More On Teleios

We are vessels.  The world knows this about us and fills us with the idea of what it looks like to become mature:  Put away the former, childish ways of fantasy, and become a person oriented with the realities of the world.  You must lie to each other sometimes, you must steal in a cunning and guarded way that is difficult for others to pin down, you must malign your neighbors, clients, and co-workers when the time is right in order to achieve greatness, and above all when God is brought up, in order to protect your way of life you must deny the importance of supporting Him.  You must recognize Him as nothing more than a childish fantasy with a following of people who are childish and not connected to reality.  These are the true qualities of the mature man and woman, and what you should seek when finding mates, friendships and business partnerships.  This is safe.  This promises wisdom and honor, fulfillment and self worth.

Convincing, is it not?  That was taken straight out of the book. What the enemy relentlessly enamors into people all day everyday. For a short time, a season, or even a lifetime, it is safe, depending on how you define safe. Unfortunately though, we reap what we sow. When reaping time comes we recognize that tragedy strikes those around us in equal fashion. This leads us to chalk it up to “the way life is.”  Folks who think like the world are surrounded by the world and do not know anything better than the rhythm of tragedy.

Without faith and hope, worldly folks (including those in our churches, yes, especially dem folks) will never experience what it is like to live life with a light and easy burden.  The world is taught to believe that a light and easy burden either does not exist or is childish and immature.  What a laugh.  Immaturity is the very act of carrying the weight of the world and living through constant tragedy.  Worldly maturity does have it’s rewards, riches and glory, but in the kingdom of God it is childish, a result of pride and spiritual weakness, and can be thwarted by admitting one has not been trying to live in perfection and accepting The Savior as one’s boss again.

Behaving as described is exactly the way one must behave in order for God to lovingly lift His protection, allowing the enemy to do what he does best. Satan has come to lie, kill, steal and destroy.  Satan uses cunning metaphors and many psychological devices to keep the world sick.

When a person comes to God he or she begins to mature in a different way.  Godly people’s actions begin to illicit hatred from the world around them.  The Spirit begins to grow and in all things we find joy and steadfast love.

When God is bringing us to Teleios, the world will see us as immature.  If you are a pastor, look for this in your congregation and encourage that man or woman.  Spilling the beans is a sign of a man being brought to Teleios.  If you have one of those men in your congregation than you have one of The Savior’s own in your midst.  That man suffers everyday for the sake of the gospel.  Deep within, every Teleios man or woman knows that the behaviors of the world encourage the poisoning of the mind, the filling of God’s vessels with anything except for what it is meant to be filled with.  Housing The Savior in a suitable home requires a lot of beans spilling.  He knows what beans to throw out and what beans to hold onto.  What kind of crop is growing in your mind? Consider the following points as we wrap up:

• If one spends their time in and around the things of this world, dedicating themselves to those things or even just skating along without The Savior, one will become like the world.
• Contrary to this, if a man or woman spends most of their time around the things of this world, while just spending a few hours a day or even a week in fellowship, scripture, and prayer, the maturing process of God within that man or woman is guaranteed.  Literally guaranteed.  If you spend time with God you will become teleios like if you are alive you will breath.

It is by no work of man that he becomes evil or good, it is the work of the evil or good within the source of a man’s surroundings that does the work.  The only power we have over becoming perfected in evil or perfected in good is to choose to use our rudders to give our life to The Savior.  At that point the impossible to avoid work of salvation in life will take hold.  It is the rigorous work of truly choosing to give up every day that causes us to live.

When Does The Lord’s Day Begin?

Tags

At Even, Ben Ha Arbayim, Biblical Calendar, Biblical Day, Biblical Days, Biblical Night, Biblical Nights, Day and Night Poetry, Days, Hebrew, Nights, Scriptural Days, Scriptural Nights, Scripture Days, Scripture Nights, Scriptureal Days, When Does A Day Start?, When DOes the Night Start?

Prayer:

Lord, I ask that you open my reader’s spiritual eyes, causing them to see the world only just a sliver more closely to the way that You see it.  I ask that Your anointing be in them and that you give them people in their lives who are ready to and will be excited to hear the truth while at the same time preparing them for those who are not as excited about the truth.  You are high and lifted up and Your Spirit rests more fully on those who love You.  We praise and worship Your holy name and appreciate Your Grace being with us.  Allow us to sight the fiery darts of the enemy before they arrive and keep Your armor upon us.

Article:

Have you ever wondered when it is that God starts and ends the day?  When the clock strikes midnight, right?  That is not the case, no no no.  In fact Scripturally, a day starts with the night- the very beginning of night. To be more specific a day starts with twilight.  The very start of twilight before it even seems to be twilight.

The sun is high in the sky and it’s rays are being blasted upon the earth.

Leaves wither and curl

Flowers face and shake

Rivers babble while puddles rise

Skin. Golden brown and warm to the touch.

The clock spins and twilight’s call begins

Twilight’s call begins.

Looking over the lake, clouds turn from marshmallows to fiery puffs. Yellow, molten red, pinks and blues, the sun waves and shimmers, blues turn to dark purple and the sun waves and shimmers as the lake kisses it goodbye for bringing us another day.  Twilight has called and a new day has begun.

It’s true.  <And the evening and the morning was the first day> second day, third day, each day begins and ends just as it was created.  With the slow peeling away of light, revealing a darkness beautifully speckled with the light from worlds far away.

See the picture just there?  That handsome and determined looking man with the funny hat? That is the pope, the man responsible for being the hands and feet of the will of the enemy? Yep, that’s right. How does he do it though? Just as the Bible tells us:  by helping HaSatan to achieve such quotes from The Savior as, “If the light inside of you is darkness, how great is that darkness?” and, “If possible he will fool even the elect.” The popes do what they do through obedience to the greatest trickster ever made, the one of whom it is said he is “masquerading as an angel of light.”  You see, there are many people out there who have come to understand this, but in order to acquiesce society most still speak in terms of the Gregorian midnight to midnight way of keeping time. Deep down inside they long to reverence The Writer of Scripture and honor The Father by keeping Biblical time.

The word evening comes from a Hebrew word that can be literally translated to “even.”  Even references the time when the sun has become even with the horizon. How do we know which even though? We have already hit on this point above with the Genesis references, but Our Father tends to hem us in if we ask Him, giving us several clues that add up to show us the answer

The Lord tells about His Passover.  Not just a memorial of Passover, but the actual Passover itself when Moses was used of The Holy Spirit to lead Elohim’s children out of Egypt and into the desert. <They set out from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out triumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians…>

But that doesn’t say anything about night or day does it?  It sure doesn’t. If you know anything about Passover and the progression of how it was carried out, you know that this pinpoints which “even” He uses as the ambassador that ushers the slow and brilliant sweep that is one day turning into another.

The Israelites were told to begin their Passover meals “Between The Evenings”: A Hebrew idiom. Most translations have used the terms “at even” or “twilight” to fill in a gap where they were left scratching their heads as to what the heck between the evenings is supposed to mean. “The time period between the start of the sun’s decent from it’s peak to twilight” is what is meant when a Hebrew says “ben ha arbayim.”

That night, the Israelites were instructed to take some of the blood that spilled from their Passover sacrifice and place it over their lintels.  This was to be done before the nightfall.   Israelites that year were instructed to stay inside their homes that night as The Lord’s hand passed through Egypt taking the first born of all without the blood on the lintels.  Pharaoh found his dead son the night of the fifteenth, and the Israelites were brusquely pointed to the door. The timeline then goes: sacrifice the lambs, cook the lambs and put the blood on the lintels, eat the meal (by this time night has fallen and it is most likely beginning to get late), the 1st born killed (middle of the night), Pharaoh freaks out and tells them to get out, they leave (most likely early in the morning by now, possibly before the sun has come up).

These few scriptural sources are not rife with opinions, or complicated theological theories seemingly supported by facts. This is simply the scriptures speaking for themselves, being taught in context, and being used to point to the awe and beauty of the life we are all forced to live within while coming to the knowledge of the truth that brings us the hope that blossoms into the faith that will make us valuable and meaningful members in The Kingdom of The Savior. Want to learn more? Open up your Bible with an open mind, the kind of opened mind that causes most people to think you are weird, because you are! Just don’t let them know that!

Author: T.Griffin

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May the Lord Bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His countenance unto you and give you peace.
Shalom.

Resources

NOTE: 01/01/019 : GTS has been on a very long hiatus. I work full time and have seasons where there is more time than others. I either need volunteers to help, or this resource list will just grow and be corrected slowly as time goes on. I apologize for the gaps that are currently here.

Here are some links that might help you along The Way:

GTS Facebook

GTS YouTube

GTS Patreon

GTS’s Real Hebrew Calendar

GTS’s Audio Books

GTS’s Free Hebrew Language Lessons

Have you considered relieving yourself of secular tunes, but cannot bear to listen to a genre whose songs are a perfect mix of pop and country for the rest of your days?  That music is good, but when what the radio offers for christian music wears on you, the links below might help to quench your musical pallet without leaving a bad, secular taste on your tongue.

Hard Rock

Rock

Bluegrass

Electronic

Reggae

Mix: New Age, Hard Rock, Rap, Rock, Pop, Electronic, Jam Band

And of coarse, GTS articles can be found at the bottom of this page above the Internet Defense League shield unless the category links are to your left.  I post a new article, for you, every other week.  Folow GTS or send me your email to be added to the list.

Take an opportunity to join the crew by liking my articles, commenting on them, following my blog and of coarse, heading over to my Patreon page where you can get exclusive GTS stuff like the Yearly GTS Vocabulary Weave List, access to rough drafts of articles before they are posted, and much more.  I appreciate your prayers, your encouraging words and all your hopeful thoughts towards GTS. Thank you. This page would not exist without your encouragement and prayers.  I appreciate you.

The Language Messiah Lived in, Spoke and Teaches With

Tags

Dagesh, Hebrew, Hebrew Consonants, Hebrew Vowels, Holem Vav, language, Learn Hebrew, Memorize Hebrew Words, Vav

Have you ever been interested in learning a new language?  Did you know that God has told the world that His children will speak in tongues?  Would you like to learn a new tongue?

Learning a new tongue all starts with the alphabet.  Do you know where the alphabet got it’s name?  From the Hebrew language, that’s where. Mhmm, the origin of the word alphabet is nestled right in the Hebrew alphabet.  Alef is the first letter in Hebrew, and Beit (pronounced “Bet”) is the second.  That is why their languages alphabet is called the ” Alef Beit.”  Pretty neat. You are already learning.

The Hebrew language is very complicated, and unlike English and many other languages, every letter has it’s own number value and it’s very own meaning.  Take the letter Fey (pronounced “fay”) for instance. Fey is the seventeenth letter in the Alef Bet, It’s Gamatria value is 80, and it means “mouth”.  With Fey meaning mouth it can also easily inference things like vocalization, speech, greetings and more.

In Hebrew, scholars use the letters that make up a word to understand the deepest definitions of a word by picking through each letter individually and putting those meanings together like a puzzle. 

The Savior made scripture originally in Hebrew and the New Testament scriptures, although many are known to be in Greek, were written solely by Hebrews for Greek people. How wonderful that He meets us right where we are, eh? He uses nets, not hooks, what a relief.

You will find a lesson plan just a bit down the page.  This list is still being compiled, but what is available so far will be in blue for you to click on and watch.  Do yourself a solid and get a notebook and flashcards.  That’s how many people learn.  I suggest writing what you want to remember a few times before bed for a few days in a row, study the flash cards a few times a day, and then forget about it for a month or two and do something else.  If you come back to your studies, do the same thing.  After three cycles of this you will be very familiar with what you have studied and it will have taken only a total of a few hours.

Freely I have been given so freely I give.  That is why you are getting Hebrew lessons today.

