XCIV

WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING

PHILLIPIANS 2:12

DEVIN EASTON (PART 2 of 2)

“It’s time for you to decide,” Sevenia had said. The word decide was ringing and echoing in my head. I had started reading a book that my brother had given me by Soren Kierkegaard called ‘Provocations.’ As a matter of fact, I had read the first chapter the previous night before I went to bed and began having nightmares. The title of said first chapter is, ‘Dare to Decide.’

Please don’t misunderstand me. This book is a far cry from a Stephen King novel. What I read was, for me anyway, a kick to the behind. In a nutshell, it encouraged me to stop sitting on the fence spiritually. It stirred me, and it shook up what I had been dealing with the last several weeks.

“What’s wrong?” Sevenia asked with a concerned frown. “I just meant personally I don’t think you are possessed.”

“That’s good to know,” I replied, followed by a fake laugh.

“The crazy part is another matter,” she added with a sly smile.

“That’s NOT good,” I responded with a genuine laugh. Then I told her about the book my brother Dirk had given me and the coincidence of her saying it’s time to decide.

“That’s probably not a coincidence then,” she said with a shrug. “I just finished reading  that same book just a few days ago. And guess who it was who gave it to me?”

“Dirk?”

“Close, his lovely wife.”

This turned my mind to something else that had plagued my thoughts during my sort of conversion, the Dalial encounters, and the Dr. Darius Doom experience. That thought was, would my former girlfriend and mother of my daughter take me back?

She had said no in the midst of the Dr. Doom days. She still claimed to not want to be yoked to an unbeliever. This both hurt and mystified me. I felt like I was a believer after my encounter with Dalial. I had had years of waffling on spiritual convictions, but now I was committed to positive life changes.

Yet I was beginning to truly understand her reservations. The people at Cotton Creek Cove went by the Bible and the Bible alone, and I was finally seeing that their practices of primitive Godliness were much deeper than simply old fashioned values. It was an adherence to Biblical doctrine and principles rather than tradition, accompanied by ecumenism. The commandments of God vs. the traditions of men if you please.

“You and Lexi are pretty close friends, right?” I asked.

“Yeah, sure we are.”

“If I get baptized like you said…”

“When did I tell you to get baptized?” Sevenia interrupted with a frown.

“Well, you…” I began, and then frowned myself. I remembered in the nightmare her head rolling off her body after she told me to repent and be baptized. After that I jolted awake. She had told me in my dream, not in reality. I smiled sheepishly and then changed directions a little. “Actually, I guess you didn’t. What I was getting at, though, was Lexi.”

“Okay, what about Lex?”

“If I were baptized and joined your church, do you think she would have me? You know, finally marry me so we can be a real family?”

“That shouldn’t factor into your decision for baptism.”

“How can it not?” I wondered aloud. “Her reason right now is not wanting to be unequally yoked. Wouldn’t me getting baptized equalize the possible marriage equation?”

Sevenia frowned, but smiled. “I see what your saying, and you are right to a degree. All I’m trying to say is take Lexi and your daughter out of the equation for a second. Pretend Lexi left Cotton Creek Cove and became, say, a Buddhist monk. Would your spiritual inclinations still lead you to baptism and Cotton Creek Cove?”

“Yes.”

“Alright then.”

“So you do think I should be baptized?”

“Sure I do, as long as you give yourself whole heartedly to God and repent.”

“How do I truly know if I’ve done that?”

“That would be something better answered by Captain Kirk,” she told me. “He’s had over half a century of pastoring and counseling. He’s much more adept at reading and understanding people than I am.”

“Okay, well, how about we go back to your dad’s so I can have a talk with him before he leaves.”

“Oh, I think they’ll be there a while. When that group gets together, they can talk for hours on end.”

“Maybe you just don’t want to stop hanging out alone with me,” I teased and then winked.

She looked slightly startled, but then laughed. “How about we go see the good Captain?”

Back at the Sallie residence, I followed Sevenia through the house and we spotted everyone hanging out on the deck. As we approached, we heard Seven speak as he looked intently at his phone. “It says here, a Cedar Rapids man was pecked to death by a flock of Red Winged Blackbirds.”

“Get out!” Brock barked as he stepped next to Seven and looked at his phone.

Sevenia stopped abruptly, and I almost ran into her. She doubled over, and her shoulders began to shake and tremble. I thought she was struck with a sudden illness. “Sevenia, are you okay?”

She stood up and I was startled to see she was crying. She wiped away a tear, and it was then I realized she was laughing.

“Yesterday,” she began, just above a whisper. “Destiny told us that Brock stopped running at his favorite trail because the Red Winged Blackbirds dive bombed him so aggressively. He claimed one grazed his head. I don’t think he knows that my dad knows about it.”

It was good to witness Sevenia having lighthearted fun. It seemed like the few times I had been around her she was so serious. Calm and peaceful, but serious.

“Destiny, did you tell Seven about my bird incidents on the Cedar Valley Trail?” Brock asked his wife. But she was holding her stomach and laughing so hard she couldn’t speak. “Seven, you little punk!”

Seven actually vaulted over the deck railing with Brock in hot pursuit. The two men scrambled all over the back yard with everyone on the deck rolling with laughter. Brock finally caught him, put him in a head lock, and tickled his rib cage. Seven apologized profusely and Brock let him go. The two cousins walked back to the deck grinning like a couple schoolboys.

“Can you believe those two guys are almost forty?” Sevenia asked, as she smiled and shook her head.

Pastor Samson, aka Captain Kirk, was more than happy to talk with me. I told him how I had been reading the Bible and other spiritual books ever since my brother Dirk had become a believer. I told him the influence other members of Cotton Creek Cove Fellowship had on me, especially Lexi. Her transformation from a demon-possessed former stripper to a wholesome, Godly mother of our two year old blew my mind.

But I confessed that although I admired Jesus and was impressed with how He  transformed my former girlfriend and brother, I just couldn’t seem to give up booze, cigarettes, and lust, among other things. Things like swearing, impatience, hating people, etc.

I told him how the encounter with Dalial had changed my life, which led me to my brief relationship with Dr. Darius Doom. I informed him that it was witnessing Sevenia and Doom together that won me to her side. I was awakened to the reality of truth over sensation. Then how my nightmares about Sevenia put a huge exclamation point on my new beliefs.

We talked for over an hour, and then I finally couldn’t help myself. “Sir, do you think I could be baptized? I mean, do you think I’m ready, Sir?”

Captain Kirk was a fascinating man. It was like talking to a hero from the Bible. He had a bearing and dignity that seemed to command respect. Yet he was so relaxed, friendly, and engaged when we spoke that I couldn’t help feeling, dare I say it, like he loved me.

“I think you’re ready, Son,” he said as he patted my knee.

Strangely, I felt like crying, but held it in. I also felt unworthy, and asked. “Sir, what if screw up after I’m baptized. You know?”

“Son, do you ever drop the soap when you’re taking a shower?”

I both frowned and chuckled, wondering what he was getting at by seeming to change the subject with something absurd. “Uh, sure, quite a bit actually.”

“Do you stop taking a shower if drop the soap?”

“Of course not.”

“A spiritual journey is a discipline,” he told me. “Hence the derivative disciple. It is also sort of like a lifelong shower, only instead of getting physically clean, you’re in the process of  cleansing your soul. So, if you drop the metaphoric soap in life, you confess to God, ask for forgiveness and get on with your shower.”

“Thank you, Sir,” I said, unable to stop grinning. “That’s something I’ll always remember. So, will you baptize me then?”

“Given what you’ve told me, what would you think of your brother baptizing you?”

“He can do that? He’s not pastor though.”

“He’s a member of God’s family in good standing, he’s qualified.”

“I’d love it!”

The next thing I knew, I was standing in my brother’s living room. He and his lovely wife Amy listened intently as I related my night and day’s activity. My niece and nephew played contentedly as I related how their uncle’s life was changing.

When I got to the part of Captain Kirk suggesting Dirk baptized me, my brother said he’d be honored. He then pinched the bridge of his nose as tears leaked from his eyes. I gave his shoulder a pat, and I knew he felt embarrassed. But then he laughed and hugged me fiercely.

The next Sabbath, after services, I was baptized in Cotton Creek, not far from where Sevenia and I conversed. The first person I had physical contact with as I stepped onto the bank was my little daughter. Lexi handed her to me, tears of joy streaming down her smiling face as I kissed our little girl’s soft, chubby cheek before I held her with my right arm. With my left, I hugged Lexi and kissed her cheek.

“Congratulations,” she said as she put a hand on my cheek.

“Thanks,” I replied, feeling choked up with gratitude.

“By the way, yes,” she grinned.

“Yes what?” I asked, feeling a little dazed by the rush of emotions.

“Yes, I’ll marry you,” she said softly, lovingly. “That is if the offer still stands.”

“Absolutely,” I replied as Captain Kirk shook my hand, grinning. “Pastor, Lexi and I need to talk to you. We need another ceremony, and I’m pretty sure my brother isn’t qualified for this one.”

What a great day! God is so good! God is so patient and merciful! God is love!

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT PART 14)

Christ will never abandon the soul for whom He has died. The soul may leave Him and be overwhelmed with temptation, but Christ can never turn from one for whom He has paid the ransom of His own life.

Could our spiritual vision be quickened, we would see souls bowed under oppression and burdened with grief, ready to die in discouragement. We should see angels flying swiftly to aid these tempted ones, who are standing as on the brink of a precipice. The angels from heaven force back the hosts of evil that encompass theses souls, and guide them to plant their feet on the sure foundation.

The spiritual battles waging between the two armies of good and evil are as real as those fought by the armies of this world, and on the issue of spiritual conflict eternal destinies depend.

Live in contact with the living Christ, and he will hold you firmly by a hand that will never let go.

“Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.” Matthew 6:13

The ruin of Jerusalem was a symbol of the final ruin that shall overwhelm the world in the time of the end.

He who rules in the heavens is our Savior. He measures every trial. He watches the furnace fire that must test every soul.

“Judge not that ye be not judged.” Matthew 7:1

The warning is: Don’t set yourself up as the standard. The standard is Jesus, and Jesus Christ alone.

The effort to earn salvation by one’s own works inevitably leads men to pile up human exactions as a false barrier against sin.

We cannot read the human heart. We ourselves are faulty, and are not qualified to sit in judgement of others. Finite men can ONLY judge from outward appearance. To God alone who knows the secret springs of action, and who deals tenderly and compassionately, is it given to decide the case of every soul.

“Why do you behold the mote that is in your brother’s eye?” Matthew 7:3

According to the figure our Savior uses here, he who indulges a judgmental spirit is guilty of a greater sin than is the one he accuses.

Christ is the only true standard  of character, and they who set themselves up as a standard for others is putting themselves in the place of Christ.

These would be judges and critics are placing themselves on the side of antichrist , “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God…” 2 Thessalonians 2:4

When the religious experience is devoid of love, Jesus is not there; the sunshine of His presence is not there. No busy activity or zeal can supply its lack.

What the early church has done whenever she has lost the grace of Christ; when finding herself destitute of the power of love, she has reached out for the strong arm of the state to enforce her dogmas and execute her decrees.

Here is the secret of all religious laws that have ever been enacted, and the secret of all persecution from the days of Abel to our own time.

Christ does not drive but draws people unto Him. The only compulsion He employs is the constraint of love.

When the church begins to seek for the support of secular power, it is evident that she is devoid of the power of Christ—the constraint of divine love.

He who looks upon the cross of Calvary, remembering that their sins placed the Savior there, will never try to estimate the degree of his guilt in comparison with that of others.

Let Christ be daily made manifest in you, and He will reveal through you the creative energy of His word!

