We will not enter the kingdom except we are born of the Spirit.

Gal 6:12  As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. 

Gal 6:13  For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. 

Things of the flesh will never save us. Anything we do will not save us.

Gal_2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

Gal_3:3  Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

We live though we are crucified WITH Christ.

Christ LIVES IN US.

The LIFE we LIVE in the FLESH- we MUST LIVE BY FAITH - the FAITH of the SON OF GOD- who LOVES US, and GAVE Himself for us!

We CAN'T begin in the SPIRIT, and then think our flesh will perfect us in any way.

Remember this--

Joh 3:5  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. 

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

Joh 3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 

Jesus said we CANNOT enter the kingdom of God UNLESS we are born of the SPIRIT.

Once we are born of the Spirit, we've begun in the Spirit and must continue in the Spirit.  When we say we accept Jesus Christ, and truly do accept Him, through faith- then we are born of the Spirit, it is through the Spirit we are given this NEW LIFE IN CHRIST. Just as we are- we are given the new life through the Spirit of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We come to Him heavy laden with so much sin and we find forgiveness for ALL of that sin, in Him. We are cleansed from our filthiness in that moment. But then… one hour, one day, one week, one month goes by and those sins that so easily beset us fight for us return to them. Temptation doesn't disappear, and often it intensifies. Our flesh is carnal, our flesh is easily tempted and seduced into sin. We MUST live in the Spirit, through the Holy Spirit. We are born again of the Spirit. Christ lives in us. These are truths we can't let ourselves forget.  We didn't do ANYTHING of the flesh to be born again of the Spirit. And we CAN'T do anything to keep ourselves in Christ.  Yet, Satan will wind us up so tight in the belief that we just can't be good enough, we can't do enough good, we can't stop sinning, we'll never stop sinning and disappointing God, we will never obey Him - love Him and Others more than ourselves. Satan will shout these in our ears over and over again steering us away from the Spirit and enticing us to be consumed by the flesh.  Satan wants us to believe we must LIVE by the flesh, getting our flesh to behave. Satan does NOT want us to rely upon the Holy Spirit, he wants us to find any victory over sin in ourselves. He wants us to work at ridding ourselves of sin, and then to take glory in our victories. He wants us by the flesh to tame the flesh because when we do he can take the credit and deceive us.

Excerpt-  The Spiritual Man Pg 116

'Should a believer be so self-confident that he dares to complete the task of the Holy Spirit in the energy of the flesh, he will not come into full spiritual maturity. He will instead drift until the sins he previously had overcome return to him again in power. Do not be surprised by what is said here. It is a spiritual truism that wherever or whenever the flesh is serving God, there and then the power of sin is strengthened. Why did the proud Pharisees become slaves to sin? Was it not because they were too self-righteous and served God too zealously? Why did the apostle chide the Galatians? Why did they manifest the deeds of the flesh? Was it not because they sought to establish their own righteousness by works and to perfect by the flesh the work which the Holy Spirit had begun?

The hazard for young believers is to stop short of the putting to death of the power of the flesh in doing good by only knowing what the cross does for the sinful side of the flesh. In so doing they retreat again into the sins of the flesh. The greatest blunder Christians commit upon experiencing victory over sin lies in not using the way of victory to sustain it; instead they try to perpetuate the victory by their works and determination. It may perhaps succeed for a while. Before long though they shall find

Pg  117

themselves sliding back into their former sins, which may differ in form but not in essence. They then either slump into despair by concluding that constant and persistent triumph is impossible to achieve or they try to camouflage their sins without honestly confessing that they have sinned. Now what is it that causes such failure? Just as the flesh gives you strength to do righteously so it also gives you the power to sin. Whether good acts or evil, all are but the expressions of the same flesh. If the flesh is not furnished  opportunity to sin, it is willing to do good; and if once the opportunity to perform good is provided, the flesh will soon revert to sin.

 Here Satan deceives God’s children. If believers would habitually maintain the attitude of the flesh being crucified Satan could have no chance; for “the flesh is Satan’s workshop.” if the flesh in whole, not just in part, is truly under the power of the death of the Lord, Satan will be totally dis-employed.

He is consequently willing to allow the sinful part of our flesh to be offered unto death if he may only deceive us into retaining the good part.

Satan is quite aware that should the good side remain intact the life of the flesh will continue to be kept alive. He still has a base from which to operate to recover that side which he has lost. He knows very well that the flesh could win and regain its victory in the realm of sin if the flesh succeeded in squeezing the Holy Spirit out in the matter of serving God. This explains why many Christians fall back into the service of sin after they have been set free. Should the spirit not actually be in complete and continuous control in the matter of worship, it will be unable to maintain dominion in daily life. If I have not yet entirely denied myself before God I cannot deny myself before men, and therefore I cannot overcome my hatred, temper and selfishness. These two are inseparable.

Through ignorance of this truth, the believers at Galatia fell into “biting and devouring one another” (Gal. 5.15). They attempted to perfect by the flesh what had been begun by the Holy Spirit, for they desired “to make a good showing in the flesh” in order that “they might glory in (their) flesh”

Pg 118

-(Gal. 6.12,13). Naturally their successes were very scanty in performing good by the flesh, while their failures in overcoming evil became quite numerous. Little did they realize that as long as they would serve God with their strength and ideas they doubtlessly would serve sin in the flesh. If they did not forbid the flesh to do good they could not prevent it from doing evil. The best way to keep from sinning is not to do any good by one’s self. Being unconscious of the utter corruption of the flesh, the Galatian believers in their foolishness wished to make use of it, not recognizing that the same corruption marked the flesh in boasting of doing good as in following lust. They could not do what God wanted them to do because on the one hand they tried to accomplish what the Holy Spirit had begun and on the other they vainly attempted to rid themselves of the passion and lust of the flesh. '

When Good Can Be Bad.

We've been talking about how even the seeming 'GOOD' in us can be a bad thing. How many who BELIEVE, truly, believe that they are Christ's will hear Him tell them to get away from Him, that He doesn't know them. Those people are going to tell the Lord He's wrong, they'll explain how they did so much in His name, they were GOOD Christians- they helped the poor, they fought against evil, they lived a good life and hurt no one! They'll be speaking the truth too, all but one point in fact, all that good they did was done in their flesh, on their own, without the Holy Spirit.  Just because we do good does NOT automatically mean we are living in the Spirit, that Christ is living in us.  Evil loves to do good, it's called deception and Satan is the master of deception.

I've been rereading the book - The Spiritual Man and the following is an excerpt- pg. 110

 'Yet, just here lies the danger. For the Christian has not come to learn how to hate the totality of his flesh. He merely desires to be liberated from the sins which spring from it. He knows how to resist somewhat the deeds of the flesh, but he does not realize that the entire flesh itself needs to be destroyed. What deceives him is that the flesh not only can produce sin but can also perform good. If it is still doing good it is evident it is yet alive. Had the flesh definitely died the believer’s ability both to do good and to do evil would have perished with it. An ability to undertake good manifests that the flesh has not yet died.'

Truthfully we must be crucified with Christ.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

Our entire life must be lived by FAITH and not faith in our own abilities, but faith in the Son of God.

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Gal 3:3  Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? 

ANY good that we produce of ourselves without the Spirit, is not good at all. We must do ALL through the Spirit. 

Here is another excerpt-  The Spiritual Man Pg 116

'Should a believer be so self-confident that he dares to complete the task of the Holy Spirit in the energy of the flesh, he will not come into full spiritual maturity. He will instead drift until the sins he previously had overcome return to him again in power. Do not be surprised by what is said here. It is a spiritual truism that wherever or whenever the flesh is serving God, there and then the power of sin is strengthened. Why did the proud Pharisees become slaves to sin? Was it not because they were too self-righteous and served God too zealously? Why did the apostle chide the Galatians? Why did they manifest the deeds of the flesh? Was it not because they sought to establish their own righteousness by works and to perfect by the flesh the work which the Holy Spirit had begun?

The hazard for young believers is to stop short of the putting to death of the power of the flesh in doing good by only knowing what the cross does for the sinful side of the flesh. In so doing they retreat again into the sins of the flesh. The greatest blunder Christians commit upon experiencing victory over sin lies in not using the way of victory to sustain it; instead they try to perpetuate the victory by their works and determination. It may perhaps succeed for a while. Before long though they shall find

Pg  117

themselves sliding back into their former sins, which may differ in form but not in essence. They then either slump into despair by concluding that constant and persistent triumph is impossible to achieve or they try to camouflage their sins without honestly confessing that they have sinned. Now what is it that causes such failure? Just as the flesh gives you strength to do righteously so it also gives you the power to sin. Whether good acts or evil, all are but the expressions of the same flesh. If the flesh is not furnished  opportunity to sin, it is willing to do good; and if once the opportunity to perform good is provided, the flesh will soon revert to sin.

 Here Satan deceives God’s children. If believers would habitually maintain the attitude of the flesh being crucified Satan could have no chance; for “the flesh is Satan’s workshop.” if the flesh in whole, not just in part, is truly under the power of the death of the Lord, Satan will be totally dis-employed.

He is consequently willing to allow the sinful part of our flesh to be offered unto death if he may only deceive us into retaining the good part.

Satan is quite aware that should the good side remain intact the life of the flesh will continue to be kept alive. He still has a base from which to operate to recover that side which he has lost. He knows very well that the flesh could win and regain its victory in the realm of sin if the flesh succeeded in squeezing the Holy Spirit out in the matter of serving God. This explains why many Christians fall back into the service of sin after they have been set free. Should the spirit not actually be in complete and continuous control in the matter of worship, it will be unable to maintain dominion in daily life. If I have not yet entirely denied myself before God I cannot deny myself before men, and therefore I cannot overcome my hatred, temper and selfishness. These two are inseparable.

Through ignorance of this truth, the believers at Galatia fell into “biting and devouring one another” (Gal. 5.15). They attempted to perfect by the flesh what had been begun by the Holy Spirit, for they desired “to make a good showing in the flesh” in order that “they might glory in (their) flesh”

Pg 118

-(Gal. 6.12,13). Naturally their successes were very scanty in performing good by the flesh, while their failures in overcoming evil became quite numerous. Little did they realize that as long as they would serve God with their strength and ideas they doubtlessly would serve sin in the flesh. If they did not forbid the flesh to do good they could not prevent it from doing evil. The best way to keep from sinning is not to do any good by one’s self. Being unconscious of the utter corruption of the flesh, the Galatian believers in their foolishness wished to make use of it, not recognizing that the same corruption marked the flesh in boasting of doing good as in following lust. They could not do what God wanted them to do because on the one hand they tried to accomplish what the Holy Spirit had begun and on the other they vainly attempted to rid themselves of the passion and lust of the flesh. '

We're going to stop here for now and pick it up again tomorrow- by the GRACE of GOD.

They believe He knows them.

Rom 16:17  Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 

Rom 16:18  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

Php 3:18  (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ

Php 3:19  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) 

Php 2:21  For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.

2Ti 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 

2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

You can have the FORM of godliness OR have the POWER of godliness.

You can give really great uplifting speeches but still NOT serve the Lord Jesus Christ.

You can seek things for your own pleasure OR seek the thing which are Jesus Christ's.

