#BUT THEN. ceb saying it will be a time of distress

[t4tstarvingdog]

AND THEN

[jdgo51]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR DECEMBER 21, 2022

The Power of Presence

By Kevin Thomas (Alabama, USA)

READ MARK 14:32-42

[Jesus] said to them, “I’m very sad. It’s as if I’m dying. Stay here and keep alert.”

MARK 14:34 (CEB)

"When I became a pastor at 22, I lived in fear of having to perform the sacred duty of saying final words at a graveside service. I didn’t know what I would say or do.

On my first day as a pastor, Hill, a 70-year-old seasoned church leader, told me, “You’re our pastor. Tell us what to do, and we’ll follow.” His trust gave me courage to lead. But after only two months, Hill’s wife, Alma, called to tell me that Hill had died. In the face of his loss, I felt unable to do anything useful for Alma or the church.

As funeral arrangements were made over the next two days, I said a few words and prayers. But mostly I just sat with Alma, held her hand, and shared her grief. Alma told me she couldn’t have gotten through it without me. It wasn’t eloquent words or grand gestures that made a difference; it was presence.

God came in the person of Jesus to be present with us. But we can get so busy trying to be useful that we forget to be present with God. As we prepare to celebrate Christ’s birth, let us not forget to spend sacred time sitting quietly and soaking in the presence of Emmanuel."

TODAY'S PRAYER

"Dear Lord, in the hustle and bustle of our days, help us to be intentionally present so that we can connect with you and with those around us. Amen."

Mark 14:32-42

New International Version

Gethsemane

"'32 They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

35 Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. 36 “Abba,[a] Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

37 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Couldn’t you keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

39 Once more he went away and prayed the same thing. 40 When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.

41 Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” ' The disciples were not alert and Jesus was alone in His agonizing final hours. Are you standing watch and praying? Far too often we are not doing this. Be blessed! Joe

[blessedarethebinarybreakers]

Normally I don't like to ask stuff but I feel distressed. My mom is arguing about a preaching that she heard where it says that the antichrist will be gay. She quotes the book of Daniel, particularly Daniel 11:37. Her argument is that Daniel is a prophecy book therefore it must be true. It just really hurts that she'd say this to me and keeps making remarks about my faith. That I'm not a good enough Christian for not believing like her. Is what Daniel say true or is the interpretation wrong?

Hey there. I’m sorry to hear you’re distressed, and especially that your mom keeps making remarks about your faith. It is not right for any of us to judge another person’s faith like that! 

This is gonna get long, so for a tl;dr, after studying Daniel 11 and its surrounding context I can say pretty confidently that your mom is indeed wrong about how to interpret 11:37. If you want to explore just why with me, read on!

______________

So to start with, I disagree with your mom that everything in the Book of Daniel, or in any “prophecy book” of the Bible, must necessarily be “true” – or “come true” as if it were fortune telling. Biblical prophecy is not fortune telling or future telling. As I say in this post, biblical prophets were actually much more concerned about the present, about how the past had shaped that present, and about how the present could be used to shape the future! This is just a fact of how ancient Israelites viewed prophecy, regardless of how one interprets scripture (whether more fundamentalist / literal as I imagine your mom probably is, or more historical/contextual, etc.). 

Christians who get really into all the biblical visions of “the end times” and the rapture and stuff don’t want to hear this, because they want it to be somehow directly relevant to them and their futures (and that’s understandable), so the following paragraph is just some information for you rather than anything that’s likely to convince your mom:

Most biblical scholars say that most of the biblical prophecies aren’t about “The End Times” the way we conceive of it. The Book of Daniel’s prophecies do include some talk of the actual end of the world, but – like the Book of Revelation in the New Testament – the majority of his prophecies actually refer to kingdoms and intrigue going on in Daniel’s own time (or not so long before or after his own time). 

I have not studied Daniel’s prophecies, like, at all besides reading through them, so I can say more about how the Book of Revelation is less about “the end of the world” and more about “the end of the Roman Empire;” but Daniel follows a similar trajectory of being more about the fall of the empires that have oppressed his people than about the end of the whole world. If you have a Bible that offers footnotes about the historical context going on in any given passage of scripture, it will tell you all about that – that Daniel’s prophecies discuss the sequence of Babylonian, Median, and Persian rulers that oppress his people and criticize those oppressive kings. 

