2 Corinthians 7:2-7

2 Corinthians 7:2-7  Make room for us in your hearts.  We have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have exploited no one.  I do not say this to condemn you; I have said before that you have such a place in our hearts that we would live or die with you.  I have great confidence in you; I take great pride in you.  I am greatly encouraged; in all our troubles my joy knows no bounds.  For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn — conflicts on the outside, fears within.  But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming but also by the comfort you had given him.  He told us about your longing for me, your deep sorrow, your ardent concern for me, so that my joy was greater than ever. 

Paul's life at this time was very traumatic, for he said we were harassed at every turn — conflicts on the outside, fears within.  Paul, the mighty man of faith, the father of many churches, expresses in this passage his need for love and concern from others.  He felt that he had been harsh with the Corinthians in previous letters, but now he was encouraged by Titus, for Titus relayed to Paul how much the Corinthians loved him.  Paul needed to hear these words of encouragement from Titus.  They brought great joy to his heart, for Paul loved the Corinthians so much that he would willingly die for them.  Now, he heard of their words of reciprocating love.  

If Paul the apostle needed people caring for him, loving him, praying for him, how much more do we, average believers, need people loving us.  The journey through life for all of us is often difficult and challenging.  As with Paul in the above passage, sometimes we are stretched beyond our capabilities to endure.  Then we need others to come along side us and help us to live successfully and victoriously.  Like Paul, many times we need a message of encouragement from someone, a visit, a phone call, a card, an email.  We need someone to say that he is standing by us, praying for us.  If we don't hear such words, the journey is even more difficult because we feel we are facing the struggles of life alone.  As members  of the body of Christ, the questions we must ask ourselves are: Where is our prayer life?  Who do we pray for?  What communication do we have with those outside of our family?  Do we send cards of comfort or encouragement?  Is our hospitality lacking?  Do we weep with those who weep, rejoice with those who rejoice?  Do we really care about others?  Do we care about the body of Christ?  The body of Christ is one; we are all connected as one body.  Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.  (2 Corinthians 12:27)  Recently a good friend of ours experienced a loss.  We expressed concern and we prayed.  Although we talked about sending a plant with a card, things got in the way, and we did not follow through with that plan.  How much better it would have been if we had.  We need to put feet to our prayers and good intentions.

Paul loved the Corinthian church and it touched him deeply to know that this was a reciprocal love.  That is how the body should function.  That is what the world should see in the church--God's love in action, working in and through us and reaching out to others.  John speaks often of God's love.  He says, How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  (1 John 3:1)  And he understood that as his children, we become his ambassadors, lights in a dark world as John goes on to say.  Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  (1 John 3:2)  Today you may be the one who is struggling and even then, that is a good time to reach out to someone else who is in need.  There is strength in the body.  Jesus said where two or three come together in his name, there He is in the midst of them--there is power and authority when we gather together in Christ and lift each other up.  So whatever it is that God wants you to do today, just do it, and you will be blessed and so will someone else.  Others will say, "God comforted me by your coming."

2 Corinthians 6:16-18; 7:1

2 Corinthians 6:16-18; 7:1  For we are the temple of the living God.  As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”  “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.  Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”  “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”  Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.

2 Peter 3:11-14  What kind of people ought you to be?  You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.  That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.  But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.  So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

Since we are temples of the living God, we should purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.  Peter says, What kind of people ought you to be as you look forward to the day of God?  Paul states that we should make EVERY EFFORT to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with God.  I think Christians sometimes treat their lives like septic tanks.  (Gross, but I got your attention.)  They willingly assimilate the contamination of the world by mimicking the world, partaking of the goodies and the experiences of the society around them.  They desire to live as the world does except they go to church.  In their spiritual lives, they desire God to be there every time they call on him.  When they are in church, they often recommit or rededicate their lives to please God, but many times their spiritual offerings result in few lasting changes, for they quickly go back into their old lifestyles and live precisely as they please.  It does us little good to empty our container of filth if our intentions are to allow our lives to be filled up again with the dross of the world.  OUR WORLDLY LIFESTYLES NEED TO CHANGE IF WE ARE GOING TO HAVE VICTORY IN OUR LIVES.  

