#i shall cease my preaching

[awideplace]

Songs in the Night

When believers enter “the dark night of the soul,” those times when God’s mysterious will, worked out through difficult providence, makes the Lord appear veiled and unapproachable, what should they do? As we look at Scripture, one conclusion is apparent. They should sing. For the biblical testimony is that God provides “songs in the night”—lyrics to bring to Him in times of great heart distress.

We would not, at first thought, naturally reason that a time of struggle, suffering, or pain is also a time for singing, especially when God seems absent and hidden. It can almost seem cruel to suggest that a hurting, disillusioned soul should sing. Crying, wondering, and groaning seem more fitting. But singing? Is not lifting our voice in song for happy times? Certainly, but singing is also for trying times. Indeed, perhaps especially so.

Christian songwriter Michael Card has noted that in the book of Psalms, sixty-five of the 150 songs found there, or more than 40 percent, contain lamentations. As His people live in this sin-cursed world, God knew that they would need help pouring out their souls to Him in distress. So, He provided them with songs to sing at those times—songs in the night. 

Job’s younger friend Elihu testifies to this truth when he acknowledges that God “gives songs in the night” to those in distress (Job 35:10). Likewise, the psalmist, so troubled in soul that he says he moans when he remembers God, stirs himself with the words, “Let me remember my song in the night” (Ps. 77:3, 6). He then goes on to sing five agonizing lines of a song that, stated in questions, describe how spiritual midnight truly feels. “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” (vv. 7–9). 

One such song in the night is Psalm 42. The psalmist, far from God and His people, taunted by his foes, says he longs for God like a hunted deer pants for water (v. 1). He describes his experience as having the breaking waves of God’s sea washing over him (v. 7). He gives expression to dismay, as seen in the twice-repeated question of the psalm: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” (vv. 5, 11). 

However, this song also provides proper heart redirection. For in the midst of his despair, the psalmist also recalls these truths: “By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life” (v. 8). He answers his repeated question with the same refrain each time. “Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.” As Martyn Lloyd-Jones reminds us in his work Spiritual Depression, psalms like this one encourage us to “preach to ourselves” instead of just “listening to ourselves.” We can counter our feelings of defeat and discouragement by preaching to our souls sermons provided by God in His Word.

Truly He puts our tears in a bottle (56:8).

When Jesus entered the dark night of His soul on Calvary’s cross, He had these same songs on His heart. He quoted from the Psalms, expressing both His despair in the words, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps. 22:1), and His hope when He finally said, “Into your hand I commit my spirit” (Ps. 31:5). Friend, if your Lord needed these words at His blackest hour, so do you. When you do not know what to say or pray, when you have groaning too deep for words, when the darkness falls, then turn to the songs in the night the Lord Himself used, and that He still provides for you.

By Barry York, published May 2019

[dailyanarchistposts]

Chapter VIII. Of the Responsibility of Man and Of God, Under the Law of Contradiction, Or a Solution of the Problem of Providence.

1. — The culpability of man. — Exposition of the myth of the fall.

As long as man lives under the law of egoism, he accuses himself; as soon as he rises to the conception of a social law, he accuses society. In both cases humanity accuses humanity; and so far the clearest result of this double accusation is the strange faculty, which we have not yet pointed out, and which religion attributes to God as well as to man, of REPENTANCE.

Of what, then, does humanity repent? For what does God, who repents as well as ourselves, desire to punish us? Poenituit Deum quod hominem fecisset in terra, et tactus dolore cordis intrinsecus, delebo, inquit, hominem....

If I demonstrate that the offences charged upon humanity are not the consequence of its economic embarrassments, although the latter result from the constitution of its ideas; that man does evil gratuitously and when not under compulsion, just as he honors himself by acts of heroism which justice does not exact, — it will follow that man, at the tribunal of his conscience, may be allowed to plead certain extenuating circumstances, but can never be entirely discharged of his guilt; that the struggle is in his heart as well as in his mind; that he deserves now praise, now blame, which is a confession, in either case, of his inharmonious state; finally, that the essence of his soul is a perpetual compromise between opposing attractions, his morality a system of seesaw, in a word, — and this word tells the whole story, — eclecticism.

My proof shall be soon made.

There exists a law, older than our liberty, promulgated from the beginning of the world, completed by Jesus Christ, preached and certified by apostles, martyrs, confessors, and virgins, graven on the heart of man, and superior to all metaphysics: it is LOVE. Love thy neighbor as thyself, Jesus Christ tells us, after Moses. That is the whole of it. Love thy neighbor as thyself, and society will be perfect; love thy neighbor as thyself, and all distinctions of prince and shepherd, of rich and poor, of learned and ignorant, disappear, all clashing of human interests ceases. Love thy neighbor as thyself, and happiness with industry, without care for the future, shall fill thy days. To fulfil this law and make himself happy man needs only to follow the inclination of his heart and listen to the voice of his sympathies. He resists; he does more: not content wtih {sic} preferring himself to his neighbor, he labors constantly to destroy his neighbor; after having betrayed love through egoism, he overturns it by injustice.

Man, I say, faithless to the law of charity, has, of himself and without any necessity, made the contradictions of society so many instruments of harm; through his egoism civilization has become a war of surprises and ambushes; he lies, he steals, he murders, when not compelled to do so, without provocation, without excuse. In short, he does evil with all the characteristics of a nature deliberately maleficent, and all the more wicked because, when it so wishes, it knows how to do good gratuitously also and is capable of self-sacrifice; wherefore it has been said of it, with as much reason as depth: Homo homini lupus, vel deus.

Not to unduly extend the subject, and especially in order to avoid prejudging the questions that I shall have to consider, I limit myself to the economic facts already analyzed.

With the fact that the division of labor is by nature, pending the attainment of a synthetic organization, an irresistible cause of physical, moral, and mental inequality among men neither society nor conscience have anything to do. That is a fact of necessity, of which the rich man is as innocent as the parcellaire workman, consigned by his position to all sorts of poverty.

But how happens it that this inevitable inequality is converted into a title of nobility for some, of abjection for others? How happens it, if man is good, that he has not succeeded in levelling by his goodness this wholly metaphysical obstacle, and that, instead of strengthening the fraternal tie that binds men, pitiless necessity breaks it? Here man cannot be excused on the ground of his economic inexperience or legislative shortsightedness; it was enough that he had a heart. Since the martyrs of the division of labor should have been helped and honored by the rich, why have they been rejected as impure? Why is it an unheard-of thing for masters to occasionally relieve their slaves, for princes, magistrates, and priests to change places with mechanics, and for nobles to assume the task of the peasants on the land? What is the reason of this brutal pride of the powerful?

And note that such conduct on their part would have been not only charitable and fraternal, but in accord with the sternest justice. By virtue of the principle of collective force, laborers are the equals and associates of their leaders; so that in the system of monopoly itself, community of action restoring the equilibrium which parcellaire individualism has disturbed, justice and charity blend. On the hypothesis of the essential goodness of man, how then is to be explained the monstrous attempt to change the authority of some into nobility and the obedience of others into plebeianism? Labor, between the serf and the free man, like color between the black and the white, has always drawn an impassable line; and we ourselves, who glory so in our philanthropy, at the bottom of our hearts are of the same opinion as our predecessors. The sympathy which we feel for the proletaire is like that with which animals inspire us; delicacy of organs, dread of misery, pride in separating ourselves from all suffering, — it is these shifts of egoism that prompt our charity.

For in fact — and I desire only this fact to confound us — is it not true that spontaneous benevolence, so pure in its primitive conception (eleemosyna, sympathy, tenderness), alms, in fine, has become for the unfortunate a sign of degradation, a public stigma? And socialists, rebuking Christianity, dare to talk to us of love! The Christian thought, the conscience of humanity, hit the mark precisely, when it founded so many institutions for the relief of misfortune. To grasp the evangelical precept in its depth and render legal charity as honorable to those who had been its objects as to those who had exercised it, there was needed — what? Less pride, less greed, less egoism. If man is good, will any one tell me how the right to alms has become the first link in the long chain of infractions, misdemeanors, and crimes? Will any one still dare to blame the misdeeds of man upon the antagonisms of social economy, when these antagonisms offered him so beautiful an opportunity of manifesting the charity of his heart, I do not say by self-sacrifice, but by the simple doing of justice?

I know — and this objection is the only one that can be offered against my position — that charity is covered with shame and dishonor because the individual who asks it is too often, alas! suspected of misconduct and rarely to be recommended on the score of dignity of morals and of labor. And statistics prove that those who are poor through cowardice and negligence outnumber ten times those who are poor through accident or mischance.

Far be it from me to challenge this observation, the truth of which is demonstrated by too many facts, and which, moreover, has received the sanction of the people. The people are the first to accuse the poor of laziness; and there is nothing more common than to meet in the lower classes men who boast, as if it were a title of nobility, that they have never been in the hospital and in their greatest distress have never been recipients of public charity. Thus, just as opulence avows its robberies, misery confesses its shame. Man is a tyrant or a slave by will before becoming so by fortune; the heart of the proletaire is like that of the rich man, — a sewer of boiling sensuality, the home of crapulence and imposture.

Upon this unexpected revelation I ask how it happens, if man is good and charitable, that the rich calumniate charity while the poor defile it? It is perversion of judgment on the part of the rich, say some; it is degradation of faculties on the part of the poor, say others. But how is it that judgment is perverted on the one hand, and on the other that faculties are degraded? How comes it that a true and cordial fraternity has not arrested on the one side and on the other the effects of pride and labor? Let my questions be answered by reasons, not by phrases.

Labor, in inventing processes and machines which infinitely multiply its power, and then in stimulating industrial genius by rivalry and assuring its conquests by means of the profits of capital and privileges of exploitation, has rendered the hierarchical constitution of society more profound and more inevitable; I repeat that no blame attaches to any one for this. But I call the holy law of the Gospel to witness that it was within our power to draw wholly different consequences from this subordination of man to man, or, better, of laborer to laborer.

The traditions of feudal life and of that of the patriarchs set the example for the manufacturers. The division of labor and the other accidents of production were only calls to the great family life, indications of the preparatory system in accordance with which fraternity was to appear and be developed. Masterships, corporations, and rights of primogeniture were conceived under the influence of this idea; many communists even are not hostile to this form of association; is it surprising that the ideal is so tenacious among those who, conquered but not converted, still appear as its representatives? What, then, prevented charity, union, sacrifice from maintaining themselves in the hierarchy, when the hierarchy might have been only a condition of labor? To this end it would have sufficed if men having machines, valiant knights fighting with equal weapons, had not made a mystery of their secrets or withheld them from others; if barons had set to work, not to monopolize their products, but to cheapen them; and if vassals, assured that war would result only in increasing their wealth, had always shown themselves enterprising, industrious, and faithful. The chief of the workshop would then have been simply a captain putting his men through manoeuvres in their interest as well as in his own, and maintaining them, not with his perquisites, but with their own services.

Instead of these fraternal relations, we have had pride, jealousy, and perjury; the employer, like the vampire of the fable, exploiting the degraded wage-worker, and the wage-worker conspiring against the employer; the idler devouring the substance of the laborer, and the serf, squatting in filth, having no strength left but for hatred.

Called on to furnish for the work of production, these tools, those labor, capitalists and laborers are today in a struggle: why? Because absolutism presides over all their relations; because the capitalist speculates on the need which the laborer feels of procuring tools, while the laborer, in turn, seeks to derive advantage from the need which the capitalist feels of fertilizing his capital. — L. Blanc: Organization of Labor.

