 
Thank You Very Much

To God and To You

Joseph G. Dubois
Copyright © 2016 by Joseph G. Dubois

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written consent of the publisher.

Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture quotations are from the New International Version free electronic and online Edition made publicly available worldwide by YouVersion.
Special Notes

This book is born out of the desire to share passion, enthusiasm, a dream. It is the tool used to say Thank You Very Much to God, and to You individually for everything, i.e., your motivation, your encouragement, and your support. It is a transposition from blog to print. It is the expression of the willingness to thrive, and of the desire to exchange and to demonstrate that all things are possible.
Dedication

To my faithful blog readers, to my beloved coworkers, past and present, to all my special media and social media connections, to all my great musician friends and connections, to all my acquaintances, to all my personal, business, and social connections, to all my friends who have shared me with others: Thank you for your support. To You I do not want to name for the Reasons that You know: You are listed confidently, and You will always be remembered. To you who have inspired me, encouraged me, and motivated me: This is dream product #1, and this is my best Love Offering to you. To the readers that have newly discovered this book, and that will soon be acquainted with my writing: This is your inspiration. To all of you who have great dreams: This is my motivation for you to start working at it as soon as you can, and to go for it fully and faithfully. To the Workers for God, and to the Lovers of God: Please, keep the flame burning.
Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Fruit Of Faith

Chapter 2: Our Thanksgiving Testimonial

Chapter 3: Our Best and Greatest Love

Chapter 4: Very Special

Chapter 5: The Art Of Giving

Chapter 6: God Is Able

Chapter 7: Uniquely Wonderful

Chapter 8: Congratulations, Great Champion!

Chapter 9: Pioneer, Hang In There

Chapter 10: The Least In The Crowd

Chapter 11: Highly Important

Chapter 12: Our Christmas Celebration

Chapter 13: Prayer: Our Duty, Our Mandate

Chapter 14: A Child's Desire To Step Out

Chapter 15: New Beginning

Chapter 16: Strengthen Our Bond

Chapter 17: Forgiven and Restored

Chapter 18: Only God

Chapter 19: Focused and Vigilant

Chapter 20: Evidence and Confirmation

Chapter 21: To Agree and Disagree in Love*

Chapter 22: Our Motivational Zeal

Chapter 23: Our "Best" is our "Offering"

Chapter 24: Joyfully Excited

About the Author
Chapter 1

The Fruit of Faith

Life, as a God's creation, is full of beauty, and is a display of wonders. We have at our disposal all that we need to live and to sustain life. Greatly enough, we are also equipped with skills, knowledge, intelligence that enable us to create, to build, to innovate on a continuous basis. That is why we keep on developing products, writing books, writing new songs, composing new music, creating new software, generating new and improved apps to assure the continuity of our progress, and to confirm the flow and the establishment of our success.

Besides all our present feat, and in spite of all our current achievements, accomplishments, breakthroughs, and conquests, we still, at times, find ourselves in tight places, in tough situations, in sudden and unpredictable predicaments, and in uncontrollable challenges that have the full potential to wreck our lives, to shake our Faith, to weaken our belief, to create havoc, to even prompt us to question God by asking Him why, how come, and why me, to challenge our self-confidence. When those times come, unless we know who we are, where we stand, and what we have, unless we have a strong faith in God, unless we have a strong anchor and an unbreakable shielding system, unless we are surely equipped, we run the risk to lose the battle, to give up, to lose the faith in ourselves, to give in to temptations, to take the quick escape, to dwell into illusions, to adhere to odd clingings for support, or to hide behind false mechanisms such as drinking, and so on. Some even become rude or violent due to their inability to cope, to deal with the stressful situation or the urgent matter, and due to the fact of not being equipped to withstand the heat, to stand firm and strong, to dig within for the needed solution, to skillfully face the challenges, to absorb the impact, and to manage the outcome of the bad news, and the demand of the tight requirements, of the pressing expectations, of that fast-approaching deadline, and so on. We could even forget to pray and to call on God altogether.

The good news is that the solution to a lot of our problems is already available to us and, most of the time, rests in our own hands, and resides in our own inner self. All it takes oftentimes is our determination to face the problem for what it is, and to decide to draw from our natural and innate resource in order to resolve it, and to be victorious. In some cases, the solution may require that we do the unusual, (or the publicly-misunderstood) out of sheer obedience, in order to trigger, to activate, and to bring about the crucial and vital results

The following cases in the Bible remind us of the instances when people have to do unusual things, and take unusual steps to obtain the desired, the anticipated, the expected, and the imperative results:

  *  A woman was in a deep debt situation, and the creditors threatened to take away her sons as slaves in exchange as a form of payment for her debts. When asked by the Prophet Elisha what she does have available in her house, as per her natural knowledge, she replied "nothing except a small jar of olive oil." The Prophet then instructed her to collect as many empty jars as she could find. After she did and begun to pour oil into the empty jars, they all became miraculously filled with oil that she sold and used the money to pay off all her debts to her creditors, and be free. (2 Kings 4:1-7) ("The Widow's Olive Oil")

  * Joshua was directed by God to walk with the armed men around the Jericho walls silently seven times, and to shout at the end of the seven times. (Joshua 6) (Full Chapter). Out of obedience and "By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched around them for seven days." (Hebrews 11:30). Joshua did exactly what he was directed to do, and the Jericho walls collapsed.

  * Hebrews 11 (Full Chapter), titled "Faith In Action", also referred to as "The Book of Faith", is a listing of many cases where, by Faith, many great exploits were accomplished.

The above cases are just some examples of faith coupled with obedience that triggers the positive outcome, that leads to the vital solution, and that produces wonders. In our days, we possess, as well, the same faculty to be obedient by faith, and the same ability to take the initiative that enables us to activate our potentials in order to achieve the optimistic outcome, and the positive results. The key to our success in many instances resides in our determination and in our willingness to make that decision, and to take action, at times, quick and prompt actions since fleeting time may work against us if we delay, or if we procrastinate.

The skills, the talents, the unique expertise that we possess, the art that we practiced, the craft that we mastered, and that constitute the components of your inherent strength, must be put to work and be utilized when it is deeply required and urgently needed to generate and to produce the catalytic and life-saving results. That is why we must not keep them selfishly to ourselves, or hidden solely to ourselves, or buried within ourselves. We must share them by putting them to use for the benefit of others, either through Volunteering, or through any other opportunities that will present themselves to us, or that we will create, or in using any format or platform that will be available to us.

One may say that they do not have any special skills, any special talent, and so on. However, if we were to take the inventory of our inner self, or if we were to assess our potentials and the strength that we possess inside, we would have realized how rich and loaded we are, how much innate substance that we possess, how much intrinsic capability that we are equipped with, and subsequently, how many options that we have.

By Faith, the people in Biblical times did use their obedience, their skills, their innate ability to bring forth the results and the outcome that they envisioned, that they anticipated, and that they needed. In our times, we are using our innate skills, our developed talents, our capabilities, our faith in God and in ourselves to resolve our issues, and to create the imperative solution to our problems.

This specific blog post is a prelude to greater things to come, and the precursor of my first-released products. I would like to request, for the first time, that you invest in my firstly-released products to come, and that you purchase my upcoming and soon-to-be-released book. It will include this current blog post, and it will represent the tool, the item that I have available in my hands, and that I am using diligently "by faith" towards an urgent solution. It will enable me to stand firm and strong, and to remain confident while I am passing through an extremely-challenging and a very demanding phase in my life. I "Thank You Very Much" in advance for your investment of money, for your reading time, and for your word of mouth to others. I also "Thank You Very Much" in advance for your encouragement, for your mutual exchange, for spreading the news, and for your officially-requested support.

"By Faith we Create it. By Faith you Embrace it". Thank You Very Much.
Chapter 2

Our Thanksgiving Testimonial

It is awesome to be blessed, to be loaded and to be enriched by God, to know it, and to behave in relation to our divine blessings. The blessings of the LORD are innumerable, immeasurable, and should be upheld and treasured for their immense value and for their true worth. As a reciprocating response and as an acknowledgement of the fact of being divinely blessed, we formulate and express our gratitude through Thanksgiving acts and gestures which may take multiple forms, i.e., praise, worship, prayer, service, missionary work, genuine offers, sincere acts of kindness, and the list goes on. These acts and gestures of Thanksgiving may be either modest, simple or lavishing, according to our means, our abilities, and according to the prompting of our hearts. It is always good and it is encouraged to add some deed or some substance to the word "Thank You" even if it means or takes the form of some unexpected public acknowledgement to some entity.

It is imperative to be thankful today, now, recurrently, and as often as possible. The miracle worker, or the provider of a favor, of some great service, or of an act of kindness must know that we appreciate their skilled service, their benevolent and their generous acts of kindness towards us. It is to them an encouragement as it is a motivation for them to continue to do good. The Altruist, or the Philanthropist, or the Benefactor, or the Good Samaritan may not expect to receive anything in return from the recipient or from the beneficiary of their acts of kindness. Nevertheless, it is absolutely proper, recommended and motivational for the recipient to say "Thank You" to those who do good to them and for them.

The Holy Bible abounds with instances of and with teachings about Thanksgiving. For the purpose of this blog, we have chosen to list the following examples, instructions, promises and exhortations.

  * "Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods." (Psalms 95:2, 3).

  * "Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." (Psalms 100:4, 5).

  * "You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion , and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." (2 Corinthians 9:11).

  * "We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing." (2 Thessalonians 1:3).

We are thankful and very grateful to God for All His Blessings, for All His Favors, for All His People, for All His Miracles, for All His Opportunities that He has placed in our lives.

We Thank God first and foremost for Jesus Christ: Our Redemption and our Salvation from our sins have been made possible through Jesus Christ's death on the cross and through His resurrection from the grave. It is sealed, and it is a done deal. We still have our imperative responsibility to Accept By Faith His Free Gift Of Eternal Life being offered to us and to Embrace Him Fully as our LORD and Loving Savior in our lives and in our hearts.

We Thank God for our Great Country. We specifically designate our Priceless, our Loving, our Magnificent, our Wonderful and our Beloved Canada: This is our Place of Elevation, of our Higher and of our Greater Achievements. This is our Land of Purpose and of our Refined Education. This is our Divinely-Blessed Land, our Land of Great Wealth, our Land of Limitless Possibilities and of Endless Opportunities. This is our Land of Explorations and of Great Discoveries, the Land of the Pioneers, of the Entrepreneurs and of the Developers, the Land of Great Innovations and of Great Inventions. This is the Place of Dedicated, of Passionate and of Hard Workers. Canada is our Land to Fight for, our Place to "Stand on Guard" for, our Peaceful Nation, the Land specially shaped, mindfully woven and meticulously molded by God's Own Precious Hands. We Thank God because we Greatly and Truly Love our Unique Country Canada for this is where God has placed us to be fruitful, to be prosperous, to flourish and to multiply.

We Thank God for our Church Senior Pastor / our Church Founder / our Church Builder. On an extended and global scale, We Thank God also for all the Senior Pastors, all the Church Founders and all the Church Builders on the planet: Their Contribution to Society is Monumental and Commendable. Their Lifetime Legacy is their self-sacrificing Investment in our lives for generations and generations. We Thank God for their Innate and Entrusted Mission, for their Magnificent Vision, for their Absolute Obedience to accept and to embrace their Calling, and to follow through. May God abundantly, lavishly, overflowingly and overwhelmingly Bless Them.

We Thank God for our Productivity: Since we do not have ownership of time, we prioritize, we utilize our time effectively to the fullest, and we maximize our opportunities for the diligent and immediate Glory of our LORD Jesus Christ in our individual and respective world of evolution, and in our specific sphere of influence.

We Thank God for our National Governance and for the Government Officials: They Govern with poise, they Lay the solid foundations, they Build the political architecture and they Erect the structure of our Society for now and for generations to come while they Inspire our motivation, Shape our living and Mold our future.

We Thank God for the Peace Makers, the Peace Workers, the Agents of Peace: They Protect our lives with Authority, with Full Responsibility and with Great Competence. They Make our daily living Safe, Peaceful and Secure. We Highly Regard and Highly Respect Them.

We Thank God for our Life Defenders: They Guard our coasts, they Control our borders, they Monitor and Patrol our airspace. They Guarantee our Territorial Sovereignty and our National Integrity. We Highly Honor Them.

We Thank God for Farmers: God's blessed produce and divine provisions through the hard work of their hands are granted and guaranteed. We Highly Appreciate Them and we Really Love Them.

We Thank God for Teachers: They Boost our self-esteem, they Equip us with the essential substance for life, and with the intellectual, the academic and the practical tools for better living. They Provide the high-quality education that is required and needed for us to become valuable, stable, self-confident and Better Citizens. They Instill in us Self-Respect, Self-Discipline, Civic Dignity and National Pride.

We Thank God for our Medical System (Doctors, Nurses, Hospitals): They provide readily and diligently their Medical Services for our good health and for our prompt healing when we need it and as it is urgently required. Our Gratefulness towards them is Immeasurable.

We Thank God for our Workplace and for our Place of Employment: Our Management Team is Scientifically Efficient, our Coworkers are Highly Productive, Proactive and On-The-Ball, our Work Environment is One Model of its Kind.

We Thank God for Great Friends and for Great Connections: They uplift, they stimulate, they motivate, they educate, they encourage, they support, they boost our morale, they brighten our days and our lives. They are Precious and Priceless.

We Thank God for Humility: Humility is that Virtue that stimulates us and compels us to Pray, to genuinely seek God, to have Patience, to wait on God, to yield obediently to God's Guidance, to act diligently on God's Instructions and Commands, as per His Crucial Timing for His Greater Effectiveness and for His Utmost Results.

We Thank God for our Blog Readers: We Appreciate their time, we Treasure their visit, we Honor their sharing. We Praise their renewed encouragement, we Credit their faithful loyalty. We Applaud them, we Cheer them and We Thank Them for their interactive synergy, for their current, their continued and their subsequent visits, and for their repeat investments of time. They are our Blessed, our Golden, our Very Precious and our Very Special Connections.

We Thank God for His Divine Miracles: He raises us from the pit to our Elevated Place of Power, of Authority, of Recovery, of Victory and of Honor. He turns our ashes to Gold (i.e., we work hard, we study hard, we create, we innovate, we initiate, we develop "our own"; we persist, we Go for it; we patiently build and we painstakingly grow "our own"; we take charge of "our own lives", we take responsibility for our daily living; we choose, we decide on the positive outcome, and we engineer the fruitful output and our productivity). He also turns our tears to Laughter, our mourning to Rejoicing, our losses to our Higher Achievements, our desolation to our Stronger Establishment. He grants us Happiness, Success, Multiple Blessings and Prosperity.

We Thank God for our Determination and for our Passion: We remain focused and we persevere through it all. We emerge Powerful, Victorious, Prosperous and a Conqueror in spite of the odds (i.e., the challenges, the testings, the hardships, and so on), and because of the odds.

We Thank God for Google™: Their Good-Samaritan Approach, their Free-Giving and their Free-Sharing Spirit towards our Society do speak volume.

We Thank God for ALL that we have, and for ALL our Service Providers whose list would be too long to enumerate, to compilate, to elaborate and to populate (i.e., Barbers and Hair Stylists, Cleaners, Drivers, Couriers, Carriers, Merchants, and so on). We truly appreciate ALL of Them. Their Contribution to make our lives livable is Unforgettable. Our Memories of Them are but Joyful and Noble.

We Thank God for Singers and Musicians: They embed our lives, they fill our void, they keep us company through their songs and through their music. They are "Mental Therapy Agents". They are part of our Joy, of our Rejoicing, and of our Celebration. They are God's Workers and God's Messengers. They are Beloved Sons and Beloved Daughters that have been created by our Heavenly Father, that are called to our Father's Conformity, and that are also called to participate and to take care of our Father's Business on Earth as it is in Heaven. They are Agents of Mediation, of Connectivity and of Reconciliation. As per God's Divine Touch, God's Divine Decision, and under God's Divine Anointing, they Trigger, they Activate, they Uphold and they Carry in their writing, in their composition, in their singing and in their execution of their Music Masterpiece, the Glory of our LORD, Jesus Christ.

We Thank God Lavishly, Profusely, Abundantly and Endlessly for Who He Is: He Is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, God Almighty, Our LORD Jesus Christ.

Some might say that they got paid to do their job and that we did not have to go to that extreme of publicly Thanking God for their services. That is absolutely true, and that is also factually known and clearly understood. Nevertheless, we find it very important and imperative in this time of Our Thanksgiving Celebration to express our Heartfelt Gratitude towards them anyway. Life is not only about money, or about just the paycheck that we work for, or not only about the services rendered and provided. Life is also about appreciation, warmth, being human, relationship, courtesy, good rapport, and about giving credit where credit is due. Therefore, we have written this blog based on the sincere motivation of the latter facts and elements, and also based on the continued expression of our Love for our God and for our Neighbor.
Chapter 3

Our Best and Greatest Love

Love is the greatest power, the most powerful force that ever exists. It drives our lives, it motivates our actions, it stimulates our passion, it shapes our thoughts, it molds our thinking, it directs our behavior, it justifies our reactions. Love determines our sacrifices, it sustains our endurance, it sharpens our choices, it dictates outcomes, it maximizes our care, it conceives our plans, it enhances our planning. Love always seeks to please, to protect, to defend, to nurture, to care, to court, to charm, to dream, to beautify, to attract, to preserve, to persevere, to cover, to educate, to uplift, to promote, to respect, to liberate, to elevate, to build up, to repair, to pull up, to push up, to publicize, to market, to exhibit, to advertise, to talk about, to exalt, to valorize, to brag about, to display, to show off.

The dictionary defines "Love" (noun) as "a strong positive emotion of regard; any object of warm affection or devotion; a beloved person; used as terms of endearment. "To Love" (verb) is to have a great affection and liking for, to get pleasure from, to be enamored or in love with;...

The Bible (New International Version / NIV), in 1 Corinthians13:4-7, lists some attributes and virtues of Love: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always preserves."

The best example and the greatest lesson of Love is given to us by God the Father Himself who, out of His unthinkable kind of Love for the world (the human race) (John 3:16), sent His one and only Son Jesus Christ to die in order to save us and to redeem us from eternal damnation. His evident gesture of Love through the death of His Son has therefore eliminated His intended wrath against us in terms of His anger towards us after the first man, Adam, disobeyed Him and sinned against Him in the Garden of Eden. His Great-Creator's Love for us has compelled Him to offer His own Son as the utmost sacrifice to save us all from the consequences of the original sin (Genesis3/Whole Chapter).

We truly thank God for His unique compassion and for His unmatchable mercy. Otherwise, none of us would ever escape or dream to make it to Heaven. It is written in 1 Peter 1:3: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." And this is the greatest lesson of Love for us to study, to meditate upon, to learn from, and to practice on all occasions, at all times and towards all.

The topic of Love is the widest and the vastest subject that would take volumes upon volumes to develop. For the purpose of this blog, we will focus, concentrate and remain within the context of what Jesus taught in Mark 12:30-31 that states: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."

To Love God is to obey Him, to respect Him, to revere Him, to veneer Him, to care for His people (our fellow humans). To Love God is to do His will, to follow His instructions and to obey His commands. In John 21:15, 16, Jesus instructed Peter saying (1) "Feed my lambs" and (2) "Take care of my sheep." In John 21:17, Jesus repeatedly asked Peter "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."

To Love God is to diligently seek Him, to crave for and to create intimacy with Him, to be attentive to His voice, to be and to live in perfect synergy with Him through yielding to the Holy Spirit. To Love God is to continuously watch ourselves not to anger Him, or to displease Him, or to offend Him, or to disrespect Him. To Love God is to do our best to please Him with all our might. As a result of our seriousness about loving Him, our lives become peaceful, productive, powerful, meaningful, prosperous and very successful. We are then able to hear from Him, to walk and to behave in accordance with His expectations of us. We are mindful and we strive to avoid making mistakes although they are an integral part of living. We initiate breakthroughs with God in mind. Great creations and great innovations come out of us because we are obedient, because we can hear from Him and follow through, and because He can trust us to carry out His plans for His world.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:9: "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived"–the things God has prepared for those who Love Him." To Love God is to worship Him, and Him Alone. John 4:23 says: "Yet a time is coming and has come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." God is the Only One who is worthy of our worship and who deserves all our praise. He is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. We have been created to praise Him, to worship Him, to veneer Him, to serve Him.

To Love our neighbor is to care for the well-being, for the strong standing, for the welfare and for the good living of others. We are happy for their progress, their advancement, their achievement, their accomplishment, their success. We contribute joyfully to their happiness and to their advancement as much as we can. We avoid at all costs harming them, and we do whatever it takes to protect them. As a specific example that is generic and innate to their very nature, their commitment, their determination and their responsibility, a Firefighter would do and risk anything to rescue and to save a single life from a burning flame. And this is the kind of eloquent example among others that take place every day, that we take "routinely" for granted, and yet, this is exactly what God means when He says to "Love your neighbor like yourself". The Firefighter is a Professional who is educated and trained to perform and to fulfill their duty that is deeply rooted in altruism. However, their mindset of willingness, of single-mindedness, of high personal (and work) ethics, of dedication, and of great sacrifice is what we have to learn from, to practice, to emulate and to apply towards our neighbor. A great biblical example of one's love for a neighbor is found in the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10:25-37.

Our Love for our neighbor compels us to continuously strive to reach out to others and is the reason for our previous blog entitled: "Pioneer, Hang In There! Our Reaching-Out Endeavor."

To Love ourselves is, first and foremost, to establish and to maintain a strong connection and a strong bond with God. God must become the center of our lives, our life sustainer, our life support, our main source of wisdom and guidance, our primary source of education, our Leader, our Lord, our King, our first confidant, our omniscient partner, our shelter and our safety nest in the storms, our shield in the midst of danger, our cane or our crutch to lean on, our Advocate with our Father in Heaven, and our Protector against the Evil one. "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One". (1 John 2:1).

To Love ourselves is to know ourselves, to take the time to examine, to assess ourselves, to have the courage to fix our own "detected" flaws, to tackle our weaknesses, to acknowledge, to address and to resolve our mistakes, to deal honestly with our issues instead of pretending, playing make-believe or sugarcoating, to apologize on due times and to set an example for others, to make peace with ourselves, to forgive ourselves, to rid ourselves of guilt and to be at peace within ourselves.

To Love ourselves is to treat ourselves very preciously, to make time for ourselves, to take time off with ourselves, to care for our health, to dream and to take the practical steps to make those dreams come true, to be mindful and determined about our present, to be serious and decisive about our future.

To Love ourselves is to have and to cultivate a High Self-Esteem, to create our joy and our "own version" of personal happiness. To Love ourselves is to know and to convince ourselves that we are The BEST, that we have The BEST, that we want The BEST, that we deserve The BEST, that we offer and give The BEST, and that we would do Our Very BEST to make and to cause The BEST to come into and to happen in our lives. To Love ourselves is to decide not to settle for the "readily convenient" and the "easily available" that might end up in unpleasant results, in displeasing outcome and in regrettable consequences. Instead, we choose, we adopt, we select and we embrace The BEST, the essential, the uplifting, the compatible and the suitable. Since we are Very Precious and Very Special, we set our dreams and our goals very high, and we do Our BEST to achieve them, to make them happened and become a reality. The LORD always reserves and always gives His BEST to us, His beloved people. In return, we preserve ourselves "sacrificially" to please Him because He deserves our pure, our wholehearted and our absolute BEST.

