12.

Dear Mary and Ever one I Know,

 Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus.  Thank you for expressing your concern.  Thank you for the email.  Thank you for showing interest in me.  Most of all, thank you for your prayers.  Thank you for sharing the Word of God.  This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24).

 Please forgive me for the delay in responding.  I have been dependent on my friends and relatives computers and ISP services.  Many do not have them and most keep me so busy I cannot respond in such a timely fashion.  I hope you understand.

 I am presently in Virginia helping a friend deal with significant life changing experiences.  I hope to see my youngest son while I am here, he lives about 80 miles away in Richmond and has no phone.  I spoke to his mom who has not heard from him in over a month ago and she assured me that she would inform him of my stay here in Waynesboro for the next few weeks.  I expect to go back to Ohio to help my oldest son with his child custody case.  Then I hope to be back in Hawaii if it according to God's will by mid October.

 As I study the scriptures you share with me, I am being inspirited to share them with others and write things I believe God is showing me (and maybe someone else).

 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (New Living Translation)

 (8) We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. (9) We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.

The apostles labored with much diligence, sincerity, and faithfulness.

The best of men would faint, if they did not receive mercy from God.  And that mercy which has helped us out, and helped us on, hereafter, we may rely upon to help us even to the end.  The apostles had no base and wicked designs, covered with fair and specious pretenses.  They did not try to make their ministry serve a turn.  Sincerity or uprightness will keep the favorable opinion of wise and good men.  Christ by his gospel makes a glorious discovery to the minds of men.  But the design of the devil is, to keep men in ignorance; and when he cannot keep the light of the gospel of Christ out of the world, he spares no pains to keep men from the gospel, or to set them against it.  The rejection of the gospel is here traced to the willful blindness and wickedness of the human heart.  Self was not the matter or the end of the apostles' preaching; they preached Christ as Jesus, the Savior and Deliverer, who saves to the uttermost all that come to God through him.  Ministers are servants to the souls of men; they must avoid becoming servants to the hum ours or the lusts of men.  It is pleasant to behold the sun in the firmament; but it is more pleasant and profitable for the gospel to shine in the heart.  As light was the beginning of the first creation; so, in the new creation, the light of the Spirit is his first work upon the soul.  The treasure of gospel light and grace is put into earthen vessels.  The ministers of the gospel are subject to the same passions and weaknesses as other men.  God could have sent angels to make known the glorious doctrine of the gospel, or could have sent the most admired sons of men to teach the nations, but he chose humbler, weaker vessels, that his power might be more glorified in upholding them, and in the blessed change wrought by their ministry.

Psalm 27 (New Living Translation)

(1)  The LORD is my light and my salvation -- so why should I be afraid?  The LORD protects me from danger -- so why should I tremble? (2) When evil people come to destroy me, when my enemies and foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.  (3) Though a mighty army surrounds me, my heart will know no fear.  Even if they attack me, I remain confident.  (4) The one thing I ask of the LORD -- the thing I seek most -- is to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord's perfections and meditating in his Temple.  (5) For he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary.  He will place me out of reach on a high rock.  (6) Then I will hold my head high, above my enemies who surround me.  At his Tabernacle I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the LORD with music.  (7) Listen to my pleading, O LORD.  Be merciful and answer me!  (8) My heart has heard you say, "Come and talk with me."  And my heart responds, "LORD, I am coming."  (9) Do not hide yourself from me.  Do not reject your servant in anger.  You have always been my helper.  Don't leave me now; don't abandon me, O God of my salvation!  (10) Even if my father and mother abandon me, the LORD will hold me close.  (11) Teach me how to live, O LORD.  Lead me along the path of honesty, for my enemies are waiting for me to fall.  (12) Do not let me fall into their hands.  For they accuse me of things I've never done and breathe out violence against me.  (13) Yet I am confident that I will see the Lord's goodness while I am here in the land of the living.  (14) Wait patiently for the LORD.  Be brave and courageous.  Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.

The psalmist's faith.

