Peeking over the Father’s shoulder

I often wished that I could just see what the Father was up to and how He was preparing to direct my future. We are allowed to see a little of what is in the eyes of the one who rules the universe sees. We must consider what He has had written in His love letter to our soul.

First, He instructs us to take no thought for tomorrow, as the evils of the day are sufficient. The verse refers to the evil you need to resist as well as the time you should invest today in your life and the lives of those about you. The good news is that another verse says, “where evil does abound. GRACE does much more abound.” So we know that we have a whole lot of extra grace available daily than we will need. So, enjoy your gift of grace everyday. There is a time to laugh and a time to cry, a time to morn and a time to rejoice.

Secondly, we would do well to heed His advice to enjoy each and ever morsel of life that we are given. All to often we mourn for what we don’t have instead of experiencing what is our alone to enjoy. Too many married folks are not the enjoying the fact that they are married. Satan has been given too much time in our lives. We are too busy with other stuff to enjoy the married relationship or your parenting privilege. Your husband, your wife, nor your child will ever be the same again after today. Each and every day is different and unique. Do allow yourself to become too busy to share the treasures of your love with one another today. Remind her that she is the very best partner on this shared journey you are taking together. Remind him that he is the one whose love you cherish and his words of kindness are what you need on this get the most out of you journey today. See your children for the gifts that they are today. Not what they can or will be but today embrace where you are now on this journey. Life is full of choices.

We can feel the pain of losses, the comfort of disappointment, the loneliness of discouragement, or search though the pieces of broken dreams. It is also our choice to embrace the moments of life and savor the goodness of your journey. You can smell the flowers and taste and see that God is good. Choices allow you to take moments out of your busy schedules to encourage your children. They are yours to laugh with, and appreciate.

Take a slice out of your day to participate in the Kingdom about you. Peek over the Father’s shoulder into you spouse’s needs and hopes. Look and see how He would want you to touch your children lives “forever” today. Teach yourself to recognize Kingdom work. Seek to understand how that you can be about something “eternity” each day you have to live.

Richard Klein

The Splendor of Beginning

Mornings are special splendors that are always unique and can never be duplicated. Watching the Father swing the doors of morning open is every time is a special occasion. We watch the shades of darkness retreat before the pastels of beginning light. Morning is a blend of miracles and mist, of cool and warmth, and newness advancing while the yesterday retreats. It is time of new beginnings. Like our lives, as they unfold the blossoms of hope beginning that salvation moment. Seeing the shades of darkness being washed away by His light is an extremely moving experience. We see the eyes of faith open to a day of hope, as a soul is resurrected. What a wonderment to behold! The observing of the soul that has been set free is more memorable than describable. It is unique and rewarding as our watching the birthing of a new day.

The sunbeams of the morning are like shooting stars, proceeding the expectations of the grandeur of the coming morning. The confessions of the lost, reaching for hope of forgiveness, are like sunbeams. They are Sonbeams of light assaulting the darkness that had, for years, surrounded their souls. Visions of the newness of life and feeling of the fresh beginning bring deep soul smiles of great joy to the new believer’s brow.

Mornings mix splendor with power and replace night with day. So is the soul that has had the freedom of forgiveness wash across the crevasses of their life. The light of the joy spreading over their soul is unmistakable, as it is unforgettable. Glory to the Father who has given us all the gift of morning to help us comprehend the gift of life. Seeing a soul being set free at the altar of prayer is breathtaking.

A life given to the Father is ripe with the possibilities for the future. No longer are dread and despair their nighttime companions. They have taken the step to give their tomorrows to Him for His investment. Therefore, night has lost its power of fear. Snuggling in the arms of the Master of the universe becomes a believer’s lullaby, unsung yet always heard. Now they have the power to resist sin and the power to point the way to those who live in the turmoil which they have left behind. Light floods their soul, gushing out of the window of our hearts to blind the darkness they have just escaped. Praise to the Father for such power and freedom that comes with the Sonrise in our soul. May it always be an honor to see the newness of the soul being born into everlasting life. We have seen night become day. In the midst of that day is the light that has “no shadow when it turns”. The brightness is the light of Jesus, the lover of our soul, in whom “there is no darkness at all.” Sharing this morning miracle of a soul being brought to life is a fellow believer’s joy. He understands as he recalls his “new morning” with pleasure beyond measure.

Richard Klein

SOUL MAPPING ..Finding our spiritual way

The journey for faith to knowledge is and interesting one. Faith is believing in something to the degree that you are willing accept responsibility for its outcome. It is a friendship with the principles that the faith represents. You can have faith in good things, bad things, or in things that fall somewhere in the middle of those extremes.

Faith is a journey toward knowledge. As one experience their faith they can place that faith into the knowledge part of their thinking and begin to develop a new launch pad for faith based on that knowledge.

Faith is the beginning of belief and the vehicle that gives vision possibilities. There are always sermons about Faith that one could develop and their are a myriad of examples that faith has brought the expected results. How then can I develop faith and how can I exercise it? When do I have a right to claim by faith, to walk by faith or to live by faith? Faith is premised on a certain set of principles.

Faith is usually built on the foundation that others have given us. Our parents, family or our teachers are the main sources of faith-knowledge principles. Friends, our experience and our general personalities will likely, also influence our faith. It is simply easier for some personalities to believe in the expectations of faith.

While others, the doubting Thomas type, need more concrete proof before they make of leap of Faith.

Friends more easily influence some personalities than other are. Finally, some of you have developed a faith threshold that is far easier to access than is another’s.

The more that you know something to be true or predictable the less faith you need to exercise in your personal life concerning it. If you have experience a certain level of knowledge you can use that level of knowledge to access new possibilities for those principles or ideas. The more you know the less faith it takes to reach that level of confidence again.

The more I knew that God could and would do; the more secure in my understanding was of Him. Also, the more I was able to look beyond how I was going to do something and into How was He going to do it my focus reversed. Now I am preparing to work for Him rather than expecting Him to work for me. When I gave my rights to control what was happening in my life to Him, I could be thankful for the little things instead of waiting to be thankful for the big things.

If you learn to thankful for the moments in your life you will spend a lot more time being happy than if you are only thankful for the year. Miracles are made out of millions of little blessings. Learn to notice the tiny blessing in your life. It is great to be thankful and counting tiny blessings should keep your life full of happiness.

