The purpose of this section is to help you deepen your understanding of and relationship with God. God is your Family, and he want you to be a part and learn to live as a member of his Family with whom you are called to live for all eternity. 

I AM YOUR GOD

Speak to Me

The man whispered, "God, speak to me." A meadowlark sang, But the man did not hear. So, the man yelled, "God, speak to me!" The thunder rolled across the sky, But the man did not listen. The man looked around and said, "God, let me see you." A star shone brightly, But the man did not see. The man shouted, "God, show me a miracle!" A life was born, But the man did not notice. So, the man cried out in despair, "Touch me, God, and let me know you are here!" God reached down and touched the man, But the man brushed the butterfly away…and walked on. --Author Unknown “Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil – it has no point.” --Author Unknown

Beauty Unknown

At the morning light, little birds take flight. They whistle and sing, excited for what the day may bring. The world seems so quiet and still as the sun peeps up over the hills. I watch the squirrels on the ground, digging up nuts they have found. They seem so happy just to live, not knowing to this world the beauty they give. Suddenly, I see something move; why, it's a deer, And I wonder, "How long have you been standing here?" She seems nervous, as she keeps looking back at her little spotted twins following in her tracks. Then, I notice a big red-tailed hawk, sitting high on a limb. But he'd seen me way before I'd seen him. He looks so wise and proud, as if he didn't have a care. Then, he leaves his towering perch and soars high in the air. Then, again, I notice the sun. It's never made a sound as this world keeps turning around, Always bringing us light on this earth below. Why God gave us such beauty, I'll never know. Against my face, I feel a cool, gentle breeze. And I watch as it moves along, rustling the summer leaves. And way off in the distance, I hear the cooing of a lonesome dove, and it reminds me that we have all this because of God's love. --Nicky Canter

From the Book of Job

The Lord addressed Job and all mankind: "Where were you when I founded the earth? Who determined its size? Do you know? Who stretched out the measuring line for it? Who laid the cornerstone, while the morning stars sang in chorus, and all the angels shouted for joy? Who shut within doors the sea, when I set limits for it and said, 'Thus far shall you come but no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stilled!' "Have you ever, in your lifetime, commanded the morning and shown the dawn its place? Have you entered into the sources of the sea or walked about in the depths of the abyss? Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth? Tell me, if you know all, which is the way to the dwelling place of light, and where is the abode of darkness so that you may take them to their boundaries and set them on their homeward paths? "Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you put into effect their plan on the earth? Can you send forth the lightning on their way, or will they say to you, 'Here we are?' "Who counts the clouds in his wisdom? Will we have arguing with the Almighty from the critic? Let him who would correct God give answer! Would you refuse to acknowledge my right? Would you command me that you may be justified? Have you an arm like that of God, or can you thunder with a voice like his?" How can one be justified before God? Should one wish to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has withstood him and remained unscathed? He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning. Who can say to him, "What are you doing?”

He is God, and he does not relent. Even though I were right, I could not answer him but should, rather, beg for what was due me. In his hand is the soul of every living thing and the life breath of all mankind. Yet, the righteous shall hold to his way, and he who has clean hands increase in strength. He has decided, and who can say ‘No’ to him? What he desires, that he does because he will carry out what is appointed for me, and many such things may yet be in his mind. Therefore, I am dismayed before him. When I take thought, I fear him. Indeed, God has made my courage fail. The Almighty has put me in dismay. Dominion and awesomeness are his who brings about harmony in his heavens.

Whence can wisdom be obtained, and where is the place of understanding? People know nothing to equal it. Solid gold cannot purchase it, nor can its price be paid in silver. Gold or crystal cannot equal it, nor can golden vessels reach its worth. Whence, then, comes wisdom, and where is the place of understanding? God knows the way to it. It is he who is familiar with its place because he beholds the ends of the earth and sees all that is under the heavens. He saw wisdom and appraised it, gave it its setting, know it through and through. And, to people he said: Behold, the fear of the Lord is wisdom, and avoiding evil is understanding.

Far be it from God to do wickedness! Far be it from the Almighty to do wrong! Rather, he requites people for their conduct and brings home to people their way of life. Surely, God cannot act wickedly, the Almighty cannot violate justice. Who gave him government over the earth, or who else set all the land in its place? If he were to take back his spirit to himself, withdraw to himself his breath, all flesh would perish together, and people would return to the dust.

Look up to the skies and behold. Regard the heavens high above you. If you sin, what injury do you do to God? Even if your offenses are many, how do you hurt him? If you are righteous, what do you give him, or what does he receive from your hand? Your wickedness can affect only a person like yourself, and your justice only a fellow human being. It is idle to say that God does not hear or that the Almighty does not take notice. Even though you say that you see him not, the case is before him. With trembling should you wait upon him.

Behold, God is sublime in his power. What teacher is there like him? Who prescribes for him his conduct, or who can say, “You have done wrong?” Lo, God is great beyond our knowledge. The number of his years is past searching out. The Almighty! We cannot discover him, pre-eminent in power and judgment. His great justice owes no one an accounting. Therefore, people revere him, though none can see him, however wise their hearts.

Then, Job and all mankind answered the Lord, "I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be hindered. I have dealt with great things that I do not understand, things too wonderful for me that I cannot know. I had heard of you by word of mouth, but now my eye has seen you. Therefore, I disown what I have said and repent in dust and ashes." Happy is the person whom God reproves! The Almighty's chastening does not reject because he wounds, but he binds up. He smites, but his hands give healing.

Mischief comes not out of the earth, nor does trouble spring out of the ground, but people themselves beget mischief, as sparks fly upward.

From the Book of Isaiah

Who have cupped in their hand the waters of the sea and marked off the heavens with a span? Who have held in a measure the dust of the earth, weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who have directed the spirit of the Lord or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did he consult to gain knowledge? Who taught him the path of judgment or showed him the way of understanding? Before him, all the nations are as naught, as nothing and void he accounts them.

To whom can you liken God? With what equal can you confront him? Do you not know? Have you not heard? Was it not foretold you from the beginning? Have you not understood? Since the earth was founded, he sits enthroned above the vault of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a veil, spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He brings princes to naught and makes the rulers of the earth as nothing.

“To whom can you liken me as an equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these. Do you not know, or have you not heard? The Lord is the eternal God, Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives strength to the fainting, for the weak he makes vigor abound.

They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar as with eagles' wings. They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint. “I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last I will also be. I, the Lord, promise justice, I foretell what is right. There is no just and saving God but me.

“Turn to me and be safe, all you ends of the earth, for I am God. There is no other! By myself I swear, uttering my just decree and my unalterable word. To me, every knee will bend. By me, every tongue shall swear, saying, ‘Only in the Lord are just deeds and power.’ I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is for your own good and lead you on the way you should go. “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call him while he is near. My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways above your ways and my thoughts above your thoughts.”

I AM YOUR GOD

I AM Yahweh, Lord Almighty, Omnipotent King, Lion of Judah, Rock of Ages, Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Provider, Protector, Ruling Lord, and Reigning King of the whole universe. I am Father, Guardian, Helper, and God. I am the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. I am the Keeper of creation and the Creator of all that I keep. I am the Architect of the universe and the Manager of all times. I always was, always am, and always will be. I am Unmoved and Unmovable, Unchanged and Unchangeable, All-knowing, Undefeated, and never Undone.

The world cannot understand me, armies cannot defeat me, schools cannot explain me, and leaders cannot ignore me. I am Light, Love, and Lord. I am Goodness, Kindness, Gentleness, and God. I am Holy, Righteous, Mighty, Powerful, and Pure. My ways are right, my word is eternal, my will is unchanging, and my mind is on you! I am the Wisdom of the wise, the Power of the powerful, the Ancient of Days, the Ruler of rulers, the Leader of leaders, the Overseer and the Sovereign Lord of all that was, and is, and is to come.

If all that is impressive to you, try this for size! My goal is a relationship with YOU. I am your Redeemer, your Savior, your Guide, and your Peace. I am your Joy, your Comfort, your Lord, and the Ruler of your life. My bond is love, my burden is light, and my goal for you is abundant life. My will will never take you where my grace will not protect you. I will never leave you, never forsake you, never mislead you, never forget you, never overlook you, and never cancel your appointment in my appointment book. When you fall, I will lift you up. When you fail, I will forgive you. When you are weak, I will be strong. When you are lost, I will be the way. When you are afraid, I will be your courage. When you stumble, I will steady you. When you are hurt, I will heal you. When you are broken, I will mend you. When you are blind, I will lead you. When you are hungry, I will feed you. When you face trials, I will be with you. When you face persecution, I will shield you. When you face problems, I will comfort you. When you face loss, I will provide for you. When you face death, I will carry you home. I am everything, everywhere, every time, and in every way. I am God, and I am faithful. I am yours, and you are mine. I, your Father-God in Heaven, am in control. I am on your side, and I love you unconditionally. That means that all can be well with your soul. Therefore, every day is a blessing because I AM.

