Podcasts about holy one

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Remember, “God is the Holy One, who inhabits eternity.” Our prayer with this talk is that we allow the apostle John's revelation to give us a fresh, BORN-AGAIN, eternal perspective. You've gotta wrap your head around this, right now, regardless of your beliefs, you are an eternal being.

Habakkuk 3:1-19 1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. On shigionoth. 2Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy. 3God came from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran.His glory covered the heavens and his praise filled the earth.4 His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden.5Plague went before him; pestilence followed his steps.6He stood, and shook the earth; he looked, and made the nations tremble.The ancient mountains crumbled and the age-old hills collapsed but he marches on forever.7I saw the tents of Cushan in distress, the dwellings of Midian in anguish. 8Were you angry with the rivers, Lord? Was your wrath against the streams?Did you rage against the sea when you rode your horses and your chariots to victory?9You uncovered your bow, you called for many arrows.You split the earth with rivers;10 the mountains saw you and writhed.Torrents of water swept by; the deep roared and lifted its waves on high. 11Sun and moon stood still in the heavens at the glint of your flying arrows, at the lightning of your flashing spear.12In wrath you strode through the earth and in anger you threshed the nations.13You came out to deliver your people, to save your anointed one.You crushed the leader of the land of wickedness, you stripped him from head to foot.14With his own spear you pierced his head when his warriors stormed out to scatter us,gloating as though about to devour the wretched who were in hiding.15You trampled the sea with your horses, churning the great waters. 16I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound;decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled.Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.17Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines,though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,18yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. 19The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.

