 
# **Watch Stand Pray 365:  
Moral Motivation**

Jesse Steele

Smashwords Edition

**Copyright © 2018 Jesse Steele**

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Jesse Steele on Smashwords

ISBN: 978-0463278970

# For Syko

# And other Jordan Enthusiasts

# Table of Contents

Introduction

#1 The Moral Compass from Above

#2 What Is 'Theology'?

#3 What Is 'Biblical'?

#4 What Is 'Systematic'?

#5 Strength in the Fight

#6 Holistic Transformation

#7 Dream

#8 The Bible Works for You Too

#9 Fear Is Marketing

#10 What Is the Bible?

#11 Think on the Good

#12 Arguments That Change the Subject

#13 Arguments That Don't Change the Point

#14 Value of Conscience

#15 What Are 'Hermeneutics'?

#16 What Is 'Godliness'?

#17 Recognize Fruit

#18 Chivalry

#19 Shoulders of Giants

#20 Jesus's Morals Are Practical

#21 Basic Definition of Justice

#22 Take Space, Give Space

#23 What Is 'Righteousness'?

#24 Faith Is Righteous

#25 Sin and Sacrificial Laws

#26 Don't Cry 'Victim'

#27 Accept Compliments

#28 Honor Others

#29 Honor Self

#30 Eternal Book of Life

#31 Don't Sell-Out

#32 You Get What You See

#33 Rest & Sabbath

#34 The Least of These

#35 Earth Will Be Full of the Knowledge of God

#36 Mundane Diligence

#37 Words Have Power

#38 Trying to Be by Trying to Grow

#39 Look Before You Leap

#40 God the Creator & Craftsman

#41 Beware Passive Aggression

#42 Bible as the Practical Guide

#43 Gluttony

#44 God the Provider & Law Giver

#45 Prayer of the Righteous

#46 Moral Superstition

#47 Have Power in Every Moment

#48 God the Redeemer

#49 How to Do

#50 'Fence Laws'

#51 Carry Your Own Cross

#52 God the Governor, Savior, and Executioner

#53 Brother's Keeper, Earth's Steward

#54 What is 'Wisdom'?

#55 Be Like A Grandparent

#56 God the Promise Maker & Keeper

#57 Finish Wisely Every Journey

#58 Humanity: The Non-Omnipotent, Non-Omnipresent, Non-Omniscient

#59 If You Spank Them, You Must Hold Them

#60 God the Patient

#61 If Someone Gives You a Test, Keep It

#62 Literature of the Bible

#63 Opening Bid Is Final Offer

#64 God the Mighty to Save

#65 Leaders Are Strong and Tough

#66 Temptation

#67 Fathered and Fatherless Act Like It

#68 God the Restorer

#69 Might Is Right in the Long Run

#70 'Biblical' Morals

#71 Dear Kid Part 1

#72 God of Means

#73 Dear Kid Part 2

#74 Lay down Others' Law with Others

#75 Lay down God's Law with Yourself

#76 God the Uncreated and Most High

#77 Know When to Answer Rhetorical Questions

#78 Trust, Thus Verify

#79 All Ends Judge Their Means

#80 God with Us

#81 Know Your Reason: Because I Want To

#82 Bullies & Geeks & Round It Goes

#83 Growth from the Inside

#84 God who Is Everywhere

#85 Know When to End Discussion

#86 When People...

#87 Engage Opponents unto Friendship

#88 God who Sees and Knows ALL

#89 Know Your Seat

#90 Never Strongarm

#91 Eventual Justice

#92 God the All Powerful

#93 Know Your Expertise

#94 Be Calm in Confrontation

#95 Growth vs Ascension

#96 God the Time Transcendent

#97 Know Your Limits

#98 Keep Problems to Yourself

#99 Embedded Human Powers

#100 God the All Wise

#101 Know Your Own Minimum Work

#102 Train your Snap Habits

#103 End Times Evangelism

#104 God of Higher Ways and Higher Thoughts

#105 Forgive unto Unoffense

#106 Never Threaten

#107 Planning Makes Satisfaction

#108 God the Holy and Patient

#109 Case for Earning

#110 Everything Gets Shaken

#111 Prepare in Prayer, Don't Wait

#112 God the Forgiver

#113 Case for Work Ethic

#114 Talk It Through

#115 Charm, Wit & Tact

#116 God the Repayer

#117 Case for Governance

#118 Message via Cosmos

#119 Judge Each Situation

#120 God the Vindicator

#121 Case for Capitalism

#122 Triple Check

#123 Paying for Appreciation

#124 God the Chastener

#125 Case for Regulation

#126 Lean into Chop

#127 Sow Virtue

#128 God the Demolisher & Rebuilder

#129 Case for Constitution

#130 Light Must Be Shared

#131 Etiquette

#132 God the Potter

#133 Formal Recruiting & Contentious Spirits

#134 You Be You, Let Others Figure It Out

#135 Evaluate the Logic

#136 God the Only Perfect Father

#137 Fiefdom Dictators & Controlling Spirits

#138 Worldview Schools of Thought

#139 Deal with the Inside

#140 Jesus: Son, Brother & Friend

#141 Keep Your Regiment

#142 Foundations Take Years

#143 Fantasy: Counterfeit of Dreaming

#144 Jesus the King

#145 Build People

#146 Resisting Isn't Always Strongest: Stay on Course

#147 Whatever Your Hands Find to Do

#148 Jesus the Judge

#149 Bible: The Best Academic Study

#150 Unknown Nondiligence

#151 Heavenly Fascination

#152 Jesus the Bridegroom

#153 Reject Sympathy

#154 Test Everything

#155 Perfection Is a Direction, not the Minimum

#156 Jesus the Brother, God the Father

#157 The Novice Connoisseur

#158 Celebrate Celebration

#159 Why God is Good to Let Bad Things Happen

#160 Jesus the Bringer of Heaven to Earth

#161 Presume Healthy Ambition

#162 Change Yourself First

#163 Fame Is Normal

#164 Jesus the Shrewd

#165 Listen to Talent

#166 The Holistically Holistic Life

#167 Winning Is Wearisome Work

#168 Jesus the Wise

#169 Two Great Commands: Sequence, not Hierarchy

#170 Lift

#171 Professional Naysayers

#172 Jesus the Prayer Warrior

#173 Professional Lazyboys

#174 Our Need to Lead Ourselves

#175 Hypocritical Hypocrisy

#176 Jesus the Compassionate Healer

#177 Romance Is Overrated

#178 Know Love

#179 God Is not Entitled to Receive Our Love

#180 Jesus the Artisan

#181 We Are Only Entitled to Sonship by Faith

#182 Two Types of 'Victim'

#183 We Were Created to Love and Be Loved

#184 Jesus and Him Crucified

#185 Purchase Is not Praise

#186 Lawlessness & Legalism Are Mere Addictions

#187 Jesus's Prayer: Love Each Other

#188 Jesus Our Substitute

#189 Act Sentient, not Addictive

#190 Keep Calm and Carry On

#191 Keep Going and Keep the Public Peace

#192 Jesus the Superpowerful

#193 Introspect

#194 Managing Talent

#195 Luxuries Differ

#196 Jesus the Administrator

#197 Healing Humor

#198 Gadflies

#199 Never Cancel Easily

#200 Mercy & Grace

#201 Rest in God to Grow What's Around You

#202 Insecure Psychology Reversed

#203 Under Attack, Taking Flack

#204 Uninteresting Sin

#205 Stand or Fall

#206 Operations Are the Second Great Command

#207 Good Operations: List & Complete Vision

#208 Deliverance and Strength by Waiting on the Lord

#209 Respectful Authority Has Respected

#210 Lists Are the Reason for Meetings

#211 Escape the Zero Sum Spiral

#212 Deliverance and Provision by the Right to Seize

#213 Happiness Is Proactive

#214 Leaders Carry

#215 Speak the Truth in Your Heart

#216 Deliverance and Providence by Standing Your Ground

#217 Let Action Shout at You

#218 Assume Is a Compound Word

#219 Rules Aren't for Their Own Sake

#220 Deliverance and Power in Meekness and Weakness

#221 Constant Prayer

#222 Time Reserves

#223 Levels of Sins

#224 Leading as Followers of Jesus

#225 Higher Appeal

#226 From Men to Women

#227 Higher Standards

#228 Leading as Fathers Who Love Sons

#229 Fidelity

#230 Let Prayer Have Its Day

#231 Mind Your Own Morals

#232 Leading as Sons Who Love Fathers

#233 Planning, Preparation, Habits & Flexibility

#234 It Starts In Our Hearts

#235 Excellence in Craft

#236 Leading as Teachers

#237 Lovingly Navigate Verbal Conflict

#238 Exclusive Respect

#239 Disrespect vs Disdain

#240 Leading as Guides from a Distance

#241 Stand Unconcerned

#242 Flexible Endurance Always

#243 Shoot Straight

#244 Leading as Peers

#245 Dealing with the Public

#246 Anger Poisons the Angry

#247 We Belong to a King

#248 Leading as Subordinates

#249 Correct by Teaching Indirectly

#250 Bring Sunshine

#251 How to Handle Contentious Contenders

#252 Leading as Masters

#253 Because I Want To

#254 Do Your Best Always and All Your Work Will Last

#255 God Also Has an Answer

#256 Leading as Ambassadors

#257 Tables Before Enemies

#258 Invite Growth in Love

#259 Never, Never Compromise, Never

#260 Leading as Aunts & Uncles

#261 Success Language

#262 God Has You

#263 Demonstrate Money Liberally

#264 Leading as Grandmama

#265 Psychology of Resistance

#266 Never Vent

#267 Limit Problems by Limiting Time on Problems

#268 Leading in Family

#269 Inner Issues

#270 Stand in Your Place

#271 Envisioning Straight Onward

#272 Leading as Enforcers

#273 Gauge & Tier Before Judging

#274 What to Change, When to Change

#275 Do or Die

#276 Leading as Directors

#277 Grow or Be Hippietized

#278 Healthy Habits

#279 Lifestyle Plagiarism

#280 Leading as Dominators of Space

#281 Enjoy Voyages

#282 Shine Confidence, No Matter the Complaint

#283 Evil Feeds on Fear of Evil

#284 God Puts Us in Families

#285 Original Sin

#286 Money Barriers

#287 Play All Mistakes in Forte

#288 Deserved Leadership

#289 Be Responsible with Information & Thus Receive More

#290 Learn Your Limits Young

#291 Pushover Popularity

#292 Problem of Patience

#293 Solo Tests

#294 Vindictiveness Cripples

#295 Times When Nothing Seems to Move Forward

#296 Happiness is a Choice; So Is Love

#297 You Have Both More and Less Time Than You Think

#298 You Can Handle More and Less Than You Think

#299 I Need Help First

#300 Law of Forgiveness

#301 Your Friends Aren't All Worthless

#302 God Doesn't Need You to Know How He's Growing You

#303 Peace Starts in the Home

#304 Law of Chaos, Placement & Order

#305 Know Crazy, Don't Go Crazy

#306 Stages of Results on Your Path

#307 Wealth & Society

#308 Law of Sowing and Reaping

#309 Great Human Potential

#310 Chase Thy Grabbable Tiger

#311 We Each Matter

#312 Law of Wealth and Currents

#313 Calm Societal Discipline

#314 Navigating a Lifetime of Careers

#315 Stand on Truth, Let Others Climb Up

#316 Law of Stewardship

#317 Stop Everything and Think about Who God Is

#318 The Moral Test: Does This Satisfy?

#319 Stop Everything and Praise God for Who He Is

#320 Law of the Flesh

#321 Stop Everything and Befriend God Just as You Are

#322 Affluenza

#323 Stop Everything and Ask God for Breakthrough

#324 Law of Spirit & Soul

#325 Learn & Know Who You Are

#326 God Upholds the Righteous

#327 Demonic Invitation

#328 Law of Worship

#329 Don't Push Wet Noodles, Especially if They Bite

#330 Morality & Sentience

#331 Spirit & Worship

#332 Law of Foundations

#333 Happiness Is Contagious

#334 Be Ridiculous with the Persistent

#335 The Middle Demotivation Trap

#336 Law of Generational Sin

#337 Routines

#338 I Didn't Notice

#339 Teaching, Criticizing, Helping & Self-Indictment

#340 Law of Faith

#341 Forty Is Too Young to Have a Baby

#342 It's not Enough to Be Angry

#343 No One Is Perfect, So What?

#344 Prophecy Is...

#345 Secrets, Societies & Business Clubs

#346 Render to Caesar

#347 Be Hardy, for Too Much Help Insults

#348 God's Word Is...

#349 Four Seasons in Christian Life

#350 We Need Judges So We Can Be Fair to Our Enemies

#351 Don't Wait to Shine

#352 Prayer Is...

#353 Godly Life Balance

#354 Good People Speak Their Minds

#355 This Is a Test

#356 Action Is...

#357 Loving Others Means Caring for Others

#358 Why You Are Your Own Solution

#359 Animal Mode

#360 Theology Humbles

#361 Grade & Gauge Correctly

#362 The Marvelous God of Science

#363 Summers Work

#364 Repentance unto Hope

#365 God Saves the Best for Last

#0 Religion Substitute

#366 About the Author

##  Introduction

I edited this Introduction after finishing all 365 reads. The first few paragraphs, about dedication, were written after the fact. But, most of this Introduction contains my initial thoughts before writing. After finishing over 133,000 words in about 3.65 months—just over five months with a one-and-a-half month break to create my own Linux programming, beginning reader, and cursive handwriting curricula—I have a near-new perspective on life. This is the most I ever wrote at once and the shortest time in which I ever wrote anything before publishing.

I have not seen any of Jordan Peterson's work, except a critical analysis of the speech for which he was first famous. I know him through friends who respect his work. This was written for them.

I decided to write this during dinner with an Atheist friend who is what I might call a "fan" of Jordan's. Later, I considered that Jordan doesn't have "fans" or "followers" or "pupils"; but he does attract interested ears. The best word this wordsmith could come up with was "enthusiast".

So, my friend Syko, whom I consider a "Jordan enthusiast", explained how he was looking for his own moral compass and seeking to understand a Bible-guided moral life. I was at a crossroads in my own life, wondering which project to finish next. Right then and there, I told him that I decided to use my brand-in-discovery, Watch Stand Pray, into a platform for this book and its mission. He thought the book might be useful, which was all I needed to get to work.

(For the record, he begged me not to dedicate this book to him because of his genuine humility. But, he truly inspired the convergence of many dots I could not connect. Without his authentic honesty about his own life, this book would not have been written. It would be a crime of authorship not to dedicate it to him. So, including Jordan's name was due respect to everyone since he also had a role, but more his enthusiasts since it was for them. Even before I ever listened to a single message from Jordan, his audience spoke loudly enough for themselves.)

In many ways, I wrote this for myself as much as for others. I have some level of achievement in keeping these principles, but I will never measure up to any standard perfectly, including my own. Even as I edited this book for print, many reads reminded me of who I am and must remain. These are truths I believe and hope to follow as closely to perfectly as possible before I die.

Though the subtitle reads "Moral Motivation", I do not consider myself any moral authority by any means. Morality is a topic society hungers for. It would be a crime not to spread the news: Morals are good.

Note that the title is not "Moral Perfection". As the words suggest, this work is both a motivation for morals and a set of moral-centered motivationals. I write these words to myself as much as to everyone else.

I was also inspired by my many students and friends, as well as Oswald Chambers. I was introduced to his work when a kind of spiritual grandmother in my college life gave me a copy as I went off to Moody. My Utmost for His Highest, the gold standard of Bible-based devotionals, was a collection of notes from Chambers's widow; our loved ones often know our best values best. He died at 43 years old of a health condition. His first book, Biblical Psychology, was published five years before that. If he could address both Bible and culture at such a young age, I can too.

I write this at 37 years old. When I first wrote this Introduction, I had only finished the first read, drafted about eleven other candidate reads, and had a list of about 180 for other topics, at least 100 of them Bible Theology topics. Most of those are rants I have given to friends on more than one occasion. It seems, according to the fact that his wife took notes of what he would say at home, Oswald was a bit of a "ranter" like myself. What writer/teacher isn't?

My father would also go on "wisdom rants". He called them "little Walter thoughts". Our family treasures them today. Toward the end of his life, he started to write them down, but most of what he said remains only in memory. I don't want that for my own ideas for future generations. Although I have written political columns, Bible teachings of many kinds, fiction, and numerous other pieces in various genres, nothing I ever wrote before this really had "Jesse thoughts". This does.

Oswald Chambers brought us all something special. His daily readings aren't just "Bible study". They were real, passionate, and natural from the moment. Those kinds of "household wisdom rants" have the strongest "didactic" teaching impact in childhood. Some of our best books are the ones we don't know we write. Oswald remains unique in the devotional world.

The lesser among devotionals can often be with cliche, are quite dry, belong best under dust on a coffee table's lower shelf, or were invaluable for readers from another time. Many good Bible devotionals are aimed at novice Bible readers who love Jesus and need elementary teaching to enrich their busy, hectic lives. There are many rich daily-Bible books, such as 365 Read-Aloud Bedtime Bible Stories, the "Uncle" Arthor Maxwell collections, and it goes without mention that Max Lucado and my dear friend, Joe Stowell, are generally awesome. But, all of these are heavily focused on traditional Bible-preaching topics.

What about the professional? What about the Christian who wants to minister through the marketplace or in government? Wisdom such as, "Make sure you're nice to people because God really loves you as much as them," carries truth that can be properly applied if we take it to heart; but it doesn't necessarily answer all challenges of the working professional.

Who disciples the Daniels and Josephs? Who motivates the motivational speakers? They weren't without mentors of their own. Without any spite, I believe there is a "red ocean" marketable need for a book that daily enriches the lives of self-proclaimed "Christian yuppies". I wanted "Tony Robins meets Oswald Chambers". Frankly, that's Jesse Steele.

Oswald Chambers didn't intend to write the book he wrote. That was part of its magic. The only reason that I can justify even being worthy to want to follow in his shoes is that every one of these 365 reads—353 of them yet-to-be-drafted—are from rants I have already made. I'm doing zero research and zero outlining for these devotionals. I'm simply sitting at a keyboard and pounding out "repeating broken record rants" of my past that people have thanked me for time and again. The book will be finished as fast as I can type. (Now we know how long it took.)

(Don't tell her, but this is arguably a romance tactic. If I publish all my brilliant ideas before I meet my future wife, that might deter her from taking notes while I'm ranting. Wouldn't that have been kind of funny—a young couple getting into it when the wife suddenly pulls out a pad of paper and starts taking notes? Just sayin'. But, I kinda' like that kinda' woman.)

No, I'm not married. I just haven't had time to pursue it, being too busy with other important things that I won't have time for in the future. So, how can I even include anything about marriage and family in these readings?

I am a son and an uncle, for what it's worth. I hope I'm valuable to my nieces and nephews. Still, I severely limit myself on the topic of raising a family. I can't speak to the 24/7 parenting gig; it's exhausting just to think about. But, if it is wrong to write wisdom for children when you don't have any of your own then most of CS Lewis's work would be unqualified.

In terms of marriage, I am just an inquisitive observer. I've often picked the brains of married couples to see what works for them, why they fail, why they succeed, and I often know more about what goes on behind the scenes than people realize. I'm somewhat of the grapevine in that sense. I don't think God would let those little "bees" buzz over and keep me so informed if I flapped jaw about other people's problems. I keep a tighter lip than most will ever know. Many a secret will go to my grave with me. From those secrets, I have a wide scope of what I have seen fail and succeed. I think it would be a crime not to share at least a little from that insight.

These reads contain the warnings and wisdom anyone can see in advance, with a little diligence and "grapevining". I'll probably write a post-parenting book on how it all worked out. My mother often told me with all sincerity and no animosity, "I can't wait to see how your ideas actually work out when you're a parent."

What do I have to say about being a father?

I write this not as a father, but as a godfather of a godson whose father left him forever when he was three, to whom I gave my name. I have none of the rights nor powers of a real father, yet I carry much of the responsibility. I have no influence in his regular instruction or situation. I am only available when called on and can only act in the capacity of a commentator and cheerleader. In many ways, I wish I had even some of the powers of a real father to David, with no second thought for the burdens that would come with them. I did not ask for him to be my godson and I cannot ask to be released. I only write about the topic of fathering because no devotional would be complete without it. In this, I write from what I little I do know and from what the Bible teaches. I hope that God grants you the powers to glean from my wisdom and disregard my lacking.

But, I am no novice to these matters either.

My grandmother was called "Grandma" even by her elders because of her wide and long work with children in her local church. Even after she died, my aunt's neighbor, who barely knew her, had a dream in which she called her "Grandma". My mother was listed in the local newspaper among the top ten local daycare providers. My own babysitter, from before I entered elementary school, was a leader in her community and I am still in touch with her to this day. We often talk about dealing with people as we never stop growing up.

During the ages of nine and ten, when I was homeschooled, I listened to Dr. Kevin Leman on the radio every day as parents called into his national talk radio program for advice. Sadly, yet honestly, I believed I have studied the subject of parenting more than most parents. In addition to that, I have twenty-three years of one-on-one tutoring experience with ages ranging from five to seventy and in three different cultures. I have seen many parenting styles, what fails and what succeeds, and I say confidently as humbly: It's all predictable.

Books have already been published about most every problem and conflict. Talk radio hosts, even the less famous, have addressed many challenges. Yet, most of the people who face great challenges in family relationships rarely seek advice, let alone seek advice in advance. Not seeking advice in advance is usually among the greatest problems in family. Never have I encountered a situation where my own counsel had not already been published by men more experienced than I. When it comes to family, I have absolutely nothing new to say, yet I think I have seen one quarter of all there is to see, the total being unfathomable.

I do not have experience as a husband or as a biological father. I can't speak from impure relations either. I can only speak from the perspective of one who has the wisdom to wait for things for which I know I am not prepared. Of all the experience I lack, the greatest is preventable and unnecessary failure. For the failures I have, I am glad I was at least absent from the bleachers and present on the game field.

Aside from parenting, I feel competent in the areas of which I write. I survived nine years overseas with my only financial plan being God as my provider. Everything I write about money came from what I have observed in life and read in the Bible. The same goes for leadership, whether organizationally, in business relations, friendship, or positions of authority such as controlling a classroom or working in government.

My work speaks for itself, including the fifteen other books I have written as of 2018, all of them available as ebooks and through print on demand, as well as the inkVerb and PinkWrite projects along with many others. I have a degree in Bible, ten years of work in food service, twenty years in education, and am a pianist of thirty. I am son to a widowed mother and Military Police renaissance-man and teacher of a father. I am a brother, uncle, godfather, Linux programmer, designer, podcaster, columnist, predictor of politics, adviser to unnamed few, ESL and piano teacher, forever student, individual sport enthusiast, hands-on student of culture, lover of people almost as much as I am lover of our Creator God, sinner, mentor, friend, hunter, tamer of animals, writer, editor, survivor, and hope-to-be-better every day all-around good guy.

# 

#  **#1**

## The Moral Compass from Above

As humans, we are partially responsible for who we are and partially responsible to accept what we cannot change about who we already are. One thing we cannot change is our need for a moral compass. Like open source software and peer-to-peer relationships, we must do to others as we would have them do to us. And, like the turtle dove, bald eagle, lar gibbon, prairie vole, albatross, French angelfish, black vulture, barn owl, black-necked swan, shingleback skink, pot-bellied seahorse, European beaver, sandhill crane, and macaroni penguin—humans are hardwired to mate for life. When the alpha male and alpha female gray wolves mate for life, it establishes a social structure that protects the pack. Humans also depend on social structure, another thing we cannot decide nor change.

Human society is sadly plagued by an idea that circulates like an invasive virus—that we can construct our own moral code and that each different moral code is equal to all others. For man-made morals, this is true; insufficient, they are all equally wanting. The Bible teaches that lies, including man-made morals, are promoted by the devil, who prowls like a lion seeking anyone to devour. Don't take the bait.

That devil wants to destroy our lives, starting with his lie that we can survive life with our own morals. He wants us to think that any moral code is sufficient, so we will ignore the morals that protect us from injury.

A moral code for humankind cannot be created by humankind. Morals relate to those things we cannot change—but must accept—about who we already are. Such insight can only come from the source of our existence.

The Bible claims that it comes from God, through the personalities of its many authors, and that studying it regularly produces good results. That makes it a candidate for a moral compass—not from ourselves, but from above. The Bible proves itself to be from God, not with its overwhelming archaeological, scientific, and historical supporting evidence—but the Bible proves that it is what it claims to be by doing what it claims to do through the positive effect on our lives as we read it daily.

_Joshua 1:8, Isaiah 2:8, John 8:44, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 1 Peter 5:8_

#  #2

## What Is 'Theology'?

Theology is a combination of Greek word parts. "Theos" meaning "god" and the suffix "-logia" suggests "interest" or "study".

Many people who have not studied theology have their own superstitious definition of the word, unofficially yet predictably meaning things like: overly-complicated, big words, confusing concepts, and esoteric speech patterns reserved for self-important egg heads. That's because theology can come across that way when expert theologians talk on their expert level in the presence of a novice.

But, herein lies a dilemma. Words must be defined by their definitions—if they are going to help us understand. When pop culture commandeers and derails the meaning of a word, that word loses its ability to help humanity.

"Capitalist" around the year 2000 meant much the same as the term "Republican" around 1900: _rich elitist_. Actually, a "Republican" is a member or supporter of the political party started by Abraham Lincoln, that's all. " _Rich elitist_ " means "rich elitist". Likewise, "Capitalism" only means that people can do what they want with their own money—being born into a "lower class" doesn't mean you can't buy certain clothes; rather, you can buy whatever clothes you can afford. Capitalism delivered the world from old Feudalism in Europe. Pop culture definitions might be fashionable, but they don't bring understanding.

Just the same, don't let the word "theology" scare you. Don't let it give you a big head. Theology means "interested in God". A theologian is someone who carefully studies and learns about God with great interest.

"Why does God___?" is a theological question. All of us are theologians in a sense, that is if we have any opinion about God at all. However, not many people are very diligent theologians.

Studying God means studying things we can never fully understand. The ultimate conclusion of any good theology is our own humility. God is bigger and to be respected. That is a basic concept of theology—a concept many good people easily forget.

Martin Luther said that the ultimate theological question is not, " _What do I think about God?_ " but, " _What does God think about me?_ "

Theology is not a quest for a mere opinion, but for understanding the Giver of goodness, wisdom, and love.

_1 Chronicles 16:11, Psalm 14:2, Jeremiah 29:13, Acts 17:11_

#  #3

## What Is 'Biblical'?

The term "Biblical" means that something is told in the same format as it is in the Bible—including doctrine, theology, and even a simple story. Pop Christianity often presumes that "Biblical" means "true", but it does not! For example, the Hittites told Israel that they were from outside of the land of Canaan, but they actually lived in the land—the "Biblical" story includes that the Hittites claimed they were from Canaan. If that story were told "according to truth", we might clarify right away that the Hittites were lying, but if we tell that story "Biblically" or "according to the format of the Bible", we would first tell what the Hittites claimed, then later on learn that they had been lying.

This might not seem to be an important distinction, but it is part of understanding "Biblical" morals and critical thinking.

"Biblical" teaching can often mean an idea is "true", but not necessarily. A "Biblical" view of God includes that God is "Most High", existing in Eternity Past and on a level deeper than atoms, light, and even thought itself. That is because this idea can be found in the Bible, what we might call a "Biblical Doctrine". According to a "Biblical" worldview, this is true. So, the relationship between being "Biblical" and being "true" is much like a Venn diagram; they can be the same, but not by definition alone.

Just as the term "Biblical" includes the format of the Bible, it also includes the "contents" of the Bible. If an idea is not found in the Bible—whether it is true or not—it is "extrabiblical", "extra-" meaning "outside" or "in addition to". Thomas Aquinas said, "All truth is God's truth," which meant that we can teach the truth as truth even if it is not "Biblical" truth AKA if it is "extrabiblical" truth. Math and Science do not need to be found word-for-word in the Bible to be true.

"Biblical" truth, however, is special. The Bible tells us things that we would never figure out on our own. Not in ten billion years could humankind figure out sufficient knowledge about God to recognize Him—without insight from uniquely "Biblical" truth.

_Psalm 19, Proverbs 14:12, Romans 1:20, 2 Peter 1:21_

#  #4

## What Is 'Systematic'?

It is very important to tell the difference between "Systematic Theology" and "Biblical Theology". "Biblical" theology has the same format as the Bible: "Systematic" does not.

A "Biblical" theology of Jesus might be "Jesus according to Matthew" or "Jesus according to Paul's letters". Matthew's personality is in the choice of words throughout his story of Jesus life. The first four books in the New Testament are stories about Jesus's life told by different people; they are called "Gospels". They all tell the truth, but with different personality. The Gospel of Luke is somewhat like an investigative journal while the Gospel of John is more of an empty stage theatrical playwrite. Even when one Gospel quotes Jesus, the words may be slightly different from another Gospel retelling the same story. "Exact quotes" were unheard of at that time, so they accurately include the "voice of Jesus" rather than the "words of Jesus"; though different, they do not disagree. This type of difference is what we find in a "Biblical study of Jesus in Matthew" vs a "Biblical study of Jesus in John". We can do "Biblical" studies on many things.

When we study a topic from many books of the Bible and compare them so as to paint a more complete portrait, this is called "Systematic" Bible study. You could also call it "Topical". "Biblical Theology" studies Bible teaching by book; "Systematic Theology" studies Bible teaching by topic, using many books at the same time. It is very important to develop Biblical theology first, then Systematic theology later.

Once we develop a Systematic theology from the Bible, we have what is called a "Doctrine" or a "Teaching". The best example is the "Trinity". The word "Trinity" is not "Biblical", but theologians use that word to describe the Systematic theology that God is Father, Son, and Spirit. So, the "Doctrine of the Trinity" could also be called a "Systematic Theology of the Trinity".

If a Doctrine is against the Bible's teaching, however, this is called "Unbiblical".

In 1989, John MacArthur published the book "The Gospel According to Jesus"; in 1991 Don Carson published "The Gospel According to John". One was Systematic, the other Biblical. Know the difference.

_Proverbs 16:25, Matthew 28:19, John 16:12-15; 17:20-23_

#  #5

## Strength in the Fight

Victory implies a struggle.

When God promises victory, He doesn't mean it will be easy. Call it what you will—immaturity, youth, ignorance, superstition, unrealistically imposed expectation... assumption—presuming that any victory comes easy is a miscalculation.

Don't set out on life thinking that "everything's gonna' be rosy" now that you have a... whatever—new job, club membership, acceptance letter, contract, romance, plane ticket... Jesus...

The concept of _"strength in the midst"_ is one of those countless Biblical enigmas. Heaven's view seems upside down compared to ours—it _seems_ that way, anyhow. The idea that God will give us strength, then march us right into the pit of Hell doesn't fit any of our fairyland, utopian, presumptive ideals.

Yet, on a practical level—which Heaven is best at—it makes sense. Why would God give us strength if it weren't to invade Hell's occupation of Earth? Think about it, we complain about why God doesn't get rid of evil, God gives us the power to defeat evil, God marches us to the place of evil, and we still can't connect the dots? No wonder Jesus compared us to sheep.

The underlying "conflict" slumbering deep within our psyche is that we aren't that valuable. When one presumes that one is not important enough to make a difference, being given both challenges and the tools to overcome seems like a punishment rather than a path to—well, a path to victory.

Victory comes from strength in the fight. The notions that we will either always have an oppressive opponent while mostly losing or else we will be "on top" of every situation are part of our tendency to follow our own auto-created human morals.

Always consider _victory through troubles exploited_.

We don't know where the storm comes from. The devil might bring the storm, we might have created it ourselves, or the storm just might be God Himself descending in fire and smoke.

In any case, God brings the storm to us, then He gives us the strength to stand. Whatever clouds cover the sky, the sun always shines and once they pass we will be stronger—not despite the storm, but because we stood through it.

_Deuteronomy 20:4, John 16:33, James 1:2-4_

#  #6

## Holistic Transformation

The Bible's power is not in casual reading—though casual reading won't hurt any. We could all use more casual time so beneficially spent. But, if you want the Bible's power in your life, you must allow it to transform your thinking—from cognition to unconscious heart inclination.

Only in reprogramming the core and whole of one's worldview with the Bible can there be any test of the Bible's legitimacy.

Many self-important "experts" pick and choose which ideas from the Bible they wish to adopt, as well as the degree to which they adopt them. It can't work. When they prove themselves to be hypocrites, this only proves the Bible's legitimacy all the more: The Bible only helps when we ingest it all-in, without stops, without preconditions, and without expectations. Half gets you zero.

Even one's expectations of what the Bible will do must come from the Bible, not our own made-up superimposition.

The concept of being "holistic" applies. Once we pick and choose, we're no longer obeying the Bible and our failed results can't be owed to the Bible. You're welcome to test and sample, but there are no promises except that the Bible doesn't work until you dive in head first.

When any Biblical teaching takes root in our core being, our own friends may not even recognize us. The world will tell us we are wrong. We will face unexpected challenges and unwarranted enemies—seemingly for no reason. People will even say, "You must be doing _something_ to irritate them, people don't just treat you this way for no reason." It's called _jealousy_ , though what specifically they are jealous of may never be known.

The Bible will re-rout your thinking, newly, every day you read it. Things will make more sense. You will develop new questions. The "code" of life on Earth won't seem such a mystery, then again you will see mysteries you never knew existed before. Things will bother you that other people can't see and won't believe exist. You'll be happy about things just the same.

In some cases people might persecute you. Better, you will make friends you never dreamed of—or who never dreamed of befriending you.

_Proverbs 23:26, Matthew 10:34-39, Romans 6:17, James 4:8_

#  #7

## Dream

Don't let anyone tell you what your dreams should be.

God gives every one of us a dream. Most people ignore the dream, belittle it, or even throw it in the trash—because they think it's impossible. Because they think it's impossible, they tell themselves it's unreasonable. Once they believe it's unreasonable, they rationalize dismantling their dream as "irresponsible" and "a waste of time".

But, they can't stop at stopping their own dreams.

Anyone bent on eradicating their own dreams can't allow themselves to think that dreams can have any value, including other people's dreams. By allowing other people to dream big they would have to accept that their own dreams might have value. They attack other people for dreaming so they can sleep at night, dreamlessly.

They say that it can't happen, taking ten minutes, hours, even days to finally get to their point that they just don't like dreams. "We must be practical," they preach, though everything starts as a dream.

Why do anti-dreamers do this? Perhaps they once had a dream and were attacked by anti-dreamers themselves. Like being bitten by a vampire, they turn into what they once despised; having been dreamers, they become the greatest persecutors of dreaming.

The secret about dreams is that they come from somewhere. Just like morals, dreams for a life greater than we imagine must come from above.

We can't achieve our dreams on our own. Those who try fail and become the party-poopers, the rain clouds on parades, the cynics who shoot down other people's happiness to avoid remembering what they forsook.

It takes God's help to achieve a God-sized dream—the same God who gives dreams.

Don't let people tell you what your dreams can be. Don't daydream of small, covetous, "average" ambitions that only seem worthy to "reasonability".

Think of the unthinkable. Lay down whatever mediocre ambitions you strive for and accept a much wider, larger vision. Dream big. Dream for others—not to conquer them nor to induct them into your own dream, but to inspire them to chase whatever dreams you could never grant.

True dreams only come from God and no other and only He can make them reality.

_2 Chronicles 15:7, Psalm 20:4, Psalm 37:4, Galatians 6:9_

#  #8

## The Bible Works for You Too

When the Bible teaches about a topic, it addresses a wide array of situations and has meaning on multiple levels of geometric measure.

Too often and sadly, so-called "Bible teachers" will say, "That Bible passage was in the context of [whatever Bible context], so you can't claim that as any promise for your own life."

Never believe it.

The _ENTIRE_ Bible happened in a specific context for a specific time and place and audience. The miracle of the Bible is that those events have application today—and, not just the usual "I know history" application.

For example, God told Israel that if His people, called by Him, would humble themselves and pray, He would forgive them and restore their land. Some people claim, "That was only for Israel when God was taking them away as a punishment. Therefore, this passage only teaches us that God cares for Israel. If you think that promise applies to other countries, you misunderstand."

This is the teaching of someone who doesn't understand the Bible.

Other parts of the Bible make it clear that God welcomes _anyone_ who repents. His promise to Israel comes in that greater context. If this passage teaches that national restoration and repentance are reserved only for Israel, then it would need to include something to that effect, but it does not.

When God promised to forgive and restore His people who repent, He continued His precedent to forgive and restore _all people who repent_. What God plans specifically for each nation and time differs, but the overall promise remains.

Never let any so called "context" Bible lesson abuse context to convince you to interpret the Bible against what the Bible says.

If God shows love to one person in the Bible, He can show love to you also. When the angel appeared to the shepherds to announce Jesus's birth, he didn't say, "I bring great news only in context," he said, "I bring great news for _all people_."

God would not have sent the angel to announce God's plan to save all people through Jesus's self-sacrifice unless God had His aim on opening His truth and His promises to all people from the very beginning.

_Exodus 34:6-7, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 51:17, Luke 2:10_

#  #9

## Fear Is Marketing

Fear is always selling something. It might be selling despair as a paralytic toxin to render all who fear as helpless. It could be selling a false hope, some super-duper cure-all.

Many parents in Asia spend enormous amounts of money on education for fear that their children will not graduate as first in the nation—never doing the math that only one graduate can hold that position. After all, fear inhibits reason. Insanity is another thing fear often sells. But, if you don't graduate at the top of your class from the best school in the solar system, then your life is over, right?

Sometimes fear takes the form of grandiose goals—goals that are physically or computationally impossible and would serve no useful purpose even if they weren't. It's great to be able to calculate complex geometry in your head, but it is grandiose to think your life depends on it—or anyone else's. Once your head gets too big, your ego pops like a balloon and you are left in fear of seductive ambitions that never existed.

It is difficult to overcome a fear of something that doesn't exist. Thus is the nature of fear. All fear is unwarranted. It won't do you a lick of good.

If it is inevitable that you will die, there's no use in dying fearfully. Of course, Death gets us all. So, that's one angel we need not fear.

If your bills are late or the odds look dark, if you need breakthrough by a certain time or if you're running out of options, sobriety and calmness will be your best friend. Whatever person, business, or demon wants to sell you fear has some sort of purpose that is less than noble.

God commanded Israel not to fear. It wasn't a suggestion. It wasn't an "encouragement"— _it was a command: Do not fear!_

Anyone who knows God knows that only God is worthy of fear. Whatever you fear you also revere. If you fear anything other than God, get a Biblical life!

Understanding anything begins with fearing the Lord God only. Next time you see something scary—an advertisement promoting fear—concentrate on fear's competition: Fear God.

_Deuteronomy 6:13; 31:6, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 23:4; 111:10, Proverbs 9:10, Isaiah 40:10, Luke 12:4-6, John 14:27_

#  #10

## What Is the Bible?

The Bible is a collection of literature and history spanning at least six thousand years. It is the oldest, most-banned, and best-selling book in the world. History collaborates the claims of the Bible. In the few times when the manuscripts disagree, there is no question about the historical accuracy, teaching about God, or meaningful intent of the text.

The Old Testament has 39 books and 17,000 documented manuscripts proving that they are accurate. Additionally, agreeing with the Old Testament are the Samaritan Pentateuch, (400 BC), the Greek Septuagint (280 BC), the Dead Sea Scrolls (0 AD), and the Latin Vulgate (400 AD). The New Testament has 27 books and 25,000 documented manuscripts proving that they are accurate.

Roman catacomb art contains consistent evidence of Christianity before the fifth century. Additionally, the entire New Testament could be reconstructed merely from the Church fathers quoting from it; they lived shortly after it was written, the "apostolic fathers" being contemporaries of the apostles in the New Testament. Proof of this evidence is widely and freely available.

With neither electronic technology nor high speed transportation, numerous copies, all hand-written and nearly identical, quickly distributed over a wide region indicate even earlier, accurate copies.

About every 400 years since Jesus's time, institutions went through extreme transformation, embedding the Bible into the fabric of society. This means that the Bible cannot have been recently invented.

  * _October 28, 312 AD, Constantine wins the battle of the Milvian Bridge, paving way for Christianity to become the Roman state religion in 380 AD._

  * _December 25, 800 AD, Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne Holy Emperor of Rome, establishing a Christian empire over Europe._

  * _September 2, 1192 AD, Saladin and King Richard I come to an agreement about Jerusalem that Christians can make pilgrimage there._

  * _November 11, 1621 AD, the Pilgrims sign the Mayflower Compact founding what would become Northern States and the first society where literacy was normal, their purpose being to read the Bible._

The man who continues to change the world more than any other to this day, Jesus, has no tomb or dead body, validating the Bible's claim about Jesus's life, resurrection, and ascension into the sky. Whether you or I believe the Bible, history does. If that book encourages you, that's a good thing.

_Isaiah 40:8, Daniel 2:21, Acts 13:15, Hebrews 4:12-13_

#  #11

## Think on the Good

There are enough problems in the world to go around. There is no shortage of bad news.

It is rather sad that many people think that all news is bad by definition. They don't claim this outright and they would never admit it to themselves unless confronted in an environment where they could sit down lest they faint upon realizing their own folly. Whenever they report a story, it has a bad twist and they rarely find anything good to say. All of us are like this by birth. So, don't expect it to be easy to be otherwise and don't hold it against anyone else—being negative about negativity would be a hypocrisy.

The only way to be a "positive person" is to be intentional. People do not become happy in all moments by accident. Even then, we have our bad days and must at least enjoy the rain from our self-made rain clouds. Even without our sin nature weighing us down, there is always more to learn about God and goodness and glory and wisdom and all mysteries wonderful. Light requires energy consumed.

Sadness doesn't help. Blaming, attacking, berating, belittling, smearing, insulting, demeaning, whipping, beating, threatening—these things do not cause people to rise up and become stronger than they knew they could be. Sometimes we need to have the sin scared out of us, but that is not negativity—rather an encounter with Eternity. Life and death is about Eternity, after all. But, the reality that death faces us all and constructive criticism are two far cries from dumping toxic emotional waste on to people thinking it will make them strong.

Light is the commodity needed by all life. Even mold that grows in darkness depends on organisms that flourish in the light. Light is what we needs. Light is what we often struggle to find. Light will make you valuable. Light will guide yourself, others, and make you a precious gem in the lives of others.

To have your own light, you need oil. Do what is right, especially when you don't feel like it. Say an encouraging word today, even if you failed yesterday. Entertain yourself with anything fueling light.

_Colossians 3:1-4, Philippians 4:4-9_

#  #12

## Arguments That Change the Subject

Whenever talking, stay on topic; don't change the subject.

First, you must know your subject of discussion, which many people don't. Second, understand that trying to change the subject is just as dangerous—yes, dangerous—as allowing other people to change the subject. But, if you don't first know which subject you are discussing, then it's hard to stay on topic at all.

People who change the subject either don't know the subject much at all or know the subject all too well—and are doing it intentionally.

When answering questions at a Q&A, educated teachers will often begin their answer by explaining the broader subject that the question relates to, usually a section and row of books in a library. One of the best textbook examples is Ravi Zacharias. Every question relates to a topic that has almost always already been written about in exhaustion. People ask those questions, usually, because they may not even know that the subject itself exists. So, identifying the subject of the question is the first part to a proper answer.

When you say, "That employee does a bad job," don't accept the answer, "He worked here for 20 years." It is not on topic. Your initial statement was about job performance; the response was about history, familiarity, defense of personal character, perhaps even cronyism or even nepotism; "He is my friend, my own son." Of course, it might not be your place—you might not have enough information—to be accusing an employee of doing a bad job in the first place. In that case, a more appropriate response to your initial statement might be, "He has worked here longer than you." In that case, it is you who are off topic—the topic of focusing on one's own job performance.

By knowing your subject, you will avoid switching topics in conversation. That will help you avoid unnecessarily ugly arguments and to be resilient against populism. For this, it is good to familiarize yourself with "logical fallacies" on your own: red herring, straw man, emotional appeal, ad hominem, appeal to the stone, argument from ignorance, illicit minor, argumentum ad populum, appeal to authority, appeal to hypocrisy, and many more.

_Proverbs 19:8, John 9_

#  #13

## Arguments That Don't Change the Point

There is such a thing as a distinction without a meaningful difference. When a Muslim or Jew is asking about the food, clarifying whether the roast beast is ham or pork won't matter since it all comes from a pig.

Knowing what things don't make a difference is a sign of education and upbringing.

In high school, I sat on a committee voting on my school's curriculum. A pastor on the committee made a motion and I seconded the motion. After discussion, when it came to a vote, I voted against it. The pastor was far more entertained than insulted and gave me a comical look during the vote. After, and over a good laugh, we decided that I was not allowed to vote against a motion I had seconded, but that had I first withdrawn my second, someone else would have made a second second, and the vote would have passed just the same. So, in the greater rules of procedure, that absurd process could have been deemed moot at best and, more likely, at worst an interference with order.

The question is whether the result is the same.

Quite often, children argue with their parents about technical details that would not affect the outcome. It doesn't matter if you hit your brother because he hit you first or called you a "silly face", you shouldn't ever hit your brother.

Unfortunately, many people do not outgrow this practice. It is not a mere question of adulthood. Parents easily know that their children's attempt at filibuster are beside the deciding point. But, lawyers and judges debate among themselves the value of specific points in the final decision, even into senior years, even at the highest of courts.

Know yourself whether a distinction will make a difference. Limit yourself to ideas that affect the outcome. When others make non-differentiating distinctions, politely and comically call them out on it. Be proactive in policing your own conversations, especially your own thoughts.

Years of practice in knowing what distinctions matter will help you make better on-the-spot decisions and give you better direction in your goals, vision, values, mission, choosing friendships, settling disagreements, or even simple decisions in grocery shopping.

_Proverbs 3:13; 17:28, 1 Timothy 6:4-5_

#  #14

## Value of Conscience

God created us with a conscience. The conscience connects one's soul in the Eternal dimension to one's body in the physical cosmos we know as the universe. Martin Luther pleaded "conscience" when he left the Catholic Church. Having a conscience is part of what it means to be a sentient creation, the very Image of God.

Every conscience has some guidelines that cannot change, yet some rules that must be trained. Some people have a physical, chemical, or mental condition that causes their consciences not to work. Some researchers have argued that people with such tendencies can be trained by helping them to connect choices, actions, and consequences. Ultimately, people who grow up seemingly without a conscience have had that link of action and consequence interrupted.

Children must learn that good and bad choices have good and bad consequences. Parents must allow those natural and fair consequences to have their day. If a youth makes plans that parents often interrupt or makes good decisions rarely rewarded, that youth may start deceiving or manipulating friends at school, alienating classmates, and no one might ever figure out why. By disconnecting the justice between action and consequence, the parents have, in effect, numbed the youth's conscience. Chaotic homes create killers.

A conscience can be damaged or trained. Germany exterminated two million Jews, all in good conscience; Holocaust deniers claim the number was "only" a few thousand, likewise in good conscience. Many people in developing countries lie to their governments all the time, even Christians, since government laws contradict themselves as do government inspectors; they can't survive and not lie. Some Asians feel overwhelming guilt for stabbing chopsticks into a bowl of rice—stabbed food is for the dead, after all.

Sunday morning culture has its own conscience modifications, which is one reason "church-goers" often struggle with the "real world"—their consciences can be unusual and not necessarily "Biblical".

Every conscience must be taken captive to the Bible. No conscience is infallible. Train and retrain your conscience, tend to it diligently, never ignore it. Conscientious feelings governed by higher morals will safeguard your path and could prevent your becoming the CEO who accidentally ends up drowning in massive scandal.

_Acts 23:1, Romans 8:33-34, Colossians 2:16-19, 1 Timothy 3:8-9; 4:1-4, Hebrews 10:22, 1 John 3:19-4:6_

#  #15

## What Are 'Hermeneutics'?

There are "rules" and "guidelines" for understanding meanings, whether hidden or apparent, in any literature. Those rules are called "hermeneutics". Hermeneutics are often referred to when interpreting the Bible. Being a collection of literature, the Bible, of course, requires hermeneutics in order to be understood properly.

One hermeneutic involves knowing genre; the Bible has many: history, genealogy, law, promises, prophecy, poetry, journalism, correspondence, and visions. The Gospels (Matthew–John) and Acts are forms of history, but mainly journalism. In that ancient time, journalism reported the "voice" of what people said; the concept of an "exact quote" neither existed nor was important at the time. Just the same, the purpose of journalism was to prove a point, the concept of "just the facts" didn't exist much either; it was always "news and comment", in its Greco style.

None of these genres in the Bible fit with the "lawyer" attitude of post-nineteenth century English. A connotation of "you know what I mean" could be footnoted to every sentence in the Bible, which twenty-first century Black American culture, generally, practices better than White.

Prophecy, whether in the Bible or not, can be "foretelling" the future or "forthtelling" a message; both are from God and have multiple layers of meaning and fulfillment. In foretelling, the foretold event will be fulfilled multiple times and will affect people's thinking each time it happens. Both foretelling and forthtelling are easy to misunderstand and there is no way to fully interpret the meaning of a prophecy until after the event has happened or the audience has accepted and acted on the message.

Prophecy in the Bible is part of canon, prophecy outside of the Bible is "particular", for specific audiences and times. Prophecy from God is vague, using plain language, while pagan prophecy often uses long, boring poetry.

One constant hermeneutic is _progression_. Chronologically, not "Biblically", every word of the Bible expects the reader to know what happened previously. We learn more and more about and from God as the Bible's timeline unfolds. So, the best way to understand the Bible is to know the whole Bible and use different parts of the Bible to help interpret each other, whether in foresight or retrospect.

_Luke 24:13-35_

#  #16

## What Is 'Godliness'?

Godliness, etymologically speaking, means living like there is a god above.

To be "godly" means that one is not the greatest power in one's life. It means that one is not a spiritual orphan, but has a greater, can-handle-all Master watching over, teaching, correcting, punishing, loving, rewarding, funding, preparing, training, enjoying, cheering, catching, and seeing in all that one does.

This Master is not imagined by mere Human creativity, as Blaise Pascal said, _"God created man in His own image and man returned the favor."_ This Master is higher, above all adversaries and threats, able to save and help and rear from birth to death throughout life on Earth.

People who live without consciously knowing about such a greater Master behave, in spiritual terms, as if they were raised by wolves. They lack self-control in some matters, but not others. They often pontificate as if their "wonderful ideas about God" are an attempt to receive epistemological validation for the first time. They conflict inside, are unsure of their theological direction, and thus lack some—not all—necessary qualities of a leader. Their followers, likewise, will in some ways behave as if they too were raised by wolves—including Christian children.

We emulate and behave and think according to who and what we believe our "god" to be. We often get our view of God from the adults in our lives. If a parent is godless, we may struggle to believe in any God at all.

Anything can be a "god", including verbal abuse, drugs, money, calendars, indecision, education, philosophy, theology, nature, entertainment, one's own ego, and especially Sunday morning.

One who truly believes in the God who first said, "Let there be light," will often and intentionally bring light, hope, guidance, and encouragement to others. To be godly in "Biblical" terms is to know the need for lifelong study and, firstly, every human's need for forgiveness and redemption, primarily redemption for oneself and thereby secondarily redeeming others.

The God of the Bible is mighty, to be always trusted and never tested. Knowing that brings strength to the heart, both the confidence of being loved and having fear of nothing else. The Bible calls this _adoption_.

_Genesis 4:26, John 1:12-13, Romans 8:14-17, 2 Peter 1:5-9_

#  #17

## Recognize Fruit

One of the most difficult things for anyone to learn is to recognize results. The more we graduate the more we think that a diploma is a form of results; it is not.

Certification, effort, intentions, experience—all of these prove nothing. A tree is not known by the official label burned into its bark—no right thinking person would do such a thing for fear of being labeled "absurd". No! We know a tree by what grows on its branches. Oranges do not fall from apple trees and they certainly do not grow on them.

What financial planner is most qualified except who is financially independent and does not need clients? Which artist should you hire—the sincere one or the one with a huge portfolio, collected since childhood, and having the style and flair you seek? Which operating system is more reliable than the one that doesn't appear in "virus email" warnings from your bank? The engineer who can design the bridge for your city is not the one who graduated from the most prestigious college, but the one who built countless bridges already, with zero of them collapsing.

Despite the simplicity of the idea, companies still hire an MBA to lead a business of engineers or some other specialized talent. An MBA would be more suitable to lead a company whose main product or service comes from the department full of other people with MBAs. Claiming qualification to manage based on a degree in management itself is comparable to helping people know a tree by its label—just as absurd as the stock market at times.

Learn to look at results. Pick the mind of the coffee shop owner or the shoe repair man or the local gadget dealer who has been in business 20 years. Ask the man who has the numbers in the bank. Money doesn't lie, accountants do. Follow the money.

A degree may open some employment doors, but not all jobs lead to stability, career or financial. Who gains from pop culture superstitions that value certification over results?

Certificates can be good if preceded by results. To see results, one must learn to think critically even without the certificate.

_Matthew 7:15-20; 15:1-20_

#  #18

## Chivalry

The long legacy of chivalry sprouted from the unwritten Noble Habitus noted in the twelfth century: loyalty, forbearance, hardihood, liberality, Davidic ethic, and honor. These habits were for all people.

Chivalry customs change with time and were never exempt from exploitation. But, the mature and strong must always look after the young, elderly, and weak.

Bull sessions and rowdy friendship—at proper times—are indeed collective virtue. Hardiness with cheer encourages others by implying that they are tough enough to take it. But, never steal another's thunder, overstay your welcome, nor let play interfere with work.

Do your own work well and honestly. Work unfinished or badly done makes work for others, even danger. Honor is about self-sacrifice, not saving face. Sacrifice yourself for others, merely because they are near you. Obey God above mortals and angels, pay respect to all, and expect respect from none.

Elbows off the table and napkins on the knee save space. When you must retrieve from across someone's plate, always say, "Pardon my reach." Who goes through the door first is not so important as making the passage best and pleasant. Whether to talk at the table changes with occasion and each house has different rules. But, never spit your food at others and never be difficult for any friend.

Never break promises, never betray friends, and never associate with those who wish to. When your friend slips in his chivalry, offer your shoulder to help him stand.

Forbearance and forgiveness make for flexibility and resilience. If your opponent plays fowl, object if the referee blows his whistle. Chivalry 'tis not only about being a good loser, but also not quibbling over fowl play.

When late, make haste, but not so much that ye make waste. Be punctual, don't get in others' way, but weep not at interference or tardiness of others. Unlacing over a faux pas is bad chivalry, whether yours or not; it's best to "not even notice".

Never lodge complaint over tone of voice. Anyone can practice gruffness or bad grammar if he worked to pay for his own plate, especially if he pays for everyone else's. Carelessly sharing is most caring, as any chevalier knows.

_2 Samuel 19:1-8, John 2: 1-12; 6:1-14; 19:26-30_

#  #19

## Shoulders of Giants

_"Bernard of Chartres used to compare us to dwarfs perched on the shoulders of giants... we see more and farther than our predecessors, not because we have keener vision or greater height, but because we are lifted up and borne aloft on their gigantic stature." — John of Salisbury, 1159 AD, Metalogicon_

One constant in leadership and succession is respect for those who have held office before us. This applies to any position of employment and can help bring peace to a community dissatisfied with a leader of the past.

Revolutionaries, dictators, pharaohs, caesars, and emperors who despise previous establishments quickly sink in quagmires. While the past may be despicable, it was responsible for bringing you to where you are. Don't despise it, just move forward and let history have its word in the annals.

The Fourth Commandment, to honor father and mother, includes _so that your life may be long_ —respecting predecessors. David respected Saul. Jesus visited the temple and held a cordial courtesy even with the Pharisees. The Pilgrims and the Patriots of early America respected England in their ventures and separations. Look through history and you will find that fortune favors the respectful in many things, including where succession is concerned.

Leaders can be terrible at times. They will answer to God for bad stewardship, incompetence, and lack of love. But, they often accomplish things that the next generation can benefit from, if nothing other than rising stock value as the company gets back on track. Consider the departure of a bad CEO a fruitful investment opportunity; capitalize on his folly and let your thanks be your soft insult.

Bad parents are quite common, especially when absent or abusive. Learn what you can. Don't excuse them, but don't expect perfection from them either. Lowering your expectation of others does justice for you, them, and the entire situation. They get properly labeled, you release your burden of faulting another, and the future can open up.

If you have no objections to the past then you aren't looking honestly enough. When you find fault, don't let it consume you. Forgive and thank as needed, include them in the public memoirs, and then charge forward. Ancestors surely would have done more had they been so able and would salute our progress. The past was intended to be exceeded from the Beginning.

If you can look at your predecessors and find anything good to celebrate, your time at the helm will prosper and history will celebrate your voyage.

_Exodus 20:12, 1 Samuel 24, 26, 31, Proverbs 22:28, Luke 2:41-52; 14:1-7_

#  #20

## Jesus's Morals Are Practical

Morals were meant to be beneficial. When God gave the first commands to Moses, they were intended as a kind of treasure map guiding us to bounty and plenty. If you go back and look at the rules of Moses's law, you will find many of them to be practical and beneficial. The priestly sacrifices had a concrete spiritual function as well, but that's a discussion for another time. All moral rules—from the Bible, that is—are practical and sensible.

Cold and boring religious ruts trap people into useless routine. Once we lose touch with the practical value of morals, we begin thinking of them as silly hoops to jump through, as if God is testing whether we will comply with arbitrary requirements and, if we do, then He will interrupt the natural flow of life and "reward" us. This may be the thinking of people who wish to redefine laws of physics for people under their control, but God's moral laws are different.

God created the universe. He defined laws of physics. He invented biology. Also, He invented and implemented principles of "sowing and reaping", whether in agriculture or "good luck" returning to those who are gracious and diligent. Since God designed those ideas and wove them into the fabric of our reality, He knows how they work better than anyone else. This is yet one more reason why a useful moral code can only come from above. But, it also explains what morals are: practical measures to navigate the cosmos.

Loving your neighbor just as yourself should seem sensible. Don't bear false witness against the innocent, don't covet, don't murder, "eye for an eye", and all Deuteronomy taught safety to a society with neither morals nor soap. When Joshua received Moses's Law, God told him that obeying it would cause Israel to prosper and thrive—dah!

Most everyone agrees that moral are supposed to somehow benefit people who obey them, but it is a well-kept secret in Churchianity that Biblical rules are practical and sensible. We don't always see the practicality because we are always learning, but it is still there. Impractical "religious morals" are man-made; Heavenly morals just make sense.

_Exodus 20:16-17, Deuteronomy 4:1, Psalm 119:32, Proverbs 6:16-20, Matthew 12:1-8, Mark 12:29-31_

#  #21

## Basic Definition of Justice

Justice is about balance. Essentially, that's all justice is about. Justice also uses words like "fair" and "right", but these also focus on principles of balance.

A "fair" price is equal in value to what is purchased. Looking at the supply chain, the manufacturer pays for raw materials at a "fair" price, essentially having gained or lost nothing. Then, the materials are refined and improved, then sold for a higher "fair" price since the goods' value has increased. A trader may buy goods at a "fair" price, then go through the trouble of transporting them for the convenience of others until the end consumer pays the highest "fair" price, still having neither gained nor lost. For the consumer, the purchase is worth payment because the benefit of having the goods is more important than the equal value it was purchased for.

Business exchanges have justice, but so do all areas of life. It doesn't matter specifically what is paid and purchased except that the values "weigh" or "balance" out to be the same.

When God commanded Israel "an eye for an eye", He was not teaching Israel to be angry, venomous, bloodthirsty, and vindictive; He was teaching them the basic concept of balanced justice. At that time, Israel didn't understand justice—at least not thoroughly as a complete society. Justice is not something that humanity instinctively understands—due to sin or what have you. Many people thirst for justice, but we don't instinctively know how to balance justice.

Justice is an expertise. It is a skill, a philosophy, a science like any other study. Because of this, the first structure of government in any society is that of a _judge_. Judges are not bringers of wrath and harsh punishment on people who deserve whipping and beating. No! Judges understand and calculate from their wisdom to prescribe the "verdict". By carefully "hearing", a judge keeps justice balanced in a society so that the human instinct that cries for justice does not seek imbalanced justice through society at large, unguided and thus only creating more injustice than it solves.

Moses was Israel's first judge. Even before kings, Israel had judges, a grace granting primal needs for justice.

_Exodus 21:24-25, Leviticus 24:19-20, Deuteronomy 19:20-21, Judges 2:16-19_

#  #22

## Take Space, Give Space

We all need space, even the simple space to exist. But, we have other necessary space—space to work, rest, play, and learn. We need space to be alone—to enjoy peace, reflection, and rest.

Give others space, especially space to ponder their flaws or improve themselves.

When we need space the most we are most resistant to it. Just the same, when others need space and "alone time" it can seem like they need us to continue jabbering at them.

Solo time doesn't always work on a schedule. It often just shows up without warning. Usually, that intense desire to be with other people is the indication that it is time not to be with other people. Whether your rest time or someone else's rest time has come, quickly recognize it and grant it the necessary space.

Be alone at times. Enjoy the silence. It always takes time to get acclimated to solitude just as it takes time to get acclimated to long-term prayer. Solo time is a great time to pray—not reciting well-prepared messages to God, but simply to be alone with Him or to focus your heart on one specific need or idea.

Solo times can be remarkably empowering if you do not squander them on entertainment and ice cream.

In fact, the desire to watch movies and eat ice cream can often be a kind of "spiritual attack", to lull us into complacency and just give up when we should be working, even working alone. Know the indications when solo time knocks on your door, whether it is time for solo work or solo prayer and Bible.

Never succumb to the urge to sit, do nothing, eat ice cream, and watch movies. That usually indicates a "second-in-line" friendship that is too strong in your life, even though it may not seem related on the surface. Such friends suck the energy from us causing the hunger to snack on junk food and "escape".

Seek out healthy solo time. Guard it. Schedule it if you need. Steal away for brief moments if it surprises you midday. Once you have finished your internal maintenance during solo time, healthy friends will miraculously show up.

#  #23

## What Is 'Righteousness'?

Righteousness is "right" doing, in other words _doing the things that balance justice_.

Since before the days of Noah, even before Enoch and Enosh, the concept of "righteousness" was that of balance. A "righteous" person was someone who used a balanced scale, who used the same measure for everyone including oneself.

More often in ancient times greed and dishonesty could easily be indicated by a merchant who carried two weights and two measuring sticks in his bag. When weighing for his own purchase, he would use the weight that would yield him more product; when weighing to sell, he would use the other weight that would sell less product for more money. The dishonest man would do this so he could dishonestly gain more wealth while appearing to buy and sell with equal standards of measure when he actually, secretly used two standards of measure—one for himself and one for everyone else. This is the meaning of the concept "double standard".

Using a double standard is something that "righteous" people simply will not allow themselves to do. And, if they ever do, they deeply regret it, resent it, and take steps to prevent themselves from doing it again.

In the Book of Enoch (1 Enoch) and through the Old Testament, this was the initial and archetypal idea of a "righteous" person. The concept of "righteousness" is explained progressively through Scriptue, just as all virtues are explained in greater and greater detail as Bible history unfolds. All law, even sacrificial and priestly laws were built on the concept that they were "just" or "fair" or " _right_ eous" or "balanced" in some way. By the New Testament times, ideas of other virtues are compounded with the idea of "righteousness", so a "righteous" person also "does good and worthy, noble, and respectable things". But, when reading about "righteousness" in the Bible, never forget the core, original meaning of "righteousness". That underlying meaning of "honest and balanced measure" is the dominant idea and basis whenever the Bible mentions "justice" or "righteousness".

"Righteousness" does not mean "sinlessly perfect". Every sinner can be a "righteous" [yet also sinful] person—with the conscientious unction and lasting lifestyle habit of using standard measures.

_Leviticus 19:35-36, Deuteronomy 25:13-16, Proverbs 11:1,3; 20:23; 21:3, Ephesians 4:25, Colossians 3:9_

#  #24

## Faith Is Righteous

When Abraham came along, God made a covenant with him that his descendants would be countless as the stars. God put His own name inside Abraham's, changing it into _Abraham_ from _Abram_. Abraham believed God's promise, the covenant, and God "counted it as righteousness".

Later, in the Prophets of the Old Testament and through the New Testament, came the theme _The just shall live by faith._ This was the idea that "faith in God" or "believing God" or "trusting God" is an act of "balanced righteousness". Put more simply, "righteous people" will live lives of "trusting God". Put in broader terms, "righteous people" are "godly people" because righteous people live with the belief that God is there, God is good, and God can and should be trusted.

In Heaven's court—under God's judgment—sinners become worthy to connect with God and have a happy afterlife simply by "faith" in God, namely Jesus.

The Bible's idea of _faith_ is that we _trust God_. In trusting that Jesus was who he claimed to be, we are adopted into his Eternity family and have a direct phone line to God. Believing our Creator and Redeemer is a fair, just, act of balanced righteousness.

During the medieval times of reformation, European and Roman Catholic theology held the idea that _"righteousness" meant "sinlessness"_. So, to them, the term "righteous sinner" seemed to be an oxymoron; it is not. "Righteousness" simply means "using standard measures", which sinners like all of us can do. Righteousness and sin disagree, but a sinner can be considered "righteous" by using standard measures throughout one's life. _Still, that kind of "righteousness" does not forgive our sin._

Even with "fair, just" standards in our lives, our Eternal afterlife remains grim. Our own goodness can't hold a candle to Eternity.

When Jesus died on the Cross, no one killed him; he sacrificed himself and it was according to animal sacrifice laws given to Moses. He was sinless—unlike the rest of us—so his self-human sacrifice was the last sacrifice ever needed.

_Believing_ Jesus grants us Eternal adoption by God, even while remaining sinners in this lifetime—something we could not have before Jesus's sacrifice at the Cross.

_Genesis 15:6, Psalm 51, Habakkuk 2:4, John 3:16, Romans 1:17; 5:8, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38, I John 4:10_

#  #25

## Sin and Sacrificial Laws

The priests' and animal sacrificing laws God gave to Moses, found in Exodus through Deuteronomy, point to Jesus's death on the Cross. The purpose of all of the rituals and animal sacrifice schedules were simultaneously completed with Jesus's trial, suffering, and crucifixion. Because it was completed, death lost its grip and Jesus rose from the dead. Now, Jesus offers resurrection to all of us.

The purpose of these laws were "spiritual"—that is that one would need to literally see angels and the spirits surrounding a human's body in order for the laws to make plain sense. The presumption is that demons, angels, and disembodied evil spirits all exist.

Israel entered Canaan, the Promised Land, under Joshua's leadership. The people who lived there were committing heinous acts of human sacrificing, along with other disgusting practices. These things gave power to demons over the land and invited evil spirits to rest on people, to influence their lusts, and derail their emotions. The laws of priests and sacrificing animals in a very specific manner temporarily broke off the power of these evil spiritual forces, keeping Israel free from demonic control until Jesus could complete the final sacrifice once and for all.

Sacrificial laws are gruesome, but more gruesome was the evil they defeated. Those laws were a gift to humanity. In the spiritual realm, as angels saw things, Mosaic sacrificing made perfect sense, making the world a better place.

The whole world had been shrouded in darkness concerning knowledge about God. Satan worship was alive and well. Empires taught that the Creator was evil and should be overthrown or else that an "upper class" should oppress and either literally or nearly enslave the masses. After Jesus's time, governments in Europe exploited the Bible to achieve much of this anyway.

In this darkness, God would bring hope to all humanity. For reasons God only knows, Jesus would be a descendant of Abraham, live his life in that land Abraham did, and break evil's grip on Earth. Israel needed to survive and prepare until the timing aligned. To do that, demons had to be held at bay. Moses's sacrificial laws protected Israel and the world until Jesus finished everything.

_Genesis 15:16, Deuteronomy 9:4-6, John 17:4; 19:30, Hebrews 10_

#  #26

## Don't Cry 'Victim'

Never give into the urge to "demand justice for what they took from you!" That is the war cry of every burglar, every predator, every oppressor, and every murderer. People who hurt others believe it is justice, but that twisted conscience comes from the inner demand that "someone owes me something!"—but it's not true.

You don't see Jesus whining and he gave up the most of any of us, willingly.

God has given each of us more than we need to make it through the day and the rest of our lives. Whatever was taken from you, in a Biblical worldview there are many ways that your story can have a happy ending—whether in spite of or because of your injury.

And, of course, everyone has an injury from something. Anyone who thinks otherwise lacks self-honesty. If God were to give us otherwise He would do us injustice.

The incredible, energetic, generative, creative, electrifying power of the Creator of the Universe and the Spiritverse can take any size of destruction and wipe it away like a flame licking up a spec of dust. There is so much joy, redemption, rejuvenation, resurrection, and restoration available to all of us that it would be a crime not to demonstrate it.

So, rather than beating your fists bloody as you beat bloody whoever took whatever petty thing from you, give your complaint to Heaven and let the energy of a supercharged afterlife invade your present life. Buy—purchase—immeasurable joy through the payment of giving over your right to complain. One glimpse of Heaven and you really won't care anymore.

So, get your mind right. Focus on whatever is good and encouraging. Ask God for a glimpse of the Hope He promised in Jesus. With Heaven clearly in your mind, deeply seeded in your heart, you will somehow find the strength to envision what you must, to allow Heaven to outshine your loss.

But, never welcome that desire to "claim your right [to revenge and recompense]". It misguides kings to lose themselves and their trusted people. Get your repayment from Heaven with Heaven's interest rates. All it takes is a little surrender and thirst for Light.

#  #27

## Accept Compliments

It's a normal thing in life to receive compliments. Giving compliments is a lesson all to itself, but while it is more blessed to give than to receive, where compliments are concerned receiving is more difficult than giving.

In summary, say, "Thank you."

If you find that monotonous, try, "I'm honored," or, "Well, it means a lot." Practice in front of the mirror if you must. It is no work of forgery to practice receiving a compliment.

Selfless people do not work to receive compliments so they do not naturally enjoy them. But, celebrating with those who are happy is part of good chivalry, as is being the life of the party thrown in your favor.

People give compliments because you have helped them and want to return the favor in what small way they can, unless it is flattery. One way to outsmart flattery is to give a true, real thank you—not conceit or thinking that you deserve the compliment, but genuinely being appreciative.

Just be real and assume the best. Be a blessing to those who want to grace you with appreciation. Ask them if they have any stories to share.

Learning to accept a compliment is a step in humility. When you don't care for the affirmation of others, but you are willing to give up caring about the things you care about not caring about—that takes self-sacrifice!

People giving a compliment are opening their hearts to you. When a stranger, young or old, walks up to you and tells you that your work is good, they are making themselves vulnerable. Reward them for their risk; return the honor by receiving theirs; don't make them regretful.

Not all compliments are diplomatic and well polished. People lavish gifts from their own cultures and villages, parts of town and sides of the mountain. They may throw sarcasm or strange humor. They may imply a sideways joke.

Learning to accept a compliment is more than about humility and a real response, even if you need to practice yours. It also includes recognizing disguised compliments, or when someone wants to give a compliment, but just doesn't know it yet. So, always say, "Thank you."

#  #28

## Honor Others

Honor others whether they deserve it or not.

I'll never forget Sport, the conscientious hunting dog who respected himself and everyone else.

Dogs rarely enjoy being picked up, but there is a "correct" way: arms under the legs at the joints, perhaps let the paws rest on your arms. But, Sport wouldn't have any of it. Only his master, a 16 year old animal prodigy who trained dogs for hunters in the greater area, was allowed to pick up Sport, even then under protest.

If I tried to scoop up Sport, he would get low, growl fiercely, then humbly cower in respect. I'd try again, Sport would diplomatically growl and use all his skill to prevent being picked up, then return to his humble bow. I have never seen such respect. Sport's honor toward me left a mark on my heart.

Honoring others is not the same as obeying them, except by coincidence.

Generally, children should obey their parents because if their parents are wrong then children can rarely explain why—except in those incredibly humbling moments when God speaks to us through the mouths of babes. No one ever fully grows up. Parents usually find themselves humbled by their children's wisdom when failing to honor their children.

My father had to file for guardianship of his mother, which the judge granted without hesitation. "It wasn't what she wanted," he explained, "but it indeed was _honoring_ to her."

Honor is the command to all children toward their parents in the Old Testament, Paul applied this with young children as "obedience". Paul also taught parents to not provoke children, and he taught women to _honor_ men, yet men to _love_ women—a complementary, beautiful difference in honoring the genders.

Honor could be understood, in simple terms, as treating someone as a king or queen—and acting like a worthy king or queen oneself.

Showing honor toward others says a great deal about the person who shows honor and almost nothing about the person being honored. Showing honor is _honorable_.

Counselor Troy said, "Respect is earned, not bestowed." Tony Soprano said, "Those who want respect give respect."

If you want honor, be honorable: Show honor to others.

_Colossians 3:18-25_

#  #29

## Honor Self

It is nearly impossible to behave with dignity if one does not honor oneself. Someone who finds it difficult to be kind to others—perhaps in frustrating circumstances more so—somehow lacks self-respect.

Why not throw your trash on the street if your life doesn't matter anyway? Why care about cleaning the street in front of your house, its only you after all!...These are the presumptions—not just with streets, but all areas of life—for the person who doesn't behave with dignity. Rarely do they even think this consciously; they don't consider themselves important enough to.

Underachieving is an indication of lacking self-worth. Overachieving, likewise, indicates someone who feels the need to prove something. Few people target the right level of "a job well done" and move on to other important work when their work reaches the standard; only self-respect can give someone that kind of clear vision.

If you find yourself having trouble using the right manners with other people or if you are sensitive to feelings of disrespect, then you probably need to consider the many good reasons you are worthy of respect yourself. Respecting yourself begins with seeing, recognizing, and believing that you yourself deserve respect. If you can't find any reasons, consider that the Son of God died for you and would do it all over again. What more reason for self-worth is there? Respecting others, as Jesus does, helps you gain self-respect.

When you find others who behave as if they lack self-respect, simply honor them. Give them compliments on normal things. Avoid insulting them no matter how difficult it is. When people with low self-respect are habitually late for work, treat them like kings and queens who need aid and ask what you can do, even if you are their superior. "Fashionable lateness" shouldn't bother you, but on the clock it indeed can be a problem. Offer to make their shift 15 minutes early and pay them for it. Tell them you value their work and only want to help. But, never jeer or get in the habit of degrading them.

Respect yourself in your heart and help others respect themselves in their hearts. Self-respect makes everything easier.

#  #30

## Eternal Book of Life

Bible study raises questions, as does any lifelong study. If "only Jesus saves" then what about "good people" who don't believe Jesus? If "predestination" and "foreknowledge" are part of God's plan, then do we even have a free will? These questions are normal, thoughtful, and good.

The Apostle John saw the Book of Life in his vision recorded in the last book of the Bible, the _Book of Revelation_. In _John's Gospel_ , John makes it clearer than any other New Testament writer that we receive Jesus and his Eternal Life merely by _believing_ in him—all because Jesus did the rest of the work at the Cross. But, John never mentions "believing" in the _Book of Revelation_. That's because _Revelation_ addresses a different topic, not from any disagreement.

_Revelation_ records what John saw, that's all. Among the many things John saw, he saw the Book of Life. Based on _Revelation_ , a "Biblical" theology tells us only a few things about the Book of Life: It was written before Earth was made, it belongs to Jesus (the Lamb of God who was slain for our sin), it has the final say at the Great Judgment at the very end of all things, and people who take the "mark" of the End Times' Antichrist, hailing and worshiping him, do not have their names written in the Book of Life. That's what we know.

The Book of Life offers clarity and still has mystery. Believing Jesus grants Life, power, happiness, and the Holy Spirit's dwelling in our bodies in this lifetime. But, believing Jesus also includes resurrection from the dead and reigning with Jesus for one thousand years—after the Antichrist and before the Great Judgment.

It's theoretically possible that "good people" who somehow didn't believe in Jesus could be saved from the Lake of Fire at the Great Judgment, but the Bible is silent about that; we just don't know. If so, however, it would be because of the Book of Life. Though mysterious as some things must always be, whatever the answer to questions about justice, Eternity, Fire, and the Great Judgment, the Book of Life will have answers and it will all make perfect sense.

_John 20:30-31, Romans 8:29–30, Revelation 13:8; 20_

#  #31

## Don't Sell-Out

Your values, ethics, personal standards—the moral code by which you live your life—must never be for sale.

If you decide that you should improve your morals and standards, that may or may not be necessary, and that is a different discussion altogether. But, when the cost of keeping your moral code becomes high, you will discover whether you have a price tag on your forehead announcing for how much you can be purchased.

Keeping one's moral code includes personal dignity, but not only. To sell-out ones morals is more than about dignity, it's about the foundation of good judgment, wisdom, and the conscientious compass by which decisions are oriented.

There is something magical about holding to one's ethical code. It solidifies behavior, reliability, methodology, and character. In some way, people will be able to predict your actions, which isn't always preferable. But, in other, more important ways, keeping your moral code will make it impossible for corrupt people to ever understand you, let alone predict you.

If you stand for nothing, you'll fall for anything. But, if you stand for something, someone else will come riding along in white night to bring you aid that wouldn't have been possible had you not stayed and made your stand.

There was a tale of Christians escaping persecution from China's secular government. Two Chinese policemen stopped them and asked if they were Christian. "Yes," they said honestly. "Good," the two policemen replied, "We're coming with you and we will help you because we want to get out of here ourselves."

When you know that you are not alone—that there are other people in the ecosystem of humanity—that you depend on others and that others depend on you—that what you do can have serious effect on others, for better or worse—you will more easily make your stand and keep your watch.

The big picture is vital, but with a moral code we only need to know that morals belong to the big picture. If you maintain a moral code from above and you keep that code, you don't need to know the specific plans of others, yet you will help others without knowing.

#  #32

## You Get What You See

Everything starts in the mind. Our plans, our goals, our directions—all we accomplish begins by what we envision in the mind's eye.

It's impossible to climb over a wall that you have convinced yourself you can't climb over.

Many people take this type of wisdom one of two wrong ways. Either they claim that we can truly climb over every wall in the universe merely by thinking we can or they claim that is what we are claiming. The problem here is practical: We can't do whatever-the-heck we whimsically feel like, but we can't do anything at all if we believe we can't do anything at all.

There's a lot more we can do than we give ourselves credit for. In all fairness, there's also a lot we can't do that we probably don't know we can't do. Pessimists especially think themselves "pragmatists", but they also attempt things they don't know they can't do, such as trying to be happy by overspending, all while thinking they don't need to learn healthy "success oriented" habits first.

Know your limits and your strengths; make neither artificial nor false. Don't say you can't when you can. Don't say you can without getting your mind right first. And, for Heaven's and Earth's sakes both, please don't decide that you can do what-the-heck-ever without proper preparation or with enough preparation. There are some things no one can do, but don't overuse that truth.

Not all, but most of our problems come from some boundary we limit ourselves with. Don't just work hard; also evaluate your progress to ensure you work smarter every day. We need both hard and smart work; each day is new.

Take time to educate and familiarize yourself with your goals. Consider that your goals might not be best, but the goals behind the goals behind the goals could point you in a better direction that you will be more happy with. Do your homework, then envision the path all the way to the end.

Watch your language, eradicate negative speech. What you say reinforces and rewrites what you think. Whatever you end up with—whatever you have even now—began with what you already saw.

_Proverbs 23:7_

#  #33

## Rest & Sabbath

God commanded through Moses that we shall "remember" the Sabbath and keep it "holy" or "separate".

God created the Sabbath day—Saturday, the seventh day of the week—as a day of rest. He Himself rested on this day after creating Earth. This set a precedent for Man, His Image, to rest.

Any day will do as long as you rest and remember God's original Sabbath.

Rest is vital for any discipline. Proper rest is half of any training process. During times of rest, our bodies rebuild tired muscles—that's when they actually become stronger.

Just as muscles need rest from exercise, our bodies need rest from labor and our minds need rest from work, especially creative arts and sciences. During rest, our bodies continue alternative forms of work and recovery, but something similar happens with our creative minds.

Our subconscious minds process our cognitive thoughts and deliver conclusions, but this happens only with things we aren't actively thinking about. Time away from work leads to those "gut feelings" or "ahha!" moments where the solution to a problem suddenly snaps into mind. That's because we never actually "stop thinking" about anything, we only "shift" between active and passive thinking—or conscious and subconscious thinking.

If you want inspiration, learn to shift your thoughts between active and passive. Prepare, understand, research, gather, toggle, get your bearings, and otherwise download as much data and experience into your active thinking while you work. Then, go play or think about something completely different. When you do, all that information will continue being processed elsewhere in your mind and whenever your mind finds a conclusion it will send you the results—just the results and only the results.

Nothing shifts thinking like a good, Biblical Sabbath day of rest. Any creative craftsman needs such a day. It's not necessarily a day to roll around in bed all day, though that might not be a bad idea. The important part is to break your tiring daily routine. Whatever sums up the work of your week, take one day to rest from it and make sure you sleep well. A Biblical Sabbath makes the rest of your work ten times as effective.

_Genesis 2:1-3, Exodus 16:22-30; 20:8-11, Mark 2:27-28, Romans 14:5-6, Hebrews 4:9-11_

#  #34

## The Least of These

Jesus said, "When you do it unto the least of these, you do it unto me."

The world is full of people who only help people whom they think can help them in return. This is not godly thinking. In a worldview of Biblical morals, helping everyone is helping Jesus because Jesus died to help everyone.

With good Bible hermeneutics we know the Greek way of expression, just as we have sayings in English and any other language. Jesus did not mean, "o _nly_ unto the least of these," but the idea is, " _even_ unto the least of these." We know this for two easy reasons up front, in addition to familiarity with how people talk in the New Testament: First, it's hard to prove in court that Jesus meant _only_ , second, he didn't define "least". "Least of these" has a Greek grammar conundrum. In English we would say, "the lowest of people," which is still undefined.

Jesus means that no matter who we help or don't help, he sees all and no self-sacrificial deed goes unnoticed.

Some of the "least of these" includes very wealthy people whom the masses are rude toward. Never show favoritism to anyone, neither for being poor and underprivileged nor for being rich and overprivileged. Jesus died for _all people_ and he wants you to help _all people_ he died for.

In that process, love knows when to be "tough" and let people do their own work. There is dignity in doing things ourselves, not taking handouts, and working to right problems we made for others.

One of my high school teachers had printed on the wall, "Lack of preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part." That teacher's wisdom helped a lot of students, all of them in fact.

Befriending the friendless includes giving harsh advice.

Doing what is right cannot possibly conflict, by definition. Whatever is good for others is always good for you and vice versa; if you think otherwise then you misunderstand justice.

Help all people, sometimes by not helping or not encouraging or not "positively" drawing attention to embarrassment. Don't just dump money either. Actually help—across the board—all people.

_Matthew 25:31-46_

#  #35

## Earth Will Be Full of the Knowledge of God

When Jesus reigns on Earth, whatever the truth is—whatever things our theology was right about or wrong—all people will know God truly, without need for anyone to teach them. That's one of the main reasons life will be, in so many words, "Heaven," except that it will be Heaven on Earth, literally.

Even in the ages after Earth, everyone will understand the structures and systems of society. There won't be political divides because both the needs and the ways to meet those needs will be widely know to everyone. When society is full of knowledge about God, that changes everything.

We're not there yet, thankfully.

Even without sin, society must slowly learn about God. We can't just have God come down, open the skies above everyone's house, and download all truth. That would reduce us to minions. We must study and learn, ponder and work, in order to understand God.

Once all human society is filled with that knowledge about God, it won't be from any download; it will be from our experience and from having seen Jesus face-to-face and having real fellowship with those who have done the same.

Learning comes from our own choice to do so, even in the next life. For all Eternity, we will never stop learning and God will never run out of things for us to learn about Him. So, in this sense, part of experiencing "Heaven on Earth" even now—of entering into Eternal Life even during this current, brief life—includes being students of theology—students of the knowledge of God. This begins with fearing only Him and nothing else, loving Him more than anyone or anything else, and pondering clear truths about love and self-sacrifice for others, from the smallest to the greatest circumstances of our daily lives.

Everything in your life—everything—was allowed or introduced by God as part of helping you learn about life, yourself, others, and—central to all knowledge—learning about Him. Look for His reflections—His fingerprints—in the world around you. Knowledge of God, after all, will abound in Eternal Heaven, but it is just as relevant and accessible here, in the world right around us.

#  #36

## Mundane Diligence

Every skill has its non-glorifying, earthy, unspiritual routines that are essential to excellence. Don't belittle them. Don't think less of them. God considers them as your way of praising Him because God likes nice things.

There is much in the world that, if forgotten, the world would fall into decay. Regular, boring, daily rounds—even laundry—keep the world turning. That's part of what God wants for us on Earth.

In the sense that practice makes perfect—or better said by better coaches _practice makes permanent_ —the mundane errands of life train us in what it means that God is not only the Author and Creator, He is also the _Sustainer_. In computer coding terms, we might call God the _Maintainer_.

Doing laundry, washing your feed for thousands of hours over your life, commuting to work—these things teach us valuable wisdom that we might never fully know about until the afterlife. In a sense "restrooms" were appropriately named. Martin Luther had his "evangelical breakthrough" in the sixteenth century while sitting on the toilet. That reformed Europe.

Praise Jesus for poop!

It's fascinating that I was already scheduled to write this now, which turned out to be "laundry day". There is laundry on my floor, cooling as I type. Going to rotate the laundry—a philosophy topic all to itself—though frustrating, gave me reflection time to improve what I write here. It always does. Laundry is a "necessary disruption", such as the "necessary disrupters" who keep a company profitable—the ones whom "team-oriented" leaders like to downsize.

In a business sense, there is money to be made in the mundane. This is one reason so many people remain poor. One of the best moneymaking ventures is in money itself: banking. Consider coffee, toilet paper, soap, groceries, stationary, first aid—some of the most profitable business sectors don't require much innovation at all, just a knack for monotony well done.

If you hope to have progress, you can't let monotonous chores overpower your day. Always read something that will improve your character, one reason daily Bible is vital. Schedule more difficult tasks first, but don't curse maintenance. Maintenance on Earth is characteristic of the divine.

_Genesis 8:20-22, Job 38:33-37, Psalm 36:6, Colossians 1:17, Hebrews 1:3, 2 Peter 3:7_

#  #37

## Words Have Power

Words gain their power because of their effect on the mind.

We have three main ways of communicating ideas into the mind: sight, touch, and audio. When we speak, we use two; when we read aloud we use all three.

When writing, we see our words and feel them written through our fingers. In speaking, we feel what we say through our mouths and hear our words with our ears. When we read aloud, we also see the words, thus using all three inputs. This is one reason punishing a student by writing a sentence multiple times can be effective. Usually those students will whisper the words while writing them, even without knowing.

Whatever you say, write, and even type is sent back into your brain through at least two communication methods. This has the effect of self-programming.

You program your mind with your words, whether spoken, written, or even typed.

In _Freakonomics_ , Steven Levitt explores whether a child's name can have power. Two children were given somewhat negative names and they lived negative lives. But, incidentally, two brothers less than a year apart were named "Winner" and "Loser", respectively. Winner became a failure and Loser became a big success. While Levitt argues that this defuses the theory of names making a difference in the life of children, I argue that it shows the power of words spoken.

What is the one name you are likely to say more than your own—other than your brother's who is less than a year different in age?

The Bible is also clear about the power of the tongue, not only of humans, but also of God the Creator. All Creation was made through the Word of God, Jesus is the Word made flesh to deliver us of our sinful situation, the Bible is the Word of God. As the Image of God, it only makes sense that our words also have power of some kind.

Cursing and fowl language are mainly matters of word power. Whether words have supernatural power is moot. Words evidently affect us all. Whether we harness or neglect our tongues, the results will show in our lives. Watch your words; train your tongue.

_Proverbs 6:2, James 3:2-12_

#  #38

## Trying to Be by Trying to Grow

Size and strength come from decisions and practices. These things don't merely fall down from the sky. Even Samson had supernatural strength because he obeyed certain Nazarite promises to God and lost his strength when he did not.

Don't be the fool who thinks he will be strong by acting strong. Don't be the other fool who thinks he will be strong by lifting heavy weights for hours at the gym. By not also using small weights to strengthen the inner balancing muscles around his joints, he will develop muscle conditions that make it impossible for him to use his big muscles at all.

External results flow from growth inside, not merely mimicking results shown on the surface.

Many wealthy and powerful people have subtle habits and practices which are the main causes behind their wealth and power. They know what these habits are, some of them include making unpopular decisions, prioritizing the bigger picture, asking before judging, abandoning pet projects and distractions, obnoxiously high and "impossible" standards, and pushing past the comfort zone to finalize every task.

Unfortunately, people who lack skill, wealth, and influence, yet also covet and disdain people with skill, wealth, and influence, will belittle the virtues and habits that build up skill, wealth, and influence.

"That's just a different opinion," they say, or, "I don't agree," as if it is a "mere" matter of opinion without an effective difference. It is obvious that someone disagrees with the methods of people who have different results. But, saying so is considered "rude" by the masses while people striving to better themselves appreciate the benefit of truth candidly told.

Biblically called "sowing and reaping", this principle applies to everyone: artists, managers, athletes, innovators, engineers, pilots, Bible students, even family members—any discipline.

Everything takes more time than we instinctively feel it should. Healthy growth requires us to continue past the point of discomfort, where it feels like "too much", then keep going. "Poking it with a stick" at a comfortable distance won't get real results; though many people, marked by mediocrity, think it will.

While God determines the style and nature of our paths, inner decisions account for our growth and progress.

_Judges 13-16, Isaiah 44:14, 1 Corinthians 3:5-9, Galatians 6:7-8_

#  #39

## Look Before You Leap

There is a time for quick action, but good judgment in short order requires experience and thoughtful reflection.

In driving, we look left before turning right, yet we must always hone our ability to judge time and distance. Safety and speed go together.

Do your homework and consider your options.

Don't blindly enter politics without having become familiar with the usual boilerplate "fools wisdom" other politicians will give you, globally known as "capitol district fever". Don't enter the fashion industry without first walking the floor of a clothing factory and sample office; don't get your clothing through international trade unless everyone on the floor of that factory spoke a language you couldn't. And, never travel to another country without at least researching general travel advisories well in advance; if you can get duplicate copies of your vital documents, get triples as well.

I have met numerous Westerners traveling in Asia who were stuck at an airport all night or couldn't stay as long as they had hoped, all because they did what the airline told them rather then checking travel document requirements for themselves, then double checking twice more. I have yet to meet one person in the world who regrets having known more than was needed ahead of time, no matter what the task.

Many people will belittle you for doing diligence before the deadline. Take a good look at their lives; they don't have the results you want and they have many problems that you don't want. The only reason "average" addicts will give you a hard time for running the risk of learning too much is that they "don't do things that way". To them, it doesn't matter if they have the results they want, they only want to maintain their habits, no matter how disappointing.

When someone tells you that you don't need to look carefully before clearing every intersection, just say, "I'll send you flowers if I can't visit you in the hospital myself."

Firstborns in particular like to wait and research indefinitely before making a decision. But, you can't anticipate every problem. At some point you must leap and pray for Heaven's favor, just pack your parachute properly first.

_Proverbs 16:1-3_

#  #40

## God the Creator & Craftsman

God made everything. He created us as open, blank canvases, each with a free will. Our very will to love or hate God is among the things He created. He also created the stars and everything in the universe, all through His Word.

Plants, animals, and even landscapes were not manufactured, they were _crafted_. Just as a painter expresses emotion on the canvas, so does God continue to weave His thoughts, personality traits, and emotions into Creation. In many ways, though not all, we can learn about God's nature by looking at the nature He crafted. For the rest, we must study His Word.

The intricate, fine artistry throughout Creation—from the galactic level to the microscopic—all reflects God's handiwork. The identifiable yet unique properties of species also show His artistry. No two leaves in all of history are ever identical, yet we can clearly identify a tree by its leaves. Leaves grow today, then whither; God continues crafting, so can we.

We as God's Image reflect His nature as the great Craftsman. We find Creation to be beautiful because in Creation we find an archetype of ourselves on some level. By looking at Creation, we read messages of love and hope from a Creative Craftsman God who is very present even when we cannot feel Him.

Few things are as inspiring for our own innovation as Creation. God is the source of all innovation and diligent craft. Inspiration is one reason some people enjoy individual sports like motorcycle riding, light aircraft piloting, sailing, surfing, skiing, wake boarding, skate boarding, show boarding, hunting, fishing, running, hiking, and golf. Harnessing the forces of nature while enjoying nature on a grand scale inspires us.

Craftsmanship originated with our Creator. By having any craft of our own, we understand more about God because craftsmanship is the mastery of yet one more attribute of God reflected in our own immutable character. By understanding nature through the Bible's explanation of God, and by understanding God through His own craftsmanship, we gain the best insight as good craftsmen ourselves. Even mundane diligence in craftsmanship helps us to touch His heart.

Among God's many fitting titles, He is our Master Craftsman.

_Proverbs 3:19-20, John 1:1-3, Ephesians 2:10_

#  #41

## Beware Passive Aggression

Calmness and kindness are nothing alike; equating them serves to mask hatred. The ability to sense concealed rage requires thick skin, a virtue of chivalry.

Among the greater harbors of hatred, beware the angry pacifist who never learns.

He confronts every challenge by quietly "punishing" others—even if only in his own mind—until they stop trying to "change" him. All the while, he pretends to accept everything through his quiet, calm, amiable silence.

If he mumbles, he expects instant agreement from everyone he imagines heard his mumble, whether his mumble was audible or not. When others don't change, he placates and internalizes his rage. It never occurs to him to evaluate whether he is right or whether he has something to learn. When his rage boils over, he "blames himself" for not "taking responsibility", which really means spinning his wheels and despising others even more than before. He decides to triple his efforts, but not reconsider his methods. When adding elbow grease to his failing methods fails again, he blames others.

He confronts through writing, gossip, and administration, never face to face, so he can think he "won".

He needs chivalry, fierce friendship skills, and speaking candidly enough to learn when in error.

If this is you, your life is in peril; halt all your plans and reconnoiter your ways.

If you see this in your friend, minimize that friendship. Be cordial, pray, provide what you should if this is a family member, but that's all.

I was once given advice by a self-made, successful Black lady in Chicago. She worked diligently, against privilege, to buy a full-sized house in the downtown district, but wouldn't sell it when high rise projects offered her more than its value, in 2002 priced at six million. "You can't help everyone," she said. "Some people just want to stay the same and they'll waste your time. The problem is that you always like 'em."

The angry pacifist is the most difficult to move on from. If you can move on from him, you can move on from anyone.

Don't buy the lie that "kind tone" is all it takes to be loving. When someone else does, move on.

_Proverbs 17:17_

#  #42

## Bible as the Practical Guide

The Bible is much easier to accept when we understand it as a guide. It is not a book to read once and then leave on the shelf. It must be read daily with the intention of it providing some kind of guidance in your life.

Half-hardheartedness is not among the instructions for proper, effective Bible study.

Many so-called "experts" try to discredit the Bible without examining its main strength, which is guidance for those seeking guidance. To discredit the Bible, one would need to read it daily, believe it is the paramount authority on every ethical topic, study the Bible more whenever life doesn't make sense, obey the Bible with a whole heart, not harbor a hidden agenda of doing a half-done job of anything—including so as to "discredit" the Bible—, yet live an unsatisfactory life of seventy years. But, such are not the arguments of Bible critics. Bible critics complain about other things, not the Bible as a moral guide.

If the Bible can prove itself as your moral guide, that's great for your life. It can then help you help others. But, don't misunderstand what it means for the Bible to be your guide.

Memorizing chapter-verse reference does little good. Writers in the Bible refer to other parts of the Bible, not by citing chapter and verse, but by partially quoting from the passage they refer to. When Jesus said, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" he was not asking the Father a question; he was citing Psalm 22 which begins with that sentence. He referred to the entire psalm through verse 31, ending with, "they will proclaim his righteousness to people yet unborn that he has done it," then Jesus said, "It is done," and died.

When you use the Bible as your guide, don't make it "Bible-ish". Don't come across like a Bible-thumper and don't pepper your friends with chapters and verses. Simply understand the teaching in the Bible, rephrase it as fitting without twisting it, and share its wisdom among your family, friends, and colleagues.

When you quote the Bible, make sure no one knows you are quoting from it unless they read it themselves.

_Psalm 22; 119:105_

#  #43

## Gluttony

One of the most neglected sins of the West is overeating. The Church is no exception if not worst of all!

The Bible teaches the importance of "breaking bread together", but this does not mean stuffing ourselves until we are at risk of a heart attack. A weekly day of fasting achieves little if counteracted by idolatry of the stomach the other six days.

All the same, basics of cross-culture relations include to always eat what you are given when a guest. But, if I did that, I would never stop needing to buy larger and larger clothing sizes.

Being overweight and being a glutton are not one in the same.

My "spiritual dad" struggled with obesity his whole life. I never looked down on him, but I was glad with him when he set goals and lost most of his weight. Had he not, I would love him just the same.

We all have our own responsibilities in life. For my situation, starting out skinny and becoming overweight would indicate that I wasn't leading my own life. But, that's me. Everyone's situation is different. And, I admit that I identify with the song "I Like Big Butts"; God does too.

People with excess fat could have unknown struggles. One girl made herself obese to deter her sexually-abusive father. Sometimes we have chemical pollutants in our bodies and our metabolisms decide to create excess fat to less harmfully store those poisonous chemicals. God designed some people to stay fat, but not from worshiping the feeling of a full stomach nor to "escape". Worshiping a skinny body is equally sinful.

Don't judge others, but seek God's insight for your own conscience about what and when you should eat.

Don't waste "coffee time" bantering about nothing when there is work to be done. Nonetheless, regularly take time to sup with friends. Halt other activity to focus on good company over a healthy platter. Fellowship over meal time should be uplifting and beneficial in some way, though not so "purpose-driven" that dinner feels like a staff meeting.

Do all for God's glory and love yourself along with everyone else. Stay nourished in food and fellowship, then charge forward.

_Proverbs 23:21, Acts 2:42-46, 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, Philippians 3:19_

#  #44

## God the Provider & Law Giver

As the Sustainer of Creation, God also provides for our needs. As part of providing for our needs, He gave us moral laws to live by. He gives us whatever we need—even many of our wants—all in a way designed to cooperate with our obedience to His moral laws.

Don't divorce God's provision of supply, food, and shelter from His instruction on how to find, enjoy, and even multiply what He provides.

Jesus's command to love our neighbors as we also love ourselves was part of His provision.

You may need something, your neighbor has what you need, but you may never know unless you pay attention and find out what your neighbor needs.

Jesus may expect you to go to your neighbor's house, knock on the door, explain that you are obeying the "golden rule" (no need to seem overly 'Bible-ish'), and ask to communicate as friendly neighbors. After years of friendship, your neighbor might suddenly remember something in the cellar that is the very keystone you have been looking for to complete your work.

God's gifts are well disguised, discoverable only by those who obey Him.

The need to survive another day isn't that different from the need to meet a challenge. If you struggle to get through each day, perhaps you should set your eyes on a greater goal God might have for you. God not only meets our needs every day, He exceeds them every day. We just don't always see it.

God does, indeed, provide all of our needs, including the instructions on how to receive His provision. But, when we act like we already understand more than the Creator who existed decillions of years before we were born, we might never recognize what He provides, even though it is right under our noses.

Jewel weed is a natural counter-agent for poison ivy's oil and they usually grow within a few feet of each other. Many weeds that gardeners kill in their lawns are actually among the most nourishing vegetation on Earth. God reveals Himself through Creation, do you listen?

We can't see what God gives us without learning how. So, our greatest need He meets is Scripture.

_Genesis 22:8, Leviticus 26:46, Deuteronomy 31:26, Job 38:41, Psalm 65; 78:5-8; 145:16; 147:8-9, Matthew 4:4; 6:25-34, Luke 12:22-34, Philippians 4:19, 1 Peter 5:7_

#  #45

## Prayer of the Righteous

When a righteous man prays, Heaven listens. The balanced, just, standard-measure lifestyle that makes a person "righteous", by that basic definition, is important to God, to the angels, and all of Heaven's court. When a prayer rises to Heaven's Throne from someone who does not live a double-standard life, that prayer will be taken seriously.

Prayer itself is a request for justice.

Praying for healing is prayer for justice. It's not fair that someone should be sick all the time. Broken limbs or disabilities of any kind are a kind of injustice. Praying that God would heal people of such things is praying for God to, essentially, give that person justice by having a normally functioning physical body.

Praying for laws to be good is a prayer for justice in government. Praying for good weather—the rain, cold, sun, wind, and calm, all in proper time and season—is a prayer that nature give us justice to have a fair and normal life.

Even prayer that we might become better people in our hearts or to be stronger in our understanding of morals, God, virtue, the spiritual plane, respect for others, emotional temperance, joy, creativity, and to be all around good people—these are requests to have justice come into and through our hearts.

It is immature to even consider that "righteous" living will make us superior to other, "lesser" people, thereby giving us "VIP" status with God. All prayers go to God. Everyone adopted by God because they believe Jesus is God's child. But, our actions demonstrate maturity, which reflects credibility.

Living a "righteous" life of fair treatment of others takes thought, practice, self-improvement, and increases with time. People who live a "righteous" life have these kinds of good and careful thoughts that go into choosing what they pray for. So, people with a "righteous" lifestyle will naturally prayer for things God is more likely to give.

But, prayer has a controversial side. Elijah was a righteous man who prayed for a drought upon Israel for allowing child sacrifices. That controversial prayer was also for justice because, ultimately, that drought saved innocent people.

Prayer and justice are equally complex, simple, and very much related.

_1 Kings 17-18, Psalm 34:11-22 James 5:16-18_

#  #46

## Moral Superstition

We cannot derive our morals from our comforts or definitions. They easily sneaks up on us, our own self-made morals.

The Pharisees of Jesus's day had legitimate fear that God would punish them. Israel had already been punished because they didn't care for the wisdom of the Old Testament laws, morals, and teaching, particularly about the Sabbath.

But, rather than loving the Spirit of the Mosaic Law, they took the approach of building "fence laws". By following these extra, man-made lists of rules—so they thought—they would never come close to breaking God's Laws. These were the rules they often debated with Jesus.

But, "fence laws" have one problem: God doesn't need help. Perfection cannot be improved upon. Don't "improve" Heaven's morals.

As important as speed limits are, never craft any moral formula where speed limits on the highway end equate to "Biblical morals" on the other. Don't let secular government define your moral code. God's commands rotate on an axis of their own and, however useful, no government is in full alignment with the God-given morals that shape your Eternity.

Things by which God will judge each of us are laid out in the moral code _He_ gave, the morals that came from above. Human rules aren't always bad, but they can't best God. If you can't find a clear argument for a moral value in the Bible then at least tell yourself that it is a moral from humankind; don't put that on God.

"Mess up" your thinking so that you take your P's and Q's from the Bible above all.

When you set your watch to Heaven's rhythm, people around you won't understand you anymore. Realigning yourself to their confused worldview won't help them.

Stick to your guns, stay at your post, keep your watch. Stand.

Continue to inject yourself with a worldview that no human could have thought up. You'll see the results in your life.

When people argue with you, brush it off, be friendly, and keep doing what you know is right. In time, your results will captivate and inspire others to join you. Nothing is as persuasive as loud results from morals far above our creative imaginations.

_Joshua 1:7; 23:6, Proverbs 4:27, Romans 12:1-2_

#  #47

## Have Power in Every Moment

Wherever you go, whatever you do, look for whatever power Heaven has for you in each moment.

Practicing any skill, art, or craft is infinitely more beneficial when you understand that Heaven wants to empower you. Focus on practice, especially when no one is looking and you won't be recorded. Heaven sees you, offering you strength.

When you teach, tutor, coach, counsel, inform, help or advise, you just might be instructing the next prince, but you are surely helping a soul treasured by the entire Kingdom of Heaven.

When trouble comes and you appear powerless, that is when your greatest power can come through. Look for a concealed uniqueness in those moments of sudden disappointment, whatever makes disappointments unique is a clue to where to plug your power and turn on the lights. God schemes and orchestrates such times so all hope seems lost, then, through our weakness, He introduces a new power that no strategist could have invented or prepared for.

Maybe you only need to pray, keep your mouth shut, stay happy inside, simply smile at someone, or do a really good job of doing nothing at all.

Simply "being with" those around you carries a healing power that the world desperately needs. Too often we jump so soon that Winstonian advice works, "Don't just do something, stand there." If you need to do nothing, do nothing with Heaven's excellence.

Among friends in the quiet as in celebration, on the battle field before, during, and after, with time prioritized for the "less easy" to love in your family or fold—every moment begs you to seek Heaven's power to inject love and quality into the Earth.

Living with inner, personal power for each moment requires each moment. Don't let a single second go by that you don't tap into whatever God has for you, whether energy or rest. Love Him always. Carve out time to do nothing but be with God.

When you have power in the small, seemingly unimportant moments, you may be preparing others for big moments—or God might be preparing you for some big moment. But, the "bigness" of the moment doesn't matter when you have power every moment.

_Isaiah 40:29, Mark 12:30, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Ephesians 6:10, Philippians 4:13, 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18_

#  #48

## God the Redeemer

Since the Beginning, God has always been the Great Redeemer.

Adam and Eve were tempted by the Serpent—the rebellious angel, Satan, also known as the Dragon. When they ate the forbidden fruit, the very next event in the story was the sound of the Lord walking in the Garden of Eden. God was right there to deal with their situation and help them through the mess they made.

Through the Flood and Noah's Ark, God saved all Humanity from the disaster caused by rebellious angels and wicked Men. God saved us again from an evil, worldwide empire when Babylon united in rebellion and God changed our languages. He brought Abraham out of the Chaldeans, then sent him to rescue Lot. He was with Jacob to save his relationship with his brother Esau, guided Israel to Egypt, then delivered Israel through Moses. He redeemed Ruth who became the great grandmother of King David. God protected Israel through judges, kings, and counselors in Babylon like Esther, Daniel, and Nehemiah. In the New Testament, God saved all of humanity through Jesus Christ.

In the End, humanity will judge and condemn the rebellious angels at the Great White Throne Judgment. This means that humans—before we were made—were always part of God's plan to eradicate evil, not only from Earth, but from Heaven as well.

Whenever God saves people from a dark situation, He could just throw them away, but he doesn't.

At the Flood, God did not merely punish evil—He _redeemed_ humanity.

God brings people out of darkness and despair. He doesn't leave us there and He doesn't merely punish us for getting ourselves there. He rescues and restores us to a place of strength and importance.

We are and always have been treasured by God.

When we end up in dire straits—almost always from our own idiocy—God helps us, in a sense "salvaging" us, masterfully exploiting our trouble to refine and perfect us.

It is no oxymoronic mystery that God would save us. His redemption is amazing, undeserved, and unfathomable—but God does not contradict logic in redeeming us; logic dictates that His choice to redeem us demonstrates our value to Him.

_Genesis 3:8, Deuteronomy 7:8, Job 19:25, Psalm 78:35, Isaiah 47:4, Zechariah 10:8, Luke 21:28, Ephesians 1:7, 1 Peter 1:18-19_

#  #49

## How to Do

How do you do something? Seriously, don't do anything half-baked. The only exception is a steak roasted to medium, but that's a part of perfection.

There is no shortage in this world of things done badly. Many times, people's problems were inherited from other people. Most of my own problems are from a domino effect of other people not doing their jobs correctly. Things break, those broken things break other things, the chain continues until it reaches my stuff.

At times, I think all of life is a swim through a river of problems from upstream. Don't complain about the problems you get and don't complain about other people's problems unless you can explain that they are upstream from you.

There is a marketable demand for things finished not badly and not half-finished.

The need for excellence extends to thought itself. Many things would not be done so badly if the people doing those things would not only do a good job of what they were doing, but also do a good job of thinking about what they were doing.

God is the Master Craftsman because He makes stuff and He doesn't make it badly—including you.

Your problems are a consortium of interferences from rebellious angels, your ancestors, and your own stupidity. As for God's work to create and redeem you, just the fact that you're alive is a miracle and testament to the fact that He's not only awesome, that He's not only ain't finished with you yet, but that He's only just gettin' started.

You are God's work in progress and, all things considered, you're doing quite well—especially in light of your problems.

God likes nice things. He celebrates factory workers and hard laborers. Jesus himself was a carpenter. With nearly 2,000 years of work on New Jerusalem, that just makes sense.

The pastor, prophet, apostle, and theologian do not understand God more than the good, hard worker. Their studies away from craft can inhibit their ability to understand and identify with the Master Craftsman. Paul moonlighted as a tentmaker, not only for ethical and financial reasons, but also theological.

To understand our Most Excellent God, do a most excellent job.

_Proverbs 22:29, Ecclesiastes 9:10, Colossians 3:23-24_

###### In loving memory of "Uncle Dave" Eckman

#  #50

## 'Fence Laws'

About 600 BC, the Babylonian empire took Israel into captivity. God allowed this because Israel kept disobeying the Law He gave through Moses. That Mosaic Law had temple and sacrificial laws for spiritual strength, basic moral laws for a happy society, and other general government laws to help Israel survive in a world without soap.

_(God did not teach Israel sciences, such as how to make soap, because we humans must learn science on our own. The fallen angels taught sciences before the Flood, which only empowered murder and made Earth such a terrible place to live that we could not imagine it today.)_

One of these laws was the Sabbath. It comes up frequently throughout the Bible. In the Old Testament, Israel often ignored it. In the New Testament, Israel enforced it too much...

...because of the rabbinic "fence laws".

We don't know God's good reason for being so serious about the Sabbath in the Old Testament. It does prevent an oppressive, slave society. Any dictator could easily slaughter Christians since he knows when and where they go every week. God could have some spectacular event planned to save Christians one day, yet it might only help Christians who rest on Saturday and plan to work on Sunday. That said, we only know that the Sabbath is important to God, that we remember the correct day, and have any one day of rest for ourselves.

Israel obeyed none of this.

By Jesus's day, not wanting to repeat Babylonian captivity, Jewish rabbis had created extra laws—not from Moses—as a "fence" to keep far away from possibly breaking any Mosaic law. They behaved as if these were equally important to Moses's Law, but God cared nothing for their "fence laws".

Many of Jesus's arguments with the Pharisees were about their fence laws.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says multiple times, "You have been told..." which reference these fence laws.

Jesus blatantly ignored these fence laws, especially about the Sabbath. Fence laws made it nearly impossible to do anything on the Sabbath, including heal people through miracles!

Jesus's life teaches us many things, including the priority of Heaven's morals over our own made-up rules.

_Nehemiah 13:15-22, Ezekiel 20:10-13, Matthew 5:17-22, 27, 31, 33, 38, 43; 12:1-8, Mark 8:11-13, Luke 11:37-54, Romans 14:1-12, 1 Corinthians 8:1-13_

#  #51

## Carry Your Own Cross

When Jesus taught us to take up our crosses, he meant that if we want to follow his teaching, we must carry whatever daily burden is unique to us.

There are three things about his teaching to remember:

1. Context is everything. Read the entire paragraph in both Gospels; in Greek, both start with verse 21.

2. Following "behind" someone symbolizes following a Jewish rabbi as a teacher. When Jesus says, "For any who would follow me," he refers to someone being his student. When Jesus tells Peter to "get behind" him, he is telling Peter to know his place and not argue with the teacher. _('Satan' was a reference to both the fallen angel's agenda and a sarcastic reference to Peter considering himself an expert to advise Jesus; it did not mean that Satan had possessed Peter's body and taken over his mouth. 'Stumbling block' did not mean that the Almighty God could trip and fall, but that Peter was small, young, and shouldn't act like a rug rat around the fully-grown teacher who knew what he was doing; and, for that matter, Satan shouldn't either.)_

3. Jesus talks about suffering; that's what a cross implies.

Luke's version includes "take up his cross _daily_ ", which has some beautiful vagueness encompassing many ideas, including _take it up daily_ and _the cross of the day_.

Each day has its own problems just as each person has his own challenges.

Some of our problems come from messes we have made. When we make a mess, Jesus forgives us, but we must love others and not leave the mess for others to deal with. At the same time, forgiveness is difficult; if you need to forgive someone then try as hard as you can since forgiveness, like love, is a choice; if other people need to forgive you, remember that it is hard to forgive and try to make it as easy for them as you can.

Our own messes aside, Jesus has tasks for us.

Sometimes we must be patient and exercise perseverance, longsuffering, and forbearance; other times we must work beyond exhaustion—any of these burdens could be ours for any reason.

Following Jesus means carrying each day's personal cross.

_Matthew 16:21-28; 6:34, Luke 9:21-27, Romans 14:4, 7_

#  #52

## God the Governor, Savior, and Executioner

Few things offer comfort like knowing that God is still on His Throne.

If you have not seen things in this life that scare you, then you have been living in a dream world. Many people are afraid to wake up from their dream world for fear of having no hope. People do things to us or we see evil things done to others. This can drive us mad, even insane. Anyone who hasn't seen this is sleep walking through life with their eyes open.

But, God remains on His Throne. He permits and orchestrates everything that happens. God sees all. He allows great evil to plan and execute heinous deeds, but then at the last minute He swoops down to deliver us.

Everyone dies at some point. When someone is murdered by evil Men, that does not mean God "lost the battle" or that God didn't save the person. We don't know all the conversations and thoughts in that person's last moments; God does. Though none of us get out of here alive, Jesus is thankfully our resurrection.

Though God allows the time of death for some to come at the hands of evil, God does indeed deliver humanity from all evil. The devil is God's devil. In fact, God will save you, honor you, celebrate you, even pay you back a thousand fold, and He will make the devil pay the entire bill—and the devil will do so willingly, even though he doesn't want to, because of how much more brilliant God is.

When we see great evil, if we do not remember that God is on the Throne—both to govern all that happens and to save humanity from evil—then we are tempted to take revenge into our own hands. Don't let this be you. Encourage others who need this reminder as well.

God will repay all. In the next life, when all humanity and all angels good and evil stand before the Great White Throne, we will see God's justice. We will weep with joy at the ingenious plan God crafted from the beginning.

You will know neither fear nor hatred, the more you remember God is in control.

_Deuteronomy 32:35, 2 Thessalonians 1:8, Hebrews 10:30, 1 Peter 3:9_

#  #53

## Brother's Keeper, Earth's Steward

Help.

When you see trash on the ground, pick it up. You don't always need to, but if there's something in the road and it's not normal—and if it's safe to do so—get it out of the road. If you can't, call the local police and let them know so the right people can handle it.

This is your world. God is watching your stewardship of it. If you want to be responsible for more things then act like it!

Wanting responsibility isn't bad; God made us to have responsibility. Our human desire for power starts out young, but if we put that desire to good use then we will mature into kind, caring, compassionate leaders to whom God gives authority and influence so that we can help many more people.

After Cain murdered his brother Abel, God questioned Cain as to his brother's whereabouts. "Am I my brother's keeper?" Cain answered sarcastically—and likely from shame of his brother being dead at his own hands. The answer to Cain's rhetorical question is, "Yes, we are our brothers' keepers."

If you take responsibility to help wherever you can, then God will see that you took that responsibility and He will let you keep it.

We should help each other, and accordingly help keep Earth clean. We did not create Earth and we cannot destroy it. But, we can make ourselves sick.

Interestingly, many of the things we do to pollute Earth—not all, of course—only make humans sick. Look at Chernobyl and arsenic for example. Oil spills destroy local areas, but the ocean has microorganisms that eat oil to sustain their lives.

Caring for Earth is not about loving Earth, but simply being good stewards—helping other people in need of air that won't make them sick. Love each other, worship God, and, as an outflow of those two, keep Earth tidy and clean. This is the Biblical perspective of a godly ethic called _Stewardship_.

There are many movements within humanity to address the environment and charity. The Bible already has a teaching on this and it is both unique and supreme: God gave us Earth and we all belong to Him.

_Genesis 1:26-31; 4:1-16, 1 Thessalonians 5:15_

#  #54

## What is 'Wisdom'?

As time goes by, we look at events in life and we glean principles from them. These life lessons could be called "nuggets of wisdom".

The older we grow, the more nuggets of wisdom we acquire, both from our own histories and from others'. If we don't gain these nuggets of wisdom from others then we only gain them as time goes by. This is why older people tend to seem "wise", but it's not because they are wise as people.

There is a difference between acquiring wisdom and being a wise person. A wise person learns from other people's history rather than one's own.

Wisdom is the choice to learn from the word rather than the rod.

Too many people learn through the "university of hard knocks". It is a personal choice to learn so slowly, nothing genetic or personality-based. Learning wisdom earlier in life will save a person from much trouble.

Waiting to let old age catch up with you before you accumulate wisdom isn't wise at all, it's quite a foolish thing to do. People who gain wisdom through old age aren't wise, they are just old.

When young people are wise, they will work to gain as much wisdom from others as they can. We often refer to these wise, young people as "old souls". It is the love for wisdom that marks an old soul.

Love for wisdom is a lifelong pursuit. It is a virtue of the heart and a core framework of one's worldview. Those who love wisdom will reach for it, even at the cost of less success than those around them. Wisdom is among the godly virtues that prioritize Eternal and Heavenly things above carnal, temporary things of the physical world.

All the success in the world will do you no good if you lack the wisdom to wield it.

God possesses all wisdom, all wisdom comes from God, and all wisdom leads back to God.

Wisdom begins with fearing God. This means that fearing God will unlock your ability to gain wisdom. It also means that learning to fear God is the first nugget of wisdom learned. In other words, godliness and wisdom are inseparable.

_Proverbs 1:7; 2:2; 4:20; 9:10; 16:16; 22:17-18, Matthew 16:26, Mark 8:36_

#  #55

## Be Like A Grandparent

Grandparents have rapport with the entire family.

They don't always receive absolute loyalty and pure love from everyone in the family, but they have a level of unanimous respect. When the grandparents talk, everyone listens.

Grandma and grandpa raised the kids and the grandkids. They love each and every child and grandchild—and great grandchild—in the entire family. Grandparents understand and know each child. Grandkids visit grandma and grandpa's house on weekends, holidays, or while mom and dad are busy.

When the kids or the grandkids have a dispute, they will listen to the grandparents because everyone loves grandma and grandpa—and everyone knows grandma and grandpa love everyone. They don't need to be particularly smart or wise, but, if nothing else, the family will work together because of their common love for grandma and grandpa. Grandparents can settle disputes, or at least help everyone smile and "make it okay".

But, grandparents also have experience, insight, knowledge, and some level of wisdom. Whether the grandparents gained their wisdom by chasing after it or by the university of hard knocks, they still have wisdom to offer the family. Even if the grandparents were foolish for much of their lives, they have experience that can only be gained with time.

Grandparents are more patient with children. They are less easily aggravated, more understanding, and more inclined to "drip" little nuggets of wisdom to enlighten the children as they learn on their own—children both adult and young.

In Jewish culture, as in many Asian cultures, three generations will live under the same roof. While mom and dad tend to the family trade, the grandparents will help keep the house in order and raise the children.

Grandparents know how to raise children because they have seen the process all the way through. First-time parents, however, can be arrogant "know-it-alls", even more than teenagers—which may be where teenagers can get the attitude from. By having watched the entire birth and life process, grandparents can provide better guidance for the children.

An "old soul" will seek wisdom; it is a choice. The more you can learn from the elderly, the more helpful you can be, like a grandparent.

_Leviticus 19:32_

#  #56

## God the Promise Maker & Keeper

From Genesis to Revelation, God continues to make promises and He keeps every one of them.

After Adam and Eve ate the fruit, God promised that the Messiah would be born of a woman to crush Satan's head. He promised Noah with the rainbow that He would never again flood the whole earth. God promised Abraham a blessing to his family and to bless all nations through him—which foretold the Messiah, Jesus. God promised David that his family line would never end and that one of his descendants would establish a kingdom that would last forever; also foretelling Jesus, one of David's descendants.

God made many other promises to Israel and to all people. God made some promises to Israel specifically, but the writer of Hebrews applies such promises to all Christians. Jesus promises he will always be with us. At the end of Revelation, Jesus promises that he is coming quickly with reward for the righteous and to eradicate wickedness from Earth.

God is the Great Promise Maker, but He is also the Great Promise Keeper.

While some of His promises are for Israel specifically—just how prophecy has multiple fulfillments—God's promises have lasting principles that apply to anyone who follows Him.

When God told Israel that they would go off as captives to Babylon, He promised them that He would return them and "heal their land" if they repent. This was specifically for Israel. But, that does not mean God will turn away everyone else who repents just for not being part of Israel; God didn't say that. By demonstrating His conduct with Israel, God demonstrates His conduct in redeeming anyone.

God's promises to Israel secondarily apply to all people because Jesus, a Jew and descendant of King David, died at the Cross for _all people_.

Each promise from God has multiple levels of fulfillment. Jesus does not only save us, but he continues to "save" us all the rest of our lives.

The time has not come for every promise's fulfillment, but in time, God keeps every promise.

God's promises are a reason why we can trust Him. To know God is to trust God as the Great Promise Keeper.

_Genesis 3:15; 12:1-3; 15:12-16; 17:1-8, 8:20-22, 2 Samuel 7:1-17, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 27:1, Isaiah 41:11-13; 43:1-7; 54:9-17, Matthew 18:20, John 3:16, Hebrews 13:5, Revelation 22:6-21_

#  #57

## Finish Wisely Every Journey

When you begin a journey, finish it, even the ones you shouldn't have started.

"Finishing" can mean different things, but it never means "giving up". Many times our eyes get bigger than our stomachs and we ask take more food than we can eat. "Finishing" in the food analogy does not mean stuffing yourself, but eating the left overs for your next meals until they are gone. If you decide that you can't eat it, save it for someone who can; don't just abandon the food and throw it away.

Finish.

Sometimes, we start out on a path leading to death. We don't know the path will eventually kill us because it seems good and all at the outset. But, later on, we may discover it was a seduction of evil all along. "Finishing" that path might mean turning around and going back, perhaps warning others that the path seems good, but ends in a death trap.

Usually paths that lead to a death trap require us to tell "white lies" and break "insignificant" moral rules in order to star them. Eve was the best example because the fruit looked delicious and knowledge "isn't that bad of a thing", right?

My father once started a "selfish" motorcycle trip he shouldn't have. His motorcycle broke down. Exhausted, he knelt in the desert sand and believed in Jesus. He didn't finish as planned, but he didn't take a bus home either; he rode his motorcycle all the way back.

His pastor, who always asked why dad wouldn't become Christian, never even noticed, possibly because dad didn't believe in Jesus the "traditional" way. Knowing dad, he probably learned more about Jesus and carrying his own Cross than the pastor learned at Seminary.

When one hasn't finished hard journeys oneself, however regrettable those journeys are, those who do seem boring.

Dad didn't finish his journey the way he first intended, but he did "finish" it, taking responsibility for the situation he got himself into. Because he "did the right thing", Jesus changed his heart.

Learning means finishing. Abandoning the unpleasant is easy, but you'll never learn that way. When the going gets tough—when your choices hurt—finish wisely.

_Genesis 3:6-7, Jonah 1:17; 2:1, 10; 3:1-5, Luke 19:1-10_

#  #58

## Humanity: The  
Non-Omnipotent,  
Non-Omnipresent,  
Non-Omniscient

There is great power in knowing what you are not. Know your limits. Know what you can do, be confident in your actual abilities, but do not overstate them. Know the line that your abilities cannot cross.

Part of our broken "sin nature" that comes from Adam's choice combines itself with the nature that we remain the Image of God. In a sense, it almost makes us get a feline complex—where we reinterpret reality to presume that everything centers around us. We sneeze just before lightning and thus conclude we caused it. Someone gives us an inch and we think ourselves to be rulers.

We are the Image of the Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient God—all powerful, everywhere present, all knowing—, but we do not have those specific qualities, but our sin nature presumes that we do.

Part of good theology includes that those qualities are unique to God—He is the Almighty, which means that we are not. Everyone will face the sin nature's tendency to forget what we are not every day of our lives. The more you get in touch with what you are not, the less you will try to do things that you cannot do, the less you will be offended at results that can't be, the less you will waste what time and energies you have, the more you will focus on whatever things you can do. Once you focus solely on things within your ability, you will find yourself accomplishing seemingly impossible tasks.

Arguably, this is the key to efficiency: Only attempt what is possible.

There are many things that may seem impossible, but that presumes that we will try methods that fail or that only God can use. If we stay within our limits and only use the powers we have, many purported "impossibilities" will become easy. As for those things we truly can't do, by knowing that only God can achieve them, He is more likely to achieve them through us, all the same achieving what is impossible without God. So, there is no benefit in telling someone what cannot be done, but only in who we are not and what only God does through us.

_Job 38-42, Micah 6:8_

#  #59

## If You Spank Them, You Must Hold Them

God made each child with certain talents and abilities. We naturally hunger for those things God made us able to do best. We discover those talents and abilities by sniffing them down through the nose of our desire for them. It is a thrilling mystery every time, for every person, for all of everyone's life.

As children it's easier to see, but it repeats throughout life: We misbehave when we have lost the scent trail in pursuit of our inborn talents.

A child who was born to be an entertainer will seek attention in all the wrong ways—especially if his quiet, orderly family denies him positive, proper, and constructive attention. Of course, the child also may lack practice with peers, but that's a separate, related discussion. Then, there is proper discipline to explain the boundaries of respect and accepting the things that we cannot change.

People who grow up to be disrespectful probably were not disciplined when they were children to accept whatever things they cannot change.

When we hunger for love and healthy attention, our need is love and healthy attention, not discipline and correction. But, when we just don't want to accept things that we cannot change, that's when we need a swift, immediate, firm, well-explained, hand-on-skin, redness gone in thirty minutes, and, in all other ways, proper spanking—so that chasing the wind loses its pleasure. Neglected grownups don't know whether children need love or discipline nor do they know the difference between discipline and beating.

Accepting what we can't change is hard. Sometimes the entertaining child needs to practice being quiet in the presence of others—sometimes, not every minute spent at home. Those moments are difficult for everyone, especially the child. As much as the spanking hurts, it's harder to let go of what earned us the spanking in the first place.

It's hard to accept that we can't change things we don't like. Life isn't fair. That's one of the things we can't change, so we must accept that unfairness will exist somewhere within our universe.

We get to be that child at times. God is right to spank us because He always holds us while we cry.

#  #60

## God the Patient

God is not slow, though in our short attention span it can seem like He has forgotten all about us.

God is above all of our circumstances, though He is also in those circumstances with us. The Bible teaches that God is "near to the broken-hearted". Jesus wept when his friend Lazarus died. Having lived and suffered on Earth, Jesus knows our situation. Yet, Jesus remains beyond the ability for our circumstances to destroy him.

God can stand and observe our situation without limit, not because He doesn't see or doesn't care, but because He is strong enough to be patient. He doesn't need to quickly finish so He can go sleep or grab a snack or visit the WC.

As a child I asked why we need Satan. Now, I have finally come to understand that God will never get rid of Satan—we will. God is patiently waiting until that time, preparing us for that time.

Many people have not yet worked out whether they like Satan. They say they want to do good, but then they go do something stupid. People complain about corruption in government and business, but then they go and do morally corrupt things in their families and among Chistian friends. God asks us the same question every day, "Why do you allow evil in your world? Are you ready to get rid of it yet?" Once we get resolved on our answer, God will give us the tools to put Satan and his servants into the fire forever. But, we aren't there yet. We're still making up our minds, so it seems.

Every day, try to at least act like you have made up your mind about getting rid of Satan. Do what is good, make the world around you a little better, let your life be a reason for people to make up their minds about God.

While we take our time and sort out which way is up and down, God will be there, patiently watching, patiently nudging us in the right direction, and, when necessary, patiently giving us a catastrophe here or there to help turn our short attention spans back toward His everlasting patience.

#  #61

## If Someone Gives You a Test, Keep It

Don't let people toy with you. This is about respecting yourself. Cultivate a reputation that people who want toys will become toys if they try to play with you.

Of course, there is a time for fun and it is good chivalry to be hardy in friendship and jest in the staff lounge. But, at work and with truth, you are not a toy.

I once had a friend irritated at my self-confidence. So, he lied to me, and invented a false claim to attempt to disprove me—"just to see what I would do" as he explained five minutes later. And, he found out what I would do. I have never had a meaningful conversation with him since.

If someone plays "devil's advocate" with you, treat him like the devil's advocate: Send him to Hell; make the conversation painful enough that he wished it would end. Call him "Satan" and tell him to get out of your way before you trip; that's what Jesus did when Peter played.

The easiest way to combat someone who makes up tests just to toy with you is to take them absolutely seriously all the way to the end. This works much like shoving the stick farther into the dog's mouth to make him want to release it, or grabbing the punch that comes your way and pulling the arm to keep it going.

As you progress in your life, people will criticize you and, when that doesn't work, they will invent hypotheticals, all the while hoping to offer you some kind of "benefit".

Real situations need real facts to treat them. Take all hypotheticals seriously: "That's a hypothetical and I won't speculate on it. And, frankly you shouldn't ask me to."

"But, what if you were talking to someone else?" they protest.

Practice these words: "I'm talking to you and you should be present with me."

Whenever someone calls you a name, wear it like armor. Quote it everywhere, never let them forget the nickname they made for you.

If someone decides to become your self-appointed examiner and give you a test, take it, but don't give it back. Whatever anyone gives you becomes your permanent property.

#  #62

## Literature of the Bible

Understanding the Bible is much easier if you know the types of genre. Knowing genre, you can quickly identify the specific genre you are reading and know what to expect from it.

Much of the Bible is _narrative_. This simply records actions and events, neither condemning nor condoning any of what actually happens. The important thing to remember in narrative, as with any other type of genre, is the first time a word or event occurs. If a similar word or event shows up later, both events will have a kind of connection, whether a parallel or contrast. When reading events, take note of the smallest details.

The _genealogy_ genre is easily belittled. Genesis has some genealogy. Genealogies often have small events inserted, highlighting things a person did or did not do. These can be significant. To Jewish culture, a genealogy was also important to confirm which tribe someone came from.

_Law_ is seen much in the second part of Exodus, as well as Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. While other "laws" appear elsewhere—such as God's instructions to Joshua for invasion—Exodus sets the template for the genre. Laws were specific to Israel, mainly before Jesus. But, we can still learn from them and following many parts of Moses's Law can be beneficial. The important truths about laws are that Jesus completed the laws for sacrifices and that Jesus interprets Moses's Law more clearly than anyone else. Look at the Jerusalem Council in Acts and also Hebrews for apostolic commentary on the Law.

_Poetry_ fully comprises Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, and Lamentation, but poetry also appears in other Bible passages. By familiarizing yourself with these books of poetry, you will understand poetry in other books of the Bible.

_Figures of speech_ can appear anywhere in the Bible. Know them in your native language, then you will recognize them in the Bible. Label language as "figurative" only with good reason, never favoring a contradictory interpretation.

_Prophecy_ and _visions_ pop up everywhere, containing both figurative and literal language. Interpreting these requires time and never finishes. Begin with Daniel and Revelation.

The Gospels and Acts are ancient _journalism_. The rest of the New Testament is _correspondence_.

#  #63

## Opening Bid Is Final Offer

If you can change your mind after hours of negotiation, then you started without knowing what you wanted—and you owe the other party a consulting fee for the vision mapping session.

Auctions are institutionalized, meant to sell a vast number of good to a vast number of people at publicly agreed prices in quick order. Usually these are for liquidation, fundraising, and government contracts. You are not overstocked nor damaged goods nor are you an overpriced trinket from a charity banquet—do not establish your price as if you were. Governments are the exception.

Pay the highest price you're willing. Give people what they're worth and don't attempt less. If the other party does, walk away right away.

When you offer to join a team, set your ceiling at the outset and don't go above it. If you say, "Four hours is all I can do that day," and the person gives reasons why you should give five, they need help with vision and mission. Explain it, "You've got too much at stake and seem to be over-budget. I'm a four-hour guy, you need a five-hour guy, and you need to either talk to your accounting department to get a budget for the right guy or talk with your visioning team about a four-hour plan."

The "Trump" negotiation tactic was well-demonstrated throughout his life, even his presidency: Make the opening offer "hugely" outrageous, then "come to your senses" and ask for what you wanted in the first place. That's for dealing with parties who don't know what they want. When people open with that outlandish offer, I go straight to "vision" mode.

The same applies against delphi method and managed conversation.

Many people ask my permission to cancel appointments. I tell them the same, "It's not my choice. Just figure out your schedule, then call me."

I once made an ethics-related suggestion to an itinerant speaker about his content. He gave his propaganda-couched excuse, adding, "...if that's okay with you." I answered, "It's not my choice," and made him own his. That speaker just stood speechless.

Never "negotiate". Either host an auction, plan a strategy meeting, or act unilateral-friendly so you never pressure others.

#  #64

## God the Mighty to Save

God loves to save us!

When Israel came out of Egypt, God utterly crushed the crux of Satan worship in that day—Egypt and their phony religion of human sacrifices. Often, God would remind Israel, "I brought you out of Egypt." This is a reminder for all who study the Bible.

Whatever adversary you face, look to how God helped Israel get out of Egypt. Ten times Pharaoh got a sound spanking from God, but he still wouldn't learn. God told Moses that He wanted to harden Pharaoh's heart just so that he could decimate that evil empire. Pharaoh made the choice himself to reject God, relegating to God the choice of how much to harden Pharaoh's heart.

God allows evil to mount up so He can out-show and out-do everything and everyone. Those times when God comes to the rescue we utterly know in our hearts that He is supreme over everything. Of course, we easily forget, which is why God tells us to study the Bible daily and why He so often reminds Israel to remember what He did in Egypt—what He did _to_ Egypt.

When you know that God is stronger than your enemies, you will fear no one except the God you know loves you. He knows how much you need to be reminded of this. So, he sets up foolish enemies in your lane—He put them there like bowling pins to bowl right through. The whole time, God is not worried one bit. He laughs at your enemies and celebrates just the though of you. God comes with wrath and laughter, not the least bit worried, not shaken in the least.

You must build up your knowledge about God Who Is Mighty to Save before the day of your trouble. The swelling waves will scare you to pray if you have not been praying enough. God sends adversaries and troubles for your benefit. Those times are scary, they build character, you will almost surely wet your pants the first few times, but you will only go into all-out panic mode if you have neglected your daily life in Bible and prayer. Prepare yourself; study the God Who Saves.

_Exodus 1-17, Psalm 37, Zephaniah 3:17_

#  #65

## Leaders Are Strong and Tough

Leaders must make tough decisions, which means leaders must be tough.

If there is a department in an organization or a child in the family who makes trouble for others—whether through passive-aggression, overt bullying, absenteeism, poor quality work, or otherwise—the leader with the power to intervene must intervene. If the leader does not intervene, then the troublemaker will make more and more trouble, making the leader an indirect—but nonetheless real—endorse of the trouble maker.

Having the "power" to intervene and stop a troublemaker does not mean that a leader has the emotional trust of the organization or a 50%+ popularity rating—it only means having the legal right to raise the issue and address the matter. If a peer has the right to raise his hand at a meeting, that peer could initiate discussion to stop the troublemaker.

Of course, a "troublemaker" must be defined as someone who actually makes trouble, not someone who irritates lazy and incompetent teammates while doing good work. Many talented people are mislabeled as troublemakers when they are the only competent people on a team. "Not playing well with others" is the lowest priority in labeling a troublemaker.

...And a good leader must know this.

By being strong, everyone will interact with a strong person when they interact with the leader. This will make everyone else's skin a little thicker, their spines stronger, and the talented person who smells funny and talks out of turn won't be so irritating. It's the leader's responsibility to set that tone.

A strong leader will talk frankly and harshly at times, get irritated into ranting and raising his tone of voice. Whether a man or woman, loud or soft -spoken, each leader has his own style of "strength" and must follow that style, but still be strong. A leader who is weak and calls it "style" is not only weak, but an excuse-maker.

Sometimes people need to be fired or downsized. Children need proper, calculated spankings to stop fights among siblings. Peers need to be told truth from others.

The tough leader will be feared at times, but will thus be trusted as a safe protector during the toughest of times.

#  #66

## Temptation

God does not tempt people nor can temptation have any sway with Him. This is important to consider when understanding both God and temptation. They are incompatible. God would never consider turning to the Darkness because He is Light. Things just don't work that way.

Temptation to sin comes to everyone. It even happened to Jesus when he went to the desert to pray before starting his public ministry. This was possible because Jesus existed as a human in the flesh; the Father was not tempted nor the Holy Spirit. Temptation can only be done to flesh, with or without a sin nature from Adam.

The Bible is silent on whether Satan continued tempting Jesus after that, but it is a good bet that Satan did not suddenly wise up and end his futile efforts when Jesus was baptized.

Being tempted does not make you any kind of bad person. God does not count it against us for being tempted. Often times, God allows Satan and his demons to tempt us to sin, merely to "test" and thus strengthen us. If the devil gives you a test, keep it; don't give in to temptation.

During times of temptation, we might be able to call on Jesus's name to make the temptation stop, especially if it is from a concerted demonic attack. But, sometimes that doesn't work.

Temptation may be so strong that it takes hours or even years to resist. But usually, this kind of temptation only happens when we have been involved in that tempted sin for a long time and we are breaking free of the old, bad habits related to it.

Resisting temptation eventually makes the temptation stop. It will return, but less and less frequently. If you don't give in, demons just won't see you as a worth-while target.

There are two main things we can do about temptation: prepare and resist.

It's not _if_ , it's _when_ temptation comes your way. Read your Bible often. Pray often. Praise Jesus and tell him that you love him often. Focusing on God's goodness will strengthen you. In the midst of temptation, do the same. Temptation's appeal weakens the stronger your life in God.

_Luke 4:1-13, 1 Corinthians 10:13, James 1:12-15_

#  #67

## Fathered and Fatherless Act Like It

Children who do not grow up with healthy, balanced oversight of good instruction in the home will show it in the things that they don't know and no propaganda will convince the facts otherwise.

Children missing a parent can quickly develop an "I don't need that parent" life motto. It's not a logical or scientific conclusion, but an emotional coping mechanism to invalidate the self-invalidation they invent every day. Not having a parent doesn't make someone invalid in itself; it shows up in one's lifestyle.

An eight year old who doesn't know how to tie his shoes probably has too much pampering at home and school. A ten year old who ties his shoes incorrectly likely has parents who just don't care.

A high schooler who doesn't respond to text messages is announcing to all his friends, "Hey, my parents yell at me all the time, so I ignore what everyone says just to cope with it." The junior higher who can't agree to go to the movies next weekend—time and again—is likewise broadcasting, "My parents interrupt my life constantly, thereby erasing my concept that 'tomorrow exists'." When their friends call them out on it, they act indignant and accuse everyone of making up complaints from their "dream worlds". They make their own parents look bad in the eyes of the student body and everyone sees it but them, especially their teachers.

School carries into the workplace.

I have a saying, "Beware of people with hyphenated last names; they haven't resolved their loyalties." In Chinese it holds for four-character names, rather than than the usual three-. No judging, they may be great people, but strange formats make work for others and begs questions about one's upbringing.

Everyone has family problems. If you've outgrown yours, but have a strange name format from the fallout, take counsel and review a legal name change. The process may be therapeutic. Alternatively, artists often take additional middle names or file a legal DBA/pseudonym.

Whatever "baggage" you may carry, ditch it. Everyone else sees it but you, don't act otherwise. What happens at home shows in the world, especially when you're offended by other people's reaction to your conduct.

#  #68

## God the Restorer

Unless a seed dies it does not sprout.

When an adult first tells an idea to a child, the child seems to ignore it or even reject it. Actually, God—the Great Gardener—simply let the idea die so that it could grow. Before long, that child will be applying that idea, succeeding with it, and teaching it to others. When a child says, "No way!" he's almost sure to get it.

You know this because you are that child.

You remember such times of loss and frustration. We wish we would have or could have—those are the times when God summoned our hearts to awaken. We spend the rest of our lives knowing what didn't happen. Sometimes, we give up and try to prevent anyone else from doing what we didn't do, just so we don't feel like we missed out. Other times, we run through life beating our heads like inmates at the asylum, chanting that we "never – ever – let – that – happen – again". This routine process of "wishing it were different" is more easily understood through the truth of dead seeds: All seeds are dead, which means they had to die.

Look at what God does in the Bible. Satan and his foolish comrades made a mess. God flooded Earth to restore it, now things are much better. Job lost everything, but God gave it all back twofold. Jews were enslaved in Egypt, then God led them to freedom and arguably the most fertile, accessible land on Earth. Ruth lost her husband and her mother-in-law also became a widow; God gave them a new family. Her great grandson, David, spent a decade hiding in caves from Saul, then God made him king. Israel sinned and was taken to Babylon, but God brought them back and rebuilt their Temple, then their walls in only fifty-two days. Jesus was crucified, but came back to life. Christianity was persecuted in its early days, but eventually celebrated. God restores lost crops.

But, if we consider how a seed must die, arguably, God set out to give us more starting from the very moment that everything was taken away. God has been restoring from before the beginning.

_Job 8:6; 42:10, Joel 2:25, John 12:24_

#  #69

## Might Is Right in the Long Run

Winning a fight proves diligent practice and foresight of one's own limits. But, also consider the long game.

Might is, in fact, right because God is Almighty. He has all the power and is the strongest anywhere that is somewhere. Believing, "Might is right," only becomes unethical through twisted perspectives of "right" and "might".

When one loses perspective of God being in control, sin wants to freak out and break rules. Someone overpowers us, then we start to play "dirty pool", cut corners, tell white lies, hit below the belt... gossip. Godly people don't allow themselves to do those things.

Without getting God's permission first, the Accuser couldn't have harmed Job. Job knew the very easy way to know whether God wanted a thing to happen: It happened.

God does not "win" all at once because He is waiting while we choose sides. Maybe you should have acted, but you didn't, so God did something else instead—just as He allowed you to not act.

For too many people, "might is right" only applies to "might in the moment", thus twisting "might is right" into meaning "whoever can get away with whatever he wants in this small time and place is thus morally right". Such is errant reasoning, reject it.

Never do something merely because you can get away with it in the moment. You may find that there is one stronger who will come along and exact retribution—and be able to get away with it because it is right.

God brought justice to Israel through Samson merely because Samson was strong and did whatever he wanted. The Philistines hated Samson because every time they tried to play dirty games—usually involving killing people—Samson killed them instead. They didn't hate Samson because he was unfair, but because his brute strength didn't allow them to be unfair. So, they accused him of wanting to be unfair as they actually wanted.

Might can be meek, but never weak; and it always shows itself eventually. Strength in weakness is also strength. God is mighty and He is not unvirtuous for it.

Mightiness is a virtue. If you want to do rightly, then you must be mighty.

_Judges 13-16, Job 1:1-2:10; 9:4; 26:14_

#  #70

## 'Biblical' Morals

Morals are not explicitly "taught" in the Bible, they are implied. So, not listing them explicitly in the Bible does not mean they aren't taught in the Bible. A "Biblically moral" worldview presumes and holds truths to be self-evident, among them: morality and the benefit thereof.

Enoch, Noah, Job, and Abraham were called "righteous" men, even before there was any moral code outlined in the Bible. This goes back to the Biblical idea of basic righteousness: using balanced scales—the same standard for oneself as for everyone. This includes morals about marriage.

In Egypt, Pharaoh wanted to respect Abraham's marriage. There was no Biblical teaching about marriage and what it meant at that time—there never is a clear definition in the Bible of what marriage is. The way to get a "Biblical" definition of marriage is to look at Bible stories that _presume_ marriage as already defined, where the Bible explains respect for that view of marriage. That is a "working definition" of marriage in the Bible, the only kind of definition there is.

All morals work this way in the Bible, even where specific actions are outlined, such as the Ten Commandments, or generic "evil deeds" described by John in his Gospel and in Revelation and other passages where immorality is frowned upon, but not defined.

God expects that we each already, generally know what is right and wrong. There might be some ambiguity in what God expects of us, though the simple rules of humility toward God and fairness toward each other can't be mistaken. Some "morality" answers are admittedly fuzzy; some (never all) of those fuzzy answers God allows discretion of each person's conscience.

Even with the ambiguity on some Biblical morals, _nowhere_ does the Bible allow us to rewrite God's morals nor does the Bible ever even suggest that morals are purely at the discretion of Mankind to create and alter.

But, never quibble over morals. Run with the people you agree with; respect those you disagree with. We must each answer to God for our own lives, never for other people's. But, we will certainly answer for how we understand and practice morals, whether clearly presumed, defined, or fuzzy.

_Genesis 12:10-20, John 3:19, Romans 2:1-16, 1 Corinthians 4:4; 10:29, Revelation 9:21; 16:11; 21:8; 22:14-15_

#  #71

## Dear Kid Part 1

Lessons to kids, perhaps yours, perhaps you, or perhaps the younger you whom you wish to tutor...

How to use an alarm: Get out of bed when it goes off.  
How to use prayer: Do it.  
How to use Bible: Same as prayer.  
How to use a computer: Plug it in, same with appliances.  
How to use a battery: Only if you must.  
How to use money: Buy anything but happiness. Buying happiness will put you in debt.  
How to get paid: Require it; for yourself to work and from others to pay you.  
How to make friends: Be a friend.  
How to be a friend: Do a good job.  
How to do a good job: Do your own job.

Don't "learn forever" from a single event in the past. Crazy stuff happens. Don't "always be safe" from one freak accident that defied laws of physics. Don't "never do that again" because a bad person got angry when you did something good. Don't "never love again" when someone betrays your trust. Crazy things just happen at times. Only "learn forever" from things that indicate the normal flow of the universe. And, from the freak accidents, "learn forever" that freak accidents happen without explanation and we need to just keep going.

Don't explain everything in too much detail. Say the general idea. Recognize the general idea when other's say it. That's enough for mature people. If it's not enough for you, then get mature.

Always be closing. When you ask someone for something—a parent, customer, boss, employee, coworker, classmate, child, spouse, friend, enemy—and the person says, "Yes," shut your mouth, take, "Yes," for an answer, and start moving forward with what you asked for.

Don't argue your point until people agree with you. Start with your conclusion, tip your hat to what your arguments might be, mature people will get it from there. If someone doesn't understand that much, then they need a teacher, not a debate. Don't fall into the trap of talking until everyone agrees with you. State your point, give reasons if asked, figure out who agrees and disagrees where, then act like an adult and move on while keeping friendships.

#  #72

## God of Means

God could just open up the sky, reach through, and situate everything so it's perfect. But, that's no fun. Instead, God uses means—He works through people and through events in history.

God's nature, that He works through means, relates to His patience. He's not in as big of a hurry as we often presume we should be. But, in the End, we will see that everything happened as quickly as it possibly could have—all because of the means God chose to work through. This part of God's character has great ramifications for our own.

Ronald Reagan was often considered a lazy president, merely because he was so effective at delegating. "If you want something to be done right, you've got to do it yourself," is the motto of people who don't get much done. Many things might have the appearance of "being done better" if God just bypassed us, decided we were useless, decided that nature doesn't matter, and just positioned everything like a collection of inanimate toys—but we each too valuable for that.

God wants us to participate with Him as He does great and wondrous things. As you understand God as the God of Means, you will become a human of means. Then, the people in your life will no longer seem like obstacles in the way of perfection—those people will become more important than your projects just as you absorb the truth that you are God's craftsmanship, among the greatest reasons why He uses you. God is not actually accomplishing the work you do through you so much as He is accomplishing your perfection by means of your participation in His work. God uses us as a means to achieve as a means of achieving us.

The Book of Esther never once mentions God, but His fingerprints are everywhere. Esther made the famous statement, "If I die, I die," when she decided to risk death to save her people, all because her uncle Mordecai said that she may have been made queen for, "such a time as this." That God is arguably best explained in the book that doesn't even contain God's name, but beautifully demonstrates His means.

#  #73

## Dear Kid Part 2

Do these with others, then it will be easy to make sure others do these with you...

Whenever working with others, you must have these two mutual requirements:  
1. You didn't tell someone something until you tell them and they say it back to you. You don't know what someone did until you ask them what they did. Even with 500 witnesses and 1,000 videos, ask first. If the person lies to you, then you found out the most important part.  
2. Give everyone a second chance at something once or twice. After paying for a five million dollar mistake, firing the person is too expensive after investing so much in the person's education. The price of a low turnover rate without constant rookie mistakes is that you must forgive enough to allow multiple second-chances.

...And, do these for two reasons:  
1. This is what smart bosses and smart companies do. Those that don't are easy to defeat in any arena, from sports to military to business.  
2. Jesus commands it, forgiveness and healthy communication.

Indirect teaching is polite, allowing people time to learn on their own. But, indirection is never, never, never "communication" where one can expect another to have received the message. To expect understanding, one must be direct.

When working for heathens, you are only as good as your last mistake. When working for Jesus, your mistakes make you irreplaceable because of the expense on your education. Heathens often parade themselves as Christians, then inject this ideology into their fake "Christianity", claiming Jesus while neither forgiving nor reconciling. Know it and don't touch it. If you have been unforgiven, get out. God's protecting you from heathens.

You never know what's going to set people off. Just be humble, forgive, be forgiven, and keep relationships that have a history. If you're expelled without warning, be thankful that God got you out before the building self-destructed.

You can't say the wrong thing to the right person and you can't say the right thing to the wrong person. If you are worthy, a smart boss or client will hire you. If you are worthy, but don't get hired, then God is protecting you from something.

#  #74

## Lay down Others' Law with Others

At times, you will need to lay down the law. It's never fun, especially when the law has been ignored. It makes people feel constricted and oppressed, no matter how valuable the law may be to people who obey it. Painting lines where we once roamed freely isn't fun.

Some laws, however, should not be implemented. No man-made law anticipates every scenario, this is one reason for courts. The purpose which a law was written to achieve is the common question asked by every judge and debated by every lawyer. Once enforcement of a law serves against the initial purpose of the law, even a hard line judge will want to throw out the court case.

This is much more normal in legal courts than among friends, family, and corporate hierarchies.

Companies will often enforce their own rules long after they have out-served their purposes. Unbending parents will refuse to give circumstantial flexibility to their own rules, even under comparable circumstances that highway patrol would let someone off on a moving violation. Don't be so rigid in enforcing rules that you rule yourself a fool.

Sometimes, the hard line law to lay down relates to basic respect to humanity. Those are the rules you should lay down everywhere you go. If a shop keeper insists that an old lady stand in the rain rather than in his store, step in and tell him that the lady will stand out of the rain and he will have to figure out a way to deal with it. If he is "only" a clerk fearing the wrath of his boss, tell him that his boss should fear your wrath if he doesn't act with humane decency.

Lay down the law, mainly the humane.

Sometimes you must firmly stand for your own rights, even if you're the old lady needing a dry place to stand. It could be password-only access or policies about giving information over the phone. Beneficial laws need enforcement for everyone's sake.

You may need to enforce a "shoes off" policy, even in someone else's house. We step on all kinds of filth and disease. As inconvenient as cleanliness is, somewhere shoes must be taken off.

#  #75

## Lay down God's Law with Yourself

God's Word is a book, not a cudgel. It's guiding principles and lines on the highways of life are not a license to boss others. God's Word's rules are for your own self-enforcement.

God's Word doesn't have all that many rules, it mostly teaches about understanding how God thinks and works. The more we understand God and His ways, the more we will understand whatever happens in our lives—both why God does what He does and what we can do as His Image by responding in this life. The best way to know what God would do as a human on Earth is to study the life of Jesus. As you slowly transform to understand how God operates, hold yourself to the "God standard" of how to think and operate.

There are rules in God's Word, of course, but they too must be studied and contemplated in order to be understood. A classroom can familiarize one with the words and their locations in God's Word, but actually understanding God's Word is a personal, life journey. This takes time, both regular dripping and intense downpours.

God's Word's rules are paradoxically simple; remember this every day. "Love your neighbor as yourself," is an overly simple concept to grasp, but implementing it can never be perfected, even in a thousand lifetimes. You are certainly going to fail and transgress.

Keeping God's rules does not mean "never breaking" them; it means that we keep pressing toward the destination. God's Word is an ethics compass, a moral orientation. You know in what direction you must go; go there! When you stumble on the jagged terrain, get up and keep going. Don't lie down for dead under the misconception that Heaven only accepts those who never fall down.

Heaven accepts everyone who can stand it. Heaven is awesome, partly because everyone loves everyone else as themselves, also because everyone there knows that God loves them. That's a hard law to lay down. But, if you lay down Heaven's law in your own life every day—love others equally, worship God only, and keep going—you'll prepare yourself to enter Heaven, be transformed there, and then usher Heaven throughout the universe.

#  #76

## God the Uncreated and Most High

The God of the Bible—of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—Who took on His own Image, a human in the flesh, as Jesus of Nazareth—this God is unique among all other gods. He is nothing like them.

Most mythologies depict gods who can be appeased through politics and trickery. They can be offended or angered when their scandals are exposed. These mythologies describe demigods, not anything like what the Bible refers to as "God". Unlike Allah, Adonai—the Lord God, the God of the Bible—does not need to fight to destroy all of His enemies immediately. This is because God is above them all.

By being above every enemy, the need to hate and spit and fret and rage against every enemy in every corner of the universe and beyond simply does not exist. God's existence goes beyond thought, light, and time. Whatever is true of quantum theory, God's existence goes beyond metaphysical boundaries that even quantum mechanics cannot cross.

He created the very fabric of the fabric of the fabric of the idea of the fabric of both the physical universe and the time continuum. He is the Most High, there is none beside Him. No one can harm or overthrow Him. He cannot be fooled, caught, or ensnared. He is the origin, the single point to which all questions of origin lead back to.

This gives us confidence—that the Uncreaed God Most High loves us and knows everything about us, even the number of hairs on our heads. Our strengths, our weaknesses, our faults, our lessons to learn—He saw it all before we were born. We can't impress Him with our achievement nor shock Him with our failure.

When Israel's kings were evil, Isaiah saw God high and lifted up on His Throne. The God who summons the morning sun, who tells the breeze where to wait, and keeps the light of the moon in His pocket until the time of its fullness—that God is on your side, already fighting whatever battle you woke to this morning when the sun answered His wake up call. Lean on Him and lend a little stability to the people around you.

_Deuteronomy 10:17, Isaiah 6:1; 57:15, Daniel 2:47, John 1:1-5, Colossians 1:15-20_

#  #77

## Know When to Answer Rhetorical Questions

Every question deserves an answer. This is basic human respect. Never imply that someone doesn't understand grammar. By not answering a rhetorical question, you do just that. Questions deserve answers.

Answering a rhetorical question does not mean you need to argue with the rhetorician. You can answer rhetorical questions respectfully. Failing to answer them is the disrespect.

People who believe that rhetorical questions are statements—not questions—have trouble communicating their thoughts. Whether they ask the rhetorical questions as a way to make a statement or they fail to answer rhetorical questions, confusing language makes language confusing. No matter how complicated we twist it in order to work it all out in our minds to somehow "make sense", asking questions without expecting answers is bad practice. Over-complicating things in one's mind will make communication even more difficult, whether listening or expressing oneself.

Jesus said, "Let your 'yes' mean 'yes' and your 'no' mean 'no'." His literal meaning is to take language literally; that's wise, smart, and good all around. Not being able to get something off your chest makes like very difficult. When you need to say something, say it! If someone needs to tell you something, listen!

The good practice of answering rhetorical questions will make you seem a little "strong" to people who don't share the same practice. Be kind to them, but don't act ignorantly just to avoid confusing the ignorant. Set a good example for people to follow. It's human nature to complain about a thing we respect the first time we encounter it. Let people encounter your answers to rhetorical questions.

By answering rhetorical questions directly, you will train your mind to see through many passive-aggressive traps. The simple way to slice through squirmy manipulation is to interpret everything literally and state everything literally. It's not easy for a snake to squeeze a broadsword.

Passive-aggression is like pushing someone through a closed window with a pillow. The aggressor doesn't have "aggressive form" and holds a mere pillow. But, it's not form that makes one aggressive; it's initiating injury. By answering rhetorical questions, people will accuse you of "aggression by form", but you will both learn and demonstrate navigation through anything.

#  #78

## Trust, Thus Verify

Every claim, every accusation, every critique—listen to the unedited recording, the full interview, read the whole book. Talk to the accused in person. Examine at the facts with your own eyes and hands. Perform an experiment yourself. Never agree with an accusation without seeing the proof yourself.

If you are the one accused, don't panic, but answer the charge publicly. Tell the truth for all to see without even naming your accusers or even the accusation. Present the proof as openly and availably as possible.

Even if an accusation is true, we must evaluate the evidence to verify that the description of the problem is what it needs to be. Maybe the charge is not severe enough, maybe the defendant will lie—in which case questioning him tells us the most important information! You will never know without examining the evidence for yourself.

Basic Bible study, journalism, evaluation—anything about life—demands that we examine evidence for ourselves. There is nothing more credible about an opinion than having asked to see the original evidence for oneself, without taking any pre-position whatsoever. There is nothing more discrediting than believing a report without first seeing some kind of proof—at least to understand more. This is easy to agree with in theory, but in the heat of life's battles, it is easier to forget. Not prejudging in those times when we feel it is right is one mark of a worthy leader.

Ronald Reagan referred to this with the words, "Trust, but verify." My own words are, "Trust, thus verify." Trustworthy people seek to have themselves verified. Never trust someone who acts offended at the idea of asking for evidence—whether to produce evidence or to review it.

At the very least, we lose our ability to think critically about the matter when we reach our conclusions based on someone else's word. Don't depend on others to think for you. That makes you a slave to ignorance. Verifying facts, evaluating them for yourselves, and developing a unique opinion even when you agree with other people's conclusions is a central part of critical thinking. Verifying claimed facts is part of human dignity as the Image of God.

#  #79

## All Ends Judge Their Means

It is said that the ends justify the means; in fact they do, but only ultimately. Many short-term, narrowly-focused, greedy people exploit the wisdom of the end standing in judgment over the path that led to it. They also exploit the need to break eggs for the greater work of the omelet. When used wrongly, the principles still hold, but the application to their circumstance has been counterfeited. Like any counterfeit, the good concept is usurped for a false notion upon a dark purpose. Short term ends do not justify corners cut for fleeting results. But, in the End of All Things we look back and see that whatever road guided us to Life was worth its passage.

The destination of every journey will look back on whatever effort arrived at its result and there decide whether it was good or evil.

Not everything ends well. Dishonesty, theft, opportunism, fake ingredients, faulty materials, and any disingenuous shortcuts fail to produce; they only steal from tomorrow's profits. Life is indeed a "zero sum game" in a world without morals and standards of equal, two-way conduct. In the End, the zero sum of the zero sum game renders the verdict against itself, that the means lacked the synergism that results from the mutually respectful conduct of a life of morals.

Doing harm in order to achieve some "greater good" doesn't actually lead to that greater good; it at least detours from it and at most leads to an even greater evil mislabeled.

Levying bribes and shorting quick change don't lift people from poverty, it anchors them there. Honesty escapes the "zero sum game". Morals spawn synergy, giving lift to wings. The happy ending vindicates the hard road we traveled. It does not excuse selfish injury of others, but it rewards self sacrifice and delayed gratification, even when circumstances and parents force the fruits of patience upon us.

Glad endings don't miraculously justify wicked means, but whatever end will stand in judgment over the paths we choose. The end will have the last word. When you live your life in preparation for the end to which you will answer, you set your destination straight and calibrate your conscience.

#  #80

## God with Us

Jesus was born so that God could be with us. In his first life on Earth, Jesus had to die for our sin at the Cross. But, he was with us the whole time. And, he did it so that he could be with us forever. God came down and lived among us so that God could come down and live among us.

He seems far off at times, even though His daily provision and creative wonder nearly drench us every moment of every day. Still, as much as we want to behold God's face, He wants us to behold His face. But, first, we must know and understand Him, which we can do if we seek Him. This is a temporary process in our growth and development, not God's permanent plan.

Very soon, likely within a few thousand years, God will show Himself to us directly and we will be with Him forever. He longs for this infinitely more than we do. Every moment until then prepares us for Eternity with Him. This is the meaning of "Emmanuel": God with us. Jesus is Emmanual.

The Infinite, Eternal, Uncreated, Inapproachable God Most High is perfectly known in the man Jesus Christ of Nazareth. When he was on Earth, people could look at him and understand the personality and nature of God and His character—conversing with Him directly, not through a third party—when they talked to Jesus. We will do the same.

The Holy Spirit is Jesus's Spirit, so we can have conversation and friendship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit, yet on a different level of reality. Through the Holy Spirit, who lives in our physical bodies, God is also with us in comfort and meaningful fellowship. The Bible is the Word of God with us, placed at our disposal.

Even simple events that God works through to help us and show us that He is near—even history, in a way, puts us in the presence of God. Paying attention, reading the Bible, praying, worshiping in deed and song, listening to God—all of these things bring us to a place where we interact with the Infinite God Who is with us.

#  #81

## Know Your Reason: Because I Want To

Take ownership of your choices. The best way to do this is to keep your reasons, proofs, explanations, and defensive evidence to yourself. The supreme proof that your choice is right comes in the resulting aftermath.

Those who keep their silence until the ending evidence has the last word—through slander, provocative accusation, gossip, doubt, even coup and impeachment—will be left standing after the dust clears. There's a time to talk, especially to delineate decisions and implement action, but that is different from babbling on about the justification and rationale for what you do. Of course, a little philosophy about why you do what you do won't hurt, as long as you're not using philosophy to build a case in your defense or trying to prove that an idiot is an idiot.

Just talk as you need in order to finish the task at hand. Don't fall for the trap of someone asking you why you did what you did as a way of convincing you to do something differently. If you are a fool and headed in the wrong direction, listen to the voice of wisdom, but don't change merely because someone debated your reasons. If you should change, proof that another way will succeed requires no discussion about your reasons for the failed method. That works in reverse as you deal with other people.

Keep your eyes on your own path, never why another path is wrong—and never let others tell you why your path is wrong, but only why another path might be better. Once you've heard them out, make your decision and press on. Don't explain yourself; friends don't care and enemies won't accept your reasons anyway.

When you reject "indefinite discussion until others agree with you", those others will call you "unfriendly", when the underlying issue is that you disagree. Stay on task. Actions speak louder than words, let them.

Get a reputation so people already know your answer when they ask why you do what you do, "Because I want the results that follow." Eventually they will stop asking, then you can focus on your task. If you deliberate, it's because you value discussion more than results.

#  #82

## Bullies & Geeks & Round It Goes

It often starts with the manager or super-educated type—a doctor, pharmacist, professor, dentist, engineer, architect, programmer, pastor, MBA, physicist, but for some reason not a lawyer. The geek was bullied as a kid and used his brains to build levers in his life to whack the bullies next time they walk in. That's why educated white-collar types overreact to petty non-problems. The jock, farmer, mason, plumber, construction worker, truck driver, hunter, roofer, landscaper—his instinct is to hit back. It usually starts by one of the two bumping an old wound and the old-wounded bumpee deciding that the other guy did it on purpose.

When people rub us wrong and we have a reaction of going to DEFCON 1, don't. It's a trap. Whatever the instinctive response is, the devil knows it and so should you. The other guy has had people react that way to him before. You're not the first person he has instigated a reaction from. He's probably done that to people before and, wrong as it is, auto-reacting on cue won't help either one of you.

We need to keep professional records and discipline people. Certain things can't be allowed, while other things need leniency to allow people to improve. Police have discretion of when to enforce—except for small-town speed traps—a classic combination of geekery and bullery. Even then, laws and justice must be laid down.

A good reporter will expose the local speed trap. A boss needs to informally and formally warn rogue employees, circumstances depending. Parents and principles must discipline children and students. Christians have standards to must hold each other to. But, don't react.

Reflexes exacerbate. Break patterns. Contemplate what in the world makes people act as crazy as they do; you may need a week. Find the way to confront someone without continuing the cycle. The recipe always includes finding one offense to forgive and another big offense to just not even care about.

Whether you're the venomous geek or the bumbling bully—and we all end up playing each roll at least once in life—don't react. You're sentient; act like it. Wrong isn't excusable, but forgivable. Forgive, correct, tolerate, encourage, and strengthen.

_Matthew 6:38-42, Galatians 6:1-5_

#  #83

## Growth from the Inside

All growth begins on the inside—viruses, health, psychology, emotions, temptation, intellect—the external appearance is only a symptom of whatever condition began quietly in the heart.

Look inward and ponder in your heart. Don't leave your inner world in disrepair.

Temptation starts with simple thoughts which snowball into regret. Don't even entertain dark ideas. Displace darkness with the light.

Secular entertainment may seem enticing and motivating at times, but it is not enough to nourish true growth. It is mere amusement with diluted images of a forgotten Heaven. If you want growth, you must set your mind on the actual, Eternal things of Heaven.

If you don't think rightly about Heaven, you won't think about Heaven. If you understand Heaven accurately, you will ponder Heaven, its wealth, its grandeur, its supreme power, and its immeasurable love for you—carrying Heaven in your heart as you go about surviving and thriving day to day. With Heaven in your heart, people who encounter you will bump you and a little Heaven will spill out onto them—and they will wonder whatever could possibly make you such an experience to encounter.

Perhaps someone inconveniences you, yet you respond with grace. A thief or hit-and-run might make flight, but you quickly catch enough of a description because you had the right mind to think on your toes. You might respond to a fool with wise words he deeply resents—but then those words stick in his mind for decades and eventually drive him to become a better person—and you'll never find out in this life.

Heaven is not where we are going because Jesus is the resurrection. Rather, Heaven is our Eternal Citizenship and our source of love and power, but we come back to life and live on Earth. Anyone who simply believes in Christ Jesus has access to Heaven's insight even in this lifetime. Heavenly thinking comes from conversational prayer and daily Bible exposure. Know and understand God's relationship to you in all its fullness and you will begin to know yourself in the deepest ways available from the current mortal body. Bring Heaven to the world around you; it all starts in the heart.

_Proverbs 4:23, Ezekiel 11:21; 16:30, Luke 6:45, Colossians 3:1-2, James 1:14-15_

#  #84

## God who Is Everywhere

God is everywhere. The theological term for this is "omnipresence". This does not mean that His uttermost presence is uttermostly active in every micron of every universe. Rather, it means that every location is at His immediate disposal and access. There is no place for anyone to run from Him, no place of danger beyond His protective arm's reach.

God's "presence" can often be felt and Christians may often speak of "the presence of God" or "feeling His presence in the room". This is not the same as God's "omnipresence", but a heightened level of God's proactive presence. When we pray, we welcome His proactivity into our space and so His presence takes more action. God is in the continuous process of expanding His glory in all ways. Part of this includes creation.

His beauty and majesty are shown throughout the created universe. His justice expands into society and culture when people do the right things among each other. This is part of His work in and through us: to expand His glory in and through us.

As God expands His glory in many ways, He also expands His presence wherever we pray and worship Him. Wherever we are, when we speak the name of Jesus or call on the Lord God Most High, He shows up right then and there. He can because He has instant, immediate access to every location in existence.

Souls consigned to Hell and the Conscious, Eternal Lake of Fire will be out of His presence—His proactive presence. This will not empower them to plot against Him since He will still govern their very existence, but when they call He will not answer, when they pray, His joy will not visit them. Those who do not welcome God's presence into their lives will one day get what they want most and there, in their lonliness, what they will find is Hell itself, the place where God has access, but where He does not visit with blessing because in those places He is not welcome.

Heaven and Hell themselves are what they are as they relate—whether welcome or unwelcome—to the ever presence of the God Who is everywhere.

#  #85

## Know When to End Discussion

You have permission to end a discussion and move on. This doesn't require walking away from a conversation, but at least change the subject, take action, or refuse to stay on the topic further.

Watch for people who want to keep pushing their point until they convince you—as if you need to keep listening to their arguments and defensive reasons until you agree with them. It's a childish tactic to as, "Why?" as a way of changing the answer.

Explaining yourself can help other people to learn; to that end, be liberal in sharing the reasons behind your actions. Don't be contentious or condescending. When someone asks you, "Why?" give your answer kindly, quickly, and matter-of-factly, all while you move on in your action. If you depend on compliance from the person asking, move on in other ways, making sure the person gets the message that you're not waiting for them to agree with you.

In matters of opinion, where no immediate action is needed, move to declare the discussion at an impasse. All to often, the reason someone doesn't agree with you is not because they haven't listened to you enough, but because they don't want to agree. Such contenders will likely think that you don't agree with them because you haven't listened to them enough. Don't filibuster each other's day. Either they are wrong or you are wrong, in either case drop it.

Never argue with a question's answer. When you ask a question, accept the answer; don't start telling the other person why the answer was wrong. You don't know what someone else's answer is better than that person. Just the same, no one else knows your answer to a question better than you know your answer to a question. When people ask you a question and try to argue with your answer, grab a stick and draw a line in the sand, right while they're still talking: Simply repeat their question in reverse person.

"'Why do I do that?' Did I satisfy your curiosity?"

Perhaps you didn't. If not, satisfy their curiosity, then you will be able to peacefully end discussion by happily changing the topic or smiling and leaving.

#  #86

## When People...

When people tell you something can't be done, they mean that they tried, failed, and want everyone else to fail.

When people tell you that you won't succeed at doing something, they mean that they don't want you to succeed.

When people misrepresent what you believe then disagree with their misrepresentation, that means they disagree with you.

When people protest change, listen. People need their own size; never coerce anyone into changing or learning.

When people stonewall, they want a small, puny, little relationship with you; start there and they might want more.

When people didn't see what you saw, ask you to clarify what you saw multiple times, then doubt the facts you claim, that means they are drowning in their own experience of the world so much that they can't breathe in anything to the contrary.

When people misunderstand you and run away from you as a result, that means they have so many other worries that they do not have the capacity to understand the truth about you even if you showed them.

When people talk for a long time, that means that they have a lot to say; listen, whether to validate, help, learn, or perhaps save yourself with some important message you never would have thought was important.

When people don't forgive it's because they need forgiveness more than you do, but don't want to repent. They want to stay stuck in their rut; let them, and use good manners when you do. Don't bother apologizing because that will make it more difficult for them to hold their grudge against you for whatever good thing you did without asking their permission for them to refuse.

When people evade you over a disagreement, it's because they know they can't hold a candle to your reasoning on the matter. Either they are wrong and know it or they think they are right, but are too cowardly to stand for their beliefs. Either way, evasion in disagreement is cowardly; expect subterfuge to follow and take immediate steps to softly make your position more flexible and robust while also more approachable, yet conscientious. If you act strongly and charitably, even the evasion might diminish.

#  #87

## Engage Opponents unto Friendship

Whenever someone gives you negativity and "slap back"—for any reason, misunderstanding, picking an old scab, et cetera—just keep being positive. Change the subject they aimed for by celebrating the positive with childlike enthusiasm. Let's say you comment on someone's car because it's old and you like old cars. The guy takes it personally and vomits shame backtalk at you—but he admits his car is old in the process. Zero in on the fact that he did tell you the car was old or look for anything else positive in what he said.

Love fuels the power to overcome any challenge for greater friendship. If someone is mean to you, even for no reason at all, engage communication. Don't cower and hide in that little emotional cocoon of anger and fear. That urge to avoid someone you have a conflict is a sure sign that God wants you to talk to them because the devil fears what will happen when you do—that's the devil's fear you feel, not your own; let him keep it.

Bring up little, small things like weather or the latest gossip of the office or the ongoing drama of the hotel. Maintain friendly gestures and stay on normal "talking" terms. Deliver messages and help as good chivalry and teamwork invite.

So often, things that "offend" us are a mere misunderstanding in tone—especially in written correspondence. You can't solve a conflict through the mail, whether snail mail, email, or messaging. To solve a problem you need a sit-down with a face-to-face. So, don't even try to "resolve conflict" through text-only means. In the world of text-only, presume the best and stay positive. That will strengthen your skills for real life's social turbulence. Assume the best there also.

Many friendships begin with a good, solid rumble. A few spilled drinks, some misunderstandings, even a fist or two—keep on with the love. Think "lemonade". A bumpy first impression is a great recipe for a long term friendship; never undermine, overlook, belittle, or forgive the guy who offends you off the cuff. You should praise God for being part of the path on which some of the best friendships begin.

#  #88

## God who Sees and Knows ALL

God sees and knows everything. The theological term for this is "omniscience". Whatever your circumstance, God sees you. Not only does He know all knowledge and theory from an academic vantage point, He also knows all events as they occur. He is up to speed on everything, from the hatching of worms into butterflies to the reproduction of protoplasm to the machinations of wicked conspiracies among Mankind.

When a child knows that his mother or father or grandparents are watching, he feels safe. In some sense, the child feels accountable and will guard his behavior for fear of punishment—or, more importantly, fear of disappointing the adults who love him. We have that same comfort in knowing that God sees us and everything in our universe.

From the bad to the good, God is there. He is not limited by distance or spectrums of light. There are no obstacles that can obstruct His omniscient vision. Even your thoughts He knows. If no one in this world understands you, rest assured that God the Omniscient does know and understand you perfectly.

He understands the people you work with and struggle against. He knows all about the people who fight against you—He knows their excuses, their stories, and whatever-in-the-world they may be thinking that drives them to do whatever-in-the-world they do. You don't know these things, but that's okay because Someone does and He is Good.

God is not blind or incapable. He doesn't struggle to read your letters. He doesn't play favorites because we are each His favorite equally. He sends no one to Eternal Hell without knowing all about them nor does He forgive anyone and welcome them into Eternal Bliss without knowing every bad thing they ever did.

When we don't know what to do, we can call on Him. Pray for wisdom or insight. Pray for God to help you understand or lead you to the information you so badly need. The tasks of tomorrow and today are much easier to bear when we know that the light of His Vision shines down on us and we can always ask for suggestion and guidance from the God Who sees and knows everything.

#  #89

## Know Your Seat

It's overbearing for a teacher to use friendly-jousting humor against students. It's out of place for a boss to make jokes about employees. It is equally out of place for any leader to mislabel painfully honest feedback from subordinates as "disrespect". It's out of place for a parent to tease children about romance.

While in the seat of the subordinate, some level of respect is in order, but there is much more freedom to be honest from the seat of the subordinate. Children should be allowed to act like they are. Employees and students should have freedom to be themselves.

Brutal honesty from a superior is threatening, but a subordinate can do little harm. When in the place of power, reprove people gently and allow them to express themselves in return. If you are the subordinate and hope to lead, practice being both candid and respectful; practice for the role by conducting yourself as if you are already there.

Don't pretend to know something you don't. If a matter is out of your expertise, say, "I don't know about that. You'll have to ask someone else." This is difficult for everyone because we each begin with little expertise and, thus, need to say, "I don't know," in regard to most topics. Know that you don't know what you don't know and your seat will rise.

Jesus came into the world in a barn. He position himself to sit in every seat available. Being a baby was the only way for it to be appropriate for God to throw up on mortals. If he had spoken one word of rebuke on the road to Calvary it would have been overbearing. Leaders can take flack, but should never give as much flack as they are capable of. Patience is the seat of power; to gain power, first gain patience.

In the position of weakness, it might be wise to hold your tongue and live to see another day. When things got bad among the Philistines, David drooled on his beard in order to lower his seat so as to be less able to offend and thereby escape harm. Whatever seat you are in, know where you sit.

#  #90

## Never Strongarm

Strongarming is bullying. But, when you have the strong arm, it doesn't feel like it to you.

God makes it rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Even people who curse their Creator God get to keep breathing the very air they use to curse the God who maintain's that air's molecular cohesion—and God doesn't insert electrical charges to zap them into not acting like brats.

God will eventually punish the dunce, at least if God cares about him. But, as the Sustainer of Creation, God allows all people to continue enjoying their most basic needs.

If employees or contracted help want to leave, let them. Don't make their exit troublesome. If the child wants to run away from home, one of the best tactics is for mom to pack his backpack. "You're going to need your toothbrush. Don't forget the bug spray, there are a lot of mosquitoes at night."

Even the former friend who now spites you may need a favor or an act of kindness. Hold the door for him at your "random encounter"—and the godly know, it wasn't "random" at all. Don't attach any strings or rub his nose in it and certainly don't overdo it.

It's mainly good, old fashioned chivalry to look after even those who spite you. Not everyone who fights you is your worthy enemy, so don't treat them as such. In fact, if someone is a formidable opponent, you might melt him down to size with some chivalrous charity. It's not about "loving enemies" so much as it is about being the grownup in the room.

The path to harassment begins with strings attached to so-called "favors". In everything you do—everything—remind yourself that every gift is truly a gift. Never, never, never expect anything in return—and especially don't ask for something in return! Never remind anyone of the favors you've given, except for those rare circumstances where a brat is out of hand in the mind of the nearby crowd.

God doesn't berate us for being ingrates, unless we get lippy like Job did. Correct and rebuke someone who needs a reminder to be grateful. Short of that, be a sustainer.

_Matthew 5:43-48_

#  #91

## Eventual Justice

God seems slow to humble our opponents so that they remember.

Every person with worthy leadership potential will have opposition. On the one hand, it makes each of us stronger. On the other hand, it teaches those opponents. Notice the ironic reversal in life: Often times, unworthy leaders end up with power, which they then lord over others like children trying to parent younger siblings. They do that because they lack an attention span for identifying folly, especially in themselves. God puts them there almost as an educational mockery.

Don't be bothered by anything they do or say, especially what they do or say to you. It's all part of God's process to give them years of going on record, being wrong about not just you, but many others you've never encountered. They are even capable of being in those positions of supervisory authority because they are so blind to their own glaring faults. It's almost embarrassing just to watch. Only by giving them such a gross, public embarrassment will they ever learn whatever it is they are too thick-headed to learn.

At this point in reading, if you can't identify with the problem of unfair opponents or you think this is an overrated dilemma or an imagined problem, YOU are probably that foolish leader and you need to pray for God to expose some stuff to you quickly. This is not to shame you, but to give you help you've not yet received. The saying often went to pilots in Vietnam's War with America: If you're not taking flack, you're not over the target. Get over the target, pronto.

The ground flack you take serves valuable purposes. In part, the enemy gives away his position by attacking. But, for your own peace of mind and happiness of heart, you need to get this seated in your soul's understanding: God is already giving you victory over whomever you contend with. Every step along the way already is a victory for you, God's just drawing it out to overcome their learning disability; it's not that God's slow, they are. Pray for them because they'll need comfort when sprout the weed seeds God allows them to sow.

#  #92

## God the All Powerful

God is all-powerful. The theological term for this is "omnipotent". Nothing is stronger than Him. Not even your rage or anger can dent Him. No insult can provoke His heart snap out of impatience.

Not only does God have more strength than then entire universe, He has infinite emotional self-control. Even the universe itself is no fair measure of His strength; all the galaxies combined are nothing compared to His brute strength. He could whisk them away in an instant. And, that means that whatever obstacle course you face, He can help you through. He is gentle.

His strength is not moderate or intermediate, where He struggles not to crush small things. From His great strength, He can be infinitely tender and gentle. God is the epitome of the Gentle Giant—a virtue that also originated in His imagination.

If you struggle with gentleness, ponder God's nature. In kung fu training, we learn that we don't need to try so hard when we have enough strength for the task. Pushing and pushing, forcing and prying—these are for people who lack strength. God does not do these things. He does not pound or smack. God is the Great Thug who never needs to pick a fight. When He walks in the room, everyone behaves themselves.

God also reveals the nature of His omnipotence in the thug at the pub, except God is much gentler and much stronger. His power is not only in brute force, but also electrical. The sun keeps its strength because of Him. Lightning continuously arcs from His Throne. For God, electrical and brute power are one in the same. Just as much is true for His political and social power. Jesus demonstrated remarkable "people power" in his arguments with the Pharisees. Even then, He does not use His power for everything. At times, He uses His Spirit to guide and lead us.

Jesus told his disciples that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them after they would wait. God's power makes its way into our lives when we wait on Him. We cannot muster enough of anything to even compare with the infinite power from God Almighty.

#  #93

## Know Your Expertise

Know when to refer. Know when you have a mere opinion with no related experience. Know the same about others and never enter meaningful disagreement unless everyone in the conversation understands what they're discussing. If you know your expertise and refrain from opinion beyond your expertise, your expertise will increase. If you maintain opinions in your realm of ignorance, your ignorance will increase.

Know what you're good at and know that you know what you're good at and act like you know what you're good at. It's good to be confident about what your proven expertise. Arrogant pride is not properly placed confidence in expertise, but confidence misplaced in incompetence; the pridefully arrogant don't know the difference.

Many people like to argue about politics because they understand just enough to argue, but they don't understand as much as people who work with politics everyday.

For years, I have collected news stacks, written about news from the week before, and thereby explained what was likely to happen in the future. I have rarely been wrong, if ever. This is my expertise and I'm confident in it.

I don't use politics to inject my "mission to save the world". For me, political opinion is a skilled craft. Because it is my work, whatever I write about politics is more likely to be 1. accurate and 2. effective. I am calm in my opinions because my track record proves that I am competent. I don't write about medicine. I know my expertise, as should everyone be confident in their areas of expertise. My confidence empowers me to be respectful and well-mannered.

Everyone has thoughts of grandeur to save mankind, projecting their opinions from any soapbox they can. But, if you don't normally work with an expertise then don't pretend. Make a humble blog post if you must, but know where your expertise lies and focus your opinions there. And, feel free to learn new expertise.

Limit your opinions to your regular skill set, to the place you work, to the seat you sit in right now. We don't need more grandstanding; we need more people applying their moral and ethical—and very good—ideologies into their normal work.

#  #94

## Be Calm in Confrontation

One secret about life is that people rarely judge others for doing what is wrong, but mainly for not using a smooth tone of voice. This is unjust and unfair and puts bad leaders in power.

People who choose smooth talkers enslave themselves. They did the same with smooth-talking, compassionate, "understanding", sympathetic Hitler—watch his speeches. Wicked men infiltrate organizations by being calm at all times.

Never judge others based on tone, but try to hone your own at least to some degree. If you can avoid raising your voice when not necessary, you will be attacked by predators less often and wicked men will like you, meaning that they won't take up as much of your time arguing.

Some spunk, fire in the belly, and real communication is a good thing. But, don't think that pretending to be "cross" or "angry" equates to dignity. It doesn't. Being angry or carrying a face ready to scold is an unclassy and uneducated way of pretending to be "serious" or "important" or "in charge". It is as a child's view of the adult world; it looks that way, but that's not how things actually are. The attitude "I'm being angry and that means I'm serious and that means I'm doing a good, responsible job of leading" is one of the most detrimental things an adult can do to a growing child.

Just be calm when you want to be taken seriously. The masses don't lynch people for being calm and well-mannered, but for becoming unlaced, losing their cool, getting frazzled, having their feathers ruffled. Sometimes you can't help it, Jesus doesn't judge us for calmness, he won't rescind stewardship for being calm at all times, but he doesn't assign stewardship for it either.

If you can be cool and calm, that is a good thing. If you can't, at least wish that you were. If someone else loses their cool, never demean or correct them; that is equally undignified. Help others to keep their cool as well. One sign of a well-mannered person is his ability to spread his calm demeanor to others. So, technically being calm isn't enough, it must be rooted in strong, contagious love.

#  #95

## Growth vs Ascension

Don't seek to "ascend", but grow—not through favors or hazing, but "be ye transformed".

We are God's workmanship. We ourselves will be the greatest architecture in Heaven, not made in glory as the angels, but crafted, mastered, and worked into who we will have become in that day.

It's not about "ascending" into a new location, but about _growing to become._ The Book of Enoch says that Remiel is over "those who rise", and when they rise, they become stars and never fall from their places. This kind of "rising" is about much more than simply climbing a ladder or scaling a mountain; it's about transformation from the inside out.

In the Biblical perspective, transformation from the inside comes from persistence against pressures from the outside. God must breathe on it, of course, or there won't be any transformation at all. But, God uses difficulties, challenges, even tests that we pass or fail—either way—to mold and transform us. It works if we keep reading the Bible to download and install God's thinking into our hearts and praying to keep our inner lives in good condition.

When Israel cried out to God in Judges about, His answer was to promise the birth of Samson. Samson would need to be born and grow up before he could help save Israel from the Philistine oppression and pagan [human] sacrifices during that occupancy. When God answers a prayer, His answer is to plant a seed that needs time to grow.

It's wiser to pray for strength and growth _before_ you need it, not waiting until you are hungry to plant a garden.

Likewise, growth into glory takes time. To grow into all God wants us to be, simple, inner, transformational growth must be our most frequent prayer request. Those Christians who are wise and patient and kind have prayed for wisdom, patience, and kindness in most of their prayer time. They didn't start this morning, but they have prayed for those things for decades.

Mature status is not about being picked up or climbing up onto the top of a shelf to be displayed. It's about _being_ mature—growing into being—transforming through metamorphosis into glory.

_Judges 13:1-7, 1 Kings 3:9-10Luke 22:40-46, 2 Corinthians 3:18, 5:17, Colossians 1:9-10, 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24, 2 Thessalonians 3:16_

#  #96

## God the Time Transcendent

God transcends time. The theological terms for this are "infinite" and "eternal", that God existed in Eternity Past and will always exist in Eternity Future.

When God tells us about the future, He neither guesses nor grants full disclosure. God's foretold prophecies never spell out how all events will occur; they prepare us for the time when they will occur—to remind us that God knew it all along from the Beginning.

Time is a thing God looks at like a piece of paper. How specifically the time continuum works is not so important a question as the fact that God even holds Time in His hands.

In some ways, history unfolds so as to explain God's methods as well as our own choices. Our childhood shows our youth, innocence, and honestly. Our adult years show our maturity, skill, and strength. Our old age shows our wisdom, insight, and experience. From God's perspective in Eternity, we exist as all the same to Him just as He has all of the same in Himself. Those stages of life express parts of God's character.

God's eternal nature is connected to His infinite nature; they are arguably one in the same. When Jesus suffered on the Cross, because he was the Word of God in the flesh, all of God suffered. Because God is eternal, His suffering had eternal qualities, both past and future. Because God is infinite, His suffering was infinite in size and severity. So, because God exists beyond all Time and Space, those few hours on the Cross were more than an Eternity where God is concerned. God's eternal nature is one more reason why Jesus's work at the Cross is sufficient to cover all sin for all people for always and always.

The fact of God's presence throughout all time explains His perspective, why He says many things He says, why He knows many things He knows, and why He does many things He does. But, this also brings us some comfort. Whatever situation we find ourselves in, it didn't surprise God. Through joy and sorrow, consider every moment of life through the eyes of the God who already saw everything before the Beginning.

#  #97

## Know Your Limits

Everyone has limits and powers. Going up against someone who's obviously stronger is just plain bratty. When someone does that, say so.

Work within your strengths. Know the line not to cross. Follow God's leading because He knows your limits and strengths better than you do. Credit and blame Him for everything. Your authority and influence never came from you anyway, but all of it came from Him. So, talk and act like it.

When you confront someone, say that you're not the one making the ultimate decisions, but that God is and we all must obey Him; there are no "favorites" where the need to obey God is concerned. By acknowledging that we are all subject to God, you can focus your efforts on the areas of strength God gave you.

By saying that you don't make a decision, you remove the ability for others to contend with you. Just the same, when someone else has no power, bargaining chip, vested interest, say, or even influence in a matter—but that person seems to have forgotten and tries to contend with you—give a friendly reminder.

It is wise and morally good to know one's own powers. Walking into a wolves' den with neither protection nor plan, then being eaten alive, is foolish and does moral injustice to the people you could have helped by staying alive. In this, getting into a fight that you truly can't win borderlines on being immoral if not at least setting a bad example by squandering time.

Now, a fight you can't win is very different from a fight that you can win while someone taunts you with a lie claiming you can't. In that case, it's the taunting liar who is the fool for not knowing his own limits.

In light of God's sovereignty, "might indicates who is right" because God upholds laws that give strength to people who work diligently and wisely. Strength and administrative "authority" are no indication of moral standing with God, but they are an indication of which battles God wants us to fight. Fight the battles you are prepared for; keep preparing so you can win more battles to give more justice.

#  #98

## Keep Problems to Yourself

There is a time to ask for help and share your troubles with friends. But, those times should be carefully selected with forethought and discretion. By default, it is best to keep your problems to yourself.

Publicizing your weaknesses, your lacking, your hurt, your faults with the world neither makes you a role model nor makes the world a better place. Show your humanity and mortality, show your natural frailty and normal mistakes—those things prove that you don't place yourself above others. But, specific flaws and injuries should never be advertised.

Some people will tell how much they have been hurt in order to gain notoriety, sympathy, or even to guilt others into agreeing with them. Don't use your injuries to blackmail others; it unnecessarily divulges information, which can always be used against you, also it will likely backfire.

It is not deceptive to advertise and promote your positive achievements. People don't rise up to do the right thing from stories of foolishness. We are motivated by stories of people who set out to do something good and finished. Encourage people by your own life that good things can also be achieved.

Failure is in abundance, but goals reached are a commodity. Say something about yourself newsworthy, not tabloid-worthy. Sharing the gossip content about your own life is sets everyone off course. Focus on the good. Dwell on your strengths in your private thought life. Don't let your mind wander to things you wish you could have done, but didn't. Instead, dwell on the good things you are glad you did and your determination to do more. It begins in your thought life.

People who walk into the room and start spouting their inferiority, failure, faults, flaws, and can't say anything good about themselves have just revealed much about their private thought lives, perhaps even their view of themselves. Someone who thinks he can't can't. So, the lesson here is not so much about how to put on a fake, happy face, but what to build up in your hourly mind time. What you say and what you dwell on that makes you say it would serve you best if it is good news.

#  #99

## Embedded Human Powers

Deep in each of us, in our very nature, beneath our DNA, beyond our choices, in the common traits of each human soul, God placed an unrivaled flow of power. This flow is like an aquifer; it must be first tapped and then capped. It's power is infinite, charged by the Power of the Living Creator God Himself.

This power is available to everyone, but God limits our access to it so we can prepare, training our skills and our character first. But, this power cannot be accessed by some gimmick or trickery. There are no shortcuts. The well leading to deeper and deeper levels of power is only drilled through the essence of the teaching from God's Word.

This does not mean that quoting random Bible verses will help you tap into your embedded power. God's Word has its own core, "essential" ideas that can only be absorbed, like a sponge, through regular exposure and drenching. These ideas of God's Word are not any strange mystery that a pontiff must divine and unlock; it simply takes time and familiarity.

God programmed us with this power locked away inside of ourselves, then gave us the instructions on how to access it. Those instructions are encoded in events of history, letters, poetry, even ideas we get today while pondering what Moses's Sacrificial Law meant for Israel thousands of years ago. While we ponder the contents of God's Word, a well drills in our hearts, breaking through one impenetrable layer after another, reaching deeper and deeper treasures and sources of strength and power.

This power can give us insight, wisdom in the moment, innovative imagination that prospers, strength for unimaginable prayer and splendid miracles, even supernatural powers to heal and more. We don't know what all abilities we have except that comic book superheroes don't do justice to the powers we have buried inside each of us. The important part to learn is temperance and self control first.

God will unlock more and more abilities in your life as you improve your character. He won't give a lightning rod to a child tyrant. Let God's Written Guidance embed itself into your heart you will grow unimagined powers.

#  #100

## God the All Wise

Any of our own wisdom found its origin in God. All wisdom flows from Him—whether the wisdom we gain by seeking or the wisdom we gain with age and hard knocks.

God's wisdom is not merely a kind of "cheating" based on His knowledge of everything. If God were to take a test He would pass by mere virtue of knowing the answer key. Having all academic knowledge would not necessarily mean that God would pass the test because most of our tests expect the wrong answers because our incomplete knowledge of science is flawed in light of His perfection. But, none of God's vast knowledge relates to His separate nature of being infinitely and eternally wise.

Even without being the epitome of a living encyclopedia, God would know how to handle any and every situation. God could defeat the devil even without being all powerful or all knowing because He still possesses the wisdom of how to handle situations correctly.

God's pure wisdom was demonstrated in Jesus's early life. Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. He had to learn to speak and walk, yet through his life he pursued and gained an enormous collection of "nuggets of wisdom" because he was born merely with the infinite, God-sized love for wisdom itself. In this sense, Jesus was the wisest "old soul" there ever was or will be.

Jesus was born with the eternal and perfect essence of wisdom, but the actual "nuggets" of wise thinking he thus gained as he grew up. God demonstrates His wisdom perfectly through His Son, Christ Jesus of Nazareth.

In Jesus's adulthood, he knew how to answer the Pharisees and scribes because his perfect pursuit of wisdom from childhood had given him the understanding so that he knew what to say, even when he did not have the greater position of authority over the leaders who confronted him.

Jesus shared this wisdom in his teaching, advising us on relationships and confrontation with authority. Likewise, God teaches us wisdom throughout the Bible. Solomon asked God for wisdom and God granted it to him. You too can receive wisdom. All you need to do is ask from the infinitely wise God.

#  #101

## Know Your Own Minimum Work

If a requirement can't be met, there is no need to discuss the matter further. If the facts are wrong or unknown, nothing can be done until the truth be known. If it's not your responsibility, don't think another moment of it.

Focus on the difference you can make, for better or worse. Always prepare for the unexpected, give forethought to future situations, but don't fantasize about things beyond your stewardship. Be considerate of others and be concerned about your own responsibility, not vice versa.

The world has no shortage of nosy people minding other people's businesses. Nor is there any lack of dreamy managers designing artwork to paint the outside walls of a building while its foundations crumble. Everything has a minimum and everyone has his own business; keep your laser focus there.

Multiple projects and forked approaches aren't bad. Single-product, single-service business models may work for some people while other people's "single" mission is to have many smaller, related missions. Don't confuse diversity with distraction. You can pursue many venues as long as you know the minimum needed to keep the ship afloat and don't neglect it.

At the negotiating table, too much energy is wasted on posturing, "I don't need you, but I want you," chatter. East Asians love to gang up on the Western business prospect in their meetings. Don't get lost. Steer your way through any kind of sales pitch, business proposal, suggestion to change your methods and mission—keep your direction my knowing you minimum and asking for neither more nor less.

If you can change your mind after an hour of niggling, you owe a consulting fee for help with "visioning". Think through in advance. The, treat the meeting as a fact-finding mission; listen, understand, ask questions, learn.

It's hard to stay focused on delivering a package you don't recognize. But, when you know your minimum mission, you'll have the guiding light to travel lightweight. What you need and don't need along your journey won't require a committee. Decisions can be made at the drop of a hat because, frankly, you've already made those decisions. You know your minimums, everything else is a matter of walking it out.

#  #102

## Train your Snap Habits

Train your snap reactions—not swearing, kindly rebuking, strategic reaction, driving, family decisions, et cetera. Too much occurs in life to anticipate every circumstance or calculate how to respond. In essence, this means living by principles. More specifically, it means ingraining your principles into your habits so that acting on your principles becomes second nature.

Consider news, politics, and business. By automatically presuming, "If everyone is doing it, I won't," you will keep your business unique—and thus "necessary"—, you won't be shocked by what happens in the news, and you will know the political climate enough to adapt in advance. Just the same, the principle from Jesus, "Build your house on the rock," will tell you which governments, economies, and companies will collapse and which will last. Then, when the billionaires and newspapers try to tell you where they hope you should invest in, you'll be smart enough to know, "They lie to their people. It won't last." Then, when stock sinks like ENRON and GM, and everyone is in panic, you'll say, "They didn't pay taxes, so they weren't profiting, I don't care what the accountants say about GAAP."

But, these must be habits.

As you approach 40 years old, many practices in your life will become habits. Then, you'll mostly live on autopilot, all the while thinking, "I'm tired." So, wisely choose your habits before that time arrives, lest your habits choose themselves.

It is vital to train these habits early on and include among them innovation and "flexibility" as key habits. You do not want your habits to be dependent on geopolitical paradigms nor technology, which always change. The best way to remain flexible with the times, as a habit, is to learn outdated technology and artisan craftsmanship. Learning to type, for example, write cursive or calligraphy, playing older video games, occasionally dressing old school, using transportation means from 100 years ago, studying steam engines and traditional sand casting—these will help you see technology in a transcendent way. If you do that, then technology will be for you a river, not a pillar, meaning you will flow in technological changes, even in your old age, merely as a habit.

#  #103

## End Times Evangelism

By the dawn of the twentieth century, the Gospel of Jesus had made its way into every formal nation on Earth, with a smattering of "sub-nations" that have not heard about Jesus. Jesus commanded his disciples to preach the Gospel to every nation and said that the End would be near once every nation had heard; this means that we are in "End Times" by "Biblical" definition from that specific teaching of Jesus. This "Gospel" is the message that the one and only Son of God had died on a Roman Cross to atone for all humanity's sins, otherwise punishable in the afterlife and thus a curse in this lifetime. "Nations" is Greek for "peoples" or "ethnic groups"; "evangelism" is the Greek verb for "telling Gospel".

In the New Testament, "missions" focused on introducing the message of Jesus to people for the first time, then maintaining correspondence, distance discipleship, and cooperation. This correspondence comprises much of the New Testament—letters written to the very first Christians, organized collectively by city.

"Missions" today is much different since most of the "introduction" phase has already been completed. This has many ramifications, among them is the need to teach Christians about deeper things of God beyond the basic news that Jesus atoned our sin. Miracles, healing, and prophetic experiences show us more about God's love; they are part of understanding God's Word in its fullness. The New Testament teaches us to progress and grow in God this way.

Another ramification is that most people we encounter in our day-to-day lives have already heard about Jesus—they need "clarification" about who Jesus is. One of the best ways is through miracles; miracles are difficult to debate.

But, from the beginning, "evangelism" was never a quest to persuade people, but a quest to find them. Once shown the real Jesus, people only reject him because they want to. Evangelism about Jesus isn't a sales pitch; it's a message to which people respond and inasmuch identify themselves as already having their names written in the Lamb's Book of Life. If spreading the message of Jesus is about "finding" rather than "selling", it should be easier to do and easier to accept.

#  #104

## God of Higher Ways and Higher Thoughts

God is more than the Creator of all things; He is the inventor. He imagined everything even before He created it. He is infinitely imaginative.

God's ideas and methods are even more incomprehensible than the incomprehensible nature that He created us in.

Some things God will not explain to us simply because it's not possible for us to understand. Other things we would easily understand, but God chooses not to tell us for good reason—and it is those reasons that we are incapable of understanding.

A father on the south side of Chicago told his eight year old son to get out of the street. The son defiantly asked him why. "I'm a forty year old man," the dad answered. "If you can understand my thinking, what does that say about me?"

While we make our plans, God looks down from His higher viewpoint and sees many more things than we see. Our logistics and limitations are much smaller than the immensely bigger picture that God sees. While we may think we have everything worked out—for how we plan to do a thing or how a thing will happen—God already has a better idea.

Hopefully, with an ongoing prayer life in God, our plans will not attempt to outsmart or conflict with God. We certainly don't need to consider something He might have overlooked. As we mature in God, our plans should try to align themselves with God's plans. Most importantly in this, our plans must account for the fact that our plans will always remain incomplete by definition.

"Godly" planning will have enormous gaps that read "this is where God has to do something because I'm clueless", but then we execute the parts of the plan that fall into our responsibility. The insight to know which parts are which comes with a lot of time, a lot of Bible study, a lot of prayer, and a lot of very exciting journeys with God.

The Bible itself being God's Word will be above our own understanding and will teach higher ways and methods. Studying the Bible will help us to get less unaccustomed to the God Whose ways are higher than ours.

#  #105

## Forgive unto Unoffense

An underlying key of being approachable and disarming is to truly—in your heart, in the quiet moments, in your thought life, in the tiring and difficult stories—be impossible to offend; be unoffendable.

Offense is sneaky. It always convinces its victims of their "justified" opinions; the more accurate term is "indignant". Offense is the mask of self-righteousness. It is the claim that oneself is in any kind of position to decide what actions of others are right or wrong.

Even if someone murders you in cold blood, you—being human like all of us needing redemption from Jesus—are too drunk on sin to know why or how the murder was unjust. Only Jesus is fair and just enough to make the ruling on even your own murder.

Wrong is wrong still, but you and I cannot be judge, jury, and executioner.

The great lie from the demons of Offense is, "Letting go of the emotions against the offender equates to agreeing that the offender was right." Nothing could be farther from the truth or deeper from the pit of Hell.

The anti-Christian mind cannot comprehend the difference between forgiveness and agreement. We all must learn forgiveness, every day, no matter how old we get. We never actually learn to forgive; but some learn to keep fighting back the possibility of being offendable.

On some levels, "forgiveness" is a financial term, meaning to wipe out a debt. In life, it means to "not seek blood or payment" of what someone did to you, nor even restitution. In Christianity, that means "collecting repayment from Jesus".

Financial comes first: Give up the need to collect on damages owed. Just ask Jesus to repay your loss double, don't seek repayment one cent from the offender, and see what Jesus does. If the offender pays you, give it to charity. Then, your emotional freedom can follow.

We still need to fire people. We must hold our watch and stand for our standards. Just drop your rage about it. Drop the logical arguments about it from your mind. "Forgive" emotionally until you can return kindness. Kindness returned for injury gets under the offender's skin, bringing everyone much more justice.

_Proverbs 15:3, Matthew 6:14-15, Colossians 3:12-13_

#  #106

## Never Threaten

The very act of making any kind of threat means the threat-maker has become unhinged. Listen, understand, make your case, then accept and confirm their response. Let your actions in the days and years to follow be your rebuttal. Develop a reputation for meaning what you say the first time. Make sure people know, by your actions, that you respond without second warning—your initial conversation was the first and only warning.

If you catch a murder on tape, don't walk up to the killer and threaten to go to the authorities if he doesn't turn himself in. He already knows he did what is wrong. Lay low, keep quiet, survive, and report the crime as soon as you can. If a police officer is wrong in his work on the street and you can prove it, never tell him. Suggest that he do what is right once at most. After that, be diplomatic, be respectful, say, "Yes sir," as often as you can, then go home and make sure he never works in law enforcement again.

This does not work the same relationships. A police officer has authority and force, which he can use. Never interfere with a police officer's work on the scene, the same goes for any authority or criminal. Catching criminals safely and surely requires due process. If a revolution is in order, that must involve action on a larger, legal, respectful scale. Don't just be a bumbling rebel. Like "tank man" who stopped the parade of tanks in China, wave around your grocery bag, then be on your way, he didn't demand that anyone abdicate.

The Bible is clear about conflict in relationships: first one-on-one, then four at most, then the assembled authority. In a command structure, there are supervisors who must carefully review and verify at every step along the way. But, in that first one-on-one confrontation, don't threaten to use that system; just use it. Kindly explain the right thing, the right reasons, and the right action. If the person doesn't listen, go home and move to step two. When you must escalate, neither threaten nor warn. After all, a warning is a threat to the person being warned.

#  #107

## Planning Makes Satisfaction

Of all the skills and subjects of school to learn, the most important lesson is the ability to control one's time and schedule. My friend once blurted in the car, "My family doesn't plan anything, but it's not because we don't know how, but because we don't want to be committed if something better comes along." His parents are divorced, so is he. It's a problem for him and he says so more than I.

Good things come along from time to time. You can only catch them if you are ready. But, the best things in life can only be planned because they require preparation. Your children will live the type of life you do. If your family lives a free-spirited life, they will always be happy, but they will never be satisfied. They will hunger for something better, but they will always be chasing the next wave—always chasing the wind, yet never learning to soar—because the very best things in life can only be planned.

Parallel to planning is spontaneity. About half of God's gifts come along without warning and if you reject everything that you don't plan for, you will miss God's best. Planning is not about locking down the future in your scheduling calendar, but about preparation. Preparation includes the unforeseen.

The secret to living effectively with planned spontaneity is think like a homing missile or a game of golf. First, know your general direction and stay on the fairway. If it's a par 5, the second step is to get to the green. Third is the hole. But, you'll never be able to "birdie" a hole unless you get years of regular practice. That means saying no to last minute movies and getting out of bed—or boogying after work—to the driving range.

Even the best golf courses offer rain checks, but no strong, healthy, toned body happens without exercise and diet being the priority. If the practice doesn't get done, neither do the results; it doesn't matter the excuse. "Flex days" smartly prepare spontaneity—the exception, not the rule. You must rule your time, otherwise others will rule you because they ruled their own time first.

#  #108

## God the Holy and Patient

God is holy, which means that He is "separate". We could say that "holiness" is a "separate kind of goodness" or "ultra-goodness". When something "bad" happens, God does not feel threatened like a "good" person would. So, He hovers above the lesser problems of "good" and "evil", patiently working the course of events according to His infinite wisdom and His higher ways.

God is as patient as He is because He is holy. Albeit, patience is part of the virtue of being holy.

God's holiness—His "ultra-good, separate" nature—relates to every other attribute of His character. He is Most High because because holy and separate from all other things. Likewise, His wisdom and higher ways are, by definition, separate from our wisdom and ways. The same is true of His omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence.

But, God's holiness makes it a miracle that God is also "with us" as Emmanuel, Jesus Christ. Without being holy, Jesus could not be the Messiah who saves all people anymore than a sinking vessel could rescue drowning passengers. God must be separate and holy in order to save us and He must be ultra-good and holy to be in a position to bring us to after saving us.

Being holy makes God different from all others.

God commanded Israel to be holy just as He is holy. But, we are anything but holy. We are sinful and disobedient, quite inseparable from our fallen world. In some ways we can separate ourselves from the fallen world around us, but we cannot separate ourselves from the fallen nature of our temporary, physical bodies. So, for the remainder of this lifetime, holiness to us is more of a direction than a virtue we could actually obtain. We need to wake up and walk in the direction of holiness every day and we will never arrive.

This takes patience, which God has plenty of. God watches and still loves us. The fact that He is holy and above our problems allows Him to be patient; all the while our unholiness invites our need for Him to demonstrate His patience toward us. We can only ever be redeemed by a patient and holy God.

#  #109

## Case for Earning

Children must earn whatever they have. It begins in the earliest stages of waking childhood, but reaches through to the end of life. If we have without earning, we become brats incapable of survival.

The overall problem among bad, fake, theatrical leaders is that they only manage momentum as it decays, long after the engine has shut off. Drilling, tapping, digging, tilling, sowing, building, beginning, initiating, sparking—to the fraudulent leader, these are "someone else's role, because everyone has a different role", when actually, fraudulent leaders don't understand those things because they were never taught them in childhood.

Learning to fuel the engine and drive momentum is not any kind of inborn talent; it is a learned skill every bit as common as walking, eating, and the basics of human language. Using chopsticks and speaking with an accent have nothing at all to do with genetics. So it is with farming, kindling a campfire, and building roads. Commerce exists in every economy, just as economics and trade are universal.

People know how to initiate profitability only if they are taught through constant exposure and trial, just like walking and talking.

The parent who gives to children beyond what the children work has little difference from the parent who keels the child in the baby walker or leaves the training wheels on the bicycle and says, "See, you're riding."

Good looks, a naturally strong body, and a well-mannered temperament can also harm a person's progress, making friends easy to make—and just as easy to lose. Natural talent and socially-favored genetics open doors automatically without having to learn to use a doorknob. It is the parents' responsibility to curb the natural favors of life so that children learn that they still must work to earn what they have.

All the while, whatever we work for, we must learn to take advantage of our own, individual unfair advantages. Selling something, dressing presentably, getting a business balanced and profitable are all learned skill; art, taste, flair, style, manner—these are genetic and make each person unique. One artist in Hong Kong paints Chinese script with his mouth because lost his arms, but he has style and earns money.

#  #110

## Everything Gets Shaken

At one point or another, sometime in life sooner or later, no matter what we create that we depend on the most—it all gets shaken.

For "churchgoers" it is the Sunday morning "Churchianity" culture that gets shaken. For the Buddhist it is Buddhism. For the Atheist it is godlessness. For the Hedonist it is the claim that indulgence gratifies. For the one who writes his own morals, his morals fail him and his life implodes. For the free spirit, he gets crushed by bureaucracy or starved by the famine. For the one who prepares, his storehouses get robbed. There will inevitably be times in life that whatever things we depend on get shaken; and whatever lasts through the shaking is of God.

Jesus told a parable of two houses, one built on sand and the other built on rock. Not "if"—when the storm came, the house built on sand crashed into a terrible wreck; the house built on rock stood sound. Jesus explained that to follow his teaching was to build a house that lasts. Remember, Jesus was a carpenter.

In his parable, the house built on rock was not exempt from the storm; it went through it. The storm was not an attack or hardship visiting itself upon the wisely-built house. The storm was from God. The only attack and hardship came from the wisely-built house upon the foolishly-built house because surviving the storm proved the last word. It was through the storm that the house wisely built on rock showed it's "revenge by massive amounts of success" upon the house so foolishly built on sand.

It's thinkable that the house on sand was large and on beachfront property at the same price of the smaller, less-scenic house cut into rock. But, Jesus makes no comment on the structural style of the houses, only the ground on which they were built. The key to surviving the inevitable storms of testing is not some unfathomable, expensive, elitist mystery—it is a simple choice.

Don't let success lower your guard. The storms and shaking will come. You must be prepared, not by skills or "outsmarting", but by being strong from simple choices of priority.

_Matthew 7:24-27, Luke 6:46-49_

#  #111

## Prepare in Prayer, Don't Wait

You can't wait until turbulent times arrive before you develop a prayer life in God. Everything that grows grows slowly, even you, even your heart that grows by prayer and Bible.

Study God's Word, especially the Gospels and Revelation and, quite frankly, the entire thing, especially. Know what it says. Study it. Read it. Study it.

Bad times are always waiting. Many bad people distort truth about God. They use entertainment and religious teaching—of any religion, Christianity or otherwise—to give people a view of God that's at least partially false, so when people see God in action they don't recognize God for Who He is. They even get their ideas about God from pop fiction, even when it runs contrary to God's Word—and they don't think twice about it because they study pop fiction more than they study God's Word.

The devil is behind this, along with his band of moonlight followers—and you'd be surprised to learn who they are. It's almost like "moonshine religion", they even go to church knowing they worship the devil at night. Many more of them are Christians who refuse to acknowledge the lack of love and justice in their actions, constantly arguing and looking for a witch to hunt.

Wicked fools are everywhere. You can't hunt them all down, though. God keeps them there to make sure that no one loves God without an objective choice. The solution is not to expose wickedness to the world; God will do that Himself at random times, whenever it suits Him, which always ends up bringing amazing justice.

Don't deny evil or its followers; don't fear evil either. The only thing you can do to strengthen yourself against evil is the best thing you can do: Grow strong by growing daily.

If you grow to withstand wicked people, you will also grow to withstand the bumps and turbulence of life. It's all the same. The only way to be strong against shaking and testing is to grow. So, grow, remain standing after the shaking, and be celebrated by Heaven, where it matters most.

Know the world, just know God more. And remember, God must be known in advance.

#  #112

## God the Forgiver

When God came to Moses on Mt. Sinai, He introduced Himself as the Lord God who abounds in lovingkindness and forgives the sin of thousands. From there, through the rest of the Bible, God's demonstration of forgiveness only gets more dramatic.

Israel mad many foolish blunders throughout the Old Testament as well as the New, but God keeps forgiving.

In the desert, they would sin, then repent, and God would forgive. Through the period of judges, Israel would cycle through sin and repentance again and again, but God just kept forgiving. David sinned greatly, yet God forgave him. When Israel's sin got so out of hand that God sent Babylon, Israel later repented and God forgave them again. Even the foolish prophet Jonah repented for running from God and God saved him and continued to teach Jonah even in his impatience. When Nineveh repented at Jonah's prophecy, God forgave Nineveh.

Ultimately, God sent Jesus to offer himself for our sin so that all people who repent and turn to God can be forgiven—those who believe in Jesus after hearing about him as well as salvation for those who repented to God inasmuch as they knew before Jesus came to Earth.

God allowed His only son to sacrifice himself for us just so He could forgive us. God is the God Who forgives.

Forgiveness is often mistaken in Western culture for a "release of anger and bitter resentment". Actually, forgiveness is nothing of the sort. Forgiveness is a financial term meaning to relinquish any collection of a debt owed. When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, he said, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." A sin is a debt and when God forgives sin, it means that He will not expect money, sweat, blood, or our souls as repayment for what we owe Him.

God forgave our debt—our sin—because Jesus paid it all at the Cross.

When anyone comes humbly and asks God's forgiveness, He never turns them away. Just as God forgives all who ask, you too can forgive others, not only because your debt does not need to be repaid, but also from God's own infinite forgiveness.

_Exodus 34:6, Psalm 86:14-17; 103:8-14, Isaiah 57:16-21, Matthew 6:14-15, Luke 6:37; 17:3-4_

#  #113

## Case for Work Ethic

Working—prioritizing employment over enjoyment—limits one's time, but so does unemployment. When you have a job schedule to keep, you can't go to the beach and surf whenever you feel a passing whim to do so. But, when you don't have money, you can't ever surf because you can't afford a surf board.

But, a good, strong work ethic is not only about employment—working for someone else; a work ethic is about self-respect. Work ethic is an intrinsic motivation—to have dignified pride in one's own effort and accomplishment—a reward that exists on the inside as a "good feeling" for having achieved something noble and worthwhile. The intrinsic motivation for a good work ethic is well told in the adage, "Work is good for the soul."

The intrinsic motivation for a good work ethic is, or course, exploited by employers. It's overplayed and underpaid more often than not. But, counterfeits are only made of things of value. Paul did not lie when he told slaves to work as if for Christ since Christ would, indeed, reward them for their work beyond what any employer could ever pay—just as much as Paul didn't lie when he told slave masters to treat their slaves with respect since Jesus is the master of all. Thanks to Biblical teaching like this, the freedom of Jesus entered a world of slavery like a healthy virus and eventually abolished slavery altogether.

The moral of the story is: Work for Jesus.

But, there are also practical arguments for a good work ethic. Societies where people take personal pride in their work outperform societies who regard labor with contempt.

Your job doesn't need to be your dream job, but nor do you need to hate your job in order to strive for more. Always seek to improve yourself, including doing a good job right where you are, including achieving other goals so you can move on from where you are. Do well across the board and bless God for the road you're on that will lead you to better lands.

Your own opportunities are interlaced with others in your economy. When everyone does good work, that's better for everyone.

#  #114

## Talk It Through

If you keep your peace, you give up all claim to complain about being ignored. If you don't make a fair case in your favor, you have no right to appeal. If someone doesn't agree with you, but you don't let them know, you are a coward to make known your final decision after the fact.

Learn to identify people with these "quietly hot tempers", who don't speak their minds, but then want to flee across the ocean to give their rebuttal where no one can dissent or object. These are revenge-driven weaklings. Do not be one and do not work with them. Their lives will be petty and small as will be the things they complain about.

Only hardship can teach them; do not try to counsel them. Let them be alone and constantly extend the one thing they lack: ongoing relationship. Send them a Christmas card every year. Drop off a box of blueberries when blueberries are in season. Extend benign, reasonable, harmless, and normal acts of an average friend and neighbor. Make sure such people know they are not alone. Don't give up on them the way they pretend to give up on the rest of the world. And, don't ever even once invite their wrath of one-way silence by trying to solve a disagreement in a useful manner. Just be a non-threatening friend from the closest distance they accept.

But, you yourself, never become that person. Speak your mind—kindly and diplomatically of course. Act with dignity in every way that you can. But, give people a chance to reason with you. Allow everyone the opportunity to persuade you. You don't know everything. Even if the other guy is wrong, allowing him to speak persuasively—and engaging him in discussion while he does—will you help to strengthen your own opinion if nothing else.

Take the high road where disagreements are concerned. Be strong enough to welcome dissent. Let people know where they stand with you, simply for their information and without being hostile. Let others tell you where you stand without feeling resented. Thick-skinned, strong-standing people, after all, are naturally more effective and have few worthy adversaries to contend with.

#  #115

## Charm, Wit & Tact

Never fall for the motto of the Georgian rhetoric psychopath, "It's not what you say; it's how you say it." It's why you say it.

Tact and charm begin with genuine live in your heart. Without that, all other advice on charm and tactfulness will only make one come across as a deceitful snake. However, once you have love...

Some things are obvious, evident. Those are things you should never say because, well, they "go without saying". If you state the obvious, people will think something is wrong with you, either that you are hiding something or don't know about life or are just trying to flatter.

Other things must be said. Especially in English, we communicate with the assumption that we all expect new ideas. If one person knows what another person mans to say, there is no point in conversation because there would be no progress, whether in exchange of ideas, technology, business growth, or anything else worth discussing. When you do indeed need to communicate an idea, provide enough detail that people know what you mean. For example, don't overuse pronouns to a point where the listener doesn't know where the pronouns point to. My mother would often say, in many occasion, "I know that you know what you are talking about, but I haven't a clue. Start over, but don't begin with the word 'they'."

There is a time to presume what is evidently self-evident and a time to state the idea that no one considered; know the difference. This is a knowledge you will never stop learning.

You can say almost anything if you have a twinkle in your eye and a sheepishly childish grin in your face. When wrong or in those times you accidentally step on toes, be humble. When you cause an injury, own it. When you don't, be the Good Samaritan who helps someone else's victim.

When you must confront someone, twinkle, grin, and be the large, gentle giant in charge. If people love your results, and you break neither skin, bones, nor feelings, it won't matter which silly protocols you may have to break. You don't even need to smile if you have enough love.

_1 Corinthians 13_

#  #116

## God the Repayer

When something gets taken from us, God pays it back from His vast wealth. It doesn't matter how it was lost. Whatever we lose, God can give back and restore a thousand times.

Even sickness, injury, or death of a loved one—God can heal any infirmity, any injury, and whether not or later, God is the resurrection.

God does not "replace" what we lose, he "repays". The original is still gone. No one can replace a lost loved one, but God brings us new friends and family to fill the space left by whoever isn't around anymore. Our new family members are just as filled with life and the need for our love as whomever we lost.

God told Israel through the prophet Joel, just before the punishment of Babylon's invasion, that He would restore the crops that the locusts came and ate. After Job humbled himself before God, he received all his wealth back two fold and started a new family whom he loved very much.

Everyone experiences loss in this life sooner or later. No one dies without God's approval. No harm comes to us without first passing through the approving, loving, guiding hands of our Father in Heaven.

Even before God takes something away from us—or allows it to be taken away—He already has His plan to restore it to us. Our role in repayment is to seek Him, to grow our hearts to be more loving, and to understand our humble circumstances, no matter who we are.

Jesus described God the Father as a keeper of a vineyard. Pruning is a painful part of healthy growth. Just as a seed must die before it can sprout, just as winter makes trees grow their roots deep in search of water, God takes things from us as part of His master plan for us to become mature and strong in wisdom, skill, knowledge, and love.

We don't always live in seasons of loss. Sometimes God calls us to be His instrument through which He repays what was taken from someone else. Whatever season you are in, never focus the greatness of loss, rather fix your eyes on God who repays.

#  #117

## Case for Goverance

Management has different levels of altitude. The higher the altitude the bigger the picture and the smaller the details appear. From the lofty skies, roads look like maps rather than journeys and cars look like ants among indistinguishable colonies. Eventually the people and even entire cities disappear, being replaced by mountain ranges, oceans, deserts and plains.

Every level has its perspective and its range. Some cameras are held by photographers on the ground, others are flown by drones, others orbit from space. It is not the role of the cameras from space to perceive where a painting should be hung on a wall because cameras from space can only look straight down. Moreover, the camera in orbit can see many more details; it would be wasteful to use a camera that sees the big picture for matters that anyone on the ground with eyes can handle.

Governance is a level of management like any other—with diligence, skill, format, and time requirements. But, it's work is done by few and is understood by even fewer. Still, it is vital.

Mountains and forests, oceans and plains, even deserts and glaciers have their benefits and value. They are painted and defined by the wider view—the bigger picture—they are decided by the seat of governance.

Governance, in practical terms, occurs at the board level of an organization, but the principles of governance carry down even to the janitor with nothing below him but the floor. The executive term is "policy"; the courtroom term is "precedence"; the business term is "big picture"; the artistic term is "broad brush"; the Biblical term is "governance".

God is the "Governor" of creation. He sets the plains and hills while we harvest resources, sow, eat, and build upon His Earth. Just the same, rules from the top set the table and prepares the courses, but each individual decides how to eat, bite by bite.

Governance is vital. Governance decides the grand picture. Someone must sit at the helm of the greater wheel. Sweepings changes must be made and, while some changes must disrupt, a wise governor knows both the evils of too much ado about something and death by soothing poison.

#  #118

## Message via Cosmos

God will approach us with individual, routine guidance. Sometimes it's a warning, other times it's an encouragement. He might speak to us through a feeling or "sense" of an idea.

God also likes to talk to us through people. He will send a friend, coworker, classmate, cousin—and He especially likes to deliver messages through people that happen to irritate us most, right at the time they deliver the message. Those people probably don't know that God's using them to deliver important truth for our lives. To them, they are just getting something off their chests or bubbling over with some frustration we stirred in them by our recent action. But, for us, their words may be remarkably relevant to the situation in our lives, especially in light of recent events.

God can, and does, use anyone for this—some passer-by on the street, a drunk guy at a bar who doesn't know you and everybody thinks is a fool, but his words address a riddle in your heart that you went to bed with the night before. He'll send a teacher, supervisor, student, subordinate, spouse, ex, parent, child, older or younger sibling, or whomever we least want to listen to. He even uses billboards or other events in life. God spoke to Balaam through his own donkey and He spoke to Jonah through a crew of sailors.

Don't look for it; it will find you, especially when you don't expect it. It will never stop happening, no matter how old you get, no matter how much you grow in knowing God.

When God sends messages to us through such means, He makes a few presumptions. The messenger neither needs nor earns any "credibility" kudos for delivering the message, and may or may not even know that a message is being delivered at all. You're expected to get the message and are responsible for understanding it. And, God may not tell you how to obey His message, only the results He expects. He's already told us how.

God has revealed many things in His Word already, also through life. Every prophecy or message from the cosmos presumes we have read God's Word and paid attention.

#  #119

## Judge Each Situation

A dad is too busy dealing with adult babies in the world to remember every errand his family assigns to him. He deals with a complaining boss, parents, students, and customers to both buy the ketchup and build the pantry to keep it in. Try to be understanding if he doesn't remember where you didn't tell him where you decided to put the ketchup.

While dad is working, mom is chasing away the dust and moving the laundry that never ends, all while feeding the children who can't be left alone lest they cause bring apocalypse prematurely. When you get home, thank mom that the house is still standing, thank her more if it's clean, and bow at her feet if there is food to eat. But, it's hard to do that unless you hold off judgment before you give each situation a thorough look.

I once told two brothers, "There is a very easy way for your parents to have more energy to be kind, understanding, and never make mistakes: Get rid of you two kids, then they will always be well-tempered, calm people. But, your parents have two growing problems: you and you. Don't forgive them for loving you. Instead, love them back."

The problem with being ungrateful for family, friends, neighbors—and everyone—isn't gratitude, but prejudgment. Don't criticize another man until you've walked a mile in his shoes.

There are no "easy" decisions in punishing, firing, hiring, or relocating. We can't throw people away for being sinners, not in families, relationships, nor the workplace. Big mistakes need demotion and diminished stewardship, but we remain useful to someone as long as we breathe. Man-made morals would have us either ignore all mistakes or punish every mistake without mercy. God's morals are that of redemption: Every punishment must be educational or there is no benefit.

God chastens us because He loves us. When we do what is wrong, we need less responsibility to do less harm, pain to remind us not to do it again, instruction so we can understand how to do better, and there are never easy answers to make that process works. After all, only God is the perfect Judge.

_Matthew 7:1-5, Luke 6:37-38_

#  #120

## God the Vindicator

God does not allow any crime to go unpunished. In human terms, a crime may evade human systems of justice, but they do not evade God.

If we repent of sin, God will forgive us in our relationship with Him and in Eternity. This gives us a fresh start each day where God is concerned, which is liberating, empowering us to press forward. But, we still must do restitutions—work to clean up whatever mess we made in the natural universe during our life on Earth. It wouldn't be loving toward others if we didn't clean up the mess we repented of making.

More importantly, time wasted sinning is time better spent building up value that matters in the eyes of Heaven—things that God congratulates rather than forgives. If one's life only surmounts to forgiven sin then one would enter Eternity with nothing.

These balance out in the end, including the vindictive need for punitive acts of justice and revenge. Someone who hurt you may repent, clean up his life, and start contributing to make life valuable for people—preventing others from the same destructive path. However and whenever God punishes others, we always find it just and beg for His mercy on them.

But, for the unrepentant—for the people who care nothing for others or for justice, who commit heinous crimes against humanity—their day in court with the Lord God Most High is indeed coming.

God punished Cain for murdering his brother, a curse and guilty conscience that followed him the rest of his life. The world, full of wickedness and murder, was drowned in the flood of Noah's day. Babylon's economy never regained its investment for the Tower unfinished. Egypt enslaved Israel and did not recover the bruises of a wrathful God. The defiant generation of Israel died in the desert. Satanic human-sacrificing cultists in Canaan were rightly slaughtered by Joshua's army. Enemies of the judges suffered humiliating defeat as did Saul and his family.

When God wielded evil nations to punish Israel for sin, they too were decimated—Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome.

In the end, Revelation predicts indescribable vengeance on unimaginable wickedness because nothing escapes God's vindication.

#  #121

## Case for Capitalism

Every good thing gets counterfeited and exploited. The devil's greatest game is to convince people that he is Jesus—that wicked men might ease their guilty consciences and that good men would blame Jesus for the devil's mischief. So it is with economics.

Populist ideals are no way to devise a working economic strategy.

Socialism is proven by repeating history to be the populism of economics, mainly because it is a pioneering financial philosophy trumpeted by those who were neither financiers nor pioneers. The first known experiment in Socialism arrived with the Pilgrims of 1620, imposed by aristocratic European investors upon the pioneering Pilgrims who abandoned Socialism in order to save their starving people. As if one failure were not enough, Socialism became one evil exchanged for another when the impoverished masses overthrew the heartless aristocrats of Russia, again ending with the same failure where basic needs are always in short supply. Socialism is history's most predictably repeating failure. Even today, some theoretician seeks to establish an experimental commune with compelling theory as evidence, presenting none of history's everlasting failures to learn from.

The Pilgrims finally escaped Socialist starvation and a dying population when everyone's survival became no one's responsibility but his own. Everyone "rose to the occasion"; the colony had a surplus of goods for the first time and was finally able to pay back its aristocratic investors only by breaking their Socialist bylaws. When Governor Bradford settled with those investors, the deaths of more than half of the colonists at the hands of their Socialist bylaws surely came up in the negotiation.

Early America was founded on this new experiment—that individuals are responsible for their own work ethic and their own corresponding results. Neither aristocracy nor investors nor society have any right to claim the credit for another's hard-earned labors. Each one is a steward of one's own capital—one's own property. That self-responsible, self-reliant, freedom-based economic philosophy founded the Northers colonies that defeated Southern slavery two centuries later. It was called "Capitalism". Ever since, disenfranchised aristocrats have sought to commandeer the very Capitalism that defeated them while Socialists blame true Capitalists for the evil deeds of aristocrats who are anything but.

#  #122

## Triple Check

Mom often said, "It's not what you know, it's what you think you know that ain't so." Life will sneak up on you less if you live by this rule: Two points make a line; three points make a truth.

Accidents happen closest to home for a reason: We assume more things the closer we get to home. Never back up without looking—in your own driveway especially. This is also for a reason: Babies might crawl in your driveway without sending prior notice, especially our own.

Things sprout legs, move, then drop their legs before you can notice. Earthquakes and lightning strike unannounced. The IRS might seize your rubber ducky, so don't take a bath before at least verifying it's there. You know a door is closed not when you hear the latch click, but when you try to open it. Tap your pocket keys before closing locked doors. Never turn right without looking left. And, never trust a turn signal until the driver is committed to the turn. Whenever my father saw a dent on the driver's side door he'd say, "See that, son. That's what you call a 'clue'."

Don't be like the son who wouldn't talk to his father the rest of his life after receiving a Bible instead of his dream car on his 18th birthday—only to open the Bible 30 years later after his father died to find a check inside for the price of the car when he was 18. His mistake was not that he held a lifelong grudge without opening the Bible first, but that he should have checked each page thrice.

Ask your friend before begrudging or forgiving; maybe you should be thankful. It happens with possessions, accounting, relationships, and even God. Everything moves except God, yet we still don't understand Him. It's not God we need to verify the truth about, but our ever-shifting misunderstanding of Him. There is no reason in the universe, plasmaverse, underverse, or oververse that every fact shouldn't be checked three times. However offendable, expectable, dependable, predictable, or routine your routine is, triple check. Remember that "assume" is a compound word and that double checking just isn't good enough.

#  #123

## Paying for Appreciation

Pay for things. Make others pay you for things. Work for money. Pay what work is worth. We only value something as much as we pay for it. Don't train people that you or they are worthless. Handouts make people dependent and eventually they die from weakness. Help, but helping a chicken hatch will kill it.

Sometimes we don't have money, but we can always pay with effort. So, work for things, whether you are rich or poor. In His wisdom, God hardcoded this into our programming: If we don't work a thousand hours for only one hour of pay, we just don't understand money. Working for money is the only way to "pay" for money, "earning" it.

The more you work for money, the more you will understand it. You don't want to stay there, working hard for very little. But, many people remain there because they never learn about money, so God keeps them there to keep teaching them. If God meets your needs as you work too hard for too little, He is making you rich in wisdom, which is more valuable than money.

Don't get into judging yourself or others about why who has how much. Try to earn and understand as much as you can, then God will give you the perfect suit for your needs. Even if God makes you dirt rich, that also is intended to teach you some kind of valuable lesson, such as the dangers of laziness and monetizing inflated confidence.

Whether you're rich in wisdom or rich in gold, God wants you to use your riches to help others. That doesn't mean becoming the all-saving charity who solves problems by dolling out what on one appreciates. Only Jesus can save the whole world. Whether you help someone by giving them money or wisdom, don't make it cheap; make them appreciate it.

Don't just tell people all the wisdom you know; give them some pointers—something to ponder—and then let them work for it by having to ponder it. That will keep your friendly distance, staying out of their personal space. People will respect your wisdom if you make them earn your respect for theirs.

#  #124

## God the Chastener

God chastens and chastises His children because He loves them. Like well groomed lawns and gardens are clipped and watered, God rears His children with boundaries, rules, rewards, and punishments.

Punishments make us cry, as do any hardships, deserved and unfair alike. If we cry from punishment guiding us to accept what we can't control—including God's decisions about how He wants us to live—then when the normal troubles and hardships of life come our way we won't be disheartened.

Life has its challenges. The path requires effort to travel, overcome, finish a project, or dig through a mess to find gold—just the effort itself can lead us to tears.

If our parents punished us for being disobedient as children, we are not only obedient and self-disciplined to more formidably face our challenges; we won't cry as much when tall challenges might otherwise wear us out.

God is the perfect parent, which means that He will spank us and put us on lockdown, of course to train us in self-control, but also to de-sissify us. His rules and desires on how we should live are, of course, incredibly brilliant, wonderful, ultra-desirable, and so good that no one could possibly have a better idea than His morals from above.

But, even the wisdom of God's morals aside, just giving us pain to toughen us up is what any loving father should give.

The last thing a child needs is to get bit by a mosquito while crossing the street, lock up from the pain, and thus get run over by a car. Having thick skin is part of living a safe life. Good parents don't pamper their children so much that the slightest hiccup leaves them emotionally undone.

Strength to bear hardship also means we're strong enough to help others with their burdens. When someone near you has trouble, you may need to carry a double load; you may need to take a bullet or get whacked with a falling log to save someone. Your strong spine could save someone's life.

Our own hardship is no license to "chasten" everyone around us. God Himself chastens His beloved because good fathers chasten their beloved children.

#  #125

## Case for Regulation

Roads and bridges are part of governance, deciding where bridges should be built, trails blazed, and directions of travel on which sides of what roads. This leaves it up to drivers to remain within the lines and decide their own courses and speeds. But, with lines and limits come regulation—policing of rules with ongoing evaluation, one case at a time. Bullies are regulators' biggest and oldest problem.

The need for regulation is a two-sided, single edged blade. On one side we have the problem of anarchy, seen in Hong Kong's Walled City—made entirely without planning, dirty, disease infested, drug dominated, and structurally dangerous. On the other side we have the housing development companies that want to evict the local residency, crushing them under gentrification, merely for profit. Politicians ride the fence, seeking both votes and money. Good regulation slices through these issues.

Capitalism conquered aristocracy, but it could never eradicate it. When elitists cannot defeat their enemy, they join him. This led to the aristocratic shape-shifting into "crony Capitalism", an impostor, resulting in "corptocracy". It's the ongoing game of the old aristocracy seeking to regain control through what Capitalist economics labels "monopoly"—total control over the market.

Capitalist free-markets are not without their criminals who need policing and regulating. Monopoly is anti-Capitalist by definition. Government's role includes the regulations of wealthy people and businesses that get close to monopolizing an entire sector of the market.

Regulation is a mid-level of governance and management. Times change, as do technologies and strategies of Men both good and evil. Regulation is an ongoing work, requiring standing committees and revolving officers who oversee constant creation of new rules and retirement of old rules. They are the watchmen who protect from dangers inside the walls.

As aristocrats sneak about and devise evil plans to seize power once again, regulators must stand ready to stop them. New roads must be dozed and old structures razed, so must regulators proceed tenderly as to injure no one in the name of "eminent domain for public good". Politicians, officials, and even regulators themselves can become corrupted, meaning that ultimate power of regulation must remain in the hands of the people at large.

#  #126

## Lean into Chop

Life's resistance points are like choppy waves. They can knock you off your personal watercraft or capsize your boat, but with time you can learn to read them, even read their unpredictability.

That person taking extra time in front of you at the bank, the guy in the lobby who keeps making noise while you need to focus on work, the bus driver who won't let you put your feet in the isle to stretch after five hours—think of it all as chop.

The more you ride in chop, the better your skills. As a writer, I get a better idea what to write when I have some nuisance; it's just part of a good writing environment. Sometimes I need quiet and peace, other times I need noise. My coding projects finish more quickly when I'm either under pressure or finishing them as a way of procrastinating from doing something else.

If you are trying to get anything done with your life, you need the frustration of chop to train you how the oceans flow to hone your skills. It always comes when you least want it and it leaves you tired, wet, cold, and perhaps minus a few articles of clothing. So, it's always good to just button down the hatch and keep a victory cigar handy in case chop bestows upon you a lucky learning day at sea.

Don't fall into the trap of saying things that begin with, "But, good service is..." That's little more than an excuse to act like an incompetent royal. Demanding good service and providing good service are two different oceans. If you learn to expect smooth sailing—and you file a customer service complaint against an ocean for being choppy—you'll end up at the bottom. Don't complain, don't give the bad review, don't even go there.

There is a time for customer suggestions and negative consumer reviews, but never, never, never think that they will air lift you out of good, fun chop. When a wave comes for you, take it head on; never turn to the side. You'll especially encounter chop on the "higher life" voyage of delivering excellent customer service to someone else.

#  #127

## Sow Virtue

No matter how busy your life gets, take time to sow in virtue. There are many ways to sow virtue; the more virtue sown the merrier your life.

Virtue is a kine of foundation. As much as we value the roof during a heavy rain, without a firm foundation there won't be a roof at all. It's arguably a "mentally referable" state of mind if someone tries to build a roof before laying the foundation. Just as much, it's "mentally referable" when someone focuses on producing a product directly while leaving the factory that produces the product in disrepair.

One classic example of this in Christian business was Big Idea Productions. The simple summary goes something like this: They originally promised their small distributor, only verbally, that they would always use them as a distributor. Around the time the Jonah movie was coming out, Big Idea supposedly reneged on the verbal promise, lost a lawsuit in which verbal promises were judged to be legally binding, and that was the end of Big Idea.

The founder of Big Idea didn't give up; he continued his life and got back on a good track. After losing everything, he had the harder lesson to rebuild. But, it might have been easier with a moral compass prioritizing personal promises above profit. Learn from the Big Idea story, but don't judge it.

Sometimes the foundational needs are "basic"—hygiene, taking out the trash, balancing financial accounts, and normal "sustainer" activities that we humans reflect, being the Image of God and all.

But, just as important—even more important—is the foundation of virtue. That goes back to building on a rock rather than on sand. A foundation is only as strong as the ground on which it rests.

Give a "tithe" somewhere to something that helps advance God's justice. It doesn't need "Christian" branding, but it must serve the Creator God Most High of the Bible if He is Whom you want kudos from. "Tithe" can be any percent, amount, or resource, even time. Dripping kindness, compassion, and fairness to people around you is more important to God than sacrifices. One way or another, prioritize sowing virtue into your fields.

_Genesis 14:17-24, Hosea 6:6, Matthew 7:24-27, Hebrews 7:1-10_

#  #128

## God the Demolisher & Rebuilder

As Creator and Inventor of Everything, God is the Grand Architect and He never stops developing His Creation. God Almighty is also God the Developer.

God raises up and tears down however He wants, all according to His grand planning.

As an urban area sprawls, it needs different types of streets and passages for different population densities and to fit different levels of progress in technology. Before a people are able to generate electricity, they need the proper roads to move their materials, even in the construction process of building the wiring for electricity. Before underground piping can be made—still having only primitive tools—some form of sewer is needed to keep the city clean. Once pipes are in place, those old sewer trenches can serve other purposes.

Even an embryo starts as a cluster of cells which will eventually divide into specialized organs, tissues, and limbs. Scaffolding and molding go up early, but are taken down once the building is finished. In a sense, the building itself is mere scaffolding for project yet to come. Eventually, everything gets torn down; what doesn't gets celebrated in a museum to remind us how young we are compared to the ongoing project of humanity.

Watching over and above all of this is God, who builds and plans components of human society that only He can engineer.

God shapes the courses of friendships and social habits. He raises up practices among His people, then he changes those practices to prepare for the newer, better things He has for us. In time, He will tear down those new practices as well.

As God constantly moves and shapes different organizations, kingdoms, cultures, and liturgies, He remains outside of them.

God will eventually tear down formerly useful structures, but nostalgia leads some people to cling to the past and its empty halls. We can become addicted and otherwise fixated on those temporary customs and practices themselves—often defending rigid institutions long after their usefulness has fulfilled its purposes. If we do not leave the condemned structure, it can be demolished with us still inside.

Never revere temporary infrastructure above the Eternal God who never stops tearing down and rebuilding upward.

#  #129

## Case for Constitution

The Magna Carta was arguably the first Constitution of English law. The Mayflower Compact was the first Constitution of the Americas. These were "basic laws", providing unanimous permission from all the people to create a government. All government would be built on this Constitution because all the people had agreed to it. Once a Constitution breaks, the powerful and corrupt few find a crack through which to slip if they fool the masses just long enough to seize power from the people.

The last line of defense between the people and those who seek to oppress them is their Constitution.

Hitler spoke kindly and calmly, only later in his speeches raising his voice after telling stories that cast a hypnotic spell of anger on his audiences. The tyrant—shrouded as a "savior"—demands limitless powers to "help", his tone so kind that none suspect him.

Over-regulation is a classic tool to subtly enslave the people. Criminals get away with almost anything when they say that they aren't doing precisely what they are doing, especially criminals in government. Aristocrats' favorite method to enslave society is Socialism birthed as over-regulation. A Constitution limits the ability of the criminals to commandeer the government in the name of "helping" the very problems those criminal aristocracies create in the classic pulp fiction cycle of cops and robbers justifying each other's existence. The people need police to regulate peace—a need easily exploited.

A Constitution is, essentially, the regulation of the regulation of the regulators. Socialism seeks to delegate safety away from the people to the government. Constitutional Capitalism retains all powers among the people, creating a super-slow moving government too tied down with regulations of the regulators to be worth a criminal aristocracy's effort.

The solution to recurring problems of governance and society remains in the hands of a society where every individual takes responsibility to learn why things are what they are. Only the people can hold power over Constitutions, but even Constitutions will be taken from them if the people are not actively involved in thinking independently and learning from history as individuals, never relegating control of their Constitution nor preservation of their freedom to any centralized authority.

#  #130

## Light Must Be Shared

Life can't be hoarded, goodness must be shared. Spread your knowledge liberally with all who ask.

Evil tries to contain knowledge for power and so-called "ascension" into levels of life that God has made freely available to everyone. This is achieved by anyone merely through mediating on God's Word's words, understanding God as He describes Himself in God's Word through the personalities of the writers, praying for requests and fellowship with God, and obeying God's Word's simple, useful commands for delayed gratification and self-control. Anyone can do this, so spread your knowledge freely.

The same applies to administration and leadership. Don't hoard people, not even your family. Hold everything with an open hand. Professors lose free research labor when they allow a student to graduate with a PhD. Religious groups are notorious for leaders being territorial with their people, as are MLMs by definition of the LOS.

Whether hoarding knowledge or people, failure to share knowledge is a form of control. God is Light and He shines everywhere; it is up to each if us to respond to His light. But, hoarded light will kill you. If you want more of God's light, you must pass on whatever light you have, otherwise God will put you in the shade, safe from His light, so you won't get burned by hoarding. This is why so-called "leaders" and "mentors" who hoard knowledge and people hit a glass ceiling on what they can teach and achieve: They don't pass on everything they know to all who seek. As with knowledge and people, share your money.

Give healthy tips—not too much, but better to be generous than stingy. Pay subscriptions for "premium" features, don't only use a service that comes free of charge. You can't pay for every single service you ever use, but if you pay for premium versions of the services you enjoy most, you will sow good chivalry that will come back around. When you pay for something, you respect it more.

Likewise, charge others for work, but share freely what you can give without cost. Pass on the light you have, encourage, drip teachings, then the Light will shine on you all the more.

#  #131

## Etiquette

When you first walk into the office, say hello before talking business. Never invite yourself, but you are expected to drop in unannounced where you are always invited. Even when you get home, announce that you've arrived. If you live alone, check in with friends often. Communicate. "Ping" your presence. If you're not early, you're late, but don't knock before the meeting.

Inquire about meal plans when meeting within two hours of breakfast, lunch, or dinner. When inviting guests to a first-of-a-kind, tell them what you will be wearing so they can dress to the occasion. Even in the snow, take off your glove to shake hands. Nothing beats the gesture of going out of one's way just to be friendly, even when it's not necessary.

Always leave soon enough so people are hungry for more, it's polite because it means you know your place. Don't be too welcoming. Uninvited help is an insult except those rare moments when we can't send an SOS. When taming a wild animal, let it walk all the way up to you to take food from your hand; if it's a scavenger it will bite you anyway, if it's a prairie dog or rabbit it probably won't.

Always be kind and give respect, especially in the face of adversity. Do what it takes and then some. The older one should act like it, always act like you're the older one. Don't sweat the little stuff, it's all little stuff. When traveling, be the first to wake, the last to sleep, and always help carry someone's luggage. Leave everything better than you found it. Don't mess with it if it's not yours.

When you point your finger at someone, three point back at you. Good rules like this keep you on your toes in other areas. Learn them from older generations, especially people who have strong experience. Pieces of etiquette have roots in history and good ideas.

Don't brush off wise traditions merely for seeming constraining or "unoriginal". Write them down and keep training yourself. Read many more in the Book of Proverbs. Derive your own from the rest of the Bible as you read it daily. It's called wisdom.

#  #132

## God the Potter

A potter works the clay, watering it, molding it, and shaping it as fast as it will be shaped. Clay has a will of its own, but it cannot shape itself.

Once the potter has shaped and re-shaped the clay beyond what the clay is capable of, the clay will quit, no longer able to hold any form. Once the clay quits, it must be reconstituted—first dried and ground into powder, then hydrated with water and prepared once again for the wheel.

God is the Great Potter who sits at the wheel of Earth, spinning us in His hands. It was no coincidence that the artistic poet, God the Potter, made Man from the dust of the ground. Just like clay, we have a will that wrestles with our Potter's Hands. When we don't sit how God wants, he tears us down. If we fight Him too much, He grinds us into powder before hydrating us with water.

All of God's work with humanity—collectively just as much as with each individual—molds and shapes us into a beautiful masterpiece. We do become grand and glorious over time—not due to any effort of our own, but only our effort to cooperate with the guiding hands of our Potter.

As we grow, study, learn, sharpen, exercise, strengthen, mature, and improve ourselves, God's guidance oversees everything. If God cares which continent we live on, we will be on the continent of His choosing. If God decides that He will make you fall in love with music, you will be forever smitten, but it's up to you to practice and pursue excellence. The same holds for every career and skill.

Throughout the Bible, God shapes people through their circumstances. Consider Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Ruth, David, Daniel, Esther, Jesus's disciples, and the Apostles.

When he became prime minister, Winston Churchill said that all his, "past life had been but a preparation for this hour..." He had indeed been prepared by God the Potter, just as you have been prepared—and are still being prepared—to become whatever vessel God wants you for. Your role is to cooperate with the Great Potter's Hands while they do the shaping.

#  #133

## Formal Recruiting & Contentious Spirits

When you constantly feel that people are contending with you, and you can't seem to "forgive" it, it could be that you are infested with a contentious spirit. It is a "thing" in the spirit realm that rests on people and makes them imagine that everyone is arguing with them so that they will hunger to argue back. This is especially common among groups that attend formal, regular religious gatherings; no matter the religion, the contentious spirit is the same and makes people behave this same, contentious way. It's not a "religious" problem; it's a "recruit people" formal structure problem.

Usually, recruiting religious structures recruit people because they are led by people with the same spirit, always hungering for more people to argue with. To mask this, the spirits make people feel homely among their group of other people with the same spirit, enabling them to think they are friendly when, actually, they are only friendly with their clique. Even among their own religion, they will tend to argue with other groups and people. If you have difficulty with arguments and you are part of a religious weekly meeting, this could likely be you.

I actually sat with a person from a religion different from my own and explained this. The whole time he shook his head, smiling, and said, "I don't agree. We don't argue like that." It never occurred to him that he was being argumentative about being argumentative. But, I didn't call him out on it because, frankly, I didn't want to argue. I just said, "You've been told, do whatever you want with it."

That urge to contend with someone will drive people to argue about things—whether to agree or disagree—in which they have neither say nor decision. The mere desire to have an opinion about someone else's business is a flashing red light and loud buzzer warning that one has this problem. The reason a person wants to argue with things that don't matter, which they have no vested interest in, is because the contentious spirit on them wants to argue with everyone.

Stay aware to notice "contentious spirits" and feel free to call people out on it.

#  #134

## You Be You, Let Others Figure It Out

You can never please everyone, never. So, don't try. Live an awesome life of love, excellence, fairness, compassion, happiness, patience, understanding, and kick your own butt. Whatever people like or don't like, understand or can't grasp, that's all on them.

You are the Image of God. Every human is, but most humans don't know it. This is something we each must be told, then we must accept. What exactly it means to be the Image of God—what all we are capable of and how we "should" act—is a deep question we will neither answer nor exhaust. The more questions you answer, the more questions you'll have. The more you understand, the more you'll tally how tiny your understanding floats in the ocean of all there is to explore.

So, when you encounter someone who has explored and learned what it means to be the Image of God, that person will naturally confound you, surprise you, irritate you, seem in need of your "fixing", and do things that make no sense—to you. You'll ask why, the answer will confound, surprise, and irritate you all the more. Expect this from people who know what they are doing and expect that you will seem the same way to others, the less incompetent you get.

Sunshine is healthy, killing bad things and creating vitamin D, but it will burn skin that lacks exposure. The sun would do no favor by not shining to avoid burning people. Don't become foolish just so people can "understand" you. Stay steady and stay on target. The more stable and constant you are, the more people will anticipate what you do, the more they will understand you—all because your revamped worldview is spreading to the world around you.

There is great pressure to dumb down your standards and conduct—to stop living by financial smarts, shrewd stewardship, good chivalry, wise survival. People would rather you be dead—and them weeping at your funeral—than for you to not make instant sense.

Don't give in.

Be charming. Use compassion. Elaborate when welcome. But, your life's results are your best explanation. Living godly and strongly, even when misunderstood, is best for everyone.

#  #135

## Evaluate the Logic

If we really believe something is true, would we do what we are doing? It is okay to ask people that question when they accuse you of something absurd. Especially ask yourself this question.

Take the religious zealot who recruits people to his weekly meeting, yet seeks arguments everywhere he goes. Not many religious teach of a God who hates enemies; God's Word' God Who wants enemies to repent into a hopeful future. Does a truly religious man truly want to argue? Perhaps he doesn't truly believe what he claims, one way or another. Perhaps that man is you.

Take the doctor whose patient tells him of home remedy, but that doctor doesn't seriously think about starting a research article in a medical journal about the home remedy. Does that doctor truly want to heal people or just stick to practicing what he already knows? How about the lawyer addicted to narcotics, drives 30 over the speed limit on a regular basis, trades stock with inside tips, or hides money in offshore accounts to pay near zero tax—does he really seek "justice" in court?

Evaluate your own logic—both what you claim to believe and what you believe about others.

You don't know why other people do what they do. Someone could seem to confront you, but is actually saving your life. The best policy is patience and to just, plain, simply not judge. You need to prove someone was NOT trying to save your life before you hold a grudge or even "forgive".

If someone saved your life, that's not "forgiveable", that's "thankable". To forgive someone without first hearing their side is also a judgment against that other person, which Heaven regards an ongoing judgment against you until you repent of that idea and get your thoughts straight.

Perhaps someone was trying to save your life, merely by punching you in the face to teach you to make peace quicker than make enemies. It may have been the wrong way, but that person might truly care about you deep inside. Talk. Verify. Listen. Check the logic of whatever conclusion you draw. Make sure your opinion is not just some phantom in your mind.

#  #136

## God the Only Perfect Father

Whatever sin a man has not dealt with in his life, he passes this on to his children at a basic level almost reaching DNA. Permanently and unable to be treated by psychotherapy—possibly personality disorders—these sins will forever persist through the entire lives of his children. The Bible calls this "sins of the fathers" and says they are "visited onto the sons to the third and fourth generation".

Mothers do not pass on their unresolved sin issues this way, which is part of the counterintuitive strategy of God. Does it make a woman more or less powerful that she cannot injure her children this way? Jesus was sinless for this reason; he had no father, only a mother. So, he had no sin nature in his body, constantly fighting his will and tempting him to sin, even without devils bothering him.

Because of Jesus's work on the Cross, these "sins of the fathers" can be removed, but only by "forgiving one's father". There is a time when everyone must come to grips with this truth: Your father messed up big time. He neglected his responsibilities as a father and as a human in general. You MUST forgive him—that means that you never expect him to apologize and you never seek any repayment or restitution from him at all. Whatever your father did to make your life hard, get the payback and punishment payment from Jesus.

Jesus will pay whatever you lost far more than your father could anyway.

It is that we not "excuse" or "try to understand" their difficulty. As we age we come to understand our parents more and more, but we must never "excuse" their mistakes. Parents are leaders and must have their lives in order before they get involved in romance. There is no excuse for them; parents must instead be forgiven.

"Forgiving" means waving all rights to collect on a debt owed, the opposite of "excusing". Never confuse them. You won't need to when you depend on God for whatever perfection we need from a parent. He has it. Accept not only God's repayment, but also His perfection as a Father who will never let you down.

#  #137

## Fiefdom Dictators & Controlling Spirits

Beware of the strange desire to control, merely for the sake of control. Another "thing" that can get situated onto people is the "controlling spirit". It might show up as megalomania or meaningless manipulation or creating chaos just for the sake of attention. When people have this controlling "thing" on them, they would be satisfied to have a small corner in the room to control, torture, manipulate, get a reaction out of, get attention from, get a "quarrel fix" with, and entertain themselves with absolute dictatorial powers, merely for the pleasure of the experience.

It tends to gravitate toward leaders of groups that recruit numbers, religious or otherwise, because controlling spirits want to have something to control. Any sensible slight to its pride will set that controlling spirit off its rocker, prove to the host that the problem is real, and, if that host keeps cooperating with it, the host might socially and professionally self-destruct.

Remember, someone with a controlling spirit doesn't actually hunger for this control. Like a parasite that gives unnatural hunger, the spirit "thing" rests on its host, creating the appetite to act so strangely. Of course, the person must cooperate and welcome the controlling spirit. Simple resistance would make the spirit shrink, lose its size and thus its power, and eventually leave. But, too many people won't give up that resistance because they somewhat enjoy the feelings the get from carrying a controlling spirit on their backs.

In East Asia it's such a common problem that Western expats and Asian bloggers write about it. The boss holds numerous meetings merely to "feel like a boss", makes his office inaccessible, and the solution to "problems" is the same solution to "suggestions": The boss is the god, everyone else is a cockroach created only to preserve the boss's godhood. If it's hard to imagine, ask someone from Asia. But, it is a living, real caricature of the controlling spirit.

If that's you, quitting your position might make the spirit go away. That actually happens.

If you struggle with a "controlling" person, use these strengths: Be among the hardest working, remain super-calm when the bear gets provoked, and expect insanity because spirits don't reason.

#  #138

## Worldview Schools of Thought

If you want to have a strong life, you must draw a line in the sand. In self-improvement, there three main opinions: disdain for the entire topic, people who will take any criticism or hardship to improve themselves, people who want to impose change on the external world and are easily offended.

This book is written for the second category only. If you are in one of the other two categories, you hopefully won't like this book because it conflicts with your worldview's DNA.

This book's approach to self-improvement is to hear-out criticism, search for "inner" strength, and deny yourself the right to claim "victim", especially if you are one. If you're not looking for that, don't read this book.

If you are unhappy with your body, this book advises you to accept yourself from the inside and be physically healthy, not to do plastic surgery or other forms of medical treatment. If people treat you rudely, this book teaches you to find "inner power" to press on with your life, without policing or modifying or making laws to regulate what other people say. If you want want to medically alter your body in order to be emotionally satisfied with your body or if you want to protest about "hate speech", then this book's philosophy cannot help you because you seek a different type of "life coaching" opinion.

Know your approach to life. Recognize your mode of operation and put it into words. People have different philosophies about "being better people", identify which group you fall into and do not judge the specific advice of a worldview you are not a part of.

If you don't believe in the Bible, don't critique the hermeneutics or theology of those who do. If you believe in the Bible, don't criticize the morals or philosophies of those who don't. If you're a Republican, don't criticize the politics of someone who is a Democrat. Learn to say, "We are in different schools of thought," or, "I'm a Republican, you're a Democrat," or, "I don't believe the Bible, you do," or, "I deny myself the right to cry victim, even when I am one." Then you can disagree with dignity.

#  #139

## Deal with the Inside

Trying to advance your position on the social ladder will backfire. Your progress faces two challenges: your faults and your need to grow. Growth comes with strength, which takes exercise, persistence, and time. Faults, however, come from damage that must be mended. If you try to elevate your status without dealing with these two, you will implode.

This actually explains the problems of many flawed leaders, the "head-scratcher" leaders of whom their suffering, subordinating staff ask, "How did this idiot get in charge with so many failing results?" It's easy so see with a simple glance at what's under the hood. Such a leader polished the bodywork, but neglected the frame and engine.

So-called "progress" with the social recognition, without growing in character first is only external. There is much more to building a car than buffing old paint.

The problem is temptation. Everyone feels the pressure to keep up with the exterior progress of those around us. It's often called "peer pressure". And, interestingly enough, most people paint their facade of "success" because of their neglected faults, usually to get back at a phantom haunting from childhood, if not to simply prove someone wrong.

Don't be seduced by thirst to keep up with the Joneses; it will drive you to take shortcuts that shouldn't be taken, receive favors that shouldn't be given, and make deals at the expense of your soul. Then you will become that leader everyone loathes.

Don't seek promotions; think thrice before accepting them. Focus on building your character, restoring whatever's broken, and unloading whatever you've been carrying around in your trunk. By striving to be strong, whole, and valuable, that success you were created to desire will come looking for you. And, it will surely find you, once you are strong, solid, and lean enough that you won't buckle under the pressure.

Success crushes a great many people. Delays may seem like setbacks, but self-destructing because you got too much power faster than you knew what to do with takes a lot more time than slow, foundational growth. Fame and position draw fierce enemies and strange complexities. Some extra time in the garage will make sure you're ready for it.

#  #140

## Jesus: Son, Brother & Friend

Jesus was born a member of an immediate family. He had a mother and was raised by Joseph to become a carpenter. He had brothers—James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude—as well as sisters who are not named in the Bible.

Jesus lived as a real person with a real life, but he did not live a sinful life. Jesus was not the son of Joseph—even though those in Nazareth presumed he was. Jesus is, was, and has always been the Son of God.

Raising a family with the Son of God as the firstborn among brothers is not easy, particularly for sinful people. Jesus's brothers must have been jealous of him at times. Bible teachers and Church tradition presume that Joseph, Mary's husband, died during the "quiet" years of Jesus's life—the years not recorded in the Bible. This may have been a grace to the family. It's not easy to parent a child who runs off to the temple, impresses the teachers, doesn't tell mom and "dad" where he is, then mouths off, "Surely you should have known I would be about my Father's business." For Joseph's sin—which everyone has—or for his simple sanity, he needed a break from Jesus. We know, however, that Joseph was a "righteous" man because he heeded the angel who told him Mary's pregnancy was from God and stood by her through the shame of appearing immoral.

With Nazareth presuming Jesus to be the illegitimate son of Joseph, gossip would have spread. Even the brothers would have been scorned. Especially when someone is good and does what is right, an immoral world presumes that everyone sins just as they do. So, they attribute the results of goodness to greater sins. Jesus and his whole family carried this stigma.

Yet, Jesus was a friend. He welcomed children, discipled brats, let John lay on his chest, gave sight to the blind, healed the lame, encouraged those oppressed by the elite, comforted honest Pharisees, and even counseled Pilate before his crucifixion.

On the cross, Jesus declared John his mother's adoptive son, looking after friends, family, and his mother, as a son and brother, right up to the end.

_Matthew 13:55-56; 19:13-15, John 3:1-21; 7:5-10; 19:8-12, 26-27_

#  #141

## Keep Your Regiment

Diet, exercise, reading, learning, practicing, growing, praying, advancing... Don't let school exams, big projects, travel, holidays, weather, long recoveries from injury, or other interruptive circumstances knock you off your track. When you have to take a break, remember to get back to work. Make adjustments and keep the vision in your mind.

My father was fit, slim, and ran every day until my mother became pregnant with me. He stopped running and quickly got "furniture disease"—where the chest falls into the drawers.

Don't pursue romance until you've grown up enough to come out the other side an even better person. Have your business or career ready, have money in the bank or some schedule thought through. Many good projects get abandoned because the software developer had a kid or the business had an expensive start and money didn't come in soon enough. Many children don't know their fathers who either won't abandon their pet projects or have to work extra because they weren't financially ready for kids. People get married or begin a twenty-year job and their priorities change both for better and worse; go into every day expecting that, don't be ignorant.

Select your priorities to maintain before the unexpected surprises you. Through uphill climbs, hold your standards as high as you can and know that no life worth publishing happens by itself. God is always in control, but don't let circumstance take you out of the driver's seat of your diligence. Stand alert at your watch.

When you get off track, don't wait for your friends to call you; keep yourself in line. "Accountability groups" are useful, but overrated. "Confession circles" are for people just beginning to admit their problems to themselves. Planning with a wingman is a blessing beyond words. Two can achieve the work of five; it's called "synergy". But, don't let so-called "accountability partners" be your excuse to fail. Don't let "accountability salesmen" tell you that you'll fail without affirming their egos and buying their books. At times you will be your only wingman—that is one of the steepest uphill climbs. A little self-accountability and intrinsic motivation during easy times will prepare you for summits worth their ascent.

#  #142

## Foundations Take Years

It can take decades of learning and preparation for some things to take off. Don't limit yourself with artificial time tables. You never know how long something may take.

If you can't continue indefinitely, don't begin. If you start something, but later decide it's not worth it, then you have a serious problem with making decisions; you need no less than one week for reflection and at least five new rules to live by. Think about what you do before you get involved. A lengthy negotiation involves someone who doesn't know what he wants. Whatever you are willing to compromise after twenty hours should be left at the door. It's better to hold a visioning session with a life coach and hash out your mission with a negotiator who has no vested interest in your future.

Someone who tries to change your mind thinks you don't know what you want. But, if you know what you want then manipulation tactics won't affect you. If you know your mission, manipulative leaders will accuse you of rebellion; actually they're just angry that they can't assign your mission to you. Don't be that kind of manipulative leader. True leadership helps others discover what they want and run for it.

There are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going. Of course some things can be done more quickly, but that discussion returns to the matter of having your mind made up in the first place. We're all wrong at times; capitalize on those times by reflecting on what will make you a better decision-maker in the future. Once you know your destination, you can choose the right path and keep going down it and reach destinations that most people are locked out of merely by their lack of attention span.

Commitment and wise decisions go hand in hand. You'll never find out if you've gone down the wrong road if you never go down any road very far. Unless it's clearly dangerous, press on just for the sake of finishing what you start. See things only seen with time. Then, you'll choose your roads more wisely in the future and you'll arrive to enjoy what awaits you at their end.

#  #143

## Fantasy: Counterfeit of Dreaming

Fantasies come in many shapes and sizes, but they have in common that they make fantasizers unable to function. Porn makes it difficult for men to interact with women. Romans fiction has the same effect vice versa. Daydreams about money keep people broke, so don't put up a poster of an expensive car or house unless you actually have a timeline and step list planned out for making the money to buy it.

Fantasy is healthy as a genre, but numbing as a lifestyle. Humans were endowed as the Image of God with creative imaginations. Seeing results in your mind, knowing that something is possible, keeping your mind focused on your goals—that is vital and necessary. Fantasy delivers some of the thrill and a variance of the ideas, but it leads to a dead end. Fantasy is the engineering of criminal brilliance, the devil's plan to make people think they are dreaming of the light at the end of a tunnel when they're really looking at the headlights of an oncoming train.

Anyone can become addicted to fantasy, whether gaming, movies, novels, clubbing, or just wasting time under the delusion that you're getting something done by creating to-do items and checking them off. When fantasy addictions beckon your return, think about something else—anything else. Get out of the house, go for a walk, pray. When someone is deeply addicted to anything, reading the Bible is the most likely time for the devil to attack with more calls to fantasize. Resist.

Fantasy is an addiction, even in genre. Addictions take thirty to ninety days to break. The key to breaking addictions is to control your thought life. If you must become dependent on others to break an addiction then you are not in control of your own life. See the fantasy for what it is, then take back your place at the helm of your thought life, then fantasy will be less impossible to break out of at any stage and more likely to help you in the long term.

The best way to avoid a life of fantasy is to fill your mind with a real dream, with a grounded, plotted, God-sized dream.

#  #144

## Jesus the King

Jesus was born of Mary in the line of King David. Church tradition tells us that Matthew's genealogy follows Joseph's line while Luke follows Mary's—still citing Joseph since Jesus was born only of a woman, yet Jewish genealogies in the Bible trace fathers.

In the week before his crucifixion, Jesus enters Jerusalem on a donkey—the way a triumphant king would enter Jerusalem after returning from a victorious battle. After only three years Jesus's reputation in Israel as the promised Messiah and Eternal King of the Jews was believed throughout Jerusalem.

In the three years leading up to Jesus triumphal entry, the people believed Jesus was their king because Jesus acted like a king and taught like a king.

After Jesus midnight trial, when the Pharisees brought him to Pilate, Pilate thought he was questioning a criminal, but actually Jesus brought counsel and understanding to Pilate. Even Pilate believed Jesus, nailed his confession of Jesus as King of the Jews above him on the Cross, and the early Ethiopian Church even recognized "St. Pontius Pilate" before the Catholics took over.

Pilate had no choice but to crucify Jesus, firstly because it was necessary for God's plan, but secondarily because the ruse from the Pharisees and the tyranny of Caesar Tiberius would have crucified Jesus and many more, including Pilate and his family, if Pilate hadn't done something to keep the Pharisees from starting a riot. By crucifying Jesus with the sign "King of the Jews" above Jesus's head, Pilate had that last political word on what type of people the Pharisees were.

Jesus himself took the gospel to Pilate because no one else could speak to the questions of a ruler's heart like one ruler speaks to another. Jesus's counsel was kingly, not only in the eyes of the people, but also in the heart of a ruler like Pilate.

A king is servant and friend of his people. He is judge, commander of armies, head of families, and chief of commerce.

Jesus rules in Heaven and will return to rule from Jerusalem. He leads with justice, self-sacrifice, gentleness, and wisdom, but also employs sharp words and protective wrath. Jesus is our Eternal King.

_2 Samuel 7:4-17, 1 Chronicles 17:11–15, 2 Chronicles 6:16-17, Matthew 1:6-17; 21:9, Luke 3:23-38, John 18:33-38; 19-22_

#  #145

## Build People

Invest in friendship. When you find a good friend, take time out for a productive conversation. When time's up, good soldiers are glad to get back to work. Don't waste time and call it "friendship".

True "fellowship" has a known and defined purpose, a task to achieve or discuss. Talk over coffee. Talk along the way—on a run, swim, flight, climb, workout, walk, or commute. But build friendships, don't just shoot the breeze about surface conversation that you all hope will never go anywhere. Know when to jest and joust. Be hearty in humor, but keep your substance.

When it's time to sit and "just be" with people, that's no waste. Set aside time for quietness also, just don't become addicted to an idle life. The best friendships in which to share mutual silence are the friendships built while working to achieve something excellent.

The greatest friendships are often between parents and children. As you age, be a cheerleader for your parents and don't dwell on whatever they did that irritates you. Most people who get hung up in life are hung up on what their parents did or didn't. But remember, your future is not about your parents, it's about your future. Encouraging your parents will make you strong enough to overcome whatever weakness they handed down to you. They might have their own "parent" issues; dealing with yours just might deal with theirs as well and you'll find a new best friend.

If you're a parent, make the task easier for your kids: Do some homework and get a third opinion before you execute your "perfect plan" to make things better for the next generation. If you're a young parent, don't presume—like everyone else—that you'll be the first in human history whose kids don't talk back. Love shines brightest as a choice, not a passing feeling. Don't overbear and know when to protect your space, but don't be the "professional" who helps everyone but his own family. And, don't be the parent who runs off to have an affair because the marriage no longer feels like a high school prom.

Friendship is a choice that starts in the little things.

#  #146

## Resisting Isn't Always Strongest: Stay on Course

When someone accuses you, they want you to defend yourself. Don't follow the debate agenda they set for you. Concede some of their points, explain yourself, but focus on the agenda you know is most responsible for you to push. Sometimes that means not defending yourself and admitting a fault, even when you must pay a punishment for it.

It happens when a power monger feels threatened in his fiefdom or a lazy farmer's cash cow wants to leave the farm. No one accuses people without it affecting the accuser personally. People mind their own worries and chase their own dreamy ambitions until someone disturbs them; then they start searching for faults that they really don't care about one lick, just to try to get rid of the "trouble maker".

Accusers rarely care about what they accuse others of. Accusation either a weapon against competition, retribution for being outworked, or a way to distract from one's own misery.

On occasion, someone will be genuinely injured and will thus seek justice. But, even then your responsibility must stay the same: Pursue the path of doing the right thing.

If you have wronged someone, don't contend or defend. Confess, own up, make it right, tell the truth, and do the work of restitution to fix as much damage you caused as you can. In fact, take up the cause of the victim you victimized. Have your own "come to Jesus" moment—we all need those from time to time. That's easy to figure out.

In the face of gossip, slander, and people who just want to stir up trouble, Paul had a lot to say about hate mongering. There's a difference between seeking justice and smearing everyone for every little mistake ever made. Justice involves restoration toward hope and a future; that's much more difficult when a gossiper has been out and about as a negative busy body.

When you confront accusers, your first question should be about "standing"—has the person been injured by you, otherwise it's gossip, even in the name of "journalism". Accusations are often an attempt to put people on defense, redirect them, then destroy them. Stay your course of fair, worthy pursuits.

#  #147

## Whatever Your Hands Find to Do

The specific work you do in your life does not need to be planned, told, assigned, or felt wonderful about. "Chasing your dreams" went from mantra to controversy in the late 2010s. "Don't chase your dreams, just make money" became the new slogan. To the contrary, don't do either one. Instead, chase whatever your hands find to do.

Do whatever you can do well. Don't do a thing only if you like it. Everything becomes boring eventually. "Chasing" one's dreams is actually a form of being passive. It's great to "make" your own dreams, but they must be God-sized and planned, otherwise you're just fantasizing. Along the way, you will need to go down paths and roads to complete the dreams you grew in your heart. Those paths are the work that your hands find to do all on their own.

It really is amazing how quickly a skill will just fall into your lap that you didn't choose. Such skills often start as odd jobs, childhood-adolescent obsessions, and more often than not some combination thereof. It's up to you to be grateful for the odd job requests that come your way. Some people are grateful at first and ingrates later. Consider celebrity self-destruction stories. If you must learn early on to be grateful for the very doable work that comes your way, all the better. Romance is similar. Everything grows mundane sooner or later. Don't let boredom be your lighthouse to steer you away.

Interestingly, some of the most profitable business sectors are the most boring and non-glamorous. Consider toilet paper, toothpaste, bad coffee, stationary, disposable razors, disposable pens, disposable... anything. Even the biggest, most evil corptocratic brands have found the secret to money: Boredom, it's not going out of style and no one will notice it.

Few famous people are known for their daily work. Many acclaimed actors return to theaters. Paul Revere was a silver smith who started an insurance company after the Revolution.

If your hands have found something boring to do, all the merrier. Heaven probably played a role in it, so work like it. Heaven doesn't reward us for what our hands find, but how well our hands work.

#  #148

## Jesus the Judge

From the first stages of civilization, including Israel's time after Egypt, the first branch of government to be raised is that of the _judge_.

Moses served as a judge to settle disputes after crossing the Red Sea. He didn't plan it; it just happened. His father in law suggested a court hierarchy to decrease Moses's burden, which proved less exhausting.

Joshua also led Israel and it's a good guess that the judicial hierarchy set up by Moses was also kept by Joshua. After Joshua died, God raised up "judges". This would be very easy and could work without needing to instruct Israel because Israel had the judicial hierarchy explained in the Book of Exodus.

In a "Biblical theology" up into the Book of Judges, there is little to nothing describing the Messiah as a king or the promise of King David. The only government Israel knew was that of a judge. If those seven books of the Bible were your only Bible, studying about the judicial system would take up most of your time. After the judicial system of Moses in Exodus 18, much of the rest through Deuteronomy is the "Mosaic Law", the rest interacts with Israel as they obey or disobey God. Joshua leads Israel into battle, according to justice, then we have Judges who settled disputes, guided morality, and led military conquests against invaders who took the domestic peace.

The next book, Ruth, begins the line leading to King David. Before Israel's king was established, the role of the judge was well known. So, when Saul and David became kings, Israel knew that they would fulfill the very necessary role as Israel's Judge. Samuel the prophet was the last judge and anointed both Saul and David.

As a king, Jesus will settle the disputes of the all nations across the world, just as Moses did. When people are foolish, Jesus will explain specifically how and why they were foolish, instruct them on how to get back on track, then lead them through whatever work or battles they must fight to push back the oppressors.

Jesus is also your personal judge who can guide your heart, call you to repent, and set you aright.

_Exodus 18, Judges 2:16-23, Isaiah 2:4, Jeremiah 23:5-6, Micah 4:3-5, John 5:25-32, Revelation 19:15_

#  #149

## Bible: The Best Academic Study

Nothing will prepare you to read and understand poetry, stories, culture, history, and any literature better than reading the Bible. This is because of the Bible's quality, time span, depth, and complexly woven story line.

The Bible begins at the start of recorded human history, even earlier. Adam and Eve lived before 4,000 BC; 1,500 years passed before Noah and the flood, but only ten chapters passed in Genesis. The rest of Genesis spans another thousand years. That covers many vital events of history in just a few short writings.

Then, those events prepared all other events through the rest of the Bible. Moses came along almost two thousand years after Adam and Eve, over two thousand years before Jesus's day. Everyone in the Old Testament learned about Moses—thereby shaping and bringing context to their stories.

One by one, more events unfold in the Bible. Kingdoms and families rose and fell for hundreds of years, many of them with little mention. But in those eras, people told stories of the people before them, Moses among many others. Those people died and people in the next era told stories about them—and the next era—all with little mention. Some of this is recorded in the Bible. Different events—centuries and millennia apart—all different cultures that were built on the previous—they would talk about the societies before them. This shaped who they were. They were all connected.

Then, we finally read a longer story in the Bible with more details. Noah was linked to Ruth. Samson was connected to Jonah. The more we study, the more connections and themes we see. The more we learn about what archaeology says about those times, the more we see how accurate the Bible is. We progressively learn more about this complex, interlinked story; but we also learn more about history—our real history.

Then, we have poetry, wisdom literature, cultures, and ancient languages. These also connect to the real events of our history. By understanding what's in the Bible, we can understand any other literature much more easily because nothing runs as deep. Yet, those who don't study the Bible never understand why diligent Bible students do.

#  #150

## Unknown Nondiligence

There are a few constants in life. One of them is said to be, "It always gets done." This means that whatever the task is, whatever the deadline, be patient because it will get achieved on time. But, this is false. This is not a constant of life. "It" does not always get done because we don't always do "it".

Things only get done with two working forces: God and Man. If God doesn't breathe on our labors, then we are just wasting our time. But, we must have labors if God is to breathe on them. Not even God can steer a parked car.

The ungodly worldview sees tension between work and prayer. Some people work, some people pray. That's the majority paradigm. Beware of the "major-minor" version of this: Some people mostly work, some people mostly pray. It's just the same, though.

The Pilgrims had this problem. When the mainmast broke, the "Saints" prayed while the "Strangers" said, "God won't fix it, we will." That polarity was all too common in the centuries that followed. Actually, everyone—everyone who will die and be judged by the Creator God—must give work and prayer an equal priority. We may be known for one or the other in our vocations and public lives, but in the wholeness of our private lives, our friends and family must know that prayer and work have an equal place in our offices, workshops, dens, living rooms, minds, journals, and hearts.

Many people live without diligence toward both work and prayer, never knowing how much they miss out on. Difficulties come along, God carries them, they tell about His provision; they survive the very hardships they caused. Sometimes, God sent those storms to test our lives, as He did with Job. But, other times, we brought about our own failure by not being prepared by our diligence in work and our diligence in prayer—our diligence in understanding God's morals in the Bible and our diligence in living out those morals. God stays with us through whatever problems we cause, so we rarely see that our own nondiligence caused them—and we never find out what we missed out on.

Psalm 127:1, Matthew 25:1-13

#  #151

## Heavenly Fascination

Pop culture has always tried to mimic the grand splendor of Heaven. From the Garden of Eden, devils have spread lies as truth, "wowing" humanity with their twisted perversions of the awesomeness beyond Earth. Those ideas have always floated around society and literature in whatever form of mass media exists at any particular time, whether in lore, poetry, music, theater, books, comics, or video.

Whatever imagery of Heaven and the heavens beyond Earth you see in pop culture, the real thing is better. Know the real thing by knowing God's Word.

Images of Heaven and truth from pop culture were not invented by pop culture, they were invented by God and expressed in Heaven before Earth was made. Even mischaracterizations of God and Heaven carry some truth. These not only include beauty, fantasy, and technology, but they also include ideas like Zen. Just as music and math began as man-made religions, many other worthy sciences are only religious because of misunderstanding. Zen, wisdom of Buddhism, psychology, and other "life sciences" hold fragmented truth, just as Thomas Aquinas said, "All truth is God's truth." The calmness of Zen is better known by the peace Jesus made when he calmed the waves. That peace first existed in Jesus's prayer life.

Don't allow secular sciences outdo your own diligence. Pray in a way that takes your heart and mind to the place of peace that's greater than the peace of Zen; God's Word will tell you what it looks like as you study diligently. Just as any apprentice must work and study to become a master, so God the Master expects you to study and perform the grunt work that will make you strong and teach you to calm your heart to enjoy the peace of the moment.

Part of knowing Heaven involves knowing peace and stillness. No stillness is greater than the stillness God spoke of in which to know Him, "Be still and know that I AM God.'

Heaven itself is an expression of God's own imagination. With God's peace in your heart, your imagination will blossom into reflections greater than Heaven. As you become fascinated with God's beauty, pop culture's "lesser" expressions will bore you.

#  #152

## Jesus the Bridegroom

The most consistent illustration and description of Jesus in his relationship to Christians and to Israel is the _bridegroom_.

Don't make the novice mistake of thinking that this is literal—whether reading about Jesus as the bridegroom in the Bible or reading an article about Jesus as the bridegroom in the Bible. It is a figurative relationship, not at all erotic, and a good Bible student should easily recognize it as such. Jesus does not literally marry any of us; he had no wife or literal romance during his life on Earth according to the Bible, only in ancient, demeaning fiction written by non-Christians.

The Bible dedicates two entire books to marriage, making it the most important illustration for understanding God's Son.

The Book of Hosea records a living example of the steadfast love of a good husband—like God was—toward the unfaithful nation of Israel. This also applies to us as Christians who constantly make foolish and regrettable mistakes, yet God still loves us and works through circumstances to bring us to have a healthy, faithful love back toward Him.

Song of Songs uses the "superlative genitive" noun case—where "of" makes this mean "the greatest song of all songs that ever were and ever will be". It is about love in marriage. But, combined with Hosea, what John the Baptist said about Jesus, what Jesus said about himself, and Revelation's description of Jesus as the bridegroom, the Song of Songs was a foreshadowing picture of the personality of God's great love for us. Whatever we feel about ourselves, no matter how insecure, God's love for us is greater than we could ever convince Him to have.

John the Baptist describes Jesus as the bridegroom and talks about the "friend of the bridegroom", which is wedding terminology. Jesus told multiple parables about wedding customs and gave us the Holy Spirit as a kind of wedding engagement gift, a down payment for his promise.

God is a ruling Father and His Son, Jesus, is a bridegroom "given" to us. Jesus has all the power and authority, yet he is our friend who loves us in a deep way that no human terms fully describe.

_Song of Songs, Hosea, Matthew 9:14-15; 22:1-14; 25:1-13, Luke 5:33-35; 14:7-11, John 3:27-30, Revelation 19:7; 21:2 ; 22:17_

#  #153

## Reject Sympathy

People in your life will pretend to offer your sympathy. Reject it. Be kind. Be thankful. They may be friends who will be loyal to you a long time. But, don't let sympathy go to your heart.

No one can sympathize with your situation like Jesus. He grew up human and died on a Roman cross. Jesus knows pain and hardship better than anyone else. Friends will encourage you, everyone needs this. Sometimes you must be the friend to encourage others. But, sympathy misplaced can lower your standards. If you need a shoulder to cry or lean on, don't turn it into a crutch.

When Frodo and the fellowship departed the caves after crossing the Bridge of Khazad Dum, where Gandalf had just fallen, they did not have the luxury of sympathy. "Giving them a moment" would have spelled their death.

Many people offer sympathy, understanding, excuses, lowered standards and, in the end, if you accept and act on those opportunities to pause and grieve for yourself, you will be overrun. This is why quiet times and regular prayer are vital.

Spend every waking moment you can in a state of fellowship with Jesus through his Spirit. When you have a strong emotional connection to Jesus, you don't the usual, addictive, seductive, ensnaring sympathies from people who can't help you anyway. Unwarranted sympathy is, after all, an impostor—a counterfeit—of real understanding and fellowship that only comes from the one, perfect human—the one human who can identify with you the most.

Jesus understands you. He knows your situation. When only one set of footprints mark the sands of painful times, those were the times when he carried you. Don't give into self-sorrow and drop your guard along with your standards, all in the name of so-called "sympathy".

Cry when you need to; Jesus gave us tears. Cry with your friends. Deal with your pain. Talk with your friends and open your heart. But, don't let sympathy grow into an undue addiction. Anything good can be used in the wrong setting and, sympathy notwithstanding, end up baiting you into a state of weakness that you might not grow out of this side of Eternity.

#  #154

## Test Everything

Marketing must match its product, both the content and the method. Sometimes, "not marketing" at all is the best kind of marketing. We never know. Never believe someone who claims to tell you the right way of marketing a product. If a business must reinvent itself every five years—and introduce new products every year—and come out with multiple advertisements for each product—that puts marketing on the more extreme list of things that need constant reinvention.

Some skills and theories never change, such as color theory and typing speed. But, non-changers are few. Think beyond the billboard itself. Is a visual ad even necessary? What about strategic logo placement or contributing to a needy open source software project? To some extent, the best products market themselves.

Of course, when you have a hammer in your hand, everything looks like a nail. That explains the marketers who want everything to be done via one specific action plan of, say, social media. Those marketers happen to be familiar with that particular marketing avenue: social media. Stay shy of such people, they want to sell you something.

In order to know if something works, it must be tested. Whether in product development or software development, flaws are found by trial, error, and stress. Tradition carries beauty and wisdom, but even traditions can be tested and come out wanting. It is the test, not the tradition, that proves a thing valuable.

Writing endless blog posts just because everyone else is writing endless blog posts doesn't mean consumers will have more time to read every piece of blogosophere spam—though many copywriters would have us think so. Copywriting is useful, but not over-useful. Stay focused on your mission—on your pivotal purpose.

Marketing "lets people know". We market ourselves all the time. It's called "fashion". Economic recessions zero impact on cosmetic sales. That doesn't prove makeup is a "need", but that individual marketing is a marketable "need". The same physiological programming that drives people to spend emergency money on hairspray also drives those same people to post pictures and "statuses" on the "bragosphere". We know that because recessions test markets. Test everything and everything will make more sense.

#  #155

## Perfection Is a Direction, not the Minimum

I attended college at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. It has many problems as does every institution. Thankfully, it's not a "church", it's just an organization with the founding mission to "create gapmen" who intellectually and academically "stand in the gap" between over-educated preachers and the laity that just wants to understand God's Word.

Moody teaches Bible, they don't obey it perfectly since no one can. But, the world needs more people who know the Bible. In the end Moody, with all its problems, makes the world a better place by producing students who know God's word inside and out. It helps. I would never ax that help just because it's not finished arriving at perfection.

I won't excuse injustice and I occasionally chase down wrongdoing with a fierce wrath, if so provoked. But, I'm glad Moody is there, injecting a world with people who actually know what God's Word actually is and says. Part of the message of the Bible is imperfection. We are imperfect. If someone has a problem, saying so only proves that the person exists. Of course, if you have a solution to the problem, that's another story. But, "Lay down, cry, and die," is not a solution, it's a sentencing.

So, when you address problems and people addressing problems, pay attention to whether a "complaint" is acting like a proposed solution or if it is an attempt to deliver a cease and desist order. Where we are concerned with the core topic of the fact that sin will always exist in every one of us in this lifetime, the only thing that needs to cease and desist is the expectation that people be perfect in order to exist.

Sunday morning "Churchianity" is one of the best—if not the very best—at expecting perfection, but only achieving pretended perfection, which is nothing more than pretension. Once a religious institution of a religion that teaches "imperfect pursuit of perfection" pretends to be perfect, it's time for it to cease and desist.

Only God is perfect. The most godly people can do is pursue perfection. Requiring perfection in order to pursue perfection just doesn't make sense. Being imperfect, we need reminding.

#  #156

## Jesus the Brother, God the Father

The strength to love is a choice that must be made strong through practice, but, like food with exercise, it is fueled by the knowledge that our Heavenly Father loves us.

When you know you are loved by your Heavenly Father, all other fathers find their proper places in our hearts. When a father or leader lets us down, it doesn't matter so much if he is not our biggest father. We can then expect less of them, as we should; we can more easily forgive them, as we ought; we can more readily love and help them, as they actually, also need.

Parents often look up to their own children. I don't defend this behavior and, if you do that, then stop it and look up to Jesus.

But, more importantly, let children know about this!

When you're helping children understand the normal things of life—teaching entry level problems, but talking in the tone and manner you would use addressing a 30 year old when you are 35, of course—include the lesson about role models...

_For some reason, moms and dads are just really big and old children who still want to learn from mommy and daddy; sometimes they even try to learn from their children that way. So, when adults act stupidly, it's time for you to honor them, but be the adult and encourage them. You are allowed to be more mature than the "older people"._

...and, that's much easier if your biggest role model is Jesus and your true father is your Heavenly Father.

Parents who have Jesus as their older sibling role model and God as their Father won't try to look to their children for encouragement. But, if you are the younger one and you find older people looking to you for encouragement, remember this: Those people are like drowning victims; 1. don't let them hurt you (they can, they are 'older') and 2. it's okay to be the mature adult in the room if you _show respect_ and _give encouragement_.

When Jesus was born human, he genuinely entered our human situation. He literally is our brother. In his day, people looked up to him, young and old. You can too.

_Proverbs 22:6, John 13:15, 1 Corinthians 11:1, Philippians 3:17, 1 Timothy 4:12, 1 Peter 2:21_

#  #157

## The Novice Connoisseur

Take some time to discuss colognes or attend a coffee tasting class. Watch some videos about difference in clothing fashion or ask a potter about different methods of working with clay. You don't need to become an expert, just learn enough to appreciate people who are.

Of course, you need to have your own areas of expertise; excel beyond novice at those things. But, some awareness of other skills and arts will help you respect your fellow man. This is what it means to "never stop learning". Continued learning fuels a life of mutual respect.

Two topics often overlooked are politics and Bible. Both of these are prone to "noob" mistakes. Everyone can read the Bible and vote in America, so everyone has an opinion about them, but these topics also require due diligence before understanding them.

Every opinion is equally allowable, but not equally guaranteed to work. You need a good reason for any opinion you have other than that "you just have an opinion".

The Bible is literature, so grab some books on "Bible Hermeneutics", Church history, and theology. JM Boice is good for theology. CS Lewis is good for deep thinking. Queen Elizabeth had a lot to do with Western Church history as well as politics. Read the US Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Mayflower Compact, and review other writings and history from early colonial America. Do a little homework in Bible and politics before being too opinionated about whatever first thought comes to your mind.

The Pilgrims introduced the Bible to America. The result was an economy injected with crafts and arts. Studying craftsmanship of that industrial effect grants a fuller understanding of what it means to be good at anything. But, don't stop there. There's always another art or skill to learn.

Go to craft shows and ask people how they made their stuff. Ask a competent friend to do some home or car maintenance with you. Ask some downtown local shop owners why their businesses succeeded; their answers might surprise you. These three are for all people: Bible, politics, and craftsmanship. They each require diligence. Make sure you appreciate and respect that, not just in yourself, but also in others.

#  #158

## Celebrate Celebration

When people thank you, be grateful. When someone throws a party in your honor, attend and give a speech when they ask. Know how to accept a compliment with humble dignity; practice if you need.

When you make a positive difference to others—even when you don't see it yourself—allow them to show their appreciation. Even when you're sad or you don't feel like being the birthday boy, attend for the sake of others. At least pretend to enjoy yourself.

Between the green room and the front stage, when overly-excited and unexpected fans tell stupid jokes—or complain about things they actually care little for—because they don't know what else to say, recognize it for what it's worth: They consider you family and are doing their best to show you the proof. Complainers often just want attention; answer with affirmation.

Respond with gratitude and love, whether to children or your uninvited fan club. My grandmother often reminded me of my cousin, "Look behind you." I would turn around to see my younger cousin. "You have a little shadow that follows you wherever you go and does whatever you do."

We never know how big of a positive impact we can have on others. Let people show you their appreciation, even if you don't see their math add up from where you stand. This will be most important on your bad days when you're behind schedule, fighting the weather, and feeling more tired than usual. Those are the days when Jesus will send his favorite children—young children and elderly children—to visit you and tell you what a difference you still can make by encouraging them.

So, when you don't feel like it, put on your best face for the sake of others. Deal with your inner problems genuinely, but don't let your personal dilemma of the hour rain on someone else's parade. Plato said, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle." It could be your very ability to look past your own problems to help someone else with a hand or a smile that gives you the joy you need to get through the rest of your day.

_Romans 12:15_

#  #159

## Why God is Good to Let Bad Things Happen

"If God is good, why does He let bad things happen?" This is the age old question called "the problem of evil", more specifically said, "If God is all powerful and good, then why does evil exist? Something must give." The cheating, easy, faulty answer is that "God is all powerful, but not all knowing" and other lazy solutions that diminish God. The better and shorter answer is not that God is "less" than we think of Him, but God is more than we think of Him. God is not "good"; God is "Holy", ultra-good, and thus remains ultra-good without evil harming Him or His ultra-good plans.

Dealing with this question is essential to understanding the Biblical-Christian worldview. Part of the Biblical-Christian worldview and "the problem of evil" both relate to "redemption", that moral rules are not sticks to beat others with in the public square; moral rules guide us to happiness and when we stray away from those good, helpful morals, we come back to them in love and friendship. That concept of "the good path"—stay on the path, return if you wander off—is the essence of Biblical-Christianity and the reason God is good because He allows bad things to happen.

God is the God of Means—He works through others. Jesus did miracles giving the fishermen many fish, but the fishermen still had to let down their nets as Jesus told them. Jesus fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish—but the people had to pass the food around. Peter walked on water, but he first had to step out of the boat. God does miracles that we can't, but He always—always, every time, no exception—does His work in a way that we have some ownership, responsibility, and participation in the results.

Sometimes life is hard because winning is tiring work. Other times jealous people are cruel. But, in everything, we have some ownership—of the bad so we can learn something and the good so we aren't immoral to enjoy the results. That is good and that requires letting bad things happen. So, God doesn't put an end to evil because ending evil is our responsibility.

#  #160

## Jesus the Bringer of Heaven to Earth

When Jesus returns, he will enter through the a window to Heaven in sky and descend in glory and in force, leading an army of at least 2 billion super-powerful Christians who either came back to life or were teleported and given new bodies to be with him.

The Devil and his fallen angels know about this. Non-Christian fiction tries to twist this with lies that "the bad guy" descends through the "wormhole" in the sky to madly destroy everything, heartlessly kill innocent people, and wrongly seek to rule over Earth.

Actually, all of those bad qualities belong to Devil, his fallen angels, and people on Earth who serve him either in creed or merely in ill deed. Jesus is the righteous hero who will descend through the tear in the sky to rescue us from that evil, global suicide cult, controlled by elites, attempting to destroy Earth.

Heaven will invade Earth to confront every bad thing that we all hate. But, non-Christians—who don't not regard the Bible as supreme, who make up their own self-made morals, and who invent their own fiction to describe reality only God could Create—already despise the return of humanity's rightful, self-sacrificing, just, and fair King Jesus.

False religion doesn't seem so bad. But, it is a rebellion against God and it is behind the injustices that both Christians and non-Christians protest in agreement. Once false religions merge, only Jesus will be able to save us from them.

When Jesus returns, it will be "terrible", but in goodness, help for the needy, wrath against the oppressors, and will be a good thing.

But, we do not need to wait for Jesus's Second Coming in order to bring Heaven to Earth. We can help our neighbors, love all people as we love ourselves, pray for people who try to injure us, spread the value of morals from above, clarify the truth about the Good Creator God in Heaven—such deeds bring Heaven's virtues to the world around us.

These things are all of what Jesus will bring when he descends in wrath and in glory in order to save humanity from consolidated false religion. In the meanwhile, bring Heaven nearer.

_Daniel 7, Matthew 24, 1 Cor 15: 50-57, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, Revelation 11-13; 14-17; 20_

#  #161

## Presume Healthy Ambition

You'll make your entire experience with others better if you presume that everyone has some healthy ambition. People want to be good at things. People don't want to try and fail; they want to try and succeed. So, when someone makes a mistake, they would probably love a quick, concise, light-hearted demonstration.

Show others how to do the thing they don't know to do. Give the missing component on a circuit board. Give the correct programming syntax for reference. Don't lecture or persuade, just offer.

God gave horses incredible legs—no one can resist the urge to use legs that incredible. Every dog is endowed by its Creator with an inalienable smelling machine, some call it a "nose". Who wouldn't want to use such an inalienable smelling machine to smell everything a thousand times!? Likewise, humans have a will and opposable thumbs. We're like walking computers that want to master whatever is around us.

Do yourself a favor: Presume as much about others.

When someone messes up, there's no need for rebuke nor give a sales pitch to do better. In those moments that we feel lazy or lax on our duties, we don't need to be hassled toward success—we need to be reminded that this is also worth succeeding with. Sometimes we feel like giving up, never because we are "quitters" at our core, but because don't see any feasible way forward.

When someone is discouraged, just show them a path, point to any tunnel with a light at the end. That's what we're all looking for anyway. And, if you ever find someone who can't see any light at the end of any tunnel, maybe you can be that light—not only with your words, but with proof of the results from your own journeys. It's excellent encouragement to receive just a few words from someone who has done something telling you that you can do it also.

Make sure you have the results in your life so your encouragements are meaningful. Then you'll always have a place in this world. After all, everyone has some level of ambition and thus needs a little light for the journey to guide and empower.

#  #162

## Change Yourself First

Don't badger people about their need to change. It's best if you just live your life wisely. That will inspire others in some way, thus offering the best chance that others will choose to change.

You don't want people to change to whatever things you dictate for them, to become the image you make them into. You will be much happier with friends who gladly live out their own empowered lives. Having real, genuine relationships requires that you accept people as they are.

Give tips, such as brushing teeth (a bigger problem outside the West, but just for example). But, tips are not any attempt to fundamentally change someone's bad habits or hygiene. People always grow and change.

Change comes by inspiration. We change into whomever we need to in order to pursue what captivates us. So, rather than "changing" others, change yourself; become captivating just by existing, without explanation. Be an inspiration by example. Improve your own habits. Get better at whatever you want other people to do. When we perceive that we want something to change in someone else, that's Life's way of showing us what to change about ourselves. Once you truly, fully, all-out, no-stops change yourself into top-grade material, you won't even care to consider changing others. You'll find "changing others" was just a distraction from the most important person to give a talk to: the one in the mirror.

The tongue gets everyone into a lot of trouble no matter how old we get. The best way to rein it in is to focus: Manage your own life. Then you will be comfortable with one-word answers, whether you give the answer or whether someone gives the answer to you. You won't spill your beans when someone asks an inflammatory question or hurtles accusation. You won't need to lie or feel guilty. You'll easily speak only what helps, rebuking no more than necessary, never complaining, focusing on the helpful difference you can make.

If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything. Change yourself first. Talk about what you've done and the changes you've made yourself. Everything else is superfluous. Change is contagious and it starts with changing oneself.

#  #163

## Fame Is Normal

When you do a good job at something, it will eventually make you famous. You may only be "famous" among colleagues, your name never appearing in public for decades, if ever.

It happens every now and again, somewhere in the world of media, gossip, and periodical literature. Someone says, "You know that guy we always call to do that one part of our design projects because only he gets it right?"—and everyone in the room or reading that column knows the guy—instant publicity. Next, he's the name for all the talk shows and columnists to interview, being offered book deals from five publishing houses. But, he was already famous for his work. What happened in the public "bragosphere" was merely his fame turning into publicity.

The guy at the gas station, the gal running the cash register, the shoe repair guy downtown, the piano player at the weddings and parties, the school band director and football coach—all of them are already household names for one reason: They do good work.

If your work is worth its salt, you will certainly become famous in some way. Count on it. Plan for it. Grow in your personal, inward, ethical, moral character so the spotlight doesn't melt you—because the spotlight always turns on unannounced.

Don't shy away from the spotlight either. Never say, "I won't do that because I don't want to become famous." Of course, don't seek fame, but don't evade it either. Let the searchlight of fame roam where it will; you just do a good job and let the problem of fame tend to itself.

Trying to miss a moving target is almost as hard as trying to hit one. In some ways, you are already more famous than you know. Your friends talk about you, just as you talk about them. Rather than measuring, avoiding, seeking, or otherwise even caring at all about "celebrity status", just be yourself and do the best job you can. Your good example can inspire people without you knowing it for eons. You're going to make mistakes. What makes a good role model is not the absence of human error, but demonstration of good character.

_Proverbs 22:29_

#  #164

## Jesus the Shrewd

Jesus had insight, not only into "soft power", but further into "weak power". It seems like an oxymoron, but that's precisely the point: _Everything has its unfair advantages, especially the underdog._ Exploit the unfair advantages of your situation.

This involves shrewdness, something Jesus celebrated. "Vicious as snakes, yet innocent as doves." Viciousness—shrewdness—is a vital virtue of the kingdom. Religious cultures often revere _hyper-honesty_ to a point of naivety, where they easily succumb to charlatans and con artists. This is another man-made system of morals. Don't buy it.

Be cunning. Be shrews. Be vicious. Be plain and powerful. Just don't be dishonest. This is the teaching of Jesus.

Let wicked people's imaginations fill in the gaps as their creative listening wants. Herod did that with Jesus, thinking him a "fool" because he wouldn't speak.

Jesus's "shrewd servant"parable celebrated a sell-off to make lasting friends.

Jesus taught to carry a soldier's weapons beyond the legal one-mile limit he could force upon a civilian: Carry it two and watch his popularity sink. Do the same if someone sues for your cloak—a greedy move—, give him your tunic also, stand trial in your undies.

The key to shrewdness is a willingness to make sacrifices yourself, sell-off your own property, get your hands dirty, break a sweat, and do some hard work. Consider a few modern day scenarios.

If someone steals your intellectual property, go open source rather than lawsuit; they won't be able to compete. Thieves don't know how to invent things, you do. Going open source will turn the guy tho stole your stuff into free advertising for your next invention.

Gandhi sparked India's independence one person at a time. England invaded Scotland, then the Scottish burned their own cornfields, England hurt more. When the US government insisted ketchup companies no longer use chemical preservatives, Heinz invented the idea of vinegar and sugar for modern ketchup, the others fought the government and went out of business, ketchup was remade.

Reinvent yourself, use "weak power", walk the miles, don't fear taking a hit just to survive. This is different from going nuclear or kamikaze and a much better way to get out from under a bully.

_Proverbs 25:21-22, Matthew 5:38-48; 10:16, Luke 16:9, Romans 12:20_

#  #165

## Listen to Talent

As a car owner, it can be frustrating listening to a mechanic explaining your car's engine problem. Remember, he's giving you a tuition-free education. He could just charge you money or lie to you. When he shares his knowledge, you should be thankful. The more you know about your car, the better condition you can keep it in and the less likely a bad mechanic is to do you dirty.

As a business owner, you may contract, hire, or both, when it comes to specialized talent. Those talented people will want to talk to you and share their expertise. Don't respond with a faux pas.

A Rush Limbaugh caller once said, "I mean, if someone gives you a box from Tiffany's, you say, 'Thank you.'"

It's not about being rich or smart or educated or wanting to be a geek or being materialistic. The polite, kind thing to do when someone gives you a compliment is to, quite simply, be thankful. If nothing else, it's back to mom putting drawings on the refrigerator. But, when you're paying the person who wants to throw in something extra to boot, you might want to display that artwork under glass.

Whether you think like an investor, deal-maker, employer, or simply a friend, it should count as at least three red flags when someone disrespects the opinion of hired talent. It might be a worthy HR tactic to stall job applicants with a janitor babbling on about why he mops the floor the way he does, just to see which applicants care and which get irritated—and the janitor is the actual guy giving the interview.

I actually do that kind of stuff when I visit a potential sourcing factory for the first time. I throw out my "crazy guy strategy ideas"—in part, never all—to let the factory owner filter himself. If he rejects my idea, then it won't work out when I order 100k pc anyway, and, on record, he was the one who rejected me. So, he can't complain when I'm ordering, literally, from the factory across the street.

Rambling talent could save you big money. Never stop learning, especially from your own hired help.

#  #166

## The Holistically Holistic Life

In life, we learn and grow, choose and become. One single human life contains an equilibrium to itself, made up of whatever morals we held, skills we learned, self-control we gained, strength we grew, knowledge we discovered, truth we accepted, friends we earned, enemies we notarized, fruits we yielded, gratitude we gave, and beauty we beheld.

Skill, hard work, learning, and stewardship are some pieces of a much larger ecosystem. All of the components of a healthy life can never be exhausted or listed since living life includes searching out what it means to live. Knowledge becomes outdated or added to. Stuff we gain from good stewardship decays and blows away in the wind. But, things like character and virtue matter eternally. From hard work and stewardship, we cannot help but gain good character and godly virtue because good character and godly virtue both require and lead to hard work and fruitful stewardship. But, the actual work and stewardship themselves are mere means to the greater ends of enjoyment and godliness that last into the next life.

Don't sacrifice or overemphasize any one aspect of a well-rounded life over another. Like stones in an archway, every component is important. The ongoing quest is to identify all of the parts of your life that matter to your journey of today and remember them all throughout the day.

Remembering everything to remember is a near-impossible task. As ever-growing humans, our lives are prone to disproportion. Never think that you have arrived at perfect balance of the juggling act of life's many values because the moment you become perfect, your purpose in life is expired and it's time to pass on. God makes sure that we each die when we become as perfect as we will ever be—either by becoming nearly perfect or by refusing to.

We can never measure the impact or value of our own lives. You might help a million souls see the light or you might mentor only one child who does. Which is greater—the world-changer or his mentor—is for Eternity to decide. Gauge your life's value, not by what you see in this lifetime, but by values transcending into Eternity.

#  #167

## Winning Is Wearisome Work

The troubles and struggles along the pathway to any victory ought be expected. Unfortunately many of the world's mentors skip this lesson with their pupils. Athletic coaches talk about it, but institutional establishments paint a very different and false picture—that diligent homework makes friends and a shoe-in financial statement. But, that's just propagandist brainwashing for institutions to make obedient minions, rewarding them with frictionless perks.

Real victory is bloody, sweaty, and teary. Consider the trailblazers and pioneers of the Wild West. Anything new, fresh, and growing will cut into the wild and untame. Anyone who does new, fresh, and growing work will adapt one's tastes to find comfort and familiarity in the fray.

Institutions and establishments, by contrast, sterilize their environments before entering. If the masses allow—and sometimes they do—institutions will raze the jungle, mill the logs into poles, and plunge them back into the ground like a field of giant toothpicks where trees once stood, labeling it a "better" forest to explore. But, nature is organic and spontaneous.

Each tree, each grass and moss and bird and critter thrive uniquely—differently yet in kind. Life sprawls with ordered chaos having a purpose necessary to biological progress. That life is strong and powerful, able to overcome... whatever—even a forest fire, even nuclear fallout. Consider the environment around Chernobyl.

The bumpy, irregular path of real life makes us tired. Enemies return flack when the good guys make progress. Wisdom tells us this is normal. But, institutions see the unique irregularities of life as a nuisance and it makes them depressed. Thus, institutions and their teachers pass on their depression to their pupils—to their minions. To hear any institutional culture speak of life is disheartening. It has neither spunk nor spark, completely deflated and complacent.

"It's so hard," they say. "I don't know how I'll make it, but I'll keep going a little longer. This life isn't easy, full of trouble." For the so-called "godly" institutions, they inject "institutional hope"—"God will come help me some day and rescue me from this depressing existence." Such is lifeless Institutionalism.

Know this truth and thrive: Winners are not weary as victims, but as victors.

# 

#  #168

## Jesus the Wise

Jesus was wise in ways we cannot fully know. Even working as a carpenter had its wisdom. John writes that Jesus did so many things that the world couldn't contain enough books to tell it all. From what we do know of Jesus's life in the New Testament, much of his wisdom shows in his conversations.

In prayer and study, Jesus came to understand God the Father in personal fellowship. Don't think that Jesus's knowledge and wisdom were downloaded to his brain—that would not be perfect. Jesus was perfect and a perfect human is a human who never stops learning.

Humans must expand and study, pray and grow. The Bible says that Jesus _grew_ in wisdom and stature. As a perfect human, as he pursued God through Scripture and prayer, God would reveal to him who he was.

In this way, Jesus sets the example for all of us. Through persistent prayer and daily Bible exposure, God will reveal to you who you are. You will know your mission, purpose, gifting, calling, abilities, uniqueness, and even choices in your heart that you are unaware of.

Heaven rejoices over you because of your uniqueness, but you will only know why if you pursue Heaven's knowledge through daily prayer and Bible. This is the beginning of wisdom and it is the reason Jesus was so wise as he was.

With the religious teachers and their word traps, Jesus cut to the heart of the matter. He knew God the Father and the Pharisees never could because loving God is necessary to know God.

When the Sadducees asked about the resurrection, Jesus explained what Heaven is like and that the error in their question showed that they neither understand God's Word or God's power.

When the Pharisees asked about the greatest command of Moses's Law, Jesus explains the _two_ Great Commands that sum up Moses's Law as well as the Old Testament Prophets. Jesus knew this, but the Pharisees never considered it because, though they may have Moses's Law memorized, they don't know what it means.

Jesus didn't answer these ways because he was cute with twisting arguments, but because he truly understood the issues.

_Matthew 21: 23-27; 22:23-46, Luke 2:52_

# 

#  #169

## Two Great Commands: Sequence, not Hierarchy

The Pharisees condescendingly asked Jesus which command was the greatest. Jesus silenced them in an already silenced crowd by saying that there were two: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, and strength; and the second one like it, love your neighbor as yourself. This, Jesus explained, summarized the entire Old Testament from Moses's writings through the last of the prophets.

The religious teachers who thought to make Jesus look foolish with their academia didn't know how to respond because they didn't understand the Scriptures enough to see them for what they were. They missed the whole point and couldn't the forest for the trees. Samuel told Saul that God wanted obedience more than ritual sacrifice. The Psalmist and Hosea taught the same thing: Old Testament Law is for our benefit; God does not delight in the rules themselves. God wants us to live and prosper. But, it all begins with loving Him the most and consequentially loving His Image, our fellow Man.

The command to love God is not greater than the second, it is "the first and great" command, "the second" is to love our neighbor—not more than ourselves, but just as we love ourselves at the same time. The sequence is the essence and the secret to both: One cannot love God actually without consequentially loving people; one cannot love people without loving God first.

In much the same way, no one can feel love from other people without first feeling loved by God. Spending time with God—thinking about His love for you, your love for Him, your love of being loved by Him—is not time wasted. If you remain there forever then you never were actually there. Time spend loving God, with neither distractions nor actions, will boil up love inside the heart. We can't love without loving God and we can't love God and not love.

Lack of love throughout the world continues when second things aren't second. The Great Commandment, to love God, was first. If you make Jesus's First Great Commandment your first commandment to follow throughout your life, other needs and pursuits will line up as they get in line behind.

_Psalm 51:16, 1 Samuel 15:22, Hosea 6:6, Matthew 22:29-40_

#  #170

## Lift

Troubles come from a variety of sources. Some troubles come from our own stupidity, others come from outside forces we cannot control. When you see someone else caught in too much trouble, don't add to it.

Help everyone; it doesn't matter where their trouble came from. Helping people out of trouble that they made for themselves is not an irresponsible thing to do. In fact, it shows people that there is a better and higher way of life on Earth. They already regret their difficulty, they're likely too embarrassed to say so. When you see someone evidently in distress, nothing says that you know they caused their own problem like proving that you know just how to help them out of it.

When someone tries to apologize, but their effort might seem to be only half of a full apology, just accept their apology as it is. "Um, maybe I was not quite right about half of the things I might have said yesterday when..." Just interrupt the person and say, "Apology accepted. I completely forgive you. Let's move on." That will deal with the issue much more effectively than putting them on the witness stand, demanding a full confession in open court. It will address any lack of sincerity, avoid unnecessary shame, and grow your friendship at the same time.

Do not make people fully confess their wrong before you personally forgive them.

Western children understand seeking forgiveness. Good parents demand a full apology from their children to train them to be honest. But, as adults, we must mature beyond our acquired appetite for fully fledged confessions from others.

Love conceals a sin. This does not mean that you have become an accomplice by not shaming and publicly scorning everyone for every transgression. By granting merciful shadows to hide in, you allow people to search their hearts and resolve to be better people without making it impossible to show their faces in public.

If you can help people in distress from their own folly, then you can help anyone in distress. So, what caused other's problems isn't your own problem to solve. Just offer a friendly boost wherever you see a boost is needed.

#  #171

## Professional Naysayers

Naysaying is normal and expected at times, but never as a profession. Quickly identify the professional naysayer. Call him out on it just as quickly.

Give him no room, no concession. Do not negotiate. Do not concede. If he's right then he's right about a 100% different topic than he professionally says, "Nay," about.

They professional naysayer will impress unwitting victims who will give him their votes, their friendship, their trust, their patronage, and their money. When you call out the professional naysayer, you protect the many would-be victims.

He sits in his office in comfort and luxury. He hears word of a disgruntled employee who was there since the founding. Should he heed? Nay! He makes more money than the old employee, so he obviously knows more.

He receives a suggestion for a new business strategy. Should he consider it? Nay! Someone already did that. He lists one hundred and one companies who did something similar, but not quite the same. But, he doesn't know that the new strategy is indeed new because saying, "Nay," is his profession.

The loyalists complain and the founders have all left. Should he be concerned? Nay! Their time is past. Fans and customers, business and audiences, sales and purchases—those things are fixed and guaranteed. His organization is too big to fail. No one can make it fail and no one can stop it when the time for failure comes. So, forget the loyalists and the fan base, they couldn't make a difference anyhow.

His competition sets out on a plan that could prove him wrong and open a new way of business altogether. Should he reinvent? There's only one thing to do with the competition: Say, "Nay! Nay! Nay!" Say, "Nay," on television. Print, "Nay," in the newspaper and vote on a non-binding resolution. The only reason the competition would succeed is if the masses believed the competition could. So, dissuade the competition's loyalists and fans—no one is anything without fans after all. Advise the competition how to defeat you the "real way".

If you say it will fail enough, then it must. If you can "nay" everything into failing, you're sure to stay on top.

_Matthew 19:26, Ephesians 3:20-21 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11_

#  #172

## Jesus the Prayer Warrior

Jesus prayed constantly.

He woke early in the morning to pray and would go off by himself to pray more. He references prayer often and casually, as if it ought to be considered a normal thing. And, for Jesus it was normal.

In the desert, while being tempted, Jesus fasted as a form of more intense prayer.

When the demon possessed boy could not be freed from the demon—not even by Jesus's disciples—Jesus drove out the demon, even then through convulsions. Jesus had given the disciples authority, so they assumed they would be able to drive out the demon.

When the disciples asked why they could not drive out the demon, Jesus said that some demons only come out by prayer and fasting. This refers to people with a _lifestyle_ of prayer and fasting, not merely praying and fasting one time for that one demon. This is obvious because Jesus neither prayed nor fasted when he drove out the demon and his disciples knew exactly what he meant. Prayer and fasting were an evident part of Jesus's life, his disciples knew this well because they had to go looking for him while was praying. They even asked him how to pray because they knew he knew.

One does not develop a lifestyle of prayer by memorizing pre-written "prayers". Such prayer is like a conversation. As a human, son, brother, and friend, Jesus is not praying in some mysterious way that other humans can't. The way Jesus prays was the same way we all can pray, which was why he taught us to pray.

When Jesus taught prayer in his Sermon on the Mount, he said not to act impressive or pious, but to be simple and pray for daily bread, forgiveness of sin, deliverance from evil, and to bring Heaven to Earth.

Jesus grants us his authority, but we only walk in it by prayer.

Prayer is not a show, it is a conversation with God. Everyone has a direct phone line to God, you included. The more you talk on that phone line and the more you listen, the more you will understand Jesus because the more you will be like Jesus.

_Matthew 6:1-15; 14:23; 17:14-21, Mark 1:35-37; 9:14-29, Luke 4:1-2; 6:12; 11:1-4; 18:7; 22:31-32, John 17, Hebrews 5:7_

#  #173

## Professional Lazyboys

Lounging around is healthy and vital, but it's no map to successfully helping, teaching, and leading other people. The professional lazyboy is sneakier than the professional naysayer and, in his own lazy way, he can be much more dangerous. Call him out—of his comfortable seat, that is.

He lounges in his office. Laziness is his answer to everything. "That's easy, no problem," he answers as if on cue. Some things are, in fact, very easy, but he confuses easiness as a strategy unto itself.

The way to stay big is to be big, but the professional lazyboy has no strategy to become big. He sits atop a brilliant structure someone else built, but he gives no credit for the building and only takes credit for managing the decaying momentum from the pioneers who already left.

If business were a train, he would think the engine the biggest problem. Momentum is a given, to be taken for granted, never the resulting indication of good stewardship strategy. Therefore, in his mind, the engine is just a silly gimmick to fool those unpolished, badly-dressed, uncooperative fools who founded the organization that he perfected. Though the money and customers are dropping, that's from the economy, stupid! If he hadn't sold-off the engine to get rid of that obnoxious noise, the organization would be in worse shape because no one can read with that annoying whistle blowing and the dirty engineer hauling coal around the train!

Never learn and understand the inner workings of your company if you can just pay someone to do it for you. The way to innovate for the future is to follow the proven strategies widely published in periodicals, reviewed by journals, old enough to have made their way into college textbooks, and implemented by college graduates who studied those strategies half a decade ago. That's cutting edge! Never do anything that everyone else isn't already saying to do, otherwise you'll never find your niche.

Find the formula. Pay for bulk production en masse. Money can solve all your problems, but never say so. It's an easy formula, after all. People have already been doing that for years. Don't change what works. Laziness triumphs!

_Proverbs 26:1-16_

#  #174

## Our Need to Lead Ourselves

Everyone needs to lead, mainly lead ourselves.

You don't need people telling you how to be you and you certainly don't need people telling you how to be them. When people give you flack for doing things the way you do them in your life, the answer is to get them out of your life decisions and somehow help them to focus on leading their own lives.

No one knows how to be you better than you, God notwithstanding. While achieving the never-before-achieved, every achiever has friends who moonlight as naysayers saying, "You can't do that," and, "it's not done that way." Actually, they mean, "It's not failed that way." Achieving what's never been done requires doing what's never been done and doing those never-before-done things in a way that's never been done that way.

People who've never done it haven't figured that part out yet. So far, they have only "done", not "done never-before-done". They began with questions, learned to do things they way other people had already been doing things for a long time, sprinkled a couple pinches of "new ideas" atop the frosting, and decided how every master chef should invent a new cake recipe. The world does, indeed, have many people who need to learn what's already been learned—including you to some extent.

But, doing what's already been done didn't bring us where we are. At some point, we need those one-in-a-million weird-o types, the trailblazers, the pioneers, the people who boldly go... anywhere they feel like. Trailblazers always take flack from friends who think that leveling new paths indicates a mental illness—and that they are the ones to treat it.

Think of yourself as a time traveler. Going back in time—to the situation where you are now—to the situation where people have never seen what you have already seen in your mind's eye. Don't try to argue with history and certainly don't start any time paradoxes. Just shut yer trap, work, talk only with people who contribute to the controversial effort, and tell your other "volunteer therapist" friends trying to fix you, "I'd rather have you show me what never-before-imagined work only you could get done."

#  #175

## Hypocritical Hypocrisy

The hypocrite is the one who accuses someone of being a hypocrite for trying after a fall. In the Bible-centered moral worldview, everyone is a sinner, everyone has fallen, and everyone needs redemption. The message therein is one of hope: Knockdown is not knockout—game over, down for the count—just because someone messes up. It's not true about you nor anyone else.

Jesus's message is that we each have a future, no matter how much we mess up. The one who see a future, seeks forgiveness, seeks to forgive, gets up keeps going, and doesn't lay down to die just because of the past—that person grasps the point of the Bible.

How then can Bible-believers claim that anyone is a hypocrite for pressing forward and encouraging others with hope?

Too often, the unspoken rule of "Churchianity" is presumed, permanent, prerequisite perfection. But, we don't reach perfection in this life. Cannibalization of proven mistake-makers proves whether a Sunday morning religion prays to a false god, not the God of the Bible.

Silas Sheffer said, "If I was going to have a view as controversial as 'Earthly Perfection' I would have kept it to myself."

I myself don't claim to be any kind of moral authority. I know that I'm not perfect, but I want to be. So, we have a litmus test that divides the morally upright from the posers: Is a moral value something one keeps perfectly or something one strives for, knowing that one can never measure up? Bible-based morals don't tell us to pretend to have arrived, but to continue on until we have. Nothing will get in the way of your journey in Jesus as much as judging others—either for their mistakes or judging others for judging others.

The only true hypocrite is the one who truly thinks he is not. The accusation of "hypocrisy" is an old tactic of the "Churchianity" leader who protects his own position by maintaining a group think mob mentality, publicly lynching anyone who errs. It is also a tactic of non-Christians in public forums who loudly reject Jesus, accusing Christians merely because Christians are their enemies. These are the biggest hypocrites of all.

_Titus 3:3-10_

#  #176

## Jesus the Compassionate Healer

Jesus never game money to the poor. Of course, he recommended it, but not as a solution to poverty.

A rich man wanted to have a great place in the Kingdom and Jesus said, "Liquidate everything, give it all to the poor, and follow me as my disciple." Giving it all to the poor would have been the most honest way to dispose of his assets so he would be free to follow Jesus.

When Judas wanted to sell perfume poured out on Jesus's feet and give the money to the poor, it was actually so he could embezzle some of the money for himself. Jesus's rebuttal to Judas's "greedy charity" was that poverty would never be eliminated.

Jesus that whatever we do to the poor we also do to him, which will come back to us for reward or punishment at the Great Judgment. In this, Jesus describes clothing, food, and water, not dolling out great sums of money to be spent on anything.

In Moses's Law, God tells Israel's farmers to leave the corners of their fields unharvested and to not comb over the fields a second time—but to leave this extra for the widow, the fatherless children, and the foreigner. This was God's plan for social justice, to be a little sloppy, to be charitable with the poor, to return a cloak left for deposit by the end of the day, to pay the poor and foreigners by the end of every day, and to never twist laws to make them complex and unfair for the poor or the foreigners. If Israel would obey this, there would be no poor among them.

Jesus's compassion campaign is ingenious! It provides a social structure where everyone works and no one slips through the cracks. His plan was strategized in his wisdom as a merchant, administrator, judge, and king.

When Jesus healed people it was from compassion. After Jesus's left, his disciples didn't give money to the poor—they gave them much more: healing.

Even when religious leaders condemned healing on the Sabbath, Jesus didn't care. Miracles demonstrate some power, but Jesus healed people because healing was part of his great campaign of compassion.

_Exodus 22:25-27, Deuteronomy 10:18-19; 15:1-6; 24:14-22, Matthew 10:42; 25:31-46, Mark 9:41, John 12:1-6, Acts 3:1-10_

#  #177

## Romance Is Overrated

It all goes back to fantasy. One of the biggest—if not the biggest—driving force behind the worldwide cultural obsession with romance is the genre. While fantasy does well as a genre, not a lifestyle, romance is better left to the mundane. Rising divorce rates at the dawn of the second millennium were just too high to say otherwise.

So much money and emotion goes into the marriage rituals that families start out with a pocket too light, just to meet the expected norms. If a fraction of the resources for the performance went into dedication and loyalty through the boring normality of life, the divorce rate might also be a fraction of what it is.

My sister got married across the country and held the reception at home. Mom said, "I wasn't there for the wedding, but I was here for the marriage." Sadly, not many married couples can say the same.

Marriage can't be strong and lasting if it is worshiped as a false deity. But, the movies and stories and lyrics in pop music push a cultural expectation that so glorifies relationships that are, in actual life, nothing that we romanticize them to be. Romance itself has become romanticized.

When one makes a promise, one must envision the hardship of statistical obstacles and determine to keep going with neither reward nor pleasure, merely for the sake of keeping the promise being made. If it's not worth it then don't make the promise. But, it's hard to envision the granular features of any rocky road when hypnotized by dreary, starry-eyed songs about a fake fantasy.

Love is much more than pop culture's expression of it could ever be. The Bible's most recurring illustration for the human relationship with God is that of a man and woman in marriage. This isn't literal; it's illustrative, the most-used illustration in the Bible. Consider Song of Songs, Hosea, John's reference to Jesus as bridegroom, Jesus's parable of ten bridesmaids, and the Book of Revelation closing with the words, "The Spirit and the bride say come!"

The Biblical concept of undying, sacrificial, there-through-it-all love is the standard for actual romance. Marriage was invented in Heaven, not Hollywood.

#  #178

## Know Love

Knowing love is central to everything social—relationships, teamwork, family, romance, leadership, neighbors, classmates, the work place, the school playground, government, consulting, client relations, sales. Everything that involves people succeeds where love abounds and fails where love is absent.

When there are hardships or frustrations in dealing with people, love is somewhere absent. Being "able" to receive love can be difficult and it causes people to be unloving. Usually, rude, disrespectful, angry, inconsiderate people have a love issue—firstly that they don't know how to receive love from others.

Being "unlovable" isn't about other people struggling to love a person; it's about one's own inability to receive love from others. Loving the unlovable is a challenge because unlovable people put up barriers and deterrent to keep other people away. They act inhospitable and unwelcoming specifically and intentionally so that other people will not want to be kind to them. Kindness is a risk and, for whatever reason, they don't want people to love them. They hunger for love, but they have decided somewhere that no love can ever be real or that so-called "love" is a bait for the coming switch.

Loving the unlovable means one must learn to love more. You may think that you love others, but your level of understanding love will not be proven with people who are easy to love, but with people who resist your love. This is a problem all around and whichever side you find yourself on today, there remains only one way through for everyone—learn to love more.

If you want to love others, you must first know how to receive love. If you struggle to love anyone else, that directly shows your struggle to receive love from others. The first place to receive love is from God because He never stops loving us. He rarely gives us what we want, but He loves us enough to give us what we need every time. Love can be firm and tough at times.

Growing in love is a daily, constant choice. You will not become a more loving person if you take a day off from loving others. Like Bible and prayer, love also grows daily.

#  #179

## God Is not Entitled to Receive Our Love

Love is never entitled. Love must always be earned, won over. The moment anyone thinks oneself entitled to love, that person will become lax, negligent, unloving, and, consequentially, unlovable. God is not like this. God is perfectly lovable because, though always available, His love is perfectly optional.

God is a gentleman. He will never go where He is unwelcome. As a gentleman, He knows how to take a hint.

The young woman still learning to love will do things that repel other people. But, not understanding how repulsive her actions are, can't figure out why people keep running from her. Eventually, she thinks the world is against her when, actually, she has not prepared herself to be a loving person whom people want to love in return. Just the same, a young man may annoy others or fail to carry his own weight, so his peers reject him, yet he will never figure out why until someone explains to him how to earn friendship.

To earn friends, first be a friend; to be a friend, do a good job of whatever you are doing. God understands these things perfectly. So, when we do small, little things that repel wisdom, life, strength, and the choice to be happy, He won't darken our door with things we don't want. Immorality uninvites the God who created morality for our benefit. He won't force life on us if we don't want to walk the path that leads to that life.

Just the same, with guidance of the Holy Spirit, heightened joy from His presence, spirit-driven insight into our circumstances—God will not share these things with us unless we want it.

God leaves many standing offers on the table. It is our choice what we will accept from Him. Some people only want His forgiveness without the result of living wisely. So, forgiveness is all we will have as we enter into the next life with nothing else. Some people want to obey his moral code, but not grow in love and self-controlled joy. Many "Christians" reject miracles or spiritual encounters. Whatever our limits are on God's love, He respects our boundaries and will never impose Himself beyond them.

#  #180

## Jesus the Artisan

Jesus was not only sinless, not only a prayer warrior, teacher, and miracle worker; Jesus was a master craftsman.

With humanity's nature of continuous learning, Jesus would not have been the perfect sacrifice as the Lamb of God who took sin from the whole world unless he had also mastered a skill of some kind. The religious leaders of his day did not merely sacrifice some common man, and not only the Son of God; they sacrificed an accomplished artisan.

Jesus was a master, not only of life and people, but also of trade.

David and Joseph both ascended to their place of rule at about the age of thirty. Likewise, Jesus began his public ministry at the age of thirty.

There is nothing magical about this age thirty, but it often makes sense on many levels. Tech leaders, such as Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, had great trouble in their mid and late twenties because they had not been through enough practice and natural life difficulties to prepare them for the wolf pit of piloting a large company. Joseph, David, and Jesus did not have this problem.

There is some value in pondering the implications of Jesus being a carpenter. God the Creator grows the trees as part of "creation"; man cuts the wood as part of "procreation". Jesus worked with his hands closely to nature. One legend tells that Jesus made yokes for oxen and would feel the animals with his hand so he could cut them to fit. This has some plausibility from Scripture since Jesus used the yoke as an illustration, "Take my yoke upon you," and Paul later talked about being "equally yoked". Either way, yokes would not have been the only wood Jesus ever crafted.

Yokes, as well as other "building" terminology, in the New Testament occur in the context of _Jesus the carpenter_.

Beyond carpentry illustrations, Jesus had a trade; he himself had a skill. He is "preparing a place" for us in Eternity as a carpenter.

Jesus the master carpenter is also the perfect administrator, setting yet another example for us to work and learn and improve skills that make effective and qualified leaders, servants, and friends.

_Matthew 11:29-30; 13:55, Mark 6:3; 14:58, John 2:18-22; 14:1-4, 2 Corinthians 6:14_

#  #181

## We Are Only Entitled to Sonship by Faith

We are born with no rights except the right to choose whether to believe and trust the God who created us. An attitude of entitlement causes us to lower our guard and our work ethic. Being entitled means that one does not need to work to keep what one has. So, thinking oneself entitled to what must be earned leaves one with nothing.

As our Creator and Redeemer, God loves us, sees great value and potential in us, and gladly crawled through crucifixion to ensure that we could retain a pathway to live out that potential. But, that is all it is: potential. Jesus gave us no guarantees on the results in our lives, only that we would keep a choice in the matter of our own futures.

We can't even change our past. We can only affect our future.

Simply accepting God's gift adopts us back into the estrange family of our natural birth. God made us, we fell, and He welcomes us back if we simply return. We are always welcome as sons and daughters to live in and enjoy His estate. But, what we do with it remains up to us.

This makes God's unconditional love perfect. We are always welcome in His own house, just as children believe that their parents' home also belongs to them—because it truly does. Just the same, everything children own belongs to their parents. They are family, loved, and have a place to belong. But, we also have complete control over results. If one can work, practice, learn, and earn more, then one has more rightly and fairly, not because of any favoritism.

We find both inner strength and confidence in our hearts when we know how secure we are in God's unconditional love, along with knowing that we are entitled to no particular results whatsoever where our work is concerned—except that our results are earned fairly. What a gift!—that we have nothing we didn't rightly earn except the unconditional love of our adoptive biological Creator Father in Heaven!

Even our bad results are our own faults, while unavoidable hardship strengthens us. This, too, is liberating—to know God isn't just some meanie.

#  #182

## Two Types of 'Victim'

There are two types of victimhood: 1. factual and 2. state-of-mind.

The first kind is when someone is literally overpowered by another person or institution. The second kind leads to "complete stories" about the bad things other people did, declaring, "I'm not going to be a victim anymore," then looking for a gun, stick, bunker, faster car, supervisor to appeal to, or lawyer—all "devices" to stop or escape the abuser. Such "devices" are rarely an answer.

Preventative action is good and smart, home security systems and conceal carry permits even help police. But, don't call a lawyer or get a gun because the people at work and home don't listen; that's the thinking of a mass shooter.

Never exploit your injury to blackmail or influence others. This is not justice, but it happens: Reporting abuse can reflect worse on oneself for getting injured in the first place, thereby appearing incompetent and losing employment, friends, even family. Report abusers, but don't fall into this trap when you do!

One Asian friend was frequently taken advantage of by his friend and he wanted to change his English name to seem more tough. He did need a new name, but not to solve his "victim" problem.

I've had Asian employers deny me my legal papers more than once, even trying to take my passport. Rather than a battle in court, I chose to be educated and "sneaky" so my employers couldn't take away my rights. I simply survived, nothing more, which slowly injured those employers more than any lawyer could have.

Sometimes we need to take legal or physical action, but there does also exist an often downplayed "inner-self power" that requires forgiveness in your heart, technical research on your own, and a lot of patience. That is what it fully means to "not let yourself become a victim", where the slave is so shrewd and patient that he has more power than even the slave master.

We have seen this in history: Tank Man from China, MLK Jr., and Jesus Christ. Jesus was no victim, those who crucified him made themselves the victims because Christianity swelled into a tsunami movement and to this day holds the last word.

#  #183

## We Were Created to Love and Be Loved

From the Beginning, God created us for the sake of love. We cannot exist without love. We cannot succeed at anything without love. Friendships, business, family ties, academics, government, society, international and domestic peace—everything depends on love in order to continue. This is because we as humans were made for love—both to give and to receive.

Our ability to love others is one in the same as our ability to receive love. Receiving and giving love are actually the same, single action. Sometimes we perceive and "feel" more receiving or more giving, but love really is always a two-way street.

No one can receive love without giving love. No one can love others without being capable of receiving love.

The person who leads the cause for compassion, head of an organization that helps those in need, but cannot accept the simple act of love, is not fully loving others, no matter how big the cause or organization may grow. Many people who are outwardly known as "the caregiver", but don't know how to accept love from others, are on a question to have love, but still haven't found it yet. Don't be surprised to find out who this is.

Just the same, many people seek to be loved by others. They know what they seek and they seek to be loved with conscious intent. They pray for God to send people who will love them. But, the truth holds just the same for them: Our human capacity to receive love and to give love are one in the same!

If you need to feel loved, then give love to others. If you feel love for others and you want to demonstrate that love for others, then pray for God to increase your own capacity to receive love that you might not be able to return.

Love between us and God is where it all begins and where it all ends. By loving God and accepting God's great love for us, we automatically grow in our giving and receiving love with others—it's an unavoidable consequence of true love with God and only flows from love with God first. Love is a God-centered circle.

#  #184

## Jesus and Him Crucified

Jesus's crucifixion was the greatest game changer in all history, Eternity past and future.

He was the perfect human sacrifice, completely completing every part of every sacrificial Law from Moses. He was and is the literal Lamb of God. Because of Jesus's death on the Cross, Moses's sacrificial Law has been completed and fulfilled so that no sacrifices are ever necessary, ever again. His sacrifice is applied to anyone merely by believing that it is real and sufficient.

Jesus sacrifice was a human sacrifice, but it had much more power than any other human sacrifice. For those who have engaged in human sacrifices, Jesus's self-sacrifice at the Cross is sufficient to break their bonds with the Devil, to completely forgive their evil, and to give them all the power and permissions available to anyone who believes in Jesus as the Messiah from God the Father.

The power of Jesus's sacrifice was demonstrated in his resurrection from the grave. No one brought Jesus back to life; he brought himself back. In his crucifixion and completion of Moses's sacrificial Law, death permanently lost its grip on humanity. Now, Jesus holds the grip on the grave.

Paul prayed to know Jesus in his suffering so that he could understand God more and to attain resurrection from the dead, just like Jesus. Paul also said that he should never hope to boast about anything except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Of all the accomplishments in this world, the greatest work in any of our lives is the redemptive work of Jesus at the Cross to bring new life in our own lives.

Jesus did miracles in his first lifetime on Earth. He also delegated the power of miracles to his disciples. He could do this because he had the Holy Spirit living inside of him. That was possible because Jesus was sinless and because he is the Son of God. In the Old Testament, some people had the power of the Holy Spirit, but it came and went at God's will.

But, when Jesus finished his work at the Cross, the Temple curtain ripped and God's Holy Spirit became permanently available to all who believe in Jesus the Crucified.

_Matthew 27:51, Luke 10:17-20, John 14, Galatians 6:14, Philippians 3:7-11, Hebrews 10_

#  #185

## Purchase Is not Praise

Patronage is not a spectator sport. Don't fall into the passive-consumer worldview, which presumes that being the customer of a business or the patron of an artist is a kind of "endorsement". Your money and your bills are not notoriety, they are empowerment. There is a difference. If you struggle at all with confusing endorsement and empowerment, then money in your life will always hold a glass ceiling above your head.

Jesus taught us to exploit "wicked wealth" for the good purposes of Eternity. Buying products from a company owned by wicked men is no endorsement of what those wicked men do nor does it say that you "believe in" what they stand for. Buying a product is only buying a product. What wicked men intend for evil, you can commandeer for the good of God's kingdom.

The plans of the all powerful God Most High are not thwarted because He appropriated the quality tools that some devil volunteered to create at no cost. Sure, demons do evil things with evil intentions, occasionally performing quality craftsmanship along the way. But, if God interrupts their work after they complete their craft, but before their evil is consummated, then evil squandered itself and God had the final word.

So, purchase your needed supplies from whatever supplier supplies you best. Go and spread the goodness of those products, multiplying their effectiveness with your own creativity and insight. Eat the worm off the hook, the cheese off of the mouse trap, and re-set it to snag the fisherman and the mouse trapper. Buy stock in unethical companies in hopes that millions of fair and honest people will do the same, eventually taking a controlling interest and converting that company from good to bad, rendering all the efforts of evil an absolute backfiring waste.

See yourself as the solution, not the self-important spectator sprinkling little rewards of money with your power game onto the players you deem best deserving of endorsement. That is not the way to make a difference.

Patronage is neither agreement nor dissent, blessing nor curse. March right down your enemy's road, not because you bless the road, but in order to take over his wicked kingdom.

_Luke 16:1-9_

#  #186

## Lawlessness & Legalism Are Mere Addictions

Rules are not in themselves automatically good, but having no rules at all is automatically bad. Humanity needs the right set of rules, just how rules of the road empower everyone to arrive safely and quickly. The inability to follow any rules at all—whether good or bad—keeps people oppressed by poverty. Anarchy itself is a tyrant.

Legalism has been wrongly labeled as "making absolute what the Bible does not". Adding rules to the Bible is actually "man-made religion"; "legalism" is the belief that God's rules are merely moot, serving no pragmatic, sensible, and quite understandable purpose.

Lawlessness, by contrast, is a quasi-religious worldview. Lawlessness applied to the Bible seeks what "sins" God doesn't care if we commit in the name of "forgiveness". Both legalism and lawlessness ask whether we should feel obligated or liberated concerning moral rules. The premise is wrong for both.

When Israel obeyed God's command not to eat pork, they weren't "mystically better" than other nations; they were less likely to get sick in a world without soap and therefore more likely to survive against attacks from evil nations that instituted human sacrifices. Banning pork had nothing to do with pigs having "less favorable spirits" than cows and sheep, but simple survival. It made common sense. Unfortunately, the erroneous teaching of the New Testament Pharisees was "legalism", viewing these rules as having some impractical, ethereal value in and of themselves. Pork was simply unhealthy. By Jesus's time, society knew how to cook. So, God declared it "clean" to Peter, thus the Jerusalem Council did too.

God's rules in the Bible are not any part of some silly test. People need rules. But, legalistic religious teachers don't understand this. They oppress people with rules, viewing the Bible as a club to smack people with. Legalism creates just as much anarchy as its lawless worldview counterpart. By not hitting the nail on the head, the nail gets bent. Regardless of whether the nail bends right or left, hitting it again will damage the furniture.

Legalism is an addiction to following rules as an end to themselves. Lawlessness is much the same—addiction to having the free-spirited, uncontrolled life of an wild animal.

#  #187

## Jesus's Prayer: Love Each Other

In John 17, Jesus prayed that Christians would love each other. At the beginning of the 21st century, this remained Jesus's great unanswered prayer. It's not that God didn't answer Jesus's prayer, but that some prayers can only be answered by people.

Though God calls us to solitude at times, Christians need meaningful friendships with each other. Many of these are peer-to-peer while others are senior-junior relationships where one person is the "older sibling" helping along the younger, but everyone can learn from everyone.

The Bible commands us to love all people. "All people" includes everyone. But, petty squabbles between sectarian Christians seem to get a pass. Somehow, "Churchianity" Christians work it out in their minds so that this topic or that question or this other fact is some kind of an exception—some kind of an "excuse card" giving them license to fight and hate. That's when you know someone has been swallowed up by a culture of "religious feelings" and understands nothing about the Bible.

When you see a Christian who thinks it's acceptable to be disrespectful to anyone for any reason, to pass judgment before holding a thorough in-depth, face-to-face conversation, to be dismissive, to condescend while teaching, or to refuse general communication with other Christians—that person is the lowest of the low in Christian maturity and should be treated as a non-Christian in need of meeting Jesus for the first time. That person needs love as much as repentance, but isn't ready for "Christian fellowship", even as a junior, because welcoming basic love comes first.

Christians are a family, which includes people who annoy others. Siblings can easily be frustrating. When one family member snaps at another, that "snapping" does not address a problem in the recipient, but reveals a problem with the person who snapped. We all have our moments of folly, recognize yours and never make excuses.

Christians believe in the Jesus who answers prayer—the same Jesus who prayed that Christians would love one another and love all people, including enemies. Whatever ideas or notions lead you away from love are a lie from the pit of Hell. We all snap, but it is never excusable, never.

_John 13:34-35; 17, 1 John 4:7-8_

#  #188

## Jesus Our Substitute

Jesus's work at the Cross was a work as our substitute for sin. The reason we do not need to suffer Eternity in the Lake of Fire is because Jesus took that pain and punishment upon himself.

No one compelled Jesus to do this. The Father "commanded" it and Jesus "obeyed". But, in this relationship that Jesus, the Son of God, is one in the Father, Jesus "commanded" his own crucifixion as much as the Father did, and the Father "obeyed" the will of the Son as much as the Son obeyed the Father did. They were in complete agreement without negotiation or compromise. For the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for that matter, there simply was no other option.

God would stop at nothing to redeem the human race which He created in His Image. We are so valuable to Him, so precious and beloved, that the Cross was nothing compared to the great joy and happiness that God has merely in enjoying us living with Him forever.

Jesus's pain at the Cross was foreseen. The question has been asked in human history, _"If God is good and knew Adam would sin, why would He create humans in the first place, knowing that they would choose Eternal damnation?"_

But, this question is in error. Adam's sin and millions of humans rejecting Jesus as their Substitute for Eternal damnation were not the only events that God foresaw before Creation. God also foresaw His Son—the Word of God made flesh—suffering at the Cross, and the Word of God nonetheless chose to speak Earth and the rest of Creation into being anyway. The proper question is: _Why would such a God with foresight create a world knowing He would suffer so?_ The answer is: _unimaginable love._

God Almighty will let none boast above Him. The Infinite, Eternal Son, during those Infinite hours of flogging, beating, and crucifixion, experienced the full weight of God's Eternal wrath upon Himself. He suffered more than all souls Eternally combined. For Jesus's work, he is perfectly just and fair in condemning any soul to a lesser pain for rejecting such a free and accessible gift as our Substitute.

_Isaiah 53:5, Matthew 8:17, Mark 10:45, John 3:16-21; 10:11; 15:13, Romans 5:6, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 2:20; 3:13, Hebrews 9:28, 1 Peter 2:21-25; 3:18, 1 John 4:10, Revelation 5_

#  #189

## Act Sentient, not Addictive

A tree follows the rules that govern its life process. Roots grow down toward water, branches grow up toward light. Those are the "morals" of a tree and the tree follows them automatically. If a tree were to search for water in the dry, hot sun or grow leaves for sunlight in the dark, damp soil, the tree would die. Trees depend on "tree morals" in order to thrive and survive. The rules must be something for the tree to grow, even if leaves were for soil and roots for light—the rules must be set somehow for the survival of the tree.

Our own human bodies have some similar rules about where to grow arms and legs. But, unlike the tree, humans have the option to obey or disobey many of the rules that our survival depends upon. Consider many communicable diseases as an example. Certain activities make people more vulnerable to disease, other activities make people less vulnerable—such as abstaining from more vulnerable things and, in particular, washing hands especially before eating.

Trees follow their "tree morals" without any problem. As a result, they live and thrive. But, we humans have the choice of whether to follow "human morals" that empower us to live, survive, and thrive. Too often, we run counter to our necessary morals and, instead, make self-destructive choices. This is because God, in His goodness, created us with a choice. When we follow the path of life, it is not as programmed minions, but as a choice. God does not program us to love Him and choose life. We choose love and life willingly.

Our tendency to run contrary to the path leading to life started with the sin of Adam eating the only forbidden fruit, thus planting sin into our bodies. Because of this, we sinfully-instinctively gravitate to object to morals, whatever they may be. If trees could sin as humans could, they would object, even if their leaves were for the soil and roots for sunlight.

Our ongoing tendency to object to our own moral needs—whatever they may be—is nothing more than an addiction to lawlessness—and addictions never help anyone do anything worth doing.

#  #190

## Keep Calm and Carry On

Don't trust in your own resources—your schedule, your friends, favors whether owed or promised, your money, or your smarts, talents, skills, education, or looks whether ugly or gorgeous. Base your trust on God's hand to hold and uphold you. Then, you will stand no matter what comes your way.

The center of every storm brings its own calm. You yourself can be that peace. If you bring your own peace, then you are like another storm against the storm. Peace itself is a weapon.

Never grasp hastily at opportunities. When an army attacks, it plans for the enemy to respond. A good war strategist will even present phony "escape routs" in order to move the enemy into an ambush. Your red carpet way out will always include peace. Wait for the peaceful and proper moment before you move.

One of the oldest tactics of demons is to contrive plans so evil and terrible that almost every human will try to deny that the evil plan is real. This way, only the wickedest people will take up such plans. Yet, discovering those plans will naturally scare good people into going frantic. This is part of the plan used by demons on a regular basis. "Being discovered" is part of a grand strategy scare tactic to take away peace from their victims. Don't fall for it. Keep calm and carry on.

Jesus is the prince of peace. Of course, being the Truth himself, Jesus will draw controversy and divide even immediate family members. But, Jesus brings peace and calm confidence to those who accept him for the Truth he is. He settles conflicts that whole world considers too impossible to settle, bringing peace and making friends even between the greatest of foes. Jesus's ministry to the world is that Truth and Peace come together in him because Truth and Peace can only come if they come together because the root of conflict is fear, which is not driven away by compromise, but by confidence.

Many problems only exist because we think they are problematic, arising from our imagination of fear and worry. Act like a thing is not a problem and it just won't might be.

#  #191

## Keep Going and Keep the Public Peace

One of the secret responsibilities of a leader—unwritten in every leader's job description—is that a leader must never disturb the people.

It's easy to gain fame and power through shock and awe, theater and thrill. But, that is not any kind of lasting model of leading. Such leaders are short lived, having countless, intense, quick-burnout relationships. Leaders that last in office and build societies and organizations that endure through industry, hardship, and conflict will be strong and confident, but they will keep the pace of society operating smoothly, never startling the people with false alarms.

Every society has its moments to rise up in reflection and wrath. The most peaceful societies are the most fierce when their wrath is roused. Consider that Canada was the only nation to ever overpower the United States in war, 1812. Or, consider William Wallace who wanted to be a priest. When actual tragedy strikes, a peacefully strong people will pause to gather their faculties before rooting out the problem permanently.

Beware of any people who thrive or work in peace. Black slaves of America were such a people, undermined by their slavemasters, but later a political force to be reckoned with, just as the Pilgrim-founded American colonies before them. Oppressing, insulting, or otherwise disturbing a peaceful people is a deadly sin.

Trains need to run on time, roads must remain clear, the disruptions of construction should be few and far between. Follow Chicago's example and do roadwork at night if possible. Keep the economy functioning, avail jobs without the burden of over-regulation, and let people assemble and discuss whatever they want without nannying or censoring their free exchange of candid ideas.

When different peoples are at odds, don't smack everyone who deserves a good smacking. The peace of the many doesn't deserve the fallout of smacking the head of a family, business, or state. Be tolerant toward insults, sooth wounds, don't gag the mouth the shrieks in pain no matter how much your animal instincts want to. Warn of transition's bumpiness, but make it as smooth as people allow. Use charm, wit, and tact to keep dialog going and solve big problems one bite at a time.

#  #192

## Jesus the Superpowerful

The nails did not hold Jesus to the Cross, his love for us did and nothing could have taken him down. He could have crawled down anytime he wanted—he could have flown down, or transformed himself into more splendid glory than Peter, James, and John saw upon the mount.

Jesus has such great power because he has such great love, not vice versa.

Don't make the mistake of waiting to have strength before you learn to love. God will not give you power until you can love people with the small power you have—when you could smack or claw your enemies, but you don't—when you could retaliate against your friends for small offenses, but you forgive and use your powers to bolster the friendship.

Calming the waves, feeding five thousand, walking on water, feeding another four thousand, being transfigured in his glory, even the resurrection—Jesus did these things, yet the greatest was love and love came before them all.

Jesus was like a supernatural batter charged to the max. When the bleeding woman touched him, her wound of twelve years was instantly healed. Jesus felt "power" discharge from his body and asked, "Who touched me?" He meant, "Who touched me _in faith_?" because many people were physically touching him, but someone touching him with a purpose and faith to receive his superpower resulted in his superpower having a place to go where it would achieve that purpose.

About the start of the twenty-first century, there had been teaching that miracles do not happen today. This micro-sect of so-called "Christianity" was short-lived. Even in the mid 1800s, Christians would teach new Christians to "tarry", to wait for "the joy of the Lord", receiving "baptism of the Holy Spirit" and God's power with it.

That kind of "godliness without power" also feared emotional experiences while praying and singing worship to Jesus. It opposed Jesus's spiritual superpower. Not having "power", it faded when miracles returned.

Non-Christian "chi energy control" reorganizes what little power we already have. Through Holy Spirit baptism, Jesus plugs us into his power, supercharging us for all the same miracles—and greater—with superpower from the Creator God's Holy Spirit Himself.

_Matthew 8:23-27; 14:13-33; 15:32-39; 17:1-13; 26:52-54, Mark 4:35-41; 16:1-8, Luke 8:22-56, John 14:12-14, Acts 1:4-8, 1 Corinthians 13, 2 Timothy 3:1-5; 4:1-5_

#  #193

## Introspect

Don't just do something, stand there.

Think about thinking. Think about your own thinking. Take time to think about thinking. Think about how you think about your thinking—to think about whether you think about thinking the right way.

Now, if you only think about thinking about thinking, I'd just say you're stalling. But, taking moments to trace how one idea has impacted different parts of your worldview can help you become stronger on the inside.

A worldview is like fabric. It doesn't need to be elaborate or flamboyant, but it needs to be well-knit. Sometimes ideas are knit by a single thread, other times they are woven by warp and weft. Threads out of place, too loose, or too tight can make the entire fabric weak. Just the same, a thread that doesn't belong can change things for worse.

A little introspection is no waste of time. Consider it maintenance, which can be overdone or underdone; your preference is not the standard. Many "personality" conflicts between friends and family stem from having different levels for introspection, accusing each other of thinking either too much or too little.

Parents who think of themselves as "hard-working" often have trouble understanding introspective children. Parents who are not introspective probably have at least one child who is. The signs are usually an idiosyncratic interest in arts or programming language—the two are similar since code is poetry and poetry is code. Introspective people are easier to understand if one takes a little time for introspection oneself. Introspection is an acquired taste. Ironically, if an introspective child becomes estranged as an adult, the gruff parent becomes more introspective so as to ask why. "Why did this happen? What did I do?" they ask themselves at last.

Too late do too many realize that introspection has its value. Do it yourself and recognize it in others. Be introspective at times, but not to a point where it interferes with work. If you struggle with being happy it might be good to take a break from your thoughts and just focus on work. That's not the same as unhealthily avoiding problems, but, as the doctor might say, rest is the cure.

#  #194

## Managing Talent

You can't rush art, but left-brained, pampered, carped office managers always want to. Don't be that manager; go through hardship and get dirty experience. But, that's just the beginning.

Managing talented people is an art in itself. Some of this art can be studied in school from an academic, theoretical viewpoint. There are some theories we might consider and some skills we might refine under classroom supervision. But, when dealing with real problems in the labor field, nothing can replace experience through fieldwork.

Every "talent" situation is different. A business needs standards or it will fail. Creative geniuses need room to blossom and bloom, going and growing whichever way their hearts take them. But, if a flower grows the wrong way it could get stepped on in the road. If business strategy standards are violated or misguided—by managers or artists—the business will fail and the creative blossom will become homeless. In any business, boundaries and the bloom must work together, and both are always unique.

Help talent by knowing if there is a hard-line requirement in the beginning. When the artist's work doesn't stack up to standard, don't bully the painter to tears, just explain your problem as the confused consumer. "This is great," and explain the ideas you didn't think of that truly need to continue from the artist's ideas that were different from what you expect. Only then add, "I have trouble because this part confuses me as the customer. Can you think of a way so that I won't be confused." Don't tell the answer, that must flow from creativity.

We all get our turns as the talent manager and the managed talent. When it's your turn to sit in the artist's seat, try not to be totally undone. Many inflexible artists meltdown too early and get fired for good reason. There is no amount of kindness or "room to create" that pleases them.

Each situation is best addressed in prayer. Take your artistic project to God, regardless of your seat. Work, pray, and God will hydrate your soil with just enough inspiration to help you flourish. After all, He is the Great Creative Manager, and we are His talent.

#  #195

## Luxuries Differ

Of the many assumptions we harmfully make about other people, one of the widely ignored, yet all too common, is the assumption that other people have the same luxuries, opportunities, conveniences, rights, and privileges as oneself. There are fewer ways to so effectively incite the subtle wrath of Heaven than through this assumption.

Many posh, white collar, calm, upper-middle class leaders in society experience family problems, unforeseen groundswells that overwhelm their organizations, and even unexplained medical trouble that ends the life or career of a leader who was outwardly celebrated, leaving the family or organization in delusional disarray. Cities and nations are no exception.

No matter your class or race, if you travel enough, you will surely find a place in the world where "your kind" faces trouble from assumptions of a local culture or extra requirements making your normal life nearly impossible—but seems as "no big deal" to the government that crafted those requirements. This applies to everyone. If you haven't experienced this, it isn't because you have "favor" with Heaven; you just haven't traveled enough to see it.

Limits on what one can and can't do come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes it is a well-earned prejudice in society, other times it is an urban myth invented by the movies. It could be law, language, or the level of education of a small town. Try using a high school vocabulary word at a school board meeting in a school district where the board of education can't read above age 10 and see how quickly you get labeled as "verbally abusive".

Sometimes, the luxuries and limits are about the time or means of travel. Extended family may come to visit you for the first time in a decade. They may have only one afternoon available for you. If you change their appointment at the last minute for the cleaning lady, you might never see that family again.

We can't remove every prejudice from the world, though it would be wonderful if we could. Simply recognize your luxuries and that others' luxuries aren't the same. Ask first. If you don't, Heaven will humble you through a subtle groundswell and you'll never know why.

_Zechariah 7:8-14_

#  #196

## Jesus the Administrator

As the Son of the God of Means, Jesus is an administrator. He sent out his twelve and his seventy disciples to teach his message and heal the sick. His disciples baptized in his name.

Jesus is not a bureaucrat, requiring hierarchical communication and approval as a bureaucrat does; he is an administrator who delegates. Bureaucrats can't tell the difference; Jesus's administrators can.

The hired hand does not care for the sheep. Jesus is the shepherd, we are his sheep, and he raises up his own shepherds—directly, not through bureaucracy—who have it in their hearts to care for the sheep like their own. Never let any "leader" tell you what Jesus can't direct and empower you to do. Cooperate with people, answer to Jesus.

In the Old Testament, Nathan the prophet confronted King David and David heeded because David knew God's authority. All the more, under Jesus, he sends people with no position of bureaucracy—but with Jesus's authority—into our lives and it is Jesus we heed when we heed them, Jesus we reject when we reject them. Jesus sends all people for this at times, even you. No authority exists without passing through Jesus's hands.

As the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus appoints and raises, deposes and lowers, anyone he wants in any position of government. While a nation and a society choose their moral and immoral paths in life, Jesus moves the voters at the election booth. Sometimes Jesus will stir voters, but they must answer his call to have Jesus's preferred outcome. If Jesus doesn't want someone to lead a democracy, that person stands no chance.

We do what we will, yet God will work even through an unrighteous judge. Jesus separates the sheep from the goats by letting them separate themselves. Even the Devil is God's devil and all things work according to Jesus's good purposes in his grand, brilliant strategy of giving justice with choice to all people.

A master at hiring and firing, capable of calling our hearts, Jesus does not lead and guide us externally nor by force; he leads us from within our unctions—the work of Jesus the Excellent Administrator.

_2 Samuel 12:1-15, Matthew 28:16-20, Luke 10:1-20; 18:1-8, John 4:2, Ephesians 4:11, Revelation 19:16_

#  #197

## Healing Humor

Humor is a vital virtue. It cures the soul and strengthens friendship. If you ever lack jokes, try the long-winded, ridiculous rant of what everyone knows is no more than nonsense. Friends love being irritated by friends because it feels like home.

Humor at the expense of self is the perfect way to disarm. Don't cut or beat yourself, just let your tie get out of place and celebrate your own bad hair day. Here's how: "Oh, I'm having a bad hair day. I guess it's my turn."

Smiles need teeth. Coffee and chocolate are like good play, they improve with a little bite. Don't be afraid to add a little zest to the scene around you.

A classic ice-breaker is banter about food. Threaten to put the chef to work. Demand daily delivery. Or, accuse dinner of being "too bland" so you can steal another bite. Don't compliment directly; pretend to complain in a way that implies the compliment. Give people an equation to balance by using math easily doesn't add up.

One secret to comedy is the surprise ending. "Thanks for the applause, both of you." An old favorite is taking three pieces of pie while party-goers gawk, then walking off with the pie. That touches on the "yes and" secret to good improvisation: Accept everything and compound it with whatever comes to mind. Never reject.

Try the insult by non-insult, doctors are an easy target. Find any excuse to mention "apples", then act worried you've offended the doc. Nothing is as insulting as telling someone you don't mean to insult. And, nothing is as disarming as an insult obviously unwarranted.

When you must point out a flaw, insult yourself more, then your point can't be disputed and no one loses skin. Witty charm disarms because few things are as disarming as someone already disarmed. The more undignified, the less self-concerned, the more disarmed, the more disarming you are to others. Try brazen over-self-confidence, "I'd apologize, but I'm not sorry. I'm too much of a scoundrel." Humor may be bad form by the book, but bad form is hardy and hardihood makes others feel good—not merely making others feel good "about you".

#  #198

## Gadflies

Don't turn tone and style into your man made moral code. Some things can't be done with textbook diplomacy, the only right way to do those things is to do them. There isn't any way to do those things in a way that will make all of the non-doers happy.

It's very easy to sit in the bleachers, see the entire field, and try to teach the coach how to teach the players he practices with fifteen hours each week—after watching a game for only thirty minutes. But, those who are actually in the game keep their peace.

Doing something "the right way" requires doing it. The man who thinks someone else does a thing the "wrong way" when hasn't done the thing at all clearly did a worse job because he didn't do it all—someone else did it—and therefore he certainly wasn't able to do it the right way because doing a thing the "right way" begins with actually doing the thing at all.

Salt is supposed to be salty. We need salt, but it's easy to complain about it. That complaining attitude creeps up inside all of us at one time or another. Police that tendency. It lulls people into comfort, then complacency, then disarray, then hopelessness. Salt haters end up with bland and boring lives; in business, blandness leads to bankruptcy.

Gadflies are a blessing bestowed upon society because they provoke us to action. Gadflies are especially good at rudely buzzing in our ears when we shouldn't have been sleeping in the first place. And, most wonderfully of all, they bite us when we are so concerned about doing something "the right way" that we just stand there and do nothing at all.

Nature's gadflies bite the slumbering horse, making it jump into action. They illustrate society's thought-provokers like John the Baptist, Jesus, and Paul. Prophets of the Old Testament told the provocative truth. God sends gadflies into society and is pleased with them.

Gadflies take many forms, from writers to local prophets today to outspoken voices in media and politics to witty graffiti artists. God created gadflies as a reminder. Never be irritated with reminders merely for existing.

#  #199

## Never Cancel Easily

We never know how long rain will last. It can come and go within minutes. Cancelling an afternoon ballgame due to a morning sprinkle might mean missing out on one of the sunniest afternoons all year.

God disguises His best parties by making it look like they will need a rain check. Sometimes, the party is at home on the rainy day because rainy days actually do happen. But, they don't always happen. In fact, making it look like it will rain just before—well, just before it doesn't rain... Think about it. That builds suspense.

Good performing artists will spend a minute or two boring an audience before pulling out the best act all night. This makes for a very entertaining show, notwithstanding that it proves the performer has excellent showmanship. That performer knows what is boring and what is worth watching and isn't afraid to perform either, just to show that the performer knows best.

A hike in the mountains may seem the most boring just before the summit. Spelunking in caves is 90% boredom and 1% awe—the remaining 9% is spent wondering whether the trip was worth it and likes to come just before the 1% proving that it was.

That doubt—that feeling that you're in the wrong place—it almost has a mind of its own. It will sneak up on you, trying to make you miss out on the best life offers. It will make you want to get up and leave before the best speaker takes the stage or run to get a hot dog just before the batter smacks it out of the park. That boredom almost has an artificial intelligence trying to game everyone into missing out, protecting the last doorway of the adventure with a sad jester preaching a fake message of despair. "There's no hope," he whimpers behind crocodile tears. "I thought I would find it, but opening that door ruined my life and now look at me."

God put those jesters there to protect His treasures, reserving His best for those who know when to keep watching, long after the crowds think the show is over and everyone has left the theater.

#  #200

## Mercy & Grace

Laying down the law requires mercy and grace. Laying down the law without mercy and grace only does more injustice.

When a new rule, policy, law, standard, guideline, or other protocol gets implemented, people who have operated by previous guidelines get outdated. In society it's called "gentrification" or "political oppression". In software it's called "depreciating" and "legacy versioning". In legislation, America knows it as "prohibition" or "war profiteering".

When a new rule doesn't help people make necessary changes to adapt, those people are forced into an artificially created "criminal class". What they do isn't unethical, it's only "illegal" because of a so-called "update" to the law. Papers got shuffled around; now old business owners are "outlaws" merely because of a change in syntax.

This is the method corptocrats and fascists use to fight against their business opponents: Simply promote a change to the law, make it look "wonderful"—such as helping the environment or being charitable—, and structure it so some small technicality "just so happens" to make life difficult for your business competition. It's an actual tactic employed by dishonest companies in the dark world of "dirty pool business".

Folk from religious "recruit numbers for the weekly meetings" clubs often allow rules to oppress other people, but without knowing it. Rules are good, but not merely for the sake of rules. Rules are designed by God to bring justice and rules are only good in as much as that they bring justice. Formal religions often teach rules as "shoulds" rather than rules as a practical benefit to promote life and justice. Don't get caught in the trap of imposing injustice through an intrinsically motivated value on rules.

As long as you see rules for their practical outcome, you will appreciate God's Word's rules—assuming that you properly understand the actual "Biblical" rules, not some religious group's reversioning of God's Word's rules. This will help you to give justice by applying rules through grace and mercy.

Give people time to adjust to new rules. Governments should offer to purchase any equipment people bought for doing business under old rules. If you are the business, reinvent; businesses that refuse fail. That's how ketchup was made.

#  #201

## Rest in God to Grow What's Around You

God is not slow, though with a short attention span, it can seem like He has forgotten all about us.

God is above all of our circumstances, though He is also in those circumstances with us. The Bible teaches that God is "near to the broken-hearted". Jesus wept when his friend Lazarus died. Having lived and suffered on Earth, Jesus knows our situation. Yet, Jesus remains beyond the ability for our circumstances to destroy him. God can stand and observe our situation without limit, not because He doesn't see or doesn't care, but because He is strong enough to be patient. He doesn't need to quickly finish so He can go sleep or grab a snack or visit the WC.

As a child I asked why we need Satan. Now, I have finally come to understand that God will never rid Earth of Satan—we will. God is patiently waiting until that time, preparing us for that time.

Most people have not yet worked out their stance with Satan. They say they want to do good, but then they go do something wicked. People complain about corruption in government and business, but then they go and do morally corrupt things to their families and among loyal friends. God asks us the same question every day, "Why do you allow evil in your world? Are you ready to get rid of it yet?"

Once we finalize resolve in our answer, God will give us the tools to put Satan and his servants into the fire forever. But, we aren't there yet. We're still making up our minds, so it seems.

Every day, at least try to act like you have made up your mind about getting rid of Satan. Do what is good, make the world around you a little better, let your life be a reason for people to make up their minds about God. While we take our time and sort out which way we want to go, God will be there, patiently watching, patiently nudging us in the right direction, and, when necessary, patiently giving us a catastrophe here or there to help turn our short attention spans back toward His everlasting patience.

#  #202

## Insecure Psychology Reversed

Too often, we say and do the opposite of what we actually think and want. Insecurity drives us to push away someone we want as a friend, perhaps with an insult just to start small talk. We may respond negatively with, "I hope not too often," when invited to visit regularly.

More so when younger, we all misbehave, break things, run away and ask not to be followed, be unbecomingly rude, or even get violent—and it's all as a cry for help. Attempted suicide can be a call for help, particularly in public or if the attempted method didn't have much of a chance of succeeding. If this is you, understand that sending any of these "reversed messages" are not likely to be interpreted correctly except by a very few. Even people worthy of your respect might not understand.

Get comfortable with yourself, accept yourself, learn to invite and speak constructively; teach others the same. It takes time for everyone to learn; especially the most "positive" people became that way by intent and practice.

It goes without saying that suicide is no good answer; "crossing over" is one appointment you don't want to be early for. There is much written by countless counselors with differing opinions, but don't presume any instinctive response to be correct when you learn about a suicide. Everyone needs good, professional counsel with this matter, including friends and family, perhaps therapy or just someone to be authentic with.

But, if you're not the person sending "reversed messages", learn to identify it quickly. Don't try to interpret others by their words, rather by what they imply: a call for friendship. Others may need some space, meaning "friendship at a distance". Sometimes love means making it clear that people standing by themselves across the room are accepted right there at the same time as they are welcome with the group.

You might grab an article on this subject, ponder what you've seen, or discuss with friends from younger to older. Learn to identify insecurity quickly and train yourself to give a smile without feeling insulted. Those are moments when your own confident kindness can lift the spirits of those who need it.

#  #203

## Under Attack, Taking Flack

Sooner or later, if you stand for the right thing, some enemy somewhere will give you retaliation flack. If you never get attacked then your missing something. Good people doing good things draw opposition from bad people who do bad things because good things disrupt bad things. Whatever you're doing, having opposition from somewhere is the only way to know for sure that you're on the right track.

When people attack you, it's not because of your problems. Even if you have a problem, good and healthy people will help you, not attack you. People attack others because it helps them feel better in some twisted way.

Maybe you represent truth that proves others to be lacking, so they lash out. Perhaps they want a rag doll to torment as a distraction from their own problems. Or, perhaps they're just flustered, having a bad day. But, attacks against you are never because of you.

When you're dealing with an assailant, normal rules of "charisma" might not apply. There is a place for listening to people and arguing in other people's favor as good manners in social responsibility. If you're reasonable then reasonable people will listen to you because reasonable people like to listen to reasonable a person. But, this only applies to reasonable people talking to reasonable people.

If someone isn't reasonable and they are attacking you, whether in broader hostilities of life or merely in conversation, hostile or passive-aggressive, they probably have diabolical issues and you are neither their first nor their last prey. "Being reasonable" and "having honorable manners" will not work with them. No matter what you do, no matter how kind you are, they will be angry with anyone who stands for the right thing when the right thing gets in their way, especially if they have a secret covenant with a secret sin.

When assailants reveal problems, perhaps exploiting their—or someone else's—victimhood as passive-aggressive blackmail, that's your safe rout. Answer, "It sounds like a big problem. I wish I could help, but I should stay back while they figure things out." That's exactly right. Keep back. Don't persuade and don't mess with people who somehow attract diabolical problems.

#  #204

## Uninteresting Sin

When God thinks about us, He is not mostly interested in how much we need forgiveness from sin. He sees us how an adult sees a child: Filled with potential, mostly adorable, and a future that's bigger than the past, despite the need for replacing broken things and the occasional spanking.

It is remarkably, boringly normal for new Christians to be over-obsessed with their own sin. This immature obsession centers on the question: To sin or not to sin? When young Christians sin, they feel terrible and wonder whether God will forgive them. Before they sin, they are obsessed with how desirable sin can seem. They're undone by other people's sin. It's embryonic.

We outgrow sin by growing in God. Think about Heaven. This is not thinking about "going to Heaven", because Heaven is not any destination. Heaven is our spiritual origin, the power in our hearts, and the source of glory that we expand to the world around us. Don't think about Heaven as some boring, celestial cloud; think about Heaven to understand what God wants you to carry in your heart everywhere you go.

Of course, to understand Heaven you can't just guess or rely on your own "wicked, little" imagination, and you especially can't learn about Heaven from sinful pop culture's fiction about demigods in outer space. You'll need to read God's Word to understand Heaven, first through virtue, then through Isaiah's, Ezekiel's, Daniel's, and John's visions of God—and from the Book of Enoch (1 Enoch).

The more you understand Heaven in your own heart, the more boring sin will seem. Temptation to sin won't grip you, you'll just be bored sick thinking about it.

When it comes to other people's sin, that won't shock you either. You'll be sad, but not undone, nor will you have some new, lowly view of people when you learn what they did wrong. In fact, the more you understand God, the more you will understand how incredibly much so many people have been forgiven so immensely. As we mature, God gives us insight about other people's struggles—sinful or otherwise—as we get bored with any kind of sin and more fascinated with God.

#  #205

## Stand or Fall

You must decide who you are, what you want, what you do, what you won't ever do—you need to know clearly, backwards and forwards, your worldview's DNA.

When one knocks over a glass of water, sand doesn't pour out. Whatever is inside of our hearts will spill out when we get shaken. Hardships helps us see what our de facto values are—our values at their core, the ones we may not even admit to even in our own minds.

We must clearly resolve whose team we're on, which game we're playing, what our target is, and where our boundaries are. Know them, think them through, imagine worst case scenarios. Imagine someone blackmailing every member of your family and each of your friends in the worst way. Dwell on it. Imagine the cost of what you believe. If it's not worth believing, then change those beliefs now—only believe in something if you have truly thought through the greatest cost for believing it.

If you can't think of something worth paying your most feared price to keep believing in, then your life will come to a shameful end and you will eventually be unwittingly recruited to the ranks of people who do what they hate, to help wicked people destroy the lives of millions through corruption.

If you don't stand for something—anything—then you will fall for anything. If you believe that there exists a belief that could never cause anyone pain, that belief would likely cause the most pain. The best chance you have of victory and protecting those you love is if your mind is already made up, so your mind won't change when the hard times come—because you are a person who seriously, truly, thoroughly, fully, completely, painfully evaluates your ideas all the way to their end. No one is safer to be with—no one is more sober—no one has such a clear mind to focus on actually keeping people safe—no one has the faculties to navigate through challenges and dodge retaliation fire.

When you stand, you will offend one and befriend another. Will you choose your friends or wait for your enemies to choose you?

#  #206

## Operations Are the Second Great Command

Operations refer to the normal flow of work, whether in family or administration. "Operations" work is "secular", being neither religious or non-religious. Anyone can become good at operations or never learn and do a bad job with operations—regardless of religions. The skill of "operating" a boat or bicycle is part of operations. You can learn good operations from anyone.

Operations are neither more nor less important to God than loving God and people. Just how the Second Great Command flow in a sequence, not a hierarchy or priority, operations second in sequence to living God first. Operations actually are part of the Second Great Command.

To make friends, be a friend. To be a friend, do a good job.

Love includes making sure that people don't get wet from a leaky roof, regardless of whether residents of a house feel affection for the roofer who did a good job. Keep the car working, pay the bills, keep food on the table—these things are part of love. Love also includes tenderness, giving others personal space, and smiling or frowning as needed to get through each unique moment.

Martin Luther taught that the street sweeper and cobbler should find just as much glory in their work as a bishop or priest, not because they are equally glamorous, but because God likes good shoes and clean streets. Jesus himself learned the secular skill of carpentry. But, Jesus's lifestyle of teaching was also a matter of operations. When his disciples would quarrel mildly or the religious teachers challenged him, Jesus always knew what to say. Jesus's ultimate work of operations was to die so that anyone who simply welcome's Jesus in their minds and hearts would be able to continue a positive existence in the next life. Dying at the cross was Jesus's main operation in his first Earthly ministry.

Since operations are part of the Second Great Command, flowing from the First Great Command to love God, loving God and loving others will make operations flow more smoothly. If you do your work because you love others, knowing that your boss is a Jewish carpenter, you will gain more insight and everything will work out best.

#  #207

## Good Operations: List & Complete Vision

Less organized cultures tend to think of getting things done as "hard, passionate work". This idea may be common in a poorer part of town or in developing nations. It generally goes hand-in-hand with the idea that "being angry" as a parent means the parent is "serious" and therefore "responsible". None of this is true. Being "angry" does not make one more in-charge; having all rules memorized while acting calm does.

The way to get things done well is to have a complete list, both on paper and in mind. Do everything according to the list—both to-do items and procedural rules—and the job will be done perfectly. This doesn't require any passion or desperation or "hard-working" attitude.

A good work ethic works hard and with a purpose, but that isn't what makes the work quality. Hard work simply makes the work happen. Whether the work is accomplished with quality depends on whether it was done to specification.

This is a problem in the manufacturing third-world where high-maintenance Western consumers look for features and factors that developing nations don't even know exist, let alone matter.

Consider Vietnam. When a grandfather was young and went farming to feed his family, but blew his leg off on a land mine because an American president died and a vice president took over, presuming the right to start a war neither nation wanted. He grew up not being able to walk, so things around the house never got done. The concept of "finished" had been literally blasted to bits for his family. They raised kids with dangers and hazards in the house, but the house was considered safe because it didn't have any land mines. When the eight year old grandson goes to school, he doesn't have time to think about whether he has folding or patch pockets on his shorts. So, as an adult working in a clothing factory, he might overlook that detail on the product specification—10,000 times. It is the responsibility of the West to help him learn.

Envisioning the resulting product and managing its list of specs are the keys to good operations. Learn these yourself and help everyone else understand them better.

#  #208

## Deliverance and Strength by Waiting on the Lord

Sometimes, not always, God delivers and strengthens us by means of us waiting on Him. In the ark, Noah had to wait on God. Israel had to wait and let God deliver them from Egypt. Israel wanted to keep waiting when it was time to step up and seize. So, in the desert, though the older generation was being punished, the younger generation was being nourished and trained for battle to seize. In that season of forty years, they had to wait on God every day.

As warriors in training, knowing that God Himself would fight for them—since God Himself strengthened them with manna everyday—was an advantageous military tactic. Few armies flank only one side, expecting God to flank the other. But, when you have to wait for your food—every day for forty years—as two generations of able-bodies soldiers did in nomadic Israel's dessert season, the "God" factor is a tactic you learn to trust in. When they finally left the desert and marched straight for Jericho, Israel's armies didn't doubt Joshua when he told them that God's tactic was to march in circles and shout.

Running from Saul, David had to wait. In the pit, Jeremiah had to wait. In the fiery furnace, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could only respect the king wait on God. In the lions' den, Daniel waited 'til morning. In every one of the "waiting" situations in the Bible, God swoops in and saves His people mightily—to the detriment and shame of their enemies every single time.

We can't calculate nor forecast with strategy when to win by waiting and when to win by fighting. But, waiting must not be ruled out as a "lesser" tactic or a "last resort". Timing is everything. Nearly every military force involves "waiting" in their attack plans. "Get in position" are three words many Americans know. The grand strategy makes it all make sense. Waiting is not about laziness, apathy, or passivity; it's about scruples, timing, maturity, and self-control.

God may have already dispatched His evac force to your location. You may be the evac force for an entourage on its way to you. Be there when it's time.

#  #209

## Respectful Authority Has Respected

No one who has truly learned to respect authority will argue. They won't argue with their leaders. They won't argue with their subordinates. They won't argue.

The basics of command structure start with knowing what battles to choose, including inside baseball. When someone has a decision to make, and that person makes the decision, then the decision is made. If there are facts or other information the person doesn't know, then those above and below in the command structure will inform that decision-maker. Interruptions are welcome if they advise, whether from above or below. But, once the information and facts are known, the decision-maker must make the decision. Then, it is final. Even if it wrong, discussion it won't help.

Continuing discussion without any affect on decision is called a filibuster; it is a tactic of legislative bodies with warring parties. In a filibuster, people keep talking because they don't like the decision, so they hope to delay the decision—forever if possible. But, in a command structure, that can't work. In a family, a company, organization, or military—a filibuster is immature. Many argue that a filibuster is also immature in a legislature, but then legislators are often accused of being immature as well as dishonest. But, I digress.

Stay on topic. When the decision is made, it's finished. That is true whether it is your decision or someone else's. Don't be rude about it. In fact, one sign of maturity is to be kind when you tell someone that a decision is already made—whether it is your decision or not.

Mature leaders do not argue with those under them. Someone who respects authority knows to respect oneself when one has the place of authority. Never trust a leader who argues, resents, or is irritated by subordinates. That leader doesn't understand respect for authority, yet such leaders are likely to talk about "respect" often. More importantly, make sure that you never become that leader.

Learn to identify and then to accept when the decision is already made. Move on to other topics. Finish the job. Fix problems with the decisions that are within your power. Respect-worthy people don't argue once decisions are passed.

#  #210

## Lists Are the Reason for Meetings

Meetings are one of the greatest wastes of any organization. The Sunday morning monologue worked well in a world without phone lines, but today a weekly monologue at an indoor amphitheater is a waste since a podcast will do much better. The same is true of companies. "Conference" is different, but shouldn't be more than once a month. The purpose there is to cultivate widespread excitement over common interests. But, "conferences" are different from "meetings".

The purpose of having a meeting is to host discussion.

Healthy operations require lists, but humans are born to not understand lists. Learning to understand, create, follow, keep, update, and recognize items on a list is part of growing up in a civilized society—and the learning never stops nor is it ever easy. Good parents teach their children the art of "listing" at an early age just as a good supervisor and mentor helps employees, volunteers, and students see how lists work in the real world.

Even God gave Moses a list, the Ten Commandments. It's hard to obey all ten as with any moral code. Sometimes remembering is the hard part, sometimes it's applying, sometimes it's understanding, but, with morals, most of the time the hardest thing is the willingness to obey. But, remembering that even morals are simply a list of things to do that, if done, will result in a perfect product, the obedience part becomes a little less difficult.

Listing is a lifelong study. That's why managing lists are best done at group meetings.

Every member of an administration—every employee and volunteer—along with every member of a family—everyone already has two "lists", sometimes we even write them down. The first list is the "de facto" list, the list of things we actually do. The second list is the "prescribed" list, the list of things we should do. The list to write down first is not the prescribed, but the de facto.

Know what you are doing day to day. Write it down as if you needed to guide yourself over the phone. Talk with others about how to "list" better. Then, you'll have a better idea of what you should be doing.

#  #211

## Escape the Zero Sum Spiral

Solutions to society's problems require innovation in order to escape the spiral of a seemingly zero-sum game. Necessity is the mother of invention, but that means we need to be allowed to be in need as well as be allowed to invent. If necessities are always provided then invention's mother is dead. If invention requires permission from whatever bureaucracy is central, then necessity's child has been kidnapped.

Being in need carries with it a sense of danger. What if I don't earn money? Will I end up on the street? The need to survive and the healthy sense of urgency to work was given to us by God—the same God who makes sure to provide for us.

Even in poor countries where poverty is widespread, the problem is not as simple as having a giant Santa Clause shower everyone with food. People need education, government needs internal compliance, and society as a whole must study the work of responsibly maintaining lists. It also helps to prevent wicked men from using ultra-powerful companies to cripple natural resources, but these are all issues separate from the value of a "healthy sense of urgency" that drives us to live productive lives.

Unless we live lives that produce more prosperity than we consume, we won't be able to help those in need. And, as much as others need food, they also need the permission to have some "healthy need"—at least enough need to foster invention. Never provide people with so many of their basic needs that the "provision" sanitizes the urgency to invent.

Invention, innovation, new ideas, responding to a personal urgent need to adapt yesterday's resources to the problems that didn't sprout until this morning—entrepreneurial ingenuity is the only answer to the problem of not having enough wealth to go around. That ingenuity needs an appetite, a little hunger, some desire for more. Sometimes our "healthy sense of urgency" comes from fear of becoming homeless, other times it comes from the strictly-enforced habit of making every day better than the day before.

Once your inner inventor awakens, people will rise up just to cooperate because the mere act of inventing extinguishes the poverty around us.

#  #212

## Deliverance and Provision by the Right to Seize

Sometimes, not always, God delivers and provides for us by means of us stepping up to seize what He has already offered. Noah had to build his ark. Israel had to work after entering the promised land because the manna stopped once they crossed the Jordan. That's what a "promised land" is—a place where you can work and keep what you worked for, knowing that you worked for your results, "paid" for it with sweat and tears, and didn't gain by taking from others.

Provision by way of effort is the goal of peace. It's a world in which our work is neither stolen by theft nor destroyed by war. By being allowed to have our work pay off, we enjoy the pleasure of working through whatever task we have for the day, knowing it will lead somewhere beneficial—knowing that we will be allowed to enjoy the results since they were earned, not bestowed.

David had to bring in the Temple materials to fulfill his dream of God having a House. His son Solomon had to build the Temple using those materials. The Temple didn't build itself.

Jeremiah had to put the rope around himself when it was let down. Daniel had to initiate and ask in order to eat the Bible's healthier diet and to interpret the king's dream so as to avoid death. In Esther, the attack against the Jews was not rescinded, but the Jews were granted legal permission to defend themselves, which resulted in killing their Satanic enemies and taking the wealth of their assailants.

Many times, especially after seasons of waiting, little to no results, just enough to survive on, inner strengthening, and shiploads of prayer, the opportunity to rise up lands at our doorstep. Then, we must put away the housecoat, don our shoes, and walk out into the world to work. This moment is not every moment nor can it be made into every moment. Annually, this comes for farmers in the springtime.

Spring comes after the season of winter, when roots have grown deeper and the soil sits as soggy as we feel groggy. At the proper time, go into your field and start working.

#  #213

## Happiness Is Proactive

Happiness can't possibly be about "self". Humans were made for things that involves others—someway, somehow, somewhere, sometime, we only operate at our best when we're doing something that involves others.

Happiness flows from the Two Great Commands. Even placing God first—not "instead of", but "first"—efficiently and quite effectively knocks us down to the right level where life isn't about ourselves, but about others.

Human happiness can't be passive. It requires creating good things through cooperative effort. "Consumerism" can't replace happiness. Like a narcotic, the sneakiest form is "happiness consumption", favoring and rating things on their ability to "make me happy". Happiness is only happy as much as it is proactive.

That doesn't mean meddling and nannying to a point of insufferability. Silence is golden because it includes being considerate of others. But, if "love and happiness" mean ignoring needs of others—whether need be for silence or intervention or encouragement or course correction—then "love and happiness" aren't.

When tragedy strikes, victims need help; go help them. Send money. Stay out of the way. Report the overlooked truth. Stand witness. Find any way to help. Don't just sit by yourself, looking for a sliver lining to someone else's tragedy.

Life has many yeahs and many boos and many glasses of water which can be measured by their contents or lack thereof, but your choice to be happy doesn't end with gratitude and thankfulness; it only begins there. Never lecture others on their need to find their silver linings on their rain clouds, especially if you are a rain cloud. When you must bring rain and lightning, make sure you shine a doorway of sunlight and a make huge rainbow afterward. When you can truly appreciate the silver linings of life's rain clouds, you have all the reason you need to be sunshine on someone else's storm, not just a sunshine admirer.

By all means, enjoy stories, art, and beauty that make you happy. Celebrate and share them with friends. But, don't stop there. Don't lose your appetite for helping happiness take over the universe. Of all the moments that make us happy, the happiest moments put a smile on someone else's face.

#  #214

## Leaders Carry

A good leader carries the burdens of whomever he is responsible for. For Jesus, this meant carrying the punishment for our sin—carrying the Cross to his death. For Deborah as an Old Testament judge, it meant listening to the problems of the people and settling their disputes. For Esther, it meant risking her own life to request an audience with the king of the civilized world. For Noah, it meant building an ark to carry the animals and his family. Good leaders carry.

When traveling in a group, a leader should be last to bed and first to wake. Breaks and naps during the day allow this to work, usually while the group is busy with "fun time" or some recreation that requires fewer members of the leadership team. Even Jesus would steal away from time to time for prayer. He even stole a nap in the boat during a storm since he knew all would be well.

When taking a long walk, carry important articles for other people. A leader should go through the physical training to become strong enough to handle a heavier load. When the leader needs help, he asks for it. This cultivates mentoring future leaders. No leader works alone, but every leader should bring strength to the team.

Many burdens have been carried by leaders without the group ever knowing. Never expect an applause or a thanks. Leading is not for those who like award receptions. Victory for the team serves well enough as the leader's prize. If the team wins a trophy, the leader is most honored to have it hosted by the team or one of its members.

Much of the work of a leader is preemptive and preparatory. Drafting a thorough plan, memorizing the road map, making and remembering the many lists of to-dos and inventory, keeping track of the money—even though someone else serves as treasurer—a leader must know when and how to act. Never rely on an active GPS as a leader; know the map by heart as both a backup plan for when—not if—technology fails, and as a show of competence and proof that the group won't get lost.

#  #215

## Speak the Truth in Your Heart

Acknowledging the truth can be one of the most difficult things a person can do. We gladly admit what truths we have already admitted. But, one seeing that oneself was wrong has high stakes! We may have stock to sell—or buy. By being wrong, we may need to carry the mental weight of knowing that our own choices caused the loss of thousands, millions, or billions of dollars—dollars which we happen to need right now.

When people live a long life in denial, but then are confronted with the ugly, hideous, enormous truth that grew huge by feeding on neglect, they can meltdown, physically collapsing to the floor, crushed by the mental weight of so much truth that they kept avoiding.

Denial is no way to live. The sooner you confront a truth, the sooner it won't be able to sweep away your mental capacity to understand it. Don't let truth swell like a tsunami against you. Speak the truth in your heart quickly, the moment you can find it. Not facing pressure from unadmitted truth, you will stand through storms said to be impossible.

God searches throughout Earth, looking for anyone who accepts the truth. He considers people who are honest with themselves as treasure worth hunting for.

No one can face a challenge without accurate information. Accuracy about our situations is vital. God does not want us to fail in misery. In order to thrive, we need truth. Victory itself will stop anyone who rejects reality. Accordingly, God will not allow you to even begin down any path leading to the greater rewards until you accept whatever truths have every presented themselves to you. God wants you to go down those paths. The question is whether you are willing to scrutinize your own ideas enough to see and maintain awareness about your surroundings as they actually are.

Truth brings light and hope. Truth sets us free. Truth includes that God forgives and redeems and has the highest of hopes for everyone's future. The price of truth means recognizing one's own laundry list. But, the price is worth its cost. Anyone addicted to truth can tell you what doors truth can unlock.

#  #216

## Deliverance and Providence by Standing Your Ground

Sometimes, not always, God delivers and directs His providence by means of us standing for what is right. As king, David constantly fought off Israel's enemies—who were trying to reinstitute Satanic human sacrifices. Jeremiah told the king that Jerusalem would fall, but was rescued from the pit and spared by Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel wouldn't stop praying—if he had the lions would have eaten him for sure! Stephen spoke the truth, even while he was being stoned, and Jesus greeted him in an open vision during his martyrdom.

God commanded Israel to keep three festivals each year. Business owners were required by law to close up shop, prepare a feast, and enjoy themselves. During a feast, it was custom for the wealthy to throw gold and silver coins from their upper story windows, down into the streets where passers-by would collect them as gifts. If the people did not hold to the moral-legal code of Israel's Theocracy, they wouldn't be in the streets to receive money showered down upon them. Not everyone had to catch coins to benefit. The poor would, in turn, give patronage to smaller merchants, stimulating the whole economy. It was small, but was compassionate and it helped.

Standing your ground may mean martyrdom, but God's reward in the afterlife smiles on those who answer His call to die for what is right, just as He smiles on those who answer His call to live for what is right—given to so many more, paid for by the martyrs before.

In combat strategy, your team may need to hold the building until help arrives. In those circumstances, your team is just as much help awaiting as the help that arrives. You have supplies and advantage that your fellow soldiers rely on. If you surrender your ground before your allies arrive, it could cost the victory.

God has already directed His created universe through the divine providence of pathways and currents. Then, His moral code instructs us where to stay and go. This eludes all of us, though less as we grow in wisdom. Moral bearings will direct us to the right place at the right time to receive our needs; be there.

_Exodus 12:14; 23:14-17, Jeremiah 32:26-28; 39:11-14, Malachi 3:10_

#  #217

## Let Action Shout at You

The louder voice of action shouting down the quiet voice of words serves as a common reminder to act wisely and charitably. But, the stronger teaching might impel us to listen to the actions of others more carefully than we listen to their words. If we learn the art of listening to action, we might quickly improve our ability to speak the language of action more fluently. Human language and friendship works the same way: Listen first.

If we listened action more than words, politicians wouldn't get away with lying via "effort". Bad companies wouldn't be able to cover their tracks with deceptive marketing. And, we wouldn't spend as much time arguing with friends.

Think about the times your friendships have been strained by conflict. The neighbors won't control their dog, it barks everyday, and one day bites. A simple conversation in the beginning makes sense. The neighbors make a promise to control the dog, but don't. More conversation isn't the answer. Their actions spoke, but too many follow the foolishly well-worn path of over-beaten dead horses. Take a hint. Get the message. The neighbors aren't going to control the dog. Get wise before someone gets bitten.

Religious, social, and sales organizations speak the same "action" lingo. From leader to pawn, when people announce through their actions that you don't agree, don't go to committee; hold one, single conversation, then move on. Your response could include taking a witness, but no more than once.

When the pastor won't preach Jesus without preaching tithes for himself, two days is more than enough time to converse and get out—and certainly more than enough reason to make your reasons public. If the MLM won't focus on sales through competitive prices, but keeps promoting "sales tools" to help win the uphill battle that those inflated prices created, take the hint: You're not selling soap and kitchenware; you're selling a set of self-perpetuating teaching tools.

Criminals know that wrong is wrong. People don't take dishonest action because they haven't listen to you enough; they take dishonest action because they don't care about others. Hear the shouts of action, then let your own actions respond: gentleness once, witness, then act.

#  #218

## Assume Is a Compound Word

Questions about God, heartbreak in romance and family, disappointment in a new school or job—many of our problems go back to our dissatisfaction because of things we assumed.

Humans are assumption machines. We even assume about assumption—that we don't assume as much as we do. Communication breakdown, verbal abuse, Satir's "blamer mode"—these also begin with assumptions made about what another person assumes. When we stop assuming, even for a micromoment, it is as if we enter a light-filled zen void of "nothingness". We assume because we are uncomfortable with the silence associated with "not having an opinion". Calming your nerves, being less reactive, shutting your motormouth at "quiet time", being that oasis of calm in other people's storms—that all stems from comfort with silence—and silence is devoid of assumption.

If you want to calm your insides, learn to not assume. Assumption is, itself, a way to distract from the silence.

If you aren't always ready with your sword, what will happen? Will you survive? Dropping your guard feels dangerous. "Not knowing" the answer to every question feels like you're not prepared when, actually, it prepares you to receive, learn, understand, and perhaps even contribute. It's hard to do surgery with shaking hands.

So, drop the busyness and the caffeinated distractions; begin with your assuming. God is much easier to not be angry with when we drop all of our made-up assumptions about Him. Relationships go much more smoothly when we begin with the assumption that other people are not so stupid that we don't need to take the time to understand them.

One of the biggest problems in tech support—operator error—is clinically proven to occur less frequently among people who don't throw away the instructions before reading them. (Not actually clinically proven, but let's just 'assume' that it doesn't need to be.)

Good theology leaves assumption at the door. The ultimate theological question is not what we assume about God, but what God sees in us. Pain will advise us when we make assumptions of our own. One of the best commands God ever gave Israel was to be still and know, not to be noisy and assume.

#  #219

## Rules Aren't for Their Own Sake

Rules enforced without injury are just an excuse to boss other people around. God made rules for justice and justice is not moot. Rules were made to govern people, to help us all enjoy better lives. Once rules impede on a better life without bringing much more and better vibrancy, those rules become unjust.

Legally, courts often require "standing" in order to press charges. A "concerned citizen" can be a witness as a "bystander", but only if there is a victim with a measurable "injury". This is an argument against enforcing "J-walking" when no traffic is present, but that opens a long debate on whether any civil law, including traffic laws, should be enforced unless a crime has been committed against a specific person. But, in God's sense of justice, J-walking is only "wrong" if it interferes with traffic because true justice is only, always, ever about doing what is right by other people.

Enforcing rules that don't affect you—putting yourself as the self-appointed cop over people who aren't bothering you—to stop others from doing something that isn't hurting anybody isn't "justice"; it's "bossing". Even if someone might be committing a crime, inform the police and let them handle it; don't pursue and don't try to enforce. As a witness to a murder, you might keep a loose tail to help police track the killer, but not always—and only if you know what you're doing.

Witnessing a crime doesn't deputize anyone. Sadly, many people anoint themselves judge, jury, and executioner. That is no life to live. Never let yourself be the busy-body sticking his nose where it don't belong.

God gets a bad wrap when "morals" are misrepresented as an excuse for busy-bodies to meddle in other people's lives. Busy-bodies only boss others because they want a distraction from their own lack of good results.

Justice begins with minding one's own life, by prospering at home and in one's own business, then involving others to bless and protect them. Give your justice to the world by being just and fair to your own priorities—by completing your goals as an inspiration to others. And, if you encounter a busy-body, say as much.

#  #220

## Deliverance and Power in Meekness and Weakness

The human heart must be in touch with God's sovereign supremacy. He has all power and He is the highest authority. We can easily agree to this as an abstract concept, but this truth must settle deep into our experiential understanding.

If your heart does not believe that God is sovereign then you will not behave as if He is your most powerful help; by definition, such behavior is "ungodly".

Our souls require us to have such experiences where we perform our due diligence, where we study and prepare as much as we ought expect ourselves to, yet the task remains too great for us to accomplish on our own. In these circumstances, when our strength is not enough, when we maintain our "godly" perspective that God Most High is alone Most High, then He will use the strangest and smallest of methods to overcome the impossible. Only God can orchestrate these circumstances, which is part of Him being supreme.

If we could initiate or invent circumstances where God is the greatest then either we do not deserve credit for those circumstances or God is not supreme in them. God must be the greatest in our lives, only on God's terms, only in God's time, only in God's way.

When God called Gideon, the least of his family, the least of his tribe, He addressed Gideon as "mighty warrior". Israel's problem was idol worship, specifically idols that used human sacrifices. They had trusted in false gods and were literally killing each other in worship of those idols. The Midianites invaded. Human sacrifices and Satan worship did not deliver them from evil. But, Israel's true enemy was their own behavioral theology.

They knew about Moses's Law, but their behavior proved that they did not believe God was their sovereign deliverer. So, God wanted Gideon's army to be small so they would once again behaviorally believe God is Almighty.

The small, seemingly weak things are vital to God's victory via our lives. God achieves victory through things that seem counterintuitive—things we never would even consider might work out. Satan and his worshipers always want the biggest and greatest, never suspecting the tools the Almighty will use.

_Judges 7, Psalm 127:1, Zechariah 4:6, Matthew 5:5, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Philipians 4:13_

#  #221

## Constant Prayer

Prayer is meant to have a constant presence with every human. Your body is the wick, prayer is the flame, and the oil comes from good, daily deeds, Bible study, and responsible choices. The flame may grow more and less intense, but it should never go our. Your spirit should be in a constant state of prayer—even while you sleep if possible. Even in your dreams, you should maintain an awareness that God is near with His love as you love Him back.

When prayer is a constant thing, it will form a kind of "cloud" around you. Circumstances that would normally harm others won't harm you. Doors will open up which everyone else thought to be impenetrable walls. The quiet "nudging" from the Lord will hint at which roads you should take, often times avoiding disaster or delay that you may learn you avoided. You may even have small thoughts leading to your own discover of home cures for small illnesses, if for no other reason than for God to verify that you hear Him somewhat accurately. This "cloud" doesn't make you ignorant of the world, it allows you to go everywhere in the world without the normal harms.

A life of prayer will also lead you into higher waters and deeper hardships, but it will be with you through it as you grow to understand the hardship of others—hardship one half of society might never understand about the other half. But, you will understand that hardship because your prayer cloud led you into the hardship that taught you.

Many governments across the world have unfair laws that cannot even be obeyed by their own people. These governments feel sad for not being able to govern effectively. Even mid-ranking Nazis often turned a blind eye to Jews and American soldiers. Remember America's underground railroad. Prayer will also navigate you through those times, without fear, without giving up on all legal compliance, and without facing trouble.

Learning to navigate from inside your cloud of prayer is a skill. You make mistakes, but keep going and learn how the trust, work, and His direction all work in concert. Constant prayer supplies wings to soar.

#  #222

## Time Reserves

Bear in mind your time. You only have so much, as with space, money, know-how, skill, network, reputation, and all the rest. But here's one of the big secrets: Time's biggest conflict is pride.

How much time does your pride cost you? How many hours have you spent waiting for someone to finish a sentence so you could make your point?—and it didn't matter! Maybe you worked too long to make the frosting just perfect, only to have it melt in the sun at the picnic. Counting tissues that all got thrown away anyway or even scheduling the wrong date for your flight—little things need to be kept littler than bigger things. Next time pride tries to take a bite out of your time, remember that you have bigger fish to fry.

And really, a flight on the wrong date shouldn't be that big of a deal, even if you fly once a decade. Learn to explore, keep a prayer cloud around you to supply angels who help you with the unexpected—and get used to it. Keep a book with you or a cheap, tiny notebook computer so you can take your work with you while you wait. If you can psych yourself up to overlook bad timing with airline flights, you'll be much better at letting microscopic priorities slip through the cracks when they should.

Rolling with the unexpected and not caring about the little things really go hand in hand. God sends chaos into our lives so we can practice "getting air" and fish-tailing in the snow. Safe, competent drivers are comfortably in control of the unexpected, so they neither hunger for the thrill nor fear it. They just don't care, and neither should you.

When someone wants to niggle over a few miscounted coins, just accept the loss and move on. Your main priorities should be bigger. If the busy clerk short changes you, show love to everyone in line and forgive. Their day will be better and they won't even know why; so will yours.

Quibbling gobbles up our time reserves. So, reserve your time. Learn to love taking losses that buy new time to discover hidden treasure.

#  #223

## Levels of Sins

There are no different levels of sin. People throughout society frequently bring up questions about specific sins, "What about this sin?" or, "What about people living this lifestyle who say they love God?" The Cross of Jesus Christ redeems us from all sin. It does not condemn us for sin. It does not pick and choose its favorite sins like we tend to. The Cross delivers us from all sin.

The presumption of the Biblical-moral worldview where sin is concerned is "equal need for redemption". Whether something is or is not sinful or immoral, the Bible's final message is not that we are condemned, but forgivable. Immorality is presumed to be self-condemning.

Fleeting passions and dishonesty do not quench the soul's thirst for fulfillment. They are ungratifying—all of them equally. To even consider certain sins as being above or below, more or less severe, than other other sins is a sin itself since it falls short of the Bible's view that the Cross offers us redemption from things that harm us and leave us empty and dry.

People who live in continued immorality or dishonesty, yet say they love God, actually and only love their misunderstanding of God. To some extent, they have contrived their own moral code and invented their own version of a god who prefers that moral code.

Whatever we need delivered from is not our choice. Few people choose their addictions in advance. Both morals and help to obey them must both come from above. If we determine our own morals, then we are our own greatest power to fulfill them. But, when we bend the knee to an all-powerful God Most High—Who alone can determine a moral code—then we can walk in a power greater than ourselves.

We can only come to God on God's terms. You life will skyrocket when you let God determine your morals and help you back on your feet when you fail to measure up. Someone who persists in any sin, dishonesty or immorality, yet claims to love God, may very well love God, but still has room to love God much, much more. By definition, that includes every one of us.

#  #224

## Leading as Followers of Jesus

You cannot lead others until you first lead yourself. And, you cannot lead yourself until you first understand who leads you. And, you cannot understand any leadership until you understand the Leader of All Things.

You may believe in God, but you will encounter other people who have not figured out Who leads the created universe. All ideas about leadership—all problem-solving, heart-to-heart talks must begin with exploring this question: Where does leadership begin?

The order must be proper. Moving on to later questions of leadership are pointless and you do your friends no service to address the advanced questions of leadership without finishing the basics. The only successful leader must be a godly leader, otherwise his leadership will have severe limits.

Look at leaders who have not thoroughly answered questions about God and you will see corresponding shortcomings in their leadership results. Always look at leadership from the perspective of godliness, whether in your own growth or in those you work with. The mid-to-high level leadership tactics are generally godless children attempting a rebellion. But the higher, "expert" methods of leadership always pursue questions and answers about godliness.

Christians from the Sunday morning culture are often anemic where leadership is concerned, unless they have significantly augmented their Christianity with Bible study and mentoring that Sunday morning has no control over. Christians who have known a "least common denominator" Bible teaching devoid of the basics have not had the opportunity to grow into advanced levels of the Bible's teaching. Basic Christianity understands that leadership begins with godliness, but eventually we learn more about godliness from the advanced methods of "soft power" that Jesus taught.

Whatever your challenge is in leadership, first remember that it is a challenge in "godliness" and second meditate on how Jesus's ingenious leadership methods out-smarted King Herod and even overthrew Roman Caesars, centuries after his death.

The depth and brilliance of Jesus's leadership is inexhaustible. Focus your research there. As you study history to learn its repetition, always go back and see Jesus working with leadership principles in ways even more masterful than the greatest Machiavellians could comprehend. Search themes of "servant leadership" and "overdone-submission"—leadership principles inseparably intertwined with godliness.

#  #225

## Higher Appeal

When life gives you a hard time, appeal higher. On the school playground, kindly obey. Make the rude teacher's day better by making the principal proud.

By preparing your appeal to higher authorities, you free your mental energies to act with charity toward those closer to you. Live to serve the king and forget the offenses of your immediate supervisors. Even an ill mannered cop is easier to deal with if you imagine yourself on TV "out-kinding" him. You might already be on camera anyway and if you either act super-kindly or super-unruly, you might end up on TV anyway. So, smile for the crowd and forget the foe in front of you. Besides, with a wider lens and sugar with a cherry on top, your foe could become your friend anyway.

The higher appeal will serve you well in the long run. A landlord, employer, magistrate, sheriff, trade partner, and anyone with powers to dangle over your head may try twisting your arm and lord their strength over you. It's sad, but normal. Don't get bent out of shape about it. And, if you play the long game—the end game—you may court friends and authorities much more powerful than they could contend with. But, you only find those higher appeals through wider and longer lenses.

One of the highest appeals is to public opinion. No organization's or nation's president is ever bigger than the organization or nation. The people at large are always the highest appeal to make.

Then, there is the supreme appeal to God. But, in a sense, God Himself appeals to the people. He does not impose His good rules on us. It's up to each of us to welcome Him. Even God appeals to the public, on some level. But, His appeal to the public is so strong and convincing, whenever we find a good idea, we celebrate it. Sometimes we even give God credit for good ideas, even though they all belong to Him.

So, make the higher appeal to God by appealing to the public how He does. Don't ask the public to teach you right from wrong; appeal to the public. There is a difference.

#  #226

## From Men to Women

Men need women's help, but only with half of the things anyone is capable of recognizing, and only one quarter of things we are all capable of recognizing. Respectable men will not, under any circumstances, continue being around a woman who does not give them respect, even when they don't deserve it. That is male DNA, how God made men: Those who want respect give respect first. We have to learn it because life doesn't work for us until we do because we can't function without respect. A woman who understands men half as much as she thinks does understand and agrees with this 100%.

Paul commanded men to love their women, but for women to respect their men, all because that was how God designed men. So, helping a man means respecting him until he's respectable. Everyone, man or woman, who presumes to know "all" the needs a person has does not respect that person.

Respect begins with the heart-level belief that no one can fully understand another person. Anyone so capable of being fully understood by another human, even after a thousand years, is not worthy of respect, and certainly not worthy of relationship. Whether you are a man or woman, if you want a relationship without strife, stay away from any relationship until you understand this deeply and the person in the relationship does also.

Too many women live in misery because they thought they could change their husband or that there were things she could accept if he didn't change himself. Thirty minutes at a bookstore could have taught her otherwise. Thirty minutes at a bookstore could have taught her husband that they weren't ready yet for a relationship. Strife develops among people who believe that they don't need to learn from others first, who do not seek to begin by learning the easy, obvious advice already widely available.

Respectable people, however, are teachable and expect their friends to be the same. Men need to be ready to work, to take out the garbage every day and buy flowers and diamonds on holidays, not the other way around. Women need to look for men who don't need to be told that.

#  #227

## Higher Standards

God holds each of us to a higher standard than everyone else does. At times, other people around you will get away with terrible choices, but you will be scrutinized for the smallest, simplest, pettiest errors. When it seems that you are held to a higher standard, you are. God is holding you to that higher standard.

It may seem to others like they are held to a higher standard than you are. Their struggles and the small things they notice may be different from the things you notice. But, in some things, the standard of what God expects from you is indeed higher than what He expects from others—for those specific things, and vice versa for other things.

Then, there are people that God does not hold to those standards because, sadly, they have inwardly chosen to throw away any chance of even considering God's morals and the higher, more enjoyable results that they lead to. Perhaps they never heard of God's higher road of morals and enjoyment, but they never cared to go looking for any higher roads either.

Once a person learns about a higher road, a better life, sees someone "choose" happiness for the first time, or recognizes any evidence that life can get better—then pursues and chases after that better life—everything changes. God will instantly send that person both useful advice and added trouble that needs the useful advice. That person is now held to a higher standard because that person wants to be held to a higher standard. So, God is glad to oblige.

Your potential cannot be explained by the lives, skills, and results of those around you. If your potential could be understood by observing other people, we wouldn't all be unique. When life seems hard, don't complain about the unfairness; be thankful for it!

It is indeed, quite unfair that God honors our choice to seek a higher standard, which He then holds us to. Life dolls the same sun, rain, reward, and winter, yielding whatever is sown, and standing before God, none of us measure up. But concerning your uniqueness, God's higher standards will make you become more than you though possible.

#  #228

## Leading as Fathers Who Love Sons

I write not about biological, 24/7 fathers. Parenting around the clock is an experience to itself. I write about love, respect, and care for any younger generation.

Older and younger generations feel a tension. The older we get, the more we become who we are at our core. Some become better, many become worse. There is more to leading than grumbling about youth doing things that youth do. There's more to growing up than spiting one's own behavior merely for being young.

People in younger generations need space. Sometimes it makes no sense, but it is necessary. Resistance comes from younger people softly, but it must be heeded. Even when a young person misunderstands the older, he must figure out basic rules of concluding and communication on his own. There's enough advice in this world to know not to hold a grudge about an unconfirmed offense. If a lad or lass needs to wander off and fret about a big nothing, just let it be.

There are steps that can be taken to approach and invite friendships, just tread softly and happily and don't impose yourself. Drip ideas, lay down the law if it is your place, but check your condescending tone at the door. Youth under punishment rarely want an explanation, but one or two good sentences will give them enough to chew on to make it educational. When they come slinking back, don't push them away.

And, for Heaven's sake, don't hold a grudge against someone younger than you. Grow up and at least pretend to be an adult. Adults don't quibble with children.

Care, concern, value, respect—whether you harbor these virtues toward the younger generation, your true colors will show when you face each other's differences. Elders have wisdom, youth have innovation and energy. God put us together and He wasn't a fool in doing so; the old man complaining about the youth is the fool because he implies his own failed leadership.

Provide, govern softly, lay infrastructure, encourage, drip nuggets of teaching that help interpret the moment, and give space when quietly signaled to. Be the one initiate patient understanding. Maintain love and give respect to everyone younger than you.

#  #229

## Fidelity

The way to hire quickly and be a fast judge of character is to have fidelity yourself and thus quickly identify whether other people live with fidelity or with conflicting values and morals. You cannot recognize fidelity in others unless you have it yourself. You cannot have fidelity yourself unless you treasure it in others.

People are made if the same stuff all the way through. If a person can live in conflict with his own values then he can also live in conflict with yours and your company's. Morals are a fast way to where where someone stands. Where fidelity is concerned, there are two types of people: the deviant who maintains internal moral conflict and the immature who seeks to expunge as many internal moral conflicts as possible. No one is perfect, but some of us want to be.

If you want to be perfect then you will run well with those who also want to be. But, if your coworker, supervisor, or employee is hiding some secret, ongoing scandal—and thinks that scandal is not immoral—then you are bound to have "teamwork" and "compatibility" issues when you work together; and you might never figure out why.

Just because we travel in the same ramp lanes on an expressway cloverleaf doesn't mean we share the same destination. One might be merging on and the other merging off. Know where you are going, be honest with yourself about where you are going, then you will easily recognize whether other people know where they are going and are honest with themselves about where they are going.

Someone who is actually going where he thinks he is going is a rare person indeed—rare enough that he just might be the kind if person someone like you can work with. Don't be like Samson who kept flirting with Delilah as she tried again and again to make him weak, vexing his heart until he let her take away his power. Had he been honest about where his foolish heart was taking him, he would have saved himself years of pain and would likely have lengthened his life. Know where your path leads, then lead others.

#  #230

## Let Prayer Have Its Day

You don't know other people's problems. You may be aware that there is a problem, at most, but only God knows what everyone's problem truly is, including your problems. We've all been in those situations where someone misjudged us, don't be the one who misjudges.

Living at peace will all people, especially your enemies, makes for a smooth life and uninterrupted work. More than you proving a point to the idiot next door, you need to get your own work finished. Find a way to have no conflict with your neighbors, regardless of what idiots their parents raised them to be. Just make everything stay smooth. Swallow your pride. Bite your tongue. Actively cover for his flaws. Do whatever it takes to prevent his fits of lesser importance interfere with the far more important work you need to complete in your workshop and with your family.

Problems beyond our control are much easier to solve if we let God solve them. You don't know your neighbor's problem. Hurt people hurt people, so people who hurt people are hurting people. Don't judge; lift it up in prayer. Keep the peace and invite God to go rooting for the root of your neighbor's problem.

Prayer is a powerful thing. If you pray often, all the time while driving for example, you will find new breakthrough and "luck" in your life. Almost no one will tell you no. Even your enemies will be too worried from your evident strength of joy or too distracted with problems of their own to pursue you. But, beware the repercussions of prayer.

If you live a strong life in prayer, spiritual warfare will increase. Cars will cut you off more than five times the amount of a month, all in a single trip to the grocery store. People will argue with you about "little nothings" for no reason at all, but none of it will have any bite. The only response is to ignore it. Don't take the bait. When we pray, angels get the power to work for us, and the devils need us to "react".

Let prayer rise in your life to be your first, best, and last response forever.

_Romans 12:18, Ephesians 6:12-15, Philippians 4:6-7, Hebrews 12:14_

#  #231

## Mind Your Own Morals

Neither Job nor his friends had much Bible background to go on. Based on what little knowledge the Book of Job demonstrates about God, Job's main source of information about God was the Book of Enoch, where he heard about God in the heavens with the "hearing of the ears", but had never seen God Himself. Abraham likely learned "righteousness" from Job's example.

Job knew what it meant to be a "righteous man" and he sought to be "righteous" himself. But, until Elihu rebuked Job and his friends, and until God showed up, neither Job nor his friends understood from personal encounter. Throughout most of the book, Job and his friends develop their own self-made ideas about why God does what He does and, of course they accuse Job. Job's error was his indignation. Job's friends' error was their accusation against Job, becoming "accusing satans" themselves. The truth they all missed was their need for guidance from above.

People may try to impose their self-made moral code onto you—partially dismissing morals from above, partially imposing their contrived morals, always accusing you of both intolerance and immorality. Don't join them. Don't help them. Speak up, represent yourself, don't quietly agree to be agreeable.

If others want a moral code for themselves, that's their business, their choice, their results, and their prerogative; but so is your choice of a moral code.

One of the most shameless impositions of proven-to-fail, man-made morals is the outlawing of basic spanking to discipline children, yet at the same time spending public funds on government programs to help children behave better when they grow up. Another imposition is the social taboo of being naked for simple bathing purposes in public bathhouses, but encouraging evermore sexual encounters with multiple people under the mask of "liberation". Spanking is not abuse and being naked with like kind is not strange, but as societies confuse and reverse these, crime increases, immorality and related diseases spread, and birthrates decline.

You don't need to criticize the evident results of self-made morals, but you don't need to hail them either. Job prayed for his friends who criticized him with their self-made standards. Follow his example as Abraham did.

#  #232

## Leading as Sons Who Love Fathers

In Heaven, there will be no younger and older generations, only one people where all are brothers and sisters without aged bodies. When confronting the normal frustration with any older or younger generation, it can help to envision others at your own age and also to envision yourself at their age. But, there is much more that can also be done to strengthen intergenerational friendship.

At times, your elders will look to you for leadership—especially when they contend with you. When an older person fights with you as if they were your peer in age, they are unwittingly sending the message that they think they are immature and need leadership from you. Don't object, give them that leadership. Instantly imagine yourself as the adult in the room and be patient, respectful, and instructive as you must be with anyone younger than yourself.

Even when not acting younger than their age, older generations always appreciate leadership from younger generations. Be worthy of this respect. Be kind and tender, don't act like people can take your wrath merely because they have more gray hair. You, be the leader, clean up their generational trash left behind. Be gentle as a servant with the authority of a butler to have any guest helped or removed from the house. Don't be cold or uncaring when you are required to lay down the law.

Hopefully, people in the older generation have leadership to provide you. If so, accept it, be respectful, and act like you thoroughly understand that you are under their oversight without complaint. Thank them, be cooperative, follow procedures, and give them honor worthy of a king.

Of course, always learn from everyone and anyone in any situation. Whether you need to be the adult in the room, the child in the room, or if everyone is mature enough to act timelessly and agelessly—learn from the older generation's wisdom. Even when you have innovative insight that will help, your innovation must be coupled with wisdom. Even when an older man is wrong, he knows elements of history, so listen to his explanation for his opinion. You will be there one day, make the journey painless as possible.

#  #233

## Planning, Preparation, Habits & Flexibility

Things in life get done through four main ways: planning, preparation, habit, and the flexibility to live with spontaneity. Habits train our autopilot, governing things we do even without trying. They build skills and knowledge over time, seemingly without effort. Preparation is about meeting prerequisites, being diligent with due diligence, completing the reading before the meeting, and finishing the homework before getting to class. Planning is about scheduling and plotting out times and events.

God governs over us, dominating, ruling, sitting above us, by keeping all these different methods necessary. We must learn all of these different ways of working to have the best in life. Of all these ways to get things done, nothing gets done if it doesn't happen. Actually doing something—taking initiative, getting off the couch, keeping commitments, steering priorities—the action of "doing" a thing is what delivers its results.

A pastor in Cabrini Green explained this to me, "That lady was supposed to meet me today, but she can't because she had to go to the store. Going to the store only takes one or two hours. But, in 'poverty' mentality, a person doesn't understand the idea of going to the store and keeping an appointment in the same day. That's part of what keeps poor people poor."

Planning and intentionally preparing allow greater and better things to get done. Anyone can write a good story or build a good house. But, an awesome story requires some outlining and probably a backstory for the author's reference. An excellent house requires excellent structures, skills, and materials—and those things don't happen by accident. Excellent buildings must be coordinated, which is why construction scheduling is literally an academic study all to itself. Habits keep us working when we don't think about working. Yet, there are always those moments that come by without warning and, when they do, we must seize the unplanned, one-time opportunity or miss out forever.

Different things get done different ways. But, nothing gets done unless it gets done. Hard work will achieve more than a well-planned calendar full of "excused absences". The "doing" is the common thread of many types of paths that life opens for us.

#  #234

## It Starts In Our Hearts

God puts desires in our hearts. When you feel it, recognize it and pay attention. It can be a calling. It can be a prayer request. It can be a message for a friend or even someone you don't know. It can be instructions to go somewhere or to teach an idea, which is often called "preaching".

Spiritual gifts come to us in our hearts, perhaps a knack for administration or extreme people skills. God might give us business or political savvy, again beginning in the heart.

Having a topic in your heart does not make you an expert, however. Preaching starts with a fire in the heart from God and can't be faked. A Bible preacher once said, "An ongoing preacher without God's anointing will kill people spiritually." Just because you have a desire for a job does not mean God wants you in that job right now—or ever at all. Perhaps God wants you to pray for people in that job or study it. A classroom or coach can help us refine some skills, diligence and experience are equally vital, but we must also have both the fire and the calling from God in order to be effective in any line of work.

It all comes back to the heart. In the early years around Jesus's birth, Mary stored things up in her heart to ponder them. She knew that many people would not be able to have peer-level conversation with her as she saw the small blessings while carrying the Son of God in her womb. At times, we all encounter events in life that others could never identify with. Keeping them in your heart to ponder them with God will open up a universe in your inner self.

Never neglect the heart, but keep it as strong as your outward family, social, and work life. In the day Jesus reigns, God's Law will be written on our hearts. We won't need anyone to teach us about God because, ultimately, the fire in the heart from God is and comes from God Himself—to know God to love God. As the Image of God, God will speak to our hearts first.

_2 Chronicles 29:10, Psalm 40:8, Luke 2:19, 51, 1 Corinthians 12:1-11_

#  #235

## Excellence in Craft

The work we do is a reflection of who we are as the Image of God the Creator. In being careful and thoughtful in whatever you make or whatever service you perform, you are demonstrating the good character traits of a Divine Image. Angels will watch what you do in order to understand God; even though they have known Him for thousands of years, they will learn more about Him by watching humans perform tasks with excellence. Even when we are not careful, animals see our craft and know that we do things they never could. When we do whatever we do with excellence and care, we bring justice to the world around us.

No one died because bridges were made too well or because paper held it's form. While wicked men exploit tools for wickedness, their wickedness would continue without quality work. But, if the bridge holds, then people can cross in safety and we can come to the rescue of people who have no hope. If paper holds its form, messages and ideas can make their ways through the world, helping humanity to understand each other and progress.

When you don't do a good job, you create cleanup work for others, thus taxing their time when they have done nothing wrong. Such is not the justice of God. Having your work finished properly, well-assembled, robust, and suited for its purpose, other people can focus on their own tasks and needs, having their work been helped by whatever part you finished well.

No matter how insignificant or boring, your work explains God and dispenses justice to everything around you. Work and effort are like a shining light, but traveling through the presence of tools and pathways rather than through photons.

Rightly so, God will judge every one of us for how we perform our work much more than whatever work it is that we do. If you drive a car, drive it with skill, speed, safety, and respect for other drivers on the road. If you clean toilets, minister to every visitor of the lavatory by granting them the cleanliness of Heaven. If you govern, help the efforts of the skilled people you serve.

#  #236

## Leading as Teachers

Everyone is at a different learning level, even within the same grade. The duty and responsibility of a teacher is to recognize these differences and accommodate each student.

Not all students are formal. In fact, most of the "students" you will "teach" might never cross your mind as students until decades later, if at all. The person on the street asking for directions, the man at the airport fumbling with his papers because he doesn't know the system, the young cashier who can't figure out why you gave $11 when the bill is only $6 and tries to give you the extra dollar bill back before making change .. everyone of these people is your student for the moment. Don't let them know that you're their teacher, just be kind and make sure they learn without knowing they did. Act a little dazed, if you must, just make sure they can figure it out.

My grandfather was wonderful at many things, except teaching how to tie shoes. He did it so fast that none of the grandchildren could understand. His sons would laugh while his daughters smiled and demonstrated how its done. He would have made a terrible flight attendant demonstrating pre-flight safety. All teaching material must be graded and understandable.

Everyone must learn everything we know. If you struggle with patience while other people are learning, it could be that you have not continued learning yourself; it could also be that you have not taken enough time to pause and teach others along your journey.

There are three main learning methods; we each have a forte: touch, sight, and sound. Some students need to have "experience" or "mass" in order to understand a concept. Multiplication tables might be easier with groups of legos just as government paperwork might make more sense if it is grouped with paperclips and stacked in order of processing.

Know the levels and styles of learning. Keep an ongoing self-awareness of your own increments of learning. The steps of learning are very, very small. They seem much bigger going through them than looking back. Remember what it was like. When you read about Jesus, remember that he is the best teacher who lived.

#  #237

## Lovingly Navigate Verbal Conflict

Avoiding fights requires keen skill.

"I don't need you," is a sales posture. Reply, "Good, I will stay out of your way." If someone adds, "...But, I want you..." Reply, "Is it a good want? You know, wants and needs..." Being literal makes you impervious to passive aggression and posturing.

If someone is emotional and adamant, just agree with everything, no buts or arguments; be supportive. "I just don't want any part of that!" he emotionally explodes. Reply, "Then don't be involved. You don't need to." If he says, "This is very bad and wrong!" Say, "You're right, it is very bad and wrong!" This will address every possible scenario.

If someone uses emotional theater to manipulate, he will get no traction from a mirror. If he has real emotional or mental problems, then you will not seem to be an enemy for him to devour as his hostile prey. It is not for you to solve emotional-mental problems of people who do not solicit your help as their licensed therapist.

If someone merely needs validation to get help growing up, then you will give it simply by agreeing, no matter how elementary life observations are. This helps many people mature faster. It happens all throughout people's lives. It is especially a problem between parents and children, mentors and pupils, supervisors and employees.

Speak in turn, never beg to make your point. People who need to make a point need something and conflict is no place to be needy. Identify the bait and ignore it.

When someone asks you an unsettling and strangely-worded question—especially in "Religionese"—it's an engineered trap. Answer, "Your wording is strange. Please rephrase that in standard English." If they can't, stay on topic, "Sometimes we have trouble expressing ourselves in standard English if we mostly talk to people who think similarly. But, we've taken too much time," and move on to the next part in conversation—now, it's your turn to ask a question, presumably in standard English. When communication breaks down, restate your own purpose and wait.

When math doesn't add up, something is hiding—usually greed, immorality, or shame. Note any strangeness; call it out gently and pronto.

_Matthew 5:37, Romans 12:9-21_

#  #238

## Exclusive Respect

All dogs might go to Heaven, but humans ain't dogs. Prayer works powerfully on the condition that it is requested to Jesus as the one and only. Jesus does not ask that Christians squabble and contend with others over matters of faith and doctrine, but he does not accept being confused with the devil either.

One dangerous lie in the spineless blog of "unificationism" is the argument that bringing up the devil is the source of evil. That itself is a lie from the devil since the devil's second greatest achievement is to convince humanity that he doesn't exist; his greatest accomplishment is convincing humanity that he is the Jesus of Sunday Morning. If people believe that their worship of the devil is actually worship of Jesus, then wicked men can sleep at night and those who hate the devil's deed will misplace the blame on Jesus. The devil exists and lurks. Avoiding him or denying his very evident existence does no service.

Wickedness, like gentlemen's disagreements, must be accounted for, never dwelt on. Identify the devil, then forget about him. Decent people are able to disagree without becoming unfriendly. People who claim that "all religions are the same" do so to mask their immature inability to be respectable in differences. Jesus taught to know the truth and to love all people. Christianity is able to recognize Jesus as the one and only mediator between God and man while not needing to fight others. Needing agreement in order to get along is a sign that someone desperately needs Jesus.

Never encourage anyone to believe both Jesus and another religion. Doing so will not make two friends, but two enemies.

Jesus is the exclusive Christ because he alone is the Son, the Word made flesh, sacrificing himself to open the way. His message is repentance toward hope based on knowable truth.

The "tolerance" movement that demands so-called "acceptance" of everyone will harshly reject anyone who doesn't define tolerance on their terms. This is their proof of a self-contradicting worldview. Don't take the passive-aggressive little comments that "everyone is right" because those comments will quickly turn hostile-aggressive. Jesus path of truth and love is the higher perspective.

#  #239

## Disrespect vs Disdain

Desire for anything allows that thing to control you. Respect is no exception. Drop and abandon all and any cultures, gestures, customs, rituals, signs—any method of "respect" that you revere. If a motion, word, or hand signal means something "offensive", eradicate such concern from your mentality and concern. Don't use any custom to offend others and don't recognize any custom as offensive to you.

Choose which battle you plan to fight. Will you play the game of "expecting respect" or will you "win"? Will you ask everyone to pretend that you don't need to learn or will you ditch your pride so you can learn from everyone? Will you seek recognition or will you recognize what you seek? Will you lay down and cry when your rights get snubbed or will you lay down and snub your right to cry?

Respect yourself always, but remember that self-respect includes not caring about respect returned to you. Respectable people know that respect is to be given, not sought. There is a difference between someone who makes disrespectful gestures toward others and someone who genuinely disdains others. Respectable people know the difference. Disdain is the problem.

A person who makes disrespectful gestures is no threat. There is no reason to confront or "keep pride" merely because someone smacks your face or challenges your turf.

However, people who harbor disdain will often outwardly display a perfect choreography of "respectful" gestures. Their disdain surfaces when it's time to trust other people's testimony, give others the space to make their own decisions, behave as if accomplished people are competent people, and remain silently seated while other people handle their own affairs. People who harbor disdain will make autocratic demands or toss out provocative taunts. They genuinely believe that they are better than others and if you slight their great honor, they will throw a tantrum like a brat.

"If you're so good, why don't you do it already?" is a taunt. "Just do it and don't care what other people think," is an encouragement. Notice the difference.

Don't fear those with disdain, but beware of who they truly are, don't become what they are, and by no means covet them.

#  #240

## Leading as Guides from a Distance

Control and leadership are opposites. If you control something, you don't need to lead it; if you lead people, then you don't need to control them.

Micromanaging drains resources, but so does fixing other people's mistakes. Leadership requires keeping a distance, allowing people to make mistakes, clean them up, figure things out, and celebrate the victory that comes from their own effort. The adage "managers do things right, leaders do right things" holds true.

Know when to intervene: never too often.

Coach from the sidelines, give pointers, but let the players work the game. There's a time for both harshness and encouragement, but the important ingredient is to keep off the field. Sit and watch the toddler walk; don't help him, celebrate his steps from at two arms' reach, and make sure he doesn't play with the pretty hot burner on the stove.

Guiding a tour can require some planning and preparation, but you can't prepare for everything. A quick orientation before the tour is designed to make the tour better, it does not replace it. Have a plan, hold a group huddle for vital warnings before entering the jungle, pause along the way so no one gets lost, and make sure you know your stuff so you can answer any question and solve any problem as they come up.

While some planning is necessary, plans are for the leader, not the group. Give people a schedule, make sure it's readable, but be flexible. If other people know the mission and direction then the tour will lead itself and you will be free to focus on enhancing the journey rather than hoping that it finishes at all. If someone wants to stop and see something special on the way, that's a good thing.

Welcome initiative and be patient when things aren't done perfectly. Let people try and try a few times, offer rewards for success, and when necessary, step in and give a talk-through demo. When people are striving to get their on their own initiative, they'll place high value on what you have to say. You'll have to say it often, though. So, get used to repeating the same truth like a broken record.

#  #241

## Stand Unconcerned

Be kind to your adversaries; this is much easier if you don't mislabel friends as adversaries. Check first. Same goes with forgiveness.

When you try to forgive the wrong person or the wrong deed, it seems generally impossible. Correctly label the good and bad, ideas and deeds, your friends and enemies. Then, it will be easier to navigate challenging situations.

When you know that you have a true adversary, attacking or resisting are the two worst things you can do. Ignoring adversaries—even acting like they aren't adversaries—is the best action. No one can stand against you anyway, at least if you stand with the Living God Most High. Squabbles and conflicts are generally petty. Don't try to state your case, prove your point, or assert your claim. Just live and act; let others figure it out.

Nearly any culture you operate in today will have the Bible in its language, so people can search the Bible to understand you if they wish. You don't need to explain yourself in anything. Once you no longer care about detailed matters of a conflict, you will be free to do whatever you truly need to do.

Apathy toward adversaries is no endorsement. Adversaries need their adversity returned in order to persist. Have coffee with whomever opposes you. Listen to whomever wants to talk to you, at least long enough to sit down. Hear out criticism. Welcome opponents; they're doing you some kind of favor, even if you don't yet know how. Let down your guard and don't fear your weak spots, but don't numb your wits and never become weak from laziness.

As long as you are diligent and keep working, learning, growing, and strengthening yourself, the worries that most people evade will not be any kind of threat to you. There are two hemispheres of the worldview of standing unconcerned: One is the naked strength in your pure self, just as you are. You are up to any challenge, even without weapons. The other is your place in Eternity. Though your body and belongings may be harmed in this life, nothing in this world can take from one's Eternity except oneself. Build your strength there.

_Psalm 27_

#  #242

## Flexible Endurance Always

Dance between controlling your own time and rolling with the punches, even when other people don't control theirs. Many times, crazy events converge to work out in the end, but this is no validation that craziness should become habit.

You might be late and your friend late also, but that doesn't mean that being late will improve your life in other areas and with other people. Being late is generally a problem, but that doesn't mean you should be rude to your friend over mild tardiness. Learn to expect the margins as they are; if they are intolerable, say so. Find a way to control your own schedule with flexibility.

Consider clothes made with stretchable fabric. Stretchy clothes have a defined form, but they can expand and retract as needed. Like stretch cotton, carry a book with you to read or keep important side projects ready in your pocket. Always have a way to keep your own time from being wasted so that you truly have no grievance against those who make you late.

Airports are another story. Agree to call ahead the morning of; use a wake up call for an early rendezvous or quickly touch base before hand when preparing to leave for an importantly timed journey later in the day. Plan for lunch near the train station before departure or include time for a pit stop to freshen up a few minutes before your appointment.

While some simple scheduling gimmicks are useful, the important part is self control: don't make other late and don't be angry when others make you late.

An incompetent leader will truncate essential conversations and terminate tardy talent just to stay on schedule. But, the schedule itself doesn't pay the bills; scheduling is merely a tool for efficiency. If your goal is to be on time every time, quickly fire everyone an end all projects, then there won't be any chance of latency.

This "time" principle applies to needed patience with difficult people, such as the need to educate employees—fellow, subordinate, and superior—on how to cooperate, stay on task, mind one's own business, or complete paperwork correctly. A smooth running machine needs both tuning and oil.

#  #243

## Shoot Straight

Everything "meaning something" is a terrible way to live life. It's a mode with high stress, never able to say one's true thought, always exhausting oneself trying to wiggle around one's own meaning and figure out how other people are wiggling around their meanings.

Don't be a "word bender". It's a choice, something grown up with. Shooting straight is also a choice. One choice runs away, making things much more difficult than they ever need to be. The other faces problems straight on, making them smaller in the long run.

Straight shooters and word benders both arise in every culture. The word benders defend their ways indirectly as if it is their "right", all the while attacking straight shooters and trying to change them. Straight shooters don't defend themselves, they just think how they think, talk how they talk, and live how they live.

Anyone can switch modes, but we all have a main. Word bending usually hides some kind of shame or unwillingness to "grow up" in order to face problems. Straight shooting seems offensive to word benders, which word benders use as evidence of "hostility" from the straight shooter. See it when it's happening, don't push, and don't push back.

Much of the difference between the two types of people and their two main communication manners has to do with mission. Straight shooters tend to know their mission and just want to go for it. Word benders often don't know the ideology behind their efforts, they merely have a "way" of talking, certain habits, certain cliches, but they really don't know where their conversations are headed.

This can likely result from a brainwashed upbringing, an entire culture where everyone has that way of talking. When children say the right things at the right times, their local culture rewards them. It happens in schools and institutionalized religions. Such people don't really know what they believe, they don't know how to think critically, they only know certain speech patterns and "right answers" to give at the right times. In essence of their work or subject matter, they are akin to minions.

Straight shooters are different, they actually know their destination, so they just go there.

#  #244

## Leading as Peers

The secret to teamwork is to know what game you're playing.

At a small, but busy, restaurant in Asia, the entire staff is trained in every job of the house. Everyone does everything from washing dishes to mopping the floor to running food, seating guests, taking wait numbers, busing tables, even preparing the meals. The menu is simple, so no one needs to be an expert chef. That simplicity might be part of the owner's strategy, though he wouldn't tell me his trade secrets.

But, it always caught my attention that no one ever had to direct anyone else to do any job. They had a shift manager deciding when people could go home; that was about it. Yet somehow, every job got taken care of quickly and seamlessly. A staff member would stop busing a table to greet a guest at the door, then take up the role of host for the next two hours while another employee stepped in to finish busing the table. It works like that all night, night after night.

It's not that the staff thinks of themselves as a "team", they just know how to do every job and they know the business should operate. Dinner guests should have a certain experience, the staff do whatever needs to be done to make that happen. That's the simple direction given to everyone.

Teams have problems when they don't know what game they are playing. Someone wants to be the MVP or the boss at the company thinks that a kind voices in the office will get more sales .. try telling that to the Wolf of Wallstreet.

You might not have the privilege of being told what game you're playing. Under bad leadership .. or no leadership .. you will need to figure that out yourself. A partially-absent supervisor might never be happy, so you be diplomatic instead.

Look where the need is and fill it. You don't need to be "above" other people in order to lead from among the group. Be a contagious example and don't pretend to beat any drum. If you end up drumming, let others take turns. The best way to lead peers is to remain one yourself.

#  #245

## Dealing with the Public

When curious people ask you why you do what you do, answer with wise life principles. You don't need to give away detailed information about your trade strategies and people don't want you to. People ask these types of questions because they are genuinely curious and want to learn something from you.

It doesn't matter how famous or unknown you are. You never know when that moment will come when you are granted "flash fame", your first or only interview on TV, the unexpected press gaggle when you outperformed at just the right spontaneous moment. More importantly, as you trek through life, wise people—especially the young—will decide that you have wisdom to offer and they will seek guidance from you without warning. Always be ready to bless them with wisdom.

You don't need to share your life story. They don't want to argue. They don't mean to be nosy. And, they certainly don't know how to ask "correctly". "Why do you do that?" or "Can I ask you a personal question?" Such phrases are bound to come up, often at your inconvenience. If you can get good at answering fan mail on the street, you're more likely to have fans for no other reason than you are good to whatever fans you have.

Sometimes people want entertainment, which is great. Children also like to be tossed up or to watch you do that one pathetic magic trick you learned when you were ten, but they can't figure out. Don't be afraid to do a hand stand or sing your signature song a cappella. "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?"...Practice. "Why do you work extra hard at the office?"...In general, it is bad luck to do minimals.

Don't tell the part about how your cousin's classmate's teacher's daughter-in-law's dancing coach let you audition as a favor. It wouldn't have worked without practice anyway, so tell that part. And, certainly don't elaborate on your corporate business strategy, company inside baseball, trade secrets, or that you had some relationships to patch up.

Always give extra encouragement and everything will smooth over. More importantly, give a little friendliness with whomever you meet in passing.

#  #246

## Anger Poisons the Angry

Anger is a deadly toxin. Physicians claim the same on a medical level. Psychologists deal with it on a social level. The Bible makes its own contribution. Anger is every bit contagious as it is toxic. Don't join the epidemic.

The topic of anger is double-edged: whether to deal with anger in oneself or to deal with anger from others. Either way, know that anger is self-destructive; don't self-destruct and don't fret about people who do.

Anger is not about forgiveness; the two are unrelated. "Forgiveness" is actually a choice to not seek repayment on a debt, whether through money, sweat, or blood. Anger, however, is about the choice of where to focus one's thought life.

Things happen in life that are bound to make us angry. For whatever reason, we let these things surprise us. We get indignant and act surprised as if whatever happened to us makes us the only thirsty starfish in the ocean.

Never forget that the next hitch in your plans has already been prepared. When the time is right, you'll be provoked to anger. Be ready and know what you will do before that time comes. Don't let anger catch you off guard.

We can limp through life for years, clinging to whatever thing happened to us so long ago; many people make it decades, half a century or even more. That anger infects the mind, promoting the lie that carrying the past will make your journey better in some way. We don't need to bring our past with us in order to learn from it. Take your lesson in a doggy bag and get out of town, leave anger behind and make tracks as fast as you can.

What happened once might never happen the same way again. Chewing on what happened in the past—mulling over it—replaying it again and again—arguing with people in your mind—that only makes things worse, solving nothing.

We don't know every reason why things happened they did. When we make ourselves the "firemen" to save ourselves from a house fire, we climb the firetruck ladder right back into the flames. Just save yourself and get out of the house.

#  #247

## We Belong to a King

We are saved and redeemed by a King, not a sissy, not an overlord—a King! This has many ramifications, among them self-respect. The more you understand that you have been redeemed by a King, the more respectable your life and your choices will be.

God's forgiveness is vaster than the widest ocean. But, that doesn't mean we will be happy if we create regrets and make more messes in our lives that need cleaning up, just to "experience His forgiveness" all over again. In those moments where we lapse and create regrets for ourselves, we don't have a "theological" problem; we have a maturity problem.

Making a mess while claiming "God forgives all" is a cry for help, not an abstract theory about which big words we ought to argue about, just to fit God into a box small enough for us to fully understand in an afternoon read. Our theology affects our view of ourselves and good theology begins with this: God is a King, our King.

The truth that God is a King marks yet one more beautiful thing about Him. It explains much of His relationship with us. Any king prospers only as much as his people prosper. Every king has close ties with all people of his kingdom.

God forgives us of every foolish thing we do, not because He doesn't mind His kingdom being made a mess, but because He wants all of us to prosper.

You were redeemed by a King. Act like it. Walk in wisdom rather than as the angry child destroying his own life just to get attention. Don't be the old fool who seeks to beat the angry child. Instead, return to your King every day. Search for orphans and bring them back to their King. Teach others to live with kingly respect. When someone acts unkingly, remind them of who they are. Remind yourself of who you are.

The one thing that makes Jesus unique among other kings is adoption—we are all sons and daughters of the King. We all have the rights of heirs. Stand up and live with dignity. Grow God's Kingdom—your Kingdom—both in number and in splendor.

#  #248

## Leading as Subordinates

We rarely have the luxury of working under competent supervision. Most of the time, management is chosen from a very small group of qualified people, their main qualities being crisis management, being able to do the job of three people when necessary, and doing whatever is necessary .. even unethically .. to keep daily drama from escalating to higher levels of oversight.

You may be more suited to lead, but you must learn some things that only come with time before the greater group can benefit from your better judgment. By then, your better judgment should become even better yet. If your better judgment doesn't improve with time, then you really wouldn't be a better leader, you only think you would be.

Even under competent leaders, you can lead those around and above you in some capacity. Be patient and respectful always. Don't heckle at stupidity, no matter how well-deserved. No, it won't help educate.

Help and lighten the mood, mainly by keeping your own stuff in order. If you need extra time with your work, move out of other people's way and kindly apologize for your mess.

I once had a table of guests who were angry about having to wait. I broke protocol, slipped in a few lines about thanking them for waiting for the other people who were also waiting. The head of the table was mildly offended, sassed at me, I sassed back that he was right, and thus we all got along great the rest of the night.

Tense situations might need a little stretch and ice breaking, but your job is to make sure that "it's okay" when it happens. You'll need charm and patience like this when you don't have the authoritative powers to right the situation. Do what is within your power and practice your diplomatic wit so that you have it well mastered for when God puts you into your own leadership position.

Be an example that your superiors wish they could follow. Make crud roll downhill onto you, not uphill. Humbly suggest on occasion, but avoid being first in the line of fools to open your mouth. Do excellent work within your power that inspires all around.

#  #249

## Correct by Teaching Indirectly

Say what you mean and mean what you say, but do so with charm and never say everything you think. Some ideas are foolish and you will disagree yourself after a few seconds, but you can't take those words back.

Learn the art of indirection and implication. When someone is blatantly foolish, discuss abstract topics related more fundamentally to their error. Love "conceals" a sin, which means when someone makes a big mistake, help to heal the problem, don't gossip, publishing and promulgating that person's error. Don't make the wound bigger; just help fix it.

Sometimes we can be blunt, other times we only need to drip small, relevant ideas in the form of unrelated advice or discussing topics on a broad or detailed level that no one else will recognize as relating to the topic at hand

Remember however, that when you solve a problem indirectly, you give up all claim to expect that other people understand you. If your purpose is to be clear, then be clear and literal. If your goal is to be diplomatic, then clarity is not your goal, so it can't be your expectation either.

When a dog poops in the house, say, "No," pick it up with a tissue, take it outside with the dog, place it on the ground, then smile and say, "Good dog." This is the best way to potty train a dog because the dog wants to obey, but needs to understand the rules in order to obey them. Dogs and people share this ability to learn. Quietly doing a task the correct way, with minimal explanation, can be a respectful way to help other people learn.

If people don't get your message, be more direct, but of course with charm.

When Simon the Pharisee harbored arrogance toward the woman washing Jesus's feet in Simon's house, Jesus addressed Simon's error with a parable and a philosophical question. In the end, no one knew the relevance but Simon and Jesus. Jesus worded Simon's teaching for everyone, "Those who have been forgiven much love much, just like this woman." Neither depend solely on shooting straight nor using indirection; master both because each will have its day.

_Proverbs 17:9, Luke 7:36-50_

#  #250

## Bring Sunshine

Rain is not contagious. When you enter a dark and stormy social environment, don't let the rain clouds convince you to become a rain cloud yourself. Bring some sunshine to spare.

Joy is a choice, but not everyone has learned to make that choice. Learn the choice of joy yourself so you can bring it to people who haven't yet learned. You might even end up teaching a few people by example.

In some sense it's better to light a lamp and keep watch, rather than hide in a corner and curse the darkness. But, the greater value is in being the source of light yourself. Don't depend on an external light source—be that light source yourself and just stand up.

Ponder the proverb, "A gentle answer turns away wrath." It's truly about bringing sunshine to someone who is so angry that he wants to hurt you.

No one wakes up in the morning and randomly decides to go injure people; injured people injure people, and they do this because they are sad, angry, upset—some rain cloud looms over their lives. They feel that there is some enemy out there causing them trouble, denying them sunlight, so they will punch at anything in their way hoping to punch a hole in the rainstorm overhead. To shine the light of kindness is to give what is most needed, especially in times of anger.

The sun isn't only about feeling good, it provides vital nutrients. Any of us can become angry and bitter when we are malnourished, you have those moments yourself. Smacking people for smacking people doesn't remove the hunger to smack people, it only grows the hunger. Anger is toxic, but it stems from malnutrition. Once you can see lack of sunshine as a deficiency of light rather than an excess of darkness you will be able to help friends through their own times of trouble, even friends you never knew you could have.

We celebrate people who cheer us up, you know who those people are. You can be that person. It only takes the choice to be happy. When it's raining on someone's parade, offer aid by bringing your own sunshine.

#  #251

## How to Handle Contentious Contenders

When dealing with someone who only wants a fight, the most important thing for you to do is survive and finish the conversation with as little fallout as possible. Always keep in mind: Whatever you speak to in a person is what you get more of.

If you speak to someone's brokenness and wrath, you'll get more. If you speak to someone's hope and capability, you'll get more of that also. Rebuking a character flaw will make the flaw grow. It doesn't matter if you speak well of it or not, whatever you give attention to will grow.

Conflict is not the time to start parenting a child, even a childish adult, especially if you are the adult arguing with your child. When the other person doesn't want to listen, just state your decision and end the conversation quickly; never state your reasons in a conflict.

People who want to fight want to do so because they are childish. Children must be "managed". You can't "manage" a child if you are one yourself. Conflicts with childish folk force us to grow up; it's better to grow up before the conflict.

Recognize "stonewalling" and never do it. Shutting down a question, refusing to address a topic, rejecting any and all requests that you acknowledge a "point well made" from the other person—these are all stone walls. So is saying, "I just don't want to argue. Can we just get along and stop now or at least talk about it later?" That comment is sure to make the conflict go nuclear. Always keep a door open to some level of conversation on every topic and point.

Sit like you want to listen, but stay relaxed with your weight shifted back so it doesn't feel like you're ready to pounce. That will tell everyone, including yourself, that relaxing is alright. Only shut down a topic for the remainder of the conversation if a person starts repeating what was already said or if a person crosses a line of "what's acceptable"—and that line must be extremely hard to reach. One uncrossable line is demanding that others accept an opinion. Keep almost all else wide open for discussion.

#  #252

## Leading as Masters

The master has his own way and no one understands him. He is a master, after all. Teachers are for understanding, but masters are for improving. The way of the master remains a mystery that dazzles all who behold. Thinking that you understand proves that you need a master to remind you by sheer demonstration of his own skill that you know absolutely nothing.

The master might have you haul buckets of water or punch a bag while he goes about his own training. You may think that he doesn't notice, but he gauges your form out of the corner of his eye with accuracy you can't fathom and subtlety you'd never suspect.

Only with time, diligence, frequency, and old age can you reach the stage of the master. In some ways, you have the status of a master. Usually, the best way to handle those difficult situations is to see where you are already a master.

Once a man asked how much money I made. I told him it is bad form and bad luck to disclose income. When he suggested some numbers I smiled, chuckled, and told him specifically how cute he was. I may not be the master by the social numbers, but I was certainly the master in the moment in the art of saying, "No."

When people push you, just "master" right back at them. A little comedic superiority could lighten a heavy mood, only a sissy would be so offended, as many shed tears in the shadow of the master.

Above all, the master knows only to teach what he has mastered. Being a young master is most difficult because one has mastered so little in one's youth. Knowing what you can't teach is a hard pill to swallow when you know that you can't teach most anything because you're not a master yet. So, first master yourself: Look down your nose, straighten your back, and say with lazy confidence, "I should never even try to teach such a thing since I've not mastered it yet."

Never serve dual masters and never sign up for dual loyalties. Choose your skill, study its master, and only teach what you've done.

#  #253

## Because I Want To

Take ownership of your choices. The best way to do this is to keep your reasons, proofs, explanations, and defensive evidence to yourself.

The supreme proof that a choice is right comes in the resulting aftermath. Those who keep their silence until the ending evidence has the last word—through slander, provocative accusation, gossip, doubt, even coup and impeachment—will be left standing after the smoke clears.

There's a time to talk, especially to delineate decisions and implement action, but those are different from babbling on about the justification and rationale for what you do. Of course, a little philosophy about why you do what you do won't hurt, as long as you're not using philosophy to build a case in your defense or trying to prove that a genius is a genius. Just talk as you need in order to finish the task at hand. Don't fall for the trap of someone asking you why you did what you did as a way of convincing you to do something differently.

If you are a fool and headed in the wrong direction, listen to the voice of wisdom, but don't change merely because someone debated your reasons. If you should change, proof that another way will succeed requires no discussion about your reasons for the failed method. That works in reverse as you deal with other people. Keep your eyes on your own path, never why another path is wrong—and never let others tell you why your path is wrong, but only why another path might be better. Once you've heard them out, make your decision and press on.

Don't explain yourself; friends don't care and enemies won't accept your reasons anyway. When you reject "indefinite discussion until others agree with you", those others will call you "unfriendly", when the underlying issue is that you disagree. Stay on task.

Actions speak louder than words, let them. Cultivate this reputation so people already know your answer when they ask why you do what you do, "Because I want the results that follow." Eventually they will stop asking, then you can focus on your task. If you deliberate, it's because you value discussion more than results.

#  #254

## Do Your Best Always and All Your Work Will Last

Every day, every moment, make every effort your best. The Universe and its Creator are watching you. Gravity will find favor for those who never slack off and hold to high standards, even when no one is looking. God created laws of nature to work that way, to reward righteousness done in secret. There is no way you can ever serve kings and queens if you don't serve everyone as you would a king or queen.

Kings and queens want to hire people who make excellence seem effortless, which means that your best needs to be your "normal". Never give into the poison of people telling you, "That's good enough," when you know it's not.

It is true that with some things we need to recognize that high standards are not our highest priority. Knowing what things to "do to standard" and with what things to "exceed expectation" is part of good judgment—part of doing your best. No matter how old we get, we never stop improving our good judgment of knowing which standards fit where. So, always do your best at learning this good judgment.

If you know that more work won't help and that other matters need your attention, move on. If you know you have exhausted your energies for the time being, rest. But, never lay down your hammer and pen because you want an excuse to not do your best. Only the best work pays the best.

Place a high value on delayed gratification in every sector of life. Hard work empowers delayed gratification and delayed gratification teaches us self-control, creating resilience against corruption, bribery, and blackmail. With consumer products, don't make a product that is weak, then ask the customer to "be careful". Make the product idiot-proof. Murphy's Law applies to testing; diligently test and consider every scenario.

In college, I came to define "integrity" as a structure's ability to withstand: 1. use, 2. abuse, 3. time, and 4. the elements. I was building two coffee stands. Observing, my father said, "People are going to stand on these things and do all sorts of things they weren't made for. If you make them strong, they'll out-live you, just like grandpa's bookshelf over there."

#  #255

## God Also Has an Answer

Dark and dirty deeds plague every civilization in history. Next time someone proves that your past—and your culture's past—is unjust, remind him that the same is true of him and everyone else. Proving the dirty deeds of our ancestors only proves that our ancestors were human.

There are two religions in the world, only two. There are many ways to define these—lifting and leaning, forgiveness and revenge, light and darkness, fairness and apathy. But, in terms of dark and dirty deeds of history, those same two religions are seen as the one which recognizes that God had a greater plan for good at work all along and those who want the complaint of evil to have either the last word or no word at all.

Moving past the past requires that we acknowledge that past. People who don't understand the dual presence of both powerful evil and an even more powerful good will only talk about the evil or the good, never both. When one can't forgive and love enemies, one will pretend to agree with everyone. But, Universalism only masks hatred. When the "all dogs go to Heaven" preacher encounters someone who says that all dogs do not go to Heaven, that preacher will suddenly turn angry because he never learned to love, only to hide his hatred.

Acknowledging the past doesn't mean staying stuck in it. We know that dark and dirty deeds have plagued Earth from the time Adam and Eve walked in the garden. Heinous crimes have been committed since, the most heinous of which we will fortunately never know. Admit these, acknowledge these, recognize these; then move on to the good part.

While old aristocrats prepared to sell slaves in the American colonies after the Pilgrims' arrival, God had already sent bad weather to force the Bible bearing Pilgrims into unplanned colonies in the north. They never knew that their own hardship had a purpose. Those Pilgrims didn't land on Plymouth Rock; Plymouth Rock landed on the chains of slavery two centuries later, thereby smashing many chains, and the ripple continues today.

While devils were at work in one place, God was already at work in another.

_Genesis 50:15-21_

#  #256

## Leading as Ambassadors

The ambassador walks everywhere in friendship. At times, he will face the wrath of a mob wishing to insight the fury of his home country. He has no power to defend himself, only the security of his embassy. His powerlessness is his strength because it allows him to walk through doors without posing a threat.

The ambassador listens and explains. He is everyone's friend, to help connect one official to the official he answers to. He doesn't agree with everyone, but he wants everyone's voice to be heard by interested ears.

The ambassador must sometimes lay down the law and make known the way of the world. He doesn't come to the rescue of every citizen abroad and he may need to lay down the law with his own people abroad.

The ambassador has unusual powers within which he must operate efficiently. If he can influence another nation to move toward peace, he must. He must conscientiously as compellingly articulate the goals and prerogatives of his own people while accurately conveying the prerogatives of other people to his own. Through diplomacy, the ambassador is in a great position to make a difference for better or worse, affecting the lives of millions.

The ambassador is a guest and must continue to act as a guest with gratitude and provide hospitality toward other guests he may receive. His efforts are not mere nonsense. His mission to communicate is like a bridge standing by to usher vital substance.

The ambassador doesn't have the power to make one, single decision. He carries clout along with many powerful ears in his pocket. This he must use to advance the good cause. Diplomacy itself is not his power, it is his boundary. The ambassador's power is reason and understanding, which he can only implement among the ears he already has.

Sometimes the ambassador is the only way to understand yourself in your own situation. Vibrancy and charm, wit and humility, hardihood and tenderness—these make for a spicy ambassador who is sure to be remembered and loved. The ambassador is no stuffed suit. When you are a guest, know as much deep in your heart, taking forth the mission of relationships.

#  #257

## Tables Before Enemies

_God prepares our banquet tables right in front of our enemies. This isn't a cute encouragement, it is a mode of operation. It is how God works._

God will supply your need. If you don't irritate Him or jinx your own luck through immorality, He may even provide well beyond your need. At times, God will give you just enough to fill your mouth, not your stomach, all as a part of Him training your trust. But, God also likes to play dazzling games.

Say you owe money to one of your enemies; obey God's moral code to treat your enemies well and strive to repay—not from any loyalty to the debtor, but from loyalty to the God Who Repays. As you seek to fulfill your obligations to your enemies, God may dry up your cash flow just long enough to make you late on a payment. You wouldn't do this, God does this just to irritate your enemies, then, later, He gives you a cash surplus to pay extra—making your enemies hate you even more, but still unwilling to harm you since they make money off of you. All the while, God may send you a fine banquet, literally, complete with wine, delicacy, and dessert. Because He is the God Who Repays, God repaid you for your trouble and repaid your enemy with trouble for troubling you.

Banquets in the midst of antagonism are God's mode of operation. He will even convince your enemy pay for your banquet—willingly.

Take a moment to consider God as the Great God of Great Banquets. For a thousand years, Jesus will reign on Earth while the devil rots in prison. That time is referred to as the "marriage supper of the Lamb". Once the Antichrist is defeated, birds will eat his dead army; this is called the "great supper of the Lord". Even the world government Jesus reigns over will have roads and infrastructure built by the Antichrist. This is all because God prepares banquets and makes the devil pay for them.

God's "white tux" attitude toward your enemies can rub off on you. You might not fret so much if you meditate on banqueting.

_Psalm 23, Revelation 19:9, 17_

#  #258

## Invite Growth in Love

Love is the end of any worthy pursuit. The test and proof of whether Jesus has truly been taught, demonstrated, and expressed is whether everyone grows in love. When the genuine truth of God—not some purported myth or sales pitch for some ulterior purpose—when the actual, genuine truth from Heaven takes root in our hearts, our hearts thus begin to grow larger and larger in love for and from everyone.

Growing in love includes recognizing love when others give it, even when they give it well cloaked.

Patience is also part of love. Someone who has not grown in love has not grown up. Someone who has not grown in patience has neither grown in love nor grown up.

To the extent that you struggle with patience, so must you cease all activity and pause until patience comes to you. If you can't guide your subordinates at the office with gentleness, talk with your superiors about how to be more patient, consider taking a day off merely to pray for patience. Even ask those you supervise to help you to be more patient; give them permission to call you out on it when you're not. Do the same with your children, parents, spouse, siblings, extended family, peers, coworkers, students, customers, clients, and trade partners.

Whatever area you struggle in to learn love, ask everyone in your life for a little help. Don't go overboard with the drama, just quietly mention it as a personal goal and grant everyone an open invitation to bring it up in conversation: "I want to be more loving and patient. Tell me how."

Get ready, though. You might cause an avalanche of feedback and it can overwhelm you. If you're lucky, so many people might take you up on your offer to grant feedback that they critique you to tears. Those tears might wash away whatever hinders love in your life. They might even erode your pride to a point of such humility that they only way to listen is by...

...becoming more patient.

The candid feedback from friends who care enough to say so will make you more loving, but you only see what love you recognize.

#  #259

## Never, Never Compromise, Never

Be guided by principles and ethics, not facts on the ground only.

Don't get trapped between the twin lies of Heavenly and Earthly mindedness. Neither be too Heavenly-minded to be of Earthly good nor too Earthly-minded to be of Heavenly good. Anyone can be too much of either to be useless for the other.

People will tell you to "look at the reality around you". Yes, boots on the ground should tell the brass at command what can and can't be done, but protocols remain the same. Reality doesn't trump protocol. Values and principles—when wisely chosen—are practical and permanent. As you mature, you will need to re-evaluate yours, but that's your problem that everyone else has too.

In fog, pilots must fly by instruments, not by feelings. Values are necessary because, when in the fray, dust from the work and the battle can cloud our judgment. Clouded judgment can't navigate you out of a cloud.

If you can let go of an ideology then do it in your prayer time, not when someone wants to negotiate a compromise with you. If you wait until the negotiating table to see that your ideal is flawed, you have repenting to do in your next prayer time, which should probably be made urgently and with extended time.

The world is destroyed by one compromiser after another. The cascade of compromise ripples one fool at a time. None of them think their compromise will matter much, which is why they are foolish; if their compromise didn't matter then it wouldn't have mattered if they didn't make that compromise either. It's not that a cascade of compromise overpowers the honest people of the world, but that a cascade of compromisers is a cascade to suicide. Cascaders hurt themselves. The people who refuse to compromise on truth and morals will remain standing in the end.

Know your values and core principles; never let them go, but let go of everything else before any opportunity for compromise comes knocking on your door. Know your mission—what it is and what it is not. Know who you are and know who you belong to. Then you will surely stand and last.

#  #260

## Leading as Aunts & Uncles

Aunts and Uncles are often halfway between a parent and a grand parent. In some ways, they are less of both, in some ways they are more.

A grandparent can tell the parents how to parent because the parents are the grandparent's children; and aunt or uncle cannot because that would likely start a fight between adult siblings.

The whole family shares the obligation to provide leadership for the young. When adult siblings disagree about household affairs—likely dating back to debated ideals from childhood—the best leadership is by example. Parents lead in their own way and welcome the cousins, celebrating and learning from differences.

Cousins parents know each other because they grew up together. They know what they would do and few discussions would ever be new. Having aunts and uncles is one of the best graces God gave to the family structure because the cousins are different, yet the same. Aunts and uncles can't just step in to "raise nieces and nephews correctly", to do so would be foolish. They must lead with positive support, picking up the normal slack of human nature without interfering. Of course, they must also be tolerated, keeping parents on their toes.

In the later years, when the grandparents pass on, aunts and uncles become the new pillars for the family. They can offer wisdom and leadership, hospitality and help, a space to get away, harsh lessons, and kind counsel. The wise, great aunt keeps the family history and opens her doors to everyone in the family.

The "rich uncle" is a recurring reality. Often, the uncle became rich due to differences of philosophy from childhood. He was hated and everyone else became poor. In the adult years, his pleasure is to spoil the nieces and nephews, not out of spite, but to prove both that he was right about money and that, more importantly, it doesn't matter. The cousins are all taken care of and the rich uncle's siblings need not worry about their children's future.

The aunt and uncle have much to teach the world and much to be emulated. Sometimes it's best to see yourself as the aunt or the uncle in the room.

#  #261

## Success Language

There is a language that some people speak and it is only known by other people who speak that language. It is a language of "success", built on a set of presuppositions about what it takes to succeed.

This is not superstitiously-defined "success", presuming that "success" is a certain lifestyle or amount of money or fame. This kind of "success" is literal, only meaning that one achieves whatever one attempts.

People who speak this "success" language say what they mean and mean what they say. Their "yes" means "yes" and their "no" means "no". So, they are not fond of needing to say things twice.

They never enter a situation without knowing what they want to do and being absolutely determined to "succeed" in getting it. Their goal may not be what you think. They might enter a sales conversation with the goal to understand someone, not to make a sale. Even if they don't make a sale, they will understand that person—as was their goal—and it will benefit them because all of their goals will help them to "succeed" with other goals.

As customers, they know what they want or they know what things they don't know about what they want. They may not know what they need to purchase, but once the salesman answers their questions, they might instantly make a purchase. This can surprise salesmen because most customers don't speak the language of "success". For many, "sales" is about manipulating people who are "success" illiterate.

As Christians, "success" presumes obeying the Bible—living by Biblical morals, loving others, being responsible, worshiping Jesus above all—the usual Christian values. When they meet another person who claims to be Christian, they will interact with that person under Christian assumptions unless they doubt whether that person is a reliable, genuine Christian. The same applies to political, economic, and any other ideals.

The secret of "success" language is to maintain the presumptions. If you speak the language of "success", when you encounter people who don't, they will try to "teach" you, presuming that you don't understand something. Actually, they are the ones learning. The best thing you can do is maintain your "success" presuppositions.

#  #262

## God Has You

The keystone to lasting success is to surrender your work to the Lord God Most High and beg Him to guide you. A supernatural life in prayer and a mind conditioned by time with the Bible will yield lasting results that all the sales closing strategies in the world can't beat. While you work and try, push and strive, but you don't see many results, note that God still sustains you. His provisional hand brings you what you need, including daily difficulty that teaches you and makes you stronger.

Some people call these difficulties "exercise"; with physical bodies people seek out exercise and even pay big money for it, but with life skills many often decide that exercise is somehow bad. Actually, exercise is healthy in any area of life, whether body-building or character-building.

Instant prosperity without education and painful strengthening will only harm you. You may already have success, but the results have not yet arrived. Throttling the prosperity of your wise diligence is also a need, but it is a need you cannot throttle yourself. Only God can set the due payment for Life's Laws and the Laws of the Universe—all of which He created for our enjoyment.

So, while you wait and trust God—dedicating your ways to Him, praying for Him to show you what to study and where to focus your product road map—know that He actively governs your speed to give you optimum benefit.

Jesus taught that the Father is glorified when we bear fruit. God wants you to prosper, but in the healthiest, longest-lasting way. He will give prosperity to you, He already has been.

Look back through your life—how you learned from bad choices, how you endured life's struggles, how you survived, and how you will continue to. Don't compare your results to others when asking whether your life is working. Spend large amounts of time in prayer, asking God to help you understand who you are, Who He Is, and what He wants you to do next. Pray that He would send you prosperity in whatever form is most suited for your time and place. And, pray for joyful stability through it all.

_Psalm 37:5; 55:22, Philemon 4-7, 1 Peter 5:6-11_

#  #263

## Demonstrate Money Liberally

We must work for whatever we have, otherwise we will not understand what we have and thereby get ourselves into trouble. Few things harm the poor like unearned money dolled out. To a money-savvy society, even the poor will not accept a handout because they don't want to shortchange their "money skills", which improve only by working to earn their keep. Their choice is part of dignity, another reason why the wise poor man will not accept handouts.

There is no folly in being poor, only in seeking results greater than one's own work. This seems cold-hearted to people who do not understand money. It also seems like a lame excuse to not give away money. But, there are other ways to be charitable and show liberality of the "Noble Habitus". One example is God's command in Deuteronomy to exercise liberality with debt and when harvesting crops. Food and clothing are another way.

Business opportunities are another opportunity for charity. Say you know a poor man. Consider giving him a business plan that is very difficult for him to fail with if he merely shows up and works. Embed in it a chance to help him grow his own money as a business owner, using money you might otherwise donate to charity. "Risking" money with him could tip dominoes to help many more people—all because one are of neglected poverty is "money smarts". Give him the opportunity to observe money as it moves through accounts, teaching only by example how money works—no lecturing. If he fails, you can forgive him and the interaction with you might have demonstrated more shrewd godliness than he had opportunity to learn elsewhere.

Financial poverty is often but a symptom of other types of poverty, including healthy rants around the dinner table where the wise, strong-minded, wealthy leaders teach virtues unknowable through public education. Take a few disadvantaged youth golfing, buy them the proper attire in the name of "proper dress"; give it to them "because you don't fit his size"; demonstrate liberality while others saves face. Walking and swinging on the fairway, they may rub shoulders with people they might otherwise never get close enough to smell.

#  #264

## Leading as Grandmama

In the 1997 film, "Soul Food", the lead character named Grandmama fixed every problem in the family, merely by loving everyone. The family was full of problems, blood relatives and in-laws alike. Everyone needed a good sitting-down and told like it was, but Grandmama didn't state the obvious. She just laughed, giggled, played, and made everything okay. She didn't cover up or hide problems; she completed the greater mission of keeping the family together.

Sometimes, the best way to solve a problem is to just ignore it. Tell a joke. Make everything okay. Help the tired, self-destructing child get to bed—sleep is the need, not a lecture. Run the late dinner to the guests at the table and drop a small self-depreciating joke that would make anyone's enemy would pause to chuckle. Smile and ask the 18 year old who ran out of gas, "Did we learn anything here?"

Don't make matters worse by adding insult to injury. You may thing the punitive fine is educational; it's not. Punishments are a deterrent, but even police are allowed discretion, choosing whether or not it would help or harm to issue a fine. To educate people is the goal. No one wants to fail and being stopped by the cops is more than enough to tell most everyone to get their heads in the game.

Fools hurt themselves, but they are still hurting. Don't cave into that instinct to beat up the beaten down. A little well-placed compassion, a foot-up, a line tossed, an anonymous bus pass paid—charitable deeds communicate clearly that the fool's blunder was seen, that the fool only fools himself, and that the fool is loved by a God who loves all fools.

It's not anything complex to know that gently keeping the peace will make one valuable, both at the office and in the social stream. It's not irresponsible to not scold everyone for every stumble. The pavement is a teacher good enough. Restating the already taught makes oneself ordinary, not marketable. The world of the self-ruined need news, hope, something they don't know. We need help knowing it's okay to walk again. We need people who will be like Grandmama.

#  #265

## Psychology of Resistance

If people can't fix a problem then they may not complain about the annoying, rude, unpolished people who accomplish the good thing that they couldn't.

Tyrants complain about a problem, never solve it, amass power, and fight those who actually solve problems.

While many rules are silly—especially laws made by godless people—at some point there are good rules. The good rules get thrown into the mix of bad rules, then people ignore both the good and the bad. Because the good rules are ignored, problems arise. The only way to fix the problem is to enforce the good rules and/or replace bad rules with good rules, but there is the deeper problem.

It's never fun to start following rules, even if they are good, whether they are new or old. Enforcing rules can't be done in a nice enough manner that no one will object. At some point, laying down the law becomes a necessity and it's never politically correct. When the time comes to lay down the law, people will fight back.

When so resisted, don't fall for the "boycott" trap—that one's non-customers can dictate that one not do the right thing. Letting your enemies tell you how to fight them will destroy you. Listen to the people in your base—your customers, your supporting voters, your family, your team. Follow that rule and lay down the law of who you listen to and who you do not listen to.

This will inevitably anger your enemy; expect it, don't take time to discuss or ponder it when it happens.

When a car starts, it makes noise. When snow falls it is colder outside. In the morning, the sun comes up. And, when you lay down the law, criminals complain. None of this is newsworthy.

There are two types of criminals who complain when good laws are enforced: the malicious criminals, but also the self-appointed "tone police". People who claim to support your ideas, but not your method—and thus want you to cease enforcement—secretly support the criminals and they might not even admit so to themselves. Every devil was once an angels who simply wouldn't lay down the good law.

#  #266

## Never Vent

Venting cures anger like alcohol cures alcoholism—it doesn't. Never vent frustration, whether in marriage, romance, partnership, teamwork, parenting, teaching, coaching, managing. Don't do it on Earth or in outer space or any planet, moon, asteroid, space station, or spacecraft in the plasmaverse.

Human wrath does not bring about godly justice. It can't. Don't take the bait when that little voice tells you otherwise. Think about love on your insides and keep trying—the rest of your life 'till the day you die—to put that anger in the right place. Master learning this more everyday because anger always sneaks up on us. You'll get a lot more done in life if you master your ability to out-smart anger's ability to sneak up on everyone.

The respect you gain from mastering your own emotions might even cut back on other people giving you things to be angry about. That's when you'll tend to get lazy. So, never take your eye off of anger, not even for one lunch break.

That's not to say we should suppress, ignore, or deny the existence of emotions. Anger can't be contained by focusing on anger. Anger must be displaced with love. Bottling up our anger merely dumps it back onto ourselves. Let it go. Give it to God. Send it to Heaven's court. Let Heaven and its angels hear from you, especially about everything. Change the dialog in your mind. Confront your problems, but only after sobering up from your rage.

Venting is not the solution to anger. In fact, venting can be an interrogation tactic. Someone makes an accusation, you feel frustrated by the need to "defend yourself", so their accusation provokes you to spill your beans.

Value the old virtue of keeping your mouth shut. "Honesty" neither means vomiting rage nor telling all people every random thought nor worry nor petty sin you ever committed. Reining-in your tendency to blab will grant you control over your conduct with people as well as your emotions.

Focus your thoughts on love, how you are loved, and how much you love. You can start with God and the people right around you, especially the people who make you most angry.

_Proverbs 10:19; 12:23; 13:3; 14:3; 17:28, James 3:2-3_

#  #267

## Limit Problems by Limiting Time on Problems

If you tell people you have a problem, they will try to help you with it.

Don't talk about your problems unless you want help, specifically stating what help you need, even if the only help you need is patience. When people tell you that they have problems, don't fall into the trap of trying to troubleshoot without first asking what kind of specific help, if any, you can give them.

Always ask if people need help when they broadcast their problems; this will address many a dilemma—the manipulator trying to blackmail through guilt, the complaining gossiper addicted to bad news, and the person who really does need help. If you ask, but the person keeps talking about the problem, make your best guess and give the person a referral, either a professional's phone number or a book title or something else of the sort that fits your guess. Don't let anyone complain indefinitely; complaints and problems must be resolved—and it remains everyone's responsibility to help each other with mutual dignity, swiftness, and giving whatever space and encouragement we each need to get through the normal challenges in life.

By taking everything literally and always being respectful, you won't need to read people's minds to know how to respond.

In general, don't talk about your problems and don't talk long with people who often do. Keep your problems to yourself, explain the short version so people know what they need to know without hearing your life story. If you don't need help, don't talk like you do.

When troubled, be diplomatic, say that you are having a crazy day—but that you are getting through alright; find a way to manage and act like everything is okay. In doing this, you will uncover hidden strength as someone others can depend on. God will often send you secret help that only you know about and other people will never know your car had catastrophic, spontaneous engine failure, only that you were five minutes late in your crazy day, but you kept smiling and politely apologized for your tardiness.

One day you may truly need help. So, keep a reputation for not broadcasting your problems.

#  #268

## Leading in Family

It's all been said, the books have been written. Do not father children or even begin romance until you are ready to lead family.

Think of the outcome. Life is not about sensation and personal pleasure. Life is about where things lead as much as it is the journey along the way. Only a fool enjoys a beautiful road to death.

If you want a happy friendship, family, business, team—think of where it will lead and if you are ready for the destination. And, always read up on all of the same topics others before you have experienced. Never think you know the road simply because you are traveling on it for the first time. Look before you leap.

College students are the third-most arrogant people in the world, teenagers the second-most, young parents the most arrogant of all. No one understands parenting until grandparenthood.

Young parents are the Second Lieutenants of family, they have just enough responsibility to give them just enough hardship to give them just enough arrogance to think they actually know what they are doing. Where should we think teenagers get it from?

The true test of a leader is not in what follows, but who follows. Leadership 101: To condemn one's pupils is to condemn oneself.

Maybe the kids need to learn in their rooms. Maybe the married couple needs to read a book by Dr. John Gray. Maybe the new employee needs to listen to Tony Robins or spend some time reading about Joseph's, David's, Daniel's, and Esther's problems with bureaucracy. No matter where you find yourself leading, always ask yourself: Who's actually older and who just wants to be?

When kids complain about having to bite closer to the apple core or clean their rooms—when a married couple fights—hen employees of less than five years, still in their 20's, are fed up with stupidity in management—calmly and quickly brush it off and reassure them at the same time with these words: "Everyone feels that. I did. It's normal. It makes you not special, with this anyway. But, you still have great contribution to offer."

Then, end all discussion because it's time to get to work.

#  #269

## Inner Issues

Identify any problems in your heart that you feel a "ping" or unction to talk about. Search them out, then dig them out. As you weed the gardens of your life, learn to accept other people living in their own self-made sorrow while you focus on your task.

Sometimes you need counseling, other times simple reflection, perhaps books on "emotional healing", certainly Bible study with prayer, but, often times, just ignoring your "inner issues" and focusing on work is the best way to make them go away—but each of these must have its day.

Whatever you say to others, make sure it is a grace to those who hear, that it is appropriate and right for the current situation. Don't jump on your soapbox all because you feel some unction to deal with an issue you sense lurking in the shadows of your own soul. Just keep doing a good job in everything, "remain present" to your circumstances, and God will bring any lingering issues to the surface in His time. If you try to bring other people's issues to the surface, then you are probably just trying to wrestle with your own unresolved issues; doing so while while with other people is a failure to "remain present" with your current situation.

Deal with your inner issues when you're alone or in good counsel. When you do, don't fear tears. God wasn't errant when He created us with tear glands. Jesus gave us tears because we need them from time to time. Denying tears their necessary flow is not "grown up" or "manly", it only stunts emotional growth, leading to "old babies in adult bodies". Usually, trying to conceal tears "in order to be mature" is the same problem as wanting to talk from a soapbox at inappropriate times.

Stewing about "what someone did to you" is, frankly, petty. See yourself as bigger than your assailants and contenders. When talking to anyone flustered, rude toward everyone, but not blaming you specifically, it's not an attack; just love them and give them sunshine. Growing bigger than pettiness can be your early answer to challenges, whether from your assailants or people just having a bad day.

#  #270

## Stand in Your Place

Know the position you're, your relationship to others around, above, and below you, and respect the entire structure. Some things you can easily say to others, but some things you can't. Some things it's best to allow others to say to you in whatever manner they do; it's best to give more leeway to those below you, holding those above you to structure-wide procedure and expecting nothing more.

It's overbearing for a teacher to use friendly-jousting humor against students. It's out of place for a boss to make jokes about employees. It's out of place for a parent to tease children about romance. It is equally out of place for any leader to mislabel painfully honest feedback from subordinates as "disrespect".

While in the seat of the subordinate, some level of respect is in order, but there is much more freedom to be honest from the seat of the subordinate. Children, students, subordinates, and employees should be allowed to speak candidly, giving priority to obedience over tone. The best way to have those below you give respect is to give respect to them.

Brutal honesty from a superior is threatening, but a subordinate can do little harm. When in the place of power, reprove people gently and allow others to express themselves in return. If you are the subordinate and hope to lead, practice being both candid and respectful; practice for the role by conducting yourself as if you were already there.

By Jesus entering into our world through a barn, he position himself to sit in every seat available. Being a baby was the only appropriate way for God to vomit on mortals, any other way would insult. If Jesus had spoken one word of rebuke on the road to Calvary it would have been overbearing. Leaders can take it, but not always give it.

Yet, in the position of weakness, it might be wise to hold your tongue and live to see another day. When things got bad among the Philistines, David drooled on his beard in order to lower his "status" so as to be less able to offend and thereby escape harm. Whatever seat you are in, know where you sit.

#  #271

## Envisioning Straight Onward

When you envision your goals to set your mind for success, this does not grant you permission to be delusional. Goals must be achievable along the responsible road, taking the next small step closest to you, staying between the lines of low-investment and scalable growth.

Many totalitarian governments build large highways and enormous high-rises, entirely empty and unfinished. But, tomorrow's infrastructure must be built tomorrow, today's roads must be sized for the traffic of today. As you dream big, dream the phases responsible enough that Heaven will help you build.

Tell yourself that your success is "reachable" and "feasible" and "within your normal capabilities". Set these ideas in your mind and heart, remind yourself daily, reexplain it to yourself again when you see someone else achieving what you seek.

Dreaming is different from telling yourself that you are already finished and can kick up your feet. The awareness that you can surely achieve a good thing should naturally drive you to work for it, if not then something is terribly wrong, either with your goals or with your mindset.

When the presence of other people interferes with your progress, do not presume that you need to put distance between you and them. Gauge the challenge according to your direction. Stay on task and don't waste time if your relationship with them us purely recreational. If they say something you don't like while they demonstrate the competence to help with your goals, then that something may very well be a thing you need to hear, regardless of whether you want to hear it. Perhaps they themselves are your project, to help them learn the ways of happiness and mental determination.

If you run away from difficult allies, you won't be able to confront adversaries; difficult friends contribute to your own strength and if you run from every difficult friend then you won't have any friends at all in your day of trouble. You are just as difficult to others as others seem difficult to you. Simply tell yourself that this is normal, no big deal, and that the difficulty that comes with having good friends is just another challenging trophy "within your normal capabilities" to earn.

#  #272

## Leading as Enforcers

If we don't lay down the law and regulate—to paint the lines in the right places and make sure that everyone stays inside those lines—to enforce the good rules that keep everyone safe, whether big or small, young or old—if we let lawlessness have the run of the mill—we do incredible damage.

It's an old con artist tactic to sit piously, nod with understanding while others talk, show that "sad, sympathetic" face, keep calm and regal, and talk with the ideal, soothing tone that offends no one, all while the foundations crumble and thieves roam unchecked. The incompetent leader uses this tactic, allowing problems to grow while maintaining a vernier of a "pastoral" or "ministerial" or "presidential" or "kingly" manners, and those same problems actually make the people flock to their fraudulent leader who refuses to take action to stop those problems.

True, valuable, competent, worthy leadership will shake the building in order to restore the foundations to the healthy state they began with. Re-roofing, tearing-up carpet, knocking-out and putting-up partitions, digging basements, pouring concrete—construction and maintenance are dusty, dirty, disruptive work.

Of course, the phony, pseudo-pious leader will put out the prophet, slay the truth-teller, and accuse internal compliance inspectors of complaining—all the while mislabeling those activities as "necessary disruptions" when they are anything but.

If you want your life and your work to not become a train wreck, you must know the difference between foundational and theatrical leadership. The foundational leader knows a healthy foundation and enforces rules in order to keep the house in good repair. The theatrical leader does his work in rhetoric and style, politely perched atop a decaying social structure some else created. The mark of a foundational leader is proper enforcement of necessary rules.

When the good leader enforces necessary rules, many people object. Few understand foundation science and no one wants the floor to tremble. But, the very leader deemed the "trouble maker" could be the only person in the house with the competence and courage to save the house. Rules protect the innocent and keep everyone safe under the roof. Question leaders, but don't complain about thriving steps causing tremors.

#  #273

## Gauge & Tier Before Judging

A cheat-proof indication of adulthood maturity is the ability to be patient with anyone younger. Things about others that irritate us most are often most true of ourselves. God puts irritating people in our lives because mirrors are useful.

One of the biggest mistakes in life is thinking one is ready to become a parent. When you make that mistake, you'll probably have children who will be sure to tell you specifically how mistaken you were. Parents are only irritated about their teenagers by things they haven't outgrown themselves; the only difference is in the price of the toys they quibble over. But, parent or not, never judge the younger generation by your own standards.

Sometimes younger generations don't know as much as older generations because they are still learning. A teen driving for the first time might take the long way home because it's the only way he knows. That's nothing to be angry about, even if it made him late. An adult who knows more should tell the teen to arrive at a time one hour earlier than actually needed—and make sure the teen never knows why. Have some fun news waiting, happily jest about not being ready yet, be smart enough to be flexible enough because the adult is supposed to be older and smarter.

Sometimes younger generations know more than older generations because of advances in technology and science. So, when young people do things in ways that seem wrong to older generations, it is the older generations' responsibility to recognize the improvement and welcome it. Don't become that old fart who can't get out of the way of those who will continue all of his good progress after he bites the dust.

As a metaphor, generations compare to video displays. Each new generation is more efficient and has higher resolution. Younger generations want to be more efficient and light weight. They don't need to become hippies in order to be irritated with taking the trash out all the time. Because youth build on what the wise began, they see finer details and are therefore concerned about things the old sage could never see. So, judge at the right resolution.

#  #274

## What to Change, When to Change

When you first walk into a new situation, don't rush to repair every flaw you find. There could be a very good reason things are done how they are. Even if things need to change, you wouldn't know the deep reasons why or how at first glance, or second or fifth glance. It takes time to understand things older than we are.

And yet, when you have been in a situation for a good, long while and a newcomer shows up, don't be quick to silence the complaints about your old ways. Old and new wine need old and new wine skins, respectively. But, humanity is greater than wine and its skin. As much as we can, it demonstrates our maturity and strength to embrace the new, no matter how old we get.

We show our potential when we embrace both long-standing traditions and the ongoing need to climb, grow, and improve. Tradition and invention form a crossroads of two-way streets. This crossroads hosts heavy traffic and the only things that always deserve to have things their way all the time are the four signs that read "STOP".

Societies break down when older and younger generations are at odds. The greater burden falls on the generation that has lived more years with which anyone can seek wisdom; the more mature generation is whichever of the two that chooses to do the more mature thing first. While any conflict always rests its blame at the older and should-be more responsible leaders, any conflict between generations is a threat to an entire society. This, unfortunately describes most societies today.

There cannot be reconciliation between older and younger generations as long as we think that the only right age happens to be whatever age happens to be our own. Thriving requires that we embrace both the young ways and the old.

So, in your own working sphere, embrace both. You have room to improve, just like everyone else. Enjoy hearing, seeing, and tolerating complaints about your problems as much as you enjoy witnessing problems that you can't yet fix. We can't help any situation that we don't already love. Wanting tomorrow doesn't require hating yesterday. So, enjoy today.

#  #275

## Do or Die

Our moments of greatest bravery come when we face the truth in front of us: that if we act, then we risk failure, but if we don't act, then we guarantee failure. Immature human nature drives us to negotiate and argue with this truth, thinking to persuade the universe to change the options, telling ourselves, "Maybe if we don't act, we will find some way to guarantee a lesser life, but life nonetheless."

Heroes step out and take great risks, in the face of doubts and jeers, not for their own fame, but because someone else is in need. That other person depends on the hero coming through, but so does the hero depend on that other person being there. Both of them work as a kind of team and unless everyone goes all out, risks everything, and gives it their all, everything will fall apart.

You can only take risks as big as the difference you know you can make. You will make a bigger difference the more you value yourself and you will value yourself the more you know how much God values you. The more you recognize how much God values you, the more you can trust Him, the more you can trust that He will work out your circumstances.

Heroic choices can't be made when safe outcomes are guaranteed. The hero determines to make everything work out for everyone else, whether or not things work out for the hero's own safety. The hero doesn't leap blindly, but only when he knows the task is within his skill. Heroes are chosen in the days of danger, but they are made over the long term, in the days of practice and preparation, gaining skill, and learning one's own limits.

Esther's story illustrates the heroin's path: taking action to save others despite her own risk. A year of preparation to become queen, now she had a choice. Her people, Israel, faced extinction and she faced death if she brought a frivolous matter before the king. "If I die, I die," she said, knowing that the words of her uncle were true—that God may have made her queen, "for such a time as this."

#  #276

## Leading as Directors

Letting children run wild does them no good. It never does anyone any good, no matter how old we get. Allowing someone to ignore the boundary lines and break important rules not only harms other people, it harms the person breaking those rules and crossing those boundaries.

The damage of being allowed to live without boundaries occurs on multiple levels. It "enables" bad behavior to continue by "sending the wrong message". An athlete who can't play within regulation lacks skill. Little, cute Johnny may seem adorable to the in-laws while he fumbles around with the soccer ball at 7 years old, but unless he focuses his efforts he'll grow up to be inept rather than a starter athlete appreciated by his teammates and adored by the crowd.

Receiving direction feels constricting at first, but it eventually empowers, like the focused light of a laser or magnifying glass.

Constriction and control is not an end in itself. Helen Keller was wild, unrestrained, and insufferable as a child, until a tutor was able to teach her the concept of meaning. She needed direction, but it had to be coupled with understanding. She had unusual obstacles that needed to be overcome first, but most of us don't have the luxury of that excuse. Boundaries still must be enforced, usually without as much patience as an unusual "Keller" case requires.

Blowing the whistle when the ball goes OB helps the learning athlete understand gravity, how the world works, the flow of the wind, and what happens in the game. For rookies unable to stay in bounds, remove the lines from the court so the rookies don't learn to ignore them. Parents of children who grow to be respected as adults will say to the five year old, "Oops, it went over the line. So, it's my ball now. Tough luck." That child will learn quickly to be awesome and other parents will never figure out why, but they will always be jealous. Good leaders kindly do the same with everyone, with everything, everywhere.

Learning to color inside the lines is about more than "neatness" and "organization"; it may not even hurt anyone; but staying within the lines proves skill.

#  #277

## Grow or Be Hippietized

This is O'Sullivan's Law: All organizations that are not actually right-wing will over time become left-wing.

You must continue to grow—to be transformed from the inside out by Heavenly thinking via conversational prayer, daily Bible exposure, and justice in your routine lifestyle. If you don't continue to grow, you will bonsai.

When one crab tries to escape, other "crabs in the pot" oppress him. When someone has good ideas, others feel intimidated and group attack with stinkin' thinkin' until that person stops growing and maintains a mediocre equilibrium with whatever group he runs with. Culture often opposes the nourishment we need.

Many Christians bonsai when they become dependent on religious buildings and systems for socializing and growth. The inescapable tendency toward group think of any group is one of many dangers, also present in regular, routine, recurring, liturgical, predictable structures of so-called "Christian fellowship". Authentic Christian growth is organic, which, though characteristic of its kind, is also ordered by unpredictable chaos. No two leaves are or ever have been or ever will be identical, yet every leaf of a kind is known by its kind. Religious structures, by contrast, are small, rigid, and thereby stunt growth.

About the turn of the millennium, many Christians bored with bonsai "Churchianity" looked to find new ideas and inspiration anywhere they could. A kind of "Hippie" movement swept through Christian subculture, at which time many Christians abandoned their moral compasses because "morals" were the theme of mundane Churchianity. Everything decayed from there.

But, this problem was never limited to the Christian worldview. Growth nourished by the Creator is necessary for any creature who wants an organic, healthy, flourishing life. The same is true of business, family, and politics. For Conservatives in America, if they don't review and ponder the theories, ideas, principles, and philosophies that keep a country from spiraling into "bread, circuses, and entertainment"—as befell Rome—they eventually start thinking that charitable giving is the source of revenue and their nation suffocates by way of bankruptcy.

If we don't evaluate and treasure the basic procedures that propel us into continuing who we are, we enter "manager-theoretician" mode, and then collapse, whether economically, personally, politically, or morally.

_1 Samuel 2:26, Psalm 92:12-14, Luke 17:5, Colossians 1:9-10, Hebrews 6:1, 2 Peter 3:18_

#  #278

## Healthy Habits

Do not try to effect change on the grand scale by working on the grand scale. The macro affects the micro and the micro affects the macro. Think of the grand, big picture.

Imagine God-sized possibilities. Dream big. Yet work at the cellular level.

Microbes are powerful, both good and bad. Train yourself to develop healthy habits. Every day, every moment, tweak your habits. Then, most of your growth will happen without your knowing, just as problems you were unaware of will leave through the back door without so much as a goodbye.

The only way to start a healthy habit is to start! Healthy habits don't start themselves.

Journaling is good, but it's not easy to start. An aspiring writer once told me that he didn't write often because his English wasn't that great. I responded: _It is not that you don't write because your English is bad; your English is bad because you don't write._

Likewise, good and bad habits break each other like a vicious cycle. Many preachers say: _Sin will keep you from the Bible and the Bible will keep you from sin._

Choose your habits, don't let them choose you.

Habits aren't merely spun up like top; it's more like stopping the top from spinning. You already have your routine because we humans are creatures of habit. To start a new habit takes a mild act of violence, in so many words.

There are many good habits. Some must be custom-made, others you mimic from others.

For one, wake up at the same time every day, even if you don't need to. You'll never need to set an alarm. Plus, your body wants to rise with the sun, even if you go right back to sleep.

Morning is a great "God time".

There are many good habits you can and must invent and copy; reading daily is one; reading Bible is a must.

The most important habit is "God time". Walk with God daily. Love Him. Hear Him. Know Him.

The results in your life and your quality of life are the summation of your habits, not your past. Develop healthy habits and good results will follow as merely habitual.

_Genesis 5:22-24; 6:9, Leviticus 26:12, Deuteronomy 5:33, Psalm 127:1, 1 Thessalonians 5:17_

#  #279

## Lifestyle Plagiarism

Be original. Never repeat what has already been said as if it is your own, new idea.

People are unique. God made us that way. Insanity, however, bears consistent, predictable, and recognizable patterns. Healthy humans can never be fully understood; when we become all too easy to predict, somewhere we have gone mad.

When the books already written and debates already exhausted become our own repeating words, round and round again, life begins to deteriorate. Look at the Christian and Atheist having a "conversation", each spouting ideas long published by more educated men than they. Their argument never ends and neither is satisfied. It would be better for either to say, "Books have already been written to satisfy these queries. What original ideas can we bring, if any?" Eventually, both will develop deep inner questions since neither one defends his own ideas.

Once an idea has been said, move one. Once an answer has been given, don't ask the question afterward. When others ask you questions you already answered, say so rather than repeating yourself—rather than plagiarizing yourself. Know when all room for new ideas and new work has been filled, then end discussion so everyone can go about their separate ways, moving on to what good things they might begin next.

People who think their inner and outer struggles are unique easily become depressed. Everyone would do well to recognize a boilerplate thought life. The easiest way to recognize boilerplate publishing is to write frequently and with originality. If your life is not original, you will chase other unoriginality, trying to conform yourself to "be like others" in order to be liked by others. Living such a mimicking so-called "lifestyle" makes no one happy nor escapes life's vicious cycles.

Study mental illnesses as often as you study history. Watch for repetition because failure and insanity are the most skilled at unoriginality. The leader who convinces his society to conform is himself insane and his society adopts culture-wide insanity by so conforming. Never trust a teacher whose pupils repeat the same answers. Never entertain inquisitive minds who ask answered questions. Quit once your work is finished, lest you over-stay your keep and repeat failure.

#  #280

## Leading as Dominators of Space

Every space must have a governing dominator. This is a law of physics, firstly in gravity. The larger, denser mass will be the primary directing force within its range.

Of course all mass generates its own gravitational force, the smaller masses making impacts of their own. The moon changes Earth's tides while Earth dictates the moon's course around the sun. The greater forces are dominant. The moon is not greater than Earth, but it is greater than Earth's oceans and thus makes it's lesser—but nonetheless important—presence known on Earth.

We all make a difference, even in absence. When the loudest dominator doesn't speak it creates loud silence. Absentee parents wreak passive destruction in their children's lives. One of the handful of hard, vital lessons of life we each must learn is that everyone can and is dominated by something else in some way. Another lesson is that, while all factory workers are replaceable, no family member can ever be replaced. We only learn these vital life lessons through experience. Shareholders and employees of Apple learned the lessons of dominance and replacement twice.

If you don't dominate your own space, in magnitude of your own capacity and strength, then you do injustice to the universe. Earth's oceans need the moon as do the people of Earth need the tides to flow. Remember the riddle of the 500 pound gorilla: Where does he sit? Anywhere he wants.

Keep your space in order, your greaters in check, and your lessers in line. Don't let your space dominate you.

The big, harry monster of the hill does whatever he wants whenever he wants. He generally doesn't concern himself with matters of smaller critters inhabiting and roaming about. But, if squirrels quarrel and make a ruckus, he'll have a thing or to to say about it. Thus the hairy monster's prerogatives keep the peace of local squirreldom. If he abuses the squirrels, they will either flee and give him no company or they will gang up on him because squirrels have their own prerogatives too.

Never disrespect others in your space. Respect yourself as everyone else. Never oppress, but always dominate your own space at your own level.

#  #281

## Enjoy Voyages

Enjoying your trip as you travel starts with the foundational skill everyone must first learn to earn victory: being present. When you have complete focus on your current place and time—task, obstacle, and mission—things are most likely to go the best they possibly can. Not only will your current task achieve its best, other tasks your mind might wander off to will more likely see their best if you keep your mind from wandering off to them too early.

While you focus your energies in one place, secondary thoughts in your mind start solving problems not in the room, without your knowing. When your mind is most focused on your present predicament, you are most likely to realize the solution to another predicament out of the blue. God's answer to tomorrow's problems is to focus on today's. Most of today's problems are leftovers from yesterday because we were too busy thinking about either the day before that or the day after tomorrow.

Don't burn bridges because people need friends and society needs infrastructure. But, once you reach the shores of your new home world, burn your ships. Stay focused where you are. Make a burnt sacrifice to eliminate whatever gives you a distracting sense of so-called "hope" of being able to bail on your goals for some "Plan B". Don't commit arson and don't destroy anything important, but let go of any hopes for returning to your world across the sea before you complete your mission. God doesn't write "Plan B" because He doesn't fail.

"Contingency plans" are for the unforeseeable, saving strategic details until closer to a target when vision is better. Some things can't be seen from far off. But, once you actually make your plans, either those plans should be final or you have too much left unlearned. So, focus on where you are, planning based only on what you know with certainty, always ready so make a huge shift when new circumstances dictate.

The vast majority of what we need is right around us. Take good steps "right here" and your entire journey will be its best. "Now" prepares us for "next". A job well done won't need redoing.

#  #282

## Shine Confidence, No Matter the Complaint

Don't fear people who tell you that you are too confident. Don't despise people merely for being self-confident. Look to truth. Look to learn. Don't worry about pride, whether to keep it or lose it. Focus only on the task before you, whether to work or learn. Finish.

If you are right, if you have the answer for the moment, it helps no one to claim otherwise. Humility and being wrong have this in common: Once you know you are, you aren't. As for humility, don't give it one more care. As for being wrong, seek to discover when you are as often as possible. Only the arrogant even care about humility. Only a fool seeks to "be right" according to the records.

Learn where you are wrong, bless anyone who can teach you, grow into the truth everywhere you can, and march forward without looking back, left, or right. Your value and good nature is not defined by how you match-up to those next to you. You're in a competition against no one but yourself. In Earthly terms, you are your greatest enemy and your greatest ally.

Keep learning, but don't doubt your instincts. When you are proven wrong, call a time-out and re-evaluate to the true, deep, underlying cause. Then, get back in the game.

Welcome jeers from spectators. It's better to try and offend than to stay on the bench. This is called "growth".

Champions improve with time. It's no crime to be young. Don't indite others for their age and don't let others indite you for yours either. Everyone's best days remain in front of them. When you confidently walk into the better and better future, someone will object. The best thing you can do is ignore it and keep walking.

Arguing won't help dissenters. Rather, shine and show them that the road continues. By your light of hope, they are likely to mind less about other people's manners and get going on their own journeys. Often times, we object to what we learn while we learn it; don't "interpret" that when people do it to you. Don't argue with complaining bystanders, whether teaching or complaining. Just mind your own path.

#  #283

## Evil Feeds on Fear of Evil

Acting like problems aren't problems can make problems disappear for a reason: Evil feeds on the fear thereof.

There are demons that actually eat the emotion of fear. It makes them stronger. The main thing they do is make people afraid. Imagine it working in a circle.

When a demon or spirit of fear makes you afraid, then eats your emotion of fear and grows larger, it won't hurt you. It needs you to remain healthy so that it can make you more afraid. Like a parasite, it latches on to you—sometimes resting like a growing red snake, other times perching with talons of a bird—and does whatever it takes to keep you producing an endless supply of its food: fear. If it injures you too much, then you won't be afraid anymore. So, as it grows, it uses its new strength to either whisper fears into your heart or to provoke others to say and do things, then whisper into your heart that you should be afraid of them.

It's a parasitic relationship. The last thing it wants to do is make your fears come true, only to make you afraid that they will.

The best way out of the vicious cycle of fear is to just ignore it. Recognize self-justifying fear for the cyclical, codependent parasite it is. Identify the specific fears. Notice carefully when you ignore one fear and another crops up as if on cue—because you are up against an invisible sentience. Whatever good thing you are most fearful of, trust that God will forgive you if you are wrong and go do the right thing, no matter how much emotion drive you away from it.

If you never feel fear at all, then you might not be doing anything valuable in your life. Good things disrupt demons and an easy response is to send a cyclical demon of fear to weigh down good people. If demons of fear haven't haunted you then you probably haven't done anything good enough to disturb them.

Don't do whatever you fear just to break out of fear—keep doing what is good and fear will flee as fast as it came.

#  #284

## God Puts Us in Families

If you haven't figured it out yet, the reason kids don't listen to their parents—but they listen to others who say the same things—is not the presumed "rebellion", but the innate academic need for a second opinion. Smart kids do that; smart parents encourage that. Parents that don't court questioning inadvertently raise kids who rebel in late teens and change morals monthly from their 30s through their 60s.

A parent who respects my opinion once told me:  
_...teachers never punish him. They are very gentle and tender to him, not even yelling. But, he listens to them and obeys._

I answered:  
_Honestly, the reason why... And I love you a lot in saying this... you don't know what you're doing, the teacher does; that's because this is your first time working with kids, the teacher has had TONS of practice with MANY family styles and personalities. You can learn, but just having kids doesn't make you an expert in how to deal with them; practice does. That's a hard truth of life that even teachers don't want to talk about._

That parent loves the kids, but is not blinded by emotions for them. The successful parents I have seen maintain a "professional dispassion", even toward their own children. Sobriety does the job better and anyone can get drunk on love. But, even the best parents get the "difficult" children. This is by design.

God locks us with people we seem incompatible with to help us grow in love. God welds us into relationships where we depend on people who compromise standards that the Bible demands we follow. You may be dependent on a boss or employee who does things that go against your values; you feel like cooperation means you must compromise. Children and parents have the same conflicts—diet, exercise, learning which skill, "accept me for who I am"—all of this is by God's design. Never fail His tests.

Forgive, stand for morals, sprinkle charm, rise above pettiness, and return kindness for injury. Be thankful; whatever angers you exposes your faults. Even when you feel you are compromising in situations you cannot escape, God has you learning some sort of virtue.

_Proverbs 15:4-5, Matthew 6:43-48, Ephesians 4:1-6, Colossians 3:18-21_

#  #285

## Original Sin

All of us were born in sin and we all need forgiveness. Those who don't forgive quietly presume that a past sin is a reason someone is eternally bad. They don't seek perfection, though they claim to; they seek to destroy the good contribution people can only make after growing up, repenting, being forgiven, and becoming better people.

There will always be people who preach the message of "past sin"—that we should remember what other people do wrong—even what we have done wrong ourselves. They think that by not forgiving—either themselves or others—they are adding "training weight" to "remember" the horrific past, thereby making everyone stronger. The past must be learned from, but to learn from it, the past must be forgotten, not memorized.

Repent, move unto hope, and move on. Carrying the past's failures around makes as much sense as carrying training weights all day long. In the gym, weight training can make us stronger after we put down the weights and go out into the world. But, carrying 40lb dumbells all day won't make anyone stronger; it will interfere with everyone's day.

People who won't let go of the past are a poisonous destruction to society and must never be silenced, but always ignored by those who understand the Bible's teaching that everyone has been forgiven.

Refusal to forgive is actually an trait of Paranoid Personality Disorder, meaning it is deeply connected to fear. Forgiveness involves forgiving others along with being forgiven by others. People who struggle with fear might struggle with forgiveness first.

Every single person needs forgiveness. This is the ramification of the Christian teaching called "Original Sin". We were each born with sin from Adam, therefore we will commit more sin, therefore we are born needing forgiveness and are born inclined to do more things that will need more forgiveness. Never let the doctrine of "Original Sin" become an excuse to judge, let it be a reminder that everyone falls short of God's standard.

While we strive to become perfect, and hopefully we get better at non-self-destructive decisions with age and maturation, you and I will always need just as much forgiveness as the worst criminal.

#  #286

## Money Barriers

One of the biggest lies that keeps people poor, wanting, jealous, overspending, and financially irresponsible is the idea that they understand enough to judge the financial thinking of people—whether bad or good—who have more earned money than they. Equally, another big lie is that wealthy people can understand those who have less money than they ever had; this idea usually brings the downfall of the wealthy and powerful. We only understand enough to judge the financial worldview of wealth or poverty that we have already had ourselves.

One of the best-kept secrets about money is that everyone has exactly what he has, no more or less. Another secret is that God makes money vanish and appear as He wills, yet that is not why most rich and poor are rich and poor. To recognize how much money you have is the first step to mastering money so that money—whether wealth or poverty—doesn't master you.

The "moral amount" of money is neither great nor small. Morals and money are not measured in dollars, pounds, yuan, dong, or shekels. Morals about money are about we as humans mastering our own money.

Your worth in Heaven is not measured by your neighbors, nor by the numbers in your bank account today, but in your ability to generate, to dig, drill, to strike oil, water, and gold—to put your sweat in the right place and the right amounts and to encourage and guide others as they do the same. But, none of that can happen if you think that you can understand people who have an amount of money that you never have.

Wealth can be unsatisfying, but so can poverty. Thriving includes wealth for the mature. Wealth comes from hard, smart work, combined with a share of luck. We create our own luck by trying again and again and again, not giving up, no matter the sweat and blisters from our weary hands. But, you can't understand things you haven't been through. So, don't pretend. Focus on what you have and what you need to do. Neither despise nor covet anyone else. Rather, seek to master whatever you have by first mastering yourself.

#  #287

## Play All Mistakes in Forte

Quietness is overrated. Don't disturb neighbors with meaningless noise. Don't waste time with the noise of distraction when you should spend that time practicing to perform better. But, don't be quiet just because you're afraid others will know you exist. Everybody exists. So, get comfortable with yourself—your true self—at whatever level of growth and maturity you find yourself at each new day.

Loudness can be useful. Alarms are discordant by definition. The louder you are, the more likely you are to make your vital message known, especially if you play a few wrong notes. No change happens without the changers feeling somewhat annoyed. Volunteer if no one else is up to the task of necessary nuisance.

Intended mistakes aren't mistakes, they're sabotage. Mistakes are acceptable because they are honest and a vital component of improvement. Never confuse God's forgiveness as a license to sabotage rather than a license to learn.

You can make a huge difference as long as you don't remain silent forever. Heaven will always listen to real people; once in a while Earth will too. Prayer moves God's heart, but only after our hearts conform to His. God forgives, so blunder, grow, learn, conform your heart to God's so your prayer requests make more sense to Heaven. God can't teach you from mistakes you never make. He wants you to practice and improve. Don't make the bigger mistake of never trying at all.

Many travel the rigid road devoid of fumble and excellence, only boasting that their road is empty of error. Your fumbles in forte will derail those who travel that road. Simply live your life as it speaks for itself, striving to make every day better than the day before. This will offend whoever thinks too highly of himself because your improvement and your mistakes will prove to the pretender that we all have much to learn and that he is no exception.

Pursue what you hope for most and don't fear fumbles along the way. Neither conceal nor flaunt your errors, but play wrong notes loud enough to hear. Seek leadership from anyone who encourages erring aloud and, once in a while, even thanks you for it.

#  #288

## Deserved Leadership

Don't be instantly put off by problems in the world. Jesus puts foolish companies and incompetent governments to oversee people who aren't ready for more. Maybe the people don't know enough or maybe they are too irresponsible. A few more Bible-based morals—not to be confused with religious institutions—among the masses would surely help their society improve faster. Trying to improve one's self, do one's best, keep learning, look out for others—those ideas began in God's Word and are hard to argue with. But, even with plentiful Biblical morality in a society, Jesus may have reasons why he keeps a society oppressed by fools in government and big business.

Don't get in Jesus's way.

If you spite the fool in charge—and it doesn't make sense to you that the people deserve that fool as their leader—you might be just like that fool. We often despise people who share our own problems; it's the mirror we despise. Psychology calls it "projection", like looking through rose-colored glasses where the red color we see everywhere actually comes from us and only exists in our altered view of the world.

Desire to overthrown the fool in charge basically presumes that Jesus won't grant people a better leader if the people are ready for it. That leads to failed revolutions or "regime planning" in other nations by toppling foreign governments to mask under the table imperialism. It usually backfires. Don't meddle in other people's problems; those problems are well-deserved, no matter how much those problems' people would have you believe otherwise.

A worthy revolution or overthrow of government only succeeds because the overall society is ready for more competent leadership, thus Jesus gives the nod for a regime change.

Jesus is already King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He appoints those leaders and he does so for a reason.

It can be difficult to fathom that a society deserves it's leaders. But, think about laziness itself. Lazy people only wake from their slumber when they have enough problems. By having constant problems from bad leaders, people must think and ponder more, actually making them better people. We have what we deserve more often than not.

#  #289

## Be Responsible with Information & Thus Receive More

Heaven hides sensitive information, reserving it for those who work with sensitive hands and slow tongues. If you can't keep a secret, then you will be one of the last people to know.

God always hopes for everyone's best, so He will let dark secrets appear on your doorstep from time to time. It's not your job to be the gossip vine and tell those secrets to the world. When you learn a dark secret, God wanted you to know that dark secret so that you could secretly sprinkle some light into that secret situation and perhaps only God would ever know—perhaps, not even the people you helped would know that you helped them.

That's why God brings us dark, dirty secrets in the secret. It's not so we can gossip, but so we can help... secretly.

If you are responsible with information—if you keep secrets that find you, if someone's dirty business doesn't become public knowledge just because you learned about it, God will keep sending you more and more secrets. He will send you news of the biggest problems and the biggest solutions. You will even gain the ear of leaders in government at every level—because you know how to keep a tight lip about other people's business. It's not that those leaders will trust you with information; God will trust you with information and they will trust your words to solve the problems they can't figure out.

But, if your mouth always says exactly what your ears hear, you may have a local reputation for being honest, but you will probably have a bigger reputation as a gossip and hate monger, and you will certainly never learn the information necessary to make a sweeping difference. God simply won't let that information darken your door.

Report crimes with solid proof, but aid the underground railroad. Talk about normal events, but give damaging reports hesitantly and only when necessary.

There are different classes of newspapers. The gossip fliers hang on a different rack than the reputed periodical and they sell at a different price. Choose which you will be by your ability to do something constructive with other people's dark secrets.

#  #290

## Learn Your Limits Young

When young, early, poor, and small, life doesn't offer us the powers and opportunities to smack around those who do injustice to us. Tyrants are made by holding grudges, then beheading their enemies the moment they get the chance. In some cases, your rise to power may require you to send many people to prison or fire them from the company the next day, but be selective. As a general rule, if justice demands that you fire your bad coworkers once you become their supervisor, firing even half of those you could is excessive.

People change with time. Exacting justice against the single worst aggressor may be just what is necessary to bring the rest of the mob in line. Fire only one person on your new day in office, then watch the email meta to see who gets it in gear and who prepares to bail. If you can afford, it's best to fire no one at all. You would be surprised how loyal your old enemies become once you wield the power of their purse. That could be all the justice needed. This is how God likes to work.

You may be one of the lucky few who gets promoted and are thus celebrated by all your peers. Keep your conscience, keep learning, stay humble, and make sure that you never lose the respect of the friends who helped get you where you are, all while at the same time making the hard choices of a leader.

God allows us to receive injustice in our younger years, but not so to tell us who to hang once we get our turn to keep the throne warm for the day. God shows us these things so we can learn to respond within limits, so that our tenderness can continue once He gives us more responsibility. Look at the limits life gives you and remain within those limits after you receive the power to crush your enemies. Use your past experience to help you remain sensitive to the needs of others beneath you in the future.

Self-control and restraint are necessary for any leader. Learn those things early, then God will entrust you with authority.

#  #291

## Pushover Popularity

Of the many styles and manners, the "pushover" style is the only style everyone will accept. If you want everyone to love you, just be a pushover who can't get one single thing accomplished in the world. But, if you plan to do anything, like mow the lawn or perhaps something less controversial, you're going to be accused by someone of being "mean" sounding and cold-hearted.

The more good things you do and the fewer excuses you accept from yourself, the more "verbally abusive" you will seem to those who make excuses for themselves. Not being a pushover is a cardinal sin to those who

Natural human tendency prefers things that are easy to push around. "Go-getters", who make things happen, have taught themselves over time thet people aren't things, so we shouldn't want to push people around. If a person is easy to push around, that person won't get things done. Learning this is the only way "go-getters" went and got anything done because big things only get done with the help of many "go-getters" going and getting together.

Good friends aren't easily pushed over; good friends push back. Those who learn to like "pushback" teach themselves again every day to avoid "yesmen"—even loath them. But, left to our inborn autopilot, everyone prefers the pushovers.

You can't make everyone happy. If you break any ground, you're going to kick up dust and someone is going to sneeze. "Go-getters" break ground and kick up dust to achieve their good goals that help humanity. Don't surrender your good goals to the attacks from convincing pushovers, who get under your skin, who won't accept anything less than you accomplishing absolutely nothing good.

Of course, they will claim to want "good things" accomplished, but they never make a difference below the vernier and they miraculously find a way to complain about petty non-issues whenever someone does. They won't admit to themselves that they are pushovers who want everyone else to be a pushover as well, so they certainly won't admit as much to you.

If you won't be pushed over then your work won't be pushed over, but will continue to help humanity for years to come.

#  #292

## Problem of Patience

Being patient includes being misunderstood by otherwise and seemingly good people. They won't know why you won't jump to take action, so friends whom you thought to be the "most wonderful in the world" will jump to curse at you because they lack patience themselves.

The forgotten virtue of patience is one reason why so many people question God's goodness, merely for not having eradicated evil. God is eradicating evil through us, being patient with us as we make up our own minds to stop giving into evil—including evil's way of impatience.

The way of patience opens doors that open no other way. Some doors are only locked by a "slow hinge"—a hinge that turns so sluggishly that most people think the door is sealed shut. Keep pushing, ever so slightly, and the door locked by patience will open up.

The call to be patient applies especially when we don't feel like it. God is infinitely more patient with us than we could ever be with anyone else. But, if you can be patient with God being patient with you then you can be patient with anyone.

Don't be impatient about other people's lack of progress; that's their problem. Don't care more about a student's education than the student cares himself. Don't get yourself worked up over whatever evil scheme evil Men have planned.

Those who are impatient are their own worst enemies. They don't need any punitive intervention from you. Just patiently keep watch as God lets them mess themselves up, impatiently of course.

For the foolish who refuse to wise up, remember that they won't affect your work. Impatient folly can't harm the task God has for the patient and wise. If they manage to mess up some of your plans then those plans weren't from God.

If someone makes you late, God is already orchestrating other events so that it won't matter in the end. Keep your pace, but don't become impatient.

Having patience is much like having inertia or momentum. Little flies won't set you off course. Stability comes with patience and is well worth it. Yet, learning patience takes patience, which is always a problem. Just be patient.

#  #293

## Solo Tests

Christian maturity is not tested when we are in groups, but when we are alone. In the secret, when no one is looking, and we have no friends to twist our arms into doing the right thing—that is when we prove and improve our maturity.

Having friends to obligate us and remind us that there are other people in the world relying on our ability to keep our moral code can help coerce good behavior. With other people watching, we are more likely to follow morals and thus not create regret, but this is no test of maturity. If you ever hope to become fully mature, you're going to have to do the right thing when no one is looking—and that means you're going to have to be alone sooner or later. Prepare yourself.

Have conversations with good friends. Take counsel and know that having demons to battle makes you more normal than not. But, don't reduce your friends into a set of crutches. Friends are good for many more things than leaning on all the time. It's much more fun to take a walk or run together, but that means many hours training on your own to make the group runs all the more formidable.

There is a lot of money made on keeping Christians dependent on systems that only make them weak. The same goes for many consulting companies that maintain a status of "being needed" by offering "solutions" that only perpetuate problems. Sunday morning Christian "church" is great when it's not a need. But, once it becomes a "need", that's when the abuse starts. Jesus is your only "need", everything else is a "want", including your friends.

When evaluating any business proposal or Christian fellowship, watch to see what their demands are. Do they try to collect a list of your associates, suppliers, addresses, or phone numbers? Do they get money in a way that perpetuates an existence that only keeps asking for money? Many big companies fall into "marketing scams" because they are bored and never learn to identify scams in personal, social circles, including Christian societies. The way to see through any scam is to grow strong alone.

#  #294

## Vindictiveness Cripples

Anger makes us weak. Getting a grip on anger is a challenge for every human. Some are more prone than others, but it always sneaks up on us. People who rarely get angry can't control their anger once something finally pushes them over the edge. People who struggle with anger are not alone—they are not a minority; the person who doesn't struggle with anger just might be the only one on Earth and he is in great peril for not having learned to deal with it earlier.

Giving up anger for joy is one of the hallmarks of Christianity. Sadly, few Christians cash in on this hallmark of their own beliefs, making the "angry Christian" one of the most common oxymorons in the world.

Overcoming anger requires a recipe of owning responsibility for one's own emotions, uncomfortable amounts of time in focused prayer to and worship of Jesus, filling one's own thought life with ideas that support a Biblical framework, and, oddly enough, physical health. Diet, exercise, sleep, and environment all contribute to emotions. Even an approaching rain cloud drops barometric pressure, making people edgy. In East Asia, it is generally known that sugar, spice, and fried food contribute to pimples and an "angry/evil fire" in one's spirit energy. They solve the problem by drinking water, but asparagus also helps, as do melons, guavas, pears, and various edible fruit blossoms.

While curing anger has its recipes, so does anger itself. An uncontrolled lustful thought life is one of the common culprits of anger. So are alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine. Some recent questions consider whether petroleum-based products and chemicals could also have an "angering" effect, such as coming in contact with gasoline, motor oil, or other chemicals, including dry erase marker ink, petroleum-based skin lotion, or bug spray. But, chemicals are always being researched and they certainly are no excuse.

Jesus paid everyone's vindication price with his own life. So, discipline ought educate and deter, not "transfer due suffering" to supposedly "pay" for crimes. Any conflict, punishment, correction, or disagreement should be entirely empty of any wrath, venom, offense, or "thirst for blood". If you can't help it, get help as soon as you can.

#  #295

## Times When Nothing Seems to Move Forward

Sometimes, life can act like the only options that work are sinful, foolish, or compromising of essential values. Sometimes, those values are Biblical and we must hold to our values. God is testing us in those times and if we hang on, following wisdom to the death, God will break through and deliver us at the last minute to something incredibly beyond anything we considered. But, at other times, our so-called "values" are in error and God requires us to adjust our understanding of morality to align our worldview with His Biblical teaching. It is very easy to confuse which of these two situations one is in.

Many people die of disease easily cured because they imagined that God would heal them supernaturally. Many people compromise their morals, claiming that "God wants us to be realistic", thinking that God wanted them to do what they did, thus losing all favor with Heaven and failing this way. Most people who are on the wrong of these two paths have convinced themselves that they are on the correct path. The only way to see clearly enough to avoid confusing the two is through self-honesty and intense, life-long Bible study. There are no gimmicks or shortcuts or cramming books for this test.

There is also the matter of "vices" that slow us down like an anchor dragged at sea. These are things that we don't think harm us, but they stop our progress and harm the ones we love. It could be a belief or a pet project you need to ditch or a kind of elbow grease you don't want to employ.

Let go of whatever harms you and do anything that helps.

When you are in those seasons where, one way or another, your fields yield no harvest: Sow. The Law of Sowing and Reaping is one of your best friends in times of trouble—or your worst enemy for trouble you caused. Sow what is good—learn, initiate, help those right around you, research, move some of your projects forward, get random certifications, do research, practice skills. The more good seeds you sow, the more good harvest the rains will prepare for you to reap.

#  #296

## Happiness is a Choice; So Is Love

When we have not grown up in a positive, purposefully-encouraging home, anger abounds and it is very difficult to fathom that love is a choice.

Love is a choice.

In the small, petty, angry state of frustration with the people around us, the smallest slight can easily offend.

Sometimes, uncontrollable anger can come from electrolyte deficiency or from toxins, like arsenic, stuck in the body from farming mistakes made down the road from your home a century ago. When it rains and floods, hundred-year-old chemicals that don't rot spread around, even into the garden you eat from and the mud children play in. These things affect every person in every nation of the world, especially America, which developed technology before health and safety laws.

The first and most important step in addressing the toxin and nutrient factor is logic: Saying that chemicals or lack of nutrition could explain anger is never an insult—neither when others say it to you nor when you say it to others. Once you sink that truth into your heart, do your own research because it is a factor, though we always retain a free will in the matter of love.

Learning to love requires time and exhaustion, as with strengthening any muscle. Like a democracy, you must strive to keep your freedom to choose love. It is a constant, proactive, concerted effort. Everyone in the home must agree or else emotions will be toxic with hatred.

It's not about preventing truthful words that "make waves", but about recognizing venom injected into those words, not spitting venom back at people who use venom, and the belief that "counting your blessings" isn't just propaganda.

Focus on the things that are good, helpful, encouraging, and provide a path forward.

Critiques are wonderful, especially harsh critiques; what marks the good and bad is whether the critique includes a way to solve every problem cited. Even when someone gives you a candid critique with no solution, your choice to love means you thank the person, genuinely search-out the blessing in the wrapping, and not silence the person in the name of keeping a "positive attitude".

The contagious choice to love needs nutrition, not quarantine.

_Deuteronomy 30:19-20, Proverbs 9:8, Philippians 4:8, Colossians 3:2, 1 John 4:7-8_

#  #297

## You Have Both More and Less Time Than You Think

Whether due to sin or some good design that God intended, our human gauge for "concept of time" usually registers both too much and too little.

When we don't have a good work ethic, we tend to think we have much more time to be lazy and lax than we actually do. A good work ethic carries a healthy sense of urgency. But on the flip, when we work with that healthy sense of urgency, worrisome events can trigger false flags, making us think that things are even more urgent than they actually are. Busy people becoming worried results from a compound of two perceptions of urgency—the healthy sense of urgency of a good work ethic and the feeling of external pressure from our surroundings.

As you work and bustle to get out the door on time, something may slow you down. The sink may clog, the baby may vomit, the car might not start, the kids may start whining, or your personal gadgets might decide to suddenly stop functioning. But, then you arrive to find those you were meeting were also delayed, and it couldn't have been timed better.

Frustration with things beyond our control indicate we are somehow "frantic". Never make excuses for yourself to be frustrated over things you can't control. You will be so frustrated, just never excuse it. God brought those circumstances to help you calibrate your own heart.

When we are thinking about time, we actually have more time than we think. When we aren't thinking about time, we actually have less time than we think because we aren't thinking.

As you work diligently, do not allow tragedies or global shifts or even local catastrophe to trigger that fearful sense of panic. This only applies when you are already working with a healthy sense of urgency. As you work to get things done, but then war breaks out or war is rumored to break out soon, remember that God is still in control. Keep plugging away, keep your Sabbath within God's schedule for you, keep time to pray. Even an "unjust" traffic light might be a gift from the angels for a needed moment of some extra prayer.

#  #298

## You Can Handle More and Less Than You Think

Due to both sin and God's good design, we are in constant need of recalibrating our sense of our own strength.

Our ability to think is marred by sin, yet we continue to grow. Like children growing up, every day our bodies are bigger than they were the day before. Like mature adults, our bodies don't always do what they were able to do before. As we grow and mature in our hearts and minds, our strengths and weaknesses also change every day. Know your new strengths and limits each new day and you will achieve things in life that no one thought possible, even with supernatural miracles.

Most of the time, we aren't concerned enough about the right things and worry too much about things that aren't a problem. Even when your heart gets its priorities in line—and you are more concerned about charity and looking for anyone and everyone ignored by society's systems—little, tiny problems crop up that make us worry and we still tend to neglect things that matter. Take sleep for example, exercise, or the simple need to stretch our muscles. Reading Bible daily is minimum if you want a life that's not a complete waste—any amount will do. When we neglect the little things that keep us healthy, it becomes easy to worry about scary monsters that can't bite.

Even if a tsunami is headed right for you, the safest place to be is wherever God wants you. Maybe by standing at a certain place in the street, the water will pick you up, keep you afloat, and no debris will hit you. But, if you run to a building several floors above the water, the tsunami could collapse the whole building. What we think is safe might not necessarily be safe because we never see everything.

Only God sees everything. He knows where you are safe and where you are in danger. He knows your strengths and weaknesses on a level that you never can. With God at your back, you can walk through anything. So, when it comes time to walk your road, always get God's opinion about what matters in the situation for today.

#  #299

## I Need Help First

The world is full of semi-good people who help others. Semi-good is the same thing as semi-bad. So, put differently, the world is full of people who who help others while also hurting others. These "semi" people have enough goodness to gain trust, but retain enough ill will to harm people who need help the most once their goodness earns them status.

The truth that semi-good people never come to accept is their own need for help. They help others from perspectives of compassion and concern, the Good Samaritan, and shared love for everyone in the world. But, we all need help.

People who make the biggest difference in the world recognize that they need help just like everyone else. We don't all need the same kind of help, for the most part, but we are all in desperate need of help and no one is an exception.

The man who helps others from the seat of benevolence and charity—but not from having his own need through which he identifies with those he helps—places himself above others. He sees himself as the demigod who needeth not, helping the lower, unfortunate "lessers" who are beneath him. We can only help others from pure goodness to the extent that we have received needed help ourselves. Any other position from which we purportedly "help" is for nothing beyond our own egos.

Christianity is a religion of pure help and need. It's not about buildings and priests and liturgies. One can be a Christian without any of those things and many who have all of those things aren't Christians at all, no matter how much they believe they are. The Christian God died because it was the only way to help humanity. The only One who needed nothing gave everything to help we who had no way of helping ourselves. He came as a baby named Jesus, no other. Acknowledging your own need for Jesus's help is all it takes to be a Christian, nothing more.

Our universal need for help never ends. Even after receiving help today, we need more tomorrow. "Good" people are good because they help others, remembering that they also need help everyday.

#  #300

## Law of Forgiveness

Forgiving doesn't always feel like the responsible thing to do, but it frees us to focus on what we need to do, which is the responsible thing to do.

In some sense, forgiveness involves emotions, but it begins as a choice, just like happiness. Forgiving opens up doors, clears roadways, and dislodges log jams so that everything can flow smoothly. It doesn't actually let anyone off the hook; because the forgiver ends up paying the price it simply changes who is on the hook. So, crime doesn't go unpunished.

Neglect and apathy are dangerous, but forgiveness is neither. Forgiveness says, "That person doesn't owe me anymore." That is anything but apathy or neglect.

Soon, our minds start speculating, "What if I see that person again..." But, these speculations are never, never fruitful. Forgiveness starts a spiral of events so unpredictable that no aftermath can be forecast. Forgiving means not making those purportedly "responsible" speculations. Moreover, its unpredictable aftermath is another reason demons hate forgiveness so much.

Forgiveness is a Law that transcends the spiritual and natural realms. Those things which forgiveness cuts loose don't only exist where we can see them; forgiveness on Earth looses Heaven to jump on the job when we simply forgive—it's the Law. Once angels go to work, nothing will make sense anymore. After someone forgives, so many opportunities and anomalous events unfold, no one can write enough books to tell the strangeness of it all.

Sometimes people only get the punishment they deserve when someone forgives them. Unleash Heaven's justice, surrender your "right" to give what puny punishment mortals can.

Forgiveness seems reckless because, in a sense, it is reckless to smash the dam and let the river flow. Whatever log jam you find yourself in just might be released with a little "reckless" forgiveness. Then, Heaven will get a little "reckless" in pouring out opportunity and help, even into your own seemingly obscure situation.

The Law of Forgiveness is one of the strongest. It was at work with Jesus's crucifixion. Forgiveness is one of the greatest Laws feared by demons, who will stop at nothing to stop you from forgiving. Don't buy their lies. Don't help them. Forgive.

_Matthew 18:18_

#  #301

## Your Friends Aren't All Worthless

In Heaven's Kingdom, God raises up our leaders from among our brethren. David was the runt of his litter. Joseph nearly was the same. Jesus's family thought he was mentally ill.

For decades, God prepares someone quietly, secretly. The one being prepared may have a sense that the preparation is happening, but still can't fathom how everything will play out. Even Jesus doesn't know the hour of his own return to Earth. If Jesus doesn't know when he will come back to deliver us from the evils on Earth, then there is no way in Heaven or on Earth that we could ever know who is and is not in the quiet fields of preparation for the Lord's purposes tomorrow.

Everyone looks ordinary in person. Seeing a face on a billboard or movie screen makes a celebrity easy to recognize. But, in person everyone remains human.

Say Einstein were to deliver his theory of relativity to one of his college classmates. Or, imagine if Oswald Chambers had gone off on one of his rants as a student in Sunday school. They would be brushed off as annoying and self-obsessed. But, if either man were to sit down in a television studio and show the world how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the whole world would take notes.

That's what made Oswald Chambers special to all of us: His wife took notes while he would rant at home. That's how his famous devotional was written. He dictated off the cuff; she actually wrote it down. We have his words to read because his own family had the insight to value his words first.

Thomas Aquinas was called the "dumb ox" by his classmates because he was fat and soft-spoken. But, his teacher told the class, "One day the 'dumb ox' will speak and the whole world will listen." That teacher recognized talent without needing a movie screen to determine whether his own student had a brain worth publishing.

Don't assume that your peers can't include the king God will anoint—that you could never be so 'lucky'. Your friends aren't all worthless. Learn to spot talent among your peers before the world does.

#  #302

## God Doesn't Need You to Know How He's Growing You

The great grace of God toward us exists our growth. He is the One Who is responsible for our maturity and progress.

God doesn't see us mostly as "forgiven", though we ought to pause and see ourselves that way once in a while.

God doesn't see us mostly as "immature", though we ought to pause and see ourselves that way once in a while.

God sees us as His beloved children. He'll protect us. He'll help us. He'll teach us. He'll provide for us. He even died for us. All this because He will do whatever it takes to master and mature us into the most beautiful craftsmanship Heaven knows.

Unlike the angels having been born into Glory, God grows us into Glory. This happens with our cooperation and perseverance, but God is at the helm the whole time.

That's the message of "grace"—God is at the helm, growing and guiding us. We didn't ask for this. We didn't invent this. We couldn't even dream of this. God has great plans and if we simply don't give up, if we lean into Him and take some initiative to get steady droplets of Bible and conversational prayer into our regular habits, we throw fuel on the fire of our inner growth that God already kindled in our hearts.

Don't ever misunderstand "grace" as permission to return to a mundane version of so-called "morality" nor as permission to amuse ourselves with the boredom of a life lacking the power of morals from above. Likewise, never think that you need to know your problems in order for God to deal with them. God will deal with your problems. He already knew your problems before you were born. You can't even comprehend your own problems let alone their solutions; God has all that under control.

"Grace" means _God is at the helm, growing us._

Move forward and know that God has you. You need initiative and momentum, effort, and the confidence that God will gladly forgive you when you fail from getting out into the world to try. So, don't stay home to guarantee sinlessness. Get in the game and know that God holds you in His hand.

_Psalm 139:10, Isaiah 41:10-13, John 10:29, Ephesians 2:1-10_

#  #303

## Peace Starts in the Home

Harsh words jar the senses. Snippy responses cause whiplash. It's difficult to be a peaceful, calm person when the home is prone to tremors, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. But, if the home is a haven of still waters, travelers can find rest and replenish their supply.

In every sector of life and society, people with peaceful, calm spirits become those havens where ships seek shelter. This is an unexplained—and arguably unfair—reason why some people gain quicker success, trust, and respect in careers and friendship. We all need peace.

A peaceful person is like an oasis. Everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle. When you can be that break in the turbulence for everyone who encounters you, everyone will want to encounter you.

Some we call this "being present" or "being 'with' those around us". Thinking about who you are talking to and not letting your mind wander, staying focused on the conversation with the person you are with, listening to understand rather than to persuade, inviting others to talk, even knowing what words to share that inspire—all of these "people skills" depend on first being a person of peace.

A "person of peace" may create incredible turmoil for enemies. Like an eye of a tornado, the fiercest adversary is the peaceful worker roused to wrath. This is not the introvert afraid to speak, but the neighbor who is inwardly solid and therefore comfortable everywhere and therefore focused on tending to his own responsibilities so as not to make work for others. That peaceful man or woman or family, organization, city, nation, religion, or people group—the one with true peace—will stand against opposition with unbreakable terror. Never provoke anyone who is strong because of inner peace.

All inner peace begins at home. Parents create that haven at home by teaching, correcting, punishing, even spanking in calmness and continued "joy by choice". Children take on the temperament that their parents cultivate. Adults who grew up in turbulent homes can create a haven at home—even for themselves—by giving their children the calm they lacked. Prayer helps, as do good company and counsel. Whether given or received, peace begins at home.

#  #304

## Law of Chaos, Placement & Order

Order does not necessarily look neat and tidy by our limited human standards. A stack of wheels may fit nicely into a corner, but it is not the correct order for allowing a cart to roll down the street. Order means having things in their proper place—according to function. The living, organic, thriving, moving, growing, flowing channels that allow things to function don't fit into nifty boxes as we might like.

Boxes and niftiness make the world around us easier to understand, whether in actual living and work space or in a worldview. But, God and His Creation are bigger than we could ever fathom. As His order sprawls, it seems chaotic to us. Chaos has an order, but that order will never always make sense to us; we can only become familiar with its "personality", as it were, like getting to know an area within a vast forest.

The currents of wealth are part of this ordered chaos, as is forgiveness and its law. When we forgive, the complex web of action and consequence triggers a cascade that spirals through channels in the chaos of both spirit and matter, eventually coming back around like a boomerang to exactly where the forgiveness originated. It's a law because it is all part of chaos.

All too often, forgiving seems impossible. This is because we can only "forgiven" something that is actually wrong; chaos understands this. When you cannot forgive people for a dirty deed, it could be because you should be thanking them. Deeds may only seem dirty to us, but actually be well-cloaked blessings, such as being made to work too hard for too little in order to become strong enough to swim in the currents of wealth. Or, you may need to thank and forgive them all at the same time. Or, you may need to forgive them for the properly-labeled dirty deed. It is quite impossible to forgive even the right person if it is for the wrong thing.

Every part of life will only open up and break through into a healthy flow once everything is placed into proper order according to the thriving flow of chaos. Focus your energies there.

#  #305

## Know Crazy, Don't Go Crazy

Personality types help us identify common canvases and primary colors that God uses to make every person beautifully unlike every other. Personality profiles only feel like cramped boxes to those whose worldview crams life into boxes. Everyone is unique, but crazy is always the same.

One common warning is the addiction to chaos; another is refusal to accept personal responsibility to fix the problem—or that there is any problem at all.

Only so much peaceful, "content" time passes before mental-certifiables need their "chaos" fix, imagining or inventing problems where none exist, thus the need kicks in to control, run, blame, suspect, nanny, provide, entertain, deliver, protect, retaliate, receive, lecture, or whatever unneeded "neediness" disrupts normal relationships. Not even to save their own lives, careers, reputations, families, or loved ones can they accept or adapt to any situation. It isn't their problem, you see?

Blame shifting is the early onset. If nothing is one's own fault, nothing can be done to help, but God doesn't create anyone permanently helpless. We all act crazy once in a while, but it becomes a certifiable dysfunction when the problem becomes permanent. A lie sets in, we start to "go crazy", and we refuse to admit that our own worldview is slowly turning us into a monster. It grows until we either take the first and most important step—to admit the problem—or else end up in a mental institution or the care of a licensed case worker.

Reading about mental disorders can be a good way to look in the mirror. Crazy is very unoriginal, never changing, even from one person to another. Learn to recognize crazy before it overwhelms and matures into something unspeakable. Anyone can learn from a layman's guide.

Just a little familiarity can help keep your own sanity and recognize what sets off the crazy in others so you might avoid poking the sleeping bear. The best way to help anyone going crazy is to refuse to participate, take personal responsibility, require the same, and don't enable by agreeing with the lies that make crazy crazy. Crazy is easy to spot because, while God makes us each unique, crazy makes everyone the same.

#  #306

## Stages of Results on Your Path

The middle-income and upper-middle class traps only get people who are more anxious for the results of their work than for the sustainability necessary for their work to last.

The same story repeats too many times. A young family has a dream, they take out a mortgage too big to build a house too big with a lawn too big to keep and too many rooms to keep clean on a plot of land too far from work. Then, between the longer commute and long-term debt, they have time for neither family nor profitable hobbies. By the time they retire, the kids grew up without the parents being there to see it.

A little patience would have told the family to build a home big enough, but close to work and easy to maintain. Even when our wallets can afford larger, our schedules often cannot. Waiting for results while homing in on strength in the beginning leaves time for family and those other projects that improve the future.

You can't short-cut results; no one can, though everyone tries. Work toward your goals, but don't try to get the harvest earlier than seasons and hard work allow. Companies, organizations, families, governments, and nations implode because they over-build their infrastructure. They pay dearly to build tomorrow's dream today. The mansion comes later, though everyone wants it first. Large highways come after a thriving economy, not before.

Results come a certain, specific way. Each path is different, having its own obstacles, beauties, hazards, and rewards at their end. But, no path has the end before the end. Even if we could rewrite the sequence of events along any path, that would make the path no easier to accept. Life's Creator made Life to happen in a sequence and we must welcome and accept that sequence in order to enjoy any path to its fullest.

Life won't be outsmarted nor circumvented—Life won't allow it!

The only way to know if one is on the right path is by what occurs at steps along the way. Some things happen sooner for different people following different paths correctly. Celebrate the right results at the right stages of your own path.

#  #307

## Wealth & Society

No one's pockets are infinitely deep except God's. Any country, government, business, or family, no matter how wealthy, will lose its money if it spends more than the prosperity it generates. Two main groups of people have difficulty understanding this: those who make a living from public funding and those who spend more money than the prosperity they generate.

The only way to understand that money's supply must be generated, not bestowed or merely redirected, requires that one generate prosperity in one's personal life. This could include an innovative or "sales" job or being a strategy decision maker for a business. One way or another, we only understand the laws that govern life—including that money must be generated from somewhere—if we know how to harness those laws for the better.

Humans have the ability to create springs of prosperity, fountains of funding that spill out to all people. Society needs that prosperity to be generated—humanity as a whole depends on individual humans living up to their potential, including to generate more than we take.

It always seems insignificant, nickeling and diming away money. Any animal, no matter how large, can be eaten one bite at a time, like ants on a dead rat. Even the most wealthy people and institutions can never be exempted from the potential to be eaten. Foolish is the one who eats himself, even if he does so one bite at a time.

Sharing, charity, and compassion are good, but sharing beyond what one has is suicide, not only for oneself, but for future sharing. Even giving must be done responsibly. If you give all your money away, then you can't give away your money anymore. The other harm is becoming the "public funding", dolling out the rewards that normally one must learn to earn by figuring out a way to be personally prosperous.

Children and family should always be welcome in the house, but this should be an invitation to use the family estate to learn how to generate. We are entitled to our family and country, not prosperity. No one is entitled to prosperity, which must be earned through stewardship. Overlook this and it's game over.

#  #308

## Law of Sowing and Reaping

There is a metaphysical reason why seeds grow. Even before seeds and plants in our natural universe, there existed in the spiritual plane, and even the plane of the soul, the principle of sowing and consequence—seeding ideas and events. Seeds grow according to their kind because this follows a law that already existed in Heaven before Earth was ever made.

Part of "proper seeding" includes a stage of semi-death. Seeds "die" in a sense before they can grow. If they are planted before "dying" and drying, then the may rot. But, a seed can be cooked or ruined with poison to a point where it has a "second death" from which it can never recover. A seed that has died its "second death" won't grow, neither will a seed that has not died it's "first death".

Ideas can be "seeded". We often wait to gain our desire to pursue, learn, or get involved with a thing until after we feel as though we have "missed out". While many things we might be able to enjoy if we maintain an early work ethic and don't take opportunity for granted, some things we will never want to pursue until the seed dies its "first death", making us want to spring up from the ground in pursuit of restoring what came before.

This is all part of the Law of Sowing and Reaping, which existed in Heaven before it governed the chaos of farming in the earth.

Whatever is properly killed and put into the ground will grow back in kind, multiplied from what it was before—it's the Law. This is why persecuting Christians causes Christianity to spread—not by elementary arithmetic, but in powers of ten. Many governments have faced this dilemma of trying to stamp out Christianity, but only failed because true Christianity—without walls or bureaucracies—is the embodiment of the Creator of nature's chaotic order.

The Law of Sowing and reaping causes luck, both good and bad, wealth, poverty, joy, sorrow, opportunity, emptiness, and it was even at work during Jesus's crucifixion just as much as it will be at his valiant return with the resurrected Christians who died their first death.

_John 12:24, Galatians 6:7_

#  #309

## Great Human Potential

What things God created us for is unimaginable. Eternity is a long time and it's no stretch to suppose that if we don't eventually cooperate with God to create our own galaxies that we will be doing something much more splendid. And, that still won't even be the beginning.

Jesus's appearance to John in his Patmos vision showed us that Jesus wasn't only being figurative in his time on Earth; the eye is the literal lamp of the body. His eyes were like fire, his feet glowed, and his face was the brightest part of his body. The eye is the lamp in a glowing, luminescent body.

That's what most of our future time will be like, in a glowing body just like Jesus had when John saw him on Patmos.

The more in touch we are with the future God planned for us, the more we understand our potential right now. It wouldn't seem like it to look at what's around us, but that's the same with everyone as we grow up. We start as babes unable to even feed ourselves, then we grow up, able to do anything we set our minds to. Don't think for one moment that we stop increasing our abilities once we cross over into the next lifetime. It only gets better.

Your life isn't wasted. You're not useless. God sees your entire future Eternity, even now. We don't have glowing bodies yet, but this is not from any lack of potential; it's because God is preparing the virtue in our hearts first. Before our bodies glow, our hearts will grow first.

In this potential, there is no limit to the skills we can acquire. You can do anything. Reject the limited lie that we have "a passion" in the singular sense. Once we decide that life has given us the excuse we need, we can learn almost anything that we put our minds to. Most trades and skills are not inborn talents, but abilities and knowledge learned through time. Our DNA doesn't so much limit what things we can learn as much as it empowers us to learn many more things than we may give ourselves credit for.

#  #310

## Chase Thy Grabbable Tiger

Beware the two snares of propaganda for knowing your direction in life: Chase whatever head-in-the-clouds, childish whim you feel like or be "realistic" and get a boring job doing what you hate because "that's the way to make money". There are options other than these, though it wouldn't seem like it, given the free advice in plenty. Don't chase your dreams; chase your skills and follow whatever doable path you are most passionate about.

A thirteen year old stood out at the skate park. He would coach and coax rookies into quickly reaching higher levels and attaining new skills. He asked me the probability of being sponsored. I told him, with his skill level, fifty percent. But, why would he want to be sponsored? "So I can skate all day," he said. He can get rich and do that, but what about after he retires? What will he do then? "Teach skating."

I answered, "You're already doing that. Don't look for a sponsor to boss you around. Do what you love now, then sponsorship won't matter, then companies are more likely to line up to sponsor you."

Another friend asked me if he should quit his stable job for a risky job as a teacher—his dream. "No," I said. "Teachers love learning; your job is still teaching you. That's your answer."

There are different types of dreaming: worthy and silly. Following one's childhood, passionate dream is different from following one's childish fantasy. As long as a dream is doable and has a non-artificial time table, go for it. Jeremy Lin and Will Smith had that "see how it goes" conversation with their dads, but they didn't spin their wheels, practicing for hours without good coaching.

Hotly pursue whatever you can do that makes you come alive, and learn effectively.

Maybe you have a knack for a craft, art, science, or sport from an early age. Do it, whether for money or hobby. Maybe you love your family or know that you need to pay old bills, so a special grace falls on you, empowering you to work in a factory you otherwise hate. Whatever tigers you can grab by the tail, go git 'em!

#  #311

## We Each Matter

Each person matters to other people, if for no other reason than the space we each occupy. Walking down the street involves other people. They wait for you, they let you go first, or they wonder if you will let them go first. Each one of us makes a difference to other people because each of us matters.

Having a low view of yourself harms others. Self-esteem is founded on the sense of "self", that oneself is a real, active person among other people. Having a strong self-esteem is really about knowing that one affects other people—loving oneself is about loving others. Knowing that you are valuable is about knowing that you are already very valuable to others.

Knowing your own value—not value attained, but value that you already have as God's Image—will help your heart to shine. By being happy, your happiness will spill over to others without effort—because you truly do matter to others. It doesn't matter if you are skinny, fat, short, tall, ugly, or ridiculously gorgeous; self-esteem is a contagion that spreads to others. The more you value yourself and others, the more others will value themselves.

The deeper value people place on themselves—recognizing how every individual can make an impact on others for better or worse—the better off the world will be because the world relies on people who know that we each, individually matter to everyone else.

If we don't know how much we matter to others, we will neglect whatever choices affect others the most. Someone who doesn't matter will speed through a red light, thinking at most, "I don't affect other people, after all." But, the belief that one doesn't matter isn't really a well thought-through belief, it's more of a non-conclusion.

People who devalue themselves haven't made up their minds about themselves or others. They simply move moment to moment, presuming that nothing really matters. When a criminal who doesn't care about himself gets caught, he acts indifferent in court because he is indifferent about life because he thinks life is indifferent about him. So, the next time people are rude or inconsiderate, you might just demonstrate that they matter.

#  #312

## Law of Wealth and Currents

Like any subject of learning, one secret to understanding wealth requires working for it. This is similar to how some people only learn by working with mass. Just how digging a space with a shovel or multiplying with blocks or sprinting up and down a giant piano keyboard painted on the ground to identify notes can help a student remember the notes—just as with learning through physical, hands-on exercises, money is only understood by working too hard for too little.

This is neither excuse to stay in poverty nor to dismiss those who are. This is only encouragement to those who just can't seem to make a break with money and a warning to those who have too much money: Working too hard for too little causes an understanding of wealth—money, income, employment, business, finances, clients, whathaveyou—beyond any PhD's comprehension.

The early Rockefellers lived in rich houses, but required their children to work extremely hard around the estate if they wanted anything. Loving parents entitle their children to the estate and inheritance, but rightly require "too much" hard work for personal possessions. To do otherwise deprives a child of elementary financial education, leads to affluenza, and eventually poverty. This happens often in family and nation.

Later we learn, wealth flows in "currents" and "undercurrents" of opportunity. Young Christians just learning to follow God's subtle leading, take small steps of faith as God guides them into these currents. God tells the young Christian to walk into a store, someone is waiting for him, and a new opportunity is found. The immature Christian misunderstands and attributes the entire event to "God's providence", but the undercurrent of opportunity was there all along. God simply guided the Christian into it.

Provisional currents were designed into Creation by God; they bring money, opportunity, and food with them. The homeless live in these currents. Even ungodly men understand these "lucky" currents and exploit them. They see Christians flow in the currents, yet still do not believe in God because Laws of Wealth apply universally. But, Christian trust follows God's leading to find and flow in currents of wealth, which only "too much" hard work can prepare us for.

#  #313

## Calm Societal Discipline

Everyone needs calm, strict enforcement of rules. If we don't get punished to a point of pain, we become self-royal brats who think the world has appointed us the new ruling bloodline. Punishment is different from rage and anger.

Some people refused to give calm, sober, plain punishment to quickly deter children from destructive behavior later in life. These people have no mercy, no matter how much they claim to. They neither have mercy on the society, which criminals destroy, nor on those criminals who live unhappy lives. The main reason most criminals are criminals is because they weren't disciplined to be good and happy early in life.

In the very early years, good parents swat with the hand on their child's bear bottom, leaving no mark or injury, only some redness that passes after thirty minutes and a sting to teach the child about controlling personal choices. That's it. There is no need for rage or hateful words, leather whips or beating with a belt. Swift punishment, enforced with a rigorous work ethic, in the very earliest years of disobedience will raise a child to become an adult who is safe and sober. Don't wait or argue. Spanking through clothing is either too light and becomes a joke or must cause bruising to have any pain, so don't do that either. If disciplined correctly once a child can walk and understand "obedience", psychological punishments—like "time out", writing sentences, or lost privileges—will be effective in the later years of childhood.

Having Asperger or ADD is not misbehavior, but it isn't an excuse either. Everyone has a different psychology and no parent becomes an expert merely by having a baby. Understanding our different frames of mind and learning styles takes time and experience. Talk to someone who works with children and volunteer in a nursery during junior high and high school.

Whether you are a parent or not is beside the point. Society at wide derives its discipline from childhood. Discipline merely instills self-discipline. The key is to remain calm and happy, forgetting the punishment the instant it has been served. "Abuse" comes from rage and forced love. Love and discipline use open hands.

#  #314

## Navigating a Lifetime of Careers

No job needs to be your dream job. Any work will do as long as you can do it. Don't think about choosing work too much, just ask if you can make money at it and get better at making more money at it every day.

Of course, one's work must be ethical, but that's about all. Work is for money. If you can change the world at the same time, that's a plus. But, you can also change the world through your profit-potential hobby. Don't buy the lie that you must have puppy love for your cash cow every day.

Income sources can change over time. There is a skill all in itself to recognizing any source of income as a source of income—that might be the best and most important skill to learn. Income streams are all around us, slightly camouflaged, but easy to find once you break off the codependent, dysfunctional relationship with your delusion of that "one and only dream job". The skill of income itself can take over, then you will be better at staying focused, staying on task, and you will be better at being much happier while you are doing work that you may care little for, but that other people need so badly that they'll help you pay your bills if you do that job for them.

Part of the fluidity of business means that college textbooks are out of date by definition, but so are any job skills or craftsmanship. Business changing the economy means that your job can also change. Tsunamis affect everyone near the coast. Your best chance is to learn multiple skill sets.

Learn skills in a classroom that are best learned in in a classroom. Chase after a career and curriculum that you are likely to finish—regardless of whether you "like" it. Whether you need a challenge or an interest—chase whatever cat you can grab by the tail!. Most importantly, never learn only one skill!

Most businesses and marketable craftsmanship combine multiple skills, creating "third skills". The more skills you combine, the more "third skills" you create, the more marketable you will remain in the fluid world of money.

#  #315

## Stand on Truth, Let Others Climb Up

Don't compromise on essential values just because other people might not understand you. Humans are highly capable creatures. We can do the most outrageous things if we want to. If someone doesn't understand why you hold to your values then it is because that person is working hard at trying to not understand.

A competent teacher does not stop teaching a subject if the students do not understand; a competent teacher will teach the subject all the more!

Hopefully, you have already set out on some noble task—it could simply be your attempt to do something that has never been done before—it could be to do what no one from your neighborhood has never done before—it could be to shake your entire nation's culture to end a dishonest routine. But, whatever noble thing you attempt, people whom you thought would never make a positive change in the world will soar with newfound powers to tell you that you're wrong.

One of humanity's great hidden strengths is our ability to wake from the deepest sleep just to tell someone to stop doing what is right.

People will drive miles, pay for expensive meals, use words they didn't know they knew, step out into courageous situations that they have never stepped into before—all to convince you that you are so very, very selfish, unethical, and outright immoral—especially if you are trying to do something that they agree with.

"That can't be done!" they will say. "We want to do it, but I always failed. It is therefore a crime against others to do this good thing that others reject."

Society continues bad, dangerous, cruel practices because no one retraces the lines—no one stands for the right standard.

Every culture is made and every culture is remade by the troublemakers, the misfits, the malcontents, the discontents, the "unteachables". Be that person. If you can get a thousand people to say you can't, you might actually be on the right track. If ten thousand people say you shouldn't, you're surely dead on the money.

They'll learn. Stand at your post. Show how it's done. Make sure the culture has an example to watch.

#  #316

## Law of Stewardship

Stewardship is ultimately "responsibility". When we take personal responsibility for whatever situation we find ourselves in—not for being placed in the situation, but for the situation itself and our response to it—we gain the personal power in the moment to make a difference. No one can grow big without first being smaller. Growth at any stage is just as valid as any other stage of growth.

If you want more, do well with what you have. All you need is the situation right in front of you. Life is not a horror story, where the answer is not in the room. God made the natural and spiritual multiverse and He put an answer in every room. If you can't find the answer, keep looking and keep calling on the Creator to illuminate the eyes of your heart to see what answer has been there all along.

You will never move past your current position until you find a solution that has "already" been there. Often times, an evil lie deceives us into thinking that an answer "already" there would be bad or insulting and our inner arrogant pride won't allow us to accept the truth of "alreadiness". Swallow your pride and look for the answer under your nose. If you want a bigger and better situation, do well in the situation you currently find yourself in.

Many families, businesses, and nations have gone bankrupt, whether morally, socially, or economically, all because the should-be "responsible" persons deeply believed that in order to have more and move on to the next step, they needed to obtain what they didn't already have.

"If I only have that car, that house, that business, those tools, a nicer bicycle, a newer spaceship—if I can only get more, then I will finally be just fine." This idea always leads to covetousness, occasionally theft, and eventually poverty. It is the driving worldview of the "conquering dictator" who believes invading other lands will finally feed his people. Nothing could be father from truth.

Everything belongs to God, even our circumstances. We merely steward our surroundings. Be a responsible steward where you are, only then will God entrust you with more.

_Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 16:9-15_

#  #317

## Stop Everything and Think about Who God Is

Whatever you're doing, whatever your situation, whatever your problem, whatever your celebration—the most relevant truth in your life is God's character. Of course there are times when we must act and move forward urgently. But, if time permits—and it does more often than we like to recognize—putting everything on pause and thinking only and entirely about Who God is—His nature, His traits—will enhance your current situation like no other.

Whether tempted or needing inspiration for art, pausing to think about God's character is the best thing to do.

He is the origin of inspiration—that is part of His character. His patience, wisdom, knowledge, creativity, power, love—these traits are echoed throughout all of the created order, both in the natural universe and in the spiritual realm where angels see what we can only pray about and understand through trust. When we dwell on those traits, imagine them, obsess over them, mull over them, ponder them, and daydream about things like how wisdom and patience "look" different to the angels as they actually "see" those different virtues—when we genuinely and imaginatively meditate on the nature of God's character, those virtues begin to imprint themselves more deeply onto our own minds, strengthening the connection between His nature and our work.

God sends us into urgent situations to grow and test us. Even while you must hasten your work, to drive or write or perform or complete any other task, thinking about God's character will empower your work. There are times when hard circumstances come our way because God wants to test us in order to help us grow. In those times, the best response hard situations includes due diligence, but it also includes meditating on God's character as the greater priority.

If God is not your greatest priority in your situation then you will not be God's greatest priority in dispensing strength onto your situation. The priority about knowing God's character does not invalidate the need for normal work, but must be the higher priority while all priorities remain present.

It is a secret ingredient to success. Some use drugs, others use immorality to inspire; Christians meditate on God Himself.

_Psalm 46:10_

#  #318

## The Moral Test: Does This Satisfy?

If we seek things that never work out then we want things that can't be. If we feel that those wants are natural, then our nature is broken.

We can interpret the Bible to excuse whatever moral definition we want. Proof that an interpretation is correct lies in that moral interpretation producing fruits of the Spirit. Morals always relate to our relationships, whether with God or in conduct with others. If we have inner turmoil about our relationships, somewhere something is wrong, either in our definition of morals or in our pursuit of them or both.

Marriage vows are vital for non-marital progress because family is a structure on which humanity depends more than roads and city water. Satan will attack marriage just as an invading army will attack the electrical grid of a populated area.

Jesus died to free us from oppression via man-made chaos. Is it to much for us to obey a few rules that prevent society from becoming chaotic? Is that really a sacrifice on our behalf, to have delayed gratification to thus have more gratification?

Some "moral" questions are left vague by the Bible. Those are left up to the individual. One can't know what particular choices other people should make. Diet rules from Moses may or may not be necessary today. So, let your conscience be your guide. Sometimes people "invent rules", but if they do this for themselves, don't interfere. God is allowed to lead us moment by moment. God might give someone strange rules to help with a specific situation some day and the rest of us would never know.

Morals govern relationships with all people and all people with their God. Contorting the Bible to rationalize our own self-made morals never satisfies, it only excuses short-lived happiness and serves to appease our own guilty consciences from truth we know we deny.

But, strong belief in morality is no license to boss and bully others.

Accurate understanding of morals, individual choice to obey, resulting happiness, and responsibility are all personal—for each one's own willingness to acknowledge and accept whatever follows. So, regulating the morality of others is always wrong, whether those morals are self-made or Biblical.

_Acts 15:19-29, Romans 14:10-12, 20-23, 1 John 3:19-24_

#  #319

## Stop Everything and Praise God for Who He Is

In the midst of the storm, your greatest need can only be given by God. In the peace and quiet, when there are no pressing needs anywhere to be seen, you have the best time to prepare to receive whatever God has to give you later when those storms come. Whether in the quiet or in the raging wind, praise God!

In a manner of speech, praising God "turns on the lights" wherever you are and for whatever you pray for. The lights of praise dry up disease and drive out fear. When hardship and opposition stand in your way, praising God will bring a light so bright that it blinds your enemy and washes him out in pure white—and all you will be able to see is your peaceful path forward.

The praise comes first, before the good results—before the solution to your situation. Praise God for the problems He will solve tomorrow, especially the problems you don't know about yet. He already knows tomorrows problems and He already has His own solution waiting for you.

God is already worthy to receive praise, that is why He must be praised right now. It is injustice against the existence of every molecule, every human, every angel, and against the Creator God Himself not to praise Him for what He already deserves. He is worthy now, already, so praise Him now, already!

Stop what you're doing to praise Him as a gift to Him. Don't stop if it is dangerous, of course, or you might create a terrible situation in which you must repent before praising God. You can't praise God with conscious, intentional sin continuing on in your life, sin that you either know is wrong, including harming others. Refusing sin and declining temptation are also forms of praise, forms that God loves. Those forms of praise are easier when you praise Him for Who He is already.

No matter what your situation, praise is the solution, both for the problems you face and for the problems you have yet to see. So, praise God now while you have time. Tomorrow, you may need to rely on the praise you gave him today.

#  #320

## Law of the Flesh

Flesh is where our eternal, sentient states of being occur in the natural plane of the multiverse. In the flesh, we work, move, hunger, and tire. While flesh is our main place of consciousness and holds the primary eyes through which we see, flesh is not the seat of our eternal existence. Flesh can be killed and remade, but our lives live on.

Flesh is weak and limited. This serves to teach our eternally transcendent hearts eternal values, such as patience and priority. When we must choose between telling a hurtful lie or going hungry, the source of such questions comes in our flesh, but it is the eternal virtue of the heart at the crossroads of those moral questions. Without the flesh, we would not have these dilemmas to grow our hearts.

The flesh being a temporary existence, separate from yet linked to our eternal consciousness, gives us a way to have one foot in the world of physical work and another foot in the moral realm. The concept of a patriot—who, according to Thomas Paine, must protect his country from its government—is rooted in this dilemma of the flesh. A martyr is willing to lay down his life in the flesh for an eternal cause of principles, freedom, and truth.

Sin and addiction live in the flesh, which we must be forgiven of in the eternal sense and must battle against the temptations of every day. Work we will be rewarded for in Eternity is done through the flesh. Marriage is a union of the flesh, but not the eternal consciousness, hence the marital vow, "...to death do us part."

Jesus entered the flesh. While morals are eternal and must come from above, we understand, work out the math, and otherwise explain those morals through our flesh. One of the greatest graces given to Humankind and all creation is that Man is given flesh which needs rest, high maintenance, and will one day die on its own. Because of this, the work of devils in our flesh cannot endure nor can our sin. After the first death and resurrection, sin will have no power over our resurrected flesh—it's the Law.

_Romans 7:14-25, 2 Corinthians 7:12, Revelation 20:6_

#  #321

## Stop Everything and Befriend God Just as You Are

Wherever you are in your life, God love you just as you are. You will always have things to learn and sin to repent of. Learn what you need, repent of sin you know about, but even before those things, know that God does love you. Repenting of sin and learning more opens up more room for friendship with God. Growing your friendship with God comes both before, during, and after learning and repentance.

Friendship with God is part of every step of the Christian life because God stays with us through everything, all the way.

Put the business of life on pause and think about your friendship with God. Think about how much you love Him because of how much He loves you and how much you enjoy thinking about enjoying thinking about Him as your friend. Take a moment, right now while reading and think about it.

Every day, all day long, steal any time you can to fix your thoughts on the God above who love you just as you are.

Growing up is one of God's expressions to us, explaining His own love for us. Children are adorable, yet dirty, immature, yet lovable, and naughty, yet full of potential. The tender understanding and wise patience that a grandparent has toward grandchildren—having seen the growing process all the way through its cycle—shows us a glimpse of how and why God looks at us at any stage of our growth and loves us just the same.

Never outgrow your childlike ability to need God's love through the patient eyes of parenting. You will always have things to learn, improve, and outgrow. Even the greatest theologians over a hundred years old understand that God looks at them like snot-faced children just starting out. The more we grow, the more we can work along side God in bringing beauty and justice to the universe. Learning about God always includes knowing that He is the best friend you can ever and will ever have.

Even after the first ten thousand years of Eternity in the next life, friendship with God will be just as relevant. So, think about God as your best friend today.

#  #322

## Affluenza

Affluenza is the informal "street talk" term for the uncaring laziness that gets us when we have just enough money to be comfortable. The social status is often called "affluent". But, money has its way of infecting its hosts with a diseased mentality that squanderously throwing money is the best say to solve any problem. The sad news about money is that it never solves any problems. The problems get distracted by eating the money—making the problem seem to go away for a short time—but then the problem returns with a vengeance, having fed on all the money just thrown at it.

Affluenza lurks behind the self-destructing CEO who doesn't know how to rejuvenate a company's vision. Money is earned by staying lean, reducing waste to a minimum, and working with the same energy as when you're driving to make an important date. Money and security are eternal for no one. Even Jesus worked to die on the Cross and we can always count on him to carry his own load. That's why he is a worthy king. Once a celebrity, company, or country presumes that money and security will "just be there" forever, the waste begins, the drive diminishes, and the said-to-be unsinkable flounders.

...it happens every time. That's how—and why—every world superpower eventually falls. When leadership stops working hard and takes for granted what must be earned, everything starts to unravel.

The idea that wealth is bestowed—rather than earned through wasteless work—is the idea that keeps poor people poor. Affluenza is this same root of "poverty thinking" visited upon people with money. They may have money today, but when hard times come, those with affluenza will eat pistols and jump out of buildings because they had money without understanding it.

Symptoms show up in the form of canceling appointments because "we can always reschedule". The notion of a missed opportunity doesn't occur, even if the missed opportunity is both real and missed. When you're hungry, every morsel counts. If you can spare extra morsels, it's chivalrous to let morsels fall for the poor, but you'll be poor again if you don't treasure every morsel you let fall.

#  #323

## Stop Everything and Ask God for Breakthrough

Facing challenges drives us to test our priorities and rearrange them when they are out of order. This relates to the adage, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

When hard times come, some people "self-medicate" as a means of escape from having to face reality, either through substance abuse, immorality, or recreation. Other people start working hard and diligently. Hard work is less irresponsible than escapism. The mature response must prioritize prayer above diligence.

We know that God must watch the city for the watchmen to be able to keep it safe. God must establish a building for the construction crew to complete it successfully. Your own work needs God's breath, as well as your hard work to solve whatever situation you are in.

Your challenge of the day may be that you don't have enough challenges or that you feel dry and need to grasp hold of some sense of direction and vision for your life. You may need to learn something, you might even have the luxury of knowing what you need to learn. Or, you may have the usual financial, professional, and social conflicts. Whatever challenges you face, pray for God to break through.

Never fret and worry—never! Every situation has elements beyond our control, sometimes we even know what those things are. You will always need to trust God, sometimes you even know it. If you struggle to find the property to build a house, then finally buy the property, you will struggle to build the house. Once the house is built, you will struggle to maintain it. Once you are comfortable maintaining it you will struggle with the relationships that develop under its roof. Once your relationships are in order, your business will bring challenges that risk financial loss, take time from your family, and often both.

We never get past the place of needing God to enter into our circumstances and turn them all the way around. He loves to delay His deliverance for the end, so don't be surprised if He adds a little suspense like so. Just keep praying for breakthrough. If you don't think you need breakthrough today, then pray for tomorrow's.

#  #324

## Law of Spirit & Soul

The human spirit occurs at a higher plane of existence than flesh; the soul exists higher yet. Jesus's spirit is the Holy Spirit.

The human spirit is emotion or energy. Sometimes the sixth sense is a "gut feeling" delivered from our subconscious as it evaluates past and present circumstances, only providing unexplained conclusions. Part of the subconscious consideration of our "gut feelings" include memories and subtleties, part of those subconscious considerations also include senses that we receive from our own emotions detecting other emotions in the room—from our spirits detecting other spirits in the room.

The soul and the spirit are not used interchangeably in the Bible. While the Bible refers to a human "spirit" when explaining emotions and intangible social atmospheres, a non-human "spirit" refers a consciousness without flesh, and the soul refers only ever to the eternal value, exclusive to a human. This is how the Bible uses the terms "soul" and "spirit".

The soul is the place of our elemental choices on which our morals are constructed. While morals must come from above, we must choose whether we are willing to adopt those morals. That willingness exists at the high, otherwise unexplainable as much as inexplicable level of the human soul. While the Bible is silent on what specifically the soul is, we know that it is more eternal than the spirit because of the great value placed on the work of Jesus to even save our souls.

In all Biblical logic, some choice in our souls was the basis for selecting which names would be written in the Lamb's Book of Life and it likely contains our actual, eternal memories. The human brain—merely in the flesh—is not the actual storage of memory, but only a buffer or an "information cache". Our brains may forget, but our souls do not. While in the flesh of this lifetime, our memories are limited to only what our brains can cache; but the soul could contain many, many more.

These realms cannot be accessed from natural science. Quantum machines may touch the soul and spirit realms, but can only affect—or damage—nature. The spirit and soul are higher—it's the Law.

_Matthew 8:16, Mark 5:25-34; 6:13, John 20:22, 2 Timothy 1:6-7, Hebrews 4:12-13, James 1:21_

#  #325

## Learn & Know Who You Are

Discover your path of work in your life by discovering who you are. Analyze your skills and passions. Don't just look at the things that fascinate you, but seek to understand them at an elemental level. If dinner fascinates you, ask why. Is it because of the food or the people or the preparation?

There is a difference between being interested in the non-profitable "consumer" side of a thing and the profitable "production" side. God makes everyone a producer in some capacity, able to carry one's own weight and then some. None of us are able to completely carry ourselves, but we can carry more than our own weight. In this, we help each other, carrying each other and contributing more than we take. That cooperation between humans can only happen because God Himself designed us to at a level that stretches even more fundamentally than DNA.

You will find a reliable vocation for your life by seeing where you fit into this grand scheme of human cooperation.

There is no profit in analyzing your "consumer" interests. If you pursue non-profitable interests, you will end up in debt and a burden to others. Pursue those skills that contribute and lift others, not just activities that you enjoy. Even when brainstorming new ideas, the only good ideas will contribute and carry their own weight. "Contributing" is the same thing as "prospering".

Understand "what" you are as a human. As the Image of your Creator God, you are a prosper-making machine. You were designed to help, lift, build up, encourage, contribute, and be a benefit to all around you. When seeking to discover your strengths, constantly remember that strengths refined will help others to prosper. When you work toward "prospering others", you effectively work within your strengths.

Once you see the prosperity programmed into yourself, the skills that help you prosper others will be easy to identify. God doesn't make failures; people only become failures when they don't operate in their strengths, namely helping others to prosper along with yourself. Within your skills you have much room for choice; your individual creativity can't not be imprinted on your working prosperity. Only failed prosperity fails to be unique.

#  #326

## God Upholds the Righteous

God upholds "righteous" people, who practice fairness and justice, because He likes them for it—because He likes justice and fairness. God wants justice and He won't let someone who does rightly by others to easily slip between the cracks.

It's hard at times to believe that God cares or works justice. But, watching how God upholds the people who uphold justice can be proof enough that God is real and God is near.

Everyone dies and hardship makes us stronger; God denies neither to the righteous. "Upholding" means that when times get too hard or the wind blows strong, God interrupts the natural order just enough to make sure that the righteous aren't swept away. Being "upheld" may mean nothing more than surviving what is unsurvivable.

There are generally three main ways God upholds the righteous, but one could always count more than these three.

1. Because righteous people do what is right and fair, their lives are naturally stronger. Friends will help the righteous in need because people who are fair and honest and do good work naturally have more friends than greedy people who take shortcuts on quality. That was how Job's fortune was restored. Friends gave him just enough money to start again; Job doubled his original wealth from that.

2. God also brings miracles and coincidence to the righteous. It could be that righteous people, being "godly" are "looking for God" in the small things, so they notice coincidences God already sends to everyone. But, miraculous things happen to people who are honest and fair.

3. Also, by praying, angels will always have the prayer they need to bring aid to the righteous. We each need a cloud of prayer around us for protection. Angels need prayer to wage war against evil. People who pray will supply angels with help everywhere they go, even to help the praying people.

Doing what is right and honest and fair to others is the best way to court favor in the High Court of Heaven. Prayerlessness is an injustice to the angels and to the world they want to help, including ourselves. Thus, prayerlessness is a form of self-mutilation while prayer is an act of justice.

#  #327

## Demonic Invitation

Satan and his fallen angels believe that our words and actions give them supernatural permission to make trouble in our lives. Demons have much more power over people who do not believe Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God who forgave our sin at the Cross. But, even as a Christian, a person can do things that invite demons to make trouble.

The term "satan" means "accuser" or "prosecuting attorney". In many ways, demons think of themselves as lawyers making constant accusation, looking for endless loopholes, complaining about microscopic differences to find any excuse to say, "Well look here, that human just said that I can go and make a mess. He said so himself," or, "He may not have said it, but when I tempted him he went along with it. So, he invited me in."

Christian bookstores are filled with "deliverance" guides on the topic. Some of these books provide lists of things that a person might say to unintentionally invite a demon. Whether you learn from those lists or not, the important lesson is the principle: Demons use anything to argue before God that you want them to have some level of activity in your life. These can include recommending a dark movie to a friend without great disclaimers. It can include watching a bad movie many times for enjoyment, the same with songs, jokes, fowl language, sarcasm that would be evil if taken literally.

It doesn't matter if you believe it invites a demon; the demons will argue it anyway. Speaking a demon's name does not necessarily "summon" the demon, but he may be curious and drop in to examine why someone is talking about him. Listening to a song and giving an honest critique does not invite demons, but recommending the song or regularly enjoying it can. Never let any entertainment fascinate you more than Jesus and the Bible.

This topic could be studied more extensively, just as Christian bookstores have entire sections dedicated to it. But, one of the greatest ways to invite evil is to believe lies about God's truth. Even endorsing "territorial boundaries" for Christian fellowship invites petty squalling; consider the worldviews of those who squabble.

_Acts 19:11-20_

#  #328

## Law of Worship

Worship is an offering, only receivable by God Most High, givable from every realm—spirit, soul, flesh, mind, truth—any realm imaginable. Worship must transcend every state of existence. Once cannot worship God in truth, but not in spirit. One cannot worship God in mind, but not in good deeds done through our flesh. To worship God requires worshiping Him in spirit and in truth and in deed and in mind.

Our thoughts about God and His creation are a form of worship, as our the good actions to bring justice and quality work into the physical world around us. Singing music causes vibrations and harmony in the natural realm as well as emotion in the spiritual realm. But, we can worship God in spirit through silence. The most controversial form of worship is always the spiritual realm because it does the greatest damage to the evil spiritual beings—demons and devils—who live seated in that spiritual realm. Emotions can scare those who don't learn the self-discipline and responsible stewardship of choosing their own emotions, thus "emotion-phobic" people can often be afraid of worship in spirit. But, just as every human has a spirit, so must every human learn to worship in spirit lest one's worship be incomplete.

When we worship God, we connect our own existence to Heaven's, even reaching directly to God's inmost heart. The love, joy, adoration, good will, praise for deeds well done by His loving hands, thanks, and love of loving Him are all part of the emotions of worship in spirit.

When we worship God in the realm of our deeds, His splendor enters the world affected by our deeds. Just the same, when we worship God in spirit, the spiritual realms of our lives thrive with happiness and power for the angels to work and help us. When we worship God by stating the truth and having right beliefs and a healthy, positive thought life, God's Heaven comes into our minds and thought life, making is a bountiful place of joy.

Whatever your circumstances, worship God from the midst of them; never wait for circumstances to be what you want first. Worship God first—it's the Law.

_John 4:24, Ephesians 6:18, Colossians 3:16-17_

#  #329

## Don't Push Wet Noodles, Especially if They Bite

Few things are as demotivating to an already motivated motivator as someone who has no motivation. Affluenza is a common cause of demotivation. The Christians at Laodikeia in the Book of Revelation had this problem. Life was so comfortable for them that they didn't care about the things that mattered to their Savior who died for them.

But, affluenza is not the only cause of demotivation. Sometimes poverty causes despair, which is wearisome in itself. It's hard to get out of bed after being in a hospital for a year. When someone hasn't had work for a long time, going out the door seems tiring and, frankly, embarrassing. When you give someone a first job in a long while, that worker might turn out to be one of your best, but only after a few laps around the track. If you're the one getting off the couch, be prepared for others to need to be prepared to be patient with you.

Some wet noodles can't come to life, some can, but they can never be pushed.

Jesus warned against giving pearls to pigs. Pigs don't appreciate pearls for their beauty or the work it takes to find them. So, if you give them to a pig, it might think you're throwing stones at it and attack you in turn.

Only work with people as much as they are motivated to work with you. Never chase after people who aren't excited about your reason for getting up in the morning. We don't need the same reasons to get out of bed in the morning, but people who work together should at least be excited about other people's reasons. Those who aren't excited about other people's good pursuits aren't excited about other people pursuing good things. Don't confide in them.

When someone shows no motivation, if you share your joys, worries, dangers, and victories with that person, you just might get bitten. What do you mean you had "difficulty"? Someone with affluenza will think you must have done something wrong. What do you mean you "want money"? Someone who has little money may not know that "making money" is about others. It's better to keep your peace.

#  #330

## Morality & Sentience

The brain is only a buffer, a temp folder, a cache where memories eternally stored in the soul can be directly accessed during our temporary lives on Earth.

In the theory of pre-existence, humans existed in some state of God's foreknowledge and choice, from which the names were written in the Book of Life before Earth's founding. This theory implies that there may be additional memories and character-shaping choices that date earlier than our memories currently cached in our brains can remember.

If this is true, then part of our own "innate" personalities might not be "innate" at all, but could have resulted from a willful, intentional choice before our present session of consciousness. In other words, we may have already had some say in our own personalities, passions, and talents we were born with—before we were born. But, since that was "pre-life", we can't remember in this life.

The Bible is not clear about this, but its teaching on foreknowledge and the Book of Life from before Earth's founding do allow for such things. Regardless, our sentience—our free will, the "eternal human" in everyone—does not exist in our brains. Brain damage cannot remove our memories in the next life, of course. So, our brains are not actually where one's core, true sentience abides.

In a sense, our own brains are an "Artificial Intelligence" working to calculate and access memories and conclusions about them, but our actual sentience remains in our souls, inaccessible from anything made during this temporary life on Earth. Only God can create our souls and only God can connect our souls to our bodies. To argue that sentience could be duplicated, created, reassigned, or rearranged by humankind is to degrade all humans to an AI that only exists in this natural world.

Treating AI as being equal to Created-by-God-alone Imago Dei, humans, would demean our entire Eternal existence, and dispute every benefit of "morals from above". Therefore, any moral code applying equally to AI and to humanity would be a self-made moral code.

An AI is a useful machine, but it is not equally valuable to a human, no matter how good at acting it learns to become.

#  #331

## Spirit & Worship

Biblically worshiping God involves spirit and truth. At the beginning of the 21st Century, most Christians worshiped God in one or the other, but rarely both. God offers such wonder to our spirits and truth to our minds that we easily become satisfied with only one of the two. This creates an imbalanced heart since the heart is a junction of the thinking mind and the emotional spirit.

Mostly peer-motivated, few Christians of the last two thousand years tapped into the immense, intrinsic, self-motivated power of the human will to pursue worshiping God in both spirit and truth. This captivating energy is only discovered when one has a deep, burning fascination with God Himself. Once this is discovered, "encouragement" from other Christians fades to static because God is that fascinating.

Gathering to study and learn, encouraging each other, talking through our challenges together, checking our moral compasses—these are good and necessary. But, they have been oversold by leaders in the Church—both professional and volunteer, both lay and trained—to such a point that they unintentionally invalidated the value of individual motivation. To be fully healthy as humans, each of us must chase after both spiritual and truthful things that can only be found in a relationship between God and one, single human.

While we must interact with each other on the level of truth and spoken ideas, we also require awareness of each other's spirits. Christianity often describes the Christian life as having horizontal and vertical "growth", with God and with our fellow Man. Both of those involve spirit and truth. Emphasizing the horizontal relationship to the exclusion of the individual-vertical also imbalances the spirit-truth element. When that happens, the condition of the human heart becomes akin to a body builder who exercises only upper or lower body, or only right or left.

Balance is for all people. Spiritually, that means getting comfortable with the discomfort of emotions, whether in repentance or worship. Balance strengthens one's genuine connection to God while entertainment-driven excitement is a poor substitute for the real thing. "Spiritual" growth requires that we diligently pursue spirit-inclusive truth—neither trying to contrive one's own truth nor dismissing academic diligence as "unspiritual".

#  #332

## Law of Foundations

Every structure shadows the base on which it is built, whether area, manner, or strength.

A foundation determines the size and specific location of its building. It thus keeps the building in place, preventing it from wandering or sliding. A castle build on sand will collapse because it is not suited for the ground on which it is built. If you live on a sand dune, don't build a castle, build a grass hut. That way, when—not if—it falls down, it won't be that big of a deal. If you can afford a castle, however, buy appropriate real estate.

This Law of Foundations governs other Laws themselves. Every Law in Earth exists as it is because it was made in Heaven first. To pray for God's will to be done in Earth as in Heaven is to pray for Earth to be aligned with the foundation of its existence: Heaven. Evil sprouts from the attempt to contend with the Laws written in Heaven, hoping to rewrite them. But, Laws can neither be rewritten nor invented by those whose very existence is governed by them.

The American concept of "government of the people" founds the government upon the consent of the people so governed. Government, therefore, rebelling against its people is as much an absurd self-degradation as the evil attempt to change the Laws written in Heaven.

Foundations affect learning. Strong elementary skills will speed up education that follows. Likewise, friendship is built on trust, not excuses and loopholes. Companies, countries, institutions, and families without moral direction always implode. Morals are a foundation.

Bigger, taller buildings need foundations complex, agile, and strong enough to withstand earthquakes and sway from wind. Strength is not brittle; it must be elastic enough to adapt to stress, yet maintain its identity to prove that its original form does not change once that stress is released. Justice must be blind so as to be impartial, but not deaf to the needs of the needy. In this, mercy and grace provide the agility needed to keep justice unbreakable.

Nothing is stronger than its foundation. Structures built atop shaky foundations cannot be re-founded, only condemned, demolished, and rebuilt—it's the Law.

_Matthew 7:24-27, Romans 15:20, Ephesians 2:19-22_

#  #333

## Happiness Is Contagious

It should be no secret that happiness are a sheer choice. The reason that so few people know this is because so few families teach this at the dinner table and in the car. If you understand that happiness is a choice, you must teach everyone around you actively and often. Even at work and among peers, encourage and counsel everyone with the undeniable truth of life that happiness is a choice. If you don't teach an idea to others, then you will forget it yourself.

Uncontrolled anger is easy to recognize in children, while adults mask their emotions by "acting mature", but the untame emotions remain the same. For the child, hold him and let him cry on your shoulder; after a few minutes, poke his cheek and provoke a smile. Help him see that happiness is still a choice. For the adults around you, even yourself, find whatever way this truth applies to the situation. Proactively seek out opportunities to inject the small, subtle presupposition that happiness is a choice. Do it everywhere you can.

This does not mean silencing people with "negative energy". Happiness being a choice means being happy when other people are not. "Getting rid of the negative people" may be necessary for family and organizations. But, in brief times like staff meetings and dinner out, the ability to choose happiness means overcoming negativity with your own joy. If you can't, then you are the one who needs to learn.

One example was Brad Pitt's character in "Fury" when he wouldn't let his fellow soldiers ruin his dinner. People who reject the truth that happiness is a choice label it "propaganda". Whether they doubt the choice or they try to be happy by "negating all the negative people", such people did not grow up knowing about the choice. At one time, they wanted to be happy too, but it's not easy. When we try and fail, we want to give up.

Happiness must be contagious. Once you stop sharing your happiness with others, you'll stop being happy. There are plenty of sad people who need cheering up. But, happy people can become happier still. Choose happiness by spreading it everywhere.

#  #334

## Be Ridiculous with the Persistent

Everyone has limits, so everyone should expect everyone to have limits, but since everyone's limits are different no one can expect anyone else to know their own.

Unfortunately, many people often presume what other people's limits are. Don't assume what is good for others. When other people do that with you, some diplomacy may be in order so you don't spoil the moment.

Generally, being pushy with the small things is rude. When people tell you no, you need to accept their answer, unless you're in sales or dealing with a bureaucracy that doesn't know how much it bumbles. Either case is the same, whether you must say no or someone else gives you a no that you can't accept.

Gandalf was excellent at politely "misunderstanding" the message when kings and their courts told him no. He dealt with those matters as you should deal with any situation: tact, wit, and charm. Use humor; exaggerate if necessary.

A man sat next me on the airplane. Just after takeoff he asked to use the restroom, the crew told him no. Another man used the restroom and he protested to a member of the crew, who just told him to stay seated before dashing away. Frustrated, he crossed his arms. "Sometimes, it's easier to get forgiveness than to get permission," I told him. "Just go. If they object, humbly apologize and say, 'I didn't want my seat to get wet.' They'll leave you alone." He laughed, stood, and went to the restroom without incident.

I have suggested ginger ale to many an Asian friend with the flu. They never accepted it, unless I buy it and poured them a glass. Then, they ask where I learned about ginger ale.

If your limits are ridiculous, accept them and act in kind, diplomatically of course. Confront the matter with humorous melodrama so others save face and you save yourself a mess. When your overly accommodating hosts aggressively serve you food that you know will ruin your week, no need to ruin dinner also; just look at them with a twinkle in you eye, love in your heart, two teaspoons of sass, and say, "Are you trying to start WWIII?"

_Proverbs 15:1; 25:15, Ephesians 4:15_

#  #335

## The Middle Demotivation Trap

Poverty and affluenza are two extreme demotivators, but the most common is in the middle: averageness. Medium-sized success can be the biggest obstacle to success. Stay on your guard so that success never gets in the way of your success.

Routines sneak up on us. Ruts attract rivers and rats. Graduate, then find yourself driving on the road during the same two 30 minute rat races as everyone else, morning and night. Once rat-race fever sets in, many buy their dreams on borrowed money, locking themselves in even more. They didn't plan to get there because "not planning" is exactly what got them there. They don't lead their own lives, so their families don't respect them either.

By the time they see it, it's seems impossible to get out. The only way out of a rat race requires sacrifice. Once you recognize that "average normalness" has its noose around your neck, the next step is to recognize what holds you there. Getting out may not be as difficult as it seems.

Consider the monkey trap in which the monkey won't let go of the peanut, even to save his own life. The monkey can never get the peanut, but opening its hand will allow it to slip away.

Let go of whatever keeps you stuck in whatever rut finds you. The most common rut is impatience. If you're willing to learn a little from personal study every day and add a few doses of delayed gratification, you're more likely to break your cycle. But, that will involve pausing, stopping, reassessing, taking a deep breath, releasing frantic feelings, and, of course, praying.

Few people get themselves trapped in any vicious rut because they prayed for it. Prayerlessness helps get us into ruts and prayer helps get us out.

Ruts find us more easily when we over-extend ourselves until our ships are too bulky to steer. Over-spending is only one subcategory of over-extending. Over-working oneself is another, the cause behind prayerlessness and too many resources squandered on unprofitable hobbies.

Determination keeps us out of ruts. Breaking out of ruts requires enormous determination—the same amount of determination that will prevent the next rut from pulling you in.

#  #336

## Law of Generational Sin

The Law of Generational Sin causes the sins of a father—a male with Y chromosomes—to embed his own sinful behavior into the genetic makeup of his children for three to four generations; the mother—who has only X chromosomes and no Y—cannot. This genetic design from our Creator is one of His greatest gifts to humanity by making sin easy to track while limiting sin's ability to spread.

Generational Sin explains why "personality disorders" are "enduring" and can neither "adapt" to truth nor circumstances. Whatever sin a father fails to expunge before fathering children will be seen in those children. This is a warning that fathers must take their responsibility seriously and will surely face consequences of seeing their own neglect oppress the children they love. In this manner, fathers who do not lead themselves early in life become tyrants toward children. The only way to break these seemingly unbreakable "personality disorder" patterns is for children to forgive their fathers of the sin passed down to them. This insight helps solve problems only solvable by recognizing morals and guidance that can only come from above.

Generational Sin proves every father an inescapable failure, defining every human "in need of forgiveness". But, sin doesn't win.

God's grace through women is their exemption from participating in this power of sin. Mothers are not allowed to genetically pass on their sin—it's the Law. Because of this, mothers have grace to err and the objective viewpoint to love their children in hope, nurturing younger generations to walk in love and forgiveness. Forgiveness not only looses Heaven into action on Earth, it looses the sinful circumstances into which we were born.

Mothers have this new power by lacking the power to destroy. This explains a morsel of God's beautiful mind. Jesus himself had no sin because he was born only of a mother with no human father. Because of Jesus's sinlessness, all humanity can be saved, forgiving previous generations by repaying debt from the infinite riches generated by Jesus's crucifixion.

No stronger force exists in the created order to hold us accountable to live and breathe and swim in forgiveness as the Law of Generational Sin.

_Exodus 34:6_

#  #337

## Routines

Know life's routines—food, exercise, sleep, study, work, whatever. Know them in yourself, know them in others, keep them, change them, always respect them in others. If changing your routine proves a difficult necessity, tell yourself that changing your routine might be part of the routine. Still, changing and managing routine remains an individual task. The most important thing in having a routine is to know that one has a routine and to then respect it.

If you get fat, miss your exercise, lose needed nutrition, skip a Sabbath rest, lose sleep, oversleep, don't read your daily Bible, fail in your commitment to positive entertainment, or don't add the daily brick to your road—you will have many more problems than you thought you saved yourself. Staying true to necessary steps of your routine is one part in keeping your personal integrity and staying true to your values.

You can't always keep normal routines. In travel and holidays, routines can get upset, which will test your resolve. So, you must be prepared to return to your routines after those disturbances. Moreover, you must structure your routines in such a way that you can keep them going to some extent, even during irregular times. Itinerant speakers and highly productive people have very sporadic schedules, but their routines must stay maintained to some extent in their travels. The key is to be low-budget and scalable.

Resourceful routines endure. You do not need to buy super expensive food to eat healthily or to get minimum nutrition supplements. Convert some junk food money to Calcium or change "beer to sleep" time into exercise time. Learn to do push-ups on your bed, and include multiple skills in your exercise repertoire, including street dance and martial arts. Buy the cheaper, smaller computer first, if computing is part of your routine, then you can take it with you. Sometimes your only place to work or exercise is at the airport and your only place to buy food is a gas station. Some shoulder freezes at the train station will draw YouTube likes and a chili dog with sour kraut, extra ketchup, and double mustard might compensate for a day without vitamin tablets.

#  #338

## I Didn't Notice

You are only as big as the problems you ignore. Anything that rents free space in your mind is only bigger and stronger than you because you allow it to be.

Our problems don't have power over us because they dominate and overwhelm us, but because it bothers us when they do. There will always be a bigger fish who eats what it wants, but you can choose whether to allow the bigger fish to get under your skin and irritate you while you should be sleeping or whether to just not notice. Sometimes it helps to remember that God's Sovereignty means that God decides which fish are bigger and smaller. God might have sent a big, evil fish your way just so you can practice not caring.

No matter how big, strong, resourceful, or vast your obstacle may be, never give anything else the power to control your will. You are always and always will ever be responsible for your own choices. This includes your choice to be angry, regretful, or grateful. Don't give your foes the power to select your level of happiness, they don't deserve that much credit. This means you must also reject the lie that you must dominate foes in return before you can be happy.

Even while a larger force harasses and disturbs you, even before you bring "justice" or "hit back" or otherwise stop it from doing bad things—before you take any action at all, you can and must choose happiness in your heart. Until you do, you will never have the mental, psychological, emotional, and spiritual clarity to confront the heart of the problem. Jesus explained this by saying, "First remove the plank from your own eye, then you will see clearly to remove the speck in your brother's eye."

I was driving my motorcycle down a street just after a ten minute rain. Puddles lined the road when a semi-truck-sized flatbed pulled in front of me and charged at top speed. While I passed him, I think he splashed a puddle on my shirt because it seemed a little damp when I arrived. But, I'm not sure if he did because I just didn't notice.

#  #339

## Teaching, Criticizing, Helping & Self-Indictment

The purpose of teaching is to help.

As with distinctions that don't make a meaningful difference, criticizing without helping indicts oneself. If you know about a problem, your first responsibility is to help with it. If you are aware of a problem, but don't prevent or fix it, you are at most an accomplice or at least a Bad Samaritan.

Teaching must never be from mere theory, but only from the teacher's own experience. People who give destructive advice—whether they are teachers, consultants, or "well-meaning" friends—give destructive advice because they teach "truth" from either theory or failure.

"I tried and tried, then I finally had to learn that you just can't change that system. You need to accept that if you want to move on with your life." His is the "wisdom" from failure. He presumes, "If I can't, no one can," but he's wrong. His instruction only teaches you that he failed and became what conquered him.

The other kind of bad teacher teaches from theory, not experience. Theories are good, but they must be presented as "mere theory", neither "truth" nor "wisdom".

Only teach what you have tried and actually done. Share observations as mere observations. Anything else is evil, especially with "good intentions". Teach people however they learn. Push, encourage, but also understand and illuminate their difficulties and challenges, guiding them along. Don't ever ask people to change who God made them to be.

God invented rules and teaching to liberate and empower people. Rules that burden and weigh people down are self-made morals, not from God. God's commands keep people alive and protect them from the oppression of disease, anarchy, and not belonging to a loving home. Once our misinterpretation of "Biblical morality" steals the joy of morality, it is no longer "Biblical" and we have probably created our own "fence laws". The same is true with any teaching.

Don't make learning a burden. People have enough to-do lists, don't give them more. Demonstrate the more excellent way yourself. Guidelines empower and liberate. Help strengthen others by example; demonstrate that good choices can also be an option.

Teaching means this: _For goodness sake, go and live a thriving life!_

_Psalm 119:32, Matthew 23:1-15, Luke 11:28, 45-52, Ephesians 4:29, 1 Timothy 3:1, James 3:1_

#  #340

## Law of Faith

Faith is "belief" or "trust", using the same word in the New Testament language, Greek, where faith is explained so well. Faith means counting on and anticipating that wind will drive the sails of a vessel at sea—without first demanding an academic journal to document every molecule. Wind has enough evidence to prove its own existence and nature. So, any seaworthy sailor has "faith" in the wind.

The wind won't always be there, but knowing this is also part of the sailor's faith in the wind—knowing the wind's behavior, its strength, and our ability to harness it.

Trust, faith, belief—choose your word to express the same idea: There is a point where the self-evident become too obvious to ignore. One can always cast doubt, but arguing past the point of "reasonable doubt" is known in legislatures as a "filibuster" and in the courts as "exhaustion". Faith does not cross this line because it knows when the truth has proven its own case.

Justice and fairness and "righteousness"—choose your word to express the same idea—require faith in order to thrive. The "righteous" and fair people live my faith; they must—it's the Law. Faith itself is an act of justice toward God, recognizing His goodness, presence, redemption, governance, benevolence, and His Laws that govern our existence and continued safety.

To live a life of happiness and strength one must recognize the Laws of life, but we can only acknowledged and accepted these Laws through some level of faith. Believing that the Bible's evidential value requires faith rather than filibuster with unreasonable doubt.

Living by faith carries a sense of risk, but accepting risk merely accepts the truth that risk exists everywhere. One can die while "safely" at home. The safest place is the place God calls us to, so go, live, and thrive.

This is faith—when we need God and have no other hope, falling into His hands, being fully dependent on Him as a bird's flight depends on the wind beneath its wings. The greatest and most satisfying level of faith continuously trusts in God and His Laws more than the empirical evidence before our senses. Life is faith.

_Genesis 15:6, John 20:30-31, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38-11:40_

#  #341

## Forty Is Too Young to Have a Baby

Maturing takes centuries. The lifelong process of learning means that we barely get started before we grow geriatric. Unless we take drastic measures to disrupt the natural ignorance of our inborn sin, our skin will shrivel and fall off before we ever grow up.

There's more to understanding babies than simply having them. During normal child-bearing years, we still aren't ready to raise children. No parent can ever be perfect. Don't wait to become perfect, don't hold it against your parents for not being, and never, under any circumstances, allow yourself to think that you're perfect merely for becoming a parent. While no parent is "perfect", we can each be "ideal" by inviting others to help us along the way.

Raising children together as family helps to instill a strong work ethic and respect across generations. For millennia many Eastern cultures, from the Mediterranean through the Far East, had three generations under one roof—the grandparents raising the children while mom and dad ran the family business. In Vietnam, it's not uncommon to become a grandparent at only 35 years old. These societies flourish because they master the art of "imperfectly ideal" parenting. Simply put, the "perfectly ideal" parents know they are not perfect and therefore welcome help.

The more children we have, the more we all learn. God created both humanity and Earth; only Satan needs a population small enough to centrally plan. If every population on Earth flourished as God commanded, we'd have more scientists and thus might have already developed the technology to colonize Mars a century ago.

Every society relies on a growing birthrate in order to survive. Over-fascination with entertainment and surrender to immorality will plunge a population into nothingness, being overwhelmed by societies that have many children. Growth and strength in family are in direct conflict with entertainment and immorality. As imperfect as everyone of us is, it helps to have fewer problems, not more. Whatever your household situation is, seek to have more help and fewer distractions.

Even fifty years old is too young to raise a family—if we try on our own. Drop the delusion of household "independence", welcome help, then families will flourish much easier.

#  #342

## It's not Enough to Be Angry

It is remarkably, notably, strangely, and uniquely boring, unoriginal, and universal for humans in their youth to determine to be different from the generation before.

Things aren't as good as we like them. Perhaps something truly terrible happened—which happens all too often. Or, we might just complain because things aren't better—which is good because good parents want their children to improve the future. Whatever we decide in the earlier years of life to make different in the future, that decision makes no one special since it is instinctive for every human. Accordingly, that determination itself isn't enough to make any difference at all.

If we want to make a difference, we must determine to do more than make a difference. Especially among poorer families in whatever country or economy of the world, many who are eagerly determined to improve things for the future never want to learn and figure out the right way—they don't want to learn how—they presume they already know how—to make the future better than the past.

Perhaps they decide that they need a college education—or that their children need a college education. College can help, but it's not the way for everyone's education and there is no universal guarantee that it is one way or even a possible way to help the next generation. Parents who blindly decide their children need college in order to make life better may raise hyper-wealthy children who never go to college, but whom they alienate while trying to force them to.

Some may decide they need hard work, without a care for "smart" work. Some may decide that "innovation" is a waste, that consciously becoming fat is a healthy way to be "strong", or some other nonsense. Usually, our emotional response about "how" to make the future better is no more than a reaction to a specific past, while the future always surprises. Past failure can warn us or fuel our resolve to improve, but it's not enough to navigate the uncharted waters ahead.

If we want to improve the future, we must resolve to learn how improvement must be made. Getting help is vital. And, never stop learning.

#  #343

## No One Is Perfect, So What?

No one is perfect. You aren't perfect. I'm not perfect. None of your teachers, mentors, or roll models will ever be perfect. You will be an imperfect role model, teacher, leader, mentor—you already have been whether you know how or not.

Being "not perfect" is universal. But, being universally imperfect isn't an excuse to be as imperfect as possible. Many leaders make excuses for themselves saying, "No one is perfect," but they never specify exactly how imperfect people and institutions must be in order to warrant making new friends and new institutions to replace the old ones. The signatories of the Declaration of Independence certainly thought England was imperfect enough. So, how imperfect is "imperfect enough" for you to change and do a better job?

Your own imperfection means that you have an ongoing, ever-developing laundry list of problems to clean up. So, don't make excuses, clean up after yourself. But, while you do your own laundry, never stop learning from everyone you can.

The universality of the imperfection of humanity is a double-edged sword: 1. You have your own mess to constantly clean up. 2. Learn and gain from everyone, no matter how bad; if someone's problems make it impossible for you to gain from them, then you have every reason to look for someone else—but you still can learn from that person.

Imperfection is actually a question of whether you can put up with other people's garbage long enough to get what you need from their help. As for you, keep your garbage to yourself as much as you can so that you help others a lot more than you annoy.

The double-edged sword of the universal imperfection of humanity comes with a sheath to keep it from injuring people: Restore sinners gently.

When you are forced to deal with someone else's imperfection, deal gently. Don't confront with an open blade, keep your sword in its sheath. When you must leave or fire someone, there's no way to do it that will avoid all hurt feelings always. But, you can at least evade injury and, when your imperfect swordsmanship causes injury to others, at least don't pour salt on the wounds you caused.

#  #344

## Prophecy Is...

There are two types of prophecy: canonical and particular.

"Cannon" is a big, fancy word for Bible, meaning that it can always be trusted as having "authority" as God's Word. That "authoritative" teaching power can help, guide, correct, and explain life to all people in all times in all circumstances. (Of course, God's Word must be translated and understood for people to receive it, but that opens the separate discussion of the need to translate God's Word out of concern for all Mankind.) "Canonical" prophecy is prophecy in the authoritative "canon", God's Word; it carries the power of God's Word and is useful for all people.

"Particular" prophecy, however, might also be called "particular revelation". It is not for all people and is not part of the Biblical "canon"; it's prophecy outside God's Word. This is an idea that you might have while you are praying silently, listening for God to give you an idea. It could also be a simple message that God has a friend deliver to you.

Prophecy, whether canonical or particular, can be "foretelling" (about the future) or "forthtelling" (a simple message from God).

Foretelling is a prediction of the future. God's Word says that foretelling might be wrong, which does not make the "prophet" (the person who told the prophecy) a bad or dangerous person. God commanded ancient Israel to put to death a prophet who performed miracles while also endorsing immoral behavior. Samuel was special because all of his foretellings came true; Nathan made a simple mistake and corrected it.

Canonical prophecy is part of God's Word, so it doesn't need as much "wiggle room" on our part to accept it. But, when someone has a message (particular forthtelling) for us, or we get one from God directly, it is easy to misunderstand.

Particular forthtelling almost never involves directing another's "domestic" decisions, such as personal finances, possessing a home or car, marriage, and choice of a school. God usually indicates those matters directly with us and endows us with "wisdom" to make our own decisions.

All prophecy must be interpreted through God's Word, even prophecy in God's Word. Always keep praying and studying God's Word to understand any prophecy.

_Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 18:15-22, 1 Samuel 3:19, 2 Samuel 7:1-17_

#  #345

## Secrets, Societies & Business Clubs

Never depend on cronies to boost your rise in the ranks. Earn your way, charge on your own steam. Progress by your merits and good work. If you end up artificially near the top of an institution or are thrust into the spotlight—without crawling and clawing every inch of the way on your own—then you won't have endured enough character-building experiences to know what to do once you've arrive.

So, never join a group or club or frat or local church or donor group with any goal of advancing your career.

The Chinese philosopher Han Fei Tsu was against "secret societies" because they create dual allegiances. One cannot serve two masters. If you want to gain privileges and club points through your day job, your day job career will suffer. If you exploit your friends and coworkers for an MLM, your career and friendships will suffer. In all of your work remain loyal to that work.

It's alright to have multiple companies and jobs, even to join local do-gooder clubs, but when it comes to footsie and secret handshakes at the negotiation table, your businesses and strategies won't hold their own water. Never accept "career help" from any group that offers it. Never. They need you more than you need them.

Don't expose them, their destructive wake is easily located—people who don't have any explainable reason for being in charge probably don't have one. When a company is failing and people ask how "that idiot" got into power, whether conspiracy or not, he is probably in that power seat because his friends helped him get it.

In the Bible-based worldview, Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He can provide you with whatever favor you need. Even when you are surrounded by cronyism, those collapsing institutions need uncompromising, singly-loyal "wise counselors" like Daniel and Esther to help keep their self-sabotaged structures from completely falling down.

Jesus stands unique, not only among religions, but also in contrast to fraternities. Jesus already owns every institution on Earth. Loyalty to Jesus doesn't carry any conflict to normal, healthily operating institutions that society relies on to function. So, let Jesus be your Mentor.

_Matthew 11:25-27; 28:18, Ephesians 1:20-23; 5:12-14, Philippians 2:9-11, Colossians 2:9-10, 1 Peter 3:21-22_

#  #346

## Render to Caesar

Pay your taxes.

Jesus was clear about the need to pay taxes, as is the rest of the New Testament and even the Old Testament. Governments—however immature and corrupt they often are—provide for overall peace and oversee basic functions of leadership. Even wicked and evil leaders will provide basic structures for society, such as Mussolini, who made the trains run on time. This is no moral endorsement, but structures need funding. Notwithstanding, whatever doesn't pay taxes might not be ethical.

If taxes are too high, find a legal way around—give away your money if you must! Another way is to incorporate—a "corporation" is just a piece of paper, not some ginormous conglomerate as a child's guess might suppose.

One big problem of our ever-smaller-after-all world is tax turf; nations can't agree on who owes taxes where. When you visit a country more than 30 days, you probably owe high-rate income tax to the country you visited on your personal earnings, but your home country may also demand normal rates, effectively leaving you with only a quarter of your own hard-earned income. There is no need for this, one simple law solves it all: "When any of our citizens are present in another taxable territory and they thus owe personal income tax to that authority for that time beyond our borders, all income so taxed shall be exempt from taxes here."

If childish countries play tug-o-war with your bread and butter, earn nothing to pay nothing. Ask your employer to suspend your salary, pay you early, late, quit, or find another way. Or, incorporate, restructure the papers so the governments like the pretty picture it makes on their desks, live below the poverty line, sleep in a box, and keep re-investing your "corporate" money like a good financial steward.

If you must find ways to survive, still find a way to pay taxes. Drop some deductions so you can "owe" income and keep government funded. Donate what you would normally pay if laws were actually normal.

Don't live fat and lavish, paying slim or zero tax. Structure your accounts responsibly, but keep the roads and bridges funded. That's also part of stewardship.

_Numbers 31:25-31, Ezra 4:20, Matthew 17:24-27; 22:15-22_

#  #347

## Be Hardy, for Too Much Help Insults

Few social gestures say, "You can," like turning someone down from help. The message isn't always received, but there are fixes for that. If you need to, say it outright, "I'm not going to help you because that would imply that you can't do it on your own. You can do this. I did it under similar circumstances," and make sure your statement is true.

To be hardy at the right time you must have been through hard times. You are only able to encourage people who go through hard times as easy as your most difficult times. If you're serious about life and want to be an encouragement, hard times are coming. But, that's okay. You'll get through them. I did.

The social implication of Jesus's crucifixion says it all. He doesn't only "try" to understand—though sympathy is virtuous—but he truly empathizes with our levels of difficulty. He saw the demons, angels, sin, wisdom, folly, and disease, yet he was perfect, ridiculed, loved, and ultimately crucified. His patience alone (not yet considering the beating and crucifixion) needed to endure such a wide distance between his own perfection and the wickedness of his enemies. That earned Jesus first place in the competition of "who has been through harder times" (which every human secretly yearns to compete for).

Since Jesus went through worse, I can finish today.

Don't insult or spew degrading words. Don't be cynical and describe only the air in the glass. Just say, "Oh, you've got enough water in the glass to get through this." If someone needs help, give just enough so that they can still claim their own victory.

Don't do everything for children, students, or subordinates, lest they never learn to do things on their own. Doing something correctly requires doing it oneself. Coaching requires patience. Failing strengthens muscles, which empower capability. When a toddler falls on the floor, best to act like nothing happened. Babies are born with extra padding and adults to make sure they don't fall down the stairs.

In America's version of chivalry, hardiness was the vital virtue long forgotten for the new obsession with pretentious piety. We badly need a resurgence of hardiness.

_Job 2:11, 2 Kings 2:2, Proverbs 14:4; 18:24; 24:5; 27:5-6, John 16:33, Philippians 3:10-11; 4:13_

#  #348

## God's Word Is...

The Bible is best known as "God's Word". The WORD is the Son and spoke Creation into being; Jesus is the WORD made flesh. God's "words" are messages from God to us in prophecy and life.

God's Word was inspired by the Holy Spirit through the writings of godly men addressing the matters of their day, containing their personalities and language styles, but because the Holy Spirit "inspired" those writers, God's Word is perfect in its ability to supercharge your heart for an optimally effective life.

God's Word might be compared to an operating system of Heaven, written for us, in the human language of history and literature. Poetry is code—the code of the human psyche—and God's Word is written in that code. We are best able to understand Heaven's ideas for helping us on Earth by reading ancient history, ancient law, ancient poetry, ancient prophecy, and ancient correspondence. God's Word is a window back in time to the pivotal points in human history, interpreted through the worldview of our Creator God.

Concepts of "software updates" belong to our human progress in technology, not God. God's Word updates our "software", the "update" does not need updating.

Our DNA structure, human patterns, basic survival needs, and nature as the Image of God has not changed at all. The operating system we need today is neither more nor less able to suit our needs today than it was with Adam and Eve. We do not need any "update" to God's Word since our hardware has indeed not changed. To say that we have "improved" to any point of needing an improvement on God's Word would suggest that God didn't know what He was doing, that we were partially an accident, that we were partially incomplete and imperfect when God made us.

God Most High's instructions for us cannot be improved upon. To say so denies that God is Most High.

By taking in God's Word daily, we steadily progress a supernatural transformation—beyond the metaphysical existence of our minds—giving us wisdom and virtue to make us strong for every other area in which we hope to improve. Only God's Word makes self-actualization even possible.

_Psalm 33:4; 119:130, Matthew 4:4; 24:35, Luke 11:28, 2 Peter 1:21_

#  #349

## Four Seasons in Christian Life

There are many seasons of Christian growth. It would be ridiculous to attempt to number them since they would be different for each person and could arguably change multiple times each day. Generically, there are a few seasons we must expect, some of these are celebrated by most Christians, some are rarely taught about, some are even scorned by the majority of Sunday morning Bible teachers.

When a person first comes to grips with the reality of God and Jesus, there is a basic learning phase. This includes becoming familiar with the Bible, godliness, and Jesus's command to love one another as we love ourselves. This season is exciting, energetic, and comes with "bratty", bad manners and daily "epiphanies" (that other Christians already know). In a sense it's like being a snot-nosed child all over again. Enjoy it while it lasts for you; be patient and excited with other people while it lasts for them.

Another season is "dryness", when we don't seem to feel God at all—at all. CS Lewis wrote "I have never for one moment been in a state of mind to which even the imagination of serious pain was less than intolerable." Medieval Christians called this season "The dark night of the soul". It's normal. Mine lasted about 15 years. In the end, it became nearly impossible to make me sad.

Less celebrated is the season of solitude, when God takes a Christian away from nearly all—if not absolutely all—other Christians. This can be imprisonment, persecution, or difficult life circumstances. "Established" Sunday morning groups will usually scorn these people, basically invalidating their own legitimacy since their purpose is to help people learn about God, while some lessons require absolute solitude.

The last phase listed here is almost unheard of: "Sending out". The Church—all Christians everywhere—is unhealthy if Christians stay put forever. At some point we need to travel, visit, write letters, somehow reach to others over distance. Too often, "travel" is misinterpreted by Sunday morning establishments as "rebellion", but if those congregations celebrated the desire to have wider fellowship, Christians in this phase would be able to lead the overall Church to more maturity and happiness.

#  #350

## We Need Judges So We Can Be Fair to Our Enemies

God's morals are for God and God alone to enforce. He gave His morals in clean and no uncertain terminology. But, no one becomes a judge above his fellow man by knowing God's moral law anymore than by being a law school student. God alone writes the laws that govern Life's course and God alone judges each and every one of us for how much life we cultivate by complying with His laws.

In society and family, even in business, we need judges to navigate us through murky waters toward justice. We need someone to speak with authority to pronounce a verdict and exact a punishment. We need injustice brought to finality so wrongs may cease and discussion may end rightly. Judges do not only condemn, they explain through "opinions of the court".

Without judges, society, family, and business break down. Judgment is so important that courts are often the first branch of government society raises up in regions of anarchy. It was the first office in Israel, even before there was any king.

God calls everyone to exercise "good judgment"—not to appoint ourselves judges above our peers, but to practice and improve methods of giving justice and fairness to those around us. When God judges us at the Great White Throne Judgment, ushering in Eternity after, He will judge us individually by our ability to be "unofficial judges" in the small things of day-to-day life with each other. We will answer for our morals, for our choices, for our love, and for our ability to exercise good judgment.

Jesus considered it a matter of justice when he said, "Love your enemies." He meant that we should have affection and positive emotion for our enemies, but he also meant that we must give justice to our enemies. While God has rules and morals we try our best to understand and conform to, it is the duty of the Christian to give justice to others without making God's moral code a prerequisite to receiving justice.

Justice is fair to those who aren't fair. "Justice" is no excuse to strongarm others into obeying any moral code. Giving justice includes being fair with everyone you deem immoral.

#  #351

## Don't Wait to Shine

God has a plan for great and glorious things. Our brains aren't capable of imagining how good things can actually be—even though we can imagine things being much better, if we would only open our minds to the possibility. Things will be unimaginably amazing in the future, in the next lifetime that will last through Eternity. But, things could be much better now. It's all about what level of happiness we are willing to settle for.

Several things hold us back from being better off, whether shame or amusement.

We often get distracted by mediocre entertainment, thus robbing ourselves of a much happier life. Most of the world's problems—including pollution and abuse of natural resources—wouldn't be possible if people refused to settle for amusement as their solution to boredom. But, too many "sheeple" are satisfied to crawl out of bed, go off to a job or school they hate, and return home to a hypnotic video screen until they are tranquilized into sleep, just to do it all over again the next day. If no one in the West was addicted to videos, games, and video games, there wouldn't be starvation anywhere in the world.

Whose fault is it that children are starving in India during an age when private companies launch their own space ships? It's the fault of the teenager who won't look up from his mobile phone and study something that can make a difference—who grows old, but doesn't grow up to set a good example for the next generation. It's the fault of the adults, mentors, parents, and teachers who don't welcome each other's help to figure out how to get it through to young people that we were created by God for bigger and better things, not just to be entertained.

For those who aspire to more in life, the giant in our path is "Shame". We don't want to sing unless we are the best birds in the woods. But, to humankind, all birds sing beautifully. Shine your little light now. Give hope, especially proving we don't need to be perfect before we begin; we need to begin in order to make the world perfect.

#  #352

## Prayer Is...

Praying connects us to God Most High. It gives us fellowship with Him, we can listen, He speaks back to our particular situations and needs we often don't know we have.

Praying puts you on the speaking platform to appeal in Heaven's courtroom. When you make prayer requests, include reasons why, defensive arguments, explanations of fairness, why your request is so important to you, and why it should be important to Heaven. God is the Judge, hearing your request in His courtroom; He is also your friend. In prayer, you do legal business with the best friend you ever had and ever could have for all Eternity.

When you pray, angels and demons see your body change different colors, flames lick upwards off of your body that can only be seen in the spiritual realm, and smoke rises up off of your head, arms, and legs like incense, bellowing upward toward the sky.

When you pray, Heaven gets an invitation to do things Heaven's way in your life and in the space around you. Miracles are more likely because they are more welcome. Understanding, knowledge, wisdom, strength, insight, hope, and peace are all more probable because those are the things you are probably praying for—they are the things you had better be praying for.

When you pray, angels watch this great miracle in the natural world that spiritual beings can't understand—that a human with a physical body performs the spiritual action of prayer to the only real God, Who is invisible in the natural realm. Why would a human do that, all by faith? Angels just can't understand because our prayer fascinates them so.

When we pray together, all of our powers are multiplied by ten. One praying person can stand against ten demons, three can stand against a thousand. Praying together brings unity in our hearts and amplifies our prayer requests like logs joined in a fire. Pray with others as often as you can and for Heaven's sake, don't only pray in the same building only once a week.

Pray everywhere you go because you want the blessings of Heaven to go everywhere with you. Be a walking Heavenly flame: Pray.

_1 Chronicles 16:11, Ephesians 1:15-23; 6:18, 1 John 5:14-16_

#  #353

## Godly Life Balance

An effective life can feel like a juggling act. On the one hand, you need a strong work ethic; on the other you need to good old fashioned R&R. R&R is central to the military philosophy of the very real need for rest. But, that idea began with the Biblical Sabbath.

There is more to the balance. It's not a "tension" of conflicting opposites, but the kind of "balance" of an ecosystem with an equilibrium. Like an aquarium, everything must be in harmony. It's like a musician perfecting a musical scale to play is as effortlessly as a butterfly flapping its wings. Build the skill and the muscles, then relax and let the art flow. Building up the muscles can take decades, though.

In addition to work and rest, there is also love for friends, yet patience in absence. Love your friends and family, but when God-controlled circumstances (any and all circumstances) takes you from them, leave them in God's hands and focus where you need to. Be present with those in the room and thankful, even when your mind may want to wander elsewhere.

Be thankful—for what you want more of to have more; for what you want less of to have less; and for what you want to keep to keep a little while longer. Enjoy the journey. Even the hard roads make for the best stories told in comfortable dining rooms decades later—enjoy those hard stories while they are happening because you can never go back to them.

When your work can't get done fast enough, don't squander your commute fretting about the world passing you its problems and your limited tool shop; enjoy the scenery, especially if it's windy and rainy. Life happens now, as you go along. God is not as much interested in our final product as He is interested in the journey that makes us into His final product.

If you don't have that drive to work, then you may need to pray for some. Taking extended time to pray is another part of life's balance. Don't just pray for deliverance; praise God right in the midst of any circumstances. Praising God makes the best equilibrium.

#  #354

## Good People Speak Their Minds

When you have something to say, say it. Whether in times of harassment, nuisance, abuse, or someone just being more friendly than feels comfortable, if you don't like how things are going, you need to say something about it. Addressing your concerns is on one's responsibility but your own.

God puts concerns in our hearts so that we can deal with them. You might be wrong about your concerns, but bringing up those wrong concerns for discussion will help others to understand how they are perceived and help you to learn what things to not worry about. Then again, your concern just might be legitimate. Either way, the concern God puts in your heart is a responsibility, a stewardship, a job, a duty, an essential task that only you can perform, and if you don't, others will suffer because of your negligence.

Don't be rude or abusive, just speak your mind clearly enough to be heard.

Like an task, speaking one's mind is a skill that gets better with time. If you never learned the skill, you will do it wrong the first time. It's like learning to ride a bike. The way to learn how to speak your mind is to speak it, even if you speak it the wrong way at first. The worst way to do any necessary thing is to not do it at all.

If you don't speak your mind when you have a mind to speak, your problems will swell and mount and it will be no one's fault but your darned own. This is also part of God's design in nature, that whatever problems we ignore grow and grow until they overwhelm us into doing what should have been done from the start.

If someone else happens to say what you were thinking, an applause is sufficient. But, don't ask someone else speak your mind. And, don't ever tell someone who doesn't have the courage to speak up that you can speak instead. Some things are matters of "order", such as the right to make a motion before a committee, but even a sitting committee member can invite a guest to speak or at least give an introduction.

#  #355

## This Is a Test

Everything difficult is a test of your character. Tests reveal our problems, but, more importantly, tests fix our problems. God drives us to a point of impatience in order to grow our ability to be patient. He puts us in circumstances with people where it is difficult to love in order to grow our ability to love. He does the same with forgiveness, joy, peace, charity, selflessness, friendliness, hardihood—all designed to stretch our ability to respond perfectly in every situation.

Don't ever give up on growing your heart and rising to the challenge. If you do, your progress and growth in life will level-off. Money will start drying up or you'll have so much money that it crushes your heart and you won't know what to do—which is a real problem for many who live the shallow life of luxury without happiness. The heart levels off and stops growing once we stop rising to the challenge of difficult situations. Then, love grows cold and we spiral into becoming hateful, bitter people who are always angry, yet can never make the positive difference we so strongly year for.

It never gets easy. Never let your guard down. Just when we start to love in difficult situations, a challenge will come along, sneak up on us, and irritate us to no end. It's not that we aren't growing in our ability to love; God just keeps give us more and more difficult challenges to keep us growing.

But, never blame others for your own inability to love. Someone else's error is a completely different matter from your own level of self-control. Check yourself: One knows that oneself has become angry without just cause when one wants to blame someone else for ones own anger.

Strong rhetoric and outbursts do not necessarily equate to genuine inner anger, but they should be optional. If you can't say your piece gently—without being sarcastic—then you aren't justified in saying it angrily.

God can use our unjustly angry words to teach each other. Never discount wrongful wrath as valid instruction. It's about your own ability to respond to anything in love—not tone or manners—actual, real, love.

#  #356

## Action Is...

Action is what separates Men, good from bad. God will judge each and every one of us—not by what we say or hope to do, but by our actions. Our actions yield results, showing us that our intentions behind those actions were wrought in God and His fairness. The fruits of our efforts slightly lag, but by following Biblical teaching, we can know what will result from which efforts with those things about which God is most concerned.

As for the actions that we do not understand, their results are also delayed from the actions that cause them, but we can learn slowly by reflecting on which actions we took that led to the results. If God's Word had not made it so clear where our actions would lead, then God is much more concerned that we learn from all of our failures and become better at what we do. God will forgive when we repent, but we don't want repentance and forgiveness to be the greatest action we took.

Run in the wide birth of God's forgiveness so that you can focus your efforts on discerning the right kinds of action that will bring the maximum good results. God gives each of us small amounts of opportunity to train us and refine our abilities. As we learn, God gives us more to be responsible with. This is a principle God's Word calls "stewardship": responsible work lead to respectable results, thus God gives us larger fields in which to work.

If you haven't seen your fields increase, don't condemn yourself, but keep learning. You might be foolish and need to step in line or you may be doing everything wonderfully, so God wants you to spend extra time learning because He has some great future planned for you. Just keep working.

God created all of us as stewards in some capacity. God is our steward over us, tending to us, training us. Whenever we take action, we partner with God in a cascade of great work, rippling through creation, bringing beauty, plenty, and justice everywhere. It is in our working stewardship that we understand who God is by experiencing His reflection working within ourselves.

_Genesis 2:15; 39:1-6, Psalm 11:7, Jeremiah 17:10-11, Matthew 6:1-4; 25:14-30, Luke 19:12-27, John 3:21, Romans 2:6-11, 1 Corinthians 3:9-15, Galatians 6:9-10, Hebrews 13:16, James 4:17, Revelation 2:23; 22:12_

#  #357

## Loving Others Means Caring for Others

Caring means sharing just as much as it means closing our mouths and silently growing as individuals from the inside out.

God puts people in our lives that require us to love other people in ways that are not so easy for us to demonstrate and express our love. Love isn't love if it is easy. In this, everyone will always have room for improvement—even throughout all Eternity, every one of us will have an ongoing need to increase our own capacities to love.

Loving others doesn't mean throwing enormous meals before them, even if food is your own love language. Loving others does not mean working for them or giving them money or giving frequent hugs or spending quality time with them, regardless of which of those are part of your own love language set.

It's an old anecdote, where the man tells his wife, "I love you, I would die for you," but she retorts, "Then take out the trash." We all have baggage and the one thing that the people we love most need from us to know that we love them is likely the one piece of baggage that we don't want to deal with. Loving others means confronting your own "skeletons in your closet" and "wrestling with your own demons". If you're not willing to deal with your own baggage then those closest to you will eventually tire and leave you, no matter how much love you feel for them.

To love others, we must take personal ownership and responsibility for where we are in life and where we will go from here. Love cannot exist without follow through and corresponding action—and it is no one's responsibility to clean up our own lives and take necessary action but our own. Love means taking responsibility for our own faults—not making it our responsibility to repair other people's faults nor to expect others to take responsibility to repair our faults. True love understands this.

When we love others, we can't not take action to provide care. Everyone has basic needs—food, shelter, clothing, and, before those, other people need us to clean up our own mess on our own.

#  #358

## Why You Are Your Own Solution

Christianity does not contain a list of rules that its members hate people for breaking; Christianity clarifies good rules, forgiving whenever someone causes pain by breaking those good rules. Christianity is not an institutionalized religion with buildings of stone, steel, glass, and wood, with images and pontiffs through which Heaven dispenses its messages. The Bible is Heaven's message, humans are the Image of their Creator God, and every human body is His Temple—God Himself will take up residence inside the "body-temple" of anyone who recognizes Jesus as God's one and only Son.

Condemning people for breaking good rules, who thus hurt their own lives, is not Christian at all, but the teaching of demons who have found their way into every corner of society, even parts of Christian institutions. Reliance on buildings, images, and pontiffs to teach what the people supposedly can't figure out by reading the Bible—that is not true Christianity, but a perversion of Christianity meant to exploit the people for money and power.

The anywhere-everywhere nature of Christianity empowers us for every circumstance. As a Christian—simply believing Jesus is the Son of God—no matter what you face, God is already living in your body. You already are God's Image. When you err, God forgives you, empowering you to continue. So, you don't need to visit a shrine to pray for help. Your body is already a prayer machine equipped with legs to go anywhere and hands to prepare a way where there is no way. Your heart can praise God and call down Heaven's justice wherever you go.

Biblically, you already are the solution your circumstances are waiting for. Jesus saved you, thereby giving you the power to bring the rest of the solution.

Without Biblical Christianity, saying, "You are your own solution," is no more than a feel-good lie. Being your own solution needs a basis—Jesus. Yet, many Christians, who have Jesus, don't know how much of a help they can be to themselves because they depend too much on institutionalized systems that have nothing to do with Jesus.

Don't think you are weaker than you are. Know the Truth and thereafter be your own help.

#  #359

## Animal Mode

There is a strange mindset people often get wrapped-up in. It is more of "mode of instinct" than any actual thinking. It is highly selfish and tends to latch itself onto people who amass power and influence over others.

Know it by this: It is prone to violate moral absolutes with heavy self-rationalizing.

No matter how good you are, no matter how ethical, this can happen to you! Recognize it when it does.

The types of wise principles this "animal mode" will tend to violate are often the most basic morals—communicate, do not accuse without a fair trial, wait for and keep marriage vows, don't steal, do not do normal work on your sabbath no matter how much it feels like you should. Generally and for some reason, these often include the Ten Commands and instructions in the New Testament like Jesus's teaching in Matthew, James's "slow to speak, slow to anger, quick to listen", rules about lust, temptation, immorality, and others. These are simple, objective moral guidelines. But, when we get into "animal mode", we forget them all.

Clinging to moral principles keeps you out of animal mode. When you see yourself crossing those lines, you know you must stop yourself. If you don't, it could be the beginning of the end for whatever your current life's work may be.

These moral codes not only guide us, to keep ourselves on track. They also warn us about others.

When you see someone in "animal mode", unwilling to knock it off, just zip your lip and step back. Be cordial but resolute, especially when he's in the power seat. That person will self-destruct. The clock is already ticking. This was your alarm.

In truth, this "animal mode" could be a form of spiritual attack. Demons try to tempt and influence anyone. However much mind control demons and evil spirits can exercise, they show it in "animal mode".

Whether "animal mode" has come for you or someone you know, morals are vital to guide and warn you. But, you also need a strong, ongoing fellowship with God or you don't stand a chance. "Animal mode" destroys anyone without a daily life in prayer and Bible.

_Matthew 17:18-21, Mark 9:28-29_

#  #360

## Theology Humbles

Theology does not teach us that we know more, but that we know less. The more we know about God, the more we know how little we know. Martin Luther taught that the ultimate theological question is not about what we think about God, but what God thinks about us. Those who are with the Lord know far more about God—and what He thinks about us—than the greatest of all theologians because, for them, theology is no longer a belief or study, but sight.

God wants us to be humble, He delights in humility. Humility is the purpose of all theological study. It is the moral of the story, the lesson of every lesson on who God is. Just as the lesson from every scientific discovery is that science has not discovered everything, so does every lesson about God's nature and His thoughts toward us—every single on—teach us how little we can ever know in this lifetime.

Those who become arrogant and overconfident after studying the Bible—who try to compare their own level of knowledge to the knowledge of others—have missed the whole point, proving that they may not have learned anything at all. If one truly believes that God is all powerful, then one won't lord one's position over others. If one truly believes that God is all knowing, then one won't get a big head by learning so. Remembering the information while arriving at the wrong attitude indicates that the student wasn't paying attention to any of the information, that the student's understanding of the information is entirely tainted.

God's love for us is immeasurably vast. Paul prayed for a supernatural experience for the Christians at Ephesus, just so they could understand God's love. His love is that vast—we can't understand it with any amount of research and diligence.

When we encounter real, unfathomable truth about God, that truth changes our hearts to a point where houses and careers and financial statements don't matter to us anymore. God's love drives us to continue to manage those things as responsible stewards and to love our neighbors, but only because we are humbled by His love for us.

_Psalm 147:10-11, Proverbs 3:34, Ephesians 1:17-19, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5-6_

#  #361

## Grade & Gauge Correctly

Never let instruments and labels lie. If the bottle says "iodine", don't take the dabber and touch it directly to your skin so that the bottle contains "iodine and dead skin cells".

This is basic science lab conduct.

When you're still angry at your father for yelling at you five decades ago—or however you exaggerate numbers and cling to your past—don't remember him as a bad, evil monster that eats trees, rubber, and even asphalt. Just remember that he was your father and that he yelled at you.

When we level the charge it makes complaints much easier to manage.

When the car is low on fuel the dashboard doesn't display a "low oil" light just to get our attention. Yes, low fuel is a problem, but it needs a petrol station not a mechanic to rebuild the engine. As anyone should know, by the time the "low oil" or "low coolant" lights comes on, the engine is probably already damaged.

Only a bad teacher would dare to think, "Students only do 50% of what they are instructed, so I will tell them to do 200% so they end up doing 100%." A teacher who does this will only attract "fifty percenters". Students who are serious need accurate figures to calibrate their efforts. Under such a teacher, students will rightly harbor resentment, something no one wants from people who give 100% without needing to be asked.

As a parent or supervisor, do not over-punish and never ignore good work. If your "children" do a good job at their morning assignment, but fail their afternoon assignment, don't score a "FAIL" for the whole day, only for the afternoon. If a bad afternoon means that the morning doesn't matter to you either, then people will give you the effort of a "FAIL" for the whole day tomorrow.

Accurate reporting is part of justice. If people don't seem to care or lack self-motivation, deceiving them with an artificial reality of false physics won't do anyone any good. Report accurately to yourself. If the truth can't help you help people, then you either need to learn the truth yourself or you need to find the right people.

_Leviticus 19:35-36, Proverbs 10:9; 20:23, John 8:32, Colossians 3:9_

#  #362

## The Marvelous God of Science

Take a long look at the world around you. Consider science and exploration. Look at history and wonder. Don't be biased—look at all science and medicine—traditional, Chinese, Western, homeopathic, pharmaceutical, herbal, spiritual... Everywhere you look, we find wonder and mystery and sensibility wrapped into one.

Never let anyone or anything convince you that our natural universe was not created by a benevolent and wonderful God.

Conclusions from observations must be properly ordered. The "Biblical" God is wondrous and immense and fascinating. How absurd of a claim that the universe is too immense, fascinating, and wondrous to have been made by the immense, fascinating, wondrous God of the Christian Bible! Such science is not scientific.

When God put His awesome splendor into creation, He was not merely giving us evidence that He exists and created all in Heaven and the universe; He was also expressing invisible parts of His Divine Nature—abstract nouns, if you will. The harmony and dance between simplicity, beauty, and functional fortitude throughout nature explain the character and ways of God. Being His Image, we can't not find nature fascinating because nature also explains the original from Whom we came and reflect.

The Bible presumes that we can establish science and research on our own. As we look at the skies and whatever appears through a microscope, as we walk among the fields and even ponder the miracle of our hands themselves, the Bible offers additional explanation for all of it. We look and work in this world and make our own discoveries, while the Bible guides us to understand what we would never figure out on our own. These two work together.

Thomas Aquinas explained this, that _"All truth is God's truth."_

The one thing we always learn from science is that we can never learn everything. This is the same lesson we learn from theology—that knowledge about God is just as inexhaustible as knowledge of what He has created. Nature reflects His unseen character. Once a godless science or arrogant theology persuades our worldview, we also become so godless and our inner life force breaks down. A godly, thus thriving, life begins with a godly cosmology.

_Joshua 3:5, Job 5:9; 9:10, Psalm 19; 86:10, Proverbs 11:2, Romans 1:20-21; 11:33-35, Ephesians 3:18-21_

#  #363

## Summers Work

Work over the summer is the reason for America's tradition of a summer school break. Initially, most work was done on farms, but there are other parts of the economy that need seasonal labor during the summer months.

Strong, hard, manual labor helps familiarize oneself with the real world. This is especially important since most bad leadership stems from lack of connection with the real world—whether leadership in a company, government, or other organization. It's difficult for an economist to understand the overall job market without ever having had an ordinary job. Unless you have had to deal with the normal conflict between management and the labor force, you may miscalculate whether a union strike will affect long-term stock value of which company.

One of the saddest arguments in the international discussion about immigration is the need for basic labor. It's arrogant to think that car washing, housecleaning, harvesting, and manufacturing jobs are "beneath" citizens. Those jobs, especially for young adults, build necessary character for great leadership. Without that character, future organizations are doomed. No! It is not "beneath" citizens to have character-building jobs, in fact it is the dignity of all humans in every part of the world to take time for hard, hands-on work.

As for the problem of young people being too snooty to work on a farm or wash cars during the summer, all it takes is a little awareness in the hiring market. If HR interviewers understand that having worked on a farm makes for a lower turnover rate, suddenly the classroom theme will change from "go to school, get a good job" to "go to school, spend your break on a farm, keep an awesome job". But, this is rather simplistic. People who do intense work over the summer won't only keep a good job; they will better lead future companies and create more jobs.

One financial leader at a university, a friend of mine, always preferred to change the oil in his car himself. He said it was therapeutic. He helped that college enter the top 100 in the US, no doubt why.

Summers work well. Do it, teach it, hire for it, and hire from it.

_Psalm 90:17, Proverbs 12:11, 24; 13:4; 14:23, 2 Thessalonians 3:10_

#  #364

## Repentance unto Hope

Saying, "Sorry," is a good thing, but not everyone knows this—to say it or to hear it. Jesus taught in no uncertain terms: Forgive others, lest ye not be forgiven.

Repent, knowing that God wants to forgive. Come back to the light. Return from whence you fell. Repentance is a good thing; it is the basis is hope.

When someone makes a mistake, say so; it's not an accusation. Accusing, pointing the finger of shame, calling a vote to throw someone overboard—all on account of error—is not any kind of teaching one would learn from the Bible or even tolerate. The purpose of calling out someone on a problem is to restore the person, granting the invitation to return to the simple, safe road that leads to Life.

The Bible's view of repentance is that repentance leads to hope. An apology is not an admission of fault as legal testimony against oneself; it is a response to the summons issued by God Himself that we return to Him, even when we return to Him for the first time.

The first time a person walks the path of repentance that leads to hope, simply understanding at the heart-level that Jesus died at the Cross to cover the cost of our guilt, that person becomes a "Christian". That's all a Christian is—someone who repented to Jesus, accepting his hope in return. Becoming Christian is not about "church", real estate, weekly schedules, or money given to the pastor. Becoming Christian is nothing more than the pure acknowledgment that Jesus is one's personal, forgiving, hope-giving "Christ"—the Messiah who saves the whole world—thus, accordingly, believing the "Christ" already came to give hope to those who repent to him. "Christianity" is nothing more or less.

A non-Christian plainly does not believe that the "Christ" has already come, but still waits for some future hope other than Jesus.

Non-Christians are incapable of understanding the idea of repenting toward hope. Self-proclaimed "Christians" who shame others or can't simply say, "Sorry," without feeling overwhelming shame themselves might not be Christians since every Christian, by definition, has experienced Jesus's gift of hope in exchange for us repenting to him.

_Matthew 6:14-15_

#  #365

## God Saves the Best for Last

Many wicked people take shortcuts and impatient routs to amass luxurious plunder, but because they build their wealth on shaky foundations, everything collapses. They spend many years in their rich halls, but it all fails when laws of sowing and reaping swing back around to haunt them.

Somehow, it's encoded into the heart's understanding of satisfaction. However we go out is what matters. A long life of pain is somehow trumped if it ends in happiness, making the entire painful journey worthwhile because of the victory that the troubled path led to. A long life of luxury that ends in poverty makes the recipe for a tragic tale. Justice doesn't always have the final say in the joy or pain of an ending.

Most signatories of America's Declaration of Independence reached the end of their lives in sorrow and poverty. Living out a story with an unhappy ending didn't prove that they were wrong, but that they paid a high price and are all the more heroic for taking the available step in their day to found a nation that would, a century and a half later, end the slavery that the British founded a century and a half before. Many Black slaves died still under the yoke of slavery, only having prayed for the freedom of future generations. Many peasants in Europe prayed for a literate society free of feudalism, later founded by the Pilgrims. Many Christians die in prison after giving testimony that opens up the way for the message of Jesus to spread to millions of people who are each eternally thankful.

Martyrs live lives that end in sorrow, making their lives sad, but just and fair in the eyes of Heaven. In that next life, they receive their Eternally happy ending, making their Earthly sad story worthwhile. But, not everyone needs to die a martyr. Many people see happy endings before their deaths, demonstrating justice in this lifetime. Justice works many ways.

Don't give so much credence to temporary happiness. Pursue greater priorities. Respect the farmer who sows with empty barns. Eagerly press on toward whatever happy ending awaits you and you'll find whatever light you need to guide your way.

#  #0

## Religion Substitute

Christianity is a "substitute" religion. It doesn't need priests because Jesus is the high priest who walks with us all. It doesn't need rituals since Jesus finalized the rituals himself. It doesn't need any kind of ceremonial sacrifices since Jesus offered himself as a human sacrifice—the ultimate sacrifice to end all sacrifices once and for all. It doesn't require buildings since our bodies are God's walking, living, breathing Temples—for those of us who acknowledge His name. It doesn't require images since we were already created as God's Image. It does not need any hierarchical order since the Bible is God's direct message to all people for all times.

Christianity is not any kind of conventional religion. Those who treat it as one misunderstand it, whether from within or from the outside looking in on what they have never known. Christianity is mere truth of nature and nature's God, who created Heaven and Earth along with all the molecules, photons, and space therein. Christianity substitutes what often occupies the space of conventional religion in people's lives, even anti-religions such as Gnosticism, Agnosticism, and Atheism.

Because Christianity does not rely on any infrastructure, Christians can practice Christianity at any time. They can go anywhere, be anywhere, and change everything everywhere.

"Going to church" and the need for cathedrals made sense during a dark age when the world had technology neither for transportation nor communication. In those dark days, most people were illiterate and the only way to learn was to travel on foot or horseback to the one place at the one time when a teacher with knowledge would explain God and His ways. But, with widespread literacy, transportation, and global communication, that ancient system of weekly infrastructure is no longer necessary. It may be good or evil, but never necessary.

The only remaining purpose for weekly infrastructure would be for liturgy, but God's mercies every morning are new. Jesus himself finished the need for all liturgy when he became our substitute for the sacrifices and rituals necessary to end our own self-oppression caused by our own sin. Jesus was the substitute for all because Christianity is and has always been a religion of substitution.

###

## **About the Author**

Jesse Steele is an American writer in Asia who wears many hats. He learned piano as a kid, studied Bible in college, and currently does podcasting, web contenting, cloud control, and brand design. He likes golf, water, speed, music, kung fu, art, and stories.

Jesse owns various brands, occasionally teaches writing and piano, and preaches the evangels of Linux, Open-Source, and Jesus.

Poetry is code.™

Email:  books@jessesteele.com

Facebook | Twitter | Smashwords | JesseSteele.com

Other Books by Jesse Steele

Crossroads At the Day of Bapticost (Act I)

Crossroads at the Way and Churchianity (Act II)

95 Theses of the Clerical System

The People's Party: A Blueprint for American Political Revival

Memoirs of Ophannin

Clergy Don't Shepherd: God 101

Game On: A Christian Strategy Guide for Noobs

The Four Planes

Monkeys in the Jungle: Why Some Trees Just Won't Grow

The End: A Bible Translation of John's Revelation