--Graham Cooke

THE GOOD NEWS: GOD HAS SENT HIS SON - Part I

Scripture Reading: Philippians 2: 5-11 Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness, and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the Name that is above every name so that, in the Name of Jesus, every knee should bend, of those in Heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Jesus Is the Savior of All

“Knowledge about God without an awareness of our misery produces vanity. Knowledge of our misery without an awareness of God produces despair. Knowledge of Jesus Christ provides the middle ground because in him we find both God and our misery” (Blaise Pasal).

The Good News for humanity is the proclamation of Jesus Christ who died and rose from the dead. In the time of King Herod and the Emperor Caesar Augustus, God fulfilled the promises that he made to Abraham and his descendants. He sent “his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law so that we might receive adoption as sons and daughters” (Galatians 4:4-5). Without the Gospels, we would not know that God sent his Son to us out of his infinite love so that, despite our sins, we might find our way back to eternal fellowship with God. From the very beginning, the first disciples burned with the desire to proclaim Jesus Christ in order to lead all people to faith in him. Even today, from the loving knowledge of Christ, there springs up in the believer the desire to evangelize and catechize, that is, to reveal, in the Person of Christ, the entire design of God and to put humanity in communion with him.

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only-begotten Son from the Father” (John 1:14). The reports about the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus are the best news in the world. They testify that the Jew who was born in Bethlehem, Jesus of Nazareth, is “Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16) made man. He was sent by the Father so that “all people might be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (cf. 1 Timothy 2:4

Given by the angel at the time of the Annunciation, the name “Jesus,” in Hebrew “Joshua,” means "God saves." The name expresses his identity and his mission “because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Peter proclaims, “There is no other name under Heaven given among people by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). This is essentially the message that all missionaries brought and continue to bring to people.

The brief formula “Jesus is the Christ” expresses the core of the Christian faith: Jesus, the simple carpenter’s son from Nazareth, is the long-awaited Messiah and Savior. “Christ” in Greek, “Messiah” in Hebrew, means the “anointed one.” Jesus is the “Christ” because "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power” (Acts 10:38) for his redeeming mission. He is the Messiah awaited by Israel and sent into the world by the Father. Jesus accepted the title of Messiah, but he made the meaning of the term clear: “come down from Heaven” (John 3:13), crucified, and risen, he is the Suffering Servant who gives “his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).

In Israel, kings, priests, and prophets were anointed. We are called Christians (anointed ones) after Christ as an expression of our exalted vocation.

In the Roman catacombs, we find an ancient Christian secret sign that was a profession of faith in Christ: the word Ichthys = fish. If you spell the word out, each letter serves as the beginning of the Greek words “Isous, Christus, Theou (of God), hYios (Son), and Soter (Savior) - Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savior. Ichthys Zonton means “Fish of life.” To be a Christian, one must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God (cf. Acts 8:37; 1 John 2:23). The title "Son of God" signifies the unique and eternal relationship of Jesus Christ to God his Father. He is the only Son of the Father (cf. John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18). He is God himself (cf. John 1:1).

Jesus calls himself “God’s only-begotten Son” or “only Son” (John 3:16), and Peter and others bear witness to this. The expression means that, of all men, only Jesus is more than a man. Jesus is the Son of God in a unique and perfect way. At the time of his baptism and his Transfiguration, the voice of the Father designated Jesus as his “beloved Son.” In presenting himself as the Son who “knows the Father” (Matthew 11:27), Jesus affirmed his singular and eternal relationship with God his Father. He is “the only-begotten Son of God” (1 John 4:9), the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. He is the central figure of apostolic preaching. The apostles saw “his glory as of the only-begotten of the Father” (John 1:14). He was the one "who was to come" (Luke 7:19), the object of "the hope of Israel" (Acts 28:20).

In many passages of the New Testament, Jesus is called “Son.” Jesus discloses to his disciples his unique relationship to his heavenly Father: “All things have been delivered to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him” (Matthew 11:27).

“You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right because so I am” (John 13:13). In the Bible, the title “Lord” regularly designates God as Sovereign. Jesus ascribed this title to himself and revealed his divine sovereignty by his power over nature, over demons, over sin, and over death, above all, by his own Resurrection. The first Christian Creeds proclaimed that the power, the honor, and the glory that are due to God the Father likewise belong to Jesus: God “has given him the Name that is above every other name” (Philippians 2:9). He is the Lord of the world and of history, the only One to whom we must completely submit our personal freedom.

The early Christians spoke, as a matter of course, about Jesus as “Lord,” knowing that, in the Old Testament, this title was reserved as a form of addressing God. The fact that Jesus Christ really is God’s Son comes to light at the Resurrection, which revealed the divine origin of Jesus’ mission. Thomas confessed, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). To confess or call upon Jesus as Lord is to believe in his divinity. "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:3). For us, this means that since Jesus is “the Lord,” a Christian may not bend his knee to any other power.

True God and True Man

“For us men and for our salvation, he came down from Heaven” (Nicene Creed). The Son of God became incarnate (in fleshed) in the womb of the Virgin Mary to reconcile us sinners with God, to have us learn of God’s infinite love, to be our model of holiness, and to make us “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) (CCC 456-460). At the time determined by God, the only Son and substantial Image of the Father became one of us. Without losing his divine nature, he took on human nature. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.

In Jesus Christ, God reconciled (reunited) the world to himself and redeemed (purchased back) mankind from the imprisonment of sin. “God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son” (John 3:16). In Jesus, God took on our mortal human flesh (Incarnation), shared our earthly lot, our sufferings, and our death, and became one like us in all things except sin.

The Church calls the mystery of the wonderful union of the divine and human natures in the one divine Person of the Word the “Incarnation.” The Son of God was made “flesh” (John 1:14) and became truly man. Faith in the Incarnation is a distinctive sign of the Christian faith.

In the Incarnation, we behold the mystery of the union of the divine and human natures in the one Person of God's Son. The Council of Calcedon, in the year 451, taught that the divinity and the humanity in the one Person Jesus Christ are united together “without division or confusion.” The Council taught us to confess “one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, perfect in his humanity, true God and true man, composed of rational soul and body, consubstantial with the Father by his divinity and consubstantial with us by his humanity, ‘like us in all things but sin’ (Hebrews 4:15), begotten from the Father before all ages as to his divinity, and, in these last days, for us and for our salvation, born of Mary, the Virgin and Mother of God, as to his humanity.”

The Church confesses that Jesus Christ is true God and true man, with two natures, a divine nature and a human nature, not confused with each other but united in the Person of the Word. Therefore, in the humanity of Jesus, all things, his miracles, his suffering, and his death, must be attributed to his divine Person, which acts by means of his assumed human nature. The unique and altogether singular event of the Incarnation of the Son of God does not mean that Jesus Christ is part God and part man, nor does it imply that he is the result of a confused mixture of the divine and the human. He became truly man while remaining truly God. Jesus is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, inseparably true God and true man in the unity of his divine Person. As the Son of God who is “begotten, not made, consubstantial (with substance or being) with the Father,” he was made “true man, our brother, without ceasing to be God, our Lord.” The Incarnation is, therefore, the mystery of the wonderful union of the divine and human natures in the one Person of the Word, the second Person of the Trinity.

The Church grappled for a long time with the problem of how to express the relation between the divinity and humanity in Jesus Christ. Divinity and humanity are not in competition with each other, which would make Jesus only partially God and only partially man. Nor is it true that the divine and human in Jesus are confused. God took on a human body in Jesus. This was no mere appearance (Docetism), but he really became man. Nor are there two different Persons in Christ, one human and one divine (Nestorianism). Nor is it true, finally, that, in Jesus Christ, the human nature was completely absorbed into the divine nature (Monophysitism). Contrary to all these heresies, the Church has stuck to the belief that Jesus Christ is at the same time true God and true man in one Person. The famous formula “without division or confusion” does not try to explain something that is too sublime for human understanding but, rather, draws the boundaries, so to speak, of the faith. It shows the “line” along which the mystery of the Person of Jesus Christ can be investigated.

