“Beloved, I implore you as aliens and strangers and exiles in this world to abstain from the sensual urges, your lower nature, that wage war against the soul.” (1st Peter 2:11)

The definition of “implore” according to the Oxford dictionary is: To beg someone earnestly, or desperately to do something.

So it’s safe to say that Peter is pretty serious about what he’s telling us here, he’s literally begging us to abstain from sensual urges. He also addresses us “aliens” and “strangers.” Fascinating stuff.

“By this you may know (perceive and recognize) the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges and confesses {the fact} that Jesus Christ (the Messiah) {actually} has become man and has come in the flesh is of God {has God as its source}; And every spirit which does not acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh {but would annul, destroy, sever, disunite Him} is not of God {does not proceed from Him}. This {nonconfession} is the {spirit} of the antichrist, {of} which you heard that it was coming, and now it is already in the world.” (1st John 4:2-3 - AMP)

Notice it doesn’t say “has become a man” but “has become man.” Actually, we could say “has become mankind or humankind.”

“So be subject to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)

We’d do well to remember that the bible was written by desert dwelling mystics from the East, and they saw reality quite different from those of us in the West. For instance, the Hindus believe that life itself is a divine play which they call “Lila.” It’s a concept that describes the universe as a manifestation of God’s playful energy, rather than being created out of necessity. Lila suggests that creation is a joyous, spontaneous activity of the divine, where the universe is seen as a stage for this divine play.

“For as the human body apart from the spirit is lifeless, so faith apart from its works of obedience is also dead.” (James 2:26)

Neville Goddard often spoke of the importance of remaining loyal to your imaginal creations, and this is precisely what this verse if talking about. You are the animating power of your world, you are the light, you are the salt, you are what is giving your reality its flavor; and if you pull the rug out from under your imaginal creations by not being obedient to them, they die.

“Making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.” (Mark 7:13)

Plainly speaking, religious traditions make the word of God useless. You know, I spent 25+ years in the mainstream church; and one thing I noticed, was that the churchgoers’ (myself included) lives were no better than anyone else; and in some cases, dare I say the majority, they were even worse than the non-churchgoers, or “heathen” as we liked to call them.

Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in good time for every need {appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it}.” (Hebrews 4:16)

This is a pretty amazing scripture, basically we’re being told to walk right up to the throne of Jesus Christ with a confident swagger and a spring in our step. No fear, bold. Sounds kind of daunting doesn’t it? But if we understand who we are, it all makes perfect sense.

“Thank God in everything, no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks, for this is the will of God for you who are in Christ Jesus, the Revealer and Mediator of that will.” (1st Thessalonians 5:18 - AMP)

Since we know that Jesus Christ is our own creative human imagination, and since we know that God the Father is universal formless consciousness itself, out of which everything comes into existence, let’s re-examine the above verse in that light.

If you’re a health conscious person, you probably try to stay away from foods products containing GMO ingredients. GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism, which means the organism’s DNA has been altered to produce certain desired traits. Until recent years, most of us in the USA were oblivious to GMOs, and as a result we had been ingesting them for years without even knowing what we were actually consuming; now however, people are waking up, and realizing that many of their health issues were caused from years and years of eating man made processed foods.

“But we have the mind of Christ.” (1st Corinthians 2:16)

“Now you are the body of Christ.” (1st Corinthians 12:27)

“Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.” (1st Corinthians 6:19)

Your mind is the mind of Christ. Your body is the body of Christ. Your spirit is the spirit of Christ.

“The one who believes in me, as the scripture has said, from his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:38)

“The power of love is a curious thing, make a one man weep, make another man sing. Change a hawk to a little white dove, more than a feeling; that’s the power of love.” - (Huey Lewis and The News, 1985)

“For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection {of reality as in a riddle or enigma}, but then {when perfection comes} we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood {by God}.” (1st Corinthians 13:12 - AMP)

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2)

Paul liked to write letters, and this one in particular was written for, and addressed to, the church in Rome. We should probably ask ourselves why he would feel the need to write this. My guess is he attended a few services, or simply heard by word of mouth what they were teaching, and fired off a letter. Sort of reminds me of today.

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” (Philippians 4:6 NKJV)

And now the Amplified version…

“And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.” (Isaiah 45:3)

Sometimes it helps to think of this life as a giant game of Hide-and-Seek.

Good morning! Just wanted to jot down a quick note here to stimulate the right side of our brains. While I was grinding the coffee beans this morning, I was thinking of how interesting it is that our bodies, and in fact all of life, as well as the nonliving world are made up of atoms. There are approximately seven billion, billion, billion atoms in a typical human body. Wow.

“Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand).” (Jeremiah 33:3 - Amplified)

“But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message {on His own authority}; but He will tell whatever He hears {from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him}, and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come {that will happen in the future}. (John 16:13 - Amplified)

“To you it has been given to know the mysteries of God, but for those outside everything is in parables.” (Mark 4:11) A parable is a story that is told as if it were true, leaving the one who hears it to discover its fictitious character and then learn its meaning, its lesson.

“So when the crowd had gathered Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you Barabbas or Jesus who is called the Messiah?” For he knew that it was out of self interest that they had handed Jesus over to him. While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.” But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.” (Matthew 27:17-20)

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1st Corinthians 13:13)

Out of these three things, the one you hear preached about the most is faith; as a matter of fact, the Word of Faith movement is what most megachurches claim to be a part of. These would be your Televangelists, and the main idea is that if you have faith, and give them your money, then God will be persuaded to do something special for you. Nice work guys.