As a minister I believe the only true way to study is to look at verses in the context of which they were written. These HJD messages and the scriptures are done for that purpose. Each verse listed is a link to the whole chapter. Simply click on the verse and you will be taken to the whole chapter for further reading. I chose the translation “The Message” as it is in the language of today so we can relate. I encourage you to study with passion each verse in many translations. Enjoy and I pray this blesses you over and over.
Perry
January 19th, 2025
Happy Jesus Day!
Love And Grace!
Religions see certain people as the enemy. Jesus followers see sin as the enemy. All my life I have listened to preachers speak as though we are in and they are out. They speak of those within the church as being saved and the rest are not. They speak as though its a club and only a few can be found within its walls. I have heard them speak of, this religion is in, and the others are out. Jesus is not loyal to groups, countries, or teams. Jesus is only loyal to human suffering. He is present to the suffering Iraqi soldier as much as he is to the wounded American soldier. He cares as much for Mexico as he does for America. The Jesus nation crosses all boundaries. Jesus came to save everyone: Ephesians 1:9-10 / Colossians 1:15-20 / John 3:17. The gospel can not be worthy of being called “Good News” unless it is “Good News” for all people without exception. The right to decide who is in and who is out is not something our small minds can even imagine. That is why in Matthew Jesus said: “God causes it to rain on the honest and dishonest alike, and the sun to rise on the bad as well as the good” Our dualistic minds have so much trouble defending that. Our ego based way of life wants to believe that we are earning our way to his arms by following rules. Our ego wants to set a boundary, a price, an entrance requirement of some sort. Jesus simply looks to love and grace!
I Love You! Perry
As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil.
I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.
The angel said, “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide:
Then he said, “Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God’s good news to one and all.
Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role.
January 12th, 2025
Happy Jesus Day!
The Way Of Love!
The question was “what is love exactly”? Love, as an action, is the only thing that has ever changed the world for the better. Love is Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi…. Love is a little girl in Pakistan named Malala Yousafzai standing up to men who said that girls shouldn’t be educated…. Love is someone protesting anything that harms the children of God. Love is a commitment to seek the good and to work for the welfare of others. It doesn’t stop at our front door or our neighborhood, our religion or race, our state or our country’s border. Where selfishness excludes, love makes room. Where selfishness puts down, love lifts up. Where selfishness hurts and harms, love helps and heals. Where selfishness enslaves, love sets free and liberates. I look around me and I don’t see much love in our country. I don’t see others letting someone in front of them. I don’t see others loving people except for friends and family. I even have a friend that can’t bring himself to say “I Love You” because he is afraid others may think he is gay. I worry about those that claim to follow the heart of Christ but can’t express love. The way of love will show us the right thing to do, every single time. It is spiritual grounding—a place of rest—amid the chaos that is often part of life. It’s how we stay decent in indecent times. Loving is not always easy, but like with muscles, we get stronger with repetition and as the burden gets heavier.
I Love You! Perry
Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.
Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what.
Make sure you don’t take things for granted and go slack in working for the common good; share what you have with others. God takes particular pleasure in acts of worship—a different kind of “sacrifice”—that take place in kitchen and workplace and on the streets.
Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift.
Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”
“And so this is good-bye. You’re not going to see me again, nor I you, you whom I have gone among for so long proclaiming the news of God’s inaugurated kingdom. I’ve done my best for you, given you my all, held back nothing of God’s will for you.
We’re free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
January 5th, 2025
Happy Jesus Day!
Changing Our Paradigm!
A mystic, Caryll Houselander told the story of a train journey where Christ revealed himself to her in every person on the train. Those setting, those standing, those passing by. Upon exiting the train she saw the same in everyone on the street. Scientist have discovered that even in what appears to be total darkness there is still light. “Neutrinos” are slivers of light, or energy, inside each atom. These slivers of light exist in everything in the universe. As I look to the trees I see Christ. As I observe a squirrel Christ is there. As I stand in total darkness Christ is shining. These slivers of light, inside each atom of the universe are the DNA and energy of Christ. So when John in his gospel declared Jesus the “light that even darkness can not over come” he was touching on that which scientist can now clearly see. When we come to that realization why do we continue to act as though Christ is at a far away distance. Why do we pretend that everything we can see, feel, touch, or experience is not holy. Every human being, no matter who, is holy. Every creature, every grain of sand, and every tree is holy. Why do we simply consider only certain things holy when in fact Christ is found at the center of everything. Should we not care for the earth with our whole heart… care for all mankind with our whole heart? Because of the energy of Christ in everything, it means we are bound to all things. Should that not change our paradigm for 2025?
I Love You! – Perry
What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.
In Christ’s Family
In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the covenant promises.
Cornelius was expecting them and had his relatives and close friends waiting with him. The minute Peter came through the door, Cornelius was up on his feet greeting him—and then down on his face worshiping him!
Walk in the Light
This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.
You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain.
It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful.
For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment.