Last Updated on March 25, 2026 by LookingUntoJesus

1 Samuel 12:22 ASV “Jehovah will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake,” John 17:26 ASV “love wherewith thou lovedst me may be in them, and I in them,” John 15:10 ASV “ye shall abide in my love” “abide in his love,” Exodus 34:6 ASV “abundant in lovingkindness and truth,” John 15:16 ASV “I chose you, and appointed you,” Acts 13:22 ASV “a man after my heart, who shall do all my will” – [hi everyone, love, love, love, kept coming up, the scope parameters: reflection + sanctification context, applies today, places where I see demonic strongholds -> removing the blinders -> minimizing those trouble spots with scriptures, also applying the Power of God’s Word into our ministries for further fruitfulness]. LET’S GO!!!!!!!!!!!! So all verses in ASV 1) Col. 2:8, Matt. 23:12, Lev. 26:13 – I am hoping that by His Spirit; this will be the season that can make significant headway in ending this unspiritual low torque setting of love. We don’t realize how much God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit has to remove the world system out of us, and when that does happen, a spiritual reality check occurs. The way this world system acculturates us into self-exaltation + self-love, that makes us turn away many ministerial opportunities that otherwise could’ve occurred. 2) Gal. 5:1, 2 Kings 17:13, Isaiah 40:31, James 2:17, 1 Samuel 16:7 – it is a very common occurrence, for ministries; the realization is there, as to how much was self-exertion, so the Lord does take us back, and teaches us to find the reality of His strength + His approach. God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit sees what isn’t working, where we put faith in our “self,” instead. 3) John 12:24, 2 Thess. 3:5, John 3:30, 1 Peter 5:8, 2 Cor. 5:9, Phil. 2:14 – The Adversary and His Hosts has distorted our aim, influencing us in running agendas through, a lot of subtle worldly ways of processing deliverables has coursed into the church system. There are old nature matters revealed, such as independence + more, that we must ask the Holy Spirit to decrease, so that the Life of Christ can further emerge abundantly, into fruitfulness; in addition, we will be able to be more receptive to His leadership and the things of the Spirit. Perhaps in life, acting in ways that ignored His counsel occurred but that has to stop, in its tracks, in 2026. No more. He doesn’t answer, you wait, till He does. The Divine also has His timing, as you wait, for His inclination (Psalm 40:1). I need to bring that to surface, the spiritual division that is there, that does test the patience of Christ. Satan does make us second guess and question, the inclusion of Christ versus our deep-seated intuitions. So we have to remember + be Christlike alert + vigilant, that Satan DOES play a hand, even in church activities, demonically ensuring that we aren’t in step with Jesus. 4) 2 John 1:6, 1 John 2:6, 2:27, 2 Peter 1:4, 1 Peter 5:6, 2 Thess. 2:15 – the Adversary and His Hosts enjoys misdirecting and obstructing the conformity of people to Christlikeness (2 John 1:8), and trying to disable the measure of Divine love, from maturing in us. As an illustrative example only, the evil influential effects of this can be seen in corruptible ways such as hate, gossip, quenching the Spirit, stuff like that. 5) In 2 Samuel 7:22 + 1 Kings 19:12 – it is worth examining the plot points of God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit in matters that we go about and upon the discoveries of His leadings, just the utter profound awe of how great He really is. We need more of those. In 2 Peter 1:8,10 – there is the idea of ineffectiveness, and how that can influence ministry. I’ll start with John 6:63,68 + 2 Samuel 7:18, during my quiet time with Christ, I believe that we can have an experience similar to the words “that thou hast brought me thus far?” For our present time, if we follow-through on Spirit-led words, we can go far, astonishingly far, in spiritual geography and progress. In 1 Samuel 15:22, Col. 3:1-2, John 13:34, 15:12,17, 1 John 4:7,8,16, 1 Peter 4:1, let’s find the value of this love of His, let’s ask for the outworking of His love in us, let’s behold what abilities that will unlock to serve others, let’s observe how that makes us treasure His people, deep within our hearts. I’ll end with 1 Kings 18:21a -> Heb. 10:24. 