A Bethany Report- Where Our Jazzy is at

A Passage written by Pastor Stockstill of Baton Rouge, LA to conferencees, for conference that was scheduled for October 2005...

A Church Full of Pastors
Thursday, October 6, 2005 to Saturday, October 8, 2005 Conference rescheduled for March 2-4, 2006Baton Rouge, Louisiana

September 12, 2005
Dear Leader:
Re: “Church Full of Pastors” Conference Rescheduled to
March 2-4, 2006
As you know, in the last two weeks our nation has witnessed the worst natural tragedy in American history. At this writing, New Orleans is still 50 percent under water. One and a half million people have been scattered, and hundreds, perhaps thousands, are feared dead.We here at Bethany have been involved since the first moment of the disaster. We opened our south campus Center of Hope to the first evacuees. Then we turned our entire north campus into a massive shelter to feed, clothe, and minister to 800 people, at a daily cost of $10,000. These evacuees are sleeping, showering, and eating in every nook and cranny we can find. Now the South Center of Hope has become a refuge to 200 state troopers and paramilitary men and women who stay there each night.All hotels in Baton Rouge have been taken over by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency). As a result, all our reservations for the 4,000 registered delegates for the scheduled October conference were automatically cancelled. Furthermore, the traffic in Baton Rouge has increased 50 percent as the city’s population has swollen from 450,000 to between 800,000 and 1 million. Our entire church staff is working with the relief effort on a round-the-clock basis.In light of these factors, we have reached a strategic decision to postpone our “Church Full of Pastors” International Conference until March 2–4, 2006. Our local convention bureau feels confident that Baton Rouge will be back to normal by the end of this year, and thus we should have no problem with the March date for the conference.In order for us to have an accurate count of people planning to attend the rescheduled conference, you will need to register again. You can do so at achurchfullofpastors.com or at bccn.com, or by calling BCCN at (225) 771-1600. Registration will continue to be free up through January 31, 2006. Flight reservations can generally be changed up to a year after making them, so if you had already scheduled a flight for the October conference, please change your flight to the new dates. We are, of course, very sorry for this development. No one could have anticipated the monstrous devastation that struck New Orleans. I will say, however, that of those staying in our shelter, 750 people were saved at our first “town meeting.” We are taking all of them through the first part of the Journey (formerly Pre-Encounter) and then holding a mass Encounter for them! They will also be trained with the new materials of the Discovery classes (formerly School of Leaders), which will be coming out in OctoberI anticipate the March conference will have far more in attendance than the one we had scheduled for October. God is moving mightily in our midst and forming strategic alliances. This past week in Baton Rouge, we have connected personally with Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, Rod Parsley, and Rick Warren and have told all about the multiplication vision. President Bush, his wife, our governor, her husband, and our mayor were all here for two hours in our north shelter on Labor Day. It was quite a historic day. God is moving rapidly to build unity, focus, and revival.I love each one of you and thank you for supporting us in this effort. If the Lord leads you to contribute to the 52 shelters we are directly helping to supply, you can send your donation to Lifelinefoundation.com, a separate Bethany ministry exclusively designated for Katrina relief.If you have questions about the new materials soon to be released, please contact Carl Everett or any of the BCCN staff. They will assist you to immediately begin discipling others or will help with any needs you have leading up to the massive conference in March. May Jesus Himself receive all glory for the rescue, relief, and rebuilding efforts being done here and in New Orleans.
Your fellow laborer,
Larry Stockstill Senior Pastor
Bethany World Prayer Center

Today Our Daily Bread Eph 3

Ephesians 3:1-21
God's Secret Plan Revealed
1I, Paul, am a prisoner of Christ Jesus because of my preaching to you Gentiles. 2As you already know, God has given me this special ministry of announcing his favor to you Gentiles. 3As I briefly mentioned earlier in this letter, God himself revealed his secret plan to me. 4As you read what I have written, you will understand what I know about this plan regarding Christ. 5God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now he has revealed it by the Holy Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets.
6And this is the secret plan: The Gentiles have an equal share with the Jews in all the riches inherited by God's children. Both groups have believed the Good News, and both are part of the same body and enjoy together the promise of blessings through Christ Jesus. 7By God's special favor and mighty power, I have been given the wonderful privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.
8Just think! Though I did nothing to deserve it, and though I am the least deserving Christian there is, I was chosen for this special joy of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. 9I was chosen to explain to everyone this plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.
10God's purpose was to show his wisdom in all its rich variety to all the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. They will see this when Jews and Gentiles are joined together in his church. 11This was his plan from all eternity, and it has now been carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.
12Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come fearlessly into God's presence, assured of his glad welcome. 13So please don't despair because of what they are doing to me here. It is for you that I am suffering, so you should feel honored and encouraged.
Paul's Prayer for Spiritual Empowering
14When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, F4 15the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit. 17And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. 18And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. 19May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
20Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. 21May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages. Amen.
FOOTNOTES:F4: Some manuscripts read the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
We have got to stop separating ourselves from others, as though we are more worthy of God’s promises and love than they are, or as though their sins cause them to be lower than we are. Jesus died for ALL people. Prejudices separate us from even the potential of sharing the love of God with people. The walls of pre-judging others must fall down for the gospel to have its purposeful effect. Why would anyone in any condition be exempt from His promise of salvation other than to outright deny Him, as in the rebellion of satan himself? Even when humans say with their mouths, that they do not believe in God or whatever they speak. Many times they do not know or recognize the condition of their own hearts and it is just ignorant mumbo jumbo. The comments are rather cries of desperation to see if he’d know them even if they reject Him. His cry is to know them, for them to really know Him and that some miraculous day they’d also make His name known in the earth where He’s set them to be on earth. Are you at all willing to risk your own comfort for the gospel sake? Can you step out in faith for the unlovely or undeserving? Dear God, GIVE us a heart of flesh, just like yours, that above all we’d desire Your kingdom to come, above all other desire, goals and plans, we’d have to see Your kingdom come! The kingdom is within us and can be within all who believe. Contrary to some opinions, this revelation and passion is not Lena’s new fad or a passing call or dream to fulfill my ministry on earth. This call is for all who believe in Him and receive Him, all who would be His disciples. It is our life we now live, in Christ. Looking at vs 10, it IS the reason we were born. We were not born to ride, or sail or paint or sing etc, we were born to Love, because Love conquers all. Love goes and saves, Love disarms the enemies of God! It takes down strongholds that have come against God’s covenant nature from before humans existed. Do you know God created us, humans, to bring back the peace of the atmospheric realm? God set us here to orchestrate oneness in rebellion? If you did not know that, please be informed today. It is God’s plan, it is true, You are God’s plan for more than just the earth, but the whole universe ( remember uni = One, verse = Word), to bring back One word, God’s word, rather than the words of rebellion satan spoke in God’s face and set into motion a rebellion that continues to spread lest we Go and bring the message of peace, the message of Good News to any and all who will hear it.

