Early Thursday morning, May 27, someone anonymously tore apart several items in the church parking lot near my office door. The items consisted mainly of two torn apart bibles, a couple of small religious books torn apart and lots of pages with 2-4 bible verses per page, torn out of a spiral notebook and dropped in a pile, but not destroyed. The notebook pages had many neatly hand written scriptures (looks like a woman's handwriting). Why? Apparently it was someone angry with God and falling away. Many possible events that triggered the falling away, maybe the person was discouraged because something didn't happen the way they expected or maybe the death of a love one or you can probably think of many more possible events. In today's teaching from Jesus we find that Jesus goes to the root of the problem rather than just the event that triggered falling away.

To refresh what you have learned in our Workshop or entice you to experience our Workshop

One of the first things that is overlooked in marriages is having fun. Too busy, children, work etc. can crowd out fun time together. In marriage you will have conflicts but that is not what attracted you to each other in the beginning. Fun is important to martial happiness. Have a weekly date night. So you enjoy date, be sure and have your weekly couples meeting before, using the Speaker Listener Technique. This should help you get issues and problems out of the way so your time together on your date can be more enjoyable. Your date can be as simple as a walk in the park or walking in the mall window-shopping. Do something different. Go skiing, water or snow depending on the weather.

One suggestion Allen age 10 had for a good marriage: "you got to find someone who likes the same stuff. Like if you like sports, she should like that you like sports and she should keep the chips and dip coming."

I do Marathons and my wife walks on treadmills. We have done treadmills side by side at the gym. We have shared by her going with me to out of town Marathons and she helps by driving me home, like from Memphis and Kansas City. After 26.2 miles, it is wonderful to have driving help. Our Marathon trips are like having a two-day date. There are many ways to share and have fun together

The Better Half "When your partner won't support your efforts to make your marriage better" Without your spouse's support to improve your marriage, you can still pray daily for God's will to be done in each of your lives and your marriage ("all things are possible with God", Mark 10:27 NIV). You can encourage having fun together on your own. Suggest and encourage things you both like to do or to get things started suggest things your spouse likes to do. Remember the things you did to have fun when you first got together. In marriage you will have conflicts but that is not what attracted you to each other in the beginning. Fun is important to martial happiness. Work at it!

A Psalm for reflection "Let the sinners be taken in the nets which they themselves have put down, while I go free" Ps 141"10 (BBE)

Understanding the Teaching: What I share in the teaching is what I believe God wants me to share. All the direct quotes from God are highlighted in royal purple. Of course the words of Jesus are in red. Rather than follow some made up doctrine, remember that Jesus said that every thing He said (Jn 12:49) and everything He did (Jn 14:31) comes from God. All teachings and all opinions should be supported by what we learn from God or Jesus (see the scripture referred to in the footnote).

God used the story I mention at the beginning of these notes to encourage me to share what Jesus says about people falling away. Although people fall away frequently and there are even some people who have even been to Bible School and appear to have great bible knowledge and yet fall away. The first category is where Jesus says there are, "people who hear God's teaching, but then the devil comes and takes it away from their heart". A second category mentioned is where people, "hear God's teaching and accept it gladly. But they don't have deep roots. They believe for a while, but then trouble comes. They stop believing and turn away from God". A third category is where people, "hear God's teaching, but they let the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life keep them from growing. So they never produce good fruit"1. Our concern is how to have strong roots that enables us to overcome temptation of the enemy or hard times or distractions of this world. I use the term us, because in theory we are all capable of falling away, although we can get to the point that we have known the enemy and we know God and there is really no place to go but stay with God

The translation used above refers to people who hear "God's teaching" or the more literal translation is "the word of God". When Jesus refers to God's teaching or to God's words he is not referring to the entire bible or all scripture like many popular religious doctrines today would claim. Jesus is referring to the words that God actually said like the 10 commandments or like "love your neighbor as yourself" which Jesus quoted. Of course we need to remember that Jesus said God told Him "what to say" 2, which places Jesus words also in the same category as God's teachings. Confusion as to what is God's teaching is one of the devils first efforts robbing people. Once we are clear that people are dealing with God's teaching, we need to prevent the devil from stealing it away by teaching spiritual warfare. Teaching awareness of the devil and his tricks could start with the deception of Adam and Eve. So the devil or the accuser doesn't deceive people into think negative about needing spiritual warfare, it is good to remind people that Jesus, the Son of God, had to use spiritual warfare with the devil3. Just like preventive health care or preventive maintenance is wise, preventive spiritual warfare is the first step. Jesus teaches us that we should pray daily "Please don't bring us into temptation and rescue us from the evil one". James gives us good advice when writes, "Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you" 4.

Regarding the second category, people who fall away at times of temptation or testing will benefit from spiritual warfare. Developing stronger roots is a growth process. Stronger roots will also help in the third category where worries and riches and pleasures cause people to fall away. Just like a plant develops stronger roots over time a person can develop stronger roots by slow growth. Sometimes after a storm there will be trees lying on their side with their roots exposed and it is obvious that small roots for a big tree is not good support. It is good to have spiritual guidance from fellow followers of Jesus to help in the growth process. Yes, some people want to grow fast and rush out to "hit everyone over the head" with their bibles and force the world into their beliefs. Many years ago, some Pastors would jokingly advocated locking up new believers for the first six months. The excitement and enthusiasm of a new believer is great to be around even when they promote poor teachings. Perhaps just like a young tree will not develop strong roots if it is surrounded by so much support that it cannot even move in the wind, a new believer needs some freedom. Surrounding a new believer with prayer will still allow God to strengthen with testing and some failure. A great example of a believer who grew was Peter. Peter was allowed to walk on water and then sank (note: God develops our roots by our experiences), Jesus prayed for Peter (note: it is good to pray for young believers) and eventually Peter had such a strong ministry he raised someone from the dead. When Peter was so discouraged that he went fishing, Jesus went to him and encouraged him by helping him experience God's power with a miracle and loving him by cooking breakfast for him and the others. Do you think of Jesus as a breakfast cook? (note: it is good to go to others who need our support and help them experience God's love and maybe show them love by feeding them) As we use Peter for an illustration, we cannot neglect Peter's empowering of God's Spirit5.

Being empowered by God's Spirit can help develop roots. Please do not just focus on religious teachings about the Holy Spirit and man made doctrines about praying in tongues. Yes, praying in tongues or having a prayer language is good, as Jesus describes that as a characteristic of being a believer. Praying in the Spirit is not primarily for showing off to others but is part of our communication with God. We strengthen our roots as we communicate with God. Our communication with God gives us guidance and enables God's power to be manifested in many ways such as healings, advising us what to expect and the ultimate relationship is total guidance on every thing we say and do, as Jesus experienced6. As a person experience's God in their life their roots will grow. There relationship moves from head knowledge found in reading the bible and education to knowing God personally in a way that only Jesus can help us know Him. We develop strong roots as we hear what God teaches and we "obey God's teaching" or put them into practice enabling us to bear fruit for God7.

"God help us to resist the devil and develop a strong foundation so that we can persevere no matter what happens. Thank You for our strong roots, in Jesus' name, amen."

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