A love story and a standard for love based on real people and
places.

Hi ,
Desire wrote "For those of you who answered my King Edward
the Eight Question - thanks. I just wanted a taste of what you were
like.I feel he set a standard for love, I should make so bold a
sacrifice for a true love, although I wouldn't be a loudmouth
drunk"
I wrote this Love story (based on actual people, places
and deeds) to give her an idea of the Love that inspires
me.

"A Love Story, A Standard For Love"
� by R. L. Tyler on 03/15/'98; Revised 11/15/98
[email protected],  [email protected],

A love story and a standard for love based on real people and
places.

A standard for love, what a thought!  The Middle Eastern King
from the past who set the Love Standard for me was an
awesome lover.   He was a mature adult looking for the
woman who would be his bride.  One day when he was passing
through a poverty stricken part of one of the neighboring
kingdoms where many  of his subjects lived, he came upon an
abandoned infant girl in the dirt, still in her birth blood, her
umbilical cord not yet cut, and apparently the daugthter of
slaves.   Many of his subjects had chosen to live there and in
the process had become slaves.  Her dark skin color showed that
she was of the class that was lowly esteemed and thought
poorly of in that country,  just because of the color of her skin
and the customs of her people.

He could see that she was a descendant of one of his  family's
very old servants so he decided to commit himself to the well
being of this child.  He commanded his attendants to make sure
that she lived and was cared for, though the daughter of slaves,
living among slaves.

Years passed.   He was pleased each time he passed through
her region and saw how well Oholah was growing and developing
into a remarkable woman.  He was  profoundly concerned about
her though, since she still went about naked and bare as was the
custom of her people (like the original Aborigines, Amazon Indians
etc.) , and was still living in slavery.

Puberty did its magic and changed a remarkable little girl into
an awesome and desired woman, a woman with desries. Her
developing body and the passion it produced in her admirers
became a problem especially because she continued to live and
go about naked and bare, again the custom of her people.   Men
in her area had the natural reaction to a naked and bare
beautiful woman and she let her body be used by some
because she thought that was love.  Oholah was used and they
didn't love her, but it was the only love she knew firsthand.  She
felt it was better than what she had before she had such love.
From her ancestors she had heard stories of deliverance, promises
of better things, compassion and cherishing.    It was all far away
and unreal, like fantasy dreams.

When he knew that she was old enough to marry, he visited
her area again and saw her now physically ready for marriage.
Even though he was now older, he was still moved by
compassion, love, passion, need and desire as he looked upon
her and remembered his family's promises to her ancestor of
old.    Carefully, quietly and gently he approached her and she
recognized him as the one who had saved her life soon after
she had been born. She had heard so much about him that seemed
so hard to believe and then he was there approaching her. He
spoke to her gently but powerfully and decisively and offered her
the deliverance, the better things, the compassion and cherishing
she had heard about.  She wanted him and all he said to be real.
She was so amazed and awestruck by it all. It all seemed like a
dream.

Using his power and influence he removed her and her people
from that region and its slavery.   He poured out his heart to
her in solemn private and public covenants and commitments.
Oholah was overwhelmed by it all, almost incredulous, but
accepted all he offered and pledged herself to him in marriage.

Oholah had difficulty adjusting.  It was all so new and
incredible to her.  There was so much to learn, so many new
and different ways of doing things.  She was so overwhelmed and
fearful that he couldn't bring her to his land and palace at that
time, and had to live with  and love her in the barren and
wilderness region between the area of her birth and his lands.
Years later she became confident enough to come to his land
and live with him in his palaces.  He showered her with gifts,
feasts, trips and a whole lot of passionate celebration of her
beauty and his desire for her.

But she didn't adjust well to all of these new places and people.
It was all so new and different and overwhelming.   For any
number of reasons Ohlah found that she was not satisfied and
content with her King and lover, though he was always
attentive, often with her and showered her with gifts and
attention.   It was that same aching lack of satisfaction and
contentment that she had experienced in puberty in her first
sexual experiences, yet she knew the King trully loved her and
was not just using her.  She couldn't explain it but her old way-
of-life kept on pulling at her, night and day, even though her
husband warned her of all the suffering that lay ahead of her if she
dishonored their wedding covenants and returned to her old ways.
Tempted to selfishness and self indulgence, with great feelings of
inadequacy, she believed a lie instead of the truth of her husband.
Not thinking clearly nor counting the cost, she began to have lovers
on the side, breaking her covenants with her husband King.  Her
heart took her back to the pleasures of being naked and bare with
her erotic lovers.