Welcome back to Gnostic Insights and to the Gnostic Reformation on Substack. This week, we’re going to follow up on last week’s episode, which was called Gnostic Pentecost, and that was first broadcast on the 6th of June, 2026. I have a lot more examples out of the New Testament of the Bible about Pentecost, and as we learned last week, Pentecost is what we’ve been calling the coming of the Third Order of Powers here in this Gnosticism out of the Tripartite Tractate that I share with you at Gnostic Insights. Here’s a quote from last week’s episode where it says, Jesus stood up and said loudly, ‘if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and let him drink. Whoever has faith in me, just as scripture has said, out of his parts, living streams of water will flow.' Now he said this in regard to the spirit whom those who had faith in him were about to receive, for as yet there was no spirit, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. [Hart's New Testament, John, Chapter 7, verse 37] And this is speaking of what we call the Holy Spirit, because of course we have spirit. We’re born with spirit, because we have the Fullness of God within us. That is the First Order of Powers. But Jesus here is talking of the Third Order of Powers, the army of Christ that has come after Jesus is, glorified. And glorified means risen from the dead, ascended into the sky in front of hundreds of witnesses. And glorified means that Jesus is living above, just as we will all be living above in a glorified body in the presence of the Father. So I shared that with you last week, and if you haven’t heard last week’s episode, again it’s called Gnostic Pentecost, go back and listen to it, because it’s a deep dive—what we call hermeneutics in theology or philosophy. It’s a deep deconstruction of a couple of very important passages in the Old and New Testament that have to do with the coming of what is called Pentecost. And Pentecost was when the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, came and sat upon the disciples while they were gathered in the upper room after Jesus had left and gone back above. But we’ve been talking about Pentecost all along here at Gnostic Insights as the coming of the Third Order of Powers that is the army of Christ. I’m going to quote a whole lot of New Testament for you today, and I take this out of The New Testament by David Bentley Hart, published by Yale University Press. So let’s start with John 14:16-30, and this is Jesus speaking. ‘And I shall entreat the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, that he may be with you throughout the age.' Now, by the way, when Hart and all translators translate throughout the age, they’re talking about Aeons. The word is Aeons. And so an alternate translation that Hart mentions in the footnote to this passage, throughout the age, can also mean, or until the Aeons come, or until the return to the Aeons. So listen to this again. ‘And I shall entreat the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, that he may be with you throughout the coming of the Aeons.' And of course here at Gnostic Insights and in Gnosticism, we believe that these Aeons are units of consciousness, that they’re parts of the Son, they’re parts of the mind of God. It’s not a measure of time, but a measure of consciousness. Carrying on with John 14:16. ‘The Spirit of Truth, which the cosmos cannot receive, because it neither sees nor knows it, you know it because it abides with you and will be within you. I shall not leave you orphans. I am coming to you. Just a little while, and the cosmos no longer sees me, but you see me. Because I live, you too will live. On that day, [and he’s referring to Pentecost, the coming of the Third Order of Powers], you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, that one is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.' Then Judas, not Iscariot, says to him, ‘Lord, what has happened then that you were about to manifest yourself to us and not to the cosmos?' Jesus answered and said to him, ‘if someone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and we’ll make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine, but rather that of the Father who has sent me. These things I’ve spoken to you while remaining with you, but the Advocate, the Spirit, the Holy One, which the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. Peace I leave you, my peace I give to you. I give to you not as the cosmos gives. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. I will no longer speak much with you, but the Archon of the cosmos is coming, and he has no hold in me, but so that the cosmos may know that I love the Father, and that just as the Father has commanded me, so I do.' Now, what Jesus was sharing with the disciples in this passage was that his physical body was about to go away. We know that he was about to be crucified and gone. They don’t exactly understand what’s about to happen because they can’t see the future, but Jesus can. He says, I’m going to go away, but don’t worry, I’m going to send a Spirit called the Advocate, and it will come in my name, and in the name of the Father, and it will advise you. Right now you walk with me physically, and I am outside of you, but when the Advocate comes, it will be inside of you. And here at Gnostic Insights, I describe the coming of the Third Order of Powers as overlaying our Second Order Power. See, it’s like your cells of your body. Imagine that there is another version of you that is perfected, that is cleansed of all illness, or cleansed of all poor cellular replication. We’re making an analogy here between cells and spiritual parts, but right now I’m just talking about cells. So let’s say you’ve got all these kind of little faults in your body that have developed over the years. Now imagine there was a perfected body that slipped right into you, like a sort of like a ghost, the Holy Ghost, overlaying upon your cells that cause your cells to pattern themselves after it. It’s like stepping into your body and overlaying what has been damaged over the years. Well, that is what happens with our spiritual bodies. We are what are called Second Order Powers, and we are made up of various combinations of, I hate to get confusing here for you, but of the First Order Powers. The First Order Powers were the Aeons. The Second Order Powers are all of us living things. We Second Order Powers are the children of the Aeons of the Fullness–the First Order Powers, who are themselves the Totality of the Son. The Third Order Powers are the army of the Christ, who represent all of the Powers of the ethereal plane, individually and collectively working for our redemption. The Third Order Powers are the perfected Christly powers. We are the fruit of the First Order Powers. Each of us is unique, a unique combination of various First Order Powers, and they make up our body. It’s like the recipe. Each of us has a different recipe. Down here, we manifest that recipe. That is who I am. You have a slightly different recipe, but mainly we’re the same. When the Third Order of Powers come, they overlay upon your unique combination and my unique combination. The Third Order Powers are unique to each one of us because they are made to be in our countenance so that we will recognize them. These perfected Third Order Powers, the army of Christ, steps into our soul, steps into our spirit, and overlays upon our pattern, upon our recipe. That’s what brings us the perfection of the Christ. But it only happens if you ask for it. It only happens when you allow it and you seek it out. Now, at the end of that quote I just read you out of John, he says, peace I leave you, my peace I give to you. I give to you not as the cosmos gives. And you see, the distinction is that the cosmos, that’s our material instantiation. That’s the material part of our bodies. It’s the material world. It’s matter itself. And Jesus is saying that when he gives you something, it’s not the way that the Demiurge gives it to you, with strings, lots of strings. Jesus says, do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. So we’re not supposed to live in a spirit of fear. There’s no need to be afraid. When you trust in the Father, when you trust in the Christ and the Holy Spirit, you are imbued with the most powerful energy that has ever been. It far outweighs the energy of the cosmos, the energy of the material, the energy of the Demiurge, the energy of the archons. It outranks them, it outweighs them, it’s more powerful. And when you allow it to come inside of you, then you have that power within you to overcome the archons, the cosmos, the Demiurge. Jesus says, I will no longer speak much with you, [that is physically, because he’s about to be crucified], for the archon of the cosmos is coming. He’s speaking of the Demiurge in the form of the Roman soldiers that are about to arrest him and put him to death. And he has no hold in me. [So he’s saying that even though the archon of the cosmos is coming, it couldn’t contain him except that Jesus is allowing it.] He has no hold in me, [because Jesus is more powerful, because Jesus embodies the Christ]. He’s the first perfected human to embody the energy of the Third Order Powers. That’s what it means by being fully human and fully God. Jesus says, but so that the cosmos may know that I love the Father, and that just as the Father has commanded me to do so. And what is this commandment of Jesus? Well, that’s described in Matthew 22:37-39—the teaching most often referred to as Jesus’s commandment and what is called the great commandment. And Jesus summarizes God’s law, all of those laws of the Old Testament that the Demiurge had constructed. He summarizes them into two main commands. 1: Love God completely. 2: Two, love others as yourself. And here’s the quote, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your reason. This is the great and first commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets depend upon these two commandments.' Together, these two are described as the foundation of all the other laws and teachings. Of course, when the Demiurge had this transcribed, he had the hundreds and hundreds and thousands of rules added onto it, because the Demiurge is law-bound, and he can only work through law. But Jesus said, don’t worry about all those little laws that you’ve been burdened with. All you have to know is love your neighbor, and love the Father, love God, and then all the other commandments will take care of themselves, because the power of love will be working through you. The book of John, chapter 15:17-27, puts it this way: ‘These things I command you so that you love one another. If the cosmos hates you, you know that it has hated me before you. If you were of the cosmos, the cosmos would have loved its own. But since you are not of the cosmos, the cosmos therefore hates you. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who has sent me. Whoever hates me also hates my Father. But they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. And thus might the passage written in the law, [and that’s the law of Jehovah, of the Old Testament], be fulfilled.' And here’s what the passage said, ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who comes forth from the Father, he will testify concerning me. And you too must testify, for you are with me from the beginning.' Now, this from the beginning—that's a Gnostic term, and that was before the material cosmos was created from the Fall. In the Tripartite Tractate, it says that only those things which were from the beginning will continue through eternity. The rest will be disappeared. So, Jesus is saying that the number one command is to love. And he’s also saying that the cosmos will hate you if you do, because the cosmos hates love. Again, from the New Testament book of John, in chapter 16, verses 1 through 15, Jesus says, ‘I’ve spoken these things to you so that you might not be caused to falter. They will make you exiles from the synagogue, [and I add, and the churches and the mosques], and an hour is coming in which everyone who kills you thinks he is offering a service to God. And they will do these things because they have known neither the Father nor me. But I tell you the truth, it is for your own good that I should go away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate, [that is the Holy Spirit, that is the Third Order Powers, that is the army of Christ], surely is not coming to you. But if I go, I shall send him to you. And when he comes, it will prove the cosmos wrong concerning righteousness and concerning judgment, concerning sin.' And by the way, sin means literally to miss the mark, as if you’re shooting an arrow at a target. It’s to miss the bullseye. It means to fail, to fall short, as if your arrow fell short of the bullseye. So that’s what sin is. It’s not a list of naughty things. It simply means to miss the mark. So Jesus is saying, when that one comes, the Spirit of Truth, ‘He will prove the cosmos wrong concerning righteousness and concerning judgment, concerning sin because they do not have faith in me, and concerning righteousness because I am going to the Father and you no longer see me, and concerning judgment because the archon of this cosmos, the Demiurge, has been judged. I still have many things to tell you, but right now you cannot hear them. But when that one comes, the Spirit of Truth, he will guide you on the way to all truth, for he will not speak from himself, but will speak what he hears, and he will announce to you things to come. That one will glorify me because he will receive from what is mine and will announce it to you. All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said that he receives from what is mine and will announce it to you.' Now in this passage, when Jesus is talking about the Spirit of Truth and that it will come to the disciples after he is physically disembodied, it will come to everyone who accepts the coming of the Spirit of truth—that Spirit of truth, that’s gnosis. That is gnosis. That’s all there is to it. It’s not lists of this and lists of that that you have to memorize. It’s not the names of the angels and the names of the archons and the names of the Aeons. It’s not the order of the planets or the astrology. It’s not the secrets of alchemy. Those are not the gnosis of which Jesus is speaking. It doesn’t have to do with having magical powers over the cosmos. The cosmos is the cosmos. This is the kingdom of the Demiurge. This is the kingdom of the archon of the cosmos. This is the valley of death. The Spirit of Truth, the gnosis that comes from above, is all about the Father. It’s about eternity and the ethereal plane. It’s simply about love and the fact that we come from love and that we will return to love and that this down here is mostly delusion. It’s mostly falsehoods. That’s why the Holy Spirit is known as the Spirit of Truth. It’s what combats the Spirit of delusion, the falsity of the deficiency, the falsity of the imitation, as we know it here in Gnosticism. So you see these quotes in the New Testament, they’re all about gnosis. They are Gnostic. It’s just that we are not familiar with them if we are Christians nowadays, because the gnosis was taken out. The true references, the definitions of these phrases, were taken out. That’s why I call this the Gnostic Reformation. I’m literally sitting here attempting to return Christianity to its roots, to what Jesus is teaching here. He’s teaching of the Father above, not the God of this world. Now you’ve heard the Holy Spirit being referred to as the Advocate, which is a legal term. And when Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit, he called it the Advocate. And the Advocate’s role is to teach us, to guide us, to remind us, and to empower us as believers. The Son of Man, whom Jesus was known as, is a messianic title from Daniel 7 of the Old Testament, one of the prophets of the Old Testament. The Son of Man is a title that refers to one who receives authority, kingship, and judgment. He’s the representative human who rules God’s kingdom. So the role of the Messiah, or the Son of Man, is judge, king, mediator of God’s reign. And the Holy Spirit is our Advocate. He’s the defense attorney. So who’s the prosecution? It’s the Accuser, and that is the original word used whenever you see the word Satan referred to. It’s actually the Accuser. So the Accuser is the Demiurge, or one of his chief henchmen, one of his archons, that we call Satan. He’s our prosecutor. It’s its job to make us feel bad, to accuse us of crimes and sins and petty misdeeds, and not being loving enough or not being good enough to even talk to God. But the Holy Spirit is our defense attorney on the other side, who says, of course they’re good enough. Of course you’re fine. If you love me, if you love the Father, all is good. That’s his job. And it’s the job of the Son of Man, the king, to judge. So I’m going to put a little chart in the transcript here of the difference between the Son of Man and the Advocate. The Son of Man is the Messiah, King, Judge. The Advocate is the presence of God within. Role Son of Man (Jesus) Advocate (Spirit) Identity Messiah, King, Judge Presence of God within Mission Establish kingdom, redeem humanity Continue and internalize that work Authority Given dominion over all Acts with Jesus' authority Relationship to believers External presence (historical) Internal presence (ongoing) You see, it’s always within. So this notion that the Third Order Powers comes into us and overlays upon our Second Orderness, that’s not Gnostic hyperbole. That’s not my imagination. It says this in the Bible. It’s the presence of God within. The mission of the Son of Man, of Jesus, was to establish the kingdom here in the cosmos. Because after the Fall, the cosmos was entirely ruled by the Archon of the cosmos. But after the coming of the Son of Man, that is our most perfect human being from above, it is the Son of Man’s job, his mission to establish the kingdom here in the cosmos, to redeem us. And the Advocate’s job is to continue and to internalize that work, to bring it inside of each and every human being on the planet. But it can’t do that without cooperation, without being invited. So this is God outside of us and God inside of us, an internal presence, and it’s ongoing. In Gnostic terms, the ongoing Spirit, the Advocate, that brings the presence of the Son into us is the Third Order of Powers that comes with each of our countenances, or our faces, so that we can recognize the one to whom we pray. That’s a paraphrase out of the Tripartite Tractate, that the Third Order Power, the Christ, comes with the face of everyone who prays for help. It also comes with the face of every  one of the Aeons above, and with the face of the Son of God. So you can see it’s the most powerful thing that exists. The Third Order of Powers replaces our Second Order Power with a renewed and repaired indwelling of Spirit. We can’t rectify our own flaws. Redemption must come from a wiser, greater source. If you could fix yourself, you’d have fixed yourself by now. It’s called pulling yourself up from your own bootstraps. You can’t lift yourself off the ground by pulling up on your shoelaces. You need a more powerful figure from the outside. If they pull up on your shoelaces, they can lift you up from the ground. You see, that’s the expression known as being lifted by your bootstraps. I don’t know if you remember that or not. Anyway, we can’t rectify our own flaws. Redemption must come from a wiser, greater source. The Christ was formed for that very purpose and duty. The Son of Man is our perfected genotype of humanity. Let me repeat John 16, 7 to 11 again. ‘For if I do not go away, the Advocate surely is not coming to you. But if I go, I shall send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the cosmos wrong concerning righteousness and concerning judgment, concerning sin because they do not have faith in me, concerning righteousness because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me, concerning judgment because the archon of this cosmos has been judged.' Do you understand that phrase better now? Now from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 18 through 23. ‘Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks to be a wise man in this age, let him become foolish in order to become wise. For the wisdom of this cosmos is folly before God. For it has been written, He catches the wise in their craftiness. And again, the Lord knows the ponderings of the wise that they are vapid. Hence, let no one boast in human beings, for all things are yours, and you the anointed and the anointed gods.' And this bit about appearing foolish in the eyes of the world—I know that when we profess to follow these Gnostic teachings, that people who think themselves so wise, so smart, and so much better than we are, think we’re stupid jerks. We are much reviled for being innocent, for being true believers. But that is how we are to be. We are to believe as children, fully believing with all of our hearts and minds and reason. Don’t hold back because you’re afraid that people are going to think you’re stupid. They’ve always thought that. They mocked Jesus. Of course they’re going to mock you. But the wisdom of this cosmos is folly before God, it says. And it also says that the ponderings of the wise are vapid. Vapid means empty, like vapor. So people that think they’re so darn smart, they’re not. They’re just serving the archon of the cosmos. But it’s folly. It’s foolishness. You can’t take it with you. All that matters is your connection to the Father above, and your love for the Father, and your love for your fellow humans. Not pretending, not professing to be love that arises from hatred, but true love, true righteousness. And when you ask the Third Order Powers to come and help you, to come and redeem you, that’s between you and the Father. That’s between you and the Aeons. That’s between you and the Christ. It doesn’t have to do with some priest, or some minister, or some internet influencer. It’s a private matter. But once you do have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and you’ll know it when it happens, that’s that born-again experience. You’ll be filled with reassurance. You’ll be flooded with love. You’ll know that it happens. And then you will know that you are the anointed, that is, that you belong to Christ, and that you belong to the anointed God, that is, the Father. So in conclusion, from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2, verse 38, it says, And Peter said to them, Change your hearts, [and that’s from the hearts of stone to hearts of receptive flesh, like we talked about last week], change your hearts. Let each of you be baptized upon the name of Jesus, the Anointed, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, [that is, the army of the Christ, the Third Order of Powers, sent to battle the archons of this cosmos on your behalf]. God bless us all. Onward and upward. If you would like to contribute to this ongoing work, please use the form below. You are appreciated! 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Welcome back to Gnostic Insights and to the Gnostic Reformation on Substack. This week, we’re going to follow up on last week’s episode, which was called Gnostic Pentecost, and that was first broadcast on the 6th of June, 2026. I have a lot more examples out of the New Testament of the Bible about Pentecost, and as we learned last week, Pentecost is what we’ve been calling the coming of the Third Order of Powers here in this Gnosticism out of the Tripartite Tractate that I share with you at Gnostic Insights. Here’s a quote from last week’s episode where it says, Jesus stood up and said loudly, ‘if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and let him drink. Whoever has faith in me, just as scripture has said, out of his parts, living streams of water will flow.' Now he said this in regard to the spirit whom those who had faith in him were about to receive, for as yet there was no spirit, because Jesus had not yet been glorified. [Hart's New Testament, John, Chapter 7, verse 37] And this is speaking of what we call the Holy Spirit, because of course we have spirit. We’re born with spirit, because we have the Fullness of God within us. That is the First Order of Powers. But Jesus here is talking of the Third Order of Powers, the army of Christ that has come after Jesus is, glorified. And glorified means risen from the dead, ascended into the sky in front of hundreds of witnesses. And glorified means that Jesus is living above, just as we will all be living above in a glorified body in the presence of the Father. So I shared that with you last week, and if you haven’t heard last week’s episode, again it’s called Gnostic Pentecost, go back and listen to it, because it’s a deep dive—what we call hermeneutics in theology or philosophy. It’s a deep deconstruction of a couple of very important passages in the Old and New Testament that have to do with the coming of what is called Pentecost. And Pentecost was when the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, came and sat upon the disciples while they were gathered in the upper room after Jesus had left and gone back above. But we’ve been talking about Pentecost all along here at Gnostic Insights as the coming of the Third Order of Powers that is the army of Christ. I’m going to quote a whole lot of New Testament for you today, and I take this out of The New Testament by David Bentley Hart, published by Yale University Press. So let’s start with John 14:16-30, and this is Jesus speaking. ‘And I shall entreat the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, that he may be with you throughout the age.' Now, by the way, when Hart and all translators translate throughout the age, they’re talking about Aeons. The word is Aeons. And so an alternate translation that Hart mentions in the footnote to this passage, throughout the age, can also mean, or until the Aeons come, or until the return to the Aeons. So listen to this again. ‘And I shall entreat the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, that he may be with you throughout the coming of the Aeons.' And of course here at Gnostic Insights and in Gnosticism, we believe that these Aeons are units of consciousness, that they’re parts of the Son, they’re parts of the mind of God. It’s not a measure of time, but a measure of consciousness. Carrying on with John 14:16. ‘The Spirit of Truth, which the cosmos cannot receive, because it neither sees nor knows it, you know it because it abides with you and will be within you. I shall not leave you orphans. I am coming to you. Just a little while, and the cosmos no longer sees me, but you see me. Because I live, you too will live. On that day, [and he’s referring to Pentecost, the coming of the Third Order of Powers], you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, that one is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.' Then Judas, not Iscariot, says to him, ‘Lord, what has happened then that you were about to manifest yourself to us and not to the cosmos?' Jesus answered and said to him, ‘if someone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and we’ll make our home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine, but rather that of the Father who has sent me. These things I’ve spoken to you while remaining with you, but the Advocate, the Spirit, the Holy One, which the Father will send in my name, he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. Peace I leave you, my peace I give to you. I give to you not as the cosmos gives. Do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. I will no longer speak much with you, but the Archon of the cosmos is coming, and he has no hold in me, but so that the cosmos may know that I love the Father, and that just as the Father has commanded me, so I do.' Now, what Jesus was sharing with the disciples in this passage was that his physical body was about to go away. We know that he was about to be crucified and gone. They don’t exactly understand what’s about to happen because they can’t see the future, but Jesus can. He says, I’m going to go away, but don’t worry, I’m going to send a Spirit called the Advocate, and it will come in my name, and in the name of the Father, and it will advise you. Right now you walk with me physically, and I am outside of you, but when the Advocate comes, it will be inside of you. And here at Gnostic Insights, I describe the coming of the Third Order of Powers as overlaying our Second Order Power. See, it’s like your cells of your body. Imagine that there is another version of you that is perfected, that is cleansed of all illness, or cleansed of all poor cellular replication. We’re making an analogy here between cells and spiritual parts, but right now I’m just talking about cells. So let’s say you’ve got all these kind of little faults in your body that have developed over the years. Now imagine there was a perfected body that slipped right into you, like a sort of like a ghost, the Holy Ghost, overlaying upon your cells that cause your cells to pattern themselves after it. It’s like stepping into your body and overlaying what has been damaged over the years. Well, that is what happens with our spiritual bodies. We are what are called Second Order Powers, and we are made up of various combinations of, I hate to get confusing here for you, but of the First Order Powers. The First Order Powers were the Aeons. The Second Order Powers are all of us living things. We Second Order Powers are the children of the Aeons of the Fullness–the First Order Powers, who are themselves the Totality of the Son. The Third Order Powers are the army of the Christ, who represent all of the Powers of the ethereal plane, individually and collectively working for our redemption. The Third Order Powers are the perfected Christly powers. We are the fruit of the First Order Powers. Each of us is unique, a unique combination of various First Order Powers, and they make up our body. It’s like the recipe. Each of us has a different recipe. Down here, we manifest that recipe. That is who I am. You have a slightly different recipe, but mainly we’re the same. When the Third Order of Powers come, they overlay upon your unique combination and my unique combination. The Third Order Powers are unique to each one of us because they are made to be in our countenance so that we will recognize them. These perfected Third Order Powers, the army of Christ, steps into our soul, steps into our spirit, and overlays upon our pattern, upon our recipe. That’s what brings us the perfection of the Christ. But it only happens if you ask for it. It only happens when you allow it and you seek it out. Now, at the end of that quote I just read you out of John, he says, peace I leave you, my peace I give to you. I give to you not as the cosmos gives. And you see, the distinction is that the cosmos, that’s our material instantiation. That’s the material part of our bodies. It’s the material world. It’s matter itself. And Jesus is saying that when he gives you something, it’s not the way that the Demiurge gives it to you, with strings, lots of strings. Jesus says, do not let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. So we’re not supposed to live in a spirit of fear. There’s no need to be afraid. When you trust in the Father, when you trust in the Christ and the Holy Spirit, you are imbued with the most powerful energy that has ever been. It far outweighs the energy of the cosmos, the energy of the material, the energy of the Demiurge, the energy of the archons. It outranks them, it outweighs them, it’s more powerful. And when you allow it to come inside of you, then you have that power within you to overcome the archons, the cosmos, the Demiurge. Jesus says, I will no longer speak much with you, [that is physically, because he’s about to be crucified], for the archon of the cosmos is coming. He’s speaking of the Demiurge in the form of the Roman soldiers that are about to arrest him and put him to death. And he has no hold in me. [So he’s saying that even though the archon of the cosmos is coming, it couldn’t contain him except that Jesus is allowing it.] He has no hold in me, [because Jesus is more powerful, because Jesus embodies the Christ]. He’s the first perfected human to embody the energy of the Third Order Powers. That’s what it means by being fully human and fully God. Jesus says, but so that the cosmos may know that I love the Father, and that just as the Father has commanded me to do so. And what is this commandment of Jesus? Well, that’s described in Matthew 22:37-39—the teaching most often referred to as Jesus’s commandment and what is called the great commandment. And Jesus summarizes God’s law, all of those laws of the Old Testament that the Demiurge had constructed. He summarizes them into two main commands. 1: Love God completely. 2: Two, love others as yourself. And here’s the quote, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your reason. This is the great and first commandment. The second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets depend upon these two commandments.' Together, these two are described as the foundation of all the other laws and teachings. Of course, when the Demiurge had this transcribed, he had the hundreds and hundreds and thousands of rules added onto it, because the Demiurge is law-bound, and he can only work through law. But Jesus said, don’t worry about all those little laws that you’ve been burdened with. All you have to know is love your neighbor, and love the Father, love God, and then all the other commandments will take care of themselves, because the power of love will be working through you. The book of John, chapter 15:17-27, puts it this way: ‘These things I command you so that you love one another. If the cosmos hates you, you know that it has hated me before you. If you were of the cosmos, the cosmos would have loved its own. But since you are not of the cosmos, the cosmos therefore hates you. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who has sent me. Whoever hates me also hates my Father. But they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. And thus might the passage written in the law, [and that’s the law of Jehovah, of the Old Testament], be fulfilled.' And here’s what the passage said, ‘When the Advocate comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who comes forth from the Father, he will testify concerning me. And you too must testify, for you are with me from the beginning.' Now, this from the beginning—that's a Gnostic term, and that was before the material cosmos was created from the Fall. In the Tripartite Tractate, it says that only those things which were from the beginning will continue through eternity. The rest will be disappeared. So, Jesus is saying that the number one command is to love. And he’s also saying that the cosmos will hate you if you do, because the cosmos hates love. Again, from the New Testament book of John, in chapter 16, verses 1 through 15, Jesus says, ‘I’ve spoken these things to you so that you might not be caused to falter. They will make you exiles from the synagogue, [and I add, and the churches and the mosques], and an hour is coming in which everyone who kills you thinks he is offering a service to God. And they will do these things because they have known neither the Father nor me. But I tell you the truth, it is for your own good that I should go away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate, [that is the Holy Spirit, that is the Third Order Powers, that is the army of Christ], surely is not coming to you. But if I go, I shall send him to you. And when he comes, it will prove the cosmos wrong concerning righteousness and concerning judgment, concerning sin.' And by the way, sin means literally to miss the mark, as if you’re shooting an arrow at a target. It’s to miss the bullseye. It means to fail, to fall short, as if your arrow fell short of the bullseye. So that’s what sin is. It’s not a list of naughty things. It simply means to miss the mark. So Jesus is saying, when that one comes, the Spirit of Truth, ‘He will prove the cosmos wrong concerning righteousness and concerning judgment, concerning sin because they do not have faith in me, and concerning righteousness because I am going to the Father and you no longer see me, and concerning judgment because the archon of this cosmos, the Demiurge, has been judged. I still have many things to tell you, but right now you cannot hear them. But when that one comes, the Spirit of Truth, he will guide you on the way to all truth, for he will not speak from himself, but will speak what he hears, and he will announce to you things to come. That one will glorify me because he will receive from what is mine and will announce it to you. All that the Father has is mine. That is why I said that he receives from what is mine and will announce it to you.' Now in this passage, when Jesus is talking about the Spirit of Truth and that it will come to the disciples after he is physically disembodied, it will come to everyone who accepts the coming of the Spirit of truth—that Spirit of truth, that’s gnosis. That is gnosis. That’s all there is to it. It’s not lists of this and lists of that that you have to memorize. It’s not the names of the angels and the names of the archons and the names of the Aeons. It’s not the order of the planets or the astrology. It’s not the secrets of alchemy. Those are not the gnosis of which Jesus is speaking. It doesn’t have to do with having magical powers over the cosmos. The cosmos is the cosmos. This is the kingdom of the Demiurge. This is the kingdom of the archon of the cosmos. This is the valley of death. The Spirit of Truth, the gnosis that comes from above, is all about the Father. It’s about eternity and the ethereal plane. It’s simply about love and the fact that we come from love and that we will return to love and that this down here is mostly delusion. It’s mostly falsehoods. That’s why the Holy Spirit is known as the Spirit of Truth. It’s what combats the Spirit of delusion, the falsity of the deficiency, the falsity of the imitation, as we know it here in Gnosticism. So you see these quotes in the New Testament, they’re all about gnosis. They are Gnostic. It’s just that we are not familiar with them if we are Christians nowadays, because the gnosis was taken out. The true references, the definitions of these phrases, were taken out. That’s why I call this the Gnostic Reformation. I’m literally sitting here attempting to return Christianity to its roots, to what Jesus is teaching here. He’s teaching of the Father above, not the God of this world. Now you’ve heard the Holy Spirit being referred to as the Advocate, which is a legal term. And when Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit, he called it the Advocate. And the Advocate’s role is to teach us, to guide us, to remind us, and to empower us as believers. The Son of Man, whom Jesus was known as, is a messianic title from Daniel 7 of the Old Testament, one of the prophets of the Old Testament. The Son of Man is a title that refers to one who receives authority, kingship, and judgment. He’s the representative human who rules God’s kingdom. So the role of the Messiah, or the Son of Man, is judge, king, mediator of God’s reign. And the Holy Spirit is our Advocate. He’s the defense attorney. So who’s the prosecution? It’s the Accuser, and that is the original word used whenever you see the word Satan referred to. It’s actually the Accuser. So the Accuser is the Demiurge, or one of his chief henchmen, one of his archons, that we call Satan. He’s our prosecutor. It’s its job to make us feel bad, to accuse us of crimes and sins and petty misdeeds, and not being loving enough or not being good enough to even talk to God. But the Holy Spirit is our defense attorney on the other side, who says, of course they’re good enough. Of course you’re fine. If you love me, if you love the Father, all is good. That’s his job. And it’s the job of the Son of Man, the king, to judge. So I’m going to put a little chart in the transcript here of the difference between the Son of Man and the Advocate. The Son of Man is the Messiah, King, Judge. The Advocate is the presence of God within. Role Son of Man (Jesus) Advocate (Spirit) Identity Messiah, King, Judge Presence of God within Mission Establish kingdom, redeem humanity Continue and internalize that work Authority Given dominion over all Acts with Jesus' authority Relationship to believers External presence (historical) Internal presence (ongoing) You see, it’s always within. So this notion that the Third Order Powers comes into us and overlays upon our Second Orderness, that’s not Gnostic hyperbole. That’s not my imagination. It says this in the Bible. It’s the presence of God within. The mission of the Son of Man, of Jesus, was to establish the kingdom here in the cosmos. Because after the Fall, the cosmos was entirely ruled by the Archon of the cosmos. But after the coming of the Son of Man, that is our most perfect human being from above, it is the Son of Man’s job, his mission to establish the kingdom here in the cosmos, to redeem us. And the Advocate’s job is to continue and to internalize that work, to bring it inside of each and every human being on the planet. But it can’t do that without cooperation, without being invited. So this is God outside of us and God inside of us, an internal presence, and it’s ongoing. In Gnostic terms, the ongoing Spirit, the Advocate, that brings the presence of the Son into us is the Third Order of Powers that comes with each of our countenances, or our faces, so that we can recognize the one to whom we pray. That’s a paraphrase out of the Tripartite Tractate, that the Third Order Power, the Christ, comes with the face of everyone who prays for help. It also comes with the face of every  one of the Aeons above, and with the face of the Son of God. So you can see it’s the most powerful thing that exists. The Third Order of Powers replaces our Second Order Power with a renewed and repaired indwelling of Spirit. We can’t rectify our own flaws. Redemption must come from a wiser, greater source. If you could fix yourself, you’d have fixed yourself by now. It’s called pulling yourself up from your own bootstraps. You can’t lift yourself off the ground by pulling up on your shoelaces. You need a more powerful figure from the outside. If they pull up on your shoelaces, they can lift you up from the ground. You see, that’s the expression known as being lifted by your bootstraps. I don’t know if you remember that or not. Anyway, we can’t rectify our own flaws. Redemption must come from a wiser, greater source. The Christ was formed for that very purpose and duty. The Son of Man is our perfected genotype of humanity. Let me repeat John 16, 7 to 11 again. ‘For if I do not go away, the Advocate surely is not coming to you. But if I go, I shall send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the cosmos wrong concerning righteousness and concerning judgment, concerning sin because they do not have faith in me, concerning righteousness because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me, concerning judgment because the archon of this cosmos has been judged.' Do you understand that phrase better now? Now from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, chapter 3, verse 18 through 23. ‘Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks to be a wise man in this age, let him become foolish in order to become wise. For the wisdom of this cosmos is folly before God. For it has been written, He catches the wise in their craftiness. And again, the Lord knows the ponderings of the wise that they are vapid. Hence, let no one boast in human beings, for all things are yours, and you the anointed and the anointed gods.' And this bit about appearing foolish in the eyes of the world—I know that when we profess to follow these Gnostic teachings, that people who think themselves so wise, so smart, and so much better than we are, think we’re stupid jerks. We are much reviled for being innocent, for being true believers. But that is how we are to be. We are to believe as children, fully believing with all of our hearts and minds and reason. Don’t hold back because you’re afraid that people are going to think you’re stupid. They’ve always thought that. They mocked Jesus. Of course they’re going to mock you. But the wisdom of this cosmos is folly before God, it says. And it also says that the ponderings of the wise are vapid. Vapid means empty, like vapor. So people that think they’re so darn smart, they’re not. They’re just serving the archon of the cosmos. But it’s folly. It’s foolishness. You can’t take it with you. All that matters is your connection to the Father above, and your love for the Father, and your love for your fellow humans. Not pretending, not professing to be love that arises from hatred, but true love, true righteousness. And when you ask the Third Order Powers to come and help you, to come and redeem you, that’s between you and the Father. That’s between you and the Aeons. That’s between you and the Christ. It doesn’t have to do with some priest, or some minister, or some internet influencer. It’s a private matter. But once you do have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and you’ll know it when it happens, that’s that born-again experience. You’ll be filled with reassurance. You’ll be flooded with love. You’ll know that it happens. And then you will know that you are the anointed, that is, that you belong to Christ, and that you belong to the anointed God, that is, the Father. So in conclusion, from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 2, verse 38, it says, And Peter said to them, Change your hearts, [and that’s from the hearts of stone to hearts of receptive flesh, like we talked about last week], change your hearts. Let each of you be baptized upon the name of Jesus, the Anointed, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, [that is, the army of the Christ, the Third Order of Powers, sent to battle the archons of this cosmos on your behalf]. God bless us all. Onward and upward. If you would like to contribute to this ongoing work, please use the form below. You are appreciated! 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What in the world is going on in LA? Trump holding back strikes in Iran? And how Pentecost is the cure for Babel. Jam packed episode

Weekly live worship service from Cornerstone Church, North Gower (Ontario) FOLLOW US #northgowercornerstone WEBSITE https://www.knowgrowshow.ca/ INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/northgowercornerstone/ FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/northgowercornerstone/ LINKTREE https://linktr.ee/knowgrowshow Growgroup Discussion Starters Know K1 How has your experience with your earthly father (or other significant parental figures) shaped the way you naturally think about God as Father? In what ways has Hosea 11 challenged, corrected, or affirmed that picture? Grow G1 Hosea describes God as a Father who loves His child even when that child repeatedly turns away. What does this passage teach us about the nature of God's love? G2 Hosea 11 contains both warnings and compassion. Why is it important to hold together God's justice and His mercy rather than emphasizing only one or the other? G3 Verse 9 says, "For I am God, and not a man—the Holy One among you." What do you think this tells us about the difference between God's love and human love? G4 Where in your life do you most need to hear God's invitation to come home, be settled, and rest in His care? G5 Where in your life do you most need to hear God's invitation to come home, be settled, and rest in His care? Show S1 In a quiet space, slowly reread Hosea 11:3–4. Then sit quietly for a moment and imagine the God described in those verses: teaching a child to walk, taking them by the arms, healing them, leading them with cords of kindness, lifting them to His cheek, and bending down to feed them. What do you notice? What emotions arise? What does this picture reveal about God's heart toward you personally?

