince of Persia is a reference to an evil spiritual entity that wielded authority over the ancient kingdom of Persia.

The prophet Daniel had received a troubling vision concerning a great war (Daniel 10:1). He went into a three-week period of mourning, fasting, and prayer. In response to Daniel’s prayer, God sent a heavenly messenger to explain the vision. However, the messenger was delayed for those same three weeks, as he explains to Daniel.

Again to us there is time, to entities in the Spirit there is no ‘time’. We can look at the numerous accounts of Spiritual occurences and time is not a factor. In out understanding we know that it has been said and will occur. Of course I have to throw in my comment here. “Hallelujah! Being on the right side, ‘time’ has no meaning for us. We have been promised eternal glory!

Prospects of eternal glory keep believers from fainting under troubles.

The grace of faith is an effectual remedy against fainting in times of trouble. They knew that Christ was raised, and that his resurrection was an earnest and assurance of theirs. The hope of this resurrection will encourage in a suffering day, and set us above the fear of death. Also, their sufferings were for the advantage of the church, and to God’s glory. The sufferings of Christ’s ministers, as well as their preaching and conversation, are for the good of the church and the

glory of God. The prospect of eternal life and happiness was their support and comfort. What sense was ready to pronounce heavy and long, grievous and tedious, faith perceived to be light and short, and but for a moment. The weight of all temporal afflictions was lightness itself, while the glory to come was a substance, weighty, and lasting beyond description. If the apostle could call his heavy and long-continued trials light, and but for a moment, what must our trifling difficulties be!

https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries/Matthew-Henry/2Cor/Prospects-Eternal-Glory-Keep

So, to conclude this sharing, we at times may be burdened with a Spiritual obstacle. Hold on! To your faith (your wants and expectations in prayer) and they will come through.

Let us pray:

How many times have we tried to figure out;  “Just why, how, should, if, where, when, how much…” The list is unending. It has been said “Let go and let God.” You ate a testimony waiting to be told.

No matter where you are at this point, at this stage; you are because you have allowed yourself to be there.

In this case, let us look from the top down. If you are in a state of continued blessings as it was meant to be. That is your everyday! If you were asked to describe just how or why…words may fail you, but if pressed you will state “I just did as I was supposed to.” This is the correct answer, we have been asked to do so little for so much. It amazes me that over 2000+ years ago, things were set in place for us, have you claimed it yet? Is it established? Matthew 18:18 says “Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on Earth shall be loosed in Heaven.”

When we do, we realize that some things are inexplicable no matter how hard we try to ‘understand’ them! Note, God through His Word has stated:

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.

“As the Heavens are higher than the Earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8-9

We have shared, Heaven is a parallel existence we are here and everything happens here we are aware of and yet so much happens in the parallel plane. To understand this, though it is still complex; Jesus when arising was seen to physically rise to be once again with our Father in Heaven. We might try to figure out “Rose to space?” It has been pointed out, It is a parallel existence. In the transfiguration, the boundaries were overcome by He that set them, and for their faith the disciples were allowed to witness this. There are so many examples, but rather than list them for time I will have you search and find them.

To research this as it stands today, we can do so much to take a look at the summery, we can go to: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entering_Heaven_alive

Not just there but we can read of Enoch and Elijah, to ensure your participation, I have included the names, you do the search.

I will clue you in again, as we have already discussed above there were two beings present with Jesus at the transfiguration-In these accounts, Jesus and three of his apostles, Peter, James, John, go to a mountain (the Mount of Transfiguration) to pray. On the mountain, Jesus begins to shine with bright rays of light. Then the prophets Moses and Elijah appear next to him and he speaks with them.

When Moses was taken up Mt Moab to view the promised land from afar, he later on was taken. Though his ‘burial’ place is known, in support of our theorem, there is a parallel state. According to the final chapter of the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses ascended Mount Nebo to view the Land of Israel, which God had said he would not enter, and to die there; he was buried in an unknown valley location in Moab.

Again, this is material for a study, so we will leave it as is currently and set off to do the days ‘work.’

The LORD is my all, I shall not be in need of anything whatsoever. I understand that I will be in want to His glory! Each day, moment in time He is before me and I am able to tred in blessings, which spring up around me.

I ask today in knowledge of the way things are that His Glory spans time, space and our ability to discern. Lord, thank You for patience; I am covered with Your peace.

My blessings I give to You Father, by Your grace now and for eternity. Hallelujah! I will raise my voice in a song to the majesty of Your being.

In my life LORD be glorified in Jesus’ name, Amen

I sought the Lord, and He answered me;

He delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to Him are radiant;

their faces are never covered with shame.

This poor man called, and the Lord heard him;

he saved him out of all his troubles.

The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them.

Psalm 34:4-7 (NIV)

What a verse! We might have memorized Psalm 34:7; this brings so much to bear on our faith! “Encamps around”? There are right there! All our actions both positive and negative are known. This alone should determine our desire. We do not want to impress the Angel encamped around us, but in our words, thoughts and actions be accountable to Him who we will give account of all we do.

So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Romans 14:12 (ASV)

We have discussed memory as an account of what we do. Even if we (in the Spirit) are there before God, much like we remember places, reasons, good/bad, beautiful/ugly…. We shall give account of all. The one thing that stands out is Jesus stood in our place. All the ‘wrongdoing’ that we have practised, His blood makes us white as snow. Imagine, on the judgement day; your past is covered with a blot that sears the screen, there may be memories but it is all a blur. The very second you accept Christ- Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

2 Corinthians 5:17

We could go on and discuss this, rather you have a task, an assignment. Consider the words shared above, they say so much. Dwell on this and let it sink in. A lot to be learned!

Father Lord, Hallelujah! I thank You because I am encircled by Your grace. You have sent an Angel to encamp around me. As such in Your realm there is nothing ‘private’. As I am, I commit my self to You anew, each day is new, each second different than the one right before it. Lord, in Your grace I want to be consistent in Your presence. Bless me with the desire and ability to Love You, be more like You each day. Father, thank You for going before me in all I do. In and through my life I pray the You be glorified Lord Jesus. In my going out and coming in. Be blessed Father, in Jesus’ name, Amen

Another quick share to cap it all, in the now:

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies. Psalm 18:2,3

Ok 😉! We will start discussing this. But, wait a minute!!! Hold up, what is a buckled? Any takers? It is what The Word (and we) say without a second thought. So, pray tell…what is a buckled? I guess I should have a multiple choice option 😜.

Ok, ok, ok check this out (and then we can dissect the ‘sharing’)

Buckler [Noun]

A portable shield ( 2 Samuel 22:31 ; 1 Chronicles 5:18 ).

A shield surrounding the person; the targe or round form; used once figuratively ( Psalms 91:4 ).

A large shield protecting the whole body ( Psalms 35:2 ; Ezek. 23:24 ; 26:8 ).

Everywhere we are, our shield is there. We are covered! Praise God! It is a ‘portable sheild’, in and on the battlefield of life-we are guaranteed The Holy Trinity will be with and in us. Surrounding us!

This actually takes me back to an earlier ‘share’. We are on a stage, existing in parallel with The Heavenly realm! This points to why untruths are not to be uttered and sins avoided. I mean with understanding that we are in such situations that make it difficult at times. Our Father is Love! There is no separation, what is the definition of Love? We have covered this (to save time https://www.bibleinoneyear.org/bioy/commentary/1349)

We live in God’s presence! Hence, remaining where God has instructed, we are covered!

Too high to reach? We just shared “…and my high tower.” In Whom we are!!! Alleluia! Praise The Lord! (I am keenly aware that it was written ‘backward’; or not really…I was praising The LORD for all He does in our lives. This I did follow the a PTL! For the realization of the fact that we are blessed!!! )

Staying in The LORD is what we need to do all our ways in Jesus’ mighty name, Amen.

I am aware that I always seem to be reading The Word. Nothing else brings such joy and contentment. Got a subject? It is in there! An issue? No problem. See, we wait until…then run and scamper trying to find solutions. A prayer group? I betcha! Hmm, when times were good (rosy and peachy keen) did we look for a prayer group then? A confidante?

“O! Excuse me, sorry to bother you. But I have it so well, it is great!!!”

I am almost definitely sure, I have not heard that before. A nub to shove under The door is “ALL things work together for good, to them that Love Him and who have been called according to his purpose.”

Does that ring a bell? Ok, ok I will not play the usual “find it…” You can find it in Romans 8:28. Reading The a word was a chore prior to my experience. Now you have to tear me away from it. To end this ‘sermon’; I was so keyed up about ‘life’, it’s treats and rewards that I did things backward. God was a part of my life, not the main part. Let us have a show of hands…Is God the beginning to your day? The ending?

How many people fell asleep last night without praying first? I am sure no one will raise their hands for this question. But, I am just suggesting that possibly if we have guidance before each decision, there will be no mistakes. It is a guarantee. Hard for me to say, but it is biblical and one single verse is yet to be disproven; for as long as it has been around???

Ok, we have got to move on, time is money (or is it?)

What Jesus went through was known centuries before He came, read: Isaiah 53:3-5

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

This brings a HUGE burden of care, sorrow, gratitude, elation, respect…I am overwhelmed. When Jesus came, He knew exactly what He would go through and experience. First, He had to go through life as one of us. Let me jump forward and show you something we have talked about earlier. At the precipice of the time He knew exactly what would go down, He said “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42

That is deep! Jesus knew exactly what would teanspire, and the human Him knew the cost. So much so that “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.” Luke 22:43 Not to go over past words, but if and When you meditate on this…”Jesus knew!” Even a prophet well before His time had prophesied exactly what would be. I am sure at the time, he did not know why or what he wrote but was inspired by The Spirit.

Words sometimes flow, just as when we pray in the Spirit, there is so much we say that cannot be expressed with words we know. I will share a few places that speak broadly on this topic for times sake:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gotquestions.org/amp/praying-Spirit.html

http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/learning-to-pray-in-the-spirit-and-the-word-part-1

https://www.lwf.org/bible-study/posts/how-to-pray-in-the-spirit-12773

http://www.ihopkc.org/resources/blog/power-praying-spirit/

https://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/don_stewart/don_stewart_506.cfm

http://unlockingthebible.org/praying-in-the-spirit/

I admit, I got lost in this (Kinda like I tend to) but I was able to extricate myself and stop there. But there is so much more where that came from, if any questions-direct them to an elder or clergy woman/man in your fellowship\Chuch.

And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 1 John

1 John 2:17

We will be in a Glorious presence, each with their own part to play. We are in training. When we are blessed to be with The LORD we will realize what we have put effort to learn. Have you struggled, have you attained? Place your efforts to the grinding stone, recognizing God first in all we do. We were  created with purpose. Have you found what it is?

Let all that I am wait quietly before God,

for my hope is in Him.

He alone is my Rock and my salvation,

my fortress where I will not be shaken.

My victory and honor come from God alone.

He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me.

O brethren (and in our terms ‘sistren’), trust in Him at all times.

Pour out your heart to Him, He knows all you experience, for God is our refuge.

The people of Israel were the first existence that were considered ‘people of God.’

God remembered us in our low estate: for His mercy endureth for ever!

Psalm 136:23

We will start off with the definition of mercy. It is well described here:

http://www.allaboutgod.com/god-of-mercy.htm

God is known to be a God of mercy and grace. Understanding mercy is often difficult for people as we tend to be a generation of “I’ll get him for that” and “I hope they get what they deserve.” Many have developed a nature of harsh criticism and want others to get what they have coming to them and then some.

God, however, is merciful to even the worst offenders, sinners, and law-breakers. This means that even though He knows of our guilt, He doesn’t always issue the punishment deserved. To elaborate, the verse in Romans 3:23-24 says “…all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Simply, we are all sinners and do not meet the standards of righteousness that God intends us to have. But, through His mercy and grace He provided a way for our sins to be forgiven through our acceptance of Christ Jesus—even though we don’t deserve it.

Again, I try and minimize (shorten) the text and encourage speaking with God. Important to spend our time praying.

Lord Heavenly Father, Your grace is sufficient for me. I was in no place or way to be blessed. You are a God of Love, Father, You are Love. There is no human definition of Your way. Your ways are profound. Through You, we learn the quality of Love in 1 Corinthians 13. Father, we Love those dear to us; family, friends, loved ones and by Your grace, those who have wronged us. In our efforts, they come not close to what You feel and have shown to and for us.  We put so much into our relationships with Loved ones. Father You put so much more, a part of You came to change His-story (Your story Father, time as it existed prior to Your sending a part of You to rectify, our sins) You sent Your only Son – a part of You, that He may stand in our place. This gives credence to the overwhelming Love, respect that lie in the knowledge of our Savior – Jesus. Father, bless us this day in all we do in Jesus’ name, go before us Father. This day use us to be a source of blessing in our going out and coming in we pray, In Jesus’ name, Amen

How can something not of this world be ‘physical’? They take on human forms and can affect us:

Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists.

