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Only the Holy Spirt teaches the Wisdom of God

“no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit” (1 Cor 2:11-13 ESV)

We will be looking at scripture written by the apostle Paul. I had the privilege of tracking his journey in Greece. I spent two days in Corinth photographing the old ruins of the ancient city. I met other Christians on a similar journey at the inn where I was staying. One thing all Christians have in common is the ability to perceive that Jesus Christ is Lord of heaven and earth. They also understand that they have come into a universal family of God that joins them via His Spirit and the Bible.

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The gospel—God’s wisdom—is foolishness to those that do not have the Holy Spirit. “Where is the one who is wise?” and further  “Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Cor 1: 20 ESV)

Here the apostle Paul is simply saying that without the Holy Spirit a man cannot perceive wisdom or guidance for the scriptures:

“For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe…but we preach Christ crucified…to those who are called…Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men”. (1 Cor 1: 21-25 ESV)

The gospel message, by its very simplicity, appears foolish to those who think themselves wise by human standards. Paul was a brilliant scholar. He could have overwhelmed his audiences with arguments, statistics, and brilliant ideas. Though he may have risen in intellectual assent on the stage, he would not be motivating saving faith.

Faith that depends on clever arguments and debate will eventually be undermined if another logical argument or more influential teacher comes along. Faith grounded in the power of the Holy Spirit, however, cannot be undermined. The simple message of Jesus Christ, who had been crucified for the world’s sins is a simple, direct message that moves men’s hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit (2:4).

Preachers and teachers of the Word of God do not depend on using wise and persuasive writing or preaching to change people’s hearts. That happens only by the work of the Holy Spirit. The power of a person’s conversion occurs not because of any teacher or the preacher but through the Holy Spirit when the hearer allows Christ into His mind via the Holy Spirit by opening up ones’ heart to God’s transforming power.

A simple message dependent upon the Holy Spirit’s power for its effectiveness is what helps people see their own sinfulness, rebellion and stubbornness when standing against or ignoring the guidance of God via the Holy Spirit about His Son’s death on the cross to engage a process of reconciliation.

There are many brands of human wisdom in the world which distract from the core message to simply trust the power of God for our salvation. The Gospel message of Christ is not like teaching philosophy, not dependent on models of behaviour or demographic scores of what nationality or US state is the happiest, social media algorithms, marketing metrics, scientific theory or debating speculative notions, for these never saved anyone. The kind of wisdom that belongs to this world offers nothing. It only offers  “a regression to an idolatrous concept of God, and a transformation of the love of God into a relationship fitting an alienated character structure”. Thus, the teacher of God’s wisdom, unlike worldly wisdom is not taught in order to impress anyone.

Because of the Holy Spirit’s guidance, believers can grasp this secret wisdom of God, referring to God’s offer of salvation to all people made available through Jesus’ death on the cross. This plan was “secret” because only through God’s wisdom and the insight given by his Spirit can people begin to comprehend it. Attempting to understand this plan with human wisdom and through philosophical discussions will take people nowhere. Only God, through the Holy Spirit, can reveal it (2:10).

“And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:13-14)

You may ask who is the Holy Spirit? God is three persons in one—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God became a man in Jesus so that Jesus could die for our sins. Jesus rose from the dead to offer salvation to all people through spiritual renewal and rebirth. When Jesus ascended into heaven, his physical presence left the earth, but he promised to send the Holy Spirit so that his spiritual presence would still be among mankind (see Luke 24:49). The Holy Spirit first became available to the disciples after the Resurrection on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2).

Only the Spirit can reveal to believers God’s profound nature and wonderful plan, especially that formerly hidden mystery that is now revealed—salvation through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Just as a person cannot penetrate another person’s thought processes, so “no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit” (2 Cor 2:11) The only way to know God is to know his Holy Spirit, to have him in one’s life. The only way to obtain the Holy Spirit is to accept, by faith, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. The Holy Spirit is a distinct person, yet one in essence and function with God the Father.

 

 

The importance of who we marry

“…swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell, but will go to my country and to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac.” (Genesis 24:1-9 ESV)

The story of Isaac and Rebekah
This is the story of a man seeking a bride for his son after his beloved mother Sarah had died. The story begins when Isaac’s father Abraham instructs his trusted servant to find a wife for his son, not from the inhabitants of Canaan where they lived, but from his native land, from people he knew were living closer to his God. This was so important to Abraham that he had his servant swear on it.

Abraham had been promised major blessings by God if he led his children also to walk with God and serve Him. This blessing was to be for all his children for all future generations. Bottom line, Abraham must “command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD”. He must also position future generations to follow the Lord.

“Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” (Genesis 18: 18-19 ESV)

Abraham wants to make sure that he is arranging success for his son Isaac according to the promise of the Lord – and this includes future generations. We can see two important tactics that can lead to better futures for our children:

1. Protecting their Social Life That they are not allowed to mix socially with or marry those who do not follow the Lord – who have entirely the opposite interests and friends, and
2. Marry in the Lord The apostle Paul’s advice to marry “only in the Lord”— is counsel that should govern the conduct of all Christians (see 1 Cor. 7:39) and it not to be fluffed off when faced with social decisions. Parents are to govern the social connections of the children, especially regarding marriage.

The Bible teaches that Christian children need some guidance by their fathers to find a godly woman or man suitable to develop a future life with, where their children will also be taught to follow the Lord as fist priority. Future generations and their children will also be taught to follow the Lord as fist priority. Husbands and wives must collaborate to lead the family for Christ.

What if they children do not follow this counsel? Perhaps the children rebelled, or there was not Christian leadership agreement in their home when growing up. If they have married outside of the Lord, the hope now would be that both the husband and the wife (the children once married) both find and renew a relationship with the Lord and His Word. God’s love is patient and cannot be exhausted. “The Lord…is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 NIV)

Abraham’s concern for God’s promise for Isaac and his children  All children born into Christian homes have a higher purpose when they are born. The narrative moves to God allowing Sarah to become pregnant after being without child into her old age.

“Now the LORD was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did for Sarah what he had promised. Sarah became pregnant and bore a son to Abraham in his old age, at the very time God had promised him. Abraham gave the name Isaac to the son Sarah bore him.” (Genesis 21:1-3 NIV)

Often, no explanation is given as to why God commands certain ways of living, but there is a principle that we reap what we sow. The seeds that we sow or allow to be sown into our children’s’ lives will eventually be harvested. In fact reaping is a farming law: we reap the same that we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow. If our children are exposed to others who drink unto drunkenness, share pornography (a pandemic among teenagers), have friends who commit adultery, or who disdain Christianity, it follows that this is the crop that you will see harvested in your own children’s lives. I can’t emphasize this biblical principle more: Whatever we sow we’ll reap, what we sow, more than we sow, later than we sow. We have the privilege to water and plant and God causes the increase (1 Cor 3:6-9).  And if we don’t water and plant good seed, nothing good grows.

Abraham’s desire that Isaac inter-marry with a woman who was not native to Canaan where he lived appears to be a further expression of the notion of the two lines of blessing and curse seen in Genesis 9:25–27: “Cursed be Canaan!” but “Blessed be the LORD the God…” Truly the downside of not following Jesus Christ as Lord is the final curse of eternal death. The blessing is eternal life as Jesus promised: ““I am telling you the truth: those who hear my words and believe in him who sent me, have eternal life. They will not be judged, but have already passed from death unto life.” (John 5:24 GNT) The inhabitants of Canaan were considered to be under a divine curse for their sinful lives (see Genesis 15:16). The seed of Abraham was to be kept separate from the seed of Canaan.

The servant in search for Isaac’s bride The account of the servants success was accomplished because he achieved finding Rebekah as a wife for Isaac prayerfully by faith. The lesson here is that if our intent is to follow God’s will and marry in the faith of Jesus Christ God will lead the way until it is achieved to His glory. The servant of Abraham had success by faith and praised God for finding Rebekah for Isaac. “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out…”

“When I came to the spring today, I said, ‘LORD, God of my master Abraham, if you will, please grant success to the journey on which I have come. See, I am standing beside this spring. If a young woman comes out to draw water and I say to her, “Please let me drink a little water from your jar,” and if she says to me, “Drink, and I’ll draw water for your camels too,” let her be the one the LORD has chosen for my master’s son.’ “Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, ‘Please give me a drink.’” (Genesis 24:42-45 ESV)

God understands everything to do with love and how it is only able to be nurtured in full in the context of loving God first. (see The Manifesto of God’s Love)

Jesus tells a parable of Two Praying Men

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ (Luke 18:10-13 ESV)

In Luke chapter 18 Jesus told the parable of two men who prayed. He did this to create a contrast between those who thought they were right with God (the self-righteous leaders) and a tax collector who admitted that he was a sinner, and asked the Lord for mercy and forgiveness. It is a striking contrast between the prayer of a Pharisee with that of a tax collector. The Pharisee tells God, “God, I’m the best, I don’t do bad things, in fact, God I only do good things.”

Our attitude while praying is of vital importance. The people who had great self-confidence and scorned everyone else were the Pharisees and other religious leaders who saw themselves as the only ones good enough to be acceptable to God.

To these people – the leaders who were always giving Jesus a hard time, He told a story about two men who went into the Temple to pray. These two men were as different as could be: the one was a super-religious law-keeping Pharisee, the other a dishonest tax collector. These religious leaders viewed tax collectors as the worst of sinners.

I knew a man once whose daughter was a Christian and her husband was a pastor. He was a nice enough fellow. Yet he began to berate Christians in general, even though they were among his family. He would say: “I think I am just as good or better than most Christians”—many such phrases. So we can find the attitude of a Pharisee among the nicest people, who though they do good things as humanists, have erroneous views about why they do not need mercy from God, and they may go so far as to denigrate Christians as crazy holy rollers or those who believe in fables and the like. Unfortunately, this man died unrepentant about a year later.

This Pharisee’s actions and his prayer provide a picture of his life and occupation—he was a separatist, but his separatism and desire to remain perfect before God had hardened into a lifestyle of self-righteousness. He stood by himself and prayed. The words of this prayer, however true, were not prayed in the correct attitude of humility before God. He thanked God that he was not a sinner like everyone else. While the Pharisee was probably not like everyone else in a lot of ways, he erred in thinking that he was “not a sinner.” He may have had an extensive checklist marking off just how good he thought he was.

This Pharisee felt that he was far better than the tax collector whom he saw praying across the way. Tax collectors were not known for their honesty, so this Pharisee compared himself favorably, telling God that he had never cheated or sinned or committed adultery. And, by the way, he also fasted twice a week and tithed from his income. He was confident of himself in his holier than thou righteousness, while at the same time despising this other man, even though he too was in the Temple praying to the very same God. The Pharisee did not welcome the tax collector who was seeking God; instead, the legalistic Pharisee gloated that he was so much more righteous.

The focus shifts to the tax collector who had come to the Temple and seemed to have known full well the extent of his sin. He felt so downright low that he did not think he could even lift his eyes to heaven towards God; instead, he beat his chest (a sign of sorrow), praying for God to be merciful to him. He recognized himself as a sinner. He had been convicted of his sin and had come to the one place where he could find forgiveness. He had come to God, humbly recognizing that he did not deserve mercy.

As Jesus tells the story, we find out God’s viewpoint of how He views these two men’s attitudes expressed by these two very different prayers.

