In all things, praise God!

Hello Dear Friends!

Today's scripture is a replay of previous message to keep us encouraged.
Many of us are exhausted because we're trying to maintain our situations while trying to accomplish audacious goals.
Stay in praise! You can definitely handle everything on your plate- and you will be excellent! If you're struggling, go back and reconsider what's on your plate.
Prioritize your tasks from most to least important, delegate if you can, put on your armour, and attack that list. Tackle each goal using small steps and you will be victorious.

• During moments of victory, praise God.
• During moments of defeat, praise God (he clearing your path for bigger blessings).
• During moments of exhaustion, praise God for the victory yet to come (The spirit of exhaustion is a smokescreen designed to make you believe that you can't accomplish your goals).
• During moments of depression and despair, praise God (The spirit of depression is also a smokescreen designed to convince you that you've already lost and there's no hope. Ask God to rebuke the spirit of depression and show you another path to victory).

Today's prayer:
Father, I thank You for every opportunity You've sent my way and for every door You've closed to keep me from going off track. Dear Lord, I know that victory is eminent because I'm Your child and I have great faith in You. Please walk with me as I seek to accomplish audacious goals. Please carry me during those moments when exhaustion and depression has blurred my vision. Lord, I praise You for victory in advance because I know that through You all things are possible. I am committed to fulfilling Your goals for my life and Ithank You for revealing some of Your plans for my life. I pray that you will (continue to) provide a revelation to my brothers and sisters who are waiting on a word from You.
In Your precious name I pray, Amen.

Stay Blessed,
K.

2 Samuel 22
David's Song of Praise
David sang this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. 2 He sang: "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; 3 my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. He is my refuge, my savior, the one who saves me from violence. 4 I called on the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies. 5 "The waves of death overwhelmed me; floods of destruction swept over me. 6 The grave[ a] wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. 7 But in my distress I cried out to the Lord; yes, I cried to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry reached his ears. 8 "Then the earth quaked and trembled. The foundations of the heavens shook; they quaked because of his anger. 9 Smoke poured from his nostrils; fierce flames leaped from his mouth. Glowing coals blazed forth from him. 10 He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his feet. 11 Mounted on a mighty angelic being,[ b] he flew, soaring[c] on the wings of the wind. 12 He shrouded himself in darkness, veiling his approach with dense rain clouds. 13 A great brightness shone around him, and burning coals[d] blazed forth. 14 The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. 15 He shot arrows and scattered his enemies; his lightning flashed, and they were confused. 16 Then at the command of the Lord, at the blast of his breath, the bottom of the sea could be seen, and the foundations of the earth were laid bare. 17 "He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters. 18 He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me. 19 They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress, but the Lord supported me. 20 He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me. 21 The Lord rewarded me for doing right; he restored me because of my innocence. 22 For I have kept the ways of the Lord; I have not turned from my God to follow evil. 23 I have followed all his regulations; I have never abandoned his decrees. 24 I am blameless before God; I have kept myself from sin. 25 The Lord rewarded me for doing right. He has seen my innocence. 26 "To the faithful you show yourself faithful; to those with integrity you show integrity. 27 To the pure you show yourself pure, but to the wicked you show yourself hostile. 28 You rescue the humble, but your eyes watch the proud and humiliate them. 29 O Lord, you are my lamp. The Lord lights up my darkness. 30 In your strength I can crush an army; with my God I can scale any wall. 31 "God's way is perfect. All the Lord's promises prove true. He is a shield for all who look to him for protection. 32 For who is God except the L ord? Who but our God is a solid rock? 33 God is my strong fortress, and he makes my way perfect. 34 He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights. 35 He trains my hands for battle; he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow. 36 You have given me your shield of victory; your help[e] has made me great. 37 You have made a wide path for my feet to keep them from slipping. 38 "I chased my enemies and destroyed them; I did not stop until they were conquered. 39 I consumed them; I struck them down so they did not get up; they fell beneath my feet. 40 You have armed me with strength for the battle; you have subdued my enemies under my feet. 41 You placed my foot on their necks. I have destroyed all who hated me. 42 They looked for help, but no one came to their rescue. They even cried to the Lord, but he refused to answer. 43 I ground them as fine as the dust of the earth; I trampled them[ f] in the gutter like dirt. 44 "You gave me victory over my accusers. You preserved me as the ruler over nations; people I don't even know now serve me. 45 Foreign nations cringe before me; as soon as they hear of me, they submit. 46 They all lose their courage and come trembling[ g] from their strongholds. 47 "The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock! May God, the Rock of my salvation, be exalted! 48 He is the God who pays back those who harm me; he brings down the nations under me 49 and delivers me from my enemies. You hold me safe beyond the reach of my enemies; you save me from violent opponents. 50 For this, O L ord, I will praise you among the nations; I will sing praises to your name. 51 You give great victories to your king; you show unfailing love to your anointed, to David and all his descendants forever."

Haters and agitators

Good Morning Dear Friends-
I hope this email finds you all happy and blessed.
For those who are not as happy as we would like to be, today's message is for you.

On occasion, there are people in life who try to bring us down.
Instead of getting upset, thank God for the haters (He sends them for a reason). Haters remind us that we're not in this battle alone. The battle belongs to God and, if you really trust Him, you know that everything will work out fine.

God also sends us agitators. Agitators are people that irritate us and challenge us to "step up our games". The agitators make us prepare extra hard for our next meeting. The agitators make us "cross our t's and dot our i's" so that no one can call us out for being wrong. Don't be upset about agitators. Thank them and thank God for sending them so that we can stay on point.

If you have these people in your lives, read the Scriptures below and smile. It's going to be alright. Don't despair and don't get upset. Since you already know who the haters and agitators are, you know what to expect and you know how to prepare.

Every once in a while, you get a paper cut or a spinter. It's annoying- it may even hurt- but it's insignificant. We have bigger and better things to focus on. Handle small irritants quickly and move on!

Have a blessed week!
K.

Psalm 59 (The Message)

1-2 My God! Rescue me from my enemies, defend me from these mutineers. Rescue me from their dirty tricks, save me from their hit men. 3 -4 Desperadoes have ganged up on me, they're hiding in ambush for me. I did nothing to deserve this, God, crossed no one, wronged no one. All the same, they're after me, determined to get me. 4 -5 Wake up and see for yourself! You're God, God-of-Angel-Armies, Israel's God! Get on the job and take care of these pagans, don't be soft on these hard cases. 6 -7 They return when the sun goes down, They howl like coyotes, ringing the city. Then suddenly they're all at the gate, Snarling invective, drawn daggers in their teeth. They think they'll never get caught. 8 -10 But you, God, break out laughing; you treat the godless nations like jokes. Strong God, I'm watching you do it, I can always count on you. God in dependable love shows up on time, shows me my enemies in ruin. 11 -13 Don't make quick work of them, God, lest my people forget. Bring them down in slow motion, take them apart piece by piece. Let all their mean-mouthed arrogance catch up with them, Catch them out and bring them down —every muttered curse —every barefaced lie. Finish them off in fine style! Finish them off for good! Then all the world will see that God rules well in Jacob, everywhere that God's in charge. 14 -15 They return when the sun goes down, They howl like coyotes, ringing the city. They scavenge for bones, And bite the hand that feeds them. 16 -17 And me? I'm singing your prowess, shouting at cockcrow your largesse, For you've been a safe place for me, a good place to hide. Strong God, I'm watching you do it, I can always count on you— God, my dependable love.

What is a miracle, really?

Dear Friends-

I hope this email finds you enjoying a wonderful summer so far.

This weekend, I had the opportunity to visit a dear friend who is experiencing health challenges. The blessing of that visit was her attitude towards her "condition" and how it allowed her to put the issues of her daily life into perspective.

As I thought about her attitude, I started thinking about examples of miracles in the Bible. When we think of "miracles", they seem mysterious and unexplainable but in reality, they aren't. Read the scripture below and reflect for a bit. Better yet, pick up the Bible and read a few more stories about the miracles that Christ performed while he was on Earth.