Jesus came to earth as the Messiah, the Holy One of Israel, to speak life and light into a dark world. However, not everything he said was easy to understand or apply. Sometimes Jesus confused the crowds and even his disciples by what he said. We are kicking off a new series, Hard Sayings of a Kind Savior, looking at a difficult thing Jesus said to his disciples on the heels of Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ. Join us as we dig into what it means to deny oneself and take up your cross in order to follow Jesus.

Welcome to our Daily Bitachon series. We are at the end of Sha'ar HaBechina [The Gate of Reflection], where the author tells us a beautiful mashal [parable] to show the greatness of Hashem. He compares us to a child who was raised in a jail cell and has no concept of the king who runs an entire empire; the child thinks the whole world is just that jail cell. And that is us in this world. We only have a small glimpse of what the real picture is and what God can truly do, living here on this small little planet. The Chovos HaLevavos tells us to develop this mashal . And we will do just that, based on the Chafetz Chaim in his sefer Shemiras HaLashon (Volume 1, in the section called Sha'ar HaTvuna , Chapter 10). He gives the following mashal to explain how we can rely on Hashem even when we are living in an era where we don't clearly see Hashem's control—where it looks like the world is running wild. It's fascinating how he uses this mashal to build our Bitachon [trust], because ultimately, as we've said, our understanding of the world is what leads us to serve Him, which ultimately brings us to Bitachon . And here we go: There was a king who had total global control. He was a superpower, and he ruled his kingdom beautifully. He had more than enough food and sustenance to provide for his entire kingdom, for all of his generals, and for everyone under his rule in a highly respectable way. Yet, as can happen on a small, isolated island with a tiny group of people, a few servants decided to stage a minor rebellion out of pure arrogance. The king heard about it. Okay, his men would handle it, no problem. Right after the news reached the king, he went for a walk in his vineyard, not feeling threatened by this rebellion at all. While walking, he heard a beautiful bird chirping. It looked nice, it sounded beautiful, and he told one of his servants, "I'd like to have that bird in my palace so we can listen to its beautiful singing." And so they did; they put the bird in a cage and brought it to the king's palace, where it sang in a beautiful, sweet tone. One foolish man saw the bird and said, "You poor bird, I feel so bad for you. You know, you're going into the king's palace because you have a beautiful voice, but you're really going to suffer there because you won't have any food." The bird asked, "Why not?" The man replied, "Because I heard that there are people rebelling against the king!" Another, smarter servant overheard this and said, "What a fool! Our king rules the entire world. He has endless treasure houses. Taking care of this bird is a joke to him. And he loves the chirping of this bird! Do you really think he can't manage to find a few morsels of grain every day to sustain this bird just because there are a few rebels in some far-off little town?" That is the mashal . For the nimshal [the lesson], the Chafetz Chaim says that this analogy doesn't even compare one-in-a-million to what is really going on. God created this physical world, but He also created the upper worlds. The spiritual realm consists of many worlds. There are four basic spiritual worlds: our world is called Olam HaAsiya [the World of Action], and above it are the worlds of Yetzira , Beriah , and Atzilut . We aren't kabbalists to go into exactly what all these levels mean. But the point he is making is that when we see a "rebellion" happening down here in this tiny physical world, we are viewing everything through limited, physical eyes. We don't see what is truly going on; we have no idea of the full scope of the universe. And we are like that little bird—that tiny, teeny bird—worrying, "How is the king going to take care of me?" Who is the bird? The bird is us, the Jewish people, whose voices God loves to hear. As the verse says, " Yonati bechagvei hasela "—"My dove in the clefts of the rock." He wants to take care of us! Yet, we worry because we see rebellions going on, because there is Hamas, because there is Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, and Hezbollah. We worry because we see a few rebels. Do you know what our King can do? The Chafetz Chaim says we should be more shocked at our own anxious attitude than at the attitude of that foolish servant telling the bird that the king can't feed him. That is huge. He says that all we need to do, every single day, is think about this. When we think about this, it will strengthen our Bitachon . And again, this is exactly what Sha'ar HaBechina is all about—seeing God's power and understanding how He is completely unlimited, and using that clarity to reach Bitachon . I will not stop stressing this point: You cannot jump to Sha'ar HaBitachon without going through Sha'ar HaBechina . You must first appreciate who God is, and then you can rely on Him. And even then, you can't just jump straight to relying on Him; you have to first commit yourself to serving Him. Your first reaction to God's greatness isn't supposed to be, "Wow, look how strong God is, look what I can get from Him!" No. It should be, "Look how strong God is—what do I have to do to reciprocate?" And how do we reciprocate? How will we find the tools and abilities to do so? That is where Bitachon comes in: rely on Him, and He will take care of you. The absolute fundamental of Bitachon is that Hashem takes care of His servants . You need to be a servant first. This is the path of Sha'ar HaBechina . That is what the author is telling us. We have a clear track. When you get to the end of this gate, you have to realize what the next step is, but never forget the foundation. As we say, you constantly have to go over this foundation again and again, every single day. He notes that this is the deeper meaning of the verse in Yeshayahu (26:4): " Ki b'Y-H Hashem tzur olamim ." Chazal [the Sages] tell us that God created the worlds with two letters of His Name: a Yud , which created Olam HaBa [the World to Come], and a Heh , which created Olam HaZeh [this world]. What does this verse say? Once we know that Hashem created both worlds and that He is a tzur —a rock, meaning He is completely reliable, the rock in whom we find refuge ( tzur achasayu bo )—the verse commands us: " Bitchu v'Hashem adei ad "—"Trust in Hashem forever and ever." What does "always and forever" mean? The Chafetz Chaim explains that "always" means even in our times, when it looks like a massive rebellion is going on. Rely on Him always! Why? Because you know how powerful He is: " Ki b'Y-H Hashem tzur olamim "—because God is the Rock of worlds , plural. Let's repeat this verse one more time: Bitchu v'Hashem adei ad . Rely on Hashem forever and ever. Why? Because Hashem is the Rock of the worlds. He is the Rock, meaning He is reliable—the ultimate Rock of Gibraltar. He is reliable, and He is the Creator of all the worlds. Regardless of what it looks like is happening downstairs, it is only a drop in the bucket. And from this, to quote the Chafetz Chaim: " Nuchel lehavin et godel habitachon she-yesh l'adam livtoach b'Hakadosh Baruch Hu "—"Through this, we can understand the immense scale of trust that a person must place in the Holy One, blessed be He."

Have you lost your joy? It can be hard when life is swirling around you and beating you down, but true joy is found in praising God for who He is and what He's doing, even when you can't see it.“'To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?' says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.” Isaiah 40:25-26 To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1141/29?v=20251111

1 Wisdom has built her house. She has carved out her seven pillars. 2 She has prepared her meat. She has mixed her wine. She has also set her table. 3 She has sent out her maidens. She cries from the highest places of the city: 4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who is void of understanding, she says to him, 5 “Come, eat some of my bread, Drink some of the wine which I have mixed! 6 Leave your simple ways, and live. Walk in the way of understanding.” 7 One who corrects a mocker invites insult. One who reproves a wicked man invites abuse. 8 Don't reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise person, and he will love you. 9 Instruct a wise person, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous person, and he will increase in learning. 10 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11 For by me your days will be multiplied. The years of your life will be increased. 12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself. If you mock, you alone will bear it. 13 The foolish woman is loud, undisciplined, and knows nothing. 14 She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city, 15 to call to those who pass by, who go straight on their ways, 16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here.” As for him who is void of understanding, she says to him, 17 “Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant.” 18 But he doesn't know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol. Listen Donate Subscribe: Proverbs Daily Podcast Psalms Daily Podcast

The Fingerprints of God – Part 2 The Hand That Guides Us Supporting Scripture Isaiah 48:17 “Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go.” When we think about the fingerprints of God on our lives, one of the greatest places we see them is in His guidance. God never intended for us to wander through life alone. From the very beginning, He has been leading, directing, and gently drawing people toward Himself. In fact, the first and most important way God guides us is toward salvation.

Have you lost your joy? It can be hard when life is swirling around you and beating you down, but true joy is found in praising God for who He is and what He's doing, even when you can't see it.“'To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?' says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.” Isaiah 40:25-26 To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/1141/29?v=20251111

Are you ready for an explosion of faith and hope in your life? Did you know that your actions and your faith have the power to either let God loose to bless you, or completely hinder His activities in your life? In Psalm 78:41, we see a powerful warning: the people actually limited the Holy One of Israel. God wants to pour out His promises, but He is looking for a specific heart posture. In this message, Pastor Steven Hilton ministers a powerful word that will change the way you see your daily walk with God.Notes & Scriptures for this message are available in the Notes section of the Giving Light App.Visit our website at www.givinglight.org.Download the Giving Light App available for free on iOS and Android.

Read OnlineJesus said to the Jewish crowds: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” John 6:51–52It must have been shocking to Jesus' listeners the first time He boldly proclaimed that He would give His flesh as spiritual food. Their reaction makes this clear: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Jesus did not back down or soften what He had just proclaimed. Instead, He began a lengthy and direct discourse, starting with these words:“Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.” (John 6:53–56)What would you have thought had you been among the first hearers? We're told the people quarreled, indicating division. Some, we later read, murmured among themselves, saying: “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” And tragically, many of Jesus' disciples left Him and returned to their former way of life (cf. John 6:60–66).Despite this apparent failure and loss of disciples, Jesus did not retract or revise His teaching. Instead, He turned to the Twelve and asked if they too wished to leave. Peter, with clarity and faith, responded with one of the most profound statements of discipleship in all of Scripture: “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God” (cf. John 6:67–69).In many ways, Peter's words are as important for us today as Jesus' own words introducing the Eucharist. Why? Because Peter shows us how to respond when we encounter divine mysteries beyond human understanding. The Eucharist is one of the most central of these mysteries.Do you believe in the Eucharist? Do you believe that it is truly the flesh and blood of the Son of God—His Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity? Though many of us have learned this teaching from childhood and accept it on some level, few penetrate the depth of the mystery we behold at every Mass. Saint John Vianney spoke beautifully of the Eucharist, revealing his profound reverence for this Gift: “If we really understood the Mass, we would die for joy.” And: “There is nothing so great as the Eucharist. If God had something more precious, He would have given it to us.” He also said: “How beautiful it is! After the Consecration, the good God is there as He is in Heaven.”It's easy to approach the Holy Mass out of routine rather than with the depth of faith possessed by the saints. But that must be our goal. We must believe that we would truly “die of joy” if we understood the Mass.The Solemnity of Corpus Christi is our annual invitation to step back and reflect on what we believe—and how devoutly we participate in the Mass and receive Holy Communion. We need this reminder so that our worship and faith do not grow lax.Reflect today on Jesus' unwavering clarity: “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.” Believe what He says. The Eucharist is not a symbol; it is the greatest Divine Mystery on earth. In the Eucharist, we kneel before God and consume Him—so that we may become what we eat: the Mystical Body of Christ.Let us close by praying the opening verses of a hymn Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote at the request of Pope Urban IV for the newly instituted Feast of Corpus Christi in 1264—the Pange Lingua, meaning, “Proclaim, O Tongue.” Down in adoration falling,Lo! the sacred Host we hail;Lo! o'er ancient forms departing,Newer rites of grace prevail;Faith for all defects supplying,Where the feeble senses fail. To the everlasting Father,And the Son who reigns on high,With the Holy Ghost proceedingForth from each eternally,Be salvation, honor, blessing,Might, and endless majesty. Amen.The last supper, via Adobe StockSource: Free RSS feed from catholic-daily-reflections.com — Copyright © 2026 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. This content is provided solely for personal, non-commercial use. Redistribution, republication, or commercial use — including use within apps with advertising — is strictly prohibited without written permission.

Knowing that Jesus is the Holy One, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords is not the same as believing that Jesus is all those titles and more. Today, Pastor JD urges you to not just know it in your mind but believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord. And not just know, but believe that He is returning soon.

LESSON 157Into His Presence Would I Enter Now.This is a day of silence and of trust. It is a special time of promise in your calendar of days. It is a time Heaven has set apart to shine upon, and cast a timeless light upon this day, when echoes of eternity are heard. This day is holy, for it ushers in a new experience; a different kind of feeling and awareness. You have spent long days and nights in celebrating death. Today you learn to feel the joy of life.This is another crucial turning point in the curriculum. We add a new dimension now; a fresh experience that sheds a light on all that we have learned already, and prepares us for what we have yet to learn. It brings us to the door where learning ceases, and we catch a glimpse of what lies past the highest reaches it can possibly attain. It leaves us here an instant, and we go beyond it, sure of our direction and our only goal.Today it will be given you to feel a touch of Heaven, though you will return to paths of learning. Yet you have come far enough along the way to alter time sufficiently to rise above its laws, and walk into eternity a while. This you will learn to do increasingly, as every lesson, faithfully rehearsed, brings you more swiftly to this holy place and leaves you, for a moment, to your Self.He will direct your practicing today, for what you ask for now is what He wills. And having joined your will with His this day, what you are asking must be given you. Nothing is needed but today's idea to light your mind, and let it rest in still anticipation and in quiet joy, wherein you quickly leave the world behind.From this day forth, your ministry takes on a genuine devotion, and a glow that travels from your fingertips to those you touch, and blesses those you look upon. A vision reaches everyone you meet, and everyone you think of, or who thinks of you. For your experience today will so transform your mind that it becomes the touchstone for the holy Thoughts of God.Your body will be sanctified today, its only purpose being now to bring the vision of what you experience this day to light the world. We cannot give experience like this directly. Yet it leaves a vision in our eyes which we can offer everyone, that he may come the sooner to the same experience in which the world is quietly forgot, and Heaven is remembered for a while.As this experience increases and all goals but this become of little worth, the world to which you will return becomes a little closer to the end of time; a little more like Heaven in its ways; a little nearer its deliverance. And you who bring it light will come to see the light more sure; the vision more distinct. The time will come when you will not return in the same form in which you now appear, for you will have no need of it. Yet now it has a purpose, and will serve it well.Today we will embark upon a course you have not dreamed of. But the Holy One, the Giver of the happy dreams of life, Translator of perception into truth, the holy Guide to Heaven given you, has dreamed for you this journey which you make and start today, with the experience this day holds out to you to be your own.Into Christ's Presence will we enter now, serenely unaware of everything except His shining face and perfect Love. The vision of His face will stay with you, but there will be an instant which transcends all vision, even this, the holiest. This you will never teach, for you attained it not through learning. Yet the vision speaks of your remembrance of what you knew that instant, and will surely know again.- Jesus Christ in ACIM

Once again God's words through Isaiah attracted our thoughts.  There are so many parallels today with the attitudes the LORD was seeking to counteract in Israel in the time of Isaiah.  The message the prophet was to convey was, “For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, ‘In returning (or repentance, mg) and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.' But you were unwilling …” [30 v.15]In v. 18 this is repeated with added emphasis, “… the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.  For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”  We see that the LORD's words to the people through Isaiah have remarkable parallels in the words of Jesus – remember the invitations to the wedding banquet – and the poor response – see Matt 22 v.3 and John's record of Jesus saying, “the Scriptures … bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me … you do not have the love of God within you.” [John 5 v.39-41]  What would he say to you?As we read each day – let us make sure we see the “witness” of the Scriptures.  There are also some thought parallels in today's final chapter in Hebrews, “Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you.' So that we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'” [v.5,6]  Paul writes of the sacrifices we should make, to be content, to have no love of money.  He reminds and stresses, our Lord sacrificed himself “in order to sanctify the people through his own blood” [v.12]  And then v.15 should jump out to attract our thoughts, “Through him then let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name … for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” [v.16] Let us make sure they are pleasing to us – and come genuinely from our hearts – a contrast to the noise and show in the Temple in the days of Isaiah, Jesus and Paul; learning that “in quietness and in trust shall be (y)our strength.”

“So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.” (Ezekiel 39:7)... More...

How many can read the Bible – as a whole – and really make sense of it, so that it speaks to them in their heart, and stirs them to live their lives really conscious of God and of his Son?  This question came to mind as we pondered the message in Isaiah today – parts of it evidently a commentary on the attitudes of many in the prophets' day, many had failed to develop a real ‘living' relationship with God.After recording a vision of what will happen to people at the time when “the multitude of all the nations be that fight against Mount Zion …”  This vision “shall be like a dream, a vision in the night” [29 v.8] In v.11 the condemnation is  made, “the vision of all this has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed” [v.11].  The people are like those who refuse to read “when men give it to one who can read, saying ‘Read this,' he says, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed.'”But it is clear that this is an excuse – for a remarkable statement is made in v.13 &14  “And the Lord said, ‘Because this people draw near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men …. the wisdom of their wise men shall perish …”  It is human wisdom that perishes, they are told they “turn things upside down!  Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,   that the thing made should say of its maker, ‘He did  not make me'” [v.16] – today many would add – ‘I just evolved.'How well these words apply to the human ‘wisdom' of today – God's word is “a book that is sealed” . We must remember that there is no middle path – if we do not apply our minds to the true meaning of God's words then it “is sealed” for us.  The day is coming, God's word says, as we read on in v.19 & 20, when “the meek shall obtain fresh joy in the LORD and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel. For the ruthless shall come to nothing and the scoffer cease.”   There is no point in being aware of the vision of God's ultimate action against the nations of the earth if we only “honour” God “with our lips” refusing to apply our minds to unseal his book. 