Understanding that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine is very important. The Church has, over and over, defended this teaching against attempts to present one or the other as somehow less. If the crucifixion and Resurrection were events that involved God only, then we are not saved. If Jesus was not divine, he would have been just another good man whose death and Resurrection would not have saved us. It is necessary to believe that the mystery of the Incarnation means that Jesus was both fully God and fully man. We don't understand it, but we believe that God has revealed it, and that is enough.

The Son of God assumed a body animated by a rational human soul. Jesus “worked with human hands, he thought with a human mind, he acted with a human will, and, with a human heart, he loved” (Gaudium et Spes 22, 2). With his human intellect, Jesus learned many things by way of experience. Also, as man, the Son of God had an intimate and immediate knowledge of God, his Father. He likewise understood peoples’ secret thoughts, and he knew fully the eternal plans that he had come to reveal. Jesus had a divine will and a human will. In his earthly life, the Son of God humanly willed all that he had divinely decided with the Father and the Holy Spirit for our salvation. The human will of Christ followed, without opposition or reluctance, the divine will or, in other words, was subject to it. Jesus knew us and loved us with a human heart. This is the reason why Christ can be represented and venerated in human images. His heart, pierced for our salvation, is the symbol of that infinite love with which he loves the Father and each person.

The humanity of Jesus is complete and includes also the fact that Jesus possessed a soul and developed psychologically and spiritually. In this soul dwelled his human identity and his special self-consciousness. Jesus knew about his unity with his heavenly Father in the Holy Spirit, by whom he allowed himself to be guided in every situation of his life. “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature” (Luke 2:52).

Somehow, in a way we cannot completely grasp, Jesus had both human knowledge and human will and divine knowledge and a divine will that he has in common with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He was perfectly in contact with and under the authority of his divine intellect and divine will. His divine and human natures remain together without confusion, change, division, or separation.

The Second Council of Constantinople (553) affirmed, “There is only one Person, a divine Person, in Jesus Christ. The human acts of Jesus are also considered as belonging to his divine Person.” Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God who became man in the womb of Mary. The one who was born of Mary is the same one, the same Person, who has existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit from all eternity.

God willed that Jesus Christ should have a true human mother but only God himself as his Father because he wanted to make a new beginning that could be credited to him alone and not to earthly forces. The expression “conceived by the Holy Spirit” means that the Virgin Mary conceived the eternal Son in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit without the cooperation of a man. The angel told her at the Annunciation that “the Holy Spirit will come upon you” (Luke 1:35). Mary is truly the Mother of God because she is the Mother of Jesus (John 2:1, 19:25). The One who was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit and became truly her son is actually the eternal Son of God the Father. He is God himself. The Church, thereby, professes that her son is God and that Jesus is the only son of Mary in the physical sense. Anyone who calls Mary the Mother of God thereby professes that her son is God.

As early Christianity was debating who Jesus was, the title Theotokos (“God-bearer”) became the hallmark for the orthodox interpretation of Sacred Scripture. Mary did not give birth merely to a man who then, after his birth, “became” God. Rather, even in her womb, her child is true Son of God. This debate is not about Mary in the first place. Rather, it is again the question of whether Jesus is true man and true God at the same time. He is the Son of the heavenly Father according to his divine nature and the son of Mary according to his human nature. He is, however, truly the Son of God in both natures since there is in him only one Person, who is divine.

Jesus is the only son of Mary in the physical sense, but in him her spiritual motherhood extends to all whom he came to save. Obediently standing at the side of the new Adam, Jesus Christ, the Virgin is the new Eve, the true mother of all the living, who, with a mother’s love, cooperates in their birth and their formation in the order of grace. Virgin and Mother, Mary is the figure of the Church, its most perfect realization.

Mediation: The Word became flesh to save us from sin and reconcile us to God. "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but so that the world might be saved through him" (John 3:16 and 17). By the Incarnation, we are made aware of the depth of God's love for us. "In this way, the love of God was revealed to us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might have life through him" (1 John 4:9). When the Son of God became man, he became a model of holiness for us. "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you" (John 15:12). God became man so that we may take part in the divine nature. "He has given us the precious and very great promises so that, through them, you may come to share in the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4).

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Gospel Portrait Of Jesus

When we examine the first three Gospels, the Synoptics, we discover six facts, facts that the original onlookers could easily observe and accurately report: 

• There was a man called Jesus.

• He claimed to be a messenger sent by God.

• He did enough to prove that he was such a messenger. 

• Crowds followed Jesus, but he had an inner circle to whom he spoke more intimately. This is merely what we would expect because this was a common practice among teachers. 

• He told his followers to continue his teaching. 

• Jesus gave the message that God would protect that teaching: "He who hears you hears me. He who rejects you rejects me. He who rejects me rejects him who sent me" (Luke 10:16). The mere fact of working miracles would not prove that Jesus was a messenger sent from God, but Jesus often appealed to his miracles as proof of his mission and teaching (cf. Matthew 11:2- 5; Luke 7:20-22; Mark 2:9-11).

God is the ultimate source of the miraculous power, but he, being Truth, cannot provide such power as proof of a falsehood. So, Jesus' claims were proved true. In fact, he proved that he could even forgive sins. Many of Jesus' miracles could not be explained away as being the result of suggestion. No suggestion will multiply loaves and fishes or cure a man born blind. Nor would suggestion call out from the tomb a man dead for three days. These miracles are in continuity with his miracles.

In summary, then, finding these six facts proves that we have on hand a group or body, the Church, that is commissioned to teach by a messenger sent by God and promised God's protection for that teaching. Thus, we not only intellectually may but intellectually must believe that group, the Church, that can tell us, in a guaranteed way, about the doctrine of Jesus and can then assure us that the messenger sent by God is really God himself. That group, or body, the Church, can guarantee countless other truths for us as well.

--Fr. William G. Most, "Free From All Error," pages 12 & 13, 132, edited by Patrick J. Hession.

The Coming of Jesus in the Flesh

Dr. Jeff Mirus

The Church teaches that any person who, responding to the grace he has been given, seeks to know God and do his will or, if he has no opportunity to know God, at least seeks to know the good and to do it may be saved. Obviously, access to all the goods given to us for our salvation through Christ and his Church constitutes a sort of high road to union with God. Yet, the possibility of salvation remains for those who do not know Christ and the Church. Peter said, “In truth, I see that God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation, whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34 & 35).

Suppose that we have a Muslim who seeks to know God and do his will but denies that Jesus Christ the Son of God has come in the Flesh. Can he be saved? If we suppose that the Muslim in question has had no real chance to know Christ and so erroneously accepts what he has been taught, namely, that Christ was a prophet and not God Incarnate, then on that account his salvation is not impossible.

But someone may object, a number of passages in Scripture assert that those who refuse to acknowledge “the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh” are to be rejected. They are even described as antichrists. Acts 4:12, referring to Jesus Christ, states: “There is salvation in no one else because there is no other Name under Heaven given among people by which we must be saved.”

We must not assume that anyone understands perfectly the meaning of various passages of Scripture but must look to the Church for guidance so that one might understand properly. All that the Holy Spirit has inspired, both in Scripture and Tradition, must be taken as a unity, and each point or passage must be understood in such a way that the truth of all is upheld. Christ built his Church on Peter, gave Peter the power of the keys, and prayed for Peter that his faith might not fail precisely so that he could confirm the faith of his brethren. This Petrine power was recognized by the first generation of Christians to be an essential power of the Church, passed on to Peter’s successors and exercised through what we call the Magisterium, the Church’s teaching authority.

This does not mean that the Catholic Church doubts the absolute necessity of Christ for salvation. The question is not whether Christ is essential for salvation. That goes without saying. Rather, the question is what steps must people follow, in the wake of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, to appropriate Christ’s saving work to themselves so that the work of Christ actually becomes effective in their own particular case. That is a very different question, and the answer does not depend on saying “Lord, Lord,” for not all who say it will enter the kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 7:21). Instead, it depends, as suggested by the parable of the talents, on how we respond to whatever grace we are given, whether we ignore it or multiply it through love.

When Scripture warns against those who deny the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, it is not talking about pagans or others who have not yet had the benefit of the light of Christian teaching. The reference is rather to members of the Christian community who became Gnostics and began teaching a different way of salvation than what the apostles had handed on.

