SOME CONTRADICTIONS AND TRUTHS ABOUT THE LIVES AND HEARTS OF MEN, AND SOME THOUGHTS ON THE WORDS OF GOD

(NOTE: All thoughts in this page are mine, those God blessed me with. But, there are some in here (very, very few) which are changed thoughts and truths from other authors which touched me deeply. I have changed these (very few) to best tell what was going on in my own heart. In the end, what will count is the truth and not the person who wrote it. Truth will remain while all authors will soon be gone from the earth. Till then, "we speak wisdom among those who are perfect; yet, not the wisdom of this world, nor of the rulers of this world, that come to nothing...", 1Cor.2:6.

1. As a rule, political parties have a main guideline by which they are ruled. That is, if there is any good or bad idea, it will have first to go through the approval of the doctrine. Communism, for example, doesn't allow anything that doesn't interest it, socialism the same thing - even though both have the same spirit in practice. It is not the people and their needs that are taken into account, but the doctrine and everything it commands and approves. That's what the Pharisees and Sadducees did: if it didn't match their doctrines not even the truth would have a chance to succeed. We know that, today, there are endless doctrines, fixed ideas by which churches are governed, some reasonable and others less good, some harmless, but which still govern minds and are capable of controlling, tying, influencing or even automating many actions. And it is a pity that the law of love for God and neighbour is not the only rule of doctrine. It cannot be the doctrine to be consulted, but the love of God - his kind of love, which has only the final goal as its guide or motivation. Not even good doctrines can even be mandatory. It is the doctrine that must pass the scrutiny of love and not the other way around. "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything", 1Cor.6:12.

2. A Bishop must be blameless, vigilant, sober", 1Tim.3:2. Words either mislead or teach properly. It all depends on the meaning we give it, the tone of voice we use and the expressions of those who speak and the impressions of those who listen. Many allow themselves to be convinced by what impresses them and this opens the door for those who manage forms of expression very well, which convince the impressionable. That's why Jesus warns: "Take heed how you hear!" Luke 8:18. And when it comes to a translation, there are still more factors to take into account. The translation of this verse is one such case. For example, the word "vigilant (watchful)" here means to be circumspect in the sense of keeping watch over one's own heart since only the heart can withhold God from acting and from working. Now, that being so, it alters our whole outlook in favour of saving truth. In the world, to be vigilant is to watch over other people, other dangers, and to watch against external threats. But, according to the truth, watching has only to do with watching over our own being and heart so that nothing comes to separate us from God, from His strength and from His power, from His saving, constant and permanent companionship, that is, eternal life (no ups and downs). Many watch in the Christian life as the world would watch against dangers, forgetting that the only danger to us is that which comes from within. "For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders...", Mat.7:21. Therefore, "If anyone desires the episcopate" (v.1) he must also know how to desire to fulfil the conditions that allow him to achieve such a privileged and praiseworthy duty. A boat or ship only sinks with the water inside it and not with the water outside it. The water outside helps it to navigate even better. "Take heed to thyself", 1Tim.4:16.

3. "John calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to Jesus, saying, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?" Luc.7:19. There is something here that is not easy to understand. There is something here that we might miss. What became of the certainty of that assured man who said with absolute certainty: "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Behold the Lamb of God!", John 1:29,36. He said that when he didn't even know Him. John never saw Him before, yet recognized Him with great certainty! Where and when did his certainty begin to fade? Where did the doubt start and why? John did well to ask when he doubted, that is, to ask to be sure. There are those who remain in doubt for fear of being criticized or even reprimanded for doubting. John faced and confronted doubt boldly. He acted very well and got rid of the temptation by asking without fear of being confronted, without fear of what the Pharisees and other people might think after all the certainties and statements he had made at the River Jordan. But, the question here is: how do you leave such certainty and get to this doubt and for what reason or reasons? First of all, this means that the assurance is not of John, but of the holy Spirit in Him. Faith is fruit and is never worked by self. If the Spirit fades from a heart, doubts start in people who depended solely and entirely on grace (1Pet.1:13). Such people can't even believe a lie anymore. But, why did John enter such doubts or, should I say, why did he lose on the assurances of God? I believe that John expected something more from this life after having fulfilled his double mission, it is, after having presented the Messiah to the world and of having prepared the people for Him. I think he expected to live the rest of his life in peace, but, he was arrested instead. Or, maybe, he wanted to make sure he had already accomplished his mission and could die in peace. I also believe that his communion with the Holy Spirit was put in the background after having fulfilled his mission. We must understand that our fellowship with God must, first and foremost, be maintained for our own sake (for the sake of God concerning us) and for our own consumption so that we may never attempt to gather without Him. By being right with God, we will fulfil our mission with complete perfection. After the mission, we should still maintain our communion with Him in spotlessness. After we have fulfilled our mission, our own communion with God must be maintained in the first flame and in the first love so that the main purpose for this communion is fulfilled until the end. The main reason is our own living in/with God. The main reason for a life of fullness is to save our life for the glory of God. Neglecting our communion with God, if our motives do not remain pure in approaching to God, if we renege or neglect our communion with God just because we have already fulfilled our mission, have already married, have already preached or have already achieved some purpose of God's will, we can easily enter dark places of doubt unnecessarily. It is very easy to ease up on God Himself after an achievement, or after the completion of a very demanding mission or task. We need to know that the main purpose is our fellowship with God and not the mission. We need to become fully aware, too, that the main reason we have obtained abundant life is to remain in God and God in us eternally. Our work or mission is not and never will be the main reason for having, for obtaining or maintaining a healthy communion with God. The fulfilment of our work, mission or task is and will always be a consequence of the communion we maintain with God and will never be the reason. If it is the reason, we must repent and change because it cannot be so, under the real danger of losing ourselves or becoming futile without any need. What's the point of wanting to win the world losing your own soul? When this happens, it means that we have lost our first love. "I have this against you, that you have left your first love", Rev.2:4. For years I always misunderstood this verse. It is actually a misinterpretation because of the possible translations of the word "first" (in fist love). The word "first" can be interpreted in many ways and only one is correct. It can be interpreted as the first before the second. But, the real meaning of that word in this verse is not that. The meaning is very different from that. In this verse it means that this love is primary, main, unique, the highest degree of importance or even the only one. The first of a kingdom is the king and it is in this sense that this word is used here. Losing the first love means that we begin to love something else above/besides the love of God or in conjunction with that love. The love of God, obedience and everything that encompasses our experience or coexistence with God cannot obtain a degree of secondary importance or even of equal importance to another. The love of God should not even compete with another love that can be placed in a second or even a third place. In my opinion, the love of God must be the only love and, when that is the case, there cannot even be other love in secondary degrees of importance. This love is unique and exclusive. There is only the love of/for God with all your heart and the love for our neighbour and no other. There cannot be any other love in our lives in any degree. I don't know if these are the things that happened to John the Baptist, but I believe that my perception might not be that far from the truth. If faith/certainty of things is operated by love and its inflow (Gal.5:6), what happened to John the Baptist when he started to doubt could be explained. The greatest danger for people who are ultra-faithful to God is when we complete a mission with God's full blessing. God must remain above all and He shall not remain so unless He had already been above all else. Or should I say God exclusively? It is the mission that is for God and not God for the mission. It is my child for God and not God for the salvation of my child, father, mother, house or country. John 10:13.

4. "He who does the will of God abides forever", 1John 2:17. The person who does the will of God does not remain/abide forever because he does the will of God, but because he has a real fellowship and complicity with God which enables him to do/execute it the way it is done in heaven. Being able to execute this will is a sign that you have this sort of communion and unifying conciliation with God intact. In order to carry out His will, it is necessary to be able to fulfil certain conditions and certain requirements regarding our communion with God. First, we need to have REAL fellowship with God - a make-believe one will not work. This communion needs to be real and not one-sided. Secondly, it is imperative that one obtains grace to perform; to find this grace (which is the power and blessing of God) it is necessary to seek it and find it; when seeking it, it will only be found by having our whole heart involved in that will and in the desires of God to be able to execute it perfectly, loving God and his will ardently and above all. Fulfilling all these requirements, it becomes possible to carry out God's will because one is able to gather with Him and unable to alone. What this means is that the person abides forever because he has that uninterrupted fellowship with God which allows him all access to the providences of God, to the power of His grace, to His leadership, to His providences and fellowship and to everything that is necessary for His will to be carried out here on earth the same way and through the same power it is carried out in heaven, that is, "here on earth as in heaven". To be able to do his will the way it is done in heaven is a sure sign that there is a real communion with eternal life within the whole being. Therefore, he who does the will of God remains forever because he is truly rooted in God and God in him to that privileged point where he can reach out and be allowed/enabled to do His will. Such a person remains forever because he has his fellowship with God up to date and in such normality that he can remain in it because it is his only life and the only way he knows for a living. The fact that he succeeds in carrying it out shows that he remains forever rooted in God. He abides forever because he is truly in God and God in him and not because he does his will. In fact, he can do his will because he is in God and God in him and that is why he abides forever. The fact that he can do God's will reveals that he has abundant life (eternal life) within him, flowing abundantly. And it is this life that makes it possible to do God's will and, also, to last/abide forever. Those who can do his will show that they have this life in the promised abundance. That is why they remain forever. We cannot misinterpret the Scriptures for the convenience of the flesh consulting His will but not consulting Him. His will is not the entrance to the fellowship. Fellowshipping with Him is the entrance to His will. "Walk in my presence and be perfect", Gen.17:1. There is an order in these words. It doesn't say "be perfect and walk in My presence", but the other way round.

