Favor is now. Recognize it.

Thoughts on Palm Sunday (Luke 19:37-40, TPT) As soon as he got to the bottom of the Mount of Olives, the crowd of his followers shouted with a loud outburst of ecstatic joy over all the mighty wonders of power they had witnessed. They shouted over and over, “Highest praises to God for the one who comes as King in the name of the Lord! Heaven’s peace and glory from the highest realm now comes to us!” Some Jewish religious leaders who stood off from the procession said to Jesus, “Teacher, order your followers at once to stop saying these things!” Jesus responded, “Listen to me. If my followers were silenced, the very stones would break forth with praises!” Lord, As we look at Palm Sunday again this year, I ask that you would highlight something in this passage for us. Let us see something in this familiar narrative that we might have missed in the past. Thank you, Lord. Come and embody the text for us, Holy Spirit. Amen. As the people hailed him publically, as king and Messiah, the powers-that-were got nervous. They were, on one hand, scared of what the Romans would do if the people really tried to make Jesus a literal, political king. They didn’t want to see another insurrection and a violent smack down from Rome. On the other, they were scared that they were losing power over the people who had had their leadership inflicted on them for generations. So as the Hosanna’s were happening, they told Jesus to shut the crowd up. They didn’t want blood in the streets, nor did they want to see Jesus supplant them, as they hated him for standing up to them, anyway. So what was the deal with his response? Was he being literal, or just figuratively saying that there would be no way for him to shut them up? I think he was being literal, because as the Son of God, in that moment, if humans ceased praising him, the earth itself would have cried out in some literal, audible way. I know that literal interpretations are not “sophisticated”, but these people were not sophisitcated, for the most part. Not saying that metaphors would have been wasted on them, but the blunt and literal is hard to escape, in terms of meaning, right? So, let’s imagine if the crowd would have been silenced… first, there would have been a stillness, then a clattering, as the vibrations of praise died away… it would have been, at first, a clattering, but then the stones’ actual voices would’ve been amplified in some way so that all the humans could’ve heard them praising Jesus. All would have heard the very rocks lifting up their voices to proclaim the King of Kings. However, that was not the purpose of Palm Sunday. Palm Sunday was about the People recognizing him, even over the objections of the powers that masqueraded as their leaders. The People were done with Rome. They wanted freedom, and would follow anyone that they percieved to be genuine in desiring and might be able to lead them to that goal. High taxes, oppressive military occupation with ancient enemies in the garrisons throughout Judea and the surrounding areas, and just being ruled by people who do not believe in YHWH… this was all too much, and formed a powder keg that would only take a spark to set off. Jesus never personally made those signals, even though he was very cognizant of fulfilling Prophesy regarding Messiah, but He was not about earthly politics or religion. He came to teach us how to reconnect with God, to commune with God… to tabernacle with God, if you will. But I digress… the stones would have been audible in the worship that they already were giving to God for Jesus. They do have voices. They are alive. Most of us cannot hear because we have been conditioned and taught that they do not and are not, respectively. We are programmed to believe that rocks are inanimate. They are not.

Look closer at the Gospel narratives and think about how Friday to Sunday doesn't equal 3 days and 3 nights... Matthew 21-27; Luke 19-23; Mark 11-14; John 12-18

A retelling with some (hopefully) thought-provoking questions.

Jesus has allot to say about money in the book of Matthew, and here are the references I used: 6:1-4, 21, 24; 13:21-23, 44-46; 19:12-15; 25:14-30. All references are from The Passion Translation, but you’ll have to look them up for yourselves. Lord, As we begin this series on money and what You said about it, help us to be humble. Give us fresh eyes and ears to see and hear these passages in fresh ways. Help us to apply what we learn So, what are our takeaways, here? What are you telling us about money in the book of Matthew? Thank you for being with us as we open your word, and for helping us to hear it and see it in fresh ways. Amen. One: Money is a thing to be used and used well. (vs 6:1-4 & 21; 25:14-30) Two: Money is not meant to be abused by bragging about giving to particular individuals. (6:1-4) Three: Money should not be your object in life, the more you run after it, the harder it will be to get what you want. (13:22; 19:21-25) Four: Money can deceive you, if you build your life on it, you will be disappointed. (13:22) Five: Wealth should be used generously, as our Father is generous with us. (21:12-13) How is money to be used well? It is not to be hoarded or used as a weapon against the dignity of another human being. It is to be used to benefit others and to get what truly matters, eternal life and the Kingdom of God, as the men in vs 13:44-46. How are we to relate with money? It is to be viewed as a means to an end, not an end in and of itself. It should never supplant God or seeking the best for others. Do not destroy others in order to get riches, if you do that, wealth will escape you. It is to be a servant, never a master to us, as we cannot serve two masters (6:24)

Today, we are going to look at Jesus’ thoughts on money from the book of Mark. The passages used are 7:9-14; 10:17-23 and 12:13-17, all from The Passion Translation, as usual. Lord, As we look through your words about money in the Gospel of Mark, I invite you to come and show us these passages afresh. Holy Spirit, open our minds and hearts to receive what you have to say to us about money today. Help us to take what we each need from it. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Below are my reflections on the above passages, then the takeaways, and a closing thought. 7:9-14 Here, we see Jesus speaking on what is a corect use for money, to honor and provide for elderly or disabled family members, but specifically parents. He took issue with the way the leaders of the day gave the people a way out of one of the 10 commandments. That is what religion does, though… rules upon rules, laws upon laws, then creates loopholes for some but not all. However, this was not the spirit of the law in question. Jesus set them straight. 10:17-23 This is almost a beat for beat copy of the story in Matthew 19. There are a few more details, but the story is the same. This is about moving one’s locus of affection (focal point of love and attention) from things of this earth to things of heaven. The rich man couldn’t have truly heard and received that which Jesus was teaching. He was too hung up on what he had, maintaining, and growing it. His heart was stuck here, and not ready to truly commit to Jesus’ teachings. He loved this world too much to be fully with Jesus. So here is what I hear Jesus saying about money in this passage: that which you value will consume your time and energy, so if it be money or things here on earth, you will not have space for the Kingdom within you, as you are full of earthly concerns that you cannot bear anything more weighty. 12:13-17 What about taxes? Who minted the coins? Whose face is on them? Since God is Spirit, it is not God’s face. It is the face of the heads of state (in our case, dead presidents and statesmen, for the most part), and they do not pay taxes (much) when they are in office or even after. Yet, they force us to slave for them to support their system, the same as it has been since the first kingdom and empire was founded in accordance with the demonic/ Babylonian concepts that continue to hold such sway over our world. Nonetheless, Jesus tells us to give them the unreal things that they created, but to save ourselves and our souls for him (these are the only things that truly matter, that really have value). Takeaways: 1) Honoring your parents when they are elderly, according to Torah is an appropriate use for money. Not doing that is sin, no matter how you slice it, no matter how selfish religious leaders try to tell you it isn’t. 2) Attachment to material riches or things keeps us from embracing that which truly matters, the Kingdom. Do not be like this young man who missed literally walking with Jesus because he couldn’t let go of worldly wealth. (there is nothing inherently wrong with money, just clinging to it for dear life). 3) Honor the laws of the country where you live. If there are taxes, pay them. As an anon-adjacent person, I struggle to write these words, as I fully believe that most of our current system is a fraud, that the IRS and tax code are and always were unconstitutional. The bottom line is, God doesn’t want or need your money, but He does desire YOU. Your time, your effort, your focus. So, give to Uncle Sam what is his, but give God His due even moreso.

Lord, As we look at your teachings about money in the Gospel of Luke today, I ask that you would help us to see and hear your words in The Word in fresh ways, and to hear your voice in it all. Give us the humility to approach your words rightly, rather than putting words into your mouth. In Jesus’ name, Amen Luke 7:41-43 Sin = debt. Money in this passage is a sign of bondage, and the debt is a metaphor for sins that without the mercy of God, could never be repaid by either man. The forgiveness that the banker shows here is emblematic of God’s mercy and grace for us in always forgiving us when we stumble. So, then, like these men, who were forgiven insurmountable debts, we should always be thankful for forgiveness from our Father, though it is a gift. Luke 12:6-7 What is Jesus saying about money, here? I feel him asking us to think about what really matters. Does money really matter? No. Your soul is the truly valuable thing, He sees us, not as dollar signs (particularly not that), but as bearers of His image, and when we are too concerned with money or the things of this world that image gets tarnished. This is not to say that He does not care about the things that affect our lives here, but because our souls are important, He will care for the rest on our behalf. Luke 12:29-34 We all need to get this straight, get it into our very cores that worry does nothing. So, why worry? God always provides for us, just as He does for the birds and the flowers in the fields. This verse is not saying that we should never try to plan ahead, but that worry about future provision need not consume us, as it does the people who do not know the Lord. In fact, he tells us to *gulp* trust him enough that we sell all we have and give that money to the poor. This action will build up our accounts in heaven, where we will never lose those resources, and it will cause our focus to shift from earthly matters of physical needs and situations to the concerns of the Kingdom, which is ours as we seek it. Luke 12:41-44 It is not about the size of a gift that we give to the King, but the spirit in which it is given. This widow had nothing else left to live on, yet she loved the Lord enough that she gave her last freely, even though in the natural, that would seem to have doomed her to starvation. The truth about that, though, is that those two small coppers wouldn’t have bought much anyway, they were likely worth a penny or two, so they wouldn’t have donw her any good had she held onto them anyway. Luke 16:1-13 This world is not ours, we have been entrusted with it as a way to prove that we are worthy of the Kingdom. This life is a test. So, the ways in which we handle situations weigh against us in the end. Use this life to make friends and bring them into the Kingdom, as the implication is that salvation may not be assured for those who do not manage this life appropriately. After all, if all we run after and focus on is the acquisition or lack of money in this life, we are not worshipping God, but Money and the sprits and systems behind it. Choose to use it, rather than be used by it. Bless others with it, rather than hoarding it. Luke 16:19ff What is Jesus saying about money, here? The rich man went to hell because he prioritized having money over caring for those around him, namely, Lazarus. He enjoyed his life, made lots of money, and ignored the sick, poor man at his own gates, not even giving him scraps. When they both died, the rich man went to hell, not because he was rich, but because he ignored Lazarus rather than helping him. This was emblematic of his life, not merely a situational issue, so he wound up in hell when he died, burning and having his memory cursed by those still alive, because he was a stingy man, living with closed fists instead of open hands. Money is not the problem, but his attitude toward it and others was. Takeaways: 1) Sin creates debt in our lives, debt that we can never repay, so we need forgiveness and need to be thankful for that forgiveness. 2) Our souls matter, not money. Therefore we need to have faith and depend on God to take care of us, rather than allowing earthly concerns and worries to tarnish our souls. 3) Our relationship with money is the important thing: if we make it our object in life (its acquisition and maintenance) to the exclusion of caring for others, it becomes a problem.

Jesus and Money in John Lord, As we look at your words and actions around and about money in the book of John, we invite you to open our minds and hearts to see and hear these well-known passages in fresh ways. As we look at your cleansing of the temple and the time when Mary annointed you just before Palm Sunday, be with us to understand some of the deeper levels in these texts today. In Jesus’ name, Amen. John 2:12-17 After his first miracle, Jesus, the disciples, and his family decide to travel to Jerusalem for the Passover, once there, Jesus takes exception at the state of affairs in the temple courts. He sees the merchants dishonestly inflating currency rates and prices for the sacrificial animals they were selling and loses it. The Holy Spirit moves on him to clean up shop. They could do that just about anywhere else in Jerusalem, maybe even just outside of the Temple, and it might not have had the same results. Jesus makes a whip and drives everyone out because he knows that the Temple is to be Holy, set aside for prayer and worship, not everyday business. They were profaning the place where they were supposed to meet with God by not just bringing commerce into the picture, but ripping off believers who were coming to honor God and make the sacrifices that were required for the Passover. What does this teach us? Are church bookstores and coffee shops wrong? Would Jesus be offended at us for commercializing our churches? Would he even recognize most churches as legitimate? Did the Holy Spirit lead us to start selling books, trinkets, and coffee at or in our churches? Would most of us even recognize the Holy Spirit if He chose to show up in our midst? Big questions. I do not feel called to judge, just to ask the questions now. John 12:3-8 What does it mean that Mary used that which was probably the most expensive single thing that she had, something that was meant to serve as a guarantee of her future, on the dirty, smelly feet of her rabbi? Why did Judas really balk at it? We are told here that Judas was interested in enriching himself as the treasurer of the ministry, and that Jesus knew this and it likely factored into his stern rebuke. Why would Jesus leave him in that position if he knew that Judas was stealing from the ministry? I digress. Let’s focus back in on Mary and her lavish display of love for Jesus. This is the sacrifice that we are called to as well. This doesn’t mean that you need to give all of your money to the church (unless the Holy Spirit tells you to do that), but that is a personal thing, that no pastor or so-called leader should be involved with influencing. What I feel that it does mean for us is that it is all about love. Love motivated her to potentially sacrifice her future to anoint Jesus in this way. Give what you might otherwise tithe as alms to help others, rather than just tossing it in the proverbial offering plate or donating it to some larger NGO that purports to help the needy, either in your area or somewhere else.

Jesus and Money in the Gospels Summary Lord, As we dive into this summary of your words and actions about money in the Gospels today, just come. Come be with us. Guide our hearts and minds to get out of this something that is worthy and that will stand the test of time in our lives. I repent for times when I have made money too important, when I have allowed its presence or absence to cause me undue stress. I place my times and provision in your hands. You are my provider. You are God. Money is not, and I am not. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Here are some takeaways I see in the gospels: Jesus is perfect Torah. His teachings about and actions towards money are either pure Torah or a logical outgrowth of Torah. Not Mishnah or Talmud (that is the origin of the errors that he spent most of his ministry fighting), but Torah. He shows us that our souls are far more important than money. He teaches us that money is a tool to bless others, not to self-aggrandize. He shows us that Money is an entity that should be subservient to us, not vice-versa, after all, He came to set us free in every way. He teaches us that Little, given with the right intent is more valuable to God than Much, given for dubious reasons. He shows us that God truly cares for and values us, so why should we worry about the mundanities of life? He provides for sparrows and flowers that are not even a dime a dozen… possibly not even a penny a dozen, yet He keeps track of and provides for these lesser organisms. Why would our Father not care and provide for us all the more, particularly if our priorities are right? He teaches us what money is for… caring for others, not just enriching ourselves. This korban nonsense, along with the stories of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Zacchaeus, and the Rich Man who built an extra barn to hoard even more grain, show us at least that much.

Matthew 6:5-8 Lord’s Prayer, Week 1: Intro context Father, As we approach the Disciples’ prayer today, help us to see this ever-so-familiar passage in fresh ways, help us to grasp the deep things in it, not just the simple, surface meaning. 5“Whenever you pray, be sincere and not like the pretenders who love the attention they receive while praying before others in the meetings and on street corners. Believe me, they’ve already received their reward. 6But whenever you pray, go into your innermost chamber and be alone with Father God, praying to him in secret. And your Father, who sees all you do, will reward you openly. 7When you pray, there is no need to repeat empty phrases, praying like the Gentiles do, for they expect God to hear them because of their many words. 8There is no need to imitate them, since your Father already knows what you need before you ask him. When the disciples asked Jesus how they should pray, this is how he started his teaching. Don’t try to focus attention on yourself as you pray (like the pharisees do). Instead, go as far from others as you can. Hide that you are praying, so that God will do the opposite and put you on blast for praying privately. Prayer is not meditation, muttering and murmuring repetitive phrases (like those who do not know God) will not cause God to respond more favorably to you. Be simple and to the point, because our Father knows what we need and desire before we ask. Be at peace. Speak your mind and your heart to the Lord. Even though He knows already, He likes to hear from each of us. Doesn’t that make you thankful? Even though He knows about all our needs and desires, He wants us to tell Him about them, if only to build relationship. Doesn’t that blow your mind? The God of the universe wants to hear from YOU.

Disciples’ Prayer Week 2 Abba, As we unpack this text today, come and breathe on us and our minds, that we would see and hear this passage afresh. As we look at it in a translation that may be unfamilliar to many, the words have shifted, but the meaning is the same. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for being present with us as we study the logos (written word) and transforming it and us, so that we can receive it as rhema (inspired, NOW, Word). In Jesus’ name, Amen. Matthew 6:9-10 (TPT) ‘Our Beloved Father, dwelling in the heavenly realms, may the glory of your name be the center on which our lives turn. Manifest your kingdom realm, and cause your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth, just as it is in heaven. Not just “Our Father” as it is in most other translations, but the belovedness is expressed here in the Passion Translation, because this translation includes Aramaic in the source texts, and a desire to see the Bible as God’s love letter to us. That is why I opened the prayer with “Abba”, as in Aramaic, Abba means “daddy”, which is inherently endearing and an outgrowth of the love that a young child feels for their father. Hallowed be your name becomes “may the glory of your name be the center on which our lives turn”. This is a wordier way of saying the same thing. It may not seem that way at furst blush, but when you command something to be made holy or hallowed, that is what you are really saying. Become central to my life, and surpass every other thing. “Your Kingdom come” becomes “Manifest Your Kingdom realm”, which sounds more like a command or demand than the other versions, doesn’t it? The reality in the original text is that it is an imperative, or command form of the verb, “to come”, and the way that it is typically translated is barely a suggestion. How does that change this passage? Are we asking that His Kingdom would be manifest here? Or are we commanding it be so? Make your will be done, as instantly on earth as it is in heaven, make it so that there is no more lag between percieved answers to prayer and the manifestation in the natural. Can you imagine what that would be like? Instant justice, instant provision, instant execution of God’s decrees, here on earth? That is heavy. Would it change how you pray? That is the gravity of prayer. It is direct connection with Heaven, and our Father desires to give us the desires of our hearts (He placed them there to begin with). Sin has created lag time between heavenly answers and earthly manifestation, but it is incumbent upon us to push through resistance and the lag I mentioned, until, as beloved children, we receive that which we request.

Disciples’ Prayer Week 3 Father, As we continue our journey in Jesus’ primer on prayer, help us to grasp what these phrases are really saying. Help us to take these truths to heart and live them. In Jesus’ name, Amen Matthew 6:11-12 (TPT) We acknowledge you as our Provider of all we need each day. Forgive us the wrongs we have done as we ourselves release forgiveness to those who have wronged us. This is a hard one for the “breadwinners” out there, the ones who work their butts off to put food on the table and roofs over their families’ heads, but your ability to work and the fact that you have a job or a functioning, growing business is not due to your efforts alone. God gave those things to you. He provided you with the heartbeats, breaths, strength, and drive to do what you do, along with the wisdom and favor from your clients and/or employer(s) to continue working with you/ to allow you to continue working for them. Let that pride go. Let your identity be in your status as a beloved child of God, not in what you do, much less how much you earn. The next thing is forgiveness. This is hard, almost harder than admitting that God is our ultimate provider. Why does Jesus condition our forgiveness from heaven on how we forgive our neighbors for things that they do which offend or hurt us? Why does this come after the affirmation that God is our provider? To answer the first question, I see it as an extension of God’s emphasis on our horizontal relationships. It goes along with Jesus’ teaching about when it is legitimate to give an offering at the temple. God wants us to be upright and handle our interpersonal issues in healthy ways before we even “go to church”. If there are any things we need to make right, in terms of forgiving one who has offended us. That doesn’t mean that they need to automatically need to be accepted into the “circle of trust”, just because you forgave them. It does mean that you do not hold whatever it is against them. That takes an exercise of will on our part, because it is often easier (more comfortable) to just nurse that grudge, but the truth is that you are only hurting yourself when you nurse a grudge. As to why it comes after we are told to affirm that God is our provider, forgiveness is ultimately a heavenly thing, as well. Forgiveness is divine, not human. So our role is to ask God for the grace to forgive those who wrong us, whether in reality or just our perceptions. Then with the provided grace we receive, it is incumbent on us to give it out in return, rather than hosting bitterness and resentment from hurts that eat us alive from the inside. As I said earlier, forgiveness does not mean that the offender gets a free pass back into the circle of trust, it simply means that you do not HAVE to carry that dead weight around so much. It is also a process and a choice, not simply a feeling. This is a much larger topic than I have space to cover here, so I think this is where I will leave it.

Disciples’ Prayer part 4 Matthew 6:13 (my translation/paraphrase) And do not lead us through trials (but around them), save us from evil (whether toils and pains or from people who are used by the devil). For the kingdom is Yours, and You are able, You have the glory, for all time, Amen. Father, Thank you for today. Thank you for this day of rest for many. Thank you that You are the King who rules with power and glory forever. Thank You that You have the ability to do all that we have asked in this prayer. Thank you that you have given us the ability to connect with You and to understand and apply Your Word in our lives. In Jesus’ name, Amen What are we saying in these sentences? Why are they where they are in this teaching? Here, we ask God to not only help us to avoid unnecessary trouble in life, but that he would also protect us from evil things and people, specifically those that cause extra toil and pain in our lives. Why does this come after forgiveness, rather than before? Many of the ills in our lives come as a result of unforgiveness and regret. If we live forgiven and forgiving, those wounds will heal more readily, and we won’t have as much tying us to those old traumas and causing health problems, along with providing the enemy with less target area to hit us with accusations and other things in the spirit, which can manifest in blocking things like provision and relationships. What about the last sentence? We are reminding ourselves that our Father is the King, and glorifying Him as such. If the Kingdom is His, then he has the ability (clause 2) to fulfill all we asked and declared in this prayer, and we also ascribe praise and honor to Him as we close it all up (for the moment, as we are called to a life of constant prayer, at least if you consider Paul as a credible source of information).

Matthew 5:33-37 TPT

Bread from Heaven John 6:35-40 (TPT) Jesus said to them, “I am the Bread of Life. Come every day to me and you will never be hungry. Believe in me and you will never be thirsty. Yet I’ve told you that even though you’ve seen me, you still don’t believe in me. But everyone my Father has given to me, they will come. And all who come to me, I will embrace and will never turn them away. And I have come out of heaven not for my own desires, but for the satisfaction of my Father who sent me. My Father who sent me has determined that I will not lose even one of those he has given to me, and I will raise them up in the last day. For the longing of my Father is that everyone who embraces the Son and believes in him will experience eternal life and I will raise them up in the last day!” Father, As we look at this familiar passage that hearkens back to the Exodus narrative, I ask that you would open our minds and hearts to deeper meanings today. Thank you that Jesus came to feed us with himself, not in a literal sense, as the pharisees understood him, but how he actually meant it. Holy Spirit, come. Help us to put aside our preconceived notions about this passage. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Whoooo, this is a weird one, isn’t it? How can Jesus literally be food and drink for all who come to Him? For all that the Father gives Him? Rely on Him, as we do on food and water. He is our provision, he is our sustainer. Not just in the mundane physical and fiscal realities, but in deeper ways as well. If He came to show us the Father and to show us the Way to the Father, who is the Source of All, then how would those things we often worry ourselves sick over not be taken care of by Him when we get our priorities straight? Could it be that The Way has been obscured? Just as it was for the jews of His time, by their religious “leaders”? Could we have been sucked into the exact same situation, where our “leaders” are just milking us dry in return for stale bread that never satisfies for long? For a donut that you regret the instant it leaves your mouth? How, then, is Jesus our bread and water? We need to re-source ourselves. He was not talking purely about physical needs, which he had just met in the crowd he was addressing in this passage. He was talking about spiritual needs, the true way to God, to provision that never fails. He is speaking to us even now, if we will listen. He wants to remove those burdens from us. He wants us to grasp that He is there to provide those things that through worry consume our time, so that we can be with Him, so that we can walk unencumbered. What is the Bread of Life? What is the Bread of Heaven? What is this Water that keeps us satisfied? It is His Words and Word, guiding us into All Truth. It is daily, moment-by-moment dependence on Him, rather than trying to solve problems that we do not have answers for. He has those answers. It is childlike humility. It is not a never-ending casting about for another preacher or teacher to give us a morsel every weekend. It is going to the Source of the morsels, Jesus Himself. He waits for each of us to realize this, and it breaks His heart that we miss it so often. I include myself in this. I miss it far too often, and struggle to move the needle to provide for my family on my own, fighting for hours with search engines or other things, only to not see appreciable change. I do not press in often enough. This Provision from Heaven is accessible to any who will press in, drop their sophisticated thinking, their fear, and their other perceptions of their situations, and just receive. Believe that it is there FOR YOU. It is. He is. Always. We can trust Him to ALWAYS meet us, so we can lay down these worrisome burdens that only hurt us. Below is a link to a great, simple song from Housefires, about this very thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoVDOL_wZ4A

Don’t judge? Or don’t be self-righteous? Matthew 7:1-5 TPT “Refuse to be a critic full of bias toward others, and you will not be judged. For you’ll be judged by the same standard that you’ve used to judge others. The measurement you use on them will be used on you. Why would you focus on the flaw in someone else’s life and fail to notice the glaring flaws of your own? How could you say to your friend, ‘Let me show you where you’re wrong,’ when you’re guilty of even more? You’re being hypercritical and a hypocrite! First acknowledge and deal with your own ‘blind spots,’ and then you’ll be capable of dealing with the ‘blind spot’ of your friend. Father, Thank you for Correcting this all too human flaw. Help me to not fall into this trap, where because there is something I hate in myself, I see it more clearly in others and cannot help but pick at it. Help me to be more humble and filter those things out before I go “there” with others. Help me to have grace for them and more grace for myself, so that I can be more loving toward them. Help love to be my primary m.o., rather than impossible standards. In Jesus’ name, Amen. So, as usual, TPT says it very differently from most other translations, the concepts are still there, but instead of black & white outlines, the picture is significantly more finished for us. It makes it more clear that it isn’t about unjustified judgments, but rather an attitude of fault-finding, usually to draw attention from oneself in those areas. Come at issues from a stance of, “Hey, friend, I struggle or have struggled in “x” area, too. How can I help you to overcome this?” vs “You suck! You are horrible at life because of “x”.” How would you prefer someone to approach you about something that you struggle with? Are you the insufferable critic? Why do you do that? I am not saying that problem areas do not need to be addressed, or that we need to go snowflake, here. What the Word says, here, is that if we choose to be brutal with others, that same brutality will come back to us. Is that something that you want to deal with? Are you ready to get back what you dish out? How do you respond when that does come back to you? This passage is a reminder of something that we more or less know implicitly, but many choose to ignore. Let’s reflect some more… what are some areas in your life that you like to gloss over? Which areas are you less than merciful with others in? (Those are probably the same areas, as the latter is a strong indicator for the former.) Ask the Lord to reveal these trouble spots and blind spots to you, then ask Him to help you deal with those things so that you can be more whole and less ugly towards others. Ask Him to pour out His love on you afresh and to teach you how to better relate with others. I can be brutal in the name of being “bluntly honest”, as my wife can attest (certain things from the early days of our marriage still come up, like comments I made about her cooking, nearly 10 years ago, and I can tell that they still bother her). I never intended to hurt her in any way, but my bluntness did just that, and I still hear about it on occasion. I try to be much less intense in my honesty now, and marriage has been a smoothing out process for me, not that I am anywhere near perfect now, but I am closer (I hope). There is a phrase that I grew up around that is very applicable, here, “Truth is hard unless it is softened by Love. Love is soft unless it is toughened up by Truth.” We must always balance the two, so that we neither become doormats, nor taskmasters with those around us.

Watch for Fruit (and not just the low-hanging stuff) Father, As we take a look at this familiar passage, help us to hear what you are saying to us today. Help us to discern accurately whom we should really be listening to. Reveal the fruit of our favorite pastors and evangelists to us, so that we can see whether they are truly of you (sheep) or are really just wolves in sheepskins. Holy Spirit, comfort us as we discern, so that should we need to part ways with some of our favorite ear-ticklers, we will be ready and willing to do so. Thank you. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Matthew 7:15-20 (TPT) “Constantly be on your guard against phony prophets. They come disguised as lambs, appearing to be genuine, but on the inside they are like wild, ravenous wolves! You can spot them by their actions, for the fruits of their character will be obvious. You won’t find sweet grapes hanging on a thorn bush, and you’ll never pick good fruit from a tumbleweed. So if the tree is good, it will produce good fruit; but if the tree is bad, it will bear only rotten fruit and deserves to be cut down and burned. You’ll know them by the obvious fruit of their lives and ministries.” I’m not interested in pointing fingers at specific pastors or ministries, here, merely desiring to help you to avoid or to know when to exit from a bad ministry or church. I’ve been involved with one or two in the past, and it hurts when you realize that it is time to move on, particularly if you were fairly involved with a given ministry. But, move on, you must. Don’t seek to destroy it on the way out, just leave. What is a phony prophet or a bad shepherd? One who looks the part, but really, like the pharisees of old, is just in it to fill their belly. They will give you what you want to hear, never challenge you to grow or really feed you spiritually, but only manipulate you into giving them more of your time, and/or money. We all know the type. Their buildings usually look great, but when you get to know the people, they are spiritually immature, emotionally and possibly mentally broken, and typically mostly broke. Their people probably see them as something akin to the second coming, and would literally do anything for “their pastor”. This “pastor” will look great on the outside, but will likely leave a trail of used up, shredded people in their wake. Their family will be a wreck, perhaps not outwardly, as they will do their darnedest to hide anything that doesn’t look good for them from a human standpoint, but the kids will struggle, their spouses will probably struggle, and they may have some gnarly skeletons in the closet as well. I’m not saying that ANY pastor is PERFECT, and pastors’ families are often a wreck because Dad feels like he needs to be more focused on the needs of the board and members than really caring for his own family. How do we see this from afar, though, so that we can avoid being negatively impacted by these hucksters and jokers who pretend to care for the flock? What is the attitude of the preacher/pastor? How do they approach the Word?

Just Ask… and Believe, then Recieve. Father, As we learn from this passage today, help our faith to be expanded and to understand what Jesus was talking about here. Help us to keep at it when we face “No’s” from life, whether literal or figurative in our given situations. Give us the strength we need to keep on keeping on, and to keep asking, seeking, and knocking as situations present themselves. Thank you that you have never failed to give us what we need for each day. Thank you that we have come to today alive, breathing, and able to do life. Thank you for today. Help us to make the most of it as we listen to you every step of the way. Amen. Matthew 7:7-11 (TPT) Ask, and the gift is yours. Seek, and you’ll discover. Knock, and the door will be opened for you. For every persistent one will get what he asks for. Every persistent seeker will discover what he longs for. And everyone who knocks persistently will one day find an open door. “Do you know of any parent who would give his hungry child, who asked for food, a plate of rocks instead? Or when asked for a piece of fish, what parent would offer his child a snake instead? If you, imperfect as you are, know how to lovingly take care of your children and give them what’s best, how much more ready is your heavenly Father to give wonderful gifts to those who ask him?” Keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking. Be persistent, knock heaven’s door down and keep at it until you receive that which you ask for. The reception may not look like what you thought it would, but you will receive it from Our Father. He delights in giving us good gifts, and he planted those good desires in us in order to fulfill them in the fullness of time. Ok, so I went a bit off track with the passage there, but there are many other passages that flow in the same way, throughout the Bible. We are His children, and He loves us. Sometimes it is hard to see it in the moment, when it feels like every moment is a fight to survive, but the fact that you are still here, breathing enough to complain and feel that disconnect from how you percieve it should be, speaks to the fact that He has given you what you needed in every moment to get you this far. My wife and I sometimes struggle, in fact now is one of those times, as I am sure that it is for many of you who watch this video. Times feel hard right now. Money is tight, and increasingly shown to be worthless, yet those of us who are children of God can have peace and hope. Why? Because our Father always works it out for us, and we always have what we need in the moment when we need it. Does it always look the way we want it to? No. Is it always easy or smooth sailing? Hell no. But we can rest in Him, knowing that He has us in His hands, and that nothing can take us from that place. So how does persistence work? How do we position ourselves to receive and to learn whatever it is that we need in each moment? Persistence, like the woman with the unjust judge, or Bartimeus on the road to Jericho, keeps at it until we get what we need, whether justice, healing, provision, guidance, or anything else in life. Faith allows us to persist when human reason would tell us to sit in shamed silence, defeated. Faith allows us to be in position to learn and to receive what we need in each moment, as Jesus taught us to pray in the Disciples’ Prayer. Here is a link to when I covered that: https://rumble.com/v187ynq-disciples-prayer-3-provision-and-forgiveness.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y When we stay in the NOW, we always find that we have what we need. When we borrow trouble through worry or regret, we find ourselves drained and stressed out. Stay in the NOW. It may feel irresponsible, but the truth is, you will find clarity to do the things that you were stressing over, and you’ll be able to approach them more calmly as well.

Life Application is Crucial Father, Thank you that you sent Jesus to not only show us what it means to live in communion with you, and to give his life to ransom us back. Thank you that we get to partner with you to build your Kingdom here. Thank you that we don’t have to do it on our own. Help us to be aligned and stay in alignment with you so that we can do what you do, when you are doing it. Help us to build wisely by staying in alignment. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Matthew 7:24-29 (TPT) “Everyone who hears my teaching and applies it to his life can be compared to a wise man who built his house on an unshakable foundation. When the rains fell and the flood came, with fierce winds beating upon his house, it stood firm because of its strong foundation. “But everyone who hears my teaching and does not apply it to his life can be compared to a foolish man who built his house on sand. When it rained and rained and the flood came, with wind and waves beating upon his house, it collapsed and was swept away.” By the time Jesus finished speaking, the crowds were awestruck by his teaching, because his words carried such great authority, quite unlike the religious scholars. Are you the wise person or the fool? Which am I? How often have I gone off on my own and tried to build something that was not of God? How often has it worked out for me? What is the teaching Jesus is referring to, here? This comes on the heels of his teaching about discernment, and telling the good teacher from the false prophet, and before that, the Golden Rule, and prior to that, faith as shown by persistence in asking for, seeking, and knocking on the doors that you want to enter, before that, he taught us about being overly judgmental of others. So, what is the thread between these teachings? When we judge, we miss out of blessings from others. When we give up prematurely, we short circuit God’s desire to bless us and the lessons that we need to learn from persistence. When we fail to treat others well, we miss out on the blessing of knowing them and things they could have taught us. When we fail to discern a good teacher from a false prophet, we get stuck in bad situations and miss the blessing of being under a good teacher. So, what is the thread here? What is the teaching that we need to apply here in order to be wise? What is wisdom? Wisdom is the humble fear of the Lord. Wisdom is living a life submitted to His Way, so always checking with Him in all we do. As we walk with Him, His Way becomes our way, and we become wise as we walk in right relationship with Him, and that will show up in how we treat others, how we discern places we should or shouldn’t be, etc. As we walk with and learn what pleases Him, we will grow wise, able to detect patterns sooner than others, so that we can avoid bad situations and not waste time in the same ways that we used to and that others do. That is the life application that we need to draw from this parable and from this chapter as a whole, it is a primer on walking with God. As we learn to walk with Him, not lag behind, or run ahead of where we think He may be going, we will walk out of the hyper critical patterns that used to run our lives, we will persist in asking for the good things that we KNOW He wants to give us, we will treat others well, and we will discern which bodies we should be members in far more quickly, which will all amount to a much healthier life for us, all around. That is the fruit of wisdom in our lives. That is proof that the Holy Spirit is in us, as it will cause the Fruit of the Spirit and the Gifts to become more distinctly manifest in us as well.

Abolish the Law? Hell naw… Father, As we take a look at What Jesus said about the Law of Moses, help us to take it in context. Help us to really understand what he is saying and teaching, here. Help us to understand what the purpose of the law was. Help us to see what the truths behind the law are. Help us to be pure and full of integrity, so that we can see the Kingdom, here. Thank you, Jesus. Amen Matthew 5:17-20 “If you think I’ve come to set aside the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets, you’re mistaken. I have come to bring to perfection all that has been written. Indeed, I assure you, as long as heaven and earth endure, not even the smallest detail of the Law will be done away with until its purpose is complete. So whoever violates even the least important of the commandments, and teaches others to do so, will be called least in heaven’s kingdom. But whoever obeys them and teaches their truths to others will be called great in heaven’s kingdom. For I tell you, unless your lives are more pure and full of integrity than the religious scholars and the Pharisees, you will never enter heaven’s kingdom.” What is the perfection or completion of which Jesus speaks here? What is the purpose of the law? Have we been incorrectly anti-nomian? What are the truths of the Law? Traditionally it has been held and taught that Jesus was the ultimate fulfillment of Moses. He was the one whom all of the sacrificial animals foreshadowed, etc. Most of us have been raised with these sorts of thoughts. The traditional view would hold that Jesus is the focal point of the law, and that because he kept every point perfectly, we no longer have to. Let’s explore this, briefly. Jesus, here, is not claiming personal perfection, but is, as a Rabbi, stating that he has a fresh interpretation of the Law and the Prophets that the people should listen to. He is not saying that his interpretation should overshadow or replace the need to follow the Law as it was, in fact, he tells them to continue, unless their righteousness is greater than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, unless they have more purity and integrity than their religious leaders, that is. This is not Jesus’ typical use of them as whipping boys or object lessons. Rather, it is highlighting them as a positive example, which is odd. Jesus showed us how to live in perfect communion with the Father, which will lead to the kind of wise life that I talked about last week. It will, along with sanctification in us, which is the process of becoming more like Jesus while here on earth, lead to us more perfectly fulfilling the heart of the law as well. I am not talking about the minutia of ceremonial law, or even kosher law, as beneficial as these things can be… I am talking about walking in right relationship with God, who designed it all and tells us how to get the most out of this life through the law. That uprightness with Him will manifest in desiring to and doing more right things towards others. Our hearts, thoughts, words, and actions will begin to shift as we embrace wisdom and shun folly. This does not affect our salvation or justification before God. However, if we truly love Him, we will want to live in ways that will make His heart happier. We will want to live wisely, not overdoing things just because they are not forbidden, or avoiding things that we know we need to do. We will want to be a blessing to others, rather than leaving them wanting to curse us. So, did Jesus undo the law? Yes and no. The law is still there to be a guide for us, but the cross and the empty tomb are our answer for not being perfect in how we relate with God, ourselves, and others. However, failing to follow it no longer damns us, either. So in that, way, its teeth are broken.

Anger is Damnable? Matthew 5:21-26 (TPT) Oh Jesus, Help us. I know I’ve been pretty angry many times… has my anger damned me because I know I’ve called many people idiots and other derogatory terms out of anger, at least in my head, if not had it come out of my mouth. Forgive me. I know I’ve cursed myself and others in the heat of the moment. Forgive me. I repent. I plead the blood of Jesus over those largely idle words I’ve spoken. Amen. “You’re familiar with the commandment taught to those of old: ‘Do not murder or you will be judged.’ But I’m telling you, if you hold anger in your heart toward a fellow believer, you are subject to judgment. And whoever demeans and insults a fellow believer is answerable to the congregation. And whoever calls down curses upon a fellow believer is in danger of being sent to a fiery hell. “So then, if you are presenting a gift before the altar and suddenly you remember a quarrel you have with a fellow believer, leave your gift there in front of the altar and go at once to apologize to the one who is offended. Then, after you have reconciled, come to the altar and present your gift. It is always better to come to terms with the one who wants to sue you before you go to trial, or you may be found guilty by the judge, and he will hand you over to the officers, who will throw you into prison. Believe me, you won’t get out of prison until you have paid the full amount!” Wow. This is a heavy passage. Why does Jesus target anger with such laser focus, here? Simply being mad at another believer, within yourself, leaves you subject to judgment. If that turns into nasty words against that person, that now becomes fodder for a public issue in the family of faith. If you curse a brother or sister out, you could lose your salvation. Wow, that is strong language from Jesus. Why is that? If we allow anger to fester and grow, it can easily destroy lives, and the Kingdom is about restoring lives and rebuilding communities. Sinful anger is destructive, as it burns like fire and it is antithetical to love. Love is to be the core of the Kingdom, so how can rage exist with it? It cannot, and that, I think, is why Jesus hits it so hard, here. Reconciliation is primary, here. If you realize that there is some offense that is keeping you from fellowship with a brother or sister, deal with it before you go to worship. Mend the relationship to the best of your ability, then go enjoy the sweetness of the Spirit in the assembly. Don’t allow, as much as is in your power, your offended brother or sister the need to take you to court. This sounds like a primarily financial situation, here. Say you borrowed money, or possibly even stole something, handle that situation ASAP. Don’t be a hypocrite and go about your regular church routine if you have the ability to set that right. Or say there was a business transaction that went wrong, and for whatever reason the party who bought something was dissatisfied with that good or service. If you are the vendor or service provider, it is incumbent on you to make it right as soon as you are able. Not because you fear repercussions, but because it is right to do so. If you need to operate from fear, Jesus gives us enough to fear, here, as well. Do you want to be embarrassed first, then still have to pay a fine and have that on public record? Do whatever you can to prevent that. Apologize and do the right thing. To answer the question in the title, yes, it is, as long as you allow it to fester and become more ugly. It can easily destroy lives and relationships if it goes unchecked. Think about how many churches have been destroyed by angry people. Keep that in mind, and let’s make sure that we handle our frustrations before they get too big for us and start down the path to hell.

What is Lust? Matthew 5:27-32 I’m going to talk about my personal struggles in this devotion, so if that makes you uncomfortable, feel free to turn off the video now. Father, I know that I have struggled with this. I haven’t gone so far as to gouge out an eye, but I have struggled with it, mightily. Porn has been a thing in my life for too long. I have justified myself for the last time. My eyes have had times of purity, but I want to cleanse and protect them and myself from further lust in my heart. I plead Jesus’ blood over my heart, mind, soul, and eyes. I ask that my eyes would be restored so that I no longer objectify, but really see people. I ask that my heart and mind would be reset as through I’d never stumbled across porn in my life, much less allowed it to become a stronghold. I tear down that stronghold and break covenant with those thoughts and memories, even the desire to seek more stimulation of that sort. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you that your blood is more than enough to cover and heal me. Amen Matthew 5:27-32 (TPT) “Your ancestors have been taught, ‘Never commit adultery.’ 28However, I say to you, if you look with lust in your eyes at a woman who is not your wife, you’ve already committed adultery in your heart. 29If your right eye seduces you to fall into sin, then go blind in your right eye! For you’re better off losing sight in one eye than to have your whole body thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand entices you to sin, let it go limp and useless! For you’re better off losing a part of your body than to have it all thrown into hell. 31“It has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her legal divorce papers.’ 32However, I say to you, if anyone divorces his wife for any reason, except for infidelity, he causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Real talk: I have struggled and still struggle with porn. I have not chosen to take that path for close to a month, and there have been longer seasons of victory in the past, even a year or two. However, I wind up falling back into it, inevitably. This may be abit more raw than most, so if you are uncomfortable with the topic, watch no further. Porn plays on lust, and allows its roots to dig deeper into our souls. What was the wound that gave that weed the opening to germinate and grow? Why is lust such a major problem in our culture? Is it a problem? Is porn a problem, or is it just “a way to explore without getting hurt”? Let’s look at the Word for an answer here. If Lust is a bad enough thing to warrant going blind in order to avoid it, according to Jesus, then wouldn’t a product of lust be a problem as well. Sexual lust is a perversion of our natural desire for our mates, just as envy is a corruption of an innate desire to better ourselves. Both are an overgrowth of natural needs and desires, but take nature to the nth degree. Lust of any kind, whether in sexual terms or other things, leads to dark places of objectification, as is typified by the plethora of porn that exists, along with the nature of advertizing in western culture, telling us what we should want to have, nay what we NEED to have so that we don’t “miss out”. Pornography is materials printed or produced (online, video, print) to ellicit sexual reactions and responses in those who partake in it. It is rooted in and sets the viewer up to partner with the spirit of Lust. Gramatically, it comes from the Greek word porneia, which is often translated as sexual immorality. This is much of why the very word feels dirty to those of us who grew up in the church. It is born from and feeds Lust in ways that it never could be fed in real life, with an overwhelming array of variations that would probably kill you if you tried to partake in them as portrayed. Not to mention that it destroys intimacy with your partners and spouses (one at a time, thank you very much). It gives you the feeling of having conquered another person (or been “taken” by them, if that is the subset you find appealing), but without actually meeting, much less knowing the person about whom you are fantasizing. When one brings that into their marriage relationship, it #1 sets you up for unrealistic expectations, both of yourself and your spouse; #2 it leaves you feeling inadequate, as well as likely your spouse as well; #3 it leads you to believe that you can act however you see the actors or characters act in your particular poison of choice and get those results; #4 it forms a wedge of intense isolation between you and your spouse, and can destroy your marriage, as it often cuts off communication when you are in the thick of it, as you feel ashamed of what you know is wrong. Enough on porn for the moment, lust is a multi-faceted issue and spirit that if left unchecked, can and will destroy relationships and lives. That is why Jesus hits it with both barrels, as His heart is to heal and restore and build, not destroy, when the thing in view is good, as marriage is. Lust rots marriages from the inside out. I tried to come in as purely as I could, but lust was always gnawing at me, goading me to imagine ridiculous fantasies, and to make insane requests of my wife (at least in my mind, as I’ve always been very inhibited, not wanting to appear either needy or domineering). It was there when we laid the foundations of our marriage, and it has rotted things that should’ve been strong. That is not to say that I feel that my marriage is weak or horribly damaged from it at this juncture. Jesus tells us to gouge out our eyes if we are dominated by Lust. After all, if you can’t see a physically attractive person, you cannot lust after them. The idea of literally losing eyesight over giving myself over to a stray lustful thought is deeply disturbing, as I would’ve been blind many years ago. I suppose that it would solve much, though. On the other hand, if one’s entire life is predicated on lust, and you cannot break out of it, drastic steps may need to be taken so that your salvation does not come into jeopardy. As a believer, we always have ways out from temptation. It is completely unnecessary for us to be stuck in lust or any other destructive form of behavior, thought, or attitude. We can break free. Along with the help of the Holy Spirit and the community of faith, we are to exert mastery over ourselves, and take every thought captive to the Mind of Christ in us. When we are weak, we need to admit it to ourselves, the Lord, and an accountability partner. Take this advice however you will, but as you climb back out of the lust pit, and escape its fruit in your life, these things will be useful to you. I’m not going to exhaust this topic, here, so I’m going to end it now. I hope that this was helpful for you, as it was therapeutic for me to not allow shame to control me.

Father, We cry out for vindication. Help us to Forget our kneejeark reations that have been so engrained and enculturated in us. Help us to be radical in our choices in how we relate with others, whether they are kind to us or not. Let our choices wake people up because they are so radical and different from the norm. From allowing others to abuse us and doing good to them in spite of it, to shaming them by giving them all you have instead of whatever they require. Help us to go the extra mile. Help us to be so good that only the most demonized people could ever take issue with us. Amen. Mtthew 5:38-42 (TPT) “Your ancestors have also been taught, ‘Take an eye in exchange for an eye and a tooth in exchange for a tooth.’ However, I say to you, don’t repay an evil act with another evil act. But whoever insults you by slapping you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well. If someone is determined to sue you for your coat, give him the shirt off your back as a gift in return. And should people in authority take advantage of you, do more than what they demand. Learn to generously share what you have with those who ask for help, and don’t close your heart to the one who comes to borrow from you.” Tough passage. This is dying to self. Now, this has been tought in abusive ways in the past, to support leaders who are just plain evil, and have been used to justify continuing to be abused indefinitely. That is not what Jesus is saying here. Jesus doesn’t want his followers to be out for blood or vengeance for slights/abuses, no matter whether real or imagined. We are to trust that Our Father has our back, and not be concerned about revenge or self-vindication. If we truly trust that God will and does take care of things for us, we neither have to defend ourselves nor strike back when we are injured in some way. It is when we do not understand how loved we are by Our Father that we tend to take things into our own hands through revenge. There was a message I heard on this passage a few years back that has stuck with me, where the pastor explained what each of these situations really meant in the context of the first century hearers. When you allow someone who backhands you to strike you again, they will hit you with an open palm, which changes the dynamic of the encounter, as, even today, aback hand is disrespectful and implies that the one smacking the other person is above or better than the other in some way. However, it is very difficult to back hand someone twice in a row, so the second strike would be with an open palm, inferring equality. Not saying that it hurts less, but it changes the dynamic, nonetheless. Embarrass the one who wants to sue you for your over clothes by givng them your underthings as well, leaving you naked, and them ashamed of their greed. Think about this for a second… in the first century, and up until probably the 20th century, no one had underwear. They had shirts and cloaks, but no trousers or pants. So if one gave another both their cloak and their shirt, they would be naked. The text, as oririnally written had to do with the reality of being insta-drafted by a Roman soldier to carry their pack for 1 mile. Those packs were heavy, sometimes around 100 pounds. The truth was that there was a regulation which stated that they could only force a civilian to carry their pack for 1 mile at a time. If they tried to force a greater distance, their life would be forfeit. So, volunteering to carry their pack for 2 miles would cost the soldier their life for the convenience… even a step more than 1 mile would cost the soldier their life. Dr Simmons and his team generalize this more, here, but the idea is similar. They could pressgang you, but only to a certain point, not just capture you as a permanent slave or some such thing, only 1 mile, no more.

Song called Worthy by Matthew Patten, Based on Hebrews 12 You prized me Above all Power, authority Honor and praise Jesus, you prized me More You desired me More Jesus, You are above all Your name is higher Jesus, You are above all Your name is greater Matthew 5:43-48 (TPT) Lord, Logic says that we should return the favor, love those who love us, and likewse with those who do not, help us to love everyone, so that we are better imitators of Our Father. Help us to be perfect as you are, complete, as you are. Change our hearts so that we can love those who do not love us. Forgive us in the times when we fail to do so, such as when long-awaited news is finally released. Help us to not hate anyone. Help us to see even thouse who have given themselves to evil for their whole lives through your eyes of compassion, rather than simple glee at the demise of an enemy. Amen Matthew 5:43-8 “Your ancestors have also been taught ‘Love your neighbors and hate the one who hates you.’ However, I say to you, love your enemy, bless the one who curses you, do something wonderful for the one who hates you, and respond to the very ones who persecute you by praying for them. For that will reveal your identity as children of your heavenly Father. He is kind to all by bringing the sunrise to warm and rainfall to refresh whether a person does what is good or evil. What reward do you deserve if you only love the loveable? Don’t even the tax collectors do that? How are you any different from others if you limit your kindness only to your friends? Don’t even the ungodly do that? Since you are children of a perfect Father in heaven, become perfect like him.” How do we love those who have set themselves up as enemies to us or to God? Bless them, pray for them, and by being kind to them. How do we do that, when we are hurting due to their words and actions towards us? Our heart must change. We cannot cling to that pain, so we must forgive them (different topic, that has filled many books, can’t adequately cover it here), and ask the Lord to help us to see them through His eyes. What is their overarching purpose? (why did God make them) How did they get where they are? Are they in pain and lashing out? Once you have these revelations, compassion should replace much of the hurt or offense in you, not that you shouldn’t acknowledge these things. By all means, acknowledge the pain and offense, but instead of living there, give them to God, then ask Him for His heart towards that individual. This will allow our hearts to be changed, which will cause the rest of the human reaction to be diffused. Bless those who curse you: this is not a, “Well, bless their heart” kind of blessing. This is a genuine desire to see God’s best for them in their lives. That is nigh impossible, other than as a fleeting thought, if you are trying to do this without the Holy Spirit’s help. You may change the behavior, but the underlying issues will likely remain. Be kind to those who hate you, who actively seek to do you harm. Love on them. Serve them. This is harder than the blessing thing… We actually have to DO something about it, here, not just bless them from afar. We are called, here, to get down and dirty and choose to be kind to those who want to destroy us. This is putting rubber to the road in terms of coming in the opposite spirit. Our emotions will scream at us to return hatred with hatred, anger with anger, but this is higher than that. Pray for salvation and revelation for those who persecute you for your faith. Do not pray for them to just be removed, much less taken out, unless God has made it clear that that is His plan first. He sees your pain. He will handle the problem, and/or you will grow to the point where it won’t matter so much. All of this hinges on our hearts being changed by submission to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God in our lives. If our hearts are not radically altered through encounter with the Living God, these things are nearly unobtainable. As has been the usual in this chapter, Jesus is far more concerned with the condition of our hearts than he is with simple behavior modification. He is after seeing us grow into imaging Him more accurately, in becoming more sanctified and whole and closer to being able to partake in theosis, or unity with Him. That is a long road, and impossible in our human effort alone. Let us not forget the truth of 9/11.

Song: Worthy Father, Sometimes it is hard to remember this, especially when every fiber of my being is screaming to return things in kind, whether words or actions. Particularly when I’m deeply hurt by something someone said or did to me, or that negatively impacted me. Help me to hear the Holy Spirit in those moments, and to not act out of hurt or anger. Forgive me for the times when I fail. Those moments when I do let a zinger out or when I do something negative to someone who does something negative to me. Thank you, Lord. Thank you that I am forgiven and can forgive. Amen. Matthew 7:12-14 (TPT) 12“In everything you do, be careful to treat others in the same way you’d want them to treat you, for that is the essence of all the teachings of the Law and the Prophets.13 Enter through the narrow gate because the wide gate and broad path is the way that leads to destruction—nearly everyone chooses that crowded road! 14The narrow gate and the difficult way leads to eternal life—so few even find it!” No matter what other say or do to or about us, we are called to treat them how we WANT to be treated… many of us who grew up in church know this as the “golden rule”. Do you want to be treated terribly? Do you want people to treat you like dirt? Show people how to treat you by treating them in the way that you want to be treated. This somewhat builds on the last couple of weeks, when we covered anger, hate and revenge, based on the end of Matthew 5. Do you want someone to have reason to harm you in any way because of something negative you did to them? I feel like, just like in Matthew 5, there is a heart issue at play here, Jesus doesn’t necessarily directly address it in this passage in the form of “You’ve heard it said, but I say…” as He did in the Sermon on the Mount in chapter 5, but it is subtext at this point. What is the heart issue that causes us to mistreat others? The base problem is that of pride which couples with the wounds that we have received as we walk through this life to create a chip on our shoulders. We act out of that pain and pride combo and ultimately make things worse for ourselves by making things worse for those around us. We need to break the cycle, and let go of the pain and the pride so that we can genuinely prefer the other. So that we can really love each other the way God designed us to. Easy to type and say, but not easy to do. Simple, but not easy. One thing that my mom has always done well is to not hold grudges for long. She has always been very forgiving. She taught me to always see the best in people and to give them the benefit of the doubt. That is loving. Does it have its limits and flaws? Sure. But it is a better way to approach life than nursing the memory of a wrong or offense for a lifetime, and allowing those things to color your whole life experience, as my wife’s grandma did. She’s been with Jesus for over 5 years now, and we still joke about some of the grudges that she’d rehearse with my wife for over 40 years. That is not at all how I would want to be remembered, as an angry, hurt person who never forgives anyone. Is that how you want to be remembered? I’d rather be remembered for kindness and understanding, not rotten anger and pain that governed my life. Let it go. Ask the Lord to help you to release the pain and eliminate your pride, so that you can love others better, and not always be so triggered. Is it a process? Absolutely. Do not expect it to be a instant sozo situation, where you miraculously stop holding grudges and start forgiving, while simultaneously beginning to do right by others no matter what. It could happen. But it is unlikely.

You Are - Matthew Patten You are my all You are You are So I praise With my all So I worship With my life Your presence Your power Your glory What does forgiveness have to do with healing? Father, Forgive me. Forgive me for those times when I choose things that break your heart. Help me to forgive others who hurt me. Help me to genuinely apologize when I hurt others, and be humble enough to hear them in their pain. Heal me in my body, now. Heal me in my mind, now. Heal my heart, now. Help me to walk in wholeness. Thank you for forgiveness. Thank you for shalom. In Jesus’ name, Amen Matthew 9:1-8 (TPT) Jesus got into the boat and returned to what was considered his hometown, Capernaum. Just then some people brought a paraplegic man to him, lying on a sleeping mat. When Jesus perceived the strong faith within their hearts, he said to the paralyzed man, “My son, be encouraged, for your sins have been forgiven.” These words prompted some of the religious scholars to think, “Why, that’s nothing but blasphemy!” Jesus supernaturally perceived their thoughts, and said to them, “Why do you carry such evil in your hearts? Which is easier to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or, ‘Stand up and walk!’? But now, to convince you that the Son of Man has been given authority to forgive sins, I say to this man, ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk home.’” Immediately the man sprang to his feet and left for home. When the crowds witnessed this miracle, they were awestruck. They shouted praises to God because he had given such authority to human beings. Forgiveness is divine. To err is human. I screw up all the time. I need to ask forgiveness of those I hurt, all of the time. There, that’s out there. What healing do you need? What sin/errors/hurts have you inflicted on yourself or others that you need to ask forgiveness for? Those issues may be connected. Now, Jesus always did things differently in the narratives we have of his healings in the Gospels. There was never any kind of overt formula, so please, don’t hear this as me trying to formulize or sytematize Jesus as a healer. This story is about Jesus showing that he had authority on the earth, showing, without saying that he was the Son of God. That is not to limit the impact of the healing on the (formerly) paraplegic man’s life, or the crowd, or on the scholars themselves. Let’s look at the layers and perhaps see which of these characters fits each of us… character 1: the man, character 2: his friends, character 3: the crowd, character 4: the religious scholars. We don’t know much about the man, other than that he starts out unable to walk, carried by his friends to Jesus, and apparently needs forgiveness for something, and springs off of his mat, picks it up and goes home at the end of it. His friends: we know even less about, other than that they brought him to Jesus, believing that he would be healed. The crowd: interested onlookers wanting to see what the prophet/ rabbi will do, turned in to stunned observers, astonished at what they’d just seen, praising God for the miracle. As for the Religious Scholars (usually termed pharisees in most other translations), they have character built up elsewhere in the Gospels, as opponents and even rivals to Jesus and his message. So there’s the stage: a man in need, friends who help him, a crowd who is sympathetic and interested, then astounded at what they witnessed, then the antagonists, who never even spoke a word, but Jesus, the hero of the story, could sense the judgments flowing from the religious spirit that sought to control the people through these scholars and their contemporaries. Which one are you? Be honest with yourself, and if you dare, tell me in the comments below. The character you identify with speaks loudly of your self-judgments. Are you the helpless man on the mat, who gets forgiven and healed? Are you the crowd, clamoring to see what Jesus will do next, perhaps even how he will embarrass the religious leaders this time? Are you the religious leaders who are balancing the percieved needs of the people to be unified in faith so that they are not swept away in the Hellenizing and Latinizing influences that sought to destroy faith in YHWH, not to mention whatever shreds of national identity still existed in 1st century Palestine. Note how I tried to paint them in a sympathetic light? That was what they sought to do, even if their methods were suspect and the means were a manipulative control over the people that really had nothing to do with the faith of YHWH. If you see yourself as the man who was healed, why? Are you a victim of circumstance until Jesus comes along? If you see yourself as one of the friends who had compassion on the man, heard that Jesus was coming back home for a bit, and chose to bring the man to see what Jesus would do for him, why is that? Are you always the bridesmaid and never the bride? Are you the perpetual helper, but never get your own needs met? Are you simply desperate to see healing for your friend or family member? If you see yourself as one of the hometown crowd, why is that? Are you simply an observer in life? A bystander in the grand drama? Not sure how it can apply to you? Do you see yourself as the (hopefully) well intentioned, yet misguided Jewish leadership? Judging Jesus because he is not fitting in with your own image of a rabbi? Nervous because the carefully crafted control you have over the people is being challenged by an upstart who does miracles that you could never dream of doing? I am something of a combination, at different times in my life, as I suspect many of us are. Sometimes I feel as though I am the paraplegic, a victim of my circumstances, others (and more of the time than not) I can identify with the faith-filled friends, desperate to see change in the life of a loved one, still others, I am certainly the interested crowd… I can even relate (shock, right?) to the religious leaders… after all, I am a pastor by training and hardwiring, and ahe my times when I try to force people into boxes where they don’t fit. If I have ever done that to you, I apologize. If any of you are courageous enough to tell me/ us which group you fit into, and/or need prayer, please let me know in the comments. Be Blessed.

Just Rest - Matthew Patten You Who rest In the shelter Of the Lord Who Love on Him Are always safe Verse No matter what danger Sickness or death May be around you It cannot touch you Bridge You'll know salvation and long life When you rest In the Lord Father, As we look at the apparent condition of the world, it is hard to see the truth in these verses. We cry out for vindication, now. We are your lovers, Lord. We know that those who oppose you do not come to a good end, but we need to see it, now. Bring righteousness and justice to your people, Oh God. It is so easy to be riled up, angry, twisted up in our emotions based on what we see, but help us to be quiet with You. Thank you that you bring to bad ends all those who oppose you, who work injustice on the earth. Thank you that we do not need to be caught up in all of that. Thank You that You are GOOD, and we can trust You, no matter what. Thank you that because we are with You, we are infinately better off than they are. In Jesus’ name, Amen Psalm 37:6-7 (TPT) He will appear as your righteousness, as sure as the dawning of a new day. He will manifest as your justice, as sure and strong as the noonday sun. Quiet your heart in his presence and wait patiently for Yahweh. And don’t think for a moment that the wicked, in their prosperity, are better off than you. This reminds me of Isaiah 61… I wonder which was written first. To continue the thought from last time, though, as we rest in Him, delighting in Him, He will bring vindication, He will show the world our righteousness, that we have been following Him the whole time. We do not need to trumpet ourselves. Most people need to be on show, then tell, not “let me share my dreams with you”. Do not brag about things that you cannot control. (as an aside) I have made that mistake too often, and most of the people I have shared with (other than my wife), have done very little other than taking dumps on my dreams. That wastes energy. I need to let God Do it. Rest in Him, let Him choose when to reveal me and that which He has put in me. We need to be quiet. Let people think whatever they will. Work behind the scenes without making a big deal over it. When things are ready, the world will know. Maybe I’m just talking to myself, but I doubt it. Be patient. Wait on God to fix the problem, to bring justice for you. Don’t fumble around and try to fix it yourself. Be calm. God is nearer than you think with that which you need. When we do let our flesh get out of control, we often create hurdles for God. If we choose to keep quiet and wait on Him, as we do that which is necessary in this world, we will see proof that we are actually better off than those who are aligned with hell. Do what you have to do, but rest in Him along the way. That means that we resist the urge to react to circumstance. Admit what emotions pop up, but release them rather than stewing and creating worse situations for ourselves by allowing those emotions the permission to run our lives. Rest. Be at peace. He has it all in hand.

Father, Help us. Help us to leave our lives in your hands rather than trying to make things happen. Forgive us when we usurp your authority and your rightful place in our lives. Help us to see and understand the difference between “good” things and “God” things, and only pursue the “God” things. Help me to get things straight again. Help me to do life your way, rather than just what I think I want in any given moment. Help me to delight in You, above all. Thank you for your faithfulness in bringing me thus far, in spite of some of my choices. In Jesus’ name, Amen Psalm 37:3-5 TPT Keep trusting in the Lord and do what is right in his eyes. Fix your heart on the promises of God, and you will dwell in the land, feasting on his faithfulness. Find your delight and true pleasure in Yahweh, and he will give you what you desire the most. Give God the right to direct your life and as you trust him along the way, you’ll find he pulled it off perfectly! I have seasons where I know that I am as aligned as I can be, and others when I choose to assert my will more. This passage is all about aligning yourself with the Lord, trusting Him, and following His ways, as laid out in the Bible. This is not an invitation to religion. This is an invitation to dynamic, living, growing relationship, with the ultimate end of becoming one with Him. As we trust in Him, shown by our actions coming into alignment with what He prescibes for us. Doing what we can to care for our families, obey His Law, and care for others. When we focus on how He as always brought us through, how He has always met us in every need, we will begin to see that His faithfulness is our provision. Delight in Him. Worship, praise, adore, magnify Him above all circumstances, even when it looks like the world is circling the crapper. Even when your carefully laid up investments do not yield the desired or needed returns because of things outside of your control. Even when it looks like all of our freedom is being sucked out from under us. Even when families have been shredded by political differences or dismembered by medical tyranny. Even as it looks like the world is lurching toward another global war. Our job is to stay in alignment with Him. Stay focused on His faithfulness. Delight in Him, and see Him fulfill your needs and desires. Let Him make the decisions in your life, make Him Lord. As you trust Him enough to do that, you’ll be able to look back and be amazed at how He worked it out so well for you, such that you couldn’t imagine doing any better. Is this hard to do? You answer for yourself. I find it very challenging, though some times more than others, honestly. When I get tired and discouraged from what feels like a constant fight to stay in the right place and be aligned with Him, my flesh kicks in and tries to fly the plane. I get more snarky, cranky, and aloof with those who matter most. Then, after I realize what I did in trying to assert myself again, I course-correct and give the stick back to the Lord because I inevitably screw things up worse. It is hard. Simple, but hard. What does that course correction look like in my life? Getting back in the Word and Worship, choosing to pray (both actively and listening) more than I had been for the previous season. It looks like looking at myself in the mirror and honestly admitting where I’ve filled that space and time with other things rather than God, then stopping filling that time and space in ways that are less beneficial. It looks like facing the fact that I’d wandered off again, and turning around and calling out for my Abba once more. I am in that place again. Honestly, much of the last 2-3 months, I have been writing these on autopilot. Purely an intellectual exercise because I had committed to writing one every week. I apologize for that. I am recommitting to getting my head and heart back in proper alignment with Him.

Father, Prepare our hearts for the truth in these verses. Help us to be formed by it, rather than deforming the text to fit us. Help us to hold on without lashing out, even as things around us seem to be accellerating around the drain. Give us what we need for today so that we can respond appropriately to these things. In Jesus’ Name, Amen Psalm 37:8-10 (TPT) Stay away from anger and revenge. Keep envy far from you, for it only leads you into lies. For one day the wicked will be destroyed, but those who trust in the Lord will inherit the land. Just a little while longer and the ungodly will vanish; you will look for them in vain. To continue the thought from two weeks ago now, complete vindication and proof of our righteousness is coming, soon and very soon. Whether you want to believe that White Hats are a thing or not, There has to be a point when we reach critical mass and [they] can no longer control us with [their] nonsense. Pray. Be still. Allow the Lord to work it in His way. If He tells you to get out there and do something, go do it. He will be alongside you, blunting the blows you will take. This text, though, tells us that [they] will go down without us seeking vengeance or anything of that sort. God has it in hand. He is actively bringing them down as we watch in real time. Yes, even as the darkness appears to get deeper and stronger, even as it looks as though the last of our freedoms are on the brink of going away forever. I was talking to someone last week who is struggling with this, they went through the Charlie Ward phase of the truth movement, and now they believe that Q is a psyop. It very well may be. But whose psyop is it, if it is one? That is not the point of this devotion, but I bring it up to highlight how I believe that if we learn listening prayer, and how to hold our perceptions of reality more lightly, and invest fewer emotions in them, we will be in a better place to respond appropriately to things. If we cut the emotional, knee-jerk reactions out of our lives, then we can wait in peace for those who have partnered with the Enemy to be taken out. We, as a general rule, need do very little directly to [them]. Our role is to be aligned with heaven through prayer. When these natural emotional reactions pop up, our job is to recognize them, but not to embody them. Recognize the fear, the anger, the pain, etc, that pops up in reaction to these external circumstances, but do not let them govern your actions toward or words about those situations. Give those to the Lord, allow Him to diffuse them and to heal the wounds caused by those situations. This is far easier said than done. This is where something like an examen comes in, in conjunction with listening prayer as we experimented with it last week. What is an examen, you ask? It is a Jesuit practice, developed by Ignatious of Loyola, who founded the Order. Let me lead you through an Examen, now, so that you can see what I am talking about. First, quiet yourself. Become aware of God’s presence with and in you in this moment. Second, think over your day (perhaps journal a bit, to get your thoughts more organized) with gratitude. Third, Note your emotions as you go through step 2. What might God be saying to you through those emotions? Fourth, Pick one thing in your day and focus on it in prayer, ask the Lord to highlight something to you from your day, some emotional aspect to it, and allow prayer, in whatever form, to come out spontaneously (do not judge it). Fifth, think about what you anticipate for tomorrow, challenges, joys, etc, be attentive to the emotions that come up as you are doing this step, and pray into them, asking for guidance, strength, or whatever seems important in that moment, as you are thinking about the day to come. At the end, just talk to the Lord. Wrap it up, but don’t rush. You just did your first examen (most likely). How was that? Could you see it being helpful in refocusing yourself on gratitude? Could this help in letting some of those emotioal reactions pass you by, so that you can more patiently wait to see the day when the wicked are no more? By all means, if you have been commissioned by the Lord to go and do something other than pray, stay in alignment with Him on that, and always check to see if what you are doing is what He intends you to do.

Father, Come and be with us. Help us to experience the shalom that this verse refers to, even in the midst of the dark seeming to get darker, and the ride seeming to spin more and more out of control. Thank you that we can run to you and be at peace, even in the craziest of times. Thank you that you promise us inheritance if we stay humble, aligned with you. In Jesus’ name, Amen Psalm 37:11 (TPT) But the humble of heart will inherit every promise and enjoy abundant peace. I suppose that the first question that needs answering is what is humilty? How does one exhibit humilty of heart? To me, humilty is not about any kind of artificial low self esteem or even self-loathing. No. That is false humilty. That is religion. Humilty is an accurate understanding of who you are in God. You are His beloved child. Not a red-headed step child, only good as a receptacle for abuse, but you are a golden child. You are a favorite. That may strike you as odd, given that likely your life has not been easy. Maybe you were abused, maybe you still are in an abusive relationship. I don’t know. I was abused as a kid. My life has been less easy than some, largely due to choices I’ve made, coupled with things that I was taught that were wrong. It is what it is. I used to think that humilty was the friars in “The Holy Grail” walking around chanting, and smacking themselves with lumber whenever they had a stray thought that was less than holy, or something like that. The TRUTH, though, is that we are supposed to be confident in the Lord, not doormats. We can stand strong without lashing out at people who offend us or hurt us in some way. We can love ourselves because Jesus loved us first, and still does. It is that not lashing out part that I think this passage is focused on in context. If we live humbly, with quiet confidnce that our Father has our back, and will see to the undoing of the Wicked, that He will vindicate us in the end, then we will see His promises begin to manifest. We will have peace, even as [they] mistreat us wholesale. We can look at the circumstnaces of life without despair or anger, or the desire to take revenge, because we know that God has it handled for us. This allows us to begin to experience shalom, that is, wholeness, health, prosperity, and inner peace, all these things that we seek after through our own devices, all our lives, but they usually elude us, other than for brief moments. The promise to the humble, here, and I might even stretch it to the meek. Not the weak, mind you, but the meek, or those who have strength, but restrain it, rather than just seeking vengreance for every percieved wrong or slight. That is humilty, that is the power to wait on God to work it out for you. Let’s ask Him this question, as we practice our listening prayer today: Lord, how can I grow in humility now? How can I see all of these promises fulfilled? How can I have shalom, now?

Father, As we choose to be shaped by your Word, I ask that you would help us to keep our noses clean. Help us to hear you laugh at the Enemy and his followers. Let us see their weapons be turned against them in their hands. Let their plotting and planning to destroy your innocent ones, your beloved children, blow up in their faces. May they never recover. Let there be repentance on their part, just as we repent for our part in making the world less heavenly. Help us to be humble and not gloat over their destruction, even though it would feel good to do so. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Psalm 37:12-5 (TPT) Let the wicked keep plotting against the godly with all their sneers and arrogant jeers. God laughs at the wicked and their plans, for he knows their day is coming! Evil ones take aim at the poor and helpless; they are ready to slaughter those who do right. But the Lord will turn all their weapons of wickedness back on themselves, piercing their pride-filled hearts until they are helpless. I don’t know about you, but I want, no, need, to see the wicked ones who have nearly destroyed the planet get their comeuppance. I am not talking about those who are at the bottom trying to survive in the systems created by [them], to be clear. I am talking about [them], [their] masters, and the evil spirits that animate their choices. Those entities that tell [them] that [they] are somehow better than we are. Those entities who encourage [them] to follow their worst impulses, destroying children, families, communities, and the environment itself. I am reminded of the NICE in the C.S. Lewis Space Trilogy, specifically in That Hideous Strength. The NICE was literally run by a demon talking to the leaders through the decapitated head of a murderer. Only the demon was called a “macrobe”, and in the Space Trilogy, they came from the moon, which they had made lifeless over the millennia. I need to hear the Father’s laughter, scornful, derisive laughter over these enemies. I know that I shouldn’t take joy in their destruction, but it is so hard not to. I see facades slipping and masks of alleged benevolence starting to melt off of the waxen faces of those who have given themselves over to the Enemy. The thing that we need to remember, more than even that [they] are coming to an end, is that the physical bodies of the people who have given [their] souls for power and influence are not our enemies. It is the Powers behind them that are. This is why we are not to execute vengeance for ourselves. God still loves them and wants to see them repent and come Home, but he knows how that will all go, and we cannot afford to get in the way of that.

Father, Show us the truth of this passage. Help us to trust you more than we trust in finances or any other similar thing that we would normally place faith in, whether a political system, financial investments, a job or career, or even interpersonal relationships. As we grow in trusting You, help us not be distracted by the storms around us. Help us to be at peace, in You. In Jesus’ name, Amen Psalm 37:16-8 (TPT) It is much better to have little combined with much of God than to have the fabulous wealth of the wicked and nothing else. For the Lord takes care of all his forgiven ones while the strength of evil men will surely slip away. Day by day the Lord watches the good deeds of the godly, and he prepares for them his forever-reward. The less is more reality offered in this passage flies in the face of conventional thinking and what we are taught about being ambitious. Choosing to be ok with less, as long as it is not less freedom that we are guaranteed in our constitution, can be liberating as well as being a great way to keep your nose clean, so to speak. What I haven’t talked about yet is that the balance is having “much of God” vs “nothing more”. Just being destitute or impoverished is not what God desires for us, but He does desire that we would depend on Him, or rather recognize our dependence on Him for each heartbeat and every breath. That is harder to do when we have more resources available to us, isn’t it? That is why Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich (self-satisfied, self-centered) person to enter the Kingdom. If we do not come unto God as children, recognizing our reality of being utterly dependent on Him for everything, then we will not experience having “much” of Him, whether we have “much” in the natural or not. Our place is that of humility. Humility is simply recognizing our actual place in the universe, as contingent beings. We are because He is. We exist to glorify Him. We exist to multiply His image on the Earth . He does not depend on us, we depend on Him. However, He loves us. He treasures each of us, knowing the number of hairs on each of our heads as well as catching every tear that we have ever cried. He knows you. He values you. Have you been forgiven? Are you in that category of people whom God cares for, or are you experiencing your strength slipping away? This is not so say that attacks do not occur for those who are righteous, as they certainly do, but do you sense God’s care in your life? You are one who will receive a forever-reward. We all have an image in our heads that may be a bit different from one another, but to me, that forever-reward sounds like the promise of heaven, a place where we will not be confronted with loss or lack or pain or injustice any longer. What comes to mind for you?

Father, As we look at this week’s passage, help us to rest in you. Help us to know that we will always have more than enough, no matter what, as long as we stay In Christ. Thank you that the wicked are momentary, but we, your faithful lovers, are forever. Thank you that you enable us to return more than we borrow. Thank you that the wicked are here today, gone tomorrow. In Jesus’ name, Amen Psalm 37: 19-21 (TPT) Even in a time of disaster he will watch over them, and they will always have more than enough no matter what happens. All the enemies of God will perish. For the wicked have only a momentary value, a fading glory. Then one day they vanish! Here today, gone tomorrow. They break their promises, borrowing money but never paying it back. The good man returns what he owes with some extra besides. Even in times such as these, we can trust that the Lord has our back, we can trust that He will always make sure that He will provide more than enough for us, every time, no matter what. Rest in that truth. He provides more than enough, after all, you and I are here, now, not 6 feet under. No matter how much we choose to exalt the problems that we face over God in our lives (worrying or fearing the worst), we always land in a way that we can recover from. This is coming from a man who has been in the bread line, a man who grew up in soup kitchens, a man who has failed in business in the past, so badly that my family has lost a home. Yet, we have always had food on the table, never lost our car, and our boys have grown as they should. God has always provided for us, and usually more than we really needed, one way or another. In contrast, the enemies of God have no real staying power. They may succeed fabulously at foolish, oppressive ends for a time, but the wheels will fall off. They will not be remembered well in posterity, if at all. Those who borrow, but never intend to repay their debts... These are the enemies of God who will suddenly cease to be. They will be here today, but gone tomorrow. God will deal with them, don’t worry, just stay cozy. How does this apply to us? Think of the powers-that-have-been, are they truly succeeding, other than in momentary gains? We might be tempted to despair over the state of our nation, over the fact that [they] are appearing to win, and cheat openly, to not have any real repercussions for those treasonous actions they have taken in rigging and tampering with the election. Cry out for justice. Cry out in repentance for the ways in which we as Christians might have dropped the ball or anything like that. Sit in His presence and wait, allow Him to guide you. That will put you into the category with staying power, rather than here today, gone tomorrow.

Consider that we very well may be in the midst of this sort of deliverance, now. The peoples whom Israel failed to destroy are the same as those who have set up the world as it is. We are being delivered and taking possession of the land that they have controlled for too long. There will come a time when action will be required of more of us. In the meantime, appreciate this retelling of the Exodus narrative by the Psalmist. Psalms 136 TPT His Tender Love 1 Let everyone thank God, for he is good, and he is easy to please! His tender love for us continues on forever! 2 Give thanks to God, our King over all gods! His tender love for us continues on forever! 3 Give thanks to the Lord over all lords! His tender love for us continues on forever! 4 Give thanks to the only miracle-working God! His tender love for us continues on forever! 5 Give thanks to the Creator who made the heavens with wisdom! His tender love for us continues on forever! 6 To him who formed dry ground, raising it up from the sea! His tender love for us continues on forever! 7 Praise the one who created every heavenly light! His tender love for us continues on forever! 8 He set the sun in the sky to rule over day! His tender love for us continues on forever! 9 Praise him who set in place the moon and stars to rule over the night! His tender love for us continues on forever! 10 Give thanks to God, who struck down the firstborn in Egypt! His tender love for us continues on forever! 11 He brought his people out of Egypt with miracles! His tender love for us continues on forever! 12 With his mighty power he brought them out! His tender love for us continues on forever! 13 He split open the Red Sea for them! His tender love for us continues on forever! 14 And led his people right through the middle! His tender love for us continues on forever! 15 He vanquished Pharaoh’s armies, drowning them all! His tender love for us continues on forever! 16 He led his people through the wilderness! His tender love for us continues on forever! 17 He’s the one who smashed mighty kingdoms! His tender love for us continues on forever! 18 He triumphed over powerful kings who stood in his way! His tender love for us continues on forever! 19 He conquered Sihon, king of the Amorites! His tender love for us continues on forever! 20 He conquered the giant named Og, king of Bashan! His tender love for us continues on forever! 21 Then he gave away their lands as an inheritance! His tender love for us continues on forever! 22 For he handed it all over to Israel, his beloved! His tender love for us continues on forever! 23 He’s the God who chose us when we were nothing! His tender love for us continues on forever! 24 He has rescued us from the power of our enemies! His tender love for us continues on forever! 25 He provides food for hungry men and animals! His tender love for us continues on forever! 26 Give thanks to the great God of the heavens! His tender love for us continues on forever!

Father, Thank You for being present with us. Thank You for promising that we will receive the land. Thank You that those who stand against You will be cut off from the land. Thank You for guiding and establishing our steps. I ask that You would reconfirm all the things that we have sensed You leading us into. Establish our steps, Oh God. Help us to delight in You, and for our lives to delight you. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Psalm 37:22-4 TPT Yahweh’s blessed ones receive the land, but the cursed ones will be cut off with nothing to show for themselves. When Yahweh delights in how you live your life, he establishes your every step. If they stumble badly they will still survive, for the Lord lifts them up with his hands. When, oh Lord? When do we see these things? It seems like we are on the cusp, but You won’t give any of Your friends the details right now. As we take a look at this old promise today, it feels all the more poignant and needed than ever. All I can do is to encourage all of us, including myself, to keep believing. Hold on to these promises. Believe that we and our children will be the beneficiaries of these ancient promises. Appropriate them. Make them yours. I have to be honest here, as much as I want to blithely go along and act as though it is not hard to do what I am calling on us to do, I can’t. This season is hard. It needs to end, two years ago. Possibly more like 3, frankly. For those who have been more aware and awake for longer, I salute you. I don’t think I would’ve had the fortitude to stick with it as long as you have. How have you stuck with the truth and held onto hope for as long as you have? How are you not entirely “black pilled” so to speak? Ok, back to the text... God, do as you say here, establish our steps, we who are your delight. We who are the apple of your eye. I repent. I repent for being tempted to despair. I repent for trying to make things go and be my way, with my understanding. It is not enough. Thank you that you have always caused me to survive in the midst of my stumbles. I need your understanding, I need wisdom to make the choices that will lead to blessing for my family and this world. Thank you that you have lifted me, and are lifting me, even now. I leave the timing, as wonderful as it would be to have it all happen publicly tomorrow, and the method to you, Oh Lord. You know all. You have all wisdom. You know how to execute justice fully to bring the most of your image bearers into communion with you. Save us, Oh God. I forsake the pride that would insinuate otherwise, that I could know better than you.

Father, Thank you that you will never leave us. Help us to walk justly and humbly before you. Help us to continue seeking you and see this promised inheritance sooner rather than later. We are desperate, Oh God. Things cannot continue as they have been, we look to you to solve these problems on our behalf, bring forth justice, your justice, on the earth, now. Help us to be the kind of counselors that are worth listening to. Give us the wisdom and insight to help people see the way out of their problems. Help us to solve our own problems as well. Give us the courage to walk in wisdom, now. In Jesus’ name, Amen Psalm 37:28-30 (TPT) The Lord loves it when he sees us walking in his justice. He will never desert his devoted lovers; they will be kept forever in his faithful care, but the descendants of the wicked will be banished. The faithful lovers of God will inherit the earth and enjoy every promise of God’s care, dwelling in peace forever. God-lovers make the best counselors. Their words possess wisdom and are right and trustworthy. What is God’s justice? Walking in ways that reflect Torah. Operating in love towards one another, rather than prideful insistence that each one of us is better than the rest. This is easier said than done, surely, but is certainly doable. The call here is to genuinely love and prefer others, rather than choosing the seemingly easier path of self-centeredness and self-gratification. The call is to forsake what the flesh would desire, other than self-care, as we cannot give what we do not possess. God will stay near to us as we closely follow Him and His ways. How do we show that we love Him? Loving our fellow image-bearers, choosing to serve them as though they were the Lord Himself. We pray to be intimate with Him, to hear His heart for us and those around us, to get wisdom, direction, and provision to do the things that He places before us to do. That could be as simple as being present with your family, or it could be much “bigger” in terms of scope. We will see the descendants of the wicked banished from the land. What does this mean, in this profoundly un-rooted age? Those who have been pulling the levers of power and have intentionally destroyed many millions of lives over the last 1000 years will cease to have any power, and their bloodlines may even be completely eliminated from the earth. This will all happen soon (or so I have to keep telling myself to stay sane and hopeful). If we are faithful lovers of God, He will insure that we will receive all of those things that the wicked have laid up for themselves and their progeny, and we will not have to attack these people at all. As lovers of God, with the wisdom that comes from that ongoing series of choices, we can become great counselors, as God’s wisdom is greater and higher than any human wisdom, so we can give answers and solutions that no one who is not of God can. What is Biblical wisdom? It begins with the humble fear of the Lord. This is not us cowering whenever we think of Him, or living in fear of the smiting that should be ours by right, but it is respect and honor. The fear of the Lord that we are talking about here is simply choosing to align ourselves with Him and His ways, honoring Him by loving one another, as Love fulfills the law. Humility, well, I’ve talked about that recently, but it is an accurate concept of who you are in relation to Him. You are His beloved child, if you have surrendered to Him and sworn allegiance to Jesus as your Lord. This gives us a certain swagger, but not pride. It is a confidence because you know that you are right with Him and are walking in His ways, but when you veer off course, you are correctable. That is humility. Put those things together, and you have a person who honors God and knows who they are in relation to Him because they are in relationship, living, dynamic give & take relationship with the Source of All things and All wisdom. This is the foundation of wisdom. Perhaps after I finish this series in Psalm 37, I will crack open Proverbs and start walking through wisdom and folly with you. What do you guys think about that?

Lord, As we look at this chapter, summarize it, and talk about this familiar text, help us to see something new or different in this narrative. Help us to grasp the magnitude of your advent, your birth, and your mission here. Help us to keep the cross and the empty grave in mind as we look at the story of your birth, from announcement to gestation, with drama, to the context of Mary and Joseph, the perils of the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, to the Hosts of Heaven scaring the shepherds half to death and all the rest, the symbolism and fulfillment of prophecy that your birth signified. Thank you that you are the Messiah, the anointed King who saved us all. Thank you that you are David’s son, yet David’s Lord. In Jesus’ Name, Amen. Ok, we all know that the Christmas narrative is something of a tome. I will not directly refer to verses, but simply to the overall narrative arc, as presented in the chapter. And so it happened... So it happened, early in First century Palestine, Caesar called for a tax hike, so needed to see how many people there were in his empire, which he ruled over as a god on earth. It was with this backdrop that our story opens. What was the reality of life in First Century Palestine? Over the previous 100 years, there had been a few rebellions, first, against the Ptolomies and Greeks, then with Judah Maccabee, against Rome itself. Rome tightened its grip on the area in a less than characteristic fashion, not only through taxation, but through heavy military presence. Rome usually was fairly lax in how it ruled its territories, unless they misbehaved. Judea and Galilee were two areas which did, so they got the spiky Roman boot on their necks, even with mercenaries from neighboring Syria, who hated the Jews. This led to a very hard life for Jesus’ parents, as it did for most who were alive at the time. Sorry, broke the fourth wall a bit there, but the context is key for the story. At any rate, so it happened, in that time and place, in the midst of the so-called Pax Romana, that God sent Jesus to us, not as the son of a reigning king, but of a humble workman and hardworking young mother. And so it happened that an angel appeared to both Mary, and later on, to Joseph. This angel announced that the coming child was of God. This assured that Jesus would grow up in a stable home, with two parents, and not be immediately shunned as the bastard son of a harlot, which is what would have happened if Joseph had chosen to divorce her. Instead, he adopted Jesus as his own, shielding him from much of that shame, though the people in Nazareth likely still mocked Mary anyway. So it happened that they had to go to Bethlehem, at the height of the travel season, thanks to the census. Why Bethlehem? They were both of different branches of the line of David, and everyone had to go to their ancestral home to register to be counted in the census. This massive influx of travelers led to there being no room in the inn. The innkeeper conveyed this reality to them, and really, the inn was not like a Motel 6 or something, it was likely a family home, and there just wasn’t space for them to stay, so they wound up in what was probably a nearby cave (Bethlehem is in the Judean hillcountry), where the family kept the larger livestock that they could not fit into the home (most families slept with a few sheep, a cow, and a donkey [if they were wealthy enough to have all of those animals]), both to keep the animals safe, and to increase the body heat in the space, to make sleeping more comfortable. So it happened that they wound up in a barn of sorts, while Mary went into labor. In the midst of this, the Hosts of Heaven (not the choir/ musically talented angels, mind you, but the warriors of Heaven) appeared to some shepherds, who were doing the midnight shift with the sheep, making sure that they were safe from thieves and wild animals (this was likely not December, by the way... It was more likely April or September. It was not blazing summer, but nor was it the dead of winter, and even if it was cold, there wasn’t likely to be snow on the ground in Bethlehem, as the elevation was not that high. You do not graze sheep in snow, after all. You would keep them in the fold and that way they would be safe and warmer. These shepherds were just regular guys. You try having one angel appear to you and not crap your pants. They had the hosts of heaven manifest before them and start shouting praises to God because Jesus was born. I don’t know how I would have handled that experience... I could see myself falling down like Daniel earlier, or John, later. Dumbfounded, nearly catatonic, yet the primary speaker who announced the birth opened with “Fear not, for I bring you euangelion (Greek transliteration, this word had very political connotations, as it was used to announce the ascension of a new Caesar to the throne of Rome, and other such similar events) that will be for ALL people, this night, in the City of David (Bethlehem), a child is born, he is Christ, the Lord. Here is how you will know which one he is, you will find a newborn, swaddled in rags, and lying in a manger.” The song that commenced was not likely something like the Hallelujah Chorus, from Handel’s ‘Messiah’, but it likely sounded more like a war cry of praise to God. I don’t know about you, but I doubt I could have moved much after that experience. Not sure my legs would’ve worked to go find the child, at least not at first. However, this, if the angels were to be believed, was the Messiah who had been foretold from the Garden of Eden as the “Seed of the Woman who would crush the serpent’s head”, then prophesied about through all the prophets, From Moses, to Samuel, to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Malachai, and others, which I’d have heard read in Synagogue for my whole life, some of which I had probably memorized as a child. The weight of that might have been enough to overcome my jello legs in that moment. I don’t know. And so it happened that the shepherds went to go find and worship Jesus, and tell Mary and Joseph what they had seen and heard. There were no magi as yet, they came far later. The shepherds only came with their hearts open and hopeful for what the angels had said and sang over them that night. These men were likely broke, they may have been tending sacrificial herds, but we don’t know. Bethlehem is only 8 miles from Jerusalem, after all, and if Jesus was born in either April (right near Passover) or in September (right around Yom Kippur), then this would make even more sense, as it would place the herds within a day’s walk of the Temple right around major festivals which required sacrifices to be made. Why wouldn’t the Lamb of God be born around Passover or the Day of Atonement, both of which were foreshadowings of his coming and role. After all, there weren’t any major Jewish festivals which entailed sacrifices in December, just some form of Hanukah, which is all about light and the miracle of the oil in the menorah during the Maccabean Revolt against the Syrian Antiochus Ephiphanes IV in the 2nd Century BC. And so it happened, in the fullness of time, that the Son of God came to be born into our world. Jesus bar Joseph, the son of David, was born in Bethlehem, and the whole world began to change, as the war for the ages would be decided through his life, ministry, teaching, death, resurrection, and bodily ascension to heaven about 30 years later. He came to those who could not laud him, rather than being born in a palace. The masses can relate to Him fully because of this, and he to us. That is beautiful. So it happened that the world changed that night when that one baby was born in a stable and laid in a manger. Just so happened to be 17:17 long... I didn't try. Q:Q, lol

What’s The Difference? Psalm 37:31-3 Father, As we look at this passage today, open our eyes. Most of us probably do not know this passage well, as it is not the section that most people are familiar with. Help us to be the Faithful Lovers the first part of this passage describes. Help us to be those whom you defend because we love you. Help us to stand undaunted because we have done nothing wrong, even when we are accused. Thank you that you are faithful even when we fail. Thank you that we can be at peace even when we stand wrongfully accused, when we are being spied on. In Jesus’ Name, Amen Psalm 37:31-3 (TPT) The ways of God are in their hearts and they won’t swerve from the paths of steadfast righteousness. Evil ones spy on the godly ones, stalking them to find something they could use to accuse them. They’re out for the kill! But God will foil all their plots. The godly will not stand condemned when brought to trial. How different are you? Do you stick out like a sore thumb? Do you shine like a star in the universe? Do people know to leave you a wide berth because you savage anyone within reach? Are you the “saint” and just love God and others with all that you are? Are you a Faithful Lover of God, or are you a wicked one who seeks to destroy faithful ones? In all likelihood, if you are watching this, you are probably the former more than the latter. We all have our moments, though, where we allow jealousy and similar negative patterns to overtake our more heavenly orientations, and we engage in mudslinging or slandering another human made in the image of God. Or, perhaps you are a wicked one, (yes, the binary is that strong that there really is no grey area, here) and perhaps you seek to curse me or others who are blessed by these weekly thoughts. I don’t know. But you do, and the Lord does. To be clear, I have not seen any blowback (yet) for one of my devotions or memesplanations. As far as I know, I have not faced anything more than the usual antics from the enemy due to my existing as I do. I am grateful for these realities, and I do not take them for granted. Are you one who holds the ways of God in your heart? Are you steadfast in righteousness? Then you are the kind of person that God desires to be near to, He will protect you from those evil ones who are jealous of your Light. Those who spy on you to try to find some obscure thing to nail you on, some small aspect of your walk that they think they can spin to the point where you will get into trouble. Like Potiphar’s wife, or Daniel’s coworkers, or Shadrach, and Abednego’s fellow officials, who did did all they could to first corrupt, then to destroy these biblical exemplars. They stayed faithful, keeping God’s ways in their hearts. They did not swerve from steadfast righteousness, even when it could have cost them their lives. Be encouraged, and stand fast. God will not allow your adversaries to wreck you in court in the end. They may win for a time, but ultimately, they will be shown to be the liars and shiesters that they are. Have you been one who envies others who are upright and do well in life, seeking for some skeleton in their closet, or pile of detrius swept under the rug, which might explain how they got where they are? Have you sought to destroy another, even in little ways? Have you seen God protect His faithful ones? Ever seen your best laid plans to bring down a righteous person blow up in your face? Perhaps it is time to rethink your life, and possibly join those whom you’ve ridiculed and sought to destroy. There is grace for you. Forgiveness, too. Repent. Change your mind, and allow God to change your heart away from that orientation toward destruction and toward one of blessing instead.

Abba, Be with us as we look at these last few verses of Psalm 37, help us to get to the Truth that you have for us today. Help us to see these verses as the encouragement that they are. Thank you that we can hide in You. Thank you that you are our strength. Thank you that our future is not determined by our past or present, but by Your promises. You promise us peace and prosperity. Where is it, oh, God? Where is it? Yes, I’m impatient to see the end of the wicked play out before my eyes here on earth. I trust that You will see it done on our behalf, but when? Amen Psalm 37: 37-40 (TPT) But you can tell who are the blameless and spiritually mature. What a different story with them! The godly ones will have a peaceful, prosperous future with a happy ending. Every evil sinner will be destroyed, obliterated. They’ll be utter failures with no future! But the Lord will be the Savior of all who love him. Even in their time of trouble, God will live in them as strength. Because of their faith in him, their daily portion will be a Father’s help and deliverance from evil. This is true for all who turn to hide themselves in him! Blameless and spiritually mature, eh? Just as a warning, I may be a little salty in this devotion. I guess I’m not as mature, nor as blameless as I need to be, then? I’m struggling, here. This passage, and even indeed most of the chapter, even as hopeful and reassuring as it is, feels like pouring baking soda into vinegar right now. I know that I shouldn’t be discouraged or despair, but I’m having a moment as I write this. There’s the unvarnished truth. I’m having a black moment, but it will pass. I know that the Lord will make it right, but it hurts to be reminded when it doesn’t look like there any real movement in that direction in the moment. It actually reminds me of a Proverb... “Like removing a coat on a cold day is one who sings songs to a heavy heart” (Proverbs 25:20) Forgive me for being a bit of a downer today. Ok, I think I’m through it. Back to the Word. The godly will have a peaceful and prosperous future. Cling to that as we go through the hell of the fallout of all the wind that the wicked in our world have sowed, yes, the whirlwind [storm] is nearly upon us. Allow it to do what it was designed to do, that is, cleanse the world. We who are the godly, who do our best to follow the Father’s ways will be able to stand again at the end of it all. The wicked, on the other hand, will be utterly destroyed. They will be utter failures, with no future. I couldn’t help but hear those lines in Trump’s voice, lol. Yes, for all of their plotting and scheming to take us down, for all of their planning to live forever, they will come to noting in the end, and will die and be forgotten. Is that what this whole chapter has been about? Waiting for the wicked to just die off? I like the more spiritual interpretation, as I see it as more encouraging rather than, just wait, you’ll outlive them and take back what they took from you before you die. God will be with us and help us through the storms of this life as long as we are faithful to him. That is the bottom line that I am seeing through this entire Psalm. That is the difference between the godly and the wicked: the godly are protected, even from the fury of the wicked, where the wicked enjoy no such protection. Even when it seems like they will never be ended, remember, they, too, will die, and no one can take their wealth or power with them into the great beyond.

Father, Help us to slow down. Help us to not live as though every little desire constitutes a hellfire emergency until we have it in our hands. Help us to live in the rhythm of heaven, not at the with the cadence of earth. Thank you that we will see the Wicked overthrown and forgotten, even in our lifetimes. I have been impatient with how you are doing things, I repent. I will continue crying out, lamenting every injustice, and praising for every small victory. Thank you that none of my emotional swings can interfere with your plan. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Psalm 37:34-36 (TPT) So don’t be impatient for Yahweh to act; keep moving forward steadily in his ways, and he will exalt you to possess the land. You’ll watch with your own eyes and see the wicked lose everything. I’ve already seen this happen. Once I saw a wicked and violent man overpower all who were around him, a domineering tyrant with his prideful and oppressive ways. Then he died and was forgotten. Now no one cares that he is gone forever. This is hard. We want, and sometimes feel like we NEED things to happen YEARS ago, but God has his ways. God has his plan. We can be sure that we will live to see the powers that be overthrown. God has said it many times in his Word, and that Word does not return without fulfilling the purpose for which it was uttered or written. Breathe. Trust Him. He never fails. Be steadfast in your choices to follow His ways. Take one step at a time, focused on that step, not one that you think might come down the road. Don’t rush Him. Stay faithful to each thing He places in your hands to do. Do it thoroughly, not in some kind of half-assed way. He will see to it that you receive your reward in this life. You will possess the land. Your dreams, as long as they were dreamed with God, will be fulfilled if you stay faithful rather than taking matters into your own hands. Let go of the trauma. Let go of the pain. Let go of the frustration. Let Him heal you and prepare you to receive what He has for you. The psalmist tells us that he has seen this happen in his own life, that this tyrant who beat everyone down, who was prideful and so domineering, died and was not remembered. He was not celebrated, nor was his memory cherished by those who survived him. He was as though he had never been. This is the fate of those who choose to run after power for power’s sake, who have no fear of God in their hearts. As I said earlier, our role in this is to be faithful to what God places in our hands to complete. If He assigns you the task of vengeance, take it one step at a time, and be thorough. If He tells you to do something else, do that other thing, but pray for the fulfillment of God’s plan in that situation. Cry out, lament, praise where needed, but never let the line go quiet, whether in active prayer or a more contemplative, listening mode.

Father, You say that if we ask for wisdom, you will give it to us freely. We ask that you would help us to start to comprehend what wisdom is. Be with us as we study your word to see what you have to say about it. Holy Spirit, you are the Spirit of Wisdom, come inhabit this space as we consider how we may become wise. Jesus, you are the Word of God, you are the very words on the page, but you are alive, help us to be conscious of you as we look at this topic. Amen. Well, I bit off a whole lot when I promised that I would start walking with you through the nature of Biblical Wisdom. I took a whole semester class on it when I was in college, many moons ago, and I was a cocky little punk back then. So, what is Biblical Wisdom? Where does it start? How can we grow in wisdom? According to Proverbs 1:7, wisdom begins with the (humble) fear of the Lord. I’ve talked about humility a bit in the past, and even mentioned the fear of the Lord, but in case you don’t remember, here is a refresher. This whole concept is profoundly counter-cultural, it flips most of the world’s way of life on its head, as it is based on the Kingdom of Heaven, not the kingdom of this world. So, what is humility? Humility is an accurate view of who you are in relation to God, then others. Humility places others and God at the center of your life, rather than you. It does not give you low self-esteem or reduce you in any way. Rather it changes your focus. What is the Fear of the Lord? It means that you honor and obey Him, you respect Him. What does that look like? Giving of yourself without concern for repayment, following His ways, doing what is right and never seeking to injure yourself or another. The Fear of the Lord makes His opinion of you and your thoughts and actions more important than what others think or say. The Fear of the Lord will lead you to following Torah (not Mishnah or Talmud, mind you, but Torah). You heart is turned toward Him, not toward other things or people, that is the Fear of the Lord. So, what happens when we put humility together with the Fear of the Lord? Fireworks. That is where wisdom, Biblical wisdom, takes root. That is the starting place, because as a humble person, you are flexible and willing to learn, and willing to honor one who knows and understands more than you do. You aren’t a cocky piece of work that thinks you’re the cat’s meow and can’t learn anything from anyone. This is entirely against the grain of Western society and culture, where we are told, particularly as men that we have to be “alpha”, or macho, self-absorbed, and the kind of person who will squash anyone or anything that gets in his way. That, coupled with making much of God, and choosing His ways over those that the world would have us walk out, with all of the destructiveness baked into those other ways. We will want to connect with others who are walking in the same way that we desire to, so that we can learn how to do life better. So, for today, biblical wisdom begins with the humble fear of the Lord. It does not end there, but that is its genesis in our lives. Next week, we will get into some of the different kinds of wisdom that are discussed in the Bible, and yes, there are at least a handful. We will take a look at more scripture where those different kinds of wisdom show up, then seek to gain more through prayer.

Lord, Come. Open our hearts and minds that your wisdom would pour into and through us as we study what wisdom is. Help us to grasp what wisdom is in Your book. Help us to gather skills and to have open eyes and ears to notice patterns in the world that others may miss. Teach us to understand ourselves and others better, that we would be able to make better judgment calls in our lives. I have gone off the rails because I wandered away from you in the past. Forgive me. Help me to stay aligned properly as I move forward. Help me to know when and how to say things to benefit not only myself, but others more and more as time goes on. In Jesus’ name, Amen. There are 2 Hebrew words that often get translated as “wisdom”: Chokmah – related noun which is usually translated as “wisdom” Chakam – wise or crafty in word, action, or mind If some one is chakam, they have skill in some area or other, whether as a politician, plumber, or proctologist. It has to do with having information to recognize patterns reliably so that you can make good decisions. If one has chokmah, it takes skill and adds a spiritual dimension to it, as one has to have a right relationship with God in order to have true chokmah. This is the form of wisdom we will focus on in this series. We will also talk about the kinds of folly and fools, as that is a fun topic, and as we get better at recognizing them, even in ourselves, we can understand how to handle different kinds of people better. That is a large part of why we should want to have chokmah, rather than simply be skilled in certain areas, though that is a part of the picture. That kind of skill does not require God to accrue, but to turn that skill into a more generalized wisdom, at least in reference to the Bible, that is, we need to be in constant relationship with the Lord. Let me give an example: Say you had a friend who was a patriot, but had been forced to sit through some leftist indoctrination as a part of his or her job in sales. Now imagine that they had stumbled their way through a rough deal, then got to 4th and goal, only to have their clients turn on them, accusing them of being manipulative or somehow “forcing” things to happen in a way that would only benefit your friend, but not their client. Now say there were things that the friend could have done better, but that was water over the dam by then, then the friend comes to you, hurting over what the client was saying, and freaking out over possibly losing half of their commission on the deal. On one hand, the friend readily acknowledges their errors over the course of the deal, on the other, they neither wish to destroy relationship nor lose money. What would you tell them? Do you have the wisdom and discernment to navigate that situation without making it worse? I didn’t. I was the conservative equivalent of the screaming liberal, and I not only blew up that relationship, but lost money on top of it, because I chose to throw that liberal claptrap in the client’s face. I was going to let it ride, but couldn’t leave well enough alone. I even thought hard about simply giving them what they wanted, as these were some of my wife’s acquaintances whom I was helping. I am more broken up still over the broken relationships there than I am about the lost commission. Money is just money. People matter far more than money. That is wisdom, hard won. Take it for what you will. So, what is wisdom? On a basic level, it is the ability to recognize patterns in people and situations, then insight to know what to do about those patterns to turn them for the greatest possible benefit for all involved. On a Biblical level, it is that, plus a constant relationship with the God of the Universe. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Wisdom, He is the personified wisdom in Proverbs 8, calling out to the simple and the fools as they go on their way. In the Bible, there are 3 options, you are either growing wise, becoming a fool, or very early on, you are probably simple. We will talk about those other two options starting next week. The Simple one and the Fool. We will talk about the state of being simple next week, then start talking about folly the week after. This week, we will be doing a series of memesplanations on humility, what it is, and how it benefits us to be humble. On the main channel tomorrow, we will be talking about BlendOS, Elementary OS, and Escuelas Linux. Please smash that Rumble button, Share this if it touched you, and Subscribe to the channel. Be Blessed, and choose Wisdom this week. Thanks for watching!

Father, Let us be positively simple, that is, open to You, as we go through this word study. Help us to not be open to anything else as we study this concept today. Give us heaven-sense, not common sense now. We look to You, we fix our eyes on You, now. Give us understanding and humility to genuinely seek You and heed You, rather than just doing whatever we may “feel”. In Jesus’s name, Amen So, what word is used in Hebrew (since we are primarily looking at the Old Testament wisdom literature in Proverbs and Ecclesiastes) that we usually see as “simple” in most of our English translations? The word in question is pethi, and it has a range of meanings from “open” to “open-minded” to “lacking understanding”. So is the default state of human beings described, depending on the context around the word. When I told my wife that I would be talking about the word “simple”, she assumed that I meant “the opposite of complex”, along the lines of Ockham’s Razor, or the principle of parsimony, the removal of unnecessary things or thoughts from one’s life. That is not what this devotion is about. This is not Proverbs meets Marie Kondo. This devotion is about the word “pethi”. Pethi is based on the verbal root, Patah, which means “to open”. As I said earlier, the connotation is “open” for pethi. Is it a good, neutral, or bad kind of openness in view? Well that depends on the context. That is like the difference between simply lacking knowledge through no fault of your own, versus being willfully ignorant, going out of your way to avoid information or knowledge of a certain kind. One can be simple in a good sense, that being that you are open to being instructed, open to mentoring. Think about Star Wars: A New Hope, where Obi Wan is just starting to teach Luke about the Force, and he encourages him to clear his mind and be open to all that was around him, rather than being tied to his 5 senses. Luke was searching for something larger, but could have been shaped in a number of different ways, because he was simple, or just plain “open”. He took up with Obi Wan because he seemed wise. In that, he was more on the positive end, but ultimately neutral. One can also be simple in a neutral sense, that you lack knowledge, but are open to it in general. On the other hand, one can be simple in a very negative sense, where you purposely avoid gaining wisdom. That last one is the second step on the path to becoming a fool. In Star Wars, these are the ones who take in with the Dark Side, who are, at least at first, taught to be controlled by their emotions (fear, anger, hate, lust, envy, etc), because those can be powerful things that make you think that you are free, however, it leads nowhere in the end. Taking the wise path will get you to power, but you will be free to wield it, rather than being wielded by it. Taking the path toward wisdom is harder, but will lead you where you really want to be, in the end. We all start out neutrally simple, or just “open” (see Proverbs 1:22, 32). Our environment and our own choices can slant us in one direction or the other, whether towards wisdom, through being open to mentoring (Proverbs 9:4), or towards folly (Proverbs 14:15), by being set against “prudent”. As I said earlier, it can be used in 3 different ways. I guess it is kind of complex to be simple in the Bible, isn’t it? Don’t be perplexed by the term pethi, though. All you have to do in areas of your life where you are simple is to choose to start down the path toward wisdom. Is that an easy path? No. Can it suck? Absolutely, in the short term, but the ultimate end is far better than for those who choose the path of folly. Next week, the plan is to talk about the different words for “fool” in Proverbs, then tie them to familiar figures and examples of those who would fit in each category. We will also see what aspects of foolishness each of us may have, and we all do, for there are none who are perfectly wise, in this world. Everybody has weak spots and blind spots, and that is why we need one another in loving community. For “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). As an aside, if you aren’t already watching my memesplanation shorts, I am now crafting them to fit in with my Sunday devotions, to tug at some of the themes I present in the devotions, so you should watch them and be blessed.

Father, as we look at the Fools in Your Word, I ask that you would help us to be humble enough to recognize these elements in our own lives. Come, Holy Spirit, breathe on this word study and help each one of us to get what we need out of it today. Help us to be teachable, and moldable in the Right ways. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. So what does it mean to be a fool in the Bible? The basic idea is that you set yourself in opposition to God. That is the heart of folly, also known as pride. We each have parts of ourselves which are foolish, and different aspects of folly that we prefer. The journey through sanctification and to theosis is marked by growing humility, so that the Holy Spirit, also known as Wisdom, in Proverbs, can excise those parts of us that are not Christ-like. Those were big words, really they are two ways to say the same thing. They both point to the same truth, which is that at the end of a Christian’s life, he or she should be so much like Jesus that God can’t stay away from him or her. That is the endgame for wisdom. However, that is not the point of this particular devotion. Today’s purpose is to talk about the opposite, the Fool. In the Hebrew Bible, we see 5 or 6 words that all get translated as “fool” in English. English is weird that way. Here are the fools: Pethi: We met this one last week, he is the simple fool, just open to whatever comes. He can be directed either towards wisdom or to the way of the Fool. he does not necessarily lack intelligence, just discernment. This person will fall in line with whatever is around them. If they are in an environment rich with wise mentors, they are more likely to be shaped in that way. If they are left to their own devices, they are likely to harden into some form of fool. This is the default nature of humanity. (a child or a young person) Eviyl: This is the proud rebel. He knows what is best for him, or thinks he does, and will act on it. Come what may, he will do his own thing, live from his own truth. Eviyl actually means stupid fool, but not mentally deficient, but morally and spiritually. (Think of Frank Sinatra, here... I did it my way... My way or the highway) Luwts: This is the scoffer or mocker. He is not just morally inept and willfiul in his pride, but will mock anyone who dares say anything contrary to his opinions or feelings. This is the person who rags on someone for doing something that didn’t end well, only to emulate that person in the end. This is the guy or gal who is so set in their understanding that they react almost violently to anyone who says something negative about it. (These are the SJWs or even religious leaders, self-righteous, cocky, self-assured, and ready to smack you silly for saying anything they do not approve of) Keciyl: This is like the next step for the eviyl fool, where the eviyl is simply rebellious, the keciyl is more hardened in their pride. There is no humility, no teachability in them. These fools are on their way to becoming a nabal. Pray for them. Keep trying to reach them, but do not shelter them from the fallout of their choices, as that will only enable them to stay as they are. They need hard rock bottom. Atsel: This is the lazy fool, the sluggard who, like George Costanza or the stereotypical stoner, might work hard to not work at all at what they are supposed to be doing. They have laziness down to an art form. They have their own idea of what life should be like, and it should be easy for them. They will not keep at anything, other than in the interest of maintaining their own lazy lifestyle. They are proud, will boast, but then not follow through because they are chronically incapable of doing so. They may scoff at you for challenging their choices, but their words will almost always be devoid of real meaning. They can be reached, but it takes allot. Nabal: Named after Abigail’s husband, who refused to host David or even help him against Saul. These are the furthest gone of the fools. They are completely high on their own fumes. They cannot hear anything negative about themselves or their lives from anyone. They know what is best, and that is that, period. This type of fool is the endgame, it is almost impossible to bring a nabal fool back to the light, but do not write them off. Keep trying, as the Holy Spirit leads. So, now that we have this information, which pieces of these categories of people do we see in ourselves? Where do we need to repent? Where does the Holy Spirit need greater permission from us to do His work? Let’s invite Him to do what He wants today. Holy Spirit, I confess my pride. I know that I can be cocky. I know that I can dig in my heels to get my way. I repent of these traits. I want to give up my pride, but I don’t know how. Help me grow wise. Thank you, Lord.

Father, As we wrap this series up, come and be with us. Open our hearts and minds to you, that we may receive all that you have for us this morning. Help us to be humble and submit to your voice as we finish this brief look at what you tell us about wisdom in your word. Holy Spirit, you are welcome to do whatever you like in me today. I submit to you. Bring wisdom and insight. Help me to be and stay in step with you, rather than trying to do my own thing. In Jesus’ name, Amen So for the last month, we have been talking about wisdom, and I feel that it is time to let that marinate in us, so we will move on to a different study next week. This has been a very high level survey, and is as far from being exhaustive as East is from West. I wanted to introduce us to or remind us of these concepts, not teach something which I am not qualified to teach on. I certainly have prideful moments, sometimes they are more than moments, though. I used to be a generalized atsel fool, with shades of the keciyl for good measure, as it were. I was cocky, lazy, and while I might occasionally seek advice from elders and whatnot, I rarely put it into action. I knew what was right for me, and probably for others, too. It was often cloaked in false humility, so that I would fit in with the good little churchians I hung out with. What did it look like? I would work hard at what I cared about, but more or less ignore that which I didn’t or found that I was less proficient at doing. I would do reasonably well in school, and my parents used that as a club to browbeat my younger siblings from time to time. I also had a gift of wisdom, so people would approach me with questions which I had no business having any clue how to answer. I would give them good answers, so I eventually got cocky. I figured that I would become a therapist, so I studied psychology and applied for a few different MFT programs. I did not get into any of them. You may be wondering where the false humility came into the picture... Wonder no more. I knew all the religious language and ritual actions to make it appear as though I was teachable, but while I would take in the information, I rarely applied it. I would confront those who did not believe as I thought right, in very entitled and bratty ways. But then when I would get called onto the carpet for one thing or another, I would make a great show of being contrite, and it would usually get whichever authority off of my back and net me a lighter punishment. So I learned to feign repentance and keep the rules most of the time, being obedient when it was necessary, helping behind the scenes, when I wanted to be front and center. Oh, I would trip hard if someone actually put me where I thought I should be, freeze, stutter, etc. I would demure if anyone complimented me, deflecting most of their praise, but really soaking in it. But I was really lazy. I was prideful, never really trying as hard as I could because I knew I was smart, but didn’t really want to test how smart. I didn’t want to find my real limits, so I would coast through most things. I was afraid that if I found them, I wouldn’t be as smart or valuable to others. I still have elements of those things, but adulthood has beaten much of that out of me, and I have had very good mentors over the years. Is my life perfect? No, not even close. Am I wise? Don’t ask me hard questions. Ok, I’m joking. I have places where I feel strong, and places which I know are blind spots for me. I do not claim to be wise. I am working toward that, one step, one day at a time. I make some really bad choices, as anyone who knows me will attest to. Sometimes, entire seasons are subsumed with folly, and others are better. As I said last week, I want wisdom, but struggle to walk that path. I see the path of wisdom as almost synonymous with sanctification or even deification. Choosing the path of wisdom could be equated with allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you in all things, as He is the Spirit of Wisdom. Let me recap the last 4 weeks, though: Our first week, I talked about what humility is, then I talked about what wisdom is and how it relates to humility. Then I talked about the nature of being simple in the Bible, and how it could either be negative, neutral, or positive. Finally, I covered the types of fools we see in the Old Testament wisdom literature. Today, I gave an example from my own life about how I have been both foolish and wise.

https://t.me/Tech_freedom_chat?videochat=5717ca64bedc8d3281

Father, As we look at this topic that has been hushed up in Western Christianity for so long due to misunderstanding, I ask that you would send the Holy Spirit to enlighten our minds and hearts to grasp, or at least begin to grasp the truth of it. Help us to break through the molds of Western Christendom that have taught us that we are less than, or far away and need the Church to help us get closer to God. Help us to see that there really is not much difference between theosis and sanctification, other than language. Let the Spirit in which you prayed in John 17 permeate these brief thoughts. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen. What is theosis? Simply put, it is the ultimate goal or telos of salvation in Orthodox Christian traditions. What is it, though? It is the belief that Jesus came to earth as a man, so that by believing in Him, we humans might become one with Him. What is sanctification, then? The process of walking out our salvation, with the help of the Holy Spirit, until we become “perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect”. It is the process of becoming holy so that we are fit for heaven when we die. Do you see the difference in language? In stance? In Orthodox belief, original sin is not a reality. Was there a fall? Yes. Do they tend to see it as having or being a norming norm for humanity, in the way that many protestants, at least, see the doctrine of total depravity? No. Gregory of Palamas, whom we will look at over a couple of memesplanations in the coming week, believed that human passions were actually not native to us. He believed that they were things which were actually counter to our nature. The process of becoming holy (whether you term it sanctification, theosis, or divinization doesn’t matter much) is the process by which we grow closer to God, toward the end of becoming one with Him in heaven. Does this mean that we lose our individuality? No. It means that we gain communion with Him, for eternity. We get all of God, for eternity, and God gets all of us, His whole image, reunited. The way I see it, heaven is unity with God. What is this based on? There are several prooftexts, and a long tradition of thought about it among the Orthodox Churches. Ever wonder what the image of God is? Ever wonder why there is such an emphasis on unity in the New Testament, in particular? Theosis can explain some of that. The unity in question for the New Testament writers is not a top-down thing, but rather it is a Spirit-up kind of thing. The Holy Spirit comes and knits us together, and we grow in unity and love among ourselves as we grow closer to God. That is the unity I am talking about, mutually self-sacrificial love. That is what is supposed to characterize the Jesus Community, not infighting, empire building, or sniping at one another for doctrinal misunderstandings. I digress. So what is theosis, then? It is the process of walking out your justification, of, “Working out (y)our salvation with fear and trembling”. That is not a favorite scripture for many of us, I’d wager. That is not fluffy bunnies and rainbows, that is the meat of the Word, boys and girls. So what is sanctification, then? It is the process, aided by the Holy Spirit, of doing good works in response to the Love that we have received. I think that is more or less how most Western Christians would probably define that term, in a rough sense. It is the Holy Spirit working in and through us to realize the justification we received at the foot of the cross when we surrendered our lives to Jesus and made Him our Lord and Savior. How different are these terms, really? In practice, not very, in end goal, particularly in terms of linguistics, worlds apart. I touched on that earlier. In the West, we are nothing but poor, miserable sinners, saved by grace. That, while saying that we still in some small, corrupted way, carry the image of God in us. This line of thinking puts a great chasm between us and God, which only the cross can span. Most of the West would agree with these metaphors. In the East, man is still basically good to start with, but in need of a doctor and a hospital to heal and restore him, not a judge in a courtroom to merely declare him righteous. In the East, the cross does pave the way, but to wholeness and Communion, not to penal justice and rule keeping, to “stay within the boundaries set by the law”. In the East, we can be restored to full Communion, and that is the expected end of the Christian life. In the West, we simply “go to heaven when we die”. Personally, the Eastern concepts speak far more to me. I want you to really consider these things, as we walk through the next month of teachings on this, both in devotions and in soundbite form in the memesplanations during the week. Part of what I want to do in this study is to show that although we have come to use different terminology, the ends truly are the same. I want to show that we are not as different as we have come to see ourselves as being. I hope to stoke your sanctified imagination with new metaphors and understandings as we go. Next week, I will show you some of the Old Testament texts used to support theosis, as an echo of some of my memesplanations this week, then the following week, we will dive into the New Testament to see what is there. After that, we will wrap it up with a nice little bow at the end of the month.

Check out my devotion on Sunday, we'll talk through a couple of passages from the Psalms which suggest this interpretation... you make your own call in that regard. https://rumble.com/v2cju4w-theosis-in-the-old-testament.html?mref=2jfr3&mc=anr3y

Father, Send Your Holy Spirit to guide us and knit us together in love, that we would learn to love. That we would truly prefer one another and have that as a testimony in the world, rather than legalism and fractious competition. Let that shift in each of us unlock the way forward to greater unity with You. Help us to take the meat, so to speak, and throw out the bones. Help us to grasp the depth of this topic and cause that to birth a greater desire for you. In Jesus’ name, Amen In the last month, we have looked at definitions and scriptural references for the concept of theosis. I have a suspicion that if we grow closer to God on an individual level, then the larger divisions in the Church will start to fall away. I really love John 17, and you’ll see a glimpse of that in Saturday’s memesplanation. So, what is theosis? Theosis is the doctrine, from the Eastern Orthodox side of the family tree, that teaches that the purpose of salvation is that we would be able to be united with God in some way. This takes not only identity work, but a complete 180 in how we relate with the world. I say that it takes identity work because until we realize who and whose we are, in Christ, this whole process is unlikely to ever take place in us. We need to know that we do not need to defend ourselves because our Father will always protect us. We need to know that we are so loved by Him, that even were it only for one of us, He would have still sacrificed Himself to be reconnected with that one human being. Yes, even you. Yes, even me. Then, as we become rooted and grounded in that love, the next step is to allow it to flow out from us. Love on people. Bless them. Do not be concerned with reciprocation, let God deal with those who don’t handle it well. Love without boundaries or limits, as the Lord guides you. Yes, as you grow closer to to Him, you will begin to hear His voice more and more clearly. His voice will become life to you. His heart will begin to unite with yours. That is the essence of theosis, divinization, glorification, Christian Perfection, or deification, and I would even hazard that sanctification is not really that far off from this, either. Then we opened the Bible, first looking at the Old Testament (very quickly) for hints that that is something we should expect or not. I was not anywhere near exhaustive, but there were a few passages which I pulled at which seem to suggest these sorts of things. The most famous passages are in the Psalms (8 & 82, to be precise), and could be understood in multiple ways, given context. Maybe not the strongest argument for it, however, the notion of being “created in the image of God” from Genesis seems to be the strongest foundation for this line of thinking, at least in my opinion. Then, last week, we looked at a handful of passages in the New Testament. This is where we find the bulk of support for this idea. Jesus Himself, in John 17, and other places, not only taught that His Father is ours as well (which makes us Sons of God [son, here, is a neutral term. Women are not excluded or minimized in any way]) but prayed that we would live in a love-based communion, just as God does, and that that would draw the nations unto the Kingdom, and through that, change the world. Philippians 2 also speaks to the nature of Jesus’ love for us, a kind of love that we are exhorted to grow into in the Johanine and Petrine epistles (those from Peter and John), as well as elsewhere in Paul’s letters. As children of God, see Romans 8, we must share in our Father’s nature in some way, and we also stand to inherit all He is, but we must accept Jesus’ suffering as our own in order to fully activate that promise and become One with God. Without the suffering, we would simply revert to pride, and take the power and authority for granted, using it in precisely the opposite spirit to that of Jesus. What do you guys and gals think? Is Theosis a line of thought and belief that is worthy of more thoughtful and prayerful engagement? Let me know what you think in the comments.

Lord, As we open your Word, help us to get what we need from it today. Holy Spirit, come and open our minds and hearts to hear what You are saying. If we need a recalibration, then recalibrate us today. Help us to grasp who we are in Jesus so that we can embrace the suffering that will shape us to be ready to join with You. Sanctify us in Your Truth, cleanse and rest our divine imaginations that we would be able to see that which You put in Your Word accurately today. In Jesus’ name, Amen. There are many passages which could lend themselves to this project, but we will work from ones that we will talk about this week in the memesplanations: Philippians 2:5-7, John 10:34, Hebrews 2:7, and Romans 8:17. In John, we see Jesus defend himself against charges of blasphemy by quoting Psalm 82:6, which we just talked about yesterday. In that verse, God chastises the children of Israel (who were given the law), by saying that they are gods and children of God, and it was given to them to be judges in the earth, but they were failing in that task. So rather than ascending to the heavens, they would die, and die like men, then be buried. In Romans, Paul riffs on the theme of being “children of God”, and how can we be children and heirs if we cannot partake in His nature? But wait, if God is wholly other than us, then how can we participate in his nature and in his treasures? That is why Jesus came, was made incarnate, and died on the cross, only to be raised again on the 3rd day. He became human that we would be able to be made one with God. That is what At-One-Ment is about, not simply erasing our sin. There is, however, a condition on receiving the offered gift: we must partner with Jesus in His suffering. We cannot be resurrected without first dying, and dying daily, as that old nature tries to reassert itself on the daily, doesn’t it? That old part of us that was given to the dominion of sin, though in the East, they would not use these terms, as they do not believe in original sin. For them, any sin nature we may have lived under was due to our own choices, not to some pre-existent original sin that is the domain of humanity since the Fall. I digress, though. How do we partner with Him in His suffering? We learn to love as He does. We learn to empty ourselves of pride, walking in a state of kenosis is suffering, and the world will try to beat up on us for living in such a radical way. In Philippians, we learn about the way of kenosis from Paul, and that we are called to live in the same way, forgetting ourselves in order to love God and others more fully. That does not mean that we neglect physical needs for extended periods. If Jesus can operate as a poor, powerless human, though He is God, even to the point of dying to save us from our own pride, so that we can be one with Him, even here and now, but to finish the process when we die. This is why elsewhere, Paul tells us to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”. I could talk about this for far longer, just diving into these passages for their own sake... What do you guys think? A study on what it is to be “in Christ” after Easter? In the Hebrews passage, we see the writer pull directly from the Septuagint in Psalm 8. I will talk more about this passage in Saturday’s memesplanation. I find it interesting that they (whoever the author was) pulled from the Greek translation, rather than directly from the Hebrew original text. I don’t know, but this is one of the prooftexts, though the Greek used is what we get the word “angel” from , rather than the more controversial elohim or a Greek equivalent such as Theos. What do you guys think about theosis based on these texts? Do you think it is heretical or perhaps might be something that we have missed out on here in the West? Let me know in the comments.

Father, As we look at this rightly familiar story which forms the core of our faith in your son, help us to see something different which may help us more than usual today. Thank you that you raised Jesus from the dead. Thank you that You paved the way back to what you always intended for us. Jesus, thank you for laying it all aside. Thank you for sacrificing it all so that we can be with and become a part of the communion that you are with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, thank you for guiding us in the way that the Father would have us walk, thank you for being the seal of our salvation. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Christ is risen! It is Resurrection Day. The day that we focus on the reason why we are different from every other religion on the planet. Today we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead by the power of the Father. Today we celebrate that we can become one with God, that God made a way, through the cross, and showed us that it worked by raising Jesus from the dead on the third day. With that introduction... It was early on the first day of the week. It was just growing bright when Mary and Mary and one or two other women headed to the tomb where Jesus’ body had been laid at the end of the day on Wednesday. They planned to treat the body with more aloes and spices, for preservation against decay. But when they got there, they found that the tomb was open. A strange man appeared to Mary Magdalen, she initially thought that he was the gardener and had somehow not only unsealed the tomb, taken out the guards, and moved Jesus’ body somewhere unknown to her. He told her that He was Jesus... The rest of us, after she ran back to the upper room, were taken aback by this, so Peter and John ran as fast as they could to the tomb, not fully knowing what to expect when they got there. When John got there (and he got there first), he poked his head into the tomb, to see the gravecloths folded neatly on the slab where Jesus’ body had been laid. When Peter finally puffed up, he went all the way in, just like Peter to do that. He encountered an angel, who asked him who he was looking for. The angel explained that Jesus was not dead any more, that he had been raised to life. John heard this as well. They walked back to the Upper Room, stunned. That was a rare thing for Peter to not be running his mouth, but the whole way back, they walked in silence. They were processing what they had just seen and heard, but words failed them. They could hardly believe it. Jesus is alive. John watched Him die on the cross, he had been there the whole time. He watched the “trials”, the scourging, the crowd being coerced into calling for His blood, Pilate passing sentence and washing his hands, the staggering journey to Golgotha, the nails, the mocking, the hours of anguish... To the very end, when Jesus gave Mary and John to one another as mother and son, then pled for forgiveness for all who had put Him where He was, then when He gave up His spirit and was pierced through the heart by that spear. John was there. Peter hid. Peter was ashamed of the betrayal that he had perpetrated. It nearly crippled him for days. How many of us have denied knowing the Lord when things got hairy? Have you always stood strong, or have you chosen the easy, silent way to avoid strife or ridicule? How would you feel if an angel told you that the man whom you’d denied to save your own skin was alive, after all? How would you feel if you were John? You watched Him suffer and die. You were probably there helping to bury the body before the beginning of the High Sabbath. I didn’t have words for my feelings, either. When they got back to the Upper Room, and confirmed what Mary had been telling us, we weren’t sure what to make of it, either. Stunned doesn’t quite cover the emotion that was so thick in the room that you didn’t even need a knife to cut it, you could easily cut it with the edge of your hand. Fear, confusion, wanting to believe this amazing news, shock... So many emotions. We weren’t sure what to think either... We didn’t dare to be joyful, though over the course of the day, that started to creep over us as well. As we sat down, we 10 (Thomas had left on business during the day, and the traitor had already hung himself in the Potter’s Field), Jesus walked through the wall into the room. We nearly hung from the ceiling at that point, because we’d never seen anyone do anything like that before, so all we could think was that it must’ve been a ghost in our midst. Jesus bade us be at peace... Yeah, right... That was gonna happen in that moment. We started to calm down as he grabbed and ate a piece of the fish we’d prepared for dinner. We didn’t understand it yet, but prophecy had been fulfilled in our midst. Jesus was truly alive. We still hid much of the time, as the Jewish leadership had a vested interest in quashing any story of resurrection, and indeed, they still work hard to deny the truth of the resurrection, as it makes Jesus’ message and claims carry more weight than they could bear. He is ALIVE! Death could not hold Him. Hallelujah!!!

Father, As we enter Holy Week this year and stop to look at your Son’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, be with us. Help us to join in the joy of the day. Help us to hear Him clearly in the text. Help us to feel and smell the dust from the road, the wind and the sweat from the throngs of people who greeted Him in defiance of Empire. Jesus, help us to feel your heart for Jerusalem, for Your people. Holy Spirit, help us to join in with what you desire for us in this moment. In Jesus’ name, Amen. It is a warm, breezy day as Jesus prepares to ride to Jerusalem from Bethany. He dispatches two of the twelve to borrow a young, unbroken donkey’s foal from a local person. He knows much of what will transpire in the next week, and the human side of Him relishes in the approbation that He knows He will receive that day, but then balances that against the reality of what will be coming later in the week, whether sooner, or later. I don’t think that He knew that He would be raised from the dead, but I think the Father let Him know that the cross was coming, that these who cheered so loudly for Him would so easily be turned against Him. Against that internal backdrop, the two who He sent out to find the donkey come back with the animal, with jubilation because all was as the Master had said it would be. They catch a glimpse of Jesus’ face as a cloud passes over it. Jesus shakes off the thoughts and feelings He was having, then tells them to get the others, because it is time to go to Jerusalem. Two of them lay their cloaks on the animal’s back, then mounts the young donkey, and they set out on the 2 mile trip from Mary & Martha’s place to the gates of Jerusalem. Just a little way into the trip, a crowd begins to throng around the road, cutting and placing palm branches, waving cloaks, and crying out: “Hosanna! Hosanna to the Son of David!!!!” “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” Then, almost on cue, the pharisees get Jesus’ attention: “Shut them down! Don’t you realize what this could look like to the Romans?” I see Jesus laughing at them, but not at THEM, but the spirits behind them, then He grins from ear to ear, and shouts, over the crowd: “If I silence them, the very ROCKS themselves will begin to cry out, and you will hear it.” That shut the pharisees down, though I sense that they simply added it to their “list”, and got even more angry with Him because He didn’t bow the knee to their demands, so they went to plot about how they could take Him down. They hated that they could not control Him, their pressure meant nothing... It was almost as though He was challenging them to do something about Him and His message. It was a clash of Kingdoms. A war of the worlds, so to speak. Jesus knew that He had come to die, not that He wanted to suffer, but was committed to the Father’s rescue plan, as we have talked about in our recent memesplanations on theosis. I love that other interpretation of why Jesus came. It wasn’t because we were basically evil, though we have become bent in that direction over time. It was to restore relationship and communion with us, and to open the way to experience communion with God even here, if we will empty ourselves of ourselves, and learn to love one another in the way that we were originally designed to. It is that simple. Heaven is union with God. That is why Jesus came. This is Holy Week, and this week, I will post short reflections on the events of that week, with an eye towards convincing you that perhaps the traditional account doesn’t make sense in terms of time. The meaning of the events is the same, but perhaps most of the action happened in the first 4 days of the week, from Sunday-Wednesday, rather than skipping about 2 days, and truncating the 3 days Jesus was supposed to be in the grave to 1-1.5 days. Never sat right with me... At any rate, tune in for those, here on the Spirituality & Tech channel on Rumble.

Father, Thank you that we can rest in Christ. Thank you that we can slow down from time to time to look at things like this. Holy Spirit, be with us as we learn over the next few weeks. Help the Word to really get down in us so that it can transform us from the inside out. Jesus, help us to learn from experience as we learn in our minds what it means to be in you. In Jesus’ name, Amen This last week, we started our journey into what it means to be “in Christ”. Last Monday, we asked a series of questions which I hope to answer over the next several weeks, about just what it means to be “in Christ”. On Wednesday, I showed in part that I chose this series as a followup to the series on Theosis that we did before Resurrection Sunday. In some sense that we do not understand, we are indeed united with Christ, we have been made one with Him. We have been called righteous because we yielded our lives to Him. We have been welcomed into who He is, and His Truth, His belovedness gets all over us and all through us, like anointing oil that changes all it touches. Friday we talked about how we have new life in Him. That is the miracle I was just struggling to explain from Wednesday’s recap. He gives us his resurrection life once we die to ourselves. Baptism is meant to be a symbol and a sign of that inner reality, though many believe and see it to be more. I am coming to see this as a daily exercise, not that we lose our salvation each night (heaven forbid), but a daily choice to die to self, pick up the cross, and follow Him. That is what makes us followers of Jesus, not some mental assent, or even Spirit-baptism. We cannot truly be in Christ if we do not give up our lives, our lordship, to Him. There are so many passages about this great exchange in the New Testament, so many references to being “in Christ” or “in Him”. It is something that is worthy of study for so many reasons. In the coming week, we’ll talk more about what it means to be “in Christ”, tomorrow, we will cover an encouragement from John 15, from the mouth of Jesus Himself. He tells us that we are to stay in unity with Him at all times so that we can produce fruit as believers. We cannot do things on our own, at least not for long, and hope for finally good results. Too many of us try to do that, and things do not go as they need to, do they. The fruit we expect winds up just being a husk rather than something nourishing. It may look good on the outside, from a distance, but when we get closer we see that it is no good. On Wednesday, we will talk about one of my favorite things, Identity in Christ. In Christ, we have so much: righteousness, holiness, healing, friendship, a brother who will never betray or fail us, and so much more. How do we live “in Christ” though? We must first die to self, as I mentioned earlier. We must lay our pride down, choosing to submit to His ways, rather than asserting our own desires. Once we do that, we can start to tap into who we are in Christ. Finally, on Friday, we will talk about how God has truly done the heavy lifting for us, and once we are “in Christ” we can begin to walk out the amazing good things that we were originally made to do. It is all quite stunning, particularly against the backdrop of our previous discussion of theosis. This, series, I think, will put more rubber to the road for many of us. Be blessed this week, and I’ll see you tomorrow for the memesplanation. As an aside, the posting schedule is changing around here: I am now doing only 3 memesplanations per week, to match the 3 news days, which will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday rather than Monday-Wednesday. I will continue with the devotions for Sundays and the streamed show on Fridays.

Father, Thank you for being present with us, along with the Holy Spirit as we are in Christ. Thank you that we get to learn what it means to be “in Christ”. Thank you that it is a divine mystery that we will never fully understand. Come and be in our midst as we continue this study. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Welcome to this series on what it means to be “in Christ”. I look forward to walking through much of what Paul had to say on this topic, as it is a rich mine that rarely gets tapped. Last week’s memesplanations covered some passages from Colossians, and I want to recap to these passages, briefly today. I will put a nice little bow on those passages, and that will be the norm for this series. Colossians 1:18-20 He is the Head of his body, which is the church. And since he is the beginning and the firstborn heir in resurrection,he is the most exalted One, holding first placein everything.For God is satisfied to have all his fullnessdwelling in Christ.And by the blood of his cross, everything in heaven and earth is brought back to himself—back to its original intent, restored to innocence again! If Jesus is the head of the Body of Christ, and we are that Body, then we have all the fullness of God available to us. Why do we miss this, more often than not? We are not told that it is available, or we don’t dig to find the Truth. Jesus is all in all through His sacrifice, and we are in Him. That is HUGE. Let that sink in, He has made us pure again. That is the starting point, not the endgame. Colossians 3:1-4 Christ’s resurrection is your resurrection too. This is why we are to yearn for all that is above, for that’s where Christ sits enthroned at the place of all power, honor, and authority!Yes,feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realmand fill your thoughts with heavenly realities, and not with the distractions of the natural realm. Your crucifixionwith Christ has severed the tie to this life, and now your true life is hidden away in God in Christ.And as Christ himself is seen for who he really is, who you really are will also be revealed, for you are now one with him in his glory! You are dead to this world, but alive in Christ. You no longer have to live as a slave to pride or any other thing that is not Him. Because we are dead to the world and alive to Him, we can feast, as this passage says, on the treasures of heaven, here and now. All of the buzz about identity and identities these days finds its proper end there. That is your identity, Christian. You are in Christ, first and foremost. Nothing else really matters. Colossians 2:9-11 For he is the complete fullness of deity living in human form.And our own completeness is now found in him. We are completely filledwith Godas Christ’s fullness overflows within us. He is the Headof every kingdom and authority in the universe! Through our union with him we have experienced circumcision of heart. All of the guilt and power of sinhas been cut away and is now extinct because of what Christ, the Anointed One, has accomplished for us. Juicy fruits, no? If Jesus is God incarnate, and we are in Him, then we get all of that as long as we submit to Him. We get to be filled with all the fullness of God. Let that sink in: since we are in Christ, we have full access to the riches of heaven. So, God has made it possible for us to be more than we are, through Jesus. We have access to the fullness of God, the riches of heaven, both spiritually and in the natural. We are dead to the world, the pride which sets it and enslaved us in opposition to the Lord, and alive to the freedom that comes through submission to His ways. We get to be formed in His way now, rather than wandering the trackless places in this world.

Father, Thank you that we get to slow down today and look at what it means to be In Christ. As we review the Pauline passages from the last week, I ask that you would inhabit us and help us to take this truth deep into our souls. Thank you, Jesus, that we get to be in you, that we get to grow into union with you. Amen On Monday, we looked at 1 Thessalonians 5:16-8, where we learned that in Christ, joy can be our continual feast. How can we do this? It is God’s plan for us to be thankful in all situations, in Christ Jesus. That takes a pretty major attitude shift, doesn’t it? We’ve been so programmed to sit around and whine and focus on the negative stuff happening around us that the thought of being thankful is alien to us, but that is what God desires from us who are in Christ. On Wednesday, we saw Paul expressing how he is thankful whenever he thinks about Philemon and how Philemon loves the Body of Christ. I think this is Paul showing how to do what we talked about on Monday, that is, even when he is having a hard time, he finds reasons to be thankful to God, and lives in that reality, rather than focusing on the adverse conditions he faces in his own life and ministry. If we can master this, and be thankful for the smallest things on a regular basis, our lives will start to at least seem, if not actually become better. I can attest to this. Years ago, I was a very angry person because I hadn’t shifted my thinking and perceptions over to this reality, then I started to grab the Truth of who I am in Christ, and focus more on the good things that I do have and that I do receive in Him, and the anger and frustration started to melt away. Simple shifts that are so key, but not always easy to make, but with His help, we can make them. On Friday, we took time to remind ourselves of the fact that we are one in the body of Christ. This line of thinking is often lost or missed in the ultra-individualistic West, as it strikes us as too collectivist or socialistic, and as though we would not have enough say in our own individual lives if we admitted to ourselves that we are interdependent on one another, and that in Christ, we need to function as a single human body. When was the last time you functioned at full capacity when you had a raging headache or a sore back? Would it work for your whole body to somehow be an eyeball or a brain? No, of course not, we each need every part of our bodies to be whole and to work in concert with one another in order to function as intended by God. This interdependence of being is the key to why in Jerusalem in the time of Acts, the ekklesia was able to hold all things in common (except for Ananias and Saphira, apparently, who missed the memo). When one body part hurts, we all hurt. When one is successful, we all can rejoice with them. This kind of interconnectivity and interdependence needs to be revived among Jesus followers. So, to wrap this last week up with a nice little bow, I sense the Lord encouraging us to re-focus on what matters and what is actually real. The mercy of God is real, His grace, in Christ, is real. These things ought to enable us to live in a continual joy feast due to a mindset of gratitude and thankfulness to God, rather than focusing on temporal hardships and perceived deprivations that we face, and allowing those things to keep us isolated, rather than participating fully in the mystery of the Body of Christ. When we all (individually and as a community) shift into that place of thankfulness and realizing that we are truly one in Christ, then we will stop sniping at one another and seek to help one another, to truly love one another in Christ. How, if we are truly in Christ, and that reality has formed us, can we do anything but love other members of the body?

Father, As we continue this series on what it means to be in Christ, guide us to truth with the help of the Holy Spirit. Jesus, come and be made manifest to us, that we might see you in one another and in more real ways, in the midst of our own lives. Jesus, be made more real as we learn what it is to be in you. Holy Spirit, come and seal the work as it is done that not one shred could be taken from us. Amen This week we looked at a few passages from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, chapter 1:7-14 and 2:7-10. From the section we looked at in chapter 1, we learned that since we are in Christ, we get the superabundant grace of God poured on us, that not only are we saved, but we get revelation, wisdom, and practical understanding of how to live better. Not only that, but we also become God’s inheritance in Christ. We get to become one with Him, and He gets to become one with us. Wow. Read that last sentence again. Not only do we get the benefits of becoming one with Him, but God sees it as a net benefit to welcome as many of the pieces of Himself that he put into the world in us as possible, back into Himself. That means you, that means me. We each have a piece of God in us, in the form of the image of God, however we are supposed to understand that reality. Why does it feel like coming home when we finally submit to Him? Why does it feel like home when we spend time in His presence? Could it be that the image of God in us yearns to find completion in Him in those moments, and in those moments, we are most complete? I believe that that is the case. So, in light of that, we are most complete when we are in Christ. One way that that gets played out is that we don’t fully realize our potential until we surrender to Him. That is seen more clearly in the famous passage from chapter 2 which we looked at on Friday. Ephesians 2:7-10 is a famous and powerful passage about the nature of salvation, but not only a picture of salvation from something but unto good works, lined up for us to complete from before time existed. I can’t look at verse 10 without hearing Keith Green’s classic “If You Love the Lord” in my head. But I digress. The gift is Jesus’ faithfulness toward the Father on our behalf. That is what saves us. It is nothing we do, though it is incumbent on us to respond and submit to His will for us. That is our part. It is not about works or no works, it is about living in the faith of Christ. That preposition makes all the difference, doesn’t it. His faith for us toward the Father makes it possible for us to be one with Him and to do the amazing works that He designed for us and designed us for doing. Let that reality sink in. Let His faith fill you, empowering you to live out His will for you, enabling you to partner with Him to accomplish His designs in His world. After all, you are one with Him in Christ. That is heavy and may blow your mind. Let it. This is the intended nature of life, walking stride for stride with God to bring about the renewal of all things.

Ephesians 1: Who are you? Father, As we look at these prayers and thoughts from Paul that he shared with the believers in the region around Ephesus, I ask that you would enlighten and illuminate the eyes of our hearts to see the truth of who we are in Jesus. Jesus, come and help these things to sink in. Holy Spirit, come and do the work in us that the scales would fall away from the eyes of our hearts so that the light of the truth can come flooding in. Amen. On Monday, we opened this new series on Ephesians with a quick look at the greetings in the first few verses of the letter. I introduced the series and gave an idea of what the format would be. Who are you? You are wrapped up in Christ and because of that, you have every spiritual gift from the Father. We were chosen from before there was a universe to receive these things. Wrap your head around that statement. I bet you can’t. On Wednesday, we looked at a famous chunk of one of Paul’s prayers for the Ephesians. Vs 18-20. Allow your eyes to be opened to the reality of what you have and who you are in Christ, today. Sure, circumstances may look grim in the natural, but you’ve probably made it through worse. Open the eyes of your heart, allow the Holy Spirit to brush the scales off of your spiritual eyes that you might truly see who you are in Christ. You are wealthy. You are powerful. You have authority because it flows from the Head, that is, Christ Jesus. Once you begin to grasp this, your whole life will shift, and you will become like a walking billboard for the power of God working in and through your life. On Friday, we looked at how Jesus is the source and the leader of all we need, and we are His body, filling the world, just as He rules over it after He overcame it through His life, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. He was constantly connected with the Father, doing just what He saw the Father doing and saying what He saw the Father saying in every possible moment. If He is the head, and we are the body, then His honor, his glory, and His power are ours. Let that sink in. All we need to learn to do is operate in relation to that truth. We mist submit to His will and His way. We must empty ourselves of ourselves and simply get out of the way. He was always in that place of authority, but His faithfulness to the Father’s plan cemented that place for Him for eternity and for us who are in Him, as well. As we empty ourselves, take up our crosses daily and follow Him, submitting to Him in each moment, then the authority and power that He has become ours. Thank you, Jesus!

Who Are You? Ephesians 2 Father, We ask that you would send the Holy Spirit to make these passages come alive for us today as we review the last week’s memesplanations from Ephesians 2. Help us to learn Who we are In Jesus from these brief words. In Jesus’ name, Amen. On Monday we were reminded that we are alive in Jesus, not dead to God any more, we are no longer subject to the powers of this world, but to our loving Lord. Sin no longer has power over us, we are not bound to any pattern of pride which would keep us trapped doing the same old nonsense, but expecting different results. We are now able to choose love over pride, humility over fear. This was a thought loosely based on Ephesians 2:1-3. On Wednesday, we gentiles were shown how we are now heirs of all of the promises given to Abraham in Genesis. In Jesus, we are new. We have been remade, old covenant circumcision is no thing, as when we are living in submission to the Holy Spirit, He removes the callous from our hearts every day. We are united with Christ, and that is why this is all available to us. So we are new because we have been united with Christ Jesus, that is who we are. This was a thought from Ephesians 2:12-13. On Friday, we finished our sprint through Ephesians 2, with a look at Ephesians 2:19-20. Who are you? You are God’s beloved child. You are children of heaven, adopted as though you were natural born offspring. You get all the benefits, inheritance, close relationship, and access to the Father whenever you need it. The whole nine yards. Not only that, but you are the living stones which make up God’s temple, set upon the foundation of those who have come before you in the faith, and directly connected to Jesus, the cornerstone. So, based on these passages from Ephesians 2, who are you? You are alive in Jesus, free from slavery to sin, which is ultimately pride. You are able to make good choices. You are an heir of all the Father has, at the same level of rights as Jesus. You have been remade. You are united with Jesus. You are God’s beloved child. You get to raid the fridge whenever you feel like it. You get to sit on the Father’s lap whenever you want to. You are a living stone, built upon the foundation of those who have gone before you in the faith of Jesus, and you are connected to Him. That is allot. Let that sink in. Let His liquid love pour into and all over you. Pick one of these things that are a part of your reality in Jesus and meditate on that today.

Papa, Thank you that we get to come boldly to you for whatever we need. Thank you that Jesus is obedient so we can have Him to believe in and see that change and get that access. Thank you that we do not have to always be worried about ourselves, but that we can step back because we know that You have it all under control on our behalf. Jesus, thank you that you paved the way for us, you led by example and opened yourself that we could be in you, enabling us to receive all of these blessings. In your name, Amen On Monday, we looked at Ephesianas 3:5-6. If you are in Christ, then you are one with Him. You have been united with Him. He has fulfilled all we never could from the old covenants, He showed us how to live perfectly in constant communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He paved the way so that we can live in blessings that we do not deserve. That is who you are according to this passage. Not only that, but on Wednesday we were reminded about how we have full access to the Father through our union with Jesus. That is the fulfillment of the Father’s plan, that through our union with Jesus,who is God, we would become one with Godself in some way. If that sounds weird, it is, but it is entirely scriptural. The reality is that because we are in Christ, we can approach the Father with boldness, as in His eyes, we are Jesus. That is a weird thing, because the Father still sees and knows each of us individually, yet because of the faith we were given, both in and of/from Christ, that is somehow the reality which is ours, here and now. Think about your ideal dad, your “ultimate dad”, then ratchet that up many times over and you’ll get a taste for how good Father God is. He has the means to literally give you anything in the world. He also knows you better than any dad could, He created you. He is the source of wisdom, so He will never give you something that is so far beyond your capacity that it would destroy you. Remember, there is a profound difference between your earthly and your heavenly father. Finally, on Friday, we learned that because we are in Christ, we get to fully experience the fullness of the Love of God. That is what the power, here, is working out in us, and why, as we become more fully one with Him, and our desires begin to shift toward being in alignment with His, then we will begin to receive super-abundantly more than we could ever ask or even dare to imagine. That is the key: emptying ourselves and asking to be filled and overfilled with Him. So what did we learn about our identities in Christ this week? 1 In Christ, we get the fullness of the blessings promised in the old covenants, because He fulfilled them for us. 2 we can come to the Father boldly as beloved sons and daughters, not fearing punishment for asking to much or too often, but we do need to die to ourselves that we would have the bandwidth to understand and desire what He desires for us. That is where we can begin to expect more than we could possibly imagine, hope, or dream of.

My passion is to enlighten every person to this divine mystery. It was hidden for ages past until now, and kept a secret in the heart of God, the Creator of all. The purpose of this was to unveil before every throne and rank of angelic orders in the heavenly realm God’s full and diverse wisdom revealed through the church. This perfectly wise plan was destined from eternal ages and fulfilled completely in our Lord Jesus Christ, so that now we have boldness through him, and free access as kings before the Father because of our complete confidence in Christ’s faithfulness. We have full access to the Father through our union with Jesus. That is the fulfillment of the Father’s plan, fulfilled in Jesus. Because we are in Christ, we can approach the Father with boldness, as in His eyes, we are Jesus. That is a weird thing, because the Father still sees and knows each of us individually, yet because of the faith we were given, both in and of/from Christ, that is somehow the reality.

Father, Thank you that you have knit us and are knitting us into one body, the body of Christ. Help us to remember this when we are tempted to shred another member of the Body. Help us to grow in maturity rather than dependence on our pastors and teachers. Help us to love you better, today. In Jesus’ name, Amen. Who are you? You are part of one body, and have one spirit, the Holy Spirit. That is who you are. Why do we not see this in most gatherings of believers? Why have we allowed incorrect emphases to dominate our minds and hearts and destroy t hat reality? We have a shared divine calling and a high rank, thus we need to live and operate differently than we have in the past. Wake up. We have slumbered, lulled to sleep by fluffy, happy motivational speeches disguised as sermons, many of us for years. This passage reminds me of a few others in Paul’s letters; in the Pastorals, we see him advising Timothy and others to put out those who are stuck on genealogies and other controversial things, in Galatians, he bashes the Galatian gatherings for adopting the ways of the judaizers. Where have we missed the memo? When did the Body of Christ become Bodies of Christ? On Wednesday, we learned that the helpers in the Body, meant to raise it up to full maturity, fall into 5 primary groups: apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and pastors. It is not who you are, but these are things that many of us have been called to participate in and do. These offices are still very vital and active (not just the last 3). We are to experience the fullness of knowing Jesus, oneness in the faith of Christ, and fully spiritually mature people. I do not see that in many corners of the Body of Christ, I do not claim to have attained to this, yet, either. However, I want to get there, so cutting myself off from some of these offices, which are all meant to help me in that maturing process, does not make sense. On Friday, we were reminded that we are holy. That is, called to act differently from the world around us. We do not walk in spiritual apathy because we know the Truth, and He has set us free. We have purer logic than the world, as it has been adjusted by being in Christ. Our consciences are actually functional to help us be different. That is who we are, we are a holy people. We are each holy as individuals as well. This holiness is meant to be a relational, love-based response to the love of God. Think about how you find yourself responding to people who genuinely love you vs those who just put up with you for the most part. Do you find yourself wanting to be with, much less focus effort on pleasing people who just put up with you? What about those who really love you? You want to do what you can to encourage those people to stick around, don’t you? That is the foundation of holiness which is in view here, not simply following rules just to follow rules. If you really look at the Old Testament, though, that is the core of it there, as well, just most people couldn’t see that, so it became rote repetition of Torah in order to be blessed by YHWH, because like so many now, the people of Israel could not see through to the reality that God would or could even want to have a relationship with them. So, what did we learn about ourselves from Ephesians 4 this week? There is one Body of Christ, and if we are in Him, we are it. Maturity comes through the faithful operation of the 5-fold ministry: apostle, prophet, evangelist, teacher, and pastor. These 5 roles will stay with the Body until all members are fully mature in the Lord, and as far as I can tell, we are nowhere near that place. I certainly am not. We are holy because God says we are, and we are called to grow into a holiness that is based on love, not obligation or rule-keeping, just for the sake of keeping rules.

