Go To The Ends Of The Level Of Faith That You Have And Expect Yahweh To Supply The Rest.  Maybe, They Can Believe Yahweh’s Word 95% And ALL That You Have Faith For Is The Remaining 5%.  You Will Find That If You Do This, You Will Grow In Faith.  Faith Can Grow, (2 Thessalonians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 10:15)~!

All That It Means To, “Grow In Faith”, Is That You Have Begun To Trust Yahweh In Some Area Of Your Life More Than You Did Before In That Same Area Of Life.  It Doesn’t Mean That The Circumstance Changed.  It Doesn’t Mean You Have More Of Yahweh’s Eye or Favor.  It Means That You Have Grown More Confident Of His Word To Work.  Several Things Can Weigh In On This Decision To Trust Yahweh, But Chiefly It Is Past Successes Of Seeing Yahweh’s Word Work Even In A Different Area Of Life.

But, The Number One Way That Faith Can Grow, Is By Hearing And Hearing Yahweh’s Word On The Matter Over And Over Again.  I Said Yesterday, Words Of Faith Can Be Implanted In Your Heart By Hearing Them Over And Over Again, (Romans 10:17).  Please Enter Here To See More About How Faith Can Grow, (To Save Space, I Just Typed It Once On Another Web Page)

After ALL, There Is But One Faith, (Ephesians 4:5).  Experience Is Only Gained By Growing Older, or By Hearing The Story or Testimony Of Someone Who Has Gone Through Something Themselves, {“And They Overcame Him By The Blood Of The Lamb And By The Word Of Their Testimony, And They Did Not Love Their Lives To The Death. (Revelation 12:11 ~ NKJV)}.

So, If You Do Not Have The Same Level Of Faith As An Older Person Who Has Walked With Yahweh Longer Than You, Please Do Not Feel Inadequate.  You Are Normal.  You’ll Get There.  Ask Yahweh What You Should Do Now.  What’s Your Next Move Based On Your Current Level Of Faith?

Whereas Faith Should Be Used To Change Our Hearts~!

Actually, Faith Is Being Applied To Try To Change Externals, Such As Praying For Something Tangible.  Whereas, Faith Should Be Used To Change Our Hearts.  Hebrew 11:6, States That This Is In The Context Of Coming Before The Presence Of Yahweh, “Without Faith It Is Impossible To Please Yahweh, Because Anyone Who Comes To Him Must Believe That He Exists And That He Rewards Those Who Earnestly Seek Him”.

If You Come Before Yahweh, You Must Believe That He Is There Hearing You Right Now.  Yahweh Is More Than Enough.  Pleasing Yahweh In Hebrews 11:6, Has To Do With Faith To Believe That Yahweh Exists, And That You Will Obtain The Requests You’re Asking For… Which In This Case Happens To Be His Presence~!

Children Do Us This Way When They Want A Cookie, And We Have The Bag Of Cookies, But Can’t Get Them To Stop Crying Long Enough To Open Their Eyes And See That We Are Getting Them The Cookie Down From The Shelf While They Are Crying.

Yahweh Is Right Now Providing For The Very Things That You Are Crying About… For He Knows What We Need Before We Ask, (Matthew 6:8).  Faith Moves US To Believe Yahweh Is Working Behind The Scenes On Our Behalf.

“Whatsoever Things You Desire, When You Pray, Believe That You Receive, And You Shall Have Them”, (Mark 11:24).  So, Apply Your Faith To Be Confident That, “Yahweh Is Able To Make ALL Grace Abound Toward You, That You Always Having ALL Sufficiency In ALL Things, May Abound To Every Good Work”, (2 Corinthians 9:8).

Well, Let Me Talk From The Scriptures To Explain Grace.  Isaiah 42:3 Says, “A Bent Reed He Will Not Break, And The Smoking Candle Wick He Will Not Quench; He Will Bring Forth Justice For Truth”, (See Also Matthew 12:20).  A Candle Wick Was A Fiber Like Part Of The Candle Wick Plant Used As A Modern Day Wick For Lamps.  Whenever This Wick Of Sorts Was Not Burning Well, It Probably Smoked, And Gave Off An Offensive Smoke Odor.  Think Of How Repulsive Campfire Logs Are That Are Smoldering Instead Of Burning.

Since Smoke Is Never A Welcomed Guest, Most Folks Would Snuff The Smoking Candle Wick Out.  But Not Yahweh.  Yahweh Would Nurse That Candle Wick, And Perhaps Put His Hands Around It And Blow On It Until A Flame Appeared.  Same Thing For The Bent Reed.  Think Of A Shoot Of Bamboo Cane That You Want To Use For Fishing.  Rigid And Straight, Hollow On The Inside, An Excellent Rod, Unless Of Course, It Gets Bent.  Then, One Might As Well Break The Bent Cane.  But Yahweh Doesn’t Think So.

In Fact, He Takes Other Stalks Of Cane That Comes Alongside And Reinforces The Bent Area And Fills In The Middle With His Spirit, So That It Is Now Stronger Than It Was Before It Was Bent.  Well, That Is The Grace Message.  I Don’t Just Mean That’s How Yahweh Sees Us Is The Only Way Grace Is To Be Defined, But That Is Also The Way We Are To See Others.  Forrest Gump In The Movie Of The Same Name, Personifies Grace In The Way Things Happened For Him, And In The Way He Viewed Others Despite Their Actions or Vulgar Words.  How Can We Love The UnLovely?  With Determination?

The Apostle Paul Saw This First Hand When He Wanted To Dump Mark, Because Mark Displayed Some Youthful Flaws, (See Acts 15:37-39).  Recall That It Was At The Holy Spirit’s Prompting That Paul, (Then Called Saul), And Barnabas Were Designed To Be A Team, In Acts 13:2 Where, “As They Ministered To Yahweh And Fasted, The Holy Ghost Said, ‘Now Separate To Me Barnabas And Saul For The Work To Which I Have Called Them’”. (Notice Also That Barnabas’ Name Was Mentioned First).

