Romans 12:9-13 - Living at Peace with God and Man - video Dailymotion

American Torah

The video continues a Romans study in chapter 12 on “Living at Peace with God and Man,” framing Paul’s letter as guidance for Jewish and Gentile believers in Rome after cultural tensions. The group reads Romans 12:9–17 and discusses Paul’s repeated use of triads and parallelisms as a teaching pattern. A tangent outlines study principles: Scripture must be read in literary and historical context, the Bible uses idioms and figurative language, humility and courage are required to change beliefs when corrected by Scripture, and feelings are unreliable compared to God’s word. Verse-by-verse discussion emphasizes genuine, non-hypocritical love; hating evil and clinging to good as defined by God; honoring others without flattery or selfish motives; diligence, fervency, hope, patience in tribulation, and constant prayer; hospitality and meeting needs discreetly; and living out Christlike love even when others do not reciprocate.  Also: cultivating an attitude of fervency in your divinely assigned mission. Know who you are in God's plan and BE it.   From Jay Carper at Common Sense Bible Study (https://CommonSenseBibleStudy.com) and American Torah (https://www.AmericanTorah.com).  This content is free, but I accept contributions via Paypal at https://jaycarper.com/paypal.  Follow me on X: https://jaycarper.com/twitter Follow me on Facebook: https://jaycarper.com/fbat Follow me on Whole Bible Community: https://jaycarper.com/ttn

Transcript

00:00:01Welcome back to Common Sense Bible Study and a journey through the Book of Romans.

00:00:06I think this is our 500th episode on the Book of Romans.

00:00:10I'm kidding.

00:00:11It's probably only about 50.

00:00:13And we're only still in the first part of Chapter 12.

00:00:18But it is worth it because we are, well, I am certainly learning a lot.

00:00:23And I hope that you are too.

00:00:26So we are still in Chapter 12 in the section that I've called Living at Peace with God and Man.

00:00:31And if you recall, this entire book is Paul is writing to try to solve a problem in the Roman

00:00:35church.

00:00:36They were all Christians, but they're Jews and Gentiles who were all trying to cooperate.

00:00:42And they had spent some time apart.

00:00:44There were some years where the Jews had been expelled from Rome.

00:00:46So the Christians were left there on their own trying to figure things out.

00:00:49And then the Jews come back and the Christians have started developing their own culture.

00:00:55The Jews are coming back with what they believe is the right way to do things.

00:00:59And now you've got this clash of two cultures in the same congregation.

00:01:03And this is what Paul is writing to help them work their differences out.

00:01:08And so where Paul has gone through most of the arguments, the pros and cons of different,

00:01:16like who are the Jews in relation to you Gentiles?

00:01:18Who are the Gentiles in relation to you Jews?

00:01:20What do we do about it?

00:01:21And now we're at, what do we do with the rest of the world?

00:01:25How do we live at peace with our enemies in our own congregation and outside?

00:01:30How do we live in a hostile world?

00:01:32So that's where we're at right now.

00:01:35Yeah, let's move on.

00:01:38So reading starting in verse nine.

00:01:42And I think I'm going to go to verse 17.

00:01:44And then we'll talk about a couple other things before we get into the verse-by-verse study.

00:01:49Let love be genuine.

00:01:51Abhor what is evil.

00:01:52Hold fast to what is good.

00:01:54Love one another with brotherly affection.

00:01:57Outdo one another in showing honor.

00:01:59Do not be slothful in zeal.

00:02:01Be fervent in spirit.

00:02:03Serve the Lord.

00:02:04Rejoice in hope.

00:02:05Be patient in tribulation.

00:02:07Be constant in prayer.

00:02:09Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

00:02:13Bless those who persecute you.

00:02:15Bless and do not curse them.

00:02:17Rejoice with those who rejoice.

00:02:19Weep with those who weep.

00:02:20Live in harmony with one another.

00:02:22Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.

00:02:25Never be wise in your own sight.

00:02:27Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.

00:02:33Now, last week I mentioned something about how Paul has this tendency to talk in triads.

00:02:39You know, when he's giving a list of things or he's giving a series of advice, he tends to group

00:02:45things in threes.

00:02:46And that's, it's really common among Hebrew literature.

00:02:50It's not unique to Paul.

00:02:51And it's fairly common in ancient cultures.

00:02:54My understanding is that this was pretty, a very common way to teach things, to pass knowledge down from elders

00:03:01to children in Celtic cultures.

00:03:02I've heard that.

00:03:04I don't have any firsthand knowledge.

00:03:05I have another slide here just showing some of the ways that Paul is arranging the thoughts in this chapter.

00:03:11He's got multiple triads.

00:03:13The first one is in verse nine.

00:03:16Look, let love be genuine.

00:03:17Abhor what is evil.

00:03:18Hold fast to what is good.

00:03:20Three related thoughts.

00:03:21And then he has a parallelism.

00:03:23Love one another with brotherly affection.

00:03:26Outdo one another in showing honor.

00:03:30So action context.

00:03:33And then in verse 11, another triad.

00:03:36Do not be slothful and zeal.

00:03:37Be fervent in spirit.

00:03:39Serve the Lord.

00:03:40Another triad in verse 12.

00:03:42Rejoice in hope.

00:03:43Be patient in tribulation.

00:03:45Be constant in prayer.

00:03:46And each of those are related.

00:03:48That's why those are two separate triads.

00:03:51The do not be slothful and zeal.

00:03:53Be fervent in spirit.

00:03:55Serve the Lord.

00:03:55Those are three related statements.

00:03:58In the same with verse 12.

00:04:00And then we have another parallelism.

00:04:02Except this time, it's a triple parallelism.

00:04:04So verse 13 is one.

00:04:0614 is another.

00:04:08And then 15 is another.

00:04:09Contribute to the needs of the saints.

00:04:11Seek to show hospitality.

00:04:13Bless those who persecute you.

00:04:15Bless and do not curse them.

00:04:16Rejoice with those who rejoice.

00:04:18Weep with those who weep.

00:04:20And then two more triads.

00:04:21Verse 16.

00:04:23And the last part of verse 16 is actually part of the triad of verse 17.

00:04:29Keep in mind that verses and chapter numbers, those are artificial and weren't added to the Bible until many centuries

00:04:36after the Bible was written.

00:04:37And so live in harmony with one another.

00:04:40And I've got a hypo I just noticed.

00:04:43That's all right.

00:04:44Y'all know what I mean.

00:04:45Do not be haughty.

00:04:46Associate with the lowly.

00:04:48So those three thoughts are related.

00:04:50And then the next triad.

00:04:51Never be wise in your own sight.

00:04:53Repay no one evil for evil.

00:04:55Consider what is honorable in the sight of all.

00:04:58And that might actually even be a chiasm with repay no one evil for evil in the center.

00:05:03Because the first part has to do with behavior in somebody's opinion.

00:05:08And the last part has to do with behavior in someone's opinion.

00:05:11Just the first one is your own opinion.

00:05:14And the last one is in other people's opinion.

00:05:17Yeah.

00:05:17So anyways, I don't think there's anything super profound to be learned from that.

00:05:20It's just an interesting observation on how Paul is expressing himself.

00:05:25And I doubt that he was even doing that consciously.

00:05:29I think it was just.

00:05:30Solomon, I think.

00:05:32I think Solomon has a tendency of doing that too.

00:05:37In the proverbs.

00:05:38Yeah, he definitely has some patterns.

00:05:40I don't remember if he used triads, but I wouldn't be surprised.

00:05:44I mean, I know he did those like groups of five.

00:05:46And sometimes groups of sevens where you would say something like,

00:05:49there are four things that God hates.

00:05:52Five that he really hates.

00:05:53And then he come on with the fifth.

00:05:56Yeah.

00:05:57Uh-huh.

00:05:59He has a few triads.

00:06:02I can't pinpoint them right now.

00:06:05But I did observe that.

00:06:08He emphasized on things from three up.

00:06:13Yeah, I would not be surprised by that at all.

00:06:16Yeah.

00:06:17Okay, so I got another little tangent here to go on.

00:06:21This is actually part of a study I'm doing for our local congregation.

00:06:25I've been taking a fairly deep dive into covenants and, you know, what they mean and, you know, all the

00:06:31implications of covenants.

00:06:33And I'm kind of laying out, like, what are my criteria?

00:06:38What are the premises I'm working on while I'm studying these things out?

00:06:42You know, before I give my presentation on covenants, this is just kind of a preface.

00:06:46And I thought it would be helpful to share here, too.

00:06:49So these are some things that I try to keep in mind whenever I'm doing any study on a controversial

00:06:55or really serious topic.

00:06:58And the first one is that the Bible is not a math textbook.

00:07:02It is not written so that you take every word in a hyper-literal sense.

00:07:09It's human communication.

00:07:10I mean, God is speaking through people, but he's speaking to other people.

00:07:14And he's doing it in language that normal people use.

00:07:18He's not writing to scientists.

00:07:19He's not writing to politicians or lawyers.

00:07:23He's writing from people to people.

00:07:28This graphic is in the – I posted it in the Common Sense Bible Study portal this morning, so you

00:07:33can get it out of there, too, if you want.

00:07:35So the Bible has idioms, sarcasm, hyperbole, metaphor.

00:07:42Every verbal tick and quirk that people have is used in the Scripture.

00:07:47And that is especially common in Paul's writings or in anything that records conversations, like the Gospels.

00:07:55There's a lot of hyperbole and metaphor in people's speech.

00:07:59Idioms.

00:08:01Does everybody know what an idiom is?

00:08:04I mean, you know, any of you who have – if English is not your native language, I'm sure you

00:08:08know what an idiom is because you had to learn it in order to learn English.

00:08:12Or if you've studied any foreign language, you've probably learned about idioms.