Thus when you go to look at Daniel 11 (and 10), you see that Daniel isn’t talking about “The Antichrist” in this passage – indeed, that title “Antichrist” is not used at all in this Book, or in any book of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) at all! – but rather he is talking about a Persian king who is going to arise and oppress his people. The New Interpreter’s Study Bible suggests in its footnotes for 11:37 that the specific king Daniel’s talking about is Antiochus, who “grew exceedingly arrogant: He abandoned his ancestral gods and imposed the worship of Zeus Olympus” – hence 11:37′s statement that he “shall pay no respect to the God’s of his ancestors.”

Now that we’ve reached the verse itself in our discussion, let’s have a closer look at Daniel 11:37. The New King James Version reads, 

“He shall regard neither the God of his fathers nor the desire of women, nor regard any god; for he shall exalt himself above them all.”

The part of this verse that is used by some to claim that “the antichrist” (if you interpret this passage as even being about the antichrist, despite the context pointing to it actually being about a Persian king) is gay is, of course, “nor the desire of women.” 

But along with that seeming like a very random tangent for the prophet to mention in a verse that otherwise is about this king abandoning all gods, the issue with biblical Hebrew is that sometimes getting a precise meaning out of it is hard. Thus “nor the desire of women” is not the only translation into English that one can make from the Hebrew. I’ll list some other translations that have been made (and you can see tons more here):

KJV: “nor the desire of women”

NASB: “or for the desire of women”

NIV: “or for the one desired by women”

ESV and NRSV: “or to the one beloved by women”

New Living Translation: “or for the god loved by women”

CEB: “and the god preferred by women”

Now, there are many conservative Christians who believe that the King James Bible is never wrong, and therefore they’ll insist that the translation to “nor the desire of women” is the one “correct” translation. But even if that is the case, what exactly does “the desire of women” mean in English? Does it mean: 

that this guy doesn’t desire / isn’t attracted to women, as your mom believes? 

could it also mean that he doesn’t care if women desire him? aka he might still desire them, and doesn’t give a damn about whether they like him back

or does it mean that he doesn’t care what women desire/want – i.e., that he won’t listen to them about what they want, perhaps in regards to what gods he respects, since that’s what the rest of the verse is about?

Moving to look at those translations that translate it “the god loved/preferred/beloved by women,” some suggest that this meaning: just as the guy has no regard for “the god of his ancestors,” likewise he has no regard for the god[s] of his wives/concubines. There are examples in the Hebrew Bible of women having different gods from their husbands – Jacob’s wife Rachel takes her household gods with her into his house; Solomon’s many foreign wives convince him to worship their gods with them. So if the Hebrew here, hemdath nashiym, is translated something about “the god loved by the women,” that’s what it could be about – this guy won’t be swayed to worship any god, whether his own family’s gods or his wives’ gods. 

That above reasoning makes much more sense within the context of the verse than it being like “So this guy won’t care about his ancestors’ god, oh also by the way he’s gay or whatever, and back to the god thing, he’s gonna exalt himself over all gods.” It would be such a random tangent! 

_______

So that’s all the language and history stuff. Now let’s get hypothetical: 

so…what if your mom is right? So what if the verse is saying “this guy isn’t attracted women”? (and for the purpose of this hypothetical, let’s say the verse is about the antichrist though as I discussed above I do not believe that it is.) 

First off, just because he doesn’t desire women doesn’t necessarily mean he does desire men. He could be asexual and/or aromantic. That wouldn’t be much better, of course, because we’d be moving from homophobia into aphobia. Asexual and aromantic folks get vilified enough with the stigma that “oh you can’t ~~love~~?? you monster!” So I definitely do not like the supposition that the antichrist is ace/aro; that’s just as icky as him being gay.

But again, we’re in hypothetical land: so let’s say the antichrist is gay, or is aroace. ……..So what??

Gay people, aroace people, aren’t all perfect and good people. We can be badguys too, ya know? If the antichrist were cishet, it wouldn’t mean that All Cishet People Are Therefore Like The Antichrist – so if the antichrist were gay, why would it therefore mean that all gay people are like the antichrist? 

He’s just one person. A big bad person – but his sexuality isn’t necessarily a part of that. He’s not evil because of whatever his sexuality is or isn’t. 

I will close by offering some counterbalances to a supposedly gay (or aroace, or otherwise LGBTQA+) antichrist: there are also LGBTQA+ heroes in the Bible.

