Tohearfrometernity's Blog

What did you say?

You moved in with your girlfriend, or was it your boyfriend?    You bought a house together, and are living happily ever after?    Oh, you do go to church!    You are a Christian, and are forgiven, so no worries, right?!

Really?   Where does it say, ‘go forth and sin again and again?   Does it not say, go forth and sin no more’?    Reform your ways, and pick up your cross and follow me!

Do you keep company with those like yourself?    Are you not drawn to those who enjoy what you enjoy and profess what your profess?    How can one who ‘trades’ partners, and lives without the sacrament of marriage, profess Christ?    Does Christ not tell us to obey the Commandments?    Are we not to stay far from the  7 deadly Sins?

When sin is embraced with the flesh, and the mouth speaks praise, can the spirit that dwells within the soul professing and sinning still illuminate?    How can man or woman flee from sin with words and embrace it with flesh?    Do the two not oppose each other?

God is a God of forgiveness this is true.    Yet, Jesus Christ has put forth the teachings and lived them out for us to embrace.    The teachings are written in the Word of God, The Most Holy BIBLE!    If you wish to become learned in the ways of the LORD, then read the Word!   The living truth of Jesus Christ is within the pages!

There are no excuses!

Either you wish to profess Christ, and carry your Cross, or, walk in darkness!    If you are a light for Christ and do not illuminate Christ by living and walking in His foot steps, How can you grow in the light?

Misconceptions are pravalent today.   Many have the idea, simply asking forgivness constitutes eternity.    Well, it is true, to be forgiven constitutes life.    However, to be a ‘friend’ to Jesus, is to walk in the light of Christ!    To become Christ, is to embrace Christ, and to embrace Christ is to apply His teachings to the heart and profess them with the lips!   To be the example of Christ before others!   If people see you sleeping with your neighbor and going to Church on Sunday, are they not left wondering?    Is that not the same as my saying I will  do for you, but then never get around to it?    My intent is there, but my actions are contrary to whom I  maintain I am!    Will you not say to me, ‘you hypocrite?

Would you like a friend like this?    There in word only but not in action?   You will remember Jesus was loved by all while He was preaching, but when the chips were down and Jesus was led to the ‘slaughter’ (cross)   there were ‘few’ very very few who stood with him!   He was left , Abandoned, Betrayed, and Alone!!   Do you think that hurt?    Maybe just a little, huh?!   Imagine what it is like to be left out, forgotten, and ignored!   It pierces the heart!

Yet,  he who puts himself before Christ is not worthy of the Kingdom of heaven.

The LORD is the judge, not me!   I am only here to enlighten the thinking of some who have the idea anything goes with Jesus Christ!    Well, I do not know your heart, and would never dare to presume you do not have a pure heart; but I will tell you the more you ‘suffer’ with Christ, the closer you become to Jesus !   His gift!  Not mine!

So if you want a closer walk with the LORD, then you must suffer with Him and because of Him to endure the cross with Him.    For this is our love to Him!  Our thanksgiving to Him for His perfect sacrifice of Love, so pure, so lovely, because He did not hesitate to suffer brutally, for all of mankind!

Book of Luke: Chapter 17  Verse 32-37  Jesus is Speaking!

32) “Remember Lot’s wife.   33)Whoever tries to preserve his life will lose it; whoever loses it will keep it.   34)   I tell you, on that night there will be two men in one bed; one will be taken and the other left.   35) Two women will be grinding grain together one will be taken and the other left.”   37)   ” Where,  Lord?”   they asked him, and he answered,    “wherever the carcass is, there will the vultures gather.”

The Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians   Chapter 4  Verses 17-24  (Renewal in Christ)

17) ” I declare and solemnly attest in the LORD that you must no longer live as the pagans do-their minds empty.   18)  their understanding darkened.   They are estranged from a life in God because of their ignorance and their resistance;   19) without remorse they have abandoned themselves to lust and the indulgence  of every sort of lewd conduct.  20)  That is not what you learned when you learned Christ!   21) I am supposing, of course, that he has preached and taught to you in accord with the truth that is in Jesus:  22) namely,  that you must lay aside your former way of life and the old self which deteriorates through illusion and desire,   23) and acquire a fresh, spiritual way of thinking.   24)You must put on that new man created in God’s image, whose justice and holiness are born of truth.”

Chapter 5  verse 1-3  Ephesians continued:

1) “Be imitators of God as his dear children.   2)Follow the way of love, even as Christ loved you.   He gave himself for us as an offering to God, a gift of pleasing fragrance.”   3)   As for lewd conduct  or promiscuousness or lust of any sort, let them not even be mentioned among you; your holiness forbids this.”

When it’s as hard as a rock, its pretty much as hard as it can be; is it not?

The rock of something is typically its stronghold.

Yet, even going back thousands of years the term rock was used then too.

God used the term ‘Rock’ in the Old Testament when Moses struck the ‘rock’, (Exodus  Chapter 17 verse 6.)   Then, numerous times within the new Testament.

If it is from God, then it is indeed, to be within the ‘strength’ of He who made us!