XCIII

CHOOSE FOR YOUSELVES THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE

JOSHUA 24:15

DEVIN EASTON (PART 1 of 2)

I know this may sound silly, but when Sevenia greeted me at that very instant, right when I had just finished telling her father that I had had major nightmares regarding his daughter, well, it was like my road to Damascus.

Not that I’m comparing myself to The Apostle Paul at all. I just mean it was the beginning of my real conversion, and Sevenia was the bright light God used. It was the slap upside my head I needed. But like the Apostle Paul, I was still blind, dazed, and confused.

Ironically, even though she freaked me out, Sevenia and I ended up hanging out that day for a long time. My nightmare, in the flesh, would become the instrument God used to turn on the light. That light would be the Light of Life, Jesus Christ.

Seven had asked his angel of a daughter to tell this little, but most significant chapter of my life, but she insisted I give my testimony myself. I reluctantly agreed, but said yes because, well, Sevenia is simply a hard little lady to say no to.

This road to real conversion started when I had had the worst night of sleep in my life. It was beyond fitful and plagued with nightmares that resulted in a major spiritual struggle. I feared I was demon possessed, especially after witnessing what my former girlfriend, Lexi Gomez, had gone through around two years ago.

(Lexi’s ordeal was told in the very first posts of this blog.)

So, I was standing with Seven Sallie on his deck relating my situation. I had just finished a part of my dream where Dalial, a supernatural being I had thought was holy, sliced completely through the neck of Sevenia. Before her head fell from her body, Sevenia gazed intently at me and told me to repent and be baptized.

Not even half a minute after I tell Seven about this, his daughter seemed to appear out of thin air and greet me with a sweet smile. This pleasant greeting from the five foot two, one hundred and ten pound young woman frightened me beyond belief. I reeled back, then tripped on the leg of a deck chair, and sat down harder than I had in my life.

I was simply stunned and in pain at first. Then I glanced at Seven. He had a hand clasped over his mouth, and his eyes bulged from suppressed laughter. I turned my gaze to his wife and daughter. Sevenia’s mouth hung open and her eyes were wide. Zella chewed on her lower lip with a look of concern. My pain was forgotten and I just felt embarrassed, especially when Sevenia rushed to my side and put a hand on my forearm. Her fingers felt cool, despite the warm summer morning.

“Devin, are you okay?” she asked. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I thought you saw me come up the deck stairs.”

“Oh, no, no, I’m fine,” I said and then fake laughed as I rose to my feet. “I just got done telling your dad something pretty heavy and my mind was, um, preoccupied.”

“Can I tell them about your dreams?” Seven asked.

“Knock yourself out,” I said.

I sat down carefully this time and patiently listened to Seven recount the nightmares I had related to him. I was impressed by how closely Seven had listened to me. I only had to correct his accuracy once.

“Do you think I’m possessed?” I heard myself ask Sevenia. We stared into each other’s eyes. I felt nauseous, and I couldn’t help swallowing down what felt like a pint of saliva. The guirk sound my throat made seemed to echo in Seven’s back yard. But maybe it was my overactive imagination.

Sevenia put a finger on her nose as she considered my question, and as the reverberation of my swallow faded, she said, “No, I don’t.”

Relief washed over me, yet I still felt anxious and uncertain.

“What’s happening to me then?” I asked.

Before Sevenia could answer, the Storm family of Destiny, Brock, and their two adopted daughters came into the back yard. They were followed by Captain Kirk and his brother.

“Look, I better let you go,” I said to the Sallie family. “I didn’t mean to just drop in on you all like I did.”

“Why don’t you stay?” Seven invited. “It’s Pastor Samson’s brother’s birthday, and I just invited them over for a little cook out. We have plenty of food.”

“No thanks,” I said with a forced smile. “I’m not very hungry.”

“Devin, how about you and me go somewhere private and talk?” Sevenia asked.

I noticed her father’s eyes raise in alarm. I couldn’t blame him since I had earned my reputation as a philander. It was something I have felt deep shame over ever since my daughter was born.

“Thanks, but I don’t want to get in the way of your plans,” I told her.

“It’s no big deal,” she shrugged. “I’d rather discuss spiritual issues any day, rather than sit around and eat.”

Sevenia must do a lot of spiritual discussing because she wasn’t very meaty. She did look fit and healthy though.

“Are you sure?” I inquired.

“Sure I’m sure,” she smiled. “How about we go to the creek behind the church? It’s only about a five minute drive.”

“Sweet Pea, why don’t you just go in the living room?” Seven asked with a concerned look on his face. “We’re all gonna be outside here.”

I recalled Sevenia having been assaulted at Cotton Creek by a male acquaintance. I didn’t blame Seven at all for not liking the idea of me being alone there with his daughter. I was actually surprised she herself trusted me enough. Just out of superstition, I wouldn’t want to go there if I was her.

“We’ll be fine, Dad,” she said with a shrug and then looked into her father’s eyes. “I think best there.”

Seven smiled at her and nodded. Not even ten minutes later we sat down on a big rock right by the creek. There was a canopy of about a dozen white pine trees. Beyond them were huge Cottonwood trees, hence the name Cotton Creek. Behind us, at least a football fields length, was their church, Cotton Creek Cove Fellowship.

The clear water of the creek burbled and gurgled over a multitude of rocks, and a breeze made a soft whistle through the pines. I felt myself relax already. Sevenia pulled off the red converse sneakers she was wearing, hiked up the light yellow sun dress she was wearing just above her knees, and placed her feet in the water. She moaned with satisfaction and looked skyward, her emerald eyes seemed to glisten.

It occurred to me just how beautiful Sevenia was. Yet it wasn’t an erotic beauty I was admiring. It was her character and personality. Sevenia had always just appeared to be a plain Jane to me. With her short, spiky hair, no makeup, and no jewelry, she was even a little like a tomboy. Is that even P.C. to say anymore? Sorry if it isn’t. But I say a little like a tomboy because she always seemed to wear dresses and skirts. Plus, she was simply too cute.

“Can I ask you something personal?” I asked.

“Sure,” she said.

“I know you were, um, attacked here,” I said cautiously. “And then the boy ended up killing himself shortly after he fled. As beautiful and peaceful as this place is, I think that would have ruined this place for me if I were in your shoes. I don’t think I could have set foot here ever again.”

“Believe me,” she replied. “In the aftermath of that ordeal, I most definitely felt like never coming here again. But on the other hand, I also had so many fond memories of this place to counteract that one horrific event. I guess kind of like the scripture that says ‘be angry and sin not’. (Ephesians 4:26). By that, I mean I was determined to not let that one ugly ordeal to steal a place I loved and had so many wonderful conversations, and also times alone with God. So I sort of angrily told myself, ‘no, girl, you still go there and trust what Jesus said: I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’” (Matthew 28:20).

“Do you have a scripture for everything?” I chuckled.

“I guess I don’t even think about it,” she shrugged.

“And I guess that’s why I wanted to talk to you,” I told her. “I think that’s why I had nightmares about you.”

“Sorry,” she giggled. “I never intended to give you nightmares.”

“Oh no, forget about it,” I said, waving a hand. “It’s not you. It’s me.”

“That sounds like we just broke up,” she said with more giggles.

I liked seeing her giggle. It reminded me that she was still a young lady. Even though I had a decade on her, Sevenia always seemed older than me. “I don’t think I’m your type,” I replied with a chuckle.

“True,” she said, and then her face became serious. “No offense. I’m actually not anyone’s type.”

“You had a boyfriend for a while, didn’t you? That guy that was kind of built like a junior Brock?”

“Yeah, but after a while I realized I wasn’t ready for romance. It was getting in the way of the call I felt to serve God.”

I nodded. There was a brief lull, and then Sevenia slapped her knees and said, “So, what did you want to talk to me about?”

“If I’m not possessed, why do I feel like I’m going crazy?” I asked her.

She studied me thoughtfully for several seconds and said, “It’s time for you to decide.”

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT PART 13)

“Forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us.” Luke 11:4

As we come to God, this is the condition which meets us at the threshold, that receiving mercy from Him, we yield ourselves to reveal His grace to others.

The one thing essential for us in order that we may receive and impart the forgiving love of God is to know and believe the love that He has to us.

Satan will lead us to think that our mistakes and transgressions have been so grievous that the Lord will not have respect unto our prayers and will not bless and save us.

In ourselves we can see nothing but weakness, nothing to recommend us to God, and Satan tells us that it is of no use; we cannot remedy our defects of character.

When we try to come to God, the enemy will whisper, it is of no use for you to pray; did you not do that evil thing? Have you not sinned against God and violated your own conscience?

But we may tell the enemy that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 17)

When we feel that we have sinned and cannot pray, it is then the most urgent time to pray. Ashamed we may be deeply humbled, but we must pray and believe.

We should not try to lessen our guilt by excusing sin. We must accept God’s estimate of sin, and that is heavy indeed. Calvary alone can reveal the terrible enormity of sin.

“He retains not His anger forever, because HE DELIGHTS IN MERCY!” Micah 7:18

“Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:13

Satan seeks to bring us into temptation, that the evil of our characters may be revealed before humanity and angels, that he may claim us as his own.

God in His great love is seeking to develop in us the precious graces of His Spirit. He permits us to encounter obstacles, persecution, and hardships, not as a curse, but as the greatest blessing of our lives.

Every temptation resisted, every trial bravely borne, gives us a new experience and advances us in the work of character building. The soul that through divine power resists temptation reveals to the world and to the heavenly universe the efficiency of the grace of Christ.

It is not safe for us to linger to contemplate the advantages to be reaped through yielding to Satan’s suggestions. Sin means dishonor and disaster to every soul that indulges in it, and it is blinding and deceiving in its nature.

The only safeguard against evil is the indwelling of Christ in the heart through faith in His righteousness.

It is because selfishness exists in our hearts that temptation has power over us. But when we behold the great love of God, selfishness appears to us in its hideous and repulsive character, and we desire to have it expelled from the soul.

As the Holy Spirit glorifies Christ, our hearts are softened and subdued, the temptation loses its power, and the grace of Christ transforms the character.

XCII

INNUMERABLE EVILS HAVE SURROUNDED ME; MY INIQUITIES HAVE OVERTAKEN ME…THEREFORE MY HEART FAILS ME

PSALM 40:12

SEVEN SALLIE

“You gotta help me!” Devin Easton said with desperation. He ran a hand through his short sandy blonde hair. His hair waved and spiked in a way that reminded me of my daughter’s short auburn hair. Ironically, Sevenia was the next thing out of his mouth. “Your daughter freaks me out!”

“Okay,” I replied stupidly. “Do tell.”

“Can we talk out on your deck?”

“Sure,” I replied with a shrug.

Devin pulled out a pack of cigarettes and tore off the cellophane wrap. He pulled one out and put it between his lips. Once again, he reminded me of James Dean.

“I thought you quit?” I asked.

“I did,” he almost whimpered as he dug in his pockets. “But this is a special circumstance. Do you have a light?”

“I don’t smoke,” I told him.

He groaned loudly, and then squeaked. My pity for his anguish pushed down the impulse to laugh. He crushed the brand new pack of cigarettes in his hand and flung it into my yard. No big deal, he was suffering significant mental turmoil over something, I would pick it up later. Next he crushed the cigarette from his lips, flung it, and bits of tobacco floated downward like tiny brown snowflakes. Devin sat down hard on the wooden bench that lined the back of my deck. He groaned again, but didn’t squeak, as he put his face in his hands.

“Do you want to tell me what’s going on with you?” I asked soothingly.

“What a night,” he mumbled through the palms of his hands.

“You mentioned Sevenia?” I inquired, wanting to know what he meant by my daughter freaking him out.

He lifted his head and his bloodshot eyes gazed intently at me. They almost seemed to jiggle in their sockets. “I dreamt about her last night, three different times.”

I frowned, not liking a known womanizer to be dreaming of my daughter. Yet given Devin’s distraught condition, I highly doubted his night visions were of an erotic nature.

“I see,” was all I could think to say.

“Last night, I prayed to Dalial,” he told me. “Well, not necessarily to her, but for her to come. I wanted to ask her opinion about, you know, that whole interview situation. Dr. Doom storming off, your daughter’s position on what the Bible says about the Sabbath and so on.”

“Soooo,” I drawled. “Did she come?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Not in person anyway. But she did make two appearances in my dreams.”

“Do tell,” I said, and then made a mental note to not say ‘do tell’ again during our conversation.

“Actually, Dalial’s first appearance was simultaneous with Sevenia’s first,” Devin explained.

“Do… You don’t say.”

“Yeah, it was like they were, sort of, David and Goliath?”

“You don’t say,” I said, and then made a mental not to not say ‘you don’t say’ again. “I hope Sevenia was in David’s role.”

“She was,” Devin nodded as he sighed.

“So what happened?”

“It was kind of weird. Dalial was just like she appeared to me, in all white, flowing robes. But Sevenia was wearing only a loin cloth.”

“Just a loin cloth?” I asked in a low tone, horrified that my daughter was topless in Devin’s dream. He seemed to perceive my concern and clarified.

“No, I mean like a cavewoman one piece,” he said waving his hands from his chest down to his knees. “You know, like a prehistoric dress, or something.”

“Oh, good, I guess.”

“So Sevenia is hurling Bible verse after Bible verse at Dalial,” Devin continued. “And Dalial is getting angrier and angrier. Her eyes became like lasers shooting at Sevenia. But Sevenia keeps dodging them. Then Sevenia picks up a stone, puts it in a sling, winds up, and hurls it at Dalial. It hits her in the forehead, and her eyes went wild and turned a glowing red. Then her face came right at me. Her tongue wagged like a flame of fire. I tried to cover my head, but I couldn’t move. Then right when I thought her face was going to consume me, it exploded, then just disappeared.”

Devin stared at me, his chest heaving, and beads of sweat bubbled on his forehead.

“Then what?” I asked.

“I started awake, never happier to realize something was a dream,” he told me. “Until later that night. Or I guess I should say morning at that point. I couldn’t get back to sleep for at least an hour, maybe two. When I did, I dreamt I was partying with some buddies. There were a lot of hot, scantily clad chicks. I’m not gonna lie, I was enjoying this dream.”

He gazed at me, and his face fell.

“Until Sevenia showed up in it,” I said.

He pointed at me, and then his nose.

“What was she wearing?” The concerned father in me couldn’t help asking.

“Oh, ya know,” he shrugged. “Her usual Amish punk get up.”

My daughter tended to wear long skirts, similar to Amish women, yes, but also ultra-conservative Christian women in general. And her auburn hair was often either short and spiked, or swept back in a 1950’s mannish style. She rarely wore any makeup, and her ears weren’t even pierced. She often wore converse sneakers, unless at church or an otherwise more formal setting. But her hair and shoes were far from outlandish, so I never understood her style being labeled punk.

“So what happened then?”

“The music stopped, and Sevenia started writing on a white board,” he explained. “Her letters sounded like a record scratching. The whole place went still. ‘You have been weighed in the balances and been found wanting,’ was what she wrote. Then she looked at me with a stern expression and pointed. Then her hand came flying off and at me. It had a screaming hand in the palm, and the fingers formed a shape as if to grab my neck and chock me.”

Devin’s hand trembled as he wiped sweat from his brow.

“Then what?”

“I jolted awake,” he said with a shrug. “Once again it took me an hour or two to get back

to sleep. I didn’t know if I even wanted to fall back asleep.”

“When you did, you had the third dream about Sevenia?” I asked.

He nodded. “And the second with Dalial.”

“You don… Go on,” I said.

“So I’m asking Dalial about, you know, the stuff I mentioned before. It was real like my actual encounters with her. When I got done telling her everything, you wouldn’t believe what she said about Sevenia.”

“What?”

“She said that Sevenia thinks she’s Jesus Christ.”

“What!” I repeated, but with a higher pitched, incredulous tone. “I hope you don’t believe she thinks that?”

Devin closed his eyes and shook his head. “Sevenia appeared then. She was wearing the loin cloth again.”

“You mean dress,” I interjected.

“Right,” he said waving a hand. “So, Sevenia boldly pointed at Dalial and called her a liar. Dalial then laughed and said, ‘Well, how about John the Baptist.’ Then Dalial suddenly whipped a sword around and sliced right through Sevenia’s neck. But Sevenia’s head didn’t move at first. She looked at me and said, ‘Repent and be baptized.’ Then her head fell from her neck and rolled onto the ground. I jolted awake, and for the third time in less than six hours, was thankful something was only a dream. Clarification. Nightmare!”

“Wow,” was all I could quietly say.

“I didn’t even try to go back to sleep at that point,” Devin said as he ran his hand aggressively through his hair a few times. “I downed energy drinks and paced for a couple hours, and then decided to come see you.”

“Wow,” I replied dumbly, not knowing what to think about Devin and his nightmares.

“So what do you think?” he asked.

Something to my left caught my eye. Sevenia, my wife, and baby son had entered the back yard and were coming toward the deck. I vaguely recalled turning the bolt lock on the front door after I let Devin in. I don’t know why.

My daughter’s eyebrows raised when she saw Devin, but a friendly smile appeared on her face as she climbed the five deck stairs.

“Hi, Devin,” she greeted pleasantly.

Poor Devin shrieked and reeled back several steps.

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT PART 12)

“Thy kingdom come.” Matthew 6:10

The kingdom of God’s grace is now being established, as day by day hearts that have been full of sin and rebellion yield to the sovereignty of His love.

“Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10

In heaven, service is not rendered in the spirit of legality.

When Satan rebelled against the law of God, the thought that there was a law came to the angels almost as an awakening to something unthought of.

In their ministry the angels are not as servants, but as sons and daughters. There is perfect unity between them and their Creator. Obedience to them is no drudgery.

Love for God makes the angel’s service a joy. So in every soul wherein Christ, the hope of glory dwells, His words are re-echoed, “I delight to do Thy will, oh my God: yea, Thy law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:8

“Give us this day our daily bread.” Matthew 6:11

The prayer for daily bread includes not only food to sustain the body, but that spiritual bread which will nourish the soul unto life everlasting.

We receive Christ through His word, and the Holy Spirit is given to open the word of God to our understanding, and bring home its truths to our hearts.

God would have us realize our dependence upon His constant care, for He is seeking to draw us into communion with Himself.

“Forgive us our sins; for we also forgive everyone that is indebted to us.” Luke 11:4

He who is unforgiving cuts off the very channel through which he can receive mercy from God.

However sorely people may have wounded us, we are not to cherish our grievances and sympathize with ourselves over our injuries; but as we hope to be pardoned for our offences against God we are to pardon all who have done evil to us.

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:7-9.

God’s forgiveness is not merely a judicial act by which He sets us free from condemnation. It is not only forgiveness for sin, but reclaiming from sin.

It is the outflowing of redeeming love that transforms the heart. David had the true conception of forgiveness when he prayed, “Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10

God in Christ gave Himself for our sins. He suffered the cruel death of the cross, bore for us the burden of guilt, “the just for the unjust,” that He might reveal to us His love and draw us to Himself.

And He says, “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

XCI

TO THE LAW AND TO THE TESTIMONY! IF THEY DO NOT SPEAK ACCORDING TO THIS WORD, IT IS BECAUSE THERE IS NO LIGHT IN THEM

ISAIAH 8:20

SEVEN SALLIE

“Well, Darius has left the building,” I said, dumbfounded.

“Doom has left the room,” Devin said and then sighed, grinned sheepishly, and shook his head. I couldn’t help chuckling, as he and Darius had been allies in their belief that Dalial was an angel sent from God with a divine message about sabbath reform. Where did Devin stand now that the man his angel had a message for had bailed on him?

My mind had just begun to scramble with what to do with this abruptly interrupted live podcast. Apologize to the audience and shut it down? Play music? Try to continue it with Devin and my daughter? I glanced at Sevenia. She certainly didn’t seem pleased that she had seemingly won the debate with Dr. Darius Doom over Sabbath reform.

“It looks like Darius took his ball and went home,” Devin laughed.

“But he left his Bible,” I said as I reached over to the place where he was sitting to pick up the Good Book. Sevenia snatched it before I could.

“That’s mine,” she said, and then I recalled her handing it over to Dr. Doom at one point as she asked him to show her where we were to observe Sunday as Sabbath in honor of the resurrection. “And you guys shouldn’t be poking fun. This was supposed to be a serious and important discussion. I errored in causing him to leave.”

“You did nothing wrong. He shouldn’t have left me hanging,” Devin said. I noticed his fingers tremble slightly and realized he felt unsettled at being abandoned on a live broadcast. I had to hand it to him, he was otherwise very calm. After all, I was a broadcasting professional, and I had felt the urge to panic when Dr. Doom stormed off in a huff. Maybe Devin was trusting to my experience and expertise, lol. Anyhow, my broadcasting instincts were hopefully not about to throw him under the bus, but get to the heart of the honest discussion that I had intended.

“So Devin, does this change what you think about your encounter with Dalial and the message the alleged angel gave you?” I inquired.

“Not really,” he replied with a shrug, and then glanced cautiously at my daughter. “I mean, something I hadn’t mentioned yet was Dalial also told me that you can’t trust any human.”

“I actually agree with that,” Sevenia replied and held up her Bible. “That’s why we look and trust to the word of God, and this alone.”

Devin’s jaw clenched and he gazed at my daughter under hooded eyes, reminding me once again just how much he looked like the 1950’s actor James Dean. He spoke carefully. “With all due respect, Dalial warned me about the Good Book.”

“Is that right?” Sevenia said, leaned back, folded her arms, and watched Devin with genuine curiosity.

“Yes,” he replied, and then he put up a hand as if to say no offense. “I’ve been instructed that, although the Bible is filled with inspiration, it has been tainted through the years by humanity. It has been defiled by over interpretation.”

“I respectfully disagree,” Sevenia said. “If anything, it is misinterpretation and misapplication. In this precious book, the first two chapters in Genesis describe a paradise created by God. The last two chapters in Revelation describe a paradise recreated or restored by God. Everything in between is God’s merciful dealings with fallen humankind. In particular the life, ministry, and infinite sacrifice of God’s only begotten Son.

“What the majority fail to do is search the scriptures for themselves, like the noble Bereans (See Acts 17:11). All scripture is given by inspiration of God (See 1 Corinthians 2:13). But instead of studying the Holy Bible for themselves, they trust their priests, ministers, and rabbis to tell them what to think and believe.”

“Not me,” Devin replied boldly. “But I do trust what Dalial says.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Because she’s an angel.”

“You believe she’s a holy angel of God?” Sevenia asked.

“I do.”

“Yet if I understand you correctly, she told you to be skeptical of the scriptures.”

“Yeah, I suppose she did.”

“Then she contradicts what Jesus Himself said,” Sevenia declared. “In Matthew 5:39 Jesus said that the scriptures testify of Him. Simply put, the Old Testament looked forward to Jesus coming, and the New Testament looks back on His life. Jesus lived and walked the earth, that’s a historical fact. That this person, Jesus, fulfilled all of the Old Testament prophesies regarding the Messiah, is proof of the Bible’s reliability.”

“Whatever,” Devin said with a casual shrug. “But I trust what I see and experience over what people wrote two thousand years ago.”

“That’s all fine and dandy for you personally,” Sevenia said. “But you and Dr. Doom are taking your supernatural experiences to the masses with the suggestion of political action to shut down on Sundays.”

“You are correct that we are suggesting that. But ultimately, we have no political power, other than Darius’s influence over his large following and their power to vote. What we do have is an important message from a being more powerful and wise than any human. And this special being is giving us instruction on saving our planet.”