“But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:13–14 ESV)

Surprisingly enough, only the tax collector returned home justified – which means forgiven with right standing before God – “justified” means God’s act of declaring people “not guilty” of sin. Only the tax collector recognized his sin; therefore, because he confessed his sin “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” he was the only one God justified. The self-righteous Pharisee had said that he had no sin; therefore, there was nothing for God to forgive – to justify this Pharisee as “not guilty.” He simply didn’t believe that he was in need of any mercy or forgiveness from God. He thought he was in A-OK standing with God. He returned home no different than when he had entered.

What do we learn from Jesus? The principle is that no one has anything of value to bring to God to deserve salvation, mercy, justification, or even a second glance from God. The proud will be humbled, but the humble will be honored. Acceptance before God cannot be achieved by good deeds, piety, or any amount of self-proclaimed righteousness.

The Pharisee did not view himself as a sinner. The apostle Paul, noted that we all have sinned and are worthy of death: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 6:23) What the Pharisee did not realize is that he was every bit a sinner as the other man when he exalted himself before the Lord. Salvation is offered to the humble who come to God, through Jesus and confess their sin, and ask for mercy: “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21 ESV)

In this way, the tax collector got right with the Lord – he asked for mercy – he recognized his sin before God. Once a person asks God for fogiveness in Christ’s name, he is saved, he has no more fear of death, because he will receive eternal life in Christ, who paid the price for all of our sins by dying on the cross. “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 ESV)

A final thought: God justified the repentant tax collector before his going down this house or home, and this justification – his forgiveness by God, was valid now and indefinitely. God acquits, as the judge. He delivers and pronounces the verdict that frees from guilt and punishment. Since justification by faith in Christ is the central doctrine of the Scriptures, the sinner’s one hope of salvation, the parable that Christ used to teach this must be properly understood.

The parable of Jesus makes it clear that only the tax collector as the confessing sinner was forgiven and made right – justified by God, whereas the Pharisee was not, namely by comparing the two with each other. It would be an incorrect view that the one was justified more than the other because no degrees of right standing with God are possible in justification – the judge pronounces the acquittal – the pronouncement of forgiven and hence not guilty or refuses to declare it and leaves the sinner in his sin, guilt, and condemnation. It is not to be confused with the matter of the sinner’s feeling of having been justified by God. The divine act takes place in heaven, outside of, apart from, and only regarding the sinner who is on earth. His knowledge, conviction, and feeling (all of which are personal) are to be derived directly from the Word of God. The scriptures make it plain that the acquittal of every repentant sinner is assured.

It is not by degree of purification or adjudgments of self, but upon trusting only the scriptural faith assured in the Bible such as defined by Jesus in the parable of the two men praying in the Temple.

God loves to forgive. He is glorified when you accept His gift of salvation in His Son. He that exalts himself shall be humbled, every last one; but he that humbles himself shall be exalted and enter into the family of God. By faith, you needn’t “fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15 ESV) You get the sense of our new childlike trust in God, as the scripture uses the word “Abba” which means, “Daddy.” You can trust our heavenly Father’s love.

Loving your Muslim neighbour

There has been a lot of hatred and fear expressed toward Muslims since the Paris attacks reminding the world all too clearly of the twin towers on 9/11. The rhetoric goes something like this: “I’d bomb the hell out of them and take their oil.” Donald Trump

For a minute, at least, I confess that I too thought as I am sure many did, “yeah, that makes total sense Donald”. Then I was convicted by the Spirit of our Lord Jesus with these words, “love your enemies” (see the beatitudes in Matthew ch. 5). I still complained, “How could this be Lord? They are killing Christians, beheading them. What will this world be like for my grandchildren?”

I woke the following morning with a totally revised viewpoint. I realized I must blog this and clear out my mind, allow Jesus to entirely renew my viewpoint. My cousin John, a teacher who taught and speaks often of a wonderful Muslim girl now a young woman. He always took the Lord’s own viewpoint, as did his father regarding racism and the love of God for all. 1

I need to discipline myself to love others, and not base my viewpoint on fear. Rather I need to reach out to share the good news of Jesus, as we see in this video posted on Facebook by my Christian friends. This Muslim woman accepted Jesus on the premise of his view on loving all men. It added the much-needed dimension as I write now. Wow, I hope you can see the truth that fear destroys peace, and just creates confusion in our lives. Love is the answer. 2

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline”. (2 Timothy 1:7 NIV)

 1 John, my much-loved cousin who always visited my mother over the years, though he may not profess Jesus, advocates for loving all men by quoting the scriptures of Jesus to me. Thanks, John. I am grateful.

See also; The Manifesto of God’s Love 

Grace: The Motivation for Accepting Jesus

“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.” (Rom. 3:25 NIV)

In God’s great exchange, God charged our sin to Christ and credited Christ’s righteousness to us. This swap is referred to as Justification – meaning that in our standing before God by faith in Christ, we are righteous in His sight – the opposite state of being condemned for our sin.

To begin to understand the love that God has for sinners, Jesus told the story of the Prodigal Son. The boy went from home and lived a wasted life full of sin. The father, when he saw his son heading towards home ran and fell on his neck and kissed him, and further demanded a feast be prepared for his lost son now returned. This represented the love that the father in heaven has for each person who has gone their own way of the world.

We are no more righteous in our daily experience than Christ was sinful in His daily experience. When we trust in Jesus by faith, God regards us as entirely righteous. How can this be? God the Father credits the righteousness of Christ to us as we put our trust by faith in Jesus.

Looking at this personally: He died on the cross for you just as if you’d never sinned. Justification by faith in Christ offers us this exchange.  Here’s how it works. When God charges our sins to Christ, they are no longer ours. He has removed them from us “as far as the east is from the west” (see Psalm 103: 12) and remembers them no more (see Hebrews 8: 12).