Well, what about the blood of the Lord?  Doesn't He make us clean, new?  Yes, but we must not allow our cleansed container, our new creature, to be contaminated by the world by aping the lifestyle and experiences of the world.  If we do so, we fill it up with this world.  OUR WITNESS DIMS.  WE FORFEIT OUR TRUE PURPOSE ON EARTH, OUR AMBASSADORSHIP.  As I listen to the media church with its emphasis on self-promotion, I realize our Christian lives have pretty much been filled up with worldly thoughts.  If anyone wants to sell a book on Christian television, he/she better have a book telling Christians they can be all that they have ever wanted to be here on earth.  Otherwise, what the book is really selling is that you can have all the goodies this world offers: wealth, security, love, material possessions, and a walk with God.  Of course, you must buy the book or send money if you are going to receive all these wonderful earthly blessings.  Christians purchase these books by the thousands and send millions of dollars to support that kind of television ministry.  This, of course, indicates their new containers, their spiritual tanks, have been contaminated by the garbage of the world: the desires of the world, the love of the world.  

In the above scriptures, Peter and Paul were not telling the Christians to live godly lives because of personal gain or self-aggrandizement.  In fact Peter talks directly against such an idea.  They are telling us to live godly lives for Christ's sake and the sake of his church.  By living as Jesus would want us to live, we are his valid witnesses.  We are his light to a dark world.  We testify of God's righteousness, his glory.  Christians should not be looking for streets of gold here on Earth.  Does God bless Christians?  Yes, He does, but the adversities and struggles you are going through right now might also be his blessings.  He might be emptying you of that dross and cleaning your container from the inside out, making you capable of receiving the glory of God, as HIS TRUE SERVANT, making you into a person who can exemplify Jesus Christ's spirit: Your ATTITUDE should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, BUT MADE HIMSELF NOTHING, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!  (Philippians 2:5-8)  ARE YOU WILLING TO DIE TODAY TO YOUR WANTS, DESIRES AND LIFESTYLE?  ARE YOU WILLING TO BE HIS SERVANT?  If you are, you will find abundant life in him: a life of purpose, a life of fruitfulness, a life of joy.

2 Corinthians 6:11-18

2 Corinthians 6:11-18  We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you.  We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us.  As a fair exchange — I speak as to my children — open wide your hearts also.  Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common?  Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?  What harmony is there between Christ and Belial?  What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?  What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?  For we are the temple of the living God.  As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.”  “Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord.  Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”  “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” 

Do not be yoked together with unbelievers; do not pull together with them to accomplish evil or to worship other Gods than the Almighty.  Paul is talking to people whose culture was immersed in worshipping pagan Gods.  Therefore, he encouraged the Corinthians to cut all ties with their former life of paganism.  He reminded them that they are now the temple of the living God, members of the household of God, representatives of the eternal, only true and living God.  Consequently, what fellowship is there between false gods and the only true God?  What does righteousness have to do with wickedness?  Light with darkness?  Our fellowship, our yoking together, should be with believers and not with the unredeemed.  We should always open our hearts wide to believers.  We should participate in their lives the best we can.  We should love them and care for them for we are fellow members in the family of God.  

Does this mean that we should not participate in the world or love the people of the world?  No, we should love everyone; we should care about all people whether they are sinful or not.  Christ loved the world; He gave his life for the world.  Therefore, we also should love the people of the world.  However, we should not be working (yoked) together with them to further darkness such as worshipping other gods.  If a compatriot wants you to do something wrong, even if it is a little wrong, you should not participate, for you are not to be yoked together with people to accomplish evil.  We are the temples of the living God; we represent him in everything we do.  As Christians we should be upright and honest in all of our activities.  We should be above reproach.  Whenever someone tells us to take a shortcut in life, pay less taxes than we owe, unite with someone who is not a Christian, sell something for more than it is worth, live a sexually impure life and so on, we know as sons or daughters of the MOST HIGH that trouble is on the horizon.  As the saying goes, it does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out.  