While with her lovers, thinking she was safe and set for a good
time, the desire of some of her lovers for her turned to disgust
and contempt.  They deceived her and lured her into a trap
where they stripped and exposed her, beat her, mocked her
and abused her as men often abuse and mock old whores who
look and act like they've been over used.    The King knew
about this and he grieved deeply for her unfaithfulness and for her
suffering, but he was committed to open handed love (not holding
someone against their will) as much as he was committed to all the
covenants he had made to her, so
he let her go her way.  His grieving heart went with her.

His grief was great and he always had some of his servants
watching out for her so she would never lack food, clothing or
shelter, ready to intervene if she ever called out for him and
for his help to be restored to him in their mariage covenant.
Yet she would not call out for her husband King to take her back as
his wife, even when her users and abusers sold her as a slave to a
foreign ruler and she was removed from the King's land.  Pride,
willfulness and deception or whatever kept her from returning to
the abundance and comfort of married life with her husband King.
In his love for her he often wept when alone and his servants
grieved for him.  He restrained his warriors from destroying those
who were abusing Oholah, even though they thought she was
worthy of death for her unfaithfulness.

Deeply grieved and grieving, hurt and hurting, lonely and in
need for a wife upon whom he could pour out his love, desire
and affection,  after many years he finally decided that he
should remarry .      He knew who he wanted to marry, but
there were great obstacles in the way.  He decided that it was time
to act.  While in disguise and passing through a region under the
control of an adversary  of his, he arrived at a slave auction.
There on the block for sale was Lelah, a fully grown woman,  half
dressed and dirty,  broken and scarred by all the abuse that she
had suffered as a slave.  She reminded him so very  much of his
absent wife.

He was deeply grieved by how much she had suffered and her
wretched condition.  She had no idea that he had known her
secretly since she was born.  He had remained unknown to her,
but he was very aware of her and had even made plans for her
well being and her future in the event that she might want
such plans and help.  He was aware of the love he felt for her but
knew that no relationship was possible until she had a change of
heart and a desire for a better life.

Up until that point, Lelah had expressed little or no interest in
the lifestyle that the King's disguised attendants had
periodically described to her as a possibility.  She thought she
was happy in her lifestyle with all her friends and family.  Her
way of life, the life of a slave of a potentially dangerous and
deadly master, had been enough for her because there had
been good times and the bad times didn't seem that bad.  To her
the offers by the King's disguised attendants seemed like fantasies
and fairy tales.

Then her life took a turn for the worse as she personally
experienced her master's cruelty and depravity.   She realized
that her life meant little or nothing to her master, that her
suffering or death might even be a source of pleasure for her
depraved master. Lelah then wished that she could be
delivered from his control.   She had come to the point where she
wished to be true the "fantasy" offers she had heard from the
King's disguised attendants.

After using and abusing Lelah, her cruel master decided he had
enough of her for the time being and she was taken out to be
sold at the slave auction (which takes place to this very day in
the same part of the world).  She was broken in body, mind and
spirit----yet she now wished that the "fantasy" offers she had
heard were true because she now knew how sad and
unsatisfying her way of life was and could be at its worst.   She
knew there was nothing she could do to deliver herself from
her present circumstances.  As a used, abused and discarded
female slave she believed that her life held little hope for anything
better.

When Lelah talked with her neighbors and acquaintances, she
spoke of her wish for the reality of those "fantasy" offers, her
desire for the lifestyle and the King described by the disguised
attendants of the King.  The King had learned of her change of
heart.  He ordered his disguised attendants to watch out for
her and her well being until he arrived.  When he arrived and
saw her there in the slave auction, he wept.  Fighting through
the tears he decided to do what he knew he had to do for her,
what he had to do to win her heart, what he had to do to bring
her into the safety he could offer her.

