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Our God is astounding, amazing and totally loving, as this verse declares:

“God our Saviour…Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Tim 2:3,4

He goes to great lengths to give people knowledge of their need for forgiveness and salvation,

as we saw last night in the near death experiences where people went to heaven, met Jesus and returned as believers.

It seems that others need more convincing and they end up arriving in Hell, which is a terrible place.

They tell of people beating, tearing, torturing each other, in darkness and anguish.

One atheist upon arriving on the edge of hell, immediatly cried “Jesus, save me!”

God in these cases not only gives them a taste of eternal condemnation,

He sends some back to live again as believers, to serve Him as effective witnesses.

This is not a “second chance” after death, it is a further chance in life.

Picture: “Jesus, save me!”

Most people have only a vague idea of what Heaven or Hell are like. There are hints in Scripture, but these are not very complete.

As it says in Colossians 2:10 (KJV), “…you are COMPLETE in Him, which is the head of all principality and power….”

When we begin to understand who we are in Christ, we can go onto verse 12, which says,

“therefore” (since you are chosen, holy and dearly loved),

“clothe yourselves with compassion,

kindness,

humility,

gentleness [“sweet reasonableness”]

and patience.”

Wouldn’t you like to be around people like that?!!!

And that is what we can be for others when we live out the Truth

of who we are in Christ. and stop fighting with others.

In Ephesians 2:18 Paul prays the God will give the believers POWER

so they can understand the greatness of the love of God,

to know the love that surpasses knowledge, (to experience His love in God sightings)

and the result is “that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

To know His love empowers us to rise above conflicts

to bring grace to others and bring joy to God!

Prayer: “Lord God, grant us the power to grasp

‘how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ’

so that we may reject the human struggle for significance,

rest in who we are in Christ

and clothe ourselves with the qualities you have bought for us. Amen.”

Picture: God gives us power so we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God

In thinking about the growing level of conflicts in relationships, the question is, “What is the source of these conflicts?”

One of the deepest themes running through conflicts seems to be the struggle for significance:

**Lucifer wanted more significance, to be like God.

**Eve was tempted to be more significant in knowing good and evil independently of God.

**Cain wanted his sacrifice to accepted and to be significant on his own terms rather than God’s.

**The builders of the tower of Babel wanted to make a name for themselves by their achievement, rejecting God’s command to spread out and fill the earth.

So it goes through all of scripture and all of life. I see this in myself,

being hurt and angry when someone does something to rob me of my dignity;

striving for accomplishment to feel and look more significant.

The resolution of  this root of conflict is stated in Colossians 3:12-14, “Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved….”

Here in this verse is all the significance that anyone will ever need.

We are created in the image of God.

We are chosen before the foundation of the world to be a child of the Most High.

We are made holy: forgiven, purified and commissioned for significant work.

And we are dearly loved: sought out by the intense and pure desire of God the Ruler of all,

We are unconditionally accepted, whole-heartedly adopted, deeply cared for and delighted in.

As it says in Colossians 2:10 (KJV), “And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power….”

If we could just grasp this on a “whole person level,”

(that is, not just intellectually but also volitionally and emotionally),

what a difference that would make in  us and all those around us.

And this is possible.

Tomorrow I will tell you more about bringing that difference to pass in your life.

Picture: I am chosen by the Creator of the universe

Follow up on yesterday’s post on “tent caterpillar sins” of:

This afternoon we went for a walk along the road and I noticed the nests of tent caterpillars in the bushes.

“Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.” Psalm 99:9

As part of your holiness, Lord, you are completely other than your creation:

• We are physical, you are spirit.
• We are limited to one place, you fill the universe.
• We must eat and sleep, you are never hungry or tired.
• We are mortal, you are eternal.
• We are sinful and sinners, you are pure and holy.
• We so easily sin, you are unable to sin.
• We are of the earth, you are of heaven.
• We create from materials, you create from nothing.
• We are human, you are the most High.
• We are creatures, you are the Creator.
• We are your children, you are our Heavenly Father.
• We live in time, you are outside of time.
• We don’t know what will happen in the next second, you know all that will happen in every second for all history.
• We can’t control more than a few details of our lives, you are the sovereign God who has the power to control every event and detail in the lives of billions at the same time.
• We can focus on only a few events around us, you are intimately involved in the lives of every living person.

So, why do we so ofen not trust you?

Forgive us, we surrender to you,

the Great and Mighty One, Ruler of all!

Picture: each point of light is not a star but a galaxy made3of billions of stars.

Here is an entry from my journal, which shows the importance of journaling to help see how much God is doing in our lives.

Praise be to you, Lord God, for your protection, your power, your provision in making it possible to have this anti-stroke devise inserted in my heart.

As I look back I can see your goodness and mercy working through the whole process. Here are 9 God Sightings that I saw.

1. My regular cardiologist was not available, so saw his assistant.
2. She read my history very thoroughly and saw my tendency to have blood clots because of my having A-Fib and urged me to do something about it.
3. First, she prescribed a blood thinner that cost $510 after insurance, but I had some left over from a previous incident, so opted to use that.
4. However, that blood  thinner failed to work properly, so she had me stop it—if I had gotten the new prescription, I would have been out all that money.
5. Then she got me an appointment within just 3 weeks with a heart specialist—unusual, for when I had to see a kidney doctor because of severe kidney failure, it took 3 months to get an appointment.
6. When I saw the heart specialist, he said, “I just happen to have an opening in 5 days and can insert a device in your heart to prevent clots!” In contrast, my neighbor had a serious hernia but had to wait 7 months to get it operated on!
7. The specialist also put me on a new blood thinner that worked.
8. The insertion of the device went quickly and smoothly without complications, and after one night in the hospital I was able to go home, minimal disruption.
9. Our sister-in-law, Cynthia, graciously came and stayed with Barbara while I was gone, The Lord worked everything out.

Thank you, Lord for your loving care and protection. In the light of this, I praise you for what you will do for our other needs before we see your answers to prayer.

God’s way to true success as laid out in 2 Peter 1:3-7

THROUGH His divine power God has given us
everything we need for life and godliness
THROUGH
our knowledge of Him who called us
THROUGH
His glory and goodness and
THROUGH
Them He gave very great and precious promises,
That by them we may
participate in the divine nature, and
escape the corruption in the world.
THEREFORE, ADD TO YOUR FAITH
VIRTUE,
KNOWLEDGE,
SELF-CONTROL,
ENDURANCE,
GODLINESS,
BROTHERLY KINDNESS,
AGAPE LOVE.

The dawn of a new day full of possibilities as we add to our

faith virtue…