God desires our lives to reflect him; He wants us to walk this world as his children, set apart unto him.  Therefore, he wants us to come out of our old lifestyles, not to reflect the OLD MAN or the OLD WOMAN, but to reflect HIS LIFE that is within us.  He tells us to come out from them and be separate, separate from that which would pull us back into the ways of the world.  Yes, we Christians are in the world, but we are not of the world.   WE should never be OF THE WORLD.  People should be able to detect us as Christians; we should exude the sweet fragrance of Jesus and his light should shine forth from our lives.  People should know by our speech and activities, and especially by our love that we are children of God, people who bring the message of the grace and hope of the "Good News" to those who are caught in sin and darkness.

2 Corinthians 6:3-10

2 Corinthians 6:3-10  We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.  Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything. 

Several hearty breakfasts could be served from this passage.  Paul says he will not allow anything to discredit his ministry, his testimony, his ambassadorship.  He validates his credentials as a follower of Christ by enduring all kinds of troubles, by disciplining his attitude, by ministering unreciprocated love, by bearing the reproach of fellow Christians, and by coping with the world's hatred of him.  Paul desired his life to reflect God to a dying world, to be an exemplary Christian.  Is that our desire also?  Or do we get ambushed by our own feelings, our own desires, what is best for us?  Are we always looking out for ourselves first?  Do we desire God's will or do we DEMAND our own will?  How often we Christians complain about someone hurting us, or not treating us with respect, or having the audacity to criticize us.  I have watched Christians become very upset over such minor reproaches.  If those things destroy us, how would we endure being beaten up for our Christianity?  How would we like to be physically and emotionally humiliated before the whole world?  How would we like to be stripped of our clothing and stoned until the crowd thought we were dead?  Yet, we have people leave churches because of a comment someone made to them at church, or because the pastor just did not treat them well, or the congregation is too cliqueish, or the singing is too loud or too soft.  

Where is our resolve to endure all things for Christ?  Where is our intention not to be a stumbling stone to anyone?  Can we endure someone's bad report about us?  Paul says, AS SERVANTS OF GOD we approve ourselves, for we endure extreme difficulties in life: troubles, hardships and distresses; beatings, imprisonments and riots; hard work, sleepless nights and hunger for Christ's sake.  He also says regardless of the trials and circumstances of life, he dispensed purity, understanding, patience, kindness, sincere love, truthful speech, weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left, all done under the authority and power of God.  Can we be such a servant or are we too hurt by someone's inappropriate comments or wrong look?  I think if we are to mature, we need to move on to more difficult positions in Christ such as dying, yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, yet possessing everything.

This morning a relative of mine died of cancer, after a long and courageous fight.  She left behind her wonderful husband and three children.  The knife of death separated them on this earth.  What now for them?  Paul is saying in the above passage, I will endure, I will bear, I will be all things for the sake of Christ.  As children of God, we must endure even physical death, separation.  But by faith we say, HE LIVES AND THEREFORE WE SHALL LIVE!  And that is where this lovely family stands today.  Children of God, let us not retreat into ourselves because someone has not treated us the way we want or with the respect that we desire or think we deserve.  Let us press on to maturity.  Let us live lives of faith, endure hardships and troubles with confidence for Christ's sake.  Let our testimony ring true while we are living.  This was true of this wonderful mother who passed away this morning.  Even through the struggle of cancer, her testimony was HE LIVES AND THEREFORE I LIVE.  Now, brothers and sisters in the Lord, live that life today--live it joyfully, exuberantly!  Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify God.

2 Corinthians 6:1-2

2 Corinthians 6:1-2  As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.  For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.”  I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

James 4:13-14  Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. 

Hebrew 7:12-15  See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.  But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.  We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.  As has just been said: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.”  

Now is the time of God's favor.  Today is the day of his salvation.  Today is the time of work for the Lord.  We are not assured of tomorrow.  We are like a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Whatever is to be done for the Lord should be done today.  Whatever plans we have to advance the kingdom of God should begin today, for we have no assurance of tomorrow.  If you plan to encourage a fellow believer, encourage that person today if possible.  If you have reason to share your testimony, speak today.  The Bible is very clear, we are God's instruments NOW, and we should be ready and willing to be used TODAY.  Paul was driven by this idea.  His life was constantly in the ministering mode, either in person or by letter.  His zeal to be God's ambassador, his instrument, was so great that he would not allow hardships or persecution to shut him down.  I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.  

