Podcasts about him you

Pastor Christy Cass Pastor Christy Cass brings a powerful message on the impact of our words in “Words Have Weight.” Discover how what we say can either build up or break down—and why God calls us to speak life. TEXT: Proverbs 18:21; 16:24 Hebrews 12:11 NOTES: -Words have weight -Carry the weight -Take the weight Truth to Speak over Her: You are a loved daughter of the King. 1 Peter 2:9 You are wonderfully made by God. Psalm 139:14 You carry wisdom, kindness, and strength. Proverbs 31:25-26 Your worth comes from who you are—God's masterpiece. Ephesians 2:10 You are pure, set apart, and walk with dignity. Proverbs 31:10 You are a light meant to shine with grace. Matthew 5:14 You are deeply loved—nothing can separate you from God's love. Romans 8:38-39 You are brave because God is with you. Joshua 1:9 Truth to Speak over Him: You are a strong and purposeful son of God. Galatians 4:7 You were made to lead with courage and compassion. Micah 6:8 You are God's workmanship, created for good things. Ephesians 2:10 You are brave, not by your strength, but by God's. 2 Timothy 1:7 You are called to protect, serve, and love with honor. 1 Cor. 16:13-14 Your identity is rooted in God's Word, not the world. Romans 12:2 You are a light and a leader in your home and community. Phil. 2:15 You are never alone—God is always with you. Isaiah 41:10

These Spokenwords are from my personal bible study time, " Following the leading of the Spirit", taken from ⁠Teachings – Living Word Media⁠ taught by Chris Segun Onayinka. This is just a tiny piece of a series. Thank you, sir, for the teaching. The Holy Spirit, Our Inward Witness: The Gentle Guide WithinMan is a supernatural being.God placed us in a supernatural world—so He could lead us supernaturally.Proverbs 20:27 says:“The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one's inmost being.”When we operate outside of our born-again spirit, we step into the realm where the enemy can deceive.But the devil cannot interfere with your born-again spirit.So walk in the Spirit.Know His leading.And serve Him according to His will.Romans 12:11 encourages us:“Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.”2 Timothy 1:6 says:“Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”Don't grow cold in the things of God.Learn His Word.Feed your spirit.Become sensitive to the leading of His Spirit. As believers, we receive direction from the Lord. But beware—sometimes emotion can masquerade as revelation.That's why we must learn how God truly leads. The inward witness often works when we ask.Ask, “Is it this? Or is it that?”And the witness will respond. Don't become addicted to the spectacular.The more you wait for signs, the less you may hear the whisper. Learn to expose the facts to the Spirit's leading.You may sense a note, a leading, a gentle nudge.The more you walk in the Spirit, the more sensitive you become to that leading.The leading of the Spirit is not about success or results.It's about alignment with God's will.Spiritual growth is tied to learning His voice.To know the inward witness…Is to know God's way.You are a supernatural being.Even your moods aren't as natural as they seem.They're influenced by what your spirit receives.So, check in with your spirit.Be led.Know the inward witness. Because if you have light, but you're still looking for more light…You may end up walking in darkness. This week—pause.Ask.Listen. Don't rush past the gentle whisper of the Spirit.Don`t rush past that impression, that nudging within your SpiritHe is still speaking.He is still leading.Will you follow? Because if you're not being led by Him—You're being led by something else. And only His Spirit leads into truth,Into peace,And into purpose.Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):https://uppbeat.io/t/moire/mental-cleanseLicense code: NIWLHYCL5N5O9IK0

Inside our theme of love this month, this week we are focusing on teaching our kids what love is. God has assigned us the role of teaching them about love, to lead and be their example, to help them see by words and actions that authenticity is the only way to understand love, especially His love. Real love and intimacy require vulnerability and sincerity. And God's Word is the original love letter from His heart to ours.Today, we're going to look at the first event in Jesus' life that launched His ministry and started His road to the cross: His baptism. Now, you might ask … what does Jesus's baptism have to do with love? Well, it's really about what happened at Jesus's baptism … listen as I read . …The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God's Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.” (Matthew 3:16-17 MSG)Did you hear the words of love and affirmation God spoken over Jesus? Imagine for a moment what John witnessed? The Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—all present at this historic event. Now, listen once again, and afterwards, I'll tell you how you and I are connected to this moment.Whenever we choose to enter into a relationship with Jesus, the reconnection of our spirits to His is completed. Please know then, that He will, for the rest of your life, look at you and say, “This is my son, this is my daughter, chosen and marked by my love, the delight of my life.”I'm betting that is exactly the way you look at your child. But you need to know this is how God sees you. And if you can accept and receive that is the way your Heavenly Father sees you, you will then be able to pass that truth on to your kids. If you believe it, they will more likely come to believe it as well.Repeat this truth out loud right now … I am chosen … I am marked … by my Father's love ... and I am the delight of His life. … Say it to Him … You have chosen me … You have marked me … by Your love … and I am the delight of Your life.Let's pray together: “Heavenly Father, thank You that You chose me, thank You that my life is marked by Your love. Thank You that I am the delight of Your life. Help me to show my kids that You and I, together, feel that way about them. As above, so below.”

How do you become a disciple? Matthew 4:18-22 HOL Recognize Jesus is calling you You need to leave something behind and follow Him You start today

My sermon today is meant to be both helpful and hopeful. What we read in verses 7-10 is encouraging to you if your faith and trust is in Jesus Christ as the only One qualified to atone for all of your sins as the Lion and the Lamb. These verses are encouraging if you believe that Jesus while fully divine was also fully human for the purpose of living the life you could not live to die upon the cross for your sins while He was perfectly sinless, and that all the wrath of a Holy God fell upon Him in your place. If you are a Christian, you are no longer in darkness, but because of nothing you have done and everything He has done... you are light in the Lord and now able to walk as children of light. Because you are a Christian, you know Him and long for His appearing in the same manner the apostle Peter described: ...and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory (1 Pet. 3:8). It is because you are a Christian that there is coming a day when you also will be able to face death with the same confidence the apostle Paul did while facing death: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing (2 Tim. 4:7-8). This is why we can sing songs like He Who is to Come with hope and confidence: There is a day coming When the old will pass away Every wrong will be made right No darkness no night The Son will light the way There is a king coming The one who conquered death and grave No more pain and no more sorrow This hope for tomorrow Is our hope for today He who is to come Christ the Son of man Riding on the clouds with a crown upon His head Every eye will see Him With the nail scars in His hands[1] If you are a Christian, you belong to God as His beloved child (5:1) because He chose you before the foundation of the earth (1:4), He forgave and redeemed you through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus (1:7), and have been adopted as a child of God according to the good pleasure of His will (1:5). If you are a Christian, you are now alive with Jesus (2:4-5), and because you are alive with Christ, you are Gods, workmanship [poiēma], created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph. 2:10). You Were Saved from the Wrath of God If you are a Christian, you have been saved from the wrath of an infinitely holy God! You who were once dead in your offenses and sins, walked according to the course of this world, lived in the lusts and desires of your flesh and mind, and were by nature a child of the wrath of God, stand before God as one who has been fully pardoned, forgiven, and loved because the wrath you deserved, Jesus willingly endured. This is why Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:6-7, See that no one deceives you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. When I preached on verses 1-6, I spent a considerable amount of time explaining that these things in verse 6 include sexual immorality, impurity, and greed. Sexual immorality is any perversion of sex that has not been sanctioned to be enjoyed between a husband and a wife within the bounds of the covenant of marriage. Impurity includes any sexual sin but is not limited to sexual sins. Greed is any form of covetousness which also includes the taking of a person for sexual pleasure who does not belong to you because you are not married to that person, and this can be done physically as well as mentally. It is because of sexual immorality, impurity, and greed that the wrath of God comes. However, it is not only because of sexual immorality, impurity, and greed that the wrath of God is coming; the wrath of God comes also because of filthiness, foolish talk, and vulgar joking. Jesus said of that what comes out of your mouth is a symptom of what is in your heart: The good person out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil person out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart (Luke 6:45). In short, the wrath of God comes because of sin. In Revelation 1:18 we are told: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. What is wrath? Well, according to the dictionary, it is strong, stern, or fierce anger. Gods strong, stern, and fierce anger is provoked over sin, and we are warned about His fierce anger over sin both in the Old Testament and New Testament. For you to understand and appreciate the mercy, love, and grace of God, you must understand that sin is serious and Gods anger over sin is white hot against those guilty of it! We do not have the time for me to get exhaustive regarding the wrath of God over sin but permit me to offer you some glimpse into the explanation Gods word gives us for why He takes sin so seriously. For starters, there is only one attribute that is repeated not twice, but three times, and that attribute is the holiness of God. In Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8 we encounter the holiness of God expressed in a way that no other attribute of God is expressed: And one called out to another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of armies. The whole earth is full of His glory. (Isa. 6:3) And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. (Rev. 4:8) Regarding the holiness of God, the sinless Seraphim a specific type of angel commissioned and designed for the throne room of God attribute the Almighty with a literary device by repeating three words to emphasize the holiness of God, in Scripture it is called the three-times-holy. Even the Seraphim, before the presence of God, must cover their eyes and their feet (Isa. 6:2), and Isaiahs response before the presence of the Holy One was one of cursing upon himself: Woe to me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of armies (Isa. 6:5). It is of this God that the prophet Habakkuk said: Are You not from time everlasting, Lord, my God, my Holy One? Your eyes are too pure to look at evil... (Hab. 1:12a, 13a). In Nahum we are told that God is a jealous and avenging God is the Lord; The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies (Nah. 1:2). And when it comes to the sinfulness of the nations, we are told that all of the wicked must drink the cup of His wrath: For a cup is in the hand of the Lord, and the wine foams; it is well mixed, and He pours out of this; certainly all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink its dregs (Ps. 75:8). The cup of Gods wrath reserved for the wicked is the cup Jesus drank. The Son of God, the perfect sinless lamb, the Groom of the Church drank the cup of Gods wrath! The only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God.... Who, for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man[2] was born to die for sinful man! In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed about the cup reserved for the wicked: And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will. He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, Your will be done. (Matt. 26:39, 42). Jesus drank the cup of Gods wrath for our redemption, and He drank every last drop on the cross by becoming curse in our place: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for usfor it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a Tree (Gal. 3:13). This is why Jesus said of Himself: The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand. The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him (John 3:35-36). Hell is how the wrath of God will be carried out, and Jesus described it as a place, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not extinguished (Mark 9:48). You Are Redeemed to Live as Children of Light However, if you are a Christian, you who were once a child of wrath are now a child of mercy, and thereby an adopted child of the Living God through the price Jesus paid by His blood. R.C. Sproul wrote of the salvation of sinners, The glory of the gospel is this: The one from whom we need to be saved is the one who has saved us. In his magnum opus, The Cross of Christ, John Stott described Christs sacrifice for our salvation this way: Divine love triumphed over divine wrath by divine self-sacrifice.[3] If you are confused as to how seriously God takes sin or how offended by your sin He was, you need not look beyond the cross on which Jesus died! The cross is the place where our redeemer bore a holy and justified wrath on our behalf where He received the ax of Gods justice in our place! Upon the cross, where Jesus was cursed in our place, He was pierced for our offenses and was crushed for our wrongdoings (Isa. 53:5). We who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ are no longer children of wrath, and because we are no longer children of wrath, we are not to become partners with those who continue to practice the very thing that the wrath of God is reserved for. Christian, you who were once darkness are a child of light. As children of light, we are to live out our new life in Christ in the following four ways: We are to walk as children of light by not partnering with the sons of disobedience (v. 7). The Greek word for partner is symmetochos which can also be translated sharer or partaker. Paul uses the same word in Ephesians 3:6 to describe how we, Gentiles, share, partake, and participate in the promise of Christ as the body of Christ. We who once were satisfied by the broken cisterns of this world, now find our satisfaction in Jesus as the Living Water (John 7:37-39). We are to walk as children of light by displaying the light of Christ (v. 8). If you are a Christian, you are no longer darkness, but sons and daughters, Light of Life (John 12:36). Jesus said of all who belong to Him: You are the light of the world.... Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:14, 16). We are to walk as children of light by displaying the fruit of our identity and union in Christ (v. 9). By walking with Christ, we will display the goodness, righteousness, and truth of Jesus for the glory of God and the good of those around us. Our life is in Jesus, and the evidence that we belong to Him is that His life will shine through our lives. Tony Merida, in his commentary on Ephesians, said it this way: Those who walk in light do good works (2:10), they live righteously (4:24), and they speak truthfully (4:15).[4] We are to walk as children of light by living lives that are pleasing to the Lord (v. 10). Our lives are not set apart to please people, but to please the One who purchased us with His blood. This is why the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body. So, whats the point? The point is simply this: You, Christian, are a child of a Holy God who poured out His wrath upon His Son so that you would not be consumed by His justice but be overwhelmed by His kindness, grace, love, and mercy through Jesus! Because you are no longer dead in your offenses and sins (2:1), you walk as one who is alive in Christ. Walk as one who has been called, out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9). Walk as the forgiven because, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Walk in light of your new identity because God has declared by the authority of His word: if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Cor. 5:17). You who was once dead in your sins and once walked in darkness, are awake and alive not because of anything you have done but because of everything Christ has accomplished! This is why we sing, O to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be Let Thy grace Lord like a fetter Bind my wand'ring heart to Thee Prone to wander Lord I feel it Prone to leave the God I love Here's my heart Lord take and seal it Seal it for Thy courts above.[5] [1] [Passion] by Cody Carnes, Kristian Stanfill, and Sean Curran [2] From the Nicene Creed [3] John Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 15. [4] Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Ephesians (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 126. [5] Come Thou Fount, [Shane and Shane] by Robert Robinson and John Wyeth

My sermon today is meant to be both helpful and hopeful. What we read in verses 7-10 is encouraging to you if your faith and trust is in Jesus Christ as the only One qualified to atone for all of your sins as the Lion and the Lamb. These verses are encouraging if you believe that Jesus while fully divine was also fully human for the purpose of living the life you could not live to die upon the cross for your sins while He was perfectly sinless, and that all the wrath of a Holy God fell upon Him in your place. If you are a Christian, you are no longer in darkness, but because of nothing you have done and everything He has done... you are light in the Lord and now able to walk as children of light. Because you are a Christian, you know Him and long for His appearing in the same manner the apostle Peter described: ...and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory (1 Pet. 3:8). It is because you are a Christian that there is coming a day when you also will be able to face death with the same confidence the apostle Paul did while facing death: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing (2 Tim. 4:7-8). This is why we can sing songs like He Who is to Come with hope and confidence: There is a day coming When the old will pass away Every wrong will be made right No darkness no night The Son will light the way There is a king coming The one who conquered death and grave No more pain and no more sorrow This hope for tomorrow Is our hope for today He who is to come Christ the Son of man Riding on the clouds with a crown upon His head Every eye will see Him With the nail scars in His hands[1] If you are a Christian, you belong to God as His beloved child (5:1) because He chose you before the foundation of the earth (1:4), He forgave and redeemed you through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus (1:7), and have been adopted as a child of God according to the good pleasure of His will (1:5). If you are a Christian, you are now alive with Jesus (2:4-5), and because you are alive with Christ, you are Gods, workmanship [poiēma], created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph. 2:10). You Were Saved from the Wrath of God If you are a Christian, you have been saved from the wrath of an infinitely holy God! You who were once dead in your offenses and sins, walked according to the course of this world, lived in the lusts and desires of your flesh and mind, and were by nature a child of the wrath of God, stand before God as one who has been fully pardoned, forgiven, and loved because the wrath you deserved, Jesus willingly endured. This is why Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:6-7, See that no one deceives you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. When I preached on verses 1-6, I spent a considerable amount of time explaining that these things in verse 6 include sexual immorality, impurity, and greed. Sexual immorality is any perversion of sex that has not been sanctioned to be enjoyed between a husband and a wife within the bounds of the covenant of marriage. Impurity includes any sexual sin but is not limited to sexual sins. Greed is any form of covetousness which also includes the taking of a person for sexual pleasure who does not belong to you because you are not married to that person, and this can be done physically as well as mentally. It is because of sexual immorality, impurity, and greed that the wrath of God comes. However, it is not only because of sexual immorality, impurity, and greed that the wrath of God is coming; the wrath of God comes also because of filthiness, foolish talk, and vulgar joking. Jesus said of that what comes out of your mouth is a symptom of what is in your heart: The good person out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil person out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart (Luke 6:45). In short, the wrath of God comes because of sin. In Revelation 1:18 we are told: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. What is wrath? Well, according to the dictionary, it is strong, stern, or fierce anger. Gods strong, stern, and fierce anger is provoked over sin, and we are warned about His fierce anger over sin both in the Old Testament and New Testament. For you to understand and appreciate the mercy, love, and grace of God, you must understand that sin is serious and Gods anger over sin is white hot against those guilty of it! We do not have the time for me to get exhaustive regarding the wrath of God over sin but permit me to offer you some glimpse into the explanation Gods word gives us for why He takes sin so seriously. For starters, there is only one attribute that is repeated not twice, but three times, and that attribute is the holiness of God. In Isaiah 6:3 and Revelation 4:8 we encounter the holiness of God expressed in a way that no other attribute of God is expressed: And one called out to another and said, Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of armies. The whole earth is full of His glory. (Isa. 6:3) And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. (Rev. 4:8) Regarding the holiness of God, the sinless Seraphim a specific type of angel commissioned and designed for the throne room of God attribute the Almighty with a literary device by repeating three words to emphasize the holiness of God, in Scripture it is called the three-times-holy. Even the Seraphim, before the presence of God, must cover their eyes and their feet (Isa. 6:2), and Isaiahs response before the presence of the Holy One was one of cursing upon himself: Woe to me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of armies (Isa. 6:5). It is of this God that the prophet Habakkuk said: Are You not from time everlasting, Lord, my God, my Holy One? Your eyes are too pure to look at evil... (Hab. 1:12a, 13a). In Nahum we are told that God is a jealous and avenging God is the Lord; The Lord is avenging and wrathful. The Lord takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies (Nah. 1:2). And when it comes to the sinfulness of the nations, we are told that all of the wicked must drink the cup of His wrath: For a cup is in the hand of the Lord, and the wine foams; it is well mixed, and He pours out of this; certainly all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink its dregs (Ps. 75:8). The cup of Gods wrath reserved for the wicked is the cup Jesus drank. The Son of God, the perfect sinless lamb, the Groom of the Church drank the cup of Gods wrath! The only begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God.... Who, for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man[2] was born to die for sinful man! In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed about the cup reserved for the wicked: And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will. He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, Your will be done. (Matt. 26:39, 42). Jesus drank the cup of Gods wrath for our redemption, and He drank every last drop on the cross by becoming curse in our place: Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for usfor it is written: Cursed is everyone who hangs on a Tree (Gal. 3:13). This is why Jesus said of Himself: The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand. The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him (John 3:35-36). Hell is how the wrath of God will be carried out, and Jesus described it as a place, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not extinguished (Mark 9:48). You Are Redeemed to Live as Children of Light However, if you are a Christian, you who were once a child of wrath are now a child of mercy, and thereby an adopted child of the Living God through the price Jesus paid by His blood. R.C. Sproul wrote of the salvation of sinners, The glory of the gospel is this: The one from whom we need to be saved is the one who has saved us. In his magnum opus, The Cross of Christ, John Stott described Christs sacrifice for our salvation this way: Divine love triumphed over divine wrath by divine self-sacrifice.[3] If you are confused as to how seriously God takes sin or how offended by your sin He was, you need not look beyond the cross on which Jesus died! The cross is the place where our redeemer bore a holy and justified wrath on our behalf where He received the ax of Gods justice in our place! Upon the cross, where Jesus was cursed in our place, He was pierced for our offenses and was crushed for our wrongdoings (Isa. 53:5). We who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ are no longer children of wrath, and because we are no longer children of wrath, we are not to become partners with those who continue to practice the very thing that the wrath of God is reserved for. Christian, you who were once darkness are a child of light. As children of light, we are to live out our new life in Christ in the following four ways: We are to walk as children of light by not partnering with the sons of disobedience (v. 7). The Greek word for partner is symmetochos which can also be translated sharer or partaker. Paul uses the same word in Ephesians 3:6 to describe how we, Gentiles, share, partake, and participate in the promise of Christ as the body of Christ. We who once were satisfied by the broken cisterns of this world, now find our satisfaction in Jesus as the Living Water (John 7:37-39). We are to walk as children of light by displaying the light of Christ (v. 8). If you are a Christian, you are no longer darkness, but sons and daughters, Light of Life (John 12:36). Jesus said of all who belong to Him: You are the light of the world.... Your light must shine before people in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matt. 5:14, 16). We are to walk as children of light by displaying the fruit of our identity and union in Christ (v. 9). By walking with Christ, we will display the goodness, righteousness, and truth of Jesus for the glory of God and the good of those around us. Our life is in Jesus, and the evidence that we belong to Him is that His life will shine through our lives. Tony Merida, in his commentary on Ephesians, said it this way: Those who walk in light do good works (2:10), they live righteously (4:24), and they speak truthfully (4:15).[4] We are to walk as children of light by living lives that are pleasing to the Lord (v. 10). Our lives are not set apart to please people, but to please the One who purchased us with His blood. This is why the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20, Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body. So, whats the point? The point is simply this: You, Christian, are a child of a Holy God who poured out His wrath upon His Son so that you would not be consumed by His justice but be overwhelmed by His kindness, grace, love, and mercy through Jesus! Because you are no longer dead in your offenses and sins (2:1), you walk as one who is alive in Christ. Walk as one who has been called, out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Pet. 2:9). Walk as the forgiven because, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21). Walk in light of your new identity because God has declared by the authority of His word: if anyone is in Christ, this person is a new creation; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Cor. 5:17). You who was once dead in your sins and once walked in darkness, are awake and alive not because of anything you have done but because of everything Christ has accomplished! This is why we sing, O to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be Let Thy grace Lord like a fetter Bind my wand'ring heart to Thee Prone to wander Lord I feel it Prone to leave the God I love Here's my heart Lord take and seal it Seal it for Thy courts above.[5] [1] [Passion] by Cody Carnes, Kristian Stanfill, and Sean Curran [2] From the Nicene Creed [3] John Stott, The Cross of Christ (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 15. [4] Tony Merida, Exalting Jesus in Ephesians (Nashville, TN: Holman Reference, 2014), 126. [5] Come Thou Fount, [Shane and Shane] by Robert Robinson and John Wyeth

John 19:7 The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God." 8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, 9 and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. 10 Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?" 11 Jesus answered, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin." 12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar." 13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" 15 But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" 16 ¶ Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away.   The Jews have backed Pilate into a corner at this point. It is a matter of Jesus claiming to be King and there can be only one King in Rome. He can either save his soul or his life. If He turns Jesus loose, he loses his life, if He crucifies Him, it will be his soul. So, Pilate asks where Jesus is from, but Jesus knows it is too late for Pilate, he has already said he doesn't care about truth and so He does not answer him. It is a bad place to be when you have rejected God for so long, that He refuses to speak to you anymore. Pilate lets Jesus know that he is powerful and can let him go or he can have him crucified and Jesus speaks one more time. He lets Pilate know that He only has power because God has granted it to him. Then He lets Pilate know that his sin is less than that of the one who delivered Jesus up and I believe He is speaking about Judas. The Bible speaks of degrees of sin and degrees of reward. Hell won't be the same for everyone, just as Heaven won't. Read 1 Corinthians 3:8-15, 2 Corinthians 5:10. 2 John 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.  Revelation 22:12 "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.   7 The Jews answered him, "We have a law, and according to our law He ought to die, because He made Himself the Son of God." Le 24:16; Mt 26:55,65; Joh 5:18; 10:33 Now what the Jews are going to do is they're going to put these things together in an accusation that's going to cut both ways and it will notch it up so far that Pilate has to do something about it.  In Leviticus 24:16 it was blasphemous for a person to call himself a king in Judaism.  Under a theocracy for you to say you were a king when you weren't a king was guilty of death.  That's a religious law under a religious system under Caiaphas.  A political law, if you call yourself a king, you're fighting against Caesar as the true emperor king.  So both of these charges now of treason raise it way high and Pilate's going to have to do something about it.  If Pilate won't condemn Jesus for treason, perhaps he'll condemn Jesus if he understands that both sides of religion and the civil law would work to his benefit to see Jesus executed.  Now, Pilate well knew that law. What was that law? Pilate knew that the Jews didn't tolerate any false gods, right? Two times Pilate had brought in the image of false gods to Israel, hadn't he? On his standards when he arrived there, on the shields that he hung up in Herod's palace, both times it had caused a revolt among the Jews, hadn't it? It had caused such a reaction among the Jews that he got word from Caesar himself to remove those things or he'd be removed. And Caesar was watching Pilate because Pilate had a problem with this same issue every time. That is, dragging, or letting false gods exist in Israel. Now the Romans weren't stupid. They knew in order to subject the people; you give them enough freedom to make them content. You don't violate their religion. And so the Romans let them worship as they wanted and they did not offend them with outside gods. And so, the Jews are saying ‑ Hey, Pilate, you remember that law about false gods? Remember that one? See. The one that almost cost you last time? Yeah, well here it comes again, Pilate, He's claiming to be the Son of God, we don't believe in false gods. That just cuts because this is right exactly where Pilate's blown it twice before. Now they are sharp. They've got this plot, down to a science, they know what they're doing. And so, what they're doing is putting the pressure on Pilate to get rid of another false god. And the last two times he didn't do it, the first time it cost him his whole rule there, really, because he had to give in to them. The second time it almost cost him his life. Now they're saying to him, in effect, ‑ You going to let this one get by again? You're not going to execute what we believe to be a false god? You're going to let a false god run around among us again? You going to do this again? Guess who we'll report you to? Hmm? You know, so we'll tell Caesar. And so, the threat is too much. And they know where to hit him 8 Therefore, when Pilate heard that saying, he was the more afraid, That leads us to Pilate's fatal panic in verse 8. Verses eight through eleven ask and answer the question who's in control of all of this mess: This is the first time the word fear comes into the storyline.  Pilate's been acting a shrewd politician, now he's scared.  Why is he scared?  Well, two very good possibilities. As if it's not bad enough to put Pilate in the spot that he can't get out of, when they said to Pilate ‑ He is making Himself to be the Son of God ‑that would automatically turn on something that Pilate well knew. The Romans were very superstitious. And the Romans believed that the gods, and demigods, often came into the world and moved among men, see. And the Jews when they said to him ‑ He makes Himself the Son of God ‑ he wouldn't have thought of that in the Jewish context, he would have thought of that in a Roman context. And he would have thought of it in a pagan context. And he would have understood it that this is ... this is a man who is claiming to be a son of a god. And then he would have thought to himself ‑ If He is, I'm in real trouble, right? I've just flogged the son of a god. The Romans were superstitious. For example, in Acts chapter 14 when Paul and Barnabas came into town and they said: Hey, these guys are terrific, we think they're gods come to earth. And they started calling them Jupiter and Mercury, remember that? That was a common superstition. Acts 28 has it again. They believed that the gods came into the world. Remember, his wife has a dream, too, in Matthew twenty-seven that sort of sets him back a little bit.  Now Pilate's got this thing in the back of his head to add to all the rest of the stuff that's scrambling his brain. Maybe I've been beating up the son of a god, little did he know. That it was God Himself, the only true God. 9 and went again into the Praetorium, and said to Jesus, "Where are You from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. Isa 53:7; Mt 27:12,14 You say, "What's he saying? Does he want to know His address in Nazareth?" No. He knows where He's from. He is asking Him if He's the son of a god, that's what he's asking Him. Where did You come from? Are You earthly or are You from up there where the gods are? Before the flood God said: "My Spirit will not always strive with man." The Bible tells us Pharaoh hardened his heart, Pharaoh hardened his heart and then it stops and it says: "And God hardened Pharaoh's heart." There comes a time in the life of an individual who willfully rejects Jesus Christ that all of a sudden it becomes impossible. And God in Christ knew Pilate. He knew it was over. He knew Pilate had gone past the point of return. You see, back in chapter 18:36, Jesus had even said to him Every one that is of the truth hears My voice." He had given him an invitation. He declared who He was. He told him He was a King from another realm, not the world and Pilate wouldn't buy it and Pilate kept going further and further and further and further and Jesus just knew it was over. 10 Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?" It's a shocking thing when you study in the Bible the silence of God. You say, "Why was Jesus silent?" Well, He was silent, I think, in response to prophecy. Isaiah 53:7 says: "As a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth." In a sense He knew He was fulfilling prophecy in silence. But, let me give you something even greater than that. Jesus knew Pilate's heart. And Jesus knew it was over with Pilate...it was over. Nothing that Jesus said anymore would have mattered to Pilate. So, He didn't say anything. You know, it's a shocking thing to realize that a man can come to the place in his own experience with God that God stops talking to him. But it can happen.  11 Jesus answered, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. Therefore the one who delivered Me to you has the greater sin." Lu 22:53; Joh 7:30 You say, could anybody ever be that guilty?" Yes, anybody who knows the truth and rejects it, according to Hebrews 6 is guilty of crucifying the Son of God afresh, putting Him to an open shame. And men today are just as guilty as the people who screamed for His blood then when they reject Him, willfully knowing the truth. And so, it's hard for me to conceive of anymore guilt than Pilate but there's more guilt than what he did in ignorance. Much more on those who should have known the truth. Theirs was the greater sin. And that shows you there's degrees of sin. It only takes one sin of the smallest degree to condemn a man to hell, but the hottest hell and the severest punishment is reserved for those whose sin is a travesty on what they know to be true. Like Hebrews says of how much greater punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the blood of the covenant, the Son of God. The greater sin is that. Now, the one who's delivered Him raises several questions.  Who?  It's a singular verb, a singular pronoun.  The one who delivered.  So He's talking about one person.  Is it Judas?  Is it Caiaphas?  Is it Satan?  And I don't have a clear answer.  Caiaphas is representing Judaism at its worst and Pilate is representing Roman civil law and these are the things colliding in the charges right now.  Some would lean towards Caiaphas as the one.  He says, “He has the greater sin,” because under the religious theocracy, he should know.  “He came into His own and His own know Him not.”  He should know who Jesus is and he's going to deliver Him over to get rid of the problem because it's expedient that Christ die for the nation. John's expression, “handed over,” is used 11 times previously in this Gospel (6:64, 71; 12:4; 13:2, 11, 21; 18:2, 5, 30, 35, 36). In its first 8 occurrences (6:64–18:5), this verb is consistently rendered “betray” by the NASB, and in each case, it clearly is used in reference to Judas. The next 3 instances of this verb (18:30, 35, 36) are found in the context of Jesus' trials, after His betrayal and arrest, and thus they are rendered “handed over” by the NASB. I would have to conclude that when this verb is used here, it may be referring to Judas. why would Jesus mention Judas to Pilate? And why would Jesus' reference to Judas strike such fear into the heart of Pilate? From Matthew's Gospel, it would seem that Judas may already have died by his own hand (Matthew 27:3-10). Is it possible that Pilate knew about Judas' role in all this, and also that Judas had already killed himself? That might give Pilate pause for thought! Jesus has pointed out that Judas was guilty of a great sin. Judas is now dead, by suicide. While Judas may be guilty of greater sin, Jesus implies that Pilate will also be guilty, of a somewhat lesser sin. Now we begin to see why Pilate is getting more and more uneasy about condemning Jesus, and why he wants so much to release Him. Pilate seeks to instill fear in Jesus, by trying to impress Him with his authority. Instead, Jesus instills fear in Pilate, by reminding this governor where his power comes from, and by indicating that any harm done to Him is God's will. Even though the death of Christ is God's will, it will also be the result of Pilate's sin, for which he must someday give account. No wonder Pilate is getting nervous! Now, technically we all know that sin is sin.  We don't like that, but if you steal a pen from the office, or some Post-its or whatever you rip off from your office, that is somehow as bad as murder and rape and plunder and mayhem.  Now, in our view of things, well of course it's not the same.  But from a purely technical theological stance, sin is sin, right?  Even the Scripture attempts to deal with sins differently in the Old Testament.  Certain sins were punishable by more severe punishments.  So we can say there are sort of degrees of guilt, degrees of the scope of a crime; but is that really what's going on here?  If Pilate is going to be a pawn in God's program and convict Jesus Christ to die a Roman crucifixion, then how is that lesser than the one who's delivered Him?  Lu 12:48 "But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. So, we see then that Pilate says ‑ I can do what I want. And Jesus says ‑ You couldn't do anything except God gave you the power. Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 12 From then on Pilate sought to release Him, but the Jews cried out, saying, "If you let this Man go, you are not Caesar's friend. Whoever makes himself a king speaks against Caesar." Lu 23:2; Ac 17:7 Now, if you think it was bad before, it's bad now. Cause now they're saying ‑ We're going to report you for letting this political threat to Rome go unpunished. Now you know they were clever enough to twist it around and Pilate knew it would be the end of his life. Pilate knew to tolerate a traitor was the end. Tiberius would never permit to tolerate a traitor. And this did it. He chose in favor of his neck not his soul. They're saying, “You're no friend of Caesar if you don't kill this man.” It's blasphemous under the religious law for Jesus to make Himself out to be a king and it's treason for Him to call Himself king when Caesar is alive.  “If you don't do something about this, you're not a friend to Caesar.” And Pilate's relationship with Caesar and Tiberius are ticklish enough that he understands now that he can't do anything about this.  He has been painted into a corner and there's no way for him to win, even though he continues to maintain Christ is innocent.  Now, look at it from his picture for just a moment.  Who's he going to fall on the sword for?  This shredded human, Jesus?  Or Rome?  And if he takes it on the brow for Christ and says, “No, I'm releasing Him,” then his career as a political appointment is over.  He might be murdered.  So from a political standpoint, he commits suicide if he doesn't turn Christ over to be crucified.  13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called The Pavement, but in Hebrew, Gabbatha. Gabbatha - This word is not elsewhere used. It comes from a word signifying to be elevated. – the one who is lifted up should not be, but Jesus should be and will be on the cross. Php 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, The judgment seat in the text is the stem word “bema.”  If you know your New Testament, you know about the Bema Seat.  They bring out Pilate's bema and they put it on the pavement.  It's the Lithostrotos stone.  You can go and walk on these stones.  Those stones are beautiful, enormous, huge pieces of rock that for centuries have been walked over and within a stone's throw, envision a chair of some judgment, throne-looking apparatus being brought out of Pilate's house, sat down on these stones.  He sits to render judgment.  And, again, the layers of irony in Johannine literature.  I mean, who is going to have the Bema seat?  Who will sit on the throne judging man?  All these layers.  Here's the God of the Universe being condemned by this little pawn, Pilate, on a stupid little chair on a stupid little rock.  And the God of the Universe will be the King of the Universe on the throne of God, judging righteously.  Can't miss the layers and layers of Johannine irony.  “Behold, your king.” 14 Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold your King!" Mt 27:62 But he won't miss the opportunity to mock them, “Behold, your king.” I don't know what he meant by that. I don't know whether it was cynical, whether it was desperate. I don't know what it was. By this time the man has lost his senses. By this time he is in a corner, he is cringing, he is panicky, his heart is beating, he is sweating, he just wants out. He's remembering that Jesus may be the son of a god. He's remembering the warning his wife had in a dream which connects up that whole divine possibility. He's remembering that Jesus is innocent. He knows the hatred of the Jews. He worries about the pressure of Rome. He's trapped. He's pounded down. He's ripped. He's got nowhere to go. And he says Behold your king. In other words, the emphasis may be on the "your," you decide. "And they cried out, Away with Him, crucify Him. Pilate said unto them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar." 15 But they cried out, "Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!" Pilate said to them, "Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We have no king but Caesar!" Ge 49:10 Our king does not live in a house on the corner, our king does not sit on a throne on this earth; our king is other-worldly.  Lest we love our country too much to displace our Christ as our King, be very careful.  And we see the Jews doing just this.  “We have no king but Caesar.”  And if they could do it, it would be easy. Samuel goes to God and they have this great discussion.  He says, “Give them a king, but let them know what's going to happen.  He's going to take their children and their land and their animals and a percentage of their crops and he's going to extort the people to support his kingdom so they can be like everyone else.  And warn them and warn them and warn them.” So, you know, the king's inaugurated, the whole story.  We now come full circle.  We want to be like all the other people and have a king; and the bitter, better kingdoms, and divided kingdoms and the time of the judges and all the cycle down and now they're exiles and the remnants are scattered.  And now they're coming back to Jerusalem, a handful of Jews.  It's Passover.  There's a lot of them, they've kind of got their confidence up a little bit.  “We have no king but Caesar.” And this is the high priest for goodness sakes.  “No king but Caesar.” How far he's come from his mission as high priest.  16 ¶ Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away. Mt 27:26, 31; Mr. 15:15; Lu 23:24 Applications: We must be careful not to displace Jesus Christ and put the government first. Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. God's sovereignty never lessens an individual's responsibility. Man's not a puppet.  At the same time, God is sovereign.  The evil that occurs with Judas and Pilate and Caiaphas and Satan is not somehow on the fringe of God's sovereignty. God would say, I planned that Jesus will die for you.”  Jesus' death on Calvary was not an afterthought because evil got, sort of run out of hand of God's Sovereignty.  The minute we say that God is Sovereign, and these things occurred, we say, “Well, how could God allow these things to happen?” I mean, after all, why couldn't He have dealt with Judas and Pilate and Satan and all those things?  Well, he could have.  And if God wanted to be a puppeteering Creator and just sort of relegate men the way He wanted to, He could sure do that.  Somehow in this context man is a moral agent who works and lives within the Sovereignty of God.  You and I have choices all the time.  Well, does man have a free-will?  Does man have a choice?  Can man make decisions?  Yes and no.  That's the answer.  Under the sovereignty of God a lot of evil goes on.  If your view of man is basically good and a free moral agent, then you have a huge problem.  If your view of man is basically, essentially evil and wicked and depraved, it makes great sense.  That God is sovereign even as man is depraved.  So both exist.  If God's sovereignty somehow dismantled human responsibility, then Christ did not need to die.  Christ only died because it was part of God's eternal plan to save man from his wicked estate. Who is responsible or guilty for the death of Jesus? Think about the disciples all running away.  Didn't Matthew know one good attorney?  He was a tax-collector for crying out loud.  He ought to know a couple of good, shrewd attorneys.  How do we help Jesus out here?  They all run away. And people around the world who are Jewish are incensed with the whole notion that any way shape or form that Jews are responsible.  Men and women, the text says that Jewish leaders were behind this but they were not solely responsible.  All humanity was responsible.  You see, it wasn't just the Jews.  The Jews were His chosen people.  They are the ones that sort of incensed the thing.  You read, go home today, and read two verses in Acts.  Acts chapter two verses twenty-two to twenty-three, actually two passages, and Acts 4:27-28.  Acts 2:22-23, Acts 4:27-28.  Peter preaching saying, “All of us are guilty.” It wasn't just the Jews who nailed Christ to Calvary.  It wasn't just the Jews who conspired, because all men are guilty, all men are evil and there's not one righteous, no not one.  Every one of us put Christ on Calvary.  So we say, well, “Couldn't God have used someone besides Judas and besides Pilate?”  Sure, He could have done anything He wanted.  He chose before the foundation of time as far as you and I know it that part of His predestined plan, He was going to use these men as pawns.  If that gives you trouble, I can't help you.  What should give you trouble is that He would love the likes of you and me. The God of the Universe threw everything at His Son because He loved you and He loved me. Are you going to please God or man? Eph 6:5 Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; 6 not with eye service, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, How do you look at the death of Christ Is it a martyrdom or Is it a substitutionary death for our sins You say I'm not like Barrabbas I'm not a murderer – you and I helped kill him because it was our sin that put Him there. Our hard hearts that pounded in the nails, Is He was pierced through for our transgressions. James says if you speak badly of people you are a murderer Not a robber or thief – you steal every day because you do not give God the glory He deserves, stealing His rain and sunshine and not using the gifts He gave you to serve Him Not a rebel – Every day you don't submit to God as your Lord you rebel against Him You finally have to decide what you will do with Christ, no decision is a decision to reject Christ. Who do you believe Jesus to be, and what will you do with Him? The answer of the Bible is this: Acts 16:31 “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved”. What about it? What is this saying to us? Listen to this. It's saying this. I don't care who you are, I don't care where you live, you've got to make a decision about Jesus. And the whole point that I want to emphasize to you is first of all this: Pilate attempted repeatedly to get rid of Jesus. You know what? He couldn't do it. You know why? No man can do it. If you think you can wiggle out of a commitment to Christ and a final decision, you are wrong. No decision is a decision with Pilate. What are you going to do? You going to go for your soul or your neck? Your soul or your body? You want eternal salvation or do you want to go for the things of the world now and live it up? At least you think you live it up. You don't really live it up till you meet Christ and find out what livings all about. That's your choice. And God wants nothing more than to put you in a corner and force you to make that decision. But I say to you with all the love in my heart, make it before it's too late and you find that Jesus is silent and there aren't any answers anymore. And don't do what Pilate did. Don't pass the buck. Don't compromise. Don't run away. Pilate said that and you have to say it too. What shall I do with Jesus? And the only wise thing to do is accept Him as Savior and Lord.      Mark 8:36 "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?              John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Have you trusted Him as your Savior? He can Save you if You ask Him based on His death, burial, and resurrection for your sins. Believe in Him for forgiveness of your sins today.               “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  -John 8:32             Our mission is to spread the gospel and to go to the least of these with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ; We reach out to those the World has forgotten.              hisloveministries.podbean.com #HLMSocial hisloveministries.net https://www.instagram.com/hisloveministries1/?hl=en His Love Ministries on Itunes Don't go for all the gusto you can get, go for all the God (Jesus Christ) you can get. The gusto will get you, Jesus can save you. https://www.facebook.com/His-Love-Ministries-246606668725869/?tn-str=k*F             The world is trying to solve earthly problems that can only be solved with heavenly solutions

You can grab the free workbook at www.catholicmomcalm.com/lent2024 Full text of St. Faustina's Diary. Selected Excerpts from St. Faustina's Diary: When I look into the future, I am frightened, But why plunge into the future? Only the present moment is precious to me, As the future may never enter my soul at all.   How long shall I put up with you and how long will you keep putting Me off?   [Hairshirt] I don't demand mortification from you, but obedience. By obedience you give great glory to Me and gain merit for yourself.   [After asking her to paint the image] Distrust on the part of souls is tearing at My insides. The distrust of a chosen soul causes Me even greater pain; despite My inexhaustible love for them they do not trust Me.   [Pot of roses] I change such hard work of yours into bouquets of most beautiful flowers, and their perfume rises up to My throne.   [Dreadful sufferings.] “Do what You will with me, O Jesus, I will adore You in everything. May Your will be done in me, O my Lord and my God, and I will praise Your infinite mercy.” Jesus said, "I am always in your heart."   Honorable mention 112 on Feb. 26th - knowledge of your own sin   But, in order to hear the voice of God, one has to have silence in one's soul and to keep silence; not a gloomy silence, but an interior silence; that is to say, recollection in god.   Let the soul be aware that, in order to pray and persevere in prayer, one must arm oneself with patience and cope bravely with exterior and interior difficulties. The interior difficulties are discouragement, dryness, heaviness of spirit and temptations. The exterior difficulties are human respect and time; one must observe the time set apart for prayer.   My child you are My delight, you are the comfort of My Heart. I grant you as many graces as you can hold. As often as you want to make Me happy, speak to the world about My great and unfathomable mercy.   I must never judge anyone, but look at others with leniency and at myself with severity. I must refer everything to God and, in my own eyes, recognize myself for what I am: utter misery and nothingness. In suffering, I must be patient and quiet, knowing that everything passes in time.   Tell the world that whoever approaches the Fount of Life on this day will be granted complete remission of sins and punishment. Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy.    Jesus made known to me how very pleasing to Him were prayers of atonement. He said to me, The prayer of a humble and loving soul disarms the anger of My Father and draws down an ocean of blessings.   Although My greatness is beyond understanding, I commune only with those who are little. I demand of you a childlike spirit.   Nun who thought her sins were beyond forgiveness. Tell her that her disbelief wounds My heart more than the sins she committed.   My Jesus, how little these people talk about You. They talk about everything but You, Jesus.   At the hour of their death, I defend as My own glory every soul that will say this chaplet; or when others say it for a dying person, the indulgence is the same. When this chaplet is said by the bedside of a dying person, God's anger is placated, unfathomable mercy envelops the soul, and the very depths of My tender mercy are moved for the sake of the sorrowful Passion of My Son.    Today, the Lord said to me, My daughter, I am told that there is much simplicity in you, so why do you not tell Me about everything that concerns you, even the smallest details? Tell Me about everything, and know that this will give Me great joy. I answered, “But You know about everything, Lord.”     And Jesus replied to me, Yes, I do know; but you should not excuse yourself with the fact that I know, but with childlike simplicity talk to Me about everything, for My ears and heart are inclined towards you, and your words are dear to Me.   When I see that the burden is beyond my strength, I do not consider or analyze it or probe into it, but I run like a child to the Heart of Jesus and say only one word to Him:     “You can do all things.” And then I keep silent, because I know that Jesus Himself will intervene in the matter, and as for me, instead of tormenting myself, I use that time to love Him.   When one day I resolved to practice a certain virtue, I lapsed into the vice opposed to that virtue ten times more frequently than on other days. In the evening, I was reflecting on why, today, I had lapsed so extraordinarily, and I heard the words: You were counting too much on yourself and too little on Me. And I understood the cause of my lapses.   Now I understand that if the Lord demands something of a soul, He gives it the means to carry it out, and through grace He makes it capable of doing this. So, even if the soul be utterly miserable, at the Lord's command it can undertake things beyond its expectation, because this is the sign by which it can be known that the Lord is with that soul: if God's power and strength, which make the soul courageous and valiant, is manifest within it.   Virtue without prudence is not virtue at all. We should often pray to the Holy Spirit for this grace of prudence. Prudence consists in discretion, rational reflection and courageous resolution.   This firm resolution to become a saint is extremely pleasing to Me. I bless your efforts and will give you opportunities to sanctify yourself. Be watchful that you lose no opportunity that My providence offers you for sanctification. If you do not succeed in taking advantage of an opportunity, do not lose your peace, but humble yourself profoundly before Me and, with great trust, immerse yourself completely in My mercy. In this way, you gain more than you have lost, because more favor is granted to a humble soul than the soul itself asks for.   the Sacrament of Reconciliation] There the greatest miracles take place [and] are incessantly repeated. To avail oneself of this miracle, it is not necessary to go on a great pilgrimage or to carry out some external ceremony; it suffices to come with faith to the feet of My representative and to reveal to him one's misery, and the miracle of Divine Mercy will be fully demonstrated. -- Jesus: I am pleased with your efforts, O soul aspiring for perfection, but why do I see you so often sad and depressed? Tell Me, My child, what is the meaning of this sadness, and what is its cause?   Soul: Lord, the reason for my sadness is that, in spite of my sincere resolutions, I fall again into the same faults. I make resolutions in the morning, but in the evenings I see how much I have departed from them.   Jesus: You see, My child, what you are of yourself. The cause of your falls is that you rely too much upon yourself and too little on Me. But let this not sadden you so much. You are dealing with the God of mercy, which your misery cannot exhaust. Remember, I did not allot only a certain number of pardons.   Soul: Yes, I know all that, (91) but great temptations assail me, and various doubts awaken within me and, moreover, everything irritates and discourages me.     Jesus: My child, know that the greatest obstacles to holiness are discouragement and an exaggerated anxiety. These will deprive you of the ability to practice virtue. All temptations united together ought not disturb your interior peace, not even momentarily. Sensitiveness and discouragement are the fruits of self-love. You should not become discouraged, but strive to make My love reign in place of your self-love. Have confidence, My child. Do not lose heart in coming for pardon, for I am always ready to forgive you. As often as you beg for it, you glorify My mercy. -- But if there is anyone else in such a heart, I cannot bear it and quickly leave that heart, taking with Me all the gifts and graces I have prepared for the soul.   I want you to become like a knight experienced in battle, who can give orders to others amid the exploding shells. In the same way, My child, you should know how to master yourself amid the greatest difficulties, and let nothing drive you away from Me, not even your falls. 

You can grab the free workbook at www.catholicmomcalm.com/lent2024 Full text of St. Faustina's Diary. Reflection question: We get tired when we try to carry everything ourselves. Instead, run to the Lord like a child and trust that He will take care of it. Imagine this right now. Write what comes up. Excerpt from St. Faustina's Diary for today (1033): When I see that the burden is beyond my strength, I do not consider or analyze it or probe into it, but I run like a child to the Heart of Jesus and say only one word to Him:   “You can do all things.” And then I keep silent, because I know that Jesus Himself will intervene in the matter, and as for me, instead of tormenting myself, I use that time to love Him.

Inside our theme of love this month, this week we are focusing on teaching our kids what love is. God has assigned us the role of teaching them about love, to lead and be their example, to help them see by words and actions that authenticity is the only way to understand love, especially His love. Real love and intimacy require vulnerability and sincerity. And God's Word is the original love letter from His heart to ours. Today, we're going to look at the first event in Jesus' life that launched His ministry and started His road to the cross: His baptism. Now, you might ask … what does Jesus's baptism have to do with love? Well, it's really about what happened at Jesus's baptism … listen as I read . … The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God's Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.” (Matthew 3:16-17 MSG) Did you hear the words of love and affirmation God spoken over Jesus? Imagine for a moment what John witnessed? The Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—all present at this historic event. Now, listen once again, and afterwards, I'll tell you how you and I are connected to this moment. Whenever we choose to enter into a relationship with Jesus, the reconnection of our spirits to His is completed. Please know then, that He will, for the rest of your life, look at you and say, “This is my son, this is my daughter, chosen and marked by my love, the delight of my life.” I'm betting that is exactly the way you look at your child. But you need to know this is how God sees you. And if you can accept and receive that is the way your Heavenly Father sees you, you will then be able to pass that truth on to your kids. If you believe it, they will more likely come to believe it as well. Repeat this truth out loud right now … I am chosen … I am marked … by my Father's love ... and I am the delight of His life. … Say it to Him … You have chosen me … You have marked me … by Your love … and I am the delight of Your life. Let's pray together: “Heavenly Father, thank You that You chose me, thank You that my life is marked by Your love. Thank You that I am the delight of Your life. Help me to show my kids that You and I, together, feel that way about them. As above, so below.”

Series:  how do you know?Confidence Through Accurate BeliefI John 1:1-2:1  I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.I John 5:13 3 ways “you know that you know Him”·      You believe the right truth.·      You strive to keep His commands.·      You desire to love God's people.  How do you know if you believe the “Right Truth?”    You believe something rooted in history.   You believe something that has been confirmed by witnesses. So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.Ephesians 2:20     “Koinonia” = joined together, shared experience   You believe something that provides an affirming experience.   The experience John is writing about is not an emotional feeling or a providential circumstance, but rather an internal witness that affirms the gospel's veracity.    You believe something that holds up in light of spiritual realties.    There are 2 colliding spiritual realities:   God is perfect; human beings are not.     TRUTH:  Anyone who trusts in Christ will be saved and can have confidence.  

“Either the Bible is true or it isn't, either it's God's inspired inerrant word or it isn't, you can't have it both ways, you can't pick and choose to fit with whatever the latest fad or zeitgeist happens to be . . .” “So claimed someone in a comment thread on a Patheos Progressive Christian Facebook page post recently. One thing I'll say for Bible literalists: they aren't a big fan of nuance. They like their truth to be . . . literal. Their world view is Manichean to the core. This or that. Black or white. True or false. Good or evil. No gray areas allowed.” “Me: The Bible is a book. A special one, but a book. Written by human beings, not dictated by God. Him: You're free to believe that, to reject the nearly 30% of prophecy that is STILL being played out today, but it does mean that you may not identify as a Christian. Me: It means nothing of the sort. Millions of Christians do not believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. What one believes about a book is not the litmus test for membership in the club. Him: In THIS CLUB, yes it is. Rejecting the inerrancy of scripture is tantamount to rejecting the authority of God in your life, (A.K.A. Christianity) because you wish to be your own God and live for yourself, which is the very heart of so called progressivism (A.K.A SIN). Me: It is sad to imagine a faith so narrow that it claims that God is confined within the covers of a book. That God somehow is incapable of speaking directly to contemporary human beings. That the Word of God is a book rather than a Person. God is brought into the world through human beings, not ancient texts. I could have done better. I could have used the book this fellow worships to make my point as another participant in the conversation did succinctly: John 1:1—In the beginning was the Word. John 1:14—And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us . . . The Bible isn't the Word of God, but it can lead us to the Word of God.” --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/antonio-myers4/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/antonio-myers4/support

You fumbled.You played with her. (or Him )You toyed with her emotions, you thought she was dumb enough to stick around.when you trusted you the most you played ya self…This ain't Humpty Dumpty no more… ain't no putting her back together.Trust is tricky to rebuild... it's a gamble. For me if I can't trust you once, I'll never trust you in the same capacity again. It will never be the same after you spin the block. You can't uncut someone, people are not Humpty Dumpty....Shout out to SZA...Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/she-gets-it/exclusive-contentAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

If you appreciate this work, consider supporting it - https://www.patreon.com/seekgodtogether Today we will read John 3:16 again. We looked at this verse yesterday. But it's okay to meditate on a verse or idea for days on end. We are not the first. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” We focused yesterday on God. God is a lover. God loves You. God loves the world. Far from a distant, uninvolved, disinterested force, God is a passionate and intentional lover. And it is because of His love that He gives what the world actually needs - His One-of-a-kind, special Son.  In all the pain and loss you've experienced, and the heartache those you love experience, you might be tempted to think that God is distant. But He's not. He's actually given everything He has to give. A creative universe, life itself, and His Son through Whom He is reconciling all things. Does this surprise you? Would you do it differently? You wouldn't be the first to question God. It would be easy to prefer that God went around putting bandaids on every hurt. Or every death. But He doesn't. Instead, God gave Himself. And what all happened in Jesus in His life, and on the cross is impossible to know. What we do know is that it is, and will ultimately be effective at bringing everything together under God in a good way.  So where does that leave us then? This verse tells us - “…everyone who BELIEVES in Him…”. Believes? Yes. It's as simple as that. Hardly earth-shattering. Just the simple acknowledgement that God has it under control. God will work it out. This is why we worship. “God I don't get it. But I receive Your love. I receive Your Son. I receive You. I believe Jesus - that He is life everlasting and in Him You will fix everything - in Your way. In the meantime, in my unknowing, I choose to believe and to worship.”

Inside our theme of love this month, this week we are focusing on teaching our kids what love is. God has assigned us the role of teaching them about love, to lead and be their example, to help them see by words and actions that authenticity is the only way to understand love, especially His love. Real love and intimacy require vulnerability and sincerity. And God's Word is the original love letter from His heart to ours. Today, we're going to look at the first event in Jesus' life that launched His ministry and started His road to the cross: His baptism. Now, you might ask … what does Jesus's baptism have to do with love? Well, it's really about what happened at Jesus's baptism … listen as I read . … The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God's Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.” (Matthew 3:16-17 MSG) Did you hear the words of love and affirmation God spoken over Jesus? Imagine for a moment what John witnessed? The Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—all present at this historic event. Now, listen once again, and afterwards, I'll tell you how you and I are connected to this moment. Whenever we choose to enter into a relationship with Jesus, the reconnection of our spirits to His is completed. Please know then, that He will, for the rest of your life, look at you and say, “This is my son, this is my daughter, chosen and marked by my love, the delight of my life.” I'm betting that is exactly the way you look at your child. But you need to know this is how God sees you. And if you can accept and receive that is the way your Heavenly Father sees you, you will then be able to pass that truth on to your kids. If you believe it, they will more likely come to believe it as well. Repeat this truth out loud right now … I am chosen … I am marked … by my Father's love ... and I am the delight of His life. … Say it to Him … You have chosen me … You have marked me … by Your love … and I am the delight of Your life. Let's pray together: “Heavenly Father, thank You that You chose me, thank You that my life is marked by Your love. Thank You that I am the delight of Your life. Help me to show my kids that You and I, together, feel that way about them. As above, so below.”

Access free PDF downloads of Meher Baba's books at MeherSepas Book LibraryFollow us on: MeherSepas.comInstagramFacebookYouTubeAll PodcastsSubscribe to the MeherSepas.com for all the latest information and join the Meher Baba Bi-Weekly Zoom Meetings­­Audio: Mehrnaz#10  BE ADDICTED TO GOD If you become addicted to God, then all your problems are solved. Go on drinking the Love of God until you become one with God. You have to give up everything, including yourself – then you have Baba to yourself. God is beyond religion, beyond love. When you love God intensely, then there is the experience of real separation from God. When you have the gift of love, you become your Self – the false self becomes the lover of the True Self. Keep Him ever constantly present within you. Let Him form the basis of all your thoughts, speech and actions. Remember Him in every little thing you do – the responsibility will then rest with Him You have to love Him to such an extent that you forget about sleep, food, rest and so on, and become absolutely restless to be one with Him, and to possess Him.

Saints! Building our relationship takes time, and discipline. Walk with me as we go through ways to build. By reading your love letters, praying, and fastingk we build a closer connection to our creator. READ YOUR LOVE LETTERS Reading His word gives strength It gives assurance to continue In Eph.6: 10-24 it speaks of a spiritual battle, that you only get through reading His word This is how you learn who our Savior is PRAY This is how we communicate with Him Seeking Him and keeping His will FASTING Importance to fasting is to Depend on our Father, & trust Him You are showing complete dependablity on Him Some things can only be done through fasting Thanks for listening! Join us on the free app SPACES BY WIX in your app store. Receive a free text message to the app by entering your mobile number to the bottom of any page on our website. Website: Podcasts | 5 Crowns-Lambtoalion Instagram: Milan Milan (@lamb2alion7) • Instagram photos and videos Buzzsprout: https://milanspodcast.buzzsprout.com Also find us on Amazon Music, & Spotify! Amazon Music: music.amazon.com/podcasts/8d05e54f-a4b0-4a4f-9287-a1171215ff4c/milan's-podcast Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/3eV565qj26ZWJF4U2NdPT5 Podvine: https://podvine.com/podcast/milans-podcast-YuhOxCB41 NEW PODCASTS EVERY SATURDAY @ 12 PM EST YAH WILLING! PODCAST/BLOG/SHOP THANKS AGAIN FOR LISTENING! Thanks for listening! Join us on the free app SPACES BY WIX in your app store. Receive a free text message to the app by entering your mobile number to the bottom of any page on our website.

'For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” As He also says in another place: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”; who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,” of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.' Hebrews 5:1-11 ---------------- Jesus sufficiently meets every requirement to serve as the great High Priest His qualifications far exceed every other high priest The earthly high priest * Divinely selected * Divinely directed The eternal high priest * Eternally seated * Exceedingly sympathetic * Exceptionally sufficient Jesus has done everything necessary to bring us into the presence of God He meets humanity at the point of greatest need He mees the demands of divine justice He meets the requirements as our mediator

If you appreciate this work, consider supporting it - https://www.patreon.com/seekgodtogether Today we will read John 3:16 again. We looked at this verse yesterday. But it's okay to meditate on a verse or idea for days on end. We are not the first. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” We focused yesterday on God. God is a lover. God loves You. God loves the world. Far from a distant, uninvolved, disinterested force, God is a passionate and intentional lover. And it is because of His love that He gives what the world actually needs - His One-of-a-kind, special Son. In all the pain and loss you've experienced, and the heartache those you love experience, you might be tempted to think that God is distant. But He's not. He's actually given everything He has to give. A creative universe, life itself, and His Son through Whom He is reconciling all things. Does this surprise you? Would you do it differently? You wouldn't be the first to question God. It would be easy to prefer that God went around putting bandaids on every hurt. Or every death. But He doesn't. Instead, God gave Himself. And what all happened in Jesus in His life, and on the cross is impossible to know. What we do know is that it is, and will ultimately be effective at bringing everything together under God in a good way. So where does that leave us then? This verse tells us - “…everyone who BELIEVES in Him…”. Believes? Yes. It's as simple as that. Hardly earth-shattering. Just the simple acknowledgement that God has it under control. God will work it out. This is why we worship. “God I don't get it. But I receive Your love. I receive Your Son. I receive You. I believe Jesus - that He is life everlasting and in Him You will fix everything - in Your way. In the meantime, in my unknowing, I choose to believe and to worship.” --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

In today's text, Solomon gives us four commands for the worship of God - Guard your steps. Watch your mouth. Keep your vows. Stand in awe. Remember God in the days of your youth. Fear God, and keep His commandments. This fear always asks one question when we're faced with choices in our lives – “Does my Father in Heaven approve?” And you ask it not because you are in terror of Him – but because you are in awe of Him – You adore Him. You want to live under His smile with your career choices, with how you spend your weekends, with how you spend your money, and with how you spend your time. Because He's a good father.

THE ANOINTING The anointing is not based on man's ability but is based on God's ability. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, (Luke 4:18 ESV) The anointing flows in God's timing – We who are in the hand of the Lord must bring God's love to all those who have given up hope and are desperate for Him You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions. (Hebrews 1:9 ESV) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. (II Corinthians 4:7 NKJV) “Change your routine and it can change your life.” -Manuel To sign up for the eCourse individual or group go to; https://sowm20.square.site/ To get a copy ebook or hard copy of my devotional go to; www.payhip.com/sowm www.worshipingmusician.com "You can't just master prayer or skill, you need to do it everyday." -Manuel D. Rodriguez #minstrel #worshipingmusician #levite #worshipHim #thepriesthood “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle;” ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭144:1‬ ‭ESV‬‬ --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sowm/support

Pastor Zack Strong The Bewitching of a Generation   Text: Galatians 3.1, Deuteronomy 6.1, Judges 2.10 Bewitched- cast a spell over, attract or interest someone a lot so that you have power to influence them, to charm, to fascinate Foolish- one that has become dull and sluggish of mind, stupid, reckless in thinking We've become a generation that has built upon a truth but not the truth. You can be religious and not a Christian. Religious people do religious activity. You can be religious but not godly. Religion without the pursuit and hunger for Jesus is not Christianity. Pursuit and hunger shown through demonstration, in the passion of our worship, and in our passion for actions that pleases God. Three things said of Peter: -You've been with Him -You're of Him -You sound like Him The enemy's assignment is to pull us out of our position. He takes a truth out of the truth to deceive. The truth has been watered down so much that only a connoisseur knows the real thing. If we don't get the first four commandments right, we'll never get the last six right. There's a difference between insulated and isolated. Insulated keeps the world from touching us but isolated keeps us from touching the world. Six Dangers of Our Generation -religion without the Holy Ghost -Christianity without Christ -forgiveness without repentance -salvation without regeneration -politics without God -Heaven without hell

In general, most people understand that life consists of ebbs and flows. We all have or will experience ups and downs, easy times as well as tough times. Sadly, for some individuals, the hard times overwhelm and overtake them. In other words, they only see suicide as the solution to their troubles. But oh, my friends, there is a better way -- trusting God. In my experience, trusting Him took me from weeping to joy.  Of course, I must show you what the Holy Bible says about the matter in the following scripture. Proverbs 3:5-6 English Standard Version says, “5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”  I've said this before, receiving Jesus of Nazareth as Savior and Lord is the best decision one could make. And when you receive Him and trust Him, it guarantees that you will receive God's absolute best for your life. The key though is trusting His directions.   Get to know Him   You see, God wants us to always trust and depend on Him. In full transparency, when I took things into my own hands, I fell flat on my face. And I wasn't trying to be arrogant as many others who don't think they need God.  Actually, I didn't want to burden God with what I thought was a small matter. Simply put, I thought, "Why worry God, I got this.” Wrong. I didn't have it.   That is to say, I found out the hard way that, I need God's Holy Spirit to direct me in every area of my life. But that, my dear friends, is my experience; it's time that you get to know the Lord for yourself.  Conclusion  So, if you or someone you know is struggling through the tough times of life, then this podcast episode is for you.  Go ahead and use the player at the top of this blog post. Or subscribe and listen via your preferred podcast platform. Then get encouraged by joining Lady V and me in our discussion: From Weeping to JOY.  Scriptures Referenced in Episode Discussion  Psalm Chapter 30 John 3:16 Romans 10:9-10 Numbers 6:24-26  Receive your Free Gift of Salvation – The Gospel of Jesus Christ  Explanation  If you are reading this, it is not by chance. This is your time to receive the gift of salvation through Christ Jesus. Now, you may be wondering, "Why do I need that?" Oh, I'm so glad you asked. The Bible says, that because Adam ate fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil -- he released sin into the world.  And ultimately, Adam's sin brought death and death spread to everyone. No doubt, you may be thinking, "Of course, everyone is going to die." But, my question to you is "Where will you spend eternity?" Because there is life after death. In fact, when you die you go to one of two places -- heaven or hell.  Also, it is important to understand that, Adam's sin also brought an eternity in hell. But for those who choose not to receive the free gift of eternal life. Thus, you must make that choice before you take your last breath.  Romans 5:17 New Living Translation says, “For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.”  To sum it all up, Romans 6:23 New Living Translation says,  “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  So, if you are reading this, don't let another day go by without receiving this life-changing gift.  Scripture   Romans 10:8-10 New Living Translation says,  “8 …“The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach:  9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with Go...

Thank you for listening. Check out more at www.seekGodtogether.com Today we will read John 3:16 again. We looked at this verse yesterday. But it's okay to meditate on a verse or idea for days on end. We are not the first. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” We focused yesterday on God. God is a lover. God loves You. God loves the world. Far from a distant, uninvolved, disinterested force, God is a passionate and intentional lover. And it is because of His love that He gives what the world actually needs - His One-of-a-kind, special Son. In all the pain and loss you've experienced, and the heartache those you love experience, you might be tempted to think that God is distant. But He's not. He's actually given everything He has to give. A creative universe, life itself, and His Son through Whom He is reconciling all things. Does this surprise you? Would you do it differently? You wouldn't be the first to question God. It would be easy to prefer that God went around putting bandaids on every hurt. Or every death. But He doesn't. Instead, God gave Himself. And what all happened in Jesus in His life, and on the cross is impossible to know. What we do know is that it is, and will ultimately be effective at bringing everything together under God in a good way. So where does that leave us then? This verse tells us - “…everyone who BELIEVES in Him…”. Believes? Yes. It's as simple as that. Hardly earth-shattering. Just the simple acknowledgement that God has it under control. God will work it out. This is why we worship. “God I don't get it. But I receive Your love. I receive Your Son. I receive You. I believe Jesus - that He is life everlasting and in Him You will fix everything - in Your way. In the meantime, in my unknowing, I choose to believe and to worship.” --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

A decision to follow Jesus does not come with a safe passage warranty, especially when you follow Him into your boat. Storms happen. They happen to followers of Christ and everyone else. The disciples were in trouble. Jesus was near but inactive. Overcome by slumber, He expected His disciples to weather the storm on their own. The Lord chastised them for waking Him: “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” (Matthew 8.23-27 NIV). The tempest was of no concern to Jesus. Followers of Christ must face death alone, without Christ's direct and obvious intervention.

Reddit rSlash Storytime r nuclearrevenge where Standing up to my workplace bully led to unforseen consequences. Hellish Client Gets What's Coming to Him You be a perv, you get beat till your being fed out of a straw. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As women of God, we need to take the steps in this episode to ensure our success, join me, press play! 2022 is upon us and I'm praying and declaring that this is the year: You reach your fitness goals!  You feel comfortable and confident in your skin! You bring God glory by going after the goals He put in your heart! You live with peace and joy fully focused on Him You walk in the power and the promises of God through the Holy Spirit Faith fuel "Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain." (Ps 127:1) "Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!" (1 Chronicles 16:11) Prayer Dear God, We cry out, I have decided! Father keep us from idols, from the sin that so easily ensnares us, and fix our gaze fully on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. Lord, we set our goals in you, seeking you first, asking you to direct our paths, and letting the old ways fade to find a new version of us in you. Help us spot the traps of bad habits, negative thinking and caring way too much about what other people think. We know and trust that you will do a new thing in us if our hearts are obedient to you. Father, we have decided and we are praising you like it's already done! In Jesus' name, amen! Join My Power Up Challenge! All you have to do is tell me how this episode spoke to you on Facebook or Instagram. When you do, you're automatically entered into my Power Up Challenge!  I pick one winner every week, and you'll either get a coaching call from me, a copy of my brand new Strong Confident His Faith and Fitness Devotional, my best-selling Christian fitness book Faith Inspired Transformation, F.I.T., or the F.I.T. Workout Series. Rate, Review, & Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, here. Click play to join us! If you love this episode, it would mean the world to me if you left a review for The Strong. Confident. His Podcast on iTunes. It helps the podcast get discovered by other women and shows me what type of content to create for you and serve you with excellence!  Thank you in advance, friend!   Remember, You are Strong. Confident. His. Resources to help you get started Workout with me on Pure Flix

Devotional Prayer by Be Inspired by His Word © Good Morning Song by James Fortune Second Peter one and three tell us that God has given us everything that we need For life and godliness through our knowledge of Him (You're everything) I have everything … I have everything I need I have everything I need (thank You Jesus) I have everything I need (because the Great I am) The Great I am provides for me The Great I am provides for me … You are my strength when I am weak You are my strength when I am weak You are my strength when I am weak (The Great I am) The Great I am provides for me The Great I am provides for me (And all my needs of supply) … The Great I am that I am (Is everything) Is everything that I need (The Great I am) The Great I am (Hallelujah) that I am (Hallelujah) (Say He's more than enough) He is more than enough (for me) for me (And God I want to thank You because You're whoever I need You to be) For the Lord is [absolutely] righteous, He loves righteousness (virtue, morality, justice); The upright shall see His face. Psalms 11:7 AMP Prayer Lord eternal I worship honour and magnify you for who you are to me Lord thank you for your word that enlightens me and quickens my steps Holy spirit have your way in me like never before Father let your mercy speak over my life, forgive me of all my sin in Jesus name Lord thank you for destroying all fear that wants to keep me below your wish for me Holy one of Israel continue to guide me beyond my imagination, do not let me fall prey of the desires of the wicked Lord shield my household and I in your divine protection in Jesus name Father uproot every unwanted power working against your desires for me in all aspects Lord henceforth let me live in your righteousness and never dwell on my own ability in all aspects of life Father uplift me to the level you want me to get to in Jesus name Lord you are Jireh our provider even beyond our human comprehension make provision for us and our household in Jesus name Lord almighty terminate every activity of darkness set to cut destinies and lives short in and around me I decree my name and that of every member of my household will not be listed among those that will be destroyed in aspect this year or beyond Master of the universe, intervene in the situations worldwide, manifest your power terminate all activities of darkness in Jesus name Lord concerning the vessel used this daily prayer all impacted it and household manifest your power over all our life expectations in Jesus name amen *Pray against all evil agenda in and around and worldwide* Thank you everlasting father for answered prayers in Jesus name *Confess Daily: Sin shall not have dominion over, I am operating in the power of the word of God. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus by faith. As Jesus is so am in this world. The lord is my shield and buckler, He is my father and sustainer. He is my ever present help in times of needs. I am covered in His blood, no weapon formed against me shall prosper. The lord has opened a new door that nobody can shut, He is my hope and salvation. King of kings has perfected that which concerns me, it is my season and my turn to shine. Nothing can hinder His works and promises in my life.* Today's Prayer by Be Inspired (by His Word) © 10th December 2021 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/be-inspired-by-his-word/message

Series: Be'erot, Love & Relationship with God.   Episode Transcript   I have a desire to share something with G-d's help that will open up a different aspect of the kind of work that we've been doing. It's from a teaching in Chassidut of the Alter Rebbe, the first Rebbe of Chabad, third generation of Chassidut, and I believe that these passages will, b'ezrat Hashem, open up perspective… For me these teachings are very connective in terms of getting an access to the spirit of longing. In the context of what we've been seeing, we're continuing to access aspects of living that inform us of the nature of love of G-d and what brings that about, and how it's rooted in the nature of reality and of Creation, whereas last year our focus was primarily how that works in the intereaction between people…What we're focusing more on now is how that works between us and Hakadosh Baruch Hu and seeing how those things parallel each other. We've been looking at, through the story of Gan Eden, the way Hakadosh Baruch Hu, so to speak, sets himself up for “right relationship” with man, he sets himself up for a loving relationship with man.  And He does this from the very beginning, from the very first act in which His first speaking to man is described in the chumash as “Vayikach,” as a taking. And that taking is interpreted by the rabbis as not being a physical taking, but as an emotional, spiritual taking whereby G-d made Himself, so to speak, vulnerable and susceptible to the possibility that man might say “no,” and basically tempted and seduced him into going into Garden of Eden, so that Hakadosh Baruch Hu, so to speak, evacuated the space of His all-encompassing, all-present power to allow for man to have a moment during which he would be able to choose freely. That moment is called in kabbalistic teachings “the revelation of His name.” Because in the moment of His having vacated a space for our choosing, so He vacated a space for our consciousness of otherness. And that is the revelation of what is called atah, you, as in when we give a bracha we say “baruch atah Hashem,” which in the kabbalistic teachings is a revelation dafka from baruch, which is the source of—the pool of—all present goodness of G-d to atah, which is “you,” which is the availability and possibility of you, which—as we will see when we view Aharon from this perspective— is the introduction of chesed. This is how the Ari teaches the bracha, which comes from the Zohar in Parshah Trumah: atah is the introduction of chesed, which in a different language would be the introduction of the possibility of otherness, because chesed requires that there be an other to give it to. That's not to say that we're not sometimes the other to give it to, as Mishlei teaches, “Gomel…chesed.” An ish chesed can also be someone who does good to himself. That's also part of chesed as b'ezrat Hashem we'll also explore. But the point is, when you're in a state that there is an other that you are able to do good to, or enhance the existence of, even within yourself—higher self to lower self, more conscious being to less conscious being, divine soul to animal soul. All of these are modes within which we are actually gomel chesed to ourselves, whether it be by contemplating divine matters, and thereby arousing the heart to have passion for G-d. That would be one example of being gomel chesed with your animal soul, or with your embodied passions. Putting that aside, the point is that the revelation of atah is the realization of there being an other and distinct consciousness which is differentiated from G-d in His utter and complete simplicity of presence and putting it back down to the level of the pasuk in the chumash. This is our realization of G-d, when He first speaks to us, He takes us—and again as Rashi says, he uses beautiful things to say to us so that we should be tempted to go into Gan Eden—he takes us, “Vayikach, ”which is the word that appears in the Chumash as being the word of marriage: “Ki yikach ish ishah.” It was a very important realization that we note this, that our first interaction with G-d is one which later becomes revealed and realized in the marriage relationship between two people. And this possibility of relationship comes from the allowance for an other in their freely choosing state, which requires a consciousness of differentiation and of being, at least potentially, “at odds with.” And it's also the revelation of language, because the word atah—alef, tav, heh—is actually a reference to the alef-bet. Alef, the first—tav, the last. Heh is the five letters which double when they come at the end of a word. The ma'am sa'pach. The nun is a nun sofi, the mem is a mem sofi, the tsadi is a tsadi sofi, and the chaf is a chaf sofi. There actually is an atah, and the five that come at the end, and those five are a reference to the last heh in G-d's name which is malchut, which is the ability for things to end where they always because doubled over, which is a great spiritual secret. When things come to an end in life, they are actually doubling over, like in a transmigration of a soul, where there's a gilgul—literally it means a doubling over, a rolling over. You get to the end and you roll over. We talk about people rolling over in their graves. Gilgul means you're rolling over into another reality. The end reality has arrived, the new reality is now going to begin. This is the deep secret of how the malchut, the feminine of receiving at the end becomes the crown, the beginning of the next era, and the next stage. In all the worlds it's like that, and in all of life it's like that, if you think about it, and hal'vai that should be conscious of it when we get to the end chapters of our lives. When you look back at your life, you realize that there are chapters in your life and when you are able to relate to life that way when you're in it, then you're mamash like an enlightened soul. The attitude of “A new chapter has just come to end and a new one is about to begin” is a far better attitude than “I just lost everything that I ever had.” Boy, if we could shift into knowing that, then we have shifted into the secret of the doubled- letters, the ma'an sa'pach. Of the heh that comes at the end of atah, which is the doubling over of the end, so that now a new beginning will be revealed. And that new beginning relies very deeply on our consciousness and our openness to it. It will happen faster if we're more open to it, and we're connected to that possibility. The blockage is usually our own, and about our fears about having to let go…. I want to point out that the Jewish people actually worshipped avodah zarah, idolatry, for the first time when they lost that consciousness. And they saw that Moshe Rabbeinu had died, or so they thought, if you remember they waited the forty days, which is gestation—forty weeks of gestation—and forty days during which the embryo becomes an entity. The rabbis say that the first forty days is just water, like the forty days that the Flood comes down in Parshat Noach, and then it becomes an entity, and Moshe Rabbeinu didn't come back at the end of the forty days. They said, “He's dead.” Then the people withdrew and they created an ensconced position, meaning they created an idol that made them comfortable that things aren't going to change. This is going to allow us to go back to where we came from, to go back to the womb of Egypt, the holy cows/calves of Egyptian worship. If one loses the consciousness of “I have not become ended here”, but rather, “I become opened up to the new chapter of opening”, so then one is able to enter the heh. This is crucial to atah, in the experience of you. It says, “Atah Cohen l'Eyl Elyon.” The Cohen, who is Aharon, who experiences this most profoundly, and that's why he becomes the great harbinger of love in the Jewish people, as we'll see, b'ezrat Hashem, atah cohen l'el elyon, In other words, “You-ness” allows for Cahuna. You can become a servant, a priest, by living that consciousness rightly. Serving the One who has given you free choice and free choosing. You can become a servant and recognize and realize that there has not been a full and utter severance, severing of connection, but rather I can maintain that connection by being a servant to You, and maintain that consciousness by being a servant to You. The first revelation of G-d's name and the possibility of naming in general is in the revelation of these letters, and that is why atah is alef tav heh, which is the alphabet, it is the introducing of language, as we saw in Adam HaRishon calling the animals' names, it's the beginning of the dawning of the realization within him that there may be an other, and the recognition that it will not be an animal. And I say this very bluntly-- that needed to be a realization on his part. He is not seeking a partner who is basically a servile animal, he could have had that, —and to put it bluntly and rather disgustingly—he could have satisfied any physical urges. But he could not satisfy the real issue which is being alone and having a desire that there should be an other. By this, he creates the possibility and vacates the space, paralleling G-d Who vacated the space by saying to man, Go into the Garden of Eden, and man being able to say no… and G-d having to attract him into it is His vacating the space. It is a revelation of the story of the tzimtzum. And then man in his responding already begins the act of marriage.                 But the point is, man already had to experience that by being created alone, even though the final point is that there should be two, and so G-d first thinks to create two, because the point is that there should be a reality in which there is coupling, but in order that there should be coupling, as is brought down in this world, is that he must be created as one. Because when he is created alone, then he learns the secret of vacating space, and being able to suffer through his loneliness, and alone- ness and his awareness of his need that there should be something out there with whom he could connect and have relationship. And so that is a crucial stage, and one which we often look over and Chaya brought it to my attention in a mouch more personal way… That the awareness of those processes is crucial for us to be able to actually become who G-d wants us to be become. And to be able to own that experience of lack, not fear it, not try to cover it over or dull the ache, or ignore it, but to be in that and move into that allows for the possibility of an other becoming fully the other with whom we will have that relationship that G-d dreams of us being able to have. So that man, in seeing the animals, comes to the realization both of his vulnerability, he needs something—a tzimtzum, waiting for a light to enter that tzimtzum—the light of the other. So it will not be an animal, l'havdil. And only then can G-d realize the dream that He has of there being two. And there cannot be that other unless man fully experiences the ache of the lack. He actually creates that possibility by virtue of his being willing to be in the space of “I don't know what's coming, I don't know where it's going to come from, I don't know how it's going to happen.” All I know is that I have to let go of where I am now so that the new realization can occur. And that new realization will be the one with whom I can have right relationship. And he enters into that through the vehicle of language. Language is itself the expression of his entering into that realization. He begins to talk. And in talking, he becomes one whose consciousness is atah. That there is another to whom I will speak. And so woman actually becomes the embodiment of that realization. And so the rabbis teach that ten portions of speaking came into the world and nine of them women got. It's kind of a laconic comment, it's okay to laugh at it a little bit. It's also a deep realization about women. She is, in a sense, language. Because she is the atah consciousness which rests in the world in there being an other. And that's why the story is told in that rather odd fashion, and so Adam has to pass through that lack. And the Rambam explains that he is experiencing the ache of the lack by seeing all of the animals and the possibility of there being an other living creature with whom he will have relationship. It's not with the plants. It's with animals and their coupling. And that, then, brings about the arousal in him of desire to be with an other. This is a divine process. When we cease to experience ourselves as being the only one, on all levels, and this is not a simple project, and are able to become vulnerable and available in that way, then in a sense, we create a mate. From both sides. He or she becomes revealed as that possibility, which becomes the atah. And, by the way, in every bracha that you make, when you say, baruch atah, according to the Ari z”l that is actually the kavanah of the bracha. Baruch is the reference to father and mother, or that which births a new reality, who are together in their being, so to speak, and therefore they are a pool of possibilities. It is an undifferentiated pool of possibility. And then atah, that there is a You, which in a sense is in a divine world, is the potentiality of chesed. There would be One to Whom good would be done. And in our self-reflection, that would be us. It's the possibility of there being an us. So that we can say to G-d, “You.” Of course, we're talking to G-d, I mean, let's not get too confused about the kabbalistic interpretation— it's us talking to G-d.  But you see how beautifully parallel it is.  Because it's us talking to G-d from the state of “You,” of our saying to G-d, “You.” But our possibility to say to G-d You is itself a direct product of G-d's having revealed His possibility of saying “you.” Because in His coming to allow for someone to whom he would say “You”, we are created in a consciousness of we are separate from Him, and can say to Him, “You”… It's not really complicated, you just have to get used to a certain kind of thinking, that when G-d said “you”, he made chesed, the possibility of awarding an other goodness and existence. And, when we say “You”, we're living out His dream, so to speak, that there would be one who would say to Him, “You.” And the parallel to that in our own life of love is when we vacate a space that there can be an other who will say “you”, so then indeed that other comes to manifestation. But we have to be willing for ourselves to hear them say to us, “you”.            It's one thing for you to say to that mate, “you.” But for your mate to say to you, “you,” that's another madraga of being present to another person as being the you in their lives. To be a you in someone else's life, means that someone else is in the center saying “you” to you. That's a big thing, I mean for us to be in the world saying you to G-d, as if we're the center point saying to Him You. So to have an other in your life to say to you, atah, is a shift which is …the realization of k'negdo, of there being an other who will stand in opposite to you as a k'negdo, and in being opposite to you has the power to refuse you or to accept you. And sees you as living outside themselves. That's the consciousness of withdrawal, which is the great humility, which is so crucial, and which is what chazal mean when they say that G-d created the world in His humility. He said na'aseh adam— wild thing for a monotheistic picture for G-d to say in the plural, “we shall make man.” So the rabbis say he was nimlach. He made himself a malchut. That's what it means in Hebrew, but it actually means he took advice, in a less literal translation. And the rabbis say that we are to learn from there the great humility of G-d. And so if I were giving you a mussar shmooze, I would say therefore it is always a good idea to take advice. Which is also true, but the penimiut of it is that He created the malchut. Nimlach.. Rashi actually brings it in: Na'aseh adam b'tzalmenu. He created a malchut. What does it mean he creates a malchut? He creates an other. There's a king and there's a subject. There's a relationship, there's a sharing of a reality. That's what malchut is. So that in order to create man, he needed to move into the ability to, so to speak, take advice. That it is no longer all Him. He wouldn't be able to create man from any other condition of knowing all, so to speak, because then He would be filling all the space. So He had to turn to an other and say, na'aseh adam. That turning is in itself already the creation of the space within which man would be now existant. That's called nimlach, which in Hebrew means “to take advice,” but in the nifal, in the passive form, “he made malchut”, basically. He became a Melech the moment he took advice, ironically; that shifting made room for another. There couldn't have been any other way for man to be created. If Hashem had done it by fiat, then it would have been  from a state of there not being room for an other. But when Gd was m'tzamtzem Himself, ki v'yachol, taking advice from, that itself is the shift that allows space for an other. I think that has practical implications about recognizing when you're going at things from a place of fiat, and when from a place of acceptance and availability to, and that will have a tremendous impact on the space that is available to another. And G-d, in making us this way, actually made us live out, so to speak, His life. Because in our experiencing the depth of relationship in this pathway, we are actually enhancing and increasing the very space which allows us to be here.  In the way we are conscious of reality and creation, we are actually affecting it and changing it. If we can assume that for this moment, what you think and the way you think actually makes it happen one way or another. The more we are in that kind of available space, the more we create an available space for us to be in relationship with G-d. Did I say this clearly enough for this frequency? (Laughing) It's a certain frequency.  In a condition where our relationship to others is pushing them away, or contestual, being challenged by them as antithetical to, impossible to relate to, don't get it, what are you about, pull back, don't want anything to do with this. All of the aspects of orlah, that cut you off of ralah, ralah, ralah, ralah, all that stuff. The way we do that with other people, so G-d also withdraws. (Sounds of understanding among the participants.) Because the place that is made available for G-d is when we are in the very consciousness that He, so to speak, has, which makes us creatable. In other words, if I am always pushing you away, so then I am actually declaring, I only want space for me. The more I declare that I only want space for me, so then that's the consciousness that's in the world, only want space for me. Now I'm going to make Him like, human. OK, so G-d says, I'll have that consciousness, too, I'll only want space for me. And then He, so to speak, is not relating to, this is the reality which chazal calls, that he walks with us, b'keri, he becomes uncaring. And then, when our awareness and the way we relate to life is the realization and the revelation of His presence in the world, if we are aware of others as deserving space, that we're all part of one inter-being and connectedness, then that's G-d's consciousness in the world. He—so to speak— lives through the way we are aware of things.  And I suppose I should bring you more proofs of this. That's why the Rabbis say the one character trait about which G-d says, I can't live with this person, is a ba'al ga'avah. So the standard interpretation is, because he's so haughty, he's pushed G-d away. And that's true. But I want you to understand that it's even deeper than that. It's in his haughtiness, he fills all the space. I fill all the space when I'm haughty. There's no room for anyone else. I got it all. Okay. Great. So, now you're creating a divinity of also, I fill all the space. There's no room for anyone else. And then life becomes devoid of His being here. Because you, so to speak, disappear from the screen of his involved consciousness. Just like the other has disappeared from the screen of your involved consciousness…The more we are able to say atah, the more he says atah. And the more he says atah, then the more we are able to be here. And the more we are able to be here, then the more we are able to live with him and with the consciousness of Him. Ultimately, the end point is also living and knowing the other aspect, which is the aspect of ezer…Up until now we've been exploring and expanding upon withdrawal, need, vulnerability, and atah, language and letters, etc. Now, Debbie, yes, save us! (The one thing that doesn' sit well for me is…we're saying I only want the space for me and Hashem says I only want the space for me…)   I put it in “tit for tat” human language. It's not that G-d is being resentful (But I think there's an important nuance there of Hashem is still trying) Oh I see. You're absolutely right. In describing it that way, I'm simply trying to emphasize the sort of level of “overt unconscious divine involvement.” In other words, G-d's moving things forward is always happening. There's nothing without Him creating it at this very moment. We all know that. We all have states of more divine awareness, and states where it's in a dimunition. That's impacting what's happening. There's less love, there's less connectivity. There's less divine consciousness in the world because we ourselves are conscious-ing that way. The Baal Shem Tov says, Hashem… al yad yminecha. G-d is the shadow over my right hand. In Tehillim that means that G-d is guarding you. You're in His shadow, He's hovering above you, and He's shadowing over your right hand which is your hand of activity. He's guiding you. The Ba'al Shem Tov says, there's an opposite meaning also that says that G-d is your shadow. He is the shadow of your right hand. Meaning, as you act, and as you relate, and really as you love or don't love, which is the right hand, so G-d in like, responds. Responds in kind like a shadow moves with you. It's almost the opposite reading. It's not He's protecting and guiding you, but rather what you choose or determine where He is or is not, so that the more you, so to speak, block Him, so the less He is present. So Debbie is right, there's a level of G-d's presence which is unchanging and always present. Always commitment, never giving up, never leaving. But I'm talking about on more overt levels. Is He with me? Not with me? I feel abandoned, despondent. Check yourself well. When you're in that condition. Check yourself well, in terms of how well are you with others. Are you abandoning them?  How are you with your readiness for Him to be here with you, and how much are you ready for there to be others in your life? You can't play a game of I'm ready for G-d to be in my life, but not these other people. They're like bugging me and wasting my time. Your consciousness is not split that way. Not in Jewish thinking, at least. (Student comment) I don't know what I'm doing at this point (Laughing) (There seems to be the chicken before the egg thing or the egg before the chicken. It's hard to say when we have the ability to choose to break patterns or take Hashem in because up until a certain age, we're not so responsible for that…) You're wondering where the level of choice is here? Like how will I make that shift It seems to me that part of making that shift is Hakadosh Baruch Hu showing His face and my knowing that He is available, something like that? After the class, we'll stay around for a workshop…Why don't we wait with that? I'd like to share with you this piece from Admor Hazakeyn, who teaches us about two aspects of this condition of longing that there should be an other, and the introduction of atah…(Opening up to Shir Hashirim)                 The Rabbis teach us that Shir Hashirim is Kodesh Kadoshim , Holy Of Holies if all the other writing of Torah are holy, this one is Holy Of Holies…It's very important ot recognize is the way our Temple is constructed both like a home and like a body. Like a home, there's an entry area, and there's the table, and the food area, and there's the bedroom inside. And in this bedroom live, so to speak two keruvim, two youngsters who are in an embrace on the Holy Ark. No two ways about it. And the Rabbis tell us that when the Jewish people would come for the holiday meeting, the communing with G-d, which by the way is the meaning of the word “moed.” Communing, from the language of v'aad, viud, it's a designated time in the sense of making a date. So they would come, and the cohanim would open up the gates to all the people who were standing outside, and draw the curtain on the Holy of Holies so that everyone can look inside and see the two keruvim in an embrace, and say to the Jewish people, see how dear you are to G-d. Re'eh…hamakom. So it is not a misnaming that Rabbi Akiva, who says that all the other writings are kodesh, but this one is Kodesh Kadoshim. It's the prime rod, or the center of column, or the innermost chamber of all of G-d's revelations. That's important to realize, and the Zohar actually teaches in another teaching that something that's important for us to know which is sorely missed in our conceptions. The innermost workings in G-d's name in the yud, with the heh and the vav, and the heh. It's aleph, heh, vet, heh, In other words, the inner chamber of yud kay vav kay is alef heh vet heh, which, of course, is ahava. Shem havayah, which is gematria of 26 is in a sense, the doubling over of ahava, which is gematria of 13, so that in shem, yud key vav jey, he becomes revealed outwards, but the inner chamber is ahava, love. The Zohar teaches it's the root of all things…. That teaching means that the innermost chamber of all of existence is love. Which would make perfect sense, given that the Kodesh Kadoshim rests on the planet in the place from which the planet was created. The rabbis say that it was the heart, or the navel, of the universe. So get this picture and get it clear. In the navel of the universe, so to speak, there's different opinions about where man starts developing from, so they're using different imageries to describe what's happening. So the place of the Kodesh Kadoshim is the starting point of creation, that first nekudha. I'm going to use a language now that Ramban uses. I just love this language. The Ramban says that the world began with the nekudah…mamash. The world began as a small subtle or fragile dot, a spot that has nothing of substance. So the world began. That happens, so to speak, at the place of Kodesh Kadoshim, on some level, and then the world expands out from there. Which by the way, in terms of physics nowadays— An entire universe can be collapsed in a pinhead. Are you aware of this? We are 99.9% empty space. If you were to take a basketball and put it into a football field, so you would have a neutron, and then the circumference of the atomic particle  would be thousands of miles away from the things that's revolving around it. Matter is primarily empty space. It's just that our consciousness experiences it as a solid. And the entire universe, were it to be collapsed into the entire amount of matter that's in it, is estimated to be about the size of a pinhead. That is ridiculous stuff. Forget it. Don't even try to think about it. I don't know why I'm getting into it, I just like looking at these pictures in my head. But the point is that that nekudah is the Kodesh Kadoshim, the starting point of the universe. Note that that starting point is represented or manifested in the aron habrit, G-d's spoken revelation, which are two tablets, which have on it, an embracing angelic double figure. So that's the core. So when the Zohar says that the core of the word is yud-key-vav-kay, is ahava, he's really describing something which then becomes energetically embodied in the Kodesh Kadoshim. And spoken in Shir Hashirim. That's Rabbi Akiva. So when we say Shir Hashirim asher l'shlomo, so this is the song of all songs, like it's the Kodesh Kadoshim. Meaning, all the kidushin, all relationships—kedusha has to do with relationship—all specialness, kodesh, all uniqueness, all other-ness, and all possibility of otherness. All of that is rooted in the center one which is the Kodesh Kadoshim, just like all love songs, and the songs of life, that are sung in the exuberance of existence are rooted in this one. It's all rooted in love. That's why, that of in all books, the Sefer Haredim, which is an early book, then it didn't have the same implications it has now, it's a sefer which has to do with darkeinu tzar, 16th or 15th century, the derech hachushek hashorer. It's the way of someone who's impassioned to sing. So that in our love of our Creator, which is so impassioned, one who loves Him with a full heart, will always sing in front of him, just like Moshe, the children of Israel, Miriam, and Devorah, Yehoshua, the children of Korach, and David and Shlomo, who all sung. Maskil yedidut. One who has high consciousness, he will sing a song of endearment, a song of friendship, as it says, Shir HaShirim, asher l'Shlomo. What does it mean, Shir HaShirim? Shir HaShirim, that is, the one that is for Shlomo. For the king, whose peace is his, whose shalom is his, who lives that wholeness. The king who finds peace is the king, as we said, G-d is nimlach, he creates kingship, and an other, he finds peace. He finds peace in there being an other and which there can now be relationship. Peace is only a relevant concept if there is one to whom you have peace with. (Laughing) It's nice to have peace on your own, but it's not really peace, except when the different parts of you are holding together. But peace is a concept that has to do with other. This by the way is why our tefila ends with peace. Peace is the ultimate prayer. It's a very deep thing People miss this. What's going on? At the end, we gave G-d praise, then we gave thanks, we made our requests, then we're done. What's this business of sim shalom… What, we're trying to shtup in before the door closes, Wait! I've got just one more thing I want to say, just hang on a second, don't close the door yet, let me in! No, it's not that we're trying to make another request. It's moving into a state which is ultimate prayer. Because ultimate prayer is at one-ness with what is. Fully relating to it and accepting it. It's an inversion of the way we're used to thinking of it.  But after you've gone through the lack, and experienced the lack and asked for it, and been grateful to G-d for what he has given you, then you can be at peace with what is. When that happens, really quite astoundingly, then the doors open.  It's one of these ironies of spiritual life. When I accept it in fullness, then I am able to turn in asking for the shift to occur. At that point I'm not asking, I'm just identifying with Him, so to speak, I'm at one with Him in what He has done. I'm there at peace with it. I don't know exactly how to describe this in a way that it makes logical sense. But it's the ultimate state of prayer. Now I'm just at one with You. When you accept it, then you're with Him, and then you are participant in whatever it is that's going to happen, and then your will and His will become one and reality then opens up to its sources of goodness. But sim shalom is ultimate prayer. So Shir Hahirim asher l'shlomo is the ss for the one who has peace. And the two become unified. That then becomes ultimate ezer. We're in this together, G-d, it's not just me against you, insisting that you give. We're together in this. At peace with each other. That's a peaceful home. That's shalom bayit. But don't think you can skip stages, just go to that. Then you end up with distorted religions and spiritualities  Praise of G-d as other, asking of him, recognizing that he is the one who indeed gives it, bowing down in thanks to him, and now what? We're together. (Long silence) I might just end with the pasuk ends with yeshakeni…piu, so the Zohar teaches that yeshakeni…piu. The reason it specifically talks about kissing, then the breath of each kisser becomes united into one breath, and they, so to speak, breathe each other. This is a very deep teaching of the Zohar, which then teaches that this is where the four letters of the name come from. That there's a breath out of one into the other that retains part of the breath and gives part over the breath. And so from the other, the same, and those are then the four letters. The breath retained, the breath given, the breath received, the breath given and retained, those are the transmutations of the letters of G-d's name, but the breaths become one breath. That's why is yeshakeni…piu, let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth. Which is pihu, peh yud peh and vav, which is the first three letters of G-d's name, and then the final heh is ki tov…mi yayin because Your love is greater than wine. Wine being the drunkenness of the loss of selfhood and the inability to stand up. I choose to stand up and not be drunken. I choose to stand up so that I can be an other with whom you can have this kiss and this love. And ironically, the rabbis say that the yayin is a reference to the written Torah. That's the one which is “forced” upon us. It's reality as it is, in the sense that you don't have any say in it. There's not much of an atah there. Better than the yayin of yaino shel Torah, of Torah sHakadosh Baruch Hu'chtav, of the written Torah, yeshakeni…piu, which is Torah sh b'al peh.  It's when Jewish people in knesset Yisrael have a voice and are able to speak words of wisdom that are expression of their soul, in its reverberating with G-d and responding to him. So that's chazal's interpretation of that verse. Better than the wine of the Torah is the kissing. Which involves there being an atah and an ani, and it's really a profound back and forth which occurs in that.  But in a sense, the first thought that G-d had that there should be two is indeed that ultimate picture—at least for this created world. The creating of one is in order to create the realization and consciousness that will allow for there to be two by our desire and by our choosing. And indeed, on a very deep level, this is a story of the soul coming into the world, choosing to, so to speak, separate from Him and come into the world, that there should be a level of realization of relationship, that could not be, had this all stayed embedded in its Source. (Student question) When I am able to say atah to you, and even more, when I am able to live out being said atah to, … when we can really have that, then the consciousness that we create between us is now what's in the world. We've shifted what's around now, we shift things by the way we relate to them. We shift things in the air, so to speak. One of the impacts, the primary impact of what changes, is how much G-d is present. How close is he? Of course he's always close. I mean, how much His presence is felt. How much is he shining His face on us? So when we shift into that with others , then He's like our shadow, so to speak. It's poor language, but He follows suit. So now, He's giving us more of saying to us, atah, and making Himself available and present for us to say to Him atah. Because now we're generating that reality into the Creation.  (So the more I put atah in my relationships in my life, the more Hashem will shine on me…)  Absolutely. That is the energetic core of Creation. That's what's happening in the Kodesh Kadoshim. That's why He wants to show it to us. On one level, nothing's changed. He was always there. You're not here. It's only Him. That's called da'at elyon. But on the level of da'at tachton, human life, the kav, the line, it's all up to you. Whether He will be here or not. What things will look like. I'ts hard to live them both at once. We generally live in ratzo v'shov. But there are divine moments when those realities merge. And then there is forgiveness, love, compassion, etc. (But that's' the goal, no? To live my life that I don't exist, but I have to work) To know both of these at the same time. The rabbis asked the question: Which is greater, knowing Talmud, or doing it? You say doing it, so I say knowing it, so there was an argument that went like this for many years. They said, gadol haTorah…ma'aseh how great is the knowing that brings the doing. It's only great doing because it's known.   More teaching from Rav Daniel on our facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/ravdanielk

Dr. Ray Guarendi is a father of ten adopted children, a clinical psychologist, author, professional speaker, and national radio and television host. His radio show, “The Dr. Is In” can be heard on over 440 stations and Sirius XM channel 130. His TV show, “Living Right With Dr. Ray” can be seen on EWTN Global Catholic Network and is aired in 140 countries. Mentioned in this episode: Jesus, the Master Psychologist:  Listen to Him You're a Better Parent than You Think Matthew 23:12 John 10    Connect with Ruth here: Website Instagram  Facebook   Connect with Pat here: Website Facebook  Instagram    Connect with Ray here: Website Facebook   Please share Rootlike Faith with your friends! This podcast is produced and edited by Angie Elkins Media, Inc. 

2 Corinthians 2:11 tells us that “We are not unaware of (Satan's) schemes.” In other words, we already know his operating method. He's been using the same tactics for centuries. That means you don't have to go into battle against your spiritual foe ignorant of the tactics he's going to use against you.We saw in last week's episode that Satan attacks your mind with lies to turn you against God's will. Satan hates God. Therefore, to attack God, Satan choses to attack the one part of God's creation that means the most to Him – YOU!Learn more about the ministry of The Purity Coach at  http://www.thepuritycoach.comCheck out our online training at  http://www.ChristianGrowthAcademy.comDownload our free App at  http://thepuritycoach.com/my-purity-coach-APP.htmlCheck out our video series at  http://thepuritycoach.com/keynote-workshops-videos.htmlLearn more about our purity coaching ministry at  http://thepuritycoach.com/about-point-of-purity.htmlWe are a faith-based, donor supported ministry. To help us continue to reach men (and women) across the globe, please click the link below to give your tax deductible gift to The Pure Man Ministry.Support the show (http://thepuritycoach.com/support-purity-coach-ministry.html)

Hebrews 5:1-11 New King James Version   Qualifications for High Priesthood 5 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can [a]have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness. 3 Because of this he is required as for the people, so also for himself, to offer sacrifices for sins. 4 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. A Priest Forever 5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” 6 As He also says in another place: “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek”; 7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 10 called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,” 11 of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.

Access free PDF downloads of Meher Baba's books at MeherSepas Book LibraryFollow us on: MeherSepas.comInstagramFacebookYouTubeAll PodcastsSubscribe to the MeherSepas.com for all the latest information and join the Meher Baba Bi-Weekly Zoom Meetings­­Audio: Shahin#10  BE ADDICTED TO GOD If you become addicted to God, then all your problems are solved. Go on drinking the Love of God until you become one with God. You have to give up everything, including yourself – then you have Baba to yourself. God is beyond religion, beyond love. When you love God intensely, then there is the experience of real separation from God. When you have the gift of love, you become your Self – the false self becomes the lover of the True Self. Keep Him ever constantly present within you. Let Him form the basis of all your thoughts, speech and actions. Remember Him in every little thing you do – the responsibility will then rest with Him You have to love Him to such an extent that you forget about sleep, food, rest and so on, and become absolutely restless to be one with Him, and to possess Him.