The penalty for our sin was paid at the cross, and this is actualized by our acceptance of this gift – by our faith when we say “Father in Heaven, I believe, and I accept your gift of forgiveness of sin for me – I am grateful for what my Lord Jesus did for me on the cross”.

There is a sense of guilt for sin once we see the aim of the gospel – that it  is the good news of God’s plan our reconciliation and salvation from the curse of sin. By faith, I see that my sin is indeed covered by accepting Christ’s gift offered to me. Theologically Christ is our substitutionary ransom. Others may term his death as “propitiatory”. Propitious means bringing a favourable result by Christ’s atonement for our sin. In a nutshell, we are saved from the wrath of God towards the ungodly which will occur at the last Judgment. We are now saved by faith when we put our trust in Jesus Christ. We are now actually accounted as righteous and reconciled through Christ as a son or daughter of God.

Individually, a divine transaction occurs – I exchange my sin, for the gift of Christ’s righteousness offered to all men at the cross – men and women who accept this gift of grace. Two points are important to understand.

  1. God is infinitely holy. Grace and forgiveness are inaccessible without Christ.  Without Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross, we can never approach God as our Father in heaven. God is holy and hates the sin that has become a part of mankind. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (see Rom. 3:23) Our Lord’s Prayer alludes to His holiness: “Our Father in Heaven…Hallowed be thy name.”
  2. God alone is the source of righteousness. By our accepting the gift of Christ’s lived-out righteousness by faith, God’s justice is satisfied. His penalty for sin – death – was exhausted on His Son at the cross. Christ’s death achieved reconciliation for all who call upon Him. The faith of Jesus attributes to you. This viewpoint that God takes of you, though a sinner, as righteous in Christ, is now accessible to you once you confess your sin and accept His gift of salvation.

We stand before Him just as if we’d never sinned, and just as if we’d always obeyed. What Jesus was in His life, we are in our standing before God because Jesus was our representative in both His life and death. His righteousness is imputed to us – viewed by the Father as own our own righteousness. This justification was offered by the death of Jesus Christ.

“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38-39 NIV)

Apostle Paul’s view was that by faith “I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3: 8b-9 ESV) It’s very clear: “through faith in Christ” we are gifted “the righteousness from God that depends on faith”.

The idea of Christ as our representative man when incarnated, which Paul makes clear is indeed an offer to be viewed by God, no longer as a sinner, but as a righteous person in good standing with Him. Thus we can approach a holy God daily by faith. For years, the church has found the study of Righteousness by Faith an encouraging topic. Note how Paul denoted Christ as a man, a representative man. This is very important to see. Adam, our forefather was our first representative man, representing sin and unrighteousness for the human race when he disobeyed God. Adams death passed unto all men.

Comparatively, Jesus represents us as forgiven for our sins, and righteous by faith in Him, as our last representative man. The new life we find in Jesus Christ passes unto all men who are saved by faith.

“As by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5: 19 ESV)

The first many who were made sinners refers to the entire human race (except, of course, Jesus). The second many refers to all who are united to Christ by faith. Paul is not teaching a universal salvation of all humankind.

Let me illustrate. I know men who work hard at their physical jobs – they can get sweaty with grimy hands and clothes. They shower before dining with their family or play with their children or hug their wife. They don’t just put on clean clothes first! God does this to you. He washes you clean in the blood of His Son and then He clothes you in His perfect righteousness. The old hymn expresses the trust we have in Jesus. “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.” His love activates our love. 

Essentially love for Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sin offered to us, is the primary motivation for accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are called to a righteous life in Christ, and His love and the power of the Holy Spirit lead us in our quest for holiness.

Other related reading: The Manifesto of God’s Love

God’s Herbal Gift of Healing: The Cancer Cure Coverup

Recently I had the opportunity to view Ty Bollinger’s series on The Truth About Cancer. I was shocked to find out how many cures for cancer there are, and how the medical systems in North America lobby to make it difficult for doctors pioneering in this field, if they are using natural healing methods. You may or may not know that the large pharmaceutical companies together are a multi-billion dollar collaborative movement that control cancer treatment to secure their own profitability at the expense of our health.

Millions of dollars are spent monthly lobbying heads of government bodies. They have a revolving door with the government health agencies, legal bodies such as the FDA in the USA, and with our medical practitioners. Big Parma as they are nefariously termed, are constantly setting appointments to sit before our doctors, including oncologists who specialize in governing the protocol to administer chemo and radiation therapies.

In my mind, we should be free to try these natural and alternative cures without being blocked by the interests of Big Pharma. I want to take a moment to share a couple of episodes via YouTube.

The Bible makes frequent reference to the plant/vegetable kingdom. Our blessed Saviour drew beautiful illustrations from plants. For example, he calls upon us to consider the lilies of the field. Plants, like the other works of our Creator, are worthy of study when we view them in connection with Scripture.

The cures for cancer often utilize a mixture of herbs, as well as curative strategies which are much safer than chemotherapy or radiation, which harm the immune system – weakening our own bodies healing system. Here are two of the videos. If you have a problem viewing them let me know.

Episode 1: The True History of Chemotherapy & Big Pharma

Episode 2: Cancer Facts and Fictions, Breast Cancer, Hormones, Skin Cancer & Essential Oils

A list of the plants mentioned in the Bible:

All of these trees, plants and herbs are mentioned in the Bible.

