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. "All things that are reproved are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes (is) manifest is light",Eph.5:13. This verse speaks only of the tip of the iceberg of truth that is concealed beneath it. It speaks only of the visible part, of the outcome and result of certain conditions which have been met faithfully. Let's look at it it by parts. We know what light is. The light of God reveals, manifests things as they are and not as we would like them to be. But, for the moment, it reveals oneself about/to oneself. Paul speaks here of those things which are done in secret and which are reprehensible. If they were not reproved by conscience and by the light of God, they would not be practiced in secret. There are people who approve of what they themselves do in secret and, almost always, their approval is also hidden. They hide what they do and hide their approval. And they end up hiding their disapproval when they change so as not to appear that they have not been practicing what they have come to disapprove. When we come to the light, we must know how to do the opposite: reveal (manifest) what we do or have done and openly reproach it with all sincerity and honesty. This is not the same as openly reproving the works of others to hide the fact that we ourselves practice what we see in others. However, only by walking in the light of God with peace of mind and being totally transparent can we claim to be walking with God. To be transparent is an offense to the world and if you are still worldly you will never be truly transparent. This means that one does not walk in the light because he is not capable of doing so due to what he practices and/or approves. As soon as he succeeds in reproving what is hidden by the nature of the flesh, he obtains that light of God in the form of eternal and constant life, which manifests everything so that what still remains to be seen may be revealed in proper times ahead. A step taken leads to the next step. All other things ahead shall be revealed if someone can heartily and sincerely reprove openly what he has kept hidden and out of sight. You will never get more light for all the other things that follow if you cannot heartily and publicly reprove what is/was reprehensible in you. In order for the light to fall on that which still needs to be straightened or converted by the power of grace, it is necessary that you have the most honest and sincere ability to reprove those things that are reproved and condemned by the light of God. Only in this way can things be manifested clearly in the following days of true fellowship with God. Here is the catch or pitfall: no one can expect things to be reproached only in a concealed way. If someone has always walked in darkness, he will be tempted to do so by the power of the shame of having committed acts kept in secret. When someone begins to disapprove of what he does or has done, he shows both what he is or was and what he practiced or practices. Therefore, reproving in occult, however sincere someone may be, has the intention of hiding what he has practiced or practices. And that is not and will never be walking in the light.

2. "Whatever is manifested is light", Eph.5:13. As a rule, people remain ashamed and sometimes keep feeling guilty instead of being thankful after they have manifested and revealed all their sins to stimulate true conversion, which is the main conditions to be forgiven by God. Putting all in the light and walking in the light fully from then on works conversion; and conversion brings forgiveness. The truth categorically states that what is already manifest is light and no one should resent being in the light, being light and living in/of the light. This type of resentment, whatever form or format it takes, will always be an invitation to go back to walk in darkness again by abandoning full transparency.

3. "...Proving what is well-pleasing (acceptable) to the Lord", Eph.5:10. In other translations the word "proving" is translated as "approving", which suits truth very well because it might mean both. It means being able to taste it first in order to decide in favour of it, in this case, to approve. No one should approve what he hasn't proved/tasted/experienced firsthand. You cannot approve through the testimony of others, but by personally experiencing it. To approve is necessary to experience it in a real way - it is necessary to prove/taste it. Having tried it, you have to like/love it without any hint of hypocrisy. If you don't try and if you don't love it after having tried, you can't approve. If you approve without trying and, also, without liking it, you will be a hypocrite and no hypocrite will ever enter the kingdom of God, neither in his kingdom here on earth nor after death. It is not possible, much less acceptable, to approve by intuition, label or decision without having both tasted it and loved it. This has a lot to say when since we are talking about people who lived in enmity against God and were opposed to the truth ever since. It is these people who must experience in the first person and love what they could never love and now experience personally. "NOW we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world", John 4:42. "That which was from the beginning, which 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...",1John 1:1.

4. "Whosoever shall do (observe) and teach..." Mat.5:19. These words are written sequentially. First comes observing and keeping. Only then can you teach. This is not what we see in our pulpits today. I hear very often - more often than you can imagine - people teaching and closing their arguments by saying something like this: "But, we are imperfect and we all make mistakes, we all sin"; and they don't know how much harm they bring to the church! If they believe what they say, why do they teach? They claim they don't comply to God's requirements and, yet, they teach; or, perhaps, they use those words to show off a "false humility" which is equally condemnable, Col.2:23. Paul said: "I beseech you, be imitators of me", 1Cor.4:16; 11:1; Eph.51; Phil.3:17. "Do those things which you have also learned and received and heard and seen in me", Phil.4:9.

5. "...Firm in one spirit..." Phil.1:27. This firmness has a few points that we can never ignore or despise. It's not the fact that people understand each other or that they get along that makes them firm. It is people who are firm (in God) who are able to understand each other and become of one mind. That firmness must begin and end in the spirit and never have its origin, power and motivation in the flesh. It's not by pleasing people that you build that kind of firmness of one mindedness. On the contrary: it is by failing/ceasing to please one another, even when it is a case between husband and wife. Only by ceasing to please each other can we verify whether we are of the same spirit/mind or not. It is firmness in God among all that enables people to become united in one spirit. If they are of the same spirit, of the same essence, they do not need to please one another to become a firm union. In fact, it becomes necessary to stop pleasing each other to become so. It is not necessary to water the land where it has already rained. If they have reached one spirit in God, pleasing one another will bring disunity and never true unity. Things in God operate in a different way, through another power where one strives for truth and by choosing to be truthful from the heart. "Speak each man the truth to his neighbour", Zac.8:16. If the spirit is not the same in people there will never be a firm unity. After being truly firm in God - being of the same essence and being on the same level of truthfulness among all - they will only have to remain in the same spirit so that firmness can be maintained. This is different from a false unity where the world and Christianity come together to understand each other. Where the sea and the river come together, the salt becomes tasteless and that will favour the world and not the salt. True peace between people (a kind of peace without any symptoms or signs of hypocrisy) depends on how similar people are in essence or on what they have become at heart. People are united through their essence and not through their effort. Liars understand each other and get along among them; thieves easily get together and form gangs; the miser talk eagerly with one another; and saints who seek exclusively all the glory of God easily sit around the same table with true joy for being together. Being and obtaining the same essence, the small effort required after that to become a true union comes from the fact that they had built obstinate and different minds in the previous life in a fluctuating world, without axis and without any kind of real firmness because they were far from God like stray sheep that have gone each their own way. Different minds were built over the years in different people who, now, having obtained the same heart and the same essence must let it go. That makes them agree with one another if they stop making use of the old ways/methods and carnal formulas in case they believe to be old still. Each one had gone astray on his own path and it is these autonomous minds that must be reintegrated into a new essence that has already become common to all those who are truly holy and have achieved the same goal/purpose: their Lord and the exclusive pursuit of all His glory from the heart. Speaking to people with their essences transformed in God, we only need to say: "be transformed by the renewing of your mind", Rom12:2. Let the old mind go. It is enough for such only to wash their feet and not the whole body. "He who is bathed has no need except to wash his feet, but he is clean every whit", John 13:10. They only need to find each other and each other's heart to find out that they agree. There is no true peace or true agreement/conciliation between people with different essences. There will only be an apparent peace and concord between them according to what is required by selfishness and the personal needs of each one if each one's needs do not surpass the other one's. But, peace between people of the same essence is easy even between different people, different races and different ages. Whenever people don't get along, we should never choose to heal that wound superficially, although many don't even think of it as a wound to fight one another. We must, rather, leave the wound open so that it heals naturally after treating the essence of those who seek true peace and true harmony. We must not choose to establish a false peace between/among people, because there is a gap that cannot be bridged between who are unequally yoked. "Do you suppose that I have come to give peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division", Lk.12:51. A new essence is capable of bringing division, dissension, and incurable discord between family members who have once been very close. The only cure is the transformation of each person starting with his essence. Let us not choose to heal this type of conflict (enmity) in a superficial and hypocritical way. "There is a great gulf/abyss between you and us; so that they desiring to pass from here to there cannot, nor can they pass over to here from there", Lk.16:26. Only those who have become "from here" in their essence will be able to get along with those from here. Any kind of effort or attempt to try to unite those over there with these over here will always be a useless and vain effort. It's not even worth trying. Let us choose, rather, to bring the true Gospel in its purest and most original essence and only this will bring true peace and union between people, between enemies and even between nations. "Blessed are the peacemakers! For they shall be called the sons of God", Mat.5:9. I do not believe that those who try to be another sort of peacemakers bringing another kind of peace can be called children of God. Those who have peace with God will have peace and harmony among themselves because they are of one spirit. They should simply live as such, assuming the new reality.