– Acts 12:7

“The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord,a do not pass your servant by. Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”

“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”…”

Genesis 18:1-6

We can read more here, again I do not wish to repeat what has been written so I focus on a few topics and list a few other sources. We are discussing “experiencing” Angels We can read:

http://www.beliefnet.com/inspiration/angels/galleries/how-to-tell-if-youve-encountered-an-angel-in-physical-form.aspx

There was a sister who asked to be prayed for to receive The Holy Spirit. She was counseled to thank God, for He already had bestowed His Spirit in faith. This comes to mind:

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:13-17

We have been blessed with The Spirit, if we read The Word, not many had hands laid on them. Recieve The Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name, Amen

Let us read some text that I have been blessed with:

Just wanted to share; “Reasons to give Him praise.” Our Word is right there. Do we pick it up when times are ‘good’? Mor3 likely than not “I am too busy!” Or “Responsibilities!”

Aren’t you responsible for your future? These things will pass away. Our Spirit, our true selves will remain. My question is where?

We have the chance to lay our odds, place our bets. Like gambling? This is the biggest game there ever was. We place all (no exception) our chips on the number (in the hope of glory,) just as we do in gambling. Yes, there are many who despise the concept of gambling. In this case, you can decide to ignore the possibilities; live in a world of denial. What happens when we get to the end and realize that it is true! Our decisions amount for all.

This is where I state the obvious, carefully consider the options. Stand up and be real, think. To stand in one spot will not do. We can head away from the decision; actually let me state what a lot of people do (at this point kindly point the young ones in the other direction.)

There is so much to ‘keep us busy’, to make us focus on other things; Sex, lust, wantoness things in and of the physical realm. There is an option, take a good look at what is; getting your groove on. Might feel awesome at the second it is done; After? Again, think hard on this. What are your regrets today? Look too hard, lust after that individual, wish/hope we had more or just as much as another individual? Let us state the fact he’s lost, envy, want… Again, I do not state need. The bible says “He will supply all your need(s) according to His riches in Glory.” Can we enumerate? That is endless Riches! Think, God made The Universe! Here onv Earth gold, diamonds, oil, timber, food, oxygen… We find new goods each day, technology too.

If we were back in the day of the Isrealites, many of the things we presently have and have discovered did not exist back then but there was the possibility and they have come to be.

I have to stop on the wayside for a minute. Being a clinician; what could have been wrong with Lazarus? Seriously? They checked for a pulse, could he have had bradycardia? Suffered a seizure? I could go on, but knowing this though He was moved to ‘ get there quick ‘ Jesus tarried, so that God would be glorified. When He arrived, He experienced the mourners. Mind you…Jesus wept!

But He had said he tarried that The LORD would be Glorified.

Years and technology later, even doubters must agree that something did happen! Plus, there were witnesses! Jesus had said He tarried for the Glory of the Father. In this amazing witnesses account, He did not go in and lay hands, but he ordered the stone at the entrance to the tomb rolled away and called “Lazarus, come forth.” To wipe the sarcastic smile off peoples faces Lazarus’ burial garments withheld him and he struggles to get them free.

Greater works shall we do if we believe. My testimony is different; being in the now I had setting of the bone, hematoma drained from my cranium among other things. That is in the here and now, but we focus on the witnessed account of NO physician and Jesus calling Him forth and his coming out. No hands were laid, no physicians, no one to share the Glory!

We may wonder what happened to Lazarus. Let us read; I leave a link  https://www.scross.co.za/2014/04/what-happened-to-lazarus-after-his-resurrection/

We can meditate on this and we will touch on it later:

Reasons to give Him praise:

Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my Spirit in its entirety, praise His holy name.

Praise the Lord, my soul,

and forget not all His benefits—

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord works righteousness

and justice for all the oppressed.

He made known His ways to Moses,

his deeds to the people of Israel:

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in Love.

He will not always accuse,

nor will He harbor His anger forever;

He does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the Heavens are above the Earth,

so great is His Love for those who fear Him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far has He removed our transgressions from us.

As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him;

for He knows how we are formed,

He remembers that we are dust.

The life of mortals is like grass,

they flourish like a flower of the field;

the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more.

But from everlasting to everlasting

the Lord’s Love is with those who fear Him,

and His righteousness with their children’s children—

with those who keep His covenant

and remember to obey His precepts.

The Lord has established His throne in Heaven,

and his kingdom rules over all.

Praise the Lord, you His angels,

you mighty ones who do His bidding,

who obey His word.

Praise the Lord, all His heavenly hosts,

you His servants who do His will.

Praise the Lord, all His works

everywhere in His dominion.

Psalm 103

How can we ‘define’ The LORD, our God? When it came to names, His might and presence cannot be named. “I am, who I am.” Names are an Earthly thing. He has shown with His Love and magnificence just what He is! It belies whatever we may choose to call Him. We define, just as The Word does:

To Him who alone doeth great wonders: for His mercy endureth for ever. To Him that by wisdom made the heavens: for His mercy endureth for ever. To Him that stretched out the Earth above the waters: for His mercy endureth for ever. To Him that made great lights: for His mercy endureth for ever: The sun to rule by day: for His mercy endureth for ever: The moon and stars to rule by night: for His mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 136:4-9

How can you describe Him? How can He be defined? In awe we lay out in reverence before Him!

Ok, let play the part of an unbel. “You take this ‘nonsense’ too serious! It is always Jesus this, or Jesus that. Don’t you guys ever give it up??? I mean…”

What do you say to that? It goes on “What are you looking for? What do you want???”

“I have heard this ‘nonsense’ time after time, give it up!”

These are challenges we might face each day. The simple answer to start (and hopefully end it all) is. “I really do not know. I believe (for faith is believing without seeing). You can state what you believe makes you who and what you are. So, do they have a problem with who you are? With what you believe? A clear knowledge we have is (and we can keep it in our hearts) people have seen in Spirit what lies ahead. We have faith, we live in faith, through faith we answer “God is!”

The answer to your response might be “After you are done with life, then what?”

How do I state this? Miracles have been occurring by the awesome Grace of God! Today, I was chanced to read about the prophet Elisha. Not only did he predict by The Grace of God, But he raised the dead by the Grace of God. Poison in food? No problem.

What Jesus did had been done prior to His coming. However one Spirit to have the Grace to do all? We can read that not only did he raise the dead, he multiplied loaves, caused the blind to see, healed lepers and so on. We can read about this all in The Word. The key thing is that i5 was said “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12

Have we truly considered this? “Greater works.”? We have the promise, just as Jesus did all that He did to bring to fruition, The Word! We read specifically “…They will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

We can see what the disciples did, what bona fide ‘people of God’ do. We will discuss in a bit why I state this. There will be The Spirit of God, but things in the supernatural do occur. Before going to far, let us share what we discussed above.

“And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people. And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid. And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life. And when the child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. And he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man of God, and shut the door upon him, and went out. And she called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again. And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be well. Then she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy riding for me, except I bid thee. So she went and came unto the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite: Run now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy husband? is it well with the child? And she answered, It is well: And when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is vexed within her: and the LORD hath hid it from me, and hath not told me. Then she said, Did I desire a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me? Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer him not again: and lay my staff upon the face of the child. And the mother of the child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he arose, and followed her. And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child; but there was neither voice, nor hearing. Wherefore he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is not awaked. And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then he returned, and walked in the house to and fro; and went up, and stretched himself upon him: and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. And he called Gehazi, and said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. Then she went in, and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and went out. And Elisha came again to Gilgal: and there was a dearth in the land; and the sons of the prophets were sitting before him: and he said unto his servant, Set on the great pot, and seethe pottage for the sons of the prophets. And one went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine, and gathered thereof wild gourds his lap full, and came and shred them into the pot of pottage: for they knew them not. So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And they could not eat thereof. But he said, Then bring meal. And he cast it into the pot; and he said, Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was no harm in the pot. And there came a man from Baalshalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and full ears of corn in the husk thereof. And he said, Give unto the people, that they may eat. And his servitor said, What, should I set this before an hundred men? He said again, Give the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the LORD, They shall eat, and shall leave thereof. So he set it before them, and they did eat, and left thereof, according to the word of the LORD. 2 Kings 4:8-44

To get back to the topic of ‘miracles’ being performed in the ‘last days’. For Christ have said; “Take heed that no man deceive you.”- Matthew 24:4, thus Christ shows that deception will play a very big role in this last days, for the “…devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”- Revelation 12:12.

In the Book of Revelation 16:13,14 under the sixth plague which is still future shortly before the return of Christ, we are presented with the following words from inspiration; “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.

For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” Notice that the miracles which will be done during the time will be done by devils, that is demons, yes, fallen angels to the ” kings of the earth and of the whole world” to prepare them “to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” Which shows that Satan and his angels have power also to perform miracles. But before that time comes, Satan will have to do a preliminary work of this miracles. It is why Christ has foretold: “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. Behold, I have told you before.”- Matthew 24:24,25.

In God will I praise His word: in the LORD will I praise his word. Psalm 56:10

LORD

lôrd/

noun

1. Someone or something having power, authority, or influence; a master or ruler.

“lord of the sea”

synonyms:master, ruler, leader, chief, superior, monarch, sovereign, king, emperor, prince, governor, commander, suzerain, liege, liege lord More

exclamation

– Used in exclamations expressing surprise or worry, or for emphasis.

“Lord, I’m cold!”

As a verb

1. Archaic: confer the title of Lord upon.

2. Act in a superior and domineering manner toward (someone).

And to define “The Word of God.”

1. For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12 | NIV

2. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 | NIV

3. Your word is a lamp for my feet,

a light on my path.

Psalm 119:105 | NIV

4. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

James 1:22 | NIV

5. How can a young person stay on the path of pur7bity?

By living according to your word.

Psalm 119:9 | NIV

6. The grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of our God endures forever.

Isaiah 40:8 | NIV

7. He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

Luke 11:28 | NIV

We could go on. But as we have seen it makes perfect sense that it is all connected. We see just what the ‘elders’ even in the era of Jesus studied, discussed and shared. But one individual who would extol those features in His ways? It was predicted and cane to be in our time. A blessing! No longer do we war against the people of God. Now we are children of The Father.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;

    never will I forsake you.”

So we say with confidence to believe and say,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.

    What can mere mortals do to me?”

Hebrews 13:5-6

This blessing spills over: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” We read in Psalm 23:1

We can break here and say with a deep knowledge borne from experience that fills us Spiritually: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

As we see, The Word is one. “Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is the sustainer of my soul.”

Psalm 54:4

We can even look in Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

The beginning of the verse says “Keep your lives free from the love of money.” We learn that:

“The love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

1 Timothy 6:10 (KJV)

We have shared “Keep your eyes on Jesus!” All else is folly, temporal things. They will pass away, our faith will not. Now we see from afar, a cloud obstructs our view. Faith makes it clearer! We have, it may not be immediate- but we have been given blessings galore! Amen!

To finish this sharing, we spoke about the thin realm that separates the thin veil between our existence and heavenly beings. Essentially, we are on a visible stage! To close this, I share the verse “Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill Heaven and Earth? saith the LORD.”

Jeremiah 23:23-24 (KJV)

Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living? Psalm 56:12,13

We have read and heard “Vow”, what is a vow?

You are correct if you say promise. In reading the above, I realized that I had seen that often enough to know what it means. Who is promising what? Let us see.

Vow

vou (nedher; euche; ‘iccar, found only in Numbers 30:6,8,10 and translated horismos, by the Septuagint)

A vow could be positive (nedher) and included all promises to perform certain things for, or bring certain offerings to, God, in return for certain benefits which were hoped for at His hand (Genesis 28:20-22, Jacob; Leviticus 27:2,8; Numbers 30; Judges 11:30, Jephthah; 1Sa 1:11, Hannah; 2Sa 15:8, Absalom; Jon 1:16, vows of heathen); or negative (‘iccar), and included promises by which a person bound himself or herself to abstain from certain things (Numbers 30:3). Nowhere in the Old Testament do we find the making of vows regarded as a religious duty (Deuteronomy 23:22), but the fulfilling of a vow was considered as a sacred and binding duty (Deuteronomy 23:21-23; Judges 11:35; Ecclesiastes 5:4; compare Psalms 22:25; 66:13; 76:11; 116:18). A vow was as binding as an oath and therefore to be kept to the letter; and it was not to be lightly made (Proverbs 20:25). A father could veto a daughter’s vow, and a husband a wife’s. If a husband did not veto a wife’s vow, and then caused her to break it, the sin was his and not hers (Nu 30, passim). It seems that vows were considered binding only when actually uttered (Deuteronomy 23:23)

Persons, including one’s self, animals, land and other possessions, could be vowed, but all these could be redeemed with money, which money was to be estimated by the priest, except in the case of a clean animal. In the case of land, houses and unclean animals a fifth part of the estimated value was to be added to make up the redemption money. In the case of land the sum was greater or smaller as the coming year of Jubilee was far off or near (Le 27, passim). Nothing which was by nature holy could be made the object of a vow, e.g. firstlings, tithes, etc. (Leviticus 27:26,28,30); and, on the other hand, an abomination, e.g. the hire of a prostitute, could not be made the object of a vow (Deuteronomy 23:18). In Malachi 1:14 the offering of what was of less value than what had been vowed is vigorously condemned.