Today Our Daily Bread Eph 1

Eph 1:1-23
1I, Paul, am under God's plan as an apostle, a special agent of Christ Jesus, writing to you faithful Christians in Ephesus. 2I greet you with the grace and peace poured into our lives by God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ.
The God of Glory
3How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. 4Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. 5Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) 6He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
7Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people--free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! 8He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, 9letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, 10a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

11It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, 12part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
13It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free--signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. 14This signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.
15That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the Christians, 16I couldn't stop thanking God for you--every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. 17But I do more than thank. I ask--ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory--to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, 18your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for Christians, 19oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him--endless energy, boundless strength!
20All this energy issues from Christ: God raised him from death and set him on a throne in deep heaven, 21in charge of running the universe, everything from galaxies to governments, no name and no power exempt from his rule. And not just for the time being, but forever. 22He is in charge of it all, has the final word on everything. At the center of all this, Christ rules the church. 23The church, you see, is not peripheral to the world; the world is peripheral to the church. The church is Christ's body, in which he speaks and acts, by which he fills everything with his presence.
~ Lena’s Journalin~
How does it feel when you know you’ve blown it, made multiple mistakes and know you have to own up to them? Not the greatest feeling, huh? How about the feeling when you know you were due to have to take a beating or punishment, but did not at all have to pay any of its penalty? Whew! What a relief! What freedom! This is the type of freedom a person experiences whenever he realizes the magnitude of the debt owed him for sin and the severe penalty due each of us, but that through the willingly offered shed blood of Christ’s free will sacrifice and our acceptance of it and our participation in His life as we walk out the rest of our days on earth, we can be freed completely of this penalty. That person is truly thankful. It takes revelation to be this thankful! It also takes revelation to go beyond this feeling of thankfulness and hae greater than just an extreme desire to re-pay Christ or respond to Christ with actions of Love, but to go steps further and lie everyday for Christ’s will rather than whatever plans and dreams we thought we were here for. Gal 2:20 comes right to mind for me. I could lie my life and all of the rest of my days here for me and what I enjoy and desire etc, but what a loss I’d experience and what regret I’d have living for such mere purpose, when I could fulfill the purpose of God right here, right now. My heart is as Paul’s in some prospectus, I plead with you, not to waste another moment figuring out who you are and who you were meant to be here and what you are supposed to do etc. God is showing you, he’s setting you up, He’s placing you on the earth as game players set up chess pieces, really. He’s orchestrating your life around His will and plan and He does not want anymore time spend for any other kingdom except His. Can we lie as dual citizens in His kingdom?, NO, we cannot. We are in the world, but not at all of it. That is NOT dualistic citizenship. If we try to be a part of the world and a part of what God is doing we miss all of what God is doing! We cannot sere two masters, we cannot love God and money, we cannot. We are either for Him or against Him, He is asking us to make it very clear to Him, and to God’s enemies who’s "side" we are on. Ya, know we can play the game of religion, but the only one fooled is us and maybe a few other people. In the spirit world there is no fooling, all is open and exposed unto the light. Evil spirits know who’s we are and belong to and serve, and angels and God’s spirit knows who we belong to and whom we serve.