The Lord, who is the believer's light, is the strength of our life; not only by whom, but in whom we live and move.  In God let us strengthen ourselves.  The gracious presence of God, His power, His promise, His readiness to hear our prayers, the witness of His Spirit in the hearts of us, His people; these are the secret of His tabernacle, and in these the saints find cause for that holy security and peace of mind in which they dwell at ease.  The psalmist prays for constant communion with God in holy ordinances.  All God's children desire to dwell in their Father's house.  Not to sojourn there as a wayfaring man, to tarry but for a night; or to dwell there for a time only, as the servant that abides not in the house for ever; but to dwell there all the days of their lives, as children with a father.  Do we hope that the praising of God will be the blessedness of our eternity?  Surely then we ought to make it the business of our time.  This He had at heart more than any thing.  Whatever we Christians are as to this life, we consider the favor and service of God as the one thing needful.  This we desire, pray for and seek after, and in it we rejoice.

Psalm 5:12 (New Living Translation)

For you bless the godly, O LORD, surrounding them with your shield of love.

God will certainly hear prayer: David gives to God the glory, and takes to himself the comfort.

God is a prayer-hearing God. Such he has always been, and he is still as ready to hear prayer as ever. The most encouraging principle of prayer, and the most powerful plea in prayer, is, to look upon him as our King and our God. David also prays to a sin-hating God. sin is folly, and sinners are the greatest of all fools; fools of their own making. Wicked people hate God; justly are they hated of him, and this will be their endless misery and ruin. Let us learn the importance of

truth and sincerity, in all the affairs of life. Liars and murderers resemble the devil, and are his children, therefore it may well be expected that God should abhor them. These were the characters of David's enemies; and such as these are still the enemies of Christ and his people.

Isaiah 62 (New Living Translation)

Isaiah's Prayer for Jerusalem

  (1) Because I love Zion, because my heart yearns for Jerusalem, I cannot remain silent. I will not stop praying for her until her righteousness shines like the dawn, and her salvation blazes like a burning torch.  (2) The nations will see your righteousness. Kings will be blinded by your glory. And the LORD will give you a new name. (2) The LORD will hold you in his hands for all to see--a splendid crown in the hands of God. (4) Never again will you be called the Godforsaken City or the Desolate Land.  Your new name will be the City of God's Delight and the Bride of God, for the LORD delights in you and will claim you as his own. (5) Your children will care for you with joy, O Jerusalem, just as a young man cares for his bride. Then God will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride. (6) O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray to the LORD day and night for the fulfillment of his promises. Take no rest, all you who pray.  (7) Give the LORD no rest until he makes Jerusalem the object of praise throughout the earth. (8) The LORD has sworn to Jerusalem by his own strength: "I will never again hand you over to your enemies.  Never again will foreign warriors come and take away your grain and wine. (9) You raised it, and you will keep it, praising the LORD. Within the courtyards of the Temple, you yourselves will drink the wine that you have pressed."  (10) Go out! Prepare the highway for my people to return! Smooth out the road; pull out the boulders; raise a flag for all the nations to see. (11) The LORD has sent this message to every land: "Tell the people of Israel, `Look, your Savior is coming. See, he brings his reward with him as he comes.' " (12) They will be called the Holy People and the People Redeemed by the LORD. And Jerusalem will be known as the Desirable Place and the City No Longer Forsaken.

As you pray God's plans and purposes come forth, and an intensive longing for HIS manifest presence in my private time with HIM, can you feel Him working through me?

I am serious about finding a soul mate that will live with me forever; no more game playing.  Are you really interested in something so unknown here in the USA.  It seems that no woman I have yet met knows what a vow or a promise is.  I pray the next woman in my life loves the Lord and is interested in me.  Maybe we could share a life serving our mighty Father helping the poor for the rest of our lives and giving Him all of the glory.

I presume you have read the web sites about me and how God is leading me at www.waikikibeachoutreach.com and some on www.boberb.com.  What would you like to know about me?  Tell me more about yourself.  What interests you about me?  Why do you write?  Tell me everything.

God bless you and your family.

Your brother in Christ,

Bob Erb

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13.

