Last Updated on March 26, 2026 by LookingUntoJesus

ASV: 1 Thess. 2:8, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:39, 2 Tim. 2:15, John 15:5 – as a child, I would massage my parent’s feet, and my dad’s feet, would make my hands all itchy. Assigned ministries from Him will have days, where outward glamour isn’t there. As you yield to Christ, at times, what you’ll find is the stillness of His voice; expressed after you finished that day of ministry, something Divine has left a print on your heart, soul, mind and strength, to deeply love Him + the Church, more and more (Heb. 13:21 KJV, Gal. 2:20 KJV, Col. 1:27). May we be more thankful for the Lord’s love toward us!

ASV: Judges 7:2 “with thee are too many,” Col. 1:25 – I was part of an olympic game, in my school, where we competed against other classes. There was a long jump, and certain steps were different. If you look throughout the Bible, the Lord’s leadership is very interesting in various pages, what specific chapter of His Divine guidance is afoot? What does He desire to inwardly address on our end, for the increasing ministration of the fullness of Himself? I’ll end with Isaiah 30:21 and 1 Samuel 17:26

Jer. 29:13 – We all have hidden narratives; for example, a good friend of mine, showed up to my house, and he just drove around, telling me some stuff, that occupied his mind. There are topics that are unwelcome, applying Christlike discernment is important. In the Gospels, Jesus comes across many situations that depart from, what we today would invite into our discussions. It is important, to understand, with the Lord, whether these people, are actually searching + thirsting for the Lord, by coming across, us Christians (John 4:10).

ASV: [John 15:11 + Psalm 16:11, 126:2, Gal. 5:22-23], Romans 14:17, 1 Peter 1:22 – When I was a kid, I was one of the wisemen, for a church play. My cousin forgot his line, on stage because people were laughing at him, in that outfit. A Chinese church is a tad different, you can laugh at other people’s kids, for some reason. It’s very rice cake. So his face went bright red as a tomato. My Sunday school teacher spoke to me, while ducking because she’s tall, and she whispered about saying the line. Spiritual point: it is important not to discount laughter, as just an ambience, there are times, where encounters with the Divine, brings about a form of uniqueness to joy, that is very uncharacteristic to the world’s idea of that word. By His Spirit, fervent obedience to what He asks of us is an expression of Christ’s joy (Neh. 8:10b). Christ also has a living joyfulness to Him. Notice how you have more of a steadfast happier posture?

1 Cor. 1:10, 1 Peter 4:2 – I have a guy friend, who is very cautious, and superstitious about something bad happening. So needless to say, we both watched romantic comedies together. We expressed insane gestures, that other guys were losing out on thinking that genre of entertainment wasn’t up to par. I remember, we both went to watch the movie 13 Going on 30 (2004), and in the theatre, I heard sounds of gasps + shock + displays of confusion, from many couples that saw me and my guy friend. They looked like predators about to pounce on a prey. In that movie, I thought it was funny, when she saw that closet of shoes. Anyways. The spiritual point: there is value, in asking the Lord to continually help you deny the self, and to remove the divisional aspects that cause blurriness, in understanding His will. Following Him is so much better than whatever unspiritual thing, you were following before (Luke 9:23, Psalm 16:11)

ASV: Matt. 4:21 “going on,” Psalm 27:4, Col. 2:6, 2 Peter 3:18 – you remember the scene in the Prince of Egypt (1998) movie, when Moses talks to the burning bush, and he’s like “who are you?” I remember last year, when people were experiencing more of Christ in their lives, and they were very surprised, yet fascinated with the beauty of His presence, like a feeling of “what’s going on?” By His Spirit, let’s keep applying His Word, surrendering to Christ, and you’ll continue to find, these assorted riches of Christ, that seems new everyday (Lam. 3:22-23, Eph. 1:18, Romans 11:33). I’ll end with John 1:39, Col. 1:10,27, Psalm 68:24 KJV

ASV: Ez. 36:26, 2 Cor. 4:18, Prov. 2:10 – the rain was like falling silver threads, my parents use to rush to reverse the car from the garage, as their idea of a carwash. Laundries hung outdoors moved like sails. When I attended a church group, the host had a type of plum tree that would release fragrance, when the air was heavy with moisture. Fences looked varnished, a soft faintness of garlic, from the garden. When the sun arose, that part of town felt bathed in watercolours of honey. If I were to say to you, “look at your inward, you have grown so much in the spiritual likeness of Christ, isn’t this what you asked of me, when you sang, prayed, told me about my will, for you?” Often times, we have to look at the steps we take with the Lord’s leadership, how much Holiness actually materialized + occurred and our spiritual mobility with Him, from helping us escape so much of the dark unseen pathways (Phil. 1:6, John 6:63,68, 15:5, Zech. 4:6b, Luke 8:16).

ASV: 1 Chr. 29:12, 1 Peter 1:22, Jer. 15:16, Heb. 6:10 – I use to have a red sled, the endless perimeters of glittering frost, while peeling back the vertical dangling individual curtains. The indistinguishable ivory of winter that stretched beyond, leaving houses looking like break off pieces of chocolate, seeing snowfall and the sounds of faraway laughters, as the breath of gathering winds, left no time to wipe mouthes from unfinished hot chocolates. Despite the feeling of coldness, I love the fragrance of snow, an ancient smell that is as sacred as the original threads of childhood memories. How would you describe the history of love toward God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit? What I had discovered, very early on in ministries, that overall, I wouldn’t trade that, for the things of the flesh, time was well spent. As I grew older, the same logic coheres, that I am perfectly fine with “forfeiting” upon what the world follows, to show others how much the Divine loves them, in an unspiritual world that often instructs but isn’t familiar with, the true joy of the Lord, as their strength (Phil. 3:8, Neh. 8:10, Phil. 4:13, Gal. 5:22-23). May we never forget, the Rightful True King, and the people He cares about.

Luke 6:45, 2 Tim. 2:21 – a friend of mine, who did missionary work, creating irrigation wells, for poor countries had to get rid of the muddy part first within the pipes, then the actual water came out. The very wonderful work of God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit does ensure that we yield, continually bringing forth good, for His use (Phil. 2:13, John 15:5, Heb. 13:21 KJV, Gal. 5:22-23). I’ll end with Psalms 1:3

Matt. 12:30, Heb. 10:24 “one another”, 12:1 “cloud of witness” – I went to a church summer camp, as a child, and one of my Sunday school teachers was wearing one of those cat in the hat, hats, during the blazing heat. That inspired me, he wanted to make that church ministry fun. The people around you and I, are meant to be Christlike inspired for ministries. Our actions, have chain reactions, we never know how “one” “another” can be provoked into their callings, and generationally, turning people from scatters into gathers, by His Spirit. I’ll end with 2 Tim. 2:2

1 Chr. 28:9, 1 Peter 5:8, Proverbs 3:6, 2 Thess. 2:17, Matt. 7:24, Isaiah 40:31, John 15:16, Col. 1:10, Hebrews 3:12 – As kids, we went to our aunt’s house and my sister jumped on the waterbed, then I remembered a fizzle sound, where drips of water, made her slowly move off, in fright. Her mind had an overcast, as she pretended like nothing happened. I could hear the cliché sound of eggs sizzling, straight out of the shell on a pan, my sister was in a hush, I approached her with a handful of cereal moving into my mouth, her eyes looked like a projector image. My aunt got mad at me, when I used the curtains as a napkin. On the car ride back home, it occurred to me that had my aunt found out what my sister did, she would probably put the both of us on one of those islands, where the walls close. I felt like I had a second chance to life, looking upon the brassy sky. We as Christians, need to keep in mind, that the Divine is aware of the path that you are on, so God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit does warn us many times in our lives because He understands the whereabouts of Satan. If you are in a place in your life, where there “seems” to be inactivity, that doesn’t mean God isn’t doing anything. The Spirit of God does ensure that we Christlike sync up to not just our own life but how we can get other lives going again in the Lord’s leadings, also (2 Thess. 2:17 + Romans 8:14)

John 15:10, Acts 17:28, Phil. 3:10,12, Jude 1:21, 1 Cor. 2:10, Matt. 5:48, Luke 21:19 – I was sitting in the middle of a canoe, it was absolutely scary because I brought an electronic, on open waters. Paddle boats went by, others propelling with motors, as well. I could feel my heartbeat. The more I blinked, the outline to the dock and columns of trees behind the cabin emerged. The momentary ambiguity dissolved into history. The spiritual counterpart: where we find ourselves in life, abiding, remaining, moving in the lifestyle of Christ is Life (Phil. 1:21). He has taken a hold of us, hasn’t He? Keeping us to Himself, showing us the outworking of His deep thoughts, that truly, “the flesh profiteth nothing” -> and the Way of His Words are “full of the Spirit. They give life” -John 6:63.

Heb. 10:24 – I remember the medium tall grass, tickling my ankles, the sound of seagulls, the distant moonlight glittering behind the clouds, watching the fading molten colours of the vast autumn sky. Those days of smelling precipitation before it fell, where you saw the beginning dots of rain on the sidewalks accumulate, while walking home from school, the rumble of thunder, closing the screen windows, so the rain doesn’t get in. So goes the threading landscape of life. In Josh. 14:8, Gen. 48:15, Judges 6:14, Matt. 9:37, John 6:68, the Lord does sustain our spiritual lives. The old nature has this imperative where we divide time with Christ into schedule blocks, to introduce limitations, that blur out the hearing and going BUT now we are beginning to see, to know, to hope, what He is calling us to (Eph. 1:18). There are so many of these configurations that prevents fruitfulness, that do in fact, require His strength to unplug us, from the hidden disobediences that stops us from being, who we are meant to be (Matt. 26:41, John 12:24, Eph. 3:16, 1 Peter 1:22). I hope that you will change people’s spiritual landscape, with Christ.

Job 41:31-32 NIV – In middle school, I was sitting on a hilltop, overlooking a descending grassy field, a ribbon of water, gleaming brightly. What would it be like, if nature could hear all the stories told? Is that why they shed their leaves? Perhaps, the southern mountains turned away, from tales that were dimming their joy? Perhaps, the stars were closer to the earth because they wanted to see what pine trees looked like? I was really into writing poetry, when I was younger, and the Book of Job is one that has so much beautiful descriptors of nature. In Phil. 2;14, Jude 1:1,3, Gen 3:9, 1 Samuel 15:22, Deut. 30:19, Joshua 1:5, I do notice that the more we let Christ increase, as much as possible, in our lives, inward freedom comes along with that, our postures have a swing dance to it, a happiness (2 Cor. 3:17); *demonstrates tap dancing and twists ankle.* It is tempting to second guess why the Lord does certain things but look at us now, in our growing measure of Christlikeness from His faithfulness, working actively so that we don’t live contrary to the Fruit of the Spirit. Will you continue to choose His will for you, steadfastly (Gal. 5:25 NIV)? This wonderful and beneficial fellowship of the Spirit has so much beautiful unfolding to go, for you and for the Church!

1 John 4:4, Numbers 13:30 + Joshua 14:8 + Eph. 3:16, 4:12-13 – I went antiquing with my family and relatives, the usual peeling an orange smell serenading the air, as we walked. Going to an auction, with the auctioneer wearing cowhide pants, encouraged us to immediately exit. Sudden unfamiliar fashion statements can do that sometimes, the ironic part was during the night time, the white clouds and dark skies, resembled some inverted atmospheric cow, that we didn’t seem to mind. I have been spending time lately, upon the vast strengthening aspect of not only Christ but when members in the Body of Christ become significantly more unified in spiritual maturity. When I think about “where art thou?” The idea that opportunities of sins are drastically reduced, also prompts the thought that the Adversary and His Hosts are receding much in actions + unspiritual strongholds.

Lev. 10:3 + Heb. 10:22 – My sister and I had different poses for church retreat photos, the typical cross-arms, me sucking in my stomach, etc. When we were really young, our mother would hide those mini cadbury easter eggs all over the house, I remember she pointed one out to me upon the window ledge. Practicing poses together, for photos, were usually happy. Another easter, our mother took us to a farm and bought us a pet rabbit. One day, we turned off the air conditioner because the cool glossy winds from the rain swept throughout the neighbourhood. We realized that our patterns of living had to change, I folded more clothing, while my parents did the cleaning for the cage, my sister gave up her lettuces, from her sandwiches, to the rabbit. As we go on, maturing in Christlikeness, more responsibilities are expected and given. This ever-growing experience comes with how much we “know ye not” -1 Cor. 3:16 ASV, as well as, how much we desire to further “know Him” – Phil. 3:10 ASV. The marvellous part is the experiential knowledge of Christ (Matt. 7:7, Rev. 3:20 ASV, Gal. 5:25 NIV, Heb. 11:1). A truly wonderful mystery, to be explored (Eph. 3:4 ASV).

NIRV: Psalm 71:17, 1 Cor. 9:24, Romans 6:13, Heb. 13:21 – I was denied entry, into a grocery store, ~5 minutes before closing. The store clerk remained unpersuaded with my suggestions about how I thought society was past this. I had received news, as days unfolded that my friend that I spent a lot of time with had passed away, and I was taken back. I didn’t know the family too well, to call + comfort them. I received info for the funeral that indicated, it was for immediate friends and family. So I had understood, that it wouldn’t make sense to disqualify myself and it would be inappropriate, for me not to attend. At the memorial, I looked on in horror, and several people curiously stared at me. What I had found horrifying, spoke to me and identified, as the twin. Since, I was barely acquainted with the immediate family, that wasn’t my dearly departed friend walking around. Spiritual point: if God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit has been teaching us, since we were ~young or etc. I wonder about Gal. 3:1, for how long, have we been actually tricked, where we strayed upon unspiritual fallow ground, that stopped us, from a fully devoted heart to Him, for His appointments, by His Spirit (1 Peter 4:1). In Neh. 9:20,30 NIRV, there is the idea that warnings, can be helpful for redirecting our steps to align with the inward energy of His teachings. It’s not so much that we can’t do it but what is preventing + tricking us from Joshua 4:24 NIRV, that is worth further examination with the Lord (Joel 2:12 NIRV). LET’S MAX OUT THE SPIRITUAL TINT OF LIGHT FROM CHRIST, IN OUR LIVES

ASV: Matt. 14:16 + Rev. 3:20 [reflection] – in my childhood days, a bunch of the neighbourhood kids went to my friend’s house, and we were playing a game with a villain. So we had objectives, like saying something to a mirror, looking at a clock before something “imaginary” happens. So some of the kids were also related, and my friend would needlessly do stuff to his sibling: a punch on the Adam’s apple, hitting with a hockey stick, throwing the bathroom wastebasket. That wasn’t the idea of the game. I have been dwelling upon those above verses, maybe take a couple minutes or more with the Lord, also. The idea of people departing, if they don’t have the spiritual food of Christ Himself, comes to mind. That they would, miss out on a stronger + ministration of His Life in fellowship with God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit. By His Spirit, let’s make sure they get their spiritual calories (Eph. 4:12-13). Share God’s Word!

ASV: 1 Cor. 2:12 – a very long time ago, a friend of mine, wanted a sister, and his mother told him, that the costs were too high, and how he already has a little brother. His little brother would compete with him, for food and video games, even the way the parents would spend money. He expressed his protest toward his mother’s decision, in different ways, he would repeatedly call his little brother, a “big girl,” and his mother would roll her eyes. Imagine the King of Kings, in the living spoken words of His excellencies is showing you something important, to understand spiritually, so that your Christlike ministries can overflow in love (Romans 8:5 + Phil. 1:9).

ASV: Psalm 119:32 + Heb 12:1 – My friend was playing a computer match with many people, and it was dark, so I flicked on a light switch, that ended up being a control, for the power of the room, so I shut off the computer, by accident. By His Spirit, the more we have a reliance upon Christ, His Divine Love is also a needful ask, for the continual inward transformation of us, as yielded vessels for Him to expand His forming Life to others. His active Divine energy does further manifest that work with exceeding power (Phil. 2:13 + Eph. 1:19)

Luke 18:14 + Proverbs 2:6 [this might sting, ahhhhh] – I went fishing with one of my cousins. He appeared very enthusiastic and enchanted reeling stuff in. What wisdom is provided to us from God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit that shows our self-life exaltations that must be humbled? Let’s yield ourselves unto Him. Ask Him for Divine influence upon our daily spiritual conduct, that the people we come across can have a spiritual orientation in His Life direction.

ASV: Psalm 51:6 + Prov. 17:3, Heb. 4:12 – I thought about circling where Waldo is, in a library book. With the imagery of something that empties your spiritual life and Christlike outlets -> more wholesome for you, spiritually. I would like to ask you this question using Matt. 7:7, what are you actually continually searching carefully for? God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit can be using this time of you reading the Bible, to illuminate to you, your actual thoughts and intentions. I’ll end with Psalm 19:14

Matt. 11:28-29, 13:23 – The summer winds, whispered through the sunlight that made the shadows of trees, appear as sticks with marshmallows on ends, over a bonfire. It’s a nice refreshment, when we understand deeply + learn from the Spirit-taught Words of the Lord, there is such a beautifully satisfying + restful Christlike measure.

Psalm 86:11 KJV – in elementary school, we use to play a game called Red Rover, I don’t remember the rules properly but when it was my turn, I tried to punch my way through. Picture this spiritual point: let’s say that an individual has an increasingly undivided life for the things of the Spirit, that would be complementary, for the Lord to easily use this person, for a further corporate unity, in the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:12-13).

Matt. 18:3 + John 3:30 – it was an early afternoon sun, I was driving my sister to work, the approaching snowflakes appeared as pearls. I could smell that she ate mint ice cream for breakfast, as a substitute for using peppermint flavoured toothpaste. I tried so many times to enjoy that ice cream again, a part of my taste buds are no longer with me, from that interaction. Spiritual point: By His Spirit, a change of direction is needed, when we grow in the old nature.  

1 Peter 2:3 – How do you respond, when something surprising strikes? I was at a library, and I could tell this librarian was really passionate about her work. The way I imagine the life of people who work at libraries: a) wearing glasses with a chain attached so they don’t get lost, b) dividing a packet of gum into individual cutout pieces, c) being upset when “Ontario” is spelled with the letter E, d) describes a life of luxury with words like a “penthouse basement” or “chocolatey mousse cake,” e) uses diner terminology regarding the weather, f) sits on their front patio unoccupied, g) drives with many dashboard indication lights, h) has a middle corner cabinet door that doesn’t open properly, i) wears a bonnet at a parade, j) uses a dryer to pop bagged popcorn, k) thinks jousting is based on the verdict from the justice system, l) uses pamphlets as a fan, m) thinks a stag and doe is a hunting event, n) uses a parking meter to hang a coat while waiting in an outdoor line, o) does sit-ups and eats chips between sets, p) talks to you as though a puppy wagging a tail, q) doesn’t pay attention when playing monopoly, r) uses the communal bike rack horizontally rather than vertically, s) dresses up as a self-sewed gopher costume to present a post-secondary thesis about migratory patterns, t) spends time inventing songs by pressing multiple keys on a phone, u) has a decorative individual mailbox on their front lawn, v) eats roasted bell peppers for lunch, w) uses cue cards,x) conducts observational reconnaissance on neighbours who litter, y) has Alfredo shells in a purse, z) thinks Veggie Tales is a covert governmental health indoctrination for kids to eat vegetables, aa) believes that swiss chalet is a skiing resort. The spiritual point: there’s a lot of things in this life that are findable, if you look at a map, plan, you might reach there. In Jer. 29:13, seeking God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit earnestly can uncover wonderful things, that provides an increasing Divine understanding, which, by His Spirit, not only enables Divine life to others but also before our eyes, displays the living experiential knowledge of His governing powers. Countless outstanding moments in our lives, whereupon a drawn conclusion made would beyond a reasonable doubt be, that we were in fact, taught by the Lord. I’ll end with Psalm 119:18 + 2 Cor. 4:18

Prov. 16:3 + Psalm 119:133 + Gal. 5:25 NIV – In elementary school, we had an activity, where we took large foldable plastic shaped puzzle pieces, to make a submarine telescope that looked like a half-square shaped construction. The teacher gave us rectangular mirrors, where we had to position them, so that we could see the other side of the narrow scope. The Lord continues to help us know intimately, what His desires are (Hosea 6:3 + Phil. 3:10 + Prov. 2:6). It takes a REAL outworking of Matt. 6:33a, where it does feel simultaneously like something is attaching, and something is detaching (John 3:30). An inward spiritual value that is in succession, where our own lives, are transitioning, and it’s becoming evermore, the relationship of His life upon us + others (Gal. 2:20 KJV “not I” “but Christ”). 

ASV: Matt. 6:24 + James 5:3 + Luke 15:8-10 + 2 Cor. 5:15 + Romans 8:14 – I went to the Canadian Mint, during a school trip, and I still remembered how I waited + waited for that day to arrive. The tour lady was talking about how countries around the world had their own way of making money from issuing currencies; a percent from what the amount is worth minus the overhead production expenses. At one point in my life, I withdrew money in loonies, and made my table look like the coins from Scrooge in Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983). The ironic part about money includes the idea that we also determine its worth, whether we should spend time gathering its “value” and exchange that time spent for something else. In the Luke visual, it sounds like the lady is singular, she performs many actions herself, then later on, there is a Divine interpretation, over something that appeared as, perhaps an unrealized recurrence of our lives on earth. You would be surprised, as to how much the Lord is able to accomplish and make others alive, if we ask Him to correspond the orientation of what we treasure to precisely what He treasures (Eph. 5:15 ESV, Matt. 6:21 <-reminder-> Luke 12:34, Psalm 1:2, 16:8). Our thankfulness changes, we begin to be so joyful that God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit used us, to change other lives (salvation, sanctification, and more), the appreciation of real value, continues, as people are encouraged to help others store up treasures, in Heaven (Romans 12:10, Matt. 6:20, 7:24). I’ll end with Psalm 98:2, Eph. 1:18 + Heb. 10:35 + Phil. 3:20

John 15:4, 1 Peter 2:2, Matt. 16:24, Acts 20:24, Romans 8:14, 1 Cor. 2:12, Eph. 1:18, 2 Thess. 1:11, Heb. 12:2, 1 Chr. 29:12 – I was at a Christian conference, and during the Q&A period, I asked the speaker, if he used the 2-in-1 shampoo. God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit desires that we have a listening and an understanding heart, it’s a repeated narrative in so many parts of the Bible. At prima facie, that would suggest that we need to with Him, deny the temptations of taking sides that parts from Him, we must stand + remain with the things of the Spirit because there is a Heavenly course to be finished here. Where He does frequently superintend to lead us away from ineffective paths because that isn’t good for the overall Body of Christ. I’ll end with Isaiah 40:28, Psalm 119:105, 1 Samuel 17:47, Gen. 50:20

John 8:12, 2 Thess. 3:3 – Our mother was on the telephone, somewhere in the house. As kids, my sister and I took the dish soap bottle, turning the kitchen floor, into a makeshift sparkling ice rink. The broom and the dustpan were in my hands, I slid forward, like a peewee curling champion. As my mother re-entered the kitchen, with curious mellifluous sounds, growing louder, her face wasn’t bathetic. We were soaked with semi-green clothes and laughter. The spiritual point: it isn’t a very nice thing at all, for the Adversary and His Hosts, to take action, in influencing waywardness to deprive and beset us from knowing personally; this very marvellous life with Christ, and how marvellous His Life is. If you can picture someone turning on a light switch, in the middle of the night, while you are asleep, and then you are awake. It’s a similar idea of a wake-up call, that we can be unalert and unmindful of the darkness (1 Peter 5:8 NIV + Phil. 2:5). The Lord’s many wonderful displays of His love toward us -> a faithfulness in guarding us from a bad state that isn’t the fullness of Who He is. His Light can be adverse to our flesh, Saul of Tarsus felt that with his eyeballs but the sequence of His Life wasn’t separated from that Light, which eclipsed his eyes into something Saul, probably wouldn’t have initially imagined seeing afterward. I’ll end with Eph. 1:17-18

Matt. 7:7, Rev. 3:20-22, Jer. 17:10 NKJV – When I was in middle school, we got to send candy grams to each other for valentine’s day. I finished a batch and I couldn’t think of something witty to say to my friend, so I suggested that she looked like me. When she saw me, she hit me and claimed that she doesn’t. I told my other friend that he looked like a giraffe because of his birthmarks. God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit does show us openings for His Life, to bring about fruitfulness in our decision-makings with Him, places where His sufficiency is needful, thereby, “striving according to His working which works in me mightily” -Col. 1:29 NKJV

KJV: Romans 12:1-2, Gal. 5:24-25, 1 Cor. 10:31-33 – My friend from kindergarten, his dad was into cars, he had a really vintage vehicle that in a way, felt compatible with his character. When my friend got his driver licence in high school, there was a floor mat near the brake pedal, that prevented him from stopping properly. So he crashed into a tree, rather than continue to involuntarily accelerate into someone else’s house. He walked out fine. He called his dad, and when his dad had found out that his beloved car was demolished, he hung-up on my friend, abruptly in the middle of a call. There is something spiritually fitting and correct about sacrificing personal interests (friendships, sentiments, etc) toward someone + others because that will prove to be, holy for the Church, generationally.

Psalm 66:16 KJV – I want you to think of the storyline of your life, 5 ups and 5 downs, now, identify to me verse(s) that compel you, for each of those events; vice-versa. I am showing you, that your testimony is very interesting, and that is a creative process. People watch tv and movies, they want to hear a story. Let’s hear yours with Bible verses. It’s a good practice for evangelism.

KJV: Luke 16:10, Acts 11:23, Phil. 3:17, 2 Cor. 6:17, Gal. 6:9, 2 Thess. 3:5, 1 Tim. 6:11, 2 Tim. 3:16-17, Titus 2:7, 2 Peter 2:9, 1 John 5:4 – When I was really young, my sister had a short-lived interest in eating salads. My mother would grow edible vegetations. She would describe her day, with health themes. At first, it was difficult for her, to pass, upon eating junk food, even after exercising. Those obstacles were gradually removed. Spiritual point: with His leadings, let’s be faithful in helping people overcome temptations + paths that are bad for their relationship with Christ, pray with them, ask the Lord to change each other’s ways to His.

KJV: Psalm 119:130, Luke 11:28, Acts 17:11, Isaiah 40:31, Gal. 5:22-23, Eph. 2:10, Col. 3:16, 2 Thess. 1:11, Psalm 119:37, Daniel 11:32, Matt. 7:24, Romans 12:11 – Someone I know was significantly less picked on, when his other friends banded with him, and they would move together with so much less fear, as a group, when they could. By His Spirit, it is a spiritual characteristic to let entry of God’s Word into our lives, His life does teach and make anyone yielded, continually learning + increasing in the purifying renewal of their mind through His strengthening life. An extraordinary mention is the reality of how much exceeding might of His, is there, what use to cause us to faint, trip, be weary, no longer have the same effect. That’s a very wonderful part about growing in the measure of Christlikeness, we are discovering, the functioning Powers of God (1 Cor. 1:24).

Deut. 8:2 + Romans 8:28-29 – If you were left in the wilderness, would you survive? I like to think of a nice camping place, as a house, with a working bathroom, a shower system, some outlets, etc. In case, there are snakes, mosquitoes, predators + other stuff. God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit has to toughen us up spiritually, through uncomfortable appointed settings. I’ll end with “not I” “but Christ” – Gal. 2:20 KJV

Psalm 119:105 + Gal. 5:25 NIV – I remember some school subjects left the students unresolved, the feeling of more questions than answers, for the lessons. Gestures that made things more confusing, and with a health monitor, you could feel some indication of your heart-sinking. There are so many journeying places, where His light of life resides, and we do discover His Life, in accordance with His Word, guiding us inside + out.

2 Cor. 3:16-18 – On one occasion, I went on a tour bus and fell asleep, during most of the guided tour. Look at those verses, as one step to another. In a sanctification perspective, what we will find is that God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit does liberate us from so much of the unspiritual that holds us down. He helps free us from those demonic unholy chains that fatigue us; with a design of using us, more and more yielded to Christ, and less + less yielded to sinful practices, etc (John 3:30), to help us + others, by His Spirit (Eph. 4:13).

1 Cor. 1:2 + Psalm 145:18 NKJV – There was something mysterious and unique about that place, that the longer I stayed, I felt more familiar with why, I was there. My glasses reflected the foggy dusk but the real understanding was beneath, that wasn’t seen on the surface level. It would be helpful for administrations + others to look at the times and situations, where it was encouraged to call upon the Name of the Lord.

Matt. 9:36, 19:16 NKJV “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” John 17:17 – What would it be like, if we were on the other end, receiving questions about people’s lives, and why things are significant to them? There are moments in our lives, where something happening stands out, similar to what many characters had to experience in the Bible. It is worth being still and seek God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit, as to why you have a specific network of people around you (Eph. 1:17-18).

Isaiah 26:3 “keep him,” Psalm 51:10, 2 Cor. 13:5, John 14:26 – as a toddler, I was told to memorize a Bible verse from my Sunday school teacher but those words were different to pronounce than my eating + other words. We were in a small classroom and people would huddle around the teacher to recite their verses, I identified Jesus, as a “lifesaver,” and people laughed at me. As years passed by, I was helping my sister prepare a quiz that she was making for Sunday School, about the weight of muscle vs. fat. In Romans 12:21 + Heb. 3:6, there has to be a continual spiritual reminder and Christlike progression -myself included, in realizing which team we are on (1 Tim. 4:12, 2 Tim. 2:22). I’ll end with 1 Thess. 4:7, Eph. 2:10.

Luke 5:17-39, Heb. 6:1 “let us go on,” 1 John 3:2-3, 2 Cor. 7:1, Heb. 12:14, 1 Peter 2:2 “grow thereby,” 1 John 2:6, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 “the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable,” “that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together,” Titus 2:11-12 “teaching us to deny ungodliness,” Psalm 119:9, Romans 6:11 -as a toddler, I use to watch cartoons, where characters would sometimes hang their tongue at the side of the mouth, suggesting defeat or something worse or etc. One day, my dad was napping with his tongue out. Consequently, I was picking dandelions and crying. Then several weeks later, he had understood better that I had a child’s mind, which persuaded his mischief to make ghost sounds and laugh, trying to scare me. We can approach Christ with spiritual paralysis but sometimes, it takes us to bring others to Him because people are just so exhausted in their spiritual lives, that it becomes a requisite for us to roll up our sleeves, and yoke with Him, by His Spirit, to accomplish that. From Him, I have found that this pursuing of Jesus, as a desiring growing mode, will want to make what is spiritually broken in ours + other people’s lives, alive and further working again in their functioning places, in the Body of Christ. I’ll end with Gal. 6:2

Philemon 1:6 + Proverbs 11:30 KJV – We had just exited the grocery store that sold exotic types of food. My sister was holding the bags of mostly items that she preferred and she slipped on an icy pavement. My mother told her not to cry, and I knew it was pointless. So almost being 20, she began what sounded like the loudest child in the nursery. I motioned my hand near the entry way to the road, slowly exhaling, suggesting to pick me up there with the vehicle. With the gradual accumulation of crumbs, from eating the food in the car, the balances of her devastation no longer weighed her down. In Phil. 2:1, it is worth to dwell upon with the Lord, about the opportunities of executions for more effectual Christlike fellowships, upon existing and/or new areas that His light shines upon (Heb. 10:24-25 + Acts 2:42).

Psalm 119:105 – God’s Word also conveys actions, it does bring about the desired effects of what He desires for us but in this world, there are too many flickering distractions that hyperfocuses us to ominous pathways of false lanterns, which the Bible warns against. I’ll end with Col. 1:28 NKJV

2 Cor. 4:6 – I use to eat cheese a lot, and rather than cut them into thin slices from the bar, I would cut them into larger segments, to save time. I found a faster way, I just took mouse bites from the cheese brick, and I was told to stop. The Life of Christ bears the marks of a triumphal livingness and rich freshness, I was thinking about what this “life” touches, the otherwise of scenarios, helping us spiritually visualize His Words better, that use to be a distant object in meaning, before. The verse “not I” “but Christ” – Gal. 2:20, where there is the temptation to read the Word out of our own intuition and not being vigilant in that area. If we look at years before till now, using the x-axis of yielding to Christ, it does appear true -> “The Spirit is willing”, “but the flesh is weak.” -Matthew 26:41b. Remember the weakness of the flesh (Zech. 4:6b). Yielding to Christ, uniquely leads to more of Christ Himself.

Phil. 3:12-16 – In elementary school, we use to compete frequently, seeing who would finish first, in the multiple choice tests, who would be the fastest to first lineup to go back into the school, when the bell rang. People would have a glamour to certain titles like that. For example, if you got a higher mark than someone else who holds that title, that would be a benchmark that you are smart or some striking trait. In those verses, we do need to behold upon, factoring in and apprehending continually with much Christlike laborious perseverance “the things of the Spirit.” We just test ourselves against other’s successes, far too often that alienates ourselves, I’ll end with Gal. 5:17 + Romans 8:6.

2 Cor. 13:5 – I went to the CNE, and saw some exhibits, someone was using a bunch of rocks, to balance them out in a way that looked like a defiance of physics. When I personally look back, I think about the emphasis of “carrying.” What needs to be further looked upon, to understand and to ensure that we are all functioning in our proper place, myself included, in the Body of Christ.

1 John 1:1-3 + 2 Corinthians 13:14 – there are times in my life, where I realize that I didn’t come across something by chance, there is the arranging of planning involved, a Divine impression that wonderfully led me to somehow a deeper interaction with God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit + the Bible. The events achieved something that connected Him and I, in such an unexplainable way, that multiple surrendering to a Divine hierarchy from situations became apparent, something outside of this timeline had the ultimate grand narrative.

2 Cor. 12:9 – My sister use to braid my hair, when I was younger. It provided our mother with insight about our characters, at a young age. At times, the disciples of Jesus had heightened revelations about themselves, suddenly and sporadically, something is grasped, truths trickle from the beginning and the end of a scene. I want to end with Zech 4:6b + 2 Corinthians 1:8-10 NLT “we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God,” “and he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.”

Deut. 6:5, 1 Kings 18:21, Hebrews 12:2-3 – I held out my hands with glittering coins, I loved going to the convenience store, as a child. My parents gave me extra money, before a church retreat. The pastor’s child was a super goody-goody, so I showed him some candies, where he read a package, and was unfamiliar with that type of food. I could tell because he opened the Nerds candy improperly, it’s suppose to be from the top two tabs with two different dividing colours. I showed him a portable nintendo system I had, and he was more frequent with books, by the way he handled and seesawed the device. I just remember it felt like two characters that you would see on that Are You Afraid of the Dark (1990) show, just very opposite but somehow our differences would be complementary in the storyline. In Colossians 2:2 NLT + Daniel 11:32b NKJV, it is worth to ask the Lord about complementary ministries, where a further increase of God is to be eternalized (Col. 2:19 KJV).

2 Cor. 3:17-18 – Marquee signs flickering upon the remnants of bottles, a pulse of serene timelessness in the air, my friend spoke with protest about rarely being invited to birthday parties. He was playing indoor mini-putt in a mall, and opted to hit the ball, as hard as he could, then hearing a shattering sound. We went to a computer festival, we saw various kiosks there, one was an environmentalist selling butterflies in frames. So my friend said, “oh, I’m calling Greenpeace!” He was one of those friends where you don’t skip parts of a book, when his name appears. I’ve been spending a lot of time on 2 Cor., wondering what our lives would be like, mine included, if we substantiated more of the living + powerful Bible, through asking, what have we skipped (Matt. 7:7 + Heb. 4:12 KJV)?

Gen 50:20 NLT – I use to play a game, where I got to mine resources, to build stuff with. What resources of situations, from your life, that you can ask God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit to help shape and reshape you into the spiritual good of Eph. 4:12-13?

1 Cor. 3:16 + Col. 2:19 + John 16:33 ESV – when I use to teach children ministry, the Lord taught me a lot through them, I guess that they made me silly but I learned patience, compassion, understanding that people may need help in their lives and that might be unavailable, and more. One day, a child invited me to have a meal with his family, the typical remarks were made about how wonderful the place is, upon entry. The mother was telling me how they do well, I saw a portrait of her son with a diagonal embossing indicating that it was a sample. You never know, what Christ is trying to overcome in your life, so that through His Life in you, God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit can overcome other people’s inward impoverishment (John 10:10b + Isaiah 64:8). Don’t lose out on those opportunities!

Eph. 2:22 – when I was in university, I looked upon the moving buses, during the night skies, and I thought it would be a good idea to let my narrative run wild, the ambience of the bus ride, the reality of that moment in time, how things touched like the bus cord, the air, what was unrelated that could begin a new storyline (grocery store, etc). Well, I missed my stop. In that Eph. verse, I want you to imagine, the Spirit of God, putting together, assembling; I need you to feel these words, “not I” “but Christ” -Gal. 2:20. Ask Him, to help you abdicate what is of “you” and for Him to fulfill the fullness of Christlikeness in your life. Close your eyes. VERY SLOWLY, picture touching each one of these words, “I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one.” -John 17:21. You see the vastness of His presence in those words? Do it again and again x+! Can you discern that immensity of His Life? My inward is so illuminated. You see how LIVING the Bible + Christ is?

Heb. 4:12 – In elementary school, the teacher told the class to submit their work in cursive writing, so I had to look at the alphabet pictures on the walls, to understand how to do that. It is a good practice, to read any verse, and try to share something about that, with others, by His Spirit. There is power there.

Heb. 13:8 – the gliding fades of starlight, magenta waters outlining the horizon, trees glittering, from the limestones. I love those crystalline evening skies, creased and uncreased, as we share the same earth. If you look at various generations within the Bible and the problems they struggled with + see God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit’s responses. A very important reflection for administrations.

2 Thess. 3:1 + John 17:17- I was listening to the snowfall, my pupils glittering, at the powder sugar from the starry clouds. The frost on the window corners of houses, appeared as polished jewels. My sister’s enthusiasm toward seeing the gleams of potato chip bags, from our mother’s backseat groceries, prevented her from waiting till the car parked, while she opened the car door. I was guessing that our mother would have to go grocery shopping again, a few hours later. I want to concentrate on the point of the Adversary and His Hosts, exhausting significant effort, in doing what they can, to prohibit + impose limits upon sharing the Bible amongst us + others, to unspiritually trip people up, to create tragic possible detours for unfaithfulness unto Christ. This needs prayer and action, for making the Word, travel farther + farther, in all of our interactions. Keep sharing verses with each other, in our conversations, to a growingly higher rate, daily. Sanctification is awesome! THIS IS A MAJOR VULNERABILITY.

Eph. 1:17-18 + Job 42:5 – The mirage of heat that day, made the rays of sunlight look like fluttering ribbons. It was lunchtime, as I was walking toward the patio table, the summer fruits became more distinguishable from the background flowers in the garden. It’s so beautiful, that when we do call on His Name (verbally or thinking or both, etc), you can recognize Him, oh it’s so wonderful, isn’t God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit worth sharing to other people?

Gen. 1:1, Rev. 22:13 – Let’s say informally that all of the books in the Bible, started independently, all simultaneously. Picture each one, at a starting line for a race, then they all ran to the finishing line. Wouldn’t that save more time? Our own executions and God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit’s execution of objectives can be very different colours.

Proverbs 3:5 + Eph. 1:17 + Phil. 3:7 + Heb. 10:38 – I was talking to one of my coworkers, I didn’t let him finish his page, he was reading some novel with a highlight pen, and the way he spoke, sounded like he wanted an answer, regarding the whereabouts of Jesus, from all those years. I do wonder of all the times Christ was actually there in our lives, and what He was trying to get us to recognize but how much we lost out of Him because of the gains of this world. I’ll end with Mark 8:18

Phil. 1:6, Romans 8:28-29 – If you look at situations, as a mystery, for example: what is the root cause of people doing something? There can be a zombie movie, where someone bites someone else, and that’s a catalyst. Continually yielding to His Spirit, you will find that there is this desiring need of His to touch upon a negative state in someone’s life + others, and to change that into a more steadfast Christlike expression. At times, we “see” that we didn’t “just” arrive to a situation, a Divine initiative led us there because we were keeping in step with His Spirit, and responding to His movements. Our own plans can be “coincidently” sidelined, similar to the spontaneous life of the disciples with Christ. Such are the stories of our relationship with Him. I’ll end with Luke 9:23

Eph. 4:20-21, Gal 6:8, 2 Cor. 7:1 – A long time ago, my friend worked as a corrosion specialist of sorts, she had to look at how overtime use of elements would gradually prevent the reactor from working at full potential. Modelling and other mapping perspectives helped her provide instructions to facilities. Another story: when I was in university, the professor indicated that there is enough food to end world hunger but the problem was distribution. The spiritual counterpart: there are so many matters that must be unlearnt, stuff we absorbed and were taught that continually entices us to panteth after these false cisterns of the world that have no Life in them. There are so many unfortunate consequences, as we keep trying to engorge ourselves in the filthiness of what is unholy. Christ does care about you, where you do in fact, see the Fruit of the Spirit growing from this Christlike maturation process. We have these self-manufactured foundations that grieves the overall eternal perspective of a full-functioning patterned Church. So God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit has to take steps to address those with us (Gal. 5:25 NIV). I’ll end with a sobering verse that can hopefully further awaken us -> Romans 6:13.

Gal. 5:16 – I looked at the diaphanous dessert like gazing at a fishbowl. We were on our way to watch a cavalcade, my friend used his camera, as an experienced cineaste. I deracinated his coat and we got moving again. What’s interesting about that verse is a reminder that needs to be a reminder, expressed in modern language because operating in the flesh is spiritually unprofitable.

Psalms 90:12 + James 1:22 + Matt. 9:36, 25:14-15 – I was looking at the patches of dirt upon a farmer’s field, where the blistering sunlight had turned them into shapes of pancakes with cracked edges. My friend and I were in a vehicle, we were off to a convention, he was saturated with significant merriment that he spoke, as if he was turning pages with his fingers while driving. I asked him, if maybe I should just go home. With much aplomb, I indicated to him with money in my hands while we were waiting in line that this would be an investment in our friendship. We attended a workshop, where I outlandishly laughed at a joke that a speaker made with considerable volume, she ended up stopping the presentation and made allusive remarks about my monomaniac acuity. It was really an anodyne situation. It’s worth investing time in the people of your ministries (Eph. 4:12-13). This is an important daily ask, also. Matt. 25:26 NIV can be a warning, for example: I’m too lazy to………

1 Cor. 10:11 – I have tried many simulations that apply to real-world settings, they attempt to manufacture various situational responses. The spiritual counterpart: I told my mother that I wished one of the Gospels was longer, and she suggested that I was unable to use all of that single book of the Gospels, in my lifetime. We both had different views: I was talking about how I wished there were more pages because it’s such an interesting read, and she was talking about applications. We need to constantly ask Christ, everyday, to help us use, what was put together in the Bible, by His Spirit. I’ll end with Matt. 9:37-38.

2 Cor. 12:10 – I remember how exciting it was to travel to the United States of America, with me and my cousins, as kids. We could buy stuff, treats that we haven’t seen before, we had fanny packs and even a few coins for those prize slots. My uncle bought an RV, the cooler was packed with items, and I had family visiting also, so we all went. One of them decided to wander around in the RV, since he was accustomed to going on buses but the RV dynamic was different, the whiplashes felt more severe, turns can be noticeably strong, and when breaking occurs -something could break, if unseated. With the way my dad drove, if you see tire streaks on the road, a few of them were probably him, back where we lived. So my cousin got carsick so badly that we had to borrow a garden hose to shower him off, from a kind American and I rarely ate gumbo soup, again. I want you to be okay, with the idea, that there are places within our lives, which the Lord has to use situations, to specifically expel and decrease tendencies that unspiritually leads us, for the interest of Christ + the Church. When my cousin walked toward the RV, after getting all cleaned-up, he incorrigibly burped.

Psalm 133:1 – In university, I tried to filibuster a tutorial class, where the large class was segmented into groups. I answered a question, and I tried to take up as much time, as possible. Using a sanctification point of view: God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit addresses 2 Cor. 10:5 in our lives, there are so many places that exalts itself against His interests but as those are being rectified, we do see a more sure and steadfastness in the unity of who He is, in the Body of Christ.

Isaiah 55:8-9 – a long time ago, someone I know finished her doctor’s appointment, she could see differently, certain colours of blue light – an apparent difficulty, sensitivity to perceptions, I asked her if she could see dead people. If you look at water, there’s a course, it can speed up, strengthen, break stuff down, decide what way to go: narrow, wide, and more. When I was younger, I pictured my life a certain way, I even made a joke about being a bank robber. As we can see, the Lord pictures our lives differently, we probably wouldn’t have pictured. Tell me, to see the Lord exceedingly glad in displaying His faithfulness to other people through Christ in us, so that they can have a closer fellowship with Him, is it worth it (1 Cor. 1:9)? I’ll end with Psalm 119:90 ESV + Gal. 5:25 NIV.

Isaiah 66:1-2 KJV “where is the house that ye build unto me?” – In gym class, I tried jogging while holding my breath, and it didn’t work out. Physiologically, I think that’s probably why to this day, my eyelids can’t sync, when I blink. We are expected to breathe, have the right footwear, all these things in place. Throughout the Bible, God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit has a burden for people, subsequently; this is a mindset that He wants us to have, also but this is an area that seems to be a repeated reminder, as I was reading through. I want to end with these two verses, as prayer items in the scope of a daily increasing desire for His desires -> Eph. 2:21-22 “builded together,” 2 Cor. 13:5 “examine yourselves.”

Psalm 16:8 KJV – My sister had an unexplained absence, my parents were worried, I reassured them that the selectiveness of my sister, when it comes to food would be too costly for the kidnappers. It turns out that she was at a plaza with her friends. In our ministries, it is a very good daily ask, to say “Heavenly Father, let me set you before me, thank you, I ask in Jesus Name!” I thought she was being inconsiderate because she didn’t invite me, and she likes me.

Heb. 10:22 + Psalm 43:3 KJV “O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles” – My parents told me a story that I vaguely remember about how my toddler sister was watching the consumption of food across another table, when they were dining at a restaurant. Since she was a toddler, she wanted a particular dish. Something about how she ended up getting that free dish because she had an unrelenting desire. In Eph. 3:8 + 1 Thess. 2:2 + 2 Thess 1:11-12, focusing on the subject of unbelievers for this point, ~they are looking for “riches” in this world, we need to lead them to the correct riches of Christ. I’ll invoke Proverbs 11:30, and say that the verse in Psalm, can also be possibly viewed for bringing people to Christ, the way it sounds. There is this evil conscience that does exist when we conduct our ministries, where our minds are knotted about with thoughts, we need to constantly + steadfastly, ask the Lord to change what we think. By His Spirit and for His glory; this is an area that we need to always work our faith in because that can continually further empower + remove limits to ensure that we are fulfilling His good pleasure. I’ll end with Numbers 20:11-12.

Col. 1:11 + Heb. 10:23 + Isaiah 26:8 – My coworker a long time ago had to calibrate and recalibrate instruments for monitoring. It was something that seemed stressful but she explained to me the benefits of finding a better job with that experience. What may seem like an imbalanced exposure of a situation in your life, can be used to help balance out our brothers and sisters and/or believers to be -> into greater Christlikeness, if we see the derived spiritual value of what God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit is doing (Eph. 1:17-18).

Phil. 3:7-8 + 2 Cor. 1:9-10 – examining emerging details that identifies the spiritual counterpart to a situation can be more spiritually-effective. There are threads of stories in my life that make sense years to decade(s) later that were necessary for the larger eternal setting from the pursuit of God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit. It’s important to pray about Eph. 4:23.

1 Cor. 10:31, Phil. 1:9 – The moonlight shone upon my head, I looked at my selfie, my hair looked like an illuminated crescent moon. As some of us have experienced in our lives, there are greater points, to just the verdant environments that we are in. We are learning with God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit to increase the spiritual emphasis upon how something can make us + others more Christlike and de-emphasize seeing matters without a Biblical narrative + God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit, by His Spirit.

Prov. 3:6 NIV + 2 Cor. 10:5 – I want you to picture your life as a filmstrip, which stories actually matter to you and which ones are deeply ineffective; for the amount of recurring time spent upon each? How have those stories impacted you? I want you to take the top 10+ of them that have altered you in a negative way, and ask the Lord to intercede in addressing those matters with Christlike changes. Keep praying for those items, on a daily basis, add more also.

Heb. 10:35-39 – When I was a child, my sister wanted a world famous backpack, it was really popular, so it became sold out in many places. She was benighted with disappointed that she couldn’t be part of a movement. My mother’s friend told my mom about how a store had a display backpack that my sister could have, though it has been muffled-up. She was begob about it and she had happy tears. She was in a Bible reading competition with her friends and felt that God wasn’t being fair to her but that became a vanished emotion with the way she slung her bag with zest. I was bespectacled, taken from my dad’s reading table, pretending to further examine the glow of her bag. There are things in this life that we often do unfortunately blame God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit for. I want us to trace out how much exhausting effort God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit expends upon diverging our steps from compassing about in the world in itself, and helping us discover the actual value of Christ (Col. 3:2, Romans 8:6, Gal. 5:25, Phil. 3:14).

Heb. 12:15, 2 Cor. 4:1 – The sun was glimmering through my eyelids, like it was trying to hurt those cones in my eyeballs. I asked my mom, what the point was of going plant-hunting, as I chewed a Bánh mì while talking with bits coming out of my mouth like a derelict. She likes to go through flyers looking for specific vegetations, as though a pirate with a treasure map. I asked her further regarding the plants being deceased anyways, what’s the point of going through this again. Winters are really tough in Ontario. I like chewing with my mouth open, it helps me enjoy the echolocations of what I am eating. Spiritual point: you might be asking yourself, ‘why this?’ There are many times, where the courage of our faithfulness in Him is being shaped, so Eph. 4:3 + Heb. 10:24 can be further expressed in a deeper way, for us to recognize, follow, and serve Him; and that will turn out, if we are cooperative with Christ, very Life-unifying, indeed.

Heb. 3:15 + Romans 8:26-29 – I use to be part of a band, and we had to wakeup early in the morning, for a part of the week, for a very long period, to do a presentation at an amusement park. The music teacher would ask me to play certain keys. She would then take a baton and point while I played. It’s like that with the Holy Spirit, there are so many refusal areas, whereupon the further expression of Christ has been inhibited but He has the touch. We prayed about something that He helped us pray about and as a result of His intercession, we are more like Him (Luke 22:32).

John 15:16 – Why are there villains in a story? We use to play a game in elementary school, where we treated someone like a fugitive, so we pursued them. During gym class one day, I was out in the field, and I got the ball, instead of throwing it to my teammates, I ran all the way to tag the person out before she got to homeplate. Of course, people were unhappy. What is at stake here? There is an interesting way of looking at what fundamentally is there, after being opposed, as though those opposing clues, led to a core matter, than just the opposition in itself. I’ll end with Matt. 7:21b.

Matt. 7:24-25, Heb. 12:28-29 KJV, John 8:12, 10:10, 3:30 – “Très Bon!” That day I tried to make my room like a vortex experience, I got the fan + the hairdryers. I invited my sister with ardour and her eyes appeared askance at my face. With the splendour of a magician, I swung the door open, while the door thudded against the closet. She left under 10 seconds, unimpressed. Spiritual point: a real challenge for us is the idea of enduring and detaching ourselves continually from the non-building blocks upon our individual and corporate Testimony of Christ, will God’s Word continually add to our frame, or will the deposits of the world, take growingly larger residence to dissuade us from our increasingly full liveliness of Christ (Matt. 24:13)?

Heb. 2:1 + Gen. 22:14 + Matt. 5:15 – My sister use to sew food items on portraits to minimize reminders to my mother of what she wanted to eat. Potatoes use to be a really big thing for us, fries, mashed, even desserts if you mash them with sugar and fry them with other stuff. We could also season them with stuff from bulk barn, so that created an interest for us, we drew pictures of menus, and it was a lot of fun. There are different formats for ministries: Paul also wrote, Jesus also did field trips, Job’s suffering drew his friends to him, and etc. It is worth the reflection: how will we array the provisions of God, uniquely, the way He has fashioned us?

Heb. 13:8 + 2 Cor. 1:21-22 + Gal. 5:25 “by the Spirit” – That church retreat was something else, opening those partially busted screen doors. Interspersed upon the metal roof were accelerating and decelerating drops, the collision of ingredients that make the ballet of rain possible. We were marooned indoors, until the rain slowed down, ghostly breaths in autumn darkness, the interactive Life of Christ, that I knew was there. How is the Lord changing the future scenes of your life? Why was this current setting required? Within the Bible, we have the luxury to look at how God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit changed the stories. I use to love reading the other side of cereal boxes. A giraffe gives birth to a ~giraffe. I want you to look at your heart, has that changed? That’s a very good thing. There is something about Him that is making us about Him, also (Zech. 4:6b “my Spirit“).

Rev. 3:15-16 -> Col. 1:29 – My hair was agleam with a new alimentary gel that I scooped on my scalp. I had an appetency to make my hair look different. I spent time sculpting the vistas and hills of my hairdo, some areas looked like grass, should I alter my hair to the colour of french fries? Get turquoise contact lens, and look alike to a super saiyan? My mother leaned her shoulder against the bathroom door frame, with her caffeinated drink; this was another uneventful routine of growing, later on that night, the moonless horizon, the chirping of crickets, I went to the usual church get together. When I had gotten home, my mother suggested that my hairstyle made me look that I lacked energy. I want you to ask yourself, how you got to this point of striving with so much Christlike energy? Whereas before, it seemed scaled down, the Vinedresser is at work (John 15:5).

Heb. 11:10 KJV “whose builder and maker is God” – We were in a club, where each person would bring an expensive snack to share a third with everyone. We would meet at a special place, talk about stuff that we couldn’t share with other people, and that created a bustling intrigue. So my other classmates created something called a “Cow Club,” with females only. Some of my classmates would call them different names, so for example, if someone had a name that started with a “J,” some of my classmates would call her “J-Word.” One of many wonderful things about watching the supremacy of the Holy Spirit’s work is seeing how much people are transitioning in: sermons, yielding, ministries, the growing of churches, and more. There is a uniqueness of His purpose and grace, that has a mysterious weaving power (Col. 1:18), the assembling of the consistency of Christ Himself. I’ll end with Eph. 4:12-13.

1 Peter. 4:12-14 + Col. 1:24 – When we were kids, my sister was singing to the water, and the waves recoiled back at her. We could see the streaks of the thunderstorm from faraway, I felt like adventure time, running to the vehicle, as if I was escaping something. My sister was reading a book, indoors. I was bored, so I ate the sugary-side of the mini-wheats and put the other side back in the cereal box. In our life with the Lord, He will teach us how to be spiritually effective again, again, again, again, again, and it keeps going. Going through the Bible, there are so many needed tension choices that articulate successful ongoing arrangements for us individually and corporately, in the Body of Christ. I’ll end with Phil. 1:6

Gal. 4:19 – I use to play indoor soccer with my sister, using a poncho, so I could block the ball better. So she would kick the ball harder, which would cause me to turn around and block with my back instead. For some new parents out there, you might be aware of how your children will react, to certain events. In the Bible, it is worth looking at select reactions, it reveals how much work has been done and areas that need to be further worked on.

2 Cor. 4:7-11 KJV – I was conversing with my mom + my sister about how my body processes noodles, and they were squirming their heads in discomfort with eyes closed in unpleasantness. If you look at the Bible, can you tell me a scene, where you expected a change to happen, before reading the whole plot? I guess you could say that it an was an “unexpected change,” to the model and occurrences of how we are programmed to interpret everything. Our histories provide us with neural activities and because of the non-Christian ecosystems that we were accustomed to, there are plot points for understanding the “assumed” menace, that might all together, be a lifeless backstory to what’s actually going on. We all need to have a John 3:30 mindset, myself included. There’s something else happening, the spiritual component that ought to be the reflexive scope.

Phil. 2:13 – My sister and I had a conversation about buying a bunch of random seed packets and throwing the seeds in a garden bed, to see all the unique stuff that would grow. Shopping with my sister has a quirkiness to it. At one time, her friends were watching The Little Mermaid (1989) and I kept laughing at specific moments that required their rebuke. If you think about growing up in a country and learning a new language, it can be like that, we are discovering a landscape that has all sorts of Christlike linguistic powers that can better: open our eyes, heal, help, support, address, love, + more. It makes us wonder, why Demonic Forces garner so much energy in influentially curtailing us from the Word.

Zech. 4:6b + Eph. 3:20 – A child in children ministry who has so much imagination was telling people some things. So I asked him, what he thought sin was, he suggested that it was pushing someone off the climbers + spraying mosquito repellant in someone’s eyes. He said other things but let’s keep this website PG-13. In our life with the Lord, there are these predefined mannerisms that as seen in the Gospels, breathes new light to how we can compass out of the reachable decaying items from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and changing our continual pathway away from those unspiritual spaces. It isn’t that God is giving you a hard time, in itself; the narrow road path with and toward Him is a significantly better transcendent route (Matt. 11:28-30 + Phil. 3:14 + Matthew 7:13-14 ESV + John 10:10).

Eph. 4:23-24, 2 Cor. 4:5,16, Heb. 11:27 – my friend was a hockey wiseacre, in elementary school, he knew the history of various teams very well. I drank my demitasse from my thermos, one day, I personally wasn’t too into sports but I would catch a few games, on tv. Some people in my class became obsequious to his hobbies, in order to part of that spotlight. Some of the other people were interested in different things, so for a while, there was a vicissitude between our friendships. Spiritual point: there are matters that require God’s power for what that means to His Son, things of the Spirit that must be grasped to account for what the Holy Spirit is seeking for His Church, whether that accomplishes our worldly agendas won’t be main the focus and we will require continual refocusing to the right spiritual eyesight toward the synonymous Life of Christ, as our life; instead (Philippians 3:10,14 NIV, Matt 6:33a, Zech. 4:6b).

Col. 2:3 – My sister and I use to dress up, in capes. We would invite our mother to our magic show, where I would enter into this two-door closet and come out in different clothes. Our mother would make grandiloquent gestures, as my sister and I bowed like accomplished magicians. I believe that our fellowship with Christ has unique, and yet very findable spiritual treasures, we are discovering that He is really interesting, someone that DOES attract the crowds seen in the Bible, something about Himself that does lead us, after all (John 10:3-4 ESV “leads them” + Romans 8:14). We are His own!

Isaiah 26:3 ESV – As a child, I wanted to make my day more interesting, so I unscrewed some bolts in my sister’s wooden bed. When my sagacious sister got home, I remember hearing a massive bang. I went upstairs and made a joke about how she ate too much, that her bed broke. The two length parts of the bed frame dented the hardwood so much, that it left like triangle shapes in the floor. To me, that was a resolution parallax, a mellifluous ending to the story of that day. The spiritual counterpart: being mindful of Christ, having Christ in mind, letting Christ be an ongoing renewal of our thought-process, as we contemplate Him more; let’s keep asking the Lord to stay on our minds on Him, in greater measure (Hebrews 3:1 ESV “consider Jesus” + John 3:30)

Eph. 1:18 – If you look at many tv shows and movies, characters have to overcome something, it could be an antagonizing force, or even themselves. For example: a character could have an issue with not being fast enough in a race, so there would be scenes of training involved. In our faith, the Holy Spirit can make clear connections for us to be increasingly Christlike successful in our callings from Him and for Him, if you look at an equalizer for music, the correct output clef of Christ that is so perfect (Romans 11:36). It leaves us wondering, the limitless magnitude of “the Spirit of God” – 1 Cor. 3:16.

1 Cor. 2:12, 1 Cor. 1:9, 1 Peter 1:6 – My sister was waving frantically at me, she was tasting a lobster pâté at a kiosk, in a Christmas event. She didn’t seem to pay attention to the saleslady’s backstory, as she tried different spoons of seafood products with unbridled giddiness. When we got home, she hurried to twist the jar open, and plated crackers. When she really enjoys her food, she tends to use some expression of air quotes, as she chews. In our Christian faith, the justifiable work of the Holy Spirit will always make this growingly deeper fellowship with Christ, WORTH IT ALL (John 16:21). He is good after all, when we questioned His goodness. I have to end with Acts 10:38 + Hebrews 13:8

2 Cor. 4:6, Jer. 31:33, 1 John 1:1-7 – My sister use to enter in a lot of vacation competitions, where she could get the family free travel tickets to places around the world. In many ways, when we share God’s Word, let’s say that the Holy Spirit is a tour guide, what adventure is the Lord leading you in your ministry to take others on? God/Jesus/The Holy Spirit showed the challenges of many situations that some others were able to write from their own hearts, the very experiences and testimonies, in parts of the Bible, that eternally edifies others. Share your experience of Christ with others! I’ll end with John 21:25!

2 Cor. 4:5 – my sister was railing tearfully in the car, after an unsuccessful time looking for a favoured collectible plush toy that she determined to be rare. I was desperately trying to survive, breathing out the window of the moving car on a highway because she didn’t brush her teeth. To my mother, this was a usual understanding of how my sister determined the world to be “cruel.” This pain was further expounded, when there was a suspicious chocolate cake with marshmallow inside, neatly packaged. I gave that to my sister, instead, and while she was eating, I asked her, “did it go bad?” The spiritual counterpart: I find that in this Christian walk, the phrase “for Jesus’ sake,” really stands out to me, how much of the world would change, if we ask the Holy Spirit to displace increasingly more of ourself, and live a life, “by His Spirit” – Zech. 4:6b + 2 Cor. 3:17.

John 3:30; 2 Cor. 3:5 + Romans 8:4 – when I was in grade 6, it was popular to wear army clothes as a fashion statement, we had a regimental idea, that we were one force. When we went to another school on a field trip, our teacher was so embarrassed that most of the boys dressed that way, that he repeatedly grieved, on multiple days. In earlier grades, we had to have the same watch brand, to be in a secret club with curious exchanges. Spiritual point: the Holy Spirit does show us, how enough He is, and how much of ourselves must be continually lessened, to increase His life to others, through us, so that we can “bring forth more fruit” – John 15:2.

Eph. 5:18 – My middle school teacher, during a lesson, abruptly suggested that someone near him in the food court one day was bragging about successfully escaping the cops that tailed the individual’s vehicle, by making “a 360 degree turn.” He claimed that the person didn’t understand math. The spiritual counterpart: let’s not arrive to the end-result of our day, where we aren’t pursuing Christ arrayed in the filling of our everything (Phil. 1:21).

2 Cor. 4:7 – my cousin and I spent time assembling sandwiches for ourselves, during a break we took, while doing an all-nighter, we were kids and anything fascinating occupied our time. He was under the assorted assumption that I was petty enough to eat his sandwich, so he took it with him to the bathroom. I do believe that for the ministries that the Lord desires for us to engage with Him, we are going through an outworking of realizing that “the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” I’ll end with John 3:30 + Eph. 1:18

Romans 8:17 – we were overlooking the schoolyard, anecdotes about what we could trade for lunch, his cheeks with peanut butter and jelly dregs, as his lunchbox was emptied of items. After lunchtime, the teacher had started a new program, where one kid could be a storyteller in the classroom and read to everyone, she also wanted to further relinquish her disciplinary duties, by allowing that storyteller to choose someone by their side to keep the class quiet. That day, I gave a friend of mine a snack. The kids were quietly seated, while he read to the class, I sat beside him, as if a royal jester, in a regal armchair. I finally noticed misbehaviour from one of my classmates sitting on the floor, “stop picking your nose!” Afterwards, the teacher told me to take a seat with the rest of the class, while my friend read his book. The spiritual point: this Christian life gets more wonderful, when we pursue Christ-glorified in other people’s lives, by His Spirit. I’ll end with Eph. 4:12-13!

Lam. 3:40 KJV, Hosea 10:12 KJV – I remember a long time ago, I had swimming class, and some kid in the other class decided to eat A LOT of ~dimsum prior to the lesson. I saw some stir-fry + colours that I didn’t know existed and I heard so many people exit the pool while screeching. I still remember the smell of the stomach acid. They took such a long time skimming out the pool and even after, people didn’t want to go in. It would be fair to say that he “saw” what didn’t work (Psalm 19:12 KJV, Jer. 4:3 KJV), one of many profitable recognitions was understanding that it wasn’t good for him (Psalm 32:3-5 KJV). It’s really good, when we see, the outworking of scriptures, we see how the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, and what we use to read + cooperatively learned, become part of who we are (John 17:17 + Romans 8:29 + John 1:14). Isn’t this more abundant life with Christ, justifiable, for what we went through (Job 42:3)? “For with thee is the fountain of life: in thy light shall we see light.” – Psalm 36:9 KJV. I’ll end with Matt. 11:30 ESV.

Heb. 3:13 + Matt. 3:8 – the skies appeared as a bunch of melted pastels together. I was looking forward to a director’s cut of a television show that I like, he was explaining what made a drama series engaging. He suggested that when the main characters got what they wanted, the plot loses its dynamic, so the show has to have conflict and a lot of it. When I was a child, it was popular for people to have their own basketball nets, so they could practice at home and show their skillsets, when the opportunity presented itself. I discovered how delicious potato chips were and I would bother my parents, as much as I could, during grocery time, to buy chips. My parents had a deal, that whoever pours the bag into two bowls, the other sibling could pick which one to take. I remember looking at myself in the bathroom mirror, ready for a church basketball activity day, I wore a shirt that had different basketball teams in the NBA. When it came time for the basketball game, I was very pimply. When someone passed me the ball, during the church game that took up the whole court, I didn’t catch the ball properly because I declined to train a lot, and the ball came into collision with one of my pimples, consequently, the zit residue splattered upon the basketball and people were so grossed out that they stopped playing for several minutes. The spiritual point: I highly recommend more Bible studies with each other, across different churches, more people within the church, communicate invitations, we can yield more to opening the cover of the Bible (Col. 3:16 NIV + Acts 2:42 NIV + Titus 3:8 NIV). Spiritual famines are just so real, we need to avoid that with the Holy Spirit’s help. Don’t discount yourselves, I’ve been going through a lot of your prayer guides, sermons, newsletters, you are super good. Keep seeking with the Holy Spirit to see the living waters that you can find with Christ, in the Bible, you never know who could use what you drew with the Spirit, from the well of Christ (Matthew 10:42). Water has so many applications, even a cleanser.

Phil. 1:12 + Matthew 9:1–8 – “Rise, pick up your bed and go home” “And he rose and went home” “When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God”- I went to the UK for a church thing, with my best friend. We were lost on multiple occasions. One day, we were really lost, and this guy that looked like the Lion from the Chronicles of Narnia came out of nowhere. He was near the water area for some reason. He had long golden brown hair and characteristically, he chose to wear a beige coat. I walked up to him and he said, “Hel-lo” in a British accent, he showed us a map and knew the area pretty well, we were well on our journey. Sin can really entangle + weight people down (John 5:14 + Hebrews 12:1 NIV). I am glad to see so many people enjoying their experience with the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:17). The Bible is such a beautiful book.

Deut. 4:39 NIV and 1 Chronicles 16:12 ESV – In Ontario, the further you drive North, away from the city, the shift of customs become more apparent. I remember the ferociousness of the July sun, my friend was joyless for a bit, while driving because I had crushed a spider with my thumb, on the interior of his new low km vehicle. The single traffic light overhead, pointlessly blinking red intermittently. My friend and I got into a very heated conversation because he was reversing while looking over his left shoulder, in a pedestrian dense area, and I screamed in a high pitch note that I hadn’t heard before. In turn, out of a survival instinct, he ducked hard like that Mario game where someone enters downward a green tunnel. Then around 10 minutes later, we continued talking nonchalantly, like nothing occurred. I was contemplating about Moses and King David + the bigger picture. The point: very broadly + generally speaking, Satan continually tries to make people “forget,” where God has to remind us to “remember,” like a continuous moving seesaw, in our minds. Judges 5:12 NKJV + Eph. 1:18 -> Let’s ask the Lord, daily, to remove the sleepiness from our spiritual sight (Luke 22:46 ESV), to increase our Christlike spiritual vision (John 3:30). I’ll end with Josh 6:2 ESV.

Gen. 7:24; 8:11 ESV, 9:20 NIV, Lev. 26:13, 1 Chr. 16:11 ESV – when I was a child, my dad told me a story about how growing up, his friend got electrocuted because he didn’t dry his hands, after doing the dishes to change a lightbulb, while the switch was on. My dad was emotionlessly casual while eating tomatoes with sugar and looking at me like that parent from the Berenstain Bears, he wiped his hands on his sun-faded shirt, claiming that it was laundry day, anyways. For those verses that I was dwelling upon that made me leapfrog to a gradually unrelated different contour: there is something about the way God appoints specific difficulties in our lives that more fully equips us with a “freshly” testimony. We become more accountable for His people, we are able to further proceed with what felt like having our feet stuck in unspiritual quicksand before (Hab. 3:19 ESV). There is a uniqueness about John 11:6, where at times, Jesus can make the situation so dire, that we turn to Him, more than we would’ve; and from that decision He made, it did in fact portend to something greater that couldn’t have existed by ourselves, apart from Him (John 3:6 NLT, John 6:63 and John 11:4b NIV). Of course, I’ll end with John 3:30!

Psalm 146:8 NLT, Matthew 11:30 NIV, Neh. 9:20 NKJV – In high school I had this friend that lost a ton of weight, that I barely noticed her, when a new school year began. She was very interested in a guy and wanted to impress him. What I realized about her, was that she stood apart from who she was. She assumed a persona that caused fatigue and inner unhappiness. I remember, as a child, asking my Sunday School teacher why people in the Bible had so much conversations with God, compared to that present time, I was in. She explained to me that because we are too distracted; she went into detail about how, she missed her quiet time with God, one day, and she felt conflicted about it + unhappy. When I meditate on those verses, if you look at them, as 3 storyboard scenes with those painted descriptors, what if those verses, suggested what life could be like with our growing fellowship with Christ, and we had to continually cooperate with letting Him “be preeminent” (Col. 1:18 ESV) + “fill all things” (Eph. 4:10 ESV)? I’ll give you an example: there was a period of my life, where I would spend ~4 hours a day, doing Bible stuff. I let Christ fill-up my schedule, as much as I could, even ~bedtime, I would read more. I would go to ministries, able to help people better through Christ, I want to help them. That was a really good lifestyle, as some of you are spending more time with the Lord, the past couple of months, don’t you find that to be the case, also? More Heavenly? Let’s yield to Him more time and way in our daily life (Psalm 90:12 NKJV -> Proverbs 3:18 ESV + John 14:6). In Phil. 1:21 KJV, let our life, be a Life for Him.

John 6:9 NIV – A child from children ministry asked if I could give him a “steak with a bun”, while I was teaching. I was thinking to myself, what would suggest that I have that on me, my pockets are flat, and that’s not an item that a normal person carries around. Teaching children ministry is a different logic. I want us to look at Mark 6:38: it is important for us daily to ask the Lord to help us discover and pursue a fuller expression of Christ in our lives with what spiritual abilities that He has given us (Matt. 7:7) + let Him go far and reach among many through us, as we yield to Him.  We can ask the Lord to outwork and reveal to us, Christ’s calling for us (1 Samuel 3:7 ESV, Eph. 1:17-18, 2:10). I would also recommend, that we have more spiritual food on hand from the Lord, what we read in the Bible, to share and talk about, more ingrained into our conversations.

Deut. 5:29 ESV, Joshua 24:24, John 6:10-11 – When I was a child, I would wonder what that food would taste like and guess the best dishes that my mom makes, as an idea. Following a simple command of Jesus can avail much, from Him (Ezra 8:22 ESV + Matt. 6:33a = Psalm 16:2 ESV). You never know how much our obedience to His orders could in the long-run provide spiritual food “to those who were seated as much as they wanted” – that is spoken with our generation in mind, sitting in front of electronics, and reading some Christian stuff (Hebrews 13:8, Psalm 33:11 NIV, John 21:15-17).

Eph. 1:18, 3:4 – Play this song on Youtube: “Once Upon A December (Piano Vers.)”, while reading this. I want us to look at a painting, “Past and Present, No. 1”, by Augustus Leopold Egg. What appears as a de-emphasis but has a relationship to holding the scene together? What can’t you unsee? We are going to look past the decorations of the painting, and examine for clues: a) I notice the symbol of a forbidden fruit b) house of cards, falling from a wrong move c) the portraits of the husband and the wife are separate d) lightbulbs in the chandelier look burnt out e) her bracelets look like handcuffs f) he’s making an angry fist-shape g) the door is suggesting an exit h) traffic light colours: red predominant (a stopping) i) the way the children and parents are looking, one toward the ground, the other mid-air (one child per parent) j) the dress of the mother looks deflated like a balloon k) a clock, time is up. So that briefly comes to mind. Now I want us to look at the story of Nicodemus, using as little detail, as possible -> the “night” part, only for John 3:2. These are the verses that compel me and I’ll explain: Ecc. 3:11 NIV, Jer. 2:13 NIV, John 8:12, Hebrews 13:8 + Psalm 33:11 NIV, John 6:35, Phil. 1:21 NIV. Unbelievers are looking for answers, they need to know, their interpretation to “live” for what the world can offer, is unsatisfactory apart from Christ. If you look at all the verses in the Bible, as a frame to a broader picture, one detail has an abundant amount of spiritual fundamentals. It is worth going over these “details” in the Bible with the Holy Spirit, that are often overlooked, yet intentionally arrayed by the Holy Spirit and carry so much mechanics toward handling situations with Christ.

Gen. 24:56 NIV, 1 Samuel 12:24 NIV, 1 Chr. 29:14 ESV, Proverbs 16:3 NKJV -> Gal. 5:25 NIV – I smiled: “More like Way Unfair”, while communicating to a customer service agent, over the phone, regarding a broken lamp that my mother bought. The lady laughed and sent her two, instead. On another occasion, I pressed the popcorn setting on the microwave, and put a bag of popcorn on a plate because I didn’t want the butter to leak everywhere. I noticed that the bag didn’t pop properly, despite pressing the button, specifically for that product. I then realized that the plate, absorbed a lot of the energy, that hindered from all the popcorn kernels, from being popped. The point is, let’s ask the Lord, to help us unmask our God-shaped distinctive individualities, the way He has wonderfully made us -> complementary to our callings, for the spiritual wealth of His Kingdom (Job 34:21 ESV <- Isaiah 64:8 NKJV + Deut. 8:18 ESV).

Luke 14:33 – During the summer time, a long time ago, I spent time with ~7 of my elementary school friends. My host friend lived near a convenience store and that was a nice accent to the gathering, it felt like real-life monopoly, we got money from our parents to buy junk food. At his place, I was upstairs in the tv area playing console games with my classmates, I would randomly stomp on the floor, as hard as I could, and my host friend downstairs said, “one more time, and you are going home.” Later on, my host friend left his messaging software opened on his PC, so my other friend began to ask people out using his login, and when my host friend found out, he shook his head and leaned against the wall. If I could combine all the tv dramas out there, what he did, was probably the best presentation of despondency. I can’t believe how hilarious that was. The way his pupils dilated, as if he found out that there was a rupture on a high-altitude hot air ballon ride, while onboard. What is the reason for us behaving the way that we did? We are all friends, that doesn’t help anyone. One of many things that tied us together, had to do with none of us having an adequate level of common sense. In Psalm 37:8 ESV, it’ll make more spiritual sense, if we ask the Lord -> daily <- to identify areas in our lives where we are tending to evil and to seek Him to help us forsake unholy patterns + unbiblical routines that have occupied our lives for far too long [“daily” + actively pursuing changes with the Holy Spirit -> a MAJOR spiritual power-move]. Dwelling on Psalm 78:8 ESV -> every time you use a mirror, do a prayer, whereby the Holy Spirit can make you be more characteristic of Christ, some examples could be: a) change my attitude toward (you decide) b) my mindset toward the Bible c) my time spent with Christ d) give me the strength to be increasingly steadfast and faithful to Christ e) something that occupies your thinking that is unhealthy. There is a considerable amount of untapped power, where we do this on a daily basis, reflecting where we inwardly strayed and ask the Lord to subtract what is unpleasing to Him (Luke 9:23 + John 3:30). I’ll end with 1 Samuel 30:6 NKJV, Deut. 10:21, and 1 Kings 6:12 NKJV.

2 Samuel 6:14 NKJV – when we were kids, my sister did a somersault, and that formed a giant hole in the drywall. I still laugh on and off, ~30 years later. I never saw my dad jump out of his seat like that before, like a jack-in-the-box uncoiled in a split second. His face appeared, as if he was diagnosed with the worst disease, while placing both hands on his head, in dismay.

Isaiah 55:8-9 -> Zech. 4:6b + Matthew 5:37 ESV – “I want to date someone smarter than me,” my friend looked at me while driving. I replied, “I don’t think that’s possible.” I didn’t comment at everything he said. Using a baseball analogy: you don’t have to swing at every single verse in the Bible. Let the Holy Spirit guide you into what ought to be shared, you can hit better spiritual “home” “run”s that “way”. I’ll give you an example, using your brand new deck of verses from the mmmm this is a good verse highlights + other ones + His leadings. Let’s try the story: The Prodigal Son, plenty of verses in there, I’ll also use Psalm 33:11 NIV and say, “hi audience! It’s important, by the Holy Spirit and following-through on Jesus’ leadership, that we make decisions that can help guide present + future generations back to the Father, instead of letting them stay adrift, as an alternate ending.” Notice how many verses are available there in that gigantic story but I don’t explain each one and just draw one point, then move on, if the Lord leads me to something else? We need to give the Holy Spirit latitude. Let Him instruct on what He wants us to do (Exodus 3:5). I would also like to include, that you ask the Lord to help you further embrace your unique Christlike individuality that God has made you to communicate your ministries, spiritually-effectively. Briefly: I crack jokes, I tell stories, and “somehow” that attracts a specific audience that would tune into Christian stuff + the Holy Spirit can grow them, using that outlet. Another example: I use to have a Sunday School teacher, that used science experiments, to communicate Biblical points.

John 1:14 + Gen. 28:16 – I want us to look at this painting “The Hunters in the Snow”, by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. You need a high resolution image of that while listening to this song on Youtube in the background, to fit my contemplative story narration “la petite fille de la mer – vangelis [slowed] [reverb]”. I would like you to zoom in, and take in the entire snowscape of the scene. Imagine exploring each town, walking through the cold air under the serene jade atmosphere. Would you climb a ladder? Would you look at the crowds of people? Warm your hands near the campfire? Would you glance at the crows in the trees? Travel near the mountainscape? Visit the town with merchant ships? If you see a book within the Bible, as one key on a piano, each additional book that you have opened, while you read the Bible, can hit more spiritual exploratory notes. Just like that painting, there’s more to discover than a small described scene of what you are currently reading about in one part of the Bible. If you want to invest in yourself + your ministry. I have provided a standard deck of verses for you here https://spiritualplating.ca/mmmm-this-is-a-good-verse/ . If you buy physical Bibles that are in those versions + pencil crayons with specific legends that can help you organize themes, and highlight them + more that you like, then when you prepare a message for a specific story for example (the prodigal son?), go through each highlighted verse from your deck of verses that are applicable, to explore more possibilities with the Holy Spirit. You will be astonished, as to how much was “unseen”. If you make a practice of doing that, and keep expanding your deck of verses, read 5+ chapters from each version a day while highlighting, you will be so fluent with God’s Word. Ask the Holy Spirit’s help all throughout. Everything by His Spirit.

1 Kings 19:11-12 NKJV and Psalm 46:10 “Be” -> “still” – My feet felt pierced from the large chunks of gravel, the rain pelting hard but manageable even without proper gear. The typical sizzling sounds found in a diner with seats that were upholstered from stories told. My quiet friend, and I were waiting for our Christian friend, gazing out the windows, she waved at us while slowing her vehicle to park. Later on, I looked at her cabbage rolls, my other friend smiling while holding his food to his mouth, till he finished laughing. I told them about a car rental, where I shifted gears randomly. I still remember what she said, “it’s so hard to live in the moment.” She was referring to thinking about the past and the future. The tone sounded like that was completely anaesthetizing the symmetry of her daily life. If I could characterize one way that I would view the work of Satan with a familiar movie scene, it would be the Wizard of Oz (1939), near the end where there is a man behind a curtain, using dials, levers, an amplifier and etc. Satan uses distracting elements, behind the scenes, extending our mental bandwidth; ask yourself, for what? In Genesis 3:1-5 NIV “your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God”, examine the way Satan in the Garden spoke to them about what they could be like? What tense does that sound to you? Let’s look at 2 Cor. 13:5 -> Hag. 1:5,7 (notice something?); the point: is Satan trying to dethrone Christ in your life and prevent you from somehow building-up the church with Jesus? Is the Adversary and His Hosts, attempting to get your mind to move on rapidly from the present tense to deter the regard of the spiritual value? Imagine, if the disciples in the Gospels, treated Jesus’ parables on a fast forward button or they just lamented on the past and future tense, ignoring the present tense, they would miss out on the spiritual architecture of the scenes that could be gleaned? Would they be confused about the Son of God’s way with them and say: ‘I don’t understand what you are doing, Son of God?’ That’s how we do often treat our lives with the Lord, in the kind of tempo where scenes are stuck in the mode of past and/or future tense, and that prevents us from being still in the present tense, to make sense of what He is teaching us (Psalm 46:1 NIV). Using Matthew 4:8-9, look at this situation impartially and neutrally: without knowing who Christ is and what Satan is about, just two people having a conversation. Why is Satan introducing misdirecting thoughts to Jesus? And is that what is going on with you? Do these “thoughts” result in the resistance toward God? Are your thoughts, present tense His thoughts -consistent with the Bible? Are you really suppose to be thinking that way (Isaiah 55:8-9)?  In Ecc. 3:11 + Hebrews 13:8, ask Him daily to help you “be” in the present tense, the “today” mode. There’s a frequency that needs to “be” “still”, the clamour of the external, the outward, the old nature senses that grabs our awareness and considerations. In light of this, with Matthew 6:34 -> John 1:11 -> Luke 24:21a (a possibility to be past and future tense minded -> while unknown that Christ was there with them in the present). I’ll end with Eph. 1:17 -> Luke 24:16.

Job 32:8 KJV – if you ever wonder where you ought to go, for your next vacation, I’ll say that Carcassonne is worth a visit, it is something dreamlike but real. A long time ago, I had a classmate that use to tease me a lot. One day, I asked her, if she wanted to become friends, instead of being mean. Her culture: an implication of a southern Spanish provincial. I didn’t realize how fascinating she was. We began having many conversations; not many people spoke to her, she was very quiet but assertive, like a snapping turtle. She gave me a goodbye card before we went our separate ways, after school ended. In it, she suggested that I appeared to her as someone mean and tough but I was really sensitive, considerate and a kind guy. It made me really think about Phil. 1:6, about how even what we view as “opposition” in our lives (Matt. 5:44), can actually “work together for good” (Romans 8:28-29) for us and be used by His Spirit to “provoke unto love and to good works” (Hebrews 10:24 KJV). Just like the vacation wonderment, what is “relayed” could be the next stepping stone of what we need to remove + work on with the Holy Spirit, to proceed with what God has planned for us and for the people we come across (Matthew 11:28 -> Proverbs 9:9 KJV -> Eph. 4:12-13).  

Rev. 2:13 – there is a famous Chinese folklore called “The Empty Fort Strategy”, it’s worth the read, I vaguely remember but studied about that when I attended Chinese School. The words that come to mind ‘know your Enemy”, let us look beyond the human component for this illustration. In that folklore tale, a large army could’ve easily taken that weakly defended city but an unconventional overall strategy was used, so the invading army thought they would be walking into a trap and turned around. The point here is that the spiritual stakes are higher, that very weak city (for example: any church), could’ve easily lost. In Acts 18:2-3 and 2 Tim. 4:11 – churches need to spend time looking for people like that, in those verses, and the kind of spiritual calibre by His Spirit, that can make the Adversary and His Hosts, retreat from their enthronements and advancements. Vanishingly and almost unheard of, present day Heroes of Faith; by His Spirit, they can register “something” that ripples through eternity (Acts 17:6-7 ESV). I’ll end with Deut. 32:30.

(John 6:70-71) [Phil. 3:7-8 NIV, 1 Cor. 12:21], 1 Tim. 6:12 -> 2 Cor. 10:4-5 and Eph. 6:12 – when I watched Saving Private Ryan (1998) a long time ago, I remembered this particular scene, the point of this is only to illustrate the spiritual value -> fast forward to :58 on Youtube: “Saving Private Ryan (1998) | Machine Gun Nest Movie Clip 4K HDR10 Kodak 5247 Remastered”. Human beings with spiritual discernment will speak casually about matters because it’s part of the way God made them but to others, it may seem irregular or uncharacteristic. For example, people who are given a singing ability, aside from helping out in worship to God, will also sing for fun. With the way God made us, it’s just an impulse. There is a fruitful spiritual value, when spiritual abilities from Christ Himself, are called and used, according to His purpose. There is a significant “need” right now for us to function properly, where God has selected for us and move away from self-manufactured positions, to fight for people’s “eternal life”. Our struggle is letting someone else deal with unspiritual strongholds, rather than us in Christ and through His strength unified together by His Spirit, pursuing the demolishing of these unholy high places. As you can see, in that movie, the spiritual counterpart is that we have the option to let the Adversary and His Hosts ambush other people’s spiritual lives, in that camouflaged state. We need the courage to see past “flesh and blood” and this natural perspective but look at the spiritual component in the matter, the entire Body of Christ, for all generations. We can’t let Satan persuade our thoughts and capture our mentalities to do otherwise. If I suffer loss for His sake, as a result for standing up for “the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus” and that His people turn out well, for opposing sin and demonic strongholds, in a strictly spiritual context. That’s fine with me. My question: “is this your mission?” Present and future generations “need” each other, by His Spirit to function in the Body of Christ. By His Spirit, we must protect them through His strength (Isaiah 40:11). Will you fight the good fight? Or walkaway?

1 Samuel 25:3 NIV – I went to a Christian workshop, and a lady that I barely knew with the name “Shirley” was presenting, and she wished everyone a good upcoming week, at the end; so I stood up and said, “surely, we will.” My gosh that was so funny. 

Prov. 16:2 and Gen. 3:10 – my friend bought a house that she didn’t like, and a good friend of hers who was in a different town asked about her, so I relayed to her an update. She said “then why you buy?” To this day, I still laugh from her reaction and the way she squished her face with concern. There are things that we often accumulate but you need to ask yourself what is driving that desire and is that what you really want? Will that distance you from Christ (Matthew 16:23)? When I use to work at a nuclear plant, I noticed that people looked so old because of the radiation and my coworkers laughed at me. The way we think and the choices we make, will demonstrate how much more polishing God needs to do (Isaiah 64:6). Sometimes, it will take something devastating, unfortunately, to snap us out of this unknowingly captured state, where our mentality has moved so far, that the Holy Spirit must take drastic measures and we do know how drastic they can be; using the outworking of John 3:30. 

Isaiah 5:20-21 – I’ll show you my reflections. The sky: molten lavender, my sister’s hairdo tangled with leaves, my mother frying potato wedges into the autumn air, everything seemed to make sense. I was trying to understand that day, why my sister was stitching yarn into a picture. It took so long going through each grommet. I was looking at the glaze of snow in the backyard, preferring something else to do. I was unaware of how good my life was, listening to the sonnet of crickets, when the moon rose above the train tracks. Without any worry or need, my mind dissolving into the joyful surrender of the sun upon my face. Sometimes, letting the breeze decide which alternative route I should take to elementary school. If you used a green font, the grass appeared as punctuation marks. I still remember the school bell, while I was at a pharmacy, buying candies with my change. The movements of a recess, when it rained like diamonds, daydreaming about anything because nothing could hold you back, the aliveness of sound within a classroom, the amber sunlight while biking through a forest, turning the streets into gold, my sister with her arms stretched -as if taking flight into the sunset, with a macaroni neckless: words of horror stories told that vanished like a campfire without any wood left. The fatigue from a day spent in splendour. Think about this. Satan can impact our interpretations so that we somehow end-up getting into a disagreement with God/Jesus/the Holy Spirit/the Bible. Right? So the point is, in the process of all of that, there is the unspiritual trail that influences the way we think and see. Everyday, ask God to purify us inwardly and outwardly (Matt. 5:8), so we can see and appreciate God better. It’s a pretty beautiful world out there, I like being me in Christ (Psalm 8:3-4).

2 Chr. 20:17 NKJV “see the salvation of the Lord” and Genesis 14:22-23 ESV – “What’s the point of spending all that time reading the Bible, if I’m going to make a career choice like that?” I sat in the passenger seat, thinking to myself quietly, while neon signs blinked upon the windshield. My friend had shared with me what he did for a living, instead of using his spiritual discernment gift to help God’s people. Flying business class, needless jewelry glistening on a rearview mirror, a different car rental every ~2 weeks, people saluting you while you are entering to park, a marble floor condo, you name it, needless extravagance is there. I looked at him, he smiled like an addict, it was uncivilized sophistication. There was something responsible for radiating the need from within to continue, an inability to see any clarity from his captured desires because he didn’t want to escape either, that he himself was the assailer against what he was meant to be, implicated by the love of money. I understood his legal business model but I can’t wear the same suits, during the weekdays and on Sundays at church; it would be hypocritical. What that 2 Chr. verse meant to me in that situation was -> does it help people’s spiritual lives? The answer is no, it would help me only (Genesis 39:9). This would turn out to be my own will and not God’s path for me (Luke 12:15, Matthew 7:21 and 1 Peter 5:8). So I turned down that offer. I know what I’m not, and that’s not who I am. 

Luke 22:54–62 (NIV) “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him”, Mark 8:38 and John 1:14 – my aunt and uncle while retired, would allocate time for rezoning meetings, in Asia. One day, they shared with me the idea that a developer found a way to build upon a 5 storey condo establishment but they explained that no one would want that in the long-term because the locals knew better. The vertical extension of the condo sold out fast because it was prime real estate, if you did a 360 degree rotation, in the middle of the street, it would be hundreds of years to modern day history, within a few seconds. When the new condo owners moved in, they realized that they weren’t aware of the need for other features, there wasn’t an elevator, carrying groceries was a nightmare, the stairs were steep, by the time you climbed to the highest floor, you didn’t want to go back down to explore the extravagance of the cityscape. It was nothing but bad news, people began selling and leaving the prime real estate because they realized what that place was about. In Neh. 8:8,12-13 – we have to provide people with a proper attention of scriptures, even if people may not like to hear it because telling people spiritual truths can be edifying and nourishing, we aren’t here to just glamourize the outward ears. We can’t let the assertions in the passages of Luke overpower our identities in Christ and what scriptures stand for. The quote “certainly this fellow was with him”, that is a unique pinpointing challenge to our faith right now, and we must stand up to that for all its worth. Let’s deeply establish this within our inward being with the Holy Spirit, that we are “with Him”, we will not be ashamed: with His leadings, when asserting scriptures because of how others will think or what they will say about us or how that impacts our reputations. This is a spiritual malady right now that must be dealt with. We can be very similar to my aunt and uncle, who chose not to speak up and there were long-term lasting hardships for those people. In the spiritual context, it’s a lose-lose scenario: we are being irresponsible with our entrusted deposit and the Lord loses out on many eternal lives that could’ve otherwise been saved and ministries enabled had we applied 2 Tim. 3:16. Will you remember the Word, daily? We must all stand together on this. In Isaiah 48:17, if I were to have a child, and he or she walked for the first time, I see something that could cause the child to trip, in his or her path, I would remove that, it’s for the best interest of the child. The spiritual point to that is we are all suppose to remove stumbling blocks for each other with Christ (Isaiah 57:14), if we do this together, it’ll be “very good” for present and future generations. I’ll end with 2 Tim. 1:7.

Proverbs 23:26 NIV, Mark 8:22-25 – “Do you see anything?” Gen. 28:16 – what I have been noticing in my current quiet time with the Lord, is an emphasis about how the Bible trains our spiritual eyes for practical applications. We can be blind to the Holy Spirit’s larger stories into the mysterious unseen. We need Him to make sense, of what crosses our paths. Otherwise, it might continue to be all a blur, when there are lessons that are meant to be learned to make us Christlike. Our spiritual eyes need to linger and reflect on the day’s events (Psalm 68:19 NKJV). There is intention with the arrangement. For example: I saw on the SkyTrain a couple reading the details of a bag of chips they bought, intently, I can tell that this was not an ordinary purchase to them, the way they held and looked at the colours of the bag of chips, while their clothes had sprouts of cloth from many areas. We need Christ to transform our perspectives, every single day, to sharpen our spiritual perceptiveness, in order to understand that the spiritually constructed scenes yesterday (past tense), hold spiritual dimensions today and forever (Hebrews 13:8, Isaiah 50:4). What I learned from that: we need to have more compassion toward the extremely poor and disenfranchised communities. I’ll end with Deut. 4:9 NIV.

Psalm 33:11 NIV, Psalm 121:5, Proverbs 21:30, Job 38:11 – When I went to a camp with my elementary school class, we learned about wilderness survival, since I lived in the city, it wasn’t really applicable to me. My classmate who I went to kindergarten with, and I still know him; his parents bought him a disposable camera, to take memorable pictures of his trip. So he ended up, taking pictures of the toilet non-topographically, and when his parents developed the film, they didn’t find it funny at all. Then, when I went to middle school, my friend told us to start clapping and cheering, near the end of a live recording of a group presentation, rather than at the end, when they finished presenting. The teacher had to redo the recording and the group had to recite their material again. The spiritual counterpart is that God has a lot of plans for future generations, and He must stand firm, in His ways with us, with the spiritual succession purposes of other members in the Body of Christ that are connected to and through us. If you think about the timeline of our spiritual lives like my friendship with my kindergarten friend; the Lord will continue to decelerate our immaterial behaviours, He will teach us to redo the presentation of ourselves, according to His living Word. In Proverbs 20:24, we can only see so far in our lifetime but in Heb. 11:13, it’s worth it all for His people, even if we don’t get to see our whole spiritual family group picture at the moment, from all of our wilderness experiences that are for the good of His church.

Neh. 13:31 – during university, I started talking to an old high school friend, and I remember how tough it was. She wasn’t going through a good time in her life and everything was falling apart. I spent a long time, a few years helping her through it with Christ. I learned to pray a lot, during that time. She got out of that unspiritual void in her life, a part of me couldn’t let her go and see her get destroyed by Satan. She later on began witnessing to people who went through a similar ordeal in her life and those people came to know the Lord; people that I would have no way of reaching, in evangelism. In Job 42:10 NKJV, the Lord does enable the ministries of others, by shutting us in with them, with the spiritual destinies of everyone, generationally, in mind; by His Divine order (Eph. 4:1 NIV). You might be going through challenges in your life, for the sake of others that the Lord values.

Exodus 20:21 (NKJV) – I use to pay my friend to play a computer game for me. In that game, there’s fog, so you cannot predict, what the enemy team is doing. In Lam. 3:44 NKJV – it is well-known that we can keep praying for something, and it “seems” like the clouds of Heaven aren’t parting to grant our specifics requests. What I do sometimes, if I’m not overtired, I look at the situation as God playing hide and seek with me (Isaiah 45:15 KJV and Matt. 6:33). I’m 100% sure that God knew that the child game would be invented (Matt. 18:3). When I was a child in Sunday school, during break times, we would often arm-wrestle each other, and work toward beating each other the following week, through drinking chicken soup, or eating a lot of pizza (ninja turtle inspiration). We didn’t have much understanding. My mother use to tell me that, I would often look at her, when I didn’t understand something, so she would explain the matter to me. What I am trying to get at is the reality that God very often, will take what we don’t understand or even introduce situations, where we cannot forecast what will happen next, as a way for us to “play” with the Lord (2 Samuel 6:21 KJV); to invite and interact with Him more. So God has His ways, to involve Himself more and more into our lives.

Judges 2:18 ESV – “For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning”, Gen. 15:1, Josh. 4:24 – my sister and I preferred the cream of broccoli soup and french fries that my mother brought home; while seated, my eyes were barely above the dining table laughing at my sister’s colourful hair clips. My mother didn’t make it home, while we were hungry and we didn’t understand. Fast forward, she told us that every piece of glass of the windshield broke off and her car spun around several times, after being hit by a drunk driver. She said her eyes were wide open but not one single glass shard touched her eyes, many pieces were on her face and inside her pores. She told us that because she still had to take care of me and my sister that the Lord covered her eyes angelically, despite them being wide open. The paramedics and doctors never understood that but those verses made me understand.

Acts 10:38 NKJV “who went about doing good” – for a while on my spare time, I attempted to understand the backend of YouTube’s algorithm, I was very fascinated with “why”, my mindset enjoys to solve things. There are a lot of things in the present tense, that won’t make sense, sometimes, we have to look back, and give matters time. God’s timeline for us can be like that (John 13:7). The overall point: we can be so occupied with “why” that we end up walking on the edges of the canvas (Job 26:14 NKJV, Ecc. 11:5), instead of exploring the bigger picture of what He wants us to pursue, in order that we can ultimately go “about doing good”.

Isaiah 43:16, Matt. 14:28-31 and Hebrews 12:2 – growing up my parents acculturated me to farmer’s markets and Amish people, I still remember the scent of hay and the inescapable galloping sounds, had they eaten skittles, their clothes would be more colourful? I asked my parents why they celebrated halloween every week, and they explained to me that Amish people aren’t wearing costumes. My dad laughed the most in his life around me, more than television. On the way home, I wanted to buy a sword that lit-up in many colours but my parents told me that it was too expensive, so I kept crying. Reflection: we have a lot of desires that guide us, usurping the guidance of the Holy Spirit, when we let those wants overcome us. What is overcoming your mindset, right now? I find that Satan is really good at trying to unfix our eyes on Jesus, don’t you find that to be the case, as one of the Devil’s underlying motives? We need to ask Christ to pull us out of those mentally-sinking doubting situations. And so Jesus did reach out, and caught Peter. In Psalm 119:105 – using God’s Word to help people walk “in step with the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25b NIV) can command much light into their paths of extreme dark inward storms.  

Psalm 77:6,11-12 – I use to live in a town called Deep River, Ontario. It apparently had the highest number of people with PhDs in that area. When I was there, the population was around ~4000. It felt like a mythical place, whereas almost clockwork, when the temperature would decrease, people would come out and moon-gaze, the skies looked like ongoing brushstrokes of random watercolours, in slow motion. If you closed your eyes and breathed, you could feel the syllables of nature, like air going through keys in an instrument. I still remember those days, the Christian culture in that town was inviting each other over for meals, usually ~8 times a month. The restaurants there aren’t, what most would prefer, so that was a push toward that meal-sharing nomenclature. My Christian friend got a cook book and wanted to show me his Alfredo pasta recipe, my Christian coworker invited me over multiple times to eat with his family + play board games. It is healthy to reflect on what can be further spiritually-gleaned from previous chapters in our lives, things that we have missed, lessons that can still be learned and applied.

1 Samuel 14:27 and Psalm 34:8-10 – a long-time family friend of mine became a mother, and she loves to share stories about her son. One day, she decided to introduce him to milk powder formula and what she realized was that after ~30 minutes of feeding him with a bottle, the ml was around the same volume. He kept rejecting that milk, even being a couple of months old, the baby has an enabled awareness of what he desires and knows what is real or isn’t what it’s suppose to be. Similarly, when we consume spiritual foods, what does happen, we “seek” more of Christ, there is something of the “feeding” that He provides that makes us behave like the Christian song from Psalm 42:1-2. Our desires change with what Christ feeds us; that nutrient derived from a Heavenly source in itself characterizes us to have a “likeness” in the Divine nature of who He is and to desire what He desires. Using Matt. 6:33 – unbeknownst to us, it becomes more ingrained for us to “seek” Him, while before we struggled to place Him first. There’s something about what He gives us to “taste” that we “see” the aftereffects in our spiritual life; 1 John 3:2-3 and John 1:14 – we are truly becoming like Him and what He says in His Word (Luke 10:27 ESV).

Matt. 14:13-21 and 2 Kings 4:1-7 – it was a noontide winter, as the golden snowflakes fell, my mother chuckled while she prepared food for me, while I was in my big boy chair. Her cutting board sounded the way Picasso would paint, during the autumnal exchange of fresh fruits and cheeses in Paris. She asked me, “where does food go, after you eat?” I explained to her that the apple slices go to an apple slices bin and the Cheetos went to a bin labeled cheetos, inside my body. The spiritual counterpart is that though we can see the world differently with food, we all have a spiritual nature within us that is meant to with Christ keep giving spiritual food to people. In both of those Matt. & 2 Kings stories, something is yielded, that played a role in activating the Divine realm to respond. You see how important it is to yield to Christ?

Exodus 15:2 NIV – my Sunday school classmate and I use to play a computer game. I asked him, “why am I not winning against the enemy?” He told me that, “a good offence is a good defense.” The industrial complex of my military base had a bunch of defensive structures, and he told me to build more tanks. In our walk with the Lord, we often are in a state of defending ourselves against the Enemy, our faith structure is just shielding ourselves defensively against all the unspiritual mind games that the Adversary and His Hosts plays against us. In Col. 1:29 ESV – read that whole verse with this emphasis “with all His energy”, something very unique is embedded in what Paul did, against the Enemy and what sustaining strength he was provided with to change the tactics of the battlefield into a spiritual advantage. Putting to use the spiritual equipments that God has given us, it will make us more spiritually-effective and efficient. Much more than just using a shield, we can practice using the Sword of the Spirit more -we honestly can -we can help our brothers and sisters more, we can tell people the truth, we can practice being holier, we can go with the momentum of evangelism, we can pray. -> Eph. 6:10-11 (reread those verses 3x+) and Romans 8:37. The tactical focus -> ask the Holy Spirit to change our mindset from the world to the mindset of Christ (2 Tim. 2:3-4 and Matt. 6:33). Then read Eph. 6:12 KJV.

1 Cor. 4:20 and Matt. 9:29 – a couple of stories: a) bone cancer lady b) cancer lady c) my friend up to mischief. For a) she would affright the staff with her voice from the pain, I put my hand on her elbow area and prayed that she can be a miracle so that others may know Him. The next week, her cancer went into remission and she sat up straight, despite what the cancer did to her spine; majority of her immediate friendship circles aren’t Christians. The doctors were baffled. For b) I prayed and inquired of the Lord. I knew within why, He wanted to give her a challenge for her faith because she is way too spiritual. I relayed that to her. Afterward, around 2 months later, her cancer went into remission. For c) my friend was up to mischief, and if he went ahead with his plans to misbehave at a party, it would’ve undid all the progress of me + the Holy Spirit trying to help him know the Lord. I prayed that God would prevent him from going on that trip. A few days prior, the Lord struck him down with a severe cold, where he was bedridden for a very long time, and he wasn’t able to go on that trip. A few years later, he accepted Christ, as his saviour. I remember telling c) why he was sick, and he was laughing while using a medical machine. What I learned from all 3 of those stories, and praying for those people: if you can demonstrate to God how Christ would be losing out, if such a situation was to proceed, He does take extraordinary actions for His Son (Gen. 18:23-24). Somehow, Christ will benefit from the situation, directly or indirectly. 

Mark 5:25–34 – I use to go to Amish farmer markets pretty regularly, I would buy their icing sugar raspberry whipped butter cream spread, super amazing on toast. I was invited to one of their barn hymn sings, they smelled like tires that did a burnout upon a grassy field at an elementary school, during a rainy midnight, from a dare. We sang hymns, while eating these soda crackers they made with freshly churned butter. I asked them what was life like? He invited me over to have dinner with his wife, his son and their new daughter. I printed 6 verses of the Bible, and we chatted for around 2 hours, they played with their baby, her toes touched this ice cream cake I brought. He told me that he tried sharing the gospel to many people but the congregation barely grew, at all, people in that town were content already with their lives and there wasn’t a need for God. He  mentioned that there were many things crowding out everyone’s time, and people didn’t realize how little time is left for God. When I look back upon that story; this comes to mind: something actualized that can intersect the timelessness of Christ into an immediate outcome with our temporal time?

Acts 22:25-28, 2 Tim. 1:7 and 1 Thess. 5:21 – a long time ago in Chalk Rivers, Ontario; when I almost got killed because of Satan. The Nuclear Response Force Officer’s finger was on the trigger of the automatic weapon while shouting at me, we were within ~300 meters away from a nuclear reactor. I rolled my eyes, “would a spy eat a cream cheese bagel to get busted like this?” He squinted, as if his training manual hasn’t come across something like this before. His coworker pulled up in a truck and waved at me, “he was in the same training orientation as me, we called him, joker.” “I see, I haven’t seen you around here before, I apologize,” and he walked away. The spiritual counterpart to that story is that we get all sorts of people, things, thoughts, and the unspiritual, asserting their jurisdictions in our lives and they don’t belong there nor do they have any place in our lives (Proverbs 1:10-11). We have to understand that, instead of wasting our mindsets entertaining those unfruitful dramas and being apprehended by useless phantom old nature thoughts. I spiritually discern that this is a major conflict right now with majority of Christians at local churches, they keep entertaining “what ifs”, it even impacts their time at church on Sundays, and variables for finalizing choices + opinions about others. This also creates more unspiritual ensnarements upon members in the church, a form of division. Also, if the Lord is disciplining someone, and successfully improving that person’s inward life; it is a useless poison to use emotions and the old ways, as a form for retaliating against these changes that the Holy Spirit is pursuing for the betterment of the church. 

Numbers 9:17 – not moving is just as important as moving with the Spirit. In my lifetime, I have seen people focus on the end-goal, wanting to move on ahead that they miss out on all the prep-work to get there. ‘I wanted to work for a job but I wasn’t prepared enough, for when I got the job,’ an example. Both of these stages of stopping and going serve an underlying purpose. I understand that society will pressure us to compete with one another but we need to remember Gen. 16:2; I was once told a story about a farmer that wanted his crops to grow faster, so he watered twice as much and it ruined what he should’ve got, that wasn’t what the goal was. In Ecc. 3:11 – there’s a timing that sees a bigger plan than we understand, so we have to ascertain -> Psalm 119:19 and Eph. 5:17, there’s something there, a stepping-stone for the next journey of the path. Zech. 4:6.

Matt. 6:28-30 and Ezekiel 1:28 (NKJV) – I travel a lot on spur of the moment Christian adventures to try and make the short stories I write more vividly alive. I’ll take the ferry a couple blocks away near-midnight or catch a bus to Horseshoe Bay and flip a coin for a destination or jump on the skytrain and figure out my adventure with a backpack full of zero sugar pop. I was looking at a plant, the plant was looking at me, I noticed these little jewels of rain on the petals, after a huge rainstorm. These jewels were arrayed with the beautiful reflection from the rainbow above (Luke 24:49 ESV). We are meant to dazzle this Light of Christ, inwardly to others, to help them see, something so much more than what meets the outward eyes, to let them “behold the beauty of the Lord” (Psalm 27:4). The flower looked better, after the storm, it didn’t faint or give-up, something so brittle became more radiant (2 Cor. 4:1).

Joshua 24:15 – I was given a life and death situation, in the middle of the night. My friend video-called me. “You are the first person that I am telling this to. Make that choice for me…..I wish I could take a photo of you right now.” My jaw remained dropped for a few minutes. I told him, “the baby lives.” I couldn’t be part of the idea that any death occurred, from my options. We all have to make these decisions, regarding the spiritual destiny of the people we come across. Whether people succeed in their walk with the Lord from our interactions and how that impacts the generations going forward.

Proverbs 27:17 – around 2 decades later, I decided to look up a student of mine (searching on the net -not meet her), from the time I taught children ministry, who went through a very tragic situation in her life. I was wondering how she was, if she turned out alright. After so many years of prayer. I hadn’t realized how much she inspired me to be the person that God’s people needed me to be. Life is going by too fast, I feel like it was just last week that we were back in children ministry class, when she asked for my opinion about her turtleshell glasses.