#ALSO????????? THE ONLY WAY SOMEONE CAN SAY AND BELIEVE 'JESUS IS LORD' IS BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

[ajaxdishsoap]

Jesus did not say that every time we rebuke or abuse the poor and down-trodden we're rebuking and abusing Him for Christians to put conditions on their aid for people

[mayariviolet]

AOT Men That Are Hozier-coded.

ft. Armin and Jean.

summary: Horny and pathetic. ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO YOU.

cw: slightly suggestive themes under the cut. religious guilt, specifically Catholic or Christian beliefs… obviously (y’all know me atp).

a/n: Someone who can write smut comfortably please write an armin x reader OR jean x reader fic to the tune of:

‘Take me to Church’ and ‘It Will Come Back,’ by Mr. Andrew Hozier Byrne. PLEASE

THEY ARE SO HOZIER CODED! I’m just rambling rn because I think I’m ovulating falling in love with them again. Maybe I will turn this into a series where I associate artists with certain characters… I don’t know.

✧˖°.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁ ✧˖°. ✧˖°.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁ ✧˖°. ✧˖°.. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁ ✧˖

“My church offers no absolutes

She tells me, "Worship in the bedroom"

The only Heaven I'll be sent to

Is when I'm alone with you

I was born sick, but I love it

Command me to be well.”

LIKE TELL ME THATS NOT ARMIN… HE WOULD SO FEEL GUILTY ABOUT WANTING SOMEONE SO BADLY THAT ITS BORDERLINE SINFUL. BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY HE WOULDN’T CARE!

HE WANTS TO BE RALLIED AND HELD TO A HIGH STANDARD OR JUDGED BY SOMEONE HE REVERES, BC HE WANTS TO BE CHALLENGED. LORD HAVE MERCY. HE WOULD BE THE KIND OF DUDE TO HAVE IMPROMPTU RELATIONS IN A CONFESSIONAL. SURE HE WOULD FEEL GUILTY, BUT IT WOULD BE SO GOOD IN THE MOMENT! HE WOULD PROBABLY THINK HE FOUND SALVATION WITH YOU UNDERNEATH HIM. Impromptu, ‘Wrong use of a rosary.’

He probably sang in the choir or played the piano and just decided to drag you to church one day. Not in a:

‘I’m going to convert you’-way.

More like,

‘Look at this thing I’m proud of!’-way.

══════════════════

“Don't let it in with no intention to keep it

Jesus Christ, don't be kind to it

Honey, don't feed it, it will come back.”

THIS IS SO JEAN BC THIS BOY IS A MUNCH!!!

I AM TIRED OF PRETENDING HE ISN’T.

He is so pathetic in a way that is just so satisfying for both of you. THIS MAN LOVES YOU IN EVERY SENSE OF THE WORLD AND IS SO ANNOYING ABOUT IT. ESPECIALLY AT THE END OF THE SONG WHEN HOZIER SAID

“Don’t you hear me howling babe?”

HE IS CALLING FOR YOU! AGHHH!

If ever he got in a fwb type of situation I feel like Jean would jokingly say,

“Don’t fall in love with me.” and you’d be like, “Okay? I wasn’t planning to…”

BUT THEN HE WOULD BE ALL POUTY AND TAKE IT ALL BACK WITH SOMETHING LIKE,

“Wait no I lied please fall in love with me-”

So when you do finally fall in love it’s kind of a:

“Last chance to back out because once we do this with emotion, there’s no turning back.”

MORE OF A WARNING FOR YOU BECAUSE HE LOVES SO DEEPLY.

Jean would not be one to go to Church because he doesn’t believe in God or a higher power. He’s open to discussing it, though, especially if you are. But if he could choose to worship something or dedicate his life to it would be YOU.

══════════════════

(Me after writing this…)

a/n: I have no idea why I’m so feral lately. Nor, why I keep writing head canons at like three am… I’m gonna finish editing the first chapter of my Geto fic tomorrow. Hopefully upload it by Saturday!

I should also clarify that I was literally raised Catholic.

══════════════════

© Please do not copy or replicate my work. Inspiration is appreciated, but credit properly! ♡

[onsomekindofstartrek]

It's amazing, when Sheridan finally snaps on Kosh it's like he's thinking...

...yeah, I was in a train car, and it exploded on a bridge, and I leapt out and saw the entire inside-out world wheeling before me like the Kingdoms of the Earth, and out of nowhere came what appeared to be an angel of the Lord, as if to keep me from stubbing my toe, rising up to catch me. It was written.

Does that make me Jesus?

And I don't think he believes he is, but I think in that single moment when Kosh turned his back on him, I think he felt like it.

But as much as Babylon 5 flirts with all religions being true, it also kinda clearly says that they're all false. John Sheridan is, in some ways, the most expendable and least known quantity out of everything. He's not the Hero of Prophecy, he's barely a hero of a prophecy, and only because Sinclair's best guess is that he's going to win. Remember, Sinclair is getting ready to head to 1200 AD right now when this episode takes place, and all he really knows about the second shadow war is what the Rangers tell him. The end is really not written, and even if it was, Sinclair isn't god either.

For Christ's sake, Sinclair basically hands the aliens his fucking iphone and says "if someone can unlock this with their thumbprint they're a reincarnation of a powerful Minbari soul" and they based their entire culture around that idea in some ways. He's definitely not god, he's a very silly boy.

But I think in that moment, it wasn't enough for John to be a squishy human next to an ancient demigod who shaped his race since before his race began. I think the prophecy served its purpose in that it made him the One Who Is To Come in that moment; gave him the belief that he, rising ape, could survive standing up to a falling angel and telling it what to do. In the same way, Delenn can act with the entire weight of prophecy informing and strengthening every action even knowing that the guy who wrote the prophecies was... some guy, some random fighter pilot she picked out by chance on the last day of the war, a normal man that she's smiled at, lied to, kept things from, worried about... because she believes that he is the One Who Was, she is the One Who Is, and her boyfriend is the One Who Is To Come. A script guides her actions, never mind where it came from.

I think at the end of the day, that's what Babylon 5 says about belief, the same thing Vonnegut and Pratchett did. Beliefs may be false or true, but more observably they can transform you for better or worse.

