Podcasts about his justice

Do you ever wonder about the nature of God? Can God be both merciful and just? Find out how God can fulfill both His Mercy and His Justice in the end times.   Visit our website at DiscoveringTheJewishJesus.com

With reference to Psalm 125 from the Bible, we explore God's Mercy and His Justice.

Why give the only One who is Good, the blame for evil things that happen? Don't be deceived! Evil is birthed by evil and God is the source of all things good! Don't mistake His lack of immediate Justice for unconcern... His Justice will be on full display on the soon coming day of judgement!

Bob Schwahn | Lead Pastor | March 17, 2024 Exodus 34:6-7 (NIV)And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; …” Romans 3:25-26 (NIV)God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Hebrews 10:10-14 (NIV) “The man who has faith is the man who is no longer looking at himself, and no longer looking to himself. He no longer looks at anything he once was. He does not look at what he is now. He does not look at what he hopes to be … He looks entirely to the Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work, and he rests on that alone.”— Martyn Lloyd-Jones 1 John 4:16-19 (NIV)And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.We love because he first loved us. Reflection Questions: What was something that stuck out to you from the sermon? Do you tend to view God as more loving/compassionate or more just/wrathful? Explain. Why do you think that is? How does the cross of Jesus show us the fullness of God’s LOVE and the fullness of His JUSTICE? We receive justification by faith. How do you define faith? How can faith actually become a “work” of righteousness to us? How would you paraphrase the quote(above) by Martyn Lloyd-Jones? It is the OBJECT of our faith and not the AMOUNT of our faith that save us. Agree or disagree? Explain. If we are justified freely (without cost or cause) what is our motivation to obey and follow Jesus? Why is fear of punishment or judgment not the motivation Jesus wants from us? Read 1 John 4:16-19 (above). Christianity is not at it’s core message a religion. It is a gospel (good news). It is not what we DO for God but what God has DONE for us. Good news is meant to be shared. What motivates you to share the good news with people in your world? What hinders you from sharing the good news with others? How can you overcome these barriers? Who will you invite to be part of our Easter gatherings where we celebrate the good news of Jesus? Next Steps: Complete the Connect Card to receive more information, have us pray for you, or to ask us any question: http://journeybozeman.com/connectcard Want to worship through giving and support the ministry of Journey Church: https://journeybozeman.com/giveDownload our app: https://journeybozeman.com/app Join our Facebook Group to stay connected throughout the week: https://facebook.com/groups/JourneyChurchBozemanGet your children connected to our children's ministry, Base Camp: https://journeybozeman.com/childrenOur Student Ministry is for High School and Middle School students: https://journeybozeman.com/studentsSubs

“Christians are too nice to do justice.” In a world that's growing increasingly vocal on crisp, immediate justice - Christians still hold to ‘outdated' values like mercy and grace.Is it true that there's no room for mercy when pursuing justice? We continue with part 2 of the aftermath of David's bloody affair. Ps Johanan brings us God & His Justice from 2 Samuel 12:13-25.

Our God leads with Mercy and Grace. When people refuse His mercy and Grace they receive His Justice. God wants to break through to those with Hard Hearts. He is not afraid to speak firmly and directly to our Hearts to help us hear and respond to him.

Once Gen-Z hears who Jesus REALLY is, the hunger for Him rises to a new level. Eric Rivera is witnessing that in real-time in his ministry. The same Zeal and Passion that Gen-Z has for Justice will be used by the Lord for HIS JUSTICE! We also discuss: Building Up Treasures in Heaven Reaping and Sowing what we do on Earth in rewarded in Heaven Giving Our Crowns Back to Jesus Kingdom Life in ALL we do Eric's Journey setting up a studio and launching his online ministry with the Spirit of Excellence Zach discusses meeting his wife + her new position at our church God uses a brush to paint our lives - let him open doors Who said being a Christian is boring? IF YOU ENJOY THIS EPISODE PLEASE SHARE IT! Check out Eric Rivera on Instagram or peep his website! PLEASE PARTNER ON PATREON: "I want to support this ministry!"

It is proper to speak of both the Justice of God as well as His Mercy. They are not opposed to each other. His Justice will be dealt to those who refuse to repent just as it was dealt to the angels who refused to serve God. But, for now, is it more proper to say that God is Merciful. In fact, the evil one would love for us to become consumed with the idea that God is only Just and that He imposes His judgment upon us continually. When this idea is accepted, it is hard to understand that God actually withholds His Justice as long as we are open to His Mercy. Seek His Mercy, believe in it and run to it. Do not doubt it for a moment. Know that God offers it day and night and never tires of lavishing it upon you. When you are faced with the fear that comes with facing His Justice, turn your eyes to His Mercy and you will be able to easily turn from all sin as you bask in the rays shining forth from His Heart (See Diary #1338).Which of these two images of God do you reflect upon more often? Are you frightened by God's Justice? Or are you consoled by His Mercy? Both can be useful but never at the expense of the other. We should never presume on God's Mercy and we should never become fixated on His Justice without immediately remembering His Mercy. Ponder His Mercy today more than anything and you will have no need to fear His Justice. Let your heart experience His love and turn to Him with full confidence and trust.Lord, I am aware that You are Just and will issue Your Justice upon me if I fail to turn to Your Mercy. Therefore, I do turn to Your Mercy. I seek it with all my heart. I love You, Lord, and I desire to love You more. Give me the grace to open my eyes to Your radiant Heart and to be open to all that You wish to bestow. Jesus, I trust in You. Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2023 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Do you ever wonder about the nature of God? Can God be both merciful and just? Find out how God can fulfill both His Mercy and His Justice in the end times.

I think about it a lot: why isn't God intervening to make the world a less harsh and broiling place? 'Where are you, God? Come on, already.' Another way of putting it: What's taking You so long? And that's not just a question about "the world". It's a question concerning your individual world. As in, when are You going to help me out with this particular problem I'm having? Our friend Susannah Leighton helped me a few years ago when she opined, quite spontaneously, during an after-church youth-group meeting: "God never seems to come early". I drunk that in! What an insight. More recently, Mary and I were reading Psalm 103 when we came to verses eight and nine: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep His anger for ever." What I heard from that is that while God's Grace is his predominant characteristic, His righteous indignation -- His Justice -- will also express itself at some point. Even God, in other words, has His limits. That feels encouraging. So when I ask, 'How long, O Lord?', the answer is, 'At some point'. Not today (apparently), but possibly tomorrow. And certainly at some point. Remember 2001 A Space Odyssey? Last weekend I made a pilgrimage to the theater in Washington D.C. where it had its world-premiere on April 3rd 1968 -- which is where and when I saw it. (The theater is closed now but the facade is preserved.) Well, there's that moment towards the middle of the movie when scientists on the Moon discover that the 'Monolith', the incarnation of Alien intelligence and control, has been sitting there, in the Crater Clavius, for four million years. The Aliens apparently take a long view. So yes, pray with me for some relief, for Heav'n's sake. But human humility requires us to give the timing to God. This podcast is dedicated to Susannah Leighton. P.S. To respond to the appeal for financial support, please click here (https://mbird.com/support/).

Son of Righteousness looks at our world in the light of His Justice. Today major governments allow persecution of Christians while other nations like China allow the terrible persecution against the Uyghurs. While we cover the persecution of Christians, there is much more evil in our world that comes from the human population done to each other. The news is filled with crimes against humanity, wicked governments with immoral virtue that allows evil to be done and even celebrated. This week's show covers the persecution of believers amidst the shadow of bias against these Christians. But Bias is today become the norm as even in America. To get the Books from the Watchman Dana G Smith go to his website http://www.DanaGlennSmith.com/shop Son of Righteousness he comes; brilliant, out of the #East shall he come with #Justice and #Righteousness. He brings #healing and #redemption for the #Righteous. But for the wicked shall be burned to stubble and no root of #wickedness shall be left. No matter what the believer faces; one day redemption, #restoration, and #vindication will arrive when the Son of Righteousness Appears.  Today around the world there is #injustice. Go https://linktr.ee/warnradio more info.  

God's Chosen One Trusts in His Justice

God's Chosen One Trusts in His Justice

We are counting on a God who miscounts.  That is, we are relying on the reality that He isn't going to be giving us what we deserve.  Rather than wrath for lawless deeds we get forgiveness.  Rather than wrath for sins we find them covered.  We want a God who miscounts in our favor like this. We are banking on a God "who isn't very good at sin-math."  Of course He is, but we have a way that our wrongs can be not counted against us in a way that maintains His JUSTICE. Abrahams gets this idea.  Now David gets this idea.Join me for 7 minutes today as we fortunately learn about a God who isn't/is very good at sin-math. bewithme.us to subscribe, follow on insta and twitter. Subscribe on Youtube and apple podcasts.

Turkey's main opposition party applied to the country's supreme court seeking a suspension of the enforcement of a newly-approved media law that mandates prison terms for people deemed to be spreading “disinformation.” Parliament approved a 40-article legislation that amends press and social media laws with the stated aim of combating fake news. Critics fear that the measure will be used to further crack down on social media and independent reporting as the country heads toward elections. The legislation, which was approved with the votes of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party and its nationalist allies, came into effect with its publication in the Official Gazette on October 11. The most controversial provision, Article 29, foresees up to three years in prison for spreading information that is “contrary to the truth” about Turkey's domestic and international security, public order and health for the alleged purpose of causing “public worry, fear and panic.” Engin Altay, a senior member of the main opposition Republican People's Party, applied to the Constitutional Court for the suspension of the implementation of Article 29. “This is a law that (aims to) present (the government's) lies as the truth, and the truth as lies, and can't be accepted,” Altay told reporters after submitting the plea. The party would seek the annulment of the entire legislation at a later date, he said. Erdogan argued for a law to combat disinformation and fake news, saying false news and rising “digital fascism” are national and global security threats. His Justice and Development Party and nationalist allies say disinformation prevents people from accessing the truth, undermining freedom of expression. The ruling party denies that the legislation aims to silence critics. This article was provided by The Associated Press.

I. His Righteousness-II. His Holy Wrath-III. The Execution of His Justice

I. His Righteousness-II. His Holy Wrath-III. The Execution of His Justice

It is proper to speak of both the Justice of God as well as His Mercy.  They are not opposed to each other.  His Justice will be dealt to those who refuse to repent just as it was dealt to the angels who refused to serve God.  But, for now, is it more proper to say that God is Merciful.  In fact, the evil one would love for us to become consumed with the idea that God is only Just and that He imposes His judgment upon us continually.  When this idea is accepted, it is hard to understand that God actually withholds His Justice as long as we are open to His Mercy.  Seek His Mercy, believe in it and run to it.  Do not doubt it for a moment.  Know that God offers it day and night and never tires of lavishing it upon you.  When you are faced with the fear that comes with facing His Justice, turn your eyes to His Mercy and you will be able to easily turn from all sin as you bask in the rays shining forth from His Heart (See Diary #1338).Which of these two images of God do you reflect upon more often?  Are you frightened by God's Justice?  Or are you consoled by His Mercy?  Both can be useful but never at the expense of the other.  We should never presume on God's Mercy and we should never become fixated on His Justice without immediately remembering His Mercy.  Ponder His Mercy today more than anything and you will have no need to fear His Justice.  Let your heart experience His love and turn to Him with full confidence and trust.Lord, I am aware that You are Just and will issue Your Justice upon me if I fail to turn to Your Mercy.  Therefore, I do turn to Your Mercy.  I seek it with all my heart.  I love You, Lord, and I desire to love You more.  Give me the grace to open my eyes to Your radiant Heart and to be open to all that You wish to bestow.  Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2022 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

The Book of Joel is a short reminder that God is a just and righteous God. In this message, Pastor Joey zooms into Joel 2:12-32 and unpacks both the reality of sin in the world, the consequence of sin in the world, and yet the love and justice of God. In spite of our sin, God offers a lifeline of hope before we are consumed by the wrath of God. One of the greatest motifs in Joel is the pronouncement of the "Day Of The Lord". It is a promise that God rewards those who are in Him (in Christ for NT believers) AND punishes the wicked who have rejected Him. We are reminded that God's LOVE and His JUSTICE work in cooperation. God cannot be loving if He were not also just! Message is part three in our series, "God In The Ruins" from the Minor Prophets. Join us on Sundays at 11 AM for Worship Celebration during this series and learn more about how God can restore us from the ruins through Jesus Christ!

Join Dave as he looks at Psalm 9 and Praise Him for His Justice.

Almost no one I've met in the alternative law world got there because they love the murky realm of the law and Brett F is not exception. As the co-host with Randy Kelton of the regular broadcast, “Rule of Law Radio”, he makes a mission of doing what God tells him to do. He quotes Isaiah 1:17 “Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for [the cause] of the widow.” as his foundation to champion people to help themselves in law. Join us live Monday May 30 at 3 PM CDT. To talk about how he helps those empowered and prepared to learn about taking action to defend themselves and the most vulnerable. In Brett's words: Seek Justice Himself What can a man or woman do to reflect the nature and character of the Most High in this world... to bring His Justice to override our status quo and our current poor implementation of justice, and to bring a fuller representation of who He is, right here in our communities? That's what we need to be about. But we can only be effective to the extent that we are pursuing the Most High, Himself. Mic 6:8 He has shown you, O man[kind], what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Jer 22:15-16 "He administered justice and righteousness, and so it went well with him. He gave justice and help to the poor and needy, and everything went well for him. Isn't that what it means to know Me?” says the LORD. Psa 34:14 Turn away from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it. Job 28:28 And to mankind He said, "Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to turn away from evil is understanding." Brett aims to help people find justice and peace by seeking the face of the Almighty. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/beth-martens/message

There is a time for Mercy and a time for Justice. Expelling Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden was an act of God's Justice. But even then, as the Angel was blocking the way to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden,1 and ushering our first parents out into the cold world, God was showing His Mercy to us through His promise of the Messiah, the Redeemer. God has always lived up to His Word. Throughout Salvation history, we have been beneficiaries of God's Mercy. And very few times has He let loose His Justice. Sodom and Gomorrah was God's Justice. Noah and the Ark was God's Justice, but also mingled with God's Mercy. The miracle of Moses and the Jews crossing the Red Sea was God's Mercy, coupled with God's Justice on the Pharaoh's charioteers. When finally we are in the last days, with possibly the end of the world at hand, and we are about to face the Last Judgment, at that time the God of Mercy will give way to the God of Justice.More about Divine MercySupport the show (https://bobandpennylord.store/pages/about-us)

Artist's you will hear in the order they are played on this weeks show: THE INDIGENOUS CAFE PODCAST INTRO “The time has come when those who preach the dogmas of materialism, whether of the east or of the west, whether of capitalism or socialism, must give account of the moral stewardship they have presumed to exercise. Where is the “new world” promised by these ideologies? Why is the vast majority of the world's peoples sinking ever deeper into hunger and wretchedness when wealth on a scale undreamed of by the Pharaohs, the Caesars, or even the imperialist powers of the nineteenth century is at the disposal of the present arbiters of human affairs? -Universal House of Justice (00:00:00-00:01:46)  1. Black Lodge Singers - “Prayer Song in Honor of Jordan Yazzie” (Recorded Live In Arizona) (00:01:46-00:06:09) 2. Injunuity - “Heat” (Fight For Survival) (00:06:09-00:10:00) PROGRAM BREAK (00:10:00-00:10:05) 3. Iz- “Hawaii'78” (Best of Iz) (00:10:05-00:15:10) 4. Southern Scratch - “Guadalupe Mazurka” (Waila) (00:15:10-00:17:58) 5. Northern Cree - “Straight” (Nikamo “Sing!”) (00:17:58-00:20:00) Roman Orona (Host) (00:20:00-00:20:53) “All too many of these (man-made) ideologies.callously abandon starving millions to the operations of a market system that all too clearly is aggravating the plight of the majority of mankind, while enabling small sections to live in a condition of affluence scarcely dreamed of by our forebears.”  -Universal House of Justice 6. Thunder Hill - “Whistlin' Away” (Miles from Yesterday) (00:20:53-00:26:06) 7. Mose Se Sengo - “Hello Hello” (Putumayo: African Playground) (00:26:06-00:30:12) PROGRAM BREAK (00:30:12-00:30:17)  8. Omara Portuondo - “Guantanamera” (Putumayo: Latin America) (00:30:17-00:33:48)  9. R. Carlos Nakai - “Connections” (Reconnections) (00:33:48-00:40:00) Roman Orona (Host) (00:40:00-00:41:30) “As is well known, the dominant model of development depends on a society of vigorous consumers of material goods. In such a model, endlessly rising levels of consumption are cast as indicators of progress and prosperity. This preoccupation with the production and accumulation of material objects and comforts (as sources of meaning, happiness and social acceptance) has consolidated itself in the structures of power and information to the exclusion of competing voices and paradigms. The unfettered cultivation of needs and wants has led to a system fully dependent on excessive consumption for a privileged few, while reinforcing exclusion, poverty and inequality, for the majority. Each successive global crisis—be it climate, energy, food, water, disease, financial collapse—has revealed new dimensions of the exploitation and oppression inherent in the current patterns of consumption and production.” -Bahá'i International Community 10. Whitehawk And Crowe - “Praise Holy Medicine, Creator” (Wikiwam Ahsin Vol. III) (00:41:30-00:44:57) 11. ODUCHU - “The Healing Spring” (The Healer) (00:44:57-00:48:58) PROGRAM BREAK (00:48:58-00:49:03) 12. Calina Lawrence - “Songbird” (Epicenter) (00:49:03-00:52:57) 13. Elexa Dawson - “Circle Song” (Music Is Medicine) (00:52:57-00:55:00)  Roman Orona (Host) (00:55:00-00:57:02) “In an increasingly interconnected world, more light is being cast on the social conditions of every people, giving greater visibility to their circumstances. While there are developments that give hope, there is much that should weigh heavy on the conscience of the human race. Inequity, discrimination, and exploitation blight the life of humanity, seemingly immune to the treatments applied by political schemes of every hue. The economic impact of these afflictions has resulted in the prolonged suffering of so many, as well as in deep-seated, structural defects in society. No one… can remain unmoved by these consequences. "The world is in great turmoil,” and the minds of its people are in a state of utter confusion. We entreat the Almighty that He may graciously illuminate them with the glory of His Justice, and enable them to discover that which will be profitable unto them at all times and under all conditions…” -Universal House of Justice  14. Lila Downs - “La Bamba” (Una Sangre “One Blood”) (00:57:02-01:01:10) DONATION ADVERTISEMENT (01:01:10-01:01:25) The Indigenous Cafe Podcast is hosted by Roman Orona and brought to you by iamHUMAN Media. iamHUMAN Media is a non-profit 501(c)(3) focused on raising the awareness of social discourse to all humans through development of programs and artistic ventures (music, movies, stage performances, books, workshops, concerts, film festivals, community outreach, community building, panel discussions, etc.)  to  foster and promote unity in diversity and community fellowship acknowledging that all HUMANs are related simply by being HUMAN. Below are ways to help us continue our programming or to learn more about us: https://paypal.me/iamHUMANmedia?locale.x=en_US Website: www.iamHUMANmedia.com Email: indigenouscafe1@gmail.com

We should learn here that God will exact His Justice sooner or later to everyone. This wisdom should help mankind to know that when God begins to perform His promises that He is not a respector of persons.

Saint Faustina and Divine Mercy  God's Messenger of Divine MercyBob and Penny Lord trace the life of Saint Faustina and the Origin of Divine Mercy Devotion.There is a time for Mercy and a time for Justice. Expelling Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden was an act of God's Justice. But even then, as the Angel was blocking the way to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden,1 and ushering our first parents out into the cold world, God was showing His Mercy to us through His promise of the Messiah, the Redeemer. God has always lived up to His Word. Throughout Salvation history, we have been beneficiaries of God's Mercy. And very few times has He let loose His Justice. Sodom and Gomorrah was God's Justice. Noah and the Ark was God's Justice, but also mingled with God's Mercy. The miracle of Moses and the Jews crossing the Red Sea was God's Mercy, coupled with God's Justice on the Pharaoh's charioteers. When finally we are in the last days, with possibly the end of the world at hand, and we are about to face the Last Judgment, at that time the God of Mercy will give way to the God of Justice.More about Saint Faustina and Divine MercyJourneys of Faith Bob and Penny Lord's StoreJourneys of Faith Blog Subscribe to our Free Blog Easy PeasyBob and Penny Lord TV Channel Miracles of the Eucharist, Apparitions of Mary, and lives of the Saints videos on demand.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/bobandpennylord?fan_landing=true)