5. "Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh", Gal.5:16. We know what "walking" means. It's being active, moving forward. Many believe that to be in the Spirit is to be inert and ecstatic or static. To walk in the Spirit is to walk through our daily lives in a natural way, but by the power of God. We live with it as if we have never lived any other way before. We walk and live in real presence with God as if we have no knowledge of any other way of life. Another thing about this verse: if transgression only exists when the lust is fulfilled, that is, yielding to temptation and not by being tempted, it is also true that obedience exists only when it is fulfilled - when one walks. To stop walking in evil is not yet walking in the Spirit - or in the light. To stop walking in evil is to stand still and to walk in the Spirit is to be active in God, for God and with Him. "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit", Gal.5:25.

6. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God", Rom.10:17 . This is one of the most misunderstood Bible verses in today's evangelical circles. In fact, most believers use and abuse on interpretations that sound good to the carnal ear. There is a widespread idea that the more I read my Bible, the more I listen to preaching, the more my faith grows. And this is not true, that is, it can rarely be true. We cannot confuse knowledge with faith and vice versa. Reading is good and increases knowledge and may even increase wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are not the same thing. It is true that "A man's wisdom makes his face shine, And the sternness of his face is changed", Eccl.8:1. Indeed, knowledge and wisdom are excellent things. But, we cannot confuse that glow on the face with the faith that makes the heart shine in the whole essence of man from his deepest roots. Reading the Scriptures increases the reader's knowledge and not necessarily his faith. Allow me to explain further. First of all, we need to understand very well what the word "hearing" means in this verse and in Scripture in general. Hearing means something different. Hearing is when God speaks to the heart and says/reveals/manifests something that makes a lot of sense to the heart that is (or has become) according to God because only then could it make all that sense. It is necessary for these two things to happen, that is, for God to speak and for the heart to receive it fully grasping that word with great, inexplicable joy for receiving something that it needed so much to hear and understand. That is, the heart that yearns that way needs to be in full agreement with God to receive with joy, exulting in what made a lot of sense to it - and if it was God who really spoke. That's what hearing is all about. This adds to faith, revives the spirit thirsting for fluid truth overflowing with reality, drives out doubt, and consolidates the whole of any person in God. This may also be called good encouragement and means the growth of that faith which can only be wrought by love. "Faith working through love", Gal.5:6. In this case, this means that there is such a communion and intimacy between God and the heart that his love is poured out abundantly so that, through that love, one can love. When there is such reality in intimacy with God - or on the way towards it - He can speak to a heart that is in full conformity with Him, which has such a thirst for God that can desire nothing else but Him with that same extreme intensity. Since that heart is after God, if that heart delights in Him and by Him only, any word or revelation coming from the mouth of God speaks according to that heart because it is conformed to God. Soon, this hearing increases faith and trust in God by taking the necessary steps of obedience. Therefore, we cannot confuse the acquisition of knowledge and wisdom with the faith that comes from hearing because they are not the same thing. This is what it means to hear when a word comes from God.

7. "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend/overtake it", John 1:5 . Yesterday, I was ruminating on the fact that evil is spreading wildly very quickly, even seeing many countries and governments substantiate, support and promote what is very bad and wrong. But at the same time I was listening to the audio Bible and this verse made so much sense to me that I marvelled: "But darkness did not prevail...". No matter how much darkness increases, how many dark ideas take charge, it will never prevail any more than it did in the darkest moment in human history when they crucified Jesus. To this day, there has never been a darker moment than when they crucified the very Creator of mankind for coming for his people and to what was his. "He came to his own, and his own did not receive him", John 1:11. If they didn't prevail then, they won't prevail now either. In fact, they will never prevail. But, there is something more to the understanding of this verse that may escape us. The word "prevail" could also be translated as apprehending, comprehending, or even understanding in order to prevail against the light. This interpretation gives a very broad sense as to the cunning worldly wisdom and its natural application to have darkness prevail against light at all costs. They are capable of enormous sacrifices and feigning only to try to prevail against the light. They are very ingenious and persistent against what is right, even going so far as to resemble light in order to deceive. Is the devil not an angel of light? The Antichrist closely resembles that which comes from Christ. Hence the word "antichrist" in the Epistles of John means "like Christ" to better work against Him, for an internal enemy (in church, at home, at Bible school, in the prayer meeting) does greater damage to the truth than an external one. It works like the the association between water and a boat: the water outside the boat helps it to float, but in the inside causes it to sink.

8. "If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation", John 11:48. Jesus said that whoever loses his life for the sake of Him will save it and whoever wants to save it will lose it. Isn't that what happened here? They wanted to save their nation by denying Jesus and lost it a few years later to the Romans. This happened because they wanted to save the nation by denying Jesus. They lost what they wanted to save.

9. "You did not believe because you are not of My sheep", John 10:26. There are many reasons why people don't believe (in the truth). This does not mean, however, that they do not believe a lie, that is, claiming to know Jesus when it is not true. One thing is certain: those who cannot believe in Jesus easily believe in the lies, illusions and deceptions of this life. There are sheep of deceit that are not part of the flock of Jesus. It is for this reason that Jesus says "you are not of my sheep" even though they were following him, meaning that there are other types of sheep from other masters with a heart full of desires for sin who easily listen to what is morally wrong because it is dear and familiar to them. A sheep is someone who has an enormous complicity with his shepherd, with his desires and, above all, with his way of operating. Some are sheep of evil and some of Jesus. The evil sheep can "believe" in Jesus through a shipwrecked, pretentious or even counterfeit faith both morally and emotionally. We see that Paul speaks of people with a shipwrecked faith who kept preaching as if nothing was wrong. This is how far self-deception can lead. "...Holding faith and a good conscience, which some have put away and made shipwreck as to faith", 1Tim.1:19. However, the shipwrecked ones continued to preach Jesus appearing to be faithful while drowning in order to deceive the faithful.

10. "I am the Good Shepherd, and I know those that are Mine, and I am known by those who are Mine", John 10:14. When Jesus says that "I am known of mine", it means that he makes himself known. Therefore, if he does not make himself known, he will not be known-much less recognized. Who has the power to make him appear if he hides? This has a lot of meaning, because the vast majority of believers I know say they know Jesus because they pray and read their Bibles and not because He makes himself known to them. A relationship cannot exist when that relationship is one-sided, when it is affirmed and confirmed only by one of the sides. Jesus has to make himself known (experimentally) and these sheep are known to him in the same way or degree that they know him. If that which separates God from people and people from God is not taken away, if the paths are not properly and orderly prepared, how can anyone claim to know Jesus just by praying and reading? "Know the Lord", say the Scriptures. However, this is not just a command for someone to approach Him, but it is for us to properly cleanse ourselves of our sins by confessing them each by name when approaching Him, abandoning the confessed sins to fulfil the minimum conditions for God to approach and make Himself known without any shadow of a doubt. "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him", 2Cron.16:9.

11. "The hireling flees, because he is a hireling and does not care for the sheep", John 10:13. Jesus speaks here of someone who flees because of some danger and abandons the sheep. But, what about those who give up, those who get discouraged, or those who neglect, ignore or are not aware of the primary needs of the sheep? Or, what about those who are not able to take them to the best pastures, or do not have the spiritual conditions to listen to the High Shepherd to be guided by Him in this regard? The mercenary is not just the one who flees because of some danger.

12. "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly", John 10:10. Jesus came so that we may have eternal, constant, abundant life, which is without ups or downs and permanent. Eternal life, for us, begins here and now. Many people talk about changing their lives, but they misinterpret this. When talking about changing their lives, any human thinks of a bettered version of one they have (or that they believe they have), and not of another sort life from the vey roots of our being. They try improving the one they already have, using their appetites in a disguised way or something along that line of thought. But, if that were the true meaning of "changing one's life," it would not be necessary to be born again into another and to die with Christ. Allow me to explain. When the Bible speaks of changing one's life, it means abandoning what we consider to be life in exchange for another kind of life. It means to be dead for real to this worldliness and alive to heaven. We literally experience an exchange of lives by being born into a new one. We cease to exist in a certain form of life which Scriptures say categorically is death, to be born into another life where everything is made new, including the form of power through which it runs, operates continually and exists thereafter in us, although it exists since ever. Changing your life is not and never will be changing your beliefs by keeping what you are; it is not and never will be to modify our habits and customs to appear better in our own eyes; It's not improving the current life by becoming "believers" - it's literally changing the type of life along with everything that composes it or makes it possible. Every form of life has its own power by which it runs; it has its motivations; it has its ideals; it has the power by which it moves on or is worked by; and all this needs to be killed so that everything can be made new indeed. It must be everything and not only most of the things.

13. "I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture", John 10:9. Nowadays, people are invited to attend a church and when they do so, they are considered believers and, from then on, it is not difficult for anyone to consider himself a believer by imposition, not of hands, but of circumstances. Few pastors and preachers today introduce Jesus to people. And when I speak of presenting Him, I speak of a reality, that is, where Jesus is really presented in person without words and without the force of doctrine. Those who do not know Jesus present doctrine, church, teaching, baptisms, professions of faith and many other things that cannot be considered as Jesus in person. I really believe it is just another form of idolatry than true life. Every preacher who is not able to present Jesus in a real way does not do his work well and is a fraudulent worker, whether he believes the right stuff or not.