[grimoire-catechumen]

St. Mary Magdalene, the Penitent and Apostle to the Apostles

I love the following excerpt from St. Anselm in his prayer to Mary Magdalene:

"But you, most holy Lord, why do you ask her why she weeps? Surely you can see; her heart, the dear life of her soul, is cruelly slain. O love to be wondered at; O evil to be shuddered at; you hung on the wood, pierced by iron nails, stretched out like a thief for the mockery of wicked men; and yet, ‘Woman,’ you say, ‘why are you weeping?’ She had not been able to prevent them from killing you, but at least she longed to keep your body for a while with ointments lest it decay. No longer able to speak with you living, at least she could mourn for you dead. So, near to death and hating her own life, she repeats in broken tones the words of life which she had heard from the living. And now, besides all this, even the body which she was glad, in a way, to have kept, she believes to have gone. And can you ask her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ Had she not reason to weep? For she had seen with her own eyes if she could bear to look what cruel men cruelly did to you; and now all that was left of you from their hands she thinks she has lost. All hope of you has fled, for now she has not even your lifeless body to remind her of you. And someone asks, ‘Who are you looking for? Why are you weeping?’ You, her sole joy, should be the last thus to increase her sorrow. But you know it all well, and thus you wish it to be, for only in such broken words and sighs can she convey a cause of grief as great as hers. The love you have inspired you do not ignore, And indeed you know her well, the gardener, who planted her soul in his garden." Mary Magdalene was like you and I...a woman with a past, with grave sins, yet she was beloved by our Lord - to such an extent that he revealed himself not to Peter, the rock on who Christ would build his Church, but to her. The woman who washed his feet with her tears and anointed them with the most expensive oil. The women who Jesus praised for her devotion and love.

I have never been fond of the way the Church portrays Mary Magdalene as a penitent whore for it is neither historically or scripturally accurate, but rather she is to be an inspiration for all of us, that no one is too far from the love of our Lord.

May I also weep when I stray from the love of Christ and have my heart leap for joy when he calls my name. St. Mary Magdalene, pray for us!

[the-nightshade-crypt]

My personal favorite headcanon for Nerdy Prudes Must Die (spoilers, obviously) (I start off with a shit ton of just the actual story before the theory, I'm bisexual and autistic, I'm hyperfixated as fuck and these two are so cute, leave me alone /lh)

Max is obviously in love with Grace. Even if he frames it as just wanting to take her chastity, it's clear that he loves her. I mean, firstly, he defends her from bullying despite her being the nerdiest prude. Max himself says to Pete that nobody is a loser until he says they are, so if Max says Grace isn't one, then she wouldn't be. When she comes over to him in their first scene he asks so fucking sweetly to carry her books, like, batting his eyelashes and such a sweet voice. And when she declines he resorts to his mean bully self.

Grace very clearly does not love Max back. Despite her sexual fantasies, and even the lyric "I think im loving you more than I should" in Dirty Girl, she doesn't love him. Cause that's all they are, fantasies. In Dirty Girl she makes it very clear, with her saying multiple times "I don't/won't care about you". And its clear she doesnt want him to like her either, since her fantasy Max specifically asks her to "love me like you dont care." Showing that she really just wants him so she can give in to her temptations. She only sees him with lust, a symbol of her "sinful" desires. A symbol she wants to get rid of by any means to stay pure.

When Max decides to kill Steph first, he screams "you fucking Judas", which causes Grace to show up and shout "So you do know the Bible!" She then follows that up with "I used to have a crush on another guy who rose from the grave. But Jesus never threw a football like you max!" Despite her saying "crush" I fully believe she didn't mean it that way. She just needed to get him on board with her plan, and she knows how he feels about her.

She finally gets him to leave Steph and Pete alone and they have sex. When she comes back, she's smoking a cigarette and states "I needed that." Max comes out from behind the the wall and gets on his stomach, kicking his fucking feet like a tween girl writing self insert fanfiction, and says "Hey, uh, Grace? Where you going? Don't you wanna cuddle a little bit?" This line alone proves to me that he's in love with her. Compared to someone like Ted Spankoffski, who would never do something as romantic as cuddling after sex (at least not with anyone besides the girl he loves), it's obvious that Max has real feelings...

Only for Grace to say "Oh Max. I just gave you a gift. A very special gift. In fact, I just gave you what I cherish most. My chastity." Not only did she successfully fulfill what the Lord's in Black demanded, though we all know they didn't like that Pete or Steph didn't die, she also got what she wanted... to give into her sinful sexual urges.

With Max screaming that it was worth it, and him gone into the black and white, Grace becomes almost addicted to the power of the Black Book. The end of the musical is her taking over Max's role to kill the people she deems deserve it, in her case, perverts.

Now, my actual theory is that since Grace is directly connected with the Lord's In Black, she can freely go to the black and white, similar to how Miss Holloway seems to be able to. With Max in the Black and white... I like to think he's still actively pining for her. Whenever she visits to talk with the Lord's he's just kinda watching and trying to flirt with her and she's just completely over it. It gets to the point where even the Lord's are irritated. But slowly Grace starts to find his flirting charming. Realizing that since she is working for the Lord's in Black, effectively denouncing her Christianity, there's nothing stopping her from finding someone attractive, or wanting to be with someone. Their relationship at this point might stay as mostly sexual, but she is falling in love.

Maybe she makes a deal with the Lord's to bring him back to life, or maybe she's into fucking ghosts and just asks for that idk but the point is... I like thinking that with her doing the Lord's in Black's bidding, she can see max and actually get to know and fall in love with him.

I just really love the idea of Max being a lovesick himbo babygirl, only for Grace to reject him and be an asshole. But Max is a hopeless romantic who finds it hot that Grace is mean to him and he doesnt take it to heart. He's desperate for a positive relationship, seeing that he says his dad calls him a cuck and is very clearly emotionally/verbally abusive at best, and it kinda seems like Grace wants to be adored by someone, the same way Linda Monroe does.

They are in love your honor

[bluemoonscape]

I'M HERE AGAIN TO BOTHER YOU

may I have. Some songs. And lyrics. You'd like to associate with my son thank you (no need to reply to this it's fine I just love overanalyzing over lyrics)

I LOVE ANALYZING LYRICS TOO POOKIE, BOTHER ME ANYTIME, I need a break from reading a textbook. On US politics. And it’s an online textbook so I can’t feel the paper and engage myself. My brain is melting

In my mind, THE Faust song would be “I’m Your Man” by Mitski. I said it in my last Faust post and I’ll say it again *grabs and shakes you* DOG SYMBOLISM. Faust, when he finds reason to invest himself in somebody, can’t do such a thing in small measure. He puts his entire being into it to the point where he risks destroying himself. He sees Will as his salvation; by being the kind of person for Will that he could’ve used long ago, he can save him, and by this logic, save himself. This comes across perfectly in those opening lines: “You’re an angel, I’m a dog / Or you’re a dog and I’m your man / You believe me like a God / I betray you like I am.”

And in the Hannibal verse for him, if Will marries Molly as per the canon in S3, Faust feels abandoned not only by Hannibal post-S2, but now Will, too. And yet he can’t detach himself from those relationships. He can’t make himself forget. (Fic spinoff plan go brrrrr) Look me in the eyes and tell me this isn’t that:

My Mitski propaganda is going strong with our son

The second song I’m picking for lyrical relevance to Faust’s character is “The Man Who Sold the World” originally written and performed by David Bowie, though my preferred version is the Nirvana cover—either works, however. This song is just the essence of Faust and works for any verse, Hannibal verse included, of course. The lyrics make me think of his relationship with the man who taught him to hunt in his time of need, then turned on Faust, leading Faust to kill and cannibalize him, thus symbolically turning him into the hunter:

“We passed upon the stair / We spoke of was and when / Although I wasn't there / He said I was his friend

Which came as some surprise / I spoke into his eyes / ‘I thought you died alone / A long, long time ago’

‘Oh no, not me / I never lost control / You're face to face / With the man who sold the world.’”

This first half of the song, to me, is the beginning of their arrangement and leading up to the end, in which Faust consumes the hunter and feeds him to his group, which, again, symbolically represents his own Becoming (think Matthew in S2 saying “I’ll be the Chesapeake Ripper now” and Hannibal’s reply of “You’ll have to eat me”):

“I laughed and shook his hand / And made my way back home / I searched for form and land / For years and years, I roamed

I gazed a gazeless stare / At all the millions here / We must have died alone / A long, long time ago

Who knows? Not me / We never lost control / You're face to face / With the man who sold the world (x2)”

NEXT UP (yes I’m still blabbing I really hate that textbook) “Personal Jesus” by Depeche Mode. Once again, it’s a song that I feel describes Faust’s relationship with Will and Hannibal very well, and I think the lyrics could be taken either way. Faust wants to be Will’s savior, yet he ALSO views Will as his own savior. With Hannibal, I’d imagine he feels saved in some sense by Hannibal’s understanding and acceptance of the darker parts of him:

“Reach out, touch faith / Your own personal Jesus / Someone to hear your prayers / Someone who cares / Your own personal Jesus / Someone to hear your prayers / Someone who's there”

This song is the side of Faust with the good old savior complex.

The last song I’m going to analyze by lyrics is “The Yawning Grave” by Lord Huron and then I’ll just drop a few Faust songs that just seem fitting to me :D

“The Yawning Grave” describes through its lyrics and eerie tone what can only be described as a supernatural situation, as well as a general message of “you shouldn’t meddle with things you cannot understand” WHICH IS VERY FAUST.

“I know the rain like the clouds know the sky / I speak to birds and tell them where to fly / I sing the songs that you hear on the breeze / I write the names of the rocks and the trees

Oh, you fool, there are rules I am coming for you / (You can run but you can’t escape) / Darkness brings evil things, oh, the reckoning begins / (You have opened the yawning grave)

I tried to warn you when you were a child / I told you not to get lost in the wild / I sent omens and all kinds of signs / I taught you melodies, poems, and rhymes”

Once again, this feels reminiscent of Faust’s dynamic with the hunter, and it represents his own hunger for knowledge and how dangerous it is.

For some extra general Faust songs, No Return by Anna Waronker, Eat Your Young by Hozier, and Everybody Wants to Rule the World (original version or Lorde version but Lorde pops off with the creepy vocals). Ok I disappear into the void of education now

[walkswithmyfather]

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭1:15‭-‬23‬ (‭ESV‬‬). “For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

“Waiting with Joy” Devotional 16th December:

“Be Thankful for Someone” By Words of Hope:

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” (v. 16)

“Over the years I’ve tried to cultivate the habit of starting each day by thinking of someone to be thankful for. I’ll be brushing my teeth, or shaving, and I’ll think: Who should I be thankful for today? Once I even put a sticky note on the bathroom mirror: Be Thankful for Someone. God has sprinkled so many wonderful people into my life, and being grateful for them only seems right and proper. Beyond that, gratitude has a way of making me feel peaceful and calm. What a pleasant way to begin the day.

Again and again in his epistles Paul thanks God for friends and fellow believers: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,” he says to believers in Philippi (Phil. 1:3). Here in Ephesians, Paul says, “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” Paul is generous with gratitude.

If you’re anything like me, you have a lot of people to be grateful for. Some people we can name—parents, teachers, mentors. But many are anonymous—the fellow who held the door open for you, the driver who allowed you to merge into traffic, the hospice nurse who was so loving to your grandfather in his last days.

Your Advent activity for today may seem profoundly simple, but its effect can be simply profound: Be thankful for someone.”

(Photo by Ben White at Unsplash)

[maidenofsophia]

Just a PSA to say that for anyone looking to worship Sophia - you do not have to be a Christian (Esoteric, Gnostic or otherwise) to have Her as your goddess.

Sophia is not the "wife of God" or "bride of Christ". Sophia is great Goddess in Her own right. As Barbelo She is the Forethought of the All and the Mother of the Pleroma. She is the Creatrix of the cosmos, flaws and all. She birthed a Daughter, Zoe, without a male consort. Zoe is Life, She is the breath of holy wisdom in all living things. Sophia's supposed flaw in the Gnostic myth is that her desire to reproduce without a male resulted in the Demiurge, but I firstly don't believe in the Demiurge, and secondly reject the idea that Sophia's supposed lesson is Her conforming to joining with a male to be whole. As mentioned, She births Zoe on Her own, who is benevolent. And so the idea that She must be placed beside a male divinity feels wrong to me. The Gnostic texts were not supposed to be literal and were written in an extremely sexist and heteronormative time. There is no need to stick to that.

