To God be The glory, Amen

What we bear.

We are defined by our chacteristics. I will ask “As a Christian” either declared or undeclared, where is your heart? What makes you who and what you are?
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. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-25

Let us take these one at a time: Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

We at this point have defined Love. There are ‘passions’ we might mistake with Love. To rewrite what has been said we can “1 Corinthians 13” it. Can we truly say we can say that? There is a list of the qualities. Let us go over them again, in this case can we literally wrote our names (for example place your name before the quality and see if we exhibit this, a definite learning point!) I will substitute your name as A. A is patient, A is kind, A is patient… And so on. It becomes key to do just this so that we understand It for just what it is.

1 Corinthians 13 is so beautiful. The one great need in our Christian life is Love, more Love to God and to each other. I much rather that we all would and we could all move into that love chapter and live there.’ As we stated and challenged a minute ago, we should place our names before Love and ensure that true Love radiates from our Spirit.

Let me be pesky! Can people literally say this about you. I am aware that much is said; we are aware that people are always talking. Let me state it this way “In your abscense, what do people state about who you are?” Is there jealousy on who you are, what you are, how you do things? This can be a point where we stand and decide that we start exhibiting who and what we truly are.

In 1 Corinthians 13 Paul takes us to Christianity at its source; and there we see ‘the greatest of these is love.’

God is love. We deceive ourselves if we think we can Love God and hate other people is that possible. I personally do not think that. If we truly Love God it means so very much. 1 John 4:20. Love should be number one on your spiritual priority list. It should be the main thing in your life. Love is, indeed, the greatest thing in the world. It is, in the words of St Paul, ‘the most excellent way’ (and literally in our ‘world’) 1 Corinthians 12:31).

Moving right and along joy. Just what is this? Happiness? Definitions are simply descriptions of the way people use words. Words don’t have intrinsic definitions. They are given definitions by the way people use them. When I say I want to define joy for you, I am asking, Whose joy are we talking about, or what use of the word are we talking about?

Christian joy is a good feeling in the Spirit, produced by the Holy Spirit, as He causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the word and in the world.

We can and will touch on this later. For this current description we are made to understand it it is not a ‘fleeting’ emotion, it is a way to be. It has been set forth in and for us as Christians. I will ask “Have you felt true joy?” I have to ask so that we can set our feet on the right path. There are some that may not realize that. Let is ‘break it down’.
Joy isn’t like happiness which is based upon happenings or whether things are going well or not. No, joy remains even amidst the suffering. Joy is not happiness. Joy is an emotion that’s acquired by the anticipation, acquisition or even the expectation of something great or wonderful. It could be described as exhilaration, delight, sheer gladness, and can result from a great success or a very beautiful or wonderful experience like a wedding or graduation but the definition of joy that the world holds is not nearly as amazing as biblical joy but joy is also gift.

Peace, just what does this mean? I am at ease on a permanent basis. That should be all we say, but we get to define this further, in this case let us go to the Webster dictionary-as you see I am staying in line with The Word but definitely keeping ‘current.
pēs/
noun
1. Freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility.
“you can while away an hour or two in peace and seclusion”
synonyms:tranquility, calm, restfulness, peace and quiet, peacefulness, quiet, quietness.

2. Freedom from or the cessation of war or violence.
“the Straits were to be open to warships in time of peace”

synonyms:law and order, lawfulness, order, peacefulness, peaceableness, harmony, nonviolence; formalconcord
“we pray for peace”
exclamation
1. Used as a greeting.
2. Used as an order to remain silent.