Consider the key passage in 2 John: “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is a deceiver and the antichrist. Look to yourselves so that you may not lose what you have worked for but may win a full reward. Anyone who goes ahead and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine has both the Father and the Son (vv. 7-9).

Those who abandoned apostolic teaching for Gnosticism claimed that a certain secret knowledge of Jesus Christ was essential for salvation and that, once one had this knowledge, it did not matter whether one obeyed Christ’s commandments, whether one acted out of love. This is the “once saved always saved” doctrine in its early form. Part of this so-called secret knowledge was the teaching that Christ did not become the Son of God until his Baptism and that he ceased to be God’s son before his Passion. In other words, the defining characteristic of the Gnostics was their refusal, after having initially embraced the Faith, to “acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh,” that is, to acknowledge the Incarnation, the inseparability of the divine nature and the human nature in the one Christ.

John is warning against Christians who subvert the Gospel. What is John’s warning? Abide, he says, in the doctrine of Christ. Remain steadfast in the apostolic teaching, the Faith that was given to you not from clever and learned writings but by the authority of the apostles themselves. Here, John includes himself, describing himself in the opening verse as “the elder,” the one in authority over them. By this apostolic authority, what does he teach? “And now, I beg you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment but the one we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. This is love, that we follow his commandments. This is the commandment, as you have heard from the beginning, that you follow love” (vv. 5-6).

God's Order for the Family

When an artist creates a work of art, it is intended to be an expression and reflection of the thoughts, intentions, ideas, and even personality of the artist. Thus, from the work of art, we are able to know quite a bit about the artist. When the artist, on the other hand, comes personally and explains what his or her intentions and purposes were when the work of art was created, we are able to know even more about the artist.

God has done this both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. God's Word, the Scripture, is the written revelation of God himself made complete in his Son, Jesus Christ. God, the artist, came to explain the purpose and the intention of his creation, and we can know more about his nature and personality than would have been possible just from observing his artwork.

When God created the world, he expressed order, purpose, and variety as his aspects. (1) He showed creation to be not haphazard and accidental but purposeful and under the control of an Intelligent Being.

When God created man, he saw that it was not good for him to be alone. So, he gave him a suitable helper and mate, woman, (2) and told them to multiply and become family. (3) In their unique creation, they revealed personality, the ability to create, and interrelationship as additional aspects of God.

In creation, God revealed order: material creation was to help and serve the human beings who were over it but who themselves were to be under God who created them. In the family, God was to be over the man, the man was to be over the woman, they both were to be over the children, and they all were to be over the rest of creation. (4) They were given the very royal authority and dominion of God over all creation (5) and were commissioned to reveal and to be an extension of God as Family.

The man was to reflect all the attributes of God the Father: the ability to beget, to rule over, and to provide for. Man, his wife, and their children were to bear a family resemblance to their Father, God. (6) They were to do this however in total obedience and submission to God. (7) Thus:

GOD - Entirely superior in nature and position to man and creation

          MAN (ADAM) - Dominant in position, equal in nature and super- nature to    woman. Adam (man) was created first.

          WOMAN (FROM ADAM) - Subordinate in position under man, equal in nature and supernature to man. Helpmate to Adam (man).

               CHILDREN - Subordinate in position under father and mother, equal in nature and supernature to mother and father.

                    CREATION - Thoughts, desires, and other things (The World). Under the dominion of humans.

When the man submitted himself to the woman under him, (8) instead of to God over him, he disrupted God's order. He did not exercise his proper authority under God over her when he accepted her suggestion. This was his additional act of disobedience to God's order. She did not submit her decision to her husband before she disobeyed.

Sin, therefore, came from two areas: 1) her disobedience to God and his submission to her and to her act of disobedience, and 2) their failure to exercise their positions as God had established them. Family then became a reflection of man's disorder instead of God's order. With disorder in the family came disorder in the world. Thus:

CREATION - Thoughts, desires, and things (The World). Exercise control over humans.

          CHILDREN - Rebellious, disobedient to parents, self-centered.

               WOMAN – Not submitted, "liberated" in wrong sense, self-centered, afraid to discipline children.

               MAN – Not submitted to God, domineering, self-centered, afraid to discipline wife and children.

                    GOD - Irrelevant, not considered in decision making, ignored.

So it still is today. Neither the world nor the Church can be any stronger than the families that make it up. The critical need today is the restoration of God's order within the family. To do that, we must see and understand God as Family.

When Noah built the ark, he did it according to the pattern that God gave him. (9) When Moses built the tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant, he was ordered to do it according to the pattern that God showed him. (10) The pattern for the family that God has given us is the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit - separate and distinct Persons but one intimate and indissoluble unity. The family is intended to be the primary reflection of the order that exists within the Godhead.

That order consists of an interrelationship of authority, mutual submission, and love between and among interdependent Persons. It is the proper functioning of this order between man and woman in the world that makes marriage and, when children are begotten, family. That is why God hates divorce. It is a destruction of the intimate and indissoluble unity of husband and wife that is to be reflected in marriage and then in the family.

God called Abraham and continued the process of revealing the basic nature and life of the Godhead as Family. The promise to Abraham, that he was to be the father of many nations and that his descendants would be as numerous as the sands of the seashore and the stars of the heavens, (11) was an expression of the will and purpose of God the Father himself - to beget many spiritual children. God's own desire was to enlarge his family by sharing his life with human beings.

As in the beginning, the family of God was to be the fruit of obedience to and trust in the authority of the Father. Once more, God revealed himself as Father, and his children were to be a people called by his Name, identified as begotten by him, and bearing his resemblance. The family was to reflect the intimate nature and relationship of God as Family. Through family, God would once again restore human beings to full authority and dominion over creation.

When God called his children out of Egypt, he began to reveal two other aspects of his Fatherhood - his position as ruler and as provider. Through Moses, God established for himself his rightful authority over human rulers. Through his people, he began to restore their rightful authority under him over all creatures and nations. The family of God as a whole, as well as in the individual members, was to reflect the rulership of God over all creation. But it was through the individual families, clans, and tribes that God would extend and build up his own family.

Through the fire, (12) the cloud, (13) the water from the rock, (14) the quail, (15) and the manna, (16) God revealed himself as a Father who provides for all human needs. Never once in their wandering in the desert did any of God's family lack food and provision. (17) Even their shoes and clothing did not wear out during their years of wandering. (18)

The whole Old Testament, more than anything else, is the story of God the Father's attempt to restore his family by bringing his children into obedience to his rulership and trust in his provision so that they could reflect his nature as Family. Through obedience and submission to the Law, which reflected the authority and love of the Father, the man could once more reflect the order within the Godhead and regain his position as ruler over and provider for his own family.

At its best however, the human family was only a poor reflection of what God desired. It was, and is, only in and through Jesus Christ that the full revelation of God as Family came. God revealed himself as Father, and the Godhead as Family, when he said, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased; listen to him." (19) Because Jesus is revealed as Son, we know God fully as Father. He it is who shows us the Father, for he said, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." (20) He alone bore the true resemblance to his Father by his total obedience and submission even to his death on a cross. (21)

He is the Son, under the authority of the Father, who does only what he sees the Father doing (22) and says only what he hears the Father saying. (23)

He is the Son, who shows us that it is only through submission and obedience that a man can exercise true authority over his own family and within the family of God, the Church.

He is the Son, who tells us that, before our family can reflect the true order of his Family, we must be begotten from above, that is, by his Father. (24) We are born of our parents unto disorder. We must be born again of God and become his sons and daughters if we are to become true fathers and mothers. (25)

Being married in a church doesn't make our marriage and family Christian or Godly. We must individually accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and the Lord of our own personal life and then of our marriage and family. Making him the central third-party to our marriage unites our family with his Family through the Holy Spirit. In this way, our family becomes the highest reflection and extension of the Trinity, and God can accomplish his plan and purpose through our family on the earth. In this kind of family, in turn, our children can discover and develop their true identity as persons called and gifted by the Father, saved and restored by the Son, and empowered and sent forth by the Holy Spirit to accomplish the will of the Father for them.

So it is that God the Father continues in our day to extend his Family on the earth. Humanity's most desperate cry today is for real family. Our deepest, innermost search is for the Father because only a true father can provide the strength, leadership, and provision that give us security. We must become the fathers and the family that God desires and intends for us to be!

The world cannot be any better than the families that make it up. The Church will never be any stronger than the families under Christ within it. Satan knows this and is putting forth every effort as never before to destroy the family.

