September 20th.

Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.

Within our heart we can conceal our true identity, even from our selves. Hypocrisy is being an actor, putting forth an image that declares a false identity of our self—what we want the other humans to see, and hope they think of us as what we have portrayed to them via our image. What lives in our heart is our true identity, as is seen by the living God. There is no putting that aside as that which means less with regards to that we want to mean more (what we want to portray as our image by our acting). It's a game we play with our selves even more than the other humans, because we must always be convinced that it's true in order to keep up the charade, or else it would be too difficult to maintain. Therefore the action of being honest, down to the level where it actually matters, is impossible for the mere human. For the son it is not only possible, but an absolute requirement, in order to begin to be able to know the Father who cannot come close to double-minded liars or wild animals.

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

When we were fully entrenched into the wild animal nature, we learned what things we should value, love and therefore run after to get for our selves. Those are the things the humans run after, because they consider them valuable. The Father's family of our own true brothers is our treasure if the life of the Father lives in us to make it so. That's where our heart should be also, because it's the only thing that matters. Everything else falls away, from the leaves on the tree to the animal whose body falls in the forest, their end is always the same—a slow decay into nothingness (hell). If we're looking at each other with human eyes, we'll only see what the animal lets us see which is someone who can either help our own self-serving cause (positively) or someone who is a threat to our cause's survival (negatively). Tearing each other down even in the slightest way is against the Father's purpose for His sons because it strengthens the animal's purpose which is always set up opposed to that of the Father.

As you are going with your adversary to the magistrate, try hard to be reconciled to him on the way, or he may drag you off to the judge, and the judge turn you over to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison. I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny.

Being at peace with our true brother (once we know who he is) is what cuts straight into the heart of the animal that defines us as one of its disciples, instead of his who gave this command. Since being in a constant state of a growing peace is what cuts against the defensive nature of the scared, self-protecting wild animal; we can be sure that it is what pleases the Father as opposed to what we'd always rather instinctively want to do because we sense that we're in danger of losing something valuable (the pitiful notion of our own integrity that we desperately want to preserve in our own corrupted mind).

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

This idea easily flows from the very logical understanding about what we actually are instead of being carried away by the haughtiness that is our first thought and reaction to every threat that comes our way. Until we decide for real that what inherently lives in us drives us toward the evil and not the good, we cannot begin to actually be pleasing to the living God, because it means we're not like Him. We still resemble too clearly our old father the serpent—the mechanism that controls the humans to define them as what they naturally are according to God—like the animals (more precisely *the* animal—the serpent, the mechanism of the curse). One of the facets of the purity of its effectiveness lies in its ability to remain undetected, what the sons begin to notice about the humans at large (they each think they're good at their core). What's important for the sons is that it also means it will be able to squirrel around in our minds and hearts too, since we are susceptible to anything and everything the humans are susceptible to, because we all come from the same stock.

How weak-willed you are, declares the Sovereign LORD.

I regret that I ever held on to the idea that I was someone who had arrived, who was already what can only be hoped for—all because of the gigantic fear that lives in me to keep defining me as what I actually am. That is as much being led by the animal nature as those are who do not know what is true, yet whom I have condemned. The animal has a need to "feel" that it is right, and be able to hold on to that feeling so it can justify itself, even in its own mind that it is okay—it is right before God. Even if it is or isn't true, to the animal that doesn't matter as much as "feeling" right and finding that agreement in its own mind so it can believe it's right. Nothing matters outside of the bubble. Whether or not it is doesn't matter as much to the animal as whether it can find some agreement and peace within itself, and it doesn't mind believing a lie, because it's used to that, and that's what it's at home with. This blindness to anything outside of the bubble is what it's condemned, because it is destined to keep its host right there with no hope of escape.

There is an intense craving for the humans to want to find something to hold on to so they can believe they're right—not only them but others as well, because they are the ones who validate what they've chosen to believe that makes them feel they're right. If they can find other humans to do that for them, and some "experts" too, then that's even more satisfying. If the lie has something to do with God then that's all the more better because then the mind can find the rationalization/justification it needs to continue in whatever it wants to do because when the lie is about God then it is able to manufacture its own righteousness with the stamp of God on it, which makes it real for the individual producing it.

It's all part of the same phenomenon of so many of the humans who are so inclined to trust the "experts" to tell them the way to God. Those who trust are not even that concerned whether or not the experts are right or wrong, because they just want to believe so any song and dance is acceptable for them; they're just relieved that someone is willing to take responsibility and say they know and can show them the way. In exchange for that they're willing to give their trust and allegiance, honor and respect, money and children. Like the gods from the days of the OT era, they sacrifice what they consider valuable to the made up gods, whom the experts tell them are real.

This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Because you poured out your wealth and exposed your nakedness in your promiscuity with your lovers, and because of all your detestable idols, and because you gave them your children's blood, therefore I am going to gather all your lovers, with whom you found pleasure, those you loved as well as those you hated. I will gather them against you from all around and will strip you in front of them, and they will see all your nakedness. I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring upon you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger. Then I will hand you over to your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you naked and bare. They will bring a mob against you, who will stone you and hack you to pieces with their swords. They will burn down your houses and inflict punishment on you in the sight of many women. I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers. Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry.

Being stripped of our clothing is being exposed for what we truly are, because of what lives in our heart to define us as such. The allegory's counterpart is the heart of the son which is being clothed with the robes the Father is giving him because he is being made willing to be exposed and have his heart opened so that the lies can be burned off, once they are exposed to the truth of the Father.

Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.

Peter asked if it was him who Jesus was speaking to when he said that they should be ready and continue to be ready, not falling back into whatever it is they might instinctively want to do, as per the dictates and compulsions of the animal that always wants to guide them by their instinct to survive, by hiding or if necessary by killing. Jesus affirmed that those whom had been given eyes to see cannot say that they didn't ever know. God loves one who stands firm to the end, even if it doesn't "feel" good or right.

In all your detestable practices and your prostitution you did not remember the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, kicking about in your blood.

Being dressed and ready for service is as much about being aware of and honest about the sin that still lives in our heart—the things of the animal that we still run after and can't keep ourselves from—as it is about being free from it. The only way we can become free from it is if we're honest about its existence, so that it can be exposed and burned. The need to feel that we're right all the time brings a propensity toward hiding what we are so that we can feel right in our mind and find that agreement with our self—justified and independent, the ruler and king of our world, the god (our self) that we are most comfortable having rule us because he always lets us do whatever we want like untrained barbarians who just do whatever they want all the time.

I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.

There is no possibility of higher love for the animals, except to instinctually love what comes out of their own body, those who love them and those who can benefit them. In that sense, holding up the natural family so high above everything else is very much self-love because there is an actual part of one's own physical self within them. Therefore it's natural and easy to love the ones who came from your own body (because they're you). The animals are compelled by an irresistible force of nature to do that by the instincts that are inside them—what drives and leads them to do what they do and be what they are. So loving your own natural family—protecting them and providing for them, regarding them as special—deserves no commendation from the Son who knew, and therefore chose to not have his own human family. By nature it's already in you to do that, so you're just following the natural animal dictates when you love and care for your own family.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' do that.

If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

If we want to be pleasing to God, we have to become like Him, different than what is naturally inside us to be and do. If we're honest, we can realize that we have no capacity to love except in those instances when it is built in to our nature to do so, to love only ourselves, and our own flesh and blood, and those who are good to us. That is exactly what the animal nature is programmed to do, to not be like God who has mercy on those who hate Him.

Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry.

The OT accounts for a God who is powerful and strong, who deserves and demands loyalty, and who shows wrath and vengeance on those who deserve it; those who are unfaithful to Him, who do not accept Him even though He has accepted them. The animal nature is very much that way about its self, and it adopts those traits easily when it comes to defending itself. It misapplies those qualities when it applies them to itself, though. Jesus was that way, except in regards to defending God's interests, respect, honor—what He wants to have happen. At the same time, Jesus adopted another set of qualities with respect to his own honor, welfare and interests apart from the will of the Father to get and have His own family with Him where He is.

Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Father (the holy spirit) will not be forgiven.

Woe to you Pharisees...Woe to you experts in the law...

Toward those who trampled on God's interests, honor and name, those who appointed themselves to the position of the leaders of God's people yet were only interested in their own welfare, who turned the goodness of what God had given into their own self-promoting things that they thought they could own and control, the Son was indeed wrathful and vengeful. With regards to his own integrity, honor, respect, fame, well-being, interests and will, he purposefully adopted the opposite of what the animals are naturally prone to be able to do—not pay back evil for evil done against him, but good for evil, which is a totally radical thing because of what's naturally in man to be able to do. There's nothing special about being able to repay evil for evil done to one's self, because that's the natural reaction. The same is true about loving and taking care of your own brood—there's nothing exceptional about being able to love those whom the animal nature compels you to love. But flip those and everything else that is naturally found in the humans (loving money and those who are like us, for example) around and you start coming close to what God wants from His sons. Jesus is the ultimate example of the perfect Son.

You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Although everyone wants to be loved and accepted, they ultimately cannot, because natural love fades away, or else it goes away by death. It has to because it can only emanate from a body or person, and every person dies, and their love dies along with them, able to continue to exist only as a memory. This is, of course, going on the notion that there is a person who is mentally, emotionally and physically able to actually provide love for another person or persons. In reality each is so involved in the struggle to merely survive that none are able to truly love, because the animal can only love itself.

The only way someone can actually love as God loves, is if they are free from that animal need to survive all the time. Only then can there even be the opportunity to choose, and then they will have to learn to choose against what they are naturally prone to doing, and be like their Father. Some claim that they are able to love, but if we look at the situation, it is to their advantage to engage in that "love" they claim to give—so as to further their cause and satisfy their own survival goals, which is natural for them to do.

The actual wild animal in the forest is a bit one dimensional so it seems. They don't seem to have the complex thinking patterns that humans have, so their survival is pretty much limited to the physical. It's what they do—eat, sleep, make babies, and try to not be eaten by other animals. For the human there are more ways to survive—physically, mentally, emotionally are the root sources of that need.

The human is more sophisticated than the wild animal, and has hidden but exposed agendas and systems by which he constantly participates, in his effort to physically survive. He is not out literally hunting for food every day, but instead he goes to work in exchange for money to buy things for survival. Food, clothing, house payment are first, then all the peripherals "needed" for living. As the appetite for things increases, so do the hours traded to secure them. In the end what we find is a huge, unending cycle of slaves, trading their best hours to the world in exchange for things.

Mental and emotional survival are less able to be summed up very neatly. Immediately we could just say "ego," however, that word is usually associated negatively with arrogance and social elitism. It is far more comprehensive, yet seemingly benign than that, describing another means of survival in a less tangible, yet abiding way. It's more that need to feel safe and right, and therefore project that outwardly. The need to be accepted as possessing what the other humans consider valuable—intelligence, honor, respect, etc. It stems from the need for love and security, but there is no lasting love in the world. Nothing is sure, and anything which might provide love is temporary, apt to go away at any time because of changed feelings, circumstances, or death. If there was a person who was able to provide love consistently and without fail, they would inevitably die and their ability to give love would go with them.

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

The perfect husband would fulfill all of these perfectly for his wife. He would be strong enough to protect her from anything and have the means to provide a stable place that could never be taken away. His mental and emotional condition would be such that he was never anything less than perfectly stable and fulfilled within himself, confident enough to be able to extend perfect love to her, which provides safety, stability and comfort so that she feels safe in every way, physically, mentally and emotionally.

John replied, "A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. You yourselves can testify that I said, `I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.' The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.

The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. The man who has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him."

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

"At midnight the cry rang out: `Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'

"Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, `Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.'

" `No,' they replied, `there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'

"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

Out of love for the Father, the Lord chose to not bond with that nature of the wild animal, although he was tempted to do it. The first time that anyone was able to give love and faithfulness back to God was in the body of Jesus, and he chose to do it. It was the perfect display of how a man should act toward God—a model for those wishing to please God. The problem is that we are in bondage to the nature that rules us, making us unable to not bond with it, leaving us utterly helpless in our aim to please God by being good children who look like Him instead of a snake. If we're even given the choice, then we have to choose to love as God loves instead of merely continuing to allow ourselves to be defined as all the other wild animals by being led by that nature.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.