AOL File Library: 4,701 to 4,800/aol-file-protocol-4400-4701-to-4800.zip/AOLDLs/Social Issues & Comments/Grace & Getting along/GRACE.txt

Text File | 2014-12-11 | 160KB | 2,050 lines

Can You Feel the Love?


Chuck Swindoll has a book out called ôThe Grace Awakeningö.  I like that title a lot.  I
think we are in the last age of the church and that is the ôAge of Graceö.  And I believe
that every denomination is awakening to the ôAge of Graceö.  I'm not discounting faith
for as Ephesians 2:8 says, ôFor by grace are you saved, through faith; and not of
yourselves ...ö  Emphasis on ônot of yourselvesö.  Are we saved by faith or by grace?  By
grace!  (See also Acts 15:11).

What's the difference between a Faith Emphasis and a Grace Awareness?  To stress faith
is saying that if I have enough faith, I can cause something to happen.  Grace says I
already have it.  Let me explain.  Recall that Ephesians 2:8-9 says ôFor by grace you have
been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works,
lest anyone should boastö.  Focus on the not of yourselves.  Say for example you are a
single adult male seeking a mate.  Faith might say five times, ôI will have a wife that fits
the description of Proverbs 31, and because I speak these words in faith, it will come
aboutö.   Faith does talk, there's no doubt about that.  Faith speaks as Mark 11:23 states,
ôFor assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into
the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be
done, he will have whatever he saysö.  That means for faith to work it has to be in your
heart also, (ô ...for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaksö,  Luke 6:45).  But,
to speak faith words and call them words of faith is not the same.  It's one thing to speak
faith words and try and get something to happen, it's another story to speak words of faith
from your heart, because you know it's so.  Words of Faith can be implanted in your heart
by hearing them over and over again, so, there's some merit to repeating scripture,
(Proverbs 4:20-23).  I think faith is so simple we have overshot it.  You have what's in
your heart and your mouth echoes what's in your heart.  But, once your heart is persuaded
or convinced about what God has said, grace might say one time, ôI believe for God's
grace, (God's ability), to work in my life to change me so that the woman described in
Proverbs 31 is attracted to my qualitiesö.  The movie, ôGroundHog Dayö is a good
example of what IÆm talking about. It is still faith to believe the second declaration, but
the focus difference here is that in the first example, one is placing his trust in his works,
and the second example places the trust in God's word.

We are saved by grace through faith.  We don't disregard faith, but implying that we have
to use our faith to move God is in error.  God already moved when he sent Jesus to the
cross.  It's our part to trust in what God has already done.  It's not like we have to have
some special ability to convince God, like if we cut ourselves, or beg loud enough, or
make him feel sorry for us.  To be honest, you could whine and beg, and because God is
so loving that he bears long with us; he will respond.  When he answers, he will avenge
speedily, but the question that is really at hand according to Luke 18:7-8, is when the Son
of Man comes will he find faith in us?  Will he find someone who is just waiting
patiently, confident that ôGod is able to make all grace abound toward us, that we
always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work?ö,
(2 Corinthians 9:8).  Will he find someone that believes his word?  We should use our
faith to believe in the grace of God to accomplish his work in our lives.

Here's another example that will enable you to better understand how faith operates.
Suppose one day you find in James 1:19-20 that the wrath of man does work not the
righteousness of God.  The very next afternoon you find yourself driving in a lot of traffic
and someone cuts abruptly in front of you.  You want to holler, but you are reminded that
man's wrath does not work the righteousness of God, and you remain quiet.  It did not
require that you say this verse out loud for this to happen.  You just believed God and
acted in accordance with his word.  You applied God's word to your heart and remained
in peace.  This might not occur to you as faith, but this is exactly what faith is.  You
might go further, and find out that ô ...a soft answer turns away wrath, but harsh words
stir up angerö, (Proverbs 15:1).  ôThere is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end
thereof is deathö, (Proverbs 14:12).

Faith is a lot easier than we have made it out to be.  Because faith is invisible,
(Hebrews 11:1), we seem to think that those that have it have tapped into some
mysterious illusive force that we donÆt understand.  Then when we try to work faith we
have no idea how to make it happen, so we try to believe harder and try to convince
ourselves that we must have no doubt.  HereÆs some steps that will help the faith walk.
Realize that faith is the opposite of walking by sight.  How can you walk opposite by
what you see.  You canÆt.  So, you have to have your heart set on another picture.  You
will see two images in your mind.  One view is the physical of what you can see, and the
other will be what God said about the dilemma.  Now remind yourself who is speaking
the words of God.  Is it God?  Can God lie?, (Numbers 23:19, Hebrews 6:18, Titus 1:2).
Did not God make the world and all that it contains including you and I.  Is God faithful
to do what He said that he will do, (Jeremiah 1:12, 1 Kings 8:56 2 Samuel 22:31,
1 Corinthians 1:9)?

I saw a real clear definition of faith in the movie, ôSearching for Bobby Fischerö, where
the chess master instructed his young pupil, ôDonÆt move until you can see itö.  The true
definition of faith should be trusting God's word to do what he said it would do.  I have
seen so many people try to move before they see it in their heart, and then they crash and
burn and blame God.  This also enforces their belief that faith is somehow mysterious
and illusive and some folks have it, and some folks donÆt.  Since I can not get anything to
happen, I must be one of those that doesnÆt have faith.  This view also holds the one that
we deem as having the faith in high esteem, thinking that somehow or another that they
have gotten GodÆs favor, or GodÆs ear.  It's pretty insolent of us not to trust God's words,
(Mark 8:38, John 12:47-48), but most of the time the reason what we desire does not
come to pass is not because of a lack of faith, but rather because we donÆt know what
God says.  Faith is actually so simple that even a child can activate it and according to the
scripture, we all have been given a measure of faith, (Romans 12:3).  Believe GodÆs word
is for now, for today, for you, and know that God wrote it, and that he can not lie.  End of
Story.  If you can not believe any of these points, donÆt be afraid to tell God so.  God
likes  honesty.

If you donÆt have the faith to believe something then you can still obtain the promise.  Go
get with someone else who can believe, (Matthew 18:19).  Go to the ends of  the level of
faith that you have and expect God to supply the rest.  You will find that if you do this,
you will grow in faith.  Faith can grow, (2 Thessalonians 1:3,2 Corinthians 10:15).  All
that it means to ôGrow in Faithö, is that you have begun to trust God in some area of your
life more than you did before in that same area of life.  It doesnÆt mean that the
circumstance changed.  It doesnÆt mean you have more of GodÆs eye.  It means that you
have grown more confident of his word to work.  Several things can weigh in this
decision to trust God, but chiefly it is past successes of seeing GodÆs word work even in a
different area of life.  After all, there is but one faith, (Ephesians 4:5).  Experience is only
gained by growing older, or by hearing the story or testimony of someone who has gone
through something themselves, (Revelation 12:11).  So, if you do not have the same level
of faith as an older person who has walked with God longer than you, please do not feel
inadequate.   You are normal.  YouÆll get there.  Ask God what you should do now.
WhatÆs your next move based on your current level of faith.

Actually, faith is being applied to try to change externals, whereas faith should be used to
change our hearts.  Hebrew 11:6, states that this is in the context of coming before the
presence of God, ôWithout faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who
comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek
himö.  If you come before God, you must believe that He is there hearing you right now.
God is more than enough.  Pleasing God in Hebrews 11:6, has to do with faith to believe
that God exists, and that you will obtain the requests you're asking for.  Children do us
this way when they want a cookie, and we have the bag of cookies, but can't get them to
stop crying long enough to open their eyes and see that we are giving them the cookie.
God is right now providing for the very things that you are crying about, for he knows
what we need before we ask, (Matthew 6:8).  Faith doesn't move or not move God.  Faith
moves us to believe God is acting in our behalf.  ôWhatsoever things you desire, when
you pray believe that you receive, and you shall have themö, (Mark 11:24).  So, apply
your faith to be confident that ôGod is able to make all Grace abound toward you, that
you always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good workö,
(2 Corinthians 9:8).

Well, let me talk from the Bible to explain grace.  Isaiah 42:3 says, ôA bruised reed He
will not break, and the smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for
truth.ö (see also Matthew 12:20).  A flax was a fiber like part of the flax plant used as a
modern day wick for lamps.  Whenever this wick of sorts was not burning well, it
probably smoked and gave off a foul odor.  Think of how offensive campfire logs are, or
charcoal briquettes, that are smoldering instead of burning.  Since smoke is never a
welcomed guest, most folks would snuff it out.  But not God.  God would nurse that flax,
and perhaps put his hands around it and blow on it until a flame appeared.  Same thing
for the bruised reed.  Probably best if you think of a shoot of bamboo cane that you want
to use for fishing.  Rigid and straight, hollow on the inside, an excellent rod, unless of
course, it gets bent.  Might as well break the bent cane.  But God doesn't think so.  In fact,
he takes other stalks of cane and reinforces the bent area so that it is now stronger than it
was before it was bent.  Well, that is the grace message.  I don't just mean that how God
sees us is the only way grace is to be defined, but that is also the way we are to see
others.  Forrest Gump in the movie of the same name, personifies grace in the way things
happened for him, and in the way he viewed others despite their actions or vulgar words.
How can we love the unlovely?  With determination?  Grin and bear it?  Paul calls this
ôwill worshipö in Colossians 2:23, meaning that as long as you have ôwill powerö you
can do the works.  This only works so long as you have enough determination, buut what
do uou do on the days that your will power is off?  Only by God's grace working in you
can you all the time love the unlovely.

The Apostle Paul saw this first hand when he wanted to dump Mark, because Mark had a
flaw, (see Acts 15:37-39).  Recall that it was at the Holy Spirit's prompting that Paul,
(then called Saul), and Barnabas were designed to be a team, in Acts 13:2 where ôAs they
ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, æNow separate to Me Barnabas
and Saul for the work to which I have called themÆö.  What God had joined together Paul
was ready to put asunder by refusing to let Mark come along.  This caused Barnabas to
go one way with Mark, as Paul went another way with Silas.  (Note that it was Mark who
later wrote, ôTherefore what God has joined together, let not man separateö, in
Mark 10:9).  Barnabas and Paul were the most unlikely pair you would have ever thought
to go together.  What we would have dubbed the odd couple, God saw as compliments to
each other.  Each person fulfilling what the other lacked in a symbiotic joint venture.
Paul was extremely goal oriented, ready to complete the task, and Barnabas was kind and
tender-hearted, with emphasis on relationships with others. But, they are both
strategically placed in the body of Christ.  As Proverbs 27:17 says, ôIron sharpens iron,
so a man sharpens the countenance of his friendö.  Even so, God chose to put together
Barnabas and Paul when he said, ôNow separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work
to which I have called themö.  I am confident that it was this interaction with Paul and
Barnabas and Mark coupled with Paul's strong desire to walk in the path of the Lord, that
influenced Paul to see things the way God does, and then to write all the letters he wrote.
Mediate and compare this portion of scripture from Acts 13:2 with 1 Corinthians 12:18.
...the Holy Spirit said, æNow separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I
have called themÆ(Acts 13:2).  God  has placed and arranged the limbs and organs in the
body, each [particular one] of them, just as He wished, and saw fit with the best
adaptation, (1 Corinthians 12:18).

Luke wrote about Paul in Acts 15:37-39 back when Paul was a young zealous man on fire
with a vision from God.  Sometimes Paul's methods were not of God.  As far as Paul was
concerned, Mark would not be coming along ever.  He hadn't learned of God at that time.
Paul probably thought he was supposed to be a warrior, but God wanted us to be more
like a family with a relationship to know God.  Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, ôTake my
yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heartö.  Paul was neither
meek nor lowly of heart when he flat out refused to take Mark along, causing strife.  He
may have been low-down, but he wasn't meek nor lowly, not yet.  Or as Zazu told Simba
in ôThe Lion Kingö, not yet!  However, a change happened in Paul's heart, and Paul
requested Mark, (see 2 Timothy 4:11).  Did Mark change?  Maybe.  But, maybe not.  I
don't think Mark changed much.  I think Paul did the changing, and I'll tell you why.
Paul wrote Romans 12: 1, 3, 10, 16, & 18, and it was the same Apostle Paul that wrote
Ephesians 4: 2, 32, Philippians 2:3-8 and 1 Corinthians 12:14 - 1 Corinthians 14:1.  Later
in life as Paul matured, Paul learned of God and wrote Romans 14:19 and Romans 15:7
and Galatians 6:1-2, and many more passages like 2 Timothy 2:14 or Titus 3:9 or
1 Corinthians 8:1.  Paul wrote two-thirds of the New Testament, but before he wrote it,
he walked it out, (see 1 John 2:5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:15, John 15:13, Mark 8:34, Luke
9:23).  When you are goal oriented and someone quits on you, yet you want to show love
to them, this can cause you to suffer emotionally.  Paul was shown how great things he
must suffer for JesusÆ Name's sake in Acts 9:16.  In every book Paul wrote, he talked
about the love of God and how to walk in that love, (for example, see
I Thessalonians 5:13-15).

Paul reminds me of the gray matter in the skull of our body.  He was the leadership.  We
depend much on the brain, for the gray matter does all the interpretative thinking for us.
The brain does everything from analyzing the input from the five senses, and regulating
the entire rest of the body functions, as well as making cognitive decisions and outputting
creative ideas.  However, the brain itself has very few nerve endings, and can be operated
on while the person is still conscious.  Unlike the finger which can sound the alarm of
great pain by even the smallest paper cut, because of its extraordinary sensitivity.  But,
without the finger, or on a larger scale, the hand(s), we could not type, play musical
instruments, drive a car, or even take a bath.  The hand is similar to the brain in that it
does things for the rest of the body.  We use the hand or hands for everything.  If we feed
ourselves, or feed small children; we use the hand.  Or if we comb our hair, or scratch
our nose, or elsewhere; we use the hand.  The hand does all the jobs nobody else wants to
do like taking off the dirty socks from the feet.  Barnabas reminds me of the hand,
bathing Mark with love and compassion, while Paul was so eager to reach the world for
Christ, that he overlooked nourishing Mark as part of that objective.  Mark later would
write the gospel of Mark, which would be read by the world over for centuries to come.
In canÆt help but wonder if the time that Paul got bitten by a snake, (Acts 28:4-5); was the
book of Mark written, and was it GodÆs inspired word in Mark 16:17-18 that Paul put his
faith in and survived.

The hand and fingers are sensitive and sometimes are a show-stopper for the rest of the
body, just because the water's too hot, or a small paper cut, or because of a splinter the
size of a fine pin.  The brain being task oriented, and not having much nerve endings
might say to the hand, ôYou guys are too sensitive.  You get hurt too easily, and you're
indecisiveö.  Whereas, the hand might respond to the brain with, ôYou are too hard-
hearted, too callused, and you need to be more tender and gentle.ö  Both perspectives are
not right.  Only the hands can become callused as they shovel or rake, or as they play a
guitar.  And a hand has not the capacity to make executive decisions, yet the hand(s) can
detect a minute grain of dirt and the brain can't even tell when it's being cut wide open.

Both are part of the body, and both place their values on the other.  In fact, the body is so
diversified that even the hands are not alike.  One hand performs one function while the
other aides that hand, such as putting on clothes, or in playing a guitar, where even
different fingers hold down different strings, and on the other hand a strum is done to
produce a sound that the brain dictates.  This sound in turn soothes our emotions, and
that relaxes the rest of the body.  Only by all parts working together can a harmonic
sound be produced, (Ephesians 4:16, Colossians 2:19, and 1 Corinthians 12:12, 25, &
27).

Is there a place in your life where someone can be called a jerk, or an idiot, or a lame
brain, or whatever derogate word you want to implore.  If I wanted to run for dip squeak
in your book, what would I have to do to be elected?  If it's possible for someone to be a
jerk in your opinion, then you have values that you are superimposing onto others.  What
if you know of a preacher that is abusing their authority and power.  Can we talk bad
about this person?  What if they are a no-good, low-down, dirty-rotten scoundrel?  You
have to remember that this is a value judgment by what you have decided is acceptable
by your standards.  In God's eyes, there are no scoundrels.

Would you think that a good intercessor would be someone that doesn't know all the facts
about what they are praying for?  In the Old Testament, a cityÆs defense was in itÆs
exterior wall.  Where there was a hole or a place where weather or decay had eroded a
spot in the wall was referred to as a breach or a gap.  That was the wallÆs weakest area in
regards to an attack..  Suppose, you were a wall repairer.  It would not be very beneficial
to the city if you could not detect where the holes were in the wall.  To be a good wall
repairer, you would have to have the ability to spot the punctures and cracks before they
become big problems.  I think the ability to find the flaws of others is important to your
job as as intercessor also.  If we only point out the flaws, then that would make us Fault-
Finders and we are only doing half of our job. I donÆt think we should condemn ourselves
if we ôhave an eye for spotting someoneÆs weaknessö, but rather, I think we are supposed
to be filling in the breach or the gap.  Isaiah 58:12 puts it this way: ôThose from among
you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many
generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets
to Dwell In.ö (NKJV).  Ezekiel 22:30 ôSo I sought for a man among them who would
make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not
destroy it; but I found no one.ö (NKJV).  (See also 2 Kings 12:5, Nehemiah 6:1, and
Psalm 106:23).  Francis Frangipane speaks more of this in detail.

Usually, we judge others by what we do best.  Perhaps, you feel that a man that does not
support his family in the way that you prescribe as acceptable, is not worth a flip.  If we
happen to be very analytical and precise, we judge others by their degree of preciseness,
or how well they maintain upkeep on their car, or maybe they are too boisterous.  If we
care a lot about people, we tend to feel that others that don't show what we consider in
our judgment, Christ-like love, then how can they even call themselves a Christian.  Or if
we are goal-oriented, and someone can't never seem to get and maintain a steady job,
then they are a failure by our values.  Or if the other person is not as vocal as us, we
consider them dull and boring, or if they are not as generous as we think that they ought
to be, or their appearance is not to our liking, we cut them off.  You won't have four-part
harmony if everyone is singing the same note.

Have you ever noticed that people-oriented folks don't have finesse with objects.  They
force and break them.  The very same accusations that the people-oriented folks say
about the goal-oriented folks in the area of relationships applies to the people-oriented
folks in the area of things.  Would you fly in a plane made by people-oriented folks?
Somehow we don't think that what we do wrong is as offensive as what we perceive them
doing wrong.  The people-oriented folks apply value to caring for one another, and
someone that doesn't show the kind of concern that we think they ought too, is harsh, and
the object-oriented folks probably think the people-oriented folks are capricious flakes.
Everything is a value judgment comparing something we probably do well at, and setting
a standard that we judge as Christ-like perfection.  Relax.  Maybe, you're right in your
assessment, and maybe you're wrong, but it is still not for us to place our values onto
others and to judge them.

When Paul wrote Philippians 2:5, where he said, ôLet this mind be in you which was also
in Christ Jesusö, (or as the Amplified Bible says, ôLet this same attitude and purpose and
[humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in
humility:])ö.  What mind was that in Christ Jesus?  Verse 6 & 7 explains, ôWho, being in
the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of
no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant.ö  Apostle John, in 1 John 3:16 explains
what it means to have the same mind or attitude of Christ this way, ôBy this we know
love, because He laid down His life for us.  And we also ought to lay down our lives for
the brethren.ö  The key words here are ôbrethrenö, and ôknowö.  The word know used
here comes from the Greek word ginosko, (Strong's Concordance #1097), and is defined
as knowing something because you have experienced it.  Think of the times when you
were young, that you were unaware that if you turned abruptly in a car, that a drink
would tip over, or that chocolate would melt in a hot car, or that a soda would spew if
shaken, or a million other things that you now take for granted.  At this present time, you
probably cannot imagine not knowing this.  You know it now, not intuitively, but because
of experience.  We have experienced the Love of God when we accepted Jesus as our
Lord.  We can now know beyond a shadow of a doubt what love is.  Recall verse 16 said
by this we know love.  If someone were to ask us what love is; we now have a working
definition of love.  What is love?  Love is laying down your life for one another.  If I
were to say that we are to lay down our lives for Jesus, probably everyone would say
amen.  But, that is not what the scripture just said.  We are to lay down our lives for the
brethren.  Jesus said, ôGreater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for
his friends.ö, (John 15:13).

How do you lay down your life?  Do you die?  Jesus did.  Apostle John said that ôBy this
we know that we are in Him.  He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk
just as He walkedö , (I John 2:5-6).  I hear many, myself included saying, we abide in
him.  John said that, ôHe who says he abides in Him, ought to walk just as He walked.ö
How did Jesus walk?  Jesus died.  Are we to be martyred?  Apostle Paul understood this
when he said in Romans 12:1 to become a living sacrifice.  How do you become a living
sacrifice?  If you are a sacrifice, you cannot be living, but dead.  And if you are alive, you
cannot be a sacrifice.  So, how can you be a living sacrifice?  Die to self.  Jesus said in
Luke 9:23, ôIf anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross daily, and follow Me.ö  Die to the need to be right.  Die to the right to have your
way.  Die to the need to correct.  Jesus was more spiritually keen that anyone in his time,
yet he did not parade himself around as some sort of pious man to be honored and
admired.  Nor, was he consumed by the need to correct.  Love always believes the best.
He offered love and acceptance rather rejection. Jesus laughed, and enjoyed the company
of sinners, (Luke 10:21, Matthew 11:19).  He behaved in such a way that people walking
in sin were not offended to be around him, (John 3:17).  Do lost people feel comfortable
around us?  Do they constantly apologize for their swearing?  If you have a backyard
Bar-B-Q for the residents in your neighborhood, can they smoke? Would they feel
welcomed?  Are we more consumed in their adhering to our sets of standards and values
than we are concerned with them?  What if they are in favor of abortion?

Nobody wants to be told what they are doing wrong.  We all want the same thing that the
TV show ôCheersö cries out for.  A place where everybody knows your name, and they're
always glad you came.  A place where they are accepted for who they are with or without
a cigarette, and they don't have to feel like there is a list of do's and don'ts that they have
to abide by.  In fact, a good definition of the law is a performance-based system of do's
and don'ts.  This can even include rituals accomplished every day like praying, or reading
the Bible, or putting on the whole armor of God.  All of this can be good, if the motives
are right, understanding that God is just as pleased with you if you never win another soul
to Christ.  I believe we could drop the Monday night visitation program, and win more to
Christ by showing love to one another, having the world come to us, seeing that we have
this kind of love, (Isaiah 60:3).  This will happen one day in God's body as John 17:11,21
was prayed.  As Elton John sang at the close of the movie, ôThe Lion Kingö, a place
where the very best is believed of everyone, whether they be kings or vagabonds,
(James 2:1-9).

Maybe this will help you see what I'm talking about.  Imagine you are at church and we
are singing, ôI love you lord, and I lift my voice to worship you ... Oh my soul, rejoice.
Take heed my Lord in what you hear.  Let it be a sweet, a sweet sound in your ears.ö  I
can hear the harmonies of music in my mind.  My hands are lifted up in praise.  Those all
around me must think that I am really in touch with God.  Apparently, I am so holy that I
am able to see what others around me cannot see.  I tell God how lovely are his eyes, like
I can really see them.  It is beautiful music, it stirs our heartstrings. And somehow or
another, we make a conjecture that this is alms offering up a sweet aroma to God.  My
head is lifted up, but all I actually see is the ceiling.  God interrupts us and says, if you
really love me, feed my sheep.  If you really want to show me how much you love me, go
over and hug that young boy over there.  He's not been taught about hygiene, so he'll
smell some, but he really needs a father's, (or a mother's), touch right now.   God says that
I delight not in burned offerings, but in a broken and contrite heart and obedience,
(1 Samuel 15:22, Psalm 40:6, Psalm 51:16-17, Proverbs 21:3, Hosea 6:6 and Isaiah 66:2,
and Jeremiah 7:22-23).  Do the things that delight God's heart!  (See also Micah 6:8 and
Jeremiah 9:24 to find out what other things delight God's heart).

I like what Paul said just before he said to ôLet this mind be in you which was in Christ
Jesusö, in Philippians 2:2-4, where he stated, ôFulfill my joy by being like-minded,
having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.  Let nothing be done through
selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than
himself.  Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests
of others.ö   The Amplified Bible puts verse three this way, ôDo nothing from fractional
motives [through contentiousness, strife, selfishness, or for unworthy ends] or prompted
by conceit and empty arrogance.  Instead, in the true spirit of humility (lowliness of
mind) let each regard the others as better than and superior to himself, [thinking more
highly of one another than you do of yourselves].ö  By giving honor and preference to
one another, this allows the individual's dignity and self worth to remain intact.  To walk
the love walk, how many things can you do from selfish motives?  None!   No thing.  Do
nothing from strife.

Romans 12:10 says the same thing as Philippians 2:3 when it states, ôLove one another
with brotherly affection [as members of one family], giving precedence and showing
honor to one another.ö  Again in 1 Corinthians 12:25, Paul says, ôSo that there should be
no division or discord or lack of adaptation, [of the parts of the body to each other], but
the members all alike should have a mutual interest in and care for one another.ö  Paul
probably wrote that at the same time that he wrote to the Ephesians when he said, ôWith
all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in loveö,
(Ephesians 4:2).  Paul went on to say in that same letter, ôAnd do not grieve the Holy
Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness,
wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be
kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave
you.  Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.  And walk in love, as Christ also
has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-
smelling aromaö, (Ephesians 4:30 - Ephesians 5:2).  Kindness, one of the forgotten and
much overlooked fruits of the spirit, (called goodness in Galatians 5:22).  ôBe kind one to
anotherö, (Ephesians 4:32).  ôGod is kindö, (Luke 6:35), even to the unthankful.  It just
blows over my head, but doesn't seem to sink into my heart.  It sounds like something a
small child in Kindergarten would say, but not something I'm supposed to do.  Squeezed
in the dictionary between kind and kind-hearted are the words Kindergarten and
Kindergartner.  That is where we are assumed to have developed a kinder heart towards
one another like a garden growing a crop of love.  But did it work?  I wonder what it
means to bear with one another in love?  Have you ever given much thought to being
long-suffering, or what gentleness is, or how about tenderhearted?  It grieves the Holy
Spirit when we harbor bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking with all malice
intended; and when we are imitators of God as dear children, kind to one another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave us, this comes up to
God like a sweet-smelling aroma.  (See also Colossians 3:12-14, Galatians 5:13-14).
Oprah Winfrey isn't the only one wanting to usher in a kindness initiative towards one
another, (1 Corinthians 13:4).  Like Glen Campbell use to sing in his song, ôLess of Meö;
Let me be a little kinder, let me be a little blinder to the faults of those around me.  Let
me praise a little more.

One tell-tale sign that you have small children in your home about the age of 3 or 4, are
the smudged hand prints on the refrigerator door, or perhaps crayon marks on the wall in
the hallway.  Maybe, this is where the word hallmark derived it's meaning from.  A
hallmark of a disciple of Christ should be our unqualified love for the brethren.  Such
love that offers unconditional acceptance among the followers of Christ is called
fellowship, (or koinonia in the Greek).  The Amplified Bible calls this koinonia a
distinguishing mark of Christians in   1 John 1:3-7.  I used to sing, ôAnd they'll know we
are Christians by our love; yes, they'll know we are Christians by our love.ö  It's not just
a song, this is the pathway of God's plan of reconciliation for the world, (2 Corinthians
5:18-21).  The FIRST Fruit of  the spirit is Love.  By this we KNOW that we have passed
from death unto life, that we LOVE the brethren.  Jesus said a new commandment I give
you, that you love one another.  Romans 13:10 says we have fulfilled all of the law when
we love, for Love worketh no ILL to his neighbor.  We shouldn't have to tell someone
that we are a Christian.  They should know it by the Love we have.

By this shall ALL men know you are my disciples, by the LOVE you have for one
another, (John 13:35).  Note, Jesus did not say some men would know, nor did he say all
men might have some enlightenment.  Jesus said ôALL men would KNOW,  ...by the
LOVE you have for one anotherö.  Once again, the word for know is the Greek word
ginosko, (Strong's #1097), and is defined as experiential knowledge.  All men would
know from experience that we are followers of Christ when we love one another.  Jesus
also said here that you have this kind of love, (ô ...by the love you have ...ö).  We have
this love of God in our hearts.  Galatians 5:22 says that the first fruit of the spirit is love.
Romans 5:5 states that, ôHope does not disappoint, for the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Spirit, which is given to us by Godö.

By this shall ALL men know you are my disciples, by the LOVE you have for one
another, (John 13:35).  Not by the tracts, not by the programs, not by even the God-sized
tasks.  God is love.  God is so loving that he has written the world a blank check of
forgiveness.  You are God's ambassador when you offer pardon to the world and to each
other, (John 20:23).  You are the light of the world, not just your community.  God did
not say that you should just be the light where you are.  God said you are the light of the
world.  You don't get a bigger God-sized task than to be told to be the light of the world,
(Matthew 5:14).  That is our God-sized task!  It's bigger than you and me both.  How do
we pull it off?  By starting with those we come into contact with and showing them the
agape love of God; showing them acceptance, not rejection because they do not obtain to
some performance-based system.  Then watch this Kingdom of God grow like leaven, or
yeast until it affects every corner of the globe, (Matthew 13:33, Luke 13:20-21).  Leaven
is applied to that which, though small in quantity, yet by its influence thoroughly
pervades a thing by affecting the dough around the leaven, and that leaven affecting the
dough around it, until all is leaven, (Galatians 5:9).  To see the contrast of the power of
acceptance and approval not based on performance verses performance-based
acceptance, see the movie, ôSearching for Bobby Fischerö.

As stated in 1 John 4:12 ôNo one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God
abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.ö  What is God saying here?  Is God's
hair red?  It is purple?  Does God have a Mohawk?  What is GodÆs favorite color?  What
color are his eyes?  We were talking about seeing God and the next thing we hear is that
God's love abides and is perfected in us when we love one another.  Did God change the
subject?  What does loving one another have to do with seeing God?  If you really want
some way to show God how much you love him, he's telling you how.  God is saying go
love someone with a face on them.  Go love someone with skin on them.  ôAnd the King
will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the
least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'ô, (Matthew 25:40).  Further down in the
passage, John explains this verse this way,  ôWe love Him because He first loved us. If
someone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his
brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?  And this
commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother alsoö,
(1 John 4:19-21).  A brother is a fellow follower of Christ.  God is in your brother.  By
loving your brother or sister in Christ, you are loving God!

Jesus said that in the beginning of sorrows, ô ...the love of many will grow coldö,
(Matthew 24:12).  The word used here for love is the word agape, (Strong's Concordance
# 26).  This kind of agape love only comes from God.  Only followers of Christ have this
kind of love.  The world doesn't have this agape love.  Our love for our fellow believers
(koinonia), will grow cold, and our love for others.  John says the love of the Father is not
in us when this happens. ôDo not love the world or the things in the world.  If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not in himö, (1 John 2:15).  God was pretty
firm about this in 1 John 3:10, 1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:20-21, and also in 1 John 1:7.