00:08:17So it's just something that, taken literally, makes no sense.

00:08:22Like, I work my fingers to the bone.

00:08:25I suppose there might be some slaves or something somewhere that actually work their fingers to the bone, but nobody

00:08:30really means that when they say it.

00:08:32They just mean they worked really hard and they're tired.

00:08:35So that's an idiom.

00:08:36The Bible is full of it.

00:08:39What's that?

00:08:40I'm sorry.

00:08:41Go ahead.

00:08:42Go ahead.

00:08:43I'm going to make a statement about idioms.

00:08:46Oh, yeah.

00:08:46Go ahead.

00:08:47In my country, we use a lot of idioms.

00:08:53I guess it all stem from the effects of slavery, too.

00:08:59Yeah, probably.

00:09:00Yes, we use a lot of idioms, yeah, back home.

00:09:05Yeah, and then when you try to translate those, sometimes when you try to translate it, they don't make any

00:09:11sense.

00:09:12Yeah, I say, I work like a horse today.

00:09:15You drive me like a mule.

00:09:18Yeah.

00:09:19Uh-huh.

00:09:20You have to keep that in mind when reading anything that's even remotely conversational or poetic in Scripture, that there

00:09:28are going to be a lot of these kinds of literary mechanisms or verbal tics.

00:09:36So, like reading a letter that's kind of conversational in tone, if you read a phrase that's used in that

00:09:43letter, it might be informed by what the author knew.

00:09:47Like Paul is writing.

00:09:49He knows the Torah.

00:09:50He knows all the Scriptures really well.

00:09:51So, if he uses a phrase, he might be borrowing it from somewhere in Scripture, or he might be using

00:09:57it the same way that it's used somewhere else in Scripture.

00:09:59But there's no guarantee, because he also grew up in a Jewish subculture of a Greek country.

00:10:09So, he's going to have lots of other perspectives, and he may be using a metaphor in one specific context,

00:10:16and doesn't mean for anybody to take it any further than that.

00:10:20So, you can't take the same metaphor and apply it to all of theology, because Paul just didn't mean it

00:10:26that way.

00:10:27He meant it in a very narrow context.

00:10:30And it's hard to tell when he's doing that and when he's not.

00:10:33You just have to pay attention, and this actually goes to, I guess, what I put on the end of

00:10:40that context section, that no word, phrase, verse, or passage in Scripture stands alone.

00:10:45Everything must be understood within its literary and historical context and then reconciled with the rest of the Bible.

00:10:52So, if Paul says something that seems to contradict something else in Scripture, well, it's very possible that Paul was

00:10:59using something in a very small context and didn't mean for the reader to interpret it to apply to everything

00:11:06all the time.

00:11:07I can't think of any good examples to give for that right now, but it's just kind of a rule

00:11:12to keep in mind whenever you're reading Paul and all of Scripture.

00:11:16The next rule is about humility.

00:11:19No matter how convinced I am that I'm right about some idea, some doctrine, I have to be willing to

00:11:26be wrong, because I've been wrong a lot.

00:11:28I have changed my mind about things.

00:11:30Even doing this study on covenants, I've discovered that some things I thought I knew, I was sure it was

00:11:39in the Bible.

00:11:40They're not there.

00:11:41I was totally wrong.

00:11:42I don't even know where I heard it.

00:11:43I just thought it was in the Bible.

00:11:46And there are some times that I learned things that I just had no idea.

00:11:50Like, I've read this a hundred times, and I don't ever remember reading that phrase.

00:11:56And this is really important when you're talking to other people.

00:11:59When you're talking to someone who has a different idea, a different interpretation of Scripture, you have to be willing

00:12:05to be wrong.

00:12:06Maybe that other person is right.

00:12:09It doesn't mean they are right, but it does mean that you have to at least consider it.

00:12:13Now, eventually, when somebody is wrong often enough, you know, you can kind of judge based on their history and

00:12:21their reputation how reliable somebody is.

00:12:24So, you know, use some wisdom and discernment there.

00:12:36Remember what Jeremiah said, that the heart is deceitful above all things.

00:12:40Who can trust it?

00:12:41Who can know it?

00:12:43So, the written word of Scripture always takes precedence.

00:12:46But you also have to, you know, what I said about context, it takes some wisdom and interpretation to understand

00:12:53the written word.

00:12:55And the third one, courage.

00:12:58No matter how strongly I feel about a doctrine, no matter how much I have invested in it, no matter

00:13:03how uncomfortable the contrary position makes me feel, I have to be willing to let it go if Scripture shows

00:13:09that it's wrong.

00:13:10And that's related to the humility.

00:13:11So, if there's, if you believe something, I don't know, take some doctrine that everybody believes is true.

00:13:22So, the Sabbath is the seventh day of our calendar week.

00:13:26Saturday is the Sabbath.

00:13:27I believe that's true.

00:13:29I believe it very strongly.

00:13:30And, you know, I have lots of historical and scriptural reasons for believing that.

00:13:34But there are people who disagree with me.

00:13:36So, if I'm going to study that topic, I have to be willing to accept what I find in Scripture.

00:13:42Even if it means it will totally turn my life upside down.

00:13:46Because Scripture is right, I'm not.

00:13:49So, if I study Scripture honestly and let it speak for itself, and I come across something that actually seems

00:13:56to indicate that maybe what we call the first day of the week really is the seventh day.

00:14:02I mean, I don't, I've never seen anything like that in Scripture.

00:14:05I don't think it's there.

00:14:06But if I do come across something like that while I'm doing that study, I have to be willing to

00:14:10accept it.

00:14:11Yeah, I came across one thing today or a couple of days ago where I was studying something and I

00:14:21was thinking about the, if I always thought that at some point, like God gave the power to the deceiver

00:14:33to control the world.

00:14:36And I thought that actually happened.

00:14:40Like at some point, there was this verbal agreement.

00:14:43And I'm saying this in the subconscious.

00:14:45I thought that was true.

00:14:46Where God had a conversation in the scripturally, you know, where God said to that, to the deceivers like, hey,

00:14:53I'm going to give you control of the world.

00:14:55But that actually, as far as I can see, because I just started looking into it, it never happened.

00:15:00It was just a deceiver telling Yeshua that he has control of it.

00:15:08But, and that may be so to a certain extent, but Yah himself never, as far as I know, if

00:15:18I've read, never actually gave control of the world to the deceiver.

00:15:24But in my mind, my subconscious, I thought that.

00:15:28So I guess, you know, I could get into an argument with somebody.

00:15:31It's like, no, no, he, he did give control.

00:15:34He did give that over to El Satan, you know, to Satan.

00:15:40But just looking at the last couple of days, I was like, oh, you know what?

00:15:44I don't think that's necessarily true.

00:15:46I don't think that God actually did that.

00:15:49I think it's the devil actually thinking that he, thinking that way, but it's not necessarily.

00:15:57And people going along with it.

00:15:59Right, exactly.

00:15:59So I have to, like, like you said, be humble about it and be like, oh, well, that's not necessarily

00:16:06true.

00:16:07And look at the scriptures and have the courage to admit that I'm wrong.

00:16:14Yeah.

00:16:15Good word.

00:16:17Well, okay.

00:16:18I know the Bible says that Satan was cast down upon the face of this earth and woe be unto

00:16:25the earth.

00:16:26Has Satan been cast down to the earth already or not?

00:16:32Good question.

00:16:33Probably a question for another day, though.

00:16:36Yeah, but that's the point, right?

00:16:37Like, you know, to have those conversations of like, oh, I'm like, is that true?

00:16:42Mm-hmm.

00:16:43Yeah.

00:16:44Ask.

00:16:45Maybe somebody has an opinion or some thoughts on it.

00:16:48Yep.

00:16:49All right.

00:16:49Let's go back to the beginning of our reading.

00:16:53So back to verse nine.

00:16:55Okay.

00:16:56Let love be genuine.

00:16:57Abhor what is evil.

00:16:58Hold fast to what is good.

00:17:00What do you think it means for love to be genuine?

00:17:03It must not be hypocritical.

00:17:06Some people will, it was, it's just a mouth talk.

00:17:11You know, they talk the talk, but they don't walk the walk.

00:17:14Mm-hmm.

00:17:15They tell you they love you, but that's not true.

00:17:19Well, if you love somebody, it must be genuine.

00:17:23Yeah.

00:17:23Don't, don't give any real world examples, but you have a hypothetical example.

00:17:27Let me think.

00:17:30I didn't expect that question.

00:17:32Yeah.

00:17:33I'm putting you on the spot a little bit there.

00:17:35That's a good one.

00:17:37Yeah.

00:17:38Yeah.

00:17:38I think, I think it's where, you know, we, we get, we think that we understand certain

00:17:44commandments, but we don't.

00:17:47And I think one is like, and again, it's a great question.

00:17:51So just bear with me on this one is when we're called out to love everyone and that the church

00:17:59and so on, they said, we, we got to love everyone.

00:18:02And they've come to tell us that love covers all things to include transgressions, which

00:18:13is true, but to what extent?

00:18:15And I think that, you know, when we see people living in transgression and we don't say anything

00:18:26or maybe even go further to partake on it in a very superficial kind of way, even if we

00:18:33don't agree with it, it may seem like that it's okay, but it's not right.

00:18:41When it comes to the word of God, it's not really being genuine when it comes to those

00:18:48things when in reality, and I know there's a time and place for everything, but we should

00:18:53tell somebody, look, I, I believe you think, you know, or you think you believe that what

00:19:00you're doing is love, but it's really not love.

00:19:05Yeah.