What does it truly mean when we say that God is holy? This powerful exploration takes us deep into the heart of holiness, challenging our assumptions that it's merely about external behaviors or religious performance. We journey through Numbers 4 and discover a sobering truth in the story of Uzzah, who died when he touched the Ark of the Covenant. Yet this isn't a story about an angry God waiting to punish mistakes—it's about a holy God who desperately desires to dwell among His people. The message reveals that our holiness isn't something we manufacture through our own efforts; it's entirely dependent on God's presence within us. From the Israelites trembling at Mount Sinai to Jesus tearing the temple veil with His own flesh, we see a consistent theme: God's holiness never kept Him from pursuing us. Instead, He entered our darkness, overcame our distance, and placed His very life inside us. This transforms everything about how we understand Christian living. We're not called to perform our way into God's acceptance, but to allow His otherness to shine through our being. The Holy Spirit convicts us not to burden us, but to form us into witnesses of God's transforming power. When we grasp that the Holy One chooses to reside within us, holiness becomes less about what we avoid and more about whose we are.Connect with First Baptist Starkville: https://bit.ly/3M4mHnkSubscribe to see our latest sermons: https://bit.ly/3DxRyjHSupport this ministry and our work in Starkville, MS: https://bit.ly/44muvW0

Send us Fan Mail“But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob,And He who formed you, O Israel:‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you;I have called you by your name;You are Mine.When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,Nor shall the flame scorch you.For I am the Lord your God,The Holy One of Israel, your Savior;I gave Egypt for your ransom,Ethiopia and Seba in your place.Since you were precious in My sight,You have been honored,And I have loved you;Therefore I will give men for you,And people for your life.Fear not, for I am with you;I will bring your descendants from the east,And gather you from the west;I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!'And to the south, ‘Do not keep them back!'Bring My sons from afar,And My daughters from the ends of the earth—Everyone who is called by My name,Whom I have created for My glory;I have formed him, yes, I have made him” (Isaiah 43:1-7).Freshly written and sent out immediately "morning by morning" from the morning prayer time of Tommy Hays each day.God bless you and you have a great day!—Tommy Hays | Messiah Ministrieshttp://messiah-ministries.org

Join us as we dig deeper into last Sunday's sermon from Pastor Gabe Kasper "The Gospel for 3,000" and hear from Amy Duncan and Nate Zuellig on "King Of Kings". Digging Deeper Questions: When we consider the options for belief in this world, how do the resurrection and uniqueness of Jesus make a difference to out faith?   How is the reality that it "was our sin that held him there (on the cross)" both a convicting and liberating word?   When we look at the life of the early church, where do you see your life in the church? Are there areas for growth for you? Our church? Scripture Reading: Acts 2:22-47 22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him,   "'I saw the Lord always before me,     for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;     my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,     or let your Holy One see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life;     you will make me full of gladness with your presence.'   29 "Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,   "'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand, 35     until I make your enemies your footstool."'   36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified."   37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" 38 And Peter said to them, "Repent  and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, "Save yourselves from this crooked generation." 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.   42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. Intro/Outro Song: "Only One" Nate Zuellig ULC Artist In Residence    "King Of Kings" Hillsong Worship CCLI Song # 7127647   CCLI License # 11254293

คอลัมน์ “สดแต่เช้า”ปีที่6(ตอนที่65)อย่าทำให้พระนามบริสุทธิ์ถูกลบหลู่! ( จงบริสุทธิ์อย่างที่พระเจ้าบริสุทธิ์!(5))““และเราจะทำให้นามบริสุทธิ์ของเราเป็นที่รู้จักท่ามกลางอิสราเอล ประชากรของเรา เราจะไม่ยอมให้นามบริสุทธิ์ของเราถูกลบหลู่อีกต่อไป และประชาชาติทั้งหลายจะรู้ว่า เราคือยาห์เวห์ องค์บริสุทธิ์ในอิสราเอล”"‭‭ ~เอเสเคียล‬ ‭39‬:‭7‬ ‭THSV11‬‬““ ‘I will make known my holy name among my people Israel. I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One in Israel.”"‭‭ ~Ezekiel‬ ‭39‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬พระธรรมตอนนี้อยู่ในบริบทที่พระเจ้าตรัสถึง​การพิพากษาศัตรูของอิสราเอล และ​การฟื้นฟูประชากรของพระองค์ หลังจากที่ชนชาติอิสราเอลเคยทำให้นามของพระเจ้าถูกดูหมิ่นเพราะการไม่เชื่อฟังและการตกเป็นเชลย พระเจ้าประกาศว่าพระองค์จะทรงสำแดงพระสิริของพระองค์อีกครั้ง!แล้ว พระเจ้าตรัสว่า พระองค์จะทำอะไรบ้าง?​พระเจ้าจะทำให้พระนามบริสุทธิ์ของพระองค์เป็นที่รู้จัก“เราจะทำให้นามบริสุทธิ์ของเราเป็นที่รู้จัก”คำว่า “นาม” ในพระคัมภีร์นี้ ไม่ได้หมายถึงเพียงชื่อเรียกเท่านั้น แต่หมายถึง1).พระลักษณะเลิศล้ำของพระเจ้า2).พระสิริของพระเจ้า3).ความยิ่งใหญ่ 4).ความสัตย์ซื่อ และ 5).ความบริสุทธิ์ของพระเจ้าหมายความว่า พระเจ้ากำลังตรัสว่า“เราจะสำแดงให้ประชากรของเราเห็นอีกครั้งว่า เราเป็นใครจริงๆ!”ที่ผ่านมา บางครั้งประชากรของพระเจ้าอาจรู้จักพระองค์เพียงผิวเผินแต่พระเจ้าต้องการให้พวกเขารู้จักพระองค์ และความยิ่งใหญ่ของพระองค์อย่างลึกซึ้งจริงๆ จาก1).การสถิต และ2).การกระทำมหกิจของพระองค์ในท่ามกลางชุมชนของพระองค์แบบเห็นชัดจับต้องได้​พระเจ้าจะไม่ยอมให้พระนามบริสุทธิ์ของพระองค์ถูกลบหลู่อีกต่อไป“เราจะไม่ยอมให้นามบริสุทธิ์ของเราถูกลบหลู่อีกต่อไป”ก่อนหน้านี้ อิสราเอลได้ทำให้พระนามของพระเจ้าถูกดูหมิ่นในสายตาประชาชาติ เพราะพวกเขาอวดอ้างว่าเป็นประชากรของพระเจ้า แต่กลับดำเนินชีวิตตรงข้ามกับ1).พระประสงค์ และ2).พระอัตลักษณ์ของพระองค์สัญญาณอันตรายคือ“เมื่อประชากรของพระเจ้าดำเนินชีวิตผิดจากที่พระวจนะสอนไว้คนทั้งปวงก็จะดูหมิ่นเหยียดหยามพระเจ้าที่พวกเขานมัสการ!”ในเวลานี้ พระเจ้าประกาศว่า“ถึงเวลาที่เราจะฟื้นฟูเกียรติศักดิ์ของนามเราแล้ว!“”ใช่ครับ!”พระเจ้าจะทรงกระทำการอย่างยิ่งใหญ่น่าอัศจรรย์ใจ จนไม่มีใครสามารถดูหมิ่นพระองค์ได้อีกต่อไป!“​พระเจ้าจะทำให้ประชาชาติทั่วโลกรู้แจ้งว่าพระองค์เป็นพระผู้สร้างองค์บริสุทธิ์“ประชาชาติทั้งหลายจะรู้ว่า เราคือยาห์เวห์ องค์บริสุทธิ์ในอิสราเอล!”นี่เป็นหัวข้อสำคัญตลอดพระธรรมเอเสเคียลพระเจ้าจะทรงกระทำสิ่งต่างๆเพื่อให้คนทั้งโลกรู้ว่า1).พระองค์ทรงเป็นพระเจ้าเที่ยงแท้2).พระองค์ทรงครอบครองเหนือประวัติศาสตร์ของมนุษยชาติ3).พระองค์ทรงพิพากษาโลกด้วยความยุติธรรม4).พระองค์ทรงช่วยกู้ประชากรของพระองค์ด้วยความเมตตาอย่างไรก็ตาม พระประสงค์สูงสุดของพระเจ้าไม่ใช่เพียงแค่ให้อิสราเอลปลอดภัย แต่เพื่อให้ทุกชนชาติในโลกนี้ ได้รู้จักพระองค์!สำหรับ “องค์บริสุทธิ์ในอิสราเอล”นั้น คำว่า “บริสุทธิ์” หมายถึง1).แยกออกจากบาปโดยสิ้นเชิง2).สมบูรณ์แบบในความชอบธรรม3).ไม่มีความชั่วใดเจือปนพระเจ้าทรงย้ำว่า พระองค์ไม่ใช่พระเจ้าที่เหมือนรูปเคารพของชนชาติอื่น แต่ทรงเป็นพระเจ้าผู้ก.ทรงบริสุทธิ์ และข.ทรงสัตย์ซื่อต่อพระสัญญาของพระองค์พี่น้องที่รัก​เราต้องดำเนินชีวิตแบบถวายเกียรติแด่พระเจ้า ~พระองค์มองหาความซื่อสัตย์ ความรัก และความบริสุทธิ์ จากชีวิตของเรา​เราต้องตระหนักว่าพระเจ้าทรงหวงแหนพระเกียรติของพระองค์ ~พระองค์จึงอาจอนุญาตให้มีการตีสอนหรือแก้ไขเพื่อเปลี่ยนแปลงชีวิตเรา ให้ถวายพระเกียรติพระองค์มากขึ้น​เราต้องมีเป้าหมายสูงสุดของชีวิตคือให้คนรู้จักพระเจ้าและถวายเกียรติ~พระองค์ประสงค์ให้เราทำเช่นนั้นผ่านชีวิตและพฤติกรรมของเราย้ำอีกครั้ง เป้าหมายชีวิตของเรา ไม่ใช่เพียงเพื่อประสบความสำเร็จ มีความสุข หรือได้รับพระพร แต่แท้จริงคือให้เราดำเนินชีวิตที่ดีจนผู้คนเห็นพระเจ้าในชีวิตของเรา สรรเสริญพระองค์ และศรัทธาวางใจในพระองค์!ดังที่พระเยซูตรัสว่า“…จงส่องสว่างแก่คนทั้งปวง เพื่อว่าเมื่อเขาทั้งหลายได้เห็นความดีที่ท่านทำ พวกเขาจะได้สรรเสริญพระบิดาของท่านผู้สถิตในสวรรค์!”‭‭ ~มัทธิว‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬ ‭THSV11‬‬และจะเป็นจริง ตามคำกล่าวที่ว่า“ เมื่อชีวิตของเราถวายเกียรติพระเจ้า พระนามของพระองค์จะถูกป่าวประกาศให้เป็นที่รู้จักแบบเสียงดังสนั่นมากยิ่งกว่าคำเทศนาด้วยถ้อยคำของเรา!”(When our lives honor God,His name is proclaimed more loudly than our words.)…เห็นด้วยไหมครับ?…………………………………………ธงชัย ประดับชนานุรัตน์ 4มิถุนายน2026(ตอนที่65ปีที่6) #YoutubeCJCONNECT#คริสตจักรแห่งความรัก#Churchoflove #ShareTheLoveForward #ChurchOfJoy #คริสตจักรแห่งความสุข#NimitmaiChristianChurch #คริสตจักรนิมิตใหม่ #ฮักกัยประเทศไทย #อัลฟ่า #หนึ่งล้านความดี

Always On Time" I. Introduction: Defining "On Time" Human vs. Divine Timeline: We all view time differently (e.g., being hours early like Pastor Rhonda's father, pulling in at the last exact minute, or having a "when I get there, I get there" attitude). The Mismatched Watch: Pastor Rhonda shares a story of her father getting anxious about being late, only to realize his watch was still set to a different time zone. We often get aggravated or anxious with God simply because we are looking at our own clock instead of His. Core Truth: God does not operate on our timeline or synchronize His eternal watch with ours. His delays are deliberate, purposeful, and designed to bring Him glory. II. Point 1: The Danger of Rushing God The only thing worse than waiting on God is wishing you had waited on Him. Scriptural Warnings of Impatience: King Saul: Took matters into his own hands and offered an unauthorized sacrifice because his men were scattering and the prophet Samuel was delayed. As a result, the kingdom was torn from him. Abraham and Sarah: Attempted to force God's promise of a child by involving Hagar, resulting in the birth of Ishmael and generational warfare. The Counter-Culture of God's Delays: Even when humanity makes mistakes or tries to rush the process, God is powerful enough to rewrite the story (e.g., the massive revivals occurring today among the descendants of Ishmael in places like Iran). III. Point 2: The Nature of the Waiting Room What is "Waiting"?: In Isaiah 43, the Hebrew word for waiting (qavah) means to be tightly woven together like cords. The Principle: True waiting means binding your heart to the Lord, not to the outcome or the specific thing you are asking for. The Reality of Turbulence: Life brings unexpected turbulence, much like a bumpy flight 30,000 feet in the air. When God chooses not to immediately stop the turbulence, He provides the necessary grace to walk through it. God's Arrangement: In Ecclesiastes, "beautiful in its time" translates from a root meaning arranged, precise, orderly, and fitting. God is intricately preparing the circumstances to display His glory perfectly. IV. Point 3: He Reaches Down and Lifts Us Up An Eyewitness to Deliverance: Our survival through past trials isn't luck, coincidence, or superstition—it is a direct testimony of God doing what only He can do. The Ultimate "Reach": God bridges the massive gap between His absolute holiness and our deep hopelessness. Calvary was the ultimate extension of God reaching down to humanity. Deep Waters: Deep waters represent situations heavier and stronger than we are—depression, grief, financial crisis, or broken relationships. Even David, the mighty warrior who killed Goliath, had to admit when an enemy was too strong for him. The Parent Metaphor: Just as a parent jumps fully clothed into a pool to rescue a drowning child without a second thought, God moves urgently into our deep waters to rescue us and place us in a "spacious place" of freedom. V. Point 4: Walking Through the Fire The Purpose of the Furnace: Fiery trials are not strange occurrences; they are vehicles to burn off the "fake" attributes (like pride or addiction) and solidify genuine, veteran faith. Identity in the Fire: When Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the furnace, the Babylonian king tried to change their identities by renaming them. However, Christ walked into the fire with them, burning away only their bindings. The Hebrew Meanings of the Three Hebrews: Hananiah (Shadrach): "Yahweh has been gracious." Mishael (Meshach): "Who is like our God?" Azariah (Abednego): "Yahweh has helped." The Fire's Expiration Date: Every trial has a limit. The world cannot alter your identity as a son or daughter of God, and you will come out of the fire not even smelling like smoke. VI. Conclusion: God Rescues Because He Delights in You Relentless Delight: God doesn't love or rescue us out of obligation or because we performed perfectly this week. He is overwhelmed with delight for His children because of Jesus Christ. The Final Declaration: God is worth waiting for. From Joseph to Esther, to the arrival of Jesus in the fullness of time, He has proven that He is an all-time God who cannot fail. Scripture Index Here are the key verses read, cited, or closely paraphrased throughout the service: Psalm 18:1-3 > "I will love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised..." Psalm 126:1-5 > "When the Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like those that dreamed. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing... They that sow in tears shall reap in joy." 1 Samuel 13 (Referenced) – The account of King Saul prematurely offering the sacrifice and Samuel declaring the kingdom torn away. Genesis 16 (Referenced) – Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, and the birth of Ishmael. Isaiah 40:31 (Referenced) – Waiting (qavah) on the Lord to renew strength and mount up with wings like eagles. Ecclesiastes 3:11 > "He has made everything beautiful in its time." Romans 8:38-39 (Paraphrased) – The conviction that no principalities, powers, height, or depth can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Isaiah 43:1-3 > "...Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."   1 Peter 4:12 > "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you."   1 Peter 1:6-7 (Paraphrased) – Gold perishes, but a refined faith brings praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Daniel 3 (Referenced) – Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace with the fourth man who looked like the Son of God. Numbers 6:24-26 (The Benediction) > "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." "Thanks for listening! For more information, visit churchoftheharvest.com. Don't forget to follow us on Facebook and YouTube @cothcleveland.

1 The words of Agur the son of Jakeh, the revelation: the man says to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: 2 “Surely I am the most ignorant man, and don't have a man's understanding. 3 I have not learned wisdom, neither do I have the knowledge of the Holy One. 4 Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son's name, if you know? 5 “Every word of God is flawless. He is a shield to those who take refuge in him. 6 Don't you add to his words, lest he reprove you, and you be found a liar. 7 “Two things I have asked of you. Don't deny me before I die. 8 Remove far from me falsehood and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9 lest I be full, deny you, and say, ‘Who is Yahweh?' or lest I be poor, and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. 10 “Don't slander a servant to his master, lest he curse you, and you be held guilty. 11 There is a generation that curses their father, and doesn't bless their mother. 12 There is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, yet are not washed from their filthiness. 13 There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes! Their eyelids are lifted up. 14 There is a generation whose teeth are like swords, and their jaws like knives, to devour the poor from the earth, and the needy from among men. 15 “The leech has two daughters: ‘Give, give.' “There are three things that are never satisfied; four that don't say, ‘Enough!': 16 Sheol,* the barren womb, the earth that is not satisfied with water, and the fire that doesn't say, ‘Enough!' 17 “The eye that mocks at his father, and scorns obedience to his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, the young eagles shall eat it. 18 “There are three things which are too amazing for me, four which I don't understand: 19 The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent on a rock, the way of a ship in the middle of the sea, and the way of a man with a maiden. 20 “So is the way of an adulterous woman: She eats and wipes her mouth, and says, ‘I have done nothing wrong.' 21 “For three things the earth trembles, and under four, it can't bear up: 22 For a servant when he is king, a fool when he is filled with food, 23 for an unloved woman when she is married, and a servant who is heir to her mistress. 24 “There are four things which are little on the earth, but they are exceedingly wise: 25 The ants are not a strong people, yet they provide their food in the summer. 26 The hyraxes are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses in the rocks. 27 The locusts have no king, yet they advance in ranks. 28 You can catch a lizard with your hands, yet it is in kings' palaces. 29 “There are three things which are stately in their march, four which are stately in going: 30 The lion, which is mightiest among animals, and doesn't turn away for any; 31 the greyhound; the male goat; and the king against whom there is no rising up. 32 “If you have done foolishly in lifting up yourself, or if you have thought evil, put your hand over your mouth. 33 For as the churning of milk produces butter, and the wringing of the nose produces blood, so the forcing of wrath produces strife.” Listen Subscribe: Proverbs Daily Podcast Psalms Daily Podcast

Surrounded by people but unknown to yourself? This episode names the quiet ache — and points you back to the One who has always seen you.