14. "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God", 1John 5:1. These days, this verse or others like it are easily misrepresented. Let's go back in time and see what these statements mean. For Jews and for those people who saw Jesus live, it was very difficult to believe that a man could be God - even more so because it was true. That is, in addition to being difficult for them to believe that that a man could be God, anyone who has a deceitful heart would more easily believe in something that was deceitful or a lie, because this is the basis for any type of idolatry. For this reason, it became more difficult for someone to believe that a man was the Christ because, in addition to being a man, it was also true. Were it a lie, it wouldn't be so difficult for them to believe him. Believing in a false christ is much easier for a heart dedicated and applied to deceit. That being the case and under those circumstances, the only way anyone could believe in Jesus as God (or as the Christ that they did not desire as resented to them), would be to be born again, experiencing His own nature in the first person. Therefore, everyone who could believe Him only would do so only by having been born of God. "If you can believe...", Mar.9:23.

15. "And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true", 1John 5:20. Jesus is Eternal Life ("Jesus Christ is . . . eternal life," 1John 5:21). Jesus is the salvation. Salvation is not the teaching we prefer or take for granted; Jesus is not doctrine; He is a person - He himself is the abundant life. We know him here and now in a real way. Eternal life is experienced right now. Teaching comes with the purpose of being able to distinguish and recognize the Truth, because many speak in the name of Christ. How can we be guided by Him if, at the very least, we cannot distinguish Him from other christs? Those who do not present Jesus in person do not present anything, not even when they put forth the most correct teachings.

16. "It is he Spirit who bears witness", 1John 5:6. Many bear witness for/of themselves, bear their own witness in front of people and sometimes in front of crowds. Nothing wrong with that as long as that testimony is true, for Jesus himself spoke countless times about himself. But, Jesus also stated that "I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me. It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true", John 8:18,17. The Spirit's testimony alone and isolated from ours would be true by itself because He is the truth. "And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth", 1John 5:6. But, our testimony when it is not corroborated, substantiated and authenticated by God has no value, even if it already had had some value before. If it once had value and now it doesn't, our testimony sparks against us and will be a reason for condemnation because we have experienced what we no longer experience. Let's see if God testifies about us now to us and to others, both through what we do and what God blesses. "The Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand", Gen.39:3. Also, through what God himself says about us. "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased", Mat.3:17. And through what he tells us and reveals personally. "He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself", 1John 5:10. If God does not bear this witness, if He is not the witness in whomsoever and in whatever way, there will be no valid witness in the eyes of heaven. There are people who, by force of doctrine, try to convince themselves that they are believers or children of God. But, the true witness exists only when "he Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God", Rom.8:16. On the other hand, there are also people who, out of fear, ignorance or even for not yet knowing the new wine to the point of loving it properly and exclusively, do not value this testimony that God gives when he gives it. They don't know that this is to classify God as a liar. When you don't believe someone, you fear him as a liar. That's why John adds stating that, "he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given", 1John 5:10. And, also, not having this testimony to appeal to him, the person will have God as non-existent - even if he claims that He exists by virtue of any doctrine or belief. We do not need to assert that God does not exist to be guilty of this crime - it is enough that we do not have this testimony in us due to some separation that exists between Him and us, living as if He did not exist; and, also, not being guided by Him. "Those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God", Rom.8:16. We cannot say the same about those who are not guided by Him, even if they hold to the normal providences of God as proof of witness, since God gives rain to all - good and bad - without exception.

17. The size of the multitude or the amount of people cannot be seen as a sign for a real revival. But the amount and the quality of the holiness of the crowd says a lot about a true revival. "And made you alive, when you were dead in trespasses and sins", Eph.2:1. That is, a multitude with sin - even if it is only one common sin - are dead and not alive.

18. "...Without God in the world", Eph.2:12. It is a terrifying thing to live in this world, walk in it, die in it, and all that without God. Everyone decides for himself how to live here and now, many build their own towers of Babel and live for themselves even when they use the name of God (in vain). Is there anything worse than that in this vast universe? This is the life of sin: "without God in the world".

19. "...Faithful in Christ Jesus", Eph.1:1. It is very easy to misread the Scriptures. Seeing the placement of the words is very important for us so as not to be understanding what we wish to understand and, rather, what it really says. It would be even better if one reads to find a detailed explanation of what is already happening in the inside. That said, we might ask why Paul says here "faithful in Christ" and not "faithful to Christ". It seems easy to explain, but it says a lot more than it seems. To be in Christ, we need to go in through the door - we need to start with John the Baptist, go all the way in between to end up in Pentecost. After we have cleansed our entire lives of past sins that have never been confessed by name, and after having abandoned present sins in the presence of Christ, we enter into a quest to enter into a life of Pentecost that is continual life and which has no ups and downs. You have to find it and be able to remain in it. One remains in it by becoming or by being made as constant and as stable as eternal life itself. We do not get into it by decision making. Having arrived there, we are in Christ and Christ in us beyond all doubt. But, nothing ends there because that is precisely where it all sets off. Let me explain. We need to learn to like, to use, to become useful and to appreciate the new wine by understanding it to the full, it is, by becoming new wineskins. We must henceforth learn to be faithful only by using and enjoying the power of grace, using its means, and vehemently denying all our own resources and capabilities that are not fully sanctified. When a person comes to God, it becomes more difficult to deny one's abilities and power of the flesh than to deny oneself in a sacrificial/commercial way as in exchange. "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing", 1Cor.13:3. And it's good for us to understand that NOTHING, but nothing will get any benefit or benefit from it when the house is not built by God. Everything will have been in vain.

20. "In the integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this. And God said to him in a dream, "Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For I also withheld you from sinning against Me", Gen.20:5,6. Humanly speaking, when someone does not know that something is wrong and practices it, he is kind of exonerated from his transgression. However, for God it is still a transgression like any other. The only difference is that God might prevent the person from transgressing against Him, unlike what could happen to the obstinate ones. If God acquitted a transgressor just because he didn't know he was transgressing, he would be covering up transgression and would be an accomplice to sin because God knows it is sin. If someone falls off a cliff, wouldn't he die because he was blind when he fell? Or does he not die because he didn't know there was a precipice there, or because he couldn't avoid the fall? "Now therefore, restore (...) if you do not restore her, know that you shall surely die", Gen.20:7.

21. "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity", 2Tim.2:19. We have no idea of how important and serious this statement of truth is. Today I saw a famous man who lives a promiscuous and disrespectful life towards God listening to gospel music in plain sight, claiming that he was a believer and proclaiming that he was fleshly too. Many people in the world portray themselves in such examples. It is an example of worldliness rather than of Christianity. Let's imagine how big his condemnation will be! The name Jesus has a special meaning: "You shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins", Mat.1:21. These people reveal through their promiscuous and empty lives that Jesus means they can remain in their sins. They completely nullify the message of the Gospel and preach the surest way to hell.

22. "The merciful man does good for his own soul, But he who is cruel troubles his own flesh", Prov.11:17. Let us remember that the flesh is the strength of the cruel man. Therefore, if he harms his own flesh, it means that he even harms the power that moves him in his day-to-day life.

23. It is commonly believed (and rithly so) that justification precedes sanctification and that both are by faith in Jesus. And it is true that both are achieved by real and unfeigned faith in Jesus. Now, if it is through a real experience of a personal Pentecost that we are justified (and I do not doubt it), if it is through this experience of abundant life that we become truly and undeniably righteous/just (justified), sanctification comes to change our visible and external life, customs, habits, ideas, ideals, thoughts, aims, objectives and everything else that must compose our daily living from then on so that it is made compatible with the transformation that took place within us through the justification, and which must be maintained through a continual and real (not feigned) presence of God. "Abide in Me and Me in you". However, we must understand that this is not always the chronological order of what happens to us. We may ask whether the apostles were sanctified before or after Pentecost; and we see clearly that it was before and not after. In the same way, there are believers, pastors, workers (and sometimes tireless workers) who live a immaculate, disciplined and outwardly appealing and respected life, but who never went through a real experience of Pentecost. These should not reject true revival just because there are so many fake revivals in the field. On the other hand, they should neither feel alone or estranged to the point of denying everything they've become if they realize they've lived a poor life up to then. That would be a huge mistake too. Such only need to learn, like, love and become acquainted and use new wine, unlike those who only need to have their feet cleansed (John 13:10). The apostles went through the same situation. They experienced Pentecost after and not before denying all. In whatever circumstances anyone may find himself, he will have to go through both justification and sanctification, either one before or after the other. Without them, no one will ever see God.

24. "Many believed in Him there", John 10:42. It is a mistake to assume that this kind of belief in Jesus is or was considered to be faith. True faith would come after this believing - if it came at all. We have to read between the lines of the circumstances of these events. It was not and has never been easy for the Jews (or anyone else) to believe that a man could be God. This had to be believed - or even seen to be believed. Even for an already idolatrous people it would be difficult. But, it was even harder believe because it was true. Allow me to explain. If it were a lie, it would be easier for them to believe it. "And the people kept shouting, "The voice of a god and not of a man!" Act.12:22. A deceitful or even lying heart finds comfort only in some lie. Idolatry is a lie and a lie is idolatry. But, it was true that Jesus is God. If a deceitful heart believes the truth, however, it does so in opposition to itself. "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself", Luke 9:23. That said, it is necessary to emphasize the fact that true faith emerges from real and true communion with God in His Spirit. This communion/fellowship becomes possible only in a life cleansed of its past and present sins, with every known transgression confessed by name and, after that, finding the abundance of true eternal and constant life that was promised to us. This life is what, in turn, generates true faith as the fruit of that sort of genuine fellowship with God. We are, also, inclined to believe in whom we love unconditionally. This why Paul mentions the "faith which works by love", Gal.5:6. And it is for this reason that true faith is fruit and not the origin of (eternal) life. "He who believes has eternal life", John 5:24. He who has faith has life already. It is this life that makes him believe without being able to deny that sort of convincing evidence. But, we must bear in mind that there is another kind of believing that is not faith, but may lead to it, and does not save (from sin); and it is for this reason that Jesus also states in another place the inverted form of these facts: "So that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but, have (may have) eternal life (first)", John 3:16. It is another kind of believing that Jesus is talking about here. We cannot confuse these two so as not to make mistakes in our approach to the Gospel. Some who believed (but had no faith) tried to stone Him in a few occasions after they had "believed".