The Christian Way of Living Part 6. CWLiving.org Cliff Spier We are at part 6 of the CWLiving, my last full lesson tonight [^] Coach Lombardi [^] blank There are no coincidences for the bel in Gods plan. I woke up Thursday morning, getting ready to start my lesson for today (Friday) and I scanned the news (always an invitation to sin and lose my RMA, since the News is always major source of MAS…) And of course I saw an excellent news report of what I taught on Wed night. [^] Recall I said …. [^] God is for freedom [^] Picture – so what did I read … These people face some amount of uncertainty. They had courage and did their jobs in the face of changing and bad ‘science'. They stood their ground and did their jobs. Now, they are under attack from the socialist, the democratic socialists, Marxists, the “cancel culture' That is what socialism does. Its evil and very very destructive to a nation. Yet, recall, as bels you do not face uncertainty. Not bels. I repeated this over and over again. God protects the believer. Not always Door #1 but you are protected and NOTHING, NOTHING can get to you that God does not approve from His throne in heaven. You are HIS and HE is your God. The solution is always the same in the CWLiving – Use Gods solutions – [^] Rebound - …. [^] So we are to Learn … Remember you cannot copy this as your sp life. You cant execute just what I tell you. (Repeat) you cannot copy this as your sp life. You must (Learn) Think about these verses, adopt them as your F/R Drill verses and then when opportunity comes up then use them. Be prepared. Do not be a casualty. [^] Blank What do I mean as a casualty? If you are concerned or have anxiety about any situation (at work or in your personal life, on in the lives of those you love, like children) Then STOP, Rebound when necessary. Go to God in prayer and claim His promise(s) and let God handle the situation. Whether it is getting a shot, refusing a shot, taking a stand and potentially getting fired… rejecting what schools teach your children…. Or Giving up your guns when they come for them… Charlton Heston famous quote – they can come and take my gun from my cold dead hands… great bravado (emotionalism), but that is not God's solution. What are God's solutions? God's #1 bumper sticker … [^] Rebound when necessary, xxx Let's God's Omnipotence handle the situation… and in His timing. … but Cliff I lost my job… then do your job… find another… ‘Oh by the way ….. Have you thought that God wanted you to have another job and He is using this to force that to happen? Do not under estimate God. Even if this is not the situation – God will protect you, He will help you… He protects you, the bel using F/R Drill, who is not falling apart…. You might have underserved suffering involved (don't be a coward), recall also God is the one who allows that suffering to occur. He is the one who will deliver you. Will you accept His help? Even in adversity? Even in pain and underserved suffering? Remember everything in this life is a test. I know it is a easy, flip thing to say from the comfort of our non-adversity situations… but it is still true… A test not of the cosmic system but from God. God may use the cosmic system and does. But God, Your creator TLJC, G/F and G/HS are the ones who allow your exact form of testing to occur, and gave you (in the past, before you needed them) the solutions to all testing. Use them and relax, or not, and suffer. The choice is yours. It's God's way or the My Way Highway The solution is always the same. Shifting gears … Let me summarize what the lessons were from the Red Sea incident and the Prodigal Son. [^] God makes you promises and God keeps His promises. o How? Well for one He is all powerful (Omnipotent) – like parting the sea! Therefore Trust God – No Mo Fear o We Trust God by a process of using the Faith Rest procedure God is a God of restoration o God knows we fail & o God patiently waits for us to return to Him, and many times again and again o So again no regrets, no guilt, no condemnation and no fear - we boldly go to God using His solutions - NO MO FEAR o We look forward (not backwards) and use God's solutions day- by-day. What are God's solutions (thus far in our study)? ... Now wait for it! [^] blank You do not need me to show it to you again. You know it by heart. Rebound Learn and use God promises Think like God thinks Again we are to use the F/R procedure when we fear, in order to put that fear on God to handle. We are to have no guilt or shame, we are to return to God's solutions and God's thinking when we fail, because He waits patiently for us to return to him. God is glorified when you use His solutions. So glorify God. Recall you have only one time in your entire existence on earth and in heaven to glorify God. And that is now, while you are on this earth. You should see in every passage of scripture, God loves you, wants the best for you and all you have to do is Learn, Think, Motive and Act. Learn about God and His procedures, Think about them and how they can apply to your life, be Motivated to make changes that you want to make. Don't make changes because of what you read only. You must understand what God says, why He says it and why you want to adopt His thinking. Then and only then change your Thinking and then be Motivated to Act. So relax. Take it one day at a time. Don't get bogged down. Just move forward each and every day. cccccccccccccccccccc Now I want to speak to a different group of believers. The Pharaoh's of Christianity. See in Pharaoh's case, after repeated warnings to believe God, he did not, So God's +R was displeased with Pharaoh and His decisions and His Justice meted out discipline and punishment to those who reject Him and violate His laws and commandments. That ‘return' from wrongdoing (disobedience and evil) should be so easy, But unfortunately for the average person, it is not. Including the average bel! But if and when you do use God's procedures (Rebound and F/R) then we have a compassionate God who forgives, forgets and who provides a RMA that is so precious in life. So it should be simple, right? Why do all this? One: God commanded us to. Two: God wants us to have a life of happiness, contentment and relative peace and tranquility with a Relaxed Mental Attitude (RMA). He also has a plan for us while on this earth So He provided solutions. Therefore it is up to us: follow God's provided solutions (aka God's way) vs. our own way or the way of the world (cosmos). These are a very important set of things to understand. When you Rebound, when necessary, and claim promises from God using the F/R procedure then you Trust those promises because you know that you have called upon God to do what His promises say and you know God is faithful and trustworthy to do what He promises. Then you can build up Trust. You come to rely upon what He says is true (Veracity) and He will come through for you (Immutability). Ccccccccccccccccccccccccccc There is another promise of God in a passage you may not be familiar with. Turn to Proverbs 12:25 I will put it on the board also but please turns to this passage so you can see it with the eye gate. [^] Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, But a good word [Divine promises and BD] makes it glad. “Anxiety in a man's heart weighs it down, it's a burden anxiety is. A burden wherever it occurs, and whenever it occurs, but a good word makes it glad.” Anxiety and gladness are contrasted in this verse. In fact they are antithetical terms, and a very necessary that we understand both in order to understand the message, the application of this great verse. [^] anxiety Noun Feminine singular deagah (deh-aw-gaw') Definition: anxiety, anxious care 1. fear or dread 1. This type of fear intrudes and manipulates the thought process. It affects it greatly. 2. It is a fear that paralyzes the mentality of the soul. a) And how does it paralyzed the mentality of the soul? By substituting emotion and reaction for both reasoning and objectivity. b) Fear is subjective, the counter to fear is, objectivity. (use F/R Drill and calm down … reverse process concentration 3. Emotionalism and reaction affects and sometimes debilitates normal activities in life. a) Fear can hold people prisoner. b) The reaction of fear affects and sometimes simply debilitates normal activities in life. 1) That moves into the area of depression as well. 4. It causes inertia, when there should be action. a) Fear can make people so uncertain that they don't know what to do, they can't make a decision, and therefore they can't act by making that decision. Think, Motive, Act 5. Also, fear stymies maximum effort when it is most needed. 6. A person who is anxious and emotional, turns inward, becomes subjective, and thinks only of self in times of adversity or stress. Cannot look at the problem with objectivity, can only look at themselves in fear and subjectivity. [also everything around the suffers – relationship with God (No Rebound, No F/R, No promises, cant think…), Family suffers, Job suffers, friends, Church, all suffer because you are frozen and cant think.] 7. These people are more afraid of a lack of a job, personal injury, of pain (in sickness), and even death, than personal integrity, honor and responsibility to God and to OTHERS. 8. And that's particularly true, For the believer, our responsibility is to the Lord, we are responsible to the Lord for our failure to use the spiritual life under pressure, fear - a lifestyle of fear. 9. The anxious, fearful person cannot think or function under those conditions. 10. Thus, Fear turns to cowardice. a) Fear is in all of us as we shall see, but cowardice is the result of fear that controls us. b) Fear that will not allow us to make good decisions, to be objective. Fear that makes us turn inward on ourselves, and become self-centered. c) This full-blown anxiety and cowardice is a result of a combination of confused thinking and personal arrogance and self-centeredness. And it manifests itself during interactions with people, or with other persons, or from some other stress factors. So anxiety appears in the face of any imagined, threatened, or real adversity. Adversity doesn't even have to happen for people to fear, it's only the threat of it or it's only the thought of it that brings fear. Such a person has a very, very difficult time in life dealing with demanding circumstances. They program themselves to fail because they are afraid. Because emotions and self-centeredness overrides calm, and rational, and objective thinking. People who handle adversity and fear, when they are under that kind of situation and condition, they become even more calm, more relaxed, more dependent not on their self-centeredness, but on the objectivity, and the problem solving that must occur to overcome the adversity. And we as believers know exactly what that means. We have problem-solving devices (PSDs). What I have covered these last 3 weeks. You may be sick of it. But is always remains the same -- Rebound when necessary ….. We use this overcome those moments of adversity. So that adversity doesn't become stress. Because when adversity becomes stress, that's when the pressure gets to us. That's when we can't function, that's when we fall apart. That's when fear (& Santa and His cosmic system) wins. ccccccccccccccccc I was in Glacier NP located in Montana camping before coming here. [^] It is located near and actually spans the Canadian border, Glacier NP is called Waterton Lakes NP in Canada. [^] I wanted to go into Canada and take the Trans-Canada highway across Canada and then come down into New York or Vermont to arrive here. [^] Blank I could not. Why? Psalm 91:6 Of the pestilence [corona virus, black plague] that stalks in darkness, Countries, Gov'ts, peoples are paralyzed by [^] Psalm 91:6 Of the pestilence [corona virus, black plague] that stalks in darkness, Yet, we as believers do not have to be. Why? [^] Psalm 91:1 He [the believer in TLJC] who dwells [via F/R procedure] in the shelter of the Most High [a reference to God] Will abide [reside] in the shadow of the Almighty [Omnipotence of God]. [^] Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with His pinions [feathers], And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark [a defensive wall – like a castle wall]. [^] Mother bird Psalm 91:1 … will find shelter … and reside under the protection of Omnipotent God. Are you afraid of the corona virus or of what it does? Stop Stand Still and watch the deliverance of the Lord. We as bels can, those bels who do not use the F/R Drill cannot, and all unbels tremble at the thought. But not those who reside under the protection of an Omnipotent God. [^] Proverbs 12:25 Anxiety in the heart of a man weighs it down, But a good word [Divine promises and BD] makes it glad. ccccccccccccccccccccccc Turn in your bibles to Psalm 27:5 [^] Blank [^] Psalm 27:5 [Promise] For in the day of trouble He [God] will conceal me in His tabernacle [promises claimed]; In the secret place of His tent [doctrine & promises] He [God] will hide me; He [God] will lift me up on a rock. Psalm 27:5, “For in the day of trouble, we all have those days, maybe every day, especially if you have a lot of anxiety - every day's a bad day, every day you wake up with all know what's going to go wrong today? So say “Well I already know two or three things”, and so you approach life with anxiety and fear Psm 27:5 , [Promise] For in the day of trouble, God will conceal me in His Tabernacle [promises claimed], in the secret place of his tent [BD] he will hide me, he will lift me up on a rock.” What a great passage of care and deliverance, behind you. What does what does a dog do when it's scared, well often it runs into his house or it runs somewhere to hide, what a perfect example. When you are afraid, you don't hide from your fear, rather you let God hide you in His loving hands. And that is confidence. Ccccccccccccccc Turn to Psalm 56:3 [^] Psalm 56:3 [Promise] When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. [you can have fear but don't let it control you – how? F/R Drill] Psalm 56:3 not again, a promise, David, he said “When I am afraid, David was afraid, David faced a bear and killed it by himself without an H&H .375 cartridge rifle. He faced up a lion and killed it by himself. He faced Goliath. He faced the wrath of Saul for years chasing him around the countryside trying to kill him with his army. He faced his own son who deposed him, and then chased him around the countryside to kill him. David had fear! This man had fear! I suppose he could have just said any of the many true but HVP epigrams around today: put your big boy pants on; or in the west we say Cowboy up! Army Rangers say “drive on”, Airborne Rangers say “Airborne! Marines say Semper Fi! What does that mean? Nothing. Bravado. To face a bear or problems in life requires fortitude. You better have something besides just some epigram. David did have fortitude, but how? Through his own power through his own strength? No not at all. What did David have? What does it say, when I am afraid I will put my trust in You, David was a man of great courage, David was a man who could handle that adversity. David's life was turmoil, in so many ways. Many times self induced… But recall… It Matters Not … He had a great life. David could have trusted in his human ability, in his own strength, in his training. Yet David Trusted God. What did God say about David? A man after my own heart. Can God say that about you? The solution always ahs been and always will be … [^] bumper sticker So to close out this 6 part series, I want to review summarize what we have studied and remind you of the promises we covered. Thus far, we have explored in God's instruction manual [the bible]: God's Divine Essence (JR SOOO LIVE), How He thinks (His Love, His Righteousness and His Justice) and we have studied the first of His Problem Solving procedures: Rebound when necessary and learning then diligently using the Faith Rest procedure. Along with these aspects, I have emphasized God's Love for you (God's Divine Essence of Love), We need to Trust God, that is Trust His promises because He made those promises for you, for you to use, (but also Trust His Commands (CMD) and procedures and what the bible says), So that you can be relaxed in any and every situation of life (Relaxed Mental Attitude – RMA). That too is an expression of God's Love for you, providing you solutions for life. I have covered fear because fear is a big problem in life and God has given us a lot of anti-fear promises. I reminded you God has a plan for your life. And since it is God's plan, he designed it for you and only you, therefore only a perfect God can create a perfect plan for an imperfect person (i.e. you and me), so it will be a great and fantastic life. I defined the CWLiving, that is living God's Plan for you, using God's provisions, like Rebound and F/R procedure, learning about God and Trusting God, which means you start to appreciate God which develops into a love for God. You love what He has done for you, what He provides for you and then you start to Depend upon Him. But this all starts with Rebounding when necessary, diligently using the F/R procedure based upon learning God's promises & using them (in the F/R procedure), learning about God's Divine Essence and how it works. Once you ‘see' God in action and how you can lead a more relaxed life, then that too grows your love for God. And when that happens, you reflect God's thinking in your life and you make decisions that reflect God's thinking because it becomes your thinking. That then is living or executing God's Plan for your life. Just like I described in my first example of the Faith Rest procedure as driving in bad weather: God either causes circumstances to work in your favor (rain goes away or lessens), or your confidence (courage) is increased, or any number of possibilities (recall He is Omnipotent). God works things out, life out, for your benefit. In fact, there is a great verse that says just that. You know it well… [^] Romans 8:28 [Promise] In fact, we know that God causes all things to work together for [your] good to those who love God [who TRUST Him [Prov 3:5-6a]], ... The key is those who Love God, i.e. who know God, who Trust Him, who use His solutions, procedures and who follow His plan. And to follow God's plan at this point for you is Rebounding when necessary, diligently using the F/R procedure, learning who God is (His Divine Essence) and how He thinks – or in short trusting God. Let's do a quick run through of the promises we covered. You can copy them down or get them from the web site. Please do memorize them or put them on the wall in your study so that they are on the wall of your soul. [^] 1 Peter 5:7. Give me all your concerns because I (God) care for you. I like what Pastor Rory Clark says: Slamming all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (TLJC) and you shall be saved” (Acts 16:31) [^] Proverbs 3:5 [CMD #1] Trust in the Lord with all your heart [where you think, not emotion], And [CMD #2] do not lean on your own [human] understanding [your own personal opinion vs God's]. Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways [CMD #3] acknowledge Him, [using Rebound & F/R Drill] And [Promise] He will make your paths straight. [God will work out everything in your life] And recall what I said you have to do to “In all your ways acknowledge Him?” Rebound when necessary and diligently using the Faith Rest procedure. Trust, lean not and acknowledge Him - a learned behavior, a process. Never give up, never give in. I introduced the concept of Trust early to you – [^] Lamentations 3:25 [Promise] The Lord is good to those who trust in Him [F/R procedure] and to those who wait for Him [divine timing of God, having patience], Anti-Fear – God's Protection [^] eternal security anti fear promise John 3:16 "For God sooooooo loved the world, [with the result] that He gave His uniquely born Son [virgin birth], that whoever believes in Him shall never perish [eternal security], but have everlasting life.” Once you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, you are going to heaven, no matter what! You cant ‘lose' your salvation – ever. That is called eternal security. And also, you have no fear of physical death. When you die physically you are going to heaven. [^] Isaiah 41:10 [Promise] '[Stop] Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' > [^] Deuteronomy 20:3 ... “Hear, O Israel [believers using CWLiving], you are approaching the battle against your enemies [problems, adversities of life] today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, Deuteronomy 20:4 [Promise] for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save [or deliver] you.” [^] Isaiah 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord [TLJC], the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. ... Isaiah 40:29 [Promise] He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power [physical and mental courage and a RMA]. > Anti-fear conclusion ... [^] Matthew 7:11 [Promise] If you then [the context is talking about parents], being evil [compared to the character & integrity of God], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! Again, those are Promises from God. You go to God and ask or claim a promise and God delivers (in His timing). We covered Psalm 91, a great passage to put together the concepts of God's Divine Essence, His promises and what He does for us in terms of protection (anti-fear). How can we not forget… [^] Psalm 91:1 He [the believer in JC] who dwells [via F/R procedure] in the shelter of the Most High [a reference to God] Will abide [reside] in the shadow of the Almighty [Omnipotence of God]. [^] Mother bird The mother bird protecting her chicks? That is you and any of us as believers who use God's procedures and Trust in God. > Another aspect of anti-fear ... That I did not cover but you as Pastor's congregation know well… “Rebound and Keep Moving (forward)”. Do not look back. God knows that humans have regrets and worse. We are hampered by [victims of] our past. Or what we are doing right now (guilt). Rebound and move forward. Don't look over your shoulder, so to speak. Go forward and do the best you can in your circumstances. [^] Confused which way to go? So part of anti-fear in your life is not looking backwards, Rebound when necessary and move forward. Mistakes in the past, even horrible ones, God turns into blessings (not necessarily instantly but over time) so that you look back and ‘see' God and His hand in your life and are so grateful to Him that you are where you are, at this moment, and look forward to what God has for you in the future. > I addressed the issue of fear of punishment, people fear God is going to punish them. But we know God's will for all mankind. And it is not punishment [^] 1 Tim 2:4 [God] wills [1] all men to be saved [unbeliever] and [2] [for believers] to come to the knowledge of the truth [bible doctrine, what the bible says, like Rebound and F/R procedure]. SO we know by this doctrine that God is not out to punish you, but By first looking at who and what God is, His Divine Essence which for us centers around His Love and then His Righteousness and Justice. What is God's ‘goal'? Anything God does it is with this in mind. For unbelievers' discipline is to point them toward the need for salvation and a need for a savior, that is Jesus Christ. For believers' discipline is to guide us back to executing His plan for our lives. That is Rebound when necessary and diligently using the F/R procedure. > Recall [^] Psalm 86:5 For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness [unfailing Love of God] to all who call upon You. ‘call upon You' are those who Rebound when necessary and diligently use the Faith Rest procedure. Using God's solutions in life. [^] Psalm 86:15 But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, Slow to anger [patient and longsuffering] and abundant in grace and truth. ‘truth' is God's word, the bible or the doctrines of the bible like Rebound and Faith Rest procedure – ‘truth' is His Love Letter to You. Yet recall part of discipline that none of us like is Reaping what you Sow. [^] Gal 6:7 [CMD] Do not be deceived, God is not [cannot be] mocked; [Promise] for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. Again, for the believer Rebound and diligently using the F/R procedure then start making better decisions. Then God may eliminate or reduce the effects of bad decisions. Or He might not, and if He doesn't then it is for your own benefit, as strange as that might seem. Yet you still have F/R procedure and you can be relaxed even when under the effects of bad decisions. So isn't God wonderful? He gives us a RMA and contentment even when we reap what we sow!!! So God loves us even when we make mistakes and are suffering the consequences of those mistakes. God has a plan for your life: Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for peace [mental prosperity] and not for calamity [evil] to give you a future and a hope [confidence]. Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him [God the Father] who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power [God's Divine Essence] that works within us. > Recall grace means God's un-merited favor toward you. You do not earn or deserve (merit) blessings from God but you get it, especially when you use His solutions then His Righteousness (+R) is satisfied and His Justice gives you what God Love wants for you. Grace. Recall again God provides for what you need in life – [^] 2 Peter 1:3 seeing that His divine power [Omnipotence] has graciously been given to you everything pertaining to this natural life [food, water, shelter, etc] and the spiritual life [CWLiving], through the knowledge [learning what the bible says = Bible Doctrine, e.g. Rebound and F/R procedure...] of Him [Jesus Christ] who called you by His own glory and virtue. 2 Peter 1:4 For by these [doctrines – Rebound, Faith Rest, God's Divine Essence and how it works] God has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises [1Peter 5:7, Proverbs 3:5-6, etc], in order that by them, when applied, you might become partakers of the divine nature [God's Thinking specifically the CWLiving], having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust [human thinking and lifestyle]. Bottom line, God has provided everything you need for this life and to grow spiritually. And to repeat, the ultimate anti-fear versus is: [^] Isaiah 41:10 [Promise] '[Stop] Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' notice again how God worded what will be done? I am, I will... Do you see how personal God is with us? Just another indication of His Love for you and me. [^] Blank So this is how God thinks and what Gods will is and How God thinks. His Promises, His CMDs and Instructions to live our lives in the face of Cosmic opposition or the troubles of life. My last promise to quote is a prayer, so read it with me as a close in prayer. Jude 1:24 [Promise] Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, Jude 1:25 to the only wise God and Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom is glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Recap – Coach Lombardi – [^] Coach Belichick Prodigal Son verbal summary So as far as we have gone in this parable you now have a good background as to the plan English and the isagogics. Let's look at the spiritual meaning of this part of the Prodigal son. [^] Luke 15:11 ¶ And He [Jesus] said, "A certain man [God the Father] had two sons [both believers]; I want to skip some detailed background as to the circumstances of where and why Jesus told this parable. My goal is to keep this relatively simple for now (even if it is not short). Just know there is allot of background as to why Jesus told this parable. But for now, it is not important. What I do want to mention, something that many in ‘Christianity' do not understand and what I want to make clear is that we are all undeserving of receiving anything from God. You are a well taught congregation, but it is worth repeating. God can't have anything to do with sin or sinner (you know this as what the bible calls unrighteousness). Therefore God can't have a relationship with sinful mankind. But He wants to (ponder than – He wants to …) and so His Love Motivated Him to find a solution (Think and Act) and that solution was Salvation followed by the sp life – the CWLiving. We are learning God's solutions that enable us to live in this world and have a relationship with God, and in using His solutions and following His instructions, we can navigate this corrupt world we live in and first demonstrate to ourselves how we can be happy, content and relaxed (by using God's solutions) and then by living the CWLiving we show others (a witness). God found a way to provide for us and all we have to do is Learn, Think, Motive and Act – or in short obey, but obey because we want to, not because we have to (that is part of motivation). Along with being unworthy, because we are sinners and will sin in the future, this means our human nature is evil. We are not basically good; we are evil and strive to be good. That is hard to swallow and most human thinking says we are basically good but do bad things. No. God says we do not have a righteousness equal to His and therefore are unrighteous. Again this is a hard to accept since we are brought up to think of ourselves as basically good (Satan's lie). But the fact is when we compare ourselves to God, we are totally unrighteous and evil. Now be careful, do not take this to the extreme. God created us and we are valuable to Him, we just have a nature that is unrighteous compared to His. And as I said He cannot have anything to do with unrighteousness or sin. So He had to do something about it. And did. There are many people who have good traits and follow morale principles (which are given by God for all people - DE) but the bible is clear we are basically bad people and we have to strive to be good. Which is just the opposite of what humanity (i.e. Satan) says and peddles, which is false and anti-God. If God says we are naturally evil and humanists say we are basically good, then they are saying God is wrong, God is a lair and are against God. Therefore they are on the wrong side and they are siding with Satan. That might be rough to hear but it is factual and God says this directly. [^] Psalm 14:1 (For the choir director. A Psalm of David.) The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good. Psalm 14:2 The Lord has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men, To see if there are any who understand, Who seek after God. Psalm 14:3 They have all turned aside; together they have become [morally] corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. [^] Rom 3:10 As it is written [in Ecclesiastes 7:20], "There is none righteous, not even one; Rom 3:11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; [God sought us] Rom 3:12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one." So where am I going with this? Simply, we are all unworthy, and so for the prodigal son to say he is unworthy to be a son, he is wrong on two counts. First, he was always unworthy, not just this one little time when he demanded from his father the inheritance and then sold it and left for a distant country. He was always from his birth unworthy. Second, he says he was unworthy to be his son, again once a son always a son. So he was wrong with his logic twice. Thus he still has allot to learn and growing up to do. God's salvation gift is provided to all, there are not levels of deserving individuals or levels of undeserving individuals. As human beings we all sin, some more, some less but there are not degrees of sin making one better than another. (There are different ramifications for sins – e.g. murder vs speeding ticket). What the bible makes clear is that we all, everyone, is undeserving. So know the bible is absolutely clear that we all are undeserving, yet God Loves us and gives us grace (un-merited blessing). John 3:16. This parable portrays the attitude of God the Father toward the lost. Seeking the lost to come to Him in contrast to an excluding attitude. Since we are all undeserving and lost (without God), God takes the initiative and seeks you. He does this consistent with His Righteousness and Justice, motivated by His Love. I want to read another quote from Col Thieme - . The unfailing love of God for His own, that is believers, is the security that He provides for those who are His [believers], no matter where we are, no matter which direction we go, no matter how far we stray, no matter how lost we are. He never gives up, never. He is going to pursue you and try to persuade you to have a relationship with Him, a most beneficial relationship that has benefits in time, this life, and for all eternity. That's our God. [^] Luke 15:11 And He [Jesus] said, A certain man [God the Father] had two sons [both believers]; Luke 15:12 and the younger of them said to his father,' Father, [CMD] give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' And he divided his wealth between them. The dividing of the estate represents God providing everything you need in life to Learn, Think, Motive and Act with emphasis of what is called logical grace (food, shelter clothing, etc to live life in earth). Once you are a believer, God is obligated and has provided everything you need to live in this world. Both physical and spiritual. So your obligation is to grow up spiritually, to live the CWLiving. 2 Peter 3:18 says “Grow in the grace and knowledge of God”. To do that you must Learn, Think, Motive, Act. God provides both the materially and the spiritual information you need to do that. The younger brother represents most believers that receive the blessings of God the Father while turning our back on God. Also notice the Father made no attempt to stop him. God is a perfect gentleman and He does not violate your free will nor does He force you to remain in fellowship with Him. We are not robots, automatons, we are thinking, breathing, beings who God gave free will to follow God or not. So it is our decision. At this point when you look at this, it is a picture of the Plan of God and us using our freewill. God has a plan for every one of us, and we have free will, a choice to Learn, Think, Motive, Act about God's Plan or to reject or be ignorant of God's plan (apathy). The believer must accept the Plan of God which includes living the spiritual life [CWLiving]. The only alternative is for the believer to go his own way, to stay outside the Plan of God, to reject the Plan of God. To live our lives and its consequences without God. The My Way HighWay Just think about this for a second. Go back to the driving in weather example. Do you want to drive in bad weather on your own or do you want the protection and help of God? A God that is all powerful (Omnipotent)! Seems like an easy decision, huh! So if you want to get back into the protection and help of God ... there is always a way of recovery. To return or start living in the Plan of God. [^] How? Rebound when necessary and then diligently using the Faith Rest procedure. For unbelievers, Faith Alone in Christ Alone – Salvation, [^] Then start with my first lesson and Learn Rebound and the Faith Rest procedure; Think about when you need to Rebound and then call upon the promises of God so that you can be relaxed; next be Motivated to make good decisions based upon what you know from God via His word, the bible; and Act, have the courage to make those good decisions, including calling upon God via the Faith Rest Procedure to help you out in your times of need. And as you practice these ‘skills', learn about this God (Divine Essence) and then more about what the bible says, you are growing spiritually, you are executing the CWLiving and you are in the Plan of God for your life. But first it starts with Rebound when necessary, Diligently use the F/R Drill. The believer always has the ability to Learn, Think, Motive, Act in accordance with God and His plan. And that is another point that will be clearly made in this parable. That's the desire of God the Father, a recovery of right thinking and right living for all of His children (sons and daughters). He wants us to be in His Plan (PoG), sometimes we decide we are not going to be in His Plan. But it is our choice. And God lets us do that and then we suffer the consequences of our Thinking & Actions. [^] Luke 15:13 "And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country [outside God's Plan], and there he squandered his estate with loose living. Two things to notice here: First, the younger son just left God the Father's protection [^] bird pic … the younger son just left God the Father's protection and did not call upon God for anything that he was planning to do. He did not ask for guidance, did not ask for help when things started to go bad, he just did his own thing. And that unfortunately is what we all do (some more, some less). We forget about God or we don't even have a relationship with God to know we can rely upon Him for help and advice. We just go on our merry way without a care with respect to God, and then panic when we get into trouble. [^] Blank Second: I mentioned this earlier, “loose living” – Notice God covers your sin(s) and therefore does not tell us what this loose living is. He respects what the younger son did and does not tell us what it was. That is part of God's graciousness. What the young son did is not the issue, the issue is being outside of God and His plan. The only thing that matters is to return. Period. That is how God thinks. The bible says sin is sin, there are not degrees of sin (though there might be degrees of consequences). The sin is not important; it is that we are outside the thinking of God, outside the Plan of God, and a lifestyle of living without God. Also God does not keep track of our sins, that is only something we as human beings do, which is antithetical to how God thinks and wants us to think. When we commit sin were are to Rebound, name and cite that sin to God and move on – 1 John 1:9. A corollary to this is, we are to keep our noses out of other people's business and if by chance we know of someone's sins, we are to never mention them and even forget them if we can, but never mention them or think about them. We follow God's example on this. [^] Luke 15:14 "Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be in need. First, God loves you so much, He does all he can to wake you up to the fact that you are outside His plan for an extended time, this is part of what is called Divine Discipline. You are living outside the protection and provisions of God, so God provides disciple to wake you up to the fact that you need to recover and be restored to fellowship [via Rebound]. So what does God do in this case? He allows a severe famine to occur so that this young man would begin to be in need. This is the Sovereignty of God, the Omniscience of God or maybe the Omnipotence of God acting. God either knew that a severe famine would happen and he allowed this young man to go into that country. Or God made the severe famine occur via His Omnipotence. We are not told, but we can clearly see and use the Divine Essence of God and apply it here to understand God's ‘hand' in this situation. Again, so important from time to time to relate what is going on, or not, to God's Divine Essence. It helps us understand God and appreciate His power and wisdom. Because His Divine Essence is in action for your benefit. Principle: again without going into detail at this time, we are ‘whole in our life' [relaxed, happy, content, having purpose or ‘filled up' as it were] when we Learn, Think, Motive, Act using what God has provided and learn God's thinking. When we think like God thinks. There is a famine in every person that rejects the nourishment God provides by Learn, Think, Motive and Act using the word of God. Notice he began to be in need. He could not find a job. He never knew what hunger was all about because He was always provided for by living (fellowship) with his Father. And now he is outside the protection and help of His Father. Just like we are when we are out of fellowship and need to Rebound and even if we are in fellowship but do not use the Faith Rest procedure when needed (and it is always needed). [^] Luke 15:15 "And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. There is allot to this sentence that we will learn in the future. Since we are talking about the spiritual interpretation here and its application, just know that ‘attaching himself' means that this young man has rejected God the Father's thinking and way for his life and has adopted a different way of thinking and a different life. And as a result, he is now the feeder of the disgusting, muddy, stinky swine. See here God is a gentleman, you reject God, His plan and His instruction and procedures and you then reap what you sow. You make bad decisions and you reap the consequences of those bad decisions. (as you know all not lost, you can still recover, it is only a hard road because you think it is a hard road, but don't forget: God will help you, he is rooting for you and He will do all in His power to help you. And you know what? You will be better for going through the process! Guaranteed.) Something also to bring out wrt going our on way. Where did we get this idea of going our own way, it is not just volition, we learned it. We adopt some other philosophy than Gods. ... where did humanity or the ‘world' get its philosophy? In short it gets it by not following God's thinking and making up its own ‘rules' of life. This congregations knows where ‘world' gets its thinking apart from God's thinking? It got it from God's adversary, Satan. We know it as cosmic thinking. It is derived from the Greek word used in the New Testament for ‘world', ‘cosmos' - where we get the word cosmic and the bible says that Satan is the ruler of the cosmos – the ruler of the world. Of course this is a reference to the Angelic Conflict. So not thinking the way God wants us to think then is ‘cosmic' thinking or cosmic system thinking. Because Satan has developed a whole ‘system' to trap people into not thinking the way God thinks. So let me contrast God's thinking with the thinking that is in Satan's cosmic system. By use of an illustration from today… Communism and its little brother Socialism are anti-God and are the way that humanists think. The precepts of these human ideologies sound good but are built on faulty premises and are anti-God. God is for freedom, these groups are for right thinking and if you do not think right you are condemned (‘cancelled') or worse (you are imprisoned or killed); God is for marriage, one man and one woman; these groups are for anything goes – same sex marriage, polygamy. God is for family, what we have called in the past a nuclear family, a mother and a father raising children, these groups are for ‘It takes a Village to raise a Child”, completely opposed to God's way of thinking. God is for nationalism, they are for internationalism. Everywhere ‘their way' has been tried, you have the rich politicians and peasants who are struggling to survive. Look at Venezuela today and the French Revolution or the Bolshevik Revolution (Russia) or Communist China started under Mao. Socialism, the progressive movement, BLM, ANTIFA, Communism are all anti-God and part of Satan's cosmic system. And those people who think like that and those who sympathize with them are part of the cosmic system. > You can spot these groups and what they stand for by their use of the word ‘change'. ‘Change' in the name of some vague improvement, for the common good. The collective good vs individual rights. ‘Change' glorifies man, look what man can do. Versus looking to God and His system as outlined in the bible. God provides a system for all mankind to function, which is called Divine Establishment – 4 Divine Institutions I just mentioned The US Constitution and the Bill of Rights (first 10 amendments to the US Constitution) embodies God's Divine Establishment. In the USA it is what defines how citizens can live together in peace and harmony. Let me challenge you – Do you know what is in the Us Constitution as basic rights? I am sure you know free speech. What are the 4 things mentioned in The 1st Amendment of the US constitution? Besides free speech? - First Amendment (5 things) Congress shall make no law [1] respecting an establishment of religion, or [2] prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of [3] the press, or [5] the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and [5] to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. Second Amendment … the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. Fourth Amendment The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, Fifth Amendment No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury For believers and unbelievers alike, God's Divine Establishment is made up of Freedom, Marriage, Family and Nationalism plus the Rule of Law (embodied in the US Constitution). And in God's system is how mankind can live and prosper. It is also what glorifies God. Why? How? Again, the ‘recipe' is the same, using God's solutions vs man's made-up solutions or ‘change'. God honors His solutions and He eventually punishes man's solutions (as being anti-God and therefore anti-freedom). Mankind is the most prosperous under freedom vs tyranny. Tyranny is anytime you remove free choice - Freedom. What happens to these people who are anti-God and anti-USA and want to bring this country down and remake into a Socialist Communist country? These people who mock God and His system will suffer Divine Judgment. Psalm 33:10. [^] Psalm 33:10 [Promise] The Lord nullifies [note ] the counsel [thwarts the plans] of the nations [globalism, anti-Nationalism, UN]; He frustrates [to bring to nothing ] the plans [intensions] of the peoples. [who are attacking the client nation & DE people] [note ] It might happen with the next election, it might happen years down the road, it might happen after our deaths, but God will judge these people for the evil that they Think, their Motives and Acts. God will not be mocked Galatians 6:7 - [^] Galatians 6:7 [CMD] Do not be deceived [Stop doing what you are doing], God cannot be mocked; for whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap. This simply says that if you mock God, if you follow a course of anti-God, your actions have consequences and those consequences will be you reaping what you sow. If you sow God's thinking, then you reap the benefit of God's thinking. If you reject God and go down your own path or someone else's ideals that are anti-God then you will reap the consequences of anti-God thinking and be outside of Gods protection. So cosmic system thinking is anti-God and therefore evil. Those who think this way, those who act this way, those who are sympathetic to these groups and this thinking are anti-God, which is evil. So we need to Think God's way and not think or be anti-God. And again how? Become a believer in Jesus Christ [^] slide Rebound … then use Rebound when necessary and diligently use the Faith Rest Procedure, and Learn about God, how he thinks and adopt His thinking and His ways vs Satan's comic thinking. I can go on but I will stop here. > Those who reject God and pursue humanism, socialism will be judged harshly by God – remember – Don't mess with God and don't mess with God's people, whether it be the Jews at the Red Sea or God's RF, His Church Age bels & Client Nations or His principles of DE. God wins Satan and His cosmic system and peoples loses We win because we are Gods. [^] Chart 23 Luke 15:15 "And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. So ‘attaching himself' means that the young man is part of Satan's cosmic system and not in God's plan for his life [CWLiving]. Not thinking with God's thinking. He rejected God the Father's thinking and lifestyle. Not ‘attaching himself” to God's plan. The second thing is this ‘citizen of that country' sent him out to the fields to feed swine. He is now effectively a slave to this ‘citizen'. What friend or associate would send someone out to this work? This is an analogy to the cosmic system making slaves out of people who follow its tenants. Following the ‘rules' of the cosmic system will only lead to heartache and disappointment because only God's ways are the way to peace [RMA], comfort and genuine happiness in life. How could it not if God is the one protecting and providing for you? [^] Luke 15:16 And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. God provides for believers, he provides for your daily needs, logistical grace. So the food you eat, the clothes you wear, your transportation, everything you need to sustain yourself God provides. When you are in the cosmic system, you are rejecting God's plan and provisions for you. You are now relying upon Satan and his cosmic system for your needs. I know this is a hard concept to understand because what you see around you does not conform to this view. But it is nevertheless true. In short, the world or cosmic view is you work hard, then you can provide for yourself and your family. There is nothing wrong with working hard. But it is a matter of your focus. Are you working hard to get ahead, to make money? Or, are you working hard leading a balanced life, knowing God provides what you need (called logistical grace) and knowing that everything you have is from God and not from your own labors. I know this is subtle, but working hard and gaining ‘stuff' vs being diligent in spiritual life (CWLiving) is a big difference. I changed the word ‘hard' to ‘diligently'. A subtle but important change, in your thinking. You choose to live under God's thinking and work diligently at your jobs (notice plural) and let God be the one who provides for you. Jobs: You have time for God, you have time for family & your spouse, you have time for work, you have time for friends and hobbies, you have time to enjoy the fruits of knowing God and in your work (Sabbath Rest). One works for money and status in life and the other a balanced life that is relaxed and comforted in the knowledge of God and how God thinks and how God provides for you. The subtly here is work hard for stuff and all the anxieties that come along with that. Or your focus is on God, learning and applying what He says, diligently living the CWLiving and part of that is doing your job at your work, then reaping the benefit of God's provisions for you. A balanced life or a hectic life. Your choice. Satan's cosmic system way or God's way. Subtle but important. So attaching yourself is important [and has ramification for your entire lifetime]. This young man was attaching himself to the cosmic system rather than God. [^] Luke 15:17 "But when he came to his senses [notice thinking before changing your mind], he thought to himself, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! He never was hungry before this, he never did not have the right clothes, he never did not have a soft bed to sleep in, they were all provided for by his father. God the Father provides for everything in a believer's life. Some may have more, some may have less but always what you need. So the analogy here is ‘why would you leave the protection and provision of your Father'? And we know the answer, we are arrogant and we want to do things our way. When our way conflicts with God's way then the inevitable results occur. Likewise when we trust God, learn His thinking and His ways, use His solutions (procedures and techniques then we are living under the full protection and care (Love) of God. Which of the two ways is best? (rhetorical question) The point is rational thinking is what is needed to evaluation your circumstances. In this young man's case, he said to himself: “why did I leave?” He knows why but now with his ‘experiences' he sees the error of his ways. [^] Luke 15:18 'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven [rebound], and in your sight; So what is the spiritual solution when you are outside of Gods plan? Rebound. Name or cite your sins to God the Father and be restored to fellowship. This young man Thought, and was Motivated to change his Thinking and decided to Act. [note – I am using this Learn, Think, Motive, Act process allot because it is important that we all understand how we come to make a decision. It is not emotional. It is rationale. It's a process. This process is important and it is found throughout the bible. It needs to be the model for your process to come to a decision] [^] Luke 15:19 [he should have stopped but continued on emotionally] I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men. "' Again worthy. None of us are worthy for God to take interest in us. We have nothing commendable to God. What we are is His creation and because we are His creation He takes an interest in us and wants us to succeed. He Loves us with His perfect Divine Essence of Love. But as we have covered before, He can't Love us and provide all that He wants for us unless His perfect Divine Righteousness (+R) and Justice are satisfied. Again how are they satisfied? By using His solutions and procedures. In these lessons it is Rebound when necessary and learn the promises of God and diligently using the Faith Rest Procedure. As we are seen via this parable, it is God's way or it is Satan's cosmic system way. Those are our only two choices in life. Again we need to note God's procedure. Name or cite our sins to God the Father in prayer. We are not to feel sorry for them. God does not ask that of us. Just name or cite them to Him and only Him. God does not ask us to plead with him, to tell Him (what He already knows) that we are unworthy. But since we believed in Faith Alone in Christ Alone we became part of God's family, so worthy or unworthy is not an issue. We are His. We were born unworthy but God, at our Salvation, made us part of His family and now therefore worthiness is not an issue. It is not part of the equation. Worthiness does not matter to God and should not matter to us. (adopt God's thinking) We are sons and daughters and nothing is going to change that after salvation. We are not worthy to be His family, yet He made us sons and daughters nonetheless. God's Sovereignty made us sons and daughters because His Love wanted to and when we believed in Christ with Faith Alone in Christ Alone then God's Justice was satisfied and His Righteousness told His Omnipotence to make us sons and daughters. Again everything God does is related back to His Divine Essence. Study God's Divine Essence, it is important. So after we Rebound, there is nothing left to do. No feeling sorry, No nothing, just go forward (make better decisions). So this young man should stop in his thinking after ‘rebound'. He does not have to grovel or insult his father by saying treat me, your son, like a servant. Just Rebound. Father I have sinned against you. [^] Luke 15:20 "And he got up and came to his father. Again, Thinking about his situation led him to be Motivated to change his situation (Action). [^] Luke 15:20 "And he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father [did 5 things] [1] saw him, His father every day was looking for his son to return. The same with God the Father. Every day He is waiting for you to return to His plan using His solutions and procedures. He waits patiently. There is a verse in the bible that describes this: [^] Revelation 3:20 Behold [Take Notice! - believers], I [God] stand at the door [of your soul] and keep on knocking; if you hear My voice [how? By Learning or recalling what the bible says] and opens the door [you walk away from the cosmic system and Rebound, restart the CWLiving], I will come in to him, and will dine [fellowship] with him, and he with Me. God takes the initiate and is always waiting for a believer to be Motivated to Act based upon recalling or Learning what the bible says (Bible Doctrine) and when you use God's solution (Rebound) then you are back into fellowship with Him restarting the CWLiving. God is waiting... and therefore looking for His sons and daughters to return. That is how God thinks. Period. Just return via Rebound and move forward in the CWLiving (in your case diligently using the F/R procedure). [^] Luke 15:20 ... But while he was still a long way off, his father [did 5 things] [1] saw him, and [2] felt compassion for him, and [3] ran and [4] embraced him, and [5] kissed him. This is God's attitude for every believer who returns to the CWLiving. We have a Loving, compassionate, forgiving and wonderful God. Our job is to Learn, Think, Motive and Act using God's provisions, procedures and what He tells us in the bible (Bible Doctrine) to live our lives under His protection. I think it is important to notice that God did 5 things. He could have just done one, but His heartbeat is to have a relationship with you, an individual relationship, so God is ‘excited' and overjoyed at seeing a believer who is returning to Him. God is always [1] looking for a believer to return, [2] He is compassionate and knows that the believer had a rough time and wants to do everything to ease their pain; He [3] runs toward you when you have a change of thinking and [4] embraces you and hugs you and [5] gives you maximum comfort. This is the God of the universe, this is the God who Loves us and waits patiently to do all that He can for you. [^] Luke 15:21 "And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' Luke 15:22 "But the Father [cut him off] As we have seen, Rebound is all that we have to do. And as we see here, the father cuts him off. He has Rebounded, so that is all that is required to be done. You changed your mind to God's thinking – repentance. A word that has been badly re-defined from what its original meaning. We change our minds about using Satan's comic system thinking for God's thinking (Bible Doctrine) and we start using God's provisions and do what the bible says. [^] Luke 15:22 "But the father [cut him off] said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand [signature ring] and sandals on his feet; Luke 15:23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and be merry [celebrate]; [^] Luke 15:24 for this son of mine was dead, and has come to life again [he simply returned home]; he was lost, and has been found.' And they began to be merry [celebrate]. You can see and feel the excitement that God has when just one son or daughter returns to God and His ways. This is who and what this God of ours is. He is overjoyed at someone's return. This is the Love and excitement and care that God has for us. And ‘what is it that we have to do'? [^] Rebound when necessary. Learn God's Promises and diligently use the Faith Rest Procedure. Learn about God and His character (Divine Essence), ‘see' (experience) how God thinks and use or adopt His thinking as our own. When we fail Rebound. And keep moving forward I am choosing to not cover the rest of the parable which involves the older brother. I wanted to hammer home God's love and How He feels and thinks about you. What he has provided for you. And what our obligation is to God. extemporaneous – Heb 10:25 and why COVID…. To close out this parable I want to mention one thing. What the Father wants here is the prodigal's restoration to the father in his house (fellowship with God and fellowship within the RF – Heb 10:25) What is exemplified here is the necessary attitude of love by believers for one another. This is a part of restoration, and this is a part of your attitude in grace orientation. It should be either personal love or impersonal love as the situation dictates. You have to be very careful that your strong sense of justice doesn't become self-righteousness. We do note hate the rioters, we despise the riots. Now the Rule of Law must be enforced – yet we despise the riots. We do not hate the Gay, Lesbian, Queer, Transvestite, Bi-sexual, binary or undecideds – we despise their actions. We do not despise the socialist, Marxist politicians who want to destroy our country and who spew anti-God rhetoric – we despise, reject and stand against what they say. We reject their actions but not the person. We want the Rule of Law enforced but we do not support or participate in vigilante justice. As Col Thieme stated … [^] Nothing wrong with a sense of justice, temper justice with grace orientation. Grace was given to you, me and those who are anti-God because we are all unworthy. As we know there is no other way you can receive salvation by other than grace. There is no other way that God can give you everything you need, to fulfill His plan other than grace. There is no other way that you can live in heaven for eternity without the grace of God. We don't deserve any of it, which one of us does? the prodigal? No. But he has it just like us. Grace is always demonstrated to the unworthy, that's what God's grace is, and what it does. [^] Blank So this concludes what I wanted to cover for the CWLiving. I do want to cover the passage in 2 Peter 1. I have memorized v1-11 Because it is the CWLiving in miniature So I want to read this because this congregation has the back ground to understand it and it might give you something to think about as you execute your spiritual life. 2 Peter 1 covers 7 qualities or attributes of the CWLiving. I do not have time to define each one but, again, this congregation has enough background to understand them. 2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours [bel in JC], by the integrity [+R + J] of our God [deity] and Savior [humanity], Jesus Christ: 2 Peter 1:2 Grace and [mental] prosperity [RMA] be multiplied to you by means of the [epignosis] knowledge of God[/F] and of Jesus our Lord; 2 Peter 1:3 [how? ->] seeing that His divine power [omnipotence] has graciously been given to us everything pertaining to this [natural] life [logistical grace support] and spiritual life [CWLiving], through the epignosis knowledge [metabolized BD applied experientially] of Him [JC] who called [common grace] us by His own glory and virtue. 2 Peter 1:4 For by these [doctrines] God/F has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, in order that by them [metabolized and applied BD] you might become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust [OSN lifestyle]. 2 Peter 1:5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence [mental and physical strength], in your faith [by means of doctrine] apply] [1] virtue, and to your virtue, apply [2] [gnosis] knowledge, 2 Peter 1:6 and in your knowledge, apply [3] self-control [control your OSN & your decisions]; and in your self-control, apply [4] perseverance [patience with circumstances], and in your perseverance, [5] live the spiritual life [CWLiving]; 2 Peter 1:7 and in living the spiritual life, [6] apply love to members of the RFG, and in your love for members of the RFG, [7] apply virtue love [to all mankind]. 2 Peter 1:8 For if these seven qualities are yours [i.e. keep on being present] and keep on increasing [we never arrive], they render you neither useless nor unfruitful [no hopeless situations] in the epignosis knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:9 For the Believer who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted [occupied with the cosmic system], having forgotten his purification from his former sins [salvation by grace through faith]. 2 Peter 1:10 [CMD] Therefore, members of RFG, be all the more motivated [make every effort] to make certain [a spiritual reality] about His calling [common grace] and electing [Doc of Election] you; for as long as you practice these things [the virtues of living the spiritual life], you will no not never stumble [in the spiritual life]; 2 Peter 1:11 for in this way [making your calling and election sure, practicing the CWL] the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you [conveyance of Escrow blessings]. --- Fit in Matthew 8:26, Luke 8:24, Mark 4:39 And He said to them, "Why are you timid [cowardly], you men of little faith[s] [note1]?" Then He arose, and rebuked [issues a command to] the winds and to the surging waves and the said to the sea "Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. This is the way to alleviate fear and anxiety every time. F/R. [^] Note1 - little faith[s] (ol-ee'-gos – pistis) oligópistos (from 3641 /olígos, "little in number, low in quantity" and 4102 /pístis, "faith") – properly, few occurrences (applications) of faith. 3640 (oligópistos) occurs five times in the NT, each time with Jesus rebuking the problem of failing to hear His voice (cf. Jn 10:3,4,27). [^] F/R…. =========== ========== ========= What's God's will? [^] 1 Tim 2:4 who [JC] desires [wills] [1] all men to be saved [unbeliever] and [2] to come to the [epignosis] knowledge [through metabolized BD] of the truth [believer]. [^] God's will = 1) salvation; 2) 2 Peter 3:18 IOWs How to grow in the grace and knowledge of TLJC – Master the CWLiving fundamentals ● Rebound when necessary ● Learning God's promises ● Diligently using the F/R procedure ● Understanding God's character (JR SOOO LIVE) especially God's Love and His Righteousness and Justice. ○ And how God's Love is His motivation to do things for you and to help you and ○ how His Righteousness has to be satisfied so His Justice can execute what His Love wants to do. ● Understanding How God thinks Recall Gods Love wants to bless you, encourage you, and prosper (RMA) you. That is His loves motivation. And when His Righteousness is satisfied, His Justice executes what His Love wants to do for you – aka blessing When you do these things then God's +R accepts this and His Justice blesses you. When you don't or are apathetic or disobedient – then the +R of God rejects your behaviour and condemns you – disciplines you (including reaping what you sow). Trusting God [in God we Trust] [^] Proverbs 3:5 [1] [CMD] Trust in the Lord with all your heart [rt lobe – where you think. PSD #3 F/R Drill], And [2] [CMD] do not lean on your own [HVP] understanding [man's opinion vs God's]. Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways [3] [CMD] acknowledge Him, [Promise] And He will make your paths straight. [1, 2, 3 - easy] Straight forward. Trust is a process. IF you use it, the more you use it, the more and more God comes through for you – guiding your life via open and closed doors and protecting you (recall Mother bird protecting her chicks) [^] Confused which way to go? After using the F/R Drill… Then make the best decision you can and if God does not want you to go in that direction, he will close the door. If you are receptive to closed doors, then you see that for what it is and you go in another direction. In all cases you make the decisions in life as to what you think is best. Remember, you will not be in fear or worry because you are using the F/R procedure and as long as you do and are remaining calm about it then any decision will either be guided by God and an open door or the result of the decision will be a closed door. Then you know to go in a different direction. The key is [pause]: are you diligent in using the F/R procedure and are you trusting God such that you are relaxed? If so, then your trust in God is not in vain and He will come through for you (but also remember it will be in His timing). [^] Learn – God's Divine Essence (JR SOOO LIVE) - God's Promises Think – How God thinks … L => R & J Motive - Do follow God's CMDs Act - to use Rebound … & Diligently use F/R Drill Learn – Think – Motive – Act (PMA of BD, Op Z)

The Christian Way of Living Part 4. CWLiving.org Cliff Spier [^] Lombardi believed that if you want to win at anything in life, you had to perfect and master the basics. What does God want from us? What's God's will? [^] 1 Tim 2:4 who [JC] desires [wills] [1] all men to be saved [unbeliever] and [2] to come to the [epignosis] knowledge [through metabolized BD] of the truth [believer]. Recall Gods Love wants to bless you, encourage you, and prosper you. That is His love's motivation. And when His Righteousness is satisfied, His Justice executes what His Love wants to do for you – aka blessing When you Rebound when necessary, learn and use many of God's promises, diligently using the F/R Drill Then God's +R accepts this and His Justice blesses you. [^] Rebound when necessary Diligently using (mastering) the F/R Drill Understanding God's Essence JR SOOO LIVE esp His Love -> +R – Justice Then using your volition to execute what God says – CMDs, Promises, Instructions When you don't or are apathetic or disobedient – then the +R of God rejects your behaviour and condemns you – disciplines you (including reaping what you sow). xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx The Red Sea Incident (cont) God promised Israel a land of their own 650 yrs before [Genesis 12:1-3]. God raised up Moses to be a leader to take the Jews out of Egypt and into the land that He promised. Moses did what God told him to do. He went to Pharaoh to tell him that God said to let His people go. And to prove the power of God, God showed Pharaoh by the first plague His power, and when Pharaoh refused, he gave him 9 other times (total 10 plagues) to cause him to change his mind. Pharaoh did not until his son and all the first born people & cattle in Egypt died because they did not follow God's instruction to paint lamb's blood on their door posts. After Pharaoh relented and let the Jews go initially, then Moses led them out of Egypt to the edge of the Red Sea. The Jews packed up all their belongings and gathered their families and started to march in the direction that Moses, and the Cloud by Day and the Pillar of Fire by night lead them. Visual confirmation of God fulfilling His promises. Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his entire army after the Jews and when the Egyptians chased the Jews and pinned them against the Red Sea, Moses, before God said anything to him, stood up and told the whining Jews to ‘Stand still (shut up and calm down) and watch the deliverance of the Lord'. Moses Trusted God to make good on His promise to leading the Jews out of Egypt and to His promised land, even though Moses had no idea how God would do it. He just believed (Trusted) God would solve the problem. Then God told Moses what to do – stretch out your staff.... God used nature to part the waters, and used His Omnipotence to make sure the land (sea bed) was dry so they could easily walk on it. After God removed the pillar of fire blocking the Egyptians from pursuing the Jews, they started to pursue the Jews. They were gaining on the Jews, so God made it difficult (Omnipotence) for the Egyptians to pursue the Jews (He caused their chariot wheels to swerve). And when 3 million Jews completed the crossing, then God told Moses to “Stretch out your hand over the sea” and Moses did and the water came down on the Egyptians and killed al who pursued them. What are we to learn about this as far as our Christian Way of Living (CWLiving) is concerned? ● We see that Moses listened – listened to God [aka Learn]. ● Moses followed God's instructions [aka Think – Motive – Act]. ● God provided a solution - parted the Red Sea, - made the sea bed ground dry, - stopped the Egyptians from following via the Cloud of Fire, - The Jews moved quickly across the sea [speed was essential]. God killed Pharaoh's army completely [so for all of human history God would be known – evangelism and a warning: don't mess with God and don't mess with Israel] And by contrast, we have the Jewish people that Moses was leading. They followed Moses mainly because it was freedom, some followed Moses because they believed in God and recalled His promise to them. Yet when the there was a little adversity, the Jews as a group failed. Do you just come to bible class … walk out .. back to the cosmic system thinking (no armor) So when God tests you - you fail? How many F/R promises, versus, do you know? How many do you use? When they started to see the Egyptians coming, they panicked. They complained to Moses, “Why did you lead us out of Egypt to kill us?” And many complained to God. So you see this is the real problem. And unfortunately, throughout the bible and in all of human history: many people know of God, they were acquainted with God, in this case the Jews saw His power (10 plagues, Cloud by Day and Pillar of Fire by night, and the killing of the entire Egyptian Army) … yet did not trust God. They knew Him believed in a god but did not trust Him in what He said via Moses taught and what they experienced. They refused to Learn and Think about God and what He told them. They also were not Motivated to believe and Trust God and Act according to what He told them. BUT … you can not make their mistake… Rebound when necessary Learn the promises of God Diligently use the F/R Drill Learn and Think about God's Divine Essence in your life. Appreciate and love God. Trust in the Lord … Lean not … In all your ways …and He will make your paths straight By using God's promises then God's Righteousness and Justice are satisfied and God is able to work out circumstances in your favor – /= Door 1 that is HIS plan for you and your life. And the bonus: when you Trust God then you have a Relaxed Mental Attitude (RMA) and you have contentment in life. Positively - when you do things God's way, Rebound when necessary and diligently use the F/R procedure then God answers your prayers and works circumstances for your benefit – a blessing. It also works in the negative way. When we do not use Rebound when necessary, when we don't use the F/R procedure, when we go your own way and use our own human strength instead of using God's solutions (Rebound, F/R procedure) then God's +R rejects that and God's Justice either allows you to experience the consequence of your own solutions (called Reaping what you Sow) and/or gives you Divine Discipline. BUT, that Divine Discipline is not to ‘hurt' you per se, it is a ‘sting' to remind you that God's way is the only way and for you to return to Rebounding when necessary and diligently using the F/R procedure and to Trust and depend upon Him. Some people do, most do not. Most Christians have no idea of the things This church teaches. So there is a big difference between believing there is a God vs Trusting God. We Learn and understand what God says, what His promises are and we claim those promises then God comes through for us. Moses trusted God, the Jewish people did not. Many of the Jews were believers, who were going to go to heaven. But they chose not to believe (Learn and Trust) what Moses taught them and what God said even though they were eyewitnesses to all that happened in Egypt. Eyewitnesses! Xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx God gives us a choice and He gives us all the information we need to make that choice. We can choose for or against God. Some people do, most do not. Some Christians do, most Christians do not. You can do what the Jews in this narrative… panic when things get out of control around you, personally or nationally. Or, we can Trust God, His promises and what He says. So this is a example of Trust and patience. Trust in someone greater than ourselves, relax that God will take care of the situation and patently wait on God's solution. [^ - Blank slide ] So what are we to learn from this? Trust God in what He says (In my three lessons so far it is Rebound when necessary. Learn His promises and diligently use the F/R Procedure, think about God in terms of His Divine Essence and how it functions). Wait on God's timing, Now most if not all of your problems, concerns, cares, are not that urgent. Right? Even so, you can do what Moses did. Make a plea (Moses made an urgent plea to God – used the Faith Rest procedure, gave the problem over to God and then did what God commanded him to do.) When God delivers you and you look back on it, you will be amazed. Most of your requests to God are not like parting the Red Sea, but you will see how things worked out, many times not in any way you thought, but you will see the results of God at work in your life. Perfect God gives perfect Loving results (you would expect nothing less as a Father). So isn't it better for you if God picks the solution to your request rather than you deciding what to do and doing something on your strength and timing? Don't act from an emotional aspect. Go to God in prayer and use the Faith Rest procedure then “Stand still and watch the deliverance of the Lord”. God is perfect, He has perfect timing and knows all the facts and has all the power to do what He wants done. Using the F/R procedure is doing things the right way, because of that then God's +R (Righteousness) is satisfied and His Justice executes what His Love wants to do for you in your situation. This is how you are to think. It is simple to understanding what God wants, and it is hard to implement because we are impatient, immature and arrogant in our thinking as it relates to God. Not to mention we want it done our way (mostly). Oh by the way, God uses this ‘waiting on His timing' to teach us patience. (I just thought I'd mention what is experientially obvious.) It is just part of God's humor. It may not be ‘funny' but it is humorous. Think of being a parent and ‘knowing' what a child will do even though you told him not to do something. When you know he will do it anyway. So you wait until he does it then you take some action. Same with God. Are you going to be patient and Trust (there is that word again) and wait or do it your way? As Rick Hughes says – are you going to go down the My Way Highway? But if you Think, repeat Think and use the what I have taught you (Learn) you can come to the conclusion that God's way is the perfect way. Use His Faith Rest procedure, Trust and have Patience. It is always for us: “Stop (calm down), Stand Still (use His procedures and our knowledge of God) and Watch the Deliverance of the Lord” Now I want to point out a few things. Most of the children of Israel were immature believers and some were unbelievers (being a Jew does not make you a believer, it is always Faith Alone in Christ Alone). God gave them an opportunity to grow up spiritually (learn to trust God) during the 10 plagues in Egypt that forced Pharaoh to let the Jews leave Egypt. But sadly (as we find out later) most never grew up spiritually, never trusted God and died before God allowed them to enter the Promised Land. But note, God gave them time to grow up and Trust Him and do what He says (they were witnesses to the plagues on Egypt) but they failed to do so. So the lesson is don't you be a failure. Also with respect to timing of God, this was an immediate issue (chariots bearing down on the people of Israel), so God acted immediately. That is not always the timing, it depends upon the situation. With imminent death the case is clear. Our problems and issues usually are not imminent death. Also notice God promised Israel or the Jews a land, a promised land, but He gave it to them 650 years after the promise to Abraham. That is another example of God's timing. Something always to remember, when you claim a promise or call upon the Lord to deliver on a promise God will fulfill His promise in His own timing. That can be immediate in the case of imminent danger, it could be minutes, hours, days, weeks, years and sometimes well after your death. It depends upon what you asked and the promise you claimed and the Divine timing of God. But patience and waiting upon the timing of God and Trusting Him is part of the process. In my experience, God has multiple objectives in determining when He will answer your prayer and fulfill a promise. And, it is always to your benefit. Recall Matthew 7:11, [^] Matthew 7:11 [Promise] If you then [the context is talking about parents], being evil [compared to the character & integrity of God], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! “How much more” ... this is a powerful statement. How much more does God know what is best for you, how much more can God provide for you? God is a Loving God and wants the very best for you. A perfect God will act at a perfect time for you. Moses trusted God, now this did not just happen. It was a process for Moses as well. The story of Moses is interesting but this is a lesson for another time. But Moses went through a process to trust God (he was not born that way). And Moses did learn to trust God and that is why God used Moses. [^] And that leads me to my last three points. 1 - The Process of Trusting God First, God used Moses because Moses trusted God and God knew in eternity past how Moses would grow up and all the leadership skills He would develop (in fact God set him on his path). Just like God knows you. You nor I are Moses. But you are you. And God put you in this time and place, He knew what you would go through and when you would respond to Him. He has a marvelous life waiting for you. [^] You need to Learn what I have told you so far, Think about it, be Motivated to do what I am telling you and what God says then Act. Which for you is 1) using Rebound when necessary; 2) diligently use the Faith Rest procedure (including memorizing a few promises); 3) Learning about God and His character (JR SOOO LIVE) and last but not least; 4) How God uses His character in our lives and in the world around us (e.g. How his +R and Justice work). That way you can handle problems and to learn to Trust God – it is a process; it takes time and effort. Learn, Think, Motive, Act. So just like Moses, you learn about God and His plan (use Rebound and Faith Rest and also learn about God's character and nature and how He uses it). Then you can decide to follow His plan, you are Motivated to do what God says and you Act (with courage God provides via the Faith Rest procedure), then wait and watch what God does for you. [^] 2 - The Red Sea Incident is not just a Story Second, this is not some story nor something God did once in the past and has no relevance to you, today, personally. It does. While I would agree I have not seen something like the Red Sea parting or every first-born child of every family in a nation die, there are recent examples that you can point to. I do this to make this real, these are not just some stories. They happened and it is our responsibility to understand them and apply them to our lives today. A recent example: In WWII, 1945, during my mothers and father's lifetime. Germany murdered 6 million Jews in concentration camps. It was horrible. I do not know how much you really know about the horror and gore of that time. I recently visited a very small exhibit on Children of the Holocaust. I got half way into it and started to cry. I stopped and prayed to God. I was visibly and emotionally impacted by what I saw and read. (Man's inhumanity to man, it happened before and it will happen again. The result of no God in their lives and nation.) And I was not even around when this happened. What happened was truly horrible and in a certain way unbelievable. But it did happen. Yet God did stop it and God made the German people pay a terrible price for this atrocity. Not like parting the Red Sea, but the US Army defeated Germany. We take this for granted but it was not inevitable that the US Army would win and in the Christmas of 1944 we almost lost. And if you look at pictures of German cities just after the war, they were leveled. No building stood; they were all rubble. Germany had to be rebuilt from scratch. It destroyed people's lives and they almost all starved to death – no way to plant crops (no tractors or fuel), no way to get them to market, millions of Germans almost died of starvation. Germany paid a terrible price for the Nazi party and their part in it. Only God and His power could make Germany fall and then pay a horrible price for years and years for what they had done. Remember here in this story, the entire Egyptian army, all of them, drowned in the Red Sea. Egypt could not defend itself at that point. Many more men were killed than just the first born now. A horrible price to pay for not obeying God. He said “Let My people go”. They refused. God gave them 10 warnings (plagues) and when Egypt reneged on letting the Jews go, He drown the army in the Red Sea. All of them. Don't just let this be a story. It has to have impact on you and your thinking. How? This is the power (Omnipotence) and the Righteousness and Justice of God in action. Against the Egyptians for reneging on what they said. For Germany for socialism and murder. This is the same God that you believe in and who Loves you and protects you. So obedience to God is not a small thing. God's Righteousness and Justice are real and have impact. They are in operation 24 hrs a day. His +R and Justice can bless you when you follow His procedures. His +R and Justice can bring discipline and heartache your way for disobedience. AND His discipline is not to hurt you per se, but to bring a ‘sting' to you so that you recognize that you are not following God's procedures and to encourage you back. God is not mean. He loves you like a parent loves a child and disciplines that child in Love. You and I are no different in Gods eyes. 3 - The Big Deal – Trust God Third, and this is a big deal. Recall [^] Exodus 14:10 ¶ And as Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel kept staring [they looked at the enemy [eyes on people and circumstances] and not the Lord], and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; This is the pivotal point in the story. Trust. Notice Israel keep staring [they looked at the enemy]. Fear. This is the biggest problem we all have as believers in Jesus Christ. We look at our problems in life, and many times we instantly believe they are insurmountable (fear). We should ‘glance' at our problems and immediately Think and recall what we know about God and know God has a solution just waiting to use IF we use the Faith Rest procedure. The analogy here is that we stare at our problems and the problems get bigger and bigger and we try and figure out a solution and we get upset, mad, angry. We lose our RMA that God has provided for us based upon our diligent use of the Faith Rest procedure and we are relying upon ourselves for a solution. The moment we feel agitated or getting angry or disappointed, or any other adverb, we need to STOP. “Stop (calm down), Stand Still” - Think about the Faith Rest procedure and use a promise that we have memorized. Then regain our RMA and “Watch the Deliverance of the Lord”. See these Jews as I have said were immature. They just panicked. We know the story. We can see that. They did not know the future, yet they chose, in their past, not to grow up spiritually, i.e. CWLiving, and choose to be infants and unable to handle adversity or what looked like adversity. We are the same way. We can just let this be a story or we can see it for what God intended it to be for the last 3500 years. A lesson for us to grow up, using His solutions and retaining a RMA in adversity and have a wonderful, meaningful life. The choice is ours to make. Everything I have discussed in these last 3 lessons is so that you can learn about this God and understand what He wants of you, so you can follow what He says – adopt His thinking – in order to have a life worth living, versus just doing things our own way. [^] God's way Or the My Way Highway [^] The next scripture I want to cover with you is the passage on the Prodigal Son. I want to go through it with you so you know more about God and how and what He thinks. You should always keep in mind, No Matter What God Loves you. He is not an angry or mean or vengeful god just waiting to punish you. His ‘heart' for you is one of restoration to fellowship with Him. Never, never punishment. That is not our God. I do not know if you know this or not; The bible has only one and only one interpretation But many applications. God is not a God of confusion. There is confusion if God means more than one interpretation. This is not like English literature, where the teacher asks you ‘what do you think it means'? God is clear, precise and not confusing and his word, the bible is the same. The bible may have metaphors and illustrative language but there is one and only one interpretation but many applications. (Near, far, Jews / Church dispensations, future prophecy future dispensations) The way I approach biblical narratives (I dislike the word stories) Is to understand completely the narrative, esp the isagogics, the history context, also understanding the correct exegesis (translation) removing all obscure and archaic language. You do not speak to your children, nephews, nieces and grandchildren with thee's and thou's. Why read and study with them. They only distract from your understanding. (my opinion) Then after completely understanding the story then to go back through it and understand the spiritual meaning God intends for us to have. So tonight I will cover the historical context and any exegesis we might need, then next class (Wed) I will cover the spiritual meaning that God intends for us to have. The Prodigal Son This parable Jesus taught is about a young man who thought he had grown up and wanted to strike out on His own. He worked for his father's business, like his older brother. But like many 2nd generation sons and daughters, they do not appreciate what their parents did, the sacrifices they made, they were around mainly to enjoy the fruit of their parents' business. Spiritual, we have to be careful – this same lack of humility, respect and maturity –can be found in our relationship to God. Recall its God's Plan, His hard work to provide salvation and deliverance in time... We have to learn His plan (be the beneficiaries of His plan, and be humble in our appreciation and Love for God and what he has done). As the story begins the young man now wants to take his share of his inheritance and go have some fun. Like most of Jesus' parables this story is an allegory. It's taught as a life lesson. In the parable, the father is God the Father, the younger son represents a believer in Jesus Christ, the older son represents another believer in Jesus Christ. So at the end there are three stories to tell, how God the Father thinks and acts, and the behavior of the two sons. Webster's dictionary defines prodigal as: 1) one who spends or gives lavishly and foolishly; 2) one who has returned after an absence. Both definitions fit this parable. The parable is a found in Luke chapter 15. First you need to understand some historical details. In ancient times, everything revolved around the family. Families lived together. When a son was old enough to get married, many fathers built the son a house on the family property or bought land nearby and built a house. In this case the Father must have owned some land and had a business. The Father and the two sons lived and worked in the family business. This was common. Also common that the Father (well before his death) would divide up the inheritance and split it – in this case a three way split. One part for the Father so he could continue with the business and make a living and one third each two the two sons. Notice both sons got their inheritance at the same time, because one son asked for it. Getting the inheritance at the same time is not unusual, because the father decided when to divide up the estate and give it to the son(s), but in this case the younger son was antsy to get his portion, and we must assume he sold it and took the money on his journey. [^] Luke 15:11 ¶ And He [Jesus] said, "A certain man had two sons; Luke 15:12 and the younger of them said to his father,' Father, [CMD] give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' And he divided his wealth between them. So right away we can deduce something about the younger brother. He wanted to get out of the house, away from his father and the family business. He wanted to ‘buck' the custom at the time to work in the family business (nothing wrong with that per se). But demanding his inheritance shows that he was arrogant and not very mature. Waiting until the father decided when to give the inheritance shows respect and honor. It must be understood that inheritance was a usual custom and not a ‘right'. So today it would be like going to your parents and demanding your inheritance before they died. Very disrespectful and insolent. Notice also that the Father did what the son asked of him. He didn't object, he most likely disagreed but did not object. He was a gracious father and looked past the disrespect and immature behavior. He also divided the estate and gave a portion to the older brother so they both got the same thing. The older brother could not complain that this was not an unfair transaction. [^] Luke 15:13 "And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant county, and there he squandered his estate with loose living. First, we can deduce that the son was planning on something for a very long time, he got his inheritance and took off. So we can assume that his family knew about his ambitions and probably talked about it. You can assume there might be some hard feelings. Why? The younger son was breaking with tradition, I am sure the older brother did not take to it too kindly, he was still working for his father, etc. So there is probably some family dynamics going on also. The son must have sold his part of the inheritance. I assume he sold land, equipment used on the land, maybe a house and if the land had any animals, which it most likely did, they were sold. Also if the land was not sold back to the father or his brother, then a stranger owned the parcel of land his father gave him. Now, what was family property is now owned by a stranger. That is not necessarily wrong, but people get attached to ‘family' property, so there may have been hard feeling about this transaction – the bible is silent on that but it is safe to assume it could be true. We also have to assume that the inheritance made the son very wealthy. Why? If you receive a little money then you would want to invest it, maybe buy some land and start your own business or do some remodeling. If you were independently wealthy, then you might think that your money will last forever and not really think about spending a chunk of it. It's sorta like lotto winners who get 10's or 100's of millions of dollars. They spend it and go broke. A very common story. We notice that the younger son just decided to spend his inheritance. The bible says two things: ‘squandered his estate' and ‘loose living'. So squandered is the lotto example above. He had so much money that he thought it would last forever and just spent it. Now ‘loose living' is interesting. It will come up later in the story. But notice it does not say what kind of loose living. It just characterized it as ‘loose living' nothing more. What does that conjure up in your mind? Nothing good I assume. And that is what it is meant to do without naming exactly what it means. Again that will have a spiritual lesson later. [^] Luke 15:14 "Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be in need. Now we know that squandered means that he spent everything he had but the clothes on his back. Also a severe famine, not just a famine, occurred where he was living. That indicates that food and the raw materials to make food with were scarce which also means it cost allot more money to buy it. Another side effect is that you are not likely to go to parties where there is free food and drinks because there is no free food and drinks in a severe famine. Everyone falls on hard times when a severe famine occurs. Also, normal places that might give you table scraps (food bank) had nothing to spare. So very hard economic times since ancient cultures were agricultural economies. So at verse 14 this young man was without money (which also means his ‘friends' were not around anymore) and food was hard to come by. It leaves you with the impression that he was a street person of today. [^] Luke 15:15 "And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. At this point he found someone who would give him the most menial of jobs, feeding pigs. That has a double meaning in a Jewish society. Jews were forbidden to eat pork (the religious Jews perverted this into not touching of have anything to do with pigs – another example of not listening carefully to what god says, just like the Woman in the garden – don't eat the fruit, not I cant touch it. [Not eating port has a practical meaning, for in the ancient world they did not have a mechanism to determine when pork was cooked properly, temperature wise, and a fatal disease could be contracted from eating improperly cooked meat, so God told the Jews not to eat pork – it was a practical matter of health and hygiene]. So doing anything with pigs was a terrifying thought. Therefore this young man had to be in truly dire straits to take this job. [^] Luke 15:16 "And he was longing to fill his stomach with the pods [food suitable for pigs] that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything [food suitable for humans] to him. Something else to understand is that unless you were a day laborer, workers were not paid as they are today – weekly, bi-monthly, monthly. They were paid after, in this case, the pigs were sold. You worked for weeks or months before getting paid. Think of it like being a carpenter building a house. You would not get paid until after the builder got paid when the house was sold. So he took this job but still had no food. It says “he was longing to fill his stomach”. The bible does not say that he ate the pigs food but it does give you the impression he did that. Disgusting to you and me and even more for a Jew. [^] Luke 15:17 But when he came to his senses, ... I have found in my bible studies that there are many important small words to look for that are keys to about to tell you something important. ‘But' is one of those words (another is ‘For'). “But” is a transitional particle and means there is a change from what was preceding it. In my bible I usually underline ‘but' so I do not just read right over the top of it. It is a way that should get your attention to what you are about to read. It says ‘when he came to his senses'. This is a very important and sometimes overlooked statement. First to notice is that thinking is the predecessor to evaluating your circumstances. I also want to introduce something here. There is a big difference between thinking (rationally) and emoting. You can't think when you are emotional. You react when you are emotional. Therefore a principle found throughout the bible is do not make decisions when you are emotional. You need rational thought in order to evaluate your circumstances. [And God gives us a mechanism / procedure – you know what it is - it is the Faith Rest Procedure, claim an appropriate promise, let God handle it and relax] For maturing believers it si called reverse concentration – instead of concentrating on the problem, you reverse your thinking and focus to concentrating on God – His word (The word of God is alive and powerful, recall For the word of God is… The For lead us to the F/R Drill, remember my first lesson?) So reverse concentration. You look at God, and in this case His F/R Drill, you recall a pertenant promise, not just a generic promise, and you clam that promise to God and then you relax because you know God's character and nature, His Diine Essence – JR SOOO LIVE – esp His Love and +R and Justice will take care of the situation, actually you will take care of the situation using Gods power and go forward in your life making the best decisions you can and relying on God to take up the slack. You reversed your concentration. I would not teach the to new believers, only maturing believers. For newer believers just stick to claiming a promise and relaxing. Keep it simple until you have enough confidence in God that you exercise the F/R Drill almost effortlessly all the time. You are a well taught and mature congregation – so learning and using reverse concentration is what maturing believers should be doing. [^] Luke 15:17 But when he came to his senses, ... So it appears from the text that this young man had thought long and hard, probably with wild emotional swings, before he got to a place where ‘his emotions ran out' and he could think rationally. This is very hard to do when you are wed or emotionally invested in a situation. Think about it. This young man had thought about this “journey into a distant county” for a long time. He had everything worked out in his mind of just what he would do and how it would go. But now it had gone terribly wrong and he was destitute, starving, having to feed disgusting pigs to survive. So everything that had happened to him finally brought him around to think about his situation and what his options were. Don't underestimate how long he was struggling. He was, as they say, ‘invested' in his “journey into a distant county” and for him to realize what an abject failure he was and the bad decisions he made and how he most likely also alienated his family is allot to come to terms with.

