JANUARY 2024
Quotes of the month
Our old ambitions and heroic dreams – what years we have wasted in feeding our own insatiable self-pride - when only His will truly matters.
A Testament of Devotion, by Thomas R. Kelly
Don’t do anything in the daytime that will keep you up at night.
Louisiana Bayou saying
It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled.
Mark Twain
Every thought is building your consciousness. Every. Single. Thought. Clean it up.
Make Your Life Worthwhile, by Emmet Fox
Forgiveness summed up in a single quote:
As I walked out the door toward my freedom, I knew that if I did not leave all the anger, hatred, and bitterness behind, that I would still be in prison.
Nelson Mandela
The Trick of Satan
Satan and his apprentices were discussing plans to tempt and ruin man. One said, I know what I’ll do, I’ll tell them there is no God. Satan said, that won’t delude anyone. They know there is a God. Another said, I’ll tell them there is no hell. You will deceive no one that way, Satan said, because deep down they know there is a place called hell and punishment for sins. The last of them said, I know what I’ll do, I’ll tell them there is no hurry. Satan smiled and said, you will ruin men by the thousands. The most dangerous of delusions is that there is plenty of time.
The Body, God’s Temple
by Pastor James Merritt
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
When most of us look at our bodies, we see flesh and bones, hair and teeth, eyes and ears, or feet and hands. But according to 1 Corinthians 6:19, this is not all that God sees when He looks at us. If you have surrendered your life to Christ and accepted His gift of salvation, then you are a child of God. And when God looks at His children, He sees a temple – a temple where His Spirit resides. This means that if you are a follower of Jesus, your body is a place of worship. Just as Solomon’s Temple in the Bible was a place sacred and set apart by God, so is your physical body. The body of every believer is to be a place where God is worshipped and honored at all times. It is not just a temple. It is not your temple. It is God’s temple; this is what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote this verse. As a Christian, God holds the title deed to your body. At the same time that God gives forgiveness for your sins, He takes the title deed to every part of you – soul, spirit, and body. This means that you can no longer say, it is my body, so I’ll do what I want to with it. Your body no longer belongs to you. Since my body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives, it stands to reason that I am to do whatever is holy with my body. As Christians, it is wise to decide whether it is in a physical way, a spiritual way, or an emotional way we never subject our bodies to anything that might be unholy.
Dialogue
by Pastor James Merritt
Prayer is not meant to be a one-way conversation. It is not meant to be a monologue. God designed prayer to be a dialogue. God uses prayer to show us things and tell us things we cannot learn any other way. For this reason, sometimes the best thing we can do when we pray is simply to be quiet and listen. In 1 Corinthians 9:10, we learn that God reveals unimaginable truths to His children through His Spirit. In Jeremiah 33:3 God says He will tell us “Great and hidden things that you have not known.” Both of these passages show us that through prayer, God will show us things that are inaccessible to human intelligence or even human investigation. The greatest knowledge any person can ever have is the will of God. But we will never know His will apart from prayer. The greatest person we can ever know is the Lord Jesus Christ. But we will never truly know Him apart from prayer. The greatest book we can ever read is the Word of God. But we will never understand it apart from prayer. Prayer is essential to every part of the Christian life. I pray that as followers of Jesus Christ, the Church will grow to see prayer as more than a discipline or a duty. I pray we will see it as our lifeline. I pray we will be humbled by the privilege of prayer and moved by the power of prayer. When we begin to see prayer as the channel by which God imparts His will through His Spirit, we will be hungry not only to talk to God, but also to hear from Him. No relationship can grow, deepen, or thrive without honest and regular conversation. Your relationship with God is no different. How often do you talk openly and honestly to Him? How often do you listen for His voice? There are unsearchable secrets awaiting you if only you will pray.
The Teachings of Silvanus
Nag Hammadi Scriptures
Silvanus is consistently called Silas in the Acts of the Apostles, but the Roman name Silvanus, which means “of the forest” is always used by Paul, and in the
First Epistle of Peter, 5:12. It may be that "Silvanus" is the Romanized version of the original "Silas", or that "Silas" is the Greek nickname for "Silvanus".
The mind is the guide and reason is the teacher.
Put on the Holy teaching like a robe.
Throw out the animal nature that is within you.
The Divine Teacher is with you at all times as a helper.
Light the light within you, and do not put it out.
Stop being a tomb and become a temple again.
Knock on your inner self as upon a door and walk within yourself as on a straight road.
Conquer sin through reasoning.
Where Christ is, sin is idle.
Fight the great fight as long as the contest lasts.
First purify yourself from the outward life, that you may be able to purify the inward.
Tired of pharmaceuticals to clear up that stuffy nose – try this
by Frank Paul
I have shared this recipe with dozens of people since I learned of it in 1995 during my first
trip to the Shao-lin Temple in China; and not one person ever relayed to me that it did not work. It is herbal in nature with no side effects, other than it tastes terrible; but it is still better than pumping man-made drugs into your body.
How to herbally dry up sinuses and reduce swelling: purchase a bottle of liquid goldenseal. Just goldenseal by itself. Purchase a bottle of liquid elder. Just elder by itself. Both these herbs are sold in combination with other ingredients, but the concoction works better with just goldenseal and elder. I find them at Vitamin Shoppe, but I am sure they are available at any health food store or online.
The liquid herbs usually come with a vial or small measuring cup. Take one vial full or a third of the measuring cup of each, mix in a shot of water, and chug it down. Do this three or four times a day for three or four days and you should be all set. More often than not, you will feel the effects within a couple hours and may only need to repeat it for a day or so, depending on how sick or stuffed up you are. It is fine for children and adults.
Tidbits
Remember, I am a scribe by profession (modern day word is court reporter), so words are one of my tools. Have a sense of humor.
Interpolation – the insertion of something of a different nature into something else
Paraenesis – advice, counsel, exhortation
Polemic – a speech or piece of writing expressing a strongly critical attack on or controversial opinion about someone or something
Soteriology – the Doctrine of Salvation
Oblation – a thing presented or offered to God
Editor’s note: I use the previous month’s newsletter as a format template when writing the next month’s newsletter, so I do not have to re-invent the wheel. As I came across the “As a Reminder” note from last month, I was going to delete it and add something else. However, I chose to leave it in. Perhaps that should let you know how important I feel it is.
As a Reminder…
If you do not observe the Sabbath as a Sabbath, you will not see the Father.
Jesus speaking to His disciples in the Gospel of Thomas,
Nag Hammadi Scriptures
A Prayer
Almighty and merciful God, the Fountain of all goodness, who knowest the thoughts of our hearts, we confess unto Thee that we have sinned against Thee, and one evil in Thy sight. Wash us, we beseech Thee, from the stains of our past sins, and give us grace and power to put away all hurtful things; so that, being delivered from the bondage of sin, we may bring forth worthy fruits of repentance.
O eternal Light, shine into our hearts. O eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil. O eternal Power, be Thou our support.
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance.
Eternal Pity, have mercy upon us. Grant unto us that will all our hearts, and minds, and strength, we may evermore seek Thy face; and finally bring us, in Thine infinite mercy, to Thy holy presence. So strengthen our weakness that, following in the footsteps of They blessed Son, we may obtain Thy mercy, and enter into Thy promised joy. Amen.
Alcuin 780 A.D.
God doesn’t require us to succeed, He only requires that you try.
Mother Teresa
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