Witness the high divorce rate.

Witness the absence of fathers and the number of families trying to be held together by mothers who are not uniquely equipped by God to be fathers also.

Witness what is happening to our children as a result. Gender identity, expressed in homosexuality, lesbianism, and transgenderism in its many forms of LGBTQ+ are not an accident but the result of the inability of a child to discover and to develop its true identity without a true father model. Both the male and the female need the father and the mother to develop a healthy, integrated personality.

Witness the destruction of potential family members through abortion. God the Father never delegated the right and authority to do this to a woman, her parents, her husband if she has one, her boyfriend, her doctor, our lawmakers, or the court!

Nor, for that matter, did God the Father delegate the right and authority to couples to prevent conception through artificial means of birth control. He did give couples the right to make decisions with him about family size and to use natural means to bring this about. This is called Natural Family Planning. However, God is the sole author of life! The same attitude that claims the right to prevent birth artificially is the same one that claims the right to terminate it through abortion. We are to cooperate with him but have no right or authority to block his ability to create life through us by means of artificial devices, pills, or creams.

Yes, the most critical need today is the restoration of God's order within the family! God's purpose in the Garden of Eden, thwarted by man's and woman's disobedience, is to be the goal of God's restoration of all things in Christ, the obedient Son. As Head of the Christian marriage, he restores order to the family. Through our obedience to him, he teaches us love for and submission to the Father. However, we must also let the Holy Spirit of unity-in-love seal our marriage and our family as never before. If God's order is not reflected in our family, to that extent it will never be reflected in the world or in the Church.

The Trinity is a Family in order! The family founded on God reflects the authority, submission, and love between and among interdependent persons that exist within the Trinity. This is God's will for us, his people. As we accept his will, we become in our day the reflection and extension of the Family who is God. In our truly Christian family, we discover and develop our true identity in Christ as his brothers and sisters and as sons and daughters of his Father. Can there be a higher calling?

(1) Genesis 1:1-2:4 (14) Exodus 17:6

(2) Genesis 2:18, 21-24 (15) Numbers 11:31-32

(3) Genesis 2:27-28 (16) Exodus 16:3-18

(4) Genesis 3:16 (17) Exodus 16:35;

(5) Genesis 1:26, 28; (18) Deuteronomy 29:5 Psalm 8

(6) Genesis 1:27 (19) Matthew 17:5

(7) Genesis 3:2-3 (20) John 14:9b

(8) Genesis 3:17 (21) Philippians 2:6-11

(9) Genesis 6:14-16 (22) John 5:19-20, 30, 36b

(10) Exodus 25:8-9 (23) John 8:28; 13; 49-50

(11) Genesis 17:4-8; (24) John 3:3,5

22:17-18 (25) John 3:6 & 7

(12) Exodus 13:21

(13) Exodus 12:22; Numbers 9:15-23

Fatherly Leadership 

Basic Goals for Christian Husbands and Fathers

In Chapter 10 of John's Gospel, Jesus says, "I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine, and mine know me. Just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father, and I will lay down my life for the sheep" (John 10:11-15).

How are you be the shepherd of your family that Jesus calls you to be? As always, you must look to Jesus. The secret of Jesus' success was that he only did what he saw the Father doing. In the same way, you need to keep reminding yourself that it is Jesus who is the good shepherd. He is doing the work through his Spirit whom he has sent. Your job is to do what he is doing, what you see him doing. And what is it that the good shepherd is doing that he wants you to do? He tells you in his Word, and it starts with your family.

You must exhibit an active commitment to and a personal relationship with your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

You must develop or exhibit spiritual maturity, with teaching and leadership ability tested and proven in your own family that will allow for growth and maturity in those under you.

You must be a good father model. You should be serious, straightforward, truthful, just, holy, modest, a lover of goodness, irreproachable and blameless, of steady, even temper, a man of peace, self-controlled, gentle and not violent, not contentious or self-willed, not someone who loves money, not given to greed, hospitable, a faithful husband, a good manager of your own household, able to keep your children under control without sacrificing your dignity, a father of children who are believers and who are known not to be wild or insubordinate, a good teacher who holds fast to authentic doctrine, well thought of by those outside the community of believers (1 Timothy 3:2-7; Titus 1:6-9)

These are the Scriptural requirements for spiritual leaders in the Church, and no one should be in a responsible position of leadership who does not meet them or is not striving for them. Unfortunately, many are, but they should not be followed. The training ground for leadership in the Church is the home and the family These requirements should be your goals as a father as you provide leadership over your family.

It is important for you to understand the fundamental truth about your position and role in your family: God has set you in leadership over your wife and children, and he will hold you responsible for that leadership. You can either run from it or get help in learning how to be a Godly leader in your home for you are either leading your family to God or you are leading it away from him. You are leading your family in love or you are leading it in the way of your own selfishness.

Here are sixteen steps that will help you provide spiritual leadership for your family:

1. Set an example: practice first what you preach and expect.

2. Make sound and timely decisions based upon the Scriptures and the will of God.

3. Pursue your responsibility and take responsibility for your actions. When you are wrong, ask God's forgiveness and direction. By the way, when was the last time you said you were wrong and asked your wife's or children's forgiveness?

4. Commit yourself totally to your wife and children even if it means dying for them. Their security requires that they know that you will do this.

5. Gather together the children that the Lord brings into your home, if you have any, and carry them in your arms, emotionally and spiritually, until they are strong enough to walk on their own.

6. Pray and intercede for your wife and children and stand against all the forces of Satan that would attack or infiltrate your family.

7. Protect your wife and children from the philosophies and ideas and values of this world that do not provide healthy food for their minds and spirits. Start with the TV and VCR and Internet. What kind of movies and programs do you watch? Would you want your children to watch them with you or do what is being done in the movies and programs you watch?

8. Protect your wife and children from the influence of those who would stray and go off on their own or do their own thing, even if they call themselves Christians.

9. Protect your wife and children when they are being criticized or attacked either by the world or by other Christians.

10. Lead your wife and children to good, refreshing spiritual food and drink, beginning with God's Word, the Bible.

11. Discern the spiritual condition of your wife and children in order to look out for their welfare. What is the one thing that is uppermost on the heart of your wife right now? Of your children?

12. Help your wife and children discover God's will for their lives because in doing his will they will find rest.

13. Determine your wife's and children's gifts and capabilities, both natural and spiritual, and develop them accordingly.

14. Discipline your wife and children with the rod of correction and the staff of the authority that God has given you. Even if they don't like your correction or discipline, do it because it gives them freedom and security. However, it is God's authority you are exercising so be careful not to abuse it. You will be held accountable for how you use it. You are to be a leader, not a dictator.

15. Keep your wife and children informed of your needs and concerns. They can help you and support you even in difficult times if you share openly with them.

16. Share what you have with your wife and children when they need it -- in abundance, if necessary, and cheerfully.

 

FATHER: Prophet - Priest – King

PROPHET - To Guide: Listens to the Lord and ministers to his family what God is saying to his family through him.

PRIEST - To Guard: As the Priest listened to the congregation and took their request to the Lord, the Father is to spend time with his family to know their need and then to take those needs before the Lord.

KING - To Govern: Not to be as an earthly king who lords it over his people but to be a heavenly king who is a servant to his family.

--Family Foundations International, PO Box 320, Littleton, CO 80160

 

The Rule of St. Benedict for Modern Fathers

1. Treat each person in the family according to his or her particular needs. Christian equality doesn't mean we all get the same thing; it means we all get what we need. You must adapt and fit yourself to all: one needs to be encouraged, another to be rebuked, another to be persuaded, each one according to his or her own nature. One child may need gentle encouragement, another may need a tough regime.

2. Show the tough attitude of the master and also the loving affection of a father. You must balance the toughness of a drill sergeant with the tenderness of a nurse. A wise father combines the strengths of both characters while leaving the faults behind.

3. You must lead by your actions as much as by your teaching. It is an awesome thought that, in the long run, children will do as we do, not as we say. You also must live according to the rule of Christ and must be seen to obey the principles you put forward for others.

4. Create in your family a constant spirit of forgiveness. Train your children to come to you instantly to ask forgiveness, and then forgive at the first request. Do not let the sun go down on anger, yours or others’. In a Christian home, you cannot ignore conflict and hope problems will go away. The Christian dad has the responsibility to wade in, solve the problem, and insist on mutual and real forgiveness.