Sophia is Mother, Daughter and Absolute Mystery. Sophia can be worshipped as God (or Goddess) in Her own right and not as a consort or counterbalance to the masculine Christian deity.

Those who do worship Her that way, that's perfectly valid, I'm not knocking that at all.

I just wanted to state this because I struggled for years as a Sophian devotee but not wanting to involve Yeshua or the Christian Father God in my faith. But my heart still yearned for a masculine deity. I thought that could only work with someone linked to any of Sophia's mythos' but I just felt nothing for them. The Sophia I follow has many stories and poetry surrounding Her, some of that is Christian, some of it is Jewish, some is Plato, some is Filianist. She transcends any single religion or location.

My Lord, the Horned One, has no ties to Sophia. At a stretch, in his form as Lucifer he can be seen as a parallel to her. I also headcanon that Lucifer is the archon Sabaoth mentioned in the NHL texts. Sabaoth witnesses the glory of Zoe and, enamored by Her, disowns his false father and is risen up to sit at Her side. But there's mention of a romantic union between them. He is Her chosen steward but not Her equal, He is Her loving subordinate.

But I rarely interact with my Lord as Lucifer, He mostly comes to me as Pan or Cernonnus. His station is much the same, He is not this "great Father God" who sits on High - I believe Sophia needed none to help Her birth creation. He is however a fatherly god, his energies replenish the land and he helps it to thrive, He is also brother and friend.

Again no disrespect to anyone who does worship Sophia as the consort to the Christian Father God or Jesus. This is just for anyone like myself who fell in love with Sophia but didn't want to feel they had to then be a Christian of any sort.

[hiswordsarekisses]

My dad sent me this and I felt it was important to share because we really need to pray that God will send genuine believers with his best interests in mind to disciple him. He does not have time to become a seasoned believer - he needs a crash course right away. The people around him are obviously not telling him this.

This video contains very intelligent advice. We ALL need this advice. Any other way than God’s way is not good for anyone anyway. We really need God to intervene if it is His will to do so. He may be as done with this world as Sodom and Gomorrah at this point, but we are called to pray for our country and our leaders.

We need the Lord to disciple President Donald Trump so that he can focus on the policies and see that he cannot attack Kamala personally. He needs to go after her policies, the border situation, our culture that is in severe jeopardy, and the economy - also in severe jeopardy. He will not have success walking in the flesh and acting like the world. For me personally, it took a very long time to get things like this out of my character but he does not have that kind of time.

Please Listen… Our country will not survive Harris's agenda. Especially not with her extremely terrifying VP pick. He is against everything good. I could list it all but I’d rather you research it yourself - do not listen to the news. Look him up. Look up what they want to turn America into.

Many want a woman to be president, and that would be wonderful, but not like this. This will end the world because we will be sitting ducks for the likes of Russia and China.

And maybe this IS the end.

Maybe we are finally there - we definitely are biblically there!

Lord knows we definitely (as a country) deserve it for what we have allowed.

I have family members who are not ready for the end. I want them to be saved - so I’m praying for more time, but most of all I pray God’s perfect will and plan will be done - and if that means the end - so be it - I welcome it and I pray “Come Lord Jesus.”

I hope people will share the video on ALL social media in hopes that the message from this man will get to President Trump. It’s worth a try. Someone needs to explain to him about humility and the fruits of the spirit. And that acting like the world will only make him look bad and help her in the process.

Please do not comment if you are a rude person with negative things to say. The world desperately needs hope right now, not doomsday preachers. Yes. There’s a doomsday coming. But it cannot hurt to try to reach the man. He’s not been a Christian long enough to grow yet. So if you have nothing hopeful, helpful, or edifying to say please keep it to yourself.

Thank you.

[nerdygaymormon]

Any thoughts about last night's devotional? I've heard some stuff about it but didn't watch it so I was hoping you could provide some insight and opinions (if you saw it).

Elder Oaks encouraged young adults to get married...soon! He lamented that the average age of marriage has gone up significantly since 1970 and that people are having fewer children.

He acknowledged that the cost of education and housing have increased tremendously (and wages haven't kept up), but reminded everyone that pioneers left their homes and possessions and encouraged young adults to forego material comfort and start a family.

Sister Oaks, who didn't get married until she was age 53, chimed in with some better advice. "Prepare yourself for life — by education, experience and planning. Don’t wait for happiness to be thrust upon you. Seek out opportunities for service and learning. Most importantly, trust in the Lord."

As a queer Latter-day Saint, let me point out that he put a lot of emphasis on getting married, he put it as the first thing he chose to speak about. He will later say marriage is only between a man & and a woman, which excludes many queer people. This is a typical example of what queer members of this church experience, having marriage praised but also that it's denied to us. There is a dissonance.

—————————

Honestly, I am tired of commenting on Elder Oaks' queerphobic statements, but he keeps choosing to make them and so I keep responding.

Elder Oaks decided to share a letter he received. He receives thousands of letters a year, and instead of choosing any that express their discomfort at his queerphobia (I guarantee he gets many), Elder Oaks chose one complaining that church members aren't queerphobic enough.

I honestly thought Elder Oaks was going to use this to agree, I mean, why else would he choose THIS letter to share. He didn't agree or disagree (although choosing this letter was quite a choice).

Elder Oaks reiterated that the church only approves of marriage between a man and a woman and encouraged trans people to follow the church's rules.

He used the story of the woman caught in adultery who was brought before Jesus. Jesus refrained from judging the woman. Likewise, we should refrain from judging others and instead should examine ourselves.

Let me point out that adultery betrays the person to whom they've made a commitment and is called out as a sin repeatedly in the scriptures. Gender diversity is not a sin and there's no scripture saying that it is. Therefore, I don't think it's a great use of this scripture story, but I appreciate that Elder Oaks is saying even if we think the other person has done something wrong, we don't condemn them, but treat them with love. Unfortunately he also added we should tell them about God's law and then to "Go, and sin no more."

A few years back, Elder Oaks came up with a novel approach by saying the 1st and 2nd great commandments were in conflict and encouraged us to prioritize love of God by being careful not to love our LGBTQ neighbors too much. But at the 2023 young adult broadcast, he changed this.

Elder Oaks admitted that his tendency is to emphasize keeping the commandments and he gives less attention to loving his neighbor. He finds it easier to judge someone by how well he thinks they keep the commandments.

"I now believe that goal to be better expressed as trying to live both of these commandments in a more complete way. Anyone who does not treat individuals who face gender identity challenges with love and dignity is not aligned with the teachings of the first and second great commandments."

I'm not thrilled that he refers to this as "gender identity challenges" or as "issues of confusion of identity," because that implies challenges can be overcome and identities can become unconfused. However, saying saying that loving your queer neighbor is not in conflict with loving God does seem to be progress. In my opinion, he could have apologized for his past statements and the consequences they had, but he didn't take that opportunity.

Then he followed that up by saying "we need to remember that God has revealed again and again that He created male and female." Elder Oaks just can't help himself. Let me add that God also created the transgender, genderfluid, nonbinary, and intersex people.

Now that he addressed trans people, time to move on to people experiencing same-sex attraction. He warned that we should be careful not to label ourselves (in other words, probably avoid calling yourself gay, lesbian, or bisexual) because these labels won't lead us to eternal life in the Celestial kingdom.

What I find from this broadcast is that mere crumbs are being offered to queer people by Elder Oaks, when Christ would offer us a seat at the feast in the banquet hall.

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Do you think gender idealogy is on its way out, with those new restrictions on gender care?

I don't know. Like Flat Earth and anti-vax, it's an ideology that I don't think will ever actually go away. Getting rid of it isn't my priority or objective, it's re-establishing secularism.

Whether it's biology-disconnected gender souls (that are simultaneously innate and knowable at three years of age, yet also fluid, a social construct and needing biological changes) trapped in the wrong body, or disembodied eternal souls (being tested for worthiness by an omniscient, eternal god), there's no such thing as a personal conviction that everyone else must participate in, and there's no such thing as a matter of public policy that no one is allowed to question.

Your personal feelings - "I feel Him in my heart"/"my truth"/"lived experience" - are yours, but you're not allowed to impose them onto others, or make others participate in your rituals without them getting a say in the matter. It's either a matter of personal concern or it's a matter of public interest.

You can believe what you want - regardless of how regressive and sexist, or dehumanizing and perverted it is - but you can't make other people participate in, recite, or believe it. You can believe whatever you like about yourself, but you can't compel people to believe about you what you want them to believe. That's literally totalitarianism, and is out-and-out fascistic.

I'm reminded of a quote I use for Draw Muhammad Day:

“There are some actions which are unnecessary to do—until someone tells you that you can’t do them. And then you must do them, if only to retain your right to make your own decisions on the matter. It is not really important, for example, whether you sit at the front or the back of a bus—until someone tells you that you can’t sit at the front. It’s not worth risking your life to eat at a lunch counter or to cross a bridge—until some thug tells you that you can’t cross it. And then you must.”

When you tell me that I must use your stupid neo-pronouns, that's a guarantee that I absolutely will not ever use them ever, under any circumstances. Just as there's no better way to get me to post a picture of Muhammad than for a Muslim to tell me that I shouldn't post pictures of Muhammad because it hurts their religious sentiments. I probably wasn't going to before, but I damn well sure am going to now. Your beliefs apply to you.

Making your wellbeing and mental health contingent upon the cooperation of other people is a great way to be eternally disappointed; you can't make people carry that burden and then complain when they don't carry it the way you want or decline the demand at all.

If you want to reorder society according to your belief, you accept that everyone is allowed to start with disbelief and skepticism first, and it's on you to justify the changes you want, presenting evidence, explaining how things will work, and realizing some people will remain unconvinced. You don't get to just scream at them like Helen Lovejoy and call them evil heretics for standing in your way. You have your belief, and I'm entitled to my non-belief.

Xian teachers are allowed to have their personal convictions about Jesus and the Dark Lord Yahweh, but they're not allowed to teach them to kids as being "true." Similarly, genderist teachers are allowed to have their personal convictions about themselves, but they're not allowed to each those things to children as some kind of higher moral knowledge.

And we sure shouldn't be performing medical experiments on children or cutting off body parts to cure them of their homosexuality, autism, gender nonconformity, or the most insidious scourge of all, adolescent puberty. Any more than we should be performing lobotomies to cure people of their anxiety. If we don't cut out chunks of people's brains to alleviate their anxiety, why should we be cutting off their breasts or testicles for the same reason?

Let people have their faith in gender ideology. They get to do that for the same reason that we get to not. But we don't need to be implementing its incoherent and contradictory tenets into society. Just as we don't construct buildings and vehicles with the expectation of the "any moment now" return of Jesus Christ.

So, no, I don't think it's on its way out. We just have to get better at using the secular toolkit we've already used to keep Xianity at bay and out of our hair. We have to get used to saying, no, we're not reordering society around your subjective feelings; no, we won't be manipulated by emotional blackmail; no, we won't be screamed at as heretics of your faith; no, cosmetic surgery for depression and anxiety is not a sensible treatment, much less a human right.

[lionofthegoldsun]

[How are two better than one]

Two are better than one in a work setting because a pair of laborers can accomplish more than a person working alone. Difficult jobs become easier with four hands and the doubled strength of two people working together. Even though profits are divided, two laborers have a better return for their efforts—they achieve more—than one person alone. Two individuals also bring a more varied skill set to the table and offer different strengths to complement and encourage one another.

Two are better than one because, “If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble,” says Ecclesiastes 4:10 (NLT). Sometimes we fall down physically and need help getting up, but the maxim has even greater emotional and spiritual implications. When we stumble in our spiritual walk or are downtrodden with emotional burdens, it’s vital to have a friend or mentor who can come alongside us and help restore us to wholeness in our relationship with God. Paul told the Galatians, “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:1–2, NLT).

