The LORD is our rock

The words of our LORD are pure words.

My words fail miserably in comparison.

Prior to reading the bible I had been writing poetry as a cathartic exercise to get certain things of my chest. Once I discovered GOD’s Word I decided that my own words fail miserably in comparison. My biting sarcasm did not do much to sooth my aching soul, and winning the odd prize here and there with my poems as listed below only added to my collection of hollow victories.

Thank You Dear In-laws
the year 2000

Thank You Dear In-laws
Thank you for your consideration
Inviting me into your family
I can hardly bare the elation
Such honour for someone like me

Unfortunately …

The warm glow of acceptance
Eluded me
When you hung me of your
Family tree
And watched me die with glee

Even though at the time I felt that these poems allowed me to take some of my power back and gave me a certain measure of control over my life, eventually I realised that victimhood is for losers.

I Majored
the year 2005

After two decades
Of intense study
I majored in victim hood

Chances of success
Not so good

In fact they’re very slim
When you win, you lose
And when you lose,

You win.

Now don’t go telling me that nobody chooses to be a victim.  All I am saying is that once I realised the situation, I picked a different team to play in.

A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

GOD is in control

My own words come from my own limited understanding and the same goes for any other living soul on this planet. Who am I to think that I can add anything useful to the debate, any debate, unless the word I speak is grounded in truth? Who am I to argue with the Creator of the Universe?

Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.

In contrast to my prior struggles I made the choice to join the winning team and haven’t looked back. The following verses we sang most days to remind ourselves that GOD is in control. I cannot express the relief I felt when I discovered that I did not have to carry everything myself. I felt a hundred kilos lighter and that is a big feat for someone who only weighs slightly more than half that at the best of times.

These days when something upsets us, I no longer write sad and biting poetry but instead we call on The LORD and just as with King David, the LORD hears and helps us. Particularly when certain situations, such as described in earlier posts with regards to illness and depression, become overwhelming; the verses below give us the comfort and peace we need to be able to deal with whatever needs taking care of.

 The Lord Is Our Rock

The LORD Is Our Rock And Our Fortress
And our deliver
Our GOD, our strength, in whom we will trust
The horn of our salvation.
Psalm 18:2

Hear Me When I Call O GOD
Have mercy upon me for I am weak
My soul is vexed as are my bones
Heal me O LORD.
Psalm 6:2-3

In Our Distress We Called Upon The LORD
and HE heard our voice
The earth shook and trembled
The hills moved and were shaken.

There Went Up A Smoke Out Of HIS Nostrils
And fire out of HIS Mouth
HE bowed the heavens and HE came down ..
With darkness under HIS Feet..

HE Rode Upon A Cherub – And He Flew
Yea, HE flew upon the wings of the wind
The LORD HE thundered and gave HIS Voice
Hailstones and coals of fi-re.

The LORD Rebuked
HE took me; and drew me out of many waters
HE delivered me from my strong enemy
For they were too strong for me.
2 Samuel 22

The LORD HE Hears
When we call unto HIM
Stand in awe, and do not sin
Commune with your heart upon your bed,
And be still.
Psalms 4:3-5

We Offer The Sacrifices Of Righteousness
And in The LORD is our trust
He hearkens unto the voice of our cry
The LORD receives our prayers
Psalms 4:5, 5:2, 6:9

The LORD Is Our Light And Our Salvation
Whom shall we fear?
The LORD is the strength of our life
Of whom shall we be afraid?
Psalms 27:1

O LORD Our LORD
How excellent is THY Name in all the earth!
In THEE do we put our trust:
Save and deliver THOU us.
Psalms 8:1, 7:1

Thou Hast Put Gladness In Our Heart
We will lay us down in peace and sleep
For THOU LORD only.
Makest us dwell in safety.
Psalms 4:7-8

The LORD Looked Down From HIS Heaven
Upon the children of men,
To see if there were any
That seek HIM.
Psalms 14:2