6. "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life",John 8:12. A verse filled with much - with a lot of truth. Much can be said or deduced from this statement of Jesus. It is frequent to hear someone say that they don't know what to do and, as a rule, they surrender easily to what they believe to be the most obvious, most pleasant or most desirable option. Eve destroyed the world by opting for the nice and desirable. We still suffer the consequences of that act today. To follow Jesus it is necessary to be with him, to see Him for real, to have found him without a shadow of a doubt and to remain in his real presence for real too. If this presence is not real, if it is a mere belief that one assumes because of the so-called "faith" that they preach around, then one is not following the true Jesus, but another Jesus that suits the flesh. Therefore, it is indispensable to find the true in a real One. Finding Him must always be in the form of Life abundant, eternal, constant and without ups and downs, permanent. And it is this life that will serve us as light. "Life is the light of men", John 1:4. It is for this reason that Jesus says that he "will have the light of Life", that is, this life will serve as light. This is different from having an idea, enlightenment, dream or revelation. Those things serve as signs to those who do not experience this true, real and constant, that is, eternal life. "If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses; He is faithful in all My house. I speak with him face to face, even plainly, and not in dark sayings; And he sees the form of the Lord",Num.12:6-8. "Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God",Mat.5:8.

7. What are the worst consequences for a person who leads being wrong, not just wrong at heart but wrong in general conduct? Imagine a home where a child must, by God's law, be obedient to his father and mother; and let us imagine that this father or mother is wrong at heart or sponsors a wrong conduct. This child is put at a crossroad, torn between being obedient to God or his parents. If he obeys his parents, he disobeys God; if he obeys God, he disobeys his parents. In one way or another he breaks one of the commandments, although we know from the Scriptures that we are asked "whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God", Acts 4:19. All parents who are not capable of being fully faithful in God's house will destroy their homes with many kinds of crossroads.

8. There are certain virtues or even general traits with which we are born from day one. Just as a baby is born knowing how to breastfeed, he is also born with certain important concepts for any human being. For example, everyone is born with the concept of eternity implanted in the hearts and ideas. No one thinks he will be the next to die, not even knowing that he will die someday. "God has put eternity in the heart of man", Eccl.3:11. In the same way, he put in man the sense of obedience, justice and every kind of aptitude proper for everything that is heavenly. However, these skills do not function in their original form apart from a real and true fellowship with God. When separated from God, all beings with these innate aptitudes become different (but never indifferent) and, many times, they are turned into an opposing trait, that is, they make use of the inverted form of the aptitudes with which or for which they were created. The sense of eternity leads to suicide, whether spiritual or physical suicide; obedience is inverted into contrariness and that is why the Bible, speaking of disobedience as sorcery or idolatry, describes it as rebellion, contrariness, obstinacy, always having a contrary attitude/word/aptitude ready. And why being contrary or having a parallel idea, conduct or word like Saul had (1Sam.15:22) is a camouflaged form of idolatry or sorcery? Because it uses another type of power, it serves someone other than God (whether serving oneself or pleasing people out of fear or 'sympathy'). He who pleases people deceives himself. These two things are inseparable: everyone who pleases people - for whatever purpose - serves some kind of self-deception. We can also speak of the innate sense of pleasing God that is transformed into pleasing people or oneself because the ability to please exists by creation. There would be many more things to mention here, but it is only necessary to know that no one remains indifferent or inactive about the creation that he is. If he does not have and cannot remain in full and continuous communion with God, he will never be inactive and will always be a contrary or inversed version due to the aptitudes with which he was created or for which he was made. One never stays inactive or passive, Is.57:20. It would be the same as saying that a baby who was born with the ability to suck and swallow uses that same ability to suck and spit in the mother's face. Those who do not live and commune with God will always be against nature, using what they are as creatures to spit in God's face. For those who manage to live and commune with God and affirm truthfully, like Elijah, "God in whose presence I am" (and that this is real and not mere wishful believing), wisdom and knowledge will always be a complement and not a capacity. Those who do not live with God experimentally will always use knowledge and wisdom as the (only) source of empowerment because they try to undertake through own means. It is for these reasons that the failure of today's churches is so obvious.

9. "Why do you seek to kill Me" John 7:19. It's hard to realize that most believers seek to kill the real Jesus within them. But when their attention are called upon that, they respond in the same way as the Jews: "Who is trying to kill you?" Ignorance about real facts is indescribable! Whenever we choose to fall into a transgression, giving in to any kind of temptation, we can be certain that this is killing Jesus within us, that is, if He is really within us and it is not mere fiction. When His "presence" is fictitious or just believed, any transgressor will never feel the difference and it is for this reason that many create doctrines which state that nothing happens to us and that we shall lose nothing if we sin.

10. "If these things are in you and abound, they make you to be neither idle nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ",2Ped.1:8. Idleness is a serious problem. It is as dangerous as being a busybody. Peter speaks here of "these things" which do not allow one to become idle. But whenever people are already spiritually idle, they find reasons to amuse themselves with what does not edify and, worse still, makes them even more sterile, that is, incapable of reproducing the holy species. For this reason, we see churches that do not grow, and when they do grow in numbers, it is not with the holy kind that fill their congregations. What happens when people find themselves idle and what are the reasons for becoming idle? The reason is that heavenly things do not increase, they are not properly worked on in the right way and through the right power and this creates idleness. And we know what happens to idle people: they seek itching to scratch. They look for anything to entertain themselves and even justify such behaviours because of being idle. Thinking about this during the night, I remembered Solomon's thousand wives. With so many wives it would be difficult for Solomon to be with each one of them at least once a year. To be with each wife once a year he should be with three of them a day. I don't know if that is humanly possible. I don't think so. However, not being able to be with Solomon, the "idleness" of these wives did not allow them to be with other lovers. They would be guilty of adultery if they did. We must remember this whenever we are awaiting something from God, keeping ourselves immaculate so that nothing else can prevent everything from being fulfilled in its time. "Though it lingers, wait for it", Hab.2:3. Idleness is a breeding ground for adulteries of many kinds, which can lead us to think we have a right to spend our time on what does not edify. "You adulterers and adulteresses, do you not know that the friendship of the world is enmity against God? Therefore, whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God", James 4:4. It is the little foxes that destroy the little plants of holiness. We always avoid the Goliaths of this life, but what destroys the harvest are those insignificant little foxes. When your church doesn't grow spiritually, when your life doesn't bear fruit in the proportion of the promise, look inward and do not blame circumstances outside. It is, surely, within each one where the main problem is to be found and identified.

11. "Jesus walked in Galilee, for He did not desire to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him",John 7:1. Jesus did this not because he feared the Jews, but in order not to increase their sins before their time. He still needed to finish his task before they were hardened beyond it was needed.

12. "He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him",John 7:18. There are many who are sent and many others who send themselves. But, Jesus says, speaking of those who were truly sent, that a specific characteristic stands out distinguishing the sincere and true of heart: they seek the glory of God at any cost within the limits of holiness. "If anyone also wars, he is not crowned if he does not war legitimately", 2Tim.2:5. But, we can also see this truth expressed in reverse: those who truly seek the glory of God having been sent are true at heart. The others are not. And there is, also, something revealing in these words: whoever seeks His glory ceases to have any kind of unrighteousness within him. This is something revealing for all fans of the doctrines that justify sinners and those who claim that it is impossible to be holy here on earth! He who seeks His glory with all his heart will obtain all means to avoid unrighteousness clinging on him. This is a revealing truth about the power of the proper motives and what they are able to provide or achieve.

13. There are people who teach evil ways and there are those who put people in evil ways in a practical way. Let's think of the parents who put their children in the movies of the world, take them where they shouldn't go and do many other things. They don't even need to teach them evil - they put them right away in evil ways, and these beings begin draw their own conclusions and pleasures without any theoretical teaching for or against it. What will be the end of these evil creatures and what judgment will fall on such parents?