And why this absolutism in the relations of capitalist and laborer? Why this hostility of interests? Why this reciprocal enmity? Instead of eternally explaining the fact by the fact itself, go to the bottom, and you will find everywhere, as original motive, a passion for enjoyment which neither law nor justice nor charity restrain; you will see egoism continually discounting the future, and sacrificing to its monstrous caprices labor, capital, life, and the security of all.

The theologians have given the name concupiscence or concupiscible appetite to the passionate greed for sensual things, the effect, according to them, of original sin. I trouble myself little, for the present, as to the nature of the original sin; I simply observe that the concupiscible appetite of the theologians is no other than that need of luxury pointed out by the Academy of Moral Sciences as the ruling motive of our epoch. Now, the theory of proportionality of values demonstrates that luxury is naturally measured by production; that every consumption in advance is recovered by an equivalent later privation; and that the exaggeration of luxury in a society necessarily has an increase of misery as its correlative. Now, were man to sacrifice his personal welfare for luxurious and advance enjoyments, perhaps I should accuse him only of imprudence; but, when he injures the welfare of his neighbor, — a welfare which he should regard as inviolable, both from charity and on the ground of justice, — I say then that man is wicked, inexcusably wicked.

When God, according to Bossuet, formed the bowels of man, he originally placed goodness there. Thus love is our first law; the prescriptions of pure reason, as well as the promptings of the senses, take second and third rank only. Such is the hierarchy of our faculties, — a principle of love forming the foundation of our conscience and served by an intelligence and organs. Hence of two things one: either the man who violates charity to obey his cupidity is guilty; or else, if this psychology is false, and the need of luxury in man must hold a place beside charity and reason, man is a disorderly animal, utterly wicked, and the most execrable of beings.

Thus the organic contradictions of society cannot cover the responsibility of man; viewed in themselves, moreover, these contradictions are only the theory of the hierarchical regime, the first form and consequently an irreproachable form of society. By the antinomy of their development labor and capital have been continually led back to equality at the same time as to subordination, to solidarity as well as to dependence; one was the agent, the other the stimulator and guardian of the common wealth. This indication has been indistinctly seen by the theorists of the feudal system; Christianity came in time to cement the compact; and it is still the sentiment of this misunderstood and broken, but in itself innocent and legitimate, organization which causes regrets among us and sustains the hope of a party. As this system was written in the book of destiny, it cannot be said to be bad in itself, just as the embryonic state cannot be called bad because it precedes adult age in physiological development.

I insist, therefore, on my accusation:

Under the regime abolished by Luther and the French Revolution man could be happy in proportion to the progress of his industry; he did not choose to be; on the contrary, he forbade himself to be.

Labor has been regarded as dishonorable; the clergy and the nobility have made themselves the devourers of the poor; to satisfy their animal passions, they have extinguished charity in their hearts; they have ruined, oppressed, assassinated the laborer. And thus it is that we see capital still hunting the proletariat. Instead of tempering the subversive tendency of economic principles by association and mutuality, the capitalist exaggerates it unnecessarily and with evil design; he abuses the senses and the conscience of the workman; he makes him a valet in his intrigues, a purveyor of his debaucheries, an accomplice in his robberies; he makes him in all respects like himself, and then it is that he can defy the justice of revolutions to touch him. Monstrous thing! the man who lives in misery, and whose soul therefore seems a nearer neighbor of charity and honor, shares his master’s corruption; like him, he gives everything to pride and luxury, and if he sometimes cries out against the inequality from which he suffers, it is still less from zeal for justice than from rivalry in desire. The greatest obstacle which equality has to overcome is not the aristocratic pride of the rich man, but the ungovernable egoism of the poor man. And you rely on his native goodness to reform at once both the spontaneity and the premeditation of his malice!

“As the false and anti-social education given to the present generation,” says Louis Blanc, “permits no search for any other motive for emulation and encouragement than an increase of reward, the difference of wages should be graduated according to the hierarchy of functions, an entirely new education having to change ideas and morals in this matter.”

Dismissing the hierarchy of functions and the inequality of wages for what they are worth, let us consider here only the motive assigned by the author. Is it not strange to see M. Blanc affirm the goodness of our nature, and at the same time address himself to the most ignoble of our propensities, — avarice? Truly, evil must seem to you very deeply rooted, if you deem it necessary to begin the restoration of charity by a violation of charity. Jesus Christ broke openly with pride and greed; apparently the libertines whom he catechised were holy personages compared with the herd infected with socialism. But tell us then, in short, how our ideas have been warped, why our education is anti-social, since it is now demonstrated that society has followed the route traced by destiny and can no longer be charged with the crimes of man.

Really, the logic of socialism is marvellous.

Man is good, they say; but it is necessary to detach his interests from evil to secure his abstinence from it. Man is good; but he must be interested in the good, else he will not do it. For, if the interest of his passions leads him to evil, he will do evil; and, if this same interest leaves him indifferent to good, he will not do good. And society will have no right to reproach him for having listened to his passions, because it was for society to conduct him by his passions. What a rich and precious nature was that of Nero, who killed his mother because she wearied him, and who caused Rome to be burned in order to have a representation of the pillage of Troy! What an artist’s soul was that of Heliogabalus, who organized prostitution! What a potent character was Tiberius! But what an abominable society was that which perverted those divine souls, and produced, moreover, Tacitus and Marcus Aurelius!

This, then, is what is called the harmlessness of man, — the holiness of his passions! An aged Sappho, abandoned by her lovers, goes back under the conjugal law; her interest detached from love, she returns to marriage, and is holy. What a pity that this word holy (saint) has not in French the double meaning which it possesses in the Hebrew language! All would be in accord regarding the holiness of Sappho.

I read in a report upon the railways of Belgium that, the Belgian administration having allowed its engineers a premium of two and one-half cents for every bushel of coke saved out of an average consumption of two hundred and ten pounds for a given distance traversed, this premium bore such fruits that the consumption fell from two hundred and ten pounds to one hundred and six. This fact sums up the whole socialistic philosophy: to gradually train the workingman to justice, encourage him to labor, lift him to the sublimity of devotion, by increase of wages, profit-sharing, distinctions, and rewards. Certainly I do not mean to blame this method, which is as old as the world: whatever way you take to tame serpents and tigers and render them useful, I applaud it. But do not say that your beasts are doves; for then, as sole reply, I shall point you to their claws and teeth. Before the Belgian engineers became interested in the economy of fuel, they burned double the quantity. Therefore on their part there was carelessness, negligence, prodigality, waste, perhaps theft, although they were bound to the administration by a contract which obliged them to practise all the contrasted virtues. It is good, you say, to interest the laborer. I say further that it is just. But I maintain that this interest, more powerful over man than voluntarily accepted obligation, more powerful, in a word, than DUTY, accuses man. Socialism goes backward in morality, and it turns up its nose at Christianity. It does not understand charity, and yet, to hear it, one would suppose that it invented charity.

See, moreover, observe the socialists, what fortunate fruits the perfecting of our social order has already borne! The present generation is undeniably better than its predecessors: are we wrong in concluding that a perfect society will produce perfect citizens? Say rather, reply the conservative believers in the dogma of the fall, that, religion having purified hearts, it is not astonishing that institutions have felt the effects. Now let religion finish its work, and have no fears about society.

So speak and retort in an endless wandering from the question the theorists of the two schools. Neither understand that humanity, to use a Biblical expression, is one and constant in its generations, — that is, that everything in it, at every period of its development, in the individual as in the mass, proceeds from the same principle, which is, not being, but becoming. They do not see, on the one hand, that progress in morality is a continual conquest of mind over animality, just as progress in wealth is the fruit of the war waged by labor upon the parsimony of nature; consequently that the idea of native goodness lost through society is as absurd as the idea of native wealth lost through labor, and that a compromise with the passions should be viewed in the same light as a compromise with rest. On the other hand, they refuse to understand that, if there is progress in humanity, whether through religion or from some other cause, the hypothesis of constitutional corruption is nonsense, a contradiction.

But I anticipate the conclusions at which I must arrive: let us, for the present, establish simply that the moral perfection of humanity, like material welfare, is realized by a series of oscillations between vice and virtue, merit and demerit.

Yes, humanity grows in justice, but this growth of our liberty, due entirely to the growth of our intelligence, surely gives no proof of the goodness of our nature; and, far from authorizing us to glorify our passions, it really destroys their sway. The fashion and style of our malice change with time: the barons of the middle ages plundered the traveller on the highway, and then offered him hospitality in their castles; mercantile feudality, less brutal, exploits the proletaire and builds hospitals for him: who would dare to say which of the two has deserved the palm of virtue?

Of all the economic contradictions value is that which, dominating the others and summing them up, holds in a sense the sceptre of society, I had almost said of the moral world. Until value, oscillating between its two poles, — useful value and value in exchange, — arrives at its constitution, thine and mine remain fixed arbitrarily; the conditions of fortune are the effect of chance; property rests on a precarious title; everything in social economy is provisional. What should social, intelligent, and free beings have learned from this uncertainty of value? To make amicable regulations that should protect labor and guarantee exchange and cheapness. What a happy opportunity for all to make up, by honesty, disinterestedness, and tenderness of heart, for the ignorance of the objective laws of the just and the unjust! Instead of that, commerce has everywhere become, by spontaneous effort and unanimous consent, an uncertain operation, a venturesome enterprise, a lottery, and often a deceitful and fraudulent speculation.

What obliges the holder of provisions, the storekeeper of society, to pretend that there is a scarcity, sound the alarm, and provoke a rise of prices? Public short-sightedness places the consumer at his mercy; some change of temperature furnishes him a pretext; the assured prospect of gain finally corrupts him, and fear, skilfully spread abroad, throws the population into his toils. Certainly the motive which actuates the swindler, the thief, the assassin, those natures warped, it is said, by the social order, is the same which animates the monopolist who is not in need. How, then, does this passion for gain, abandoned to itself, turn to the prejudice of society? Why has preventive, repressive, and coercive legislation always been necessary to set a limit to liberty? For that is the accusing fact, which it is impossible to deny: everywhere the law has grown out of abuse; everywhere the legislator has found himself forced to make man powerless to harm, which is synonymous with muzzling a lion or infibulating a boar. And socialism itself, ever imitating the past, makes no other pretence: what is, indeed, the organization which it claims, if not a stronger guarantee of justice, a more complete limitation of liberty?

The characteristic trait of the merchant is to make everything either an object or an instrument of traffic. Disassociated from his fellows, his interests separated from those of others, he is for and against all deeds, all opinions, all parties. A discovery, a science, is in his eyes an instrument of war, out of the way of which he tries to keep, and which he would like to annihilate, unless he can make use of it himself to kill his competitors. An artist, an educated person, is an artilleryman who knows how to handle the weapon, and whom he tries to corrupt, if he cannot win him. The merchant is convinced that logic is the art of proving at will the true and the false; he was the inventor of political venality, traffic in consciences, prostitution of talents, corruption of the press. He knows how to find arguments and advocates for all lies, all iniquities. He alone has never deceived himself as to the value of political parties: he deems them all equally exploitable, — that is, equally absurd.

Without respect for his avowed opinions, which he abandons and resumes by turns; sharply pursuing in others those violations of faith of which he is himself guilty, — he lies in his claims, he lies in his representations, he lies in his inventories; he exaggerates, he extenuates, he over-rates; he regards himself as the centre of the world, and everything outside of him has only a relative existence, value, and truth. Subtle and shrewd in his transactions, he stipulates, he reserves, trembling always lest he may say too much or not enough; abusing words with the simple, generalizing in order not to compromise himself, specifying in order to allow nothing, he turns three times upon himself and thinks seven times under his chin before saying his last word. Has he at last concluded? He rereads himself, he interprets himself, he comments on himself; he tortures himself to find a deep meaning in every part of his contract, and in the clearest phrases the opposite of what they say.

What infinite art, what hypocrisy, in his relations with the manual laborer! From the simple shopkeeper to the big contractor, how skilful they are in exploiting his arms! How well they know how to contend with labor, in order to obtain it at a low price! In the first place, it is a hope for which the master receives a slight service; then it is a promise which he discounts by requiring some duty; then a trial, a sacrifice, — for he needs nobody, — which the unfortunate man must recognize by contenting himself with the lowest wages; there are endless exactions and overcharges, compensated by settlements on pay-days effected in the most rapacious and deceitful spirit. And the workman must keep silent and bend the knee, and clench his fist under his frock: for the employer has the work, and only too happy is he who can obtain the favor of his swindles. And because society has not yet found a way to prevent, repress, and punish this odious grinding process, so spontaneous, so ingenuous, so disengaged from all superior impulse, it is attributed to social constraint. What folly!

The commission-merchant is the type, the highest expression, of monopoly, the embodiment of commerce, that is, of civilization. Every function depends upon his, participates in it, or is assimilated to it: for, as from the standpoint of the distribution of wealth the relations of men with each other are all reducible to exchanges, — that is, to transfers of values, — it may be said that civilization is personified in the commission-merchant.

Now, question the commission-merchants as to the morality of their trade; they will be frank with you; all will tell you that the commission business is extortion. Complaints are made of the frauds and adulterations which disgrace manufactures: commerce — I refer especially to the commission business — is only a gigantic and permanent conspiracy of monopolists, by turns competing or joined in pools; it is not a function performed with a view to a legitimate profit, but a vast organization of speculation in all articles of consumption, as well as on the circulation of persons and products. Already swindling is tolerated in this profession: how many way-bills overcharged, erased, altered! how many stamps counterfeited! how much damage concealed or fraudulently compounded! how many lies as to quality! how many promises given and retracted! how many documents suppressed! what intrigues and combinations! and then what treasons!

The commission-merchant — that is, the merchant — that is, the man -is a gambler, a slanderer, a charlatan, a mercenary, a thief, a forger....

This is the effect of our antagonistic society, observe the neo-mystics. So say the commercial people, the first under all circumstances to accuse the corruption of the century. They act as they do, if we may believe them, simply to indemnify themselves and wholly against their inclination: they follow necessity; theirs is a case of legitimate defence.

Does it require an effort of genius to see that these mutual recriminations strike at the very nature of man, that the pretended perversion of society is nothing but the perversion of man, and that the opposition of principles and interests is only an external accident, so to speak, which brings into relief, but without exerting a necessitating influence, both the blackness of our egoism and the rare virtues with which our race is honored?

I understand inharmonious competition and its irresistible eliminating effects: this is inevitable. Competition, in its higher expression, is the gearing by means of which laborers reciprocally stimulate and sustain each other. But, pending the realization of that organization which must elevate competition to its veritable nature, it remains a civil war in which producers, instead of aiding each other in labor, grind and crush each other by labor. The danger here was imminent; man, to avert it, had this supreme law of love; and nothing was easier, while pushing competition to its extreme limits in the interest of production, than to then repair its murderous effects by an equitable distribution. Far from that, this anarchical competition has become, as it were, the soul and spirit of the laborer. Political economy placed in the hands of man this weapon of death, and he has struck; he has used competition, as the lion uses his paws and jaws, to kill and devour. How is it, then, I repeat, that a wholly external accident has changed the nature of man, which is supposed to be good and gentle and social?

The wine merchant calls to his aid jelly, magnin, insects, water, and poisons; by combinations of his own he adds to the destructive effects of competition. Whence comes this mania? From the fact, you say, that his competitor sets him the example! And this competitor, who incites him? Some other competitor. So that, if we make the tour of society, we shall find that it is the mass, and in the mass each particular individual, who, by a tacit agreement of their passions, — pride, indolence, greed, distrust, jealousy, — have organized this detestable war.

After having gathered about him tools, material, and workmen, the contractor must recover in the product, besides the amount of his outlay, first the interest of his capital, and then a profit. It is in consequence of this principle that lending at interest has finally become established, and that gain, considered in itself, has always passed for legitimate. Under this system, the police of nations not having seen at first the essential contradiction of loans at interest, the wage-worker, instead of depending directly upon himself, had to depend upon an employer, as the soldier belonged to the count, or the tribe to the patriarch. This order of things was necessary, and, pending the establishment of complete equality, it was not impossible that the welfare of all should be secured by it. But when the master, in his disorderly egoism, has said to the servant: “You shall not share with me,” and robbed him at one stroke of labor and wages, where is the necessity, where the excuse? Will it be necessary further, in order to justify the concupiscible appetite, to fall back on the irascible appetite? Take care: in drawing back in order to justify the human being in the series of his lusts, instead of saving his morality, you abandon it. For my part, I prefer the guilty man to the wild-beast man.

Nature has made man sociable: the spontaneous development of his instincts now makes him an angel of charity, now robs him even of the sentiment of fraternity and the idea of devotion. Did any one ever see a capitalist, weary of gain, conspiring for the general good and making the emancipation of the proletariat his last speculation? There are many people, favorites of fortune, to whom nothing is lacking but the crown of beneficence: now, where is the grocer who, having grown rich, begins to sell at cost? Where the baker who, retiring from business, leaves his customers and his establishment to his assistants? Where the apothecary who, under the pretence of winding up his affairs, surrenders his drugs at their true value? When charity has its martyrs, why has it not its amateurs? If there should suddenly be formed a congress of bondholders, capitalists, and men of business, retired but still fit for service, with a view to carrying on a certain number of industries gratuitously, in a short time society would be reformed from top to bottom. But work for nothing! That is for the Vincent de Pauls, the Fenelons, all those whose souls have always been weaned and whose hearts have been pure. The man enriched by gain will be a municipal councillor, a member of the committee on charities, an officer of the infant schools: he will perform all the honorary functions, barring exactly that which would be efficacious, but which is repugnant to his habits. Work without hope of profits! That cannot be, for it would be self-destruction. He would like to, perhaps; he has not the courage. Video meliora proboque, deteriora sequor. The retired proprietor is really the owl of the fable gathering beech-nuts for its mutilated mice until it is ready to devour them. Is society also to be blamed for these effects of a passion so long, so freely, so fully gratified?

Who, then, will explain this mystery of a manifold and discordant being, capable at once of the highest virtues and the most frightful crimes? The dog licks his master who strikes him, because the dog’s nature is fidelity and this nature never leaves him. The lamb takes refuge in the arms of the shepherd who fleeces and eats him, because the sheep’s inseparable characteristics are gentleness and peace. The horse dashes through flame and grape-shot without touching with his swiftly-moving feet the wounded and dead lying in his path, because the horse’s soul is unalterable in its generosity. These animals are martyrs for our sakes through the constancy and devotion of their natures. The servant who defends his master at the peril of his life, for a little gold betrays and murders him; the chaste wife pollutes her bed because of some disgust or absence, and in Lucrece we find Messalina; the proprietor, by turns father and tyrant, refits and restores his ruined farmer and drives from his lands the farmer’s too numerous family, which has increased on the strength of the feudal contract; the warrior, mirror and paragon of chivalry, makes the corpses of his companions a stepping-stone to advancement. Epaminondas and Regulus traffic in the blood of their soldiers, — how many instances have my own eyes witnessed! — and by a horrible contrast the profession of sacrifice is the most fruitful in cowardice. Humanity has its martyrs and its apostates: to what, I ask again, must this division be attributed?

To the antagonism of society, you always say; to the state of separation, isolation, hostility to his fellows, in which man has hitherto lived; in a word, to that alienation of his heart which has led him to mistake enjoyment for love, property for possession, pain for labor, intoxication for joy; to that warped conscience, in short, which remorse has not ceased to pursue under the name of original sin. When man, reconciled with himself, shall cease to look upon his neighbor and nature as hostile powers, then will he love and produce simply by the spontaneity of his energy; then it will be his passion to give, as it is today to acquire; and then will he seek in labor and devotion his only happiness, his supreme delight. Then, love becoming really and indivisibly the law of man, justice will thereafter be but an empty name, painful souvenir of a period of violence and tears.

Certainly I do not overlook the fact of antagonism, or, as it will please you to call it, of religious alienation, any more than the necessity of reconciling man with himself; my whole philosophy is but a perpetuity of reconciliations. You admit that the divergence of our nature is the preliminary of society, or, let us rather say, the material of civilization. This is precisely the fact, but, remember well, the indestructible fact of which I seek the meaning. Certainly we should be very near an understanding, if, instead of considering the dissidence and harmony of the human faculties as two distinct periods, clean-cut and consecutive in history, you would consent to view them with me simply as the two faces of our nature, ever adverse, ever in course of reconciliation, but never entirely reconciled. In a word, as individualism is the primordial fact of humanity, so association is its complementary term; but both are in incessant manifestation, and on earth justice is eternally the condition of love.

Thus the dogma of the fall is not simply the expression of a special and transitory state of human reason and morality: it is the spontaneous confession, in symbolic phrase, of this fact as astonishing as it is indestructible, the culpability, the inclination to evil, of our race. Curse upon me a sinner! cries on every hand and in every tongue the conscience of the human race. Voe nobis quia peccavimus! Religion, in giving this idea concrete and dramatic form, has indeed gone back of history and beyond the limits of the world for that which is essential and immanent in our soul; this, on its part, was but an intellectual mirage; it was not mistaken as to the essentiality and permanence of the fact. Now, it is this fact for which we have to account, and it is also from this point of view that we are to interpret the dogma of original sin.

All peoples have had their expiatory customs, their penitential sacrifices, their repressive and penal institutions, born of the horror and regret of sin. Catholicism, which built a theory wherever social spontaneity had expressed an idea or deposited a hope, converted into a sacrament the at once symbolic and effective ceremony by which the sinner expressed his repentance, asked pardon of God and men for his fault, and prepared himself for a better life. Consequently I do not hesitate to say that the Reformation, in rejecting contrition, cavilling over the word metanoia, attributing to faith alone the virtue of justification, deconsecrating repentance in short, took a step backward and utterly failed to recognize the law of progress. To deny was not to reply. On this point as on so many others the abuses of the Church called for reform; the theories of repentance, of damnation, of the remission of sin, and of grace contained, if I may venture to say so, in a latent state, the entire system of humanity’s education; these theories needed to be developed and grown into rationalism; Luther knew nothing but their destruction. Auricular confession was a degradation of repentance, an equivocal demonstration substituted for a great act of humility; Luther surpassed papist hypocrisy by reducing the primitive confession before God and men (exomologoumai to theo.... kai humin, adelphoi) to a soliloquy. The Christian meaning then was lost, and not until three centuries later was it restored by philosophy.

Since, then, Christianity — that is, religious humanity — has not been in error as to the REALITY of a fact essential in human nature, — a fact which it has designated by the words original prevarication, let us further interrogate Christianity, humanity, as to the MEANING of this fact. Let us not be astonished either by metaphor or by allegory: truth is independent of figures. And besides, what is truth to us but the continuous progress of our mind from poetry to prose?

And first let us inquire whether this at least singular idea of original prevarication had not, somewhere in the Christian theology, its correlative. For the true idea, the generic idea, cannot result from an isolated conception; there must be a series.

