Jude 1 ~ Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

Jude 1

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,

To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

2 Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.

3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.

For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 

But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.
11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.

12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.



17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.

 

20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.


24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

Matthew 7:1
Do not judge, or you too will be judged.

Matthew 5:7
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

God prepares us for what is ahead. He equips us.

The Vietnam War was something I grew up with in Elementary School. Passionately. That Apple of a dilemma was so finely sliced at my household dinner table we understood war and hate had to be explained with many views around that apple. The heroism of valor to protect our Republic and the ideas of Democracy from oppression.The unmitigated Hate that causes war. Civil War is almost relentless and has to be fought until brothers are too broken, bleeding and destroyed to war more.  


The respect due to the men and women who would put their lives on the line to fight for freedom and their Nation. The horror of being in an un-winnable situation. The damage that war caused to the warriors personally and to their families.


The Spirit of Peace that said we will not disobey our consciousness telling us killing in a battle on the other side of the earth Is Wrong. Obeying the inner voice saying conformity to wrong is wrong. Mourning for our Nation in distress. Still brings tears to my eyes.

Now we deal with sides. I rather think Rodney King had an important message. And I wept with him, too. Still.





I was thinking quite comfortably last week of Beautiful Carrie Prejean and Perez Hilton.  And after I answer some life questions, I'm going to give my answer. Because it's important to be clear. And the answer is important to me.

Let me tell you of one of the best days of my life.
I went to Easter at a soon to be relative's house. And I won't give you his name because - only because - he wouldn't want me to. I was an awkward youth going to the Most Beautiful House you've ever encountered in your life. It was a mansion, fully stocked with cook, maid and full time gardener. I was Nervous. And the Door Flung Open and this WONDERFUL Man threw open his arms and he wrapped me in his arms and he kissed me on the forehead and said "Call me "Nickname"!"

I am privileged to have known "Wonderful Man". He raised two daughters and never forgot their children. We had Santa for Christmas and the children never noticed his 50 year employed Butler and Handyman was African American. Santa gave heirloom, antique, rocking horses and Forts that would arrive with names on them. "Wonderful Man" gave his grandchildren cars when they graduated from college because he'd been without a car after his Ivy League education bottomed, rock bottomed, out at the start in the Great Depression.

"Wonderful Man" said he'd been without a car and knew the hardship, so his family would not be without cars.

Of course, "Wonderful Man" was indeed a Great Uncle and not a biological Grandfather.

I was privileged to see "W.M." raise holy cow anger tantrums, and hold my hand when my Daddy died. His Secretary worked for him for 50 years. Probably the Gardener, too.  He talked about being out of work and going door to door to find a job. And usually, there was a girl friend.

When"W.M." was close to ninety years of age, he came out of the closet very privately. Because, seriously, it was very private. Because "W.M." didn't need our permission. And "W.M." didn't need people to discuss his private matters.

"W.M." did require respect and love. And when he died at age 94, we wept for months. He is very missed. "W.M." didn't run off with his friends. He was a Paterfamilias to his family. He didn't have biological children, but his children well remember his legacy of generosity, intelligent discourse, loyalty and love. We all recall seeing "W.M." see Paradise the week we sat by his side, knowing that the Hawaii he was telling us about, was his new Home.

Beloved, let us love one anther. Love is of God. Love covers a multitude of sins.


"W.M." was cremated, placed in his extensive family cemetery and his children, grand-children and great-grand children Wept. The Priest had on a white as snow vestment and when "W.M." was placed on the earth, the Good Priest wiped his hands with "W.M." ashes down his pristine vestments and said, "Jesus Christ displays this better. Jesus Christ makes us white as snow. His Love washes our sins away and makes us clean. He draws us into His Heaven."



 


Why did "W.M." keep us separate from his gay friends?

I grew up next door to two men who were gay in the Big City. For 15 years. Hal was the nicest man you'd ever meet. His partner was Not. The Partner growled at small children and I was afraid of him. He was not pleasant to my father or my brother. My mother took a pot roast to Hal one Friday night, behind their second wooden fence. My father asked her not to go as they were entertaining their regular Friday evening group. Let's say. She shouldn't have gone. My mom wishes to this day she hadn't gone.

We had two lesbians move onto our street in Dallas when I had young, young children. The neighbors were divided. The consensus was don't bother them, be polite, just be nice. That was ok. Until the children started screaming from their back yard during parties. Behind the 12 foot fence. And the police started arriving every Sunday afternoon until we were all relieved to see that the other part of the couple did move away.

I was in the Galleria with a friend and we were walking down a fairly isolated corridor and two very affectionate -to each other-  men were spooning, as they walked. I had a 12 year old boy in front of me and he was aghast to see the spooning. He started to edge over to the side away from them. They bent over and ran, as if to get him. He CRIED OUT IN FEAR. They were pleased. We rebuked them and they laughed more.

I was in a Bible Study. I began to realize the interest from the woman next to me was not platonic. And then I realized she hadn't wanted me to notice, but now that I had noticed and was worried, she was rather enjoying the cat and mouse game. I have the unique experience of being asked to participate in a three way with two lesbians, who didn't think that I'd comment. One didn't think I caught on. Yes, she invited a lover to Bible Study. And I began to pray this would be revealed and it was. To the proper authority. Cloak and dagger Bible Study ended. Surely, no one thinks this is appropriate in Bible Study.

I volunteer at a Pregnancy Assistance Center. We had a lesbian client and our area experience and statistics say lesbianism is a wife with a husband who begins to be introduced to her hobbies and her friends and then back to the man. We were discussing this, and the Psychologist who works there, did agree, and said her fifty year old husband was invited to his co-workers lesbian household for dinner. He had to leave after dinner, it turned into a group spend the night - adults only -  slumber party.





So what would I say to Perez Hilton?

I would say Jesus knew of what He spoke. The focus of the Gospel is Love. There is One who is Good and He Loves. I cannot cast the first stone. But I believe Jesus is right and Jesus loves.

I value what Jesus said and He said all of mankind falls short of His glory. Jesus did not cast His Children aside.



Father God! Thank you for the blessing of the love shown in My Loved One. Let us love one another for love is of You. We want You to be our Joy. Bring Love to be the highest calling in the land You would call Your own. Speak Joy, Love, Healing, Faith, Peace and we will reply "The Mouth of the Lord has Spoken!"

Guide us when we have stumbled, in Your Forgiveness we will live in Your Glory.

Be merciful to us when we doubt. Strengthen us in You, Lord Jesus. Let Your Great Love save us from fire of unbelief and the absence of Your Love. Teach us wisdom and mercy.

Only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves  †

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John 1 ~ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

A newly found mosaic, probably of Alexander the Great. In a fifth century Synagogue in
Huqoq, Israel. Found a week ago.

Dang. We could entitle this post what my son Alexander did last summer. Last summer, Alexander, my youngest son, was in Yaquq known to archeologists as Huqoq, Israel. And Alexander found a 4th century coin with his professor Nathan Elkins, from Baylor, with a team from the University of North Carolina.

Tyre was an Island - Before Alexander the Great decided to make more mainland.

In 332 B.C., Alexander besieged, defeated and created Tyre into the mainland from formerly being an island and Gaza in his march toward Egypt. During this campaign, he turned toward Jerusalem. This had been recorded in Scriptures. Alexander had already demanded men and supplies from the Jews, who were under the rule of Alexander's mortal enemy, the Persian king Darius. The high priest hesitated, saying that while Darius lived they would honor their pledge. Alexander was angry and began a move on the city.

Well aware of the danger, Jaddua asked the people for prayer to God for His mercy and protection. Then, says Josephus, Jaddua had a dream as to how to entreat the Macedonian king. He and the other priests dressed in their priestly robes and, accompanied by others dressed in white garments, formed a procession going out of the city to a carefully chosen place to meet the Alexander the Great.

Alexander then did the unexpected. Alone, he approached the high priest and members of the procession and greeted them. He bowed down.

Alexander said: "I did not adore him, but that God who hath honoured him with his high priesthood; for I saw this very person in a dream, in this very habit [garment], when I was at Dios in Macedonia, who, when I was considering with myself how I might obtain the dominion of Asia, exhorted me to make no delay, but boldly to pass over the sea thither, for that he would conduct my army, and would give me the dominion over the Persians; whence it is, that having seen no other in that habit, and now seeing this person in it, and remembering that vision, and the exhortation which I had in my dream, I believe that I bring this army under the divine conduct, and shall therewith conquer Darius, and destroy the power of the Persians, and that all things will succeed according to what is in my own mind" (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 11, chap. 8, sec. 5, William Whiston translation, 1981).