14. Whoever talks too much is also someone who always talks too fast and, also, often says what he shouldn't and expresses himself about things he doesn't know. It's the habit of always talking instead of talking only when you should about what you should.

15. We all have all found ourselves in situations where we're made to feel rightly or wrongly guilty about something. And other times we blame ourselves rightly or wrongly too. There is always an accuser within each one of us that needs to be crucified with Christ. How many times people faithful to God blame themselves for the things that are happening and wonder what wrong have they done to have certain things happen to them. Then, they pray and the situation does not change. And they do not change either from deep within. They search the heart hoping to clarify where they went wrong knowing that they can be scolded, corrected and transformed for being children and not bastards. Job went through this, even more so by being induced to it by so-called friends who categorically stated that God would never punish without reason. And these statements helped Job not only to detect his innocence and purity of heart, but also to find the key to stop feeling guilty which did not release or ease up the pain and discomfort. We are not always innocent in the eyes of God, but we can also reach the point of being able to claim that we are innocent or even made innocent. And whenever we are innocent (or made innocent) we do anything, we pray and beg for circumstances to change instead of seeing that we can also use adverse circumstances in our favor to improve our heart, to learn a new behavior, to reach a new form of speech if we have been living for too long among people of unclean lips. Either way, there is always a way to use any circumstance for the good of those who truly love God. Like Jesus, we must say, despite the circumstances, "I sanctify myself", John 17:19. If a husband doesn't change, if a son continues to be a rebel, if miracles take too long to happen, we should know that there will always be something important that we can take advantage of or do while situations seem adverse and wanting to engulf us and to enslave our attention. No night lasts forever. Therefore, we can take the opportunity to achieve something useful and practical while going through adversities, whether extreme or not, external or internal. I am quite sure that any man who is unable to make good use of grace and abilities under the pressure of adverse circumstances will always be someone who will cool down his love for God whenever everything seems to go well for him. These people, when they pray and reach the grace of God to be able to live with Him fully whatever the circumstances, are also often perplexed that their earthly problems are not resolved even after having been purified and sanctified. There is a time after this sanctification and/or purification so that what has been achieved can take roots, solidity and can remain as a nature, as long as it is maintained by the power of grace. In the same way that an adult needed bread to reach adulthood, he will need this bread (grace) to feed and maintain himself as an adult.

16. There are things that bother the day-to-day life and the lives of those who actively live faithful lives because they have become faithful from the heart. We all need to learn to be intelligently faithful; also, that this faithfulness/fidelity becomes our very nature, our way of being, the only and unique way of living. When God's purpose is to create or recreate a heavenly being, the faithful go through situations where they learn to be even more faithful to all the values imputed by God and which are being written in their heart in the furnace of His fire, always being faithful in practice and, obviously, at the level of nature and the heart itself. The pure become even purer at all levels, the wise even wiser, and the faithful even more faithful of nature itself. It is common to hear prayers and wishes from those people who go through uncomfortable situations regarding circumstances that can and should be used for the purpose of becoming even more faithful and purer in nature, less feigned and less forced in their holiness to the point that, in the eyes of God, this purity and faithfulness is incontestable. "Have you seen my servant Job? A blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns from evil", Job 1:8. It is God who bears this witness about Job and not Job himself. God cannot deny His own nature, and every faithful and pure being must become one who also becomes incapable of denying his own nature. And when we find ourselves under the pressure of circumstances we can utter, with some frequency, prayers like: "My Father, if possible, let this cup pass from me!", Mat.26:42. There are cases, for example, where a husband or wife extremely faithful to God and the Gospel suffer constant attacks and unreasonable things from their own marriage partner, from their own children and where this faithful person fears that the appearance of things could give a bad testimony both about the marriage that God gave, job or family environment and about God. "Is this what it is to marry in God's will? Is this the kind of job God gives?" These are comments that can stun many. They forget that God's will is that they become pure and faithful and not, as soap operas and fairy tales say, "that they live happily ever after". Asking for the cup to pass, for the environment to change, for the wrong person to be transformed for the sake of self or move away are all desirable things. But what must change is the heart of the one who is faithful under all circumstances to the point of assuring, rooting and cementing his own faithfulness even more solidly. "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you", 1Pet.4:12.14. Instead of pleading that the cup passes, we must know how to ask from the heart that the will of God be done, that is, that the pure heart be purified even more; that believing and trusting become less forced and more nature like, better expressive and that from the heart; that the work/task at hand does not suffer delays and is neither relegated to a second degree of importance and that duty is replaced by problems in that degree of importance, etc. Like Jesus, we must seize the moment to be able to say, "I sanctify myself", John 17:19. It's a matter of deciding to choose the best part. It's a decision - an excellent decision - to be made even when circumstances change for the better.

17. "The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever",Is.32:17. There are people who make an effort (and others not so much) to maintain a composure of peace when the peace that God gives should and can be natural through a real communion/fellowship with Him - as long as that communion is real. This is what it means when we read in Scripture of "peace in Thy presence". This lack of peace can happen for a few reasons, but I mention just two. One is that a person is in sin or still has some sin that has never been confessed or made up for, and, in the presence of God, he will have no peace as long as he rejects the conviction of that sin and does not do what he has to do about it. It will even be difficult to regain the peace that the world gives when in the presence of God. One will not have peace with God until he confesses or makes restitution, and will not be able to keep the peace that the world gives because of the presence of God. The peace that the world gives is that kind of peace where there is no conviction of sin in the absence of God and it is possible to maintain a composure through hypocrisy, pretence, and effort with some higher motivations in mind. Another reason for the lack of peace is more complex: we were created to live from God, by God, for God and not just from His breath of air, but from the very wind of His Spirit that blows giving and sustaining life within. Any person will feel the consequences of living far from God because his inner being was created to live only from God. That sort of absence of peace is the sense that something is lacking within, which nothing can make up for. It is for this reason that Scriptures speak of one being empty when not full of God. That emptiness will never be filled with anything but God, and that emptiness grows a thousandfold in the empty eternity of hell. I really believe that the greatest discomfort in hell will be the immeasurable accentuation of this emptiness, because the person will always be dying without ever being able to die. That's why it's called "eternal death" - you will be in a measureless void inside, always dying but never dead.

18. "...In the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard",Heb.5:7. It was God's will not only to deliver from death but also to conquer it forever and once for all. But, we should not be talking about death, but about the will of God. Whatever is God's will — whether for us personally or for some universal good — must get the same seriousness of any pure heart as to cry out with tears, prayers, and supplications just because it is God's will. How many tears have you shed for the sake of God's will?

19. "Everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the light", John 3:20,21.. In here, Jesus has a way with words that we need to grasp. On the one hand, He speaks of those who do evil and, consequently, hide themselves together with their deeds. They are not exposed to light. He also speaks about truthful ones. But, speaking of the truthful, Jesus does not say that it is those who do good who place themselves in the light and in visibility but, rather, those who practice the truth regardless of what they have done, bad or good. John also uses these words of "practicing the truth" in 1John 1:6. Walking in the light is not and never will be showing our best face, putting on our face makeup, wear our best garment and disguising our appearance somehow. That is precisely the oppsite of walking in the light. To walk in the light - and we need initiative to put ourselves in the light - is to start being transparent, sincere about ourselves and honest, practicing the truth that way no matter who is around. If we did wrong, we reveal and expose. It is this truth that we must begin to practice.