Appointed by God, Jesus puts forth to us the very strength of God Our Father, when He assigns to Peter The Rock, which was to be His church!   Book of Matthew:   Chapter 17 verses 13-20 PETER THE ROCK

13) “When Jesus came to the neighborhood of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples this question: “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”   14)They replied, “Some say John the Baptizer, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”   15)“And you,”  he said to them, “Who do you say that I am?”   16) ” You are the Messiah,”  Simon Peter answered, “the Son of the living God!”   17  Jesus replied, “Blest are you, Simon son of Jonah!   No mere man has revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.  18)I for my part declare to you, you are ‘Rock, ‘ and on this rock I will build my church, and the jaws of death shall not prevail against it.   19)  I will entrust to you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.   Whatever you declare bound on earth shall be bound in heaven; whatever you declare loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”   20)Then he strictly ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.” 

When Jesus said this to Peter, He proved His great love once again!   For Jesus, gave to Peter the greatest gift He had to give.   The home of His Father!    Think of it!    Peter, was  like you and I, he was only human.   Yet, so pleased was Our Lord, He blessed him beyond all human expectations!

With in my writing in ‘Exulted’ I pointed out how Paul was blessed beyond all his worldly expectations!    This is Christ!   Whether you speak of Jesus then or now, it is still Christ!!    He gives beyond all human expectations!

What is most interesting is that both Peter, and Paul ‘betrayed’ Christ.   Peter, denied Christ, rather than defend him, and Paul persecuted Christ, (a form of betrayal).   Jesus knew everything before it happened!   He knew Peter was going to deny Him.    He knew Saul (PAUL) was  persecuting Him.   Yet, it is important to realize that, Jesus, divine, accepted them, and transformed them, to become greater, and more fruitful than they could ever have been without His instruction.

In the life of Christ, He passed on to us, the teachings of God, passed unto Him.   Though He was God and Man, He was appointed by God to live out God’s laws.   The evidence is in the Book of Hebrews: Chapter 5 verses 5-10      5) “Even Christ did not glorify himself with the office of high priest; he recieved it from the ONE who said to him,”You are my son, today I have begotten you;”  6)  just as he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”  7)  In the days when he was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to God, who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.   8) Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered; 9) and when perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, 10) designed by God as high priest according to the order of Mechizedek.”

Blessing for Jew and Gentile: THE EPISTLE OF PAUL TO THE EPHESAINS:

Chapter 1 verse 11-14

11) “In him we were chosen; for in the decree of God, who administers eveything according to his will and counsel,  12) we were predestined to praise his glory by being the first to hope in Christ.   13)  In him you too were chosen; when you heard the glad tidings of salvation, the word of truth, and believed in it, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit who had been promised.   14) He is the pledge of our inheritance, the first payment against the  full redemption of a people God has made his own, to praise his glory.”

First Epistle of Paul to Timothy:   Chapter 1 verses 12-17

12)  “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, that he has made me his servant judged me faithful.   13) I was once a blashpemer, a persecutor, a man filled with arrogance;  but because I did not know what I was doing in my unbelief, I have been treated mercifully,  14) and the grace of our Lord has been granted me in overflowing measure, along with the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.   15) You can depend on this as worthy of full acceptance; that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.   Of these I myself am the worst.   16)  But on that very account I was dealt with mercifully, so that in me, as an extreme case, Jesus Christ might display all his patience and that I might become and example to those who would later have faith in him and gain everlasting life.   17) To the King of ages, the immortal, the invisible, the only  God, be the honor and glory forever, and ever!  Amen. ”

Mark Chapter 8 verses 36-37  Jesus is Speaking:

36)” What profit does a man show who gains the whole world  and destroys himself in the process?   37) What can a man offer in exchange  for his life?”

The church founded by Jesus Christ is the Roman Catholic Church!   Jesus dwells within the Holy Eucharist.   It is He who is calling you!  The Church is Christ’s Bride.   The ‘doors’ and heart of Christ are open.   You have only to enter, and the teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ will be taught to you.   As was Paul, so too will you become a new creature in Christ!

It’s recess!  The playground is full of choices: the ‘merry-go-round, the teeter-totter, the swings, and the jungle-gyms, are all waiting!

But,  life is not a playground and we are no longer in school with simple choices.  Our daily choices  are  very critical.    Every thought, every action, and every decision, affects us, and who we are.   With little thought to any of it, we are simply existing!.

This is not Gods will.   Gods will is that we each come to Him, to know Him, so that we may know ourselves!  Then His Holy Spirit reveals to us all that is good and beautiful and pleasing to the Father.

When we obey,  we have found who we really are, and who we are allows us to live, and live  life to its fullest.   The joy that God desires for us then fulfills us.    Then both He and we, are pleased!

Faithfulness is essential to life!    It is purpose, and understanding.  It completes us!   It is not people,  it is God; the love of God the Father of us all,  that is everything!   When you come to know the Father through Jesus Christ His Son then you have achieved life!

Faith is not a carousel or a Merry-go-round, or any of the other toys on the playground.   It is core.   It is inside of us.   It is waiting to be fostered, and loved!   Much like the ‘mustard seed’ Our Lord speaks of…the smallest of seeds, but the largest of plants when planted and cared for.   So, it is with faith.

Two ladies  were speaking of preparing for a funeral.      One lady,  was asking her friend  questions about who she had officiate at her mothers funeral.    As the conversation unfolded, and the lady  speaking was saying,  all  the  churches she had’ try-ed’,  were  the same.     The other lady only listened and did not offer any advice.

This is the misconception of many, that the difference is in the Pastors.    When the difference is in knowing Jesus!   They  are  there because of Jesus.   They profess because of Jesus.   However, the Jesus we all speak of is a relationship .  His Spirit lives.  His love lives on!   The desire to know the LORD is in the heart.   The craving of Christ is the thirsting of the soul.   Nothing will fill the thirsting of the soul!   Only the LORD himself!