If you’ve ever spent a night out in the freezing elements, you know that two are better than one because “two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone?” (Ecclesiastes 4:11, NLT). Not only is it harder to stay warm traveling alone at night, but it’s more dangerous: “A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12, NLT).

We need Christian friends for emotional, practical, and spiritual support through life’s hardships. If we nurture relationships with other believers, we will always have someone to help us stay on track and lift us back up when we fall. God’s people are not meant to live in isolation but walk this road together (Hebrews 10:25; Acts 2:44). In the earliest days of the church, Christians “worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity” (Acts 2:46, NLT).

Jesus prayed for His followers to be united as one, just as He and the Father were one (John 17:21). This sort of unity and cooperation in the body of Christ binds believers together “in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:12–14, NLT), allowing God’s love to be “brought to full expression in us” (1 John 4:12, NLT). The body of Christ is stronger and more protected as we care for one another through adversity and celebrate life’s victories together. As we work together and walk together in the strength of unity, we accomplish more for God’s kingdom (John 13:35).

When Solomon said, “Two are better than one,” he acknowledged that true, godly friends are a comfort in need, a help in trouble, a companion in toil, and a protective guard against danger.

[pinkishflowersilverycoin]

It's really fascinating. The concept of meanings depending on color. Even a color could represent a person, to talk about the individual's thoughts, actions and what we could think about them.

We could determinate, for example, which colors could represent Jesus Christ, like red for the blood, white and yellow for the light. Anything that could lead to a holy meaning and symbolism.

But what about Judas Iscariot? According to the myth and the culture, when is painted, he's usually wearing a yellow tunic. Why yellow? Because in the story meaning, yellow represents Betrayal. As we can always see who's Judas in any painting with Jesus and his disciples. The one wearing yellow, the one who looks in the shadows. Even yellow could be also a meaning of greed, as we always see yellow as the color of gold, so it means money. Money for the greedy. And we see Judas as a greedy betrayer who exchanged his Lord for 30 pieces of silver.

But actually... what if yellow it's for the real color for Judas Iscariot?

Which could be?

First, you already know the legend of which tree Judas used to hang himself. The legend says that the flowers of this tree, were originally white. But once Judas hang and died there, the flowers turn pink to purplish pink. It could mean it that those turn pink out of shame for Judas' actions against God. But there's more than that, you know?

I've honestly thinking about that.

Pink has its own meanings. Meanings that in fact, if we could even believe in those tales and have faith in those, could actually fit Judas even more than just the meaning of betrayal and greed. We know that at the end, the Bible wasn't written by the first disciples but for people who came after them, decades and even centuries. Not only the canonical four Gospels, so also the Gnostic ones and each written piece rejected by the Church. And no matter what the Bible could say, at the end it was written by men. And men do mistakes.

What if actually Judas' actions weren't evil but actually planned by God? After all, without Judas' action, Jesus could had never been able to be executed for mankind's sins. Without Judas Iscariot's kiss, Jesus Christ couldn't had been nailed to the cross.

And what even if that kiss meant more than just selling someone out?

It's strange that a certain action, reviled by millions, lead to a certain action celebrated by millions? If Judas's actions were the actions of the Devil, then Jesus's death could also be an action of the Devil instead of God. There's no logic in this thought. Such thing doesn't make any sense.

So, what if Judas' actions were more than that and because of that certain "thing", the men who write the Gospels were determined to portrait Judas as the evil one so badly and eternally condemned?

Which leads to the meaning of the color pink:

Love, innocence, burning passion, sweetness, lust.

Also, their negative meanings.

Extreme overwhelming emotions, intoxication. And seduction when is mixed with black.

That sounds familiar to you? It sounds like Judas Iscariot.

If we consider how the popular culture portrait Judas, from the famous Jesus Christ Superstar (1973) to more recent works like The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, or the comic Judas, and even in some movies and plays that portrait the Passion in a different way, we see Judas as a person full of intense emotions. We don't see a man blinded by greed; we don't see a demon in man's disguise. We see a man with his flaws, with his worries, that leads his heart to do his actions rather than his mind. And mostly important, a man who sees Jesus of Nazareth as a man, not a God.

And he cares about him. He loves him.

He loves him as a Man. And which kind of love is this one? Possibly a romantic kind of love?

The Gnostic Gospel of Judas, show him as someone who understood Jesus better than anyone else, who understood his plans in an entirely different way. And Jesus provided him knowledge no one else have. Judas as special in Jesus' eyes, he trusted him, he promised things to him. He warned him about the suffering he'll face and still, he'll be more rewarded at the end. Certainly, Jesus promised him a place in Heaven by his side. Jesus wanted Judas at his side.

Maybe the love was reciprocated.

And you know that the Judas Tree, is also known as the Love Tree? The flowers and leaves with heart-shaped forms, even it says that seeing one could give someone fortune in romance? Why a tree where the Betrayer committed suicide, could also be a symbol of romantic love? It wasn't out of shame that the flowers turn pink but for Judas' feelings of his heart?

Because pink is the color of Judas Iscariot. A man who loved Jesus of Nazareth with all his heart, soul and even body, who did the ultimate sacrifice at giving his Master away with the ultimate signal of love.

A kiss.

It was a farewell kiss. Even if certainly Judas didn't know it was a goodbye, but Jesus certainly did and accepted the kiss. He accepted Judas' love before facing the hatred and mockery of his executioners.

Judas gave his heart to Jesus and died alone in grief of losing the one he deeply loved. Still, he left a signal of his heart behind in this world, in the form of the Love Tree and its gorgeous pink heart-sharped flowers, so we know how much the doomed disciple loved his Master.

But certainly, because of that possibility, it's because in the Gospels they wrote Judas as a greedy man, a thief. Considering the time those gospels were wrote, the mere idea of a man in love with the Savior was unacceptable. It was a sin to their eyes. An abomination to the God's laws. They erase Judas the Beloved (giving the title to John) and replaced it with Judas the Betrayer. Even daring to condemn him to hell for doing the God's orders (In the Divine Comedy, Dante put Judas in the deepest pit of hell, been devoured by the Devil). And we hated him for centuries without questioning.

But Love is always an option, as Jesus taught us.

And no matter what anyone could tell, we could still have faith that everything is part of the Grace of God. Judas Iscariot romantically loved Jesus of Nazareth, and he gave us his legacy, hoping that we could finally give him recognition and a place in humankind's salvation.

And each time we could see a pink flower blooming in spring, or even seeing the color and thinking about a deep love, we should always think of Judas Iscariot. The man who betrayed Jesus out of love and obedience.

[childofchrist1983]

Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. - 2 Peter 3:13-14 KJV

Have you ever tried to imagine the New Heavens and New Earth and what our new lives and duties there will be like? I know that I have. I see myself surrounded by all my friends and relatives including the ones who died when I was a small child or before I was born, listening to their stories and sharing mine. I picture a peaceful atmosphere full of the smell of flowers and the endless light and love of God and all around me the feeling of being loved. Of course, there's a catch in this Bible passage – Being found without defect and blameless in the sight of God.

None of us is without sin or defect and none of us are righteous and blameless under our own power. We need God's help to achieve this, and even with God's help, we still have a lot of work to do! Like myself and many of my Christian brethren today, Peter and all the other early Christians believed that Jesus Christ would be coming back soon. They would have been surprised to know that two-thousand years later, we would still be waiting. But the challenge is still the same. We too need to do our best to live our lives for God and for Christ, following the way and will that He has shown and taught us through His Holy Word.

I once heard someone say that it is easier to die once for Christ than to live each day for Christ. The first is a decision made once; the second is the decision to live for Christ everyday. Everyday, we need to make choices to love, to forgive, to be truthful, and to be faithful, in our dealings with ourselves and with all those we meet. Jesus never said that this life nor our walk with Him would be easy, but He did promise to always be with us and that if we endure and keep the faith and continue to put our trust in Him, the reward at the end of our journey will be worthwhile. The older I get, the closer to going home to Him I get. Because of my faith in the promise of Jesus, death holds no fear. For me and all my true Christian brethren, this life is not the end, but the beginning. May you be able to say the same. And may Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ give us the graces we need to be found without defect and blameless in His sight at the moment of our final breath on this Earth.

Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Word and for sending His Holy Spirit so that we might have His grace, not only to awaken us and transform our hearts in our spiritual rebirth and guarantee our eternity with Him, but to also call upon Him whenever we are in need. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for all the reminders of His love and mercy and faithfulness within His Holy Word. He is bigger than any challenge or circumstance in our lives. Knowing this within our minds and our hearts, nothing can deter our faith in Him and His Truth. May we all accept Him and His eternal gift of salvation and ask that He would transform our hearts and lives according to His will and ways. Thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His Holy Spirit who saves, seals and leads us. May we always thank Father God Almighty and the LORD Jesus Christ for His almighty power and saving grace. For He is our strength, and He alone is able to save us, forgive our sins and gift us eternal salvation and entry into His Kingdom of Heaven.

May we make sure that we give our hearts and lives to God and take time to seek and praise Him and share His Truth with the world daily. May the LORD our God and Father in Heaven help us to stay diligent and obedient and help us to guard our hearts in Him and His Holy Word daily. May He help us to remain faithful and full of excitement to do our duty to Him and for His glorious return and our reunion in Heaven as well as all that awaits us there. May we never forget to thank the LORD our God and our Creator and Father in Heaven for all this and everything He does and has done for us! May we never forget who He is, nor forget who we are in Christ and that God is always with us! What a mighty God we serve! What a Savior this is! What a wonderful Lord, God, Savior and King we have in Jesus Christ! What a loving Father we have found in Almighty God! What a wonderful God we serve! His will be done!

Thanks and glory be to God! Blessed be the name of the LORD! Hallelujah and Amen!

[psalmonesermons]

What is the unforgivable sin? Part 2/2

Blaspheming the Holy Spirit

Various verses have shown us that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world including both believer and unbeliever.

So, what makes the difference between the believer and the unbeliever?

The unbeliever has rejected Jesus Christ and has rejected the Holy Spirit telling them that Jesus is Lord.

John 3:18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

This verse sates that God’s judgment can be averted by believing in His Son. Every person is responsible for his or her decision about Christ.

“He who believes in Him is not condemned [judged].

The only means of salvation is to believe in the finished work of Christ on the cross. The believer is under no sentence of condemnation (see also John 5:24; Romans 8:1).

God’s judgment is a natural consequence of unbelief.

The present tense of “is” (underlined above) indicates that the believer is no longer under the judgment of God. Believers are beyond the danger of eternal separation from God.

To believe “in” or into Him is more than giving credence to what someone said. This expression means to have full confidence in Christ, to rely on Him alone for our salvation.

We rely on His sacrifice for our sin to save us eternally. We rely on Him, not on our works, self-righteousness, or religion like Nicodemus did at first.

Only the person who does not believe qualifies for the condemnation from God. The present tense here shows that unbelievers are under the continuing effects of God’s judgment right now. Faith is the means whereby one receives eternal life.

The condemnation here is not that at the end of life but is current to those who know not Christ.

The Greek tense for ‘is’ indicates that those who do not currently believe in Christ already stand under God’s condemnation.

People who do not trust the work of Christ for their salvation stand condemned. They do not have to do anything to be condemned they are condemned from the start by their unbelief in Jesus Christ. God makes it clear that unbelievers are currently in a state of condemnation and not, in this verse, exposed to future condemnation.

This should spur on all believers in our evangelism and witnessing.

Blaspheming the Holy Spirit

Mark 3:22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”

v28“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness but is subject to eternal condemnation”— 30 because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

Blasphemy is defined as the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things, synonymous with irreverence, insulting and disrespect of God or Christ.

Blaspheming the Holy Spirit means here, calling the Holy Spirit an evil spirit. This is a lie. In the same way the unbeliever do when they persist in their unbelief and are in effect calling the Holy Spirit a liar each time, he tries to tell them that Jesus Christ is Lord. This can go on throughout their life but when they die, their time to be saved has passed and they will not be forgiven for this blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

The Pharisees tried to attribute Jesus’ miracle of casting out demons to the power of some evil spirit rather than the Holy Spirit.

John 16:8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

When the Holy Spirit comes, he will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Holy Spirit will show a) the sin is their unbelief in Jesus, b) that Jesus’ death is the only way to God, and c) that judgment on sinners is certain because Satan has been conquered by Jesus’ death.

