Collingsworth Family ~ Power in the Blood

 The Collingsworth Family (from Cincinnati, Ohio) is comprised of Phil Collingsworth Sr. and his wife Kim, pianist extraordinaire. Their four children round out the group: Brooklyn Collingsworth Blair, Courtney Collingsworth Metz, Phil Jr., and Olivia. This features Brooklyn and Courtney doin' some fiddling' on the strings, accompanied by Kim on piano! http://www.thecollingsworthfamily.com...

The LORD is my Strength and Song! ~ Exodus 15

The Middle East War in Syria ~ Ezra Klein

Syria's war: Who is fighting and why

Ezra Klein (Vox Media) attempts to show how we got to this disastrous juncture in Syria.

A Parable: Saving Lives (repost #1) -Charles Swindoll

Ed's note:  I recently met with a friend pastoring a church.  How encouraging to my ears to hear of God's Spirit moving on the congregation resulting in a harvest of 20 souls (REJOICE CHURCH ! ...TWENTY!) into the kingdom in the past weeks.  These are indeed troubled times that we live in and the Holy Spirit is longing to move through his Church, ...hover over His Church!  ... to save, ...to pour out His Spirit on "all flesh".  We can't ever forget our mission assisting lost people towards their Saviour! 

It again reminded me of Chuck Swindoll's famous writing on the life-saving station. 

On a dangerous seacoast notorious for shipwrecks, there was a crude little lifesaving station.  Actually, the station was merely a hut with only one boat...but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the turbulent sea.  With little thought for themselves, they would go out night and day tirelessly searching for those in danger as well as the lost.  Many, many lives were saved by this brave band of men who faithfully worked as a team in and out of the lifesaving station.  By and by, it became a famous place.

            Some of those who had been saved as well as others along the seacoast wanted to become associated with this little station.  They were willing to give their time and energy and money in support of its objectives.  New boats were purchased.  New crews were trained.  The station that was once obscure and crude and virtually insignificant began to grow.  Some of its members were unhappy that the hut was so unattractive and poorly equipped.  They felt a more comfortable place should be provided.  Emergency cots were replaced with lovely furniture.  Rough, hand-made equipment was discarded and sophisticated, classy systems were installed.  The hut, of course, had to be torn down to make room for all the additional equipment, furniture systems and appointments.  By its completion, the life-saving station had become a popular gathering place, and its objectives had begun to shift.  It was now used as sort of a clubhouse, and attractive building for public gatherings.  Saving lives, feeding the hungry, strengthening the fearful, and calming the disturbed rarely occurred by now.

            Fewer members were now interested in braving the sea on lifesaving missions, so they hired professional lifeboat crews to do this work.  The original goal of the station wasn't altogether forgotten, however.  The lifesaving motifs still prevailed in the club's decorations.  In fact, there was a liturgical lifeboat preserved in the Room of Sweet Memories with soft, indirect lighting, which helped hide the layer of dust upon the once-used vessel.

            About this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast and the boat crews brought in loads of cold, wet, half-drowned people.  They were dirty, some terribly sick and lonely.  Others were black and "different" from the majority of the club members.  The beautiful new club suddenly became messy and cluttered.  A special committee saw to it that a shower house was immediately built outside and away from the club so victims of shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.

            At the very next meeting there were strong words and angry feelings, which resulted in a division among the members.  Most of the people wanted to stop the club's lifesaving activities and all involvements with shipwreck victims....(it's too unpleasant, it's a hindrance to our social life, it's opening the door to folks who are not our kind").  As you'd expect, some still insisted upon saving lives, that this was their primary objective-that their only reason for existence was ministering to anyone needing help regardless of their club's beauty or size or decorations.  They were voted down and told if they wanted to save the lives of various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they could begin their own lifesaving station down the coast!  They did.

            As years passed, the new station experienced the same old changes.   It evolved into another club...and yet another lifesaving station was begun.  History continued to repeat itself...and if you visit that coast today you'll find a large number of exclusive, impressive clubs along the shoreline owned and operated by slick professionals who have lost all involvement with the saving of lives.

            Shipwrecks still occur in those waters, but now, most of the victims are not saved.  Every day they drown at sea, and so few seem to care...so very few.  Do you?

...You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies

...You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies ~ Ps 23

Why Women Live Longer Than Men ~ #9

25 Photos That Show Reasons Why Women Live Longer Than Men. 

#9.

