Life Recovery Ministry | Using the Bible for recovery and significant life changes

Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus. As I am studying the Bible, God led me to study His Word about how we may be valuing the stuff of the world - money, cars, clothes, image, cigarettes, etc., etc. not time with God.

This is very personal to me because I am seeing my sons wife commit adultery and refuses to see that it is wrong. She admits she is not a housewife, by her constant screaming at her children her behavior shows she is not a good mother, by her actions to file for a divorce shows she is not a good wife, her refusal to pay her bills shows she accepts no responsibilities, and her focus is all about herself. She is so vain and self-centered she has no respect for what the Bible says. She treats me worse than crap, so she doesnt believe that she needs to respect the grandfather of her children and doesnt believe in honoring anyone, especially parents and grandparents. She needs a lot of prayers because mine alone are showing no evidence of change yet. So I guess this message really touches my heart. I hope it might also help someone else.

Gods Anger at Sin

"(18) But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves. (19) For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts. (20) From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.

(21)Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused. (22) Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead. (23) And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people, or birds and animals and snakes.

(24) So God let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies. (25) Instead of believing what they knew was the truth about God, they deliberately chose to believe lies. So they worshiped the things God made but not the Creator himself, who is to be praised forever. Amen."

When we refuse to admit our powerlessness and hold on to our self-sufficiency, we follow the downward path that Paul describes here. First, we exchange worship of God for worship of things our addiction or compulsion or money or power or sex or what the world tells us that is "cool" today. Second, we exchange our worship of the living God for a willful form of sin. Third, we move beyond these forms of sin to deep denial we believe lies and reject truth. This passage describes lives that have become totally unmanageable, the natural consequence of refusing to acknowledge God. The only way to escape such destruction is to recognize our powerlessness and turn our life over to God.

In examining the central issue in each of the first several commandments, we find that the first concerns what we worship. Worship is the devoted service we give to what we regards most highly. As these verses show, we can give devoted service to created things as well as the Creator. Additionally, the tenth commandment says covetousness is idolatry too (Colossians 3:5), clearly amplifying that we can give our devotion to things other than the true God.

How good can it be to exchange the truth for the lie? In this context "the lie" is that one can profitably worship someone or something other than the true God. Worshipping things other than the Creator turns the thrust and direction of our lives off the true path of God's purpose. Though those objects may be otherwise harmless in themselves, it is sin to give them the devotion that rightly belongs to the Creator.

John 4:24 proclaims, "For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth." The worship of God involves the totality of our life, and therefore it cannot be confined to a particular location or a mere hour or two on a given day. Our worship must be guided, motivated, and empowered by His Spirit. Further, it cannot merely be sincere, but it must also be true. Attitude is extremely important, but it alone does not replace truth.

Gods salvation is enhanced by first erecting a dark backcloth of human failure and then setting against it the splendor of divine grace. Paul proves why at the day of judgment Gods wrath must fall upon the world of Jews and gentiles before He presents the alternative of faith-righteousness in Christ

Paul is first speaking of mankind in general, but as he goes on he has gentiles specifically in view. He weighs up the Hellenistic society of his day (just as our day) and finds it wanting. Everywhere is chaos. Animals have become gods, man has become woman, wrong has become right. Nature without the true God has become unnatural. The Creator has been rejected and creation is in chaos; for the apostle these two facts are cause and effect.

The absence of truth is not Gods fault: it has been deliberately suppressed. There is no possible defence for the non-Jew. God has shown enough of Himself in the natural world for men to be unable to plead ignorance. The natural world is a window through which God has shown part of Himself to man, through which thinking man may "see" His unseen power and divineness.

The rest of the chapter is made up of three parallel sections grouped round the phrase God gave them over orGod let them go ahead and do whatever shameful things their hearts desired, which is solemnly hammered out. Because they did not glorify Him, their fate was the sexual degrading of their bodies. Rejecting the evidence before them, men substituted irrational ideas about God for a right use of reason. Paul is echoing other words in the Bible (Jerimiah 2:5, "This is what the Lord says: What sin did your ancestors find in me that led them to stray so far? They worshipped foolish idols, only to become foolish themselves.", and 10:14, "Compared too Him, all people are foolish and have no knowledge at all! They make idols, but the idols will disgrace their makers, for they ar frauds. They have no life or power in them") where futile and fools are applied to idolaters. They degraded God to the level of created things. Psalms 106:20, "They traded their glorious God for a statue of a grass-eating ox!" (or money and cars in todays world) must be in the apostles mind. The gentile world did not consider His words (Psalms 106:7, "Our ancestors in Egypt were not impressed by the Lords miracles," and 106:13, "Yet how quickly they forgot what He had done! They wouldnt wait for His counsel!")