In the New Testament Jesus refers to vows only to condemn the abuse of them (Matthew 15:4-6; Mark 7:10-13; compare Talmud, Nedharim, and see CORBAN). In Acts 18:18 (compare Acts 21:23,24) Paul desires to show his Jewish brethren that he is willing to keep the forms of Jewish piety so long as they do not clash with his Christian conscience (compare 1 Corinthians 9:21).

Stop! You are under arrest! I enforce the law in these here parts!

In fact, The Law is enforced everywhere. Where there is a will, there is a way!

For the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:2

“I guess getting arrested is a great thing!” I actually didn’t think of it that way!

“Your Honor, may I please be arrested? I need it.”

Our Moses in Numbers 12:3 is said to have been “Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the Earth.” Numbers 12:3

This was on the occasion where they spoke against him and challenged God’s choice!!! What??? You say, let us first see what The LORD said and afterward, we will see just why:

“When there is a prophet among you,

I, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,

I speak to them in dreams.

But this is not true of my servant Moses;

he is faithful in all my house.

With him I speak face to face,

clearly and not in riddles;

he sees the form of the Lord.

Why then were you not afraid

to speak against my servant Moses?”

Numbers 12:6b-8

Many nowadays, even then dream, dreams, have visions, even sense The LORD in their hearts (The Holy Spirit communes with them.) One awesome reason we have focused on Moses is his example. How many have seen God in this world? God placed Moses in a cleft as He passed by and Moses saw His rear. What an amazing testimony! To see God, talk to him! Fellowship with him! We should all aim for this.

If there is a room of believers with their hearts in the right place, The Spirit is there amongst them. Let us pray to experience God. I am keenly aware of speaking in tongues, but in the fellowship of believers where things have been bound in the name of Jesus and The Spirit loosed, we can ask God to bless us with His sign and fellowship with us. There are a few things I am moved to point out.

1. Each individual must be right with God. There is no bringing grudges, bitterness or ills. Remember, the verse above said Moses was the most humble person on Earth. Humility- what does that mean? So much. Mind you, he had a temper like ‘almost’ no one else, which is why he did not set foot in the promised land. (He disobeyed The LORD’s command to touch a stone and make water come out to quench the thirst of the Isrealites. Moses instead struck the rock.

Trying not to go back, when in Egypt as an adopted ‘son’ of the family of pharaohs, he killed a guard and hid the body, but was seen. What a temper! There are so many examples, we could spend a day discussing Moses and still need time.

One story tells a heap. Teaches us just how God feels about us. Let me get right into it. We can follow along here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binding_of_Isaac

Abraham in his role old age finally had a son. It was prophesied to the patriarch Abraham that he would have a son and that his name should be Isaac. When Abraham became one hundred years old, this son was born to him by his first wife Sarah. Though this was Abraham’s second son it was Sarah’s first and only child. We can go into the drama that ensued with the birth of his first son, but at this time, we will stay on our path.

Sometimes, what we are asked to do mimics what God does. Does that make you wonder? Let me point out a few examples.

Jesus when tempted to do kneel before Lucifer, we have pointed out that no human audience but a significant spiritual presence. Jesus refused because it says in The Word that to God ONLY should we give honor. He might have been given what was offered, but life for us would be much different. It does not surprise me that this was the period after His Spiritual reinforcement by fasting and prayer. We are not even shares with what He went through during His fast, but we can understand in no way was it easy.

God did what he asked Abraham to do! He gave His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for us! Think of this! God knew what He would do, and He asked Abraham to do the same-even before He had. We often wonder why Abraham is the father of many nations. God is The God of all. When God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Abraham did. This is an example that rings eternal.

We at times are asked to give up things that are not important at all. What we five up would prevent us from an eternity in the good Grace of God.

In fact, let us offer a quick word of prayer here:

Father Lord, thank You for giving Your Son for me. Cause me to turn all over to You in Jesus’ name, Amen

We can go on, but we see just why Abraham was named as the father of many nations. “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty ; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations.”  Genesis 17:1-3

There is so much to learn from this, we need to see that even though humanly impossible for a man or woman to have a child in their 90’s, this was done. There is nothing that cannot be done by God.

There was no Earth, God created the Earth and all in it. We have shared on this, awesome to see and no that all is amenable to Man. We are presented with a solar system and Heavenly presence parallel to our existence.

I have to take this opportunity to once again state that we are on a stage. As pointed out in The Word, God has assigned an angel to each believer!

To save time, feel free to browse http://www.everydaychristian.com/blogs/post/angels_their_purpose_for_god_and_their_purpose_for_us/

Let us take a look at Hebrew Chapter 11, I am aware that we have defined Hebrews 11 as “The Faith Chapter.” It speaks of the Character, the essence of Faith. Let us take an even closer look. We just spoke of Abraham and why he was and is the father of many nations.

And we read: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. We believe because we are told that it is. This is what the ancients were commended for.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. This is a huge concept to grasp. Being ‘modern’ how do we explain all the essentials of life here on Earth? Oxygen, water, food…all the things necessary for life. As Christians our first and tantamount essence is to ‘believe’ that we were created with a reason, a purpose in life. We have encouraged that purpose to be found. Prayer will get you there much faster than ‘searching’ without knowing. It is akin to finding a needle in a haystack.

By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith Abel still speaks, even though he is dead.

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And we should read this, these are key examples of just what our trusting and depending fully on God bequeths us. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered Him faithful Who had made the promise.  And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on Earth. Much as we are to see this as a brief ‘stop’ on our journey. In faith all is possible.

Excerpts added to Hebrews 11.

I was moved to see how people of The LORD went ‘Home’. Being so moved, I was led to see the ending of Isaiah’s earthly existence. Did anyone know He was sawn in two? I think it would be good to read and see that we are truly blessed.

THE MARTYRDOM OF ISAIAH

Let us get to it: And it came to pass after that Hezekiah died and Manasseh became king, that he did not remember the commands of Hezekiah his father but forgat them, and Sammael abode in Manasseh and clung fast to him. And Manasseh forsook the service of the God of his father, and he served

Satan and his angels and his powers. And he turned aside the house of his father which had been

before the face of Hezekiah the words of wisdom and from the service of God. And Manasseh turned aside his heart to serve Beliar; for the angel of lawlessness, who is the ruler of this world, is Beliar, whose name is Matanbuchus. And he delighted in Jerusalem because of Manasseh, and he made him strong in apostatizing (Israel) and in the lawlessness which was spread abroad in Jerusalem

And witchcraft and magic increased and divination and augulation, and fornication, [and adultery], and the persecution of the righteous by Manasseh and [Belachira, and] Tobia the Canaanite, and John

of Anathoth, and by (Zadok> the chief of the works. And the rest of the acts, behold they are written

in the book of the Kings of Judah and Israel. And when Isaiah the soll of Amoz saw the lawlessness which was being perpetratcd in Jerusalem and the worship of Satan and his wantonness, he

withdrew from Jerusalem and settled in Bethlehem of Judah. And there also there was much

lawlessness, and withdrawing from Bethlehem he settled on a mountain in a desert place. [And Micaiah the prophet, and the aged Ananias, and Joel and Habakkuk, and his son Josab, and many of the faithful who believed in the ascension into heaven, withdrew and settled on the mountain.]

They were all clothed with garments of hair, and they were all prophets. And they had nothing with them but were naked, and they all lamented with a great lamentation because of the going

astray of Israel. And these eat nothing save wild herbs which they gathered on the mountains, and having cooked them, they lived thereon together with Isaiah the prophet. And they spent two years of

days on the mountains and hills. [And after this, whilst they were in thc desert, there was a certain man in Samaria named Belchlra, of the family of Zedekiah, the son of Chenaan, a false prophet whose dwelling was in Bethlehem. Now Hezekiah the son of Chanani, who was the brother of his father, and in the days of Ahab king of Israel had been the teacher of the 400 prophets of Baal.

It goes on, But what I was moved to see was that The Holy Spirit which came on the day of Pentecost, was here prior to the coming of Jesus! And we read:

And he sawed him asunder with a wood-saw. And when Isaiah was being sawn in sunder Balchlra stood up, accusing him, and all the false prophets stood up, laughing and rejoicing because

of Isaiah. And Balchlra, with the aid of Mechembechus, stood up before Isaiah, [laughing]

deriding; And Belchlra said to Isaiah: ‘Say: “I have lied in all that I have spoken, and likewise

the ways of Manasseh are good and right. And the ways also of Balchlra and of his associates are

good.”‘ And this he said to him when he began to be sawn in sunder. But Isaiah was (absorbed)

in a vision of the Lord, and though his eyes were open, he saw them . And Balchlra spake thus to Isaiah: ‘Say what I say unto thee and I will turn their heart, and I will compel Manasseh

and the princes of Judah and the people and all Jerusalem to reverence thee.’ And Isaiah answered and said: ‘So far as I have utterance (I say): Damned and accursed be thou and all thy powers and

all thy house. For thou canst not take (from me) aught save the skin of my body.’ And they

seized and sawed in sunder Isaiah, the son of Amoz, with a wood-saw. And Manasseh and

Balchlra and the false prophets and the princes and the people [and] all stood looking on. And to the prophets who were with him he said before he had been sawn in sunder: ‘Go ye to the region

“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.  “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.”

John 9:1-7

When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”

Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath. John 5:6-9

Jesus got into a boat and crossed back over to the town where he lived. Some people soon brought to him a crippled man lying on a mat. When Jesus saw how much faith they had, he said to the crippled man, “My friend, don’t worry! Your sins are forgiven.”

Some teachers of the Law of Moses said to themselves, “Jesus must think he is God!”

But Jesus knew what was in their minds, and he said, “Why are you thinking such evil things? Is it easier for me to tell this crippled man that his sins are forgiven or to tell him to get up and walk? But I will show you that the Son of Man has the right to forgive sins here on earth.” So Jesus said to the man, “Get up! Pick up your mat and go on home.” The man got up and went home. When the crowds saw this, they were afraid and praised God for giving such authority to people.

Matthew 9:1-8

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.

1 John 5:1

Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.”

Revelation 11:15

And they sang the song of Moses, the bond-servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations!

Revelation 15:3

“Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

James 1:27

In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? Yes, the Lord is for me; he will help me. I will look in triumph at those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in people. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.” — Psalm 118:5-9 (NLT)

Share with each other any actions you believe God would like you to take. Pray together, asking God for boldness and strength. Spend time asking God for natural opportunities to share your faith with those around you. Then be alert, God will bring people across your path and present you with opportunities to help others and to tell then about Jesus.

The people of God have a His-story to relate. I was reading in Psalms of how The LORD is to be blessed for the victory of His people. Pointedly, it refers to a refusal/restriction of the progression to our goals. Let us go over real brief what this is about: striking down. The whole country on the east of Jordan, from the Arnon to the Jabbok, was possessed by the Amorites, whose king, Sihon, refused to permit the Israelites to pass through his territory, and put his army in array against them. The Israelites went forth against him to battle, and gained a complete victory. The Amorites were defeated; Sihon, his sons, and all his people were smitten with the sword, his walled towns were captured, and the entire country of the Amorites was taken possession of by the Israelites ( Numbers 21:21-30 ; Deuteronomy 2:24-37 ).

The country from the Jabbok to Hermon was at this time ruled by Og, the last of the Rephaim. He also tried to prevent the progress of the Israelites, but was utterly routed, and all his cities and territory fell into the hands of the Israelites

We have a Psalm (136 to be specific) that refers to this; we read from v16 To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever: And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever: Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever: And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever: And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever: Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever. Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever: And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalm 136:16-26

This brings many things to mind. We have been promised much-go out and possess! We have mot read of a believer who sits still and receives, have we? It was said in the beginning of time; “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.”

Many things can be said here many different paths but to stay focused we were created in a lower form of substance. There is God, His Spirit, His Son all one and the same. In reviewing from the old testament we pointed out that The Spirit was here on Earth before Jesus was here. It points out that truly Jesus was sent for a reason. He was sent to stand in for us.