(Joshua 6:1 - 14)

Nothing is impossible for the Lord. No obstacle confuses God or poses
any kind of challenge for Him. Though we know He is sovereign over every
situation, we have trouble maintaining this perspective. Too often when
we hit difficulties, we:

Experience a shift in focus. During trials, we tend to take our eyes
off the Lord and instead see only our problems. The longer we look at our
circumstance, the larger it seems. As we dwell on it in thought and
conversation, our mindset can become very negative. Though God still has a
direction for us to take, we are no longer concentrating on His
purposes.

Develop an incorrect assessment of resources. In our troubles, we start
taking inventory of our own strength and abilities. When they prove
insufficient, we become discouraged. The truth is that we don't have what
is needed for life's trials - Jesus Himself told us that. (John 15:5)
But God's capabilities are unlimited, His power is never - ending, and
His wisdom is complete. We need to take stock of His resources, not our
own.

View obstacles as barriers. For the obedient believer, impediments
represent opportunities, not problems. The Lord can demonstrate His awesome
power through our difficulties. At such times, we grow in our faith and
learn more about our Father. If we view hardships simply as troubles,
then we can miss demonstrations of God's love, power, and wisdom.

Start each day committed to a Christ - centered focus, a dependence on
His resources, and an "opportunity" mindset.
Felix Caranza

People have used ridicule to control, separate, destroy, Deceive, devalue, to promote disobedience and to develop agendas for everything.

Satan has used ridicule from the time he started with Eve in the garden. Would not you want to be like God? God only keeps this tree from you because He knows that you will be as smart as he is if you eat of it. [ You stupid woman God didn’t tell you the truth!]

God says sex outside of marriage is fornication and is a sin. Satan says ridicule: Everyone is doing it these days God would send all of these people to Hell. It is OK.

The deception is that; if we gang up on God and all decide to do evil that He will have to make our sin OK.

Now God doesn’t really mean what He says. Then Satan begins to tell you what God could not say clearly enough to you that it requires Satan to interpret it for God. Ridiculing things that God has said are not right with the idea that God must have been mistaken. This is what God meant. You don’t rally believe that God created you . You know that you evolved from nothing to monkeys to chimps to people

Well under certain conditions it is OK. Jesus said because of the hardness of you heart God allowed divorce but only for immorality and that was not a requirement. Now; what do you suppose that God thinks you means when you swear to live together in holly matrimony when you say for better or worse, in sickness or health, for richer or poorer, until death do us part?

Homosexuality.. Well, we have to be tolerant? It is not their fault. But Bible says they will be in the "Hell crowd". So, Satan starts by saying it is really Ok and Movies are everywhere saying that this person is normal. The Bible says he is perverted. Now our doctors say that they are a good environment for child raising. There is a whole lot more important things than a friendly environment to raise children. Like moral character, principals, ethics, and living the gospel.

Even the heathens know better that this and while medical science says it is OK. The Bible says it is an Abomination in the site of God. Who to you really believe is right here? Medical Science or God? Of course, they only quote the medical scientist that agree with their conclusion. Take you choice! "Chose you today whom you shall serve" is science be god serve it, It God be God serve Him.

Cursing.. You can turn on the TV any day and hear God’s name use in vane. Ridiculing Jesus and the Father to further their own agendas. You can go to any store or walk down most any street and hear God being ridiculed with cursing. Cursing has become a national pastime. The whole country uses Gods name every day but usually for cursing. The more people curse God, the less people reverence God. Cursing is Satan’s way of ridiculing God. It is Satan’s way of devaluing God.

Satan said to Jesus. Your hungry if you are God then turn these stones into bread. The trouble with Satan is that Jesus already knew that He was God and He also knew that Satan was there to destroy His faith in Himself.

Satan will try to do the same with you if he can. That leads to self doubt and to fanaticism. He wants you to doubt your relationship with God "God couldn’t love you with all the stuff in your life so get your act together or God won’t really want you. Contrasted with God’s approach to you .." For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whosoever will believe in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

Satan challenges you with questions like: When is the last time God really helped you out? instead of the obvious question. When is that last time God didn't helped you out? Satan's ridicule [ Do you really think that God is interested in you?]

Satan scoffs: Are you a Paul or a Silas, an Ester or Mary? Are you Billy Graham, Chuck Swindoll, or a Mother Teresa? Do you think you are a John Wesley, a Charles Spurgen or Martin Luther?

Just what have you done for God. What have you done to earn God’s Grace in your life. God is busy with people who are producing… God helps those that help themselves!!! You are lazy, not to good looking and you don’t have any talents. Your can’t preach; you read poorly; you never pray enough. Why would God be interested in you? When it comes right down to it you are a self-center less than average person. Ridicule: God’s got better things to do than worry about you. The truth is that God desperately loves you and gave His only Son for YOU!!

Well, if God doesn’t love me and can’t love then, He must not be God . Maybe there isn’t a God maybe this is all coincidence. Maybe God is dead or busy off somewhere. Doubt and loss of faith are the undertaker’s best friends. When a person loses these factors he has no reason to live.

The TRUTH is that His eye is on the sparrow and His eye is on you continually. He love ‘s you with an everlasting love that He has made part of Himself that does nothing but clove and care for you. Not watching you to catch you doing wrong but to help you do right. He wants to lift you up in His everlasting arms and to have fellowship with you, alone individual. He created you to love and to be loved. To love him and to allow Him to love you.

IF, Satan can deceive you and devalue what you believe and if he can get you discouraged then he can destroy you. The ultimate desire of Satan is to destroy you, your influence, your reputation, your faith your family and ultimately you soul. For the soul that sinneth shall surely die. The path to sin flows through all of these paths. Deceive, devalue, discourage and destroy, that is Satan ‘s plan for every believer. Satan is a liar and the father of all liars. The Bible declares.

Satan has a different plan for the lost. Sinners don’t need the concentration of confusion that he gives to the believers.

Christians backslide and lose their fellowship with the Father because their Faith is weakened not because of sin itself. Christians get to choose to sin or not to sin. However, if you listen to Satan long enough you will begin to believe his lies you wind up where he was leading you. Away from a power filled Blessed and Godly life into a life of dread and discouragement no longer on the verge of Glory but balancing on the abyss of Hell.

IF you choose not to listen to Satan and turn to God; then your life fertile for the blessing of the Father to flood your soul with joy unspeakable and to be full of Glory. The next time Satan calls hang up or hand the phone to Jesus, the lover of your soul

Faith Vrs Fear = Freedom or Failure

Mark 4:35-41

On the evening of that day, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." So they sent the crowd home and took Him with them in a little boat in which he had been sitting, accompanied by other small craft. Then came a violent squall of wind that which drove the waves aboard the boat until it was almost swamped. Jesus was in the stern asleep on a cushion. They awoke Him with the words, "Master, don't you care that we're drowning?" And He woke up, and rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, "Hush now! Be still!" The wind dropped and everything was very still. "Why are you so frightened? What has happened to your faith?" He asked them. But sheer awe swept over them, and they kept saying to one another, "Who can He be?-even the wind and waves do what He tells them!"[ The New Testament in Modern English]

"You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only." Matt 4:10 Jesus said.

We are the ones who choose for God which will rule in our Christian journey. We are the ones that choose to be the doubting Thomas or to be full of the Stubbornness of Saul of Tarsus. The impetuousness of Peter or the steadfastness of John is our choices.

We live in a society where fear is its motivator. Our society fears the loss of everything from our youth to our inability to obtain the new toys that are supposed to bring us happiness. We live in fear of failure as if our failure to provide the latest and the greatest is a sign of our weakness. Being satisfied with what we have seems to be declaration of our failure to "surplus" our lives with the "things" society says we "need". Our society is one of excess, which puts us into bondage for our time and dictates the circumstances of happiness for us. The fear of ridicule if I declare my faith. We fear ridicule if we declare our faith. We fear God if we don’t.

We have learned to fear what we look like, where we live, when we will die. Fear controls our purchases, our choices in life. Fear dominates our love for God or our lack of it. Fear interferes with our love for others, in our personal life, and our community life as participants in this world.

"Master, Master are you not concerned that we are about to drown?" His disciples shouted to a sleeping Jesus. As the scene of this test continues Jesus awakened and spoke to the wind and waves "Hush now! Be still!" The wind dropped and everything became very still. Jesus spoke to His beloved men and said "Why were you so frightened? What happened to your Faith?" This is a simple set of questions to address the turmoil in their hearts. Modern psychologist would tell you that fear is perfectly normal while Jesus said fear is not normal but fear is a lack of faith. He basically gave you an a-b=d [desperation] equation. If A [fear] is present it is because B [faith] is not there so desperation takes over. If you have a B[faith]-A[fear]=C[calm] equation all is well If, A[faith] is first-B[fear] never takes effect, then the peace that passes all understanding takes over.

Faith is incompatible with fear! The psychological fact here is that the less faith you have the more fear you have. One key here is the statement teat fear conquers faith or faith conquers fear. Which shall it be in your life? Jesus questioned them "Why are you so afraid? Where is your Faith?" Jesus knew that these men could have exercised their faith but He deeply regretted that they chose not to access their privilege.

Here is a privilege that Jesus wanted His people to use. He knew that as their faith grew their fears would shrink. Jesus knew that it was not the things that I feared that were my problem but the fact that my reaction to them was to fear. If we will learn that " Faith can conquer Fear." We have grasped the meaning of this passage. I also must know that this is a learning process. The disciples did not just have it because they were with Jesus but Jesus knew that they could have and perhaps should have learned it by then. Life is full of thing you need to learn on is the Christian walk. Don’t bat "cross-handed" learn to put faith first and fear second.

Faith can conquer all kinds of fear: latent fear [fear that has always been in your life but usually in control] perhaps based on negative or bad experiences. "Momentary fears" that come for circumstances, You control them when you exercise your faith. "Free floating fear" [fear that we have kept as a philosophy of life] Life was created that we might learn to fear. The instant that you exercise your God given privilege of faith, whatever fear that is attacking you is vanquished. Secular psychologist deal with four issues in peoples lives; happiness, sorrow, sadness, and fear. It is perhaps that as non-Christians, they are not aware of the Faith issue that is the "Golden key" to a balanced life.

David said "I sought the Lord and He answered me and He delivered me from all my fears." ." Ps. 34:4

Isaiah reinforced David’s thought when he said

"I will trust Him and be not afraid."

The human problem with fear has been given special attention in the Word.

Fear is a result of sin and insecurity. Adam’s first recorded words to God are "I was afraid." Gen 3:10 In Hebrews we are referred to as "slaves to fear." Fear is what Jesus came to deliver us from and freedom from fear is His gift to the believers.

Our weaknesses come from our fears and our strengths from our Faith.

When Jesus was ask to come to a home to heal a child he got sidetracked on the way healing her and the servant of the man came and said " Don’t trouble the master any more as your daughter has died." Jesus turned to him and said don’t be afraid she will be healed. Jesus addressed the fear of the man not the sorrow so someway sorrow and fear are related.

Fear affects our lives:

Clear thinking…. Fear interferes with clear reasoning. Prov.28: 1 The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, but the righteous are bold as lions. Fear impairs our judgement. Fear is not a fact but a reaction to a fact. Negativism, pessimism, depression and hopelessness are all fear-based reactions. If you are a believer the facts do not support worry. Always count to 10 before you worry. Better yet, pray and ask the Father if it is OK to worry! You are not a born worrier. Worry is a choice and a born again Christian need not worry.
Lower life maintenance; Worry causes great wear and tear on your body, mind and spirit. Hope [faith] sees better, thinks better, acts better and last longer than worry ever could or should. Every time you add fear to your life you’re in need of maintenance.
Avoids repeat experiences an old proverb says, "He who fears dies a thousand deaths." Fear is a way or experiencing pain before it comes and a way of recording it for future discomfort. "Stored worry is bottled misery."
Paralyzes grace; A "faith thinker" receives more grace and avoids most worry related experiences altogether. They avoid "past traps" i.e. The last time it happened…..A "faith thinker" knows that the past is not the dictator of their future but faith is. Past fear joined with future fear leads to constant fear. A "faith thinker" looks to God to provide the strength and grace for whatever is coming their way. Faith thinkers know that God has already seen whatever is coming their way and has prepared a way of escape for them. The Word says: "As thy days, so shall your strength be." God is faithful He will not let you be tempted above which you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will provide a was out so that you can stand up under it." I Corth. 10:13 " James 4:6 "He gives greater Grace."
Rewards of faith: Moses said "He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward." Heb11:26. When you are tempted to fear exercise the vision of faith of the rewards that are set before you.

