Thursday, September 11, 2014

We are Covered in darkness

'And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.'

John 3:13-21

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Light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light- because their deeds were evil. Every one that doeth evil hates the light.

When we think of evil we don't think or all evil.  We've come to think of evil as the *really* bad things, not the little evils.

Some might perceive pride as a little evil.
Some might perceive selfishness as a little evil.

But I believe pride and selfishness are HUGE evils and when we are prideful and selfish we are loving the darkness, not the light. We don't want our EVIL in the light, we want it hidden. We want what has become known as the huge evils- murderer, torturers, rapists, thieves, we want them to be the targets. We don't want our SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE evils to be seen, not even by ourselves. Yes, I said that, we don't want to see our own evils, we'd much rather see the evil of others.

Light is come into the world.
Men loved darkness.

We are COVERED in darkness and we love our darkness.

When we see the reality of our evil in the light of the Cross we can't help but surrender all that we are to our God, knowing He and HE alone can save us in His Light! We can ONLY have light through our Savior.  Any light we try to manufacture on our own is deception. 

In the Light of the Cross we know we are helpless and must rely on our Savior for life NOW and life everlasting.

Look at Your life, truly look at your life- and pray for the eyesalve that the Holy Spirit can give to us so that we may see TRUTH, that we may see the evil in ourselves and NOT hide under the cloak of darkness fooling ourselves into thinking we live in light.  Please LORD we would NOT live in darkness!
Please LORD we want YOUR LIGHT!

Bless us Father in heaven, bless us Savior, our LORD JESUS, bless us Holy Spirit with Your love.

We are filthy and without any righteousness, save us from ourselves!

Please.

Thank You all, thank all of You for such wondrous love!


Amen.

Not born again physically

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

John 3:3

Born again.
Not born physically again.
Born again.
Some people have near death experiences, and that old 'their life flashed before their eyes' comes into play. Then some times those same people are suddenly experiencing their lives in a different way. They are so grateful to be alive they will swear even the food tastes better than it did before. Others start living their lives more cautiously because life is so precious, while still others more recklessly because they have a sense of how short life is. The point I'm trying to make is experiences can change our life perspective. We change all the time. For as much as people sometimes love to say they are stuck in their old ways, life is changing around them and they are changing too. No one is the same as they were a year ago. You might laugh and say they are and even go as far as to say they are the same as ten years ago.  Habits can remain the same that's true, but our lives are constantly changing. How you view things change, they have to. With each new event in life our life changes. You might grumble the same but things are changing. Our bodies are changing, and our minds change too. Change is inevitable.

Being born again is a CHANGE taking place in our lives. A realized, intentional change.  Being born again is comprehending the need to change.

Jesus wasn't telling Nicodemus that he had to be birthed again physically, He was telling Him he had to be born again spiritually. He has to recognize his NEED in the spirit. He has to realize that it isn't the flesh birth that matters, the flesh birth will not help us realize the kingdom of heaven.

'That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.'

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? 

More on this tomorrow by the grace of our LORD, our SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST!


Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Men love darkness- not light- not truth

We have to ask ourselves how can we not know when we are spiritually wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked? How? If these were physical traits we would know without a problem. In fact we often say we are feeling wretched, or miserable. We lament our poorness, and surely if we can't physically see we'd know what that means.  So how do we not recognize our spiritual state?

What makes us KNOW NOT?

How can we be spiritually blind?

Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

We say we see. We think we see, so we just don't comprehend we are blind! We aren't spiritually focused.

Read this--

Joh 3:1-22  There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:  The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?
Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?  And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.

Born of the SPIRIT.
Born AGAIN.

LIGHT came into the WORLD.
MEN LOVE DARKNESS rather than LIGHT.
MEN'S DEEDS ARE EVIL.
MEN DON'T COME to the LIGHT.
MEN'S DEEDS ARE KNOWN in the LIGHT- are they of GOD?

IF YOU DO THE TRUTH YOU COME TO THE LIGHT.

The question is...what makes us not know we are spiritually blind?

We love our sins, we want to hide our sins, we don't want to see our filthiness.  And even those who have the worst self-esteem can be spiritually blind because they're living for the world's esteem not Christ's, not the Spirit.

We have to LIVE FOR CHRIST, we have to LIVE FOR THE SPIRIT.  We don't recognize our blindness because we are living for the FLESH. We tell ourselves we have to live in this world and be flesh so we must live for the flesh. We might not say that, but it is the reality we are experiencing, it is why we remain blind to our blindness. 

We must LIVE for the SPIRIT!

