Podcasts about omnipotent god

Deuteronomy 29 tells of the LORD's renewal of His covenant in Moab with His people Israel. Verse 1 informs us that the words of this covenant are in addition to the covenant made in Mount Horeb, ie Mount Sinai. From verses 2-9 Moses is summoning all the people to stand before him at the edge of the Promised Land to hear some final words to strengthen and encourage Israel before their entry into the land. The nation is reminded of their Sovereign's blessings throughout the last 40 years. Notice in verses 4 they were told of hearing ears, this in contrast to what the nation later became – those whose ears were closed to the gospel message brought by the Messiah. Israel had been saved from powerful foes. In verses 10-15 Moses implores Israel to hearken to the words of the Almighty. The covenant that the LORD their God was making with them that day was of great import and had to be faithfully observed in order to continue to inherit the land promised to their fathers. Verses 16-28 they are warned of dangers which could overtake them and they might forsake the Living God. We notice that verse 18 speaks of a root of bitterness springing up suddenly and preventing the nation from receiving what their God had graciously prepared for them. The writer to the Hebrews comments on this in chapter 12 verses 12-16. The nation is warned that idolatry remains an ever present danger for them. Failure to keep the ways of their Almighty Creator will bring swift and decisive judgment. The chapter concludes in verse 29 with a reminder of the great blessings of God in revealing to His people the things hidden from those who fail to understand the truths of our Omnipotent God.

A wise, elderly saint once gave a discouraged young believer this piece of advice: "Remember this: the devil is mighty, but God is Almighty." The devil and his forces are extremely powerful and clever and constantly seek the downfall and destruction of God's people. But the Almighty, Omnipotent Lord is on our side and He is sworn to protect and preserve his children. Exalt our omnipotent God with Dr. Barnhouse on Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/581/29

A wise, elderly saint once gave a discouraged young believer this piece of advice: "Remember this: the devil is mighty, but God is Almighty." The devil and his forces are extremely powerful and clever and constantly seek the downfall and destruction of God's people. But the Almighty, Omnipotent Lord is on our side and He is sworn to protect and preserve his children. Exalt our omnipotent God with Dr. Barnhouse on Dr. Barnhouse and the Bible. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/791/29

'God is all powerful.'

Exodus 16 speaks of the LORD's provision of bread for His grumbling and ungrateful people in the wilderness. Despite the wonders that they had seen in Egypt and the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, they complained that God had only brought them out of Egypt to kill them. What twisted thoughts! They remember the food of Egypt, but forgot their slavery and suffering. What distorted and selective memories! How like us is this! They had through the LORD's provision bread in the evening and flesh by day.These were to show God's glory to His people. They are emblematic of Christ's body broken on the stake, between the two evenings; and his resurrection from the dead to life again in the morning (three days later). When the people first saw “the bread of heaven” they murmured saying, “What's this” (Hebrew “manna”)? Just as the Jews of Jesus' day murmured saying, “Who's this”? Jesus made it abundantly clear that he was the Son of God, the one who made manifest his Father's glory (John 1:9-18; 6:25-40; note in v41 of John 6 the hearers in the synagogue in Capernaum questioned his origin. The debate over his divine Sonship is continuously developing throughout John's record – chapters 7, 8, 9 etc.). They were saying that Jesus' origin, or parentage was a mystery (this was a slur against him). The bread from heaven came as Moses had promised (it is true to call it heavenly bread, as the Psalms say, “Man did eat angels' food”. It is described as being light in texture and tasting like wafers and honey. It was gathered and eaten daily. Any attempt to store it for longer than 24 hours failed; as it bred (produced) worms and stank. It was corrupting and failed to endure. People had to labour daily for no enduring sustenance. This contrasted with what the Father provided in His Son (Isaiah 551-11). But, miraculously the bread gathered on the 6th day did not corrupt; but, rather, lasted for the sixth and the Sabbath days. The lesson being that labour for God is in no way futile: 1 Corinthians 15:58; and Hebrews 4:7-12. But the lesson went further – some of the manna was collected and stored inside a golden pot placed in the ark (verses 32-35). This manna lasted eternally, never corrupting (John 6:53-58, and 67-70; Revelation 2:17). And the Israelites ate of the manna for 40 years until they entered the Promised Land. We labour today, not for the bread that perishes, but for the gift which God has given to us by bringing us to the Kingdom rest when His Son returns: John 6:27. Psalm 70 is written as a thanksgiving song to offer God praise and thanks for delivering him. It commences with adversity and trial. And finished with an acknowledgment that despite David's poor and needy status the LORD had heard and saved him. The Psalm is Messianic and tells of the Father's care for and aid to His Son – our Lord Jesus Christ. Yahweh's Anointed asks his Sovereign to repay his enemies for their evils. But he and all faithful servants will rejoice and praise their Almighty Deliverer. Psalm 71 is thought to have come from David's pen and is a plea for aid and deliverance when his strength was spent. Messiah's refuge was always in his God. He was the rock of refuge to whom the righteous always resorted. Yahweh had rescued His servant and will always do so for those who put their trust in the Almighty. From Messiah's birth the LORD has been his Helper. The psalmist's confidence was that throughout his life he could depend upon the steadfast care of his Creator. Messiah, despite being sorely tried, had put his trust in his Deliverer and would never be disappointed. Yahweh's Anointed would continually thank and praise his faithful Sovereign and rehearse before the righteous the mighty love and awesome deeds of his Omnipotent God. This prayer was said in true trust before Messiah's death and talks of his assurance of being glorified in resurrection. Let us likewise learn that our God cannot fail to help those who rely on Him. Mark 4 commences with the most fundamental of all parables – the Sower. We have seen, that it could be called the parable of the Soils. For God's Word tests the calibre of the soil. Then follows an explanation of why our Lord uses the parabolic method. It was to reveal truths to the responsive and conceal them from the reprobates: Psalm 78 and Isaiah 6. Next follows the parable of the Lampstand, its only purpose, like that of disciples, is to give light, ie testimony. The progress of the Gospel is like seed multiplying. In the parable of the Mustard Seed we learn that small beginnings can have powerful ends. Jesus calms the storm on the sea of Tiberius showing him to be the Son of God – read Psalm 104:23-32. Pause and ponder the power of the message.

Pastor Donnie McClurkin spontaneously preaches about God, the miracle-Worker who does wonders in the midst of the storms of our lives, that whosoever has faith to believe in Him and His word shall see that indeed there is nothing too hard for Him to do. Jeremiah 32:17; 32:27 Matthew 14:28-29   We stream live every Sunday at 11 am ET and every Wednesday at 8 pm ET.   Visit our website: https://perfectingfaithchurch.com    Connect with us on social media!  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PerfectingFaithChurch/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perfectingfaithchurch/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/PFCNY  Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@perfectingfaithchurch  

www.riverbendchurch.com Sermon from: 1/21/24

Who can understand the power of the Almighty God? None of us fully can. Our perception of the extent and greatness of his power is so limited—and it certainly is too small. Our aim in this message is simply to try and expand our view of the power of God and to move toward a more biblical proportion—to catch even a glimpse of his might from the pages of his Word.

Who can understand the power of the Almighty God? None of us fully can. Our perception of the extent and greatness of his power is so limited—and it certainly is too small. Our aim in this message is simply to try and expand our view of the power of God and to move toward a more biblical proportion—to catch even a glimpse of his might from the pages of his Word.

