Jesus Christ, through Paul in Ephesians and Colossians, provides fairly detailed instructions to husbands and wives—what a blessing! However, we must be careful when reading, translating, and interpreting what has been written. When we are careful with Paul’s writings, we will find that what he has written is in harmony with the rest of the Bible. Therefore, when it comes to the relationship between husbands and wives, what Paul has written instructs and encourages us to imitate the relationship between Jesus Christ and the Church.

So what does Christ mean by "wives submit?"

Paul addresses the churches in Ephesus and Colosse, and, by extension, all of us, saying, “Wives, submit to your own husbands….” Before we examine the directive for wives to submit to their husbands, do wives and husbands understand what submission is? Submission is not what most people think it is. The Greek word Paul was inspired to use for submit embodies a beautiful characteristic of Jesus Christ. Let us strive to understand what submission truly means and then examine this directive from Jesus Christ through Paul.

Of the three, the Way, the Truth, and the Life,  Jesus Christ is the Life is likely the more complex concept and truth to ponder. As we muse on this statement by Christ, the truth that Christ is the Life and the desire for God the Father and Jesus Christ to extend ETERNAL LIFE to all mankind is astounding and  Awe-inspiring!

Redeeming the time on God's Sabbath Day.

Repentance.

Do you know the truth, do you trust the truth, and are you absolutely committed to following the truth? Christ’s statement that He is the Truth, in John 14:6, was directed to His disciples and the followers of Jesus Christ. It is within this context of us being the followers of Jesus Christ on the night of Passover that we examine Christ’s statement that He is the TRUTH!

Do you know the way to the Kingdom of God, and can you see it clearly?

Can anyone ever convince you that the Kingdom of God does not exist/will not exist? Can you describe the Kingdom, can you envision it? Can you taste it? How desperately do you want to get there? Do you have a vision in mind of what your life will be like in the Kingdom of God? Do you see the Kingdom? Do you know the way?

If so, what shall prevent you from being in the Kingdom of God?

If you created everything, that is, the grass, the trees, the earth, the clouds, the moon, the stars, the heavens, the bugs, the animals, the birds, air, breath, blood, tissue, etc.… and you created them as God along with your Father who is also God, and could exercise total absolute control over that creation by mere thought, why would you pray? Why did Jesus Christ pray? If we can gain insight into WHY the Creator of the universe prayed, who has absolute control over all things, maybe our ability to pray more efficiently, effectively, effectually, and fervently will be increased!

What Makes Us Christian?

Fine to look under the hood.

Lessons on tact from Philemon

What should we do Day by Day between now and Passover to draw closer to God in preparation for the Kingdom of God? Along with Prayer, Bible Study, and Striving to be a better child of God each and every day, four very important perspectives are given for us to muse and meditate on daily! Muse on this!

Day of Atonement Ritual

If we continue in our faithful walk with Christ as our Lord and Master, our High Priest, and our soon-coming King, we shall indeed rise first and meet and see Christ on His return to this earth…on this day, The Feast of Trumpets…Our Day!

Trumpets. The pivotal day!

In My Father's house are many mansions!

Satan would love to distract us from preparing and focusing on the Fall Holy Days ahead. At this time of year, problems of work, family, attitude, and health seem to escalate and jeopardize our focus and our peace. The first Holy Day of the Fall Holy Days season is the Feast of Trumpets, which celebrates, commemorates, and portends Jesus Christ's return to this earth. The promised return of Jesus Christ helps shift our focus and prepare us for the Fall Holy Day season ahead!

What a wonderful time that will be!

Friday Night Live

Roles From Creation - Handout

Handout: Marriage Part 16 - Divorce Part 3 - Not Please to Dwell 

Believers can be judged free to remarry for only three reasons. One of them is "An unbeliever is not pleased to dwell with a believer." A Christian is not “under bondage” for separating from an unbeliever who is not pleased to dwell and departs the marriage. Hostility towards God’s way of life is the key issue; but habitual misconduct such as criminality, addictive behaviors, abuse, desertion or willful failure to provide physical support (1 Timothy 5:8) demonstrates unwillingness to live in peace.The “believer” may need to initiate the legal divorce proceedings. Who constitutes an unbeliever?

Sexual Immorality and Adultery--What is it?

The New Testament describes three circumstances where a marriage is either not recognized or dissolved. Under such circumstances, annulment or divorce and subsequent marriage or remarriage are permissible without transgressing God’s law of the 7th Commandment, "You shall not commit adultery."