PM Netanyahu's Bible Study ~ Shelley Neese

Another Denomination Slips Into the Great Falling Away ~ Leclaire

 JENNIFER LECLAIRE

Participants in a gay pride parade. The latest denomination to fall at Jezebel's hand is the Dutch Reformed Church. In a landmark vote, the church has decided to recognize same-sex relationships. (Reuters)

Apostasy is rising in the body of Christ. Indeed, wheat and the tares are growing up together and it's becoming more apparent which are which. As I've said several times over the past few years, the great falling away is underway.

The latest denomination to fall at Jezebel's hand is the Dutch Reformed Church. In a landmark vote, the church has decided to recognize same-sex relationships. Jesus warned the church not to tolerate the spirit of Jezebel, which teaches and seduces God's servants to commit sexual immorality and engage in idolatry (Rev. 2:20).

The Dutch Reformed Church didn't even put up much of a fight against the depths of Satan (see Rev. 2:24). Sixty-four percent of the church voted in favor of this strong delusion, which also opens the door for ordaining gay ministers without the call to celibacy.

"It is historical because with this decision we actually are at a point where there can be no doubt that the Dutch Reformed Church is serious about human dignity," Dutch Reformed Church moderator Nelis Janse vanRensburg said. "And you know that we are living in this country where we have so many problems with the dignity of people."

The Dutch Reformed Church is a South African denomination that traces its beginnings to the Reformed tradition of the first white settlers who came to South Africa from the Netherlands in the mid-17th century, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. The church claims nearly 1.3 million members in more than 1,200 congregations.

This sad trend is not new. In 2014, four denominations in less than a week defied God's Word. I expect more denominations to fall by the wayside, or break off from their mainline denominations as they embrace doctrines of demons that encourage them to start their own sects of postmodern Christianity that is really not Christianity at all.

Postmodern, or progressive Christianity has a strong focus on social justice and environmentalism. Progressive Christianity focuses on concepts like "collective salvation"—where entire cultures and societies, rather than just individuals with faith in Christ, are redeemed—and bends toward a Marxist economic philosophy. And Progressive Christianity does not subscribe to the biblical doctrine of the inerrancy of Scripture.

Saints, we're seeing 1 Timothy 4:1 playing out right before our very eyes. It's called the Great Apostasy, and it's well-underway. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul wrote: "Now the Spirit clearly says that in the last times some will depart from the faith and pay attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils."

Back in 2012, I wrote an article titled, "Is the Great Falling Away Already Underway?" In it, I explained that some have indeed departed from the faith because they have engaged with deceiving spirits and embraced doctrines of devils. We've witnessed more than one man of God with a major ministry platform bow a knee to doctrines like universalism, deceiving and being deceived with this deadly heresy. Despite many in the church lifting their voices against heretical teachings, these deceived ministers hold fast to their demonic doctrine.

That's why I am praying for a third Great Awakening. I am committed to crying out to God to see a cultural transformation—a spiritual revolution.

Although the Great Falling Away is going to happen because it's prophesied in Scripture, I am contending for a revival—a Great Awakening—that will sweep through the nation and cause people to turn back to God. I will not give up. The arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor His ear too dull to hear (Is. 59:1).

Before each of the last Great Awakenings, people of God thought it was hopeless—and they didn't see the half of what we're seeing. But I am convinced God wants to turn this around—and I am convinced God can turn this around. Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).

The Great Falling Away is underway and will continue—you can't pray away end-time prophecy—but that doesn't mean we should not contend to the end. Great Awakening is our only hope for this nation and could ultimately save hundreds of thousands from the clutches of eternal death. Will you join me in praying for another Great Awakening?

Jennifer LeClaire is senior editor of Charisma. She is also director of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, co-founder of awakeningtv.com, on the leadership team of the New Breed Revival Network and author of several books, including The Next Great Move of God: An Appeal to Heaven for Spiritual Awakening;Mornings With the Holy Spirit, Listening Daily to the Still, Small Voice of God; The Making of a Prophet and Satan's Deadly Trio: Defeating the Deceptions of Jezebel, Religion and Witchcraft. You can visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer onFacebook or follow her on Twitter. Jennifer's Periscope handle is @propheticbooks.