Sit quietly with grace, and let it work its slow, substantial change. Nothing is more common for those whose hearts have been divinely warmed than to pledge themselves to new, exacting duties. We'll read our Bibles for an hour each day; pray for all our friends and even for some enemies; tell “unconverted” colleagues, neighbors—even strangers—of their task to do as we have done. We move at hyper-speed as if to make up for the months—the years—when we ourselves were unresponsive to the gospel. But what we need—and what our friends and enemies much need—is that we answer the first call of grace: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10). Our rush to vow new righteous duties, work new holy deeds, and tell what we have only started to experience is often just another act of foolish self-atonement. Heaven wisely urges us to quiet. “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘Only in returning to Me and resting in Me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength'” (Isa 30:15-16). Grace received always grows into grace well-lived. But beware of pledging your good deeds until you've more fully learned all that the Lord has kindly done for you. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

Sit quietly with grace, and let it work its slow, substantial change. Nothing is more common for those whose hearts have been divinely warmed than to pledge themselves to new, exacting duties. We'll read our Bibles for an hour each day; pray for all our friends and even for some enemies; tell “unconverted” colleagues, neighbors—even strangers—of their task to do as we have done. We move at hyper-speed as if to make up for the months—the years—when we ourselves were unresponsive to the gospel. But what we need—and what our friends and enemies much need—is that we answer the first call of grace: “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10). Our rush to vow new righteous duties, work new holy deeds, and tell what we have only started to experience is often just another act of foolish self-atonement. Heaven wisely urges us to quiet. “This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘Only in returning to Me and resting in Me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength'” (Isa 30:15-16). Grace received always grows into grace well-lived. But beware of pledging your good deeds until you've more fully learned all that the Lord has kindly done for you. And stay in grace. -Bill Knott

Our Enemies Were Defeated (1) (audio) David Eells – 5/27/26 Saints, our enemies are already defeated, and we enter into and appropriate this promise by faith. Fight every battle like the enemy is conquered. Luk.1:67-75 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; For he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people, 69 And hath raised up a horn (a strength or weapon against enemies) of salvation for us In the house of his servant David (This represents Jesus, and now Jesus in the Man-child David reformers.) 70 (As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old), 71 Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us; (We have already been saved from the wicked enemies because Jesus was cursed for us. Believe and confess this, avoiding willful sin, until it manifests.) 72 To show mercy towards our fathers, And to remember his holy covenant; (It is His covenant to save us from enemies.) 73 The oath which he sware unto Abraham our father, 74 To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies Should serve him without fear, (We were delivered from the hand of the wicked.) 75 In holiness and righteousness before him all our days. (We were given Jesus' holiness and righteousness, which the wicked refuse in their unforgiveness and judgment of Esau's seed.) I know of the natural fulfillment of this text, but the Lord was showing me a spiritual fulfillment too. Zec.12:1-9 The burden of the word of Jehovah concerning Israel. Thus saith Jehovah, who stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him: 2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem (The Bride) a cup of reeling unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it be in the siege against Jerusalem. (The wicked stagger with hatred for the Bride. The Dragon, shown to be Satan in his world body in Revelation 12, has one consuming desire: to devour the Man-child so he can then devour the Woman. Those of his vessels who proclaim to be Christians besiege them, for they are of the Dragon. Just as their forefathers did to Jesus, the prophets, and the saints, they consider themselves to be doing God a favor. I have been amazed since we heard from God years ago of the parallel between the faction in the Church and the faction in the government. The God of the leftist, communist, anarchist, fornicators, etc., shows the same hatred and uses the same slander against the Trump administration. They are always assured by Satan that they will win because they cheat, but they ultimately will lose, for all the evidence of their perversion, theft, lies, etc., is against them, and all will be revealed. Rev.12:11-12 And they overcame him [the Dragon] because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they loved not their life even unto death. 12 Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe for the earth and for the sea: because the devil is gone down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time. (And remember we wrestle not against flesh and blood but principalities and powers.) Back to Zec.12:3 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it. (The wicked hate the Bride for she is a manifestation of all that sinners hate. She is a manifestation of Jesus who came unto His own and His own received Him not.) 4 In that day, saith Jehovah, I will smite every horse with terror, (The horse represents the strength of the beastly flesh that is harnessed to do man's and therefore Satan's will. They are in terror now because they fear that all of their evil is known and will be (and are being) prosecuted. The faction in both camps of the Dragon is launching one last desperate attempt to destroy their enemy, but God has foretold their end. The Red Sea, Sennacherib, Jehoshaphat, the Northern army, is their end.) I will smite… his rider with madness (Even the average lost man sees their insanity. They can't stop telling on themselves that they are communists, anarchists, racists, murderers, fornicators, etc.); and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness. (They will not be able to find a way to defeat us or a way out of their predicament.) 5 And the chieftains of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength in Jehovah of hosts their God. 6 In that day will I make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they shall devour all the peoples round about, (Just as David did) on the right hand and on the left; and they of Jerusalem shall yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem. (David conquered unregenerate Jerusalem, which was called Jebus. The Jebusites were the old man of the land, the wicked who had to be removed so it would become Jerusalem, the Bride. It is coming to pass by the grace of our God.) 7 Jehovah also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not magnified above Judah. 8 In that day shall Jehovah defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem (The Bride, according to John in Revelation.): and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah before them. (What enemy can win when God is in His people by His Word and Spirit?) 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. (And so it shall be.) Psa.44:2-8 Thou didst drive out the nations with thy hand; But them thou didst plant: Thou didst afflict the peoples; But them thou didst spread abroad. 3 For they gat not the land in possession by their own sword, Neither did their own arm save them; But thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, Because thou wast favorable unto them. 4 Thou art my King, O God: Command deliverance for Jacob. 5 Through thee will we push down our adversaries: Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us. 6 For I will not trust in my bow, Neither shall my sword save me. 7 But thou hast saved us from our adversaries, And hast put them to shame that hate us. 8 In God have we made our boast all the day long, And we will give thanks unto thy name for ever. Selah. Rom.8:31-37 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not also with him freely give us all things? 33 Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth; 34 who is he that condemneth? (Satan, the Dragon, and his body) It is Christ Jesus that died, yea rather, that was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (And who is mightier than the prayers of Jesus for us?) 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Even as it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter. (As the flesh of sheep was sacrificed to bring atonement, so we ourselves must be sacrificed to make us pure before God. The power by which we do this is that of Jesus' sacrifice. He died that we may die to self.) 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. It was said to the Bride, a position that was once forsaken when God's people went into captivity for their sins, but now God is building her again. Isa.54:1-17 Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith Jehovah. 2 Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations; spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. 3 For thou shalt spread abroad on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall possess the nations, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. 4 Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth; and the reproach of thy widowhood shalt thou remember no more. 5 For thy Maker is thy husband; Jehovah of hosts is his name: and the Holy One of Israel is thy Redeemer; the God of the whole earth shall he be called. 6 For Jehovah hath called thee as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, saith thy God. 7 For a small moment have I forsaken thee (As it was with Jesus, Who said, “My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me” but then resurrection life came into Him); but with great mercies will I gather thee. 8 In overflowing wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting lovingkindness will I have mercy on thee, saith Jehovah thy Redeemer. 9 For this is as the waters of Noah unto me (The waters of the Word killed the wicked and saved Noah); for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah shall no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I will not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. 10 For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my lovingkindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, saith Jehovah that hath mercy on thee. 11 O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will set thy stones in fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. 12 And I will make thy pinnacles of rubies, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy border of precious stones. 13 And all thy children shall be taught of Jehovah; and great shall be the peace of thy children. 14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. 15 Behold, they may gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall because of thee. 16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the fire of coals, and bringeth forth a weapon for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Jehovah, and their righteousness which is of me, saith Jehovah. 1Co.15:57 but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not vain in the Lord. Deu.20:4 for Jehovah your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. 2Co.11:13-15 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, fashioning themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no marvel; for even Satan fashioneth himself into an angel of light. 15 It is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works. 2Co.4:1-6 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy, we faint not: 2 but we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish: 4 in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them. 5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness, who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Even when the reprobates hear this text, they are unmoved. Rom.1:20-2:11 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse: 21 because that, knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts unto uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves: 25 for that they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile passions: for their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another, men with men working unseemliness, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was due. 28 And even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up unto a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30 backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, covenant-breakers, without natural affection, unmerciful: 32 who, knowing the ordinance of God, that they that practise such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also consent with them that practise them. Rom.2:1 Wherefore thou art without excuse, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest dost practise the same things. … 5 but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; 6 who will render to every man according to his works: 7 to them that by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and incorruption, eternal life: 8 but unto them that are factious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, shall be wrath and indignation, 9 tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek; 10 but glory and honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek: 11 for there is no respect of persons with God. Luk.10:17-20 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name. 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. 20 Nevertheless in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. We must take care to fight the demonic enemies. The spiritual enemies that our human enemies have given their lives over to serve. Mar.16:17 And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons... Eph.6:10-18 Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might. (Let the weak say, I am strong) 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Wherefore take up the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. (If you will not stand now, what about the evil day?) 14 Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, (We are the righteousness of Christ; we do not have to give in.) 15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 withal taking up the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. (He sends many thoughts into our minds to conquer us, like wrestling with people (the flesh) instead of him. We should have faith in the truth to defend ourselves.) 17 And take the helmet of salvation (And quench the fiery thoughts), and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: 18 with all prayer and supplication praying at all seasons in the Spirit, and watching thereunto in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. (Be filled with the Holy Spirit so you can pray in the Spirit.) These spiritual powers are now under the feet of His Body. Eph.1:17-23 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; 18 having the eyes of your heart enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 and what the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might 20 which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: 22 and he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Notice the Lord is the head of the body and He put the enemies under His feet, the lowest member of His body.) Col.2:12-15 having been buried with him in baptism, wherein ye were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead through your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, you, I say, did he make alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses; 14 having blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross; 15 having despoiled the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. (To triumph means to celebrate the victory.) Luk.10:1 Now after these things the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself was about to come. ... Luk.17 And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name. (They did not have the Holy Spirit at this time, but they were given the authority of the name of Jesus.) 18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven. (They were casting down the dominion of Satan.) 19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents (demons whose poison is in the head = deception) and scorpions (demons whose poison is in the tail = to make you powerless, respectively), and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. (Believe and confess this victory efore the enemy.) 20 Nevertheless in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. (These scorpion spirits come to rob you of justification by faith so that you lose the benefits of Jesus' sacrifice and have to start over to recognize the benefits of the crucifixion. Many are crucifying Jesus afresh.) If you have confessed any sins that you know of, which are the only ones that count, He is faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:7-9), then you are justified. Then reconciliation is made, and you are to see Jesus in the mirror by faith because, as Paul said, you don't live anymore; Christ lives in you. Gal.2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself up for me. 2Co.3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit. Then you are to reject the condemnation of the devil. If you see yourself in the mirror after you have confessed all sin, you are beating up “Christ in you” just like the faction does. You are crucifying Him afresh. If you are condemning yourself after you confess your sins honestly, you do not believe Jesus, and you will get no grace to overcome. You are beating Him up in you. If you are in willful sin, confess and forsake it and see Jesus in the mirror. Confess His righteousness and holiness are yours, and you don't live anymore. There is no other way to have power from God to defeat self. When the disciples asked, “What must we do to do the works of God?” Jesus said, “Believe on him who He hath sent” … Eve Brast dreamed of wisdom to resist crucifying Jesus on 8-29-20: What I heard the Lord saying was: “Why do you, My people, crucify me afresh continually? For you are indeed crucifying me afresh.” (According to the dream, it is by helping the evil spirits to crucify Jesus.) I thought this dream was just a personal correction, but when I heard the Spirit say, “My people,” and Lexi's interpretation of M. L.'s tongue, He said, “Why are you, My children, forsaking Me for the world?” I knew this dream was a corporate correction to the body. (When we accept what demons say about us instead of what Christ says about us in His promises, we are giving up ground to the demons, we are crucifying Christ in us.) Here's the dream: I was walking through an old western town along the main dirt road with Jesus. He was to my right, and at first, I was happy to be walking next to him. But then I looked up and saw that the whole left side of His face and head had been severely beaten, and He was all bloody. (The wicked deface Christ to others. He is not like them. We should be a revelation of true Christianity.) He had blood stains on his garments, and He looked like He had been dragged through the dirt. I was horrified to see Him like this, and I felt immense pain for Him. And then I became very angry and indignant and asked Him, “Who did this to you?!” He turned and gestured with an open left hand and arm to a group of followers, who were supposed to be His disciples, about 10 to 20 paces behind us, and I looked back at them. They were clamoring at Him and shaking their fists in anger at Him and also at one another. There was much confusion amongst them. (Those from among God's people who fall away to become slanderers, railers, accusers, and haters of the righteous are these. These are the wicked who crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put Him to an open shame, but we are exhorted to hold on to the faith and not help them to kill us. Heb.6:1-12 Wherefore leaving the doctrine of the first principles of Christ, let us press on unto perfection; not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2 of the teaching of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. 3 And this will we do, if God permit. 4 For as touching those who were once enlightened and tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then fell away, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. 7 For the land which hath drunk the rain that cometh oft upon it (The Word), and bringeth forth herbs meet for them for whose sake it is also tilled, receiveth blessing from God: 8 but if it beareth thorns and thistles, it is rejected and nigh unto a curse; whose end is to be burned. 9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak: 10 for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and the love which ye showed toward his name, in that ye ministered unto the saints, and still do minister. 11 And we desire that each one of you may show the same diligence unto the fulness of hope even to the end: 12 that ye be not sluggish, but imitators of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Notice the wicked are facing Eve and the Lord. When they accuse you, they are accusing the Lord, as in Mat.25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me. (If you accept those spirits' words, you will crucify Christ in you again.) I looked back up at Jesus, and He looked at me with such love in His eyes, but it was mixed with hurt and a questioning look of, “Why did you take part in helping them?” Suddenly, I got the revelation that I had helped these people to drag Jesus through the dirt and crucify Him afresh. I was all at once horrified by this realization, and as I woke up and began to process what I had dreamed. (When do we help the wicked crucify Jesus again? When we accept what their scorpion spirits speak to us of condemnation, accusation, slander, faction, reminding us of our past, instead of believing we were crucified with Christ. Through witchcraft, they send these spirits against the righteous and even those who do not qualify as saints but favor the saints. As the witches are warring against the Trump administration with these lies now, and some are believing them and turning away from truth. Eve asked for prayer from Michael and me. We learned she was believing the condemnation of these spirits, which helps them to crucify Christ in her. So, we reminded her of the good news of grace, and she was cured. We were all forgiven, healed, and delivered from sin.) Luk.11:20-23 But if I by the finger of God cast out demons, then is the kingdom of God come upon you. 21 When the strong man fully armed guardeth his own court, his goods are in peace: (Satan's kingdom) 22 but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him (Jesus), he taketh from him his whole armor (Notice: Satan has lost; he has no defense against us.) armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. (to us) 23 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. (We must be plundering Satan's kingdom by faith, or we will flee from the scorpion demons. (Scattereth here is the Greek word “skorpizo” meaning, “to penetrate and put to flight” as a scorpion or a hornet does with its tail to make you run from it, just as the hornet drove the enemies from the Promised Land.) Examples of Scorpion scattering demons: fear, anxiety, rejection, guilt, shame, unbelief, self-pity, discouragement, depression, fear of man, unforgiveness -Mat.18:34-35, condemnation - 1Jo.3:21-22. Examples of the Hornet scattering: Deu.7:20, Jos.24:12, Rev.21:8). If we are running from the demons, they are taking back the ground behind us, crucifying Christ in us. Then we have to return to faith and start all over, taking back that ground Jesus gave us. Consider the nature of these spirits carefully and how, when you accept them, they conquer your faith and justification, and you cannot stand before the demons. You must war with the Sword of the Spirit and use your faith against these and others, or you will not bear fruit. Pray and ask the Lord to help you discern your thoughts. 2Co.10:3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh 4 (for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but mighty before God to the casting down of strongholds), 5 casting down imaginations, and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ; Being subject to God gives us power over the enemy. Jas.4:7 Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you. How can we be subject to God? 1Jn.1:7-9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Jas 5:16 confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working. Be not deceived, you must repent by faith in the promises, or you cannot enter the kingdom. 1Co.6:9 Or know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men,10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, but ye were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. We have absolute authority over the demons' lies. Luk.10:19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you. 20 Nevertheless in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. 21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes: yea, Father; for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight. Mar.16:17 And these signs shall accompany them that believe: in my name shall they cast out demons; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Joh.14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Col 3:17 And whatsoever ye do, in word or in deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Mat.18:19 Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father who is in heaven. Mar.11:22-25 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it. 24 Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. 25 And whensoever ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any one; that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. (If you do not forgive, you have no benefits of the Kingdom of God but are under demons.) Mat.6:15 But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Mat.18:34-35 And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due. 35 So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts. The faction demons refuse to obey this. Col.1:12-13 giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet (able) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light; 13 who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love; Mat.10:5-8 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and charged them, saying, Go not into any way of the Gentiles, and enter not into any city of the Samaritans: 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons: freely ye received, freely give. Mar.7:26-30 Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by race. And she besought him that he would cast forth the demon out of her daughter. 27 And he said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. 28 But she answered and saith unto him, Yea, Lord; even the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. 29 And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the demon is gone out of thy daughter. 30 And she went away unto her house, and found the child laid upon the bed, and the demon gone out. Luk.13:11 And behold, a woman that had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years; and she was bowed together, and could in no wise lift herself up. …16 And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound, lo, these eighteen years, to have been loosed from this bond on the day of the sabbath? (2Co.7:1) Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Mat.28:19 Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit: 20 teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.   Printer-friendly version

Have you lost your joy? It can be hard when life is swirling around you and beating you down, but true joy is found in praising God for who He is and what He's doing, even when you can't see it.“'To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?' says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.” Isaiah 40:25-26 To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/508/29?v=20251111

Have you lost your joy? It can be hard when life is swirling around you and beating you down, but true joy is found in praising God for who He is and what He's doing, even when you can't see it.“'To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?' says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.” Isaiah 40:25-26 To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/508/29?v=20251111

Send us Fan MailIn this episode Erika unpacks the title Holy One of Israel.  Isaiah uses this title for God over and over in his book.  From this prophet and other verses, we find this aspect of God as the God who is set apart from all other gods.  There is no one or anything else like Him. His power is unlike any other god or power out there.  He is El Elyon, God Most High.But in being set apart as the God of Israel we are reminded that He has attached Himself to that land and her people.  That means that land and her people are set apart.  Then those who get grafted in are set apart.  In being set apart, we are called to reflect Him then to the rest of the world.  Our website is The Context and Color of the BibleWe are on Facebook - The Context and Color of the Bible | FacebookWe are on Instagram - @contextandcolorofthebibleWe are on YouTube - The Context and Color of the Bible - YouTubeMusic: Tabuk by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4453-tabukLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

התוכן סיום הש"ס הוא: "אמר ריב'ל עתיד הקב"ה להנחיל לכל צדיק וצדיק ש"י עולמות שנאמר להנחיל אוהבי יש ואוצרותיהם אמלא. אמר רשב"ח לא מצא הקב"ה כלי מחזיק ברכה לישראל אלא השלום שנאמר ה' עוז לעמו יתן ה' יברך את עמו בשלום". מאמר רשב"ח אודות "ה' עוז לעמו יתן ה' יברך את עמו בשלום" הוא התירוץ כיצד יהי' בכחו של הצדיק לקבל ה"ש"י עולמות"! וזוהי גם המענה ליהודי ששואל מאיפה יקח את הזמן ואת הכח להוסיף בלימוד התורה כאשר גם עד עתה למד בכל רגע פנוי – "ה' עוז לעמו יתן וגו'"! המענה לזה ל"בעל נגלה" הוא – שיוסיף בנתינת הצדקה! עפ"י מ"ש אדה"ז שע"י קיום מצות הצדקה "נעשים מוחו ולבו זכים אלף פעמים ככה" כפשוטו! ובכן, אמנם צ"ל היגיעה בתורה, אבל ע"י נתינת הצדקה מ"יגיע כפיו" יצליח להשיג ע"י היגיעה בשעה א' מה שע"ד הרגיל זקוק לאלף שעות, ובמילא יישאר לו עוד 999 שעות להוסיף בלימוד התורה!ג' חלקים משיחת יום א' פ' ויגש, מוצאי "זאת חנוכה" ה'תשמ"ו ל"הנחה פרטית" או התרגום ללה"ק של השיחה: https://thedailysicha.com/?date=25-05-2026 Synopsis The Shas concludes with the Mishna: “Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: In the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will give every tzaddik 310 worlds, as it is stated: ‘To bequeath to those who love Me substance (יש), and I will fil their treasuries.' Rabbi Shimon ben Chalafta said: The Holy One, blessed be He, found no vessel capable of containing blessing for the Jewish people but peace, as it is stated: ‘Hashem will give strength to His people; Hashem will bless His people with peace.'” Rabbi Shimon ben Chalafta's teaching on the verse “Hashem will give strength to His people; Hashem will bless His people with peace” is the explanation of how tzaddikim will have the ability to receive the 310 worlds. This is also the answer to a Jew who asks: Where will I find the time and strength to add in Torah study, when I already study during every free moment? The answer – for a person focused on Nigleh – is to add in giving tzedakah. As the Alter Rebbe writes: By giving tzedakah, “his mind and heart become refined a thousandfold” – in the literal sense. Therefore, while it is true that one must toil in Torah, nevertheless, by giving tzedakah from the “labor of his hands,” he will succeed in achieving through one hour of effort what would ordinarily require a thousand hours, leaving him another 999 hours to add in Torah study.3 excerpts from sichah of Sunday, parashas Vayigash, Motzaei Zos Chanukah 5746 For a transcript in English of the Sicha: https://thedailysicha.com/?date=25-05-2026 לזכות ר' ארי וזוגתו מרת רייזל שיחיו דבורקן ליום הנישואין שלהם ט' סיוןלברכה והצלחה בכל הענינים ‏בגו"ר

Pastor Rodney teaches on that God is One infinite being not three finite substances.