Hebrew Lesson 1  (The Lessons in blue are made (unless they have been deleted for correction), The lessons not yet in blue are still in process)

1.0 Consonents (Introduction)

1.1 Sofits

1.2 Cursive

1.3 Similar Letters and Dagesh Marks

Hebrew Lesson 2

2.0 Vowels

2.1 Memorizing Your Hebrew Letters Part 1

2.2 Memorizing Your Hebrew Letters Part 2

2.3 Memorizing Your Hebrew Letters Part 3

2.4 The Vav and Other Letters Like The Vav

Hebrew Lesson 3

3.0 Sounding Out Words

3.1 5 Hebrew Words to Memorize

3.2 Conjugation of Words

3.3 5 More Hebrew Words to Memorize

Hebrew Lesson 4

4.0 Gematria

4.1 A Good Prayer in Hebrew

4.2 Pictographs

Hebrew Lesson 5

5.0 Pictographs Part 1

5.1 Pictograghs Part 2

5.2 Pictographs Part 3

Teleios (Greek for Mature)

Look at the life of David, at the life of Samuel, the life of Paul and any of our patriarchs and matriarchs. Our natural inclination is to fall into the maelstrom of thought that they and all their actions were perfect. Our patriarchs were not perfect, but by the power of God they were being driven to maturity continuously through all of their lives by living righteously.  A lot of the writing in this blog, you may find, is not inviting you to adopt some radical new way of thinking, but is asking you to adjust only slightly what you already know.  Instead of buying a new watch, we are just adjusting it by an hour and getting away from keeping wrong time.

Our patriarch’s are examples of people who were

• Born into a life of sin {we are bound by sin at birth}
• Came to trust The Lord (obedience)
• And slowly became more and more like Him.  (moving towards teleios)

What is this process?  It could be called maturing into the person The Savior built each of us to be.  Becoming that man or woman He built us to be would be to hit the target He has set for us.  Ephesians chapter four teaches us what it is to grow in Messiah. Ephesians 4 also accurately describes what it is to grow in the world. If there were not any growing in worldly ways, none of us would have been hooked into focusing on them.

The world does offer many various forms of growth and maturing in it’s ways.  These patterns of growth vary widely and include:

 

Spiritual growth such as in various denominations of churches, even voodoo and magic for the very eccentric.

Physical growth like in body building and various sports.

Mental growth as in scholarly institutions, government bodies and corporations.

 

It is important to note that many of our patriarchs were part of some of these lifestyles but still were uniquely being formed as a child of The Savior.  If you are a bureaucrat or a sports star or a corporate wiz you are not being judged. You are being invited and encouraged to stand in more faith than you most likely already are, while continuing in the skill set God has placed under your responsibility.  God reared Daniel in a pagan political field (he was multiple pagan leaders’ most trusted and respected adviser) and God has reared countless unknown others in similar arenas to guide them in maintaining Godly integrity, morals, focus and righteous living that will eventually result in a blossoming of teleios.

According to Ephesians, the man of God will inevitably grow into the likeness of Messiah: never proud or boastful, always forgiving, kind, long-suffering, and never fails in the missions set before him or her that are from God even if that mission is to fail at something.  Some glorious day, and presently in some glorious circles, {we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of The Son Of God, to a teleios man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Messiah.}

Worldly Maturing

Ephesians 4:25-31 (excerpts for listing purposes)  {Therefore, putting away lying…stealing…corrupt communication…bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking}

Godly Maturing

Ephesians 4:13 {Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect (teleios) man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Messiah:}

 

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Teleios – Cognate: 5046 téleios (an adjective, derived from 5056 /télos, “consummated goal”) – mature (consummated) from going through the necessary stages to reach the end–goal, i.e. developed into a consummating completion by fulfilling the necessary process (spiritual journey). See 5056 (telos).

[This root (tel-) means “reaching the end (aim).” It is well-illustrated with the old pirate’s telescope, unfolding (extending out) one stage at a time to function at full-strength (capacity effectiveness).]

Who is your God? Church or God?

Today I had a really great conversation with a Muslim.  He was about my age, and we had a lot in common.  We both agreed to disagree on many topics, but to tell you the truth I learned from that boy, and he admitted, whether he wanted to or not, to have learned from me too.

He, on his own accord, without me doing any mental work at all, consistently brought up points that I was prepared for and was knowledgeable about.  Some of them I had literally studied just hours before.  The confidence this brought was key.

Because of some things God showed the muslim boy today through me it will be easier, more sensible even for him to join the good guys.  One of the points brought up in this conversation is this:  What happened at the crucifixion seemingly causes us Christians to feel as if we are not responsible for our actions.

It is easy to fall into a Muslim’s trap when they bring up anything.  They have studied themselves approved in a much greater way than the average Christian.  They tend to spin a yarn that makes us look like irresponsible children and our doctrine like an unrealistic fairy tale.  Once this point is made by a Muslim (and they will make that point, trust me) it is important to recognize that any Christian who has given their life to a church, a denomination or to any representation of Christ will be obliterated by the Muslim in that argument and rightly so.  Why? Because those Christians have not yet experienced how God actually handles sin.  To those Christians, the gospel more or less is a fairy tale.  Forgive me for putting it that plainly. But most people have not explored the realistic nature of the cross. Their own lips are being used to lie to them when they say they believe in the salvivic nature of The Savior’s death.

The Bible very subtly warns us of the difference between copy catting others who have given their lives to The Savior and actually giving up one’s life for Him.  In Genesis we learn of Abraham walking with God.  When he is in the maelstrom that was Egypt during a famine, he withholds information from his enemies in order to both save himself, his wife, and his obedience to God. He tells strangers and those who have not proven to be trustworthy yet that Sarah is his sister and moves forward trusting God will do the rest.  God does, and in magnificent fashion.  Abraham does it again when in the land of king Abimelech and the outcome is exactly the same, extreme blessing in every way for the patriarch.

Fast forwarding a few chapters we find Abraham’s son, Isaac in the same situation, with the same king even.  Isaac’s wife is on the line because she also is beautiful like his mother, Sarah.  Isaac probably thought quickly this worked for my dad and he tells the king “She is my sister.”

Uh oh.  Isaac’s copy catting does not quite work, spiritually, as Abraham’s did. She was his cousin, not his sister. Withholding information and speaking something that is untrue are not the same thing.  A copy catter might do well verse for verse defending their beliefs against another’s beliefs, here is the problem with that though:  If we have not truly given our lives to The Savior we will leave that conversation worried about some of the points the Muslim had.  That will show through, subtly in our body language, the Muslim will pick up on it, and the Muslim will walk away with more faith in their religion because they noticed that they got to another Christian. They will remember that conversation and bring it up amongst the other wolves they feast with.

Please forgive me if that point was sort of rough.  Rectifying it is between you and God.  If you have had a lengthy and good relationship with Him (not your church, but Him) you understand what it feels like to no longer deal with guilt or shame. If you are not yet on that boat you can easily search your heart to avoid the worse of two outcomes for an unavoidable event: meeting Him. Is church your God, or is The Savior your God?

That was point A.  Point B is more of a sword for your arsenal than an abrasive questioning of where you stand with God.  Please forgive me.  Muslims have taken our patriarch Abraham and twisted it to seem like He is their Father instead of ours.   The father of their faith even.  They are fighting for what Ishmael never had so many years ago.  There are a lot of similarities in the Muslim and Christian faiths.  There is a reason for this.  Abraham is the father of many children.  Isaac is the child that God instructed Abraham (even against Abraham’s will at points: Genesis 21:8-14) to favor.  Ishmael is Abraham’s firstborn son.  Ishmael is the root of the nation of Islam (Genesis 21:13 & Genesis 25:12-18).  The Torah tells us that the sons and daughters of the slave women were not treated the same as Isaac.  The servant women’s children were given gifts  but were driven out of their home with Abraham while Abraham was alive.  On the other hand, Isaac was given the inheritance (what Islam is fighting for). (all of this information can be found in Genesis Chapters 12- 26)

The Faith is displayed in this line: Abraham to Isaac to Jacob (called Israel).  Keep in mind that most of the sons and daughters of this tribe are disobedient children of God, but children from Abraham’s inheritance none-the-less.  On the other hand, Islam comes from Ishmael.  Why not Abraham to Ishmael?  Because there is a division between Abraham and Ishmael.  The difference in the parting Ishmael took from Abraham and the parting Isaac took from Abraham is this: Ishmael was:

• Driven away
• Given gifts
• No inheritance.

There is a nation that comes from Ishmael (Genesis 21:13).  The nation of Israel and the sons and daughters of God comes from Abraham: Genesis 12:7 combined with Genesis 15:1-6 and is contextually accurate.

 

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****Correction (2/28/017)***** Today I read Genesis 35, where God speaks to Israel describing to him that a nation will come from him as well.  The only difference then, between the sons of Ishmael and the sons of Israel are that God intended to bless Israel with the inheritance, whereas God intended to make a nation out of both of them giving only gifts but no inheritance to Ishmael. *********

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Muslims are still fighting to take over the inheritance that is not theirs.  They have the option to come to faith in The Savior, bringing them into the inheritance that they are fighting for.

I do not think you will adequately defend the faith after reading this article.  Adequately defending the faith would be more well done through prayer and reading the scripture from this angle, knowing that Muslims like to say “Islam comes from the faith of Abraham”  or is “The Abrahamic faith.”  They berate Christians by telling them a bunch of stuff (mostly true stuff) the Christians haven’t heard before. Keep in mind the basis of a muslim’s tactics were sprinkled with a lie or two. Do not let them fool you!

Destroy or Build?

In the story you are about to read, Messiah was very plain about what was about to begin happening within the ranks of the high priests.  Could this have been the straw that broke the camels back for Nicodemus?

Before healing the sick man’s hand on Sabbath, Messiah said, “Is it lawful to restore life on Sabbath or to destroy it?” The Savior then restored life by healing the man’s hand.  The Pharisees then destroyed life by laboring in this way: {But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Messiah.}

The Savior: Resting in God’s work.  The Savior was building the kingdom, one obedient action at a time.

Pharisees: Toiling with Satan

Who kept the Sabbath that day?

Nicodemus was mighty and courageous for risking his life for what he knew was right.  He must have seen that the Sabbath was kept by Yeshua, and broken by his own people, even when The Messiah warned them not to.  It must have been as plain as the nose on His face.

God Needs You

Tags

Hate, Heart, Love, Might, Sacrifice, Soul, Spirit, strength, The Lord Your God, True Love

 

As young Americans we are taught that love is the overwhelming feeling one gets when one is around a special somebody. These feelings, we learn, can be powerful enough to shape the path of our lives.  I want to help you see the true definition and proper Biblical application of love.

Here is an example of an elder teaching a younger non-Biblical love.  If this describes the beginning of your relationship, I am sure you have either reached the point of divorce, or more likely have learned that love is actually all about sacrifice for the sake of your spouse.  Sacrifice, trust, and most importantly forgiveness while trusting The Lord.  We are learning these things together.

 

 

When people talk about “I love Jesus”  they think they are being honest because of the way kids are taught what love is.  By that definition  ^^^^^  , they are being honest.  Why, Jesus gives them a warm fuzzy feeling and they know they can count on Him for anything.  That is not loving Jesus.  It is liking Jesus a lot or just plain needing Jesus.

  Love’s definition is very very complicated.  I have rewritten this as I have learned that God did not show me all of what love is, just one facet or sliver of it.

I have learned that this is only a small part of love’s definition: To love something is to sacrifice time, energy, etc for the object of your love.  Sounds simple, until it is practiced.  By that definition we all love sleep, food, being sheltered and entertained.  These basic needs sculpt our daily habits because we sacrifice to ensure we have them in our lives.

Today, I drove something like eight miles out of my way for coffee. ” I love (misnomer) coffee” would be a common reason for my choice. Correctly stated would be “I need coffee”.  In reality, I do not really like coffee.  To be honest, I wish I did not drink coffee; none-the-less I am living in a state where I go out of my way for it.   We are learning that like a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square, sometimes love and need are the same thing and sometimes they are not.

The perceived outcome of having a need in one’s life is to better one’s station.

To truly love, the perceived outcome is to better the station of one or many around the person doing the loving.  

If you love enough in this world, people will begin to need you.  How wonderful it is when a person loves, and receives love in return.  There is a lot of love going around in the book of Ruth:  Love given and love returned.  It is beautiful and is the beginning of the consummation of the Davidic line:  The line Messiah is born into.   Am I about to take the scriptural definition of love and turn to Messiah?  Yep.  He created love.  He created the owners manual for life too.  It is focused on Him and He is the best at loving.  He intended for us to love Him.  In loving Him we learn how to love those around us.

Here is the sad truth followed by good news:  In the case of The Lord,  most of us do not go out of our way to love Him.  We may have once or twice, or once or twice a month, or every so often throughout the week, but most of the time we are busy surviving.  Very seldom do many of us meet people who are loving Messiah day in and day out.  If you replace what you just learned about love with need, then yes, most Christians love (need) Jesus.  The question is does He need you?  Messiah needed the apostle Paul and Paul loved (sacrificed for) The Savior.

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      The Savior is like a good Dad who continues to love us even though we are constantly tugging at His coat tails and throwing His name around to better our station.  We want Him to carry our weight.  He is an awesome Father as He does carry most of the weight and He always will.

Here is a great way to love The Savior:  It is very, very small, but does show Him love.  Hold down the shift key anytime you begin a title that is referencing Him:  God, The Lord, Him, They, Him Who Created The Universe, The Best Father Ever… etc, etc.  Just be careful when typing God that, if you mean Satan, you type god in lowercase.  Satan is the god of earth as The Savior has given him that power.  It is because He loves us that He allows him to be used as a chastening tool so we can learn how to better glorify Him!  It can frustrate you to see such a simple way to show God’s importance overlooked by people who are convinced that they love him.

Our job is to choose what to sacrifice for and more importantly to give Our life to Messiah so He can reveal to us things about ourselves and others that will aid us in loving Him according to His wishes.  The Savior speaks to us all through His word:  “God, who at sundry times and divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets.  Whom in these last days has spoken unto us by His Son, Whom He hath appointed Heir of all things.”  You guys have a good day today and love you some Messiah.

He Speaks In Layers

The Savior was frequently speaking in a way that said more than one thing.  More than one thing to me; More than one thing to each and every generation; His words sometimes were meant for us, for our moms and dads or mothers and fathers, for their great great great grandparents, and for the people who were there in the days of His life on earth.

We are clued into this the day He spoke in the temple.  The chief priests asked “By what authority do You do this?” (Matthew 21)

He answered, “destroy This Temple and I will build It again in three days.”  He was speaking to them of His body, The Temple of God.  They thought He was talking about the temple they were all standing in because they were not listening.  He was talking about His resurrection, where He would be risen again after being destroyed.

The Bible tells us that The Savior meant something deeper. In the next example, The Savior’s meaning is not there for us to read, but to meditate on and figure out on our own. There are at least two things we may learn from Lazarus being brought from death to life.

Lazarus was dead for four days before The Savior came to raise him.  The Savior’s words, most people do not recognize, command demons and angels as well as people.  When we are born, we are “bound” by sin.  Satan has gotten all of us tied up in selfish and godless desire somewhere from conception to entering the matrix of the world.  Pay attention: this is what was said when The Savior raised Lazarus, whom He wept for.

“Lazarus, come out.”

Lazarus woke up, covered in burial clothes, and came out.

“Unbind him.”

Maybe Lazarus had given his life to God already and, being saved it was not necessary for Lazarus to have to move backwards in his relationship with God. We know that when we are friends of righteous people, sometimes we suffer for their sake.  If Lazarus had given his life to God, then he was willing to suffer for the sake of God’s mission.  Being taken from rest and back to earth would have been suffering for sure.

It says that The Savior groaned within Himself and that He cried during this episode.  The Savior I am sure was empathizing Mary and Martha. Sometimes we assume we know why something is happening, like The Savior crying.  But upon further investigatory prayer we find out that there is more to it than we initially see.  The more we glean, the more we learn who Our Savior truly is.  This kind of truth drives home what it says in 1 Corinthians 2 and helps us to recognize that The Savior suffered for us in many ways, even when surrounded by friends. “But He who is spiritual judges all things, yet He Himself is rightly judged by no one.”