You can try a multitude of church’s!    No matter whether the preacher preaches the best sermon ever!   Only Jesus when invited into the heart, and is visited daily, in prayer, reading of scripture, and the applying of His commandments, does the growth occur!  Otherwise it remains a ‘mustard seed’  with no fertile ground!

Plant your ‘mustard seed!’     Tend to it daily, so it will not be  choked off by ‘weeds’ of sin.   Instruction is within the Word of God, the HOLY BIBLE!    Apply it!   Then fulness of life will be complete.

Book of Luke: Chapter 17 verses 5-6  Jesus Speaks on increasing faith:

5)”The apostles said to the LORD, “Increase our faith,” 6) and he answered: “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed,  you could say to this sycamore, ‘Be uprooted and transplanted into the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

Book of Matthew Chapter 10 verses 38-40 Jesus Speaks

38)”He who will not take up his cross and come after me is not worthy of me.   39)He who seeks only himself brings himself to ruin, whereas he who brings himself  to nought for me discovers who he is.”   40) ” He who welcomes you welcomes me, and he who welcomes me welcomes him who sent me.”

SO YOU HAVE BEEN WRONGED?!

Someone has betrayed you?    So you will never forget?   Who hasn’t?  Hasn’t everyone?  Has it ever occurred to you that in the midst of the ‘anger’ that you carry within your heart that ‘they’ have won?

It is a grave misconception that to hold a grudge makes you or I the ‘winner’!     This is so wrong!    When someone has wronged you, whether it is by accident or intentionally, forgivness is where the ‘peace’ is!!

To what length are you willing to go to achieve ‘peace’ in your heart?

To harbor ‘ill-will’ within your heart, is to outrightly refuse to love God!!   Not directly, but indirectly!    For God forgives, and teaches us to forgive.    Remember, Jesus said,  “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”.    He said that for a multitude of reasons.    For one, He knew we do not know what we are doing.   To ‘know’ is to forgive!   At all cost, forgive!   To forgive is to grow in ‘peace’.     No matter what it is, that has happened!

Evil lurks within our world!

Satan’ s plan is to destroy the ‘peace and happiness’ that is from God.   Whereby He wins!   To realize the difference we must choose the teachings of God, over the desires of the ‘flesh’

The ‘flesh’ is what is within the world.    The ‘spirit’ is of the next world.   It is focusing on God, and the will of God within your life.   It is ‘thy will be done’ instead of ‘my will be done!’    Not so easy!     Know for whom you are living!   Know for whom it is you wish to please!   For to please oneself before God, is to be within the world!

God instructs!    But, as any Father instructs, He ‘can not’ make you obey Him and His teachings!    Our Heavenly Father has given us all free-will!    This is the life He has put before us!   He wants us to want Him.   So He will not ‘make’ us obey!   As with any love that is given freely, so it is with the ‘Love Of God’!

Being wronged is a part of this life!   People will always be saying and doing what does not please us.    To realize that this is part of life is the first step to growing in the faith and love of God!    Why?    Because opposing to all the teachings of God Our Father is the enemy, Satan.    Satan has his demons!     Just as God has His Angels!

The two forces are within the ‘spirit’ of who we desire to be!    To walk with God, to be a friend to God, to love God, is the ultimate!

To achieve the ultimate, is to forgive!

Seems simple enough, does it not?   Yet, people do not wish to give up control!    The One who made each of us, is He who desires us-Our Hearts, Our minds, and Ours Souls!     When we desire to let it go, to forgive, then we have achieved the first level of peace!    Yes, there are more levels to ‘peace’.     The greater the forgiveness, the greater the level of ‘peace’.

God is not about the ‘stuff’!    God is not about the attaining of ‘things’!    God is not about whether you or I are a ‘CEO or a ‘PRESIDENT’!    God is about the state of our heart!    The state of the heart is dictated by forgiveness!     That means forgiving ourselves as well as our nieghbor!    For sometimes the evil one wishes to convince us that we do not matter to God!    This ‘evil’ is in the world, and has played havoc with the world!    The ‘me-first’ sydrome is in effect and the state of the world is in turmoil, because it is running to Satan and away from God!

God’s form of discipline is for ‘peace’ in our hearts, our minds, and our soul!   His plan really works!!    That is why He has sent people to profess the faith!     The faith is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God!    He has conquered death, and unites the world to the Father when He is called upon!    However, few are calling upon the LORD!   For the LORD is with the Father!      The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit, making up the, ‘Holy Trinity’!   God, in three persons!   You do not have to understand it, but you do need to embrace it!     The power that is, is then revealed when ‘trust’  has been extended to the Very God, who reigns over Heaven and Earth!

GOD BLESS YOU!    May you find the peace that surpasses all understanding by embracing  Christ Jesus,  as your LORD and SAVIOR!

BOOK OF  MATTHEW: CHAPTER  18  verses 1-4   AGAINST AMBITION

1)”Just then the disciples came up to Jesus with the question, “Who is of greatest importance in the kingdom of God?”   2)   He called a little child over and stood him in their midst 3) and said, “I assure you, unless you change and become like little children, you will not enter the kingdom of God.   4)   Whoever makes himself lowly, becoming like this child is of greatest importance in that heavenly reign.”