What Yahweh Had Joined Together Barnabas Was Ready To Divide, By Insisting To Take Mark, {John Mark}, Along, (The Scripture Tells Us In Acts 15:37-39 That Barnabas Was ‘Determined’, {The WeyMouth New Testament Words This As ‘Was Bent’}, On Taking Mark.  ‘Whereas Paul’ Didn’t Think That It Was A Good Idea. This Caused Barnabas To Go One Way With Mark, As Paul Went Another Way With Silas.  And The Rest Of Story Follows Paul, Not Barnabas.

(Interesting To Note That It Was Mark Who Later Was Inspired By The Holy Ghost To Write In Mark 10:9), “Therefore What Yahweh Has Joined Together, Let Not Man Separate”.  I Can’t Help But Wonder If It Was Because He Saw The Split That Occurred Between Two That Yahweh Had Called To Work Together.

Barnabas And Paul Were The Most, ‘Unlikely Pair’ You Would Have Ever Thought To Go Together.  What We Would Have Dubbed, ‘The Odd Couple’, Yahweh Saw As Compliments To Each Other.  Each Person Fulfilling What The Other Lacked In A Symbiotic Joint Venture.  Paul Was Extremely Goal Oriented, Ready To Complete The Task, And Barnabas, {Whose Real Name Was Joses, Was Named By The Other Apostles As Barnabas, Which Means, ‘Son Of Encouragement’ ~ (Acts 4:36-37)}, Was Kind And Tender-Hearted, With Emphasis On Relationships With Others.

But, They Are Both Strategically Placed In The Body Of Christ.  As Proverbs 27:17 Says, “Iron Sharpens Iron, So A Person Sharpens The Countenance Of Their Friend”.  Even So, Yahweh Chose To Put Together Barnabas And Paul When He Said, “Now Separate To Me Barnabas And Saul For The Work To Which I Have Called Them”.

I Am Confident That It Was This Interaction With Paul And Barnabas, And Later With Mark, That Influenced Paul To See Things The Way Yahweh Does, And Then To Write ALL The Letters He Wrote, Coupled With Paul’s Strong Desire To Walk In The Path Of Yahweh.

Meditate And Compare This Portion Of Scripture From Acts 13:2 ~ 1 Corinthians 12:18, “The Holy Spirit Said, ‘Now Separate To Me Barnabas And Saul For The Work To Which I Have Called Them,’ ~ Yahweh Has Placed And Arranged The Limbs And Organs In The Body, Each [Particular One] Of Them, Just As He Wished, And Saw Fit With The Best Adaptation .

Luke Wrote About Paul In Back When Paul Was A Young Zealous Man On Fire With A Vision From Yahweh, (Acts 15:37-39).  Sometimes Paul’s Methods Were Not Of Yahweh.  As Far As Paul Was Concerned, Mark Would Not Be Coming Along Ever. He Hadn’t Learned Of Yahweh’s Ways At That Time.  Paul Probably Thought He Was Supposed To Be A Man On A Mission, [Task-Oriented, (Acts 20:24)], But Yahweh Wanted Us To Be More Like A Family With A Relationship To Know Yahweh:

(Psalm 133:1; Romans 12:5, 10;
1 Corinthians 12:25;
Philippians 2:3-4; Colossians 3:13;
1 John 3:16; 1 John 4:20).

Yahoshua Said In Matthew 11:28-30, “Take My Yoke Upon You, And Learn Of Me; For I Am Meek And Lowly In Heart”. Paul Was Neither Meek Nor Lowly Of Heart When He Flat Out Refused To Take Mark, {John Mark}, Along, Causing Strife.  He May Have Been Low-Down, But He Wasn’t Meek Nor Lowly, Not Yet.  Or As Zazu Told Simba In, “The Lion King”, Not Yet~!

However, A Change Happened In Paul’s Heart, And Later In 2 Timothy 4:11, Paul Requested Mark, {Only Luke Is With Me.  Get Mark And Bring Him With You, For He Is Useful To Me For Ministry.  (NKJV)}.  Did Mark Change?  Maybe.

But, Maybe Not.  I Don’t Think Mark Changed Much.  I Think Paul Did The Changing, And I’ll Tell You Why.  Paul Wrote Romans 12: 1, 3, 10, 16, & 18, And It Was The Same Apostle Paul That Wrote Ephesians 4:2, 32, Philippians 2:3-8 And 1 Corinthians 12:14 Through 1 Corinthians 14:1.

Later In Life As Paul Matured, Paul Learned Of Yahweh And Wrote Romans 14:19 And Romans 15:7 And Galatians 6:1-2, And Many More Passages Like 2 Timothy 2:14 or Titus 3:9 or 1 Corinthians 8:1.  Paul Wrote Two-thirds Of The New Testament, But Before He Wrote It, He Walked It Out, (See 1 John 2:5-6, 2 Corinthians 5:15, John 15:13, Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23).

When You Are Goal Oriented And Someone Quits On You, Yet You Want To Show Love To Them, This Can Cause You To Suffer Emotionally.  Paul Was Shown How Great Things He Must Suffer For Yahoshua’s Name’s Sake In Acts 9:16.  In Every Book Paul Wrote, He Talked About The Love Of Yahweh And How To Walk In That Love, (For Example, See I Thessalonians 5:13-15).  Yahoshua Also Learned Obedience From The Things He Suffered, (Hebrews 5:8).

The Definition Of Suffering Is Doing or Not Doing Something You Really Don’t Want To Do or Not Do dFor The Sake Of Others.

In Retrospect To Paul, I Find It NoteWorthy That Barnabas’s Home Town Was Cyprus, (Acts 4:36), And That One Of The First Places That Barnabas And Paul Traveled To As A Team Was Cyprus, (Acts 13:4), Where There Were Many Gentiles.  After The Split-Up, Barnabas Took Mark And Sailed For Where Else, But Cyprus, (Acts 15:39).

Often Preachers Make Paul Out To Be The Hero, Always Doing Things Exactly Right.  However, I Think His Mistakes Were Shown To Us, So That We Can Learn From Them And Were Given As Examples Of What To Do And Also Of What Not To Do, Just As The Old Testament Story Tells Of How Joshua Took In The Gibeonites And MADE A TREATY WITH THEM Without Seeking From Yahweh, (Joshua 9:4-15; Romans 15:4; 1 Corinthians 10:6-11).

As Paul Journeyed, He Seemed To Be Trying To Avoid Cyprus, (Acts 21:3), Although The Holy Ghost Appeared To Want Paul To Lodge In Cyprus, (Acts 21:16).  I Wonder If Paul In His Old Age As A Prisoner On A Boat, Thought Of Barnabas As He Passed Cyprus.  I Wonder If Paul Would Have Had To Be A Prisoner At All, Had He And Barnabas Remained As Partners As Barnabas Would Have Softened Paul’s Straight Forwardness, Full Speed Ahead Approach.

The Gentiles Received Paul While He Was With Barnabas, (Acts 13:42, 46-48; Acts 15:12), But The Jews Did Not, (Acts 13;45, Acts 14:2,19-20).  What Significance Is This?  Paul Had Not Been Called To The Jews, But Had Been Called To Go To The Gentiles, (Acts 9:15, Acts 13:46-48, Acts 22:21, Galatians 2:7-9).  The Jews Were In Jerusalem , Not Gentiles, Yet Paul Was Insistent On Going To Jerusalem~!

Was It Barnabas That Caused The People Of Cyprus To Witness To The Hellenistic Greeks?  (Acts 11:20).  The Jews Of Cyprus May Have Had A Heart For The Gentiles As They Were Far Away From Jerusalem And Its Prejudices, And Yahweh Knew Their Attitude Would Prevail And Rub Off Over Onto Paul… If Only Paul And Barnabas Had Remained Together.

Iron Sharpens Iron…, So Every Joint Supplies What The Other Joint Lacks, (Proverbs 27:17, Ephesians 4:16).

It Seems Very Likely That Paul Would Have Gone Back To Cyprus With Barnabas Had They Remained Together.  However, I Am Convinced That After Barnabas’s Departure, Paul Got Tunnel-Vision, And Determined To Go To Jerusalem Despite The Warnings Of Yahweh’s Prophets, (Acts 21:4; 11-12), Even Though Yahweh Had Told Paul Specifically Not To Go To Jerusalem, And That He Would Not Be Received There, (Acts 22:18).

Only Once Was Paul Instructed To Go To Jerusalem And That Was To Confer With Those Of Repute Of Yahweh’s People, (James, Peter, & John), That He Was To Begin Ministry To The Gentles, Which They Confirmed, (Galatians 2: 1-9).  I Believe Paul Had In His Heart That He Was Willing To Die For Christ, Much Like He Had Seen Stephen Die, (Acts 7:58-59; Acts 22:20; Acts 21:13; Acts 25:11).

I Think Yahweh Wanted Paul To Walk Out The Love Walk, And Paul’s Task-Oriented Perspective Delayed Yahweh’s Time Table.  Stephen Was Probably Not Supposed To Die At The Time That He Did.  Ask Stephen If Throwing Out Insults Was Worth Having Stones Hurled Back At Him, In Acts 7:51-59.

The Apostle Paul Reminds Me Of The Gray Matter In The Skull Of Our Body.  He Was The Leadership.  We Depend Much On The Brain, For The Gray Matter Does ALL The Interpretative Thinking For Us.  The Brain Does Everything From Analyzing The Input From The Five Senses, And Regulating The Entire Rest Of The Body Functions, As Well As Making Cognitive Decisions And Outputting Creative Ideas.  However, The Brain Itself Has Very Few Nerve Endings, And Can Be Operated On While The Person Is Still Conscious.

Unlike The Finger, Because Of Its Extraordinary Sensitivity, It Can Sound The Alarm Of Great Pain By Even The Smallest Paper Cut.  But, Without The Finger, or On A Larger Scale, The Hand(s), We Could Not Type, Play Musical Instruments, Drive A Car, or Even Take A Bath. The Hand Is Similar To The Brain In That It Does Things For The Rest Of The Body.  We Use The Hand or Hands For Everything.  If We Feed Ourselves, or Feed Small Children; We Use The Hand.

Or If We Comb Our Hair, or Scratch Our Nose, or Elsewhere; We Use The Hand.  The Hand Does ALL The Jobs Nobody Else Wants To Do Like Taking Off The Dirty Socks From The Feet.  Barnabas Reminds Me Of The Hand, Bathing Mark With Love And Compassion, While Paul Was So Eager To Reach The World For Christ, That He Overlooked Nourishing Mark As Part Of That Objective. I Believe The Task-Oriented Paul, (Acts 20:24), Believed It ALL Happened At Once And Did Not Know That The Kingdom Of Yahweh Is Like Leaven.

Mark Later Would Write The Gospel Of Mark, Which Would Be Read By The World Over, For Centuries To Come.  I Can’t Help But Wonder If The Time That Paul Got Bitten By A Snake, (Acts 28:4-5); Was The Book Of Mark Written, And Was It Yahweh’s Inspired Word In Mark 16:17-18 That Paul Had Put His Faith In And Survived.

Recall, Faith Is Nothing More Than Trusting Yahweh’s Word To Do What Yahweh Said It Would Do, And Then Speaking Those Words Out Of Your ‘Mouth’.  Or Maybe Paul Influenced Mark To Write That, And That Is A Good Thing, As Many That Have Followed After Their Footsteps Needed This Notch To Achieve Success.

The Hand And Fingers Are Sensitive And Sometimes Are A Show-stopper For The Rest Of The Body, Just Because The Water’s Too Hot, or A Small Paper Cut, or Because Of A Splinter The Size Of A Fine Pin.  The Brain Being Task-Oriented, And Not Having Much Nerve Endings Might Say To The Hand, “You Guys Are Too Sensitive.  You Get Hurt Too Easily, And You’re Indecisive”.

Whereas, The Hand Might Respond To The Brain With, “You Are Too Hard-Hearted, Too Callused, And You Need To Be More Tender And Gentle”.  Both Perspectives Are Not Right.  Only The Hands Can Become Callused As They Shovel or Rake, or As They Play A Guitar.  And A Hand Has Not The Capacity To Make Executive Decisions, Yet The Hands Can Detect A Minute Grain Of Dirt And The Brain Can’t Even Tell When It’s Being Operated On.

Both Are Part Of The Body, And Both Place Their Values On The Other.  In Fact, The Body Is So Diversified That Even The Hands Are Not Alike. One Hand Performs One Function While The Other Aides That Hand, Such As Putting On Clothes, or In Playing A Guitar, Where Even Different Fingers Hold Down Different Strings, And On The Other Hand A Strum Is Done To Produce A Sound That The Brain Dictates.  This Sound In Turn Soothes Our Emotions, And That Relaxes The Rest Of The Body.

And Sometimes The Eyes Say Loudly, “Did You See That?” And The Hand Goes Up In The Air And Looks Around And Says, “I Can’t See A Thing”.  Later On The Hand Says, “Did You Feel That?”.  And The Eye Responds, “I Don’t Feel A Thing, Maybe You’re Too Sensitive”.  However; Only By ALL Parts Working Together Can A Harmonic Sound Be Produced Such As Playing A Guitar, (Ephesians 4:16, Colossians 2:19, 1 Corinthians 12:12, 25, 27).

Is There A Place In Your Life Where Someone Can Be Called A Jerk, or An Idiot, or A Lame Brain, Crud, Dirtbag, Scumbag, Scuzzball, Skunk, Sleaze, Sleazebag, Sleazeball, Slime, Slimeball, Snake or Whatever Derogative Words You Want To Implore If Their Actions Are An Offense To You?  If I Wanted To Run For, “Dip Squeak” In Your Book, What Would I Have To Do To Be Elected?  If It’s Possible For Someone To Be In Your Opinion; Inconsequential, Then You Are Judging Based On Your Values That You Are Superimposing Onto Others And May Cause Strife.

What If You Know Of A Preacher That Is Abusing Their Authority And Power.  Can We Talk Bad About This Person?  What If They Are A No-Good, Low-Down, Dirty-Rotten Scoundrel?  You Have To Remember That This Is A Value Judgment By What You Have Decided Is Acceptable By Your Standards.  In Yahweh’s Eyes, There Are No Scoundrels.  You Might Say, But “What About _______?”  Read On.

Would You Think That A Good Intercessor Would Be Someone That Doesn’t Know ALL The Facts About What They Are Praying For?  In The Old Testament, A City’s Defense Was In It’s Exterior Wall.  Where There Was A Hole, or A Place Where Weather, or Decay Had Eroded A Spot In The Wall Was A Breach or A Gap.  That Was The Wall’s Weakest Area In Regards To An Attack.

Suppose, You Were A Wall Repairer.  It Would Not Be Very Beneficial To The City If You Could Not Detect Where The Holes Were In The Wall.  To Be A Good Wall Repairer, You Would Have To Have The Ability To Spot The Punctures And Cracks Before They Became Big Problems.  I Think The Ability To Find The Flaws Of Others Is Important To Your Job As Intercessor Also.  If We Only Point Out The Flaws, Then That Would Make Us Fault-Finders And We Are Only Doing Half Of Our Job.

I Don’t Think We Should Condemn Ourselves If We, “Have An Eye For Spotting Someone’s Weakness”, But Rather, I Think We Are Supposed To Be Filling In The Breach or The Gap.  Isaiah 58:12 Puts It This Way:, “Those From Among You Shall Build The Old Waste Places; You Shall Raise Up The Foundations Of Many Generations; And You Shall Be Called The Repairer Of The Breach, The Restorer Of Streets To Dwell In ”.  (NKJV).

Ezekiel 22:30, “So I Sought For A Person Among Them Who Would Make A Wall, And Stand In The Gap Before Me On Behalf Of The Land, That I Should Not Destroy It; But I Found No One”. (NKJV).  (See Also 2 Kings 12:5; Nehemiah 6:1; And Psalm 106:23).  Francis Frangipane Speaks More Of This In Detail In His Books.

Usually, We Judge Others By What We Do Best.  Perhaps, You Feel That A Person That Does Not Support Their Family In The Way That You Prescribe As Acceptable, Is Not Worth A Flip.  If We Happen To Be Very Analytical And Precise, We Judge Others By Their Degree Of Preciseness, or How Well They Maintain Upkeep On Their Car, or Maybe They Are Too Boisterous.

If We Care A Lot About People, We Tend To Feel That Others That Don’t Show What We Consider In Our Judgment, Christ-Like Love, Then How Can They Even Call Themselves A Christian.

Or If We Are Goal-Oriented, And Someone Can’t Never Seem To Get And Maintain A Steady Job, Then They Are A Failure By Our Values.  Or If The Other Person Is Not As Vocal As Us, We Consider Them Dull And Boring, or If They Are Not As Generous As We Think That They Ought To Be, or Their Appearance Is Not To Our Liking, We Cut Them Off.  You Won’t Have Four-Part Harmony If Everyone Is Singing The Same Note.

Have You Ever Noticed That People-Oriented Folks Don’t Have Finesse With Objects.  They Force And Break Them.  The Very Same Accusations That The People-Oriented Folks Say About The Goal-Oriented Folks In The Area Of Relationships Applies To The People-Oriented Folks In The Area Of Things.  Would You Fly In A Plane Made By People-Oriented Folks?  Somehow We Don’t Think That What We Do Wrong Is As Offensive As What We Perceive Them Doing Wrong.

The People-Oriented Folks Apply Value To Caring For One Another, And Someone That Doesn’t Show The Kind Of Concern That We Think They Ought Too, Is Harsh, And The Object-Oriented Folks Probably Think The People-Oriented Folks Are Capricious flakes.  Everything Is A Value Judgment Comparing Something We Probably Do Well At, And Setting That Up As A Standard That We Judge As Christ-Like Perfection. Relax.

Maybe, You’re Right In Your Assessment, And Maybe You’re Wrong, But It Is Still Not For Us To Place Our Values Onto Others And To Judge Them.

When Paul Wrote Philippians 2:5, Where He Said, “Let This Mind Be In You Which Was Also In Christ Yahoshua”, (or As The Amplified Bible Classic Edition Says, “Let This Same Attitude And Purpose And [Humble] Mind Be In You Which Was In Christ Yahoshua: [Let Him Be Your Example In Humility:])”.

What Mind Was That In Christ Yahoshua?   Philippians 2:6-7 Explains It This Way, “Who, Being In The Form Of Yahweh, Did Not Consider It Robbery To Be Equal With Yahweh, But Made Himself Of No Reputation, Taking The Form Of A Bondservant ”.  Apostle John, In 1 John 3:16 Explains What It Means To Have The Same Mind or Attitude Of Christ This Way, “By This We Know Love, Because He Laid Down His Life For Us.  And We Also Ought To Lay Down Our Lives For The Sisters And Brothers”.

The Key Words Here Are, “Sisters And Brothers”, And, “Know”.  The Word Know Used Here Comes From The Greek Word “Ginosko”, (Strong’s Concordance #1097), And Is Defined As Knowing Something Because You Have Experienced It.

Think Of The Times When You Were Young, That You Were Unaware That If You Turned Abruptly Carrying A Tray At McDonald’s, Centrifugal Force Would Make The Drink Would Tip Over, or That Chocolate Would Melt In A Hot Car, or That A Soda Would Spew If Shaken, or A Million Other Things That You Now Take For Granted.  At This Present Time, You Probably Cannot Imagine Not Knowing This Because You Have Learned Them From Experience.

You Know It Now, Not Intuitively, But Because Of Experience, (The Word Used For Know In Isaiah 49:23; 26 Is Defined That You Will Know By Experience, And You Shall Know, [²³ With An Acquaintance And Understanding Based On And Grounded In Personal Experience] That I Am Yahweh; For They Shall Not Be Put To Shame Who Wait For, Look For, Hope For, And Expect ME.  ²⁶ …With A Knowledge Grounded In Personal Experience ~ Amplified Bible Classic Edition).

We Have Experienced The Love Of Yahweh When We Accepted Yahoshua As Our Lord.  Recall 1 John 3:16 Said, “By This We Know Love”.  We Can Now Know Beyond A Shadow Of A Doubt What Love Is.  If Someone Were To Ask Us What Love Is… We Now Have A Working Definition Of Love.  So, What Is Love?

Love Is Laying Down Your Life For One Another .  If I Were To Say That We Are To Lay Down Our Lives For Yahoshua, Probably Everyone Would Say, “Amen”.  But, That Is Not What The Scripture Just Said.  We Are To Lay Down Our Lives For The Sisters And Brothers. Yahoshua Said, “Greater Love Has No One Than This, Than To Lay Down One’s Life For His Friends”. (John 15:13).

Apostle Paul Understood This When He Said In Romans 12:1 To Become A Living Sacrifice.  How Do You Become A Living Sacrifice?  If You Are A Sacrifice, You Cannot Be Living, But Dead. And If You Are Alive, You Cannot Be A Sacrifice.

So, How Can You Be A Living Sacrifice?  The Answer Is To Die To Self.  Yahoshua Said, “If Anyone Desires To Come After Me, Let Them Deny Themselves, And Take Up Their Cross Daily, And Follow Me , (To See All The Verses About Taking Up Your Cross, Enter Here).

You Have To Die To The Need To Be Right.  Die To The Right To Have Your Way.  Die To The Need To Correct.  Yahoshua Was More Spiritually Keen That Anyone In His Time, Yet He Did Not Parade Himself Around As Some Sort Of Pious Man To Be Honored And Admired.  Nor, Was He Consumed By The Need To Correct, (1 Peter 3:9-10).

Love Always Believes The Best.  He Offered Love And Acceptance Rather Rejection.  Yahoshua Laughed, And Enjoyed The Company Of Sinners, (Luke 10:21; Matthew 11:19).  He Behaved In Such A Way That People Walking In Sin Were Not Offended To Be Around Him, (John 3:17).

Do Lost People Feel Comfortable Around Us?  Do They Constantly Apologize For Their Swearing?  If You Have A Backyard Bar-B-Q For The Residents In Your Neighborhood, Can They Smoke?  Would They Feel Welcomed?  Are We More Consumed In Their Adhering To Our Sets Of Standards And Values Than We Are Concerned With Them?  What If They Are In Favor Of Abortion?  What Do We Do Then?

Nobody Wants To Be Told What They Are Doing Wrong.  We ALL Want The Same Thing That The TV Show, “Cheers”, Cries Out For.  “A Place Where Everybody Knows Your Name, And They’re Always Glad You Came”.  A Place Where They Are Accepted For Who They Are, With or Without A Cigarette, And They Don’t Have To Feel Like There Is A List Of Do’s And Don’ts That They Have To Abide By.

In Fact, A Good Definition Of The Law Is A Performance-Based System Of Do’s And Don’ts.  This Can Even Include Rituals Accomplished Every Day Like Praying, or Reading The Scriptures, or Putting On The Whole Armor Of Yahweh.

All Of This Can Be Good, If The Motives Are Right, Understanding That Yahweh Is Just As Pleased With You If You Never Win Another Soul To Christ.  I Believe We Could Drop The Monday Night Visitation Program, And Win More To Christ By Showing Love To One Another, Having The World Come To Us, Seeing That We Have This Kind Of Love, (Isaiah 60:3; Romans 5:5).

This Will Happen One Day In Yahweh’s Body As John 17:11; 21 Was Prayed In Faith By Yahoshua.  Or As Elton John Sang At The Close Of The Movie, ‘The Lion King’, “A Place Where The Very Best Is Believed Of Everyone, Whether They Be Kings or Vagabonds”, (James 2:1-9).

Maybe This Will Help You See What I’m Talking About.  Imagine You Are At Church And We Are Singing, “I Love You Lord, And I Lift My Voice To Worship You Oh My Soul, Rejoice.  Take Heed My Lord In What You Hear.  Let It Be A Sweet, A Sweet Sound In Your Ears”.  I Can Hear The Harmonies Of Music In My Mind.  My Hands Are Lifted Up In Praise.  Those ALL Around Me Must Think That I Am Really In Touch With Yahweh.

Apparently, I Am So Holy That I Am Able To See What Others Around Me Cannot See.  I Tell Yahweh How Lovely Are His Eyes, (Like I Can Really See Them).  It Is Beautiful Music, It Stirs Our Heartstrings.  And Somehow or Another, We Make A Conjecture That This Is Alms Offering Up A Sweet Aroma To Yahweh.  My Head Is Lifted Up, But ALL I Actually See Is The Ceiling.

Yahweh Interrupts Us And Says, If You Really Love Me, Feed My Sheep.  If You Really Want To Show Me How Much You Love Me, Go Over And Hug That Young Boy Over There.  He’s Not Been Taught About Hygiene, So He’ll Smell Some, But He Really Needs A Father’s, (or A Mother’s), Touch Right Now.

Yahweh Says That I Delight Not In Burnt Offerings, But In A Broken And Contrite Heart And Obedience, (1 Samuel 15:22; Psalm 40:6; Psalm 51:16-17; Proverbs 21:3; Hosea 6:6; Isaiah 66:2; Jeremiah 7:22-23).  Do The Things That Delight Yahweh’s Heart~!  (See Also Psalm 34:18; Isaiah 57:15; Jeremiah 9:24; Micah 6:8 To Find Out What Other Things Delight Yahweh’s Heart).  Now, We Can Go Back And Praise Yahweh In Song With The Young Boy In Tow.

I Like What Paul Said Just Before He Said To, “Let This Mind Be In You Which Was In Christ Yahoshua”, In Philippians 2:2-4, Where He Stated, “Fulfill My Joy By Being Like-Minded, Having The Same Love, Being Of One Accord, Of One Mind.  Let Nothing Be Done Through Selfish Ambition or Conceit, But In Lowliness Of Mind Let Each Esteem Others Better Than Himself.  Let Each Of You Look Out Not Only For His Own Interests, But Also For The Interests Of Others”.

The Amplified Bible Classic Edition Puts Verse Three This Way, “Do Nothing From Fractional Motives [Through Contentiousness, Strife, Selfishness, or For UnWorthy Ends] or Prompted By Conceit And Empty Arrogance.  Instead, In The True Spirit Of Humility (Lowliness Of Mind) Let Each Regard The Others As Better Than And Superior To Himself, [Thinking More Highly Of One Another Than You Do Of Yourselves]”.

By Giving Honor And Preference To One Another, This Allows The Individual’s Dignity And Self Worth To Remain Intact. To Walk The Love Walk, How Many Things Can You Do From Selfish Motives?  None~!  No Thing.  Do Nothing From Strife.

The Same Concept Is Said At Both Romans 12:10 & Philippians 2:3 When It States, “Love One Another With Kindred Affection [As Members Of One Family], Giving Precedence And Showing Honor To One Another”.  Again In 1 Corinthians 12:25, Paul Says, “So That There Should Be No Division or Discord or Lack Of Adaptation, [Of The Parts Of The Body To Each Other], But The Members ALL Alike Should Have A Mutual Interest In And Care For One Another ”.

Paul Probably Wrote That At The Same Time That He Wrote To The Ephesians When He Said, “With ALL Lowliness And Gentleness, With Long-Suffering, Bearing With One Another In Love”.  Paul Went On To Say In That Same Letter, “And Do Not Grieve The Holy Spirit Of Yahweh, By Whom You Were Sealed For The Day Of Redemption.

Let ALL Bitterness, Wrath, Anger, Clamor, And Evil Speaking Be Put Away From You, With ALL Malice.  And Be Kind To One Another, Tender-Hearted, Forgiving One Another, Just As Yahweh In Christ Forgave You.  Therefore Be Imitators Of Yahweh As Dear Children.  And Walk In Love, {Even As} Christ Also Has Loved Us And Given Himself For Us, An Offering And A Sacrifice To Yahweh For A Sweet-Smelling Aroma”, (Ephesians 4:30-32 Through Ephesians 5:2).

Kindness, One Of The Forgotten And Much Overlooked Fruits Of The Spirit, (Also Called Goodness In Galatians 5:22), “Be Kind One To Another”, (Ephesians 4:32), “Yahweh Is Kind”, (Luke 6:35), Even To The unThankful.  It Just Blows Over My Head, But Doesn’t Seem To Sink Into My Heart.  It Sounds Like Something A Small Child In Kindergarten Would Say, But Not Something I’m Supposed To Do.  Squeezed In The Dictionary Between Kind And Kind-Hearted Are The Words Kindergarten And Kindergartner .

What Is A Kindergartner?  Do Some Folks Treat Their Plants Mean?  That Is Where We Are Assumed To Have Developed A Kinder Heart Towards One Another Like A Garden Growing A Crop Of Love.  But Did It Work?  I Wonder What It Means To Bear With One Another In Love?  Have You Ever Given Much Thought To Being Long-Suffering, or What Gentleness Is, or How About TenderHearted?

According To Ephesians 4, It Grieves The Holy Ghost When We Harbor Bitterness, Wrath, Anger, Clamor, And Evil Speaking With ALL Malice Intended; And When We Are Imitators Of Yahweh As Dear Children, Kind To One Another, TenderHearted, Forgiving One Another, Just As Yahweh Forgave Us And Gave His Son For Us, This Comes Up To Yahweh Like A Sweet-Smelling Aroma.  Just To See If You Got It, Here’s A Test Question.  What Grieves The Holy Ghost?  (See Also Colossians 3:12-14; Galatians 5:13-14).

As A Bonus Question, Do You Know What Is Very Precious In The Sight Of Yahweh?  (Answers In Micah 6:8; 1 Peter 3:4; 9; & Jeremiah 9:24).  Do You Know Why It Pleases Yahweh?  (Yahweh Doesn’t Have To Patch Up The Turmoil Started, And I Am Preaching To Myself Again ~ Isaiah 30:15).

Modern Folks Aren’t The Only Ones Wanting To Usher In A Kindness Initiative Towards One Another, (1 Corinthians 13:4).  Like Glen Campbell Used To Sing In His Song, “Less Of Me” ~ “Let Me Be A Little Kinder, Let Me Be A Little Blinder To The Faults Of Those Around Me.  Let Me Praise A Little More”.

One Tell-Tale Sign That You Have Small Children In Your Home About The Age Of 3 or 4, Are The Smudged Handprints On The Refrigerator Door, or Perhaps The Crayon Marks On The Wall In The Hallway.  Maybe, This Why We Call It A Hallmark .  A Hallmark Of A Disciple Of Christ Should Be Our Unqualified Love For The Sisters And Brothers .  Such Love That Offers UnConditional Acceptance Among The Followers Of Christ Is Called Fellowship, (or Koinonia, In The Greek).

The Amplified Bible Classic Edition, In 1 John 1:3-7, Calls This Fellowship, or Koinonia, ‘A Distinguishing Mark Of Christians’ .  I Used To Sing, “And They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love; Yes, They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love ”.  It’s Not Just A Song; This Is The Pathway Of Yahweh’s Plan Of Reconciliation For The World, (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).

By This We KNOW That We Have Passed From Death Unto Life, That We Love The Sisters And Brothers, (1 John 3:14).  Yahoshua Said, “A New Commandment I Give You, That You Love One Another”, (John 13:34).  Romans 13:10 Says We Have Fulfilled ALL Of The Law When We Love, For Love Works No ILL To His Neighbor.  We Shouldn’t Have To Tell Someone That We Are A Christian.  They Should Know It By The Love We Have.

By This Shall ALL Folks Know You Are My Disciples, By The Love You Have For One Another, (John 13:35).  Note, Yahoshua Did Not Say Some Folks Would Know, Nor Did He Say ALL Folks Might Have Some Enlightenment.  Yahoshua Said, “ALL Folks Would KNOW, By The Love You Have For One Another”.  Once Again, The Word For, “Know” Is The Greek Word “Ginosko”, (Strong’s #1097), And Is Defined As, “Experiential Knowledge”.

All Folks Would Know From Having Experience It That We Are Followers Of Christ When We Love One Another.  Yahoshua Also Said Here That You Have This Kind Of Love, (“By The Love You Have”).  We Have This Love Of Yahweh In Our Hearts~!  Galatians 5:22 Says That The FIRST Fruit Of The Spirit Is Love.  Romans 5:5 States That, “Hope Does Not Disappoint, For The Love Of Yahweh Is Shed Abroad In Our Hearts By The Holy Ghost, Which Is Given To Us By Yahweh”.

By This Shall ALL Folks Know You Are My Disciples, By The Love You Have For One Another, (John 13:35).  Not By The Tracts, Not By The Programs, Nor By Even The Yahweh-Sized Tasks Of Faith, (Faith Can Only Work By Love, 1 Corinthians 13:2; 13 & Galatians 5:6).  Yahweh Is Love~! (1 John 4:8). Yahweh So Loves That He Has Written The World A Blank Check Of Forgiveness,

(Isaiah 43:25-26;
Jeremiah 31:31-34;
1 John 1:9).

  You Are Yahweh’s Ambassador When You Offer Pardon To Your Sister or Brother In Christ, (John 20:23).

You Are The Light Of The World, Not Just Your Community.  Yahweh Did Not Say That You Should Just Be The Light Where You Are. Yahweh Said You Are The Light Of The World.  You Don’t Get A Bigger Yahweh-Sized Task Than To Be Told To Be The Light Of The World, (Matthew 5:14).  That Is Our Yahweh-Sized Task~!  It’s More Than You And Me Both~!

How Do We Pull It Off?  By Starting With Those We Come Into Contact With And Showing Them The ‘Agape’ Love Of Yahweh; Showing Them Acceptance, Not Rejection Because They Do Not Obtain To Some Performance-Based System.  Then Watch This Kingdom Of Yahweh Grow Like Leaven, or Yeast Until It Affects Every Corner Of The Globe, (Matthew 13:33; Luke 13:20-21).

Leaven Is Applied To That Which, Though Small In Quantity, Yet By Its Influence Thoroughly Permeates A Thing By Affecting The Dough Around The Leaven, And That Leaven Affecting The Dough Around It, Until ALL Is Leaven, (Galatians 5:9).

I Met A Young Man That Was A Christian And I Asked Him, “What Brought Him To Christ?”  His Reply Was, That He Saw These Folks Meeting At His College And Knew They Were A Group And He Wanted To Be Treated The Way That They Treated Each Other~!  He Said That He Saw, “Such Love”, And Wanted This Sense Of Belonging, (Rejection Is Big In The Lives Of Most Folks).  It’s Not When We Love The World That They Will Know, It’s That The World Will Know By The Way We Love Each Other, (Our Own Sisters And Brothers).  Who Wants To Be A Part Of A Group That Back-Bites And Slanders One Another, (Enter Here To See More About Strife And How It Works).  Enter Here To Read More On The Subject Of Rejection By Charles R. Solomon.

To See The Contrast Of The Power Of UnConditional Acceptance And Approval Rather Than The Performance-Based Acceptance, See The Movie, “Searching For Bobby Fischer”.  Enter Here To See More Scripture Verses About Love.

Chasing The Anointing Rather Than The Glory

As Stated In 1 John 4:12, “No One Has Seen Yahweh At Any Time.  If We Love One Another, Yahweh Abides In Us, And His Love Has Been Perfected In Us”.  What Is Yahweh Saying Here?  Is Yahweh’s Hair Red?  Is It Purple?  Does Yahweh Have A Mohawk?  What Is Yahweh’s Favorite Color?  What Color Are His Eyes?  We Were Talking About Seeing Yahweh, And The Next Thing We Hear Is That Yahweh’s Love Abides And Is Perfected In Us When We Love One Another.

Did Yahweh Change The Subject?  What Does Loving One Another Have To Do With Seeing Yahweh?  If You Really Want Some Way To Show Yahweh How Much You Love Him, He’s Telling You How.  Yahweh Is Saying Go Love Someone With A Face On Them.

Go Love Someone With Skin On Them, “And The King Will Answer And Say To Them, ‘Assuredly, I Say To You, Inasmuch As You Did It To One Of The Least Of These My Sisters And Brothers, You Did It To Me.’”,

 (Matthew 25:40).  Further Down In The Passage, John Expounds On (1 John 4:19-21). This Way, “We Love Him Because He First Loved Us.  If Someone Says, I Love Yahweh, And Hates His BrOther, He Is A Liar; For He Who Does Not Love His BrOther Whom He Has Seen, How Can He Love Yahweh Whom He Has Not Seen?  And This Commandment We Have From Him: That He Who Loves Yahweh Must Love His Sister or Brother Also”, (1 John 4:19-21).

A Sister or Brother Is A Fellow Follower Of Christ.  Yahoshua Is In Reality Your Big Brother~!  By Loving Your Sister or Brother In Christ, You Are Loving Yahoshua, The King~!  Yahweh Is Saying Go Love Someone We Can See, {That Is Not Invisible As Yahweh Is, (Colossians 1:15; 1 Timothy 1:17)}~!

I Think We Have Chased After The Anointing When We Should Have Been Going After The Glory.  The Anointing Is Given So That We Might Be Effective In Ministry.  The Anointing Allows Others To Receive Us.  So, Oftentimes As We Minister The Anointing Flows, Which Means That Someone Is Receiving Us And Drawing The Anointing Out Of Us, And We Mistakenly Think This Is Yahweh For Us.

Often We Are Heard To Proclaim, “I Can Feel The Holy Spirit / Holy Ghost”, (If We Were A Baby Bird, We’d Open Our ‘Mouth’ Thinking That It Is Our Feeding Time, If We Were A Cat, We’d Purr).

We Can Become Addictive To This Feeling Of Anointing, And Not Realize That We Are Self-Focused, And True There Is Ministry Going On, But Only So Long As We Are The Main Ones Doing The Ministering.  Sort Of An Arrogant Way Of Saying, “I Have Come To Minister Be To And Not To Ministered To Others”, (But What Is Really Being Said Is Unless I Am The One Doing The Ministry, I Do Not Receive Others).

Then When Someone Else Besides Us Is Ministering, We Feel Nothing And Think That The Holy Ghost Is Not Showing Up, And We Do Not Receive Him or Her.  Yahoshua Said It Is The Opposite, That If We Would But Just Receive Even A Small Child In His Name That We Would Receive Yahoshua, (Who Is The Anointed One), {Matthew 18:5}, And That This Receiving Should Draw The Anointing Out Of That Child That Can Minister To Others And Us.  We Need Others, And We Need To Start Mastering The Art Of Receiving From Others, Because We Are The Body.

If You Want ‘Jil’, (Yahoshua Is Lord), Bumps, Then Go Out Into The Streets And Minister, And You’ll Get ALL The Anointing That You Can Stand, And Much More So~!  The Anointing Is For Others.  Read About How Yahoshua Was Anointed And ‘Went About’ Doing Good And Healing The Sick, For ‘Yahweh Is With Him’, {Acts 10:38; Matthew 9:35}.

The Scriptures Didn’t Say, “He Was With Yahweh”, But, “Yahweh Is With Him”,

{Joshua 1:9; 1 Chronicles 28:20;
Isaiah 41:10-12; Joel 3:10;
1 Corinthians 16:13
or Ephesians 6:10.}.

So That Means That Yahoshua Was Traveling About Searching For People To Minister To, Not Just Waiting For Them To Come To Him~!

So, Why When We Get Anointed And Feel The Holy Ghost, Do We Want To ‘Stay And Soak’.  You Want To Minister To Yahweh, Then ‘Go’ {Matthew 28:19-20} Love Someone, And You Will Be Directly Ministering To Yahweh.

I Believe It’s Going To Get To The Point Where We Walk In To Wal*Mart, And People Are Going To See Yahweh’s Glory On Us So Strongly, And The Love We Show That They Will Approach Us.  And The Anointing Will Probably Be So Strong That We’d Like To Just Soak In Yahweh’s Presence, But We’re Going To Have To Learn To Work Under The Anointing And Minister As Fast As We Know Possible.

The Glory On The Other Hand, We Can Reside In Day And Night, And It Has A Residue, (Like Paul’s Cloths, {Acts 19:11-12} or Elisha’s Bones, {2 Kings 13:21}).  This Is The Kind Of Thing That When We Walk Past Someone They Are Forever Changed.

I Think That We Have Just Begun To Understand Yahweh’s Glory.  Read Yahweh Chasers, (By Tommy Tenney), To Catch A Glimpse Of Yahweh’s Glory.  I Pray That We Begin To Receive One Another So That Isaiah 60 Is A Reality In Our Lives~!