THE BIBLE "DO NOT FEARS"

To Abraham; "So not be afraid Abram I am your shield, your great reward." Gen 15:1
To Isaiah; "Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy. He is the one you are to reverence, His the one to dread…" Isaiah replied, "I will wait for the Lord who is hiding His face for the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in Him." Isaiah 8:12-13,17
To Jeremiah; "Do not say I am only a child. You must go to everyone I send you and to say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I and with you and will rescue you." declares the Lord. Jer 1:7-8. This is the cured by faith approach to life’s problems. Jeremiah’s message was later stated "Do not be afraid of the king of Babylon, whom you now fear. Do not be afraid of him declares the Lord, for I am with you and I will deliver you from his hands" Jer 42:11He was saying don’t be afraid of that overbearing boss, parent, wife or husband. God’s command is do not be afraid!
To Paul Jesus appeared to him and said" Do not be afraid; keep on speaking; do not be silent…." Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trail before Caesar.." Acts 27:24
To the church at Smyrna; "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. "Rev 2:10 Faith conquers all fear was His message to the church. Fear not life, death, nor eternity!"

Jesus said "You of little faith why are you afraid?" Faith and fear are on a teeter-totter. Too many people have put on bigger fears than they do faith. When things look bad add faith! Are fears holding you down? Add faith.

Some days your faith is up some days it is down some days your fears are up and faith is lacking. When faith is one the downswing the potential for fear is on the upswing. Too often Faith is based on experiences or on the storms. Jesus caught these men when their faith was effected on the storms rather than the fact that they were traveling with the "Son of God" True faith is a matter of volition of your will. Regardless as to the darkness of your situation you can choose faith! Jesus said, "Just believe"

We live in a time where a popular gospel is that we are elected and nothing you can do will effect your salvation. I do believe that neither good works, church membership, taking communion nor being baptized is needed for salvation.

However, when the Philippine Jailer cried to Paul what must I do to be saved? Paul did not say nothing! Paul said "you must believe…..in the Lord Jesus. And you will be saved!" God enables you to have faith but you must choose to exercise it. Faith is the ultimate tool you have in your life against Satan and the roots of fear, anger, sorrow, timidity, bitterness, hatred, loneliness, stress, anxiety, depression, gossip and embarrassment. All of these come from fear!!!!

We all get caught on the teeter-totter on occasions. Psalms explains; "When I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid" See the teeter-totter?

Proverbs says "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trust in the Lord shall be kept safe." "Teeter-totter" Here faith activates a blessing. Trust and you will be safe.

Isaiah " Surely, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid" "teeter-totter"

Jeremiah; "But blessed is the man who trust in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He will be like the tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no Worries in the year of droughty and never fails to bear fruit."

We, like the tree can put forth our faith roots in to the pure stream from the throne of God and fear not nor have any worries for the outcome of our lives.

Faith Cure-all

Jesus said to Jairus;

"Don’t be afraid just believe and she will be saved"

Jesus’ words to His disciples "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. This is the cure for fear!

Paul said, "last nigh an angel of God whose I am and I serve stood beside me ad said ’Do not be afraid Paul" and Paul’s "faith cure-all" was to immediately affirm, " I have faith in God.."

Hebrews speaking of Moses admonished "By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw Him who was invisible."

One last "teeter-totter" principle from Hebrews; "Keep you lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said. ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’. So we say with confidence; ‘the Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?’"

Transitions seem to always to be more difficult that they need to be. Some of the problem is the comfort level often hinders us from progressing. Liking things the way they are is the very reason that God often has to "shake our part of the vine." Some pruning is needed to give more fruit and to have healthier growth.

Changing a pastor is not doing away with the old and bringing in the new it is combining forces against the evil that confronts us. The staff that seems to be retreating will find other avenues of service either at the new pastors request or just because it is there to do.

One thing for sure when the new pastor gets here you will find him to be a worker and a diligent man, one that you will be proud to serve with.

You will find him to just as pleased to serve with you. The new leader is the old leader in a different form. We are lead by the same spirit and loved by the same Father. We are simply on the journey to the heart of God. The skills that each has are His gifts developed by His strength in us.

Our team is now his team and we are looking forward to the new challenges that will come with this change.

The new pastors will need your prayers, your patients and your love. They are treasures from God to our congregation. They are the leaders that He has chosen for us as we move to the next section of this grand and glorious journey.

A pastor’s is a wonderful person that will bless your life just being around her. She is as talented in her own way as he is in his. She will be our new "First Lady" pray for her as she battles with us.

Everyday represents a walk in new time with new opportunities. We are growing and changing while God is the same yesterday today and forever. The challenge for us is to emulate Him and to teach His ways. Most He tells us is beyond our understanding but what we can know about Him we can and must apply. His Word is about that task of teaching us His ways and His purpose.

As the new pastor begins to lead our journey he will open up new ideas and new ways of doing some of the same things as well as new thing we need to begin. He will desperately need our prayers and our support for together, we are thrust in the middle of the battle for our souls and the souls of the ones we hold so dearly. We are in the business of pushing back the very gates of Hell. We are taken on the task to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ about the regions of the damned. We cannot fail, must not fail. The world of the "hopeless" desperately need the divine love that fills our hearts to be poured in to their lives.

We are on this grand an glorious journey with now, a new leader but the task is the same we need to get shoulder to shoulder to withstand the onslaught of Satan.

Remember that "where evil does about Grace does much more abound." So let us access the extra abundance of Grace and turn the tide of evil away in our lives, in our families, our community, our nation an ultimately our world. The battle is His so let's begin again.