More on this tomorrow by the grace of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!!!!!!!!


All in HIS LOVE

Monday, September 8, 2014

We say we have no need

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;   I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.   So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:   I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.   Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

Rev 3
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We say we have NO need.
We say we are spiritually rich enough and need nothing.
We don't even KNOW that we are WRETCHED.

SPIRITUALLY WRETCHED!

wretched- in a very unhappy or unfortunate state.

synonyms:        miserable, unhappy, sad, heartbroken, grief-stricken, sorrowful, sorry for oneself, distressed, desolate, devastated, despairing, disconsolate, downcast, dejected, crestfallen, cheerless, depressed, melancholy, morose, gloomy, mournful, doleful, dismal, forlorn, woebegone


We don't know we are MISERABLE!

SPIRITUALLY MISERABLE!

wretchedly unhappy or uncomfortable.
synonyms:        unhappy, sad, sorrowful, dejected, depressed, downcast, downhearted, down, despondent, disconsolate, wretched, glum, gloomy, dismal, melancholy, woebegone, doleful, forlorn, heartbroken


We don't know we are POOR!

SPIRITUALLY POOR!

lacking sufficient money to live at a standard considered comfortable or normal in a society.

synonyms:        poverty-stricken, penniless, moneyless, impoverished, low-income, necessitous, impecunious, indigent, needy, destitute, pauperized, unable to make ends meet


We don't know we are BLIND!

SPIRITUALLY BLIND!

unable to see; sightless.

synonyms:        sightless, unsighted, visually impaired, visionless, unseeing; More


We don't know we are NAKED!

SPIRITUALLY NAKED!

(of a person or part of the body) without clothes.

synonyms:        nude, bare, in the nude, stark naked, having nothing on, stripped, unclothed, undressed


We have to ask ourselves how can we not know when we are spiritually wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked? How? If these were physical we would know without a problem. In fact we often say we are feeling wretched, or miserable. We lament our poorness, and surely if we can't physically see we'd know what that means.  So how do we not recognize our spiritual state?

What makes us KNOW NOT?

More on this tomorrow by the grace of God.


All through the Heavenly Father's amazing LOVE by the mercy and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Sunday, September 7, 2014

If you lack these things you are spiritually blind.

2Pe 1:1-21  Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:  Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance; Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance. For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:  Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
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TRUTH.

 'And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. '

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Give ALL diligence.
ADD to your FAITH- VIRTUE.
ADD to VIRTUE-KNOWLEDGE.
ADD to KNOWLEDGE-TEMPERANCE.
ADD to TEMPERANCE-PATIENCE.
ADD to PATIENCE-GODLINESS.
ADD to GODLINESS-BROTHERLY KINDNESS.
ADD to BROTHERLY KINDNESS-CHARITY.

Do you have faith?
Do you have virtue?
Do you have knowledge?
Do you have temperance?
Do you have patience.
Do you have godliness?
Do you have brotherly kindness?
Do you have charity?

If we LACK these things we are BLIND and cannot see afar off, and have forgotten that we have been purged from our old sins.

Daily we must lay down our old life as we daily must ask for forgiveness, seeking to be purged from our old sins. 

It's no secret that we have sins that we are partial to, presumptuous sins. And these sins must be laid at the feet of our Savior. We must seek the Holy Spirit's power to overcome through our LORD.

We are told what makes us Spiritually blind, having no faith, no virtue, no knowledge, no temperance, no patience, no godliness, no brotherly kindness, and no charity. 

Like the Pharisees who could not see their own spiritual blindness, we can suffer the same fate. We have to open our hearts, our minds to the Holy Spirit who can give us these things. We have to recognize our NEED, realize our state of blindness, of being poor, of being naked. No one who believes they see will comprehend their blindness. Our sight needs to be God's sight, spiritual sight.


Please Lord, Please heavenly Father, please...help us to see!  Forgive us!  Forgive us. In the name of Your Son, Jesus Christ, forgive us.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

We Must Recognize Our Need

Joh 9:1-41  And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,  And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.  The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?   Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he. Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight.  Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.
 They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind. And it was the sabbath day when Jesus made the clay, and opened his eyes.  Then again the Pharisees also asked him how he had received his sight. He said unto them, He put clay upon mine eyes, and I washed, and do see. Therefore said some of the Pharisees, This man is not of God, because he keepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can a man that is a sinner do such miracles? And there was a division among them. They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet. But the Jews did not believe concerning him, that he had been blind, and received his sight, until they called the parents of him that had received his sight.  And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was born blind? how then doth he now see?  His parents answered them and said, We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind: But by what means he now seeth, we know not; or who hath opened his eyes, we know not: he is of age; ask him: he shall speak for himself. These words spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue. Therefore said his parents, He is of age; ask him. Then again called they the man that was blind, and said unto him, Give God the praise: we know that this man is a sinner.  He answered and said, Whether he be a sinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.  Then said they to him again, What did he to thee? how opened he thine eyes?  He answered them, I have told you already, and ye did not hear: wherefore would ye hear it again? will ye also be his disciples? Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples.  We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes. Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.  Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.  And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.