The Holy One of Israel Isaiah's Two Sons

Today's readings.. (Joshua 8), (Isaiah 12), (1 Timothy 1-3)We usually have a reasonable idea of what we are going to talk about as today progresses, also some of the things that are likely to be part of our thoughts and conversations tomorrow – but it is invaluable to meditate on what the 6 verses that make up the entire 12th chapter of Isaiah told Israel and tells us of what “you will say on that day.”  How utterly wonderful to be among those who will say, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD God is my strength …” [v.2]   Of course, believing in God and his Son should always be the foundation on which our “strength” rests – it is not physical strength is it!  What strength of mind do you have?  How much does your mind meditate on the ultimate future? In v.3 we read “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation”. This takes our thoughts to what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman at the well, “… whoever drinks of the water that I will give him …(it) … will become in him (or her) a spring of water welling up to eternal life” [John 4 v.14] We link this saying with his words “on the last day of the feast” that the one “who believes in me … out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” [7 v.38]    After Jesus left them, “the Spirit” [v.39] was to flow out of the heart of the disciples to produce more of the words of God – on which we can (and must) feed our minds.Now back to Isaiah, the last 2 verses vividly picture the time when the redeemed will “Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously … Shout and sing for joy. O inhabitant of Zion. For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”  These words take us to “the song of the Lamb” in Revelation 15.  Let us live so that, by the grace of God we will be there to experience and sing this “in that day” “Great and amazing are your deeds O Lord God the Almighty!  Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!  … For you alone are holy.  All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” [v3,4]   At the moment they have been concealed – except to those who read and mediate on God's word and prepare themselves for what they “will say (and sing) in that day”

Dr. Lee Warren is a neurosurgeon and author of The Life-Changing Art of Self-Brain Surgery, but his story goes far beyond medicine. After losing his son tragically and unexpectedly, he found himself navigating unimaginable grief. Yet on the very same day as his son's funeral, the birth of his granddaughter gave him a glimpse of hope in the darkness.   In this deeply moving conversation, Dr. Warren shares what suffering taught him about God, hope, and the power of our thoughts. Blending biblical truth with neuroscience, he offers practical steps on how to renew your mind, care for your mental health, and find hope – even in the hardest seasons.   If you're walking through grief, trauma, or uncertainty, this conversation will remind you … you're not alone – and there is hope.   Subscribe to the podcast and tune in each week as Haley and Dustin share with you what the Bible says about real-life issues with compassion, warmth, and wit.   So you have every reason for hope, for every challenge in life. Because hope means everything.   Hope Talks is a podcast of the ministry of Hope for the Heart.   Listen in to learn more    Dr. Lee Warren Resources   Get Dr. Warren's book, The Life-Changing Art of Self-Brain Surgery: https://wleewarrenmd.com/books/the-life-changing-art-of-self-brain-surgery/    Learn more about Dr. Lee Warren: https://wleewarrenmd.com/    Listen to the Dr. Lee Warren podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@drleewarren  Hope for the Heart resources   Connect with Hope for the Heart on social!    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hopefortheheart   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopefortheheart    Learn more about the ministry and resources of Hope for the Heart: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/    Learn more about Hope Talks and catch up on past episodes: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/hopetalks/    Want to talk with June Hunt on Hope in the Night about a difficult life issue? Schedule a time here: https://resource.hopefortheheart.org/talk-with-june-hope-in-the-night   God's plan for you: https://www.hopefortheheart.org/gods-plan-for-you/   Give to the ministry of Hope for the Heart: https://hopefortheheart.donorsupport.co/page/hope-talks -------------- Bible verses mentioned in this episode Isaiah 30:15 – “This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.”   John 10:10 – “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Romans 5:3-5 -- “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”   2 Corinthians 10:5 – “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”   Philippians 4:8 – “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”   Titus 2:10 – “showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior.”

What do we mean when we talk about the holiness of God? Today, Sinclair Ferguson reflects on the characteristic of God that may be most difficult for us to understand and yet is so essential to knowing who He is. Read the transcript: https://ligonier.org/podcasts/things-unseen-with-sinclair-ferguson/the-thrice-holy-one/ A donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Donate: https://donate.ligonier.org/ Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

**YouTube Summary/Description****Video Title:** The Christadelphians - #11 The Christ – Whose Son Is He? – Harry Tennant**Description:**Join us for this outstanding and thought-provoking exposition as we explore one of the most profound questions in Scripture: Whose son is the Christ? In this wonderful presentation, Brother Harry Tennant guides us through an insightful, verse-by-verse examination of the sonship of Jesus.We look at the two extremes of belief—from those who deny the virgin birth to the traditional creedal teaching of an eternally begotten Son. Neither, we believe, fully reflects the beautiful, consistent revelation of the Bible. Instead, we delve into what Scripture actually says: that Jesus is the uniquely begotten Son of God, born of the virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. This revealing study walks through key passages from Matthew, Luke, John, Paul's letters, and Hebrews to show that Jesus worshipped His Father, that the Father is greater than the Son, and that Christ's glory comes from His faithful obedience—not from a pre-existent divine nature.This is a respectful, humble, and deeply Scriptural look at one of the most important doctrines of the faith. Whether you agree or disagree, this video will challenge and inspire you to return to the Word of God as the only foundation for truth.**Chapters:**00:00 – Introduction: Seeking to Know the Son03:55 – The Virgin Birth: A Non-Negotiable Bible Truth08:09 – Examining the Creeds: “Eternally Begotten” or Biblically Revealed?13:41 – Old Testament Promises: Foreordained, Then Born15:49 – Born as the Son of God (Luke 1:35, Galatians 4:4)16:56 – Philippians 2:5-11 Explained: “Form of God” – On Earth or in Heaven?24:40 – Jesus Worships God – Even After His Ascension30:13 – Conclusion: Honouring Christ Without the Creeds**Bible Verse Categories:**

