This website was sent to me by a brother of Christ in my church (Grace Church Austin - GCA). The Bible is the Word of God and this TSK website adds to its treasure.

There is 500,000+ Bible cross-references in the TSK (see a visual representation of all the Bible’s cross references here in my 2021 annual report under “Cool Pics”).

Along with that, as goes on the website homepage, is: the work of many Bible scholars over many centuries, a valuable resource for any serious Bible study, reveals how Scripture interprets itself, for the beginner who wants to know the Bible, and for the scholar seeking greater depth.

The older the text, the more valuable its content.

The Septuagint, abbreviated LXX, “is the earliest extant Greek translation of the Old Testament from the original Hebrew. The Septuagint was presumably made for the Jewish community in Egypt when Greek was the common language throughout the region.”

This website is a joint project between the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America and the Hellenic Bible Society with the goal of bringing the Septuagint to life in a digital format for all to read on the internet.

What a fascinating tool to have at our leisure. Even if you don’t know how to read Greek, the Septuagint is still incredible to look through.

Breakaway Ministries has always delivered great content about the Lord, and all things directing to the Lord, for me. With prayer being the staple to the faith-life of an individual, it’s important to know why that is and how one can prioiritize prayer and do such a thing effectively.

Lack of time is just lack of priorities.

Think about that.

With that said, this podcast talks about the ways to prioritize prayer and how to pray effectively - just as the Lord Jesus Christ did when he came to show us the ultimate examples here on Earth.

The greatest gift we can receive is more of Jesus Christ because He is the Bread of Life. As it goes in the beginning of Luke 12:22-26, “Jesus turning to his disciples said, ‘That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday things, whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food and your body more than clothes....’”

When we fast, we have the opportunity to be more connected to the Lord, embrace what Jesus practiced, and hear God, the Father’s, voice more. Much of this world is noisy. So, when we fast for the Lord and for a righteous cause, the noise of this world lessens and our spirtual and mental senses become attuned to the high signal of hearing God.

Francis Chan is an absolutely stellar communicator for the Lord. He delivers his messages with such vigor to the point of making each word meaningfully felt by whoever is listening.

This video caught my attention.

Ponder on the Love of God and it’s vastness. Imagine having that same love for others, inside your heart.

Wow.

As I continually pursue the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, this video was put on my radar.

After consuming it, I understood why.

What does it mean to truly embody the first and most important command by Jesus - as goes in Deuteronomy 6:5 and Matthew 22:37-40? How can one do it?

Well, it’s impossible by our own doing, but with Jesus Christ, it is most definitely possible (Matthew 19:26).

Tim Tebow has a way of speaking that draws the listener in, like a baby to the breast of the mother.

The way Tim worded this message was beautiful. It goes to show, as he explains, that Jesus is the initiator and the one who “closes the gap”.

Jesus, being Lord and being the Creator of the Universe, yet made incarnete of the Virgin Mary to become flesh to have His time here on earth as a man, can choose to do what He wants, when He wants.

To those who seek Him or those who ask of His Name, Jesus’ chooses what to do based on his decision alone. From what I can understand, he will always act in response to the heart of the individual who approaches Him. That is known as God’s Power. When things go in our favor of what we ask of Jesus, meaning He grants a thing we ask of Him, that is known as Mercy and Grace.

In the leper’s case, the way in which he asks Jesus for help, shows what I just explained. Yes, faith is important. But it’s by the Mercy of Jesus that things are made in his accord and by His Will alone (Phil 4:19). As it goes in Luke 5:12-16 and as the leper asks, “When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ’I am willing,’ he said. ’Be clean!’ And immediately the leprosy left him. Then Jesus ordered him, ’Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.’ Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.”

It’s by the Mercy of Jesus Christ that we are able to be given the Bread of Life. It’s by the Mercy of Jesus Christ that he pursues us with unending love. To those sheep in His flock, He never loses sight of them. Ever. Even the one’s that are most outcast and most sick. Jesus especially loves them.

Thanks to Tim Tebow for his message on this point and for R.C Sproul in expanding upon it more, as well.

There is more information for me to give here in order to provide more context. But that’s for one to seek if it be in their interest. The main description I wanted to explain with this video has been given.

