Matthew 18:3

New Living Translation

Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.

English Standard Version

and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Berean Study Bible

“Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Berean Literal Bible

and said, "Truly I say to you, if you are not converted and become as the little children, you shall never enter into the kingdom of the heavens.

King James Bible

And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven

Sign of the Times? Or just Current events?

Matthew 24:3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.  25 Behold, I have told you before.

2 Thes. 2 :1. Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of [a]Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

"Deficit" of Soul?

God's will is that your balance sheet be balanced!

Deficit: short·fall  /ˈSHôrtˌfôl/  noun: shortfall; plural noun: shortfalls

a deficit of something required or expected.

PSYCHOLOGICAL DEFICIT  By N., Pam M.S. 

Any cognitive, emotional or behavioral performance of an individual that is below average.

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a developmental disorder
• Cognitive deficit, any characteristic that acts as a barrier to cognitive performance.

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Laying in bed tonight I ruminated on the past week; Live in the 'Here and Now", "Be Present", "Be awake/Aware", "Listen/Pay Attention", be led by the Holy Spirit. The word "Deficit" came to mind.

I was reminded of...

Proverbs 3:5-6 (CEV) With all your heart you must trust the LORD and not your own judgment. 6. Always let him lead you, and he will clear the road for you to follow.

And realizing the truth of...

Romans 12:2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Tonight I realized God was going to make a deposit into my account (My Soul)!

He said "As iron sharpens iron, be ready to get your axe sharpened".

Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.

"Mindfulness" the latest buzzword for self-actualization.

Usually attributed to Buddhist practice but the Bible calls every believer to be aware of and submit every thought to the Lordship of Christ

https://activechristianity.org/how-do-i-take-every-thought-captive

Remember "truth separated from God becomes deception."

2 Corinthians 10: 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

https://activechristianity.org/is-it-even-possible-to-keep-my-thoughts-pure

You are Becoming?

There's no getting around it. Change happens. Mostly deterministic. Everything is becoming something other than what it was. What it is, is not what it will be.

You are swept along by the interaction of mass and energy. But choice affords an alternative to determinism.  The truth for you and me, Christ died for us.

Now will you choose the Lover of your Soul? Because of what He did, you have a choice.

Swept Along!

How can I describe the current that sweeps us along? The key word is current. Is it a warm breeze that makes us sleepy? Do we see the storm clouds? Swept along? A force that takes me where I don't want to go.

We think that the choices we make determine our destiny. NOT! Your choices are not disconnected from all the other choices everywhere around you that others make. Choices that can have significant impact into your life.. This is the current that sweeps us along.

The operative word is "choice". The current that sweeps us along is powered by the choices everyone makes. Choice is also the word that gives us the power to overcome the current that sweeps us along.

How?    

Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Cycles.

The cool thing about "cycles" is that they bring you around again. They are closely related to "ruts".

It is God's Grace, manifest in His long-suffering.

His hope is that you'll finally get it.

Ruts and cycles, the trick is to know "He died for you". No matter how deep the rut or how many times you've been around. He has a way for you to be an overcomer.

Not desperate enough to admit you don't have it within yourself? The Lover of your soul has one last recourse.

There comes a time when in God's "Judgement" He realizes you won't get it where you are at. It is then He withdraws His sustaining Hand, like holding a ball so it doesn't fall to the ground, our sin pulls us down. Reaping the consequences of our sin will hopefully wake us up to our inability to overcome in our own understanding.  Are you awake? Then there is "Hope". May your Soul long after Him and the Grace He offers freely.

While we were yet sinners, He died for us!

Swept Along?

The interaction of mass and energy has an "inertia". Events beyond your control that sweep you along. Even when in the moment you make a wise choice, events transpire that seem to be detrimental to your situation. Your mistake is thinking you understand your situation.

Yes, we are swept along by the inertia of the interaction of mass and energy. And even though we make wise decisions, we can still find ourselves in a less than comfortable situation. Rejoice, if you find yourself there. It is there that the Lover of your Soul can reveal just how much He loves you, just how much He has "Got your back". Maybe then you will get serious about the pride that gets in the way of hearing His voice, understanding His heart, and committing yourself to His desire to bring everyone into the Kingdom.

Light the fire Again?

Swept along? Sure I am swept along by circumstance, events beyond my control. Everyone is. The issue is our position in the flow. The flow sweeps us along the line of circumstance, but do we see a different perspective? Does our "position" rise us above the circumstance to see the bigger picture. Christ died for us while we were yet sinners!

Swept along.

Circumstance, it is a sea of turmoil. We all swim in it. We are swept along and most perceive not the flow. Flow? It is the current that inhabits the sum of every decision that those with choice make. Descisions break the bonds of determinism. But freedom to choose does not guarantee justice. Only the one who is everywhere, and sees all as it happens, can be the arbitrator of justice, who has already declared from the beginning, follow me!