Charlotte Mason Inspired Mini-Series: Imparting Morals to Our Children with Liz Cottrill, Special Patreon Release   Proverbs 9:10 (NIV)  "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."   *Transcription Below*   Questions and Topics We Discuss: What are the benefits of reading and reading aloud and how can we prioritize making this a frequent rhythm in our homes? What do the Gospels teach us about God's view of children? As parents, if we focused on nothing else, what is your highest recommendation for cultivating a moral and righteous character in our children?   Liz Cottrill is mother of six and grandmother of fifteen who homeschooled for 35 years. For 17 years, Liz has worked with her daughter, Emily,  in their family-owned Living Books Library serving local homeschool families in northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia. For the past 25 years, Liz has been discovering and teaching about the beauty and purpose of a Charlotte Mason method of education. This led to the development of A Delectable Education podcast. In addition, she does personal consultations with homeschool families around the world. Her greatest passion outside of family and teaching about Charlotte Mason is developing and teaching women's Bible studies. Liz is a reading maniac and delights in spending time with her family and walking and biking with her husband.   Books Liz Mentioned: The Chronicles of Narnia Heidi Little House on the Prairie Series The Yearling Little Britches Series The Secret Garden Where the Red Fern Grows Little Women The Singing Tree The Little White Horse Books by Beverly Cleary and Carolyn Haywood   A Delectable Education Website   Living Books Library   Thank You to Our Sponsors: Chick-fil-A East Peoria and The Savvy Sauce Charities (and donate online here)   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook or Instagram or Our Website   Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review, and subscribing to this podcast!   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV) Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”   Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”   Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”   Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”   John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:08)   Laura Dugger: (0:09 - 1:59) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.   I want to say a huge thank you to today's sponsors for this episode, Chick-fil-A East Peoria and Savvy Sauce Charities.   Are you interested in a free college education for you or someone you know? Stay tuned for details coming later in this episode from today's sponsor, Chick-fil-A East Peoria. You can also visit their website today at Chick-fil-A.com forward slash East Peoria.   If you've been with us long, you know this podcast is only one piece of our nonprofit, which is the Savvy Sauce Charities. Don't miss out on our other resources. We have questions and content to inspire you to have your own practical chats for intentional living. And I also hope you don't miss out on the opportunity to financially support us through your tax-deductible donations. All this information can be found on our recently updated website, thesavvysauce.com.   Today is the final episode in our mini-series, where we've been learning the Charlotte Mason educational philosophy. And today we're going to tie it in with general parenting principles, all of which are rooted in scripture.   My guest is Liz Cottrill, and she has parented babies to adults, and she's also a grandmother. So, we have a lot to learn from her experience. Here's our chat.   Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Liz.   Liz Cottrill: (1:59 - 2:03) Well, thank you so much for having me. I am just honored to be with you today.   Laura Dugger: (2:04 - 2:08) Will you just begin by sharing your testimony with us?   Liz Cottrill: (2:09 - 4:12) Well, it's kind of long, but I'll make it as short as I can. I grew up in an unbelieving family, but we were churchgoers. And when I was 12 years old, I put my trust in Christ.   After listening to a 17-year-old boy at a youth group meeting who presented the gospel so clearly for me that I understood and wanted to receive Christ. And then I met my husband in high school in German class. Actually, I don't remember very much German, but I was interested in him and he with me because we were Christians.   And we just got off on that foot together. And we have been married 46 years, always trying to put Christ first in our family and in our life. I have six children who are all grown now.   Two came to us by adoption later on in our life. And I have four married children with 15 grandchildren. And grand is just a minimal word for what they are.   I have been homeschooling for 37 years. I graduated my last child just this past spring, and it's been a long journey. It was illegal when I first began.   And I struggled to know the right path, you know, when and how and what subjects to teach and all of that. And a friend gave me a copy of Susan Schaefer McCauley's, For the Children's Sake, which I immediately gravitated to and started the narration way of teaching and using nature and art. But it really was another five years before I understood a lot more about Charlotte Mason and tried to implement more of her ideas.   And then when my grown daughter Emily, 15 years ago, started reading me her actual writings, it wasn't really until then that I started to understand her method.   Laura Dugger: (4:13 - 4:23) Well, and that's incredible. You mentioned it was illegal at that time to homeschool. And you've said before that you and your husband had never even heard of homeschooling when you met. Right.   Liz Cottrill: (4:23 - 6:15) So, how did you make that choice? You know, it's funny. I had my first child, and I remember a conversation with friends in the nursery at church when we were out of the service with our little ones.   And some of them were teachers, and they were talking about how it would be so wonderful if we could just keep our children out of public school and teach them Ourselves. And that put a little seed in my mind. And then I heard Dr. Dobson interview someone on homeschooling when she was about maybe two. And a year later, a friend took me to a kind of clandestine meeting of homeschool people with a national educator who was big on the idea. And we just decided that was the way we wanted to go. There were people that were actually being prosecuted for truancy and things like that when I started.   But we just wanted to be above board right from the beginning. So, I called the school board and just said, “I'm not going to send my child to school. I'm going to keep him at home, but I just want you to know he is being educated.”   Sorry. And so, you know, they didn't mind it. But I kind of marveled that I did that.   And I had to kind of beg, borrow and steal materials from friends who were ex-teachers and so on and didn't know really what I was about. I just remembered my own experience and tried to replicate that as best I could. And anyway, it was a process.   And by the time my fourth child was in school, there were absolutely no laws at all on the books about homeschooling in Michigan where we live. So, there had been several stages of them becoming more open to it over the 10 years since I started.   Laura Dugger: (6:16 - 6:44) Wow. And I love how that seed was planted through a conversation. And I've spoken with some mothers who have chosen to homeschool, and I've always been intrigued by this concept of morning time.   They say that they use that time to gather their children and read the Bible together. So, even broader than that, will you vision cast what type of healthy rhythm is available with Charlotte Mason's recommended schedule?   Liz Cottrill: (6:45 - 8:29) Well, she was a proponent of very short lessons, which for children under nine would be a maximum of 20 minutes long. And some of them are even shorter. And so school morning does run along at quite a little cliff because you're constantly changing pace.   But that is something that most six- and seven- and eight-year-olds love. And we do begin with Bible. And if you have children of multiple ages, the schedule broadens out for them.   I am not personally a big fan of the quote unquote morning time because all of her morning is together and separate and then together again. And what happens a lot of times when you have too long of a gathering of all ages is that the older children are then left with all the real hard toil at the end of the morning. And, you know, the little kids usually can only stand, you know, maybe half an hour at the most.   But we always sing a song and then had our Bible lesson, which Charlotte Mason has a wonderful plan for how to study Bible as a school subject so that they get to know the entire story from Genesis through Revelation. And then usually we have some poetry and then we just move into all our subjects, which vary from day to day. I mean, math and reading and things like that happen every day.   You know, some days we have art, some days we have geography, you know, all those things happen at various times through the week and not every single day. So, that helps you to cover a lot of ground in a week. That makes sense.   Laura Dugger: (8:30 - 8:36) That does. And so that may be the focus in the morning. And then what does that open up for the afternoon time?   Liz Cottrill: (8:36 - 9:43) So, afternoons are especially for young children, mostly free for them to play and explore and enjoy nature. There are some recommended activities that could occupy some of the afternoon hours, especially if you live in Michigan like I did. And we're snowed in much of the time in the winter months. ‍   But handicrafts and nature walks and reading and housework and things like that could be part of the afternoons. They're more open ended. They're not time limited the way school lesson mornings are.   So, it ushers in a sense of maybe a more leisurely pace in the afternoon, would you say? Yes. And, you know, you might say this afternoon after we come in from play or nature study, we're going to draw.   But there's no regulation that that has to end after 15 minutes or something. You know, some children get really involved in making up their own play or having a puppet show or just doing whatever they want with their free time. And they don't want to be curtailed, you know?   Laura Dugger: (9:44 - 9:56) Sure. And I'm wondering then for the mother, if she's the one doing the homeschooling, is that the time when you used it for lesson planning or preparing for the next day's work?   Liz Cottrill: (9:57 - 10:20) Or doing the laundry and getting dinner ready and all the other million things you have to do every day. Yeah, I usually encourage moms to take 10 minutes to plan for the next lesson day. And sometimes they get that done even before lunch so that when lunch happens, you know, basically their mind is off school and just on to all the other life that we have.   Laura Dugger: (10:21 - 10:29) Wow. And if this is new to someone and they hear 10 minutes to plan the next day's lessons, how is that possible?   Liz Cottrill: (10:32 - 11:06) Well, mostly because a lot of your lesson is already determined by the amount of time you have. There's only so much you can do in any lesson. A young child would have maybe 9 or 10 lessons in a morning.   But usually there's been some preplanning in the summer or before that school term starts. So, a lot of it, you already know what you're doing. And so, we're just specifically troubleshooting or figuring out what's going to happen the next day.   You know, so we give a right amount of math work or choose the vocabulary for the reading lesson or whatnot.   Laura Dugger: (11:07 - 11:41) Okay, that's helpful. And you say that your own education began when you were born into a family who loved and valued books. And Charlotte Mason is quoted saying, “The most common and the monstrous defect in the education of the day is that children fail to acquire the habit of reading.”   So, Liz, what are some of the benefits of both reading and reading aloud? And how can we prioritize making this a frequent rhythm in our homes?   Liz Cottrill: (11:43 - 15:13) I have to preface what I say by saying that this is a huge problem in our culture today. I don't know if you know that my daughter Emily and I started a library for homeschool families. And I have about 20,000 books in my library that we loan out to 40 to 50 families each year.   They have a membership, so they have access to wonderful books. But it wasn't long into this journey almost 20 years ago that I realized that most moms had not even read Little House on the Prairie. And very common children's books were a mystery to them because our culture has kind of lost the art of reading.   I think it's a pretty known fact that only one in four adults ever reads even one book in a year. And I guess books are critical to our culture. They're definitely integral to the whole education process of our children.   They can learn so much more through a whole book than they can through a few paragraphs in a textbook. And the bottom line is that you can't give your children what you don't love yourself. So, the best way to ensure that you make your child become a reader is to be a reader yourself.   So, children, I always say, have to be surrounded by books. There are even education studies out worldwide in all socioeconomic brackets that children who grew up in a home of 500 books or more automatically become readers as adults. I just think that's fascinating.   So, they need to be surrounded with books, but they need to see you reading. And we need to make time to read to them from the very youngest ages. They should be well into early chapter books by the time they ever start school.   And so, reading as a family is just a wonderful, enjoyable activity. I think that when I say they need to see you reading too, I just want to add that that doesn't mean on your phone. Because for all they know, you're looking at YouTube or Facebook or something like that.   I had a friend who said that she really woke up to this one day when her kids were running through the room and she was reading an actual book and her son stopped and said, what are you doing? It just shocked her because she was a reader, but she didn't often read from an actual book. I do think reading as a family builds a wonderful culture in your home.   It is one of the wonderful ways of keeping a family together. You have common jokes and insights and just conversations because of the things you've been reading together. And Charlotte Mason said that our books are our greatest teachers.   And I think that's because they fertilize a child's imagination. They give them so many ideas about the world that they just can't receive from TV or just our normal life. Reading really is the most countercultural thing that you can do.   It slows down our life, the pace that we all live at. It gives us time to spend together to relax. It brings a sense of peace in the home.   Just a lot of enjoyment to life. I can't imagine living without books.   Laura Dugger: (15:14 - 15:30) And Liz, I just get so excited to hear you describe all of this and some of the benefits and the culture that's added. Are there any other books you talked about? Little House on the Prairie.   Are there some other chapter books that you have especially fond memories of sharing with your family?   Liz Cottrill: (15:32 - 16:24) Well, it's no secret to the world, if anybody has ever heard me talk or read anything I've written, that Heidi by Johanna Sperry is probably my all-time favorite. I had my six-year-old daughter, my third daughter. I read it to all my kids.   I read all the books through to her over several weeks or whatnot. And at the end, she said, read it again as if it was a little picture book. And so, I just started it over again and we read it again. ‍ ‍   And then I promised her I'd read it to her every year while she was growing up. So, it's a precious book. I love Ralph Moody's Little Britches series for children and all the classic things, Anne of Green Gables and The Yearling.   And oh, my goodness, how many would you like me to say?   Laura Dugger: (16:25 - 16:29) Feel free to share a few more and I will put links to these in the show notes.   Liz Cottrill: (16:30 - 17:39) Well, the Narnia series and The Secret Garden, Where the Red Fern Grows, Little Women, The Singing Tree by Kate. It's pronounced Charity, S-E-R-E-D-Y. I could go on and on.   The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Gouge. Just dozens. And the fact is that great books are still being written today, but they're like a needle in a haystack.   And so, if you go back to books published before 1970, you are going to find just amazing books that still speak to children. Because adventures are always adventures to a child. They don't care if they were driving horse and buggy or old cars.   And books that children loved back in the last century, in the 20th century, it was the golden age of children's literature, they say. There were as many books published in the 1930 to 35 era as were in the previous 500 years for children. And it just grew from there.   Laura Dugger: (17:39 - 17:47) And there are a few reasons for that before 1970. Didn't that have to do with the library and with publishing houses?   Liz Cottrill: (17:48 - 18:40) Yes, the government passed an educational bill, 1964, I believe, President Johnson, that funded school libraries. So, all of a sudden, all of these small county schools and libraries that had very limited resources and had to be very picky and choosy about what books they put into their library had a flood of income. That produced a flood in the publishing houses of producing books of all kinds.   So, there is a lot of junk out there and unhelpful stuff. But the classics that I grew up on back in the 60s, Beverly Cleary and Carolyn Haywood and all the series they wrote for children are just timeless. My grandchildren still enjoy them, even though they like the latest and greatest, too.   Laura Dugger: (18:41 - 24:25) Sure, but that's helpful to have that context to realize that previously it used to be only the best of the best were able to be published. And that changed. And now a brief message from our sponsor.   Did you know you can go to college tuition-free just by being a team member at Chick-fil-A East Peoria? Yes, you heard that right. Free college education. All Chick-fil-A East Peoria team members in good standing are immediately eligible for a free college education through Point University. Point University is a fully accredited private Christian college located in West Point, Georgia.   This online, self-paced program includes 13 associate's degrees, 17 bachelor's degrees, and two master's programs, including an MBA. 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We are all about sharing around here, sharing resources, sharing joy, and sharing the good news about Jesus Christ. ‍   We ask that you also will share by sharing financially, sharing The Savvy Sauce podcast episodes, and sharing a five-star rating and review. You can also share any of our social media posts on Instagram or Facebook. We are grateful for all of it, and we just love partnering together with you.   Now, back to the show.   In addition to reading, handicrafts are another piece of the Charlotte Mason education. So, can you explain what is meant by that term handicrafts?   Liz Cottrill: (24:26 - 25:45) Well, it's a huge arena of things, but it's basically learning to work with your hands, doing purposeful tasks, making things that will make life beautiful. So, it's aesthetic as well as useful. So, I think we all could see that learning to knit is great fine motor training for a child, but being able to make a handmade sweater for someone is serviceable and lovely.   But all kinds of things, woodworking, embroidery and sewing, paper folding and origami, clay modeling, weaving, all of these things, basically a child can start at the rudimentary stage and develop over the years. And there was a huge emphasis with Charlotte Mason that these crafts would then give children opportunity to help and serve others. So, if you know how to work well with your hands, you'll be able to help someone change a tire, or you will be able to make cookies or gifts for people who are sick or shut in or lonely.   Just you'll be a useful person. And she was very interested in the whole person, not just training the mind.   Laura Dugger: (25:46 - 26:02) And I would love to know, I'm sure there's a lot of brain science behind this, even like we know that movement and physical activity, that there is a mind-body connection and how that even unlocks emotions. So, I wonder what is freed up when we work with our hands?   Liz Cottrill: (26:03 - 27:04) One of the things for little children in school, because this was part of the morning lessons, the training process the first few years, as they get older, they work more in that free afternoon time we were talking about. But it gives them a rest from all the effort of paying attention and thinking through things in school. And then there are just the benefits that we all benefit from serving other people.   We all benefit when we are doing something productive and not just rambling around the house, bored and looking out the windows and causing mischief too. So, I think it benefits the mother in many ways, because the children are trained up to learn how to do chores and housework. So, the whole family can be working together.   They can learn how to garden together. That can be a handicraft, for example, that brings in food. And then they can learn to can as they get older.   And, you know, the sky is the limit.   Laura Dugger: (27:06 - 27:32) That's really helpful to hear. And regardless of schooling choice, there is another Charlotte Mason principle that we all may relate to in parenting in general. And she explains the principles of authority on the one hand and obedience on the other are natural, necessary and fundamental.   So, what can this look like in our parenting?   Liz Cottrill: (27:33 - 29:31) You know, she also said that we as parents are deputed as the authority of our children by God. And I think when we realize that this is a God given office that we hold and by authority, I know a lot of people recoil a bit in our day and age, but she meant that we were made by God to lead and guide and protect the children under our care. And children naturally look to us for those things, don't they?   So, when that relationship is understood and a parent is comfortable with the fact that they are the authority in their child's life, the children stay in that role most naturally, too. They respond with trust and obedience. So, loving leadership, you know, is not, as some people think when we say authority over your child, it is not like being overbearing and dictatorial and arbitrary or inconsistent.   And, you know, both ends of that spectrum are a disrespect of the child as made in the image of God. And as someone who God has entrusted to you to bring up, to know him. So, much of what is considered love in our era is just pure child centeredness or indulgence of the child.   We think that's love and love and discipline go hand in hand. And by discipline, I don't mean corporal punishment at all. I think there are many ways to guide a child that help them feel that security, that someone knows the boundaries, that I'm safe within this space.   I have a lot of freedom as long as I obey within these limits. I think we're all like that, right.   Laura Dugger: (29:32 - 29:45) Absolutely. And you parented six children. So, what insight do you have for helping us teach our children to distinguish between I want and I will?   Liz Cottrill: (29:46 - 32:01) And this was a very helpful thing when I started reading Charlotte Mason, to have her distinguish some of these things, because, you know, as parents, we can get into power struggles with our children because we tell them or ask them or prefer them to do a certain thing. And they just don't want to. So, she taught that the will is our decision maker.   It's what causes us to choose things. It's our independence. I can say yes to this or no to this.   Right. But this is sometimes a struggle, even for us adults. I mean, the candy bar is laying there.   You know, you shouldn't eat it, but you want to. So, we all have big and little struggles with what we want versus what we know we ought to do. And she said children should have a sense of ought that they should know there is a right and a wrong.   So, she talked about how we can teach our children what we should do is what helps the other person or gives them their due rights. But the will can get kind of weary of making a lot of decisions, too. And we all talk in our day and age about decision fatigue.   Right. And so, she taught parents to teach a practice with their children how to rest the will when it is in that struggle or turmoil of having to decide whether I will clean my room because mother has asked me. But I do not want to do this nasty job.   So, she said to teach them how to turn their thoughts momentarily to some other thing. Think about something pleasant and desirable that you love just for a moment and then return to the decision at hand, and you will discover that automatically your will is stronger and able to do what it ought to do instead of just what you want to do. And it's really the whole call of Christ on all of our lives.   You know, he said, follow me, lay down your life, don't serve yourself, but serve others. And those are hard things. But when we think of him and the joy of serving him, they become easier to us.   And so, we're beginning to train our children to that habit, too.   Laura Dugger: (32:02 - 32:32) And like you said, yes, that's beneficial to all of us. Charlotte Mason is also quoted saying, the question is not how much does the youth know when he has finished his education, but how much does he care? So, Liz, from your experience home educating many children, how can each of us bring up our own children so that they do care and they do desire to be lifelong learners?   Liz Cottrill: (32:33 - 35:10) I think first is to recognize that every child has an innate desire to learn. A baby is curious from day one, right? We just see them interested in everything.   They're interested in things we have long since forgotten about. They notice everything. And in Charlotte Mason's method of educating, the entire curriculum was called a feast because there were so many different kinds of things.   You know, it's like a big smorgasbord for learning. And I think that in itself builds a lot of care and interest. You know, I think it's also the way God gave us his word and his world and said, taste and see that the Lord is good.   So, when we let our children learn a little bit of this and a little bit of that, they are tasting all kinds of things and discovering new delights all the time and things they would never have noticed or been interested in otherwise. I think it is not pushing our children ever in school. We have very false ideas sometimes about the level a child should be at.   We think more is better all the time. And we're always either pushing or pulling them, dragging them through where they're not really quite ready. I think it's also not leaning on rewards or penalties when it comes to school subjects, especially.   They're maybe not the best idea of parenting in any arena, but knowledge, Charlotte Mason said, is delectable. All kinds of knowledge. And I think that this carries over outside of school to help a childcare is to talk about interesting things with them all the time.   I think in general; parents don't talk to their children a whole lot anymore. We don't have just conversations on other topics that are not currently the hot thing on social media or something.   Interesting your children in a lot of different things is like amending your garden soil in the spring, you know, adding lots of different things so that you ensure a good crop. I think that when you give your children a little of this and that, you are automatically appealing to their instinctive curiosity. And you're giving them the idea that there are dozens and hundreds of things to know and they pursue them then.   Laura Dugger: (35:11 - 35:43) Well, learning is such a value in part because we hope to grow wise and provide a home environment where our children can grow wise as well. And it makes me think of Proverbs 9 10 that says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. So, how can we experience the Holy Spirit as our supreme educator and encourage our children in the same way?   Liz Cottrill: (35:44 - 37:01) Our children have a natural thirst for knowledge and truth. It's in the heart of every person who's made in God's image. And the spirit, of course, is the one who leads us into all truth.   There is no truth that is not God's truth. So, you stand as a teacher in Charlotte Mason's way of teaching. You are outside in a way you recognize that your child is the learner, and you are just presenting the lessons and the feast.   And it is amazing to see how the spirit does work in our children. One morning, this was brought home to me just personally by the Lord when I was reading the beginning of the book of Mark to my boys during our Bible lesson. And when I got to the phrase where John the Baptist says, “prepare the way of the Lord.” It was like the Holy Spirit tapped on my shoulder and said, “that is what you will be doing all morning.”   Because we don't know what God is going to use in their life. And the Holy Spirit does. So, I think it's a lot of trust that he is active and breathing life into our school lessons.   Laura Dugger: (37:02 - 37:03) I love that.   Liz Cottrill: (37:03 - 37:52) Prepare the way for the Lord. Yes. And, you know, we just are constantly amazed at what our children's insights into the scripture are.   But they have those insights when they're doing an art lesson and looking at a beautiful painting. They'll say, oh, this reminds me of or they receive instruction morally from their stories that they're reading. And even in geography and natural sciences, you know, they're seeing all the things God's made and it increases their wonder.   And, you know, the Holy Spirit speaks to them in all kinds of areas. So, I think allowing them to explore and engage, which, you know, traditional workbooks and textbooks do not allow for as much.   Laura Dugger: (37:53 - 38:37) Well, and even as you're speaking, it makes me think about Philippians 2:13, because you're talking about the part that is our part to do. But it also says, for God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. So, that is helpful to realize we can help prepare the way for the Lord.   But he's the one who's going to give us and our children the desire to obey and learn these things. Well, and kind of on that topic, what control do you believe that we as parents have to influence the divine life of our child?   Liz Cottrill: (38:39 - 40:38) Well, I think God, in all his wisdom, made parents to be the primary influence in our child's life. You know, Deuteronomy talks about to teach these things to your children while you walk and while you sit and while you lie down and all those things. I'm not quoting it exactly, of course, here.   But so, it's a way of life. We have our mind on God, and he is the center of our life. Our children are automatically going to assume that that is a normal way of being.   But, you know, to a baby, we actually are God to them. We control everything for their life. And so, they begin learning and they're going to have their view of the world and of God shaped by our attitude toward our children, by our behavior toward them, the way we care for them.   If God is our orientation, he's going to be there when we're having fun or even in our discipline moments. God is going to be our reference point as a family. So, they grow up in this culture where God is first, and we look to him and everything.   And I don't mean this means we have to talk to our children about God all the time, but I think it's a pattern of life. I also think that as parents, we teach our children much about God and how to live with him and others in the world. When we are humble Ourselves, when we go to our children, when we have offended them and ask their forgiveness, when we have behavior issues with them and we ask God for wisdom with our child.   We just bring prayer or his wisdom into situations naturally. And I think they just automatically assume or realize our reverence for God by our own demeanor, our own attitude toward God every day Ourselves.   Laura Dugger: (40:39 - 40:45) Well, and furthermore, what do you see the gospels teaching us about God's view of children?   Liz Cottrill: (40:48 - 45:12) I'll tell you, this was my biggest turning point in accepting Charlotte Mason's method of teaching, because I thought if this was what she said was at the heart of her educational method, I could trust her to learn about the things I didn't understand about her method yet. I think it begins with realizing what Jesus said that you cannot enter the kingdom of God unless you do so as a little child. And why is that?   Because children are naturally humble. They're naturally weak. They're naturally poor in spirit.   And he said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. So, it helps us to remember when we're working with children that this is God's way, because our children can cause some friction in our life, right? They can be obstinate and oppositional and irritating and slow and whining and frustrating.   It's natural for us to push back on those things. But when we realize their character is being formed, that we're accountable to God for these things, then her three rules from the gospels that we should not offend children, which means we don't sin against them. We don't hurt their body or their feelings.   We treat them as we would treat our own friends. We would never say things to our friends that we all feel quite free to say to our children sometimes. And we need the humility, like I've said before, to go to them and ask their forgiveness and to pray with them and to reconcile with our child and not just assume, oh, well, they'll understand when they're older or just, I guess it didn't hurt them that much.   We should never assume those things. Jesus said, do not despise the children. So, when we don't think that they're worthy of the best books, that they are worthy of learning important ideas straight from the truth of books, and we think they have to have dumbed down materials that are just shaped for their, what we consider thimble full of ability.   I think when we're impatient with our children in school lessons and, you know, as a homeschool mom, I did it for so long and I know how easy it is, but we have to ask God for the patience and kindness of Jesus. And we can just very easily dismiss our children that their thoughts are silly. We can belittle them for ideas they have.   We can use our words to make them feel small. And I think Jesus was saying, don't despise them. And then the third thing he said was not to hinder them.   And again, I think by holding them back, by not allowing them to progress when they're ready to learn more, by assuming that they're too young for this or that, sometimes I think we're babying them too much and holding them back. That's a hindrance. I think that especially middle school boys, we don't like them to be growing up, and we don't allow them to exert some of the independence that's just natural with them getting to that age.   So, we just need to remove things in our lives that are going to make school a struggle for them, which doesn't mean we don't require them to learn, but we need to allow them to make mistakes. I mean, how are they going to learn to solve math problems if we're always saying, no, you're doing it the wrong way, and take it out of their hands and show them the way we do it. It's better for them to get the understanding by trying several times.   We let them do this when they're learning to walk and talk. When they start talking, they say things, and only we as mothers know what they're asking for because it isn't clear yet. Well, that is true of every single area of their life.   So, not hindering them means that we work with them and allow them to grow up into the things that they're getting understanding about. And I think sometimes in school lessons, not hindering them is just if they have trouble keeping their hands busy doing what they're supposed to be doing, then let's remove everything in their reach that is going to tempt them to fool around and not pay attention.   Laura Dugger: (45:13 - 45:26) Well, as parents, if we focused on nothing else, what is your highest recommendation for cultivating a moral and righteous character in our children?   Liz Cottrill: (45:28 - 46:32) Well, obviously reading the Bible to your children is a wonderful moral instructor. But I think that novels and poetry and tales, fairy tales, fables, all those things are the children's best teacher. Charlotte Mason said, knowledge touched with emotion is what our minds absorb.   And so, when you're reading a book and you become excited or tense or nervous, I mean, you can watch heart monitors and EEGs, how the mind changes when we're reading different parts of things. And as a parent, a book is the third party that the child will accept much more easily than if we just try to instruct them. I think books engage their imagination and kind of give them a chance to practice life in a safe way.   So, they may have thought that doing a particular thing is a smart idea. But when they encounter a heroine in a book who does it and it doesn't turn out well for her, then they learned a lesson safely.   Laura Dugger: (46:33 - 46:55) I love that thinking about the book as a third party and maybe even a mentor, someone to partner with us to help cultivate that character. And Liz, you have so much to offer, even with your living books, library and your podcast and so many things. If we want to learn more from you after this conversation, where would you like to direct us online?   Liz Cottrill: (46:56 - 47:45) Well, on our website, A Delightful Education dot com, we do have some teacher training videos, we call them, but anybody would be welcome to watch those. And I have done a whole hour long talk about moral instruction through all kinds of literature for children that would, I'm sure, be of interest to any parent, regardless of what educational method they follow. I've made videos on how to teach a child to read and how to keep the wrong books out of their hands and things like that.   So, that would be one specific, but https://www.livingbookslibrary.com. We haven't done a lot with that website, but it's still there. And there are lots of blogs and archives that I've written about children and books and discipline and things like that.   Laura Dugger: (47:45 - 48:03) Wonderful. We will link to that in the show notes for today's episode. And Liz, you may already be familiar that we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge.   And so, as my final question for you today, what is your savvy sauce?   Liz Cottrill: (48:05 - 48:57) You know, I think as a Christian parent, the best thing you can do for your child is to spend time alone with God yourself every day, even if it's three minutes. We need to learn to listen to him and his word, and we need to bring our concerns to him and orient Ourselves to him because the job we have before us is life and death, really. And if I was to add to that, I would say, learn to really listen to your child.   They're telling you all kinds of things, and we need to hear what's really in their heart and deal with their heart issues. And that's probably why I say spending time with God, not only for our own personal growth and maturity, but it is our lifeline as a parent to be able to have wisdom for our children.   Laura Dugger: (48:58 - 49:22) Well, and Liz, you have modeled that so well, and you're just a wealth of knowledge. And it's been encouraging just to hear your courageous decisions, even going back to choosing to homeschool at a time when it was not even legal, but trusting in your Lord. And you've modeled that for all of us today.   So, thank you for all that you've shared. And thank you for being my guest.   Liz Cottrill: (49:23 - 50:22) Well, I am so appreciative of your wonderful questions and thought-provoking things that you've asked. And can I just add one other thing? Oh, please do.   So, I don't know if your listeners are aware of the fact that I am totally blind and have been since birth. And so, I know how scary it is to venture out into homeschooling. I know what a struggle it is to find books to read because there weren't a lot available to me as a blind mother, either for school or just for fun.   So, I just think that one of the reasons God planned for me to have this handicap through my life is just to encourage moms that we really do need God's sight and wisdom. And no difficulty you have before you is too great for Him to help you to navigate the waters of raising children.   Laura Dugger: (50:22 - 54:17) That is beautifully said. And I just appreciate you sharing that. Thank you for opening up to us and what an incredible perspective you have. So, thank you, Liz.   One more thing before you go.   Have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you.   But it starts with the bad news. Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own.   So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved. We need a savior. But God loved us so much.   He made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him. That is good news.   Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what he has done for us.   Romans 10:9 says, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. So, would you pray with me now? Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place.   I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you. Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life? We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity.   In Jesus name we pray. Amen. If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me, so me for him.   You get the opportunity to live your life for him. And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned.   So, you ready to get started? First, tell someone. Say it out loud.   Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes & Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible and I love it.   You can start by reading the book of John. Also, get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.   We want to celebrate with you too, so feel free to leave a comment for us here if you did make a decision to follow Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process. And finally, be encouraged.   Luke 15:10 says, in the same way I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. The heavens are praising with you for your decision today. And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with.   You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.‍

Luke: To the Least, the Last & the Lost - Luke 4.31-44Jobey McGintyIn Luke 4:31–44, the crowds are stunned because Jesus doesn't just talk about truth—His word carries authority. Demons obey Him. Sickness leaves. Evil recognizes Him, even when people hesitate. Jesus is the Holy One of God who confronts darkness and wins. He doesn't negotiate with sin or evil. He defeats it. Not every sickness or challenging situation will be met with a miracle in this life, but He is working all things for your good, and it all points to a certain future free of sin, brokenness and death.

