12 - Greetings to the church without borders.

1 Timothy 4:16. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Life is so complex that it is a must that we understand ourselves. When we understand our self life becomes simple. Life is simply a number one or a number two. That's all there is to life. Two things. These two things are two emotions that determine our attitude. When we decide to adopt this one attitude then life is only a number one. No longer are there two things to choose from. There is only one and really there is no choice with this one. It becomes a must. With this single attitude we are in firm control of our life. Let me explain.

Out of all the things that can happen to us we have only two emotions with which to react, two choices from which to adopt a single attitude. Two emotions, two choices, two opposite directions that put us in control or leave us out of control. These two emotions are LOVE and FEAR. They are ignited by the thoughts we think. In John 14:27 Jesus said, Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. His peace is our stronghold. Take some time and think that into your memory data base.

All the unpleasant things that have happened to us were unpleasant only because of the fear that we were not getting our own way. Fear has torment. Fear is not of God. Fear is of the devil. Release the fear and your attitude will adjust to hope.

What about pain and sickness.

I have had by-pass surgery. Throughout the whole process I lived in hope. They took the vein out of my left arm and implanted it where it was needed. The medicine caused me to hallucinate. I remember my wife standing beside me in the intensive care unit as I was seeing things I knew could not be real. I ask her to read the Bible to me. She read Psalms 128. As she began to read I focused my mind on the words from the Bible. I remember above my pain and confusion the inspiration of the Holy Ghost going through my body. I wept and said: That’s it. That’s what I need.

Hope is a strong hold of the mind. When I went home I lived in hope on a couch with an adjustable end that would keep my head elevated. My wife was exhausted and needed sleep so I would get up and take my medicine for pain every half hour. I lived in hope then also. I knew the space between the medicines would get longer as time went on. It increased from 30 minutes to 45 minutes. Then it increased to an hour. I lived in hope until I was well again. Zechariah 9:12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope.

Coping with the death of a loved one.

When a loved one dies we are faced with a stronger but manageable adjustment. Immediately we are gripped with the fear that they are really dead and we will never see them again. We keep wanting to see them just one more time and fear says they are gone and you can't do it. Slowly we realize they have gone to where they belong. Our fear changes to love for God who knows best. In our adjustment to death we finally come to realize they have gone to where they belong.

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Think about this. Love has a very sharp cutting edge. With love you can cut away the emotion of fear and stand there with a strong love for God in your heart.

Sincerely,

Albert Friend

Friend Family Ministries