Do you want this world to be a better place?
Are we, the people? Are we the majority? Yes, "we" are...
So then, if "we" are the people and "we" are the majority, then "we" can and will make a difference if we would all turn to the One True God and have our Daily Bread*. Then through Him we will...
- pray for our family and friends
- properly care for, love and protect our babies, children and our elderly
- properly care for, love and protect the pets and animals that God gave us for our enjoyment
- smile at one another and be polite to one another
- put others first and be considerate of others and treat others the way you want to be treated (isn't this the Golden Rule?)
- have pure, right and thoughtful motives towards ourselves and others (...take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ ~2 Corinthians 10)
- forgive one another
- be honest with one another
- be compassionate
- be motived by Love (God is love)
- live as children of the Light, being made new in the attitude of our minds (see below)
- have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (this is the fruit of the Spirit -against such things there is no law. ~Galatians 5:22-23)
- examine ourselves before the Lord and confess our sins to each other
- not allow the sun to go down on your anger (see below)
- be responsibe for feeding and caring for our own families, our health and our financial course and status (Jesus is the bread of life - see below)
- make every effort in faith to help one another when another is in need (I think we've found out that anyone can be in that situation at any given moment).
- have unity and the same love (Ephesians 5)
- lose our lives for Jesus' sake and we'll find abundant life in Christ!
Then this world would truly be a better place
and there would be so much excitement
on earth as it is in Heaven!
Give us this day our Daily Bread!
*Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. ~Proverbs 30:8
*Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. ~John 6:35
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” ~John 7:38
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. ~James 5:16
Ephesians 4
Unity in the Body Of Christ
4As a prisoner for the Lord, then,
I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be
completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3
Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of
peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to
one hope when you were called— 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6
one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ
apportioned it. 8 This is why it[a] says:
“When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men.”[b]
9 (What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended
to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He
who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in
order to fill the whole universe.) 11 It was he who gave some to be
apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors
and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so
that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity
in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature,
attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by
the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the
cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead,
speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the
Head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held
together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as
each part does its work.
Living
as Children of Light
17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you
must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18
They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of
God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their
hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves
over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual
lust for more.
20 You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. 21 Surely
you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in
Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life,
to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23
to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on
the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
25 Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak
truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. 26 “In
your anger do not sin”[d]: Do not let
the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the
devil a foothold. 28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer,
but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have
something to share with those in need.
29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but
only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it
may benefit those who listen. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit
of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Get
rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every
form of malice. 32 Be kind and compassionate to one another,
forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Happy New Year everyone! Let's make it the best one yet for all!
Lisa
(the list above is not exhaustive or in any particular order)