We can utilize these definitions comfortably. Let me point out the final description. There might be someone or some people who are speaking untruth that hurt us. We receive an order to stand down and do just what? At this point it is best to suggest that’s difficult as it seems it is best to ‘leave and let be.’ There is a reason they say those things. We truly have the greatest example this world has ever known. This dude Jesus, did nothing, said nothing untoward in any way but was ‘punished’ beyond the realms of punishment. Even the ruler at the time was aware of what He had been through and sought the relief of the people. He actually offered them a choice-Jesus or Barabas a known ‘criminal’.
Barabbas /bəˈræbəs/ or Jesus Barabbas (a Hellenization of the Aramaic bar abba בר אבא, literally “son of the father” or “Jesus, son of the Father” respectively) is a figure mentioned in the accounts of the Passion of Christ, in which he is an insurrectionary whom Pontius Pilate freed at the Passover feast in Jerusalem, instead of releasing Jesus.

Forbearance. Defined as ‘self-restraint.’
And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and FORBEARANCE and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? Romans 2:3-4

Another challenge I am placing out there is can you truly see examples of this in your life? Take today for instance, how did we deal with everything in our day? Can we say that we kept the Word in its totality. Were all our actions Christ-like? I am aware that this is a challenge filled ‘chapter’. I would suggest taking it, acting on it and very possibly re-reading and constantly acting on the things that are challenged.

I might say this too often, but I was permitted back for a reason which gets more evident each passing moment. God is God of all. He created us for His purpose, can He find joy in you, your actions, your mind. Once again, did you radiate God in your life today?

kindness. We are getting somewhere. Hold fast! Almost done with this sharing.
The main problem in understanding kindness is the fact that it is one of a series ofterms that are overlapping and not clearly or consistently distinguishable in meaning.This is true not only in English (kindness, goodness, mercy, pity, love, grace, favor,compassion, gentleness, tenderness, etc.) but also in Greek (chrestos, eleemon, oiktirmon,charis, agape, splanchnon, epieikeia, etc.) and in Hebrew (hesed, tob, rahamim, hemlah,hen, etc.). Consider, for example, the relationship of love, goodness, kindness, and mercyin lu 6:35-36. Nevertheless, although distinctions are not consistent, kindness (likegoodness, love) tends to cover a broad range of meaning, with mercy and grace beingprogressively narrower.

Divine Kindness God’s kindness is presupposed or taught throughout Scripture.

It is manifest in what is called “common grace.” God is kind to all he hasmade ( Psalm 145:9 ),even when his creatures are ungrateful and wicked ( Luke 6:35 ; cf. Matt 5:45 ). Hiskindness is intended to lead to repentance, not to rejection of him ( Rom 2:4 ).

In the second place, it is the believer who can truly celebrate God’s kindness, even inareas of experience not directly related to salvation from the guilt and punishment ofsin. God’s kindness is seen in his deliverance of the believer from affliction, fear, andtrouble.

Third, God’s kindness is manifest in the full salvation that comes through Christ ( 1 Peter 2:3 ).Indeed, our salvation derives from the kindness of God ( Eph 2:7-8 ), and itis through continuing in his kindness that we are saved ( Rom 11:22 ).

What is true of God in general is also specifically attributed to Christ, who is gentle( Matt 11:29-30 ).In this connection, Jesus’ kind yoke might better be understood to speak of the fact thatit is gently and considerately laid upon his disciple rather than that it is easy toaccomplish.

Human Kindness The Scriptures also teach that divine kindness is to be reflectedin the human experience. Indeed, expressing kindness to other human beings is moreimportant than performing ritual sacrifice to God ( Hosea 6:6 ; Matthew 9:13 ; 12:7 ). Thus, we areto love kindness ( Mic 6:8 ) and to be children of the Most High, exhibiting his kindness and mercy ( Luke 6:35-36 ).Even more direct is the simple injunction to be kind Eph 4:32 . Kindness often finds a place in the lists of Christian virtues ( 1 Col 13:4 ; Col 3:12 ). Paul can take the injunction a step further and claim to exemplify kindness in his own life to a degree that commends his ministry as authentic 2 Cor 6:6.

Yet human imitation of God’s kindness does not come naturally. In fact, ultimately noone is kind ( Psalm14:3 ; Rom 3:12 ).It is only as the fruit of God’s Spirit that kindness can be a consistent part of thebeliever’s experience ( Gal 5:22 ).
http://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/kindness/

Goodness. In this case, once again we go to the Websteresque definition:
good·ness
ˈɡo͝odnəs/
noun
1. The quality of being good, in particular.
exclamation
1. As a substitution for “God”

We can see that once again the ‘legal’ definition goes traipsing through.

“Waiting on The LORD.”

Now just what does that mean? We have read (or heard of) the verse that says “A day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day.” 2 Peter 3:8 this seems impossible! But think on it. In God’s eyes His Son was just here. All history (which is essentially God’s story was turned around.) We can be as Adam and Eve and live much like they did. God not only comes in the ‘still of the eve’, but His Spirit is permanently encamped in us, if and when we realize and allow this to be the case
We can fellowship with Him all ways. How many of us know God is waiting and willing for us to throw the doors open? We can see from The Word that Moses and so many more had an awesome relationship with The LORD. We just pointed out that even his second in command Aaron and his sister spoke out against him, they were punished for it.

And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb. And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again. And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days.
Numbers 12:10-15

So, in ‘waiting’ on The LORD, It might not be immediate for so many reasons. Ensure your life is right, then truly start to prayerfully and thankfully wait on Him.
We can break this down further, to wait on The LORD seems so very ‘droll’. We think/say “But God said I should ask, and I would receive. I’m asking…!!!”

Let’s address this. If you were to receive what you asked for in the here and now, what would happen? Think about it. We would so get used to asking and the immediacy of things. In truth, there is no ‘lesson’ there. A teaching point-Yes! But are we truly learning? We ask, we receive, we are happy full-stop/period. How about The thanksgiving? I can put this so many ways. One would say “I thanked God for this, of course I did…” But are your thanksgivings automatic and ‘spontaneous’ because you know you have to. Or are they from realizing that without God’s grace, the ‘chances’ were slim to none? A very brief story I have to share is I went to DMV the other day and realized in my ‘rush’ I had forgotten my wallet at home (now before you think I drove ‘illegally’, my mother took me!). I had waited on line not aware that I had forgotten my wallet at home. Then I was called. Ran though the rigmarole (actually found out that I had filled the wrong form), when all this was done, I was asked for my life sense. And you can imagine what happened next. I was sent home to ‘fetch’ the drivers license. Just what is a ‘testimony’ in that? You might ask. Hole on!
The week after, my mother again took me. She went for a walk-something she does often. Praise The LORD for His care and hand in and on her life. (More on this later). When we get back I walked straight to the line I had been before
There were three ‘clerks’ at the Windows, and I waited patiently. The first clear to be free was ‘right in front of me’. I brought out the paperwork (for a duplicate of my title of ownership); she decided just then she would head out to lunch. Turned the sign at her window to “out on break”. I then had to wait for one of the remaining two. Guess what? The same one who had attended to me the previous visit came free! And by the grace of God recognized me. All the paperwork was out and complete but there was a problem with the computer. She called over (and waited) for the next clerk who at the time was busy. To cut a long story short with prayer and a constant trust in God, she printed out the title there and then. I walked out of DMV with the title in my hands. There are many possible scenarios. She might have taken all the information and had it mailed, her PC might have acted up and she would have ‘allowed’ me to go home and wait for it to be sent, I ‘might’ have forgotten something (it wasn’t I ‘quick’ drive either.) The reason I share this is, so many things happen each and every day. Do we realize what the blessings are?

Stop here! Let us do something. Think back on the previous 24 hours (I am giving you time,) think of all the unexpected and surprising things that occurred. What would you have/have done without? And in this case, what can you do with what so ‘luckily’ fell in your lap? It is time (once again to realize that we have a special umpire in our corner.) Our ‘fight’ may not always be ‘fought’ for us, but the energy/power/ability comes from one source!

