Water fountains for gardens

I'd like to build an approximately 2x2 meter garden fish pond 1.2 meters deep at its deepest point for goldfish. What kind of pump, aerator, water filter would be needed for this?

Hartmann flies towards Yu Huang on his new waterbound Hydra. As the plane begins to fire Yu Huang holds out his hand, the Hydra getting in the way again, blocking the bullets with one of its heads, another head snapping towards the plane, Hartmann going up and above it. “Damn! This new dragon would DIE for you huh, Herr Huang!?”
“It will do no such thing, Hartmann. I would not allow such behavior from my dragons! The hydra’s regeneration allowed it to live so long as a head remains!” He calls out, Hartmann laughing happily.
“Right. So I gotta take out ALL the heads at once!? Kinderspiel!” He calls out as he spins around to approach Yu Huang again.
Yu Huang scoffs, stamping down his staff. “Hmpf. Child’s play you say? Doubtful any child should find themselves in the midst of these battles! Unless you consider yourself a mere CHILD!”
Izanagi crosses his arms with a smirk. “You tell him, old friend! Bwahaha!”
Ao Kuang and his brothers all facepalm a little. “Our father needs to work on his banter huh, Tsukuyomi?”
Tsukuyomi looks back briefly. “Oh um… I guess so? It is not… what I admire him for.”
"Right… us neither.”
Yu Huang spins his spear back, thrusting forward and one of the hydra’s heads mimic his movement and FIRES off its head from the socket, Hartmann’s eyes widening as he does a full flip midair to fly over it.
Hartmann’s gaze suddenly drops a little, darkening. “I suppose we should stop using the baby guns then! Let’s switch to something more ADULT!” Hartmann approaches once again, confidently letting go of the control stick and suddenly he flips upside down in his glass bubble cockpit. On the opposite side is another two handles, which he grabs hold of and shoves them forward, thumbs on the buttons at the end of each. Two plates move aside on the bottom of the plane and two large gun-barrels shoot out, pointing in the direction Hartmann is looking. He starts firing, the heavy rattling of bullet-casings plunging off the sides of the jet and heavy bullets smashing against Yu Huang’s hydra, forcing him to dodge rather than merely block it with the heads as they are torn apart by these bullets, the head snaking back and forth in the water, the hydra’s underwater body darting backwards. “That’s right! Kinderspiel! Limiting yourself to only TWO planes of movement, Herr Huang!? Not a smart idea when you’re against the greatest three dimensional fighter in ALL THE HEAVENS! If this is your best idea then I will NEVER be shot down!” He laughs with a strained smirk. “Never…”
Yu Huang blocks a bullet, deflecting it to the side with his spear. “Such arrogance! And yet you too have limited your movement no!? Without your hands on that stick in your machine you move in ONE dimension! Straight ahead!” He pushes his palm forward, two hydra heads shooting forth from the water aimed directly at the jet.
Hartmann doesn’t have time to readjust his seat, but he smirks. “And here I thought you and I had an understanding, Herr Huang!” He suddenly kicks his foot past the yoke before pulling and catching it on his foot, yanking himself into the air, blood rushing to his head but he merely shakes it off. “Woooooohoooo!”
Yu Huang sees the jet twirling in the sky and he pauses. “To think once upon a time… I too believed myself untouchable… How foolish I was.”
-Ancient Past-
Yu Huang raises the gavel. “This meeting is hereby adjourned!”
“But we still have the matter of what to do with Wukong?” A god chimes in as Yu Huang slams down his gavel.
“I have no care for that monkey. Do not waste my time, you imbecile or I will show you why I rule this council,” He holds up his hand and the green energy flows up his wrist, forming little scales around his fingers.
The god flinches and swiftly rushes off. “Nevermind! My apologies!”
Yu Huang stands from his seat. “Hmpf. Wukong,” He mutters to himself before stepping off the throne onto the head of a few dragons acting as his staircase, the beasts whimpering as he does. “Silence. Follow,” He walks out of the council jumping into a saddled dragon which quickly flies him off towards the Jade Palace. “Before this. We go east,” He mutters with a smirk. The dragon roars and shoots towards the west, landing at a large temple, Ao Kuang standing outside, next to a large red pillar with golden rims.
“Father?! I-I did not expect to see you here!” Ao Kuang quickly kneels, as Yu Huang strides past him.
“You bow too late, dragon. A king you may be, but that is nothing to an emperor. I expect you to be kneeling BEFORE I arrive,” He says and Ao Kuang feels a bead of sweat dripping from his forehead. He upset his father… This is not good. “I am feeling charitable at the moment. So I will forgive it this once. So tell me. How is the caged ape?” He smirks and Ao Kuang stands and nods.
“The caged monkey! Yes of course! Um… I do not mean to upset you further, father… but…” As they walk in they hear banging of flesh on metal, wet bangs… as they walk in Wukong is standing in a large golden bird-cage elevated above a massive hole in the ground, water flowing into it from all sides. Wukong is HAMMERING his fists at the bars, blood dripping from his fists and feet as he goes, the golden pristine pillars making up the bars all colored red with blood. His eyes are wild and focused on the pillars. He has not even seen Yu Huang enter. “But the monkey has not stopped striking the cage since his imprisonment 1000 years ago.”
Yu Huang’s eyes go slightly wide. “Not for a moment, you say? Hmpf. Foolish mortal. MONKEY!” He calls out, Wukong’s eyes flickering and he stops with one final punch, shaking the cage. “How are you enjoying your endless life in Heaven?”
“Fuck you…” Wukong says, springing towards the closest point to Yu Huang. “Come in here you bastard! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you and ALL your BASTARD kids for what you did! Show you what it’s like!”
Yu Huang laughs. “Oh please,” He raises his hand and with a single palm strike a dragon-head blasts forth from his palm, striking Wukong and knocking him to the other side of the giant cage he is in. “You would stand no chance. I am not some mortal being. I am The Jade Emperor. Do not forget this,” He smirks and turns to leave. “I have seen what I need to see. I am going home.”
Ao Kuang bows his head. “It was wonderful to be graced with your presence, father,”
“You are most welcome,” Yu Huang steps onto his staddled dragon once again and it flies off. “Foolish monkey. Attempting to argue and challenge a god such as myself? Preposterous.”
And so… time passed. Every 1000 years or so Yu Huang would visit the temple to check in on Wukong. Each interaction between the two followed this same pattern. Yu Huang was quite pleased with his work. The disrespect Wukong had shown him, making him pleased to see the monkey getting his comeuppance.
Yu Huang is sitting in the Jade Palace, looking out into his garden seeing his mighty dragons, chained to the ground to ensure they do not fly away. Those darn beasts do not listen to authority! Yet undoubtedly the dragon is the greatest symbol of power in all of Heaven! He suddenly hears a loud and disruptive CRASH outside. “What is the meaning of this!?” He says waving his hand. “Guards. Deal with whatever that was,” However before any of the angel guards can even leave another angel comes BURSTING through the door.
“Lord! Lord Yu Huang! It’s… IT’S WUKONG!” He yells, Yu Huang’s eyes going wide as he stands.
“Wukong!?” He swiftly makes his way down to the bottom level. “That monkey escaped?! What trickery he must have used. I shall punish Ao Kuang DEARLY for this!” He says before the front door BLASTS open and an angel comes tumbling in, Yu Huang stopping him with a flick of his palm, causing a dragon tail to swipe the angel aside. He furrows a brow as Wukong comes walking through the door, an aura of DEATHLY killing intent following him like a thick black smog. “So… you have escaped. I am quite impressed. And what will you do now?” He says smirking confidently. Wukong tosses something he’s holding above his head into the room. Yu Huang hears four grunts of pain seeing the Four Dragon Kings writhing on the floor. “Ao Kuang! Stand and get your prisoner under control. This is ridiculous.”
Ao Kuang pants, bleeding from his head and struggling to move. “I’m sorry father… I do not know… how this happened. He’s… too strong… he took the Pillar somehow. Ruyi Jingu Bang. He simply… picked it up. I have never seen anything like it.”
Yu Huang scoffs. “You expect me to deal with this myself then? How disappointed I am in you.”
“Sorry Father…”
Yu Huang looks up towards Wukong. “Tell me, monkey. What purpose have you brought these four to my doorstep? Simply to prove yourself worthy to fight me?”
Wukong slams his staff down. “I’m gonna kill these sons of yours in front of you. And then you. Let’s see how YOU like it when your family dies in front of your eyes!” He raises it and holds it to Ao Kuang’s head. “Simply letting go of this and his head is crushed to a paste.”
Yu Huang raises an eyebrow. “My sons? These are not my sons. These are my servants. The guards for my temples. You believe them to be irreplaceable to me? Though I suppose it would be a bother to do so. Very well. I shall allow you to face me,” He takes a stance, the green energy flowing into his palms, forming dragons to float around them ready to blast forward.
Wukong’s eyes widen. “You’re worse than scum… you don’t even care! This guy!” He nudges Ao Kuang. “Was more afraid of you being disappointed in him than he was of ME killing him! What kinda monster are you!?” He shoves the four dragon kings aside.
Yu Huang scoffs. “Insolent child! Allow me to show you the strength of Heaven’s mightiest god!” He strikes forward one of the dragons he created, shooting forward only for him to suddenly find Wukong’s hand wrapped over his face.
“This one is for Zhu, my best friend. The person who stood beside me all my life and helped me through countless tough decisions.” Yu Huang is BLASTED through the back wall of his palace, into the dragon-filled courtyard.
“Ngh!?” Yu Huang recovers, with a wave of his hand a dragon head forming under his feet to gently set him on the ground. “You caught me off-guard with that speed. I am impre-” He is forced to lean himself over backwards as Ruyi Jingu Bang SHOOTS forward out of the hole in the wall, Wukong suddenly above him, standing on the staff.
“This one is for Bai, the love of my life, the only woman I will ever love,” He strikes down, hammering Yu Huang into the ground hard enough to dislodge the pillars holding down his dragons who all scatter into the sky. Yu Huang claps, sending a pulse of energy out around him swirling with dragonic murals within the shield.
“So you are a little stronger than I care to admit! You are going to BEG me for mercy!” He says before suddenly Wukong is standing in front of his shield.