Christianity, after having posited the dogma of the fall as the first term, followed up its thought by affirming, for all who should die in this state of pollution, an irrevocable separation from God, an eternity of punishment. Then it completed its theory by reconciling these two opposites by the dogma of rehabilitation or of grace, according to which every creature born in the hatred of God is reconciled by the merits of Jesus Christ, which faith and repentance render efficacious. Thus, essential corruption of our nature and perpetuity of punishment, except in the case of redemption through voluntary participation in Christ’s sacrifice, — such is, in brief, the evolution of the theological idea. The second affirmation is a consequence of the first; the third is a negation and transformation of the two others: in fact, a constitutional vice being necessarily indestructible, the expiation which it involves is as eternal as itself, unless a superior power comes to break destiny and lift the anathema by an integral renovation.

The human mind, in its religious caprices as well as in its most positive theories, has always but one method; the same metaphysics produced the Christian mysteries and the contradictions of political economy; faith, without knowing it, hangs upon reason; and we, explorers of divine and human manifestations, are entitled to verify, in the name of reason, the hypotheses of theology.

What was it, then, that the universal reason, formulated in religious dogmas, saw in human nature, when, by so regular a metaphysical construction, it declared successively the ingenuousness of the offence, the eternity of the penalty, the necessity of grace? The veils of theology are becoming so transparent that it quite resembles natural history.

If we conceive the operation by which the supreme being is supposed to have produced all beings, no longer as an emanation, an exertion of the creative force and infinite substance, but as a division or differentiation of this substantial force, each being, organized or unorganized, will appear to us the special representative of one of the innumerable potentialities of the infinite being, as a section of the absolute; and the collection of all these individualities (fluids, minerals, plants, insects, fish, birds, and quadrupeds) will be the creation, the universe.

Man, an abridgment of the universe, sums up and syncretizes in his person all the potentialities of being, all the sections of the absolute; he is the summit at which these potentialities, which exist only by their divergence, meet in a group, but without penetrating or becoming confounded with each other. Man, therefore, by this aggregation, is at once spirit and matter, spontaneity and reflection, mechanism and life, angel and brute. He is venomous like the viper, sanguinary like the tiger, gluttonous like the hog, obscene like the ape; and devoted like the dog, generous like the horse, industrious like the bee, monogamic like the dove, sociable like the beaver and sheep. And in addition he is man, — that is, reasonable and free, susceptible of education and improvement. Man enjoys as many names as Jupiter; all these names he carries written on his face; and, in the varied mirror of nature, his infallible instinct is able to recognize them. A serpent is beautiful to the reason; it is the conscience that finds it odious and ugly. The ancients as well as the moderns grasped this idea of the constitution of man by agglomeration of all terrestrial potentialities: the labors of Gall and Lavater were, if I may say so, only attempts at disintegration of the human syncretism, and their classification of our faculties a miniature picture of nature. Man, in short, like the prophet in the lions’ den, is veritably given over to the beasts; and if anything is destined to exhibit to posterity the infamous hypocrisy of our epoch, it is the fact that educated persons, spiritualistic bigots, have thought to serve religion and morality by altering the nature of our race and giving the lie to anatomy.

Therefore the only question left to decide is whether it depends upon man, notwithstanding the contradictions which the progressive emission of his ideas multiplies around him, to give more or less scope to the potentialities placed under his control, or, as the moralists say, to his passions; in other words, whether, like Hercules of old, he can conquer the animality which besets him, the infernal legion which seems ever ready to devour him.

Now, the universal consent of peoples bears witness — and we have shown it in the third and fourth chapters — that man, all his animal impulses set aside, is summed up in intelligence and liberty, — that is, first, a faculty of appreciation and choice, and, second, a power of action indifferently applicable to good and evil. We have shown further that these two faculties, which exercise a necessary influence over each other, are susceptible of indefinite development and improvement.

Social destiny, the solution of the human enigma, is found, then, in these words: EDUCATION, PROGRESS.

The education of liberty, the taming of our instincts, the enfranchisement or redemption of our soul, — this, then, as Lessing has proved, is the meaning of the Christian mystery. This education will last throughout our life and that of humanity: the contradictions of political economy may be solved; the essential contradiction of our being never will be. That is why the great teachers of humanity, Moses, Buddha, Jesus Christ, Zoroaster, were all apostles of expiation, living symbols of repentance. Man is by nature a sinner, -that is, not essentially ill-doing, but rather ill-done, — and it is his destiny to perpetually re-create his ideal in himself. That is what the greatest of painters, Raphael, felt profoundly, when he said that art consists in rendering things, not as nature made them, but as it should have made them.

Henceforth, then, it is ours to teach the theologians, for we alone continue the tradition of the Church, we alone possess the meaning of the Scriptures, of the Councils, and of the Fathers. Our interpretation rests on the most certain and most authentic grounds, on the greatest authority to which men can appeal, the metaphysical construction of ideas and facts. Yes, the human being is vicious because he is illogical, because his constitution is but an eclecticism which holds in perpetual struggle the potentialities of his being, independently of the contradictions of society. The life of man is only a continual compromise between labor and pain, love and enjoyment, justice and egoism; and the voluntary sacrifice which man makes in obedience to his inferior attractions is the baptism which prepares the way for his reconciliation with God and renders him worthy of that beatific union and eternal happiness.

The object of social economy, in incessantly securing order in labor and favoring the education of the race, is then to render charity — that charity which knows not how to rule its slaves — superfluous as far as possible by equality, or better, to make charity develop from justice, as a flower from its stem. Ah! if charity had had the power to create happiness among men, it would have proved it long ago; and socialism, instead of seeking the organization of labor, would have had but to say: “Take care, you are lacking in charity.”

But, alas! charity in man is stunted, sly, sluggish, and lukewarm; in order to act, it needs elixirs and aromas. That is why I have clung to the triple dogma of prevarication, damnation, and redemption, — that is, perfectibility through justice. Liberty here below is always in need of assistance, and the Catholic theory of celestial favors comes to complete this too real demonstration of the miseries of our nature.

Grace, say the theologians, is, in the order of salvation, every help or means which can conduct us to eternal life. That is to say, man perfects himself, civilizes himself, humanizes himself only by the incessant aid of experience, by industry, science, and art, by pleasure and pain, in a word, by all bodily and mental exercises.

There is an habitual grace, called also justifying and sanctifying, which is conceived as a quality residing in the soul, containing the innate virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit, and inseparable from charity. In other words, habitual grace is the symbol of the predominance of good impulses, which lead man to order and love, and by means of which he succeeds in subduing his evil tendencies and remaining master in his own domain. As for actual grace, that indicates the external means which give scope to the orderly passions and serve to combat the subversive passions.

Grace, according to Saint Augustine, is essentially gratuitous, and precedes sin in man. Bossuet expressed the same thought in his style so full of poesy and tenderness: When God formed the bowels of man, he originally placed goodness there. In fact, the first determination of free will is in this natural goodness, by which man is continually incited to order, to labor, to study, to modesty, to charity, and to sacrifice. Therefore Saint Paul could say, without attacking free will, that, in everything concerning the accomplishment of good, God worketh in us both to will and to do. For all the holy aspirations of man are in him before he begins to think and feel; and the pangs of heart which he experiences when he violates them, the delight with which he is filled when he obeys them, all the invitations, in short, which come to him from society and his education, do not belong to him.

When grace is such that the will chooses the good with joy and love, without hesitation and without recall, it is styled efficacious. Every one has witnessed those transports of soul which suddenly decide a vocation, an act of heroism. Liberty does not perish therein; but from its predeterminations it may be said that it was inevitable that it should so decide. And the Pelagians, Lutherans, and others have been mistaken in saying that grace compromised free choice and killed the creative force of the will; since all determinations of the will come necessarily either from society which sustains it, or from nature which opens its career and points out its destiny.

But, on the other hand, the Augustinians, the Thomists, the congruists, Jansen, Thomassin, Molina, etc., were strangely mistaken when, sustaining at once free will and grace, they failed to see that between these two terms the same relation exists as between substance and form, and that they have confessed an opposition which does not exist. Liberty, like intelligence, like all substance and all force, is necessarily determined, — that is, it has its forms and its attributes. Now, while in matter the form and the attribute are inherent in and contemporary with substance, in liberty the form is given by three external agents, as it were, — the human essence, the laws of thought, exercise or education. Grace, in fine, like its opposite, temptation, indicates precisely the fact of the determination of liberty.

To sum up, all modern ideas regarding the education of humanity are only an interpretation, a philosophy of the Catholic doctrine of grace, a doctrine which seemed obscure to its authors only because of their ideas upon free will, which they supposed to be threatened as soon as grace or the source of its determinations was spoken of. We affirm, on the contrary, that liberty, indifferent in itself to all modality, but destined to act and to take shape according to a preestablished order, receives its first impulse from the Creator who inspires it with love, intelligence, courage, resolution, and all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and then delivers it to the labor of experience. It follows from this that grace is necessarily pre-moving, that without it man is capable of no sort of good, and that nevertheless free will accomplishes its own destiny spontaneously, with reflection and choice. In all this there is neither contradiction nor mystery. Man, in so far as he is man, is good; but, like the tyrant described by Plato, who was, he too, a teacher of grace, man carries in his bosom a thousand monsters, which the worship of justice and science, music and gymnastics, all the graces of opportunity and condition, must cause him to overcome. Correct one definition in Saint Augustine, and all that doctrine of grace, famous because of the disputes which it excited and which disconcerted the Reformation, will seem to you brilliant with clearness and harmony.

And now is man God?

God, according to the theological hypothesis, being the sovereign, absolute, highly synthetic being, the infinitely wise and free, and therefore indefectible and holy, Me, it is plain that man, the syncretism of the creation, the point of union of all the potentialities manifested by the creation, physical, organic, mental, and moral; man, perfectible and fallible, does not satisfy the conditions of Divinity as he, from the nature of his mind, must conceive them. Neither is he God, nor can he, living, become God.

All the more, then, the oak, the lion, the sun, the universe itself, sections of the absolute, are not God. At the same stroke the worship of man and the worship of nature are overthrown.

Now we have to present the counter-proof of this theory.

From the standpoint of social contradictions we have judged of the morality of man. We are to judge, in its turn and from the same standpoint, the morality of Providence. In other words, is God possible, as speculation and faith offer him for the adoration of mortals?

[numbersbythebook]

The Holy Spirit Sent in the Book of Revelation

written by Will Schumacher

This is a continuation of my prior 2 posts on the Holy Spirit.

I wrote a post awhile back about the 8th chapter of Revelation. I believe the “half an hour” is the Church Age. “Hour” can be figurative. It would be read better as “half a period of time”.

Revelation 8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

This “half a period of time” is understood through Daniel 9. Jesus was cut off in the midst of the final “week” or “seven”:

Daniel 9:27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Therefore there is a final “half of week” of “half of seven” or “half an hour”. This is the Church Age and Daniel and Revelation also call this 1260 days or “times time and half a time”. (360 degrees is a full cycle or circle of time, a “seven” of time is 7x360 = 2520, 1260 is half).

There are 7 messengers with 7 trumpets.

A trumpet is an instrument that wind blows through to make a sound. The Holy Spirit is a wind that is to blow through us, God’s instruments, to preach His message of sin and righteousness and judgement. The two silver trumpets from Numbers 10 are a picture of the redeemed Church. I have posted on this in the past.

These 7 messengers with the 7 trumpets are the Spirit filled Church preaching repentance just as John the Baptist filled with the Spirit was called a messenger and preached repentance.

The seventh seal is opened and the “half a period of time” is announced. Next, 7 trumpets are given to the 7 messengers:

Revelation 8:2 And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.