Cause and Effect (As in "Swept along in the Now")

Cause and effect creates a flow within an inertial frame. Have you ever felt like you were in a rut? This flow tends to take the same path if free will does not exert a choice. The choice is hidden by a lie that presents unworthiness and concludes condemnation. And rightly so if we accept the flow.

Hope presents a promise and says, “you choose” 1 Corinthians 10:13 The choice is simple but most difficult. We can stay in the flow and trust in our own understanding or we can choose to trust the Lover of our soul and begin to see who He created us to be. The truth sets us free as we trust in the Lord with all our hearts.

Cause and effect appeals to self-interest. There the tension is manifest. The enemy clouds the truth that self-interest is ultimately fulfilled in giving.

Cause and effect if left alone ultimately will result in degradation, the second law. Life can overcome that degradation by accepting the truth that Hope offers. Choose the author of life and be an overcomer.

Have you ever thought, I just wish someone would tell me what to do? Have you ever wished someone would show you the way you should go?

“I am the way, the truth, and the light”
Jesus Christ

Most likely you’ve believed, as I did, that you have it within you to succeed. The problem is what you define as success.

Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. 

~ George Santayana ~ 

Remember the past? Each of us has a history. We reminisce with those we shared the past with. Remember when we say. Progress is not found there.

Our history viewed with clarity reveals the struggle. A struggle that gives us insight. The insight brings us to the realization that it is not within us to progress.

Come to an end of yourself. Humility is the fertile ground of a teachable heart. Allow the Lover of your soul to blast the light of truth into the darkness of your history to reveal the plan He has had for you from the beginning. He has one goal, to share himself with you.

Not just "Present" but "Awake"!

My "present" location is in the "Now". Here I am. This "here" is in a constant state of change as the interaction of mass and energy changes and transforms my now.

My "now", how to describe it?

Cycles of perceived repeatability. This is why we think "today was just like all the others". We lose sight of he fact that we are not able to understand the moment in the infinite complexity of Now. Cycles make us think "I have been here before". NOT!

If I know the "Here and Now" is where I am "present" and it is unique, then I know I can't trust in my own understanding for my current circumstance, then I will be much more likely to pay attention to the lover of my soul and seek His insight as to the way I should walk.

Are you awake?

Awake in Reality?

Do you trust In the perspective of your five senses or trust in God's present guidance in the "Now"?

Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding.

 6. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Corinthians 6:2 KJV   For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Live in His presence! Live in the now.

Presence –noun  1. the state or fact of being present, as with others or in a place.

Jehovah Shammah: God is "Present"

The "present" is the time that is associated with the events perceived directly, not as a recollection of the past (memory) or a speculation of the future (reason). It is often called "NOW".

Moments in the Now!

I had a moment tonight to talk with Hudson (he's 14). He wanted to tell me about a word he had come across that started with "N". He explained if I did a search on Google for "emptiness, Wikipedia" that was where he found the word that started with "N".  I asked "you did a search for "emptiness"? He said, "I think that is why I'm lazy, I just think what's the point"?

The word he found was "Nihilism" which means life is without objective meaning. 

Hudson's favorite book of the Bible is Ecclesiastes because it expresses so much of how he feels. 

I tried to remind him that the questions he is asking are important and that God is giving him the answer. Life is pointless without God. With God, what's the point? Then Harrison came in and wanted his DS connected to the wi-fi.

After I tucked Hudson in for the night, I asked God to help me understand what Hudson was struggling with. I googled "emptiness" and began to click on search results. I came across this. A video that answers the question...

WITH GOD, WHAT IS THE POINT? 

Swept Along 2

There is no stopping it. The cause and effect interaction of mass and energy, that changes and transforms our now, against our will. It seems choice cannot stop it. Change has two results for the observer. Good or bad, build up or destroy. Choice does not stop the change but it can determine a result. Somethings are predetermined by mass and energy's interaction. Somethings are open to choice and the result the choice brings. The creative ability of choice to destroy or build up is what presents each of us with our GIST.

Swept Along.

Determinism sweeps us along. This quality of existence that permeates reality and is only overcome by choice. Determinism is an overwhelming flux in the continuum of what exists. All around cause and effect spits out the facts that are created, and our choices add to the "Sum" of our "Now". Every choice is an unalterable fact that we are doomed to reap the results of (I mean that we are not able to escape). The tide never wanes, it sweeps us along in a synchronicity of complexity only God understands. Thus we are swept along by change.

The interaction of mass and energy results in a cause and effect, that creates an inertial flow that exerts a tendency to bring about a similar outcome. Commonly called a "rut" or habit.

But choice can trump determinism. True choice is made evident in the light of truth. It is the power to overcome the inertial flow of your history and to become all that God created you to be. No need to be blown along with every wind of doctrine. Ephesians 4:14

Hmm... Have you ever noticed advertising?

Choice.

The interaction of mass and energy results in a cause and effect, that creates an inertial flow that tends to create a tendency to repeat the interaction. Commonly called a "Rut" that we cycle around in.

Choice frees us from the interaction of mass and energy that results in a cause and effect determinism. The "Rut" is overcome by the truth that we have the ability to choose a different path.