A Woman to Love
"I don’t want a strong woman, I want a woman of strength"
1. I want a woman who is spiritually, emotionally, and physically enticing to me. It is hard enough to be Godly, without your help it becomes is extremely tough. I need your prayers and your support.
2. I want a woman to teach me how to love her rather than to assume that I already know how. You are so complicated and you have a spirit of gentleness that is hard for me to understand.
3. I want a woman to encourage me not to rule over me. The Bible says to submit yourselves one to another as unto the lord. This is not easy for me to claim you as a helpmate and yet to feel that you are trying to rule over me.
4. I want a woman that is feminine enough to let me be masculine. We are each apart of God so together the best of us will be better that we would have been separately.
5. I want to have a woman full of thankfulness. I will tell you a little secrete; a man will work himself to death for a grateful woman. Nothing drives us quite the gratitude and thankfulness.
6. I want to look into her face and see admiration. Admiration is a sweet kiss on my heart that spirits me to reach higher and to press harder and to seek to do better on my life’s trail.
7. I want a woman who is committed to God and yourself first, Marriage second and to parenting third. I recognize that there are times that the children will have to be attended to over me but we cannot loose the "us" in them. Marriage is permanent and parenting is temporary. The children feast on the goodness of the marriage.
8. God has made you a mystery to me that marriage does not solve. Talk with me, help me, and love me while I seek to know the treasure you really are to me. Please do not assume that I know how to navigate your mysteries without your guidance and direction.
9. I want her to believe in me even when I don’t believe in myself. It is tough world out there for me I need you comfort love and support. I need it more than I am willing to admit. I thrive on your confidence when mine is depleted.
10. I want her to remember that she is the most attractive gift that God will give me. I do think you are beautiful, that is part of what drew me to you. Your beauty will draw and keep me. It will bring me pure happiness to see your lovely face. Perhaps, I should say it is the love I see in your face.
11. She needs to understand that I need time, time to solve problems. Time to me, is a precious commodity. God made us to be alone with Him and to ask for answers. So, when you need an answer now, I either have to give you an answer based on my experience or I must have time to ask God what I should do.
12. I am not a counselor I am your husband. I solve problems so when you bring me problems that I cannot solve I feel like a failure. If I were looking for a perfect woman I would want one who would give me the subject are discussing. I need to know the purpose before I get the facts.
13. I do not want her love as a reward but as a gift. I want our relationship to be spontaneous not only planed and cultivated. Men are romantics until women tell them they are not. I want to love her as a person and that has to be done in cooperation. I want to spend time with her and for her not be so busy. If you get too busy for me I soon get too busy for you.
14. I want a helpmate who wants to stand with, me beside me, and together we make progress. I don’t want her behind me or rushing ahead of me but beside me.
15. I want to find a woman who is willing to love me as much as I am willing to love her. So many times I see other guys whose wives have taken over their lives not with love but with demands. I want a shared love journey. I want intensity and excitement in our journey. I see these traits in you and I love for having them. You are the joy of my all my relationships. Most women don’t want to be swept off their feet unless they know where they are going to land. Men don’t care where they land they will work it out when they get there.
"I don’t want to be loved for what I do, but for who I am."

A man to love
"I don’t want him to be a strong man I want him to be a man of strength."
1. I want to be nourished by his love not just physically but also emotionally and most of all Spiritually.
Men are physical people and like to express our love physically but men tend to not invest the energy into the emotional part of a love relationship. Women are more in tune with their emotional makeup and how that intertwines with whole love experience. A good meaningful conversation about hopes and dreams that they are sharing on this marital journey is so special to them. Women see sharing love with words as an essential part of the whole love process. Men with their point "A" to point "B" thinking rush right on by this need in a woman’s life. After learning to utilize these moments with her you learn more about love as well. Love is not just what you think it is or just what she thinks it is. It is a combination of both of your needs being met that makes love beautiful. Furthermore if you want to love her like God made her to be loved you need to ask Him for He knows better that she how she was made. "Seek to know her." the Bible commands but the implication there is that you wont get that done in this life. She was made too complicated just so you will keep on trying [men are stubborn in case some of you ladies have not yet figured that our.]
So they keep trying to understand you because God made them with that insatiable curiosity. It all really fits in the final analysis God gave you treasures that only your husband can find and enough treasures that it will take him a lifetime just to find some of them. Each discovery makes him look harder for the next and each discovery makes you feel more valuable. So you have to help him find the wonder of who you are.
2. I want to be protected by him physically, emotionally spiritually and socially.
All too often we only protect our women physically. We fight wars, run off the burglars, fix broken doors, and buy security systems, all to protect our families physically. The also need to be protected emotionally. Most of the emotional hurt the women in your life experience, including your daughters comes from you. We as Men buzz through life like we are running through freshly laid eggs. We shatter feelings and do damage that cannot be repaired because we are in a hurry to get it done or in a hurry to do something else.
A counselor ask the little girl what why she was crying and she answered, "Because my daddy made my mommy cry." So, not only had he hurt his wife but his daughter as well. I have done it and likely you have as well. We are strong enough to hurt the ones we love we are also capable of not hurting them. You do have a choice you can hurt the ones you love or you can help them. Men your call!
We need to protect them from our hurts the world will have more that enough for them that are out of our control. They don’t need to be hurt by us. We can control ourselves. You need to help her say no to things that she feels obligated to do that she really is too busy to do. Let her use you for an excuse. My husband and I have plans.
3, I want to delight in him. I want to have good feelings with him and for him. I want to see him as my joy. I want him to want to share this with me. Don’t get so busy that you miss this part of our love. Delighting in one another is the taste and smell and the warmth of love that often cannot be experienced any other time. I want to be able to smile when I see you so treat me so I can. I will try to treat you so you will smile back at me. If we are to delight in each other then we need to spend time together just the two of us. Going out with your friends and taking me along is not sharing time.
Even going out with other couples while it is fun and entertaining it is not "delight time." Shared time with each other need to become our priority. Every couple needs some delight time. If you still don’t get it, delight time is holding hands while, walking on the beach, sharing plans and dreams. It is looking at each other over a cup of coffee instead of at the paper. It is talking to each other without words gazing into each other’s soul.
4. I want to hear beautiful words from him and I need him to receive mine. Part of loving someone else is hearing about our love. Weather a wife or a daughter, they need to hear beautiful words from the man in their lives. Your daughter needs to learn to hear the right kind of words from the one that someday she will love. Your wife needs to understand snippings of what this love journey you share means to you. Language is part of love to women. Remember the love letters and the poems you wrote to her or about her. She still treasured them, while for the most part, you did not keep her letters. You gobbled up her love letters she sent you. She savored each line of thought you wrote her and she built her hope on them. You wanted someone to love you she wanted someone, she could not live without. Your words help both of you to get what you wanted.
5. I want affection, to understand the things he gives me. I need his attentiveness for those things to have real meaning to me.
A posy without praise, candy without a hug, dinner without candlelight equal love without affection. She wants a morning kiss that blossoms into love notes all the daylong. The quick calls of encouragement or in someway to help her feel she is the person you love, instead of the object of your love. For her romance and love are inseparable. For you they are optional.
Eventually you realize that romance has more meaning for you than you thought possible.
Romance is part of the mystery that God put inside of her for you to discover. Her mystery was placed insider her to intrigue you and bring you both new happiness. Many of her mysteries she has not solved either. It will take two for those to be truly explored.
6. I want him to pray for me and with me.
The shared spiritual journey again. I don’t want to be ahead of him, I want to be with him in our spiritual life. Most of all as a wife, she looks at her husband to see a pathway to God. As a daughter she first understands God through her father. Your wife want you to be the spiritual leader not the spiritual dictator, She will not want you to demand she meet God, but neither she doesn’t want to drag you to meet Him, either. You have been chosen by God to lead your wife and family spiritually. Don’t neglect your job.
Being a Christian is no sissy task. It is a job for a real man.
Life is full of choices and you either chose to become in bondage to habits and desires by serving Satan or you are set free to chose the among the good, better or best in life by serving God. Those are your only choices. The Bible declares. "Choose you today whom you will serve, If God be God, serve Him, if Mammon [materialism], Satan be god serve him."
Don’t think for a moment you have any other choices, as that is exactly what Satan wants you to think.
7. I want to be held in high esteem. I am not one of the boys don’t make fun of me don’t ridicule me don’t make me the bunt of your jokes. Lift me up; praise me to your friends. Let them know how much you respect me. I am the one you have asked to share your name and your life. Don’t embarrass me for making that choice. If you want me to honor you, protect me from you ridicule for it hurts me more than I can say. I need to get my self-esteem from God. I need you to help me get to Him. Too often men block the path to for the women in their life. Part of who I am I get from you by accepting your name and your life. Your building me up helps me understand my position as your helpmate. If you help me feel good about who I am I can resist Satan. If you ridicule me it is easier for Satan to hurt me.
8. I want you to treasure me. I want more than I can express to be special in your eyes. I would rather have a compliment from you that the praise of a thousand other men. Don’t make me listen to one of them to hear what I should be hearing from you. The more I feel valuable to you the more I can feel secure in your love. Fleeing secure in your love is the best gift you can give me. Flowers, yes, candy, yes, those romantic evenings, yes, but it is your treasuring me as a person and as a wife that makes my heart beat so rapidly for you. God wants me to see a portion of my value though you.
9. I want him to look into my face with tenderness. You are so strong, brave you are fierce and tough, and yet it is the gentleness in you that endears me to you. While I want you to drive off the predators about our family, I what us to feel that strength being given in the family as a present that only you can give. If he could only understand, that his tenderness is my foundation to build my love with him. A strong man giving tenderness magnifies the meaning of love. Tenderness is strength, women admire and most men never quite understand. God has a sense of tenderness that he only gave men.
10. I want to have his heart. His heart belongs to me, not his work, his hobby, his family, but his heart must be mine. It is only then that I can tolerate his interest and energy in the other things he wants to do.
It is when I have his heart that I feel most treasured. If I have his heart, I can give him mine without reservation. I need a man who has given his heart to God first then to me. If this is happening then I have the best a woman can get from her man. I dare not love anything or anyone more than you nor can you and get the most out of our love. The less you love God the more I have to fear!
11. I want to hear his feelings towards me and towards life. I need to hear the "I love yous" that seem sometimes so difficult for him to remember to say. God made words precious to me and they are apart of who I am so I need to hear you word your feeling about me.
I feel word you sometime seem to use them and throw them aside but for me words are ideas to help me know and love you. I also need to hear your feeling he has for me although I cherish them. I need to hear how he feels about so much of life that he experience and so much of life that I can see through his eyes but I can through his words
12. I want him to know who I am and to honor me. I have goals, and ideas I have hopes, and dreams just as you do. What I want is for you to hear me and accept me as a person. I am more than your wife and more than the mother of your children. I am your best friend. I am a child of God.
He has special purposes in my life He wants to develop. I support you in the things you are; doing all I want is the same in return. Listening and learning more about each other build honor and appreciation.
13. You will know me better than any man. Help me discover my strengths, what drew you to me. Please teach me how to use my strengths. You have insights that I don’t and you can help me pinpoint what I do well. Help me learn teach me to be my best and our whole family will benefit from it.
14. I want you to hear, listen and to understand me. God made me with the skills of a helpmate. For me to be that helpmate my mate must be willing to listen and respect my point of view.
We do not always have to agree but if you have listened to my thoughts with respect, we can trust God to give wisdom. Please don’t ignore my thoughts and ideas no one including you wants to be ignored. You do not want God to ignore you and God did not mean for you to ignore me. We are a team pressing toward the heart of God. Let us honor each other on the journey.
15. I want some to love and cherish me even when I don’t deserve it, or when I feel unloved. The quickest cure for me feeling unloved is for you to show me that I am. I need you to reassure me that I am what we have committed to be come together is bigger than the trouble we are facing today. To be loved when I don’t see the reason is a special blessing for me. I offer it to you, together we are better than apart. I need to draw on your strength.
"I don’t want to earn his love, I want to be his love"