00:19:06So it's not up to the standard of the word of God is because, you know, we've watered down

00:19:12with time, the word of God because of traditions and culture, generations, time, you know, we've

00:19:22become so separated from it that we think that, you know, we actually being loving with somebody

00:19:30when we're really not, I guess I'm, I'm being very like superficial about it.

00:19:35Yeah.

00:19:35We all know what you're talking about.

00:19:36Right.

00:19:37Okay.

00:19:37Yeah.

00:19:39What about Judas?

00:19:40Yes.

00:19:41Yeah.

00:19:41The kiss in the, in the garden or, you know, his service to Yeshua before that.

00:19:48Yeah.

00:19:48And I suspect that from Judas's perspective for most of that time, he loved Yeshua and he

00:19:55wanted to do what was right.

00:19:56Maybe he was thought he was pushing Yeshua to take control, to, you know, step, step out

00:20:03and become the King who knows what was going on in his mind, but it is possible.

00:20:08He thought he was doing the right thing.

00:20:10I mean, all along, he's also stealing and, you know, he's, he clearly has some character

00:20:14flaws.

00:20:15So his love was always compromised.

00:20:19Or Jail and Cicero.

00:20:22When Cicero went into her and he asked her for water, she gave him milk instead.

00:20:29And when he fell asleep, she killed him.

00:20:32Yeah.

00:20:33Remember that?

00:20:35Yeah.

00:20:36And that she was doing the right thing in that case because she was saving the, saving

00:20:40the Israel people.

00:20:42But yeah, her love towards the Syrian general was definitely not genuine.

00:20:50There's another example of that where Joab, David's right-hand man, he's chasing, you know,

00:20:56he's going to meet Amasa and he says, Amasa, it's okay.

00:21:01You know, everything's fine.

00:21:02David's going to forgive you.

00:21:04Goes to give him a hug and actually stabs him instead.

00:21:06Yes.

00:21:08Yeah.

00:21:09I mean, that's a, that's a pretty stark example in something what, like what Carlos

00:21:15was describing is the same kind of thing, but unintentionally where people will tell

00:21:21you, you know, do what makes you happy.

00:21:24If you behaving in this way, living this lifestyle, if that makes you happy, then how could that

00:21:30possibly be wrong?

00:21:30And I want you to be happy.

00:21:32So they think they're loving this person by helping them be happy.

00:21:35But what they're really doing is making them totally miserable and ruining their lives,

00:21:41possibly for eternity, by facilitating wicked behavior.

00:21:46If they really loved them, they would be mean to them today so that their life would be actually

00:21:52better in years down the road.

00:21:56And I don't mean mean like being cruel.

00:21:58I mean, tell them the truth, even if it hurts.

00:22:01Yeah.

00:22:01We have kind of a Hallmark greeting card kind of image of love is popular today and virtue

00:22:09signaling and such.

00:22:11And that's where I find myself not loving in a genuine way when I should be saying, I don't

00:22:17think that's a good idea.

00:22:21I smile and say, yeah, go for it.

00:22:23Or if that's what you want to do, it's we people need tough love like God used towards

00:22:31Israel and people throughout scripture.

00:22:35Yeah.

00:22:36You have to be careful with that, too, though, because a lot of people just won't receive

00:22:39it.

00:22:40I mean, you can tell some people the truth and they will run the other direction.

00:22:44It will just make their lives worse.

00:22:45Some people, you just have to say shrug and say, do whatever you want, because that's

00:22:51what they're going to do anyways.

00:22:53Yeah, indeed.

00:22:56But I'm usually not thinking of them.

00:22:59I'm usually thinking of myself.

00:23:00I understand.

00:23:01I'm trying to make life easy and comfortable for myself when I do that.

00:23:06Yeah.

00:23:07No, I agree with that.

00:23:09I think that's I think for me, like lately has been a very tough topic because you have

00:23:18to kind of balance.

00:23:20I think about when Yeshua said, you know, when you go somewhere, if they don't want you

00:23:26there, just have your sandals and just kind of walk away.

00:23:28Right.

00:23:29So it's the whole obviously we don't we're not doing that right now.

00:23:34But I think about that as well when I speak to a person and I think of them as a

00:23:43city or

00:23:43something like that.

00:23:44Right.

00:23:44And I'm like, oh, is it worth me giving my pearls to this person?

00:23:50That's just going to not understand what I'm saying anyway.

00:23:54So what's the point?

00:23:56And it comes to for for, you know, those of us who are eating clean, for example, and

00:24:04I went through this situation where it's like, you know, I was asked, like, why don't you

00:24:11eat this in this manner?

00:24:14And I'm not afraid at all to express my understanding of the scriptures when it comes to this.

00:24:22But myself, it's even worth for me to waste my time right now because, you know, these

00:24:29individuals need milk and not meat.

00:24:32How do I balance all?

00:24:34And I don't have obviously I don't have a right answer for any of it, but I think it's a

00:24:38good

00:24:38struggle to have and thinking through through these things, because I think that's what

00:24:45all and his his disciples had to go through and having to figure out how to balance all

00:24:52these things in a cultural manner.

00:24:56So, yeah, that's that's definitely difficult.

00:24:59Yeah, that's a good point.

00:25:01Kind of a counterpoint to what you were saying, Ron, is that a while I don't know if it's

00:25:05a counterpoint, it kind of goes in parallel that sometimes we want to tell people the

00:25:09truth because it makes us feel better, not because it's going to help them.

00:25:14And, you know, if you can.

00:25:17Encounter somebody online who's got rainbow flags and pride flags on their in their profile

00:25:24image or whatever, and you can tell them the truth all you want, they're not ready for

00:25:30it.

00:25:31They're not going to listen to it, and it might make you feel good for proclaiming the

00:25:36truth, you know, Westboro Baptist style, but you're not actually loving anybody because

00:25:40you're not helping anybody.

00:25:42And that takes a lot of discernment to figure out which is which.

00:25:46I think it helps to know people.

00:25:49The rest of this verse, abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good.

00:25:53How do we know what we should abhor?

00:25:56What is evil?

00:25:57Anything that goes against the principles of God, because God is good.

00:26:04And the enemy is evil.

00:26:07So let go of all the principles of the enemy and hold on to God because God is good.

00:26:13Jesus is a good shepherd.

00:26:17You know, everything about the Godhead is good and everything about Satan and the beast is

00:26:26evil.

00:26:27So, yeah, everything, everything that God has made is good when it's used for its correct

00:26:33purpose.

00:26:34And sometimes the thing that we're supposed to abhor is the right thing used in the wrong

00:26:40way.

00:26:41And, you know, Paul is convinced that there's nothing that's unclean in and of itself.

00:26:46And, you know, when when everything is used for the correct purpose, that's true.

00:26:51Pigs and in, you know, shellfish, things like that.

00:26:55God made these things for a purpose.

00:26:57And when they are serving their purpose, there's nothing unclean or wrong about them.

00:27:02It's when you try to stuff them in your mouth that they could become a problem.

00:27:06It's like, well, that's not what God made them for.

00:27:08You know, I'm assuming that everybody here is is of the opinion that, you know, clean and

00:27:13unclean is still a valid topic.

00:27:16If not, that's fine.

00:27:17You're still welcome here.

00:27:18But that's kind of where I'm coming from.

00:27:20Um, and one of the, one of the ways you can tell if this is something that you should

00:27:26abhor, does God say you should abhor it?

00:27:29If God says abhor it, if he specifically says you should abhor it, then you should.

00:27:36So like Leviticus 11, 10 and 11, whatever is in the seas and in the rivers that does not

00:27:43have fins and scales among all the teeming life of the water and among all the living creatures

00:27:47that are in the water, they are detestable things to you.

00:27:50They shall be abhorrent to you.

00:27:52You may not eat of their flesh and their carcasses.

00:27:54You shall detest.

00:27:56Whatever is in the water that does not have fins and scales is abhorrent to you.

00:28:02Okay, let's abhor what's evil.

00:28:04And there's nothing evil about water life that doesn't have fins and scales, not in itself.

00:28:11What's evil is when you try to eat it, because God said not to anything that God said not

00:28:17to do is evil.

00:28:18Sorry, June, go ahead.

00:28:21Because they are scavengers.

00:28:23They are there to clean up the ocean.

00:28:27Yeah, and as long as we let them do that, they keep the world cleaner.

00:28:31And of course, there are other things that God says.

00:28:33Either he abhorres or we are too.

00:28:36And one of those is idolatry.

00:28:38Anything associated with idolatry.

00:28:40God frequently calls idols.

00:28:43He calls them detestable things.

00:28:45So he hates it.

00:28:47We ought to hate it.

00:28:48That seems like a pretty clear rule to me.

00:28:51If God says somebody should die for doing something, we should really avoid doing that.

00:28:56God takes it pretty seriously.

00:28:58We should, too.

00:28:59And I think the same is true for the second or for the third part of this verse.

00:29:03Hold fast to what is good.

00:29:04Well, what's good?

00:29:06God is.

00:29:07Yeah, God is good in the things that he said is good.

00:29:11Those are good.

00:29:12His scriptures.

00:29:13Yeah, the scriptures are good.

00:29:15Yeah.

00:29:16And I think the scriptures detail out what is good and what is evil as well as a guideline for

00:29:22us to use.

00:29:24I mean, we come into this movement sometimes, like, not movement.

00:29:29We're coming back, right?

00:29:31Back to the origin.

00:29:33And we kind of come with all our preconceived notions.

00:29:36But when we start really looking at what the scripture is saying and the veil gets lifted,

00:29:41then you're able to see through the word what specifically is good and what specifically is evil.

00:29:48And then you're able to, you know, filter it out.

00:29:51Because we come with such different backgrounds and cultural contexts and everything.

00:29:56Our history, our culture, everything.

00:30:00But then when you start reading it, the word is so clear.