Today Our Daily Bread 1 Cor 3

Romans 16:19-20 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger bringing good news, Breaking the news that all's well, proclaiming good times, announcing salvation, telling Zion, "Your God reigns!" Isa 52:7
1 Cor 3
Paul and Apollos, Servants of Christ
1Dear brothers and sisters, F12 when I was with you I couldn't talk to you as I would to mature Christians. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. F13 2I had to feed you with milk and not with solid food, because you couldn't handle anything stronger. And you still aren't ready, 3for you are still controlled by your own sinful desires. You are jealous of one another and quarrel with each other. Doesn't that prove you are controlled by your own desires? You are acting like people who don't belong to the Lord. 4When one of you says, "I am a follower of Paul," and another says, "I prefer Apollos," aren't you acting like those who are not Christians? F14
5Who is Apollos, and who is Paul, that we should be the cause of such quarrels? Why, we're only servants. Through us God caused you to believe. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6My job was to plant the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God, not we, who made it grow. 7The ones who do the planting or watering aren't important, but God is important because he is the one who makes the seed grow. 8The one who plants and the one who waters work as a team with the same purpose. Yet they will be rewarded individually, according to their own hard work. 9We work together as partners who belong to God. You are God's field, God's building—not ours.
10Because of God's special favor to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. 11For no one can lay any other foundation than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. 12Now anyone who builds on that foundation may use gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13But there is going to come a time of testing at the judgment day to see what kind of work each builder has done. Everyone's work will be put through the fire to see whether or not it keeps its value. 14If the work survives the fire, that builder will receive a reward. 15But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builders themselves will be saved, but like someone escaping through a wall of flames.
16Don't you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in F15 you? 17God will bring ruin upon anyone who ruins this temple. For God's temple is holy, and you Christians are that temple. 18Stop fooling yourselves. If you think you are wise by this world's standards, you will have to become a fool so you can become wise by God's standards. 19For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As the Scriptures say, "God catches those who think they are wise in their own cleverness." F16 20And again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are worthless." F17 21So don't take pride in following a particular leader. Everything belongs to you: 22Paul and Apollos and Peter F18 ; the whole world and life and death; the present and the future. Everything belongs to you, 23and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
FOOTNOTES:F12: Greek Brothers. F13: Greek in Christ. F14: Greek aren't you merely human? F15: Or among. F16: Job 5:13. F17: Ps 94:11. F18: Greek Cephas.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
Let’s Grow up, Lets Go on to being perfected, so that others might come into the saving knowledge of Christ. Lets forget about petty things and about differences and jealousies. My God, what are we as Christians about anyway? Self-fulfillment, or fulfilling the plan of God, being like Christ to a hurting and dying world? Who cares who’s "group" we are in, if it promotes God’s kingdom. Paul, Apollos, Lena, Charity, Laura, Pastor Phyllis? Who cares? God cares and He orchestrates the members of the body as it pleases Him and as it works well to bring forth His plans. Whatever works, let it work, and do not resist the working of God’s spirit, resist God’s enemy of division, but not God, submit to God and resist God’s enemy. Paul may say soon here – I have become all things to all men that I might win some! Oh that that would be the cry of every believer in Christ. God gave us a body to work as teammates of His covenant, to accomplish His will and plan on earth. Oh the earth is the LORD’S and ALL of its fullness, the people and all who dwell in it! It does not belong to us, those we meet and disciple are not ours, only ours to serve well under His guidance. It’s like being made a nanny over someone else’s kids. The nany moves in, becomes a part of the family, cares for the kids, loves the kids, imparts to the kids, but she did not make the kids, they do not belong to her, but she’d better take care of them well or she’s fired! God wants us employed for eternity in and for His family, He does not want us fired, as in terminated. Now there is a fire, as in a proving of who we are and whether we are truly, as we call ourselves, His. Whether we will truly stay in one place under one household as family and serve forever being faithful to one God and one call. That fire to one will burn up and consume till that one is no longer alive (in Christ), but to another, who has been built up strong in spirit (which is eternal), will only become stronger and more pure ( as in ceramics, and gold etc). If we are strong in spirit we will be stronger still, yet if we are only building up our flesh nature and feeding it (feeding the wrong doggie, right Carla?), then it is all we have when fire comes and it will disintegrate as wood, hay and stubble. Do we have faith working in us? It will remain. Do we have Hope working in us? It will remain. Do we have Love working in us? It will remain, and it will never fail. Invest in and exercise these three, for God’s kingdom depends upon it, depends upon us! Isn't that amazing that God is depending on us? It says that the builder will suffer great loss in the fire if the building was not built correctly (by the spirit). Do you think that makes God happy? Please get a glimpse of eternity! What we do here effects eternity, what we do not or will not do here effects eternity! God wants us to effect eternity for Him. He wants to building to stand firm in all adversity, He wants it built by the spirit. He wants us to succeed, He wants us to have reward. One more comment- we ALL together make up God’s temple, God’s house, God’s dwelling place. Don’t leave me, or the fellowship God has placed us in together! Remain, persevere, endure, be covenanted and knit together, so His house will stand firmly. We are His temple. He desires Temples to be firmly erected all over the whole world, in everyplace, each having their specified purposes. He wants them built on covenant that endures and will not budge through any storm! Let these storms speak to you. I was talking to a guy from Dominican Republic, where every year, EVERY year hurricanes pass through. It was a wonder to me that people even live on that Island, you’d think they’d move away, if not have been blown away, but they remain there, knowing that year after year storms come of varying degrees of magnitude. I asked Him how do they do it, having to re-build again and again? He said they have built their houses strong and firm, They have built them of rock and concrete, inside and out. Yeah maybe the water will wash through, but the house stands firm storm after storm and year after year! Do you move (from your local church where God has set you, or out of your family situation or your job position or location) when the first storm comes? Or do you build a stronger house of stronger material (of the spiritual nature)? Do you stay and let the water run through and the wind blow, or do you abandon ship? Good questions to ask our selves. It is time to evaluate this very foundational word personally, because we cannot go on without being sure and nothing for God is being accomplished by US if WE aren’t sure. I may do a few things, but WE aren’t. and where two or more of you agree together as touching anything that they shall ask in accordance with His will, He hears us and if He hears us he will also give us of what we’ve asked. I ask for the Port Orange Community in Jesus’ name, anybody agree? I ask for Volusia County…I ask for Florida…I ask for USA, I ask for Bolivia, Japan, China etc. I ask for what God is asking of me, the world! Jn 14:12-14 12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. Mt 18:19 Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.

Today Our Daily Bread 1 Cor 2

1 Cor 2
Paul Preaches Wisdom
1Dear brothers and sisters, F6 when I first came to you I didn't use lofty words and brilliant ideas to tell you God's message. F7 2For I decided to concentrate only on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. 3I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. 4And my message and my preaching were very plain. I did not use wise and persuasive speeches, but the Holy Spirit was powerful among you. 5I did this so that you might trust the power of God rather than human wisdom.
6Yet when I am among mature Christians, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world, and not the kind that appeals to the rulers of this world, who are being brought to nothing. 7No, the wisdom we speak of is the secret wisdom of God, F8 which was hidden in former times, though he made it for our benefit before the world began. 8But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would never have crucified our glorious Lord. 9That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him." F9
10But we know these things because God has revealed them to us by his Spirit, and his Spirit searches out everything and shows us even God's deep secrets. 11No one can know what anyone else is really thinking except that person alone, and no one can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit. 12And God has actually given us his Spirit (not the world's spirit) so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. 13When we tell you this, we do not use words of human wisdom. We speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths. F10 14But people who aren't Christians can't understand these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them because only those who have the Spirit can understand what the Spirit means. 15We who have the Spirit understand these things, but others can't understand us at all. 16How could they? For,
"Who can know what the Lord is thinking? Who can give him counsel?" F11
But we can understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.
FOOTNOTES:F6: Greek Brothers. F7: Greek mystery; other manuscripts read testimony. F8: Greek we speak God's wisdom in a mystery. F9: Isa 64:4. F10: Or explaining spiritual truths in spiritual language, or explaining spiritual truths to spiritual people. F11: Isa 40:13. ~Lena’s Journalin’~
We have the mind of Christ. The Anointed One. We have His mind in us. His thoughts are revealed to us by His spirit in us. If the spirit is not in us, who is revealing it to us? The world? God’s enemy? Or His spirit? Our revelations will be from a source of some sort, there is no life without a source. And all life is not of the spiritual or eternal nature, but it has a source and gives life of one nature or another. There can even be death alive in us. Anyway, the goal is to have the life of the eternal nature, life that comes comes only from God’s eternal spirit.

Yesterday's Daily Bread 1 Cor 1

Romans 16:19-20 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet
1 Corinthians 1:1-31
Greetings from Paul
1This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes.
2We are writing to the church of God in Corinth, you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did all Christians everywhere—whoever calls upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and theirs.
3May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you his grace and peace.
Paul Gives Thanks to God
4I can never stop thanking God for all the generous gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus. 5He has enriched your church with the gifts of eloquence and every kind of knowledge. 6This shows that what I told you about Christ is true. 7Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8He will keep you strong right up to the end, and he will keep you free from all blame on the great day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns. 9God will surely do this for you, for he always does just what he says, and he is the one who invited you into this wonderful friendship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Divisions in the Church
10Now, dear brothers and sisters, F1 I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so there won't be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. 11For some members of Chloe's household have told me about your arguments, dear brothers and sisters. 12Some of you are saying, "I am a follower of Paul." Others are saying, "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Peter, F2 " or "I follow only Christ." 13Can Christ be divided into pieces? Was I, Paul, crucified for you? Were any of you baptized in the name of Paul? 14I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15for now no one can say they were baptized in my name. 16(Oh yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas. I don't remember baptizing anyone else.) 17For Christ didn't send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News—and not with clever speeches and high-sounding ideas, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.
The Wisdom of God
18I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God. 19As the Scriptures say,
"I will destroy human wisdom and discard their most brilliant ideas." F3
20So where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world's brilliant debaters? God has made them all look foolish and has shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense. 21Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never find him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save all who believe. 22God's way seems foolish to the Jews because they want a sign from heaven to prove it is true. And it is foolish to the Greeks because they believe only what agrees with their own wisdom. 23So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended, and the Gentiles say it's all nonsense. 24But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, F4 Christ is the mighty power of God and the wonderful wisdom of God. 25This "foolish" plan of God is far wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God's weakness is far stronger than the greatest of human strength.
26Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world's eyes, or powerful, or wealthy when God called you. 27Instead, God deliberately chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose those who are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important, 29so that no one can ever boast in the presence of God.
30God alone made it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself. He is the one who made us acceptable to God. He made us pure and holy, and he gave himself to purchase our freedom. 31As the Scriptures say,
"The person who wishes to boast should boast only of what the Lord has done." F5
FOOTNOTES:F1: Greek brothers; also in 1:11, 26. F2: Greek Cephas. F3: Isa 29:14. F4: Greek Greeks. F5: Jer 9:24.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
It is being specifically stated here that we can have every spiritual gift, just as Jesus has all of the attributes of His father God, so can we display those attributes of His image and likeness. Remember God is a spirit and those who worship Him, must do so in the spirit and in the truth. So why would he withhold anything that would cause us to be able to be as He is? That’s what the spiritual gifts do. Notice it is saying that this way we will be able to run to the end, we will be able to wait, etc. The only thing that can unify the church together is the spirit of God who has the mind of God. This is why we must have the "gifts" of God, to house who God is, without this we are who we are and that’s who we are. Left alone to ourselves. He said we’d never be left alone, He’d never leave or forsake us. That means He’s gonna work on us till we become as He is. Division is the #1 enemy of God’s spirit being made manifest in His body. It is the #1 enemy of God’s plans. So we should be on guard, and very aware of this enemy and not join its venture against God. Division shows up with many faces in many forms. Recognize it and defeat it, De-feet, give it no place to roam around in your life)
Why is it hard to figure God out? Why does logic get in the way of the gospel? Because logic is of the soul, and God is not a soul, but a spirit. Our souls have to be trained to magnify God along with our spirits, Our souls must be saved, as our spirits were born again. The wisdom of God seems foolishness to our souls, because we are trying to figure God out and He is not an equation! He is a person, He is God!

Today Our Daily Bread 2 Cor 1

Romans 16:19-20 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet
2 Corinthians 1
Greetings from Paul
1This letter is from Paul, appointed by God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our dear brother Timothy. We are writing to God's church in Corinth and to all the Christians throughout Greece. F1
2May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you his grace and peace.
God Offers Comfort to All
3All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source F2 of every mercy and the God who comforts us. 4He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 6So when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your benefit and salvation! For when God comforts us, it is so that we, in turn, can be an encouragement to you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. 7We are confident that as you share in suffering, you will also share God's comfort.
8I think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, F3 about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it. 9In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead. 10And he did deliver us from mortal danger. And we are confident that he will continue to deliver us. 11He will rescue us because you are helping by praying for us. As a result, many will give thanks to God because so many people's prayers for our safety have been answered.
Paul's Change of Plans
12We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have been honest F4 and sincere in all our dealings. We have depended on God's grace, not on our own earthly wisdom. That is how we have acted toward everyone, and especially toward you. 13My letters have been straightforward, and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing you can't understand. I hope someday you will fully understand us, 14even if you don't fully understand us now. Then on the day when our Lord Jesus comes back again, you will be proud of us in the same way we are proud of you.
15Since I was so sure of your understanding and trust, I wanted to give you a double blessing. 16I wanted to stop and see you on my way to Macedonia and again on my return trip. Then you could send me on my way to Judea.
17You may be asking why I changed my plan. Hadn't I made up my mind yet? Or am I like people of the world who say yes when they really mean no? 18As surely as God is true, I am not that sort of person. My yes means yes 19because Jesus Christ, the Son of God, never wavers between yes and no. He is the one whom Timothy, Silas, F5 and I preached to you, and he is the divine Yes—God's affirmation. 20For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in him. That is why we say "Amen" when we give glory to God through Christ. 21It is God who gives us, along with you, the ability to stand firm for Christ. F6 He has commissioned us, 22and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment of everything he will give us.
23Now I call upon God as my witness that I am telling the truth. The reason I didn't return to Corinth was to spare you from a severe rebuke. 24But that does not mean we want to tell you exactly how to put your faith into practice. F7 We want to work together with you so you will be full of joy as you stand firm in your faith.
FOOTNOTES:F1: Greek Achaia, the southern region of the Greek peninsula. F2: Greek the Father. F3: Greek brothers. F4: Some manuscripts read holy. F5: Greek Silvanus. F6: Or who has identified us and you as genuine Christians. F7: Greek want to lord it over your faith.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
The only true comfort comes from the Holy Spirit, comes from the Spirit of God. We cannot comfort ourselves this deeply, and we have to have this comfort, cannot live fully without it. So where do you go first for any needed daily comfort? Your friends, habits, your family or the Word of God and the Spirit of God? Who you go to 1st is a good gage for who or what is first in your life, who you trust and rely on and who is your true friend and helper. It is awesome that we comfort one another, but supreme if we comfort with the comfort of the Spirit. Sometimes the comfort of the Spirit is not at all an emotional comfort. This is what will reach into the deepest parts and clean and heal.

Today Our Daily Bread Romans 12

Romans 16:19-20 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
The God of Peace….what is peace exactly? Let’s look at the Greek:
a state of national tranquillity
exemption from the rage and havoc of war
peace between individuals, i.e. harmony, concord
security, safety, prosperity, felicity, (because peace and harmony make and keep things safe and prosperous)
of the Messiah's peace
the way that leads to peace (salvation)
of Christianity, the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is
the blessed state of devout and upright men after death
KJV (92) - one, 1; peace, 89; quietness, 1; rest, 1;
NAS (91) - peace, 90; undisturbed, 1;
to join
May the God of ONE, of salvation, of joining, of concord, of tranquility, quickly and speedily crush satan underneath your feet!

