I never understood vibe coding. Everytime I ask an AI to write any code it produces pure spaghetti slop that I wouldn't even accept from my newbie juniors. Tried all the premium memberships, all the AI's even rotating code between different AI's and asking what it did wrong it just produces garbage. Just tried it again now as someone who can read code and it hasn't really got any better lol

I wish more people understood this on 𝕏: if you post less frequently then each of your posts has a higher percentage chance of being seen by any of your followers this isn't because your directly punished by the algorithm, it's just for the sake of variety and because of math if you want more views only any one post then make each post count of course if you don't care as much about the numbers then fire away!

My ideas of historic objectivity seem pretty obvious ngl. The idea that each era of history makes mistakes and so you should cross reference different time periods against a universal truth to assess the shared traits or weaknesses. That modernity isn’t just unilaterally correct against previous societies. That historic societies weren’t lying about building their worlds off authentic religious experiences. This all makes total sense and seems obvious. Intuitive. So why did I have to develop it myself in the 21st century. Probably some other author had it before which I don’t know about. This seems like something the Greeks figured out. Maybe not. Idk. It definitely seems like something we should have understood by the 19th century. Why was it so late?

Tony holds minor stake in bybit. But has no impact over day to day business, that being said, the three: Bitget, Bybit, MEXC ‘s business strategy and ethics are one of a kind. I wish I can say that Bybit’s different but I never truly understood what Ben want, he’s pure chaos.

Episode 2 of Core Notes from Core Devs is out now! 👀 Catch the Ethereum core developers at @offchainlabs discuss the latest happenings in @Ethereum development. This week we talk with @terencechain, @manunalepa, @jameshe_eth, and @preston_vanloon about scaling & accelerating Ethereum and how we think Ethereum governance can evolve. Hosted by @ohyeahdavid. Time stamps: 0:31 What's one thing from the past two weeks of developments that you wish every Ethereum user understood better? 1:39 What are some challenges to think about when implementing PeerDAS? 3:08 What are your thoughts on scaling Ethereum throughput in general? 4:53 What's one thing you would implement to improve Ethereum governance? 5:55 What do you think about the calls to accelerate Ethereum? 6:35 What's your favorite Ethereum conference or meeting?

Introducing our new video series: Core Notes from Core Devs! Catch the Ethereum core developers at @offchainlabs discuss the latest happenings in Ethereum development. This week we talk about the Pectra upgrade including upcoming preparations for devs and changes in store for users. Time stamps: 0:09 What's one thing from the past two weeks of developments that you wish every Ethereum user understood better? 1:00 What does the Prysm team think about block builder specifications and does this differ from other teams? 2:07 What does the team think is the best approach to upgrading testnets? 3:52 Looking at the timeline discussions from the call, which changes in the coming months excite you the most? 6:23 We want your feedback!

Luke 6:38 Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. The measure you use will be measured back to you. To give is an expression of GOD's nature. When God expressed His love to the world, He gave. He did not just give as one gives to a beggar, a tiny fraction of the surplus of wealth and riches of heaven. He gave as one giving the best He had, His only beloved Son. Many know, but few understand the implications. That is to say, GOD did not give us the unwanted, the overrun, the rejects of heaven but His treasure, the One and Only one of heaven. GOD's giving is more than sharing what He has as what best buddies do. He gave us the most precious things He had when He gave us His one and only Son. Therefore, when GOD expressed His love, it was packed with sincerity and generosity that cost Him, figuratively, heart pain. David understood this principle when he said that he would not offer anything to GOD that cost me nothing. In the same manner, Solomon offered to GOD an extravagant sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheeps for the dedication of the Lord's temple. These figures are meaningless unless we can add some understanding to them. If one sheep can feed fifty people, then 120,000 sheep can feed 6 million people. An ox is about the weight of seven sheep. Twenty-two thousand oxen would equate to the weight of 154,000 sheep. The amount can feed 7.7 million people. In total, Solomon's offering was a meal for 13.7 million people. According to the BAS Library, Jerusalem's population during the reign of King Solomon was around 5,000 people. Compared to the population, the number of the sacrifice was astounding and beyond imagination. Solomon did not need to overkill in his offering, but he did. GOD is not a beast that takes delight in the blood of oxen and sheep. However, in all sacrifices, GOD wants to see blood. If there is no blood, then it is not a sacrifice. Therefore, if Solomon's offering did not cause him pain, he would not, figuratively, bleed for it. In other words, if something were to cost us something, it must cause us heart pain. Only then would it be an acceptable sacrifice to GOD. If not, we are only offering GOD our surplus or donation that we can live without. Only when we understand giving as GOD gives will we know how to reciprocate, activating His promise of a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will our giving be compounded back to us. As much as the principle might sound simple, GOD will return us more and above what we give, but it is not. Many would not give because it is not within our nature to give. As natural as a dog barks and a cat meows, we take, snatch, grab, hoard, rob, steal, etc. Therefore, to give is against our grain. In his epistle, the Apostle James states that we crave what we do not have and will kill and covet to obtain it. We quarrel and fight. GOD knows who we are beneath our facade. To guard against our default desire to take whatever does not belong to us, GOD put within the Ten Commandments that You shall not steal. Even that is not enough. He added another two commandments: You shall not covet, and You shall not murder. The first one is to prevent stealing from taking root in us by forbidding us from harbouring secret desires of coveting what belongs to others. The latter is to guard against killing others to take over their possessions, like David killing Uriah the Hittite and taking his wife, Bathsheba, as his woman. If it is not within our nature to take what does not belong to us, then GOD will not have gone to the extent of placing three out of the Ten Commandments addressing the weakness. And dangle such a big carrot of overflowing returns of a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured out to us. That is, when we give an apple, we reap a tree of apples. Or, like Abraham, who offered GOD his son and reaped descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. GOD is exceptionally generous with His promises, outshining us in our giving. The next question is if GOD's promises are easily achievable, then everyone should be living in the promised land flowing with milk and honey. However, most of us are not. If not, then we need to look deeper into His promises, as we might be assuming something wrongly. GOD's promises are more challenging to achieve than we can imagine. The challenge is before we can give, our covetous nature must die. Without it dying, we cannot give. In other words, we are locked within our covetousness. It is as challenging as getting a stingy person to be generous, a rebellious child to be obedient, or a lazy man to be diligent. On the surface, changing might not be a big issue as it is a matter of orientation. Yes, if only we could orientate the sun to rise from the west and set in the east. Even Jesus, a Man of miracles, looked at the rich young man and shook His head. He could do nothing for him except to say, "Truly I tell you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again, I tell you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." The rich young man was much better than many as he was obedient to the commandments - Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honour your father and mother, and love your neighbour as yourself. The one thing he could not do is to give. He could not give up his wealth for the kingdom of GOD as Jesus wanted of him. The unfortunate truth is that many are like little children who cannot give up the little they can grab in their hands for the much that is in GOD's hands. They only want GOD to give them abundantly without them having to give anything first. However, GOD's principle does not work this way. If not, Jesus would not have instructed us otherwise and not to give, and it will be given to us. Therefore, giving is a prerequisite to receiving. Jesus, indisputably, came as the truth, and what He says is the way. Hence, whatever He instructs, we must follow. However, the hidden issue is not that we do not wish to follow, but by default, we cannot. That is what many are unaware of. The Apostle Paul understood when he said, "For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do. And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it." Jesus knows and understands our weakness and incapability, and He has a solution for us. Therefore, He said, "If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." What must we deny? We must deny the sinful carnal man within us. This carnal man is not dead but very much alive within us. He is our best buddy in sin. He is the nagging voice luring us to do evil and the disapproving voice to do good. The Apostle Paul referred to him as our flesh. He said, "For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so we do not do what we want." In other words, we do not have much choice but to listen to the flesh as long as he is alive within us. If not, he will nag 24/7 until we surrender. Consequently, we often do things that we regret later. Whoever listens to his flesh cannot obey GOD's commandments and will not please Him. As long as the flesh is alive within us, we can only be carnal Christians and not Christians transformed in the image of Christ. To be transformed Christians, we must be able to say, 'I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.' The crucifixion is in mind. It is in our thinking. We need to crucify the mind of our flesh. Therefore, the Apostle Paul urged us, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." What that means is we must not think according to the logic of the world but to spiritual logic. We need to learn to think according to the wisdom of GOD's spiritual laws and not the wisdom of the world. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. To carnal thinking, to give is to rob ourselves by ourselves, and this is a disputable fact. When we give, we will have less. No one ever gives and yet to have more. Hence, the less we give, the more we have. Therefore, no one with a rational mind would rob himself of good things by giving them away. The rich young man who wanted to obtain eternal life is likewise. He could do many things for GOD except to give. On the surface, he is a pious person, but deep within, he is self-centred. The motive of his actions is all for himself - to achieve abundant life on earth and eternal life in heaven. He could not give of his wealth as it would affect his abundant life on earth. Hence, he hoped to obtain his eternal life by doing and not by giving. Not giving is not a sin, as GOD never state in the Ten Commandments that You might give or be cursed. However, it is a sign of a lack of faith in GOD, and it will affect our ability to receive from Him. Proverbs 3 states, "Honour the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine." That means if we share with GOD our wealth and all that we have, He will bless us with abundance, plentiful and overflowing. If not, the opposite will happen - scarcity, lack and shortfall. Why should this be so? We must remember that the ground is cursed after the fall of man, as it will yield for us thorns and thistles. That means when we plant a tomato plant, we will not get tomatoes but weeds. When we start a business, instead of making a profit, we make losses. As a rule of thumb, nine out of ten businesses will fail, even for well-funded companies with no exception. Whatever hard work we sow into the cursed ground, it is like sowing into a block hole. It will not be the result we expect. For this reason, we cannot look to the ground to give us the works of our hands. Instead, we must look upwards towards GOD. We need Him to nullify the curse of the ground so that we reap the fruit of our hands. Many are unaware that everyone is walking on cursed ground because we are spiritually blinded to the wilderness we are in. We cannot see beyond the physical to understand the spiritual realm of GOD. No matter how high we climb or how far we walk, wherever we turn or wherever we go, it does not matter because everywhere is the wilderness. Only GOD can lead us into His promised land that we will experience blessedness, for it is as described in the book of Deuteronomy, a good land, a land of brooks and fountains and springs that flow through the valleys and hills; a land of wheat, barley, vines, fig trees, and pomegranates; a land of olive oil and honey; a land where you will eat food without scarcity, where we will lack nothing; a land whose rocks are iron and whose hills are ready to be mined for copper. When we eat and are satisfied, we are to bless the LORD our God for the good land. We must remember that the ground is cursed, and nothing grows in it. Whatever excellent efforts we put in will go to waste. Therefore, we cannot expect to sow on earth and reap from earth. We can only expect to sow on earth and reap from heaven, seeking GOD to bless the work of our hands. We must give against our nature to give, having faith in GOD that He will enlarge our boundaries and multiply our hard work. Therefore, giving is not an option but an assurance that we will reap what we sow. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into us. Prayer: Oh God, we thank you for this understanding of the passage that You are our Jehovah Jireh. Teach us to sow generously whilst on this earth so that we will reap a abundant return in Heaven. In Jesus Name, Amen

Walking in His Spiritual Enlightenment 2 Corinthians 12:9 But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness." Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest on me. Weakness makes us imperfect. Weakness is the flaw in perfection. With it, we are deemed as sheep to be slaughtered because weakness will lead us into temptation. Once tempted, many of us are like Eve, clueless about what to do next except to fall into it. Temptation is nothing to be desired as it is nothing but evil. Hence, Jesus taught us to pray that our Father will not lead us into Temptation but will deliver us from the evil one. Jesus further warned us to: "Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak." That is, our bodies are weak, and whatever we hope to achieve is different from what we can achieve. We can have the best intentions, but they are hard to fulfil because of our inherent flaws: weakness. It is like having an underpowered car that does not allow us to go the extra mile. Having an underpowered car is not a big issue as long as it gets us somewhere. However, having weakness means we have a low resistance to temptation. If ever we fall in, we fall into the pit of no return. Then, it can be a treacherous issue. Eve was one of many being clueless when tempted. Even great men like David and wise men like Solomon were clueless, too. If not, they would not have fallen into sin. We must understand that only if there is a need, then there is a desire. It is similar to the phenomenon of hunger. If a man is hungry, he will naturally desire to eat. If not, he might not be tempted to eat. Likewise, a weakness is like a hunger that opens our appetite to temptation. Paul understood the struggle when he said, "For I do not do the good I want to do. Instead, I keep on doing the evil I do not want to do." Nevertheless, it is absurd to hear from Paul, a ruthless man of command and control who has little control over his weakness. That is, weakness is not limited to the non-achievers or losers, who are undetermined or foolish, but it transcends to the superb, mighty, wise, or ruthless. Therefore, no matter who we are or where we are in life, we are plagued with weaknesses at our level of competency, so we do not do the good we want but the evil we do not wish to do. At this instance in the epistle of Romans, Paul was quick to dismiss his responsibility for his weakness by saying, "And if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin living in me that does it." Paul disassociated his sinful behaviour as if it had nothing to do with him but the sin living in him. We can link his behaviour to that of Adam, who told GOD, "The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Indirectly, Adam was blaming GOD for the woman He gave him for inducing him to eat from the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil and causing him to disobey Him. He was an innocent party, and whatever happened had nothing to do with him as he was caught in the web of decision-making, of which none was his. From Adam, we can see the birth of man's weakness, and after Jesus was crucified, died and risen, Apostle Paul still held on to the Adamic weakness of the attitude that it has nothing to do with me. Paul was as clueless as Adam. Indeed, Adam did not make any decisions on his own except to give all the animals and his women their names. He had all the decisions made for him. GOD chose the woman for him as his companion, and the woman chose the fruit that he should eat. Even though GOD had warned him against eating the forbidden fruit, Adam made no reservations about eating it as his woman gave it to him. He had no reason to doubt the woman that GOD gave him would do him harm. Even if he did not trust GOD, he would not doubt her, who is the DNA of his bone and flesh. Adam trusted Eve and listened to all the decisions she made. He did not utter a word during the conversation between the Serpent and his woman as he watched passively beside her. He did not clarify the misconception when the Serpent distorted the truth. He left her to assume wrongly as the Serpent misled her. When Eve gave him the forbidden fruit, Adam could have rejected it, but he did not because he, like many, could not say no to their flesh. In other words, Adam was the sheep, and his woman was his shepherd. Is there anything wrong with that? Yes, when we listen to the wrong voice and do not do what is right, our whole life will be a mistake. GOD told Cain, "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it." The moral is that we must do right if we want to straighten our lives, and it is more than not doing wrong. Adam did not do anything wrong. He did not take the forbidden fruit, but it was given to him as one of the fruits of the garden. Therefore, he was clueless about what went wrong when GOD questioned him when he went into hiding. Only Eve had the answer, and that is, the Serpent deceived her. Therefore, contrary to the belief of many, Adam was punished because he ate the forbidden fruit, but that is only the secondary reason. The main reason GOD said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat." The issue is not about eating but listening, which causes the outcome, which is man's downfall. The voice he obeyed determined his action, resulting in his fate. Listening to the wrong voice was the first step of a thousand miles in the wrong direction. The difference can be between life and death. Despite being warned, why did Adam do it? Adam was stuck in a tug-of-war between GOD's restriction and his woman's inducement. Between the two of them, he had to choose one, and he chose his woman. There was