25. "Sheep follow him, for they know his voice", John 10:4. These days, the myth of a correct doctrine as the basis for a sound faith is widely spread. What makes a faith sound is a real, simple, true, continual communion with the Lord Himself. It is He who speaks to the heart and it is there that we must hear from Him about Him. Anyone can preach the right doctrine - even those who do not present Jesus to people. To hear the word means to hear with the heart and not with the ears. When the heart listens, it is difficult to put into precise words what is happening inside and how it happens. "Come and see". The ear hears words that explain, but in the heart you hear what transforms from inside. And the heart can only be transformed when it is God who speaks to it and, also, when it is according to Him, when it is in agreement with Him (or is in the process of becoming so). Therefore, anyone can have or even obtain the correct teaching because he learned it from/in a Bible school or through continuous contact with the children of God in an environment where true holiness predominates. What counts, however, is this unavoidable truth: it is life that brings/produces teaching and not teaching that produces true life. And it is at this point that we can understand a little better this relationship between the sheep and the voice of the shepherd. If a different voice says or affirms the same as the Shepherd to the sheep, we distinguish the error by the voice or even by its lifeless voice. "A certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination (...) followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, "These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation", Act.16:16,17. Anyone of us has the ability to recognize who speaks only by his voice, regardless of what he says or claims. We cannot recognize the shepherd only by his teaching, but much more by his voice and intimacy. And His voice is recognized only by being familiar to it, it is, by having a continual and familiar intimacy and boundless complicity with the shepherd. The heart listens to that voice which is alike the heart. A bad heart will spontaneously and gladly listen to a wrong voice because it speaks according to it. That's why we need to be sheep to understand and recognize the shepherd. Sheep hear and distinguish His voice. The crucial part is to become sheep and not try to distinguish/discern between voices because sheep hear and distinguish by nature. It is important that the word be heard by the heart. And when something coming from God speaks to the heart, it rarely comes in the form of letters or sentences, but in the form of transforming life, internal operations and doings and in the form of an expectant hope emerging from real life within. Then, it is us who try to put all that into words that make sense and it is these words that become teaching. "We have heard which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life — the life was manifested, and we have (innerly) seen, and bear witness, and declare to you", 1John 1:1-2. However, it is very important never to reverse the order/sequence of these things. We have clear examples where people "believe", but not by the word addressed to the heart. "These are not the words of a demon-possessed man; can a demon perhaps open the eyes of the blind?" John 10:21. What happened here, was people trying to believe the words because they saw miracles and not because the word had reached their inner heart intimately. Miracles made us doubt, question, and be tormented rather than make us believe. "Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?" This is a question and not a statement. These people who "believed" were in doubt and were kept in doubt because of miracles. They did not find certainty by seeing miracles and by the words substantiated by miracles and not by God in the heart. They wanted certainty and not life because that sort of certainty is worked by the flesh. That sort of certainty is what keeps the flesh alive. That kind of certainty is doubt. And certainty that comes from God as fruit from a relationship with Him annihilates the flesh. Certainty that is not accomplished by the works and power of grace is of the wavering sort and shall remain so to keep the flesh ongoing. It is life that brings and produces true faith. "He who believes in Me has eternal life (constant, permanent life without ups and downs)". He believes because he has this life within him already, whether in an embryonic form or in an abundant way already.

26. "Do you believe in the Son of God? He answered and said, 'Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?' And Jesus said to him, 'You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you'", John 9:35-37. Were this question put to a theologian or teacher of the Scriptures, it would get a different kind of answer. He would certainly answer that the Son of God was a descendant of David or some extended explanation along such lines. But, Jesus simply presented himself as the man this man was looking for. He didn't use doctrine, he didn't beat around the bush, he didn't use wisdom, and he got right to the point: "It's me". "I am what I am". We can ask, also, what made this man believe with such a presentation. Jesus, instead of answering the question, simply introduced himself. The true word is to present Jesus in person and real life. That is what the word is all about. Jesus is the word. Faced with such an "answer", the man would either believe or disbelieve. It's good to be put in such to-the-point situations where we don't have a third option. Third options, often, create doubts and not assurances.

27. "We know that God spoke to Moses; as for this fellow, we do not know where He is from", John 9:29. People who do not believe in the truth or do not accept reality when confronted with God in a real and clear way are not very honest with themselves and are not sincere. And whoever is not honest with himself will not be honest with anyone else. Jesus was right there, in front of them, doing what no one could deny. However, those who opposed Him claimed that they knew Moses whom they never saw; and they said that they did not know who Jesus was being right there in front of them. Those who claimed such things had never seen Moses - an interesting thing to note about people who believed by seeing. They never saw Moses and, yet, they claimed to know him and that it was God who spoke through him. These are the contradictions of men of little or of no faith. And it is these contradictions that Jesus came to awaken from somnambulism or hibernation. "This Child is destined (...) for a sign which will be spoken against (contradicted) (...) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed", Lk.2:34,35.

28. "I know Him and I keep His Word", John 8:55. There is no keeping of His Word without knowing Him in an intimate way. "Walk before me and be perDD Here, God does not say, "be perfect and walk before me". Likewise, he does not say that "I keep his Word and (therefore) I know him". There is always an order in God's words, a natural sequence that we cannot omit or ignore without being guilty of changing his word and, thus, entering into condemnation. How do we get condemned? By changing the truth, we will not know it in a real and intimate way and that is the condemnation, because it is the truth that sets us free. The condemnation is that we cannot enter the way practically because it is closed to the use of any other power and open only to the good use of the power of grace.

29. "...Does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him", John 8:44. It is an illusion to believe or trust that people are able to stand on God by hearing and understating the truth. The truth needs to reach someone who has truth in him to be able to be lodged in his heart, that is, it seeks a person who is or begins to be true, truthful, sincere with himself and transparent in every moment of his life. Truth can only be lodged in a true/truthful one and feel at home there; reality in a realistic one; the light in an entirely transparent person; wisdom in someone who is capable of correcting himself and, also, of correcting and transforming himself by the power of grace and never in any other power or way.

30. "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free", John 8:32. I believe with all my heart that these words are purposely placed sequentially. Staying in the Word makes someone a disciple and then brings him to know the truth in an experiential, personal, fluid and real way. Whoever knows the truth this way has, as a consequence in a next step, everything to be freed from any kind of sin and temptation. But, to achieve this is hard work and bears fruit only by the good use of the power of grace - as long as we know how to use this power with imbedded motive to be freed from ourselves and that only. And it is possible only to those who truly desire to be freed from their sins and pleasures. To be freed from everything that gives pleasure is indeed an unusual and undesirable for anyone who would prefer to associate the pleasures of the flesh and of this present world with the countless and endless benefits of a constant and eternal spiritual life. This would be virtually the same as letting sin eat from the Tree of Life. But, we ourselves must put "a flaming sword that goes around our soul to guard the way of the tree of life" in us, thus protecting our Eden, which is, in fact, our real and true communion with Jesus. Therefore, there are no disciples if they do not abide in the Word; there are no people who experience the flow of truth within them without first becoming true disciples; and there is no person capable of freeing himself without first having known the truth in this real, fluid and constant way. To know the truth in this way, we must first hear it in the first person through the ears of the heart. But hearing/listening to it is still far from knowing it in a real and intimate way. Knowing the truth means experiencing it in a real way, operating in us with our total connivance, without it being possible to deny it.

31. "He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life", John 8:12. I see a lot of people not knowing what the next step should be, or where they should go or do. And these are the same ones who claim to follow Jesus. It is a contradiction, because Jesus says that whoever follows him will never walk in darkness. At most, he shall stagnate under some form or indication of darkness to start walking as soon as he finds light again. And let's always be reminded that light is the life we experience within, as it is said, "the light of life". "Life is the light of men", John 1:4. Therefore, abundant life means abundant light; flashing or spasmodic abiding in life means flashing and spasmodic light.

32. "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing (...) For even His brothers did not believe in Him", John 7:3-5. Jesus' brothers knew about Jesus' miracles, they knew that He performed them and, who knows, they even had the opportunity to see some. But, it is stated that they did not believe in Him. Miracles may attract attentions, discussions and controversies, but they do not transform the heart. To say that a true revival is when miracles occur is to be far from the truth. Miracles can occur and in most cases do happen in real revivals. However, true revival has to do exclusively with the Life that lodges in a heart after its purification. The true fruit of real revival is the genuine transformation that takes place within every being obedient to God to enable them to live in His full presence. "The Holy Spirit (revival) whom God has given to those who obey Him..." Act.5:32.