00:30:05And then we're able to understand what God deems evil and what God deems as good.

00:30:10Mm-hmm.

00:30:11Yeah.

00:30:12You said it, I think, very eloquent and beautiful, to be honest with you.

00:30:19I like the way you caught yourself and said, this is not a movement.

00:30:23But we're coming back to his word.

00:30:28It's okay, I think, if you say it's a movement.

00:30:31But I think you expand it even better by saying that we're coming back to his ways.

00:30:38And that's why, more than anything else, I think that's what it is.

00:30:42So thank you for sharing that.

00:30:45That's when we are being translated from darkness into the marvelous light of Yeshua.

00:30:53The thing is, is that the Holy Spirit is our teacher.

00:30:59And once we are moved from that position of darkness and we get into the light, we are able to

00:31:10see things differently.

00:31:12Because in darkness, you can't see.

00:31:15But if you walk into a home and it's totally dark and you're going to be groping around.

00:31:22But once you switch on that light, what happens?

00:31:28You can walk.

00:31:29You wouldn't stumble or you wouldn't fall because you can see really good.

00:31:33And I think that is happening.

00:31:36It has happened to all of us who were walking according to the doctrines of the world.

00:31:46And once God is ready for you, you can, even if you have to come in kicking and screaming, you

00:31:55will come.

00:31:56He is ready for you and you will come.

00:31:59And then there's where the Holy Spirit is going to come in and teach us things that we couldn't understand

00:32:07before we start to understand.

00:32:09Because the Holy Spirit is working in us, transforming us from inside out.

00:32:15Yep.

00:32:16Yeah.

00:32:17And that transformation should bring us back to the light.

00:32:20You know, when you're, when you started, you're talking about how you're comparing or contrasting light and darkness.

00:32:26And just as you were saying that, I was looking at the first use of the word good in the

00:32:31Bible.

00:32:33God saw that the light was good and God separated the light from the darkness.

00:32:37Light is good.

00:32:39And that doesn't mean that darkness, as in the absence of the sun, is bad.

00:32:44Everything that God created was good.

00:32:46But God specifically said that the light is good.

00:32:49And I think one thing that we can learn from that is that wherever there is light shed on things,

00:32:55like when things are exposed to the light, when truth comes out, when the secrets that we want to hide

00:33:02from God, when those things are exposed, that's good.

00:33:05It might be painful today, but it's good in the long run.

00:33:09Yeah, I think darkness, since the Father created it, has its use as well.

00:33:17And I was reading the study for, you know, the Shabbat and, and I can, I'm paraphrasing, but it's pretty

00:33:23much saying like in the darkness, in your tribulation, like the Father uses even that time for you to come

00:33:30back to him.

00:33:30And that's important too, sometimes we go through times of loneliness, hardship, whether it is caused by our own self

00:33:42or external or internal, whatever it may be, but it's for our own good as well.

00:33:50And, and, and that's, that's when you know that, if you want to expand that into other, you know, gods,

00:33:58that's the great thing about our God is that he's able to use everything good or bad.

00:34:06Because if you, if you, if you, you know, if you read, you know, anything that has to do with

00:34:11Greek Roman gods or whatever other gods, there's this like clear distinction of good and evil, but instead our Elohim,

00:34:20he kind of works through it all.

00:34:22He goes, he goes, he works through time and space and, and, and, and it's able to make even the

00:34:31toughest things beautiful.

00:34:34And that's, I think that's what differentiates us in our belief in him from everyone else.

00:34:43Yeah, that's good.

00:34:44The Valley experience, the Valley experience is one of the best experience because in the Valley,

00:34:52although there will be a lot of predators, the soil in the Valley is very good because they don't get,

00:35:00it doesn't get direct sunlight and it's good.

00:35:04The soil there, you can plant and you know that your plant is going to produce good fruit.

00:35:11And that's the reason why when the shepherd takes his sheep to get to the mountaintop, he has to go

00:35:18through the Valley.

00:35:19And as David said, though, we go through the Valley of the shadow of death, he will feel no evil

00:35:24because in that Valley, a lot of predators.

00:35:29So Yahweh, Yeshua protects us from those predators.

00:35:34But in the meantime, we learn a lot from the Valley.

00:35:39We learn to appreciate a lot of things in the Valley.

00:35:42So by the time you get to the mountaintop, you're well-groomed.

00:35:47You know, you think about the Hebrews in Egypt and, you know, during the events leading up to the Exodus,

00:35:55I mean, they were, they were enslaved and abused by Pharaoh.

00:36:01Later, they've got death and disease and tragedy all around them.

00:36:06But all of these things are what God is using to rescue them and not just to rescue them, but

00:36:13to make them into the people he needs them to be to carry his story of redemption through history.

00:36:18And if they hadn't had those experiences, they would never have been the people God needed.

00:36:23So all things work together to good for those who trust in him.

00:36:28Another thing from Paul that I think is relevant here is in Philippians.

00:36:32Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable.

00:36:39If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

00:36:45And obviously, Scripture is what defines these things.

00:36:48Well, God is what defines these things, and Scripture is what he has given us, his communication on how to

00:36:53identify them.

00:36:55This leads us into verse 10, love one another with brotherly affection.

00:36:59It's really about wanting what's best for each other.

00:37:03And as a community, as a single body, if I want what's best for you, that also means I want

00:37:10what's best for me, because we all work, we're all part of the same body.

00:37:13If the heart and the lungs are working in cooperation, working in a way that's best for the other one,

00:37:19then, you know, it's reciprocal.

00:37:22Everything is working together for the good of everything.

00:37:27And you can't get much more brotherly than being fellow organs in a single body.

00:37:31Does that make us all conjoined twins?

00:37:33We just have to learn to think on each other.

00:37:38A lot of times, mankind, they tend to exalt themselves, and they want to be in the spotlight.

00:37:47So they disregard others so that the focus can be on them.

00:37:53That's not brotherly love.

00:37:55That's not thinking about others honorably.

00:37:58Because we are all members of Yeshua's body, and each one of us, we have a job to do.

00:38:03For the body to function efficiently, we have our job.

00:38:08So you don't downplay others because you want to be in the spotlight.

00:38:13That is having brotherly love.

00:38:15Yeah, and showing honor.

00:38:16Yeah.

00:38:17Yeah.

00:38:18I don't think Paul is saying that we should have a contest, always trying to outdo the other one.

00:38:23And it's like, oh, no, you're the best.

00:38:27That's kind of funny sometimes to do, but that's not really what Paul is saying here.

00:38:31I don't think he's using an idiom, but he is kind of using some hyperbole here in saying, like, you

00:38:37don't fail to show each other honor.

00:38:39And if you're always showing more honor to the next person, like all the time, trying to be better at

00:38:46it, not like you're actually having a contest.

00:38:50But if you kind of think about trying to outdo the honor that you gave to that person last time,

00:38:57like give them more honor now, you're always going to be improving.

00:39:00And, you know, he's not talking about flattery either.

00:39:04He's not telling you, telling us that we should be completely exaggerated and goofy about it.

00:39:13You know, you don't have to throw your coat down so that your brother can walk in on your coat.

00:39:18So it's really more about giving each other precedent, holding doors as a very simple example.

00:39:27You don't have to be the first one through the door.

00:39:29You don't have to take credit for everything.

00:39:32You know, if you work on something with somebody else, give the other guy more credit.

00:39:37You know, even if you did work on it more, so what the other guy worked on it to give

00:39:41him more credit and you will not only make him look good to everybody else, which you will appreciate.

00:39:47He will feel indebted to you, which.

00:39:50Don't do it so that he'll feel indebted to you, because then we go back to the beginning of verse

00:39:54nine.

00:39:55Let love be genuine.

00:39:56If you are loving people in order to get something out of it, it's not genuine anymore.

00:40:01No, you have to be sincere and wanting the best for the other person,

00:40:04even if it means losing something yourself.

00:40:07You give them honor without any expectation that you're going to get it back.

00:40:11I think he's talking also about groundless jealousy.

00:40:17We may see another person, a talent in that person, but because we figure that that person will come up

00:40:27and rival us,

00:40:28we have this jealousy within us and that jealousy will bring that person down because when you're supposed to give

00:40:37that person honor,

00:40:38when honor is due, you don't because of that deep inward jealousy that you have towards that person.

00:40:46Yeah, and it's hard to deal with that.

00:40:49If you have some resentment towards somebody, to an extent, if you are intent on doing good things without expecting

00:40:56anything return,

00:40:57and you're doing it for God, not necessarily just to make yourself feel better or whatever, it will work on

00:41:06you.

00:41:06I mean, it will start to lower that resentment, like, I'm doing good for this other person for the sake

00:41:12of the community, for the sake of God.

00:41:15It doesn't really matter if this person doesn't know that I'm doing good for them, if they're not returning it.

00:41:20That's not the point.

00:41:21I'm not doing it for that.

00:41:22I'm doing it because it's the best thing for the whole community.

00:41:26And, you know, hopefully, ideally, that would eventually wear away your own resentment.

00:41:31The thing about it is that a lot of times when we do good for others, that person does not

00:41:39do bad good for you.

00:41:41But you know what?

00:41:42You have sown a seed and that seed is in the ground and it's going to germinate.

00:41:48And I have been seeing that.

00:41:51I remember when I used to live in Navasota, it has these Seven Days Adventist people.

00:41:59Every other week, they would bring food in a community.

00:42:03And I was introduced by a friend of mine, a woman from England.

00:42:07She introduced me to go there.

00:42:10And when I come back, I used to have so much food.

00:42:14I used to give to my neighbor, you know.

00:42:17And, you know, it's like I would bring all this and I wouldn't keep it to myself.

00:42:25I would give it to other people.

00:42:27And, you know, it has someone who was not there when I used to be going to get the food.