Believe that the God who saved you hears your cries (Micah 7:7).
Have you ever felt like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling? Perhaps, like me, you have prayed for years about a concern, but God has seemed silent. That’s where God demonstrated his love and mercy towards us when we were still his enemies. Mind you, Man had sinned and we were apart from His will. I will be stubborn and ask, which one of you can truly say (and mean it) that they are without sin? It is not impossible, I am sure that there are many moments that we can answer this in the affirmative, that is great! Let is look to permanently be able to share (and say this).
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)
In other words, the cross is our guarantee that God is for us and is committed to give us everything we would ask for if we knew everything he knew. We can be content with that and wait patiently for his answers.

2. Watch with expectancy, but be prepared for unexpected answers (Psalm 5:3).
While God has been faithful to answer many of my prayers, it’s often been in far different ways than I would have anticipated! God knows that the only way to do what he and I both desire will, at times, involve varying degrees of discomfort in my life.

Growing in humility means pride has to be done away with. Learning to love like Jesus requires us to say no to self’s constant demand for selfish ambition, wanting our own way, and putting ourselves first. Growing in patience inevitably involves some form of waiting, whether in a long line at the grocery story or a lifetime for a loved one to come to Christ. When we lay our requests before him, it is by faith that we wait and watch in anticipation of God’s good work in us and others.

3. Put your hope in his Word (Psalm 130:5-6).
We can be tempted to put our hope in things that may disappoint us in the end. We can hope a doctor will heal us, a teacher will pass us, a spouse will love us, our employer will reward us, or a friend will help us. But it is only when we put our hope in Christ that we can wait with confidence and know we will not be put to shame.

It seems that God allows us to experience disappointments in life to teach us that nothing else will truly satisfy or provide us with a firm foundation to stand upon. God’s Word alone is unshakable. We can wait for the Lord knowing that, no matter how dark the night is, his light will break through in our lives, bringing abundant joy through a more intimate relationship with Christ.

4. Trust in the Lord, not in your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).

A challenge, but truism all the same:
Jesus saith unto him, I am The way, The truth, and The Life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

We may have found stand-ins, but that is what they are and poor stand-ins. None functional to state fact. We have been shown the way. I almost want to echo our verse and say the truth and the life. What Life have we been shown? Life to Live, how to life, how to be, the depth and the breadth of it all.

“Waiting on The LORD.”

Now just what does that mean? We have read (or heard of) the verse that says “A day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day.” 2 Peter 3:8 this seems impossible! But think on it. In God’s eyes His Son was just here. All history (which is essentially God’s story was turned around.) We can be as Adam and Eve and live much like they did. God not only comes in the ‘still of the eve’, but His Spirit is permanently encamped in us, if and when we realize and allow this to be the case
We can fellowship with Him all ways. How many of us know God is waiting and willing for us to throw the doors open? We can see from The Word that Moses and so many more had an awesome relationship with The LORD. We just pointed out that even his second in command Aaron and his sister spoke out against him, they were punished for it.

And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother’s womb. And Moses cried unto the LORD, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. And the LORD said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again. And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days.
Numbers 12:10-15

So, in ‘waiting’ on The LORD, It might not be immediate for so many reasons. Ensure your life is right, then truly start to prayerfully and thankfully wait on Him.
We can break this down further, to wait on The LORD seems so very ‘droll’. We think/say “But God said I should ask, and I would receive. I’m asking…!!!”

Let’s address this. If you were to receive what you asked for in the here and now, what would happen? Think about it. We would so get used to asking and the immediacy of things. In truth, there is no ‘lesson’ there. A teaching point-Yes! But are we truly learning? We ask, we receive, we are happy full-stop/period. How about The thanksgiving? I can put this so many ways. One would say “I thanked God for this, of course I did…” But are your thanksgivings automatic and ‘spontaneous’ because you know you have to. Or are they from realizing that without God’s grace, the ‘chances’ were slim to none? A very brief story I have to share is I went to DMV the other day and realized in my ‘rush’ I had forgotten my wallet at home (now before you think I drove ‘illegally’, my mother took me!). I had waited on line not aware that I had forgotten my wallet at home. Then I was called. Ran though the rigmarole (actually found out that I had filled the wrong form), when all this was done, I was asked for my life sense. And you can imagine what happened next. I was sent home to ‘fetch’ the drivers license. Just what is a ‘testimony’ in that? You might ask. Hole on!
The week after, my mother again took me. She went for a walk-something she does often. Praise The LORD for His care and hand in and on her life. (More on this later). When we get back I walked straight to the line I had been before
There were three ‘clerks’ at the Windows, and I waited patiently. The first clear to be free was ‘right in front of me’. I brought out the paperwork (for a duplicate of my title of ownership); she decided just then she would head out to lunch. Turned the sign at her window to “out on break”. I then had to wait for one of the remaining two. Guess what? The same one who had attended to me the previous visit came free! And by the grace of God recognized me. All the paperwork was out and complete but there was a problem with the computer. She called over (and waited) for the next clerk who at the time was busy. To cut a long story short with prayer and a constant trust in God, she printed out the title there and then. I walked out of DMV with the title in my hands. There are many possible scenarios. She might have taken all the information and had it mailed, her PC might have acted up and she would have ‘allowed’ me to go home and wait for it to be sent, I ‘might’ have forgotten something (it wasn’t I ‘quick’ drive either.) The reason I share this is, so many things happen each and every day. Do we realize what the blessings are?

Stop here! Let us do something. Think back on the previous 24 hours (I am giving you time,) think of all the unexpected and surprising things that occurred. What would you have/have done without? And in this case, what can you do with what so ‘luckily’ fell in your lap? It is time (once again to realize that we have a special umpire in our corner.) Our ‘fight’ may not always be ‘fought’ for us, but the energy/power/ability comes from one source!

Believe that the God who saved you hears your cries (Micah 7:7).
Have you ever felt like your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling? Perhaps, like me, you have prayed for years about a concern, but God has seemed silent. That’s where God demonstrated his love and mercy towards us when we were still his enemies. Mind you, Man had sinned and we were apart from His will. I will be stubborn and ask, which one of you can truly say (and mean it) that they are without sin? It is not impossible, I am sure that there are many moments that we can answer this in the affirmative, that is great! Let is look to permanently be able to share (and say this).
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Romans 8:32)
In other words, the cross is our guarantee that God is for us and is committed to give us everything we would ask for if we knew everything he knew. We can be content with that and wait patiently for his answers.

2. Watch with expectancy, but be prepared for unexpected answers (Psalm 5:3).
While God has been faithful to answer many of my prayers, it’s often been in far different ways than I would have anticipated! God knows that the only way to do what he and I both desire will, at times, involve varying degrees of discomfort in my life.

Growing in humility means pride has to be done away with. Learning to love like Jesus requires us to say no to self’s constant demand for selfish ambition, wanting our own way, and putting ourselves first. Growing in patience inevitably involves some form of waiting, whether in a long line at the grocery story or a lifetime for a loved one to come to Christ. When we lay our requests before him, it is by faith that we wait and watch in anticipation of God’s good work in us and others.

3. Put your hope in his Word (Psalm 130:5-6).
We can be tempted to put our hope in things that may disappoint us in the end. We can hope a doctor will heal us, a teacher will pass us, a spouse will love us, our employer will reward us, or a friend will help us. But it is only when we put our hope in Christ that we can wait with confidence and know we will not be put to shame.

It seems that God allows us to experience disappointments in life to teach us that nothing else will truly satisfy or provide us with a firm foundation to stand upon. God’s Word alone is unshakable. We can wait for the Lord knowing that, no matter how dark the night is, his light will break through in our lives, bringing abundant joy through a more intimate relationship with Christ.

4. Trust in the Lord, not in your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
1 Peter 3:15

So, I read this and meditated on it. Are we asked? What makes you different??? Let me state it a different way. Is there or are there things that cause you to stand out among folks. I will do well to say that among believers, we should ‘fit’ in wonderfully well (we will touch on this when we discuss ‘faith’). What makes you different???