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who won't survive the week.
If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 20 million people around the world.
If you attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than almost three billion people in the world.
If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof over your head and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.
If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy.
If your parents are still married and alive, you are very rare, especially in the United States.
If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.
If you can hold someone's hand, hug them or even touch them on the shoulder, you are blessed because you can offer God's healing touch.
If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read anything at all. You are so blessed in ways you may never even know.
Anonymous

^{The Hem of His Garment
Mathew 9:20-23

20And suddenly, a woman who had a flow of blood for
twelve years came from behind and touched the hem of His
garment. ²¹For she said to herself, "If only I
may touch His garment, I shall be made well." ²²But
Jesus turned around, and when He saw her He said,
"Be of good cheer, daughter; your
faith has made you well." And the woman was made well
from that hour.

Touching The Hem

(êñÜóðåäïí,
krañspedon):
The classic instance of the use of "hem" in the

New Testament is Mt 9:20 the King James Version (compare Mt
14:36), where

the woman "touched the hem of his (Christ’s) garment." The
reference is to the

fringe or tassel with its traditional blue thread which the
faithful Israelite was

directed to wear on the corners of the outer garment (Nu
15:37ff; Dt 22:12).

Great importance came to be attached to it, the ostentatious
Pharisees making it

very broad or large (Mt 23:5). Here the woman clearly
thought there might be

peculiar virtue in touching the tassel or fringe of Jesus’
garment. Elsewhere the word is rendered BORDER.

A Why?

1.Perhaps she touched the garment out of
Desperation.

It is easy to see Christ and or Christianity as a move of
desperation. People often turn to God when tragedy or
despair overcomes them. There is good reason to do
this for He has promised never to leave you nor to
forsake you. Plus He has committed Himself to forgive you
when you ask and seek Him with your whole heart. The
thief on the cross was a desperation Christian. Many
battlefield conversions were desperation conversions. How
many times have you prayed over sick loved ones or children
when the doctors seemed stymied in the quest to help them.
How often have you made promises to God for His help ..Only
to forget the promise when the help arrived?
All too often we seek God only out of desperation.