At times, we step in and it is deep. We struggle to catch a breath. The Word hits us. Let me share “But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He came as an example, knowing what He would be up against He stood fast. Actually, at the time of the 3 temptations He was ‘offerered’ a ‘way’ out. He was able to stand firm because He stood in and on The Word. We can review again, but knowing The Word is important. Do you want to be a forward runner? The Word is a way to get grounded. This comes with a good dose of prayer.

Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. When an individual chooses to believe, they are free in deed. (I know what I said ‘both’ in deed and indeed.) Our deeds are led and directed by The Spirit indeed. There may be mild interference, but the message comes through- We are children of the most High.

We know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commands. Whoever says, “I know Him,” but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.

1 John 2:1-4 paraphrased

The encouragement and advice:

And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

The definite: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Luke 11:9-10 (KJV)

And we are steadfast in His will for His mercy and wisdom shall be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. Proverbs 3:22-26

We are blessed with wisdom! Hallelujah!

The encouragement and advice:

And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

The definite: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Luke 11:9-10 (KJV)

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

“Uhh! I think I know just what to do!”

“Hmmm! Is it this way or that???”

“I wish there was someone here to show me exactly what to do…” These statements can go on for eons, but the fair commentary is to turn to God in our times of excellence, and trust in the times of trial it will be a step in fortitude and toward His grace, to be in The LORD Our God. Amen!

We are asked to “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” This says so much! Think about it, an awesome way to start each day, each conversation, each act in our lives. Old habits die hard, I am sure we have heard this at least once prior. By God’s grace you are made to be a prince/princess in God’s Kingdom! We were bought with a price, show it! To place it into more distinct terms we are who and what we are by The awesome grace of God!

It is amazing!!! I have been meditating on the way things were and are. God is on The Throne and will always be!!! Everything is as He willed it to be. He is God!!! There is nothing before Him. All is dust. Even angels that are termed the sons of God are His making.

To make it clearer, what is is. For He has willed for it to be.If it is raining struggle to sight a rainbow. There is His will! The beauty of His will. We see a beauty of ‘physics’, light funneled through the prism of crystals in the water. But, what made this ‘wonder’ of physics? Why aren’t there other such wonders? We can go through quite a few I am sure, but The Word tells us where this wonder is from.

A day before The LORD is as a thousand years, and a thousand years but a day. Methuselah almost lived a day in the sight of The LORD. Where and how God is, there is an abscense of time. Our cries for assistance for help do not fall on deaf ears. God hears us, knowing that we need Him is the first step in receiving His will-the good Grace of God.

What is time but a number? To us It is one day closer to our end. Our end here on Earth, the beginning of our existence in eternity. This life is a huge learning table, we are here to learn. I have come to realize that each experience, challenge, hardship, difficulty is a lesson of how not to do it any more. We are blessed! Blessed to be children of The most High God.

Our needs are met when we take them to Him in prayer. We are faced not with flesh and blood but with spiritual forces in places we could handle imagine. The battle for our soul rages on. We are the first  to make the decision. “Jesus come into my life.” We say; a whole battle begins. God created our guardian Angels for a reason. There is no limit to Heaven. Look up at the sky- space right? Not as in space, the universe. But I mean untold area to dwell in.

We just discussed a parallel world, a thin veil between. Most are not aware of This, as we discussed; even our ‘secret’ activity is known. When The Word says “But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:5 I have to admit that I only recently by The Grace of God knew what that means. “Your Father who sees what is done in secret…” Come again! Your Father who sees what is done in secret! We pointed out, there are no secrets with God, essentially on Earth. Especially in Heaven. Though I try and stay of this subject Lucifer the archangel plied a third of the angels to leave the other realm to create a new kingdom. We can read more about this in The Word. These angels, a good number were cast out from The presence of God.

To have a ‘realm’? We are aware that Earth has limits, to step down from The domain of God is a HUGE step down. Many are not aware of what this meant or means. Limitless to limited? Endless to constraints? A few have been given a glimpse beyond the realm. Many a time, it might not have been shared as it was meant to mean. There is an existence after life on earth. An existence! Life is a lesson! We are learning for something. I will admit that ‘ time wise’ some may have glimpsed for a segment of time, but for those who report the experience, it says there is an existence after Life.

By Tina A. Swain

Rebirth And Rejoice : The Beginner’s Guide, And a Testimony, To Living a Christian Life.

http://www.precious-testimonies.com/General/a-e/BornAgainIndex.htm

http://www.preceptaustin.org/a_testimony_to_gods_grace

Again, there are numerous! Frankly inestimable links. What I am aware of is what I experienced and share.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:23,24

In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth. Genesis

Genesis 1:1

Our prayer when in need: Hear me, O LORD; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of Thy tender mercies. And hide not Thy face from Thy servant; for I am in trouble: hear me speedily.

Psalm 69:16,17

Been meditating on this “When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers.”

Acts 13: 48

“All who were chosen”? I thought “Before time?” We are on a direct path by God’s awesome, all encompassing grace. We were chosen! I have to say “There are many of stubborn heart who no matter how they hear The Word will deny it.” We are chosen! And not just chosen, but believe The Word and it’s promises!

“I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

Jeremiah 17:10

We have shared, spoken about our being on a grand stage. To reverse and re-review, we are observed constantly from a different existence. We reviewed that as believers, we each have a guardian Spirit to watch over us. When Jesus fasted, He was the main ‘entertainment’ for spirits in a different plain. He knew the plain and acted accordingly, after the 40 days were over, He was taken to the height from which He was to try The Word of God. “Satan took Jesus to Jerusalem to stand on the temple. There Satan challenged Jesus to throw himself down. Although the exact spot is not given, Josephus recorded that Herod’s royal portico towered 450 feet over the Kedron Valley (Antiquities XV.412).

This was nowhere near the wilderness that Jesus fasted. We must be aware that we fight not against flesh and blood, but spiritual foes in lofty places. We are human, in coming and resisting temptation and being subject to the most despicable ongoing in His being derived, whipped, and hung by nailing on a cross. It blows the mind! But, He did This for you and me! He did not have to, Be in Heaven was the only begotten Son. Yet He came down so many wrungs and served! I will point out that He even washed the disciples feet! Thinkon this. Not only dust, but mud. The roads were not tarred in those days; not only did Hexstep down from a haloed position (to be a part of The Father.) But to be Man!!! Again this totally blows my mind.

If you were asked to step down from your position (especially if you are in the upper echelons) and serve. It would make you…(please finish this.) But, Jesus stepped way down for you and I. A great reason to be grateful. Funny, I was speaking today and I said “I thank God.” I was interrupted and asked “Why would you thank God for that?” The Word says, “Give thanks in all things, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

So we see, in all things we must have gratitude.

But, to return to our discussion, we should not be surprised that Satan quotes scripture. He was there when these were spoken to man, he has had thousands of years to study and know The Word inside out. He attempted to use it in the three temptations.

Having lost the first challenge, Satan appeals to scripture by quoting Psalm 91:11-12. When isolated from other passages, this proposal seems reasonable. If Jesus were God’s Son, then scripture promised to save Him.

Deceptively Satan tried inciting Jesus to test the scripture. Jesus addressed the real issue by quoting another Scripture- Deuteronomy 6:16.

Jesus said to him in response, “On the other hand it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'” – Matthew 4:7

We discussed the 3rd temptation that was spoken before Jesus-The Son of God banished Satan who left him be for a season. And folks “Angels came and ministered to Him” Matthew 4:11. So much could have happened. Jesus was in the wilderness, but was taken to the heights in Jerusalem. For the third temptation, much like we discussed, we are on a Spiritual stage. Our lives are an open book. We have discussed Jonah in the whales digestive tract- acid, a mulling, digesting organ, a scarcity of oxygen to breath. Let us read: Most importantly, the Lord Jesus Christ accepted the account as true. He said that the people of Nineveh repented of their sins as a consequence of his preaching (Matthew 12:41). He even said:

“For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth” (Matthew 12:40).

Thus Christ actually compared Jonah’s experience to His own coming death and resurrection, pointing out the miraculous nature of both. One cannot deny the factuality of Jonah’s experience, therefore, without charging the Lord Jesus Christ with either deception or ignorance, either of which is equivalent to denying His deity.

A MIRACLE

There is little question that the event was a miracle, but this fact certainly does not disprove it! The account, in fact, says as much:

“Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” -Jonah 1:17 (King James Version)

Later it says:

“And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.” -Jonah 2:10 (King James Version)

God was certainly able to accomplish this if He wished; to deny the possibility of miracles is atheism. The actual occurrence of this particular miracle is adequately attested by the very fact of its record in the Holy Scriptures, and is doubly confirmed by the testimony of Christ.

Whole animals as large or larger than a man have been found in the stomachs of the sperm whale, the whale shark and the white shark.

To return to our Scripture God examines us inside and out “To reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the Love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In reading the book of Samuel, I was blessed with something we have discussed. We are on a stage constantly with an audience. Some of the audience are in our corner and definitely support us. Others not so much so. God created the Universe, nor just the earth. To align all, as we discussed, the earth is so far from the sun that light, heat are in a perfect balance. The Sun is but so far away that we receive its special qualities. Life was made on earth, the perfect place for life. We can go on, but this we have discussed.

To show again that all we ‘think’ and or so is known. Our actions come from thought and our will from pre-conception of the mind. Our acts or decided non action are known. Let us read 1 Samuel when God had stepped away from King Saul due to his management of God’scpwoplw then.

Samuel was instructed to go anoint a person of God’s choosing. He was asked not to dwell on the physical traits possessed by the sons of Jesse. Furthermore, if he were caught announcing a kingvwhilw Saul was still on the seat, he and the new king would have been summarily dismissed from this life. And we read:

“But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

In sharing this, where is your heart? Or I should ask, what are the desires of your heart? Our hearts desires are known. We might think in going to the gym, outward appearance is key but far more important is our inward selves, our hearts. The brothers of David were husky and built. This, Samuel was directed not to focus on because God knows the heart.

Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.”

Again, there is so much we consider when we wish to do things, make decisions. But our key example is The LORD who knows the heart.

Lord, we praise You for knowing me in my entirety. Lord, I will to be yours. Touch me and make me whole in Jesus’ name. There is no name above Jesus, Lord, I thank You for sending Him for me.

How do we identify/qualify/know those who are apart from us? Not us? We know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; 1 Timothy 1 paraphrased. The fruits of The Spirit within us defines and describes us to a “J” in the might name of Jesus. And the fruits of The Spirit are these; love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by The Spirit we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Romans 8:15 NIV

Ab·ba

ˈäbə/

noun

(in the New Testament) an intimate term for God as Father.

And Paul said to the churches “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.”

Phillipians 2:12-15

“It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” This is profound. Let us take it in as such “It is God which worketh in you…” His Spirit is in you. After Jesus, The Spirit was rained on the believers, and in believing now we are blessed with His Spirit, Amen. Thus The Spirit in us moves us to do His good will and give God the joy of seeing His children ‘right’, hallelujah!

We do live in a “crooked and perverse nation”, where each seeks Their own way and will. It is different when we seek and act on and in The will of God.

I thought we might start something new. You get the verse and tell me what book it is in. It differs from what we did a tad, but this is a sure banker to learn and recite The Word, and it will flow when we need it! “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” That is a 4:13 verse, book? Any takers??? We can do all things by His grace in us. Not some things, but all things in God’s will. So, hold this close people it is an awesome place to start.

To move on just a step;

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now we know in part by faith; then we shall know fully, even as we am fully known.

1 Corinthians 13:12

This addresses some of our recent discussions. We are fully known it reads. Born in part, but fully. As discussed, we are on a wide open stage. Even in the belly of the whale, while being transported to where He was asked to go in and with his will; Jonah’s heart and experience were fully known. So much so that even half digested, he sought to return to whence he had come and was taught one final lesson (read up on it.) There is much reason to do as The LORD leads.

“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Please, Lord, please save us. Please, Lord, please give us success.” — Psalm 118:24-25 (NLT)

As we have discussed, praying as a team is important too. Turn today’s verse into a prayer. As you pray together, thank God for today, then praise Him and rejoice in this new day. Ask God to save you from any difficulties you are currently facing and then pray for Godly success in every area of your life.

This was a song sung at many a church service in Nigeria growing up. The second verse was left out, it was I believe on purpose. This was a song of praise. BUT, praise follows trials, no? More like “Thank You Lord, that is over!” Hallelujah anyone? “Don’t let that old one get you down, just lift up your hands and praise The Lord, Hallelujah anyhow!

I can remember yet another song we would sing in my youth. It started Hallelujah anyhow,

Never, never let your problems get you

down,

When life troubles come your way

Hold your head up high and say “Praise The LORD!”

Hallelujah anyhow.

Have you been in The presence of The LORD? I ask this and many might say “I think so.” Others “Definitely yes!” I have to point out that both answers are Kind of correct. We have been in The presence of The LORD.