Place Your Life Before God
Rom 12:1-21
1So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
3I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.
4In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. 5The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, 6let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't.If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else; 7if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; 8if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.
9Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. 10Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
11Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, 12cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. 13Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
14Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. 15Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. 16Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.
17Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. 18If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. 19Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."
20Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. 21Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.
~Lena’s Journalin~
Coming out of our natural culturized up bringing is hard, but it is a must and it is the way to be wise in what is good and innocent of evil. When we get born again we lie a new life in the spirit, we grow spiritually, learning and practicing spiritual things, we come into a Body. Our culture has taught us to be individuals, independent of others and the need for others. We’ve got to forsake that thinking in order to follow Christ. We’ve got to connect with the Body of Christ. We can never advance to where we need to advance in Christ apart from His Body. We learn to trust God by trusting people. That is not easy. So what if the people we follow fall or fail us? Trust God. Pray form them, rescue them, love them, don’t fall with them. Trust God. In Christ each individual is only one part of the Body and in no way shape or form can they function well without the other parts coming together and staying together, working together. We’ve got to lay down our old ways of thinking. No more hermit mentality. We’ve got to open ourselves up and be vulnerable to people, for Christ to know we have invited Him inside. Open up the gates ! Let the King of glory come in! Yeah you’ll probably get hurt, but He heals the brokenhearted. Run to Him! Learn how to love. Let Him in and members of His body too. Exercise agape- unconditional love, as he is agape Love, so are we in demonstration trusting Him. I find it cool that in this very pasage where it tells us to love, it also tells us how to love! Gives us step by step instructions and practical ways to be the demonstration of love. Every make lists of things "to do"? How about making a list today of Love:
If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else;
if you help, just help, don't take over;
if you teach, stick to your teaching;
if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy;
if you're put in charge, don't manipulate;
if you're called to give aid to people in distress,
keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged,
don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them.
Keep a smile on your face.
Love from the center of who you are;
don't fake it.
Run for dear life from evil;
hold on for dear life to good.
Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame.
Be alert servants of the Master, 12cheerfully expectant.
Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder.
Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath.
Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy;
share tears when they're down.
Get along with each other;
don't be stuck-up.
Make friends with nobodies;
don't be the great somebody.
Don't hit back;
discover beauty in everyone
If you've got it in you, get along with everybody.
Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do.
if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch,
or if he's thirsty, get him a drink.
Don't let evil get the best of you;
get the best of evil by doing good.
And practice these everyday. Amen !

Today Our Daily Bread Ps 19 ( Not too Long PTL !)

Romans 16:19-20 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet

"Simple" in Greek is defined-
unmixed, pure as in wines or metals; of the mind, without a mixture of evil, free from guile, innocent, simple
"Evil" is defined in the Greek as –
of a bad nature not such as it ought to be of a mode of thinking, feeling, acting base, wrong, wicked, troublesome, injurious, pernicious, destructive (to your faith walk, to the journey God has set you on and with thoe God has set you with), baneful

Just want to remind you that "soon" is defined as – with quickness, speed
Let the Spirit of God in you speak to you this morning from these hints for understanding.

Ps 19:1-14 NLT
For the choir director: A psalm of David.
1 The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship.
2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known.
3 They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies; F21
4 yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world.
The sun lives in the heavens where God placed it.
5 It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding. It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race.
6 The sun rises at one end of the heavens and follows its course to the other end. Nothing can hide from its heat.
7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
8 The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are clear, giving insight to life.
9 Reverence for the LORD is pure, lasting forever. The laws of the LORD are true; each one is fair.
10 They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold. They are sweeter than honey, even honey dripping from the comb.
11 They are a warning to those who hear them; there is great reward for those who obey them.
12 How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults.
13 Keep me from deliberate sins! Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.
14 May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
FOOTNOTES:F21: Or There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
~Lena's Journalin'~
Thy kingdom come on earth, as it is in heaven. The heavenlies are declaring the glory of God, they respond to His original creative word, they will not move off of its call. Day after day they are what He created them to be. Light Be, Skies be, etc. Oh that the earth and all of its inhabitants would catch the call towards order as the heavens have and oh that they would respond to His word in this way, never moving off of its destined position. Oh that the earth would declare the glory of God as these. In the heavens are set an atmosphere of praise, of acknowledgement of Him. 2/3 rds of the heavens are His and know His will and will to do it. God wants all to declare Him, and all will declare Him. I just see what we participate in as bringing forth the process of His glory. The earth groans and travails for the manifestation of the sons of God. Our manifestation will set the heavens and earth into agreement and God will win overall quickly and the enemy will be made to bow. The more we do God’s will here and match up with the heavenly host, the quicker God’s enemy is put under foot. Doesn’t that challenge you and excite you? A "battle" that we win, and know ahead of time we win! It excites me to BE a participator of all God has dreamed of here on earth. It is amazing how God gets joy and glory when we live for Him. Lena BE, and Lena was. Lena BE and Lena is. (Lena means "light" too!) Laura BE, Cindy BE, David BE, Nicole BE, Jazzy BE, Melinda BE, Charity BE, Carla & Remi BE, Lorraine BE, Stephanie BE Lance BE etc etc etc….[What does your name mean? Jazz- messenger of Love BE, Laura & Stephanie crowned one BE, Lance God’s helper BE, etc].
Have a blessed Day!

