Podcasts about once god

In this short 4-week series, we will be identifying four life-changing truths about God. Psalm 62:11-12 says, "Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O LORD, belongs steadfast love." The key truths that God declares about Himself are His greatness and glory ("power belongs to God") and His goodness and grace ("to you, O LORD, belongs steadfast love").These characteristics of God help shape our character and keep us from believing the lies we feed ourselves daily. Do you want to see God change you? Then swing wide the front door of your heart and invite His liberating truth to come in, settle down, and encourage you."Behind every sin is a lie about God." — Steve Timmis & Tim ChesterWe counteract lies with truth. And in this message, we will look at: 'God is Gracious—so I don't have to prove myself.'

In the fourth message of our series called Counterfeit Gods, Pastor Mel explains the dangers associated with idolizing dreams. This is in reference to ambitions, not dreams you have when you sleep. Preaching through Genesis 22, Mel highlights how the story of Abraham taking Isaac to be sacrificed foreshadows the gospel of Jesus sacrificing Himself on the cross. Abraham had always hoped and dreamed for a son and so Isaac represented a threat of idolatry for Abraham. Once God showed Abraham the wisdom of fearing Him instead of idolizing Isaac, God provided a sacrifice to stand in the place of Isaac, saving him and redeeming him for Abraham. It's good to embrace your loved ones and have aspirations for your future, but these things can become idols if we fail to subordinate them to God.

In this short 4-week series, we will be identifying four life-changing truths about God. Psalm 62:11-12 says, "Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O LORD, belongs steadfast love." The key truths that God declares about Himself are His greatness and glory ("power belongs to God") and His goodness and grace ("to you, O LORD, belongs steadfast love").These characteristics of God help shape our character and keep us from believing the lies we feed ourselves daily. Do you want to see God change you? Then swing wide the front door of your heart and invite His liberating truth to come in, settle down, and encourage you."Behind every sin is a lie about God." — Steve Timmis & Tim ChesterWe counteract lies with truth. And in this message, we will look at: 'God is Good—so I don't have to look elsewhere.'

In this short 4-week series, we will be identifying four life-changing truths about God. Psalm 62:11-12 says, "Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O LORD, belongs steadfast love." The key truths that God declares about Himself are His greatness and glory ("power belongs to God") and His goodness and grace ("to you, O LORD, belongs steadfast love").These characteristics of God help shape our character and keep us from believing the lies we feed ourselves daily. Do you want to see God change you? Then swing wide the front door of your heart and invite His liberating truth to come in, settle down, and encourage you."Behind every sin is a lie about God." — Steve Timmis & Tim ChesterWe counteract lies with truth. And in this message, we will look at: 'God is Good—so I don't have to look elsewhere.'

In this short 4-week series, we will be identifying four life-changing truths about God. Psalm 62:11-12 says, "Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O LORD, belongs steadfast love." The key truths that God declares about Himself are His greatness and glory ("power belongs to God") and His goodness and grace ("to you, O LORD, belongs steadfast love").These characteristics of God help shape our character and keep us from believing the lies we feed ourselves daily. Do you want to see God change you? Then swing wide the front door of your heart and invite His liberating truth to come in, settle down, and encourage you."Behind every sin is a lie about God." — Steve Timmis & Tim ChesterWe counteract lies with truth. And in this message, we will look at: 'God is Glorious—so I don't have to fear others.'

In this short 4-week series, we will be identifying four life-changing truths about God. Psalm 62:11-12 says, "Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O LORD, belongs steadfast love." The key truths that God declares about Himself are His greatness and glory ("power belongs to God") and His goodness and grace ("to you, O LORD, belongs steadfast love").These characteristics of God help shape our character and keep us from believing the lies we feed ourselves daily. Do you want to see God change you? Then swing wide the front door of your heart and invite His liberating truth to come in, settle down, and encourage you."Behind every sin is a lie about God." — Steve Timmis & Tim ChesterWe counteract lies with truth. And in this message, we will look at: 'God is Glorious—so I don't have to fear others.'

Once God has removed your sin, you have a new identity!

Once God has removed your sin, you have a new identity!

In this short 4-week series, we will be identifying four life-changing truths about God. Psalm 62:11-12 says, "Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O LORD, belongs steadfast love." The key truths that God declares about Himself are His greatness and glory ("power belongs to God") and His goodness and grace ("to you, O LORD, belongs steadfast love").These characteristics of God help shape our character and keep us from believing the lies we feed ourselves daily. Do you want to see God change you? Then swing wide the front door of your heart and invite His liberating truth to come in, settle down, and encourage you."Behind every sin is a lie about God." — Steve Timmis & Tim ChesterWe counteract lies with truth. We are looking at four truths about God and their implications for our lives and in this message, we begin with God is Great—so we don't have to be in control.

In this short 4-week series, we will be identifying four life-changing truths about God. Psalm 62:11-12 says, "Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O LORD, belongs steadfast love." The key truths that God declares about Himself are His greatness and glory ("power belongs to God") and His goodness and grace ("to you, O LORD, belongs steadfast love").These characteristics of God help shape our character and keep us from believing the lies we feed ourselves daily. Do you want to see God change you? Then swing wide the front door of your heart and invite His liberating truth to come in, settle down, and encourage you."Behind every sin is a lie about God." — Steve Timmis & Tim ChesterWe counteract lies with truth. We are looking at four truths about God and their implications for our lives and in this message, we begin with God is Great—so we don't have to be in control.

 Once God's love fills our emptiness, there's no room left for anger.Reflect more on the topic of this podcast with GNM's podcast: "How to forgive when it's difficult" @ https://footstepstoheaven.com/healing/how-to-forgive-when-its-difficult/ The text of this podcast can be found on our website at https://gnm.org/daily-reflections/2025-03-14/   Subscribe to receive the Good News Reflections delivered to your email inbox or texted to your phone @ https://gogoodnews.net

Restoration isn't the end—it's the beginning of a new journey. Once God has restored us, He calls us to walk in wholeness, living out our purpose and using our scars to help others.Connect with Us: https://thecrossrds.comStreaming License # CCLI: CSPL043706

The first fifteen verses of Exodus 22 deal with restitution of property. The theft of a sheep, when discovered had to be repaid fourfold: cp David's repaying for his theft of a ewe lamb in losing four of his sons 2 Samuel 12 verses 1-6. There were different rates for other animals. Verses 5-6 cover damage to grain through negligence - non controlling of a beast, or fire. Verses 7-13 deals  with property entrusted to another; and outlines the discussion around resolution of an arising disagreement. In verses 14-15 deals with hiring arrangements. Verses 16-31 centre around being holy people in their dealings with their neighbours. All dealings are underlined by the need to be just, fair and kind. All of these laws centre around protecting the weakest members of society and ensuring care is provided for them. The laws also provide advice for dealing with those powerful members of the community who would often exploit those people who are downcast. Psalms 75 and 76 are both from the pen of Asaph. There is a cluster of psalms here in the Sanctuary psalms of Book 3. They are all addressed to the Choirmaster. Psalm 75 is a prayer that God will rise up to judge the world in equity and righteousness. It begins with thanksgiving to the Almighty for His past faithfulness. Next the psalmist declares that he knows that God has appointed a set time for judgment: Psalm 102 verses 13-22; Acts 17 verses 30-31; 2 Timothy 4 verses 1-2. In this we too can rejoice. The Almighty would bring judgment from neither the east, nor the west; it always came from the north. God is the Judge, a kindred word to Dan; which tribe's inheritance was in the north. The cup in the Omnipotent Creator's hand contains the wine of retribution, which will be poured upon the guilty from all nations - those drunken with their own sense of self importance; and they drain that cup to the very bottom. Then will the faithful righteous be joyful in their Mighty One and exultant in Him. Psalm 76 tells the hearer that then Judah will be exalted and honoured Zechariah 8:20-23. Verses 2-4 describe the glorious abode of the LORD in Zion - the elevated world capital: Psalm 48 Isaiah 2 verses 1-5, Jeremiah 3 verses16-17; Matthew 5 verses 34-35. Once God has risen for judgment who can stand against Him and that His purpose cannot be frustrated by mere mortals. Those who remain no matter how important they were prior to His great work will be humbled by the Almighty when He has executed His judgement and all the earth will praise and worship the Almighty God of Israel. Mark's 8th chapter commences with the feeding of 4,000. The record contains some contrasts with that of the 5,000 - 1) the 5,000 were Jewish, the 4,000 were not; 2) the Apostles had immediate compassion for the 5,000, but no compassion for the others despite watching the multitude enduring for 3 days without any food; 3) the numbers of bread and fishes involved differed and taught different messages out of the feedings. This is followed by the rulers asking, but not receiving another sign. A discussion between our Lord and his enemies ensued about leaven. The disciples assume that Jesus was rebuking them for forgetting to take food. How illogical this was for he had shown his power to make food. It was about the corrupt influence of wrongful teaching. The chapter continues with the healing of a blind man. This man was cured by stages and took place at Bethsaida, illustrating the problem of perception - we so often, like that man see people out of proportion. Jesus next questions his Apostles on other people's perception of himself. Then our Lord asks them who they thought him to be. Several answers were given until Peter responded by declaring that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. All of the Apostles are charged to not reveal this until after our Lord Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. Once again our Master speaks of his despicable treatment, crucifixion and resurrection the 3rd day. The chapter finishes with an appeal for each of us to take up our stake daily to follow our Lord Jesus.

At the end of our last episode, Joseph had just emerged from prison to interpret Pharaoh's dream. After predicting years of abundance followed by years of famine, Joseph suggests that Pharaoh appoint someone wise to oversee the collection of crops to sustain the population during years of famine. After losing it all when he was falsely accused of assault by Potiphar's wife, he now gains more than ever could have dreamed when Pharaoh appoints him to this noble position. Actually, I take that back: it's exactly how he dreamed, because the Lord revealed to him what would take place before he was betrayed by his brothers. Once God's plan becomes clear, the Scriptures say that Joseph forgets his former trouble.Genesis 42 - 4:58 . Genesis 43 - 12:02 . Psalm 21 - 18:16 .  :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.facebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

5th February, 2025 – Fr. Billy talks about the readings for the feast of the Presentation of the Lord and then goes on to talk about Holocaust Memorial Day.  It is necessary to look at the reasons why human nature gets corrupted if we are to avoid them reoccurring.  Once God is eliminated; all is […] L'articolo RM Breakfast Show – Fr Billy Swan – Candlemas Day and Holocaust Memorial Day proviene da Radio Maria.

God is preparing His trailblazers - the ones that have said, "Yes!" to Him, the ones who continue to seek Him intimately. Trailblazers are the first to do something - an innovator, pathfinder, one that blazes a trail to guide others. They have spent time in the wilderness with God, and they know Him intimately. They know His heart and His voice. Many of them are in the wilderness right now - learning, changing their mindsets, and forging ahead with God leading the way. He wants them to blaze a fiery trail before them and encourage others to do the same. Once God releases these trailblazers, the world will never be the same. Are you ready? Resources: https://elijahlist.com/words/display_word.html?ID=31818 https://laurapotter.us/set-your-feet-on-higher-ground/ https://nateandchristy.co/for-those-building-the-new https://elijahlist.com/words/display_word.html?ID=31902 https://elijahlist.com/words/display_word.html?ID=31945 https://www.tamarajolee.com/blog/trailblazer Kathy Zacca's website: https://kathyzacca.com/ Susan Offen's website: https://susanoffen.com/ Laura Potter's website: https://laurapotter.us Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Read OnlineJesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how.  Mark 4:26–27It's beautiful to reflect upon how the Word of God changes people's lives. This short passage above analogizes the sharing of the Word of God with the planting of seed. The sower goes forth and scatters seed into the ground and then observes how that seed grows into a fruitful plant. The mysterious line states “he knows not how.”So it is with the Word of God. When that Word is received by another, we are blessed to be able to stand back and watch as that Word takes root and transforms their lives. Of course, at times we may sow the Word and it doesn't take root. This is on account of either the hardness of another's heart or on account of the way in which we sow. But when the seed of God's Word does take root, we should be in awe of how God works in that soul.Think about this reality in your own life. How did you first receive the good seed of God's word? Perhaps it was through a sermon, a retreat, the reading of Scripture, a book or the witness of another. Think about how you first received God's Word into your life and what effect it had upon you.Once God's Word has taken root in a soul, it is a holy practice to “rise night and day” so as to observe this seed as it grows. Specifically, we must allow ourselves to be amazed at the mysterious way that a life is changed, be it your own life or the life of another. It's inspiring to observe the soul of a person as it begins to root out sin, to seek virtue, to establish a life of prayer and to grow in the love of God.If this is something to which you find it hard to relate, then perhaps it's time to either allow that seed of God's Word to fall gently and deeply into the fertile ground of your own soul or to prayerfully look for ways in which God wants to use you to sow that seed into the heart of another. Doing the latter takes much openness to the working of the Holy Spirit. It requires that we allow God to inspire us so as to know how we can cooperate with His hand in evangelization. Reflect, today, upon the “mystery” of a soul who goes through this process of change and spiritual growth. If you find it difficult to find such an example to ponder, then turn to the lives of the saints. The saints are among the greatest witnesses of those who allowed God's Word to sink deeply into their lives so that they became new creations, transformed by God's grace. Ponder this transforming witness and allow yourself to be drawn into gratitude and amazement as you do. My transforming Lord, I thank You for the way that You have sown the seed of Your holy Word into my own life. I thank You for the way in which You have changed me, freed me from sin and set me on the path to holiness. Use me, dear Lord, to sow that seed in the lives of others and fill me with wonder and awe as I witness Your merciful hand at work. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2025 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.Featured image above: The Sower By Jean-François Millet, via Wikimedia Commons

#449: What Do We Do with the Vision?Once God gives us a vision, the next step is to take action! This episode dives into what it means to act in faith, prepare strategically, and stay committed to the vision God has entrusted to us. With Proverbs 16:3 and James 2:17 as our guide, April Nicole Scipio discusses how to turn vision into actionable steps, align with God's timing, and trust Him for every provision. Check out this episode to discover how to steward your vision with excellence and purpose.

We must ask God to purge our lives of the sins that draw us away from Him. #theloriclineshow Interested in learning more about becoming a devoted follower of Christ? Go to follow.lifeword.org! ~~~ What is God leading you to in this season? Where is He wanting to mold you? Are there areas of your life and heart that need a clean out? It is Spring. What work needs to be done now that will lead to making room for growth and good fruit down the road? While I love the idea of Spring cleaning, I do not want to do the Spring cleaning. That is in a way what led me to seek the Lord in this season and it really doesn't have much to do with vacuuming or dusting. I've simply been overwhelmed. I know many of you can relate. As I have taken inventory of my life, home and heart, and all the things that seem obvious that I NEED to do, I've been stuck in ways, not even knowing where to begin. That's when God gave me the words pray, purge and pursue. Instead of getting stuck in a cycle of what I should be doing, my heart is seeking what the Lord wants to LEAD me to do. One way is full of shame and guilt while the other is full of grace and is an open invitation to move closer to who God wants me to be and the plans He has for me. We began last time with pray. If you missed it you can find it at Lifeword.org, but to recap a bit, we're asking God to lead us to the things and areas of our life and heart that need attention. Pray till you pray, is the first step and words are not required. The purpose of the ‘pray' step is to be still and know God wants to move you closer to His heart and will for your life in every area. So listen and see where He leads you. The next step we are looking at today is PURGE. We begin with prayer. Once God reveals our area of focus, it's time to purge. Now when I think of purge I think of the physical act of cleaning OUT. Get rid of it. And in fact, that may be what God wants you to do. To purge is to cleanse, purify or remove. When you have the urge to purge, you act quickly! I love that! For me, this is where the spirit comes in. Where I am weak, thank God He is strong. I can lean on the Lord to give me the strength to follow through with any action of obedience the Lord moves me to take. (2 Corinthians 2:10) I will never have the urge to do things that aren't easy, but in His strength, I can do all things! What this step looks like for you will be different from what it may look like for me. Ask God to reveal your step forward and then to give you the urge or desire to take it! Where and what do we need to purge? God will reveal it. We can look to Psalm 51 as an example. David's sin was revealed and instead of sweeping it under the rug or ignoring it, he responded, took action and brought it to the Lord. Psalm 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. God revealed what needed to be cleaned out in David's heart. David responded with repentance and surrender. He wanted to have the sin cut out and his life made new. He moved closer to God through the process. We can do the same whatever that looks like. Be still and listen to His voice. By faith, you can throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. (Hebrews 12:1) You can cut out what is dead in your life and prune back areas of growth to produce more fruit. (John 15:2) You can take an honest inventory of where your treasure has been and realign your heart to what matters most. (Matthew 6:19-21) Wherever God leads us, those are the steps we can take to respond. That's the truth. We pray then we purge. God reveals and we respond. It's Spring cleaning that goes beyond the surface. Next time we'll move beyond the purge to PURSUE what God has in store. Join me at lifeword.org. I'm Lori Cline.

"Blessed are you of the Lord, my daughter!" This Boaz exclaims in relationship to Ruth's offer of marriage as the one who has taken it upon herself to provide for Naomi was lacking in the loss of her husband and sons. Elimelech's house was in ruins, broken under the just hand of God who compromised and left the Land of Promise to sojourn in Moab, a cursed and barren land with nothing to offer the chosen people of God. Once God had visited judgment upon the family of Elimelech, Naomi returned, embittered to the providence of God, such that she sought to push her daughters-in-law back to Moab. Naomi, despite her bitterness to warranted judgment, was shown kindness from Ruth, and through Ruth God restored not only one who had been brought back empty and embittered, but Israel as God was leading Israel closer to the True King promised them through Judah. Ruth, the blessed one of the Lord, would be the means, and through Boaz a faithful man, to bring life from death.Worship with us at Reformation OPC Gastonia!Each Lord's Day9:30am & 5:30pm203 Rhyne Oakland Road, Gastonia, NC, 28098(704) 931-8094ropcgastonia@gmail.com

In this enlightening episode of The Messenger Movement Podcast, host Tamra Andress interviews Rachel Rector, author of the impactful book Behind Hidden Doors: Bullying, Hope, and Identity. Rachel shares her personal journey as a parent and teacher navigating the complexities of bullying, which inspired her to write this essential resource for caregivers, educators, and counselors. The conversation delves into the book's unique structure, focusing on different "doors" where bullying can occur—at home, in schools, and workplaces. Rachel emphasizes the importance of understanding the root causes of bullying behavior and advocates for a compassionate approach that avoids labeling individuals as "bullies." She also discusses workplace bullying, the significance of documentation, and how her book is designed to be accessible to both faith-based and secular audiences. Join us as we explore proactive strategies for addressing bullying, fostering hope, and nurturing a positive identity in children. This episode is a must-listen for anyone invested in creating a supportive environment for the next generation! Connect with Rachel: Rachel Rector is a compassionate encourager and trailblazer. She holds true to her childhood nickname, firecracker. Once God lights a fire in her heart, she is not afraid to trailblaze the way and walk in God's calling for her, her family, and the community she leads. She has blazed the path as a Kindergarten teacher, K-5 ELL teacher, network marketing team leader for two companies, and an accountability coach and partnership coordinator for a top marketing and virtual event company.She is mostly known for her God given gift of mercy; helping all who meet her feel seen, heard, and valued. A common phrase she hears is “I do not know why I shared all that with you. I have never shared that before.” With a passion for empowering women and children to walk in freedom, she dedicates herself through her vlog, books, Freedom Diaries Podcast, speaking, and community engagements and events to help them reclaim hope, identity, and joy. Find her singing and dancing with her husband, seashell hunting on the beach, or laughing and playing with her 4 children while dreaming of traveling the world. Where to Find Tamra: Become a Millionaire Messenger! Take your Voice and Vocation to the Nations: https://fitinfaithmedia.com/millionaire-messenger ⁉️ Have a faith & or biz question you'd like to have me answer? Feel free to write it, along with your honest review on Apple Podcasts - I'll share you and give you the answer in an upcoming episode!

A Fake Christianity (audio) David Eells 10/20/24 False Signs, Wonders, Miracles & Christians Vision of the Enemy's Battle Plan by Hollie Moody As I was praying on April 25, 2000, I began to see in my mind a picture of the Lord. He was sitting on a rock and groups of people of all ages were gathered around Him. They all seemed to be laughing and talking together. I felt joy and peace and happiness as I viewed this scene. At times, the Lord would reach down and bring a child onto His lap. Or, He would reach out and a baby would be placed into His arms. He would then gaze down into the face of the baby and speak softly and tenderly to the baby. At other times, someone would draw close to His side, and He would place His arm around them, and draw them closer to Him.  An angel approached the Lord. The crowd before the Lord parted to allow the angel to draw near to the Lord. A silence fell over the laughing, joyous crowd as the angel stopped before the Lord and began to speak. From the way this angel was dressed, I sensed immediately that this was a warring angel. Being a warring angel and well aware of the coming battle plan of the enemy, he spoke with a strong sense of urgency and even perplexity in his voice. He was very concerned.  “There is work to be done”, the angel said to the Lord. “Why do the people only sit here idly? These are dangerous times. The people should be doing battle in prayer and in the spirit. Instead, they sit here at Your feet, laughing. They are completely unaware of what is even now transpiring in the courts of hell”. With great concern in his voice, the angel asked, “Why are You allowing this?”  [Before continuing the vision, as a side bar to that conversation, I had the impression the angel and the Lord had been in each other's presence numerous times and had many conversations with one another. What the angel said did not sound disrespectful or challenging at all. I could feel how he was feeling, and it was a genuine question in the midst of such perplexing opposition to come.]  The Lord gazed with love at the angel before Him. “Before I answer your questions”, the Lord replied, “take this child of Mine and show them what is being planned by the enemy”.  Both the angel and the Lord then turned their heads and stared at me. “This will be too much for her”, the angel protested. “Take her and show her”, the Lord repeated. (The angel bowed his head to the Lord, then turned towards me.)  I began to back nervously away as the angel approached me. “Where are you taking me?” I asked the angel. “To the enemy's camp”, the angel replied. “Go with him”, the Lord instructed me.  I felt very nervous and afraid, but allowed the angel to touch me. As soon as the angel touched me, we were in darkness. I felt fear engulf me. “Fear not”, the angel said to me, and instantly, the fear vanished.  The darkness seemed to dissipate, and I discovered that the angel and I were in what appeared to be a great court. A man was sitting on a large throne, and before him were gathered all types of creatures and men. (This “court” had the appearance of a cave. When I first viewed this scene, I felt stunned. I'm not sure why. It was like something “rebelled” in me at what I was seeing.)  “Who is that man on the throne?” I asked the angel. “And who are the creatures and men gathered before him?” “That is the accuser of the brethren and his armies”, the angel replied.  I then realized that I was in the presence of satan. (When the angel informed me that this man was satan, the fact that he was sitting on a throne amazed me. Later, when I prayed about this aspect of the vision, I felt that the Lord said that satan was trying to copy everything that was God's in heaven, for himself.)  Satan was speaking, and I heard him say, “This will be our strategy”. He then got up from his throne and went to stand in front of a large map on the wall behind him. As I stared at the map, I became aware that it was a map of the entire world. (It is very hard to describe this “map”. The map wasn't actually “pinned” or “hanging” on the wall, but it was in front of the wall. But, it was like I could see it from all angles. And also, I could see like “air waves”, “wind currents”, the tides of the seas, etc. I could also see the hemisphere around the world -- moons, stars, planets, etc. I really have no words or way to correctly put down the appearance of this “map”.)  Satan began to divide the world into sections. Then, he called out some names. I saw the creatures and the men gathered before satan part, and very large and strong-looking angelic beings approached satan. (I saw four of these mighty-looking angelic beings.) I could sense the power of these beings, and sensed the evil and wickedness of that power. A hush had fallen over the crowd.  “Who are these beings?” I whispered to the angel whom I was with. The angel I was with seemed concerned. “They are satan's princes”. Satan began speaking again, and he was assigning sections of the world to each of these “princes”.  “You will need your armies”, satan said to them. “Choose whomever you will. All is at your disposal”. The large beings then began to pick and choose who would be in their particular army. (This was by no means “orderly”. There was a great deal of arguing, bickering, etc.) When they were finished, they all turned back to satan and stared at him. “Each prince will teach you our strategy to deceive and to destroy and to slay mankind”, satan said. “Go with them”.  The princes and their armies began to exit from the presence of satan. The angel and I began to follow one of the groups. They went into what appeared to be a school room. The prince went to the front of the room and began to instruct his army on how to deceive, destroy and slay the people in their particular section of the world who had been allocated to them. The angel and I then went to each “classroom”. The same plans and strategies were being “taught” in each “classroom”. (By the “same” plans, I don't mean each class was teaching the exact same thing. What I mean is that each class was very thorough in what it was teaching, and on how to apply what was being taught.)  In some of the classrooms, they were studying political leaders. Their families, homes, lifestyles, etc., were being closely scrutinized. I felt very frightened and helpless, very overwhelmed, as I saw and heard how very thorough these “lessons”, for lack of a better word, were. Nothing was left to chance. Every area of these political leaders' lives was being dissected and investigated and studied.  Demons were being assigned on how to “attack” and influence and “control” each of these political leaders, their families, and even their friends and co-workers. Nothing was left to chance. Nothing was overlooked. The books they read, the radio stations they listened to, etc., everything, everything was being discussed. The enormity of all of this was absolutely mind-boggling to me. This also occurred with the religious leaders.  It was the “religion” classes that frightened and shocked me the most. In these classes, religions of the nations were being studied and discussed. Even New Age and occult, wicca, tarot, etc., were being discussed. Buddhism, Hinduism, etc., were being discussed. The bibles and books and other writings for all of these religions were being read and studied. Each denomination of Christianity was being studied. The Bible being studied was the major source of information for these “lessons”. This was truly horrifying and shocking to me that demons were reading and studying the Bible. And, it was all for the intent to twist what was written, and to seek ways to misinterpret, misrepresent, etc., it to Christians. The demons were discussing ways to “dilute” the Gospel. They were discussing ways to “incorporate” major beliefs from all the religions into one big acceptable “gospel for humankind”.  Some of the demons in these religion classes were ordered to “infiltrate” churches, were being taken into actual churches, and were watching how the people prayed, worshipped, sang, etc. They were studying how messages were being delivered to the congregations in numerous churches. They were studying the individuals who were used in the operation of the gifts of the Spirit. These individuals were followed around constantly by assigned demons, who watched and listened to everything these people said and did. The friends and family members of these individuals were also studied. The demons discussed ways to drive wedges, etc., between those people who were truly being used of God, and the people they went to church with, and even how to cause these people's own pastors and spiritual leaders to lose faith and confidence in these people who were used in the gifts of the Spirit. I felt so angry and frustrated and helpless as I saw and heard how this was to be accomplished, and how it had already been initiated in many, many congregations, and how it was largely succeeding.  Many of these “religious” demons, for lack of a better word, were being taught how to sing in churches, how to dance in the Spirit, how to pray and teach. I felt at times as if I were going to vomit as I witnessed many demons in these classrooms “practicing” how to worship the Lord, and how to be a Christian. Seeing a demon “dancing before the Lord” is so awful, and so sickening, that there are just no words to describe it adequately.  Some of these more “major” demons could also work “signs and wonders, and even miracles”. Some of these demons were also being taught how to be “Christ”. This was being done by actually studying the scriptures. Seeing some of these demons acting and speaking like Christ shocked me speechless. Seeing them reading the Bible was like an abomination to me.  In some of these classes, even UFOs and aliens were being discussed, and how to deceive people through these phenomenon. There were classrooms where food and dress and slang words - yes, slang words(!) were being studied. Crops were being studied and discussed. All of this was just so vast it overwhelmed me.  Suddenly, the “classes” began to leave the rooms. The angel and I followed them. They congregated back in front of satan. “Report”, satan said. “How will we deceive, destroy and slay mankind?”  One of the princes came forward and began to outline their plans and strategies to satan. “The people want signs and wonders and miracles from their religious leaders”, the prince said. “We know that our enemy will be, and has begun already, to grant this unto his children. We will slip in with a counterfeit move, and deceive many. We have taught our armies how to mimic worship, praise and looking and acting like a true believer. We will give unto our armies the ability to work signs, wonders and even miracles. But while all become focused upon these outward manifestations, others of us will begin behind the scenes to dilute the message of the gospel. We will accomplish this partly through speaking to the people about God's 'true' nature. We will allow the people to create God into what and whom they want Him to be”.  “Good”, satan said. “Very good”.  The prince began to speak once again. “When the people have created their own version of God, then, we will give them OUR god”. The crowd before satan began to cheer wildly.  “We must depart!” the angel urged me. Suddenly, we were back before the Lord. He was still in the midst of His children; laughing with them, talking to them, touching them. A silence fell over the group once again as the angel I was with once more approached the Lord. The angel reported to the Lord all we had heard and seen in hell.  The angel was very concerned and distressed, asking, “Why are You just sitting here with the people? Why haven't they been sent to begin battle? How will they be able to discern this coming great deception if they aren't even aware that one is coming?”  The Lord became grave. His face as He looked at His children was alight with His great love for them. I noticed tears in His eyes. Then, He turned His head and looked at the angel, speaking with Him.  “My children will know the false, by knowing the true”, the Lord said. “The longer they spend in My Presence, the more they will know My voice when they hear it. A voice of a stranger, they will not follow”. “But the enemy has those who have been taught to speak just as You do”, the angel protested. “They sound almost just like You”.  “Almost”, the Lord replied gently. “Almost they sound like Me. Only My sheep who have lingered long in My Presence will know the voice of their true Shepherd. And this is why I spend so much time with My children. I spend as much time with them as they allow Me to. I know very well what the enemy is planning. My plans are plans of love and fellowship”. The angel and the Lord both fell silent as they gazed at the crowd before the Lord. “Love them well!” the angel replied.  “Yes, a battle is coming”, the Lord sighed, and I saw tears in His eyes. “Great wickedness and persecution upon My children; My true children who know My voice. A time of wickedness and persecution such as has never been seen or experienced. Yet in the midst of it all, I will move, I will bless, I will speak, I will love. I will win. There are those of My children who sense much of this. They are the ones who will never stop praying and interceding; not even in times of seeming peace”. “What about me, Lord?” I asked.  The angel and the Lord looked at me. “Pray”, the Lord replied. “Tell the prayer warriors to strengthen themselves and their brothers and sisters in the times of peace. I will be pouring out of My Spirit upon all nations and peoples. It will spread to even the most unlikely of places -- television, magazines, newspapers, radios, even the Internet. And it will be here that the battle will truly begin, and the deception begin”.  The Lord stood up. “It is time?” the angel asked Him. “It is time”, the Lord replied. Then, I was no longer with the Lord or the angel, but praying once again.  John 10 is in my mind; especially verse 14: “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine”.        Discernment Delivers from False Prophets  Jay Nara - Romania - 06/09/2008 (David's notes in red)  I dreamed I was in a class with several other pupils. We were in this big room which looked rather like a gymnasium and I remember thinking and missing my friends from other classes whom I remembered were long gone away. David Eells was our teacher and I was standing next to him. (A type of David, the Man-child.) David was telling me that the previous night there was a party at his next door neighbor's house and he didn't get much sleep. (God's people giving into lasciviousness have truly caused me some loss of sleep.) He was casually dressed, like a sports teacher or a trainer. (We have to train the people of God to get in shape for the contest to come.) Since I was seeing his profile I noticed he was wearing a patch or a piece of wool over his nose, like he had a nose job, or even more, it looked to me like something he was wearing to filter the air he was breathing. (This nose filter represents the ability to discern good from evil. The nose gives discernment to the mind that is neither seen nor heard. Wool over the nose represents having the true clothing or actions of sheep, which filter out the false spirits, which is the meaning of “breath” in the Hebrew.)  The next thing I remember was a tall man entering the room, accompanied with a woman. (The tall man is seen in many dreams as the corporate false prophet and his companion the harlot church.) They were dressed in suits and looked to me like teachers. The man came and was standing next to me and I knew they were there to acquire some pupils for themselves. (They will seek through lasciviousness, meaning a license to excess, to draw aside disciples of Christ.) I tried to ignore him since I could tell what his intentions were, and then he pointed his finger at me. I looked around for David but couldn't see him. (We will face temptation alone.) I turned to the man and looked at his face for the first time. He was so tall, almost all the way up to the ceiling; I remember feeling the pain in my neck as I was struggling to look at his face. (His great size represents a corporate body of people.) He was nicely groomed, curly haired and had bright grey watery eyes. (They tend to see things in grey, not black or white, as in wrong or right.)   Being determined, I told him that I was not going with him because David was my teacher. As I was saying these words I was getting weak. I remember being hardly able to say that last word “teacher”, but I succeeded. He looked shocked and very offended because obviously he had the authority to choose from the class as he liked, and he looked at the woman (harlot?) with disbelief. He looked back to me, trying to put some smile on his angry face, and then I woke up. (The Sanskrit meaning for “Jay” is “victory”. Although tempted, Jay, in this dream, obviously represents those who gain the victory over the false prophet and harlot because of their training in discernment. We are told that the Word exercises our senses to discern good from evil: Heb.5:12 For when by reason of the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need again that someone teach you the rudiments of the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of solid food. 13 For every one that partaketh of milk is without experience of the word of righteousness; for he is a babe. 14 But solid food is for fullgrown men, [even] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern good and evil.)      Persecution from the False Prophet  Kaile H. - 01/19/2011 (David's notes in red)  This is one of the most powerful and vivid dreams that I have had to date. At the beginning of it, I realized that I was a spectator to what was happening in it. I saw a man who was dressed very nicely; he was wearing a gray silk suit and a red silk tie with his hair slicked back and carried himself with self-confidence, almost to the point of being narcissistic. This man was walking around a mall and talking to people of all ages. As he talked to some people, he invited them to a meeting at his house. I noticed as he spoke to the various people that he was very charming and was able to persuade about 20 people to follow him to his home. (The slick man represents the False Prophet who with “feigned words makes merchandise” of the Word and the people. His red tie makes him appear to be wrapped in the blood of Jesus. The mall represents the buying and selling of Babylonish religion. He is narcissistic because he is egotistical and selfish of gain of reputation and material things.)  I followed them out to the parking lot where they carpooled behind this man in his luxury car. I saw them drive over many hills and valleys to a bridge that went out to an island to a huge mansion where this man lived. As they passed over the bridge, I realized that the mansion and the rest of the island were one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. (He makes merchandise of the people, plundering them for his own selfish gain. His doctrine is conveniently prosperity oriented.)  After the group went into the mansion, he motioned them into a large dining area where the table was filled with different kinds of hors d'oeuvres. The man told them to make themselves at home and then left the room. The people in the room were carrying on conversations and eating when all of a sudden they heard screaming and very strange sounds coming from outside the dining room. As the screaming started, I became aware of a particular woman in the room. (The false prophets have been known throughout history to take advantage of the ladies because their flesh rules them. But also, in a spiritual way, this could represent the woman church horrified at the true nature of this wolf in sheep's clothing.)  Then, the doors to the dining room swung open and there we saw the well-to-do man standing in the doorway with an AK-47 in his hand. The man did not have his hair slicked back anymore; it was messed up and he had a very demonic look on his face. After observing the obvious change in his demeanor, I saw the doors on the other side of the dining room open and the man told the group, “START RUNNING!” (These egomaniacs have a hidden purpose: to kill the saints of God as the false prophet Sanhedrin of Jesus' day did. The saints will be running from them, spiritually and literally, very soon. They have the backing of the beast government to deceive and persecute the saints, as in Jesus' day.)  I then realized that for a brief amount of time I had the point of view of the woman as she ran through the hallway. There were people getting shot behind where the woman and a man were running. There was a room that the two found and they ran into it. The man saw that there was an EXIT sign and a door that went outside. I noticed that the EXIT sign looked strange and I didn't have a good feeling about it. The man told the woman that they needed to go through the door but she told him that they shouldn't go out there. Instead, there was a little bit of a bench behind a dark gray curtain and they sat on the bench. (Every avenue of escape is not a true escape from the False Prophet and Beast. Some are a trap designed by them, like the mark of the Beast. “Resting” and being “hidden in Christ”, “seated with Him in heavenly places” behind the veil is the true escape.)  A few minutes after the man and woman sat behind the curtain, there was a group of three boys who ran through (representing the immature church). They first slammed their backs up against the man and woman but somehow didn't realize that there were people behind the curtain. (I was reminded of this verse: Psa.91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.) Once they all took a deep breath, they ran through the EXIT straight outside. The boys ran over to the edge of the courtyard to find that there was nowhere to go because the bridge that they had traveled on had disappeared. As soon as they got to the edge of the courtyard, the ground started shifting and it revealed a muddy (dark brown or black), quicksand-like layer underneath where there were some decomposing bodies.   There was one boy who was closer to the edge than the others and he fell straight down to his death as the ground shifted. (There are many ways that seem right to men but in the end it is the way of death. (Pro.14:12, 16:25) One-third of the immature church at this time falls away because of walking on shifting sands of false doctrines instead of the Word. This does not include the tares that were really never in the church of the called-out ones.) (When the sandy ground began to shift, the Lord reminded me of the house built on the rock versus the sand.   Mat.7:24 Every one therefore that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, shall be likened unto a wise man, who built his house upon the rock: 25 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and if fell not: for it was founded upon the rock. 26 And every one that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: 27 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall thereof.)  The two other boys knew that they needed to find a way out, so they started running back toward the mansion to go a different direction. (Two-thirds repent, i.e., change direction.) As they started running toward the house, I saw that the look and feel to this island had changed. It was no longer lush and vibrant with color but it had become very dark and the mansion looked old and run-down. (Once God's people pass through this Babylonish house and change direction, they see it as it really is -- a corrupt and dying tomb full of dead men's bones.)  When the boys had almost made it to where the house was, the door that the boys came out of swung open and the crazed man came outside. I noticed that he seemed to change even more since the last time I saw him in the dining room. His silk suit was no longer silk. It looked like it was made of wool and it was a lot larger than him, especially in his shoulders (as soon as I saw him I thought of a wolf with a thick overcoat). The tie was also a different shade of red -- dark maroon. (Once God's people pass through this Babylonish house, they perceive the wolf in sheep's clothing as really very small in comparison to the image he at first portrayed to the public. His maroon tie represents blood that has lost its oxygen or breath of the Spirit. The blood that is spent and returning to the heart rather than the red blood that comes from the heart.)  At that point, I saw the point of view of one of the boys. I saw the boy in front get shot down immediately after the crazed man came outside. The other boy then tripped and the man quickly came and put the barrel of the gun against the base of his skull. It was kind of strange because I could almost feel the metal on the back of his skull, like it was mine, and then I heard a gunshot and then everything went black. (The factious people have demonstrated this well to us. They are very slick when trying to impart to people their slander and witchcraft. They are full of fleshly lusts that drive them. Initially some escape them but their suspicious thoughts remain to tempt and tempt and when they give in they return to the one who infected them they spiritually die and never return to God. I use this as an example but the devil has many traps.)  Then, I saw the man start going around the outside of his mansion and throughout the hallways, cleaning up the blood and disposing of the dead bodies. After he got done tidying up, he slicked his hair back and changed his clothes back into the silk suit to get ready to bring another group of people to his house. As I watched him present himself as the charming well-to-do man again, I was reminded of the wolves in sheep's clothing that Jesus talked about in Mat.7:15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. (I also began to think about the adjective that first came to mind when I saw him -- “charming” -- which automatically makes me think about witchcraft and manipulation. (things that are not of God.)  I then went back to the man and woman who were still quietly hiding behind the curtain (resting in the secret place of the Most High). They heard the bridge coming back up and at that point they made a run for it. The crazed man realized that there were still two people on the property and ran outside to try and kill them but it was too late. The man and woman had already made it across the bridge and were out of sight. (They who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will escape.) (As I began to type this dream out, I thought that it was significant that only one man and one woman survived this attack and I thought about the woman and the Man-child. I was reminded of the passage in Revelation where the dragon wanted to devour the Man-child once he was delivered by the woman but, as in the time to come in the dream, the evil one did not prevail.) (The Man-child and those of the woman church who abide in the rest by faith will escape.)  Just after we received the above dream we received this next dream:    Jenn Reams - 01/29/2011  I was with a group of about 100 people. We had been gathered by the government into a public building. We were there under the pretense of being helped, but I knew it was a trap and they were planning to kill us. But I knew no one would believe me. As I prayed for the boldness to warn them anyway, I began to warn them individually, starting with my husband and daughter. For some reason I can't remember their response. But I know it ended with me telling everyone at once that it was a trap and they were planning to kill us; we were on the red list.   I know this is possibly because of the warnings and Bible studies I've been listening to and not necessarily a prophetic dream. However, it was a warning. And one question that come to my mind is, people know about the red list in reality, so why would I need to tell them? (Maybe because individuals don't know if they are on the red list.)     Mega-Churches & Strong Delusion  Churches Deceived into Program  Deborah Horton - 07/09/2005 (David's notes in red)  In a dream, I saw mega-church after mega-church flashing by. The congregations were well-dressed and complacent. Then I saw not quite as many smaller churches flashing by. They had all been tricked into joining a “program” that was supposed to help them grow. In the dream, I knew it was every single mega-church but not as many of the smaller ones that were involved. None of the home groups would participate. (See Baiting the False Prophet & War in our One-Hour series.)  This “program” progressively took greater and greater control of each church. At first, the people were very happy with their decision; however, when there was no longer any way for them to escape, they began to see the “program” for what it really was. By the time each group had been reduced to a handful of people, the controlling force stopped pretending to be helping them and revealed itself as an ugly, blood-thirsty monster. Amazing to me was that as the people were being systematically taken over, they looked more and more like the monster themselves. It was awful and I was horrified by how easily the people were tricked and how quickly they were degraded and killed.   (In Eze.17:21 The Lord said He would ‘scatter toward every wind' those who rebelled against Babylon. Rebelling here means to physically fight with them to not accept their cross. Eze 17:21 And all his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it. Those who don't take the mark of the beast will flee it but many of these will make war on the beast and lose. Others will have their eyes opened and will join to the Man-child and Two Witness ministries.)  As I woke up, I realized that “program” was a play on the word, “pogrom”, which is defined as “An organized and often officially encouraged massacre or attack on a national, religious or ethnic minority. (Not necessarily a physical attack; sometimes it is a spiritual attack that brings spiritual death.) An organized massacre of the Jews In Czarist Russia. The Russian word for ‘devastation'”.      Deception Coming to the O.W.O. Church  Marion Carney - 02/29/2008 (David's notes in red)  I dreamt I was at my grandmother's old apartment complex with a few others. I came up the elevator and walked down the hallway to her apartment door. I could see that the door was already slightly opened so I walked in. There wasn't anyone inside at first and I walked over to the patio windows. (The apartment complex represents joining house to house; the great unified corporate house of the harlot church in the U.S. Isa.5:8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no room, and ye be made to dwell alone in the midst of the land! 9 In mine ears [saith] Jehovah of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. That no one was home – ‘without inhabitant' -- speaks to the coming desolation of this corporate house.)  I noticed it was getting very windy outside it was gray and raining just a bit. There was an old woman in the parking lot below me and she was caught in the wind; the wind was so strong that it pushed her over. As I watched the wind became stronger and stronger. She was really struggling to walk; the wind became so strong that it cracked the glass that I was looking out of. Just as it cracked the woman was picked up in the air by the wind and was being swept away. An old man then appeared and was trying to help the old woman but the wind was too strong for them both and they were lifted up in the air several feet off the ground. When they were lifted up the wind blew them around the side of the building, out of my view. I then backed away from the window because the other side of the glass was cracking.   (The old woman represents the same thing as the apartment complex, the old apostate church, which is being blown by ever-increasing winds of false doctrines by their deceiving leaders, represented by the ‘old man'. Eph.4:14 that we may be no longer children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error... This house will be destroyed by the winds of the Beast and False Prophet doctrines. Mat.7:26 And every one that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: 27 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall thereof.)  I turned around with the intent to go help the older people and when I did there were two men at a small table that resembled a small fold-out card table; it was placed directly in the middle of the room. On the table was a porcelain teapot and a teacup. The inside of this cup had writing inscribed all around it, kind of like a measuring cup would be. The man who had the teapot in his hand poured some to tea for the man who was sitting down. He filled the small cup up to one of the inscriptions and nodded for the man to drink it. The man drinking the tea didn't know that he was actually being deceived as the words that were inscribed in the cup were actually words of a ritual and every time the man filled the cup up to a different level the man was partaking in a ritual. (Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Like the frog in the teapot, the heat was raised so gradually the frog didn't notice he was being cooked.)   I tried telling the man sitting down to not drink the tea, that he was being deceived; however, they could not hear me. The man served him two more times and the last cup was measured one line from being completely filled to the top. As the man drank from the cup the other man who was serving him smiled, and then I awoke. (Marion's ‘intent to go help the older people' was interrupted by a revelation that deception is sent to them instead. Those leaders who do not listen to God's warnings will have even greater deception measured back to them from the beast than what they meted out to the apostate Church. Mar.4:23 If any man hath ears to hear, let him hear. 24 And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete it shall be measured unto you; and more shall be given unto you. 25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he hath.   Those who walk in the steps of the Sanhedrin to crucify the body of Christ will have the Beast to measure it back to them. Mat.23:30 and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we should not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31 Wherefore ye witness to yourselves, that ye are sons of them that slew the prophets. 32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33 Ye serpents, ye offspring of vipers, how shall ye escape the judgment of hell? 34 Therefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them shall ye kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city: 35 that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth... Pray for the Pauls, the Nicodemuses, the Joseph of Arimathea's to come forth out of them.)  (These false prophets and those who follow them are being bribed by their lusts into strong delusion that will cost many their eternal life. 2 Th.2:8 And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming; 9 [even he], whose coming is according to the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 and with all deceit of unrighteousness for them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God sendeth them a working of error, that they should believe a lie: 12 that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.)    Dream - 03/02/2008 I dreamt a very short dream where I was with a handful of others who were preparing for two major earthquakes. I knew that we would survive the first earthquake; however, I knew that the second earthquake was going to be more destructive. I was looking down at the ground, trying to determine where the earthquake would take place and I was really calculating where it was to take place. I showed the others and told them to prepare for the second earthquake and that it was going to be a bad one.   (We are expecting earthquakes when the Man-child reformers are spiritually resurrected and anointed. Jesus died with an earthquake and was resurrected at a “great earthquake”. (An earthquake is a rending or separating of the earth, representing division between peoples of the earth. Such a division is happening between the Alliance and the DS. Because of this the second, more destructive division will be a civil war in the nation of America. Some clues here: The Department of Health and Human Services has spent $290 million on radiation sickness drugs, hinting at fears of a nuclear conflict. The World Health Organization is updating lists for nuclear emergencies, signaling that something catastrophic may be on the horizon. Remember Operation Gotham Shield? The 2017 simulation of a nuclear attack on New York? It's no longer a simulation—real-world events are aligning. The Deep State, CIA, and FBI are allegedly plotting the cyber-attack of the century. Their goal? To erase investigations into Epstein, Hunter, the 2020 election, and vaccine cover-ups. Their scapegoat? The patriots. Thurs. 17 Oct. 2024: BREAKING: U.S. MILITARY AUTHORIZED TO K**L AMERICANS – DIRECTIVE 5240.01 SUPPRESSED BY GOOGLE – amg-news.com – American Media Group Thurs. 17 Oct. 2024: BREAKING: U.S. Military Authorized to K**l Americans – Ron Paul Warns of Looming Civil War Under New DoD Directive! VIDEO – amg-news.com – American Media Group There was a pretty big house over to the left of me that was on little poles. It looked like one of those homes that are on a lake or beach. However, under this home there was a lot of dirt. (It will be known that this DS house is founded on a lot of dirt, meaning corruption.) I was standing outside the house determining where a safe area would be for us. The others were preparing for the earthquake inside the house. I explained to them that for an earthquake you come out of the house and explained how the house could fall on them. However, they were looking for items to take cover in like a tub or the basement, as if they were preparing for a tornado rather than an earthquake. I was desperately trying to get them out of the house but they would not listen.   The dream ended with me speaking with a man who was sitting on some bricks in the area where I was pinpointing the first earthquake would be. (This ‘pretty big house' on poles that is not founded on the rock of the Word and could fall on the people in this division is the corrupt in Church and government. Mat.7:26 And every one that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: 27 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and smote upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall thereof. The way to escape this house falling on you is to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. The man sitting on the pile of bricks represents the total fall of this house.  Rev.18:2 And he cried with a mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, and is become a habitation of demons, and a hold of every unclean spirit, and a hold of every unclean and hateful bird. ... 4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, that ye have no fellowship with her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Here are some of Marion's dreams which point out the reasons for this destruction.)    Dream 2/08 There was a singular corporate apartment complex standing alone. It was a very expensive, very large building like one you would see in Las Vegas. It was glistening as if it were made of a shiny tin material. (Again we see the apostate church are in agreement, house to house, in a great gamble which will not pay off for them. The DS has unified against the right wing wishing to wipe them out.)  The building was within a few feet of a lake like one of the Great Lakes such as Lake Erie. (Abraham's seed in America is as the sands on the seashore for multitude. Gen.22:17 ...I will multiply thy seed ...as the sand which is upon the seashore. The apartment building is the harlot of Babylon church and government. Rev.17:1 ...I will show thee the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters. The many waters represent the peoples of the world. 15 ...The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.  My eldest son, Scott was standing outside of the building, telling me how it was a great location by the water with a great view of the lake. I took notice of this but I was more concerned with wanting to go in and look around. Scott was needing to make a decision about the building and I kept telling him to look around, that there were other homes with a view of a lake. (Many will have to decide whether to be a part of this Harlot church and government.) I don't know how I got inside the building because it was quite a ways away from us at first; however, there I was standing in the hallway. I then began walking through the hallway, looking for people. I was opening and closing doors because I was looking for someone. At one point I was looking for a young girl but I don't know who she was. (Marion failed to find her fruit, her spiritual man, the child born to her, in the harlot church and government as so many will.)  Somehow the dream switched from me being on the inside to being on the outside of the building. At this point I could see the waves of the lake were getting more and more intense. I don't remember going to any high ground but I was now viewing the apartment complex as if I were standing on a hill a ways from it. The water was rougher than when I first saw it and was now really scary looking. (When we dealt with the factious slander and witchcraft spirits in Church we then began to see the same spirits in the leftist government. The judgment of God will continue to rise against these factions.) The waves started to form faster and faster and as I looked on one of the waves started to form so high in the sky that I had a sick feeling come over me. I watched in fear as the wave grew and went kind of in slow motion and slammed into the building with a fury. The impact was so scary to me that I actually awoke at this point, shaken by the power of that wave. (As in all past history, the judgment of God will destroy Beast and Harlot.)    Dream - 03/13/2008 I was walking with a small group of people on the street I grew up on but the street was much wider in some areas than it actually is. Across the street from me were some people leaving my old church. They crossed the street and began walking with me and some others. In this small group there was a man who was very tall with blondish-brown hair. He kept trying to speak with me and give me compliments, despite his wife walking with us. I wouldn't acknowledge him because I knew he was married but that didn't defer him as he kept trying to flirt with me. I purposely kept a good distance from him as we all walked across an open area in the street. (Apostate Saul leaders from the old church and government are living after their lusts. 1Sam.9:2 ...Saul, a young man and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. The worldly look on the outward appearance but God looketh on the heart. 2 Pet.2:14 having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; enticing unstedfast souls; having a heart exercised in covetousness; children of cursing. ... 18 For, uttering great swelling [words] of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error.)  As we continued to walk around, we again passed by my church and some of the others wanted to go inside to see what they were teaching. I stayed outside on the sidewalk with another and when they came back out one woman said to us, “They aren't teaching what they should be in there” (The apostates will not be able to preach Christ and the Word or risk offending each other.) As she shook her head she seemed really annoyed with what she heard inside the church. My old church didn't look like it normally does. There was a section of it where you could walk right through it like it was hollow. (No substance of truth in church or government.) We continued walking as two of the women discussed what they heard in the church and the same woman was still upset. I started to depart from the others when one of the women spoke out to me, saying, “Be sure to read the passages about Martha and languages in the bible”. I responded nonchalantly, “Ok, I will”, and I walked away. At this point I awoke to my alarm clock.   (Martha represents a large portion of Christianity in that she was known for anxiety and busy works while her sister, Mary, sat at the feet of Jesus and learned of Him. Jesus said that this was the important thing to do in Luk 10:40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving; and she came up to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister did leave me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. 41 But the Lord answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and troubled about many things: 42 but one thing is needful: for Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.  The word about languages is a warning that God destroyed man's attempt to make a one-world religion and government at Babel by confusing their languages and He is going to do it again to modern Babel, which means “confusion”. Gen.11:7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8 So Jehovah scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because Jehovah did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did Jehovah scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.)     False Prophets Promote the Beast  Gideon Smith - 11/24/2009 (David's notes in red)  I had a very interesting dream; it is very profound to me and I know it's from God. In the dream, my wife and three daughters were sick and in a hospital. (The Church is where healing is supposed to be dispensed.) The doctors and nurses (ministers) were saying they needed more sugar. So then they were led to a floor below us (loss of stature or maturity). I noticed that they were giving them sweets such as donuts, candy and things like that. (Preachers and politicians are great at this.) The strange thing was they were giving it to them through a garbage shoot. (Garbage and bribery is found in both factions.) Sweets taste good to the flesh but will not do any good for the spiritual man. The world's methods for healing or salvation will not contribute any good to the body of Christ.   Being led downstairs brings Colossians 2:20-3:2 to mind. Col 2:20 If ye died with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, do ye subject yourselves to ordinances, 21 Handle not, nor taste, nor touch 22 (all which things are to perish with the using), after the precepts and doctrines of men? 23 Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and severity to the body; but are not of any value against the indulgence of the flesh. 3:1 If then ye were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are upon the earth.  The garbage shoot show that what they were receiving was weak and beggarly rudiments or principles of the world as it says in Gal 4:9 but now that ye have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how turn ye back again to the weak and beggarly rudiments, whereunto ye desire to be in bondage over again? When seeing this, I noticed that my wife and three daughters had come up stairs to see our new son (in reality, my son is already nine months old). (They were brought up out of bondage to heavenly places when they came up to see the man-child of Rev.12.) When they arrived, I met them and we began to look around the maternity ward and I noticed all the babies were inside incubators that were full of sugary, powdery substances that covered the babies. These looked very underdeveloped, dark and unhealthy. (The babies in the incubators were premature; they could not grow into the man-child; they were full of the powdery, sugary substance which will kill them spiritually.)  Then we went to see my son, whose name is Luke, and he was huge. He was sitting up on his own outside of the incubator, perfectly healthy, and when I looked closer I saw that he was completely covered in blood and there were no wounds or harm to him. (The man-child was covered in the blood; he was fully mature and did not need an incubator to breathe. In fact, he could sit up on his own because he was covered in the blood and cleansed from all the things that the other babies were dying in.)  Then the whole hospital and staff turned on the TVs and there was this big announcement being made by Donald Rumsfeld or some other politician, saying that they had created something great and wonderful. (When looking on Wikipedia, I learned that Donald means “ruler of the world”. WOW. (The immature church and false ministers feed the people the doctrine of the beast kingdom.) The great thing I saw was a spirit. Heb 1:7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels winds [Greek: spirits], And his ministers a flame a fire. This is exactly what I saw, except for in this case it was a body of fallen angels or spirits. (The corporate spirit of the Beast from the pit inhabits the world beast body of both secular and religious people.)  Everyone seemed to be glued to the TV, watching this creation of some sort being introduced. So as they watched, I was taken to the clouds and saw this “great thing” that they were speaking of and it was a gigantic pillar of fire with a fiery flame on top, flying up from the earth and passing the clouds into the atmosphere, but it fell down to the earth. (The fake pillar of fire was to lead the people through the dark wilderness tribulation.) Then I was taken to the earth where I saw its form from another perspective. I saw this pillar of fire, which seemed to be full of winds that kept its flame burning. It was stretched from the ground all the way to the sky. Then I saw what was on top of it and, to my surprise, it was the same image that is on The Beast Is Everywhere article on the UBM website, except the circle in the middle of the two horns was like the all-seeing eye on the back of the dollar bill. (The world and the worldly Christians will worship the golden calf, the false Jesus of Ra, at the command of the false prophets -- the two horns of Rev.13.)  Then, after seeing this, I was back in the hospital with my brother beside me, who saw the same image as I did but no one else did. I urgently told him three times, “That's Ra”.(The ancient Egyptian sun god; the false Son of God or Antichrist Beast. Warning others of a false image of deity for three years.) Then, as the people were watching the news of this “great thing”, I began to warn them and tell them that this is the seven-headed, 10-horned beast.  The people in the hospital began to listen to me. (Those who were coming out of the institutional church.) I noticed my wife was shaking her head, telling me not to speak about it anymore to them; even though I felt led to keep talking, I stopped. (The worldly mother church will not want the truth to be proclaimed to their people.)  Then I woke up from the dream. When I woke up and told my wife the dream, she apologized for what she did in the dream.     Deceived By a False Jesus  B.A. - 09/09/2011 (David's notes in red)  I dreamed that I was walking down the street and I saw some people going up to people on the street and asking them if they would like to be in the audience of a new game show. I kept watching as these people were drawing a large crowd by telling people they could win a house, car, boat, trips, money, etc. (This represents prosperity, love of the world, personal gain, bribery by the flesh, Christianity.) When they got all the people they needed to fill the audience, they took them all inside the darkly lit building. They gave each person a sheet of paper with a number on it and had them all sit down. I saw an elderly man complaining as they handed him his paper. He told them he did not want to be in the audience, that he was brought into the building by force. They made him take the paper anyway and two men took him to his seat and told him to sit down. (The New World Order and its religion will take authority over all. The more mature Christians do not enjoy playing the worldly games with the apostates.)  Then, the game show host came on stage and called out three numbers to select three contestants. A young man was selected, then a middle-aged man, then the older man who didn't want to be there. (Notice these ranged from the less mature to the more mature) The three contestants were taken into a small room and told to wait there. The first contestant was brought out and given a card with three questions on it. (Notice that those in control supplied the questions. They didn't want to trip up their fake Jesus'.) Across from the contestant were three men. The object of the game was for the contestant to guess the REAL JESUS from among these three.   The contestant had one question he was to ask each Jesus. The contestant asked his question to each of the three Jesus', then the game show host told him it was time to select the real Jesus. The contestant chose Jesus number one. Jesus number one jumped up and said, “You are right”. Then the game show host told the contestant that he had won a new house. There was a lot of applause and music and celebration. (Everyone has a different Jesus that they chose for the sake of fleshly advantage, usually so they can continue in pet sins. This worldly Jesus always gets the applause of the worldly.) Contestant number one was led off the stage into the “winners' room” (I noticed this room was painted red on the inside) and told he had to wait there until the show was over.  Contestant number two was brought out and again he was given a card with three questions. He asked his three questions to each of the three Jesus'. He chose Jesus number two. Jesus number two jumped up and exclaimed, “You are right!” The game show host then told the contestant that he had won a beautiful, new shiny car. Again, there was much applause, music and celebration. Then, contestant number two was led to the winners' room and told to stay there until the game was over. (In other words, whoever you chose is the true Jesus to you. This worldly contest put on by the forces of darkness represents the test to see who will follow antichrist, which is any other false Christ. “Anti” not only means “against”, it means “in the place of”.)  Then, contestant number three was led onto the stage and given his card. I noticed the contestant look at the questions first and then he looked up at each one of the three Jesus'. He had a look of distaste on his face and I could sense hesitation to even ask these men the three questions. (The mature who respect the Word have come to recognize the real Jesus.) The game show host told him he was holding up the show and needed to ask the questions, so he did. When he finished asking the questions, the game show host asked him to pick the real Jesus. The old man sat there a minute, then he pointed to Jesus number one and said, “You can't be the real Jesus because you are dressed in OFF-WHITE and the real Jesus would not be dressed in off-white. Our Lord's garment is bright and shining”. (The real Jesus believes and acts on true holiness. He does not wink at sin.)   He then pointed to Jesus number two who was dressed in all black. The old man said, “You can't be the real Jesus because the REAL Jesus has no darkness in him”. (And neither does a real disciple who recognizes darkness when he sees it.) He then pointed to Jesus number three who was dressed in off-white and black. He said, “You can't be the real Jesus because your garments are spotted. The real Jesus is spotless and without blemish”. (Biblical discernment will save some from idolatry and destruction. The wise and mature recognize and are hating even the garment spotted by the flesh Jud.23.)  The old man then turned and faced the TV camera and began to tell the people who were watching by television not to be deceived by these false Christs. (“The righteous are as bold as a lion”.) The game show host ran over to the TV camera and tried to unplug it. When he got about a foot away, a bolt of lightning shot across the room and hit him and rolled him off the stage. Two men then came up and tried to take the old man off the stage. Again, lightning shot across the stage and hit those two men and threw them to the back of the room. The old man then focused on the audience; he told them to get out of the building quickly, lest any more of them get caught up in this evil deception. (Get out of the buildings of those who have an “anything goes” Jesus. The mature Christians will get the Word of this deception out, despite attempts by the Harlot and Beast to stop them. God's power will see to it.)  The two men who had been hit by lightning ran over to the winners' room to get the two winners. They led them to a door that read “ONE WAY” in big black letters with a red arrow pointing down (to hell) and told them they had to go through that door to get their rewards. (There is one way for the righteous and the wicked. Those who deny Jesus for fleshly rewards will get the rewards of the flesh.) The winners opened the door (I noticed the winners opened the door and not those two men) and stepped into a large foyer. (No one can send you to hell for following antichrist but you.) They could hear laughter and music and were excited to claim their prizes. All of a sudden, the laughter and music stopped and the lights were turned off. The room filled with a sulfur-like stench and they had trouble trying to breathe the air. They tried to run back to the door to get out, but the door had disappeared; then, all of a sudden, the floor parted in the middle and they started falling down. Then I awoke from the dream. (Pro.14:12) There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; But the end thereof are the ways of death.  My thoughts: Unless we are filled with God's word and stay true to HIS word, we can be easily deceived and end up like contestants number one and two. We can be easily led away by false men and false doctrine. (Or have in our heart a false Jesus.) I know this for a fact, as it happened to me. I got caught up in the First Assembly of God and the “false revival movement” teaching there; then the Messianic Judaism false doctrine. I was so busy filling my days with idols that I didn't have enough of the Word in me to protect me from my enemies. Only by the grace of God was I led away from these things. This dream made me more determined than ever to study God's word and to pray for understanding, wisdom and knowledge and to pray for discernment.  I can't stress enough how important it is for us to get God's Word deep into our hearts. There's so much deception out there and we MUST prepare ourselves.

Psalm 62 (Listen) My Soul Waits for God Alone To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. 62:1   For God alone my soul waits in silence;    from him comes my salvation.2   He alone is my rock and my salvation,    my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. 3   How long will all of you attack a man    to batter him,    like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?4   They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.    They take pleasure in falsehood.  They bless with their mouths,    but inwardly they curse. Selah 5   For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,    for my hope is from him.6   He only is my rock and my salvation,    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.7   On God rests my salvation and my glory;    my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 8   Trust in him at all times, O people;    pour out your heart before him;    God is a refuge for us. Selah 9   Those of low estate are but a breath;    those of high estate are a delusion;  in the balances they go up;    they are together lighter than a breath.10   Put no trust in extortion;    set no vain hopes on robbery;    if riches increase, set not your heart on them. 11   Once God has spoken;    twice have I heard this:  that power belongs to God,12     and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.  For you will render to a man    according to his work. (ESV)

Quote of The Day: "Once God forgives you, don't allow anyone to hold you hostage to their own judgement." ~ Keion Henderson  Hosts: TOLA Omoniyi, Kanyinsola Omojola

Transcript: Hello, this is Pastor Don of Christ Redeemer Church. Welcome to The Kingdom Perspective! Several years ago, Dr. Gregg Henriques of James Madison University wrote an article in Psychology Today that caught my attention. It was called “The Justification Hypothesis”. Dr. Henriques is known for his Unified Theory of Knowledge, which is an attempt to have a more interconnected vision of how science, psychology and philosophy are related. His theory consists of eight key ideas, the second of which he entitles Justification Systems Theory. Now, far be it from me to detail the intricacies of his theory. Nonetheless, a statement from the Psychology Today article is worth consideration. He writes:“Look around and you will see systems and processes of justification everywhere in human affairs…. Other animals communicate, struggle for dominance, and form alliances. But they don't justify why they do what they do. We are the justifying animal.”~“The Justification Hypothesis” by Gregg Henriques Ph.D. in Psychology Today; James Madison University To me, this forces the question: Why are human beings unique among all creatures in our propensity to give justification—to give reasons for why we do what we do to provide defense for our motives and actions? I think the Bible gives us the answer. It tells us that human beings are uniquely made in the image of God and given a unique moral duty before Him. Having this innate sense of moral duty to God's Law, we intuitively know we are accountable to Him—that we will have to give an account of every thought, word, and deed. We will be required to justify our lives before the courtroom of heaven. And that's something to think about from The Kingdom Perspective. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'”~Genesis 2:15-17 (ESV) “Once God has spoken; twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God, and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For you will render to a man according to his work.”~Psalm 62:11-12 (ESV)

Once God starts a work in you and fills you with the Holy Spirit, He takes you on a journey. The baptism in the Holy Spirit will empower you to handle any situation in life. On this Pentecost weekend, the Holy Spirit wants to guide you in His power and the authority of Jesus; to be an influence that will bless those around you.

Psalm 9 & 10 have a close relationship, so much so the Septuagint treats them as one. The acrostic structure that begins in Ps 9 continues into Ps 10, linking them together. They also have similar terminology & themes. But each stands by itself. Ps 9 is a Thanksgiving Psalm, whereas Ps 10 is more a lament. The title of both Psalms, giving the key to their fulfilment, is 'the Death of the Son' which points to the work of Messiah, the Son of God (Ps 2:7), who was prophesied to become a Man, the Seed of the Woman, to take our sin and suffer death to save us, and then crush the enemy underfoot in His resurrection (Gen 3:15). In this way, He lays the basis for the salvation of those who receive Him, and for establishing His Kingdom on earth. In this way, Ps 9 continues on from the messianic revelation of Ps 8, and this connection is confirmed by the mention of the NAME of the Lord (9:2), as in Ps 8:1,9. Thus the death of the Messiah, the Son of God is the basis for the ultimate fulfilment spoken of in these Psalms. Ps 9 is a Thanksgiving Psalm, but whereas thanksgiving is usually for the Lord's mercies, here it is mostly for His Righteous Judgments, that in a world full of wickedness and oppression, God will set things right, punish the wicked and restore the oppressed, and right all wrongs. David starts by praising God with all his heart, proclaiming all His wonderful works, rejoicing in His salvation and singing praise to His Name or revealed nature (v1,2). He then thanks God for how He'd fought for him in the past and will fight for him in his future battles, acknowledging God's Presence with him was the key to his victories, causing his enemies to retreat, fall and be defeated before him (v3). God had supported David in his cause; judging in his favour as the Judge of Righteousness, only because he had submitted to God and His cause (v4). Likewise, when we first submit to God, He gives us more of His grace (presence), so that when we resist the enemy, he will will flee from us (Jam 4:6-7). Then in v5-6 looks at the bigger picture and declares the future final judgments of the Day of the Lord, just before God's Kingdom is established on earth. He uses the prophetic perfect tense to emphasise these prophecies are certain to come to pass. He announces the final destruction of the wicked, blotting out their name forever. Once God's Kingdom is established, the wicked and their earthly kingdoms will be forgotten, and the wicked will be blotted out of God's Book of Life. God's enemies, who'd destroyed many cities, will themselves be destroyed, so that they can no longer destroy others. Even their memory will perish. This will be fulfilled when all the kingdoms of this world will be destroyed at Christ's 2nd Coming, when He'll establish His Kingdom on the earth. By contrast with the reign of the wicked, the Lord & His Kingdom will endure forever; He'll judge the nations from His throne (v7). "He shall judge the world in righteousness" (v8) - in Acts 17:31, Paul quotes this verse, claiming it will be fulfilled by Jesus Christ: “He has appointed a Day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the MAN whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by RAISING Him from the DEAD.” This shows Paul understood the messianic nature of this Psalm, as revealed by its Title - that the Lord who will ultimately reign as King & Judge over the whole world, is Christ, the Son of God, who'll first become a man and die and rise again. Then, David offers thanksgiving for the salvation of God's people, who trust in the Messiah, who is a refuge for the oppressed, who call upon Him in times of trouble (v9). 'Trouble' is a rare word describing being in despair, cut off from all hope. Christ is also our Refuge from the Divine Judgment that we deserve for our sins. In His death, He became our Atonement (Covering), taking God's righteous judgment upon Himself, so that those who trust (take refuge) in Him are saved (as in the picture of Noah's Ark). Then he describes how believers can enjoy a growing intimate personal relationship with the Lord: "Those who KNOW Your Name will put their TRUST in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who SEEK You" (v10). We should be those who continually SEEK Him, for those who SEEK Him will FIND Him (Matt 7:7-8), for He will reward us by revealing more and more of Himself to us (Heb 11:6), so that we will personally KNOW Him more, and KNOW His Name (His nature, love, faithfulness, salvation - Jesus is the ultimate revelation of His Name), and the more we KNOW Him, the more we'll be able to TRUST in Him and receive from Him. We determine how close we are to God and how much faith we have, because it is up to us to SEEK Him (Matt 6:33). "If we draw near to God, He will draw near to us" (Jam 4:8). You show how close you want to be to the Lord by how much you seek Him, and He will fulfil your heart's desire accordingly.

Psalm 9 & 10 have a close relationship, so much so the Septuagint treats them as one. The acrostic structure that begins in Ps 9 continues into Ps 10, linking them together. They also have similar terminology & themes. But each stands by itself. Ps 9 is a Thanksgiving Psalm, whereas Ps 10 is more a lament. The title of both Psalms, giving the key to their fulfilment, is 'the Death of the Son' which points to the work of Messiah, the Son of God (Ps 2:7), who was prophesied to become a Man, the Seed of the Woman, to take our sin and suffer death to save us, and then crush the enemy underfoot in His resurrection (Gen 3:15). In this way, He lays the basis for the salvation of those who receive Him, and for establishing His Kingdom on earth. In this way, Ps 9 continues on from the messianic revelation of Ps 8, and this connection is confirmed by the mention of the NAME of the Lord (9:2), as in Ps 8:1,9. Thus the death of the Messiah, the Son of God is the basis for the ultimate fulfilment spoken of in these Psalms. Ps 9 is a Thanksgiving Psalm, but whereas thanksgiving is usually for the Lord's mercies, here it is mostly for His Righteous Judgments, that in a world full of wickedness and oppression, God will set things right, punish the wicked and restore the oppressed, and right all wrongs. David starts by praising God with all his heart, proclaiming all His wonderful works, rejoicing in His salvation and singing praise to His Name or revealed nature (v1,2). He then thanks God for how He'd fought for him in the past and will fight for him in his future battles, acknowledging God's Presence with him was the key to his victories, causing his enemies to retreat, fall and be defeated before him (v3). God had supported David in his cause; judging in his favour as the Judge of Righteousness, only because he had submitted to God and His cause (v4). Likewise, when we first submit to God, He gives us more of His grace (presence), so that when we resist the enemy, he will will flee from us (Jam 4:6-7). Then in v5-6 looks at the bigger picture and declares the future final judgments of the Day of the Lord, just before God's Kingdom is established on earth. He uses the prophetic perfect tense to emphasise these prophecies are certain to come to pass. He announces the final destruction of the wicked, blotting out their name forever. Once God's Kingdom is established, the wicked and their earthly kingdoms will be forgotten, and the wicked will be blotted out of God's Book of Life. God's enemies, who'd destroyed many cities, will themselves be destroyed, so that they can no longer destroy others. Even their memory will perish. This will be fulfilled when all the kingdoms of this world will be destroyed at Christ's 2nd Coming, when He'll establish His Kingdom on the earth. By contrast with the reign of the wicked, the Lord & His Kingdom will endure forever; He'll judge the nations from His throne (v7). "He shall judge the world in righteousness" (v8) - in Acts 17:31, Paul quotes this verse, claiming it will be fulfilled by Jesus Christ: “He has appointed a Day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the MAN whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by RAISING Him from the DEAD.” This shows Paul understood the messianic nature of this Psalm, as revealed by its Title - that the Lord who will ultimately reign as King & Judge over the whole world, is Christ, the Son of God, who'll first become a man and die and rise again. Then, David offers thanksgiving for the salvation of God's people, who trust in the Messiah, who is a refuge for the oppressed, who call upon Him in times of trouble (v9). 'Trouble' is a rare word describing being in despair, cut off from all hope. Christ is also our Refuge from the Divine Judgment that we deserve for our sins. In His death, He became our Atonement (Covering), taking God's righteous judgment upon Himself, so that those who trust (take refuge) in Him are saved (as in the picture of Noah's Ark). Then he describes how believers can enjoy a growing intimate personal relationship with the Lord: "Those who KNOW Your Name will put their TRUST in You; for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who SEEK You" (v10). We should be those who continually SEEK Him, for those who SEEK Him will FIND Him (Matt 7:7-8), for He will reward us by revealing more and more of Himself to us (Heb 11:6), so that we will personally KNOW Him more, and KNOW His Name (His nature, love, faithfulness, salvation - Jesus is the ultimate revelation of His Name), and the more we KNOW Him, the more we'll be able to TRUST in Him and receive from Him. We determine how close we are to God and how much faith we have, because it is up to us to SEEK Him (Matt 6:33). "If we draw near to God, He will draw near to us" (Jam 4:8). You show how close you want to be to the Lord by how much you seek Him, and He will fulfil your heart's desire accordingly.

1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. What a powerful verse of encouragement we have today from 1 John 3:14. Living to love with Jesus reveals that we have eternal life. Let's notice that everyone who is born into this world is born dead. We abide in and remain in a state of separation from God, death, until we are given eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Those who have eternal life, have Jesus, Himself, dwelling in them. Once God gave us the Holy Spirit, the very presence and power of Christ, to abide in us, we passed out of death into life—life eternal. John states very plainly how one knows he has passed out of death into life—he loves the brethren. He loves because Jesus loves the brethren in and through him. That's the sign of life—loving with Jesus. Without the love of Christ evident in the life, we know that person doesn't have life, they abide in death. They are literally, dead men walking through this world. That's the state we all would be in if it were not for the great mercy and love of God. Those who experience God's love are changed. The primary change is the implanted desire and ability to love their brothers and sisters in Christ. So if you are seeing Jesus love through you on a regular basis (not saying you love perfectly), then you have eternal life and have passed from death to life. That's worth celebrating and rejoicing in today and everyday, don't you think? Please join with me in doing so. Father, we are so grateful for the riches of Your mercy because of Your great love with which You have loved us, that has rescued us from death and given us life in Your Son. We love Your life and Your love. We love living to love with You. Thank you for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you for the opportunities you give us to share Your love for them. We are so blessed and give You glory. Amen.

Curtis comments on several video clips that expose the deliberate move in our health system to stop helping people live long and healthy lives and instead create sick, prescription-dependent individuals. Once God has been dethroned, humans have been demoted, and the climate cult has decreed that we are a “disease” on the planet, everything they are doing makes sense. There is much we must do to rebuild a culture of life; in the meantime, we need to create alternative options for health emergencies. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/curtisbowers/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/curtisbowers/support

Daily Dose of Hope May 1, 2024 Day 4 of Week 5   Scripture – Exodus 10-12; Ephesians 2   Welcome to the Daily Dose of Hope, New Hope Church's devotional that complements our Bible reading plan.  Remember to give me your feedback and let me know what you are learning and how God is speaking to you through the reading.    Let's move to our Exodus text for today, chapters 10-12.  In these chapters, we encounter more plagues.  With each one, we have the same pattern as before.  God tells Moses to go to Pharoah and tell him to release the Hebrew people so that they can worship God.  Pharoah refuses and a plague is released upon the land.  After a lot of grief and destruction, Pharoah demonstrates remorse and calls Moses back, asking for forgiveness and relief from the plague.    But at the end of chapter 10, we sense something different is going to happen.  The plague of darkness is Moses' last attempt to compromise with Pharoah.  When Pharoah sends Moses and Aaron away this time, Moses is clear, “Just as you say,” Moses replied. “I will never appear before you again.” But Pharoah has no idea what is coming.  His repeated acts of pride and disobedience will have dire consequences for him and his people.  More on that story tomorrow.   Let's talk about Ephesians 2.  Central to our belief as Christians is that Jesus was not only resurrected but also exalted to a high place.  In fact, he sits at the right hand of the Father.  The amazing thing is that we as believers receive new life in Christ AND we also are exalted with him in the heavenly realms.  Paul states that the purpose of this is that we can be shown the incomparable riches of his grace.  Think about that for a moment.  The Message translation says it a different way: Once God has us where he wants us, he will have all the time in the world to "shower grace and kindness upon us."  Both sound absolutely marvelous.  We get to know and experience Jesus' amazing love for us right now.  We are exalted with him and he continues to shower us with grace and love. Wow.   But there is more.  Our salvation is totally and completely based on faith and nothing else.  We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus alone.  There is nothing else needed to be saved.  At the time Paul wrote this, there were plenty of people who said that circumcision and following the law were also necessary to be saved.  Paul has made it clear that NOTHING else is needed-we are saved by the amazing grace of Jesus and all we have to do is have faith.  God knows us well and he did this so that we couldn't brag about our salvation because it was totally his doing and not ours.  Again, wow.   One more thing from today's reading - we are God's handiwork.  Other translations say "masterpiece."  We are created by God to do good things that God designed us specifically to do.  If you needed a Scripture to illustrate the phrase "God don't make no junk," this could be it.  You are God's masterpiece.  He lovingly designed you.  You are not a random experiment.  He had YOU in mind when he made you.  Your gifts and talents were also not random but were given to you by God to do good things for his world.  You are a masterpiece and you have a purpose.  Let that sink in. Have a great day.  We'll talk again tomorrow.   Blessings, Pastor Vicki

Dave Brisbin 3.3.24 Decades ago, I met a Christian who converted to Judaism, eventually becoming a first century Jewish follower of Jesus. He spoke of his personal theology, a stated set of personal beliefs. I'd never considered such a thing. Growing up Catholic, theology belonged to the church, as if God had written it, and the church discovered it, parceling it out each Sunday. Unquestionably true, the idea of a personal theology was blasphemous. We had no permission to think personally. Yet here's Jesus overturning tables in the temple and cursing a fig tree for having no fruit. Both stories pointing to the fact that the Jewish system of his day had become bankrupt, fruitless, unable to guide its people to authentic spiritual encounter. Jesus gave himself permission to explore his own beliefs, lived and taught out of that conviction, exposing the defects of his tradition. And where did that tradition come from? If you roll back any religion to its inception, you get to one person. A person who had life changing spiritual experience, which they lived and taught and people followed. All theologies begin as personal theologies—attempts to express an inexpressible experience of the infinite in a finite life. But when we come to that religion as a follower, what we experience first is the expression as it has been handed down, not the experience. Heresay…which won't be useful unless or until it guides us to our own experience. Once theology becomes institutionalized, it becomes a closed loop, no longer pointing to life changing experience, but to its own law and ritual, as if they were such experience themselves. Any theology only become useful once it has become personal. Once you've memorized the phone number, you can burn the slip of paper. Once the law is written on your heart, you can forget the rules. The purpose of theology is to catch God. Once God is caught, theology can be forgotten—we can meet God without a middleman. But we'll never know this until we give ourselves permission to get personal. Permission will never be granted to overturn our tables of old thinking or kill our trees of unfruitful action.

Dave Brisbin 3.3.24 Decades ago, I met a Christian who converted to Judaism, eventually becoming a first century Jewish follower of Jesus. He spoke of his personal theology, a stated set of personal beliefs. I'd never considered such a thing. Growing up Catholic, theology belonged to the church, as if God had written it, and the church discovered it, parceling it out each Sunday. Unquestionably true, the idea of a personal theology was blasphemous. We had no permission to think personally. Yet here's Jesus overturning tables in the temple and cursing a fig tree for having no fruit. Both stories pointing to the fact that the Jewish system of his day had become bankrupt, fruitless, unable to guide its people to authentic spiritual encounter. Jesus gave himself permission to explore his own beliefs, lived and taught out of that conviction, exposing the defects of his tradition. And where did that tradition come from? If you roll back any religion to its inception, you get to one person. A person who had life changing spiritual experience, which they lived and taught and people followed. All theologies begin as personal theologies—attempts to express an inexpressible experience of the infinite in a finite life. But when we come to that religion as a follower, what we experience first is the expression as it has been handed down, not the experience. Heresay…which won't be useful unless or until it guides us to our own experience. Once theology becomes institutionalized, it becomes a closed loop, no longer pointing to life changing experience, but to its own law and ritual, as if they were such experience themselves. Any theology only become useful once it has become personal. Once you've memorized the phone number, you can burn the slip of paper. Once the law is written on your heart, you can forget the rules. The purpose of theology is to catch God. Once God is caught, theology can be forgotten—we can meet God without a middleman. But we'll never know this until we give ourselves permission to get personal. Permission will never be granted to overturn our tables of old thinking or kill our trees of unfruitful action.

Genesis 42 - 4:58 . Genesis 43 - 12:02 . Psalm 21 - 18:16 . At the end of our last episode, Joseph had just emerged from prison to interpret Pharaoh's dream. After predicting years of abundance followed by years of famine, Joseph suggests that Pharaoh appoint someone wise to oversee the collection of crops to sustain the population during years of famine. After losing it all when he was falsely accused of assault by Potiphar's wife, he now gains more than ever could have dreamed when Pharaoh appoints him to this noble position. Actually, I take that back: it's exactly how he dreamed, because the Lord revealed to him what would take place before he was betrayed by his brothers. Once God's plan becomes clear, the Scriptures say that Joseph forgets his former trouble. :::Christian Standard Bible translation.All music written and produced by John Burgess Ross.Co-produced by the Christian Standard Bible.facebook.com/commuterbibleinstagram.com/commuter_bibletwitter.com/CommuterPodpatreon.com/commuterbibleadmin@commuterbible.org

Jesus said to the crowds: “This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man were to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how. Mark 4:26–27It's beautiful to reflect upon how the Word of God changes people's lives. This short passage above analogizes the sharing of the Word of God with the planting of seed. The sower goes forth and scatters seed into the ground and then observes how that seed grows into a fruitful plant. The mysterious line states “he knows not how.”So it is with the Word of God. When that Word is received by another, we are blessed to be able to stand back and watch as that Word takes root and transforms their lives. Of course, at times we may sow the Word and it doesn't take root. This is on account of either the hardness of another's heart or on account of the way in which we sow. But when the seed of God's Word does take root, we should be in awe of how God works in that soul.Think about this reality in your own life. How did you first receive the good seed of God's word? Perhaps it was through a sermon, a retreat, the reading of Scripture, a book or the witness of another. Think about how you first received God's Word into your life and what effect it had upon you.Once God's Word has taken root in a soul, it is a holy practice to “rise night and day” so as to observe this seed as it grows. Specifically, we must allow ourselves to be amazed at the mysterious way that a life is changed, be it your own life or the life of another. It's inspiring to observe the soul of a person as it begins to root out sin, to seek virtue, to establish a life of prayer and to grow in the love of God.If this is something to which you find it hard to relate, then perhaps it's time to either allow that seed of God's Word to fall gently and deeply into the fertile ground of your own soul or to prayerfully look for ways in which God wants to use you to sow that seed into the heart of another. Doing the latter takes much openness to the working of the Holy Spirit. It requires that we allow God to inspire us so as to know how we can cooperate with His hand in evangelization.Reflect, today, upon the “mystery” of a soul who goes through this process of change and spiritual growth. If you find it difficult to find such an example to ponder, then turn to the lives of the saints. The saints are among the greatest witnesses of those who allowed God's Word to sink deeply into their lives so that they became new creations, transformed by God's grace. Ponder this transforming witness and allow yourself to be drawn into gratitude and amazement as you do. My transforming Lord, I thank You for the way that You have sown the seed of Your holy Word into my own life. I thank You for the way in which You have changed me, freed me from sin and set me on the path to holiness. Use me, dear Lord, to sow that seed in the lives of others and fill me with wonder and awe as I witness Your merciful hand at work. Jesus, I trust in You.Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.Featured image above: The Sower By Jean-François Millet, via Wikimedia Commons

Jesus decided to go to Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” John 1:43–45Recall that in the previous passage of John's Gospel, Andrew had gone to his brother Peter to tell him that he had found the Messiah. As a result, Peter went to see Jesus and also became His disciple. We have a similar story in today's Gospel passage that happens shortly after the story in John's Gospel. After Jesus called Philip to be a disciple, Philip immediately went to find his brother, Nathanael, to tell him the good news. As a result, once Nathanael has a brief encounter with Jesus, Nathanael converts, saying, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”In a sense, we can say that conversion is contagious. Once God calls a good and humble soul to follow Him and that soul responds, that person is almost always compelled to share their conversion with others whom they love. And when they share the conversion of their heart with another, their loved one will often become intrigued themselves, possibly even converting.Conversion is indeed contagious! This is because when we come to know God, fall in love with Him and choose to follow Him, the joy and conviction of our conversion of heart are things we naturally want to share with others. We want others to experience the spiritual peace and joy we have found by discovering Christ with us.So this begs the question: Has your love of God affected others in your life? If the answer is “Yes,” then this is something to be grateful for. But if the answer is “No,” then perhaps it's worth pondering why not. Though it may not at all be your fault, it's good to examine whether you have first allowed yourself to truly experience a deep conversion to Christ and then to ponder whether you have been open to sharing your heart with others.So begin with the first question. Have you allowed yourself to truly go through a conversion to Christ? A conversion will take on varying degrees. At first, a conversion changes the direction of our lives by opening our eyes to see what truly matters in life. We discover the glory of God and the fulfillment that comes from embracing His will. When this happens, the initially converted soul will often begin to turn from all serious sin, to pray, to read the Scriptures, and to manifest these changes to others.But conversions are not only a one-time event. Saint John of the Cross, for example, goes to much length to explain that as a person advances in the life of holiness, there will be a time when they must go through a whole new conversion. Their following of Christ will draw them to another and more profound change in life. Don't be content with only an initial conversion. Seek also the ongoing process of change that is required by a commitment to follow Christ.As for the second question, whether or not your own conversion has inspired those you love to follow Christ, simply pray that God uses you as He wills. Be open to Him, do not be afraid to share your heart, and work to allow the joy of following Christ to radiate from your own life. If others are open, then God will touch them through you. Reflect, today, upon these two fundamental questions of the spiritual life and recommit yourself to a lifelong process of change, as well as an openness to allowing God to touch others through you. In the end, these two things are all that really matter in life and for eternity. Lord of all holiness, please continuously draw me closer to You. Help me to convert in my life, to turn from all sin and to choose to follow You with all my heart. Help me, also, to be open in my faith journey so that others will see all that You are doing in me and receive Your invitation, through me, to follow You. Jesus, I trust in You. Source of content: catholic-daily-reflections.comCopyright © 2024 My Catholic Life! Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission via RSS feed.

Once God's gift of a spirit of supplication showers down upon believers, we will find ourselves praying for holiness, godliness and purity. This will bring a great awakening!Subscribe to daily devotions e-mails: https://wcm.link/ddsub

KIB 420 – Through the Shaking to the Promise Kingdom Intelligence Briefing   In Judges 12:1-7, we read a story that could be reflected in today's headlines regarding the Church.  The Ammonites threatened God's people.  There was a leader of the Gileadites named Jephthah.  Almighty God had raised Jephthah as a judge to deal with this threat.  Jephthah had reached out to the tribe of Ephraim for assistance, but Ephraim refused to assist him.  Once God gave Jephthah the victory, Ephraim rose in jealousy and threatened to burn his house down with him and his family in it.  Jealousness among ministries and leaders is still common today.  We need to move beyond the works of the flesh and become Kingdom-oriented in all we do to move on to God's promises!   Dr. Michael K. Lake is the Chancellor and Founder of Biblical Life College and Seminary. He is the scholar-in-residence for the Strategic Remnant Learning Center – Biblical Life Assembly.  Dr. Lake is the author of the best-selling books, The Shinar Directive:  Preparing the Way for the Son of Perdition, The Sheeriyth Imperative:  Empowering the Remnant to Overcome the Gates of Hell, The Kingdom Priesthood: Preparing and Equipping the Remnant Priesthood for the Last Days, and The Kingdom Warrior: Full-Spectrum Spiritual Warfare 1.  He is a popular speaker at national Christian conferences and is a frequent guest on many Christian TV and radio/podcast programs in North America.    Mary Lou Lake has worked side-by-side with her husband in ministry for over 35 years and is the author of the book What Witches Don't Want Christians to Know – Expanded Edition. 

Friends, Once God promises you something or assigns you something to do, He just doesn't give up. He knows how much is riding on your obedience. God wants to help you obey Him. Take a listen. You'll be encouraged. www.josephbarlow.com/partner --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/joseph-barlow/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/joseph-barlow/support

My name is Sonny and I've had a few people say that I live up to my name, which is an honor, but I come from a family of prayer warriors. My mom, my aunts, my cousins would lift me in prayer in my knucklehead days asking God to protect me as I was living a very wayward lifestyle. Then God sent me a woman who was truly filled with grace, a woman who I believe was sent the calm the savage beast inside of me, my best friend and wife of 25 years. I share all of this to say, if you have a loved one who has veered away from God, keep praying for them, don't give up. It doesn't matter how far they, or you, have run. Once God's grace gets into your heart, a transformation of the best kind happens, and to that you can only say, “To God be the glory!”

We may hear people say things like "and then I found God", or "I found God when I..." - but what if it's the other way around? In part three of "Come As You Are", Pastor Joe teaches us that from the beginning of time God is the one who has been seeking us out. We simply have to accept His love and begin a relationship with Him! But that's not where things end. Once God finds us, we are then able to reach out to other people who need His love - which is everyone we meet!

We may hear people say things like "and then I found God", or "I found God when I..." - but what if it's the other way around? In part three of "Come As You Are", Pastor Joe teaches us that from the beginning of time God is the one who has been seeking us out. We simply have to accept His love and begin a relationship with Him! But that's not where things end. Once God finds us, we are then able to reach out to other people who need His love - which is everyone we meet!

Proper 26 First Psalm: Psalms 61–62 Psalms 61–62 (Listen) Lead Me to the Rock To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. Of David. 61   Hear my cry, O God,    listen to my prayer;2   from the end of the earth I call to you    when my heart is faint.  Lead me to the rock    that is higher than I,3   for you have been my refuge,    a strong tower against the enemy. 4   Let me dwell in your tent forever!    Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah5   For you, O God, have heard my vows;    you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. 6   Prolong the life of the king;    may his years endure to all generations!7   May he be enthroned forever before God;    appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him! 8   So will I ever sing praises to your name,    as I perform my vows day after day. My Soul Waits for God Alone To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. 62   For God alone my soul waits in silence;    from him comes my salvation.2   He alone is my rock and my salvation,    my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. 3   How long will all of you attack a man    to batter him,    like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?4   They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.    They take pleasure in falsehood.  They bless with their mouths,    but inwardly they curse. Selah 5   For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,    for my hope is from him.6   He only is my rock and my salvation,    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.7   On God rests my salvation and my glory;    my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 8   Trust in him at all times, O people;    pour out your heart before him;    God is a refuge for us. Selah 9   Those of low estate are but a breath;    those of high estate are a delusion;  in the balances they go up;    they are together lighter than a breath.10   Put no trust in extortion;    set no vain hopes on robbery;    if riches increase, set not your heart on them. 11   Once God has spoken;    twice have I heard this:  that power belongs to God,12     and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.  For you will render to a man    according to his work. (ESV) Second Psalm: Psalm 68 Psalm 68 (Listen) God Shall Scatter His Enemies To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song. 68   God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;    and those who hate him shall flee before him!2   As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;    as wax melts before fire,    so the wicked shall perish before God!3   But the righteous shall be glad;    they shall exult before God;    they shall be jubilant with joy! 4   Sing to God, sing praises to his name;    lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;  his name is the LORD;    exult before him!5   Father of the fatherless and protector of widows    is God in his holy habitation.6   God settles the solitary in a home;    he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,    but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. 7   O God, when you went out before your people,    when you marched through the wilderness, Selah8   the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,    before God, the One of Sinai,    before God,1 the God of Israel.9   Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;    you restored your inheritance as it languished;10   your flock2 found a dwelling in it;    in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy. 11   The Lord gives the word;    the women who announce the news are a great host:12     “The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”  The women at home divide the spoil—13     though you men lie among the sheepfolds—  the wings of a dove covered with silver,    its pinions with shimmering gold.14   When the Almighty scatters kings there,    let snow fall on Zalmon. 15   O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;    O many-peaked3 mountain, mountain of Bashan!16   Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,    at the mount that God desired for his abode,    yes, where the LORD will dwell forever?17   The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,    thousands upon thousands;    the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.18   You ascended on high,    leading a host of captives in your train    and receiving gifts among men,  even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there. 19   Blessed be the Lord,    who daily bears us up;    God is our salvation. Selah20   Our God is a God of salvation,    and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.21   But God will strike the heads of his enemies,    the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.22   The Lord said,    “I will bring them back from Bashan,  I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,23   that you may strike your feet in their blood,    that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.” 24   Your procession is4 seen, O God,    the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—25   the singers in front, the musicians last,    between them virgins playing tambourines:26   “Bless God in the great congregation,    the LORD, O you5 who are of Israel's fountain!”27   There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,    the princes of Judah in their throng,    the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. 28   Summon your power, O God,6    the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.29   Because of your temple at Jerusalem    kings shall bear gifts to you.30   Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds,    the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.  Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute;    scatter the peoples who delight in war.731   Nobles shall come from Egypt;    Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God. 32   O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;    sing praises to the Lord, Selah33   to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;    behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.34   Ascribe power to God,    whose majesty is over Israel,    and whose power is in the skies.35   Awesome is God from his8 sanctuary;    the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.  Blessed be God! Footnotes [1] 68:8 Or before God, even Sinai before God [2] 68:10 Or your congregation [3] 68:15 Or hunch-backed; also verse 16 [4] 68:24 Or has been [5] 68:26 The Hebrew for you is plural here [6] 68:28 By revocalization (compare Septuagint); Hebrew Your God has summoned your power [7] 68:30 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain [8] 68:35 Septuagint; Hebrew your (ESV) Old Testament: Nehemiah 12:27–31; Nehemiah 12:42–47 Nehemiah 12:27–31 (Listen) Dedication of the Wall 27 And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites in all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with gladness, with thanksgivings and with singing, with cymbals, harps, and lyres. 28 And the sons of the singers gathered together from the district surrounding Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites; 29 also from Beth-gilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, for the singers had built for themselves villages around Jerusalem. 30 And the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and they purified the people and the gates and the wall. 31 Then I brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and appointed two great choirs that gave thanks. One went to the south on the wall to the Dung Gate. (ESV) Nehemiah 12:42–47 (Listen) 42 and Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader. 43 And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. Service at the Temple 44 On that day men were appointed over the storerooms, the contributions, the firstfruits, and the tithes, to gather into them the portions required by the Law for the priests and for the Levites according to the fields of the towns, for Judah rejoiced over the priests and the Levites who ministered. 45 And they performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon. 46 For long ago in the days of David and Asaph there were directors of the singers, and there were songs1 of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 And all Israel in the days of Zerubbabel and in the days of Nehemiah gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers; and they set apart that which was for the Levites; and the Levites set apart that which was for the sons of Aaron. Footnotes [1] 12:46 Or leaders (ESV) New Testament: Revelation 11 Revelation 11 (Listen) The Two Witnesses 11 Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told, “Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there, 2 but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. 6 They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. 7 And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit1 will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically2 is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, 10 and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. 11 But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 14 The second woe has passed; behold, the third woe is soon to come. The Seventh Trumpet 15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.” 16 And the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying,   “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,    who is and who was,  for you have taken your great power    and begun to reign.18   The nations raged,    but your wrath came,    and the time for the dead to be judged,  and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,    and those who fear your name,    both small and great,  and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.” 19 Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. There were flashes of lightning, rumblings,3 peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. Footnotes [1] 11:7 Or the abyss [2] 11:8 Greek spiritually [3] 11:19 Or voices, or sounds (ESV) Gospel: Matthew 13:44–52 Matthew 13:44–52 (Listen) The Parable of the Hidden Treasure 44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. The Parable of the Net 47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. New and Old Treasures 51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” (ESV)

Contentment was the missing puzzle piece!! In Philippians 4:10-13, Paul writes about knowing how to live a life of contentment in any circumstance. However, what does that practically look like for a modern-day woman? Today, I'm sharing my journey to a lifestyle of contentment using three real-life examples as a stay-at-home mom/homemaker, business owner, and ministry wife. Whether or not you can relate to my personal examples, I pray you'll be able to take away gems that can be applied to your own life. Once God started to transform my mind and my heart, I discovered that contentment was the missing puzzle piece to the life I desperately wanted and needed - a life of peace, restoration, and authentic joy! Be encouraged! SCRIPTURES REFERENCED IN THE PODCAST: Psalms 46:5 Proverbs 31:25 Exodus 31:6 CONNECT WITH DESIRAE ACROSS THE WEB: DeKelisArtStudio.com/connect YouTube.com/@desiraeofori Desirae.Ofori@gmail.com

Psalms and Wisdom: Psalm 62 Psalm 62 (Listen) My Soul Waits for God Alone To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. 62   For God alone my soul waits in silence;    from him comes my salvation.2   He alone is my rock and my salvation,    my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. 3   How long will all of you attack a man    to batter him,    like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?4   They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.    They take pleasure in falsehood.  They bless with their mouths,    but inwardly they curse. Selah 5   For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,    for my hope is from him.6   He only is my rock and my salvation,    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.7   On God rests my salvation and my glory;    my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 8   Trust in him at all times, O people;    pour out your heart before him;    God is a refuge for us. Selah 9   Those of low estate are but a breath;    those of high estate are a delusion;  in the balances they go up;    they are together lighter than a breath.10   Put no trust in extortion;    set no vain hopes on robbery;    if riches increase, set not your heart on them. 11   Once God has spoken;    twice have I heard this:  that power belongs to God,12     and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.  For you will render to a man    according to his work. (ESV) Pentateuch and History: 2 Samuel 22–23:7 2 Samuel 22–23:7 (Listen) David's Song of Deliverance 22 And David spoke to the LORD the words of this song on the day when the LORD delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said,   “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,3     my1 God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,  my shield, and the horn of my salvation,    my stronghold and my refuge,    my savior; you save me from violence.4   I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,    and I am saved from my enemies. 5   “For the waves of death encompassed me,    the torrents of destruction assailed me;26   the cords of Sheol entangled me;    the snares of death confronted me. 7   “In my distress I called upon the LORD;    to my God I called.  From his temple he heard my voice,    and my cry came to his ears. 8   “Then the earth reeled and rocked;    the foundations of the heavens trembled    and quaked, because he was angry.9   Smoke went up from his nostrils,3    and devouring fire from his mouth;    glowing coals flamed forth from him.10   He bowed the heavens and came down;    thick darkness was under his feet.11   He rode on a cherub and flew;    he was seen on the wings of the wind.12   He made darkness around him his canopy,    thick clouds, a gathering of water.13   Out of the brightness before him    coals of fire flamed forth.14   The LORD thundered from heaven,    and the Most High uttered his voice.15   And he sent out arrows and scattered them;    lightning, and routed them.16   Then the channels of the sea were seen;    the foundations of the world were laid bare,  at the rebuke of the LORD,    at the blast of the breath of his nostrils. 17   “He sent from on high, he took me;    he drew me out of many waters.18   He rescued me from my strong enemy,    from those who hated me,    for they were too mighty for me.19   They confronted me in the day of my calamity,    but the LORD was my support.20   He brought me out into a broad place;    he rescued me, because he delighted in me. 21   “The LORD dealt with me according to my righteousness;    according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.22   For I have kept the ways of the LORD    and have not wickedly departed from my God.23   For all his rules were before me,    and from his statutes I did not turn aside.24   I was blameless before him,    and I kept myself from guilt.25   And the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness,    according to my cleanness in his sight. 26   “With the merciful you show yourself merciful;    with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;27   with the purified you deal purely,    and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.28   You save a humble people,    but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.29   For you are my lamp, O LORD,    and my God lightens my darkness.30   For by you I can run against a troop,    and by my God I can leap over a wall.31   This God—his way is perfect;    the word of the LORD proves true;    he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him. 32   “For who is God, but the LORD?    And who is a rock, except our God?33   This God is my strong refuge    and has made my4 way blameless.534   He made my feet like the feet of a deer    and set me secure on the heights.35   He trains my hands for war,    so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.36   You have given me the shield of your salvation,    and your gentleness made me great.37   You gave a wide place for my steps under me,    and my feet6 did not slip;38   I pursued my enemies and destroyed them,    and did not turn back until they were consumed.39   I consumed them; I thrust them through, so that they did not rise;    they fell under my feet.40   For you equipped me with strength for the battle;    you made those who rise against me sink under me.41   You made my enemies turn their backs to me,7    those who hated me, and I destroyed them.42   They looked, but there was none to save;    they cried to the LORD, but he did not answer them.43   I beat them fine as the dust of the earth;    I crushed them and stamped them down like the mire of the streets. 44   “You delivered me from strife with my people;8    you kept me as the head of the nations;    people whom I had not known served me.45   Foreigners came cringing to me;    as soon as they heard of me, they obeyed me.46   Foreigners lost heart    and came trembling9 out of their fortresses. 47   “The LORD lives, and blessed be my rock,    and exalted be my God, the rock of my salvation,48   the God who gave me vengeance    and brought down peoples under me,49   who brought me out from my enemies;    you exalted me above those who rose against me;    you delivered me from men of violence. 50   “For this I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations,    and sing praises to your name.51   Great salvation he brings10 to his king,    and shows steadfast love to his anointed,    to David and his offspring forever.” The Last Words of David 23 Now these are the last words of David:   The oracle of David, the son of Jesse,    the oracle of the man who was raised on high,  the anointed of the God of Jacob,    the sweet psalmist of Israel:11 2   “The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me;    his word is on my tongue.3   The God of Israel has spoken;    the Rock of Israel has said to me:  When one rules justly over men,    ruling in the fear of God,4   he dawns on them like the morning light,    like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,    like rain12 that makes grass to sprout from the earth. 5   “For does not my house stand so with God?    For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,    ordered in all things and secure.  For will he not cause to prosper    all my help and my desire?6   But worthless men13 are all like thorns that are thrown away,    for they cannot be taken with the hand;7   but the man who touches them    arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear,    and they are utterly consumed with fire.”14 Footnotes [1] 22:3 Septuagint (compare Psalm 18:2); Hebrew lacks my [2] 22:5 Or terrified me [3] 22:9 Or in his wrath [4] 22:33 Or his; also verse 34 [5] 22:33 Compare Psalm 18:32; Hebrew he has blamelessly set my way free, or he has made my way spring up blamelessly [6] 22:37 Hebrew ankles [7] 22:41 Or You gave me my enemies' necks [8] 22:44 Septuagint with the peoples [9] 22:46 Compare Psalm 18:45; Hebrew equipped themselves [10] 22:51 Or He is a tower of salvation [11] 23:1 Or the favorite of the songs of Israel [12] 23:4 Hebrew from rain [13] 23:6 Hebrew worthlessness [14] 23:7 Hebrew consumed with fire in the sitting (ESV) Chronicles and Prophets: Ezekiel 23 Ezekiel 23 (Listen) Oholah and Oholibah 23 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one mother. 3 They played the whore in Egypt; they played the whore in their youth; there their breasts were pressed and their virgin bosoms1 handled. 4 Oholah was the name of the elder and Oholibah the name of her sister. They became mine, and they bore sons and daughters. As for their names, Oholah is Samaria, and Oholibah is Jerusalem. 5 “Oholah played the whore while she was mine, and she lusted after her lovers the Assyrians, warriors 6 clothed in purple, governors and commanders, all of them desirable young men, horsemen riding on horses. 7 She bestowed her whoring upon them, the choicest men of Assyria all of them, and she defiled herself with all the idols of everyone after whom she lusted. 8 She did not give up her whoring that she had begun in Egypt; for in her youth men had lain with her and handled her virgin bosom and poured out their whoring lust upon her. 9 Therefore I delivered her into the hands of her lovers, into the hands of the Assyrians, after whom she lusted. 10 These uncovered her nakedness; they seized her sons and her daughters; and as for her, they killed her with the sword; and she became a byword among women, when judgment had been executed on her. 11 “Her sister Oholibah saw this, and she became more corrupt than her sister2 in her lust and in her whoring, which was worse than that of her sister. 12 She lusted after the Assyrians, governors and commanders, warriors clothed in full armor, horsemen riding on horses, all of them desirable young men. 13 And I saw that she was defiled; they both took the same way. 14 But she carried her whoring further. She saw men portrayed on the wall, the images of the Chaldeans portrayed in vermilion, 15 wearing belts on their waists, with flowing turbans on their heads, all of them having the appearance of officers, a likeness of Babylonians whose native land was Chaldea. 16 When she saw them, she lusted after them and sent messengers to them in Chaldea. 17 And the Babylonians came to her into the bed of love, and they defiled her with their whoring lust. And after she was defiled by them, she turned from them in disgust. 18 When she carried on her whoring so openly and flaunted her nakedness, I turned in disgust from her, as I had turned in disgust from her sister. 19 Yet she increased her whoring, remembering the days of her youth, when she played the whore in the land of Egypt 20 and lusted after her lovers there, whose members were like those of donkeys, and whose issue was like that of horses. 21 Thus you longed for the lewdness of your youth, when the Egyptians handled your bosom and pressed3 your young breasts.” 22 Therefore, O Oholibah, thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I will stir up against you your lovers from whom you turned in disgust, and I will bring them against you from every side: 23 the Babylonians and all the Chaldeans, Pekod and Shoa and Koa, and all the Assyrians with them, desirable young men, governors and commanders all of them, officers and men of renown, all of them riding on horses. 24 And they shall come against you from the north4 with chariots and wagons and a host of peoples. They shall set themselves against you on every side with buckler, shield, and helmet; and I will commit the judgment to them, and they shall judge you according to their judgments. 25 And I will direct my jealousy against you, that they may deal with you in fury. They shall cut off your nose and your ears, and your survivors shall fall by the sword. They shall seize your sons and your daughters, and your survivors shall be devoured by fire. 26 They shall also strip you of your clothes and take away your beautiful jewels. 27 Thus I will put an end to your lewdness and your whoring begun in the land of Egypt, so that you shall not lift up your eyes to them or remember Egypt anymore. 28 “For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will deliver you into the hands of those whom you hate, into the hands of those from whom you turned in disgust, 29 and they shall deal with you in hatred and take away all the fruit of your labor and leave you naked and bare, and the nakedness of your whoring shall be uncovered. Your lewdness and your whoring 30 have brought this upon you, because you played the whore with the nations and defiled yourself with their idols. 31 You have gone the way of your sister; therefore I will give her cup into your hand. 32 Thus says the Lord GOD:   “You shall drink your sister's cup    that is deep and large;  you shall be laughed at and held in derision,    for it contains much;33   you will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow.  A cup of horror and desolation,    the cup of your sister Samaria;34   you shall drink it and drain it out,    and gnaw its shards,    and tear your breasts; for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD. 35 Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you have forgotten me and cast me behind your back, you yourself must bear the consequences of your lewdness and whoring.”

Proper 19 First Psalm: Psalms 61–62 Psalms 61–62 (Listen) Lead Me to the Rock To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. Of David. 61   Hear my cry, O God,    listen to my prayer;2   from the end of the earth I call to you    when my heart is faint.  Lead me to the rock    that is higher than I,3   for you have been my refuge,    a strong tower against the enemy. 4   Let me dwell in your tent forever!    Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah5   For you, O God, have heard my vows;    you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name. 6   Prolong the life of the king;    may his years endure to all generations!7   May he be enthroned forever before God;    appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him! 8   So will I ever sing praises to your name,    as I perform my vows day after day. My Soul Waits for God Alone To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. 62   For God alone my soul waits in silence;    from him comes my salvation.2   He alone is my rock and my salvation,    my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. 3   How long will all of you attack a man    to batter him,    like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?4   They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.    They take pleasure in falsehood.  They bless with their mouths,    but inwardly they curse. Selah 5   For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,    for my hope is from him.6   He only is my rock and my salvation,    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.7   On God rests my salvation and my glory;    my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 8   Trust in him at all times, O people;    pour out your heart before him;    God is a refuge for us. Selah 9   Those of low estate are but a breath;    those of high estate are a delusion;  in the balances they go up;    they are together lighter than a breath.10   Put no trust in extortion;    set no vain hopes on robbery;    if riches increase, set not your heart on them. 11   Once God has spoken;    twice have I heard this:  that power belongs to God,12     and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.  For you will render to a man    according to his work. (ESV) Second Psalm: Psalm 68 Psalm 68 (Listen) God Shall Scatter His Enemies To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song. 68   God shall arise, his enemies shall be scattered;    and those who hate him shall flee before him!2   As smoke is driven away, so you shall drive them away;    as wax melts before fire,    so the wicked shall perish before God!3   But the righteous shall be glad;    they shall exult before God;    they shall be jubilant with joy! 4   Sing to God, sing praises to his name;    lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts;  his name is the LORD;    exult before him!5   Father of the fatherless and protector of widows    is God in his holy habitation.6   God settles the solitary in a home;    he leads out the prisoners to prosperity,    but the rebellious dwell in a parched land. 7   O God, when you went out before your people,    when you marched through the wilderness, Selah8   the earth quaked, the heavens poured down rain,    before God, the One of Sinai,    before God,1 the God of Israel.9   Rain in abundance, O God, you shed abroad;    you restored your inheritance as it languished;10   your flock2 found a dwelling in it;    in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy. 11   The Lord gives the word;    the women who announce the news are a great host:12     “The kings of the armies—they flee, they flee!”  The women at home divide the spoil—13     though you men lie among the sheepfolds—  the wings of a dove covered with silver,    its pinions with shimmering gold.14   When the Almighty scatters kings there,    let snow fall on Zalmon. 15   O mountain of God, mountain of Bashan;    O many-peaked3 mountain, mountain of Bashan!16   Why do you look with hatred, O many-peaked mountain,    at the mount that God desired for his abode,    yes, where the LORD will dwell forever?17   The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,    thousands upon thousands;    the Lord is among them; Sinai is now in the sanctuary.18   You ascended on high,    leading a host of captives in your train    and receiving gifts among men,  even among the rebellious, that the LORD God may dwell there. 19   Blessed be the Lord,    who daily bears us up;    God is our salvation. Selah20   Our God is a God of salvation,    and to GOD, the Lord, belong deliverances from death.21   But God will strike the heads of his enemies,    the hairy crown of him who walks in his guilty ways.22   The Lord said,    “I will bring them back from Bashan,  I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,23   that you may strike your feet in their blood,    that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from the foe.” 24   Your procession is4 seen, O God,    the procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary—25   the singers in front, the musicians last,    between them virgins playing tambourines:26   “Bless God in the great congregation,    the LORD, O you5 who are of Israel's fountain!”27   There is Benjamin, the least of them, in the lead,    the princes of Judah in their throng,    the princes of Zebulun, the princes of Naphtali. 28   Summon your power, O God,6    the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.29   Because of your temple at Jerusalem    kings shall bear gifts to you.30   Rebuke the beasts that dwell among the reeds,    the herd of bulls with the calves of the peoples.  Trample underfoot those who lust after tribute;    scatter the peoples who delight in war.731   Nobles shall come from Egypt;    Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God. 32   O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;    sing praises to the Lord, Selah33   to him who rides in the heavens, the ancient heavens;    behold, he sends out his voice, his mighty voice.34   Ascribe power to God,    whose majesty is over Israel,    and whose power is in the skies.35   Awesome is God from his8 sanctuary;    the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people.  Blessed be God! Footnotes [1] 68:8 Or before God, even Sinai before God [2] 68:10 Or your congregation [3] 68:15 Or hunch-backed; also verse 16 [4] 68:24 Or has been [5] 68:26 The Hebrew for you is plural here [6] 68:28 By revocalization (compare Septuagint); Hebrew Your God has summoned your power [7] 68:30 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain [8] 68:35 Septuagint; Hebrew your (ESV) Old Testament: 1 Kings 21:17–29 1 Kings 21:17–29 (Listen) The Lord Condemns Ahab 17 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 18 “Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. 19 And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Have you killed and also taken possession?”' And you shall say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD: “In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.”'” 20 Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” He answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD. 21 Behold, I will bring disaster upon you. I will utterly burn you up, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel. 22 And I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the anger to which you have provoked me, and because you have made Israel to sin. 23 And of Jezebel the LORD also said, ‘The dogs shall eat Jezebel within the walls of Jezreel.' 24 Anyone belonging to Ahab who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the open country the birds of the heavens shall eat.” Ahab's Repentance 25 (There was none who sold himself to do what was evil in the sight of the LORD like Ahab, whom Jezebel his wife incited. 26 He acted very abominably in going after idols, as the Amorites had done, whom the LORD cast out before the people of Israel.) 27 And when Ahab heard those words, he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his flesh and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly. 28 And the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 29 “Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before me? Because he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the disaster in his days; but in his son's days I will bring the disaster upon his house.” (ESV) New Testament: 1 Corinthians 1:20–31 1 Corinthians 1:20–31 (Listen) 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach1 to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards,2 not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being3 might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him4 you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” Footnotes [1] 1:21 Or the folly of preaching [2] 1:26 Greek according to the flesh [3] 1:29 Greek no flesh [4] 1:30 Greek And from him (ESV) Gospel: Matthew 4:12–17 Matthew 4:12–17 (Listen) Jesus Begins His Ministry 12 Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. 13 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: 15   “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,    the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—16   the people dwelling in darkness    have seen a great light,  and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,    on them a light has dawned.” 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”1 Footnotes [1] 4:17 Or the kingdom of heaven has come near (ESV)

With family: 2 Samuel 11; 2 Corinthians 4 2 Samuel 11 (Listen) David and Bathsheba 11 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. 2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.” 6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house. 14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” 16 And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. 18 Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. 19 And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, 20 then, if the king's anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?' then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.'” 22 So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” 25 David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.' And encourage him.” 26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. 27 And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. (ESV) 2 Corinthians 4 (Listen) The Light of the Gospel 4 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God,1 we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice2 cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants3 for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Treasure in Jars of Clay 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you. 13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God. 16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self4 is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. Footnotes [1] 4:1 Greek having this ministry as we have received mercy [2] 4:2 Greek to walk in [3] 4:5 Or slaves (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface) [4] 4:16 Greek man (ESV) In private: Psalms 62–63; Ezekiel 18 Psalms 62–63 (Listen) My Soul Waits for God Alone To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. 62   For God alone my soul waits in silence;    from him comes my salvation.2   He alone is my rock and my salvation,    my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. 3   How long will all of you attack a man    to batter him,    like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?4   They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.    They take pleasure in falsehood.  They bless with their mouths,    but inwardly they curse. Selah 5   For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,    for my hope is from him.6   He only is my rock and my salvation,    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.7   On God rests my salvation and my glory;    my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 8   Trust in him at all times, O people;    pour out your heart before him;    God is a refuge for us. Selah 9   Those of low estate are but a breath;    those of high estate are a delusion;  in the balances they go up;    they are together lighter than a breath.10   Put no trust in extortion;    set no vain hopes on robbery;    if riches increase, set not your heart on them. 11   Once God has spoken;    twice have I heard this:  that power belongs to God,12     and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.  For you will render to a man    according to his work. My Soul Thirsts for You A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah. 63   O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;    my soul thirsts for you;  my flesh faints for you,    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.2   So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,    beholding your power and glory.3   Because your steadfast love is better than life,    my lips will praise you.4   So I will bless you as long as I live;    in your name I will lift up my hands. 5   My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,    and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,6   when I remember you upon my bed,    and meditate on you in the watches of the night;7   for you have been my help,    and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.8   My soul clings to you;    your right hand upholds me. 9   But those who seek to destroy my life    shall go down into the depths of the earth;10   they shall be given over to the power of the sword;    they shall be a portion for jackals.11   But the king shall rejoice in God;    all who swear by him shall exult,    for the mouths of liars will be stopped. (ESV) Ezekiel 18 (Listen) The Soul Who Sins Shall Die 18 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 “What do you1 mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'? 3 As I live, declares the Lord GOD, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. 4 Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die. 5 “If a man is righteous and does what is just and right—6 if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, 7 does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, 8 does not lend at interest or take any profit,2 withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, 9 walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord GOD. 10 “If he fathers a son who is violent, a shedder of blood, who does any of these things 11 (though he himself did none of these things), who even eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor's wife, 12 oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination, 13 lends at interest, and takes profit; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself. 14 “Now suppose this man fathers a son who sees all the sins that his father has done; he sees, and does not do likewise: 15 he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor's wife, 16 does not oppress anyone, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, 17 withholds his hand from iniquity,3 takes no interest or profit, obeys my rules, and walks in my statutes; he shall not die for his father's iniquity; he shall surely live. 18 As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, behold, he shall die for his iniquity. 19 “Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?' When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. 20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. 21 “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? 24 But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die. 25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.' Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? 26 When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. 27 Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. 28 Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.' O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? 30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin.4 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.” Footnotes [1] 18:2 The Hebrew for you is plural [2] 18:8 That is, profit that comes from charging interest to the poor; also verses 13, 17 (compare Leviticus 25:36) [3] 18:17 Septuagint; Hebrew from the poor [4] 18:30 Or lest iniquity be your stumbling block (ESV)

Old Testament: Job 41–42 Job 41–42 (Listen) 41   1 “Can you draw out Leviathan2 with a fishhook    or press down his tongue with a cord?2   Can you put a rope in his nose    or pierce his jaw with a hook?3   Will he make many pleas to you?    Will he speak to you soft words?4   Will he make a covenant with you    to take him for your servant forever?5   Will you play with him as with a bird,    or will you put him on a leash for your girls?6   Will traders bargain over him?    Will they divide him up among the merchants?7   Can you fill his skin with harpoons    or his head with fishing spears?8   Lay your hands on him;    remember the battle—you will not do it again!9   3 Behold, the hope of a man is false;    he is laid low even at the sight of him.10   No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up.    Who then is he who can stand before me?11   Who has first given to me, that I should repay him?    Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. 12   “I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,    or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame.13   Who can strip off his outer garment?    Who would come near him with a bridle?14   Who can open the doors of his face?    Around his teeth is terror.15   His back is made of4 rows of shields,    shut up closely as with a seal.16   One is so near to another    that no air can come between them.17   They are joined one to another;    they clasp each other and cannot be separated.18   His sneezings flash forth light,    and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn.19   Out of his mouth go flaming torches;    sparks of fire leap forth.20   Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke,    as from a boiling pot and burning rushes.21   His breath kindles coals,    and a flame comes forth from his mouth.22   In his neck abides strength,    and terror dances before him.23   The folds of his flesh stick together,    firmly cast on him and immovable.24   His heart is hard as a stone,    hard as the lower millstone.25   When he raises himself up, the mighty5 are afraid;    at the crashing they are beside themselves.26   Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail,    nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin.27   He counts iron as straw,    and bronze as rotten wood.28   The arrow cannot make him flee;    for him, sling stones are turned to stubble.29   Clubs are counted as stubble;    he laughs at the rattle of javelins.30   His underparts are like sharp potsherds;    he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire.31   He makes the deep boil like a pot;    he makes the sea like a pot of ointment.32   Behind him he leaves a shining wake;    one would think the deep to be white-haired.33   On earth there is not his like,    a creature without fear.34   He sees everything that is high;    he is king over all the sons of pride.” Job's Confession and Repentance 42 Then Job answered the LORD and said: 2   “I know that you can do all things,    and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.3   ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?'  Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,    things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.4   ‘Hear, and I will speak;    I will question you, and you make it known to me.'5   I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,    but now my eye sees you;6   therefore I despise myself,    and repent6 in dust and ashes.” The Lord Rebukes Job's Friends 7 After the LORD had spoken these words to Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger burns against you and against your two friends, for you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has. 8 Now therefore take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job shall pray for you, for I will accept his prayer not to deal with you according to your folly. For you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” 9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did what the LORD had told them, and the LORD accepted Job's prayer. The Lord Restores Job's Fortunes 10 And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. 11 Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil7 that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money8 and a ring of gold. 12 And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had also seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. 15 And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. 16 And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. 17 And Job died, an old man, and full of days. Footnotes [1] 41:1 Ch 40:25 in Hebrew [2] 41:1 A large sea animal, exact identity unknown [3] 41:9 Ch 41:1 in Hebrew [4] 41:15 Or His pride is in his [5] 41:25 Or gods [6] 42:6 Or and am comforted [7] 42:11 Or disaster [8] 42:11 Hebrew a qesitah; a unit of money of unknown value (ESV) Psalm: Psalm 62 Psalm 62 (Listen) My Soul Waits for God Alone To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. 62   For God alone my soul waits in silence;    from him comes my salvation.2   He alone is my rock and my salvation,    my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. 3   How long will all of you attack a man    to batter him,    like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?4   They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.    They take pleasure in falsehood.  They bless with their mouths,    but inwardly they curse. Selah 5   For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,    for my hope is from him.6   He only is my rock and my salvation,    my fortress; I shall not be shaken.7   On God rests my salvation and my glory;    my mighty rock, my refuge is God. 8   Trust in him at all times, O people;    pour out your heart before him;    God is a refuge for us. Selah 9   Those of low estate are but a breath;    those of high estate are a delusion;  in the balances they go up;    they are together lighter than a breath.10   Put no trust in extortion;    set no vain hopes on robbery;    if riches increase, set not your heart on them. 11   Once God has spoken;    twice have I heard this:  that power belongs to God,12     and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.  For you will render to a man    according to his work. (ESV) New Testament: John 2 John 2 (Listen) The Wedding at Cana 2 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.1 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he said to them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.” So they took it. 9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.” 11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him. 12 After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers2 and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. Jesus Cleanses the Temple 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple,3 and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken. Jesus Knows What Is in Man 23 Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. 24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 25 and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. Footnotes [1] 2:6 Greek two or three measures (metrētas); a metrētēs was about 10 gallons or 35 liters [2] 2:12 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters [3] 2:20 Or This temple was built forty-six years ago (ESV)

How can people change, especially when they are gripped by addiction? When God makes us a new creation, we are no longer merely products of our environment or heredity. In this message, Pastor Lutzer reveals three real motivations as to how we can live differently. Once God begins a work within us, He will complete it. To support this ministry financially, visit: https://www.oneplace.com/donate/172/29

How can people change, especially when they are gripped by addiction? When God makes us a new creation, we are no longer merely products of our environment or heredity. In this message, Pastor Lutzer reveals three real motivations as to how we can live differently. Once God begins a work within us, He will complete it. This month's special offer is available for a donation of any amount. Get yours at rtwoffer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337.