For THOU LORD Hast Not Forsaken
Them that seek THEE
THOU judgeth that the man of the earth
May no more oppress
Psalms 9:12, 1:18

There Is No Peace For The Wicked
Saith Our LORD
The wicked, said HE, Shall be
Like the troubled sea.
Isaiah 57:20-21

The Words Of Our LORD Are Pure Words;
As silver tried in a furnace of earth,
Purified seven times
Praise ye our LORD.
Psalms 12:6

I Had Fainted, Unless I Had Believed
To see the goodness of The LORD
In the land of the living.
Psalms 27:13

Surely Goodness And Mercy Will
Follow me all the days of my life
And I will dwell
In the House of The LORD
Forever.
Psalms 23:6

The Lord Is Our Inheritance And Our Cup;
THOU maintainest our lot.
The lines are fallen unto us in pleasant places
We shall not be moved.
Psalms 16:8

Wait On The LORD; Be Of Good Courage,
And HE’ll strengthen thine heart
Wait, I say on The LORD
Wait on The LORD.
Psalm 27:14

The LORD Is Our Rock And Our Fortress
And Our deliverer
Our GOD, our strength, in whom we will trust
The horn of our salvation.
Psalm 18:2

We like God’s Word

We like God’s Word because it is alive and truth and from where I am sitting GOD’s Word is incomparable to new age positive affirmation and positive thinking. I’m all for positive thinking but in my case optimism only yielded encouraging results once my positive attitude was solidly grounded in trust and faith and the knowledge that the Creator of our universe hears us and He cares.

As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted …

It is solely my faith and GOD’s Word which kept me alive and turned my life around for good. I have returned to my first love and the roses have never smelled sweeter.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Yehovah is everlasting strength.

all rights reserved copyright 2014 myemmanuel

 

The birth of our banner

God hath made me to laugh

The birth of our banner

God hath made me to laugh and that is the truth which I like to share with my readers. I am head over heels with His Son and His Word and my greatest pleasure comes from sharing this joy. My daughter made me a banner for my blog and it looks like this.

original banner design

 

Banner competition.

Pretty sweet isn’t it? Well, I like it. But she said, “Mum, I think this banner can be improved on, let’s get a second opinion. And she did, get more than one second opinion. The feedback we received is so awesome that I like to share this with my readers, just in case you were ever to need a designer for a banner, check the following designers out first. We’ve only listed the ones which are rated with five stars. Not because we didn’t like the other banner proposals but because the ones rated with five stars were closest to what we’re looking for. All submissions can be viewed at Freelancer but I’m not sure if they may only be viewed for the duration of the competition which will end in a few days.

Look no more

Here’s a link to all banner designers who impressed us with their designs. If you’re looking for a designer for your banner look no more. Below are links to upcoming and also already established designers who responded to our call to ‘improve on this banner’ and I’m sure that they will be happy to follow your brief also. Clicking on the image will take you to the designer’s site.

LFE by Tawfeekamr

LFE banner by HKE Solutions

LFE banner by mrtubblevirgo

LFE banner by GDWN

LFE banner by STORMfang

LFE banner 1 by Amszila

LFE banner by vijayramaswamy

LFE banner by dzsouma

LFE banner by easywebber

LFE banner by Amszila

LFE banner by nalendrash

LFE banner by raqasa

LFE banner by raqasa

LFE banner by DKMarcos

LFE banner by geekytomato

LFE banner by chaselibrado

 

LFE banner by linhsau1122

 

LFE banner by RockingGraphics

 

 

 

Mayhem and curses

The LORD is our rock.

Thou art my praise.

About depression and an antidote to curses.

There has been a lot of talk about depression in the media lately since Robin Williams passing and my thoughts are with his family. May he rest in peace.