For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

Matthew 18:20 (NIV)

Are we gathered to give Him thanks? In all, we should feel a Spirit deep Hallelujah! For all He has done and is doing for you. God is! We have said it, we believe it, let us know it. Our reason is The LORD! Why? “The LORD!” How? “The LORD!” How come? “The LORD!” It should not even take a moment to declare fact!

I am cognisant that many and eye have not yet seen The LORD. Faith, that is what it is about. We can Hebrews 11:1 it!  Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Save me, O God, by Thy name, and judge me by Thy strength. Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth; Lord in my heart are so many prayers that have not yet come to lip. Father, hear my pleas for You to stand in the gap for me. You are my testimony. LORD, the words “GOD is with you!” are mine in faith. Father, in Jesus named I pray.

For strangers are risen up against me, and oppressors seek after my soul: they have not set You O LORD before them. Selah. Behold, God is mine helper: the LORD is with them that uphold my soul.

Psalm 54:1-4

Even our prayers become prayers for others who hold our hands in the flesh, but more importantly in the Spirit. There is strength in numbers. For needs and wants, share! A prayer offered up is triplicate and said time again, even at the most difficult times to imagine! You have hardships? Share them, an army of soldiers stand on your side.

The co-defendants in this life are scattered, we should bring them together by showing what strength is hidden in them. Agree as touching matters, it is done in Jesus’ name. Bind things, they stand captivated by the ropes of prayer. Loose words and things are set in play in Jesus’ name.

By the grace of God, we are warriors equipped for battle. To remind us we have the armour of God in the Spirit that covers all. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place,  and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

This latter part is a blessing in disguise! Pray in The Spirit on all occasions, do we remember “Pray always.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

I actually remember a few and we will see that thanksgiving comes with the requests and expectation that even before we ask, we have received.

– Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Philippians 4:6

– But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

Matthew 6:6

– Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Ephesians 6:18

– And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.

Matthew 21:22

Colossians 4:2 – Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;

– Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Romans 8:26

– After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Matthew 6:9-13

– Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.

Jeremiah 33:3

– Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Matthew 7:7

As for God, His way is perfect;

The Word of the Lord is proven;

He is a shield to all who trust in Him.

Psalm 18:30 NKJV

Hallelujah! We need not say more. Just to give praise to The source of our blessings! At times we may go through temptation, we grow thereby and therein. If we view back on life, what we encounter now would have been ‘unthinkable’. Now, we stand in and by His strength. Give God the praise for all, at each time/turn in the road. He will make your paths straight, to His glory. So, learn how to in all and at all times give thanks.

We see in so many places The Word says “Pray Constantly.”; “Give praise in all things.” We have a God who is always right there! He made the world! What tidbits do you have to right? In the beginning God did and saw that it was good. In your life, when you throw the doors open He will do the same in your life and in you. Revelations 3:20

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness. Isaiah 43:18,19

We are told to forget the former things. I look around and see what I had, where I was. A peep of desolation springs up, wait! Hold up!!! “What you had?” I hear. The people of Israel had everything, but they chose to stand wrong, and it was taken. I guess this sharing will be titled “Losses and gains.” Give God the glory! I am sure there are many who join us at this time with all being all but lost.

Lost? Really??? Or taken away waiting for you to realize what God does to make you realize what you had. It is very possible to state that you did not realize how much you had, till you ceased to have. Even then, at the place you stood you were stubborn and did not realize what you had lost or would lose.  This might stir some resentment in some, but the truth smarts; doesn’t it? When you had, did you make it a habit to thank God for all?

Let me ask; “Did you in the mornings say “Thank You Jesus!” For what you had???” I will move that along, during the day, Did you give Him (Your Lord and Savior) time in your life? We can stand and realize that we are Christian, just what does that mean? Jesus, the Son of God separated Himself to speak with His Father always, no matter what.

– But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:16

– Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35

-After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. Matthew 14:23

-One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. Luke 6:12

-He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Luke 22:41-44

-So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” John 11:41-42

It was always a sole part of His life! Let me ask “When did you start praying?” Me bet is if it was when things were good, they would have gotten even better. At this point, I have to point something that was laid on my Spirit. Job, (in The Word) did as He was supposed to and still went through trials that are hard to imagine. His all were lost. Not his faith in God! We have shared on this, but the key is that he never turned from God, even when his ardent supporters suggested that he turn his face, he cursed the day he was born, but would not speak ill of The LORD.  To end the question here, regardless of what trials he experienced he stood fast and firm in his faith.

God, do you get it? The creator of all. Perhaps more significant nomenclature-Jehovah Jireh our provider, Jehovah Nissi spoke highly of him. Does God speak highly of you? Perhaps the trials and temptations are to enable you arrive at the next stage in your development. All to the glory of God.

Above, we spoke of Jesus ensuring that He always spoke to The Father. Is and was this your habit? We must be clear, what are your habits? I am hoping that I hear “Prayer is the most important habit I have.” If it is, then pray harder and seek God’s will in and for your life.

To open a box full of important material- Thanksgiving. I am aware that in the Americas we habe a festival called “Thanksgiving.” But, I am referring to your giving thanks. Let us return to The Word and see what it shares about giving thanks. http://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/thanksgiving-bible-verses/

http://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/thankful-bible-verses/

Again to save time and room, the like have been shared for your perusal. I am making sure this is not too long with repetition of material that is already out there.

So, two major ‘issues’ we may have neglected Prayer and Thanksgiving. Did the advancement in roll get in your head or under your skin? A huge part is not realizing where you have received what you have. Then, we must be wary that humility goes a far way! We have often shared of Moses and his importance in bringing the Isrealites-The people of God then. Out of Egypt and to The promised land. What was a key attribute of Moses? In losing what we had, we must remember this- “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the Earth.” Numbers 12:3

This is a point that needs to be driven home! Humility, what a central part it plays.

We all struggle with pride in life! Sadly, many of us do not realize the potential that waits for us if we just let go of our pride and move forward in God’s plan. In fact, the Bible goes so far as to warn us that God hates the sin of pride and will discipline the proud! Let us not see ourselves as “wise in our own eyes” but let us become humble and willing to learn from God and others! Memorize these Bible verses about pride to help you focus on being like Jesus Christ, our ultimate example of selflessness who gave Himself on the cross for us!

Many people who struggle with pride also struggle with greed. Study these Bible verses about greed to see how God’s blessings pour out on those who are generous!

Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else. Galatians 6:4

The LORD Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted (and they will be humbled) Isaiah 2:12

The LORD Almighty planned it, to bring down her pride in all her splendor and to humble all who are renowned on the earth. Isaiah 23:9

But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”James 4:6

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. James 4:10

This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise boast of their wisdom or the strong boast of their strength or the rich boast of their riches. Jeremiah 9:23

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. Philippians 2:3

I am hoping that we are making a significant impact on some of these ‘little’  things that blossomed into major criteria in our existence. There are keys to living blessed! These are a few of what I was blessed with to share. We will definitely do more. Let us separate ourselves and go pray. A heartfelt, deep prayer for guidance and Foregiveness. So much is laying on this! Lets make it count.

Brethren, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. For with His Spirit within us we are directed as we should go, we live above condemnation through Jesus Christ our Lord. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. Romans 6:14

And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

1 John 3;21,22

The bible flows! Is it not a blessing to pick up the book and be directed on a verse to read and our Spirit is led on? There is no end to studying, knowing and by His grace, acting his word, Amen.

It is actually like hahaha! funny. In his day Goliath was huge. In fact let’s go to the history books and look that up. It can be found in 1 Samuel 17. The Bible says he was a large man who fought as a champion for the Philistine army against God’s people, the Israelites.

Normally, we equate him with a giant, as most Bible translations state that he was over nine feet tall (1 Samuel 17:4, NIV). The Masoretic Text, the Hebrew text that has long been accepted by the Jewish people, states that Goliath’s height was “six cubits and one span.” Taking a cubit to be approximately eighteen inches and a span to equal six, this figures to a height of approximately nine feet, six inches. It seems Goliath may have had some Anakim blood in him (see Deuteronomy 9:2).

There is some disagreement about what the height was exactly. But, he was bigger than the other men on the battlefield. We are getting to our main goal here. I was blessed to read a verse about God giving us what we need, not what we want. There is a fine line between the two.

All ‘giants’ in our life in faith are taken out through faith. Amazingly, we do not need to bear the same ‘weapons’ of warfare. We are soldiers in God’s army adorned with all we need. This leads directly to the war we are thrown into. The war of wills and wants and needs.

One reason we don’t have what we want is that we don’t ask God for it. Yet, another important reason is that our motive is flawed. God’s interest in His children goes far beyond making sure they have pleasure. God is working in us to build strong and courageous men and women of God – fit to rule and serve in His kingdom.

“You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, and you can’t possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don’t have what you want is that you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your whole motive is wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.” — James 4: 2-3 (NLT)

I in the process of healing was advised to read and learn the contents of Psalm 1 and 2. This I admit escaped my Spirit and I read and re-read them. What a blessing! A note to recite them all the day long. I have to say “Perfect submission, perfect delight…” When we have submitted our all at the feet of our creator His will is done; and we can start living the way He intended.

Not to take it too far back, but Adam and Eve had it made. To awake with all you can eat right there. A HUGE Hallelujah! Right there! I almost want to say at your neck and call; but, then there was no calling for food. They were vegans (yup! I know I have opened a pot of various feelings and emotions here.) I will state FACT, prior to the apple of the knowledge of good and evil being eaten, Man could eat of any tree, plant or produce in the garden. The first animal to be killed was an animal for its hide that was used to cover the nakedness of Adam and Eve. Admittedly, we can carry this any one of many directions. But let us see exactly what is said about that:

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. Genesis 3:7 ESV

However, after God comes into the garden, He also makes clothing for them.

And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. Genesis 3:21 ESV

This is important as stated “loincloths” we are aware of cultures or traditions of not clothing the top half. This is truly His-story. We at some point started covering the top half and it has become culturally accepted as the ‘norm.’ I will admit that prior to going and reviewing that, I did not know the specifics.

But to focus on the topic of the moment, let us read: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” Psalm 1

There is a way for us to walk! The commandments placed as the tenement of our Father. There is written what exactly will occur, it is like everything a matter of time which to us is ‘limited’. Outside of this Earth there is no time. We have gone over this ad nauseum but there is no time. It is difficult to explain, one place I have read and bring up each time we discuss “time” it reads:

‘But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With The LORD a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The LORD is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’ 2 Peter 3:8–9

‘Time’ is for us for so many reasons. If and when we walk as we were created to, there is the “learning curve.” We start off slow and low and aim high. I smile as I realize that we aim for Heaven!

So, big question. Being planted by God, what season are you in? Your fruits? I would say let us not ask or say, by Gods grace time and His glory will reveal just what harvest we pulled in. We are not made to be blown away, our foun-da’-shun:

In Hebrew the words for “foundation” are mostly derivatives from yacadh, “to found,” and in Greek two words are used:

one, katabole, of “foundation of the world” (Mark 13:35; 15:34; Luke 11:50; John 17:24, etc.); the other, themelios, of the foundation of a building (Luke 6:48,49; 14:29; Acts 16:26, etc.), in which sense it is also used metaphorically in various connections (Christ the foundation of the church, 1 Corinthians 3:11; or the apostles and prophets the foundation, with Christ as corner-stone, Ephesians 2:20; the foundation of repentance, Hebrews 6:1, etc.). In Psalms 11:3, “if the foundations be destroyed,” the Hebrew word is shath. In Jeremiah 50:15, the Revised Version (British and American) reads “bulwarks” for “foundations”; conversely in Psalms 89:14; 97:2, for the King James Version “habitation,” the Revised Version (British and American) reads “foundation,” and in Isaiah 6:4 for the King James Version “posts,” reads “foundations.”

The verse says so much, just like every verse and passage we have read and will read. So, I will stop here and we will be blessed. God bless you in Jesus’ name, Amen

Psalm 20 paraphrased by God’s grace.

This I received and wanted to share. It is worth taking a minute to allow it to sit in your Spirit.

And we are steadfast in His will for His mercy and wisdom shall be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken. Proverbs 3:22-26

The two phases were divided, one to support life and one to house THE throne of The LORD. God separated the two, one to house LIFE and one in which immortality is standard

Why don’t we play a game? Share 5 promises with your Loved ones. They can be from any book in The Word. How about that?

Are we being holy? We will discuss the true meaning of ‘holiness’ in the next sharing. But I will leave this here. Continue to be blessed in all your undertakings. Today’s challenge is to pray for two people. Keep it private, if you pray with your spouse; agree on what you pray on, establishing it in Heaven. But two people is the goal for this sharing.