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Jesus said FOR judgment I am come into the world.
That they which see not- might see.
And they that which see- might be made blind.

Are we blind also?
Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin
but now ye say, We see- therefore your sin remaineth.

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They KNEW they were blind by the standards of this miracle working man that was disrupting their lives so horrifically. They weren't physically blind and in need of a clay salve upon their sightless eyes placed their by a savior. They weren't in need of the miracles being performed upon the masses. They were self-sufficient and full of themselves, believing they were superior to all others by the very fact they were the leaders of the temple of God. Their hearts were hardened stones compassion-less.

When the miracle worker told them that He came into the world so those who cannot see- will be able to see, He was talking about the truth of salvation.  Those who believe they have no need of a Savior- will not be saved. The Pharisees, the scribes-hypocrites all believe they are saved already and in no need of a Savior. They believe they see and they do not, their sin remains. If they were blind they'd want to see, they'd want a miracle worker, they'd want a Savior.  Their blindness is spiritual and deadly because they refuse to realize they have a need.

Do you see Your need?
Do you want Eye Salve?

We need eye salve soooo desperately. We are in NEED of a SAVIOR.

We must recognize our need, if we don't realize we have a need we will never seek someone to fulfill that need.

Please, Father, we would know our need and know that our Savior is the only One who can heal us, who can save us.


All by YOUR GRACE! YOUR LOVE! 

Friday, September 5, 2014

Cleanse first that which is within

Jesus said-
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
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Again, a 'WOE UNTO YOU', given by our Savior to the scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites. This time Jesus tells them they are making sure everything looks good on the outside, appearances are being kept up, they are looking every bit the way they are supposed to be the truth is another story. They are extorting and filled with excesses, more than they need.  This is truth! Jesus saw through their display of righteousness to the corruption underneath and He didn't hesitate to tell them He knew their hearts. They could lie to each other and all others but He knew and now they would know He knew.

Jesus said-
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
*******

He was telling them what they needed to do to be right with God. Clean the INSIDE, clean their hearts. It wasn't pointless to clean the outside when the inside was filthy.

Jesus said-
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's, bones, and of all uncleanness.
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Imagine for a single moment, Jesus telling us that we are full of dead men's bone and uncleanness!  We don't want to hear that do we? I know I sure don't! Yes, when our hearts are corrupt we are like a sepulchre, we are filled with uncleanness, with dead men's bone, there is nothing good in us. The scribes, the Pharisees, hypocrites were exactly like that! Unclean!

Jesus said-
Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
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Appearing righteous unto men, but NOT unto God! God sees past everything we see of others and others see of us. God sees all our hypocrisy and iniquity, every single bit of it. We CANNOT hide the truth of ourselves from God! Not one single thing about us is hidden from God, not one.

Jesus said-
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?  Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:  That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
*******

They were LIARS! They believed they were better than their fathers and they were worse by far!

All too often we like to think we wouldn't do the evils of those in our past generations known for their evils and yet we do them. Our hypocrisy, our blindness keeps us from seeing the truth of ourselves and we LOVE our blindness! We don't want to see our evil! We want that coat pulled over all the evil in us, hiding it so no one can see it, and we want to forget it is even there blind to our own evil.

Jesus said-
Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!  Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.  For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
*******

Enough was enough. Those who were God's chosen time and time again refused Him and this time they refused God's begotten Son, their Savior, Jesus Christ. Their uniqueness was past. They refused to be God's preferring their blindness, their hypocrisy. We must NOT do the same. We must loath our blindness, detest our sightlessness, despise our inability to see as we need to see through the Holy Spirit! We must hate our own hypocrisy. We must seek forgiveness, we must seek our Savior's forgiveness, we have to pray for the Holy Spirit to enlighten us. We NEED EYE SALVE for our blind eyes!

Please SAVIOR, please FATHER GOD, please HOLY SPIRIT, we need all of YOU to help us to be ONE with YOU, in full agreement with YOU all as YOU all are with each other! We would be YOURS. Please, we would be YOURS.   Thank You, thank You so much.



(Matthew 23)