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To Zechariah, he told: “I will pour out of the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a Spirit of Grace and supplication. They will look on Me, the One they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.” I know that many churches don’t care to teach the mourning for our sins as the cause of the cross, but it is part of the healing process in becoming whole in Christ. It is a fact that our sins put Jesus on the cross. But it is also a fact that the Holy Spirit raised Him up and raised us up from the torment that we as sinners all share.

That is an issue that we could spend years in debate and I will leave it at that. What we need to see is that we, as Children of God and as brethren in Christ, need to proclaim that we have Unity by and in the Holy Spirit with each other as proclaimed by Christ. The Gospel of John states: “For the one whom God has sent speaks the word of God, for God gives a Spirit without limit.” (John 3:34) “Yet the time is coming and has now come when TRUE WORSHIPPERS will worship the Father in Spirit and Truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24) Also (John 14:16) “I will ask the Father and He will send you an Advocate to be with you forever.” We know that the Advocate is the Holy Spirit and the spirit of truth and holiness, and that He dwells in us as He dwells in all the Children of God. the world can not see Him because we know that His home is in our hearts. As Christ is with us, the Holy Spirit is within us (or at least that is how it should be). Let us therefore, live and act like it and seek the Holy Spirit in each of our brethren in Christ.

There are many places in the New Testament that I have not referred to that express the call to Spiritual Unity and I am sure that those who would debate me can find verses that reflect a different view that seem to contradict what I believe. To those I say; examine our motives before you condemn mine. What I have shown is how and why I feel that the Lord Jesus wants us to be comfortable with each other even though we may not agree exactly on how to respond to God’s Love. I believe that God wants us to be as brothers and not rivals in our Love and service to Jesus, Christ and Redeemer and to live with Lovingkindness to all. I want to leave with one last thing that I believe sums up the Wholeness of Christ best. It is my favorite Scripture and I always felt that the words of scripture speak more clearly that any that I could make up. Rely on the Word of God to open the hearts of man and be assured without question of God’s intent for your lives. Ephesians 1:3-14 (NLT) says it best for me.

[All Caps are mine]
” All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING in the heavenly realms because we are UNITED WITH CHRIST. Even before He made the world, GOD LOVED US and CHOSE US in Christ to be HOLY AND WITHOUT FAULT (Blameless) IN HIS EYES. God decided in advance to ADOPT US into HIS OWN FAMILY by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him GREAT PLEASURE. So we praise God for the GLORIOUS GRACE He poured out on us who BELONG TO HIS DEAR SON. He is so rich in KINDNESS and GRACE that He PURCHASED OUR FREEDOM with the BLOOD OF HIS SON and FORGAVE OUR SINS. He has showered His kindness on us, along with ALL WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING.

God has now REVEALED to us HIS MYSTERIOUS PLAN REGARDING CHRIST, a plan to fulfill HIS OWN GOOD PLEASURE. And this is the plan: At the RIGHT TIME HE WILL BRING EVERYTHING TOGETHER UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF CHRIST - EVERTHING IN HEAVEN and EARTH. Furthermore, because we are UNITED with CHRIST, we have RECEIVED an INHERITANCE fro GOD, for HE CHOSE US IN ADVANCE, and He makes everything work out according to His plan.

God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring Praise and Glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the Truth, THE GOOD NEWS that GOD SAVES YOU. And WHEN YOU BELIEVE IN CHRIST, HE IDENTIFIED YOU as HIS OWN by GIVING YOU THE HOLY SPIRIT, (or; He put the seal of the Holy Spirit on you, or; witnessed by the Holy Spirit.) whom He promised long ago. THE SPIRIT IS GOD’S GUARANTEE that He will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has PURCHASED US to be HIS OWN PEOPLE. He did this so that we would Praise and Glorify Him.”

I have said it the best I could. Jesus proclaimed it, Paul confirmed it by the Holy Spirit, God the Father wishes it and has ordained it Good. So let us do it together as a people chose to be Holy before Our God. Let us declare that we are a people chosen to Love as one, the Mercies and Forgiveness of the Father. Then we can sing praises to the heavens for the Grace given and share as one people, “Our God is a just God and we shall Serve Him in Wholeness. Then we can worship Him together, whole and completed in Christ Jesus.

