Book Reflection: What on Earth am I Here For by Rick Waren

Kayla and I are first year evening Core students at Highlands College.  Over the next eight weeks we are reading What on Earth am I here For? by Rick Warren.   Of course the entire book has life fulfilling content so I am going to list the key points that have made significant impact on my life and are spiritual laws that I choose to retain as codes for my life:

Blessed are those who trust in the Lord...They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water.  Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought.  Their leaves stay green, and they go right on producing delicious fruit.  Jeremiah 17:7-8 (NLT)  page 21 

...focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose page 24 

God is not just the starting point of your life; he is the source of it page 27 

You were created as a special object of God's love!  God made you so he could love you.  This is a truth to build your life on page page 33

People who don't know their purpose try to do too much - and that causes stress, fatigue, and conflict page 42 

Life is a test, life is a trust, life is a temporary assignment.  These ideas are the foundation of a purpose drive life. page 56

This is another misconception about worship.  It isn't for our benefit!  We worship for God's benefit.  When we worship, our goal is to bring pleasure to God, not ourselves.   If you ever have said, "I didn't get anything our of worship today, " you worshiped for the wrong reason.  Worship isn't for you.  It's for God.   page 85 

I will continue to update this post through spring 2018 when the course is completed   

The Law of Manna

 Manna is a combination of five elements: people, intelligence, risk, resources, and capital.  The following are the laws of manna: 

- manna is given in exchange for prayer (A.S.K) and worship
- manna is produced and provided by God from heaven
- manna is brought to us in close proximity 
- manna is received as a finished product.  Seed nor animial farming is required
- we have to labor for the manna 
- manna is stored in a hidden place and is released in daily dosages according
to the need and purpose of the person recieving it
- God provides instruction and purpose on what to do with manna
- manna is God's presence.  Manna feeds glory (Exo 16:10), favor, rest and test our ability to remain loyal to his instruction (Exo 16:4)
- manna helps to restore and maintain a healthy culture among the people (Exo 16:9)
- conversely not having enough manna leads to silent bitterness
- God controls the life within the manna.  He has the ability to destroy or increase it's life at will
- manna expires either at the point at which it is eaten or at a designated time
- we are demendent upon manna and must receive it on a daily basis or we will perish
- God requires credit for providing the manna
- Quail are sent in the evening and they cover the camp.  In the morning dew remains over the camp.  The dew fades away it leaves the bread that appears like thin flake frost on the desert floor 
- manna comes with an orientation to instruct the user how who delivered the goods and how to best use the goods also an explanation of what happens if not consumed properly 
- their is always more value to the manna than what is advertised.  In other words everyone knows manna as bread but in fact a hidden value is the meat that was provided from the quail
- manna is not kept in scarce supply.  With God's help it is made readily available and abundant 
- God will multiply the ability of manna when we choose to stay in his presence and enjoy his rest
- even the quail take rest
- the rule of taking no more than three pounds each day was more than generous and everyone had no problem with compliance
- people receive manna when they reach a place spiritually when they reach a place of acknowledging that they are dependent upon God
- in other words manna is used as a tool to bring people closer to Christ Jesus.  People are more likely to accept Christ when they are feeding from his manna over what he is saying
- make the front door about Christ his manna not his word.   God's presence is laced in the manna and the fruit of the digestion is his word.  According the last supper Christ Jesus body is the bread and the cup is his word
- our discernment and God's grace all sufficient when we choose to operate within the law of his instruction Exodus 16:18
- manna has an optimal time of usage, timing is crucial Exodus 16:21
- mystery is an essential aspect of the manna experience.  For example how did the quail arrive to the camp as they are not made for migration.  Much of God's nature or his presence is not meant or is available for explanation or understanding.  Hence the name Manna, what is it?
- manna is understood but not clearly explainable
- we are to expect the unexpected from God's manna.  We define manna in today's market as people, capital, risk, intelligence, and resources
- manna is created to equalize the market.  Each person shall have their daily allotment according to their individual need
- God's presence is eternal however his manna is not.  In time all manna expires therefore do not hold onto it with a tight fist
- Manna expresses life through various stages starting out as dew, hardens, then softens on it's way to melt if the temperature is high enough.  Or will spoil with maggots if left past a day.  Also it will melt away if left untouched too long in the field.  Manna has a optimal time for usage. 
- On average with God's grace each person is given 40 years to plow and toil starting around age 20 and ending around 60 (Exo 16:35)
- Be grateful for the manna God gives you and be careful not to lust for more than what he has provided from his own will.  For He might give you an abundance of riches that turns out to absent of his presence.  This is what it means when Jesus states in Rev 3:18 'I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich...' Numbers 11

Exodus 16; numbers 11

6 Reasons to Keep Quail | Perfect Homestead Birds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kajwyWlD34

Additional Manna Scriptures
https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Manna

The Life the Legacy of Mr. Walter Colvin

On Saturday October 21, 2017 my relationship with my best friend Mr. Walt took a big turn when without so many words he let me know that he truly felt like he was dying.  Between that point to his death on Friday December 8th we went from confirmation that he had stage four cancer, to a family meeting in which he and his wife Barbara Colvin informed us that he had maybe six months to live, to him barely having life in body after Thanksgiving.