Today Our Daily Bread 2 Cor 11 ( sorry so late- 'puter locked up 3 times while trying to post this, enemy does not want it spoken! BUT GOD does Amen)

Romans 16:19-20 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet
Innocent in what is evil -This world makes us all think we are absolute dummies if we do not know evil, if we have not partaken in evil and if we do not think like or practice evil. I want to ask you, at the end of your days and in the presence of eternity what knowledge will you immediately become very aware of and have great regret to have known or not known? Think of what we’ve been studying (last month) about knowing good and evil), THAT is/was and always will be the wrong tree to eat from. That tree contains death, even if there’s a bit of life that appears to be involved, it is still death. When we eat of THAT tree we will surely die! The world is yelling and screaming out to us to get more knowledge of it, while only a still and quiet voice calls us to know Him. God does not have to yell He says if we seek Him, we will find Him. He’s right there, has always been right there and will always be right there for all who seek Him
All who seek Him,will find Him. He is so near, He does not have to post His name on every billboard, or every TV show, or be in every musical advertisement, or flaunt Himself in every newspaper ad. He is near enough to just call on His name. Forget the ads, TV, billboards, movies, newspapers, etc. They are inundated with enemy voices that call for us to come against everything that is God. Listen to His still small voice, calling. Decide to be innocent in what is evil. That will give a whole lot more time and space to the things of the word, the things of God’s spirit.
2 Corinthians 11:1-33
Paul and the False Apostles
1I hope you will be patient with me as I keep on talking like a fool. Please bear with me. 2I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. For I promised you as a pure bride F34 to one husband, Christ. 3But I fear that somehow you will be led away from your pure and simple devotion to Christ, just as Eve was deceived by the serpent. 4You seem to believe whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach about a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed. 5But I don't think I am inferior to these "super apostles." 6I may not be a trained speaker, but I know what I am talking about. I think you realize this by now, for we have proved it again and again.
7Did I do wrong when I humbled myself and honored you by preaching God's Good News to you without expecting anything in return? 8I "robbed" other churches by accepting their contributions so I could serve you at no cost. 9And when I was with you and didn't have enough to live on, I did not ask you to help me. For the brothers who came from Macedonia brought me another gift. I have never yet asked you for any support, and I never will. 10As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, I will never stop boasting about this all over Greece. F35 11Why? Because I don't love you? God knows I do.
12But I will continue doing this to cut the ground out from under the feet of those who boast that their work is just like ours. 13These people are false apostles. They have fooled you by disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14But I am not surprised! Even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light. 15So it is no wonder his servants can also do it by pretending to be godly ministers. In the end they will get every bit of punishment their wicked deeds deserve.
Paul's Many Trials
16Once again, don't think that I have lost my wits to talk like this. But even if you do, listen to me, as you would to a foolish person, while I also boast a little. 17Such bragging is not something the Lord wants, but I am acting like a fool. 18And since others boast about their human achievements, I will, too. 19After all, you, who think you are so wise, enjoy listening to fools! 20You put up with it when they make you their slaves, take everything you have, take advantage of you, put on airs, and slap you in the face. 21I'm ashamed to say that we were not strong enough to do that! But whatever they dare to boast about—I'm talking like a fool again—I can boast about it, too. 22They say they are Hebrews, do they? So am I. And they say they are Israelites? So am I. And they are descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23They say they serve Christ? I know I sound like a madman, but I have served him far more! I have worked harder, been put in jail more often, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again. 24Five different times the Jews gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26I have traveled many weary miles. I have faced danger from flooded rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the stormy seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be Christians but are not. F36 27I have lived with weariness and pain and sleepless nights. Often I have been hungry and thirsty and have gone without food. Often I have shivered with cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.
28Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of how the churches are getting along. 29Who is weak without my feeling that weakness? Who is led astray, and I do not burn with anger?
30If I must boast, I would rather boast about the things that show how weak I am. 31God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows I tell the truth. 32When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the city gates to catch me. 33But I was lowered in a basket through a window in the city wall, and that's how I got away!
FOOTNOTES:F34: Greek a virgin. F35: Greek Achaia. F36: Greek from false brothers.
~ Lena’s Journalin’ ~
I wrote a whole long deal with this text and it got all locked up and lost it. Pooh. I’m ready for a new system!
Anyway, the gist of it was…
Who has God set you with and in what local fellowship has He placed you in? It is just like a marriage and a family. God births us naturally into a specific family, not at all of our choosing. He does the same thing with those he places us with to teach us in the Body, in the local church "family". (I explained this so eloquently before :-0) Look at the signs, He causes us to meet certain people, is it certain fellowships, He sets us up in the household he desires us to be in. Paul is saying, do we not trust God’s leadership? Do we not recognize His direction? There are many different families we could be in, many different teachers we could literally hear, but He sets us where He’s set us up. When a person gets married, if the spouse keeps looking outside of the relationship the other spouse will not feel very secure and in fact it will be a violation of the covenant made to forsake all others and cleave unto one. The same is when we’ve been led into a certain fellowship and we keep looking elsewhere, when we’ve been fed a certain portion of the word and we keep looking elsewhere, dissatisfied. One reason it is so imperative that we get established and stay in one place is for the purpose of bearing fruit. At our cell mtg a few weeks ago, we went to Ps 1, Ez ? and Rev 2, where it speaks of us bearing fruit every month. When we have no roots anywhere, when we be-bop from place to place, eating a little here and a little there, staying in casual relationships in the spirit, the enemy has had his way with us and has messed with our walk, because he does not desire what God desires, fruit and fruit that remains. Fruit is birthed in intimate committed settings. To get to a place where we bear fruit every month, we’ve got to have deep roots. Even in a natural intimate relationship, we can only bear fruit once a year, but in the spirit, if we are rooted deep we can actually bear fruit every month. Can we ask an honest question? When was the last time you bore spiritually fruit, fruit that remains, such as leading someone to Christ and staying with them and teaching them and establishing them in a local church so they can grow to bear fruit for God also? I believe the initial deep rooting takes time, but once plugged in- there’s no time like the present and the harvest is abundant. The fruit is not about us growing as a person every month, though that is important, and should be happening. It is about bring forth others into God’s family. The growth in our personal walk, is the integrity it takes for me as a person to stay put, when I could go elsewhere, it’s the building of my character, that when I get to a place where people know me enough to see who I really am and to see me with "no make-up on" or whatever, what do I do and who am I? Do I stay in one fellowship long enough for that to happen, or do I only stay long enough to show my good side? Do I try to choose my own family? Or trust God to choose? Do I stay when it gets hard to? Or do I bail and look for another, better relationship, another better fellowship? I can hear Paul’s cry here. Why did God send you my way, to cause you to eat at other tables, to hear and follow other teachers? Paul, as a true father, though rejected or misunderstood, or suffering wrongly, would do it gladly for truth to be presented, for love to be expressed, for light to shine etc….To do the will of God without question.

Today Our Daily Bread Lev 19

Romans 16:19-20 For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet
~ Today I’m looking at the "wise" part of this verse. We’ve heard it taught that wisdom is knowledge applied, which simply said, is to put into practice whatever you’ve learned of God. Doing what He has said, rather than taking everything He’s said as a mere suggestion, something you have an option to do or not do. Taking it or leaving it. We think, "We are adults, we can make our own decisions", That is true, we have that freedom, we can even touch a hot iron if we want to, we have that freedom, and in Christ He gives us that freedom, the freedom of the will to decide. BUT wisdom would do what one who knows better says to do. I looked up this word in this context and it was a word about studying to be wise. Its meaning was to apply yourself to getting the information to follow. Not for research, but for life. Like getting a book and reading it to follow all of its directions precisely with the mind to carry out the instructions inside, and to know them well enough to be able to do them all precisely. Do we do that with God’s word? Or do we analyze it and take or leave it? I want you to be wise in what is good- God is good, so wisdom comes from the knowledge obtained for the benefit of following the instructions of His word, the Bible. Take it, don’t leave it. If we leave it we are choosing another source which may not be wise at all and we move over into what I’ll possibly write of tomorrow, not being innocent of evil. There is only one source of good, the rest look good, but are not God-good.
Holiness in Personal Conduct
1The LORD also said to Moses, 2"Say this to the entire community of Israel: You must be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy. 3Each of you must show respect for your mother and father, and you must always observe my Sabbath days of rest, for I, the LORD, am your God. 4Do not put your trust in idols or make gods of metal for yourselves. I, the LORD, am your God.
5"When you sacrifice a peace offering to the LORD, offer it properly so it will be accepted on your behalf. 6You must eat it on the same day you offer it or on the next day at the latest. Any leftovers that remain until the third day must be burned. 7If any of the offering is eaten on the third day, it will be contaminated, and I will not accept it. 8If you eat it on the third day, you will answer for the sin of profaning what is holy to the LORD and must be cut off from the community.
9"When you harvest your crops, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. 10It is the same with your grape crop—do not strip every last bunch of grapes from the vines, and do not pick up the grapes that fall to the ground. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners who live among you, for I, the LORD, am your God.
11"Do not steal. "Do not cheat one another. "Do not lie.
12"Do not use my name to swear a falsehood and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
13"Do not cheat or rob anyone. "Always pay your hired workers promptly.
14"Show your fear of God by treating the deaf with respect and by not taking advantage of the blind. I am the LORD.
15"Always judge your neighbors fairly, neither favoring the poor nor showing deference to the rich.
16"Do not spread slanderous gossip among your people. F42 "Do not try to get ahead at the cost of your neighbor's life, for I am the LORD.
17"Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives. "Confront your neighbors directly so you will not be held guilty for their crimes.
18"Never seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
19"You must obey all my laws. "Do not breed your cattle with other kinds of animals. Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed. Do not wear clothing woven from two different kinds of fabric.
20"If a man has sexual intercourse with a slave girl who is committed to become someone else's wife, compensation must be paid. But since she had not been freed at the time, the couple will not be put to death. 21The man, however, must bring a ram as a guilt offering and present it to the LORD at the entrance of the Tabernacle. F43 22The priest will then make atonement for him before the LORD with the sacrificial ram of the guilt offering, and the man will be forgiven.
23"When you enter the land and plant fruit trees, leave the fruit unharvested for the first three years and consider it forbidden. F44 24In the fourth year the entire crop will be devoted to the LORD as an outburst of praise. 25Finally, in the fifth year you may eat the fruit. In this way, its yield will be increased. I, the LORD, am your God.
26"Never eat meat that has not been drained of its blood. "Do not practice fortune-telling or witchcraft.
27"Do not trim off the hair on your temples or clip the edges of your beards.
28"Never cut your bodies in mourning for the dead or mark your skin with tattoos, for I am the LORD.
29"Do not defile your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the land will be filled with promiscuity and detestable wickedness.
30"Keep my Sabbath days of rest and show reverence toward my sanctuary, for I am the LORD.
31"Do not rely on mediums and psychics, for you will be defiled by them. I, the LORD, am your God.
32"Show your fear of God by standing up in the presence of elderly people and showing respect for the aged. I am the LORD.
33"Do not exploit the foreigners who live in your land. 34They should be treated like everyone else, and you must love them as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I, the LORD, am your God.
35"Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight, or volume. 36Your scales and weights must be accurate. Your containers for measuring dry goods or liquids must be accurate. F45 I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37You must be careful to obey all of my laws and regulations, for I am the LORD."
FOOTNOTES:F42: Hebrew Do not act as a merchant toward your own people. F43: Hebrew Tent of Meeting. F44: Hebrew consider it uncircumcised. F45: Hebrew Use an honest ephah [a dry measure] and an honest hin [a liquid measure]. ~ Lena’s Journalin ~
Holy means "set apart", be "set apart" as I am "set apart" says the Lord. "Set apart" for what? For the use of saving the whole world, what else ? :-) I looked up the word "idols", it meant, "nothingness, worthlessness- in the light of eternal treasures. I thought it cool today how this version says- gods of metal, made of natural earth material that seems to last awhile, but it also perishes eventually. I also noted the specific instructions about offering and giving back to the Lord of what He’s given you. It seems to me the point is to, respond quickly, do what you’ve heard by application and practice and don’t allow it to go to waste by storing it up for later on, it becomes useless then. Also when it speaks of the abundance we’ve been given I find it interesting that the Lord tells us not to figure ALL of our increase in to the scope of our own needs, we should be making more than enough that is already figured in for giving to others that may not have the job we do, or are helpless. We work and count every penny of it to meet our needs. It seems in this time their budgets allotted for their offerings and their tithes too. It seems when the farmer figured the crop he did not figure it for himself and his family only. Look at vs 14- many times spiritually people are deaf and blind, how do we treat them? Do we disregard them as being deaf and blind on purpose? Do we ignore them due to their ailment, or judge them for being in the state they are in? Or do we help them see and hear that they’d be freed? Many times spiritual blindness and deafness are spiritual forces set up against someone’s life to kill of faith or the potential for faith, the blindness has to be removed, spiritually, many times by deliverance. Help them see and hear so they can desire and know the way to true freedom. WOW, do not nurse hatred in your heart towards any members of your family? Wow!

Today Our Daily Bread Malachi 3

---( By the way IF you go to the bottom of all of this text and click on the highlighted "Lena’s Journalin" you’ll get to the web site which is much, much easier to read than this e-mail- my suggestion is to skip the text when ya get the e-mail, scroll down to the end, click on the link and THEN read the "Daily Bread" from there. It’s bigger and more colorful, MUCH easier)

Romans 16:19-20-For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.
What is a report? A witness with an account given? So someone was a witness of a living testimony and spread this news to others? The report could have been something like gossip, but all that could be found to speak about was obedience. THAT will stop the enemy from speaking. THAT will stop the enemy’s mouth and accusations. The accusers are rendered silent, why? Because of obedience! Obedience is the demonstration of love.