6) In Jer. 31:33, there is a reality that the Divine can change the inward, as a very basic illustrative example. That is something, which requires more usage, in our requests to Him, in this topical discipline of ministry (John 3:30). There is so much of His discretionary power available, designed for us, to be furthered applied (Eph. 3:16). God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit has the ability to take away, we can ask for understanding on areas, where we can increasingly avoid evil, so that His wisdom can be further empowered in our ministries (Job 28:28, 32:8, 2 Tim. 2:21); we can sound out significantly better, His instructions (John 6:68, Amos 3:7, Jer. 33:3). We need God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit to be in the matter (Matt. 26:41, Exodus 3:12), the Divine endorsement comes with shocking enabling powers (Eph. 1:18, 2 John 1:9). I’ll end here with 1 Cor. 2:10, John 15:9, Phil. 2:5 7) I’ll start off by saying that His Words, come with appointed wonderful times, for His people. With the responsibility of love; this is a spiritual attribute that we can ask the Lord to make us completely faithful in (1 Kings 8:61), outworking Christlike love in us has limitless unknown powers of Holiness; many authors in the Bible, went in great lengths to a similar emphasis. Let’s ask for obedience here because minding the things of the Spirit (Gen. 26:5, Romans 8:5), helps us follow Him more fully (Numbers 14:24). I’ll end with Jude 1:21, 2 Thess. 3:5, 3 John 1:8, John 8:31. 8) Using 1 Cor. 16:14 to make this point: if you can reduce Paul’s success into a few components, Spirit-led Christlike love would probably be one, that is something we can learn from above. Christlike love in ministry is an opportunity for improvement. By His Spirit, we need to fight hard to remind people to ask the Lord about this essential need in our ministries because that can address many difficulties that people come across, reduce burdens, and more 9) In Romans 6:13, love, I believe can be further perfected and a continual spiritually healthy ask, from the Lord (Matt. 5:48, Luke 8:15, Eph. 3:20, 1 Kings 8:61); by His Spirit, there is more harvest there (Luke 10:2 – “pray”). By His Spirit, that can further turn us from being faithful in little to much (Mark 12:31). In Gal. 2:20, the self-ruling life is unloving toward others for ministries, we need Himself expressed further. If you read 2 Thess. 1:3, imagine people thanking God because Jesus changed us to be more Christlike loving in our ministries, wouldn’t that be awesome? Let’s see how many borders His love can miraculously cross, and the lives changed, generationally (Joshua 3:5, 1 Chr. 28:9, Num. 11:23). Let the living waters of Christ, reach generational seasons (Lev. 26:3-4, 2 Cor. 5:20, 2 Peter 1:4). Let Christlike love sustain His assigned ministries for us, and breathe Life to so many more (Romans 10:17)! I am going to end with two quotes from one verse: “the Lord make you to increase” <—> “abound in love one toward another” -1 Thess. 3:12.

2 Kings 5:1-14 – [scope: verses for your own reflections below, what I learned from this story with aspects applicable to us today, in a reflection context that is related and/or completely unrelated to the verse(s)] 1) Romans 8:5,13,28-29, Phil. 3:10, Matt. 16:24, Acts 20:32 – in our lives, God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit can enable insufficiencies to arise, as bread of life crumbs toward conforming us into Christlikeness. If we are mindful of the things of the Spirit, we’ll notice that this unique leading has an interesting holier reshaping that among many “things,” helps us cooperatively with Him, deny ungodliness in our self-life; and makes following Him, significantly easier, than the way we struggled before. i) within this one person, there is a seemingly hyperrealistic dichotomy between a fulfilling life and an unfulfilling life ii) a familiar desire for something, yet unaddressed, while the need for some others things are answered iii) the descriptor for this verse, touches the heart of our lives, very deeply, expressed in unrestored situations, circumstances unresolved, doing something differently, etc iv) if we picture our lives, as two assembly lines, one is proceeding in the world, another represents proceeding with the Lord; our lives in the way of the world, can accumulate significant momentum, even unnoticed. As we have seen, God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit interacts with us, to touch upon, our blurry and seen + unseen aspects about ourselves v) there are a lot of critical things of the Spirit that are important at an early age, such as reading the Bible, praying, fellowship, practicing the Word, and more; from Him, these are important Spirit-led starting advancements vi) this leprosy was on his mind and became a focus + pursuit vii) the visible economics of time: serving the world vs. God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit, comes to mind viii) we might not know how “a” problem, can be connected to something eternal; in this case, this story made it into the Bible 2) Psalm 19:14 – it’s healthy, to not jump to conclusions, when we are in situations, to discern, seek the Lord’s will on the matter, and see, whether this is actually an opportunity for God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit to work in our lives. i) you have to spend time with the Lord and see how you do in fact, play an eternal role, a part, a function, in the Body of Christ (Eph. 1:17-18, 4:12-13). From Him, we are all part of a spiritual life web, that spans across generations, our Christlike actions impact that, by His Spirit ii) we do often try and make sense of certain things but we need to keep in mind, that there can be a bigger picture, to our circumstances 3) 2 Cor. 5:15, Matt. 5:8 – by His Spirit, considering others with the knowledge and unwavering belief that God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit can address any situation is a spiritual mindset i) let God’s Word apply in your life, and see the spiritual cogs moving. For example: continually praying + repenting about the way we think + act, with God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit; does have tangible aspects 4) Romans 8:6, Gal. 5:17,25, Heb. 12:11, James, 1:2-4 – ‘if this is from God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit, well, let’s see what this situation can yield?’ i) be open to adventures, if discerned and determined from God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit ii) our actions can at times, broadcast our deep thoughts 5) Eph. 4:15,22-24, John 3:30, 2 Cor. 4:16, 2 Peter 3:18, Romans 6:13 – mentally -> the word “approach,” there is too much space yielded to a world’s way of doing things. ‘Why won’t we pray + wait for God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit to make a decision, while we remain yielded + vigilant to fulfill His desire(s), that way, there is His guiding strength.’  i) we do very often fill in the blanks, regarding our approach to a response toward a situation. In that verse, you can see movements and hear noises but ultimately, what was the verdict, from doing that? 6) Psalm 119:11 – how much of our application of the Word, is a tell, in our actions i) in this verse, we can see an authority figure, making a pressuring demand, “like” he had the final decision, on someone’s fate. 7) 2 Peter 1:5-7, Psalm 119:37, Isaiah 26:3 – it is very good to realize, that God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit has a role, instead of us, assuming that role, entirely. i) this is a verse for administrations to spend time with the Lord upon. There is a seriousness here, when it comes to a revealing depth about the reality of how decisions made (example: by our might + strength or by His Spirit), can result in eternal lives lost or gained, sanctified or unsanctified, etc. ii) if we cooperate with Spirit-led matters -> flows better, threats are better addressed, significant ~limitations are removed, etc 8) Matt. 11:29 – you have to understand the appointed components of your situation that God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit has given you, don’t just have the mindset that, everything is wrong, and that’s it. i) it is important to look at times, where God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit intervened in your life ii) if you look at this verse, it is way too “coincidental.” In our relationship with God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit, there are so many appointed scenes, that we need to be settled upon, that the Lord does bring about situations in our lives, that is a spiritual reality, that exists, connections are there (1 Peter 4:12) 9) Psalm 73:25-26, 119:9 – it’s good to explore with Christlike discernment about a situation i) I noticed that we are increasingly crossing the border, from reading God’s Word, to applying that + living it out, by His Spirit. There is a livingness, a power there, and more 10) Eph. 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:3-4, Titus 2:12, Heb. 4:12, 6:1, Phil. 3:12, Psalm 32:8, 119:130 – discovering Spirit-led instructions, from His people, can very often times, be overlooked i) it’s worth repeating that the way God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit does things, can be entirely unthinkable, to how we thought, a situation would unfold, we are often illuminated with that disconnect ii) let’s say that we are each an Elisha; this character, shows me Spirit-led precision on application because of the outcome. This is a very important lesson, for all administrations. iii) generally speaking, when God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit shows us something that can render change about us; for example, from the situation of xyz, we all can work on this -> 2 Tim. 4:2, myself included. It is beneficial, to jot down verses, whenever you can, and speak with the Lord about it. I have come across many Christlike training situations, where I learned a lot of verses, personally identifiable, which I can speak to you about. If you do that, by His Spirit, you can speak to others and help them, also. iv) I will say, that what is communicated in the Bible is there, there are spiritual meanings and a larger eternal picture, that we must taken into account. For example: I watched a clip, where in a certain part of the world, releasing an item into the air, signals something to people. The point that I want to make is, the Bible has a lot of early warning signals, Zech. 4:6b, is a good example. We need to take those seriously. In verse 10, as you can see, the results are there, later on. v) for Naaman, a reality was there, it challenged the way he thought, and so goes the things of the Spirit with us, in our lives vi) God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit does make the experience memorable for us, an eternal inward inscription 11) Eph. 4:13, Romans 8:4, Heb. 5:14, John 6:63, Proverbs 4:23 i) the things of the Spirit are often situationally adverse to our self-life, when it comes to drastic measures but there is a more deeper Christlike transformation, that changes the compass of our lives, and many preconceived “ideas” of Christianity ii) we do often expect God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit to come about another way (Romans 11:33b) iii) you can see Naaman is very acculturated with an interpretation that needs refining, we are all learning in the Christlike interpretations upon situations iv) by His Spirit, we need to use our spiritual muscles, what the Spirit has taught us, rather than our own selfhood mindset v) how a person reacts, shows you whether their impulse will be spiritual or natural vi) for our time period; this situation reflects a loss of spiritual literacy and a lack of inclination to seek God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit + the Bible for direction, that we all need to work on, myself included. It also shows, how much the Adversary and His Hosts, in our present age has impoverished the increase of where we ought to be, in the Christlike maturation process 12) Gal. 2:20 KJV “Not I” “But Christ,” 2 Cor. 7:1, 13:5, Psalm 34:14 – caution: the places that substitute, where God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit ought to have Lordship i) there are so many perceptions that must be discarded, when we approach the goings of God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit, in our lives. For example, imagine that we are physically building a house, and we are unable to distinguish the difference between playdough and concrete ii) we need to consider His interests, are we moving forward with His eternal plot points on earth iii) we must make a practice of Christlike discernment, exercise that, repeatedly iv) we need to have more of a passion, in discovering what God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit brings us into, in our lives v) you have to let your experiences with the Lord, illuminate to others, how real God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit really is, it can really build up the Church, if done, by His Spirit vi) this reflects his relationship with God vii) the way our human minds are programmed, we cannot leave God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit, absent; we need Him to properly understand, what’s going on. If Naaman finalized his choices, and didn’t explore what Elisha had said, what a missed life-changing opportunity. 13) 1 Thess. 5:19, Heb. 3:13, Jude 1:20-21, Acts 17:11, Daniel 11:32 + John 8:12, Matt 7:24, Psalm 37:5 i) there are unfortunate possibilities of seeing God’s Word, as inadequate for our situations because of our own selfhood perceptions; sadly, this can limit our corresponding movements with the Spirit ii) if we make it into a lifestyle to look for scriptures with the Spirit, and try to explain the verses, with Him, to others, that is good. It’s a faithful way. Eventually, our mind will be a spiritual library, that can help Christlike -translate what’s going on in people’s lives, by His Spirit (Romans 12:2) 14) 2 Cor. 3:18, 10:5, Col. 1:27, 2:19, John 15:4-5, 2 Tim. 2:21, 1 Peter 1:22, Phil. 4:8, Isaiah 57:15, Gal. 5:22-23, Isaiah 30:21 – God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit’s mysterious leadership, will prove to be correct  i) From Him, the more we yield, seek fully and more + take action to go about ways, together with the things of the Spirit, there are going to be positive impacts, upon the Body of Christ ii) our accreting Christlike experiences -> structural support for His people, if done by His Spirit iii) the Bible for example, repentance is communicated to be fruitful, as we can see, it is. There is so much in God’s Word, that we need to Spirit-led apply that will change the world iv) practicing God’s Word is important, there is a shocking majestic authority there v) the goings of God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit, in our lives, has an endless bounteous unveiling, let’s invite people into that, by His Spirit vi) why not just one time? Why seven? God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit in our lives, understands the measures of how far situations need to go, in order to bring about Christlike changes in us

The Book of Matthew (Ephesians 2:8-9) [scope: essential component + using previous alphabetized ideas] -> a) 1:1-17 – without Jesus in the picture, there isn’t salvation. With ministry, if we leave Jesus out as an essential component in our approach, and do it our own way, it isn’t spiritually profitable, generationally, for the long-term intended purpose. A Christ-led approach in ministry has a mysterious enrichment that is noticeable inwardly, and one of many interesting spiritual features is this innate fellowshipping of the Life of the Lord with others, indirectly and/or directly (Col. 1:27, Eph. 3:16-17, Gal. 2:20 “not I” “but Christ,” John 15:4, 17:21, Col. 1:18, Eph. 4:13) b) 1:18-25 – Zech: 4:6b, Phil. 2:13. God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit knows what we are thinking, there are many expressions of these directional interventions in our lives that leads to more of His spiritual paths. We need to be spiritually awake and vigilant, to see those steps and follow-through, upon His leadings. I’ll end with Gal. 4:19. c) 2:1-12 – warning people, by His Spirit, can leave a generational+ impact. Carrying that out is painful, many times but worth the fight (Isaiah 55:8-9, Romans 12:1, James 1:22 + Col. 1:28 NKJV, 1 Thess. 2:12, 2 Thess. 1:11-12). I’ll end with Eph. 3:10-11 and 2 Cor. 4:16 d) 2:13-18 “Stay there until I tell you” – if you move without His instructions, it can be more dangerous than you think. I’ll end with Gen. 50:20 and Eph. 6:12. e) 2:19-23 – His timing and coordination, can fulfill much, if we are in step with Him <- by His Spirit, let’s aim for 100% with Him, “perfect” (Gal. 5:25 NIV, Exodus. 33:14, Josh. 1:9). f) 3:1-12 – leaving repentance out is unfruitful. Having a solid foundation of scriptures in a church setting, applied, by His Spirit, can raise up beautiful generations of Christ-followers. I can’t begin to tell you how many ways Satan disguises and masquerades to ensure that we are unproductive. In verse 11, also remember, that Christ is powerful. For example: as we continue to see, Christ can handle many matters that we tried to handle and failed to; He has an incomprehensible amount of Lordship, a mystery to the majestic incalculable scale of being the Lord of Hosts. I’ll end with Heb. 3:1, 1 Cor. 10:11, 1 Peter 1:7. g) 3:13-17 – consent with Christ. Having a conversation, where the basis is how Christ is making a bad decision is extremely pointless. God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit can even make things that look like “foolish decisions” -> turn out to be incredibly wise, when looking back, and we would probably agree that He was right to have made that choice (1 Corinthians 1:25, 1 Cor. 1:9). The focus just can’t be outward, there must be a spiritual reflex of Christlikeness to you individually, and how that connects to Christlikeness toward others in your ministries, all by His Spirit (Eph. 1:17-18, 4:12-13). When Christ-led things happen, while we walk in His steps, God is also pleased. I understand that we live in the present tense but there is a larger future + eternal tense that we don’t recognize (Heb 11:10), and steadfast faith needs to be further applied (2 Cor. 13:5, Romans 8:13). h) 4:1-11 – Satan has an ulterior motive: getting you to pay attention to other stuff that is unrelated to God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit, hinder you from serving properly, dividing people against each other, making sure you don’t prioritize the things of God, making people fall, making money a heavy consideration against the interests of God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit, creating obstacles to waste time for God’s people, irritating people, straying people, making sure God’s people can’t stand in their faith properly, etc. We are very unaware, as to how much discipline is required, to get that stuff out of our system, where we are riddled by demonic influences upon our self-life (1 Thess. 5:19, Heb. 12:11, James 4:8). As you can see, discipline is good for us. i) 4:12-17 – fulfilling what God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit desires is so much better for the way He made us, individually and corporately, in the Body of Christ (Heb. 10:39, Eph. 4:22-24, Col. 3:10-11) j) 4:18-22 – there’s a bigger reason why, Jesus tells us to leave matters aside, outwardly and inwardly, in our lives (Col. 2:6-7, Heb. 13:20-21, Phil. 3:8, 1 Cor. 15:58, Psalm 32:8, 86:11, 90:12, Proverbs 23:26). I’ll end with 2 Thess. 3:5 k) 4:23-25 – don’t shy away from asking Christ for help (Eph. 1:19, Heb. 12:2, Gal. 5:1, 2 Thess. 2:17) His Words can break down so much demonic strongholds (John 6:63 + Jer. 23:29). l) 5:1-12 – there is so much blessedness when hearing and applying the teachings of Jesus (Matthew 28:20, Eph. 2:21-22, Col. 1:9-10, Zeph. 2:3) m) 5:13-16 – what’s the point of a Christian life, if it doesn’t resemble: Christ-centeredness, growing Christlikeness, Zech. 4:6b, and Eph. 4:12-13, and more? This is important -> Phil. 1:9-10 + 2 Tim. 2:1, there is a need for an awakening, in this area. We Christians have to be different. I’ll end with 1 John 2:5, 2 Thess. 1:12. n) 5:17-20 – By His Spirit, steadfastly growing in the measure of Christlike practices (inward/outward) and not just the outward is important (Col. 3:15, Heb. 12:14, Phil. 2:3-4, Romans 12:2, James 2:17, 1 John 3:24, 2 Thess. 3:13, 1 Thess. 4:1) o) 5:21-48 – Zech. 4:6b, Phil. 4:7, Romans 13:14, Gal. 5:13, 1 Peter 2:11, 1 John 2:6, 2 Thess. 2:15, 2 Tim. 1:14. I’ll end with Eph. 6:10, Col. 1:11.

2 Kings 4:1-7 – [it is helpful to look at essential components, that if removed, the story wouldn’t make sense. This can be a more simplified way of working with what you have; all by His Spirit. I’ll organize the verses with tags: 1) feared the Lord, and a high-conflict scenario 2) opportunity to reflect upon overlooked resources 3) this doesn’t seem like a first rodeo with difficulties, instructed with confidence 4) the word “full” stands out to me 5) doer 6) God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit can keep going, it is important to examine if there is a problem on our own end, with Him 7) it’s worth to consider an overflow, and the idea of basketfuls left over (New Testament stuff), can be a way of displaying God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit’s abundant mindset.] [By His Spirit, it is worth to spend time with our Lord, about these points, when reading the Bible, which I will organize in letters: a) how did that story get to that point for 1)? b) some roles that people played in that story contrasts significant New Testament points (Eph. 4:12-13,16, when Jesus made more food, etc) c) why help them? What is the character sketch here? d) what needs are expressed that unless addressed, it wouldn’t have reached the ending of 7), e) why is Elisha so adamant? Why look out for other people? Why did Jesus care so much? f) the overall antagonist is important in 1) and the reaction in 2) another storyline, that can save + rescue the situation, g) what is more important than 7), the experience of something Heavenly (1 John 1:1-4), h) our own beliefs in ourselves, like our “own” acumen, requires steadfast guidance + reshaping from God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit, i) when you read something, think about arcs, how does this bridge with the spiritual logic of other stories j) what was prevented, from this intervention? k) it’s important to look at the ignition points, 4) 6) shows me that this footnote event could change future behaviours l) why show something impossible -> possible happening? m) what are the causes of overcoming this struggle? n) in our lives, we have moments of these familiar tension expressions, that can be addressed with God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit o) why present bad circumstances, while interacting with an intervening source that can save? How does that relate to you? p) we all need more experiences like these in our lives, and see them as opportunities, for the Heavenly realm to rule q) why are these passages a faster resolve, than other stories in the Bible? Why did the Book of Job take so long, for the ending to occur? Understanding + applying our own Spirit-led roles with the Bible and God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit’s role -> vitally important r) what was minimized/maximized?] [In Conclusion: when you read the Bible, write down jot notes that you believe are Spirit-led because He can be teaching + clarifying to you a deeper understanding + further Spirit-led illuminations, upon how to read the Bible; all by His Spirit. I believe that this is an area that can help feed people better.]

[Romans 8:18 NIV and 2 Cor. 4:17 NIV] -> Gal. 1:15-16 KJV – what stands out? -> “it pleased God” “to reveal His son in me”, I want you to connect both of those quotes into this -> with our cooperation with the Holy Spirit’s good work, the more we grow into the spiritual maturity of Christ, the more that pleases God. We will see a gradual tangent of converging greater into His interests (John 3:30). That’s a good signpost that things are going the right way, we lose the unspiritual hypnosis that once had gripped our time because the Holy Spirit will gradually cleanse out unpleasing tendencies that don’t belong to our testimony. In Psalm 1:6, God has a plan for us, and wants us to proceed in specific ways throughout our lives. In Proverbs 6:23 NIV, it is part of a Christian life, for the Holy Spirit to correct us into a spiritually abundant life with Christ; this is what we signed up for -> Phil. 1:29-30, sometimes we can be extremely unaligned with the Word, so the Lord will use special circumstances to specifically move us in a way that can help present and future generations with the Church in mind. There is a corporate mindset of God that we need to be mindful of, and also be willing to understand that it isn’t coincidence that our ministries become more spiritual, as a result of suffering and struggles, they “work together for good” in the Body of Christ. For example, something that God introduced into your life, and you were wiling to learn from that, apply that; beneficially, 200 years down the road, the fruitfulness of the Holy Spirit’s work would be tremendous (Psalm 33:11 + 1 Cor. 3:6-7). You have to keep that in mind, otherwise, if you look at circumstances as isolated incidences, and all random, it won’t make sense. Paul had to go through a lot, didn’t he but you see how spiritual and alive God’s Word became to Him? The juggernaut spiritual generational impact that pleases God continually to make people more like Christ? There is a Holy method that God uses with suffering, difficulties, challenges and struggles that will somehow lead to His Son, with Whom He is well-pleased, increasing in our lives individually -> corporately. Back to Proverbs 6:23 NIV, we have to understand that the teachings in the Bible that we value, ought to hold the same logical value, as when He teaches us individually through the circumstances of life, in His own way, just like the situations the characters had to face in the Bible. The times that we did yield, we found unmistakable life in that way of His. What we have to do, is in every situation that we find ourselves in, we need Christ/God/The Holy Spirit + the Lord’s Word to cast light because the circumstances of the world just has too much darkness, outwardly and inwardly (Jer. 10:2 NIV -> Isaiah 8:20 NIV). Not to just interpret things, apart from His Word + His leadings (Jer. 6:16 NIV and/or Matt. 7:7 NIV). Something that has been standing out to me lately is Psalm 32:8 NIV, how much we take it upon our selfhoods to make choices, and it isn’t a spiritually mature way that Christ would handle matters (Romans 12:2). Do we actually do this Isaiah 30:21? Actually listen to what God wants us to do? Out of 25 situations, what is the impulse? We can work on that, so that in Phil. 1:9-10 NIV, we can move in step toward the best spiritual outcome. Since most of the time Col. 2:6 NIV, isn’t really being applied; instead of “continue to live your lives in Him”, the alternate path we are taking is “continue to live your lives” (Job 33:14-16 -> Prov. 3:6). I find that Col. 3:15 of peace is a good indicator (Isaiah 40:31 NIV – “they will run”), and when we do things outside of His spiritual steps, depending on your spiritual sensitivity, there’s an inward nasty unrest (Proverbs 14:12 and James 3:17). In Judges 2:2, imagine you are given many practical situational tests where you constantly select a) b) c) d) multiple choices, how many would we get right, regarding the choices that the Holy Spirit wants us to go forward with in our own lives? (Psalm 123:2 – do we look within our self or to the Lord’s guidance? Remember this 2 Cor. 5:7 -> Amos 3:3 NIV -> Phi. 2:2), that would complement God’s will for us. The self-choices that we make, often bring about what we see in front of us (reflect: Psalm 37:7 + Exodus 33:15)? In Deut. 8:2, there is a possible route, if you think about that verse differently, where we can do our best with Christ, using Gal. 5:25 NIV in following “all” of the way of the Lord; would you picture with me how beautiful and where we could be spiritually, as well as, the Body of Christ would be generationally; how “pleased God” would be? Majority of the time, we embark upon something else, despite the Lord preparing steps and paths for us to proceed with Him -> Psalm 25:4-5 NIV. I’ll end with 1 Kings 19:12. LET US CHANGE THAT WITH HIM! THE BIBLE SPEAKS A LOT ABOUT DOING STUFF WITH CHRIST/GOD/THE HOLY SPIRIT/THE BIBLE!

John 21:25 – If you think “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci was a cool painting, I’ll show you something else. It’s called “The Wedding at Cana” by Paolo Veronese. What do you notice about the painting? For me a) the colours b) the way they treated Jesus like a background actor c) people weren’t paying attention to Him d) what would Jesus face look like with how we treat him? e) He wasn’t treated with any importance f) they seemed very distracted by their own riches g) Jesus doesn’t like their outward social life. What I just showed you is a way that I train my eyes to see + contemplate the hidden stories in my day, to extract spiritual value, and to look into verses; all with the help of Jesus. This can dramatically help your sermons, the way you evangelize, using everyday scenarios much like the painting exercise we just did, you can share something that stood out to you in your day with verses that are no different than my creative process with the Lord, in the Storytime Verses section. In the very under-utilized John verse but with so much literal spiritual reality, we all have a very special story to tell about our walk with the Lord, I believe that this is a great way to communicate our Testimony with Christ. Let’s go back in time, specifically 5 years ago, what stood out to you in that year? Go through your photos, like the painting exercise. For me, I had a dinner table worth of junk foods, the verses that come to mind are the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life [(Gen. 2:16-17, 3:1-3) Storyline A]. So you can ask the Lord, if He is leading you to a sermon about “choices.” Let’s go back 10 years, for me, I was happy, just being myself. The verse that come to mind about how we all have a unique role in the body of Christ [(1 Cor. 12:27) Storyline B]. So you can ask the Lord, if He wants you to share about how “your individuality can build-up the church.” Let’s go back 20 years, I was on vacation and I remember the air from the mountains, try to include an ambience one. The verses that come to mind are when Moses was at Mount Sinai [(Exodus 19:18) Storyline C]. Now I want you to, without erasing much of Storyline A,B,C, -> attempt to put them together into a coherent spiritual sequence. When I look at the examples above, I would say Storyline B,C,A is the way I would plot my material, so in my sermon, I could move from our uniqueness in the body of Christ -> to the Holy Spirit continually refining us -> to making better choices to build-up the church. Telling and expanding the stories like I did in Storyline A,B,C + along with adding more verses, when prompted. You can go back more years and keep going = more material. Ultimately, make sure that the material glorifies Christ and edifies the church. Now after you write it all up, pray further, that the Holy Spirit can help you string everything together; after you finish quilting everything. This is the main part where you add/delete/edit, cause you never know what the Holy Spirit can use, LET THE HOLY SPIRIT ULTIMATELY BEAR WITNESS. Even what we consider as an insignificant story can be turned into spiritual value, for example, I talk about a lot of random things in my Storytime Verses section but somehow it all works together for good. PEOPLE IN THE AUDIENCE LOVE TO HEAR PERSONAL STORIES OF PEOPLE WALKING WITH THE LORD. WHO CARES ABOUT THE non-Biblical EXCESSIVE LITERATURE REVIEWS IN YOUR SERMONS THAT JESUS DETERMINES NOT TO BE SPIRITUALLY FITTING (if that is the case). WE WANT TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR STORY WITH CHRIST, JESUS, GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHAT SCRIPTURES PROMPTED YOU! THAT’S GOLD. Writing sermons can be fun, I use to treat it as standup. You should do that too, find your spiritual vibe. You have your own testimony with the Lord, and people like autobiographies. There use to be a show called A&E Biographies, HUGE AUDIENCE. Your life with the Lord is interesting. There’s endless material, talking about your walk with the Lord. Aside from Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit: you are the best subject matter expert about your relationship with the Three! Also, start journaling verses and scenes, in your day Deut. 10:12!

Hosea 1:2 and 1 Cor. 6:15-16 – do those verses conflict with each other? The answer is no, there are so many verses in the Bible that have clauses in them, which enables God so much freedom to do, as He wants, and just looking at those two verses isn’t the bigger picture. God’s Word doesn’t contradict, and He won’t violate His own nature either but we need to be mindful of what this says in Romans 11:33b – “his ways past finding out!” We humans are bound by restrictions, with the way we think, we draw these limits for God that He can only move certain ways, according to a finite knowledge of the Bible. What the Bible shows time after time is that God’s people male or female under a unique anointing goes beyond some ecclesiastical office title, the Lord’s spiritual authority in someone can go above whatever system or limitations that the world has in place. People would say, “just look at the New Testament!” What about the Old Testament? Look at Deborah, avoid looking at just some outward office, is there a unique anointing that made her function the same as a spiritual elder? Where God expressed Himself? It doesn’t depend on some title but how God transcends our thoughts about the guiding functions of His people to what we perceive as a “specific” Divine pattern with only a few variables. God can use as many variables, as possible. Let’s say that we prevent women completely from doing this or that in a church, God has a Divine order that, during emergency situations + other scenarios, He can act and choose, whatever and whoever He wants, He isn’t regulated by any legalism or ordinances, He does what He wants and writes the rules. So if God selects a male or female for a specific role or function, under extraordinary circumstances, and we attempt to quench that, from quoting a small number of verses like I did above to draw a conclusion; I think that’s dangerous. So let’s not sanction the Holy Spirit, from doing what He did with Deborah, and the modern day Deborahs that are denied opportunities because we are unable to see that “Christ is all, and in all” (Col. 3:11b). Look at it as whether Christ is governing, in that vessel. Any male or female can be anointed as a vessel of Christ to carry out His prerogative, gender itself didn’t interfere with His purpose. So to summarize everything into one point: ask yourself, “Is this a unique situation, from God’s perspective, and not my own interpretation of events?” As the Bible is filled with a lot of unique events, that defies human thought. We have to make sure that we are seeing the Bible, differently, and not some intellectual assent of ours. The Pharisees asked the Lord what He thought but of plenty times it wasn’t really acknowledging what He said but their own intuitions and how smart they thought they were. In 2 Cor. 3:6, it’s worth to examine, if the Lord is trying to communicate something, an organic spiritual movement from Him that is Spirit-led, don’t just look at things on the appearance (1 Samuel 16:7) and say things like “oh that’s no job for a lady”, I still can’t believe people make decisions like that. Inward seeing what God is looking at and toward ought to be a focus. In 1 Cor. 2:16 – we have to stop being atheistic with our own wisdom and ask Christ, His overall thoughts, seek Him on the matter because we have so many blindspots, can you really understand the abstraction of the Bible? What’s next? We remove eating fruits from trees at church or avoid the colour red or I can’t go hiking in the wilderness because I’ll be more prone to being tempted? How we see things and how God sees the matter is entirely different. If God wanted to do something right now, even like take another Enoch into Heaven, I’m sure He can justify it, and it wouldn’t be contrary to His Word; we don’t understand God’s Word well-enough to determine the limits of His powers and choices. Let the Spirit bear witness, as to whether something is from Him. Look at the Spirit of the Scripture, they are complementary. Whatever God decides, His thoughts are higher than ours, and we need to keep that in mind, when we approach scriptures.