“This one’s for the chief, the man who took care of me, despite my faults, who was kind to me when I was unworthy of his kindness,” He kicks forward the shield shattering like glass, Yu Huang feeling his lunch coming up as he’s struck in the stomach, coughing up blood and vomit before he goes flying into the sky. As he reaches the pinnacle he feels Wukong’s hand once again grabbing him. He’s so fast! What is going on!? “And this is for my kids. Luohou, Yuebei and Jidu. Who did no harm to you or anyone else, merely teased one another as siblings do,” Wukong’s voice is practically lifeless as they fall towards the palace, Wukong HURLING Yu Huang downward, crashing through floor after floor after floor until he once more strikes the ground floor where their ‘fight’ started.
“Kah!” Yu Huang looks up seeing Wukong hurling his staff down as well, and it grows. Yu Huang is trembling in every bone. He cannot defeat this mere mortal. This MONKEY!? Where was this arrogance of his coming from? Supreme power? Birthright? How could all of it measure up to NOTHING? There was no divine pride left. A mere mortal, whom he had treated as less than dirt, was able to simply waltz into HIS palace, dismantle HIS guards and crush HIM effortlessly!?
“And THIS! Is for the rest of the Anima! A people plagued by war, but one that could have become something greater given time! The millions of lives YOU ENDED with your cruelty!” MONKEY KING’S GOD-CRUSHING…!! However, suddenly Yu Huang sees shadows looming over him. The Four Dragon Kings.
“Do not worry father! We will protect you!” Wukong’s eyes widen as he kicks the staff down, shrinking it back to normal size and it pierces through the floor, embedding itself without touching any of the five gods.
He lands in front of them rather nimbly. “What are you protecting this ASSHOLE for!? He treats you like servants! He doesn’t care about you!”
“He is all we have!” They all four hold their arms out. “We were worthless before he showed us a path. He may treat us as his servants. But to us he’s our FATHER! He gave us purpose. He showed us kindness when no other would! Killing him would do NOTHING for you, except… continue this cycle of revenge!” Ao Kuang calls out and Wukong grits his teeth, raising his hand to strike the weak and bruised Dragon Kings aside.
“Seeing your father struck down in front of you, huh? Revenge… violence,” He finds a string tugging at his heart, while Yu Huang looks at him, his eyes practically shaking and unable to focus. Wukong picks his staff out of the ground, stomping up to Yu Huang, picking him up by the throat, Yu Huang desperately firing a shot of jade energy at Wukong’s head, striking him dead on yet he didn’t even react. What is this ridiculous strength!? “What’s wrong, Yu Huang? Scared of a monkey? Don’t be. You got some good kids. But understand this. I am not forgiving you. I’m showing you something I don’t think you gods have ever heard of. Mercy. You gods have tormented me for long enough. It’s MY turn to torment you guys a little… by living a free life,” He tosses Yu Huang into the room, stretching as he walks out.
Ao Kuang and the other three kneel down to Yu Huang. “Father! Are you alright!? W-we apologize for not being able t-”
“No… I am the one who is sorry.”
“H-huh?!” They all look at one another in confusion.
“I have treated you poorly… What have I been doing? My arrogance, founded on my magical strength. Tormenting you, Wukong, the dragons. Oh the dragons!” He stands and looks to the skies seeing the dragons burning their saddles and muzzles from one another’s back, soaring free. “I truly… truly am not worthy of any of this…”
-Present day-
“You!? You defeated The Jade Emperor so effortlessly!? Incredible!” Sakai exclaims as Wukong looks at the screens with a light scoff.
“Yeah I did. Don’t think it’d be that easy anymore though.”
Pandora manages to strain herself to sit and look towards Wukong. “Ngh… what… do you mean, Wukong? You are… incredibly powerful still, right?”
Wukong nods. “I am, no doubt about that. But since I humbled that old bastard he bettered himself in every conceivable way. Even gave up his seat at the council.”
“So he’s… good now? Gah!” Pandora grabs her belly in pain as Hartmann begins to fire again.
“Ha! Fat chance! He still voted for your kind’s destruction and he STILL-” He cuts himself off, gripping his arm tightly from their crossed state, breathing in. “He’s not off the hook at all. I hate him moreso than any other. But with his newfound knowledge and understanding of dragons, the source of his power, his strength increased exponentially.”
Everyone’s eyes widen. “So simply that mental switch… and he’s THAT much more powerful?”
“‘fraid so, Pandora. That bastard’s one of the toughest gods in Heaven.”
Hephaestus pushes Pandora back onto her back. “Pandora… do not strain yourself, please!”
Pandora gives a strained laugh. “I’m fine, dad.”
Wukong squints. “I hope this Hartmann finally ends you, Yu Huang.”
Yu Huang smirks. “Truly incredible, Sun Wukong. To feel your animosity this far out…” He strikes the air with his palm again, sending Hydra-heads blasting towards Hartmann, who swiftly swerves aside, the hydra swimming away as fast as it can. “But for the sake of those who hold special places within my once cold heart…” Hartmann approaches again, switching his orientation again to fire his heavy cannons. “IT SHALL BE YOU WHO IS FELLED!” He yells out clapping his hands together the Hydra firing several of its heads towards the plane at once, Hartmann gritting his teeth.