33. The miracle of Namaan is wonderful. But those who read it are often overshadowed by the emphasis they place on the miracle. The miracle is a mere consequence of obedience to God. We cannot emphasize the consequence and, consequently, overshadow God, otherwise Jesus will say, also to us, something like this: "You do not seek me, but you seek me for the bread you ate, for the miracle I performed or for the blessing I gave". By focusing on the miracle that it is up to God to perform, we forget the obedience and reverence to God that it is up to us to manifest joyfully. In this miracle, we also see that the girl in exile (in the house of Namaan, Syria) served God there and, thus, we can interpret that any place serves to be faithful to God. Joseph was faithful to God in captivity and it was there that he communed with God in a real way. Many say that we can be with God in any corner of this world, for God is everywhere. But when they find themselves in some kind of captivity or difficulty, they forget this truth, because they associate God with physical prosperity. And any association we can make of/with God is idolatry, because God is not measured by what He does, but by what He really is. It is needed that God is given the space and opportunity to manifest himself as the person he is so that he can say once more, "I am what I am".

34. "He who carefully seeks good gets favour (of God)", Prov.11:27. There are those who truly seek. But among those who seek, there is a majority who do not know what it means to find and are content with seeking. This is the basis of a hollow and lifeless religiosity, which is precisely to remain with the seeking and to find contentment in it without finding. We see that a crowd was looking for Jesus, but to find bread and not the water of life (John 6:24-26). Blessed are those who seek Jesus for the water of life. Then we also have those who search, find and and keep seeking for what is already at hand without imagining that this type of search is a parallel and camouflaged form of opposition to the truth. Religiosity in the mind does that too. Those who seek this way may be wanting to find something different from what can be found by seeking (and finding) Jesus. God said "You will seek Me and find Me", Jer.29:13. We will find Him by seeking Him. We cannot seek Him in order to find something else besides Him.

35. "You have the Words of eternal life", John 6:68. Words are not eternal life. However, eternal life has words. Jesus is Eternal Life. He himself said He was the truth and the Life. However, we must never forget that once God's words become the expression of our (true) life, if these words describe our life, if they point to our way of living, if they accurately describe what we experience in the first person through a real, true and unmistakable fellowship with God, it is also certain that we ourselves have the words of eternal life.

36. "Peter said to Jesus: Lord, and what of this one? Jesus said to him, (...) what is that to you? You follow Me", John 21:21,22.I see so many people worried about what will become of others. Some because they care about their families, others because they want to make themselves useful, and still others because they have some interest in someone's salvation. I knew a girl who wanted to convert someone so that she could marry him and thus avoid being unequally yoked. Deep down, these concerns or anxieties are nothing but ways to deviate from the main purpose, which is: "Give attention to yourself and to the doctrine; continue in them, for doing this, you will both deliver yourself and those hearing you", 1Tim.4:16. People are capable of doing anything to get away from the main focus and avoid touching their own inner life through God. There are always sentimental interests, desires of all kinds, mistakes and distractions that end up working like thorns in good soil. Only by completing the work and giving it exclusive continuity within ourselves can we ever aspire to be useful in the full salvation of others. "Then if anyone purifies himself from these, he will be a vessel to honor, having been sanctified and made useful to the Master, having been prepared to every good work", 2Tim.2:21. No one will be a vessel of honor without purifying himself. "Martha, Martha, thou art anxious and burdened with many things, but only one is needed", Lk.10:41,42. Our work is to have and maintain a real and true closeness to Jesus, always being in full communion with Him. Everything that prevents this, whether sin or a simple distraction from others, must be exterminated without a second thought about it. Eternal life is knowing Him this way, that is, experiencing Him in a real way. "And this is everlasting life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent", John 17:3. If we take cares concerning ourselves in relation to God, our neighbor and the law of God, we will also not be concerned about what others do to us or even about what they think and assume about us. But, something more important will happen to us: we will personally hear from God about his work in us. And so will the New Testament be fulfilled in us: "It has been written in the Prophets, They "shall" all "be taught of God." So then everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes to Me; (Is.54:13)", John 17:3. "...if indeed you heard Him and were taught in Him...", Eph.4:21. We'll see what we'll answer when Jesus asks us something like this: "Do you say this from yourself, or did others tell you about Me?" John 18:34. This is what the New Testament is all about. "...this is the covenant that I will make (...) I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts (...) No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord', for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord", Jer.31:33-34. When the relationship with God is true, real, unfeigned or unsimulated or self-assured, we are guaranteed to be personally taught by Him. "But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie...", 1John 2:27. There are also disappointed people (rightly so) in their leaders, institutions or churches. I remember Jonathan Edwards saying something like this: "Even if no one else follows you, I will". Not even that should deprive us from being sheep that hear their Shepherd. No one can measure the importance of achieving this kind of relationship with God, fulfilling the conditions, where everything is taught and given to us personally by Him. However, few achieve what has been promised to everyone - to anyone.

37. "I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with his mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me", Ps.131:2.There are many things to consider in this text. There are those people who assure themselves against the testimonies of God within; there are those who are assured of/by God and convinced by Him, and make their souls rest without effort; and there are those who are convinced and assured by God, but need to get their soul to rest in the truth, needing extra personal effort to be at rest which remains there for the people of God (Heb.4:9) If we do not enter that heavenly rest, we have the door to disobedience wide open. "Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience", Heb.4:11. Those who assure themselves of their own accord (by own means) - sometimes even against the testimonies of God within them - do not want to turn from their sins, much less admit that they must correct their ways; those who are assured of God and are convinced by Him, and make their souls rest without effort, are in a perfect communion with God in the promised proportion; those who are convinced and assured by God, but need to get their souls to rest in the truth, have not yet fully associated their hearts with revealed truth to be in full conformity with God and with the rivers of living water in the desired proportion and are still unaware of the full hold of the promise. However, there may be other reasons, such as having traumas for having failed in times of spiritual poverty and carry these debts with their memory after they have reached that practical reality of truth. It is not good for an ex-slave to look at the marks of his former slavery left on his skin when the reality of a true and practical liberation tells him otherwise.

38. "Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the Lord! Blessed are those who keep His testimonies", Ps.119:1,2. The question that arises is very pertinent: are people blessed because they walk these paths of God, or do they walk the paths because they are blessed? Or both? The question is in the air. However, it should be noted that here the same Psalmist speaks of those who "seek him with all their heart". Certainly, when they find Him, they will fulfil through the empowerment of grace, through the power of grace that comes to us by living in full communion with God in the paths of the providence of God which we can follow. "May my ways be so directed that I may keep your statutes", Ps.119:5. Those who find Him become blessed - they are the blessed ones. But all those who know and meditate on the commandments and do not have a true relationship with God (if they have not found Him for some reason), even if they are sincere in heart and objective in their thoughts and conclusions about the commandments store in conscience and heart, they will be confused and tormented by various thoughts when attempting to fulfill them. "Then I would not be confounded, when I observe all your commandments", Ps.119:5,6. Only by truly knowing him will they be safe, assured, complete and secure. These are the blessed ones, for they are taught how to observe and by what means, that is, through God. "...Teaching them to observe (how to observe)...", Matt.28:20. We must learn to gather with Him even in this aspect of practical life so that we are not found scattering.

39. "The Lord is on my side among them that help me (...) It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man", Ps.118:7,8. When someone helps, supports or upholds us, we always have that tendency to lean on those people, trusting them for what they are and do for us, and for what they mean to us. But, according to this Psalmist, it is the Lord who is among these people working in them for our sake and for His sake. Therefore, it is better to trust in the Lord who is among those who help us since it is God working in them for this purpose. As we begin to trust in the arm of the men who help us, we put aside the trust in God who works in them and take from his glory to distribute it among strangers.

40. "Then, they shall fast in those days", Lk.5:35. Praying is a duty (Lk.18:1). Praying the right way is the greatest and only duty that gets answers. The answer is the target of any prayer, not the praying. However, there is a greater good in praying without giving up, that is, without ceasing. This greater good is the true, real, and unfeigned fellowship with God that we achieve from the background by communing with Jesus in a real way. We come to know Him that way too. We are not talking here about a one-sided communion where only prayer is made. We speak of a type of bilateral prayer-meeting where God also intervenes within us in addition to being able to help in prayer and to respond categorically. It is in this sense that Jesus speaks of the "new wine" in prayer. And this kind of prayer requires a "new wineskin", otherwise all the wine and effort will be spilled and wasted. But, being with Jesus in a process of transformation and inner creation - or even recreation of the new wineskin - we may neglect prayer because we feel comforted and assured by His unmistakable presence. His presence is the great opportunity to have our clear requests made. That's how we "know that He hears us". But a new wineskin full of the new promised wine has the ability to open the gates of heaven and bring down showers of blessing to fill all dryness around. On those days, we must and can pray and fast guided and assisted by the Holy Spirit in our weaknesses. These weaknesses may be a lack of sincere and unfeigned faith which is in great need of assistance; they can be memories of past failures; they may be disappointments when we were still living from the old wine and didn't like the new one; it could be feelings of guilt for having previously rejected the new wine because we didn't like it then. In all these weaknesses God will assist us by praying in and for his will. Many do not pray because they say, "As it is God's will, it is not necessary to pray". And they don't pray. But it is precisely under those circumstances that you must pray, by knowing that the clear knowledge of God's will and presence generate greater and assured confidence, a kind of assurance and certainty that cannot be of the false kind.