Before they sound there is “another messenger” acting as a priest in heaven. This priest in heaven offers incense then takes fire from the altar and casts it to the earth:

Revelation 8:3-5 And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. 4 And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand. 5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

As I stated in my first post on the Holy Spirit, the fire from the altar on earth was lit by God from heaven. This fire is a picture of the Holy Spirit. The tabernacle/temple on earth is patterned after the heavenly. Jesus is the High priest officiating in Heaven right now. I believe that He is the messenger of Revelation 8: 3-5 and He is pictured sending the Holy Spirit to us on earth so that the Church may then act as the trumpets of God.

Revelation 8:5 is Bible verse 30833.

Revelation 8:5 And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire of the altar, and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings, and lightnings, and an earthquake.

Subtract 7629 verses. (The number 7629 is from my first post). You get John saying Jesus wants to baptize us with the Spirt and fire.

Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

From my prior 2 posts Lot is the captive and is tied numerically to the “Comforter”. This term is used for the first time in John 14:16 when Jesus says the Father will send the “Comforter” just like Abram sent the 318 trained servants.

John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

The above verse is 4148 verses before Revelation 8:5 where Jesus sends the Holy Spirit.

Strong’s H4148 = instruction. It is used in Proverbs 6:23:

Proverbs 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

The gematria of the above verse is 2689. Strong’s H2689 = trumpet

The verse before describes beautifully the work of the Holy Spirit and has a gematria of 4151. Strong’s G4151 = Spirit:

Proverbs 6:22 When thou goest, it shall lead thee; when thou sleepest, it shall keep thee; and when thou awakest, it shall talk with thee.

The Holy Spirt was given as fire in verse 26953:

Acts 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

This is 3880 verses before Revelation 8:5.

Strong’s H3880 is used 2 times in Proverbs. It is the word “ornament” and it means something attached or joined to. This ornament on our head sounds very similar to the Holy Spirit of Revelation 7 sealing us on our foreheads:

Proverbs 1:9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.

What is proverbs saying that will be an ornament of grace on our head? Strong’s H4148 = instruction:

Proverbs 1:8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:

[daisydisciple]

People usually seem to mean something about service/giving when they talk about "the Christmas Spirit" but I think to me the primary characteristic feature of Christmas as a holiday is the spirit of anticipation.

That's like the whole point of the concept of advent, for one thing. In a way, we are honoring and embodying the anticipation of all who lived before Christ's coming and looked ahead to their redemption, "speaking of things to come as though they had already come," who looked forward with the eye of faith and prophecy. "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined" wrote Isaiah, centuries before Christ's birth. They borrowed joy from the future, and we, in turn, borrow joy and anticipation from the past.

Whatever time of year Jesus was actually born, I do appreciate the symbolism of celebrating his coming shortly after the winter solstice—the greatest darkness has passed, and more light is yet to come. (And my southern hemisphere friends can enjoy basking in the most light the year has to offer—fitting in its own way). We superimpose the overarching narrative of mankind's redemption onto the smaller repeating seasons of our present lives, interpreting the unknown to the familiar. We celebrate the gifts of Christ in our personal, mundane little lives—service, forgiveness, charity, community, reconciliation, love. We fill the darkness with light in His honor.

And celebrating the past joy and anticipation of Christ's historical coming, along with our present holiday joy and anticipation also leads us to look forward to the future joys that will be ours because of Him. Some of my favorite Christmas carols are the ones that emphasize this: Jesus was "born that man no more may die," "to raise the sons of earth," "to give them second birth." "In His name all oppression shall cease." It isn't just that he was born—everyone that ever lived was born. We are celebrating everything that did and does and will happen because of his life and atonement and death and resurrection, including the things that haven't even happened yet. The great story of mankind's liberation from death and reconciliation with God isn't even over yet.

And so just like those of old who looked forward to Christ's coming, we today are also in a state of anticipation: that He will come again, that all of God's promises will be fulfilled, that we will live again with God in a state of glory. And so we, too, borrow joy from the future. "We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ."

As Christians, it is our right and our duty to embrace every joy—that of the past, that of the present, and that of the future. And that's what Christmas is about to me, ultimately.

[orthodoxydaily]

Saints&Reading: Tuesday, November 7, 2023

october 25_november 7

THE RIGHTEOUS SAINT TABITHA (1st.c.)

Saint Tabitha, the widow raised from the dead by the Apostle Peter, was a virtuous and kindly woman who belonged to the Christian community in Joppa. Being grievously ill, she suddenly died. At the time, the Apostle Peter was preaching at Lydda, not far from Joppa. Messengers were sent to him with an urgent request for help. When the Apostle arrived at Joppa, Tabitha was already dead. On bended knee, Saint Peter made a fervent prayer to the Lord. Then he went to the bed and called out, “Tabitha, get up!” She arose, completely healed (Acts 9:36).

Saint Tabitha is considered the patron saint of tailors and seamstresses, since she was known for sewing coats and other garments (Acts 9:39)

1 THESSALONIANS 1:6-10

6And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Spirit, 7 so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Achaia who believe. 8 For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything. 9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

LUKE 11:1-10

1 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples." 2 So He said to them, "When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one." 5 And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 'for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; 7 and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs. 9 So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

[hieromonkcharbel]

“Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (1 Tim 3.16). We are all successors to Adam who fell like Lucifer. To the one created in the divine image, the idea of divinization comes naturally. The question is, how to achieve this purpose, this mission. If we are created beings and not First- and Self-Beings, it is preposterous to suppose that we can become “equal” to God, bypassing him. Our life is based on “the appearance of God in the flesh.” If belief in our divinization is imprescriptible for us, then the way to divinization lies in adoption of the life of God who manifested himself to us in our form of existence. We must indeed absorb his word, his Spirit, into ourselves—become like him in all our manifestations. And the more complete our likeness to him in this world, the fuller and more perfect our divinization. Saint Paul says, “He that is joined” (through prayer and communion) “unto the Lord is one spirit” (1 Cor 6.17), and so we pray:

“O Lord Jesus Christ, only-begotten Son of the Father, thou art our hope. With thee and through thee lead us to the Father . . . Have mercy upon me, a sinner.”

Eternal life in the bosom of the Holy Trinity—that is the purport of the summons. But this “kingdom suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force” (Mt 11.12). Self-constraint is imperative “because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Mt 7.14). And when we Christians refuse to go along with those who “do not find it,” because they do not want it, conflict arises. We become unwelcome sons of this world. Such is the lot of those who love Christ. When the Lord is with us all our suffering in this world no longer terrifies, because with him we have passed from death into life. But hours—long periods even—of being forsaken by God are inevitable. “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mt 27.46). And if with this we are rejected by other people our despair may go very deep indeed, and we cry unto him who himself was tempted and so is “able to succor them that are tempted” (Heb 2.18):

“O Lord Jesus, save me, I sink, as thou didst save Peter” (cf. Mt 14.30).

In the ascetic feat of prayer we each of us go as far as is possible for us. It is not easy to find ourselves or to define the limits of our strength. Those who are led by the Holy Spirit never cease condemning themselves as unworthy of God. In moments of deep despair they do move away for a while from the brink of the abyss where they stand in spirit, in order to allow mind and body a breathing-space before returning anew to the abyss. But whether he rests or whether [he is] in a peaceful period, there always remains a sort of wound in the depths of the ascetic’s heart, which does not allow him to lapse into proud ideas about himself. Ascetic humility becomes more and more rooted in his soul, becomes characteristic, as it were. Sorrow and sickness are the nature of our earthly progression. Otherwise, none of the sons of Adam would keep up in humility. But those who do endure are vouchsafed the gift of Christ-like humility (cf. Mt 11.29), which Staretz Silouan says is “indescribable” for it belongs to another, higher plane of being. Acquisition of this gift is possible only through constant thinking of Christ and prayer to him:

“O Lord Jesus Christ, Great and Holy God, do thou thyself teach me thy humility . . . I pray thee, have mercy upon me, a sinner.”

So then, our nature can be recast only in the fire of repentance. Only tearful prayer will destroy the roots of passion in us. Only invocation of the Name of Jesus can cleanse, regenerate, and hallow our nature. “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me . . .” (Jn 15.3; 17.17). And how are we to abide? You are given my Name, and “whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it to you” (Jn 15.16).

“O Lord Jesus Christ who only art without sin, have mercy upon me, a sinner.”

St. Sophrony

On Prayer

[shammah8]

God-Given Faith Bible Reading Hebrews 11;1-11. I believe that there is only one way to all the treasures of God, and that is the way of faith. By faith and faith alone do we enter into a knowledge of the attributes and become partakers of the beatitudes, and participate in the glories of our ascended Lord. All His promises are Yea and Amen to them that believe.

God would have us come to Him by His own way. That is through the open door of grace. A way has been made. It is a beautiful way, and all His saints can enter in by this way and find rest. God has prescribed that the just shall live by faith. I find that all is failure that has not its base on the rock Christ Jesus. He is the only way, the truth and the life. The way of faith is the Christ way, receiving Him in His fulness and walking in Him; receiving His quickening life that filleth, moveth and changeth us, bringing us to a place where there is always an Amen in our hearts to all the will of God.

As I look into the 12th chapter of Acts, I find that the people were praying all night for Peter to come out of prison. They had a zeal but seem to have been lacking in faith. They were to be commended for their zeal in spending their time in prayer without ceasing, but their faith, evidently, did not measure up to such a marvelous answer. Rhoda had more faith than the rest of them. When the knock came to the door, she ran to it, and the moment she heard Peter’s voice, she ran back again with joy saying that Peter stood before the gate. And all the people said, “Y ou are mad. It isn’t so.” But she constantly affirmed that it was even so.

Zacharias and Elisabeth surely wanted a son, but even when the angel came and told Zacharias that he should have a son, he was full of unbelief. And the angel said, “Thou shalt be dumb, because thou believest not my words.”

But look at Mary. When the angel came to her, Mary said, “Beit unto me according to thy word.” It was her Amen to the will of God. And God wants us with an Amen in our lives, an inward Amen, a mighty moving Amen, a God-inspired Amen, which says, “It is, because God has spoken. It cannot be otherwise. It is impossible to be otherwise.”

Let us examine this 5th verse, “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God translated him: for before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God.”

When I was in Sweden, the Lord worked mightily. After one or two addresses the leaders called me and said, “We have heard very strange things about you, and we would like to know if they are true. We can see that God is with you, and that God is moving, and we know that it will be a great blessing to Sweden.”

“Well,” I said, “what is it?”

“Well,” they said, “we have heard from good authority that you preach that you have the resurrection body.” When I was in France I had an interpreter that believed this thing, and I found out, after I had preached once or twice through the interpreter, that she gave out her own ideas. And of course I did not know. I said to these brethren, “I tell you what my personal convictions are. I believe that if I had the testimony of Enoch I should be off. I believe that the moment Enoch had the testimony that he pleased God, off he went.”

I pray that God will so quicken our faith, for translation is in the mind of God; but remember that translation comes on the line of holy obedience and a walk that is pleasing to God. This was true of Enoch. And I believe that we must have a like walk withGod in the Spirit, having communion with him, living under his divine smile, and I pray that God by His Spirit may so move us that we will be where Enoch was when he walked with God.☕️Smith Wigglesworth

[gatekeeper-watchman]

Overcome Being Overwhelmed and Be Not Troubled

Entering into God’s Rest 

How to enter into God’s Rest when you are weary from carrying a heavy load.

