The realization of personal responsibility is the starting point on the road to adulthood.

As we take responsibility, however, the question is this: will we be responsible with God as our Help, or will we handle our responsibilities without Him?

Jesus offers you a life in which His burden is light. He offers to be the Vine to us branches.

The question is, will we accept His gracious offer?

Will we humble our selfish pride and submit ourselves to His daily gracious rule? (Yes, it is a choice. It does NOT happen automatically, and it does NOT happen without some effort. This is why so many Christian believers do not have a daily relationship with Jesus---like diet and exercise, it demands EFFORT. People just want God to do it for them automatically. He will not.)

Let's say that as we take care of our responsibilities, we want God to help us. We want God to empower us and guide us and be with us. How would we get this huge benefit?

The answer is "prayer."

As we daily dwell in God's Word of Truth (especially His New Testament promises), and daily pray from the heart, laying all our troubles out before Him, we will be strengthened and provided for, by His Spirit.

(Maybe a half-hour of quiet prayer in the morning--just you and God.)

Pour out all of your troubles before Him who is the Creator of the Universe. He Who Is the Forgiver of all your sins is listening.

If this doesn't make us humble, I don't know what could.

Then trust His Word as reality, even if things do not appear to be that way as you look at your life.

Jesus will be the strength of your spirit, and your guide, and your blessing, through prayer.

Jesus will be your Best Friend--the One you can always go to first to listen to you and to comfort you.

As a Christian, the benefit is that you will be living with a direct connection to God.

You will *not* be living by what the Bible calls the "flesh."

To remember what the "flesh" is, just take off the "h" and spell it backwards: "self."

The flesh is the self--disconnected from God. The flesh has a conscience, as all unbelievers do. It can see the dictates of conscience. Now here is its true nature: it tries to do the will of the conscience out of pride--showing everyone how righteous it is: "self-righteousness."

There is no way the flesh can ever be "right," because of what it *is.*

Every person without Christ who appears "good" or "decent"
is, in reality, 100% full of the worst sin on Earth: sinful pride, disconnected from God.

This also is the reason why so many "good" people will end up in Hell. Their "goodness" does not derive from God, but from their own selfish flesh, trying to justify itself, without any kind of connection to God. (Of course, in addition to the externally decent acts of the flesh, the person still has probably millions of individual sinful actions, all of which will be judged on Judgment Day, all of which will send him or her to the Lake of Fire.)

Please, if you are not a believer in Jesus, trust Him today, and receive forgiveness of all of your sins (past, present and future sins), cleansing, everlasting life and Heaven permanently and unconditionally guaranteed.

If you are a believer, please pray to Him and walk with Him daily. You will have power in your life, and the life you have will be the life of God, not the life of the "flesh."

There is much more to this Christian life than is ever preached from many pulpits.

God bless you in Jesus.

Here is a tentative scale of friendship, ranging from 1 to 10, where 1 is the most basic kind of friend, and 10 is a Best Friend.

(If you are unmarried, and the Best Friend is of the opposite sex, can marriage be very far away?)

Remember, people can grow in levels of friendship over time, and it is a blessing to have any level of friend.

How many Level 10 Friends do you have? If the answer is zero, remember that Jesus is a Level 10 Friend, and He offers you His friendship (and forgiveness and salvation) by faith.

Here we go...

THE TEN LEVELS OF FRIENDSHIP:

Level 1: Acquaintance. Recognizes your face and knows your name. Says "hi" to you in the hallway.

Level 2: Shares some common interests and values, and regards you positively. Handshakes and hugs.

Level 3: Spends some time with you. Calls you on the phone.

Level 4: Cares bout you and what is happening in your life. Does not consider listening to your troubles an inconvenience or a waste of time--it is a privilege of friendship.

Level 5: Will inconvenience himself to help you. Will lend you money if needed.

Level 6: Will help you move. Gets there early and stays late.

Level 7: Confidante. Will never tell your secrets to anyone, no matter how angry he is with you. Will never betray you or disrepect you in front of others. Prays with you.

Level 8: Will be with you and supportive of you when you really need him or her, no matter how severe the inconvenience. He walks in when *everyone* else walks out. If you were accused of murder, he would not believe it. If you told him it was true, he would stand by you in court, and visit you in prison for the rest of your life. He will be there crying at your execution.

Level 9: Loves you as himself, and is just as happy when you succeed as when he succeeds.

Level 10: Would literally suffer and die to save your life.

Please send your corrections, your additions, and your thoughts. Thank you.

5,704.

Did you know that it is only 5,704 miles from the United States to where Jesus walked?

The distance from San Diego to New York is 2,437 miles.

Jesus lived and breathed only a few hundred miles away more than twice the width of the United States...

5,704 miles.

5,704 miles, more or less, from where He miraculously fed the multitude.

5,704 miles from where He raised Lazarus from the dead.

5,704 miles from where He calmed the raging storm with three words on lake Galilee.

5,704 miles from where He parted the Red Sea. (Yes, that was Jesus Who did that, too!)

5,704 miles from where he taught the people The Lord's Prayer on the mountainside.

5,704 miles from where He walked on water.

From where He healed every disease and sickness of the people.

5,704 miles from where He spoke the words of John 3:16.

For the very first time.

It is only 5,704 miles from where He stretched out His arms and suffered unimaginable pain on a Roman cross and died for your sins.

5,704 miles from where He rose from the dead.

5,704 miles from where He ascended into Heaven.

5,704 miles.

Jesus is real.

Jesus is coming back for those who believe in Him.

If you believe in Him, He lives in a place as close as your heart, as well.

The best definition I have found for what "love" is, is:

1.) Kindness, Friendliness, *Affection*, The Greek word "storge"

2.)

Liking,

Admiration,

Caring,

Listening,

Honesty,

Understanding,

Encouraging,

Trusting,

Keeping Confidences Quiet Forever,

Not Judging,

Believing (Giving the Benefit of the Doubt),

Loyalty,

Not Being Envious,

Wishing the Good of Someone Else,

Supportiveness,

Respect,

Forgiving Fully from the Heart,

Patient with Another's Development,

Accepting Other People's Otherness &
Individuality,

Spending Time and Taking Time,

*Friendship*,
"philia"

3.) Sexual, *Romance*, "eros"

4.) The Ultimate:
*Selfless Self-Sacrifice*: Jesus the Christ, "agape" "charity"

On April 1st, 2007, Evel Knievel announced his faith as a saved believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I specifically remember listening to him on a radio interview while driving on the highway about a year and a half ago in Wisconsin. I was thinking how strong he was, but also how much he needed God, and specifically Jesus. I think I may have said a prayer for him. Maybe many others heard him and prayed for him as well, seeing how desperate, yet how tough, he seemed.

I had the Evel Knievel motorcycle toy when I was a kid. Well, thank God, we got Chuck Norris and Evel Knievel now! Two of my childhood media heroes. They need Jesus' forgiveness just as much as anyone. Maybe it's time for you to trust Jesus as your Savior as well. I have never heard of a celebrity announcement of conversion causing so many professions of faith as this.

How about Lee Majors, "The Six Million Dollar Man," next!

(Read about it: Evel Knievel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)