Faith & Reflection

Can we trust God to give us our expected end?

God told Abraham that through his offspring all the nations would be blessed. God promised Abraham he would have a son, an heir through whom to pass his inheritance and blessing to future generations. But Abraham was 100 years old: his wife Sara was 90 years old and barren.

Sarah came up with a plan: through her handmaiden Hagar, Abraham would have his firstborn son. Abraham went along with the plan and Ishmael was born. But God told Abraham that his covenant would be with the Abraham's son born to Sarah not Hagar.

What did Ishmael do wrong? Was he a man like Cain, bitter, disobedient, and full of hate? No God blessed Ishmael in Chapter 16,17, and 21. It says that God was with the lad. His presence, his provision, his protection, his guidance was with Ishmael, but his covenant was through Isaac, the son of the promise.

Both Isaac and Ishmael enjoyed God’s blessing, but it was through Isaac that the Word of God and the Messiah would come and the world would be blessed. Can we by our works, our prayers, our fasting, and our tears alter the plan of God for our lives? Ishmael's name means "God has heard." Yes God heard. He did not ignore Ishmael. God heard his tears and the tears of his mother, God provided for him and blessed him, but it did not change the fact that the promise was to go through Isaac.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jeremiah 29:11

Can we trust that God will direct us to our expected end? Or do we tell Him about all the training and preparation and trials we have been through to prepare us for the ministry that we have in mind? This website, Expected End, I set up originally back in 2002. At first it was to be a prison ministry. Later, I changed the focus to spiritual gifts, later I changed it to diet and health, then back to spiritual gifts, most recently, on faith and prayer. Each time, I focused on what I thought was my gift or area of expertise rather than what God had in mind for me. All those things were a part of who I am and what I wanted to do for the Kingdom. But I missed the deep down in my heart joy that comes from service that is in the perfect will of God and the anointing that follows to perform God's will.

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The Offering of Cain: The Beauty of a Pure Heart

Adam and Eve had two sons, Cain and Abel. Some believe that Cain and Abel were twins, Cain being the oldest. This is based this upon Genesis chapter 4:1 where it says that Eve conceived and bore Cain. In verse 2 Eve bore again his brother Abel but the word conceived is not used.

At any rate, Cain was the firstborn. Cain followed his father Adams profession and was a farmer. Brother Abel raised sheep. At a certain time, the boys presented their gifts to God. Abel offered the firstborn of his flock. Cain brought God an offering from the fruit of the soil. God respected -- had regard for or looked with favor upon - Abel's offering but not Cain's.

Cain and Abel. Twin boys. Same parents. Same religious upbringing. They must have known what God expected as far as offerings were concerned. Cain brought the fruits of his labor, Abel brought his. Yet Abel's was accepted, Cain's wasn't. Why? Some teach that God required that all offerings must be blood sacrifices Cain would have had to get an animal from Abel or from some other source in order to make an acceptable offering. From this side of Sinai and the resurrection, we know that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin (Hebrews 9:22). But there is nothing in Genesis chapters 1 through 4 which hint of what God required at all. Both boys appeared to be making free-will offerings.

Why was Cain's offering rejected? Here is my speculation. Remember that the bible is a spiritual book. What the Spirit say? God regards the heart of man. God regards obedience over sacrifices. Cain had no regard for the word of God. Rather than reflecting, meditating, offering prayers to God over the matter of his rejected offering, Cain became angry. Angry at God, angry at his brother. Murderous rage. Where did this come from? God could see the roiling seething blackness of Cain's heart. With such a heart, Cain came before God with an offering and to praise!

Cain and Abel, if they were twins would have shared DNA (Adam and Eve were genetically pure) and therefore would have been identical physically. Same looks, same height, same voice but they had two different hearts. Cain ignored the warning of the Spirit, let his anger fester and and finally he killed his brother. And He lied to God. Lied to the Holy Spirit in effect. He also was insolent to God Cain said, Am I my brother's keeper. The Hebrew word translated keeper is Shamar. This word originally was applied to a Shepard out in the field erecting a fence or barrier made of thorn bushes around his sheep to protect them.