Malachi 3
The Master You've Been Looking For
1 "Look! I'm sending my messenger on ahead to clear the way for me. Suddenly, out of the blue, the Leader you've been looking for will enter his Temple--yes, the Messenger of the Covenant, the one you've been waiting for. Look! He's on his way!" A Message from the mouth of GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies.
2 But who will be able to stand up to that coming? Who can survive his appearance? He'll be like white-hot fire from the smelter's furnace. He'll be like the strongest lye soap at the laundry. 3 He'll take his place as a refiner of silver, as a cleanser of dirty clothes. He'll scrub the Levite priests clean, refine them like gold and silver, until they're fit for GOD, fit to present offerings of righteousness. 4 Then, and only then, will Judah and Jerusalem be fit and pleasing to GOD, as they used to be in the years long ago.
5 "Yes, I'm on my way to visit you with Judgment. I'll present compelling evidence against sorcerers, adulterers, liars, those who exploit workers, those who take advantage of widows and orphans, those who are inhospitable to the homeless--anyone and everyone who doesn't honor me." A Message from GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies. 6"I am GOD-yes, I AM. I haven't changed. And because I haven't changed, you, the descendants of Jacob, haven't been destroyed. 7You have a long history of ignoring my commands. You haven't done a thing I've told you. Return to me so I can return to you," says GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies.
"You ask, "But how do we return?'
8"Begin by being honest. Do honest people rob God? But you rob me day after day.
"You ask, "How have we robbed you?'
"The tithe and the offering--that's how! 9And now you're under a curse--the whole lot of you--because you're robbing me. 10Bring your full tithe to the Temple treasury so there will be ample provisions in my Temple. Test me in this and see if I don't open up heaven itself to you and pour out blessings beyond your wildest dreams. 11For my part, I will defend you against marauders, protect your wheat fields and vegetable gardens against plunderers." The Message of GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies. 12"You'll be voted "Happiest Nation.' You'll experience what it's like to be a country of grace." GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies says so.
I was just thinking as I was writing (below) how God cares for us, is awesome in power etc. and I heard in the back of my mind the comments of some of God’s people, who feel God has disappointed them, and they feel He hasn’t "come through" etc. Then I read what is written below and felt saddened for God. Those kinds of words come from a heart that is hurt by God’s enemy, but does not understand the heart of our Father God. Do you realize God gets hurt too? It hurts His heart when we rudely accuse Him of wrong and evil, when we relate Him as an enemy and He’s not an enemy at all, He’s rather a friend. Hope does NOT disappoint at all. Hope expects good. God is Good.
The Difference Between Serving God and Not Serving Him
13 GOD says, "You have spoken hard, rude words to me.
"You ask, "When did we ever do that?' 14 "When you said, "It doesn't pay to serve God. What do we ever get out of it? When we did what he said and went around with long faces, serious about GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, what difference did it make? 15 Those who take life into their own hands are the lucky ones. They break all the rules and get ahead anyway. They push God to the limit and get by with it.'"
16 Then those whose lives honored GOD got together and talked it over. GOD saw what they were doing and listened in. A book was opened in God's presence and minutes were taken of the meeting, with the names of the GOD-fearers written down, all the names of those who honored GOD's name.
17 GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies said, "They're mine, all mine. They'll get special treatment when I go into action. I treat them with the same consideration and kindness that parents give the child who honors them. 18 Once more you'll see the difference it makes between being a person who does the right thing and one who doesn't, between serving God and not serving him.
~Lena’s Journalin’~
Sending a messenger ahead of the Lord to prepare the place that the Lord wants to live in, preparing the House for the Lord, and who is that house? Anyone who will receive Him IS that house. The temple of God are the people of God, those in whom God’s Spirit dwells in as they receive Him. Who are the messengers, the Way-makers? We, the present believers of Him, in whom He already lives. We are the Way-makers, the messengers of the Most High God, the God of the Angelic Host’s armies! Can you see that, can you get that? What other job would you want? Working for God has great benefits being He owns the whole earth, and greater than that, the whole universe! So how does one prepare the Way? Through communication with the Boss. "Lord, where would You like for me to go today? With whom would you like for me to speak? Oh, I’m going to work again, and I’ll sit beside so and so and be working alongside of them today. You set that up didn’t you, Lord? You sent me, didn’t You Lord? I see it now, You establish my comings and my goings, You guide my path. My pathway is in the marketplace today, and all who come across my path are potential houses of God’s Holy Spirit, potential messengers, potential mentors of other messengers. I see, You set people up to come the way I walk. If I look for them, I’ll see them, they’ve been coming my way for years now. I just wasn’t looking, noticing, but today I’m your messenger, preparing the Way. Maybe today someone You lead to me will be prepared for you to live there someday, maybe I’ll paint their walls, or install plumbing, or put a roof on, etc. I’ll bring my tools to get the job done Lord, because whatever it is or whatever it takes, I’m Your worker, Your lover, Your investor, Your interested party. There is nothing like working for You, Lord!"
The Lord being as a refiner’s fire is so awesome, because I’ve tried to change and can’t, I’d be left as I am, but with His fire, I am changed, from one form to another and after that when I go in the water, dip in the water. I’m set in place to be conformed to the image he envisioned for me. The launderer’s soap takes any stain out. It removes what I could never get out by trying. His soap takes any stain out. It removes what I could not remove. It makes me truly clean. I’ve heard a few prophetic writings about hurricane Katrina, and her name’s meaning- purify. We’ve asked God to forgive our nation and cleanse us. What exactly did we mean by that? I’ve heard people pray, "Whatever it takes, Lord, do the work." I pray we are in place and ready as a church for the purification and to help those affected, being the messengers of God’s covenant love, of His saving grace, of His message of truth and not of opinion.
There is a whole large community of 100’s of thousands of people who have lost all, and He came to save all. What a day!
I read a small book this week. It mentioned how we who tithe should expect the blessing of souls, amen. We should expect the blessing of the harvest, the blessing on God’s storehouse. Tithing removes the curse of barrenness in every area. How can we be stingy with what we give the Lord, when He gave us everything we’ll ever need to have life, when He rescued us from Hell’s fire? Our stinginess tells that we do not really trust Him with our lives. That is absurd, when He created us, knows every part of us, and cares as no other person ever could. The enemy has lied big-time in our ears. We’ve got to shut off our ear gates to His words!