As goes in the description of this video: “Suffering can be a very difficult time but we also grow to know the Lord more. The Lord's trying of our faith in the fire is for our own good--it often all the more makes us not forget the Lord. John 17:3 - And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”

There are a vast number of Bible verses that support the importance of suffering for righteousness sake - when one does so. These talk about why we face trials and what they could mean - if that’s the exact accordance of God’s Will for such a person enduring a certain trial(s):

• Philippians 3:10-11 - the verse itself is so powerful: “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.”
• 2 Corinthians 13:5 - tells us to test ourselves to see if we are in the faith.
• 1 Peter 1:6-7 - tells us that there is joy in trials and a reason for such a thing.
• 1 Peter 4:12-13 - “12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; 13 but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.”
• James 1:1-3 - applies to the purification of our souls, but doesn’t exactly say that God “tests us”. Nonetheless and as my pastor, Tawfiq, of Grace Church Austin once said, “The Lord tests our faith the way that fire tests precious metal. To make it more pure and remove impurities.”
• 1 John 4 touches on this as well when it says: “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God.” (1 John‬ ‭4:1-2‬)
• Hebrews 12:5-6 talks about the Lord disciplining his children - those He loves most.
• Zeceriah 13:9: “This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”
• So on and so forth.....

✔️The School of Obedience | Timeless Truths – Dr. Charles Stanley

The above line has my linked notes from this video. I am grateful to my friend Kate for sending me this video. At the time of my receiving it, I had been praying and striving for a Spirit of Obedience to the Lord.

This video helped clarify many things for me.

It showed me the principles of obedience and that our greatest thing we can do to show our love to God most, is our obedience to Him. God doesn’t do things to harm His children or make them evil. We do the latter to ourselves here on earth.

Rather, God’s actions are always motivated in justice and love.

Whereas many people see themselves being trapped in life or problem being uncurable, it’s only by faith in Christ, obedience to God based on His Grace of us doing such things, that all of our negative perceptions of our “issues” in life can fade away.

Truly I tell you, this video is a must watch - especially if you want to grow more intimately to God and please Him more. Who would you rather please, the world or God?

David Perell is a great writer. Although, there are some things about this article that I don’t align with, his writing always comes from a place of sound, sound penmanship.

His thought process in putting this article together can most definitely evoke a new thought or two upon its consumption.

A snippet from his piece is as goes:

“The original Constitution says that our ‘unalienable rights’ are a result not of secular rationalism, but rather an omnipotent God who endows us with those rights. To that end, the pillars of American law rest as much on the Bible as on the writings of Enlightenment thinkers. Even our most “rational” beliefs are downstream of religious thinking.”

This is one of the most incredible, insightful pages on the internet. These quotes will stir up your mind. By the Holy Spirit, it will stir up your heart too.

For the seeker, truly on a quest to follow Christ and live in his imitation by his character, these quotes will help mold one who needs even more sharpening.

Reading sacred Scripture is most important. Once one has done that they should read even more of it. Thereafter, can come moments for reading interpretations of the Bible and consuming other authors work. Once one is at that stage, these quotes can fulfill more than any full-length book can with its effect.

Crushing all idols and false worship is important. Although, we are supposed to work hard, it is vital to ask, “Is this for righteousness sake or my own gain?”

That is an important question to answer. It’s important to remain inspired, instead of always striving for an aspiration and getting caught up with the rushing to achieve that aspiration. The latter can lead to the “rise and grind” mentality.

By God’s Grace, if one struggles with dedicating time to the Word of God and spending time with God because they are “too busy”, it’s only the Lord who can weed out any idol of optimization or “working hard” in their own life and have it truly transform the individual.

Even the most influential of Christian leaders can get caught up with the current opportunities around them that they neglect the most important thing in the world: the One who got them there and sustains their life, in that being God.

“Rise and grind Christianity” and the “rise and grind” mentality in culture, in general, is a fast track separating oneself from God.

How can I say such a thing? Because I’ve been there before. And I see it happening with many around me all the time.

Perception in the external world is the theme of the podcast episode - sense perception that is.

We can’t perceive anything with our eyes without the added, extra benefit of the light. As for Augustine’s teachings, the mind can know nothing in so far as God functions as the Great Illuminater.

As R.C Sproul states, “You can deny God religiously but you can’t deny God philosophically if you allow for eternal Truth.”

One of Augustine’s life goals was understanding happiness and it’s true meaning. As R.C Sproul states: Augustine ultimately found that ultimate happiness = “true knowledge of God”. Martin Luther was greatly helped by this in his progress of learning about God (keep in mind that Martin Luther was also an Augustinian Monk).