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Because the promise has been sealed by the Holy Spirit within us, we can be bold enough to proclaim Christ! We can be without fear among our enemies to proclaim the Good News. We can answer the insults and mockery of the fools of the world because we can rely not only on the written word of the scriptures but on the Living Word that is Jesus. We see with the Light of Life, the Spirit of Truth and the Love that is unfailing forever. Let us realize then that there are no forces that can defeat our passion because it is the Passion of Christ that binds us to the Law of Love. Let the deepest confines of our hearts be filled with the love that is of and for God. Not only may we be committed to serve our God but let us passionately understand that living in obedience is to love and that Wisdom is to be a fervor within us.

Each day we should awake with the desire, passion and zeal to walk in the path of Godly righteousness. It should be the delight of our heart and mind. Then when we are faced we will not be shaken from our resolve to Love the Lover, God Yahweh. We can defend our Faith with the Word and with the Love. The Law of God is not “Legalism”, it is Righteousness and we are to live in it so that they can not find fault with what we say or do. “And I command you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave good testimony before Pontius Pilate, that you OBEY his commandment with ALL PURITY. Then NO ONE can find FAULT WITH YOU from now until our Lord Jesus Christ returns.” (1 Tim. 6:13-14, NLT) Live above reproach, each action, thought and word should be Christ felt, without fear of greed, lust or vanity that plagues the world. Our lives should be filled with the desires of God and the sweet divine love that is the joy of our Lord.

We are not to be timid or reluctant to speak the Truth of God. We are to approach the world with the desire to gallantly speak of right living and of the Love of God for mankind. We have a new kind of freedom, not by the laws of man but by devotion to the law of God, living a better and purer life in Jesus. Our hope in God is founded on the Law of Jesus, Love as He loves us and the peace that comes of it can not be shattered by prisons or tyrants.

Freedom is found in the understanding of God’s plan for our lives, as a people and as individuals. This plan is one of Salvation and Redemption. The Salvation is the Gift of God, the Redemption is the change that comes over us as we lean on the truth of God’s Love. Both are found because Jesus went to the cross for our failings. The world and the laws of self-serving men bring greed, decay, destruction and corruption, while God’s law only brings peace of mind and heart, health and promise. “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s Love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.” (Jude 21 (NIV) So let us observe all of the Law as it applies to living a godly life. Let us live continually in God’s will and according to the plan He has laid out for us. Only by being in the perfect will of the Father can we obtain pure and complete happiness. Stay in the Word of God for it is as Paul told Timothy, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17 NIV) So be bold enough in your faith to correct kings (or presidents) when they stray from the Truth of God. Daniel was not afraid of Babylon, nor was Jonah and Naham of Nineveh and let us not forget Moses before the Pharaoh. And while you may never have the chance to correct your leaders, you have the opportunities every day to guide someone you know into right living, best shown by how you live your life unashamed or timid in your love of God and man. Let the love of God’s law of Love awaken you and give it voice. I knew a woman who spent eight years in a Chinese prison and was raped repeatedly yet was able to convert her jailers to Christ before she was free. Her Faith sustained her, she survived and two of the guards helped her escape. This is how God’s love can protect. But even as the three youths of Babylon said; even if our God does not protect us, we will not stop worshipping Him.

God asks of you only this: Love Him and give love to as many as you can by living within His Law. So as you pray, praise sing and worship God, do so in the Love of God’s will, conforming yourselves to live in accordance of the Law of Christ. Serve God and your fellow man as Christ did, who as both Man and God did only what was Holy before the Father. Meditate on and study the Word of God. Reflect on how God’s Law is the extension of His Love for us and on how to live in His Perfect Will. Think of the Grace received from the Father and reflect on how you can live in a manner both pleasing to God and beneficial to man. Work to understand the Law of Love, seek to give that love to each other for none of us are truly worthy of the Love given to us.

Let God examine your motives in life and question yourselves as to why do behave as you do. Are you seeking to please God or are to trying to prove yourselves to others? Nothing can be hidden from God, you only deceive yourself when you say to God that you love Him and then continue to live as the world decrees. Jesus found us in our weaknesses and faults and yet He deemed us worthy of His Love. Do not let those weaknesses rule our lives, but seek to change so that the Love of God is the only thing that men can see in us. We are called to live in the Spirit of Goodness and not by the Flesh of Foolishness. Walk in the Light by the Love of Jesus.