It is proper to speak of both the Justice of God as well as His Mercy. They are not opposed to each other. His Justice will be dealt to those who refuse to repent just as it was dealt to the angels who refused to serve God. But, for now, is it more proper to say that God is Merciful. In fact, the evil one would love for us to become consumed with the idea that God is only Just and that He imposes His judgment upon us continually. When this idea is accepted, it is hard to understand that God actually withholds His Justice as long as we are open to His Mercy. Seek His Mercy, believe in it and run to it. Do not doubt it for a moment. Know that God offers it day and night and never tires of lavishing it upon you. When you are faced with the fear that comes with facing His Justice, turn your eyes to His Mercy and you will be able to easily turn from all sin as you bask in the rays shining forth from His Heart (See Diary #1338).Which of these two images of God do you reflect upon more often? Are you frightened by God's Justice? Or are you consoled by His Mercy? Both can be useful but never at the expense of the other. We should never presume on God's Mercy and we should never become fixated on His Justice without immediately remembering His Mercy. Ponder His Mercy today more than anything and you will have no need to fear His Justice. Let your heart experience His love and turn to Him with full confidence and trust.Lord, I am aware that You are Just and will issue Your Justice upon me if I fail to turn to Your Mercy. Therefore, I do turn to Your Mercy. I seek it with all my heart. I love You, Lord, and I desire to love You more. Give me the grace to open my eyes to Your radiant Heart and to be open to all that You wish to bestow. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2021 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