5. Teach the important principle of obedience. The word obedience has its root in "to listen". Listen to God and to one another. This sensitive listening and awareness of the needs of others lies at the heart of a peaceful family. Obey one another in love. An attitude of mutual service and attention to one another will help build good communication as well as confidence and natural good manners.

6. Bad behavior means that a family member doesn't know how to act in community. Physical punishment is not always effective. He or she should be excluded from the family community. Separating a child from a special treat or from the family activity is usually punishment enough. Even this punishment must be done with compassion and a deep concern for the offender's welfare and never in rage or a desire for revenge. In a spirit of conciliation and concern, you might ask the child's mother or a brother or a sister to go and cheer him or her up.

7. The Christian family must be a community of prayer. Prayer must be natural and from the heart. "Indeed, we must grasp that it is not by using many words that we shall get our prayers answered but by purity of heart. Prayer, therefore, should be short and pure." Prayer is better short, sharp, and sincere, not long-winded and showy.

St. Benedict's practical principles root you firmly in your present situation. He believes that God is to be found here and now, not there and then. He is found in the face of your wife and children. He is found in the terrible moments of family life as well as in the wonderful ones. These principles will help you to cope with reality as you live it day by day.

--adapted from an article by Dwight Longenecker, author of Listen My Son, (Morehouse Publishing), a commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict for fathers.

 

20 Principles Of A Father’s Relationship With His Children

--Lowell Davey, President of BBN

1. You must establish boundaries.

2. You must enjoy your children.

3. You must eliminate evil influences.

4. You must expose your humanity as their parent.

5. You must explain your reasons whenever possible.

6. You must exchange ideas with your children.

7. You must encourage your children daily.

8. You must elevate their gifts.

9. You must instruct them in the way to go.

10. You must expand their horizons.

11. You must express physical attention.

12. You must examine their distinct personalities.

13. You must extend patience to them.

14. You must enter into their victories and defeats

15. You must ever be ready to communicate.

16. You must evaluate your children’s decisions.

17. You must exonerate each other as husband and wife.

18. You must examine your own life as an example.

19. You must expose them daily to the Word of God.

20. You must exemplify Jesus Christ in your personal life.

 

Prayer of Consecration and Dedication of your Home

Father, as the prophet, priest, and king of this home, I dedicate and consecrate it to the Lord Jesus Christ. I declare that Satan has no hold on it. I surrender everything in this house and every room in it to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and place it under his protection.

Heavenly Father, in the Name of Jesus, I ask you to bind and cast away all evil powers from our thoughts, our sleep, our dreams, our bodies, our souls, our spirits, our property, our finances, our property, and our health. I ask you to put the Blood of your Son Jesus between us and them.

I claim by faith that everything in this house is covered under the Blood of Jesus from the top of the roof to the bottom of the footings and everything in between. I claim by faith that this house is surrounded by a hedge of thorns, a wall of fire, and a wall of faith. I pray that warring angels would come to protect the four corners of this house and everyone inside I place the Blood of Jesus around the boundaries of this property and claim this protection from all harm from storms and dangers of any kind.

Father, I ask you to bless and use this house for your glory so that, through it and through us, people may be brought to perfection as one, that they may know that you sent Jesus, and that you love them as you love us. I ask this in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Father, for the complete victory we have as your children in and through Jesus Christ. Amen.

God's Word and Will for Children & Youth

“Children, obey your parents in everything for this is your acceptable duty in the Lord.” (1) “Obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother’ - this is the first commandment with a promise: ‘so that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’” (2)

“Even children make themselves known by their acts, by whether what they do is pure and right.” (3) “There are those who curse their fathers and do not bless their mothers.” (4) “If you curse your father or mother, your lamp will go out in utter darkness.” (5) Therefore “with all your heart, honor your father and do not forget the birth pangs of your mother. Remember that it was of your parents you were born; how can you repay what they have given you?” (6)

“Listen to me, your Father, O children; act accordingly that you may be kept in safety. The Lord honors a father above his children and confirms a mother’s right over her children. Those who honor their father atone for sins, and those who respect their mother are like those who lay up treasure. Those who honor their father will have joy in their own children, and when they pray, they will be heard. Those who respect their father will have a long life, and those who comfort their mother obey the Lord. Those who fear the Lord honor their father; they will serve their parents as their masters. Honor your father by word and deed that his blessing may come upon you. A father’s blessing strengthens the houses of the children, but a mother’s curse uproots their foundations.

“Do not glorify yourself by dishonoring your father, for your father’s dishonor is no glory to you. The glory of one’s father is one’s own glory, and it is a disgrace for children not to respect their mother.

"Children, help your father in his old age and do not grieve him as long as he lives. Even if his mind fails, be patient with him; because you have all your faculties, do not despise him. Kindness to a father will be remembered in your favor; like frost in fair weather, your sins will melt away. Whoever forsakes a father is like a blasphemer, and whoever angers a mother is cursed by the Lord.” (7)

“Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.” (8) “Those who do violence to their father and chase away their mother are children who cause shame and bring reproach. Cease straying, my children, from the words of knowledge in order that you may hear instruction.” (9)

“A wise child makes a father glad, but a foolish child is a mother’s grief.” (10) “A wise child loves discipline, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.” (11) “A wise child makes a glad father, but the foolish despise their mothers.” (12) “Hear, my child, be wise and direct your mind in the way.” (13). “Listen, children, to a father’s instruction and be attentive that you may gain insight.” (14) “Hear, my children, your father’s instruction and do not reject your mother’s teaching, for they are a fair garland for your head and pendants for your neck.” (15). “A stupid child is a ruin to a father.” (16)

Finally, “rejoice while you are young and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclinations of your heart and the desires of your eye but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.” (17)

(1) Colossians 3:20 (10) Proverbs 10:1

(2) Ephesians 6:1-3 (11) Proverbs 13:1

(3) Proverbs 20:11 (12) Proverbs 15:20

(4) Proverbs 30:11 (13) Proverbs 23:19

(5) Proverbs 20:20 (14) Proverbs 4:1

(6) Sirach 7:27-28 (15) Proverbs 1:8-9

(7) Sirach 3:1-16 (16) Proverbs 19:13a

(8) Proverbs 23:25 (17) Ecclesiastes 11:9

(9) Proverbs 19:26 & 27

Consider the Mother of Jesus

One of the phenomena of the last century has been the Women's Liberation Movement. The result has been a mixed blessing. There have been many positive aspects as new opportunities have opened up for women. There has developed a healthier respect for and appreciation of women as equal partners with men. However, there has also been a cancerous growth of radical feminism that seeks to drive wedges of hostility, mistrust, and competition between men and women. Both the positive and the negative aspects have affected men and women alike, both in the Church and in society. In sorting out the voices around us, it is important to seek the answer to the questions "What are women being liberated from?" and "What are women being liberated for?"

God did not create man and women to be in competition but to complement each other. In the Book of Genesis we read, "God said, 'Now we will make humans, and they will be like us.' So, God created humans to be like himself; he made men and women. God gave them his blessing and said, 'Have a lot of children! Fill the earth with people and bring it under your control. Rule over the fish in the ocean, the birds in the sky, and every animal on the earth.' " (Genesis 1:26-28)

All of the attributes of God exist completely in man and in woman. Some attributes God chose to express primarily in man and some he chose to express predominantly in woman. When they become "one flesh", man and woman become more than each could become separately. Their offspring receive the attributes from both the mother and the father that they need to be a complete person. The sex role identity problems that people are having today are a direct result of the confusion among their parents as to their proper role and identity under God. Men and women alike need to recapture the divine vision for them if we are to cut through the rhetoric and false philosophies of the so-called "Women's Movement".

Men need to see the Godly attributes that reside in women who would become, or who are, their wives and mothers of their children. Women need to see the Godly attributes in the men with whom they seek to unite, or with whom they are united, as husband and father of their children. Children need to see the Godly attributes of their parents if they are going to learn how to grow "in wisdom and age and favor before God and men" (Luke 2:52) as Jesus did. Only then will human beings be able to regain the dominion over the world that God gave them in the beginning. As the climax of God's creative activity, human beings resemble God primarily because of the dominion that God gave them over the rest of creation.

One woman most embodies the womanly attributes of God. I would ask you to consider the mother of Jesus. She can teach both men and women how to fully express their sexuality.

No gospel writer more fully expresses Jesus' concern for woman than Luke. For this reason, we read much about the mother of Jesus in his account.