Not wanting Lelah to be overwhelmed by his position, title and
riches, he put aside all of his finery and dressed as his
attendants.  When he made it known to the auctioneer that he
wanted to buy her, her eyes locked on him with awe and
bewilderment as to why such a fine gentleman would want her.
Her eyes could not beleive the kindness, the gentleness and
compassion she saw in his eyes everytime their eyes met.  She
was amazed at how his  compassionate eyes could change
and become so strong and decisive when she saw him talking
with his companions.

Lelah saw him veil the forcefulness in his eyes when he dealt
with the auctioneer.  The auctioneer mocked him as a fool and
told him he could have her only after he punished her for all
the trouble she had been to him.  The King learned that he could
buy her only after she had been publicly stripped and flogged
repeatedly in public to teach the other slaves a lesson.
He was horrified and gravely concerned, knowing that the
experience would kill her or permanently ruin her as a human
being.

The King knew he could overwhelm this auctioneer and his
master and force his will on them.  The King knew the
auctioneer would never voluntarily sell Lelah to him if he
knew  he was a King and the fantastic life he wanted to give Oholah
as only kings could do.  The auctioneer had his heart set on the
sadistic humiliation and abuse of this female slave who had
refused to be content and satisfied with his treatment of her.

Finally,  after much meditation,  he determined to remain
disguised so as not to unduly influence Lelah, the slave girl he
wanted to buy.   The disguised King offered to let the
auctioneer strip and flog him if he would spare her and sell her to
him without the planned public torture the auctioneer had planned
for her.   He knew the auctioneer would not pass up such an
opportunity to practice his sadism and maliciousness.  It was more
important to the King that Lelah come to love him not because of
his wealth and position, but because of his love and devotion for
her.

When she learned what was about to happen, the slave woman's
eyes and mouth were open wide in amazement, wonder and
longing to be delivered and loved by this apparently  benevolent
master.  The King's attendants, who
were in the crowd in disguise, were equally amazed and
bewildered.   They were not aware of the powerful and
overwhelming forces the King had all around them, ready to
intervene at the King's signal.

The slave girl knew by the disguised King's clothing that the
custom of his people was that if he bought a slave girl
capable of child bearing,  he would have to treat her either as a
wife (public covenant) or a concubine (private covenant) with all
the legal responsibilities and rights of such a position.   She could
barely believe it was happening to her but she wanted it so badly,
to finally belong, be loved, be safe and have a home.

 All the King had to do was say the word and he could have
destroyed the auctioneer and his master, and had Lelah.
He didn't,   but proceeded as quietly as the lamb to the
slaughter. The auctioneer mocked him but found the thought of
publicly humiliating and abusing, stripping and flogging,  this
fine gentleman much more entertaining than abusing the used
and insignificant slave girl.  If the auctioneer and her former
abusive master fully knew what the King would do to them
years later, they never would have done so wickedly.

So he let them strip him, tie him down and flog him so badly
that the skin on his back  and buttocks was torn and bleeding,
so badly that a weaker man would have not recovered and would
have died.  Finally with a sneer, and only because he feared
possible reprisal by the friends of the man and the mocking of his
other customers if he didn't keep his word, the auctioneer released
the slave girl to him and cut him loose.  His attendants came out of
the crowd and cared for him and the girl.  His blood was all over
their hands as they held him and helped him.  In the rush, with
their hands still bloody from attending the King, they went to Lelah
to get her to safety and cover her, unwittingly getting her and her
coverings all bloody with the King's blood.  Years later she still
cherished those rags, covered with the blood of her Lover, a
memorial of his Love for her.

The King was so badly wounded that it became obvious that he
was in the hands of death, laying bruised and beaten at Death�s
dark and dreaded door.  Death was so much upon him they
actually began to prepare for his burial, anointing him with
burial oils.  They knew that Death had him and that only a
mighty miracle could save him and return him to them.  For
days they waited in deep grief as he lay there in death�s cold
grip, praying and weeping over their loss of their beloved king.
All hope had been lost and they had resigned themselves to the
worst, when some of his servants came to check on him only to
find his death bed empty and his body nowhere to be found.
Their grief was compounded and their wailing could be heard
all through their houses, because they believed they had been
denied the privilege of giving their beloved King the royal
funeral they felt would honor him the most.

As some of his loyal subjects went out into the King�s garden to
grieve together and seek comfort in their loss, they came upon one
they thought to be the gardener because their eyes were so full of
tears they couldn�t see clearly.  When he spoke to them their
mouths opened wide in wonder and they quickly wiped their eyes
in amazement because they knew that voice to be the voice of their
beloved King.  With shouts of joy, jumping,
laughing, and dancing for joy they surrounded him while
others ran to tell Lelah and those who didn�t know  THAT HE
WHO WAS LOST WAS FOUND  --- THAT HE WHO WAS DEAD
WAS NOW ALIVE --- THAT LIGHT HAD OVERCOME THE
DARKNESS --- THAT LOVE WAS ONCE AGAIN ALIVE IN THE
KINGDOM.

It took a while before he felt  ready to come out of his private
and secluded recovery to be with the now finely dressed, oiled
and beautiful Lelah who had been the auctioneer's slave girl.
While he was recovering, the attendants told her all about their
master and his personality, that he was royalty and would be
recognized as a far greater ruler some day.  Using all that her
king provided,  she prepared to meet him by bathing until her
skin was squeekly clean and laying
for hours in warm perfumed oils, soaking her skin and hair into
awesome loveliness, softness and beauty-----all the time
wondering what would become of her and would her new
master-husband be as good to her as the attendants had told
her.

 The same attendants were keeping the King informed on how
Lelah was doing, how her response to his compassionate love
worked in her  to be  thankful, kind, humble, gentle, thoughtful,
unselfish and generous  with all she met.  Lelah  wasn't perfect
and she knew it, but his love for her worked a powerful desire
to do good and love others  and she became a more loving
person on a daily basis.   He came to love her profoundly from
the depth of his heart while he recovered and learned of her
gracious loveliness, seeing her from a distance unknown to her.

When they finally  came together, they were so finely dressed
and looking so wonderful that it could have been a wedding,
but he wanted them to have their  public wedding when the two of
them returned to his land.   So they stayed in Tirzah in the
mountains.  He covenanted his love to her and covenanted his
care for her and she accepted his covenants and agreed to be
his wife.  Their relationship was a lovefeast, a classic honeymoon,
and all made merry and celebrated the joy and beauty of true
love between a man and his woman.

She let him shower her with his love, affection and attention
to the point that in the depth of her heart she knew that her
man loved her, loved her enough to suffer terribly for her, that she
was safe with him, and she came to rest in and rejoice in their
love.  Everytime Lelah saw or felt the horrible scars on his
back, she was reminded of  how much he loved her and how
precious her love was to him.   The more love he poured on her the
more she poured back on him, seeking as many ways as possible to
show her love and joy in him.   Unselfish and compassionate
cherishing became the norm for their behavior and all those
around them  rejoiced and celebrated the beauty and joy of
their love and loving.  They spent years there in the province
of Tirzah, happy years filled with wonderful memories.

In the meantime, his first wife, Ohola, had been reduced to
having to fight pigs in pig pens for their food just to survive,
and had been abondoned by her false friends and lovers.
She came to sincerely regret her past behaviour, and to
appreciate the husband she had lost. The King's disguised
attendants saw this change and offered to help
her return to the King's kingdom where she would be safer and
live better.  Oholah had little hope of being reconciled to her
husband, the King, but she accepted their offer to help her
return to a village in his land.  She found less than a friendly
welcome.  Many of her neighbors didn't want her to return and
told her she had no right to return or be there.  Many refused
to believe that she was Oholah the queen.  Many felt she had
no right to be queen again and wanted others to be queens in
her place.  Some even blamed her for the terrible beating and
scars their King received obtaining Lelah's deliverance, saying
that he would not have married Lelah if Oholah had been a
good wife. The King remained silent but aware during all of
this, still celebrating his marriage with Lelah inTirzah.