Jesus told the Pharisees ôGo and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not
sacrificeö, (Matthew 9:13, Micah 6:6-8, Hosea 6:6).  What commandment has God told
us to obey?  To love one another, (John 13:34-35, John 15:12, 1 John 3:23, 1 John 4:21,
Romans 13:8,10).  If we love one another, we abide in God, and His love has been
perfected in us.  God says in John 13:34-35 that, ôA new commandment I give to you, that
you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all
will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.ö   By this.  This
what?  This love for each other.  This agape love that the world does not have!  This
unconditional love for one another that the world wants so bad!  A place where
everybody is glad you came.  This acceptance for one another.  And it starts when the
world sees us loving one another.   Loving brothers in the Lord, rather than fighting over
our differences.

To love as Jesus has loved us.  How did Jesus love us?  He laid down his life, his
purposes, his dreams, his ambitions, his goals to go die on the cross for us, and to be
despised and rejected.  Jesus once commented that he was ready to take Jerusalem in his
arms, but they would not receive him, so Jesus had to love them in the way they
demanded, even though it would cost him his life, (Luke 13:34, Isaiah 53:3-5).  Again,
Jesus tells us that, ôThis is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved
you.  Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friendsö,
(John 15:12-14 and also in movie, ôThe Jungle Bookö).  In a TV movie called Tek Wars,
a female robot asked a man how can you tell that you're in love.  He responded that love
is laying down your life for someone.  A secular show knew that fact, while most
Christians don't have the foggiest idea of the definition of love.

ôYou are My friends if you do whatever I command you.ö  How would you liked to be
called a friend of Jesus; that Jesus likes to pal around you.  Not that he just loves you, but
that he likes you.  The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great
exploits, (Daniel 11:32).  The key word is to know God.  The religious world that Jesus
came into didn't even know him.  Even at birth, the rest of the carnal new age part of the
world knew more about him through the Magi, than did the Pharisees who were supposed
to be in touch with God.  Just like in the movie, ôThe Lion Kingö, the one who knew that
the young lion was actually the son of Mufusa; and the one true King, was Rafiki,
someone that operated in the dark side of the spiritual realm.  And notice, likewise, that it
was the heathen on the ship with Jonah, that were seeking for the God of the Prophet,
while the Prophet of God slept, (Jonah 1:5-6).  Even so, today, it is the world that is
crying out for spiritual truth, saying we are tired of the counterfeit.  Don't bring your
Bibles in the workplace, or your fancy car tags or your plaques.  They want to see the
genuine article.  They want to see your love.  They want to see a God that shows love.
They want to see a God with a face.  That's us.  To them, we are the representative of the
only description of God that they can know.  However, we act or react to their behavior is
how they portray that God feels about them, and what they do.  They want to know, can
you feel the Love tonight?

Again hear Jesus talking to you personally saying, ôYou are My friends if you do
whatever I command youö.  This doesn't mean that God's love for us stops if we don't do
what he has commanded us, but rather that we represent God well when we love. We are
God's ambassadors, (2 Corinthians 5:20).  ôIn this the love of God was manifested toward
us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through
Himö, (I John 4:9).  If we don't agape love, our relationship to God is more like a distance
acquaintance than a chum; someone we know a lot about, but not someone we know,
(compare to 1 John 4:12).  ôIf you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love,
just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His loveö, (John 15:10).
What has he commanded us to do?  Love one another.  What are his commandments?
Galatians 5:14 Says, ôFor all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: You shall love
your neighbor as yourselfö.  Romans 13:9b-10 says ô ...if there is any other
commandment, all are summed up in this saying, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor
as yourself.'  Love does no harm to a neighbor, love is the fulfillment of the lawö.  When
you agape love someone, you won't kill them, or steal from them, or commit adultery
with their spouse.  Love is the fulfilling of the law.  The first four of the ten
commandments given Moses, deal with our relationship to God.  The last six
commandments focus on our relationship with each other.  All this Jesus capsized in
Matthew 22:37-40, when He said the first and great commandment is to love the Lord
your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; and the
second commandment is like unto it.  That is, to love your neighbor as yourself.  They
had the new commandment, but didn't know it.  To ôlove one anotherö; it was there all
the time in the ten commandments.  Or as B. J. Thomas sang, we should be ôloving
people and using things, and not the other way aroundö.

And it is only by this love that will let all men know that we are his disciples,
(John 13:35).  It's not that they will say, ôThis one has it, and this one does notö; but
rather, ôMy Lord, I want this kind of love in my life.ö  This world has a hungering placed
in them by God, that desires this kind of love.  After Jesus had already told the Pharisees,
ôGo and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrificeö, (Matthew 9:13), Jesus
ran across some Pharisees being critical of the disciples for doing something on the
Sabbath.  Jesus admonished the Pharisees here, but only because their accusations were
affecting the disciples.  But even so, Jesus did this in love.  Jesus allowed his disciples to
know they were not guilty, and removed the burden of shame.  This is what Jesus
responded to their criticism with.  ôBut if you had known what this means, I desire mercy
and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the guiltlessö, (Matthew 12:7).  Have
we desired mercy rather than sacrifice?  Would we rather sing five choruses of I love you
Lord, than to hug the unlovely?  Do we make accusations or intercessions?  Even if they
are wrong.  Do we join the bashing or pray?  Pray for someone, not prey on them.  Recall
that it is ô ...the goodness of God leads that you to repentanceö, (Romans 4:2), had not
we do the same for one another?  Even God blesses both the just and the unjust with rain
and sunlight, so that the crops will grow, (Matthew 5:43-45).  Telling people what they
are doing wrong is man's way, not God's.  Solomon, the wisest man on earth wrote in
Proverbs 16:6, ôBy mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men
depart from evil.ö, (Compare this to what Solomon's father David wrote in
Psalm 25:8,10).  Probably, you could not detect the sin problem in the other person's life,
unless you also were tempted in this same area, (Matthew 7:5, Luke 6:42).  The other
person's sin acts like a mirror to expose your own weak areas of life.

I have mentioned John 13:35 many times including the beginning of the previous
paragraph.  Note that John 13:34-35 were given to the disciples at one of the hardest
times of JesusÆ life.  This was the night before his final execution.  His own disciples
would betray him by tomorrow.  Peter would turn and run.  Before the night was over,
Jesus would find no one to pray for him.  If ever in the natural there was a reason to
preserve self, it was now.  This was the same night that Jesus bowed down as a servant
and instead of proclaiming himself King, washed the disciples feet, (John 13:3-6).  JesusÆ
final message to us before the cross was John 13:34-35, ôBy this shall ALL men know
you are my disciples, by the LOVE you have for one anotherö.

James 1:20 says that, ôMan's anger does not promote the righteousness of Godö, even if
the criticism seems justified.  You are fallen from grace and placed yourself back under
law when you judge others, (Galatians 2:21, Galatians 5:4, Hebrews 12:15).  Even if it's
abortion, God's plans for success are the same for all situations.   Hebrews 12:14 says to
ôFollow, (pursue), peace with ALL men, and Holiness, without which no man shall see
the Lord.ö  Pursue, to chase after.  In hot pursuit, like one squirrel chasing another over
limb and branch, or like one bird darting after another bird.  We are directed to chase
after peace with ALL men.  You are not laying down your life for the brethren when you
judge or condemn.  In fact, if you judge, you are setting yourself up for a fall.  You may
go through the same trial, and find out how you'll fair, (Romans 2:1).  You reap what you
sow.  Sow mercy and you'll reap mercy, (Matthew 5:7, James 3:18).  Sow judgment, and
you'll reap judgment, (Matthew 7:1).  Sow condemnation, and you'll reap condemnation,
(Luke 6:35-38).  Criticism begets criticism, (Galatians 5:15, Psalms 109;17).  The
Christians have poured judgment on the world, so the world judges the body of Christ.
They know judgment because we showed them judgment.  Until Stephen starting
lambasting his audience in Acts 7:51, he had them eating out of the palm of his hand.
Guess what?  If you sow love, you reap love.  You sow grace, you reap grace!  Want
somebody to start believing in you.  Start believing in them!  In the same way, we know
love because our Abba Father, Daddy God first loved us, (1 John 4:18), and believes in
us.

Once someone verbally attacked me.  As I determined to die to self and allow this person
to crucify me.  I realized that as I was being metaphorically nailed to a cross, that I was
dying for the sin of this person's very attack.  This would remove that sin from this one's
life forever.  And that was exactly what I wanted.  I learned first hand that God was right
when he said, ôThose that want to find their life must lose it for JesusÆ sakeö, (This must
be important for it is in all four gospels, Matthew 10:39, & 16:25, Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24
& 17:33, John 12:25).  My love for this person increased supernaturally, for in the
natural, I could not have had this kind of love.  I had to learn this from experience.  Until
you have experienced this you just have to trust that what God said will work.  Once you
have experiential knowledge, next time it is easier to lean not to your own
understanding.  This walking in love seemed like an unfortified maneuver when I began,
but after the ordeal, I realized that it was the only resolution that would work.  This
produced a crisis of belief for me that I can explain better with the original Greek words.

The Greek word for repent in the New Testament is defined as, ôto change your mindö,
(Strong's #3340, metanoeo).  And the word for confess in the New Testament means ôto
say the same thing as, or to agreeö, (Strong's #3670, homologeo).  For this plan to
accomplish the desired results, I had to first repent, (to change my mind), realizing that
what I thought would work, would not.  Then I had to confess, (or to say the same thing
God said), that would achieve the goal.  God said, ôTo deny self, take up your cross and
follow meö.  I agreed with God, by saying the same thing God said about my
circumstances.  As I changed my mind, and resolved to do things the way God had
outlined, I began to have a love for this person that was beyond what I could do, and that
I cannot explain.

I believe that we have missed much of what God had wanted us to use for his blueprint
for success because we do not know what God meant when he said certain words.  We
have come today to believe that confess means to admit that we have done a wrong, when
the word God chose meant, ôto say the same thingö.  God in Colossians 1:14,
Ephesians 1:7 and 1 John 1:7 said that we have redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins.  So to confess our sins would mean that we are to say the same thing
about our sins as God does.  God said in 1 John 1:9 that, ôIf we confess, (again Strong's #
3670, homologeo - to say the same thing as), our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us
our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.ö  That is to say that I have
redemption through JesusÆ blood, and all my sins are forgiven, and therefore I am the
righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, (Romans 5:17, Revelation 5:9).  Well, if you're
cleansed from all unrighteousness, you must be the righteousness of God.

Not only are we unaware of certain words, but in most denominational churches,
personal experience is ruled out.  Even in non-denominational churches most don't know
what to do with personal experience.   We overcome by the blood of the lamb and our
testimony, (Revelation 12:11), but we don't know much about the later.  I think this has
hurt us.  Recall that the word know comes from the Greek word ginosko and that means
to know something works because you have experienced it.  Now, that I have had a
confrontation with a person that wanted to verbally berate me, and I have encountered a
successful way of dealing with that situation; I now have a game plan in my heart that I
know will work again if I am in the same dilemma.  But, do I have to experience
everything personally, before I incorporate that scheme into my arsenal of strategies.  No,
I don't have that many lifetimes!  As Rafiki told Simba in ôThe Lion Kingö, ôYou can
learn from the pastö.  Proverbs 1:5 says, ôA wise man will hear, and will increase
learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counselsö.  This was written
by wise Solomon.  Solomon probably learned this tactic of success from his father,
David.  I think one of the ways we can go forth from success to success is by
remembering what we did last time that worked.  Or by better yet, by placing our trust in
what God has already performed in the past in similar predicaments, also keeping in
mind that God is not locked into methods and formula's.  But, by remembering what God
has done before, you won't become overwhelmed by the situation. and this will have a
calming effect on you giving understanding, (Proverbs 17:27), knowing that we always
triumph! (1 Corinthians 15:57-58, 2 Corinthians 2:14).  (See Addendum 1)

Well, I said all that above to say this.  We don't know that confession and repentance are
offensive weapons of our warfare instead of thinking of confession and repentance as
defensive means of coming before God.  We don't realized who we are, that we are God's
pride and joy.  We are God's children.  We should come to God boldly, never cowardly.
Hebrews 4:16 says, ôLet us therefore come boldly unto the throne of Grace, that we
might obtain mercy, and find grace to help in our time of needö.  If you can't come to
God in your time of need, what's the use of living?  Much like Queen Esther coming
boldly before the throne in her day, knowing that if the King did not extend the scepter to
her, she would die, (Esther 4:11, 5:2), that is the way it was with us and God.  Except, in
our case the scepter has long ago been extended forevermore in the person of Jesus
Christ.  And if we have chocolate pudding on our face, he'll clean us up just like Simba's
Mother, Sarabi, did to young cub in ôThe Lion Kingö.  Babies are supposed to have
chocolate on their mouth.  Compared to all of eternity, we are but babes in God's sight.

Contrary to what I've been taught, sin does not separate us from God.  That's not even
found anywhere in the New Testament.  God never hides his face from us now that Jesus
has gone to the cross.  Is sin the only thing that the Holy Spirit convicts us of?  John 16:8
says the Holy Spirit convicts us also of righteousness.  God's remedy for sin is that you
agree with Him about what he says about your sin, (confess).  That is to say, your sins are
covered by the blood of His Son, Jesus.  We must adjust our thinking, (repent).  Even if a
little child does what we tell them not to do, such as placing their hand on a hot stove, we
do not draw away from them, but instead, we put balm on their wound.  Or we take them
to the doctor or whatever else is necessary for their health and welfare.  They are always
our child.  A child with orange cool-aid all over his or her mouth will run right up to their
mother or father for a hug, and yet we think our sins separate us from God.  Therefore,
we find it hard not to condemn those that are, by our standards, sinning.  Sometimes we
are like the older child telling the younger ones what Mom said to do, and hitting them if
they don't comply.  Sin will deceive you, and cause you to harden your heart to God so
that you cannot be able to confess and say the same thing God says about your sin, (see
Hebrews 3:13).   You may not be able to change your mind, (repent).  Sin might make us
feel far away from God, but the truth of the matter is God is not far away from us.  God
said, ôI will never leave you or forsake youö, in Hebrews 13:5 and also in
Deuteronomy 4:31, so the tradition taught of men that sin separates us from God makes
God's word of no effect.  That's old covenant.  I'm under a new and better covenant than
the old, (Hebrews 8:6).

I wonder if serial killers, or child abusers feel that once they have done such acts of
violence that they can never be pardoned, so what does it matter if they kill one more.
They are without hope.  They probably hate what they do, but don't know a way out.
Their only alternative is to turn themselves in, where they are sure to be executed.  So
far, this plan hasn't worked.  Can they come to the church door for help?  Nobody wants
to be told what they are doing wrong.  They probably feel shame, and rejection from
some fantasy that turned real.   They possibly were molested themselves as a child.  And
they may have played with their imaginations to the point that it became uncontrollable.
They allowed darkness to have control over their lives.  They didn't cast down vain
imaginations, (1 Corinthians  10:5), but allowed them to become like the little dog on a
lease.  One day you feel a tug and suddenly to your horror; the little dog has grown up
into a big dog, and is now dragging you around.  Can these folks turn to us followers of
Christ for love?  How will we respond to a homosexual?  The disbanded group Asaph
had a song out that said, ôWe talk about love, but don't show it ...ö

What if someone calls you in the middle of eating dinner, what will you do?  Or suppose
someone calls you after you have been watching one hour and fifty minutes of a
suspenseful movie that you have waited all week long to see and there are only ten
minutes left of the show and you can't record on the VCR.  What if this is the kind of
person that when they get under pressure, they feel the need to verbalize?  Sacrificial love
walk as outlined in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.  Love suffers long and is kind; love does not
envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek
its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the
truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love
never fails.  Love always looks for the best, almost to a point of gullibility.