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Wholeness is not simply a matter of remaining sane or of growing up until our various “selves” are merged into a unified life; it involves as well facing constant inner conflicts between competing desires, accommodating potent emotions; urges to the restrictions of society, and handling the lure of personal ideals that collide with a dismaying sense of inadequacy. -Harry Emerson Fosdick. On Being a Real Person

“We also approve and praise–with our mouths. We do it loudly, we do it fervently–also judiciously. Judiciously. For we do not enter into particulars. Daily we pour out freshets of disapproval, dispraise, censure, passionate resentments, upon a considerable portion of the work–but not with our mouths. No, it is with our acts that betray us, not our words. Our words are compliments, and the deceive Him. …. But seriously, does anyone really think that? Is it not a daring affront to the Supreme Intelligence to believe such a thing?….
Mark Twain -The Damned Human Race (Letters From Earth)

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I make no reference to the sacramental communion, but to the the Spiritual and Physical communion that we share as people of God. While I hold the Sacrament very highly, it is not the topic of this lesson. I’m speaking of the communion that exists when “two or three are gathered” in the Name of Jesus, the communion with the Lord. This is what I mean as communion, the presence of God with us, the Emmanuel Worship. During the sixties, commune societies where a fad. The early church also formed communes to preserve themselves as a people. They hid away from the pagan society and worshipped in secret. As the world turned to Christian thought in the Middle Ages, Monasteries and convents were formed to celebrate Cloistered life with God. In Ireland and Briton, there were co-ed communes where husband and wife could join to separate themselves from the world so that they could devote their lives to God. If the state of the world does not change soon, we have to revert to that again to preserve the sanctity of the Walk of God, I pray not. This again is NOT the relationship that I am referring to.

I am referring to the communion that we celebrate with Christ as individuals whether we are Orthodox, Methodist, Anabaptist, Congregationalist or what ever we may call our Christian Faith. Wherever two or three Christians are gathered in prayer and praise, Our Lord is among us. Whenever those who love the Lord Jesus are, be it two or two thousand, that is the communion that I care about because the Lovingkindness of God is there in their midst Communion of Believers is the Christ Connection. Conducting ourselves by the Ideals and concepts of Christianity causes us to separate ourselves from the world and join ourselves within the boundaries of Christ. “My Goal (Paul’s) is that they will be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of Love. I want them to have FULL confidence because they have COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING of GOD’S SECRET PLAN!” (Col. 2:2) If we allow our walk to bring grief to others or to raise discontinuance of faith among us, we divide Christ. Christ can not divide Himself, and if we try to separate ourselves by man made ideals or interpretations, we are in effect separating ourselves from Christ’s Wholeness. Thank God that He is a forgiving God or none of us would be saved!

Why then do we separate ourselves from each other? We do it because we are weak in the Love that Jesus does no deeply want for us. We do it because we are afraid that our faith can be changed or diluted. We are afraid of our doubts and don’t want to be challenged. We would like to be partial Christians, firm in our limited beliefs and don’t really want to grow in the spirit because we may nor understand what God envisions for us. But if we are to celebrate the Wholeness of Christ, we must have a willing heart to share the Presence of Christ among us. This is why He is called Emmanuel, so that He is with ALL of us!

I once asked a Pastor of one church why he would not work with an other church in a food and shelter mission. I was told that because one church was a Baptist and the other was a Pentecostal, there would be friction as to the method of the Salvation Message taught and to whose church would “get” the redeemed. Souls were lost because of a difference of opinion about the Holy Spirit’s Gifts, how sad! The bodies of both churches failed in the mission of Salvation and caring. Both forfeited the Lovingkindness blessing to others because they failed to recognize the presence of Christ in others and denied the opportunity of Christ to many. There was no communion of believers there. That was many years ago, but I can say now that the Pastor that refuse to work with the other is no longer a Pastor. God removed him from the pulpit. The Spirit of devotion to the Service of God should have been the primary purpose in the mission. Above all, there should have been a desire to share the Lovingkindness found in Christ’s Salvation.