20. "Everyone who practises evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, lest his deeds should be exposed", John 3:20. I find it strange that a man would do anything, endure any hardship never to be held accountable for his evil deeds. To be in the light is to be as transparent as can be, practicing the truth - not just believing the truth, but practicing it starting with what you truly are. If I've done wrong, I must come to the light and unmask myself and never act as if nothing has happened. And if it is true that man will do anything to hide himself by instinct and culture, he will do anything not to be discovered. So, we can assume that deceiving even oneself (and others about him) is what it means to walk in darkness; to walk in darkness is to lie, and, also, to run to avoid the light. Anyone who does not practice the truth is a liar. Walking in darkness and lying are inseparable sins. Anyone who does not walk in the light is an excellent liar. He is a liar. The most practical way to cover up sin is to act good, create an image of a believer and show - or even trust in - the good things you do or think about yourself. Nicodemus came to Jesus talking about the miracles that no one could do without God. But, Jesus answered without hesitation that miracles were worthless if the person did not become a new creature. This means that miracles could serve as a cover up for an evil creature and, for some, to never consider themselves evil. Let the miracle workers hear that! Going to church, jumping over the wall into the sheepfold, singing in the church choir, reading and studying the Bible, being the best in a Bible School, among many other things, can be reasons to condemn oneself because these can easily become ways of covering up sins rather than of dedication to God. We know that no one will obtain mercy by covering his sins - even if it is only one single sin. "He who covers his sins will not prosper",Prov.28:13.

21. Much is said about temptations these days. Some speak of them as something unbeatable, others as if they were problem. Some excuse their sins by attributing them to the temptations and the strength of the flesh; others feel guilty when they are only tempted without having fallen into transgression; still, others dismiss the guilt of transgressions as if they will never be held accountable for them - or even condemned. Each head with its mindset, ignoring the affirmative truths of Scripture. I'm not going to talk about temptation itself, because it shall always exist. Rather, let's talk about its strength and what gives it its power. There are many reasons for temptations or for the lack of them. There are also reasons - or conditions - why temptations become strong when they exist. However, the cause of its force or power is not always the same even though all causes have in common a certain detachment from the abundance of eternal life, it is, "the life that now is" (1Tim.4:8). It is true that the tempter is aware of anything that could cause a transgression, for any transgression is a shame and dishonour to the Creator of the one who transgresses. We must remember that it was our sins and transgressions that crucified Jesus. But, to attribute the strength of temptation to the flesh alone is to say too very little about it. What gives greater strength to temptation is a kind of departure from God, or any sort of detachment from Him, or a sudden indifference towards Him both in young new creatures or even in people more experienced on the Path and who enjoy the abundance of eternal life, which starts here and now. In people who hate God, temptations are already a way of life and can no longer be taken as temptations. Temptations do indeed exist only for those who truly seek God. But there are many causes for transgression, that is, for falling into temptation. Let's remember that the way to pray that Jesus commanded/taught is: "Lead us not into temptation". It is not a prayer to exterminate temptation, but to prevent from falling under its sphere. Knowing that "the flesh and its passions can (and must) be crucified with Christ" (Gal.5:24), temptations can pass us by with all their insistence and power from hell that, who is literally and truly dead to sin, does not react to them at all. Have you ever seen a dead person look at the opposite sex or at money with lust? Therefore, the first cause for the strength of temptation is not being truly crucified with Christ. Such who are truly in Him will find themselves as dead to sin as a corpse. However, there are few other causes for having temptations nearby or harassing one's attention. If Christ said that we should be (remain) in Him and He in us, then, by leaving this stronghold, we will be exposed to the tides of the enemy. And, being exposed to the enemy, we will, again, be exposed to temptations and/or transgressions. Another cause is our not walking when we have light. We can be standing still while having some light, doing nothing about needs to be done. "...if you do not do well, behold, sin is crouching at the door; its desire is against/for you, and you must master it", Gen.4:7. Jesus said: "If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble",John 11:9. One may have light and not walk. If one does not act promptly, doing whatever needs to be done and according to what light reveals, he shall be exposed to temptations and shall, sooner or later, fall into a transgression of some kind. "Walk while you have light", John 12:35. Those who do not act promptly and according to what light reveals, doing well what they should do, will be exposed to temptations and it will only be a matter of time before they fall into them.  (Let's remember that Jesus tells to the faithful well done and not merely done). Under such a situation, the person in question will have to try to master the temptation instead and cannot, should not consider himself dead to it. Not anymore. The way out, then, is to try master it, cut the hand off or pull out the eye and that is not Good News. The Good News is to be dead to sin (and alive to God).

22. "If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble",John 11:9. Much is said and discussed, nowadays, about the possibility or impossibility of keeping ourselves pure and spotless. This theological discussion proliferated among all nations where the flesh preaches the Gospel that suits itself or best fits into its ideas. The fact that Jesus said "DOES NOT STUMBLE" does not fit into their theologies. And His word cannot be changed. However, certain conditions must be fulfilled by walking in the light (and not being stagnant under it) so that "not stumbling" becomes possible. If the light reveals some sin or transgression and the person does not respond (or correspond) in the way he should by exposing his sin in full detail or making restitution, he is not walking - he is stagnant; if Peter passes by the lame man at the door of the Temple where he had already passed countless times and looked at him each time he passed there without God revealing anything and, suddenly on a certain day, the order comes to tell the lame man to get up and walk, and Peter questions that order, he is not walking while he has light; and if the man hears Peter's order but hesitates in unbelief and Peter does not reach out his hand to lift him because he fears that nothing might happen, he is not walking in daylight. Soon, those who don't walk will certainly be caught by the darkness and will stumble anytime ahead.

23. "Faith is the substance of things (...) the evidence (proof) of things not seen", Heb.11:1. It is not good for us to downplay or pass over the sense or meaning of the original words whenever we read the Scriptures. When talking about "PROOF", there must be something substantial, concrete, clear and real that clearly reveals and affirms to oneself what is affirmed in/by God. Proof/evidence confirms what is affirmed in God and seen from God. And it has to be proof for oneself in the first instance. The faith of many people, today and always, is based upon beliefs, hopes or even illusions in which they believe or just want to believe. None of this is proof. A proof is something very, very concrete and substantial - it is something that exists and is impossible to deny. That is revival. "We speak what We know and testify what We have seen", John 3:11. "Life (eternal) was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you THAT eternal life", 1John 1:2. "THAT eternal life" means the one that is clearly visible, can be touched (experienced) here and now and is impossible to be denied or hidden. That' the one. Ask yourself why would the Pharisees charge against it with stones and with great red faced rage. It was because they couldn't deny the clear evidence pu before them and the way out was to kill such clear evidence of THAT eternal Life.

24. "If you can believe (...) I believe , Lord! Help my unbelief",Mar.9:23,24. "Give us more faith", Luc.17:5. Few find the true and only key to open the doors to faith, that is, the solution for the lack of faith. It all starts with the sincerity of the heart (acknowledging and confessing, in whatever way). But, it doesn't end there. We must not forget that Scriptures teach that Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith (Heb.12:2). Knowing this and acting accordingly (approaching Him) goes a little further than having found the key to the solution. Faith is and will always be fruit of communion with Him and depends exclusively on the purity of that fellowship. And, it is under that fellowship that it bears more fruit - it becomes more and ore fruitful. It is very easy to believe having God as a friend. And the closer as a friend He is, the easier since faith sprouts from love. Adding more faith is a mere consequence of a greater, better and more sincere approach to Jesus taking into account all that He represents in terms of purity, targets, objectives, type of power and so many other things that exist in heaven.

25. It is commonly believed by the doctrines of today that a word or blessing spoken by one to another obtains its force from the person who utters it. But, things are not and never will be that linear. If the word really comes from the mouth of God, it will have its effects. It certainly won't come back empty because it came from God. But this is very different from when someone utters a word to compel God to perform accordingly. That is, wanting to get God into own affairs, decisions, determinations or desires. First, the word must come from God and not from the heart and desires of man. Secondly, the conditions must be met for the word coming from God to be fulfilled with eternal effect. As a rule, the conditions that need to be fulfilled depend mostly on the person receiving the word and rarely on the person who utters it. Today, a lot of value is given to those who pronounce words as if God were the disciple who needs to fulfil what someone said. But, who determines whether the word really coming from God can be fulfilled is who hears it and not who utters it.

26. I don't become more of a believer by reading the Scriptures a lot or spending a lot of hours in prayer. I believe better, I trust more and with greater simplicity in proportion to the real intimacy I have/share with God. I can read the Scriptures without being taught by God as much as I can be taught by God while in my job or other errands. "It is written, And they shall all be taught of God", John 6:45a. And when I speak of being taught, I speak of a practical teaching that begins its work in the heart, starting with being transformed and not just with being instructed. Being transformed and instructed at the same time is what it means to be taught by God. "Therefore, everyone who has heard from the Father and learned comes to me", John 6:45b. It is not just listening, but learning from drawing near to God. And it is this approach that makes my trust in God more spontaneous, more sincere, less feigned and less forced. Forced faith is feigned faith.