Mr. Walt's last week and half of life to this past weekend was undoubtedly the most grief I have ever experienced.  I had the privilege of getting to know Mr. Walt very well due to our connection of my wonderful marriage of his youngest daughter Kayla of now 18 years.  All together I had a great relationship with Mr. Walt for over 20 years.  Mr. Walt was very passionate about giving advice as he long for 'young' people to succeed.  The purpose of this journal entry is to list the lessons I have learned from Mr. Walt based both in his guidance as the closest father I have ever had and his life in general.  These are principals that I will lean on and attribute then to his life:

- always save money

- get into a career that is steady and provides opportunity for advancement

- use your career to build wealth, i.e real estate being an example

- address the people sown in your life that are easy for you to neglect.  Go out of your way to love them and take the lead in helping them be accepted by the group

- use your God given leverage to help others arise to and above the status you have achieved

- get your house in order long before the doctor says to get your house in order

- people love a friendly smile and a friendly person

- love displays when one cares and ask about the uncommon interest of the other

- process grief don't stuff it or hold on to it.  Face grief head on then let it out but be sure to let it go

- being present counts, it counts for a lot

- home is special.  Make it special no matter what season you are in 

-  truly the greatest gift is to be loved and to give love

- partner with reputable construction vendors and write contracts with them that protect your interest of quality of work and staying on schedule 

These are the lessons I recall from my father thus far.  I will continue to up date this list as I can recall them. 

enclosure  

Spiritual Order trumps God given Purpose

Moses was given the instruction to set the people of Israel free, and on his way to carry out this God-given assignment in Egypt, the Bible records the following:

At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him.  But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it.  “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)  Exodus 4:24-26 NIV

The lesson here is clear: we cannot bypass personal spiritual obedience in pursuit of a larger calling.

Moses was on his way to fulfill one of the greatest assignments in history—to lead Israel out of Egypt—yet God was prepared to take his life because a matter of personal covenant responsibility had been neglected.

In other words, before Moses could be entrusted to “save a nation,” he first had to be aligned in his own house.

A leaders personal responsibilities to God, himself, and his family should never become secondary to the vision God has given him to accomplish. 



Enclosure     

- Martin A. Briggs

The History and Significance of John the Baptist

John was
- preach or herald or preaching or to an official messenger bringing news

- the theme of his God given message was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near".  In other words to accept the kingdom of heaven one must let go of something else.

- he preached from the wilderness of Judea.  People from hundreds of miles ranging from Jerusalem, all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan came to him for ministry.  John was a ministry with national attraction. It appears John the Baptist held his ministry in a stationary location and people were drawn to him.  In contract Jesus traveled hundreds of mile.  The primary purpose of John the Baptist was God calling the people to repentance.  Therefore most everyone that came to John for ministry had to take a long journey away from their homes which is a reflection of the primary spiritual journey God required of the region before Jesus was to come to Earth.

- a big credit to the arrival of Jesus has to be given to the people that agreed with John and they were hungry.  They went out of there way to aggressively ask God into their lives    

- Isaiah prophesied about John purpose some 800 years before John was born when he said “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”  John is the voice of one who calls in the wilderness

- John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.  In other words John made a lifestyle of practical yet high quality product.

- John the Baptist was a man of humility and order.  His statement to Jesus in letting him know he was not worthy to baptize was an act of humility.  It was true Jesus is John's and everyone else's superior in every way and the baptism for repentance which Jesus did not require.  But to keep in line with Seder Jesus submitted himself to God's plan for every person.  Our Lord Jesus and our great elder John the Baptist are men of humility and order

- John was given therefore the great privilege of anointing Christ Jesus to the highest role that has or ever will be given to any being from God.  God the Father said the first and last statement written in the New Testament saying “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

- John and his disciples were a team that fast together.  We are also to fast since the bridegroom is not with us in body

- According to Jesus John was strong in heart full of conviction, as expressed earlier a man who dressed modestly in practical measure.  John came in the spirit of Elijah who had greatness that exceeded that of the standard spirit of prophet.  John had the prophet plus anointing on him.  He came in the spirit of Elijah.

-  John came neither eating much food nor drinking wine.  John's diet was very clean, light, and efficient.  He was most like very slim due to his diet and fasting.  Meaning his physical body lived much by Spirit

- "John was a lamp that burned and gave light" John 5:35

- Jesus places significance on character of heart and the willingness to help others shape their character of heart than he does the performance of miracles  John 5:36; John 10:40-42

- for he will be great in the sight of the Lord Luke 1

- ever to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born

- He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God

- he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah

- to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous
—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord

The only sermon on record for John the Baptist the High Word of the entire Bible from Old Testament to til his death:

 “A person can receive only what is given them from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Messiah but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less.”

31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. 33 Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. 34 For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. 35 The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.

All the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John.
John the Baptist is the Elijah who was to come
And from the days of John the Baptist until Jesus, the city of BHM had been subjected to violence.
Violent people had been raiding BHM.



All the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John the Elijah.
And from the days of John the Elijah until Jesus, heaven had been subjected to violence.  Violent people had been raiding heaven.

Interpretation
perhaps from the time John was born to the moment of Jesus statement here violent people violently raided heaven   Mt 11

Matthew 11:11-12; Luke 16:16-17

Sorcerers the Practice of Magic Arts

According to the following Biblical scriptures sorcerers are those that practice magic arts.  They stand in opposition to the will of God and the practice has the worse consequence associated with those acts.

Babylon...By your magic spell all the nations were led astray 

- Revelation 18:23

...the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts (sorcerers), the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death

- Revelation 21:8 

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts (sorcerers), the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood 

- Revelation 22:14-15

From my understanding the biblical definition of a sorcerer or person engaged in the practice of magic art is one who seeks and channels supernatural force outside of the name and will of Jesus Christ.  Magic is the opposite of prayer.  Prayer transfers the will and power of Christ Jesus from heaven to earth.  Conversely magic is the transfer of the will and power of the kingdom of darkness to the sorcerers of the earth.   

A spell, charm or hex is a set of words, spoken or unspoken, which are considered by its user to invoke some magical effect

A curse tablet or binding spell is a type of curse found throughout the Greco-Roman world, in which someone would ask the gods, place spirits, or the deceased to perform an action on a person or object, or otherwise compel the subject of the curse.

The Hellenistic period (roughly the last three centuries BCE) is characterized by an avid interest in magic, though this may simply be because from this period a greater abundance of texts, both literary and some from actual practitioners, in Greek and in Latin remains. In fact many of the magical papyri that are extant were written in the 1st centuries of the Current Era, but their concepts, formulas and rituals reflect the earlier Hellenistic period, that is, a time when the systematization of magic in the Greco-Roman world seems to have taken place—particularly in the ‘melting pot’ of varying cultures that was Egypt under the Ptolemies and under Rome.[original research?]

Acts 19:18-20 New International Version (NIV)

18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

According to Revelation 18:23 Babylon The Great, anti-Holy Spirit, speaks magic spells that lead all the nations astray.  One prayer, John's Prayer, breaks her curse  When spoken it provides immunity from all evil spoke against us and aligns us with the divine purposes of God.  

The is the John's Prayer otherwise know as the Lord's Prayer:

Scripture Mix from 
Matthew 5:1-2; Luke 11:1-4; Matthew 6:5-15;

Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down to pray in a certain place.  When he finished his disciples came to him, and one of them said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.” he began to teach them.

“This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.

Matthew 5:1-2; Luke 11:1-4; Matthew 6:5-15;

Life to the Helpless brings Life to the 'gods'

God presides in the great assembly and he renders three critical judgments.


ONE: You are a god

Every man and woman is a “god” and all are sons of the Most High.  Christ Jesus whom is the embodied word of God stated and reinforced this fact when he echoed God's proclamation in John 10:34.  Again every man and woman is a child of God therefore he is a 'god' made in God's image as stated in Gen 1:27

TWO: Broken god's create a broken world

As a whole very few people know or accept they are a 'god'.  Therefore the overwhelming majority of all the people in the world know nothing about the fact that they are a god and consequently walk in darkness.  And as a result all the foundations of the earth are shaken.  The earth was and has been given to man to rule and take dominion over.  However mankind can never rule the earth appropriately if he does not know or understand his identity




THREE: The likeness of immortality is restored as we restore the helpless         

We will manifest the likeness of God as we embark upon providing life to the helpless.  Of course we know that life is the blood of Jesus and God ask us to apply the blood to the helpless via the following FOUR Cups criteria:    

CUP 1) stop defending the unjust and showing partiality to the wicked
CUP 2) start defending the weak and the fatherless
CUP 3) uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed
CUP 4) rescue the weak and the needy and deliver them from the hand of the wicked

We are called to bring life to the helpless whom God defines as the:
- weak
- fatherless
- poor
- oppressed
- and the needy

The secrete to restoring the 'gods' likeness of immortality and living in the fullness of God's favor and glory is directly correlated with our intentional efforts to bring life to the helpless (Luke 3:7-18).  We 'gods' will defeat all sickness, disease, and yes even death itself, as we pour life into the helpless

Yes Amen and Amen!

I love you Lord and accept your proclamation to bring your living blood of Jesus to the helpless!



This interpretation has been derived from the following sacred scriptures: Ge 1:27;Jn 10:34; Ps 82