“…​ faith that works by love…”

² Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. ³ For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. ⁴ Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. ⁵ For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. ⁶ For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

Matthew 5

³ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⁴Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. ⁵ Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. ⁶Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. ⁷ Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. ⁸Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. ⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. ¹⁰ Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ¹¹ Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. ¹² Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. ¹³ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. ¹⁴ Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. ¹⁷ Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. ¹⁸ For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. ¹⁹Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰ For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. ²¹ Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: ²² But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. ²³ Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; ²⁴ Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. ²⁵ Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. ²⁶ Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. ²⁷ Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: ²⁸ But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. ²⁹ And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. ³⁰ And if thy right hand offend thee, cut if off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. ³¹ It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: ³² But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery. 

Ephesians 2

​⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, ⁵ Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, by grace ye are saved; ⁶ And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: ⁷ That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. ⁸ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: ⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast. ¹⁰ For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 

³ For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. 

⁴ For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: 

⁵So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. 

⁶ Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; 

⁷Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; 

⁸ Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. 

⁹ Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.

¹⁰Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; 

¹¹ Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; 

¹² Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; 

¹³ Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. 

¹⁴ Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. 

¹⁵ Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. 

¹⁶ Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. 

¹⁷Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. 

¹⁸ If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. 

¹⁹ Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. 

²⁰Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. 

²¹ Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.

Romans 10:4

For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

free·dom/ˈfrēdəm/

noun 

The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

Freedom is one of those attributes which our Creator has endowed us with. We all have this ability, whether human or angelic, this ability is something that proves our Father loves us. 

Freedom allows us to choose good or evil, knowledge and wisdom, or ignorance and foolishness. Freedom allows us the right to obey or to disobey, to act and react, to help heal or to cause harm. All of our lives, in all things we do, we are naturally endowed with this primary motivator called freedom.

The problem arises when we make freedom itself godlike, meaning we make our freedom a “holy right” instead of understanding it as a “natural right”.

GOD gave all freedom, it isn’t reserved soley for saints, but it exists for both saint and sinner alike to utilize as they see fit.

Freedom exists because GOD didn’t create automatrons, HE wanted HIS creation to have the ability to choose, whether they chose right or wrong HIS creation has the ability to direct their own future.

Does GOD restrict freedom? In a certain perspective yes, but in all honesty no.

In the minds of the selfish and ignorant, yes. Because they have chosen to make their own selfish desires number one in their lives and have no other inclination to look beyond themselves.

But to those who desire to put their Creators desires before their own, those people experience the true meaning of freedom. How? Because they exist with purpose and meaning, they have they ability to choose right over wrong, and they experience truly what love is. They exist in light and can see truth from lies, to those people freedom exists to follow their Creator, their Savior, their GOD. Freedom exists to do good, help, heal, care for others, to love their neighbor, etc.

Freedom is part of the natural order of existence GOD created. 

Philippians 3

​⁸ Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, 

⁹ And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: 

¹⁰ That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

Proverbs 16:12  It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness: for the throne is established by righteousness. 

Wickedness done under the cover of leadership is an abomination to GOD, I think evil leaders are going to be held to a higher standard than others.

With the election results in and The Donald heading toward the White House the US is set to experience a time unprecedented in its short history.

His choices todate for cabinet positions should clearly show the direction he intends on taking this country.

We have so-called hawks who want to fight terrorism abroad and at the same time want increased surviellance powers against American citizens.

It was the republicrats who brought us the patriot act 1 &2, it was the the same group who brought us indefinite detention with Obama’s NDAA. They brought forth the conceptualisation of enhanced interrogation or “torture”, putting it into practice and fine tuning the policestate in America.

Now Christians, who have been marginalized for since the 80’s are giving this president elect their unwavering support. To me, that is the most frightening aspect of the incoming administration, their willingness to toss forth the idea that torture is good. 

Do Christians really think they are immune to the policestate or its surrogates? If so it would seem as if sanity just jumped off the cliff.

Christians are never immune to persecution, in fact they were the most persecuted group in the last century. To give unwavering support to one who advances the idea of torture, to me, is a grave mistake.

Do I think Trump is better than Hillary? By leaps and bounds, but the scenario is being setup for a nosedive into the dung heap of the neoconservative worldview.

A view of a Pax Americana without repentance or turnimg from sin. Wickedness may be manifested in politics, but that same evil originates in the heart of a person.

So unless there is true national repentance, no amount of Trumpery is going to change a thing.

Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

Something to often ignored. 

People can turn their back on righteouness, they can deny morality and embrace wickedness. But one thing remains true, when the righteous rule people do rejoice because they know justice will prevail.

Hebrew 11

36 And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37 They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38 Of whom the world was not worthy: they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. 

In the Hall of Faith, not everyone was able to shut the mouths of lions nor were all blessed with calling fire down from the heavens.

In fact, this part of the Chapter was the lot that fell for most saint throughout history.

Our Savior said do not be surprised if the world hates you because it hated Him first.

So remember, our lot in Christ is no guarantee of a soft & easy life. We need to be prepared for persecution, hatred, broken families, and bitterness from a lost and dying world.

All the while we need to keep our faith and endure until the end, praising God in our blessings in times of peace and adversity.

Isaiah 57
The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. 2 He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness.

Psalms 6
To the chief Musician on Neginoth upon Sheminith, A Psalm of David.
O LORD, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. 2 Have mercy upon me, O LORD; for I am weak: O LORD, heal me; for my bones are vexed. 3 My soul is also sore vexed: but thou, O LORD, how long? 4 Return, O LORD, deliver my soul: oh save me for thy mercies’ sake. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks? 6 I am weary with my groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I water my couch with my tears. 7 Mine eye is consumed because of grief; it waxeth old because of all mine enemies. 8 Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping. 9 The LORD hath heard my supplication; the LORD will receive my prayer. 10 Let all mine enemies be ashamed and sore vexed: let them return and be ashamed suddenly.