The Lord of hosts says "I am zealous for Zion" ~ Zech 8:2

I Have A Testimony! ~ Ben Pang

本·龐的見證

Ed's Note: -Thanks Ben for sharing your testimony. It speaks well of you to jump at the chance to say a few words for Jesus and express to others of what he has done in your life. Not everyone is willing to share their testimony.  Isn't it awesome to look back to see where you came from in your journey!  ...and more importantly to trust God for what's ahead.  God works from small to big, from inside to outside.  From just a measure of faith to bursting forth in a life of praise! When we give our lives to him we begin an amazing journey!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“...let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” ~ Galatians 6:9

Hong Kong was occupied by Japan during the Second World War.   Living under an occupation by a foreign government, made life very difficult for the Chinese that lived in that big city.  Besides the fear that came with being subjected to an invading authority, the necessities for day to day living were not easily available. 

Finding food to feed our family just wasn't easy.  A family friend was receiving rice from the missionaries in Hong Kong.   They willingly shared the little provision they had.   My mom knew of the good work the missionaries did and she believed that they were good people.  

Seemingly it was their good reputation and kindness that caused us to look up to them with respect.  I was raised in a family that did not know anything about Jesus.  My folks were brought up with very traditional Buddhist beliefs from China, and as Buddhist's did, we worshiped many gods.  We had a god for each area of our home and they all had their own spot.  There was a place for the ancestor; there was a place for the landlord; the entrance god; the backyard god; the kitchen god.   There were also duplicates of those gods at my dad’s shop.  Mom would burn incense to those gods twice a month and I would help her with the incense ceremony.  During Chinese New Year, she would be sure to attend the local Buddhist and Chinese temples. 

Because of my upbringing, I was aware of that side of the spiritual world while I was still a child.  The local radio station would frequently broadcast ghost-stories.  TV shows abounded with programs about the spiritual world.  I quickly got quite used to being around these images of 'gods' or 'ghosts' and over time you could say it made me indifferent to them.    

I developed an interest in the martial arts as a boy and it's associated Buddhist-influenced spirituality.  The martial arts are deeply ingrained with the Buddhist-influenced Chinese culture .  Broadcasted ghost-story programs on TV reinforce their belief in their false gods spirituality.  One stream of Buddhist monks in particular attracted my attention.  This group was well trained in their martial arts and over time I began to imagine that I would become a Buddhist monk.

Now that I know Jesus personally and feel his love, I sure thank God that I didn't become a Buddhist monk! 

My family worked very hard to make ends meet.  Mom took home some work from a small factory and the entire family worked at home.  Our home functioned like a mini factory. We did a variety of sewing jobs which provided food for the family and allowed us to pay our bills.  The last factory our family worked at made base ball caps. ...many, many baseball caps!  At the same time Dad made shoes in his shop which was about a five minute walk from home.  While we were in school, my brother, sisters and myself would go to school and later spent the afternoon completing our homework.  But as soon as that was done we would begin our job sewing the baseball caps.  When Dad finished work at his shop, he would join in to help us well into the evening.  We just worked constantly! 

Mom and Dad didn't have time to go to church.  They had no interest in Christ whatsoever!  They believed in education and their desire was to send my siblings and myself to a better school than our local one.  Lacking the necessary funds to send us to a private school, they decided to send us to the local missionary school which they administrated as well as their churches.  Since my mom believed the missionaries were fundamentally good people, she was willing to send us to their schools.  

 Because of the respected work done by those missionaries, I had the opportunity to hear the story of Christ! 

The school I went to was called St. Stephen Church College. It belonged to an Anglican Church. They had a gospel crusade twice a year.   

In 1980 I came to believe that Jesus is the true God in one of those crusades at school. 

I was the younger child in the family and  helped Mom prepare incense for her gods twice a month. 

I decided that my life was going to change.  I went home to tell Mom that I would not be helping her in her idol worship and preparation of incense anymore.  I let her know that I now believe in Jesus!  However, I was unsure of how she would react to this news!

 I knew of a friend whose mother wouldn't speak with him following his conversion to Christ. Surely Mom wouldn't treat me like that?  It surprised me to find that she didn't say anything to me.  God has showed me favor which has made life so much easier. 

When I first believed in Jesus in 1980, I would say that "...all I want is a ticket to heaven!" 

In my early christian years, I was quite worldly and while I'd made a profession of faith, it hadn't changed me much.  I still wanted things on my own terms, ...my own way, apart from God.  However, I went to church on Sunday and I tried to read the Bible a little bit each day. 