Ok, let me ask…before eating, do you hold and give thanks for the food? I can strip this down…aren’t there people alive that are hungry or in need of more. But, you sit down and are about to take it in. Give thanks! We have been asked to give thanks in all, do you??? We are about to spill over into a “gratitude” teaching; let us hold fast to where we are and what we set out to do.

Let us define ‘hope’. All we do encircled hope. Our lives, our ways, our beliefs, our all. Where do you want to be tomorrow? Our answer is…. Are you working toward it? Striving? We can look back and see just what we put in to be were we currently are. Look back. Did you know you’d be right where you are? It was a hope that your hard work would pay off. No? We live in hope, striving for the next nugget. Well in our Christian walk, we have the very self same hope.

We have not seen or lived, but we hope and live in hope that we will. Let us be a bit ‘unruly’ and take a moment to ask another brother or sister what there hope is. If they speak of there present hope, propel them forward and ask what their ultimate hope and goal is. It is not ‘kosher’ to speak about ‘end time’s’ with anyone at all. But, we did not say ‘end time’s’ rather “Where do you hope to be when your life is over?” Ok, there I get a look of “Aha! That is what you were driving at?”

So in asking we get a heap of answers, the main one goes “If Heaven is real, that is where I hope to be.” Back in the day; there might have been one or two people who had experienced a brief glimpse of where we will all end up. I in reading the Bible have run into accounts of a few. Most importantly, at the time these occurred technology to send this far and wide was unavailable, so we read about it in the here and now. How did people catch a whiff of what was coming? All comes down to hope.
I hope that I am doing right, or what I am doing will get me where I want to be (I should really say “hope to be”.) It is a definite, we as people have hopes and dreams. What are yours? Again we go down lists and lists of every form shape and size. We are clear with what we want-here!!! And after???

Once again, I will be a tad stubborn. If you were coming back to earth (recycled life). I say this because I have listened to one share about this. What can you do to ensure that your next round will be golden? I have so many suggestions, which we have shared in the past. But, I had to admit that not knowing where, when, as what we would be back makes that a very improbable answer or theory. Now, we are getting somewhere. A theory/concept, no?

All this from a verse, no? Shows why and what we have to meditate on His word day and night. Funny enough, that is in The Word, Psalm 1:2 to be precise: “But whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.”

I guess I should ask; “From where do you obtain your thrills and/or chills?” Kinda ‘freaky’, huh? All connected. We may not have realized it just yet, but as we begin to take a thrill in The Word, we will be revealed its ‘secrets’ that are out in the open and get chills as we realize what we may have missed for it becomes established in our Lives.

I guess we will end this with a thrill:
Your word, Lord, is eternal;
it stands firm in the Heavens.
Psalm 119:89
And as we meditate on this, we are made to understand:
“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.”
Matthew 18:18

So, in all things may we respond in gentleness and respect. In Love y’all, for that is our ‘new way’, Amen.

Chaper 17

“I am the Living bread that came down from Heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”
– John 6:51

Must we ‘grub’ to stay healthy? No matter how ‘specific’ we get. Vegans, Vegetarians, standard Nutrition appreciates; we have to eat to be here, no?
We have the promise of ‘living’ bread. Happened and we were not aware. Our debts are played! Were taken on in all their fullness.
We have a way to sup. Believe in your Spirit that Jesus came for you, no one else. Might take a bit of realizing; you were the reason (among other people) that He came. Right now, I am focusing on you. In the verse it says Anyone who eats this bread will live forever… What does this mean?

For you Jesus came and died, He was put to a death that we could/can barely imagine, for us! We hear and in faith believe. Yes there is history. Even with history, stories change. But 2000+ years later the story has remained the same. Truism I call it, crystal clear fact.

We are left with the action we are to take: accept or deny. The choice is clear, a chose we must make. How do I put this? There are things in life we have to decide on; what to wear, what time to leave, when to get there…so many decisions. But there is one that answers all… If we take a moment to dress it down; we have all these decisions but they amount to one fact. The time, place, conditions, health status we cannot decide. Time, place, conditions, season, even reason….all is left to…chance.