We, too, are God's instruments.  We, too, should be consumed by zeal for God's work.  Now, none of us are apostles as Paul was, but we are God's ambassadors here on Earth.  As Christians we represent him; therefore, we should be lights every day, for He is light.  We definitely don't have a time when the ambassador designation is off in our lives.  If we think we do, we have probably HARDENED our hearts to his message of light.  We really don't have a time when we can say, we will not bring our lives under subjection to him in a certain area.  We don't have a time when we can get discouraged and say, "Not today--I am not going to carry God's message to the world just now, for everything is too hard."  Later on in this chapter, Paul indicates all the troubles that he has had in this world, but he never allowed himself to be off message because Paul knew his life was an epistle written to the world by the Holy Spirit.  He had no right to draw back into unbelief: he had died to himself when he chose to live only to God.  As he wrote to the church in Galatia,  "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."  (Galatians 2:20)  

Our lives are also written epistles; they are read by everyone we meet.  Regardless of the day or how we feel, people should read that God is alive in us and salvation has come to our lives.  God has lavished us with grace.  Our epistles should contain copious words of love and concern for others.  People should read words of joy, encouragement, and strength in the Lord.  Christians should be able to find supportive, not destructive words in our epistles.  Encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today.  The unredeemed should find words of God's love as well as words of  conviction: words that express the need to turn around and to walk with the God of love who gave his all.  All of us should be read today as God's ambassadors, not as representatives of our self-willed lives.  If we represent God's goodness, mercy, and love, many people will desire to read our lives, to know us and the God who sends us.  But if we represent only ourselves, our self-willed lives, WE WILL LIVE ALONE: NO ONE WILL REALLY WANT TO KNOW WHAT WE HAVE, FOR WHAT WE HAVE IS NOTHING SPECIAL.  But God said that we are a peculiar people, a chosen people, priests unto himself.  Therefore, we have a precious gift to give people and that is the message of the gospel, the "Good News" that Jesus Christ has come to Earth to redeem man from sin and to bring him into the household of God.  God bless you today, for this is the day of salvation.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

2 Corinthians 5:16-21  So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.  And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.  We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

If you struggle to please God by works or if you have any idea that your works will get you to heaven, the above scripture will set you free from that spirit.  If you really believe the above passage, you will accept your FULL INHERITANCE, which has been freely given to you by God, for you will know that it is not YOU that pleases God; it is Jesus Christ, the Son who pleases God.  At Jesus' baptism God's voice came from heaven and said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”  (Matthew 3:17)  And on the Mount of Configuration we hear God say, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.”  (Luke 9:35)  God allowed Jesus to become sin for our redemption.  Jesus carried the sins of the world on him at the cross so we might have righteousness.  At the cross, He paid the penalty for sin, which is death.  Jesus died for our sins, the sins which were placed on him, your sins, my sins.  

Consequently, as people of faith, we are no longer part of the old creation in God's sight, partly redeemed by good works and sacrifices.  We are no longer redeemed only if we do that which is right, that which is good; no, we are redeemed because Jesus paid the price for our redemption.  God reconciled the world to him, through and IN CHRIST.  Otherwise, He sees the redeemed through and IN CHRIST'S likeness, for we have placed our faith IN HIM, not in our works of righteousness.  God sees us righteous as He is, for in him we might become the RIGHTEOUSNESS of God.  We are NOW righteous because JESUS IS RIGHTEOUS.  You are hopelessly lost if you try to please God in the flesh, believing that you have to be GOOD to go to heaven.  The Bible says that ALL HAVE SINNED; all have seen their actions and thoughts not line up with God's thoughts and actions.  AND IF YOU HAVE SINNED AT ANY TIME IN YOUR LIFE, YOU ARE AWAY FROM GOD, and justice must prevail.  IF JUSTICE HAS NOT BEEN METED OUT ON YOUR SIN(S) BY THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST, YOU ARE STILL A SINNER, FOR IN THE SPIRIT WORLD THERE IS NO TIME.  So at this very moment you are a sinner destined for judgement.  Without Christ, your sins are not in the past; they are always now in the spirit world.  People who are dying sometimes say their whole life flashed before them in a moment of time.  Why?  Because everything is in the NOW with God.  

So the Bible can rightly say that there are NONE that are righteous, that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  And without righteousness, no person shall dwell with God, for sin must be judged because God is a righteous God.  In eternity, JUSTICE MUST PREVAIL, and without dire consequences for sin, justice would not prevail; injustice would reign FOREVER.  That will not happen in God's righteous domain.  Sin and the effects of sin will not exist forever, for eternal justice will be served, has been served because of Christ who reconciled the world to God through his complete sacrifice at the cross.  Therefore, my children, right now you are Christ's ambassadors, made in HIS IMAGE--A NEW CREATION.  You are God's workmanship.  You are NOW REPRESENTING HIM in this world.  You are representing his kingdom.  So act like that: in freedom bring your bodies and actions under his control, realizing you are TRULY HIS CHILDREN and you have been set free from the kingdom of death.  He has made you completely whole, for you are WHOLLY HIS, as it should have been from the beginning of time.  Let your light shine!

2 Corinthians 5:11-17

2 Corinthians 5:11-17  Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men.  What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience.  We are not trying to commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the heart.  If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.  For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.  And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.  So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.  Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 

This is Mom filling in for Dad this morning, so if anything seems heretical, don't hold him accountable, but remember I often throw in a few thoughts on a daily basis.  One thing Paul is saying in today's passage is that whatever state we are in, we are Christ's.  He says whether I am in my right mind or out of my mind, it is for God.  I am committing all to him and to the church I serve, the  people I am trying to convince of the hope we have in Christ Jesus.  He writes that it is Christ's love alone that moves me, controls me, and gives me the motivation to do all that I do, and any other purpose in life is now false and empty to me.  Because Christ died and rose from the grave, Paul died to the old man, the fleshly man, and he is now alive to God.  Because of this reality, he wants the Corinthians to realize they should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.  To Paul, accepting this position of new life in Christ was essential to growth, to victory over sin, and to rightly discerning the working of the Holy Spirit in ourselves and in others.

An important aspect of new life in Christ is how we see others in the body of Christ.  Tuesday night at women's Bible study, I was saying how thankful I am to be a part of the body of Christ.  As I come together with other believers, I find strength, hope, courage, faith, and joy in the Lord.  Fellow Christians build me up.  John wrote, If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin.  (1 John 1:7)  That fellowship is healing and restorative.  We learn how to love and to forgive.  We grow in our faith, and we teach each other and share the "good news."  God uses us to smooth off the rough edges and turns ordinary rocks into beautiful gems in the tumbler of interaction in the body of Christ.  As I spoke with the ladies, I said it is so important that we do not know each other according to our faults or our weaknesses.  If we know each other by our weaknesses, then all we will be able to see are each other's faults, and we will not be able to love and to defend one another.  But if we know each other according to our strengths in the Lord, then we will see Christ in each other and we will shield and defend each other; we will hardly even notice when our brother or sister does it wrong.  When we regard others in the body from a heavenly point of view through Christ's eyes of love, we will stand our ground in defending them and come to their aid in the time of trouble or need.

Paul spoke directly to this when he encouraged the Corinthians not to live for themselves but for Christ.  But he did not stop at that, but went on to add: So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.  He was instructing these Christians to get their eyes on the right issues, to find a godly perspective.  What have we been looking at lately?  When we are born again and become new creations, Paul says, the new has come.  The KJV reads, all things are become new.  That means we have new eyes, new ears, a new way of thinking and speaking, a new way of reacting to people and situations.  Also at Bible study, I mentioned that when we love people, we do not allow others to tear them down because the people we love are too precious to us to allow that.  We say, "If you knew her the way I do, you would not say that about her.  When you are with me, please do not talk like that about her because it hurts me.  She is my friend."  That is how we feel about Christ and that is how we should feel about one another.  Do we fail?  Of course we do, and we let each other down sometimes, but we should let Christ's blood cover those sins, start over, and move on.  So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.  Jesus said they will know us by our love. . .  Blessings, Mom (Jacqueline)