Romans 8:38,39

Father, You know all, cause me to think, feel and act as you have shown in Jesus’ name. You are my all, I thank You for this day and the testimonies that are held within it. Be Glorified in and through me in Jesus’ name, Amen

Move then to lay yourself before the throne always (in the Spirit) as you physically begin to exceed all expectation and even our own goals in Christ. A huge question that was put to me since I have been back, it is very simple in The Lord complex in our human realm. Number 1, is definitely to be with The Lord in the presence of our Father, that has been my goal since day 1. Everything fallscway behind but, realizing

We are born in Love. I know most people can say that they were born in love. Nine months on average and there you were an apple in your parents eye. We are able to call out to God who has adopted us saying Haba Father, Hallelujah for my always through You, in You and with You. My all, I rest in You for I am invited and able. Father hold me close, all that is around me, I place in Your Loving arms. I am 100% Yours. An understanding of who and what I was had broken me, I am in You. Fixed to give You and only You praise, Glory and worship. Father You are my redeemed, I praise You for your words of Love. Without you, I am nothing. Hallelujah for the something You have placed in me. Lord, may I grow in You? My heart is open to you, see my heart and open me with Your forgivess. You are my all Lord in Jesus’ name, Amen

Profound people! We have His Spirit that resides in us. Be the light that you are, the more you are, people around will tell your testimony for you, and to God be the glory.

We are known, yes we might hide stuff from friends, family, colleagues but There is a presence we cannot hide it from!

I was blessed with these verses and thought I would share.

Do we experience God each and every day? Then it is testimony time!

Faith is a gift! Oh! By God’s grace that we could give it, it is! Believing is the root! We stand blessed and able to know because we see, experience, feel. To be frank, can and do we have such reactions to that which ‘could be’ or is ‘probably there’? We have experienced and know in our hearts and Spirits that God is.

Time to move our focus away from what we want and trust God for what we need. Time to pray, asking God for insight into where and why we find ourselves where we do.

Jesus said “You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.” — John 15:16-17 (NLT)

To share a verse that again means so very much and we should start living it:  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

A bit deep today. Just a mild warningvbefore we delve into The Word. Let us proceed:
Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in Love, which we have defined:  ‘Love never gives up [‘Love is patient’, NIV]
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first”,
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back, But keeps going to the end’ (vv.4–7, MSG).

As Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

“The Greek word for ‘fornication’ (porneia) could include any sexual sin committed after the betrothal contract. …In Biblical usage, ‘fornication’ can mean any sexual congress outside monogamous marriage. It thus includes not only premarital sex, but also adultery, incest, remarriage after un-Biblical divorce, and sexual acts with animals, all of which are explicitly forbidden in the law as given through Moses (Leviticus 20:10-21). Christ expanded the prohibition against adultery to include even sexual lusting (Matthew 5:28).” and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks and we can see thanksgiving as a daily need we can refer to: http://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/thanksgiving-bible-verses/.

For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience, we have been led what we must do to remain within the will of God, The Father of all. Be not ye therefore partakers with them in uncleanliness of Spirit, for ye were in darkness, but now have been exposed to light in the Lord: Therefore, walk as children of light. Ephesians 5:1-7 (paraphrased to The Glory of God.)

Lord, I thank and praise you for your amazing Love for me. Thank you that your Love endures forever. Thank you that your Love is the source of my Love for you and for others. Help me to enjoy your Love today and each day ongoing. I pray in Jesus’ name, Amen

What I realized is even our thoughts are known. For real, we are observed in our going out and coming in; our thoughts are known! Temptation comes through what we see. Our hearts respond as we will. Now that is saying a lot. When our will is in line with God’s Word, Hallelujah! We are in a position of blessing. To put it mildly- “Blessing Unlimited!” Our wants, needs, desires all taken care of by He who is Love.

So saying this let us see what it says about our thoughts and desires:

Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 4:23

“The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
Luke 6:45

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
2 Corinthians 10:3-5

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.
Proverbs 4:25

We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
2 Corinthians 10:5

We have curtailed just a fraction of the teachings on thoughts which for the most part speaks about what leads to desires. Desires are what we want. Let us take a peek about “desire.”

Psalm 37:4 gives a promise that can often strike us as too good to be true when it says, “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.” But it is Scripture, it is given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and it is God’s personal promise to each of His children. One of Satan’s greatest and most frequently used lies to believers and unbelievers alike is that God is a cosmic killjoy. In other words, his assertion is that God does not want to give us what we want, and by implication, He will not give us what we want. Therefore, in order for us to get what we want, we would need to go and get it by ourselves, by our own means, by our own power, and by our own ways. Of course, anytime we do this we will come to regret it as we recognize that God’s ways are the best ways and that He tells us not to sin because He doesn’t want us to hurt ourselves or anybody else. Psalm 37:5 gives a complementary truth to verse 4 saying, “Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, and He will do it.” The idea is that God wants us to trust Him by committing the entirety of our lives, desires, and hopes to His care and perfect timing, planning, and giving. He doesn’t want us to do things our own way, walking by sight and human wisdom but rather by faith and the wisdom which only He can supply. As we trust Him, we can be sure that God will do what is good, right, and pure.

We started this out to be a brief diatribe, The Word Lives! We may start of talking about one subject, but by His grace, drift into another. Truth? At times people need it. What we know them to need, The holy Spirit knows all, being led we by His grace hit the nail on the head.

There are many times when people are wrong and drift on without prayer. Stop them! In fact, curtail them by directing a word of prayer. In every situation where there are believers, we should all say a word of prayer. In my impression, this is the way it was and is meant to be.

Alright, a quick word of prayer and we are done.

Father Lord, Hallelujah! There is none like You! Awesome in Holiness and giving in grace. We are subject to You. You created us, we praise You for Your Love. Each second we have, we commit into Your Loving arms. Father, where time does not exist; You are. At times we may ask, we know by Your grace we receive, You know Father- the timing is right. We may ask, we are aware that at times our blessings are held up. Father, it via more reason to thank You, for with a heart of praise Our blessings rain down. Soak me Lord, with Your plenty. Father, where I stand in need of forgiveness-make me whole by Your grace. Thank You Father, I praise and glorify You. Lord, go before me! I pray that in my all, You be glorified in Jesus’ name, Amen

Definitely a promise; and we read:
I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy truth. We have been witnesses to the fact that He says it and it is: for Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name, we have a Father Whose name cannot be uttered, we describe Him for What He is. I even steer wrong. In Heaven, there is no male/female. There is beauty, brilliance, peace and wonder.
In the day when I cried Thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul, Amen.

All the kings of the Earth shall praise Thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of Thy mouth. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.

Though the LORD be high, yet hath He respect unto the lowly: but the proud He knoweth afar off. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, Thou wilt revive me: Thou shalt stretch forth Thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and Thy right hand shall save me, Amen.

The LORD will perfect that which concerneth me in Jesus’ name, Amen.

Thy mercy, O LORD, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of Thine own hands, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen
Psalm 138:2-8

Lord, I am lost, let down, don’t know what to think or do. I cannot say I am frustrated, just taken aback by what I just heard. In my life LORD, Your will be done. LORD may I do all to YOUR Glory. I have learned that it is not what I want, but what You desire for me that ends in Your awesome will in my life. LORD I commit myself to you in entirety thoughts, emotions, wants, needs. Touch me LORD, full me LORD. Every vacuum fill with Your Spirit. LORD, grant me YOUR Joy. Fill me with blessings, LORD cause me to radiate YOUR Love. It will in me, no longer be what I want, buyt through YOU, what I need in Jesus’ name, Amen

The LORD is my strength, and He is the saving strength in me His anointed. Save me O LORD, and bless thine inheritance: feed me also with Your Spirit, and lift me up for ever. Psalm 28:8

*Wow! Such a creative way of presenting Jesus!*

*My CV*

*Personal Details*

Name       :   JESUS CHRIST
Address   :   Ephesians 1:20
Phone       :   Romans 10:13
Website    :  Bible
Keywords :  Christ, Lord, Savior and Jesus

My name is Jesus – The Christ. Many call me Lord! I’ve sent you my CV because I’m seeking the top management position in your heart. Feel free to read my details below.

*Qualifications*

🔺I founded the earth and established the heavens, (see Proverbs 3:19)

🔺I formed man from the dust of the ground, (see Genesis 2:7)

🔺I breathed into man the breath of life, (see Genesis 2:7)

🔺I redeemed man from the curse of the law, (see Galatians 3:13)

The blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant come upon your life through me, (see Galatians 3:14)

*Occupational Background*

🔺I’ve only had one employer, (see Luke 2:49).

🔺I’ve never been tardy, absent, disobedient, slothful or disrespectful.

My employer has nothing but rave reviews for me, (see Matthew 3:15-17).

*Skills and Work Experiences*

Some of my skills and work experiences include: empowering the poor to be poor no more, healing the brokenhearted, setting the captives free, healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind and setting at liberty them that are bruised, (see Luke 4:18).

🔺I am a Wonderful Counselor, (see Isaiah 9:6). People who listen to me shall dwell safely and shall not fear evil, (see Proverbs 1:33).

Most importantly, I have the authority, ability and power to cleanse you of your sins, (see I John 1:7-9)

*Educational Background*

🔺I encompass the entire breadth and length of knowledge, wisdom and understanding, (see Proverbs 2:6).

In me are hidden all of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, (see Colossians 2:3).

My Word is so powerful; it has been described as being a lamp unto your feet and a lamp unto your path, (see Psalms 119:105).

🔺I can even tell you all of the secrets of your heart, (see Psalms 44:21).

*Major Accomplishments*

🔹I was an active participant in the greatest Summit Meeting of all times, (see Genesis 1:26).

🔹I laid down my life so that you may live, (see II Corinthians 5:15).

🔹I defeated the archenemy of God and mankind and made a show of them openly, (see Colossians 2:15).

🔹I’ve miraculously fed the poor, healed the sick and raised the dead!

There are many more major accomplishments, too many to mention here.

You can read them on my website, which is located at: http://www.the BIBLE.

You don’t need an Internet connection or computer to access it.

*References*

Believers and followers worldwide will testify to my divine healings, salvation, deliverance, miracles, restoration, supernatural guidance Bro Shine can testify to that.

*Summary*

Now that you’ve read my CV, I’m confident that I’m the only candidate uniquely qualified to fill this vital position in your heart.

In summation, I will properly direct your paths, (see Proverbs 3:5-6), and lead you into everlasting life, (see John 6:47).

When can I start? Time is of the essence, (see Hebrews 3:15).
JUST ASK ME TO START FROM YOUR HEART AND I PROMISE TO START IMMEDIATELY.(Rom. 10:9-10)
God bless you all as we invite Lord Jesus into our heart everyday.
🙏🙏🙏

We have been over this before, but a few key things were revealed in my spirit. We do have a calling! Let us read:
After Man was created in the likeness of God “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.” Genesis 2:15-17

To wander off the beaten path all was created before man. The ‘days’ are periods in creation. Subsequent transLatinos decribed the periods as days. We thus realize dinosaurs of which there is undeniable proof was in the period when the animals of the Earth were created. I am somewhat hesitant to say that as things were being perfected they died off. Now, creation is quite an accomplishment; time as we know it went on. We can look in texts and realize that when they were; man was not yet.

In perfecting things God created more and finally Man was created to work the garden and care for it. We have a function, which today we all accomplish in caring for each other and the Earth. Even though we were tricked out of the position of sole carers of The Earth, we have our functions. Let us fast forward, after the first sin in not following orders for God said of all you see but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you must not eat or you will die.

In the periods before Man, animals did pass away. Amazingly Angels were created to Exist period If the did The will of God, they continued in Heaven. If for some disobedience, they were cast out of His presence. In the garden of Eden, there was the tree of Life. Had Man stayed true to The Word of God, he would have eaten of it. Hallelujah! In God’s Kingdom parallel to this world the streams of water renew life, the fruit sparkle existence. In Psalms it speaks of just what knowledge of God in all His Greatness does.

Man, not knowing of this had not eaten of The tree of Life. What was revealed to me is that knowing from The Bible where the supposed territory of the garden is, there have been many who have sought it for many reasons. In reading, The tree of Life is there. I am want to say that the great flood in the days of Noah would not have affected this area. If we break it down, this was paradise.

But returning to the topic at hand Adam and Eve were made to leave, now with a limit on life. We are made in God’s image. Just as angels were caused to be, we are created in God’s image. A little complex, but within us is us. A permanent fixture just as Angels do not “age”. We grow in knowledge, this I realize. Each day, hopefully to The GLORY of God we learn and gain wisdom. We discover what to do, not do and in doing right, by His Word we are rewarded.
(For reference read https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_Eden) In no way did I wrote from there, but it is excellent to have studied scholars describe what they know.