How often have you prayed about friend or family member
that is destroying their lives with the pleasures of this
world selling out for a good feeling that could have
been a great feeling if they had done it God’s way?
The pleasures that God gave us to enjoy cannot be thoroughly
experienced outside of His plan for our lives. They have to
become garment touchers! If you marry a no-believer, young
folks, just plan on a troubled relationship instead of than
blessed marriage. If you are married reach out and touch the
garment for your marriage and let the power of God rule your
daily lives together.
2. It could be that it was Determination
that caused her to reach for the hem. So many people
reach God because they become determined to do so.
"You shall find me when you search
with your whole heart". They have reached a point in
life that they are determined to change their focus. They
want help in their lives that is beyond what they could get
outside of Divine help. They become Garment touchers.
Join the "not willing to get by" crowd by seeking the
will of God for you, your family, and for our church. Ask
God for the help that will you need to change the
destination of your descendents.

3.It seems more like likely that she responding from
Dedication. Note that Jesus said,
"Be of good cheer, daughter; your
faith has made you well." She was a
believer in the power of Jesus. Faith is believing God even
when you don't want too. Faith is believing God when you
know better. Faith is Believing God when your friends don't.
Faith is believing God when you can't. Faith is believing
God when you don't understand. Faith is believing God
regardless. However, she wanted to move up to a touching
relationship with the Master. She wanted more than she
had and was willing to move up to get it.

She became a hem of the garment believer!

Some of you folks have been believers for years, You have
seen the power of God fall on a congregation. You have seen
the blessing that the Lord pour out of everyday lives and
broken vessels. You have seen the newness, the goodness and
the freshness of the God over and over again. The question
is. When will your children see this… in our
church--or any church? ---Or in your lives --or-- mine?
If not us who? and if not now! When?

Folks we need to become toucher of the hem ….NOW!
We need to join the garment touchers?

B Where?
1, The Hem not the disciples The person not the gown, She
didn't want to be with someone who knew Jesus she wanted to
be with Jesus herself. She just wanted to be near Him. She
wanted to be apart of what He would be doing. She was an
enabler of the Kingdom of God. What are you doing
to day Father? I want to be apart of it, she didn’t want the
glory; she just wanted to be in His presence. She wanted to
touch the Master's hem.
2. She had to get near the hem. Getting to
the hem took some work. She did not want to argue over
who was going to sit at the right or left hand of Jesus she
just wanted to get near Him. She wanted Him to
stay in the forefront and she just wanted to be apart of His
ministry. She found out the if she was apart of ministry,
she would be noticed. Jesus always passes out the blessing
to those who are touching His hem. Stay near to Him and the
Blessing will abound in your life. Blessings
are a direct result of how close you are to Him.
3. Touching the King of Kings not just in the presence
she needed a touching relation ship with
Jesus.
Many people are enamored with the church and with Jesus
but they live too far away from the Hem of His garment. Only
reaching out in times of despair and desperation. The never
get to enjoy the joy unspeakable or the peace that passeth
all understanding and all misunderstanding.
People that have touched the hem of His garment, know
that they know that they know. What a privilege it is that
you can know Him in whom you have believed. Move toward that
hem of His garment and become a reacher of FAITH. Faith does
not put the emphasis on what He can do, but in who He is.
C. What happened

To the lost; Hope. One of the most
significant weapons that you can every
have against the enemy of your soul is Hope.
Love Hopeth all things I Corinthians. 13 Hope is the
foundation of Faith and it is a safe place to live when
shadows come your way. The valley of the shadow of death
is lighted with the hope that is within us. Satan's
biggest lies fade when held to the candle of hope. Hope
is the first ingredient of love. Love hopeth all things.

To the person; Deliverance and
Strength. Become a Hem man or woman and see the
power flow and the strength increase in your kingdom
work. If you lack spiritual power in your life, your
marriage, your parenting, your interpersonal
relationships, your grades, or your work..REACH OUT and
touch the garment
Paul said "I press toward
the Mark for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus."

Philippians 3:14
To the Church; Direction and Purpose.
Want to find a pastor ; a church direction? Touch the
Hem and open your eyes to the Will of God in our Church.
We are to be found at the job… not waiting for another
pastor. We should to be so fired up, so diligent at
pursuing the Will of God, that pastors won’t be praying
if they should come here; but would be
praying if they could please come here to lead a
healthy church to the throne of heaven. So Board pay
attentions to the facts but when you have understood
them set them aside and touch the garment for our
church, for your family and for your lives and God will
bring power, wisdom, and direction to your leadership in
New Hope Fellowship. We don’t need a pastor
to do the will of God in our lives. We all ought to get
that fact established long before a pastor shows up.
When the new senior pastors arrives he needs find a
church touching the Hem of Garment, full of power and
blessed beyond imagination. Changing the face of
Palm City, Stuart, St Lucie, and the surrounding areas
because of our Holy Boldness: to love the unlovely, the
unlovable, the unlikely, the up and out, the in and out,
and the down and out. We are to about the Father's
business filling the lives of the hopeless With New Hope
and bringing broken lives new vessels.

Lord help us to become Hem of the Garment
Christians, a Hem of the garment Church

It is possible that the person is simply following the
direction that their life is taking. They believe the Father
and when times get tough they reach out to the hem of His
garment because that is the manor of their lives. The have
settled long ago that He is the answer and they reach for
Him when the times get tough. What we need are people who do
this all of the time every day of their lives.

We don’t want to be Hem of the Garment Believers when we
need to… but because it is the only kind of believer to be!}

The Church of Amazing Love

I Corinthians 13 “Love so Amazing, so Divine”

1. Gift of Love:
A church that can love is a gift to the world. Too many churches love the idea of loving but they lack the foundation of love in their lives. A church has a reputation to earn and to keep.

2. Giving of love:
Having received such a gift, how will you make that gift a part of your life? Your ministry? The gift of love allows you, for the first time in your life, to love yourself and then others.

3. Brotherly Love:
You shall know my disciples by their love for one another. Our church will grow because of the love that they share with each other. If you are having difficulty loving your brothers and sisters how will you show the love of God to anyone else?

4. The Healing, Strengthening power of Love:
The therapeutic power of love calms those in the storms of life, heals the broken spirits of those about us. Bring the Balm of Gilead to a troubled soul is real joy.

5. Beauty and the attraction of Love:
Love creates its own attractiveness. There is something about love displaying itself in the lives of others and in your own life that becomes a thing of beauty. Beauty to behold and a beauty to contain. It is love that brings the tears of joy to ones eyes. Spending a few moments by the altar helping some get in touch with the Father is a beauty beyond what your eyes can see alone.