41. "When, you pray, do not use vain repetitions", Mat.6:7. The repetitions talked about here can be while we pray or they can be those every day of always praying about the same things, that is, we don't repeat while we prayer, but we pray about the same subject every day, every week or every month even if it's just once a week or once a day. Repetitions in itself may not be bad, because Jesus himself said that we must pray without giving up. Praying without ceasing, that is, praying without giving up, is not repeating but rather insisting because we have not been answered about something that is clearly God's will. The person who insists that way has a real sense of the reality of not having reached a clear answer when he didn't. Such a person shall, also, have the same kind of knowledge within when he has been answered, unlike those who repeat because they believe that they should pray as a ritual and not to be answered, or to reach God, or even for God to reach them. All who have a sense of not having been answered will, also, know when God has answered. This is precisely what John tries to convey to us when he says that, "we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him", 1 John 5:15. What Jesus wants to tell us is that we must not presumptuously indulge in some vain repetitions as heathens who have no access to heaven. Vain repetitions are never far from presumptuousness or even presumptuous sacrifices, whatever those sacrifices maybe. The daily bread of any presumptuous believer is vain repetitions. We must understand that the emphasis in this verse of Scripture lies on the word "vain" and not so much on "repetitions". There are "repetitions" that are not in vain. There are repetitions that are not repetitions. The kind of insistence may wall up against something or anything that might be hindering a clear answer. on the other hand, there are prayers that are only prayed once, but in vain. We need to find out what makes any prayer to be vain. God is not deaf that he cannot hear and answer at once, Is.59:1,2; 65;24. When there are no valid answer(s), we must consider the possibility that there might be something preventing a prayer, or that there is something wrong with the prayer or with the person who is praying. God answers the righteous and not the prayer so to say. "Him will I hear", said the Lord about Job. It is not normal that God does not answer or does not listen to the righteous because Jesus categorically stated that "whatever you ask, it will be done unto you". If it doesn't happen that way, something is wrong - very wrong - and it's not wrong on God's side.

42. "Do not be anxious", Mat.6:31. Another word which can easily be misunderstood in the Bible, very misinterpreted and misapplied in practical life is the word "anxiety". Restless walking is not just being more worried than usual or anxious in anticipation. To be worried or expectant is to be anxious under different circumstances. Being restless means thinking more than you should about something, brooding over what is not heavenly, moving our consciousness and inner presence away from the real communion of today with God - as long as this communion is real and not just one-sided. Restlessness means thinking too much about one thing or relating many things and thoughts to that thing, especially if it done so in vain. We know, too, that when one overthinks something that worries him, that will not cause him to do more about it than thinking of it. He thinks a lot and does little. Restlessness disables in many ways and when it does not disable or stagnate, it makes the restless person rush along some sidewalk or escape route. He often tries to fulfil for God, it is, instead of God, and still praises God for it. And, in so doing, in addition to disabling, it prevents, postpones or cancels God's own intervention. Restlessness is a pool of shifting mud that calls either for precipitation or stagnation. Everyone who rushes leaves God even if he believes he is doing something in the name of God, praying and crying out to be guided along parallel paths and away from the true Way that is Christ in person. "He who believes shall not make haste", Is.28:16. Let us remember that the Way is a person and not an occasional light to illuminate parallel or deviant paths. God does not guide backsliders or deviant wanderers. Backsliders are not just those who backslide into sin. They are, also, those who even believing, take paths or bypaths that only seem right but are not.

43. "...For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you", Mat.6:14. The word "offense" is applied here in a very wide sense. In the original, it means things like a deviation, an unintentional error, a transgression, a sin. Most people distinguish between intentional errors/transgressions and those that are unintentional. But biblically speaking, there is no difference in consequence between intentional and unintentional sin. The difference lies only in what causes them. Let me explain. An intentional error brought about by stubbornness, or by unreasonable desire, has its origin in a deliberate or conscious departure from God to set out to love/serve sin. But, whoever errs without intending to err, that is, wanting to do one thing, but does another, also has or maintains his distance from God - even if he is under the law - without getting the means and transformations that call for the power and actions of grace. It is God who works to will and to do. In the first case, the person in question is lodged in sin and has no intention to get rid of it, even though he tries to avoid the consequences of this turning away from God. In the second case, the person also resides away from God in a world of the flesh, perhaps even against his own will, but also not wanting to do what has to be done to fully restore his relationship of true life with God. It is life that saves, it is new life that keeps us living. Therefore, he sins "unintentionally" because he wants to live apart from God serving a god of his own mind or desires. He doesn't want one or the other, that is, he doesn't want to sin, but he also has no way to use God's means to get away from sin because he lives by his own means. Imagine a fish out of water. Outside of its environment, it cannot swim, cannot eat or run after food. It becomes parched and dry like dry skeletons. It doesn't want to be dry, but it is dry. So it is with believers out of real and true communion with the living God, being found in a presence of God that is real and which is not presumptuous only. Those people sin "unintentionally" by being away from God. But, the main reason for being parched is the fact that one is outside his environment that is provided for us right from the act of creation. You cannot wish to be normal out of the water of life. So it is with all creatures who do not want to be withered and do not want to starve as a result of any transgression. The idea that, "if I know, I can do" is quite misleading because the truth is, "if I have (or have found), I can do or fulfil".

44. "Give us our daily bread", Mat.6:11. This is a verse with many truths contained in it - with many important things to be taken to heart and to consider with enormous care and attentive regard and carefulness. 1."The bread": bread is a heavenly bread which is not made of wheat, but of practical truth revealed and manifested in a life and in daily living. "And his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand", Gen.39:3. That is just how revealed/manifest it becomes! And to be practical about it, it needs to become something that is practiced spontaneously, naturally and as if, from a certain point on, we had never lived in any other way before or as if we had never experienced something different from what we have become. This is what the prophets meant by saying we should unlearn evil. "In malice be babes, but in understanding be mature", 1Cor.14:20. However, there is a lot to be said about the practice of truth, it is, about the practicability of it. "If we (...) have fellowship with Him (...) we do practice the truth", 1John 1:6. It needs to become something of our own, to be lived, experienced and practiced spontaneously or, should I say, without a second thought about it. This implies several things. We need to have a heart alike the commandment, that is, a heart which finds its fulfilment and joy in living and experiencing the commandment. "I rejoice at Your word as one who finds great treasure", Ps.119:162. We need to become the commandment itself (Jer.31:30-34). But, we also need to learn to live with, use and obtain the power of grace daily because it is that power that enables and sustains it. When something becomes spontaneous, what feeds it becomes imperceptible to our needs and to our awareness - we hardly realize what we are or what we are in need of as spontaneous, natural living beings. And if so, we can easily neglect the fact that we have to ask for our daily bread and be forgetful. 2. "Our bread": we must understand clearly that this bread is for us and not to be distributed without having become something personal and ours first. "The hardworking farmer must be first to partake of the crops", 2Tim.2:6. We distribute life and not knowledge. We teach to find real life and not so much to understand it. We teach, firsthand, how to fulfil and by which means and not so much to encourage to know what the commandments are. Explanations come after we have become the commandment in order to be better assured in our ways by knowing about them. We explain how to achieve and not so much what to achieve because we have already have walked the way to it and it has already become our daily living. Daily bread is for daily living. It is only needed to say "come and see". This is the reason why the gospel is a way and not a commandment or an end. We are the final result, the end. We become the bread that will be broken and multiplied and not our words. It is our life that must be broken into pieces and distributed. 3."Daily bread": for today, we need today's bread. We cannot gather manna for tomorrow's use - or usefulness - by living the fears of that day in anticipation, which also means that we are grossly neglecting our todays. When tomorrow comes, the bread gathered yesterday will no longer serve us. It will be completely rotten when we be in need of it. Have you understood why people's lives never work out, walking disconnected from reality's responsive awareness, being decontextualized from the overall reality and its practical truth? It is because they wish to collect bread to use it tomorrow, afraid of what that day may bring or, perhaps, unwilling to apply it now to the heart, which is one of the reasons why people usually postpone stuff. Tomorrow will be today in its due time, but, not now. I may have God-given plans, heavenly goals, but, I am in in great need of experiencing only today and today's graceful means and attributes. "This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it", Ps.118:24. If today is a hole in my carrier because I'm paying more attention to the days that aren't yet, if now is a failure because of any sort of anticipation, all tomorrows will also be compromised because nothing prevents me from having, tomorrow, the same habit of anticipating stuff, just as I am accustomed to do today - which is worrying (or rejoicing) ahead for nothing. Let us wait for all endless tomorrows faithfully, in real hope, by living this day to the full in all faithfulness.

45. "Then, you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him", Mal.3:18. This means that there are people with many activities within the temple of God who do not serve the Lord, but themselves, the flesh or somebody else; it also means that there are people who actually serve - or try to serve - the Lord in there. But it also means that there are people who serve the Lord outside the temple in everyday affairs who seem to be serving themselves and are not doing so; there are, also, those who make an effort to donate and do well having themselves in mind.

46. "You say, 'The table of the Lord is contemptible' ", Mal.1:7. I don't know why the Israelis said that. But I believe that someday I will understand. Today, believers are no longer heard saying that the Lord's table is contemptible. On the contrary, all those who consider themselves believers - or good believers - have entered a wave of limitless praise, to the point of despising and neglecting the very preaching of the Word in their services. It is because they feed on doctrines and foods that should not be served in services, but, only in cults. Oh, I know, I understand it now. When the food is good, today's believers silently dismiss it as despicable because it doesn't meet their interests and expectations. But if the food is really despicable on a table that we don't know if it is still the Lord's, everyone keeps claiming that the food is good.

