When tragedy strikes we seek GOD, ALL MERCIFUL and ALL LOVING GOD.  But when things are going along "pretty good", a time when we begin to reflect upon what "we have done"; pride creeps in and there is not as much room for GOD.  When JESUS died for our sins, HE died for ALL the sins of the world, including  our REJECTION OF HIM.  1 John 4:8, "...GOD IS LOVE."  When we ascend a "small hill" (or are carried through a difficult time) we give ourselves credit for our accomplishments.  When GOD says, "I am with you always" that includes when we REJECT HIM.  Sitting atop of our "small hill" of temporary accomplishment keeps us from ever experiencing THE MOUNTAIN TOP. Once you are taken to the top of the Mountain, you realize how small the Hill was. You see, GOD of the VALLEYS, is GOD OF THE MOUNTAIN.

At Sunday services part of the message was; Luke 5:26, "and amazement seized  them all, they Glorified GOD and were filled with awe, saying we have seen extraordinary things today."  The Church emptied and I fell to my knees at the pulpit. "What happened GOD?"  "Was the message today received just as a story (a tale) without Power and Meaning? Was it not a message sent from YOUR HEART to ours?"  Were we in so much awe and wonderment that the words brought us such unthought, unexpected  and incredible revelations, that people were walking, dancing and crawling out of the pews with such Faith that the Pardon of Sin, was far greater than the earthly Blessings, or Life Itself?  When I finished my prayer, I realized that GOD had given me the message I needed to hear, in my own words.  HE will do the same for you and it will always (not just sometimes) be filled with amazement, wonderment and extraordinary revelations.  If you don't know  where to start, maybe you can do what I did; WHAT HAPPENED GOD? But be careful, you will find yourself preaching to empty Pews, BUT YOU'LL GET THE MESSAGE!

The Past is gone, never to be recaptured.  The Future will not come.  All we have is NOW; that precious reality of time, NOW, that we share.  The reason we  make Scripture so difficult is we don't listen.  Psalm 90:10, "The length of our days is seventy years - or eighty..."  Is this statement to be taken "literally", or is it a reflection of human life?  Maybe it is reminding us that we have a "fixed" limit of life and we should use it wisely for the purpose we were created.  All creatures have a limited life and they adapt to the design for which they were made; JOYFULNESS in life.  We are reminded that we have a brief period of time to accomplish ALL that we need to.  It reminds us that time is not past or future; IT IS NOW and NOW IS TOO PRECIOUS TO BE WASTED.

Is the world and life an illusion, a dream and just a figment of our imagination?  An illusion is the misleading  impression of reality, the state of being deceived.  The answer to the question is YES!  We all see the world differently because of our life experiences and the limitation of our senses (some of us more than others).  The sunset is something different to a "blind" man than to a person with eyes. The person who was rude to us, may have been thinking about how he is going to take care of his sick wife, if he loses his job.  Hebrews 4:12, "...the WORD OF GOD ...piercing the soul and spirit...discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." When we see life through GOD'S eyes, we see TRUTH not just an obscure awareness of TRUTH.  We recognize that NOTHING IS IMPORTANT, because we have an indivisible ONENESS with GOD; and yet, EVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT, because it brings us to the eventual SELF-REALIZATION that TRUTH IS GOD.  Without seeing the world through GOD'S EYES, LIFE IS AN ILLUSION!

How many of us have read Matthew 1:1-17?  You know, the genealogy of JESUS, that we won't remember anyway?  Where a man named Salmon and his wife, Rahab, were the parents of Boaz.Rahab, wasn't she a prostitute who saved the spies?  Wasn't Boaz's and his wife Ruth a great love story? And Boaz and Ruth had a son named Obed, who was the father of Jesse and Jesse the father of King David!  All of the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations; and from the Israelite defeat and exile to Babylon was fourteen generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the birth of CHRIST was again, fourteen generations.  These seemingly "unrelated" stories in the Bible are actually connected by ONE COMMON ORIGIN, JESUS!  Remember, all Scripture is "GOD BREATHED" and are to be read, BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT JUST MEANINGLESS STORIES!