The Gospel message is Good News for believers with all our sins forgiven but extremely Bad News for those who reject Jesus Christ and by calling the Holy Spirit a liar each time tells them that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Conclusions

There is only one sin the bible says that is unforgivable.

This one sin is ‘blasphemy against the Holy Spirit’ which insults him and calls him a liar when He tells a person that ‘Jesus is Lord.’

All true believers cannot commit this sin by definition.

Only unbelievers can commit the unforgivable sin.

The unbelievers would have every chance in life to believe what the Holy Spirit is saying that Jesus is Lord.

All unbelievers stand already condemned by God that is why we must be urgent to tell them the Good News about Jesus Christ.

Amen

Personal Prayer

Much of this study has been adapted from Roger Price BBS 008

[steveezekiel]

GOD'S FAITHFULNESS 1

12 I will fulfill my vows to you, O God, and will offer a sacrifice of thanks for your help.

13 For you have rescued me from death;

you have kept my feet from slipping. So now I can walk in your presence, O God, in your life-giving light."

Psalm 56:12,13 (NLT)

* The way and the door to God is Jesus Christ (John 10:7,9; 14:6).

- No one can access God through other means apart from Christ Jesus: "AND there is salvation in no one else; FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN AMONG PEOPLE BY WHICH WE MUST BE SAVED [for God has provided the world no alternative for salvation]”(Acts 4:12 Amps).

- That being said, salvation in Christ Jesus does not make one irresponsible in the Kingdom. Becoming intimate with God, As an example, demands a price.

- There are rules, or principles, or ways, through which God can and should be related with.

- In receiving from God, a number of things are expected from the Believer concerned; Although salvation is free, because it has been paid for, through Jesus Christ's substitutionary death.

- Through the Bible, the Word of God, we could learn some things in the lives of those who walked with God and how they got their needs met: "FOR WHATEVER THINGS WERE WRITTEN BEFORE WERE WRITTEN FOR OUR LEARNING, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope" (Romans 15:4 NKJV).

- Vow is one of the principles through which whoever is walking with God can receive from Him (Job 22:27; Psalm 61:5; 66:13; Jonah 1:16).

- Some had considered a vow as unnecessary as If it was not found in the Bible. Some wanted to believe since God could not be bribed, or cajoled to do a thing for one; what then is the need of promising or telling Him of doing one thing or another before your prayers are granted.

- A vow is not a way of trying to bribe God, but rather a commitment, and a way of Honouring God with what you have.

- Someone who made a Vow is reverencing God with what he or she has. Such is making a Sacrifice. He or she is saying to God, through whatever you blessed me with, I would do this, or that, as a Sacrifice, or a pledge, or a way of Acknowledging you, and a gratitude in advance for whatever you wanted to do for me.

- A vow moves God to do, and It expedites whatever He has intended to do in a person's life.

- When you vowed, you provoked God's help. You committed God to work on the matter of your life.

- If a need arises in your life, or you are faced with challenges of life, and you had exhausted all the spiritual principles you know to do; make a Vow to God, which is also known as a covenant, that If the need is met, or you are delivered from the predicament, so and so things would be done by you for Him and His Kingdom.

- Hannah, the mother of Samuel, explored this when she had a delay in having a child. She did promise, If God should give her a male child, the child would be given back or be dedicated to God, to be used as His servant: "AND SHE MADE THIS VOW: “O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, IF YOU WILL LOOK UPON MY SORROW AND ANSWER MY PRAYER AND GIVE ME A SON, THEN I WILL GIVE HIM BACK TO YOU. HE will be YOURS for HIS ENTIRE LIFETIME, AND as a SIGN that HE has been DEDICATED to the LORD, HIS HAIR WILL NEVER BE CUT" (1 Samuel 1:11 NLT).

- A Vow should not be made rashly, without careful thought and consideration. Whatever you would not be able to do, that is, the Vow you would not be able to redeem, do not Vow or promise to do It.

* Making a Vow, a pledge, or a commitment, is a way of showing or telling God that you are not selfish, neither are you engrossed with your own needs alone:

3 DON'T BE SELFISH; DON'T TRY TO IMPRESS OTHERS. BE HUMBLE, THINKING OF OTHERS AS BETTER THAN YOURSELVES. 4 DON'T look out ONLY for YOUR OWN INTERESTS, But TAKE an INTEREST in OTHERS, TOO. 5 YOU MUST HAVE THE SAME ATTITUDE THAT CHRIST JESUS HAD" (Philippians 2:3-5 NLT).

- In That, you care and think about God, His Kingdom, and other fellow humans also.

- As a Believer, you should not be selfish in your relationship with God. You should at the time of need always think of what you can do to help others.

- That, in the place of serving others, meeting the needs of others; the Believers, the Needy, or the expansion of God's Kingdom, your own needs also would be met (1 Timothy 6:17-19; Hebrews 13:16).

- Whenever a need arises in your life, think of what to do, what to give, to God, His work, or those who might also be in one need or the other, or how you could help someone, another person, in a predicament.

* When you wanted to ask anything from God, always ask Him, Is there a price to pay? Or What do you want me to do, in order to receive it?

- This is not a way of bribing God. Someone who wants to give to God in order to have his or her needs met, is not bribing God. Such a person is Honouring God with what he or she has.

- Although, the Heart with which you brought a gift, or whatever you brought, matters to God: "THE SACRIFICE OF THE WICKED IS AN ABOMINATION; HOW much more WHEN HE BRINGS it with WICKED INTENT!" (Proverbs 21:27 NKJV).

- If you brought a gift with a wrong Heart, a heart or intention to use God, as in, you are not really interested in walking with Him, all you wanted, and the reason you had made or brought the Vow, or the gift, or whatever, is for you to receive solutions to whatever the problem or challenge your are having.

- God might not honour such a gift, or Vow, or pledge. And you might not receive any answer to your prayers or requests.

TO BE CONTINUED

* You will not fail in Jesus' name.

- Should there be any ailment in your body, I declare you healed now in the mighty name of Jesus.

- And the Affliction will not rise again in Jesus' name.

Peace!