The devotion of the Unity of Christ is the unique living with Christ, not body counting is the measure of Church growth. Religiosity and Theo-phobia are the primary things that cause separation in the body of Christ. There will always be differences among the Faithful, that is natural and actually good for the growth of the churches. If all the churches were the same, we would become complacent in our faith and find excuses to fall away. But the communion of Christ was never to be as varied and separated as it is today with churches attacking each other or denying each other as they have over the years. Paul’s problem where never as bad as is the problem of today’s churches and the conflicts and fears that they have reaches and created. Christ does not create division, the devil does. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Unity. Without some willingness by the churches to reach out and help each other to grow in the Lovingkindness of the Wholeness of the Communion of Jesus, we will never see the completed Church.

When two people reach out and take left hands together and right hand together, they form a cradle that will carry another. When two or three walk in step with each other, they do not cause the other to stumble. Every time churches content with each other, they drop the injured and step on each other’s heels. They hold each other back and Satan is gleeful. He has claimed victory because we are in contention. He has prevented the fulfillment of the Word of God. It is in the heart of the Communion of Believers that the Wholeness takes place. the Wholeness of Christ calls us to be in communion with Him, and if you are in communion with the Lord and I am also in communion with Him, does it matter as to Jesus what manner of Christian Church we attend? As long as we are in communion with God, it is the spiritual relationship of Christ that draw us to serve Him. What does it matter as to how each of us express our Love of Our Savior? What matters is that we both Love Jesus and desire to serve His Perfect Will.

I’ve been asked why I forgave so easily. I reply that I felt that if I failed to forgive, I may have prevented two people to reach Heaven. The one I did not forgive and the one who would not forgive. My reason for saying that is because I don’t want to deny anyone the opportunity to obtain Salvation because I failed to forgive if I did not forgive, I might be the cause of someone never knowing the Forgiveness of God. In this same way, I will not deny the presence of Christ in anyone simply because their belief varies from mine. While I feel that there is a need to be firm in my belief, I can’t claim that “my way” is the sole means to Christ’s Perfection. How can I, if I’m still not Perfected? My Love of Jesus Christ causes me to love all those who seek to Love Him. My desire to serve the Lord encourages me to seek that all come to Him. It matters not to me if they come to the same understanding as I do in all things pertaining to the Salvation. That will come in God’s time. How can I who loves Christ, not wish to see Christ in all who seek Him? Even with those with whom I have sharp differences of understanding of the Word. I can still pray with them and for each. I can still worship the same God, the same Redemption and Reconciliation that they received. And they can pray for me. Because we are in the communion with the Lord of All, the God among men, and the Restorer of Faith, Jesus who is called Christ, I can do all thing of Christ with them. I can help build a school (well not really, I’m a klutz),feed the hungry, pray for and visit their sick just as easily as I can for any other. In the communion of the Body of Christ there are only minor differences. I have more differences with my brother and sisters than I have with other Christians and yet I can still call them family. Why then is it so hard to call our brother and sister in Christ family? We are still in the Family of God. and we all love Our Heavenly Father. The Grace of God does not recognize the boundaries of debate and arguments, it does not accept the strife of disagreement that tears down the family of God.

As I have grown in my Faith, I see that sin has entered into many churches. Sin has been justified in many churches and there is division between the faithful. I assure you that I pray that these churches will see that sin can not be justified, but that is nothing new in the churches. The only thing that changes is the sins that they say are no longer sin. I pray for the continuing growth of the Spirit of God to open the eyes of these people to recognize that they have been listening to foolish and empty teachings that come from Satan pretending to be a caring voice of reason. God is the ONLY Voice of Reason and His reason is found in Scripture.

Pray that in our discontent with other walks of Faith that it is not because we don’t have the understanding of God’s will. Be sure that we have nothing in our belief that causes others to stumble before we try to “teach” them the “right way” to believe. I have been studying the Word and the Walk for many years and still do not think of myself as an “expert”.

Pray for the churches, pray with the churches and pray for your own church. In this way you add Grace upon Grace. Feel free to give Grace and to receive Grace as you pray in open communion with God. We pray for God’s Kingdom and the Will to come on Earth as it is in Heaven. This can never come to pass if we fall to see the Kingdom in each other. We rejoice that so many have decided to follow Jesus and wish to enter into His Kingdom. We give thanks that we are free to Love and to forgive as Jesus did. We Praise God in the Lovingkindness that is in the Communion of Believers, Grace upon Grace with each of the Family of God.