ALMOND-TREE (Amygdalus communis; Prunus amygdalus)
BOX-TREE (Boxus sempervirens)
BAY-TREE (Laurus nobilis)
CEDAR-TREE OF LEBANON (Cedrus Libani)
HEATH-TREE—SAVIN (Juniperus Sabina)
CINNAMON-TREE AND CASSIA-TREE (Cinnamomum zeylanicum; and C. Cassia)
FIR-TREE (Cupressus sempervirens)
FIG-TREE (Ficus Carica)
HYSSOP (Capparis spinosa; Caper plant and its variety, Capparis ægyptiaca)
ASPEN, OR TREMBLING POPLAR (Populus tremula)
OAK-TREE (Quercus Ægilops)
MUSTARD-TREE (Salvadora persica; Sinapis nigra)
MYRTLE-TREE (Myrtus communis)
OLIVE-TREE (Olea europæa)
OIL-TREE (Elæagnus angustifolia)
PALM-TREE (Phœnix dactylifera)
POMEGRANATE-TREE (Punica Granatum)
SHITTAH-TREE (Acacia Seyal)
SYCOMORE-TREE (Ficus sycomorus)
TEIL-TREE, OR TEREBINTH-TREE (Pistacia Terebinthus)
HUSK-TREE (Ceratonia Siliqua)
PLANE-TREE (Platanus orientalis)
NUTS (Juglans regia; Pistacia vera)
VINE (Vitis vinifera)
WILLOW-TREE (Salix babylonica)
CAMPHIRE (Lawsonia inermis)
ALMUG OR ALGUM TREE (Santalum album; Pterocarpus santalinus)
ALOES-TREE, OR LION-ALOES TREE (Aquilaria Agallochum)
ASH-TREE
EBONY-TREE (Diospyros ebenus)
JUNIPER-BUSH (Genista monosperma)
POPLAR (Populus alba)
MYRRH-TREE (Balsamodendron Myrrha)
ESHEL (Tamarix orientalis)
THYINE-WOOD (Xylon thyinum)
APPLE-TREE (Pyrus malus)
THORNS AND BRIERS AND BRAMBLES
LOT, OR LADANUM (Cistus creticus)
STACTE (Nataf)
PINE-TREE (Tidhar)
ANISE OR DILL (Peucedanum graveolens; Anethon)
BEANS (Vicia faba; Pol; Cyamos; Faba vulgaris)
SWEET CANE (Andropogon calamus-aromaticus)
CORIANDER (Coriandrum sativum)
CORN
CUMMIN (Cuminum cyminum)
FITCHES (Nigella sativa)
FLAX (Linum usitatissimum)
FRANKINCENSE (Boswellia thurifera)
GALBANUM (Polylophium officinale)
WILD GOURD (Citrullus colocynthis)
HEMP (Cannabis sativa)
SAFFRON (Crocus sativus)
LENTILES (Ervum lens)
RUE (Ruta graveolens)
MINT (Mentha sylvestris)
ROSE (Narcissus taxetta)
MILLET (Panicum miliaceum)
TARES (Lolium temulentum)
LILY—OLD TESTAMENT (Nymphæa lotus)
LILY—NEW TESTAMENT (Anemone coronaria)
MELON (Cucumis melo)
NETTLE (Urtica urens)
GARLIC (Allium sativum)
GRASS
LEEK (Allium porrum)
ONION (Allium cepa)
WHEAT (Triticum sativum; var. compositum)
SPELT (Triticum spelta)
BARLEY (Hordeum distichon)
COCKLE (Baoshah)
GOURD (Ricinus communis; Cucurbita pepo)
CUCUMBER (Cucumis sativus)
BULRUSH AND RUSH (Papyrus antiquorum)
SPIKENARD (Nardostachys jatamansi)
COTTON (Gossypium herbaceum)
REED (Arundo donax)
FLAG (Cyperus esculentus)
DOVE’S DUNG (Ornithogalum umbellatum)
MANDRAKE (Atropa mandragora; Mandragora officinalis)
THISTLE (Tribulus terrestris)
HEMLOCK
WORMWOOD
BITTER HERBS

Cited from: Balfour, J. H. (1885). The Plants of the Bible (pp. vii–viii). London; Edinburgh; New York: T. Nelson and Sons.

The New Covenant transcends the Old Covenant

“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38-39 NIV)

There are many faith-building stories in the Old Testament (OT) – a redemptive narrative of God’s salvation, particularly for Abraham’s children, the Jews, had become the most perceptive to the Word of God speaking to them. Abraham was one of the first men in his era to begin to discern the presence of God, His principles, and His leading via prophetic insight. He was asked to leave the Ur of the Chaldeans and move to an entirely new land in Canaan (see Genesis 11:31;12:1; 12:1 ESV)

Those living in that time, before Christ, were recorded by the prophets in the OT narrative. They were not entirely aware that some of their major stories and symbols were revelatory of the coming cross and death of Jesus Christ. The narrative of their life did not hold a lot of value as epistemological tools (ways of knowing) for them. They did not then know about the New Covenant (NC) truth that would be unpacked from their story after the event of the cross when the redemptive ransom would be paid by Christ for the true atonement for all man’s sin.

How they knew, what they knew, why we now know, was not as evidently true for them then, because the symbols and shadows about the future reality took time and guidance by the apostles to apprehend.

The cross of Jesus Christ brought awareness to Jews and all of mankind, as the New Testament (NT) prophets compared the old narratives beyond the limits of that historic knowledge. Apostle Paul was the man chosen by the resurrected Jesus to reveal to the world, first, the importance of the cross and secondly, a new way of comprehending the past in light of the arrival of Christ. In the letter to the Ephesians he confidently wrote of his inspiration given to him from Jesus, fully aware that a new perception, not previously made known, was dawning in the kingdom of God:

“When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” (Eph. 3:4-5 ESV)

As we look at the Old Testament narrative, we find that many of the symbols are types of the progression towards a fuller understanding of principled thinking – as mankind was led by God to see life through the paradigm of love – the basis of a new inner motive operandi – a new process of reformation of the character of mankind motivated by love.