In the first chapter of his Gospel, he tells us of the appearance of Gabriel to Mary. Here, we learn that Mary was a maiden, a virgin, probably nearing or in her early teens. She wasn't sleeping around with the young guys of her day, as many junior high girls are today. She was pure, and the Lord was with her.

She was engaged to Joseph, the last stage before becoming his wife, but she hadn't engaged in premarital sex with him. Thus, she could honestly respond to the prospect of conception with the question, "How can this happen? I am not married?" (Luke 1:34)

Mary knew her position and was comfortable with it.

She was a handmaid, a servant, submissive to the will of God in her life, even if she didn't fully understand it. She wasn't constantly questioning God but "kept all these things in her heart." (Luke 2:51) Her response, from which she never wavered throughout her life, even when her son was killed, was "I am the Lord's servant! Let it happen as you have said." (Luke 1:38)

She was a woman of unwavering faith. Her faith was expressed in her obedience to the Law and in her relationship with Joseph. She consecrated Jesus, the firstborn son, to the Lord as it was written in the Law of the Lord. Though they were poor, they offered the required sacrifice of a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons, in accordance with the dictates in the Law of the Lord. (Luke 2:22-24)

Mary and Joseph practiced their religion together faithfully, and under their influence Jesus "became wise and grew strong. God was pleased with him, and so were the people." (Luke 2:52) Jesus was obedient to them.

Mary supported Jesus in his ministry and evidently accompanied him as she is often mentioned among the women who ministered to his needs. We know from John's Gospel that she gently interceded on behalf of the couple at the marriage feast of Cana. She didn't make an issue of it or take over and manipulate the circumstances; she simply stated the situation and allowed Jesus to respond as he chose. Her response to the servants is her response to us, "Do whatever Jesus tells you to do." (John 2:3-5)

The mother of Jesus was there when it counted. She was at the foot of the cross, when all of his followers had run away in fear. She was willing to follow Jesus, even to the cross, regardless of the possible consequences to her own life.

Finally, she was a committed member of the early community. She is mentioned among those in the upper room who devoted themselves with one accord in prayer. (Acts 1:14) Thus, she was there on the Day of Pentecost when they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. (Acts 2:1-4)

Contrast this woman and mother with the "liberated" women and girls of today. Mary knew what she was liberated from - the same sin and death that you and I have been liberated from. More importantly, she knew what she had been liberated for - to be the woman, the mother, and the companion of the Son of God made man. In this, she fulfilled the womanly role for which God had created her and exhibited the Godly attributes that God had instilled in her.

This is the role model that women and girls need to see today if they are to be truly liberated. No man in his right mind could resist such a woman. No man in his right mind could abuse, or take advantage of, or divorce such a woman. She was, indeed, everything that God created a woman to be.

May God again raise up a generation of women of whom it may be said, "You are truly blessed! The Lord is with you." (Luke 1:28)

Can You Take Orders?

(A Study in Submission)

Jesus, The Model of Submission

Even as a child, Jesus was the model of submission. When his parents found him in the Temple, Jesus went back with them to Nazareth, where he was obedient to them. (1) He honored his father and mother as one of the Ten Commandments requires.

Throughout his whole ministry Jesus had only one goal: "I can do nothing on my own...I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me. (2) I have come down from Heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. (3) My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. (4) Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own but only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise." (5)

When his work was nearing an end, and Jesus was facing his agonizing crucifixion and death, he was still the model of submission: "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want...if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done." (6)

"In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered." (7) Therefore, when all is completed at the end of time, Christ "will hand over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to the one who put all things in subjection under him so that God may be all in all." (8)

The Attitude Of Submission

Submission is a free will action that flows from an attitude. The attitude you should have is the same one that Christ Jesus had! "Christ was truly God. But he did not try to remain equal with God. He gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us. Christ was humble. He obeyed God and even died on a Cross. Then, God gave Christ the highest place and honored his Name above all others." (9)

It is this Jesus who says to you: "Very truly I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life will lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me. Where I am, there my servant will be also. The Father will honor whoever serves me. (10) So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, 'I am a worthless slave; I have done only what I ought to have done!' (11)

"Remain in me as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. Whoever remains in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit because, without me, you can do nothing. (12)

"Truly, unless you change and become like a child, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. Whoever becomes humble like a child is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven. (13) The greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. (14) All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted." (15)

With Christ Jesus as your example, therefore, cleanse yourself "from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God. (16) Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. (17) Be dressed for action and have your lamp lit. Be like those who are waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks. (18) He who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. He must increase, but you must decrease. (19)

"Do something to show that you really have given up your sins. (20) Do all things without murmuring or arguing. (21) Stay away, however, from people who are not followers of the Lord! Can someone who is good go along with someone who is evil? Are light and darkness the same? Is Christ a friend of Satan? Can people who follow the Lord have anything in common with those who don't? (22) Very truly I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. (23) We know that God does not listen to sinners but does listen to one who worships him and obeys his will. (24)

"Who, then, is the faithful and wise slave whom his master has put in charge of his household to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives." (25)

Submission To God

Jesus said: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of Heaven but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven. (26) Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother. (27)

"Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God's sight. (28) Present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect. (29)

"You must stop doing anything immoral or evil. Instead, be humble and accept the message that is planted in you to save you. Obey God's message! Do not fool yourself by just listening to it. (30) Surrender to God! Resist the devil, and he will run from you. Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Clean up your life. Purify your heart.  Be humble in God's presence, and he will honor you. (31)

"Be alert and think straight. Put all your hope in how kind God will be to you when Jesus Christ appears. Behave like an obedient child. Do not let your life be controlled by your desires as it used to be. Always live as God's holy people should because God is the one who chose you, and he is holy. That is why the Scriptures say, 'I am the holy God, and you must be holy too.' (32)

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength. (33) This is the greatest and first commandment. (34) The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these. (35) This is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. (36)

Finally, "be patient when you are being corrected! This is how God treats his children. Do not all parents correct their children? God corrects all of his children. If he does not correct you, then you don't really belong to him. Our earthly fathers correct us, and we still respect them. Is it not even better to be given true life by letting your spiritual Father correct you?" (37)

Submission To Jesus Christ

Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it. (38) Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. (39) Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. (40) Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead. (41)

"Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (42)

"If you want to become my follower, deny yourself and take up your cross daily and follow me. (43) Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it. What will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? (44)

"Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I tell you? I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them. That one is like a man building a house, who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built. (45) If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciple. You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. (46) If you love me, you will keep my commandments. Those who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me. My Father will love those who love me, and I will love them and reveal myself to them. (47)

"Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother. (48) Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (49) I repeat, whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. (50) So, therefore, you cannot become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions. (51)

"Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age -- houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions -- and, in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” (52)

Submission In Marriage

"Let marriage be held in honor by all and let the marriage bed be kept undefiled because God will judge fornicators and adulterers. (53)

"Each of you should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband. (54) The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; likewise, the husband doesnot have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except perhaps by agreement for a set time to devote yourselves to prayer, and then come together again so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (55)

"Husband, love your wife and never treat her harshly. (56) Love your wife, just as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her. (57) Control your own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passion like those who do not know God. (58) In the same way, show consideration for your wife in your life together, paying honor to the woman as the weaker sex, since she too is an heir of the gracious gift of life -- that you might inherit a blessing. (59)

"Wife, be subject to your husband as is fitting in the Lord. (60) Be subject to your husband as you are to the Lord. The husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the Head of the Church, the Body of which he is the Savior. Just as the Church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be in everything to their husbands. (61) In the same way, accept the authority of your husband so that, even if he does not obey the word, he may be won over without a word by your conduct, when he sees the purity and reverence of your life.” (62)

Submission In The Family

"Child, obey your parents in everything because this is your acceptable duty in the Lord. (63) 'Honor your father and mother' -- this is the first commandment with a promise: 'so that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.' (64)

"Parents, do not provoke your children so they may not become discouraged. (65) Do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (66)

Submission In Christian Service

"Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. (67) What I am saying is for your own good -- it isn't to limit your freedom. I want to help you to live right and to love the Lord above all else. (68) Therefore “be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord because you know that, in the Lord, your labor is not in vain.” (69)

Submission To Religious Authority

"The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law are experts in the Law of Moses," Jesus told his followers. "So, obey everything they teach you but do not do as they do. After all, they say one thing and do something else." (70) Jesus is establishing a principle here that applies as well to all authority, such as civil and parental authority, namely, that God's authority is placed in the offices that he establishes over his people. Therefore, the persons who hold these offices or positions, whether properly or by their own power, by that fact possess the authority that goes with that office. They will be held accountable to God for how they exercise that authority.

Some take these offices upon themselves for selfish or other illegitimate reasons. Thus, their lives may not measure up to God's standards for those in authority. However, God places the authority they do exercise there, and you are to submit to it, unless it concerns something illegal or immoral. You are to discern carefully what they teach and obey that teaching that is in line with the teachings of God and of his Son, Jesus Christ. But you are not to imitate their actions when they do not, in their own personal lives, practice what they preach.

You are also, to the degree that you have the option, to be careful under whose authority, especially religious, that you place yourself. You should withdraw from that authority that is not being exercised properly, even if this means changing churches or jobs.

Submission To Legitimate Civil Authority

"Obey the rulers who have authority over you. Only God can give authority to anyone, and he puts these rulers in their places of power. People who oppose the authorities are opposing what God has done and will be punished. Rulers are a threat to evil people, not to good people. There is no need to be afraid of the authorities. Just do right, and they will praise you for it. After all, they are God's servants, and it is their duty to help you.

"If you do something wrong, you ought to be afraid because these rulers have the right to punish you. They are God's servants to punish criminals to show how angry God is. But, you should obey the rulers because you know it is the right thing to do and not just because of God's anger.

"You must also pay your taxes. The authorities are God's servants, and it is their duty to take care of these matters. Pay all that you owe, whether it is taxes and fees or respect and honor. (71) Give to the (authority) the things that are the (authority's), and to God the things that are God's. (72)

"For the Lord's sake, accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the (authority) as supreme, or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. It is God's will that, by doing right, you should silence the ignorance of the foolish. As a servant of God, live as one who is free but do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil. Honor everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honor the (authority). (73) Be subject to rulers and authorities, be ready for every good work, speak evil of no one, avoid quarreling, be gentle, and show every courtesy to everyone.” (74)

Legitimate civil authority comes from God and is subject to him. If a civil authority orders something that is against God's commandments, one is not obliged to obey or submit to that authority. One has a right to "civil disobedience" to illegitimate authority.

Submission To Other Authority

"Obey those over you and do what they say. They are watching over you and must answer to God. So, do not make them sad as they do their work. Make them happy. Otherwise, they will not be able to help you at all. (75)

Remember what Jesus said: "Very truly I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; whoever receives me receives him who sent me. (76) Whoever listens to you listens to me, whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me. (77)

"Are students better than their teacher? But, when they are fully trained, they will be like their teacher. (78) A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master. It is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. (79)

"Those who are under (employment) must regard (those over them) as worthy of full respect so that the Name of God and our teaching may not suffer abuse. (80) (Employees) are to be under the control of (those over them) in all respects, giving them satisfaction, not talking back to them or stealing from them but exhibiting complete good faith so as to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every way. (81)

"Accept the authority of (those over you) with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh. It is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. (82) Obey (those over you) with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ; not only while being watched, and in order to please them, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. Render service with enthusiasm as to the Lord and not to people, knowing that whatever good you do, you will receive the same again from the Lord, whether you are a slave or free. (83) Whatever your task, put yourself into it as done for the Lord and not for (those over you) since you know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. Be a slave of the Lord Christ. (84)

"Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful to them on the ground that they are members of the Church. Rather, they must serve them all the more since those who benefit by their service are believers and are beloved.” (85)

Submission To One Another

Jesus said, "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (86) If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly I tell you, servants are not greater than their master or messengers greater than the one who sent them. (87)

"Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave, just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. (88) The greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like one who serves. (89)

"(Employers), do the same. Stop threatening. (90) Treat your (employees) justly and fairly (91) because you know that both of you have the same Master in Heaven, and with him there is no partiality. (92)

"In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of those who are older. All of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another because 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' (93)

"Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. (94) Live a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (95)

"Owe no one anything except to love one another for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. (96) You were called to freedom. Do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence but, through love, become slaves to one another. The whole law is summed up in a single commandment, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another. (97)

"As in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we who are many are one Body in Christ. Individually, we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

"Let love be genuine: hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good, love one another with mutual affection, outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, and serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and extend hospitality to strangers. (98)

"Pass judgment on one another no longer but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another. (99) Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but, in humility, regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests but to the interests of others. (100)

Give to everyone who begs from you and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. (101)

"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

"Beloved, never avenge yourselves but leave room for the wrath of God for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.' Rather, 'if your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. By doing this, you will heap burning coals on their heads. Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good. (102)

"I say to you that listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. Give to everyone who begs from you and, if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you. (103)

"Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual up building. (104) We who are strong ought to put up with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor. (105)

"Admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. See that none of you repays evil for evil but always seeks to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in all circumstances because this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. " (106)

(1) Luke 2:51 (33) Deuteronomy 6:5

(2) John 5:30b (34) Matthew 22:38

(3) John 6:38 (35) Mark 12:31

(4) John 4:34 (36) Mark 12:33b

(5) John 5:19 (37) Hebrews 12:7-9

(6) Matthew 26:39, 42 (38) Mark 10:15

(7) Hebrews 5:7 & 8 (39) John 5:23b

(8) 1 Corinthians 15:24, (40) Matthew 12:30

28 (41) Matthew 8:22

(9) Philippians 2:5-9 (42) Matthew 11:28-30

(10) John 12:24-26 (43) Matthew 16:23

(11) Luke 17: 9 & 10 (44) Matthew 16:25 & 26

(12) John 15:4, 5b (45) Luke 6:46-48

(13) Matthew 18:3 & 4 (46) John 8:31 & 32

(14) Luke 22:26 (47) John 14:15, 21

(15) Matthew 18:3 & 4 (48) Mark 3:50

(16) 2 Corinthians 7:1 (49) Luke 14:26 & 27

(17) 1 Corinthians 16: (50) Matthew10:37

13-14 (51) Luke 14:33

(18) Luke 12:35-36 (52) Mark 10:37

(19) John 3:29-30 (53)

(20) Luke 3:8 (54) Ephesians 5:33

(21) Philippians 2:14 (55) 1 Corinthians 7:3-5

(22) 2 Corinthians 6: (56) Colossians 3:19

14-15 (57) Ephesians 5:28

(23) John 10:1 (58) 1 Thessalonians 4:3

(24) John 9:31 (59) 1 Peter 3:7

(25) Matthew 24:46-47 (60) Colossians 3:18

(26) Matthew 7:21 (61) Ephesians 5:21-24

(27) Mark 3:35 (62) 1 Peter 3:1 & 2

(28) 1 Peter 2:4 (63) Colossians 3:20

(29) Romans 12:1b-2 (64) Ephesians 6:2 & 3

(30) James 1:21-22 (65) Colossians 5:21

(31) James 4:7-8a, 10 (66) Ephesians 6:4

(32) 1 Peter 1:13-16 (67) Ephesians 5:21

(68) 1 Corinthians 7:35 (88) Matthew 20:26b-28

(69) 1 Corinthians 15:58 (89) Luke 22:26

(70) Matthew 23: 2 & 3 (90) Ephesians 6:8a

(71) Romans 13:1-7 (91) Colossians 4:1a

(72) Matthew 22:21b (92) Ephesians 6:8b

(73) 1 Peter 3:13-17 (93) 1 Peter 5:5

(74) Titus 3:1 & 2 (94) Ephesians 5:21

(75) Hebrews 13:17 (95) Ephesians 4:1-3

(76) John 13:20 (96) Romans 13:8

(77) Luke 10:16 (97) Galatians 5:13-15

(78) Luke 5:40 (98) Romans 12:4-13

(79) Matthew 10:24 & 25 (99) Romans 14:13

(80) 1 Timothy 6:1 (100) Philippians 2:3 & 4

(81) Titus 9 & 10 (101) Matthew 4:32

(82) 1 Peter 2: 18 & 19 (102) Romans 12:14-21

(83) Ephesians 6:5-8 (103) Luke 6:27-31

(84) Colossians 3:23 (104) Romans 14:19

(85) 1 Timothy 6:2 (105) Romans 15:1 & 2

(86) John 13:34 & 35 (106) 1 Thessalonians 5:

(87) John 13:14-16 14-18

 

--Patrick J. Hession. From my book Preparing The Army Of God: A Basic Training Manual In Spiritual Warfare.