God gave over the gentiles to their fate. Wrong behavior Qa nor merely the consequence of wrong worship, but a divine chastisement for it, although it was not the full punishment for their sin, the final separation from God which is death or Gods wrath at the judgment day. God made them harvest the crops they themselves had sown. Because they exchanged the real God for false gods, by way for temporary punishment they exchanged natural sexual intercourse for homosexuality and promiscuity.

The gospel way of justification by faith, for Jews and Gentiles.

In these verses the apostle opens the design of the whole epistle, in which he brings forward a charge of sinfulness against all flesh; declares the only method of deliverance from condemnation, by faith in the mercy of God, through Jesus Christ; and then builds upon it purity of heart, grateful obedience, and earnest desires to improve in all those Christian graces and tempers, which nothing but a lively faith in Christ can bring forth. God is a just and holy God, and we are guilty sinners. It is necessary that we have a righteousness to appear in before him: there is such a righteousness brought in by the Messiah, and made known in the gospel; a gracious method of acceptance, notwithstanding the guilt of our sins. It is the righteousness of Christ, who is God, coming from a satisfaction of infinite value. Faith is all in all, both in the beginning and progress of Christian life. It is not from faith to works, as if faith put us into a justified state, and then works kept us in it; but it is all along from faith to faith; it is faith pressing forward, and gaining the victory over unbelief.

Dear Moni and Others Who May Be Interested in Marriage,

Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus. Thank you for your response. Thank you for sharing some humility.

As you shared your problems in your marriage, I was inspired to research it more. You may consider sharing the Word of God and comments on them as being impersonal, but all I can say is I am not feeling impersonal as I spend my time to study, meditate, and write these words thinking specifically of your challenges. As you two are sharing somewhat of a separated life, maybe your husband ought to know this, too.

Marriage

What does the Bible teach about marriage? Marriage is a permanent, committed partnership between a man and a woman. It's in the Bible, Matthew 19:5-6, TLB. "And that a man should leave his father and mother, and be forever united to his wife. The two shall become oneno longer two, but one! And no man may divorce what God has joined together."

How should husbands relate to their wives? It's in the Bible, Ephesians 5:25-28, TLB. "And you husbands, show the same kind of love to your wives as Christ showed to the church when He died for herThat is how husbands should treat their wives, loving them as parts of themselves. For since a man and his wife are now one, a man is really doing himself a favor and loving himself when he loves his wife!"

Husbands should honor their wives. It's in the Bible, I Peter 3:7, TLB. "You husbands must be careful of your wives, being thoughtful of their needs and honoring them as the weaker sex. Remember that you and your wife are partners in receiving God's blessings, and if you don't treat her as you should, your prayers will not get ready answers."

How should the wife relate to her husband? It's in the Bible, Ephesians 5:22-24, TLB. "You wives must submit to your husbands' leadership in the same way you submit to the Lord. For a husband is in charge of his wife in the same way Christ is in charge of His body the church. (He gave His very life to take care of it and be its Savior!) So you wives must willingly obey your husbands in everything, just as the church obeys Christ."

Does that mean the wife must do all the "give and take"? No! Marriage requires submission by both partners. It's in the Bible, Ephesians 5:21, NIV. "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ."

What counsel forbids physical or verbal spouse abuse? It's in the Bible, Colossians 3:19, NIV. "Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them."

For a successful marriage, determine to settle misunderstanding at once. It's in the Bible, Ephesians 4:26, TLB. "If you are angry, don't sin by nursing your grudge. Don't let the sun go down with you still angryget over it quickly."

Keep the relationship growing in unity and understanding. It's in the Bible, Ephesians 4:2-3, TLB. "Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Try always to be led along together by the Holy Spirit, and so be at peace with one another."

How should society view marriage? It's in the Bible, Hebrews 13:4, NIV. "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral."

By what commandments has God guarded marriage? The seventh and the tenth. It's in the Bible, Exodus 20:14, 17, NIV. "You shall not commit adultery." and "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife."

What is the only acceptable reason that Jesus gave for ending a marriage? It's in the Bible, Matthew 5:32, NIV. "But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to commit adultery, and anyone who marries a woman so divorced commits adultery."

For how long is marriage intended to last? It's in the Bible, Romans 7:2, NIV. "By law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage."

What instruction is given about who to marry? It's in the Bible, II Corinthians 6:14, RSV. "Do not be mismated with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?"