These situations affect me quite a bit because of my family history. I’ve shared a little of our family history about depression in previous posts. I don’t enjoy talking about depression and my experiences with it but I know that sharing this information brings about awareness which usually is a good thing. It’s not just depression which affects our mood however, any kind of illness is likely to affect our mood. And even without any kind of illness, we all get down at times and some more so than others.

God’s Word has pulled me out of the miry clay more than once and I like to share some of the Scripture verses we used at various occasions with great success.

Rock bottom.

In the year 2008 we hit rock bottom when we had to move home after I’d been confined to bed for many years prior. When we finally moved I had a pancreatic attack followed shortly after by an inoperable ruptured appendix. You can read more about this in My Story of Survival, God Healed Me, and Live Your Best Life.

It was the first day in our new town and our very first new acquaintances were the ambulance officers who took me to the hospital emergency room. A week or so later, after IV drips with cocktails of antibiotics failed to placate my upset tummy, the hospital sent me home ‘to get well enough for the operation.’

At the time we couldn’t quite figure out what that meant and non-surprisingly my daughters failed to find a GP to come out and do a home visit. They were told that if I was not well enough to get out to visit the doctor, my daughters were to phone an ambulance and get me back into the hospital. Funny that, no one seemed keen to add a ‘goner’ to their books.

We prayed.

We prayed alright and a wonderful homeopath came out to see me at home, prescribed homeopathic pyrogen and cleavers herbs to get on top of the septicaemia and here I am sharing with you some of the Scripture verses that pulled us out of these dark and desperate times.

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever.

Mayhem and curses.

In addition to the above-mentioned breakdown of systems, at the same time we were being harassed by the removalist who refused to deliver a third of our stuff unless we paid him more money; our goods never arrived.

We were also in danger of being thrown out of our new rental because, unbeknownst to us, the bank transfers had hiccuped. We weren’t aware of this because I was too busy trying to stay alive to be bothered with banking details of any kind.

Eventually it all got sorted but only after first a warning was recorded on my rental file and endless phone calls, emails, and letters were sent to and fro between us, banks, real estate agent and owner to clarify what was going on.

In the end we discovered that a bank clerk had failed to notice and respond to the tick for weekly payments and only transferred the rental payments once. And no, the bank never apologised for the failed transfers.

I won’t go into detail about the septic tank not working in our new place for the first year or so and my income stopping due to a business partner doing the dodgy on me. Being deserted by my family for not being able to visit my ailing Mum on her eightieth birthday turned out not to be all bad.

A blessing if you obey …

In addition a helpful ex-partner came to the hospital to see if my kids needed any help to collect my anticipated life insurance pay-out and we also received a visit from a well-meaning Christian assuring us that we’re cursed because we believe in sticking to GOD’s Commandments. He promised us that we’d be fine as long as we’d switch over to church doctrine. According to him, ‘the Commandments had been done away with.’

We must have been reading from a different Bible because my Bible tells me the following about GOD’s commandments;

A blessing and a curse.

Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse 
A blessing, if ye obey the Commandments of the Lord your God …
And a curse, if ye will not obey the Commandments of the Lord your God …

Yes, I know, I know. I haven’t always obeyed the Commandments and was rather embarrassed and dismayed when I discovered that I’ve broken pretty much every rule in the book.  I was much encouraged though when I read about God’s forgiveness for those who are genuinely remorseful and intend to do the right thing.

We love the well-meaning believer who came out to tell us that we’re cursed  because he had the good heart to do a ten-hour-round-trip simply to share with us his understanding of Scripture and what his church told him. He genuinely believed, and possibly still does, that we were under a curse because we do the best we can to follow the rules set by our Father.

We appreciate that from his point of view he is trying to do the right thing but just the same, one only has to read the Book of Job or read about the problems experienced by some of the prophets, and GOD’s Son himself to know that when people experience problems this does not necessarily mean that they are living under a curse. To think that someone is living under a curse because they are experiencing problems is confusing the issue.

I am not saying that there are no consequences for doing the wrong thing in the past, but dealing with consequences because of past actions is completely different from living under a curse.