Josephus records Alexander accompanied the priest into Jerusalem and Temple, where he "offered sacrifice to God, according to the high priest's direction, and magnificently treated both the high priest and the priests."

Alexander's visit was capped by a briefing from the book of Daniel, written several centuries earlier, which foretold the rise and conquests of Alexander. "And when the book of Daniel was shewed him, wherein Daniel declared that one of the Greeks should destroy the empire of the Persians, he supposed that himself was the person intended; and as he was then glad, he dismissed the multitude."

What Alexander the Great encountered was, of course, the Living God. This is what we hope for our children and our loved ones to realize about Jesus.

 


The Apocrypha is debunked frequently.

Josephus would have said this is a mistake to debunk the Apocrypha. Without the history lessons from the Apocrypha, we would not have miraculous Hanukkah recorded. We would not have Biblical explanations for more miracles of God that led to Zeus not being sacrificed to in the Temple. We would not know of the heroism of Judas Maccabees. We would lose the understanding Jeremiah fully Knew to hide the Ark of the Covenant sealed until God unseals the Ark from Mount Nebo (from the Greek word ἀπόκρυφος, apókruphos, meaning "hidden"), where Moses stopped and did not enter the promised land. Without the Apocrypha, history wouldn't explain the Herods easily, we wouldn't know the coins of Israel / Judah depicted and image the first time of a non-Davidic king declaring majesty over the Children of God. The time had come for the Messiah.

Until 1534, the Apocrypha was  recorded as part of Scripture. St. Nicolas risked life and limb to meet with Bishops to agree what the Holy Spirit would call Scripture for a Church Jesus was prophetic to say existed.

Among the Dead Sea Scrolls were a number of manuscripts of the Apocrypha.

And yes,  parts of the Apocrypha are unlikely seeming, or as if they appeal to Asian worshipers.  Scripture is factual - and - God's Word appeals to - the intended people of God.

Yes, the language was merely of the written, spoken words of the people of God. Greek. How unlike God? God did not say He sent His only begotten son to the Hebrew speaking world. God sent His people into the second exile (why they were returning well treated from Emperor Darius) and to the people like Alexander the Great.

Why? GOD was on a mission. A God sized Mission - to save - the - World.

Where?
The Huqoq Excavation Project is excavating a fifth-century A.D. synagogue at Huqoq, an ancient village in Israel’s Lower Eastern Galilee located three miles west of Magdala (home of Mary Magdalene) and Capernaum Jesus' hometown.

Because?
In reality, God is reaching to all of His Creation. To discover, just as Alexander the Great, God is is found when He is sought.

Because... Because?

John 1 says something very profound about this Discovery TODAY.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.


Alexander was told about what Daniel had to say about Alexander the Great. Because they wanted Alexander to believe. They probably forgot to tell Alexander the Great what was said about making Tyre into a rubble.

Ezekiel told about that prophecy.

Ezekiel 26 announces the destruction of Tyre (Ezekiel was the prophet who announced a head of time what Nebuchadnezzar would do) , Ezekiel 27 asks for a prayer for the beautiful Tyre. Combine the two chapters, you have a wonderful example of God's mercy.

Ezekiel 27:1-4

1 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
2 Now, thou son of man, take up a lamentation for Tyrus;
3 And say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a merchant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord GOD; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. 4 Thy borders are in the midst of the seas, thy builders have perfected thy beauty.

Tyre, Lebanon today - the coast and southern half are devoid of population and are in ruins.

Ezekiel 26:1-14 ~ (Revised Standard Version)

In the eleventh year, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came to me:
"Son of man, because Tyre said concerning Jerusalem, `Aha, the gate of the peoples is broken, it has swung open to me; I shall be replenished, now that she is laid waste,' therefore thus says the Lord GOD:

Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. They shall destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down her towers; and I will scrape her soil from her, and make her a bare rock.

She shall be in the midst of the sea a place for the spreading of nets; for I have spoken, says the Lord GOD; and she shall become a spoil to the nations;
and her daughters on the mainland shall be slain by the sword. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

"For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will bring upon Tyre from the north Nebuchadrez'zar king of Babylon, king of kings, with horses and chariots, and with horsemen and a host of many soldiers.