These circumstances can be summarized as: 

1.    Fraud/annulment (deception before marriage).  
2.    Sexual immorality. 
3.    An unbeliever “not pleased to dwell” with a believer. 

Sexual immorality is biblical grounds for divorce. Christ gave this as the “exception” clause, although the divine intent was for marriage to last until death. If a divorce does occur as a result of porneia (sexual immorality), the marriage covenant may be loosed, and remarriage may be permitted. Those remarrying in such a case would not be living in adultery.

We must acknowledge that while Satan is the initiator of failed marriages because he is the father of sin, we as individuals, as husband or wife, or husband and wife, are not only responsible for the success of our marriage, but we, as humans, are major contributors to the failure of the marriage.

What happens when the bronze clasp that holds the Hoberet together becomes so broken that it leaves holes throughout the sacred covering of the wife, or throughout the sacred covering of the husband, or throughout the Hoberet of both to the point where repair is or seems impossible or unlikely?

What does the Bible teach about Divorce?

Hold the line!

Pray Always and Do Not Lose Heart - Points to Consider (Handout) 

Living life where Satan is temporarily the god of this world means that praying and not losing heart is often very difficult. The parable of the window and the judge in Luke 18:1-8 helps us to focus on what we must do, which is to pray and never on what God promises to do for us. Our hope, our faith, must rest on God, the Word of God, and nothing else.

There are insights into praying that have been lost in the translation from Greek and Hebrew to English. Paying with the "tension of the will" and praying about your prayers are two examples. James tells us that "Elijah had a nature like ours," and studying his life provides us with a wealth of understanding that helps us to pray always and not lose heart.

The sin of pride.

(NOTE: There is a technical glitch in the video; the audio is fine.)

Between Pentecost and Trumpets

Being Mindful

Position and Qualifications

Pray Always and Do Not Lose Heart

The life of Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, is a testament to the truth that we, as the children of God, good people, do make poor decisions—and can even make a fatal decision if we do not yield to the urging of God’s Holy Spirit! Through the power of God’s Holy Spirit, God is present and available to work in your life, every moment, of every day, in every circumstance!

Family, let us learn the lesson from this awesome servant of God and have the courage to yield to the Spirit of God…early and often and always.

Handout: Jehoshaphat - Points Worth Contemplating

Jehoshaphat and the Sprint of God

Points Worth Contemplating - Handout

Like Jehoshaphat, our lives are a series of events and circumstances challenging our obedience and disobedience, pressing on our faithfulness and faithlessness in God. We are successful at times, and at other times we fail. God provides His Holy Spirit to us not just as His power when we need intervention, healing, or rescue but through the power of God’s Holy Spirit, God is present and available to work in your life every moment, every day, in every circumstance.

Handout: Jehoshaphat - Points Worth Contemplating

Acts 2:4 "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit…"

There are eight places in Scripture, including Acts 2:4, where the phrase “filled with the Holy Spirit” is used, and there is a ninth occurrence where the Holy Spirit obviously filled and enveloped the individual. Let us consider these nine examples of being filled with the Holy Spirit and the insight they provide into the power and strength of God in us to help us remain “with one accord” with Him.

Acts 2:1 (NKJV),  "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place."

The phrase “with one accord” in Greek is Homothymadon (Ho-Mo-Thee-Ma-Don’), which is most interesting because it translates as “with one mind, or one heart, or one soul.” Isn’t that beautiful? Before the Holy Spirit was given to them, they were already together with one mind, heart, and soul in one place. 

God wants us to come to Pentecost already With One Accord!

Handout:

The Wave Sheaf Offering

Without the reality that this ceremony symbolizes, mankind would have been reconciled to the Father through the death of Jesus Christ, but the possibility of salvation would not be realized because salvation is made possible through the resurrected life of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ did indeed rise from the grave and was accepted by the Father as the offering for all of mankind as depicted by this ceremony.

Can you, do you, will you identify with the harlot—who was among the “forgiven much,” and therefore “love much?” Or in your heart of hearts, are you more like Simon—among the “forgiven little” who “love little?”

Let's take a close look at Luke 7:36-50 and glean a spiritual lesson, for we—whether we realize it or not—must come to be counted among the forgiven much who love much!

Israel's baptism and your's.

"For this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep." 