BOOK OF MATTHEW:   CHAPTER 16  VERSES 24-28  DOCTRINE OF THE CROSS

24)Jesus then said to his disciples: “If man wishes to come after me, he must deny his very self, take up his cross, and begin to follow in my footsteps.   25) Whoever would save his life for my sake will find it.   26)   What profit would a man show if he were to gain the whole world and destroy himself in the process?   What can a man offer in exchange for his very self?”   27)  The Son of Man will come with his Father’s glory accompanied by his angels.   When he does, he will repay each man according to his conduct.   28)   I assure you, among those standing here there are some who will not experience death before they see the Son of Man come in his kingship.” 

Ah, to be first is the best, is it not?   Yet, perspective can be lost then we are exulted above all else!    Worst of all, is that we do not realize we have lost direction!

As with everything, Jesus covered this aspect of living too!   It is so elusive, that we can not recognize the ‘truth’ when we are being recognized for our accomplishment.

To be first, and to be the best, is not the sin in itself, but rather the desire to be exulted!

In the Book of the Acts of the Apostles,  Saul  is so intent on being the very best Jew, He professed against Christ  fervently.   So sure was he, that he set out to destroy Our Lords  Disciples.   As we read further we discover that Saul had the very best of intentions.   Yet, the ‘New Way’ that was upon them was from God.   The very God he was persecuting!

ACTS OF THE APOSTLES: CHAPTER 9:verses 1-9   The Vocation of Saul:

1)”Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the LORDS disciples, went to the high Priests 2)and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus which would ’empower him’ to arrest and bring to Jerusalem anyone he might find, man or woman, living according to the ‘new way’.   3)As he traveled along and was approaching Damascus, a light from the sky suddenly flashed about him.   4)He fell to the ground and at the same time heard a voice saying, “Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?”   5)”Who are you, sir?” he asked.   The voice answered, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. 6) Get up and go into the city, where you will be told what to do.” 7) The men who were traveling with him stood there speechless.   They had heard the voice but could not see no one.   8)Saul got up from the ground unable to see, even though his eyes were open.   They had to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus.   9)For three days he continued blind, during which time he neither ate nor drank.”

Upon the intervention of our LORD to Saul on the road to Damascus, the Lord sends a messenger to Saul by the name of Ananias.   The miracle of the conversion of Saul ensues:

Saul’s Baptism:   10)There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias to whom the LORD had appeared in a vision.   “Ananias!” he said.   ” Here I am, Lord, ” came the answer.   11) The LORD said to him, “Go at once to Straight Street, and at the house of Judas ask for a certain Saul of Tarsus.  12) He is there praying.” (Saul saw in a vision a man named Ananias coming to him placing his hands on him so that he might recover his sight.)   13) But Ananias protested: “Lord I have heard from many sources about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem.   14)He is here now with the authorization from  the chief priests to  arrest any who invoke your name.” 15)The Lord said to him: “You must go!   This man is the instrument I have chosen to bring my name to the Gentiles and their kings and  to the people of Israel.   16) I myself shall indicate to him how much he will have to suffer for my name.”   17)With that Ananias left. When he entered the house he laid his hands on Saul and said, “Saul, my brother, I have been sent by the LORD JESUS who appeared to you on the way here, to help you recover your sight and be filled with the HOLY SPIRIT.”   18) Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes and he regained his sight.   He got up and was baptized,  19)and his strength returned to him after he had taken food.”

Saul  Preaches in Damascus: Verses 20-22

20)”Saul stayed some time with the disciples in Damascus, 20) and soon began to proclaim in the synagogues that Jesus was the Son of God.   21)Any who heard it were greatly taken aback.   They kept saying: “Isn’t this the man who worked such havoc in Jerusalem among those who invoke this name?   Did he not come here purposely to apprehend such people and bring them before the chief priests?”   22)Saul for his part grew steadily more powerful, and reduced the Jewish community of Damascus to silence with his proofs that this Jesus was the Messiah.”

Within the above scriptures are the essence of Christ’s Love!   Jesus could have done differently! He  chose to perfect Saul, and convert Him unto Himself!

Here we are with His great love revealed!   For Our Lord could have cast Saul down, and left him blind!   Yet, Jesus  Christ was revealing many things to us by choosing Saul, after He had already ‘proven’ He’s the Messiah!

Jesus saw Saul’s heart!   He looked within!   He knew his heart was good, and not evil!

Saul ‘persecuted’ Christ, so that he would be ‘exulted’ above all Jews.   He was making a name for himself.   It was his desire to leave a ‘lasting legacy’ behind.

Our Lord saw this.   He knew the thoughts of Saul, (later became Paul).    He could have remained silent!   He did not need to act out of love as He did.   After all, He was just here, and had proven Himself as the Christ!   But Christ is about Loving!   He knew before Paul all that was going to happen.       He being God incarnate willed the Love of the Father and the Son and the Holy  Spirit, to be acclaimed through Paul, so that the Jewish nation and Gentiles would come to know the power of God, through His Son Jesus Christ!

This way, the Jews and Gentiles could see first hand that Jesus lives on, even after death.   Jesus, though here, did not reach and reform and baptize all Jews.   Paul became His disciple to profess the truth, because He was such a devoted Jew!   (Take note of  how famous he had already become.)

Jesus Christ looks into the hearts of all of us.   He does for all of us every day.   However few take note of the love He is, and  the love He gives!

Just as after His resurrection  Jesus chose to ‘transform Saul,’ So he wishes to transform each of us.   However, we must be listening, and praying, at all times.   You will notice Saul did not curse God when he went blind.   He prayed!   He, with his prayers were heard and transformed into the light!   The light of Christ!

Because  he became obedient, his desires were fulfilled way beyond his wildest dreams.

Ananias, was also obedient to God, but also doubted!  He questioned the LORD!   How many of us have questioned the LORD?   Yet Jesus, ever patient, did not chastise Ananias, but assured him.

Because Jesus Christ is God incarnate, and knows first hand the trials and temptations of this life; He is ever patient!   It is He, God and Man, that can do all things!   Just as he did for Paul, He can do for anyone of us.

We must decrease, so that He may increase.   For when we allow Christ to shine through us,  He is glorifed!   Then, just as when Paul did this out of obedience was blessed,  so too will we be blessed!   For Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

The First Epistle of Paul to Timothy: Chapter 2 verses 3-6

3)”Prayer of this kind is good, and God our Savior is pleased with it, 4) for he wants all men to be saved and  come to know  the truth. 5)And the truth is this:

“God is one.   One also is the mediator, between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6) who  gave himself as a ransom for all.”

Book of:    LUKE  chapter 18 verse 14 Jesus Speaks

14) “Believe me, this man went home from the temple justified but the other did not.    For everyone who exults himself shall be humbled while he who humbles himself shall be exalted.”

Is your life fragmented?   Do you find yourself dormant?   Is the growth of your  spirituality in limbo?

Within the person of Jesus Christ lies the wisdom of the ages!   He has been and always will be!   God manifest within His Son Jesus Christ; we find ourselves loving.   Yet, within our love,  we can become stagnant.

Loving is a spirit.   Within the Spirit of loving is the power of God!   Love is Gods way of showing us His Spirit manifest within ourselves!

We must desire to love one another!   That is why Jesus Christ stresses so fervently, ‘You shall love your  neighbor as yourself.’ (Book of Mark: Chapter 12 verse 31 -Jesus Speaks)

We all have the desire to defend ourselves when retribution of action is upon us.    Yet, humility is big in this.   In that to ask for forgiveness for the conflict is a form of praise to God.   God, is so above us that when we lean on growing by infusing His teachings within our daily lives, we have ‘blessed’ Him.   Given Him the Glory!!   We have instilled the trust He desires.   When one chooses to obey, they have submission of Spirit.   When submission of Spirit  is presented, growth within the Spirit is prevalent!

We can not see it!   Spirituality is light!   It is not read, or presented!  It is truth, and life!   When it is embraced out of Love and Trust for Our Creator, we have chosen ‘not to be fragmented’!   We have chosen to be enriched, and molded!

When God Our Father has been ‘given’ the opportunity to ‘mold’ us, we become the ‘blessed’!

God’s light is evident  in the believer!   Why?   The believer exudes a peace that the unbeliever can not understand!   It can not be defined, but must be embraced with trust, love, and obedience!

God, Our Father instructs!   He puts forth a set of laws.   As within any ‘home’ there is instruction.

We must desire fully and without reservation, obedience to God’s laws!   His love is manifest within those laws!   He has gone to great length to impose mankind ‘into’ His love!   First through Moses!   Then again through the ‘sacrifice of  His very self’ in Jesus His Son!!   This is manifested today, through the Sacrament of the Most Holy Mass, of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!   This is Jesus, found in the Mass of the Holy Catholic Church.

God has ‘given’!   Given, again, and again!   The world is His!   He created is!  He owns it, and Satan wants it!

For the Spirit of God resides within each of us!

We are allowed to be individualized through ‘free will’!    God is the owner!   We must ‘bless’ Him with Praise!   This is the rising out of the ‘fragmented’ faith, into a higher, more powerful, blessed being!

Being is!   Whether it is ‘enjoyed and blessed’ or  of ‘ suffering and sorrow’! It is absolute!   How we choose to dwell is up to each of us!

Book of Romans Chapter 15 verses 17-19

17)”The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking, but of justice, peace, and the joy that is given by the Holy Spirit.   18) Whoever, serves Christ in this way pleases God and wins the esteem of men.   19) Let us, then, make it our aim to work for peace and to strengthen one another.”

Book of Joel Chapter 3: Verses 1-5

1) “Then afterward I will pour out my spirit upon all mankind.   Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions;   2) Even upon the servants and the handmaids, in those days I will pour out my spirit.   3) And I will work wonders in the heaven and on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke;   4) The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, at the coming of the day of the LORD, the great and terrible day.   5) Then everyone shall be rescued who calls on the name of the LORD; For on Mount Zion there shall be a remnant, as the LORD has said, And in Jerusalem survivors whom the LORD shall call.”

Book of John: chapter 1 verses 13-18

13) “These are they who believe in his name- who were begotten not by blood, nor by carnal desire, nor by man’s willing it, but by God.  14)The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we have seen his glory: The glory of an only Son coming from the Father, filled with enduring love.   15) John testified to him by proclaiming: This is he of whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me ranks ahead of me, for he was before me.'”   16) Of his fullness we have all had a share- love following upon love.   17) For while the law was given through Moses, this enduring love came through Jesus Christ.  18) No one has ever seen God.   It is God the only Son, ever at the Father’s side, who has revealed him.”

Book of Romans Chapter 15  Verses 13

13) ” So may God, the source of hope, fill you with joy and peace in believing so that through the power of the Holy Spirit you may have hope in abundance.”