47. "...doubting nothing. For he who doubts (...) is a double-minded man, not dependable in all his ways", James 1:6,8. The kind of faith that truly saves is fruit emerging from a real communion with God. It depends entirely on the presence and person of God within who assures us. God is constant, powerful, faithful and it is enough to know Him as He is, experiencing Him deeply from within to be safe and to be assured or even reassured. But when a person does not have this communion; or when that communion is intermittent with ups and downs (something that creates and sustains doubt even more); or when he is separated from God because of some transgression that has not been fully confessed or restitution has not been made to the rightful person; when something like this happens, any person will depend more on what he sees, he will look at the circumstances even more and he will have a heart divided between God and the world and will, consequently, be doubled or permanently divided between two ways. He shall be a double-minded person. He will begin to trust through fleshly power (which is idolatry) and will become intermittent in all his ways. Being inconstant is mainly due to the fact that we are not right with God and it doesn't occur because of difficulties, circumstances or the appeals of the flesh towards dangers. Such persons separated from a real communion with God (which is synonymous of not knowing God) will always be fickle and intermittent, whether in hardship or even in abundance. In abundance they will not be faithful to God; and in difficulties they will look to what surrounds them, either to fear or to trust.

48. "I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury", Zac.8:2. This word "jealous" means having great zeal and is synonymous of love and dedication. It is strange that God should combine indignation with love, that is, to have great zeal with indignation; but this is strange only to those who have a wrong view of what true love is, especially true love for the glory of God.

49. We might find ourselves without light because we do not intend to believe or to accept what it shall show.

50. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God", (Rom.8:14). Being guided by God is the only true certainty that we are in good terms with God. And God guides in many ways, both together or separate ways. One of the ways is that a person who is already sheep can, finally, hear his voice. Only sheep are able to hear clearly. The man on the Cross next to Jesus heard his voice after he became a sheep. This voice is not only audible by the ears, but by the heart that corresponds to what is being said. Many do not hear this voice because they are not sheep, even though they claim to be. Again, God can guide in many and varied ways. But hearing his voice is one of them for all those who are already able to make full use of the power and the abilities bestowed by grace in an exclusive way. He who does not listen because - for some reason - he has ceased to have a bilateral and real communion with the true God, will follow his path of a believer unilaterally deluded by paths that seem right at first sight. Such will seek advice and counsellors revealing an appearance of humility while the evident condemnation of his broken and lightless heart persists in him. "If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, who knows all things", 1 John 3:20. When someone comes to us to ask for advice because he cannot hear from God, the best thing to do is to show, encourage and create the circumstances which make that person a sheep who can hear from God as promised, instead of answering him about what he wishes to know. Sheep hear from God. And God hears who has become a sheep. "Thine ears shall hear a word behind thee", Is.30:21.

51. "Have ye not heard the words which the Lord preached through the ministration of the preceding prophets, when Jerusalem was inhabited and at rest?" Zac.7:7. When all goes well, whenever everything is going smoothly and at ease, people are so involved in their day-to-day life and pleasures and in the normal fulfilment of their desires that they hardly hear the voice of God or pay intelligent, diligent and faithful attention to what is said or revealed to them about something that may turn out to be different from their expectations or that breaks away from their day-to-day living. This can also happen whenever we are overly and selfishly involved in any kind of life, be it quiet or not, be it easy or difficult, for there are many types of thorns in a life which choke any word - even the word from a friend. That doesn't mean that the only kind of thorns are those which trouble as cares for this world. There are cares in the world that are pleasurable and are not considered as problems, even if they are a problem for eternity, which no one is really aware of. "I got married and I can't come; I bought a yoke of oxen (a car) and I'm going to try it", Lk.14:20. Getting married is something greatly expected and desired by many, but, according to Jesus, it can be a thorn that suffocates the seed of the word. Quietness in the world or pleasure in it also hinders attentive listening and suffocates a good word. And when something happens that God was warning about earlier (and no attention was paid to it), people are caught off guard and begin to doubt or even blame God for sudden and un expected changes. And when they doubt, they change their course of life, they change their plans, strategies, but do not change in order to get along with God or to be aligned with Him; and some still attribute these changes to God who never changes. It is not always good to meddle in the details of the lives of people who change plans constantly because they desperately want to follow their course of life at any cost to avoid doubting, even wanting to include God in these plans to guarantee their stubborn assurances; and any warning will sound as negativity to them. "Meddle not with them that seek changes", Prov.24:21. These are some of the symptoms of those who want to include God in their own plans. Therefore, they do not know if something comes from God or if it happens according to what God said or tried to portray to them. In fact, people involved in continuous changes of plan end up losing their direction and start to believe that something abnormal is happening to them, even coming to doubt God in a deviant path instead of doubting the path they are following determinedly. Instead of doubting the paths, they doubt God. God helps the backsliders to find the way back, but He doesn't lead them in the likeness of a path. For this reason, he remains silent. When God does not collaborate in the paths that seem right, the people involved in them persist in moving forward for lack of alternatives to their own way which might still be their own way, alternatives which they seek to fit into their way of acting and thinking. The fault of all this is the lack of intelligent and believing attention to everything God says when people think they have something better to believe and to do, than to be listening carefully and believing something that contradicts them. It can also happen that, had they paid any attention, they would say that they hear something negative that doesn't fit their perspectives. There are many and varied reasons for not paying intelligent, conscious, and diligent attention of which I will not talk about here. But when that happens, they will not know that the words formerly addressed to them were from the Lord opening the way for serious doubts during the straying path caused by some form of previous disobedience. "Ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you; and this (knowing that God hath sent) shall come to pass, if ye will attentively hearken unto the voice of the LORD your God," Zec.6:15. "If anyone will do His will, by the same doctrine shall he know whether it is of God," John 7:37. If you don't listen carefully, you won't know that it was from God. Listening attentively also means believing that a contrary word is a good word - a very positive word, for we are corrected and not left to our own ways like it happens to bastards who are not real children of God (Heb 12:8). God guides and answers, but is silent when asked to guide along parallel, similar, deviant paths or with serious similarities to God's paths. "Is it not, because I keep silent; and that for a long time; and do you not fear me?" Is.57:11. And whenever God is silent, we must keep in mind that it can be a serious warning sign for us to return to where we have fallen. Only those who are guided by God can consider themselves as being His sons (Rom.8:14). And when God does not speak, there is no point in asking a man of God for his opinion, tempting him to sin by advising against God; and if this man of God speaks as he ought, it will always be with a "negative" word which, in its essence, is extremely positive and necessary.

52. "Let us be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith; be sober", 1Thes.5:8; 1Pet.4:7; 5:8. Being sober is to keep and to maintain the ability to think and reason perfectly and logically. There are many ways to cease to be sober, and we're not just talking about it concerning drunkenness. When we trust God through things that do or do not happen to us, we can become temporarily or even permanently petrified in the faith, trapped in sadness, disappointments, distractions, thoughts, and temptations to give up or even to blackmail God or men. This is also ceasing to be sober, clear and confident in the person that Jesus is because we are distracted from God and the trust in His character by the desires that this life provides and creates through its disappointments and joys.

53. Trust in God can be propelled and inflamed by the strength of the flesh and by carnal motives or motivation; or it may be that kind of trust that saves indeed and which is assured by the person that God is when present and real, which can't be moved by what sight or circumstances show, demand, or propose. "Greater is He who is inside us". Typically, the dreams of the flesh, the desires of this life and the inclinations towards its values, create a kind of hope and trust that wants to include God in its own plans and desires, whether those desires are hidden or obvious. In fact, people wish to deceive God because they deceive themselves. They treat God the way you would treat people, pleasing God the way anyone would please people. "Will you accept His person? Will you contend for God? He will surely rebuke you, if you make distinctions in secret", Job 13:8,10. When God refuses or hinders the plans of carnal trust, any such believer begins to waver, to doubt and to misunderstand the ways of God. When we trust in God, in His true character, we are not shaken by anything that can happen in a direction apparently contrary to our daily life. "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate . . . his own life, he cannot be My disciple", Lk.14:26.

54. Any kind of resemblance/likeness forces you to live by appearance, by feigning, through hypocrisy and pretense. It is possible to create a likeness for anything that exists in heaven or on earth. There are similarities (resemblances) for love, for patience, of God, of the devil, of trust, of prosperity, of poverty and of so many other things that it is not possible to enumerate them all here. But the difference is that whoever practices any kind of likeness never has his heart deeply and sincerely involved in what he does or practices. Therefore, your whole practical life is an effort of pretense and its force or power is the emotion of the moment. There is no likeness that can make someone live from reality and truth, because a likeness has no life in itself, it doesn't get that life, it doesn't get God's blessing, it has no foundation and is impractical in its essence. That is why the Gospel is the truth or the truth is the Gospel. "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free", John 8:32.

55. "I gave her time to repent...", Ap.2:21. Sometimes the only means that God gives you to repent is time. Many expect a special or strong emotion to feel that they are called to repentance. They ignore that, often, the only means given to them is time and the opportunity to repent and nothing more than that. When the Scriptures say that God gives repentance (2Tim.2:25), the time He gives is part of that gift and is the main thing that God gives to make repentance possible/available. The more sober, more decisive and the less emotional any kind of repentance is, the more effective and the more lasting it will be.

56. "Do not quench (sadden) the Spirit", 1Tes.5:19. Quenching or grieving the Spirit of God is the same thing. The results will be identical. However, we need to note that what people believe is different from how it occurs and what its consequences are. There are many things that quench the Spirit of God from our lives. But people don't always realize this when it happens. Samson felt nothing different when the power of God had left him. He acted as if everything was still the same. Unless we are very aware of God's presence or absence, we only realize that we have grieved or quenched the Spirit by the fruits of everything we do, say or think. Anyone could see that God blessed everything that Joseph did and, had he grieved the Spirit, everyone would also see it by the fruits he had ceased to produce, show or have. Whenever we grieve the Spirit of God, nothing will be blessed any longer, even if we pray incessantly, fast, and beg without ceasing. We need to go back to where we failed and parted from God, the spot where we fell. "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works", Rev.2:5. But man's heart is deceitful and will always find some way to deceive even self. And when the Spirit is grieved and we don't return to where we fell to regularize (or re-establish) our relationship with God or with people, we will begin to live through appearances and insist on a falsified living. Then, we might make alike disciples and build churches for them which grieve God greatly because they live through appearances and resemblances of how it is done in heaven. Have you ever asked yourself why there are so many churches and no revival? It is because God is grieved by the many resemblances of Christianity all over the world.

57. "That they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will", 2Tim.2:26. I don't really know how to explain this, but I'll try. The devil has a will. His will is to sin and to satisfy any form of selfishness. Selfishness is the opposite of love, the reverse of God's love. When it is said that people are trapped in the will of the devil, it means that they are trapped in the same kind of will to sin and not exactly that they are under his power, or are in sin because the devil forces it upon them and that he has the power to keep people under his control. In fact, what this verse means is that people are trapped in a devil-like kind of will, which is selfish and sinful. They are trapped in the will to sin like the devil is. This verse means, in practical terms, that people are trapped in a devil-like will with pretensions to sin and to transgress for the sake of own gain and by satisfying selfishness to the full.

58. The true story of Samson and Delilah, in the eyes of the world, looks more like a fictional story as those which children usually watch for entertainment. But, this is a true story and full of meaning. It faithfully portrays what happens when God is no longer with us. To gather without God is to scatter, said Jesus. The means of grace, its power, are the heart of the matter for all those who undertake to execute the will of God, for it must be done as it is done in heaven (for the same reasons and motives, the same way and through the same power) and never otherwise.

59. "...Not double-tongued...", 1Tim.3:8. This means that we need to have only one word, although there are many conditional issues around this matter. I will not speak about it now. However, this means that we must have only one word, it is, "yes" must be yes, and "no" must remain a no. God has only one word whenever he speaks. If he pointed out, guided, showed, revealed, taught and applied on us, we need not only keep that word, but we need to keep ourselves within it by keeping our hearts and motives clean and spotless. May our word change? It can and should change whenever we have been misled, whenever we have been deceived and whenever our heart has deceived us. Being able to correct ourselves is a saving and praiseworthy virtue. Many feel ashamed by acknowledging they were wrong. If so, they are ashamed of a great virtue.

60. "Moses, returned to the Lord and said, "Lord, why have You brought trouble on this people? Why is it You have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all", Ex.5:22,23. As a rule, when God says something, we want it to happen immediately. In fact, we are always left with the feeling that it is going to happen right away. If it doesn't, we start doubting everything. Joseph's dreams did not happen right away; David did not become king the day after Samuel anointed him; the Messiah did not come on the day the prophets prophesied about him. And here we find Moses complaining because God did not deliver the people in the first days of his arrival in Egypt. We must never forget that a thousand years with God is like a day. However, there are occasions where what is said or revealed happens right away as long as faith is ready and up to the event (or up to the commandment). So it was with the lame man to whom Peter stretched out his hand to lift him up. So, a day can also be like a thousand years for God. "Beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day", 2Pet.3:8. I believe that every person who cannot hold on having to wait on the Lord is the same person who does not have the ability to perform the work of the moment God acts within us to perform it. They are one and the same person, it is the same unbeliever who is capable of doubting in both situations.

61. "So the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped", Ex.4:31. It's so easy to worship God when He delivers us from the afflictions we're in. But it is another thing to adore Him for what He is, for the person of God Himself, for the person that He is, whether in riches or poverty, in sadness or in joy. Let's not forget that Paul tells us to rejoice in the Lord and not because of the Lord. We see that the people who "know" God only under blessings and worship him for that reason, that is, those who are amazed by God's doings, are the ones who complain and stagnate during the mishaps of the way. These are the first to complain and to turn against God.

62. "When you come to appear before Me, who has required this at your hand, to trample My courts?", Is.1:12. The truth is that the false, the pretentious and feigning ones who come to God, but not to change their inner life, enter in vain into the courts of God, that is, into His presence. But those who cleanse themselves and want to be cleansed, transformed and converted in heart and want "the days of heaven upon the earth" need to enter the courts of God. These are required to do so. It is not good for them to think that they can live outside his courts just because they have been cleansed and have become righteous from the heart, that is, only because they have been justified. It would be the same as thinking that a plant, after it has grown, can be taken from the ground, or that a child can survive without eating just because it has already grown. The pretentious ones and hypocrites are required not to approach the courts of God, and the saints not to leave His courts for a moment. These courts are not the church, but the true, real and undeniable presence of God, wherever it may be. "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it remains in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me", John 15:4.

63. "Jesus spoke this parable to them, but they did not understand what it was which He spoke to them", John 10:6. Jesus was talking here about the relationship between sheep and shepherd - something very easy to understand and assimilate, especially by the Hebrews who were cattle people. However, it is very strange that, in many situations where Jesus expressed himself through normal, everyday things, people did not understand him. This means that people immediately noticed that He was talking about something they had never experienced before and not about the everyday life that was familiar to everyone. They soon realized that his words had another dimension, gad another instruction and another intention than what they could understand through examples and parables.

64. "The words that I speak to you are spirit and are life", John 6:63. It can all be summed up to Life and it without ups and downs, that is, eternal and constant life. There are two problems with what many call communion/fellowship with God. People have always had tendencies to be religious. Now, if I dedicate myself to the study of the Bible and the Word does not become life, if it is not life, I will be another religious scam without God. It is necessary to know that the Word - every Word - is or becomes life. It is not study, it cannot be knowledge, but life eternal (without ups and downs), constant and permanent.

65. Everything that Satan does is driven, started, and finished through the hatred and the annoyance he has towards God. His attitudes are conscious, obsessive, meticulous and inspired by hatred, which is extreme selfishness. The opposite of love is selfishness. This hatred makes his worst fears being blinded and ignored. In fact, these fears of destruction and doom drive him even further to cause his hatred to multiply and amplify itself in even more macabre minuteness and detail. He is consciously opposed to God (his aim is to oppose God and never to accomplish something) and wants, at the very least, that people don't become love. He's a wrong type of being, but not mistaken. We too can become misguided beings. If the devil does not make people so disappointed in God that they hate their Creator, it is enough for him that they at least, become indifferent to Him.

66. "All that is not of faith is sin", Rom.14:23. If we keep in mind that the word "grace" is an "active power" or a "divine influence on the heart that is reflected in practical life (literally translated)", this verse is an unavoidable truth. If we don't gather with Him, we are scattering - even if there is autonomous gathering on our part. Since it is by the power of grace and through the affluence of God that any good fruit is produced, we must be very close to God to take all our steps with Him, through Him and for Him. And if all this is true, we must consider the other side of the question. It is well known that any man who walks only when he is autonomous will not know how to walk, perform and walk through the power of grace. Therefore, when God intervenes and we become stagnant instead of taking a step of true faith, we are in sin and in debt towards God.

67. "The roads of Zion mourn", Lam.1:4. We can express this same grief today. The churches are falsified, the gospels are false, lies and scandals abound and the sheep are lost in the mountains and entangled in thorns of many kinds with no one to them or look for them. Is there a greater grief than this?

68. A liar or deceiver preaching the plain truth becomes an even better liar. The devil's strongest weapon is to have a liar preaching the truth or a true-hearted one believing or preaching a lie. The sincere in heart preaching the lie, or believing it, does not make him more sincere; but a liar, preaching the truth, becomes even a better liar and more deceiving.

69. There is a general consensus on what the grace of God is all about or stands for in the Christian world that does not reflect its true meaning. All state categorically that grace means "unmerited favor." It is true that the grace of God does not come to us by merit. Nobody deserves it. However, I can say that I don't deserve the day-to-day sunlight (and it's true) and the meaning of the word "sun" doesn't become "undeserved" just because I don't deserve it. The word "sun" means heat, life, light and yet it does not describe its true meaning being a star, the central star of the universe. I don't think you should change the meaning of the word "sun" to "undeserved" just because we don't deserve what we receive from it. The same can be said of the word "grace": it is an unmerited favor alright, but the word grace in its original sense means "divine influence/power on the heart that is reflected in practical life". Grace is an active power. We do not deserve this active power, but the fact that we do not deserve the power of Pentecost for life-transforming purposes does not allow us to transform the true meaning of the word into "undeserving". Grace is the active power of God in its most practical manifestation; it is not reached by merit, but it is still necessary that it be reached and found, even if by other means.

70. "...He died for us, so that whether we watch or sleep we should live together with Him", 1Thes.5:10.It is interesting to see the words Paul uses here. He has a way with words. He uses the word "watch" as a synonymous of living - with still being alive. This is the same as saying, "whether we live or die let us live (forever) with Him". He uses the word "to watch" instead of "to live". Our whole experience here on earth must be one of a lively living watchfulness because the bridegroom shall surprise all at any moment. However, many people misunderstand the word "watch". Most of the time, they use this word and this practice in connection with the attacks of the devil or temptation. Nothing is further from the truth. Watching is being attentive to the thoughts and movements of our heart and conduct under temptation or trial, waiting for the Bridegroom with enough oil to endure all night if needed, to be found in Him and with nothing separating us from true and real communion with Him. Overcoming is not overcoming a tribulation by nullifying it, but is being found in full communion with at the end of trials and temptations. If the trial or temptation ends and I am not in full communion with Him anymore in the strength of the first love, I have come out of the trial defeated. Let's remember one thing: the devil has no power to suffocate the seed in the heart, persecutions cannot separate us from the experience and enjoy all the love of God to be love in accordance with reality and the real image we see of the living God. Only the cares of this wo