Sleep…we will! But do not fear. For, because of the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, our love for Christ, and our repentance when we fall short, we are Glory bound…not Gehenna bound!

Sleep…we will! But we are bound for Glory!

Flee from idolatry.

Sound of heart! The widow's mite!

1 Corinthians 11:30 states, “For this reason, many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.”

I don't think there is any great mystery in understanding what Paul is bringing out by mentioning these three items because we all know what it feels like to be weak and sick and, for some of us, what it feels like to be dying. However, a misapplication or misunderstanding of 1 Corinthians 11:30 (“weak, sick, and sleep”) has caused many to enter Passover with considerable doubt, uneasiness, and fear.

Let’s examine “weak and sick” more closely to see what we might glean to help encourage a more balanced application and understanding of this verse as we prepare for Passover. 

Handout: Passover Preparation and Self-Examination

The sifting process is a separation process, most often used to find the good. You can look below the sifter and see the bad and what needs to be discarded, but what shows up on top of the sifter is the good. Sifting is a type of examination.

Passover and the Passover season are about Self-sifting, self-examination, judging ourselves, and asking Christ, with mercy and grace, to sift us gently so that we might see the areas that we cannot see on our own: the good and the bad, the gold and the dirt, the wheat and the chaff.

When considering Paul's admonition in 1 Corinthians 11:27-34 that we examine ourselves, that we discern the Lord’s body, there are five broad statements made by Paul:

1. We bring judgment on ourselves
2. We don’t judge ourselves
3. We are judged by God
4. We are chastened by the Lord
5. We may be condemned with the world

Where do we stand as we judge ourselves?

Handout: Discerning the Lord’s Body – The “I AM” – Part 1 - Iconology and Symbology

I Corinthians 11:28-29, "28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body."

Paul says that we must examine ourselves to make sure we are discerning the Lord’s Body…discerning Christ as God in His wholeness.

In our examination process, we must, as part of the Passover preparation, make certain we grasp how vastly different EVERYTHING about who Jesus Christ was and is—His pre-existence as God, God in the Flesh, God in Death, God in the Resurrection, and God as He is NOW—and to make a distinction with the awe and reverence that is due!

Is there any iconology or symbology in our worship of Christ that clouds our purity in discerning Christ's body on Passover? 

If we do not discern the Lord's body, we may eat the bread and drink the wine—and still be guilty of Christ’s blood and body.

Teach us to number our days!

ASD&R stands for Annulment, Separation, Divorce, and Remarriage.

Handout for Part 13 - ASD&R - Separation

http://wpb.cogwa.org/uploads/Marriage_-_Part_13_ASDR_-_Part_1_-_Separation_-_Handout.pdf

What does Christ teach us about marital separation? Often, we may criticize the Sadducees and Pharisees because of their continual testing and harassment of Jesus Christ and His disciples. Their harassment, however, did allow the addition of their questions and Christ’s reply to Holy Scripture. Christ's reply to their questions provides a deeper understanding of the important topic of Marital Separation.

The True Bread!

ASD&R stands for Annulment, Separation, Divorce, and Remarriage. Has the church and the ministry been given some level of authority or responsibility to pass judgment regarding the marriage state of an individual in the church? And what does Annulment mean, and when can it come into effect in a marriage?

Staying focused on the Plan of God!

Believing in God Through Yourself and Believing in Yourself Through God!

Lie #6: You will be like God...Knowing Good.

Lie #7: You will be like God...Knowing Evil.

These last two lying deceptions by Satan were intended to make Adam and Eve become like him, not like God. Knowing evil spoiled the good life God intended. Why? Because evil brings pain, grief, sadness, soreness, martyrdom, and sorrow. And if you don’t have the character of God to distinguish between what is good and what is evil, and to resist the evil, you will bring evil upon yourself and upon others just like Satan brought it upon Himself through sin and spread it to Adam and Eve! God the Father and Jesus Christ knew the results of evil, and now mankind would too—not just through knowledge, but sadly through experience because of their own choice to sin.

Lie #5: You will be like God.

This was a HUGE lie by Satan! Adam and Eve were already LIKE God….God had made them in His image after His likeness. Gen. 1:26 "Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."

Satan told this deceptive lie to convince them that being made in the image of God and according to God’s likeness was not good enough; they needed more, and He could give it to them NOW.

Do you really believe?

The sacrifices God requires of His people.

A most important aspect of our faith!

Lie #4: Your eyes will be opened

Satan finally got Eve to consider the lie that if she listened to him and ate the forbidden fruit, her ability to see and understand the truth would not only be greatly enhanced but her life would be vastly improved.

But the outcome for Adam and Eve was being ashamed. Not truth, but shame! Not peace, but shame! Not healing, but shame! Not knowledge, but shame! They fled from God, ashamed, not because of their nakedness, but because of their sin for breaking God's law!

Don't be "bsw" (bwush), ashamed in your marriage!

Lie #3: In the day you eat of it

Satan promised Adam and Eve immediacy of splendor and reward, a QUICK FIX, which he could not deliver, nor was it God’s intent to deliver immediately. “In the day you eat of it---WA-LA!”, splendor and reward—all of your problems…GONE!

But God was looking to create the CHARACTER of God in Adam and Eve. The character of God, by definition, cannot be bestowed. With the WORD of God, the Power of HIS Holy Spirit, time, crosses to bear, and hard work, we can develop the character of God by CHOOSING life! A good or godly Marriage requires hard work, commitment, sacrifice, loyalty, and humility.

Satan gave Adam and Eve FALSE, LYING expectations. Eat it now, grab it now, don’t wait, you can have it all right now….no line, no waiting, no work, no effort, no sacrifice required, no character required. The day you eat of it….PRESTO! All you have to do this eat this one time.

Satan lies to convince husbands and wives that solving problems in marriage, which every marriage has, is a matter of finding and applying a quick fix, and you will have immediate results.

The primary cause, the number 1 cause of sin and problems in marriage is Satan. That is not an excuse for the wrongs that we choose to do. Satan, however, is crafty, shrewd, and subtle, and he went to Eve first, I believe, knowing that she could leverage her physical attributes with Adam.

Satan will use and leverage whatever tactic will work in your marriage to soil the Hoberet and shake loose the Bronze clasps that hold it together.

In part 7, we begin to analyze problems in marriage, and the 7 lies of Satan in the context of marriage as told by him in Genesis 3:4-5.

Lie #1: You will not surely die

Lie #2: For God knows

In Deuteronomy 16:1 - 17, Moses reviews the plan of God through the Holy Days, speaking specifically about the 3 Feasts or seasons when the children of Israel migrated from their home to assemble before the Lord. Greater detail is provided in Leviticus 23. The question I pose is: “Are there admonitions given by Moses at the conclusion of the Feast Days that are instructive and intended for us today?” Yes, there absolutely are!!!!

Update on the Feast of Tabernacles 2023 in Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Maintaining Our First Love

The Reality of Satan. 

We will have the opportunity to spend eight days with the individual members, each with whom we will share time, space, handshakes, hugs, smiles, nods, food, drinks, laughs, stories, songs, work assignments, etc., during the Feast of Tabernacles. Jesus Christ says through Paul that “we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.” 

What does that mean? And what does that mean in terms of our relationships, our thoughts, our attitudes, and our interactions with one another today and over the upcoming Holy Days? What does that mean in terms of our responsibility to those we will meet at the Feast of Tabernacles, as well as to your individual physical and spiritual family members here in our local congregation?

Are you living the majority of your life based on the reality of today, or are you living based on the reality of the Feast of Trumpets? May God speed the reality of this day, this Feast of Trumpets!

Becoming unworthy.

On The Day of the Lord where will you be?

The Greatest Commandment

What does comparable mean from a wife’s perspective? What would God have women to understand about themselves from this power word, comparable? And what would God have the men to understand about this word, from the woman’s perspective?

For a wife to assume her role as a helper comparable to him, requires great love and humility on her part. For a husband to accept his role as head and to recognize the wife’s role as comparable (a prominent spiritual guide and help to him), requires tremendous love and humility on his part.

Roles From Creation Handout

The first two reasons that Christ gives for WHY He made Eve were: 1) to maintain goodness and 2) to eliminate loneliness. These two larger roles of women and wives can be expanded to 6 incredible roles or Godly characteristics: 1. To be good 2. To be prosperous 3. To be beautiful 4. To feel good 5. To be pleasing 6. To eliminate loneliness.

Based on our culture, upbringing, and the dynamics of the family unit or the absence of a family unit in which we were raised, we each likely have different concepts of marital roles. But the marriage institution is God's institution, so it's vital that we understand what God has to say on the topic of roles in marriage. Part 4 examines the joint roles given to man and woman, and the initial roles of the man/husband as given to Adam.