Romance and the gift of sexuality are blessed by God when exercised within the bonds of marriage. It's in the Bible, Proverbs 5:18-19, TLB. "Let your manhood be a blessing; rejoice in the wife of your youth. Let her charms and tender embrace satisfy you. Let her love alone fill you with delight."

Bob, I don't want to get into disagreeable words with you or say words that are not uplifting. I never ever intended to hurt or upset you in any way. Maybe your right, maybe I have lacked as a wife. Right now I have a lot on my plate. I have people who have pulled away from the ministry because they think that i am doing to much. I think that they think that if they don't help that i will have to give some of it up. I serve a bigger God than that and unless God tells me to give some or all up then i will keep going. I have a forty foot container who's contents need to be transferred to another and to have it ready by next wednesday to leave for the coast. I have a depot full of stuff that still has to be sorted and baled to go on the container. The Bible School in the Philippines is late in receiving its money for july because i did not have the volunteers to help with fund raising in June....on and on it goes. I am learning to stand on faith and go by faith and not what i see to call those things that are not as though they were.

I am very sorry that you are experiencing what you are with your volunteers. I would question their hearts and Christian maturity if they would do such a thing to you. I am very sorry that you are going through that. I would encourage you to stand firm and pray. If God has called you to that ministry He will work it out.

Thank you for sharing your 4th of July day with me. It sounds nice to have a family outing and then see the firework display together.

Bless you

Moni

Jesus loves you! We are building a house for a refugee family. If you would like to partner with us.....contact us. www.bridgeofhope.ca

Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus. Thank you for your response. Thank you for your words of encouragement. Thank you for sharing the Word of God to me.

I respond to what these passages mean to me, with the hope that there might be someone who I send this to needs it also. One lady said that these messages are too "impersonal." I dont know what that means to her, but these Words and the comments I write are very personal to me, from my perception. I spend a lot of time studying, meditating, and writing these emails using my personal time that God has given me. I hope they touch someones heart in a personal way.

God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy to those who please him. But if a sinner becomes wealthy, God takes the wealth away and gives it to those who please him. Even this, however, is meaningless, like chasing the wind.

The alternative to neurotic commitment to work is the enjoyment of life as Gods good gift. This includes enjoying our work, while not allowing I to become the key to meaning in our life. This is the first of the Teachers admonitions to take life less serosly and enjoy it more. Life is too short to waste on the treadmill of ever increasing professional accomplishments. In the larger scheme of things, our accomplishments iwill not last. We need to take the tie to enjoy the gifts that God gives us.

That wealth which is truly desirable, has no vexation of spirit in the enjoyment; no grief for the loss; no guilt by the abuse of it. What comes from the love of God, has the grace of God for its companion.

The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked, but his blessing is on the home of the upright.

The wicked and the upright.

Our business is to observe the precepts of Christ, and to copy His example; to do justice, to love mercy, and to beware of covetousness; to be ready for every good work, avoiding needless strife, and bearing evils, if possible, rather than seeking redress by law. It will be found there is little got by striving. Let us not envy prosperous oppressors; far be it from the disciples of Christ to choose any of their ways. These truths may be despised by the covetous and luxurious, but everlasting contempt will be the portion of such scorners, while Divine favor is shown to the humble believer.

THANKS FOR THE VERY ENCOURAGING MESSAGE.

May our Great and Awesome God who is rich in Mercy and love continually bless your life, family and Ministry to expand God's work to the lost souls.

God bless you.. Ecc.2:26, Prov.10:22, Prov.3:33

In Him,

Sis.Hannah

Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus. As I am putting time aside studying the Word of God, He somehow led me to the seed sower story to remind me to keep on the foundation of good soil and not to slip back into the thorny ground by focusing on the pleasures of this life. I pray these words might touch the heart of at least one individual today or someone you know.

(14) The thorny ground represents those who hear and accept the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. (15) But the good soil represents honest, good-hearted people who hear God's message, cling to it, and steadily produce a huge harvest.

This story about the farmer and the soils emphasizes accountability and discipleship in our relationship with God. The attitudes and condition of our heart matters more than our outward profession of faith. The pressures that draw us back into addiction are well known to those of us in recovery. We face continual temptation to give in to our destructive habit, so we must be consistent and watchful in the recovery process. Taking regular moral inventory helps us avoid the problems that tend to creep into our life through the back door. As we keep our heart focused on God, He will give us a new lease on life.

Growth requires an honest and noble heart. We deceive ourselves through rationalizations and justifications, allowing our appetites to overwhelm what we know is true. Sin engulfs the mind with a cloud of alibis and cover-ups to hide from ourselves the wrongness of what we do. Sin promotes twisting and distorting of truth. We reason, "This isn't so bad"; "I'll do it just one more time"; "I'm too weak. God will just have to take me as I am"; "God will just have to do it for me." We have all reasoned ourselves into transgressing.

Have we been deceived into thinking of sin only in the sense of breaking one of the Ten Commandments? While sin is the transgression of the law (I John 3:4), its biblical usage is much broader. When we fail to think of sin in its broader sense, we stumble into a trap. It is far better to think of sin as falling short of the glory of God. The central concept of sin is failurefailure to live up to a standard, God Himself. The glory of God includes His attitudes, intents, and His very thinking processes, all of which produce the way He lives. For us to fall short in any of these areas is missing the marksin.

We are deceived, lured into actually transgressing, through neglect, carelessness, laziness, irresponsibility, ignorance, bull-headiness, fear, shortsightedness, and ingratitude for forgiveness and the awesome potential that God has freely and graciously handed to us on a golden platter of grace. We are detoured from progress to holiness and are enticed into sin by failing to see God and by not considering seriously the subtle influences on the fringes of actual transgression of the law. At the foundation of both spiritual and physical health is how we think and what we think about.

(13) And remember, no one who wants to do wrong should ever say, "God is tempting me." God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else either. (14) Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires. (15) These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death. (16) So don't be misled, my dear brothers and sisters.

The way to stop sin, as well as to improve health, is to change our thinking. Between what God does and what we should do, we can do it. This is real conversion!

The parable of the sower.

There are many very needful and excellent rules and cautions for hearing the word, in the parable of the sower, and the application of it. Happy are we, and for ever indebted to free grace, if the same thing that is a parable to others, with which they are only amused, is a plain truth to us, by which we are taught and governed. We ought to take heed of the things that will hinder our profiting by the word we hear; to take heed lest we hear carelessly and slightly, lest we entertain prejudices against the word we hear; and to take heed to our spirits after we have heard the word, lest we lose what we have gained. The gifts we have, will be continued to us or not, as we use them for the glory of God, and the good of our brothers and sisters. Nor is it enough not to hold the truth in unrighteousness; we should desire to hold forth the word of life, and to shine, giving light to all around. Great encouragement is given to those who prove themselves faithful hearers of the word, by being doers of the work. Christ owns them as his relations.

Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus. As one person reminded me in an email response to me, I need to get rid of the past and put on the new; it led me to study Ephesians 4:20 - 32 today.

(20) But that isn't what you were taught when you learned about Christ. (21) Since you have heard all about him and have learned the truth that is in Jesus, (22) throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception. (23) Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. (24) You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God's likeness--righteous, holy, and true.

(25) So put away all falsehood and "tell your neighbor the truth" because we belong to each other. (26) And "don't sin by letting anger gain control over you." Don't let the sun go down while you are still angry, (27) for anger gives a mighty foothold to the Devil.

(28) If you are a thief, stop stealing. Begin using your hands for honest work, and then give generously to others in need. (29) Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

(30) And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.

(32) Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of malicious behavior. (32) Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

A life of recovery is committed to knowing God better through prayer and meditation on His Word. In examining our life, we realize just how demanding god's standards for righteous living are but since it is God's grace that helps us conform to His will, we need not despair. As we obey Him, He will teach us to live without bitterness, anger, or harsh words. God is in the business of healing our relationships. When we do tings His way, we are well on the way to reconciling with our alienated friends and building solid foundations for recovery and dealing with significant life changing experiences.

We have grown up up believing lies about life, about our self, about our family. We may still experience confusion and uncertainty because we don't have strong sense of what is really true. The lies we believe can contribute to our addictive ways, so we need to reexamine our life in the light of what is true.

The apostle Paul talked about how the people who believe in Christ were to function like a single body. Each member is to be mature and full grown in the Lord, offering the gifts he or she has to help the whole body mature. Since Jesus described himself as "the truth" (John 14:6) and we are to be filled with Him, the recovery process involves becoming "truth-filled."

Recovery can be like growing up all over again. As we grew, we are to continue to aim for what is true. In the past we measured truth against whatever sounded right to us at the time. Now we can have the sure measurement of God's Word and Jesus Christ Himself. From this perspective we can reevaluate our beliefs. What is true about God? What is true about me? What is right? What is wrong?

To a due use of spiritual gifts and graces.

Unto every believer is given some gift of grace, for their mutual help. All is given as seems best to Christ to bestow upon every one. He received for them, that he might give to us, a large measure of gifts and graces; particularly the gift of the Holy Ghost. Not a mere head knowledge, or bare acknowledging Christ to be the Son of God, but such as brings trust and obedience. There is a fullness in Christ, and a measure of that fullness given in the counsel of God to every believer; but we never come to the perfect measure till we come to heaven. God's children are growing, as long as we are in this world; and the Christian's growth tends to the glory of Christ. The more a man finds himself drawn out to improve in his station, and according to his measure, all that he has received, to the spiritual good of others, he may the more certainly believe that he has the grace of sincere love and charity rooted in his heart.

To purity and holiness.

The apostle Paul charged the Ephesians in the name and by the authority of the Lord Jesus, that having professed the gospel, we should not be as the unconverted Gentiles, who walked in vain fancies and carnal affections. Do not men, on every side, walk in the vanity of their minds? Must not we then urge the distinction between real and nominal Christians? At one time, we were void of all saving knowledge; we sat in darkness, and loved it rather than light. We may have had a dislike and hatred to a life of holiness, which is not only the way of life God requires and approves, and by which we live to him, but which has some likeness to God himself in his purity, righteousness, truth, and goodness. The truth of Christ appears in its beauty and power, when it appears as in Jesus. The corrupt nature is called a man; like the human body, it is of divers parts, supporting and strengthening one another. Sinful desires are deceitful lusts; they promise men happiness, but render them more miserable; and bring them to destruction, if not subdued and mortified. These therefore must be put off, as an old garment, a filthy garment; they must be subdued and mortified. But it is not enough to shake off corrupt principles; we must have gracious ones. By the new man, is meant the new nature, the new creature, directed by a new principle, even regenerating grace, enabling a man to lead a new life of righteousness and holiness. This is created, or brought forth by God's almighty power.

And to take heed of the sins practiced before we knew Christ.

Notice the particulars wherewith we should adorn our Christian profession. Take heed of every thing contrary to truth. No longer flatter or deceive others. God's people are children who will not lie, who dare not lie, who hate and abhor lying. Take heed of anger and ungoverned passions. If there is just occasion to express displeasure at what is wrong, and to reprove, see that it be without sin. We give place to the devil, when the first motions of sin are not grievous to our souls; when we consent to them; and when we repeat an evil deed. This teaches that as sin, if yielded unto, lets in the devil upon us, we are to resist it, keeping from all appearance of evil. Idleness makes thieves. Those who will not work, expose themselves to temptations to steal. Men ought to be industrious, that they may do some good, and that they may be kept from temptation. They must labor, not only that they may live honestly, but that they may have to give to the wants of others. What then must we think of those called Christians, who grow rich by fraud, oppression, and deceitful practices! Alms, to be accepted of God, must not be gained by unrighteousness and robbery, but by honesty and industry. God hates robbery for burnt-offerings.

Possibly John Glenn's finest moment~~

   Regardless of your political views, this certainly
   gives us all food for thought. Sen.
   Glenn was so quick on his feet. When you speak
   from the heart and with passion, you never know what
   comes out.

   -------SENATOR JOHN GLENN SAID:
   Things that make you think a little.......

   1. There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq
   during the month of January.....In the fair city of
   Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of
   January. That's just one American City , about as
   deadly as the entire war torn country of Iraq

   2. When some claim President Bush shouldn't have
   started this war, state the following .

   FDR...led us into World War II. Germany never
   attacked us: Japan did. From 1941-1945, 450,000
   lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year.

   Truman...finished that war and started one in
   Korea , North Korea never attacked us. From 1950-1953,
   55,000 lives were lost, an average of 18,334 per year.

   John F. Kennedy....started the Vietnam conflict in
   1962. Vietnam never attacked us. Johnson...turned
   Vietnam into a quagmire. From 1965-1975, 58,000
   lives were lost, an average of 5,800 per year.

   Clinton...went to war in Bosnia without UN or
   French consent, Bosnia never attacked us. He was
   offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three
   times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked
   us on multiple occasions.

   3. In the two years since terrorists attacked us
   President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed
   the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear
   inspectors in Libya , Iran and North Korea without
   firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who
   slaughtered 300,000 of his own people.

   The Democrats are complaining about how long the war
   is taking, but...It took less time to take Iraq
   than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian
   compound. That was a 51-day operation.

   We've been looking for evidence of chemical weapons
   in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton
   to find the Rose Law Firm billing records.

   It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick killing a woman.
   Wait, there's more......................

   Some people still don't understand why military
   personnel do what they do for a living. This
   exchange between Senators John Glenn and Senator
   Howard Metzenbaum is worth reading. Not only is it a
   pretty impressive impromptu speech, but it's also a
   good example of one man's explanation of why men and
   women in the armed services do what they do for a
   living. This is a typical, though sad, example of
   what some who have never served think of our military.

   JOHN GLENN ON THE SENATE FLOOR Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2004 11:13

   Senator Howard Metzenbaum to Senator Glenn: "How can you
   run for Senate when you've never held a real job?"

   Senator Glenn: "I served 23 years in the United States
   Marine Corps. I served through two wars. I flew 149 missions.
   My plane was hit by antiaircraft fire on 12 different occasions.
   I was in the space program.

   It wasn't my checkbook, Howard; it was my life on the line.
   It was not a nine-to-five job, where I took time off to take
   the daily cash receipts to the bank. I ask you to go with
   me ... as I went the other day... to a veteran's hospital
   and look those men - with their mangled bodies - in the eye,
   and tell THEM they didn't hold a job! You go with me to
   the Space Program at NASA and go, as I have gone, to the

   their Dads didn't hold a job.

   You go with me on Memorial Day and you stand in Arlington
   National Cemetery , where I have more friends buried than I'd
   like to remember, and you watch those waving flags.

   You stand there, and you think about this nation, and you
   tell ME that those people didn't have a job? I'll tell you,
   Howard Metzenbaum; you should be on your knees every day of
   your life thanking God that there were some men - SOME MEN -
   who held REAL jobs. And they required a dedication to a
   purpose - and a love of country and a dedication to duty
   that was more important than life itself. And their self-sacrifice
   is what made this country possible.

   I HAVE held a job, Howard! What about you?"

   For those who don't remember - During W.W.II, Howard

in the USA

If you can read this, thank a teacher.... If you are reading
it in English thank a Veteran.

I was in the Army from 1966 to 1972. Somehow, nobody cared when I was homeless in 2002 or even now when I still have no residence. No body would hire me for a job. No body would give me food. No body showed any respect for me. So, as Howard must think, what we did in the past doesn't make any difference any more.

Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus. I am studying God's Word today, and thinking about all of the blessings I have and felt it important to share my joy with someone special. As I previously studied, and shared, the nine virtues Paul writes to the churches in the Galatians (Turkey), I was led to the virtues he shared to the Roman gentiles. Again the focus is on hope (love), happy (joy), and peace.

(8) Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. (9) And he came so the Gentiles might also give glory to God for his mercies to them. That is what the psalmist meant when he wrote:

"Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles;
praise him, all you people of the earth."

    "The heir to David's throne will come,
       and he will rule over the Gentiles.
       They will place their hopes on him."
    (13) So I pray that God, who gives you hope, will keep you happy and full of peace as you believe in him. May you overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit

14) I am fully convinced, dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well that you are able to teach others all about them.

Paul puts his appeal for unity on a broader basis. Underlying much of the friction in the early churches must have been the presence of both Jews and gentiles together. The Jewish Christian would have to fight hard against the temptation of religious snobbery. The gentile Christians would tend to regard the Jew and his traditions as a hangover from the obsolete past. Over against those natural reactions Paul again makes Christ's example the Christian criterion. To spurn a fellow Christian is to be out of step with Christ, who has accepted him as well as oneself. The gentile in the church who looks down upon the Jew as a back member must remember that Christ Himself submitted to becoming a Jew and received the Jewish heritage of the Messianic promises. The Jew in the church who despises has gentile fellow believer as an interloper and a second-rate Christian must remember that Christ came also for the very purpose of bringing gentiles into the church. In both these purposes God was showing His truth in making His word come true. Lest doubts linger in the Jews mind, Paul reminds him that the admission of the gentiles is in line with his own traditions and was envisaged in the Old Testament, the source book of God's plans. Psalm 18:49 is taken as the words of the pre-incarnate Christ to His Father, promising that He will lead gentiles' praises to God. The invitation of Deuteronomy 32:43 and of Psalms 117:1 and the Messianic promise of Isaiah 11:10 all look forward to the gentiles' participation in the worship of the church and in processing the Christian hope as validly as Jewish Christians. Behind this hope is the God who inspires it equally in Jew and gentile. Paul's prayer is for right perspectives. May spiritual qualities be exalted in the Christian community in place of discord over material and human matters. If hope, joy, peace, a continual attitude of faith and the power of the Holy Spirit fill the vision of God's people and direct their judgment, then their proper place and be viewed aright.

All to receive one another as brothers and sisters.

Christ fulfilled the prophecies and promises relating to the Jews, and the Gentile converts could have no excuse for despising them. The Gentiles, being brought into the church, are companions in patience and tribulation. They should praise God. Calling upon all the nations to praise the Lord, shows that they shall have knowledge of Him. We shall never seek to Christ till we trust in Him. And the whole plan of redemption is suited to reconcile us to one another, as well as to our gracious God, so that an abiding hope of eternal life, through the sanctifying and comforting power of the Holy Spirit, may be attained. Our own power will never reach this; therefore where this hope is, and is abounding, the blessed Spirit must have all the glory. All joy and peace; all sorts of true joy and peace, so as to suppress doubts and fears, through the powerful working of the Holy Spirit.

This verse provides a clear sense of an active, even aggressive, goodness. Paul links goodness with full knowledge and admonition of each other. This gives us insight into what he knew of and expected from Christians in Rome, placing before us a target to shoot for in our relationships within the fellowship of the church.

But Paul lists goodness first, as though it is either the foundation for the other two virtues or at least their necessary precursor. I Corinthians 8:1 says, "Knowledge puffs up." Knowledge combined with vanity can spew a torrent of self-righteous offense, but goodness will hold such a display in check and guide knowledge to build up rather than destroy.

Biblical goodness is always, under every circumstance, beneficial. Though he had not yet been to Rome at the writing of his epistle, Paul evidently understood that he was writing to an unusually strong congregation. He was so confident that they had a strong and sincere desire to do the right thing that he wrote that they were "full of goodness [and] filled with all knowledge." (KJV)

This is quite a compliment, serving to reinforce what he writes in Romans 1:8:"Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world"! They were far different from the recipients of Hebrews, whom he tells, "For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God" (Hebrews 5:12).

The Romans' full knowledge was an intelligent and comprehensive understanding of the faith and Christian responsibility. Strong faith is not built on weak understanding. They had given honest, serious thought to applying their faith to the sometimes bewildering tangle of life in this world. They were living it.

These two qualitiesgoodness and knowledge combinedpresents a sound vehicle for instructing each other on the best ways to "walk the walk" despite the pulls of this world. Goodness provides the right disposition and motivation, and knowledge, the correct instruction. One devoid of the necessary knowledge cannot teach; anyone destitute of goodness will not even try because he lacks the impulse to help others in the right spirit. Even if he makes the effort, only a spirit marked by active love will win the response without which no true education in God's way is possible.

The word translated "admonish" in verse 14 is rendered "advice," "counsel," and "instruct" in other translations. In I Thessalonians 5:14, the same word is translated "warn," indicating that it is more than mere instruction. The English word that comes closest to expressing the sense best is "inculcate." Inculcate means "to impress upon the mind by frequent repetition or persistent urging" (Webster's New World Dictionary). Among its synonyms are such strong words as "indoctrinate," "brainwash," "admonish repeatedly," and even "hammer"!

This goodness does whatever loving wisdom calls for in a given situation. However, this in no way means that one should deliver the admonishment, counsel, or even rebuke with meanness of spirit. In other words, one with goodness does not viciously "chew somebody out." Numerous Scriptures counsel us to be gentle and tender with each other. Paul is himself a model of tact and diplomacy in dealing with difficult circumstances within congregations and between himself and a person or congregation.

Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus. As I am studying God's Word today, God seems to suggest that someone out there needs to be reminded that as long as we avoid anything that does not represent love, joy and peace, we will be okay. If those nine virtues are not present in the moment, move away from anything not allowing us to experience joy.

(22) But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. (24) Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. (25) If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. (26) Let us not become conceited, or irritate one another, or be jealous of one another.

These qualities are produced by the Holy Spirit's work in a life submitted to God. Just as a tree bears fruit by means of God's silent work in nature, we experience these fruits of the Spirit by means of God's power alone. Our part is to entrust our life to Him. When the Holy Spirit begins to bear these fruits in our life, our dependency loses its power. With joy and peace we overcome the pain of our broken past. With love, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness we restore our relationships and make amends. With patience we persevere through the difficult times. With self-control we stand against our tendency to relapse. God's Spirit can supply everything necessary for a successful recovery when dealing with significant life changing experiences.

And to walk in the Spirit, and not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh: the works of both are described.

If it be our care to act under the guidance and power of the blessed Spirit, though we may not be freed from the stirrings and oppositions of the corrupt nature which remains in us, it shall not have dominion over us. Believers are engaged in a conflict, in which they earnestly desire that grace may obtain full and speedy victory. And those of us who desire thus to give ourselves up to be led by the Holy Spirit, are not under the law as a covenant of works, nor exposed to its awful curse.

Our hatred of sin, and desires after holiness, show that we have a part in the salvation of the gospel. The works of the flesh are many and manifest. And these sins will shut men out of heaven. Yet what numbers, calling themselves Christians, live in these, and say they hope for heaven! The fruits of the Spirit, or of the renewed nature, which we are to do, are named. And as the apostle had chiefly named works of the flesh, not only hurtful to men themselves, but tending to make them so to one another, so here he chiefly notices the fruits of the Spirit, which tend to make Christians agreeable one to another, as well as to make them happy. The fruits of the Spirit plainly show, that such are led by the Spirit. By describing the works of the flesh and fruits of the Spirit, we are told what to avoid and oppose, and what we are to cherish and cultivate; and this is the sincere care and endeavor of all real Christians. Sin does not now reign in their mortal bodies, so that they obey it (Romans 6:12), for they seek to destroy it. Christ never will own those who yield themselves up to be the servants of sin. And it is not enough that we cease to do evil, but we must learn to do well. Our conversation will always be answerable to the principle which guides and governs us (Romans 8:5). We must set ourselves in earnest to mortify the deeds of the body, and to walk in newness of life. Not being desirous of vain-glory, or unduly wishing for the esteem and applause of men, not provoking or envying one another, but seeking to bring forth more abundantly those good fruits, which are, through Jesus Christ, to the praise and glory of God.

As this weekend proceeds to celebrate our independence, may we celebrate our dependence on God and the virtues He is supplying us. God bless you and your family.

Greetings in the name of Christ Jesus. Thank you for your messages. Thank you for sharing your life with me. Thank you for sharing the Word of God. As I was reading the passages you shared from Pastor Kennith Copeland, Proverbs 4, God seemed to lead me to share how it works in my life.

(7) "Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do! And whatever else you do, get good judgment. (8) If you prize wisdom, she will exalt you. Embrace her and she will honor you. (9) She will place a lovely wreath on your head; she will present you with a beautiful crown."

Though it cost all we have, get understanding. Get it translates the verb usually given as 'buy.' This getting is costly business and requires not academic ability, but a willingness to make an effort to learn and do what is right. How much we spend in practicing and studying His Word is in direct proportion to what we really value.

Unreasonable Commitment to the study of wisdom.

We must look upon our teachers as our fathers: though instruction carry in it reproof and correction, bid it welcome. Solomon's parents loved him, therefore taught him. Wise and godly men, in every age of the world, and rank in society, agree that true wisdom consists in obedience, and is united to happiness. Get wisdom, take pains for it. Get the rule over thy corruptions; take more pains to get this than the wealth of this world. An interest in Christ's salvation is necessary. This wisdom is the one thing needful. A soul without true wisdom and grace is a dead soul. How poor, contemptible, and wretched are those, who, with all their wealth and power, die without getting understanding, without Christ, without hope, and without God! Let us give heed to the sayings of Him who has the words of eternal life. Thus our path will be plain before us: by taking, and keeping fast hold of instruction, we shall avoid being straitened or stumbling.

As Kennith Copeland sees it, If we really want to get the wisdom of God, we'll have to do more than casually read the Scriptures a few minutes a day. We'll have to feed on them night and day. We'll have to get rid of the rubbish we've been feeding into our consciousness by reprogramming our mind with the Word of God.

It may seem unreasonable, but consider this: A music major in college practices for hours every day. Olympic skaters spend six to eight hours a day training for their routines. They do it because they're unreasonably committed to their goals.

The same is true for us. If we're going to achieve the kind of spiritual excellence we're hungry for, we're going to have to be unreasonably committed to the Word of God.

You we God's front-line assault force. We have an enemy who is doing his dead level best to destroy us. In this crucial, all-out, no-holds-barred offensive, Satan will dispatch hell's choicest personnel to bring us down. If we're going to make it through in victory, we're going to have to put ourselves in training.

Be unreasonably committed. Get wisdom. As others share scriptures with me, I feed myself with them. Then, as I continue to consider them, I review others commentary, I consider it in my life, I check out other scriptures that compliment them, I continue to read the whole chapter to put it into perspective, then I write these commentaries. All of that takes time, time well worth it to help me get the wisdom God is making available to me. Are all of us spending so much time on just one or three scriptures? How much time are we willing to dedicate praying and reading the Bible? How we spend our time shows us what we really value. What do you value?