Like Ralph Carmichael's song entitled ôLove is Surrenderö, if there were no obstacles to
overcome, we could not be given the opportunity to be overcomers.  If there's nothing
that you don't have to lay down your life for then this won't be agape love.  (The
definition of agape Love is laying down your life for one another).  We must rule out
our own motives or selfish ambition.  You can be sure the time you allot to set aside for
prayer will be the time that all the favorite shows you like to watch will come on.  Or the
day you set aside to fast, you will probably be asked out to lunch and they're paying.  If
there was nothing to lay down, then this would not be agape love.  Why is it so important
that we show agape love by laying down our live for the brethren?  Why don't we just
show brotherly love?  It is because only by acts of agape love can advances be made in
the Kingdom of God down on earth.  Recall that ôBy this shall all [men] know that you
are my disciples, by the (agape) love you have one for another, (John 13:35).  In
Matthew 24:14 Jesus says that ôThis gospel of the Kingdom must be, and shall be
preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, then the end will come.ö  What
gospel is this?  Even as little children sing ôYes Jesus loves me, for the Bible tells me so
...ö, this is the Gospel of Peace.  Peace between God and man, letting man comprehend
finally that God is not mad at us, and peace between mankind, loving one another.  This
is what the Heavenly Hosts proclaimed when Christ was born, ô ...and on earth, Peace,
good will towards men, (Luke 2:14).  Even the word used in Matthew 24:14 for nations is
the Greek word ethnos, (Strong's #1484), from which we derive our word ethnic.  This
verse was talking about folks getting along with each other from all ethnic backgrounds.

You really learn the sacrificial love walk with children.  One of the male two year olds in
my class wanted to kiss me.  I'm male and he's male, but the kiss idea seemed okay.  I
bent down and got a kiss right on the mouth.  Talking about laying down your life.
Suppose this boy asks to kiss me again?

At another time, I know of one person that was greatly distressed because of a certain
situation regarding another individual.  As long as they focused from a self-centered
point of view, they only became hotter and more madder.  James 3:16 says that hostility
will occur when there is selfish ambition, ôFor where envying and strife is there is
confusion and every evil work, (The word used for strife here; Strong's # 2052, is the
same word used back in Philippians 2:3 for selfish ambition where it is stated ôLet
nothing be done through selfish ambition, or strifeö.  The Amplified Bible actually uses
the words selfish ambition in James 3:16).  Finally, this person got the focus off of
themselves and replied, ôMaybe, the reason things have not gone as I thought they would
is not because they are rejecting me, but because ...ö, and explained why the other person
behaved as they did.

Love always denies self and believes for the best in others.  In fact you can't even see the
facts, until you get your eyes off self.  Selfish motives will result in chaos every time.
When we are doing things that have motives of getting our needs met we are violating
James 3:16.  Proverbs 3:5-7 calls this Leaning to your own understanding.  James 3:15
goes so far as to call this devilish, saying in verse 14, that it lies against the truth, and
Galatians 5:19-20 calls strife one of the works of the flesh.  Most of the areas of strife are
caused because we superimpose onto the other person that we would do if in their shoes,
forgetting that they are a hand and we are a brain, and so forth.  Our own value system is
judging them even if we don't think we are judging the other party. What we often
perceive as fact is not, but our own perception, based on our values.

Some of the stuff listed above describes what loves does do, but some things listed are
things that love doesn't do.  Let me give you an example.  A young man name Claude
wanted more than anything a rifle that costs about $50.00.  He really expected his father
to give him that rifle upon graduation from high school.  However, instead of the rifle he
got from his father a brand new Bible.  His father said that he thought this would help
him get through college.  Claude was extremely disappointed and went on to college, and
never once opened that Bible.  For years Claude held a grudge against his father.  Finally,
decades later, the father died.  Claude wished that he and his father had gotten along
better all that time, before his death, but it had been downhill ever since that Bible was
given to him instead of the rifle.  Prompted by remorse, Claude went up to the attic and
located that Bible.  It was still in the box.  It had never been opened.  Claude took the
Bible out, and turned it's pages, and found a neatly pressed fifty dollar bill inside.  The
father had actually given the lad the money to buy the rifle he wanted, but the means to
buy the gun were hidden to the boy.

This story really illustrates to me what love is not.  This father loved his son, but insisted
that his son accept his love the way he outlined.  Proverbs 27:5 says that people would
rather have open rebuke than hidden love.  This father loved his son, but that love was
hidden to the son.  We must love in such a way that it felt.  How much better would it
have been for the father to have shown love for his son by buying him what the son
desired.  That was where the son was.  The son hadn't realized the need for reading the
Bible yet.  Claude viewed receiving a Bible as a criticism of all the things his father
thought that he wasn't doing right, rather than a blessing intended as a road map for
success.  And for all those wasted years when there was a rift between him and his son,
when the father could have ended all that strife by telling the boy that the fifty dollar bill
was in the Bible.  And the father's methods did not produce a desire to open the Bible or
read the words of life until after the father was gone.  If the father had given him the rifle
instead, there was a good chance that the boy would have been receptive to receiving a
Bible later from his father.  In fact, if the father was a Bible reader himself, Luke 6:40
promises that the boy would be just like his teacher.  If the father had only relaxed, and
had confidence in that promise, he could have given him the gun, ôBeing confident of this
very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of
Jesus Christö, (Philippians 1:6).  Think of all the heartache that could have been saved as
that young man went all those wasted years lacking a relationship with God as Father or
without knowing the answers that God's word offers.

I really think it's important for you to realize how vital love is that can be felt and how
strong hidden love is as a factor of open rebuke.  What is open rebuke?  That would be
when you scolded and perhaps embarrassed in front of others.  This past summer I
worked with children at a backyard Bible school.  These kids were in need of love.  As I
talked with another adult, one boy hauled back his fist and hit me in the loins.  I'm male
and this hurt.  I turned to the boy and explained to him that he was not to do this to me
nor any other male as this could hurt a lot.  I returned back to the adult and began to chat
some more.   The boy struck me again in the same place.  This time it hurt a lot.  I talked
to the boy again.  I turned back to the adult, and once more this boy hit me hard.  He
pushed my hot button, and I grabbed him by the forearm, twisting and coming upward.
This bent him over backward with his arm straight up.  Everyone got quiet in the room as
I restrained him.  This was open and it was a sharp rebuke.  I talked to the boy harshly,
and let him go.  It was hard to walk in love when you're hurting.  I began to complete my
conversation with the other party.  And would you believe that even after that open
confrontation in front of all his peers, that boy hit me again?   Maybe you would.  Maybe
you know children.   I was caught by surprise.  Inside me, I heard the Holy Ghost say,
ôOpen rebuke is better than hidden loveö, (Proverbs 27:5).

This boy would rather have an open rebuke than hidden love.  I loved that little boy, but
he was unaware of it, because the way that I was showing love to him was not perceived
as love.  I had to find out what way that he would feel loved.  I terminated the
conversation with the adult and lavished love on the boy.  I guessed that since he
expressed his need physically, that physical was the way to go.  I turned him upside down
and put his feet on the ceiling.  I wrestled him on top of the nearby couch.  I think it is
important to build trust in father-son relationships when the child is aware of the
awesome power of the mentor he is wrestling with, yet the boy knows he won't get hurt.
This makes it easier for us to see all powerful God as our Abba Father, Daddy.  So, I sat
on top of him on the sofa pretending to be placing all my weigh on him and crushing
him.  And then I hugged him and we sat together on the sofa for a long while with my
arm gently around him.  From that time on, that boy never struck me again, and I talked
to other adults uninterrupted.  All I had to do to pacify him was to make eye contact and
move my eyebrows upward and he felt like I liked him, (which I did.  He reminded me of
how I had been).  Some would say that he just needed attention.  In fact, you probably
just said that.  But, I would deduct that his need for attention is a cry for love.  Attention
of any kind is better than no attention.  All he needed was acceptance.  The Lord once
showed me that the only reason people become homosexual, is because they feel
rejected.  I heard in the movie, ôThe Lion Kingö, that Timon said to Simba, ôWhen the
world turns itÆs back on you, you turn your back on the worldö.  This is what happens to
people that have been rejected.  For a close look the effects of rejection, go see ôBatman
Returnsö.  An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure.  Love that is not felt is not love
to the individual.  This is hidden love.  Can you feel the Love tonight?

Have you ever carried a mattress by yourself, and you have it balanced, but just so.  And
then someone tries to help you by grabbing an end.  This is hard as it forces the weight
back on you.  Sometimes we try to help, but we do what we think is helping, and it is not.
Find out how they can be helped, and do so.  My pastor says that help that is not
perceived as help is not help.  You may be showing a lot of love on your part, but unless
the individual perceives what you are doing as love, it is hidden love to them.  You may
have to become more verbal than you're comfortable with, or more reserved and
analytical than you're accustomed to.

God said in Isaiah 49:13-15, that if we only grasp what God had done for us, then we
ought to sing for joy.  ôFor the Lord has comforted his people, and will have mercy upon
his afflictedö.  You can not conceive what it means for God to comfort us, unless you
have been without comfort, hurting on the inside, maybe committing that one sin over
again for the 49th hundredth time and seeing no way out.  Destitute, without hope, about
to be snuffed out.  Well, take courage, ôFor the Lord will have mercy upon his afflictedö.
The word used here for mercy is the Hebrew word ôrachamö and is closely akin to the
Hebrew word ôrahamö, (Strong's Concordance #'s 7355, & 7356).  I will come back to
this word in a moment.  In John 14:16, 26; & 16:7, Jesus said we have the comforter.  In
the Greek, this word is parakleo, (Strong's #3875).  One of the understandings of this
word is defined as a ôstandbyö in the Amplified Bible.  Para means ôto the side ofö, and
kaleo means to call out to somebody or invite them.  I call this a ôcome alongsideö.  One
who runs a parallel course, or one who comes alongside and encourages us on.  In the
Complete Word Study Dictionary, Spiros Zodhiates defines Parakaleo as: to aid, help,
comfort, and/or encourage.  In other words a supporter, sponsor, exhorter.   Someone that
says when you fall down, ôIt's okay!  You can do it!ö, and you regain confidence and go
on.  A derivative of the same word parakleo, is parakletos, (Strong's #3870); and is used
for exhort in Hebrews 3:13 and Hebrews 10:25, where we are told to exhort one another.

Hebrews 10:25 says that the justifiable reason for coming together in an assembly is to
encourage or exhort one another and also gain encouragement or exhortation, (that you
may not know that you needed).

Webster's New Twentieth Century Dictionary of the English Language, 2nd Edition
defines exhort as: to deliver exhortation; to use words or arguments to incite to good
deeds.  (And with many words did he testify and exhort, Acts 2:40).  Exhortation is
defined as: (1) the act of inciting to laudable deeds; incitement to that which is good or
commendable (2) Advice: counsel: admonition: a plea, sermon, etc. that exhorts.  The
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines exhort as: to incite by argument or advice:
urge strongly, warnings or advice: make urgent appeals.  And Exhortation is defined as:
(1) an act or instance of exhorting (2) Language intended to incite and encourage. I like
what is said in Ephesians 4:29, where God said to ôLet no unwholesome word proceed
from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of
the moment, that it may impart Grace to the hearersö.  In other words, give them a way
out.  Don't pin someone down on an issue, where they have to admit to a fault.  God also
said in Colossians 4:6 to ôLet your conversation always be full of Grace, seasoned with
salt ...ö.  Just a pinch of salt, not the whole salt shaker.  Just a small amount, but full of
Grace.  Encourage!  Look at what God told Moses to do for Joshua in Deuteronomy 1:38
& 3:28:

Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there. Encourage him, for
he shall cause Israel to inherit it.  (Deuteronomy 1:38).

But command Joshua, and encourage him and strengthen him; for he shall go over
before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you will see.
(Deuteronomy 3:28).

Now look what Moses did in Deuteronomy 31:1, 3, 6-8:

1. Then Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel.
3. ôThe LORD your God Himself crosses over before you; He will destroy these nations
from before you, and you shall dispossess them. Joshua himself crosses over before you,
just as the LORD has said.
6. ôBe strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your
God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.ö
7. Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ôBe strong and of
good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the LORD has sworn
to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it.
8. And the LORD, He is the one who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not
leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed.

Look what God himself did for Joshua in Joshua 1:9.  Encourage.
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be
dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.  (Joshua 1:9).

How can you be discouraged if you know that the Lord God is going to be with you
wherever you go?  The same God that made the heavens and the earth.  Did the words of
encouragement  work?  (See Joshua 23:14, and Joshua 21:45 below).

Behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and
in all your souls that not one thing has failed of all the good things which the LORD
your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them
has failed.   (Joshua 23:14).

Not a word failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of
Israel. All came to pass.   (Joshua 21:45).

The power of exhorting.  A word fitly spoken and in due season is like apples of gold in
settings of silver.  Proverbs 25:11

In Isaiah 49:15, God talks about a woman's love for her child that has just been born.
ôCan a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son
of her wombö.  The word used for compassion in this verse, (Strong's # 7356 racham
{rakh'-am}, from Strong's # 7355 racham {raw-kham'}), is the same Hebrew-Chaldee
word used in Isaiah 49:13 above for mercy, and the definition for this word is also used to
define compassion, and oddly enough a womb.  Why would God use the word womb to
describe his compassion for us?

Women act differently to a child, and especially their children, once a child has been
formed in their womb.  I surmise that some sort of a chemical or psychological change
happens to women at this point.  Women seem to transform, never to go back to just
being female.  I'll show you what I mean. While a young woman is pregnant with her first
child she will probably refer to the child as an ôitö when the baby is starting to grow
inside of her.  But, about one-fourth of the way along the term, she will start to address
the child as ôthe babyö, or ôheö, or ôsheö.  If the woman gets pregnant again, she will call
the infant, a ôchildö right from the start, and she will refer to other unseen children in
other wombs as ôthe babyö.  It's only us men that still mistakenly call the child an ôitö.
The mistake is even bigger, if you call the child an ôitö in front of these women.  I don't
see ordinary women reacting the way I have seen mothers react.  Suppose you were to
walk up to a small child while it's mother was present and grab that child by the hair and
raise your hand back in a clutched fist poised as if you were going to strike the child?
What do think will happen?

If this mother is watching you, she is going to knock you over the head with all her
might!  She'll probably claw you, and come away with a good chunk of your hair!  You'll
most likely pick yourself off the ground, wondering what happened.  It doesn't matter
about her social status, (she could be the President's wife or an unemployed barely
educated unwed mother), and she could be small in statue or timid and shy, and you
could be 6'5ö and weigh 240 pounds.  My money is on the woman.  You see, when you
have done it to the child, it was just as if you had done it unto the mother.  That's why
women are so offended when the father is rough on their children.

The mother takes the abuse of her children personally.  When the father slaps the child,
the mother feels slapped also.  If I tell a mother that her two year old daughter has lifted
her dress and showed her underwear, the mother will get embarrassed as if she herself
had been exposed.  The inverse of this is true also.  When I give praise to a small child in
front of her mother, it's like the mother is the child's ventriloquist as I say, ôMy, don't you
look nice todayö, to the child, I will surely hear a thank-you coming from the mother's
mouth.  I don't mean, ôNow, Henry what do you say to Mr. Chuck; say thank-youö.
Instead, I will hear ôThank-you Mr. Chuckö coming from the mother.  Henry's lips didn't
move, but I heard a reply as if Henry had talked.  That mother and child are connected
somehow.  This is what Matthew 25:40 was talking about when God said, ô ...inasmuch
as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brothers, you have done it unto me.ö
God's love is just like that.  If an ordinary mother can turn mean tiger over her child,
think what God will do over you.  You are God's child.  God describes his compassion for
you with the word womb.  God is always watching over you, (Proverbs 15:3,
Proverbs 5:21).  His eyes don't miss a thing the devil tries.

Can a woman forget her sucking child?  Yes, there have been times that a woman failed
to be watchful and turned her back on her small infant as her attention was distracted or
preoccupied, and someone stole her child at a store or a mall.  There have been other
times where a mother all out abandoned her child on a roadside park, or left the child at
someone's doorstep, or died herself.  It has happened.  But, God says, ôYet I will not
forget you.   See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My handsö, (Isaiah 49:16).  Every
time Jesus looks at the palms of his hands, there are the nail holes that remind him of his
great love for us.