When we think about it, someone was lead to write the book of Genesis, we are aware for the most part the individuals that wrote or were led to pen the other books of The Bible. Amazing that in the new testament, they were encouraging letters penned to the individual ‘Chuches’. Aren’t we blessed to have The Word?

To the woman He said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food
until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”

In our doing, it has been said what we shall do. As things are, we do exactly what was said that we would do. The most blessed thing to realize is that Jesus changed much of that. We are provided for as true believes by The Grace of God.

I will state again in His image we are made. God is a Spirit, we are in His image. It is baffling to see that animals are not made in His image. As hard as it is to say, at home, there are Angels with wings, Cherubim, Seraphim and over all God’s Glory.

What is happiness? We will discuss this, but first what was Man told to do? We will discuss this.

Shy of proclaiming what makes you Special, different, full of hope? Calm in times of turmoil? We in these cases and more! Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
We are filled and overpour, we in Him can ‘season’ others! Share the flavor, you have tasted the hope of The eternal, what an Awesome flavor! It leads us to savour that which we know, but as yet have not seen! Taste on! We cannot wait to drink of the pool of Healing and sup off the fruit of the tree of life which bears its fruit each season! Amen
For we read “Down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” Revelations 22:2

Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the LORD our God.
Psalms 20: 7

The LORD is our strength, and He is the saving strength of His anointed.
Psalm 28:8

In the New Testament, the writer of Hebrews said, “See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son. Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. He could bring about no change of mind, though he sought the blessing with tears” (Heb. 12: 16-17). There is clearly a link between Esau’s birthright that he sold and the blessing he missed later in life. Even when his father realised he had blessed Jacob “by mistake,” one would thought that he would regret what he did, but he said, “I have blessed him – yes, and he shall be blessed” (Gen. 27: 33). Words of blessing cannot be withdrawn. Jacob remained blessed and Esau – in despair, cried bitter tears.

Do we sell or share away what we have been blessed with? This is a new dispensation, we need to stand firm and realize what we have. There should in fact be no trending away from our focus! We have a definite focus! And as ‘childish’ as this sounds, it is factual! We have a Heaven sent, always with us reminder of our gifts.

At times we hear about ‘living in the Spirit.’ Not too much to that is there? We have been blessed with The Spirit. There are ways of showing it. Some might speak in tongues, some see ‘revelations’, in face let us break and read the gifts of The Spirit, them we shall return to this sharing. In this we should Galatians 5:22 it, here goes: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

And back to our message, Esau’s experience shows that previous life· decisions and actions can come back to haunt us. Having spurned his birthright, he lost the blessings that went with that birthright also. As Christians we must stay focused in our commitment to God and not blame God or Satan for consequences of wrong decisions and actions that we take; Remember, the decision always lies with us.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, I dedicate myself afresh to you today. Help me to be serious with You so that I will not run out of grace. I pray in Jesus’ Holy name, Amen

We just shared “Making a new song unto The LORD.” Not only in it will Hallelujah’s rain forth from our Spirit. I was led once again to a prayer that is awesome in its provision for us in faith. Without carrying on, let us read Psalm 13, a deeply symbolic prayer when we are in need.
How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and hear me, O Lord my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
I will sing unto the Lord, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

Amazing, Huh? If we think of just what king David underwent, we are struck by how much this is current for us. When in times of difficulty and even in times of plenty raise your eyes, your Spirits to God almighty. I am touched by how ‘current’ this is! Do you have difficulties that have beaten you down? This speaks of The extremes. Yes, we serve a God of extreme goodness, kindness and Love. In faith the blind have seen, the deaf hear, the cripples walk. Is it not your turn?

Turn to The LORD. A God of miracles, Amen! We by His grace shall be made whole. What holds you back??? We are not in a congregation of believers, but at this time, in our own private space and time. Yes, there is an audience. But, more so for us to thank God for our trials, our tribulations.

A HUGE question is where are they from? God, we claim that is You do not hear us, we cry out in anguish for the wrongs that have been done (state them) Lord, as I was ok in You presence, ease this burden, cause it to be taken away. Lord, you suffered for me at cavalry. The whipping, the dehydration, the mocking-Lord they took it all from You. Lord, they tried to take your dignity, but rise You did to a place beyond any thing has ever reached. You have the name above every name, heal me Lord, I pray in Your name Lord Jesus, Amen

One brief share is that Satan in all his beauty and glory (given him by God) appeared to The LORD Jesus after His fast. To behold such beauty! But rather than minister to Him, Satan be an quoting The Scripture. Wrongly, but he did. We speak of being in The Scripture as often and deeply as you can. Even in  the human form, The Lord Jesus was in the know. Imagine! Not having eaten or had liquid to drink, on the verge of dementia, He still held fast to what He knew. At times we are struck with much to bear, we need to hold on to The Word.

Do not let beauty ‘disarm’ you, but rather-  hold on to what is true! Amen.

Psalm 100 is alive!!! Let’s go over it in Spirit y’all:
Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

We have discussed ‘singing’ before The LORD. Hallelujah! This sharing says “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD!” We are set free to worship as we are able, Amen.
Let me hear an Hallelujah! Give Him GLORY! Make a joyful noise! We understand that He is our creator Who made all this! In His displeasure, it would have been ended, but He saw a man (Noah) and his family. They tried to convince others, it did not happen. When the floods came and the sky opened and poured all was vanquished in His will.

We know we came initially from Adam and Eve, but in a sense we are products of Noah and family. Having been led to ponder this, I have attempted to study this.

Sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth
Shem’s name means “name” or “fame”. …
Ham is the forefather of Cush, Egypt, and Put, and of Canaan, whose lands include portions of Africa, Arabia, Syria-Palestine and Mesopotamia. …
Japheth is apparently the youngest son, although his line is given first.
To save time and space, read https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generations_of_Noah

http://www.bible-history.com/maps/2-table-of-nations.html

Amazing to learn? No? But the question that arises is when was the tower of Babel? Given that the descendants were all of one tongue, it is he leaves that this occurred 400 years later after the flood. We read: https://answersingenesis.org/tower-of-babel/was-the-dispersion-at-babel-a-real-event/
I know I have stated this before, but we are His-story. Will we make a dimple in the fabric of time? We have touched on this; prayed on this point. Let us praise God and realize that it is all connected. One entity created all. It is wise to realize this and know where we stand.
In browsing the book of Revelations the last verses say how it is going to be.
“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give youa this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”
The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.”

I was led to see how things will be, I pray in The name of Jesus, that things will be as God has said, as we have read “Nothing shall be added or detracted to The Word of God.” There are penalties, so I sat this with much humility and prayer.
Reading the book of Revelations what it points to is the destruction of the Earth as we know it. The Universe will be destroyed and all in it. We can speculate at what will be. But in truth, we will be in the Spiritual realm and a new Heaven and existence will be where God dwells with all His chosen. It says that in this new realm if there is a tear shed, it will be wiped by God Himself.

The writing of Revelations was through a vision seen. In reading The Word, what is written is by the leading of The Spirit. I personally can make no claims, but in writing; I am unable to pause till it is all out.

In reading Revelations, the fact that we have repeatedly spoken about was made. God created The Universe and placed Earth where Earth was in relation to the other planets. It says so much, we will attempt to break it down. But, notably what we have spoken about in terms of the ‘days’ of creation as we discussed were periods. This is undoubtedly confirmed in Revelations the 16th Chapter verse 18 “Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. No earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous was the quake.” The definition of the period of creation is confirmed in a book at the end of The Word! This also confirms the fact that a force could have acted on Earth before the Garden of Eden when man came to be. All the theories about evolution fall flat. Yes, there could have been creations like Man, but until Man was created there was no Man on Earth. If there were evervan earthquake of this magnitude, it has not been since the dawn of man on Earth.

We have kind of mentioned the way the Universe was created, the alignment of the planets. In reading Revelations, the change in nature suggests when the time comes the Universe will cease to be. We read:  “One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”

Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. The name written on her forehead was a mystery:

BABYLON THE GREAT
THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES
AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.

When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. Then the angel said to me: “Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and yet will come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because it once was, now is not, and yet will come.

“This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for only a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction.

“The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”
It goes on in Revelations 17. A new world order is being set up even now as I write. The crown of the major world power is seen as a force that is to be reckoned with. Things that are not yet will b3. When it is mentioned that a mark will be placed on your forehead or right wrist, it will seem innocuous. If that identification is not possessed, you may not buy or sell, we are fast moving to the point where ID becomes ‘scanable’, presently it is on cards, but it shall be simplified to have the chip placed to allow identification, purchases, buying or selling, even immigration. To come to ‘the land of plenty and ‘peace”, to escape the lands of turmoil, will an identification not be accepted as the moment be identified by a chip that means you belong? Think, I am not writing this because I want to, I am being led to do so.

Even when this was viewed by apostle John, it might have seemed improbable for centuries. Yet, we see tendrils of it’s being come into existence in our time. Read Revelations, all that is written will come to pass.

God is God! The Creator of all! David had a story. It started in faith, got sidetracked by what we deal with everyday. Let me show exactly what I mean. But first the point I am trying to share is found in the book of Revelation to be specific Chapter 22:16 “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”
We spoke of young David, a couple of stones to defeat a warrior? Frankly had not been done. His brothers andcthw people of Is real looked to ‘scrape’ him off the battleground. They must have readied the professional ‘mourners.’ But, we have read how things went, and the victory over the Philistines on that day.

But we turn to the part of his-story, when David was full of himself and gazed over the wall of his palace and saw a woman bathing. Lust? A most definite “Yes!” “I want what I should not have?” How many of us deal with this ‘concept’ on a daily pattern. That job? That rank? That position? The name??? I could go on, but we get the idea. He saw and he wanted, sent for her, seduced her and impregnated her. A big “Whoops!” Her husband was away fighting a battle for Israel, which David was not at! I will point out, The Word explains why; “In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.”

Her husband was sent for with the hopes that he would sleep with his wife;  “Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!” If he had followed the hopes of David a huge pending calamity could have been avoided. But, being that his allies were in the field, he did not go into his spouse but slept outside as was the custom of the day. This man was getting pesky! So, in a fit of an attempt to save his hide, David posted him to a point where the battle was most fierce, “In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
So while Joab had the city under siege, he put Uriah at a place where he knew the strongest defenders were. When the men of the city came out and fought against Joab, some of the men in David’s army fell; moreover, Uriah the Hittite died.”  He died! Whew! David must have thought. But….

It was seen! Everything that was done was seen and known. We follow: “When Uriah’s wife heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for him. After the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing David had done displeased the Lord.”

We have shared that we are on a stage being watched by both sides. His actions were known, by both sides. One must have felt “Aha! Finally, he has done wrong! Our man Goliath should have ended it all before it began. A cause for celebration- his word had that man killed! About time.” On the other side “It cannot be believed, but…”

God sent a prophet who had recieved knowledge from the “Spectators” in a different realm: “The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”

David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die!  He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.  Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.  Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’

“This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”

We see that what is supposedly done in secret is known. To wrap this up, David repented, but The LORD had spoken, and we read: “After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth on the ground. The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.

On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”

David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.
“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”

Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.”

We see what he did. When wrong, do we seek the Face of God? Or do we hide away and pretend all is right? This story is fast coming to an end, but there is a major point we cannot and should not miss. David had stepped aside from God’s perfect will, but he repented. Yes, we may be so moved to ‘pray away’ the bad in our life, but simply asking for forgiveness and acepting the fruit of our wrongdoing is a key to doing things as God wills.

Bathseba did have another child, can anyone name the child or describe what happened. Moreover, being in the perfect will of God is key to not just success, but good success.
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Joshua 1:8

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. Proverbs 16:3

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

My son, do not forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments, for length of days and years of life and peace they will add to you. Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man. Proverbs 3:1-4

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
James 4:10

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. .
Matthew 6:25-33

So, we have shared quite a bit, the homework I will give you is “Meet The LORD, confess your faults, ask Him for forgiveness and invite Him in.” I feel there is a Moses among us! Alleluia! And there are quite a few David’s and Bathseba’s. Our previous lives are no issue in Our salvation! When God lets it go. It is gone!

“Why is that person so relaxed?”
“Did you hear what happened to…” And points.
“If only I had that…”

It seems like they are forever driving piddling holes in a character. Have you “Jesus’ized” today?
😀 There is “Jazzercise”, Aerobics, Yoga, Weight training, Resistanc bands…an endless list!

