New Year's Message for 2023

****What were the good things that happened in your life in 2022? What were the bad things?

What do you hope for will happen in your life in 2023?

What does the Bible say will probably happen in this Laodocean Church Age and the apparent ending of the Age of Grace?

Last year in February I shared the following. Why?

Luke 4 in the Lockwood Foundation’s Amplified Version

1 Then Jesus, full of and controlled by The Holy Spirit,

returned from the Jordan and was led in [by] The [Holy] Spirit

2 for (during) forty days in the wilderness (desert),

where He was tempted (tried, tested exceedingly) by the Devil.

And He ate nothing during those days, and when they were completed, He was hungry.

3 Then the devil said to Him, “If You are The Son Of God,

order this stone to turn into a loaf [of bread].”

4 And Jesus replied to him,

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live and be sustained by (on) bread alone

but by every word and expression of God.’”

5 Then the Devil took Him up to a high mountain

and showed Him all the Kingdoms of the habitable World

in a moment of time [in the twinkling of an eye].

6 And he said to Him,

“To You I will give all this power and authority and their glory,

for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will.”

7 Therefore if You will do homage to and worship me [just once],

it shall all be Yours.”

8 And Jesus replied to him, “Get behind Me, Satan!

It is written, ‘You shall do homage to and worship The LORD your God,

and Him only shall you serve.’”

9 Then he took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on a gable of the Temple,

and said to Him, “If You are The Son Of God, cast Yourself down from here;

10 for it is written, ‘He will give His angels charge over you

to guard and watch over you closely and carefully;

11 and on their hands they will bear you up,

lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

12 And Jesus replied to him, the Scripture] says,

‘You shall not tempt (try, test exceedingly) The LORD your God.’”

13 And when the Devil had ended every [the complete cycle of] temptation,

he [temporarily] left Him [that is, stood off from Him]

until another more opportune and favorable time.

14 Then Jesus went back

full of and under the power of The [Holy] Spirit

into Galilee,

and the fame of Him spread through the whole region round about.

15 And He Himself conducted [a course of] teaching in their synagogues,

being recognized and honored and praised by all.

16 So He came to Nazareth, [that Nazareth] where He had been brought up,

and He entered the Synagogue, as was His custom on the Sabbath day.

And He stood up to read.

17 And there was handed to Him the Book of the prophet Isaiah.

He opened (unrolled) the book and found the place where it was written,

18 “The Spirit of The LORD [is] upon Me, because

He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor;

He has sent Me

to announce release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed

[who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity],

19 to proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of The LORD”

20 Then He rolled up the Book and gave it back to the attendant and sat down;

and the eyes of all in the synagogue were gazing [attentively] at Him.

21 And He began to speak to them:

“Today this Scripture has been fulfilled

while you are present and hearing.”

22 And all spoke well of Him

and marveled at the words of grace that came forth from His mouth;

and they said, “Is not this Joseph's Son?”

23 So He said to them,

“You will doubtless quote to Me this proverb:

‘Physician, heal Yourself!

What we have learned by hearsay that You did in Capernaum,

do here also in your [own] town.’”

24 Then He said,

“Solemnly I say to you,

no prophet is acceptable and welcome in his [own] town.

25 But in truth I tell you,

there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah,

when the heavens were closed up for three years and six months,

so that there came a great famine over all the land;

26 And yet Elijah was not sent to a single one of them,

but only to Zarephath in the country of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.

[1 Kings 17:1, 8-16; 18:1]

27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the Prophet,

and yet not one of them was cleansed by healing-- but only Naaman the Syrian.” [2 Kings 5:1-14]

28 When they heard these things,

all the people in the Synagogue were filled with rage.

29 And rising up, they pushed and drove Him out of the Town,

and [laying hold of Him] they led Him

to the [projecting] upper part of the hill on which their town was built,

that they might hurl Him headlong down over the cliff.

30 But passing through their midst, He went on His way.

31 And He descended to Capernaum, a town of Galilee,

and there He continued to teach the people on the Sabbath days.

32 And they were amazed at His teaching, for His word was with

authority and ability

and weight and power.

James 4 in the NASV

bad and good lifestyle

Challenging verses for me: 4, 7-11, 15-17

Other verses that came to my mind: Psalms 25:8-10 & Romans 14:17-19

1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?

Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?

2 You lust and do not have; {so} you commit murder.

You are envious and cannot obtain; {so} you fight and quarrel.

You do not have because you do not ask.