When something is cleansed, it takes on new feeling! Renewed, and refreshed, the experience revives us.

As the body has heart, so the soul has spirit.   When either are ‘injured’ or ‘afflicted’ a cleansing must take place to renew its purpose.

The body, after a long day of labor, is refreshed when it is cleansed and purified!   The soul also is  in need of cleansing and renewal.   The “soul”  is purified and cleansed when a prayer of  remission of sin is requested and desired.   The heart of the “Sinner” is embodied with a contrition so deep the soul experiences the ‘spiritual cleansing’ that bares down upon the soul of the sinner.

Cleansing, Whether it is of body, soul,  or heart, and mind, the Spirit that lies within ‘awakens’. The ‘experience’ of  forgiveness is only able to be explained by comparison.   As one weeps from the loss of a loved one, and one is refreshed after cleansing with water, so the “Spirit” collides with the blending of these two experiences; bringing about both an awakening and a renewal so deep and so vast that the soul is often brought to tears!   This ‘supernatural’ experience imposed by God to the Believer, is a ‘gift’!

A gift that is priceless, is one of forgiveness!   If there were words or an experience one could choose to do, it still would not touch the magnificence of such ‘love’!    For thousands of years people have tried to teach the ‘love of God’ to mankind.    Mankind, has chosen to realize its own demise, through the contradiction of the experience of love.

For sin has covered the earth, and can only be ‘cleansed’ by the “LAMB  OF GOD”!   He is the only one that takes away the sins of the world!   Yet, we have chosen to live a life filled with anguish, and selfishness, and denial.   Denial, that God is love!

To love like God is to embrace God.   To embrace God, is to follow and confirm His teachings and His Commandments within the life He has blessed us with.   However, few care to be bothered!

Cleansing is done when the ache is real, the hurt real, and the sorrow real!  If you have ever known sorrow, then impose that very sorrow upon the, LAMB OF GOD!    For that very sorrow is what manifests itself within the heart of Christ!   A man that lived so passionately, while He was here, that He died brutally because of us.   For His suffering was for each one of us, (individually)!  He would die for one of us, rather than let any one person reside in Gehenna for eternity!   This is Love!   This is a love that has been taken for granted by a world that has embraced sin.   Sin of every kind!   The excuses, the quick fix, and the denial, are tormenting OUR LORD!   His broken heart, is what has caused so much trial for the believer, because the ‘believer’ has chosen to ‘put on Christ’ profess Christ, and die with Christ, to reach the unbeliever for Christ!    This is the love of Christ!    This is what Jesus is all about!   Desiring His desire, and loving Him so passionatley, that He compliments us with the ‘blessing’ of doing His work!

There is nothing more to be said.   Jesus Christ is a living experience.  However, Jesus Christ is a friend that wishes to be invited!   If you can not and will not invite Him into your heart, How can you expect He will invite you into His Home?

The Person of Jesus Christ has feelings just as you do reading this.   He waits!  He waits for you and me.

Book of:   Psalm 32  verses 1-11  “Remission of Sin”

1) “Happy is he whose fault is taken away, whose sin is covered.

2)Happy the man to whom the LORD imputes not guilt, in whose spirit there is no guile.

3) As long as I would not speak, my bones wasted away with my groaning all the day,

4)For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

5)Then I acknowledged my sin to you, my guilt I covered not.   I said, “I confess my faults to the LORD,”  and you took away the guilt of my sin.

6)For this shall every faithful man pray to you in time of stress.   Though deep waters overflow, they shall not reach him.

7)You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me; with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.

8)I will instruct you and show you the way you should walk; I will counsel you, keeping my eye on you.

9)Be not senseless like horses or mules: with bit and bridle their temper must be curbed, else they will not come near you.

10) Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but kindness surrounds him who trusts in the LORD.

11) Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you just; exult, all you upright of heart.

Within the mystery and majesty of the love of God,lies the wonder of life.   God,  in His infinite nature allows us to learn from Him, when we embrace Him.

The vastness of the mystery of His nature, His person, is so profound and so beautiful, that if words were a weapon to be used to influence the revelation of this great love, it would prove its truth.

He is so mysterious, that when one walks within the friendship of the love of God, He challenges to believe and to trust.    This is done through discipline and chastisement.      His purest love,  ‘blesses’ beyond all human understanding when, we do not fail, do not give up, but persevere; even through the longest, most challenging of discipline.

He, like our Fathers here on earth, disciplines and instructs   This level of instruction is far greater when one walks with God.    For the friendship and blessings are far greater when  achievement has been met.

When the influence of the love of God the Father is first, His love, His desire, and His wishes, then everything falls into place.   Though  difficult to understand; it must be experienced!

Many, Many people have the misconception that they ‘know’ the love of God.  He is so deep and so vast, that a life-time here on earth can not fill its mystery and majesty!

One must decide to ‘grow’ to experience this incredible journey with Him in command, and Him doing the beckoning!  Only then can we even begin to graze the surface of such profound love.

This incredible experience is acquired when the ‘suffering’ of the trials of this life are endured with Christ His Son!   He loves His Son so much, that when we choose to embrace  suffering with Jesus Christ, we come to know Him intimately!    He does not fail, but is ever faithful.

Rising up to a higher plane of faith must be desired.   To desire is giving of ones-self, in ways over and above what most feel is ‘expected’!