He will slay with the sword your daughters on the mainland; he will set up a siege wall against you, and throw up a mound against you, and raise a roof of shields against you. He will direct the shock of his battering rams against your walls, and with his axes he will break down your towers. His horses will be so many that their dust will cover you; your walls will shake at the noise of the horsemen and wagons and chariots, when he enters your gates as one enters a city which has been breached. With the hoofs of his horses he will trample all your streets; he will slay your people with the sword; and your mighty pillars will fall to the ground.

They will make a spoil of your riches and a prey of your merchandise; they will break down your walls and destroy your pleasant houses; your stones and timber and soil they will cast into the midst of the waters.

And I will stop the music of your songs, and the sound of your lyres shall be heard no more.

I will make you a bare rock; you shall be a place for the spreading of nets; you shall never be rebuilt; for I the LORD have spoken, says the Lord GOD.

God laments Tyre. 

And Today. Today. Today. God still has Tyre as a desolation explaining the Word of God goes on forever.

Why say John 1 contributes to the Passage?
The Word of God points to the same message from the Father. The tributaries run to the streams, the streams to the river, the River becomes the Ocean.

Jesus did not stay on as a Warrior King. Jesus Christ, Messiah, instead Jesus fought for all of us.

God defended Hezekiah - and his God seeking, earnest nation against the Assyrian Empire.
God defended returning Judah freed slaves as the wall surrounding Jerusalem was made safe.
God defended Judah from Alexander the Great after fulfilling the Word of God as told by Daniel and Ezekiel in the Holy Spirit.

Luke 2:14
"Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."


Father God, let me be one of Your numbers, when the saints go marching in.
And my family. For the Churches of Jesus Christ. My loved ones and even the people we wait upon in prayer for His favor to create harmony. When a man loves the Lord, even his enemies are at peace with him. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves  †

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Luke 19:45-48 ~ a house of prayer

The Shepherd, by Greg Olson

Luke 19:45-48

 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.



Jesus said that we, in our bodies, are the Temple, yet it came with a caveat:

1 Corinthians 6:19
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own

Jesus went into the Temple (not just His Body, but the physical location) at least 26 times, recorded in the Gospels; And Jesus entered Synagogues at least 12 times. Every day, Jesus acknowledged mercy over sacrifice.



Mark 10:27
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."

Matthew 5:14
You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.

Philippians 2:1-11
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that ..... Jesus Christ is Lord! To the glory of God the Father!

♔ Lord Jesus Saves  †

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Psalm 121 ~ help comes from the Lord

3D Photoshop of Starry Night, by Vincent Van Gogh

Psalm 121


1 I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

Where are we going?

To our Father God.

Are we there yet?

No, we have miles to go before we sleep.


To whom shall we answer?

In 1875, British poet William Ernest Henley published the poem, called "Invictus" with these famous lines: "I am the master of my fate / I am the captain of my soul."

Master Whom?

The Shepherd and Guardian of our Souls.

1 Peter 2:25
He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. 25For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.


Master of our Fate?

Luke 10
Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.

Our Fate is Sealed. In Jesus Christ. For a long time. And God called us by name...

Psalm 139
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

How shall we go for all things for Victory in Jesus?

1 Corinthians 14
Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak in tongues. 4 0But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner.


1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not a God of disorder but of peace--as in all the congregations of the Lord's people


1 Corinthians 13:7
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things



Father God, Help us to be cheerful givers, allowing grace to abound in us. That we might be found sufficient in You. For all things at all times in every good work. Help us to rely upon You, Your Righteousness endures forever. In Jesus. Amen.




 

♔ Lord Jesus Saves  †

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Romans 8:38 ~ the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord

Romans 8:38

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Each day, Father God, we seek You, Your love. Lead us away from temptation and deliver us from evil. To Your Glory. Let us live in Your grace and truth. As our sins are forgiven, let us live mercy, truth and forgiveness to the sins done to us. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Titus 3
Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9 But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10 As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11 knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.


1 Thessalonians 4
16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Jesus Christ is coming again.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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Matthew 7: 12-14 ~ So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them

Matthew 7

12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

The narrow way to the gate or the hard way. Not the wide path of a freeway.

1 Thessalonians 4:9-12
Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

How should we proceed? Go with ease and in the ideas of the crowd. Agree politely with everyone?

Pick the High road. And let God be Sovereign in all things. God of all things.

Let Him pick our opportunities and worry less.

Matthew 6
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

If we trust Father God with all things, why fuss? God is so vast, He works well in the quiet.

Father God, let us be on Your path. Keep us centered on You. In Jesus. Amen.

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

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