We just don't Spring Clean any more!  Remember when we used to clean, giving unused items to those who could use them?   Vary rarely was anything stored or thrown away.  When clothes became so worn that Charities refused them, our mothers would make quilts or wash them over and over for rags (we never bought rags!).  We weren't afraid to "give" something away; in fact it made us feel better to know someone could use it.  We weren't so selfish "hoarding" everything.  We weren't so vain thinking, "I'll be able to fit into this again".  And we weren't so "hardened" as to others needs. When we spent these times cleaning, our hearts and minds experienced a re-freshening, new birth experience too.  We thought and acted differently.  Ecclesiastes 3:6, "...a time to keep, and a time to cast away."  Are we so selfish and fearful to share with others that we have to have more storage space?  Is that WHY THERE ARE SO MANY STORAGE FACILITIES?

The Sun is shinning, its warmth surrounds and absorbs you.  The Flowers by themselves are a beautiful picture, but become a Masterpiece when combined with all creation.  We begin to "Bask" in HIS Presence; we experience HIS pleasant warmth and begin to flourish in this "security"; our understanding of this moment becomes GOD'S TRUTH and we begin to know and express it in TRUTH.  The Sun "is like a bridegroom coming from HIS chamber, a champion reJOYcing to run his race (Psalm 19:5).  When we see the flowers we think, "even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed as one of these" (Matthew 6:29).  It is the time when we are abiding in GOD'S Presence that HE speaks to us. Exodus 33:11, "so the LORD spoke to Moses, face to face..."  All excuses and hindrances are gone; GOD speaks to us when we are in HIS Presence, BASKING. 

Enough is a contradiction.  It can mean that our needs are met sufficiently, by having ENOUGH; or, it can mean that we are "lacking", and don't have ENOUGH.  Do we get discouraged and even angry when GOD doesn't provide for our needs when we ask?  And even better yet, we shouldn't have to ask!  Does GOD respond to "our defined need" (if GOD responded our defined need, there would be no death, starving and no financial lacking)?  Or is it FAITH that GOD responds too?  Do we come to GOD in FAITH and Trust that HE will provide for our needs; Or do we bring our "needs" to GOD to be provided for?  Are we GRATEFUL and give THANKS for what we HAVE; Or are we FEARFUL and resentful for what we LACK?  1 Thessalonians 5:18, "give thanks in  all circumstances..."  Do we still think GOD responds to need, or FAITH?  Do we lack, and complain; or do we have ENOUGH AND ARE GRATEFUL?

A student will spend hours trying to understand a hypothesis or foundation to a particular thought in their "worldly" field of study or particular interest. Rarely, is the same, or even a partial amount, of effort spent understanding a Scripture.  One of the most misunderstood and divisive Scriptures  is where wives are to "obey" their husbands!  Does the Bible say that?  Has much of GOD'S Word been distorted through multiple translations or have we become "so lazy" that we hear the "many interpretations" and choose the one we want?  Ephesians 5:24, "Therefore as the Church is subject unto CHRIST, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything."  The Apostle Paul did not use the word "obey" nor even the word "submit" (which is not in the original text either) in the context of today's meaning.  The literal translation of this Scripture is to "listen to" and "respect";  here, Paul is talking to all of us to be humble before one another and uses the example of the wife and husband.  Note, that this "submission", "obedience", "respect" is  given freely not from arranged compulsion.  Submit ourselves (wife to husband, husband to wife, and Christian to Christian) IN EVERYTHING which is not contrary to the WILL OF GOD.  Everything does not include that which is detrimental to our Souls.  GOD holds both man and woman equally responsible for trampling upon HIS WORD!  For the "student" who says, I will choose the Scripture I will follow and the ones I won't; will live according to their folly, and will become wise in their own eyes.  A FOOL WILL REMAIN A FOOL.

After all the advice is given, in the midst of "do this", "do that" and "when is it going to happens"; do we still have Peace, Love and JOY?  Or, are we dependent on the applause of others for happiness and evaluation of self-worth?  Then, there is this place we go where we examine ourselves truthfully; we do not "beat ourselves up" in an effort to obtain Holiness and we don't "puff ourselves up" with extravagant expectations of what a great person we are (by comparison to others of course).  This is the place where we only compare ourselves to the WORD of GOD;  this is where we impartially see our real character.    Galatians 6:4, "...he shall have rejoicing in himself, and not in another."  Proverbs 14:14, "A good man shall be satisfied from himself."  Our real character, in the Presence of GOD, gives us real JOY, we find the desires of our hearts to be virtuous; our real character to be Pure and it is no longer a "Step of Faith" to follow our Passion!  It was the "STEP OF FAITH, THAT BROUGHT US TO THIS SPECIAL PLACE!