You see, I've said it before and I'm going to say it again- TRULY if we are LOVERS of pleasures MORE than lovers of GOD, we will NOT BE GOD'S no matter what we think! No matter what superior form of supposed Christianity we take, we are NOT God's if we seek pleasure over seeking God. What PLACE does God hold in our lives? Is He first and foremost in our lives or have we regulated Him to another rank in our life? Do you suppose if He is even one rank under first that we are His? People want to believe this it truth, but it isn't.  People want to believe if they just accept God without any of God in their lives that they are saved. People want to believe that if they are doing good works in His name that they are saved. He tells us differently. He tells us that He needs to know us.  If you say that He knows you simply because He is a God and knows all, then I say you're wrong again.

He spoke these words of truth-

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 

Jesus is going to tell MANY that He never knew them and He won't be speaking to the professed atheists, or religious unbelievers of Him. Jesus is going to be speaking to those who use HIS name.

THEY USE THE NAME OF JESUS! THEY BELIEVE HE KNOWS THEM!

This will mean all the difference in the world -  Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 

HE THAT DOETH THE WILL OF THE FATHER- these are the ones that Jesus Christ will know!

Joh_6:38  For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.

Joh_6:40  And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

How many DO things with the belief- however small- that the things they do qualify them for salvation? Are these the people our Savior doesn't know because they haven't truly believed in HIS SAVING POWER, a power ONLY HE possesses and is found in nothing else? Or do they hang on to even the tiniest sliver of their OWN power for salvation? If we believe even a little bit that our actions beyond believing are what save us then we are NOT honestly, and fully believing in the grace of our Savior.   The acts we commit after we believe should NOT be done in order to save us, but as extensions of the truth in CHRIST's sole ability to save.  WE are able to do the tiniest bit of good only because of HIS saving power, not because we possess some power of our own to add to His redeeming of us.  We can NEVER add points to a chart that doesn't exist and it doesn't exist because we can't work our way to salvation. The ONLY chart would have one point if it existed and that point would be BELIEVING IN CHRIST!

We STOP believing in the redeeming power of our Savior when we start working our way there. We may say we don't but we do.

It's NOT that we shouldn't behave in certain ways, we have to behave as Christ behaved loving the Heavenly Father and loving others and doing works accordingly but we do that because we are SAVED, not to be SAVED.

Daily we need to pick up our crosses and these crosses are but reminders through and through of the cross of Calvary.

Luk_9:23  And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

And notice… let him deny himself AND take up the cross daily.

We take up the life and death and life again of Christ daily, knowing the walk He walked is ours to walk as well. He SAVED us so we can live for HIM and if living for Him means being persecuted all the way to our deaths, we die FOR Him because He FIRST died for us.

Gal 2:20  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. 

THIS is TRUTH!

The cross represents the LIFE Christ lived - His ministry that led to His crucifixion. The cross represents His blood spilled in sacrifice for us. The cross represents His rising from the grave to live for us once again. The cross represents all these things and we take up a cross daily to represent that we are LIVING with CHRIST LIVING IN US.

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory

Christ's power is alive in US this is the power we dare not deny. We have no godliness of our own, but we have Christ's.

May we NOT be consumed by self-serving, may our bellies not be our gods! May we truly have GOD in our lives fully, wholly in us all through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR now and forever!!!!!!!

'...good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.'

Rom 16:17  Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 

Rom 16:18  For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

When someone serves their own belly, they are serving their own needs first and foremost.  They might say they are serving the Lord, but they aren't. They speak wonderfully and in their wonderful speeches they are DECEIVING the hearts of those who would be Christ's.  Truly, are we not God's if all we do is care for ourselves before others.  We say we need to take care of ourselves first so we can care for others, but there is a difference between caring for ourselves and pampering ourselves. There is a big difference in trusting God to care for our needs while we live for Him, and trusting in ourselves.  Some argue that God expects us to care for ourselves and gives us the means to do so, and I can't say that isn't true. I can say if we are caring MORE for ourselves than Him and for others, we are not listening to God at all.