The Battle of Gog and Magog Ezekiel 38:1-3 “And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.” This chosen text from the opening verses of Ezekiel chapter 38 serves as the foundation for our exposition of the battle of Gog and Magog. The prophecy spans Ezekiel 38 and 39, two chapters that form a unified oracle delivered by the prophet during the Babylonian exile. Ezekiel, whose name means “God strengthens,” was a priest carried into captivity in 597 B.C. alongside King Jehoiachin. His ministry, spanning roughly 593 to 571 B.C., addressed both the judgment upon Judah and the future restoration of God's people.    In these chapters, the Lord shifts from messages of immediate hope and restoration (as seen in Ezekiel 36–37) to a dramatic foretelling of an end-times invasion that will demonstrate His sovereign power over the nations.    The prophecy is set explicitly “in the latter years” and “latter days” (Ezekiel 38:8, 16), pointing to a future period when Israel has been regathered to her land.   By historical geography and biblical genealogy, we understand and believe Gog to be the leader of Russia and Magog as the country itself—Russia. This aligns with a careful reading of the ancient names in light of biblical genealogy, historical geography, and etymological connections preserved in early sources.    The prophecy is not vague symbolism but a specific geopolitical forecast involving a northern power and its allies descending upon a restored Israel.  The structure of the prophecy unfolds in clear stages. Here are the pertinent details presented as bullet points in the order they appear in the biblical text, each accompanied by its primary scripture reference: The divine summons to prophesy against Gog of Magog: The Lord commands Ezekiel to set his face against “Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal” and to declare God's opposition (Ezekiel 38:1-3).   God's sovereign control over the invasion force: The Lord declares He will “turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,” drawing forth Gog and his vast army of horses, horsemen, and fully armed troops (Ezekiel 38:4).   The composition of the multinational coalition: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya join with shield and helmet; Gomer and the house of Togarmah from the north quarters come with all their bands, along with “many people” (Ezekiel 38:5-6).   • The command to prepare for battle: Gog and his company are told to be prepared and to act as a guard for the assembled forces (Ezekiel 38:7). The precise timing of the invasion: “After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them” (Ezekiel 38:8).   The nature and scale of the assault: The invaders ascend “like a storm” and cover the land “like a cloud,” with Gog and all his bands and many people (Ezekiel 38:9).   The evil thought that motivates the attack: At that time, thoughts will arise in Gog's mind: “I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates, To take a spoil, and to take a prey…” (Ezekiel 38:10-12).   • The inquiry of observing nations: Sheba, Dedan, and the merchants of Tarshish with their young lions question the invaders' intent to seize spoil, silver, gold, cattle, and goods (Ezekiel 38:13). The confirmation of Israel's security at the time of attack: When God's people Israel dwell safely, Gog will know it (Ezekiel 38:14).   The geographic origin and military character of the force: Gog comes “from thy place out of the north parts,” with many people riding upon horses—a great company and a mighty army (Ezekiel 38:15).   • The divine purpose behind the invasion: God Himself brings Gog against His land so that “the heathen may know me, when I shall be sanctified in thee, O Gog, before their eyes” (Ezekiel 38:16). The ancient prophetic witness: God asks whether Gog is the one spoken of “in old time by my servants the prophets of Israel” (Ezekiel 38:17).   The unleashing of divine fury: When Gog comes against the land of Israel, God's fury rises; a great shaking occurs in the land (Ezekiel 38:18-19).   • The cosmic and terrestrial convulsions: All creatures shake at God's presence; mountains are thrown down, steep places fall, and every wall collapses (Ezekiel 38:20). Internal chaos and supernatural judgments: God calls for a sword against Gog throughout the mountains; every man's sword turns against his brother; pestilence, blood, overflowing rain, great hailstones, fire, and brimstone fall upon the invaders (Ezekiel 38:21-22).   The magnification of God's name: Through these acts, God magnifies and sanctifies Himself so that many nations know “that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 38:23).     Turning to Ezekiel 39, the prophecy continues without break, detailing the complete destruction and its aftermath:   The repeated address and partial decimation: God again declares Himself against Gog and will turn him back, leaving only a sixth part, bringing him upon the mountains of Israel (Ezekiel 39:1-2).   The disarmament and slaughter of the army: God smites the bow from Gog's left hand and causes arrows to fall from his right; Gog and all his bands fall upon the mountains of Israel and are given to ravenous birds and beasts (Ezekiel 39:3-5).   Fire sent upon Magog and the isles: God sends fire on Magog and those dwelling carelessly in the isles (Ezekiel 39:6).   The sanctification of God's holy name in Israel: The Lord makes His name known in the midst of Israel and prevents further pollution; the heathen know He is “the Holy One in Israel” (Ezekiel 39:7).   The declaration that the day has come: “Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord God; this is the day whereof I have spoken” (Ezekiel 39:8).     The seven-year burning of weapons: Israel's inhabitants burn the shields, bucklers, bows, arrows, handstaves, and spears for seven years, using no wood from field or forest (Ezekiel 39:9-10).   The burial of the multitude: Gog and his multitude receive a place of graves in Israel—the valley of the passengers east of the sea, called the valley of Hamon-gog; it stops the noses of passersby (Ezekiel 39:11).   The seven-month cleansing process: The house of Israel buries them for seven months to cleanse the land; all the people participate, and men are employed continually to search and bury remains; a city is named Hamonah (Ezekiel 39:12-16).   The call to the great sacrificial feast: God commands every fowl and beast to assemble for a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the mighty, princes, rams, lambs, goats, bullocks, horses, chariots, and mighty men (Ezekiel 39:17-20).   The global recognition of God's glory: Through this judgment, God sets His glory among the heathen; the house of Israel knows He is the Lord their God from that day forward (Ezekiel 39:21-22).   The explanation to the nations: The heathen learn that Israel went into captivity for their iniquity, but God now hides His face no longer and pours out His Spirit upon the house of Israel (Ezekiel 39:23-29).     This ordered sequence reveals a meticulously orchestrated drama in which human aggression serves divine purpose. Let us now develop these details more fully, verse by verse and concept by concept, so that the exposition remains clear yet grounded in scholarly observation.   The opening command in Ezekiel 38:1-3 is striking in its directness. The Hebrew phrase “set thy face against” (sim paneyka) is a technical prophetic expression used elsewhere in Ezekiel to denote focused opposition (see Ezekiel 4:3; 6:2).    Gog is not merely a title but the personal name of the leader; Magog is the land—identified here as Russia. Scholarly support for this draws first from Genesis 10:2, where Magog appears in the Table of Nations as a son of Japheth.      The first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus explicitly links the descendants of Magog to the Scythians, a fierce nomadic people inhabiting the region north of the Black Sea and Caucasus Mountains—the very territory that became southern Russia.    Early Greek writers such as Hesiod (7th century B.C.) made the same identification. The phrase “chief prince of Meshech and Tubal” further specifies the geographic origin.    The Hebrew “nasi rosh” is best rendered “prince of Rosh,” where “Rosh” is widely understood by many expositors as an ancient designation for the people who later became known as Russians (the name “Rus” appearing in 10th-century sources). Meshech and Tubal, also Japhethite descendants, are associated with regions that later developed into areas around Moscow and Tobolsk.    Thus, the leader Gog emerges from the far northern power of Russia, heading a coalition that includes ancient names now corresponding to modern Iran (Persia), parts of Africa (Ethiopia/Cush and Libya/Put), and northern allies (Gomer and Togarmah, often linked to regions in modern Turkey).     God's control is absolute: “I will put hooks into thy jaws” (Ezekiel 38:4).    This vivid metaphor, drawn from ancient Assyrian and Egyptian practices of leading captives with hooks through the lip or nose, underscores that even the most powerful ruler moves only at the sovereign direction of the Lord.  The army is described with military precision—horses, horsemen, bucklers, shields, swords—reflecting the cavalry-heavy forces of ancient northern steppe peoples, yet the language accommodates any future mechanized equivalent. The coalition's preparation (Ezekiel 38:7) is ironic; they ready themselves, yet they are merely instruments.   The timing is critical and repeated for emphasis: “in the latter years” and “latter days” (Ezekiel 38:8, 16).    Israel must first be “brought back from the sword” and “gathered out of many people” to dwell “safely” on the mountains once waste (Ezekiel 38:8).    This regathering, described in Ezekiel 36–37 as a national resurrection, has its modern counterpart in the return of the Jewish people to their ancestral land. At that moment of apparent security—unwalled villages, no bars or gates (Ezekiel 38:11)—Gog conceives an “evil thought” of plunder.    The motive is economic and strategic: spoil, prey, cattle, goods, silver, and gold (Ezekiel 38:12-13). Observing merchant nations (Sheba, Dedan, Tarshish) question but do not intervene, highlighting the isolation of the attack.   The invasion route is unmistakable: “out of the north parts” (Ezekiel 38:15; 39:2). In biblical geography, “the north” (tsaphon) frequently denotes the direction of ultimate threat (Jeremiah 1:14; 4:6), and from Israel's perspective, the extreme north aligns precisely with Russia's latitude. The force is massive—“a cloud to cover the land” (Ezekiel 38:9, 16)—emphasizing overwhelming numbers.   Yet the true actor is the Lord Himself. He brings Gog against His land precisely “that the heathen may know me” (Ezekiel 38:16). The prophecy echoes earlier oracles (Ezekiel 38:17), indicating this event fulfills long-standing warnings. When the attack begins, divine fury erupts (Ezekiel 38:18).      The “great shaking” (ra'ash) is both literal earthquake and cosmic upheaval (Ezekiel 38:19-20), reminiscent of theophanies at Sinai and in the prophets. Internal confusion turns the invaders' weapons against themselves (Ezekiel 38:21), while supernatural plagues—pestilence, blood, rain, hailstones, fire, and brimstone—complete the rout (Ezekiel 38:22). The purpose is unambiguous: “Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself; and I will be known in the eyes of many nations” (Ezekiel 38:23).   Chapter 39 intensifies the judgment. Only a sixth part survives the initial onslaught (Ezekiel 39:2). The army falls on Israel's mountains and open field, becoming food for birds and beasts—a reversal of the sacrificial imagery used against Israel earlier in the book (Ezekiel 39:4-5). Fire falls on Magog itself and the “isles” (coastal or distant lands), signaling global repercussions (Ezekiel 39:6). Israel's seven-year burning of weapons (Ezekiel 39:9-10) and seven-month burial operation (Ezekiel 39:11-16) portray the totality of victory and the thorough cleansing of the land. The valley of Hamon-gog (“the multitude of Gog”) and the city Hamonah become monuments to the defeat. The great sacrificial feast (Ezekiel 39:17-20) echoes the language of Isaiah 34 and Revelation 19, portraying the invaders' destruction as a divine banquet for creation.   The theological climax is restoration and recognition. Israel knows the Lord is their God from that day forward (Ezekiel 39:22), and the nations understand the reason for past captivity and the reality of present divine intervention (Ezekiel 39:23-29). The outpouring of the Spirit seals the renewal.   In summary, this prophecy reveals the Lord's absolute sovereignty over history. A Russian-led coalition, drawn irresistibly southward in the latter days against a restored and apparently secure Israel, meets catastrophic judgment on the mountains of Israel. The event is not the final battle of history (that occurs later, after a thousand years, in Revelation 20:7-9), but a distinct pre-millennial demonstration that the God of Israel alone is Lord.    The details—names, geography, timing, motives, and judgments—cohere with remarkable precision when read in their plain, grammatical-historical sense. The prophecy calls every reader to recognize the God who controls nations, judges evil, and restores His people.        It stands as both warning and comfort: no alliance, however vast or northerly, can thwart the purposes of the Almighty.

Room To Breathe pt. 2 | MAY 10, 2026Pastor Wes MorrisI Kings 19:1-9 (NIV) Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.√ GOD MEETS US IN THE WILDERNESS, NOT JUST THE BREAKTHROUGH.I Kings 19:4-5 (NIV) “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him...√ GOD SEES WHAT NO ONE ELSE UNDERSTANDS.I Kings 19:6 (ESV) And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. √ GOD CARES ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN YOU, NOT JUST WHAT'S HAPPENING THROUGH YOU.I Kings 19:9-12 (NIV) He came to a cave and camped there, and the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “Why are you here, Elijah?”And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, Lord of Hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, thrown down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword, and I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.”He said, “Go and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind split the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake came, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire came, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire, a still, small voice. THE GOD WHO SEESI. BE HONEST WITH GOD ABOUT WHAT'S HAPPENING INSIDE OF YOU.Psalm 62:8 (NLT) O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.Where we bring our honesty, God brings His healing.II. LET GOD CARE FOR YOU TOO.Matthew 11:28 (NIV) Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.III. TRUST THAT GOD IS STILL WORKING IN QUIET SEASONS.Isaiah 30:15 (TLB) For the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, says: Only in returning to me and waiting for me will you be saved; in quietness and confidence is your strength...

Series: Names of GodService: Sun PM WorshipType: SermonSpeaker: Larry Brown

1 Wisdom has built her house. She has carved out her seven pillars. 2 She has prepared her meat. She has mixed her wine. She has also set her table. 3 She has sent out her maidens. She cries from the highest places of the city: 4 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who is void of understanding, she says to him, 5 “Come, eat some of my bread, Drink some of the wine which I have mixed! 6 Leave your simple ways, and live. Walk in the way of understanding.” 7 One who corrects a mocker invites insult. One who reproves a wicked man invites abuse. 8 Don't reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a wise person, and he will love you. 9 Instruct a wise person, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous person, and he will increase in learning. 10 The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11 For by me your days will be multiplied. The years of your life will be increased. 12 If you are wise, you are wise for yourself. If you mock, you alone will bear it. 13 The foolish woman is loud, undisciplined, and knows nothing. 14 She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city, 15 to call to those who pass by, who go straight on their ways, 16 “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here.” As for him who is void of understanding, she says to him, 17 “Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant.” 18 But he doesn't know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol. Listen Donate Subscribe: Proverbs Daily Podcast Psalms Daily Podcast

Discover the incredible authority of Jesus Christ and how it changes everything when God speaks. This powerful biblical teaching explores Mark 1:21-28, where Jesus demonstrates unprecedented divine authority in the synagogue at Capernaum. Learn why people were amazed by Jesus's teaching and how His authority differs from all other religious leaders and teachers. Explore the dramatic encounter between Jesus and demon-possessed man, revealing four key aspects of Christ's authority: His authoritative word, divine judgment, supernatural power, and holy nature. Understand why demons immediately recognized Jesus as the Holy One of God while religious leaders questioned His identity. This biblical exposition examines the difference between being amazed by Jesus and truly submitting to His lordship. Discover practical applications for surrendering every area of your life to Christ's authority and experience the transformative power of complete submission to God. Key topics covered include: biblical authority, Jesus Christ lordship, spiritual warfare, demon possession, divine power, Christian discipleship, biblical submission, Mark Gospel, synagogue teaching, religious authority, spiritual transformation, holy living, biblical truth, Christian growth, and practical faith application. Whether you're seeking to understand Jesus's divine nature, struggling with submission to God's authority, or looking to deepen your relationship with Christ, this teaching provides biblical insights and practical guidance for living under the lordship of Jesus Christ. Learn how the same authority that commanded demons to flee can transform your life today.

Wisdom in Scripture is more than intelligence or good decision-making—it’s a way of living rooted in reverence for God. Proverbs 9:10 makes it clear: wisdom begins with the fear of the Lord. That “fear” isn’t fear of punishment, but a deep respect and recognition that God is the source of all truth, direction, and understanding. In a fast-paced world where decisions often feel rushed and emotionally driven, wisdom calls us to pause and look upward first. Rather than relying solely on instinct or opinion, God invites us to seek Him directly for guidance. When we intentionally ask for wisdom and make space for the Holy Spirit to lead, we position ourselves to live with greater clarity, peace, and alignment with His will. Highlights Wisdom in the Bible goes beyond knowledge—it’s rooted in reverence for God Proverbs 9:10 defines wisdom as beginning with the fear (reverence) of the Lord God is the ultimate source of discernment and understanding Modern life often pushes us toward rushed, emotion-driven decisions Seeking wisdom requires intentionally pausing and praying before acting Scripture encourages believers to ask God for wisdom confidently Daily dependence on God cultivates spiritual growth and clearer direction Do you want to listen ad-free? When you join Crosswalk Plus, you gain access to exclusive, in-depth Bible study guides, devotionals, sound biblical advice, and daily encouragement from trusted pastors and authors—resources designed to strengthen your faith and equip you to live it out boldly. PLUS ad free podcasts! Sign Up Today! Full Transcript Below: What Is Wisdom?By Megan J. Conner Bible Reading:“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” - Prov. 9:10 (NIV) The Bible is full of references to the concept of wisdom. We are exhorted throughout the Word to seek wisdom, to employ it when making decisions, to represent it through our interactions with others, and to prayerfully request an increase of it in our lives. There are entire books in the Bible dedicated to the value of wisdom (Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, to name a few). With all of these references to wisdom in the Word, it is clear the Lord is trying to teach us something, but what? What does wisdom really mean for us in our modern, everyday lives? When we look up the definition of wisdom in the dictionary or a biblical concordance, we can see descriptions such as having good sense or judgment, the ability to discern inner qualities, teachings stemming from ancient knowledge, shrewdness, or prudence. Based on these definitions, true wisdom is more than intellect or knowledge. It is much deeper. It extends far beyond our human limitations, which is why we must look to the supernatural as our source of impartation and increase. I don’t know about you, but I struggle with the idea of possessing and successfully employing wisdom in everyday life. Our lives move at such a fast pace, and whether real or projected, it feels like our choices must be instantaneous rather than carefully considered. Even if I am able to carve out space for thoughtful deliberation, it seems like I rely much more readily on my ever-present, very forward emotions rather than sage discernment when making decisions. Perhaps you struggle with this as well. How then can we attempt to gain and prioritize wisdom? Our key scripture today states, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov. 9:10, NIV). Any search we embark on to gain wisdom must begin with the fear of the Lord. Fear in this passage isn’t being afraid. Rather, it is a sincere reverence and respect for our Creator God. It is an acknowledgment that He is the Alpha and the Omega, beginning and the end (Rev. 22:13); that all things were created by Him and without Him nothing was made (John 1:3). HE is the answer. HE is the source. If we desire to gain greater insight and understanding, we must depend heavily on the Lord. We must look to Him first. This all sounds great, but how can we practically apply this to our lives? By intentionally asking the Lord to grant and increase our wisdom. Proverbs 4:7 says, “Getting wisdom is the wisest thing you can do! And whatever else you do, develop good judgment,” (NLT). If the smartest thing we can do to gain wisdom is to simply ask for it, then that is the best place to start. The Word promises that if we ask, we shall receive and if we seek, we shall find (Matt. 7:7). The next time you are uncertain of what decision to make or how to proceed forward in an unpredictable scenario, stop and pray. Ask the Lord to grant you His wisdom. Create space for those whispers of the Holy Spirit, and God will provide. He is faithful to do all He has promised. Intersecting Faith & Life: How have you viewed the concept of wisdom in the Word of God? Have you seen it as treasured and valuable? Or do you struggle to believe you can possess such a quality? As shared earlier, I have wrestled with possessing and employing wisdom. However, I fully believe in the truth of God’s Word. If He tells us to seek wisdom and ask for it, then that is exactly what we should do. Understanding this, I started praying for wisdom every morning several years ago. My prayer is simple, nothing fancy. But when I recite this daily prayer, I sense a connection to the Word and God’s desire for me to grow in my faith. It is a small act of obedience that I believe has drawn me closer and more dependent upon the Lord. If you feel led, please join me in this petition today: “Heavenly Father, would you grant my family and me wisdom today? Help us to be present in the natural world, but live and work with Your supernatural wisdom that is beyond this world. Amen.” Further Reading:John 1:1-5Matthew 7:7-11 Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.