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Seek the instruction of God to know how to obey The Lord. Don’t be afraid to pray to the Lord that you need His Holy guidance. Tell God what you want in your lives, asking Him how to accomplish His will in your walk and whether your goals are in His designs for your life. I do believe that you can have a godly vocation in the mundane world. Your job should be an extension of Christ’s walk. If you can not be godly on the job, you need to change your attitude at work or change your work. Let God help you understand His commitment to your well being and allow His commandments to guide you to a healthy and spiritually fulfilling life, a life that is both giving and receiving Happiness.

God’s walk is not a passive one. The psalmist says “Make me go!” It is not help me go or encourage me to go, it is MAKE ME GO. Make me eager, give me the strong desire, compel me to hear God’s Heart for my life. How can we truly Love God and live in His Grace if we don’t understand that His Love is tempered with the Law of Obedience? We need to put aside forever the worldly distractions that pull us away from Service to the LORD of Salvation. I looked up many translations of verse 36 and found such things as worldly vanities, greed, love of money, selfish gain, dishonest gain and inane things, worthless gain, worthless things, senselessness and foolishness. Because I don’t speak Hebrew, I can’t really tell you what the Psalmist meant but I think that he was trying to say not to put your trust in the things of the world. Put away the desires of wealth, fortune and glory; turn away from the desires of self importance and humble yourself before God. Micah 6:8 says “…to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly” with your God.

Vanity seeks to place yourself ahead of God, as does the love of money or the fear of the loss of wealth. These things are idol worship. Vanity was the sin of Eve and the ruin of Adam. They sought to be equal to God, they sought the Vanity of self-importance and became ashamed of their own inadequacies. It wasn’t the taking of the fruit that was the sin, it was the desire to be equal to God. They listened to the foolishness of the serpent. The Love of Money or the delusion of the importance of wealth has led many to destruction. From these desires comes many sins, greed, lies, theft, slander and corruption. But the most vile of the sins that springs from the love of money is the illusion that it makes you important and gives you value over others.

Be reassured that Christ is the ONLY value that we should seek after. He is the Promise of God, the Honor of Salvation and the Hope of Eternal Life. In Him you have humility, grace and mercy. Through Him you shall seek God. In all things, God is given the Glory. By God, all glory is received. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we establish a godly relationship with the Father. With Christ, we develop a rapport with God, working with His will to do good things for His sake. Let God’s Law better ourselves so that our minds, spirit and wills seek only to do what is pleasing to Him. Be devoted to the work of the Father and the commandment to love and to serve. Seek to do the will that is proof of seeking God’s choices.

Let God Lead us away from the distractions that tend to focus ourselves on things that are of the world. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from ourselves for what we are is evil in God’s sight. Long for The Divine Lovingkindness to Revive us. Let God restore a right life within us. Revigerate our walk, Preserve a Loving heart and work within us a holy and blameless work. Dream of the wonders of His Love, the correctness of His law and the perfect desire for our lives, living with the instruction of His Heart, the heart of Jesus. Put obedience of God first in our lives so that righteousness pours forth with every fibre of our existence.

Revive us, for without Christ, we are dead to the Salvation of Reconciliation. Because of the gift of Jesus given to us, we are able to be as the Psalmist cries out, Restored with a new heart, one that Loves as God loved us.

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What I would like to see in all the churches is more meat and less hype. Tradition worship may lead us toward that as the non-traditional worship did in its advent. I also welcome the Eucharist as Worship. To those who say that having it every Sunday will cause it to lose its value I say, if that is the case then perhaps it does not have enough value in your church now. Jesus said whenever you do this, do it in remembrance of me, not if you do this once in a while. To me the communion is the most sacred form of our worship of God’s Salvation. But I would not demand that you accept my views. I welcome communion every chance I get and ask if the church has open communion or closed before I partake. I would not offend others, by demanding to receive the elements. I will join in my heart in their celebration of the Pascal Sacrifice.

I don’t want people to get me wrong. I believe that worship is a matter of choice. I like churches that have strong adult bible study groups, dynamic worship expressions and old time gospel songs and contemporary music. If fact there are not to many types of worship that I don’t enjoy. So, if you are being filled by the worship service your church is providing, God bless you. I like traditional worship services more, even though I have not been a member of a church that provide such for twenty years or so. Right now, I’m looking for a new place to fellowship and I think that I would like to go to return to a traditional worship expression, that’s all.

What I would really like is a charismatic church with traditional values, lots of scripture teachings, prayer studies and outreach ministries.

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