27. "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased",Dan.12:4. It is not without reason that Paul stated that the last times will be very difficult for all mankind. The main reason is that knowledge, study and science will spread while hearts remain the same without being truly transformed. Therefore, by not being transformed, they will adapt to truth and to knowledge. That is, the language of evil will be adapted, systems will change their looks, but not their hearts. It is for this reason, for example, that communism is the system that most uses words like democracy, freedom and prosperity; and sin uses words like faith, love, freedom, among others. The corrupt will appear to be generous, they will gain fame as benefactors by their words and their false speeches. This will happen until the day that God decides to put an end to hypocrisy. "The fool shall no more be called noble, nor the miser said to be bountiful For the foolish person will speak foolishness, And his heart will work iniquity: To practice ungodliness, To utter error against the Lord, to keep the hungry unsatisfied",Is.32:5-6.

28. Today it is very easy to sing hymns and say that you are praising God. Even when the heart is far from God, people sing because of the beauty of the hymn or melody. "Whoever names the name of Christ, depart from iniquity", 2Tim.2:19. I've seen people from the world of immoral filth sing certain hymns that have become famous in the history of music. They are strangers to the truth and, yet, they sing without understanding what it is all about. If it is not right for a sincere heart to sing a song of Zion while still seeking its peace with God (Ps.137), let us imagine how grievous is the sin of singing hymns while being of the world. "Who asked you to come and trample my courts?" Is.1:12. We know what the word "trample" means in its true essence. It means more than humiliating. When they trample on a flag of a certain country, it means great contempt for that country. That same meaning God gives to those who do not depart from iniquity and sing His praises or enter His Temple for that purpose. May men repent and know God truly and personally. Then, will they sing sincere praises, not because of the melody or the beauty of the words, but because they see God in His beauty and greatness of love and because the hymn corresponds to the truth of the heart.

29. "Share in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God",2Tim.1:8. It's all too easy to read over what we think we understand just because we know the meaning of the words and don't realize the real depth of the experience these words are trying to explain. We must know that it is extremely difficult to explain in words a true experience of eternal life, that is, of the life that now begins and does not have ups and downs, but is constant and permanent. We must surrender ourselves completely to this life without reservations and without any fear of making mistakes. Many fear making mistakes because certain things happen as they did not foresee; or because they have made mistakes before; or because other things take a while to happen. In any case, it is very easy for the carnal man to bear what happens to him carnally. It is another thing to do or execute it "according to the power of God", that is, through the power of grace. Giving up the power of the flesh is more difficult for man than suicide, because nobody likes to give up his own abilities to execute and deny himself and his strength. The carnal man would rather lose his life than become physically or carnally incapable. But, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit," John 12:24. We cannot be naive participants in the afflictions of the Gospel, people who have not yet become familiar with the power of God to the point of being able to depend entirely on grace, that is, being sober enough to be able to hope (waiting hope and expectation) "entirely in the grace given to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ",1 Pet.1:13. This is the hardest learning of the Christian life - yet it is the simplest to be achieved. We must learn to do God's will the way it is done in heaven, for to try to do it in any other way or through another power is the basics of idolatry. It is essential that we are so familiar with eternal life and its executing power (power and manner of executing) that we vehemently refuse that God's will should be attempted in any other way or to live as if it were possible to carry it out in any other way. I do not believe that it is possible to carry out God's will in any other way, but there are those who live on believing that they can and should. It is for this reason that we get into situations which we cannot solve or understand, because only through God will do we learn to reconcile ourselves with the form and power of God. Things don't work out? Learn to depend on God and become familiar with Him instead of depending on rush or alternatives. This is what it means to be reconciled to God. And it is for this reason that Paul orders believers to be reconciled with God, that is, to become familiar with Him to the point of being able to understand how one should and can become a participant in the afflictions of Christ and the Gospel (Rom.12:1,2). It must be understood that Jesus could deliver himself from death in many ways, but, he preferred, "in the days of his flesh, to offer, with strong crying and tears, prayers and supplications to him who was able to deliver him from death and was heard as to what feared", Heb.5:7. We really need to get rid of death. The question here is how, and not to get rid of it anyhow. If God does not build the house, we build it in vain. If God does not deliver us from death, we are 'freed' from it in vain. Giving up or resigning yourself to death - whatever kind of death it may be - (or resigning yourself to anything else) is not doing God's will. We must, rather, meet the conditions where God can fulfil all our requests about his will. Joseph could escape slavery when he tended Potiphar's fields. He could fetch his family members when he became the most powerful man in Egypt. But, he didn't. Abraham could take over the land that God had promised him when he defeated the kings who took everything that belonged to him. But he remembered that God had said that it would be He who would give him the land and not his sword or ability to conquer. Being in normal and pure conditions, we will know and understand what it means to be heard and this opens up to us the option of being helped by God in due time or when necessary. But we cannot look for this oil or ointment at the moment we need it - we have to find it in advance or beforehand. "Therefore let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need",Heb.4:16.

30. 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.

31. 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 expressionsof those who speak and the impressions of those who listen. Many allow themselves to be convinced by what impresses them and thisopens the door for those who manage forms of expression very well,which convince the impressionable. That's why Jesus warns: "Takeheed how you hear!" Luke 8:18. And when it comes to a translation, there are still more factors to take into account. The translationof this verse is one such case. For example, the word "vigilant (watchful)" here meansto be circumspect in the sense of keeping watch over one's own heartsince 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 todo with watching over our own being and heart so that nothing comes to separate us from God, from His strength andfrom His power, from Hissaving, constant and permanent companionship, that is, eternal life (no ups and downs). Many watch in the Christian life as the world wouldwatch against dangers, forgetting that the only danger to us is that which comes from within. "For from within the hearts of men comeevil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders...",Mat.7:21. Therefore, "If anyonedesires the episcopate" (v.1) he must also know how to desire tofulfil the conditions that allow him to achieve such a privileged and praiseworthy duty. A boat or ship only sinkswith the water inside it and not with the water outside it. The water outside helpsit to navigate even better. "Take heed to thyself",1Tim.4:16.

32. "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 somethinghere that we might miss. What became of the certainty of that assured man who said with absolutecertainty: "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 whenhe didn't even know Him. John never saw Him before, yet recognized Himwith great certainty! Where and when didhis certainty begin to fade? Where did thedoubt 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 beingcriticized or even reprimanded for doubting. John faced and confronted doubt boldly. He acted very well and got rid of the temptation by askingwithout fear of being confronted, without fear of what the Pharisees and other people might think after all the certainties and statementshe hadmade at the River Jordan. But, the question here is: how do youleave such certainty and get to this doubt and for what reason orreasons? 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 byself. If the Spirit fades from a heart, doubts start in people whodepended solely and entirely on grace (1Pet.1:13).Such people can't even believe a lie anymore. But, why did Johnenter such doubts or, should I say, why did he lose on theassurances of God? I believe that John expected something more from this lifeafter having fulfilled his double mission, it is, after having presented the Messiah to the worldand of having prepared the people for Him. I think he expected to live the rest of hislife in peace, but, he was arrested instead. Or, maybe, he wanted to make sure he had already accomplished his missionand could die in peace. I also believe that hiscommunion with the Holy Spirit was put in the background after having fulfilled his mission. We must understand that our fellowship with God must, firstand foremost, be maintained for our own sake (for the sake of Godconcerning us) and for our own consumption so that wemay never attempt to gather without Him. By being right with God, we will fulfilour mission with complete perfection. After the mission, we should still maintainour communion with Him in spotlessness. After we have fulfilled our mission,our own communion with God must be maintained in the first flame andin the first love so that the main purpose for this communion isfulfilled 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 remainpure 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 alreadypreached or have already achieved some purpose of God's will, we can easily enter darkplaces of doubt unnecessarily. It is very easy to ease up on GodHimself after anachievement, or after the completion of a very demanding mission or task. We need to know that the main purpose isour 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 isnot and never will be the main reason for having, for obtaining or maintaining a healthy communion with God. Thefulfilment of our work, mission or task is andwill 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 cannotbe 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 thishappens, 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 thisverse. 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 oneis 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 fromthat. In this verse it means that this love is primary, main, unique, the highest degree of importance or even the onlyone. The first of a kingdom is the kingand 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 withthat love. The love of God, obedience and everything that encompasses our experience or coexistence with God cannot obtain a degree of secondary importance or evenof equal importance to another. The love of God should not even compete with another love that can be placedin a second or even a third place. In my opinion, the love of God mustbe the only love and, when that is the case, there cannot even beother love in secondary degrees of importance. This love is unique and exclusive. There is only the love of/for God with allyour heart and the love for our neighbour and no other. There cannot be any other love in our livesin any degree. I don't know if these are the things that happened toJohn the Baptist, but I believe that my perception might not be thatfar from the truth. If faith/certainty of things is operated by loveand its inflow (Gal.5:6), what happened to John theBaptist 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 hadalready 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 andnot God for the salvation of my child, father, mother, house or country.