00:42:35She comes all the way from Navasota.

00:42:38Every time they have food, drop and bring me food.

00:42:41I never asked her to bring it.

00:42:43Never asked her.

00:42:45And she would come.

00:42:47She would call me.

00:42:48Are you at home?

00:42:49I said, yes.

00:42:50Okay, I'm coming over.

00:42:51I'm bringing some food.

00:42:52I'm bringing over food for you.

00:42:54And she would come and bring all sorts of vegetables and greens and bread and everything.

00:43:01So not the same people you do things for.

00:43:05Never expect a person to do bad good for you.

00:43:08But do good because it's in your heart to do good.

00:43:12And you would be blessed because it's a seed you're sowing.

00:43:17You know, and that seed, you're going to see the fruit from that seed one day.

00:43:22Yeah, that's true.

00:43:23And if it's not in your heart right now, do good because it's in Yeshua's heart.

00:43:27And that's who we're trying to be.

00:43:29We're trying to be like him.

00:43:30All right, let's move on to verse 11.

00:43:32And it's actually verses 11 to 13 on this slide.

00:43:37So do not be slothful in zeal.

00:43:39Be fervent in spirit.

00:43:41Serve the Lord.

00:43:41We talked about this term zeal before.

00:43:44And, you know, it sounds like it's talking about being super excited, like really intense.

00:43:49But, you know, what it's really talking about here is being more diligent and intentional,

00:43:54being serious about getting the job done.

00:43:56So when Paul says, do not be slothful in zeal, he's saying, you know, God has given you a mission.

00:44:02Don't sit back and wait and, you know, put it off for another day.

00:44:06Focus on that mission.

00:44:08Get it done.

00:44:08Be intentional and systematic, determined to get it done.

00:44:14And maybe that job is just to be nice to somebody, to reach out, call somebody or send them a

00:44:21text,

00:44:21ask them how they're doing.

00:44:23Maybe it's to teach.

00:44:25You know, we've got a couple of school teachers in the room with us here.

00:44:30Maybe it's to just be the best boss you can be.

00:44:34Maybe that's the mission that God has given you to lead other people and help them become better people.

00:44:39Whatever it is, do it to the best of your ability.

00:44:43Do it as if you're doing it for him, which is all of these thoughts come up in Paul's other

00:44:48writings.

00:44:49I don't think he told any one of these cities, any one of these congregations.

00:44:55I don't think he told them anything that he didn't also tell to some other congregation at some point.

00:45:00Fervent in spirit.

00:45:01That's an interesting turn of phrase.

00:45:04What do you think that means?

00:45:06It's in the middle part of verse 11, the middle part of the triad.

00:45:11To me, that word kind of sounds familiar to me, at least in Spanish it does.

00:45:20It's almost like you're effervescent.

00:45:24I don't know if that comes to it.

00:45:25Like glowing?

00:45:26Yeah.

00:45:27It's probably related.

00:45:30Maybe.

00:45:30Yeah, I don't know.

00:45:31But it seems like, you know, be happy with it.

00:45:34And, you know, I could probably say that I struggle with that.

00:45:38Not that I'm not happy.

00:45:40But I think that, you know, life has a way to just, you know, block you down and distract you

00:45:47from all things.

00:45:49And that's why I think it's important in prayer to be grateful.

00:45:55You know, people say, like, words of affirmation and all this other stuff, which I'm denying that that's not true.

00:46:02But I'm not denying it's true because God spoke everything into existence.

00:46:08So we also speak things in faith as well.

00:46:12But I think it's like we have to be happy.

00:46:17Yeah.

00:46:18Really believe what we believe.

00:46:20And I know that life is really tough, especially nowadays in many ways, shapes, or forms.

00:46:25But I think if we understand that one day he'll come back, and it's going to be tough when he

00:46:32comes back, right?

00:46:33Because he's going to split the goats and the sheep.

00:46:37But if we understand that we have to endure to the end, like he says, and we're going to be

00:46:44in his kingdom.

00:46:45And that kingdom is full of, like, you know, peace and just a love that our bodies and our hearts

00:46:53and our minds are going to be transformed.

00:46:55We focus on that.

00:46:57We'll constantly be thinking of to be happy about those things.

00:47:02And I'm not saying I'm the best.

00:47:04I think some people are naturally just, like, bubbly for rent, bubbly about, you know, the way they are.

00:47:13And, you know, I'm just not that way.

00:47:16But I do better thinking that I should be.

00:47:22Like, if I wouldn't read the word of God, if I wouldn't read the word, like, it would be bad.

00:47:30And I'm trying to be a little bit transparent here and post a word when you're trying to – I'm

00:47:41just going to leave it right there, transparent.

00:47:43But, you know, it's – you're not always – man, it's so tough to express myself right now.

00:47:50It's – you don't want to be always showing your cards.

00:47:56It's – you're happy because with time, like, people tend to abuse maybe your – how nice you may be

00:48:08to other people.

00:48:09It will take advantage of those things.

00:48:11And with time, you know, you tend to get bitter of the way people have treated you.

00:48:18But if you know that the Father is in you and you're supposed to lead other people to him, then

00:48:27you know the fruits of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

00:48:34And those things, with time, keep working in your life, and you understand that the love that Yeshua has for

00:48:41you, you see where you were before and where he's taking you now.

00:48:46And it's this trek that hasn't been the easiest one of them all.

00:48:54But once you walk through it, you want other people to walk through it, and you get excited.

00:49:02You have this fervent spirit of wanting to them experience the same thing.

00:49:10And at least – because, you know, like, you know, we've talked about this a few times.

00:49:14It doesn't matter how much of the Scriptures we know.

00:49:17It doesn't matter that we know about Shabbat and Inclean and the Feast and, you know, what I call the

00:49:24three.

00:49:25It doesn't matter, those things.

00:49:27But if you don't – if you don't – if you're not – I wouldn't even say acting.

00:49:31If you're not living like you're happy living in him, then people are just going to be like, what's the

00:49:38point?

00:49:39What's the point of, like, following this so-called God that you follow or this so-called way that you

00:49:46follow?

00:49:47Well, if your life is not reflective of a life of not even contentment, of happiness, right?

00:49:56Like, I understand that happiness is temporary.

00:49:58But this, you know, you're not even content.

00:50:00Like, your life is in shambles.

00:50:02Now, I'm not saying that your life is going to be perfect once you come to him.

00:50:07But you – which is strife, I guess, what I'm saying, to live this life to where we're fervent in

00:50:16spirit of happiness.

00:50:19And I know that's – I went a long way out of it.

00:50:21But I was trying to make a point because it is tough, man.

00:50:24It is tough.

00:50:25This life is really, really hard right now.

00:50:27You know, we have all kinds of things coming our way.

00:50:32And it's just going to get – according to the scriptures, it's just going to get tougher.

00:50:38And, you know, how do we put a smile when there's wars, rumors of wars, sickness, destruction, all these things

00:50:50coming against not just in the world, but against us.

00:50:55And that's – to me, that's the tough part about it.

00:51:01Rejoice in hope, right?

00:51:03And we keep on.

00:51:04Be patient in tribulation and be constant in prayer.

00:51:09Verse 12 kind of leads into or segues into what I'm saying.

00:51:14It's like, well, what do we do next?

00:51:15It's – you know, and I think that that's how we keep our fervent spirit is by rejoicing and hope

00:51:20that, you know, one day we'll be transformed.

00:51:25And one day this world is going to be transformed.

00:51:27And the hard part about it to include, I'm sure, all of us here is to be patient in this

00:51:32tribulation.

00:51:33It was, oh, nobody's beheading you.

00:51:37Nobody's shooting at you.

00:51:38Let me tell you, man, you guys can relate to this in this, you know, first – I always call

00:51:43it like first world problems.

00:51:45Right.

00:51:45Yeah, man.

00:51:46It's true.

00:51:47You know, but when you have, like, people in certain countries that you can't even post something in social media

00:51:54because they go after you.

00:51:57England or North Korea.

00:51:59Right.

00:51:59That's bananas.

00:52:00I'm like, come on, man.

00:52:01Are you serious?

00:52:02Like, you're – or when somebody wants to come across the pond and extradite you, you know what I mean?

00:52:09Not a conspiracy thing, right?

00:52:11But it's just the truth of reality, you know?

00:52:13And it's like you started – you're starting to see the seeds of, like, hatred to those who are speaking,

00:52:20you know, truth in these things.

00:52:22And we have to be patient through it all.

00:52:25And we have to be constant in prayer because I think we're really weak in prayer.

00:52:30I'm going to stop right there and let Kevin or somebody else get in there.

00:52:36Okay.

00:52:37I'm going to put in my – okay, go ahead.

00:52:40Go ahead.

00:52:40No, go ahead.

00:52:41Go ahead, Jasper.

00:52:42I'm sorry.

00:52:43That's what it says on the profile.

00:52:45No, please go ahead.

00:52:46I'll hold my thought till you're done.

00:52:49Okay.

00:52:50I'm going to be short.

00:52:52You know, I'm going to piggyback on that, Carlos.

00:52:55Look what happened to Elijah after performing such a great feat on Mount Carmel.

00:53:04And, you know, he told the people, he said, if you're going to be serving God, serve God.

00:53:11You can't be holding God in one hand and then you hold the enemy in the other hand.

00:53:16Right?

00:53:18And when – I mean, he had such a display because he had them dress their animals and he dressed

00:53:27the one that he was going to present unto Yahweh.

00:53:31And he dug the pond around the trenches around the sacrifice and everything.

00:53:38And Yahweh was so pleased with his performance that Yahweh came down and the fire consumed the sacrifice.

00:53:46And when the other prophets, they had the animal, the cow, and they did the same thing that Elijah did.