Prior to the New Testament, when Jesus came on the scene, there were many true events depicted as living symbols of Jesus Christ acted out in real life such as:

  • Abraham obeying God, ready to offer his son Isaac on Mt. Moriah replaced by a lamb caught in a bush;
  • The sacrificial lambs being killed morning and evening in the Jerusalem temple;
  • The day of Atonement once a year where bulls, goats, and sheep were slaughtered to appease the sins of the Israelite as guilt offerings.

These living symbols were revealed as Bible stories  – narratives, later to be revealed by the apostles as shadow-types designed to lead us to understand fully that the advent and mission of Jesus Christ was to redeem man. This plan was established even before the ancient narratives were enacted in life: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:3-4 ESV)

The plan to redeem man had begun before sin entered. Jesus came to fulfill the ancient symbols by offering His life, as the anti-typical atonement for sin: “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood — to be received by faith” and “He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” (Rom. 3:25 NIV; Eph. 1:9-10 NIV)

Paul made it clear that the purpose of Christ was only to be understood much later, “to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment” (vs. 10) The priesthood of the temple would bring Jesus before Pilate with the intent to have him killed. What they did not understand was that the narrative of the priesthood was coming to a climactic ending in actionable reality. The “Lamb of God”, as the Apostle John referred to Jesus, was about to be slain in the place of all sinning mankind to “take away the sin of the world” and make the final at-one-ment for man – to free man from the penalty of death – to openly reconcile him to God, His Father.

Jesus said “it is finished” on the cross just as He died. The curtain to the Most Holy place in the Jerusalem temple, into which only the High Priest could enter once a year, was torn in two. This indicated the winding down of the Old Covenant period – the closing of the educative narrative for that period that had been used as a tutor – as a guide to lead us to Christ.

The New Covenant entirely replaces the Old Covenant

The New Covenant period was instituted at the cross as Jesus noted at the last supper to his disciples: “In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Lk. 22:20 NIV) It had been prophesied by Jeremiah: “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.” (Jer. 31:31 NIV)

Paul confirmed this: “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor. 3:6; 1 Cor. 11:25 NIV)

  • The new covenant is superior to the old Christ was the antitypical ransom offering, High Priest and mediator for man before God the Father: “the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.” (Heb. 8:6 NIV)
  • The new covenant makes the old covenant obsolete: “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.” (Heb. 8:13 NIV)

Christ died to ransom mankind from the sins of the ancient and prior generation and our current lives: “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” (Heb. 9:15 NIV)

The new covenant is not a mere continuation of the old covenant, “For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.” (Heb. 8:7 NIV) It is “not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant.” (Heb 8:9 ESV) It all comes down to the arrival and death of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of all the symbols of the ancient children of God from Abraham on: It is now to the new covenant – the new agreement – “to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant” (vs. 12:24)

New principles, new thoughts expressed in new action supersede historical narrative. Nobody worries that a child is ignorant of the numerous laws of physics allowing him to suspend himself vertically while happily pedaling his new bicycle.

The life of Christ and His teachings, and His unwarranted death were instrumental, moving us radically from the historic dependence on the OT narrative of living symbols into functional realities with simpler principles for mankind’s more abundant life. This requires a new motivational drive to enable us to live freely by a new maxim of love. Love informs the New Covenant between God and mankind and leads the renewed man to care for his fellow man. The child, while riding his bike does not review the laws of aerodynamics or propulsion. He just engages in life, lives joyfully, loving his new experience, and thankful for his new gift.

A Covenant means an Agreement

It was prophesied that a new agreement was coming in the future, “not like the agreement I made with your forefathers.” At the Cross, upon His death, the curtain was torn in two, symbolizing that the old Jerusalem with its priesthood with the daily sacrificial slain lambs (symbolic of the coming death/ransom of Christ) now had been replaced by the New Jerusalem temple of the New Covenant, now a Spirit-led temple of united minds in Christ: “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5 ESV; 2 Cor. 6:16; Rev. 3:12 ESV) This took the prophetic insight of men like the apostles Peter, Paul, and John, to see the deepest unrecognized historic epistemological value.

The kingdom is predicated on united like-minds who can fathom the love maxim Christ taught in His Royal law, which had always been latent and prophesized by a few yet misunderstood in the OC era: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts [i.e. minds], and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Heb. 8:10, 16) Further: “But now that Christ has come, we don’t need those laws any longer to guard us and lead us to him.” (Gal. 3:25)

Love is the maxim of law that guides the balance of right action, justice and mercy. Jesus taught that “on these two laws”, love for God and love for man – hang all the OT moral laws – the Decalogue (10 commandments), and the OT’s forward-looking prophetic books. Jesus taught that “all scripture” (symbolically: the Rock from which poured water for the Jews in the wilderness, Lion, Lamb, Father, Prince of Peace, Wonderful, Counselor, Life, Water of Life, Spirit as the Wind, Wisdom, Messiah, Teacher, etc.) revealed insights about Him and His coming final Atonement and the New Covenant.

God put into effect a different plan

The essence of the new agreement, which I refer to as the Manifesto of God’s Love, was to help men realize that they cannot base their lives on exterior laws and check-lists and must evolve out of this fear-based bondage to written law into a love-based covenant (the Jews had 613 laws, the 10 commandments being central). Unfortunately, the Jewish leaders added many interpretations and burdens such as “you cannot carry your mat on the Sabbath”. To avoid legalism, we must understand that we are not saved by keeping the law. We will express the Spirit-led guidance that fulfills the law of God when we agree with the Spirit to engage our will to obey; and if we come short of obeying, immediately repent of any sin. Christ our Advocate is ready to hear our confession of sin, and our turning from sin: “if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John  2:1).

And our walk with Christ will indicate that the Spirit is achieving grace within us, acknowledging that the law is holy, just and good: “the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”. (Rom. 8:4 ESV) Any obedience to the law of God is achieved in us only if and when we submit and cooperate to obey God’s Spirit, as the Spirit does the work within – not by legalistic efforts, works or braggadocio that we keep the law. Even if you worship on the 7th-day Sabbath – the 4th commandment – give the Spirit of Jesus Christ the glory – Sabbath-keeping will not save you, only Jesus does that for you, first on the cross, and ongoingly He saves you from desiring to commit sin (if you allow Him to achieve this work within by obeying without hesitation).

“We aren’t saved from sin’s grasp by knowing the commandments of God because we can’t and don’t keep them, but God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours—except that ours are sinful—and destroyed sin’s control over us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins” (Rom 8:3 TLB) and “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (vs. 14) The secret is to be led by God by His Spirit every moment and yield your will to obey on whatever point Jesus Christ speaks to you via your conscience.

The problem with human nature is that man wants to interpret how others should live. The Jews had prescribed additional add-on laws as to how to keep the Sabbath, for example, even though Jesus debunked these additional commandments of men, referring to Himself as “Lord of the Sabbath…made for man” (Matt. 12:8) His purpose was to create one new humanity based on love and living in peace. And this New Covenant was accomplished “by setting aside…the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity…thus making peace” (Eph. 2:15 NIV)

Jesus lived out love in the now

Jesus displayed love in action among His disciples and the people right up to the cross, precisely to show the effect of love on mankind to motivate them differently in the heart and mind and conversely, to reveal the injustice, blind sightedness, sin, scheming and gross deceit expressed in the intense hatred of those who tried to block and discount Christ’s New Covenant teachings. Why? To protect their priestly system, pontifical life, popularity, and prestige and their economic survival with large temple incomes extracted from the people.

We need to look at Jesus as a man to see His glory as our creator (Col. 1:15-19) who came as an incarnated man to this earth to express the character of the Father’s love to man plus and show His new agreement of reconciliation to man. We must look at the entire OT bible leading up to His arrival on the scene, only through NC eyes, else we see it as a gory mess, and get trapped in the old narrative.

We must transcend the tutoring narrative of the old covenant once we are led to Christ and through His life and teaching to be reconciled to God as One people united with Him via His Spirit.

Lawlessness in Paris: The gates of hell shall not prevail against, the church!

“…I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt. 16:18 ESV)

The world was shocked when the many faceted attacks on Paris hit the news on November 13, 2015.

The Word of God resounded in my heart: “lawlessness will be increased” prior to our Lord’s return. He told his disciples this would occur as a sign. He went on to say: “the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Matt. 24: 12-14 ESV)

The above scripture indicates that “lawlessness will be increased” and “love of many will grow cold” and that we as disciples of Christ must heed the fact that the “gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Thus, we are not to lose heart but to take courage – the day of our Lord is approaching. A reckoning is coming, not only for ISIS but for the entire world.

Further He taught, that at His second advent He is coming to judge the world: “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”and further, “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (Matt. 24:27;30-31 ESV)

Note that Christ’s appearing will be visibly known by its brightness, audibly evident by the trumpet blasts, and angles will surround Him.

Apostle Paul added his prophecy to depict the resurrection of the faithful dead which will occur also at Christ’s coming in glory:

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-8 ESV)

Incidents of lawless violence will only get worse yet true Christianity and the good news of the kingdom of Jesus Christ will resound more and more in the world, despite persecution. And this all is leading up to the solemn climactic event of  our Lord’s second advent to judge mankind.

We will all know when the Lord is coming. There will be a very bright, atomic-like radiance surrounding the glory of Jesus Christ when He comes back in His Supremacy as role of Life-giver and Judge over all the world: “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matt. 24:27) “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.” (Rev. 1:7 ESV)

Jesus came to offer a New Covenant of forgiveness, and peace with all mankind, based on love. He is our redeemer from sin and death, which has passed unto all men (see Rom 3:23; 6:23 ESV)

Jesus is also the Supreme Creator, God and Judge over the world (see Supremacy of Christ Colossians Chapter 1). The judgement will involve changing the way things we know it on earth, as He displays His glory:

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3: 10-13 ESV)

I take solace in this quote of Jesus when he referred to Peter, his oft-fearful disciple, who with the apostles would spread the gospel to the entire world. I take personal ownership of this text and with confidence I say of the church – of Christ’s universal disciples: “…all the gates of hell shall not prevail against us” (Matt. 16:18 ESV)

I understand that we are increasingly becoming fragile, naïve, forgetful of our forefather’s origins in Christ, fewer read the Word of God or have family worship where they kneel to pray together. Yet we can turn to the Lord and repent of our disregard, and He will immediately forgive: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:16:31 ESV)

It is high time to renew your confidence in the Lord and seek His guidance.

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 Paris Photo, Glen Jackman

The Manifesto of Marital Love

“Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4 ESV)

Fewer people are getting married and of those many are divorcing. Marital levels of satisfaction tend to drop dramatically within the first few years together. Nevertheless, there are people who defy these odds – they live happily together for years and years. How do they accomplish this? The spirit of kindness and generosity guides them forward.

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Thousands of North American couples will tie the knot each year, committing to a unified relationship with the hope that it will be a dream made in heaven, and that the two will spend their days together until “death do us part”. We all know this isn’t happening in the larger statistic. What we often overlook is the smaller statistic of marriages that last. Now let’s examine what makes them last. Thirty percent of marriages do remain healthy and happy.

Psychologist John Gottman, over four decades, studied thousands of couples to determine what makes relationships work. Gottman with his wife Julie of The Gottman Institute in New York City study how to understand marital stability, which helps couples build and maintain loving, healthy relationships.

Measuring interviewed couples’ blood flow, heart rates, and how much they sweat they produced during dialogue, plus following up with them six years later to see if they were still together, offered interesting metrics. Their findings are distilled into two major groups: the masters – still happy after six years; and the disasters – who had either broken up or were very unhappily married.