33. "He who does the will of God abides forever", 1John 2:17. The person who does the will of God does not remain/abideforever because he does the will of God, but because he has a realfellowship and complicity with God whichenables him to do/execute it the way it is done inheaven. Being able to execute this will is a sign that you have thissort of communion and unifying conciliationwith God intact. In order to carry out His will, it is necessary to be able tofulfil certain conditionsand certain requirements regarding our communion with God. First, we need to have REAL fellowship with God - a make-believeonewill not work. This communion needs to be real and not one-sided. Secondly, it is imperative that one obtainsgrace 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, itwill only be found by having our whole heart involved in that will and in the desiresof God to be able to execute itperfectly, loving God and his will ardently and above all. Fulfilling all these requirements, it becomes possibleto carry out God's will because one is able to gather with Him andunable to alone. What this means is that the person abidesforever because he has that uninterrupted fellowship with God which allows him all access to the providences of God, to the power ofHis grace, to His leadership, to His providences and fellowship and to everything that is necessary forHis will tobe 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". Tobe able to do his will the way it is done in heaven is a sure sign that there isareal communion with eternal life within the wholebeing. Therefore, he who does the will of God remains forever because he is truly rooted in God and God inhim to that privileged point where he can reach out and beallowed/enabled to doHis will. Such a person remains forever because he has hisfellowship with God up to date and in such normality that he canremain in it because it is his only life and the only way he knowsfor a living. The fact that he succeeds incarrying 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 becausehe does his will. In fact, he can do his will because he is in God and God in himand 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 itpossible to do God's will and, also, to last/abide forever. Thosewho can do his will show that they have this life in the promisedabundance. That is why they remain forever. We cannotmisinterpret the Scriptures for the convenience of the fleshconsulting His will but not consulting Him. His will is not theentrance to the fellowship. Fellowshipping with Him is the entranceto His will. "Walk in my presence and be perfect", Gen.17:1. There is an order inthese words. It doesn't say "be perfect and walk in My presence",but the other way round.

34. "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 orstatic. To walk in the Spirit is to walk through ourdaily lives in a natural way, but by the power of God. We live withit as if we have never lived any other way before. We walk and live in real presence with God as if we haveno knowledge of any other way of life. Another thing about this verse: if transgression only exists when the lust is fulfilled, that is, yieldingto temptation and not by being tempted, it is also true that obedience existsonly when it is fulfilled - when one walks. To stop walkingin evil is not yet walking in the Spirit - or in the light. To stop walking in evil is to stand still and to walkin 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.

35. "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 thecarnal ear. There is a widespread ideathat 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 increasesknowledge and may even increase wisdom. Knowledge and wisdom are notthe same thing. It is true that "A man's wisdom makes his face shine, And the sternness ofhis face is changed", Eccl.8:1. Indeed, knowledge and wisdom are excellent things. But, we cannot confuse that glow onthe face with the faith that makes the heart shine in the whole essence of manfrom his deepest roots. Reading theScriptures 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 meanssomething different. Hearing is when God speaks to the heart andsays/reveals/manifests something that makes a lot of sense to theheart that is (or has become) according to God because only thencould it make all that sense. It is necessary for these two thingsto happen, that is, for God to speak and for the heart toreceive it fully grasping that word with great, inexplicable joy for receivingsomething that it needed so much to hear and understand. That is, the heartthat 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'swhat hearing is all about. This adds to faith, revivesthe spirit thirsting for fluid truth overflowing with reality, drives out doubt, and consolidates the wholeof any person in God. This may also be called goodencouragement 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 inintimacy with God - or on the way towards it - He can speak to a heart that is in full conformity with Him, whichhas such a thirst for God that can desire nothing else but Him with that same extreme intensity. Since that heart is after God, ifthat heart delights in Him and by Him only, any word or revelation coming from the mouth of God speaks according to that heart because itis conformed to God. Soon, this hearing increases faith and trust in God by taking the necessary steps of obedience. Therefore, we cannotconfuse the acquisition of knowledge and wisdom with the faith that comes from hearing because they are not the same thing. This is whatit means to hear when a word comes from God.

36. "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 spreadingwildly very quickly, even seeing many countries and governments substantiate, support and promote what is very badand wrong. But at the same time I was listening to the audio Bible and this verse made so much sense to me that Imarvelled: "But darkness did not prevail...". No matter how much darkness increases,how many dark ideas take charge, it will never prevail anymore than it did in the darkest moment in human history when they crucified Jesus. To this day, there has never beena darker moment than when they crucified the very Creator of mankind for coming for his people andto what was his. "Hecame to his own, and his own did not receive him",John 1:11. If they didn't prevail then, they won't prevail noweither. In fact, they will never prevail. But, there is something more to the understanding of this verse that mayescape us. The word "prevail" could also be translated as apprehending, comprehending, or even understanding in orderto prevail against the light. This interpretation gives a very broad sense as to the cunningworldly wisdom and its natural application to have darkness prevail against lightat 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 associationbetween water and a boat: the water outside the boat helps it tofloat, but in the inside causes it to sink.

37. "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 whoeverwants to save it will lose it. Isn't that what happened here? They wanted to save their nation by denying Jesus andlost 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.

38. "You did not believe because you are not of My sheep", John 10:26. There are many reasons why people don't believe (inthe truth).This does not mean, however, that they do not believe a lie, that is, claiming to know Jesus when it isnot true.One thing is certain: those who cannot believe in Jesus easily believe in the lies, illusions and deceptions ofthis 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 othermasters with a heart full of desires for sin who easily listen to what is morally wrong because it is dearand 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 Jesusthrough a shipwrecked, pretentious or even counterfeit faith both morally and emotionally. We see that Paul speaks of peoplewith a shipwrecked faith who kept preaching as if nothing was wrong. This ishow far self-deception can lead. "...Holding faithand a good conscience, which some have put away and made shipwreck as to faith",1Tim.1:19. However, the shipwreckedonescontinued to preach Jesus appearing to be faithful while drowning inorder to deceive the faithful.

39. "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 hemakes 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 believersI know say they know Jesus because they pray and read their Bibles and not because He makes himself known tothem.A relationship cannot exist when that relationship is one-sided, when it is affirmed and confirmed only by oneof the sides.Jesus has to make himself known (experimentally) and these sheep are known to him in the same wayor degree that they know him. If that which separates God from people and people from God is not taken away, if thepaths 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 cleanseourselves of our sins by confessing them each by name when approaching Him, abandoning theconfessed sins to fulfil the minimum conditions for God to approachand make Himself known without any shadow of a doubt. "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the wholeearth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him", 2Cron.16:9.

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

41. "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 withoutups or downs and permanent. Eternal life, for us, begins here and now. Many people talk about changing their lives, but they misinterpretthis. When talking about changing their lives, any human thinks of a betteredversion of one they have (or that they believe they have), and notof another sort life from the vey roots of our being. They try improving the one they alreadyhave, 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 againinto another and to die with Christ. Allow me to explain. When the Bible speaks of changing one'slife, it means abandoning what we consider to be life in exchange for anotherkind of life. It means to be dead for real to this worldliness andalive to heaven. We literally experience an exchange of lives by being born into a newone. We cease to exist in a certain form of life which Scriptures saycategorically is death, to be born into another life where everything ismade new, including the form of power through which it runs, operatescontinually and exists thereafter in us, although it exists sinceever. Changing your life is not and never will be changingyour 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 lifeby becoming "believers" -it's literally changing the type of life along with everything thatcomposes it or makes it possible. Every form of life has its own powerby which it runs; it has its motivations; ithas its ideals; it has the power by which it moves on or is workedby; and all this needs to be killed so that everything can be made newindeed. It must be everything and not only most of the things.