Prodigal Son and Backsliders - Luke 15:17-24

Dear Jovey and Everyone I Know,

Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus.  God seemed to keep taking me to Luke 15 and the prodigal son by way of words sent to me, words spoken by a minister on TV, then you shared the Word of God, and then I opened the Bible today at the same place.  God is telling me something today.  Maybe it will touch someone elses heart, also.

Luke 15:17-24 (New Living Translation)

(17) "When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, `At home even the hired men have food enough to spare, and here I am, dying of hunger! (18) I will go home to my father and say, "Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, (19) and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.  Please take me on as a hired man." '

   (20) "So he returned home to his father.  And while he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming.  Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. (21) His son said to him, `Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.'

    (22) "But his father said to the servants, `Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him.  Get a ring for his finger, and sandals for his feet. (23) And kill the calf we have been fattening in the pen.  We must celebrate with a feast, (24) for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life.  He was lost, but now he is found.'  So the party began.

The fathers great compassion for his returning son portrays Gods response to a repentant sinner.  Like the father in this story, God waits for the sinner to come to return to Him of his own volition.  Our Heavenly Father does not want for total amends or cleanup acts.  Those steps in recovery can wait.  The father in the story ran to his prodigal son, hugging and kissed him, and threw a PARTY thus relieving him of all shame and guilt.  In the same way, Gad actually seeks those of us who have strayed in our walk of faith as well as those who do not have a personal relationship with Him.

Restoration: (Step 2 We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity)

In the modern progression of addiction, life degenerates.  In one way or another, many of us wake up one day to realize that we are living like an animal.  How true this is depends on the nature of our addiction.  Some of us may be living like an animal in terms of our physical surroundings (I lived on the streets like a stray unwanted cat, or a rat, when I was homeless).  Others of us truly may be a slave to our animal passions powerful emotions that dehumanize us and others.

A young man took an early inheritance and traveled away from home.  When the money was spent, the women just a memory, and the "high" long gone, he resorted to slopping pigs to earn a meager living (from building nuclear power plants, I washed dishes for food but I got fired and didnt eat for many days).

The fact that we are able to recognize our life as degenerate or insane proves that there is hope for a better way of life.  We are reminded of times when life was good, and we long to have that goodness restored.  When we turn to God who is powerful enough to help us build something better, we will discover that His power can restore us to sanity.   

The prodigal son, his wickedness and distress.

The parable of the prodigal son shows the nature of repentance, and the Lord's readiness to welcome and bless all who return to him.  It fully sets forth the riches of gospel grace; and it has been, and will be, while the world stands, of unspeakable use to poor sinners, to direct and to encourage them in repenting and returning to God.  It is bad, and the beginning of worse, when men look upon God's gifts as debts due to them.  The great folly of sinners, and that which ruins them, is, being content in their life-time to receive their good things.  Our first parents ruined themselves and all their race, by a foolish ambition to be independent, and this is at the bottom of sinners' persisting in their sin.  We may all discern some features of our own characters in that of the prodigal son.  A sinful state is of departure and distance from God.  A sinful state is a spending state: willful sinners misemploy their thoughts and the powers of their souls, misspend their time and all their opportunities.  A sinful state is a wanting state.  Sinners want necessaries for their souls; they have neither food nor raiment for them, nor any provision for hereafter.  A sinful state is a vile, slavish state.  The business of the devil's servants is to make provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof, and that is no better than feeding swine.  A sinful state is a state constant discontent.  The wealth of the world and the pleasures of the senses will not even satisfy our bodies; but what are they to precious souls!  A sinful state is a state which cannot look for relief from any creature.  In vain do we cry to the world and to the flesh; they have that which will poison a soul, but have nothing to give which will feed and nourish it.  A sinful state is a state of death.  A sinner is dead in trespasses and sins, destitute of spiritual life. A sinful state is a lost state.  Souls that are separated from God, if his mercy prevent not, will soon be lost for ever.  The prodigal's wretched state, only faintly shadows forth the awful ruin of man by sin.  Yet how few are sensible of their own state and character!

Jesus gives us a party when we decide to come back to Him. He knows about THE PARTY. In one of the greatest chapters in the Bible, Luke 15, he tells three stories. Each story speaks of something lost and of something found. A lost sheep. A lost coin. And a lost son. And at the end of each one, Jesus describes a party, a celebration. The shepherd throws the party for the lost-now-found sheep. The housewife throws a party because of the lost-now-found coin. And the father throws a party in honor of his lost-now-found son.