This week you will be uplifted, inspired and encouraged to walk in your purpose as there are no excuses as our guest Cynthia Cottingham who has underwent 5 brain surgeries and had to learn to walk and talk again is living out her purpose in ministry and through her new business "Harnessing Your Purpose". She drops so many gems in this episode so get your pen and paper or notes app ready. This will bless your life and it is my sincere hope that you like, share and comment. In this episode: Purpose is your God given passion inside that when you want to deny it, it keeps tugging/pulling at you You don't have to move the pieces, God has ordained it already, it's about HIs plan Live an intentional, purpose driven life as our life is short and we should live it to the fullest Follow your passion and use it as motivation to propel you forward in God's will Recognize your gift early and use them for God's glory God gives you different seasons - embrace the journey You can't get around what God has planned for your life Through several illnesses that resulted in 5 brain surgeries, memory loss, comprehension difficulties and the inability to walk or talk - God provided healing - "I know God left me here for a reason, for a purpose - God has the ultimate plan" People often want to know "Do you ask God why me....no I ask Him why not me?" Find out why God has you here vs. focusing only on your personal desires There is no time to fear or worry, take the next step into your calling - if it is for you to do, no one can stop you from doing it God will make sure things turn out right when you seek His purpose for your life God uses people to show witness to HIm You can grow in the valley no matter what you're going through - be patient and allow God to walk through the valley with you In the quiet moments, take time to hear from God No matter how you feel your life has been detoured the Lord has a plan for you "My service to Him has never been about the income but always about the outcome" Our vision was meant for us - God will bless it if you lean on Him Take time to get in a quiet place to let God know your concerns - He's our Father - He cares An empty cup has nothing to pour out - step back to replenish and mediate Find out what you need to do for God, find out what He has purposed you to do because it matters - you'll live a richer and more fulfilled life It's not about you - it's all about God! To get connected to Cynthia Cottingham, check out her business "Harness Your Purpose" on all the social media platforms. If you'd like to watch this or other episodes on YT, click here: https://linktr.ee/walkingoutyourpurpose. Please also join the WOYP family on Facebook using this link. I appreciate your support and would ask that you like, comment, share and follow us on all the platforms including Facebook and YouTube. Now go conquer your day and don't let it conquer you. Be blessed! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/walkoutyourpurpose/support

Growing through Corona For many people they just want to get through this time, and we will get through it, but I think God doesn't want us to just get through it, He wants us to grow through it. Think about it, when our children say their first words it's amazing, especially if it's ‘daddy'. When they take their first steps it's amazing, it's so exciting. But if they keep talking like that and walking like that one year later, it really won't be that amazing anymore, because we're expecting them to grow and to make progress. In the same way God is expecting us to growing us and make progress. Ephesians 4:14-15 We were not meant to remain as children but to grow up in every way into Christ. Phil                 how do we become mature? We grow. Colossians 4:12 That you may become mature Christians and that you may fulfil God's will for you. Phil God is committed us to growing us and maturing us. God often uses the tough times in our lives to grow us and develop us. It's usually in the middle of the toughest times that God makes the greatest deposits in us. But it's also the tough times that reveal what's in us. Let me illustrate it like this - I've got a tube here with stuff in. How do you know what's in here? Well now it's a problem isn't it! It's got the shape of a toothpaste tube, but are you prepared to bet your salary that there's toothpaste in here? Well Leonard I'm not a betting man. OK, good answer. How about if I said to you there's toothpaste in here, or even better if the label said there's toothpaste in here. Would you then bet your salary that there's toothpaste in here? Well as I said, I'm not a betting man….. O yes I forgot. How would we know for sure what's in here? Because let's be honest, you can put any label on this tube. The real test is squeezing it and seeing what's on the inside. When you put a bit of pressure on, whatever is on the inside will come out. This is what's happening to a lot of people – they're wearing all these labels – I'm this, I'm that. They even post all these things on social media, trying to project a certain image, but in reality their life is possibly very different. But they're wearing all these labels – it's a lot of make belief. If you really want to know what's on the inside of someone, just squeeze them, not literally! Just apply a bit of pressure......pressure to their finances, pressure to their marriage, pressure to their health......and before you know it you'll see what's on the inside. Difficult times have a way of revealing what's really on the inside. We're all finding out what's on the inside of us. Some of the things are good, but other things are not so good and those are the things that need to change. **One of the biggest mistakes we can make is to want to get through this pandemic and go back to the way things were, without any change. God is committed to changing and growing us. I don't know about you but I want to come through this time better and stronger and more mature than before. I want to have a greater faith I want to have a greater gratitude I want to have a greater love and appreciation for my loved ones I want to have a fresh perspective on life Let me share with you from….. 2 Chronicles 7:13-14 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, ……now here's the part we know so well…if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn …there's the key word… from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” NIV To turn means we were going in this direction, but then something happened, and now we're going in the other direction. I was going in this direction, but then Corona happened ...... and there was some pressure, it exposed some stuff in me that needed to change. I realised I needed to grow in that area…now I'm going in that direction. I think we all have an opportunity in the middle of this pandemic, in the middle of all this pressure to turn from some things. It may not be some really bad things, or it may just be turning towards better things. If we want God to do that next part of that verse ....to hear from heaven and to heal our land, then we've got to turn in some areas. God gives us a promise but He can only fulfil the promise if we fulfil the conditions of the promise. He gives us two conditions, to pray and to turn. To turn means, it was this before the virus but now it's this. I was going in this direction before the virus, but now I'm going in this direction. I really believe some good can come out of this pandemic. If I had to ask you this morning, what is God doing in your life? What is the thing that you need to turn from or that you have turned from? If you know what it is, that's good, because that's going to become lasting change in your life. If you don't know what it is, then maybe I can help you this morning, maybe I can give you a couple of examples of what's happening in other people's lives. I don't want to pre-empt what He's doing in your life, but I can tell you what's happening in some other people's lives, and maybe it will trigger what God is trying to do in your life. As I've been talking to people, some people have said – we were assuming a lot of things; We just assumed church will always be there – if we weren't able to come this week, it's ok we can skip church this week, we'll go next week, the church will be there next week. I think it's true for all of us, we assumed so many things; We assumed we'll always be able to braai with some friends We assumed we'll have good health We assumed we'll be able to travel We assumed we'll have a good income Many people have turned from assuming to appreciating a lot of things, even the little things. If there's one thing that God has done in my life –  it's gratitude. I can honestly say I've been more grateful since this virus. I find myself waking up in the morning saying; Lord, thank you for my family, thank you for our health, thank you for our home, thank you for the church and the wonderful people. God, I'm just so grateful!! **Somebody said – Gratitude turns what I have into enough. 1Thessalonians 5:18 “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.” Psalms 107:1 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” NIV Maybe you've been complaining about what you've lost or what you don't have any more. I want to encourage you to turn from that and to come to God with a grateful heart for what you do have and for what He's already blessed you with. It would be a shame if we came through this pandemic unchanged. There is no doubt that God is using this time to change us and to turn us,  but it can only happen when we co-operate with Him. Hebrews 12:25 Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. Basically what it's saying is, you and I have a choice; we can ignore what God is trying to do in our lives or we can co-operate and grow during this time. God is speaking to each one of us through this Corona time, but it's important for us to have our spiritual ears open to hear what God is saying and doing in our lives. Another thing God has been doing in some people's lives is turn them from self-sufficiency to a God-dependency. Self-sufficiency is a form of pride. That's when we think we don't really need God, I've got this, I'm good. I can take care of myself, and I'll let you know when I need you. It's the guy who's late for a very important appointment and he can't find parking. He prays Lord please give me a parking, I really need a parking. The next moment a parking opens up right in front of the building. He pulls into the parking and he prays, never mind Lord, I've just found one. I know it's terrible and funny at the same time!! We never want to be like that, but yet it's easy to have a bit of that attitude. Your salary gets paid in and you don't even thank Him You get up in the morning healthy and strong and you don't even thank Him You sit down to a meal and you don't even thank Him. It's easy to become self-sufficiency. This is what Nebuchadnezzar did. He was seen as the greatest and most powerful of all the Babylonian kings. Under his rule, the Babylonian empire was one of the most powerful empires in the world, and Babylon grew into a formidable city. He was one of the most well-known Old Testament villains. He conquered Jerusalem twice, destroyed Solomon's temple, and took many Jews captive. Nebuchadnezzar built the hanging gardens of Babylon. It was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. He built it for his wife because she was homesick. She came from the north west of Iran which was a lot lusher and greener. With all that said, it's understandable that he had a bit of a chip on his shoulder about who he was and what he'd accomplished. Daniel 4:29 “As the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”   Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. In a way this is what this pandemic has done to many of us, it has taken some things from us; Maybe some income Maybe a holiday that was planned Maybe a car or a home that had to be returned to the bank Maybe even a loved one. Sometimes we've got to lose something before we change, before we're ready to turn. This is what happened to king Nebuchadnezzar “You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox.” Imagine, this great and powerful king, suddenly eating grass like an animal! “Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone He wishes.” The Bible says after those seven years he humbled himself. My prayer is that we're all doing that, every single one of us, where we're saying, Lord I need you. I'm nothing without you. Nebuchadnezzar prayed - “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” Daniel 4:37 NIV That's the attitude that God wants us to have….a humble attitude, that we're nothing without God. 1Corinthians 4:7 What are you so puffed up about? What do you have that God hasn't given you? And if all you have is from God, why act as though you are so great, and as though you have accomplished something on your own? I think this pandemic is an opportunity for good to come out of this. It's an opportunity for us to turn from a prideful self-sufficiency attitude to a humble God-dependant attitude. Another thing that God has done is given us greater perspective on life. What do I mean by that? This life is temporary, we're passing through, we're pilgrims. This is not our home. The bible says we're like a vapour – we're here today and gone tomorrow. James 4:14 “For what is your life? It is even a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” How's that for perspective!! It's so easy to get programmed by the world that this is important and that is important, and we've got to have this and we've got to have that. Colossians 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. I think this pandemic has been a RESET for many of us, where we realise, we're in this world but not of this world, we're passing through. Here is another thing God has been saying – Slow down! I've heard many of you say this – we were too busy, we were chasing our tails, we were missing the important things in life – sitting down for dinner with the family, attending church, small groups. Many of you have turned from being too busy to making time for the important things in your life. Can I ask you again, what is God doing in your life at the moment? We all want to look back upon this time and be able to say, that was a turning point in my life. I used to be so materialistic but something changed I used to be so unappreciative but something changed I used to be lukewarm but something changed I used to be so busy, I never had time for God or quiet time, but something changed I've made up my mind, I'm not going to go through this time without gaining some things. How crazy would that be to come through this time empty handed! God doesn't want us to just go through this time, but to grow through it and develop into the people whom He wants us to become. God is expecting us to grow and to make spiritual progress. I'm asking you today to identify what God is doing in your life, and make sure you turn from one thing to a better thing.

☆"It's Testimony Time, God Will Revive, if you let HIM"☆❣You know too many of us are setting back waiting on God to change them but We/They have Failed to Understand that it's not GOD'S RESPONSIBILITY TO CHANGE US BUT OUR OWN! Many Years are wasted on this statement: ☆" God is not FINISHED with me Yet! Well I say, What did J-E-S-U-S say: ☆"IT IS FINISHED"☆! NOW, what does that mean to us; What ever GOD needed to do it's Done! Now we have to do our Part: {Philippians 2:12‭-‬16 Therefore, my beloved, as you 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 who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.} ☆"Holding Fast the Word of Life"☆ Get That❣ Now let's talk about "Our Part"! { Understand why God said to Cain; Genesis 4:6‭-‬7 So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” D-i-d y-o-u G-e-t t-h-a-t. That statement falls plumline with {Rom 6:1-23}, so not doing well, is sitting idly by waiting on God to change you! Doing well is seeking First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness and All Things will be Added to You! Open your eyes and take notice to this

THE WEEK OF EASTER - THURSDAYLESSON: 2 CORINTHIANS 4:13-15Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” John 20:17In these words of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, as reported in John's Gospel, Jesus sets forth a very clear explanation of the benefit and profit of His death and resurrection. “Go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”This is one of the great consolatory passages of the Gospel at which we can knock with all boldness and confidence. It is as though Christ is saying here, “Go, Mary, and tell my disciples, those deserters, who really merited punishment and eternal damnation, that my resurrection will redound to their great advantage. Through my resurrection I have brought it about that my Father is your Father and my God your God.”A few brief words! But they contain a very important truth, namely, that we have a trust and confidence in God which is the equal of that which Christ, the very Son of God, Himself has.Who can grasp such boundless joy? Who can explain how a poor, miserable sinner can call God his Father and God, even as Christ Himself does?SL 11:606 (9) PRAYER: Dear heavenly Father, Your ways in Jesus Christ our Lord are beyond all our powers of understanding and telling. Grant us the faith to cling with all our hearts to the benefits and profits of our Lord's resurrection, that with Him You are our Father and our God in and through Jesus our Savior. Amen. Editor's note: No American Edition (AE) equivalent for today's sermon excerpt exists at the time of this publication. For an alternate English translation of this sermon, see Lenker, Church Postil—Gospels, 2:215-221.

Scripture For Today: Acts 8:15 “When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,” Believe You ReceiveOne of the most important things in prayer to “believe you receive when you pray.”  Let's look again at Mark 11:23-24. “For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, ‘Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea,' and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he said shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he said. Therefore, I say unto you, what things soever you desire, when you pray, believe you receive them and you shall have them.”  Notice it does not say, “believe that you shall receive.” That's believing for something in the future. You can't believe God will answer your prayer in some distant time in the future! You can't believe that way and expect any type of results! Faith in God in believing that God is immediately working to answer your prayer. Not because you are some great man or woman of Faith. But because you prayed IN JESUS NAME in Faith. Believing that what Jesus said would come to pass. God is answering your prayers because of WHO Jesus is and your Faith in Him. Amen! You need to believe you receive your answer NOW! Not some distant time in the future. You need to believe the answer is yours the instant you pray and say AMEN! God put the emphasis on FAITH and on believing, simply because He is a FAITH GOD! Amen! Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without Faith, it is impossible to please Him…” You can have good works and good deeds all day long and never see your prayers answered. Why? Because your good works and good deeds do not please God. You would be more pleasing to God by having more Faith. And then your good works would be a result of your Faith. Faith is what pleases God. Not works. Smith Wigglesworth once said that there is something about believing God that will cause Him to pass over a million people to get to YOU. Amen! I like that!  God is a Faith God. And we are children of a Faith God. We are saved by Faith. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you are saved through faith. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”  It is praying in faith that works with God. That is the ONLY prayer that does work. When you pray, believe you receive. That's it. Jesus said you will have the desires of your heart when you do that. But most people miss it because they want to receive BEFORE they believe. It does not work that way! Believe you receive from God WHEN you pray. There are not too many people who do believe they receive from God WHEN they pray. You can tell. How? Because they keep praying for the same thing, over and over, day after day. If they truly believed, then they would receive their answered prayers already and would not have to keep asking day after day!   “Well, brother Bob, what if we don't see the prayer as being answered?” Oh, I'm so glad you asked me that question! Once you have prayed in Faith, you are supposed to believe you have already received the prayer as answered. Start acting like it. How? By NOT asking God about it again! Just start praising Him for answering it! Glory to God! I hope you see the difference! You are not supposed to come to God again and again asking Him for the same thing over and over. When you come to God with the same petition the second time, come in Faith that He heard you the first time and that you are coming now to THANK HIM for the answer! Praise God! Now, you can and you should put God in remembrance of His Word and thank Him in Faith that He is working on your behalf because of His Word (who IS Jesus)! Amen! That is the kind of Faith that will produce results, tangible results. Amen! I have experienced and I truly believe, that if people would stop coming to God asking repetitive prayers over and over, and just come to Him in thanksgiving for answered prayer, they would...

Inside our theme of love this month, this week we are focusing on teaching our kids what love is. God has assigned us the role of teaching them about love, to lead and be their example, to help them see by words and actions that authenticity is the only way to understand love, especially His love. Real love and intimacy require vulnerability and sincerity. And God’s Word is the original love letter from His heart to ours. Today, we’re going to look at the first event in Jesus’ life that launched His ministry and started His road to the cross: His baptism. Now, you might ask … what does Jesus’s baptism have to do with love? Well, it’s really about what happened at Jesus’s baptism … listen as I read . … The moment Jesus came up out of the baptismal waters, the skies opened up and he saw God’s Spirit—it looked like a dove—descending and landing on him. And along with the Spirit, a voice: “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.” (Matthew 3:16-17 MSG) Did you hear the words of love and affirmation God spoken over Jesus? Imagine for a moment what John witnessed? The Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit—all present at this historic event. Now, listen once again, and afterwards, I’ll tell you how you and I are connected to this moment. Whenever we choose to enter into a relationship with Jesus, the reconnection of our spirits to His is completed. Please know then, that He will, for the rest of your life, look at you and say, “This is my son, this is my daughter, chosen and marked by my love, the delight of my life.” I’m betting that is exactly the way you look at your child. But you need to know this is how God sees you. And if you can accept and receive that is the way your Heavenly Father sees you, you will then be able to pass that truth on to your kids. If you believe it, they will more likely come to believe it as well. Repeat this truth out loud right now … I am chosen … I am marked … by my Father’s love ... and I am the delight of His life. … Say it to Him … You have chosen me … You have marked me … by Your love … and I am the delight of Your life. Let’s pray together: “Heavenly Father, thank You that You chose me, thank You that my life is marked by Your love. Thank You that I am the delight of Your life. Help me to show my kids that You and I, together, feel that way about them. As above, so below.”

Aqu

--{ "Hidden Masters Bring Disasters: There is a Full-Scale War Upon You, Rights Stripped Without Consent, Listing What You May or May Not Do, The Accused Public Must Repent, And Admit Guilt for Just Existing, Occupying Space and Then Assuming It can Go on Blindly Persisting, With a Life of Constant Consuming. Hidden Masters Tried Persuasion, Created Earth Armies of The Youth, From Schools of Indoctrination, Eat No Meat (but Have Sweet Tooth), Hurry, Population's Unsustainable, It's Emergency Powers or You'll Die, If Fixed Temperature's Unobtainable You All Lose, Freeze or Fry! Now Stop and Look around for Clues, Before Warming or Covid Nineteen, There's a Whiff of Old Thom Malthus, So The Reasons are Not All They Seem. In Fact the Wicked Web is Elemental, Hidden Masters Fund All the Forces, Which Say You're Surplus, Non-Essential, And You're Eating The Owners' Resources."© Alan Watt }-- Living in Hope; Blaming Others - House of Lords, Labour Party - New Clear Family - Set Up Manufacturing in China - In a Talk I Did Back in the 1990s, I said, I'm Not Here to Be a Cheerleader for the People - The Mob - Wisdom, People Want to Know Secrets; They Want Power - The Great Reset - No One is Riding in to Fix This for You - The Owl - Carl Jung, Sigmund Freud - Connection to Spirit - Unconventional Warfare - Prophets - Aldous Huxley, Julian Huxley - Eugenics Promoted in the U.K. and U.S. before Hitler Got into Power - LSD, Huxley's Doors of Perception - Plato, Nothing Comes from the Grass Roots; Created by the Elite and Authorized - Paul, Creatures of Instinct - DONATE at www.cuttingthroughthematrix.com - Work Makes Free - H.L. Mencken - Religion, Protestantism - Possession, Psychopathy - You are in a Spiritual Battle - Sexual Evil Done to Children - Righteous Indignation - Agenda 21, Climate Change, Sustainability - John Pilger Interview, Leni Riefenstahl - Colour Revolutions, BLM, Antifa; Terror Campaign Upon the American People - Bill Gates, Vaccines Will Make You Healthier and Reduce Population; How Do You Reconcile That? - Consumerism is Over - Tyranny; Full-Spectrum Dominance of Information - Trump, Military to Distribute Vaccine; 2016 Campaign, Speed Up Drug Testing to Benefit Big Pharma - Population Control - Martial Law - U.S., Acting Defense Secretary Orders Top Special Ops Civilian to Report Directly to Him - You are Your Own Champion - Evil Always Comes Out as the Saviour - Luddites - Self-Sufficiency of Mennonites and Similar Groups - Attacks on Christianity - The Religion of Humanists - The Club of Rome - The United Nations, The Individual is The Enemy of World Peace - Professor Maurice King, “Global Sustainability requires the deliberate quest of poverty, reduced resource consumption and set levels of mortality control.” - Psyops; Revelation of the Method - Fresno Bishop tells Catholics Not to Get COVID-19 Vaccine, Fetal Stem Cells Used in its Development - Cannibalism - Human Flesh Looks Like Beef, But the Taste Is More Elusive - Ouroboros - Eternal Life - Rishi Sunak, Moderna - UK's Mass Vaccine Program - Peter Hitchens, PM is Bankrupting Britain - Fauci, "Do What You're Told" - 95% of Covid-19 Deaths had Underlying Health Conditions - Whitney Webb, All Roads Lead to Dark Winter - Sweden's Top Coronavirus Expert Calls Facemasks ‘very dangerous' - Justin Trudeau, Global Aid to Tackle COVID-19, the Great Reset - Police Using Drones to Yell at People for Being Outside During Pandemic; Movie, Fahrenheit 451 - Daily Mail, Spreading Anti-Vaxx Conspiracy Theories Should be a CRIME - James Delingpole, Sesame Street Sells Its Soul to the Great Reset - Oxford Academics Accuse Facebook of Censorship for Branding their Article on Whether Masks Work ‘false information' - Quantitative Easing - Pentagon Upheaval - Southern Australia in Toughest Lockdown - DARPA, Microchips - The First Casualty of War is Truth - China 'used secret microwave pulse weapon to cook Indian soldiers alive' - John Kerry Talks ‘Great Reset': ‘We're at the Dawn of Extremely Exciting Time - Fauci, Life will Never Return to Normal. *Title and Dialogue Copyrighted Alan Watt - Nov. 22, 2020 (Exempting Music and Literary Quotes)

Show Transcript: You are listening to the Blooming Inspired Podcast on the Blooming Inspired Podcast Network. We exist to empower the voices of women who live their lives #BloomingAlive through Podcast Community. Now, here is your host. Blooming Inspired Podcast equipping and empowering the voices of women who live their lives Blooming Alive. This week Michelle continues her very personal series about Mirror Moments with God where she found the courage to receive His forgiveness, trust His love and walk in who He created and redeemed her to be. Introduction Greetings to God’s Beautiful Wildflowers! This is Michelle Bentham, host of Blooming Inspired Podcast. Last week I began sharing my mirror moments testimony here on the podcast. As I shared last week, Embracing Identity is a core value here at Blooming Inspired Network. In my own experiences I’ve found spiritual identity is not at all about discovering who YOU are in Christ, but rather settling your heart in intimacy to know Him - just Him - discovering who He is and how He wants to express Himself through you. Last week I shared the messier parts of my testimony and how God used these practical mirror moments to reveal not only His heart for me, but also to help me embrace my identity and who He says I am. Today I’ll share a final mirror moment in the context of the story of a biblical woman. As I share with you today, I want to encourage you to put yourself in today’s passage as we look at the adulterous woman who was cast at Jesus feet for judgment and found herself receiving mercy instead. Let’s Pray, Father God, I ask that You would give each person within the sound of my voice eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to know you more. I pray that we would be able to step into the story and find you there, meeting with us and speaking to our hearts personally - up close. I ask Lord for you to allow us to encounter you and realize the truths revealed for ourselves today! Show us Your Glory Lord! I ask these things in Jesus’ Holy Name, AMEN. Would you allow your heart to engage with Jesus and settle on Him today? Last week I shared that somehow in leading women’s Bible study I missed the idea of God taking my confession of sin and cleansing me of all unrighteousness. So as we begin today I want to turn to a familiar passage of scripture and begin with an encounter activation today. Rather than turn in your Bible’s I want to encourage you to do something completely different. Today, I want you to get in a comfortable position sitting in a comfy chair or your couch. If you can do so safely of course… Please don’t do this next part if you are driving in your car… But, now I’d encourage you - let your shoulders drop back, close your eyes and let whatever cares you are holding onto go. Now, take a few deep breaths (in through your nose, out through your mouth), and as you do I want you to think about the place in your body you are most aware of the presence of God when He shows up. Once you have settled on where you are most aware of GOd’s presence, I want you to focus from that place of awareness on who you know Jesus to be from Scripture. What do you know about Him to be true? And when you have that place of awareness, I’ll call it your heart, when you have your heart set on Jesus then join me in the reading. Lord, come and meet with your children today. We ask you to come and introduce yourself to us in real and tangible ways. Thank you Lord, for your goodness and grace today. If you remember, last week I shared that I had a moment when God woke me from my sleep and had me recall all of the unconfessed sins I had committed. And as I confessed them to Him, grieved over what they had cost Him… He gave me His perspective of me in exchange - “Look what a mess you made out of the beauty I created.” I feel sure some of you need to encounter the Lord’s goodness much the same way I did that night. If, at any time during the reading God begins to speak to you, stay with Him. Otherwise, join me as we place ourselves into this story found in the Gospel of John. Today’s reading is in John 8:1-11 and I’ll be reading from The Passion Translation: Let me set the stage for you - women in Jesus’ time where considered more property than precious gift. Men often married them when they were very young and the women had taken to sewing their valuables into their garments and braiding their jewelry into their hair so that if their husband came home one day and said, “I divorce you. I divorce you. I divorce you.” they would not be found destitute. A woman in this situation without means could not return to her family, for she is disgraced. An adulteress by law since she is now divorced. She has no choice in order to survive she would have to do one of two things, 1) choose to live with a man unmarried, or 2) prostitute herself to make a living. The law found in the Deuteronomic Code prescribed that both a woman and a man caught in adultery should be stoned to death. But, in this narrative we find that the pharisees only brought the woman to Jesus. Now, Let’s Begin: Verse 1-3: Jesus walked up the Mount of Olives near the city where he spent the night. Then at dawn Jesus appeared in the temple courts again, and soon all the people gathered around to listen to his words, so he sat down and taught them. Then in the middle of his teaching, the religious scholars and the Pharisees broke through the crowd and brought a woman who had been caught in the act of committing adultery and made her stand in the middle of everyone. Can you picture this woman with me for a moment? She was likely in some state of undress - perhaps even naked. She may be crying, trembling and fearful of the men who are dragging her through the street. Her tears mingling with the dirt being stirred as she is escorted to the temple steps where this angry, pious group of men cast her down at Jesus’ feet. Can you see her? Defeated. Broken. Ashamed. Fearful. Weeping. Crying out, perhaps. Cowering at the feet of Jesus. Not even daring to look up. Now that you see her, could you be her? Could you be the woman caught in a trap of sin - suddenly exposed, found out and cast at the feet of Jesus? How are you feeling? What are you thinking? Maybe your sin isn’t adultery, but the wages of sin is death - and we all have sinned. Verse 4-6 Then they said to Jesus, “Teacher, we caught this woman in the very act of adultery. Doesn’t Moses’ law command us to stone to death a woman like this? Tell us, what do you say we should do with her?” They were only testing Jesus because they hoped to trap him with his own words and accuse him of breaking the laws of Moses. But Jesus didn’t answer them. Instead he simply bent down and wrote in the dust with his finger. Can you hear their voices? Accusing you. Shaming you. Demanding judgment and an answer. You know what’s coming - first one, then another - they’ll soon begin casting their stones of judgment beyond these words. Caught in the act - they said. The Punishment is Death. What have I done? Oh Lord… Please. Help me. Your thoughts must be racing, pounding out a rhythm of panic with each beat of your heart. Suddenly you sense His presence, low to the ground. What is He doing? He’s writing something with His finger in the dirt. I could throw myself at His feet and beg for mercy… But, that won’t do any good. I deserve this. I was caught in the act. Two or three witnesses - I heard him say it. Verses 7-8: Angry, they kept insisting that he answer their question, so Jesus stood up and looked at them and said, “Let’s have the man who has never had a sinful desire throw the first stone at her.” And then he bent over again and wrote some more words in the dust. Can you hear His voice speaking to the men who accuse you? Did He just give them permission to stone me? They are the Pharisees. Surely none of them even thinks about sinning… Well, except that one who comes to see me a few times a week… Suddenly you hear it… and with each sound you cry out and flinch again and again - weeping uncontrollably as they fall - THUD. THUD. THUD…. One by one the rocks begin to fall. Verses : Upon hearing that, her accusers slowly left the crowd one at a time, beginning with the oldest to the youngest, with a convicted conscience. Suddenly, you realize that the rocks are not hitting you at all, but wait… What is happening? Can you enter into this moment with this woman? Can you be her? Can you see her? Can you experience this with her? Verse 10: Until finally, Jesus was left alone with the woman still standing there in front of him. So he stood back up and said to her, “Dear woman, where are your accusers? Is there no one here to condemn you?” Can you see her? She is still cowering, sobbing, weeping as she realizes she is not going to die today. They didn’t stone me! What is happening? Why did they leave… You lift your head and see that the men who accused you have all left. The rocks haphazardly creating a circle surrounding you and this man, Jesus. So many follow Him… You finally lift your head fully and… Verse 11: Looking around, she replied, “I see no one, Lord.” NO ONE LORD! NO ONE! NO ONE ACCUSES ME! Then you feel it the relief bubbling up and turning to joy. Now you’re laughing through your tears. He offers you His hand, He pulls you up to stand. He takes off His robe and wraps it around your naked body, covering your shame. You slip your arms into its swallowing sleeves. You pull it tight around you. And that is when He places his hand on each side of your face and pulls your eyes up to meet His own. What do you see in His eyes? Jesus said, “Then I certainly don’t condemn you either. Go, and from now on, be free from a life of sin.” At this point can you see Him there holding your face in His hands as the lifter of your head and encouraging you to go and live your life free of this sin that so easily entangled you. Can you see her? Can you be her? Redeemed, Forgiven and Released. I shared about that moment when I walked into the bathroom and I felt that He told me I was beautiful. Today, I want to share a bit more of my mirror moments story from a time when I had to forgive betrayal and learn to let God tend my heart. Last week I spent time bragging on my husband, #TheFisherman, and how precious he is to me. And boy, is he. But we’ve been through it. And though most of our relationship I’ve been making messes and he’s been there to help me clean up afterwards… There was a time about 11 years ago that he hurt me, and I had to walk on the other side of this conversation. During our recovery I asked my husband for permission to share our story if it could help others who may find themselves in a similar situation. He gave me his permission. In 2008, right after Christmas, I learned my husband had become involved in an emotional affair with a woman he met playing an online video game. My heart was broken, but my resolve to save my marriage strong, and if I am honest - I had neglected him in those three years before after my son passed away and we walked out unimaginable pain as a family. And that affair hit me right in the love languages - if you catch what I am saying. Meaning my top two love languages are quality time and words of affirmation. He had been giving exactly what I need to another woman, a virtual stranger, for six months while my needs for emotional intimacy and quality time went unmet. It was not easy to overcome that kind of betrayal for me - and beside my child dying this would have been my #2 confessed fear - my husband choosing someone else over me. As we both determined to focus on our marriage and begin to date again while figuring out how to overcome the wounds we both carried from our first decade of marriage - I found myself home alone during the day and processing the pain I felt with God throughout the day. Our lead pastor at church had shared in a series one time that in the morning we should worship God in our quiet time, and if you are not quite sure what to sing, just sing the song that is playing in your heart. One particular morning a few weeks after discovering the affair, I was cleaning my bathroom and found myself standing in front of the bathroom mirror humming a familiar tune from my younger days. The song playing in stereo in my head. The greatest love of all is happening to me, learning to love yourself - it is the greatest love of all… Whitney Houston’s exquisite voice singing the song in the recesses of my mind. After several minutes of singing the song while I cleaned the large plate glass mirror above our double sink vanity, I finally stopped and dropped the paper towels on the cabinet. “God! Why is that the song in my heart today?” He waited a beat or two and then I heard what I have come to know as His voice in my thoughts as He said, “Because I am the greatest love of all, and when my perfect love happens to you - you learn to love yourself.” You see, Jesus said in the Gospels that the first commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and the second is like it - it is learning to love your neighbor as yourself. As I stood staring at my face in that mirror, the tears began to fall again as I realized God had once again brought me to His truth in the sweetest way. 1 John 3 & 4 tells us that God not only loves us, but He is love. Perfect Love. And that love casts out fear - including worries, anxieties and insecurities. For me, the journey of learning to love myself would take me a decade. And as I have learned to love myself, I have learned to see myself from His perspective and to recognize I was created by love, made in the image of love so that I may be a full expression of His Love to the world around me. He is so good. Next week I will conclude this message series with a final testimony of how I came to realize that though I had found myself in Love, I still had not fully embraced my identity in Christ. Tune in to here more of the story next Friday as we continue to embrace identity, encourage passion, equip purpose and empower calling at Blooming Inspired Podcast. Closing Remarks That’s all the time we have for today! Thank you for tuning in with us. I pray the Lord met you through these words today. That His grace and love permeated your heart and mind in such a way that you were changed by an encounter of His presence through His Word. #TheGospels #VerseByVerse Bible Study focusing on the Book Of John begins November 14, 2020 right here in Granbury, TX. This season we will spend around 20 weeks reading verse by verse through the Gospel of John asking ourselves the question, “What would I believe about God, Myself, Others and What is Possible if I only had the Scriptures to inform my faith?” We will be meeting each Saturday morning from 10am to 12 pm (CT) at the Five Crowns International Ministries Offices at 2201 Commercial Lane in Granbury. For more information or to register for this season of Bible study please visit bloominginspirednetwork.com/calendar and select the 11/14 link for Bible study. Cannot wait to read through the last of our four Gospels with you Verse By Verse! If you’d like to be a guest on this show or get more information about hosting your own podcast on the Blooming Inspired Podcast Network - please reach out to me by visiting bloominginspirednetwork.com and click the podcast link at the top of the page or michelle.bentham@bloominginspirednetwork.com. I’d love the opportunity to connect with you and figure out how we can share your voice with the world around us. If you need encouragement of any kind, prayer or would just like to stay connected with us here at Blooming Inspired Network, please reach out by visiting us on Facebook, @BloomingInspired or bloominginspirednetwork.com and click the Direct Message or Contact link at the top of the page. We’d love to join hands with you in this season and lift you up. We’d love to partner with you in sharing messages that encourage and inspire other women to live their lives blooming alive! If you’d like to get this podcast delivered to your smart device, we're available on both Apple and Google Podcasts - take a moment to Subscribe and leave a review today! Speaking of partnering… Blooming Inspired Network is working with an up and coming ministry called Women of Verve. I began a little more than a year ago to walk with my friend, Melissa, as she birthed this idea of doing a community based outreach to women through retreats and Bible studies. In June we hosted 24 women and 4 leaders for a life-changing weekend away at MO Ranch in Hunt, TX. As we did the community of women we served has rallied! We are meeting in early November for a Brunch and time of fellowship with some light teaching. Be Sure to Follow @WomenOfVerve on Facebook or you can learn more by looking us up at facebook.com/WomenOfVerve and if you’d like to join us for our 2021 retreat July 23-25th you may visit womenofverve.com for more information and to reserve your spot! Space is limited so sign up today! Mark Your Calendars Be sure to tune into our Network’s weekly shows featuring these women who are living their lives Blooming Alive! Wednesdays | Jennifer Eikenhorst is bringing hope and building community with Accidental Hope Podcast. You can learn more about Jennifer and Accidental Hope by visiting facebook.com/accidentalhope. Thursdays | Beverly Flanagan is helping us age wisely and live well as mature women of God on In All Seasons Podcast. You can find Beverly’s latest episode at facebook.com/BloomingInspired or by visiting bloominginspirednetwork.com and click the podcast link at the top of the page. And, Of Course, I continue to serve you each Friday by empowering the voices of women who live their lives blooming alive right here on the Blooming Inspired Podcast. Thank you for listening to the Blooming Inspired Podcast on the Blooming Inspired Podcast Network. This show airs weekly on Fridays. Please take a moment to like, share and subscribe to this podcast. To learn more about this podcast and it’s network, or the ministries of Blooming Inspired Network please visit BloomingInspiredNetwork.com and click the podcast link at the top of the page. Podcast music provided by standard license from premiumbeats.com, “Spirit of Fire” created by FASSound.

Luke 8:22-2522 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. 24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.” We are called live by faith with the fear of the Lord!It is a time to...recalibrate our heart and mind to focus on the things abovereactivate our faith in the Lordreceive God’s wisdom and powerCol 3:1-2,Since, then, you have been raised with Christ,set your hearts on things above… 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.3 For you died,and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Hold on to the word of God!                    22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, “Let’s go over to the other side of the lake.” Remember God is in Control!            23 As they sailed, he fell asleep Expect the storm in life!   23... A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.    Activate your faith!24 He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 “Where is your faith?” he asked his disciples. Remember who Jesus is!   25 In fear and amazement they asked one another, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him.”   That's My King! Do you know Him? by Dr. S.M. LockeridgeHe is King is the King of the Jews. He's the King of Israel. He's the King of Righteousness. He's the King of the Ages. He's the King of Heaven. He's the King of Glory. He's the King of kings, and He's the Lord of lords.He's enduringly strong....He's entirely sincere....He's eternally steadfast....He's immortally graceful....He's imperially powerful....He's impartially merciful..He's the greatest phenomenon that ever crossed the horizon of this world. He's God's Son....He's a sinner's Savior....He's the centerpiece of civilization....He stands in the solitude of Himself....He's august....He's unique....He's unparalleled....He's unprecedented....He's the loftiest idea in literature....He's the highest personality in philosophy....He's the supreme problem in higher criticism....He's the fundamental doctrine of true theology....He's the cardinal necessity for spiritual religion....He's the miracle of the age.... He's the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him....He’s the only qualified to be an all sufficient savior He supplies strength for the weak....He's available for the tempted and the tried....He sympathizes and He saves....He strengthens and sustains....He guards and He guides....He heals the sick....He cleanses lepers....He forgives sinners....He discharges debtors....He delivers captives....He defends the feeble....He blesses the young....He serves the unfortunate....He regards the aged....He rewards the diligent....and He beautifies the meek.....He's the key to knowledge....He's the wellspring to wisdom....He's the doorway of deliverance....He's the pathway of peace....He's the roadway of righteousness ....He's the highway of holiness....He's the gateway of glory....... He is the master of the mighty. His office is manifold....His promise is sure....His light is matchless....His goodness is limitless....His mercy is everlasting....His love never changes....His word is enough....His grace is sufficient....His reign is righteous....and His yoke is easy, and his burden is light. He's indescribable....He's incomprehensible....He's invincible....He's irresistible.You can't get Him out of your mind....You can't get Him off of your hand....You can't outlive Him, and you can't live without Him....The Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him....Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him.... Herod couldn't kill Him....Death couldn't handle Him, and the grave couldn't hold Him. He always has been…and He always will be. He had no predecessor…and He’ll have no successor. There was nobody before Him and there will be nobody after Him…You can’t impeach Him… and He’s not going to resign. Father..."Thine is the Kingdom....and the Power....and the Glory....Forever"....and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever. And ever...and ever...and when you get through with all the forever, then.... AMEN!

This is the third day of what is tagged as a divine interruption and the Spirit of Breakthrough. We have been building and laying new spiritual blocks as the Lord instructs us regarding this epoch. We are still engaging the apostolic concept in building what the Spirit is revealing as a core prophetic blueprint to the desire of the Father in this season of Post-Coronavirus realities. Yet, we have experienced a new sense of spiritual impartation in the past three days. I guess, the Lord desire to imprint within our spirits what he has been teaching us for almost four months. Hebrew 5: 5-6 So also Christ did not take upon Himself the glory of becoming a high priest, but He was called by the One who said to Him: “You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.” 6And in another passage God says: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.” This message will challenge, encourage, but yet inspire you with new spiritual vision, capacity, and strategy to press into what the Father is saying as he takes us to a place we've never been before. I invite you to listen carefully and let the Holy Spirit, perfect his work in you. A new sense of hunger and thirst is required to enter this dimension that is open before us. The Church needs to see what the Lord is doing from a new height so we can develop the right motivation and the desire to take our journey in reaching this new realm. Friends, the priesthood has changed and we are demanded to respond accordingly. Isaiah 55 1 “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. 2 Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare.

What do you do when you know at a young age that God has called you to serve Him? You pursue it at all costs, with devotion, obedience, and fearlessness in the face of lack, loss, barriers, delay, and even racism and sexism. Enjoy listening to the life story of evangelist Dr. Helen Trowbridge who has blazed trails as a female evangelist to offer God’s love and saving grace to the world. She never allowed a victimization mindset to take hold, and as a result has truly made a difference with her gifts and talents. She equates obedience to God with true success.

Women often talk about the “mental load.”I, personally, have had this conversation with my husband countless times. It goes something like this:Me: “If I didn't think of everything that has to get done, it wouldn't get done. Why do I have to do everything?”Him: “You don't have to do everything, just tell me what you need me to do and I'll do it.”Me: “But, that's the point. If I have to tell you what to do, I still have to think about it.”Can you relate?These conflicts typically get triggered before a holiday, family event, or other scenario where the day-to-day responsibilities are intensified. We start to feel overwhelmed, unappreciated, and unsupported. Watching our partner check emails, take their time getting ready, or grab a seat on the couch, while we're rushing around wrapping gifts, preparing food, and blow drying our hair can be pretty frustrating.Luckily, this week we're talking to Dr. Morgan Cutlip about sharing the mental load. We discussed what the mental load really is, how to open up a conversation with your partner about it, and the specific process to work through as a couple to share the responsibilities more fairly. If this is something you've struggled with in your relationship, be sure to listen in.

Known as the health medium, Ray was given an unexplainable gift when he was 9 years old. He is a medical medium with the ability to see and help those with medical issues. He is also an author of A Women's Guide to Her Man's Health: Seven Simple Steps to Optimum Health for Him You will find Ray at https://www.thehealthmedium.com/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

"Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life." ~ Psalm 143:8 Many days start out with self-doubt, uncertainty, and worry. What is going to happen that I will be able to handle? Desire to be supported and encourage by other like-minded women? Join us at Women of IMPACT. http://bit.ly/WomenofIMPACT As much as your steps determine the way you will go, you're not in it alone. You don't have to be the one to carry the torch of belief when all you feel is self-defeat. Your mess consumes your mind and restrains your heart. You feel deprived of what should be in your hands. You have a dream. You have a gift. You want to make a difference from where you stand. Yet every fiber of your being feels ensnared by the turmoil that haunts your waking hours. Life is full of surprises. Sometimes you don't even know what you want or what you are searching for. Show me the way I should go! Getting ready for school this weekend has been quite interesting. You think you have everything, but then it hits. You're missing one thing. So back to the store I go for one composition notebook. Just one. But that quick run back to the store stirs up within me so much more. I become distracted and search for everything I wasn't looking for; planner, idea notebook, extra fine pens. My eyes are drawn to the expo markers (some bright, others just the norm). This is the last thing I need. But I will need them in about a week or so, maybe sooner. So why not take time to search now. It'll save me a trip! At least that's what I think in the moment. The temptation wins. There I am perusing the shelves, double and triple focused on which would be best for the exciting new project. Soon my son meets me wondering what took so long. What should have been at most a ten-minute run-in, ended up to being 40 minutes on a Saturday night. Life is exactly that. You follow a path set by your experiences with family, friends, and community influences. Then insert the "dreams" when growing up and let's not forget the storms too. Somehow you decide that THIS is .... who you are, what you want, where you are to go, how you are going to get there, when it all will happen, and all the whys to keep you focused. It's the pattern of life! What if God wants to show you something different? What if He has a different why, what, where, when, and how? The K.I.S.S. ~ Show me the way I should go! The more you get lost, the more you learn the way. Lord, what do you want from me? When will the madness stop? What more do I have to go through? All you desire is to be rescued from where you're bound. The pain is too great. The work is too hard. The sleep is very little. "Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths." ~ Psalm 25:4 "Cry to Me," God replies. "You are not alone. I am here to show you the way." "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know," says the Lord. ~ Jeremiah 33:3 What are you struggling with today? What do you need to bring to the Lord with a cry for Him? "You must make room in your every day to see what God wants you to see. Nothing neatly wrapped in your dreams. But dreams divinely created for your heart." ~ Kristianne Wargo Your days do not need to cloud the joy you can have today in your heart. Show me the way I should go! "One step at a time leads to miles of greatness!"   #SweetSpirit #CreateYourNow #SoulfulSunday TAKE A.I.M. ~ Action Ignites Motivation  - This is a complimentary (FREE) coaching call with me. You will be able to discuss your specific situation and gain tools and strategies to move you forward. Live. Love. IMPACT!  "One step at a time leads to miles of greatness!"   Subscribe to Create Your Now TV on YouTube. Listen to Create Your Now on Spotify and Pandora. Listen to Create Your Now on iHeart Radio. Click here. The Create Your Now Archives are LIVE!! You can subscribe and listen to all the previous episodes here.  http://bit.ly/CYNarchive1 and http://bit.ly/CYNarchive2 and http://bit.ly/CYNarchive3 and http://bit.ly/CYNarchive4 and http://bit.ly/CYNarchive5 and http://bit.ly/CYNarchive6 Contact me at YourBestSelfie@CreateYourNow.com THE NO FUSS MEAL PLAN Instagram @CreateYourNow @Kristianne Wargo Twitter @KristianneWargo @CreateYourNow Facebook www.facebook.com/TheKISSCoach www.facebook.com/CreateYourNow   PERISCOPE USERS!!! Click here for ANDROID Users / GOOGLE  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tv.periscope.android Click here for APPLE Users  https://itunes.apple.com/app/id972909677   Read more from Kristianne, a contributor to The Huffington Post, MindBodyGreen, Thrive Global, Addicted2Succes, and She Owns It. https://addicted2success.com/success-advice/5-things-to-do-while-waiting-for-success-to-manifest-in-your-life/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristianne-wargo/ http://bit.ly/9amHabits https://journal.thriveglobal.com/how-to-configure-a-sleep-pattern-fit-for-you-d8edd3387eaf#.sniv275c3 https://sheownsit.com/when-failure-is-your-middle-name/   DOMESTIC BEAUTIES (Announcements) 1. Come and let's connect on Facebook - Women Of IMPACT  http://facebook.com/groups/thewomenofimpact 2. Create Your Now ~ Your Best Selfie can be heard on iHeart Radio, Spotify, and Pandora! 3. Create Your Now Archive 1 is LIVE! You can subscribe and listen to all the previous episodes here. http://bit.ly/CYNarchive1 4. Create Your Now Archive 2 is LIVE! You can subscribe and listen to all the previous episodes here. http://bit.ly/CYNarchive2 5. Create Your Now Archive 3 is LIVE! You can subscribe and listen to all the previous episodes here. http://bit.ly/CYNarchive3 6. Create Your Now Archive 4 is LIVE! You can subscribe and listen to all the previous episodes here. http://bit.ly/CYNarchive4 7. Create Your Now Archive 5 is LIVE! You can subscribe and listen to all the previous episodes here. http://bit.ly/CYNarchive5 8. Create Your Now Archive 6 is LIVE! You can subscribe and listen to all the previous episodes here. http://bit.ly/CYNarchive6 9. NEW Website! Go check it out and tell me what you think. http://www.createyournow.com 10. Sign Up for The A.I.M. Academy! You will be the first to learn all about it. http://createyournow.com/m-academy-2 11. Schedule a Discovery Call. This is a free 30-45 minute call for those serious about coaching with me. 12. Newsletter and Library: If you desire to get weekly emails, be sure to sign up here so you can stay connected. http://createyournow.com/library   Cover Art by Jenny Hamson   Music by Mandisa - Overcomer http://www.mandisaofficial.com Song ID: 68209 Song Title: Overcomer Writer(s): Ben Glover, Chris Stevens, David Garcia Copyright © 2013 Meaux Mercy (BMI) Moody Producer Music (BMI) 9t One Songs (ASCAP) Ariose Music (ASCAP) Universal Music -  Brentwood Benson Publ. (ASCAP) D Soul Music (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.

I wonder how long we could talk to the Lord without asking for something. Psalm 103 has no requests. It is nothing but praise; but David is blessing the Lord. What are some of these benefits David sings about? They are ones we may have forgotten or that we may be taking for granted. First, the Lord saves (v.3). The last part of that statement is an illustration of the first part. He forgives all our iniquities in the same way He heals the human body. ... God brings saving health to our lives. Second, He keeps (v.4). He keeps us and protect us from the destruction around us. He puts a crown on our heads and makes us kings. Third, He satisfies (v.5). In fact, David says God so satisfies us that our youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The eagle molts, loss it’s old feathers, get a new coat and soars again. ****^***** Do you pray to God for the sole purpose of praising Him? You have much for which to praise Him, for His love and care never cease. He saves, keeps and satisfies you. Never take God for granted; always take time to praise Him.

It is human nature to self-improve. We all desire to be the best version of ourselves physically, mentally and spiritually. But no matter how much we transform externally, we cannot reform our hearts by will alone. True heart, soul and life transformation can only come from God, who knows you and loves you. He invites all who are weary, broken and imperfect to come to Him and trust Him to transform you from the inside out. Will you trust Him? You think about it, let's talk about it.TRANSCRIPT:Hello world! Today I speak on “Reforming Your Self.” Now who doesn’t want to be reformed, to get better, to be improved? Only the dead in cemeteries don’t want to be reformed, or improved or bettered. But you want to reform yourself. Now there are all sorts of sources of reformation. People give you slogans. You go to seminars and outlandish ideas some/none of them seem to last very much longer than the meeting themselves. You’ve tried all kinds of ways to reform yourself. You’ve tried, for example, physical fitness, because the body does affect the soul and the mind and the heart. My wife and I are presently in a five-week, ten-session physical fitness training, with a rather demanding sort-of-a trainer. And He’s helping me discover muscles I’ve never had. Some sort of physical training. Others of us try mind training, especially by going to positive thinking seminars and possibility thinking seminars, so you’ll think of yourself in a better way, think of others in a more positive way. That’ll help you some. That’s called “reformation,” but you’ll find negative thoughts continuing to overwhelm your positive thoughts and possibility thoughts. Others try social training to follow the mores and culture that surround them. They’re not peculiar and odd and strange. And yet others think about religious and moral training: to do the things that you should do, to not do the things that you should not do. The problem with religion and morality is that it never gives you the power to do what you’re supposed to do.Then, finally, there’s sheer will training. I mean, there are some of you who are strong and determined to do right. Somebody told you if you do things for about 21 days it becomes a habit. And at the end of the 21st day somebody tells you it’s really going to take 28 days, and you’ve got to start all over again. The problem with all of these kinds of training is it attempts reformation before transformation. May I suggest to you that you need to be transformed inside you before you can be reformed outside you? Transformation is version 2.0, and reformation may be at best 1.0. Now what God says is through the Lord Jesus, you will escape the corruption that is inside you. That you will become a participant in the divine nature, and therefore you’ll have all the power that’s needed for all of life and godliness.So He says, “Invite me inside your life. I will transform you.” And after the transformation sets in, then all the reformation pieces can be put together. He writes the source code for this reformation and transformation. So go to Him. He’s developed the application and the upgrade, and he can transform your life. So don’t reform yourself. Let God transform you through the Lord Jesus. Send me a comment on Facebook. Click on the link below. I want to hear from you frequently, as often as you want, so we keep up this dialogue, because your life must be transformed.Support the show (https://liferocks.org/contact-us)

Have you ever felt that you have gotten lost? Somehow somewhere along the way your heart mislead you down a road of corruption and conflict, and you no longer know how to get back. You need someone to find and guide you back to goodness and peace. The good news is that there is one Person who came to seek and save those who are lost. He sees you, knows your heart and invites you to follow Him to true transformation. Will you follow Him? You think about it, let's talk about it. TRANSCRIPT:Hello world! Today I want to speak on “Finding Your Self.” Have you ever heard of retrograde amnesia? Retrograde amnesia is when you lose memory of parts of your life. This happens when you get old. Somebody said there are three things which happen when you get old. The first thing is forgetfulness, and the next two things, I forget what they are.Now movie producers and book writers use retrograde amnesia as a plot line in order to bring suspense to a completion at the end. Wait until the end of the movie or the book and you’ll find the solution. Now worse than retrograde amnesia is when you lose yourself because you forget who you are. That’s actually happened to the father of a friend of mine, They have not found him for many years. He went out for a walk, and they have not yet found him many years later.It’s the failure, the loss which comes from having forgotten who you are, or where you are, and why you are and when you are. Unfortunately, that can happen to you. You sense a lostness right now. You don’t know who you are, you don’t know who you are really. Unless somebody comes looking for you, to find you, you will never be found. I want to ask you…where are you finding your way out of this cycle of failure, the failure that comes from having lost a sense of identity? Are you going to other people who also need the same sense of identity and have lost themselves? Are you going to your false selves to find the way out?I’ve got some great news for you. There’s one Person who talked about Himself and said He has come to seek and to save those who are lost. You are like a sheep that’s gone astray, in your way, and you’re going very fast your own way. He says, the Son of man, the Lord Jesus, says, “I’ve come to seek and to rescue you and to save you from your own lostness.” It’s almost like God typed into the finder/spotlight feature in His computer. He put your name in there, and you showed up, and the life path has showed up, but the file seems corrupt. He clicks on it to see if you will open, if you’re willing to open to Him. He reads your file, He rewrites your file. In fact, He transforms your file, converts it, because He’s come to seek and to save those who are lost.Would you like to be found? To find yourself, you’ve got to find the Finder. Come to Him. In fact, if you want to know how to come to Him, just check me out on Facebook or click on the link below. I’d like to visit with you. Please do so right now. Let’s carry on the dialogue. Don’t suffer from retrograde amnesia, because your loss of self-identity is not the cause of your problems, it’s the result of your problems; and for you to find the cause and admit to the analysis of your spiritual situation, you say you’re open to the One who’s put your name into His file finder, and He’s found you. He’s come to seek and to save you.Support the show (https://liferocks.org/contact-us)

When we suppose God to be only in the extraordinary, we can miss Him in the ordinary. Will you be brave enough to not suppose, but to know where God is and follow Him? You can know where God is and when He moves.