42. "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 doso,they are considered believers and, from then on, it is not difficult foranyone to consider himself a believer byimposition, not of hands, but of circumstances. Few pastors and preachers today introduce Jesus to people. And when Ispeak of presenting Him, I speak of a reality, that is, where Jesus is really presented in person without words and withoutthe force of doctrine. Those who do not know Jesus present doctrine, church, teaching, baptisms, professions of faith and many other thingsthat cannot be considered as Jesus in person. I really believe it isjust another form of idolatry than true life. Every preacherwho 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.

43. "Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God", 1John 5:1. These days, this verse or others like it are easilymisrepresented. Let's go back in time and see what these statements mean. For Jews and for thosepeople who saw Jesus live, it was very difficult to believe that a man could be God - even more sobecause it was true. That is, in addition to being difficult for them to believe that thata man could be God, anyone who has a deceitful heart would more easily believe in something that was deceitfulor a lie, because this is the basis for any type of idolatry. Forthis 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 falsechrist is much easier for a heart dedicated and applied to deceit. That being the case and under thosecircumstances, the only way anyone could believe in Jesus as God (or as the Christthat they did not desire as resented to them), would be to be born again,experiencing His own nature in the first person. Therefore, everyone whocould believeHim only would do so only by having been born of God. "If you canbelieve...", Mar.9:23.

44. "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 - Hehimself 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 distinguishand recognize the Truth, because many speak in the name of Christ. How can we be guided by Him if, at the very least, we cannotdistinguish Him from other christs? Those who do not present Jesusin person do not present anything, not even when they put forth themost correct teachings.

45. "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 infront of crowds. Nothing wrong with that as long as that testimony is true, for Jesus himselfspoke countless times about himself. But, Jesus also stated that "I am One who bears witness ofMyself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me. It is also written in your law that thetestimony of two men is true",John 8:18,17. The Spirit's testimony alone and isolated from ourswould be true by itself because He is the truth. "And it is the Spirit who bears witness, becausethe Spirit is truth", 1John 5:6. But, our testimony when it is not corroborated, substantiated andauthenticated by God has no value, even if it already had had some valuebefore. If it once had value and now itdoesn'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 nowto us and to others, both throughwhat 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 witnessin himself",1John 5:10. If God does not bear this witness, if He is not the witnessin whomsoever and inwhatever way, there will be no valid witness in the eyes of heaven. There are people who, by force ofdoctrine, try to convince themselves that they are believers or children of God. But,the true witness existsonly when "he Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God",Rom.8:16. On the other hand, there arealso people who, out of fear, ignorance or even for not yet knowing the new wine to the point of loving itproperly and exclusively, do not value this testimony that God gives when he gives it. They don't know thatthis is to classify God as a liar. When you don't believe someone, you fear him as a liar. That's why Johnadds stating that, "he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimonythat God has given", 1John 5:10. And, also, not having this testimony to appeal to him, the person will haveGod as non-existent - even if he claims that He exists by virtue of any doctrine or belief. We do not need toassert that God does not exist to be guilty of this crime - it is enough that we do not have this testimony inus due to some separation that exists between Him and us, living as if He did not exist; and, also, not beingguided by Him. "Those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God",Rom.8:16. We cannot say thesame about those who are not guided by Him, even if they hold to the normal providences of Godas proof of witness, since God givesrain to all - good and bad - without exception. 

46. The size of the multitude or the amount of people cannot be seen as a signfor 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 multitudewith sin - even if it is only one common sin - are dead and not alive.

47. "...Without God in the world", Eph.2:12. It is a terrifying thing tolive 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".

48. "...Faithful in Christ Jesus", Eph.1:1. It is very easy tomisread the Scriptures. Seeing the placement of the words is very important for usso as not to be understanding what we wish to understand and, rather, whatit really says. It would be even better if one reads to find adetailed explanation of what is already happening in the inside. Thatsaid, we might ask why Paul says here "faithful in Christ" and not "faithful to Christ". It seems easyto 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 withJohn the Baptist, go all the way in between to end up in Pentecost. After we have cleansed our entire lives of past sins thathave never beenconfessed by name, and after having abandoned present sins in the presence of Christ, we enter into a quest to enter into a life ofPentecost that is continual life and which has no ups and downs. You have to findit and be able to remain in it. One remains in it by becoming or bybeing made as constant and as stable as eternal life itself. We donot get into it by decision making. Having arrived there, we are in Christ andChrist in us beyond all doubt. But, nothing ends there because that is precisely where it allsets off. Let me explain. Weneed to learn to like, to use, to become useful and to appreciate the new wineby understanding it to the full, it is, by becoming new wineskins. We must henceforth learn to be faithfulonly by using and enjoying the power of grace, using its means, and vehemently denying all our own resources and capabilitiesthat are not fully sanctified. When a person comes to God, it becomes more difficult to deny one's abilities and powerof the flesh than to deny oneself in a sacrificial/commercial way as in exchange. "And though I bestow all my goods tofeed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits menothing",1Cor.13:3. And it's good forus to understand that NOTHING, but nothing will get any benefit or benefitfrom it when the house is not built by God. Everything willhave been in vain.

49. "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 andpractices 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 Godmight prevent the person from transgressing against Him, unlike whatcould happen to the obstinate ones. If God acquitted a transgressorjust because he didn't know he was transgressing, he would be covering uptransgression and would be an accomplice to sinbecause God knows it is sin. If someone falls off a cliff, wouldn't he die because he was blind when he fell? Or doeshe 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.

50. "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity", 2Tim.2:19. We have no idea of how important and serious this statementof truth is.Today I saw a famous man who lives a promiscuous and disrespectful life towards God listening to gospel music in plainsight, claiming that he was a believer and proclaiming that he was fleshlytoo. Many people in the world portray themselves in such examples. It is an example of worldliness rather thanof 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 canremain in their sins. They completely nullifythe message of the Gospel and preach the surest way to hell.

51. "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.

52. It is commonly believed (and rithly so) that justification precedes sanctification and that both are by faith in Jesus. Andit is true that both are achieved by real and unfeigned faith inJesus. Now, if it is through a real experience of a personal Pentecost that we are justified (and I do notdoubt 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 itis made compatiblewith 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 askwhether the apostles were sanctified before or after Pentecost; and we see clearly that it was before and notafter. In the same way, there are believers, pastors, workers (and sometimes tireless workers) who live aimmaculate,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 revivalsin the field. On the otherhand, they should neither feel alone or estranged to the point of denying everything they've become if they realizethey've lived a poor life up to then. That would be a huge mistaketoo. Such only need to learn, like, love and become acquainted and use newwine, unlike those who only need to have their feet cleansed (John13:10). The apostles went through the same situation.They experienced Pentecost after and not before denying all. In whatevercircumstances 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.

53. "Many believed in Him there", John 10:42. It is a mistake to assume thatthis 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 hasnever been easy for the Jews (or anyone else) to believe that a man could be God. This had to be believed - or evenseen to be believed. Even for an already idolatrous people it would be difficult. But, it was even harderbelieve because itwas true. Allow me to explain. If it were a lie, it would be easier for them to believeit. "And the people kept shouting, "The voice of a god and not of a man!"Act.12:22. Adeceitful or even lying heart finds comfort only in some lie.Idolatry is a lie and a lie is idolatry. But, it was true that Jesusis God. If a deceitful heart believes the truth, however, it does soin opposition to itself. "If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself",Luke 9:23. That said, it isnecessary to emphasize the fact that true faith emerges from real and true communion with God in His Spirit. Thiscommunion/fellowship becomes possible only in a life cleansed of its past and presentsins, 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 lifeiswhat, in turn,generates true faith as the fruit of that sort of genuine fellowshipwith God. We are, also, inclined tobelieve in whom we love unconditionally. This why Paul mentions the"faith which works by love", Gal.5:6. And it is for this reason thattrue faith is fruit and not theorigin of (eternal) life. "He who believes  has eternal life", John 5:24.He who has faith has life already. It is this lifethat makes him believe without being able to deny that sort ofconvincing evidence. But, we must bear in mind that there is anotherkind ofbelieving that is not faith, but may lead to it, and does not save (from sin); and it is for this reason that Jesus alsostates in another place the inverted form of thesefacts: "So that everyone who believes in him may not perish, but, have (may have) eternal life(first)", John 3:16. It is anotherkind of believing that Jesus is talking about here. We cannot confuse thesetwo so as not to make mistakes in our approachto the Gospel. Some who believed (but had no faith) tried to stoneHim in a few occasions after they had "believed".