You may feel like you are rotten.  You may have done that one sin over again for the 49th
hundredth time, or you may not have arrived at where you want to be in life and it seems
as though you never will, or a thousand other things.  You may have success all around
you, but don't have peace in your heart.  ôIt doesn't matter.  It's in the past.ö  (Taken from
the movie, ôThe Lion Kingö).  God says, I am not mad at you, nor am I ashamed of you.
I will not put out a smoking flax, even if the smoke is offensive to my eyes.  I will not
break and disregard a bruised reed.  You are of great value to me!  You are precious in
my eyes!  You are the apple of my eye!  (Isaiah 54:9, Romans 10:11, Hebrews 2:11 &
Hebrews 11:16).

You see there is one more thing I forgot to tell you about mothers.  Mothers don't focus
on the wrong.  Mothers are always for you.  Believing the best for you.  I have taught
children in the nursery.  I can tell the mother about a problem that her son or daughter is
having, and in the mother's eyes, it is always the teacher's fault.  There must be something
that the teacher is doing wrong.  I can even get a video camera and film the action and
show the mother the video, and I will hear.  ôOh no, that's not my child, my child would
never do thatö.  That's the way that God is.  God never gives up on you.  Most parents
display a performance-based bumper sticker on their car that reads, ôMy child is an honor
student at Valdosa Highö, while God displays on the Via Dolorosa that it is an honor to
have you as a child.  (The Via Dolorosa is the road to the cross at Calvary that Jesus
walked the day he died).  A mother is always supportive, believing in you and
encouraging you even when you have failed again.  Mom's show a lot of love, and
although they may not approve of what we are doing, they always approve of us.
Unconditional acceptance, not based on performance of any kind.

A friend told me once, ô I wanted to be a big shot pilot in the United States Army, so
everyone could see how great I was.  But, the truth of the matter is that you already are
great, therefore you are a big shot in God's eyes.  Big enough for God to send his son to
die in your place.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us, (Romans 5:8).  Let me show you what I mean.

The word equip just kept rolling around inside of me all day.  I finally took this as a
prompting from the Holy Spirit, and I looked the word up.  Webster's New Collegiate
Dictionary defines equip like this.  To furnish for service, or action; make ready by
appropriate provisioning, to dress, array.  Immediately, I thought about my Mom
dressing me in a raincoat and galoshes as I walked a half mile to school as a young boy.  I
got to school dry, because I was properly equipped for the rain.  This is what mom's do.
Mom's prepare little boys to grow up and become carpenters, doctors or writers.  Mom's
endow their young girls to blossom into astronauts, rocket scientists or even mothers
themselves, raising other little boys and girls.  Mother's equip us for success by showing
us love and unconditional acceptance, and at times nudging us onward even as Simba's
Mom nudged him in ôThe Lion Kingö, to go be like his Dad.  God and mom's encourage
us to our potential despite what appears to be another failure.  When a small baby falls
down, the mother is just so proud that the child tried at all, you don't hear criticism but
exaltation and praise until the child has mastered that ability.  Same is true all the way
through their childhood.  Why does every President that I know of always bring his Mom
to the forefront.  Perhaps, unseen to me, she gave him the confidence to go on to be what
he has become.  She was the enabler.  Despite Paul's blunders you might be surprised to
see how God enabled and viewed Paul in 1 Timothy 1:12-16.

After, I looked up the word equip, I just kept hearing the Holy Spirit saying, ôto equip the
saintsö.  Over and over again, I kept hearing just the phrase, ôto equip the saintsö.  I
thought that this was in Ephesians 4.  I got out my Interlinear Bible, and found the phrase
in Ephesians 4:12, that the word was interpreted as ôperfectingö.  Then, I opened my
New King James and found that the word was translated as ôequippingö, so I knew the
Holy Spirit was showing me something.  I got out all my books on New Testament word
studies and I began.  I found that this word was katarismos, (Strong's #2677).  I knew
from previous studies that this word was derived from katartizo, (Strong's #2675).  I also
knew that katartizo was the same word used in Matthew 4:21, and Mark 1:19 for
mending as in mending their nets.  What I did not know until then, was that katartizo is
the same word used in Luke 6:40 for ôperfectlyö, or that this is the same word translated
in Galatians 6:1 as ôrestoreö.  I like what Vines said about ôkatartizoö, (#2675):  To
mend, repair.  To complete, furnish completely, equip, prepare, perfect.  To render fit,
complete.  It indicates the close relationship between character and destiny, to restore.
The tense is continuous present in Galatians 6:1, suggesting the necessity for patience
and perseverance in the process.

By exchanging the English words for the Greek word, katartizo, the same sentence in
Luke 6:40 would have read, ôEvery one that is ôperfect, completely repairedö shall be
like his teacher, or everyone that is ôequipped or mendedö shall be like his teacher.  Or
by substituting the English words, Galatians 6:1 would have read ô ...Mend, repair,
restore, equip, fix such a one in the spirit of meeknessö.

Like a bolt of lightning, I heard in my heart, ôWe've been whipping instead of equipping.
Criticizing where we ought to be showing compromise, critiquing where we ought to be
showing compassion.ö  We've whipped instead of equipped!  I for one, felt remorse, not
just for myself, but for the misconception of my brothers in Christ, and then I decided
from that point on, I would not find fault.  We should be like fishermen, constantly
mending the saints, equipping them to haul in the lost.  Are we mending or bending?  Are
we trying to shape them or repair them.  Too often, we are trying to conform them to
what we derive as best.  We don't have to change folks.  My pastor says people are
influenced not by those they believe in, but by those that believe in them.  All we have to
do is believe in them, like God believes in us.

We are instructed to be like a mother, and nurture and encourage our brothers in the Lord
that are not as mature.  Whether, you call it discipling, equipping, facilitating, mentoring,
sponsoring, or coaching, or mothering, we are to walk alongside others, as the Holy
Ghost walks alongside of us.  The ôMarkö in your life may have more potential than you
when he grows up!  James 1:5 says God will give wisdom to whoever asks without
scolding you.  God offers no condemnation, so why should we?  We are to equip others
in the circle of life, passing down from one generation to the next in the pathway of
victory, wisdom gleaned from God without denunciation, even as Simba's Father in ôThe
Lion Kingö, revealed to his son what he would one day become.  What if they are still in
sin and heading in the wrong direction.  The earth is round.  They'll get there!  You don't
stop a two year old from biting another child by biting the perpetrator.  You show them
love, and they will become like you as Luke 6:40 says.  In ôThe Lion Kingö, the reason
young Simba got into trouble to start with, is because he went out to be brave just like his
Father.  Even so, the Father bathed young Simba in love, realizing that Simba only
wanted to be just like his Father.  We too want to be like our father.

But like Simba in ôThe Lion Kingö, our pride, our own self-righteousness has kept us
from the throne.  As long as Simba sang, ôI'm brushing up on looking down, I'm working
on my roarö, he was moving farther and farther away from the kingdom.  Only after he
humbled himself and realize that he was to use his power to set the kingdom back in
order, was he prepared to be King.  Before that time, Simba mistook being a king as a
place to intimidate by looking down on others, or roaring louder than others.  Simba had
to join a bunch of outcasts before he realized life is more than power.  Simba became
aware that he wasn't made a king so that he could have power and honor; but, rather that
his power was given to him so that he could carry out the office of a king, and restore
harmony in the kingdom.  Simba found acceptance among the repugnant, and then
showed in return approval to the rejected meerkat and warthog by taking them up to the
throne with him on what else but Pride Rock.  To be the King of the Pride Lands, and to
sit atop Pride Rock, Simba had to humble himself, (James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5).

The earnest expectation of the whole creation must be wondering about us in their hearts,
the song that Nala sang in the movie, ôThe Lion Kingö, as they wait for the manifestation
of the Sons of God, (Romans 8:19).  Nala sang, ôHe's holding back, he's hiding, from
what I can't decide.  Why won't he be the King I know he is.  The King I see insideö.  In
ôThe Lion Kingö, the father spoke to his son as our Father speaks to us.  ôRemember who
you are.  You are more than who you have becomeö.  The Father is in you, Emmanuel,
which being interpreted is, God with us, (Matthew 1:23).  But, like Simba in ôThe Lion
Kingö, who looked into the water to see his reflection and yet still did not know who he
was, many followers of Christ don't know who they are either, (James 1:23-24).  Also like
Simba, they feel unjustifiable shame, and believe their father, (God) is mad at them for
something, not realizing that God loves us the way we are, and has already paid the price
for all our sin, (Romans 3:25,  Revelation 1:5, 1 John 2:2).  We have allowed what I have
entitled, ôthe lying kingö, (John 8:44, John 12:31), to rob us of our inheritance.  We need
to remember who we are.  A child of God, that God is not ashamed of.  And we need to
cast that deceiver out of our rightful throne, just like Scar was cast out into a lake of fire,
(Luke 10:19, Romans 8:14-17).

Here's an excerpt entitled ôYou Are Preciousö that I copied from The Open Door
Ministry track that more accurately reflects my heart.

The Lord speaks of His love unto His people saying ...

Oh my little ones, why do you fear My presence?  Do you not understand that I do not
see your faults?   Oh, for even My love would cover a multitude of sins, (1 Peter 4:8).  Do
you not know that My grace wherein I have loved you does cover you?  I have paid the
price.  Upon My hands I see the scars for you, (Isaiah 49:16).  Upon My side is that
which I have suffered.  Do not My feet serve to remind Me that YOU ARE PRECIOUS?

When you were lost I gave Myself that I might have you.  When you hated Me and were
in your sin, I loved you with great compassion.  (Psalm 145:8).  Oh, for you have I
suffered and for you I died.  Will I cast you from Me?  Or will I turn you aside?
(Isaiah 42:3, Matthew 12:20)  Do you not understand that YOU ARE PRECIOUS?

Oh why would you hide?  I will come to you and bind your wounds.  (Isaiah 61:1).  I will
heal you.  With my love I will correct you.  (Proverbs 16:6, Hebrews 12:6).  Oh,  YOU
ARE PRECIOUS!

Expose yourself unto Me.  Give yourself.  Give Me your heart and your affections, for I
have given you My ALL.  No man shall harm you.  No man shall be able to take you from
My hand.  No one shall pluck you out.  No one shall cast you forth for I have bought you.
(Acts 20:28).  I am the one that sought you out and YOU ARE PRECIOUS!

Will I not overshadow you?  Will not My angels be around about you as walls?
(Psalm 34:7).  Will not Mine ear be open night and day?  (Psalm 34:15).  If you should
cry, will I not say, ôHere am I?ö  Am I not a wall about you and a fortress unto you?
(Psalm 18:2).  Am I not a tower into which you can run?  (Proverbs 18:10).  Look unto
the Lord your God and the Rock from which you are hewn and know that you a
victorious and an overcoming people, for I have done it for you, (Isaiah 51:1).  Believe
my Word and enter into that which I have purchased, for Great and Mighty is My power
and My love toward you.

Additional copies can be obtained from:

The Open Door Ministry track
%Gospel Tabernacle
P. O. Box 246
Coudersport, Pa. 16915

God loves you with all his heart.  The very heart of the matter is that God loves you with
all his heart, (I know I've already said that, but I want you to know that's so).  It's not like
God has many priorities and you are just one of them.  No, it's not that way at all.  God's
weekend hobby is not going down to earth and having to endure the odious task of
dealing with humans.  We are God's fond object of affection.  We are his principle
occupation.

God is not mad at you and promises that he never will be. (Isaiah 54:9).  And God is
not counting our sins against us, (2 Corinthians 5:19).  God counts us as righteous and
spotless.  God is at Peace with us!  (1 John 2:1).

For example, think of a refrigerator light.  When you open the door, the light gets all over
you.  It doesn't matter if you're working hard to maintain a diet, or if you've indulged 'til
you've bulged, the light touches you either way.  God's love works the same way that the
refrigerator light does because you cannot earn God's love nor have it stopped by what
you do or don't do, (Romans 14:17).  For the Lord is Good, (Psalm 100:5).  God has
only Good Plans for you.  For I know the plans I have for you,ö declares the LORD,
ôplans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a futureö,
(Jeremiah 29:11).  The word used here for prosper is the Hebrew-Chaldee word
shahlohm or shalom, (Strong's #7965), and it means welfare, health, prosperity, and
peace.  God has plans for your welfare so that you are safe from harm.  God has plans for
your health, plans for your prosperity, and plans for your peace.  Although the word is
most often translated as the word peace, this is the same word in 2 Samuel 18:32, that
David used to ask if Absalom was safe; and the same word used in 2 Samuel 20:9, when
Joab asked Amasa, ôArt thou in health?ö; and the same word used as welfare in
1 Chronicles 18:10; and as prosperous in Zechariah 8:12.  God is very concerned about
you!  The Amplified Bible says in Hebrews 11:40 that God had us in mind!  And God is
not a respecter of persons, and God shows no partiality; (Acts 10:34); so if he said this to
one person, that which is spoken then applies to all.  It doesn't matter what you've done.
In other words, Jesus became our peace and broke down the wall between us and God.
(Ephesians 2:14, Galatians 3:16).

It's like if I told you that I just paid off all of your debts.  But, if you don't believe me,
then you'll still try to pay your house note, (or any other debt), each time its due.  All
your sins are wiped out!  Gone!  Kapooey!  God says in Jeremiah 31:34, ô...Your sins I
will remember no more.ö  ItÆs only us that still hold on to a misconception that our sins
separate us from God.  God says your sins I will remember no more!

God wants to be your Father and fond supporter, backer, sponsor, counselor, and
patron, and uplifter.  God is for you!  It is your part to trust that this is so,
(Ephesians 2:8).  It's your part to receive.  That's all!  Maybe you've been always
striving, but never quite arriving, (2 Timothy 3:7)  God likes you the way you are!

For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who
receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the
One, Jesus Christ.) (Romans 5:17).  Receive!

Jeremiah 31:33-34 says "But this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, says the LORD:

1)    I will put My law within them, and on their hearts I will write it.
2)    I will be their God, and they will be My people.
3)    I will forgive their iniquity.
4)    I will remember their sin no more.

34 "No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying,
'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of
them, says the LORD. (NKJV)

Four I willÆs from God.  WhatÆs our part?  To say Thank-you.  This is in itÆs simplest
form, is what faith is all about.  God said it, I believe it, and that settles it, (Mark 4:20).

a) Hear the word
b) Receive the word
c) Produce fruit

Romans 5:17 says ôFor if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much
more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in
life through the One, Jesus Christ.ö(NKJV).  Receive. Receive. Receive.  ThatÆs our part.
To say Thank-you!  I receive the covenant.  I receive the abundance of Grace and the
free Gift of Righteousness.  I receive.  Thank-you!

Faith doesn't move or not move God.  Faith moves us to believe God is acting in our
behalf.  ôWhatsoever things you desire, when you pray believe that you receive, and you
shall have themö, (Mark 11:24).  So, apply your faith to be confident that ôGod is able to
make all Grace abound toward you, that you always having all sufficiency in all things,
may abound to every good workö, (2 Corinthians 9:8).

I remember my father in my formative years correcting me for something I did wrong,
and always adding.  I love you, son, BBBBUT...  I donÆt recall hearing I love you outside
of correction.  I never recall a time where my father decided that we would go off
together to go fishing or whatever, and pull me over close and say, ôSon, I want to tell
you how proud your mother and I are of you.  And if we could ask God for any son in the
world, weÆd want one just like you.  We love you so much.ö  Well, that never happened,
and I have Godly Christian parents who love the Lord.