As an avid gardener and programmer, I've always wondered if it was possible to optimize my passion.
Features:

• Organize the garden based on space and plants, with guidance on which plants grow well together and which do not (e.g., planting basil with tomatoes)
• Notifications for watering, fertilizing, and covering plants linked to the weather
• Similar functionalities for greenhouses and indoor plants

What features do you find useful to add, and how much would you be willing to pay per month?

I put in a small row of plants that will need daily watering and I'm trying to find a more automatic solution, i.e. a timer on the hose spigot. As I was browsing though, I ran into all the Cross Connection docs on the Durham website and it seems VERY technical, and VERY expensive for what I'm trying to do. If I put a $10 backflow preventer on the hose and a dripline in the garden, do I need to be concerned about the city destroying me with fines and inspections?

My orange girl knocks over her water bowl several times a day and loves to play with it and gets water everywhere. I tried a running water fountain but same thing. Any recommendations for something she couldn’t knock over or make a huge mess with that she can still see the water in?

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” - Isaiah 30:8-11
We must be willing to accept the truth if we are to claim that we abide in the truth, beloved.
Both God and His servants do not only speak what comforts us, but also that which challenges us and our ways of thinking.
But if we despise the truth that comes from God, here is what we can expect from Him:
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. - Isaiah 30:12-15
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all learned from the mistakes of others, rather than many of us needing to learn by repeating the past?
Yet, Solomon spoke true:
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
God tells us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear.
God's truth prunes us, and this process is not always comfortable.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. - John 15
We know that we are in the truth when the world hates us.
But if we only speak that which is easy on the ears, then who are we really serving?
Speaking the truth is not always a practice that is welcomed. We can expect to be despised for the sake of the truth, even by those we count as brothers.
Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak. - Jeremaiah 12:6
In reality, those who only speak that which is pleasant to us may not have our best interests at heart.
We must practice discernment.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 10:16-22
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. - Hebrews 11:32-35
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4-6