“And this instruction is going contrary to the Word of God,” Sevenia said. “You mentioned that your angel warned you about misinterpretation of the Bible and such. Yet the very day you suggest for a day of rest is clearly not the Sabbath of the fourth commandment found in Exodus chapter 20.”

“By Exodus, do you mean the old metal band,” Devin said with a laugh. Then he lost his merry countenance under Sevenia’s intense gaze and continued. “Come on, Sevenia, what difference does a day make to us common folk? Would you like it better if we suggested Saturday?”

“No, I don’t believe in legislating morality,” she replied. “You can’t force a person to believe a certain way. God has given us free will. Who are we, mere humans, to withhold free will from another?”

“Are you saying it should be okay to murder?” Devin wanted to know.

“Of course not. Obviously, some moral laws fall under civil law as well.”

“What about abortion?”

“Well, since I believe life begins at conception, I believe abortion is murder.”

“What if I believe they are a bunch of cells?”

“Has it ever been officially established at just what point those cells become a human being? One week? Two weeks? One month? One month, sixteen days, two hours, nine minutes and twenty two seconds?”

“I’m not gonna lie, I’m not smart enough for this,” Devin said, but used a slang word for excrement after he said this. I apologized for the language.

“Sorry,” Devin said. “I’m just a simple blue collar worker who happened to have an amazing supernatural experience.”

After a brief lull, Sevenia spoke. “What has ultimately been at stake in the history and future of this miraculous planet, is the law of God. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes (12:13), let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Jesus said if you love me keep my commandments (John 14:15).”

“But this idea of shutting down one day a week is still in keeping with the fourth commandment whether it’s Saturday or Sunday.”

“I beg to differ, the fourth command specifically identifies the seventh day as the Sabbath. It was the seventh day God blessed and made His Holy Day.”

“Well, what about that resurrection thing, that makes sense to me,” Devin replied.

“Look, here’s some scripture I was going to share with Darius before he left. After Jesus was crucified and buried in Joseph’s tomb, it says in Luke 23:54 that that day was the Preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. Verse 56 says they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. Luke 24:1-3 says that on the first day of the week they found the tomb empty. You could even say Jesus rested on the Sabbath before he rose from the dead. You could also look up Sabbath in a concordance and see that the book of Acts mentions the Sabbath numerous times. Which, of course, took place after Jesus ascended to heaven.”

“Well, so be it,” Devin replied with a casual shrug. “Like I said, I’m not a theologian. I’m just here recounting my experiences with Dalial, and trying to share what she had to say.”

“But you don’t need to be a theologian,” Sevenia said. “Several of Jesus’ disciples were uneducated fisherman. Jesus Himself, God in human flesh, was puzzled over in Matthew 13:54, 55. They asked, where did this Man get this wisdom and mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s Son?”

“Teacher, can I go now?” Devin said to me with an exasperated smirk. “With all due respect, I’ve had enough. Either you believe I had an encounter or you don’t. Just like you believe in a two thousand year old, contradictory book or you don’t. Peace out ya ’all.”

Devin got up and left. I asked my daughter if she had any closing comments.

“I certainly didn’t mean to offend anyone,” Sevenia said meekly. “I was simply trying to share Bible truth as I see it. Please forgive me if I was selfish or mean spirited in any way.”

“Trust me you weren’t,” I reassured my daughter.

“Well, thanks Dad,” she replied with a little laugh. “But I do believe you are a bit biased.”

“Not so, Sw…,” I began to call her Sweet Pea, but thankfully stopped myself in time. “Sevenia.”

Sevenia then invited the audience to order the free Bible study guides from our church’s web site, and thanked them and me for the opportunity to be on the podcast.

The next day, Devein wanted to see me. He looked disheveled, and his eyes were blood shot. I couldn’t help wondering if he fell off the wagon.

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT PART 11)

“After this manner therefore pray ye.” Matthew 6:9

The Lord’s prayer was twice given by our Savior, first to the multitude in the Sermon on the Mount, and again some months later to the disciples alone.

The disciples had been for a short time absent from the Lord, when on their return they found Him absorbed in communion with God. Seeming unconscious of their presence, he continued praying aloud.

The Savior’s face was irradiated with a celestial brightness. He seemed to be in the very presence of God of the unseen, and there was a living power in His words as of one who spoke with God.

The hearts of the listening disciples were deeply moved. They had marked how often He spent long hours in solitude in communion with His Father.

When Jesus returned from the hours of prayer that closed the toilsome day, the disciples noticed the look of peace upon His face, the sense of refreshment that seemed to pervade His presence.

We are taught to come to God with our tribute of thanksgiving, to make known our wants, to confess our sins, and to claim His mercy in accordance with His promise.

“When ye pray, say our Father.” Luke 11:2

Jesus teaches us to call His Father our Father.

The world that Satan has claimed and has ruled over with cruel tyranny, the Son of God has, by one vast achievement, encircled in His love and connected again with the throne of Jehovah.

Angels rejoiced that the way of salvation had been opened for the fallen race and that the earth would be redeemed from the curse of sin. How much more should those rejoice who are the objects of such amazing love!

We have an advocate in the heavens, and whoever accepts Him as a personal Savior is not left an orphan to bear the burden of their own sins.

The very first step in approaching God is to know and believe the love that He has to us (1 John 4:16), for it is through the drawing of His love that we are led to come to Him.

The perception of God’s love works the renunciation of selfishness.

No one prays aright who seeks a blessing for himself alone.

If you call God your Father you acknowledge yourselves as His children, to be guided by His wisdom and to be obedient in all things, knowing that His love is changeless. You will accept His plan for your life.

God dwells in every abode; He hears every word that is spoken, listens to every prayer that is offered, tastes the sorrows and disappointments of every soul, regards the treatment that is given to every father, mother, sister, friend, and neighbor. He cares for our necessities, and His love and mercy and grace are continually flowing to satisfy our need.

“Hallowed be Thy name.” Matthew 6:9

We are never in any manner to treat lightly the titles or appellations of the Deity.

How much more should we, finite, sinful beings, come in reverent manner before the Lord, our Maker!

God has acknowledged you before men and angels as His child; pray that you may do no dishonor to the “worthy name by which you are called.” James 2:7.

XC

DO NOT WORRY HOW OR WHAT YOU SHOULD SPEAK. FOR IT WILL BE GIVEN YOU IN THAT HOUR WHAT YOU SHALL SPEAK

MATTHEW 10:19

SEVEN SALLIE

I had never been more nervous doing a broadcast or podcast. Dr. Darius Doom requested the interview I do with him, Devin Easton, and my daughter be live. I suppose out of fear that I might edit it in my daughter’s favor. But he didn’t know Sevenia. She wouldn’t let me manipulate a recording even if I wanted to.

I noticed when I picked up a pen, my fingers trembled slightly. I could also feel a little tremor in my upper lip. Yet as I looked at my daughter, her face looked as peaceful as could be when Darius Doom and Devin Easton entered the room.

Dr. Doom was a good looking guy who reminded me of the basketball player Stephen Curry. He had a big smile and a charming personality to match. When he aimed his charisma at my daughter, Sevenia was as relaxed and friendly as she is with a small child or a senior citizen.

“Ahhhhh, Sevenia Sallie,” Darius gushed. “So nice to finally meet the girl prophetess.”

He said girl prophetess with an air of the unconvinced.

“Hello, Dr. Doom,” she said pleasantly. “Girl prophetess is not something I have ever called myself, or claimed to be.”

“Well, I can’t say that I’ve never called myself a doctor,” he said, and then laughed heartily. “But I do have a PhD.”

I frowned. I wondered if he was ever so subtly trying to intimidate her. If he was, it didn’t seem to be working.

Once we started the podcast, we began with Darius Doom’s background, the mega church he pastors, and his work with environmental organizations. Interestingly, Doom was quite conservative, but I don’t mean politically. He was vehemently anti-abortion and also preached abstinence. Yet his large following consisted mostly of generation Z’s and millennials.

Next I told of my daughter’s public speaking and teaching endeavors, which, from a worldly perspective, paled in comparison with Dr. Doom’s. large following.  Then we shifted to Devin’s encounter with what he and Darius referred to as an angel named Dalial. Then Devin announced that Dalial had a special message specifically for Dr. Doom.

“Brother Easton’s encounter with Dalial is on the order of Fatima,” Darius said with a dramatic flair. “By that I mean she has given us a special warning for these chaotic times. Although the circumstances and messages of Fatima remain unclear, Dalial’s message is crystal clear.”

“And that message would be?” I inquired.

“A return to the fourth commandment,” Dr. Doom declared boldly.

“You’re referring to the ten commandment law of God?” I continued, puzzled. I looked at Sevenia, but she simply studied Darius Doom impassively with her fingers calmly interlaced.

“Indeed I am,” Darius replied boldly, and then glanced at Devin. “Brother Easton, why don’t you tell me what Dalial instructed you during your last encounter?”

“She instructed me to go to the good Doctor here with a message that he is to deliver to the masses, to those in political power. It’s a critical warning concerning our planet.”

“And that message would be?” I asked.

“Sabbath reform,” Darius and Devin said at the same time, and then Darius continued solo. “In the beginning of the pandemic, when things were mostly shut down, it was proven that the earth had a chance to breath. It was a moment of celestial cleansing that we need to make obligatory. We do that by mandatory shutdowns on Sundays.”

“I thought you guys said Sabbath reform?” Sevenia spoke up for the first time.

“I did,” Darius and Devin said at the same time.

“Are you referring to Sunday?” Sevenia asked.

“Of course,” Dr. Doom replied.

“But Saturday is the Biblical Sabbath,” Sevenia said. “Other languages are closer to the real meaning than our English Saturday. For instance, in Spanish, Saturday is pronounced Sabado. In Italian it’s Sabato. In Czech and Polish it’s Saboto.”

“You’re talking about the Jewish sabbath,” Darius said. “Everyone knows the Christian sabbath is Sunday.”

“Do you know how Sunday became a Christian tradition?” Sevenia asked.

“It’s not just a tradition. It’s a doctrine,” Darius responded. “We keep Sunday in honor of the resurrection.”

“Could you show me from the Bible where it says we are to keep Sunday in honor of the resurrection?” Sevenia wanted to know as she handed Dr. Doom her Bible. He made no move to take it and eyed it as if it might explode.

“This is about Dalial and her special message, not semantics,” Darius Doom replied.

“But you said that message was about Sabbath reform,” Sevenia said. “So we better be clear what the Biblical Sabbath truly is.”

Darius laughed. “Are you seriously gonna go down this road? Ninety something percent of Christianity keeps Sunday.”

“How often is the majority right?” Sevenia petitioned. “It was a herd mentality that put our Lord and Savior to death.”

“The most revered preachers of our day keep Sunday.”

“Revered? Holy and Reverend is My name says the Lord. Psalm 111:9.” Then added. “Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in Him? John 7:48.”

“So you’re more enlightened than Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, or myself?”

“I am not,” Sevenia said boldly, causing Darius to frown. “But the Bible is.”

“That’s right, Sweetheart,” Darius said with a snide sneer, and I felt my jaw clench. “The Good Book is complex, and it all depends on the interpreter. You’re obviously looking at it from a legalistic standpoint, and I, along with many colleagues, focus on grace.”

“Grace is the most abused concept in the Bible.”

“Really! So you’re gonna sit there and tell me that we’re not saved by grace through faith?”

“Not at all!” Sevenia replied, incredulous. “Absolutely we are saved by grace through faith. But let’s not forget what the Apostle Paul also taught in Romans 3:31. Do we then make void the law through faith? No, we establish the law. Doctor Doom, what you call legalism, I call love.”

“Say what?”

“You are correct in one aspect,” Sevenia explained. “If you’re obeying the law of God to be saved, that’s legalism. If you’re heart sings like the psalmist in chapter 119, then you are obeying out of love. You are following The Master when He says, If you love me, keep my commandments, John 14:15.”

Dr. Doom snorted, smirked, and sat back in his chair and folded his arms. But then he spoke with an eerie calm. “Look, we’re getting sidetracked. We came here to discuss the miraculous encounters Devin Easton has had, and the important message learned. We want to save our planet, and along with it, hopefully revive morality and sanity to this great country of ours. It’s a simple message, really, and that is to shut down one day a week. It will be a time of rest for our planet and ourselves. It was proven during the pandemic that this beautiful planet God created was able to breath. Do you not think that was a good thing? Do you not love our planet, Miss Sallie?”

“Very much so, Sir,” my daughter replied. “What I’m saying is there shouldn’t be an enforced Sunday law. It’s a slippery slope when you start to take away people’s rights. First you won’t let people do business on Sunday, then the next thing you know, you’re making people bow down in some form of worship like King Nebuchadnezzar did in Daniel chapter 3.”

Darius laughed sarcastically. “That’s not what I’m saying at all. I’m not talking about forced worship. I’m saying businesses should be closed, and your cars stay parked just one day out of seven. I’m not saying people should be required to go to church. However, I am saying that the vast majority recognize Sunday as the sabbath, so we really have no other choice for what day is used. If you don’t want to honor the resurrection, that’s your choice. But what is wrong with simply not doing business on Sunday?”

“First of all, I honor the resurrection every moment of my life as, by the grace of God, I bring every thought into the obedience of Christ. But tell me, if we are to keep Sunday in place of the Biblical seventh day sabbath, why did Jesus say, regarding the destruction of Jerusalem several decades after He was crucified, to pray that the believer’s flight be neither in the winter or the sabbath?”

“It’s just a day,” Darius snorted.

“It’s not just a day. It’s a day that signifies God’s Creatorship. It’s the day He chose to rest. It’s the day He blessed and declared Holy. Who is man to change it? Jesus said, in vain they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. Matthew 15:9.”

Darius looked both puzzled and irritated. He looked at Devin whose wide startled eyes gave him no help. “The authority of the church, through Christ changed the sabbath to Sunday.”

“Do you know when Sunday keeping actually began?” Sevenia inquired.

“I suppose you do?” Darius said bitterly.

“It became a common practice when the Roman Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. He was the first Roman emperor to stop persecuting Christians. Not only that, but he also made Christianity Rome’s legal religion. When this happened, the people brought with them many of their pagan rituals. Among them were some practices regarding sun worship. The venerable day of the sun, Sunday, was an important day for them. So when they converted, at least in name, to Christianity, instead of worshiping the sun god, they switched to the Son of God.”

“Remarkable,” Devin Easton declared. “How come nobody really knows about all this?”

“Enough!” Dr. Doom barked as he slammed his hand on the table. “We are supposed to be discussing the divine instruction from Dalial to save our planet. This is turning into dogmatic lunacy. Stop the recording.”

“This is live,” I told him. “You didn’t want to do it prerecorded.”

“Well, go to a commercial,” he instructed.

“This is a commercial free podcast.”

“Well, I’m done if we can’t have a recess,” he declared. “I was led here under false pretenses. I thought we would be discussing an amazing angelic encounter, coupled with saving our planet. Instead we’re quibbling over things that transpired two thousand years ago. You need to evolve, children. Get out of that horse and buggy, and climb into the big old jet plane called enlightenment.”

Dr. Darius Doom pushed away from the table and stormed out of the room.

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT PART 10)

“If… thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” Matthew 6:22

Singleness of purpose, wholehearted devotion to God, is the condition pointed out by the Savior’s words.

Real piety begins when all compromise with sin is at an end.

When the eye is blinded by the love of self, there is only darkness.

Yielding to temptation  begins in permitting the mind to waver.

The prevalence of a sinful desire shows the delusion of the soul.

He who abides in darkness will at last lose the power of vision.

No soul is ever deserted by God! Man turns from God, not God from him!

“No man can serve two masters.” Matthew 6:24

On one side of the line is the self-denying follower of Christ; on the other side is the self-indulgent world lover.

“Be not anxious.” Matthew 6:25

“No sparrow falls without His care

No soul bows low but Jesus knows

For He is with us everywhere

And marks each bitter tear that flows

And He will never, never, never

Forsake the soul that trusts Him ever.”

He has filled the earth and air and sky with glimpses of beauty to tell you of His loving thought for you. The beauty of all created things is but a gleam from the shining of His glory.

It is the word of God that has created the flowers, and that same word will produce in you the graces of His Spirit.

God’s law is the law of love. He has surrounded you with beauty to teach you that you are not placed on earth merely to delve for self, but to make life bright, joyous, and beautiful with the love of Christ—like the flowers, to gladden others lives by the ministry of love.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God.” Matthew 6:33

God’s everlasting arm encircles the soul that turns to Him for aid, however feeble that soul may be.

“Be not therefore anxious for the morrow… Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6:34

The events of tomorrow, which are hidden from your view, are open to the eyes of Him who is omnipotent.

We may well have anxiety and anticipate danger and loss, for it is certain to befall us. But when we really believe that God loves us and means to do us good, we shall cease to worry about the future.

We shall trust God as a child trusts a loving parent. Then our troubles and torments will disappear, for our will is swallowed up in the will of God.

LXXXIX

2 CORINTHIANS 11:13

FOR SUCH ARE FALSE APOSTLES, DECEITFUL WORKERS, TRANSFORMING THEMSELVES INTO THE APOSTLES OF CHRIST

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

Along with the joy of the arrival of my baby brother, I was secretly glad that his birth gave us a reprieve from Devin Easton, his supernatural entity, and the new age Christian guru who was rapidly gaining a worldwide following, Darius Doom.

I sought the Lord earnestly with prayer and fasting. I ended up having a dream, a night vision of an encounter with Melanchthon. He instructed me that since my father disregarded the warning to steer clear of an interview with Devin Easton and his entity, he should go ahead with a second program. In it, I was to converse, debate if you please, with Darius Doom and Devin Easton. My dad would moderate.

In the dream, I pleaded with Melanchthon that I couldn’t do it. Who was I to verbally duel with a charismatic, smooth talking, preacher like Dr. Doom? Apparently Darius has a doctorate in psychology. He was gaining a worldwide following with over a million followers on social media. I was sort of an assistant to the pastor of a small country church with only a few hundred friends on social media.

Melanchthon encouraged me to put on the whole armor of God. (See Ephesians 6:11-17). When I pointed out that I had just graduated from high school only a month ago and that Doctor Doom was a professional speaker with a PhD, he told me I would be given what to speak in time of need. (See Matthew 10:19). My faith was refreshed, and I felt comforted.

Nonetheless, I was relieved when I awoke and realized it was only a dream. But it wasn’t an ordinary dream. Doubts played in the back of my mind, but the Holy Spirit seemed to fight it by bringing Jude 1:3 to my mind. “Go, and earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

In an adjoining bedroom I could hear my stepmother with her week old baby. I tapped on the door, and with a smile I didn’t necessarily feel, called out, “Oh, step mommy?”

“Come in, Sweetest of Peas,” she answered back, doing a play on my father’s nickname for me of Sweet Pea.

With a genuine grin, I went in and found her sitting in a chair, one leg crossed over the other, breast feeding my baby half-brother. Her big beautiful dark eyes were a combination of tired but tranquil. I rolled a desk chair around and sat in front of her.

“Your grandma really loves little Benjamin,” Zella smiled happily. What was left unsaid was the absence of my grandfather when Six brought her down from Minnesota to see the baby.

When my father had announced Zella’s pregnancy to his parents, his father, who is suffering from dementia, went on a racist rant about my dad not only being in a relationship with a black woman, but having a child with her as well.

“I’m sorry about Grandpa,” I told her.

“He’s not well,” she replied. “I’m sorry for you too, Honey. He’s your grandfather.”

During my grandfather’s rant, he also mentioned my mother’s Hispanic ethnicity in an unfavorable fashion.

“Tell me about your dream,” Zella said matter of fact.

“Huh?” I replied, slightly startled.

“You know, Sweety,” she said with a laugh. “I acknowledge that when I practiced psychic readings, I wasn’t actually psychic. But the reason I was able to get people to pay me for them is because I can read people pretty good. I detect in your demeanor that you had another profound dream.”

I laughed. “Dad always says you would be a great poker player because you can read people’s tells like nobody else.”

I talked to her about my dreams as well as my thoughts and feelings. “Okay, Miss Intuitive, tell me your opinion.”

“Mrs. Intuitive,” she said with a big grin as she showed me her wedding band.

I always marveled at Zella’s beauty. Not just because her chiseled features were on the order of a model, but her cool, easy going manner made her extraordinarily attractive.

“Right, Mrs. Intuitive,” I grinned. “And awesome Mommy and Mom. Tell me what you think.”

Mommy was for Benji, and Mom was for me. Her face turned serious before she spoke. “Thank you for the respect, Sweety. But I know I can never replace your mother, God rest her soul.”

“She’s not here though,” I said and shrugged. “And there’s nobody I’d rather have in her role than you.”

Zella bit her lip, and her eyes misted. She knows how special Destiny is to me, but Destiny is now mothering two adopted daughters of her own. Zella motioned for me to come with her finger and then held out her hand. I took it and she pulled me toward her. She kissed my forehead and said, “I love you, Daughter. With all my heart.”

“I love you too,” I said as happy tears leaked from both our eyes. Then, slightly embarrassed, we both laughed. “Okay, so talk to me about this Devin and Dr. Doom situation.”

“It’s pretty simple, Sweety,” she replied casually.

“Well, I’m glad you think so, but could you elaborate?”

“It all comes down to Ecclesiastes 12:13.”

“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: For this is the whole duty of man,” I quoted.

“Don’t you see?” Zella asked happily.

“Well, I love that scripture, but what does it have to do with this Dr. Doom situation?”

“You have a knowledge of scripture, while Darius Doom has an agenda.”

“Darius Doom has charm, charisma, education, a large following, and he’s a professional wordsmith. And I’m a timid teenager.”

“Who’s bold as a lion when speaking, teaching, and preaching the word of God,” she said, and then her gaze intensified. “I’ve seen you in action, girly. Why just now I mentioned a special Bible verse and you just rattled it off like nothing.”

“But this is different. I wouldn’t be teaching or preaching. We would be having opposing dialogue on my dad’s podcast.”

“Stop looking at it as a debate.”

“Well, what else would you call it?” I inquired, focusing on not whining.

“Here’s my advice,” she said “Treat it as though you are teaching. You know the word of God as well as anyone I know, and I’ll put the plain truth, the word of God, against anyone’s charisma or agenda any day.”

“Well, yeah,” I replied. “But that doesn’t mean people will accept it.”

“That’s beside the point. Some will. You just do your thing, and leave the results with God. Let us hear the conclusion of the matter. Fear God and keep His commandments.”

I felt peace wash over me as we said the last part together. “For this is the whole duty of man.”

As if on cue, my dad entered the room. His face expanded into a huge grin as he looked at his wife and two children. “Well how about this, the whole family’s together and little Benji’s even having breakfast.”

“Good morning, Dad,” I said.

“Morning, Sweet Pea.”

“I’m willing to be on your podcast with Devin and Darius Doom,” I told him.

“Huh?” he replied with a puzzled frown. I told him about the dream.

“See, and you told me not to do that initial interview with Devin,” he responded.

“Honey,” Zella said with a gaze that was both scolding and sympathetic. “Did you miss the part where she was given the go ahead because her father disregarded her warning?”

“Spiritual damage control, I guess,” I added with a shrug.