The Christian Way of Living Part 3. CWLiving.org Cliff Spier [^] Lombardi believed that if you want to win at anything in life, you had to perfect and master the basics. What does God want from us? What's God's will? [^] 1 Tim 2:4 who [JC] desires [wills] [1] all men to be saved [unbeliever] and [2] to come to the [epignosis] knowledge [through metabolized BD] of the truth [believer]. [^] God's will = 1) salvation; 2) 2 Peter 3:18 IOWs How to grow in the grace and knowledge of TLJC – Master the CWLiving fundamentals Recall Gods Love wants to bless you, encourage you, and prosper you. That is His love's motivation. And when His Righteousness is satisfied, His Justice executes what His Love wants to do for you – aka blessing When you do these things then God's +R accepts this and His Justice blesses you. When you don't or are apathetic or disobedient – then the +R of God rejects your behaviour and condemns you – disciplines you (including reaping what you sow). Sooooo, Faith in God – believe in God = 1) Divine Essence How? Learn, Think, Motive, Act [^] Learn – God's Divine Essence (JR SOOO LIVE) - God's Promises Think – How God thinks … L => R & J Motive - Do follow God's CMDs Act - to use Rebound … & Diligently use F/R Drill Learn – Think – Motive – Act (PMA of BD, Op Z) Along with Faith … Trust God – Trust in someone greater than you Benefits of: - Faith in God - Trust God - Diligently use F/R = RMA (precious) … contentment in Life – in your mind - in your Home life - at work - at play Home, work, play and in your soul – God provides a RMA [^] 2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours [bel in JC], by the integrity [+R + J] of our God [deity] and Savior [humanity], Jesus Christ: 2 Peter 1:2 Grace and [mental] prosperity [RMA] be multiplied to you by means of the [epignosis] knowledge of God[/F] and of Jesus our Lord; 2 Peter 1:3 [how? ->] seeing that His divine power [Omnipotence] has graciously been given to us everything pertaining to this [natural] life [logistical grace support] and spiritual life [CWLiving], through the epignosis knowledge [metabolized BD applied experientially] of Him [TLJC] who called [common grace] us by His own glory and virtue. 2 Peter 1:4 For by these [doctrines - Rebound, Faith Rest, God's Divine Essence and how it works] God/F has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises [1Peter 5:7, Proverbs 3:5-6, Psm 91, etc], in order that by them [metabolized and applied BD] you might become partakers of the divine nature [God's Thinking, specifically the CWLiving], having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust [cosmic & human thinking; OSN lifestyle]. Precious and magnificent promises … Gods description 1 Peter 5:7 -> Psm 55:22 Prov 3:5-6 Lam 3:25 Matt 7:11 Psm 91 (picture) + Recompence of the wicked I gave you 3 refrigerator bumper stickers [^] #1 Confused which way to go? Claim a promise(s) of God Then make the best decision you can and if God does not want you to go in that direction, he will close the door. If you are receptive to closed doors, then you see that for what it is and you go in another direction. In all cases you make the decisions in life as to what you think is best. Remember, you will not be in fear or worry because you are using the F/R procedure and as long as you do and are remaining calm about it then any decision will either be guided by God and an open door or the result of the decision will be a closed door. Then you know to go in a different direction. [^] #2 Problems come in two flavors; 1 - the ones we created by bad decisions (which have internal (pressure, anxiety) and external (ramifications to others)) and 2 - problems others created and put on us (these can be circumstances of life or overt decisions made by others that cause you problems, including ‘natural disasters' such as Mt Saint Helen's, floods, war, pandemics, etc. ) [^] #3 Sooooo it matters not whether we or others created the problems, God has a solution to them. His solution is to use what you know from the bible to make decisions (based upon your best judgment – at the moment) and to use the Faith Rest procedure to remain calm, relaxed in spite of the pressure, and have courage to move forward because God will fulfill His promise. Bottom line – Learn – God's Divine Essence (JR SOOO LIVE) - God's Promises Think – How God thinks … L => R & J Motive - Follow God's CMDs (courage to …) Act - Rebound when necessary … & Diligently use F/R Drill => the process of Trust => learning to & Loving God ----------- End Summary ----------- The next thing I want to study is - Confidence in God and some F/R scriptures We are to have confidence in God - (Faith Rest, God's Divine Essence & the Plan of God) Crunch - Fear – two types: circumstances and reaping what you sow. [^] #2 Problems (not fear) come in two flavors; 1 - the ones we created by bad decisions (which have internal (pressure, anxiety) and external (ramifications to others)) and 2 - problems others created and put on us (these can be circumstances of life or overt decisions made by others that cause you problems, including ‘natural disasters' such as Mt Saint Helen's, floods, war, pandemics, etc. ) Then I said …. … It matters not…. So we Rebound … Diligently …. I think a thing to remember about the Faith Rest procedure is that it is our way to tap into and utilize God's power. What do I mean by that? Back to the Driving in Weather example. God handles our concern (worry, anxiety, fear) about driving in the weather (in that example) using His Omnipotence or His Omniscience (He knew you were going to ask Him so he ‘arranged' for better driving circumstances). Therefore we can tap into that power by claiming promises. Once you know more and more promises and then use them – promises do nothing unless they are Learned, Thought about, and you have the Motivation to use them and then Act (using the F/R procedure) – … then you are tapping into God's power. That power can be physical power (like improving the driving conditions (control of the weather) or it can be giving you confidence (via your RMA) and recalling driving techniques. Either way you have utilized God's power. And that plus the fact that you Trust God is what allows you to tap into God's power. Again, God is not a genie and you do not get 3 wishes. This is an honest, sincere use of the Faith Rest procedure and learning and using God's Divine Essence. We are to have humility in approaching God and asking for His help. [^] Remember Matthew 7:11: Matthew 7:11 [Promise] If you then [the context is talking about parents], being evil [compared to the character & integrity of God], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! God is motivated to help you (in accordance with 1 Tim 2:4) but in doing so His motivation is giving you confidence so that you develop a more mature capacity to handle things in life. i.e. Make you a stronger person. Confident is how I usually think about it. He helps us grow up and become more confident. Yes we ‘lean' on Him but His plan is for you to grow more confident and in doing so, you will handle your own problems, using the Trust and knowledge you have of God and His plan for you. We all need to grow up in certain areas of our life and God leads us down a path to grow up. Why does God do this? First, so that you are a relaxed, confident and happy person. And people will notice that. Second, so you can be used by Him in executing His Plan for your life and you will have an impact on the lives of people around you and in your nation. Additionally, it is an honor to be used by God, something to be proud of. Something else, as you use the skills in the CWLiving (for now Rebound and the F/R procedure), you should along with your trusting God, you should develop an awe and respect of God. The ability to use His power, and the fact that you and I, have the privilege to know God and to use His promises, doctrines and thinking. We should always thank God in prayer for being able to do that. That is something you have available to you that unbelievers do not. Anytime and every time God comes through for you when you claim a promise, is proof of His faithfulness and that what He says is True. Again back to His Divine Essence, Veracity – God is truthful; And Immutable – God never changes. His promises and His ability to come through for you are ironclad backed by an Omnipotent, Sovereign and Just God. Utilizing His resources moves you along your journey of having a personal relationship with Him. I hope this gives you confidence to believe, trust and have faith in God and what He says. Here is another verse that is helpful. [^[ Isaiah 41:10 [Promise] '[Stop] Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.' Isaiah 41:10 [Promise] “Do not fear for I am with you,” Who is with you? God. He never leaves you, even though you may leave Him, and then He says “do not anxiously look about you,” don't panic or look around for human solutions, don't ask your friends for their opinions, don't look at your circumstances with anxiety, look at your problems with a different perspective, remember to look to God and His solutions. His solutions. What solutions? Rebound, Faith Rest procedure, understanding His Divine Essence. Notice: When (not if) When you are anxious or fearful you claim a verse like this or 1 Peter 5:7 or any other pertinent verse and know God & His Omnipotence can handle anything. God's Omnipresence knows everything, and in using God's solution of the Faith Rest procedure then God's Righteousness is satisfied so His Justice executes what His Love wants for you in this circumstance. So what happens next? “for I am your God,” and then look what else, “I will strengthen you,” we are weak, fear weakens us, in fact we are at our weakest when we are afraid and anxious. But what does He say, “I am your God, I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,”. When all help is gone and you are at the end of your human strength, there God is, that's what you got left, God's strength. So why not call on Him first? Then God goes on to say, “surely I will uphold you,” we won't sink into the mire (of bad decisions or bad circumstances), he holds us up, “with my righteous right hand.” Your fear and anxiety melts away, that is how you handle situations in life. You call upon God's power to help you and you know He will. Trust. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx > The Red Sea Incident Turn to Ex 13:17 This is one of my favorite passages in the Hebrew scripture to illustrate Trust, Patience and Timing. It is Moses at the Red Sea. Short synopsis: Jews were slaves in Egypt for 400 yrs then God brought Moses in to free them from Egypt and start a new nation in their own land. Pharaoh lets them leave Egypt and after several days he changes his mind and sends his chariot army to retrieve the Jews. The Jews became caught with their backs to the Red Sea and Pharaoh's army quickly approaching. The Jews started to panic. They were yelling at Moses about what to do.... Bottom line up front: Moses had no idea how God would save the Jews when they were at the Red Sea with the Egyptian army steadily advancing on them with their army of chariots. They were minutes from death but Moses did not panic because he Trusted God and His promises. What promise? God told Moses that he would lead Israel out of Egypt and to a land that I will show you. Exodus 3:10 "Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt." So Moses believed and followed God's command - he was Motivated to Act Cccccccccccccc ccccccccccc cccccccccccc The story begins in the Book of Exodus chapter 13 & 14. We pick it up at Ex 13:17 at the point when the Pharaoh of Egypt (i.e. the King or President of Egypt) decided to let the Jews, called the Sons of Israel, go and released them to leave Egypt. Up to this point in time the Jews, all of them, were slaves of the Egyptians. Exodus 13:17 ¶ Now it came about when Pharaoh had let the people go [out of slavery in Egypt], that God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, even though it was near [closer]; for God said, "Lest the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt." Exodus 13:18 Hence God led the people around by the way of the wilderness [desert] to the Red Sea; and the sons of Israel went up in martial array [marching columns] from the land of Egypt. Exodus 13:19 And Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he [Joseph] had made the sons of Israel solemnly swear, saying, "God shall surely take care of you; and you shall carry my bones from here with you." [there is a story also about the bones of Joseph we can cover later] Exodus 13:20 Then they set out from Succoth and camped in Etham on the edge of the wilderness [desert]. Exodus 13:21 And the Lord [this is the visible presence of Jesus Christ] was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. Exodus 13:22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. So you have the Jews leaving Egypt (now they all were not in just one area), they mainly were in Goshen (see the map below) [^] but also in various other parts, so when they all got the word they headed out from Goshen and the surrounding areas to Succoth. Succoth was an area where there are mines of cooper and turquoise and Jews were enslaved their as workers. So those Jews headed out with Moses and they met up with other Jews and eventually the slaves that we around Succoth. Once all the Jews had gathered, Moses led them from Succoth and they eventually they camped at Etham. How did the Jews know where to go? Verse 21 says the TLJC who showed himself as a visible pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. So the Jews all saw this and they follow it to gather up with Moses as the main body of Jews coming out of Goshen in Egypt. Note that we are talking about 600,000 males over age 20, which means 3 million people (wife's, children, etc). So Jesus Christ was visible to all of them in the form of a big cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night which guided 3 million people on their trek. Exodus 14:1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Exodus 14:2 "Tell the sons of Israel to turn back and camp before Pi- hahiroth, between Migdol and the [Red] sea; you shall camp in front of Baal-zephon, opposite it, by the sea. … the Straits of Tiran, islands, that is where Baal-zephon is. Exodus 14:3 "For Pharaoh will say of the sons of Israel, 'They are wandering aimlessly in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.' Exodus 14:4 "Thus I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after them [Israel to the Red Sea]; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army [via the destruction of those who opposed God], and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord." And they [Moses and the Jews] did so. Exodus 14:5 ¶ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his servants had a change of heart toward [letting] the people [Jews go], and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?" Exodus 14:6 So he [Pharaoh] made his chariot [‘tank' army] ready and took his people with him [soldiers]; Exodus 14:7 and he took six hundred select chariots, and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. Exodus 14:8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and he chased after the sons of Israel as the sons of Israel were going out boldly. Exodus 14:9 Then the Egyptians chased after them with all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and they overtook them camping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. Exodus 14:10 ¶ And as Pharaoh drew near, the sons of Israel kept staring [they looked at the enemy [eyes on people and circumstances] and not the Lord], and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they became very frightened; so the sons of Israel cried out to the Lord. FEAR… Exodus 14:11 Then they said [complained] to Moses, "Is it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you dealt with us in this way, bringing us out of Egypt? Exodus 14:12 "Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, 'Leave us alone that we may serve [remain slaves to] the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness [desert]?" It is amazing to me that Moses did not quit right there. What a bunch of &%^#^@ He didn't. You know why. He Learn (via God) what God wanted, was Motivated to do what God said (burning bush), Trusted God, and did what He was told. (not to mention the every minute reminder of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. He TRUSTED God. In the face of adversity – whining people – HE TRUSTED GOD [^] Exodus 14:13 [Promise] But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! [CMD] Stand still and [CMD] watch the deliverance of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians [your problems in life] whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. … no command to Do not Fear. Love the Lord … Future-Act-Indic ... You have to want to follow God and use His solutions. … Choice. God's way or the My Way Highway Repeat vs - [why? Because God has given you the tools to deal with them] Exodus 14:14 [Promise] "The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent." [rest and be assured the Lord will come through for you] Notice Moses said “stand still and watch the deliverance of the Lord”, yet he did not know how God was going to deliver them. He knew God would do something and was content (relaxed mental attitude - RMA) to let the situation unfold. Why? God told Moses to lead the people out of Egypt and He (God) would lead them to the promised land. God was not going to let the Jews died at the Red Sea. Also remember what had happened days earlier the ten plagues of Egypt (in Exodus chapter 7-13). And the last plague was all first born in Egypt (Jews and Egyptians) and first-born animals were killed by Jesus Christ if they did not paint the blood of a lamb over the door posts of their houses. So probably a few Jews and most if not all Egyptian first-born children were killed in one night as Moses told Pharaoh they would be if Pharaoh did not release the Jews. Which Pharaoh did not at that point. Only after Pharaoh's first-born son died did Pharaoh agree to release the Jews. So all this just happened. Pharaoh released the Jews and they headed out of town fast (as fast as 3 million people could walk). Let me stop here. I think it is illustrative to see what the impact of this death of the first born was at a personal level. Take your family. Who is the first born? Who in your family? Was your father the first born? Your mother? Are you the oldest in your family? How about your aunts and uncles? Think about you family and who is the first born. If they did not do what God said they would have all died in one night. So you see, it has a great impact if we make it personal to our family. So having a personal understanding of what the impact was on the first born in a family dying means you can see why Pharaoh decided to let the Jews leave and suffer the consequences of having no more slaves in Egypt. The terrible personal impact of trying to fight Israel's God. Your God. Remember that every day! The power of Your God. The lesson here is we need to do what God says. We are to Learn and Think about what God says, use that to Motivate us to change our thinking and to follow His commands and to use His procedures to live our lives (Act). Not following God and what He says has disastrous results as we will see in the continuation of our story. Back to our story. So Moses just said to the whining and crying Jews – Exodus 14:13 [Promise] But Moses said to the people, "Do not fear! [CMD] Stand still and [CMD] watch the deliverance of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians [your problems in life] whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever. [why? −>] Exodus 14:14 [Promise] "The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent." [rest and be assured the Lord will come through for you] Exodus 14:15 ¶ Then the Lord said to Moses, "Why are you [the Jews] crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. Exodus 14:16 "And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it [follow God's procedure], and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land [Omnipotence of God]. Exodus 14:17 [God speaking to Moses] "And as for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them [Omniscience]; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. Exodus 14:18 "Then the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen." Exodus 14:19 And the angel of God [Jesus Christ], who had been going before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them. [Omnipotence] Exodus 14:20 So it came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud along with the darkness, yet it gave light at night. Thus the one [Pharaoh's army] did not come near the other [Jews] all night. [Omnipotence] Exodus 14:21 ¶ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea [following God's procedure]; and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land [Omnipotence], so the waters were divided. Exodus 14:22 And the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land [following God's procedure], and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Exodus 14:23 Then [the pillar of fire moved away and] the Egyptians took up the pursuit, and all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots and his horsemen went in after them into the midst of the sea. Exodus 14:24 And it came about at the morning watch, that the Lord looked down on the army of the Egyptians through the pillar of fire and cloud and brought the army of the Egyptians into confusion. Exodus 14:25 And He caused their chariot wheels to swerve, and He made them drive with difficulty [Omnipotence]; so the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from Israel, for the Lord is fighting for them against the Egyptians." Exodus 14:26 ¶ Then the Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may come back over the Egyptians, over their chariots and their horsemen [Listen to God]." Exodus 14:27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea [following God's procedure], and the sea returned to its normal state at daybreak, while the Egyptians were fleeing right into it; then the Lord overthrew [drowned] the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. Exodus 14:28 And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even Pharaoh's entire army that had gone into the sea after them; not even one of them remained. Exodus 14:29 But the sons of Israel walked on dry land [God's Omnipotence] through the midst of the sea [God provides everything they needed, dry vs muddy land], and the waters were like a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Exodus 14:30 Thus the Lord delivered Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Exodus 14:31 And when Israel saw the great power which the Lord had used against the Egyptians, the people respected the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in His servant Moses. [there is a difference between believing and trusting] So that is the story. What do we learn from this? God promised Israel a land of their own 650 yrs before [Genesis 12:1-3]. God raised up Moses to be a leader to take the Jews out of Egypt and into the land that He promised. Moses did what God told him to do. He went to Pharaoh to tell him that God said to let His people go. And to prove the power of God, God showed Pharaoh by the first plague His power, and when Pharaoh refused, he gave him 9 other times (total 10 plagues) to cause him to change his mind. Pharaoh did not until his son and all the first born people & cattle in Egypt died because they did not follow God's instruction to paint lamb's blood on their door posts. After Pharaoh relented and let the Jews go initially, then Moses led them out of Egypt to the edge of the Red Sea. The Jews packed up all their belongings and gathered their families and started to march in the direction that Moses, and the Cloud by Day and the Pillar of Fire by night lead them. Visual confirmation of God fulfilling His promises. Pharaoh changed his mind and sent his entire army after the Jews and when the Egyptians chased the Jews and pinned them against the Red Sea, Moses, before God said anything to him, stood up and told the whining Jews to ‘Stand still (shut up and calm down) and watch the deliverance of the Lord'. Moses Trusted God to make good on His promise to leading the Jews out of Egypt and to His promised land, even though Moses had no idea how God would do it. He just believed (Trusted) God would solve the problem. Then God told Moses what to do – stretch out your staff.... God used nature to part the waters, and used His Omnipotence to make sure the land (sea bed) was dry so they could easily walk on it. After God removed the pillar of fire blocking the Egyptians from pursuing the Jews, they started to pursue the Jews. They were gaining on the Jews, so God made it difficult (Omnipotence) for the Egyptians to pursue the Jews (He caused their chariot wheels to swerve). And when 3 million Jews completed the crossing, then God told Moses to “Stretch out your hand over the sea” and Moses did and the water came down on the Egyptians and killed them all. What are we to learn about this as far as our Christian Way of Living (CWLiving) is concerned? [^] ● We see that Moses listened – listened to God [aka Learn]. ● Moses followed God's instructions [aka Think – Motive – Act]. ● God provided a solution - parted the Red Sea, - made the sea bed ground dry, - stopped the Egyptians from following via the Cloud of Fire, - The Jews moved quickly across the sea [speed was essential]. God killed Pharaoh's army completely [so for all of human history God would be known – evangelism and a warning: don't mess with God and don't mess with Israel] And by contrast, we have the Jewish people that Moses was leading. They followed Moses mainly because it was freedom, some followed Moses because they believed in God and recalled His promise to them. Yet when the there was a little adversity, the Jews as a group failed. When they started to see the Egyptians coming, they panicked. They complained to Moses, “Why did you lead us out of Egypt to kill us?” And many complained to God. So you see this is the real problem. And unfortunately, throughout the bible and in all of human history: many people know of God, they were acquainted with God, in this case the Jews saw His power (10 plagues, Cloud by Day and Pillar of Fire by night, and the killing of the entire Egyptian Army) yet did not trust God. They knew Him believe in a god but did not trust Him in what He said via Moses and what they experienced. They refused to Learn and Think about God and what He told them. They also were not Motivated to believe and Trust God and Act according to what He told them.

The Christian Way of Living Part 2. CWLiving.org Cliff Spier [^] Lombardi believed that if you want to win at anything in life, you had to perfect and master the basics. [^] Col R.B. Thieme Jr said on 15th of August 1979. “A pivot of mature believers - which is what we all should be - break no laws, sponsors no violence, including assassination, crime, terrorism, or revolution. Confiscates no one's property. And does not intrude on human privacy. [^] But turns the world upside down through the invisible force of Bible Doctrine, and the function of, the royal family honor code.” Do you recall what God's will is? You should know and recall what one of the shortest verse in the bible is. [^] 1 Tim 2:4 who [JC] desires [wills] [1] all men to be saved [unbeliever] and [2] to come to the [epignosis] knowledge [through metabolized BD] of the truth [believer]. [^] God's will = 1) salvation; 2) 2 Peter 3:18 IOWs How God works (Thinks) (God's Righteousness, Justice and Love) So the next logical question is How does God's Righteousness get satisfied? [^ - Blank screen] Blessing or Discipline (your choice) God's Promises Learn more God's promises. So far - 1 Peter 5:7, Proverbs 3:5-6 and Lamentations 3:25. We are to use these promises to ‘slam' all our cares, anxieties and problems on God, then relaxing about them knowing that in Lam 3:25 God will provide solutions while you relax and wait on His timing. This should also give you courage. Tip -- Make a list care, problems, concerns - mine is on my phone, and cite them to God in your Faith Rest procedure prayer to God. You have to move forward every day, you have to make decisions every day. Now you can do that, even in difficult times or in pressure situations, with the courage God gives you by using the F/R procedure and having confidence in God, God will come through for you. So then trusting in God and using His procedures (acknowledging Him) He will guide your life and that life will be one of prosperity (mental prosperity - RMA) and he will guide your life with the result you will have maximum happiness and a life of fulfillment (Prov 3:5-6). [^] Problems come in two flavors; 1 - the ones we created by bad decisions (which have internal (pressure, anxiety) and external (ramifications to others)) and 2 - problems others created and put on us (these can be circumstances of life or overt decisions made by others that cause you problems, including ‘natural disasters' such as Mt Saint Helen's, floods, war, pandemics, etc. ) So you know your problem is internal or external. So what??? [^] Sooooo it matters not whether we or others created the problems, God has a solution to them. His solution is to use what you know from the bible to make decisions (based upon your best judgment – at the moment) and to use the Faith Rest procedure to remain calm, relaxed in spite of the pressure, and have courage to move forward because God will fulfill His promise. > V2 goes on – [^] Psalm 91:2 I will say to the Lord, [your conclusion upon using the F/R procedure] "[You are] My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!" So the result of using the F/R procedure is coming to the conclusion that God will fulfill the promise to you (that is, you are trusting God) so that you can say (to yourself and others) God is my refuge and my fortress. Also you thank God, in prayer or verbally to others, “My God delivered me because I trust Him” (I trust His word – promises). So you are praising God and thanking Him with your thinking because He will and does protect you. But, this is only for the believer who is using Rebound and the F/R procedure. See when you follow God's thinking and use His tools and develop the spiritual skills to live your life (CWLiving) then God blesses you and part of the blessing is protection per Psalm 91. Also look how personal v2 is. My refuge, My fortress, My God. As I said God wants to have a personal relationship with you. This is you having a personal relationship with God by using His tools (promises) to live your life. And as I said you become grateful to Him for giving you these promises to use in daily life. I like v3 because it has been true in my life. [^] Psalm 91:3 For it is He [God] who delivers you from the snare of the trapper [people and circumstances in life], And from the deadly pestilence [deadly hazards like corona virus]. The snare of the trapper is an illustration of traps in life. Who would set traps for you in life? Have you ever had people in your life who were out for you and wanted to do you harm? I have. I have had bosses at work that ‘hated' me and wanted to destroy my career. I knew it and I did not react to them. I treated them with kindness and respect and I did my job to the best of my ability. And no matter what these bosses tried to do, in the end, they had no effect on my career. [nor my RMA] Now this sounds like I was perfect in all of this. I was not. A few times I got depressed and worried BUT when I did, I Rebounded and used the F/R procedure and went back to a relaxed state so I could do my job. And that is what happens most if not all the time. Sometimes we fail. We Rebound and go back to using the F/R procedure. So God protected me, I was allowed to do my job and very successfully. Then later God's solution was to give me a better job (a promotion). So God did not make the person go way, instead, He protected me so I could do my job and He ‘promoted' me and the person who ‘hated' me, got to ‘stew in their own juices' while watching me be successful. This is an example of God protecting me because I was using His solutions to the problem. > Circumstances in life can also lay traps for you, but again the solution is the same – Rebound when necessary and diligently use the F/R procedure. The second part of v3 I covered in the example of the pestilence above, using the corona virus as an illustration. [^] Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with His pinions [feathers], And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark [a defensive wall – like a castle wall]. Here is a picture of v4a that says it all. [^] Notice how the mother bird is holding on to her chicks. Physically protecting them, giving them cover and warmth – that is total protection. Notice also that the chicks could fly away if they wanted to. But they are choosing to stay under her protection. Same with us and God. We can remove ourselves from God's protection by using human solutions to problems instead of using God's solutions. So it is our choice, use God's solutions or use human solutions. Versus 5-7 are additional descriptive illustrations of terrors that can affect Believers. [^] Psalm 91:5 ¶ [result from v2 of using F/R procedure] You will not be afraid of the terror by night [criminality, etc], Or of the arrow that flies by day [warfare]; Psalm 91:6 Of the pestilence [corona virus, black plague] that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon [earthquake, volcano, tsunami]. Notice night and day, darkness and noon – this is a reference that God protects the believer 24 hrs/day! God never sleeps. He is on the job 24 hrs/day, 7 days/week. [^] Psalm 91:7 A thousand may fall [die] at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it [terrors and disasters] shall not approach you. V7 is interesting. You might be in the midst of a great natural disaster or the corona virus with thousands dying all around you but it, the disasters and terrors, will not affect you. We are blessed (by God) in the USA and we do not have many disasters like other parts of the world, but when we do, God protects the believer who is executing His Plan for their lives. [^] Psalm 91:8 You will only look on with your eyes, And see the recompense of the wicked [Justice of God in action]. V8 is interesting because it now introduces what happens to those who are evil, from v3 and 5-7. Not only are you protected but the Justice of God punishes those who are evil (anti-God, believers not using His Divine Solutions in life and unbelievers). You will many times see that they get Divine Justice from God for their deeds. Recompense – How would you like to be in the Recompense side of God's Justice?? Versus 9 & 10 are a conclusion. [^] Psalm 91:9 For you [the Believer using the F/R procedure] have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. Psalm 91:10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent [where you live]. V9 is a restatement of v1-2 and the conclusion of all these terrors and adversities is that you are protected wherever you are. These 9 verses give you enough background to understand what God is telling Believers who a executing His Plan for their lives, the protection and comfort He provides 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. And, and the recompense for those bel who do not and for those unbel who are evil. [^ Blank Screen] So this is a great example of God's promise to believers who Rebound when necessary and use the F/R procedure to handle problems, anxieties, disasters, evil and adversities of life. God protects the ones He Loves. And since He is an all-powerful God, He has the means to provide protection to His loved ones. You can see His Divine Essence in action. His Righteousness not tolerating evil and His Justice executing justice on evil in this world, His Omniscience knowing what will happen in advance and having a plan to protect the believer in these circumstances, His Omnipotence shielding the believer from the consequences of evil and disasters, even when those around you are affected. He does all this because He Loves you and you responded to His Love by first believing in Jesus Christ for salvation and then following His procedures, commands and getting to know and appreciate Him and trusting Him for deliverance from the problems of life. God can only keep His promises and in them is true security. Once you latch on to what Psalm 91 says, and once you understand the context of Psalm 91 as a whole, and once you believe God's promise, and trust God for the fulfillment of Psalm 91, then you have security. You have security in your salvation, you have security in your life, both physical and spiritual, you have eternal security, you have everything that you need, every resource to be secure in this life, no matter what. Psalm 91 is a benefit in the midst of adversity, it is a benefit in the midst of a corona virus plague. Also as you are relaxed, you look around at others who are in panic and fear and you can ‘see' what a wonderful God you have, that Loves you and protects you. Last thoughts Why is the F/R procedure so important? Why do I keep telling you to be diligent in using Rebound and the F/R procedure? What does claiming God's promises on some specific ‘issue' you are having do? First if you trust God and believe His promise(s) then you can be relaxed. That is called a Relaxed Mental Attitude (RMA). You can relax, you do not have to dwell on your problems, you let God handle them. What else does a RMA bring to you? Courage. Courage under adversity or better said Courage under fire (as in a battle). So what if - you momentarily think about your problem(s) that you asked God to handle by using the F/R procedure? There is nothing wrong with that. It happens. Remember Crunch! Give yourself grace. But if you dwell on them more than momentarily, then you have in essence told God that you want to handle them. So you need to Rebound (you told God that He was going to handle them and you changed your mind, not trusting God) and then you must use the F/R procedure again for that problem. See there is a solution for that too. Think about this for a moment. When a problem comes up, you are able to claim a promise and calm down, by utilizing the Faith Rest procedure, and have a Relaxed Mental Attitude (RMA), under adversity and that is something that only the believer in Jesus Christ has at their disposal, only the believer. You should be able to see what a great God we have. You should be experiencing encouragement of both God's presence and His care for you. You will rest with the confidence that whatever happens in life is with His knowledge and nothing happens outside of his knowledge (Omniscient). Psalm 91. And you know what? This is one of several problem solving procedures God has provided for believers only. You are well taught and know God provides 10 PSDs that you can use. We just looked at two. Rebound and F/R procedure. Now it is your job to use these two diligently! ############### ############### Morning Thought Process Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. How do we do this? What is our Morning Thought Process? Recalling what God says and tell us to do. Recalling Psalm 118:24 and then using the Faith Rest Procedure for any and all concerns we have. Daily, which is another say of saying: diligently using the Faith Rest Procedure. So, in the morning it begins with Thinking and recalling God. Psalm 55:22 [CMD] Cast [all] your burden upon the Lord [TLJC], [Promise] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous [believers using the CWLiving] to be shaken. So you can pray: Dear Heavenly Father, I have these thoughts of unsurety and I need your help to combat them by using Psm 55:22; therefore I cast the following (name them) to you …. Deuteronomy 20:3 … “Hear, O Israel [believers using CWLiving], you are approaching the battle against your enemies [problems, adversities of life] today. Do not be fainthearted. Do not be afraid, or panic, or tremble before them, Deuteronomy 20:4 [Promise] for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save [or deliver] you.” … (continuation of the prayer above) and I know you God are the One who goes with me and fights for me in Deut 20:3-4 … Isaiah 40:28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord [TLJC], the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. … Isaiah 40:29 [Promise] He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power [physical and mental courage and a RMA]. … Therefore Heavenly Father I claim your further promise of Isa 40:28-29 to strengthen me so I do not give in to wrong thinking and I express my feelings, give me more strength to handle them… Psalm 91:15 [Promise] He [believers using CWLiving] will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and honor him. … because I know based upon your promise of Psalm 91:15 that you will answer my request and you will rescue me and I will know that rescue comes from you … Luke 1:37 [Promise] "For nothing will be impossible with God.” … for nothing is impossible with You (Omnipotent). And I know that I am to … James 1:2 ¶ [CMD] Consider [thinking vs. emoting, consider all that you know about God and His essence] it all happiness, my brethren, when you encounter various trials [testings, adversities, Providential Preventative Sufferings], v3 knowing that the testing of your faith [doctrine, F/R Drill -- ex. Job, Paul in prison] produces endurance [hupomone – w/ circumstances]. v4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing. … Thank you Heavenly Father, I pray in Christ's name, Amen.

The Christian Way of Living Part 1. CWLiving.org Cliff Spier Turn to Hebrews 4:12 [^] Col R.B. Thieme Jr said on 15th of August 1979. “A pivot of mature believers - which is what we all should be - break no laws, sponsors no violence, including assassination, crime, terrorism, or revolution. Confiscates no one's property. And does not intrude on human privacy. [^] But turns the world upside down through the invisible force of Bible Doctrine, and the function of, the royal family honor code.” As the believer advances to spiritual maturity, he or she more and more fully orient's the Gods absolute eternal essence (JR SOOO LIVE), who he is, and is rightly motivated to live the honor code, Rom.12:2, that is with renovated thinking. [^] Rom 12:2 [CMD] And do not be [Stop being] conformed to this world [the cosmic system], but [CMD] be transformed by the renovating of your mind [thinking – Rebound, F/R Drill, GO & DO …], [so] that you may prove what the will of God is [1 Tim 2:4], that which is [1] [divine] good and [2] acceptable [living the spiritual life - CWLiving] and [3] perfect [mature spiritual life] which is pleasing to God, the mature status quo [execution of the spiritual life - CWLiving] Rom 12:2 says so that you may prove what the will of God is… Do you recall what God's will is? You should know and recall what one of the shortest verse in the bible is. [^] 1 Tim 2:4 who [JC] desires [wills] [1] all men to be saved [unbeliever] and [2] to come to the [epignosis] knowledge [through metabolized BD] of the truth [believer]. [^] God's will = 1) salvation; 2) 2 peter 3:18 IOWs So how do we get to this place Col Theime mentioned? A pivot of mature believers. (on the board) I assume you are saved and you are here to learn Gods word. To learn or mature in handling problems. No just your own problems from the decisions you make, but external problems. And boy are we getting allot of external problems today. [BLANK Screen – W] < disobedience => disbelieving, apathy and lack of F.R Drill>> Heb 4:12 For the word of God is [keeps on being] living [alive] and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of [1] soulish things [cosmic things] and [2] spiritual things [God and his word], of [3] both joints and marrow [body], and able to judge the thoughts and intentions [motivations] of the heart [rt lobe – where you think]. When I studied Heb 4:12, esp the first word, gar - translated 'for' it really opened my eyes to the ICE of the verse. gar is used per HELPS Word-studies: [^] "Strong's 1063 gár (a conjunction) – for. While "for" is usually the best translation of 1063 (gár), its sense is shaped by the preceding statement – the "A" statement which precedes the 1063 (gár) statement in the "A-B" unit." What precedes Heb 4:12? Heb 4:1-11 is talking about the Exodus Generation and for us to get out of revisionism, v1 Therefore ... It goes on to talk about the Jews (they are always our example) and how they failed time and time again to use Faith Rest. The specific example is Sabbath Rest. It then goes on and talks about disobedience of the Jews [v6, v11] in 1) not Faith Resting [v1-2, v3-6, v9], 2: apathy toward their duties as a client nation (individually and collectively) [v1-2, v6], and 3) disbelieving [v3]. So, my Heb 4:12 starts out with [^] Heb 4:12 For [the solution to v11 disobedience: disbelieving, apathy & no F/R] ... and continues with Heb 4:12b ... the word of God is [keeps on being] living [alive] and powerful [effectual - accomplishes its objective] and sharper than any two-edged sword, ... So not only do we need to understand the seriousness of disobedience in our life, we are not to fall into the trap that the Exodus generation did which is disobedience: i.e. disbelieving, apathy & no F/R, because not recovering from Revisionism will lead to what happened to the Exodus Generation, the sin unto death and a loss of rewards. So Three things Israel was disobedient at: 1 – disbelieving 2 – apathy 3 – no Faith Rest life aka - The My Way Highway of life. Disbelieving and apathy are volitional matters. You have to check your own motivation to correct them. I'd like to focus on Faith Rest and mix with it God's Divine Essence Then challenge you to strengthen both. Remember our CWLiving skills > What is the F/R Drill? Faith in this case means ‘what you believe'. What we believe as it relates to God is what the bible tells us. And in this case specifically promises that God gave us. Rest means that we claim these promises and believe that God will honor the promise (trust) and so we can relax. Why do we believe that God will honor his promises? His Divine Essence. His character. [BLANK screen – W] Let me give you an example. We all have fears. Let's say it raining hard and the roads are slick and you are afraid of driving but you must. So you are going to claim, by reciting to God, one of His ‘promises' that He has make to you (don't worry I'll give you a promise to use in a second) and tell him your fear and let Him handle it. So we can be relaxed knowing, in this case, that God will give us the courage to use our driving skills to handle driving in the rain. [^] The promise we will use (and I use this almost every day) is found in 1 Peter 5:7. It says: Give me all your concerns because I (God) care for you. I like what Pastor Rory [^] Clark says: Slamming all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. So we ‘give' or ‘slam' all our concerns, worries, fears upon Him, because He cares for you. Again we do this so we don't have to ‘worry' about them. We leave them in Gods hands. So we can relax or the ‘Rest' part of Faith/Rest. Claim a promise by faith (believing God) and then resting that He will handle the situation. [BLANK screen – W] Just a few short things to know about this before we use it. - God is not a genie, we don't get three wishes and He makes them come true. God does not fix problems, He ‘fixes' us. (repeat) - God, usually, does not make the problem go away. Rather He gives you the strength (courage) to handle them with the skills you have. In the example above, God won't stop the rain but He will make sure your driving skills handle any situations you come upon. Therefore, you can trust Him, relax and drive safely in the hazardous rain. That is how God works. That is how He helps you. So take a moment and think about what bothers you, what are you worried about or afraid of? (I keep a list, so I don't forget, and I change the list frequently) So in this example, when you drive safely under God protection inn the rain, what did you do? The first thing you learn by this is: you're starting to trust God Notice Rebound and F/R Drill have to do with you. Not about other people. They deal with your thinking and with circumstances in your life. That is what God designed them to be. It's how you start out. Changing your thinking. Not doing anything…. Hold on to the F/R Drill because I will be coming back to it. (shift gears) Who and what is God? The simple explanation is God is the Supreme Being in the universe God is all powerful, He's smart, etc ... He is not flesh and blood God is a spirit. But these are inadequate, but true phrases and descriptions. But inadequate. We have been taught about His Divine Essence, His character. And that is what we will explore along with the F/R Drill as the fundamentals of the CWLiving. There are three primary things to know about God: [^] 1 - He is what is called absolute righteousness, meaning he can't sin and the reason He can't tolerate or be near sin. And the reason He provided Rebound. God is perfect and He can only act perfectly. Again that is called Righteousness 2 - God is also Just. He can only do the right thing a right way. Think of it in a legal sense as a court room judge. He knows all the facts and can only render a perfect verdict and judgment. So anything God does it is Just, fair and he has no bias. 3 - And the third thing here is God is Love. There are a lot of ideas about love. BUT, lets look at an example from God. Before we believed in Jesus Christ for Salvation, we were not ‘saved'. We do not have a relationship with God. God wants to have a relationship with us; therefore He had to solve that problem. He did what [^] John 3:16 says, God soooo (my emphasis) loved the world (you and me) that he gave us His uniquely born son, that whosoever (me and you) believes in Him shall have everlasting life (aka we will go to heaven). Whether we realize it or not, when we believed in Jesus Christ for Salvation, we claimed that promise of John 3:16 and we became saved. Just for reference notice God did all the work. All we have to do is believe. It takes no ‘effort' to believe. God did the work of Salvation. It takes faith. Faith in someone higher than you. Now that is Love. God doing all the work and we get all the benefit. But wait there is more to this ‘salvation' Let's look at it from the Divine perspective of God's Essence. Righteousness, Justice and Love God in His Righteousness could not have a relationship with you and me before salvation. Therefore His Love motivated Him to find a solution. That was Jesus Christ So God found a way. God's Love motivated Him to find a way which satisfied His Righteousness that allowed God's Justice to establish a relationship with you and me. I hope that is not too confusing. But that is how God works. He loves us and wants to do things for us, because He loves us and when His Righteousness is satisfied then His Justice is freed to do what God's Love wants to do. God can't do anything He wants to do. He operates within His own integrity. That integrity is His Righteousness and Justice. So He is motivated by His Love yet His Righteousness has to be satisfied for His Justice to execute what His Love wants. [Blank Screen – W] How God works (Thinks) (God's Righteousness, Justice and Love) So the next logical question is How does God's Righteousness get satisfied? Great question. It is when we follow His ‘instructions'. Or better said when we follow what the bible tells us. For example, you Rebounded at the beginning of class. You followed God's instructions (procedure found in 1 John 1:9) and when you executed that procedure, God's Righteousness was satisfied and His Justice forgave you of your sin(s). So that is How God works. God loves you. He wants the best for you. And He provides information on how we are to think, and when we think with God's thoughts, or think like God thinks, then He is free to bless us and help us. That is why God in His love provided the Bible, which is His complete information about Himself for us to understand and follow, by thinking like God thinks. And when our thinking changes then our actions follow. You know God does not make the sp life hard. Recall Jesus saying My yolk is easy my burden is light – and we said to ourselves sure, right!!!! I am not going to tell you that reaction is right nor wrong. Why? Because it is a matter of perspective. I can stand here and quote bible verses until I am blue in the face and that will not persuade you. Or maybe you know its true (the bible says so) BUT you have not experienced that yourself. That has been true for me at times in my life. Sooooo, let me tell you it is a matter of your perspective as to the validity of JC statement. Let me explain. Recall Adam and the Woman. God has one only one prohibition in all the entire garden. You can tend the tree (and everything in the garden) and take care of it but you cannot eat of its fruit. (some say the bible says you can go near the tree nor touch the tree. Absolutely false. Go read you bible. God said tend every everything in the garden. ) So Adam had to tend the tree but he and the woman could not eat of the fruit of the tree. Preciseness is important in Gods system. It is how Satan trips us up and did trip up the woman. So one prohibition. Do not eat. (Now isn't that easy – My yolk is easy my burden is light…) Yet what did the woman do? Crunch… Hey Adam, you tall dark handsome man, have a bit. Crunch. One command, only one. Now that was simple wasn't it? Yes. Yet….. So is it simple. Simple to rebound? … Yes Is it simple to claim a promise (surmising you know at least one promise) … Yes And when you do that, Gods +R is satisfied and His Justice executes what His Love wants for you. Simple? Yes. So what's so hard….. We are human…. We are arrogant. We make things hard. Now this is where an aspect of Grace kicks in. We are to give ourselves Grace. In my youth the expression was take a chill pill, give yourself a break. We are only human… very funny if you really understood what it meant. We are to relax and follow God procedures. Thus far tonight Rebound and F/R Drill allowing Gods Love to give us the things we need because His +R is satisfied, because we are using Gods procedures (Rebound and F/R Drill) and God's J delivers what Gods Love wants. So easy. Let's proceed. The next thing to understand is to Trust – Trusting God [^] Proverbs 3:5 [1] [CMD] Trust in the Lord with all your heart [rt lobe – where you think. PSD #3 F/R Drill], And [2] [CMD] do not lean on your own [HVP] understanding [man's opinion vs God's]. Proverbs 3:6 In all your ways [3] [CMD] acknowledge Him, [Promise] And He will make your paths straight. [1, 2, 3 - easy] Proverbs 3:7 [conclusion v5-6] Do not be wise in your own eyes [conceited - arrogance]; [CMD] Fear [Trust] the Lord and [CMD] turn away from evil. Straight forward. First this verse is both a Command and also a promise. A command to Trust in the Lord. How? That starts with knowing a little about God and doing what He says. That is why we Rebound and why I am starting with the Faith Rest procedure. Knowing those two things and using them starts the trust in God process. [In God We Trust] God said x, I will do x and I trust God will do x. Simple, but very important. Like 1 + 1 = 2. Next it says with all your heart. That is our goal – recall what Col Thieme said? Bel using BD turns the world upside down. In the sp life, we can't quite Trust God perfectly yet.. but you can start by using what you know right now (Rebound and F/R procedure). So if that's all you have in your ‘heart' so far and if you do them diligently, then you are fulfilling this part of the command. The third part is interesting and should generate some questions. But first let's look at it plainly: “And do not lean on your own understanding”. Leaning on your own human understanding is using human opinion, the worlds thinking in solving problems vs God's thinking in solving problems. Lean on God and His thinking vs lean on what humanity tells us. If human solutions do not line up with what God says then that thinking is faulty. Where human wisdom lines up with God's thinking or Divine Wisdom then humanity is following the way God thinks. Either way its Gods thinking that is correct, every time. The interesting part here is there are at least two ways to think. God's way and humanity's way. Also called God's Divine Viewpoint (DVP) and human viewpoint (HVP) thinking. We know in fact there are multiple views of humanity, many different forms of ‘philosophy'. But only God's ‘philosophy' matters and is the only one that produces results that are for your best interest, happiness and prosperity in all situations and all the time. This applies to you individually and us a group or humanity. For right now, let's keep it simple, God's viewpoint of life is correct and that is the one we are to learn and think. So And do not lean on your own understanding. Means we are NOT to use human thinking, HVP, but learn and use God's thinking, DVP. Next is verse 6, In all your ways acknowledge Him. So how do you acknowledge God? Does this mean witnessing, etc? God wants your thinking to change, He wants your mind to be ‘renovated' – out with the old thinking and in with the new thinking. God knows if you think like Him and use His procedures and follow His commands then your actions and what you do will follow suit and be based upon His DVP. So God is focused on thinking and not on acting or actions (since allot of people ‘act'). So what this means for you is something I said on Trusting: if what you have in your ‘heart' is Rebound and F/R procedure and you use them diligently, then you are acknowledging Him in all your ways (two areas so far!). So verse 6a just restates what verse 5b says (a side note, I don't know if you like poetry or not, but the relationship between v5b and v6a is called a synonymous parallel. These verses in Proverbs are all Hebrew poetry and they don't use rhyming as their style of poetry but parallelism. God uses this restating technique to both reinforce its importance and to say the same thing slightly differently so the reader understands more completely what He is saying.) So if you are using Rebound and F/R procedure then you are acknowledging God in all your ways! Now the last part of verse 6 - God's promise to you: And He will make your paths straight. A promise to make your paths straight. Make your paths straight is a metaphor (defn: A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly referring to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide clarity or identify hidden similarities between two ideas.). So to make your paths straight means to live your life in the way God wants you to live your life for maximum happiness and blessing in life. Because that is what God wants (I am not giving you lots of bible verses to back up what I say so as not to inundate you... But you can rationalize it yourself, if God is God then He must have a plan and a purpose for my life and He must have given us all the information we need to live that life ... ). God wants you to be happy and prosperous in your life. God gives us His thinking that we need to learn, procedures to execute, commands to follow so that when we do these things we can live our life, solve the inevitable problems we face big and small, day to day, have happiness and contentment in this life. You might ask “How does God make our paths straight?” In its most simplest form it is two things: 1 - you are learning and thinking what God has said, in your case Rebound and F/R procedure. If you are being diligent about using them, then you are acknowledging God and you think differently or you are more relaxed so that you can think and act differently. 2 - with your relaxed thinking and decision making, God opens and closes ‘doors', He brings circumstances into your life which will now guide your life in different directions. [^] Confused which way to go? Then make the best decision you can and if God does not want you to go in that direction, he will close the door. If you are receptive to closed doors, then you see that for what it is and you go in another direction. Don't take this to the ridiculous as some do, “should I eat Mexican or Italian tonight? I'll wait on God's will”. In all cases you make the decisions in life as to what you think is best. Remember, you will not be in fear or worry because you are using the F/R procedure and as long as you do and are remaining calm about it (really, not faking it) then any decision will either be guided by God and an open door or the result of the decision will be a closed door. Then you know to go in a different direction. The key is [pause]: are you diligent in using the F/R procedure and are you trusting God such that you are relaxed? If so, then your trust in God is not in vain and He will come through for you (but also remember it will be in His timing). [^] Trust is a process. [^] You start out slowly, so to speak, claim a promise and wait upon the Lord to handle that promise. If you put more and more on his ‘plate' and you trust Him to handle it then the more and more relaxed you become. When you see this happening in your life, you realize you have peace and tranquility that you did not have before. That is the result of using Gods thinking and specifically the F/R procedure. An other verse which is similar is Laminations 3:25. [^] Laminations 3:25 [Promise] The Lord is good to those who trust in Him [F/R procedure] and to those who wait for Him [divine timing of God, having patience], One of the objectives you have eventually is to want to please God. God is a person, He thinks and He has emotions (just perfect emotions vs our sometimes irrational emotions). He can be ‘pleased'. And doing what He wants for us to do in our lives is something worth aspiring to. This verse tells us that God is good to those who trust Him. That's what you are doing by being diligent in using Rebound and F/R procedure. Lamentations 3:25 says trust and wait upon God. The waiting is also a test. God is testing you to let him handle the situation in His time and for you to relax and wait. Patience. [Blank screen – W] Let's look at Fear - One thing that can characterize what was going on during this COVID-19 crisis is fear. So I wanted to talk to you about fear. There are several ‘fears' in life, some are inherent (you acquired them early in life, or acquired them through difficult circumstances in life) and some come on suddenly (COVID-19 virus with all the conflicting information we get). So let's discuss fear and look at it from God's Divine viewpoint (DVP). In the bigger sense, most people are afraid of death. Many don't think about it until they have an experience with it (friend, loved one, war, etc) and other fears can develop as we age. But as a believer in Jesus Christ, you should have no fear of death. You know what happens after death. You go to heaven. Now some in Christianity have said, and some religions say, you can lose your salvation by being ‘bad'. BS! Why? Because the bible NEVER, NEVER says that. It clearly says many times, you have what is called Eternal Security. Once saved always saved. Period. Unfortunately that is not how humans think (HVP). We want to feel sorry; we want to make amends or penance. BUT recall what I told you. God does not think like humans think. We have to learn how God thinks. And this is very important. Probably the most important thing after mastering Rebound and the Faith Rest procedure is to understand more and more about God and how He thinks. So once saved always saved. Proof – John 3:15 [in order] that whoever believes may in Him [Jesus Christ] have eternal life. John 3:16 "For God sooooooo loved the world, [with the result] that He gave His uniquely born Son [virgin birth], that whoever believes in Him shall never perish [eternal security], but have everlasting life.” John 3:17 For God did not send His Son into the world to judge [punish] the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. John 3:18 "He who believes in Him is not judged [Great White Throne Judgment for unbelievers]; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the uniquely Son of God. Second Proof – John 10:28 [Promise] and I [Jesus Christ speaking] give eternal life to them, and they shall never perish [salvation cannot be undone]; and no one shall snatch [pluck] them out of My hand. [eternal security] John 10:29 "My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. Our first security is the eternal security. You cannot lose your salvation. And you go to heaven at physical death. So God handles the fear of death. No Fear! Next - Do you really understand why God loves you? Yea, Jn 3:16… But Do you really understand you and all mankind are precious to God? Think of that for a second in human terms. I love dogs. [^] [^] I loved my first dog, Hans. He was a playmate, ‘friend' and companion. He was precious to me. And every dog since then has been precious to me. What's precious to you? [BLANK Screen – W] Now, think how much more God thinks of you as precious? He created you. Don't you think that someone who created you would not also think of you as something precious to Him? ((Wait a second Cliff, my parents ‘created' me? Not quite true. Your parents ‘created' you physically and give your certain DNA traits. Through the reproduction process (that God invented), your parents DNA gave you a body. )) God gave you life and He gave you, you. I.e. your soul, your personality, the real you. When you die your physical body goes back to the earth. Your soul is still alive. And with salvation, you will live in heaven forever (and God will also give you a ‘new' body in which to house your soul). God created you and that makes you very precious to Him. That is an inkling of how much God loves you. My second favorite verse in the bible is Matthew 7:11 – [^] Matthew 7:11 [Promise] If you then [the context it is talking about parents], being evil [compared to the character & integrity of God], know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him! How much more! How much more does God our Father know how to give ‘good gifts' to you! What are good gifts? The things in life that you desire that are in accordance to His plan. So if we know how to give graciously to others, how much more does God who is infinitely powerful, know how to give to us gracious things in life that we desire to have which are in accordance to His plan. He has a perfect plan for our lives. And He will provide everything we need for our life. I can imagine some questions. “I do not have what I want in this life (yet)”. Are you in the Plan of God for your life? [BLANK Screen – W] So thus far in the CWLiving we ---- You started at the beginning. Salvation. Then … Rebound and the Faith Rest procedure. Master that. Next … We start with getting to know a little about God. As we get to know God and use His procedures then we trust God. That is the beginning of being in the Plan of God for your life. Simple 1, 2, 3. Proverbs 3:5 & 6. Go back and read it. [^] Rebound when necessary Diligently using (mastering) the F/R Drill Understanding God's Essence, esp His Love -> +R –J Then using your volition to execute what God says – CMDs, Promises, Instructions. … and He will make your paths straight. Very Key. Simple. Crunch…. My focus over these lessons is going to be just that. Giving you Promises and going over biblical narratives to focus your attention on the range of promises and commands we have and to see how God thinks using His divine Essence. [BLANK screen – W] In this country we are living in MORE difficult times than in the past. We are going to be tested more than ever because of the decay, the rot of our nation. (it humorous but NOT funny – what the socialists, the democrats are pushing for is to make our lives more and more difficult – a true reversal of ‘peace and prosperity' we experience today) God's way – peace and prosperity – their way hardship and difficulty. So mastering the F/R Drill and understanding How God thinks is paramount for your sp life and living in this cosmic system. If you can recall how God thinks vs cosmic system And if you can recall more than one F/R Promise (one tailored to your ‘issue(s)) Then you have the solid foundation to advance and thrive in Satan's Cosmic system. > So let's proceed by reviewing God's Divine Essence then mixing in some narratives and promises of the bible to highlight them. Before we do let's review - 1 - Faith & Divine Essence Faith in God. What is faith? I have said several times you must trust God. Faith is putting your trust in something greater than you and your problems. If someone says I trust God but can't explain why, then that is empty faith and it is not going to help you be relaxed or help you psychologically. Being relaxed or what the bible calls prosperity (mental prosperity) is one of the great benefits of the Faith Rest procedure. RMA. So, if you know or recite Gods promises and know that God backs them up because He is an all-powerful God, then you are putting your faith in someone stronger and mightier than you. You see faith must have an object. And in our case at GBC and what Pastor Bob has taught us, our faith is in God, specifically His promises and Him as an all-powerful God. Now when I say an all powerful God – what does that mean to you – Omnipotent. Well not really. It really is means that God acts IAW His character – Omnipotent God doing the right thing the right way. Not whatever He wants. That might sound sacrilegious but it is true and a key component to understanding God's Essence. God does the right thing the right way, every time – right thing – +R, the right way - Justice, and the power to do it is Omnipotent. So an all powerful God is a +R, J and Omnipotent. 3/10 attributes. What are the attributes of God's Divine Essence, His character? Pastor Rory Clark gave us an acronym to remember this by: JR SOOO LIVE (pronounced: junior soooooooo live) • Justice – God renders a fair decision based upon all the facts. He always does the right thing in the right way. He is a perfect (just) judge. • Righteousness (+R) – this refers to God is perfect, He never has made a mistake, never thought anything wrong, is perfect and without sin. • Sovereignty – God is supreme authority of the universe. There is no one more powerful or ‘above' Him. • Omniscience – God is all knowing, God knows everything including what would have happened if different decisions were made. He knows all the outcomes. • Omnipresent – God is in all places at once. He is present everywhere. • Omnipotent – God is all powerful. For example the bible describes God's creation of the universe as the work of His fingers. Your fingers are the weakest part of your body, yet God created the whole universe and all its great beauty with just His fingers. Now that is power. (and no God does not have fingers – it is a metaphor) • Love – God is Love. This is a huge concept but to keep it relatively simple we have to use all of the following words to describe God's love: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 gives several descriptions of God's love: "Love is patient, love is kind. God's Love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs (see note at end). Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God's love never fails." That is a lot to digest, but I think you can get a glimpse of what true love is and God is Love. • Immutable – God never changes. He never makes a decision that He would change. He does the right thing the right way the first time. • Veracity – God is truthful. Titus 1:2 "God, who does not lie." Also that means the bible is inerrant, without error (in the original language that is was written). God's perfect thoughts given to mankind. • Eternal Life – God always existed, He was in the past, present and future forever and ever. This is the One whom we put our faith or trust in. This is the One whom we put our faith or trust in. So when God says in 1 Peter 5:7 Give me all your concerns because I (God) care for you. Or Slamming all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. He means it. Re-Read God's attribute of Love over again. That is His attitude towards YOU. And now you know why the bible is called God's word. It is just not title. It is God's very words to you and to me. God's veracity, His Omnipotence make sure that you have His absolute thinking in the bible. That is why it is the oldest book in the world, God has preserved the bible for 4000-5000 years. Who else could accomplish that? Only God because of His attributes. That is who we put our trust in. I emphasized trust. But trust is something you have to develop; it is a process. You have to learn to trust God. Learning about His Divine Essence is an academic endeavor. You still have to learn to use [experience] each of His attributes and see it working for you. When you do you start and continue to trust God. It is a process. It does not happen overnight. Many people, including myself spend years exercising the Faith Rest procedure and trusting God. Sometimes I fail, but I keep going. I make mistakes but I keep on going (this is something I will talk about later, the concept of perseverance). ((RECAP??? Let me recap this last section on Faith in God, His Divine Essence and its relationship to learning to trust God by using the Faith Rest procedure. Faith has to have an object or it is just blind or useless faith. In understanding (and memorizing) God's Divine Essence, His attributes, we can see that the One we put our Faith in is stronger, more powerful, perfect (Veracity) and Loving. We must learn to trust Him and what He says. We start to do that by Rebounding when necessary and using the Faith Rest procedure. And as I have said, we must master this part of the CWLiving. )) 2 - God's Promises Learn more God's promises. So far - 1 Peter 5:7, Proverbs 3:5-6 and Lamentations 3:25. We are to use these promises to ‘slam' all your cares, anxieties and problems on God then relaxing about them knowing that in Lam 3:25 God will provide solutions while you relax and wait on His timing. This should also give you courage. Tip -- Make a list, mine is on my phone, and cite them to God in your Faith Rest procedure prayer to God. You have to move forward every day, you have to make decisions every day. Now you can do that, even in difficult times or in pressure situations, with the courage God gives you by using the F/R procedure and having confidence God will come through for you. So then trusting in God and using His procedures (acknowledging Him) he will guide your life and that life will be one of prosperity (mental prosperity or relaxed) and he will guide your life with the result you will have maximum happiness and a life of fulfillment (Prov 3:5-6). Problems come in two flavors; 1 - the ones we created by bad decisions (which have internal (pressure, anxiety) and external (ramifications to others)) and 2 - problems others created and put on us (these can be circumstances of life or overt decisions made by others that cause you problems, including ‘natural disasters' such as Mt Saint Helen's, floods, war, pandemics, etc. Sooooo it matters not whether we or others created the problems, God has a solution to them. His solution is to use what you know from the bible to make decisions and to use the Faith Rest procedure to remain calm, relaxed in spite of the pressure, and have courage to move forward because God will fulfill His promise. 3 - Psalm 91 God's Promise of Protection for the Believer Third, lets study a passage to put most of the concepts together – God's Divine Essence, His promises and what He does for us in terms of protection (anti-fear). Psalm 91 is an example of God's protection of you as a believer in Jesus Christ (JC). God protects believers who trust (here is that word again) in Him. When you are executing the Plan of God then because God Loves you, He wants the best for you. Based upon you executing His procedures, His Love wants to bless you and He can because His Righteousness sees that you are following His procedures and commands so then God's Justice provides you blessings. Simple? Crunch Psalm 91:1 He [the believer in JC] who dwells [via F/R procedure] in the shelter of the Most High [a reference to God] Will abide [reside] in the shadow of the Almighty [Omnipotence of God]. The author of this Psalm is saying Believers in JC whose thinking and who live their lives using God's solutions (so far in our lesson today Rebound & F/R procedure) will find shelter and reside under God's protection. God protects those whom He Loves. Protection from what? Versus 3, 5-7 give us some examples (criminality, war, pestilence, natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, etc). But let's pick one from v6 that is applicable today – the corona virus. God protects the Believer from the corona virus. Psalm 91:6 Of the pestilence [corona virus, black plague] that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon [earthquake, volcano, tsunami]. He shelters (protects) you and does it in at least one of 3 ways (which will be true for any example). 1) God protects the Believer from catching the virus. 2) God allows the believer to catch the virus but heals the believer. 3) God allows the believer to catch the virus and allows the believer to die and go to heaven. What a minute! How is #3 protection? God provides blessing to a dying believer: - first you are relaxed even when you are dying (F/R procedure); - second, in being relaxed while dying you might be a witness to others who will be curious why you are so relaxed, it is an opportunity to witness to someone; and - third God's Plan for you is to witness in dying. His Plan for you is up and He is bringing you to heaven. There cannot be a more greater protection that to spend eternity in heaven. This might be hard for you to understand but God has a Plan for you and will provide all the means for you to be relaxed and fulfill His Plan. And that Plan just might be putting you in a situation of death so that someone else can benefit from your death. How many soldiers died in WWII so that we can have the freedom and prosperity in the USA today? See there is a bigger plan and purpose, greater than just your own life. So yes, death can be part of God's Plan for a believer. And in that death, you can be relaxed and happy. That is not how the world (cosmos) thinks. Again another example of God's thinking is opposite of the worlds thinking. So back to the first 2 ways God protects the believer. Verse 1 says those believers who use the Faith Rest procedure will find shelter and reside under the protection of Omnipotent God. We might not know how God's Omnipotence might protect us in advance but we can trust (here is that word again) in His promise, an Immutable promise and when we use that promise, God will deliver. Just in this verse we can see how to apply parts of God's Divine Essence. God is all powerful, Omnipotent, and can prevent you from catching the virus or heal you if you catch the virus. God knows through His Omniscience why He might want you to catch the virus or even die, so that His Plan for you and others can be fulfilled. God's promise is Immutable it will never change and since you claimed the promise God's Righteousness is satisfied so that His Justice can execute the promise that God in His Love proved for you. Thereby proving God's Veracity. So in this example you can ‘see' how God thinks and how God works. V2 goes on – Psalm 91:2 I will say to the Lord, [your conclusion upon using the F/R procedure] "[You are] My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust!" So the result of using the F/R procedure is coming to the conclusion that God will fulfill the promise to you (that is, you are trusting God) so that you can say (to yourself and others) God is my refuge and my fortress. Also you thank God, in prayer or verbally to others, “My God delivered me because I trust Him” (I trust His word – promises). So you are praising God and thanking Him with your thinking because He will and does protect you. But, this is only for the believer who is using Rebound and the F/R procedure. See when you follow God's thinking and use His tools and develop the spiritual skills to live your life then God blesses you and part of the blessing is protection per Psalm 91. Also look how personal v2 is. My refuge, My fortress, My God. As I said God wants to have a personal relationship with you. This is you having a personal relationship with God by using His tools (promises) to live your life. And as I said you become grateful to Him for giving you these promises to use in daily life. I like v3 because it has been true in my life. Psalm 91:3 For it is He [God] who delivers you from the snare of the trapper [people and circumstances in life], And from the deadly pestilence [deadly hazards like corona virus]. The snare of the trapper is an illustration of traps in life. Who would set traps for you in life? Have you ever had people in your life who were out for you and wanted to do you harm? I have. I have had bosses at work that ‘hated' me and wanted to destroy my career. I knew it and I did not react to them. I treated them with kindness and respect and I did my job to the best of my ability. And no matter what these bosses tried to do, in the end, they had no effect on my career. Now this sounds like I was perfect in all of this. I was not. A few times I got depressed and worried BUT when I did, I Rebounded and used the F/R procedure and went back to a relaxed state so I could do my job. And that is what happens most if not all the time. Sometimes we fail. We Rebound and go back to using the F/R procedure. So God protected me, I was allowed to do my job and very successfully. Then later God's solution was to give me a better job (a promotion). So God did not make the person go way, instead, He protected me so I could do my job and He ‘promoted' me and the person who ‘hated' me, got to ‘stew in their own juices' while watching me be successful. This is an example of God protecting me because I was using His solutions to the problem. Circumstances in life can also lay traps for you, but again the solution is the same – Rebound when necessary and use the F/R procedure. The second part of v3 I covered in the example of the pestilence above, using the corona virus as an illustration. Psalm 91:4 He will cover you with His pinions [feathers], And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark [a defensive wall – like a castle wall]. Here is a picture of v4a that says it all. Notice how the mother bird is holding on to her chicks. Physically protecting them, giving them cover and warmth – that is total protection. Notice also that the chick could fly away if they wanted to. But they are choosing to stay under her protection. Same with us and God. We can remove ourselves from God's protection by using human solutions to problems instead of using God's solutions. So it is our choice, use God's solutions or use human solutions. Versus 5-7 are additional descriptive illustrations of terrors that can affect Believers. Psalm 91:5 ¶ [result from v2 of using F/R procedure] You will not be afraid of the terror by night [criminality, etc], Or of the arrow that flies by day [warfare]; Psalm 91:6 Of the pestilence [corona virus, black plague] that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon [earthquake, volcano, tsunami]. Notice night and day, darkness and noon – this is a reference that God protects the believer 24 hrs/day! God never sleeps. He is on the job 24 hrs/day, 7 days/week. Psalm 91:7 A thousand may fall [die] at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it [terrors and disasters] shall not approach you. V7 is interesting. You might be in the midst of a great natural disaster or the corona virus with thousands dying all around you but it, the disasters and terrors, will not affect you. We are blessed (by God) in the USA and we do not have many disasters like other parts of the world, but when we do, God protects the believer who is executing His Plan for their lives. Psalm 91:8 You will only look on with your eyes, And see the recompense of the wicked [Justice of God in action]. V8 is interesting because it now introduces what happens to those who are evil, from v3 and 5-7. Not only are you protected but the Justice of God punishes those who are evil (anti-God, believers not using His Divine Solutions in life and unbelievers). You will many times see that they get Divine Justice from God for their deeds. Versus 9 & 10 are a conclusion. Psalm 91:9 For you [the Believer using the F/R procedure] have made the Lord, my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. Psalm 91:10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any plague come near your tent [where you live]. V9 is a restatement of v1-2 and the conclusion of all these terrors and adversities is that you are protected wherever you are. These 9 verses give you enough background to understand what God is telling Believers who a executing His Plan for their lives, the protection and comfort He provides 7 days a week and 24 hours a day. And, and the recompense for those bel who do not and for those unbel who are evil. So this is a great example of God's promise to believers who Rebound when necessary and use the F/R procedure to handle problems, anxieties, disasters, evil and adversities of life. God protects the ones He Loves. And since He is an all-powerful God, He has the means to provide protection to His loved ones. You can see His Divine Essence in action. His Righteousness not tolerating evil and His Justice executing justice on evil in this world, His Omniscience knowing what will happen in advance and having a plan to protect the believer in these circumstances, His Omnipotence shielding the believer from the consequences of evil and disasters, even when those around you are affected. He does all this because He Loves you and you responded to His Love by first believing in Jesus Christ for salvation and then following His procedures, commands and getting to know and appreciate Him and trusting Him for deliverance from the problems of life. God can only keep His promises and in them is true security. Once you latch on to what Psalm 91 says, and once you understand the context of Psalm 91 as a whole, and once you believe God's promise, and trust God for the fulfillment of Psalm 91, then you have security. You have security in your salvation, you have security in your life, both physical and spiritual, you have eternal security, you have everything that you need, every resource to be secure in this life, no matter what. Psalm 91 is a benefit in the midst of adversity, it is a benefit in the midst of a corona virus plague. Also as you are relaxed, you look around at others who are in panic and fear and you can ‘see' what a wonderful God you have, that Loves you and protects you. Last thoughts Why is the F/R procedure so important? Why do I keep telling you to be diligent in using Rebound and the F/R procedure? What does claiming God's promises on some specific ‘issue' you are having do? First if you trust God and believe His promise(s) then you can be relaxed. That is called a Relaxed Mental Attitude (RMA). You can relax, you do not have to dwell on your problems, you let God handle them. What else does a RMA bring to you? Courage. Courage under adversity or better said Courage under fire (as in a battle). So what if - you momentarily think about your problem(s) that you asked God to handle by using the F/R procedure? There is nothing wrong with that. It happens. Give yourself grace. But if you dwell on them more than momentarily, then you have in essence told God that you want to handle them. So you need to Rebound (you told God that He was going to handle them and you changed your mind, not trusting God) and then you must use the F/R procedure again for that problem. See there is a solution for that too. Think about this for a moment. When a problem comes up, you are able to claim a promise and calm down, by utilizing the Faith Rest procedure, and have a Relaxed Mental Attitude (RMA), under adversity and that is something that only the believer in Jesus Christ has at their disposal, only the believer. You should be able to see what a great God we have. You should be experiencing encouragement of both God's presence and His care for you. You will rest with the confidence that whatever happens in life is with His knowledge and nothing happens outside of his knowledge (Omniscient). Psalm 91. And you know what? This is one of several problem solving procedures God has provided for believers only. You are well taught and know God provides 10 PSDs that you can use. We just looked at two. Rebound and F/R procedure. Now it is your job to use these two diligently!

His WAY means we live as God desires for us to live. His STRENGTH means we acknowledge our weakness and find our strength in him. His JUSTICE means God decides right from wrong and the respective consequences.

What is the difference between God's law and His Justice? How is it seen in the Old Testament versus the New Testament? And how do we practically apply God's principles of Justice to our lives today?   Today's message will answer all of these questions and more! How justice was facilitated through the Law is drastically different than how Jesus facilitated justice when He came to this earth. Don't miss this essential teaching and application for your life today!   Join us as Pastor Torrian continues the series on Justice. You don't want to miss this powerful time in God's Word!   Request Prayer: https://harvestinternational.church/contact-us/ TWITTER - https://twitter.com/HICbrea INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/hi_church/ FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/HIChurch/  

Juz 10 contains the last 35 verses of Surat al-Anfal and the first 92 verses of Surat at-Tawbah. Tawbah means “to turn to” and often refers to repentance--when one turns to God. This surah is also called Bara’ah from the first word of the chapter, meaning to disassociate. This chapter discusses the outcome for those who aggressively continued to attack Islam and Rasulullah (s). Surat at-Tawbah is the only surah in the Qur’an that does not start with Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim. Scholars opine it may be because Surat at-Tawbah is a continuation of Surat al-Anfal, and the basmalah at the beginning of Surat al-Anfal suffices for Surat at-Tawbah. Alternatively, it may be because it was not befitting to begin a chapter of harsh subject matter, with two names describing God’s incredible mercy. However, the contents of the verses somewhat contradict the latter opinion due to discussions of tawbah. God’s Mercy is not independent of His Justice. This chapter also mentions many of the tests that the Muslims went through subsequent to the conquest of Mecca, which should encourage introspection on our relationship with Allah (swt) and in what circumstances are we willing to obey Allah (swt). Are we only willing to submit in times of ease and convenience, or also through difficulty and inconvenience? Learn more: http://lnk.worldfed.org/30Juz _________________________________________________________________________________________ Watch or listen to our series on any of the channels below: Social Media YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/WorldFederationKSIMC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WFKSIMC/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wfksimc/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/wfksimc Podcasts: Apple Podcasts: http://lnk.worldfed.org/Apple Spotify: http://lnk.worldfed.org/Spotify Google: http://lnk.worldfed.org/Google

In Numbers 14, it appears that Moses 'changes' God's mind in prayer, and causes God to take a different path. Does prayer really change God's mind, or is something deeper at work here? Also - discussing God's Kindness and His Justice.

In Numbers 14, it appears that Moses 'changes' God's mind in prayer, and causes God to take a different path. Does prayer really change God's mind, or is something deeper at work here? Also - discussing God's Kindness and His Justice.

In this episode I connect the exposure and judgment of God to recent events, Wall Street has been exposed in an unprecedented scandal. I believe this is one of many steps where the Lord exposes the systems that have aligned themselves against the oppressed and downtrodden. His mercy endures forever and His Justice will not fail. Listen to this short message and you will get prophetic insight into current events.

Our meaning and purpose can be easily expressed. Today's parable of the servants given 1, 2 and 5 talents sums it all up. We live between the two comings of Christ. The two comings is God's plan to establish the Kingdom in Power in the second coming, but through the first coming, bring as many into it as possible!  This design is in perfect fulfillment of His Justice and Mercy. And we are part of the plan! How can more enter the Kingdom as Jesus delay's His second coming, unless we invite them? This is our mission and purpose; to be His disciples, and use our gifts and talents to build up His Kingdom.  That's it! :-)

God’s Messenger of Divine MercyBob and Penny Lord trace the life of Saint Faustina and the Origin of Divine Mercy Devotion.There is a time for Mercy and a time for Justice. Expelling Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden was an act of God’s Justice. But even then, as the Angel was blocking the way to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden,1 and ushering our first parents out into the cold world, God was showing His Mercy to us through His promise of the Messiah, the Redeemer. God has always lived up to His Word. Throughout Salvation history, we have been beneficiaries of God’s Mercy. And very few times has He let loose His Justice. Sodom and Gomorrah was God’s Justice. Noah and the Ark was God’s Justice, but also mingled with God’s Mercy. The miracle of Moses and the Jews crossing the Red Sea was God’s Mercy, coupled with God’s Justice on the Pharaoh’s charioteers. When finally we are in the last days, with possibly the end of the world at hand, and we are about to face the Last Judgment, at that time the God of Mercy will give way to the God of Justice.Support the show (https://bobandpennylord.store/pages/contact-us)

It is proper to speak of both the Justice of God as well as His Mercy.  They are not opposed to each other.  His Justice will be dealt to those who refuse to repent just as it was dealt to the angels who refused to serve God.  But, for now, is it more proper to say that God is Merciful.  In fact, the evil one would love for us to become consumed with the idea that God is only Just and that He imposes His judgment upon us continually.  When this idea is accepted, it is hard to understand that God actually withholds His Justice as long as we are open to His Mercy.  Seek His Mercy, believe in it and run to it.  Do not doubt it for a moment.  Know that God offers it day and night and never tires of lavishing it upon you.  When you are faced with the fear that comes with facing His Justice, turn your eyes to His Mercy and you will be able to easily turn from all sin as you bask in the rays shining forth from His Heart (See Diary #1338).Which of these two images of God do you reflect upon more often?  Are you frightened by God’s Justice?  Or are you consoled by His Mercy?  Both can be useful but never at the expense of the other.  We should never presume on God’s Mercy and we should never become fixated on His Justice without immediately remembering His Mercy.  Ponder His Mercy today more than anything and you will have no need to fear His Justice.  Let your heart experience His love and turn to Him with full confidence and trust.Lord, I am aware that You are Just and will issue Your Justice upon me if I fail to turn to Your Mercy.  Therefore, I do turn to Your Mercy.  I seek it with all my heart.  I love You, Lord, and I desire to love You more.  Give me the grace to open my eyes to Your radiant Heart and to be open to all that You wish to bestow.  Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: www.divinemercy.lifeCopyright © 2020 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Today we begin, what in the English Bible is called The Poetical Books, Poems. The Book of Job is 1st of the 5 Poetical Books in The Bible. Job explores the answer to a central theme that is pursued to this day; Why does an Almighty, Good and Powerful God, allow innocent people to suffer? God's response reveals His Supremacy over all creation. Suffering is a very real part of our lives. And in each case, God has a different reason. His Justice, His vast creation – is beyond human understanding. God saw Job through all that, everything was #restored to him & doubled his blessings at the end of it all. God bless you!

Saint Faustina & Divine MercyGod’s Messenger of Divine MercyThere is a time for Mercy and a time for Justice. Expelling Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden was an act of God’s Justice. But even then, as the Angel was blocking the way to the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden,1 and ushering our first parents out into the cold world, God was showing His Mercy to us through His promise of the Messiah, the Redeemer. God has always lived up to His Word. Throughout Salvation history, we have been beneficiaries of God’s Mercy. And very few times has He let loose His Justice. Sodom and Gomorrah was God’s Justice. Noah and the Ark was God’s Justice, but also mingled with God’s Mercy. The miracle of Moses and the Jews crossing the Red Sea was God’s Mercy, coupled with God’s Justice on the Pharaoh’s charioteers. When finally we are in the last days, with possibly the end of the world at hand, and we are about to face the Last Judgment, at that time the God of Mercy will give way to the God of Justice.Access all of our media online at one location https://www.patreon.com/bobandpennylordCompanion dvdSaint Faustina and Divine MercyBlog post printed versionSupport the show (https://www.journeysoffaith.com/donate)

THE CROSS Matthew 16:21-23 It is at the Cross, and only at the Cross that God’s mercy and justice are satisfied. Through the Cross He gives you Justice. You are condemned and a price must be paid. He gives you Mercy by taking your condemnation upon Himself. Before you received what Jesus did for you on the cross, you were already condemned to hell, and there was nothing that could done by any person or you to deliver you from your sentence of death and darkness. But now, because of the Cross, He can give you what you don’t deserve. You see, it’s not just that His Justice condemned you to hell and His mercy sends you to heaven. His Justice and His Mercy have now sentenced you to Heaven!

By June 2018, I was in the peak of what I now call my blah "gray phase". I had lost my verve, my voice, my confidence. I got weird and swirly and I let others have too much a say in what I thought about myself, my calling, and even my place in the Kingdom. I literally started wearing mostly gray and black. I called it “minimalism” and practically baptized it--but really, I was hiding.So, this is the story of how God shook my shoulders with awe and helped me tip my face back to the light. It was the moment when I remembered some very important and core things about God and myself:I love exploration. I am an explorer by nature.I am a pioneer, someone out on the front-end, willing to “go first”. I admire pioneering.I am creative. I work with God to make something wehre there once was nothing.Humans have an astounding capacity. We’re SO INCREDIBLE and so filled with potential for good. I cannot live in a hell-in-a-hand-basket worldview. It just doesn’t work for me anymore. I cannot believe that even with the Lord we just have to sit tight and wait for Him to come back. I believe we have agency and are meant to be agents for His Goodness and His Kindness and His Justice and His Provision and His Creativity here on Earth. I believe we can embody what we’ve received as our birthright through the Spirit. The power of God to be a force in the world. I believe we can light up the dark edges of the world with this glittering beauty that’s only found in Jesus. But, God help me if I keep covering and dimming that light.LINKS FROM THE SHOW:About the Griffith - NYT article after Griffith's restoration in 2006History of Griffith at The Thrillist at Griffith Park's 120 Birthday (article is bonkers)The Wild Ones - the article I suggested about the first two women to boat through the Grand CanyonCharm Necklaces I'm Into - Always an "open oval" chain:Higher End - solid goldLower End - gold plated sterling silverBraceletSome charms I love:Every vintage charm you could hope forMy fave modern charm - Reminds me of Drew Holcomb and Johnny Swim's Ring the BellsPS: if you find a Griffith Observatory charm promise you'll email me? heymightisuggest@gmail.com ;)Follow Hayley:Website // Instagram // BooksContact the show:Email at heymightisuggest@gmail.comLeave a voicemail at: 317-763-0077

04/26/2019 Was There A Pre-Adamic World & What All Did It Consist Of??? THE BIBLE SAYS “IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH”…It then immediately jumps to the earth being in total chaos, “without form and void”, The Hebrew words here are “Tohuw” and “Bohuw” meaning chaotically destroyed, wiped out, devastated etc. From Here, God begins to describe the day by day creation of the world as we know it today. His greatest creation of all being mankind. The great debate is whether everything was created in 6 days or not. Where things become extremely convoluted is whether or not there was life or creation on earth before this state. There is evidence of a “great unconformity” that spans the entire earth deep, DEEP under the dirt and debris covering the earth. This unconformity consists of a red granite ball. Something brought an extraordinary amount of debris to cover this ball. In addition, there is obvious evidence of cataclysmic events on the earth, the most well known of these being the grand canyon. Professor Louis Ginsberg (Ginzberg) very carefully constructed all of the jewish writings, myths & legends-primarily considered by them as truth-breaking down the history of the creation beginning with Gods consultation of “The Torah”-meaning “The Word, Wisdom, Truth, Knowledge” etc. where the Torah told God He cannot be a King without a free will being to worship Him. He liked her advice and therefore recommended that all kings on earth(once He created them) should seek wise counsel when making decisions. The greatest concern given by the Torah was the wickedness of mankind with free will and Gods Justice demanding punishment. The texts used by Prof. Ginzberg stated that there had been previous free will bi-pedal creatures created but they were destroyed due to Gods necessary justice. These texts stated we were bit the first of earthly worlds created but would be the first in which God introduced His Mercy alongside His Justice through His son, the messiah. This is most likely the case of the great battle between Lucifer and Christ in the Heavens. The writings state that God created Heaven(on His right side) as a reward and Hell (on His left side) as punishment.  Hypothetically, we are the first “free will” beings created by God with the opportunity for forgiveness and atonement because of the atonement of His son, our messiah-Jesus Christ.

God is good, from beginning to end in the Scriptures. God’s goodness is free & boundless, found everywhere, and cannot be separated from His Justice & Holiness. We can wake up to His Goodness, and begin to view life through a different narrative rather then the violence & vitriol we are consistently fed in this world!

As we have walked through the book of Amos and have been so clearly exposed to God's Sovereignty, His Justice, His Wrath, and His Righteousness we now are going to see God's perfect Love, Grace, Mercy and Kindness as He reveals His plan and purpose of redemption in the closing verses of Amos.

Image in the Public Domain Kinsman Redeemer (with Communion) The Bible tells us so many comforting things. That is one of the reasons people love it so much. But the Bible ALSO tells us more than a few discomforting things. And, that's why so many people DON'T love the Bible so much. One of the most persistent discomforting things the Bible says is that the human race is in a very precarious position. We're in trouble. I'm sure that those of you that are familiar with the Bible will accuse here me of understatement...and you'd be right. I am "soft-pedaling" a bit. One can't just jump right into these sorts of things. But the Bible does use words like "wrath" and "destruction" and "torment" and phrases like "consuming fire" and "weeping abundantly". And, by the way, if you're only being taught the comforting things than you are not being told the whole story and whoever is the one responsible for the abbreviated version of the Bible is not doing you any favors. The Scriptures make clear that the human race is in REAL danger...outside His care. You can hardly turn a page in the Bible without being reminded of that. We were born into this world at a distinct disadvantage. Doesn't matter if you don't like to hear it...actually, it doesn't even matter if you don't believe it. Adam, the ancestor of us all, sinned and those that have been born of woman since...and that's everyone of us, are affected. We are all tainted by the sin of Adam and, let me remind you, that we don't do ourselves any favors either. If you're honest you'll admit that you do a pretty good job of being a wretched sinner even WITHOUT the stain of Adam's rebellion. Now, of course, I'm leaving out quite a few of the details but it is not my intention here to prove any of this first part to you. Suffice it to say, you and I are born in sin and, in ourselves, we are powerless to change that. Paul refers to this condition as "the bondage of corruption" (Romans 8:21) In every sense of the word, we are enslaved to sin; as hopeless as any other slave to throw off our own chains. Now, I don't want you to think I'm just using poetic imagery here. I'm not that clever. This is precisely how God WANTS you to view your condition. Over and over, in the Bible, God uses the analogy of slavery to get across to us our dire circumstances. You must remember that behind everything presented in Scripture there is God's description of His Rescue Plan. In fact, that's the entire purpose of Scripture: to tell us about how He will make things right again. One of the clearest examples of this is found in the Book of Leviticus. It is there that we find what is now called the Law of Kinsman Redeemer. It is a beautiful picture of how Christ will provide a rescue for us. The Law of the Kinsman Redeemer is given to us to show that God will NOT leave us in our bondage to sin; to assure us that we have hope; to prove that He is always in control and His Justice and Righteousness is preserved even when He redeems "that which is lost". Today we will be talking about the Kinsman Redeemer. ALSO...in this episode we will also be going to the Table of the Lord. Make sure you listen carefully to the first few minutes ESPECIALLY if you want to participate with us which we invite you to do. BUT, as always, before you hit "Play" take a few moments to prepare your heart and mind by going to God in prayer. Ask Him for understanding. Ask Him to guide through His Word. Once you've done that, dive right in.

Psalm 72Luke 4:14-2120th January 2019Neil AtwoodDavid’s PrayerTrue Justice and Hope, Prayer for the entire worldDavid’s hope - injustice to be undone completelyPsalm 72: 2 - May he judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice Psalm 72: 4 - May he defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; may he crush the oppressor.God’s own JusticePsalm 72: 1 - Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness.David asks that his son Solomon would rule with God’s justicePsalm 72: 19 - Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvellous deeds. No LimitsDavid doesn’t want rivals and enemies to limit justice and the reign of the king. Justice that Attracts The world conquers with might but… David’s wish and hope is that all will willingly come and submit.Psalm 72: 11-14 - All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him. for he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He'll take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He'll rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.Solomon’s Failure1 Kings: Solomon’s Reign - wisdom leads to justiceHuman nature- sinful humanity mislead him from God leading to exploitation of his peopleThe people ask and wait for an eternal ruler of Justice - 900 years later through Jesus the peoples prayers answered. Mary speaks and praises about baby JesusLuke 4:18 - Jesus speaks the Psalms - The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he's anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.... liberty to the captives,... recovering of sight to the blind,... liberty [for] those who are oppressed.Jesus: Heals, Frees, helps others to Walk again, Gives life - And He has the power to make it happen.How You ServePsalm 72: 4, 9Jesus’ mercy is giving us time to repent and willingly come and follow Him. Serve and Show others a glimpse of His Justice, power and mercy, so they will want to join and live in and for Christ.

the anointed One’s proclamation actually constitutes a “Good News People” for a bad news world! The Good News of God’s Justice actually creates a people of His Peace (NB: God’s “Peace” is the fruit of His Justice.) The jubilee of God's Peace is the coronation of Christ as the King.

God is holy. He is eternally separate and distinct from all impurity. He is utterly and uniquely excellent, absolutely pure and separate from all creation and sin. He is infinitely beautiful and unfathomably majestic. His Justice and Wrath flow out of His Holiness.   Sermon Study Guide

What do you want? What does your heart desire? If we are honest, most of us don't know what we really truly want...what we desire. Have you ever gotten something you wanted, only to be surprised at how disappointing aspects of it are? Jesus says that when we are hungry for HIS Justice and Righteousness we will have our fill. But do we even know what that means? Do we ask what God's justice looks like in our neighborhood and families today? Could we handle it? This is what Jesus means when he says "Judge how you want to be judged". The parable of the Unmerciful Servant is alive all around us today...take the warning, show GRACE and MERCY. After all, Jesus says they TRIUMPH over JUSICE! If we want to live under the "right-ness" (righteousness) of Jesus, but long for other things or ways of living...we are simply to ask him to shape our heart where we feel powerless to do so.

It is proper to speak of both the Justice of God as well as His Mercy. They are not opposed to each other. His Justice will be dealt to those who refuse to repent just as it was dealt to the angels who refused to serve God. But, for now, is it more proper to say that God is Merciful. In fact, the evil one would love for us to become consumed with the idea that God is only Just and that He imposes His judgment upon us continually. When this idea is accepted, it is hard to understand that God actually withholds His Justice as long as we are open to His Mercy. Seek His Mercy, believe in it and run to it. Do not doubt it for a moment. Know that God offers it day and night and never tires of lavishing it upon you. When you are faced with the fear that comes with facing His Justice, turn your eyes to His Mercy and you will be able to easily turn from all sin as you bask in the rays shining forth from His Heart (See Diary #1338).Which of these two images of God do you reflect upon more often? Are you frightened by God’s Justice? Or are you consoled by His Mercy? Both can be useful but never at the expense of the other. We should never presume on God’s Mercy and we should never become fixated on His Justice without immediately remembering His Mercy. Ponder His Mercy today more than anything and you will have no need to fear His Justice. Let your heart experience His love and turn to Him with full confidence and trust.Lord, I am aware that You are Just and will issue Your Justice upon me if I fail to turn to Your Mercy. Therefore, I do turn to Your Mercy. I seek it with all my heart. I love You, Lord, and I desire to love You more. Give me the grace to open my eyes to Your radiant Heart and to be open to all that You wish to bestow. Jesus, I trust in You.

In this episode, Shaykh Zahir Bacchus covers the 50th aphorism of the Hikam: “There is no  minor sin when you are faced with His justice and no major sin when you are met with His favour.” This podcast covers “The Hikam”,  considered a classical masterpiece in spiritual literature – written by the great spiritual master of 13th/14th century Ibn Ata’illah. The Hikam is […] The post 050 – Our Sins in Light of His Justice and His Favour appeared first on SeekersGuidance.

Transformation Tuesdays was inspired by the CD "The Jesus Question" by Matthew Kelly. Deacon Jimmy Ghiglione and Aaron Emig recap the Gospel from the prior Sunday and give action steps and resources to transform our lives for that week every Tuesday at 2:10 p.m. at Morris Hall from Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Collinsville, IL. Deacon Jimmy: Therefore, the simple meaning of the parable is we need to “Be Good Soil.” Generally good soil does not become good soil all on its own. Good soil receives help. The farmer cultivates it, fertilizes it, makes sure it receives nutrients and water that will help the seed grow. The things that are good for it. Let’s think of God as the farmer. We are the soil. The seed is His word, His teachings, His commandments. But God doesn’t just sow the seed, and leave us (the soil) alone, expecting us to nurture the seed ourselves. He nurtures us. He waters us. He feeds us. He gives us all kinds of help to be the very best soil that we can be. Grant: In Jesus’ parable, a sower scatters seed all over the field. Birds eat some seed. Some seeds spring up then die under the sun. Some seeds are choked by thorns. And some seeds produce rich fruit. Last summer, I was visiting cousins who live in the Chicago suburbs and decided to check out a Sunday service at a nearby nondenominational church, Harvest Bible Chapel. I went inside a building that looked like an old warehouse and sat in an auditorium they called their “worship space.” For an entire hour, a live band blasted Contemporary Christian music. It was so loud that I couldn't talk to the person sitting next to me if I had wanted to. It was a great concert and really got my blood pumping, but it gave me no spiritual insights or growth. After an hour of the concert, I left and went to Mass at St. Theresa’s, the parish that we normally go to when we’re visiting. Everything about St. Theresa’s and the Mass was the complete opposite of Harvest Bible Chapel. Their sanctuary has stations of the cross on the walls, an area with candles and a statue of Mary, and a large crucifix at the front. I especially noticed that day how deliberately paced and how reverent the Mass was. The readings poured out the Scriptures to me, and the homily gave me new insights. And the Eucharist brought Christ to me in the deepest way possible. I was able to receive His body and blood. My experience at Harvest Bible Chapel made me feel like a seed that would spring up quickly then die under the sun. It was an emotional, exciting experience--but one that didn’t last long or mean much. My experience at Mass made me feel like a seed that could bear rich fruit, because I was being watered and cared for in the right way by the Scripture readings and the Eucharist. Aaron Emig: What type of sower are you? Trust me most of my life I have been 1, 2 or 3 but always striving for number 4… Deacon Jimmy: If God calls us to be good soil, and He does, then we have to accept his caring for the soil, in whatever form that may be. We have to accept His Justice and His Forgiveness. We have to accept His Correction and His Compassion. We have to accept God’s Laws and His Love. Our Loving Lord will cultivate us and enable us all to bring his loving presence into the world. We can be the good soil because God asks us to be, and enables us to be. Alex: It's easy to worship God and be thankful to him when things are going really well, and we should. However, we need to stay focused and have faith even when things aren't going well for us. Have to "pray when it rains as well as when it shines." Being a disciple of Jesus is not simply a matter of feeling joyful emotions. Emotions fade. Christ never does. And so, we must not either. It's important to ask God for the strength to persevere daily. Aaron Emig: Wisdom Words of the Week are…“The Law of Karma is also called the Law of Cause and Effect, Action and Reaction and: as you sow, so shall you reap.” ~Sham Hinduja