As you analyze each story, two important elements emerge in each story. Both are required for miracles to take place.

The first requirement is unshakable faith. My dear friend has it, the woman in the Scripture has it, and so does the girl's father in the story below. For the unbeliever, a miracle is that mysterious unbelievable event. For the believer with the unshakable faith, God's response was simply an expectation that was met.

The second requirement for a miracle is action (on the part of the believer). The believer seals his faith with prayer, planning, praise- some sort of active response that confirms his belief in the power of God. This action could be as simple as planning for wealth (despite being jobless) or planning a vacation (despite serious illness). Below, the woman's faith was sealed when she touched the hem of Christ's robe.

The very definitition of a miracle is having the faith to move forward and believe that your prayers will be answered despite not having tangible evidence. If you think about it, God performs these miracles every day.

We don't know for sure whether we will live to see the end of the day, yet we make plans. We don't know what calamity, illness or disaster will strike us at any moment, yet move about and do what we have to do. The act of breathing- and the body's ability to utilize oxygen, have it travel through the bloodstream, and excrete toxic gas from the body by simply exhaling- is a miracle that occurs thousands of times per day without us even thinking about it.

Yet, when "big" things happen like joblessness, divorce, or illness, we question God's ability to perform miracles.

Spend some time thinking about the times we were worried. Did the Lord provide? Did He heal? Didn't that difficult situation eventually work out? How do you see miracles now?

Enjoy's today's Word. Stay blessed!

K.

Jesus Heals in Response to Faith

²¹ Jesus got into the boat again and went back to the other side of the lake, where a large crowd gathered around him on the shore. ²² Then a leader of the local synagogue, whose name was Jairus, arrived. When he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet, ²³ pleading fervently with him. “My little daughter is dying,” he said. “Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.”

²⁴ Jesus went with him, and all the people followed, crowding around him. ²⁵ A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. ²⁷ She had heard about Jesus, so she came up behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. ²⁸ For she thought to herself, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” ²⁹ Immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel in her body that she had been healed of her terrible condition.

³⁰ Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”

³¹ His disciples said to him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

³² But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. ³³ Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. ³⁴ And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”

³⁵ While he was still speaking to her, messengers arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. They told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”

³⁶ But Jesus overheard^[d] them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith.”

³⁷ Then Jesus stopped the crowd and wouldn’t let anyone go with him except Peter, James, and John (the brother of James). ³⁸ When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw much commotion and weeping and wailing. ³⁹ He went inside and asked,“Why all this commotion and weeping? The child isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”

⁴⁰ The crowd laughed at him. But he made them all leave, and he took the girl’s father and mother and his three disciples into the room where the girl was lying. ⁴¹ Holding her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means “Little girl, get up!” ⁴² And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around! They were overwhelmed and totally amazed. ⁴³ Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell anyone what had happened, and then he told them to give her something to eat.

I'm Proud to Praise God (A Psalm under duress)

Dear Friends-

I pray that today's message becomes a tool for you when things get really difficult in life.

Today's scripture is a psalm that David sang to God when he was captured by the Philistines.

Your situation may not be as dramatic as this but some of us are suffering through imprisonment of a bad marriage, difficult finances, or jobs we hate.

Let these scriptures bring you some hope for brighter days and a fresh perspective. Feeling trapped is actually worse than being trapped and, if you can imagine better days ahead, you can begin feeling motivated enough to plan your escape.

Praise God and a change will come!

In the meantime, take care and "feel blessed"!

K.

Psalm 56 (The Message Bible)

^{1 -4} Take my side, God—I'm getting kicked around, stomped on every day.
Not a day goes by
but somebody beats me up;
They make it their duty
to beat me up.
When I get really afraid
I come to you in trust.
I'm proud to praise God;
fearless now, I trust in God.
What can mere mortals do?

^{5 -6} They don't let up—
they smear my reputation
and huddle to plot my collapse.
They gang up,
sneak together through the alleys
To take me by surprise,
wait their chance to get me.