Father, Thank you that you explain what it means to live as your children, your ambassadors, here. Help me, as a man, to choose to sacrifice myself rather than to demand more than I give. Help me to live loved, so that I can be free from the ways of the world. In Jesus’name, Amen. On Monday, we were reminded that we are beloved children of God, which also makes us ambassadors of the Kingdom. Like any child, we should aspire to be like our Papa. As we spend more time with Him, and learn of and from Him, forsaking the ways we used to live should get easier. This makes it easier to represent Him and be a good ambassador here on earth, as that is what you are, in Christ: an ambassador of the Kingdom of God. How can we represent a holy God if we are not holy ourselves. We talked a little bit about holiness the week before last, but in short, it is this desire to be like our Father, a response of love to the love that we receive on a daily basis. On Wednesday, we described the holiness that we are to aspire to, the difference in our lives that should be emblematic for us. This passage refers back to the previous section about ones who live according to the world: sexually immoral, greedy, impure, and idolatrous. Don’t listen to one who lives like this, no matter how impressive their words may sound. Live in Light, not darkness. You are unified with Christ and have His light in you. Therefore, you are to live in light and holiness not the darkness of sin, which only hurts you and those around you in the long run. On Friday, we learned how we are to related to one another. Men, we are servant-leaders. Women, you are to be devoted to your men as the Church is devoted to Jesus. Men, we are to sacrifice ourselves for our wives and families as Jesus did for us. These are lofty pinnacles which we are told to aim for. Notice the words servant and sacrifice, men. They give us the right to ask certain things, but only if our lives reflect this ideal. This is not a ticket to be able to simply make demands of our wives, we need to be re-formed in Christ, so that we are not complete jerks. Women, respond in love to your men, even if he does not treat you properly. That doesn’t mean that you need to be a doormat, however, you are called to love the one you are married to, not to be some sort of butterfly flitting from man to man, either. So, who are we, this week? We are holy ambassadors of the Holy King. We are His dearly loved children, so moved by the love He gives us that we start to emulate it in our daily lives, rather than living as the world does. This extends to how husbands and wives are designed to complement one another: the man is to image Jesus by laying his life down for his bride, rather than being a conceited jerk (like a typical Roman Pater Familias) and sitting around ordering the family about. Our service to our families is what confers authority to us, not merely being the sperm donor. Women (wives), respond in faithful love to your husband, honor your vows to him. This is a general rule, not meant to apply in situations of neglect or abuse or infidelity. At the same time, you shouldn’t be buzzing from man to man thinking that the grass is always greener outside the bounds of her marriage. If a man is busy sacrificing himself for his wife and family, then he won’t have time or energy to add a different “Yes” to the “Yes” he already spoke to his bride on their wedding day.

Who Are You? Week 6 On Monday, we learned how we are to relate with our employers. We are to honor them as though they were the Lord Himself. Work hard and go above & beyond what you are required to do, whether they are watching or not. Don’t be George Costanza. It honors the Lord when you do your best, whether you’re being directly supervised or not. Whether they treat you well or not, treat them how you want to be treated. If you were in their shoes, would you want to receive shoddy work? How does that honor the Lord? Serve your boss well, even if your job is redundant. It is that simple, seek to do your job to the best of your ability, no matter if your boss is undeserving or not. We are quality workpeople in Christ. On Wedensday, we started talking about spiritual warfare. In Christ, you are God’s warrior. Be aware that you are in a battle. The enemy is coming at you, no matter what. You are unified with Christ, and that is why the enemy has a giant “Kick Me” sign on your back. Remember that fellow humans are not your target, the elemental powers and demonic strongholds are. Protect yourself with the armor of God so it is harder for them to get to you. Learn to discern the powers behind each person who presents as an enemy in your life, that way you can pray for them to be set free, seeing that they are pawns or puppets for those dark entities, rather than reacting in a desire for vengeance. It only perpetuates the set of problems which led them to being willing partners with the enemy when you personally seek vengeance. On Friday, we chatted briefly about the Armor of God to protect us in that battle. So, if we are unified with Christ, then what do we have to protect ourselves in this spiritual warfare? The armor of God. Truth, holiness, peace, faith, salvation, and the spoken Word of God. We also need to pray constantly in the Spirit. That is how we use the armor effectively; how we use truth, appropriate holiness, share peace in the Lord, live in faith, walk in progressively more full deliverance, and discern which parts of the Word of God ought to be spoken in a given situation. We fight (figuratively) on our knees. God has already done the fighting for us, we need to stand in His victory through prayer and support one another in love. So, who are we in Christ, according to Ephesians 6? We are good workers and warriors in the Kingdom of God. We are to serve our employers well, whether they are watching or not, whether they are good bosses or not. This honors the Lord. How are we warriors? Well, the truth is that if you’re alive, you are a fighter, whether consciously for the Kingdom or unconsciously for the enemy. There is no neutral in this war, no bendu. (Star Wars Rebels reference) The Force, in Star Wars, is said to have two sides, right? The Light and The Dark, and most sentients are drawn to one or the other naturally, or through the way that they were brought up. You wind up, if you are Force-sensitive, falling into one of two camps: Jedi or Sith. The Bendu is a being who inhabited the gray area in the middle. Not particularly drawn to either side of the force. I digress, though. My point is that by merely existing, we are pieces on the cosmic chessboard. We need to be aware of that reality and choose the side of Light, then stand firm in the armor of God.

Romans Road Week 1 Father, as we start down the Romans Road (from the middle), come and guide my heart, mind, and fingers. Help our hearts to be ready to receive your truth, now. Jesus, help us to grasp what it means to be in you so that we can resist sin, guilt, and shame because we can focus elsewhere, such as on Jesus’ face. Holy Spirit, we submit afresh to You today. Help us to live radically empty, so that you can fill us more fully. In Jesus’ name, Amen On Monday, we introduced our new series, which will run until well after Christmas, except for a brief excursus into Isaiah as we observe Advent and Christmas. The series is called Romans Road... Some of you may have just shuddered at that reference. I chose to start with chapter 8 because I love it. The passage we covered briefly stated that we cannot be condemned by anyone, if we are in Christ. Take that to the bank today. Do not allow the enemy to accuse you of anything, silence him by reminding him that it is all under the Blood of Jesus. You are free from guilt and sin, now. I should specify that that applies if and when you confess and repent, not just carte blanche for anyone any old time. On Wednesday, we continued the thought from Monday’s passage in the next few verses. You are free from domination by sin. Monday, we learned that there is 0 condemnation for any who are in Christ. He is and was perfect, so no condemnation can stick to him. You could say he’s like Teflon Don that way, lol. If that is the case, and we are in Him, and He lives in and through us, then there is now no condemnation for us, either. This grants us access to the Holy Spirit, who guides us into all truth. Are you motivated to pursue spiritual realities? Are you still caught up only in what you think will benefit you here and now? If you want life and peace, seek the ways of the Holy Spirit, not the ways of the world and the flesh. Be careful to not make that distinction too sharply between flesh and spirit... We are mostly talking about moral and ethical living out of response to the love of God, vs living for yourself. Which type of life would you rather lead? A vapid, fun-for-now, pay-the-price-later kind of life, or a more prudent one shaped around the ways in which God designed us to live? On Friday, I reflected more on what we talked about on Wednesday. Living in the Spirit, though, is more than simply adhering to some ethical code, though. There is so much life when we allow the Holy Spirit to guide us rather than insisting on our way all of the time. As I said the other day, the mind-set bent toward the Spirit is about living oriented towards love and others, along with growing closer to God. The other option is more or less, “Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” Do whatever feels good, man... That does not end well, most of the time. Let the Spirit guide and move you, you may not understand it in the moment, but looking back, it will make more sense. You will have better relationships by the end of it, and that matters more than most things do. So, what did we learn as we started this trip down the Romans Road (even though we started in the middle of the letter)? Those who are in Christ need never be subject to the power of sin, guilt, or shame ever again. The life guided by the Holy Spirit will end better than the selfish option that the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh would have us lead. Do you want to keep fighting God? If the answer is no, then surrender. Let the Holy Spirit lead you into all Truth, whether in relation to morals and ethics (holiness), or any other arena of life. #romansroad #romans8 #Bible #Paul #memesplanation #spiritualityntech #techfreedom

Romans Road 2 Papa, Thank you that we can call you “Papa”. Thank you that you loved us enough to send Jesus to make a way for us to be with you, to be in full communion with you. Jesus, thank you that you showed us the way, and opened the way for us to be sons and daughters of God. Holy Spirit, help us to hear you more clearly guiding us and reminding us that we are indeed the beloved children of God. In Jesus’ name, Amen This week we covered about 7 verses in Romans 8. Sin kills, Christ brings life and restoration. Flesh is an ally of sin, and cannot submit to God. We must learn to live loved, and become mature children of God, moved about by the impulses of the Holy Spirit, fully aware and accepting of the truth that we have been adopted by Him. Romans 8:10-16 Now Christ lives his life in you! And even though your body may be dead because of the effects of sin, his life-giving Spirit imparts life to you because you are fully accepted by God. Yes, God raised Jesus to life! And since God’s Spirit of Resurrection lives in you, he will also raise your dying body to life by the same Spirit that breathes life into you! So then, beloved ones, the flesh has no claims on us at all, and we have no further obligation to live in obedience to it. For when you live controlled by the flesh, you are about to die. But if the life of the Spirit puts to death the corrupt ways of the flesh, we then taste his abundant life. The mature children of God are those who are moved by the impulses of the Holy Spirit. And you did not receive the “spirit of religious duty,” leading you back into the fear of never being good enough. But you have received the “Spirit of full acceptance,” enfolding you into the family of God. And you will never feel orphaned, for as he rises up within us, our spirits join him in saying the words of tender affection, “Beloved Father!” For the Holy Spirit makes God’s fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being, “You are God’s beloved child!” First, we talked about Romans 8:10-11. We learned how when we are in Christ, we are no longer dead to Christ and alive in sin. Yet, now, we are alive in Christ, and are being brought to life in Him.Not only in terms of spiritual life, but even our physical bodies can be restored to life and healed from the effects of our previous life. This is through the presence of the Holy Spirit, who also makes us fully acceptable to and accepted by God. You are fully accepted by God. Let that sink in. You are fully accepted by God. This acceptance brings healing, even to your natural body. It can begin to undo the consequences of your old sin patterns and family baggage and wounds. Let it. In verses 12-13, we saw how because we are in Christ, that old nature which is purely focused on what feels good in the moment, no longer has to control us. You no longer have to follow its dictates, and it is a dictator. Abundant life is yours when you choose to go where the way of the Spirit leads you. When you develop a relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit, He will help, guide, and protect you, if you listen to Him. That is Wisdom, y’all. What is this “way of the Spirit”? The way of the Spirit means living with a focus on how we can bless God and others. It is living in keeping with Torah, which, empowered by the Holy Spirit, we can do. In verses 14-16, we saw how when you are fully accepted by God, you are His beloved child, in Christ. If you want to progress in getting closer to our Father, then you must empty yourself of your drive and desires and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you fully. That is far easier said than done. Let’s get on the path, or take another step on the path toward maturity today. Let’s hear the Spirit confirm in us that we are indeed beloved children of God. What did we learn this week? That we are the beloved children of God, fully accepted by the Father, because of the work of the Son, through the power of the Holy Spirit. We hopefully had that reality driven home afresh, that sin, guilt, and shame need have no sway over us now. We have healing and restoration from the inside out. Can you believe all that? That is the abundance of life that the cross and empty tomb promise us who live in keeping with Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit. You are a beloved child of God. Let that truth shape your life.

Papa, Thank you that you are so good. Thank you that you know what is best for us, and that you give us your glory, but simply ask for loving obedience in return. Holy Spirit, help us to trust the Father to do what He says He will do. Help us to die to ourselves today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen Romans 8:17-23 And since we are his true children, we qualify to share all his treasures, for indeed, we are heirs of God himself. And since we are joined to Christ, we also inherit all that he is and all that he has. We will experience being co-glorified with him provided that we accept his sufferings as our own. I am convinced that any suffering we endure is less than nothing compared to the magnitude of glory that is about to be unveiled within us. The entire universe is standing on tiptoe, yearning to see the unveiling of God’s glorious sons and daughters! For against its will the universe itself has had to endure the empty futility resulting from the consequences of human sin. But now, with eager expectation, all creation longs for freedom from its slavery to decay and to experience with us the wonderful freedom coming to God’s children. To this day we are aware of the universal agony and groaning of creation, as if it were in the contractions of labor for childbirth. And it’s not just creation. We who have already experienced the firstfruits of the Spirit also inwardly groan as we passionately long to experience our full status as God’s sons and daughters—including our physical bodies being transformed. In our brief thoughts about vs 17, we learned more about how as beloved children, we get access to all that God has. Even at that, though, there is something in the way on that path. We must accept the suffering of Jesus. To me this means that the suffering is that of giving up our ways, desires, and ambitions in order to obey God. We must allow the Lord to refill and rebuild us. Once He does, then we must obey Him. On the other side of that, we will receive all His treasures. It can be hard to trust that God will follow through for us, I know this because I know too well how broken fathers can be. However, we have to learn to trust Him if we want all he has. Next, in verses 18-21, we asked ourselves a question: Do you want to see the glorious revelation of the fully mature children of God? Is there a part of you that wants to see what this really means on a personal level? Let’s see what this glory is, what will happen to and in those of us who take this journey and go through this process of refinement through suffering as Jesus did. Jesus submitted Himself fully to the Father’s will, and now He has been glorified, raised up to the Father’s right hand. He has shown us the way to join Him. All of creation, including our own souls, have been standing on tiptoe to see what will come to bring freedom from the fallout of human sin. It is well worth becoming what Jesus paved the way for us to be. This suffering could be physical, but this is not a call to some sort of asceticism, as I said earlier, it is really about dying to ourselves. Finally, we talked briefly about vs 22-23. Quite the vivid image if you are a parent or have ever witnessed a birth in person. The crazy part is that this is still true. The universe has been in labor to deliver the children of God for 2,000 years. Physical transformation to match the interior and spiritual side of things which we are already beginning to sense and experience. What does that mean? How might we be transformed? This, plus more... https://shows.acast.com/spirituality-tech

Romans Road 4 Papa, Thank you that we have this hope. This hope that we will be made one with You as we walk out submission to Your will and ways, just as Jesus did when He was walking the dusty roads and paths of the Middle East, 2,000 years ago. Help us to be the generation that sees that hope fulfilled because we shed the religious trappings of the past and clung to the Truth of our relationship with You. Jesus, help us to walk as You did. Holy Spirit, guide us and help us to grow in trust with the Father, that we might get to the point where we become mature children of God. In Jesus’ name, Amen Romans 8:24-29 For this is the hope of our salvation. But hope means that we must trust and wait for what is still unseen. For why would we need to hope for something we already have? So because our hope is set on what is yet to be seen, we patiently keep on waiting for its fulfillment. And in a similar way, the Holy Spirit takes hold of us in our human frailty to empower us in our weakness. For example, at times we don’t even know how to pray, or know the best things to ask for. But the Holy Spirit rises up within us to super-intercede on our behalf, pleading to God with emotional sighs too deep for words. God, the searcher of the heart, knows fully our longings, yet he also understands the desires of the Spirit, because the Holy Spirit passionately pleads before God for us, his holy ones, in perfect harmony with God’s plan and our destiny. So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together for good, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose. For he knew all about us before we were born and he destined us from the beginning to share the likeness of his Son. This means the Son is the oldest among a vast family of brothers and sisters who will become just like him. This week, this was the section of Romans 8 we discussed. Becoming the fully realized children of God, resplendent in His Glory is the hope which Paul is referring to here. When we have achieved the fullness of that hope, then we will be changed. We will have been fully saved. We will be perfect image-bearers of Jesus Christ. We will be so identified with Him that people will have trouble seeing where we start and He ends, and vice-versa. Even as humans, we often don’t have the words to pray, so the Holy Spirit, knowing that, our situations, and God’s good, pleasing, and perfect will, will intercede with and for us through sighs and groans too deep for words. he takes our requests, our feelings, and desires to the Father for us, and harmonizes them with the Father’s will for us. Let that sink in for just a moment. Because of that, we can cling to the fact that God is always working all aspects of our lives together for the best in keeping with His plans for us. Because He knows all things, He knew which of us would choose to be with Him by becoming like Jesus, taking on His very way of life, His very image. This makes Jesus our older brother, our savior, and our exemplar. That is huge. Far bigger than I have time to unpack in this brief devotion. That is what it means to be a child of God, to live as Jesus showed us to live, in loving abandon to the will of the Father. It is not simply asking God to “bless our mess”, but submitting ourselves and our mess to Him, and letting Him guide us through sorting the mess out.

Romans Road 5 Papa, Thank you that You and all of Heaven are pulling for those of us who you knew would choose to become one with You once again. Thank you that You do not accuse us. Thank You that You have chosen to cover our sins with the blood of Jesus. Jesus, thank You that You shed Your blood for us. Thank You that You constantly intercede on our behalf, along with the Holy Spirit. Help us to learn to ask for the help we need and to recognize when it comes. In Jesus’ name, Amen Romans 8:30-34 Having determined our destiny ahead of time, he called us to himself and transferred his perfect righteousness to everyone he called. And those who possess his perfect righteousness he co-glorified with his Son! So, what does all this mean? If God has determined to stand with us, tell me, who then could ever stand against us? For God has proved his love by giving us his greatest treasure, the gift of his Son. And since God freely offered him up as the sacrifice for us all, he certainly won’t withhold from us anything else he has to give. Who then would dare to accuse those whom God has chosen in love to be his? God himself is the judge who has issued his final verdict over them—“Not guilty!” Who then is left to condemn us? Certainly not Jesus, the Anointed One! For he gave his life for us, and even more than that, he has conquered death and is now risen, exalted, and enthroned by God at his right hand. So how could he possibly condemn us since he is continually praying for our triumph? Ok, so what does that mean? We are righteous because God called us righteous in Jesus, and He is in the process of producing righteousness in us, now. God, and all of heaven is for us. There is no one who currently belongs in heaven to accuse us of being unworthy or sinful. The enemy exists, don’t miss that point, but He is no match for Jesus (as we saw on the cross and in the empty tomb). God is so far in our corner that He gave us Jesus. Let that sink in, God’s own son came and gave Himself for us. If God didn’t hold Jesus back in order to bring us into alignment with His original design for us, then how could we think that He might hold anything else back from us that we need? That is futile thinking, straight from the enemy, who is the accuser. Do not heed it. He isn’t worth listening to. Why does he seek to waylay us? It is the job that fell to him, since he hates God and we bear His image, so the enemy does his best to hurt God the only way he can, by preventing His children and image bearers from reuniting with Him. What do you think about that? Tell me that isn’t wild. Does the Father leave us without help? No, or as Paul would say “me genita” or “hell no”. We have all of Heaven on our side and in our corner. We simply need to learn how to ask for help, then receive it.

Romans Road 6 Papa, Thank you that nothing can separate us from You. Thank you that your love is ALL-powerful. Thank you that no created thing, outside of us, can remove us from your love. Jesus, thank you that you made it possible for us to experience and live in this love. Help us to never peel ourselves away for any reason. In Your name, Amen. Romans 8:35-39 Who could ever divorce us from the endless love of God’s Anointed One? Absolutely no one! For nothing in the universe has the power to diminish his love toward us. Troubles, pressures, and problems are unable to come between us and heaven’s love. What about persecutions, deprivations, dangers, and death threats? No, for they are all impotent to hinder omnipotent love, even though it is written: All day long we face death threats for your sake, God. We are considered to be nothing more than sheep to be slaughtered! Yet even in the midst of all these things, we triumph over them all, for God has made us to be more than conquerors, and his demonstrated love is our glorious victory over everything! So now I live with the confidence that there is nothing in the universe with the power to separate us from God’s love. I’m convinced that his love will triumph over death, life’s troubles, fallen angels, or dark rulers in the heavens. There is nothing in our present or future circumstances that can weaken his love. There is no power above us or beneath us—no power that could ever be found in the universe that can distance us from God’s passionate love, which is lavished upon us through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One! Soak in this scripture today. Let it seep into and infuse your very bones with liquid love from God. It does not matter what you face in this life, once you are in Christ, there is NOTHING outside of you which can remove or separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Absolutely nothing. This passage has been latched onto by many who forget the rest of the chapter, so let me remind you that there are conditions on experiencing these things: we must be 100% surrendered to the Way of the Spirit. I’m not saying that God’s love is withheld from any of us who He knew would desire Him, even in the split seconds before death. What I am saying is that we can separate ourselves, if we make habits of walking in other ways, of living as we might if we hadn’t ever come to the Lord. I do not want to get into the once saved, always saved argument, here. All I wish to say about that is, if we choose to walk away from God after coming to Him, it is our choice. No thing outside of you can force you to make that decision, though. No thing can wedge itself between you and God, unless you allow it to do so. Shame has no place in the presence of perfect love. Fear is banished. If we bring it in, and choose to listen to it over the voice of God, then that is our choice. It did not separate us, we removed ourselves from that place of perfect love and peace. We can choose wrongly, and I have seen some do that. There was a guy who was a youth leader when I was in high school who admittedly had issues (who doesn’t, though, right?) and within a year of when I graduated from high school, left the church and became a militant atheist. He knows the truth, has (probably) experienced the love of God, and yet allowed the circumstances of his life, which were rough, even to the point of being brutal, and allowed his feelings about those things to separate him from God. Those things did not do it, his reaction to them did. That is an old story. A sad one, nonetheless, but a tired, old story. Choose well, today. Choose to stay in His love for you, no matter what your life presents to you.

Romans 1:1-6 Paul, a loving and loyal servant of the Anointed One, Jesus. He called me to be his apostle and set me apart with a mission to reveal God’s wonderful gospel. I write to all his beloved chosen ones in Rome, for you are also called as holy ones. May his joyous grace and total well-being, flowing from our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, rest upon you. My commission is to preach the good news. Yet it is not entirely new, but the fulfillment of the hope promised to us through his prophets in the sacred Scriptures. For the gospel is all about God’s Son. As a man he descended from David’s royal lineage, but as the mighty Son of God he was raised from the dead and miraculously set apart with a display of triumphant power supplied by the Spirit of Holiness. And now Jesus is our Lord and our Messiah. Through him grace cascaded into us, empowering us with the gift of apostleship, so that we can win people from every nation into the obedience that comes from faith, to bring honor to his name. And you are among the chosen ones who are called to belong to Jesus, the Anointed One. Read my commentary on the blog here: