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Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

9 Two are better than one,

    because they have a good return for their labor:

10 If either of them falls down,

    one can help the other up.

But pity anyone who falls

    and has no one to help them up.

11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.

    But how can one keep warm alone?

12 Though one may be overpowered,

    two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

This week my sweet Tobi asked me, why so many people get married and make a promises to God, and then get divorced.  It was a powerful and difficult question to hear come from the mouth of my daughter, especially because I broke my covenant of marriage with her mother.  It honestly broke my heart.  I took a very deep breath, and did my best to answer.  

I said that many people get married, and they make a vow to each other and to God at their wedding, but after they leave the ceremony and get busy in life, they forget to renew their vows.  We live in a fast paced, throw away time, where people are so concerned about immediate satisfaction, that we often forget to slow down and appreciate what we have and thank God for our blessings.  I said that I do not have the answer to the question, but I do believe that if a husband and a wife renewed their promises daily that we would probably have a lot less divorce.    

Each morning I wake and I thank the Lord for another opportunity.  I pause and reflect on my path and a seek guidance, so that my focus is on God.  Surely if I don't focus on His will for me, my desires will lead me astray.  Therefore, I believe if all relationships include God in the center, they will be surely strengthened.  Whether marriage or friendship, God will provide immeasurable bond to your relationship if you make sure He is included always.   

Heavenly Father, thank You for today and for stirring my heart this morning.  Thank You for my blessings.  Thank You for my children and my opportunity to have a relationship with them, and to lead them.  Please help me to remember, "a cord of three strands is not quickly broken."  You are the essential bond that will make the difference.  Thank You for standing with us.  Thank You for wrapping us with Your love and for Your Son, Jesus Christ.  Help me to remember that in all of my relationships, that You will provide strength that is greater than any other.  Help me see my friends and family through my relationship with You. Amen.

This morning I am reading in John, about the man that was born blind that Jesus healed:

As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”  “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9:1-5

It was believed that sin resulted in suffering, but Jesus used the man's suffering to glorify God.  We live in a fallen world where good behavior is not always rewarded and bad behavior is not always punished.  Therefore, often innocent people suffer.  If God took away their suffering whenever we asked, we would follow out of convenience, not out of love and devotion.  For this reason we should not focus on "why did this happen to me". Instead we should ask God to give us strength for the trial and a better understanding of what is happening. 

Father God your timing and direction is surely flawless.  I so needed this reminder, and You directed my eyes and my heart to these Words that always provide so much insight and understanding.  Today I am strengthened by You and I will seek You in all that I am and all that I do.  Thank you for providing so much more that I deserve and for helping me to see Your light shining through Your Son, Jesus. Be with me and be with those that are also struggling today, so that we can glorify You, no matter what comes our way.  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you… I love You with all that I am.  In the most powerful and matchless name of Jesus Christ, I pray.  Amen. 

Jesus' desired for his disciples to become one.  He wanted them unified in the reality of God's love.  He wants us to be unified in love as well.

Pray, avoid gossip, build up others, work together, be humble, give your time and money, exalt Christ, and don't be sidetracked.  

Ezekiel 16

Jerusalem as an Adulterous Wife

16 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable practices 3 and say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says to Jerusalem: Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. 4 On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. 5 No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised.

6 “‘Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!”[a] 7 I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew and developed and entered puberty. Your breasts had formed and your hair had grown, yet you were stark naked.

8 “‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.

9 “‘I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. 10 I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. 11 I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, 12 and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. 13 So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. 14 And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign Lord.

15 “‘But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. 16 You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. You went to him, and he possessed your beauty.[b] 17 You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them. 18 And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them. 19 Also the food I provided for you—the flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them. That is what happened, declares the Sovereign Lord.

20 “‘And you took your sons and daughters whom you bore to me and sacrificed them as food to the idols. Was your prostitution not enough? 21 You slaughtered my children and sacrificed them to the idols. 22 In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood.

23 “‘Woe! Woe to you, declares the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness, 24 you built a mound for yourself and made a lofty shrine in every public square. 25 At every street corner you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty, spreading your legs with increasing promiscuity to anyone who passed by. 26 You engaged in prostitution with the Egyptians, your neighbors with large genitals, and aroused my anger with your increasing promiscuity. 27 So I stretched out my hand against you and reduced your territory; I gave you over to the greed of your enemies, the daughters of the Philistines, who were shocked by your lewd conduct. 28 You engaged in prostitution with the Assyrians too, because you were insatiable; and even after that, you still were not satisfied. 29 Then you increased your promiscuity to include Babylonia,[c] a land of merchants, but even with this you were not satisfied.