 It was work doing that in the first few years of being a Christian. In 1983, I graduated from my Hong Kong Secondary School, which was equivalent to Grade 11 in Canada.  I passed the important public school exam and I was able to get approved to start grade 12. 

Although I tried for several years,  I had difficulty entering college to advance my education.   I went to Vancouver in Canada for Grade 12 in 1985.  

Although I was not too excited about God, He was still excited to build a relationship with me. I didn’t go to church regularly in those years, but in my heart, I believed that it was the right thing to do.  I attended a Vancouver Baptist Church where the people at the church were my friends.  While these folks were great people, I didn't feel that they were close friends of mine, yet they took steps to care for me greatly!   

I was still very worldly.  Deep inside, I longed to 'be a somebody' one day.   

It was a wish deep in my mind, ...but I didn't know what it was exactly that I wanted.  Really,  I had no idea how I could become a significant somebody.  I really did not have any career plans other than obtaining a degree.  God continued to reach out to me and prepare my path. 

English has always been a difficult school subject for me.   When I tried to attend a Canadian University, I was required to attain the entrance 'points' on their matrix.    The 'points' were towards a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exam.  Different universities required different scores, yet overall, English seemed so difficult for me.   

Soon, I found an alternative.  I discovered that some universities would waive the TOEFL points requirement provided the student had completed a first year university English program.   This discovery was the key to my blocked door!   I enrolled in a college for a one year English course, and soon thereafter I was accepted into the University of Alberta.  U of A was the second largest university in Canada then and they enjoyed their great reputation.  However, there were bumps on the road ahead for me.  Upon entering I encountered inter-departmental conflicts regarding my application.  The faculty and entrance departments didn't agree. Despite the conflict that held me back,  I eventually received the go-ahead and the all-important University acceptance just a week before the start of school.  I'd barely made it!

Two of my friends had applied to that university and were already in Edmonton.  They took me in and we shared an apartment.   Remarkably, my plans just sort of fell into place although I'd only just barely arrived as school started.  It seemed that God had everything prepared for me there. 

One of these two friends was a devoted Christian. He invited me to church with him. 

 Since we lived in the same apartment, I really couldn’t say no. I went along. 

The bible says that, "... In the LORD's hand the king's heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him.. ~ Proverbs 21:1

Once I started hearing the gospel again, it was the right time, and my heart changed. I became so aware of my sins, and the Holiness of God. 

The fact that Jesus came and died for my sins became real, ...I became aware of His redemption! ...it became so real. I couldn't get enough of Jesus ever again! 

After my day of school, I would read the bible for several hours in the library before starting my homework and study.  A senior student asked me one day why I chose  the University of Alberta. He expected me to say something wonderful about our university, but all I said was, "This was the only University that accepted me - it was the truth!"    It surprised him because the U of A had a great academic reputation.  God prepared good things for me. 

God's plan is fantastic!  ...his plan is to prosper me and not harm me, his plan is to give me hope and a future. 

I really grew in those years at Edmonton.  God taught me so much.   He put passionate, burning zeal for His Word in my heart.   After finishing my degree, I went back to Hong Kong.

A change of environment brings about life adjustments.  Since, I needed to establish myself and make enough money to have a good and stable life, my 'challenge' of a job search began.   It took a long time to land my my first job, even though God had smoothed-out my road.  Before returning to Hong Kong,  I specifically requested that God would prevent me from my dread of having a sales position.  I just didn’t think my personality fit sales.  Furthermore,  I didn’t even like computers.  Too many late nights at the keyboard laboring over school assignments had completely turned me off of computers! 

And, honestly it seemingly took forever to land my first Canadian job.  When I finally got the job offer, it was not at all what I had dreamed of.  Would you believe that my first job was ....selling computers.  Well, it had taken me six months to finally get the offer, so there was no way I was going to turn it down!  Perhaps God really does have a sense of humor.   I think he does...and He is sovereign!   

Significant life changes were required to adjust to my work life, which I didn't find easy.  I stuck to my belief in God and sensed His Presence guiding me through my trials. During this period in my life, one of the churches I attended had a charismatic pastor.   His vibrancy caused new growth in my life!   This church was my initial exposure to the gifts of speaking in tongues and prophecy!   

My pastor related to me that he sensed a special anointing on my life. 

However at the time I was too busy still trying to be a successful 'somebody', and so I paid little attention!  