Oholah was content just to be back in his kingdom.  The King's
attendants, disguised as benefactors, expressed their support of
her cause and were caring for her body and soul, helping her in
the recovery that she now desperately wanted.  In fact she
daily expressed her remorse and regret at having  been so
foolish and so unfaithful to her husband King, often inquiring if
it were possible he would still be willing to at least keep his
covenants and commitments he had made to her even if he
couldn't bring himself to be husband to her again.  Most of the
time she didn't even have hope that she and the King would be
reconciled, though she was content and happy to be back in his
land.

Bathed in oils, fragrances and perfumes and clothed in finery
her former beauty began to appear again, but even more
impressive was her change of heart.  Her ordeal had taught her
gratitude for kindness and love, taught her humility and
compassion for the needy, and she had learned the wonderful
value of human cherishing  when it is unselfish and
compassionate.  She was now lovely inside and out,  and she
had become precious to those who attended to her needs.

While the King and Lelah were in Tirzah, pouring out their
hearts to each other, they learned much of each other's past
and what had brought them together, how their past seemed to
have prepared them for each other.  Lelah learned about
Oholah and in her love for him she came to share his grief and
sense of loss of  Oholah.  Her heart was set to love whoever he
loved, to do good to all to whom he did good, to care for all
those dear to him.  Their hearts and love had become one heart
and one love, and all who loved them rejoiced in their love.

Her union with him moved her to care deeply about and seek
the good of Oholah, even though she knew her husband was
such a man of integrity that he would believe he was still
committed to keep his covenants with Oholah even though he
loved her, Lelah, so much and so dearly.   The King shared his
joy with Lelah that Oholah had returned, that she was doing
well and that she was a whole new person, a loving and
gracious person.  Lelah loved him so much that she could not
help but share his joy.   She sought ways that she could help
her "sister" Oholah be fully restored.   Oholah was marvelously
cared for and helped in her recovery, by the Love of the King,
Lelah and their servants.

Years had passed in Tirzah for the King and Lelah, but now it
was time to return to his palace and throne.  There was a
triumphal entry and a wedding feast that lasted for days.
Their  joy and love made Camelot seem like a preschool party.
After all had settled down to daily living, Lelah daily
supervised the care for Oholah in the neighboring town, and
often attended Oholah herself, but in disguise so that Oholah
would not know that she was the King's new  wife.  Lelah
served Oholah with love and devotion, washing her feet and
hair while they talked on and on, becoming dear friends.  One
day while bathing together Oholah saw the old scars on Lelah�s
back and legs.  Oholah was amazed to see them and even more
amazed to learn of what the kind gentleman had done to rescue
her.  She begged to meet him and Lelah said she would meet
him soon.  They held each other and wept over their past and
rejoiced in their deliverances.  Oholah even anointed Lelah�s
wounds with oil and massaged them with loving tenderness.
Lelah massaged Oholah's old wounds and bruises and saw to it
that Oholah had the best of everything to be fully recovered
and restored.

In their times together, Oholah would often share her
memories of her husband King and her regret for her foolish
abuse of his love for her.  Lelah rejoiced in hearing Oholah's
version of her memories of her husband King, and she rejoiced
that his word was confirmed by Oholah.   Oholah became even
more and lovely and gracious in the care of Lelah and the
attendants, thriving on and in their obvious and devoted love
for her.  The souls of Oholah and Lelah became knit together,
closer than sisters. They would often be seen walking, talking,
laughing and singing together, as good girl friends do.   The
King and Lelah knew it was  time for Oholah to return to the
palace as the wife and queen that she was and had become.

Oholah's old lovers and abusers heard of Oholah's change of
heart and imminent reunion with her King.  They were furious
and raged against her.    They were mad with bitterness,
jealousy, pride and malice.  They and their allies determined to
get rid of her and the King.  They attacked her village and hurt
her but the King rescued her and the King destroyed and
smashed these their enemies with irresistable and
overwhelming force.  Now  Oholah could safely be reunited
with her King.

The crowds went crazy with joy when Oholah was brought to
the palace.  The realm declared days of feasting and celebration
for the recoronation of Queen Oholah.    When she was finally
brought into the palace and entered the room where the King
awaited her, it was Lelah who greeted her and brought her to
their husband King.  The three of them melted together and
held each other , with Lelah embracing  Oholah and the King as
they embraced each other.  They wept and laughed and hugged
and kissed and rejoiced.  Finally after their emotions had
calmed enough, the King introduced Lelah to Oholah as his wife
and second queen.  Oholah almost fainted but Lelah embraced
her and they both laughed and cried and rejoiced that they
could be together and friends, sharing so much intimacy, love
and rejoicing.

Though the King  was old, he lacked no energy in passionately
and attentively loving and caring for his wives, to their delight.
Oholah and Lelah became one in joy, love, rejoicing and the
unselfishly compassionate cherishing of the King and the King's
subjects, overseeing his benevolent plans for the people of
his realm.  The circle of their love became so legendary that a
book-poem was written of their exceptional love and their
many kind and generous acts for the poor and the needy.   Not
all shared in this joy and loving, the hearts of some being
bound in greed, pride, selfishness and evil, but the King and his
servants were able to hold their evil in check for the
accomplishing of his good will.   There was literally  peace on
earth and good will towards men.

Not all of this parable of the Love King has come to pass,
because allegorically He is still in Tirzah with Lelah, but we can
count on Him to make the rest come to pass just as He has in
the past, because He is able.   Older than time, born and
revealed in Bethlehem, tortured to death on Golgotha, alive
today-----this King of Love will fulfill all of His good Word and
reign in Jerusalem with both Lelah and Oholah at His side
forever.  Please let Him be your King , let Him love you, and be
there with Him forever.  His Name is Jesus, God�s anointed and
chosen King, from Bethlehem and Nazareth.

In this parable/allegory from Ezekiel 16, Ezek 23, Hosea, the
Song of Solomon and the New Testament.  the King is Jesus and
the Love He offered Oholah and Lelah is the same Love and
Loving He offers you today if you will only receive Jesus as
your Deliverer from sin and give yourself entirely to Him
recognizing Him as your Master and King.  The poverty stricken
land where he  found Oholah is Egypt's Goshen.  Oholah is
Israel, their marriage at Mt. Sinai, the barren wilderness the
Sinai  wilderness, His land the land of Canaan.
Oholah's lovers were the people and gods of Canaan and Egypt,
Lelah the slave girl is the Church - the body of Christ.
The King's flogging represented the crucifixion where indeed
His body, not His Spirit, did die to be risen an eternal flesh-and-
bone body.  The auctioneer was the Roman & Jewish leaders
controlled by Satan.   Tirzah, the King�s place in the mountains - the
place of Christ's Church in the world today seated with Him in the
heights (Ephes. 1).  Oholah's return to the land was the rebirth of
Israel as a nation.  The triumphal
return of the King and His Lelah - the rapture of the believers.
The reunion of Oholah with the King and Lelah - His second
coming - His return to earth to rule the earth from Jerusalem
for 1000 years in fulfillment of all of his promises to David and
Israel.


An old servant of the King,
Tyler

HIS LOVE FOR ME**************************

At twelve years of age I believed Jesus was real, but I sure didn't
think that He Loved me, and I was actively considering  a suicidal
life style or suicide itself because I  didn't care to live in a world
that only had selfish and conditional "love".  I didn't believe that
any human really LOVED any other human. The proof that
persuaded me that God not only could but actually  did Love me
was that Christ died for me.  I could argue with most other points,
but I couldn't deny that Jesus died.   Even unbelievers believed
Jesus lived and died.  To me that was a historical fact that few
disputed.  So when I saw that I had solid historical evidence that
Jesus died, I was ready to seriously consider that just maybe He
Loved me enough to really  die for me.

I respected and believed the Bible, so when she showed me
book after book, chapter after chapter, verse after verse that
plainly stated that the reason Jesus died (that solid historical fact),
was because God so Loved me and the world and because He
wanted to Love me as Father, as Shepherd, as King, as
Deliverer in a very intimate and personal relationship,  - - - -
my eyes began to see, my mind to understand my heart
wanted that Love.  When she showed me why He let them kill Him,
that it was His choice, that He died to take my place in the court of
Divine Justice------- well she had me.  I couldn't deny that he died,
and she persuaded that God so Loved me that He sent His only
begotten Son to die in my place so that I could be His child -------
Eureka!  Yahoo! I had discovered the Love I was looking for, a Love
that I could live for, a Love to give my life to and for.    I already
had believed that He rose from the dead and was coming back, but
now I could have a Father-son
relationship with the GOD who was Love.

I believed her, accepted Him and got all excited.  I told her that
I had to check all of this out with the youth sponsor, Chuck Hill,
to make sure that all that she told me was right on.   After
Chuck confirmed everything the woman had told me, I thanked
him and went up the other hill side to pray my prayer of
thanks, believing, receiving and trusting Jesus as my God, my King
and Saviour.  I was such a babe I didn't realize that I had been
born again as soon as I talked to Chuck, because I believed Jesus
and had faith in Jesus alone to bring me into right relationship with
God, as soon a Chuck confirmed it all.  I believed, received Him and
was born again even before I made my big formal acceptance
prayer.

Talk about a radical life change in a few weeks! Within a month
of my 8th grade year (Oct. or Nov.) my grades rose from D+ to
an average of "B".  Instead of being the expelled disrupter of
my youth group, I became a leader in my church youth group, my
school's Bible club (the girls had a hard time believing
I had changed).  Instead of letting my twisted and
dysfunctional family pull me down with them, I determined to do
what I could do for my messed up family, especially my mom and
dad.

HIS GREAT LOVE FOR YOU*********************


Do you know exactly where you stand with the
God and Creator of the universe?  Have you asked Him to be
your Father in the Heavens?  Have you believed/  trusted/relied/
depended on the Lord/King Jesus Christ ---the God anointed
Saviour
King of Israel ----to save you from your faults, failures and
mistakes?

Salvation from personal faults/failures/mistakes belongs to the
poor in spirit.  Matt. 5:3 says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven." If you recognize that you are
spiritually destitute---totally incapable of deserving or earning
salvation from your errors in any way, you are poor in spirit--
you are humble.   The poor in spirit, the humble, understand
that they are sinners, totally impotent to please or to serve God.

To acknowledge that you are a sinner unable to save yourself is
humility.  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1
Tim. 1:15).  Isaiah said, "When You make His soul an offering for
sin, He shall see [His] seed.  He shall prolong [His] days and the
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.  He shall see the
distressing travail of His soul, and be satisfied.  By His knowledge
My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their
iniquities."

Poverty of spirit (humility) is interwoven in the act of
repentance, the life-altering change of mind about you, your
sin and God.  When you repent (change your mind), you see
yourself as you really are and you change your mind in respect
to your relationship to God the Father and to His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ.  The act of repentance brings you to see your sin
as ugly as it is, as God sees it, and you come to a point where
you want to be free from it.

Of course, freedom from sin comes only by believing/trusting/
relying on the Lord Jesus Christ.  The one who is regularly
committing sin is the slave of sin.  However, if the Son shall set you
free from regularly committing sin, you shall be free indeed
(John 8:334,36)

The poor in spirit see their impotence to free themselves from
sin/failures/faults/errors.  They see that freedom is possible
only through Christ's  death for us as our substitute.  They
recognize
that salvation/deliverance comes by God's act of undeserved and
unmeritted kindness and mercy alone.  They choose to believe God
and His Word about themselves and their relationship with Him.

One cannot speak of the Crucifixion apart from the
Resurrection.It is the resurrection that gives us newness of life.
Christ's resurrection testifies to two vital truths.  One, it shows that
the righteousness, justice and holiness of God was propitiated, or
satisfied, with the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ.  Jesus
became the bearer of our sins.  Isaiah's word is "But he was
wounded/pierced for our transgressions, bruised/crushed for
our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and
by His stripes (from the cutting whips) we are healed."  In
Romans 4:25 we read, "[He] who was delivered up because of our
transgressions, and was raised [from the dead] because of our
justification."  "Raised because of our justification" means that
because Jesus' payment (the death of His body) for our sins was
adequate to satisfy the demands of justice and a Holy God,  God
could then declare us righteous, justified and made acceptable in
His sight.  Jesus was raised from death because His death for us
satisfied the righteousness of our Holy God.

His resurrection shows us that Jesus Christ conquered death.
Death had a holdover man because of his sin/error/failures/ faults.
However, once the death penalty of sin was paid for by the death
of
Christ's body, death no longer had any holding power.  "The sting of
death is sin, and the power of sin is the law" (1 Corinth. 15:56).
Jesus paid the price of redemption, redeeming us from the curse of
the Law, having become a curse for us ---for cursed was everyone
who was hung on a tree/stake (Deut. 21:23; Gala. 3:13).

His death took away the power of sin. Jesus also took the
stinger out of death by paying for our sin so that we need have
no fear of what awaits us in and after death. Because our sin debt
is paid for in full by Christ, death has no power over us.

Dear reader, have you come to the end of yourself? Have you
seen your total impotence, your total unworthiness? Have you
seen your nothingness apart from God?  And have you seen Jesus,
God the Son who took upon Himself flesh and blood that He might
die for you and for all people?   Have you decided that you want
His Way and Will in and for your life instead of your own will and
way?

Do you  believe that? Do you believe He died in your place? Do
you believe that He was made sin for you, so that you, a
helpless and hopeless enemy of God, might have His righteousness
and His life?  Have you repented---turned away from self-will to
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ----the God anointed Saviour King
of Israel?  Out loud with your mouth agree with God about the God
anointed Saviour King of
Israel, and you will be saved, "for with the heart man believes,
resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses
[Jesus], resulting in salvation." Romans 10:10-13.
Joel 2: 32 And it shall be, whoever shall call on the name of the
LORD shall be saved; for salvation shall be in Mount Zion and in
Jerusalem, as the LORD has said, and in the remnant whom the
LORD shall call.
Ps 119:6 Then I shall not be ashamed, when I have respect to
all Your commandments.
Ps 119:80 Let my heart be sound in Your statutes, so that I
may not be ashamed.
Ps 119:116 Uphold me according to Your word, that I may live;
and let me not be ashamed of my hope.

A PRAYER FOR YOUR TODAY
Holy Father, I praise You for the wonder that You are.  God, I
thank You for showing and proving Your Love for me by
revealing Yourself as Jesus Christ of Bethlehem. I accept Jesus
as my refuge, strength and very present help in the trouble of
this world, in the trouble of male-female relationships in this
world today.  Holy Father, I acknowledge my own personal
inadequacy for the trials of this world.  Merciful God, I
acknowledge that apart from You I am a part of the
problem of this world, not a part of the remedy for this world.
Holy Father, I agree with You that apart from Jesus I can do
no good thing of eternal merit. I give my body, soul,
strength and mind to You as Jesus enables me.  I accept only
Jesus as my King, my Saviour, my Director, my Shepherd and
my daily Deliverer.  Holy Father, I ask Jesus to come into me
and live in me and work in me to become Your child, and
to become what You want me to be, whatever that may be.
Father, I acknowledge my total daily need of You and my total
dependence on You to live well, safely and successfully. Thank
You for being my Father, my Shepherd, my Counselor, my
Companion and my Comforter.  Please keep me safe in Your
hand, and in Your loving embrace. AMEN

Most of the preceeding Good News presentation is a paraphrase of
K.
Arthur's "Lord Heal My Hurts"   K. Arthur may neither subscribe to,
nor endorse my files described below, but the Lord uses her
teaching mightily in the mending, healing and restoring of broken
lives, and in the nurturing of believers.  For
more helpful information to help you with your decision and
walk in Christ, write K. Arthur at
Precept Ministries
P.O. Box 182218
Chattanooga, Tennessee 37422
(423) 892-6814
Other resources for your walk in Christ:
http://www.emmaus.edu/
http://www.insight.org
http://www.freedominchrist.com

***********************************
Peace, Tyler
[email protected], [email protected]
http://www.etext.org/Religion-----then click on Polyamory
http://www.etext.org/Religious.texts/Polyamory
http://www.mindspring.com/users/~oldservant

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