Php 3:18  (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ

Php 3:19  Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.) 

Php 2:21  For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's.

2Ti 3:4  Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 

2Ti 3:5  Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Jud 1:4  For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. 

More on this tomorrow by the grace and will of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST NOW AND FOREVER!!!!!!!

Receiving One Another.

Rom 15:5  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: 

Rom 15:6  That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Rom 15:7  Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. 

Luk_8:15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

Bring forth fruit with patience.

Anyone who has ever grown a garden knows you must have patience. Plants of all kinds have their own time schedule and it takes a lot of time for the first tomato to turn red, from seed to fruit. The kernel planted - to the ear of corn, from the seed sowed- to the wheat stalk. Time, it all takes time and time means patience. Time is going to pass and we decide how we live in that passing time. We can fight time. We can rage against its slowness in so many of life's situations. Being impatient seldom hurries the very thing patience is needed for so why do we allow ourselves to get impatient? Is there any logical reason for it other than our emotions taking over?

Patience, surely we NEED patience, much more patience in all our daily lives, in all things.

The God of patience and consolation can grant us to have the same mind towards each other ACCORDING to Christ Jesus. We need to have the same truth and glorify God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We need to receive each other as CHRIST received us and THIS will glorify God.

Receiving each other as we receive Christ. Freely, earnestly, gratefully, in love, in truth.

All through our SAVIOR, now and forever!

Patience.

Rom 15:5  Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: 

Rom 15:6  That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Rom 15:7  Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. 

The God of patience.

Luk_8:15  But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

Luk_21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

Rom_5:3  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;

Rom_5:4  And patience, experience; and experience, hope

Rom_8:25  But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.

Rom_15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

2Co_6:4  But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses

2Co_12:12  Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

Col_1:11  Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness

1Th_1:3  Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father

2Th_1:4  So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure

1Ti_6:11  But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

2Ti_3:10  But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience

Tit_2:2  That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

Heb_6:12  That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

Heb_10:36  For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.

Heb_12:1  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us

Jas_1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

Jas_1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Jas_5:7  Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.

Jas_5:10  Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.

Jas_5:11  Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

2Pe_1:6  And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness

Rev_1:9  I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Rev_2:2  I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

Rev_2:3  And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.

Rev_2:19  I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works; and the last to be more than the first.

Rev_3:10  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Rev_13:10  He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Rev_14:12  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Comfort of the Scriptures.

Rom 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. 

Through PATIENCE, and COMFORT of the scriptures we have HOPE. Everything written in God's word was written for our learning. We NEED to read the scriptures! We need to take comfort in all those who have gone before us. Each person used by God is a person just like you and I are. There was no special mold for God's chosen. God chose those who He found grace in.

Gen_6:8  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

Why did Noah find grace in the eyes of the LORD? 

Gen_6:22  Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.

Gen_7:1  And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

Gen_7:5  And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.

God saw Noah as righteous in a generation filled with evil. Noah listened to God. 

We need to listen to God. All those men and women in the Bible, listened to God. And when they didn't listen to Him, there were consequences. Jonah for example- He didn't want to listen to God, but in the end He did.

God only ever wants our ultimate good - our salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Life is difficult, it was difficult for all the men and women in the Bible as well. Read their stories, read what transpired. You won't find a single instance of an easy life. You will find trials and tribulations. You'll find pain and agonies. You'll find joys too, but there isn't an easy life for ANY of those who are God's.  Look at their lives! Know their lives and take comfort in KNOWING that through all the trials and tribulations the men and women of God remained HIS through faith. They did NOT give up on God no matter what they endured all the way to their deaths.

Rom 15:4  For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. 

We NEED TO LEARN!

We NEED PATIENCE!

We NEED TO FIND COMFORT IN THE SCRIPTURES!
We NEED HOPE!

All through our Savior, Jesus Christ, we need to listen, to heed God's word, God's lessons for us.

Please, Lord...please!