What made the difference? Though the disasters “looked calm during the interviews, but their physiology, measured by the electrodes, told a different story. Their heart rates were quick, their sweat glands were active, and their blood flow was fast. Following thousands of couples longitudinally, Gottman found that the more physiologically active the couples were in the lab, the quicker their relationships deteriorated over time”. The disasters showed all the signs of being in fight-or-flight mode in their relationships during a conversation sitting next to their spouse as if meeting a bear in the woods. Hidden but revealed by the physiology, “even when they were talking about pleasant or mundane facets of their relationships, they were prepared to attack and be attacked. This sent their heart rates soaring and made them more aggressive toward each other”.

In comparison the masters “felt calm and connected together, which translated into warm and affectionate behavior, even when they fought. It’s not that the masters had, by default, a better physiological make-up than the disasters; it’s that masters had created a climate of trust and intimacy that made both of them more emotionally and thus physically comfortable”. 1

During a beautiful bed and breakfast retreat, 130 newlywed couples were assessed while cooking, cleaning, listen to music, dining, chatting, and hanging out. And Gottman made a critical discovery in this study:

Partners would make requests for connection, what Gottman calls ‘bids.’ For example, say that the husband is a bird enthusiast and notices a goldfinch fly across the yard. He might say to his wife, ‘Look at that beautiful bird outside!’ He’s not just commenting on the bird here: he’s requesting a response from his wife — a sign of interest or support — hoping they’ll connect, however momentarily, over the bird. The wife now has a choice. She can respond by either ‘turning toward’ or ‘turning away’ from her husband, as Gottman puts it. Though the bird-bid might seem minor and silly, it can actually reveal a lot about the health of the relationship. The husband thought the bird was important enough to bring it up in conversation and the question is whether his wife recognizes and respects that. People who turned toward their partners in the study responded by engaging the bidder, showing interest and support in the bid. Those who didn’t — those who turned away — would not respond or respond minimally and continue doing whatever they were doing, like watching TV or reading the paper. Sometimes they would respond with overt hostility, saying something like, ‘Stop interrupting me, I’m reading’. 1

When you think about your own relationship, how many times do we understand that our partner is reaching out for connection, to stop and listen to music together, go for a walk, or hit the cafe or the movie, perhaps after dinner. Gottman findings offer remarkable insights:

These bidding interactions had profound effects on marital well-being. Couples who had divorced after a six-year follow-up had ‘turn-toward bids’ 33 percent of the time. Only three in ten of their bids for emotional connection were met with intimacy. The couples who were still together after six years had ‘turn-toward bids’ 87 percent of the time. Nine times out of ten, they were meeting their partner’s emotional needs. 1

What Gottman and his wife Julie were observing is exactly what Christians need to understand are necessary components in a Christian marriage, based on the New Covenant love principle to “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4 ESV)

By observing these types of interactions, Gottman can predict with over 90 percent certainty whether couples will make it. Relationships rely on the spirit couples bring to the relationship. Kindness and generosity trumps contempt, criticism, and hostility.

The Gottman’s have got something worth remembering if you are married or considering marriage:

There’s a habit of mind that the masters have…which is this: they are scanning social environment for things they can appreciate and say thank you for. They are building this culture of respect and appreciation very purposefully. Disasters are scanning the social environment for partners’ mistakes…It’s not just scanning environment…It’s scanning the partner for what the partner is doing right or scanning him for what he’s doing wrong and criticizing versus respecting him and expressing appreciation. 1

A simple heuristic would be “what you look for you will find”. Kindness works in a law of reciprocity, if we are loving and kind, kindness is returned lovingly to us. The circle of love coming back to those who practice the principle of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” (Jesus)

We can also learn about why we feel loved, displayed by generosity, and kindness from the Shakespearean play Romeo and Juliet: “My bounty is as boundless as the sea,” says Juliet. “My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite.”

King Solomon wrote the Song of Solomon as a poet. He knew a lot about women. “My beloved is mine, and I am his”. (Song of Solomon 2:16 ESV)

Contempt, anger, inattentiveness, living without forgiveness, are the killjoys of marital love. It’s simple math that the majority of people never learn, or ignore to their peril.

1 Science says lasting relationships come down to 2 basic traits, (Business Insider, 2015)

 

The Atlantic
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How do you pray to have God answer you?

by Glen R. Jackman

“And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” (1 John 5:14 ESV)

Pray according to God’s Will

The practical question that follows John’s assertion is: How can we know if we are praying according to God’s will? That is an intensely practical question to ask as we take the initiative to pray with a desire for God to hear us.

To properly understand 1 John 5:14, we must connect the words “anything according to his will” with “ask”– not focusing only on the word “anything” without condition. A prayer is not an all-inclusive abracadabra as if it is a word spoken by a magician when performing a magic trick. We cannot ask for anything outside of His divine will. God won’t be used as if we’re making a wish to a big genie in the sky.

Similarly, let’s connect “he hears us” with “the confidence that we have toward him”. Not only the thing asked for, but also the attitude and trust of the one who is asking must be in line with God’s will. Both the thing asked for and the spirit of asking must be in a committed, respectful, harmony towards God regarding His will expressed in the scriptures.

Jesus’ teaching continually connected the answer to prayer with a life that was being lived according to God’s will, bearing evident godly fruit: trusting, forgiving, merciful, humble, peaceful, believing, asking in His name, abiding in His love, observing/keeping His commands, and having His words abiding within and being born anew and led by the Holy Spirit. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15 ESV) A life in line with God’s will, can and will ask according to God’s will.

When you live according to God’s will, you are spiritually able to discern what to ask for. A life yielded to and molded by the will of God will know what and how to pray. “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” (Rom 8:26 ESV) Boldness in prayer comes from the assurance that the way – the disposition of asking and the thing asked for are both according to the will of God.