To Love ourselves is to think BIG, to dream BIG and BEAUTIFUL, and to know that, in all and after all, the sky is the limit. God is Our BIG CREATOR and Our BIG FATHER. We are His Beloved Sons and His Beloved Daughters. Therefore, it is simply normal to think BIG and to dream BIG like Our FATHER in Heaven. Those with a little mind and those of "little faith" (Matthew 17:20/Full Context, Verses 14-20) might call it "megalomania" meaning, "a psychological state characterized by delusions of grandeur". However, by looking all around us and beyond, we can realize that everything that we are using on a daily basis, i.e., car, bus, truck, train, subway, airplane, ship, telephone, radio, television, fridge, stove, elevator, computer, laptop, cellular phone, internet, and other great products and great achievements, have all been invented, created and attained by people who have a great vision, a great passion, a great self-confidence and a strong faith to try hard, to work hard, and to think BIG. Therefore, we are not going to remain passive, or to justify our inactivity and our limitations, or to stay on the sideline like spectators filled with self-imposed impotence, or like quitters deprived of firm willingness and persistence. That is why we have made up our mind, and we are determined "to renew our mind" (Romans 12:2), to emulate and to join willfully (and "passionately") the ranks of the Great Minds, of the Big Thinkers, of the Great Builders and of the Great Achievers. Jabez cried out to the God of Israel and asked Him "Enlarge my territory!..." And God granted his request. (1 Chronicles 4:9,10). By faith, all things are possible when we Love ourselves, when we trust God, when we believe and Love God, and when we are willing to act constructively and ready to move forward.

Although I do not have too many of them "yet", I Love electronic gadgets/tools for their usefulness, their convenient practicality, the inventive concept behind the innovation, and for my own experiment, exploration and comparison purposes (that is the quality assurance part of me). Now, God has blessed me, has satisfied my Love for computers and for those gadgets/tools, and has given me the ability and the opportunity to write blogs about Him, which are also optimized for and readable on mobile devices (smartphones and tablets). Therefore, I am surely happy to see the result of my obedience to Him, to achieve and to fulfill that great dream, and to reach that great "encompassing" goal. In this very specific case, the dream was "to share the Love of Jesus Christ with others, and to spread that Great Love to as many people as possible"; the goal was "to take the effective steps to make it happened". Our "Many Thanks" go to Google™: they have created and provided for free "the ideal platform" to combine the dream and the goal, and to tie them altogether. Again, may God richly bless Google™.

I Love to listen to great music and I Love to play music. I also Love music videos and big theater movies that are the fabulous combination of big screen film coupled with majestic and immersive sound. My very first job in life, in my very younger age, was at a select and very classy theater where I have seen a lot of great Jazz, musical, classical/ballet performances. I have also seen a lot of great movies in my life. Now to have my own YouTube™ Channel where everything is combined and encapsulated into one media center as my hobby and my favorite pastime, and also where the sky is the limit of the possibilities, makes me very happy.

In other words, as we stay closer to God, Jesus Christ, He gives us ideas about what to do and where to go. In return, we faithfully obey Him, we follow His instructions that are very "specific to ourselves personally and individually". We then design, tailor and "Create Our World" based on our personal dreams, and based on what God has deposited inside of us for our Joy, for our Happiness, for our own Success, and as per His Divine Plan to prosper us "individually" (Jeremiah 29:11) for His Divine Glory. And this is just one example (or one story) out of many others that are kept wrapped up and untold.

To Love ourselves is to develop self-confidence, to study, to push the barriers of our identified limitations as far as possible, to educate ourselves as much as possible, not only to have an institutional and academic education as our profession and as our trade, but also to be knowledgeable in the things of God. Therefore, we must study, make the time to read our Bible, and do research about the Word of God. We must take the time to ponder and to meditate on what we read, on what we study, on what we discover, on what has been revealed to us, and on what God means to us. We must appreciate the value and we must treasure the necessity and the fact of having God in our lives so that we may know by faith that we have a strong anchor when challenges, trials, storms and testing come upon our lives.

"Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ" (Romans 10:17). The faith that we develop when we Love God, when we study the Word of God, when we read insightfully the Word of God (the Bible), and when we are connected to God, will carry us through those unwanted moments and will make us victors and not victims, conquerors and not oppressed, champions and not losers, achievers and not victimized, the head and not the tail, rich and not poor, the top and not the bottom, resourceful and not dependent. Because of our faith in God, the fruit of our hands shall be life, our products and our produce shall be plentiful and ready to be harvested at all times. We are then able and ready to share, to give, to help others in short-term need, to alleviate the burdens of others, to guide and to equip others for long-term self-sustainability.

When we Love ourselves that much and apply the same wealth, the same depth, the same size, the same magnitude, the same passion of our Love of ourselves towards loving others ("Love your neighbor as yourself"), God will be very pleased and very happy with us, and His dreams and His plans for humanity through us, being His chosen ones, His hands extended, His equipped ones, His trusted ones and His empowered ones, will then be fulfilled.

On a flipped side and on a careful note, we must be aware that this Love for ourselves is not a "Narcissistic Love of ourselves", meaning self-admiration, self-adoration, or even self-idolatry. Narcissus, in the Greek Mythology, was that man renowned for his great beauty who fell in love with his own image that he admired when he discovered and saw the reflection of his own face in the waters of a pool. He did not realize that the image that he saw was the reflection of his own face.

To Love ourselves is to have a realistic and a practical type of Love for ourselves where we do what it takes to assure self-dependency, auto-sufficiency, self-sustainability, "amphibian, all-terrain and all-weather" type of living where we are equipped, ready to live, to face challenges and to survive under all life conditions, either good or adverse. Because of the self-empowerment that comes from being educated, equipped, a go-getter, and from having an entrepreneurial spirit and a propulsive determination, we are able and capable to "bounce back higher" by faith and with confidence regardless of our setbacks.

As we Love ourselves so much, and after we Love ourselves that much, will we "then" be able to manifest our altruistic love and our philanthropic kindness "unselfishly" towards others, and towards those in need of our help. Our hearts will be compelled to answer the call and to respond to the cry of the destitute and the desperate ones. We will not turn our heads the other way, nor will we plug our ears, direct our eyes on the opposite side to avoid seeing, taking, accepting and acting on our responsibilities, and to default from doing our part and from offering our share of help.

Out of Love, great affection and compassion for others, I, the writer of this blog, also had the honor of going to India after the Tsunami, to South Africa and to Jamaica with a dynamic team led by our Senior Pastor. Life as a Missionary (either full-time, or part-time, or seasonal), and as a Caring Helper, is absolutely a very rewarding experience. After the catastrophic flood of Gonaïves, in Haïti, I had the privilege and the opportunity to send a large shipment of goods and items to help those in need. After the last earthquake, I have also contributed financially. Special Thanks go to my nucleus of friends and to my very close supporters who have also contributed. As a serious worker and as an active seeker, I am looking forward to offer more help and contribution in the near future. This is not bragging or making publicity for oneself. This is giving a succinct account, a brief highlight, and proving that, to the best of our abilities and regardless of our "limited" capabilities, we are practicing what we are talking about.

We thank God for His matchless Love for us. We thank God for teaching us, for training us and for showing us examples about how to Love. We are a work in progress and we hope someday to fully meet all the requirements as per God's standards and expectations. Until then, we are seriously learning and practicing as we go. Our goal is to hit the mark as we pursue our desire to Love God, to Love others and to Love ourselves more and more daily.
Chapter 4

Very Special

This blog, although humble in its essence, and light-shedding in its mandate, is to inform you officially and to declare convincingly to each and every person reading this blog post that you are "Unique", "Very Precious", "Worthy", and "Very Special".

Lot of people go through life like through a dull stream, a sad flow, a series of joyless events and occurrences. They are living because they are breathing, eating, moving around, interacting routinely with others and with their environment. Yet, it is as if the essence of life, the reason for living, the joy of living, or something "valuable" to them is missing. They miss the affirmation and the confirmation that their lives are worth living, that they were born for a Divine Purpose, that they are "Precious", that they are "Worthy", that they are "Very Special".

After Jesus was water baptized by John the Baptist, a voice from Heaven affirmed Him and said: "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16-17)

Likewise, as you are reading this blog, we want you to know and to be seriously reminded that You Are Very Special. You are so Very Special that the whole Christmas Celebrations are with you particularly in mind. Christmas is about Jesus Christ. Christmas is also about all of us being in God's mind. The Christmas Celebrations remind us that Jesus Christ left His Royal Throne in Heaven, came to Earth with the ultimate goal to die on a cross, and to be resurrected three days later for the sole purpose of redeeming us, of saving us, you and me, and for us to have Eternal Life.

You are so Very Special that you are on the mind of many people that are Praying for you, and to see you through.

The Bible says in Psalm 9:10: "Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you". Which also means that, as soon as you begin to seek God, you are not alone anymore. God is with you in all and through all.

This is also to say and to explain why you have the desire to Pray, to seek, to inquire, to ask questions about God, to do research regarding God, to watch additional Church Services on Television or on the Internet, to listen to additional Sermons on CD's, on USB Drive (USB Stick), or on the Radio, to watch Preachers' Teaching Videos on DVD's, to read the Bible, to read other Revealing, Insightful, Enlightening, and Divinely-Inspiring Books written by Preachers, Pastors and Teachers, and so on. That is because God "with you" is leading you, is stirring in your heart your interest, your desire, your own motivational fire for Him. Therefore, you are on the right track. You are being groomed and mobilized to come closer, and to eventually be part of the Divine Family. You are strongly encouraged "NOT TO DELAY THE PROCESS". The Sooner you Act, the Faster you Move, the Better It Is.

Now that you know that you are Unique, Worthy, Very Precious, and Very Special, you are urged to begin to "think of yourself" on a different light, with a different view, from a different perspective, with a purposeful focus, with a mission-focused mindset. You are here on Earth to live fully, purposefully, successfully, happily, laboriously, productively, and prosperously. You are here because God wants you to be here, in this specific geographical location, in this specific country, in this exactly-selected city, at this very crucial hour. You are here because you are the brainchild of God who loved you long before you were born, and who made plans to rescue you after you falter, after you stumble, and after you mess up.

Yes, the world, society, those around you, and (or) those close to you may have either scorned you, pointed the finger at you, blamed you, laughed at you, ridiculed you, mocked you, accused you, criticized you, shamed you, played you, put you down, pulled you down, let you down, dropped you, or dumped you. Nevertheless, in spite of all the tumult, all the turmoil, and all the effervescence, in spite of being either singled out or shunned, you are not alone. God is with you. And, the good news also is that you are still Very Unique, Very Precious, Very Worthy, Very Valuable, and "Very Special".

To some extent, you may even be at the furthest extreme of being financially broke, or unemployed, or homeless, or bankrupt, or without a car, or penniless, or despondent, or hopeless, or shaken, or broken, or struggling, or without food to eat, or abandoned and left to yourself. Nevertheless, God is still your Companion who is there with you, and who will make sure that you focus, that you gird yourself, that you work hard, that you persevere, that you overcome your unwanted situation, your unexpected circumstance, your state of despair, or your losses, that you triumph, that you conquer, and that you become Prosperous, Strong, Powerfully-Standing, Victorious, Successful, and Happy "AGAIN".

There is Power in the Name of Jesus Christ. In Him also there is Salvation, Joy, Peace, Healing, Moral Support, Hugging Arms, Comfort, Hope, Restoration, Elevation, and Eternal Life for ALL who Believe in Him by Faith. (Hebrews 11/Whole Chapter).

We wish you receive this word of encouragement "now" knowing with firm assurance that:

  * You are beautifully "created in the image of God" (Genesis 1:27); "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14).

  * God's plans for you are "to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11).

  * You are "Very Special".

The Christmas Celebrations that commemorate the advent of Jesus Christ into this world are about us, you and me. "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him" (John 3:17). The subsequent death of Jesus Christ on the cross and the triumphant resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, which confirms His Majestic Power and His Divine Glory, are also about us (you and me), and for us (you and me) to have Eternal Life. (John 3:16)

We urge you to Rejoice in the Lord for your Divine Status of being Very Special. You are, indeed, Very Special to God. And God did not spare even His own Son to prove it and to confirm it to you. Therefore, Enjoy your Great Privilege and your Unique Status! There is "Nobody Else" like you on Earth. You are God's Unique Masterpiece. You are Very Special!

At your own leisure, or whenever you prefer, or as often as you please, you may begin to declare and to say to yourself the following words: "I am Very Special to God who Loves Me."

We hope you Believe It. We wish you All The Best.
Chapter 5

The Art Of Giving

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." (Bible / Luke 6:38 /New International Version / NIV).

The very first Spanish sentence that my Haitian-born mother taught me in my young age was: "Haga bien, no mira quien", meaning, "Do good, without looking at whom you do good to". The second part can also be translated: "without choosing whom you do good to".

The parable of the Good Samaritan is one of the most fascinating example in the Bible. It teaches us and reminds us that it is commendable to help, to give freely to others without any hope or expectations of getting something back from them, and with no strings attached. This is where divine nobility is born and formed, this is also where real intrinsic pleasure springs forth. The pleasure is not only intrinsic, but it is also divinely-reciprocating, meaning, it produces and generates great pleasure to God as well, for He knows that He can Fully count on the Good Samaritan to be Truly and Genuinely His hands extended here on Earth. Somebody got to embed, to embrace, and to fulfil the role of His Divine Representative here on Earth, and this is a calling that is open to as many human beings as possible.

This is a Very Special Calling to be a Good Samaritan, to submit our hearts, our will, our emotions, our resources, our money to the will of God, and to behave according to His Divine Purpose as per the special stature, and as per the angelic status. His/her individual positioning will always be timely for the purposeful outcome of the benefit to the recipient, and for the blessings or rescue to the beneficiary, again truly and fully, without any strings attached, therefore, without any form of payback, compensation, award or reward in return.

The ability of the true Good Samaritan to fly above the earthly search for acknowledgement, recognition, and compensation is what makes them unique, is what differentiates them from others, and from those that are not called to this status. They naturally understand that they are not seeking any personal gain, any individual satisfaction, any self-fulfilment, or any fame. They are here just to fulfil their mandate and move on. That is why they are never offended because they do not seek immediate appreciation, they do not expect manifestation or expression of gratitude. The so-called ungratefulness towards them which is often the case they live by, is never an issue for them. Like a Guardian Angel who rescues, fulfils their mission, moves on to the next assignment, and then disappears forever, the Good Samaritan, entrusted and bestowed with the same helping calling, just moves on, and disappears from the environment, from the territory, and from the scene of their good deeds forever.

Their behavior and their mindset are based on something unique to their understanding. They know that it is not about the here and now. It is rather about eternal rewards, about deposits made to the spiritual bank in Heaven, and about investments made in eternity. That is why, again, and time again, they do not fuss, and they never fume about the temporary things, the little passing stuff and token of the here and now, and of today, regardless of how big and how gigantic those things and stuff may seem, may appear, and may be to others. They have the bigger picture of eternity in mind, where everything is grandiose in scale, immeasurable in size, incomparable in beauty and splendor, priceless in treasure and value, incomparable in terms of imagination, and in terms of what the mind can conceive.

One may wrongfully judge them, may laugh at them, may joke or make fun about them, may even think of them as fools, easy to be played, or easy to be manipulated, or easy to be conned and scammed, and so on. Nonetheless, their divinely-revealed knowledge of the existence of the bigger, the greater, and the better picture, makes them the true Champions that they are, faithful to their calling, fixed to their mission, unwavering to their modus operandi. They are selfless, spiritedly-large givers, unconditional helpers, transparent, with a "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" attitude, and they remain true to their altruistic devotion, and to their philanthropic mandate to do good at all costs, and no matter what it takes.

As a serious word of caution, and to avoid any blatant misinterpretation, the recipient or the beneficiary of the gesture of goodness, of generosity, or of kindness is by no means to be perceived or considered as an inferior individual, or as a subservient (or "less important") person to the Good Samaritan. Immature witnesses that are aware of the heroic act of kindness are not to consider the Good Samaritan "Giver" or "Helper" as Superior to the beneficiary who happens to be at a moment of weakness, of impotence, of dire need, of powerlessness, of despondency, and of vulnerability. Heartfelt Gratitude and Elevated Appreciation are Highly Sufficient enough without the compelling need, the tendency, and the impulse to place the Good Samaritan on an unexpected and unneeded pedestal above the recipient. Both recipient and Good Samaritan have been strategically and respectively placed by God, for a divine purpose, so that God's Glory may be manifested, and in order for God's name to be exalted. No one is superior or inferior to another. The understanding of the individual role, of each other's synchronized positioning at the specific time and moment, must be justly, maturely, and fairly managed and interpreted. We must also bear in mind and understand that their respective role of today could be inverted at any given time, in any other place, by other assigned and designated actors in the future. We just do not know. That is why inflated or derogatory comments or judgement must be vehemently silenced, and strongly avoided by all means.

In terms of an extended perspective, a woman in the Bible, Mark 12:41-44, has placed two very small coins in the Temple Treasury (that is the equivalent of what we would call today the Collections Plate, or the Offerings Bucket or Basket), which is all she had to give. Moved and touched by her sheer act of giving, by her obedient spirit, and by her magnanimous gesture, Jesus mentioned to His disciples that this woman has given more than everybody else. She has given her all out of her poverty, while the others have given out of their abundance. The story titled "The Widow's Offerings" is so educative and so timeless that it is mentioned in the Bible for us to still learn from it today and now in our generation, and for us to give it a serious consideration as per its significance. To extrapolate we could say: "That woman has given largely, lavishly, and sacrificially out of her lack, and in consistency with her intrinsically-rich stature, while the others have given and contributed meagerly and poorly out of and with respect to their substantially-rich abundance". This story is also mentioned in Luke 21:1-4.

In other words, it is good and commendable to give, to help, and to do good. However, the spirit of humility, of selflessness, of self-sacrificing, and of heartfelt impulse with which we give is what makes the big difference between a mere giving routine exercise, and a genuine act of impulsive sharing and heartfelt giving, which we can also refer to as an act of pure and serious worship depending on the context. This is the point where pure divine blessings abound, blessings that also encompass insights, inspiration, foresight, revelations. This is also the point where, by our genuine gesture of giving, praises go up, and where we manage to touch the heart of God.

One Entity and Technology Giant on the planet that I consider to be a Good Samaritan, and that I truly like because of their approach towards giving and sharing is Google™. I mentioned about them on my previous blog posts before. And, I will never stop referring to them as such.
Chapter 6

God Is Able

Are you in a state of confusion? Is the weight of your pain so heavy that it keeps you down? Are you sad and alone? Do you feel lonely with no trusted person to confide in to? Are you in some precarious situation that seems to have no point of exit and no way out? Are you in a voluntary self-isolation and withdrawal due to your sadness, due to your trouble, due to your pain, due to your deception, due to a betrayal, or due to your "thought or feeling of failure or guilt"? Are you wondering where are you going to find that money to go through that last-minute emergency, or to pay that bill, or to meet that important and urgent obligation? Is that challenge so troublesome and so worrisome that you are about to quit? Are you wondering where is God in all of this?

Well, Good News! God is here with you right now, in that moment of panic, in the midst of your confusion, and in that state of despair. The decision you are about to make is being guided by Him. The provisions that you need to go through today, to go through the next day, and beyond, are already taken care of.

This is to tell you to hang in there, to have faith, to pray for the vital answer that you need, to be prepared for that crucial and precious outcome that you expect and depend on. God is here with you. He will make sure that you do not give up, and that you confirm His Omnipotence, His Omnipresence, and His Omniscience by the miracles He is going to operate in your life, by the outcome He is going to orchestrate in your situation, by the turnaround He is going to generate in your business, in your finances, in your affairs, and by the restoration He is going to implement in your life and in your family. He is going to save your life, to spare your neck, to avoid the chaos and the fiasco, to assure your protection, to prevent you from failing and from falling, and to shield you from experiencing shame and disgrace. He is going to provide you with a way of escape from that entrapping trouble, from that malicious setup. He is going to deliver you from pain, from the uncertainty of tomorrow. He is going to free you up from doubt, and even from guilt.

The same way that Jesus was able to raise Himself from the dead three days after His burial, the same way that Jesus was able to calm the fury of the storm while He was in the boat with His disciples, the same way that Jesus was able to feed the multitude that came to listen to His teaching, the same way that Jesus was able to give sight to the blind man, this is the same way that God, Jesus Christ, is able today to handle your case, your situation, your circumstance, and to give you peace, victory, relief, provisions, answers, and solutions.

Yes, God is able to restore your smile and your laughter. God is able to fill your life with liveliness. God is able to blossom your finances. God is able and capable to give you insights and strategies that make your business flourish, very competitive, and very profitable. God is able to heal your hurt and your wound. God is able to cure your nagging ailment and your stubborn illness. God is able to end the crisis. God is able to bring new life to your relationship. God is able to spark your joy again. God is able to fill your life with new level of entertainment, and your heart with new desire for happiness. Since He created you and has placed you here on Earth, God is able to make you happy, joyful, self-sufficient, and subsequently, helpful to others. God is able to remove and to reverse all inadequacies, all anomalies, and all deficiencies. God is able to make your dreams come true. And, because of His faithfulness and of His Big Love for you, God is able to give you the legitimate desires of your heart.

Therefore, once again, be hopeful, be faithful, and be prayerful. God will give you joy, victory, peace, provisions, the answer, the clarity, the way out, the zest for life, the joy of living, the freedom in your mind, the free flow of your heart. He will grant you your desire to stand tall, strong, confident, and liberated within yourself, in your heart, and in your mind. He will make sure that you realize that great dream, that seemingly-utopian accomplishment, and that you complete that dreamed project. Why? God is Able. He is also loving and caring. Your joy is His joy. Your success is His success. Your happiness is His happiness. Nothing is too big for God. With God, all things are possible. And, this is a Guarantee.

Afterwards, and in the end, when all the odds, the turmoil, and the ordeals are over, your multiple forms of Praise to Him, and of Worship of Him will be His delight. Your various forms of Thanksgiving to Him will be like a treasured fragrance to his nostrils. That is why God is pleased, willing, and eager to see you happy, healthy, prosperous, joyful, successful, having peace, enjoying a great life, wealthy, and overflowing with surplus. As His hands extended here on Earth, you are His Chosen Solution to others, His Assigned Comforter to your neighbor, His Designated Encourager to many, His Trusted, His Mandated, and His Secure Eradicator of the crisis of others.

Therefore, Be Strong, Be Encouraged, Be Persistent, and Be Comforted! And, always remember, and constantly remind yourself the convincing fact that: God Is Able.

* * *

Post Scriptum: This specific blog post that is published today on Thanksgiving Day (Canada) is my form of Thanksgiving to God after a long period (several months) of trials, testing, challenges, including bodily harm, and my recent severe foot injury (I am still going for physiotherapy, tests, and massage sessions) that could have left me paralysed for life, and that could have forced me to give up all and to quit. But God miraculously intervened, spared me, kept me going strong, and moving forward with the sheer assurance of complete recovery, and with the sure confidence of total restoration. That is how I am able to know and to confirm again today that God is Able to preserve lives, to protect people in the midst of storms, of hardships, of challenges, of accidents, of dangers, and to operate miracles. That is why I am able to persevere in spite of all, in the midst of all, and through it all. That is also why I am able to say confidently to you who are reading this blog post to persevere, to be patient, to be persistent, to be prayerful, to remain positive. Do Not Give Up! God Is Able.
Chapter 7

Uniquely Wonderful

It is Uniquely Wonderful to be here on planet Earth. It means that we are alive and living, and it implies that we individually have something to do, to undertake, to start, to complete, to accomplish. God reminds us in Jeremiah 29:11 that His plans for us are to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future. To prosper us, in this context, is not only and simplistically in the area of money, finances, wealth, riches, although all being an integral part of it. To prosper us also means helping us, allowing us, and motivating us to achieve, to be successful, to study, to research, to explore, to discover, to develop, to create, to innovate, to build, to plant, to sow, to reap a harvest, to invest, to have returns on our investments, to have businesses, to be fruitful, to multiply, to expand, to be in good health, and much more.

It is Uniquely Wonderful to represent God in the natural. It means that our job as human beings is to Love first and foremost. The Bible in John 3:16 states that: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." Therefore, as God's representatives, as God's conduits, and as branches of the vine that Jesus Himself personifies (John 15:5), we are responsible, obligated, expected, and mandated to love one another, to produce and to "bear much fruit of love" for our Mutual Benefit, for the sake of Progress, and for the sake of Peace, be it personal, or social, or both.

Love is like the sunshine that sustains life, and that causes life to blossom and to flourish. Love is like a river that encourages growth, that stimulates fertility, greenery of grass, of trees, and continuity. That is why, for the purpose and for the sake of tangible progress, of gaining, of winning, of High Achievement through Christ, and of Mutual Elevation in Christ, we proclaim Love, and we solely choose to Love.

The above explains why it is great, very important, and highly imperative to accept and to embrace Jesus Christ in our lives. God is the answer, the universal solution to many of our problems. That is why we willfully and obediently choose to love. That is also why we adopt and we embrace the Unprecedented Love that Jesus Christ has come to offer. True Love and Genuine Peace begin with us in Jesus Christ, through Jesus Christ, and stem out of us to reach out, to touch, to heal, to mend, to comfort, to help, to be the solution, and to make the world a better place, all for the sake of Jesus Christ.

It is Uniquely Wonderful and Imperative that our heart is fully in it, i.e., totally dedicated and absolutely committed to whatever we do, endeavor and undertake. In other words, it is Great to Love our Job so much, and to Enjoy what we Do so much that we are willing to Embrace, to Protect, to Defend, to Promote, and to Advance the Interests and the Values of the Enterprise. This way, we surely succeed individually first, and we ensure and definitely contribute to the success and the longevity of the Enterprise. It is a Win-Win Situation: we advance individually as an employee and as a member of the Enterprise and within the Enterprise, while the Enterprise thrives corporately because of our commitment, our genuine involvement, our dedication, our decision to maintain and to preserve, our unwavering delivery, our seriousness, our extra-mile mindset as a valued employee, and as a valuable member. The Results: Safe, Secure, Progressive, Profitable Standing, and Successful Longevity of the Enterprise due to our Heartfelt Commitment, our Steadfast Loyalty, our Understanding and our Embrace of the Corporate Culture, due to our Synergy, our Positioning, our Actions, and our Behavior that are in line with and with respect to the Corporate Vision and the Corporate Interests, and due to our Sound and Ethical Protection that foster a Sound Environment and a Tangible Outcome.

It is "Not Merely" about the Status, the Position, and/or the Money. In terms of Love, Dedication, and Commitment, we got to learn the unique way of thinking, and the matchless modus operandi of the Altruistic Missionaries, and of the Philanthropic Volunteers. They Naturally, Sacrificially, Tirelessly, Passionately, and Genuinely Love what they Do with all their "self-motivated" Heart, and they Request Absolutely No Money at all for what they Do. They Love what they Do so much, and they Accept and Embrace their Calling so Willfully, that they Keep On Doing "their version of the right thing", which is to "Give (of Themselves) Endlessly and Impulsively" out of their "Loving Heart", out of their "Sheer Dedication", in a "Selfless Manner", in "Full Humility", with "No Strings Attached", and without "Any Expectations of Awards or Rewards in Return", year, after year, and after year. And, it is absolutely fine, normal, and okay with them.

It is Uniquely Wonderful to know that the Omniscience of God is Real. That is why we conduct ourselves in a reverential way towards God, and in a respectful way towards each other. That way, we ensure our safety and our security in God's Heart and in God's Court. God knows our individual standing towards Him and towards each other by His absolute knowing and by His total knowledge of all things, of our thoughts, our deeds, our actions, our situations, our circumstances, and so on. God's Omniscience is a Very Good Thing, and constitutes a Great Asset for our genuine nature, and for our striving attitude. It makes us safe and confident in His divine process, in His divine plans for us as humans, and in His divine plans for mankind through us.

Although the application, the execution, and the realization of the above will result in awards and rewards in the natural and in society as a whole, it is, however, primarily about creating, building, nurturing, strengthening, and maintaining a strong relationship with God first. It is also about the awareness of God's Omnipresence that keeps us in check and on track. Yet, it is mainly about our willingness to do the right thing, which is to be obedient to God, to be at peace with God, and to please God first in all and through all.

"To obey is better than sacrifice." (1 Samuel 15:22). (1 Samuel 15 / Whole Chapter for Full Understanding, Context, and Example).
Chapter 8

Congratulations, Great Champion!

By now we know for sure, we fully agree, and we concur with the fact that, the moment we begin to seek God, God is there with us, leading us, and guiding us. Psalm 9:10 illustrates that very fact in stating: "Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you." With that firm assurance, we pray, we research, we inquire, we study the Word of God. This is all great for it reveals our acknowledgement that there is a God, that we believe in Him, that we can do, achieve, and accomplish great things, that we can display and manifest altruistic kindness, that we can come up with great products, and so on. Yet, it is still about the here and the now on Earth, as it is also about the earthly level, the earthly deeds, and the earthly legacy.

However, the ultimate, the absolute best, the preferred, the unique, and the greatest accomplishment ever is to have "God in us", and that is being achieved automatically when we become a Christian. As part of the process and of the complete package, we repent of our sins, we believe in our heart, we confess with our mouth, and we declare solemnly that we accept Jesus Christ in our lives and in our hearts as our Lord and Savior, we get water baptized, we walk under the spiritual covering, upbringing, teaching, mentorship, and Leadership of a Shepherd, a Spiritual Leader (i.e., an Apostle, or a Pastor, or a Doctor of the Word, or a Bishop, or a Reverend, or a Chaplain, and so on). We also become a member of a congregation, an integral part of a Church where the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ are being taught, where the Bible is the only authority, and where water baptism by immersion is administered.

Having God walking with us is great for we are being guided, mentored, and groomed. However, having God inhabited in us, i.e., having His Spirit living in us, dwelling in perfect synergy, intimacy, and communion with us, is the ideal, the recommended, the greatest, and the highest achievement. This is the state where we get the spiritual insights, the spiritual revelations, the dreamed status of a true God's Son and of a true God's Daughter by our obedience, our compliance, our acceptance, our resistance against the odds, our resilience, our perseverance, our strength, our activated ability to ascend, our willful decision to transcend, our elevated motivation to withstand, to move decisively, to embrace our worthy, our individual, and our personal cause of our Eternal Life in Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ.

The Bible says "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." (Matthew 7:7). Through your seeking, your research, your meditation on the Word of God, and your pondering of your finding, you have finally come to know, to understand, and to be persuaded that God truly loves you, that He loves you so much that He has exchanged the life of His own Son for your life, that He has traded the life of His own Son to rescue you, to redeem you, and to save you. You have also discovered that God has always had you in His mind and in His plans.

The good news is, during your grooming and your upbringing process by the Holy Spirit, since you are so serious about God, He (God) has allowed you, and has given you the ability to have some degree of insight. Your heart has then become open and receptive to His Love for you, His Divine Word has begun to germinate and to take roots into your heart, your research has begun to bring forth fruit and to produce fruitful results, and darkness has begun to dissipate to make way for light. You have come to realize and to be convinced that this is it: you have found what you have been seeking and longing for all along. And, in that "Eureka Moment", since you were basically and practically ready, you have answered the Divine Call, you have crossed the line from confusion, doubt, and uncertainty to reality, illumination, and clarity. You have come forward to the altar, and you have officially done it. You have become a Christian.

You have decided to go from being a distant spectator, a confused by-stander, a sideline observer, and just a visiting guest to becoming an insider, an inner-circle participant in the Church with your full and your rightful Son and Daughter Status.

On a very encouraging note, you have decided not to procrastinate any longer. You have made up your mind to do the lifesaving thing, to take the life-saving step, to follow Jesus Christ wholeheartedly and boldly, to accept Him as your Lord and Savior, to break free from all forms of bondage, to lay hold of your personal, your uniquely-true, and your single-filed inheritance, i.e., your Eternal Life. The Bible says: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). By Faith, you have believed that verse. You also have embraced "the way and the truth and the life" that Jesus Christ personifies. (John 14:6).

Proverbs 20:24 says that: "A person's steps are directed by the Lord. How can anyone understand their own way?" Therefore, we can sincerely say, and honestly assure you that you have done the right thing. It is Great, Beautiful, and Wonderful to be a Christian. You can only win by taking that magnificent step.

Contrarily to wrongful misconceptions, to finger-pointing tendencies, to derogatory insinuations where Christianity may have been portrayed as unfriendly, boring, equated with joyless, no-brain people that display strange behavior, people with covert (or stealthy) hostility, and with double-faced hypocrisy, we can passionately reassure you that this is Totally, Flatly, and Bluntly a Fabricated Lie, and that this is the Absolute Opposite. Christianity is rather Joy, Liveliness, Loveliness, Joviality, Happy Sharing, Healthy Exchange, Exceptional Caring, Being a Good Samaritan, Resilience, Steadfastness, Prompt Uplifting, Diligent Encouragement, Resolve, Matchless Philanthropy, Single-Minded and Genuine Giving, Altruistic Respect, Mutual LOVE, Loving Heart, Good Rapport, Kind Fellowship, Loving Interaction, Great PEACE, Mindful Endurance, Smart Mind, Sound Mind, Peaceful Spirit, Great Intelligence, Rich and Substantial Education. It is Glorious Celebrations, Genuine Fun, Happy Rejoicing, and Joyful Dancing like King David danced before the Lord when the "Ark of the Lord" was being brought from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David, as reported in the Bible ([2 Samuel 6:14), (Full Context: 2 Samuel 6 /Whole Chapter; 1 Chronicles 15 /Whole Chapter)]. Christianity is also being Entrepreneurship-Oriented, Development-Inclined, and Business-Minded. It is being a Loving, Alert, Concerned, Prayerful, Peaceful and Respectful Citizen. It is also being a Valuable and a Productive Asset for your Employer and for your Country.

Christianity is also the embodiment of the willingness and of the readiness to go the extra mile. It is the Joy of knowing that Wholesome, Progressive, Committed, Hard Work, and Conscientious Productivity are assured, maintained and guaranteed no matter what, without wavering, and without any compromise. That is why your divinely-infused seriousness, your dedicated loyalty, your agreed commitment, and your delivered productivity to your job will naturally prompt your boss to be certain, to rest assured, to relax, and to sleep securely and peacefully on his/her feather pillow. Why? You are there, you are constantly and continuously on the ball, you pull your weight with passion, you alleviate the burden for your fellow co-workers, and you contribute actively to keep your company profitable, competitive, and soaring.

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." (Psalm 9:10). Therefore, out of genuine fear of the Lord, which in this case and context means "Reverential Respect for God" (that is a principle being taught, recommended, and good for you), and out of your awareness of the Lord's omnipresence watching over you, over your heart, your thoughts, your behavior, your actions, your decision, and so on, you will be kept in check and on track with your job, and with your performance of the set, the assigned, and the mandated tasks even in the very absence of your natural Boss and of your physical Supervisor (or Monitor). The Lord Jesus Christ is your Primary Boss and Supervisor in the Spiritual. Therefore, you have to prove, to justify, to convince "Him First" that you are wholeheartedly serious, that you care, that you really mean business for the stability, for the strong standing, for the long standing, and for the profitability of the Enterprise that you work for in order for Him (Jesus Christ) to assure, to ensure, and to secure your longevity on the job where He has placed you, and your longevity in the position where He has promoted you to. And, with that practical mindset coupled with your forward-thinking attribute and your proactive "modus operandi", you will surely contribute to the advancement of the Business and of the Enterprise that will naturally and strongly move ahead, forward, and upward. "Modus operandi" is a Latin expression used in English to signify: "manner of operating", or "way of doing things", or "method of functioning".

In the Lord's Prayer, it is written: "Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10). Therefore, the immense and utmost value of your significant achievement, of your remarkable milestone, of your pro-activity, and of your great success is approved, accepted, appreciated, and sealed both by men and by God for now and for eternity. Your ability and your decision to overcome the obstacles, the oppositions, the challenges, the adverse circumstances, and to persevere, make you the "Indisputable Champion" that you are. Therefore, you are able and capable to undertake and to achieve "Greater Things" with God operating not only primarily with you, but now through you by your water baptism, and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Your equally-treasured ability to hear the voice of the Lord through your spiritual grooming and your upbringing by the Holy Spirit, and your wisdom to follow through, have carved you a preferred place of honor in the heart of the King, our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ.

Your guided decision to become a full-fledged Christian and to be water baptized has made you unique in your standing, because it is "not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord Almighty." (Zechariah 4:6). The Spirit of the Lord has ushered you around and in. That is why you are able to fly high above and to transcend all the temptations, to resist the devil, to avoid all the devil's baits, snares, enticements, and traps, to overcome those "hard-to-control" addictions, to be protected and shielded from the devil's further harmful and destructive setups, to be exempted from your own self-destroying habits, to stand firm, renewed, high, elevated, and to finish confident, bold, joyful, and strong. You have achieved it!

You have conquered, and you have received your "Triumphant Trophy" that is solely yours as per your "divinely-free gift", and as per the great evidence of your priceless embrace of the Divine Love that was specifically designed, securely stored, timelessly provisioned, jealously preserved, and "now" happily granted and handed out to you by our Lord Jesus Christ because of your readiness and your acceptance of Him. Fortunately, "this time", your heart was ready, your womb was fertile, your mind was set, and you were able to capitalize on the occasion, to maximize on the opportunity, and to seize the moment because you have come to grip that coming forward to become a Christian was definitely the right and crucial thing to do, and the right way to go. And, you have done it! You have got it!

You have entered the realm of Everlasting Life through the death of Jesus on the cross for your sins, through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead for your redemption, and through your decisive acceptance, your enthusiastic adoption, your bold embrace of your heavenly inheritance. It is Noble. It is Priceless.

The growing number of local, in-house resources, the variety of teaching networks, the multiple delivery methods, formats, and media available with respect to biblical follow-up, Daily Inspiration, continuous study of the Word of God being delivered profusely for your spiritual growth, have prompted us to say with great confidence that you are safe, rich, covered, and set for your steady mentorship, and for your ongoing biblical education, training, strengthening, discovery, and greater insights.

As a imperative reminder, Christianity is: "diligently putting our hands to the plow, and decisively putting out our best efforts to get the job done." Jesus said to His disciples: "The Harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." (Matthew 9:37). Christianity is Divine Love, Mutual Sharing, and Healthy Exchange. What you have inherited, and the person that you have become are too awesome, too beautiful, too glorious, and too uplifting to keep it all solely to yourself. That is why you will be normally motivated and prompted to share, to talk about them with others, and to transparently help others as you are being led by the Holy Spirit. This blog is a prime example of someone who is being motivated and led to perform a specific reaching-out and sharing task, and who obediently took the initiative to execute the command as directed. Your sharing might take a totally different form, format, approach, in different settings, using different tools that will be revealed to you by God. Encouraging others, and inviting others to come to Church with you and to learn what you have learnt about Jesus Christ are also an integral part of your sharing, and of your reaching-out endeavor. Jesus, in Luke 10:20, exhorts us in the following terms: "Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

We are Extremely Happy for you, Great Champion! We are also Very Happy to say that we are Celebrating that Great achievement, we are Cheering that Significant Milestone, and we are Rejoicing over the fact that your Divinely-Granted Christian Status is well accepted by your Friends, your Fans, your Admirers, your Followers, your Supporters, your Family, your Team Members, your Club Membership Buddies, your Work Colleagues, your Business Partners, your Enterprise Associates, your Circle Folks, your Equally-Famous Peers, your Prominent Counterparts, and by an Army of Angels that are clapping you, applauding you, and rejoicing in Heaven, and all around you. Therefore, Be Uplifted, Be Happy, and Feel Good about Yourself, and about your Great Accomplishment. You are "Truly" our Acknowledged, our Victorious, our Full-Fledged, our Fully-Accepted, and our Triumphant Champion in our midst here on Earth, as you will be in your "Glorious and Timely Walk of Fame" in Heaven.

Once again, Congratulations, Great Champion! You Made It. Therefore, Enjoy and Rejoice!
Chapter 9

Pioneer, Hang In There

It is a beautiful and glorious day. The sun has risen majestically and is radiating positively and cheerfully over the Earth and over all elements. We all resume our daily activities, executing our duties as planned, performing our tasks as scheduled (*1), reaching-out to others as required and as commanded by the divine plan to mankind on Planet Earth (*2). We re-iterate and pause on the expression "reaching out" because it has a different meaning for different people.

For God, "reaching out" means attempting to redeem and to rescue franticly those for whom He came to Earth and died for so that through His resurrection, we all may have everlasting life (*3), (*4). That is also why Jesus Christ said to His disciples: "My Father's house has many rooms;...I am going there to prepare a place for you" (*5). Consequently, since the promise is real and true, we must fulfill the imperative requirements (*6) (*7) to fully obtain and receive our inheritance at the appointed time.

For the everyday folks, "reaching out" means working laboriously, interacting friendly, respectfully, peacefully and harmoniously with others while we earn our living. It also means continuously building bridges, connecting with others, encouraging others, developing strategies towards boosting other people's morale the most we can, and as often as possible. Therefore, we always develop great rapport and solid relationships, while we constantly and consciously create an extended family in the workplace, in the marketplace, in our social and spiritual places of gathering, of mingling, of networking, in our communities and in our society. That is why we ought to get along very well with one another and perpetuate a loving, supportive and harmonious relationship with our fellow humans on a daily basis as it was intended to be according to God's original plan for mankind (*8).

For the Essential Services Providers and Workers, "reaching out" means providing wholeheartedly the essential services to all with respect, in love and with great ethics as agreed and as promised. The good news is this: whether you know it or not, you have delivered as promised and as expected, and you are truly loved, greatly admired and more appreciated than you think despite the fact that nobody boldly comes forward to officially thank you personally. You are loved, period. Therefore, continue to serve, to do, to protect, to perform, to care for, to nurture steadily and constantly as you are intrinsically, naturally and professionally called, compelled and motivated. Our thankfulness towards you is immense. Your rewards go far beyond your salary or your paycheck. Your rewards and your blessings are divinely-perpetual.

For the Pastors, the Clergy Personnel, the Spiritual Leaders and Workers, the Volunteers, the Altruists, the Philanthropists, "reaching out" means that your self-sacrificial love and giving, your passion, your encouragement, your uplifting words, your selfless deeds, your boosting support, your dispensed compassion are morally uplifting, positively impacting, highly regarded, and are expectantly depended upon. The Great Admiration and the Reciprocal Love of the public for you are eminent, grandiose and real although subtle, unexpressed, reserved and silent. Your Divine Rewards are immeasurable.

All the above is the introduction to the following:

The Pioneer, in their solitude, in their solitary state, or in their actively-laborious mode, needs to be "reached out" to and to be offered an extended hand. The Pioneer, the first in line, the first on the front line, the first to arrive, the first on a new soil, the forerunner in their families, the first to be, to become, to get it, to create it, to make it, those who overcome obstacles and who break barriers for a positive change, the Pioneer in Sports, the Pioneer in Arts, the Pioneer in Technology, the Pioneer in Media, the Pioneer in Politics, the Pioneer in Science, the Pioneer in Business, the Pioneer in their respective fields, and so on, those with a great dream, those with a fabulous vision, those who strive painstakingly and those who have worked very hard to make that dream come true, have been overlooked over and over again, and taken for granted while they deserve our support and our encouragement. They earn our owed admiration and our indebted gratitude. You, Pioneer, who may be in unwanted seclusion, in pain, in solitude, in that hospital bed, in that convalescent state, in some forms of "unfair" predicaments, or challenges, or trials, or testing, or even neglected, we are "reaching out" to you right now, at this present moment. Therefore, you are NOT alone or forgotten anymore.

Passionate Pioneer and Hard Worker, we ought to remind you and to assure you that you have our collective moral support and this is our heart-filled expression of appreciation to you. We encourage you to stay the course, to keep the pace and to maintain the momentum. Your work will live on, your legacy is assured and this is a guarantee. Your performance is evident, your results are convincing and your hard work does have long-lasting, generational and permanent effects. Your excellent fruits, your great deeds, your service to society, your breakthrough, your unique outcome, your triumph, your absolutely-best products, your accomplishments, your achievements, your milestones do speak on your behalf and testify of your remarkable Dedication, of your spirit of Excellence and of your passionate Labor of Love. We are all praying for you to be strong, to be unshakable, to continue to believe in divine miracles, and to expect and depend on divine guidance, on divine covering, or on divine recovery / recovering as the case may be.

Rejoice Pioneer, in spite of any unpleasant circumstances, tough challenges or ordeals. Again we say, Rejoice! You are in our minds always, we keep you in our prayers and we thank God that we are a part of your life. In good, highly, flattering ways (or even otherwise) you are spoken about and spoken of, anyway and anyhow. You Made It. We salute you. We acclaim you. We celebrate you. Therefore, Pioneer, hang in there! Remain focused, steadfast and unwavering. You have a job to complete, you have a race to continue and to finish. And, really, it is not over until it is over. Thus, Victory is yours already. God is with you always, and His Angels surround you at all times.

You may have invited Jesus Christ into your life and into your heart already. If you did, Great! Your pro-activity is wonderful. If you have not done it yet, do not fume or fret, for it is not too late. We would then encourage you and recommend that you take this opportunity to invite Jesus Christ into your heart since He died for you and for all of us. Accepting Him is not difficult at all. We have done it quite a while ago. That is how we know that it is not difficult. And contrarily to misconception or to fear of the unknown, Christianity is not scary, or narrow, or shallow, or boring, or limiting, or full of dull and brain-dead people either, as mistakenly being thought of, or as negatively and wrongly being perceived from a distance. We know otherwise because we are an integral part of it. Christianity is rather joyful, lively, elevating, empowering, auto-boosting, consolidating, propelling. It is also having a deep communion, the great assurance and a steady relationship with Jesus Christ. After all, how can accepting and acknowledging the love of God for you be doubtful? We can assure you that it is glorious, beautiful and absolutely liberating.

The only best way to acknowledging and consolidating Jesus' love for you is through water baptism by immersion (*9). You accept Him into your life through repentance, confession and by saying the sinner prayer that is a prayer of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. You also confidently acknowledge, receive, fully embrace and solemnly seal His great love to you through water baptism.

Once you find a Pastor of a Bible-believing Church that is preaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who will take you to the process, and once you are water baptized, that's it. You have got it. You will then be connected to your Pastor for follow-up, for subsequent teaching, for mentoring, for your spiritual upbringing and for your spiritual growth. The sooner you act, the better it is. It is solely and entirely yours. Only you can and must claim it for yourself. Therefore, do not let this opportunity pass you by. Delaying it or postponing it may be detrimental, vain and costly. In these times of bad news about Tsunami, flood, earthquakes, tornadoes, unrest everywhere, the certainty of later or of tomorrow is not fully guaranteed.

That is why we are making this offer to you today, Pioneer, and that is why we are sharing the hope, the assurance and the certainty of our promised everlasting life with you. We truly hope you get it, Pioneer. Because, once you get it, once the Holy Spirit in us will begin to manifest Himself and to magnify His life and His joy also in you, and that you will realize that we were very serious about you, you will begin also to do the same for others out of great excitement and out of Divine Love for them, i.e., sharing with them what we are sharing with you right now. It is too glorious and too wonderful to keep and to hide this great news, this great joy, this great promise merely to oneself or to ourselves. That is why we are getting busy and motivated to tell it, to express it, to share it, "the LOVE of GOD", deliberately and unselfishly with you, with others and with ALL one way or another, like that overwhelmed woman in the New Testament did after her surprised encounter with Jesus Christ (*10).

We wish you All the Best, Pioneer. And once again, you are Not alone. Boldness has always been a catalyst and your motivation. The joy of the Lord is our Strength. Yet, Divine Grace is your ushering element and attribute. The Grace of the LORD brings forth Humility, and by Faith all things are possible (*11). We are with you every step of the way.

We wish you a Happy Easter in Love and Peace, Pioneer. Congratulations and Cheers!
Chapter 10

The Least In The Crowd

Some of us just cannot help it except to simply convince themselves, to accept the fictive fact, to live with the deceptive thoughts and to embrace the self-imposed reality that they are the "Least". The neighbor's grass is always greener than theirs. In these cases, it is not covetousness. It is an overpowering sense of helplessness, the uncontrollable acceptance of the convincible fact to some of us that, since they are not in the spotlight, not so popular, not so powerful, not so successful like Mr. or Mrs. or Ms. So-and-So, they are automatically the "Least" (*1).

This is a self-belittling perception that prevailed since biblical times when some of the Israelites see themselves like grasshoppers to their own eyes compared to the giants in the land that was given to them by God Himself (*2). "The Least" then choose to create the divide inside of them and accept the unfortunate fact that they are simply little. And they live comfortably in their "(Magnified) Little's World", somehow dreaming for a better life, for a better living condition, and they fully embrace the world of "Little People" (in their mind) like themselves without any willingness to strive to improve that self-attributed status or to change that state of their mind.

In our days, these Great People ("the Least" to themselves), that are full of great ideas, full of good things to say, to do, to give and to share, end up excluding themselves from active participation in social life and social activities. Some would even decide to give up categorically their basic and fundamental Civic Rights such as voting during democratic Election times at all levels (National, Federal, Provincial, Municipal, et cetera) in their country, in their localities or counties, a rights (a legacy) that many have fought or died for in the historical past to obtain for them, them that are now, today, the posterity of yesterday. Some of them ("the Least") are so entrenched in their detached position that they do not listen to the news on the radio, or watch the news on television to have some idea or some awareness of what is going on. They live in the confined circle of their immediate families and close buddies, and that's it. They accept their self-imposed fact that they do not count, that society can do well without them, and/or that they have no power and no influence to impact things, or to change things. They simply give up. And their lives go on.

God, the Master Creator, never intended to create people that would be considered to be Little, or Nobodies, or the Least. Each one of us is God's Masterpiece, entitled to His unconditional Love, heir to His Promise of everlasting life, entitled to universal Salvation through Jesus Christ, entitled to the same civic, legislative and universal rights, and capable of impacting positively the world, the lives around them and their immediate communities and surroundings. That is why, as mature and responsible Citizens, we dearly thank God for blessing us with and for placing us under the Leadership of Great Politicians, of Great Prime Ministers or of Great Presidents who know who they are, who understand and embrace what their mandate entails, and who deliver competently according to the Promise they made during their Election Campaign, by overcoming challenges and obstacles. Responsible Governance deserves our Collective Appreciation, our Utmost Respect and the Genuine Testimony of our Renewed Satisfaction as we pledge to Support them fully in the course of their Term in Office. "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's" (*3).

Since we are uniquely, "fearfully and wonderfully made" (*4) for God's purpose, our divine responsibility makes us Laborers for God (*5) in His developing the world, and God's Servants and Helpers in resolving issues, in solving problems, in upgrading the world to its latest refinements and to its utmost standing for the betterment and for the benefit of all.

David, the sheep keeper, was considered the "least" in his family. We have two accounts of this fact: (#1), when Samuel the Prophet came to anoint the future King of Israel on God's behalf, even his own father Jesse did not consider him worthy nor did he present him to the Prophet who, in the end, did insist and did ask if there was not "another one" (*6). (#2), during the standoff of terror between Goliath and Saul's army, one of David's own brothers to whom he was sent to bring food did ask him what he was doing there, and to go and be with his sheep where he belongs. Thank God David insisted to stay in the battle field. He ended up silencing his brothers once and for all, impressing King Saul, killing Goliath with his greatest weapons (his faith in God and a sling) and the most unthinkable ammunitions ("one" of the five smooth stones that he picked and that was divinely directed), chopping Goliath's head, restoring God's respect, reputation and dignity for ever (*7), elevating the image and the prestige of his own family and obtaining all the subsequent benefits and prizes that completed the whole package (*8).

Ananias (*9), another lesser-known by all, yet best known only by God Himself, was the one specifically chosen by God to pray for Saul of Tarsus in order for him (Saul of Tarsus) to regain his sight after being blinded by God Himself while on his way to Damascus to legally persecute the Christians.

Gideon, when visited by the angel of the LORD to fight against the Midianites, did confess to the LORD that he is the "least of the weakest clan in Manasseh" (*10). The LORD had to break the news to him, had to reveal to him that he is a "Mighty Warrior" (*11) and had to instill faith and confidence in him through giving him several signs for him to fully accept his role and his assignment.

Obed Edom, another non-prominent and lesser-known, had the Ark of God transiting in his house for three long months (*12). What a great honor it was for someone of such lesser prominence.

That is how amazing and how glorious it is to go from being the "Least", the unknown, the lesser-known by men, to having instantaneous prominence and recognition through God's will. In Gideon's case for example, the LORD had to do the persuading work Himself. And God will again do to you the marketing of yourself to yourself by presenting to you the real and true picture of yourself for you to fully agree and accept who you are as per God's design for God's plan. God will not brainwash you. This is not His type or His style. God will however download to you a new revelation of yourself to yourself for you to accept your calling, your mandate, your assignment, and His requested help from you to Him for His divine purpose. God will always encourage, uplift and strengthen you. Therefore, we should also convince ourselves that "God will never leave us or forsake us" (*13), and that he will be with us and go with us in anything He asks us to do or to partner with Him for His Glory.

Eleazar (*14), was the Great Example of someone that accepted who he was, that knew who he was and that decided to confirm it and to demonstrate it to David. Eleazar was one of David's mighty men while David was in the cave. Eleazar jumped on the occasion and seized the opportunity to distinguish himself (along with two other men) by crossing the enemy line to go and get water for David when David needed water to drink. However, David was so moved by that heroic gesture and by that act of unthinkable bravery that he decided not to drink the water and, instead, he poured out the water to the Lord because he considered that water to be like these men's blood for undertaking such a perilous risk.

God does not create the "Least". Since we are created spiritually equal in God (He equally loves each one of us), God does wish and does expect that each one of us distinguishes oneself by accepting, embracing, performing, executing and following through at the appointed time. That is another example of what we (mankind) also call "miracle" (which in this case is synonymous of "unprecedented achievement"), and that is how God's glory is being revealed and manifested throughout the Earth. We all have our role to play individually. We are encouraged to be alert, by faith, for God's appointed time(s), and to recognize, to utilize, to maximize the opportunity(ties), the time(s) and the season(s) for God's purposes when they arrive and as they present themselves to us. As a reminder, these opportunities may be just for a short time, for a limited season and might not last forever.

In the meantime, this is a call for you (for us) to serve in our communities, to get engaged in the affairs of our country, to help our fellow citizens, to do something, to initiate something, to get involved, to participate, to be active, to generate momentum. Do not sit back and remain passive. I, the writer of this blog, have more than two decades of being involved as a volunteer in several aspects and facets of social life, in political campaigns, in faith-based activities, in short-term missionary work, and the list goes on. When your blood is running to the pulse of help, improvement and productivity, nothing can diminish your enthusiasm. That is why I am writing this blog and doing other things in addition to my full time work, to my ongoing studies and to my constant learning, because it is part of me to be active, to occupy my time, to stay connected and to be productive. I do not waste my time with trivial, unproductive and dead-end stuff that produces no results. I budget my time (including fitness activities) and I follow through with my time management.

With that in mind, your time has come to take action constructively, positively towards changing that thought pattern (of the least), towards reversing that state of mind and towards becoming the "new you". The bible recommends "to be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (*15). Therefore, it is time to set that great personal goal, to start that wonderful community project, or to begin that great enterprising project. You are on your way to change the time, to reverse that "lesser status" and to become the positive model or that great role model that you were made to be. Therefore, you may decide to start modestly and small to get the feel of it, to gain confidence, and gradually you would expand as per the possibilities and the opportunities. Do your homework, do your research. Get involved somehow in the activities of your community, in your place of employment. Find out what your Elected Leaders are doing, where they are going, and support them, their endeavor(s) or their project(s) as you can. Believe it or not, they need you (us), they need your (our) support. It is not us versus them. It is "all of us" together for the good of our Country. Look to the great achievers, read about them and learn from them. Look around you, begin to thank God for all that you have and appreciate your surrounding. You are alive today which means that you are already victorious through God and as per God's omniscience. Therefore, maximize your blessings.

Start a family project. Be active and be involved even on one project and/or in one Ministry in your Church or in your place of worship. Study and improve yourself always. Take that course you always dreamed to take for your own good and/or for the benefit of others. Be positive and constructive. Also be creative, innovative and inventive. Do not be stuck. In all and through all, you pray, you pray and again you pray thanking God and asking God always for further guidance and directions. Learn and begin to compliment and to encourage somebody on a continuous basis: your positive words are good seeds in fertile ground. Remind yourself constantly that you are the spice that adds flavor to the lives around you. Therefore, put a smile on someone's face on God's behalf and for God's pleasure. Develop and nurture a cheerful and positive attitude: you are a therapeutic agent to those connected to you. Do not slack off. Do something and be active one way or another. Go to the library, get a library card, and begin your exploration and your endless journey. If you like a topic, a subject, a craft, a leisure, an art, a sport, a hobby, or whatever it may be, begin to read about it, subscribe to magazine(s) about it, and develop some connections in relation to it. If you do not know how to use a computer, it is not too late at all. Age is just a number and is not the state of your heart. Therefore, learn as early and as soon as possible to use a computer and to utilize the internet: the knowledge of these tools is the best asset you may possess in this modern day and age. Make your days and your time count. This suggestions list can go on forever.

This is a reminder to yourself that, effective immediately, you are no longer the Least to yourself, or to others, or to nobody, or in the crowd, or wherever you may happen to be. As of today, you are the Head, the Leader in your surrounding and in your chosen field. You are studying diligently to improve your status, to be better equipped, to be divinely self-content, and to eradicate forever any self-belittling thought, or sign, or tendency, or trace from inside of you and from within you. You are fulfilling your position with your head lifted high and with all due Respect for your Boss, your Supervisor, your Manager, your Sr. Manager, your Coworkers, your Colleagues, and for Everybody, including the Customer and the Client. You are performing your duty joyfully as per your assigned role, as per your love for your job, as per the present reality of your life, and as per the imperative of the hour. Therefore, be encouraged, be uplifted, take your place and make the conscious decision to move ahead confidently and according to your dreams and to your goals. Your time has come to stir up, from now on, the Capable Achiever and the Effective Doer that you are and that were laying latently inside of you as per God's deposit. You have the Ability and, by Faith, You Can turn the course of things positively for your own benefit. Therefore, Do Not Hesitate. Just Go For It (Go for What is Divinely Yours) and Make God Happy about His Special and Precious Creation that You Are. We wish you All The Best.
Chapter 11

Highly Important

Life is the Most Precious Gift that we have ever received from God. We are uniquely blessed, greatly honored, and awesomely privileged to be alive, and to know that someway, somehow, somebody, God, thought greatly about us, had us in His mind and in His plan, made sure that we came to life, and that we came fully to be just as He has designed His intricate blueprint of us.

In the Bible, it is written in Psalm 139:16, "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Needless to say that we have Great Value, Great Significance and Great Importance to God our Creator Himself. Everything in us and about us is Very Good in its essence for God only creates the Absolute Best. That is why, since we are a true, a real and a pure God's Product, and since He created us in His image and in His likeness (Genesis 1:26, 27), we have the Power, the Ability, the Liberty, the Freedom to create, to innovate, to make things, to improve things, to change things, to decide, to work hard, to build, to Rule (Genesis1:26).

Psalm 8:3-6 refers to God's Trust in mankind and to man's bestowed prominence in the following terms: (Verse 3) "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, (Verse 4) what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? (Verse 5) You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. (Verse 6) You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet."

With this Great Honor, with this Great Trust, and because of this Great Responsibility attributed to and placed upon mankind, comes the sudden jealousy from begrudged Satan that purposefully seduced and deceived man, and caused man to disobey God, to sin against God, to fail, to fall, therefore to lose his anointing of glory and honor that he has originally received from God (Genesis 3/Whole Chapter). Subsequently, God, full of Love, full of Mercy, full of Compassion for mankind, had to send His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to come down from Heaven to Earth, for Him to die on the cross, to shed His blood, so that His blood may be used as a redeeming ransom that would pay the price for our sins, and that would reconcile mankind to God again. The only difference this time around is that, although mankind's restored prominence in God would still be an automatic giveaway freely dispensed by God as it was before the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, it would yet be in the form of our "more mature acceptance" of our Eternal Life through our unconditional comeback to God, through our free-willed invitation of Jesus Christ into our lives and into our hearts, through our willful repentance for our sins committed all along, and through mandatory water baptism that seals our decision and our genuine acceptance of God's Love provisioning and offering.

Since God does not want and does not wish to see that anyone of us perish, but that all of us have Eternal Life, His decision to sacrifice His own Son for your sake and for my sake is the Utmost Evidence of how Greatly Precious We ALL Are To Him. Each and every one of us is Extremely Valuable, Jealously Treasured and Highly Important to God. We are God's most Precious Possessions. We (mankind) are so Highly Important that:

  * Jesus came down from Heaven, took on human form in order to be and to live Personally with us, and to dwell Lovingly among us.

  * Jesus Himself taught us directly how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13), (Full Context, Matthew 6:5-15)

  * Jesus performed many miracles to convince us that He was truly the Sent One.

  * Jesus taught us to Love one another, to Have Compassion for one another, to Forgive one another, to Care for and to Share with one another. (The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand is a perfect example of bountiful sharing). (John 6:1-14).

  * Jesus said that "I am the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25, 26), and performed the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead to convincingly confirm His omnipotence (John 11:1-44).

  * Jesus, out of Great Compassion and Great Care for us, gave us the Holy Spirit to be with us so that, as He promised, we are not left alone as "orphans" after He is gone to be with His Father in Heaven. (John 14:15-31).

  * Jesus promised us that He was going to prepare a place for us in His Father's house (John 14:1-4). Therefore, we have the Solemn Assurance and the Sure Hope of meeting Him again and of being with Him again.

  * Jesus died crucified (John 19:16-37). On the third day, He rose again (Matthew 28:1-10; John 20/Whole Chapter) so that we may strongly know, substantially confirm, and evidently believe that He is God, our God, and so that our faith in Him may be made strong, tangible, unbreakable, and unshakable.

All this is to say that when the Love of Jesus Christ for you gets a hold of you, and when you get caught up in the spur and in the midst of His Divine Glory, you are not the same person anymore. Your Best Options are then to embrace that Overwhelming Zeal, to maximize that Uncontrollable Passion to talk about him, to share His Unique Love with others, and to spread the Great News about the Awesomeness of His Majesty. Jesus Christ is Majestic. That is why I, JosephDubois, the writer of this blog, encourage you "NOT" to let Him pass you by. I strongly recommend that you seize "quickly" the opportunity to accept Him as your Lord and Savior in your Lives. Therefore, I urge you to Go to Church in order to grow in Him, in order to be taught about the Bible, about the Gospel, and also in order to be water baptized. Church is the place where it all blooms, blossoms, culminates, where you get affirmed as full-fledged Christians like Jesus was affirmed by God the Father after He was water baptized by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:13-17). ("This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.")

Our passionate and undaunted Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ makes us the genuine, the willing and the true Christians who say "YES" to His command to "Go and Make Disciples" (Matthew 28:16-20/Also Called "The Great Commission"). Our willingness to see and to make sure that as many people as possible being saved and being water baptized is Our Main Goal. That is why, without any shame and without any embarrassment, we are confident to talk openly about Him, and we are committed and decisive about sharing Jesus' Love for humanity with all. Since we are so Highly Important that He came down to Earth, and died on the cross in order to redeem us, our Best Way to say "Thank You" to Him for His Great Sacrifice is to spread the awesome message of His Unthinkable Love with others and with all. Truly, individually and collectively, we cannot repay the debt that we owe Jesus Christ. However, we can only express and manifest our Gratitude and our Thanksgiving by opening other people's eyes, by attracting other people's attention to His Love, and by making them aware that this Free Gift of Eternal Life is readily available to all those who say "YES", who believe, and who accept Him (Jesus Christ) in their lives and in their hearts.

I personally said "YES" to Jesus Christ more than a decade ago and I am reaping daily the great benefits for my decision by His allowing me to reach out to you, and to remind you personally about His Great Love for you. By saying "YES", you as well will inherit and possess something that is Priceless in its Value, and Unique in its Essence, i.e., The Eternal Life. By saying "YES", you will be the Great Living Testimony that Jesus Christ is LORD. You will also make sure to bring with you, to invite and to direct as many people as possible to come to Church, like the Samaritan woman who, full of zeal, spread the news in her whole town about Jesus after her overwhelming encounter with Jesus. The people came to see Jesus for themselves, they heard Jesus' words, and they also believed (John 4:1-42).

In return, these people that you "HELP, INVITE and GUIDE" will come to know Jesus Christ for themselves because You and I have done exactly what Jesus Christ expects seriously from each and every one of us to do, i.e., to diligently reach out to others on His behalf and for His sake. And the cycle will continue to reproduce itself bountifully where one will follow enthusiastically the good example of the other until the whole world comes to hear and to know about this Unsurpassed Care, and about this Great and Unique Love of Jesus Christ for Them. They will then be directed to Church where the Church Leaders will take over and will continue the process as per their Divine Mandate, and as per their Spiritual Calling and Responsibilities. Jesus Himself said that: "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." (Matthew 9:35-38; Luke 10:1, 2). Jesus also said: "I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." (John 4:35).

In other words, Jesus' LOVE in us for our neighbor must bear fruit and must bring forth effective results for Jesus' sake, and for the benefit and the well-being of the Seekers and their Whole Families. We must remember that Jesus mentioned: "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." (John 10:16), (Full Context, John 10:1-18). Therefore, the fields are vast for the Serious and the Willing Workers that We Are.

You are Highly Important. This crucial reminder is also Highly Important.

I Thank You Wholeheartedly for reading this blog, for starting the conversation, and for sharing this Highly Important Reminder about Jesus Christ's LOVE, Compassion and Care with others and without ceasing.

In case you are shy, uncomfortable, or do not know how to start the conversation with others about Jesus Christ, simply mention to them about your discovery of this blog, encourage them to visit this blog to see for themselves, and suggest to them that you will talk to them for their comments and their opinions after they have read at least one or more topics listed on this blog. For this specific purpose, I would recommend the following three blog titles: (1) Our Best and Greatest Love; (2) New Beginning; (3) Highly Important. That would be a very easy way to initiate the conversation. I am confident that you can try this easy approach (or any other approach of your own that you may be comfortable with) for Jesus' sake and for your guests' sake.

Just Go For It! And, Make Jesus Happy.
Chapter 12

Our Christmas Celebration

Life is full of opportunities for celebration. When those opportunities present themselves to us, we must treasure them, enjoy them, maximize them, and get the best out of them. We should not let those opportunities pass us by, as some may occur once in a lifetime although we wish they were more frequent, more repetitive in our lives.

The following are some instances of joyful celebrations recorded in the Bible:

1. When the men were returning home after David killed Goliath, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. (1 Samuel 18:6).

2. When the ark of the covenant of the LORD was being brought from the house of Obed-Edom to the place prepared for it by David, David danced, rejoiced and celebrated so passionately that his very close relative (his wife) could not grasp or understand the state of his jubilant heart towards God, nor the reason for his exuberance and for his happiness. (1 Chronicles 15:1-29).

3. After Queen Esther aborted Haman's plot and saved the Jews, and after Mordecai's orders were written in the name of King Xerxes and sent out to all the Jews, "the city of Susa held a joyful celebration. For the Jews, it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor. In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating" (Esther 8:15-17).

Celebration, therefore, is the expression and the release of joy, the open manifestation of happiness on a large scale other than just on the inside. It is the joyful shout, the burst of thanksgiving, the seal of achievement, the feast of a milestone, the sharing of jubilation, the birth of a baby, the first cry of a newborn, the assurance of the presence of peace, the confirmation of the removal of and of the clearance from danger, the commemoration of accomplishment, of achievement, of events, of historic dates, the festivities of victory.

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38; Luke 2:1-21). The world is joyfully filled with happiness. People from all walks of life and people of all creeds embark automatically, joyfully and willfully in this spectacular celebration. It is beautiful, it is exciting. The world goes through all kinds of preparation for the celebration with lights everywhere, corporate parties, company dinners, individual and family festivities. They cannot help it or control the frantic excitement in their activities and in their lives. The KING is coming! The KING is coming! The rush is on in people's hearts, in society and in the whole world. People feel the compelling need to please, to give, to share, to bless others, to treat themselves, their families and their household. We are all celebrating The King, King Jesus, The Savior of the world who took on human form in order to resolve the issue of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden due to man's disobedience of God's command (Genesis 3/whole Chapter). And only Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, had the ability, the power and the mandate to restore, to prevent, to avoid, to cancel and to save mankind from eternal damnation, and from our ongoing and subsequent sins.

The birth of Jesus Christ that we celebrate at Christmas is so important and so significant that our current calendar is arranged around it. It is a major and a catalytic event in the world history. It is no longer "BC" (Before Christ). Now it is "AD" (Anno Domini meaning "In the year of the Lord" or "In the year of our Lord"). We now live in the "AD" epoch, the epoch of counting years after the conception or the birth (or the coming) of Jesus of Nazareth to this world that we are celebrating at Christmas. And this is in a nutshell and in a condensed state the essence of the meaning of Christmas. We are now part of something big, concrete and tangible, globally accepted and approved, universally recognized, studied, researched, proven and factual. It is official, it is sealed.

Born in the most simplistic humility, in a very meager state and in the inadequate setting of a stable (of a manger) in Bethlehem that is totally unsuitable and unfit for a King, baby Jesus was however the Real Deal, the Big and Great King on a mission. He came down to Earth to save, to elevate, to uplift, to set humanity on the right path again, and to make sure that humanity is suitable and ready to inherit "everlasting life" (John 3:16).

Jesus Christ is life, life in this world, life of this world, life eternal. Christmas is the celebration of the advent of life eternal. Christmas is also the celebration of the introductory preparation of our living eternally with Jesus Christ as we invite Him and as we receive Him into our hearts and in our lives. Christmas is totally about Jesus Christ, the Light of the world who came to dispel darkness and to instill "spiritual" light in all living humans and in mankind. This is another reason why the Christmas festivities are also celebrated with multicolor lights and with lighting decorations everywhere.

People are so joyful, so happy, so motivated, so excited that they become extremely creative in terms of lighting designs and decorations. People are so creatively innovative that their creativity mesmerizes our imagination, forces us and compels us to admire those heavenly designs and those works of art with the intention of enjoying them and of cherishing them forever: "Your Kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven" (Matthew 6:10). It is absolutely beautiful and our mind is captivated and is in awe bringing the essence of childlike fascination out of all of us. Words alone cannot truly express in full details the magnificence, the whole meaning and the immense significance of the birth of Jesus Christ celebrated at Christmas.

Jesus Christ is awe, captivating beauty, Love personified, incarnated and eternal, The King. Jesus Christ is so fascinating and so spectacular that it took a special star, brighter than all the other stars in the sky in the holy night of His birth, to guide the wise men (or Magi) who came from the east to Jerusalem (Luke 2:1) to the place where He was born (Luke 2:9, 10). In their individual wisdom received from God, the wise men brought the "absolute best" they had to offer to Baby Jesus because they knew that they were coming "specifically to worship" the newborn King. Therefore, respectively, they brought gold, frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:11).

The very best and the most precious gift that we (our generation) have to offer to Jesus Christ today for "our worship of Him" is our "predisposed hearts". Let us adore Him by offering our "absolute best" to Him so that He may be pleased with our choice of gift being offered to Him for His inhabitation and His indwelling. Let us invite Him and offer our warm welcome of Him into our hearts and into our lives. Let us celebrate Jesus Christ, not like spectators, or outsiders, or strangers, or bystanders, but like full-fledged and fully-engaged participants. Let us embrace Him and take our rightful place in the celebration of Christmas with our willingness to be one with Him, with our aspiration and our decision to accept Him as our Savior and our King, with our desire to overcome and to dispel darkness in our lives and in the world. Let us confirm and consolidate our connection to something very big and very special, His Kingdom, to someone larger than life, the Creator and the Generator of life Himself. Let us affirm and confirm our total surrendering and our unconditional belonging to Him. Let us accept Him and be "genuinely" on His side that is absolutely safe and secure. Let us rejoice with one another and share mutually that special love that bridges all gaps, that unites all men, that unifies all souls, that strengthens the weak and the needy, that sustains life.

We wish you celebrate the Magnificent Birth and the Life of Jesus Christ either in full simplicity, in total serenity, in absolute modesty, or according to your means, your budget and the prompting of your hearts. After all, it is Our Celebration of the Birth of Our King and Savior. Therefore, the simplicity, or the modesty, or the pomp, or the glamour of your (our) celebration and of your "wise" choice is individually, personally and absolutely yours. Rejoice and Enjoy!

We wish you a Merry Christmas in Love, Joy and Peace.
Chapter 13

Prayer: Our Duty, Our Mandate

We wish a Happy New Year to ALL our readers, our visitors and our friends. We thank you wholeheartedly for your faithfulness, for your dedication, for your encouragement, for your continued support and for the constant sharing of your precious time. This is a year of remarkable milestones, of tangible and sure accomplishments, of great developments and of decisive breakthroughs. We are all expecting and we are ready for great and concrete manifestations.

Now that the festivities are fading away, this is the crucial time for serious introspection, for assessment and for prayer. Job in the Bible would always sacrifice a burnt offering automatically in the morning for each of his children just in case they have "sinned and cursed God in their hearts" during their feasting and their celebration period (Job 1:4, 5).

In our case, we offer our prayers to God not "just in case we sinned and messed up", but as an automatic fact that, one way or another, either ourselves individually or members of our families may have sinned, may have displeased and offended God. That is why we "willfully" and "deliberately" engage and commit ourselves to offer our prayers to God, for Him to forgive our sins, and to clear the way for His future blessings and His future trusting to come to our lives as we repent steadily, progressively and earnestly for all our wrongdoings.

Some cases of prayer and effective results in the Bible are listed below:

1. After Peter finished praying, he turned toward the dead woman named Tabitha (Dorcas in Greek) and said "Tabitha, get up". She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up (Acts 9:36-42).

2. Jabez earnestly prayed, cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request (1 Chronicles 4:10).

3. The moment Daniel began to pray, God did answer his request. "Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them." (Daniel 10:12/Whole Chapter).

4. King Hezekiah cried out to the LORD, prayed lamenting for his healing because he was scheduled to die. God heard his prayer, healed him and added fifteen more years to his life (2 Kings 20:1-11).

In the light of the exemplary cases above, we , ourselves, pray to God for our deliverance from sins and "from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13). We pray for healing and for cure for the sick, for strength for the weak, for provision for the needy and for "our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). We pray for Peace and for Prosperity of our nation and of the nations of the world. We pray for steady growth and development, for sure and real accomplishments, for our Government, our Political Leaders and our Decision Makers, for clear vision, for effective and concrete solutions and for sound Governance.

We pray for safety in our communities, for all those who are protecting and defending our lives, our streets, our communities, our nations and beyond. We pray for divine intervention and divine protection, for our own personal lives, for our families, for each other, for our friends, for our workplaces, for our Management and our co-workers. We pray for our Churches, our Pastors, our Spiritual Leaders. We pray for the fundamental, the essential, the specific, and the list goes on. God's Glory must prevail in our Greater Society and in the Whole World. God's Revelations shall convince the world for the Salvation of the Majority.

"Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:19, 20). Our God, Jesus Christ, is always with us as we decide to pray.

In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus taught His disciples how to pray in using the following words:

"Our Father in Heaven,

Hallowed be your name,

Your Kingdom come,

Your will be done,

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,

As we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one."

Prayer is our direct and conscious communication with God. It is done in full reverence, in absolute respect, as an act of thanksgiving, as an acknowledgement of God's omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience, as an appreciation of God's Love, as a petition, as an intercession, as a supplication, as a lamentation, as a request for specific purposes and towards specific goals, and for multiple other reasons and purposes.

As a member of a powerful group of praying people, I, the writer of this blog, just completed a committed 21-day period of prayer and fasting under the Leadership of our Visionary and Senior Pastor "for our Own Specific and Corporate Purpose." We got to do what we got to do. It is very serious and it is very important to pray fervently for our projected results. It is imperative, it is vital, and it is a must. We shall be conscious and mindful of its value, of its significance, of its impact, of its power, of its effectiveness.

We shall always be on the prayer mode, ready to trigger our prayers on a split-second leading, prompting, awareness and directing against sinful thoughts, against anger, sadness and pain, against temptation, against evil deeds, against evil influences, against defilement, against diminishing actions and behaviors, and also, for our repentance, for our obedience, for our appreciation, for our thanksgiving and for our acknowledgement to God. God must be pleased with us in order for us to be "effective" for Him and "effectual" in His name in all our ways, in all our deeds, in our calling, and in all His plans for us being His representatives and His hands extended.

We thank God very much for all our readers, and we also pray for all those who are asking, seeking and knocking (Matthew 7:7, 8; Luke 11:8-10). They will receive enlightenment, they will find divine revelations and they will get open doors to greater knowledge and to the manifestation of our LORD Jesus Christ. Their needs will be met, their prayer lives will be improved, their lives and their families will be fully blessed, joyful and transformed as they personally experience God's Glory and as they share their experience, their encounter, the divine revelations and the divine manifestations with others. Our world will be a better place as per God's Sovereign Will through us who find Him, who accept Him, who invite Him into our lives, and who share Him largely and diligently with others and with all.

We also thank God very much and specially for Google™ that are spending and investing billions (of dollars and of other "international" currencies) in Research and Development, and that are innovating and creating innumerable, countless and mind-blowing programs, services, tools, resources and more, which are being made available for us to use and to utilize endlessly for free. They are God's hands extended to all of us who are serious, committed, motivated and willing to study, to learn, to explore, to search, to dig (to seek), to advance, to develop, to create, to innovate, to produce, to build, to share, to exchange, and more. May God Continue to Bless Google™ Abundantly and to Prosper Them Profusely.

We have graciously and gratefully accepted our duty, our assignment, and we have fully embraced our mandate to pray, to share and to spread the Love of Jesus Christ in the lives that we encounter with great assurance, with total confidence and in absolute obedience. May His name be glorified in all the Earth.
Chapter 14

A Child's Desire To Step Out To Impress

We are all born with an innate urge, a compelling desire and a natural ability to create. Since we are born of our Father (*1), God our Creator (*2), it is in our gene to have the compelling impulse to produce, to create, to emulate, to progress. An adult is a grown-up and a highly-developed child. That is why, as part of our inherited birthright, the volition to innovate carries on and continues during our full life span and throughout our full earthly existence. A child may be willing to continue the legacy of their parents, or a child may be willing to steer away from the parents' tradition or projection, and to be their own entity or to create their own world. It is normal. It is not rebellion from the child as it is not deception to the parents. Although it may certainly be a shocking, an upsetting and a mysterious realization to the parent, this is nevertheless the choice of their child that must be accepted and respected. After all, the parents have done a tremendous job raising, grooming, training, teaching, mentoring, and instilling in the child the principles of values, virtue, ethics, confidence, wisdom and Leadership. It is therefore normal when, full of self-confidence, the child decides to practice all the knowledge they have acquired and to apply in their own life all the notions they have absorbed and mastered from the parents over many years of skillful upbringing. A parent may not always embrace the choice or the decision of their child (or adult-child). However, this is where reasoning comes along and also where maturity prevails for both sides and for both parties to embrace, to develop mutual trust and to agree upon this pondering mystery and this puzzling fact called freedom of choice and freedom of decision making.

Let us imagine the scenario of a parent in a shopping mall that suddenly realizes that their child has disappeared from their sight. This is one of the most frightening experiences ever which provokes mental chaos until that child is found. When finally that child is found, it is joy and relief mixed with anger, gesticulations and vociferations. Even the fact of finding the child in safe condition talking to others in full control, in quiet confidence and in total leadership, either teaching, or learning, or exchanging, or lecturing to others, will still not calm down that parent's anger. They would adamantly want answers from that child, and they would want to know why that child decided to go their own way without official permission.

This same experience was actually lived by some parents in biblical times. Young-child Jesus, while in Jerusalem with His parents for the yearly festival of the Passover, once disappeared after the festival. After three days on the road during their trip back home to Nazareth, Jesus' parents realized that He was not with the relatives and friends traveling along with them. After some frantic search, emotional turmoil, anxiety, desperate cry for help, and upon returning to Jerusalem, Jesus' parents, Mary and Joseph, found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, which may have been a "too-elevated" endeavor according to the parents due to His "so-young" intelligence, and also due to His very young age. When questioned by His mother about His decision to walk away from parental supervision and from parental vigilance, child Jesus replied quietly, seriously and confidently: "Why were you searching for me?" He asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" (*3). It was a shocking surprise as it was a startling revelation worth pondering and worth meditating upon. "But Jesus' parents did not understand what He was saying to them" (*3).

One might never know or never understand the level and the weight of the responsibility that lies in a child's heart and that rests upon a child's shoulders to fulfill their duty, their calling, their bestowed responsibility (*4), (*5). It is innate, it is divine, it is civic, it is compelling. And it will leave the child feeling burdened and incomplete until that specific task is completed or until that mysteriously-assigned job (or mission) is done and accomplished. That specific assignment or that specific task may have been the main or the sole reason the child was born to fulfill or to perform (*6). Again, it all rests in the hands of Almighty God. He is omniscient, and He knows best.

They are many of such cases that we could cite like, for example, the story of David and Goliath (*7), or the story of the boy that unselfishly and voluntarily gave out his food ("five small barley loaves and two small fish") to Jesus who used it to feed five thousand people, which is a great example of "obedient giving" (*8). Very recently, in our time, we have the heart-touching story of a 7-year-old girl who took the baton and decided that she is going to continue the race after her mother died of cancer. That young girl (*9) is now a powerful, gifted and impacting Gospel artist and messenger who, through her Music Ministry, pledges to continue the singing legacy of her deceased mother. Such impulsive, compelling and heart-filled gestures are absolutely mind-boggling.

A child has surprises, regardless of their very young age. Their innate (often hidden and suppressed) longing for self-expression is a genuinely-burning desire for self-impression first, and their uncontrollable conviction that they must do something big, beautiful, meaningful and purposeful as deposited inside of them by God the Creator Himself (*10), (*11). They know with firm assurance that they have to take care of their Father's (*1) business. Therefore, they deserved to be acknowledged, nurtured, encouraged, supported, uplifted, and their gift protected, while they need the faith and the trust from their parents. Some mature children (or grown-ups) may also need some freedom to act and some room to manoeuvre in order to prove and to confirm that they can do and accomplish great things responsibly on their own, in order to truly impress their parents, in order (sometimes) to feel accepted, and in order to earn the well-deserved appreciation from their parents and from all. That divinely-bestowed assignment got to fully bloom, got to come to fruition, and got to be fully fulfilled with absolute confidence and for concrete results. Furthermore, they also want to prove that they are worthy of the family name that they carry, and they long to genuinely represent their emulated parents well. A well-groomed child would truly and naturally love their parents no matter what. Understanding the child fully is the greatest love expression of a parent to their child and for their child, and the greatest synergy of parenthood. And that is where the whole challenge and the real puzzle begin, as this is also where great joy and victory spring forth.
Chapter 15

New Beginning

It is finished, followed by a deep sigh of relief, is the releasing, the exhaling sign that something big and magnificent has just happened. It is the fact of knowing that the end has arrived, that the deadline, the completion time has come to pass. The foreseen milestone has been reached, the task is completed, the dreamed accomplishment has been achieved. It is the same as saying "mission accomplished". It is final. It is done.

"It is finished" were the final words pronounced by Jesus Christ on the cross at the end of His agony while He was about to fully commit His Spirit onto His Father in Heaven (John 19:30). At that crucial moment, He was totally at peace with God the Father, He has accomplished His mission on Earth, His job was done, humanity may now rest assured about its salvation, His blood shed has sealed our redemption once and for all, a new era has just begun, the tormenting of humanity by Satan is under strict control, and Satan's influence in our lives is restricted solely to our mere allowance and cooperation. "We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:36-39).

It is finished because, finally, the world is going to be amazed, to confirm, to acknowledge, to be convinced that Jesus Christ was truly the Sent One, that He was ALL that He said He was, including being God: "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:6-14/Full Details). The disciples full of anguish, full of sadness, full of fear, full of confusion, full of anger, have now begun to understand the significance of His teaching. The words He spoke are being ruminated, brought back from memory, revised, assessed, weighed, dissected, appreciated, and treasured. Finally, everything has begun to make clearer sense. What at first was puzzling, blurry, confusing, misunderstood, finally has life, crisp meaning, sharp clarity, meaningful purpose and understanding.

When Jesus said, "My Father's house has many rooms; I am going there to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2-4), He meant it dearly, and the disciples finally have begun to believe and to live with the hope of a better tomorrow with Him in Heaven. They also hung on to the assurance given to them by Jesus who declared: "But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26). All the promises He made while He was alive were making more sense and were having more value to the disciples after He died, after He is gone.

The cruel death of Jesus Christ on the cross was a terrible sight for the disciples to bear and a devastating experience that would mark them for life and forever.

Usually, upon the completion of an arduous task, we take a break, a recess, time out to wind down, to breathe a little, to regain our strength, and to replenish our energy. In the case of Jesus' disciples, it was time to regroup, to re-assess, to plan, to strategize. Our Rabbi is dead, our Teacher is gone: we got to mobilize, we got to take action and to do something.

When Jesus said "I will never leave you as orphans; I will come to you" (John 14:18), He also truly meant it. That is why, today, in our days, we can still hang on to His promise that is real because we also have the Holy Spirit to still be with us. And this is a comforting assurance, an encouraging fact to know that we are not alone, that we are not forgotten, that we are protected, that we have the choice and the opportunity to follow Him and to worship Him in the Spirit and in truth (John 4:24), that our faith in Him has the sustaining power to uphold us at all times, either while we are in the valley of our lives, or when all around us seems to be thick and opaque fog. And yet, we are able to move forward by faith, with full assurance and in the absolute confidence that we will make it no matter what, just because of who He is who is with us. He is Truth, His words are sure investments in our lives, and we can really count, trust and depend on them.

A paralyzed man named Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, lame in both feet, was having a normal day of his life in the village where he was living when he heard that king David sent looking for him. This may have been a tremendous and a shocking news for him to process in his mind. Nevertheless, he was surprisingly designated to go to the palace, to sit and to eat at the king's table every day, to receive all the land that belonged to his grandfather Saul, and to have several servants to work for him and to take care of his affairs (2 Samuel 9/Whole Chapter). All this favor came to his life suddenly, and he was fully restored to an elevated status by the amazing grace and by the mysterious plan of God. What an overwhelming experience it may have been for him!

A lost son, upon returning home, was accepted royally by his jubilant father who gave a feast in his honor for his decision to come back home. He was fully restored to his full son status in the family by his loving father. His mistake and his folly against his father were totally forgiven by his father. His rightful place in his home was kept preciously until his return and until his full reintegration. This is also known as the prodigal son story (Luke 15:11-32).

Whoever you are, wherever you are, King Jesus has come looking for you and is inviting you to come to have fellowship with Him. Your special place of honor is jealously reserved just for you and very specially for you and for you alone at the King's table. You are a VIP, a Very Special Guest with the full "Son / Daughter" status. We are Royalty. We belong to a Royal Family. We have to accept Jesus' invitation by faith, to yield accommodatingly to the power of the Holy Spirit, to cooperate with His leading and His guidance, and to let the rest take its full course, the rest being our redemption and our salvation. We also have to renew and to shift our mind, and to change our thinking to a spiritual connotation in order for things to make better sense, to have a greater meaning, and in order to see and to accept things through their proper divine perspective.

As per the Parable of the Wandering Sheep in the Bible, a Shepherd would leave the ninety-nine sheep on the hills and would go looking for the "single one sheep" that wandered off. When he finds it, he is happier about that one sheep than about the other ones that stayed and did not wander off (Matthew 18:12-14).

This is a heartfelt reminder to you, the reader of this current paragraph, that you are that "very special single sheep, that very special single person" that Jesus Christ came to Earth and died for so that through His death and His resurrection, you may live forever and have "everlasting life" (John 3:16).

This is the main goal of our Lord Jesus Christ. He came down and died for every single one of us, and He wants to make sure that we all come home where we belong. We are His, He is ours. And we belong to the Great Family of God. Church is the place where the believers of Jesus Christ come together to have fellowship, to be refueled, to be updated, to be mentored, to be uplifted, to be strengthened, to be taught for their spiritual growth. Accepting Jesus Christ in your hearts by faith as your Redeemer and as your Savior is your starting point of your professed faith.

On the third day after His death, Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. He has conquered the grave and has demonstrated that His Omnipotence is real and indisputable. The work He came to do is now completed and is now sealed by His resurrection. He then went to meet with the disciples, restored His disciples' faith, gave His final instructions, empowered them to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:16-20/The Great Commission). In return, the disciples full of zeal, full of life, full of power, full of assurance, full of faith are overwhelmingly motivated to do the work of God and to perform as it was expected of them, and as it was mandated to them. They were full of enthusiasm because they have seen the evidence of the piercing mark on His hands, of the piercing hole on His side. They were full of devotion and they began to share and to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others without fear, without shame, without doubt, but with boldness, with passion and with conviction.

We also believe in Him, in the veracity and in the power of His resurrection. That is why we have taken the solemn initiative to write this blog in order to share the Great Love of Jesus Christ with all our Readers, to seriously manifest and to prove our commitment to all of you, and to reassure our willingness to reach out to non-Christians, to those who are asking, seeking and knocking, and also to backsliders, those who, for whatever reason, wandered away from the faith, from their fellow believers and from their creed.

He has risen (Matthew 28:6, 7) and His Mission on Earth is accomplished. As Jesus Christ's Disciples, Our Mission towards you, our Fellow Humans, and towards you, our Blog Readers, has just begun. This is a New Beginning. All must know that Jesus said: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). All must also know that Jesus Christ is Love. He loves each and every one of us unconditionally without any discrimination, without any regards of geographical location, or of your actual faith position, or of your spiritual standing, or of your actual creed that you profess, and where you belong: He Loves Us All. He has opened His arms to accept you, to embrace you, to give you rest, to infuse you with His divine joy, to fill your hearts with contentment and with happiness. Officially, we all belong to Him. It is up to us now to make the switch, to move towards Him, to accept His Love. Just come to God now as you are, all of you who are asking, seeking and knocking (Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9,10), all of you who are weary and burdened (Matthew 11:28), all of you who are wandering away (Matthew 18:12-14), and wandering around, and all of you who are ready and willing to repent and to turn your life around (Luke 15:4-7). Just come Home where you belong, and let a New Chapter of your life begin to unfold significantly to your surprising realization and to your joyful amazement. It is a Guarantee.

We suggest that you look for a Home Church, and that you connect to your Church Pastor who will mentor you, guide you, teach you, water baptize you, and put you on a new path towards your divine and heavenly destiny. We recommend that you go to a Church where the Death and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ are being preached, where the Word of God is the Fundamental, the Foundational and the Essential Teaching, where the Bible is the Final Authority, and also where Water Baptism by Immersion is administered. (Jesus Himself was water baptized by immersion by John the baptist; Matthew 3:13-17). Your rewarding, enriching and uplifting journey as a New Christian has just begun. Welcome Home!

We wish you a Happy Easter and a Happy Rejoicing in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter 16

Strengthen Our Bond

Our existence is full of elements, full of ties, full of circumstances and full of attachments that cause us to drift away from the center, from the core, and from the Source of Life and Power. Consequently, we end up missing out, we end up missing the mark, we end up losing on the very essence of what we were originally designed for, of what we were created and entitled to be, to do, to inherit, to accomplish, to carry through.

Jesus said: "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). And, in the light of that quote, we confidently suggest the reading of the whole section of John 15:1-17 which is highly-recommended, greatly-insightful, and that is an absolute "must-read".

This is a remarkable teaching and a very serious reminder from Jesus Himself to His disciples to stick to Him at all costs, to remain close to Him, attached to Him in order for them to grow, to remain alive, to continue to have life spiritually, and also for them to be able to bear fruit.

As Jesus' present-day disciples, our lives are certainly full of circumstances that have the main plan to uproot, to sever, to tear apart, to rip apart, to break, to distort, to distract, to destroy, to choke life, to clog the flow of substance, to hinder progress. to impede advancement, to block vitality, to prevent creativity, and to sap productivity. The list of negatively-impacting consequences can go endlessly. Therefore, inversely, this statement from Jesus is also a cautious warning for us not to sidetrack, not to be flaky, not to fume, not to fret, not to give up, not to backslide, nor to quit because of a little futility, or because of a futile, a senseless or a trivial incident that may be easily brushed off due to our Elevated Standing in the Light with Jesus. We then remain firm, strong, confident, faithful, steadfast, prayerful, resolute, and immovable.

One of the greatest benefits of remaining in Jesus Christ is this: by staying solidly and strongly attached to Jesus we become immune from being dead spiritually although, in our body, we are alive, living and breathing.

When we are strongly connected to Jesus, i.e., us in Him and Him in us, the constant and continuous flow of life, of productive action, of positive outcome, of recurrent vitality, and of helping and saving power, is definitely and infinitely guaranteed.

Because we are seriously and genuinely in Him as He is truly in us, His Love in us and flowing perfectly and powerfully through us allows us to begin to love others naturally. We then feel compelled to be caring, to show kindness, to display and to manifest courtesy, to accept our responsibility to be peacemakers, to manifest great interest in the well-being of others and of our society. We begin to create ways to make a positive difference, to make a long-lasting impression, to have a positive impact, to build a safe, peaceful and sound present, to lay the strong foundations of a great future, to construct a solid and worthwhile legacy. We are always looking for ways to reach out, to mend, to nurture, to support, to encourage, and to uplift. We are always creating opportunities to be light, to shed light, to manifest light. Life with all its precious elements and components becomes our utmost priority. As a perfect analogy, and for the sake of comparison, that connection is like a symbiotic connection as opposed to an osmotic connection, or like the tight connection of a fire hose to a fire hydrant with its valve fully open. In the latter comparison, we (humans) would then be the fire hose, and Jesus would be the fire hydrant with His valve of perfectly-flowing Love and Power totally open.

Since God who created this world has placed us in the world, and since we gradually understand more and more that we are His representatives here on Earth, our role then has taken a totally-different meaning and a totally-responsible turn towards serving Him and towards fulfilling our mission here on Earth.

Our connection to Jesus is the state where substance abounds, where peace blossoms, where confidence is evident, where creativity is eminent, where growth is achieved, where love is profusely generated, and where power prevails. We are then able to just "be fully" all we are meant to be. Therefore, this is the state of full self-acceptance, and also the state where we naturally share the love that has been generated, imparted and stored in us. That is why, as a vital reminder, we individually have no need for strife, for dread, and no necessity to envy or to hate out of fear, out of jealousy, out of intimidation, out of lack of awareness of "one's own loving supply", or out of insecurity (due to lack of self-confidence) because, as we are in Jesus, we are automatically in the source of light, in the generator of life, of joy, of substance, of confidence, of faith, of creativity, and much more.

On a more beneficial side and connotation, what apparently is bad, negative, harmful, tricky, and what normally was supposed to mess us up end up being a blessing in disguise. They have become the cause of new possibilities, of renewed power, of endless opportunities, the new source of inspiration and of creativity, the realization and the awareness of hidden, innate, inherent, and intrinsic capabilities and potentials, and, more importantly, the confirmation of God's power, protection and preservation at work. Since we are connected to the Master Creator of Life, we are, therefore, constantly in the automatic state of fully-being, of overcoming, of self-renewal, of self-development, of victorious living, of self-growth, and of divine covering.

Some additional points for us to remember and to remind ourselves as part of being connected to Jesus are:

  * We have increased motivation to love fully, to live joyfully and to create productively in spite of, and in the midst of any forms of short-term, passing, temporary, and fading adversity.

  * We know that sunny and better days will always supersede and will always replace cloudy moments.

  * Worrisome events and circumstances are allowed by God for the purpose of testing, of buffeting our faith in Him, and for our sheer growth (spiritual, emotional, personal, and so on).

  * Our current exuberant joy will always outweigh all instances of past pain, of previous disappointment, and of outdated sadness of yesterday.

  * Our optimism and our forward-going attitude, although mysterious and puzzling to many, always triumph, always prevail, always succeed, and always conquer in the face of uncertainty and in the midst of trials and testing.

  * We always have a reserved supply of happiness inside of us that is available and ready to be tapped into at any time, and at any short-moment notice. It is up to us to be aware of it, to draw from it, to activate it, and to utilize it on due times, and as it is required.

  * Renewing our mind is the key to our victory in our God, Jesus Christ, and is the essential element to overcoming, to prospering in peace, and to winning at all times. Renewing our mind also prepares us for higher level of unprecedented accomplishment, achievement, miracles, insight, understanding and revelations.

  * Education is the greatest tool that is available, the most valuable asset that we possess and that should be maximized, updated, upgraded and upheld for our self-protection, for our strong standing, for our self-defense, for our self-worth, for our personal happiness, and for our self-advancement.

  * Since we are so individually loaded and so personally blessed in Christ and through Christ, there is absolutely no need for irrelevant competition against one another. Instead, we focus on completing each other for the sake of togetherness, for our Love for Christ, for our tangible progress, and for the sake of our Mutual Love and our Long-Lasting Peace.

  * God is the Creator of the whole universe. Therefore, being connected to Him makes it "absolutely normal and totally acceptable" to prosper in all things, to be great, to think big and rich, to have big dreams, to entertain big ideas, to have and to work on great designs, on great products, on big projects, to be bountifully fruitful, to consider building cities with large highways, subways and tunnels, to build churches in order to teach Peace, in order to be an additional solution to communities, in order to rescue innocent people and the lost that deserve to know better, and that deserve a better life with Secure Peace, with Greater Sense of Self, with Elevated Hope, and with Secure Access to the Light and Additional Education.

  * God has not put any limitations or boundaries to our capabilities. The proof is, Jesus Himself said to His disciples: "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." (John 14:12) (Full Context, John 14:5-14). Therefore, we will consciously maximize and expand ourselves in many ways, shapes and forms by increasing our faith, by boosting our self-confidence, by igniting our passion, by widening our vision, by sharpening our focus, by activating our determination, by exercising our capabilities, and by applying our positive actions.

We Strengthen Our Bond with God in doing the following:

  * By reading, meditating on, and studying the Word of God, the Bible.

  * By praying to God, and by expressing our gratitude to God for ALL He has granted to us, for ALL He has blessed us with, and for ALL He has done for us, from the smallest, the minute, to the biggest things.

  * By acknowledging God at all times, and by not taking Him for granted.

  * By pleasing God in all our ways.

  * By loving our neighbor as ourselves.

  * By reaching out to our neighbor in Peace and with the intention to interact, to support, to encourage, to help, to create relationships, to bridge differences, to establish connections, and to build togetherness.

  * By assessing ourselves constantly, and by correcting ourselves always to allow for God's greater intimacy with us.

  * By asking God for forgiveness for our sins, by repenting always, and by being in good terms with God to the best of our abilities.

  * By being a Good Samaritan, i.e., a voluntary solution to someone else in their crucial moment of need for help. The Parable of the Good Samaritan is found in the Bible in Luke 10:25-37.

  * By apologizing to our neighbor, to our brother, to that stranger when we are wrong, or when we have wronged them. It is real, noble, and commendable to admit and to acknowledge our mistake, our wrongdoing, to submit ourselves to godly humility, and to take the concrete, the positive and the mending action to apologize for the sake of Peace, faster healing, psychological and emotional restoration, forgiveness, divine mercy, reconciliation and moving forward.

  * By being attentive to God's voice, by being obedient to His instructions, and by following through.

  * By being willing to serve Him with all our skills, gifts, talents, and with whichever tool He has placed in our hands, to work for Him, to be His hands extended, to love on His behalf, to be Peacemakers, Instruments of Peace, and by focusing on Him.

  * By showing Renewed Appreciation for the Governance, by having High Respect and High Regards for Authorities, and by Showing the Utmost Respect for God: "So give back to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." (Matthew 22:21) (Full Context, Matthew 22:15-22). Our Love for God and our Love for our Country are of Highest Value, and of Significant and Noble Importance.

  * By practicing humility, by showing kindness, goodness, gentleness to all at all times. Kindness, goodness, and gentleness are also called and referred to in the Bible as the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) (Full Context, Galatians 5:13-26).

  * By interceding, by manifesting compassion, by lifting up, and by boosting up the destitute, the outcast, the fallen, the sick, the needy and the poor.

  * By sharing and by giving to others with "no strings attached". We are blessed in order to have the ability and the willingness to bless others as well. Otherwise, we somehow block and clog the flow of supplies coming to us and that were intended to flow continuously through us. Jesus said: "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you". (Luke 6:38).

  * By becoming God's Sons and Daughters ready to live fully, ready to go into the world, and prepared for our full heavenly inheritance. Therefore, we accept Jesus Christ in our lives as our Lord and Savior, we go to Church as full participants, we receive the Water Baptism, we shape up our lives, we live our lives in compliance with our Sons and Daughters High Standards, High Class, High Quality, Growing Maturity and Self-Respect. The Church Pastor and the Church officials are ready to embrace us royally, are rejoicing for our decision to participate and to integrate, and are happy to welcome us "Home" where we truly belong.

This above list is very concise and comprises a reduced number of what can be done to Strengthen Our Bond with God. Much more remain to be done as we take on our responsibility to improve, to correct or to change the course of our lives, and as we decide to live effectively and richly in God as per His original plan for us.

It is a very beneficial and a great phenomenon to be connected to the Generator of Life and to the Source of Light. That is why we must and we shall Strengthen Our Bond with God, Jesus Christ, who is the KING of kings, and the LORD of lords. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (of life and of all things). In Him there is Love, Peace, Restoration, Security, Life, Light, Solace, New Beginnings, Strength, Perseverance, Reconciliation, Protection, Confidence, Forgiveness, Courage, Compassion, Hope, Prosperity, Bright Future, Direction, Empowerment, Focus, Wealth, Joy, Passion, Purpose, Growth, Everlasting Life, and much more. In Him we are completely whole and greatly powerful as we remain receptive to His Love, grateful for His provisions, obedient to His instructions, submissive to His commands, attentive to His voice, and in absolute synergy with the Holy Spirit.
Chapter 17

Forgiven and Restored

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" (Matthew 5:9).

"Peace, I leave with you; my peace I give to you" (John 14:27).

"Peace" is defined in the dictionary as "the state prevailing during the absence of war; harmonious relations; freedom from disputes; the absence of mental stress or anxiety; the general security of public places; a treaty to cease hostilities".

This is everyone's dream to have peace, to live in peace, to enjoy peacefully the fruit of our labor and to utilize the income we earn for the primary purpose of our living and our existence. Humanity's dream, purpose, decision, ultimate and higher goal are to work laboriously like God who, according to the Bible, has completed the creation of this world we are all living in six days (Genesis 1:31) (*1). Humanity's purpose is also to earn "uprightly" our money, to prosper as per God's plan for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11), to raise our families, to be an asset and to have positive impacts in our society and in the affairs of the world, to leave a legacy, to leave our mark(s) like "good-standing" achievers (publicly-known or otherwise), to elevate, to uplift, to support, to guide, to positively influence, to help others, and to make sure that individual growth and collective stability are achieved, maintained and sustained.

It is absolutely refreshing to know that we have contributed to the creation and the stability of Peace, and to the stabilization of strong and Peaceful Standing. It is also uplifting to enjoy the intrinsic reward and the extrinsic expression of joy as a result of our good deeds. The genuine smile on the innocent face of a child is absolutely beautiful and sublime. The peaceful satisfaction, the liberating rejoicing, the rewarding accomplishments and the fulfilled living of an elderly that enjoys their latter days of joyful and peaceful serenity are extremely inspiring. That youth that is full of life, full of vibrant energy, full of hope, full of effervescent potentials, full of developing dreams, full of blooming achievements, is a remarkable picture to cherish and to share with others. The interactivity of our productive lives where mutual exchange, intuitive or negotiated understanding prevail on a human level, and also where cross-border, international and global trades are skyrocketing at the societal level, is healthy, striving, flourishing and flamboyant. We are all happy and we all contribute individually to the wellbeing of our collective and strong economy where no one is left behind. This is the goal, this is the ultimate plan. This is "not" a futuristic dream. This is our human and continuous course of action with our progressive and tangible achievements in mind. This is a component of our earthly mandate.

On the other hand, the fact of being disenchanted and dissatisfied with oneself, or with things, or with circumstances, or with conditions, or with realities, or with our actual position, or with our current status (which is absolutely normal and okay if it stimulates positive creations, creativity, enhancement, and motivates development and improvement) is not in itself an excuse, a justification and a license to create havoc among us or around us. Those of us who have been through deep grief like the survivors of earthquakes, or hurricanes, or tornadoes, or Tsunami, or floods, or catastrophes, or calamities, those who are grieving over their personal losses, their financial losses, the loss of their families, relatives, neighbors, coworkers and friends, (plus the related traumatic and long-term effects, consequences and aftermath), they have learned painfully and they have managed to cope with the terrible pains they have to endure and to live with for years. Time, adequate and proper support have eventually helped them to overcome their sad and tragic experiences.

The Highly-Respected, Highly-Regarded and Highly-Appreciated War Veterans with their divinely-resilient hearts have conquered and overcome, and have taught us (our generation) determination, courage and resilience. We Honor Them and we Thank Them for their sacrifices and their bravery. The Dignified and Valiant Men and Women in Uniform (wherever they serve) have learned to cope and to adjust the course and the reality of their lives with respect to their professional and imperative duty. They are, on an all-encompassing scale, "Agents of Peace", educated, trained, prepared, empowered and mandated to defend, to protect, to establish and to maintain Peace, and so they do with decisiveness, responsibility, passion, dedication, Excellence and a blessed commitment. We are honored and grateful to say deservedly an All-Time "Thank You" to Them, and to pay an All-Time Tribute to Them for Their Faithful Service.

Those who, in this shaky and unstable economy, have the misfortune to lose thousands and millions, they have found their way to cope with the losses of their hardly-earned money, and they do not go ahead on a rampage or create havoc around them. God has blessed them with the ability to survive their losses, and has granted them "Peace" with the hope of making a stronger comeback, and with the assurance that, as long as they are alive and breathing, they can make it back up even higher than before, like in the case of Job in the Bible who lost it all and, in the end, was restored bountifully. "The LORD restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before" (Job 42:10). His divine restoration was also coupled with blessings of highly-esteemed uniqueness: "Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job's daughters" (Job 42:15). The Bible states that "The LORD blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the former part" (Job 42:12).

All this is to say, to reiterate and to confirm that "all things are possible with God" (Mark 10:27) (*2). And when we have God in our lives, it is truly better and easier to cope, to be healed, to overcome misfortune. We are then able, by divine design and by faith, to go through all adversities and we can transcend all adverse life situations and conditions. That is exactly one of many reasons why it is greatly beneficial to be a Christian. Once we become Christians, our studies, our training, our individual experiences, our victorious triumph through the Holy Spirit encourage us to believe, to understand and to know that "in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). Therefore, the pain, the challenges, the trials, the testing, the work we do for Christ and with Christ in mind have become our motivation and our propeller. And the positively-impacting results will last for all eternity and forever. Consequently, our focus automatically changes, our priorities become laser sharp, our goals are more precisely-shaped, tailored and directed, and our lives take on the true meaning they were intended to have.

This is to invite all those who are disenchanted, dissatisfied with things and all those who are angry with the way things are in their lives, or around them, or about them circumstantially, to instead reconsider their actions towards doing good, towards designing Peace, towards being "Peacemakers" (Matthew 5:9) now for the sake of saving time, of saving money, and with the main intention of being productive. This is our very special request addressed directly to you that are dissatisfied to be more constructive, to contribute to stability, to avoid or to stop havoc, to redirect that valuable energy that you possess towards doing what is more meaningful such as feeding and educating the poor and the needy, or rescuing desperate lives that right now depend solely on you. Try to imagine and to think about the many lives you can improve by shifting and by redirecting your abundant energy towards feeding ten people, or fifty people, or one hundred people, or thousands of people. Our communities, our society and our world would definitely be a "much better place" by your added contribution and participation.

To those who are unhappy with themselves and to those who are deeply angry and dissatisfied all the time, this is a reminder that Professional Help is available, that Spiritual/Christian Counseling and Spiritual/Christian Guidance are also available towards overcoming frustration and towards learning sound anger management. We also recommend that they take concrete, positive and tangible actions towards changing, and towards reversing a personal or a typical trend.

We encourage you to consider this case and to learn from the writer of this blog. I, the writer of this blog, have many and many reasons to be angry, mad, frustrated, upset, and the list goes on. Instead, with the help of Jesus Christ, I have managed to become a better writer sharing my blogs with "great readers" like you as my Volunteering endeavor, I have managed to have my own YouTube Channel as my hobby and my favorite pastime, I am studying and learning to improve myself constantly, I am playing music weekly to give praise and thanks to God, and I am also working to earn my living. Things are not always easy, or rosy, or smooth. Nevertheless and as a result of my resilient steadfastness, I am happier and happier. Why? This is because the past is behind me and is gone, the present although full of challenges is nonetheless wonderful and worth living, the future is bright, beautiful and greatly promising.

All this is because God is in charge and is in control of my life, and also, because I am in control of my chosen actions, of my emotions, I make up my mind to overcome. I choose to do good because it is simpler, easier, more peaceful and more rewarding. I surrender myself totally to God and I let Him deal with everything that appears to be of gigantic proportion to me, yet that is, in fact, way too small, way too insignificant to Him: God is bigger, omnipotent and far above all things. The Bible states that "there is a time for everything, and there is a season for every activity under the heavens" (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Therefore, there is a time to stand and fight the battle like David against Goliath, there is also a time to take a strong stand in the spiritual (while remaining firm in the natural), to do our part (prayer, fasting, intercessions, supplications, and so on), and to let God take over the fight Himself. Once we hear from God and follow faithfully His instructions, the "landslide and triumphant Victory" is a done deal.

The very thing that came to mess up, to belittle, to put down, to shipwreck and to destroy is the very thing that shall become the booster of our ethical character, the evidence of our magnanimity, our faith motivator, our footstool (Psalms 110:1), the catalyst and the reason for our deliverance, and our strategic propeller. Therefore, like an eagle we rise above it, like a king we reign and rule over it, like a conqueror we overcome it, and like a blessed entrepreneur we succeed and prosper "abundantly" in spite of it and because of it (Jeremiah 29:11). We learn and we know that we should not create mischief, chaos, havoc or schemes. It is a pure waste of our time, a waste of God's time and resources, and a waste of everybody else's asset, energy, money and time. Instead, we redirect and utilize anger, frustration, upset and destructive feelings for our better good through the use of our positive power that is within us, and through our ability to recycle, to reuse and to transfer positively that renewed energy. Again, since God is with us, "we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37) (*3). As a result and all along, we win, we succeed, we do better, we are ahead in life "again", and we make it higher in life "once again", strong, plain and simple.

Imagine reusing our financial resources towards adopting orphans, towards helping and providing for children in need, or towards funding (or building) schools for children without hope. Imagine creating heart-filled and good-willed foundations, and providing a means for children to go to school and to be fed for free with our own money. What a wonderful and eloquent gesture of love it would be, and what a powerful transformation it would create and generate! On behalf of those "in need", we thank All the Great Minds and All the Great Thinkers who already engaged in such a life-saving and altruistic endeavor. May God Bless You.

We are already thanking God for the compassionate hearts. We are also thanking God for mending, for healing and for switching the hearts of the "disenchanted and the dissatisfied" people to becoming "Happy Philanthropists" with Divine Love in heart, with Pleasing God in mind, with "Improving Lives" as their motto and their mantra, with "Making Peace" as their New Mandate. We have great faith, and we know it is achievable and that it can be done. We believe in God's capability and in God's miraculous power to change your hearts. We also deeply believe in your willingness to turn the course of things around for the greater good and for the peace of mind of the majority. After all, you are a Leader with tremendous capabilities to impact things since God, our Creator, has given you free choice, has invested you with power, and since He has been waiting for you to behave and to act differently, to regain your senses, to use your sound mind right after someone like us tells you that He, Jesus Christ, does love "you too". He loves you so much that He died "for you as well" on the cross, and His Love is encompassing enough to include, to incorporate, to embrace "you as well" with open arms and without any form of discrimination against you and against nobody.

God wants to replace your logical and justified anger, your pain and your frustration with His Love in your hearts from now on. God wants you to know that it is better, simpler and more rewarding to do good as opposed to designing harmful, disturbing, destructive plans or schemes that have no real and long-lasting benefit at all. We all must win since we are in it together, since you are no longer alone, and since you are "not a minority of disliked people". We truly Love you, we Respect you, we have already Accepted you in our Peaceful midst and in our accommodating company where you can be all you were meant to be, and also where you can use all your brilliant knowledge, your remarkable resources, your skills, your talents, you inner savvy, your energy, your focus, your passion and your drive (technological, culinary, esthetical, artistic...) for the Greater Glory of God.

Knowledge is power. Awareness is light and exposition, and leads to turnaround, to change and to repentance. Forgiveness and pardon for sins committed are also free gifts from God available to all sinners with a sincerely-repentant heart. The woman caught in adultery (*4) was about to be lapidated by the crowd. Yet, she was publicly forgiven and restored by Jesus who said to her: "Go now and leave your life of sin" (John 8:11) (*4-1). Therefore, we urge you to repent today for all the wrong you have committed, to accept our personal forgiveness and to receive God's forgiveness that is immediately available to you.

We encourage you to consider this genuine request so that you may seriously and earnestly seek God, in order for you to be divinely-constructive, and to genuinely become a "highly-esteemed builder" with divine eternity in mind. It is truly worth it. And the benefits and the rewards are all yours to keep and to enjoy forever. Jesus Christ said: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest". (Matthew 11:28). With this sure and secure assurance promised in the Bible, we deliberately and widely open the door, we sincerely open our arms, we extend our inviting offer and our ushering hands to you so that you may know officially and publicly that we love you, and that we would like you to have a better life and to experience a different and joyful living. God wants to use you to impact and to change the lives of other people as He did with Apostle Paul (formerly known as Saul of Tarsus), and as He has been patiently waiting for you for the longest while.

This is your decisive moment to accept Him into your life as your personal Savior, to embrace humility, to show and to confirm to God, Jesus Christ, that you are serious, that you mean business for Him and for yourself. He has demonstrated to you with His own life that He truly loves you. He has proven it publicly on the cross. Now it is your turn to do your part and to accept His Love being offered to you for free with no strings attached. We urge you to repent for any unpleasant actions and to turn your heart and your life around for your own peace of mind, for your clear conscience, for your own freedom from personal guilt, and for the Glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Your serious commitment will determine your everlasting reign with Him in Heaven because your genuine acceptance of this invitation and of this offer will grant you and will "reactivate" your kingdom Status.

"You are a king". That is why "Jesus Christ is the King of kings, and Lord of lords" (1 Timothy 6:15). Which means, in this very specific context, that the capital letter "K" in the word "King" and the capital letter "L" in the word "Lord" belong solely to Jesus Christ and refer to His Deity, while the small letter "k" in the word "kings" and the small letter "l" in the word "lords" do apply to you, to me, to all of us who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior. Therefore, this is your divine and golden opportunity right here, right now. Just get a hold of it, and do not let it pass you by.

We are rejoicing for you already for your accepting this invitation. We are celebrating with you all the way to Heaven. We officially welcome you back into the Family of God, to your restituted "Kingdom Status" and into the ranks of the Redeemed Believers of Jesus Christ. You are now fully, officially and divinely Restored onto our Lord Jesus Christ.

May God Bless You and All Your Family. Congratulations! You made it!
Chapter 18

Only God

The following is the result of insightful meditation, of conclusive observation, of spiritual revelations, to our inquisitive search and quest for answers. We have come to realize, to be convinced, and to concur that ONLY GOD is Capable and is Able:

1. To Please Fully and One Hundred Percent.

2. To Give and to Confer True Value.

3. To Grant Real Significance, plus Deserved and Genuine Prominence.

4. To Bestow True Anointing and to Impart Real Power.

5. To Guarantee Fully-Undivided Attention.

6. To Fill Hearts and Lives with Complete Satiety.

7. To Satisfy Deep Longing.

8. To Fulfill Frantic Search and to Fully Meet Earnest Seeking.

9. To Stop All Tears and to Replace Sorrows with Rejoicing.

10. To Fill One's Void with His GREAT LOVE.

11. To Give Joy and Peace beyond Measure.

12. To Make One Whole and Totally Complete.

That is why, One should:

1. Turn Completely and Faithfully to God.

2. Embrace Jesus Christ Fully and Wholeheartedly.

3. Cling Life-Savingly to God, Jesus Christ.

Then, ALL THE ABOVE (And Much More) Will HE GRANT Naturally and Effortlessly.

Until then:

1. One is simply wandering and turning around and around.

2. Intrinsic Needs will "Not" be "Fully" Met.

3. Deep Heart's Desires will "Not" be "Fully" Satisfied.

Again, Only God, Jesus Christ, is Capable and is Able to Give Such Provisions, to Guarantee Such Fulfillment, to Dispense Such Healing, and to Perform Such Miracles. The Bible says:

"Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." (Psalm 37:4).

"Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33/Full Context Matthew 6:25-34).

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." (Hebrews 11:6).

Therefore, one's Faithful Decision to Cooperate, to Yield, to Connect, to Believe, to Accept, and to Embrace Jesus Christ in one's Life constitutes in itself the "Tangible Proof" of Illuminated Wisdom Elevated at its Highest. Subsequently, the Gain, the Victory, the Satisfaction, the Joy, the Completeness, and the Peace of Mind (to name just a few elements and blessings that form the whole divine package) are Immeasurable and Absolutely Priceless.

Jesus said: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:28,29).

In other words, what humanity is diligently seeking and is deeply longing for is readily available in Jesus Christ. Humanity has simply to connect, by Faith, to Jesus' LOVE, to lay hold of, to take possession of what is already theirs, which has been made available to them and for them, and that has been awaiting all along, free of charge, and without any hassle or sorrow, i.e., Joy, Peace, Truth, Life, Light, Salvation, their Inheritance of the Eternal Life (John 3:16).

Therefore, let us Be like a Faithful, a Skillful and an Informed Diver, and, by Faith, let us Take the Plunge into Deeper Life, and let us Immerse Ourselves into Greater, Better, Larger and Richer Living with Jesus Christ.
Chapter 19

Focused and Vigilant

Here we are, joyful, happy and excited. We are outside of the tunnel. Things are going great in our lives. Our families are doing very well, are celebrating and are having fun. We have reached the significant milestone that we have long envisioned, and we are living in the Glory of our God Jesus Christ. Everything is in "perfect divine order", and we could not ask God for any better. Our days are filled with joy, with sigh of relief, with satisfaction, and with rejoicing. We are singing and humming great songs all day long. The air is filled with celebration. We are happy. We are "in heaven" on earth.

On a spiritual level, we are praying, we are fasting. We are giving thanks to God, and we are asking God for directions, for deliverance, for more covering, for insights, and for many other things, including for healing for the sick, and for "our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). We are getting great dreams, great visions, great revelations, and great testimonies. Life is great. Life is beautiful.

* * *

Ding-Dong! Ding-Dong! Ding-Dong! Ding!

This is the alerting Sound of Alarm. Watch out and Be Careful!

This is exactly the time and the moment to be watchful, to be vigilant, to be on guard, to keep our ("spiritual") guard up, and not to be naïve. When it is the least expected, anything can happen as per the devil's plan and timing. Our laurels, our celebrations, our accomplishments, our rejoicing, our achievements, our good times should not sidetrack us, should not diminish our vigilance, and should not hinder our forward thinking. This is a very realistic perspective based on the current and daily realities all around us. That is why, on a very serious and proactive note, the sooner we accept Jesus Christ in our lives as our Lord and Savior, the sooner we get water baptized, and the sooner we secure our eternal place with Him in Heaven, the better it is for us. There is no other "wise choice", and there is no "better alternative" or "better guarantee".

* * *

Job's case in the Bible is a prime example to illustrate the previous statements. The Bible describes Job as a blameless, upright, God-fearing, evil-shunning, and the greatest man among all the people of the East. Based on the size of Job's wealth and possessions, we may confidently say that he was also a very hard worker (Job 1:3). Job found himself as Satan's testing prey and destruction spree, and in one day, he lost all his possessions, including his children and his servants (Job 1 / Whole Chapter). Later, Job was afflicted by some serious illness that has kept him in an extremely lamentable condition (Job 2 / Whole Chapter). The Lord has, without any doubt, granted permission and the liberty to Satan to put Job to the test because the Lord was very sure and very confident about Job's wholehearted position with respect to Him, and also about Job's faithful heart condition and his loyal connection to His Divine Love.

Let us examine, for example, this hypothetic scenario. Let us suppose that one of us, right after accepting the Lord as our Lord and Savior, right after being filled with the Holy Spirit, and right after being full of the overwhelming joy of the Lord in our lives, finds oneself innocently and randomly on the devil's roaming path, persecution list, and testing spree for absolutely no reason at all ("like in Job's case"). What would our normal human reaction be? What shape would our prompt frustration take? What would our spontaneous and impulsive decision be? Perhaps some of us would simply give up and flatly backslide at the "early stage" of their "initial walk" with the Lord. Perhaps some would begin to resent and to doubt God out of their "tender faith." Perhaps some would even begin to question God's promised protection and His anticipated willingness to shield us. Our multiple, unthinkable and indescribable thoughts, reaction and decision throughout the whole ordeal go far beyond our human imagination.

The Bible, in 1 Peter 5:8, warns us to "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." Based on that powerful reminder, and in the light of that insightful teaching, we have to be on guard against all the devil's sneaky tricks, subtle baits, soothed tactics, smooth approach, scheming language, crafty advice, flattering strategies, enticing offers, illusory propositions, vain and void proposals. All of these are to cause us to stagnate (or worse, to go backward), and to be fruitless, and to be without success, and to literally fail. In John 10:10, Jesus said: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." In John 16:33, Jesus also said: "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." Therefore, by deduction, we also shall overcome. In James 4:7, it is written: "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

It is very important to note that this thing, that circumstance, that situation, that condition, that accident, that cancer, that tragedy, that disease, that specific person, that hospital case that would be the instrument, or the bad tormenting spirit, or the unwanted sickness, or the parasite/bullying/controlling spirit, or the disturbing element, that would come to mess us up, to destroy our peace, to steal our joy, to shake our confidence and our belief in the Lord, to be the tool used in our testing, and that are assigned and sent against our strong standing, against our strong establishment in the Lord, against our real advancement, and against our evident prosperity, could be in our immediate environment, in our own surrounding, in our own backyard, in our own families, in our own bodies, in our bloodline, or wherever we may happen to be, to dwell, to attend, or to shop. That is why we shall be on guard, we shall always be protected by the Shield of Faith, we shall be armed with the Sword of the Spirit that is the Word of God, we shall be constantly and continually in Prayer, and we shall be ready to trigger our Potent, our Reacting, our Passionate and our Vehement Prayers in any split-second notice as per the Holy Spirit's warning and alarm sounding. Our key to Victory and our main course of action in our daily walk with the Lord are to be aware, to be impregnated with Faith, to be prepared to face, to cancel any burst or any attack, and to be Spiritual/Prayer Warriors ready to smash, to paralyze, to pulverize, to nullify by Faith and with our Prayers any ("malicious") schemes, any ("sneaky") intrusions and any ("sudden") attacks of the devil in our lives.

Furthermore, the attempts of bullies and parasites to uproot, to derail, to sabotage, and to mess up our lives out of jealousy, and out of envy, shall have the totally-opposite effect, and shall produce the consolidating and the reverse positive result of strengthening us, of invigorating us, of empowering us to our divinely-predestined Position of Conquest and Victory, and to our divinely-bestowed Anointing of Power, of Authority, of Motivation, of Superiority (i.e., the Best, the Highest, the Top) (Deuteronomy 28:13), of Determination, of Elevation, of Inspiration, of Increased Productivity, of Enhanced Skills and Trades, of Higher Education, of Greater Performance, of Higher Abilities to create and to innovate, of Divine Blessings (Deuteronomy 28:1-14), and of Blessed Prosperity (Jeremiah 29:11). Like in Job's case, all this is possible and is consistent with our godly nature and with our divine capabilities to withstand, to endure, to persevere, to strive and to triumph in spite of extreme adversities and in the midst of extremely adverse conditions, situations and circumstances.

The Glory of the Lord that we are carrying makes us a prime attraction for the devil's multiple forms of distraction due to his covetousness, due to his envy, and due to his laziness. If we take the bait and fall into the devil's net or trap, we are finished and done with. However, and on a highly positive note, our ability to avoid the devil's traps, to stand firm, to remain unshakable, and to rise up above the devil's multiple forms of snares and pettiness, makes us invulnerable. This is also where the battle for the Lord is gloriously won in full confidence, in absolute conviction, in our total surrendering to the Holy Spirit instructions and Leading, and in the steadfast assurance of our Complete Victory. The Spirit of the Lord that we are carrying in us makes us invincible, and enables us to shame the devil and to nullify his wicked attempts to destabilize us from our strong standing in the Lord.

Job's wife went on to the farthest extreme to suggest to him to "curse God and die" (Job 2:9). Job's friends have themselves widely speculated on the reasons and the causes of his afflictions. Job himself had some ("respectful") ideas and comments of his own regarding his turmoil. Yet, above all, Job did not sin against God. He kept his Upright Faith in God, he nurtured Great Hope, and he lived with the Firm Confidence of a Better Tomorrow while he maintained his Faithful and his Fearful Connection to God. Surely, Job was not disappointed. The Lord, obviously, was very angry with Job's three friends (Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite). In the end, The Lord has doubled Job's previous possessions, and has given him twice as much as he had before his ordeal. God also increased Job's life with longevity, and blessed him with new and beautiful children (the "talk-of-the-town" type children) (Job 42 / Whole Chapter).

Like Job, we will be victorious at the end of any ordeal that we are facing, and at the end of any testing that we are undergoing. We have to truly understand that our current testing is "just a drill", "just a temporary phase", and it is NOT a long term or permanent losing battle. That is why we are fortunate to have the Bible, to be able to read the stories in the Bible, and to remind ourselves that our valiant, faithful, fearless and powerful Biblical Patriarchs and Ancestors have gone through the same testing long before us, and they have overcome, they have conquered and they have emerged victorious. We also, with the Power of Jesus Christ in us, and with the Leading of the Holy Spirit, we can, we will and we shall overcome and conquer above all the devil's battle against us to crush our spirit, to subdue us, to mess us up, and to gain control over us. The devil is already defeated in our lives because, fortunately, we know better, and because Jesus Christ has made a public spectacle of him by conquering the grave, by His resurrection from the dead, and by proving and confirming that He (Jesus Christ) is higher than any opposition, stronger than any opponents, and more powerful than any opposing forces in our lives.

Our tears, our sorrows, our sufferings, our miseries, our losses today, although very sad and very painful, will slowly and surely decrease, diminish, disappear, and will make way for brighter days and for greater moments of contentment and of rejoicing in the Lord. Like in Job's case, God will bless us manyfold: our losses will be compensated, our torment will cease, and our discomforting sickness will vanish by faith and will be replaced by our total healing. They are the prelude to our greater happiness in the Lord, to our deeper rejoicing, and to nicer and greater things to come tomorrow. God will give us solace, the encouragement and the comfort that are required for us to remain strong and to go forward in Complete Peace. In Isaiah 9:6, Jesus Christ is also called the Prince of Peace.

We will learn and train ourselves to be focused and to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ without wavering. We will also practice to be on guard, to be vigilant against any attempts, and against any forms of distraction from the evil one. In Jesus' prayer legacy to His disciples (and also to us), it is written, "Deliver us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:13) because Jesus knew of the power of the devil to shipwreck us and to destroy us. Fortunately, we have Jesus Christ to be with us, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, to warn us, to lead us, to protect us, to prevent us from falling into the devil's traps, to stop us from taking the devil's bait, to avoid us from falling into the devil's temptations, and to make us the Valiant Conquerors that we are in Jesus Christ.

It is reassuring to know the end long before the beginning. It is also encouraging to foresee the victorious outcome while we are being tested, and while we are in the midst of it all. The end is that the devil is defeated long before he even begins his battle against us. The end also is that, as we remain focused on Jesus Christ, faithful to our calling, and steadfast to our mandate and to our duties, we have already won against all the unforeseen, derailing and upcoming attempts from the devil. We Have Won, not by being naïve, but by being aware, prepared, and ready to put the devil endlessly to shame and under our feet where he belongs (Psalms 110:1).

Let us enjoy our well-deserved Victory in the Lord. Yet, we got to remember and to remind ourselves constantly and always to be Alert, to be Focused, to be Vigilant, to remain Steadfast, and to stand Firm in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Chapter 20

Evidence and Confirmation

Jesus Christ is "the King of kings and LORD of lords" (*1). Whenever we say God, we totally mean and automatically refer to Jesus Christ who is "the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End" (*2). Jesus Christ is the Creator of this world and we live based on His Kingship and according to His Majestic Sovereignty.

As King, Jesus Christ, our LORD, left His Kingdom in Heaven, took on human form (since we are created in His image and in His likeness) (*3). He came down to Earth to restore humanity back to its kingdom status that was lost due to the original sin in the Garden of Eden. Faithful to His reputation and consistent with His mission, Jesus Christ did exactly what He came down to Earth to do. He went through the whole process of living as a man in a human body, from His birth in a manger to His death on the cross. On the third day following His death, He rose again (*4) by conquering death and the grave, and confirmed that He is, in fact, the indisputable Son of God, the Messiah that was prophesied about in Isaiah 53.

His resurrection is the evidence that His Care and His Love for humanity are far greater than anything the human mind could ever conceive. His resurrection is also the confirmation of His Omnipotence and of His Deity. His death to pay the price for our sins, for our failures, "for our iniquities and for our transgressions" (Isaiah 53:5) does speak volume. Our gratitude towards Him is to accept, to acknowledge, to appreciate, to cherish, to embrace, to nurture, to preserve, to receive, to treasure and to uphold that invaluable and priceless Gift of everlasting life (*5) that we have inherited from Him for Free. Since Jesus hates sins (our human deeds) and loves sinners (all of us), there is absolutely no reason at all for one man to hate another human being. This should not be justifiable. Normally, in an absolutely-perfect world, the words hatred, envy, jealousy, covetousness and all their derivative and related cousins such as strife, backbiting, animosity, antagonizing, and so on, would never exist. Jesus took care of all our turmoil when He died on the cross so that we may live in perfect peace among us and in mutual harmony with one another. And this is what we are commissioned to do, and this is what we are going to continue to do: to love one another as Jesus loves us, to live in harmony with one another, to do good at all times, to foster and to usher Peace as much and as often as possible. In Isaiah 9:6 Jesus is also called the Prince of Peace. Since we are followers of Jesus Christ, and as we are emulators of Jesus' example, we must demonstrate it to the whole world so that the whole world may learn from us and begin to emulate on their own what we are practicing, i.e., Interactive Peace and Mutual Love.

The Peace we are talking about is a very special kind of Peace. This is a Peace that comes from within based on our conviction, on our assurance and on our confirmation that, in fact, the Spirit of the LORD lives inside of us. When we are water baptized and that the Spirit of the LORD comes inside of us, we are not the same person anymore. Our body becomes the temple of the Living God (*6), we are transformed to His spiritual likeness and our lives witness, testify and reflect the Majestic Glory of Our God which we are carrying and displaying. Once we are one with the LORD in Spirit by our unity with Him (*7), we are able to behave like elevated kings on Earth, because we are Royalty, and we are able to take care of our Father's business with full maturity in making sure that all is in perfect order and well cared for, that lives in the Kingdom are preserved, treasured, appreciated and protected as per our calling, as per our responsibility, and as per our Father's expectations. God has bestowed upon us power and ability to take care of His business. And we will have to "give an account of ourselves" (Romans 14:12), of how well we did, how productive and how constructive we were, how laboriously we occupied our time, how much care we have offered and provided to our fellow humans, how many lives we have improved, how much love we have shared, how much joy we have dispensed and given.

All this is possible based on how much we love our Father in Heaven, how close we are to the Creator of all things, how much intimate relationship we have with our LORD Jesus Christ, how attentive we are to God's voice, how diligent we are in obeying God's requests and in following His instructions, how serious and how obedient we are with respect to His commands. There is no commandment greater than Love. "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength". "Love your neighbor as yourself" (*8). Since we love ourselves so much to the point where we will never harm ourselves, our own body, our own being, likewise we should promptly and spontaneously offer the same love to our neighbor with the same capacity, with the same measure, and with the same intensity. Therefore, we must Respect others, we must Accept them as they are through Jesus' eyes, we must Respect their existence and their lives, we must Protect them as part of our mandate, and we must Avoid Harming them at all costs, in whatever shape and form, and in conformity with Our Godly Nature.

Jesus said "If you love me, keep my commands" (John 14:15). Jesus also stated: "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me" (John 10:27). Jesus also added: "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd" (John 10:16).

We shall be on guard, train ourselves, gird our hearts, master our thoughts, monitor our emotions to avoid falling at all costs in the trap of hatred (either initial or reciprocal). Those who hate impulsively for whatever reasons, those who envy out of jealousy, and those who covet with the desire to prey on the treasures, the possessions and the blessings of others (instead of creating, developing, generating and managing their own) have no peace at all. They do not know God, they live without God in their lives, they live in mental and tormenting misery, they are empty on the inside, and they are desperately longing for and eagerly seeking God, our God Jesus Christ who is The Only God capable of coming into our lives through our obedient and yielding co-operation, and who is able to heal our hurts and our wounds, to fill our void with His indwelling through the Holy Spirit.

Lost and Satan-manipulated people forgiven by Jesus while He was agonizing on the cross ("Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing") (Luke 23:34), empty, hungry and thirsty people that are living in multiple forms of darkness and cravings, should not have to suffer the pain and the affliction caused by emptiness, or due to the lack of knowledge, due to the shortage or the scarcity of the right information, and due to the lack of pure and comforting love. That is why, as Jesus said to "Go, make disciples of all nations, baptizing (**) them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" (*9), we are going wholeheartedly into the whole wide web and into the whole world sharing voluntarily the Love of Jesus Christ so that, through that Love that surpasses all understanding and that is without any comparison at all, suffering may cease, hatred may disappear, harmony may be fully established in our society and in the whole world.

As we earnestly share the Love of Jesus Christ with others, and as, in their search and in their quest, people pray fervently to God asking Him for pure and convincing revelations of who He is, Jesus Christ will surely bring the Light to dispel their darkness, will reveal the Truth and the Life to fill their emptiness, and will show the Way that leads them to Eternal Life (*10). As more and more people are convinced that Jesus Christ exists and is the Supreme Lord, hatred will vanish, peace will be instilled, lives will be transformed, divine love will be embraced, practiced, mutually shared, and inner emptiness will be replaced by the infilling and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Persuasive Truth about the Lordship of Jesus Christ will then fill the Earth.

What humanity is eagerly and frantically seeking is immediately available, is within their reach, and is ready for them to accept and to embrace in due humility and in full ownership. That is why we will continue to do our job to spread the Comforting Love of Jesus Christ, to share Jesus' Compassion "peacefully" with others, and to make sure that ALL are ready to inherit the Everlasting Life as it is promised in writing (*5). As the Good Samaritan, out of compelling compassion, voluntarily offered his help to someone in need (*11), we will voluntarily continue to offer the Love of God to others indeed as it is expected of us (*12), and in a Friendly, Respectful and Peaceful Manner. This will be the Evidence of which God we are following and serving, as this will also be the Confirmation that we are True Ambassadors of our Living LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ, the God of Peace, the God of Calmness and Stillness, the God of Peaceful and Meaningful Relationship, The God of Enlightening and Creativity, the God of Liberation, the God of Poise, the God of Pure Joy, the God of Resources and Riches, the God of Satiety, the God of Celebration, the God of Healing, the God of Forgiving Love, the God of Classic Nobility (*13), the God of Jubilee.

* * *

Reference List / for Evidence and Confirmation

(*1) Ref.: The Holy Bible, 1Timothy 6:15.

(*2) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Revelations 22:13.

(*3) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Genesis 1:26-28.

(*4) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Matthew 28:5-7.

(*5) Ref.: The Holy Bible, John 3:16.

(*6) Ref.: The Holy Bible, 1 Corinthians 6:19 & 20.

(*7) Ref.: The Holy Bible, 1 Corinthians 6: 17.

(*8) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Mark 12:28-31.

(*9) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Matthew 28:18-20.

(*10) Ref.: The Holy Bible, John 14:6.

(*11) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Luke 10:30-37.

(*12) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Luke 10:37.

(*13) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Matthew 27:57-60.

(**) Special Note

Please refer to the Pastor of your local Bible-believing Church who Preach the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, for the Water Baptism process and for the Follow-Up steps at your earliest convenience. It is worthwhile, very joyful and strongly encouraged. Or, you may also refer promptly to your Chaplain or to your Spiritual Leader about the matter depending on your Professional, or on your imperative, or on your circumstantial location. Thank you and Rejoice!
Chapter 21

To Agree and Disagree in Love

It is absolutely wonderful to have a great friend that is there for you, that is "not" backing off at anything and that is "risking it all" to help, to save, to protect, to defend, to rescue and to fight for another friend regardless of the cost, regardless of the outcome. It is very commendable to be a "good Samaritan" that is prompted to care for, to intervene impulsively, compassionately and wholeheartedly, and to be the solution to someone else's ordeal (*1). It is also greatly amazing and uplifting to be the recipient of such unique acts of faithfulness, of bravery, of strong support, of selfless stand when it is least expected and while some around you seem distracted (or careless), unconcerned, detached and preoccupied by other priorities.

Territorial governance and dominion, however, demand that the integrity often called upon and requested be nurtured and preserved, and expect (or dictate) that the required acknowledgement be respected, honored and upheld for the sake of strong standing, for the sake of peace and stability, and for the sake of evident establishment ("of the governance"). It is written to "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's" (*2). Therefore, one got to do what one got to do for the convincing proof of support and for the evident manifestation of protection to the innocent, the abused, the wrongfully and the unfairly victimized. We must fulfill our duty with dignity, poise, firm belief and decisiveness.

Recently, I totally disagreed with one of my friends, and I have taken a strong position against his deliberate decision to take a defensive stand on my behalf (genuinely yes, yet controversially) in his blog. Nevertheless, my respect for him remains unchanged. He was able to demonstrate to me that he is indeed a man who believes in individual fairness. He has taken the compelling steps to do the tough thing and to defend what he believes from his standpoint as a "good Samaritan" and as an advocate for fairness "despite some unknown". That is why that friend is a man of great and uncommon ethics. Despite our slight disagreement about that specific subject, and despite my subsequent and resulting response, he has nevertheless maintained his strong position of respect in our friendship.

It costs to be a singular man of great caliber regardless of the resulting controversy, and it pays to be an unusual man with strong backbone. In the spirit of mutual forgiveness, I offer a sincere handshake to that friend, that supportive man that took the unusual yet controversial stand for my sake when I least expected it. A "good Samaritan" remains a "good Samaritan". Our good deeds are mainly and primarily to please God. And this is our intrinsic reward that fosters our inner Peace.

* * *

(*1) Ref.: The Holy Bible/ Luke 10:25-37.

(*2) Ref.: The Holy Bible/ Matthew 22:15-22.
Chapter 22

Our Motivational Zeal

As a pilot skillfully and knowledgeably flies an aircraft in all weather conditions relying faithfully on the navigation instruments, as a racing car driver brilliantly drives that racing car with an amazing dexterity and in a fabulous synergy, so is a Christian at the hand of God, Jesus Christ, through the leading and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When perfectly in tune with the Holy Spirit, a Christian knows insightfully well how to hear God's voice, how to follow God's instructions and how to adjust the personal course of their life to suit the plan of their Master, Jesus Christ, on a daily, hourly and constant basis. The Children of Israel (the Israelites), under the Leadership of Moses, have experienced that exact fact and knew exactly to move forward while they were being chased and pursued by Pharaoh's (Egyptian) army, and as they were being protected and led by God ("The I Am Who I Am") (*1) in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night (*2).

"Like the feet of the deer" (*3) God will guide us through all our endeavors as we learn to listen and to hear His voice. It is an individual thing, yet it is a mutual endeavor between God and ourselves as each human being has been created, called and chosen by God to play our specific role and to fulfill our special duties through the use and the application of our divinely-entrusted abilities, gifts, talents and intelligence. Our Motivational Zeal, therefore, is to Please God and to Do God's Will obediently without asking God why, and without questioning God's Sovereignty.

Joshua (*4) was instructed by God to do the most unusual and irrational exercise, i.e., to march around the walls of Jericho seven days and seven times each day. On the last day, at the end of the seven-time march, everybody shouted as directed and the walls of Jericho collapsed. That was an example of practical obedience.

Ananias (*5) was told by God to pray for Saul of Tarsus, blinded by God Himself, while he was on his way to Damascus to persecute the Christians. After Ananias finished praying, Saul of Tarsus, who later became Paul the Apostle, did regain his sight miraculously as per God's plan. That was an example of reverential obedience.

Has God spoken to you to do something, or to release something, or to correct something in your life, and you either refuse to obey or you decide to play the deaf ear? You have then decided to hinder and to forfeit the plan of God for someone else's life, for yourself or for a great divine purpose. Can God count on you when you are the only one he has for that specific assignment? Can God count on you regardless of how minute, how insignificant, how absurd and how strange the assignment may look to you, or regardless of how grandiose, how scary or how tough the assignment may appear to you? Your job (our job) is to say "Yes, Sir" and to follow through by using your valiant and gutsy faith.

Queen Esther said: "If I perish, I perish" (*6). Yet, by faith she succeeded in her endeavor and saved her people ("the Jews") from being annihilated by Haman's plot (*7).

The clay does not question the maker. The slave does not question or argue with the master. We should not argue with God, we shall obey His commands. God's results and success depend on our ability to hear and to apply the instructions that we receive from Him, and on our willingness to execute and to obey the orders that we get from Him. People will be saved, lives will be spared and restored, peoples' living will be improved, and failure and chaos will be avoided if we are willing to do and to act exactly as per God's instructions or commands to us. All the answers, all the cures, all the solutions, all the creative ideas and all innovative developments are available in God as we ask and according to our state of preparedness and readiness to receive them. Are we ready to receive them? Are we ready to be stretched to receive more and to do more? Are we willing to humbly submit ourselves to God's personal training, to do the required and expected sacrifices in order to be able to hear, to pick up, to receive, to apply, to execute God's commands and to fulfill God's mandate to us regardless of our incomprehension or the outcome? Do we want God's full, complete and encompassing results or do we satisfy ourselves with our own, limited, seemingly-complete and so-so results? Are we ready to meet the requirements for God's outpouring of harvest and for God's downpour of blessings, goodness and forgiveness into our lives, both personal and collective?

It all starts with a simple act of kindness towards our neighbor, with a simple expression of love and appreciation towards God and towards a complete stranger, with the offering of a glass of water or of a loaf of bread to someone in short-term and temporary need, with the visualization or the dream of seeing our brother's future smile and our neighbor's upcoming happiness as a result of our sharing and our giving to them. It continues with the outcome resulting from our tangible and concrete action to fulfill that visualization and to make that dream (our dream for them) come true and become a reality. It also continues with our desire to be God's extended hands to others, to someone else, to a total stranger, and to do things, to help and to serve others with no strings attached, without any expectations of any forms of return from the recipient(s) of our acts of kindness. It is the complete release (the "let-go" action) of our loving kindness to others. This is also the willingness to be a solution or "the solution" according to our blessing to others, according to our level of doing, of giving, of sacrificing or according to the extent of our sacrificial doing and giving to others as per our heart's compulsion. That is the constant and steady beginning of the gradual and effective training to be ready for God's trust in us and for His subsequent entrusting assignment(s) to us for His greater purpose and for His evident glory. Interestingly, surprisingly and on a convergent note, the bible states that if you "Give, and it will be given to you" (*8). Therefore, each wholehearted Giver is an automatic Winner according to God's rewards system.

We are talking here based on our own personal experience. As a part-time Christian Missionary abroad, I, the writer of this blog, know what it is to make sacrifices out of obedience to God, out of embracing my mandate and out of giving and caring for others in need. In so doing, I do not think twice and I do not hesitate (on those appointed times) to take my own savings money, or my own retirement savings, and my own vacation time from my regular place of employment to go and do the will of God towards others. When I come back home from those trips, not only I do not feel tired at all (since I leave my workplace to go to work somewhere else abroad), but also I am joyful and doubly motivated to work more and harder. Why? Because I have seen the tangible results of my time, of my money and of my energy investments in the life of others, I have seen the smile on those faces, young and mature, I have seen pain eliminated, I have seen their joy to receive the services, our kindness, the supplies (goods, medical / medications, eye glasses, toys, et cetera) that we deliver to them. There is no price tag, no "auction price" and nothing big enough to beat my joy (our joy) and my sense (our sense) of accomplishment. In this very specific case, the word "our" represents our Team and our Group of Traveling Missionaries under the Exemplary Leadership of Our Church Founder / Senior Pastor. It is investments well made, well carried out, well directed and well operated. We ALL made the equal sacrifice individually towards that common and collective goal. And we thank God for choosing us and for giving us the Golden Opportunities to serve, to do His will, to share His Love and to be His hands extended to others.

Until we learn to freely give, to freely release and to freely let go onto God of the actual and valuable things in our lives for divine purposes, God is not going to bless us Fully, or to trust us Fully with greater assignments, or to release onto us nicer and bigger things of higher quality and of greater value that we long for ("the desires of our hearts") (*9). Our divine purpose and our divine prosperity will be somehow "unnoticeably" limited and not fully developed and magnified. Therefore, let us begin to freely release and to freely give to God through the life of others and through our own endeavors, and let us begin to bless one another as soon as possible so that our wealth and our prosperity in God may be increased far beyond our greatest imagination. The writing and the sharing of this blog are the practical example of what we are talking about.

We understand that some of us may have been deceived, stolen from, taken advantage of, used, abused, played by tricksters, misled, badmouthed, resented and befooled before. Nevertheless, let us not stop there. We are not going to be consumed by self-pity or to cry endlessly over the bad experiences of yesterday that would keep us back forever and render us permanently cold, indifferent, bitter and stagnant. We cannot and should not withdraw ourselves now, or get into a long-term reclusive state in our hearts either while putting on a happy front. We are valuable life changers and others in need count and depend on our kindness and compassion. Let us begin to do again, to give again, to share again, to have faith again, to trust again, to love again, to have passion again and to care again. After all, it is not about us. It is about God's Love to others through us. It is also about healing, restoring and "building up" others and ourselves. The world can be and got to be a better place. We can make it happened as we truly devote ourselves in making the dream and the desire become a reality.

People might make fun of us, ridicule us, laugh at us because our obedience to God's voice, to God's commands and to God's instructions to us is too high, too advanced, too elevated for them to grasp, to understand and to comprehend. People may not have understood Noah either when he was told by God to build the ark (*10). Nevertheless, let us not be distracted by people's ridicule. Let us take action based on what we heard from God. The results will soon amaze and astonish them all, those mocking observers, those discouraging spectators and those sarcastic distractors that said (in their limited and "presumed" science) that it cannot be done, that we cannot do it, that it is too big, too wonderful and too grandiose for us to do, to achieve or to accomplish. Very confidently and very convincingly we say loudly and decisively to ourselves and to the whole world: "Yes We Can". The Bible states that "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me" (*11), and also "All things are possible to him who believes" (*12).

Our Motivational Zeal, again and again, is to Please God and to Do God's Will. We urge you and we encourage you, our Faithful Readers, to follow our example and to do the same. The beginning might be uneasy and shaky as this might be a new territory or a new endeavor to some people. Nevertheless, try it gradually anyway. Practice makes perfect. Before you know it, you will be like that mature and experienced eagle that soars freely and confidently in the sky. You have absolutely nothing to lose. You are an Instant Winner in God. Therefore, let us, by Faith, do what we are called, mandated and trusted to do for the Glory of our LORD, Jesus Christ. Enjoy!

* * *

Reference List / for Our Motivational Zeal

(*1) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Exodus 3:14.

(*2) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Exodus 13:17-20 (The Crossing of the Red Sea).

(*3) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Psalms 18:32 & 33.

(*4) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Joshua 6:1-27 (The story of the collapse of the walls of Jericho).

(*5) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Acts 9:1-19 (Conversion of Saul of Tarsus); Acts 9:19-31 (Saul of Tarsus began to preach in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ).

(*6) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Esther 4:1-17 (Queen Esther's determination to save her People (the Jews).

(*7) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Esther 7:1-10 [Haman's plot revealed to the King (King Xerxes); Haman is impaled on the pole he had set up for Mordecai]. The whole book of Esther is wonderful and is a recommended reading.

(*8) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Luke 6:37 & 38.

(*9) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Psalms 37:4.

(*10) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Genesis 6:1-22.

(*11) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Philippians 4:13 (New American Standard Bible).

(*12) Ref.: The Holy Bible, Mark 9:23 (New American Standard Bible)

P.S.: I have worked as a (non-medical) Support Volunteer / Traveling Missionary being part of a Medical Mission Team.
Chapter 23

Our "Best" is our "Offering"

Happy New Year and Thank God for this New Year full of hope, full of goals, full of plans and full of expectations. Success is surely guaranteed by faith.

Life is beautiful. I am in love with life that is full of endless possibilities as long as one decides, focuses and determines to do good for God, for others and for oneself. The means and the tools that we use for our good deeds are also numerous, endless and unlimited. For the purpose of this blog, I am using my writing skills and abilities. When I play music, I use my instrument and my playing skills. If I were a chef or a cook, I would use my cooking skills and my recipes. The hairdresser employs their stylist's methods and their designing skills to create wonders on people's hair and to make them look their best. And the list goes on endlessly. There is nothing too low, nothing too pejorative, nothing too small, nothing too big or nothing too high when come the time and the opportunity to help one another, to serve and to render service(s) to one another. We use the instrument of our divinely-entrusted abilities as a means and as a token of giving, of mutual exchange, of reciprocal trade to the highest quality possible. In some way, somehow, in whatever form or format, we help or serve someone else as we benefit from someone else's services, abilities, profession, trade, calling, compassion, encouragement and support.

It is noble to do our best, to offer our best and to give our best in all cases and at all times. Our best is the reflection of who we are on the inside. It is the genuine purity of our "God-created" nature (unless it has become corrupted or defiled by negative input or by bad influences). God creates only the best. That is why He dearly expects the best to come out of all of us at all times, which is an inherent component of high quality. Our offering to God and to one another should simply and truly reflect the best in our nature and should not be tinted with mediocrity, with pettiness, with selfishness, with malice or with wrong motive.

Two brothers (*1), in the Bible, brought their offering to the LORD. The older brother, the soil worker, brought some fruits of the soil to the LORD. The younger brother, the flock keeper, also brought offering to the LORD: fat portions from some of the firstborn from his flock. The LORD looked with favor on the younger brother and his offering, but on the older brother and his offering He did not look with favor. So the older brother was very angry, and his face was downcast. And, since the older brother could not take it and could not live with the fact that his younger brother has earned greater favor from the LORD, he decided to just kill the younger brother instead of managing his anger and waiting for the next opportunity to impress the LORD and to touch the LORD's heart with his subsequent offering.

All of us humans have received great favors, great healing, amazing blessings, great protection, insight, revelations and guidance from God. In our excitement, in our joy, in our impulsive act of giving back, in our state of being overjoyed, some of us choose to give passionately to God as a proof of high appreciation, as an act of reverential thanksgiving, or as an act of opulent gestures of worship to God. The act of thanksgiving may take multiple forms which also include manifesting philanthropic kindness towards humanity, supporting a worthy humanitarian cause, or being a Good Samaritan to others as needed. Opulent offering to God's eyes may also take the form of presenting our "absolute best" while we are in our lowest state in our life, and out of obedient and faithful giving to the LORD (*2). It is a pure and impulsive love expression that comes straight from the heart.

I, the writer of this blog, am the recipient of enormous protective favors from God which include: [1] my life being spared from several catastrophic car accidents out of which I escaped without a scratch on my body while my cars are totally wrecked, [2] my face and my head being second-degree burned from hot fluid/antifreeze splashing out of the radiator overflow tank of my car, of which God has healed me and gave me a brand new face (*3) with my full complexion, a little darker, but not spotted or disfigured as it was supposed to be as per the usual circumstances. These are just a few cases that I decide to name in this blog.

Out of these events, and as a lifestyle of thanksgiving to God, I spent many years doing volunteering work. Later, I became an evangelical Christian with the full spectrum of activities and involvement, including few "part-time" missionary trips abroad, to name a few.

Now, if my thanksgiving gestures towards God were to become the object of envy and jealousy to someone else who does not know my story or who does not understand my real motivation towards thanksgiving, it would have been very outrageous and very insulting to the LORD that would become exceedingly angry and that would deal personally against my covetous neighbor or against my envious and jealous brother. That is why we must strive not to envy someone else's success, blessings, achievement, status, prominence, wealth which may be their divine recompense for their great love for God, and their heavenly reward for their act of obedient kindness to others and of passionate worship to God. When God says about you: "This is my Son (or Daughter); whom I love, with him I am well pleased" (*4), nothing is too big and no status is too high for Him not to give to you. Therefore, His granted blessings into your life are automatically and unstoppably overflowing.

Surprisingly, the insecurity of being envied for who you are and for what you have is a serious threat and is a real impediment to progress, to advancement, to creativity, to peace, to healthy interaction and to productivity. Regardless of which side you find yourself to be, the blessed side or the envying side, just turn your focus towards God to either protect you, or to heal you from your sickening envy and out of your withering jealousy. People pray fervently and study hard to become somebody, people also ask God passionately and work hard to earn and to acquire their properties, their possessions, their money and their wealth. Therefore, to covet and to envy someone else out of jealousy to the point of either disturbing their peaceful lifestyle, either endangering their life, either vandalizing, sabotaging their properties, their possessions, their rightful belongings so that they have to keep on fixing, repairing, replacing stuff, and constantly spending and "losing" money as opposed to truly saving money and ensuring their real financial advancement, is a flagrant insult towards God and a direct assault against God Himself who will deal with it personally. The envious person cannot bear divine fruit (*5) of love, cannot progress, and cannot reap true success, unless they truly repent for their destructive actions.

Someone's "Best Offering" to God, to others, to a worthy cause or to society in general should not be the object of somebody else's envy and jealousy. God is good and merciful. His Protection (to the person being envied) and His Healing (to the envious person) are available to whoever cries out earnestly to Him. God is the Giver of Life and the "Birth-Giver" of a "New Life". Therefore, we must seize the moment and grab the opportunity to deeply cry out for help from God as the blind man (Bartimaeus) did in the New Testament (*6). The victorious result and the glorious outcome are freely ours to enjoy fully. It is all up to us to decide. Therefore, Do Not Delay. Let Us Go For It and Have Peace, Champions!

* * *

Reference List / for Our "Best" is our "Offering"

(*1) Ref.: The Holy Bible/ Genesis 4:1-15 (The story of Cain and Abel).

(*2) Ref.: The Holy Bible/ Mark 12:41-44 (The story of the widow's offering).

(*3) Ref.: Personal Note: I appreciate the latter look of my face more than the former. It is a divine miracle.

(*4) Ref.: The Holy Bible/ Matthew 3:17 / Full context, Matthew 3:13-17.

Note: The word "Daughter" is added by the blog writer for the broad individualization of the application of the quotation.

(*5) Ref.: The Holy Bible/ Matthew 21:19 / Full context: Matthew 21:18-21.

(*6) Ref.: The Holy Bible/ Mark 10:46-52.
Chapter 24

Joyfully Excited

Oftentimes, people do ask me: "How come, Joseph, unlike everybody else, you seem to be always happy and always excited?" Some other people even push their gutsy boldness a little further to bluntly ask me: "What kind of special drug are you on, Joseph, to keep you so excited, so decisive, so motivated, so joyful, so enthusiastic, and so energetic all the time? In these listed cases, and on all the other unlisted occasions, my reply to them is straightforward, plain and simple: "The Power of Jesus Christ in me is the Motivating Factor of my Constant Joy". My answer to them has then become my daily mantra. I go on to explain to them that, since I have Jesus Christ in my life, the Holy Spirit dwelling in me becomes the Generator of my Joy at all times, regardless of the moment, regardless of what I am facing, and regardless of what I am going through. The Bible says in Acts 1:8 that: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you."

Therefore, I remain confident, bold, anchored, full of faith, full of trust, and full of assurance in the LORD. I do not see problems, or challenges. I only see "New Opportunities" to confirm again and again that, in fact, Jesus Christ is The LORD Almighty. With that in mind, my confidence and my faith grow constantly in Him. He has never failed or lost a battle in my life. He is always the Indisputable Winner, the All-Time Champion above the competition, i.e., the odds, the sins, the tricky situations, the entangling circumstances, and so on. He is The Great I AM, The LORD Omnipotent, Omnipresent and Omniscient in my life.

Jesus Christ is, indeed, the God of Joy, the God of Happiness, the God of Excitement, the God of Motivation, the God of Passion, and the God of Peace. He is the God of Compassion, the God of Forgiveness, the God of Beautification, the God of Elevation, the God of Second Chance, the God of New Life, and the God of New Beginning. Jesus Christ is also the God of Resilience, the God of Boldness, the God of Resolve, the God of Determination, the God of Strong Heart, the God of Power, the God of Gutsy Confidence, and the God of Strong and Powerful Faith (Matthew 17:20/Full Context: Matthew 17:14-20), (Luke 17:6/Also Read: Luke 17:1-10).

Do you have a battle, or something seemingly too big for you to handle? Do you have a sickness or a condition that is tormenting you? Do you have some troubling circumstance that refuses to subside or to go away? Are you struggling with some tricky situation, or with some powerful addiction that seems to overpower you all the time? Then, take heart, hang in there, have faith in God, be strong, be patient and be courageous. Jesus Christ is "The Answer" you have been seeking all along. With Jesus Christ on your side, you are not alone anymore. He is your own Strengthening Partner, your Constant Companion, your Greatest Confidant whom you can talk to at any time, in complete freedom, in total openness, in absolute trust, without any shame, without any embarrassment, without any reservation, and without any fear of being wrongly judged or criticized. He is also your own Faith Booster and your own "Faithful" Power Supply. Begin to Trust in the LORD, Commit Yourself fervently to prayer, Present your case adamantly to God with confidence and with expectations, and Let Him strengthen you while He deals with that which seems too big or too strong for you to handle, or to bear, or to control, or to master.

For those of you who do not know how to pray "yet", begin to use and to practice "The Lord's Prayer", that is the prayer model that Jesus taught His disciples (Matthew 6:9-13) and that is also posted on my previous blog entitled "Prayer: Our Duty, Our Mandate". It is powerful, it is effective. Therefore, as you practice reading it and reciting it constantly, you will also learn to memorize it. Next, since you may already own a Holy Bible, or since you may have downloaded a Holy Bible App, you now can also begin to read the Psalms of David that are also prayers that David wrote in many occasions and in his many personal circumstances in his life. Encouragingly, if you are new to the field of prayer, in addition to the "Lord's Prayer" (Matthew 6:9-13), the Psalms are also a vast example to learn from and to adopt in order to suit your own circumstances until you are able to pray freely, easily and more elaborately on your own by using your own words through the Leading and through the Inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Fortunately, if you have someone else (or a group of people) to pray with you, it is also very good. Jesus said: "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20). In Ecclesiastes 4:12, it is written: "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves, a cord of three strands is not quickly broken." We may therefore conclude that you, plus a prayer partner, plus Jesus Christ as the third Entity (or the third partner, or the third strand) with you when you pray, constitute together a very powerful team and a very dynamic combination. However, if, due to the private nature of the moment (in your bedroom for example), or due to the personal singularity, or to the critical, the timely need, or to the impromptu urgency of the circumstance, you are just one and alone to pray, it is also fine as well. Since God is omnipresent (present everywhere at the same time), you are never alone. Jesus Christ is always with you through the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ is "The Definite Answer" to everything we are facing in life. Jesus Christ is also the cause and the source of our joy, of our victory and of our celebration. That is why I strongly recommend that you get quickly acquainted with Him, that you receive Him as your LORD and Savior in your lives as soon as possible, that you go to Church at your earliest (and mandatory) convenience where the Pastor, your Spiritual Leader, (or your Chaplain on-site and on location) will take you through the Salvation process, will teach you the basics and the fundamentals of the Bible and of the Gospel, will explain to you the endless and the priceless benefits for making your Great and Crucial Decision, and will arrange and proceed with your Water Baptism.

It is "A MUST" that you get water baptized to complete and to seal your Acceptance of the LORD Jesus Christ, to confirm and to consolidate the Salvation process that, in turn, gives you and grants you access to greater power, to higher confidence, to closer relationship, and to more intimate communion with the LORD. Instead of being a Year-End's Resolution, or a New Year's Resolution, your Great Decision to Accept Jesus Christ as your LORD and Savior, to Believe in Him and to Trust in Him, to Repent of your sins and to Be Water Baptized, shall be your Today Resolution and your Now Resolution. It is imperative, and it is fully and absolutely recommended. In Mark 16:16, the Bible says: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned". That is why I, +Joseph Dubois, this writer of this blog, personally encourage you to begin the process right away, as soon as possible, and without any delay. This is my urgent request, my best advice, my urgent and my utmost recommendation to you, "Beloved Blog Reader".

In the meantime, "Rejoice in the LORD always" (Philippians 4:4) and as often as possible. Cultivate and maintain your Growing Faith in Him, and know with firm assurance and with strong conviction that, in all our experiences, "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" (Romans 8:37). "With God all things are possible" (Matthew 19:26/Also Read: Matthew 19:16-30). By Faith, your lives will take the positive, the fruitful, the purposeful and the intended turn as per "God's plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11). God will also grant you Peace: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid" (John 14:27). Your Peace will then culminate to generate and to produce Joy, the kind of Lively Joy that causes us to be Joyfully Excited all the time, regardless of the seasons of our lives, regardless of the moment, and to the surprising amazement of many.

We are Joyfully Excited because of our God Jesus Christ who dwells in us, and because He is the Best and the Greatest Gift that we have ever received in our lives. Jesus Christ is real. That is why, we are confidently sharing Him with all so that all may also personally know Him in order to increasingly believe that He is, in fact, Joy, Life overflowing, the Light and the Savior of the world. I urge you to trust in Jesus Christ, to open and to offer your hearts as His dwelling place, to accept Him and to embrace Him in your lives.

Furthermore, I can also guarantee you that your encounter, your knowledge and your experience in Him will be so overwhelming that you will be as Joyfully Excited as I am. In return, your Great Joy and your Joyful Excitement will be so tangible, so convincing, so amazing and so cascading, that you will also be full of zeal and full of passion as I am right now. As a result, you will begin to spread the Love of Jesus Christ, and to share your experience in Him with others passionately and diligently, as I am doing right now through this blog.

To share that Great and Priceless Love, you will begin to create new opportunities, you will come up with new means, you will utilize either conventional and readily-available tools or new tools, you will employ new approach or new method, you will use your skills, your gifts and your talents. You will also practice and exercise respectful manners, dignified ethics, and exemplary conduct, in full territorial respect, and within your available, your permissible and your respectable boundaries. The dignified image of our LORD Jesus Christ here on Earth shall remain Divinely Respectable, and shall retain and maintain its Fully-Deserved Protocol.

Jesus Christ has been patiently waiting for you, "Dear Blog Reader". Therefore, do not delay any longer. Just Go For Your Divine Inheritance! It Is Solely and One Hundred Percent (100%) Yours. I encourage you to Receive and to Enjoy the Best Gift that is being offered to you, that is, the Free Gift of "Eternal Life" (John 3:16). I know you will agree with me that this is the Very Best Decision you have ever made in your life. I wish you All The Best.

Rejoice! Celebrate! Enjoy! And, Cheers!
Biography

About the Author

I am an Altruist. I naturally and genuinely love people. I truly love to see people progress, advance, and succeed, which, I believe, is an Individual Imperative, an Inherent Prerogative, a Personal Mandate, and a Divinely-Granted Gift.

I have done a lot, and I have invested many years working as a Volunteer in Radio Broadcasting, in different social commitments which also include some faith-based activities, endeavors, involvement. My Volunteering Passion is now being used and focused mainly on My Own Endeavors such as: Google+ Page Update, Writing Blogs, my YouTube Channel, and Sharing my "Unique Findings" with Others on my Google+ Page.

I have also traveled and participated to some Missionary Work in India, South Africa, and Jamaica, as a Support Personnel to a Medical / Faith-Related Mission.

I have worked Professionally in the Aerospace Industry. I am now working as a Career in the Aviation Industry.

I love to listen to Music (Jazz, Ballads, Latin, and more), which can also be found on different Music Video Playlists on my YouTube Channel that constitutes my Hobby and my Pastime. I have also played Music, first as a Drummer, next as a Percussionist.

I love to read, and to be informed about Travel and Tourism, Health, Technology, Electronic Products and Gadgets.

I love to write, to communicate, to share, for the purpose of informing, motivating, uplifting, and encouraging others. In my writings that pertain to the public at large, I draw references, and I use Bible stories "uniquely" for their example, for their illustration, for their relevance, which may be applied to our modern times, and to our daily living.

Succinctly, my writings are motivational encouragement tools.