Lastly, something I found interesting from this podcast is Creatio Ex Nihilo. This is something Augustine meditated on. It is a doctrine with the view that matter isn’t eternal, but the person who made everything had to be divine. God is the Creator who created the universe freely and voluntarily - the Divine Imperative.

R.C Sproul has the Holy Spirit active in him during these podcasts. It’s evident. R.C is so well versed in every topic he presents on too. Each sentence he speaks when preaching makes you inch forward for the next.

He is communicating on behalf of God, thanks to God’s Grace, for God’s Glory.

This podcast was the first of many that I saved from R.C Sproul’s Renewing Your Mind. It blew my mind how much Thomas Aquinas’s study of nature brought forth natural theology.

The way R.C lays it out made me want to listen to the podcast again. Which I ended up doing!

To reiterate from above, R.C Sproul has the Holy Spirit active in him during these podcasts. It’s evident. R.C is so well versed in every topic he presents on too. Each sentence he speaks when preaching makes you inch forward for the next.

It’s incredible to even be able to ponder the significance of God. To even be able to think about His Eternal Being.

Did everything came from something or from nothing?

Did God make Himself or did something make Him?

The answer is easy, but maybe not for many. This podcast episode boils it down to the basics for all open minds to understand.

The first time I heard this video, I was smiling and laughing and absolutely amped beyond words.

It has the most golden of audio nuggets in there:

“Decisions are the doorway to destiny.”

“Decisions has Latin roots which means ‘to cut off’.”

It’s worth a watch, especially if you’re striving to focus on positive growth in your life. If you want to be who God has called you to be, you must put distractions from said focus to the death bed.

Amen!

This perspective from Paul Washer, thanks to the Holy Spirit active in him during this sermon, will give you a totally different view on weakness and trials in this life.

Is not everything for God’s Glory?

Some great takes on leadership. As we should all strive to lead our own lives to then lead the church, it’s good to know a thing or two from those who are doing it.

Here it from T.D then apply it to your life.

How many times in life do we dismiss God from guiding our plans and instead we do them ourselves?

Even if one is a vivid believer with great aligned action in Christ, how many times in prayers of said person does he/she ask for his/her desires to be answered before asking if it be in the Lord’s Will.

Doesn’t God come before us in all we do? Aren’t we supposed to submit to our Father in Heaven? Yet with our fallen nature and free will, we take matters into our own hands at times - or even most of the time.

How Gracious God is for His patience towards us when we don’t act in accordance with His Will.

Because at the end of the day, how amazing it is, no matter what occurs, God is always glorified in each situation.

This above video explains that when Jesus transforms us, we actually become His Will and all of our actions innately align with Him. Isn’t it much better to live in alignment with the Creator of the Universe than by your own doing?

(3) Believing that truth, (4) Joy → Obedience.

Tim Conway has had a grasp on me lately, as of Q4 ‘22, unlike any other preacher.

I needed to hear this message of his as I focus on the priority of putting the Lord first.

Radical Christianity doesn’t mean spending some time with the Lord, rather, it means spending all one’s time thinking and learning and growing in the Lord’s Beauty and Grace.

In a world where everyone benefits from capitalism as an owner, the collective focus will be on making the world “more good” instead of “less bad.” These approaches are more different than they seem, and society does much better when it focuses on the former. Simply put, more good means optimizing for making the pie as large as possible, and less bad means dividing the pie up as fairly as possible. Both can increase people’s standard of living once, but continuous growth only happens when the pie grows.

"These historical conditions have led to a contemporary injustice—democracy itself no longer functions properly, with the rich buying undue representation and the poor left trampled underfoot. “Democracy is sick” and “Government of the people by the people has become the subjection of the people by high finance.”

I’ll conclude with a great passage from The 50th Law by Robert Greene, as it defines the imperative for all creators perfectly:

Your goal must be to break down the distance between you and your audience, the base of your support in life. Some of this distance is mental—it comes from your ego and the need to feel superior. Some of it is physical—the nature of your business tends to shut you off from the public with lawyers of bureaucracy. In any event, what you are seeking is maximum interaction, allowing you to get a feel for people on this inside. You come to thrive off their feedback and criticism. Operating this way, what you will produce will not fail to resonate because it will come from the inside. This deep level of interaction is the source of the most powerful and popular works in culture and business, and a political style that truly connects.