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” - Isaiah 30:8-11
We must be willing to accept the truth if we are to claim that we abide in the truth, beloved.
Both God and His servants do not only speak what comforts us, but also that which challenges us and our ways of thinking.
But if we despise the truth that comes from God, here is what we can expect from Him:
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. - Isaiah 30:12-15
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all learned from the mistakes of others, rather than many of us needing to learn by repeating the past?
Yet, Solomon spoke true:
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
God tells us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear.
God's truth prunes us, and this process is not always comfortable.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. - John 15
We know that we are in the truth when the world hates us.
But if we only speak that which is easy on the ears, then who are we really serving?
Speaking the truth is not always a practice that is welcomed. We can expect to be despised for the sake of the truth, even by those we count as brothers.
Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak. - Jeremaiah 12:6
In reality, those who only speak that which is pleasant to us may not have our best interests at heart.
We must practice discernment.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 10:16-22
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. - Hebrews 11:32-35
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4-6

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” - Isaiah 30:8-11
We must be willing to accept the truth if we are to claim that we abide in the truth, beloved.
Both God and His servants do not only speak what comforts us, but also that which challenges us and our ways of thinking.
But if we despise the truth that comes from God, here is what we can expect from Him:
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. - Isaiah 30:12-15
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all learned from the mistakes of others, rather than many of us needing to learn by repeating the past?
Yet, Solomon spoke true:
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
God tells us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear.
God's truth prunes us, and this process is not always comfortable.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. - John 15
We know that we are in the truth when the world hates us.
But if we only speak that which is easy on the ears, then who are we really serving?
Speaking the truth is not always a practice that is welcomed. We can expect to be despised for the sake of the truth, even by those we count as brothers.
Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak. - Jeremaiah 12:6
In reality, those who only speak that which is pleasant to us may not have our best interests at heart.
We must practice discernment.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 10:16-22
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. - Hebrews 11:32-35
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4-6

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” - Isaiah 30:8-11
We must be willing to accept the truth if we are to claim that we abide in the truth, beloved.
Both God and His servants do not only speak what comforts us, but also that which challenges us and our ways of thinking.
But if we despise the truth that comes from God, here is what we can expect from Him:
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. - Isaiah 30:12-15
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all learned from the mistakes of others, rather than many of us needing to learn by repeating the past?
Yet, Solomon spoke true:
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
God tells us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear.
God's truth prunes us, and this process is not always comfortable.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. - John 15
We know that we are in the truth when the world hates us.
But if we only speak that which is easy on the ears, then who are we really serving?
Speaking the truth is not always a practice that is welcomed. We can expect to be despised for the sake of the truth, even by those we count as brothers.
Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak. - Jeremaiah 12:6
In reality, those who only speak that which is pleasant to us may not have our best interests at heart.
We must practice discernment.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 10:16-22
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. - Hebrews 11:32-35
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4-6

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” - Isaiah 30:8-11
We must be willing to accept the truth if we are to claim that we abide in the truth, beloved.
Both God and His servants do not only speak what comforts us, but also that which challenges us and our ways of thinking.
But if we despise the truth that comes from God, here is what we can expect from Him:
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. - Isaiah 30:12-15
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all learned from the mistakes of others, rather than many of us needing to learn by repeating the past?
Yet, Solomon spoke true:
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
God tells us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear.
God's truth prunes us, and this process is not always comfortable.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. - John 15
We know that we are in the truth when the world hates us.
But if we only speak that which is easy on the ears, then who are we really serving?
Speaking the truth is not always a practice that is welcomed. We can expect to be despised for the sake of the truth, even by those we count as brothers.
Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak. - Jeremaiah 12:6
In reality, those who only speak that which is pleasant to us may not have our best interests at heart.
We must practice discernment.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 10:16-22
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. - Hebrews 11:32-35
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4-6

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” - Isaiah 30:8-11
We must be willing to accept the truth if we are to claim that we abide in the truth, beloved.
Both God and His servants do not only speak what comforts us, but also that which challenges us and our ways of thinking.
But if we despise the truth that comes from God, here is what we can expect from Him:
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. - Isaiah 30:12-15
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all learned from the mistakes of others, rather than many of us needing to learn by repeating the past?
Yet, Solomon spoke true:
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
God tells us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear.
God's truth prunes us, and this process is not always comfortable.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. - John 15
We know that we are in the truth when the world hates us.
But if we only speak that which is easy on the ears, then who are we really serving?
Speaking the truth is not always a practice that is welcomed. We can expect to be despised for the sake of the truth, even by those we count as brothers.
Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak. - Jeremaiah 12:6
In reality, those who only speak that which is pleasant to us may not have our best interests at heart.
We must practice discernment.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 10:16-22
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. - Hebrews 11:32-35
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4-6

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” - Isaiah 30:8-11
We must be willing to accept the truth if we are to claim that we abide in the truth, beloved.
Both God and His servants do not only speak what comforts us, but also that which challenges us and our ways of thinking.
But if we despise the truth that comes from God, here is what we can expect from Him:
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. - Isaiah 30:12-15
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all learned from the mistakes of others, rather than many of us needing to learn by repeating the past?
Yet, Solomon spoke true:
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
God tells us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear.
God's truth prunes us, and this process is not always comfortable.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. - John 15
We know that we are in the truth when the world hates us.
But if we only speak that which is easy on the ears, then who are we really serving?
Speaking the truth is not always a practice that is welcomed. We can expect to be despised for the sake of the truth, even by those we count as brothers.
Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak. - Jeremaiah 12:6
In reality, those who only speak that which is pleasant to us may not have our best interests at heart.
We must practice discernment.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 10:16-22
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. - Hebrews 11:32-35
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4-6

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” - Isaiah 30:8-11
We must be willing to accept the truth if we are to claim that we abide in the truth, beloved.
Both God and His servants do not only speak what comforts us, but also that which challenges us and our ways of thinking.
But if we despise the truth that comes from God, here is what we can expect from Him:
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. - Isaiah 30:12-15
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all learned from the mistakes of others, rather than many of us needing to learn by repeating the past?
Yet, Solomon spoke true:
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
God tells us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear.
God's truth prunes us, and this process is not always comfortable.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. - John 15
We know that we are in the truth when the world hates us.
But if we only speak that which is easy on the ears, then who are we really serving?
Speaking the truth is not always a practice that is welcomed. We can expect to be despised for the sake of the truth, even by those we count as brothers.
Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak. - Jeremaiah 12:6
In reality, those who only speak that which is pleasant to us may not have our best interests at heart.
We must practice discernment.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 10:16-22
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. - Hebrews 11:32-35
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4-6

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” - Isaiah 30:8-11
We must be willing to accept the truth if we are to claim that we abide in the truth, beloved.
Both God and His servants do not only speak what comforts us, but also that which challenges us and our ways of thinking.
But if we despise the truth that comes from God, here is what we can expect from Him:
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. - Isaiah 30:12-15
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all learned from the mistakes of others, rather than many of us needing to learn by repeating the past?
Yet, Solomon spoke true:
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
God tells us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear.
God's truth prunes us, and this process is not always comfortable.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. - John 15
We know that we are in the truth when the world hates us.
But if we only speak that which is easy on the ears, then who are we really serving?
Speaking the truth is not always a practice that is welcomed. We can expect to be despised for the sake of the truth, even by those we count as brothers.
Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak. - Jeremaiah 12:6
In reality, those who only speak that which is pleasant to us may not have our best interests at heart.
We must practice discernment.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 10:16-22
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. - Hebrews 11:32-35
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4-6

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” - Isaiah 30:8-11
We must be willing to accept the truth if we are to claim that we abide in the truth, beloved.
Both God and His servants do not only speak what comforts us, but also that which challenges us and our ways of thinking.
But if we despise the truth that comes from God, here is what we can expect from Him:
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. - Isaiah 30:12-15
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all learned from the mistakes of others, rather than many of us needing to learn by repeating the past?
Yet, Solomon spoke true:
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
God tells us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear.
God's truth prunes us, and this process is not always comfortable.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. - John 15
We know that we are in the truth when the world hates us.
But if we only speak that which is easy on the ears, then who are we really serving?
Speaking the truth is not always a practice that is welcomed. We can expect to be despised for the sake of the truth, even by those we count as brothers.
Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak. - Jeremaiah 12:6
In reality, those who only speak that which is pleasant to us may not have our best interests at heart.
We must practice discernment.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 10:16-22
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. - Hebrews 11:32-35
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4-6

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” - Isaiah 30:8-11
We must be willing to accept the truth if we are to claim that we abide in the truth, beloved.
Both God and His servants do not only speak what comforts us, but also that which challenges us and our ways of thinking.
But if we despise the truth that comes from God, here is what we can expect from Him:
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. - Isaiah 30:12-15
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all learned from the mistakes of others, rather than many of us needing to learn by repeating the past?
Yet, Solomon spoke true:
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
God tells us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear.
God's truth prunes us, and this process is not always comfortable.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. - John 15
We know that we are in the truth when the world hates us.
But if we only speak that which is easy on the ears, then who are we really serving?
Speaking the truth is not always a practice that is welcomed. We can expect to be despised for the sake of the truth, even by those we count as brothers.
Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak. - Jeremaiah 12:6
In reality, those who only speak that which is pleasant to us may not have our best interests at heart.
We must practice discernment.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 10:16-22
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. - Hebrews 11:32-35
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4-6

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” - Isaiah 30:8-11
We must be willing to accept the truth if we are to claim that we abide in the truth, beloved.
Both God and His servants do not only speak what comforts us, but also that which challenges us and our ways of thinking.
But if we despise the truth that comes from God, here is what we can expect from Him:
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. - Isaiah 30:12-15
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all learned from the mistakes of others, rather than many of us needing to learn by repeating the past?
Yet, Solomon spoke true:
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
God tells us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear.
God's truth prunes us, and this process is not always comfortable.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. - John 15
We know that we are in the truth when the world hates us.
But if we only speak that which is easy on the ears, then who are we really serving?
Speaking the truth is not always a practice that is welcomed. We can expect to be despised for the sake of the truth, even by those we count as brothers.
Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak. - Jeremaiah 12:6
In reality, those who only speak that which is pleasant to us may not have our best interests at heart.
We must practice discernment.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 10:16-22
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. - Hebrews 11:32-35
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4-6

Now go and write down these words. Write them in a book. They will stand until the end of time as a witness that these people are stubborn rebels who refuse to pay attention to the Lord’s instructions.
They tell the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” They tell the prophets, “Don’t tell us what is right. Tell us nice things. Tell us lies. Forget all this gloom. Get off your narrow path. Stop telling us about your ‘Holy One of Israel.’” - Isaiah 30:8-11
We must be willing to accept the truth if we are to claim that we abide in the truth, beloved.
Both God and His servants do not only speak what comforts us, but also that which challenges us and our ways of thinking.
But if we despise the truth that comes from God, here is what we can expect from Him:
This is the reply of the Holy One of Israel:
“Because you despise what I tell you and trust instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come upon you suddenly— like a bulging wall that bursts and falls. In an instant it will collapse and come crashing down. You will be smashed like a piece of pottery— shattered so completely that there won’t be a piece big enough to carry coals from a fireplace or a little water from the well.”
This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: “Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it. - Isaiah 30:12-15
Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all learned from the mistakes of others, rather than many of us needing to learn by repeating the past?
Yet, Solomon spoke true:
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
God tells us what we need to hear, not just what we want to hear.
God's truth prunes us, and this process is not always comfortable.
“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you. They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the one who sent me.
They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin. Anyone who hates me also hates my Father. If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father. This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’
“But I will send you the Advocate—the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me. And you must also testify about me because you have been with me from the beginning of my ministry. - John 15
We know that we are in the truth when the world hates us.
But if we only speak that which is easy on the ears, then who are we really serving?
Speaking the truth is not always a practice that is welcomed. We can expect to be despised for the sake of the truth, even by those we count as brothers.
Even your brothers, members of your own family,
have turned against you.
They plot and raise complaints against you.
Do not trust them,
no matter how pleasantly they speak. - Jeremaiah 12:6
In reality, those who only speak that which is pleasant to us may not have our best interests at heart.
We must practice discernment.
“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.
You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.
“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved. - Matthew 10:16-22
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecclesiastes 1:9
There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. - John 15:13
And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. Women received back their dead, raised to life again.
There were others who were tortured, refusing to be released so that they might gain an even better resurrection. - Hebrews 11:32-35
And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years. - Revelation 20:4-6