But how are we in Spiritual weight lifting or weight bearing? Actually, let me ask one question “What makes you, You?”
Conditions might amount to quite a bit, we have been blessed with…”The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:7

Time to connect with The Lord. Lost a job? Got laid off? Challenged? Pray!!! And…
“…whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” John 4:14

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Matthew 5:6

His will?
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

And we learn a few things:
“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality.” 1 Thessalonians 4:3

We can break this down, there are blessings, but there are rules. You want to be blessed? No problem at all! To be blessed, do… And do not… Then you will be blessed to realms that surpass your understanding.
Ephesians 1:3 says that we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ. What are these spiritual blessings, and what do they do for us? Contrary to some beliefs, they are not some mysterious power or cosmic connection reserved for a select few. They are the key benefits of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

The word blessing in Ephesians 1:3 is a translation of the Greek word eulogy,and it means “to speak well of.” Since God is the one acting in this verse, we can say that God has spoken good things about us, or pronounced good things for our benefit. The good things that God has decreed for us are probably beyond our ability to number, but we can outline a few by looking at the verses that follow the statement (Ephesians 1:4–13).
The first blessing listed is the election as saints. Ephesians 1:4 says that He has “chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” God has chosen to make us holy and blameless, and all because of His love, His good pleasure, and His grace (verses 5–6). What a blessing, that “even when we were dead in sins” (Ephesians 2:5), God chose to extend His grace to us and offer us salvation. This is even more amazing when we realize that He made that decision before sin even entered into the world.

We have been chosen! We were chosen before the foundation of the World. The difficult thing to understand is “Why do some people insist on ‘not believing’, can we state that we, not them were chosen? God created Man for a purpose, we were selected before time. God had plans for Man, but they stepped off the carpet, and things changed. We were created not to die, and if we ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we would surely die. We were like all Spirit, we were the cause of limits to being alive. Not ‘living’. A bit confusing, the body dies, “dust to dust…” But the Spirit goes on. Where do you want to be in the Spirit?

We read above about “…whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” John 4:14
Ok, I will step quickly aside, if there is untold amounts of Living water. There is a place where there is none. Contrary, no water, no joy, no Love…Nothing good. Choices! “I wish I listened, had paid more attention…” Well, I am sharing now! You can make the decision.

Much earlier, I described it as throwing the dice. It is not so ‘tricky’, what side will you be on? It comes down to you and what you decision!

Let us pray, right quick. And may God be Glorified. Just a few seconds: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. We are done.
– Psalms 19:14

Let us pray: We by the awesome grace of The LORD are becoming prayer warriors! Pick up your shield and stand firm! Your sword in your dominant hand! Hallelujah!
“Blessed be the LORD, because he hath heard the voice of my supplications. The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him alone, and I am helped, Amen. In His grandeur, my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him. For He has put a song in my heart to sing! And now I can shout Alleluia! When we are down Jesus lifts us up! We stand in Him! Glory Alleluia!
The LORD is my strength, and He is the saving strength of His anointed.

And we pray: Save thy people, and bless Thine inheritance O LORD our God! Feed us with the exuberance of Your Glory LORD, and lift ud up for ever. We pray in Jesus’ name, Amen
Psalm 28 paraphrased
Be blessed and have a testimony filled day!

And Jesus said to His disciples: “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
‭‭John‬ ‭9:4-5‬ ‭KJV‬‬
http://bible.com/1/jhn.9.4-5.kjv

Good morning folks. We shall have a testimony filled day in Jesus’ name, Amen
Let us follow what was shared by king David of who’s familial lineage is the human form of our Lord Jesus!
We should remember that king David was blessed beyond measure by simply following The will of God. My challenge today is to read and remember how he stepped afoul of the boundaries set, but came back in line with The will of God.

May the LORD answer us when we are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you. Amen
May He send you help from The sanctuary and grant you support from His throne.
May He remember all your sacrifices and accept your thanks and desire to serve Him.
May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed. To this we say a definite “And so may it be” in The Name of He who conqured death and changed the course and curse of His-story!
May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. For He has placed a song in our hearts to sing and now we can sing and shout Hallelujah! For Jesus lifted us! O Glory Hallelujah God our Father, Jesus, and The Holy Spirit have restructured the essence of our Lives.
May the LORD grant all your requests. Amen!
Now this I know: The LORD gives victory to His anointed, of which we are!
He answers His annointed from His Heavenly sanctuary with the victorious power of His right hand.
For some may trust in man made and concocted paraphenalia, some in might and strength, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. For in His arms we take refuge.
Those who trust in their own stregth are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm in Jesus, our Lord, Amen!
So let us get praising and thanking! Have a blessed day, Amen

We spoke already about “blessing” The LORD. It in a manner of speaking is giving Him The GLORY due Him, it in its own way Is a form of worship. So to speak, we can bless His Majesty and the beauty of His ways.

So to speak, I was blessed to read this:

Bless the LORD (give magnificence to), O my soul (our Spirit, for in Spirit shall we be in the form of the Angels that worship Him.)

We cannot forget all His benefits! For God forgives all our iniquities; It is God Who healeth all our diseases and infidelities when we walk in faith, Alleluia!

The LORD redeemeth our life from destruction; Our Father in Heaven crowneth us with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Amen and Hallelujah! The LORD satisfieth our mouths with good things, Amen and Hallelujah!

In trust our youth is renewed like the eagle’s, Amen

Day 12

In God we find strength; let us read and then say a quick word of prayer.

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.118:10 All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them. They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. They compassed me about like bees: they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me. The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. Psalm 118:9-17

Our God reigns in Majesty, our God reigns! He has deliverd us, He rules and reigns supreme over all. In my times of need, in my times of joy; in my times of lack- I will praise His name! For we are to give thanks in all things. Amen

Day 13

Give thanks in all things. We are learning, no? We shared that no temptation will befall you above that which you are able to overcome. We all make mistakes; things that make us sorry, dwell in regret, wallow in self pity. But, hold on!!!

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Romans 12:12

And we shall overcome. That is a part of the song written in MLK’s time, appropriate for this, no?

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18

That hits us hard; “Give thanks in All circumstances???” Yup, that is what The Word says.

As shared, we were created with a purpose. “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. :

1 Thessalonians 5:9,10

The verses before explain this more succinctly: “For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”

1 Thessalonians 5:7,8

And we remember:

“He put on righteousness like a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; And He put on garments of vengeance for clothing And wrapped Himself with zeal as a mantle.”

Isaiah 59:17

“Stand firm therefore, HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH, and HAVING PUT ON THE “BREASTPLATE” OF RIGHTEOUSNESS””

Ephesians 6:14

Our morning prayer:

O LORD, draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts. Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert. Because they regard not the works of the LORD, nor the operation of Your hands, You shall destroy them, and not build them up. But Father as we stand before You, build us up, sanctify and bless us according to our deeds. Fill our needs according to Your riches in endless GLORY. Go before us, with us, surroundcus that we may magnify You in thought, words  and deeds, we pray in Jesus’ name, Amen Psalm 28:3-5

Day 9

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

Psalm 28:7

“The LORD is my Shepherd I shall not want…” Hallelujah! Psalm 22:1

In 2005, townspeople in Gevas, Turkey, watched in horror as one sheep jumped to its death, and then 1,500 others followed over the same cliff. When the villagers, whose livelihoods depended on the flock, reached the bottom of the mountain, they found a billowy white pile of death. Some 450 sheep were lost, but amazingly 1,000 survived. As the pile grew, the dead bodies cushioned the fall of other sheep.

How did this accident happen? The shepherds responsible for protecting the flock had left the sheep on the mountain to eat breakfast, and then the fleeces started to fly.

The importance of a shepherd is inversely proportional to the intelligence of the animal being shepherded. Dogs, for example, manage to survive fairly well without human oversight. Dolphins do even better. Sheep, on the other hand, don’t have the good sense not to jump off a cliff. They need a shepherd to survive.

The fact that Scripture compares God’s people to sheep ought to humble us. We need godly shepherds to lead, feed, and protect us from the world and from ourselves. We are irrefutably sinful (and often stupid) creatures willing to throw ourselves off cliffs of self-destruction. This truth, however, can tempt shepherds to overstep their role. Sometimes the most difficult part about pastoral ministry is knowing what is not our responsibility.

After the Resurrection, Jesus restores Peter and tells him three times to “feed” or “tend” his sheep and concludes with an allusion to his eventual martyrdom. Peter seems less than thrilled with this assignment, because he immediately asks Jesus about John’s calling. The Lord rebukes him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?” (John 21:22).

The Lord being out strength and shield keeps in His Loving arms. We have shared that by His grace, we can sidestep any temptation for He has provided a way for us, Amen.

Above, we see that sheep without a shepherd are irrefutably lost! How blessed we are to have One who stays by our side protecting, nurturing, Loving, caring and assisting with even the small things that need doing. He is always there. Just a “Thank you Jesus!” Away. We have every reason to give thanks.

Lord, we bless you,

we thank You and glorify you,

Thank You Lord,

an Hallelujah! Bursts out from my Spirit,

You are my all,

You are my Everything,

by Your grace, this a time of praise,

a time of worship,

Lord, Hallelujah

thank You Holy Spirit,

Jesus I bow down to The King of kings and Lord of lords,

In You, are blessed

we Lovingly commit ourselves anew into Your Loving arms

thank You for going before, with and in me this day, to Your glory

where I mistepped I ask for Your foregivess

Day 10

Let me ask you a question. Are you anointed? I am not asking if oil has been poured over you or on your head.

Just what does anointment mean?

Why do I ask?

The LORD is their strength, and he is the saving strength of his anointed.

Psalm 28:8

Let us see what this denotes.

Anointing:

In Holy Scripture, is either,

I. Material–with oil –or–

II. Spiritual–with the Holy Ghost.

And many of us have been anointed, cloves of flame did not rest on our heads, but we received His Spirit.

Anointing the body or head with oil was a common practice with the Jews, as with other Oriental nations. (Ruth 3:3 ; Micah 6:15 ) Anointing the head with oil or ointment seems also to have been a mark of respect sometimes paid by a host to his guests. Luke 7:46 and Psal 23:5

It was a rite of inauguration into each of the three typical offices of the Jewish commonwealth.

a. Prophets were occasionally anointed to their office, (1 Kings 19:16) and were called messiahs, or anointed. (1 Chronicles 16:22; Psalms 105:15)

b. Priests, at the first institution of the Levitical priesthood, were all anointed to their offices, (Exodus 40:15 ; Numbers 3:3) but afterwards anointing seems to have been specially reserved for the high priest, (Exodus 29:29 ; Leviticus 16:32) so that “the priest that is annointed…” (Leviticus 4:3) is generally thought to mean the high priest.

c. Kings. Anointing was the principal and divinely-appointed ceremony in the inauguration of the Jewish Kings. ( 1 Samuel 9:16 ; 10:1 ; 1 Kings 1:34 1 Kings 1:39 ) The rite was sometimes performed more than once. David was thrice anointed.

d. Inanimate objects also were anointed with oil, in token of their being set apart for religious service. Thus Jacob anointed a pillar at Bethel.  (Genesis 31:13 ; Exodus 30:26-28)

Ecclesiastical: Anointing with oil is prescribed by St. James to be used for the recovery of the sick. (James 5:14 ) Analogous to this is the anointing with oil practiced by the twelve. (Mark 6:13)

And we roll into the Spiritual annointing

SPIRITUAL.–

In the Old Testament a Deliverer is promised under the title of Messiah, or Anointed, (Psalms 2:2 ; Daniel 9:25 Daniel 9:26) and the nature of his anointing is described to be spiritual, with the Holy Ghost. (Isaiah 61:1) see Luke 4:18

In the New Testament Jesus of Nazareth is shown to be the Messiah, or Christ or Anointed, of the Old Testament, ( We can/should refer to John 1:41 ; Acts 9:22 ; Acts 17:2 Acts 17:3 ; Acts 18:4 Acts 18:28) and the historical fact of his being anointed with the Holy Ghost is asserted and recorded. (John 1:32 John 1:33 ; Acts 4:27 ; 10:38 ) Christ was anointed as prophet priest and king.

Spiritual anointing with the Holy Ghost is conferred also upon Christians by God. (2 Corinthians 1:21) “Anointing” expresses the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit upon Christians who are priests and kings unto God.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise Him. The LORD is our strength, and He is the saving strength of His anointed.

Psalm 28:7,8

bless·ed

blest,ˈblesid/

1. Made holy; consecrated.

a title preceding the name of a dead person considered to have led a holy life, especially a person formally beatified by the Roman Catholic Church.

“the Convent of the Blessed Agnes”

synonyms:holy, sacred, hallowed, consecrated, sanctified, ordained, canonized, beatified.

We can say: “A blessed place”

Endowed with divine favor and protection.

“blessed are the meek” We shall discuss this shortly.

synonyms:favored, fortunate, lucky, privileged, enviable….

“a beautiful city, steeped in history and blessed with huge sandy beaches”

Blessed; plural noun:

1. Those who live with God in heaven.

A key reason we defined it is what follows:

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Amen

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. This is key, what we exhibit shall be done to us, Amen?

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. What we must be to be define

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.