little of a choice. It was either he betrayed GOD, his creator and provider, or himself, as the woman was his bone and flesh. From then till now, little has changed. Many men will still choose themselves over GOD, succumbing to their flesh within or without, causing themselves much grief. David and Solomon were among one of them. Despite their greatness, they could not control their flesh. Therefore, it is not without reason when Jesus said, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple." Therefore, without the element of hate for anyone, including ourselves, who will turn our ears away from GOD's instruction, we cannot be Jesus's disciples. Adam could not do it for GOD, but approximately 2000 years and 21 generations later, a man did it for GOD. He was Abraham, and he listened to GOD faithfully to the extent of even sacrificing his only flesh and blood, his son. For him, GOD was also willing to sacrifice His Son, so through Abraham's lineage came Jesus. Therefore, because of Abraham through Jesus, we become a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvellous light. Hence, anyone who wants to have life must eat his flesh and drink his blood. The implication is that Christ's DNA is in His flesh and blood, and to eat his flesh and drink his blood is to take on His DNA of obedience and listen to GOD. Therefore, the blood of Christ proves its effectiveness once we are willing to listen. After the fall of man, there is a change in plan. The woman took on a new role and became a separate entity from Adam. She was given a name, Eve, to signify the change. Before that, all the animals were given names except Eve because she existed as an integral part of Adam as she came from his rib. She was his extension of him and, figuratively speaking, like his tail, following wherever he went. She did not exist as an individual. After the fall, GOD switched Eve's role from one dictating Adam to one submitting to him. For that reason, GOD said to Eve, "Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." If Eve had been submitting to Adam and not ruling over him, that statement would be redundant. It is like asking a child to clean his room when the room has been cleaned. Eve was no longer the voice that Adam listened to. In the new spiritual structure, Eve's voice has been replaced because GOD ordained Adam to rule over Eve, and Eve has to listen to Adam. The new voice will be of Adam's new flesh, not Eve, but his fallen nature. And this voice is passed on to us like an inheritance. We know of it from the next scene of Cain and Abel's offerings. GOD mentioned that sin is crouching at Cain's door, desiring him. What does sin desire Cain to do? It desires Cain to steal, kill and destroy, which is the modus operandi of Satan. The next thing we know, Cain killed Abel. From this, we know sin as his inner voice manages to convince Cain to kill. Cain did not manage to master the compulsion of his sinful nature, which led him to be punished. GOD has a reason to use the Serpent as the personification of Satan and Eve, the flesh, to show how the spiritual world connects to a man in the relationship between Satan, the flesh, and man. As depicted in the book of Genesis, the Serpent never once spoke to Adam directly, only to his woman. Many might take this for granted, as that is how things happen. Do not take any details for granted, as secrets of enlightenment might be hidden behind them. The puzzling thing is that when God asked Adam about what had happened, Adam was clueless even when he was with Eve during the whole conversation with the Serpent, as if the conversation between them was viewed from him. Only Eve had the answer. What can we infer from them? Could it be possible there is a gatekeeper between God and man or Satan and man? The gatekeeper of the physical man is his spiritual man, who decodes, translates, and understands all spiritual matters. Though the physical man might be clueless about the spiritual happenings, the spiritual man understands because spiritual issues must be spiritually discerned. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians, "The natural man does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. For they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned." Therefore, it is possible that Eve, before the fall, was the personification of 'Adam's spiritual man' as the Serpent, Satan. Thus, whatever happened, Eve seemed to know better than Adam. Furthermore, in the Epistle of Romans, Paul wrote, "The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children." Apostle Paul did not write: the Spirit Himself testifies with us that we are GOD's children. He understood the sequence, and when GOD speaks, it is from His Spirit to our spirit. The physical aspect of the man might not be aware of the happening. It is like what happened to Peter when Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood but by My Father in heaven." Apostle Peter must have been clueless about what he said on the spur of the moment until Jesus enlightened him. GOD talks to us and guides us literally in ways we do not know. Therefore, Jesus said, "When you are brought before synagogues, rulers, and authorities, do not worry about how to defend yourselves or what to say. For at that time, the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say." GOD's voice is the power within us, giving us the knowledge to defeat our enemies by not falling into temptation so we do not do what we do not want to. Therefore, Paul delights in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties because one word from GOD will change his situation and even his life. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Prayer: Father, thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit to dwell in me, so I am no longer a spiritual orphan. I will be able to discern spiritually the things of God and walk according to God's power and strength. Whether I turn to the right or the left, my ears will hear Your command within me: "This is the way. Walk in it." My ways will be pleasing to you, and I will never be clueless in the face of temptation. Amen.

Understanding the Emptiness within 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body but have not love, I gain nothing. Do you have a heart? Yes, all of us have a heart, but not many of us have a heart for GOD and others, making us miss out on GOD's goodness for loving Him and others. Our heart is for ourselves, making it the underlying motive for many things we do. GOD understands where He stands in our hearts when He said, "These people honour Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me." No matter how holy our worship may seem, they are frivolous acts if our hearts are not in it. To GOD, our hearts are deceitful above all things and beyond cure. The lips can say one thing, but the heart means another. No one can understand what is in the heart because there is no congruence between what the heart says and what it means. GOD knows that. It is not without reason that Jesus asked us to 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' The emphasis is on the word all. GOD demands that our love for Him should be 100% and nothing less. Without any other love coming in between our love for Him, our love will be genuine and sincere. Nothing will lure our hearts away, and they will forever be for GOD. Why do we need to have a heart for GOD and others? It is because no man is an island, and GOD has not made man to be an island. In the book of Genesis, even though GOD was with Adam, He still said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper." Therefore, a man is not made to exist alone with GOD. He needs someone to complement him to make him complete. He is a part of the whole of GOD's organisational structure. The Apostle Paul illustrates the structure as: "The body is a unit, though it is composed of many parts. And although its parts are many, they all form one body." Therefore, we are, in Christ, many but are one body, and each member belongs to one another. Even if we exist as individuals, we do not belong to ourselves but to one another for the kingdom of GOD. Therefore, no one exists as a solitary star in the galaxy but as part of a constellation of stars twinkling for GOD. As individuals, to gel into GOD's structure as an integrated whole, we need love. The Apostle Paul avowed that love is the bond of perfect unity. Love is like gravity, which holds everything together and holds us together with GOD and others. Only when we stay in love with GOD and others will the blood of Christ flow through us to be one body. Only then, we could be as Jesus said, "I have given them the glory You gave Me, so that they may be one as We are one— I in them and You in Me—that they may be perfectly united, so that the world may know that You sent Me and have loved them just as You have loved Me." This bond of love is so strong that nothing could break it. The Apostle Paul ascertained that when he said, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Many of us cannot comprehend the mystery of being one with GOD. He is spirit, and we are physical. To do that, we need to understand the spiritual realm. The only way we can connect to GOD is through the spirit. 1 Corinthians states, "He who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit." What does that mean? It is similar to what GOD said in Genesis, "For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." Both mention being united to become one. The difference is in the realms. Perfect unity in the physical realm is called one flesh, while in the spiritual realm, it is called one spirit. If we can understand the concept of one flesh in the physical dimension, like between Adam and Eve, we should be able to understand the one spirit in the spiritual dimension between Jesus and us. Both are synonymous, and both require the bond of love to be in unity. It is not surprising that the Apostle Paul compares our relationship with Jesus to that of a husband and wife when he said, "Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her." Metaphorically, the superglue that bonds any couple to be united as one is nothing else but love. Therefore, before a couple decides to come together as one, they will confess their love for each other. In the name of love, many are willing to commit their lifetime to one another, demonstrating the magical power of love. However, whether they can achieve it is another question because love is more than an emotion but an attitude. To Jesus, love is a commandment to be with GOD and others, and it ranks above other commandments. If love is a commandment, it will mean we will have to adhere to it as long as we live. It cannot be taken lightly. If we ever break it, as in all commandments, we will have to face the detrimental effects of it. Yes, there are consequences to our unloving actions. Though it might seem harmless as we are not lying, stealing, killing or mass destruction, regardless, the repercussions are significant. Without love, the integrity of the spiritual matrix we are in with GOD and others will be compromised. It is similar to a family without the bond of love will soon break. Anyone who does not love will ultimately leave GOD's matrix for something else. Furthermore, if we have no love or cannot love, we would have failed fundamentally as Christians because GOD is love. It is the uniform we wear that will distinguish us from the world. That is to say, if we do not have love, we do not belong to GOD. As it is written in 1 John, "Beloved, let us love one another because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love." Love allows us to be with GOD and know Him. But what is so special about knowing GOD? Many people know GOD but do not love Him. Therefore, knowing Him is more than recognition and awareness. In the book of Genesis, the same word is used to describe the relationship between Adam and Eve. It writes, "And Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD." Adam and Eve were of one flesh, and knowing each other meant having an intimate relationship. If we love GOD and are of one spirit with Him, then knowing GOD, naturally, means that we have an intimate spiritual relationship with Him where we will bear much spiritual fruit. That explains why some people are more anointed than others. They love GOD more, so they bear more fruit. This intimate relationship with GOD can only happen if we love Him. Otherwise, we will never know Him and will not bear any fruit. To a non-Christian, if we leave GOD out of the picture, what is the purpose of love that binds a couple to be one flesh? Against all logic, many couples fall in and out of love, and after much hurt, disappointment and sadness, they still have the stamina to seek love out again and again. Isn't it once bitten, twice shy, but when it comes to love, they are not fearful of trying again and again. What are they looking for? Everyone is looking for completeness. Figuratively, Adam is not a complete man, and neither is Eve a complete woman. Adam has a missing bone that was given to Eve, and Eve is only a bone in need of a body. Only when they come together will there be completeness. This completeness is GOD ordained as He said, "So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." Without this completeness, a man will experience loneliness, as Adam experienced before he had Eve. GOD understood the no-good effects of loneliness when He said, "It is not good for the man to be alone." This loneliness is man's shortcoming, which is predestined from the beginning in GOD's perfect wisdom. Later, GOD used this shortcoming so that man could find his completeness in Him. This incompleteness could manifest itself in many forms, leading to emptiness, meaningless, unhappiness, depression, hopelessness, worthlessness, frustration, et cetera. Sadly, it cannot be filled with promiscuity, drugs, liquor or any form of destructive behaviours or addictions. When GOD created man with the capability for loneliness, loneliness became a spiritual issue that requires a spiritual remedy. The only remedy is to love and be loved. The Apostle Paul expresses the condition of being without love as 'I am nothing', denying his worthiness in all the good he did. Love adds warmth and colours to our world, meaning to our lives, purpose to our sacrifices, fulfilment to our achievements, contentment to the little we have, gratitude to goodness, appreciation to beauty, and forgiveness to wrongdoings. Love is so magical that it is the strength in weakness, the determination in hardship, the hope in hopelessness, and the steadfastness in adversity. In short, where there is love, there is GOD and the fruit of the Spirit - joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As humans, we understand physical unity as one flesh. But then, what is spiritual unity as one spirit with GOD? In short, it is the unity of the heart, mind and soul with GOD. For that, we need to obey the greatest commandment to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind because only then will GOD be in perfect unity with us in the heart, mind and soul. When we give our hearts to GOD, we will have the love of GOD and the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16). He will become our soulmate, understanding us from the inside out. Then, we will not be alone in our minds, hearts, and souls. We will find our match and never feel alone. The difference between being one flesh and being one spirit is no matter how close we are to a person as one flesh, the person cannot fully understand us. But GOD as one spirit with us can. The Psalmist expresses it, "O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD. You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain." With such understanding of us, how can we ever be lonely or feel no one cares or understands? If anyone ever feels empty, void or lonely, needing to hit the pub or be involved in some frivolous relationships or activities, it might be that he has not loved enough. GOD is waiting for us like the father of the prodigy son. As long as we are willing to walk the one step towards Him, He will run the ninety-nine steps towards us. All we need to do is commit our hearts to Him, and we will never have to feel empty again. If love is the main reason for a filled and satisfied life, then how can a physical being love a spiritual being, GOD? There are many things we could do to express our love, but only one thing is needed, and that is to keep His command. Jesus said, "As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and remain in His love. I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete." Keeping GOD's commandments is the only currency GOD accepts for His love, and anything else is not necessary. It is not what we want to do for GOD that counts; it is what GOD wants of us. Therefore, some people do not experience the love of GOD despite all the things they did because they did it their way and not GOD's way. In conclusion, GOD in the New Testament is no longer the GOD of the Old Testament. He no longer exists as GOD and us as two separate entities but as GOD in us as one entity. GOD no longer put His law before us to separate us from Him. Instead, He is one spirit with us in heart, mind and soul to fulfil His Law. By loving Him and others, we have a deep spiritual connection with GOD and a strong affinity with others. We become one spirit in the body of Christ. We know, understand and feel for one another through the spirit. As long as we are connected in spirit with GOD, nothing can separate us, not time, not distance or place. With GOD with us and in us, we will not be lonely, isolated, or empty.

Finding true success through the Word of GOD Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then, you will prosper and succeed in all you do. All roads might lead to Rome, but there is only one way that leads to prosperity and success. Some might think it is through hard work, creativity, perseverance or any positive traits. They are definitely good attributes, but they are not the way. As conceited as it may sound, we have only one option to ironclad achievements and successes so that they will be everlasting, not something that comes by day and flies by night. That way is through the Spiritual way of GOD, according to the Book of the Law. In other words, nothing we do is good enough to give us true success unless we follow His way. Only that will make a difference. Unbeknownst to many, this is where many fail. Why? We do not know the way. Jesus has cautioned us that the way that leads to life is narrow, and the gate to it is small. Unlike the wide is the gate and broad is the way, few will find it. Therefore, we might think we know the way, but we might be wrong. Our failures prove that we do not know the way. Our weakness is we know far too little of the Bible while assuming we know enough to be right with GOD. Once we are not careful, we might end up like the foolish virgins in the parable of the ten virgins, being locked out of the wedding feast. The difference between the wise virgins and the foolish virgins is that one group has more oil-nointing than the other. Presumably, the foolish virgins knew GOD's promises and claimed them in faith without working out their salvation. Unlike the foolish virgins, the wise virgins not only knew GOD's promises but also the terms and conditions to fulfil them. They worked out their salvation. One group fulfilled the requirements and made it to the wedding feast, while the other did not. Therefore, knowing GOD's promises is not enough. We need to meet the conditions. Jesus is no exception, and He met GOD's condition before He was given a name beyond others. Many of GOD's promises are conditional, meaning we must pay a price for them. In other words, they require sacrifices. Without doing so, we cannot claim the promises. Even though Jesus paid the price for our salvation, it does not mean it is free. To claim it, we must repent from our sins. That is to mean we must sin no more. We are not free to do as we wish but what GOD wants of us. Many know the promise of salvation, but a few are aware of the condition that they have to sin no more. If they had known, many would not have jeopardised their eternal life for eternal condemnation by sinning. Sinning gives us temporary gratifications but eternal sorrows. Therefore, it is not worth the indulgence. Living in GOD's promises is like enjoying the breathtaking mountain view. However, to enjoy the view, we must scale the mountain. Realistically, without scaling the mountain, there will be no view. If we do not scale, we remain like chickens that peck the ground instead of eagles that soar into heaven. As much as we might be acrophobic, remember, when Adam and Eve fell, GOD cursed the ground, and the consequence of that is we must toil to eat off the ground all the days of our lives. Both thorns and thistles will make the ground yield for us. Instead of eating from the sweetness of the fruits, we eat the blandness and bitterness of the plants of the field. Today, if we think that our lives lack sweetness, we can change it by scaling the mountain of GOD's Word. Only then can we distance ourselves from the cursed ground and soar in the blessings of GOD. Yes, as long as we do everything written in the Book, all His promises are always yes and amen to us because GOD rules heaven and earth according to His Word. As simple as it might sound, many do not know its implications. We must become slaves to the Word or slaves to righteousness, as Apostle Paul phrased it. Ultimately, it means we must, according to the Book of Deuteronomy, faithfully obey the voice of the LORD our God and be careful to follow all His commandments. No matter how we choose to understand it, we must be obedient to His Law 100%. Where He leads, and we must follow. When He says yes, we will not say no. We willingly relinquish our rights to be under His sovereignty as Christ did for the Kingdom of Heaven. In truth, GOD holds sovereignty over heaven and earth because He is the creator of them. Everything in the universe revolves around Him, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. His kingdom comes, and His will be done on earth as in heaven. As much as we want, nothing revolves around us - our wishes, hopes, or purposes. We are not the centre of anything, not by our will, our might or our strength. Nothing happens unless GOD permits it. If our lives ever turn out well, it is that we first seek the kingdom of GOD and His righteousness because GOD does not bless unrighteous people. For the righteous, He ensures that we are the head and not the tail; we will only move upward and never downward. Only when we recognise we are nothing without Him will we be willing to align ourselves according to His will so that we may bear much fruit. It is not without reason that the Bible writes, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven'. Only those who are not blinded by their self-centredness know they are poor in spirit. They recognise their spiritual emptiness and the need for GOD, seeking Him with all their hearts. Only they will find Him. Be that as it may, many understand that Jesus is the vine, that we are the branch, and that we can do nothing without Him. However, that is not the case when they are in church. Nobody goes to church to pray as the branch for His kingdom to come and His will be done. Few pray to be more like Jesus in obedience to GOD the Father and love others as Jesus has loved us, fulfilling GOD's will on earth. Instead, we pray for ourselves for our kingdom to come so that we can be wealthy and better than most men, winning their admiration. We pray against those who go against us and despise them as they are not like us. We fail to be better persons because we are not like Christ, full of the fruit of the Spirit. Many times, difficult people are those who are different from us and have different perspectives coming from contracting circumstances. Once we have the patience to understand them, they might not be as obstinate as they seem. Similarly, there are no wayward children, only neglected ones. All we need to do is exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, and many things will change. When we do that, we invite the Holy Spirit to work in our midst. There is no situation that is impossible for GOD to resolve. When a man's ways please Him, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. GOD will fill our shortcomings with His strength to be what He wants us to be: good children, spouses, parents, friends or enemies. If any of them slaps us on our right cheek, we will turn to him the other. If he forces us to go one mile, we will go with them two. And if he wants to take our tunic, we will let him have our cloak as well. To meet the unreasonable demand of going a mile is stretching beyond human limits. And to go for an additional mile is inhuman; it requires divine empowerment. GOD is not joking when He asks us to go the extra mile. If we cannot, it only means that we are not empowered to do so and are unable to follow instructions. Therefore, we need to go before GOD on our knees, asking for His divine intervention so that we can do what we cannot. If not, we cannot fulfil the will of GOD. Many might think GOD is teasing for stating such an OMG request, but He is not. He was also not teasing when He asked the Israelites to conquer the promised land dominated by giants. Though time and situation have changed, GOD has not. Even when there are no more giants to fight, His demands are as impossible as ever. To do His will, we need more than human strength; we need divine empowerment to deny our internal resistance, which is called fallen nature. Only then will we be able to carry the cross and follow the path of Jesus. As ugly as it might sound, if we cannot deny our fallen nature, we cannot embrace GOD will and welcome His kingdom. The big question is: are we still GOD's children if we do not do His will? Can we believe in GOD, do whatever we want and still be called children of GOD? Simply put, can we pass a maths test without knowing how to answer the questions and only knowing the English words? The bottom line is if we cannot do everything written in the Book of the Law, how do we qualify as children of GOD? Many might argue that the rule has changed, and it is no longer by work but by grace through faith that we are saved. It is a gift of GOD. We do not need to work for our salvation but to believe and have faith. Jesus came to settle all the documentation for us so we could have an unconditional visa to heaven. Yes, it is true, but it is not as simple as what we think. Salvation is a gift only by GOD's gracious invitation and not something that we can buy with our work. GOD is magnanimous and has given everyone an invitation to salvation through Jesus Christ without prejudice. However, if we decide to accept the invitation, we need not do anything except attend the wedding banquet where GOD has prepared for His Son. The condition is we need to dress according to the wedding code. If we do not, we will be thrown out, as illustrated in the parable of the wedding banquet. Even though salvation is not by work, it does not mean we do not need to put any effort into it, as some might assume. The only thing free is the invitation. We are not prequalified to be invited, but anything more than that is not. If we are staying for the banquet, we need to change to wedding clothes. There are expectations to be met. Therefore, we cannot oversimplify things or assume wrongly. No work does not mean no expectations. When GOD promised Joshua success in all that he did as the next leader after Moses's death, the condition was that he must know the Book of the Law by heart by meditating on it day and night and that he be careful to do everything written in it. Only then, figuratively, will whatever he touches turn into gold, implying that all God's promises are "Yes" and "Amen." He understood the gravity of his situation, as no one was fit enough to fight the giants. In other words, they are digging their graves. GOD did not ask Joshua to hope in Him to deliver them but to do everything written in the Book. If GOD were to save the Israelites regardless of whether they adhere to His Word or not, then it would be redundant to instruct Joshua to mediate night and day in His word. Therefore, knowing the Word is paramount to his success. Likewise, it is paramount to our success, and we should put in every effort to seek it. Joshua 1:8 This Book of the Law must not depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. For then, you will prosper and succeed in all you do. All roads might lead to Rome, but there is only one way that leads to prosperity and success. Some might think it is through hard work, creativity, perseverance or any positive traits. They are definitely good attributes, but they are not the way. As conceited as it may sound, we have only one option to ironclad achievements and successes so that they will be everlasting, not something that comes by day and flies by night. That way is through the Spiritual way of GOD, according to the Book of the Law. In other words, nothing we do is good enough to give us true success unless we follow His way. Only that will make a difference. Unbeknownst to many, this is where many fail. Why? We do not know the way. Jesus has cautioned us that the way that leads to life is narrow, and the gate to it is small. Unlike the wide is the gate and broad is the way, few will find it. Therefore, we might think we know the way, but we might be wrong. Our failures prove that we do not know the way. Our weakness is we know far too little of the Bible while assuming we know enough to be right with GOD. Once we are not careful, we might end up like the foolish virgins in the parable of the ten virgins, being locked out of the wedding feast. The difference between the wise virgins and the foolish virgins is that one group has more oil-nointing than the other. Presumably, the foolish virgins knew GOD's promises and claimed them in faith without working out their salvation. Unlike the foolish virgins, the wise virgins not only knew GOD's promises but also the terms and conditions to fulfil them. They worked out their salvation. One group fulfilled the requirements and made it to the wedding feast, while the other did not. Therefore, knowing GOD's promises is not good enough. We need to meet the conditions. Jesus is no exception, and He met GOD's condition before He was given a name beyond others. Many of GOD's promises are conditional, meaning we must pay a price for them. In other words, they require sacrifices. Without doing so, we cannot claim the promises. Even though Jesus paid the price for our salvation, it does not mean it is free. To claim it, we must repent from our sins. That is to mean we must sin no more. We are not free to do as we wish but what GOD wants of us. Many know the promise of salvation, but a few are aware of the condition that they have to sin no more. If they had known, many would not have jeopardised their eternal life for eternal condemnation by sinning. Sinning gives us temporary gratifications but eternal sorrows. Therefore, it is not worth the indulgence. Living in GOD's promises is like enjoying the breathtaking mountain view. However, to enjoy the view, we must scale the mountain. Realistically, without scaling the mountain, there will be no view. If we do not scale, we remain like chickens that peck the ground instead of eagles that soar into heaven. As much as we might be acrophobic, remember, when Adam and Eve fell, GOD cursed the ground, and the consequence of that is we must toil to eat off the ground all the days of our lives. Both thorns and thistles will make the ground yield for us. Instead of eating from the sweetness of the fruits, we eat the blandness and bitterness of the plants of the field. Today, if we think that our lives lack sweetness, we can change it by scaling the mountain of GOD's Word. Only then can we distance ourselves from the cursed ground and soar in the blessings of GOD. Yes, as long as we do everything written in the Book, all His promises are always yes and amen to us because GOD rules heaven and earth according to His Word. As simple as it might sound, many do not know its implications. We must become slaves to the Word or slaves to righteousness, as Apostle Paul phrased it. Ultimately, it means we must, according to the Book of Deuteronomy, faithfully obey the voice of the LORD our God and be careful to follow all His commandments. No matter how we choose to understand it, we must be obedient to His Law 100%. Where He leads, and we must follow. When He says yes, we will not say no. We willingly relinquish our rights to be under His sovereignty as Christ did for the Kingdom of Heaven. In truth, GOD holds sovereignty over heaven and earth because He is the creator of them. Everything in the universe revolves around Him, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. His kingdom comes, and His will be done on earth as in heaven. As much as we want, nothing revolves around us - our wishes, hopes, or purposes. We are not the centre of anything, not by our will, our might or our strength. Nothing happens unless GOD permits it. If our lives ever turn out well, it is that we first seek the kingdom of GOD and His righteousness because GOD does not bless unrighteous people. For the righteous, He ensures that we are the head and not the tail; we will only move upward and never downward. Only when we recognise we are nothing without Him will we be willing to align ourselves according to His will so that we may bear much fruit. It is not without reason that the Bible writes, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven'. Only those who are not blinded by their self-centredness know they are poor in spirit. They recognise their spiritual emptiness and the need for GOD, seeking Him with all their hearts. Only they will find Him. Be that as it may, many understand that Jesus is the vine, that we are the branch, and that we can do nothing without Him. However, that is not the case when they are in church. Nobody goes to church to pray as the branch for His kingdom to come and His will be done. Few pray to be more like Jesus in obedience to GOD the Father and love others as Jesus has loved us, fulfilling GOD's will on earth. Instead, we pray for ourselves for our kingdom to come so that we can be wealthy and better than most men, winning their admiration. We pray against those who go against us and despise them as they are not like us. We fail to be better persons because we are not like Christ, full of the fruit of the Spirit. Many times, difficult people are those who are different from us and have different perspectives coming from contracting circumstances. Once we have the patience to understand them, they might not be as obstinate as they seem. Similarly, there are no wayward children, only neglected ones. All we need to do is exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, and many things will change. When we do that, we invite the Holy Spirit to work in our midst. There is no situation that is impossible for GOD to resolve. When a man's ways please Him, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. GOD will fill our shortcomings with His strength to be what He wants us to be: good children, spouses, parents, friends or enemies. If any of them slaps us on our right cheek, we will turn to him the other. If he forces us to go one mile, we will go with them two. And if he wants to take our tunic, we will let him have our cloak as well. To meet the unreasonable demand of going a mile is stretching beyond human limits. And to go for an additional mile is inhuman; it requires divine empowerment. GOD is not joking when He asks us to go the extra mile. If we cannot, it only means that we are not empowered to do so and are unable to follow instructions. Therefore, we need to go before GOD on our knees, asking for His divine intervention so that we can do what we cannot. If not, we cannot fulfil the will of GOD. Many might think GOD is teasing for stating such an OMG request, but He is not. He was also not teasing when He asked the Israelites to conquer the promised land dominated by giants. Though time and situation have changed, GOD has not. Even when there are no more giants to fight, His demands are as impossible as ever. To do His will, we need more than human strength; we need divine empowerment to deny our internal resistance, which is called fallen nature. Only then will we be able to carry the cross and follow the path of Jesus. As ugly as it might sound, if we cannot deny our fallen nature, we cannot embrace GOD will and welcome His kingdom. The big question is: are we still GOD's children if we do not do His will? Can we believe in GOD, do whatever we want and still be called children of GOD? Simply put, can we pass a maths test without knowing how to answer the questions and only knowing the English words? The bottom line is if we cannot do everything written in the Book of the Law, how do we qualify as children of GOD? Many might argue that the rule has changed, and it is no longer by work but by grace through faith that we are saved. It is a gift of GOD. We do not need to work for our salvation but to believe and have faith. Jesus came to settle all the documentation for us so we could have an unconditional visa to heaven. Yes, it is true, but it is not as simple as what we think. Salvation is a gift only by GOD's gracious invitation and not something that we can buy with our work. GOD is magnanimous and has given everyone an invitation to salvation through Jesus Christ without prejudice. However, if we decide to accept the invitation, we need not do anything except attend the wedding banquet where GOD has prepared for His Son. The condition is we need to dress according to the wedding code. If we do not, we will be thrown out, as illustrated in the parable of the wedding banquet. Even though salvation is not by work, it does not mean we do not need to put any effort into it, as some might assume. The only thing free is the invitation. We are not prequalified to be invited, but anything more than that is not. If we are staying for the banquet, we need to change to wedding clothes. There are expectations to be met. Therefore, we cannot oversimplify things or assume wrongly. No work does not mean no expectations. When GOD promised Joshua success in all that he did as the next leader after Moses's death, the condition was that he must know the Book of the Law by heart by meditating on it day and night and that he be careful to do everything written in it. Only then, figuratively, whatever he touches will turn into gold, implying that all God's promises are "Yes" and "Amen." He understood the gravity of his situation, as no one was fit enough to fight the giants. In other words, they are digging their graves. GOD did not ask Joshua to hope in Him to deliver them but to do everything written in the Book. If GOD were to save the Israelites regardless of whether they adhere to His Word or not, then it would be redundant to instruct Joshua to mediate night and day in His word. Therefore, knowing the Word is paramount to his success. Likewise, it is paramount to our success, and we should put in every effort to seek it. Prayer: Dear God, help us to understand more of your Words through the Holy Spirit so we are equipped to do your Will on this earth and to glorify your Name. Amen

You are not what you think but the spirit that controls you Ephesians 6:12 'For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world's darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.' To a layperson, this statement might sound too bizarre and far-fetched, as if we were walking through the Star Wars movie studio pretending to be Jedi to battle against Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith. It is like we are in a world of make-believe where the spiritual forces of darkness in the heavenly realms are warring against us. In other words, we are attacked by alien invisible forces that are not flesh and blood like us. True, our real enemy is something we cannot see. If we are struggling with what we can see, then we are fighting a fake enemy. Most of us might be wondering, since we cannot astral travel, where our consciousness leaves our bodies, and how to fight a spiritual battle against the dark forces, the equivalent of Darth Sidious. The only evil forces we experience are from the people around us, the ones residing in our homes, offices, churches, or circles of friends, holding invisible knives and daggers, stabbing us with unkind words, deeds and intentions, and leaving us broken, wounded and in pain. With that experience, we can proceed to the next level of understanding. Our struggles are with no one else but with ourselves and the people around us who are no aliens to us, the flesh and blood with whom we are in daily contact. The thoughts and deeds are not of GOD's. The unloving, ungiving and non-sacrificing nature that takes, steals, kills and destroys. It is our source of unhappiness, and because of it, we suffer. Even though this is an indisputable fact, according to Paul, the people are not the culprits. Just as Jesus rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Peter is not the culprit in obstructing Jesus from fulfilling his Father's will to bring salvation for all by dying on the cross. The culprit is the force behind Peter's thoughts. Peter was utterly unaware that, at that moment, he became Satan's tool to become Jesus's stumbling block. How could it be possible for Satan to use Peter as his mouthpiece? Peter spoke to Jesus as the Serpent spoke to Eve, being Satan's voice. What happened at that moment for Peter to utter words of concern and care that were, in fact, words against the will of GOD that Jesus had to rebuke him as Satan? For that, we have to look at Peter's heart. We must understand that Peter had every intention for Jesus to reign as the king of the Jews rather than to suffer and be killed at the hands of the elders, chief priests and scribes. When Jesus called Peter to be his disciple, He promised Peter that he would become a fisher of men instead of a fisherman. If Jesus were to die, the implication is Peter would have to return to being a fisherman and not become a fisher of men. That happened precisely after Jesus's death. His three-year effort of following Jesus around would have been a waste of time. In other words, Peter had self-interest or a personal agenda at heart when he said those words. Even if he did not want Jesus to die because of his love, that is considered a personal agenda. His self-centred agenda becomes an open door to evil influences and the devil's foothold. Is it biblical for Satan to have a foothold in us? Yes, it is biblical because of our fallen nature, and Satan has a legal right over us. Therefore, we are programmed to think evil and do evil. Hence, we do not need to be disciplined to do evil but to do good. According to biblical records, Satan did not come with a whip to get us to do evil. Instead, GOD has to whip us to do good. With that, we can see that we are born with Satan's DNA within us. To cut a long story short, to save us, GOD ended up whipping Himself for our sins. Therefore, in the New Testament, GOD no longer holds the whip but His love to lead us to repentance. To put it another way, GOD whips Himself for every sin we commit. Thus, those who believe in His love shall not perish but have eternal life. As long as we are self-centred and unrepentant, the nature of our flesh, Satan, has a foothold in us through our fallen nature. Satan can speak through us as if it is our intention. When Jesus rebuked Peter, He was rebuking Satan, the mastermind behind Peter. From this encounter, we can conclude that we are nothing more than vessels. We are what fills us. If we are not convinced, we can look at another incident that happened to Peter. When Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! For this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood but by My Father in heaven. This time, Jesus did not rebuke Peter. Instead, He complimented him for saying the right thing. Jesus used the words flesh and blood as Paul did, indicating that the information is not of human origin. It is not a rumour that Peter heard but a spiritual revelation that Peter perceived from no one else but the Father in heaven. In other words, it is a spiritual enlightenment when a person is filled with the Spirit to understand spiritual matters. This encounter is not limited to Peter, but it happened to many people in the Bible, like Bazalel, Elizabeth, Stephen, Barnabas, David, Ezekiel, and the list goes on. From Peter's two spiritual encounters, one with Satan and the other with the Father, we can deduce that a man is only a vessel, and he is what he is filled with, either good or evil. What fills him will be the voice he hears, good or evil. And what fills him will depend on what is in his heart. When he lives for himself, he has eyes only for himself, and is self-centred, then he is filled with the fallen nature. If he lives for GOD and others, has eyes for people in need, and is GOD and people-oriented, then his heart is filled with the Spirit of GOD. Hence, whoever he listens to will be his master. Hence, whatever we think is not our own. It is from whom we allow to fill our hearts. Unless we can change a person's heart, we cannot change his mind. His mind is controlled by what fills his heart. Paul understood, beyond what meets the eye, the relationship between our hearts and the spirits that control our minds. Therefore, he said, 'For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world's darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.' It is not without reason that GOD always talks about the heart more than the mind of a man. He referred to David as a man after His heart and not a man after His mind. Once our heart is right with GOD, then our mind will think within the framework of GOD. Another excellent example of understanding how the heart affects the outcome of the mind is in the story of Nebuchadnezzar. GOD made Nebuchadnezzar great for His purpose, and his greatness was like a tree large and strong, whose top reached the sky and was visible to all the earth, whose foliage was beautiful and whose fruit was abundant, providing food for all, under which the beasts of the field lived, and in whose branches the birds of the air nested. One day, he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and he exclaimed, "Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built by the might of my power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?" When his heart was filled with pride in himself and his greatness, GOD struck him down with madness. He was driven away from mankind. He ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird. Only after seven years did GOD restore his sanity, and He praised and exalted and glorified GOD as the king of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. The moral of Nebuchadnezzar's story is that the heart determines our future more than our efforts. When Nebuchadnezzar's heart was filled with himself, God flipped his mind like a pancake. One moment, he was sane, and another moment, he became insane. Only when God felt that Nebuchadnezzar was humbled enough did God flip his mind back. In other words, our mind is nothing more than a marionette where the puppeteer controls every movement of the puppet with strings. The puppet is not free to do as it wishes, but according to the puppeteer that controls it. Likewise, our mind is not free to think as we want to but according to whom fills our hearts. In computer terminology, a man is only the hardware, and the software that helps him to think and operate comes from the spiritual realm. In the book of Proverbs, Solomon wrote, 'Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.' Why the heart and not our mind? Solomon understood that when he gave his heart to GOD, GOD gave him a perfect mind filled with wisdom and understanding. Once his heart turned away from GOD, his wisdom and understanding were lacking to preserve his kingdom. Only GOD holds the key to the springs of life, and the secret passage to them is the heart. The mind can think as many dreams as it wants, but it will only be wishful thinking. Therefore, if we want to have the blessings of heaven, we must have a heart for GOD. It is more than going through the ritual of going to church, giving tithes and offerings or doing charities. It is to put GOD as the centre of our life and let our world revolve around Him. Filling our hearts with the love for GOD and not with the desires of our fallen nature is the key to success in life. It is only through the guidance of GOD that we find life. If we follow the advice of our fallen nature, we will find death because life is only in the hands of GOD. Therefore, if we are not of GOD, whatever we do is a waste of time because there can only be one outcome - death. In other words, we will make lousy decisions despite our best efforts because we are ill-advised. Anything not under GOD's counsel is not under His will. Epistle 1 John writes, 'And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we have asked of Him.' To understand this statement from the opposite perspective, if we do not ask according to His will, He does not hear us. Therefore, those who go to church to pray for nothing else but themselves are praying in vain because they are not asking according to GOD's will. They are nothing more than mouthpieces of Satan, praying for the desires of their fallen nature, which are evil. GOD will not listen to them. GOD wants us to worship Him in Spirit and truth, meaning the Holy Spirit must anoint our thoughts, teaching us to pray. Our prayers will align with GOD's will, and He will be pleased to listen to us. Whatever we do, we will not contravene the first and second greatest commandments, which are to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and to love your neighbour as yourself. Only if we live a self-centred life will we contradict a god-centred life. When we live for GOD and others, we have to sacrifice our self-centred lives for them because we cannot put our interests and GOD first at the same time. There can be only one first. We must choose one over the other. Therefore, we must rightly select what should be within us: the Spirit of Life or the spirit of death. Prayer: Thank you for enlightening my mind with Your words. Continue to teach me Your truth so that I may walk in it and find life. Protect me from the deceits of my enemies, who come as wolves in sheep's clothing. Continue to renew my mind with the truth so that I can be transformed into your image. Amen.

The purpose of science in GOD's plan John 1:3 Through Him, all things were made, and without Him, nothing was made that has been made. Science removes our need for GOD. Science dispels faith and the need for GOD. Many of the life's answers can be answered by science. Hence, no one needs to run into a church for healing if they can walk into a hospital. No farmer needs to pray for an abundant harvest when they have agricultural science behind them, ensuring many of their problems can be resolved through science. Therefore, no one needs to go to GOD in prayer for every trivial matter. In other words, GOD outsources man's reliance on Him to Science. Hence, a man does not need to waste his time early in the morning praying for his sheep, goats, cows, donkeys, and a long list of mundane things but to pray for things of eternal value. GOD, through science, answered man's prayers before he even asked. Via the Internet, any problem can be answered immediately. All we have to do is ask the most knowledgeable person, AI ( artificial intelligence), and the next thing we know, voila, we get a perfect answer. Science allows us to solve things ourselves before we approach GOD. Even if we ask God, we might not get a fast answer. Therefore, science, in terms of technology, plays a more significant role in a person's life than GOD. Supremacy of GOD over science Proverbs 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter and the glory of kings to search it out. If science dispels faith and the need for God, then what is God's purpose for science? GOD is a jealous GOD, and He will not allow anything to stand higher than Him, not Satan and not even science, replacing His importance. He is the creator of all things, and He will not create anything that diminishes His supremacy. He planned the beginning from the end and knew the cause and effect of everything so nothing would catch Him by surprise. When GOD said, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts", He means He is supreme beyond our understanding. He is much better and knows much more than we do. Science is merely a search engine that searches for what GOD has concealed. Since science discovers the mysteries of the universe that GOD has, it implies science is not above GOD and will not supersede Him because the master behind science is GOD. Science's failure to find GOD. Mark 4:12 They may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding. Science often messes up our heads regarding GOD. What science cannot establish does not mean it does not exist. Science establishes itself through facts and figures, while GOD is through faith. If we use facts and figures to measure GOD, we will not be able to find Him because we are using the wrong parameters. It is similar to using a thermometer to measure the volume of water. We cannot use physical means to measure spiritual matters because GOD can only be spiritually discerned. Since science has yet to develop a spiritual detector, it fails to find GOD. To see Him, we need faith to connect with Him and know His existence. Without faith, we are spiritually dead and can never find Him. Science is like an atheist, lacking in spiritual dimension; it is spiritually dead and, metaphorically speaking, has no wifi connection to GOD. They are 'ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding.' Only spiritually alive people have spiritual detectors to see and hear from GOD. Hence, science, figuratively speaking, cannot hear and see from GOD. GOD, beyond science but within the Bible John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. What science cannot do, but we can. By reading the Bible, we can discover GOD. He presents Himself in the complexity of His Word, the Bible through events, stories and parables. To find Him, we cannot read the Bible at face value as if reading a novel. The Word needs to come alive by the anointing of the Holy Spirit to make GOD alive. Then, we can piece Him together. If not, we will be like the six blind men from ancient Indian folklore of the blind men and an elephant. Each blind man who had never seen an elephant tried to imagine what the elephant was like by touching it. Each blind man feels a different part of the animal's body, but only one part. They then describe the animal based on the portion they touched. The first man who touched his leg said the elephant was like a pillar. The second man who touched his tail said the elephant was like a rope. The third man who touched his trunk said the elephant was like a tree branch. The fourth man who touched the ear said the elephant was like a fan. The fifth man who touched the belly said the elephant was a wall. The sixth man who touched the tusk said the elephant was like a solid pipe. The importance of knowing the whole picture The descriptions of the same elephant differ from one another, each insisting he was right. All of them were right in parts, but none of them got the whole picture right. Therefore, none of them know what an elephant is. It was no fault of their own as they were blind. We are not blind, but GOD is like the elephant, too big to see within our range of vision. Our eyes limit us. Therefore, our minds cannot conceptualize Him. To know GOD with our restricted vision, we need to piece the fragments of GOD together with the borrowed eye of the Holy Spirit to see through the Bible, to see what we cannot. Like a puzzle, we need to put all the parts together to understand the totality of GOD. If not, it is as good as holding a piece of the puzzle, thinking we know GOD through it. Thus, if anyone were to tell us something different from what we know, do not label them as false prophets. Instead, be humble and pray for GOD to open our eyes and expand our minds so that we can see beyond what we can. Science does not point us to GOD. Romans 8:13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Spiritual blindness robs us of knowing GOD. Science has no spiritual radar. It is spiritually blind and cannot see GOD. Therefore, science cannot discover GOD and point us to Him. What science cannot do, the Bible can. The reason for our spiritual blindness is our carnal nature, the flesh. If we cannot master our evil nature, we are confirmed blind. Our evil nature turns us away from GOD, so we cannot see Him. If we are not totally blind, we can be partially blind because of our spiritual limitation, which comes from the lack of anointing of the Holy Spirit. The Bible is like the elephant in ancient Indian folklore, and we are like the blind men. When we read through the Bible, we touch the different facets of God. However, we are partially blind towards Him because we are stiff-headed in our opinion, not accepting all that is written in the Bible, wearing blinkers, and, like the blind men, refusing to look from other angles. Mental blind spot syndrome In other words, we have mental blind spots that lead to spiritual blindness, which science cannot help. The reason is many perceive God from their favourite perspective by accepting what suits our sinful nature, creating a lopsided view of GOD. Preachers like to speak on messages of forgiveness of sin but not on stopping sin, and blessings but not curses because that is what many want to hear. We become like small children; they pick what they like to eat, and we choose what we want to hear, which is unhealthy. Therefore, like the six blind men's ideas of an elephant, we create our idea of GOD. He becomes an alien, not who He is, but what we formulate Him to be. Scientific discoveries are from GOD. God said, "Now, if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him" He understood that many mysteries of things are beyond our understanding and scientific investigation. In other words, by default, we lack wisdom and understanding. However, when a solution is critically needed, those who seek Him, regardless of believers or unbelievers, will be satisfied. When we ask, He will answer. The advancement in science is that many who ask GOD tough questions get solid solutions. He will not find fault with anyone who asks, even if he is not with His. Therefore, it is GOD, through science, who created the miracles, not science, through the ingenuity of men. Hence, the solutions that science provides are nothing more than ideas from GOD. Everything revolves around GOD, including science. Science liberates us time to know GOD. Science improves life and liberates many of the inconveniences of living, providing solutions to many earthly problems. God wants us to be more like Mary and not like Martha, who was weighed down with the daily chores and worried over many things. GOD does not want us to be busy with unnecessary things, so we have more time for Him. He wants us to concentrate on one crucial thing: spending more time learning His Word and developing a closer relationship with Him. The purpose is for us to prepare for our eternality. Without enough spiritual knowledge, we cannot grasp the different aspects of God, making Him contradictory and lacking in consistency. If we want to know God, we need to seek Him with all of our hearts by understanding His Word. Only when we have spiritual understanding will we have the tools to decode the mysteries written in the Word and not be misguided by our ignorance. If not, we are like a computer lacking the required language to understand spiritual matters. Knowing the Bible is not knowing how to read all the words in it but understanding what is being said in between the lines. Science reduces our transactional relationship with GOD. When there is a problem, there is a need, and that is when a man needs GOD. If a man is happy and has what he wants, he is contented with life and has no problems. He does not need GOD. That is the reality: a man only seeks God when he is in need. Once his problems are over, he may forget about Him. This transactional relationship with God, akin to a marriage of convenience where the focus is on 'What can I get out of it?' is dangerous. When the need is over, the relationship is over. A relationship based on needs is a one-sided relationship with much to be needed. The person in need puts himself in a disadvantaged position in the relationship where he is always not measuring up. If we worship GOD, it is out of motive and not out of love. GOD's love for us is pure, without motives. Therefore, He does not want to dangle carrots in front of us for love. He does not want us to be like a bird in a cage but a bird free to soar the sky. If we love Him, we will fly back to Him voluntarily, without compulsion but of love. Science reduces the problems of life and our reliance on GOD. That releases us from a relationship out of need but out of choice. If anyone were to choose Him, it would not be out of benefits but because they want to. Science becomes a good test of a man's heart towards God. Science frees man from many mundane problems and frees us from the need for GOD. So if the Son sets us free, we will be free indeed, even of Him. Through science, GOD created a better and more exciting world for us that is independent of Him. The question remains: Do we still want Him who is against our fallen nature or move on to one who is accommodating to our fallen selves? Time and advancements in science have revealed the answer. In Europe, many churches of the early Christians are left empty and are converted for drinking, dancing, and other purposes other than a place of worship. There are more people in the pub than in a church, showing that Christianity has lost its favour and popularity. In other words, men have left their faith because they have found something better. Once GOD has outlived His usefulness, they dump Him. Conclusion: The limitation of science Science can have its benefits, but it is not above God. No matter how excellent science is, it can only clean the outside of the cup and not the inside. What is of eternal value is to clean the cup on the inside, which science cannot do. No matter what science can do for us to liberate us from the need for God, we should not let go of Him. Our lives are more than what we have on earth. Improvement, progress and advancement are only temporary. What we have with GOD is eternal. Prayer: God, thank you for the comfort and convenience that science and technology bring. Continue to open my eyes and expand my mind to know You better. Let Your Word wash the inside of my cup, and let me not be contented with science that cleans on the outside. Science is only Your servant. Let me not be contented with Your servant and miss out on You, the Master