54. "Sheep follow him, for they know his voice", John 10:4.These days, the myth of a correct doctrine as the basis fora sound faith is widely spread. What makes a faith soundis 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 hearfrom Him about Him. Anyone can preach the right doctrine - eventhose who do not present Jesus to people. To hear theword means to hear with the heart and not with the ears. When the heart listens, it is difficult to put intoprecisewords what is happening inside and how it happens. "Come and see". The ear hears words that explain, but in the heart youhear what transforms from inside. And the heart can only betransformed when it is God who speaks to it and, also, when it isaccording to Him, when it is in agreement with Him (or is in the process of becomingso). Therefore, anyone can have or even obtain the correct teaching because helearned it from/in a Bible school or through continuous contact with the children of God in an environment where true holinesspredominates. What counts, however, is this unavoidable truth: it is life that brings/produces teaching and not teaching thatproduces true life. And it is at this point that we can understand a little better this relationship between the sheep andthe voice of the shepherd. If a different voice says or affirms the sameas the Shepherd to the sheep, we distinguishthe error by the voice or even by its lifeless voice. "Acertain 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 hesays or claims. We cannot recognize the shepherd only by his teaching, but much more by his voice and intimacy. AndHis voice is recognizedonly by being familiar to it, it is, by having a continual andfamiliar intimacy and boundless complicity with theshepherd. The heart listens to that voice which is alike theheart. A bad heart will spontaneously and gladly listen to a wrong voicebecause it speaks according to it. That's why we need to be sheep to understand and recognize the shepherd. Sheep hear and distinguishHis voice. Thecrucial part is to become sheep and not try to distinguish/discern between voices because sheep hear and distinguish by nature. It is importantthat the word be heard by the heart. And when something coming from God speaks to the heart, it rarely comes in the form of lettersor sentences, but in the form of transforming life, internaloperations and doings and in the form of an expectant hope emergingfrom real life within. Then, itis us who try toput 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 ofthese things. We have clear examples where people "believe", but not by the word addressed to the heart. "These are not the words of ademon-possessed man; can a demon perhaps open the eyes of the blind?"John 10:21. What happened here, was people trying to believethe words because they saw miracles and not because the word had reached theirinner 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 doubtand were kept in doubt because of miracles. They did not findcertainty by seeing miracles and by the words substantiated bymiracles and not by God in the heart. They wanted certainty and not lifebecause that sort of certainty is worked by the flesh. That sort ofcertainty is what keeps the flesh alive. That kind of certainty isdoubt. And certainty that comes from God as fruit from arelationship with Him annihilates the flesh. Certaintythat is not accomplished by the works and power of grace is of thewavering sort and shall remain so to keep the flesh ongoing. It is life that brings and produces true faith. "He who believes in Me haseternal life (constant, permanent life without ups and downs)". He believes because he has this life within himalready, whether inan embryonic form or in an abundant way already.

55. "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 theScriptures, it would get a different kind of answer. He would certainly answer thatthe Son of God was a descendant of David orsome extended explanation along such lines. But, Jesus simply presented himself as the man this man was lookingfor. 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 withsuch a presentation. Jesus, instead of answering thequestion, simply introduced himself. The true word is to presentJesus 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 eitherbelieve or disbelieve. It's goodto be put in such to-the-point situations where we don't have a third option.Third options, often, create doubts and not assurances.

56. "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 whenconfronted with God in a real and clear way are not very honest with themselves and are not sincere. And whoever is nothonest with himself will not be honest with anyone else. Jesus wasright 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 whoJesus was being right there in front of them. Those who claimed such things had never seen Moses - an interestingthing to note about people who believed by seeing. They never saw Moses and, yet, they claimed to know himand that it was God who spoke through him. These arethe 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.

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

58. "...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 peopleare able to stand onGod by hearing and understating the truth. The truth needs to reach someone who has truth in him to be able tobe lodgedin his heart, that is, it seeks a person who is or begins to be true,truthful, sincere with himself and transparentin every moment of his life. Truth can only be lodged in a true/truthful oneand feel at home there; reality in a realisticone; the light in anentirely transparent person; wisdom in someone who is capable of correcting himself and, also, of correctingand transforming himself by the power of grace and never in any otherpower or way.

59. "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 arepurposely placed sequentially. Staying in the Word makes someone a disciple and thenbrings himto know the truth in an experiential, personal, fluid and real way. Whoever knows the truth thisway has, as a consequence in a next step, everything to be freed from any kind of sinand temptation. But, to achieve this is hard work and bears fruit only by the good use of the power of grace - as long as weknow how to use this power with imbedded motive to be freed from ourselvesand that only. And it is possible only to those whotruly desire to be freed from their sins and pleasures. To be freed from everything that gives pleasureis indeed an unusual and undesirable for anyone who would prefer to associate the pleasures of theflesh and of this present world with the countless and endless benefits of a constant and eternal spiritual life. This would bevirtually the same as letting sin eat from the Tree of Life. But, we ourselves must put "a flaming sword thatgoes 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 theWord; there are no people who experience the flow of truth within them without first becoming truedisciples; and there is no person capable of freeing himself without first having known the truth inthis real, fluid and constant way. To know the truth in this way, we must first hear it in the firstperson through the ears of the heart. But hearing/listening to it is still far from knowingit in a real andintimate way. Knowing the truth means experiencing it in a real way, operating in us with our totalconnivance, without it being possible to deny it.

60. "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 stepshould be, or where they should go or do. And these are the same ones who claim to follow Jesus. It isa contradiction, because Jesus says that whoever follows him will neverwalk in darkness. At most, he shallstagnate under some form or indication of darkness to start walking as soon ashe finds light again. And let's always be reminded that light is thelife we experience within, as it is said, "the light of life". "Lifeis the light of men", John 1:4. Therefore, abundant life means abundant light; flashing or spasmodicabiding in life means flashingand spasmodic light.

61. "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 theopportunity to see some. But, it is stated that they didnot believe in Him. Miracles may attract attentions, discussions andcontroversies, but they do not transform the heart. To saythat a true revival is when miracles occur is to be far from the truth. Miracles canoccur and in most cases do happen in real revivals. However, truerevival has to do exclusively with the Life that lodges in a heartafter its purification. The true fruit of real revival is thegenuine transformation that takes place within every being obedientto 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.

62. The miracle of Namaan is wonderful. But those who read it are often overshadowed by the emphasis they place on themiracle. 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 seekme, but you seek me for the bread you ate, for the miracle I performed or for the blessing I gave". Byfocusing on the miracle that it is up to God to perform, we forget the obedience and reverenceto Godthat it is up to us to manifest joyfully. In this miracle, we also see that the girl in exile (in the houseof 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 hecommuned with God in a real way. Many say that wecan be with God in any corner of this world, for God is everywhere. But when they find themselves in somekind 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 bywhat He really is. It is needed that God is given the space andopportunity to manifest himself as the person he is so that he can say once more, "I amwhat I am".

63. "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 majoritywho do not know what it means to find and are content with seeking. Thisis the basis of a hollow and lifelessreligiosity, which is precisely to remain with the seeking and to find contentment in itwithout finding. We see that a crowd waslooking for Jesus, but to find bread and not the water of life (John6:24-26). Blessed are those whoseek Jesus for the water of life. Then we also have those who search, find andand keep seeking for what is alreadyat hand without imagining that this type of search is a parallel and camouflaged form of opposition to thetruth. Religiosity in the mind does that too. Those who seek thisway may be wanting to find something different from what can be found by seeking (and finding)Jesus. God said "You will seek Me a