So, we can make a decision now that becomes a part; the who and what we are. So, we must come to a decision.

This was said: “And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.”
Can we guess who said this and to whom? A big clue is one of those spoken to was a doubter. But today, I ask you “Where are you going and how will you get there?”
GPS knowledge springs up….”a left, two rights, you’ll see a sign that says …” Stop! Did you really think I meant directions on and of how to get someplace? I meant some where, THE place! No matter where our lives take us there is that deep seated knowledge and hope that there is more. O will ask you “Is there?”
“What makes you believe?” Is it based on faith? Believing without seeing? That is where hope comes from. We have slices and diced it every which way and we are left ‘hoping’ that we trusted right.

Let me be a ‘bad guy’s for a minute. I will ask “How about if it comes to mean nothing at all?” Let me be stubborn and stand in another set oh shoes. “Even if I am proved wrong, when you look back on the way out. Could you or would you have done anything differently? We can be blatantly honest, No one to hear your response, even I the ‘askee’ is not present. All I can do is point our that living by the rules in The Word lead us to live lives that are above reproach. We in essence are in a great place. To have hope, to live it and ‘wait’ for the promise…is a way of life. Live it it peace and Spiritual excellence in Jesus’ name, Amen

(Daniel 3:15b) “And who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands” Therefore as you go out this day with your faith in God, the Lord will deliver you as He did for the three Hebrew boys. He will open a new chapter in your life. He will defend His name. He will Speak peace to your life. He will demonstrate His power just to give you the last laugh. Your enemies will declare publicly the mighty power of God and your testimony shall be real. Many will follow you to serve your God. Amen

We can see that with such politese and respect, the addresses the King and refused knowing the punishment that they would be put to death. Amazingly, God answered the desires of their heart to show that He is God. Hallelujah! Words are a bit ‘short’ in describing His glory, His Love. God is Love. How do you describe Love? Patient, kind, none judgmental, it goes on. Love is, folks God is.

Jesus’ ‘brothers’ (I know what you are thinking, reason why I started with that. Awesome to start at shock and finish with awe!) said to him, “Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles!
You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!”
For even his brothers didn’t believe in him.
John 7: 3-5

Who exactly are these? Joseph’s children from his first marriage? Jesus’ relatives as in ‘cousin’s’ I have to admit that it is hard to figure out. This comes up yet other times; The Gospel of Mark 6:3 and the Gospel of Matthew 13:55-56 state that James, Joses (or Joseph), Judas, and Simon were the brothers of Jesus, The same verses also mention unnamed sisters of Jesus.

Being of direct African decent we called ‘cousins’ as we called siblings. I will give an example ‘Older male’ relative is àgbà arakunrin. If you switch that to ‘younger’ you get ‘aburo’. The simplest form is Sister/Brother which can be described as Egbon or Aburo. The specifics are not stated. But the most significant that settles this is siblings (if there were any) would have been there at the cross or with Mary. Before Jesus breathed His last, He committed the care of His Mother to John.
Then said He to the disciple, Behold your Mother! And from that hour that disciple took Her to his own home.
John 19:27

Again, should the ‘siblings’ who obviously knew of the signs and wonders not have been at the cross? Yet they were missing which draws a simple line across them being related in any way.

For me it draws a HUGE line under the virgin Mary. Born for a purpose and fulfilling that purpose. I have to point out that she was given a choice; we read- In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Not only was the birth of Jesus announced as Mary submitted to the will of God. But the birth of John the Baptist was foretold. We will get to that, but Mary went to wait on Elizabeth-John the baptist’ mother. Which we read about. As we have shared it is all connected! When we open our hearts, it all falls in place, Alleluia!

Believing God for healing.

So much has been shared in The Word about healing. Awesome this thing known as faith. The Word says if we have faith as a mustard seed, we will receive. Again, we don’t have to outright believe, but rather give God a chance! He stands politely at the door and knocks
If you want, open the door. Throw it open! There is untold joy, peace and fulfillment! At times, we have so much going on. We might not even realize it. Time to get down on your knees in your quiet place and seek the face of The LORD.

I was looking up “healing” and found these scripture references. There are tons more, a good place to start is with the basics.

My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.
Proverbs 4:20-22

Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. He sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.
Psalm 107:19-20

Heal me, O LORD, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.
Jeremiah 17:14

He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
Mark 5:34

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
James 5:16

There is so much that might stand in the way of you receiving. Search your heart! I love where the word says to be ‘born again’; teeter toddle, loose balance first. One day you will run. Our goal is to get the prize! To ‘age’ myself, I was ‘older’ or at least ‘old enough’ to remember when Carl Lewis ran in the Olympics and broke records. Prior there were others and since, his record has been beat. Point??? All these athletes started somewhere! For the most part, they crawled once. One day started walking, then jogging, then running. Practice, practice, practice then award time. Frankly, No one gets up and wins awards right out the gate. I may be wrong, but we all see Olympic champs, they work for what they have. Got faith? You worked for it!

Encourage those around you. Pray for and with them, make a difference. We shall one existence all be where there is no time, extent of ‘atmosphere’, limits. To place it simply. Even our enemy from birth, will be permanently placed away and we shall be in The presence of our God.

There are many rivers to cross prior to reaching this point, a thing (of many) that makes it easier is the fact that it is worth it! Think about it, you might have so much ‘suffering’ now, but that is for a ‘short time’s only. I know it seems like ‘everyrhing’ is topsy-turvy. That is for a period.

Trying to stay off The Word, I am drawn to nowhere else but the book of Job. As shared, when written, by whom etc is a lot of unknown. But, rather let us look for the example that is read. He had it all, yes! He worked for it, but that is part of the lesson too. No matter what he did, the first thing he did was to dedicate it with praise and thanksgiving to God.

Again, not knowing exactly when this was written is cause for a bit of ‘confusion’, we have a keen idea of when everything else was written. But, let us look at it closer for a second, it was written. The people discussed did exist, you know what? Let us say that it was all ‘fiction’ there is a lesson here. In a ‘world’ where people ‘lived’; they had or obtained what they needed. This individual (still on fiction) had what he had. Now, ‘God’ saw this and built a ‘fence’ around him. Lesson here, if we believe in God and trust that he controls our all. We are blessed to be under His care and Love.

Job lost all. Property, children, spouse, health and was asked to speak out and give up his Spirit. We see what his response was. For this ‘sharing’ we will cut it short and simple ‘Naked and without I came into this World, naked and without I may leave it.’ No matter how bad things got, he trusted in an unseen God.

Now, this brings a key point to the forefront. We have not seen God! We talk to Him! Why? It is called faith. Our Lives are made ‘easier’ when we trust this unseen force, so we trust ‘it’ more. You just made the point; we didn’t see yet trusted and received, so we trusted more and got more….see the pattern? We start small and aim BIG.

I guess this is good a place as any to pray. There are a lot of prayers, let us pray this from within and let it all go.

Father Lord, Mighty King Jesus and Ever Loving Holy Spirit. To You I come realizing that there is something I must be hoping on to that is restricting me from receiving that which You have given in full. I know I am before You, cleanse my heart, Lord not only because I desire healing, but to Your glory. If I may, I decree health and good fortune in Jesus’ name. Father, Your will be done in my life. I may want, if it is not your will, be glorified in all actions, thoughts and words from me. Today and always, I am blessed to be a part of Your Kingdom. Lord, I desire to see You. Joy overwhelms my heart at the prospect which I am only too pleased to decree that here and now and know that it is established in Heaven. Father, I know all strength, power and wisdom is from You. Strenthen me, empower me, grant me Your Spirit to lift me up out of this place that I am. In my life Lord be glorified. I thank You for Your word. Lord, give me a hunger for it always. Lord I am made in Your image with Your essence coursing through me. Lord, touch me and make me whole. I ask once again that though be glorified in and with my life for this short while I am here on earth, I pray in Jesus’ almighty name, Amen