Daniel himself may well be one of them!!

To start with, Daniel is most likely a eunuch: after all, he has a position in the Babylonian court, and as David Bayliss notes, “it was customary for Mesopotamian kings in the first millennium BC to surround themselves with eunuchs as servants.” The Bible itself attests to this fact, in places like Isaiah 39:7 that talks about youths being taken from Judah to serve Babylon’s king as eunuchs. Along with those two facts, Bayliss continues with more evidence that Daniel was a eunuch:

Third, the fact that Daniel and the other captured Israelite youths were entrusted to the “chief eunuch” suggests that they were to become young eunuchs themselves.

Fourth, boys to be made into eunuchs were usually selected for their beauty, which is mentioned at the top of the list of selecting criteria in Dan 1:4.

Fifth, there is no mention of Daniel or his companions ever marrying (or having children).

Sixth, Daniel showed no interest in returning to Jerusalem after Cyrus the Great came to the throne (who allowed exiles to return to their homelands), which may have to do with his physical humiliation and the Deut 23:1 ban.“

Now, why’s it matter if Daniel’s a eunuch?? What’s that got to do with being LGBTQA?? Many queer scholars, myself included, have argued that biblical eunuchs share many similarities to gay people, or trans people, etc. I talk about the connection between biblical eunuchs and contemporary trans people in the section of this webpage titled “ ‘Better than sons or daughters’: Isaiah 56″.

(For other resources on eunuchs’ link to LGBT folks, see here, here, here, here.)

On top of that, some scholars have suggested a romantic/sexual relationship between David and the head eunuch under which he served, Ashpenaz. According to Daniel 1:9, Daniel enjoyed “the favor and tender love” of Ashpenaz. This could be a totally platonic thing, or it could be physical; the Hebrew is ambiguous. 

You might not be able to stop your mom from making her awful comments, but maybe being able to respond in your head to her “the antichrist is gay!” with “no, Daniel was gay” will help you a little. 

Please keep safe, and do what you can to keep your mom’s crap from getting to you (I know that’s much harder said than done). You are beloved by the God who made you, friend. And scripture is much queerer than hateful Christians want to admit. 

[walkswithmyfather]

The Lord Is Our Support

“I lie down at night and fall asleep. I awake in the morning—healthy, strong, vibrant—because the Eternal supports me.” Psalm 3:5 (VOICE) 

I was sitting in my quiet place and talking to God about something that was deeply troubling me, when He suddenly gave me an image of a young tree being held by a wooden support. The tree would not have been able to withstand any harsh weather or strong winds without that support. Then, in a light bulb moment, I got the connection, “wooden support, wooden cross.” God was telling me I was the young tree, bent under my troubles, but the support would not let me bend enough to break, because I was fixed to it, tied to it and it would always be there to strengthen me. The Cross is our support. When we cling to it, the cross (by the power of Jesus) will not allow us to bend so much that we break. Friend, I urge you to take your burdens to the foot of the cross and give them to Jesus. If you cling to Jesus and the Cross, if you are tied to them, you can withstand anything life throws at you. We have trees near where I live that have these supports to help them grow strong and straight and they also have colorful hand-knitted patchwork blankets around their trunks to protect them from the harshness of winter weather. God is our blanket. Jesus is our blanket. The Holy Spirit is our blanket. The Word is our blanket. Wrap yourself in the blanket of the Trinity and the warm truth of God’s Word and they will protect you from the harshness of storms and trials. With the support of Jesus and the Cross, you can grow strong and straight, reaching up to the sky under the loving protection of the Lord Most High. PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank You for giving me that vision of a tree. I feel secure knowing that you are supporting me and helping me to grow strong and straight. Help me to immerse myself in Your Word, because it is the richest, finest soil that will help me to grow faster and stronger. Help me to absorb Your wisdom, so that I may grow into a giant tree of knowledge that gives shade and shelter to everything around it. If there is anyone reading this who feels vulnerable, as if they are bending under a great weight, I pray that they will feel Your support and the blanket of Your love and they will know that You are there to help them. I pray they will grow strong in You, safe in the knowledge that You are always with them. Help them to tie themselves to You, so that You can keep them from breaking under any trial. In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

Here are some more verses about God's wonderful support! 