1. Be thankful for sufficiency.   2. Be mindful of excess.  3. Be willing to give.

Don’t take God’s sufficiency for granted. God is watching!

Tumbling Tumbleweeds!

Ephesians 5:32 - This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 

How does the Sanctuary represent the marriage union between man and woman, and Christ and the Church? Marriage is a Holy institution, a Holy Sanctuary, and we will see a perspective as to why!

Part 3 covers three topics as we delve a little deeper into this great mystery of marriage:

1.    So verses Because (Repentance Matters)
2.    Rebellious and Stiff-necked (God is Our Witness)
3.    Your Companion by Covenant (The Sanctuary)

Tears, Weeping, and Crying. 

Malachi is pointing out that the second area of great offense to the institution of marriage occurs when we are before God in prayer. He immediately begins to recognize the emotion that accompanies this institution—and we must be aware of and cautioned regarding emotions that saturate marriage. 

When marriages fail or are failing, there is normally tremendous sorrow and heartache. We may be sorry when we fail or come up short in many other areas of life, but when we have major troubles or fail in marriage or by extension, child raising, which is an integral part of the marriage institution, emotions rage in marriage, unlike no other institution.

Marriage--A Divine Institution Ordained of God Love, Friendship, Love, Marriage, Love, Death, Love. That was way too long and too confusing for a title to the series. Hence the acronyms of LFL-M-LDL. Ultimately this is a series about love which is the character of God (God is love), and through this series, we will touch on multiple aspects of the divine institution of marriage. The series will be multiple parts spanning over several months, but I want to take the time to be thorough and purposeful in our study. The goal is to improve current marriages and increase the likelihood of successful marriages going forward. I wish I could wave a magic wand to produce and more perfect and happier marriage because I would start by waving it at myself and my wife, but that magic wand doesn't exist. Possessing knowledge doesn’t equal a happy marriage; a happy marriage requires work, and during this series, we will define many aspects of that work.

There are many lessons and instructions in righteousness that we can glean from the book of Philemon, but the primary lesson is on reconciliation. Whether you look at the book of Philemon from the perspective of Onesimus as a Slave, Bondservant, or Brother, in life, we will have the opportunity to be the Onesimus who needs reconciliation, Philemon who can extend reconciliation, or Paul who can mediate reconciliation. Reconciliation…a skill and characteristic that God expects to see in us as His future Kings and Priests.

Why is God mindful of man?

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Love not sleep. Awake to righteousness.

Broken Parent. Broken Family. What Would God Have Me To Do? This question was asked by young adults...and this presentation provides some answers.

What does "Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit" mean, how is this sin committed, and why is a person not forgiven of this sin, either in this age or the age to come? (Matthew 12:31-32)

It is God's Holy Spirit that helps us to maintain our relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ, a relationship that is founded on the love of God, which is the keeping of God's commandments. God’s Holy Spirit is our helper, not a person, but the power of God that has always been made available by God to His little ones to help us, particularly in times of need and trouble.

The evidence in Scripture is overwhelming that there are not three personages that make up the Godhead forming what traditional Christianity terms the Trinity. The Godhead is not made-up of God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, 3 personages. The Bible is clear and overwhelming that the Godhead is made up of God the Father and Jesus Christ—only!

“Neither the word “Trinity” nor the explicit doctrine appears in the New Testament...” Encyclopedia Britannica

Mark 13:35–37 (NKJV) 35 Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning—36 lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!”

There is enough to watch without being consumed with trying to figure the day, time, and hour that Christ said we would not know. But we can watch the seasonal changes…and there are changes in the prophetic airs of current events. Let us WATCH and be Ready for whatever unfolds, whenever it does.

John 17:18–19 (NKJV) 
18 As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. 

It is one thing to realize that we are in the world and that Jesus Christ prays that we not be taken out of the world. But it's another level of spiritual insight and depth to realize that Jesus Christ has sent us into the world, that He has sent us into the cauldron. We're not just here existing in the cauldron struggling to make our way through life for the benefit of ourselves; we have been SENT into the cauldron, into this world by Jesus Christ—AS Jesus Christ was also sent by the Father into the cauldron. So, it compels us to give some thought to the reason, purpose, objective, and outcome for which Jesus Christ was sent by the Father into the cauldron as an explanation and purpose for why we are in the cauldron.