Many do not desire to ‘grow’ in the love of God, but are complacent to the idea.   Excuses are number one.   Discipline is number two.  Humility is number three!   People do not want to be ‘put out’.

Yet, I say to you, what do you expect of love?   What do you desire from the one you love?   Since love is of God, and we love because of God, can we not presume that such love is also desired by God our ‘Heavenly Father’?!

Yet, because He gives us life, and breathes His very self into each of us, so that we may know Him,  He loves us!

We are indeed an extension of His great love through Jesus Christ His ‘only Son’!   Sons and Daughters through the experience of such great love when it is desired and embraced.

An ’embrace’ is and act that speaks, rather than words that express.   An embrace is ‘awesome’!   It warms a soul to such a degree that we ache for it!   Yet, it is an expression that must be ‘reached’ for.  The embrace itself shows way beyond love!   It shows compassion and understanding.   It shows the desire to enter into another’s being.

When we look to the teachings of Our Jesus Christ, we find that to give of ourselves is everything.   Contrary to human understanding, it fills the Spirit that lies within.    It is so mysterious that;  expression of the love of God is within the ‘giver’ !   Our Lord puts it very succinctly when He says, ‘It is more blessed to give, than to receive’.

Giving, rises up the spirit of God.   We know God gave us His all!   How many times does God need to give us His all?    Throughout the Old Testament and into the New Testament, God gives.

Book of Jeremiah: Chapter32:   verses 17-23 (Old Testament)

17)”Ah,  LORD GOD, you have made heaven and earth by your great might, with your outstretched arm; nothing is impossible to you.   18)You continue your kindness through a thousand generations; and you repay the fathers’ guilt, even into the lap of their sons who follow them.   O God, great and mighty , whose name is LORD of hosts, 19) great in counsel, mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of men, giving to each according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deed:   20) you have wrought signs and wonders in the land of Egypt and to this day, both in Israel and among all other men, until now you have gained renown.   21) With strong hand and outstretched arm you brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt amid signs and wonders and great terror.   22) This land you gave them, as you had promised their fathers under oath, a land flowing with milk and honey.   23) They entered and took possession of it, but they did not listen to your voice; by your law they did not live and what you commanded they failed to do.   Hence you let all these evils befall them.”

Book of : First Epistle of Peter: Chapter  4 verses:12-19 (New Testament)

12)” Do not be surprised, beloved, that a trial by fire is occurring in your midst.   It is a test for you, but it should not catch you of guard.   13) Rejoice instead, in the measure that you share Christ’s sufferings.   When his glory is revealed, you will rejoice exultantly.   14) Happy are you when you are insulted for the sake of Christ, for then God’s Spirit in its glory has come to rest on you.   15) See to it that none of you suffers for being a murderer, a thief, a malefactor, or a destroyer of another’s rights.   16) If anyone suffers for being a Christian, however, he ought not to be ashamed.   He should rather glorify God in virtue of that name.   17) The season of judgment has begun, and begun with God’s own household.  If it begins this way with us, what must be the end for those who refuse obedience to the gospel of God?   18) And if the just man is saved only with difficulty, what is to become of the godless and the sinner?   19Accordingly, let those who suffer as God’s will requires continue in good deeds, and entrust their lives to a faithful Creator.”

Rising up into the ‘presence’ and, ‘Person’ of God, is done through giving of ones-self;  obeying His laws,  His Commandments.    For the trials of who we are, and what we endure, are appointed by Him.   Whether we walk or choose to embrace His desires over ours will determine the depth of our love .

Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of  the Devil, is the perception that evil does not exist!  When a soul desires to know the ‘truth’ he searches for what is right and just.

The excuses of each are: ‘the exception to the rule’.    In other words, the ‘yes, but excuse’!

The Seven Deadly Sins: Pride, Covetousness, Lust, Anger, Gluttony, Envy, Sloth,  are evils core.   Within the realm of these sins lies the demise to any soul who embraces them, rather, than the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

For opposing to the Seven Deadly Sins are the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: They are:Wiisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Knowledge, Fear of the Lord.

When evil rears its ugly head, it teases us to believe it is okay.   It is the ‘ wisdom’ of the LORD that enlightens us to recognize the temptation that has  come upon us.

Evil is accomplished when we choose to decieve our-selves and our neighbor.   The ‘yes, but excuse’ comes into play, rather than the truth, and honesty, Our LORD imposes.   Why?   To do what is right and just is not so easy.   Often times, it means giving of ourselves.   That often takes ‘humility’!   Humility is depth of character.  It is revealing the ‘light’ that is, rather than the darkness that imposes conflict.   The darkness, is the evil that compels us to ‘stand on our own merit’ rather than what is right and just.   This can be anything from, who’s turn it is to host a party, to who’s the rightful owner of a heirloom from an estate!   For evil is everywhere!   Sometimes truth means doing without!   Doing without the money, or the gift, or the recognition.   Truth is Jesus Christ!    That means standing up for what is right even when it is uncomfortable!  Even when it means humility, even persecution!   Christ is a true friend!   Are you a true friend?   We each must decide whether we wish to be a true friend to Jesus, or ‘lukewarm’!

‘Pride’, can be a simple as refusing to apologize, and choosing to remain  ‘angry’.  This may be because we are ‘envious’ of the other person, and ‘covet’ what they have.   If it is their spouse then we ‘may’ have arrived at ‘lust’.   Whereas the other two sins could arrive together easily.   For refusing to apply ones-self to task, and choosing to lay around and eat,  or drink excessively can bring forth a ‘slothful’ nature that contributes to ‘gluttony.’