Cain was in effect was saying, "Why you asking me where Abel is? I am not the one watching over him and protecting him. You are!" Is it still a mystery why Abel's offering was accepted but not Cain? Still God was gracious to Cain and spared his life from avengers.

Our works. Our tithe and offerings, our bible study, our church attendance, our witnessing, all our work for the Lord matters not a thing if our heart isn't right. When we come to the alter for prayer, offering, or praise yet there is within our hearts anger, unforgiveness, or the knowledge that we have wronged another, should we expect God to hear our prayers, accept our gift or our praise? We should at once confess our sins and repent, ask forgiveness, or make amends with the brother we have wronged. Then we can enter into the presence of our God.

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What does it take to please God?

God doesn't ask for much. He just wants us to move into closer alignment with Him and His ways. Jesus said that we should SEEK the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things (food, clothing, houses, health, money, love, friendship) will be added to you.

The operative word is seek. Here is a list of words with meanings synonymous with seeking:

• hunt
• look
• search
• pursue
• attempt
• endeavor
• strive
• try

It is God's desire that we, as His children, share in His Nature and Righteousness. I believe the parable of the talents told by Jesus in Matthew 25:14-30 illustrates what I am trying to convey here. I will paraphrase this parable.

Bossman had to go an an extended business trip to the Orient. Before he left, he gave special assignments to 3 of his workers. To worker A, he gave 5 gazillion dollars to invest. Worker B was given $2 gazillion. Finally, to worker C he gave $1 gazillion to invest however he pleased.

After 6 months, Bossman returned and called his workers in for a status report on their investments. The worker A, who was given 5 gazillion dollars earned an additional $5 gazillion- a return of 100%. Bossman was estatic. He congratulated him and gave him a promotion and a raise. Then worker B gave his presentation. He also made a profit of 100%. Bossman congratulated worker B and also gave him a raise and a promotion.

Finally, it was worker C's turn. His presentation started out bad. He had created a Power Point slide show and accompanying hand outs which showed how hard the employees worked to maintain the company while Bossman was away on business. In his professional assessment, Bossman's investment expectations for him were unrealistic. His spreadsheet calculations and graphs showed that the risk of loss was high and the probability of successfully investing so much money was negligible. He concluded that the prudent thing to do was to put the $1 gazillion in a bank safe deposit box.

At first, Bossman seemed stunned. His mouth was open but he didn't say anything. After what seem like forever, Bossman stood up and walked over to the worker C. In front of everyone he said, "If you knew I was such a demanding SOB, requiring more than my employees could possibly deliver, why didn't your fear of me move you to do SOMETHING with my money. Anything. If you had put my money into a savings account I would have at least earned a little interest. You have cost me money and you've insulted me. You're fired! Clean out your desk. Don't insult me by asking for a job reference."

Forgive me for my paraphrase. The point of the parable I believe is that God pleased -very pleased- when we make an effort to walk in His ways and bear fruit. God knows each of us intimately. He knows what we are capable of. He expects us to do what we can: not what we cannot. And when we do what we can do -- however much or little -- we please Him and He is pleased to bless us by adding all things that we need and desire for a prosperous and abundant life.

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Amen: It IS more blessed to give than to receive

35 In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring ye ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35 ASV

During my morning devotional, I am often floored by revelations the Spirit gives me about the real meaning of some cherished and oft-quoted Bible verses. Today, while reading from Acts, I came across verse 20:35 and the famous quote of Jesus, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Like many of you, I had often heard this verse given to encourage the congregation to more faithfully give tithes and offerings. And this verse is irresistible, because Jesus said it.

But this particular morning, as I was rereading the verse I was aware of the context of it. Paul was giving a recount of his service to God since his conversion. He preached and taught faithfully despite suffering and persecution everywhere he went. He ministered solely to serve God and His people: his reward was that he finished his course and that his conscious would be clear. What was his motivation? It was certainly not money because he worked to support himself and his ministry. Not only himself, he help the those who ministered with him. His desire was to be self supporting and able to help the poor and infirm (Galatians 2:10).

It is within this context that Paul quotes Jesus, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Paul is not asking the elders listening to him to give to Paul and Paul's ministry, but rather that they should follow his example be able to financially give to their flock rather than take money from them.

I am not going to get into the issue about whether clergy should be paid or receive other forms of financial compensation from their congregation. I feel this is up to each individual congregation to decide. I wish rather to apply this to the issue of asking and receiving finances from God.

The popular teaching in Christendom today is the belief that God wants all His people to be prosperous (wealthy, rich, loaded, healthy, popular, happy, influential, etc). This is the so-called "prosperity gospel." I would not argue that God wants His people to be poor, sick, downtrodden, and miserable. No scripture supports this position. I would like to posit that God - like Paul in Acts 20 - wants us to be prosperous in order to be a blessing to others.

God set in motion a plan whereby He would raise up sons and daughters who are in His image and reflect His nature and holiness. One facet of God is that He is a giver. He is eager to bless His people who ask and believe they will receive. If we are truly children of God, that should be our principle as well.

God gives us the power to have wealth. This wealth is first to support ourselves and our families. We are also able to help others in need: widows, orphans, the sick, and the weak. We are blessed to become burden bearers and load lifters.

We have the quantity and quality of faith which enables us to go before the Creator of the Universe and ask for money or the things money will buy. Let us also determine in our heart that because the God ( the Universe) has so freely given to us all that we asked, we will likewise be the vessels through which the prayers of the needy are answered by God.

My Determination:

And let not my prayers be quid pro quo - if you bless me Lord, I will give a portion of my finances to the poor and infirm. Rather let my prayers be full of praise and thanksgiving that you have blessed me to be able to support myself through work and to participate in Your ministry of Agape: that through me - and my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus - the whole world might be blessed.

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Victorious living: Dealing with the Cold

Bible Text: Matthew 24:4-14

Lesson Setting:
The text is taken from the Gospel according to Matthew, the tax collector, called to be an Apostle by the Lord Jesus. The physical setting for the lesson is the Mount of Olives, a mountain ridge east of the city of Jerusalem. At the foot of the Mount, is the Garden of Gethsemane. On this occasion, the Lord gives his disciples a prophecy concerning the the coming destruction of the Temple and the end times. This "Olivet Discourse" as it is known, also contains powerful parabolic teachings such as the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins and the Parable of the Talents,

In verses 24:4-14, Jesus is warning His disciples of the coming tribulations -- beginning at Jerusalem with the destruction of the Temple -- and spreading world-wide. He ends this phase of the discourse encouraging His disciples to endure to the end.

Exposition:

"Because iniquity will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved." Matthew 24:12,13

Jesus here describes to his disciples the events of the last days. Some of Jesus' words were fulfilled when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. Other parts of His prophecy are yet to be fulfilled. Like the disciples in this passage, we are living in a time when iniquity (lawlessness) abounds and the love of many grows cold.

Warmth and coldness are opposite states. Science and experience tells us that when we place a warm object in close proximity to a cold object, an exchange takes place. The warm object loses its heat to space: the cold object gains warmth by absorbing the radiated heat.

We experience the same thing in the spiritual realm. We enter a service filled with the Spirit and anticipation and almost immediately, we sense the warmth and the joy we feel being slowly drawn from us by a cold, dead spiritual environment. We feel spiritually frigid and spiritually numb, lethargic, and depressed.

Jesus says that because of iniquity, the love of many will grow cold. Iniquity is lawlessness or sin. Some disciples, because of trials and sufferings, will stop walking with Jesus. These people are so battered by Satan and the ungodly that they lose the strength and the will to go on with Christ. They gradually cease striving to live holy, godly, and loving lives and turn inward. They withdraw within themselves: to an inner sanctum where they hope for peace and a respite from their trials. Instead, they find themselves in a cold, dark, den devoid of true light, true warmth, and Jesus.

Just as the sun is main source of warmth on earth. Jesus Christ "The Sun of Righteousness" is our source of spiritual light and warmth. As we walk with Christ Jesus, we bask in and absorb His light and warmth.

We will all run into people who, seem to draw warmth and strength -- even it seems, the very life out of us. Not talking of the people themselves, but their words, deeds, personality quirks, and temperament. I John 2:1 describes a man not walking in the light as one who hates his brother. I John 1:7 says that this darkness effects this man's fellowship with other believers. It is not possible while we are living on this planet to avoid difficult people, but through the Spirit and the Word, we can learn how to deal with them and simultaneously, grow in love and grace.

The Scoffer

Consider the Scoffer. Within the Church and outside the Church, scoffers are not hard to spot. We recognize them as the ones who hold prophecy in contempt, who seek to quench the Spirit, and who lay snares of ritual and legalism upon others. The Word of God (Proverbs 24.9) says that the scoffer is an abomination.

We can deal with the scoffer like a true disciple of Jesus. God tells us to hold our peace. If we must speak, we must bless and not curse. We should not render evil for evil. (I Thessalonian 5:15).

"He who corrects a mocker invites insult. He who reproves a wicked man invites abuse." Proverbs 9:7

The Backbiter

The Backbiter presents a very subtle test of our commitment to discipleship. While their reports are compelling and entertaining, backbiters are a malicious, destructive spirit within the body of Christ. Proverbs 16:28 says, "A perverse man stirs up strife. A whisperer separates close friends."

We can deal with backbiters in a godly manner. We should express our love and true concern for the object of the backbiter. Often, the backbiter will be shocked into silence and, hopefully, repentance. Let us express a desire to lift up and help the defamed (James 5:19, 20) and not to honor the backbiter with a passive audience.

"He who covers an offense promotes love; But he who repeats a matter separates best friends." Proverbs 17:9

"For lack of wood a fire goes out; Without gossip, a quarrel dies down." Proverbs 26.20

False Teachers

In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus warned His disciples about False Teachers. These men make bold claims about themselves and their walk with God, but they are full of destructive heresies, hate, and betrayal..

The apostle Peter describes false teachers this way:

"But there also arose false prophets among the people, as among you also there will be false teachers, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction." II Peter 2:1

How do we deal with False Teachers? The Word tells us not to believe every spirit, but test the spirits. I John 4:1. Study and show ourselves approved, rightly dividing the word of truth. We should learn God's ways. We should learn to recognize the spirits we encounter. I john 4:1-6, I Corinthians 12:3.

Armed by the Spirit, we will even benefit from the false teacher. Our faith will be strengthened as we learn how to spot the devil's schemes. We will take the opportunity to dig deeper into the Word and strengthen our faith. And finally, we will pray for the false teacher and intercede for the brothers and sisters he has or will come into contact with.

WORD STUDY:

"Shall wax cold" (Greek word psychros, adjective, Strong's #5594) This word, derived from the Greek word "psycho" or cold, originally meant "cooled by blowing." On a cold, windy, winter day We can literally feel the warmth being drawn from our body. We feel this chill down to our bones. Trials and tribulations likewise can leave us frigid spirit, soul, and body.

Life Application:

Immersing ourselves in the Spirit and the Word strengthens and equips us to face whatever obstacles life presents us with

We can be blessed through our trials and sufferings. We can then bless others with the blessings we gained through our pain

Endurance, persistence, and patience in the face of trials is the only path to true victorious living in this world

Living the Lesson:

God's Word and the abiding Holy Spirit can help us deal with the people we encounter - people whose love has grown cold and who intentionally or unintentionally, are drawing strength and warmth from us. Instead of withdrawing from and avoiding these encounters with such people, we should engage them armed with the Spirit and the Word. If we endure through this trial, we will emerge as over-comers who perfected in Christ. We will be co-workers with God through the Spirit, turning the erring one from their sins and towards Christ.

God enables us to gather:
warmth from the coldness of others
love from the loveless
strength from the weak
life from the spiritually dead

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My Objections to the Science of Getting Rich

I just finished the 7 Free Lessons of the Science of Getting Rich program offered by Bob Proctor's LifeSuccess© Productions. These lessons are a good summary of the DVD, "The Secret" and they offer additional tips for those wanting to apply the "Law of Attraction" to become prosperous (rich).

I have a problem with the idea of promoting spirituality as a means of getting rich. Now I deliberately use the term "spirituality" to apply to the teachings of "The Secret" and the Science of Getting Rich Program. Indeed, what originally led me to look into this phenomena was the ease in which I could find biblical support for some of teachings of Michael Beckwith, Jack Canfield, Bob Proctor, and others featured in the video. I will leave off Esther Hicks-Abraham for now, I will probably devote a full week on his/her/its/their teaching.

This brings me to the purpose of this post. After finishing lesson number 7, it dawned on me what the program was REALLY all about. The free lessons contained the secret, but not WHOLE the secret. Just enough to entice me into into buying into the complete SGR program.

We hope you enjoyed and gained much from these 7 free lessons. There is much more to learn but these basics alone will take you far.

If you feel you are ready to move forward in a great leap -- to take a quantum jump and move yourself into the mindset of the great people of the world, we're waiting to hold your hand and help you succeed. Lesson 7, The SGR Program.

The SGR program spiel promised to show me how to get rich by developing several streams of income. I thought I caught a whiff of the scent of Multi-level Marketing (MLM). I did a google search and after wading through several pages, I found this article at My Retirement Project. Sure enough, the multiple revenue streams the last free lesson talked about comes from:

• the money made by selling the program
• money made from programs sold by people you sell programs to
• Sales of books, videos, conducting seminars

I can't say for certain if this is a MLM program, but to me, in my opinion, it might be. I mean, it sure looks like MLM to me, but I could be wrong.

What is wrong with being rich? The Patriarchs were wealthy men. God doubled the wealth of an already filthy rich Job. And yes, Moses said that wealth was part of the covenant.

But thou shalt remember Jehovah thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as at this day. Deuteronomy 8:18

But in the newer covenant, Jesus, Paul, and James warn about the snare of riches. Consider first the story of the Rich Young Ruler in Mark 10:17-27. Here was a man who genuinely sought after spiritual things. He was seeking the deeper life. He came to Rebbe Jesus and asked Him how he make attain eternal life. From Jesus' questioning of the young man, we can see that he was a good boy who was sincerely trying to live right according to the law.

But Jesus knew that the young man had a spiritual stronghold keeping him from attaining the higher life he desired. Money had made his good life possible. Because of his wealth and privilege, he had never known what it was to struggle to feed, clothe or house himself. He had never experienced the hardship and testing that was part of the everyday life of most first century residents of Palestine. He had never learned to trust God. He was not ready to live the life of Jesus' disciples. The young man's faith was in his wealth rather than in God.

Jesus said,

... Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Aside: Now there was no such gate in Jerusalem called the eye of the needle. This is a story some wealthy, covetous, or simply uninformed clergy and laity tell to justify their wealth or desire to become wealthy. Just because this myth is repeated constantly from pulpits across America, does not make it true. Don't believe me? Google it.

Like any Jewish teacher worth his salt, Jesus was using hyperbole to get his point across. Consider how one would go about the task of fitting a camel through the eye of a sewing needle. Could you squeeze the camel through? If you could shrink the camel then then he could walk through the needle How about crushing the camel's bones first then shoving him through?

Jesus explained how it is done. While this thing is impossible with man, nothing is impossible with God. This hyperbole shows the lengths God went through to make salvation available to us all. God would not shrink or injure the a camel to get it to fit through the eye of a needle: God's way is to make the eye of the needle eye large enough for the camel to walk through.

We all fall short of the glory of God and His righteousness. We all sin and are disqualified to live in fellowship with a holy and perfect God. How then can anyone be saved? God enlarged the eye of the needle by sending His Son to become sin and bear the punishment of sin for us all. Christ died that we might live. He suffered that we might rejoice in the salvation of our Father and our God.

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Manifesting our ministries through trials

God's expected end for his people is that they may be the mediums through whom the whole world may be blessed. This is the promise He gave to Abraham in Genesis 22:18. Through the empowering of the Spirit, our natural gifts are amplified and focused, equipping us to do good works. We become agents of healing upon this world.

Many times I have felt that I am not up to this. Who am I and how can God possibly use me? But consider this scripture:

(as it is written, A father of many nations have I made thee) before him whom he believed, even God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were. Romans 4:17 American Standard Version

While I may not feel worthy to be a minister of God, He knows otherwise because He created me to do good works.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

What we really are is not always obvious to us or to others. God works in us to bring out those innate talents and qualities which He will then use in His service.

One quality God finds most valuable in a man or woman is humility. God honors the humble man or woman by using him or her. Consider the example of Moses.

Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men that were upon the face of the earth. Numbers 12:3

Was Moses always a meek and humble man? He was raised from infancy in Pharaoh's household as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He had access to a prince's education and training. Apparently, Moses may have viewed himself as a leader or deliver of the Hebrews people. That might explain why he killed the Egyptian who was beating the Hebrew slave.

Moses underwent a personality metamorphosis during the 40 years in Midian working as a shepherd for his stepfather, Jethro. He went from being a proud prince of Egypt to a humble shepherd that God could finally use to deliver His people. This is the way God seems to work.

Consider another man, Saul of Taursus. Here is part of what he had to say about himself:

13 For ye have heard of my manner of life in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and made havoc of it: 14 and I advanced in the Jews' religion beyond many of mine own age among my countrymen, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. Galatians 1:13,14

If a Rabbi ever had credentials, Paul had them. Educated under Gamaliel. A Roman citizen by birth. So convinced that he knew the will of God, he sought to jail and even kill all those who called on the name of Jesus.

But though an Apostle, full of the Holy Spirit and Power, Paul was an extremely humble man. How was Paul's true personality brought out by God?

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore the scripture saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. James 4:6

Paul spent some fourteen years in the desert where he was humbled and taught by the Lord. Later, Paul tells the Galatian church about the "thorn in the flesh" a messenger of Satan, a tormentor sent to him by God.

6 For if I should desire to glory, I shall not be foolish; for I shall speak the truth: but I forbear, lest any man should account of me above that which he seeth me to be, or heareth from me. 7 And by reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted overmuch, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, that I should not be exalted overmuch. 8 Concerning this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. 9 And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Wherefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in injuries, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. 2 Corinthians 12:6-10.

Paul didn't become a humble man: He always was a humble man. Humility was part of his true personality formed by God at the moment of Paul's conception. God called Paul to be an Apostle or an emissary of Jesus. God removed a life time of dross and corrosion of the spirit that Paul had acquired throughout his life. Once the tarnish and corruption was removed, the real Paul shone through.

So it was with Moses: so it is with us. This is the reason God allows us to go through trials, tribulations, and suffering. This purging process is not at all pleasant as we are undergo it, but it is the tool God uses to perfect us and manifest the true man or woman we are.

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The 10 Commandments of Love

1. I Am the Way, the truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through me. But take cheer: I and the Father are one.
2. If you seek a god, one in whom to place your trust, adoration, and worship then look to me. I am the One. I am the Self-Existant One. Before anything was I am. You have no need nor would you benefit from seeking another.
3. If you join yourself to me accept and my gift of son-ship, honor Me and My Name.
4. I reserve for you one day in seven in which you can rest from your labor and to renew and even deepen your relationship to Me.
5. Honor your father and your mother and I promise that I will honor you with long life and favor.
6. Above all things else, seek to preserve the life of your fellow man for I morn the death of any of my children.
7. Be faithful to me, your spouse, and your brothers and sisters.
8. Respect the property of your brother or sisters. Enjoy the things that I have blessed you with as your brothers and sisters enjoy my blessings upon them.
9. Let all the words from your mouth be full of wisdom, grace,and truth. Make it your goal to always use your tongue to benefit your brother or sister.
10. If you need anything, ask me. Trust me to provide for your desires, wants, and needs. I will supply you with every good and beneficial thing if you would but ask.

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