Three parables, each with a PARTY.  Three stories, each with the appearance of the same word: happy. Regarding the shepherd who found the lost sheep. When the housewife finds her lost coin, she expresses her happiness.  And the father of the prodigal son explains to the reluctant older brother, he expressed happiness with a PARTY.

The point is clear. Jesus is happiest when the lost are found.  For him, no moment compares to the moment of salvation.

The ministry God has given you will be in my prayers.  I don't remember a Lucia.  God bless you and your family.

Your brother in Christ,

Bob @ www.boberb.com and www.waikikibeachoutreach.com

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14.

Dear Lita and Everyone I Know,

Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus.  Thank you for your response.  Thank you for allowing me to study the Bible more about remarriage. 

To answer your question, I conclude both partners, including the betrayed one, are allowed to remarry, especially after repentance, as stated below.

First of all, no matter what view we consider in the issue of divorce it is important to remember the words of the Bible from Malachi 2:16 (New Living Translation)

"For I hate divorce!" says the LORD, the God of Israel. "It is as cruel as putting on a victim's bloodstained coat," says the LORD Almighty. "So guard yourself; always remain loyal to your wife."

,

As I went through the Old and New Testaments, Gods plan is that marriage be a lifetime commitment. 

Matthew 19:6 (New Living Translation)

Since they are no longer two but one, let no one separate them, for God has joined them together."

The New Testament gives only two reasons in which divorce is permitted: the first is in the case of abandonment of a Christian by an unbelieving spouse (1Corinthians 7:15), and the second is if one partner is involved in a lifestyle of infidelity (Matthew 5:32). Although God allows it in these circumstances, He has never been an endorser of divorce.

As we read all the circumstances in the Old Testament, we can say that divorce is morally justifiable for a number of extreme situations, including fornication, adultery, violence, dangerous levels of abuse, life-threatening neglect, long-term and malicious denial of reasonable sexual obligations, desertion by a non-believing spouse, and even permanent desertion by a believing spouse if numerous attempts at reconciliation and reunion have failed over a very long period of time.  In every such instance, the higher moral law of survival and self-defense supersedes the lower moral value that prohibits divorce.  There were over 40 scriptures I found that suggested these conditions were acceptable for divorce, but not required (forgiveness is always best).  All divorce is brought about by sin of some kind.

A person who gets a divorce for a reason other than adultery (Matt 19:9) and then gets remarried is considered an adulterer (Luke 16:18).  However, it is not a continual state of adultery, but rather only the act of getting remarried itself is adultery.  Once this couple is married, they should strive to live out their married lives in fidelity, in a God-honoring way.  A marriage is a marriage.  Yes, it is sin to get divorced (Malachi 2:16) and to get remarried unless you were the victim of an adulterous spouse (Matt 19:9).  Once remarried though, God does not view the new marriage as invalid or adulterous.  A remarried couple should devote themselves to God, and to each other and honor Him by making their new marriage a lasting one.

If both partners had a divorce for one of the "acceptable" reasons, they are free to remarry.  If not, things become less clear.  We have always believed that God is the God of the future.  While people certainly need to take responsibility for what they have done wrong and the consequences that a divorce brought against them, we have to believe that true repentance can right such a wrong before God.  It is hard to believe that people are useless to God and unacceptable to Him because of this past failure.  Further, it just does not seem consistent with what we read in the Bible about God.  However, I must emphasize that this is my opinion.  Each person must decide this for themselves based on what the Bible says.

I can continue this discussion, but I think it would become very wordy.  I hope this answers your key question.  God bless you and your family.

Your brother in Christ,

Bob @ www.boberb.com and www.waikikibeachoutreach.com

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15.

Aloha, Adultery Its in the Bible

Dear Everyone I Know,

Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus. 

As I was studying the Bible today and experiencing challenges with my sons wife who has filled for divorce, I was led to study adultery.  I have shared some time with a wonderful woman who was separated for over 5 years, not divorced.  Several women write me who are separated, not divorced.  I have had my problems with sexual impurity in the past.  I have been guilty of this act in the past and have had no intimacy now for 28 months.  Today, I see the Bible as the tool to guide my life, not society.  Society changes with the times, God never changes.  I think I need to focus on Gods Word, not peoples.  Maybe there is one person who needs to be reminded that its in the Bible.

Adultery

God's commandments forbid adultery. It's in the Bible, Exodus 20:14, NIV. "You shall not commit adultery."

To leave your spouse for another person may be legal, but it is adultery in God's eyes. It's in the Bible, Luke 16:18, NIV. "Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery."

Lust is a form of adultery. It's in the Bible, Matthew 5:27, NIV. "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

How did Jesus relate to a woman caught in the act of adultery? It's in the Bible, John 8:10-11, TLB. "Then Jesus stood up again and said to her, 'Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?' No sir, she said. And Jesus said, 'Neither do I. Go and sin no more.' "

It is God's will that we should avoid sexual immorality. It's in the Bible, I Thessalonians 4:3, NIV. "It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality."

I do not share this to embarrass or condemn anyone, including myself (as I am guilty already).  I share this to allow the Spirit within to convict those who see things otherwise.

God bless you and your family.

Your brother in Christ,

Bob @ www.boberb.com and www.waikikibeachoutreach.com

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16.

Dear Luam and Everyone I Know,

 Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus.  Thank you for sharing the Word of God to me and others again.  The words you share sometimes comes right at the right time.  As I was meditating on the words, I felt a need to share my thoughts about those scriptures.

 Romans 8:28-30 (New Living Translation)

 (28) And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. (29) For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters. (30) And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And he gave them right standing with himself, and he promised them his glory.

 (Some manuscripts read And we know that everything works together)

 The Spirit carries out God's plans.  The Spirit is active not only via our unconscious or semi-conscious mind but throughout the whole range of our life's experiences.  He is cooperating with us in all things to bring about a good end.  The theme of the section suggests that the Spirit is the implicit subject.  Those who love Him is an old testament _expression for God's followers who throw themselves wholeheartedly into His service and identify themselves with His aims.  The spirit cooperates with us because we have been summoned by God and assigned a role in His redemptive purposes.  God's eternal plan was to create for Himself a family modeled upon His unique Son.  Before the world began He intended this destiny for those whom He had made the objects of His personal care and concern.  The Spirit is responsible for the gradual moral transformation which we are now undergoing on earth.  All the steps in God's purposes that are now accomplished have been leading up to the end expressed in these verses.  Having decided long ago whom He would appoint for this destiny, He summoned us, made us right with Himself and illuminated us with His glory.

 His Holy Spirit has already shown me new ways to behave that I never considered in the past, such as doing this and starting the homeless ministry (and much more).  I am sure many of you have also experienced significant changes in your behavior becuase you have chosen to follow God and do what Jesus might do.  When we look at our own lives applying these scriptures, everything becomes clearer.  We are really brothers and sisters of Christ and of each other, because of that Spirit that we allow to possess us.

Our assistance from the Spirit in prayer.

Though the infirmities of us Christians are many and great, so that we would be overpowered if left to ourselves, yet the Holy Spirit supports us.  The Spirit, as an enlightening Spirit, teaches us what to pray for; as a sanctifying Spirit, works and stirs up praying graces; as a comforting Spirit, silences our fears, and helps us over all discouragements.  The Holy Spirit is the spring of all desires toward God, which are often more than words can utter. The Spirit who searches our hearts, can perceive our mind and will of the spirit, the renewed mind, and advocates his cause. The Spirit makes intercession to God, and the enemy does not prevail.

 God bless you and your family.

Your brother in Christ,

Bob @ www.boberb.com and www.waikikibeachoutreach.com

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17.

Encouragement - John 14 and more

Dear Jovey and Everyone I Know,

Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus.  Thank you for sharing Gods Word about encouragement.  I think I really needed these scriptures, so I thought someone else might want to consider them also.

John 14:27 (New Living Translation)

"I am leaving you with a gift--peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn't like the peace the world gives. So don't be troubled or afraid."

Many of us are dealing with stress and anxiety, grief and loss; we long for peace of mind and heart (and relief of the anger I expressed in the previous commentary).  So did the early disciples they were about to lose their best friend and their Messiah.  Their souls were indeed troubled, like many of us recovering from the loss of a job, a spouse, or children, or from a chemical addiction.  They were looking for something to fill the void.  Yet Jesus said He was leaving them with wholesome, fulfilling peace shalom unlike worldly peace, which is merely an absence of conflict.  God can bring us peace even in the midst of our troubles.

He further comforts his disciples.

Christ promises that he would continue his care of his disciples.  I will not leave you orphans, or fatherless, for though I leave you, yet I leave you this comfort, I will come to you. I will come speedily to you at my resurrection.  I will come daily to you in my Spirit; in the tokens of his love, and visits of his grace.  I will come certainly at the end of time.  Those only that see Christ with an eye of faith, shall see him for ever: the world sees him no more till his second coming; but his disciples have communion with him in his absence.  These mysteries will be fully known in heaven. It is a further act of grace, that we should know it, and have the comfort of it.  Having Christ's commands, we must keep them.  And having them in our heads, we must keep them in our hearts and lives.  The surest evidence of our love to Christ is, obedience to the laws of Christ.  There are spiritual tokens of Christ and his love given to all believers.  Where sincere love to Christ is in the heart, there will be obedience.  Love will be a commanding, constraining principle; and where love is, duty follows from a principle of gratitude. God will not only love obedient believers, but He will take pleasure in loving us, will rest in love to us.  He will be with us as his home.  These privileges are confined to those whose faith work by love, and whose love to Jesus leads them to keep his commandments.  Such are partakers of the Holy Spirit's new-creating grace.

2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (New Living Translation)

(8) We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken. We are perplexed, but we don't give up and quit. (9) We are hunted down, but God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going.

The apostles labored with much diligence, sincerity, and faithfulness.

The best of men would faint, if they did not receive mercy from God.  And that mercy which has helped us out, and helped us on, hearafter, we may rely upon to help us even to the end.  The apostles had no base and wicked designs, covered with fair and specious pretences.  They did not try to make their ministry serve a turn.  Sincerity or uprightness will keep the favorable opinion of wise and good men.  Christ by His gospel makes a glorious discovery to the minds of men.  But the design of the devil is, to keep men in ignorance; and when he cannot keep the light of the gospel of Christ out of the world, he spares no pains to keep men from the gospel, or to set them against it.  The rejection of the gospel is here traced to the willful blindness and wickedness of the human heart.  Self was not the matter or the end of the apostles' preaching; they preached Christ as Jesus, the Savior and Deliverer, who saves to the uttermost all that come to God through him.  Ministers are servants to the souls of men; they must avoid becoming servants to the humors or the lusts of men.  It is pleasant to behold the sun in the firmament; but it is more pleasant and profitable for the gospel to shine in the heart.  As light was the beginning of the first creation; so, in the new creation, the light of the Spirit is his first work upon the soul.  The treasure of gospel light and grace is put into earthen vessels.  The ministers of the gospel are subject to the same passions and weaknesses as other men.  God could have sent angels to make known the glorious doctrine of the gospel, or could have sent the most admired sons of men to teach the nations, but he chose humbler, weaker vessels, that his power might be more glorified in upholding them, and in the blessed change wrought by their ministry.

Romans 8:28 (New Living Translation)

And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.

Their assistance from the Spirit in prayer.

Though the infirmities of Christians are many and great, so that they would be overpowered if left to themselves, yet the Holy Spirit supports them.  The Spirit, as an enlightening Spirit, teaches us what to pray for; as a sanctifying Spirit, works and stirs up praying graces; as a comforting Spirit, silences our fears, and helps us over all discouragements.  The Holy Spirit is the spring of all desires toward God, which are often more than words can utter.  The Spirit who searches the hearts, can perceive the mind and will of the spirit, the renewed mind, and advocates his cause.  The Spirit makes intercession to God, and the enemy prevails not.

Matthew 6:34 (New Living Translation)

"So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today."

Living one day at a time is a disciplinewe all have to focus on when we are in recovery or dealing with significant life changing experiences.  It is easy to slip back into worrying about tomorrow, dwelling on the "what ifs" and the "if onlys."  Each day brings a host of things we cannot change; there will always be circumstances beyond our control.  We must also face the reality of who we are human beings confined within the slice of life we call today.  It is tempting to deny the present, but escaping reality is part of the insanity of our addictive way of life.

In addition to these words that Jesus said, Jeremiah said,"The unfailing love of the Lord never ends!By His mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each day" (Laminations 3:22-23).  Since Gods grace comes in daily doses, thats the best way to face life.

We need to ask ourself at every turn in life, Am I accepting this present moment, or am I pretending trying to escape into the past or the future?  Each day there is something to find joy in, and there is strength promised for the troubles of that day.  The palmist wrote, "This is the day the Lord has made.We will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24).  We, too, can choose to find joy, strength, and sanity (or as a previous commentary, love, joy and peace).

Evil of being worldly-minded.

Worldly-mindedness is a common and fatal symptom of hypocrisy, for by no sin can Satan have a surer and faster hold of the soul, under the cloak of a profession of religion.  Something the soul will have, which it looks upon as the best thing; in which it has pleasure and confidence above other things.  Christ counsels to make our best things the joys and glories of the other world, those things not seen which are eternal, and to place our happiness in them.  There are treasures in heaven. It is our wisdom to give all diligence to make our title to eternal life sure through Jesus Christ, and to look on all things here below, as not worthy to be compared with it, and to be content with nothing short of it.  It is happiness above and beyond the changes and chances of time, an inheritance incorruptible.  The worldly man is wrong in his first principle; therefore all his reasonings, and actions taken because of that reasoning, must be wrong. It is equally to be applied to false religion; that which is deemed light is thick darkness.  This is an awful, but a common case; we should therefore carefully examine our leading principles by the word of God, with earnest prayer for the teaching of his Spirit.  A man may do some service to two masters, but he can devote himself to the service of no more than one.  God requires the whole heart, and will not share it with the world.  When two masters oppose each other, no man can serve both.  He who holds to the world and loves it, must despise God; he who loves God, must give up the friendship of the world.

Trust in God commended.

There is scarcely any sin against which our Lord Jesus more warns his disciples, than disquieting, distracting, distrustful cares about the things of this life.  This often insnares the poor as much as the love of wealth does the rich.  But there is a carefulness about temporal things which is a duty, though we must not carry these lawful cares too far.  Take no thought for your life.  Not about the length of it; but refer it to God to lengthen or shorten it as he pleases; our times are in his hand, and they are in a good hand.  Not about the comforts of this life; but leave it to God to make it bitter or sweet as he pleases.  Food and raiment God has promised, therefore we may expect them.  Take no thought for the morrow, for the time to come.  Be not anxious for the future, how you shall live next year, or when you are old, or what you shall leave behind you. As we must not boast of tomorrow, so we must not care for tomorrow, or the events of it.  God has given us life, and has given us the body.  And what can He not do for us, who did that?  If we take care about our souls and for eternity, which are more than the body and its life, we may leave it to God to provide for us food and raiment, which are less.  Improve this as an encouragement to trust in God.  We must reconcile ourselves to our worldly estate, as we do to our stature.  We cannot alter the disposals of Providence, therefore we must submit and resign ourselves to them.  Thoughtfulness for our souls is the best cure of thoughtfulness for the world . Seek first the kingdom of God, and make religion your business: say not that this is the way to starve; no, it is the way to be well provided for, even in this world.  The conclusion of the whole matter is, that it is the will and command of the Lord Jesus, that by daily prayers we may get strength to bear us up under our daily troubles, and to arm us against the temptations that attend them, and then let none of these things move us.  Happy are those who take the Lord for their God, and make full proof of it by trusting themselves wholly to his wise disposal.  Let thy Spirit convince us of sin in the want of this disposition, and take away the worldliness of our hearts.

I could share many more words about these words of encouragement, but I may consider those in the future.  God bless you and your family.

Your brother in Christ,

Bob @ www.boberb.com and www.waikikibeachoutreach.com

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