“They attacked me in my time of trouble, but the Lord was there to support me.” 2 Samuel 22:19 (ERV)

“On the day when I was weakest, they attacked. But the Lord held me steady.” Psalm 18:18 (TLB)

“They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress, but the Lord supported me.” Psalm 18:18 (NLT)

“Yahweh came to my defense...The Eternal was the support of my life.” Psalm 18:18 (NOG, VOICE)

“For the power of the wicked will be broken, but the Lord upholds the righteous. The Lord supports the righteous.” Psalm 37:17 (NIV; CEB)

"The Lord will support him on his sickbed. You will restore this person to health when he is ill." Psalm 41:3 (GW)

"But see now! God comes to rescue me; the Lord is my valiant supporter." Psalm 54:4 (VOICE)

"Place your burden on the Lord, and he will support you. He will never allow the righteous to fall." Psalm 55:22 (EHV)

"Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord grasps his hand in support and upholds him." Psalm 37:24 (AMPC)

"You will take good care of me because I’ve been honest. You will let me be with you forever." Psalm 41:12 (NIRV)

"You supported me because of my integrity and set me in your presence forever." Psalm 41:12 (CSB)

"For from the Holy City they have been called, And on the God of Israel been supported, Jehovah of Hosts [is] His name." Isaiah 48:2 (YLT)

"But they lean on the Lord and say, “The Lord is here with us, so nothing bad will happen to us.” Micah 3:11 (NCV)

"Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say, “Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.” Micah 3:11 (NIV)

“Elohim means “God” – This name refers to God’s incredible power and might...He is the Mighty One over all of nature, this world, and the heavens above, our creative God who has worked wonders by His hands...His amazing power is at work in every sunrise, every sunset, in the way He holds the stars in the sky, and carries His people through difficult times. You can be assured, you are held by an Almighty God, you never have to fear, God’s hands are strong and secure.” Debbie McDaniel

[beboldinthetruth-blog]

What does it mean to be created in the image of God? Pt 4

Previously we have seen that God created us in his image. Christ is the perfect image. Messiah has the fulness of God as we also are to have that fulness. Through the indwelling of the Father’s spirit we are to be in him and in Christ and that he will bear much fruit through us.

In this study we will discover that we will be perfected through many trials and temptations.

Yahweh God pictures himself as a potter and we as the clay

Isaiah 64:8 WEB But now, Yahweh, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you our potter; and we all are the work of your hand.

Isaiah 45:9 WEB Woe to him who strives with his Maker — a potsherd among the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay ask him who fashions it, “What are you making?” or your work, “He has no hands?”

The end result of Yahweh’s workmanship is that Christ is formed in us.

Galatians 4:19 NRSV My little children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

Galatians 2:20 RSV I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

We are to be purified

Titus 2:14 NRSV 14 He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.

Whatever happens to us, will it work out for our good?

Romans 8:28 NRSV We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.

Romans 8:35-39 NRSV 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

From the above scripture, it can be seen that nothing will be able to separate us from God.

Are we promised that trials and tests will come our way and indeed, we should not be surprised at these fiery ordeals?

Acts 14:22 NRSV There they strengthened the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue in the faith, saying, “It is through many persecutions that we must enter the kingdom of God.”

As it says in the above verse, it is through many persecutions that we enter the kingdom of God. Are the ordeals we experience designed to test us?

1 Peter 4:12-13 NRSV Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.

James 1:2-4 NIV Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

1 Peter 1:6-7 HCSB You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials 7 so that the genuineness of your faith-more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire-may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:1-5 HCSB 1 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Also through Him, we have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

1 Peter 1:3-7 NRSV Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7 so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed

Are we even admonished to be joyful, rejoice and even leap for joy? See above and below.

Romans 12:12 NCV Be joyful because you have hope. Be patient when trouble comes, and pray at all times.

Matthew 5:12 NRSV “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Luke 6:20-23 NRSV Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22″Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

Acts 5:41-42 NRSV and when they had called in the apostles, they had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. 42 And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah.

Colossians 1:24 CEB Now I’m happy to be suffering for you. I’m completing what is missing from Christ’s sufferings with my own body. I’m doing this for the sake of his body, which is the church.

It’s through God’s power via Messiah that we are able to accomplish whatever the Father desires do through us.

2 Corinthians 12:9 NRSV but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

Ephesians 3:18-20 NRSV I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,

Colossians 1:8-13 NRSV 8 and he has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 For this reason, since the day we heard it, we have not ceased praying for you and asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you may lead lives worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God. 11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son,

2 Timothy 4:7 NRSV But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. Romans 15:13 NRSV May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

2 Corinthians 6:4-11 NRSV but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. 11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you

2 Corinthians 13:4 NRSV For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.

No one can snatch us out of the hand of God

John 10:28-30 NRSV I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”

Messiah has firsthand experience of being tempted and tested and is able to help us.

Hebrews 5:8 NRSV Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered;

Hebrews 2:18 NRSV Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

Messiah Jesus was tempted in all points

Hebrews 4:15 NIV For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

Hebrews 5:7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

As a result Messiah was made perfect.

Hebrews 5:9 NRSV and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him,

Being made perfect, Jesus became the source of eternal salvation.

Does all this testing result in us becoming blameless in holiness before God?

1 Thessalonians 3:11-13 NRSV Now may our God and Father Himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you. 12 And may the Lord cause you to increase and overflow with love for one another and for everyone, just as we also do for you. 13 May He make your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen.

Summary

In part one of this series the question was asked “What does it mean to be created in the image of God?” We saw that Messiah Jesus is that perfect image of God.

In part two we saw that Messiah Jesus has the fulness of the Father and we are also to have the fulness of the Father and Messiah.

In part three we saw that we are to be in the Father and in Jesus. This is pictured for us in the analogy of the vine and the branches and that through the indwelling of the Father’s spirit we bear fruit.

In this final part we have seen that we must experience many trials. The net result of all the testing and the temptations we experience is that we will be perfected and have the fulness of Yahweh God and messiah. We will become the exact representation of our Father just as our gold standard perfect example Christ is.

The testing of our faith produces perseverance – the end result of which is maturity and completeness in Christ. Enduring the trials and tests produce proven character which produces hope – this hope will not disappoint.

The end result of our life in Christ is to become the perfect image of God.

[jdgo51]

DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR OCTOBER 16, 2022

On the Mend

By Ana María Sierra Olivares (Bogotá, Colombia)

READ PHILIPPIANS 4:10-14

"What I mean is that we can mutually encourage each other while I am with you. We can be encouraged by the faithfulness we find in each other, both your faithfulness and mine."

ROMANS 1:12 (CEB)

"I was a happy and friendly child, but my attention deficit disorder caused challenges with my schoolwork and in relationships with my schoolmates and teachers. For many years I was bullied, and I was weighed down with a great sense of frustration and rejection. But expressions of concern from a handful of teachers and friends meant so much to me, and my mother, a person of strong faith, always supported me.

When I started high school, the interactions with my schoolmates seemed to get worse — to the point that I wanted to retaliate for the bad experiences I suffered. But even more, I wanted to heal the broken pieces of my life. I knew a little about God from my early years, but at this stage in my life I began to seek God in earnest. I joined the church youth group. My process of healing began when I met those wonderful people who truly reflected the love of Christ and guided and inspired me to learn more about him and his teachings.

Today, I am a university student and a proud Christian. My wounded heart is on the mend, and I am learning the importance of forgiveness as I continue my faith journey to discern God’s will for my life." Sadly so many young people are bullied at some point in their lives. It makes you wonder how good people can be so very cruel with their words and actions. The turmoil these experiences can bring to a child's life is often debilitating. Be careful what you say and be ashamed when you attack someone and cut them down. It's not what Jesus would do.

TODAY'S PRAYER

"Merciful God, thank you for loving us and for Jesus’ example of forgiveness. Give us courage to stand up for those who suffer abuse and discrimination, knowing that we can do this through Christ who gives us strength. Amen."

Philippians 4:10-14

"10 I was very glad in the Lord because now at last you have shown concern for me again. (Of course you were always concerned but had no way to show it.) 11 I’m not saying this because I need anything, for I have learned how to be content in any circumstance. 12 I know the experience of being in need and of having more than enough; I have learned the secret to being content in any and every circumstance, whether full or hungry or whether having plenty or being poor. 13 I can endure all these things through the power of the one who gives me strength. 14 Still, you have done well to share my distress." Wherever you find yourself on life's journey, God gives you strength and protection. Be focused on that and you will conquer anything. I am blessed to have God close by all the time. He never leaves my side. Joe