God has always been patient with me...that's something I really love about God!  - ...His patience.  He continued to guide towards the plan he had for me.   In fact God waited over fifteen years for me.  While God was waiting, he led me to Ontario in 1998 where again in 2010,  God stirred up my heart, reminding me about that calling my former pastor had mentioned.   I have decided that I am not going to let it pass me by this time!  I have a destiny and I'm taking ahold of it! 

What is God’s plan for us?  Is it only to believe in Him? When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray. Jesus taught saying,  “Our Father, Who are in Heaven. Hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven” ... notice that before Jesus mentioned the word “us” God is quite interested in establishing His Kingdom on earth.  He's interested in His will being done on earth. That means now, today, RIGHT NOW.  It is not when we die and go to Heaven. 

The Bible mentions that “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.” (Numbers 14:21)  I find that God likes to accomplish that with us and through us. 

I've come to understand that when making a Godly decision, God’s will has been done through my life.  When this occurs,  I have given Glory to God and God has filled part of the earth with His Glory through me!   I believe that “...signs will follow them that believe” (Mark 16:17).     God will do that to demonstrate to the world that He is real, He is true, He is able, He is mighty, and He can do all things. God will do this so that His name shall be glorified. 

I've also come to realize that whenever I speak the Glory of God,  I cover that part of the earth with the Glory of God through my words.  This is what I have decided to do. I am going to make frequent Godly decisions; I am going to speak the Glory of God as often as I'm able. 

Let miracles follow me because I believe in Jesus! 

"...therefore let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”  

~ Benjamin Pang 2015

Why Women Live Longer Than Men ~ #8

25 Photos That Show Reasons Why Women Live Longer Than Men.  

#8.

The Gyro and the Faith-Race ~ Hebrews 12

In Hebrews … Jesus is my High Priest >Hebrews 12    ~ ”And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” ~ (v.1 & 2)

Hebrews 12 -NIV 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. God Disciplines His Children 4In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”a 7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13“Make level paths for your feet,”b so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Warning and Encouragement 14Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. 16See that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his inheritance rights as the oldest son.17Afterward, as you know, when he wanted to inherit this blessing, he was rejected. Even though he sought the blessing with tears, he could not change what he had done. The Mountain of Fear and the Mountain of Joy 18You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm;19to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, 20because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”c 21The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”d 22But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, 23to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. 25See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”e 27The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain. 28Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29for our “God is a consuming fire.”

Jesus…My Fixed Point of Reference   “Turn Your Eyes Upon JESUS, Look full in His Wonderful Face, and the things of earth will go strangely dim, In the Light of His Glory and Grace” (Click to hear this beautiful old song) (v2) After reminding us that we are very much in a ‘race’ in our walk with God, the Hebrews writer cheers us on, and gives us some tips as to how we can be successful.  “…Fix your eyes on Jesus!”, he says.  When they don’t run the church the way you think they should, or when people in your life push you out of the way in pursuit of their own agenda, or when life just doesn’t make sense, the writer of the Hebrews says “…Fix your eyes on Jesus!”  He reminds us that Jesus is the one who is Significant, He is the ONE we take our cues from.  He alone is the ONE we follow and adore.  He is our “Reset-Button”, if you will. Thirty years ago in the 80’s, my mentor and pastor, Allon Hornby frequently used an important phrase while preaching, “JESUS …my fixed point of reference”.  I loved that reference…and as an aviator this was terminology I instantly and intuitively understood.  I knew just exactly what he was communicating.  It was an awesome reference and totally in my vernacular, my ‘lingua franca’. When all around you things are out of proportion, when all else is unsure, untested, shaky, mixed up ...LOOK TO JESUS! One of the highlights of this past summer has been to utilize Phillip Keller’s book “A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23” for our family devotions.  It’s a book all about “Jehovah Rohi”, ~ Jesus our Shepherd. That book and Psalm 23 reminds of God’s protection, provision and my destiny.  But it’s all because of ...Jesus our “Constant-One-To-Count-On-In-So-Many-Ways”. He’s Unchanging, Immutable, My “Constant-Friend”, “The-Lifter-of-my-Head”, “The Lily of the Valley”, “The Bright-and-Morning Star”, “The Fairest of ten-thousand”, “my Soon-Coming-King”; my Propitiation, my sin-covering! He would never fail me; He will never let me down! I can trust His Word! When I learned to fly airplanes in 1977, my instructors took lots of time to explain the use of the instruments which were gyro-powered and the associated principles of “rigidity in space”.  The marvel of a gyro instrument is that it can instantly explain to you at just a glance, exactly what’s going on with the all-important attitude of your airplane. The teaching sequence is SCAN, INTERPRETATION and CONTROL.  You carefully look, interpret what you see and thus make correct accurate controlling inputs to your aircraft.  Otherwise, when looking outside a cockpit window in poor weather conditions, or finding yourself inside a cloud as I frequently do during most flights, you are not able to tell up from down or whether or not you are turning or rolling or flying straight and level.  Sort of like imagining you are in the proverbial milk bottle with the resulting confusion. Our human senses simply are not adaptable to be able to guide us out of situations when we have lost the visual clues we require for reference. Trusting in your own feelings and interpretations will quickly get you into BIG trouble!  You ABSOLUTELY MUST TRUST your gyro-powered instruments or you will soon spin or spiral out of control within mere seconds. In 100% of the cases …gravity wins.   However, the gyro is readily available.  It is just sitting there and is spinning at 15,000 rpm; its mass and speed create life-giving stability data to any navigation question.  No matter what is happening around it, the gyro is designed to happily just go on spinning rigidly, re-creating just for me the horizon that is missing outside the foggy cockpit window.  Literally, everything else revolves around it!   I just have to resist my own thoughts and perceptions and TRUST and OBEY it’s guidance to navigate safely through the sky.  The second I decide that my human instincts are superior to this gyro, is the second that I quickly learn my fate.  In the more sophisticated Boeing 767 and 757’s that I fly, three reliable, self-monitoring, laser-stabilized gyros solve every movement or navigation question associated with this aircraft - in every dimension.  There are no moving parts to wear out, and it is an engineering marvel that I can count on at all times.   Christian …that’s what Jesus is to your life situation – RIDGIDLY STABLE; Solid Like a ROCK! – NO MATTER WHAT IS GOING ON AROUND YOU!  JESUS IS YOUR FIXED POINT OF REFERENCE!!!   Thus the Hebrews writer says “FIX, STARE or KEEP YOUR EYES ON JESUS”.  The original Greek word (ἀφορῶντες or aphorōntes) that is used here, actually says “gaze intently” or “stare” or “to look away from all else at” or ”directing close attention on one thing without distraction”.  It’s only used this once in the whole bible.  Indeed He only becomes our fixed point of reference when we gaze intently at Him….forget what “other people” are doing – YOU are going to look at Jesus and trust Him for all your life! Jesus said “…Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” ~ Matthew 11 WITH OUR EYES FIXED ON JESUS, WE WILL WIN THIS FAITH RACE! (v6) God disciplines his sons;   Here scripture tells us that if we willfully sin, that God has a plan in mind for us.  He will discipline us.  Other non-Christians may get away with this, but as a child of God, this indicates here that God will step into the situation and correct us.   Let’s say your colleagues at work, punch each other’s time clock. Oh Oh!  This is obviously stealing from your employer, in that you get paid for this while not giving the required work during this time period you are absent.  …but everybody does it!  One day you get the idea that you need some extra time at the mall to run a few errands that you can’t otherwise seem to fit in. ~ While a work colleague has punched your time clock for you, you run into the boss at the mall.  BUSTED!  You will receive an unpleasant consequence for your action.   God wants to let us receive the consequence in order for Him to begin to build the character of Jesus into us ~ in spite of our sin  The loving father wants us to stop this behavior and instead begin to portray the life of Christ in us,  as we grow in God’s grace and character!  He loves us too much not to teach us the lessons we deserve! WITH OUR EYES FIXED ON JESUS, WE WILL WIN THIS FAITH RACE! Discovering Questions ·         Of what value is it to keep your eyes on Jesus (vv. 2-3)? ·         What discipline of the Hebrews do you think the writer alludes to (vv. 3-4, 7; 11:35-38)? ·         How do the values of God's discipline cited here help us to respond positively to discipline (vv. 10-12)? ·         Identify the writer's specific instructions in verses 14-17. On what principles are they based? ·         How could you identify a "bitter root" or a "godless Esau" in your life (vv. 15-16)? ·         We've all been tempted to drop out of the race. Why would the warning of verses 25-29 cause us to reconsider? ·         What hindrances and entanglements get in the way of your Christian faith-race (v. 1)? Why? ·         What encouragement do you find in verses 18-24 to run the faith-race with perseverance?