30 “‘I am filled with fury against you,[d] declares the Sovereign Lord, when you do all these things, acting like a brazen prostitute! 31 When you built your mounds at every street corner and made your lofty shrines in every public square, you were unlike a prostitute, because you scorned payment.

32 “‘You adulterous wife! You prefer strangers to your own husband! 33 All prostitutes receive gifts, but you give gifts to all your lovers, bribing them to come to you from everywhere for your illicit favors. 34 So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you.

35 “‘Therefore, you prostitute, hear the word of the Lord! 36 This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you poured out your lust and exposed your naked body in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children’s blood, 37 therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see you stark naked. 38 I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring on you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger. 39 Then I will deliver you into the hands of your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you stark naked. 40 They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. 41 They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women. I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers. 42 Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry.

43 “‘Because you did not remember the days of your youth but enraged me with all these things, I will surely bring down on your head what you have done, declares the Sovereign Lord. Did you not add lewdness to all your other detestable practices?

44 “‘Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb about you: “Like mother, like daughter.” 45 You are a true daughter of your mother, who despised her husband and her children; and you are a true sister of your sisters, who despised their husbands and their children. Your mother was a Hittite and your father an Amorite. 46 Your older sister was Samaria, who lived to the north of you with her daughters; and your younger sister, who lived to the south of you with her daughters, was Sodom. 47 You not only followed their ways and copied their detestable practices, but in all your ways you soon became more depraved than they. 48 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, your sister Sodom and her daughters never did what you and your daughters have done.

49 “‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. 50 They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen. 51 Samaria did not commit half the sins you did. You have done more detestable things than they, and have made your sisters seem righteous by all these things you have done. 52 Bear your disgrace, for you have furnished some justification for your sisters. Because your sins were more vile than theirs, they appear more righteous than you. So then, be ashamed and bear your disgrace, for you have made your sisters appear righteous.

53 “‘However, I will restore the fortunes of Sodom and her daughters and of Samaria and her daughters, and your fortunes along with them, 54 so that you may bear your disgrace and be ashamed of all you have done in giving them comfort. 55 And your sisters, Sodom with her daughters and Samaria with her daughters, will return to what they were before; and you and your daughters will return to what you were before. 56 You would not even mention your sister Sodom in the day of your pride, 57 before your wickedness was uncovered. Even so, you are now scorned by the daughters of Edom[e] and all her neighbors and the daughters of the Philistines—all those around you who despise you. 58 You will bear the consequences of your lewdness and your detestable practices, declares the Lord.

59 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will deal with you as you deserve, because you have despised my oath by breaking the covenant. 60 Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. 61 Then you will remember your ways and be ashamed when you receive your sisters, both those who are older than you and those who are younger. I will give them to you as daughters, but not on the basis of my covenant with you. 62 So I will establish my covenant with you, and you will know that I am the Lord. 63 Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your humiliation, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”

Footnotes:

Ezekiel 16:6 A few Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts repeat and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, “Live!”

Ezekiel 16:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.

Ezekiel 16:29 Or Chaldea

Ezekiel 16:30 Or How feverish is your heart,

Ezekiel 16:57 Many Hebrew manuscripts and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts, Septuagint and Vulgate Aram

2 Chronicles 7:14

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Forty great soldiers from Cappadocia in Rome’s vaunted twelfth legion shared Paul’s jealousy for God some two hundred fifty years after his death. Licinius was reigning over the eastern portion of the empire but was sensing an increasing military threat from the west. He became more and more repressive in his policies, particularly toward Christians. To solidify his strength, he called on his armies to demonstrate their support by offering a sacrifice to the pagan gods.

Most of the legion stationed at Sebaste, a city south of the Black Sea, dutifully complied, but the forty Cappadocians, all Christians, respectfully declined. For more than a week they were placed under guard, where they sang and prayed together continually. Their captain pleaded with them: “Of all the soldiers who serve the emperor, none are more loved by us and more needed right now. Do not turn our love into hatred. It lies in you whether to be loved or hated.” “If it rests with us,” they replied, “we have made our choice. We shall devote our love to our God.”

It was sundown when they were stripped and escorted shivering to the middle of a frozen lake with guards stationed along the shore. A heated Roman bathhouse stood ready at the shore for any of them who were prepared to renounce their faith in Christ and offer a pagan sacrifice. Their jailer stood by with arms folded, watching, as a bitter winter wind whipped across the ice. But through the whistling wind the soldiers could be heard singing:

Forty good soldiers for Christ! 

We shall not depart from You as long as You give us life.

We shall call upon Your Name whom all creation praises: 

Fire and hail, snow and wind and storm.

On You we have hoped and we were not ashamed!

As midnight approached, their song grew more feeble. Then a strange thing happened. One of the forty staggered toward shore, fell to his knees and began crawling toward the bathhouse. “Thirty-nine good soldiers for Christ!” came the weakening, trembling song from the distance. The jailer watched the man enter the bathhouse and emerge quickly, apparently overcome by the heat, then collapse on the ground and expire. The other guards could not believe what they saw next. The jailer wrenched off his armor and coat, dashed to the edge of the lake, lifted his right hand and cried, “Forty good soldiers for Christ!” then disappeared over the ice into the darkness.

All forty were dead by the next day, but it was the jailer who caught the captain’s notice as their bodies were being carted away. “What is he doing there?” he demanded. One of the guards replied, “We cannot understand it, Captain. Ever since those Christians came under his care, we noticed something different about him.” The martyrs of Sebaste were jealous for the name of their God, and it had a profound impact on that jailer who looked on. Our jealousy for God will have a similar effect on the people around us.

https://bible.org/seriespage/jealous-god

1 Corinthians 13: 4-7 : Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love should be practiced according to the Corinthians' terms. Anyone who is lucky enough to be loved and love others should not take such a precious aspect for granted. 

Here are 15 ways to practice true love.

1 Be patient and remain calm. Everyone has their own pace and way of doing things. Whether it is their thought process or their reaction to a specific event - be patient and remember that everything happens within its own time.

2 Have you ever heard the phrase - You can catch more bees with honey. Kindness should be a way of life and not a surprising act when it's displayed. Being kind to someone can go a long way and help them someone through a rough day or just simply make them feel good about themselves.

3 Be grateful for what God has blessed you with. Do not compare your blessings others. Everything happens for a reason and everyone has their own path.

4 Bragging can hurt the feelings of others and hurting people is not part of love. When you're truly in love, God will be happy for you and he is the only person that you want to satisfy. Since God knows your plan - you will not need to boast.

5 There is no reason to be proud because love does not want to hurt the feelings of others who are struggling or are going through a rough time because of heartache.

6 Love does not dishonor others. Love is consuming and fulfills the heart and soul; something so powerful should not hurt others. Remain honorable and true to yourself.

7 Love is about others, not yourself. When you love someone you shouldn't look to improve yourself, instead you should focus on the other person. If it is true love you will be reciprocated.

8 Love will not cause you to become angered easily. Since love requires patience - you must entrust your your feelings in another and know that anything that happens is not intentional.

9 God forgives you for your sins everyday, therefore you should do the same with the ones that you love. Do not keep a record of someone's wrongs because that is not your job. When you love someone, you should love them unconditionally and not burden the relationship with mistakes.

10 Love is the opposite of evil, with that in mind anyone who loves should not take delight in evil. A terrible element, such as evil, can not be part of something as sacred and rewarding as love.

11 Be honest no matter what. The truth will set you free and true love will forgive you for any mistakes that occur. A lie is evil and will consume your relationship.

12 Be protective because true love is hard to come by. When you love someone you want to keep them safe. Protection is a natural element of love.

13 Love always trust because you're giving your entire self to that person. Loving someone means that you're allowing them to care of your heart.

14 Love always hopes because you're putting your faith in someone. You'll always be hopeful that things will work out because all love begins with hope.

15 Love will always keep on keeping on because it is endless. Love only has a beginning but will never go away because it creates memories and evokes emotions that you will cherish forever.

Shared from: http://www.beliefnet.com

1 Kings 3:16-28

16 Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me. 18 The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.

19 “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. 20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. 21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”

22 The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”

But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.

23 The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’”

24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. 25 He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

26 The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”

But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”

27 Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”

28 When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.

This is an awesome ten minute video that is a perfect summary of the Gospel message from Genesis to Revelation! Don't take my word for it, check it out...