00:53:57They didn't dig any trenches around it, but they had the animal and they dressed and everything.

00:54:04And they were calling upon the gods.

00:54:05And they were screaming, yelling, and calling upon the gods.

00:54:10And Elijah said, call, call a little loud.

00:54:13He's probably asleep, you know, and all that.

00:54:15But then Elijah was just mocking at them because he knew that their God didn't have the power as what

00:54:23his God had.

00:54:25And after such a great feat and everything and rain came after three and a half years, what happened when

00:54:32Elijah heard that Jezebel was after him?

00:54:36Elijah put wheels on his heels and he started to run.

00:54:39He ran.

00:54:41He ran.

00:54:42He literally ran from Jezebel.

00:54:45Why?

00:54:46So it shows us that no matter sometimes how strong we are, when certain situations face us, a weakness would

00:54:56come in.

00:54:57But I can't understand it.

00:55:00I couldn't understand when I read that about Elijah running and he ended up under the juniper tree and the

00:55:07angel had to bake him a cake and so that he had to eat to get some energy.

00:55:12But Yahweh understood.

00:55:15Yahweh understood.

00:55:16He said he was the only one that was alive.

00:55:18But Yahweh said, 7,000 prophets he had reserved that have never bowed their knees on Tamar.

00:55:26So when, you know, we get discouraged when these things happen, because we might be walking that straight road and

00:55:35then, you know, the enemy comes in like a flood.

00:55:38We have to remember the Holy Spirit is going to lift up a standard against him.

00:55:44I just wanted to say, when I read that fervent in spirit and I was looking up the synonyms for

00:55:50the word fervent, some of the words that came up were enthusiastic and passionate and consistent.

00:55:59And then I was also reminded, you know, when David, I think it is in, I don't know, 1 Samuel

00:56:0630, verse 6, when they were about to stone him.

00:56:10And it says that David encouraged himself in the Lord.

00:56:15He did not have people around him to encourage him.

00:56:20He had to encourage and strengthen himself in the Lord.

00:56:23So I think that also speaks to spiritual, being fervent in your spiritual walk, where you can't always keep waiting

00:56:31on somebody else to come and give you a word or say, hey, that says the Lord.

00:56:36But your spiritual fervor shows in how you are able to encourage yourself.

00:56:40And as Carlos was mentioning, the times ahead are dark.

00:56:45So we have to learn that we have to be spiritually disciplined to kind of be fervent in our spiritual

00:56:53walk.

00:56:54I'm just reminded of that.

00:56:57Yeah, I did look up the word fervent, look up the etymology of it.

00:57:02And it is related to effervescent.

00:57:04They both come from the same Latin root.

00:57:06It means to boil or to bubble.

00:57:09So it has kind of this dual meaning of it can either mean, you know, violent or it can mean

00:57:16really happy and bubbly.

00:57:19Either, you know, either either end of the spectrum works.

00:57:22It's just, you know, anything that is really active.

00:57:28Well, Shubha gave us some some synonyms.

00:57:31So that works well.

00:57:34We talked about the idea of different kinds of spirits.

00:57:36I don't know how many weeks ago in in this case.

00:57:40I think it's talking about a spirit as in an attitude or a way of thinking or.

00:57:46Yeah, I think attitude is probably the best word.

00:57:48And I think I've mentioned this before, but it's kind of a joke in our house where I tell Paula

00:57:53that, you know, when it's bedtime, you have to cultivate an attitude of sleepiness.

00:57:59If, you know, if you want to be able to sleep really fast, because, you know, I frequently I put

00:58:04my head down and I'm asleep within 30, 40 seconds.

00:58:08And Paula gets mad about it sometimes, but.

00:58:10God bless you.

00:58:12But the key is cultivating an attitude of sleepiness.

00:58:17Like when it's time for bed.

00:58:18You start acting sleepy.

00:58:21You don't run around and do things fast because that's going to.

00:58:25That's going to get your adrenaline going and it's going to keep you awake.

00:58:27Like you don't have serious conversations at bedtime because that's going to get your wheels turning in your brain and

00:58:33you won't be able to shut your brain off.

00:58:36So.

00:58:37You move slowly.

00:58:39You do things slowly.

00:58:40You half close your eyes, pretend like you're falling asleep.

00:58:43You walk around like a zombie.

00:58:45And before you know it, you're asleep.

00:58:47And this is kind of the opposite.

00:58:49But that comes natural to you or did you have to work through it?

00:58:52I had to think about it.

00:58:53You know, it did come naturally to me, but I had to think about what am I doing that's actually

00:58:58helping me sleep better?

00:58:59And that's what it is.

00:59:01When it gets close to bedtime, I have a certain way I change my behavior and I never really thought

00:59:05about it until I had to explain it to somebody.

00:59:08But the same thing is true about being fervent in spirit.

00:59:13It's adopting, cultivating an attitude of fervency.

00:59:18We have a mission and I've got a role to play in this mission.

00:59:22And I see dark, scary times ahead, but I've got a job to do and I'm here to serve the

00:59:29Lord and I'm going to do this job.

00:59:31And so you encourage yourself, like Shubha was saying, you cultivate this attitude of fervency about your mission.

00:59:40And, you know, whatever it is in that's, I think, over time, that's going to improve your attitude to an

00:59:46extent.

00:59:47It's not going to it's not a magic bullet.

00:59:49It's not going to make everything rainbows and sunshine.

00:59:53I think of Jeremiah when, you know, he's he nobody's taking his advice.

01:00:00He sees doom and gloom in the future.

01:00:02And God has given him this commission to call Jerusalem to repentance, even though he knows they're not going to

01:00:08repent and God is going to destroy the city.

01:00:11But he does it anyways.

01:00:12And he says, I have tried to keep silent because I know I won't do any good, but there is

01:00:16a fire in my bones and I can't shut up.

01:00:20And I have I've been there.

01:00:22I have tried to keep my peace and not tell people what I think is true.

01:00:26And I can't do it.

01:00:28I every chance I get, I seek out some place where I can.

01:00:32And start talking about God in the scriptures, in the truth again, because I just can't help it.

01:00:39I have to.

01:00:41And I think.

01:00:43If you can identify.

01:00:45Your mission in life, the thing that God has given you to do, and that might change over time, you

01:00:50might be, you know, like Moses, his mission for a while was to be a general and a leader in

01:00:55Egypt and a shepherd in the wilderness, then a leader of the people of Israel.

01:01:01So your mission may change over time, but whatever it is, if you can identify that and cultivate an attitude

01:01:08of fervency in that mission, I think even when you're, even when you know that your mission seems like a

01:01:15lost cause, there is a point.

01:01:18Jeremiah couldn't get the people of Jerusalem to repent, but he knew that from the start.

01:01:25That wasn't the mission.

01:01:26The mission was to convey God's word to the people to seal their fate and then record it for the

01:01:33rest of us to read and give us all these prophecies like Jeremiah 31 and the, the, his prophecy of

01:01:40the new covenant.

01:01:40Where would we be if Jeremiah hadn't gone ahead with his mission, even though he knew it was going to

01:01:46fail?

01:01:47Obviously his mission didn't fail.

01:01:49It was the call to repentance.

01:01:52It failed to call anybody to repentance, but that really wasn't the point.

01:01:57The point was to get the message out there because that's what God needed.

01:02:02So whatever that mission is, if you can identify it, cultivate that spirit of fervency in that mission, and you

01:02:11will be happier all around.

01:02:15I don't, I think Jeremiah was probably doomed to be unhappy no matter what he did, but he'd be happier

01:02:20being God's prophet than not.

01:02:23Yeah.

01:02:24Yeah.

01:02:24And I think that, you know, one thing that we have to like, uh, keep reminding ourselves is that, you

01:02:31know, the, the battle is something in the script, but the war itself has been won.

01:02:38Right.

01:02:39If you go back to World War II is very well now.

01:02:44So if you go back to World War II and you start thinking as, you know, the Western powers that

01:02:52you're going to an uphill battle, but you start working through the fact of, you know, let's win, especially in

01:03:01the Pacific war, when, when you were going through what they call it, um, island hopping.

01:03:06And you were just going through every single island, or every atoll, right.

01:03:11And getting kind of there, it was these small battles, like, you know, like, you know, like, you know, like,

01:03:17there was these small pieces of land where they may have not seem significant in the bigger scheme of things.

01:03:24But, you know, these small battles kind of just helped you or help the Western powers get closer to winning

01:03:33the war.

01:03:33And that's, for us, I think we should be really at peace, understanding that we're just a small cock in

01:03:42the whole machine of, like, you know, we're, this battle's already won.

01:03:47Like, there's no, if we truly believe in the scriptures, this is over with.

01:03:53Like, you shouldn't lose any sleep on, oh, what's going to happen.

01:03:57Yeah, you may lose your life, you may get, go through some, some extremely tough trials in the next few,

01:04:04whatever.

01:04:05Maybe not our generation, maybe, or maybe our generation that comes after us and the one after that.

01:04:12But we should just be in comfort and peace, knowing that it's over with.

01:04:18You know, the battle has, the war has been won.

01:04:20And we're just following through the plan.

01:04:27And we're just, it may seem like we're small cocks in the whole scheme of it.

01:04:33But, man, what, what a great thing that we are being part, we're seeing it in real life.

01:04:42Our forefathers, I think if you look back, if they could look at us, they were like, man, you're in

01:04:49the cusp of, like, seeing everything come into, into place.

01:04:55And how great that is.

01:04:58And the foundation, we set a foundation for you guys.

01:05:03And you guys are just working on top of that.

01:05:06And it's eventually coming, it's going to come into completion at some point.

01:05:10And how great is that?

01:05:13And I think if we just stick to that mindset where people may fall off, come back in, fall off,

01:05:19and that's okay.

01:05:20But as long as, as I just said this earlier, if we're persistent, right, to the end, then, man, it's

01:05:30going to be a great thing.

01:05:31And if, you know, if we truly believe that, I know we all struggle with that.

01:05:36But, man, we truly believe that, no matter the transgressions that we see around us, the transgressions that we're dealing

01:05:43with.

01:05:43Because we have to be not just refined individually ourselves, but as a body.

01:05:50And how cool is it going to be when we see Yeshua himself, whether us or the next generation to

01:06:00come and, you know, fight that final battle that we've been slowly running missions.

01:06:09Right?

01:06:09That's why I call it a mission.

01:06:10You know, you've run all these little missions throughout, whether you help your fellow man, you're feeding the poor, taking

01:06:18care of the widow, you know, even in prayer, right?

01:06:22Like prayer is really important.

01:06:24You know, when you're doing that for a brother and sister that hasn't even asked for you to pray for

01:06:29them, they're in need of prayer.

01:06:32And you're battling that spiritually with them, or you're battling yourself spiritually with those things.

01:06:39And you're, there's all these small wins.

01:06:42And how cool it'd be, because, I mean, this is the last thing I'm going to say, but whenever, especially

01:06:48the U.S., whenever they go to battle, they never think that they're going to lose.

01:06:53That's my mindset, right?

01:06:55Like, all the other countries are like, you know, they wonder, man, are we going to win this battle or

01:07:01not?

01:07:02But the U.S., as of now, at least, and, you know, the last 50, 70 years, they never thought

01:07:07that.

01:07:08They're like, they're always going to battle knowing they're going to win.

01:07:13Yeah.

01:07:13The war is a different thing, but the battle, at least.

01:07:16The battle itself, right?

01:07:17Even in Vietnam, right?

01:07:18Like, we lost, you can argue that the U.S. lost the war in Vietnam, but let me tell you,

01:07:22I know that every single one of those missions or those patrols that those guys went through, they knew that,

01:07:30yeah, it's true, man.

01:07:30We might lose some guys, but we know that at the end, we're going to win this one all the

01:07:36single time.

01:07:36They had the advantage of it, and I think that should be our mindset as well.

01:07:40It may not look like the way we may think, but we're going to win this one.

01:07:46Yeah.

01:07:46That was a long-winded thing, but, yeah, it was really good, though.

01:07:52But provency also helps us to be creative, because when we look at the battle with Israel and the Amalekites,

01:08:02and Moses had the staff in his hand, and he grew weary.

01:08:09Once his staff, once his hand dropped, they were losing the battle.

01:08:14But then we had her and his Aaron, who they decided, well, listen, we're going to have some stones and

01:08:23put it to support his hand, because they had to keep their hand up.

01:08:30So they were able to win the battle, because his hand was up all the time.

01:08:36So provency helps us to be creative, because we got to think, you know, we got to get to where

01:08:42we want to go.

01:08:43And ideas will come, right?

01:08:47And you use those ideas that will cause you to be successful.

01:08:52Because even with Pincas, when 25,000 or 24,000 people died, he said, no, I'm not going to sit

01:09:03by.

01:09:03I don't know any more of my people to die.

01:09:06So what did he do?

01:09:07He was forfeit.

01:09:10He went, he said, well, listen, man, you cannot be displaying this kind of attitude in front of my father.

01:09:18I'm going to kill you.

01:09:20Yeah.

01:09:21So it's a crucial situation to be forfeit.

01:09:26It could push you to the edge.

01:09:29Right?

01:09:30Because you want to show God that you love him, and what he hates, you hate also.

01:09:40And you will do whatever that is within your power to get rid of whatever it is that is causing

01:09:46problems in the life of your people, your family, or whatever.

01:09:51You are going to stand up against the enemy and let him know that God is on your side, and

01:09:57he's going to be defeated.

01:09:59Yeah, and frequently, we are the stones.

01:10:02I mean, we may, just holding up your brother's arms, you know, you're talking about Aaron and her holding up

01:10:08Moses' arms, and, you know, they had to get those stones.

01:10:11But sometimes those stones are just the other people around you, and it takes a whole community to hold all

01:10:17that up.

01:10:19And it's also not just in, you know, I don't want to give the impression that it's only in the

01:10:25big mission, you know, your life's mission that God has given you that you need to be fervent and intent

01:10:30in doing good.

01:10:32Because it's also in everything, everything you do as a mother, a father, a friend, a co-worker, somebody driving

01:10:42down the street.

01:10:43Be real and intent in your life.

01:10:46And going back to Matthew 25, Yeshua is talking about the final judgment, and all the nations have come before

01:10:53God.

01:10:54God, he's using the metaphor of a king, but he says,

01:11:05And, you know, they ask, you know, when did all this happen?

01:11:20And he says, truly, I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers

01:11:25of mine, the least of them, you did it to me.

01:11:28And so even if it's, you know, bringing groceries to somebody or accepting those groceries, whatever it is, do it

01:11:37as if this is something you are doing for the king.

01:11:42Because in a way you are, because all of us are the body of Christ.

01:11:46So when you are doing something for the guy next to you, or the lady down the street, you're doing

01:11:53it for him.

01:11:55Yes.

01:11:56A lot of things don't seem important to you, but to somebody else, it could be everything.

01:12:03Amen, Jack.

01:12:04Okay.

01:12:05Part of this we've already talked about, you know, be patient in tribulation.

01:12:10We've talked about that, you know, Carlos was talking about how there are hard times coming, and we have to

01:12:17trust that God knows the plan.

01:12:19I'm sure there's more we could talk about there, but we could probably spend an hour on every verse if

01:12:22we really wanted to.

01:12:24Rejoice in hope.

01:12:26What hope is he talking about?

01:12:28The hope that Paul talks about most consistently in his letters is the hope of resurrection.

01:12:34And this is the victory, the ultimate victory, that we know we already have.

01:12:39It is guaranteed.

01:12:40So whatever is coming, whatever happens, you can rejoice that at the end, you will be resurrected into eternal life

01:12:48with the Father.

01:12:49And that's the end goal.

01:12:51It doesn't, he's the mastermind, he's laid out the battle plan.

01:12:55And we are, like Carlos says, we are just cogs in the machine, but it's a machine that was built

01:13:01by the greatest mastermind who has ever been.

01:13:06And he has laid out a plan, and the individual cogs don't see it all, but it's all going to

01:13:11the same end of resurrection and then the splitting of those sheep and goats.

01:13:17The goats go in one way and the sheep go in the other way, and you better make sure you're

01:13:20one of the sheep.

01:13:21Be constant in prayer.

01:13:23Anybody have any thoughts about that one?

01:13:26Just what it says, we got something prayerful.

01:13:29It's saying prayerful at all times, you know.

01:13:32And you don't pray for yourself, you pray for others.

01:13:38When a person is placed on your mind, it's for you to pray for that person, because you don't even

01:13:44know what that person may be going through.

01:13:48You've got to be steadfast in everything that you do.

01:13:52Prayer changes things.

01:13:54Yeah.

01:13:55I think it's similar to being fervent in spirit, where this is cultivating an attitude of prayerfulness.

01:14:03And it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to be speaking a prayer all the time, but it does mean,

01:14:08like you're saying, that you have to be aware that there's stuff going on in other people's lives.

01:14:12You don't know what it is.

01:14:13So there's these things happening all around you, but God is there all around you, too, at every moment.

01:14:19And whatever is going wrong, the guy who just cut you off in traffic, or the bad news you just

01:14:24got, or the great news you just got, or the bad news you heard somebody else get.

01:14:29But God is present in all of these things, and he knows what's happening, and he is there listening to

01:14:35you.

01:14:36And you don't have to be speaking out loud to be praying.

01:14:39You can be, have this ongoing conversation with God in your head.

01:14:45Feel free to speak it out when it's appropriate.

01:14:47I mean, I wouldn't walk around just talking to God all the time, because people really are going to think

01:14:51you're nuts.

01:14:52But it's really more of an attitude of constant prayerfulness than actually verbal prayer.

01:14:58In agreement with you.

01:15:00Absolutely.

01:15:01All right.

01:15:02In verse 13, we also talked about this one some, and how we're all part of the same body.

01:15:07And it's the same idea as outdo one another in giving honor.

01:15:11You're always looking for what the other person needs.

01:15:14Doesn't mean that you need to sacrifice all of your own needs.

01:15:17You have to take care of yourself in order to take care of other people.

01:15:21But it does mean that you need to be aware of what other people need, which means you need to

01:15:25know the other people.

01:15:27And you can't do that if you're not part of a community.

01:15:31And I recommend that you don't go out and find the community that is the closest to your personal preferences.

01:15:39We all do that to an extent.

01:15:40I mean, it doesn't make any sense for me to go out and join a Catholic church, because that's so

01:15:45far out from my theology.

01:15:46It just wouldn't make any sense.

01:15:47But I'm also not going to necessarily go out and search the countryside of Texas for the one congregation that

01:15:58believes everything like I believe, has the same culture, speaks the same language.

01:16:03That's not good for people.

01:16:05You need people around you who have some different perspectives.

01:16:08You need conflict.

01:16:10You need differences so that you can learn to care for other people.

01:16:16If everybody's exactly alike, then there's no effort in, I mean, we all have the same weaknesses.

01:16:22We all have the same strengths.

01:16:23How can we really support each other?

01:16:26So it's good to have people with different strengths, different perspectives, and trying to get along.

01:16:31We learn to love each other that way through working out those differences.

01:16:36I'm kind of speaking from personal circumstances, and that's not something that jumps out immediately from that verse, but it

01:16:45is something on my mind at the moment.

01:16:46So it seemed relevant.

01:16:49I absolutely agree the same.

01:16:52I think that there's this threshold and boundaries of, and that comes through, like, individually, I think you have to

01:17:03pray about those things and just through those things, you know, through the Father.

01:17:08I think we're, it's possible that we, on our own, try to make that call instead of maybe going through

01:17:19a fast and prayer and saying, is this where you want me to be?

01:17:27It's, man, it's easy to, like, take a certain route that's comfortable.

01:17:33And I'm not saying we should, you said this too, it's not like we should, like, go through the toughest

01:17:41thing unless the Father tells you to do that.

01:17:44And I think that's where we have to be in prayer and discernment.

01:17:50It's like, okay, Father, what do you want me to do?

01:17:54What, what, you know, I think that one, the thing that you don't want to do, that's when, but.

01:18:02You feel like you're being pushed that way.

01:18:05Again, like you said, the heart, the heart is the seedful amongst all things.

01:18:09Like, that's one of my favorite verses.

01:18:10But, you know, I think you need a question.

01:18:13It's good for us to question ourselves, you know.

01:18:17Is this where the Father wants me to be or not?

01:18:22Now, there's ego involved in it as well.

01:18:25Where it's like, am I doing this for my own ego or for my own, you know, scratch my own

01:18:30ego, for my own ways?

01:18:32Or is this something that the Father really wants me to do?

01:18:37And you just got to work through that.

01:18:39And there's no easy answer for it.

01:18:42And it's tough.

01:18:44But it's good to do.

01:18:46It's good to have a little bit of, like, a healthy tug of war, I guess I would say, maybe,

01:18:53you know, when it comes to being in a community, a fellowship, relationship, or whatever.

01:19:01And who knows what the Father's trying to do, you know?

01:19:04But maybe through it all, even if it didn't, like I mentioned before, even if it didn't work out the

01:19:11way I thought it was going to work out.

01:19:13But everything works out for his honoring glory.

01:19:19I think that's all we have to kind of focus on and worry about more than anything else.

01:19:24And we'll let him worry about those things.

01:19:28But you yourself as an individual, and again, I'm saying this in a humble way, trying to, myself, thinking about

01:19:37those things.

01:19:38Man, I got to be careful why I do the things that I do.

01:19:44Why am I helping my fellow man?

01:19:48Why, you know, and Yeshua calls on this, too, when he's talking about the Pharisees, it's like, oh, you know,

01:19:52these dudes are out there in the middle of the street praying, you know, so everybody can see them.

01:19:57You know, they got their, they got it already.

01:20:00They got their gift.

01:20:04So, it's a good way of us to look at ourselves as well.

01:20:08Because he said, hey, if you exceed what the Pharisees have done, then, you know, you're doing well.

01:20:16And I don't think it's too hard.

01:20:17That's what I mean.

01:20:18Like, it's not too hard.

01:20:19When I think about that, I'm not saying I'm right.

01:20:20But, like, man, it's not too hard to be better than the Pharisees.

01:20:24Like, it's not that hard.

01:20:25And he said, who are you talking about to be better than the Pharisees?

01:20:27I'm like, man, it's not too difficult in comparison to what they were.

01:20:32But I need to be careful that I don't become one.

01:20:35And that you also don't become the guy standing on the corner and saying, thank God, I'm not like those

01:20:40Pharisees.

01:20:42Exactly right.

01:20:43Exactly right.

01:20:45Yeah.

01:20:46All right.

01:20:46Anyone else have any thoughts about contributing to the needs of the saints and seeking to show hospitality?

01:20:53I think the scripture says that we must watch who we entertain because for adventure, it's an angel.

01:21:02You know, sometimes we tend to look at others with scorn, especially if they do not meet up to our

01:21:11expectation.

01:21:12And we, you know, what they do.

01:21:15We don't play what they do.

01:21:17We sit and we gossip about them and all that.

01:21:21And that's not right, because you may not even know what that person may be going through.

01:21:28And that's what even being prayerful comes in, because if it's in your thoughts, you can speak out to God

01:21:36and ask him, give me a revelation.

01:21:39Show me what to do.

01:21:50Show me what to do.

01:21:54Right.

01:21:54And, you know, when that's in your heart.

01:21:56You may have so much in your home and that person don't have any.

01:22:02And you can go into your refrigerator or in your pantry and give that person something that he or she

01:22:09can go home and prepare for their children.

01:22:16So we must learn to be hospitable to others because we don't know who God is putting in our pathway

01:22:24to help.

01:22:26Yep, that is true.

01:22:27And I think it's not just being willing to be hospitable and to help people.

01:22:32But I think we have to actively seek out those opportunities that, you know, which, again, means that you have

01:22:39to know the people in your community.

01:22:41You have to be involved in their life, not like being a busy body or looking for opportunities to be

01:22:47judgmental, but just knowing what's going on and being available, having enough of a relationship so that somebody can come

01:22:53to you for help if they need to, or that you can offer help if you see that it's needed.

01:22:57You know, whether it's material advice, you know, you can help somebody discreetly, you don't have to make a show

01:23:05of it.

01:23:05But do it in a way that helps them maintain their dignity so that they're not shamed or embarrassed by

01:23:12it.

01:23:13And, you know, when you need help, they'll be there for you too.

01:23:17Kevin, go ahead.

01:23:17Yeah, I just want to say that being born again is a huge component to everything because we were born

01:23:29in the flesh and we were born sinful.

01:23:34And so when we come to Christ, we are born again.

01:23:41And so there's a lot of relearning everything.

01:23:46We don't, we thought we knew what we knew, but then we are just taking the skills back and ripping

01:23:54it apart, saying, no, this is not how God has called me to.

01:24:02For me, I used to be a very, very angry person and used to listen to very angry music.

01:24:10And the more I listened to the music, the more angry I would get.

01:24:15But then I didn't want to listen to the angry music anymore.

01:24:19And I wanted to learn how to be born again.

01:24:24Like, what does God require of us now that we are to follow him?

01:24:31Because there's a lot of things we don't know.

01:24:33And then when we read the Bible, when we read the scriptures, you're like, wow, this, I haven't, this is

01:24:42crazy.

01:24:42Because in the secular world, they, it's, if you do something wrong to someone, it's okay to do something wrong

01:24:51back.

01:24:52And then even the movies that they have, you know, it's, it's, I, I love watching those revenge movies.

01:24:59You know, it's about revenge.

01:25:01You did this and I'm going to get you back for it.

01:25:04But, but that's not what Christ has called us to.

01:25:09And the vengeance is his, it's not ours.

01:25:12So knowing that God will seek vengeance on those people, on the people that he chooses to seek vengeance out

01:25:23after, but that's his job.

01:25:24And our job is to follow us or to follow Christ.

01:25:30And, you know, the, my point being said is when we do this, what Paul is talking about, we are

01:25:38doing this, there should be a willfulness to, to doing this.

01:25:46Not just like I'm doing a good work and yeah, I did my good work.

01:25:51So that's, that's okay.

01:25:53And I did one thing, I helped them out with one thing, but man, they need help with another thing.

01:26:00And I said, I can't help them out anymore like that.

01:26:03I don't think God wants us to be like that.

01:26:05I think, and now I'm not talking about people taking advantage.

01:26:09I mean, we do, we do have to be careful, right?

01:26:13But like, if, if we're brothers in Christ, we should be out doing each other and, and, and wanting to

01:26:23help each other out as much as we can.

01:26:24Whenever you need help, man, you can call me.

01:26:26I'll be there for you.

01:26:28And unfortunately the church is not being run like that.

01:26:33That's not happening.

01:26:35Yeah.

01:26:36Blood is more thicker than water.

01:26:38And that's, that's the truth.

01:26:42It's like, but we are, we, you know, God calls us a family.

01:26:46So if God is calling us a family, I would consider that blood more so than my immediate family.

01:26:56But again, our culture, the way things are right now, truth is being depressed.

01:27:06It's being, or suppressed.

01:27:07It's being, it's what, what is that?

01:27:11What's true for you is true for you.

01:27:13There's no truth.

01:27:14What's that called again?

01:27:18Yeah, I know what you're talking about.

01:27:20Yeah.

01:27:20Can't remember the word.

01:27:22Okay.

01:27:22But that's, and it sucks because now I got to be careful that just because that's not happening, I don't

01:27:32want to fall into that trap of, well, then I can't, I can't help out because no one helps me

01:27:38out.

01:27:38So I think doing that's going to really help really, you know, we just gotta, we follow Christ.

01:27:47That's what we're doing it for.

01:27:48This person doesn't deserve my love, doesn't deserve anything, but you know what?

01:27:57Christ has called us to, like, even our spouses, man, it's our relationships with people.

01:28:06There's times where you don't feel like loving that person, but you're still called to love them.

01:28:13And I think when someone is really filled with the spirit and they're reading the scriptures, I think the more

01:28:22that you read the scriptures, when you have the spirit inside of you, you are stronger because the spirit is

01:28:31teaching you the truth that you need to know to put into your heart.

01:28:35You put into your heart and now you want to do those things because yes, someone could read the scriptures

01:28:42and gain knowledge.

01:28:44There are people like that, but I think if you had the spirit of God, that's not what you would

01:28:50do because everything in scripture, it says all scripture is God breathed.

01:28:57It's for reproof, correction, and a lot of other things.

01:29:01So, so I just want to say that because it's, we don't treat people because they treat us good.

01:29:11Like we don't treat people good because they treat us good.

01:29:16We treat people the way Christ has treated, Christ calls us to treat people, not because they deserve it.

01:29:24Yeah.

01:29:25Yep.

01:29:26Well said.

01:29:27Well said.

Romans 12:9-13 - Living at Peace with God and Man

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