6. The Love for the lost:
Loving someone that does deserve it is the greatest spiritual exercise that you can ever have. Amazing love gives you the desire to love the things that He loves; to do things that He wants done. The Father loved the lost with such a desperate love that He gave His own Son as a ransom for their sins. The love for the lost ought to be fervent in your own heart.

7. Burning Love:
“In word and in deed burning love is my need; I know that I will find it in You.” We need a love that burns in our heart. A burning love, to love Jesus more, to do His will, to reach out to our unclaimed brothers and sisters who are still in this world without hope. Every lost soul has the potential to be a spiritual relative. We need an infectious love for the message of freedom and forgiveness burning on the altars of our hearts.
Richard Klein

The Splendor of Beginning Mornings are special splendors that are always unique and can never be duplicated. Watching the Father swing the doors of morning open is every time is a special occasion. We watch the shades of darkness retreat before the pastels of beginning light. Morning is a blend of miracles and mist, of cool and warmth, and newness advancing while the yesterday retreats. It is time of new beginnings. Like our lives, as they unfold the blossoms of hope beginning that salvation moment. Seeing the shades of darkness being washed away by His light is an extremely moving experience. We see the eyes of faith open to a day of hope, as a soul is resurrected. What a wonderment to behold! The observing of the soul that has been set free is more memorable than describable. It is unique and rewarding as our watching the birthing of a new day.

The sunbeams of the morning are like shooting stars, proceeding the expectations of the grandeur of the coming morning. The confessions of the lost, reaching for hope of forgiveness, are like sunbeams. They are Sonbeams of light assaulting the darkness that had, for years, surrounded their souls. Visions of the newness of life and feeling of the fresh beginning bring deep souled smiles of great joy to the new believer’s brow.

Mornings mix splendor with power and replace night with day. So is the soul that has had the freedom of forgiveness wash across the crevasses of their life. The light of the joy spreading over their soul is unmistakable, as it is unforgettable. Glory to the Father who has given us all the gift of morning to help us comprehend the gift of life. Seeing a soul being set free at the altar of prayer is breathtaking.

A life given to the Father is ripe with the possibilities for the future. No longer are dread and despair their nighttime companions. They have taken the step to give their tomorrows to Him for His investment. Therefore, night has lost its power of fear. Snuggling in the arms of the Master of the universe becomes a believer’s lullaby, unsung yet always heard. Now they have the power to resist sin and the power to point the way to those who live in the turmoil which they have left behind. Light floods their soul, gushing out of the window of our hearts to blind the darkness they have just escaped. Praise to the Father for such power and freedom that comes with the Sonrise in our soul. May it always be an honor to see the newness of the soul being born into everlasting life. We have seen night become day. In the midst of that day is the light that has "no shadow when it turns". The brightness is the light of Jesus, the lover of our soul, in whom "there is no darkness at all." Sharing this morning miracle of a soul being brought to life is a fellow believer’s joy. He understands as he recalls his "new morning" with pleasure beyond measure.

Richard Klein

Guest writer: Reverend Leroy S. Adams missionary to Egypt

Carnal and Spiritual Believers AqwaQWAa 1q2q1q
1 Cor 3:1-4 Read
Rom 8:5-8
Eph 4: 14-16
Jam 3:13-17
Gal 5:19-21

Intro. Define the words in the title.
Carnal—passions and appetites of the flesh or body; sensual; temporal, worldly.
Spiritual – having the interests, outlook, and feelings for the things of God.
Believers – those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ to be saved from their sins.
Purpose of Message – We want to come to a clear understanding of
these terms so we can evaluate our stand with Christ.
Many people are “Christians” vs. Muslims, but is that a real
believer? Too many are not born again: no spiritual life, no
relationship with Christ. Carnal vs. spiritual behavior – Is carnal
behavior acceptable for believers?
St. Paul was kind and did not un-christianize the Corinthians; he
simply called them carnal, babes.

I. Let us read several scriptures to see what they say about this:
A. 1Co 3:1- 4 And I, brothers, could not speak to you as to spiritual ones, but as to carnal (sarkikos,Gr), as to babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk and not with solid food, for you were not yet able to bear it; nor are you able even now. For you are yet carnal (retarded, sarkinos). For in that there is among you envyings and strife and divisions, are you not carnal, and do you not walk according to men? For while one says, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are you not carnal?

B. Rom 8:5-8 For they who are according to the flesh mind the things of flesh, but they who are according to the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be. So then they who are in the flesh cannot please God.

C. Eph 4:14-16 So that we no longer may be infants, tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine, in the dishonesty of men, in cunning craftiness, to the wiles of deceit.
But that you, speaking the truth in love, may in all things grow up to Him who is the Head, even Christ; from whom the whole body, fitted together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of each part, producing the growth of the body to the edifying of itself in love.

D. Jas 3:14 But if you have bitter jealousy and strife in your hearts, do not glory and lie against the truth. This is not the wisdom coming down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife are, there is confusion and every foul deed.
But the wisdom that is from above is first truly pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

E. Ga 5:19 Now the works of the flesh (carnal, sinful nature) are clearly revealed, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lustfulness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, fightings, jealousies, angers, rivalries, divisions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkennesses, revelings, and things like these; of which I tell you before, as I also said before, that they who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

F. Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

The Carnal believer then IS born again(?) BUT he/she needs to grow up, be discipled. Babes and infants must learn that certain behaviors are not acceptable to Christ and His church
St. Patrick was teaching the Irish warriors about Christ. They were beginners. When an enemy ship drew up they jumped up from the lesson, seized the captain of the ship, cut him open, pulled out his intestines and nailed them to a tree. Then they marched the captain around and around the tree until all his intestines were pulled out!
Were they believers? Were they beginners in the school of Christ?

III How can we help the retarded, not growing, believer?
Open their understanding, feed them, disciple them, lead them on to Perfection.
Heb 6:1 Therefore, having left the discourse of the beginning of Christ, let us go on to full growth (perfection), not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the baptisms, of doctrine, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this we will do, if God permits.

The Mature Believer –
Totally committed to Christ.
Cleansed from the sinful nature.
Made perfect in Love
Mt 5:48 Therefore be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.

Entire Sanctification is the most important and necessary step toward maturity.
There is growth and learning from conversion to Entire Sanctification and after Entire Sanctification. But Entire Sanctification is an instantaneous experience like the New Birth. There is no place to stop learning and growing in grace.

Conclusion:
At what stage are you? You see that you haven’t been living like a Believer. God wants you to grow up to be like Jesus. Pray!
Is there anyone here who wants new life in Christ?
Is there anyone here who wants to be entirely sanctified?