“Oh,” the venerable Seven Sallie said with a hang dog expression.

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT PART 9)

“When thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are.” Matthew 6:5

Have a place for secret prayer. Jesus had select places for communion with God, and so should we. We need often to retire to some spot, however humble, where we can be alone with God.

In the name of Jesus we may come into God’s presence as a child. No person is needed to be a mediator between us and God.

God would have us understand how earnestly and tenderly His heart yearns over us. He invites us to take our trials to His sympathy, our sorrows to His love, our wounds to His healing, our weakness to His strength, our emptiness to His fullness. Never is one disappointed who comes to Him.

As we make Christ our daily companion we shall feel that the powers of an unseen world are all around us, and by looking unto Jesus we shall become assimilated to His image. By beholding we become changed.

The soul that turns to God for its help, its support, its power, by daily, earnest prayer, will have noble aspirations, clear perceptions of truth and duty, lofty purposes of action, and a continual hungering and thirsting after righteousness.

Outward troubles cannot reach the life that is lived by faith in the Son of God.

“When ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do.” Matthew 6:7

The prayer that comes from an earnest heart, when the simple wants of the soul are expressed, as we would ask an earthly friend for a favor, expecting it to be granted—this is the prayer of faith.

“When ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites.” Mathew 6:6

Let the self-denials and the secret heart trials be revealed to the compassionate Savior. Let the burdens be left at the foot of the cross, and go on your way rejoicing in His love who first loved you.

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth.” Matthew 6:19

The love of money was the ruling passion in the Jewish age. Worldliness usurped the place of God and religion in the soul. So it is now!

The service of Satan is full of care, perplexity, and wearing labor, and the treasures men toil to accumulate on earth is only for a season. You can’t take it with you!

Character is the great harvest of life. And every word or deed that through the grace of Christ shall kindle in one soul an impulse that reaches heavenward, every effort that tends to the formation of a Christlike character, is laying up treasure in heaven.

LXXXIII

SATAN HIMSELF IS TRANSFORMED INTO AN ANGEL OF LIGHT

2 CORINTHIANS 11:14

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

My father is the legendary broadcaster Seven Sallie. My dad’s cousin Brock once said while introducing him at an award ceremony, “Seven is a legend,” then paused for affect, “In his own mind.” Nobody laughed harder than my father.

My dad made a name for himself in broadcasting by an odd mixture of brash arrogance and self-deprecating humor. After his Christian conversion, he eliminated the brash and arrogant aspect of his on air personality. This in turn caused his nationally syndicated radio show that he hosted to be eliminated. He then was led him to develop his own podcast with a gentler, milder version of Seven Sallie. But as a result, he lost most of his former listener base.

So I second guessed myself big time when I not just asked, but told him, he shouldn’t air an interview with Devin Easton. However I trusted not in my own instincts, but in the Holy Spirit’s leading, and I was led to warn my dad. After a vigorously debating me, my father agreed to stay away from Devin Easton’s conversion testimony.

There’s a difference between judging and being judgmental. My judgement, led by the Spirit, helped me to see that Devin’s supernatural encounter was of a sensational nature. His whimsical conversion caused him to give up some bad habits and put away some sinful habits, but he wasn’t at a place of true heart repentance. His dismissal of the Holy Scriptures proved that his faith was superficial.

When Devin actually stopped by to see my dad, I dreaded the conversation that would ensue. But I prayed for wisdom and direction with my words and actions, and I needed divine guidance almost immediately. He showed me the same picture of a lady angel that my dad had, and then he proceeded to talk about her.

“Dalial has shown me a deep intimacy that I have never gotten from a, um, actual physical woman,” Devin explained.

I felt my eyes widen and my jaw intended to drop, but with effort I held it in place. I glanced at my dad, and he was studying Devin blankly. Did he already hear this in their former conversations?

“Are you saying you had, um, relations with this entity?” I asked.

“What do you mean?” Devin frowned.

“She means did you have sex?” my dad said matter of fact.

“It was deeper than sex,” Devin crooned. “Dalial has given me release of soul. She has shown me the way, the truth, and the life.”

“You mean Jesus?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s part of it, but it goes beyond.”

“Jesus is part of it?” I inquired.

“Absolutely. He was one of the greatest teachers and prophets ever.”

“Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life,” I declared. “No one comes to the Father but by Him. He’s the only begotten of the Father, the Son of God.”

“We are all sons and daughters of God.”

“We are by adoption, so to speak,” I said. “Jesus has made us so by redemption. By what He did for us dying for ours sins, he took our punishment upon Himself. But we need to be careful, He also warns that many shall prophecy and do many wonderful works in His name. But He will have to declare, depart from me you that does iniquity.” (See Matthew 7:21-23)

“What’s iniquity?” Devin frowned.

“Sin,” my dad replied.

Devin nodded, and I ever so briefly felt hopeful, but it was instantly dashed.

“Dalial has shown me how to tap into my inner god,” Devin said. “She has shown me that we are either our own god or our own devil. For years I was destroying myself with booze and cigarettes and loose women. But now I have been enlightened to the limitless heights of human potential.”

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but end thereof is the way of death,” I said. (Proverbs 14:12)

“Why are you trying to snuff out my joy?”

“Oh brother,” I mumbled and then asked a silent prayer of forgiveness. I didn’t want Devin to think I wasn’t taking him seriously. To the contrary, the direction he was going was very serious. However it was wonderful that he had given up booze, cigarettes, and womanizing.

“My brother is skeptical, just like you are,” Devin said.

He must have heard my mumbled words, and thought I was mentioning his brother Dirk.

“He refuses to see the light,” Devin continued. “Just like you all.”

“Jesus is the only true light,” a female voice said. The three of us turned to look toward the screen door. Lexi Gomez stood there with her and Devin’s toddler daughter perched on her hip. Right behind her was my dad’s beautiful and very pregnant wife, Zella LaStella-Sallie. Zella opened the door, and Lexi stepped inside as she thanked my stepmom.

“Daddy!” The little girl on Lexi’s hip squealed as she stretched her arms out to Devin.

“Hi, little Bunny,” Devin grinned as he took his daughter, then he frowned. “What are you doing here, Lex?”

“Nice to see you, too.”

“I didn’t mean it that way, especially when you have my little girl,” Devin responded and then kissed his daughter’s plump little cheek.

“Actually, I had a dream,” she replied mystically.

“Why is everyone having dreams and angel encounters but me?” my dad asked.

I frowned at my dad. Did he not get that Devin’s encounter was not from God?

“Actually I was kidding, Seven,” Lexi grinned as she pulled a strand of her long dark hair away from her face. “I went shopping with Zella, and she told me about Sevenia’s dream. By the way, I saw your brother Six the other day.”

“He was back for a couple days on business,” my dad said.

“Yeah, that’s what he said,” Lexi replied. “By the way, I never did know why they call you two Six and Seven.”

“Six and Seven are our actual middle names,” he told her. “We were the sixth and seventh kids in our family. Six is a few minutes older than me.”

“So are your other siblings named One, Two, Three, Four, and Five?”

“Nope, just Six and me,” my dad said. “Hey, do you know why Six is afraid of me?”

“He is?” Lexi frowned. Zella smirked, and I giggled.

“It’s because Seven eight nine,” I interjected.

“Hey, you stole my punch line,” my dad said as he put an arm around me and gave me a playful squeeze. “That’s breaking the eighth commandment you know.”

“I’m sorry,” I said giving him big eyes. “Forgive me?”

“Of course, Sweet Pea,” he grinned and then kissed my forehead.

“Did Devin tell you about his new friend?” Lexi asked the room and then eyed Devin skeptically.

“I came here to do just that,” Devin replied. “I thought he’d be a good guest on your podcast, Seven. To be honest, I’m here on his behalf. Repairer of a breach if you please.”

“Let me guess, James Tucker,” my dad said, and I felt my toes curl.

“Nope, Darius Doom,” Devin replied.

“They’re one and the same,” my dad said with a sigh. “Darius was born James Tucker.”

Darius Doom is a charismatic new age guru. His movement is a combination of Christianity and Zen Buddhism. His big thing is the environment and equality. Not that they are bad things to promote, like caring for our earth and love for all. It’s his approach that is suspect.

He preaches in the name of God, but subtly denies the scriptures which testifies of the Creator of the object of his concern. And it is a good concern, after all, God will destroy those that destroy the earth. (See Revelation 11:18).

Darius had been on my dad’s radio program a couple times when he was nationally syndicated. But after my dad’s conversion, he declined having Darius on his podcast, even though it would have likely helped his ratings. Darius currently has a large following.

Darius was incredulous that my dad wouldn’t have him as a guest on his podcast. He mocked and derided my dad since he was more popular at the time he was turned down. It was both surprising and disturbing that he still wanted to be on my dad’s podcast. When he was on the original Seven Sallie Showdown, Darius was a small fist in a big pond. If he were on my dad’s podcast now, he would be a big fish in a small pond. To give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he thought he would be helping my dad, doing him a favor if you please.

“Darius heard the interview you did with me,” Devin explained. “He loved it.”

“You don’t say,” my dad said and gave me a sheepish look. I read in his eyes regret that he didn’t follow my petition to steer clear of Devin and his angel encounter.

“He’d like to give his two cents worth if you want to interview both of us,” Devin continued.

I looked at my dad. His mouth opened, but his wife’s voice seemed to come out instead.

“OOOOHHHH!” she bellowed. My dad ran to her side.

“Honey, are you all right?”

“It seems my water just broke!”

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT PART 8)

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48.

The word “therefore” implies conclusion. Jesus has been describing to His hearers the unfailing mercy and love of God, and He bids them therefore to be perfect. Because your heavenly Father “is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil” (Luke 6:35).

With untold love our God has loved us, and our love awakens toward Him as we comprehend something of the length and breadth and depth and height of this love that passes knowledge.

God does not employ compulsory measures, love is the agent which He uses to expel sin from the heart.

The life of Jesus is made manifest “in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:11). That life in you will produce similar character and help you be in harmony with every precept of His law. “The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul.” Psalm 19:7.

Through love “the righteousness of the law” will be “fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:4.

“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen of them.” Matthew 6:1.

Real Godliness never prompts an effort at display.

It is through the Holy Spirit that every good work is accomplished, and the Spirit is given to glorify, not the receiver, but the Giver. When the light of Christ is shining in the soul, the lips will be filled with praise and thanksgiving to God.

Your prayers, your performance of duty, your benevolence, your self-denial, will not be the theme of your thought or conversation. Jesus will be magnified, self will be hidden, and Christ will appear all in all.

Sincerity of purpose, real kindness of heart, is the motive that heaven values.

We are not to think of reward, but of service.

While it is true that God Himself is the great Reward, that embraces every other, the soul receives and enjoys Him only as it becomes assimilated to Him in character.

The grace of Christ in the soul is developing traits of character that are the opposite of selfishness. Traits that will refine, ennoble, and enrich the life.

The denial of self for the good and happiness of others, however humble and uncommended, is recognized in heaven as the token of our union with Him, the King of glory, who was rich, yet for our sakes became poor.

The work begun upon earth will reach its consummation in that higher and holier life to endure throughout eternity.

LXXXII

EVIL MEN AND SEDUCERS SHALL WAX WORSE AND WORSE, DECEIVING AND BEING DECEIVED

2 TIMOTHY 3:13

SEVEN SALLIE

“You lied to me,” Sevenia said with an eerie calm as she placed her fists onto her hips. The gaze emanating from her green-grey eyes was intense.

“Actually, Sweet Pea, I did not,” I told my daughter.

“Well, let me see,” she said as she placed an index finger on her chin. “You told me you wouldn’t air the interview you did with Devin Easton, and today I heard the interview you weren’t going to broadcast when I tuned into ‘The Seven Sallie Showdown’.”