The Seven Deadly Sins contribute to each other, feed unto each other, and influence our well being.

Our very soul becomes ‘clouded’ and the ‘light’ that Christ infuses becomes diminished!    Please understand, I do not wish to imply that Jesus leaves!   He never leaves us!   However, it is important to realize that Jesus is light, and light can become diminished if it is not ‘applied’!   The love of Jesus Christ is apparent to those who infuse His teaching, His laws, and His presence within their souls.   Jesus is a living entity!   His Spirit is alive and rises to greater illumination when He is embraced!   Much like an ’embrace’ here on earth…we express our depth of love when we embrace.   So Jesus in His infinite goodness allows us a greater closeness to His Spirit, the more we delve into who He is, through His teachings!

Because words can be deceiving, and one can easily misconstrue what is meant; here are some short definitions of the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’:

Envy:   Malice:  painful, resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with the desire to possess the same advantage.

Sloth: disinclination to labor.

Covetousness: Marked by having an inordinate desire for wealth or possessions.

Lust: to have an intense sexual desire or need.

Anger: a strong feeling of displeasure.   Righteous anger at what one considers unfair, and mean or shameful behavior.   Likely to suggest desire, or intent to revenge.

Gluttony: One given habitually to greedy and voracious eating and drinking.

Pride: Conceit.   Delight, or elation arising from some act, possession, or relationship.   The best of a group.  Proud or disdainful behavior.

First Corinthians Chapter 2 verses 10-16

10) “Yet God has revealed this wisdom to us through the Spirit.   The Spirit scrutinizes all matters, even the deep things of God.   11) Who, for example knows a man’s  innermost self but the man’s own spirit within him?   Similarly, no one knows what lies at the depths of God but the Spirit of God.   12)  The Spirit we have received is not the world’s spirit but God’s Spirit, helping us to recognize the gifts he has given us.   13)   We speak of these, not in words of human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, thus interpreting spirtual things in spiritual terms.   14)   The natural man does not accept what is taught by the Spirit of God.   For him, that is absurdity.   He cannot come to know such teaching because it must be appraised in a spiritual way.   15)   The spiritual man, on the other hand, can appraise everything, though he himself can be appraised by no one.   16) For, “Who has known the mind of the LORD so as to instruct him?”   But we have the mind of Christ.”

Memories, we all have them.   Yet, we can find ourselves caught up in ‘yesterday’ if we are not careful.  Its trials, and struggles are over.   However, I have noticed that people seem to dwell on yesterday.

When we have siblings, and memories of yesterday come forward to the present we revert back to what happened ‘when’.   We are cheating ourselves out of the beauty of today.

Why?   You say.   Because if the ‘feelings’ of childhood enter into adulthood, then the ‘spiritual growth’ that is intended is stifled!  It becomes stagnant!

We all have the memories of yesterday.    Yet, our wise and loving Savior instructs us on this as well.   He lived and died teaching us the way to ‘peace’.   If we desire ‘peace’ in our lives, we must embrace His teachings and apply them to our hearts.   For this is the only way to achieve the ‘peace’ and quality of life Our Lord speaks of.

When we set ourselves up for expectations, and desires, we set ourselves up for disappointment.   This usually brings about discontent.   Our Lord desires that we take care of today alone.  Hope is a separate issue.

Book of Luke Chapter 9 verses 61-62 : “The Apostles’ Requirements.”

61)”Yet another said to him, “I will be your follower, LORD, but first let me take leave of my people at home.”   62) Jesus answered him, “Whoever, put his hand to the plow but keeps looking back is unfit for the reign of God.”

In the Book of Matthew Chapter 6 verses 31-34 Jesus Speaks : True Riches

31)”Stop worrying, then, over questions like, ‘What are we to eat, or what are we to wear?’   32)The unbelievers are always running after these things.   Your heavenly Father knows all that you need.   33) Seek first his kingship over you, his way of holiness, and all these things will be given you besides.   34) Enough, then, of worrying about tomarrow.   Let tomarrow take care of itself.   Today has troubles enough of its own.”

It is the battle of wills that we face daily that our faith must carry us through.  In other words, the will of God is love, the Devil wills for destruction and unhappiness.  The two opposing forces are real.   We must realize that God is love, and in embracing His teachings through Jesus Christ His Son we are embracing Him.   In so doing we achieve the peace that surpasses all understanding!

Book of Ephesians Chapter 2 verses 13-22

13)”But now in Christ Jesus who once were far off have been brought near through the blood of Christ.   14)It is he who is our peace, and who made two of us one by breaking down the barrier of hostility that kept us apart.   15) In his own flesh he abolished the law with its commands and precepts, to create in himself one new man from us who had been two and to make peace, 16) reconciling both of us to God in one body through his cross, which put that enmity to death.  17) He came and “announced the goood new of peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near;” 18) through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.   19) This means that you are strangers and aliens no longer.   No, you are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God.   20) You form a building which rises on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the capstone.  21) Through him the whole structure is fitted together and takes shape as a holy temple in the Lord;   22)In him you are being built into this temple, to become a dwelling place for God in the Spirit.”

In’ being built into this this temple’, to become a dwelling place for God in the Spirit.’ the opposing force of evil will ‘tempt’ the beleiver.  Wisdom is found when the applications of the teachings of God are applied daily.