3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives,

so that you may spend {it} on your pleasures.

4 You adulterers and adulteresses,

do you not know that friendship with the World is hostility toward God?

Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the World

makes himself {or herself} an enemy of God.

5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose:

“The Spirit, Whom dwells in us, yearns jealousy”?

6 But He gives a greater grace.

Therefore {it} says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD,

BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

7 Submit therefore to God.

Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.

Cleanse your hands, you sinners;

and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

9 Be miserable and mourn and weep;

let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom.

10 Humble yourselves in the presence of The Lord, and He will exalt you.

11 Do not speak against one another, brothers {and sisters}.

He {or she} who speaks against a brother {or sister}

or judges his {or her} brother {or sister},

speaks against the Law

and judges the Law;

but if you judge the Law, you are not a doer of the Law but a judge {of it.}

12 There is {only} one Lawgiver and Judge,

The One Who is able to save and to destroy;

but who are you who judge your neighbor?

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city,

and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.”

14 Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow.

You are {just} a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

15 Instead, {you ought} to say, “If The Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”

16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance;

all such boasting is evil.

17 Therefore, to one who knows {the} right thing to do and does not do it, to him {or her} it is sin.

***What is the main conflict indicated in this chapter?

What are the common sins mentioned in verses 1-5 & 11-17?

Explain each of commanded the alternatives. Why are the stated alternatives related to God’s grace?

Ephesians 6:10-24 in the NASV

10 Finally, be strong in The Lord and in the strength of His might.

11 Put on the full armor of God,

so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,

but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness,

against the spiritual {forces} of wickedness in the Heavenly {places.}

13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God,

so that you will be able to resist in the evil day,

and having done everything, to stand firm.

14 Stand firm therefore,

HAVING GIRDED YOUR LOINS WITH TRUTH,

and HAVING PUT ON THE BREASTPLATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, (Isaiah 11:5 & 59:17)

15 and having shod YOUR FEET WITH THE PREPARATION OF THE GOSPEL OF PEACE; (Isaiah 52:7)

16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith

with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil {one.}

17 And take THE HELMET OF SALVATION, (Isaiah 59:17, Isaiah 11:4, Isaiah 49:2, & Hosea 6:5)

and the sword of The Spirit, which is The Word of God.

18 With all prayer and petition pray at all times in The Spirit,

and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

19 and {pray} on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth,

to make known with boldness the mystery of the Gospel,

20 for which I am an ambassador in chains;

that in {proclaiming} it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

21 But that you also may know about my circumstances, how I am doing,

Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in The Lord,

will make everything known to you.

22 I have sent him to you for this very purpose,

so that you may know about us,

and that he may comfort your hearts.

23 Peace be to the brothers {and sisters},

and love with faith,

from God The Father and The Lord Jesus Christ.

24 Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruptibility.

1. What is spiritual warfare against true Christians?
2. Why should they consider themselves to be blessed when confronted with persecution for righteousness sake?
3. How would you teach about each piece of the spiritual armor? Why is “truth” mentioned for the first piece? (Another list where truth is first is in Philippians 4:8. What is the main weapon of the spiritual enemy?)

***In response to 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18—

“Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks:

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

I thought such would be impossible,

but one day The Holy Spirit told me to imagine a spiritual conveyor belt inside my mind

onto which I could put prayer concerns on and that He would also intercede for.

Romans 8:26-- “Likewise The Spirit also helpeth our infirmities:

for we know not what we should pray for as we ought;

but The Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

In other words, we should have an attitude of compassion for others

which requires unselfish prayer.

After I read the book about Reese Howells back in early 1975,

I have done a lot of intercessory prayer

and God has blessed me with so much divine peace and later divine joy

when I hear or read of good results.

So I continue watching the news for people to pray for.

Usually it takes tragedy or other challenges to happen to cause individuals to need God.

God prefers such communication with His adopted children

instead of selfish praying or complaining.

Loving God more and more and doing intercessory praying

are my core during my daily ministering and sanctification.

Jude (via the Amplified Bible)

3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you

concerning our common Salvation,

I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you

to contend earnestly for the Faith

which was once for all delivered to the Saints.

20 But you, beloved,

build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith

[make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher],

praying in the Holy Spirit;

21 guard and keep yourselves in the love of God;

expect and patiently wait for the mercy

of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)--

[Who will bring you] unto life eternal.

22 and on some have mercy and compassion who waver and doubt.

23 [Strive to] save others, snatching [them] out of [the] fire;

on others have pity [but] with fear,

loathing even the garment spotted by the flesh and

polluted by their sensuality.

24 Now to Him Who is able to keep you without stumbling {or} slipping {or} falling,

and to present [you] unblemished (blameless and faultless)

before the presence of His glory

in triumphant joy and exultation [with unspeakable, ecstatic delight]--

25 to the one only God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord,

be glory (splendor), majesty, might and dominion,

and power and authority, before all time and now and forever

(unto all the ages of eternity). Amen (so be it).”

Aconyms from others:

B -- Blessed and Believe It

O -- On Fire for the Lord and Own It

L -- Loving with the Love of Jesus and Live It

D -- Dedicated to the one I love, Jesus Christ, and Deliver It

B = Be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in you.

O = Overcome the fear through remembering Jesus Christ and the heroes in the Bible.

L = Live as an example of Jesus Christ with thankfulness and compassion.

D = Don’t try hard to convict someone of their sins, just say only what the Holy Spirit urges.

Proof That the Holy Spirit Is Deity-- https://app.box.com/s/jzaa8dux3fdcem1sysfevh5lcuj7stbe

'Angel' Bible Word Study-- ETRSF (21 pgs.)-- https://app.box.com/s/l3x4rivqgp9yrnckipybcne2vh56e08l

Spiritual Enemies and Spiritual Warfare Compilation-- https://app.box.com/s/c4ya9sk9m91w3yut8f5cpvonvqxs3wi2

Spiritual Enemies Bible Study Tool (13 pgs.)-- https://app.box.com/s/dp29ufqbn4aq4mcf20j8vjv8jd8qefcr

****Why do I think that living the following are so important for 2023?

Most used spiritual acronyms I have shared with others via the Internet:

One I saw:

Jesus

Others

Yourself

(which should be done chronologically of course)

Gifts from the Holy Spirit:

F -- fear not

A -- assurance from God's Word

I -- in God's Love

T -- trust in God and the Bible

H -- holiness with Holy Spirit and Bible help

H-- Holiness

O-- Onward to Compassion

P-- Providence

E-- Everlasting Life

P -- power from Heaven

R -- ruled/guided by the Agapè Love of God and His Word

A -- attentive to the Holy Spirit

Y -- yearning for God's Truths and repentance to righteousness by many

E -- earnest to be righteous and compassionate

R -- ready for the return of the Messiah and His deliverance for believers

G -- God

R -- Redeemer

A -- acts of God

T -- teaching by the Bible and the Holy Spirit

I -- intimacy with Jesus Christ

T -- toleration by the God of grace

U -- understanding by God and others

D -- Divine Love-- Agapè

E -- Eternity in the future

Responsibility with God's Grace

R-- read and learn the Bible. (See 2 Timothy 3:16-17.)

E-- enter the Holy of Holies frequently in order to be Holy Spirit sensitive. (See Hebrews 10:19-25.)

S-- search the New Testament especially for the 1050 commandments. (Need to know what pleases God.)

P-- pursue righteousness or Christ-likeness. (See Ephesians 4:11-16.)

O-- 0bserve good leaders about how they are responsible in both speech and actions.

N-- need to frequently remember all of God’s Grace in our lives and be more thankful for such.

S-- Sanctification requires being obedient to the Holy Spirit’s urgings.

I-- intellectualism is not very important compared to Christian Sanctification.

B-- Bible understanding and obeying is so important.

I-- immersion into doing our Ephesians 2:10 parts for the Great Commission is so important.

L-- Loving with compassion everyone. (In what ways do you do such, even for enemies?)

I-- Inspired to always be ready for the Second Coming of our Savior and Lord (1 Corinthians 15)

T-- teaching others spiritual Truths when Holy Spirit urged. (He has perfect timing.)

Y-- Yeshua is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, keep obeying His wonderful teachings.

C -- Christ-likeness and confessing wrongs and sins is needed before repentance can be done

H -- Holy Spirit help is needed most of the time

A -- attitudes and actions

N -- needs that God's Word says are

G -- good works doing (Ephesians 2:10)

E -- Eternal Truths should be frequently thought about, lived, and shared everywhere we go

C -- commitment to God's Truths

O -- obedience to the Holy Spirit

U -- understanding God's desires

R -- revival spiritually

A -- attentiveness for opportunities to be compassionate

G -- gratefulness to God, especially for His protection

E -- enduring in faith of God

V-- Via Jesus Christ

I-- Inner spiritual “heart” commitment

C-- Christian (or Christ-like) Living guided by the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures

T-- Towards pleasing God first all of the time with unselfishness

O-- Observing and discerning and avoiding the wiles of the spiritual enemies

R-- Rejoicing always as on more frequently lives Philippians 4:4-8 and Jude 20-23

Y-- Yahweh and Yeshua

C -- Christ-likeness, unselfish concerns, & consideration

O -- observations

M -- mercy & money sharing

P -- perseverance, prayer, & patience

A -- attentiveness

S -- specific needs fulfilling

S -- spiritual reasons

I -- ideas & inspiration

O -- obedience to the Holy Spirit

N -- necessary or needed attitudes, actions, & aspirations

T -- truthfulness

R -- respect

U -- understanding

S -- steadfastness (especially in promise/vow-keeping)

T -- tolerance (of the others’ preferences)

C – compassion for other's needs

O – oaths: promises and vows

M – mercy and forgiveness

M – much friendliness and kindness

I -- intelligence for wise decisions

T – teachable and flexible

M – merry and thankful

E -- enduring faithfulness

N – necessary LOVE to and from God

T – tenderness, verbal and physical

R -- respect for one another and receiving of them

E -- emotions (listening to) and exhorting in a caring/teaching way

S -- Scripture sharing: what does the Bible say about the situation needing restoration?

T -- teaching from a Holy Spirit-led pastor, Biblical counselor, or an appropriate Scripture-filled book

O -- obedience to God's Word and the Holy Spirit encouragement

R -- repentance encouragement: proper changes of thinking and behavior habits

A -- appreciation and adoration (not flattery)

T -- trusting again help

I -- intertwine souls encouragement

O -- outreach encouragement: sharing good news and lessons with others

N -- notify relatives encouragement about the new ways of thinking and behavior

Ideal goals for every spouse that you should be able to say of God the Father too:

B -- I believe in you. I will boast about you because I appreciate you.

E -- We can endure anything together. I always enjoy being with you.

S -- I will stand-up and stand-by you whenever necessary. You completely satisfy me.

T -- I will tolerate your unusual or strange habits. I am thankful for all of you.

F -- I am so happy because you have let me become completely familiar with you. You are fantastic.

R -- I rejoice for every smile and touch from you. We can have daily revival.

I -- You are plenty intelligent enough for me. I greatly enjoy all types of intimacy with you.

E -- You give me so much excitement and hope. Special energy comes from you and goes into me.

N -- No one but you is the best for me. Nothing can stop my love for you.

D -- You are the dearest being in the world. You are the best divine blessing for me every day.

For returning back to basic true Christianity,

Bible lover Bill

Romans 8:28, Proverbs 3:5-6, Philippians 4:4-8, and Jude 20-25

***good responses to spiritual issues in ETRSF-- version 3-- https://app.box.com/s/c7vcp6i7023vti3fi2yjz1sb7euplagg

***miscellaneous secular quotations in ETRLF-- https://app.box.com/s/8x8ubl2viqnwktzcui4cv1lv6gb4u30b

***My Box account folders' URLs for e-mailing (5)-- https://app.box.com/s/qyrh4o6hloqwooobmoxqoj1gfkevnufv

***My Favorite Psalm and Epistles-- ETRSFed-- https://app.box.com/s/4pc14zp3wc7qkozoivmw3pn4o8yh5kzw

Wonderful Collection for Divine Wisdom and Love-- https://app.box.com/s/5juhky1c3zenx549ht6pk1b27esa2of1

https://www.facebook.com/BibleloverBill daily ministry for God (3-5 times daily)

https://bibleloverbill.home.blog/

Interesting Spiritual Acronyms (Version 7)-- https://app.box.com/s/9zdglf1ydiwsnfbs8nxpajz5wp6nso7a

For Understanding ETRSFing-- https://livingforjude20to25.wixsite.com/for-bible-study/etrsf

Very Important Teachings in John 13-17-- ETRS (7 pgs.)-- https://app.box.com/s/gh5b0h11v5wuej8k4ta85yaj2f80lmat

Proof of Jesus Christ being the Word-- https://app.box.com/s/zg366bol3yh9t9a35w2a2a8p2a6p5w2k

Living Bible Poems-- https://app.box.com/s/ap38pcffaagx27kdp4rg8kjz7b54p5xn

For Educators-Teachers-- ETRSF (29 pgs.)-- https://app.box.com/s/eq56u52stc7wmva7swes9gsyswiap185