So I associated the words ôI love youö with ôYouÆre really messing up, but because I love
you, I tolerate you.ö  The message I got, although unintentional, was I could not measure
up.  Even, if I did everything correctly and worked as hard as I could, there would always
be some oversight on my part.  Non-acceptance or rejection.  If someone were to tell me
that they liked me, I took that as a sincere form of acceptance; however, if someone were
to tell me that they loved me, I wanted to hit them in the face.  I saw that as a rejection.
And that is the way I viewed God.  When I heard that God loved me, I thought that meant
that God tolerated and put up with the way I acted, but God really didnÆt like my actions.
I thought God loved me because he had to love me, not because He wanted to love me.
This is the way I had had love expressed to me.  I love you, but conditional love.
Perfomance-based love.  You do right and IÆll love you.

It didnÆt do any good for me to know that God had said ôFor I know the plans I have for
you,ö declares the LORD, ôplans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you
hope and a futureö, (Jeremiah 29:11).  By the way, God just said that he has plans not to
harm you.  The next time you find someone sick in a hospital and they said, ôGod is just
doing this to test me, compare that statement with the word of God.ö Compare what they
say with what God said about plans not to harm you.  James 1:17 says ôEvery good gift
and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with
whom there is no variation or shadow of turning, (NKJV).  It is not good to be sick.  I
thought of GodÆs plans for me similar to the plans that I might have for others.  We need
to know that God is extraordinarily, extremely Good.

Good and God are spelled a lot alike and I donÆt believe this is an accident.  I bet if you
were to trace the root of the word ôGoodö, you would trace it back to God, because God
is ultimate Good.  I can find references that God is good all over Psalms and the Bible.
Jeremiah 29:11 ought to have read, I know the wonderful, glorious, illustrious plans that
I have for you, plans to give you a brilliant future and an outstanding hope.  Plans that
are far more exceedingly abundant than you can ask for or hope.  Hope means confident
expectation.  God was saying, ôIÆm going see that you make itö.  You can relax when
youÆve got hope, (confident expectation), because you know it is going to happen.  You
donÆt have to get in a tizzy trying to make it happen yourself when you know God is
going to make it happen.  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it
patiently. (Romans 8:25 - NIV).

The plans that I have for you are above and beyond all that you can ask or think
according to the power that works in us, (Ephesians 3:20).  What if in the recreated
person that you are in Christ, you have inside your DNA in your blood something that is
like a secret weapon that you donÆt know about but will destroy viruses including aids.
God said the life is in the blood, (Leviticus 17:11). What if when Jesus said to them,
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His
blood, you have no life in youö, that Jesus was speaking literally about the designer genes
that God had purposed in us, (John 6:53 - NKJV).  God says I KNOW the plans that I
have for you.   We might not know the plans, but God knows.  Our part is to trust God.
What God does for a pastime recreation hobby is re-creation.   So, why would we not
believe that God has some sort of structure in our cells that fights germs, or generates
life.

Suppose I were to tell you that I am GodÆs messenger and that I have a special word for
you from God.  God told me to tell you personally "Have I not commanded you? Be
strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God
is with you wherever you go."  In fact, God did say this to you in Joshua 1:9.  Okay, letÆs
put some thought into this, and try to find out what God is saying here.  How can God
order me not to become discouraged and order me to be strong?  How can God order me
not to be afraid?  You and I are just humans.  How can I just decide IÆm not going to be
afraid.  I asked God this very same question.  I said God, ôI know that you are God and
Lord and all that, but arenÆt you pushing it just a little bit.  How can I walk down to the
middle of a gang and just buck up and not be afraid.  How can I face the loss of a job,
and the death of a loved one and just decide I am not going to be dismayed?ö  How can
you just command me ôBe not afraid?ö  The Lord responded matter of factly, ôFor I am
with youö.  Then the Lord added, ôWhere can you go on the face of the Earth and I am
with you and be in harmÆs way?  I responded, ôNowhereö.  Then the Lord showed me
Jeremiah 29:11, ôI know the plans that I have for you, plans to give you a future and a
hope.ö  The words donÆt mean much unless you know the character of the one whoÆs
talking.

Suppose I have a microphone that will broadcast into your carÆs speakers.  I give you a
small jewelry box, and inside my jewelry box is a tiny green frog.  Imagine you are
driving down the road at 65 miles per hour, and a truck ahead of you drops a wedge-
shaped box in your path on the passengerÆs side.  You can tell that if you hit the wedge
your car will careen up on the driverÆs side on two wheels and flip over, and about that I
time I radio across, ôDonÆt be afraid because on your right hand side is a tiny green
frogö.  Would that bring you much comfort?  If you survive, you probably want to shoot
me for shouting such frivolous words in your hour of crisis.  Why should you care that
the frog is with you?  I donÆt care if this is the the frog that turned into the prince.  What
difference does it matter that the frog is with you?

Okay suppose instead of a tiny green frog, I had supplied you with a large fat
hippopotamus.  This hippopotamus was huge.  This HippoÆs enormous head and front
arms poke out four feet above top of the sunroof.  The passengerÆs side of the car is
squatting from the weigh of the hippopotamus.  You are once again driving down the
road and a wedge falls in front of  your path on the passengerÆs side.  Again, I radio
across, ôDonÆt be afraid because there is a hippopotamus on your right hand side.ö  As
you hit the wedge, and resume driving on four wheels, you would probably say out loud,
ôYou donÆt have to tell me that I have a hippopotamus on my right hand side, I can smell
himö.

Okay, suppose I tell you about a God that is so good that no matter where he goes he
leaves a trail of success.  This God is known for helping out everyone that comes into
contact with him and all that call on him for help.  For over 4,000 years this God has
without fail come through.  This was the same God that parted the Red Sea when Moses
became trapped between a rock and a hard place exiting Eygpt by the Red Sea.  This was
the same God that got Jonah out of a jam, and Daniel from the lions, and DanielÆs three
friends from a fiery furnace.  This was the same God that made not just the earth, not just
the world and the moon and the sun, but who created the universe with a word.  Now
suppose that I tell you that this same God is riding in the car with you.  This God is Huge!
This is the very God that made you and me.  Is there anything too hard for God?.
(Jeremiah 32:27). This isnÆt Jeremiah the bullfrog riding beside you saying I will never
leave you nor forsake you.  This is Jehovah Jireh, my provider.  El-Shaddai, the
Almighty one riding on high.  Will it make a difference?  Well, it might.  It all depends on
you.  Know that this same God also loves you and thinks you as the apple of his eye. "...
for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go," (Joshua 1:9).  Now it might make
a difference if you grab hold of this promise as belonging to you.

Paul got a hold of this concept in Ephesians 3:16-21 where he wrote ô...that Christ may
dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be
able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height
-- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the
fullness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we
ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by
Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen, (NKJV).  But God is not like me.
God is a better God, than I was as a person.  Before you can comprehend the plans God
has for you, it is important to realize that God is good, and that God is not mad nor
disappointed with you and that God loves you, much more than you know.  Love is
always an action.  God so Loved the world that he gave... (John 3:16).  God did
something.  God commended his LOVE towards us in that yet while we were sinners,
Christ died for us, (Romans 5:8).  God did something.  In this the love of God was
manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we
might live through Him, (1 John 4:9).

If God so loved us that he sent his son to die in our place, then is God going to stop
loving us if we mess up?  That would make his sonÆs death of no value.  God loves us.
Do we stop loving our children because they do dumb stuff?  If you love someone enough
to send your child to die for them, you do not stop loving them.  In Matthew 9:36 and
Luke 7:13 is recorded just some of the instances where  Jesus was moved with
compassion and acted.  The word compassion comes from the Greek word
splagchnizomai, (Strong's # 4697).  The very word means to have compassion - eager
yearning, inward affection, moved to Action.   To be moved as to one's bowels.  This may
sound crued, but that movement that says when you gotta go, you gotta go.  More
precisely, this may be why the Hebrew word for compassion was the word used to
describe a womb.  ThereÆs no stopping a baby from being born when the contractions
have started.  Moved to action.  Vines calls this to yearn with compassion.  God yearns
for us to a point where an action occurs. (For more details see the Hebrew-Chaldee word
at StrongÆs # 7356 racham {rakh'-am}, from Strong's # 7355 racham {raw-kham'}).

I'm for you, I'm not against you.  If I could I would let you look into my heart, and let
know that God loves you, and so do I!  You are accepted, and loved!  You are the apple
of God's eye!

You are of great value!  So don't be ashamed at his coming, (1 John 2:28), thinking you
haven't accomplished some performance-based measure of success, like have enough
faith, or did you make it big financially and have a nice house, family, dog and a cat.  Or
that you were never a Sunday School teacher, deacon, elder or even a pastor, or even if
you were.  Your only response should be, ôI am God's childö.

Much like Simba in ôThe Lion Kingö, we cry out to God in the same way that Simba
cried out to his Father after the FatherÆs death, saying, ôFather, you said that youÆd
always be there for me, but youÆre not; and itÆs all my faultö.  But, it turned out that
SimbaÆs Father had not left Simba, and was not mad at him at all, and it was not SimbaÆs
fault.  Simba had believed the lie.  I used to have to be at work at 7 am.  Some mornings I
would run five minutes late.  On those mornings, I avoided bumping into my boss,
because I thought he might be mad at me for being late.  On other mornings I would even
arrive on time or five minutes earlier.  On those mornings, I tried to make sure that my
boss and I crossed paths.  Why?  Because I felt that he was delighted in me on those
mornings.  I was coming to my boss based on my works, not on the relationship.  In
reality, my boss liked me and thought I was a great worker.  But, my view got distorted
from the real view of what was real, when I thought I had fallen down.  This is the way
that we view God after we think we have done something that separates us from God.
All the while, the truth of the matter is that God is still our father and promises us that he
will never leave us nor forsake us, (Hebrews 13:5).  We are still GodÆs child.  When
Mufusia, the lionÆs father saw Simba, the father said, ôYou are my son, and the one true
king.  Remember who you areö.

ôRemember who you are, the Father is within youö, (taken from ôThe Lion Kingö).
Your brother is the one true Lion King from the tribe of Judah, so that makes you in the
same family, (Hebrews 2:11).  You might have felt rejected like Timon the meerkat or the
Pumbaa the warthog, in the movie ôThe Lion Kingö.  But, when you are accepted by The
Lion King, you are accepted by all, and even brought to his throne to reign in life with
him as were Timon and Pumbaa who had felt like the world had turned their back on
them.  You are accepted in God's sight, as Ephesians 1:6 says ôto the praise of the glory
of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Belovedö.  ô ...Much more they
which receive abundance of Grace and of the Gift of Righteousness shall reign in Life
by one, Jesus Christ, (Romans 5:17).

Righteousness is a free gift!  What do you do to receive a gift?  Just receive it!  What do
you say?  Here's what I said.  God, I want you to be my Father.  I want this acceptance.  I
believe that Jesus was the Christ, your son who died for me; to restore me to a right
relationship with you.  I believe that Jesus rose from the dead, and I want Jesus to be
Lord over my life.  Father, I accept this unconditional love that you offer, and I am no
longer rejected, but I am accepted.  I am your child now.

This is the Gospel of Peace.  Gospel means Good News. This is the Good News!
Matthew 24:14 says "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as
a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. (NKJV). The Gospel of Peace is
that God is not mad at us even if you just sinned right now as youÆre reading this.  That
we come before God based on faith, or we receive based on his word.  We accept by faith
that we are holy and worthy, not because of what we have done or have not done; but,
because of what he has done.  It is a finished work.  We accept by faith that
Jeremiah 31:33-34 applies to us, even after we are saved. (See also Galatians 3).  Perhaps
the law of religion has been preached around the world, and we have mistakenly called
that the gospel.  The religious law that says you have to do such and such, or not do such
and such to gain approval by God and to come before his presence.  This is not the
Gospel.  This not Good News.  Religion comes from a word that means to return to
bondage.  A bondage of performance.   That is to say that if we act okay, then God will
not be mad at us.  But the good news of the Gospel is that God loves you, and that God is
not mad at you, and that God has only Good plans for you for God is Good.  If you
accept Jesus and never spend time with him, that does not change GodÆs love for you or
the promises.  But it is GodÆs desire to spend time with you.  How will you respond?

Here's what Jesus instructed his followers to do.  In Mark 3:13-15 Jesus went up on a
mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him.  He appointed
twelve -- designating them apostles -- that they might ...

    (1) be with him and
    (2) that he might send them out to preach and
    (3) to have authority to drive out demons.

The order of these is highly significant.  Before they attempted to minister for Jesus to
preach or have authority to drive out demons, they were called to be with him.  (This is
quoted from the book, ôSurprised by the Power of the Spiritö, by Jack Deere, Zondervan
Publishing House, page 202 and supported by Acts 4:13 wherein it is stated, ôNow when
they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and
untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesusö).
Spend time with God.  Remember that God is much more concerned with the process
than he is with the task accomplished.  Think of Paul and his lost opportunity to equip
Mark.  Paul got a second chance for Mark.  Mark wrote this passage above.

The reason I have used so many illustrations from the movie, ôThe Lion Kingö, is
because there is more of God's truth being displayed on TV and the movies than there is
in the House of God, (Luke 16:8).  The devil in order to sell his lie, has to put in more
and more truth.  God knew that would happen back before time.  We are attracted to the
truth.  God said, ôWe shall know the Truthö, and ôthe Truth will make you freeö,
(John 8:32).  God planned for us to know the truth before the enemy starting using truth
to exploit their movies and make money. So, it is the devil's big mistake to keep putting
so much truth into movies.  What the devil meant for bad, God will use for good,
(Genesis 50:20).  I think the beginning of ôDeep Space Nineö looks like the description
of the æWheel Within a WheelÆ that Ezekiel wrote of in Ezekiel 1:16, and Ezekiel 10:10.

A lot of the televisions shows have a ôNew Ageö appeal.  ôNew Age have some parts of
truth embedded in their lie.  New Agers like crystals.  Are we going to throw away and
not have anything to do with crystals?  The New Jerusalem has a crystalline appearance,
(Revelation 21:10-11).  And the New Agers make a big deal about rainbows.  IÆm sorry,
but God said it first when he said itÆs ôMy Rainbowö in Genesis 9:13-14.  Isaiah 54:9-10
and Genesis 9:16 lets us know that this rainbow was as a reminder of the covenant that
God is not mad at us.  And there is mention in Revelation 4:3 about a rainbow around
GodÆs throne, and on an angels head in Revelation 10:1.  In fact, Ezekiel saw the rainbow
also when he saw GodÆs throne, (Ezekiel 1:28). I said at the beginning of this document,
that I believe we are in the ôAge of Graceö.  I mean that.  WeÆre in the last age of the
Church and after that, the millennium.  The very next ôAgeö will be ôNewö to us.
Revelation 21:4-5 says that God will wipe away every tear, and Old conditions and the
former order of things will pass away.  The age we live in now would be the old age.
Then in the next verse, (5), God says that ôHe that seats upon the throne will make all
things æNewÆö.  If anybody has a legal right to the title ôNew Ageö, it ought to be us
followers of Christ.  But, let the ôNew Age Movementö keep their title.  I just want the
relationship to God.  But, my point is that truth is coming into the world even by our
adversaries.

I saw more truth revealed about God's healing power in ôLeap of Faithö than I learned on
my own.  In the first few scenes of ôThe Lion Kingö, I knew the rays of light coming
down from the heavens were what God described as ôthe Heavens declaring his gloryö,
(Psalms 19:1, Malachi 4:2).  I tell you, there is more truth shown about how to get along
in relationships, on ôDeep Space Nineö than is being taught at Sunday School.   I saw
more explained on how the Holy Ghost talks to us in the movie ôAlwaysö, than I learned
in church.  And every week in the TV show, ôTouched by an Angelö, I hear this woman
that is supposed to be an Angel saying that God loves us more than we could ever hope
for.