How can we overcome the feeling of being overwhelmed?  In the hour we live, there is so much to do with seemingly no time to get everything done.  Responsibilities seem insurmountable and we see no way out of the modern-day “rat race.”  The world around us seems to crowd us in with overwhelming circumstances, impending doom, and threatening evil, which adds additional stress to our already busy days. God wants us to be able to enter into His rest and learn to follow His leading in all things so that these foreboding things will not threaten us as He wants us to have His perspective.  God does not want us to live stressful lives when we face these kinds of circumstances.  We all, at times, find ourselves with more things that need to be done that just keep piling up, while we are unable to complete the things we already have on our “to-do” list. The Bible addresses this dilemma throughout its pages.  The book of Proverbs is a good place to start reading as it is a very practical book that can bring help and rest to our souls in our everyday lives.   (We offer a daily devotional book that is a mini-study of Proverbs which can be read in just 5 minutes a day). Go to this link:

God’s Wisdom for Daily Living

I want to share, as a Christian, the things that helped me to overcome this feeling of being overwhelmed and gave me the freedom to live my days in peace and joy. I want to give you some information on how to manage your time as well as your projects so you can do the same and enter into God’s rest spoken of in the New Testament.

Hebrews 4:1-11  Let us, therefore, fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3  For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. 4  For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. 5  And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. 6  Seeing, therefore, it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief: 7  Again, he limiteth a certain day, saying in David, Today, after so long a time; as it is said, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. 8  For if Jesus had given them rest, then would he not afterward have spoken of another day. 9  There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10  For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his works, as God did from his. 11  Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man falls after the same example of unbelief.

What must we do to enter into His rest?  We all have to do this, we have to make some changes – spirit, soul, and body. I heard a great preacher years ago make this statement: “I found out walking with the Lord, that if there were going to be any changes made, it was going to be on my end because God never changes.”

This may sound strange, but we have to work at entering into His rest.  However, that work is to learn how to hear God and obey Him and walk in the Spirit.  I am going to furnish you with a short outline of how to make the needed changes that will eliminate stress and fear and depression which leads to that overwhelming feeling. 

First, we must remember we are a triune being, as we are a spirit, we have a soul and we live in a body. Here is a checklist of things to work on in each of these areas to enter into His rest. This is just making a total commitment to God and then following Him in obedience every day.

CHANGING THE SPIRITUAL MAN

We start by changing the spiritual man. This applies to men and women, but the Bible refers to our spirit as the spiritual man, so this includes women.  The Bible also speaks of men being a part of the Bride (a woman) of Christ.  In the spirit, there is neither male nor female.

Galatians 3:28  “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Here is a short outline to follow that should be done individually and corporately.

PRAYER:

We must first communicate daily with our Father by spending time in prayer, worship, and thanksgiving.

Talk to God throughout the day. Practice the presence of God as you go about your daily chores.

Spend time praying in tongues (also known as praying in the spirit) as this is an amazing gift because we are praying about our number one problem. Since God knows what that is, we are praying according to His will, as the Holy Spirit is guiding those prayers.

READING AND STUDYING THE BIBLE:

The Word of God is food to our spirit and will give us the strength we need and guidance for each day. APPLYING THE WORD OF GOD: If we apply the Word of God to all areas of our lives, we will overcome the devil’s plans against us.

 CHANGING OUR SOULS

The soul of every being is made up of the mind, the will, and the emotions. How do we allow the Holy Spirit to change our souls?

1) GUARD WHAT WE HEAR AND SEE AND SPEAK  

Limit the use of cell phones, TV, and the Internet.

Use phones for good purposes (like educational purposes), not idle chatter.

Feed the mind with good Christian or educational books and of course, the Bible.

Ask God what we need to watch.

Unsubscribe from lists and memberships that waste our time.

Time is running out and we need to focus on things that are good and helpful.

Cut down on entertainment.

Stay away from highly charged political rhetoric.

Stay away from all evil gossip.

Flee from pornography. Taking in filth in our minds will defile us. Ask God to deliver us, as the Bible says it is a shame to speak of those things done in darkness. 

Do not spread misinformation on the Internet that we have not checked the source for truth and validity. We are called to spread the gospel, not fake news or false information.

2) STRENGTHEN OUR WILL AND RESOLVE

Call on God to cleanse us of all that offends Him.

Ask Him to show us anything we have embraced that is not the truth.

Be willing to apologize to people when we discover we are wrong.

Humble ourselves to God.  

Ask the Lord to deliver us from all deception. Forgive all who have hurt us. God will give us the grace to do this.  

Ask God for the strength to do what is right and noble.

Do not stoop to the level of others who do not know God.

Do not criticize ministers. Pray for them. Find out from the Bible how to approach them when they are doing something that is not Biblical.

Take a humble attitude in all relationships.

Ask God for the strength to share our faith and lead others to Christ.

Set our will with His will.

Remain flexible so if He changes our schedule we will not be upset. He will make another time to finish the things we had planned. Follow His plans.

 3) CONTROL OUR EMOTIONS 

Yield to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to overcome all anger toward others.

Do not spend time ranting about all the injustices in the world. Ask God what you can do about them. Then do them. We can and should always pray about them. We are only responsible for the things God calls us to do. Each of us doing our part will take care of the whole.

Ask God to control what comes out of our mouths. Words are powerful and if spoken in haste and an unwise manner may be hard to reverse.

Do not allow the devil to make us cry every time someone says something degrading or harmful to us. Give it to God. 

Do not get into spats. There is a time for debate, but not when we are out of control.  

Ask God to control our emotions and refuse to allow anyone to cause us to be offended by them. We must not be offended by man or God. Give it to God. Agree to respectfully disagree with others and let God be the referee. 

CHANGING OUR BODIES

According to scripture, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and we need to take care of them and not defile this temple with things that are destructive to them. 

KEEP OUR BODIES FREE OF ALL ADDICTIONS

Ask God for His help in getting free from all addictions like drugs, alcohol, smoking, etc.

Trust Him to deliver you.

WORK AT EATING HEALTHY

Ask God to change your eating habits, as many people are suffering from diseases directly related to poor diet and indulgent eating.

Eating a diet of processed foods causes obesity.

Ask God to help you find the right diet for you if you need to lose weight.

Include drinking clean water and eliminating overly sweet beverages.

Include fasting and prayer.  

Study good nutrition and ask God to give you a taste of the clean and healthy organic foods He created.

Eat according to the Word of God. We have articles online about this and other things 

Eat wisely and in moderation.

Bless your food before eating and ask God to cleanse it and be thankful for it.

There are hungry people in the world. Pray for them.

KEEP OUR BODIES FIT AND CLEAN

We need to keep our bodies clean as this prevents disease when we do so.

God made a difference between the clean and the unclean in the Bible.

Christians are to be pure and clean in their bodies and their homes.

Living in filth is a sign that one needs deliverance from an unclean spirit.

This does not mean we will not face disorganization at times, but the disorder will not bother us until we can get to that area. He will help us to rise above it.

Overeating and oversleeping will bring a person to laziness.

Simple habits of bathing and washing our hands will help keep us healthy.

Ask God to strengthen you to develop a good work ethic, as well. Doing a good job brings a sense of satisfaction.

Stay active and fit. Be strong in the Lord and the power of His might.

Ask Him to heal you of any infirmities as He wants His people to have healthy bodies to serve Him on the earth.

HOW DO WE ENTER INTO GOD’S REST?

As we do these things, with the help of God, we will begin to feel stronger and better because we will have entered into His rest, so we can reach out and help others as there is a joy we receive from God when we help others.

TRUE PRIORITIES

Each day ask God to reveal to us our priorities, as to how to overcome this feeling of being overwhelmed.  Sometimes the feeling is merited because you have taken on more than He wants you to do. We must learn to say “no” to certain things as He knows what is truly important for that day. True priorities are things that must be done to avoid a penalty things that have a deadline and would keep us from accomplishing a certain thing, or things that if we fail to keep our word would make us become a liar. Now we all need to start cutting out the things that are harming us and our relationship with Him. Of course, we will need to take care of our daily responsibilities of living, but all the “add-ons” may be things we should not be doing.  (At least for a season.)  Do not allow the enemy to put guilt on you as you begin cutting back. There will be others to take on the jobs you were doing. Trust God to take care of those.

There is a silver lining to the Pandemic and that is that people were forced to stay home because of the lock-downs and this caused many people to realize how they had been neglecting their relationships with their family members and with Jesus.  God was and still is, at this time, trying to show us our priorities and they are not the priorities of the world. Many Christians realized they needed to change in this area once they slowed down and began to pray with their families.

Here is one last strategy for overcoming being overwhelmed.  We need to spend some time planning and organizing. We should make lists and write down our goals.  Then take steps, one at a time, to make the changes we need to make.  For instance, when planning your prayer time. Instead of declaring we are going to pray an hour a day, try 15 minutes and then you can increase the time as you move forward. Just do not skip your prayer time.  Some like to pray in the evenings to cover the next day, while others rise early to pray for that day. 

The Lord spoke to me years ago about this.  He said to me, “Steven P. Miller if you prayed about your problem as much as you talk about your problem, you would not even have that problem.”

Here is something that worked for me. I needed to deal with some things that had piled up.  I planned one little thing to do every day to reduce my backlog and one major project that needed completing. Since I was able to complete the small project, it gave me the inspiration to tackle the larger project.  Of course, I was unable at first to complete the larger ones in a day, but I made a start and broke it down in increments.  Soon I was able to complete them too.  Little by little, I soon began to make progress and then God sent others to help me speed up the process.  Sometimes we think God is so big (actually He is sizeless) that He does not care about the little things, but this is what the Bible says,  

Matthew 25:23 “His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”

Many things we will be facing today will be unexpected so we must allow for the surprises of the day and get God’s help and direction for those things.  When we do have a slow day, make it count.  I am thinking of the adage, “Make hay while the sun shines.” We should do things ahead of time, so we are not faced with the pressure of a deadline. Satan is trying to “wear out the saints” right now, but the Lord will give us His strength to overcome all obstacles.  We must remember this time is only going to last for a season so we are just going through it.  The result is that the Lord is going to establish His Kingdom and we will be ruling and reigning with Him in it. We must learn how to do this with His grace and help.

Daniel 7:25-27 ‘And he shall speak great words against the highest, and shall wear out the saints of the highest, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 26 But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. 27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the highest, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.”

Now there will be times we are not able to keep up with things as we sometimes may face a time where we are thrown into “survival mode” because of an unforeseen life happening.  However, even in these kinds of events, as we call on the Lord He will be with us, giving us His supernatural peace and grace to get through them. 

As we believe Him and look to Him in faith, He will do a miracle to sustain and help us overcome the largest attacks of the devil.  Even what Satan means by evil can be turned into our good as we give our circumstances to God and trust Him for an answer.  Supernatural rest can be our portion in those times if we look to God and follow His leading.  The world will never understand how this can happen, but our Lord spoke these words to us in the Bible:

John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

God knew we would be living in this hour where the culture is demanding and the people around us are on the fast track, but He does not want us to get caught up in a crazy world, but wants us to enter into His rest, which is doing His will and in doing that, the rest of the things that are not done yet, will not bother us.  Even amid great trials, we will not feel overwhelmed, because we have learned to walk in the spirit and be flexible in the Lord and flow in His timing. 

We must overcome pride and vanity to live this way.  We must not allow others to judge us or dictate to us how we live, what we do, and where we go. We must come out of the world and be separate and live in God’s world. This is called “walking in the spirit.”  We must be led by the Lord as to what He is wanting us to do and be committed to the will of God to enter into His rest.

Sometimes God does not change our circumstances right away, but He changes us so the circumstances do not bother or upset us.

1 John 2:16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”

This is liberating and we simply do not need to make excuses for what is not done but concentrate on what He wants us to do and feel His rest in doing just that.  May we all, not only enter into His rest but stay in that place of flowing in His divine flow which is a place He describes thusly:

Matthew 11:29-30 “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Hebrews 4:9-11 “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. 10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his works, as God did from his. 11 Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man falls after the same example of unbelief.”

 PRAYER TO OVERCOME BEING OVERWHELMED

Steven P. Miller Founder of Gatekeeper-Watchman International Groups Dear Heavenly Father, I thank You that no matter what is going on around us, at this time, when we put our lives and circumstances in Your hands then we can trust You to show us the way to overcome everything we are facing. Lord, I do that right now.  Since I have made You Lord of my life, I can now trust You to bring order to the things that seem overwhelming to me.  Since I have now put You in control of things, then You are in control of every circumstance that the enemy wants to use to destroy me. I am declaring the devil is defeated in my life.  I am declaring that I have a sound mind and I will not fear anything that the devil thinks he will use to overcome me. Lord, you have an answer for every problem, because You live in me and Your eternal wisdom and power will show me the way to overcome these seemingly overwhelming things I face. Right now, I purposely pause, and ask You to empower me to enter into Your rest.  I give every problem to You and thank You that, day by day, I will be able to set my life and house in order and I trust You to bring it about. Thank you for healing me.  Thank you for getting me out of debt. Thank you for restoring my family. Thank you for using me in Your Kingdom to help others. I refuse to fret or worry about anything, but will now pray about everything from the small things to the large things.  Thank You that I walk in Your favor and that no matter what things I have done to create any of my messes in life, you have a way to lead me out of them into Your victory! Forgive me, Lord, and let my life be a testimony to Your overcoming power and Your love! Thank you that I can now enter into Your rest.  I ask this in the name of Jesus.  Amen.” From: Elder Steven P. Miller Saturday, April 15, 2023 @ParkermillerQ, Founder of Gatekeeper-Watchman International Groups Jacksonville, Florida., Duval County, USA. Instagram: steven_parker_miller_1956, Twitter: @GatekeeperWatchman1, @ParkermillerQ, https://twitter.com/StevenPMiller6 Tumblr: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/gatekeeperwatchman, https://www.tumblr.com/gatekeeper-watchman Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElderStevenMiller https://www.facebook.com/StevenParkerMillerQ #GWIG, #GWIN, #GWINGO, #Ephraim1, #IAM, #Sparkermiller,#Eldermiller1981

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Sanballat's Conspiracy

1 Now it came to pass, when Sanballat and Tobiah and Geshem the Arabian and the rest of our enemies heard that I had built the wall and that there was no breach left therein (though at that time I had not set up the doors upon the gates),

2 that Sanballat and Geshem sent unto me, saying, “Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono.” But they thought to do me mischief.

3 And I sent messengers unto them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease, whilst I leave it and come down to you?”

4 Yet they sent unto me four times in this manner, and I answered them in the same manner.

5 Then Sanballat sent his servant unto me in like manner the fifth time with an open letter in his hand,

6 wherein was written: “It is reported among the heathen, and Geshem saith it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel; for which cause thou buildest the wall, that thou mayest be their king according to these words.

7 And thou hast also appointed prophets to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, ‘There is a king in Judah!’ And now shall it be reported to the king according to these words. Come now therefore, and let us take counsel together.”

8 Then I sent unto him, saying, “There are no such things done as thou sayest, but thou feignest them out of thine own heart.”

9 For they all made us afraid, saying, “Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it be not done.” Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

10 Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabeel, who was shut up; and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple; for they will come to slay thee, yea, in the night will they come to slay thee.”

11 And I said, “Should such a man as I flee? And who is there that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.”

12 And lo, I perceived that God had not sent him, but that he pronounced this prophecy against me; for Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.

13 Therefore was he hired, that I should be afraid, and do so, and sin, and that they might have cause for an evil report, that they might reproach me.

14 My God, think Thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who would have put me in fear.

15 So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month of Elul, in fifty and two days.

16 And it came to pass that when all our enemies heard thereof, and all the heathen who were about us saw these things, they were much cast down in their own eyes; for they perceived that this work was wrought by our God.

17 Moreover in those days the nobles of Judah sent many letters unto Tobiah, and the letters of Tobiah came unto them.

18 For there were many in Judah sworn unto him, because he was the son-in-law of Shechaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah.

19 Also they reported his good deeds before me, and uttered my words to him. And Tobiah sent letters to put me in fear. — Nehemiah 6 | 21st Century King James Version (KJV21) The Holy Bible; 21st Century King James Version Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc. Cross References: Genesis 36:39; Exodus 14:25; 1 Chronicles 3:21; 1 Chronicles 8:12; Ezra 1:6; Nehemiah 2:19; Nehemiah 2:10; Nehemiah 3:1; Nehemiah 3:3; Nehemiah 4:1-2; Nehemiah 7:1; Nehemiah 13:4; Nehemiah 13:29; Job 13:4; Psalm 52:2; Psalm 138:3; Proverbs 28:1; Jeremiah 20:10; Ezekiel 13:17

[roman-catholic-mass-readings]

7th March >> Mass Readings (USA)

Tuesday, Second Week of Lent

  (optional commemoration of Saints Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs)

(Liturgical Colour: Violet: Year A(1))

First Reading Isaiah 1:10, 16-20 Learn to do good; make justice your aim.

Hear the word of the LORD, princes of Sodom! Listen to the instruction of our God, people of Gomorrah!Wash yourselves clean!

Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan’s plea, defend the widow.

Come now, let us set things right, says the LORD: Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow; Though they be crimson red, they may become white as wool. If you are willing, and obey, you shall eat the good things of the land; But if you refuse and resist, the sword shall consume you: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken!

The Word of the Lord

R/ Thanks be to God.

Responsorial Psalm Psalm 50:8-9, 16bc-17, 21 and 23

R/ To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

“Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you, for your burnt offerings are before me always. I take from your house no bullock, no goats out of your fold.”

R/ To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

“Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth, Though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you?”

R/ To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

“When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it? Or do you think that I am like yourself? I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes. He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me; and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”

R/ To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

Gospel Acclamation Ezekiel 18:31

Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed, says the Lord, and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.

Gospel Matthew 23:1-12 They preach but they do not practice.

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying, “The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them. All their works are performed to be seen. They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels. They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation ‘Rabbi.’ As for you, do not be called ‘Rabbi.’ You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven. Do not be called ‘Master’; you have but one master, the Christ. The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Gospel of the Lord

R/ Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

[whatdoesshedotothem]

[KISS] Sunday 28 December 1834

9

11

one pretty good kiss last night very fine frosty morning F40° at 10 am  at which hour breakfast - sat talking (upstairs) till 12 – then went to my aunt – very poorly - in much pain – shortened prayers as much as I could, down to 25 minutes the lesson being long – wrote out the first 1 ½ page of yesterday A- found her cousin coming  vide 30 November - drove to Lightcliffe church in 24 ½ minutes – then at 2 10 – waited 20 minutes Mr Musgrave did all the duty – preached 35 minutes from Galatians iv. 4 – excellent sermon – sometime talking to A- upstairs – then at 5 ¼ she had little John and Ann Booth and I, in 35 minutes, wrote 2 pages and ends to M- and copied the following (after giving her account of my journey home) ‘I was satisfied with the train of mind in which I seemed to have left you’ – and more and more persuaded my advice not to go to Switzerland next summer, under the circumstances named, was prudent – shall be impatient to hear the medicines do her good - ‘I think the woman as like a quack as any of that profession I have seen, but benefits do sometimes come from where we not commonly thought of looking for them, and faith, and hope, and charity may do wonders...... A- was delighted to see me back again and delighted with your little present, and begs her best regards and thanks - I have, by this time told her a great deal of the history of my visit, with all which she is pleased, more particularly with that part relative to your coming here’ - my aunt rather better but ‘seems gradually suffering more and more, and without amendment I know not how she can get on many months longer – she appears to be losing ground faster than she did a few weeks ago – yet she is always interested about you and is, on all accounts, glad of my visit - Indeed, my dear Mary, I hope we shall all be more and more satisfied - I never cease to hope all things for you - Keep up your spirits, and heath, and with it, every other blessing around you will improve – you have only to go on doing good,  and doing right, and whatever may apparently promise but little just now, may ere long, repay you abundantly – I will turn to my journal about Gottingen when I have more leisure - God bless you Mary! I have never despaired for you or myself - ever very affectionately yours AL’  sent off by John my letter to ‘Mrs. Lawton, Lawton hall, Lawton, Cheshire’ and  then dinner at 6 ¼ A- and I a little while with my father and Marian – coffee – wrote out all but the 1st 1 ½ pages of Friday and the whole of yesterday and the 1st 7 lines of today till 9 ¾ -then 25 minutes with my aunt A- not well – on account of her cousin and having her feet starved at church - very fine frosty day - F40 ½° at 10 ¼ pm gave A- hot wine and water in bed

[bills-bible-basics]

JONAH AND JESUS -- KJV (King James Version) Bible Verse List King James Version Bible verse list compiled by Bill Kochman concerning the topic "Jonah and Jesus". Visit my page at https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/ to see all the lists I've compiled to date. Thanks! "So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the sea ceased from her raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice unto the LORD, and made vows. Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD. And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying, Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey. And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown." Jonah 1:15-3:4, KJV "But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here." Matthew 12:39-41, KJV "A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas. And he left them, and departed." Matthew 16:4, KJV "And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet. For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here." Luke 11:29-32, KJV If you would like more info regarding the origin of these KJV Bible verse lists, go to https://www.billkochman.com/VerseLists/. Thank-you! https://www.billkochman.com/Blog/index.php/jonah-and-jesus-kjv-king-james-version-bible-verse-list/?feed_id=20340&_unique_id=63a7c52a674b3&JONAH%20AND%20JESUS%20--%20KJV%20%28King%20James%20Version%29%20Bible%20Verse%20List

[thetruekyle]

Wrong.

Jesus Christ paid it all

When He was crucified and died on the cross, and was resurrected three days later.

You preach a false gospel here. A worldly gospel. One that would deny Jesus' sacrifice on its face just to justify the punishments this world seeks to inflict on Christ's church for daring to follow the Way, the Truth, and the Life of the One, Almighty Creator of the heavens and the earth and all that is and shall ever be...

You speak a lie, appearing as truth but poisoned by your own self that clings to the world, and so as you would lead His flock astray with these words, so too that I might spue you from my mouth as bittered wine,

-but for your earnest repentance in the face of my call to you, here and now. For I so convict you of teaching falsely, that even if you had not realized what you were leading to is no recompense for the betrayal of His righteousness, to make implications that which so take His name in vain, without even invoking it.

Thus, I call you to turn away from all you think you know and cease to lean upon your own understanding. Repent, and be truly and evermore washed clean in the blood of the lamb, so I sayeth, and pray, in Jesus' Almighty name, amen. 😌🙏

A misconception about the Christian faith that a lot of people (including Christians!) really struggle with is that forgiveness = no consequences for your sins. That's what people think Christianity preaches, and it is a major hurdle for them. They think that if a serial killer genuinely repents, that means that Christianity says they are able to get off scot-free with their crimes, or that it means they should be let out of jail, etc.

That is not true.

There are quite a few figures in the Bible who committed acts of evil, and repented for it. And God heard them! But oftentimes, their sins caused catastrophic damage to those around them, and they had to live (and die) with what they caused. The entirety of the Old Testament is a domino-effect of this happening over and over.

If someone genuinely repents before God, the forgiveness they receive from God is a perfect forgiveness. But we live in a fallen world affected by sin. Sin has consequences. Other people are often hurt by our sins, even if we aren't aware of it.