“Ah, but you didn’t,” I said as I pointed an index finger with an air of triumph that I didn’t actually feel. Did I lie to my daughter? Technically, no.

“Please enlighten me, Dearest of Fathers,” she said with a non-humor grin. Dearest of Fathers? She may be a young saint, but the nut doesn’t fall far from the tree. “Because I’m pretty sure I heard an interview with a fellow named Devin Easton.”

“Ah,” I said, trying to be lighthearted by pointing my finger in the air again. “You did and you didn’t.”

“What?” she chuckled, but with a frown.

“When I told you I wouldn’t play the interview, I did, in fact, scrap it. However, Devin returned and the former hooligan showed me something pretty amazing.”

“And what was that?”

“Have you seen my twitter page in the last couple of days?”

“I have not.”

I showed her the picture Devin shared with me of the angelic entity.

“Oh, Father,” Sevenia said as she bowed her head and covered her eyes with a hand.

I chuckled at first because she unintentionally reminded me of Sylvester the cat’s son when he was disappointed with his own father. Then I frowned when it dawned on me that that usually happened when Sylvester failed in humiliating fashion to catch a mouse.

“What’s wrong?” I inquired. “People in the Bible had angelic encounters. Our beloved Captain Kirk had an angelic encounter. So why not Devin Easton? Judge not lest the be judged, Sweet Pea.”

“Dad, I’m not judging Devin. What I’m saying is I do not believe a holy angel would subject themselves to being photographed.”

My phone binged. It was Devin Easton. He was a couple minutes away and wanted to know if he could stop. I told him to come on over.

“Well, it looks  like you’ll be able to tell Devin himself that his encounter was phony.”

“What do you mean?”

“He just texted me. He’ll be here in a couple of minutes.”

“Dad, I didn’t say it was phony. I believe he had a supernatural encounter. What I’m saying is what he had an encounter with is highly questionable.”

“You say po-tay-to, I say po-ta-to,” I said.

“You say to-may-to, I say to-ma-to,” Sevenia replied playing along, but then she sighed.

There was a knock and I let Devin in. He was wearing a bright green, long sleeve athletic shirt. When I saw him the other day, he was sporting about a three inch chin beard. Now he was clean shaven. With his clown and demon tattoos covered, it was like looking at his brother Dirk.

Both twentysomething men were good looking guys with fox like features and sandy blonde hair. However their personalities couldn’t be more different. Devin was charming, chatty, and known to be a wild womanizer. Dirk was a few years younger than Devin. He was quiet, reserved, and a deacon at Cotton Creek Cove fellowship. Unlike his philandering brother, Dirk was devoted to his young family, his wife Amy, a toddler daughter, and infant son.

“Devin, have you met my daughter Sevenia?” I asked.

“I think we’ve met,” Devin said with a wolfish grin as he offered his fist. Sevenia tapped her fist against his in greeting. “You’re the chick that the mother of my child calls the girl prophetess.”

“How is Lexi?” Sevenia asked.

“Feisty as ever,” he laughed. “I asked her to marry me and she said no.”

“Yes, I remember her telling me about your proposal when she was pregnant.”

“Some prophetess you are,” Devin smirked. “That’s ancient history. I proposed last night, and once again she gave me a flat out no. Didn’t even consider it. Not even a hmmm, let me think. Gee, you’ve financially supported our daughter, stopped chasing skirts, stopped drinking, stuck by me when I was a whacked out nut case. Oh well, can’t accuse me of not trying to do the right thing.”

“By whacked out nut case, are you referring to her demon possession ordeal?” my daughter asked.

“Ah, you are a prophetess after all,” Devin grinned.

“Look, for one thing I never claimed to be a prophetess,” Sevenia said calmly. “For another, you don’t seem to know the difference between clairvoyance and prophecy. One is of the devil, while one is from God.”

“Devil,” Devin snorted. “The biggest scapegoat in human history. The ultimate avoidance of human responsibility. Oh, the devil made me do it.”

“Devin,” Sevenia said cautiously. “One of Satan’s biggest tricks is to get people to believe he doesn’t exist.”

“How can there be a trick from something fictional? Mythology don’t you know.”

“So, what do you think was going on with Jesus in Matthew chapter four?” Sevenia asked.

“Enlighten me,” Devin replied as he spread his arms. “What was going on with Jesus in Matthew chapter four?”

“It’s where Jesus was in the wilderness forty days and forty night tempted by the devil,” Sevenia explained.

Devin cackled so strangely that I felt the hair on my neck prickle. “He was probably hallucinating.”

Sevenia had a baffled expression on her face when she asked, “You don’t believe what the Bible teaches is true?”

Devin winced and waved a dismissive hand. “I mean no disrespect to the Bible, but even the New Testament is two thousand years old. I mean come on. Truth is in experience.”

“Well,” Sevenia said gently. “I mean no disrespect to you, but the Bible being two thousand years old is what makes it so amazing. Not only that the truths it teaches are still relevant today, but the prophecies have almost all been fulfilled. We are now sitting on the cusp of the rest being fulfilled right before our eyes.”

“Whatever,” Devin responded. “All I know is my life the last few weeks has never been better. I’m so filled with spirit, I haven’t even desire drink or nicotine. Why I haven’t even… Well, never mind that. And it’s all thanks to Dalial.”

“Who’s Dalial?” my daughter asked.

I didn’t like the look that came into Devin’s eyes. I felt a chill go up my spine. I clearly understood my error in getting involved with him. I should have heeded my daughter’s warning. I should have never interviewed him for my podcast.

“Well, let me tell you, little lady,” Devin drawled, followed by that wolfish grin of his.

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT PART 7)

“Swear not at all.” Matthew 5:34

Even facts may be so stated as to convey a false impression.

Everything that Christians do should be as transparent as the sunlight. Truth is of God; deception, in every one of its myriad forms, is of Satan.

We cannot speak the truth unless our minds are continually guided by Him who is the truth.

“Resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smites you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Matthew 5:39

The whole earthly life of Jesus was a manifestation of this principle.

Through the prophet Isaiah He says, “I gave My back to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and spitting.” “He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth.” Isaiah 50:6 and 53:7.

From the cross of Calvary there comes down through the ages His prayer for His murderers and the message of hope for the dying thief.

The Father’s presence encircled Christ, and nothing befell Him but that which infinite love permitted for the blessing of the world. Here was Jesus’s source of comfort, and it is for us as well!

“Love your enemies.” Matthew 5:44

Jesus would have us understand how tenderly the heart of God yearns over them. He teaches that God cares for every lost soul; that “like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear Him.” Psalm 103: 13

Every morsel of food, EVERY MOMENT OF LIFE, is a gift of love. A gift from God.

While we were yet unloving and lacking in character, “hateful and hating one another,” our heavenly Father had mercy on us. “After that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” Titus 3:3-5

His love received, will make us, in like manner, kind and tender, not merely toward those who please us, but to the most faulty and erring and sinful.

The children of God are those who are partakers of His nature. It not earthly rank, nor birth, nor nationality, nor religious privilege, which proves that we are members of the family of God. It is LOVE, a LOVE that embraces all of humanity.

Even sinners whose hearts are not utterly closed to God’s Spirit, will respond to kindness. While they may give hate for hate, they will usually give love for love. But it is only the Spirit of God that gives love for hatred.

To be kind to the unthankful and to the evil, to do good hoping for nothing to gain, is the insignia of the royalty of heaven, the sure token by which the children of the Highest reveal their high estate.

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Mathew 5:48

God does not employ compulsory measures; love is the agent which He uses to expel sin from the heart.

The life of Jesus is made manifest “in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:11). Thus we will be in harmony with every precept of His law.

“The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul.” Psalm 19:7

Through love “the righteousness of the law” will be “fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:4.

LXXXVI

BELOVED, BELIEVE NOT EVERY SPIRIT, BUT TRY THE SPIRTS WHETHER THEY ARE OF GOD

1 JOHN 4:1

SEVEN SALLIE

“Hey, Dad,” my daughter Sevenia’s voice greeted me through my phone. I immediately detected an urgency in her tone. I also felt myself stiffen. She knew better than to call me moments before I was to begin my live podcast. But she was a teenager so she probably lost track of the time.

“Hi, Sweet Pea,” I replied. “What’s up? I’m getting ready to start my live program. In about Seven minutes to be precise. No pun intended.”

“Yeah, I know. Sorry,” she replied. “But please tell me Devin Easton isn’t with you.”

“No,” I replied cautiously as I froze. I felt a chill go up my spine.

“Thank God!” she said with a relieved sigh.

“But he was here,” I told her, as my brain whirled. “Why do you ask?”

“I had a profound dream about him,” she told me as a bit of urgency returned to her voice.

“You don’t say,” I replied, dumbfounded. The last time she had a profound dream, Sevinia, Destiny, and my cousin Brock found two cold, homeless girls under a bridge. They had been on the run from human traffickers. “What kind of dream?”

“Why was he with you? Did he say anything about being converted?”

The chill in my spine caused the hair on my neck to prickle and I shivered. “Yes, the reason he contacted me was to tell me just that, that he did in fact experience a conversion a couple weeks ago.”

“How long did you talk to him?”

“I don’t know, a while.”

“But he left, right? I mean, you’re not going to interview him about it or anything?”

“Actually, I already recorded an interview with him, and I was planning on airing it on the next broadcast.”

“Daddy, no!” she pleaded. Sevenia rarely called me Daddy anymore. It reminded me of when she was a little girl and wanted something. And, well, it seemed she wanted something now. Something I didn’t understand. “Surely you have something else you can do for today.”

“Sweet Pea, you didn’t listen. I said the next broadcast, not this broadcast.”

“Oh good gravy,” she said and then chuckled happily. “We need to talk.”

“We are talking.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Sevenia,” I said patiently. “Devin experienced a pretty miraculous encounter. You should see him. His eyes are bright, he doesn’t smell like an ashtray, and his voice was crisp and articulate. He didn’t mumble, slur or sound like he was in a Pirates of the Caribbean movie.”

“What do you mean by encounter?” she asked as concern elevated in her voice.

“He had an encounter with what sounds like, I don’t know, an angel.”

“We need to talk.”

“We are talking.”

“Daddy!”

“Listen, Sweet Pea, I need to let you go. But we’ll talk later, okay?”

“Okay, can we get together after your podcast?”

“Sure thing, Peach Plum.”

“Peach Plum?” she replied. Instead of the giggle I expected, my mind’s eye  saw her frown. She must really be concerned about this Devin Easton situation.

Later I ended up in something like negotiations with my daughter over whether or not to air the interview I did with Devin Easton.

“Help me understand this,” I told Sevenia as I looked into her intense, emerald eyes. “Devin claims to have had an angelic encounter. His life is noticeably turned around. You encountered an angel in a dream, and it warned you that Devin’s conversion isn’t genuine?”

She winced, chewed her lip, and then ran a hand through her short auburn hair. “How do I put this? Obviously, it’s good that Devin has cleaned up his life and is seeking spirituality. What I’m warning you about is taking part in the sensationalism of this encounter. Didn’t Devin say that this supernatural being told him to tell you what happened.?”

“He did.”

“My point is holy angels do not seek the spotlight.”

“But he’s bringing glory to God. The angel encounter is just part of the story.”

My daughter sighed, crossed her arms, crossed one leg over the other and bobbed her foot. She was only days away from turning eighteen, but she had the maturity of a fifty year old. Yet when I watched her pick a scab on her knee, I was reminded she was still a kid in some ways.

“The way I see it, you’re putting your dream against Devin’s encounter,” I told her.

“No, Dad, I’m not,” she replied patiently. “I was simply given a warning that you should have nothing to do with his testimony at this point. I was shown that Devin’s conversion is more on the order of spiritualism, rather than Biblical doctrine.”

“What’s unbiblical about it?”

“Fear God, and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man,” Sevenia said, quoting Ecclesiastes 12:13. “It’s going to come down to that down the road. The law of God, written by His own finger, or the traditions of men. Biblical truth or spiritualism.”

“I don’t understand how that applies to Devin’s conversion, though?”

“His conversion is of a new age order, rather than primitive Godliness.”

“Honey, how can you judge him like that? You haven’t even talked to him yourself, have you?”

“No,” she replied meekly as she bit her lower lip and hung her head. There was a reason people in our fellowship began calling her the girl prophetess, she practiced what she preached.

This made her papa proud, until she told me she was giving up her childhood dream of becoming a doctor to be a minister. I tried to tell her that the medical profession was a form of ministry. But she told me she felt called to preach and teach the Word of God. As a man claiming to be Christian, how can I fault that?

“But do you really have to broadcast him now?” Sevenia asked. “Couldn’t you give Devin a little more time to absorb a, um, righteous life, so to speak?”

“But I’ve been lacking really interesting subjects lately, and Devin’s angelic encounter is interesting.”

“A lot of people won’t believe it. Your subjecting yourself to sensationalism.”

My daughter and I went back and forth for a while, and I ended up agreeing not to broadcast the interview I did with Devin. But a couple days later, he showed up at my place.

“I had another encounter,” Devin told me. “Check this out.”

I looked at his phone as he showed me a picture. My heart began to race as I gazed at an extraordinarily beautiful woman with long flowing black hair and a long white gown. What got my heart rate going was two elements with the photo. One was that she appeared to be floating. The other was that she didn’t appear to be fully physical.

Devin sent the picture to my phone, and I in turn, shared Devin’s story, along with the photo, on social media. I also promised Devin’s story would be a subject on an upcoming podcast. Not even a half our later, my phone jingled. It was my daughter!

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT PART 6)

“Whosoever… shall break one of the least of these commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:19

“Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10

There is not a commandment of the law that is not for the good and happiness of humanity, both in this life and the life to come.

By venturing to disregard the will of God upon one point, our first parents opened the floodgates of woe upon the world.

“Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20

A legal religion is insufficient to bring the soul into harmony with God. The hard, rigid orthodoxy of the Pharisees, destitute of contrition, tenderness, or love, was only a stumbling block to sinners.

The only true faith is that which “Works by love” (Galatians 5:6) to purify the soul.

“Everyone who is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgement.” Matthew 5:22

In the revengeful thought the evil deed lies enfolded, as the plant in the seed. “Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer: and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” 1 John 3:15

In the gift of His Son for our redemption, God has shown how high a value He places upon every human soul, and He gives to no man liberty to speak contemptuously of another.

We shall see faults and weaknesses in those about us, but God claims every soul as His property—His by creation, and doubly His as purchased by the precious blood of Christ.

“Be reconciled to thy brother.” Matthew 5:24

The love of God is something more than a mere negation, it is a positive and active principle, a living spring, ever flowing to bless others.

If the love of Christ dwells in us, we shall not only cherish no hatred toward others, but we shall seek in every way to manifest love toward them.

“Whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Matthew 5:28

When the thought of evil is loved and cherished, however secretly, it shows that sin still reigns in the heart.

“If thy right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off, and cast it from the.” Matthew 5:30

It is through the will that sin retains its hold upon us. The surrender of the will is represented as plucking out the eye or cutting off the hand.

Separated from God, existence may be ours for a little time, but we do not possess life.

It will require a sacrifice to give yourself to God; but it is a sacrifice of the lower for the higher, the earthly for the spiritual, the perishable for the eternal.

God does not design that our will should be destroyed, for it is only through its exercise that we can accomplish what God would have us do.

Our will is to be yielded to Him, that we may receive it again, purified, and refined. Then He can pour through us the tides of His love and power.

LXXXV

FOR NOW WE SEE THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY

1 CORINTHIANS 13:12

MELANCHTHON  (A RIGHTEOUS ANGEL)

I had a dilemma. A fallen angel I have been enemies with for thousands of years, now wants to be my ally. Before that, we had been friends for time immeasurable. Then there was a historic uprising. It was a once in an eternity rebellion, led by a angel of rank who was second only to The Son of God Himself.

A strange atmosphere pervaded heaven back then, and it still lingers on now. For the first time in eternity, there was strife and discord in paradise. To put it in terms you can understand, Lucifer was like a hot political candidate running for office. He was so influential that more than 30% of the heavenly realm “voted” for him. Keep in mind, he was running against God. Also keep in mind that the one thing God can’t do is lie.

My friend Scorcus was one of Lucifer’s followers. He tried to persuade me to join, telling me God’s ways were too restrictive and that there was a way to greater enlightenment. I listened and weighed the evidence. Then I explained why God’s law was just, and why He was worthy of our love and obedience. I said if this so called way of enlightenment was healthy, God would have already granted it to us. We agreed to disagree, and at the time, I thought we were still friends.

But the rebellion persisted. God and His Son were so incredibly patient. But repeated reasonings and calls to repentance were ignored. That’s when Revelation 12:9 took place. That’s also when my friendship with Scorcus officially ended.

“Why?” I simply asked, knowing that no matter how he answered I couldn’t trust him.

“I think you know why,” he replied. He looked tired, even scared. But was it just an act?

“Do I?”

“Look, I let you have Seven Sallie a year or two ago,” he said impatiently. “Now I’m letting his daughter organize a reunion between Captain Kirk and his brother. You know full  well the hold we had on Sonny Samson. You also know that Sonny was a slave to pride and bitterness. With me taking off the pressure, and you and yours applying the love, this reunion will be a success. You’ll see.”

I detected bitterness when he said love. How could I ever trust him, what was he up to?

“What’s your end game?”

“You just said part of it,” he replied with an undisguised sneer. “End.”

We both kept an eye on our two subjects, Sevenia Sallie, aka Girl Prophtess, and Pastor Kirk Samson, aka Captain Kirk. My ministrations to the humans I was assigned were love and protection. Scorcus’s role was to thwart, to tempt, and ultimately to destroy.

I have to admit, the conversion of Seven Sallie went considerably smoother than I had anticipated. And so far, Sonny Samson was being more cooperative than I would have expected. I also realized that if Scorcus was in fact trying to help me, it would have to be subtle. It is both harder, and sometimes easier, to hide in the spirit world.

I know that doesn’t make sense. But there is no way to adequately describe the spirit world to humans. It’s like what Jesus told Nicodemus. You can see the effects of the wind, but you can’t see the wind itself. Humanity sees through a glass darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12). In other words, your understanding is limited on earth. The good news is you have everything you need to know for now in the Holy Bible. That’s your owner’s manual for being human, yet experiencing the kingdom of God within you.

“Lets just cut to the chase,” I said. “Tell me what your plan is, and I’ll react.”

“I’ve documented a memoir,” he replied as handed it over to me.

Let me give you a brief explanation about what he handed me. If you look up the book of Daniel and read verse 12:4, you’ll notice the prophet says ‘many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase.’ More on that down the road, but my point is technology. You all live in an unprecedented time with the advancements in travel and computers. Yet it is still extremely primitive compared to the technology in heaven. So for now, let’s just say that Scorcus handed me something similar to a flash drive.

“Okay,” I said as I looked at it. “And what do you want to do with this?”

“You worked against Eusebio when Captain Kirk wrote his book speculating on the war in heaven.”

“And if you remember correctly, I didn’t necessarily approve of his book. So why would I approve of this?” I asked, waving the flash drive.

“Why would you not approve of what Kirk wrote? He wasn’t far off. Humans are, in fact, fallen after all. When they practice things like love and forgiveness, especially on a level of Christ Himself, they are rebelling against their natural inclination.”

“Yes, I’m aware of all that. But humans have enough to do to study out the plan of salvation and spread the gospel to lost souls.”

“Well, me playing traitor will only help with that, don’t ya think? Let sniveling, whiny, selfish little humans wake up to what they are up against.”

“What do you hope to gain from this? Your fate was sealed when you were cast out of heaven.”

“Plain and simple,” he shrugged. “A lesser sentence.”

I gazed at my one time friend. As far as I knew, he was never part of anything violent. His temptations were centered on entertainment, drunkenness, and frivolity.

“Fair enough, but what am I supposed to do with this?” I asked, waving the flash drive a second time.

“Well, my thought was Seven Sallie’s broadcast.”

“Seriously!” I replied. “You expect me to manifest in a human body, go to Seven Sallie, and tell him I have a memoir by a demon for you to share on your podcast?”

“Come on, give me more credit than that. I can’t blatantly be a turn coat. I’ve got to hide in a human.”

“Seriously!” I replied again. “You expect me to willingly let you possess a human? Just out of curiosity, who were you looking at?”

“Lexi Go…”

“You’re not getting back into Lexi! She has given her whole heart to the Lord and has been a true follower, not just an admirer of Jesus.”

“Will you let me finish? I was going to say her fickle on again, off again deadbeat of a boyfriend who is sperm donor for her child.”

“Devin Easton?” I asked incredulously. “Forgive me, Scorcus, but I don’t trust you.”

“Alright, I guess I can’t blame you. So why don’t you take a look at the flash drive and come up with a plan?”

I read Scorcus’s memoir, sought council, and vetoed any involvement with Scorcus and his plan. He wasn’t happy. As a matter of fact, he was livid. He went on an attack with demons under his command and is on the verge of taking full possession of Devin Easton. Not only that, but he also went after Seven Sallie. He wasn’t able to possess him, but he caused him to transgress, and through the subtlety  of sin, control events to a large degree.

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT PART 5)

“Ye are the light of the world.” Matthew 5:14

Jesus, the Savior, is the only light that can illuminate the darkness of a world lying in sin. Of Christ it is written, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” John 1:4. It was by receiving of His life that His disciples could become light bearers. His love revealed in the character, would make them the light of the world.

When we come in touch with Christ, the whole soul is aglow with the brightness of the divine presence.

Angels of glory wait to communicate through us heaven’s light and power to souls that are ready to perish.

If those who profess to be followers of Christ are not the light of the world, it is because the vital power has left them. If they have no light to give, it is because they have no connection with the Source of light.

Jesus teaches us to look upon every needy soul as our neighbor and the world as our field.

Christ gladly accepts every person that is surrendered to Him.

Trials patiently borne, blessings gratefully received, temptations resisted, meekness, kindness, mercy, and love habitually revealed, are the lights that shine forth in the character in contrast with the darkness of the selfish heart, into which the light of life has never shone.

“I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17.

It is the Creator, the Giver of life and the law, who declares that it is not His purpose to set aside its precepts. Everything in nature, from the mote in the sunbeam to the worlds on high, is under law.

Before this earth was called into being, God’s law existed. Angels are governed by its principles, and in order for earth to be in harmony with heaven, man also must obey the divine statues.

Jesus’s mission was to “magnify the law, and make it honorable.” Isaiah 42:21. He was to show the spiritual nature of the law, to present its far reaching principles, and make plain its eternal obligation.

“The chiefest among ten thousand….yea, He is altogether lovely (Song of Solomon 5:10-16).

Jesus, the self-denying Redeemer, throughout His pilgrimage of love on earth, was a living representation of the character of the law of God. In His life it is made manifest that heaven born love, Christlike principles, underlie the laws of eternal rectitude.

Because the law of the Lord is perfect, and therefore changeless, it is impossible for sinful men, in themselves, to meet the standard of its requirement.

This was why Jesus came as our Redeemer. It was His mission, by making men partakers of the divine nature, to bring them into harmony with the principles of the law of heaven.

“Forever, oh Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.”  Psalm 119:89

“All His commandment are sure. They stand fast for ever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.” Psalm 111:7, 8

“Concerning Thy testimonies, I have known of old that Thou hast founded them forever.” Psalm 119:152