Even in ôThe Lion Kingö, young Simba kept asking his father to walk outside with him,
going so far as to tug on his ear several times.  I thought of Matthew 7:7, where Jesus
said, ôSeek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto youö.  I equated Simba's
asking, with seeking and Simba's tugging on the ear of his father with knocking.  The
father lion got up, and showed the lion cub that their kingdom extended everywhere the
light touched.  But, not to those shadowy places.  And that's true for the Kingdom of God
also.  And Zazu later tells us in so many words that evil has a legal right to be in
darkness, (Luke 22:53, John 3:19, John 8:12, John 12:46, Acts 26:18, 2 Corinthians 6:14,
Ephesians 6:12, Colossians 1:13, and 1 John 1:5 confirm this, just to name a few).  Scar,
Mufusa's brother was in the darkness when he schemed that he was going to kill Mufusa,
and Simba.  (Compare that to 1 John 2:9, & 11).  And the three slothful hyena's dwelt in
the darkness, (see Psalm 74:20b).  But, even in the darkness, the HyenaÆs shuddered at
the name of Mufusa just as demons shudder at the name of God, (James 2:19).  I
commented to my wife as we watched ôThe Lion Kingö, that as much scriptural insight
as I read into ôThe Lion Kingö, they ought to have at least put my name on the list of
credits at the end.  About that time my wife commented that they did.  And sure enough,
under supervisor I found my name, Chuck Warren.

Granted there also some lies in TV shows and movies, even in some of the movies and
shows that I have mention and including the LordÆs name in vain used once in ôLeap of
Faithö.  The truth may be intermingled in with lies to draw us away in deception, such as
getting us to believe that only angels can do the things in intercession done in ôTouched
by an Angelö.  Despite this, spiritual truth abounds in the media.  In these last days, I
think that God is pouring out his spirit on all flesh just as he said that he would,
(Acts 2:17-18).  And all flesh includes television writers.  There is a lot of GodÆs truth
being taught from secular television as a message to the world and to the church.  If you
donÆt believe me go see ôSister Actö or ôLeap of Faithö or ôGroundhog Dayö or even
ôHookö, for yourselves.  Or recall James Stewarts in ôItÆs a wonderful lifeö.  Based on
the difference one life can make on a community by oneÆs absence or presence two
possibilities of worlds exist.  As I watched the angel in ôItÆs a wonderful lifeö tell James
Stewarts ôYou never know what a difference one life can makeö, I recall hearing the
Holy Spirit saying in my heart ôYou never know what a difference one life sold out to
God can makeö.  The movie, ôBack to the Future IIö showed this same scenario.  This is
the same concept God talked about in Proverbs 11:10-11, and in Proverbs 21:22.

Truth is truth, no matter if it comes from a church house door or a cinema screen.  Lock
down on the fact that God said ôWe shall know the truth!ö, and God is not a man that
he can lie, (Numbers 23:19).  God is getting the truth out no matter what means, secular
TV or through his storehouse.  And it's the truth that will make you free!  It's not only just
the truth that will make you free, but it is the truth you know down in your heart that will
make you free.  Fortunately for us, God promises that we shall know the truth.  The word
know is again the word ginosko, (Strong's Concordance #1097), and is defined as a
knowledge grounded on personal experience. We shall know from experience the truth.
It just so happens as a by-product, that the truth that we know will make us free.

When I was a small child, I did not know that because of gravity that glasses or cups had
to be held upright to contain the fluid, and I splilt many a liquid onto myself and others.
Now because I know the truth about the gravitational pull, I am free from spilling my
drink onto myself and others as long as I remain within the guidelines of that truth that I
now know.  Truth was still truth before that point, but now I know the truth about gravity.

At one time I thought that there might possibliy be satisfaction in being with another
manÆs wife.  Now, I know the truth of the matter that God said that a womanÆs desire
shall be for her husband, (Genesis 3:16).  I also know that Proverbs 6:32 says ôWhoever
commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; He who does so destroys his own
soulö, (NKJV).  Your soul being your mind, will and emotions.  Once your soul is
destroyed you will not be able to hear from God correctly and Proverbs 5:7-18 says that
this will lead to total loss of all you own.  Proverbs 6:34 says that ô...Jealousy will arouse
the husbandÆs fury and the husband will show no mercy when he takes revengeö, (NIV).
It isnÆt that God is mad at me and will punish me. The outcome of adultery is total ruin,
and because God loves me, I am given wisdom reqarding the pitfalls of adultery.  I also
know that that the GodÆs view of the matter is that my wifeÆs bossom shall satisfy me at
all times, (Proverbs 5:19).  ThatÆs why Solomon said to regard wisdom as your sister,
(Proverbs 7:4-27).

Even at times when I have come across a woman that attracts my eye, I can just reflect on
my own wife and the wonderful intimacy that we have shared and the attraction for the
woman in front of me vanishes.  I know the truth, and the truth that I know sets me free.
ItÆs not just the dread of the consequences to me that stops me from commiting adultery.
I see what will happen to the other person.  I see how this will destroy their soul, (mind,
will and emotions); and the effect that it will have on them in the future.  I see how the
devil will use this to rob them of their relationship with God.  I see the husband and I
know I can not do this to him. I thought that when I became a born-again follower of
Christ that I would instantly loose the desire for another manÆs woman.  But, what I have
found instead is that I have enough of GodÆs love and truth inside of me to disarm the
desire. Romans 5:5 ... because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the
Holy Spirit who was given to usö, (NKJV).  I find that it is Love that stops me.  ôFor the
love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died;
and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him
who died for them and rose againö, (2 Corinthians 5:14-15- NKJV). God hasnÆt taken me
out of this world, but has shown me the path of success in this world.  ItÆs not just the
truth, but the truth and love as this goes back to, ôHe that finds his life must loose his life
in this worldö, and laying down your life for your brethren, and dying to self, (or selfish
ambition).

1 Corinthians 8:1 says that ô ...knowledge puffs up, but love edifiesö.  All this that I have
given you is knowledge.  Another heavy revy.  And it was Solomon that said, ôAs regards
anything besides these my son, take a warning: To the making of many books, there is no
end, and much devotion [to them] is wearisome to the fleshö, (Ecclesiastes 12:12 - New
World Translation).  None of this knowledge is worth the paper it is printed on unless it
is applied.  Edify means to build up, as in erecting a house, (Strong's #3619).  We are
building up the House of God when we edify one another. Greek  scholars  tell us we
have a word in our  vernacular  today that  is  closer  to the original Greek than  the  word
translated "edify".  And that word is "charge," as we use it in connection with charging a
battery.

God practices what he says, and he said to ôSpeak the truth in love, that we may grow up
into him in all things, which is the head, even Christö, (Ephesians 4:15).  Recall from
Proverbs 16:6 that it is not just the truth but, ôBy mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and
by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.ö  God speaks the truth to us in love, and I
speak the truth in love also.  Is there someone you know of that is lonely or sad?  Is there
a Mark in your life?  Do you let their differences pull you apart.  Is there someone
looking to your life as a pattern for their own?  If they were successful in one area, they
wouldnÆt need you to instruct them in that area.  Do you take them with you as you go
minister.  Or, are you so concerned with reaching the world that you don't have time to
equip them for success, not realizing that they are part of the plan for your triumph, and
there are other areas of their lives that you can learn from.  Oswald Chambers put it this
way on his July 28 page of ôMy Utmost for His Highestö, God is more interested in the
process than the end result, (or the product).  And I'll add, the process will result in the
product, but by aiming at the product, you will not achieve the product nor the process.

Although God had said to separate Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have
called them, you never read about Barnabas and Paul, (Saul), being a team after their
fight over Mark.  Things went downhill for Paul from Acts 16 onward, and from that
time on, and Paul started a lot of jail ministries that could possibly have been avoided.
And Barnabas seemed to have faded into oblivion after the parting.  I suspect that
Barnabas showed the love walk to Paul, and Paul wrote about it.  Paul was hard-headed
and didn't mind controversy, and this got him into a lot of trouble.  Paul liked to be in
control.  Barnabas would have made Paul to be more palatable.  I marvel why Paul got
stoned and yet apparently Barnabas was with him, but did not, (Acts 14:19-20).  And I
cannot help but wonder if it was because Paul was speaking in Acts 15:2 that there arose
ôno small dissension and disputationö.  Note, that this strife continued until Acts 15:12-
13, where I speculate that Barnabas was speaking, (as his name was mentioned first).

I've asked if there is a Mark in your life.  Someone that you contribute to their growth.
But, now let me ask if there is a Barnabas in your life?  Someone that contributes to your
growth?  If you are a person that likes to control others for what you surmise is right, note
that the next couple of words in the dictionary after the word control, are controller, then
controlling interest, then control surface and then controversial then controversy then
controvert to contumacious.  None of these words describe the character of Christ.
Perhaps you are throwing away the very means to your success by controlling.

At the very tail end of Paul's life, he realized that he better write down this that the Lord
had shown him for posterity's sake and he wrote letters.  But, he could have just as easily
realized this on a beach on the island of Cyprus rather than in a cold dark jail.  Paul also
learned a lot about life and what's significant in his lifetime.  How often have you heard
an old man during the twilight years of his life remark, ôI wish I had spent more time
with my familyö.  Paul also realized late in life that one of the most important things in
life are relationships, and he wrote about it.  All the word of God was inspired and I am
so glad that the Holy Ghost did not inspire Paul until he was much older.  Aren't you glad
Paul didn't write what he thought was the most important until he got older, wiser, and
more mature.  Imagine all the letters that would had to have been sent out refuting the
earlier letters.  However, when Paul finally realized the need for writing down what
would bring success, he emphasized relationships as a high priority.  My pastor, Dr.
James B. Richards, calls this ôRocking Chair Religionö.  Don't wait until you're old and
about gone on to the other side to arouse to the fact that relationships are vital.  As it is
said, ôNo man is an islandö.  We need the goal achievers perspective to accomplish the
task, and we need the viewpoints of the people persons to keep us from becoming so
results oriented that we miss relationships.   We need both.  Hebrews 10:24 involves this
operation when it says, ôAnd let us consider and give attentive, continuous care to
watching over one another, studying how we may stir up, (stimulate and incite, spur), to
love and helpful deeds and noble activitiesö.

The final resolve is this:  We are instructed to have the mind of Christ.  The mind of
Christ is best explained in observing:

Ephesians 4:2, 30 through Ephesians 5:2    Philippians 2:2-8
Colossians 3:12-14    Romans 12:10, 16, 18
Matthew 22:37-40    1 Corinthians 12:25

Or more precisely said, to have the mind of Christ is to walk as Jesus walked, to walk in
love towards your brothers in Christ.  This means to be tender-hearted, kind, gentle,
forbearing with one another, long-suffering, forgiving one another, giving honor,
precedence and preference to one another.  Putting on the bond of love, pursuing peace,
being imitators of God, denying or dying to self.  Forgiving even as Christ has forgiven
us.  In other words, the bottom line is laying down your life for your brethren; and these
are just some examples of how this is done.  A very good check list is found in
1 Corinthians 13:4-8.  ôLove suffers long and is kind, and patient; love does not envy;
love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its
own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never
failsö.

Or as the Amplified Bible states, ôLove endures long and is patient and kind; love never
is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display
itself haughtily.  It is not conceited, (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude,
(unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly.  Love, (God's love in us), does not insist
on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or
resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it, [it pays no attention to a suffered
wrong].  It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and
truth prevail.   Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to
believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it
endures everything [without weakening].  Love never failsö.  (1 Corinthians 13: 4-8).

Love is not touchy or fretful or resentful, or love does not get it's feelings hurt, or
demand it's own way.  Love pays no attention to a suffered wrong! Wow!  Love doesn't
have to right a wrong.  What if someone accuses us of something we said or did that we
know we didn't do, or that they misunderstood us?  What if someone deliberately tells
false accusations against us?  Do you feel the need to right the wrong, or to be right?
Love does not rejoice at iniquity.  I am reminded of my reactions at the fall of Jim and
Tammy Bakker.

Whenever you find yourself in an frenzy, stop and ask yourself, do I have selfish
motives?  Am I envious, or jealous?  If you answer no to this, but you still have an uneasy
feeling, (which I call the ôrumblingö), evaluate your objectivity by seeing if your
response facilitates your natural tendencies to stay in your comfort zone.  James 3:14
refers to this rumbling as contentiousness in your hearts, (New World Translation)  If
you do not have peace inside your heart, (Colossians 3:15), you have a rumbling
sensation.  It feels just like drums marching close by in a parade, (Psalms 38:8).  Maybe,
the rock group, ôThe Eaglesö, knew what they were talking about when they sang about
getting a peaceful, easy feeling, (Philippians 4:7).

Perhaps you are looking for a task to be accomplished or objective to be achieved, and
you make decisions based on whether you can see a logical goal or immediate results to
be obtained.   As Moses ask himself, ask yourself, is what I am deciding going to bring
me short-term satisfaction or long-term fulfillment, (Hebrews 11:24-25).  Recall that God
is more interested in the process than the product or the end result.  If you are asking
yourself, what is to gained for me, you are not asking the ôlay down my life for othersö
question.  It's as if sometimes we have a computer virus that everything has to be filtered
through.  Subjective reasoning, I suppose.  How will this benefit me?  This holds true for
all areas of life.  For example, you see a lone parking place in the parking lot and another
car is starting to head towards this lane.  It's you against them.  You feel the rumbling, but
your own understanding says if you don't get this space right now, you may have to drive
around nine more minutes until you find one.  What you did not see was another car
beside the space backing out, and your selfish ambition creates confusion.  If you had
waited, you and the first car you saw could have had parking spaces without crisis.  Or
maybe you are on the parkway, and you want to change lanes, but something inside you
signals, ôWait!ö.  You wait and find out that another car was also changing into that
same lane from the other side.  Soon you begin to trust that ôAll your needs are met in
Christö, (Philippians 4:19).  Remember, ô ...faith worketh by loveö, (Galatians 5:6).  It's
that small inner voice that God speaks to your heart with.  I learned from watching the
televised version of my church service that I had a bald spot on the back of my head.  I
was blind to my bald spot, and I needed someone else to point it out to me.  Likewise, we
all have blind spots that we do not know exists.  Areas in which our assessments are
clouded.  If you are results oriented, seek out input from people persons and vise-versa
before you make decisions.

In retrospect to Paul, I find it noteworthy that apparently Barnabas's home town was
Cyprus, (Acts 4:36), and that one of the first places that Barnabas and Paul traveled to as
a team was Cyprus, (Acts 13:4).  After the split-up, Barnabas took Mark and sailed for
where else, but Cyprus, (Acts 15:39).  As Paul journeyed, he seemed to be trying to avoid
Cyprus, (Acts 21:3), although the Holy Ghost appeared to want Paul to lodge in Cyprus,
(Acts 21:16).  I wonder if Paul in his old age thought of Barnabas as he passed Cyprus as
a prisoner.  I wonder if Paul would have had to be a prisoner, had he and Barnabas
remained as partners.  The Gentiles received Paul while he was with Barnabas,
(Acts 13:42, 46-48; Acts 15:12), but the Jews did not, (Acts 13;45, Acts 14:2,19-20).
What significance is this?  Paul had been called to go to the Gentiles, (Acts 9:15,
Acts 13:46-48, Acts 22:21).  Jews were in Jerusalem, not Gentiles.  It was the people of
Cyprus that witnessed to the Hellenistic Greeks, (Acts 11:20).  The Jews of Cyprus may
have had a heart for the gentiles as they were far away from Jerusalem and it's prejudices,
and God knew their attitude would prevail over onto Paul.  It seems likely that Paul
would have gone back to Cyprus with Barnabas had they remained together.  However, I
am convinced that after Barnabas's departure, Paul got tunnel-vision, and determined to
go to Jerusalem despite the warnings of God's prophets, (Acts 21:4, 11-12), even though
God had told Paul specifically not to go to Jerusalem, and that he would not be received
there, (Acts 22:18).    I believe Paul had in his heart that he was willing to die for Christ,
much like he had seen Stephen die, (Acts 7:58-59, Acts 22:20, Acts 21:13, Acts 25:11).  I
think God wanted Paul to walk out the love walk, and Paul's task oriented perspective
delayed God's time table.  In fact Stephen was probably not supposed to die at the time
that he did.  Ask Stephen if throwing out insults was worth having stones hurled back at
him, in Acts 7:51-59.

One last thing, and I'll close this with what my Barnabas, (people oriented),
Alvin Gibson, taught me.   If you see that your brother's lawn is too tall, let God mow the
grass.  Your part is to pray and intercede.  Perhaps even to mow the lawn for him.  Once
you get your eyes off the problem, you might learn that they may have a son or daughter
in the hospital, or perhaps they have some health problem themselves that prohibits them
from mowing the lawn.  The very reason the Lord has allowed you to see the other's
faults is so you can intercede properly!  Kenneth Hagin says in that in his many years of
experience that he has noted this about those that appear to be healed.  That they are
quick to forgive, quick to believe, (or repent and change their mind), and quick to
receive.  My Pastor, Jim Richards says that the key to a productive Christian life is
adaptability and flexibility.  Peter Lord says the same thing in a different manner stating,
ôInsanity is to keep doing the same things the same way, but expecting different resultsö.
I recently read a story about a sagging salesman that evaluated his job performance and
found that 80% of his sales came from 20% of his customers, yet his time was given
equally to all the clients.  He requested that 36 of his clients be reassigned to another
salesman and began to spend more time with the 20%.  His results were amazing.  He
became a top salesman!  This is a good example of changing your mind, (or repenting).
If what you are doing does not bring desired results, change.  Find out how they would
like to be loved, and act accordingly.

At times, I have been like Barnabas myself, attempting to help others, but even when I
really want to save another person some agony, I must remember as Proverbs says that it
is foolish to grab someone by the ears, and demand that they listen to me, when they are
not ready to listen to me.  This is compared to grabbing a dog by the ears, as this will
cause much strife, (Proverbs 26:17).  If I start giving someone advice, even if I think my
advice is out of this world, and I start to feel that ôrumblingö sensation inside of me, I
back off, (Proverbs 10:19b-20a).  It is the word fitly spoken at the right time, that avails
much, and is like apples of gold in settings of silver, (Proverbs 25:11, Proverbs 15:23).  It
may never be the right time!  Can you imagine how much apples of gold in settings of
silver would weigh?  This would be costly!  If you have a minimum of two apples,
because the word was plural, at the current price of gold and silver per ounce, about eight
millions dollars!  That is how valuable the words aptly spoken at the right time are worth!
Words outside of that window are not worth the air they are spoken on!

They may have to learn the hard way, and I don't like that.  God does this all the time.
Every day people miss out on what God plans.  All the while God never gives up on
them, but patiently waits for the right time.  Missing God for most folks is just a part of
life.  I don't mean this wrongly, but relax, they'll learn one way or the other. God is more
interested in the process than the product.  Most of the time, people make small mistakes
in missing God, and this actually helps them to avoid the big blunders.  However, they
don't need us to tell them, ôI told you soö.  Nor do they need us to show them their faults.
They need us to facilitate.  Sometime we think that we are helping by saying something
to the effect of: ôI think that what you did was all right for now, but next time maybe you
should do such and such.ö  We call this constructive criticism.  Actually, it is just
criticism.  Proverbs 14:12 says, ôThere is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is
the way of death.ö(NKJV).  It seems right for us to correct others as we think that this all
they need to do a task correctly.  Just a little correction here, and a little more there.

The way in which we treat others is also how they perceive that God views them.  We
represent God.  So, how do you stop the other person from doing what they are doing?
You donÆt.  You have to trust God that what God said in Luke 6:40 is going to work.  I
have found that the best way to correct someone is to not mention their fault(s), but
rather show another approach to the situation that appeals to their desire for success, and
let the other person grasp hold of the idea and never even be aware that the way in which
they were doing something was not productive.  Sometimes months or even years later,
they realize that they were doing something that was wrong and they also reflect on the
way in which you valued their self-worth, and the way in which you handled this fault.
This makes that person want to be like you as Luke 6:40 says.  This is how God deals
with our faults.  This means that we are going be just like our teacher, and that is God.

I want to be a Grandfather full of wisdom, and yet I am only 37.  But, the Grandfather
pattern that I have in my heart of patience and acceptance is what God is describing when
he describes wisdom.  Wisdom is practical application of GodÆs truths.  Wisdom is
knowing how to apply and to put into a day to day practice those things that God said will
work.  Wisdom in part, is also knowing how to teach someone, and knowing how they
will respond.  2 Timothy 2:24 puts it this way, ôAnd a servant of the Lord must not
quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patientö, (NKJV).  People donÆt want another
boss.  They want someone that will love them.  I wonder this sometimes and keep it as a
guide to gauge my actions:  Does Richard Simmons make people feel more accepted than
I do, a child of God?

The real key in helping someone else, I have found, is asking the Holy Ghost how?  How
do I correct them this time, if I am to correct  them at all, and each time is unique.  What
I did last time in a similar situation might not work again this time.  I slow down and
before answering someone right off the bat, I take time to inquire of the Lord.
Sometimes the Lord instructs me to wait, and to have patience and not to say anything at
all.  At other times the Lord tells me to do something and my doing that something may
trigger off in the other person the answer they need.  I have not mentioned much about
the Holy Ghost in this, and I regret that.  I use the word ghost because the word spirit
sounds mystical, whereas the word ghost conveys a person.  The Holy Ghost is a person,
and very personal.  The Holy Ghost is the Ghost of Jesus.  I learned that I could trust this
still small voice, by having made mistakes.  I think God desires that we learn to hear even
the quietness in his voice, (Isaiah 66:2).

If God has to put up a big billboard to get our attention, what good is that?  Then the
enemy could hear what he was saying also.  Better to make a mistake darting through a
crowd, and knock someone's coke out when you hear God saying wait if this helps you to
learn God's voice, than it is to miss God's voice and do something that really brings about
harm.  Look at Joseph's life.  He was accurately foretold by God of the future at an early
age, but he had to walk out his life before the events occurred.  This just shows me that
God is more interested in the process than the product.  If God were only interested in
the product, he would have made Joseph rule a lot younger.  But, it was the process
including some of Joseph's blunders that developed character in him, so that when he
began to rule, Joseph would be a good ruler.  Joseph decided to brag to his brothers and
father that he was going to rule over them, (Genesis 37:6-10).  Joseph had the gift, (his
dreams turned out to be right ), but not the character to walk in that gift.  However, if
Joseph had not told the dreams, his brothers probably would not have gotten jealous of
him and thrown him into that pit, which started the character building in his life.

And let me add this about the process.  If your call on your life is to be one of the five-
fold ministries, go start off by teaching the two year olds or younger.  Learn how they
respond.  What makes them tick?  Then move along to the three and four year olds, then
to the five year olds and so on.  The two year olds and church congregations have a lot in
common.  They both can't do tasks alone as they both need a helper, a facilitator, and
they both want to feel accepted and loved.  I feel too many people got involved in the
ministry and jumped right into adults.  And when adult sized problems arise, the
ministers have no foundation from which they could have learned how to deal with the
problems encountered.  You can avoid this if you'll study how to spur one another on to
love and good works as Hebrews 10:24 says.  So why not start with young people.  You
may find out whether teaching children or mentoring an adult, you will also learn from
them just as much as they will learn from you.  Receive each child as a child of God.
Jesus said in Matthew 18:5 "Whoever receives one little child like this in My name
receives Me.ö(NKJV).  Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 11:6 ôAnd a little child shall lead
them.ö  I think God also says things literally, figuratively, and symbolically all rolled in
one.  So, I take this prophesy literally.  I believe in the last days the grace movement will
be brought on by children.  So, I wouldnÆt think of working with and equipping children
as second best, but rather on the cutting edge of what God is up to.  Remind yourself that
this little child is come in JesusÆs name and you might learn something from them. And
donÆt frown on our differences knowing God has designed us to learn from each other.
ôFrom whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies,
according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of
the body for the edifying of itself in love,ö (Ephesians 4:16). You might want to read
People Smart by Tony Alessandra, Michael J. O'Connor, and Janice VanDyke or
Understanding How Others Misunderstand You by Ken Voges and Ron Braud.  Anyhow,
the key word in Hebrews 10:24 is to study, and it's talking about people.



Addendum 1:
Remember when ..., You can learn from the past.  (Remember who you are!) ... Taken
from ôThe Lion King.ö

Sometimes, pastors would have us believe that we survive from guest speaker to guest
speaker.  However, only by remembering what God did in the past can we go on from
faith to faith or from glory to glory, (Romans 1:17, II Corinthians 3:18).

By remembering what God has done in the past, and using these recollections we can go
forward to new exploits, (Daniel 11:32).  These accounts that we lock into our heart will
strengthen and give us new courage.  God says ôRemember the former things of old, For
I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Meö, (Isaiah 46:9 -
NKJV).  And God was the one who first augmented this pattern back when he told
Joshua to set up 12 stones for a remembrance that this may be a sign to you when your
children ask, ôWhat do these stones mean?ö  (See Joshua 4:1-9 below).  I imagine that
every time you told your kids or grandchildren about these stones, you might unfold the
whole account as told in Joshua 3:5-17, (below).  I wonder if David had heard this story
before he battled Goliath.  I bet he did because of several sentences he said before the
encounter.  Sentences like ôYou come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a
javelin.  But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of
Israel, whom you have defied.ö, (I Samuel 17: 45).

Actually there are many other things that David said that lead me to believe that King
David knew the revelation of remembering when he talks about the Lord, a bear and a
lion:

ôYour servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be
like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.ö  Moreover David
said, ôThe LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the
bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.ö And Saul said to David, ôGo,
and the LORD be with you!ö (1 Samuel 17:36-37).

In I Samuel 17:26 & 36, David makes a reference about uncircumcision.  Like the song
that says, ôWhat's Love got to do with it?ö, So I am asking myself, What's circumcision
got to do with price of rice in China?   Had David resorted to name calling?  Was David
calling Goliath, a heathen, a barbarian, an unkempt person?  What relevance did it have
that the armies of God had been defied?  No, David knew that circumcision was a sign of
the covenant, and he realized the giant was not in covenant with God, and that David was
in Covenant.  David was aware that Abraham was his forefather, and that David was one
of Abraham's descendants, and therefore in covenant with God, and that meant God
would fight for him, (compare to 1 Samuel 17:46-47).  Observing Psalm 105:9-12, I feel
confident that David had read from the book of Genesis (below) about this covenant God
made with Abraham and his descendants, of which David was one, (1 Chronicles 1:27-
29, 2:13-15, Matthew 1:1-6,17, Luke 3:31-34).

ôThis [is] My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your
descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall
be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant
between Me and you. (Genesis 17:10-11).

In fact, from David's perspective, knowing what a covenant was all about, he knew that
God was backing him up entirely, (Psalms 35:1-4).  David knew who he was.  He knew
his identity.  The giant had defied the armies of God.  David's courage came from
knowing who he was.  David knew that he was a descendant of Abraham, and he knew
what God had already done for Abraham.  Psalm 105:12 clearly states that David knew
God had worked with few in number.  And to further validate my point, take a close look
at David's companion and friend that David probably shared his intimate thoughts with,
Jonathan, (1 Samuel 18:1,3-4).  David went so far as to make a covenant with Jonathan,
which further shows that David knew what a covenant was all about.  In 1 Samuel 14:6-
16, you will find a remarkable story of courage and bravery, echoing almost word for
word what David said, again referencing the uncircumcised and making mention of the
God of a few good men.  David and Jonathan were saying what our policemen say when
they wear a badge.  ôWe may be small in number, but you harm one of us and you deal
with who we representö.  Gangs have this same viewpoint, and so do Indian blood-
brothers.  That is why David, (and Jonathan in 1 Samuel 14:12), could boldly proclaim:
ôThis day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your
head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the
birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is
a God in Israel.  Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with
sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD's, and He will give you into our hands.ö

At another time David was so despondent that he had to encourage himself in the Lord.
Now David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because the soul
of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and his daughters. But David
strengthened himself in the LORD his God. (1 Samuel 30:6 - NKJV).  How did David
strengthen himself in the Lord?  Recall how just before David encountered Goliath, he
rehearsed how God had saved him from a lion, and a bear.  Would it not be unlike
David's method of success to now recall the lion, the bear, and now Goliath!  I think so,
and here's why.  David wrote Psalms 77: 3, 5, 11-12, Psalms 78: 5-7, Psalms 96:3, (also in
I Chronicles 16:24), and Psalms 105: 2, 5, 8-9, 12, as well as the account occurring again
over in I Chronicles 16: 9. 12, 15-16.  In fact, David wrote a rather long Psalms 78 and
Psalms 105 as a sort of prayer journal that would remind him of what great things God
had done in the past.  And King David, who had a heart like God, practiced rehearsing
what God had done often, (Psalm 75:1, Amplified Bible).  Before we pray to raise the
dead, maybe we should offer a chance for people to testify about how they saw someone
raised from the dead, and allow that to stir our hearts into faith to believe.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
(Joshua 3:5-17 - NKJV)
5 And Joshua said to the people, ôSanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do
wonders among you.ö
6 Then Joshua spoke to the priests, saying, ôTake up the ark of the covenant and cross
over before the people.ö So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the
people.
7 And the LORD said to Joshua, ôThis day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all
Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, [so] I will be with you.
8 You shall command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, saying, 'When you
have come to the edge of the water of the Jordan, you shall stand in the Jordan.' ô
9 So Joshua said to the children of Israel, ôCome here, and hear the words of the LORD
your God.ö
10 And Joshua said, ôBy this you shall know that the living God [is] among you, and
[that] He will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites and the Hittites and
the Hivites and the Perizzites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Jebusites:
11 Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over before you
into the Jordan.
12 Now therefore, take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man from
every tribe.
13 And it shall come to pass, as soon as the soles of the feet of the priests who bear the
ark of the LORD, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, [that]
the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off, the waters that come down from upstream, and
they shall stand as a heap.ö
14 So it was, when the people set out from their camp to cross over the Jordan, with the
priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people,
15 and as those who bore the ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests who bore
the ark dipped in the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all its banks during the
whole time of harvest),
16 that the waters which came down from upstream stood [still, and] rose in a heap very
far away at Adam, the city that [is] beside Zaretan. So the waters that went down into the
Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, failed, [and] were cut off; and the people crossed over
opposite Jericho.
17 Then the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firm on dry
ground in the midst of the Jordan; and all Israel crossed over on dry ground, until all the
people had crossed completely over the Jordan.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
(Joshua 4:1-9 - NKJV)
1  And it came to pass, when all the people had completely crossed over the Jordan, that
the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying:
2 ôTake for yourselves twelve men from the people, one man from every tribe,
3 and command them, saying, 'Take for yourselves twelve stones from here, out of the
midst of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood firm. You shall carry
them over with you and leave them in the lodging place where you lodge tonight.' ô
4 Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel,
one man from every tribe;
5 and Joshua said to them: ôCross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the
midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to
the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,
6 that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying,
'What do these stones mean to you?'
7 Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark
of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the
Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel
forever.ö
8 And the children of Israel did so, just as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones
from the midst of the Jordan, as the LORD had spoken to Joshua, according to the
number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them to the
place where they lodged, and laid them down there.
9 Then Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet
of the priests who bore the ark of the covenant stood; and they are there to this day.
Grace - Jeremiah 29:11        Can You Feel The Love

- 47 -

1