Antidote to curses.

The following Scripture verses tell us that with GOD on our side, we have no worries. Even if we have mucked up in the past, as long as we try to do the right thing today, GOD will take care of those who oppose us.

Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way … Beware of him, and obey his voice, provoke him not; for he will not pardon your transgressions: for my name is in him. 

Don’t get on the wrong side of our Creator. Do the right thing and you’ll find GOD on your side.

But if thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries …

And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.

The promise is that GOD will bless those that bless us and vice versa.

If you believe that you live under a curse, the following prayer reminds us that GOD turned things for good for a whole nation. With GOD on your side, you know that your worries will be sorted.

The Lord thy God will not hearken unto thine enemy; but
the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee,
because the Lord thy God loved thee.

We prayed a lot.

Did I mention that we prayed a lot? Yes, we prayed a lot and our Maker heard us and turned things around for us for good. You can find out more about my walk with God in the following books; My Story of Survival, God Healed Me, and Live Your Best Life..

Below and in the next post are just some of the Scripture verses which we read, memorized and sang during our low times. These words and promises never fail to uplift and encourage us, and reliably turn things around for better.

Plans for Peace.

I know the intentions which I have for you says Jehova;
plans for peace and not for evil to give you a good future.

Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity …

No Fear.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?

For help with or information on depression visit beyondblue.org.au, the black dog institute, pressonaustralia or phone Lifeline on 131 114.

all rights reserved copyright myemmanuel 2014

 

Mary and the alabaster box

Her sins are forgiven for she loved much.

Some say that there are a couple of different eye witness accounts of the event of “Mary and the alabaster box” in the Bible. We think that there may be four versions. The first account is by Matthew, the second by Mark and we believe the third and fourth accounts are given by Luke and John. Have a read and see what you think for yourself.

Dr James Tabor who is Professor of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina (Christian origins and ancient Judaism) has an interesting blog post on Mary for those who like to read a more in-depth study on the different versions.

What we know is, that when Jesus says that we’ll be remembering Mary, he isn’t talking about his mother. Jesus is talking about another woman called Mary and he says that “her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much.”

Mary and the alabaster box

We love the story about Mary and the alabaster box so much that we decided to do a song about it. Years ago when we started to read the Bible in earnest we were so excited to discover GOD’s rule book. As in, pfew … there are indeed standards in place that we are supposed to live up to as lovers of GOD’s Word. And we were no less excited to find that, hey, there is forgiveness if you do the best you can and yet occasionally muck up.

Mary and the alabaster box
lyrics from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

She put the ointment of spikenard very costly.
She put it on his body for his burial.
Mary wrought a good work on Jesus.
Let her alone.
She done what she could.
Mary wrought a good work on him.
An alabaster box of very precious ointment.
She poured it on his head as he sat at meat.
She done what she could.
She wrought a good work on him.
Mary wrought a good work on Jesus.
Let her alone.
She done what she could.
Spikenard very costly.
With her hair she wiped his feet.
She did it for his burial.
It’ll be told for a memorial.

Matthew’s version

She hath wrought a good work upon me.

Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster box of very precious ointment, and poured it on his head, as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.

When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.

Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.

Mark’s version

Let her alone; why trouble ye her?

She hath done what she could.

And being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at meat, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and she brake the box, and poured it on his head. And there were some that had indignation within themselves, and said, Why was this waste of the ointment made? For it might have been sold for more than three hundred pence, and have been given to the poor. And they murmured against her.

And Jesus said, Let her alone; why trouble ye her? she hath wrought a good work on me. For ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do them good: but me ye have not always. She hath done what she could: she is come aforehand to anoint my body to the burying. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.

Luke’s version

Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much

Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.

There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.

And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?

And he said to the woman, Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.

John’s version

Mary anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair.

The poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.

Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.

Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.
Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him, Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.
Then said Jesus, Let her alone: against the day of my burying hath she kept this.
For the poor always ye have with you; but me ye have not always.

Jesus reiterated what the prophet Ezekiel told us centuries ago.

Scripture tells us about GOD’s grace and His forgiveness and long-suffering nature. On the Sabbath yesterday we listened to another excellent Torah Pearl hosted by Jono from TRUTH2U Radio with guests Keith Johnson and Nehemia Gordon. And one of the references which was mentioned with regards to God’s forgiveness is in Ezekiel where we are told that what counts is the actions we take today. What matters is not where we were or what we did in the past. What matters to the Creator of Heaven and Earth is who we are today. And the actions we take this very day is what determines our destiny.

Jesus prophesied that Mary’s actions would be remembered.

Jesus said, “this, that this woman hath done, shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.” If we assume that the four different versions mentioned above all relate to the same event, then Jesus spoke about Mary the sister of Lazarus when he said these words. Jesus did not say that we’ll be remembering and honouring his mother who was also called Mary.

I want to make this distinction because I was raised a Catholic. As a Catholic I was taught to pray to Mary the mother of Jesus. This meant for me that I kneeled down in Catholic churches in front of mother Mary statues. As a child, on my way to school,  I would often walk into the church, light some candles in front of a mother Mary statue and kneel down on a pew before I’d say my ‘Hail Marys’. This is all right and proper according to the Catholic faith.

During my childhood after we’d been to ‘Confession’ we were told by the priest to say a certain amount of ‘Hail Marys’ and ‘Holy Fathers,’ in order for our sins to be forgiven. The amount of these prayers depended on the multitude and size of our sins. I was educated by nuns. My sins were many, as you can imagine for any primary school aged kid, and therefore my affinity with Mary with the alabaster box great.

What did Jesus say about Mary?

What I am interested in today is not what the Catholic church says about who to remember and how, but what God’s Word and particularly Jesus himself says about remembering Mary (and the alabaster box). Jesus does not tell us to kneel in front of a statue of his mum and pray to her. Jesus tells us that we’ll remember Mary the sinner, a woman who made mistakes, just like I did as a child, and most of us still do a lot of the time.

The good part.

The great part about this event described in Scripture is that Jesus tells us that Mary did a good work, that she did what she could. and for the people around her to leave her alone and not criticise her actions. Mary is called a sinner, which shows us that she mucked up, and probably more than once. Yup, I can relate.
And this Mary anointed Jesus ahead of his burial, and kissed and washed His feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
Jesus says, don’t trouble this woman, she has done a good work on me.

We’re told by Jesus that we’ll remember a Mary who made mistakes but also loved much and had faith. She simply did what she could. And we’re told that because of her good work, love and faith,  her sins were forgiven and Jesus tells her to go in peace.

That means there is hope for all of us. And I reckon that is good news, if ever I heard any.

all rights reserved copyright myemmanuel 2014  –
Song of Mary and the Alabaster Box – lyrics by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John –

 Sung by babes and little children
composed for people is grass – all rights reserved – copyright Elias label – myemmanuel 2010

What is Love? answering Tyler …

If ye love me’ …

 The best piece of marriage advice.

What is the best piece of marriage advice you’ve been given – or have discovered in your own relationship?
Tyler Ward asked me this question after I downloaded his ‘Marriage Hacks: 25 ways to make love last.’ I’ve read through half of the book and come across some great tips; I recommend that you get your own copy. And if you have any thoughts on the topic, please share in the comments.

I am delighted that Tyler asked me what I thought. I am a bit of a sucker for tradition, loyalty and consistency myself and after practicing for 39 years with variable results I’ve gone to babes and little children for advice and come back with the following answer.

How to describe love

One of the nicest ways I’ve heard love describe was by a little child. When the seven year old was asked what she thought love was all about, she wrinkled her nose and stated with authority that, ‘Love is when your name is safe in someone’s mouth.’

Love is when your name is safe in someone’s mouth

I’ll definitely go with that one and will do my very best to keep everyone’s name safe in my mouth. Without a doubt that is what Jesus meant when he reiterated His Fathers Word and said that we are to, love each other and not to speak idle words or call anyone a fool.

To get a better handle on the whole loving and relationship thing I decided to find out more in-depth what our Creator and His Son have to say about love.

Love each other

Jesus taught us in many different ways what love was all about. Jesus told us not to say bad things about each other and He repeated his Father’s Word when He stated that we are to love others ‘as ourselves.’

Jesus personified love. He said, Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends and Jesus proceeded to do just that when he sacrificed his life for the sake of others. Jesus didn’t just tell us what to do, he showed us in action and then invited us to follow Him.

If ye love me …

Did Jesus tell us what love is?

Yes, He did.

He told us that we shall recognise his disciples by the love they have for each other.  And he spelled out for us what we are to do if we want to follow him, if ye love me keep my commandments. This makes it rather easy to detect fakes.

Jesus told all the lawless ones to stay away from him. After Jesus died, his first hand Peter assured Jesus three times in a row that he loved Him. To which Jesus responded, feed my lambs and sheep and follow me. When we follow Jesus we’re expected to walk as he walked.

Did Jesus say that just faith and believing in Him will do?

No, he didn’t. He said like His Father did before Him, if ye love me keep my commandments. Which commandments? The Ten.

God is love

The bible tells us that God is love and that we either love God or we love the world. But to love both at the same time is not possible. If you love the world you cannot love God and if you love God you cannot love the world. This is according to scripture.

It’s the same with our life. Jesus says that those who love their life will lose it and those who hate their lives will keep it unto life eternal. Hating your life is fine.  Hating your brother/sister however will get you in BIG trouble.

God made me to laugh.

When I read those lines, my life started to make sense to me for the first time ever. And once more God made me to laugh! Hahaha, much as I tried to love all the perks of a charmed life, it just didn’t do it for me. How is it possible to love wealth and riches when there is so much unresolved poverty and suffering all around us? Guess who run in rat races? You are very welcome to the bonuses of privileged lifestyles. It just doesn’t do it for me.
God’s Word however I love with a passion, His Son; I’m head over the heels. Hahaha, too good!

So what is the love of God?

According to scripture the love of God is this; that we keep his commandments and there is nothing terrible about His commandments.

What is love?

The bible is very clear about what love is. It tells us that, This is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, that, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

The best piece of marriage advice?

One of my wannabe partners told me, ‘I Could Be So Good For You, love ya like you want me to’ and he certainly made a good attempt. Another told me, Love is doing the dishes. I did all dishes always, by hand and the cooking also; it didn’t keep our marriage together. On reflection maybe we should have gone out more for meals or maybe I should buy myself a dishwasher and get together with a cook next time around. On occasion I still play and listen to both the songs though and think they’re pretty sweet tunes and lyrics.

Here’s my answer Tyler.

So here’s my answer to your question Tyler with regards to the best piece of marriage advice. Marriage is all about love, as is every relationship I’ve ever been involved in. What is love? Love is being good to each other according to the directions given to us by our Creator. Quite straightforward really, a child and anyone with a sincere heart can do it.

The Commandments sum up how we are to love.

It is pretty simple, the Commandments sum up how we are to love.

Our name is safe in the mouth of those who love us because loving people don’t lie, kill, hate, steal, covet and so on.

The Commandments done away with? Not by those who follow the Father and His Son in earnest. Maybe by the holier than thou’s and the lawless ones. And we all know what The Father and Jesus had to say about them.

God knows our heart.

God knows our heart and love is love regardless of colour, country or creed and keeping people’s name safe in our mouth is a good start.

all rights reserved prepared for MosaicHouseCo copyright myemmanuel 2012
re-blogged and adapted with permission from thelordspub Posted: 23 Mar 2012 04:54 AM PDT