Becoming a profitable Servant

One of the most profound statements about being in the cauldron is that Christ did not pray that we should be taken out of the world, out of the cauldron. Christ wants us to be kept from the evil one while in the cauldron! This life brings about a mess of trials, hurts, pains, sorrows, confusion, depression, and deaths.  But there is a difference between dealing with all of that and keeping ourselves, with God’s help, from the evil one.

As part of the examination process in life and prior to Passover, look up out of the cauldron and 3) Thank God for the Truth of His Word. The world has rejected the Word of God as Truth. We have a calling, we have a ministry, we have been sanctified or set apart by God’s Truth to be the keepers and believers of God’s Word, who live not by the bread of life in the cauldron, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

The Potter and the clay.

What if this were all there is? I mean, this life! Are you excited about the future if this life is it? Life is a cauldron. But for those called by God, we are expected to look up out of the cauldron of life with our lens of Scripture firmly in place to see not only the meaning of the chess game where we are expendable pawns as we swash around in this cauldron, but also see the true purpose of this life and embrace our role as future kings and priest, in training, for everlasting life in the future Kingdom of God.

Peter, of all individuals, understood the roller coaster that a faithful, knowledgeable child of God would go through at times as God forms us and shapes us to be useful tools in His hands. We have faith, but must continually add to our faith, and remember that we have been cleansed from our old sins. We must prepare in advance for life's trials and temptations so we do not stumble. Peter wants us to make our call and election sure, Right Now!

Are you making your calling and election sure—Right Now? 

As you know, none of us can change the past. We can change our or others’ perspectives of the past, but the truth and the facts of the past are the facts of the past. As to the future, so much of it is uncertain. We can influence the future based on the decisions we make today; we can increase the possibility of certain events taking place based on what we do at any given time. But we cannot see, perfectly clear, the future, the facts of the future. What we have the ability and capacity to change is the right now. Our actions, attitude, perspective, and heart right now can make a difference right now and in the future. So, where are your eyes and heart right now? Are you making your calling and election sure—Right Now? 

Presentation of the Foundation International Sponsored 2016 Tour of Isreal. 

This is a presentation of Foundation Outreach International, the Service Leadership Academy, combined with the Feast of Tabernacles in India and Sri Lanka. Mr. Jackson also shares his previous humanitarian work in India. 

Isn't it comforting to know that the sins that we have been forgiven of will never count against us? And as long as we repent without being deceitful, when we go to God and ask for the forgiveness of our sins, God in His grace can extend that forgiveness.

In Part 4, the final part of this series, we review Scriptures where Aphiemi is translated as Forgiven.

What does is mean to be Forgiven? 
What does it mean to be Forgiven, but healing is not granted?
What are the responsibilities of the Forgiven?

Anyone who believes they have cornered the knowledge of God on any subject is sadly mistaken. We just try to peal layers of understanding as the Bible is revealed through God’s Holy Spirit. 

Forgiveness – Do you Need it? Do you GIVE it? I pray the answer to both is YES!

Like other characteristics of God, forgiveness has several layers that range from very simple to very complex. That is why God speaks of both the milk of the word and the meat of the word. As we examine the spiritual characteristic of forgiveness, most often, it is not a simple or easy characteristic of God to understand or implement. We're trying to see the quality of sincerity in forgiveness; the expression of singleness of purpose or motivation of forgiveness; the sincerity of forgiveness in the heart, and the desire of the heart to seek forgiveness. This is not a trivial subject, but one that the people of God should endeavor to understand and implement God's way.

The Greek word for forgive in the New Testament is Aphiemi. There is a lot to understand from this word. Does God expect us to forgive AND forget? Does God demand or require that you always forgive? What is the Bible’s answer to these questions, and what else can we learn regarding the spiritual act of forgiveness?

One of the most difficult acts of love we can express towards another as human beings, particularly when we are really hurt by someone, or guilty of hurting someone, is forgiveness. Part 1 begins with defining what forgiveness is in the Old Testament (Hebrew), then moves on to the New Testament in Part 2. Part 1 and Part 2, analyze some of the more esoteric meanings of the spiritual gift of forgiveness.

A heart of wisdom and Psalm 90.

Many of us have forgotten what it means or what it is like to be happy. The world, and all the challenges of life that we deal with, make it so difficult to just be happy. What does the Bible say are the keys or ingredients to happiness in the hope that we can all, during the day, week, month, or year experience the blessing of happiness?