⁷ Pay them back in evil!
Get angry, God!
Down with these people!

⁸ You've kept track of my every toss and turn
through the sleepless nights,
Each tear entered in your ledger,
each ache written in your book.

⁹ If my enemies run away,
turn tail when I yell at them,
Then I'll know
that God is on my side.

^{10 -11} I'm proud to praise God,
proud to praise God.
Fearless now, I trust in God;
what can mere mortals do to me?

^{12 -13} God, you did everything you promised,
and I'm thanking you with all my heart.
You pulled me from the brink of death,
my feet from the cliff-edge of doom.
Now I stroll at leisure with God
in the sunlit fields of life.

Remember to take the Lord on your vacation!

Hello Dear Friends-

I hope everyone is enjoying this busy summer. As you enjoy travel and time with friends, don't forget to keep up with your prayers, devotion time and church attendance. We may miss a few church services as we travel but let's make a pledge to recommit ourselves to quiet time with God this summer.

Daily prayer and devotion deepens our relationship with God and puts our daily issues into the correct perspective. If you're visiting friends or traveling with family, invite them to join you in group prayer one morning. Make copies of your devotional readings and invite others to join you in group devotion. Encourage others to sit with you in quiet prayer for a few minutes as you board a plane. Say grace before barbeques. You don't have to do much but find ways to include God in your busy schedule of fun.

The Almighty One keeps us safe and protected as we enjoy life. Regular prayer and devotion is the least we can do to thank Him!

In the meantime, take care and be safe!

Karen

Psalm 34

¹ I bless God every chance I get; my lungs expand with his praise.

² I live and breathe God;
if things aren't going well, hear this and be happy:

³ Join me in spreading the news;
together let's get the word out.

⁴ God met me more than halfway,
he freed me from my anxious fears.

⁵ Look at him; give him your warmest smile.
Never hide your feelings from him.

⁶ When I was desperate, I called out,
and God got me out of a tight spot.

⁷ God's angel sets up a circle
of protection around us while we pray.

⁸ Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see—
how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him.

⁹ Worship God if you want the best;
worship opens doors to all his goodness.

¹⁰ Young lions on the prowl get hungry,
but God-seekers are full of God.

¹¹ Come, children, listen closely;
I'll give you a lesson in God worship.

¹² Who out there has a lust for life?
Can't wait each day to come upon beauty?

¹³ Guard your tongue from profanity,
and no more lying through your teeth.

¹⁴ Turn your back on sin; do something good.
Embrace peace—don't let it get away!

¹⁵ God keeps an eye on his friends,
his ears pick up every moan and groan.

¹⁶ God won't put up with rebels;
he'll cull them from the pack.

¹⁷ Is anyone crying for help? God is listening,
ready to rescue you.

¹⁸ If your heart is broken, you'll find God right there;
if you're kicked in the gut, he'll help you catch your breath.

¹⁹ Disciples so often get into trouble;
still, God is there every time.

²⁰ He's your bodyguard, shielding every bone;
not even a finger gets broken.

²¹ The wicked commit slow suicide;
they waste their lives hating the good.

²² God pays for each slave's freedom;
no one who runs to him loses out.

How to love the "Unlovely"

Dear Friends-

I am sending this message because I sense that some of us are feeling tortured and tested by people in our lives that we can't avoid. I hope that you receive this message as a word of encouragement because there is a larger lesson to be learned.

No matter how unloveable this person is, respond in love and stay in
peace. Now matter how you hard you work to stay sane, relief from this person seems to
allude you. Every time you turn around this person seems to be
looking for new ways to get on your nerves. All of this is happening for
a reason. The person or situation you seek to escape is you- and your
preception and attitude determines your response.

Here's the answer you've prayed for...Just as determined as you are to
achieve success and abundance, you should be equally determined to
achieve joy. The elements of joy are peace and love- and even in the
face of "unlovely" people, stay determined to stay joyful.

Now, I hear you saying to yourself, "it's always something"- and
that's true. But if you know that, then you know how silly it is to
allow yourself to get caught up in responding to those people or those
situations.