(Jon.4:1-11;   Ps.86:3-6,9-10,15;   Lk.11:1-4)   “Your kingdom come.”   “You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish.”  How beautifully Jonah speaks of God's blessed compassion on His people.  And how poorly he is able to accept and live that grace.  The Lord's forgiveness extends now to the ends of the earth; let us not be loathe to offer it unto all. In our first reading, Jonah is angry with God for His mercy in forgiving Ninevah, the pagan empire and enemy of Israel.  But the Lord teaches Jonah that He watches over these, too, not only Israel, signaling His universal call to salvation (which shall be fulfilled in the teaching of Christ).  By comparing the city of Ninevah to the plant “that grew up over Jonah's head, giving shade that relieved him of any discomfort,” the Lord instructs us that not only does He care for all nations, but indeed that all nations have a holy call, a blessed purpose, in which God Himself takes pleasure and comfort.  He has raised all the nations and each is called as a member of His kingdom. This word should give us great understanding of the graciousness of our God, and great joy in knowing that we are called by Him: “You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.”  We can join with David in his prayer, knowing that God will “attend to the sound of [our] pleading” even as He does this blessed king of Israel; even as He listens to His chosen people, so He listens now to us, for the walls of division have been cast asunder and His love now extends to all. But we must not be as Jonah shows himself to be today.  We must “forgive all who do us wrong” or the Lord will not hear our prayer to “subject us not to the trial.”  If we harbor anger, it will mean our death; and the Lord will send “a burning east wind” and a sun to beat down upon us, too, to draw us from the hardness of our hearts and the condemnation we breathe in our souls.  Our vision must be that of God, who sees that sinners “cannot distinguish their right hand from their left,” or as Jesus says from the cross, “They know not what they do.”  And so we, too, must forgive. Let us join in prayer today, brothers and sisters, that the Lord's kingdom may come to earth.  Let us rejoice that His reign extends to all.  For it is the Lord's desire to “forgive us our sins,” and it is His will that all find refuge in the shade of His presence.  And so we partake of “our daily bread” here in His Word and in His Sacrament; and so we live the kingdom of God.   ******* O LORD, let our prayer rise up to you, the Most High, who are merciful and kind and forgiving toward all and hear us when we cry out to you. YHWH, you are abounding in kindness toward all, a gracious and merciful God desiring to show clemency to sinners, to lead them from the death upon their souls to a holy life in you.  For this what can we do but praise you?  What can we do but say: let thy will be done! But how often we keep your mercy from others, dear God; how often we expect it for ourselves yet refuse to share it with those who seek it from us.  This is not your will.  In this your kingdom does not come.  For where forgiveness is withheld, your love does not exist; and where your love does not exist, you are not present. Let us not die in desolation, O LORD, beneath a scorching wind and a burning sun.  Open our hearts to share your compassion and we shall find relief from all the trials we bring upon ourselves by our lack of pity, by our condemnation of others.

(Jon.4:1-11;   Ps.86:3-6,9-10,15;   Lk.11:1-4)   “Your kingdom come.”   “You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish.”  How beautifully Jonah speaks of God's blessed compassion on His people.  And how poorly he is able to accept and live that grace.  The Lord's forgiveness extends now to the ends of the earth; let us not be loathe to offer it unto all. In our first reading, Jonah is angry with God for His mercy in forgiving Ninevah, the pagan empire and enemy of Israel.  But the Lord teaches Jonah that He watches over these, too, not only Israel, signaling His universal call to salvation (which shall be fulfilled in the teaching of Christ).  By comparing the city of Ninevah to the plant “that grew up over Jonah's head, giving shade that relieved him of any discomfort,” the Lord instructs us that not only does He care for all nations, but indeed that all nations have a holy call, a blessed purpose, in which God Himself takes pleasure and comfort.  He has raised all the nations and each is called as a member of His kingdom. This word should give us great understanding of the graciousness of our God, and great joy in knowing that we are called by Him: “You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.”  We can join with David in his prayer, knowing that God will “attend to the sound of [our] pleading” even as He does this blessed king of Israel; even as He listens to His chosen people, so He listens now to us, for the walls of division have been cast asunder and His love now extends to all. But we must not be as Jonah shows himself to be today.  We must “forgive all who do us wrong” or the Lord will not hear our prayer to “subject us not to the trial.”  If we harbor anger, it will mean our death; and the Lord will send “a burning east wind” and a sun to beat down upon us, too, to draw us from the hardness of our hearts and the condemnation we breathe in our souls.  Our vision must be that of God, who sees that sinners “cannot distinguish their right hand from their left,” or as Jesus says from the cross, “They know not what they do.”  And so we, too, must forgive. Let us join in prayer today, brothers and sisters, that the Lord's kingdom may come to earth.  Let us rejoice that His reign extends to all.  For it is the Lord's desire to “forgive us our sins,” and it is His will that all find refuge in the shade of His presence.  And so we partake of “our daily bread” here in His Word and in His Sacrament; and so we live the kingdom of God.   ******* O LORD, let our prayer rise up to you, the Most High, who are merciful and kind and forgiving toward all and hear us when we cry out to you. YHWH, you are abounding in kindness toward all, a gracious and merciful God desiring to show clemency to sinners, to lead them from the death upon their souls to a holy life in you.  For this what can we do but praise you?  What can we do but say: let thy will be done! But how often we keep your mercy from others, dear God; how often we expect it for ourselves yet refuse to share it with those who seek it from us.  This is not your will.  In this your kingdom does not come.  For where forgiveness is withheld, your love does not exist; and where your love does not exist, you are not present. Let us not die in desolation, O LORD, beneath a scorching wind and a burning sun.  Open our hearts to share your compassion and we shall find relief from all the trials we bring upon ourselves by our lack of pity, by our condemnation of others.

Archives Listen to the Prayer Audio: PRAYER FOCUS:  THAT WE HAVE A HEART TO KNOW, EYES TO SEE AND EARS TO HEAR ALL THAT GOD IS DOING IN OUR DAY! Father we are so grateful that we can unite with our brothers and sisters in Your Family across the earth as we are this morning. Lord what we seek here in America we also unite to bring the same into the nations of the world that want to be a part of Your Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.  Father we know You hear us because Your Son promised that anything, we speak in His Name You will answer.  We see it and hear it happening in our day.  With hearts filled with love for You we are so grateful. Father, we are under the shadow of Your Wings so we are confident that we are protected from all the attacks of the enemy.  Release Your Heavenly Host to continue to wreck havoc on the enemy’s camp and bring chaos and disunity among them so that that which they plot against us will stay in their own dark camp.  Let them be blinded by Your Bright Light which surrounds us and may they shake and squeal as they see we are surrounded by Your Warrior Angels that show Your Might and Power.  Again thank You Father for keeping Your Eye on Your Family gathered here and in the spirit now and in the days ahead. Father, we continue to intercede for our President Trump in all that he endures from the enemy forces around him.  Continue to keep him courageous and bold to speak out against the enemy. Thank You God that he has a bold tongue to speak back to the enemy and that You have made him wise in his strategies to overcome the enemy and even to trap them into falling in their traps for him but become stepping stones to move America ahead and back on the solid ground of our foundations from our forefathers and mothers.  Thank You, for this great gift of America and all that it has done for the salvation of souls a a part of our Christian heritage!  Father, that we will continue to be a part of the Great Harvest You have begun, and that America is a Kingdom Nation. Father, we seek the continue exposing of the wolves in sheep clothing in our midst especially in our government but in our assemblies of worship.  Make those who have lied and deceived us by twisting the words of Your Son face the evil they have done to Your Flock.  May the prophetic word You gave to Mark Taylor come to pass now in our day that the truth will be revealed through the discoveries of hidden scrolls or whatever form it is will shine brightly in our midst so that the separation of Your true Disciples will be clear.  Through the Holy Spirit’s convicting Power let Your People walk away from all that has held us captive and limited us from knowing You intimately in thought word and deed in Christ Jesus our Savior and King!  Yes, Lord there is a separation between those who speak Your Word truthfully and those who are blind leading the blind into the ditch and keeping us off the narrow path You have destined us to find and walk!  Thank You Lord for using righteous men and women to guide us in this day like the ekklesia movement amongst us in the Strike Force of Prayer and other influences to walk away from sources that hinder us from knowing Your heart and being one with You as Jesus has promised us that You are one  with Him You are also one with us! Lord God through the authority given us by Your Son, our Redeemer we say to the mocker, the rebellious and the liar: we say Repent and follow Him or face the consequences of your free choice to follow the path to death and destruction.  As for our house with Joshua we say: We serve the Lord and follow His Commands! Lord raise up those who will change the narrative from fakeness to Truth in all forms of our media from news to entertainment so that we will hear the Truth that sets us free! Lord we are here to stand by the Justice that You are bringing into the land by those You have anointed to lead us in this day.

THE WORD THIS WEEK IS: idols. This episode we dig into what is an idol? What does it mean to worship an idol & how do we remove them from our heart? 1 Kings 18:16-45 | Acts 17:16-34 | Ezekiel 14:4-5 | 1st Commandment & 2nd Commandment This week, set aside some quiet time to evaluate your priorities. Do they bring you closer to God or push you further away from Him? You are loved my friend. Go rise up. || xxE

Subscribe to the Quran Talk podcast: https://apple.co/2lLnsFE Check out video notes: https://qurantalk.podbean.com/ Quran translation on iOS: https://apple.co/2C1YGXj Additional Resources: http://www.masjidtucson.org Contact: qurantalk (at) gmail (dot) com How was Thamud Annihilated? 5 communities annihilated (أَهْلَكْ / ahlak) by God in one single event. Transgressed so far from the right path there was no coming back These communities rejected the 3 M’s: messenger, the message, and the miracle  People of Noah People of Hud People of Saleh People of Lot People of Shu'aib The annihilation of these communities are mentioned consistently in this order in Suras: 7, 11, and 26. [14:9] Have you not heard about those before you—the people of Noah, 'Ãd, Thamûd, and others who came after them and known only to GOD? Their messengers went to them with clear proofs, but they treated them with contempt and said, "We disbelieve in what you are sent with. We are skeptical about your message; full of doubt.” Death of any disbeliever is annihilation [6:6] Have they not seen how many generations before them we have annihilated? We established them on earth more than we did for you, and we showered them with blessings, generously, and we provided them with flowing streams. We then annihilated them because of their sins, and we substituted another generation in their place. [10:13] Many a generation we have annihilated before you when they transgressed. Their messengers went to them with clear proofs, but they refused to believe. We thus requite the guilty people. [8:54] Such was the case with the people of Pharaoh and others before them. They first rejected the signs of their Lord. Consequently, we annihilated them for their sins. We drowned Pharaoh's people; the wicked were consistently punished. People of Noah / flood People of Hud / Ad / storm People of Saleh / Thamud ? People of Lot / Sodom / shower of rocks People of Shu’aib / Midyan / quake In this episode want to take a closer look at what exactly annihilated the people of Saleh. [7:78] Consequently, the quake annihilated them, leaving them dead in their homes. [51:43] In Thamûd (there is a lesson). They were told, "Enjoy temporarily.” [51:44] They rebelled against the command of their Lord. Consequently, the lightning struck them as they looked.   Saleh was a messenger sent to Thamud. [26:141] Thamûd disbelieved the messengers. [26:142] Their brother Sãleh said to them, "Would you not be righteous? [26:143] "I am an honest messenger to you. [26:144] "You shall reverence GOD, and obey me. [26:145] "I do not ask you for any wage; my wage comes only from the Lord of the universe. [26:146] "Do you suppose you will be left forever, secure in this state? [26:147] "You enjoy gardens and springs. [26:148] "And crops and date palms with delicious fruits. [16:112] GOD cites the example of a community that used to be secure and prosperous, with provisions coming to it from everywhere. But then, it turned unappreciative of GOD's blessings. Consequently, GOD caused them to taste the hardships of starvation and insecurity. Such is the requital for what they did. People of Sheba Sura 34 [34:15] Sheba's homeland used to be a marvel, with two gardens on the right and the left. Eat from your Lord's provisions, and be appreciative of Him—good land, and a forgiving Lord. [34:16] They turned away and, consequently, we poured upon them a disastrous flood, and we substituted their two gardens into two gardens of bad tasting fruits, thorny plants, and a skimpy harvest. [34:17] We thus requited them for their disbelief. Do we not requite only the disbelievers? [34:18] We placed between them and the communities that we blessed other oases, and we secured the journey between them: "Travel therein days and nights in complete security." [34:19] But they (turned unappreciative and) challenged: "Our Lord, we do not care if You increase the distance of our journeys (without any stations)." They thus wronged their own souls. Consequently, we made them history, and scattered them into small communities throughout the land. This should provide lessons for those who are steadfast, appreciative. [26:149] "You carve out of the mountains luxurious mansions. [26:150] "You shall reverence GOD, and obey me. [26:151] "Do not obey the transgressors. [26:152] "Who commit evil, not good works." [7:74] "Recall that He made you inheritors after 'Ãd, and established you on earth, building mansions in its valleys, and carving homes from its mountains. You shall remember GOD's blessings, and do not roam the earth corruptingly.”  Al-Hijr [29:38] Similarly, 'Ãd and Thamûd (were annihilated). This is made manifest to you through their ruins. The devil had adorned their works in their eyes, and had diverted them from the path, even though they had eyes. [15:80] The people of Al-Hijr disbelieved the messengers. [15:81] We gave them our revelations, but they disregarded them. [15:82] They used to carve secure homes out of the mountains. [15:83] The disaster hit them in the morning. [15:84] What they hoarded did not help them. Mada'in Saleh = Al-Hijr https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mada%27in_Saleh One of three cities of the Nabateen Arabs = Hijr, Petra, and Busra   Camel [11:62] They said, "O Sãleh, you used to be popular among us before this. Are you enjoining us from worshiping what our parents are worshiping? We are full of doubt concerning everything you have told us.” [11:63] He said, "O my people, what if I have solid proof from my Lord, and mercy from Him? Who would support me against GOD, if I disobeyed Him? You can only augment my loss. [11:64] "O my people, this is GOD's camel to serve as a proof for you. You shall let her eat from GOD's earth, and do not touch her with any harm, lest you incur an immediate retribution.” [26:153] They said, "You are bewitched. [26:154] "You are no more than a human like us. Produce a miracle, if you are truthful." [26:155] He said, "Here is a camel that will drink only on a day that is assigned to her; a day that is different from your specified days of drinking. [26:156] "Do not touch her with any harm, lest you incur retribution on an awesome day." [26:157] They slaughtered her, and thus incurred sorrow. [17:79] What stopped us from sending the miracles is that the previous generations have rejected them. For example, we showed Thamoud the camel, a profound (miracle), but they transgressed against it. We sent the miracles only to instill reverence. Moses miracle turn staff into serpent Jesus time of famine bring food from the sky heal the sick Muhammad poetry is big - and Quran is far beyond anything they have ever heard before Today we live in the information age and our miracle is the mathematical structure of the Quran via a cryptographic message for our generation. If we provided this to the people of Saleh it would be meaningless to them. [27:45] We have sent to Thamûd their brother Sãleh, saying, "You shall worship GOD." But they turned into two feuding factions. [27:46] He said, "O my people, why do you hasten to commit evil instead of good works? If only you implore GOD for forgiveness, you may attain mercy." [27:47] They said, "We consider you a bad omen for us, you and those who joined you." He said, "Your omen is fully controlled by GOD. Indeed, you are deviant people." [7:75] The arrogant leaders among his people said to the common people who believed, "How do you know that Sãleh is sent by his Lord?" They said, "The message he brought has made us believers." It’s not necessarily the miracle that makes someone believe. Sometimes the message alone is enough to make someone believe. The opposite of this is the history of the magicians at the time of Moses. [27:48] There were nine gangsters in the city who were wicked, and never did anything good. [27:49] They said, "Let us swear by GOD that we kill him and his people, then tell his tribe, 'We know nothing about their death. We are truthful.’" [7:76] The arrogant ones said, "We disbelieve in what you believe in." [7:77] Subsequently, they slaughtered the camel, rebelled against their Lord's command, and said, "O Sãleh, bring the doom you threaten us with, if you are really a messenger." [7:78] Consequently, the quake annihilated them, leaving them dead in their homes. [7:79] He turned away from them, saying, "O my people, I have delivered my Lord's message to you, and advised you, but you do not like any advisers.” Proverbs 12: 1 Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge, But he who hates correction is stupid. [7:73] To Thamûd we sent their brother Sãleh. He said, "O my people, worship GOD; you have no other god beside Him. Proof has been provided for you from your Lord: here is GOD's camel, to serve as a sign for you. Let her eat from GOD's land, and do not touch her with any harm, lest you incur a painful retribution. [27:50] They plotted and schemed, but we also plotted and schemed, while they did not perceive. [27:51] Note the consequences of their plotting; we annihilated them and all their people. [27:52] Here are their homes utterly ruined, because of their transgression. This should be a lesson for people who know. [27:53] We save those who believe and lead a righteous life. [11:65] They slaughtered her. He then said, "You have only three days to live. This is a prophecy that is inevitable." [11:66] When our judgment came, we saved Sãleh and those who believed with him by mercy from us, from the humiliation of that day. Your Lord is the Most Powerful, the Almighty. [11:67] Those who transgressed were annihilated by the disaster, leaving them in their homes, dead. [11:68] It was as if they never lived there. Indeed, Thamûd have rejected their Lord. Absolutely, Thamûd have incurred their annihilation. Sãleh: One and the Same Message [11:61] To Thamûd we sent their brother Sãleh. He said, "O my people, worship GOD; you have no other god beside Him. He initiated you from the earth, then settled you in it. You shall seek His forgiveness, then repent to Him. My Lord is always near, responsive." [26:158] The retribution overwhelmed them. This should be a lesson, but most people are not believers. [26:159] Most assuredly, your Lord is the Almighty, Most Merciful.   So what annihilated the people of Thamud? [7:78] Consequently, the quake annihilated them, leaving them dead in their homes. 7 78 1 فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ So [it] struck them fa-akhadhathumu ا خ ذ 7 78 2 الرَّجْفَةُ the earthquake, l-rajfatu ر ج ف 7 78 3 فَأَصْبَحُوا then they became fa-aṣbaḥū ص ب ح 7 78 4 فِي in fī ف ي 7 78 5 دَارِهِمْ their home(s) dārihim د و ر 7 78 6 جَاثِمِينَ laying on their chest motionless / dead. jāthimīna ج ث م **Quake is the same word used for Shuaib annihilation in 7:91 & 29:37 [51:43] In Thamûd (there is a lesson). They were told, "Enjoy temporarily.” [51:44] They rebelled against the command of their Lord. Consequently, the lightning struck them as they looked. [51:45] They could never get up, nor were they helped. الصَّاعِقَةُ (l-ṣāʿiqatu) comes from the root ص ع ق and means thunderbolt, but also stunning noise (e.g. thunder), or something that stuns or strikes 51 44 1 فَعَتَوْا But they rebelled faʿataw ع ت و 51 44 2 عَنْ against ʿan ع ن 51 44 3 أَمْرِ (the) command amri ا م ر 51 44 4 رَبِّهِمْ (of) their Lord, rabbihim ر ب ب 51 44 5 فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ so [it] stuck them fa-akhadhathumu ا خ ذ 51 44 6 الصَّاعِقَةُ the (thunderous blast) lightning l-ṣāʿiqatu ص ع ق 51 44 7 وَهُمْ while they wahum ه م 51 44 8 يَنْظُرُونَ [they] were looking. yanẓurūna ن ظ ر   Same word used again in 41:17: [41:17] As for Thamûd, we provided them with guidance, but they preferred blindness over guidance. Consequently, the disastrous and shameful retribution annihilated them, because of what they earned.   41 17 1 وَأَمَّا And as for wa-ammā ا م م ا 41 17 2 ثَمُودُ Thamud, thamūdu ث م د 41 17 3 فَهَدَيْنَاهُمْ we guided them, fahadaynāhum ه د ي 41 17 4 فَاسْتَحَبُّوا but they preferred fa-is'taḥabbū ح ب ب 41 17 5 الْعَمَىٰ the blindness l-ʿamā ع م ي 41 17 6 عَلَى over ʿalā ع ل ي 41 17 7 الْهُدَىٰ the guidance, l-hudā ه د ي 41 17 8 فَأَخَذَتْهُمْ so [it] struck them fa-akhadhathum ا خ ذ 41 17 9 صَاعِقَةُ a terrifying cry / crack of thunder / disaster (of) ṣāʿiqatu ص ع ق 41 17 10 الْعَذَابِ the retribution l-ʿadhābi ع ذ ب 41 17 11 الْهُونِ the humiliating, l-hūni ه و ن 41 17 12 بِمَا for what bimā ب م ا 41 17 13 كَانُوا they used to kānū ك و ن 41 17 14 يَكْسِبُونَ [they] earn. yaksibūna ك س ب   [69:4] Thamûd and 'Ãd disbelieved in the Shocker. [69:5] As for Thamûd, they were annihilated by the devastating (quake). The word بِالطَّاغِيَةِ (bil-ṭāghiyati) also a meaning of something exceedingly wicked but also a meaning of a storm of lightning and thunder. 69 4 1 كَذَّبَتْ [It] denied / disbelieved kadhabat ك ذ ب 69 4 2 ثَمُودُ Thamud thamūdu ث م د 69 4 3 وَعَادٌ and Ad waʿādun ع و د 69 4 4 بِالْقَارِعَةِ in the Striking Calamity / Shocker. bil-qāriʿati ق ر ع 69 5 1 فَأَمَّا So as for fa-ammā ا م م ا 69 5 2 ثَمُودُ Thamud, thamūdu ث م د 69 5 3 فَأُهْلِكُوا so they were annihilated fa-uh'likū ه ل ك 69 5 4 بِالطَّاغِيَةِ by the thunderous blast / lightning bil-ṭāghiyati ط غ و   [54:31] We sent upon them one blow, whereupon they became like harvested hay.   Summary of what we know They were in their homes (11:67) [11:67] Those who transgressed were annihilated by the disaster, leaving them in their homes, dead. Their homes were carved in mountains (7:74) [7:74] "Recall that He made you inheritors after 'Ãd, and established you on earth, building mansions in its valleys, and carving homes from its mountains. The quake annihilated them (7:78) [7:78] Consequently, the quake annihilated them, leaving them dead in their homes. In the morning (15:83) [15:83] The disaster hit them in the morning. But before they were annihilated they saw lightning (51:44) [51:44] They rebelled against the command of their Lord. Consequently, the lightning struck them as they looked. Their homes survived because we have their ruins (29:38) [29:38] Similarly, 'Ãd and Thamûd (were annihilated). This is made manifest to you through their ruins. And whatever the event was left them like dried harvested hay (54:31) [54:31] We sent upon them one blow, whereupon they became like harvested hay.   Earthquake lightning Over the centuries, there have been many reports of earthquake lights, both before and while the ground is shaking. Normal lightning results from the buildup of electrical charge in clouds. However, lab experiments now suggest earthquake lights may instead originate from the buildup of electrical charge in the ground surrounding geological faults…. Scientists previously sought to explain other mysteries regarding electrical charge. For example, it remains unclear how lightning can happen in sandstorms, even though sand is an electrical insulator, making lightning in sandstorms akin to seeing thunderbolts emerge from a storm full of rubber balls. The researchers suggested there may be some unknown material property that produces voltages whenever cracks appear in powders or grains. Appearances of the earthquake light seem to occur when the quakes have a high magnitude, generally 5 or higher on the Richter scale. There have also been incidents of yellow, ball-shaped lights appearing before earthquakes. One hypothesis involves intense electric fields created piezoelectrically by tectonic movements of rocks containing quartz. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/1/140106-earthquake-lights-earthquake-prediction-geology-science/ https://www.livescience.com/43686-earthquake-lights-possible-cause.html Rocks in the are are sandstone which is made of sand cemented by silica, iron, lime etc. It is quartz-based stone. [54:31] We sent upon them one blow, whereupon they became like harvested hay.   54 31 1 إِنَّا Indeed, [we] innā ا ن ن 54 31 2 أَرْسَلْنَا we sent arsalnā ر س ل 54 31 3 عَلَيْهِمْ upon them ʿalayhim ع ل ي 54 31 4 صَيْحَةً blast / blow ṣayḥatan ص ي ح 54 31 5 وَاحِدَةً single, wāḥidatan و ح د 54 31 6 فَكَانُوا and they became fakānū ك و ن 54 31 7 كَهَشِيمِ like dry twig fragments / harvested hay kahashīmi ه ش م 54 31 8 الْمُحْتَظِرِ (used by) the fence builder / the one who builds enclosures. l-muḥ'taẓiri ح ظ ر   Because the disaster hit them in the morning  (15:83) there was moisture on the rock When in the electric chair they would put wet sponges When electricity runs through a body the energy is converted to thermal energy  People who die in electric chair the body gets so hot that if anyone was to touch the body they can get 2nd or 3rd degree burns even after a few minutes can still blisters  Body could catch fire or even melt  Cooks the person inside out  70% of our body is water a conductor  When electrocuted all the moisture was taken out of their body leaving them like harvested hay And their homes were like a fence builder (electric fence) cooking them alive The homes that they used for their protection ended up being the source of their destruction.  

Two fundamental questions that everyone who has ever lived, is living, or will ever live, needs to have answered or answer are: Who is Jesus Christ? Do you know Him? You cannot be wrong about these two questions and be right with God! There is no middle ground! Not one of us on this planet can afford to be wrong about Christ. It is a matter of life and death. In this sermon titled The Glorious Christ, we see how the Bible answers the first question, and be challenged with our answer to the second.

Don’t write people off because you think you’re right about something. Jesus is right about everything but He still gave everything to make sure things are good between you and Him. You think you haven’t disappointed Him? You think you haven’t given Him a reason to write you off? To give up on you? Join us Sunday and start living life the way God intended: https://www.newchurchtexas.com/contact

##What happens when we talk to Jesus? 1. Restoring to fellowship—“Do you love me?” * Action step: Let Jesus forgive you 2. Reinstating to His service—“Shepherd my sheep” * Action step: Let Jesus restore you 3. Commissioning to do His will—“Truly, truly I say to you…” * Action step: Embrace His plan in trust and honor 4. Calling to follow Him—“You follow Me” * Action step: Take our questions and concerns to Him and let Him lead

Delivery of the Gospel requires a MIDDLEMAN, some has to deliver it. Christians have the responsibility of being that MIDDLEMAN. Do we look forward to standing before the one who died for sinners and being guilty of never telling anyone about Him? You don’t have to be a preacher, evangelist, bible scholar, have Bible School education or anything, just tell what Jesus has done for you!

Series: Moses - An Unlikely Choice Sermon: Growing in the Wilderness Scripture: Exodus 3:1 Date: June 2, 2019   Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.  And he led the flock to the back fo the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.  (Exodus 3:1) What advice would you give to someone who wants to grow in their relationship with the Lord? To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;  (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4) God is able to use all the seasons of life for His glory and for our good. One of the keys to life with Jesus is to surrender each season to Him for His purposes. The word Horeb means dry or dried up, that is, "dry," "desert."  It was the general name for the mountainous district in which Sinai is situated, and of which it is a part. The wilderness season for us may be: caring for aging parents for a long time with little or no help stubborn physical ailment that seems like it will never go away soul-ache from a rebellious child or unfaithful spouse moving to a new place, job, or school the loss of a good friend a thankless job Here are 4 things we can trust God for in the wilderness or dry seasons: Growth is taking place that you cannot see Remember this: when Moses felt qualified, he was not, and when he felt unqualified, he was. Deuteronomy 8:2 It will reveal some things that cannot be revealed any other way: pride, dependency on feelings, too much desire to be noticed, serving God for the results. God's purpose is never to ruin but always to refine. When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie/My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply./The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design/thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.  ("How Firm a Foundation") There is no such thing as instant growth.  You can't microwave maturity. God is there when you cannot feel Him "You know that feeling when God is right there,e this close, and you can just feel His loving arms around you, and you can literally hear His voice whispering in your ear, telling you how much He love you?  I don't.  I never have."  -Brant Hansen "Our feelings have nothing to do with whether God loves us or is still involved in our lives."  -Brant Hansen "There is no basis in Scripture for the idea that if God is still involved with you, you'll have good feelings.  Unless, that is, your actual god is your good feelings."  -Brant Hansen "I'm here 1) by God's appointment; 2) in His time; 3) under His training; 4) for His time."  -Raymond Edman "Small disciplines done consistently lead to big results over time."  -Craig Goeschel Psalm 16:7-8 God sees when nobody else does In the wilderness, we learn that God sees when nobody else does, and, hopefully, we learn that that is enough. Deuteronomy 3:10-11 God is not wasting time even though you may feel like it Moses calls Horeb the "mountain of God' by anticipation, with reference to the manifestation of God. Exodus 24:15-17

In this message, Tim Alsbaugh brings fresh revelation of how we are “Obtaining the Inheritance” through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Did you know that YOU are a child of the inheritance? But what exactly is the inheritance? As Tim takes us through the words and experiences of the Apostle Peter, we see through Peter's eyes as the Lord opened his understanding of what it meant to obtain his inheritance in Christ. Our inheritance is found in Christ—he is our living hope in glory! Our inheritance is Christ in us, the hope of glory… but how do we obtain that inheritance and live it out in our day to day life while we are here on this earth? Tim dives deep into the Word, bringing out nuggets of gold… --- It's about being like Christ – you can understand who you are in Him --- You have an inheritance reserved for you in heaven – you can access that today --- Our inheritance is secure—guaranteed…. How can we obtain it? Do you want to have intimate fellowship with Christ? Then listen as Tim explains how to obtain your inheritance in Jesus to be able to… not only draw closer to Him, but to have loving relationships as you walk through the tests and trials of life. Choose to obtain the inheritance today! Know who you are in Christ Jesus and begin a new journey of intimacy with Him that will bring life and hope with every step you take. Know your inheritance—who you are in Christ—and answer the call to go to a higher level of the revelation of Christ Jesus in your life—a wonderful process that will transform you into the image of the One who created you to be who you are in Him! You have an inheritance that does not fade away. Learn how to obtain that inheritance today as you listen to Tim Alsbaugh explain how YOU can live a life secure in “Obtaining the Inheritance.”

"When you hear the truth and don’t believe, you go back to that condition of a sinner! Why are you whining? Have you given your power to satan? When you feel oppressed, gird your loins! Man up and fight! When you start having thoughts, not from Him, gird up the loins of your mind and fight! Have you sinned? Run to him, confess it, and have that faith in Him: You are clean because of His blood! Gird your loins! Or you will sit here and cry like a baby! You need to know what you have! Gird your loins: bind and loose! Fight. Fight. Fight. You have the keys. You have all the authority, but you are the one who has to open your mouth and use it. Be not a thinker but a talker. Don’t misplace your keys. Put them around your neck! Gird your loins. You have authority unless you don't believe. Turn on the light if you lost your keys. You will see them right there where you left them, right where you put them down. Just pick them up and use them! That is how you gird up your loins." Shane W RoessigerWord: Matthew 10, Job 38, 2 Corinthians 10Video: https://youtu.be/2ABFsHbXXXs

Heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me!” 1. No way but through Jesus: a. Nor by church membership or baptism. b. Not by being good, moral, honest or upright c. Jesus made it plain: “His way or no way” (do you want to be with Him?) You can do it today, HIS ARMS ARE OPEN WAITING FOR YOU!

Luke 23:32-43 1. The sinfulness of mankind and the sinlessness of the Lord Jesus Christ (Luke 23:32-39). 2. The necessity of repentance and faith in order to be saved.      1) The essence of repentance: changing your mind about the Lord           Jesus Christ (Luke 23:40-41).      2) The essence of faith: trusting Jesus to do what He says He will           do (Luke 23:42). 3. The promise of Jesus to all who trust in Him: "You will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43).

It is so easy for me to fall into the trap of allowing what others think of me to determine my identity. There is really only ONE who has the authority to tell me who I am...and that is my Creator. Lauren Daigle's new song "You Say" inspired a sort of scavenger hunt through Scripture to discover who we really are in HIM. Let's discover what God's Word has to say about it and stand in faith and belief on what it says. On this week's episode I discuss: Taking a B.I.T.E. out of Scripture - this week's Bible Interaction Tool Exercises include: Read in context Meditate Ask Questions You say I am loved - Ephesians 2:4-5 Asking these questions... What do I learn about God? What do I learn about people? What do I learn about relating to God? Is there something I can praise or thank Him for? Is there a sin I can confess and repent from? Is there a promise or truth to believe? You say I am strong - 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Paul learned to be content with weakness because it put the strength of Christ on full display You say I am held - Isaiah 41:9-10 Everything God says of US is directly related to HIM You say I am Yours - Isaiah 43:1-7 Placing our identity in God's strong, capable, and uplifting hands Allowing the Word of God to work in us - 1 Thessalonians 2:13   Additional Resources Story Behind the Song "You Say" by Lauren Daigle - CCM Magazine Article Lyrics Chords and Lyrics - Worship Chords This Week's Challenge We spent time in four areas of Scripture on this episode. You could choose one area or all four to spend time in this week. Ponder God’s love in Ephesians 2, Christ’s strength in 2 Corinthians 12, God’s victorious right hand holding us in Isaiah 41, or the profound truth that we belong to God in Isaiah 43. Don’t forget to read in context and take time to meditate on what you are learning. Always ask questions along the way, and it’s best to start with what you learn about God before you move into any other area.

Are you wanting to grow in your prayer life? Do you find yourself praying to God mostly in crisis instead of a continual communion with Him? You are not alone! In this episode, we examine the different types of prayer and what our prayer looks like in the spiritual realm. Prayer is powerful and exciting. Let me show you how and why! You can go from crisis cries to faith-filled maturity in your prayer life! I am so excited for us to dive deeper together on this topic! apeaceofmymindpodcast@gmail.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/cynthiabeaudry/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/cynthiabeaudry/support

Check out this week’s sermon from Pastor Mozart on Ephesians 6:1-9 titled, “Relationships Redeemed ”. "Do you obey God out of His dominance over you or because you have experienced a loving and gracious relationship with Him?" You can also find audio from our past sermons on our website, Citylightlincoln.org, and on the Citylight Lincoln Church App.

The Scripture declares that God is love. Jesus said all people will know Christians are His disciples if they have love for one another. But in this passage, there is another way that God communicates to the world who He is. What is this "other way"? Why does He let the world know who He is in the way John describes Him? You might be surprised at the answer. Join the Grace United crew as we discover anew and afresh God's reason why He does everything--that they will know He is Yahweh.

Rhema- Word from the Lord HEARKEN!! "Lifted by The Lies" How Your Haters Truly become your Elevators https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06z5zFUdFzQ "To Those Taking the Suffered Wrong Patiently, The Lord Says, "BE ENCOURAGED" 1 Peter 2:20(KJV) 20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. 1 Peter 2:20 (GW) 20 What credit do you deserve if you endure a beating for doing something wrong? But if you endure suffering for doing something good, God is pleased with you. When you are Getting Lied on .. YOU ARE BLESSED Suffer It! He Is Pleased! Matthew 5:11 (KJV) 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Matthew 5:11 (GW) 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, lie, and say all kinds of evil things about you because of me How is it Because of Him? You are living, Walking, Exuding and Manifesting Who He is in Your Holy Conversation and they HATE YOU for it... Therefore it is suffered for His Name's Sake. The Lord Will Show Up For You He Will, SILENCE THE LYING LIPS- THE LORD SHALL STAND THEM UP Psalm 31:18 (KJV) 18 Let the lying lips be put to silence; which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. Psalm 31:18 (GW) 18 Let their lying lips be speechless, since they speak against righteous people with arrogance and contempt. Psalm 31:18The Message (MSG) 14-18 Desperate, I throw myself on you: you are my God! Hour by hour I place my days in your hand, safe from the hands out to get me. Warm me, your servant, with a smile; save me because you love me. Don’t embarrass me by not showing up; I’ve given you plenty of notice. Embarrass the wicked, stand them up, leave them stupidly shaking their heads as they drift down to hell. Gag those loudmouthed liars who heckle me, your follower, with jeers and catcalls. YES YOU MAY SUFFER FOR THEIR LIES- BUT THREATEN NOT Commit it to the Righteous Judge 1 Peter 2:22-23 (KJV) 22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: THE LORD SEES and HE HEARS Isaiah 29:15(KJV) 15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Psalm 7:16 (KJV) 16 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate. Psalm 7: (MSG) 15-16 See that man shoveling day after day, digging, then concealing, his man-trap down that lonely stretch of road? Go back and look again—you’ll see him in it headfirst, legs waving in the breeze. That’s what happens: mischief backfires; violence boomerangs. The BURNING ONES Set ablaze with the flame of the spirit of God, we are the burning ones, shining His light for all to see. “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire. Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:19, Matthew 5:16 ## Don’t Quench the Holy Spirit ## 1 Thessalonians 5:19(KJV) 19 Quench not the Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:19(AMP) 19 Do not quench [subdue, or be unresponsive to the working and guidance of] the [Holy] Spirit. ## Present Your Body as Living Sacrifice ## Romans 12:1(KJV) 12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. HE ALWAYS CAUSES US TO TRIUMPH IN CHRIST JESUT 2 Corinthians 2:14-15n (KJV) 14 Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. 15 For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish Grace Nuggets: •Our Good Works do not make Us Righteous- but The Righteousness will Cause us to do Good Works •Power Under Will.. Do Not Defend Yourself Preach Be a Voice Not an Echo www.preachbvne.webs.com www.preachbvne.blogspot.com Twitter@Preach_BA_Voice Facebook: www.facebook.com/PREACHbeaVoicenotanEcho Podacast: www.preachbeavoicenotanecho.podomatic.com Google+ URL: google.com/+PREACHbeaVoicenotanEchoMinistry Youtube Channel:www.youtube.com/c/PREACHbeaVoicenotanEchoMinistry Mail to: Shawntrell or Thomas Davis P.O. BOX 606 Goodlettsville, TN 37070 PayPal: www.paypal.me/SHAWNTRELLDAVIS or Email:PreachBVNE@yahoo.com Ambassador Thomas Emmanuel Davis III Ambassador Shawntrell Davis Ambassadors of the Word of Reconciliation Followers of "The Way" Distributors of the Revelation! Distributors of the Truth! Distributors of the Release! S.H.I.F.T Suddenly Heaven Invades Forcing Transformation!! #YesLordIWill #CryLoudAndSpareNot #TheLordMyGodIsWithMe #PartakersofHisGlory #FortifiedBrazenWall #Repent #TheKingdomOfGodIsAtHand Let the Lord be Magnified! Announcing the Coming of the Glorious Kingdom of God! 2 Corinthians 5:20(KJV) 20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. Obadiah 1:1 (KJV) 1 The vision of Obadiah. Thus saith the Lord God concerning Edom; We have heard a rumour from the Lord, and an ambassador is sent among the heathen, Arise ye, and let us rise up against her in battle.

Paul writes that we are stewards or managers for God. This week we explore what it means to manage something for God. What are the things God has given to us to manage and what does it look like to manage something for Him? You might be surprised at some of the things God asks us to manage for His Kingdom.

PintsWithAquinas.com Get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Pints-Aquinas-Thoughts-Angelic-Doctor/dp/0692752404/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478524461&sr=8-1&keywords=pint+with+aquinas --- THE ANGELIC SALUTATION by Thomas Aquinas translated by Joseph B. Collins “Hail Mary” We must now consider concerning the first part of this prayer that in ancient times it was no small event when Angels appeared to men; and that man should show them reverence was especially praiseworthy. Thus, it is written to the praise of Abraham that he received the Angels with all courtesy and showed them reverence. But that an Angel should show reverence to a man was never heard of until the Angel reverently greeted the Blessed Virgin saying: “Hail.” In olden time an Angel would not show reverence to a man, but a man would deeply revere an Angel. This is because Angels are greater than men, and indeed in three ways. First, they are greater than men in dignity. This is because the Angel is of a spiritual nature: “You make your angels spirits” [Ps 103:4]. But, on the other hand, man is of a corruptible nature, for Abraham said: “I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes” [Gen 18:27]. It was not fitting, therefore, that a spiritual and incorruptible creature should show reverence to one that is corruptible as is a man. Secondly, an Angel is closer to God. The Angel, indeed, is of the family of God, and as it were stands ever by Him: “Thousands of thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before Him” [Dan 7:10]. Man, on the other hand, is rather a stranger and afar off from God because of sin: “I have gone afar off” [Ps 44:8]. Therefore, it is fitting that man should reverence an Angel who is an intimate and one of the household of the King. Then, thirdly, the Angels far exceed men in the fullness of the splendor of divine grace. For Angels participate in the highest degree in the divine light: “Is there any numbering of His soldiers? And upon whom shall not His light arise?”[Job 25:3]. Hence, the Angels always appear among men clothed in light, hut men on the contrary, although they partake somewhat of the light of grace, nevertheless do so in a much slighter degree and with a certain obscurity. It was, therefore, not fitting that an Angel should show reverence to a man until it should come to pass that one would be found in human nature who exceeded the Angels in these three points in which we have seen that they excel over men—and this was the Blessed Virgin. To show that she excelled the Angels in these, the Angel desired to show her reverence, and so he said: “Ave (Hail).” “Full of grace” The Blessed Virgin was superior to any of the Angels in the fullness of grace, and as an indication of this the Angel showed reverence to her by saying: “Full of grace.” This is as if he said: “I show you reverence because you dost excel me in the fullness of grace.” The Blessed Virgin is said to be full of grace in three ways. First, as regards her soul she was full of grace. The grace of God is given for two chief purposes, namely, to do good and to avoid evil. The Blessed Virgin, then, received grace in the most perfect degree, because she had avoided every sin more than any other Saint after Christ. Thus it is said: “You are fair, My beloved, and there is not a spot in you” [Sg 4:7]. St. Augustine says: “If we could bring together all the Saints and ask them if they were entirely without sin, all of them, with the exception of the Blessed Virgin, would say with one voice: ‘If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.’[1 Jn 1:8]. I except, however, this holy Virgin of whom, because of the honor of God, I wish to omit all mention of sin” [De natura et gratia 36]. For we know that to her was granted grace to overcome every kind of sin by Him whom she merited to conceive and bring forth, and He certainly was wholly without sin. Christ excelled the Blessed Virgin in this, that He was conceived and born without original sin, while the Blessed Virgin was conceived in original sin, but was not born in it. [as in Summa, but otherwise in I Sent., c. 44, q. 1, ad. 3]. She exercised the works of all the virtues, whereas the Saints are conspicuous for the exercise of certain special virtues. Thus, one excelled in humility, another in chastity, another in mercy, to the extent that they are the special exemplars of these virtues—as, for example, St. Nicholas is an exemplar of the virtue of mercy. The Blessed Virgin is the exemplar of all the virtues. In her is the fullness of the virtue of humility: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord” [Lk 1:38]. And again: “He has looked on the humility of his handmaid” [Lk 1:48]. So she is also exemplar of the virtue of chastity: “Because I know not man” [Lk 1:34]. And thus it is with all the virtues, as is evident. Mary was full of grace not only in the performance of all good, but also in the avoidance of all evil. Again, the Blessed Virgin was full of grace in the overflowing effect of this grace upon her flesh or body. For while it is a great thing in the Saints that the abundance of grace sanctified their souls, yet, moreover, the soul of the holy Virgin was so filled with grace that from her soul grace poured into her flesh from which was conceived the Son of God. Hugh of St. Victor says of this: “Because the love of the Holy Spirit so inflamed her soul, He worked a wonder in her flesh, in that from it was born God made Man.” “And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God” [Lk 1:35]. The plenitude of grace in Mary was such that its effects overflow upon all men. It is a great thing in a Saint when he has grace to bring about the salvation of many, but it is exceedingly wonderful when grace is of such abundance as to be sufficient for the salvation of all men in the world, and this is true of Christ and of the Blessed Virgin. Thus, “a thousand bucklers,” that is, remedies against dangers, “hang therefrom” [Sg 4:4]. Likewise, in every work of virtue one can have her as one’s helper. Of her it was spoken: “In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue” [Sir 24:25]. Therefore, Mary is full of grace, exceeding the Angels in this fullness and very fittingly is she called “Mary” which means “in herself enlightened”: “The Lord will fill your soul with brightness” [Is 48:11]. And she will illumine others throughout the world for which reason she is compared to the sun and to the moon. “The Lord is with you” The Blessed Virgin excels the Angels in her closeness to God. The Angel Gabriel indicated this when he said: “The Lord is with you”—as if to say: “I reverence you because you art nearer to God than I, because the Lord is with you.” By the Lord; he means the Father with the Son and the Holy Spirit, who in like manner are not with any Angel or any other spirit: “The Holy which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God” [Lk 1:35]. God the Son was in her womb: “Rejoice and praise, O you habitation of Sion; for great is He that is in the midst of you, the Holy One of Israel” [Is 12:6]. The Lord is not with the Angel in the same manner as with the Blessed Virgin; for with her He is as a Son, and with the Angel He is the Lord. The Lord, the Holy Ghost, is in her as in a temple, so that it is said: “The temple of the Lord, the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit,” [Benedictus antiphon from the Little Office of Blessed Virgin], because she conceived by the Holy Ghost. “The Holy Ghost shall come upon you” [Lk 1:35]. The Blessed Virgin is closer to God than is an Angel, because with her are the Lord the Father, the Lord the Son, and the Lord the Holy Ghost—in a word, the Holy Trinity. Indeed of her we sing: “Noble resting place of the Triune God.” “The Lord is with you” are the most praiseladen words that the Angel could have uttered; and, hence, he so profoundly reverenced the Blessed Virgin because she is the Mother of the Lord and Our Lady. Accordingly she is very well named “Mary,” which in the Syrian tongue means “Lady.” “Blessed art you among women” The Blessed Virgin exceeds the Angels in purity. She is not only pure, but she obtains purity for others. She is purity itself, wholly lacking in every guilt of sin, for she never incurred either mortal or venial sin. So, too, she was free from the penalties of sin. Sinful man, on the contrary, incurs a threefold curse on account of sin. The first fell upon woman who conceives in corruption, bears her child with difficulty, and brings it forth in pain. The Blessed Virgin was wholly free from this, since she conceived without corruption, bore her Child in comfort, and brought Him forth in joy: “It shall bud forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and praise” [Is 35:2]. The second penalty was inflicted upon man in that he shall earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. The Blessed Virgin was also immune from this because, as the Apostle says, virgins are free from the cares of this world and are occupied wholly with the things of the Lord [1 Cor 7:34]. The third curse is common both to man and woman in that both shall one day return to dust. The Blessed Virgin was spared this penalty, for her body was raised up into heaven, and so we believe that after her death she was revived and transported into heaven: “Arise, O Lord, into your resting place, You and the ark which You hast sanctified” [Ps 131:8]. Because the Blessed Virgin was immune from these punishments, she is “blessed among women.” Moreover, she alone escaped the curse of sin, brought forth the Source of blessing, and opened the gate of heaven. It is surely fitting that her name is “Mary,” which is akin to the Star of the Sea (“Maria--maris stella”), for just as sailors are directed to port by the star of the sea, so also Christians are by Mary guided to glory. “Blessed is the fruit of your womb” The sinner often seeks for something which he does not find; but to the just man it is given to find what he seeks: “The substance of the sinner is kept for the just” [Prov 13:22]. Thus, Eve sought the fruit of the tree (of good and evil), but she did not find in it that which she sought. Everything Eve desired, however, was given to the Blessed Virgin. Eve sought that which the devil falsely promised her, namely, that she and Adam would be as gods, knowing good and evil. “You shall be,” says this liar, “as gods” [Gen 3:5]. But he lied, because “he is a liar and the father of lies” [Jn 8:44]. Eve was not made like God after having eaten of the fruit, but rather she was unlike God in that by her sin she withdrew from God and was driven out of paradise. The Blessed Virgin, however, and all Christians found in the Fruit of her womb Him whereby we are all united to God and are made like to Him: “When He shall appear, we shall be like to Him, because we shall see Him as He is” [1 Jn 3:2]. Eve looked for pleasure in the fruit of the tree because it was good to eat. But she did not find this pleasure in it, and, on the contrary, she at once discovered she was naked and was stricken with sorrow. In the Fruit of the Blessed Virgin we find sweetness and salvation: “He who eats My flesh... has eternal life” [Jn 6:55]. The fruit which Eve desired was beautiful to look upon, but that Fruit of the Blessed Virgin is far more beautiful, for the Angels desire to look upon Him: “You are beautiful above the sons of men” [Ps 44:3]. He is the splendor of the glory of the Father. Eve, therefore, looked in vain for that which she sought in the fruit of the tree, just as the sinner is disappointed in his sins. We must seek in the Fruit of the womb of the Virgin Mary whatsoever we desire. This is He who is the Fruit blessed by God, who has filled Him with every grace, which in turn is poured out upon us who adore Him: “Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with spiritual blessings in Christ” [Eph 1:3]. He, too, is revered by the Angels: “Benediction and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving, honor and power and strength, to our God” [Rev 7:12]. And He is glorified by men: “Every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father” [Phil 2:11]. The Blessed Virgin is indeed blessed, but far more blessed is the Fruit of her womb: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” [Ps 117:26].  

What are you doing at work to walk with God and to please Him?You can start today by hearing how to do good and share at work inthis study on Thessalonians 4:1 and Hebrews 13:15-16.

Jesus said blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be satisfied. What does it mean to hunger for God, to thirst for Him- You have to do it to become a Christian and to demonstrate that you are a Christian. Regarding the merciful, they shall receive mercy. I call this the great kingdom law of reciprocity. Those who show mercy, receive mercy. In fact, Judgment Day is in those terms - those who showed merciful enter into the kingdom forever.

2011-09-18-1800 Pastor Loran Livingston is the speaker this evening September 18th, 2011 in the 6:00 service. Scripture: Isaiah 30:18-20; 64:4-5; John 11:15 Topic: Waiting on God Notes: - God will never adjust His timing to your life or prayer- Prayer is not to get God to do something but to allow Him to do something in you- Wait for Him as He waits to bless you- “water of affliction” and “bread of adversity” to make you depend on God- God waits till we’re at the end of the road with nowhere to go- God waits but is never late- As long as your prayers have a deadline they are fleshly prayers- Waiting room of doctor’s office... just because you made an appointment doesn’t mean you’ll be seen when you think you will- God acts for the one who waits for Him- You will never understand the ways of God- God does everything according to His own will- Surrender, trust God; you’ll have to turn off the TV, make some sacrifices

2011-04-10-1030 Pastor Loran Livingston is the speaker this morning April 10th, 2011 in the 10:30 service. Scripture: Isaiah 64:4-8 Topic: Prayer Notes: - He acts for those who wait for Him- You must stir yourself up to reconnect with God- If we really believed something happens when we pray, wouldn’t we do more of it?- We get discouraged when we don’t see immediate definable results- The greatest sin in the church is prayerlessness...  other sins, sickness are prevalent because of and the state of our country is due to prayerlessness- It is our call to pray without ceasing- The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit to go out and affect a group of people- Cornelius-while he was praying, God was speaking to people- Peter’s vision-what God called clean, he was calling dirty- Prayer is not just to get out of trouble or to get by a little easier- We are sometimes focused so much on personal situations that we can’t see God moving outside of that- The Lord’s prayer... don’t get comfortable with God or you lose respect; we are too familiar... we need a revival of fear and respect- There are people around the world suffering for Christ; we haven’t truly suffered- The greatest sin the human race has committed against itself is slavery, human trafficking- Pray for the persecuted and martyred Christians around the world

2011-04-10-0830 Pastor Loran Livingston is the speaker this morning April 10th, 2011 in the 8:30 service. Scripture: Isaiah 64:4-8 Topic: Prayer Notes: - He acts for those who wait for Him- You must stir yourself up to reconnect with God- If we really believed something happens when we pray, wouldn’t we do more of it?- We get discouraged when we don’t see immediate definable results- The greatest sin in the church is prayerlessness...  other sins, sickness are prevalent because of and the state of our country is due to prayerlessness- It is our call to pray without ceasing- The disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit to go out and affect a group of people- Cornelius-while he was praying, God was speaking to people- Peter’s vision-what God called clean, he was calling dirty- Prayer is not just to get out of trouble or to get by a little easier- We are sometimes focused so much on personal situations that we can’t see God moving outside of that- The Lord’s prayer... don’t get comfortable with God or you lose respect; we are too familiar... we need a revival of fear and respect- There are people around the world suffering for Christ; we haven’t truly suffered- The greatest sin the human race has committed against itself is slavery, human trafficking- Pray for the persecuted and martyred Christians around the world