God Comes To Town! Ezekiel 1:1-4, 24-28 to 2:2 Introduction I wonder if there anybody here that is 25 years old? Anybody turning 25 this year? How about those who wished they were turning 25 this year? Imagine you are a 25 year old and being trained for the family business. Then suddenly your enemies invade your city and take you away to a foreign land. That's what happened to Ezekiel 5 years before this passage of Scripture, when the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar in 597BC took 3000 Jews back to Babylon. This was the first deportation. 1. Ezekiel - who was he and how did he get there? His name means "God is strong" He was training to be a priest Now 30 years of age, if he had been in Jerusalem, he would have been ministering in the Temple. He was married to the woman who is described as the "delight of his eyes". The reason that God had allowed His people to be taken into exile was because of their wickedness, utter disobedience and the dishonouring of His holy name. We know from other Old Testament passages that the people of Israel at the time, reacted in four different ways: There were those blaming the sins of their parents for their predicament and were totally pessimistic about life and everything. Others had abandoned their God, and given over to worshipping the Babylonian gods Some were false optimists saying, be happy it will be fine. We will soon be back in Jerusalem and God will be nice to us again. So just continue living as you are! Finally some were truly repentant of their own sins and yet had abandoned hope that God would rescue them. This is the first of five visions that Ezekiel has. This vision is similar to that found in Revelation 1 where John writes while in exile on Patmos. It is also similar to that portrayed by Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4v16 when God will return again, Jesus will come to judge the antichrist and his followers (Revelation 16v12-16, 19v11-16), bind Satan (Revelation 20v1-3) and judge the nations (Matthew 25v31-46; Joel 3v11-17). When people find out that I am a Christian, some say "Oh I don't believe in a God or Gods". I generally ask them "What kind of God don't you believe in?" They then go on to describe what sort of God they don't believe in and they are generally surprised when I agree with them that I don't believe in the kind of God who they describe as being remote, impersonal, judgemental and delighting in the suffering He or she has probably caused. And I think Ezekiel at this time was out having his picnic at the river and maybe starting to think through all the things that had occurred leaving him in exile. Possibly he was starting to question God and then he sees what appears to be a storm approaching at speed. He just stands there, looking at it approach him. I don't know about you, but if that had been me, I would have run in the opposite direction as fast as I could! But he just stands there and looks. Amazing. So what was this vision and what does it tell us today, some 2500 years later! It is very easy with this passage to just concentrate on the cherubim angels, which is what the strange creatures are that Ezekiel describes in v4 to v24. You only have to go to your local bookstore and find a plethora of books on angels and so called angel worship. But that would be stop at verse 24 and not proceed further. We would then miss out on the God these angels are worshipping and obeying. However in order to satisfy any curiosity you may have about these cherubim, for that is what these creatures are, let me explain what the faces mean: . They each have four faces and each face is symbolic of a characteristic of a cherubim.. The human face is to the front. This is to show that mankind is the pinnacle of creation. This shows the cherubim as being intelligent. The lion face is to the right and this reflects that the lion is the king of the wild animals. This shows the cherubim as being they are very strong and powerful. The ox face is to the left and this shows that the ox is the best of the animals that farmers keep. This shows the cherubim as being strong and patient. The eagle face is at the back for the eagle is the leader among the birds of the air. This shows the cherubim as being extremely quick. 2. How does Ezekiel describe this vision of God? Ezekiel's first impression is the hearing of a voice from above the expanse over their heads. This voice came from a figure on the throne (v26). This figure was like that of a man. This should come as no surprise because mankind is made in the image of God. In the Old Testament, whenever God wanted to talk to man He took on the shape of a man such as when He appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai (Exodus 3). This is what is called a theophany, which is an appearance of God in visible form, temporary and not necessarily material. Ezekiel describes what he saw as "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord" (v28). For he knew that nobody could actually see God and live, such is the nature of God's holiness and glory. Sometimes, even in the evangelical church, we like to put God in a box. God must act only in this way or in this manner. Perhaps Ezekiel was thinking like that. Thinking that God is far away in the Temple of Jerusalem and has abandoned his chosen people. We can see from this passage that God is holy, universal, mission-minded and personal. 3. Holy God This is seen in the fire, light and radiance described in v27. Because God is Holy, He is full of glory and majesty. However, it is not without some difficulty that we try to define what holiness is. Here are some of the things holiness is: Holiness is what separates God from all His creation. For God alone is holy and full of glory. Exodus 15v2 "Who is like you, O God, glorious in holiness!" Or Isaiah 60v25 "To whom will you liken me, or shall I be equal?" says the Holy One. Holiness is also a moral attribute of God, of purity and freedom from the stain of sin. Habakkuk 1v13 "of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot look upon sin. Holiness is still more than that! It is in fact the sum of all His attributes! Perfect holiness, while to us is inconceivable, has been revealed. Revealed in the sinless man, Jesus Christ. 4. Universal God He is universal, not just in presence but in absolute sovereign power and knowledge. In this vision of Ezekiel's, you can feel the power and presence of God. It must have been quite a sight! God's presence and power are seen in the throne! This is the climax of the vision and it seems it is only now that Ezekiel realizes what he is looking at! He collapses face down! Omnipresent - God is wholly present everywhere. God fills the universe in all it's parts without division Psalm 139:7-12; Jeremiah 23:23-24. God was not only in the Temple in Jerusalem, but God was also in Babylon! Omnipotent - God has power to do all things that are the object of power. With God all things are possible Luke 1:37. He is El Shaddai or God Almighty. Jerermiah 32:17-18 Nothing is too hard for you. Omnipotence is an essential to God. If God were not all-powerful then He would not be God and not be worthy of worship. This is the God who created the universe with His eternal and infinite power! This God bids his angels to obey and they do! Just as he is fully present everywhere, He is also all powerful and unlimited in power. This is the God who parted the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to escape the Egyptians army. This is the God who stopped the sun during Joshua's time. This is the God who made iron to swim by Elisha's hands. His power is evident in that the visible works of creation are His handiwork. He made everything around us, out of nothing! That is power. He not only created it, but He sustains it and gives it life! All things are possible with God and nothing impossible. But there are of course things God cannot do. He cannot do anything contrary to His own nature. He cannot for instance declare something infinite if it is finite. Omniscient - God has perfect knowledge of all things - actual, past, present, future and possible. O Lord, you have searched me and you know me, You know when I sit and when I rise...You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways (Ps. 139:1-2a & 3). He knows all things, past, present, and future, and therefore he knows all that we do (which includes the remembrance of all that we have done), all that we think (and the record of those thoughts), and all that we say. The Baptist Confession of 1689, describes God as: "The Lord our God is but one only living and true God; whose subsistence is in and of himself, infinite in being and perfection...", that God is in "every way infinite" and that His knowledge is "infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain." God knows all things, and is able to accomplish all of his most holy will. Israel had forgotten these things about their God: He is not confined to just the Temple in Jerusalem. He is all-powerful and able to do all things according to His will. He is all knowing and can see even the hidden sins of His people. That is why they were in exile in Babylon, because they had not given God the honour due His name. They had sinned and actively disobeyed Him and the following chapters, God reveals through the visions, words and actions of Ezekiel, just how wicked Israel had become! Mission minded God He is on a mission. He came to Ezekiel to call him and use him as His spokesperson or prophet to those who were in exile. Ever since Genesis 3 and the fall of man, God has been on a mission to bring and call people back to Himself. That was the purpose of the nation of Israel, to be a light to all nations of the goodness and glory of God! That was purpose when God, who is outside of time and space, entered human history taking on human flesh and restricted Himself in a human body as the man we know as Jesus Christ. Jesus whole mission was one of calling people back to life in God. Personal God. God is personal! He speaks and commands with authority (2v1)! So often in the church today, God is seen as a father figure or as wanting to be friends. These things are true, yet of themselves, they are not a full picture and sometimes the stress laid on this approach tends to bring God as a person down to the same level we are - weak, feeble and pitiable. As we have seen here, God is full of divine majesty and wonder. Yes God is personal, but He is also great. Remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom! Jimmy Bakker, the disgraced US televangelists was interviewed in jail, and was asked the question "When did you stop loving the Lord?" To which he replied, "I never stopped loving him. But I did stop fearing him!" 5. What does all this mean? We have seen through the vision of Ezekiel that God is holy, all-powerful, mission-minded and personal. Israel had forgotten these things and was now in exile because of it. What does this mean for us, as God's people today, some 2,500 years after Ezekiel? When you go back to work or to college or where ever you interact with others, what does all this mean? We are to actively worship our God. By worship I mean living a life worthy of God 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Worship is not just singing songs on a Sunday but is a whole life devoted in obedience to the God we serve. Borne out of this worship and obedience, we also are on a mission. We are to honour the name of this all powerful God by living entirely for Him. That is what evangelism is, and we are all called to do the work of an evangelist, just as Ezekiel was called to speak God's word to people. What is evangelism? Evangelism is showing and telling others of God's message of reconciliation to all people of all time. It is not forcing people to adopt Church standards (1 Corinthians 5v12) and nor is it simply a message of join the church as a symbol of good works (Ephesians 2vv8-10). This gospel says that everybody has sinned against God (Isaiah 53v6; Romans 3vv10-11); nobody can earn their reconciliation with God (Ephesians 2v9); that God sent His Son Jesus to be born, crucified and resurrected so that salvation can be had for all people of all time (John 3v16; 1 Timothy 1v15); and that it is by acquiescing to God by faith in Jesus alone that people are saved (John 5v24; Acts 16v31). Why evangelize? The prime motivation for evangelism is out of gratitude for what God has done, in that we love because He loved us first. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5v14, "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died." As His servants we are to tell and live of God's reconciling message As I said before, we are all to do the work of an evangelist, following the example of Timothy (2 Timothy 4v5). Scripture dictates several reasons for members of His church to share their faith. Jesus commands us to tell others of God's reconciling message. In the last words of Jesus' earthly ministry, His church was commanded to be witnesses for Him (Acts 1v8). Evangelism is an expression of love for God, through obeying His commands (John 14v15). So we worship with a life of obedience, which is an act of witness to the Great God we serve and live for, telling others about Him. We also teach and speak His word. The authority of the Bible is what we read and teach. 6. We speak God's word. The Bible is the Word of God, and is the instrument of the Holy Spirit to bring people to faith (Ephesians 1v13) and ongoing sanctification (Ephesians 5v26). Paul writes that all of it is "God Breathed" (2 Timothy 3v16), in that it is inspired by God and has its origins in God. It is not just the ideas, but also the words that are inspired by God (1 Corinthians 2v13). The Bible is capable of being understood by all God's people. God the Holy Spirit enlightens Christians minds, so that they can understand spiritual truths (1 Corinthians 2vv10-16). Through interacting with the Bible, the church teaches, rebukes, corrects and trains people for the purpose of righteousness (2 Timothy 3v16). By interacting with the Bible, Christians keep from sinning (Psalm 119v11), are comforted (Psalm 119v52), have their minds focused on God (Psalm 43v3) and are sustained in a daily spiritual life (Deuteronomy 8v3). The church also interacts with Bible, as the Bible is a link to the apostles and prophets, who are the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2v20). There are five main ways in which members of the Church can interact with the Bible. Public reading of Scripture was regular in Israel and in the early church (Nehemiah 8v3). Presently due to high literacy, Scripture can easily be read in private as well as corporately. Memorization of the Bible was commended to "lay up His words in your heart" (Job 22v22). By reading and memorizing the Bible, meditating on it helps understand the implications of life's occurrences and God's blessings (Joshua 1v8). These three interactions lead to a fourth, obedience. By obeying the Bible, the Christian learns to obey God, because it is His authoritative word (Deuteronomy 31v12) The teaching of the Bible receives the main emphasis in the New Testament, such as at the Church's birth and Peter's address to the crowd (Acts 2). After they were dispersed due to persecution, the Apostles continued preaching and teaching (Acts 8v4). Luke gives thirteen different words for preaching, and over thirty are used in the entire New Testament. Conclusion I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel like I am in exile. I don't mean as an Australian living in England, the mother country! Although sometimes it does feel like I am in exile! We are living in a country, which despite its Christian heritage, evangelical non-compromising Christians are being increasingly marginalized by a society, which decrees that, all religions or none are equal, and that to declare otherwise is simply arrogance and divisive. How are we to react? When you are faced with a crisis or some trouble, how do you react? Are you like the ancient Israelites that Ezekiel was sent to? Do you trust in the holy, all-powerful, all knowing, personal God or do you trust in other things? God is coming again! Be Holy and be obedient! Live a life worthy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Trust fully in the God of your salvation Go tell somebody! Finally, if you need prayer for something related to what I have said today, then find somebody to pray for you. And if you cant find somebody to pray for you, then come and find me. Right mouse click or tap here to download the MP3 of this sermon

God's Kingdom Offer The kingdom of God is where God Himself dwells and rules as King. It transcends everything in the realm and kingdom of men. Every citizen in God's kingdom is His Children. These are the princes and princesses of His Kingdom. They are Hiers and Joint Heirs with Christ Jesus. No words can describe the beauty and majesty of God's Kingdom other than perfectly excellent. No wonder Jesus said, it must be sought first and every other thing will come. Who Are The Poor In Spirit? They are those who in child-like faith depend on and utterly trust in God for spiritual and material needs. They are not spiritually arrogant but are constantly depending on God. It is true that the closer you get to God the more humble you become. Every one of God's children must operate with this sense of impotence when interfacing with the Omnipotent God. The title you have among people should not get into your head and make you delusional to the point where you've become practically arrogant spiritually. Those who leave themselves as babes in the hand of God will always get more from God. No matter how high you have climbed spiritually in the things of God, always learn to sit at His feet to hear Him. Learn to express your abject poverty and desperate need for His supernatural assistance. The poor in the spirit are the ones who truly believe the word of Christ that without Him, they can do nothing. Honestly, they will have everything that God has to offer. What is God offering to this kind of people? His greatest treasure. The life of His Son and His kingdom. This is defined in these few lines of promise: "that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life". John 3:16. The offer is available for all to grab. Are you ready to take it? Key Points Those who recognize their needs for God get God to move in unusual ways on their behalf.

Aug 6, 2023  GRAND PARKWAY BAPTIST CHURCHNeil McClendon, Lead PastorPsalm 42:1-6 The Gospel & Mental Health1. Where did I lose my courage?   Has anything happened that affected the confidence I have in God, myself or others? 2. Why is my heart so sad? Negative emotions...Anxiety is not a sign that you don't trust God. Sadness doesn't mean you are weak.Grief doesn't mean you aren't believing God for the future. Depression doesn't mean God has given up on you. Postive emotions...Being happy doesn't mean you love the world too much.A sense of accomplishment over a job well done isn't pride. An extended sense of joy doesn't mean you don't care about others. Two things I want us to see here…1) Without emotional self-awareness we never get the right answer to this question. 2) Unprocessed emotions produce unchecked behaviors. “What do I do when I am stressed, sad, lonely, angry, overwhelmed or emotionally activated?”3. In who or what have I placed my hope? “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”                -Hebrews 6:13-204. How is my worship? Few things about worship…a) Worship is an expression of spiritual warfareb) Worship is where we subject our emotions to the Truthc) Worship changes our posture5. What have I forgotten? Incommunicable attributes of God...a)   Infinite- God has no limits whatsoever in His person or dominion b).  Self-existent- God depends on nothing for His existence beyond Himself. The whole basis of His existence is within       Himself. At one time nothing but God Himself existed. He added nothing to Himself by creation. c)   Self-sufficient- within Himself, God is able to act, that is, to bring about His will without any assistance. Although he may choose to use assistance, it is His good pleasure, not His need that governs that choice.d)  Immutable- God is always the same in His nature, His character, and His will. He never changes, and He can never be made to change. e)   Omniscient- God knows all. He has perfect knowledge of everything  that is past, present and future. f)   Omnipotent- God possesses all power. He is able to bring about anything He has decided to do- with or without the use of  any source  beyond Himself.g)  Omnipresent- God is present everywhere, in all the universe, at all times, in the totality of His character. h)  Sovereign- God is totally, supremely, and preeminently over all His creation. There is not a person or thing that has escaped His control and forek

Welcome to the "Wrap Party" where we dive a little deeper into Sunday's message. Tune in as our teaching pastor, Ray Grubbs, and this week's speaker discuss the sermon. -Featuring Trevor Gehman

“There are very few things as uplifting for the heart and mind as a serious study of the being and attributes of God.” ~ Charles Spurgeon Join us as we dive into the wonder of God. Can we even fathom His knowledge, His power, His presence…? It is limitless and we can't wait to get a glimpse through this three part series, “Attributes”. Know who you're praying to! -Featuring Trevor Gehman

The Omnipotent God we Serve is Hiding Himself, Especially when He is Helping us and Working in us The Bible clearly says that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). However, the God who works out all things that they would turn out to good to us is a God who is hiding Himself. The omnipotent God whom we are serving is still hiding Himself, especially when He is helping us and working within us (John 14:26). We may have a certain sickness and may be rushed to the emergency room, with surgery being scheduled promptly, and man would do everything possible to take care of this emergency. But the One who is really in control is God, for He is with us, He helps us, and without Him, we cannot go through all these things. Yet this One is a hidden God, for He is hiding Himself; we may see Him yet could not find, for He is hiding. He is active in our environment to arrange all things, and He is very active even in our being to operate in us both the willing and the working for His good pleasure. Yet He is hidden, concealed, and we cannot see Him or touch Him with our eyes. Sometimes we may look back at our situation and history and we realize that it was God who did this, and it was Him who took care of that. We may consider our life when we were young, the university we went to, the people we met, the saints we met and when we met them, and the fact that today we're in the church life, and though we realize it had nothing to do with us, we clearly see that God was working in all these things. Our finding a spouse, the timing, and the whole process, it was all under God's sovereignty, and He brought us together for His purpose. So there are many retroactive Thank You Lord for all that He has done in us and among us. And He does this again and again. We are so focused on our present problems, our current situation, and the things at hand, but God is working tirelessly and ceaselessly, yet in a hidden way. We cannot see Him and, apparently, He is not doing anything. If we look at the situation in the world today, it seems that God is not present, that He is not in control, for He tolerates so much of the evil that is happening today. We may bring the current immorality, evil, and rebellion before God, and we may ask Him to do something about it, yet it seems that He does not hear us, for He is hidden. HWMR W11D3 06.14.2023 Part 2 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/mitse-eugenio/message

Length of article: 1 pageLength of audio: 4 minutes 23 secondsSynopsis: This is the audio version of the 1-page article I wrote on 6/2/23, entitled: Naso: Confessing to an Omnipotent God. Do YOU know the source in the Written Torah for the mitzvah of vidui (confession of sins)? And if you do, can you explain why it's presented in this context? Here's my attempt to answer that question -----This week's Torah content has been sponsored by Isaiah Blanks and Joey & Estee Lichter in honor of Tamar Lichter Blanks receiving her PhD in mathematics.-----If you've gained from what you've learned here, please consider contributing to my Patreon at www.patreon.com/rabbischneeweiss. Alternatively, if you would like to make a direct contribution to the "Rabbi Schneeweiss Torah Content Fund," my Venmo is @Matt-Schneeweiss, and my Zelle and PayPal are mattschneeweiss at gmail.com. Even a small contribution goes a long way to covering the costs of my podcasts, and will provide me with the financial freedom to produce even more Torah content for you.If you would like to sponsor a day's or a week's worth of content, or if you are interested in enlisting my services as a teacher or tutor, you can reach me at rabbischneeweiss at gmail.com. Thank you to my listeners for listening, thank you to my readers for reading, and thank you to my supporters for supporting my efforts to make Torah ideas available and accessible to everyone.-----Substack: rabbischneeweiss.substack.com/Patreon: patreon.com/rabbischneeweissYouTube: youtube.com/rabbischneeweissInstagram: instagram.com/rabbischneeweiss/"The Stoic Jew" Podcast: thestoicjew.buzzsprout.com"Machshavah Lab" Podcast: machshavahlab.buzzsprout.com"The Mishlei Podcast": mishlei.buzzsprout.com"Rambam Bekius" Podcast: rambambekius.buzzsprout.com"The Tefilah Podcast": tefilah.buzzsprout.comOld Blog: kolhaseridim.blogspot.com/WhatsApp Group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/GEB1EPIAarsELfHWuI2k0HAmazon Wishlist: amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/Y72CSP86S24W?ref_=wl_sharel

You, therefore, must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matt 5:48). Fr. Eric Nicolai preaches at Lyncroft Centre in Toronto, on April 26 2023. The message “Be perfect...” might cause us to wilt. How can I be perfect even as a human being, much less “as the Father is perfect” – the Infinite, Omnipotent God whom I cannot see, whom (it seems) I know only from a distance? This is an impossible vocation! Indeed it is... if I am relying only on my own efforts. This is why a Gospel reduced to mere human moralism is always either oppressive or watered down to a purely human proposal.

The power of Christ in Christian marriage allows husband and wife to reject divorce categorically and to defeat it with God’s vision of oneness in marriage. - SERMON TRANSCRIPT - This morning I'm going to preach on the same topic as I did last week. I'm going to be working through Matthew 19 more than Mark 10. On December 21st, 1988, a timer activated bomb exploded on PanAm flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 individuals on board and 11 individuals on the ground. Since the massive Boeing 747 airplane had reached an altitude of 31,000 feet, the explosion created what some called the largest crime scene in history. The wreck had spread over more than 1,200 square miles. Investigators painstakingly collected the fragments in order to determine the cause of the explosion. Eventually, these amazingly skilled people identified trace amounts of explosives to help confirm that this incident was not an accident, but indeed caused by an act of terrorism deliberately planned and executed with murderous intent. The stunning level of meticulous and far-reaching collection of fragments from an explosion, and the subsequent analysis of these fragments to deduce the cause and then bring to justice to criminals was unprecedented at the time and has never been equaled since. As I was reading about this effort, my mind went to the phrase, “the largest crime scene in history.” Sometime ago I began to meditate on the theology of original sin in Adam, the effect of Adam's sin in the world and on every generation that followed. A particular passage in Ephesians 1:9-10 has come to my mind as being very significant in understanding not just sin but redemption and the work of Christ in redemption. It gave me an image years ago of sin having had the effect on the universe like a fragmentation grenade, a phrase I used years ago. It came from Ephesians 1:9-10, “God made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” Think about that. God's ultimate purpose, which He will fulfill at the end of all things, is to gather, to bring together all things in heaven and on earth, to bring them all together and make them perfectly one in Christ. This was a powerful insight in helping understand the effect that sin has had on the universe visible and invisible, how it has blown apart things that are meant to be together. What God has done with his work of redemption through the cross of Jesus Christ and through his resurrection, He will bring all things in the universe together into perfect oneness. Isn't that something to look forward to, brother and sisters? He will reverse the explosive effects of sin which ripped apart things that were meant to be together. "What God has done with his work of redemption through the cross of Jesus Christ and through his resurrection, He will bring all things in the universe together into perfect oneness." In light of that concept of sin as the ultimate fragmentation grenade or explosive device, I came to realize that this suffering planet Earth and actually all of human history itself is the largest crime scene in history and the Lockerbie explosion, just a subset of that larger crime scene. We see the effects of that explosion, that divisiveness of sin all over the world, everywhere we look in disunity, fragmentation, brokenness in all human relationships. But especially I want to zero in this morning on the topic of marriage and divorce. My purpose is to point with great hope to the power of Christ in marriage, to reject as we did last week, divorce categorically as Jesus does, and to defeat it with God's vision of oneness. I want to zero in on that concept of oneness in marriage today. I. Review: Jesus on Marriage and Divorce Let's do some review from last week on Jesus’ view of marriage and divorce. The Pharisees came to Jesus with a vicious test asking, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife, in Matthew 19:3, for any and every cause, any and every reason, whatever reason He wants? Walking through Jesus's answer from Matthew 19, haven't you read as we said last time in Jesus' mind, that the answer for all marital issues, all marital problems is in the Bible? The Bible is sufficient, completely sufficient to define marriage, to heal it, to empower it, make it fruitful. Haven't you read that Jesus went back to God's original intention in marriage, asserting that the paradigm God set up at the beginning of human history is permanent for all of human history? In the account you heard in Mark, Jesus begins right away with “What did Moses command you?” They went barking up the wrong tree. Moses permitted a divorce. Jesus was saying, “No, I'm talking about Moses, I’m talking about earlier than that. I'm talking about Genesis 1 and 2. What did Moses command you?” That was Jesus' mindset. The paradigm at the beginning, the creator said, is good for all time. I said last week, God made marriage originally and God makes marriages specifically, God is active in bringing a couple together. God made the ultimate, the original paradigm and lays it on all cultures, all marriage for all time. We'll never change on that. Haven't you read that in the beginning the creator made them male and female, God spoke through biology and He spoke also through scripture. The nature of things, the reality, the significance of gender will never go away. Jesus is not confused about it. We shouldn't be confused either. One man, one woman, covenant union for life, that's marriage. He said for this reason, “a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh” [Genesis 2:24]. God said it. It doesn't matter that Moses wrote it ultimately. What matters is God said this is the paradigm He gave us. A man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, “cleave” in the KJV very famously, like they're glued together, a picture of oneness. The two will become one flesh, the adding of the word “flesh” clearly implying that the sexual union that is unique to the marriage relationship, the one flesh union through which children are procreated. But then Jesus doubles down, He circles back on that saying, so they are no longer two but one in case you missed it, he adds that extra phrase; they are no longer two but one. That is the foundational truth. The two become one is the reason why divorce is wrong. Then his final legal binding pronouncement, therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate. That's the ruling by the judge of all the earth. John 5, “all judgment has been entrusted to the Son.” He is the judge of all human beings and this is his verdict on this matter. This is his command, his prohibition. Let man not separate. So no, it is not lawful. No, it is not right for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason. Then in Matthew 19, the question, why then did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away? Jesus replied that Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard, but it was not this way from the beginning. He walks through the Moses statement and law concerning divorce. Then the clear prohibition [Matthew 19:9], “I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife except for marital unfaithfulness, “porneia”, and marries another woman commits adultery.” In Mark 10:11-12, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her and if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.” So not dealing with the exception clause, which I dealt with last week, in general, divorce is forbidden. I ended last week with an illustration from that photographer turned family minister, Reb Bradley. You remember how he had photographed their wedding and some of you maybe weren't here last week, but this photographer had photographed a wedding, but later in his ministry he saw this man who said, "I think you photographed our wedding." "Yeah, I remember. How's it going?" The man said, "I think we're going to get a divorce." Then there was this awkward pause; but it's important, you need to know when to do an awkward pause. Crickets. "You can't," he said, "I beg your pardon." "You heard me? You can't. I was there as a photographer, but I was also there as a witness and I heard what you said and this is the very thing you promised you wouldn't do and I'm holding you to it." He said, "What do you want me to do?" "Work it out." I didn't tell you the rest of the story. He met with the couple and they did work it out and they didn't get a divorce, a happy ending. Now this is my effort to help you all work it out. That's what this sermon is. It's like, okay pastor, we can't get a divorce, so help us, help us to work it out. That's what we're going to do. There are a lot of approaches I could take on this sermon today. I've already walked through what I did last week. This is meant to be helpful to marriages. First of all, I'm very aware that not everyone I'm talking to is married right now. I'm aware that some were married. You're either divorced in the past or are a widow/widower. I understand that. Others of you will be married in the future, but you're not married now. Others of you, I am very aware, have the gift of singleness, but I am coming from the basic concept of us as a local church we should care about each other. We should care about others who are not in the exact condition we're in. We should care about their situations. I would hope that every member of this church and indeed every visitor would care about the health of the marriages in this church and marriage in general, so I'm going forward in that conception. What I'm going to do, I decided I'm going to stay in my lane here on this because I could go anywhere. There are hundreds of sermons I could preach on marriage, lot of different passages I could go to, but I want to stick to Matthew 19 and Mark 10, and stick to two issues. Above all, above all, oneness. That's going to be my answer, that we would understand it. What is attacking oneness? Jesus said hardness of heart. I'm going to start with hardness of heart to try to understand it and how it creates divorce and then go from that to a discussion of oneness. Then I'm going to speak toward a more perfect oneness that can happen, toward more perfect oneness in marriage. II. The Problem: Hardness of Heart Let's start with the problem. The problem is hardness of heart. Jesus said, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard.” What does this mean? “Hardness of heart”, biblically, the phrase refers to resistance or rebellion against the Word of God, a resistance to a rebellion against the Word of God. That's hardness of heart. The first time we see the phrase famously is with the condition of Pharaoh. You remember at the time of the Exodus [Exodus 5], God commanded Pharaoh, “Let my people go.” Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord and I will not let Israel go.” That's hardness of heart right there. Later in Exodus 7:13-14, “so Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not listen to them just as the Lord had said.” So hardness of heart means I'm not listening to what God is saying. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh's heart is unyielding”, so it's an unyieldedness to God. You're not yielding to God. Pharaoh refuses to let the people go, so hardness of heart is rebellion against God. Sadly, tragically, it was later clearly displayed in the people of Israel themselves again and again and again this hardness of heart toward God. So much so that David writing centuries later in Psalm 95:7-10 said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did at Mariba, as you did that day at Masa in the desert where your father's tested and tried me though they had seen what I did. For forty years I was angry with that generation and I said, they are a people whose hearts go astray and they have not known my ways.” That's hardness of heart, going astray from God, not knowing his ways. A hard heart then is one that is stubborn toward God. It's not soft, it's not yielded, it's not obedient. I believe biblically a synonym for a hard heart in the case of Israel was “stiff neck”. Again and again you see that that statement, they are a “stiff neck” people. [Exodus 32:9]. The Lord said it to Moses, and they are a stiff neck people. I think it's a synonym, it's just a different image for the same thing. It means to be rebellious, not soft, not yielded to God. You're fighting him, pushing back. The author of the Hebrews picks up on Psalm 95 and applies it to all Christians for all time. “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” It's a fundamental command to all people apart from marriage on any topic. If you hear God speak to you from his Word, don't harden your hearts as they did in the rebellion. It comes from Romans 8:7, “the mind of the flesh is hostile to God.” It does not submit to God's law. Indeed, it cannot. That is a hostility toward God that does not submit to God and to his law. The hardness aspect implies that God wants softness when it comes to his Word, a yieldedness, compliance, obedience. Divorce comes about when people harden their hearts toward God above all. They will not obey his rules. They break rules within the marriage, such as adultery. They'll break God's law within the marriage and destroy it, or in their relationships with each other and divorce comes as a result. But beyond that vertical nature of hardness of heart, there's a hardness of a heart that happens horizontally within the marriage, the couple. A hard heart horizontally is one that's not moved with compassion or love toward the circumstances of another. We are supposed to love our neighbor as ourself. Martin Luther said, "Your nearest neighbor is your wife.” Hardness of heart 95% of the time in the Bible is vertical, but there are sometimes that it's used horizontally as in Zechariah 7:9-12, “this is what the Lord Almighty says, administer true justice, show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other. But they refuse to pay attention stubbornly, they turn their backs and stop their ears. They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit.” So even those verses, though there's a horizontal aspect, it's really vertical, but it plays out horizontally. They are oppressing or closing up their hearts toward the needs of others, as in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Remember the priest sees the man bleeding by the side of the road and just walks on by. The Levite, sees the man bleeding by the side of the road and just walks on by. They have hard hearts. "Divorce comes about when people harden their hearts toward God above all." Now, Christian marriage is based on love, a genuine affection that the two have for each other; an attraction of the two hearts together. They're drawn in tenderness and affection toward one another. That means they have compassion toward one another and a commitment toward the issues of each other's lives. Rejoicing when your spouse rejoices, mourning when your spouse mourns; what happens to your spouse happens to you. You share everything. Your hearts are bound together. But when hardness of heart comes in, the couple is no longer sensitive toward the feelings of the other. Divorces can often display a tragic, a terrifying viciousness between two people who used to love each other, and God likens divorce to violence. He actually likens it directly to violence. It's a form of violence. Malachi 2:16, “I hate divorce,” says the Lord God of Israel. “I hate a man's covering himself with violence as well as with his garment, says the Lord Almighty. So guard yourself in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth.” It's a violent thing to say to someone that you used to love, "I don't love you anymore. I don't want to live my life with you anymore." It rips that person apart. You can imagine the cleaving, the gluing together. There's no way to get those two pieces of wood that are glued together, apart cleanly. It doesn't come apart cleanly. It's incredibly damaging. To combat divorce, we have to start with this topic of hardness of heart. How do we solve that? Is that not the question of all of redemptive history? How do we solve this problem of hardness of heart? There is one and only one answer. And that is Jesus Christ, his saving work on the cross and the empty tomb. It is sufficient. It is sufficient. I would just say to you couples and indeed to everyone who hears me? Begin with letting your heart be convicted of your own sin. Be broken about your own sin. In Luke 18:13, the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven but beat his breast and said, “God, have mercy on me a sinner.” How can you say that to God in truth and then be hard in your heart toward your spouse? Start there and then think of the demeanor that Jesus zeroes in on it, the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. What kind of demeanor is seen in a saved person? What does it look like to be saved? He says, “blessed are the spiritual beggars, poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Someone who knows they have nothing to offer for their own souls, “blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” There's a grieving over our sins, blessed are the meek. There's a basic humility to someone that is being saved by the spirit through faith in Christ. They are meek toward others for they'll inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for a righteousness.” They don't have and they still know they don't have it. We want perfect righteousness. We're hungry and thirsty for it, “for they will be filled.” “Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy.” You walk through those beatitudes. Do you not see the power that has to solve whatever problem you're having with your spouse? Then let your heart be soft toward Christ. We're in Holy Week this week. Picture him screaming in agony while He's being flagellated by the Romans. Omnipotent God in the flesh could have stopped that flagellation, but He was laying down his life for us sinners. By his stripes, we are healed and you need to say, my sin did that to Jesus. Look at him suffering there on the cross. Look at him. See him with eyes of faith before your eyes. Christ Jesus was portrayed as crucified. See him bleeding, crying out, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Why? Because He's our substitute, He's the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Zechariah 12:10, “They will look on me, the one they appease and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and grieve bitterly for me as one grieves for a firstborn son.” You're grieving for Jesus's suffering on your behalf. Then understand the good news of the gospel is not just justification by faith alone as the thief on the cross, but it's also a transformation of your basic nature, your core nature by the grace of God as described in Ezekiel 36:26-27, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and I'll give you a heart of flesh and I'll put my spirit in you and I'll move you. Follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” That's salvation. That's the remedy to the hardness of heart. God takes out that heart of stone and gives you a living heart that can respond to his laws and his rules, and you see them as beautiful and delightful and the Spirit moves you to do them. Then repent of the specific sins that are damaging your marriage. Start with pride, just a thought. Start with pride. “God, show me how I have been prideful toward my spouse.” Go from that quickly to sinful anger. They're linked. Almost all anger in marriage is based on pride. Go to lust. How have you violated your marital commitments in that area? Selfishness, coldness, worldliness, arguments, complaining, thanklessness, all manner of sins that damage the marriage bond. Repent of them, name them and then let God do a deep work in you to soften your own heart first and then save your marriage next. III. The Solution: Oneness Now let's talk about the solution, oneness. The foundation of Jesus's conception of marriage and his prohibition against divorce is oneness. The two will become one flesh, so they're no longer two but one. “Therefore, what God has joined together, let man not separate.” How can we understand the mystery, this mystery of oneness? It is a much deeper, broader, more significant topic than we ever could have imagined; this oneness. The whole goal, as I've said of God's work in redemption [Ephesians 1], the mystery of his will. He made known to us the mystery of his will. So now we know it. We understand what God's doing in the universe. According to his good pleasure, He's pleased to do this. It brings God pleasure to do this, which He purposed in Christ, not apart from Christ; it couldn't be done apart from Christ but in Christ only. To be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment. It's not happened yet. We can see just by current events we're not there yet, but when the times will have reached their fulfillment to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ, that's his purpose. Oneness. The ultimate picture pattern of oneness is God himself, the Trinity. We're going into the glowing core of Christian theology. The deepest mystery of our faith, the doctrine of the Trinity. The Doctrine of the Trinity means that we believe there is one God and only one God who has eternally existed as three distinct persons, The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is one in essence and three in person. So three truths. Number one, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are distinct persons. Each of those persons is fully God and there is only one God. That's the doctrine of the Trinity, but it's mysterious. The mystery is the oneness, not the three. The threeness is not mysterious. Cultures all over the world are polytheistic. It's not hard for us to imagine three gods or a pantheon of God's. Mystery is Deuteronomy 6:4, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” There is one God and only one God. Then Jesus elucidates. It was in the incarnation that then we started to expand and could more fully understand the doctrine of the Trinity because of Jesus' claims about himself. He said in John 10:30, “I and the Father are one. Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father, but I'm not the father.” Or as prayer in John 17, which is vital to my whole presentation to you right now, John 17:11, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me so that they may be one as we are one.” Again later in that same prayer, John 17:20-21, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message that all of them may be one father just as you are in me and I am in you.” So bringing it to marriage, all unity in a Christian marriage is based on the unity of the Trinity. It's a picture of the unity of the Trinity, separate persons, but one as the Father and the Son are one. But what does that mean? Different centers of personality of being, but a shared essence. I want to commend to you Philippians 2:1-11, as the best kind of descriptive passages to explain how I conceive the oneness of the Father and the Son and the Spirit. We don't have time to walk through it. I just want to commend to you Philippians 2:1-11, but especially starting at Philippians 2:2 where he's commending this for the Philippian church. "All unity in a Christian marriage is based on the unity of the Trinity." I want you to think about the Trinity in this sense, having the same mind, having the same love, being one in spirit, one in mind. It's one translation of Philippians 2:2. The Father, the Son and the Spirit have the same mind. There's a factual kind of scientific aspect to the oneness that they think the same way about every topic. They understand everything the same way. They have the same facts and agree that those are the facts. There is not the slightest shadow of a shade of disagreement between the Father, Son and the Spirit about any topic, ever. They're of one mind with each other and they have the same love. It's not just an intellectual, but there's an affection side like a magnet attracted. That's what love is. Their hearts are attracted to the same things or repulsed from the same things to the same degree. They love each other with the same love. There's no unrequited love within the Trinity. They love the same things. They love righteousness, they hate wickedness. They love the people of God. They love the plans that they have, they have that same affection, the same love, and they are of the same spirit and most translate that in sense of the same purpose or direction or plan. They know what they're about, they're going in the same direction. They agree. They agreed before the foundation of the world about redemptive history. They agreed about every aspect of redemptive history, Father, Son, and Spirit. That is the unity that Christian couples should strive for. You may ask, is that even possible here on earth? No, not perfectly, but it is the goal. That's what we're striving for in Christian unity. Unity here is in a local church that's Philippians, but in marriage it also applies. How do you do that? He goes negative to say what is it that damages the unity of the Christian fellowship? Now we're going to go over into marriage? “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility, consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interest but also the interests of others.” Can I just say, husbands and wives, if you did that, you wouldn't have any problems. But like, "Pastor, that's hard." You're going right at your pride at that point. Pride is the greatest enemy to harmonious marriage. So don't do anything out of selfish ambition or vain glory vaunting yourself. But in humility, consider your spouse better than you. Consider them at a higher level than you. In that sense, you're going to honor them ahead of yourself and consider your spouse's needs like you consider your own. Husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. So that's similar. The idea is we're I'm going to consider your needs the way I consider my own. Then he gives us this beautiful example of Christ as the ultimate picture of humility. Have this mind in you which is also in Christ Jesus. Let me pause and say, Corinthians tells us we have the mind of Christ. In conversion you've been given through the Holy Spirit, the mind of Christ, use it. Think like Jesus, “who being in very nature, did not consider equality with God, something to be grasped but made himself nothing. Taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness and being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on the cross.” Spouses that have that kind of servant attitude will have rich, full unity in marriage. Paul, commonly urged this of Christians; he does it again and again. Philippians 4:2 is an interesting case study. “I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of one mind with each other or agree with each other in the Lord.” Then he asks maybe a pastor, one of the elder there, Sysagist or loyal yokefellow, “help these women”. Help them what? Help them agree. I picture the three of them in a room and they're not coming out till they all agree. Is that even feasible? Doesn't matter whether it's feasible, Paul's saying, “Do it. Get in the room, two ladies and agree with each other, and pastor help him.” It's almost like Reb Bradley and the couple. We're not coming out till we agree. That's amazing. Think alike [First Corinthians 1:10]. He does that with the Corinthian church. “I appeal to you brothers in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” That's to the faction-ridden divided church of Corinth. A married couple can do this. A married couple can be of one mind together and to agree with each other. Again, Second Corinthians 13:11, “Finally, brothers, goodbye. Aim for perfection. Listen to my appeal. Be of one mind, live in peace and the God of love and peace will be with you.” That's sounds like you could say that to a married couple. Think of the beautiful example of the early churchman. Now think of it in terms of a Christian marriage, a Christian family, [Acts 4:32], “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.” How beautiful is that? Or again, Romans 15:5-6, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Now, that's a beautiful marriage. He's talking to a church there, but it could be done in a Christian marriage. You're praising Jesus together for his death and his resurrection. That's a picture of what oneness in marriage can look like. I think that's what the Lord meant, what our Lord meant when He said so they are no longer two but one. Sounds good. Why is it so hard? I'm going through this on Wednesday nights. Those of you that are with us on Wednesday nights know exactly where I'm at, I'm at Roman 7. That's why it's hard. Listen to this Roman 7:15-17, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do. I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.” Let me pause. You may be saying, “I just can't do it. We just can't do it.” As it is, Paul says, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. Because of indwelling sin we can't do this, it seems. Later in that same chapter, “I find this law at work when I want to do good evil is right there with me. For in my inner being, I delight in God's law, but I see another law at work in the members of my body waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.” It's like there's this law in my flesh that makes it hard for me to be a good husband. I want to be loving. I want to be kind. I want to listen. I want to be humble. I want to think that my wife has better ideas than I do. I'm sure she wants all the same thing too. Knowing, I mean, that she would think that I have good ideas too. But you know what happens? As soon as something comes up, we immediately bump into our prideful sin nature and it rises up. It's hard. Everything in the Christian life is made hard by this. But I would say perhaps, especially marriage. You may say this sounds kind of hopeless. You're giving us this beautiful pure picture, but it just cannot be. Paul says, “What a wretched man I am. Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Let me tell you something. If you're a Christian, you have been rescued. If you're a Christian, you are being rescued. If you're a Christian, someday you will be finally rescued from this body of sin and death. In heaven, we will all be in Christ perfectly one as the Father and the Son. Ponder that, think about that. That's where we're heading. We're heading to a world of perfect unity. Why is that? Because Jesus prayed for it, and Jesus isn't just anybody. He prayed for it. I'll say it again, John 17:22-23, “I have given them the glory you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them, and you in me. May they be brought to complete perfect unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” In heaven, we will be as one, as the Father and Son are one. We're going to agree about everything. And you wives are saying right now, "Finally, he'll see it the right way." It's going to happen, ladies. It's going to happen. He's finally going to see it the right way and so will you. Perfect oneness. You know what that means? You Christian couples, you're heading toward a world of super marriage in heaven without actually having a one flesh union. One flesh union won't be needed anymore, you will not be married. We'd be like the angels in heaven, but you'll have a superior unity in Christ than you ever had here on earth. That's something to look forward to, isn't it? Why? Because Jesus prayed for it. It says in First John 5, “This is the confidence we have. If we ask anything according to God's will, He hears us. And we know that if He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we ask of him.” That's true of Jesus. Does Jesus ask according to the will of God? Friends, that's an easy theology question. Do you think that Jesus asks God for things that God wants to give Jesus? Yes. Jesus bats a thousand on his prayer request. That means everything He prays for in John 17, He's going to get. This is Jesus interceding at the right hand of God that will end up as one, as the Father and Son are one and we will. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective [James 5:16]. Is Jesus a righteous man? Oh, perfectly righteous. Does He pray according to the will of the Father? Yes, He does. He's going to get it. So we're going to be one. His prayer in John 17 is us being brought to complete unity to let the onlooking world see it and want to come to Christ. The more that husbands and wives in this world can work out a beautiful unity, a heavenly unity, the better it'll be for their children who watch them, their friends who know them, the church who knows them, the better it is for everybody. So that we can be one in Christ. IV. Moving Toward Oneness in Marriage How to move toward oneness? Draw close to Christ. John 15, “I am the vine you are the branches.” If you remain in Jesus, if his words remain in you, you saturate yourself in his word. Ask whatever you wish. Pray together. You have an issue that's dividing you, could be finances, could be parenting, could be where to go on vacation, could be in-law issues, it could be whether to buy that house or not. It could be job related issues. All kinds of manners of things big and small. Draw together, pray together. Let his word abide in you, dwell in you richly. Search the scriptures to see what God's Word says about that topic. And let the Lord draw you together and not let the issue divide you. “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind [Romans 12:2], then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Let that be the pattern. Ask God for wisdom. And if you're struggling in your marriage, I would just commend James 4:8-10, “Come near to God and He'll come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts you double minded; grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.” Hold hands together, confess your sins to each other. Freely give forgiveness to each other because you've been forgiven 10,000 talents. And then communicate, listen to each other. Talk about the issue, work it through. Ask God for wisdom. Search the scriptures and walk together in oneness. There's like three or four other pages of stuff, but we don't have time. We're going to turn now to a time of the Lord's Supper. This is a beautiful picture of our heavenly unity that we're going to have. I'm going to close the sermon time and pray. Father, we thank you for the truths you've given us today for oneness in marriage, concerning hardness of heart and oneness. I pray that you take these lessons and press them on deeply into our hearts. And now as we turn to celebration of the Lord's Supper, be with us in the center of this time. In Jesus name, Amen.

New Series - Names of Jesus- Almighty - Jesus is the All-Powerful, Omnipotent God.

New Series - Names of Jesus- Almighty - Jesus is the All-Powerful, Omnipotent God.

Dr. Oord discusses Catherine Keller's book re: Finding God in Process Thought and the nature of God's power.

Wayne Van Gelderen — Sunday Morning Service from the pulpit of Falls Baptist Church

Wayne Van Gelderen — Sunday Morning Service from the pulpit of Falls Baptist Church

Join us as we explore a psalm of David and worship our all-powerful and all-wise God together in today's devotional.  If you would like more insight into today's devotional topic, listen to Dr. Michael Youssef's sermon God's Provision for Your Every Need, Part 8: LISTEN NOWWhat if you're missing out on the most thrilling and soul-satisfying part of your Christian walk? In the special 20th anniversary edition of his foundational book Empowered by Praise, Dr. Michael Youssef guides you into a richer understanding of admiration for God that will forever change your relationship with Him. Get your copy today!Don't miss Dr. Michael Youssef's new book, Is the End Near?: What Jesus Told Us About the Last Days. This eye-opening work will answer your questions about end-times issues by examining statements that Jesus Himself made about what was and is to come. You will be encouraged as you anticipate Christ's return.  Secure your copy today!

Pastor Michael Huffman

College football is sneaking up and BYBW Boys are on top of it with our first conference preview. We're breaking down our picks to win the conference, our favorite win totals and some Heisman favs (much to Capper's disappointment). It's gonna be a HELLUVA season, and make sure to follow along @bangyourbookieswife on IG for all the extra content your degenerate heart desires. 

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Ge17:1; Ac10:38 The Omnipotent God

Pastor Frank preaches a message from the Gospel of John and the book of Genesis titled "The Omnipotent God."

How The Heart Works A Biblical Response To Trauma Pastor Chad Wiles Selected Scriptures NOTES: 1. Suffering and Human Sinfulness 2. Suffering and the World 3. Suffering and the Devil 4. Suffering and the pain of others 5. Suffering and confusion 6. Suffering and death - Trauma is a personal experience with evil and brokenness so contrary to God's glorious design that the person is left wounded.  The wound(s) of trauma are healed by God's regeneration of the heart through Jesus Christ. What Evil was in view in Joseph's Response? 1. Sin of Favoritism by Jacob (Genesis 37:3) 2. Hatred from the Brothers (Genesis 37:4) 3. Jealousy about the dreams God gave Joseph (37:11) 4. Desire to Murder Joseph (37:18-20) 5. Abused and thrown into a pit (37:23-24) 6. Sold into slavery and took to Egypt (Genesis 37:27-28) 7. Lied to their father about Joseph's death (Genesis 37:31-37) 8. Sold to an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh (Genesis 37:36) 9. Attempted sexual abuse by Pharaoh's wife (Genesis 39:7-12) 10. Defamation of Joseph's character (Genesis 39:13-18) 11. Put in prison for a crime he did not commit (Genesis 39:20) 12. Forgotten by the cupbearer for 2 years (Genesis 40:23) Theology defined: The study of God 1. Omnipotent: God is all powerful 2. Sovereignty: God's power and authority over all other powers and authorities 1. First Cause: God's direct movement. 2. Second Cause: God holds the evil agents responsible for their choices and uses their choices to bring about His perfect plan.  3. Providence: God's power to divinely bring about his will 4. God's Holiness: Speaks of his transcendence and his purity and righteousness 5. God's Goodness: He is perfectly good and is not capable of evil The Dangers in Making False Conclusions About God Because of the Existence of Evil: 1. We Must Assume That Sinful, Finite Humans Are Morally Good In Their Thinking.  2. We must deny that Scripture is God's word 3. We must assume that God owes us an explanation for his allowance of Evil 4. We must conclude that hope can be found apart from God Joseph understood God's Sovereignty and Providential Will: 1. Joseph Understood that His Suffering Was Orchestrated By God To Bring About His Gracious Plan of Salvation for His People.  2. God showed Himself to be intimately involved in the Life of Joseph - God gave Joseph His Dreams that Sparked the events (Genesis 37:1-11) - God was with Joseph in Potiphar's house and made him prosper (Genesis 39:2-4) - God's favor on Joseph garnered him a lighter sentence for the false accusation (Genesis 39:20) - God was with Joseph in prison were he found favor and gained influence (Genesis 39:21-23) - God placed high government officials in jail and gave them dreams for Joseph to interpret (Genesis 40:8) - God gave Pharaoh a dream that only Joseph could interpret (Genesis 41:1-36) - God gave Joseph wisdom that pleased Pharaoh and God put Joseph second in command over all of Egypt (Genesis 41:37-57) - Joseph's family came and bowed to him fulfilling the prophetic dream that God gave Joseph (Genesis 42-50) 3. God's Sovereignty is Where We Find Our Answer for the Problem of Evil that Provides the Hope We Long for in the Suffering We Experience. Read Isaiah chapter 53 The Answer to Evil: God laid the wrath that sin deserves onto his son so that salvation can be given to those who trust in Christ as Lord! a. Christ Saves us from the punishment and guilt of our own sin (v. 5) b. Christ removes the shame of the sin that has happened to us.  c. God's sovereign plan is shown to us through the cross (v. 10) Implications of the gospel? 1. Compassion - Christ's suffering shows God's compassion to be real and not theoretical (v.4) 2. Comfort - He will bear our iniquities (v. 11) 3. Hope - Makes intercession for the transgressors (v.12) 4. Courage

본문: 시편 (Psalm) 8:1-9 제목: 전능하신 하나님 (Omnipotent God) 날짜: 2022년 2월 20일 설교: 최경욱 목사 시편 8:1-9 (새번역버전) 주 우리 하나님, 주님의 이름이 온 땅에서 어찌 그리 위엄이 넘치는지요? 저 하늘 높이까지 주님의 위엄 가득합니다. 어린이와 젖먹이들까지도 그 입술로 주님의 위엄을 찬양합니다. 주님께서는 원수와 복수하는 무리를 꺾으시고, 주님께 맞서는 자들을 막아 낼 튼튼한 요새를 세우셨습니다. 주님께서 손수 만드신 저 큰 하늘과 주님께서 친히 달아 놓으신 저 달과 별들을 내가 봅니다. 사람이 무엇이기에 주님께서 이렇게까지 생각하여 주시며, 사람의 아들이 무엇이기에 주님께서 이렇게까지 돌보아 주십니까? 주님께서는 그를 하나님보다 조금 못하게 하시고, 그에게 존귀하고 영화로운 왕관을 씌워 주셨습니다. 주님께서 손수 지으신 만물을 다스리게 하시고, 모든 것을 그의 발 아래에 두셨습니다. 크고 작은 온갖 집짐승과 들짐승까지도, 하늘을 나는 새들과 바다에서 놀고 있는 물고기와 물길 따라 움직이는 모든 것을, 사람이 다스리게 하셨습니다. 주 우리의 하나님, 주님의 이름이 온 땅에서 어찌 그리 위엄이 넘치는지요? #thmcpodcast #ttokamsamissionchurch #thmcchurch #최경욱목사 #thmc또감사선교교회 #omnipotentGod

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

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

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

In this episode, Emily reads about Shaggy's true power, and his love for a few surprising characters. Megan reads some angst about Stiles and Derek. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/sortbybestmatch/support

You Are Not A Slave | Malayalam Motivational Video | നിങ്ങൾ അടിമയല്ല | Morning Glory - 299

We serve an omnipotent God. He is all powerful. He has proven that power throughout history. But his greatest proof is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This week, we dive deeper into the importance of seeking God's presence and His will over our own preferences.

We often choose one of two options when faced with our inadequacies. We may draw back and crumble, lacking confidence and losing hope. Or we may look to ourselves and try to draw strength from within. But neither is sufficient to overcome our shortcomings. Rather, we must trust fully in our all-sufficient Savior whose power is made perfect in our weakness.