We have to live with the consequences of our actions in this world. Part of repentance requires accepting those consequences, otherwise it's not genuine.

[yhwhrulz]

Charles Spurgeon's "Morning & Evening" Devotional for October 17

Morning

“Be not faithless, but believing.”

John 20:19-31

Our Lord showed himself to an assembly of his disciples after his resurrection.

Luke 20:19

His presence among them when the doors were closed must have astonished and delighted them. While they were trembling he came to re-assure them both by his words and his smiles.

Luke 20:20

And well might they be, for his presence is ever a wellspring of joy. Mark the loving familiarity which thus unveiled his scars, and note the full proofs of his identity which those wounds afforded them. Even now the Lord reveals himself unto his chosen as he doth not unto the world. Oh, for a view of him by faith.

Luke 20:23

He gave them a commission and added the power to carry it out by the gift of the Holy Ghost. Moreover he promised to put force into the sentences which they pronounced in his name, so that when they preached remission to penitents, the Lord granted that remission, and when in the name of Jesus they declared that the sins of unbelievers remained upon them, it was so. The gospel is not our word, but the word of Jesus who has sent us.

Luke 20:24

He neglected the week-night service and lost a blessing, as many have done since.

Luke 20:25

He had no right to claim such a proof; unbelief is unreasonable in its demands.

Luke 20:27

Infinite was the Redeemer’s condescension. Knowing the doubts of Thomas he stooped to meet them, for he knew him to be sincere and willing to be convinced.

Luke 20:28

Thus in a moment reading the Deity of Jesus in wounds. A sweet lesson. Oh, to learn it every day afresh.

Luke 20:29

The richest blessing falls to the share of those simple minds who believe the word of God, even when surrounded with difficulty and unsupported by signs and evidences. The more childlike the faith the happier the heart.

Luke 20:30 , Luke 20:31

Have we so believed? If not, the Bible has been read by us in vain.

Crown him, the Lord of Love;

Behold his hands and side,

Rich wounds, yet visible above

In beauty glorified.

Crown him, the Lord of Peace,

Whose power a sceptre sways

From pole to pole, that wars may cease,

Absorb’d in prayer and praise:

His reign shall know no end,

And round his piercèd feet

Fair flowers of Paradise extend

Their fragrance ever sweet.

All hail! Redeemer, hail!

For thou hast died for me:

Thy praise shall never, never fail

Throughout eternity.

Evening

“Lovest thou Me?”

John 21:1-6 , John 21:9-13 , John 21:15-19

Luke 21:2

It was well to keep together and enjoy the communion of saints. Good society makes good men better.

Luke 21:3

As they had as yet no directions to go upon their spiritual business, they acted commendably in following their daily callings, for nothing is more dangerous than indolence.

Luke 21:9

Everything tended to remind them of their old times with their Lord. Fishing in the old place, the old failures, the old miracles, and the old repast, would all help them to identify their Master. But what a new light was over all!

Luke 21:11

“Be of use! Forward! To Christ!” These were the watchwords of Peter, and should be ours.

Luke 21:13

Jesus here showed himself to be what he still is. the Provider, the Host, the Husband of his Church.

Luke 21:17

The Greek word means in this third question more than before, and might be rendered, “Lovest thou me dearly?”

Luke 21:17

He had three times denied, and he must three times avow his Lord.

Luke 21:18 , Luke 21:19

This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God namely, by crucifixion

Luke 21:18 , Luke 21:19

Thus was erring Peter fully restored. How mightily would that word “follow me” ring in his ears and influence his whole future. Follow me in doctrine, follow me in practice, follow me in sufferings, follow me in death, follow me to glory. May the Lord say to each one of us with power, Follow Me.

Do not I love thee, O my Lord?

Then let me nothing love:

Dead be my heart to every joy,

When Jesus cannot move.

Hast thou a lamb m all thy flock

I would disdain to feed?

Hast thou a foe, before whose face

I fear thy cause to plead?

Thou know’st I love thee, dearest Lord;

But oh, I long to soar

Far from the sphere of mortal joys,

And learn to love thee more.

Copyright Statement This resource was produced before 1923 and therefore is considered in the "Public Domain".

[jfarvin]

“The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end.” —Lamentations 3:22 “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” — Micah 6:8 “[Jesus said,] ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.’” — Matthew 5:7 “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” — Romans 12:6–8​As I looked out my window this morning, as the sun began to rise, the scripture " Mercies are new every morning filled my thoughts. I looked at my phone and had a message from a dear brother serving, teaching, and preaching in Africa.I responded to his message with this morning's reminder of God's mercies. 

​The Holy Spirit not only speaks to you but through you and I knew that this word was to be shared.Dear sons and daughters, and loved of God,  It's a new day, and new mercies.May we encounter God today and recognize just how He loves us so much, how His hand is upon us, and how He goes before us with mercies.And tomorrow will be a new day... new mercies... To Da, Abba! And BTW Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy...Matt:5:7.   To Da, Abba, To Da.

JESUS&jfa 

[steveezekiel]

THE THIRD DAY: THE SEASON 0F REST 2

1 THEREFORE, SINCE A PROMISE REMAINS OF ENTERING HIS REST, LET US FEAR LEST ANY OF YOU SEEM TO HAVE COME SHORT OF IT.

2 FOR INDEED THE GOSPEL WAS PREACHED TO US AS WELL AS TO THEM; BUT THE WORD WHICH THEY HEARD DID NOT PROFIT THEM, NOT BEING MIXED WITH FAITH IN THOSE WHO HEARD IT.

3 FOR we who have BELIEVED DO ENTER THAT REST, AS He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, 'They shall not enter My rest, . . . . ' "

4 "AND GOD RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY FROM ALL HIS WORKS";

5 AND again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest."

6 SINCE THEREFORE IT REMAINS THAT SOME MUST ENTER IT, AND THOSE TO WHOM IT WAS FIRST PREACHED DID NOT ENTER BECAUSE OF DISOBEDIENCE [Unbelief],

7 "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts."

8 FOR IF JOSHUA HAD GIVEN THEM REST, THEN HE WOULD NOT AFTERWARD HAVE SPOKEN OF ANOTHER DAY.

9 THERE REMAINS THEREFORE A REST FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD.

10 FOR HE WHO HAS ENTERED HIS REST HAS HIMSELF ALSO CEASED FROM HIS WORKS AS GOD DID FROM HIS.

11 LET US THEREFORE BE DILIGENT TO ENTER THAT REST, LEST ANYONE FALL ACCORDING TO THE SAME EXAMPLE OF DISOBEDIENCE."

Hebrews 4:1-11 (NKJV)

• There is a rest prepared for you in Christ Jesus:

2 FOR this good news—that God has prepared this rest—has been announced to us just as it was to them. BUT IT DID THEM NO GOOD BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T SHARE THE FAITH OF THOSE WHO LISTENED TO GOD [but it did not mix with their faith]. 3 FOR ONLY WE WHO BELIEVE CAN ENTER HIS REST. As for the others, God said, “In My anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter My place of rest,’ ” EVEN THOUGH THIS REST HAS BEEN READY SINCE HE MADE THE WORLD" (Hebrews 4:2,3 (NLT).

- In this rest which God has prepared; is salvation, which is all inclusive: redemption of souls, successes, prosperity, victories over satan and his cohorts, divine health, sound relationship with the Holy Spirit, and more.

- You would have to position yourself strategically and align yourself with God's move, what He set to do in and through His church, in this third Day.

- In other words, you have to labour and strive to do your Best, to enter that rest which God has promised:

9 SO THERE IS A SPECIAL REST STILL WAITING FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD. 10 FOR ALL WHO HAVE ENTERED INTO GOD'S REST HAVE RESTED FROM THEIR LABOURS, JUST AS GOD DID AFTER CREATING THE WORLD. 11 SO LET US DO OUR BEST TO ENTER THAT REST. BUT IF WE DISOBEY GOD, AS THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL DID, WE WILL FALL" (Hebrews 4:9-11 NLT).

- God's rest, all round fulfilment, was there for the people to enter, but they did not because of Unbelief:

"THEREFORE, SINCE THE PROMISE REMAINS FOR SOME TO ENTER HIS REST, AND THOSE WHO FORMERLY HAD THE GOOD NEWS PREACHED TO THEM FAILED TO [grasp it and did not] ENTER BECAUSE OF [their unbelief evidenced by] DISOBEDIENCE" (Hebrews 4:6 Amps).

• Know that your future is colourful and bright, and satan is interested in distorting It, do not give him a place (Ephesians 4:27).

- Remember, it is the time of the Manifestation of the church, endeavour to be part of it: "FOR THE EARNEST EXPECTATION OF THE CREATURE WAIT ETH FOR THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS [daughters] OF GOD" (Romans 8:19 KJV).

- Therefore, to enter into that prepared rest, you would have to:

I. Labour, be diligent, and make every effort, to enter it (Hebrews 4:11).

a. The labour or effort being talked about here is, labouring or being diligent in the Word of God, and not mainly about physical labour.

b. Many laboured in their secular works, but had nothing to show for it. Because they failed to labour in the Word of God.

c. Labour in the Word comes first before the physical labour. If you laboured in your secular work, without the knowledge and practice of the Word of God, you may not get the desired results.

d. When you labour in the Word, you receive light, directions, on how to go by whatever you are doing. Thus, direction is received or had in the place of studying the the Word, the Bible, and praying—you would not be praying like someone who is beating the Air:

"THEREFORE I [Paul] RUN THUS: NOT WITH UNCERTAINTY. THUS I FIGHT: NOT AS ONE WHO BEATS THE AIR" (1 Corinthians 9:26 NKJV).

II. Revelation comes in the place of labouring in the Word of God. When the Book, the Bible, is opened to you, you would have lights, directions, ideas, on whatever to do.

III. When you pray and work on the light you had received, you get better and quicker results on whatever said to be done by God.

• Note: as you laboured in the Word, studied and meditated in it, your success and progress would be evident to all (Joshua 1:8; 1 Timothy 4:15).

- When you labour in the Word, you become a star, a commander, Men or people would see your results. You become the envy of your generation.

- Read, study, and meditate, extensively on the Bible, the Word of God. And in addition to it, Read the books of proven ministers whom God has raised for the perfecting or equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12).

- Those who are listed as Ministry Gifts in Ephesians 4:11 are to raise the saints to the measure of the STATURE of the fullness of Christ Jesus (Ephesians 4:13).

• It is a season of rest. However, you have a responsibility to labour to enter into that rest.

- Remember, you labour in Word and prayer for you to enjoy the REST that is PREPARED.

- Let the Word you heard or read mix with faith in you. Do not allow Unbelief, as you labour in the Word. Unbelief, that manifested in Disobedience, robbed the people of Israel from entering the Rest.

• You will not fail in Jesus' name.

- Should there be any ailment in your body, receive your healing now in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

- What is not of God in your body that is working against your health and wellness is cursed and uprooted totally, in the mighty name of Jesus.

Peace!

STEPS TO SALVATION

• Take notice of this:

IF you are yet to take the step of salvation, that is, yet to be born-again, do it now, tomorrow might be too late (2 Corinthians 6:1,2; Hebrews 3:7,8,15).

a. Acknowledge that you are a sinner and confess your Sins (1 John 1:9); And ask Jesus Christ to come into your life (Revelation 3:20).

b. Confess that you believe in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that you confess it with your mouth, Thus, you accept Him As your Lord and Saviour (Romans 10:9,10).

c. Ask that He will write your name in the Book of Life (Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:8).

- If you took the steps As highlighted above, It means you are saved—born-again. Join a Word based church in your area and Town or city, and be part of whatever they are doing there. Peace!