Plant your feet firmly and stand knowing that your sense of joy will
be under attack. Maintain a mindset of peace, and a loving response,
and you'll find yourself standing in the midst of the storm- in joy.

Take care friends!

K.

You Can Love the Unlovely

Today's Scripture

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)

A Word from Joel and Victoria

God says you need to love even those people who are difficult or
seemingly impossible to love. The mark of true believers is the love
they have for each other and for those who are not part of God's
family. Did you know there usually is a reason that some people are
very difficult to love? More than likely, part of the problem is that
they don't have enough love, which means they need your love the most
of all! You have your own personality, and it probably meshes better
with certain other personalities. But even with the differences
between people, you can still love others with the love God has shown
to you. You will be amazed how much things will change if you just
take that first step of faith and love the unlovely people around you.
They are desperate for love and friendship, and you might make all the
difference.

A Prayer for Today

God, give me Your unconditional love for the hard-to-love people in my
life. I want to show others what Your love is all about so they will
be drawn to Christ. In Jesus' Name. Amen.

Watch your mouth/ Seek harmony

Hello Dear Friends!
I hope today's message finds you rested and happy after a long and wonderful weekend!
Today's reading was so timely for me that I thought that you would appreciate it too.

As we "enjoy" our first day back at work, be careful to guard your tongues! You may have a "newsworthy" story about the weekend but be careful about who and what you discuss.

If your co-workers make you dread coming back to work, watch your tongue AND your
attitude! You can only make things better (or worse) based on your behavior.
Be a blessing at work by being an example of what not to do!
In the meantime, take care and enjoy a wonderful day back!

K.

James 3
When You Open Your Mouth
1 -2Don't be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life.
3 -5A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it!
5 -6It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell.
7 -10This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth!
10 -12My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don't bear apples, do they? You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?
Live Well, Live Wisely

13 -16Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here's what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It's the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn't wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn't wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn't wisdom. It's the furthest thing from wisdom—it's animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you're trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others' throats.
17 -18Real wisdom, God's wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

Why Community Service is required of Christians

Dear Friends-
I hope you enjoy your bonus message today. Again, I was so imspired by this Word, I had to put the Bible down and share this with you.

If all we do is attend church (or just believe in God) but we don't follow it up with service to His people, it doesn't work!

Read the following passages and think about what you do. Could you be doing more? Are you actually serving or are you just writing checks?

A good message to think about...
K.

James Chapter 2 (the Message Bible)
Faith in Action

14 -17Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?
18I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department."
Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.
19 -20Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?
21 -24Wasn't our ancestor Abraham "made right with God by works" when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn't it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are "works of faith"? The full meaning of "believe" in the Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set right with God," includes his action. It's that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named "God's friend." Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?
25 -26The same with Rahab, the Jericho harlot. Wasn't her action in hiding God's spies and helping them escape—that seamless unity of believing and doing—what counted with God? The very moment you separate body and spirit, you end up with a corpse. Separate faith and works and you get the same thing: a corpse.

Faith Under Pressure!

Dear Friends-
I was so "on fire" when I read this Word, I had to stop reading and send this to you immediately. I hope this Word inspires you as well!

Stay Blessed!

James Chapter 1 (The Message Bible)

Faith Under Pressure
2 -4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.
5 -8If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you're going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.
9 -11When down-and-outers get a break, cheer! And when the arrogant rich are brought down to size, cheer! Prosperity is as short-lived as a wildflower, so don't ever count on it. You know that as soon as the sun rises, pouring down its scorching heat, the flower withers. Its petals wilt and, before you know it, that beautiful face is a barren stem. Well, that's a picture of the "prosperous life." At the very moment everyone is looking on in admiration, it fades away to nothing.
12Anyone who meets a testing challenge head-on and manages to stick it out is mighty fortunate. For such persons loyally in love with God, the reward is life and more life.
13 -15Don't let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, "God is trying to trip me up." God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one's way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust. Lust gets pregnant, and has a baby: sin! Sin grows up to adulthood, and becomes a real killer.
16 -18So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures.